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celaenaeiln · 6 months

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1-Do you think with all the attention and trauma dick gets from sexual relationships and the people associated with them, do you think Dick would decide to be acesexual?

2-there should be a comic where batman is afraid of Nightwing, for all the shit he's put his adopted or not kids through, especially the boys.

3-Also, if you have read the Gotham War series or not, to feel dick might become the next Pennyworth type of the family? (Basically, someone who has to take care of the whole family, as Bruce keeps awoling from his problems in life?

4- As a new fan of comic lore about the DC universe and the Batfamily, should Bruce be forced to retire Batman if these psychological issues keep appearing?

Do you think with all the attention and trauma dick gets from sexual relationships and the people associated with them, do you think Dick would decide to be acesexual?

Honestly I didn't know so I looked it up because I didn't want a bunch of backlash over someone can become asexual after a traumatic experience or if it's not possible to become it, only that they already are. Half the people say yes, it's possible and the other half say no. Regardless, I understand what you're saying and think he would be averse to sexual contact for a long period of time after that.

there should be a comic where batman is afraid of Nightwing, for all the shit he's put his adopted or not kids through, especially the boys.

YES!!!! Actually I think Bruce is actually the most scared of Dick though canonically. In the Batman vs Robin comic, Bruce has to face and fight the greatest regrets and fears for each of his robins. Each robin tells their most candid regret/unresolved matter to Bruce

Tim

Batman vs Robin Issue #3

Tim's grievance is that Bruce replaced him and he did nothing. That's so freaking heavy!

Stephanie

Batman vs Robin Issue #3

He didn't even try with her. She was always a replacement for Tim. No a replacement would have been better-she was just a placeholder. His blatant disregard of her directly caused her death.

Jason

Batman vs Robin Issue #3

All Jason wanted from Bruce was love but Bruce-he just villainized his son instead of trying to save him. He just wanted to be saved but Bruce just abandoned him out of self-hatred.

All three are massive insecurities/regrets Batman-Bruce-faces but none of these stop him. He just beats them down and moves on like they're nothing. He knows they're possessed but his mission is always the most important thing for him. Or does he keep moving on because his mind is too strong?

Batman vs Robin Issue #3

The hardest one to face is the last one left.

Batman vs Robin Issue #3

It's Dick that breaks him. He can face any fear and grievance by the robins but Dick's? He can't bear to face his.

Until-

Batman vs Robin Issue #3

Bruce's only saving grace is that it's the sword making them say all this. If the sword didn't exist and Dick straight up said it from his soul, this would be the end of Batman. When he heard Dick say all that, he completely lost his will to fight. All his desire and motivation? Gone.

Dick is his greatest source of strength and biggest weakness. If something were to happen to Dick, it would be the end for the rest of the world. But if Dick were to be disappointed in Bruce, he would wallow in self-hatred and change his ways.

Based on their exchange, Bruce believes Dick is his equal in battle and skill. Uncontested best and he probably knows Dick can beat him. Dick actually beat him in this comics and he also beat the heck out of superman-powered Batman before Bruce used his superpowers on him.

As well as here

Batman vs Robin Issue #5

He's proud of what Dick can do. But I think he's terrified of him because of the sway Dick holds over him. And that, I believe, is a worse form of attack than even battle power.

Also, if you have read the Gotham War series or not, to feel dick might become the next Pennyworth type of the family? (Basically, someone who has to take care of the whole family, as Bruce keeps awoling from his problems in life?

Yup! Absolutely do! But Dick has always been running the batfamily whenever Bruce is gone. When Bruce died and Gotham needed a Batman-

Titans (2008) Issue #10

"Nightwing belongs to two families. And all of you...you're good. You have each other."

"I have to go take care of my other family. In Gotham."

(Can we just take a moment to appreciate how they're all holding onto Dick? Roy and Gar holding Dick's right hand, Kori and Donna hugging him, Wally holding Dick's left land, Victor wiht hand on his back? Ugh the feels. Love the Titans comics)

He's always taking care of the Batfamily. Bruce leaving will just make it his full time role instead.

As a new fan of comic lore about the DC universe and the Batfamily, should Bruce be forced to retire Batman if these psychological issues keep appearing?

Oooh no. I don't think Bruce should ever retire as Batman. I LOVE Batman Dick. I'm debating whether I love him more than Nightwing Dick - jury's still out on that but Bruce should never retire as Batman. Bruce Wayne is Batman. Dick was a better batman but Bruce is iconic for the role. He created it, he lived it, he sacrificed for it. Even with all his problems, he deserves that role. It takes a toll on him that even he can't handle but if he dies, he deserves to die in that Cape and Cowl. He's earned it in every sense of the word.

He's an absolute wreck of a man but I love him that way. I love him with his problems and I will honestly forgive him of almost anything. He wouldn't be Bruce if he didn't have mental problems and I'm going to keep rooting for this walking disaster through everything. I don't think he should ever give it up until Terry. I love him too much of a character to ever see him be anything but Batman.

#dick grayson #nightwing #bruce wayne #batman #titans as family #tim drake #red robin #stephanie brown #spoiler #jason todd #red hood #cl anon asks #thanks for the ask!

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seas-storyarchive · 6 months

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Alchemist Au

[[MORE]]

Giovanni gets sent back in time, dying in his sleep after being released from Fate in the "main" timeline, to before he started his superhero career - back to the late 90s.

He decides to become a hero, but to keep the mask and wear something a little less expensive in his escapades - a two piece made of gold colored kevlar (on his chest) and black jevlar (the rest - but not triple weave, he doesn't have that kind of money) and a faded yellow scarf with matching faded yellow gloves that stretched up his forearms to his elbows. His costume has an emerald lion embroidered on the chest and the sun on his back, and black army stomper boots taking a few more cues from Batman and having a utility belt of sorts - with potions and other magic related items hanging off it in case he needs them. He becomes known as "Chemist" for his motif.

He, using his knowledge of the future, tells Sindella everything. About her cancer and death and it just BREAKS him.

At first, Sindella thinks her husband has lost it - his insistence on a costume was he first clue but this was actually alarming, she's a doctor, she should recognize the signs in herself, she's fine - but she decides to get checked out because her mother's side of the family had a history of cancer so it should be looked into. And yup, she has it. Luckily they caught it early so treatment could begin. During a later treatment, she has an out of body experience where she is brought before the Lords of Order who tell her everything and unlock her sealed away magic powers because the Earth is without Order and Sindella is considered the perfect candidate because she is technically of Order and Mortal. And she can keep her husband in line with what he knows of the future.

She tells Giovanni everything, after she is discharged from the hospital. Was Giovanni shocked? Well, yes. But he should have expected it, given his family tended to attract magic users. Speaking of - the family meets Kent, when Sindella is in remission for her cancer, so he's actually a big help.

Giovanni, while respecting Kent's words, is wise to the undertones now. He won't say anything negative to or about the man, but given how things turned out.. it's best he shuts his mouth.

Zatanna is put into public school (not a private religious school this time, nah) - she still has to wear a uniform, look Giovanni only knows so much alright?

Does he share this knowledge with the League? He does.. but they don't often believe him - they often make fun of him for it (Barry, Oliver, Hal, looking at you). Diana believes he has the gift of Prophecy, like the God Apollo. Giovanni, while flattered, does let her know he doesn't as he doesn't know everything. Batman is skeptical of him and thinks him to be a threat and will always second guess his judgement

He does let Zatanna patrol New York with him, and stop crime At A Distance, and talks to Sindella about asking Black Canary for training lessons she can give to Zatanna. She agrees, as she wants to get to know the woman more.

Soon Zatanna starts her lessons with Dinah and the rest of the Team. She wears a costume like her dad, but is given a mask from Robin after a few missions and saying that the mask makes her feel like it's squeezing her head (it's the medulla jewel) and she recolors it and the rest of her costume to dark purple with her dad's help - he is more supportive of her decisions this time around (being overprotective is SO last half century) but always tells her to call him if she feels like she's in over her head to which she agrees

Sindella and Giovanni become friends with Artemis' mother Paula and Barry's wife Iris. Sindella also becomes friends with Diana, Shayera (Hawkwoman), Mr. and Mrs. Kent and Lois

Khalid's parents, Muhammed and Jane, love Sindella and Zatanna - Giovanni? Not so much, but at least they are all cordial

As Giovanni reads more of his family books - Shadow Crest being hidden in the forest of Gotham at the time - he learns more magic and the sciences his ancestors were involved in and lives up to his superhero name

#yj #yj au #alchemist au #time travel au #fix it au

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ashbrea381writings · 3 years

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Flying Blind: Chapter 1, Bats in Paris

Four-year-old Richard Grayson glared at the girl in front of him. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was just six weeks older than him, and right now, she was taller than him too. “You’re gonna lose.” He taunted in heavily accented French, “I got super high scores and you can’t beat them!” “Don’t even think about it! I’m gonna win!” Marinette’s fists were clenched and her face red. “Just you watch!” The Dupain-Chengs and the Graysons shared an amused look over the heads of the children. “How are you doing?” Tom asked, chuckling about the children’s antics. “We’re good, we’ll be starting another tour this summer, then probably settle down for a couple years before moving on.” The two children started shouting even louder, causing them to be dragged apart by their exasperated parents. This happened every competition, for years.

***

Five years later, Richard stopped showing up to competitions. Marinette was annoyed at first, grumbling about him being a chicken who didn’t want to face her. At another competition, a month later, she heard one of the judges talking about the Graysons, making a sad comment about the loss of so many talented people, the wasted potential, an entire family of fliers just gone. Marinette stiffened in shock, her eyes wide as she processed what they had just said. Bolting to the locker room, Marinette yanked her hair out of it’s bun and changed back into her street clothes, hiding in the bathroom stall and crying. When her parents find her some minutes later, they make sure she isn’t hurt and take her home. “He’s dead… Dick’s dead.” She told them tearfully in the car on the way home. “All of them are.” Marinette stopped going to competitions after that.

***

Ladybug could feel the tension in her shoulders as she confronted the man before her, Chat a step behind and to her left. “If your Justice League doesn’t want to help, you could at least stay out of our city.” Her arms were crossed as she glared at Batman. “Why do you think the League wouldn’t help?” Robin asked, his accent strong but his pronunciation carefully precise. “We only heard of the situation recently.” “Oh? I called the League two years ago when our mentor gave up his memories to prevent Hawkmoth from getting something important.” Ladybug spat, letting her disgust show without letting it be bad enough that Hawkmoth could sense it. “I got told to stop playing games and they hung up on me.” “Who did you speak with?” Batman asked, pulling out a small tablet to take notes. “I don’t know, they didn’t say. Male, light voice in the baritone range, sounded way too cheerful until he decided I was lying, then he was just an ass.” She shrugged and gestured to the city around her. “‘Paris is fine, we would have noticed if something bad happened.’” She quoted in a near-perfect impression of Hal Jordan that made Batman frown. “Did you mean to do an impression?” Robin asked, somewhere between surprised and trying not to laugh when the girl his age was able to deepen her voice that much. “It’s accurate, I was there to hear him.” Chat chuckled, crossing his arms and shifting to lean on just one leg. “The guy continued to rant about children making prank calls and how he didn’t even know how we had the number.” “The fact that we had it at all should have told him the truth.” Ladybug scoffed. “Look, I’ve been doing this for four years. If you really wanna help, you’ll need to make sure you don’t fall victim to Hawkmoth yourself.” “And how does one do that?” “Mostly by repressing your negative emotions.” Chat shrugged, looking out over the city. “To be honest, it’s getting harder for Parisians to keep up their hopes. Our ages don’t help either, there are plenty who keep demanding we give up our Miraculi to older, more experienced people, but not just anyone can wield them.” “The personalities of the people wielding them must mesh well with the Miraculous, or it corrupts you and either causes you to become someone you wouldn’t recognize, or makes you very sick.” “That explains why you can’t pass them on, but why were you two chosen?” Robin tilted his head, moving forward a bit more. “We were the best candidates at the time. Our former mentor read our auras to make sure who meshed with which Miraculous and gave us a test to make sure we were the type of people to help others even when it’s not in our best interests.” Ladybug sighed and turned to look as a loud ‘bang!’ sounded from the direction of the Eiffel Tower. “Always the tower, I still don’t get it.” Chat sighed, prepping to take off. “Don’t ask me, Kitty.” Ladybug grabbed her yo-yo. “Stay back out of the fight unless you see a civilian in danger. You don’t know what you’re up against.” Batman looked like he wanted to argue, but the teen heroes took off in the direction of the Akuma that was currently pulling pieces off of the Tower and throwing them at the ground nearby. Batman and Robin found a spot just outside the action to observe. Other members of the Miraculous Team were already on the scene, moving civilians and calling out information to each other. Viperion split off from the action to intercept Ladybug and seemed to have a lot of information. Once they conferred for a few moments, a suddenly weary-looking Viperion gave signals to several of the team members. The Akuma was released, captured, and purified. With the Cure cast, the Tower was repaired and the Miraculous Team collectively shared quiet celebrations before separating except for Chat Noir, who’s Cataclysm hadn’t been used. “LB and the others are going to recharge, check in with their families after the attack, and meet us. I’m to lead you to somewhere private where we can talk more thoroughly.” Chat was brisk, seeming tired. “Your Snake friend… He spent a good portion of the fight observing and only really called out instructions for the most part. Why is that?” Robin asked as they started running across rooftops. “That’s his part. Ladybug is Creation, I’m Destruction, he’s Intuition. He watches the fight and uses his ability to make sure we do not fail when we cannot avoid it otherwise.” Chat answered vaguely, enjoying the verbal cat-and-mouse. “Are you going to tell us what his power is?” Batman asked, his exasperation audible in his voice. “The more information we have, the better we can plan and the more help we can give.” “I’m gonna let Viperion explain, he’s a chill guy, he won’t mind telling you. Besides, they’re all gonna be there and I think LB plans to give you two a rundown of everyone anyway.” Chat explained, dropping down into a small garden hidden between buildings. There was a small storage shed that Chat opened, removing a handful of chairs and a folding table. “I believe LB plans on bringing refreshments, will you help me set this up?”

***

An hour later, the rest of the team had assembled, with more than just Ladybug bringing snacks and drinks. There was something for everyone, although Batman chose not to eat. “So, a rundown?” “My powers stem from Creation, I create an object that helps us in the fight, purify the Akuma, and my Cure repairs any damage done by the miraculous during that specific Akuma fight. If too much time passes after the Akuma was purified, I can’t put it right.” Ladybug began, pointing to Chat next. “His power is from Destruction, he can destroy any one item he touches or a portion of a surface such as the ground or a wall. He can control how far the destruction spreads to a degree, it’s something we’re working on. Viperion has the power of Second Chance, he sets a timer and within that span of time he can reset to the beginning as many times as he wants theoretically. The problem is that he’s the only one who remembers what happened in the timeline he reset, so he has to be able to remember what to do so we can succeed.” “Is that why you suddenly looked more tired during the fight?” Robin asked, brows furrowing. “Yes. Seeing your friends get hurt over and over will do that.” The shaggy-haired hero sighed, shaking his head. “As much as I dislike seeing it, I know that I can prevent it as long as I still have my power active and as long as I’m able to give them the right information when we reset. I’ve gotten a lot better than when we started, but it helped when Chat started to realize I knew what I was doing.” His eyes sparkled with a bit of humor and Chat shook his head with a goan. “You’re never going to let me forget that, are you?” Chat asked, stretching. “Nope, never.” “Anyway.” Ladybug glared at the two boys, but it lacked conviction. “You’ll have to give me the rundown later of how many times we reset. Moving on, Rena Rouge, power of Illusion. Carapace, Protection, his shields are nearly impenetrable.” Ladybug pointed out each hero in turn. “Honey Bee, she can paralyze a person with her stinger, most of these have a duration and are usable just once for now. Pegasus can make portals to anywhere, again, once and there’s a time limit after using it. King Monkey isn’t here right now, but his power disrupts those of whomever is touched with an object he summons. We have one more teammate who doesn’t get involved often. Their name is Bunnyx, and they don’t show up much unless we really need them. They travel through time.” “So you have a time-traveler to come pull you out? Then why don’t they tell you who Hawkmoth is?” Batman demanded. “Because one: that’s cheating, and two: that’s not how they’re supposed to figure it out.” Came another voice from above before a blue, white, and pink blur dropped down behind Ladybug.

***

Note: The competition is for Gymnastics if anyone’s confused.

#dickenette #maribat #mgi trope tussle #dc #miraculous au #soulmate

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river-bottom-nightmare · 3 years

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You Don’t Have To

Happy Birthday @screennamealreadyused !! Your birthday gift is a damijon ficlet. I get the feeling you like overdramatic, soap-opera-y fics based on the kinda stuff you come up with in the server, so hopefully that came across.

What Jon didn’t think other people realized was that Damian, if comfortable enough, enjoyed talking. Of course, the subjects he was interested in were a tad limited, and he mentioned decapitation too often for Jon’s liking, but he enjoyed it. Barring Nightwing, Jon doubted anyone had ever taken the time to sit and listen to what Damian had to say, but Nightwing was his own adult superhero with his own adult life. And despite the fact that Damian was prickly and rude, his holier-than-thou attitude absolutely infuriating, his tendency to just drag Jon wherever he wanted despite the fact that Jon could technically crush him with one foot, despite all of that, Jon decided he wanted to be Damian’s friend. He was interesting, loud and abrasive in a way Smallville never boasted.

Today it was cows. Ma Kent had let Damian milk some of the cows, and now, sitting on the roof of the barn, licking melting ice cream drops off their hands, Damian was telling Jon the story of a couple bulls Ra’s had bought.

“You ever think about going to go visit them?” Jon asked.

“Jon,” Damian said dryly. “Grandfather killed the bulls a long time ago.”

“Oh.”

“Also,” Damian’s voice had dropped, going quiet in a purposefully shy way that Jon had never heard before, “I’m not even sure I would be welcomed back.”

“What?” Jon said, almost on instinct. “That’s nuts! I mean, I know your Grandad is a crazy assassin or something, but your mom...she loves you right?”

“She does,” Damian said, then added, “sort of.”

“You can’t only sort of love someone,” Jon said, because Mom was sharp and pointy, her lips turned up in a smirk as she chased down a story, her fingernails tapping on a paper pad. But she tried to make Jon cookies even though she always burnt them and called Kon over so they could do their nails together and told Jon bedtime stories and she loved him.

Damian hesitated, as if trying to find the right words. “My mother wanted a perfect son. One she could use to reclaim her supposed place by Father’s side, one that would take over Batman title.”

“But...” Jon urged on.

“But I don’t think Batman was ever meant to be a legacy, not the way Robin or Batgirl were. And,” Damian paused, growing so quiet Jon had to use his superhearing to make out what Damian mumbled. “I don’t really want to be Batman.”

Damian cringed, as if expecting Jon to say something cutting, something admonishing. Jon just said the first thing that came into his head.

“You don’t have to.”

Startled, Damian looked up. “What?”

“You don’t have to,” Jon repeated. “You don’t have to be Batman if you don’t want to. You can be some other hero, or even make your own name.”

“I can’t just do that!”

“Sure you can,” Jon said. “What’s stopping you?”

“My mother, I think. Also, I suppose it’s just expected of me.”

“Nah,” Jon said, finishing off the last of his ice cream. “No one’s expecting you are forcing you to do anything. If you don’t want to be Batman, you don’t have to be Batman.”

Damian eyed him suspiciously. “I don’t think it’s that simple.”

“Maybe not,” Jon shrugged. “But I’ll back you up.”

“She wants me to come back,” Damian whispered, his voice drowned out by the chirping of crickets outside, the sunset approaching.

“What?” Jon asked, scrambling to sit up. His limbs move awkwardly on the bed, moving with the exact opposite of grace, the way most teenagers were known for. But as Damian pulled himself into a seated position, curling up his legs, Jon saw nothing but control and elegance. “Who wants you to come back?”

“My mother.”

“Woah, your mother?,” Jon bounced over to sit next to Damian. “And she wants you to come back to...what? The League of Assassins.”

“Yes.”

“You can’t be serious,” Jon poured every ounce of incredulity he could muster into his voice. “You’re a hero. You’re not an assassin anymore.”

Damian shrugged, limbs taught and face stony.

“Hold on. Damian. You’re not actually thinking of going with her, right?”

“She’s my mother,” Damian said helplessly. “And though she hasn’t always been the best one, she seemed sincere the last time she asked.”

“Let’s go back to the part where you said she hasn’t always been the best mother, because she hasn’t, at all.”

“What do you want me to say, Kent?” Damian demanded. “By blood, she is my mother. By blood, I am an al Ghul!”

“You don’t have to be.”

“It’s not about being, Jonathan. You cannot change what you are.”

“No,” Jon said thoughtfully. “You can’t change Talia being your mom. But you don’t have to be an al Ghul.”

“That’s what her being my mother means, moron.”

“Well by that logic, Dick’s not your brother,” Jon pointed out.

“What!?”

“He’s a Grayson. He was never adopted by Bruce, and he never changed his name either. By blood, he’s a Grayson, and he can’t change who he is.”

Damian was silent, and Jon felt a little surge of pride at being able to render Damian speechless. But there was a time for gloating, and this wasn’t it. “See? Just because you were born an al Ghul doesn’t mean you have to be one of them. You can be a Wayne, with your dad! Or a Grayson. Or maybe even a Pennyworth!”

“Being a Pennyworth does seem like rather intriguing idea,” Damian said, and he was agreeing with Jon, but drawing closer into himself, huddling up into a little ball. So Jon scooted a little closer and, projecting his movements, wrapped his arms around Damian. Damian didn’t relax into it, but made no move to stop Jon or shift away, so Jon kept holding on.

“Just stick with being Damian for now,” Jon said. “You can figure everything else out later.”

Damian hummed in acknowledgement and slowly, oh so slowly, leaned into Jon’s hug. Privately, Jon didn’t know what he’d do if Damian ever decided to leave and become an assassin. You’d think someone like him would have tons of friends, but Jon’s terrible attempts at secrecy and the way he tried to distance himself in order to keep his powers in check turned most people away. That and being miles ahead of everyone else in class due to Damian’s tutoring (I will not stand to have an associate who is of such low intellectual level) led to Damian being the best of his few friends. He would not handle Damian leaving very well at all.

But he knew that was the last thing Damian wanted to hear. So Jon simply hugged him for a little while, until Mom called them down to dinner.

Jon tried and failed to track Damian’s movements, eyes latching onto his best friend. Exercising to work off anger was apparently a saying Damian took to heart, because Damian had shown up at his house in the middle of the day and, after avoiding Jon’s questions, had paced around the living room, somehow angrily done a backflip and scoffed, saying how he was just as capable of acrobatics to a very confused Jon, and was now doing push-ups.

And the view was—the view was really nice if Jon was being honest with himself, but he was sick of Damian ignoring him. So, he sighed and walked over to Damian, plopping down on his back and folding his legs.

“I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s going on,” Jon said.

Damian had been startled into pausing when Jon first made his way over, but soon restarted his reps, and snarled, “I don’t need your help, Kent.”

“Well clearly you do, since you showed up at my house on a weekend seething mad.”

“I’m not seething mad.”

“You’re doing anger push-ups.”

“I am not doing anger push-ups. Those aren’t even a thing.”

“Then what exactly are you doing right now?”

Damian was silent.

Jon made an exasperated noise. He’d sworn to break through Damian’s emotional constipation a long time back, but it clearly wasn’t working. “Damian,” Jon said, stressing each syllable. “Tell me why you’re mad.”

For a minute, Jon thought Damian was going to ignore him entirely. Then, all at once, Damian burst out, “She wants Robin!”

“Who?” Jon asked, though there could only be one candidate.

It was like a dam broke. “Mar’i. She wants Robin. It’s not like she hasn’t been training for it, and I was someone who helped with her training.”

“But you’re not ready to give it up.”

“No,” Damian said quietly. “I didn’t realize how much I relied on the role. I have to be Robin.”

“You don’t. You don’t have to be Robin.”

“Yeah,” Damian sighed. “And I want to give it to her, I really do. I want to pass down Robin so Mar’i looks up to me like right now, instead of ending up with a relationship between their replacements like my brothers. And I don’t even want to imagine how Grayson will feel about it if there’s a fight.”

“You don’t need it, Damian. You’re just scared.”

“Robin was the thing that gave me purpose outside my old life. It’s what made me a hero instead of a villain.”

“Giving it up won’t turn you into a villain either,” Jon hopped off Damian’s back. Holding a hand out, Jon said, “Come on. I think an early patrol will help the both of us. You don’t have to be Robin, and I’m gonna show you that you can still be a hero without it.”

Jon wasn’t exactly sure when the title of “Official Damian Wayne Translator” switched from Dick to him. Granted, the two of them spent a lot of time together, and he knew Damian better than himself.

Then again, that was the problem, wasn’t it.

A bunch of random heroes will just show up in Jon’s dorm room and demand Jon talk some sense into Damian, or work through his problems, or do something to make him less unbearable. And usually, Jon did it.

He listened to Damian’s complaints without hesitation, talked through his struggles and worries attentively. And he never once asked for anything in return.

He knew how hopelessly gone he was. Damian was his best friend, Damian trusted him like no one else. It made Jon feel special, though it really shouldn’t. Because Damian sure didn’t think he was special.

Some small, spiteful part of himself wanted to say something the next time Damian came over with a set of problems for Jon to solve. To say sorry, he had an important assignment due and he had to finish. To say he really didn’t have the time, maybe Damian could come back later. To say he was sick and tired of Damian taking him for granted, for believing Jon would always be there to support him no matter what.

But one look at those eyes filled to the brim with trust and Jon’s resolve crumbed. There were very few people in the world Damian trusted, and Jon would do anything to make sure he never fell off that list.

So he sucked it up, stayed quiet, stayed kind, stayed helpful.

Until Damian came to him one day asking him how to ask a guy out.

“Stop,” Jon whispered, feeling something inside him crack. “Just stop.”

“I—what?”

“You have no right being so cruel.”

Damian stared at him, a hint of apprehensiveness in his face. “What are you talking about?”

“As if you don’t know, Damian. Your family is full of detectives, there’s no way you don’t know.” Oh no, Jon’s voice was starting to waver, but he couldn’t stop it. Couldn’t control it, couldn’t pull himself together long enough to tell Damian this one thing. “And I was okay with it, because you didn’t really like anyone. But apparently that’s not true. You just don’t like me.”

Jon looked up at Damian and saw nothing but shock in those green eyes.

“But you need to stop,” Jon continued. “Stop always assuming I’ll be there for you, stop treating me like your personal therapist or whatever, stop taking me for granted.”

“I don’t—” Damian tried to whisper, but Jon cut him off.

“Because I don’t think I can take it anymore,” Jon said, and his voice was entirely too raw for his comfort, so he took a breath to gain some semblance of control. “I’m sorry. I really can’t help you with that. But I can still be your friend.”

There was silence, a thick, heavy silence. Jon opted to stare at the floor, watching his feet fidget nervously.

Then, “You don’t have to.”

“What?”

“You don’t have to. Be just my friend, I mean,” Damian clarified.

“You...you really—what?”

“I didn’t know, Jon,” Damian said, sounding almost ashamed. “I swear I didn’t. If I had, well,” Damian trailed off, stepping closer and looking up at Jon, his face filled with pain.

He tugged Jon down into a kiss, and Jon could barely process what was happening, but Damian was kissing him, so he responded mindlessly. When Damian pulled back, though, he realized the other boy was saying something, over and over and over.

“I’m sorry,” Damian breathed. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

It was like a slap to the face. Damian never said sorry. He fixed the problem, sometimes avoided it outright, or gave a halfhearted, forced excuse. All those years with the Bats had done little to his pride. But here he was, gripping Jon’s arms and apologizing, asking for Jon’s forgiveness like he meant it.

“I never meant to make you feel like that,” Damian “I would never, I swear. You’re my best friend, and I thought that meant being able to talk to you about anything.”

“You can, you always can,” Jon was quick to reassure him.

Damian shook his head. “But I never offered you the same in return. And that was awful of me and I’m sorry. I’ll,” Damian’s voice faltered. “I’ll apologize as many times as I need if it means I still have you.”

“You don’t have to,” Jon assured him. “It’s okay, you mean it, I can tell.” Then, he leaned down to kiss Damian once more, and mumbled against his lips, “You’ll always have me.”

tag list: @woahjaybird @birdy-bat-writes @elles-shitposts-personified @subtleappreciation @screennamealreadyused @pricetagofficial @catxsnow @yesboopityboop @dangerduckjpeg @iconbicon

#scribbles from the swamp #long post #damian wayne #jon kent #robin #superboy #damijon #dc #damian wayne fic #jon kent fic #robin fic #superboy fic #damijon fic #dc fic

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currentfandomkick · 3 years

Text

Marinette did not sign up for this part 10: Mari plots plotting

So long time no post. I live. Ish. Also finally figured out readmore on mobile, so yay. Will take forever to edit posts now though. Explanation at the bottom First part here previous part here. Ao3 here

Marinette wanted to go on record that Mandeliev did not, in fact, give her an extra day or so to study for the test. Why? Instead, she was told she may do a paper on the application of physics in gymnastics and principles of evasion in urban areas and how to combine the two to maximize one’s ability to run away from akumas and other dangers.

Or as Nino put it: “I am tormenting you into running better, the eight page essay.”

Alya dubbed it the “Run Better Paper.”

Aurore said it should include more formulas when Marinette showed her the draft. (as Adrien would complain about lack of theories and how she should have used this advanced formula she’d never heard of instead and then Marinette would have to forcibly stop him from taking over her paper. Again.)

Kim had taken to keeping her in his hoodie, escorting her to the bakery and didn’t leave her alone until Adrien said it was his “Marinette Anxiety Watch” shift.

Which she would like to go on record, is just plain mean to say. She has Liar 100% under control when world ending things and metaphorical bomb drops aren’t happening to her constantly.

—-

Bruce tried to contact Diana and Arthur again. Hal was off world, and therefore useless.

Why?

As his missing son hadn’t contacted them yet. Was still in the Miraculous team’s custody. And he saw the footage of Robin—Damian—being hunted by a lving shadow, an element casting swordswoman, and a strategist that seemed to know exactly what to do to keep Robin cornered in battle. The living shadows—Chat Noir—tried to kill his son with Cataclysm.

That was when they were in public, and had Hal watching over them.

He didn’t want to think about what the kids might do unsupervised to someone that tried to kill Ladybug, openly stalked her civilian self, and apparently tried stalk her again, in broad daylight. And possibly may have revealed her secret identity…

From the comments, it seemed that the Parisians hadn’t connected his sons aliases to the pair, writing it off as “Copy-cat Vigilantes” thankfully. And none of them were revealing more than “so the Fashion Disaster tried to go after Chat and Ryuko’s civvie… Not A Smart CopyBird” was the most he was able to get.

His children, on the other hand…

——

“I Fucking KNEW IT!” Tim yelled. “I knew it was her!”

“But,” Jason smirked. “You didn’t tell us.”

“Soup girl, baby bat!” Cass said gleefully.

“Wait, we both talked to her—and you didn’t say you thought it was her either Cass!”

“So what I’m hearing, if my ears don’t deceive me,” Jason continued. “Is that you all lost too.”

“What—“

“Wait a minute!”

“No way—”

Cass shrugged. She was the least invested in winning. She got to meet soup girl, who is very nice and her parents are safe for Baby Bat.

“We don’t have proof,” Dick pointed out. “Didn’t you say something about her being a mouse?”

“I—”

“Well—”

“Yes.” Cass cut through Tim and Stephanie’s waffling. “She is.”

Dick rubbed his forehead. “How many secrets can one kid have?”

“Five?” Jason said without much thought. “Limit is definitely five.”

—-

“Let me get this straight,” Miss Sting began, watching Ladybug very, very carefully. Rena and Carapace were busy that night and couldn’t act as the team’s Common Sense Filter in person. and texts only went so far.

So the job fell to Aurore. To talk (probably Marinette) Ladybug out of a Very, Stupendously, Inconceivably Bad Idea.

“You want to trust Robin—the kid who tried to kill you—to contact his mother—an assassin—to talk strategy about how to take down Hawkmoth’s civilian life’s business, not kill him, and trust that they won’t kill you?”

“…I’m bringing Chat with me.”

“Ladybug.”

“What, do you want me to use a Lucky Charm to prove this is our best bet?”

“You know what?” Miss Sting threw her hands up. “Yes, yes I do.”

“Fine.” Ladybug threw her yoyo skyward. “Lucky Charm!”

A red, spotted ball with an 8 on it came down.

“… you have got to be kidding me.”

Ladybug shrugged. “Uh, Magic Eightball, is it okay to trust Robin with this?”

One shake later and the floating die window read “Without a Doubt.”

“Give me that.” Miss Sting scowled, shaking as she asked. “Should she bring someone besides Chat and Robin—like someone from our team or Wonder Woman or Aquaman?”

The ball answered “Outlook not so good.”

Miss Sting glared at the magic eight ball. “I can’t believe this!”

Ladybug shrugged. “Lucky Charms are Lucky Charms—and I gotta go.”

Miss Sting checked her beeping spinning top. Someone was just akumatized.

“Re-charge first!” Miss Sting yelled before swinging ahead.

—-

“Oh, hey, when’s Demon Spawn going to contact us?” Jason asked as other bats calmed down.

“He’s not answering his communicator.” Bruce growled. “Hal took it earlier.”

The bats paused at that.

“Well then. Trackers?”

“Disabled—what? We didn’t need anyone crashing the apology and he ran off before I could stop him,” Dick defended. He is not Damian’s keeper. Just his Batman (as yes Bruce, he is Damian’s Batman and Damian is his Robin. Current masks not-withstanding).

“Then how are we supposed to find him?” Stephanie asked as the room grew uneasy.

No one answered that.

“How’s this,” Tim began. “Me, Steph and Cass agreed on who Hawkmoth probably is, each of us has a different set of evidence for it—and I’m counting breaking into his evil Liar and the cameras catching him mid-act a few minutes ago as absolute proof.”

“I’m sorry, you did what!” Stephanie leaned over Tim’s shoulder to see. “Oh shit. Isn’t that guy—”

“One of her friends? According to their private Instagram accounts, more like partner in crime and possible Chat Noir. I mean, he’s the one that calls her his “everyday Ladybug” and voices Chat Noir in everything." Tim answered idly. “My money’s on him not knowing at all.”

Bruce twitched. Then began to add ‘stalking social media feeds’ to his to-do list tonight.

“So,” Tim stepped forward. “I suggest we send this to the Wonder Woman and ask for Robin’s comm to be returned, and failing that, I bugged the video so anything they play it on, we get access to its IP and can find where they are.”

“Have Oracle go over the bug, just in case,” Bruce told them. “In the mean time, the rest of you suit up for the night. Gotham needs its vigilantes.”

—-

Marinette wanted to go on the record that her plan (to keep the bats away) was going well. Deciding what to do with Mu—R—Damian. Damian. Damian and his offer, was a challenge.

For obvious reasons, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and Aquaman were against her asking a bunch of assassins for their help. Chat has more than a few reservations. Carapace, Rena and Miss Sting gave her looks for that plan.

But.

But it would work. She needs more information on how to make the plan burning in the back of her mind work. It’s a lot of chaos (and she may thrive in chaotic battles but this wasn’t her usual battlefield, and her team didn’t know who they were going up against for once). And Marinette? She needs to know its not just her doing this when its so out of her depths.

So despite literally everyone and their disagreements she had Chat on her right side with Damian on her left, meeting up with his Crazy, Semi-Immortal mother. And possibly his Immortal, former Black Cat candidate, grandfather.

Why?

As Marinette isn’t trusting the likely cult that makes up the Gotham Ghost Gang (Batfam if you like them) when she can get real advice and vague directions to immortal and allied (loyal and terrifying) assassins.

And yes, she wasn’t sure if Liar was wrong or right when they said it was a bad idea too.

But fuckit she’s already got Kaalki at her shoulder, looking a bit bored at the deserted rooftop that Kaalki chose for their meeting.

“داميان*,” the woman smiled at her son. “It’s good to see you.”

“Mother,” Robin greeted. “This is Ladybug and Chat Noir. Ladybug wished to speak to you about potential strategies to take down an enemy outside of battle without violence,” Damian stressed.

“I am well-aware of the Kwami and their Chosen, اِبْن.**” The woman spoke calmly. “The League of Assassins formed to act as the Black Cat to restore the world to balance and un-burden the Order with its maintenance.” The woman offer Ladybug her hand. “I am Talia al Ghul, and I am at your service, with or without violence Ladybug.”

Marinette took her hand. “Thank you Talia. Our target being directly exposed like I planned would have…” Ladybug trailed off, thinking over the ramifications not only to Adrien, but to the whole of Gabriel’s brand, workers and all that worked with them. “Some intense ramifications I’d rather avoid.”

Talia nodded her head, waiting for more information.

“I believe its possible to topple them without affecting their employees by uncoupling them from their business, but doing so is, well, stocks and economics isn’t my strongest point.” Ladybug admitted a bit sheepishly.

“I would suggest,” Talia began, “to create a bit of chaos in the stock market. Perhaps a rumor here and there, let investors pull out and grab the abandoned stocks quickly. Consolidate them under one owner and become the company’s owner.”

Marinette twitched a bit at that. “That… sounds complicated.”

“Oh, but it isn’t. My son knows just how to that, or did you forget our lessons?” Talia asked coolly.

Damian twitched at Marinette’s side. “I did not.”

“You know,” Chat chimed in. “I do know a few things about those things. If its general chaos, well…” Chat’s face twisted in a way Marinette forgot he could do after that Chat Blanc episode.

“… I will take that into consideration.”

“Anything else?” Talia asked, watching Ladybug and her son. Specifically, how her son seemed glued to the girl’s side. “I am certain my son is able to take out your target, if all else fails.”

Damian scowled at Marinette’s side.

“However, I do believe that whatever is happening, whatever has you active, might require a more… experience hand.”

Damian brushed against her side. Code for ‘Possible Danger.’

“Thank you for the offer,” Chat moved in front of Marinette. “But mi’lady and the Guardians have that much handled.”

Talia’s eyes shifted from Chat to Ladybug, staying on her. “Is that so?”

“Yes. I merely needed more information on how to execute this type of plan, that’s all!” Ladybug almost, almost slipped into Marinette while Liar, while silenced for the moment, prodded the back of her mind. “I want to minimize collateral damage as much as I can, to everyone. The kwami already said they get to chose the target’s punishment.”

“Ah, I see.” Talia relaxed then. “You are following the kwami’s wishes. I will respect their wishes as well, Chosen.”

Marinette categorized this interaction as one of the “not too horrible, but will avoid a repeat” once they left.

—

*Damian in arabic

**son

so we have Talia now as a Player, sort of. she plays by her word pretty well so hopefully its a cameo more than anything else.

any ideas on how JL will handle the video, and if Miraculous Team should see it and freak out or only LB and keep on the dl while JL assissts in her Chaos Plot?

End of update. Will have to repost from ao3 on my phone now as desktop tumblr is being exceptionally rude. Tags always open, just takes me a bit to do—sorry to vixen for vanishing from tags

TAGS: @heldtogetherbysafetypins @laurcad123 @raisuke06 @chaosace @jeminiikrystal @toodaloo-kangaroo @kris-pines04 @bisha43rbs @izang @dreamykitty25 @emu-lumberjack @vixen-uchiha

#maribat #marinette did not sign up for this #part 10 #updated at last #my writing #long post #my writings #bio!dad bruce

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eastonia-blog · 5 years

Text

Let's Chat about these Reversed Aged!Robins AUs

So recently I replied to @gentlemenpaws generalask!post which said…

And I thought I would go a little into my reply to him. Because and hear me out.

I can never take reversed ages Robin headcanons and stories seriously. Without turning off my brain a little. And please, please, please just hear me out.

There is a reason why.

(TLDR at the bottom of this long post)

1) This is the most important reason. Say it with me. THERE IS NO ROBIN WITHOUT DICK GRAYSON.

Think about all other ‘sidekick’ or 'junior partner’ characters. With the exception of maybe Speedy, what are their names and costumes? Aqualad, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, Super Girl, Super Boy, Bat Girl, Miss Martian... You know, the famous ones? The ones that all based their costumes in echo of their mentors (and yes, I’m including Roy Harper here, Speedy’s costume is a mirror of Green Arrow’s - in red).

So why doesn’t Batman’s apprentice call himself Batboy? Why is his design so divergent from Batman’s? (Okay I understand there’s other reasons but I’m trying to stay in universe/lore here). Depending on the continuity, when Barbara Gordon/Betty Kane became Batgirl she followed the trend. Robin’s identity although associated with the Bat, can stand alone without context.

Why Robin? Why the traffic lights? Something that has been shown time and time again (despite continuity differences and all) is that Robin was Dick’s pet name, from Mary Grayson, his mum. Again depending on the continuity, Mary Grayson called Dick Robin because:-

1) He was “...always bobbin’ along.” (Pre-Flashpoint Robin: Year One)

Interesting because it could either refer to his skill in acrobatics or a tendency to get underfoot because of his curiousity.

2) Born on the first day of Spring.

Or...

3) Just as a tease because he just really, really loved the stories of Robin Hood.

The traffic light colouration he chose for his costume, even the design of his costume? Well if you take a look at most of the Dick Grayson origin stories (Pre-Flashpoint: Robin Year One, Batman Year Three. Post-Rebirth: Batman #54 just to name a couple examples) the Grayson aerialist costume is... Red, Green and Yellow. The proportions of the colours and presence of a cape vary but traffic lights are Grayson colours.

Robin was Dick Grayson’s tribute to his dead family.*

*Part of the reason why Dick got so hurt that Bruce gave Robin away to Jason was because Bruce forgot that Robin was not his to give. This is why the other Pre-Flashpoint comics had Dick give Tim his blessing to become Robin. And then outright have Dick give the R to Damian. Jason eventually got Dick’s blessings but by that point, the relationship was never going to start from the best place.

2) Damian as the first 'apprentice’ would not work. Why? BRUCE WOULD NOT HAVE SURVIVED LONG ENOUGH. (I can hear all the cries of ’But he’s Batman!’ ring out).

Dick and Bruce met super early into Bruce’s career as Batman.

Remember how pre-Batman Bruce went about as a generic vigilante without a moniker or anything? And got his butt kicked so hard by the Gotham streets that it took a bat crashing through a window to convince him to try again?

Pre-Robin Batman was characterised by one thing:- Recklessness. He knew sooner or later Gotham was going to claim his life and that he would probably be going sooner rather than later.

He spent a lot of time recovering in those days. Maybe more than he did catching lowlifes or solving crimes.

And then everything changed when the Flying Graysons fell.

The crime that touched Dick mirrored the crime that affected Bruce. (It’s actually pretty interesting from a meta standpoint. The Waynes died in a circle of light - under a Park Row streetlight and the Graysons paralleled that with the spotlight remaining on them long after they hit the ground.)

And Bruce looked into the eyes of little 8-10 year-old Dick Grayson, and saw himself. But more than that, he (Bruce) saw an opportunity to change things for him (Dick). So that Dick would not end up like him.

(Want to know a cool thing? The reason why Dick’s relationship with Bruce is different to the approach Bruce took to Jason, Tim and Damian? Age difference. Bruce is about 14-18 years older than Dick. Putting him in that weird spot where you could simultaneously be a teen parent or an older sibling. Bruce has a more Older-Brother-Promoted-to-Parent relationship with Dick than father-son. It’s why in the Rebirth Nightwing vs Hush Prelude to the Wedding issue, Dick thought he could be a candidate for Best Man).

This is also the reason why I love Dick’s and Damian’s relationship so much is because it directly parallels Bruce’s and his. I don’t quite know what the age difference is post-Rebirth (and I tend to outright ignore the New 52 at times) but since Rebirth tends to mirror Pre-Flashpoint more than not, I think the age difference between Dick and Damian is about... 14-16 years? Again, simultaneously a teen parent and older sibling.

This is also why I don’t think a Damian as the first Dark Squire would work, because Bruce would not be in a good place to help out a child. Nor will there be the same connection that there was between him and Dick. Damian being first would probably ruin Batman for ever taking on someone in the ‘apprentice’ role.

So after Bruce (eventually, inevitably) takes Dick in, Bruce is forced to realise that he has to be more careful because he has to be there for Dick.

This is when Bruce fully embraces the amount of Crazy Prepared he’d need to be to be.

And then Dick (at 8-10 years-old! Seriously we talk about the amount of detective skill Tim has to figure out Batman’s and Robin’s identities... But we don’t talk about the amount of charisma, courage and will it takes to out-stubborn the Batman???) makes his way onto the streets (and Bruce can’t stop him so he has to help him). So now what does Bruce have to do?

There is a rule medics and first responders have to follow: Protect yourself in order to save others.

Bruce is no longer allowed to accept dying as an option (until Dick is old enough to take care of himself). This forces Batman to work situations to his advantage so Batman and Robin can both come home.

Basically, Dick made Batman evolve into the Batman we know and expect today.

Batman’s relationship with the police significantly improved after Dick Grayson debuted as Robin. Batman’s relationship with other Justice Leaguers improved after Dick Grayson debuted as Robin. Batman’s relationship with Wonder Woman and especially Superman/Clark Kent improved after Robin.

So let’s remove Dick from the lineup and stick him at the end as the youngest then. And... put Damian as the eldest son... that’s... not going to work.

Hey Damian. Where did you go?

Remember the timeline. Without Dick as the eldest Bruce can continue to be reckless. Batman was a suicide mission until Robin stepped in.

No Dick? Batman continues to be reckless. Reckless Batman? Dead Batman. The Al Ghuls and the League of Shadows/Assassins? Probably would have nuked Gotham and Bludhaven. Also Damian Wayne will not have his male genetic donor because... Without Dick Grayson as the eldest son/brother? Batman would not have survived to catch the eye of the League of Shadows/Assassins.

It is necessary for Dick to be the ‘eldest son’ otherwise the rest of Bat!Lore will not fall into place. Dick was Bruce’s more traditionally heroic foil from the start without which we would have a dead Bruce Wayne before Batman could take off.

TLDR:

Robin was created as Dick’s Tribute to his dead family. If Dick wasn’t the oldest - Batman’s partner (if he would even have one!) would NOT be called Robin.

Bruce and Dick met very early into his career as Batman. If they didn’t meet Bruce would have carried on his reckless path and possibly DIED before Damian could even be ‘conceived’.

And that, my friends, is the tea.

Tagging @theflyingwonder as inspiration of this particular meta

#batfam #dick grayson #bruce wayne #batman #nightwing #dc comics #robin #meta #analysis #the rally cry #the multiverse constant #why I find reverse robin ages problematic #eastoniarants

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diyunho · 5 years

Text

The Joker x Reader-”The One That Got Away” Part 1

The terrorist attack targeting Wayne National Bank nearly three years ago left only one survivor behind: Y/N almost died from the injuries, but she was lucky enough to wake up at the hospital days later. It was so hard to cope with the news: on top of losing her eyesight, the young woman lost her co-workers also and strangely enough the one responsible for the entire tragedy wasn’t The Clown Prince of Crime.

“They told me you’re here again,” you smile and there’s no answer. “Are you going to come in or do you want me to bring you something to eat? We’re closing soon, it’s almost 10pm.”

The blind Y/N extends the cane until it touches the recipient of her visit.

“I understand that you’re shy and there’s nothing wrong with it; you just need to tell me.”

“I’m not shy,” the deep tone interrupts.

“So are you coming in this time?” Y/N asks while the man grunts and she correctly guesses he’s getting up from his spot. “Follow me,” you encourage and he pulls the hoodie on his face, steadily walking behind the woman leading the way. “Today we have chicken soup and spaghetti with red sauce. That that I want to brag, but it turned out pretty good,” you giggle to lighten up the atmosphere: you’re aware it’s not easy for some living on the streets to acknowledge they require help.

“Mina!” you shout as you enter the spacious room. “Another portion please!”

“Sure thing!” the assistant’s energetic reply is perceived from beyond the counter.

“You can take a sit at any table, she’ll bring the food shortly,” you let him know and then loudly inquire: “Who else is here?”

“I’m here,” Silvia answers, slurping on her hot soup.

“Me too,” you hear Walter. “I also see Dave, Russell, Angie. The rest I’m not sure,” the 70 years old informs, pointing at the newcomer.

“Hey new guy, you have a name?” Angie licks her fork, digging in the pile of pasta afterwards.

The man is silent for a few moments, then mutters through his teeth:

“Jay.”

“You’re lucky there’s still food left, son! It’s crazy busy all the time,” Dave huffs. “This is the best Soup Kitchen in Gotham, and the lady standing in front of you a true angel!” one of the regulars states with such conviction it prompts cheers from the others left in the cafeteria at the end of the busy day.

“If only,” you laugh amused at the affirmation.

“Here you go; enjoy,“ Mina brings over a bowl of soup and a plate full of spaghetti to the man that’s been lurking around for the past two months but didn’t step into the building until today. Jay mumbles something resembling a “thanks” and by the sounds he makes slurping on the hot liquid one could say it’s very appreciated.

The volunteers would tell you if they spotted him outside the premises and you would usually take food to him, offering a place at a table which he refused; not the first or the last to show restrain when shown kindness.

You’re a bit surprised he decided to finally join the crowd; maybe he doesn’t like being around people.

“Mina, are you ok closing with John and Sandy? I have to open the bakery in the morning,” you explain although it’s not necessary.

“Yes, of course; told you should have went home an hour ago. They’re almost done with the dishes and we won’t have that much left to do after the last guests finish their meal. We’ll be fine, don’t worry. OK?” the young woman gives you a soft nudge towards the door and you feel the ground with the cane, eager to take a shower after the long day.

“Good night then,” you smile,” see you guys soon.”

“Good night!” several voices respond back.

The apartment is just three blocks away, conveniently situated on the top of the bakery you own: “Sweet Temptations” is one of the most popular bakeries in Gotham, slowly becoming a contender for the first position.

Once outside you stop for a few moments to enjoy the silence and the soft breeze on your cheeks before reprising your walk. Police cars alarms start blaring in the distance and you sigh, annoyed: quietness never lasts for too long in this damned city.

You turn left on Glissan Avenue and halt, carefully listening: you could swear you discerned some snickering ahead of you. Maybe not?...

A few more feet and your cane is abruptly yanked out of your hand, almost making you lose balance:

“Hey pretty girl, can I get a kiss in exchange for the stick?”

You straighten your shoulders, frowning:

“Randy, is that you?!”

“Umm…it’s possible,” he chuckles and you feel the air around, trying to find his body.

“I’m exhausted and not in the mood for your crap!” you admonish and want to continue but you get interrupted:

“I’m sorry, Y/N. You know my brother’s an idiot!...Hey…Hey!!!! What the…,” the other young man yells and the noise of a loud punch and broken bone startles you. “Hey, leave my brother alone!!!!...Oh shit!” the turmoil of a struggle and more ruckus indicating a fight make you frantically search for your cell in the purse.

“What’s going on?” you ask, scared at the moans of pain.

“I think he broke my nose,” Randy manages to utter still dizzy from the unexpected attack. His sibling Steve is trying to defend himself from the aggressor, apparently without too much success since the thud reaching your ears indicates he got thrown on the concrete pavement.

“If…if you’re The Batman, I can assure you I’m not in any kind of danger!” you pant, scared about whatever the hell is happening. “I know them, please stop!”

“It’s not…it’s not The Batman…” Randy gags, the taste of his own blood making him nauseated.

“I’m calling 911!” the cell phone is taken out of the bag and Randy shrieks:

“He’s running away…”

“Please don’t call the cops,” Steve mutters, not having the strength to get up yet. “I’m sure they’re not gonna like the fact that two teenagers fresh out of the juvie already got involved into an altercation.”

“I can testify you got assaulted!”

“Yeah, but you didn’t see anything,” Steve groans while his brother helps him up. “They might twist it against us and I don’t want to go back to detention.”

“Me neither,” Randy grumbles, wiping his bloody nose with the sleeve of his jacket.

“Did you see who it was?” you inquire, placing the phone in your pocket; you sure don’t want to create any more trouble for them.

“No,” the cane is returned to the anxious Y/N. “His mug was covered with a hoodie.”

***************

Next morning, 5:43am

The bell dinging makes you aware someone entered the bakery.

“I’m sorry, we’re still closed until 6am,” you announce to the customer while brewing a fresh pot of coffee.

“Hello Y/N, it’s me”, the familiar voice makes you smile.

“Good morning Mister Wayne; your box is ready,” you slide the package on the other side of the counter.

“Thank God! I hate early corporate meetings and this amazing stuff makes me wake up a bit, enough to seem like I’m interested, you know?” he soundlessly yawns and you burst out laughing.

“I’m glad it helps. Coffee?”

“Please!”

“The usual?”

“Naaah. Surprise me,” Bruce smirks and watches Y/N quite fascinated as she puts together his drink. Even if she can’t see, she moves with such ease and he takes a remorseful deep breath, wishing he could share his thoughts.

“Here you go Mister Wayne, triple shot. I think you need it today,” you hand over his cup and he takes a sip, smacking his lips in the process.

“This is very good,” Bruce praises your skills because lingering around the bakery for a few minutes it’s so much better that the dreadful meeting he’s about to attend. He takes a big stack of money from the inside pocket of his suit and hands it over to you.

“Are these…are these hundreds?!” you inquire, puzzled.

The lack of an answer confirms it.

“Mister Wayne, you don’t have to do this each time you come in. This is just... a lot again and the total for your box is only 46 dollars.”

“If I want to leave a tip, then I will. Share with your employees,” the stubborn heir suggests because this is how he usually convinces you to accept the money.

You want to protest but he keeps rambling on:

“There are also two checks in there: one for my monthly contribution to your charity, the other one you could say it’s an investment. Entirely up to you of course, but I would love for you to expand your business: a location next to the Wayne Tower would make me very happy. Every time I’m there pretending to be working I could run and get me a delicious treat to make my day better. ”

You blankly stare at him, deciding to speak up.

“Mister Wayne…You don’t have to do this… It wasn’t your fault…”

Bruce is grateful you can’t see his painful grimace at the candid words meant to alleviate the guilt of an event he failed to predict as both the main shareholder of Gotham National Bank and as his alter ego.

“You are not responsible for the lives that were lost. You just owned the bank, nothing more. It was very unfortunate, but please stop blaming yourself.”

He doesn’t comment yet, oddly enough paying attention to Y/N’s advice.

“You might not realize it, but you make this city a better place Mister Wayne; your generous donations truly make a difference. With your aid, my charity allows me to literally assist hundreds of those in need. That wouldn’t be possible without you. Take The Batman too for example; because of him this town is safer: he can’t get rid of all the rotten evil eating away at its core, but his watchful eye is a tremendous boost of hope for the rest of us. One person can’t do everything and he is not accountable for every bad action he cannot stop. You’re not more responsible than he is for the fate of others.”

Bruce sniffles, somehow relieved by the sudden monologue.

“You’re a good man, Mister Wayne. The tabloids might depict you as a carefree playboy, still they should mention your achievements also. Or at least bring up some details about that nice cologne you wear,” you giggle and his body relaxes at the small joke after being tense throughout the whole speech.

“It’s Dior,” he admits with a grin meant to alleviate the seriousness of what you just told him. And Bruce certainly appreciates it since he had no idea how much he craved to hear a confirmation of his own flaw: he is human after all, either as the rich billionaire or as The Batman. “Thank you…” he briefly touches your fingers while taking the box from the counter.

“I meant it Mister Wayne.”

“I know…” he sighs. “Think about the business proposal, OK?”

“I will,” you promise although you are not convinced it’s such a great plan on top of the numerous projects you’re involved in.

“I’ll see you next week,” Bruce promises and exits the pastry shop, abandoning its owner until their upcoming rendezvous.

You feel sorry for him, you really do. You hope what you told him stuck in the back of his mind: remorse is a strong poison Bruce Wayne should stay away from at any cost, especially when he’s in the center of attention due to his social position. Plus, he’s not liable for the tragedy that occurred nearly three years ago, even if he believes otherwise…

You were working as a teller at Wayne National Bank for eight months and that day was nothing special until the shift was almost over. The 25 year old Y/N went downstairs with her drawer in order to go over her daily transactions and make sure there were no discrepancies. Moments later, a powerful explosion shook the building and leveled it out in a matter of seconds, taking down walls and people alike as it sunk into rubble.

The only survivor was you since you happened to be in the vault; the metal crate protected you from the blast and you were lucky the emergency response team dug you out from under the debris in time: Y/N nearly perished and woke up at the hospital days later blind and unable to cope with the news: on top of losing her eye-sight, she lost her co-workers too.

Bruce Wayne felt responsible: he took pride in having the most sophisticated and advanced security system in place, yet nothing is fool proof, including the engineers that built it and sold out the secrets to the wrong people for the right price.

The terrorist attack was claimed by the Triple Star gang, another one of their attempts to take over Gotham in the never-ending battle for the top spot with The Joker. And Gotham’s citizens got caught in the crossfire. Again.

Bruce paid for everyone’s funerals and handsomely rewarded the grieving families along with his public apologies; the media tried to shred him to pieces, dragging his name in the mud again. It all died out once the family members of those killed in the attack sided with the billionaire: there’s nothing more off-putting to the press than dust settling over sensationalism without backup evidence.

You used the share you received from your ex-employer to open the bakery and start the kitchen soup, both venues flourishing under your patronage. Bruce was a constant customer and donor from day one, which aided raise awareness to the point of Y/N becoming some sort of local celebrity: despite her blindness after surviving catastrophe, she found the strength to rise above the shattered pieces of her life and help the less fortunate, which gained her the nickname of Angel of Gotham.

“Y/N,” Shane gets you out of trance, “do you want the chocolate croissants on top shelves today?”

“Yes, by the apple fritters and blueberry muffins,” you answer while the rest of the opening shift brings out the trays with freshly baked pastries from the kitchen.

The bell dings and Andy rushes in, frantically repeating:

“I know I’m late! I know I’m late!”

“AGAIN!!!” almost everyone teases in the same time, the choir urging more clumsy excuses:

“I know, ok? I’m deeply sorry. My car died out!”

“AGAIN!!!” the crew mocks and the poor guy sniffles, flustered to the maximum and you decide to give him a break.

“It’s fine; go wash your hands.”

“Y/N,” Andy halts in front of you. “Mister Wayne’s limo is parked outside and his chauffeur said he wants to talk to you.”

“He’s still here?!” you grab your stick and walk around the counter, heading outside the bakery.

“This way Miss,” the driver holds the limousine’s door opened until you get inside, slamming it shut as soon as you are next to your former boss. But something is off… the man doesn’t smell like Bruce’s cologne.

“Mister Wayne?...” you hesitantly mumble and the weird chuckle makes you cringe.

“Nope. Just rented a limo like his and waited until he left so I can take over. Luckily enough we saw an employee rushing in and he had no clue that the rich, pretty boy is not the one requesting a meeting.”

You panic and try to exit the car but it’s already moving and the door won’t open.

“Calm down, would you? If I wanted to hurt you I would have already done it.”

You exhale, nervously adjusting yourself in the comfortable seat.

“Who are you?” Y/N carefully stirs the conversation.

“A philanthropist interested in bestowing my fortune upon those in need,” the strange snickering comes to an end. “Here’s my business card,” your hands are placed on the person’s face without any warning. “Well, can you guess?”

“Umm…” you gulp, anxiously touching the skin. “Maybe mid-thirties…”

“Wow, that’s pretty good,” the man snorts, somewhat amused. “Go on.”

“Handsome…”

“Nailed it!!” he snarls and it gives you goosebumps.

“Green hair…”

His crazy silver grin diminishes a bit.

“Blue eyes,” and your eyes focusing on his astonish The Joker which is not an easy thing to accomplish.

“You…you can see!” he growls and your hands slide off his face. The King of Gotham had you on surveillance for months before he made contact today and nothing indicated the revelation he witnessed by pure chance.

“I was wondering if you‘ll show up,” your change in attitude baffles the usual emotionless King of Gotham. “Are you interested in money laundering throughout my charity?” you cold tone skips to the main topic. “Others have asked and no, I don’t do that; I don’t care about how much it would put back in my account. Dirty money has no place in my…”

“Says the perfect Angel lying to the world about her handicap,” The Joker sarcastically cuts you out.

“I’m not lying,” you mutter. “My vision comes and goes, it’s a neurological anomaly after the injury I sustained. I was warned that might happen and frankly I don’t have to announce it on TV or to my doctor when I’m blind and when I’m not. It’s easier to deal with it since at one point I might find myself in the blackness forever.”

“Interesting,“ The Joker huffs, crossing his legs. “I couldn’t care less about your sneaky ways; I’m not here to negotiate a deal. I’m here to get what I want. Money laundry will bring you more funds to do whatever the hell you do, help people and all that,” J flares his arms around, done with the charade.

“Yes, I help them and you kill them,” Y/N gives The Clown a mean glare. “Or beat them up for no reason,” you hint at the two teenagers he attacked since you actually saw him do it.

“Somebody gotta keep the balance,” he jokes about it like it’s some kind of funny topic.

“Mister Joker, I am here to help people and that’s it, “an apparent serene Y/N grumbles even if her heart is pounding out of her chest. “Can you please drop me off at the back entrance of my bakery? If I go missing or end up dead, people will notice. My disappearance or demise wouldn’t go unnoticed and you don’t need more unwanted attention, do you?” you play the best card you have because frankly you have zero aces in your sleeve.

The Joker sucks on his teeth, debating upon this dumfounding outcome that didn’t ruin his day; from time to time he loves a good challenge and the opportunity basically jumped at him so to speak. He gets easily bored and shit, this little project isn’t boring at all. Turned out to be quite interesting.

“Hey Frost!” The Joker shouts. “Let’s take McGillivray Street and return this lost Angel to her business. We don’t want a poor blind woman to get lost in this huge city; we’ll consider this our good deed for the year!”

“Of course sir,” the henchman switches lanes and you strive to remain composed because showing weakness could mean disaster while in the company of the unpredictable psychopath.

The limo takes a left and in a few seconds you reach your destination since Frost basically just slowly drove around the block. The fancy vehicle stops and you get out, preparing to bail when The Joker interrogates:

“Who are you really, hm?” J suspiciously squints his eyes.

You bent over to look at him, cautiously choosing your words:

“I’m the one that got away, Mister Joker. The only one.”

He puffs, signaling you to close the door.

“Good for you, sugar. We’ll keep in touch,” and he yanks the door out of your hand since he doesn’t have patience to wait for you to close it.

Oh my God, you think and reprise your stroll, sensing the concrete with the walking stick. What was that?! you shiver, just a few feet away from the back entrance of the pastry shop. How am I… but you can’t continue the argument since a van slams the breaks right by you, five guys quickly running out and pulling you inside.

“Did you see that boss?” Frost inquires, still waiting at the red light while watching the rearview mirror. “It was so fast nobody noticed.”

“It’s them,” The Joker sneers.

“Do we… … do anything?” Jonny throws the option out there for the heck of it.

“Do you have to fucking ask??!!” his boss shouts. “This is my goddamned town, not theirs! I decide who lives or dies, who gets kidnapped and who doesn’t. ME, not the Triple Star gang!!! I am sick of them interfering with my plans!”

“Call for reinforcements and discreetly follow?”

“No, tell the guys waiting to escort us on Andresen Avenue to intercept the van and follow it. We need a plan.”

“Yes sir,” Frost smirks, craving to take on another invigorating assignment since today was quite a dull day.

Back in the van, the men keeping you captive in between them didn’t articulate a single sentence yet. They have no clue you can see so they didn’t bother cover your head with a cloth. You know The King of Gotham is not present but you have to go on with it; what other choice do you have in this dangerous situation?

“Mister… Mister Joker?” you plead. “I’m sure we can…”

“The Joker?!” somebody laughs, finally talking and everyone snickers like it’s the best stand –up comedy act they ever heard. “No honey: this is the competition.” **************

Five days afterwards, 6pm

Everyone at the soup kitchen is eating in silence, the usual cheerful chit chatting absent from the premises: Y/N has been missing for five days, gone without a trace and despite all the efforts, her whereabouts are still unknown.

“Something bad happened,” Mike shakes his head, worried. “I can feel it,” he wipes his teary eyes.

“She wouldn’t just abandon everything and flee…” Clara whispers to her fellow table mates. “I’ve been homeless for a long time and this is the first place I found some real help, you know? Thanks to her I have a job interview next week,” the woman’s voice breaks. “Nobody would give me a chance and she put in a good word; I might have an opportunity to actually…” Clara blows her nose in a tissue, unable to finish her confession.

“We’re in the same boat,” George turns around from the nearby table and his eyes get big when he recognized who the man entering the establishment is. “Holy…”

The Joker is holding Y/N in his arms, both looking like they escaped a war: dusty, ripped clothes and visible bruises to match the unusual view seen by the 137 souls eating there for the moment. You are unconscious and a few people try to get up, startled.

“SIT DOWN!!!” The Joker screams, lifting you higher in his arms.

“Mister Joker, we gotta go!” Frost advises while keeping the door opened; the other goons temporarily blocked the traffic at The Clown’s orders. A few onlookers on the street are already dialing 911 and J is aware he can’t linger, but he won’t ignore an outburst either:

“Tell everyone The Devil brought your Angel back !! ME, not The Batman!!!” the insane green haired man barks. “Not all heroes wear capes, huh?!” he addresses everyone as he places you on an empty bench and hurries outside, taking one last glance behind to see a weary Y/N barely opening her eyes that cannot focus.

And The Joker knows that after the events he whiteness too, The Angel of Gotham is in complete darkness again.

Also read: MASTERLIST

diyunho(.)tumblr(.)com/post/153664676321/joker-x-reader-masterlist

You can also follow me on Wattpad and AO3 under the same blog name: DiYunho.

#the joker x reader #the joker fanfiction #the joker imagine #the joker jared leto #the joker #the joker suicide squad #joker #joker fanfiction #joker imagines #mister j #mr. j #joker jared leto #joker suicide squad #bruce wayne #batman #dc

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toughguywithbossygirlfriend · 5 years

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WonderBat vs BatCat: BatCat romance is “Timeless”or “80 years old”. Is that really the Truth ? which one is older ?

Lately I had to read again some comments about BacCat being the better ship because of how “Old” a romance it was. But when did BatCat really start to take a real romantic turn compared to the first WonderBat references ? If we check out the old comics from “Batman #1″ back in 1940, is BatCat really the winner ? or is there another truth ?

I definitively cannot ignore the chemistry DC tries to put into BatCat till the 80′s even if I’d prefer WonderBat. But to make that romance acceptable they had to change Catwoman into a Hero first, or at least an Anti-Hero. Strong changes similar to that time where Catwoman had been Brainwashed to become a Hero by Zatanna and the JL.

(The following is from DC Comics “JLA (1997)” - Issue 119)

MM:“A friend ?” - BM:“An Ally of sorts ...I thought she’d changed. but ... maybe it wasn’t her choice.”

Batman had his suspicions so there was never a lot of room for Love but with Selina on the “Good” side it was at least a possibility. This follows all the WonderBat stuff of the JLA’s “obsidian age” and “#90″ of course, so Batman’s heart is rather set on Diana then Selina. As a matter of fact it turns out Bats was right about Zatanna’s mind manipulation.

(The following is from DC Comics “Catwoman (2002)” - Issue 50)

Selina’s evolution from “Evil” to “Good”, isn’t a first and has been rebooted several times. The fact that it wasn’t her choice isn’t a first either. But how do we end up with the “belief” that BatCat is an “Old” story ? maybe even “80 years old” ?... Superman and Lois ? Yes no doubt... but Batman and Catwoman ? ... Not really

The “New 52″ with the disastrous SuperWonder pairing surely contributed to the illusion of a longer BatCat history. It just send 70 real years of “Lois and Clark” into the trash-bin just as it did to the slowly (but steadily growing) “Wonder woman/Batman” background romance. This helped to erase in the younger generation’s minds what had been slowly build up other several decades.

After the “New 52″ it wasn’t really possible to return to pre-flashpoint status ... DC had first to try to repair the damage done to the trinity and to the duo of the World’s Finest... You don’t do

After the “New 52″, I guess DC surely considered that the best way to heal the Trinity’s awkwardness from the SuperWonder “Injustice smell” was to first avoid any relationship within the Trinity and later (as it didn’t work) to erase SuperWonder from continuity, so ... back to : Lois and Clark, Wonder Woman and Trevor, ... Batman and ? ... yeah who? ... Bats had a lot of love interests over the last 80 years ..

Selina was surely one of the numerous candidates and as long as they didn’t restart her “Evil” in DC Rebirth she could even become a good and “spicy” choice. So they didn’t ... this time she was “Good” from the start : In jail but actually taking responsibility for crimes she didn’t commit and facing lethal injection only to protect a friend. A real Hero, Selflessness and Compassion raised to Diana’s level. Better fighting abilities than Talia and the stubbornness needed to stand the ground in front of Batman. DC boosted Diana’s power level to match Superman’s (to fit the needs of “SuperWonder”) and changed her from a magically animated clay figure (”less than human” just like Deilan and thus dreaming to become human) into the daughter of Zeus (who doesn’t really have any reason to lower herself to human status). I think DC doesn’t really know how, or lacks the courage of, to power Diana down again into something more suitable for a human World (Batman’s World) without enraging a legion of hardcore Feminists who need her to be equal with “the most powerful male Hero”... Catwoman, on the other hand, has been given most of Diana’s qualities and switched from “Evil” to “Good”...

Tom King surely did a great job at helping to model Selina for that romance and showed a great skill at fooling the younger readers about BatCat’s real history by “hand picking” just the right pictures out of old comics ... an impressive Work.

For example in DC Rebirth’s Batman (2016) #44 you get the false impression Batman is taking care of Selina’s hurting ankle ...

While in the real comic, back in 1940, he was just removing the bandage to check out for a precious stolen necklace ... nothing romantic there.

But the next references were not more accurate either as you will see it ...

Every sentence is just copied ... but the real comic tried to picture Selina Kyle/Catwoman as having two very different personalities ... some kind of schizophrenic heavy mental illness revealed through a memory loss.

With this Issue we have already gone from 1940 to January 1951 and to consider any romance in these early comics you’d have to ignore all the sweet pet names used to describe Catwoman : the Arch-enemy, the Princess of Plunder, the Queen of Crime, Batman’s Feline Foe and so on ... Nonetheless this is the first “Evil” to “Good” switch I know of ... Batman’s romantic interest from that time was more Vicky Vale, than Selina.

In this other “Pick Up” from “Detective Comics #203″ (January 1954), Selina reverts from “Good” to “Evil” just after he warned her of the consequences of resuming her past criminal life

... and she didn’t need any “hit to the head” this time ... was she faking her “Goodness” ? or is she just ready for Arkam’s Asylum ? ...

The next one in Batman (2016) #44 ? ... same deception again ...

As we can see, in the original comic, Batman answers Selina’s question even under the Torture with a “No” to both “Bride” and “Burglar” ... Selina was really a self delusional crazy chick back then, more like a female version of the Joker rather than a real romantic interest and it didn’t get any better in the following years.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Selina’s dominant stance in Batman #44 was a parallel to Diana’s Epic stance in Hiketeia ... of course you never really “dominate” Batman, just like he is never your “captive”, unless he wants you to believe you won.

Wonder Woman was always the perfect complement to Batman. “Wonder Woman was made to Protect the Innocent, and Batman to Punish the Guilty”. Without either of them there is No Justice. That’s why they work so well together ... So you just copy from Diana to Selina the things you can and worked for WonderBat.

Anyway no consistent BatCat until “Batman (1940) Issue 308″ during February 1979 ... a new evolution from “Evil” to “Good” starts with that Issue and a kiss in November 1979 ... but this time things are different, very different, Selina really wants too turn her back on her crime life ... the road is still long and bumpy but it is a start for a real romance. It is interesting to note that the current Rebirth “Wedding” arc with the Dark Knight enabled the starting of a new “Catwoman (2018)” series,just like the 80′s romance enabled Catwoman her own start. For a time the 80′s “Catwoman” series shared the “Batman(1940)” comic series with Bats. Later she got her own solo comic..

Now if you consider Batman and Wonder Woman’s first kiss of love:

Considering Wonder Woman is a rather serious Girl and that she already “Heroed” for several years side by side with Batman. If you consider that the owner of the Lasso of truth won’t lie if she says that she really did fall in love with Batman. Plus, two years later (1970) “Diana Prince” encountered billionaire “Bruce Wayne” and agreed to a Date with him ignoring he was Batman. Later again in 1978, Diana and Bruce know each others double identities and agree on a “Late night diner” ... We may consider that this kiss was the starting point of a complicated (secret identities and all) slowly growing romantic relationship between the two.

So a WonderBat romance started at least over a decade before any real BatCat romance.

I bet you didn't expect that ! ... You don’t have to believe me. Just check out the old comics for real ... and make your own opinion once you’ve read them.

Keep in mind that this doesn't really deny anything to the current Batman/Catwoman romance because DC Rebirth’s Selina Kyle is very different from the crazy Psycho of the old comics. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t use its Age as an Argument. You can surely find a lot of other reasons to love them. And of course, Bruce and Diana had both earlier Love interests, but this wasn’t the point of this Post.

This Post only goes thru the Batman (1940) series meaning i didn’t check out every comic series. But I had once a heated exchange about the “80 years old” theory with a Hardcore BatCat shipper whom I told to check out for himself the old comics. I know he checked out all 400 first “Batman” and “Detective Comics” Issues but he never got back to me to prove me wrong ... so I guess that he didn’t find anything useful either.

Hereafter you have a partial list of the early “Batman” comics Issues up to the time of the WonderBat kiss in 1968, with the names of notable or recurring females found in them, often being Batman’s real love interests. I didn’t mention the Issues if they had no interesting females in it.

Issue#1: Catwoman tries to seduce and bribe him, doesn't work, she flees and he lets her ! ;

Issue#2: the crime Cat flees again;

Issue#3: Cat's usual M.O. kiss (first) to flee, she wishes she could hook up with Bats;

Issue#5:Quennie kisses Bats and dies

Issue#6:Linda Page

Issue#7:Linda Page

Issue#9:Linda Page

Issue#10:Cat roots for Bats, another kiss and flee ...

Issue#11:Canary kisses Bats and leaves

Issue#15:Bruce Wayne is in love with Linda Page but still "proposes" to the "Arch ennemy" Catwoman and gets "engaged" with her ... Now that's funny, so it would'nt be a first ? thinking about Batman(2016) #39-#40 ...this time its Jail for the Cat

Issue#22:Cat goes to Jail again after flirting with Alfred ...

Issue#26:Future Bruce Wayne and Lora Hall

Issue#35:Catwoman tries to gun down Bats

Issue#39:Cat fights Bats then saves him, tries to seduce and bribe him again but goes to jail again ... nothing new...

Issue#42:Cat goes to Jail again

Issue#45:Cat tries to kill Bats and goes to Jail

Issue#47: a disguised Cat gets to kiss Bats, then ... Jail

Issue#49:Vicky Vale

Issue#50:Vicky Vale

Issue#52:Vicky Vale

Issue#56: Vicky Vale

Issue#61: Vicky Vale

Issue#62: Cat becomes amnesic and fights on the good side.

Issue#64: Vicky Vale

Issue#65: Amnesic Selina remains good but no romance

Issue#69: Amnesic Selina has a Brother no romance

Issue#79: Vicky Vale and Batman fake an engagement/wedding

... No Cat ... But during "Detective Comics"#203" Cat turns evil again without any head injury ...

Issue#81: Vicky Vale

Issue#84: Cat goes to Jail again

Issue#85: Vicky Vale

Issue#87: Vicky Vale gets jealous over the kiss Batman shares with Magda Luvescu

Issue#92: Susie Smith

Issue#98: Vicky Vale

Issue#105: Kathy Kane as Batwoman will become a rather constant love interest in the following years (This one is neither lesbian nor Bruce Wayne's cousin and later her niece Betty is gonna be the first BatGirl and fall for Dick Grayson’ Robin)

Issue#110: Vicky Vale

Issue#111: Vicky Vale

Issue#115: Susie Smith ?

Issue#116: Kathy Kane

Issue#119: Kathy Kane and Vicky Vale

Issue#122: The Wedding of Kathy Kane and Bruce Wayne ... ;)

Issue#125: Kathy Kane

Issue#126: Kathy Kane

Issue#128: Kathy Kane

Issue#129: Kathy Kane

Issue#131: Kathy Kane and Bruce Wayne married again ... ;)

Issue#133: Kathy Kane

Issue#135: Kathy Kane and Bruce Wayne married again ... ;)

Issue#139: Kathy Kane with her niece Betty (as BatGirl)

Issue#140: Kathy Kane

Issue#141: Kathy Kane with her niece Betty (as BatGirl)

Issue#144: Betty (as BatGirl) and Robin ... with Bruce and Kathy.

Issue#145: Kathy Kane and Bruce Wayne married again ... ;)

Issue#147: Kathy Kane

Issue#150: Kathy Kane vs "Elise"

Issue#151: Kathy Kane

Issue#154: Kathy Kane with her niece Betty (as BatGirl)

Issue#157: Kathy Kane and Vicky Vale

Issue#159: Kathy Kane and Bruce Wayne married again ... ;)

Issue#162: Kathy Kane

Issue#163: Kathy Kane and Bruce Wayne married again ... ;)

Issue#165: Patricia Powell

Issue#166: Patricia Powell

Issue#168: Kaye Daye

Issue#176: Cat goes to Jail again

Issue#181 : Poison Ivy and Kaye Daye

Issue#183 : Poison Ivy

Issue#184 : Viola Lance but it was rather Robin’s Interest

Issue#185 : Vera Lovely but again Robin’ Love Interest

Issue#187 : Vicky Vale and “the Sparrow” as Joker’s ennemy ?

Issue#193 : Vicky Vale

Issue#194 : Kaye Daye

Issue#197 (Dec 1967) : Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) and Catwoman fight for Batman but Batgirl isn’t in love with Batman - Containing the “Bride or Burglar” reference used in Batman#44 - Selina thinks she is in love and that you can torture a man into loving her (like I said a crazy psycho)

Issue#198 (Jan-Feb 1968) : Catwoman (still a crazy psycho in love who thinks that hurting him and Robin is the best way to charm Batman ) and Batwoman (Kathy Kane)

1968 : Batman and Wonder Woman first kiss (that I know of) - During that Issue of “the Brave and the Bold”, both Wonder Woman and Batgirl fall in love with Batman. Diana kisses him but it won’t be really revealed, or denied, if Batman had feelings other than Friendship for either one of the Women. But Batman was always kind of good at hiding his feelings for Diana. Based on later evolutions of their relationship, we can only imagine this must have been the beginning of a longtime slow-burner between the two.

I leave it to you to discover the rest for yourself ...

#Wonder woman #Diana Prince #batman #bruce wayne #wonderbat

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aion-rsa · 5 years

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Event Leviathan Brings Espionage and Mystery Back to the DC Universe

http://bit.ly/2Y0az8u

The DEO, ARGUS, and other secret DC Universe organizations are in trouble, and Event Leviathan is the biggest DC Universe mystery of all.

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Interview Aaron Sagers

DC Entertainment

May 1, 2019

Brian Michael Bendis

It’s the Year of the Villain at DC, and it should be no mystery that Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev’s event Event Leviathan will be one of the many things upsetting the status quo for the DC Universe. Following a thinning of DC’s black-ops and covert government agencies, the six-issue miniseries gathers the universe’s greatest detectives to find out what, and who, is the new Leviathan.

Currently the prelude “Leviathan Rising” is unfolding in Bendis’ Action Comics, with a prologue chapter in the 25-cent DC’s Year of the Villain issue (on sale today) and the Superman: Leviathan Rising Special, available May 29. From there, Event Leviathan launches June 12.

In the first issue of a story arc Bendis calls “monumental,” the DEO, Spyral, ARGUS, SHADE, Doom Patrol, and even the Kobra Cult are reduced to ash -- and Batman and Lois Lane are standing on ground zero of a potential new world order. The events appear bigger than Talia al Ghul’s Leviathan, and as events unfold, it would appear everyone is a suspect.

But the real puppet master in DC’s whodunit is Bendis, who joined Den of Geek for a preview of Event Leviathan, and offered up teases about the detective story, which super sleuths are involved (including the return of The Question), and why he and co-publisher Dan DiDio decided to cull the DC spy agencies. He also discusses why eagle-eyed readers will be rewarded.

Den of Geek: Before we delve too deeply into the miniseries, in Part 4 of “Leviathan Rises” (Action Comics #1010), an undercover Lois and Clark go into a store called Coates' Books. Care to deflate those internet rumors that you were teasing the arrival of Ta-Nehisi Coates to DC?

Brian Michael Bendis: [laughs] I don’t use the real estate of the page for secret messages to other comic creators. I could email him. It is a reference to a crime writer [Ian Coates], but I appreciate everyone immediately went to me using the pages to send secret messages.

read more: DC's Dark Nights Metal Ending Explained

Within that bookstore, though, there are several mystery and espionage titles (Three Days of the Condor, The Janus Directive, The Manchurian Candidate). Is this a tease of what’s to come?

I like it because it gets into the mindset of the story, which is there are secrets to figure out. People are looking all through the artwork for clues. I also wanted to reference other literary experiences nodding to excellent genre mashups of spy and something else. And I love throwing out titles like The Janus Directive. There are fans who may not know how cool that story is.

At the end of a mystery tale, we often see all the threads coming together, and realize the answer was right in front of us all along. Will that be the case with Leviathan?

Yes, and to add to that, the audience will see the red herrings Leviathan put out – and specifically why it relates to the characters. There will be false clues, but even those are clues. It’s very Agatha Christie.

Who are the underestimated detectives of DC you’re enjoying playing with?

The Question, which I’m happy to be re-introducing to the readership. He/She was off the table for so long, so re-introducing The Question has been a real joy. Also Green Arrow and Plastic Man. And no, I don’t mean Elongated Man. Plastic Man has a very specific expertise here.

read more: Justice League, the Legion of Doom, and the Nature of Evil in the DC Universe

Why should these very different personalities work together?

These detectives are all being set up because they are high-end suspects for who Leviathan is. Not only are they trying to prove who Leviathan is, they are also trying to prove it’s not them so they can get back to work. Part of what Leviathan is doing is causing a smattering of distracting clues and false leads because he is not done with his opening salvo. And he needs Batman talking to the wrong person for like six more hours before they’re done. The detectives figure this out, and now have to work together to solve this literally before dawn. Whatever bad happened in Action Comics was just the table setting for what’s coming next.

You just said “before dawn,” so how much time does the miniseries span?

It is a very concentrated amount of time, but I don’t want to say too much. What’s interesting to me about the series is Alex and I were specifically looking to attack this story as a different kind of event. In doing so, we have a detective event along the lines of Murder on the Orient Express, or Death Trap, or Sleep – very intense psychological detective thrillers. It is a head scratcher, and you have to think like Batman.

What are the different styles of sleuthing these characters excel at?

You have the reporter Lois Lane, facts first, unpack it later. You have got Batman’s detective philosophy, which is all over the place, but very specific to clues no one else sees. He has trained his brain to look at the world unlike anyone else. The others have specific experiences, which I’ll get to in the story. And they are interrogating each other, on top of everyone else. Not only are they suspects, the people around them are as well.

What was the conversation between you and Alex Maleev about the artistic approach for this story?

Over many years we’ve been offered a lot of stuff at DC, but I could tell Alex wanted to do a Batman thing with me. We had a scratch that never got itched. When I was coming to DC, and said we were going to do creator-owned stuff at DC, he literally said, “and Batman!” That’s how much it meant to him. He had been working on the style he’s been doing in our book Scarlet for the last couple years. He has been working at this level, and style, for a few years. It got developed in Scarlet, and when he applied it directly to our story in Detective Comics #1000, we said this is what our book will look like. After many years of working together, it was the most shortcut of conversations.

How paranoid should the readers be? Should we trust the heroes?

We don’t know whose word to trust, but we will know at the end. People don’t like to not trust everybody for a long period of time. So, by the end of the series, you’ll know who Leviathan is, why they did what they did, how they did it, and what’s going forward. And what’s going forward is a pretty enormous thing for the DC Universe.

read more: Year of the Villain Leads to the Biggest Event in DC Universe History

Not only is this story being told, but a shape is being set in DC for villainy that will open up a lot of story for a lot of people. From the 25-cent issue, I think people are going to be surprised how much this is going to impact Batgirl, and Green Arrow. And at the last page, we drop a bomb in dialogue. Nobody is safe. There are a lot of suspects here, and they are all valid.

You quickly clean house of all the various spy agencies within the DCU. Is this a new status quo?

When I first came to DC, Dan DiDio sat me down and said one thing that bothered him about the universe was we have 40 organizations that do the same thing. They were all created out of love, and by good people. But it’s so redundant it’s hard to tell a potent story. The idea of doing, “and then there was one” of the organizations, but that organization becoming too big to handle is exciting. So it’s a no backs on the status quo. These organizations are gone. But they are being replaced by some things that will be revealed in Event Leviathan, and pulled out into the DC Universe that will hopefully be the best version of the things people liked about the other organizations. It is consolidating it down to something anyone can understand.

What is the balance is giving each of these characters their moment?

Batman is walking us into a crime scene, but when he gets there, there are four or five suspects, and each of them are detectives with a unique experience. Batman and Lois introduce us into this story, but it’s going to go in other areas. People know Batman is not Leviathan, but everyone else is up for grabs.

Who else’s detective skills will readers be surprised by?

I have intentionally not been mentioning Kate Spencer, Manhunter. I haven’t mentioned Damian, and there’s stuff behind Green Arrow that’s pretty interesting. And in the very first issue is Steve Trevor. The suspect list is going to get pretty high, pretty fast.

What are companion pieces readers should check out between issues to continue the mysterious tone?

I am going to be that during the whole event, and tweeting out reading lists, because I had such a great time doing research for this. If people are into it, they’ll want to read what I read. Our research for this went pretty deep. I spoke at Langley, and have been there a couple times. We have been doing research for this for a couple years.

Do you have any advice to readers diving into this as they try to figure the mystery out?

It’s a mystery story, and those are tough on the internet. People announce they know the answer. I can’t respond to everyone’s answer, and say some are right, or some are wrong. I have to be cool, and let it unfold. So, let it unfold. The things you’re feeling in the first couple issues, you may feel very different about by issue five, or six. Stay open minded. It is such a dangerous story, and I know some fans are going to get very worried.

from Books http://bit.ly/2GTA31I

#aion-rsa #Books

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randomthingsthatilike1 · 7 years

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So this is regarding the Supercat AU I just posted about yesterday (link here)--who in the supergirl cast would fill what position?

So first thing’s first: Press Secretary.

As Annabeth put it, for 6 years CJ Cregg managed the press through charm and disarm, a seduction. And yes Cat could do it, but you know who would both be good at it and enjoy it?

James.

Alex is obviously chief of staff (and for more comparisons between Jed and Leo and Kara and Alex, I p much already wrote like 2k already tbh). But I will leave here: you gotta best friend? Are they smarter than you? That’s your chief of staff. (And yeah former Surgeon General and army medic turned chief of staff Yup that’s Alex)

As for Lucy? Lucy I can see so much as Deputy Chief of Staff. She’s smart and determined and never sleeps and has So Many contacts in DC—former lawyer that briefed the joint-chiefs-of-staff, General Sam Lane’s daughter, and a Democrat? Yeah, she knows the game. She speaks Republican, since she was raised by one, and knows exactly how to charm and intimidate alike. So many Republican asswhipes just see an attractive woman or a shy little girl and just get absolutely hammered by Lucy. Very few see her coming. She’s been in Washington before sure—but there’s a new Congress every 2 years, and a lot of them have either forgotten or never knew that Lucy wasn’t just a damn wave, she was a tsunami (she was military back then. And her job consisted of keeping her mouth shut, both regarding the secrets she knew and her opinions on the (then) current political climate. This isn’t opening up a debate or anything but even most of the staunchest Republicans were like ‘that’s legit’ when former General Mike Flynn got fired for bad mouthing Obama when he was in uniform. People never really realized she had the blinders on, pretty much always.)

Oh man, and VP Hank Henshaw (yes I know his name is really J’onn but I’m making Hank his middle name and Henshaw his mom’s maiden name. He’s going into politics—a name like J’onn Jonzz doesn’t exactly play the best), former General and joint-chief, Kara’s foil. Most people see the sunshiney optimism, her youth, and her career background and forget that she’s former military. They see Hank, all of his experience with foreign affairs and military and wisdom and are comforted because there’s just one meter in which you judge the Vice President—on their ability to assume the Presidency. And this is politics—they don’t only want him as VP because he’s black, but it definitely made it easier to make that decision as opposed to Chief of Staff.

Winn. I blame @civilorange for this but cat and winn really could have a potential for friendship and really lbr Winn is Sunny and Awkward enough to be this version of Sam, the two of them the Batman and Robin of the White House (and oh man—the scandal isn’t that he accidentally slept with a call girl. The scandal is he’s the toymaker’s son). The boy can write, can knock socks off and has a phenomenal grasp of written oratory and syntax. But he’s completely fucked if he tries to do it in front of like. Anyone he doesn’t know very well, he just freezes up. The Toymaker’s son didn’t exactly have a sheltered childhood, filled with encouragement and support. He learned how to trust, but it’s tentative. He’s not right for Communications Director but as Cat’s deputy? That’s enough.

And then Kara. My kiddo. The star of the show. Like I mention before she was a ROTC college kid, didn’t have access to her trust fund because she was put in witness protection as a kid—her parents’ killer Non is apprehended when she was a sophomore in college but her parents very much instilled a sense of duty in her. She kept going. She comes from a very wealthy family sure, but she can’t access it until she’s 25 anyway Her mom was a Supreme Court Justice and her dad an astronaut at NASA (less of a commute than you might think when you have your own small private plane and are a pilot. Kara grew up knowing that the sky was never the limit), her aunt one of the youngest generals in military history—yeah, a lot of people wanted them dead. She’s a bit aimless in college, Art and Political Science and Linguistics, double minor in military science and astronomy. I don’t think most people realize just how smart Kara is, not to mention easily she bores. She likes being busy, being faster than any thoughts of her past (also no way does Astra ‘I love my niece more than anything in this life’ not teach kara at a v young age how to fight. Kara is very good at it)

She does her requisite 4 years, spends the next two years kind of just enjoying life as an artist, taking it easy and dealing with both childhood trauma and the shit she’s seen in the past 4 years and just slowing down a bit. She sells some of her art, not because she needs the money but because she wants to have it out there. She’s still in her 20’s when she starts working as a diplomat—her record definitely helps. She never really got to travel much but now she does—and damn does she just soak in languages like a sponge.

When she finally feels like setting roots, she goes back home, gets her grad degree in Astronomy—she’s always had a love affair with the stars. Maybe becomes a professor for a little while—you know the one, the one everyone has a crush on and is the one

And kara would 10/10 would be that person that stands up to some bigoted politician and just be absolutely Done with his policies and everyone else is just afraid of him, the guy’s been their district’s representative for decades and is corrupt af so she kind of gets into politics because fuck him she’d do a better job and she cares way more about their country than he does and oh man what if it’s like the Horton Wilde Campaign and the only other candidate has had four heart attacks (and God I’m just reminded of that line “There are worse things in the world than no longer being alive.”), so. She runs and lmao Kara’s surprised that she actually does win but 0/10 is anyone else because she’s dripping with charisma and sincerity and is so damn smart and inspirational and not to mention she’s pretty much looks like a Greek pantheon, along with an exceptional pedigree and has a spotless record (except—it’s not spotless. She was expecting it to come out, but she’s been discrete with any relationships she’s ever had, women with just as much skin in the game as she does. They don’t come up).

She wins, and then she keeps on winning. She moves from the House of Representatives to Governor and she’s two year into her second when her sister comes back to their home state, unannounced, with a crumpled up napkin she’s been carrying in her pocket for the past few days.

Danvers for America

And that brings me to my next point--Cat as Toby, White House Communications Director—there’s too much of a conflict of interest for the former (she takes a leave of absence) head of a media conglomerate to be the press secretary. Not to mention—Cat can charm the pants off of anyone but she is biting and sarcastic and sometimes a bit hostile. So can she do it? Sure. But more like a fill in kind of thing. There’s never any secret plan to fight inflation kind of thing. She could do it long term, but she doesn’t really want to. Cat was first and foremost, a journalist. A writer—there are very few people good enough to write for the White House, and Cat is one of them. (and you know who’s a grumpy cat? Toby. You know who else is a grumpy cat? Cat.)

Seriously, Toby and Cat would get together so well, they have such a similar sense of humor and idealism “it cant go far” “yes” “somewhere in this building is our talent”—or setting aflame horrible writing. She’s an award winning writer, able to inculcate hope and optimism into an entire city with just a few words, and almost completely on the fly. She takes a leave of absence from CatCo, brings Carter to DC—he’s young, he bounces back. She has plenty of savings that the lack of salary doesn’t really bother her.

And it’s been years but Cat feels re-energized, driven, motivated again. And it’s all because of Kara, brilliant, beautiful, wholly and sincerely good. She feels a tugging in her gut, fingers itching to smooth that little crinkle between her eyes, the one that shows up at the end of a particularly difficult day at the White House, one ending in body counts, absolute devastation in every glance and gesture because Kara takes everything so personally and Cat just wants to see her smile again. But Cat knows how this story goes. She tells herself that this is simply admiration, that she isn’t half in love with the most powerful person on the planet, that what she feels is just what the rest of the staff feels, and she’s misreading all the signs and gestures and body language because the President of the United States is not gay.

Except, that all goes right out of her brain whenever she sees Kara’s smile—like the sun. Kara’s sunshine, all of it, relieving warmth that envelops you like the softest, gentlest hug, rays of light breaking through after a snowstorm, light erupting through the clouds after a night you aren’t sure you’ll ever survive—the harsh, unrelenting, UV waves, burning everything in its path. Sunburns and melanoma, droughts, forest fires, sun’s rays harnessed to the point of combustion, going from pleasantly warm to scorching in a matter of minutes—the two Karas.

But Cat sees them both--and it’s not that she doesn’t care, because that’s the point. Cat does care. She sees both sides of Kara, and with every stolen moment, every conversation, every time she promises herself just once more—and it’s never enough. God help her if (when) Kara finally clues in, because there’s no going back—Cat is ruined. She’s fallen in love with her President, and Cat may be the woman with a plan but not this time.

#supercat #supergirl #the west wing #kara danvers #cat grant #tww #lucy lane #alex danvers #j'onn jones #winn schott #james olsen #i dont like how this ended #and this is just the original cast #the main original cast #i have plaNS #;D #superwing #superwing au

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suckitsurveys · 7 years

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Lot’s of long answers in this one sorry not sorry.

1. Do you like zombie movies? Nah, I’m not into the whole zombie thing. <--Same. I do like Zombieland though.

2. What’s the grossest/worst thing you’ve ever seen in a public restroom? Used condoms.

3. What’s the most wasteful thing you regularly do? I use a lot of paper towels.

4. What’s the most difficult apology you’ve ever had to give? I’m not sure.

5. What’s the worst relationship advice you’ve ever seen? I HATE the whole “fighting is healthy” mentality. Yes, bickering is fine, but if you’re fighting all the time, that is not a healthy relationship AT ALL. If your partner is screaming and yelling you on a regular basis, that is borderline emotional abuse.

6. Have you ever volunteered in a hospital? If not, would you ever want to? I haven’t. And definitely not, I hate hospitals.

7. What was your worst Halloween costume? All of my costumes have been pretty awesome. I was Lucy from Lucy, Daughter of the Devil one year and no one got it, but I still had fun with it.

8. Who has/had the worst reputation in your graduating class? Eh.

9. When was the first time you can remember feeling mature? I’ll let you know when that happens.

10. Have you ever had a disappointing Christmas, or any disappointing holiday if you don’t celebrate Christmas? Yeah. It’s kinda hard to talk about, but about 7 years ago my mother accidentally took her meds twice in the morning and she was completely out of it while opening presents. I got her a really nice chalkboard that she had wanted and she opened it and literally looked at it, said nothing, and put it down to open the next present, pretty much repeating what she did with mine. And when she did say stuff she was very incoherent. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to watch.

11. Do you have any character bandaids in your house right now, or just plain ones? There are some Batman ones that were mine at my dad’s still.

12. Have you ever had to give a pet away? Yes. My ex gave me a kitten like 2 weeks before we broke up. The cat was also born to a wild cat that his friends fed but didn’t house, so the cat was, well, wild. He would scratch and bite me in my sleep and probably had worms. And I was too depressed after being dumped to deal with the kitten and I felt SO horrible but I had to give him to a shelter. I really hope that kitty has a good home now.

13. What’s the junkiest junk food you’ve ever eaten? Oh man, I don’t know. Probably like loaded cheese fries or something. Or a fried Oreo.

14. Did you play pretend a lot as a child? Were there any recurring plots or themes? Yeah, I pretended a lotttttt. One of the biggest things I did was make cars in my dining room by setting up our chairs. I’d pretend to go on road trips with my dolls.

15. How do you feel about runny egg yolks? I’m not a huge fan but I don’t mind them. I’d rather them be firm.

16. Has a teacher ever tried to teach you something that was undeniably wrong? Yeah, my 7th grade math teacher was a JOKE.

17. If for some reason you had to give up one of your hobbies, which would you choose? Maybe Facebook?

18. Have you ever hidden a relationship from your family? I’ve definitely been in some online ones that I didn’t tell them about.

19. How much do you know about first aid? Not very much oops.

20. Which of your relatives do you know the least about? Hmm. Good question. The magic of Facebook has changed this dynamic recently. I used to not know anything about some of my second cousins but I have a lot of them on FB now, so I know at least a little about them. Maybe some of the family I have in TN?

21. Have you ever meditated? If so, did it do anything for you? Yeah. It was nice I guess? I supposed I do my own forms of meditating now, like relaxing in the tub or enjoying being outside.

22. Have you ever given advice to someone who was much older than you? Yeah.

23. Have you ever used a view-master? Yeah!

24. Do you ever listen to talk radio or podcasts? If you do, what are some of your favorite shows? Sometimes I’ll listen to NPR, and my favorite segments on that station are Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me and This American Life.

25. When was the last time you got ice cream from a truck? Oh it’s been a while. I’m hoping I can catch one this summer with my niece because she’d love that. We’ve gotten ice cream from one of those bicycle cooler things before and she thought it was so neat.

26. Are any of your favorite bands broken up or on hiatus right now? I don’t pay attention to that, haha. I do know Die Antwoord is going to break up at the end of the year or already did or something. Like I said, I have no idea about those things.

27. Do you know any sex workers? If so, how do they feel about their job? I did. She seemed to enjoy it.

28. What’s the biggest art project you’ve ever attempted? How did it go? Hmm. I can’t think of anything. Maybe my architecture final? That I did pass.

29. What kind of wild animals do you see most frequently where you live? Squirrels, birds, bunnies, raccoons, and unfortunately skunks.

30. Have you ever cooked anything other than s’mores over a fire? Yeah, we’ve cooked potatoes and corn in a fire before. And also hot dogs. Oh and beans one time too.

31. Are there any items in your house that you use for something other than its intended purpose? Hmm. Mark’s night stand is currently a storage box.

32. What do you hope the afterlife is like? I don’t know if I believe in that or not.

33. What’s the worst behavior you’ve ever seen from a child? One of the kids at the daycare my sister owns used to communicate displeasure well into his toddler years by SCREAMING and refusing to move. Like would stiffen up and just scream. He was a terror and my sister could not get him adjusted no matter what she tried, and the parents didn’t want to listen either.

34. Have you ever planned an act of revenge? Maybe little things as a kid. Like one time I was hanging out with my sister when I was about 9 or 10 and she was 18 ish, and then all of a sudden her boyfriend came over and they deserted me. They ordered Chinese food for just them and while they were upstairs, I poured an insane amount of garlic powder in it. But the joke ended up being on me because my sister then offered the leftovers to me. Haha.

35. Do you and your parents share any of the same hobbies? I mean, we enjoy doing things together, definitely. My dad and I go to Cubs games and watch movies and go out to eat together a lot. He also likes going on trips and so do I. But he’s definitely a lot more interested in music than I am. And golfing. When my mom was alive we enjoyed shopping together, and she liked trips and movies as well. She also collected antiques, which isn’t something I’m super interested in, but I do appreciate them.

36. Do you think it’s more exciting or scary to get older? Both.

37. How was the reception of the last wedding you attended? My sister’s wedding was basically one big reception in my dad’s backyard. It was SUPER laid back; there was a small ceremony and then afterwords we had a taco bar and my sister grilled the steak herself in her wedding dress. I loved that part haha. We also had my dad’s friend’s band play and my dad also got up and played a few songs on his guitar as well. Everyone just danced and laughed and had a really great time. It was really fun, despite who she was marrying, haha.

38. Do you have any physical photo albums? There are a TON at my dad’s house.

39. Would you feel comfortable working at a sex shop? Eh.

40. Who was the worst friend you ever had? Aside from lil pre-teen jackasses in middle school, my ex friend Jessica. She was SO into herself she never asked me how I was doing and she thought she was a really good signer and definitely wasn’t. She also pulled some bullshit when my ex and his best friend tried to break Mark and I up early in our relationship. Long story short, when I told her what happened she was like “I’m not going to take sides” (my ex’s best friend was her bf’s brother). UM that situation was definitely something you should take sides in, especially when it happened to your supposed best friend. I stopped talking to her that day.

41. What’s the biggest sacrifice you’ve ever made? Staying at home longer than I wanted to. I did it so my dad wouldn’t be lonely. I was on track to moving out when my mother passed away and then I felt like I needed to/wanted to stay with him and it ended up being a few more years before I moved out on my own (with Mark).

42. Have you ever campaigned for a political candidate, or otherwise played an active roll in an election? Eh.

43. What’s the coolest hand-me-down you’ve ever gotten? What about the best one you’ve ever given? Oh man I cannot think right now. I’m sure there have been a few things I’ve given my niece. The only thing I can think of right now is my Barbie collection, even though they are still at my dads and she only plays with them there. They will eventually become hers fully though. OH! The coolest hand-me-down I ever got was my sister’s old room in our parent’s home when she moved out. It was painted blue top to bottom and had a KILLER walk in closet.

44. Do your parents and grandparents get along with each other? My dad’s mother is my only living grandparent and they bicker A LOT. I think he might harbor some of the same resentment I do against her for treating my mother so horrible when she was alive. And that he’s on his way to retirement but now has to take care of her. And now on his own since I moved out, which I feel super guilty about but that’s a story for another day. This survey is over and I need to sleep.

#surveys

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ecoamerica · 2 months

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davidmann95 · 7 years

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It's probably not smthn super interesting to you but, all the new Superman costumes when I looked at them just... reminded me of Connor, mostly? (I ended up playing with them to make a Superman Connor which was fun.) But my main question is, do you think that "Superman" is a name that could ever really be passed down, kind of like how Dick was given Batman (briefly)? Not in the way of lots of people rushing in, but DC seriously trying to introduce a new Superman? Who would you give that role?

Yeah, I can see that. Same basic design, just with a yellow negative space in the S and the yellow buckle on the belt.

As for the successor business, the idea of certain superhero identities as ‘off-limits’ has never quite sat right with me. Not everyone exactly demands that another hero take up their mantle - if Peter Parker was the one and only Spider-Man I don’t think many New Yorkers would notice for long, in-universe he’s a B-list superhero at best - but they’re bigger-than-life characters, often standing for things to their city or world larger than their own physical selves; it means something for that symbol to continue past whoever started it. I never liked old-school Earth-Two Dick Grayson staying Robin forever because he ‘wasn’t worthy’ to be Batman; the guy himself would have wanted that, he’d been doing it longer than Bruce by the time he died, and he had the same training and resources and motivation. And at least there’s the question with Batman of whether you legitimately could logistically equal the decades of unrelenting globe-spanning training he went through; with most heroes, if you have the power and the goodness of heart, you’re off to the races. Batman isn’t a mythical totem bound to the heart and soul of a single individual only to fade into the wind when Bruce Wayne passes on, it’s a suit he puts on that Dick Grayson or Tim Drake or Damian Wayne could put on too, and would have good reason to. And if Superman isn’t going to be Superman forever, whether that means he dies in battle or gets old or he goes off into space, there’s absolutely a reason for someone to fill that gap. Even if his immediate family didn’t, someone would.

Not to mention a lineage of Supermen and Superwomen stretching from the present to the 853rd century and beyond is just really cool. It gives you all kind of weird variants and possibilities even before you factor in the Multiverse, lets you do wild cross-time teamups, and plays with the ever-changing future of DC at any given time. And that they manage to exist is maybe the most tangible impact of Superman’s ideals across the breadth of space and time: the Starman legacy may eventually go rotten, the Green Lanterns may die out, the Allen/West line of Flashes has died about by Legion times, but eighty three thousand years down the line the moral imprint Kal-El leaves behind is still so strong that his great to the power of a hundred grandchildren, each and every one of whom could conquer galaxies, are to a woman and man the greatest heroes of their era. That such an impossible standard continues to be met in the face of infinite temptation in a time far farther away from us than the beginning of recorded history is the most monumental testament imaginable to how good Superman actually is at bringing out the best in people.

So who starts it?

Well, Kara as Superwoman’s an obvious choice - she’s got the power, she’s got the heart, and she’s the only other survivor of Krypton up to the task. But she’s always felt off as a successor to him for me - they spring from the same incident, so her motivations and origins are parallel to his rather than springing from him and his deal. She doesn’t wear the S-shield because of him, even if he’s the reason she calls herself ‘Supergirl’. It seems odd to discuss her as a successor in the same way as Batwoman for Batman - they’re associated characters, yes, but they’ve got their own things going on. More importantly they’d keep doing pretty much the same things they were already doing, in which case why bother getting rid of another character in the first place? Taking Superman’s place doesn’t do anything to Supergirl that her just growing up wouldn’t do with time anyway. It has to be someone where them entering that role represents a change.

The idea of Conner having to become Superman is loaded with potential, but that’s kind of the problem: I think the idea that he could be Superman one day is way more interesting than him actually being Superman would be. Maybe this is in part because I generally think of him as being a character of unfulfilled narrative potential, but the idea of this kinda goofy, rough-’n-tumble kid playing around with weird Kirby concepts and hanging out with the Teen Titans and resenting having to go to high school wondering if he might actually have to be Superman one day has a lot more going for it than whatever he’d actually be as Superman. I like the idea of the hybrid of Superman and Luthor being able to save the world in the way neither of them ever could, but only Luthor’s more unsavory aspects seem to be hinted at as a potential part of the package for Conner rather than his mighty intellect or ambition, so it mostly comes down to a stock Good Genes vs. Bad Genes argument that’s settled once and for all once he puts on the cape. Similarly, that he might fear the idea of being Superman the way a teenager fears having to get a 9-to-5 job when he grows up is fun - he knows that’s ultimately a thing he has to do to take care of those around him, and something he’ll probably be okay with when the time comes, but right now he’s not so sure he’s wild about it - but that means either he gets over it, or we get another Superman who often seems to hate being Superman. Plus he doesn’t have much of a background to draw on given he literally woke up on the day of his birth as a superhero, so again, aside from having to be a role model it’s not much of a logistical change for him. All-in-all while it’s interesting to see him in that role in potential futures, I think any destiny for Kon-El would probably be best served by him finding a different job title.

While I’d hope to see him in something a little more stylish than the above -maybe he could change costumes a lot, every time we see “Superman Secundus” he seems to wear a different uniform, so that could be a character detail - I think Jon Kent, the Boy of Tomorrow, would be the best option for a new Superman. For one big thing right upfront, while it’s probably about to be retconned out of him in March (probably for the best), he’s the one of the bunch who himself is the last son of a doomed world. Hell, more than that he’s the last son of a doomed DC Universe, the one way to feasibly one-up the significance of Krypton; even when he’ll have just been born on Earth, the idea of him as the final product of a classic DC has some potency.

That sense of legacy plays into something else with him: he’s the only one of the gaggle who actually thinks of Superman as Superman. Kara knew from day one that was just her cousin, Conner was born to be Superman, but Jon’s the one who grew up with Superman as his hero, not knowing just how true that was. He looks at Superman the way you look at Superman, and then he finds out his dad is Superman, coming at the idea from an even more direct place than Wally West. And being raised by Superman means he becomes a different character from him: he doesn’t grow up lonely and lost in the same ways Clark did, but he doesn’t have to go through the same trials or endure quite the same harsh lessons either. He’s could be the Nightwing to his Batman, not quite having the same kind of focus and drive but overall a better-adjusted person, which lets him go through the same basic motions you expect of Superman while still being a meaningfully different character.

Plus, he brings back a lot of Silver Age elements that don’t quite work for Superman anymore. I’m not a fan of Clark in-costume defending Smallville as Superboy, but Jon has Hamilton, meaning he can live out the whole Superboy status quo of defending a small town while also living as a normal schoolkid concealing his powers and super-brain. And while Clark becoming Superman is an all-but-meaningless name-change for Clark if he’s already been Superboy for years, for Jon that’s the biggest thing ever, making a career as Superboy much easier to pull off for him without invalidating anything. Plus, while the doofy Chris Reeve-style disguise doesn’t quite feel right anymore for Clark, it’d fit perfectly for someone as energetic and occasionally clumsy as Jon (especially if he parlays his obvious genius into the world of mad science as his day job when he grows up). You get the original Superman succeeded by the Silver Age Superman just as he was in the real world, and Jon brings enough to the table personality-wise while still being able to do the classic stuff (he can learn more about Krypton, but it’s fundamentally altered by being the home of his unknowable ancestors rather than the place he was born, for instance), and that differentiates him from the other two candidates. Obviously a lot of this is just potential no one has seized on yet, but if Superman set down the rules of the DCU, Jon grows up as a pure embodiment of that world, Super from childhood on and living without the burdens his dad had to. That to me makes him the most interesting possibility of the lot to see as a second Superman.

#Superman #Batman #Supergirl #Superboy #Conner Kent #Jon Kent #Opinion

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jb-blaq · 6 years

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Ideal Teams: Titans Show

So San Diego Comic-con has passed. There was lots of exciting news and even more exciting trailers, particularly with dc for once. It seems like everyone is a lot more excited than Aquaman and Shazam when they were just the week before. But with all good must come bad and even though DC had a lot of good looking things this SDCC they also had what must have been the biggest blunder. I think it's safe to say that almost nobody is seriously looking forward to they are Titans show anymore. There's a lot of reasons why from being yet another gritty reboot in an era where people are sick of them, to the clunky writing that was presented and from a visual perspective, the show looks awful. It's clear that they're not working with a very high budget and that should be fine Titans shouldn’t require that big a budget depending on which members they choose to use so let's take a look at the lineup.

... Oh. It's the cartoon. Again. Don't get me wrong I love to Teen Titans cartoon and these characters and I understand why they did it the cartoon lineup has become the most recognizable version of this team. Even though the show is technically called The Titans, who do have their own separate identity from the Teen Titans, you do want to peak the interest of people who grew up with the cartoon. My problem is not only are these characters more associated with Teen Titans than just Titans but all these characters require a higher budget than a tv shows going to get especially one that's on an untested streaming platform like this one is. So for this ideal teams, we're going to be making a more faithful and budget-friendly Titans team.

Robin (Dick Grayson) Now fuck Batmans aside Dick Grayson is a no-brainer. He's the team's original leader the most iconic Robin even though most of the Robin attributes the people associate with him come from other Robins. Having him struggle to form his own identity separate from Batman with it coalescing at the end of the season with him becoming Nightwing is a storyline that everybody's wanted to seeing live action for a long time.

Speedy (Roy Harper) Roy is my pick to be the second-in-command at least at the start of the season. He and Dick Grayson of always had a really fun rivalry very similar to Bruce and Ollie's or what I feel is a more apt comparison Hawkeye and Captain America's. Seems like archers have a knack for bumping heads against leaders. Besides the rivalry, Roy has tons of story potential as you can tackle his infamous battle with heroin, his long unrequited crush for another character on this list, and in later seasons you could adapt his unusual relationship with Cheshire. A note from me I would make a change to Roy's backstory instead of making him the son of a rich white family who was adopted by a Native American tribe I would just make him native American. Roy’s backstory doesn't matter too much any way it would be a good chance to give a young native American actor work, and it allows you to get rid of the bizarre cultural appropriation aspect of the character that Iron Fist had to deal with when it came out.

(Side Note: Yes I know iron fist was originally white in the comics. That's not particularly relevant to the people who are criticizing the choice to make him white in the show. I'm not going to state where I stand on that here, I'm just trying to avoid a bunch of replies trying to fact-check me on something I already know.)

Aqualad (Garth) Now a lot of people would suggest we just replace Garth with Kaldur as he's become the far more popular character but I would argue against that for a couple of reasons. One reason is this hypothetical version of the Titan show would be being released on dc streaming service which when it comes to original programming is airing with The Titans and the third season of Young Justice. The Kaldur version of Aqualad is a main character on that show and well Dick Grayson also is there's a lot of different ways to tackle Dick as a character since he's been around so long. The Kaldur version of Aqualad is pretty much only defined by his appearance on young justice so having him on another team show running on the same platform where one is directly taking inspiration for a character from another would be kind of a mess. Another reason is as you have probably picked up on by now I am going for the original Titans lineup from the 60s which Garth was a founding member of. And another is Garth is a really underrated character often made the butt of jokes for his connection with Aquaman in his admittedly silly name. But the character has a fun and not too expensive power set basically being a Waterbender and you can do a really sweet romance with him and his future wife to be Dolphin. I think it's time for Garth to have his moment in the sun.

Troia (Donna Troy) It's a shame most people don't know about Donna Troy, the original wonder girl has been an absolutely vital member of The Titans over the years. One of the reasons you might not have heard of her is that Donna has a famously confusing origin story with it being retconned numerous times. In my hypothetical version of the show figuring out her origin story would be the main plot of the first season. Not only because that would allow for a lot of great character work to be done but her trying to learn her true origins could contribute to an overall theme of self-discovery that you could play up throughout the whole season. Her powers are very low budget with her basically having the same moveset as Diana. Her aloof nature could lead to comedy when it comes to Roy’s crush on her which is always been cute. She's a fun and confident character who also lens herself too dark and brooding storylines which lead to well-rounded characters. Also, it would be very refreshing to have your team powerhouse be the female.

Kid Flash (Wally West) And finishing the original fab five is wally west. I'd also go with the original version of wally west for similar reasons to why I chose Garth to be our Aqualad. The Flash CW show is already doing the black Wally West and like Kaldur this version of Wally West is so new that the show is really defining just as much of the character as the comics are, so it's best to just let that version of Wally West develop in that show separately and not trying copy of character that's already being worked on elsewhere. And the original version of Wally West is not only one of the most important Titans but one of the most important characters in dc is whole continuity. But for being such an important character he has made shockingly little appearances outside of the comics and even when he has it's either him already as the Flash like in the justice league animated show or he's so minor that it's hard to even remember that he was there like in the Teen Titans cartoon. But to see the full journey from Flash fanboy turns sidekick, too confident superhero in his own right, to having to take the mantle of Flash and balances time between The Titans and the justice league it would be amazing to see the full journey. And like Dick Grayson I don't think it's too much of a problem that Young Justice and the show would be using the same version of Wally cuz there are so many different ways to you handle Wally story.

Okay so we covered the original 5 and that's what I would make the team for the start of the show. Though besides the original team and the cartoon, Titans are actually known for having larger than average team sizes. So I would have members join over the course of the season who would those be? Well, I've come up with a few candidates.

Bumblebee (Karen Beecher) Now while Bumblebee is not an original member she has been with the team since their original run. She was their first tech genius. She has a sharp tongue in a sharper mind. A generally fun character and very progressive for the time that she was created in. I could see her becoming a huge fan favorite if more people were made aware of her. She's also been in a very long-standing relationship with…

Vox/Guardian/Herald (Malcom Duncan) Mal Duncan another long-standing Titans character. Mel's just your average guys smart but not a genius, powerful but not god like I think if he were put on this show it would be a great opportunity to expand his character more. What Mal is most known for is identity swapping he's most commonly remembered as Guardian his original one, but he's had the identities Herald, Hornblower, and my personal favorite Vox. He's had many different powers but in my mind, the one that gives him the most purpose is as a teleporter. Mal certainly isn't the most exciting character to add but I think having a solid normal person who doesn't have that much baggage on the team would provide a nice center for the team.

Flamebird (Bette Kane) Bettie Kane has always been a fun character who hasn't gotten nearly enough love and I think it would be a good opportunity to give it to her here. She was the first Batgirl sidekick to both Batwomen at one point in time cousin to one niece to another, it's slightly confusing. I would forget about her ever being Batgirl in this show and just make her the former sidekick of Kate Kane her cousin. Her biggest inspiration for being a superhero was Robin who she has a crush on even after she becomes a hero. I think adding another non-powered member of the team is a good idea. She can provide a good will they won't they romance element with Robin. Also, her connection to Bruce's family could further influence Dick in his choice to step away from Being Robin. This is just a fun character that I would need to add to a show like this.

Well, that was my pitch for Titans. I hope you enjoyed some of the ideas I threw around. And even though I made fun of it I do sincerely hope that the actual Titans show that they are making is good, I guess we'll find out soon enough. Please favorite and reblog.

Check me out on twitter:

https://twitter.com/jrebest

Continue the conversation on my discord:

https://discord.gg/CEEXaBr

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topmixtrends · 6 years

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ROBERT SIKORYAK’S REMARKABLE SKILL often goes unappreciated because of its subtlety. His works are acts of cultural appropriation that deftly mine our comic book memories, filtering history and literature through our understanding of comic book history. His art enables our collective, illustrated past to mediate the present. What do we learn, for example, about the culture that produced iconic figures such as Mary Worth and Rex Morgan, M.D., when these two characters reappear as Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Lady Macbeth? If we, as a culture, haven’t yet come to terms with the extent of the sorrows expressed in Charles Schulz’s many decades of pathos-laden Peanuts strips, Sikoryak reassembles the ideological pieces for us, rendering Kafka’s The Metamorphosis in Schulz’s style and retitling it: “Good ol’ Gregor Brown.” Both of these strips, like all of Sikoryak’s work, demonstrate his keen eye and extraordinary finesse.

Sikoryak, born in 1964, generally signs his name “R. Sikoryak.” He has drawn cover art for The New Yorker, LA Weekly, and The Nation. His work has been featured in Wired magazine as well as in the groundbreaking publication Raw, where he worked together with Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly shortly after graduating from the Parsons School of Design in the late 1980s. In 2009 Sikoryak published his 64-page hardcover collection of literary works reimagined as classic comics Masterpiece Comics, and his Terms and Conditions: The Graphic Novel (2017) — an inspired take on the unreasonable language of user license agreements — was reviewed six months ago in LARB. He currently lives in New York and teaches illustration at Parsons.

I interviewed Sikoryak about Masterpiece Comics and about his recently published book, The Unquotable Trump. The Unquotable Trump is a collection of iconic comic book covers from many decades that have been remastered to show first Candidate Trump, and then President Trump, taking over the respective comic book’s worlds. Sikoryak’s Trump goes head-to-head with the comic world’s most iconic characters, including Neal Adams’s Superman, John Romita’s Spider-Man, and even Warren Kremer’s Richie Rich. For the book, Sikoryak relied only on direct quotes — as its cover boasts, it consists of “Trump in his very own ‘best words!’”

BRAD PRAGER: On several pages of The Unquotable Trump, Trump is seen speaking even when there is no speech in the originals. For example, the cover of your book is based on a cover of the 1975 Marvel Treasury Edition featuring the Incredible Hulk. On that cover, the Hulk is silent, but your “Hulk-Trump” is uttering a number of standard Trumpisms (“Tremendous!,” “Huge!”). A similar change is noticeable on your “Nice Nurse” cover as well, which is based on an issue of Night Nurse from 1973. In the original, the Night Nurse character is actually speaking, defending her patient by saying, “To kill him — you have to shoot me first!!” In your version, we only hear from Trump, while the comic’s heroine is speechless.

As I conceived the book, I felt it was important to only go by what Trump said. The book is obviously critical of him, but within that context, yes, he’s the only one who actually gets to speak. I conceived of the book right before the election. I had seen a series of mini-comics published by someone I don’t know, a series called “Tea Party Comix” consisting of old comics in which Obama had been inserted as the villain. I came upon them through Ethan Persoff’s site, where he posts a lot of obscure comics. My approach is quite different from those. I really wanted the whole world depicted in these covers to be infected by Trump. Even the titles of the books that he’s in have been tailored to fit his perspective. Sometimes the titles are more neutral, like “Subjective Comics,” based on Detective Comics, but on other ones, like the Wonder Woman cover in which she’s not Wonder Woman, but “Nasty Woman,” Trump’s language becomes part of the world that the characters inhabit. These characters do have a voice — they have personalities, and they have humanity — but as far as this book is concerned, everything is shaped by Trump’s perspective, and he drowns out everyone else.

The cover that is most striking for me, and which is most suffused with Trump’s perspective, is Pap Comics, featuring “Archy,” which is based on an issue of Pep Comics from 1952. If you look at the original cover, Archie is as happy as can be. His face is covered in lipstick from Veronica’s kisses. In your version, he is truly miserable. Even in the book’s marketing icon, in the upper right, poor “Archy” is suddenly suffering, wondering how all this has happened. The world has been invaded, much to the chagrin of the characters we know and with whom we identify. This is Pop’s soda shop, and Trump, as Pop, is running the show. Elsewhere, of course, you have him appear as Solomon Grundy or the Red Skull.

I was always trying to find a dynamic where, if Trump wasn’t a villain, he was at least a counterpoint to the main character. He takes the place of Tubby in Little Lulu, for example. Tubby is hardly a super villain but sometimes he’s a pretty bratty kid, so there the equation sort of works.

Several of these covers read differently from the others, including two that I would describe as feminist fantasy inversions: the pairing of the Catwoman cover alongside the one George Perez did of Black Widow from a 1983 Marvel Fanfare. Those covers depict worlds in which the women are in the dominant positions. Black Widow is really carrying the day in the your version of the cover, so the book varies its perspective in that regard, even if Trump comes out on top most of the time.

Those two covers just ended up next to each other. The book is for the most part ordered chronologically. There are one or two pages where I had to shift things around. I really didn’t want to start the book with his famous quote about Mexicans, so I put his quote about building the Wall first. The two were said within the same day, so that’s not such a big change. I tried to follow the campaign’s chronology, but that led to some of the covers echoing one another in odd ways. The two you mention evolved out of the debates.

Some of the covers you’ve chosen seemed as though they were pulled directly out of my own memory bank. I remember collecting some of the Neal Adams and George Perez covers at the time of their appearances, although I had stopped collecting comics by the time the issue of 300 you cite came out in 1998. Your work mines different areas of the adult, nostalgic unconscious. Was there a principle of selection? How did you go back through your conscious and your less conscious memories, deciding what to draw?

I’m sure a lot of the choices are directly attributable to what I was collecting and what I grew up with, but I really didn’t want the book to represent only my perspective. That’s true of Terms and Conditions as well. I was trying to run the gamut of styles and to put things in the book that people who didn’t grow up in the 1970s would also remember and relate to. Because of the movie, 300 was a major pop cultural moment. It made such an impression that I thought it was worth mentioning here. I didn’t want to suggest that the concerns raised in this book apply only to, say, white men who collected comics and who are now in their 50s, but rather to suggest that these concerns apply to most everybody. Although it was easy to choose superheroes, I tried to find other ways of integrating Trump.

The cover based on an issue of Adventure Time no. 5 really torments those Adventure Time characters. On the original cover, they’re not crying. In your version, it looks as though you’ve caught them on the most miserable day they’ve ever had.

It would have been harder to do these if I had really adhered to the rules that I had first thought of when I started. But changing their expressions seemed like a minor thing.

Some of the covers resonate more strongly than others. The defeat of Superman resonates in a particular way, and here I’m thinking about the 1971 Justice League cover, the one based on the original by Neal Adams and Dick Giordano. Turning Superman into “Supersad” was an inspired take, but there’s a way in which destroying Superman is part of the fantasy that our political rhetoric plays into. It’s a horrible thing to watch, when Superman goes limp like that. Another Superman cover later that struck me similarly was the one for “World’s Failest,” based on a cover for World’s Finest on which Superman looks distraught and helpless.

That is his original pose. I didn’t have to change that one. Trump speaks a lot about good and evil and about what’s right and what’s traditional, and about what represents “our country.” The terms wouldn’t be out of place in some of the older DC comic books. But then, you see him in opposition to these characters, and I think it’s evident that he’s coming from a different place. His perspective is not the same perspective that Batman or Superman had on those issues. The gamut is pretty wide here, but the more traditional superheroes tend to resonate a lot — they’re bigger than we are.

The mediation in this project works on a number of different levels. Our collective memories are being overrun, but this is exactly what a lot of political rhetoric aspires to. Comparisons with the Red Skull plug into our worst fantasies.

There was an early Fantastic Four villain called the “Hate-Monger,” who first appeared in 1963 and was driving people crazy by instilling hate in everyone, but the cover featuring him wasn’t iconic enough. It didn’t lend itself to a specific quote, but it seemed very on the nose. Some things are built into these characters.

And a lot of what was shocking during the campaign has become normalized.

Occasionally I get feedback from someone who doesn’t know why I’m being so mean about Trump, and there are some people who don’t see him as speaking out against anyone who doesn’t have it coming. But any good villain in a movie or a comic book has a very good reason for doing what they are doing. Even Doctor Doom thinks he’s doing the right thing, so it’s really hard to know how to unpack all of this.

It’s fascinating to me how your work has so many different historical layers, which distinguishes it from a lot of similar projects. I was thinking, for example, about Alan Moore’s Supreme, which I enjoy, but in those he is mediating comics through comics. He takes the history of the traditional superhero — whether it’s Superman or Captain Marvel — and filters it through a contemporary comic book lens. That’s an interesting exercise, but what you’re doing adds an additional dimension. The Unquotable Trump works from the collective memory of our youths, as does Masterpiece Comics, in which you are mediating literature, and really history itself, through comics. That produces a kind of triangulation: the Genesis story in the Bible as seen through the figures of Blondie and Dagwood, for example, and our reception of Blondie and Dagwood entering into it as a third element. I have to ask myself, when I read Blondie, why am I still looking at this fantasy from …

… the 1930s.

Right, it’s Chic Young’s idea about what domesticity is meant to be like. Filtering the Bible through that is a fascinating exercise. As you move through literary history and the comics, how do you pair these things?

The first book I adapted was Dante’s Inferno. I think I was playing more with form than with the characterization when I combined it with Bazooka Joe bubble gum comics. I was taking the loftiest, most seriously reverential epic poem and combining it with the most disposable comic there is. But then the next one I did was “Good ol’ Gregor Brown,” and that was where I thought that there seemed to be an analogy between the personalities of Charlie Brown and Gregor Samsa. When I started putting all of it together, the parallels really came into focus. I put Kafka’s dialogue into the mouth of the Charlie Brown bug, and I saw that there was no space between these characters. I didn’t have to fudge the dialogue to make it fit Charlie Brown, other than to add a “Good Grief!” Kafka was speaking for Schulz, or vice versa, and that was really exciting. Beyond that, I felt like I was paying more and more attention to how the characters related to the stories or even maybe how the genres related.

Making Wuthering Heights into a 1950s horror comic was hardly a stretch, and I don’t know if it was enough of a stretch to get the kind of jolt that I am usually looking for. But the way that novel is generally treated and thought of is much milder than the novel actually is, so I had to think of a really brutal comic to combine the novel with. I think about how things might connect and I make notes. Sometimes nothing comes of them, but sometimes something really seems like the right idea and I pursue it. What’s fun about doing these, and what has become important sometimes, is thinking about how the stories are told. I’m currently working on a sequel to Masterpiece Comics, and one of the new stories appeared in the Graphic Canon of Children’s Literature (2014). It’s a version of Tom Sawyer in the style of one of these Family Circus maps, and it actually tells the whole story as he moves through the neighborhood, to the island, to the courthouse and then to the cave. In that case I was playing with the wholesome kids of Family Circus set against Mark Twain’s more shaded views of youth. I had been asking myself, “How can I take this structure and use it to tell the story?” So, it happens in different ways. People have suggested ideas to me for other strips, and I could see how they would work. If they don’t resonate with me I won’t do them, but it all seems valid to me, and there are many ways to approach it.

It almost gets lost that you’re also offering a literary reading of a text, whether it’s of Marlowe or Brontë or any other author. It shouldn’t go unremarked that you’re a good close reader of literature. When it comes to “Inferno Joe,” I notice that you only picked Inferno. There’s no Purgatorio or Paradiso. There’s only “Inferno Joe.”

That strip was done for Raw Magazine in 1989. I only had one page, and at that point I’d only read Inferno. I thought about going back to finish the trilogy. I like closure and I considered it, but they don’t even make Bazooka Joe comics anymore. They changed the format, which is heartbreaking to me for a couple of reasons. I don’t know if that would resonate, but I considered following Joe through the other realms. It was more a question of space. Inferno is a satisfying read on its own, and many people don’t read the other two.

Raw’s aesthetics may also have helped determine that there would be only Inferno. But in any case the journey to Hell brings out something about the strange world that these figures inhabit: Bazooka Joe himself has an eye patch, which is a difficult fate for a teenager — however that might have happened — and his friend, Mort, has this oddly placed turtleneck, which turns him into Joe’s mouthless guide through Hell.

Looking at “Blond Eve,” your take on the Genesis story — your decision to turn Mr. Dithers into God was inspired. This meddling boss is walking around ruining everything for Blondie and Dagwood’s Adam and Eve. They seemed to have it good, and then their exile becomes the world of Chic Young’s comic. You’ve given us an origin story. This could be the very first Blondie. It tells us how they got into that house in the first place. They were exiled from Heaven, and now nothing remains but our cruel laughter over their fates.

Sometimes when I do these strips I end up killing the characters. Batman only goes to jail in “Dostoyevsky Comics.” But the Blondie one was striking. I was thinking it through, and I thought, “Oh, that’s were they would end up.” It’s not the end, but the beginning.

I noticed that you drew a sendup of The Lockhorns in which Mr. Lockhorn is explaining the stakes of the Vietnam War to Mrs. Lockhorn. His particular kind of sadistic masculinity is what anyone who enjoys The Lockhorns finds funny. He’s saying to her, “If Vietnam falls, all of Asia goes red, you stupid cow.” The Lockhorns first appeared in 1968, and repositioning him in this way, within that historical moment, is right on the money.

That was a drawing I did for The Daily Show. It was a commissioned illustration for them, and I think it was in response to the Muhammad cartoons in the Danish newspaper. It was written by The Daily Show’s staff, some of whom are big comics fans. They were excited that they could get a Lockhorns reference on the show.

You also made me aware of “Apocalypse Pooh.”

I came across that around 1990 when I was working at Raw. It was on VHS, and I’m not sure how it was edited, but it’s well done. It was great working at Raw, and a lot of good stuff just came over the transom. I was lucky to be there, for a number of reasons. It’s amazing to me that I had that opportunity.

Lately I’ve embraced digital comics, in part because I don’t have room for real comics anymore. It’s partially a question of space, and it’s partially about access. I did a Wonder Woman parody a couple of years ago — a retelling of the Marquis de Sade’s Justine as 1940s Wonder Woman covers, which was reprinted in Best American Comics 2015. In order to do this, I tried to look at all the 1940s Wonder Woman covers. Thankfully, those have been scanned, so you can track that stuff down. I don’t know if all of it has been reprinted. I like seeing the original colors, and a lot of the reprints take liberties. It’s really helpful in terms of research to be able to work that way, to work digitally.

Are there artists whose work you wouldn’t remediate? As I read Masterpiece Comics, I asked myself, “Where’s Hergé?” But then, of course, on your website I see that you indeed remediated Tintin in 2001. Would you ever say, “That’s something I wouldn’t tackle”? Where do you draw your lines?

That’s a complicated question. Part of the reason I did the Terms and Conditions book was to address comics I hadn’t gotten to in other ways. When I began the Masterpiece Comics project, I hadn’t thought about international comics, and part of the joke about Masterpiece Comics was that these were American comics steamrolling great works of world literature. I know Tintin pretty well, but I know American comics better. I just don’t know some great European or Asian comics in the same way. Part of it is being comfortable enough and confident enough with the source material to be able to do a good parody of it. The Tintin piece was written and drawn for Wired magazine. They came to me with the assignment to do a strip featuring Tintin going to Mars, and they gave me all the research about what might go wrong. The idea was that I was supposed to catalog it, which is kind of like what Hergé would have done. He would have tried to get the science right. I only had a page, so I didn’t have to work too hard, but I tried to be faithful to Hergé’s approach.

The Terms and Conditions book was a way to touch on cartoonists from different countries as a way of showing that I was paying attention. For Masterpiece Comics, it makes sense conceptually that it’s all American comics. I need some constraints, because otherwise I’d probably go insane. The Japanese manga artist Osamu Tezuka, by the way, did a version of Crime and Punishment with a little boy who looks sort of like Astro Boy, but it’s a fairly straightforward retelling of Crime and Punishment. Other countries’ approach to comics and literature is different from mine, or at least from what I grew up with, so it might make more sense for me to stick with American sources, because I’m responding to that heritage specifically.

That’s a level of mediation I hadn’t thought about. Masterpiece Comics is primarily European literature seen through a 20th-century American lens. In another interview you mentioned a Russian reader of Crime and Punishment who was irritated by your take on the story.

I was sort of amused by that. I don’t like it when people go away angry, but I am a trickster on some level, so I understand why I upset people. When I started the project I thought I was goofing on bad adaptations in comics and I also thought I was goofing on the high and low culture divide. But neither of those things exist the same way anymore. Many librarians have embraced comics wholeheartedly, and many teachers have said to me, “I show your comic to my high school students.” I wonder whether they really want to show them my Batman version before they actually read Crime and Punishment. It’s likely to color their reading of the novel, even though I do try to take the literary sources sincerely.

I’d be interested in your relationship to the word “adaptation.” There’s nothing more disappointing than when you open a graphic adaptation — a graphic novel based on a novel — and it’s really nothing more than an adaptation. Do you use that word to describe what you’re doing?

I like the word adaptation, but I sometimes call what I do “translation.” I’m being a little facetious with both of those terms. I try to remain faithful to the source text, and I try to remain faithful to the comic source, but the point is that they don’t really belong together. So the humor, or the disjunction, comes from that fact. Sometimes I get frustrated with adaptations that take too many liberties, but if they’re too faithful, they just die. It’s hard to find a balance, and I think I’ve tried to find a way around that by sticking to the plot. It may feature Little Lulu, as in my “Little Pearl,” or someone else that doesn’t belong there, but the plot remains that of the book being adapted. If you want to follow a plot line, my work might be more accurate than some of the Classics Illustrated, which I was also making fun of. Those present themselves as sturdy texts and wholesome for children, but they’re pretty boring.

There’s a lack of fun in those.

They might have been useful for writing a book report, and so many people have said that about them. I don’t think I would have taken the time with them as a kid, even if I had seen more of them. They were out of business by 1971, and I never paid much attention to them. They were really turgid, and they became more earnest as they went along. The earlier versions in the 1940s at least had some manic energy from the artists trying to finish in time for the deadline. By the later ones, they just seemed really stately and, yes, really square.

Brad Prager is professor of Film Studies and German Studies at the University of Missouri. He is the author of After the Fact: The Holocaust in Twenty-First Century Documentary Film and serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of New German Critique.

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Wonder Woman: Dont' Put Swords Down Dresses - TWB

Save Streaming Data Is Wonder Woman as much a triumph for women within the Hollywood industry is it just a much-needed victory for Warner Bros. and the DCEU universe? Unlike the movies from its cinematic predecessors, Wonder Woman opened the weekend to prescreening praise and that highly sought after Rotten Tomatoes score. With so much animosity over the validity of critics these days and the effect they have on a film's opening at the box office, one can indeed argue that good word of mouth can and will influence how a film is received by potential ticket buyers. Failures of titles like Suicide Squad and Batman v Superman placed a stigma on all future releases within this franchise, but is it fair to judge one movie based on the success of a franchise? As much bad wrap as those films received, they have a good return on investment, and isn't that ultimately consider a success? As the word of the critic word really that important, and if so are sites like Rotten Tomatoes inadvertently controlling the industry by proxy?

Before She Was Wonder Woman, She Was Diana

I found myself at odds with wanting to like this movie as much as everyone else LOVED this movie. I mean, it got a 94% percent on Rotten Tomatoes so I should like it right… right? That’s the odd nature of criticism and human behavior. It’s our nature to not want to be at odds with the masses-- to just accept whatever is popular instead of forming our own opinion or being truthful to our own opinion. A movie gets a horrible rating and automatically it's cemented in your mind that the aforementioned movie is a film you would rather not spend money to go and see. Access to such information has taken the risk out of watching movies. Whether you hate or love a movie, isn’t it more of the experience we seek to obtain? Or is it that we would rather save our money than take a chance on a film that may disappoint us? I was excited by the idea that Wonder Woman would be the best movie of the summer — even better than Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2. That last scene in B vs V left me wanting more of the Amazonian warrior who faced off with Doomsday as Superman moped and Batman hid. However, it just didn’t rock my world as it apparently rocked for other people. All those positive reviews and movie was just okay. Sorry, status quo. When asked, “So what did you think?” I bit my tongue a little, I admit. Why? Because I believed my feelings towards this movie were maybe too subjective to really debate whether or not this iteration of Wonder Woman met my criteria as the Wonder Woman film I wanted to watch. Bre, a contributor to If three by space and friend, shared the same sentiment. Finally!, Someone else who thought the movie was meh. I’m usually very candid about my reactions towards a film, never really holding my tongue. I even waited to hear Bre's reaction before I could truthfully respond to her about whether I liked the movie. To my surprise, she too did not share in the hoopla that is Wonder Woman Praise Mania. Instead of disseminating my negative thoughts onto you. I wanted to understand why it is that I did not share the same sentiment about this take on the iconic 1/3 of the Superhero Trinity. Wonder Woman isn’t exactly an innovative film, especially within this overly saturated market of comic book inspired movies. Sure, it’s the first movie helmed by a female director featuring a female comic book character to gross over $100 million dollars. The accomplishment should be heralded as much as celebrated by every director and actor in the industry. However, we can’t focus on the success of this film as a solitary achievement that will change the nature of the film culture. The truth remains that this is just one film about a superhero that took many years to make primarily because studios didn’t want to take a risk. Only after her appearance in B vs S were they finally convinced that they could make money off of this character. Within the current narrative of the DC Universe movie, a stand-alone Wonder Woman film is just a life preserver floating atop an empty ocean. It doesn’t fit within the current narrative which began with Superman and continued into B vs S and should have just gone on with The Justice League. Opposite of Marvel, they would have to introduce the character after the debut of the ensemble team. However, WW was riding a wave of excitement and it was a smart business move to make a standalone film now instead of later when the fervor subsides. So, stop with the praise that this is a home run for female artists in the film industry. The numbers say it all and as of 2016, women comprised just 7 percent of all directors working on the top 250 domestic grossing films. Wonder Woman was poised to do well at the box office. Maybe not 100 million opening well but as with all the movies before it, Jenkins would have eventually obtained this title of a person who made a movie for a studio that grossed a lot of money. Consider the Fate of the Furious as a perfect example: There was this brief celebration of F. Gary Gray becoming the first black $1billion director. Kudos goes to the work he put in to make the film what it became but his efforts weren’t all that pushed this film to its incumbent success. The Furious franchise is eight films in and continues to perform no matter who is in the director's chair. Wonder Woman will eventually make a bazillion dollars but let’s not focus on solely on numbers, that’s studio mumbo jumbo, but rather the time and effort and vision of Patty Jenkins who never directed an action movie and her muse Gal Gadot who had some big red boots to fill; they deserve more respect for their efforts than an entrance into the all boys 100 million dollar club. Much of what other people liked about the movie or continue to blab on about, I did not particularly find impressive enough to consider an indifference to mainstream movie fandom. And as I tried to reason with myself about the supposed greatness of this film, I realized that it was all haberdashery; dressing up my opinion of the film to appeal to the overall consensus.

Wonder Woman: The Good, The Bad, The Cheesy

Wonder Woman wasn’t that great of a movie, however, I was interested in why I do not hold the same opinions as others. So, I read a few reviews and talked with a few people who also watched the movie and pulled from those resources and conversations good and bad aspects of the film that might help me form a different opinion of Wonder Woman on a second viewing. I am a firm believer that it takes more than one viewing to fully appreciate a film and with that, I am willing to sway my own opinion based on further insight into why people like this movie so much. Here, I debate a view arguments and positives about the film that struck as the more important conversational starters. DC Enters the Light Yes, Wonder Woman had endearing flirtatiousness with her naiveté fish out of water story beat. The scene on the boat with her and Trevor talking about sex was kinda funny until you listen to the dialog and realize Trevor the gentleman is really just a horny man dog. I didn’t necessarily need them to showcase their sexual attraction so openly. Diana had a mission and her mission was to destroy Ares. This flirty school girl/ guy routine was only a way to exploit Diana’s innocence for a joke. There was this wardrobe changing scene that was funny and more along the joke spectrum I consider effective enough to represent Diana’s adverse emersion into regular society. Using common stereotypes and customs that defined women during the 1930’s and 1940’s (and today) was a fun way to show not only Diana’s ignorance but strongly rooted Amazonian female roots and female empowerment. Female Empowerment Gadot handled herself quite impressively in the scenes where the omnipresence of men conflicted with her beliefs, and it was those vulnerable moments that identified with Diana’s key character trait; empathy. Diana Meet Steve: The Cheesy Rom-Com Y’know what’s sexier than a sex scene? Not having a sex scene. I mean c’mon, Diana just met Trevor and sure, in the heat of battle things can get a little hot and heavy but why does it have to end with her beckoning Trevor with a longing gaze as he closes the bedroom door. I would think any woman involved with this script would be like: "What? No… eww/" But I guess when the director renounces cheesy as a word, you get a scene like that. It’s like when Kevin and Winnie’s first kiss, and yes this is a Wonder Years analogy but it applies to all romantic comedies where two people in love want to be together but extenuating circumstances keep them apart. Ex. Felicity and Scott Speedman, Diane and Sam, Buffy and Angel. With all those examples, those couples had to endure many setbacks before they became a couple. The kiss between Winnie and Kevin only happens after Winnie disses him over and over again. The longing builds up the tension for the final moment or season ending episode when Kevin finds Winnie in a clearing sitting on a rock gazing off into nowhere. He drapes his jacket over Winne’s shoulders and holds her close with one arm around her shoulders. Slowly she’s drawn to him and their lips meet for that first kiss as When a Man Loves a Woman plays over the soundtrack. Picture the final moment of Wonder Woman with such a longing looming over Diana and Steve. One kiss and boom that’s all the sex those two needed — their relationship would transcend into something more, and that’s love, that’s a great scene. [x_blockquote cite="Rick, Casablanca 1942" type="center"]Here’s looking at you kid. [/x_blockquote] It’s not that the supposed sex scene in Wonder Woman was cheesy, it just wasn’t necessary. Empathy and strength in the presence of adversity. The Origin Story Mashup: What works best towards the Wonder Woman narrative is all about how much you know.

Diana is a princess, check.

She was molded from clay, check.

Zeus is her father, check.

Trevor crashes onto the island of Thermasyoiuoiu, check.

Diana fights in disguise to win an opportunity to join Trevor on a mission to the US, not checked.

Diana loves Trevor, check.

Wonder Woman didn’t come to save mankind, Diana was in love. The hero thing came after and the movie attempts to mold these ideas together to sculpt an imperfect god-like figure who could as easily destroy man and succumb to him just the same. George Perez created the Ares narrative in the first issue of the 1986 reboot of the series in which Wonder Woman doesn’t leave the island to chase after Steve Trevor but she leaves to fight Ares. As with all comic book movies, they usually pick and choose which storylines work the best for their project then find a way to tell a version of a story that appeals to the premise of selling tickets. Henceforth, why the plots of X-men, Suicide Squad, Spider-man 3, fail to work as a fully developed story ideas. Writers are usually asked to put too much into a two-hour movie and when doing so they add too much or leaving out a very crucial parts to a storyline that spanned my ten to twenty issues. No Man’s Land Arguably the best scene in the movie almost did not make it into the film. Here’s Patty Jenkins: It’s my favorite scene in the movie and it’s the most important scene in the movie. It’s also the scene that made the least sense to other people going in, which is why it’s a wonderful victory for me. I think that in superhero movies, they fight other people, they fight villains. So when I started to really hunker in on the significance of No Man’s Land, there were a couple people who were deeply confused, wondering, like, ‘Well, what is she going to do? How many bullets can she fight?’ And I kept saying, ‘It’s not about that. This is a different scene than that. This is a scene about her becoming Wonder Woman.’ I agree with her every word. When thinking subjectively about why something does or does not work we tend to not take into consideration the art of creating a moment like this. It’s not about how much sense it makes -- we all know there was no mystic Amazon warrior fighting battles in WWI. The No Man’s Land scene was more about the atrocities of war and sanctimony of battle. Diana would conquer the unconquerable, a stretch of land littered with hundreds of dead soldiers for the morally good, and not just to kill an enemy but to save the people. This particular fight was bigger than even Ares himself as in that moment Diana wore her heart outside of her chest fighting for the greater good and not the purpose of war.

[x_feature_headline type="left" level="h1" looks_like="h1" icon="cutlery"]Scoop Du Jour[/x_feature_headline]

One of the better stories about Wonder Woman stems from the origins of the comic book character and her creator Dr. William H. Marston. Jill Lepore, the author of the book The Secret History of Wonder Woman wrote an article for The Smithsonian which describes the scandalous beginnings of Wonder Woman and DC Comics. Marston was a jack of all trades, a psychologist, scientist, and lawyer who started his work with DC Comics in 1941. As a move to help curtail the onslaught of criticism from the media and watchdog groups, Maxwell Charles Gaines creator of DC Comics, took to an idea from Marston to create a female character who among the likes of Superman and Batman would help to soften the violence and sexual nature of the current pulp comic narrative. Little did Gaines know that Wonder Woman would bring him more attention than he so desired. The debut of the Diana from the mystic Amazonian Paradise Island was immediately met with overall disdain. The number one complaint: They didn’t like the way she was dressed. Too much skin, they shouted as they burned images of Wonder Woman clothed in nothing but a tight red top, underwear, a lasso, and boots. Burn the witch! Okay, it’s wasn’t that dramatic but isn’t the same type of anger expressed whenever a woman come outs against the status quo? Past the cover and onto page one clothing just the tip of the anger-berg. Images of bondage and not-so-subtle feminist messaging throughout the comic caused for a plea that the comic be remove from the shelves and restricted from children! Such vile content would warp the minds of the adolescence and cause them to commit horrible acts of debauchery in the future. Luckily Gaines, a physiologist, could defend Wonder Woman in reality as she defended herself on the page, but it was not easy. In this article, Lepore touches upon Marston and his relationship with his wife Elizabeth Holloway, and live in love affair, Olive Byrne. Their love story had nothing to do with Wonder Woman per say. The trio would manage to keep their polyamorous living situation a secret going so far as to introduce Byrne as a widowed cousin who needed a place to stay. Labels and stereotypes are used to keep people shackled to an idea of conformity, so instead of wearing a ring, Olive Byrne wore two bracelets. Marston, Byrne, and Holloway all had ties to the feminist Suffrage movement and when you consider this history, Wonder Woman the character — her meaning— takes a different shape as she may have been a character birthed from idea but she molded into a model of female empowerment that exemplifies struggle, strength, and overall empathy towards mankind. If you watched the movie, and happen to see the trailer, Professor M; that is this story made into film starring Luke Evans. Check it out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv-GrUKgRGk

This, That, and Other News

Teens rescued after spending three days in the catacombs beneath France. Sounds like a movie right? As Above, So Below is a found footage movie released back in 2014 about a couple of cataphiles who get lost in the maze that of the freaky underground tombs of Paris, France. http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/15/europe/paris-catacombs-rescue/?iid=ob_lockedrail_bottommedium Weekly Flavor Text: “Great girdle of Aphrodite!” she cries at one point. “Am I tired of being tied up!” Links: Better yet, by the book. https://www.amazon.com/The-Secret-History-Wonder-Woman/dp/0385354045/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1592408702&linkCode=as2&tag=smithsonianco-20&linkId=K2QLHC6725SQQ3QO Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/origin-story-wonder-woman-180952710/#5ohitvsa3uyQAlIG.99 https://filmschoolrejects.com/wonder-woman-review/ https://filmschoolrejects.com/wonder-woman-champion-empathy/ https://www.wired.com/2017/06/wonder-woman-origin-story/ http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-wonder-woman-movie-understands-why-superheroes-exis-1795826527 http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/how-wonder-woman-tackles-superhero-movies-greatest-foe-sexism-w485184 http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/wonder-woman-is-a-milestone-but-shouldnt-be-1010023

Talking With Burritos Presents A New Episode!

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