#and that is QUITE LITERALLY my childhood Batman

[sucharandomwolf]

And what if I said I was rewatching my childhood Batman?

#in all seriousness #Netflix recently added the Batman 2004 #and that is QUITE LITERALLY my childhood Batman #and back in 2021 I discovered I quite liked this version of batjokes 🧍🏽 #and because I’m binging it two years later it’s been re-awoken #also I wanted to try this new coloring style I came across but HOO boy is it time consuming 💀 #I’ll probably go back to my regular cell shading #I do plan to draw more of these two tho I just need to get the gears turning 😏 #the batman 2004 #batman 2004 #joker 2004 #batman #joker #batjokes #batjokes 2004 #my art #art #digital art

[arguablysomaya]

Nightwing's weird fem-coding

! LONG POST !

Finally got around to jotting down my thoughts on the weird way that Dick Grayson (Nightwing) often occupies female-coded roles without being a particularly feminine guy. This is entirely due to me procrastinating on my finals. Okay!

Dick has often been cited as the hero who plays into the "female gaze", and he takes up some key roles that are typically reserved for women characters.

A large portion of Dick's fem-coding is contingent on his being with his family, and when he's not with them, this fem-coding kinda drops away, such as when he's with his various teams or acting solo.

His most prominent (and imo, complex) femme-coded role is:

-> Eldest Daughter + Widow

Eldest daughter syndrome means " frequently feeling like you’re not doing enough, like you’re struggling to maintain a veneer of control, like the entire household relies on your diligence." It's born out of the unique way that first-born girls are expected to take on adult roles around the household before they've had an opportunity to fully experience childhood (an opportunity their younger siblings will have, in part due to this sacrifice). It creates a strong sense of independence and a desire to be a good role model, but also leads to undue pressure and perfectionism.

Dick acts as a central emotional pillar for those in his family. To the point that when he fakes his death, it breaks something fundamental in the family dynamic:

Not only is it repeatedly made clear that Bruce depends on Dick to act as a lifeline for his own mental struggles, but moreover, his siblings do as well. In a very literal sense, the maintenance of the batfamily rests on Dick's shoulders. Bruce is so rarely available for emotional support that these children turn to the next best thing, which, to be fair, is better than what Dick had growing up. He has to clean up so many breakdowns, it's honestly pretty staggering.

As the OG sidekick, Dick receives quite a bit of hero worship, particularly from younger heroes/sidekicks, who look toward him for guidance. As a naturally upbeat and welcoming person, Dick ends up in the position of bringing light to everyone, not just Bruce. For example, here's Cassandra:

This balancing effect is unique to Dick's skill set. However, this can (and does) backfire very easily. The same pragmatism Bruce engages in hurts extra bad when coming from Dick: like when Dick had to take Robin away from Tim. Not to mention just how intimidating Dick's legacy is, which can create resentment when his successors aren't able to play this role so easily. For example, Jason both before and after his death expressed insecurity that he felt he was constantly being compared to Dick, and falling short.

As the original character that people think of when they think "sidekick", DG Robin (and his successors) had the advantage of not losing prominence even as his contemporaries (Kid Flash, Aqualad, Wonder Girl, etc.) were de-prioritized in favor of independent teenaged heroes (like Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, and Starfire). But that means Robin as a concept now has to deal with questions that weren't so prominent in the earlier decades, such as: "How do we justify a grown-ass man using a child (and in fact, children) as emotional crutches?"

It's icky to think about, but there's no denying that early Batman and Robin got side eyes for homosexual subtext. I mean, they literally call each other "partners". So while that "subtext" was, and remains, just audience speculation, given Dick is literally Bruce's adopted son, there is room, I believe, to call into question how healthy it is for Bruce's oldest kid to be taking on a nearly-parental role and be a core pillar of Bruce's emotional regulation.

Hot take here, but I think Dick's relationship with Bruce was/has been pretty emotionally incestuous for a long time.

-> Emotional incest

"Emotional incest[...] is a type of emotional abuse performed by a parent. In cases of emotional incest, parents rely on their children for significant emotional support, which is a reversal of roles. Emotional incest is more than just relying on your kids on occasion—rather, it is an extreme dependence on them." (There's a pretty good argument to be made that Bruce has been emotionally incestuous with all his Robins, especially Dick and DEFINITELY Tim, but y'know. Small steps.)

Emotional incest is a semi-common consequence of eldest daughter syndrome; the natural conclusion of deputizing a child to manage the other children combining with an inability to see the child as a child, still in need of emotional guidance, but more like an adult capable of shouldering the burdens of grown-ups dumping their traumas on them.

To be clear here, while emotional incest may not be incest in the most traditional, taboo sense, it is still abuse. It's putting a burden on a child they shouldn't have to carry, even for children that aren't dealing with such extreme burdens as "grown-ass man running around in a fursuit needs me to keep him from getting himself killed". It's a perversion of a healthy parent-child relationship, where the child is treated more like a partner than a child. In Dick's case, it further exacerbates the parentification he already experiences. This is made more explicit when Bruce "dies" and Dick is cast into a sort of "Widow" role.

Dick reluctantly dons the cowl in an attempt to bring order to his family members. He's also left to parent Damian, alone. He has to make the decision to take Robin from Tim, and try to deal with the fallout from that decision. He has to put a stop to Jason's fratricidal rampage. He's made into the de-facto head of the family.

And the thing about this is: Dick's not even bad at it. In comparison to Bruce's litany of disasters-in-parenting, Dick does a pretty bang-up job of managing his siblings, heading the Justice League, and being Batman. But the crucial point is that he does this at the expense of his own mental health, which is the crux of eldest daughter syndrome. There's no denying that at the time, Dick was most certainly the best choice for New Father Figure, but it was a choice he was pushed into, and a sacrifice he had to make. When this sense of responsibility to the point of self-sacrifice is pushed to its logical conclusion, it has the effect of making Dick a Martyr-type figure.

-> Protector/Mama Bear/Avenger

Dick has shown repeatedly that his hot button is his family. From Tony Zucco to allowing Blockbuster to be killed after the villain targeted Haley's Circus, going after Nightwing's family is a pretty good way to earn yourself an asskicking. Probably the most infamous example of this is when Dick thought the Joker had killed Tim, beating the clown to death to avenge both Tim and Jason.

And while this role isn't particularly feminine, I do think it's interesting that Dick protects his family members from each other with almost the same frequency that he protects them from outside threats. He's pretty notorious for wrangling Damian and Tim, foiling Jason's murder plans, and most importantly, beating the shit out of Bruce whenever he crosses a line, such as when Bruce asks Dick to conceal being alive from their family to join Spyral or when Bruce wanted to abandon the Bruce Wayne persona after the murder of Vesper Fairchild. Or of course, more recently after Bruce's latest MK-ULTRA shenanigans.

This basically puts Dick in the position of being the glue that holds the family together, at basically all times, but especially in times of conflict. This also means he's put in the dangerous position of bodily defending his younger siblings from Bruce's wrath or irresponsibility, a position made even more awkward given the whole emotional incest thing.

That's not to say that Dick's relationship with his family is 100% unhealthy. Dick and his family members (including Bruce!) feel legitimate affection and care for each other. There are times when the dynamics here are indeed healthy. And like most people with eldest daughter syndrome, the unhealthy nature of this dynamic is usually understated. Oldest sibling syndrome is often just an unavoidable consequence of how parenting works. So while I am of the opinion that this dynamic is often unhealthy, hot take: I'm fine with that.

Now, though I've just listed some tropes that he only falls into around family, Dick also falls into some fem-coding all the time, regardless of who he's with, and these have to do mostly with his sexuality.

-> Sexual Assault & Harassment

Yeah, so nobody is surprised that this is a factor. Look up any list of the top ten hottest/sexiest/most attractive male superheroes, I guarantee 9/10 times Nightwing is number 1. However, unlike his father, whose attractiveness is usually played as a part of the male wish-fulfillment fantasy, something people aspire to be, Dick's attractiveness more often makes him an object of desire- very similar to how most attractive female characters are perceived.

And as an object of desire, Dick Grayson is constantly having to deal with being objectified.

Now, Dick Grayson being an attractive character is not the problem. Dick Grayson being sexually assaulted isn't even the problem. the problem is that he keeps being harassed, assaulted, and raped in ways that are flagrantly nonconsensual, and yet it's not treated with the seriousness it deserves. In fact, it took a full decade for Devin Grayson to retract her previous statement and admit that yes, the rooftop scene with Catalina Flores was in fact rape, and it's never been acknowledged in-universe (though, comics have always been atrocious at calling out sexual abuse of all kinds, let alone that which targets men).

Hell, even when he in-universe calls it out, he's dismissed immediately and the story continues like nothing happened.

Like???

Dick's adult sexcapades (which were consensual and enthusiastic) have long contrasted with the numerous times he's been harassed; times in which he comes across as bored, exasperated, and even frustrated with his own attractiveness and the vulnerable position it often leaves him in.

This puts him in the rare (in comics) position of being a male character who consistently and near-exclusively has his sexual agency and boundaries violated by women - a position that authors uniformly refuse to examine despite writing him into it all the fucking time.

Other characters around him frequently make comments passing off this harassment and assault as a natural consequence of Dick's own attractiveness, making "jokes" that essentially amount to "I understand why someone would want to assault him". Which- UH?

There is also, of course, the unavoidable reality that as an acrobat and an aerialist, he receives a very specific type of sexual harassment

the nature of nightwing's fight style necessitates a type of tight-fitting suit that male heroes typically don't go for: an extremely slick suit with bare-minimum armour that again, makes him vulnerable in a way most male heroes aren't, but a style female heroes wear all the time, whether it makes sense for them or not. This of course then allows artists to draw attention to this fact by posing Nightwing in poses usually reserved for femme fatales:

And unlike the Hawkeye Initiative, these poses are (largely) unironic, and not played for jokes. Dick isn't arching his back or looking over his shoulder to poke fun at how female heroes are treated; he does so because the artist (clearly correctly) sincerely believed these poses would play into the unironic gaze of the audience, and also probably thought it was hot. It's the same line of thought artists use when posing femme fatales.

He's even been known to use his sexuality as a bargaining chip, much like more traditional Femme Fatales. In Batman and Harley Quinn (2017), he refers to sleeping with Harley Quinn after being kidnapped by her as one of "the things I do for Gotham", to which she responds "I'm taking that as a 'yes'." And that's uh- not how consent works.

And this particularly sucks because- HELLO? The opportunity to explore the very real and tragically underacknowledged phenomenon of sexual violence against men is literally invaluable, especially with such a prominent character. It's one thing to ignore that men face sexual violence, it's another, entirely more unforgivable thing to continuously and explicitly depict such scenarios and play them off as jokes or not as serious as they clearly are. But what did I expect from an industry that has never had a good track record on sexual violence anyway.

-> Queercoding?

There's also of course the fact that DC has been, as of late, dropping hints that Dick might be bisexual.

That on it's own doesn't mean anything, but when paired with the fact that DC has been angling toward giving Dick a similar playboy persona that Bruce has, just with men included, it's just very interesting.

(BTW: The likelihood DC actually commits to making Dick bi is, uh, not a lot, but if they're gonna stick with this weird closet stuff for a while, let's hope they do so in a way that doesn't make him sound like a cross between Donald Trump and Harry Styles next time? Please?)

Anyway, all of this is basically to say I am forever fascinated by the gender dynamics of Dick Grayson, likely due to the fact that I'm projecting all my eldest daughter traumas onto him, and that someone who's background is in Gender Studies needs to get on this shit if they haven't already. I just love this character sm.

#this ended up taking/being way longer than I thought it would #but its done now so i can stop procrastinating yayyyy #shut up somaya #batfam #dcu #dc universe #batfamily #batman #dick grayson #nightwing

[jangofettjamz]

Valentines Success

Jenna Ortega x Autistic!Male!Reader

Summary: You and Jenna exchange Valentines gifts

Words: 1162

2nd Person POV

(5 days earlier)

Jenna and You walked down the mall, shopping bags in hand. It was particularly quiet today which made the experience a little more bearable today than what you're regularly accustomed to.

You two soon came to a stop in front of a clothing store Jenna frequents, one of her favourite stores. However, the amount of people in store was quite substantial and you too could get noticed in public, something neither of you minded if they're fans, but today you two just wanted some quiet

You quickly thought of a solution to avoid being spotted by the public, and also maybe because you didn't want to go into the store yourself because of the people. "Hey babe, why don't you go in the store and I'll stay out here. That way it'll be harder for people to spot us since we're not close together" you suggested.

"You sure sweetie?" She says and you reply promptly with a nod and a smile. Jenma gives you a loving kiss on the cheek "I'll only be a couple minutes." She says and walks into the store, leaving you standing in the mall, looking for anything interesting to pass the time.

Not far from the clothing store was the LEGO store, one of your personal favourites. LEGO has been a comfort item for most of your life, and let's be honest, who doesn't love LEGO.

You walked over to the store and entered it, immediately engulfed with childhood nostalgia and familier sights that just make you feel all happy and giddy inside.

You looked at each set and their themes. They had from Star Wars, Spider-Man, Marvel Comics, Batman, DC Comics, Pirates In The Caribbean, Harry Potter; literally endless options, but you were looking for Star Wars.

There was one set you really wanted, the "Ultimate Collectors Series Lego Millennium Falcon" coming in at 7541 pieces overall. It was massive, and you wanted it.

Though, there was a problem, you were broke. You had just bought Jenna a really expensive necklace for her valentines day gift. You don't regret buying it because you know she'll love it, but you can't help but feel a little sorry for yourself over the fact you can't afford to buy a set you REALLY wanted.

You caressed the cardboard box that displayed the sets box art, and the blocky contents in held within its frame. "One day you'll be mine" you whispered to the large box as if it were sentient.

But unbeknownst to you, Jenna was peeking from around the shop entrance out of your view, watching you stare in awe of the gargantuan LEGO ship. She knew right then and there that this was the perfect gift to get you.

"Oh Y/N/N you're in for a surprise" She chuckled to herself mischievously.

(literally Jenna from around the corner watching you)

-

(Present day)

It was the moment both of them had been waiting for. It was gift giving time. You and Jenna have treated yourselves to a valentines day brunch and just got back home. You were eager for her to recieve her gift, and she felt the same about hers.

You opened the door for her upon entering your house "Why aren't just a gentleman" she said, with a kiss on the lips as reward for your politeness. You went over to the spot where you hid the box that contained the necklace and hid it behind your back.

You walked over to Jenna with a smile on your face. She cocked an eyebrow and smirked knowing you had something behind your back. "Honey, what are you hiding?" You smiled as she waited with eager anticipation.

Taking a deep breath, you began "Jenna, in all my years of living you've given me more joy than I could've ever imagined. You're are the absolute light of my life and today I just wanted to give you something as a token of my undying gratitude." You pulled the box out from behind you and presented it to her.

Jenna gently took the box from your hands and opened it. The jewels from the diamond necklace were almost blinding as they reflected across her skin, her eyes went wide as soon as they set upon them.

Jenna was barely able to contain a squeal of pure joy and excitement, settling for a loud gasp instead. A small note was under where the necklace sat. It read "Happy Valentines day, Jenna. I love you. P.S im broke now becuz of u <3 - your forever person, Y/N"

Jenna laughed upon reading the note and tears dripped down her face, which brought a smile yours knowing you did good with your gift. She held both of your hands "You are the champion of making me happiest person in the world, Y/N L/N. You are the kindest, sweetest and most adorable person I've ever had pleasure of knowing and I'm glad to call you, my lover."

You blushed hard at the comment. The two of you leaned in and shared a loving kiss to commemorate the love you felt for each other, a love that will stand the test of time no doubt. Jenna leaned away and continued her speech.

"Which is why I got you something too." You waited to find out what it was but she just laughed. "You're gonna wanna sit down for this one" you were heavily confused but laughed and shrugged. You sat down on the couch and closed your eyes.

Your heard Jenna rummaging around to get your gift, her grunting implied that it was something heavy or large. She placed the large box in your lap and placed your hands at the top, holding them tightly.

"This is something I got for you to show you how much I adore you. I love you so much, sweet boy and there are so many more gifts to come" she says and kisses the top of your head. "Open your eyes, bunny"

You did as you were told and soon recognised the box art from the LEGO set you admired from days past. You let out a loud gasp, mostly out of shock, and Jenna was just enjoying the sight.

You soon begin smiling widely like The Joker and tears brimmed at you eyes. "Jenna..." you sniffled. She really did that for you. How did she even know? "How did you...?" You stuttered, unable to focus on what your voice sounded like. You were too excited to care.

Jenna took her place next to you on the couch "Let's just say I have my ways. Happy Valentines day, bunny. I love you more than gifts could ever describe" She kissed you temple and laid her head on your shoulder.

This was a Valentines Day success for sure.

A/N

Short one but I hardly have the time to write so I hoped you enjoyed this one. Not proofread.

#jenna ortega x reader #jenna ortega x you #jenna ortega #jenna ortega x y/n #male reader #wednesday x reader #wednesday x you #tara carpenter x reader #tara carpenter x y/n #tara carpenter x you #wednesday x y/n

[dccomicsbracket]

Young Justice (1998)

It's 6-8 fifteen year olds living in a cave, and their only adult supervision is a robot wind machine one of them graffiti-ed all over within the first five minutes of meeting him. The only two with anything even RESEMBLING normal childhoods are the demigod and the son of two billionaires (literally just some guy). They have an alien motorbike and at one point they save the world from aliens by playing baseball. Everyone in it is just so stupid all the time and I love that for them (god bless 🙏) Never has a comic quite that batshit and quite that sincere graced my presence I just love it and I enjoyed reading it

Batman/Superman: World's Finest (2022)

I think there's something very classic and timeless about this run. You get the iconic friendship of Superman and Batman, and also some great dynamic duo stuff. I think Waid really nails characterization. It's just a lot of fun. The illustrations and coloring are a treat on top of great storytelling.

#dc comics #poll #best of dc poll #young justice #robin #tim drake #superboy #conner kent #impulse #bart allen #batman/superman: world's finest #batman #bruce wayne #superman #clark kent

[bangsinc]

I really love the scarecrow request! I love how you write him and he's so underrated:(

Could you write HC for him with a fem s/o who is the manifestation of fear, like the literal embodiment of fear? Idk what versions of scarecrow do you write but if you could, could it be the batman animation series 👉👈?

(btw you seem like a sweet person (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)⁠✧⁠*⁠。) -🩷

💀Scarecrow X Reader that Is the manifestation of fear 🎃

Hey Anon ? !! So glad ur requesting scsrecrow, defo my baby girl and my fave guy to write about. BTAS is my speciality, though I do write for any (I’m bias for BTAS)

I had many different ideas for this, I wasn’t sure if you wanted reader to be an entity or kinda like a person?? Kinda? So I played around w it! Thank you for calling me sweet btw!!! Ur so sweet :3

Since his childhood, love has never been Jonathan's forte. If it wasn’t fear, Jonathan never cared for human emotions. He’d grown content with the idea of living a life alone, after all, it’s what one expects with the path he’s taken… But then of course, there you. You’re a god/goddess to him, to put it blankley. Everything he’s devoted his life to, obsessed over.. has manifested.

Might be a bit… proddy, initially. Your existance is very much an anomaly, even in a place like Gotham city. He’d never do anything to intentionally harm you, though maybe he gets more personal than comfort.

You’re fear incarnate? How can you prove it to him? He’d love to see, though, he’d perfer if it wasn’t on him. The idea of you being so willing to show him such an ability is enthralling after all! He is the master of fear, so it’s only fit that he has such an honor.

He’d never get over having a lover like you. He has the mindset that he’ll never let you go till death do you both part (if you can even die, that is). Expect him to push a wedding, the venue a grandeur gas attack across the streets of Gotham. You have to, need to be his mistress of fear. He won’t have anything less.

He wants you by his side consistantly, for a multitude of reasons, though the greatest being that he’s grown an insane attachment and almost obsession with your being. Even in Arkham asylum, his mind races of ways to stay in contact with you (though it’s most likely you have the ability to easily assist in his escape).

Your wish is his goons command. He’s not a kind man to his goons, seeing them as no more than fools who live to serve him out of fear. Of course, his goons are now your goons, and if they dare even question this shift in authority, they’ve earned a spot as his newest test subject.

Very, very affectionate to his goddess! Think of it as a morticia and Gomez dynamic. There’s no shame, at least to him, in showing his wonderful, transcendent partner off for the world to see as he tears it apart. Constant affection, always on his hand and foot for you, it’s quite a suprise. He can be.. rather grumpy at best, kinda pathetic at most, so it’s a stark change emotionally.

(Might cling to you for protection 80% of the time). If he’s vulnerable, close to being apprehended, no fear gas, etc… he’s probably going to run to you like a scared puppy. He is nowhere near fit to really defend himself, physically at most. He returns the favor in tenfold when he can, however.

I COULDNT think of how to end this I’m ngl

#bangsinc #btas #batman #scarecrow x reader #scarecrow #the scarecrow #dc scarecrow #btas scarecrow x reader #btas scarecrow #bangs x scarecrow canon #batman x reader #btas batman #batman the animated series

[distort-opia]

What is your ideal ghostbat dynamic?

Oh it's definitely the thrice-divorced snarky middle-aged men performing intricate rituals thing they currently got going on.

Batman 2022 Annual

Bruce Wayne, being a character with almost a century of history, has beein paired with so many individuals. There's a lot of relationships he's formed over time, but a particularly interesting type is the people-who-knew-him-before-Batman category. Harvey Dent, Thomas Eliot, Zatanna Zatara, Talia al Ghul... and now Minhkhoa Khan. Obviously, quite a lot of these characters ended up as unequivocal villains Batman has had to fight (Two-Face, Hush) while Zatanna remained a childhood-friend-and-almost-lover. Talia and Khoa are more complicated; they're definitely not heroes, not exactly on the same side as Bruce. But they aren't downright villains either. The waters are more muddled. In Talia's case there's the conflict between her loyalty and love for her father, duty and legacy; this opposition to Bruce's own goals was there from the start. But (to finally get to my point with this tangent) there was no such thing with Khoa, and that's basically my main draw to the ship. Bruce has other people that know him as just Bruce and not Batman, or as the in-between (all unique and complex relationships in their own right), but I can only think of Khoa as someone who was present for Batman being forged. While Talia was there when Bruce was training, she didn't share the same goal of combating crime, but Khoa did. For someone so desperately lonely as Bruce is, having someone to share that road with meant so much. Not only that, Khoa contributed to the formation of Batman by engaging him in the wild competitive streak they share, by pushing Bruce to rise to his level.

Hence... the unique kind of familiarity they have even decades later, despite the numerous betrayals along the way. That's an ideal component to me-- Bruce feeling like he can easily be himself. It's a rarity to him, since he plays so many different roles to many different people. And after Alfred's death, someone so important who knew him utterly and supported him from the start, he clearly missed it. It didn't really matter that Khoa killed dozens of people when he showed up in Gotham and literally declared he'll traumatize Bruce by killing a kid in front of him (which he probably would have done, if Harley hadn't managed to be as persuasive as she was). After Selina leaving him, Dick getting shot, his own father and Bane taking his city away, Alfred dying, losing his fortune and Joker War happening... myeah, I really feel like Khoa showed up at the perfect moment.

Which leads me to another component of their dynamic that I favor, and that's both of them being manipulative assholes and equals capable of kicking each other's asses. Why did Khoa show up with all of his resources after Joker War specifically? Why did Bruce ask him to stay so readily, forgoing the things Khoa had done? Hah. Khoa's undoubtedly been obsessed with Bruce, if keeping tabs on him and seeking out Jonathan Crane to learn fear and hell, even getting a sidekick to mirror Batman having a Robin is any indication. He gets to be close to Bruce and potentially ingratiate himself to him while fully knowing Bruce is using him, and Bruce knows it too-- but he's still allowing himself to depend on Khoa's resources and on him becoming part of Batman Incorporated and the more extended Bat-team. Khoa's always been manipulative; wonder if Bruce ever found out that in The Knight #4, Khoa was the one to tell those assassins Bruce's location, thus orchestrating a situation in which Bruce would finally accept to take him with him. But then, while they were training with Avery, Bruce was manipulative back, and you can literally see Khoa falling in love over it in The Knight #5, after Bruce distracts him with flirting and then steals the book.

At the end of the day, Khoa is a psychopath; perhaps not the sadistic kind, but he still operates as one, and Bruce can not only handle it, but he can handle it well. He's proven himself to be an equal, someone who challenges Khoa to improve and become better. Thing is, psychopaths overlap with narcissists a lot due to a basic reason. For neurotypical individuals, empathy acts as a way to see conspecifics as others, but like-minded others. You see other people think and emote like you, and you register them as human beings just like you. 'I feel what you feel, therefore we are the same.' But psychopaths work differently, in the sense that they often have excellent cognitive empathy, but a dulled affective one. They can tell how people think, but emotionally these things don't resonate with them-- the consequence being that they don't easily register others as equals, like-minded others. It's easy to then see yourself as the most valuable individual ever, as the center of the world, because you haven't truly ever shared that world. Which is why, when a psychopath meets someone they can relate to... they don't just relate, they become obsessed. Much like Khoa has. If all your life you felt you're separate from everyone else, having this kind of connection is life-changing, and you'll do whatever you need to preserve it. Including manipulative and murderous acts. But that's fine, because Bruce is attracted to this kind of thing. He himself has thought at some point about a woman (Jezebel Jet) that he should've known she was villainous and would betray him, because he had been attracted to her. I could get into Bruce's dating history and what it says about his preferences, but 'nuff said.

...Anyway, this got away from me, Anon :)) You probably didn't expect a whole-ass essay, but I hope you enjoyed reading through my personal take on them. I really like Khoa's character, since it's not often you get a morally-grey and complex psychopath like him, in comics. But to summarize my answer, my ideal Ghostbat dynamic is definitely one based on them being equals who know each other on a fundamental level, capable of handling both the good parts and the bad parts of the other; the one that solidified after decades of a push-and-pull between their core principles and ideals.

#besides. the duality between them when it comes to what fuels their fight against crime is fascinating #one obsessively letting their past define them while the other utterly rejects being defined by their past #[clenches fist] I'm so Normal about characters that mirror each other #asks #long post #batman #bruce wayne #minhkhoa khan #ghostbat #ghostbat meta

[wisecloudnightmare]

Tim&Danny Twins au

Just an idea. I can't write a story to save my dog's life. Can someone come to take it out of my hand? (the idea, not my dog, go away)

Kon is heartbroken after Tim has a boyfriend (Bernard). He travels (soul searching and shit) and meets Dani, and like, becomes friends with her. Maybe they tell each other they're clones. Maybe Dani senses something. After months of knowing each other, Dani introduces Kon to team Phantom as her clone friend and Kon gets to meet Phantom who looks just like Tim. But he's dead? Does Tim have a dead twin he doesn't know about? He's not telling Tim though, he's a teenager with feelings and it hurts too much thinking about Tim rn. His gut also tells him he's gonna mysteriously disappear if he babbles.

After many visits to Amity Park, Kon slowly develops feeling for Phantom but not pursuing him because he thinks he'll do Tim and Phantom a disservice, repleacing one with another (not quite true Phantom pulls him in at first bc he looks dead tired like Tim after tearing through four cases in three days (still sharp and competent but needs some rest), but they have their own charms). Danny's still unsure about letting an outsider into Amity Park's and his own business. Team Phantom isn't worried though. They went through Kon's life story after the first time Dani showed up with him. Some (Jazz) thinks Kon's gonna be good for Danny, some (Sam, Tuck) aren't that optimistic but placate with the knowledge that he has weakness and if push comes to shove, they can take him. Despite being the first to acknowledge their friendship, even Dani isn't above overshadowing Kon if he becomes a threat to Danny and Danny's.

They end up setting up a date for Kon and Phantom and with Danny's luck, it becomes their first team-up against a horde of ghosts on another ghost-steroid Jack tries to create to weaken the ghosts but fails. While spliting his focus to keep Kon from being overshadow, Phantom's human identity gets exposed in front of Kon. "Wait. You're alive?" "Eh, yes. But also no." They go on another date after this. With Danny as human and all. I don't know where they go but they really enjoy themselves, being all lovey-dovey (as much as two smartasses with existential crisis can be, that is). Somehow Bernard runs into them (can be literally, can be just seeing from afar). I don't know where to go from here, a timbern drama seems to be a logical leap but I want to add some conspiracy theorist!Bernard to this too. "Conner's tricked by Tim's evil clone from a shadow organization! I have to tell Tim!" (the irony alone...) Or something. IDK.

Eventually the truth comes out that they're twins and the plot proceeds like the usual twins au. I have no brain juice left y'all. The most important thing is the feels between Kon and Danny though. And Kon/Danny and Timbern drama (i.e. Danny feels inadequate, Kon's afraid Danny's gonna think Kon deceives him, Tim with his "I hAve a TwIn alL AloNg? WhY diD I haVe tO be AloNe All my cHilDhOod tHen???" breakdown, and Bernard's "Kon liked Tim? Am I the third party that broke their relationship?")

Batman is not (much of) a paranoid jacka*s here. Or maybe bc he's no screen time lol. Maybe he can shut down GIW for Danny, as a treat.

So, thoughts?

#danny phantom #dp x dc #danny fenton #connor kent #tim drake #bernard dowd #batman #timber #timbern #tim x bernard

[sl-newsie]

Behind Masks (Dr. Jonathon Crane x OC) Ch. 5: Relations and Reminisce

“And you said yes?!”

“For the tenth time Ivy, yes.”

“I can’t believe it.” She throws her arms up dramatically. “I thought you were smart. How could you throw away any chance of escape for group therapy?”

I just spent the night in a black hole. Literally all light is gone from my isolated cell except for a tiny floodlight that only projects more spooky shadows on the gloomy walls. I don’t mind some free time to myself but it’s an overabundance I could do without. But today is my first day with Crane’s “experiments” and I hope they will distract me from the dreary lonesome.

“I applaud Calico for her bravery,” Nigma looks up from the crossword puzzle he’s working on. “Crane’s a hard nut to crack but I think she can handle him.”

“But she’s new to Arkham. Callie’s fresh meat for Crane.”

“Guys, guys.” I hold up my hands. “I’ve handled lunatics each day for three years.”

“Yeah, but this is Dr. Crane. The Scarecrow. You’ll never sleep again after he gets through with you.”

“Sleepless nights are a fear of childhood, Nigma. If anything I’m ready to embrace death come what may.”

The pair look at me as if I just announced that all the kittens in the world died. They’re supposed to be the lunatics but they look at me as if I’m just as mad as any other inmate.

“What? I’m well aware of universality. Death is unavoidable to every living thing at every moment of its life.”

Ivy and Nigma don’t appear to have a response and the room stays quiet, that is until slow clapping breaks the silence.

“Quite philosophical, Dr. Prentiss. Perhaps that can be extended further during your testing today.”

Dr. Crane’s voice pierces my thoughts with a chilly imagination. All morning I’ve been worrying about what tests he has planned. Strap me to a chair? Hang me upside-down? And what type of toxin? Air-based? Water-borne?

Ivy senses my discomfort and steps in front to block him. “You’ve stooped low, Crane. Testing on an innocent woman? You’ve got some nerve.” She flicks a few specks of pollen on him and I see Crane’s eyes go wide. “Just watch it. If she dies I may just have to cause a breakout and show them the basement.”

Basement? I know Arkham has a basement but what's so significant about-?

“And I can make sure your babies get tossed in the next compost bin,” Crane replies harshly and grabs my arm to pull me away before Ivy can scratch his eyes out while Nigma just laughs. “How can you even stand to talk to that enviro-mental-whacko?”

“Just because your toxin doesn’t work on her doesn’t give you a reason to be cross,” I answer calmly as we head into the cold, dark hallway. “At least she gives me the time of day, unlike my previous co-workers.”

We enter further into the maze of abandoned hallways and come across what appears to be a room that was used for an operating theater. Although he has no audience I shudder to think of what Crane’s prepared to show off. 

“Step up, please.” Crane gestures to the platform at the center of the room. One with restraints.

“Are you going to-?”

“Yes,” he replies. He knows what I’m thinking. “They will help protect you from hurting yourself. I’ve seen unrestrained patients carry out extreme measures, some including pulling their eyes out or running into the wall.”

I follow his instructions and lean up against the cold concrete. When I look over I see he’s preparing multiple syringes on the table.

“Just how many toxin variations do you have?” I ask with a hint of nervousness.

“Variety brings results. Right now I’m hoping to find a special dose to give to the lunatic who’s been interrupting my associates’ plans.”

The talk of Batman has only grown in the past few days I’ve been here and I can’t say I’m not curious. Rumors say he’s doing the police’s job and actually cleaning out the city’s criminals.

“He’s got you worried,” I say almost tauntingly as the doctor attaches my wrists to the straps.

“Don’t start,” Crane warns. “Soon he will seek out the drugs I’ve hidden and then I will give him an introduction he’ll never forget.” His crystal eyes drift over to face me directly. “I thought you were interested in the science of fear, Dr. Prentiss.”

“Unlike you I’m a psychiatrist with morals. One who doesn’t test toxins on patients. Get back to me when you’re not trying to kill the only justice in this world.”

He hums in response and returns to tightening the straps around my legs. “So you’re on the Batman’s side?”

“I’m on the side of justice, one you are very unfamiliar with. And by the way my interest is focused on death and the fear that revolves around it.”

Crane gets up and walks over to grab the first syringe with child-like giddiness. “We’ll start with one dose so it can filter out of your bloodstream. Then after the antidote kicks in we’ll go onto the next. I’ll administer this one through your brachial artery. Please inform me of any side effects immediately.”

I flinch as the needle pricks my arm and I feel the toxin surge into my blood. While I wait for whatever horrors this will bring, Crane watches with glee as if watching a magic act. There’s no rapid heartbeat or intense breathing like last time. There’s actually less- Oh.

“How do you feel?” Crane asks when he sees my eyes widen.

“I can’t. My feet have gone numb.”

He jots some notes down on some scrap paper and hurries back to administer the antidote. Instantly a cold sensation jolts through me and I can feel my feet again.”

“Do you make one for every dose?”

“Absolutely. In my years of research a way to reverse accidents is always useful.” He waits a few more seconds and decides the antidote has done its job. He holds up another syringe and pierces the needle into my other arm.

“What about now?”

After a few seconds I start to get dizzy. Is my skin supposed to get this hot? And why is it isolated?

“My waist feels warm.”

The doctor’s eyes lift up from his notes and take in my confused expression. “Interesting. Do you know what’s happening?”

“I’m getting a fever?”

Crane smirks and points to my eyes. “Let’s say that your dilated pupils tell enough.”

Does he mean what I think he means? The kind of repulsive side effects that make people’s minds melt into obeying, brainwashed zombies. 

“Are you saying I’m…?” I ask, disgusted.

Crane’s surprised smile says enough. “Do you mean to tell me you’ve never had-?”

“Do not use that word,” I snap and exhale. “No, Dr. Crane. I have not had urges.”

“Fascinating,” he observes as he looks over my pathetic state with wide eyes.

My eyes narrow. “How so?”

“I imagined a woman like you would have been through something by now but then you stated in your profile you are a virgin. Is this perhaps caused by philophobia? Genophobia, maybe?”

His guessing misses its target each time. He really doesn’t know. If it weren’t for the annoying dampness below this would actually be fun. 

“It’s just bugging you, isn’t it? The infamous Scarecrow can’t figure out my fear?”

The cunning doctor leans in with an amused smirk, his lips almost pressing against my ear. “I’ll find out soon enough.”

I can handle death. I can handle fear to some extent. But this? This is an all-new emotion I want to burn and bury in the depths of forgotten embarrassments. Just because I can’t control my own biological response doesn’t mean I can’t keep a clear head. Time to end this twisted game.

“I’ll spare you the trouble. Atychiphobia.”

Crane nods with a look that says he won. “Ah. The fear of failure. I should have expected that. Am I going to receive an explanation to go along with this?”

Fear of failure is a peculiar phobia. No matter how hard I try it always seems to make me second-guess everything. People praise me for my accomplishments at the same time I hate myself for not being perfect.

Now the effects of the failed toxin are replaced by a furrowed brow and clenched fists. Crane must think he’s struck the motherlode-

“It’s ok to be upset.”

That’s him? Did someone just replace Dr. Crane with a real therapist? He puts a hand on my still-shaking shoulder and for some reason part of my rage melts away. My mind can’t decide if I’m angry or depressed.

“I never had a ‘normal’ childhood since my parents sent me to prep school. They always wanted me to be the best at everything. Any time I did less than perfect they would shame me.” I scoff and look to the floor. “My father would yell while my mother ranted about how I disgrace the family name.”

“You obviously come from money,” Crane observes softly.

I shrug, still eyeing the cement floor. “It’s no big secret, really. If you do enough digging you’ll probably find news articles of me in high school winning the Metropolis Genius award with comments from my father about how ‘there’s always room for improvement.’ Money means nothing when it comes to love. Flaunting my parents’ riches never gained me anything but a spot in Metropolis University.”

The doctor nods again, almost appearing empathetic. "I think that's enough experiments for today."

I expect him to write more notes but he never does.

“Aren’t you going to write about how sad my childhood was?” I mock darkly. “Just another excuse to keep me locked up as a ‘crazed inmate.’”

But he just shakes his head. “I know a thing or two about family issues. We’ll keep this off the books, shall we?” 

This is the same person who sprayed me with fear gas?

“How did they die?”

There we are. Right back to picking apart my diagnosis.

My eyes narrow. “You know how. Anyone who watches the news knows.”

“It might be better if you say it-”

“They were killed, ok?” I burst, surprising both Jonathon and myself. “Another statistic to the growing number of casualties in Gotham. Some psychos blew up a bridge and they just happened to be driving on it.”

By now I’m shaking both from the last few effects left from the toxin and the emotional imbalance whirling inside me. If it weren’t for the straps still securing me to the wall  I would be bent over in tears. And that’s what happens when I feel Crane release my limbs from the restraints. My knees buckle and I go forward- But instead of ending up sprawled on the ground Crane catches me. I look up and want to yell at him for getting so close but my mind’s too full to speak, distraught with old memories and broken regrets.

“I can see now why you don’t fear death,” Crane whispers.

“The experience of death becomes more familiar the more you are exposed to it. A death of a family member or a close friend could impact how one sees death. Another instance could be a near-death experience such as a heart attack or car crash, causing possible trauma and a different view of death.” I take a shaky breath. “After my parents died, death became everything to me. I believe that if I walk the line of embracing death then I won’t be scared to do anything.”

Slowly, Crane walks me over to a chair and we both sit down. I’m not shaking so much now and I can actually think. “Maybe part of the reason I left Metropolis is to get a fresh start. Though this isn’t exactly the prime scenario.” I gesture to the dull operating theater.

Crane lets out what I think is an actual laugh. No mockery or sarcastic intention at all. “But you have to admit this is far more exciting. You need to loosen up, Dr. Prentiss.”

“And I suppose the man who dresses up in a burlap mask knows all about stress relief?” I arch a brow. “You don’t strike me as someone who goes clubbing.”

“You don’t seem the type either. Am I right?”

I give an annoyed grunt. “Yes. Social drinking is incredibly overrated and only results in bad decisions and depleted brain cells.”

“Speaking of brain cells-” Dr. Crane pulls out what looks like a mini calendar out of his pocket. “I’m scheduling you for both an MRI and a CT scan to make sure there’s no damage to yours.”

He gathers up his things and gestures for me to exit the theater. 

“All for me?” I gush dramatically as we head back to my ‘private cell.’ “Aw, you shouldn’t have.”

Before Crane closes the door he looks through the gate with what appears to be legit concern. “Can’t have a prime mind like yours going to waste, can I?”

#jonathon crane #jonathon crane x reader #dr jonathan crane #scarecrow x reader #scarecrow #poison ivy #the riddler #harley quinn #the joker #two face #the penguin #batman #batman begins #the dark knight #the dark knigth rises #gotham #gotham tv #cillian murphy

[rainycat2]

Though I Could Not Stop for Death

Chapter Six: Encounters

Damian, as befitting his training, his childhood, and the absolute bafflement at this assassin 1) calling him by name and 2) apparently being very behind the curve of information on the whole “left home” debacle, did not move. He didn’t even twitch in reaction, raising an eyebrow, sheerly unimpressed. “You’re rather out of the loop for someone in the League,” he mused, one hand resting on the hilt of his sword at his hip. “You’re a deserter, aren’t you?”

The deserter, for that’s what they had to be, paused in his pacing on the ledge of the building, turning to look Damian up and down. “You’re… not going to try to kill me?”

Batman made a noise, somewhere between disbelief, concern, and wariness. “What reason would he have for that?”

The assassin paused, tenseness in his shoulders as he looked back at the Bats congregated on the top of the building. Not for the first time, Damian wondered idly how he had gotten this far in stealth, given that he somehow glowed like a broken light stick. He was lit up like a neon sign, the light from his armor (and really, he understands personalizing it in an act of defiance against the groupthink of the League, but neon?) glowing and playing with the shadows of his masked face. 

“Just… covering my bases,” the assassin… person? He clearly wasn’t a very good assassin— answered, fake ease in his voice. “I know how stabby he can get, though it’s kind of hard to stab, yknow. A ghost.”

Damian liked to think that in the five years since he became Robin, he’d seen enough to be truly unphased. Time travel, his friend leaving for a summer trip and coming back seventeen, legitimately everything regarding Todd, et cetera. He’d thought he really, at this point, could not be surprised. 

“Ghosts aren’t real,” he said, his mouth working faster than his brain. The assassin seemed to snort, turning away to look over the city, leaning a bit concerningly far over the ledge. 

“Oh, sure, buddy, and I’m not your twin brother back from beyond the grave,” Damian caught, the muttering clearly meant to be under his breath. Alas, their technological improvements to their suits had long since included technology to amplify their hearing. 

“Excuse me?”

“Ohshit,” the teenager groaned as he rubbed at his face. “You don’t… you didn’t hear anything. Nope.”

Red leaned over in incredulity, leaning around Batman’s hulking form. “Did you seriously just call yourself his dead twin brother? Robin doesn’t have a dead twin brother.”

===

The eight years since leaving the League had done wonders on Danny, truly. He learned what it meant to have a loving family, the importance of friends, his quite literal “ride or die”s, the stability of having a support network. 

But in that process, he’d opened up, let his guard down. He was expressive, witty, sarcastic. 

And Danny, upon hearing Red Robin’s incredulous comment… winced. Visibly. Physically stepping back a little, his boot scuffing the edge of the building, knocking a few pieces of gravel off. “I— uh, that. Depends on who you ask? Technically he doesn’t, uh, anymore?” He stuttered, green eyes flicking back and forth between the impassive gaze of Batman and the much more visibly murderous one of Robin, his sword hilt gripped tightly in hand. “It’s complicated, and uh, a long long story?”

“Shorten it,” Robin ground out. 

“Righto, uh, well, Lazarus pits, you know?” He started, nerves sneaking into his voice. “They’re kinda fucked up waste pits of ectoplasm, really need to be cleaned out and all that. And uh, if you… shit, I have no idea how to spin this,” he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. 

“You’re a really bad assassin,” Red Robin noted. “And a really bad liar.”

“I— yknow; fair enough. You’re not the first person to say that.” 

“You. Are. Stalling,” Robin grumbled, unsheathing his wakizashi as he stalked towards the glowing teenager. Danny balked, then grinned behind the mask. 

“Oh holy shit, you have my sword!” He cheered, quite literally and visibly lighting up as he tugged his mask down. “I missed that! Man, you have no idea how shitty it is to have to find an entire new sword years after getting comfortable with another, Dami, it sucks don’t do it— I mean, I more use a katana these days, but it’s in the same design, I guess Mother gave it to you after everything?” Danny let his hold on gravity drop, zipping over to his brother as he examined the blade. 

Robin flinched back, his glare amplifying. “Stop that,” he barked. “You— stop it.”

“Stop what?” Danny raised an eyebrow.

“Stop— imitating my face!”

“It’s not your face, it’s my face!”

“No, it’s not!” Damian insisted. Danny let his feet drop, his weight returning just in time to dodge the punch that would have otherwise probably broken his nose. 

“Whoa, hey, Dami, chill out,” he yelped. “It’s cool, it’s fine, I mean you can’t really hit me anyway, given the whole dead thing, but I’d kinda figured, yknow, it’s been eightish years, yknow?”

“Stop it!” Damian growled, spinning to tackle Danny. The twins went down, Robin pinning the young ghost as he punched. Danny’s arms went up, blocking him from his face on instinct, a grin on his face. 

“Oh, that’s how we’re socializing? Great!” Danny chirped, catching Damian’s fists as they descended. He hooked his knee up, pushing Damian up and *launching* him off, spinning as he got to his feet. “Let’s socialize, akhi!”

“Don’t call me that!”

===

Tim slid over, watching the boys with oh-so-similar faces duking it out on the roof of the building. “You good, B?” He asked, looking over the Big Bat. And… yep, Bruce had the same expression on his face when Damian first showed up: disbelief, concern, confusion, and anger hidden behind a mask of indifference. “Ah. A crisis, got it.”

He pulled out his phone, taking a photo of the boys absolutely wrassling on the ground, the white-haired one laughing and joking while Damian seemed to be doing his best to claw his eyes out. 

Wayne Family Dumbasses:

conspirator: my bet’s changing to secret twin but with the added plot twist of ghosts

murderhobo: what is this, a penny novel?

murderhobo: ….who the FUCK changed my name

conspirator: (image)

conspirator: ghost. 

20/20vision: the fuck why is he GLOWING

murderhobo: language

20/20vision: ????????

Purble: if he’s a secret twin why does he have white hair

murderhobo: yknow, I’m gonna throw my lot in on “ghost” too. And try not to feel offended about the white hair thing. 

Purble: sorry jay

===

Bruce sighed heavily. “Boys, stop trying to murder each other. Robin, get off of him.”

A muffled “he started it” came from the… yep, looking at them, if you were able to dismiss the white hair and— okay, his eyes were glowing too— glowing, Lazarus green eyes, their faces were identical. “You. You say that you’re his twin brother? Explain.”

“Ra’s didn’t need two heirs,” the boy said simply, crossing his arms across his chest. “And I refuse to hurt Dami.”

Robin resolutely looked away from the white-haired boy at his side. “You’re not him,” he muttered. “And if you are, why now? Why taunt me with your existence?”

===

Danny sighed, turning to Damian as he set his hand lightly on the vigilante’s shoulder. “Akhi, hal tatadhakar alnujumu?” he murmured, nudging Damian to face him even as he stiffened. “almalk walhami. kan almakan aladhi yumkin 'an nakun fih ahraran.”*

Though Danny couldn’t see his brother’s eyes, he knew them better than he knew his own— flicking back and forth, taking in the minute differences from what Damian would have remembered. His freckles were different in his ghost form, forming constellations… one, the figure they’d painted as the King, the other on his opposite cheek the Protector, their ‘backs’ against each other. “Kayf matat?” he asked finally.**

“Sayf al'umi ealaa alduluei. khatwt 'amam alnasl bayn yadayka. kan kabiran jidana bialnisbat lika. lam takun mdrban ealaa aistikhdamihi,” Danny answered, his gloved hand taking Damian’s. “Lam 'astatie tarkak tamuta”***

Pain exploded across his nose and Danny reeled back, a yelp of pain tearing out of his throat as Damian punched him. “You sacrificed yourself!” His brother, his twin yelled, shaking in rage. “You killed yourself and left me to take your place!”

“I wasn’t going to murder you, Damian!” Danny shot back. “I wasn’t going to let Grandfather make that decision for us.”

Damian’s hands clenched at his sides, watching the green blood drip and trickle from Danny’s nose. “You should have let me die instead,” he said, his voice hardly above a whisper. “You should have killed me rather than condemned me to that fate, to being the inferior heir who was forced to be better! You should have— should have—“

Danny scrambled forward, pulling Damian into a tight hug. “Never. Never, akhi, I would never have been able to kill you,” he murmured. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry— I’m sorry—“

And there they stood, brothers reunited after too many years apart, one beating heart between them as they clung to each other.

===

 Elsewhere, a ghost smiled, floating back as the view screen changed, showing alternate futures— twin boys growing into adults, becoming heroes together, stronger as a pair than they ever were apart. 

“All is as it should be.” ===

*Brother, do you remember the stars? The King and the Protector. It was the only place we could be free. **How did you die? ***Mother's sword through the ribs. I stepped in front of the blade in your hands; it was too big for you. You were not trained to use it. I could not let you die. TAGLIST: @mynameisnotlaura @fisticuffsatapplebees @screamingtofillthevoid @lizisipancardo @digitizedworld @dahliasandrosemary

NEXT CHAPTER: ==>

#ticnsfd #dpxdc #dpxdc fanfic #rainycat writing

[disniq]

Season 1, Episode 2, “Hawk and Dove”.

Joy.

We are introduced to Hawk, AKA Hank Hall, who is already captured and being tortured! Listen, I don’t often side with torturers, but he probably deserved it.

Dove, AKA Dawn Granger, saves his ass and then we get a gratuitous bathroom shot because Alan Ritchson is hot, and also to show that the superhero life fucks you up, kids.

I’ll be honest, I don’t really understand what their plan is here? They’re taking out arms dealers and stealing the money for themselves until they have enough to “retire”. Dude, you’re both in your 30s, just get a normal fucking job that isn’t destroying your body and mind, maybe?

(This is a recurring theme with these two. They talk about quitting, one of them goes back on it, they fight, they make up, they talk about quitting… It’s a whole thing.)

Dawn is so pretty, fuck me.

She rescued him and plays nurse afterwards? Dawn, honey, he does not deserve you. He can't even fuck.

Flashback time, and Dickie-boy is hanging out with the Bad Kids against Batman’s orders. (I say “Kids”. All of these people are in their twenties at least. And, also. This is four years ago, but in s2 they say the og Deathstroke stuff is four years ago. Don't think to hard about the Titans timeline, good lord.)

DO LIKE; the fight choreography here! Dick is all flippy acrobat but Hawk and Dove are like pro fucking wrestling lol.

DO NOT LIKE; this weird fucking love triangle, and I use the term “love” extremely loosely. Poly supremacy man, you all have bird names and a shit ton of fucking issues, you could all be each others problems instead of inflicting yourselves on others <3

(oh my god, I’ve only just hit the titlecard. This episode is *so* long)

(Or maybe it's just that I find it incredibly boring.)

I'm sure that's not relevent

Dick is taking Rachel to Hank and Dawn, so he calls Alfred for some money to… pay them to keep her?

(on a related note, there is such a frustrating interesting dissonance between what we are told and what we are shown in this show. We are told Dick has a rep for being great with kids, but he doesn’t really know what Rachel should be eating or watching at her age, and he tries to get rid of her the second he can. Rachel says she’s not a kid, and then the very next scene is her sprawled out on the bed surrounded by snacks. Rachel says she can tell when people are lying, but her "Mom" was lying to her her whole life?)

I’m trying really hard not to get too bitter too quickly here, but god the difference between how Dick treats an upset Rachel to how he later treats an upset Jason makes my heart hurt :(((

Oh, The Family are fucking creepy okay. It’s the heteronormativity.

Dick is a terrible fucking liar, omg.

Rachel: You’re gonna leave me too, aren’t you? Dick: Dick: Dick: Dick: No.

Dick introduces Rachel to Dawn, Rachel gets a little sneak peak of their former sex life as a treat. Awkward.

Ahaaaa

“I’m outta the life,” Dick says, like he didn’t put the Robin suit back on like. A day ago. (another tell vs show)

I do love when people say Dick’s name like the insult.

(Unfortunately, it’s Hank being an insecure macho fuck over Dawn “Sure, I cheated on you with him before, but it’s not like I’d do it again how dare you not believe me” Granger. They’re so unhealthy, fuck. And the manufactured melodrama is so bleugh.)

The Family ambush and torture Amy, and she somehow tells them where Dick is despite him literally never telling her. Because plot.

Astute readers may have noticed I'm not a big fan of Hank but idk folks, I just think maybe it’s a little tasteless to make a “pants off” joke (TWICE) about a character that has long term trauma from repeated childhood sexual assault :/

Okay, fuck, Dick is already making me work for that body count list.

OKAY.

He castrates the torture guy, stabs another guy in the eye with a birdarang and drops a guy from the ceiling. I’m pretty sure they’d all live, if be permanently disabled. BUT. The last guy, he throat punches and then hits in the head so hard with his own gun that there’s a huge fucking blood splatter on the window, so I am counting that as a half-kill.

I’m OuT oF tHe LiFe - Dick Grayson (definitely not wearing the Robin suit again. Nope.)

Ah, more meledorama.

Rachel finds the money and Dick’s custody arrangement letter. She is not happy about it. She shows Hank, who isn’t ever happy about anything.

And then The Family show up to kidnap Rachel, so problem solved I guess?

[More Titans Rewatch here :D]

#Titans rewatch #titans (2018) #hbo titans #This one is so much longer i'm sorry lol #i tried to actually like. recap the episode this time. bear with me while i get the hang of this #EDIT: THE LINK IS FIXED stupid tumblr not letting the chronological link work on mobile >:(

[zannolin]

B, K, and L for the fanfic ask!

hi beloved <3

B: Any of your stories inspired by personal experience?

yeah quite a few, in various ways! couple of these are on anon now but planetarium stickers incorporates a lot of pieces of my life like my favorite thrift store (now defunct), my childhood best friend's house, etc. holding on where i am able was a literal experience i had with said childhood best friend a couple summers ago, except my hair did Not end up pink through a series of mishaps. i don't think anything else i've actually published is directly inspired by my life outside of like. i'm gonna give you a highly specific mug and music taste etc. i have a lot of unwritten ones but i haven't. you know. written them.

K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with?

i mean there's that old tododeku fic of mine where i killed both of them like a week before they were supposed to get married. and i literally killed batman in my batcat fic (that was fun). and also, the beyonders grief fic is a fic that exists. i like to fondly recall, every so often, the vague details of my winter soldier inspired sith obi-wan au from like seven years ago as well. darth augur u will always be famous.

L: How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

eehhhh. depends. i revise as i go along, rereading every time i open the doc and editing as i do. i usually make sure there's at least one thorough once-over done before i post, but the longer a fic takes to write the more it gets edited. and then after i post i still end up fiddling with them for months after lol. i just did that to my national treasure polyfic like a month ago.

ask game!!

#answered asks #eirianerisdar

[cha0ticspacebi]

You're An Image Caught in Time: Chapter 12

You got your soulmark when you were very young. You knew who you hoped had left their mark but since they never said anything to you, you resigned yourself to a life of bitter unrequited love. As much as you wanted to meet your soulmate you knew after all these years they must not want to meet you. Though the mark never faded some days you wished it would. Especially after meeting Billy.

☆ You can find me over on A03 as Cha0ticBi ☆ Master list link!

Childhood Friends! Eddie Munson X Reader

Tags: 18+ NSFW MDNI, slowish burn soulmate AU, reader is in an abusive relationship with Billy Hargrove, Dark! Billy, Eddie is a sweetheart but bad at feelings, hurt/comfort, eventual smut, eventual happy ending

Warnings: rape/non con elements, emotional and physical abuse, graphic depictions of violence, suicidal thoughts

Chapter 12/28 Previous chapter → Next chapter

It’s true what they say, you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. You missed this. It’s been so long since you did anything like this. A pile of your friends, snacks, games, and laughter fill Steve’s giant living room. It was such a welcome distraction from thinking about Billy. 

Eddie had grabbed a backpack full of his dungeon master stuff out of the back of his van and began setting up at the large table. It was so surreal to see him in his element like this. He told you a bit about dungeons and dragons but you were sort of clueless to what it actually was. Eddie told you it was a game but everyone had papers and pencils in front of them. Honestly, it looked like a lot of math. You, Robin, and Steve all wore similar expressions.   

“Henderson what the hell are you dragging us into?” Steve looked over the paper he’d been handed.

Eddie cackled in a witchy voice, “Not him big boy! ME! The better question is what I will be dragging you into.” Steve’s face made you laugh, good to know I'm not the only confused one.

“Come on, this looks,” Robin tried to stay positive, “Interesting?”

Eddie handed you a paper like the one Steve and Robin had, “Don’t worry princess. I’ll go easy on you.”

“Hey no soulmate privileges! If the rest of us are in danger, so is she!” Gareth complained.

“I’ve waited 12 years for soulmate privileges! I want to win Dungeons and Dragons,” you pouted.

Everyone stared at you wide eyed, then they shifted to Eddie, who rubbed his temples, “Yeah I get it. I fucked up.”

“12 years?” Steve shouts, “You’re 18 right - that would make you 6? Did you guys meet as kids or something?”

Dustin grinned, “What was our big bad DM like as a kid? Has he always been such a jerk!”

The smile that graced your lips was unprecedented. Your face quite literally lit up as you realized none of them knew Eddie as a kid. Only you. That was a memory and a time only the two of you shared. Images caught in time, forever with you, something Billy couldn’t take from you. 

Eddie shot you a look of pleading, “Please spare me princess! I’m begging you! Don’t spill all my deep dark secrets, I’ve got an image to uphold here!”

You grinned and turned to the group, “Did you guys know as a kid Eddie liked to dress up as Batman? He wore that Halloween costume every day until Christmas one year. It was so filthy that by the time he finally took it off Uncle Wayne had to throw it away.” 

Everyone laughed at his expense but he still held your hand, “You wound me princess. Need I remind you it’s my bats on your back.” 

Oh. Shit. A feeling bubbled in your gut that felt new and enticing, Billy always loved to call you his but hearing it from Eddie was a whole different experience and lit a fire in you that you didn’t even know you had. When Billy would tell everyone the two of you were soulmates he’d get really possessive. Flaunting an almost sick, sadistic sense of ownership over you. But with Eddie? As his words traveled into your ears they felt more like he was trying to tell you it was his responsibility to protect and serve you. You shut your mouth. He cocked his head at you as if able to read your mind. Everyone was oblivious to this tension rising between the two of you. Steve was insisting that someone explain this damn game to him and Dustin took charge but you couldn’t hear anything beyond that because your eyes were locked with Eddie’s. He leaned in close to your ear and whispered so quietly you didn’t even know a voice could go that low.

“Did you like that sweetheart?” A small nod from you gives him permission to continue, “You like being mine? All mine to please and protect? I can’t wait to help you learn all these new things about yourself. Ready to play?”

He pulls away and slips back into Eddie the Dungeon Master, “Newbies, hear me now! You are about to embark on the most dangerous mission of your lives. You will have your chance to join in but I think it best if you watch first and get an idea of how this works. Then when I believe you to be ready, I’ll introduce you,” he addressed the rest of the group, “Minions! It’s time once again to face the dangers of the Tomb of Horrors!”

Eddie told a tale of a crypt that lies hidden somewhere in the far reaches of the world. Somewhere lost under a lonely hill lies the sinister tomb of horrors said to be the home to a deadly Demilich named Acererak. The party works their way to find the tomb and foolishly enters. You think you're starting to get the hang of how this works when Eddie sets the stage.

“You realize you’re not alone as your group traverses the grime covered dungeon. You see a light approaching and 3 weary adventurers who are looking very lost emerge from the darkness. A human warrior who wields a wooden club and has great hair. An elven sorceress whose hands are covered in ash and smells of fire. Finally a beautiful dwarven woman wearing her holy symbol tied around her neck and a golden circlet floating atop her gorgeous head.” Eddie laughs as he turns to you, Steve, and Robin, “That’s your cue!”  

Steve awkwardly laughs and shrugs his shoulders, “Um, I don’t know where I am.”

Dustin pinches the bridge of his nose, and speaks in character, “Yeah no shit. Have any of you seen signs of a lich around anywhere?”

Steve turns to you, “Is that the thing we are looking for?”

“Not yet,” Robin steps up, “We were looking but then dingus here triggered a trap.” She describes how her sorceress wipes the black soot from her hands. 

Eddie’s mouth curled into a pleasant smile, “Wow Buckley, color me impressed. Great improvising,” he looks at you, “Do you say anything to new faces?”

“Hi?”

Eddie was right that it got easier as you went along. It was impossible not to get invested in his words. Your mind wandered back to a time he must have been developing these storytelling skills.

He jumped up onto his bed and pulled an imaginary sword from his hip. He fought off the imaginary foes from the mattress and looked down several times to make sure you were still watching. He recited words from the book he had just been reading to you.

“I can’t wait until I’m older, I want to be just like the knights in that story so I can defend you from threats near and far!”

You smiled, “My hero!”

The adventure continued and eventually you came to a door. Your group spends nearly 20 minutes debating the pros and cons of opening the door. Eddie hides his smile behind his hand as you start to get invested.

“It’s just a door guys, I say we open it,” you insist.

“It’s obviously another trap!” Mike shouts, “We’ve already triggered 4 traps tonight. Stop just opening things that need to be investigated first!”

Steve announces, “I walk over and open it.”

“It opens,” Eddie tries to talk between laughs as he describes the contents of the room, “Beyond the door is a staircase leading downwards. Thick webs partially block your path.”

“I cast fireball,” Robin raises her hand, cutting him off.

“NO! Jesus Christ, we are never playing with the three of you again, you’re all so chaotic,” Dustin throws his hat into the air. 

“Oh oh!” You get excited! Flipping through all the pages Eddie had given you, “As Robin sets the webs on fire I cast create water and immediately put out the fire! Can I do that? Does that work?”

“If I get to see you get that excited again, I’d let you do whatever you want princess,” Eddie smiles, “Steam fills the small tunnel as the sorceress and the beautiful cleric work together to clear the path. At the bottom of the staircase, lying on the floor sits an iron mace inlaid with stunning silver.”

“Steve, do NOT touch that!” Everyone yells.

He holds his hands up offended, “Hey for all you guys know that’s this big bad guy's only weakness and we can’t defeat him without it!”

Turns out Steve wasn’t wrong. He eventually said fuck it and picked up the mace, using it to destroy the zombie guarding this room. Having fun with your friends, you allow yourself this victory of forgetting the events of the past few days for a moment and before you know it you’d made it to the end of the dungeon and defeated the big bad evil guy. Eddie packed up his stuff while you sat on the couch and Robin played with your hair. The hellfire kids had all left a while ago and it was just the 4 of you in Steve’s living room talking.

“Guys?” You spoke off topic as you got the courage to say something, “I just need to say thank you. Thank you for everything, I was- ” all of them stop you at the same time. 

Eddie’s the one who finished your sentence. “You were being controlled by a manipulative abuser. Listen to me, listen to all of us, we all care about you.” He grabs your hands and pulls you from Robin’s pouty grasp and up into his arms. You wrap your feet around him and hug his neck, “Are you ready to go home?” 

“Mmhmm,” you mumble into his hair.

Steve offers to grab your bags so Eddie doesn't have to put you down, all 4 of you walk out to Eddie’s van and he straps you into the passenger seat as you suddenly get really sleepy. Eddie carefully jostles your arm to get your attention when you arrive back at his trailer. 

“Hey sleeping beauty, we’re home.”

You rub your sleepy eyes as he carefully leads you into the house. He takes such good care of you, getting you some clothes to change into before he goes back out to the van to get his stuff. He shivers stepping out into the cold and opens the driver’s side door but then a fire lights under his skin as he sees a very unwelcome sight. Billy walks up to him.

“Hey Munson, nice shiner you got there.”

Eddie slams the van door shut and pulls his knife from his pocket. He grabs Billy’s collar with both hands and slams him against the side of the van, knife to his throat, “The only reason you are still breathing is because she said so, I suggest you get the fuck out of here. Now!” Eddie’s voice was dark. He pulls Billy back and shoves him as far away as possible. 

Billy brushed himself off and looked unfazed, as if Eddie weren’t even there, “Hey sugar. Are you ready to come home?” Eddie twisted around to see you standing on the front porch wearing the clothes he’d just given you. Your skin looked pale. You held your mouth fighting back nausea. 

“Go back inside. Now,” Eddie’s command sends chills down your spine. You couldn’t move though. You stood frozen.

Billy took a step in your direction but Eddie blocked his path to you, “I listened to her once but you take one more step and I won’t hold back.”

It was quiet and meek but you found your voice, “Billy. Please just leave.”

“Are you seriously choosing this freak over me?” anger came through his words as he stepped towards the two of you. Eddie grabbed him by the collar and kicked him backwards again. He stumbled and looked like he was about to retaliate when a voice cut through the air.

“I too think It’s best if you leave now,” Uncle Wayne had pulled up and was now standing by your side, “Before we need to get the authorities involved.” Eddie didn’t take his eyes off of him as he backed up to join you.

Billy scoffed, “You can hide all you want! I know sooner or later you’ll come crawling back to me begging for my forgiveness! You’d save both of us a lot of trouble by coming with me now but I guess you want to do this the hard way. Fine, enjoy it while it lasts.” Billy’s eyes told you as he turned heel and left that he’d make good on his threat but the pairs of arms holding you close told you everything would work out in the end. 

#eddie munson x reader #eddie x fem!reader #eddie munson #eddie munson fanfic #stranger things fic #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n #soulmate au #soulmate identifying marks #childhood friend eddie munson #high school sweethearts #stranger things fanfic #stranger things smut #18+ content

[aaronhotchstuff]

oh who’s savannah? (also hi!!!)

HIIII THANK YOU FOR THE ASK 🥺💖

savannah brightly is my bruce wayne oc!! she exists in different (tv & movie) universes that bruce is also in, like the dark knight trilogy, dceu, the batman, dc’s titans, etc.

so far, her in the batman and the dark knight trilogy are my most developed versions of her, so i’ll just talk about them for now!! ...though i added her fcs for all the other universes in the end lol

this probably isn’t what you signed up for but here you go anyway 🙈

cw: the batman (2022) spoilers!!

the dark knight trilogy

savannah’s parents were close with the wayne family, so along with rachel, she and bruce were childhood friends

her mom didn’t grow up rich, though. everything she had then was from her own hard work, unlike her dad who inherited his wealth from his parents

he gets away with it with the help of his money, so once she’s got a stable life after college, she cut him out of her life

at some point in her adolescence, her mom died at the hands of her dad

ever since the newspaper started releasing her stories, the gotham times started having a high demand of their paper that was mostly due to her pieces, since literally half the city is either corrupt or in somebody’s pocket

she changed her last name to brightly (her mom’s last name), stopped using his money or anything it was used for (houses, cars, etc.), wrote pieces about every crime syndicate in the city while she’s employed by the gotham times

of course, her dad still tries to get her to come back to him or whatever, but it’s just never gonna happen

the truth was her main goal in life, which explains why journalism attracted her interest the most as a teenager

later on, savannah began working with rachel in an attempt to expose the truth and free the city, but she’s received death threats and attempts on her life several times so she hired a bodyguard; ethan fletcher (played by jon favreau)

she wants to expose her dad and put him behind bars for her mom’s murder, and for a time this was all she obsessed over, but overtime she grew to care about the truth regarding everything that went on in gotham, most especially the criminal part(s)

she’s just a total workaholic, and is not afraid of any of gotham’s crime bosses

anyways, aside from him, her close relationships are only with bruce, alfred, and rachel, and maybe a couple of people from work but that’s about it

she would do anything to get to the truth, and she wouldn’t stop until she’s satisfied. she’s just a wee bit obsessive

it’s good for her job, but it can be quite annoying for her (only) friends (and for the criminals in the city obviously lol)

savannah figured out that bruce was batman almost immediately after he donned the cowl, and they regularly work together on her stories. also, it kinda lowered her chances of being abducted and stuff, since the batman is now the one who works the dangerous parts (not that she always let him)

savannah and bruce are slowburn!! they won’t get together at least until the last movie, or like the end of it idk

most of it’s due to her not acknowledging her feelings for him because she thinks if she does, she’ll lose him. also because she knows he’s in love with rachel since forever, and she doesn’t think she even compares to her

“because it’s always rachel. always has been, always will be.”

savannah thinks that she’ll always come second to him, and in all honesty, she doesn’t mind; but when bruce tries to tell her otherwise + that he actually thinks about “my future with you, not with rachel.” she goes on defensive mode

she’s used to looking for the truth and not trusting in what people say, because people lie. the truth is just the truth.

but with that, savannah has to trust bruce; she has to trust that he’s telling the truth, and she’s never had nor want to do that, and it just scares her shitless

though, when she gets abducted by the joker along with rachel and harvey, she is just Confused™ when batman came to her first (joker still switched harvey and rachel’s locations here but she was put in a warehouse right beside harvey), when she literally just assured rachel that he’s gonna come for her first 💀

that literally meant the world to her, but rachel died so really none of that matters anymore

i’m still working on what happens to them in the last movie, so that’s all i have rn lol

sav is played by gwyneth paltrow!!

the batman

everything is pretty much the same as above, except the face claims and then some of the storylines to fit the plot

savannah’s obsession and impartiality with and of the truth is what “attracted” the riddler to her; so a little bit before he kills the mayor and all throughout his game, he gives her clues that puts her in the right direction of his plans

so to a degree, she’s aware of his targets before they get murdered; although in her defense she didn’t know it was gonna be a literal murder spree lol

anyways, he wants her to see the truth firsthand and be the one to expose it, since not only is she one of the very few people that aren’t corrupt or in somebody’s pocket, but one of his last targets are about the wayne family; one she’s grown to love - bruce in particular

the riddler wants to see if her stance regarding the truth is all just words; if she’ll go through with revealing the truth or if she won’t because of her love for bruce and his family

it’s basically a test to her integrity, and i haven’t decided whether or not she fails

also, i think how the riddler feels about savannah is similar to how he feels about batman, that they inspired him and that he thinks they’ve been working together from the beginning

he abducts her, though, and like puts her where she could see everything that was happening to gotham firsthand but still be alive when all the seawalls break

savannah and bruce aren’t that much of a slowburn like in the trilogy, cause they end up getting together at the end

ethan fletcher is played by charlie cox and sav is played by deborah ann woll!!

gotham

jon bernthal as ethan and giorgia whigham as savannah; although it might change since i haven’t seen this show yet lmfao

titans

michelle pfeiffer as savannah;

smallville

also have not seen this. lol. courteney cox as savannah and neve campbell as my clark kent oc (who i have no idea what to do with yet lmao)

other

okay i haven’t decided which universe they’re in, but rachael taylor as sav and krysten ritter as my clark kent oc

and that’s all!! imma tag a few moots @claryxjackson @hiddenqveendom @come-along-pond @guardiansofheroes

#ask #leaf tag #kei answers #ocs* #* #ocappreciation #ocapp #allaboutocs #fyeahsuperverseocs #bruce wayne #bruce wayne x oc #the dark knight #the dark knight oc #the batman #the batman oc #battinson #oc: savannah brightly #ask: savannah #oc: ethan fletcher #ask: ethan

[yes-koku]

BATMAN: Hush v The Long Halloween

So I finally got around to finishing Jeph Loeb's Batman: Hush (prior to this I had already read The Long Halloween)

It was good.

Had a pretty straightforward plot and was easy to follow.The dialogue needed work in areas, notably the jokes, the monologue was okay for the most part but there were certain small things that irked me.

Batman in this story, isn't quite as stoic or feel as calculated as he does in other stories because during the whole thing he's undergoing a phase of change, we can see he doesn't want to let another Jason Todd incident happen to Tim Drake being part of it but the main change being that he's fallen in love with Catwoman (again).

Expanding on Bruce's childhood and life before batman by the introduction of Tommy Elliot just felt like a dead giveaway that Tommy was either going to die or turn out to be a villain. What happens next being so predictable sort of cheapened the effect of the flashbacks but maybe that's just my opinion.

Tommy Elliot also felt incredibly bland, like, very fuckin generic. He was a Scooby Doo villain, that's literally what he was. He wants revenge because as a child an unaware Bruce accidentally saved Tommy's mother's life by asking his father to operate on her. Tommy who tried to kill his parents loathed this and developed a hate boner for Bruce Wayne.

Jim Lee's art is spectacular as usual, so is the colouring.

But I personally do prefer Tim Sale's style on the Long Halloween.

The couloring especially.

It felt more expressive, they used flatter and more tonally dull colours to create an aesthetic, used light and dark imagery so cinematically, it was like they wanted to create art instead of creating something that was flashy and looked cool. No hate to the colourist who did Hush but I just feel like it could have been more interesting is all.

Tim's art style was also extravagant, each character looked like a cartoon but the grounded colour scheme really brings the reality aspect back to it and it just feels... Right.

It differs from Hush a lot but the monologue in Hush makes sense in context. It's not written as diary entries but instead it's literally batman's every thought, it can often waffle and drift into childhood memories at random times.

I like both but I prefer the diary entries used in The Long Halloween over Hush.

Both had a great mystery and kept me guessing who the antagonist would be but Hush just felt like it was missing something.

It took me a while to figure out but it's Gordon. Hush had Catwoman, Robin and Superman as the supporting cast but they don't feel as strong or as interesting of a trio as Batman, Harvey and Jim. Not only are the cast of Hush less charismatic but they also feel less connected to the plot and Batman mythos compared to Jordan and Harvey.

The endings for both were brilliant tho, it's actually really difficult to choose which one I like. The mystery is uncovered but nobody wins. To put it bluntly overall the two stories have quite a lot in common but The Long Halloween takes the cake.

Tl;Dr:

The Long Halloween - 9/10

Hush - 7/10

#character analysis #comics #marvel #batman #dc comics #dark knight trilogy #the batman #superhero #batfam #review #writing #critique #bruce wayne #jim lee

[fandomtrashhh]

How Stucky was Queer Coded

A deep, detailed look at how Steve x Bucky had queer subtext and coding in the MCU movies.

Word Count: 9k+

Trigger Warning: Cussing, I mention the normal stuff that comes with action movies like mentioning torture, brainwash, mind control, violence, character deaths

I want to say that I AM NOT smart enough to come up with all of this by myself. Most of this article is based off of the Tik Toks made by "daniellesilverstone." That's where I get most of my examples and sources from. If you have Tik Tok, give them a follow! You can also follow her on Instagram with the same name and YouTube under the same name.

I used some information from the account Char on Twitter: https://twitter.com/charcubed/status/1085731788897570817

This is an article of someone explaining why Cap should have had a boyfriend:

Why Marvel Should Give Captain America a Boyfriend - HubPages

Other than that, the rest of the stuff I added was from common knowledge facts online like memes that you can find anywhere, there's no source for those.

Warning! Spoilers for Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Falcon and The Winter Soldier, and What If...?. I cover a lot of content, so if you haven't seen these and plan to, read this after you've seen them.

Before I begin, let me just say that there's a difference between queer coding and queer baiting. Queer coding is when a character is coded but isn't able to be queer because of homophobia. A lot of queer coding is through villains and relationships. In a relationship sense, that's when the characters are written as romantic parallels to each other and are coded. It could be on purpose or accidental. It's not always harmful, but it can be. In the MCU, Steve and Bucky are queer coded, and so are Carol and Maria. So queer coding is subtext, but isn't allowed to be confirmed. Queer baiting is used as a marketing ploy and is on purpose. An example is when there was a scene in Falcon and The Winter Soldier when it was hinted that Bucky was queer (I'll discuss that later) and the people working on the show said "Just wait and see" and literally nothing happened. Stucky wasn't used as a way to bait people, so it's coding. Now that I got that out of the way, let's start! I hope you enjoy this 29 page essay!

                                                    Introduction

The ship "Stucky" is the romantic pairing between Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The duo are very close and share a very strong bond, and while many people believe it to be only platonic, there is strong evidence that supports it could've been way more than that.

                                           Who the Hell is Bucky?

Did you understand that reference? Anyways, Bucky has been Steve Rogers's (aka Captain America's) best friend since childhood. He protected Steve against bullies and took care of him. In the comics, his character was actually very different. The comics takes inspiration from Bucky Barnes and a character called Arnie Roth. Bucky in the comics is Captain America's sidekick, an orphaned teenager who admires Captain America. It's a similar dynamic to Batman and Robin. While Bucky's name and storyline is the same as in the comics (as in he is presumed dead but is brainwashed by Hydra for decades and becomes the Winter Soldier) his character role and personality is mainly based off of Arnie Roth. Arnie Roth was Steve's childhood best friend who looked out for and protected Steve and fought off bullies for him. When he was a teenager, he flirted with and dated a lot of girls. All of this seems quite like Bucky in the MCU, right? So what's my point? Well, Arnie was gay (and Jewish! No Jewish erasure here). He was trying to overcompensate. If so much of Bucky's personality and role in Steve's life was based off of Arnie, is it really a stretch to say that Bucky is possibly also gay or bisexual? (Not to mention in some recent comics, both Natasha (Black Widow) and Bucky admitted to having a crush on Steve. If you don't believe me, look it up.)

There are also moments in the newer comics (where Steve and Bucky are the same age) that seem pretty gay, like in Planet Hulk, or when actual comic characters were shipping them. I don't usually take the comics into consideration though, because Bucky was a teenager in the earlier comics so I obviously don't ship them then.

Here's an article about Arnie:

Captain America May Never Have A Boyfriend, But He's Long Had A Gay Best Friend

Anyways, onto the MCU!

                                                      Their Home

It's never explicitly stated in the movies, but it's hinted that Steve and Bucky lived together during the 30's and 40's (the flashback scene in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.) I mean, to be fair, that's pretty normal, right? Friends live together all the time. It makes even more sense because Steve was an orphan by the time he was 18, and due to his health issues he was probably unable to work. It was also during the Great Depression, so things were really difficult. Just wait. There's a piece of concept art that was made for what Steve's apartment looked like, and it was made by people who worked for the MCU. In the picture, a tall dark haired man is standing at the sink, which is presumably Bucky. That's still fine, right? That is until you realize there's one bed. Yup. They lived in a very small apartment, the only room that isn't visible is the room that has a toilet in it. They had one bed in their apartment. There was no couch. Listen, I get that they were really close friends, but even really close friends, especially adult men, don't sleep in the same bed every night unless they were in a relationship.

That's not all. Steve and Bucky lived in Brooklyn, New York, which was known to be a very queer area back when Steve and Bucky lived there that can be traced back to the 1850's. It was one of two underground queer cities. And actually, Coney Island, which Steve and Bucky talked about going to, had gay bath houses. Not only did they live in a queer city, they lived in a queer neighborhood. The exact place they lived according to Marvel Studios themselves was in a neighborhood that was in the middle of bar/gay hangouts. Someone mapped out the entire area they lived in in detail and everything surrounding during the 1930's/40's, and it was very queer. (Sadly, the post was taken down, but you get the idea.)

I've only talked about Bucky's character and where they lived so far, and I already have a lot of proof. Just wait, I have a LOT more.

                                                          Punk

In the beginning of the movie, Steve and Bucky go on a date with 2 women. I'm not even going to go into detail about the fact that Bucky always insisted on going on a "double date" with Steve, or that he never understood why no one wanted to date Steve, or that Bucky spent more time focusing on Steve during the date than his actual date. Anyways, Steve sneaks off to try and enlist in the army again and Bucky finds him. They have a whole conversation where Bucky is very protective of Steve and very insistent that he doesn't join the army. Fast forward, and Steve and Bucky are saying bye to each other. Bucky says "Don't do anything stupid 'til I get back." Steve replies, "How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you." They hug each other, and Bucky calls Steve a punk.

You would think it's normal to call someone a punk, because the way we use it now is WAY different to how it was used in the 1940's.

The word "punk" can be traced back to Shakespeare, and during that time it meant a female prostitute. So it's really no surprise what the word was used for after that.

"Punk" meant "twink." Bucky called Steve a twink. I mean, Steve was the younger and smaller one of the both of them, so I guess it adds up.

                                                   The Bar Scene

This scene. This whole scene right here. This would be enough proof to prove my point. This scene in Captain America: The First Avenger that starts at 1:14:00 is the most queer coded scene in any of the MCU movies for multiple reasons. Let me dive deeper.

First, let's talk about the dialogue. Steve asks Bucky if he's "Willing to follow Captain America into the jaws of death." Bucky says, "Hell no. But that little guy from Brooklyn who was too dumb not to run away from a fight, I'm following him." I don't know about you, but that sounds romantic. If you watch the look on Bucky's face as he's saying it, I can't even describe it. Then Steve looks at him intensely.

Next gay line. They're talking about Steve's tight skinned Captain America costume. Bucky says, "But you're keeping the outfit, right?" He made the first America's ass joke. Why would Bucky say that? Gay jokes were not a thing back in the 40's. You could be killed for saying that if the wrong person overheard you. So it wasn't just a joke. In the original script for the movie, Steve replies with "Don't get your hopes up." Um??? Why would Bucky get his hopes up??? Again, gay jokes were NOT a thing then. And he wasn't drunk, because at this point Bucky had gotten the serum, and people with the super serum can't get drunk.

Just wait, this scene gets GAYER.

So, music is really important in movies. It sets the tone for certain scenes, and lyrics most times have purpose to what is going on in the story. Marvel is no exception. So, with that being said, the song playing in the background of this scene is called "Tavern in the Town." It was written in the 1880's. You want to know what it's about?

It was written about a man who was flirting with another woman. Yes, the song was originally sang by a woman who was talking about her boyfriend (as in the boyfriend was the one flirting with another woman), but in many of the versions afterwards, including the one played in the movie, it's sang by a man. The singers and the MCU writers could've changed gender pronouns, but they didn't. Making the song in this context gay.

Why would Marvel use that specific song if they weren't trying to tell us something? They could've used any song in the world for this scene, so why did they choose that one? One that describes the situation perfectly? Peggy Carter, Steve's canon love interest, is a dark haired woman. And wait. It STILL gets gayer.

The song lyrics match up with what is going on in the scene. The song starts with "There is a tavern in the town, in the town. There my true love sits him down, sits him down." The song is basically saying that the 2 lovers are sitting down in a tavern, and Bucky and Steve sit down in a bar, which is similar to a tavern. The next lyrics say "And drinks his wine 'mid laughter free. And never, never thinks of me, thinks of me." In this scene, Steve is drinking and he is thinking about his new life, which Bucky is barely a part of. The next lyrics basically talk about how even the best of friends must part but don't grieve me, which symbolizes that they'll be separated soon because Steve thinks Bucky dies. The next part goes "adieu, adieu" (I'll skip a couple lines) and then "I can no longer stay with you, stay with you," as Peggy walks in. I don't think I need to explain what that means. When Bucky and Steve stand up as Peggy approaches them, Bucky's jaw is clenched and his fists are balled. What other reason besides jealousy or hate would make someone react like that?

As Steve and Peggy are talking, the song talks about the lover actually leaving for a woman. It even says that they go out on a Friday, which is when Steve and Peggy said they would go dancing right before Steve crashed the plane into the ocean. Look at Bucky's face as they're talking. He's looking at Steve and he looks uncomfortable, unhappy when he realizes how Steve feels about Peggy.

Now, the GAYEST part of the scene. As the music gets louder for this one line and goes, "He left me for a damsel dark, damsel dark," the camera focuses on Bucky's face and he looks at Steve and then looks down. He looks upset. Then he tries to flirt with her, but if you watch his facial expressions and his body language and his voice, he isn't very convincing. It's more likely he's trying to direct the conversation towards himself so she isn't focusing on Steve, like when Peggy says she likes to dance he cuts in and says "So what are we waiting for?" But again, the way he's doesn't sound like he actually is trying to flirt with her because he wants to date her, it's because he doesn't want Peggy and Steve to date so he's desperately trying to end the conversation.

Some people might say that this scene is saying that Bucky is jealous that Steve is getting the girl for once, but that doesn't fit with his personality. It showed in the beginning that he was trying to get girls for Steve. He wanted Steve to be happy. He wouldn't be upset if Steve finally found someone. He just didn't realize it would happen so soon. So the only explanation? Now that Steve actually has a chance with someone, Bucky is jealous because he wants Steve.

After Peggy walks away, after he's frowning after her, Bucky says "I'm invisible." He's trying to play it off like he's invisible to Peggy, but by the way he's looking at Steve with a hurt expression, then looking away, it's really the opposite. He can't even look Steve in the fucking eyes. Then the lyrics repeat "Fare thee well for I must leave thee. Do not let the parting grieve thee. And remember that the best of friends must part, must part." Bucky realizes he's nothing compared to Peggy. Then the song ends. Interesting that they decided to end the song there. The rest of the song basically just talks about being in love with someone who is in love with someone else.

I want to point out real quick that the way he addresses Peggy in this scene is very different to how he addresses other women in the MCU, especially in this movie. Yes he's a flirt (like I said, a cover) but he's also polite and kind towards women. That's not the case with Peggy. It doesn't seem like he likes her, and there is no other reason why he wouldn't like someone as amazing as Peggy unless it was because he was jealous.

So. That's what I call The Bar Scene. This scene is clearly angst. This movie came out in 2011, over 10 years ago now, and there STILL isn't a heterosexual explanation for it. I sometimes have to remind myself that this scene is actually real.

Link to The Bar Scene, watch the words closely and watch Bucky's expressions and the way they look at each other! Captain America: The First Avenger Bar Scene Stucky Easter Egg -- There is a Tavern in the Town

Here's some more detail about that scene if you want it:

Homoerotic Subtext from the Bar Scene in CATFA - vulcansmirk - Captain America (Movies) [Archive of Our Own]

                                               Facial Expressions

Before I get onto the next specific piece of evidence, let me point out the way they look at each other. ESPECIALLY the way Bucky looks at Steve. He looks at him like Steve is his whole world. I'm sorry, I don't look at my friends like that. If you look at the way Sebastian Stan (the actor for Bucky) and Chris Evans (the actor for Steve) look at their love interests in both the MCU and other things they have acted in, it's practically the same look.

Look at the way Bucky looks at Steve when they are sitting at the bar. Or when Steve and Peggy are talking right after Steve gets back from saving all those people from Hydra. In that scene specifically, when Steve is looking at Bucky, Bucky smiles. As soon as Steve looks away, his face falls as he's looking at Steve and Peggy talking. That's TWO scenes where Bucky looks jealous that Steve is talking to Peggy.

Almost every time, if not every time that Bucky smiles in any of the movies (not including the show) he smiles for and at Steve.

There are many more examples of the way they look at each other, and I could go on about it all day. Instead, let me get to my next topic.

                                             The Apartment Scene

In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we have another scene that is queer coded through the music. The scene where Steve is in his apartment and Nick Fury gets shot by the Winter Soldier (aka mind controlled Bucky.) The song playing in the background as Steve walks into the apartment is "It's Been a Long, Long Time." Yes, I know we all have feelings about this song. This was the song used for Steve and Peggy (Steggy) at the end of Avengers: Endgame. But it was used for Stucky first, way before it was used for Steggy.

The song "It's Been a Long, Long Time," is a woman singing about seeing her husband after he comes back from war. In the movie, this is the scene where Bucky and Steve interact for the first time since 1945, when they were in the war together, so it really matches up. They could've used any reunion-like song, why did it have to be such an overly romantic one, which literally says "kiss me once then kiss me twice then kiss me once again?" If you continue the song past the point where it cuts off, it goes really well with the scene, and at the end Steve is looking out over the city while he stands on the roof as the music rises. Yeah, that's romantic. So when they made that song a Steggy song, they were telling us that song was always supposed to be used romantically. That's now 2 romantic songs that are used for Steve and Bucky.

                                           'Til the End of the Line

Any MCU fan knows this famous line. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, there's a flashback to the year 1936, right after Steve and Bucky went to Steve's mom's funeral. Bucky was telling Steve that he could live with him, but Steve was saying he could get by on his own. Then Bucky says, "The thing is, you don't have to. I'm with you to the end of the line, pal."

I don't know about you, but to me that sounds like "til death do us part." Aka, a wedding vow.

In Spanish, if you translate it, it says, "Because I'm with you until the end." That's even gayer!

Later in the movie, Steve says it as a mind controlled Bucky is beating him up, almost killing him, and it was enough to break through Bucky's brainwashing. That's how important that phrase meant to each other.

Which brings me to my next piece of evidence.

                                                Bucky's Brainwash

Bucky constantly got his memory wiped and was mind controlled and conditioned during his 70 years of being used as a weapon for Hydra. No semblance of his past life ever broke through that. His orders to kill people went smoothly and he was a very deadly weapon. That is, until he was ordered to kill Steve. All Bucky had to do was see Steve's face and hear Steve say his name for the brainwash and mind control to start to break.

Even when he was sent to kill Howard and Maria Stark, he didn't show any sign of recognition. Bucky and Howard were friends, and Howard said "Sergeant Barnes?" right before Bucky killed him. There was just nothing there. Bucky just didn't recognize him.

So when Bucky lifted up his gun to fire at Steve after he started to recognize him, there was a look of fear and confusion on his face and in his eyes. Already all of that mind control is breaking.

When Bucky gets back to the Hydra base, he's very upset and he asks who the man on the bridge was. His captors try to lie to him about it, but Bucky just keeps saying "I knew him." So they wiped his memory again and tortured him. It was a heartbreaking scene that always makes me cry.

Not long later, Hydra sent Bucky to go kill Steve again. Steve was trying to convince Bucky that he knew him, and that his name was James Buchanan Barnes and that Steve knew him his whole life. Bucky tried denying it and punched him and shouted "You're my mission!"

That's when Steve said, "Then finish it. 'Cause I'm with you to the end of the line." After that, Bucky's brainwash breaks AGAIN, and that's when Steve falls off the Helicarrier that they're on in the air, and Steve falls into the water. Bucky didn't even have his memories at this point, he just felt that he needed to save Steve, so that's what he did. Bucky pulled Steve out of the water and made sure he was breathing before he left. Honestly, that whole scene felt romantic for me, with the dramatic music and the slow motion and the trust that Steve had for Bucky. It was very beautifully written and every time I watch it I always feel blown away.

                                    Character Roles & Movie Details

All three Captain America movies were about Steve and Bucky's devotion to each other. The movies constantly showed us that Steve would do anything for Bucky and Bucky would do anything for Steve. All 3 of Steve's movies were about him trying to save Bucky.

It feels like fate that these two ended up in the 21st century. Like they got a second chance.

Let me start with Captain America: The First Avenger. In this movie, Steve starts out in the "damsel in distress" role, because Bucky is always protecting and saving him. After Steve gets the serum, the roles switch, and Bucky becomes Steve's damsel in distress.

The first thing that Steve did as Captain America was to save Bucky from Hydra (the FIRST time Bucky was captured by Hydra.) He literally picked up the shield to save Bucky. As soon as he found out where Bucky was, he stormed the base all by himself just because there was a chance that Bucky MIGHT be alive. He had no idea if he was. That reminds me of in movies when the main character saves the love interest, even if it gets them killed, they still do it.

Not just that, but earlier in the movie, before Bucky was captured, Steve said, "I don't want to kill anyone." After Bucky was captured, he said, "I'm not gonna stop until all of Hydra are dead or captured." This is when he talks about saving Bucky. That's called character inconsistency. That usually only happens in a story when a love interest is in danger.

Later, Bucky and Steve refused to leave a burning building without each other. When Steve told Bucky to leave without him, to save himself, Bucky yelled, "No, not without you!" That was hands down the most passionate and crazed Bucky had ever been about something. He had never been more serious about something in his over 10 year span of him being in the MCU. He would rather die than leave without Steve. Every time I watch that scene I can feel how frantic, how sure he is about that statement. It's one of my favorite Bucky lines. Damn, Sebastian Stan is an amazing actor.

Later in the movie, when Bucky seemingly died, that was Steve's motivator to stop Hydra once and for all. Bucky's "death" was what led Steve to being able to take down Hydra.

Let's not forget that Steve could've probably jumped off the plane. In a deleted scene for Avengers: Endgame, Rhodey asked why Steve had to crash the plane. Steve tells him there were bombs on board. Rhodey then asked him why he didn't jump off, and Steve didn't reply. Steve could have jumped off, but Bucky had "died" 3 days before, and Steve didn't want to live a life without him.

So basically, in The First Avenger, Steve "became" Captain America and picked up the shield for Bucky, and Bucky's death was what motivated him to take down Hydra. That usually is the role of the love interest.

Now, Captain America: The Winter Soldier. That one was basically an act of true love's kiss.

First off, foreshadowing is added a lot in stories. Marvel is no exception, there's many instances of foreshadowing in the MCU. Including a scene between Natasha and Steve not long before Steve meets up with Bucky. The two of them are talking about dating and the like, and Natasha says, "Nobody special then?" And Steve responds with "Believe it or not, it's kind of hard to find someone with shared life experience." Umm? I wonder? It's not like there's anybody who was born in the early 20th century who fought in World War II and who didn't age for decades only to wake up in the 21st century. Besides James Buchanan Barnes, of course. The fact that they used the foreshadowing in a romantic context was so unnecessary, they could have foreshadowed Bucky's appearance in so many other ways. There's no other explanation for this line besides it foreshadowing Bucky.

When Steve realized that The Winter Soldier was Bucky, he dropped his shield and refused to fight him. A well trained assassin who could kill him in a heartbeat. Then there was the whole Bucky remembering him, but I already discussed it.

Steve was in so much shock that he let himself get arrested. He then blamed himself for what happened to Bucky even though there was nothing he could've done. He said, "Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky."

Then back to the fight on the helicarrier. Steve risks his life for Bucky just like he did in The First Avenger. Steve drops his shield in this scene because he doesn't want to hurt him, which contrasts picking up the shield for Bucky in The First Avenger. He tells Bucky TO KILL HIM. Then Bucky says "You're my mission." Then Steve says "Then finish it. Cause I'm with you to the end of the line." He gave Bucky permission to kill him, he knew there was a chance that he couldn't break through Bucky's brainwashing, but he still took that chance. He loved him so much that he gave him permission to kill him. He'd rather die by his hand than live without him.

Then Steve breaks Bucky's brainwashing, which is like the act of true love. It's actually been confirmed that the only reason the brainwashing broke was because of his memories of Steve.

The closing scene of the movie is Steve looking at Bucky's file, which mirrors Peggy looking at Steve's file at the end of The First Avenger. Which, again. Peggy is Steve's canon love interest. They parallel a canon love interest with a "friendship."

Then, there's 2 years between Winter Soldier and Civil War. In those 2 years, Steve had been actively trying to find Bucky. 2 YEARS. During that time, Bucky was trying to lay low in places like Romania (which is a nod to Sebastian Stan who lived in Romania until he was 8) and trying to remember things.

Next, I'll talk about Captain America: Civil War. Oh, boy. That whole movie was incredibly gay. Even Sebastian Stan, who plays Bucky, admits as much. He said, "Look, maybe it was a little bit Brokeback Mountain at times, I mean I'll admit, it was a little I won't quit you."

Like. You know something is gay if one of the main cast members even admits as much.

There's quite a bit to this movie, but I'm only going to talk about the things pertaining to Steve and Bucky.

In the movie, Bucky is accused of bombing a building that was resposnible for killing and injuring many people. The whole world is looking for Bucky and trying to kill him. The only person that believes he didn't do it and tries to help him is Steve, and Steve gets some of his friends to help.

At one point, a character who previously appeared in Captain America: The Winter Soldier showed up in Civil War. His name was Rumlow. When he went up against Steve, he started talking about Bucky. (Rumlow was a part of Hydra therefore he worked with The Winter Soldier.) He said "You know, he knew you. Your pal, your buddy, your Bucky." He says "your Bucky" which is used possessively, like Bucky is Steve's. Yeah, that sounds romantic. You don't use that for platonic relationships. The mention of Bucky distracted Steve from his mission so much that it allowed Rumlow to detonate a bomb which killed people. Later, Steve was talking to Wanda and said, "Rumlow said 'Bucky,' and all of a sudden I was a 16 year old kid again in Brooklyn."

The "your pal, your buddy" was probably added in there so it wouldn't just be "your Bucky" which sounds ever gayer.

One of Bucky's trigger words to become the Winter Soldier is seventeen, and all the words are strongly theorized to have meaning in Bucky's life. Bucky is a year older than Steve, so what the hell happened when they were 16 and 17? (This one is mostly a joke and probably just a coincidence, though.)

Another thing. When Steve goes to Bucky's apartment in Romania to rescue him from people who are trying to kill him, we see that he has a notebook. In that notebook there's a big picture of Steve. Bucky had been using that journal to remember Steve again. He's relying on his memory and trying to get his memories back by focusing on Steve. And like....c'mon. You have a huge picture (that's not just a picture but a drawing) of "your best friend" on the first page of your journal? That's kinda gay, my dude.

Steve goes against 117 countries for Bucky. He fought the entire government for Bucky. He becomes an international fugitive for him. He gets arrested for him. He risks his life for Bucky AGAIN in this movie and some of his friends' lives. His friends actually end up in a high security prison because of it. He risks a friend's career for him. When Bucky gets mind controlled again, Steve risks his life AGAIN. He stops a helicopter for him. In this movie, Steve literally gives up absolutely everything for Bucky. He gives up the shield AGAIN for him, proving that Bucky is worth more than being Captain America. This whole movie was about Steve trying to protect Bucky and showing the lengths that he would go for him.

So yeah. The lesson is everything goes to shit when Bucky is taken from Steve in any of the movies.

Not to mention the scene where Bucky loses his metal arm and is bleeding and broken on the ground and can't do anything but still tries the best he can to get Tony away from hurting Steve, anything to help Steve even though Bucky can barely move.

In the scenes they fight together, they're immediately in sync, even though they hadn't fought side by side since 1945, that's how comfortable they are with each other. Like the scene where Steve instantly covers Bucky with his shield, no hesitation. Only Steve's head is covered, and Bucky has his arm on Steve's back. That's just one example!

Let's talk Sharon Carter: she was Steve's love interest in Civil War. I use the term love interest loosely. They got less than 10 minutes of screen time together in this movie and less than 10 minutes of screen time in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. They kissed once. Their "relationship" was very underdeveloped, and was probably just thrown in there so that it wouldn't seem like Bucky was the love interest. Steve x Sharon is probably one of the worst romantic relationships in the entire MCU, whether you ship Stucky or not. Both scenes they are in together gets interrupted by Bucky. (There are even scenes where he interrupts Steve and Peggy moments, and even scenes where Peggy interrupts Steve and Bucky moments! That all seems romantic to me.) Also, the less Peggy that's in each Captain America movie the more Bucky there is. Just something worth pointing out.

Another thing is that there is a scene with Sharon and Steve talking in front of an elevator (one of the ones that was interrupted by Bucky) and it was honestly kind of weird and there was no passion. This contrasts a scene later in the film where Steve and Bucky are actually in an elevator, and they're looking at each other and that scene seems pretty passionate. No words and no interruptions. Not really that groundbreaking of a piece of evidence, but I thought it was interesting.

So yeah, she exists to throw off everything that's going on with Steve and Bucky. Just by the scenes she and Steve share, things feel awkward and whatever was going on between them wasn't written to be a long term relationship for him, not like with Peggy. And simply, their little fling doesn't work because of Bucky.

Another little music fact: one of the songs they credited in Civil War was a song called "Bonnie & Clyde." Bonnie and Clyde were 2 lovers who were on the run from the law...hmmm....what were Steve and Bucky doing that whole movie? I mean, there were no other 2 characters who were romantically involved that were on the run together.

Here's the scene I mentioned above where Steve and Bucky are in an elevator together and they're facing each other and staring at each other. I could really feel the tension between them in that scene. If they were "like brothers" wouldn't they stand more like how Loki and Thor stand next to each other in an elevator? I don't know, I just wanted to add that.

If you think about Peggy's character and the role she has in Steve's life, it's way less than Bucky. When Bucky "died," Steve tried to get drunk and he was crying for hours and he was ready to kill anyone, then he went into the ice 3 days later so he didn't even have a proper amount of time to accept he was gone and start the mourning process, so who knows how it would've been. When Peggy died, he went to her funeral and cried a little and stuff and was sad, but he kissed her niece less than a week later. If she was his true love then she would be more important to his story. I'm sorry, did Steve infiltrate a Hydra base with nothing but props for Peggy? Did Steve give Peggy permission to kill him? No, he did not. That was Bucky.

Bucky truly is Steve's only weakness. Not even Peggy is his weakness, it's always been Bucky. He would go to the ends of the Earth to save him from harm. Bucky was the most important person in Steve's life. His priorities always changed to him, even giving up his new family with the Avengers to keep him safe. He put Bucky ahead of everything else even when it wasn't the right thing to do. He was always blindsighted by Bucky. This is another character inconsistency because Captain America always stood for what is right, except when it came to Bucky. Being Captain America was really important to Steve, but he went against everything Captain America stood for - multiple times - for Bucky.

Bucky always insisted on being called "Bucky" because Steve called him Bucky. I thought that was cute.

If you try to argue that "they were like brothers," I'm sorry, you're wrong. Loki and Thor are brothers. Peter and Ned are like brothers. Even Sam and Bucky are like brothers. I don't know any brothers or best friends with such a deep emotional bond that one sentence would be able to break through 70 years of torture and brainwash and mind control.

All in all, they were written as romantic parallels to each other. All 3 movies were about their devotion to each other. Their stories can't even exist without each other. Their motivations depend on each other and they are each other's purposes.

                                                Behind the Scenes

A lot of people who worked on these movies literally called Steve and Bucky a love story.

Joe Russo, one of the directors, called it a love story. Then he later clarified that it was between brothers, but why would you call a story about brothers a love story? You would call that a family story. Joe also said that "Steve and Bucky's arc follows the same arc that a love story would follow."

Markus and McFeely said they were soulmates. Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely wrote all 3 Captain America scripts.

Chris Evans said, "It's a love story. You can take it however you wanna take it, but the fact is, it's a love story." This was after he walked himself in circles trying to tell people it wasn't romantic.

Samuel L. Jackson, who plays Nick Fury, said, "He's the first LBGT Captain America," after an interviewer asked Chris Evans, "Why do you feel like Captain America is the perfect hero for our times?"

Kevin Feige, who is in charge of the MCU, wore an ACTUAL Stucky sweatshirt.

Then we have Mark Millar. He's an important person. He wrote the Civil War comics that Civil War the movie was based on. He's literally a Stucky shipper. A Stucky shipper who wrote comics that the MCU used in their movies.

One thing he tweeted was "In a movie with Spider-Man & Ant-Man, Cap's few seconds kissing a girl was STILL the least-convincing moment in Civil War :) #TeamStucky."

In another tweet, he said, "#NationalBoyfriendDay" with a picture of Steve and Bucky.

A fan got to meet Sebastian Stan a few years ago and she had him sign a picture with Cap and Bucky on it. He signed "#PowerCouple" and he told her, "At least I'm on top." (In the picture Bucky is above Steve.) Even Bucky's actor supports the ship! (Plus there's the whole BrokeBack Mountain thing he said.)

In an interview a few years ago, the interviewer asked "Do you think Falcon is a contender as Cap's greatest love?"

Anthony Mackie, who plays Sam Wilson aka The Falcon who is one of Steve's good friends, said, "No, I'll be a contender for getting rid of Bucky."

A different interviewer said, "But you already have a romantic B story with Cap and Bucky, right?" (Cue in the screams and cheers.)

"We sure do." Said one of the Russo brothers. And the other said "We still do, we still do."

The interviewer went on to ask, "Did you ever have to dial down the sexual tension on set?"

One Russo said "Why should we?"

LIKE WHAT THE FUCK, MAN.

Chris Evans said at a Comic Con one year that Bucky is Steve's home, then realized what he said and backtracked.

A whole crowd chanted "Bucky" when Chris Evans was talking about his love interest Peggy, including 3 other MCU actors. (Chris Hemsworth who plays Thor, Jeremy Renner who plays Hawkeye, and Paul Rudd who plays Ant-Man.) Are Thor, Clint, and Scott Stucky shippers confirmed? 🤨

If you go online, TONS of articles talk about the relationship between Steve and Bucky. There are articles talking about why Bucky would've been better as Steve's love interest, articles about how close they are. Then there's stuff like this. "While Peggy was his actual love interest, Steve's love for Bucky was such that they can be considered each other's true loves." Famous sites like "TIME" and "BBC Three" even talked about Stucky!

In 2016, Marvel UK & Ireland said "The Winter Soldier....#baein3words" with a picture of Steve and Bucky.

In 2016, the hashtag "givecaptainamericaaboyfriend" was trending WORLDWIDE. The most popular choice for Steve was Bucky. Stucky is the most popular MCU ship in the fandom. They were in the top 5 ao3 ships for multiple years with over 50,000 fanfictions and are on the top 5 popular ao3 fanfictions of all time starting in 2017 and still holding in 2021! That's a lot of shippers!

Even though some of these interviews were jokes, they were jokes made from realizing that there is a deep bond between Steve and Bucky. Even if they are joking about romance it's still showing that they might see a little bit of what I see, or else they wouldn't be joking about it. And if there are actual articles by popular sites like ScreenRant about them, that means there's definitely something going on there.

The other ones who were serious, why did they keep backtracking? They were basically the people who were like "Oh yeah, they're soulmates, but no homo lmao." Or like historians who found out that they lived together in a one bedroom house and said they were "the best of friends."

I think the reason they had to be careful when they were talking about Steve and Bucky is because they didn't want to get in trouble with the higher ups.

                                                        What If....?

In the Marvel show "What If....?" Episode 1, "Agent Carter," there is surprisingly a lot of Stucky content. But not in the way that you think. It actually has to do with the parallels between Steve and Peggy moments in the show and Steve and Bucky moments in the MCU. Let me break it down.

So if you haven't watched What If, it's basically what the title says, what if something different happened in the MCU. Episode 1 is if Peggy got the super serum instead of Steve.

First parallel, Steve says "Let's hear it for Captain Carter!" When he's cheering on Peggy for saving a whole bunch of people. Just like when Bucky says "Let's hear it for Captain America!" In The First Avenger when he was cheering on Steve when HE saved a bunch of people.

Or when Steve literally fell off a train, JUST like Bucky did. The same train.

Then, Peggy's motivation to end Hydra was because she thought Steve was dead, just like when Steve thought Bucky died, he was motivated to stop Hydra. It was in the same room and everything.

And the fact that there was even a bar scene for Steve and Peggy in What If.

Let's not forget the fact that there was a scene when Peggy and Steve were talking, and Steve said to Peggy "In a way, the outside finally matches the inside." That's literally a direct quote from a popular Stucky fanfiction.

Basically, what these scenes were telling us was that they were romantic, because Steve and Peggy were romantically involved in the movies and in the show. So by telling us the scenes were romantic in the show, they were telling us they were always supposed to be romantic.

Like, why would you parallel 2 characters who were actually romantically involved with 2 people who are "just friends?" It doesn't make sense.

                                                    Miscellaneous

Before I go, let me point out a couple things that couldn't quite fit in any of the other categories. For one, in Avengers: Infinity War, the first scene we see with Bucky, his hair is all greasy and he looks dirty from being out on the farm. Shuri tells him that Steve will be coming soon, and the next time we see Bucky, he's all clean and his hair is very clean and fluffy and pretty and he looks so happy to see Steve even though it was confirmed that Steve visited him multiple times when Bucky was in Wakanda.

In Avengers: Endgame, Steve has to fight a past version of himself. They're having a pretty intense fight and matching each other in strength (which makes sense, they're the same person) and at one point 2012 Steve had current Steve (2023) in a chokehold. Do you know how he gets away? Current Steve says "Bucky is alive." And 2012 Steve loosened his grip on 2023 Steve long enough for him to get away. Out of everything he could have told him, he said that, because he thought that would be the most likely way to get him to stop. Again, Bucky is his main weakness, if not his only weakness.

When Bucky turned to dust, his last words were "Steve...?" Even when he was dying, his first instinct was to address him, in his final moments, Bucky looked at Steve for comfort and because he was all that mattered. I imagine his final thoughts were confusion about what was happening and to show Steve, but ultimately, as he was fading away, he probably thought "It's okay. Steve is okay and that's all that matters." Jeez, that's making me emotional just writing that! Then Steve goes over and touches his ashes as he looks at what Bucky had been reduced to in shock and horror, defeat and confusion.

So this one doesn't have anything to do with Stucky, but this is some proof that Bucky is queer. In the show he recently was in, "The Falcon and The Winter Soldier," there was a scene where Bucky went on an unsuccessful date with a woman who worked at the place he went to eat sometimes. When they're on the date, they're talking about online dating. Before I tell you what Bucky said, let me explain something. On dating apps, it's quite popular to have a man pose with a tiger for his profile picture. It's a guy thing specifically, though. Bucky says he's seen some weird pictures on dating apps, saying, "I mean, tiger photos? Half the time, I don't even know what I'm looking at. It's a lot." This is weird because dating apps show gender preferences.

The director of the show tried to give some half- assed excuse for it by saying that Bucky just thought it was weird and reminding us that he's 106 and finds modern technology confusing. But that still doesn't explain why he was seeing tiger photos in the first place? It just doesn't add up. There's no explanation.

Just like how Wanda was the only one able to destroy the mind stone out of Vision's head (she had to kill the love of her life for the good of the universe, it was sad), Steve and Bucky are equals and only Steve can get through to Bucky.

I'm just going to put this one out there. If one of them was a girl (especially Bucky) it would've been canon by now. Quick tip: if you ever need to figure out whether something is queer coded or queer baited, just imagine it as a straight relationship. Now think of Bucky and Steve being in a straight relationship. It would probably be considered the greatest love story of the MCU. Even if it wasn't made canon, there would be so many more people shipping it. They would take one look at the way they look at each other and say "Omgs they're so cute together!" I'm just giving you the facts here. So here's all the evidence laid out for everyone to see. We're not making this up.

If you're thinking "Steve loved Peggy, he went to the past and had a happy ending with her!" then let me just tell you that Steve's ending in Endgame was wrong and extremely out of character, it doesn't matter if you're a Stucky shipper or not. Steve's entire arc in the MCU was saving Bucky no matter the cost, he showed time and time again that Bucky was the most important person in his life, and he just recently got Bucky back for good, he would never leave him. At that point, Bucky was very broken and he needed help healing. Steve was the only person in Bucky's life, he wouldn't just abandon him for a woman he kissed once. It doesn't make sense for his character. Steve would do anything for Bucky, he never abandoned him throughout everything that happened, he never left Bucky's side.

A constant theme throughout the MCU movies for Steve was moving on. His character development was to move on from the past. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Steve said that he was home. (This was after he found out Bucky was alive, by the way. Just pointing that out.) In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, old Peggy told him that "The world has changed and none of us can go back. All we can do is our best and sometimes the best we can do is to start over." That was the main point his movies were making after he woke up from the ice. That was his development. Endgame ruined that.

Not only did it affect poor Bucky's life, but Peggy's, too. She got married. She had children and grandchildren and she said that she had a happy full life. She moved on from Steve. By going to the past, he erased all of that for her. Erased how her life was supposed to be. He also made Peggy's entire show "Agent Carter" not on the official timeline anymore.

I understand that they needed an ending for Steve because Chris Evans' contract was up, but they could've done that in a way where it wasn't completely out of character and ruined people's character arcs. They could have killed him off in battle (that would've made me very upset, but it still makes more sense.) He could have retired from fighting so he could help Bucky heal (they could regularly mention Steve but not show him while having Bucky still be in the MCU.) So if you use that as an argument against Stucky, I find it irrelevant because it was extremely out of character and was a lazy way to take a character out. They also severely changed his character in Infinity War and Endgame, he was totally out of character in certain parts and they completely sidelined Steve and Bucky's relationship because at that point Marvel knew about Stucky.

And before you go and say Steve and Peggy were soulmates, remember that they were only crushing on each other for two years and kissed one time before Steve went into the ice. They never got to date. I've had a crush on the same person for 3 years without dating them and no one would say I'm in love with them. I love Peggy's character a lot, I think she was really badass and amazing, but she wasn't Steve's soulmate. For all we knew, Steve could have gone to the past to be with her and it could've not worked out between them. I do believe that they could've been in love with each other, and I think they're really cute together, but they needed more time to fall in love.

In a universe where magic and superpowers exist, why is Captain America having a boyfriend the least believable? Why can Wanda be in love with a robot yet Steve can't be in love with someone who he has built up a relationship of many movies with?

So do you want to know what I think is the most plausible explanation for why they have all of this chemistry and coding? I think someone who worked on Cap's movies was a Stucky shipper but had to be subtle about it. It could've been one person, it could've been multiple. But I know for sure some of those things were NOT accidents. You don't accidentally create the greatest superhero love story of all time.

Why Avengers: Endgame's Sidelining of the Steve & Bucky Relationship Matters | Den of Geek

                                                       Afterword

Well, that's all I have for you! I got the inspiration to write this after reading "The Case for R/S" which was explaining how Wolfstar was queer coded. I thought to myself "I don't think anyone has made one for Stucky!" So I wrote this! I've been shipping Stucky since I was 11 when I first joined the MCU fandom. Back then I thought it was cute. When I was 13 I saved some pieces of fanart of them and still thought "they're pretty cute!" Now, at 15, after I found legitimate proof that they were coded, I went from thinking they were cute to obsessing over it!

Wolfstar Article: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/12/10/harry-potter-and-the-secret-gay-love-story/

The Case for R/S: https://web.archive.org/web/20050305162545/http:/www.livejournal.com/users/elwing_alcyone/11152.html

Also, if you ship another ship, I'm not trying to put down your ship. I respect all ships as long as they are legal and appropriate. It's okay if you ship something else. This was made to give more proof to my fellow queers that the iconic Captain America is probably queer like us, and for the people who hate on this ship and try to say it wasn't real and that we're reading too much into it. I'm someone who doesn't read too much into things, and I don't headcanon many fictional characters queer if they aren't confirmed queer. (If you want to know my queer character headcanons, just ask me!) Anyways, like I said, this is made for proof and validation.

If, after reading all of this, you still don't think they were coded, that's okay! While the purpose for this was to convince and inform, it's totally fine if you don't agree with me. Steve is dead now, so we'll never truly know for sure. This is probably all we're going to get. (Unless Bucky admits to being in love with Steve or something, but I doubt that will happen. We can only hope.) I hope you enjoyed the read, anyway!

#stucky #queer coding #queer subtext #marvel #mcu #mcu fandom #steve rogers #bucky barnes #captain america #captain america: the winter soldier #captain america civil war #team cap #stevebucky #steve x bucky #captain america the first avenger #what if...? #what if #shipping #queer ships #i worked way too hard on this

[bayisdying]

If there was any fictional character you could talk/write about for hours what character would that be and why? I'm just really curious-

It depends on the day and conversation but I could definitely go off on tangents for quite a few characters

• Dean Winchester or Gabriel from Supernatural.

• Otis from Chicago Fire, Adam Ruzek from Chicago PD, and Dr. Connor Rhodes from Chicago Med.

• Literally all the characters from Rookie Blue but mainly my girl Andy McNally.

• Jason Todd from DC/Batman.

• Clint Barton and Bucky Barnes from Marvel.

• Dr. Mark Greene from ER

• Dr. Mark Sloane and Dr. Lexie Grey from Grey's Anatomy (THEY DESERVED BETTER OKAY?)

• and finally...

• Literally every single freaking aviator from Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick. They are all very personal to me, the 1986 movie was one of my childhood comfort movies. I wore the VHS of it out and would fall asleep to it close to every night. And TGM was such a beautifully done sequel I actually sobbed in the theaters the first time I saw it (and then saw it 6 more times...)

#ask me literally anything #bayisdying askbox #thanks for the ask! #askbay