#prince koryak

[rainbowobsidiandesigns]

This year I want to do more comic work, and wonderful fics seem the best sort of practice! This is a scene from posionivory's (aka @pluckyredhead ) wonderful fic "Lost Titans" which has so many of my blorbos yall. Also this is the first time in years drawing Koryak, I'm sorry for abandoning you my sweet boy

#argent #toni monetti #prince koryak #green arrow #connor hawke #red devil #kid devil #eddie bloomberg #fan comic #teen titans #fic comic

[givemewallywestorgivemedeath]

hello, i would like to hear about the titans fantasy au O.O

Oh man, you really shouldn't enable me like this... but if you insist!!

Alright, here's the setting: We're in some weird Lord of Rings/DnD fantasy setting with various magical creatures and inconsistent technological developments. Were tunics worn at the same time as ball gowns? Were carriages used at the same time as broad swords? I don't know! And I'm not doing any historical research! It's just haphazardly medieval!

Donna, for the most part, is relatively unchanged. She fits into this setting rather well. She is the demigod daughter of Zues, warrior in training, third in line to be Queen of the Amazons. At 13 years old she is a new arrival from her island nation and she is hoping to learn monster hunting (she's hoping to learn by doing). The one condition of her joining Diana was that she was supposed to stay with Diana at all times. Both of them nodded and smiled in agreement when their mother, the Queen, said this. Both immediately parted ways once their boat hit the shores of this new and exciting world.

Speaking of new and exciting, the King of Atlantis' ward is tagging along for the first time to see the surface world. Garth is fascinated (and a little terrified) and he's hoping to learn new types of magic! The Crown Prince (his older brother) Koryak says that he will make a fearsome mage one day and he really doesn't want to let him down. Garth imagines that one day his brother will rule as King and Garth will be there at his side as the Head Mage. He really has to work on his skills to get to that point though! Hence studying abroad. He's also... maybe... looking to meet some friends. Or any friends, really. He doesn't have any and he's heard good things.

Lord Richard of Gotham is so tired of politics. His... 'father' is the Crown Prince, next in line for the throne of Gotham. Not that anyone, including Bruce, is happy about it. The Kane family has had the crown for centuries and now, because the King only had daughters and Bruce's mom had the audacity to marry a Wayne (their rival house), they stand to lose it all. Thankfully, Bruce's status as Crown Prince is only temporary. As soon as Princess Kate Kane is married off, her husband will automatically be next in line. (Although they've sure been taking their time with that. What's the hold up?) So Bruce doesn't have to ever worry about being King and Dick (as Bruce's totally legitimate love child that Bruce didn't make up to make sure Dick could inherit everything if he ever died, don't do the math on their ages) doesn't ever have to worry about the throne at all. Sure, he's technically second in line but it's as far away from reality as a nightmare and just as scary. For right now all Dick has to worry about is being a squire, going on adventures and learning how to be a great knight! What could go wrong!?

Crown Prince Elroy is fucked. Seriously fucked. The old Crown Prince Oliver saw Roy at an archery competition and decided 'Yeah, that one.' Ollie offered him a room, food and all the arrows he could ever want. When Roy found out that Ollie was taking a page out of Robin Hood's book, Roy was overjoyed. The two of them had a blast stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. It was great! And then Ollie's father, the King, found out. He disowned Ollie, not that Ollie cared, and life went on as normal with one major giant exception. The King didn't have any other children (legitimate children anyway) and Ollie was now disowned. So the King legitimized Roy as Oliver's bastard child and heir. Or, sorry, Elroy because apparently 'Roy' wasn't fancy enough. Now Elroy is the Crown Prince. Elroy is under lock and key so that Ollie can't influence him. Elroy is being forced to study. (The King promised him that this was just to make Ollie see reason but Roy isn't so sure... the King is putting a lot of effort into his training...) The only saving grace is that Roy is being sent away this summer to learn sword fighting. Archery is 'a cowards sport' apparently and Roy 'needs to expand his horizons'. Well.. they certainly agree on that last one. Roy is making a break for it and he's not coming back.

Wally is a young apprentice working for his Uncle Barry. He's learning how to make medicine and treat wounds and find useful herbs. At least, he's learning that sometimes. A lot of his time is spent being a delivery boy. Uncle Barry says that's an important part of any medical treatment, actually delivering the medicine. Wally thinks that he just wants him to burn off energy. Regardless, Wally spends most of his time delivering medicine and he does it well. It helps that he can cross the continent before most people can blink their eyes. He can't tell anyone that though. Barry has made that part extremely clear. As far as their patients are concerned, Barry is a local doctor who just lives outside of whichever town they're in. There's a lot of things Wally can't tell people. Like how his eyes glow and magic lights up on his fingertips when he's excited. Or how he doesn't really like hats, he just has to wear them to hide his slightly too pointy ears. He gets it. He does. He's heard the whispered stories of fae, the hushed talk of changelings, he's read the old cracked tomes on the Elven Folk. He knows what people will think he is. But he isn't. He really isn't. He's just... Wally. And sure, he might be a little bit odd but he's just as human as the next guy, he swears!

Donna finds herself left on the doorstep of the greatest monster hunters in this new world. Garth is accepted to shadow some of the best defense mages ever. Dick finds himself stopping in with some fellow Knights (he is soon to be one after all) on his way home after a particularly hard mission. Roy finds himself shipped off to learn sword fighting from some 'trusted experts'. Wally is on a routine delivery run to drop off some supplies for his Uncle's good friends. Whether it's fate or something far more sinister, they all find themselves at the temple of the Knights of the Emerald Flame. Sir Hal Jordan, who was not ready for the sudden onslaught of children, panics and gives them a mission to get them out of his hair.

The rest, as they say, is history.

#i actually have really extensive plans for each character #especially Garth and Wally #its funny Donna just kinda showed up cause she heard about the Emerald Knights and just wandered in #Dick was literally just looking for a safe place to sleep for the night before journeying home #Wally was just dropping stuff off #Roy and Garth were the only ones actually supposed to be there. and Ollie was supposed to be there to pick up Roy #because this was just a ruse. it was a rescue attempt but Ollie got sidetracked #really Hal only agreed to Garth being there so that he could watch Hal do magic. and Hal wasn't even really looking to teach him #Hal just wanted an easily impressed audience so that he could show off #but then five fucking kids showed up and Hal was like 'oh FUCK NO! Here's an easy mission! go do this!!!' #Garth thought it was training Donna was chomping at the bit to fight something Roy just wanted to be unsupervised #Dick thought Hal genuinely needed his help with this and Wally was like '?!??! HUH?!?' #but hey. He went with it. cause Barry told Wally to always listen to Hal unless he's doing something stupid. #but Hal wasn't doing anything. Wally was the one doing something stupid. so it didn't count #anyway. i have. so many thoughts. literally its planned out until they're adults #dc #dc comics #titans fantasy au #wally west #dick grayson #donna troy #roy harper #garth of shayeris #fab five

[fancyfade]

Do you have any recommendations for good places to start reading Aquaman comics? I read Aquaman: The Becoming recently and really enjoyed it. I’ll probably read Aquamen next and I’d like to dive in deeper to the aquafam lore, especially for Mera, but as it is in comics, there’s a lot of it 😅

Okeydokey! So in my recent Aquaman read-through, I just read thru all of the Aquaman solo titles (Well I'm still on Rebirth), but :P I recognize that's not what everyone likes so :P My favorite Aquaman comics based on Mera Content:

Death of a Prince: This TPB has both some diving into Garth and Mera lore. after the infamous [spoilers if you've somehow missed hearing them] Mera goes to her home dimension (at this time called Dimension Aqua) in the back-ups of some Aquaman comics, and Garth explores where he came from in some back-ups.

After that Mera doesn't really get any good content until Aquaman #47, 48, 49 (Abnett's 3 issues right after David's run, Mera's Oceanid plotline).

Brightest day is good for Mera content, and Mera is fun characterization but doesn't do much in Geoff Johns new 52 run, and IIRC I enjoyed some of Mera's feats in Parker's run (right after Geoff John's, new 52 run), and then Abnett does some nice stuff in his Rebirth run.

Atlantean lore I prefer the 90s lore associated with the David run, so that does make it complicated... favorite character stuff does not coincide with favorite lore stuff XD David also just flops on pretty much every female character he writes in Aquaman 1994. However it also does introduce some cool character additions to Aquafam (some of whom are sadly forgotten about immediately). Koryak is great but David quickly runs out of ideas on what to do with him.

Lorena Marquez as Aquagirl starts in Sub Diego.

For focus on Atlantean lore I'd suggest The Atlantis Chronicles it kicks ass and dives deep into worldbuilding.

OK condense-ified notes:

Mera: Death of a Prince, Aquaman 1994 #47, 48, 49, Brightest day, Parker's run in New 52 (Can also do Geoff Johns run if you want), Abnett's in Rebirth.

Garth: Death of a Prince, Tempest 4 issue mini

Atlantean lore: The Atlantis Chronicles, David's 1994 Aquaman run (+ Time and TIde) if you can tolerate the way he does female characters here.

Other potentially interesting characters: Koryak (introduced in Aquaman 1994) and Lorena Marquez (introduced in the sub diego plotline of Aquaman 2003)

If you want more recs or like.... comics that are referenced in those comics I can add them I just don't wanna be overwhelming ;P I love all these characters so much

#havendance #dc comics #aquafam #mera #atlantis chronicles #aquaman 1962 #aquaman 1994 #aquaman 2011 #aquaman 2016 #garth #tempest

[pluckyredhead]

Maybe more of a general question, but are there any of your fic AU's you would consider writing more for? Kind of in the same vein, is there any fic you're particularly proud of the worldbuilding you did in?

For the most part, no, but when I wrote Prince of Foxes I always planned to write a Jon/Damian sequel called Prince of Wolves. (Damian is of course a wolf shifter like most of the Bats; Jon isn't a shifter because Kryptonians don't work that way.) I would still really love to write it someday but I have no idea when I'll find the time (or the specifics of the plot).

I was going to say that I don't think I really do very much worldbuilding at all for AUs, I just pull stuff from the comics, but I guess The Lost Titans is an exception to that because I built a lot of new history and relationships for those kiddos in my head. And there are lots of random scenes I'd like to write in that universe that I may manage to jot down eventually, like Connor and Koryak's first meeting, Toni and Eddie having cooking mishaps, etc.

#i write things

[leoruby-draws]

Introducing... Koryak Curry!! Son of Aquaman!

Ramblings under the read more:

Koryak is a prince of Atlantis and has the ego to back it up. He loves the upgrade from his old life, though he's still pretty lonely in Atlantis where Arthur(Aquaman) seems more concern with other affair's than for his own son. Before becoming a prince, he lived in Alaska with his mother Kako. He was also lonely there due to feeling isolated socially since the rest of his town thought he was strange due to his Atlantean physiology becoming more obvious as he grew older. They also didn't seem to like Kako either.

Still he loves Alaska and misses it, and cares for the Alaskan environment and waters there. He's conscious of how climate change will affect it and argues with Aquaman about how they should to more to fight against the people who cause environmental damage, I took a little from Namor (from Marvel) who can be anti-heroic in defense of Atlantis and the sea. Though Kory is more concern with the northern environment/seas.

Koryak is also very proud of his heritage as an Inuit! Just like how Aquaman encounters mystical adventures and legends, so does Koryak though with a more Native/Inuit focus. Also side note, I found it very strange that Koryak is named, well Koryak! Because that's the name of a people in Siberia while the character is from Alaska. It feels like creators didn't research very well here. I can't just give him a new name, so I'm at a loss here at what to do. Wish DC didn't make this so confusing.

As for how Koryak get along with the outlaws, well, he and Jason have an extremely funny dynamic. Jason loves to wind Koryak up and annoy him. Koryak in turn doesn't hesitant to dish it back. Though Jason seems to actually like Koryak's more abrasive traits which surprises Koryak. Most people can be put off by his attitude (a result from a life of loneliness?), but Jason has pretty tough skin, Koryak is never sure if he can trust Jason or not. Jason can be hard to read, is he helping you? Tricking you? Who knows. While they like to bicker, they do have moments of getting along... when they get to beat up bad guys!! They both share a love of fighting and can coordinate surprisingly well.

Koryak is friends with the rest of the outlaws as well, though he also bickers with them as well. He doesn't seem regard Eddie very well, but they get along fine. Rose isn't afraid to square up with him if he gets too arrogant, but they have a respect for one another.

Well hope you liked all that! Enjoy!

#DC Comics #Koryak Curry #Jason Todd #Rose Wilson #Eddie Bloomberg #Vanessa Kapatelis #my art #Training Wheels au #some of those comic pages are part of a larger story #that i just don't have the energy to make more of #aw well

[garthofshayeris]

So I read an issue of Teen Titans - Beast World, and I saw Garth and immediately thought 'AYO HE CAN THE OCEAN?? '

And continue to search him up in the DC Wiki, and I got was he's married, he has a son, son is dead, he was the first Aqualad (what's his relationship between him and Arthur?)

Currently, he is brainwashed by some man called Brother Eternity, brainwashed through....centipede-leg mouth-to-mouth contact (??????????) but also Brother Enternity is actually someone who personally knew one of Garth's longest friend, STARFIRE, and this villain may have a personal role in Starfire's enslavement, and he can't wear a proper shirt.

He part of the Teen Titans (AND SOMEHOW looks the best out of them...Starfire is up there with him personally), and part of the Aquaman Family.

I checked the Aquaman Family catalogue and check the other members of Aquaman Family

And like you get some of the MOST WHAT THE F--- NUGGEST OF DC LORE. A regular member of Aquaman Family has like a mother who left when they were young (who has a hidden backstory), a step-sibling (who has a hidden backstory), a kid (???), a father who is a supervillian, they're connection to Arthur/ Any Aquaman is up to debate but there is a running theme (Atleast from the few scrolling gave me that expression), they descendants to betrayers of the Atlantean Royal Family, ATLANTEAN ROYAL FAMILY DRAMA THAT WAS ATLEAT 100 YEARS AGO ( 30 YEARS AGO)... Looking at DC Aquaman Family Wikis feels like hearing the spreaded rumors in an office

And I'm left here thinking 'So can Mera turn to fully Fish Monster?'

See, your first mistake was reading any current Titans stuff. I will tell you that the character of Garth you’re reading about is so far removed from the previous versions that I literally just call him “Greg from Atlantis” bc he might as well be some rando off the street. I hate him terribly.

Starfire isn’t even his longest friend?! He barely knows her lmao. Also that version of him is not married, never had a kid, and whatever backstory you read online does not apply to whatever current canon is. I’m sorry to say.

Let me speedrun your misconceptions here, and I will say once again…the backstory DOES NOT APPLY to current canon. I don’t even know what the current canon for him is, they’ve never explained anything but they wrote out every single character in his backstory so like, it cannot be true anymore.

1) his mother did abandon him, yes. She actually intended to kill him so he wouldn’t release his evil uncle from his prison dimension.

2) he technically has no step siblings because Arthur is not his adoptive father, but did act as a surrogate father for him. That’s actually a major aspect of the 1970s Death of a Prince storyline. Arthur has several biological children and you’re probably referring to Arthur Jr. (Son of Arthur and Mera) or Koryak (son of Arthur and Kako)

3) he had a son with Dolphin, Arthur’s ex-girlfriend

4) he does not have a supervillain father. His father is dead and and sacrificed his own life to defeat his evil brother (Garth’s uncle). Jackson Hyde is the character with an evil father (Black Manta) but tbh I’ve always felt that was a little strange as a point of contention when he was literally not raised by him at all and evil isn’t like…..a trait passed down through generations lmao

5) his ancestors did not betray Atlantis, they broke off from the main kingdom because they are pacifists. There are several offshoots of the main kingdom, but this one was the most secretive. I can’t actually think of a character who fits this description tbh.

6) Arthur took in an orphaned Garth and was a surrogate father, but never actually adopted Garth or referred to him as his son until Garth was a fully grown adult; their relationship is a really strained parentified child situation/friends/brothers…very complicated. That’s how their relation USED to be….I think the current canon is that Arthur paid for Garth to go to Underwater Wizard School and I don’t think they have spoken directly to each other in the last 15 years of comics lmao

THAT SAID……none of that applies in canon anymore because they completely stripped Garth of his backstory, relationships, and personality :) he’s just like some dude now. Hope this helps!!!

Tbh this makes me so sad…….even reading the wiki cannot help you anymore, anything you read is literally no longer relevant and confusing at worst because of how the old lore cannot exist alongside the current comics

#garth of shayeris #aquaman #aquaman meta

[incorrect-aquafam]

Arthur: I want you to be less mean.

Koryak: I know you do.

#source: Only Murders in the Building #aquaman #arthur curry #koryak #prince Koryak #narwhal #dc comics

[aqua-bam]

Alright but Koryak only wanted to be king because he wanted a place to belong and a people to belong with after the death of his mother. Had Arthur not been a shit stain and had Vulko not filled his head with bullshit and instead they both treated him like what he was: a scared lost kid going through a trauma and in need of a family, he wouldn't have done half the stupid shit he had.

#aquaman #arthur curry #prince Koryak #im mad about this actually

[pinkflipphonez]

the most beautiful thing is knowing there is not one single face to a country

#blackwashing is not real and will never mean anything close to whitewashing #black and brown ppl exist everywhere #and its beautiful #koryak ivan #navajo alfie #sikh artie #muslim emma! #hetalia #also moreno francis absolutely took his looks from prince LOL #hws russia #hws america #hws england #hws france #hws belgium #kikidoodlez

[bannedbookreader]

The more I think about it, the more I think it's important to discuss that characters of color, even male coc, get Fridged just as much if not more than female characters.

#and before u come at me with the whole #THE ESSAY WAS WRITTEN ABOUT WOMEN!!! #words change their meaning and it's been over thirty years since Simone introduced the concept #and I've read the essay several times and cited it on academic papers #i know what im talking about #Connor Hawke and Prince Koryak both come to mind immediately

[herestoyoumsholly]

The whole current Aquaman arc of “Xebel and Atlantis are very concentrated on bloodlines and that’s why Arthur and Mera need to break that down” has me missing Garth and Koryak, because they were very much still Arthur’s and Mera’s* sons even though they were shunned by Atlantis.

*Less so with Mera and Koryak, though before his death they DID end up caring about each other.

#Queen Mera #Mera #Aquaman #garth of shayeris #koryak #Like how boss would it be with an arc with a half Atlantean king a Xebel queen with a mostly human and a shunned boy as princes

[rainbowobsidiandesigns]

They think they’re clever. 

(also jackson’s shirt reads “my dad is a super villain and all I got was this shirt” and he made it himself with a sharpie)

#aquaman #aquafam #Kaldur'ahm #Jackson Hyde #lorena marquez #prince koryak #Aqualad #Aquagirl #Narwhal #op fish people

[mandarinsan]

Mixed DC characters:

Connor Hawke (Caucasian, Korean-American and African-American)

Damian Wayne (Caucasian, Chinese and Arab)

Emiko and Robert Queen (half Japanese)

Rose Wilson (half Hmong¹)

Cassandra Cain (half Chinese)

Karate Kid (half Japanese)

Jai and Irey West (half Korean-American)

Lian Harper (part Vietnamese)

Traci 13 (half Chinese)

Raven (half demon)

Ra's al Ghul and Talia (Chinese and Arab)

Cheshire (French and Vietnamese)

Sandra Hawke (Korean and African-American)

Ryan Choi (Hong Kongese and Korean)

Grace Choi (Korean-American and Bana-Mighdall Amazonian)

Khalid Nassour (half Egyptian)

Arthur Curry (half Atlantean)

Koryak (Inuit, Atlantean and Caucasian)

Kaldur'ahm (Atlantean and African-American)

Andy and A.J. Curry (Atlantean and part Caucasian)

Kon-el (half Kryptonian)

Jon Kent (half Kryptonian)

Ariella Kent (half Kryptonian)

Tommy Blake (part Vietnamese)

Mar'i and Jake Grayson (half Tamaranean)

Melinda Zucco (half Chinese)

Diana Prince² (demigod)

Cassie Sandsmark (demigod)

Yara Flor (demigod)

Circe (demigod)

Jason (demigod)

King Shark (demigod)

Marcus Sun (demigod)

Lyta Trevor (half Amazonian)

Robert Long (half Amazonian)

Warhawk (Thanagarian and African-American)

Kyle Rayner (Mexican-American and Irish-American)

Selina Kyle² (Irish-American and Cuban)

Deborah Perkins (Atlantean and Japanese)

Nora, Jason and Jenny Allen [JL: Legacy] (half Hispanic³)

Lorena Marquez (half Latina)

Bane (British and Caribbean)

Aztek (half Mexican)

Jenni Ognats (half Afro-Aarokian)

Sam Troupe (half African-American)

Mongrel (Cambodian and African-American)

Thunder and Lightning (half Vietnamese)

Grail (Apokoliptian and Amazonian)

Soranik Natu (Korugaran and Ungaran)

Voodoo [Wildstorm] (Kherubim/Daemonite/Human hybrid)

Lara and Jonathan Kent [Earth-31] (Kryptonian and Amazonian)

Clark Wayne [Earth-3839] (Kryptonian, Caucasian and Vietnamese)

Lois and Lara Wayne [Earth-3839] (Kryptonian, Caucasian and Vietnamese)

Lar-El and Vara [Earth-3839] (Kryptonian and New God)

Kara Kent [Elseworld's Finest] (Kryptonian, Arab, and Chinese)

Aquagirl [Earth-22] (Atlantean and part Japanese)

Luthor-El [Earth-3] (half Kryptonian)

Lor-Zod [Earth-16] (half Afro-Kryptonian)

Carol and Jane Kent [Superman: Secret Identity] (Kryptonian and Indian-American)

1. Hmongs don’t live in Cambodia so this is kind of a retcon

2. depends on the origins story

3. Jessica Cruz, their mother, is of Mexican and Honduran descent

I won’t list every AU descendants of Clois/BruTalia/AquaMera and other interracial couples but obviously those characters (Lara, Ibn, Mareena, etc.) are mixed too.

When only half of the character's ethnicity is written it's because the other parent is white American, which is the norm in mainstream American comics.

#damian wayne #connor hawke #rose wilson #superboy #kyle rayner #cassandra cain #ra's al ghul #talia #traci 13 #kaldur'ahm #wonder girl #emiko queen #aquaman #mar'i grayson #grace choi #cheshire

[dcuninterrupted]

WHAT’S A MERMAID TO DO?

LORI LEMARIS should not have any power. After the death of her husband, the king of Tritonis, LORI very well could have lost her position and her life. But she did not get so far in her life without some clever machinations. As AQUAMAN and MERA along with so many other protectors of the seas are busy, LORI LEMARIS turns her sights on the current ruler of Poseidonis -- KORYAK . Her intentions are to marry her daughter to the prince, but her plans end up needing some adjustments.

Find out what happens in Atlantis Chronicles #1: Mother Knows Best, out June 8!

Learn more about this project here.

See more solicits here

#DC Uninterrupted #Solicits #Lori Lemaris #Aquaman #Arthur Curry #Atlantis Chronicles

[pluckyredhead]

Are you ready for MORE AQUAPOSTING? Well, too bad, because I’m about to talk about Garth and Koryak again, deal with it.

So one of the reasons I’m so fascinated by their dynamic is that I think they make really good foils for each other. Part of that is the “bio son he abandoned/didn’t know about”/“foster son he raised” dichotomy that you also see with, like, Roy and Connor or Damian and his predecessors, but part of it is unique to the fact that Arthur is a king, and all of these characters are operating not just within the larger dynamic of a family, but the larger dynamic of a court.

Because the thing with Aquaman comics, especially during the post-Crisis era when he was at his most emotionally unavailable and regal, is that emotional intimacy with Arthur the man is the same thing, in practical terms, as proximity to Orin the king. They are only really differentiated by motive, not outcome. Arthur shows love and trust by bequeathing political power, so if you want power, you have to earn love, and if you want love, you know you have it when you get power.

We see this conflation not just with the boys but with Vulko. Vulko was Arthur’s most trusted advisor right up until this era, when he starts pulling away - he no longer confides in Vulko, no longer accepts his advice without question. (It’s probably not a coincidence that he withdraws from Vulko, a father figure, once he meets his actual father, Atlan, and is profoundly unimpressed and angry with him.) Vulko’s reaction to this sudden distance is a deeply emotional and personal one - he is super duper butthurt about it. But the actions he takes - attempting to foment a coup - are political ones. The personal and the political are intertwined in Arthur’s inner circle, so when Vulko’s friend hurts his feelings, he attempts to overthrow the head of state, because his friend and the head of state are the same person.

So how does this play out with the boys? Well, they are very different people with very different histories with Arthur, and at first glance it looks like they have very different motives for any court drama they get caught up in. Koryak is blatantly ambitious, right? He likes being called a prince. He’s ruthless when it comes to eliminating rivals. He’s absurdly easy prey when Vulko is looking for a puppet to head up his coup attempt. Koryak wants power, he wants the succession, he wants the throne, and he is angling to be close to his father to get it.

Garth, on the other hand, is deeply sensitive. He longs to have his relationship with Arthur validated, in general and specifically to heal the rift that developed when Aquababy died. He wants Arthur to express that he loves and trusts Garth, and he is personally wounded when Arthur gives responsibilities to other people instead, even when it’s someone like Mera. He doesn’t want power, he just wants to be close to Arthur because he loves him.

But what if it’s not that simple?

It’s very easy to interpret Koryak’s behavior as a front, right? We’ve seen that narrative countless times. He’s only seeking power because he can’t admit or doesn’t understand that what he’s really seeking is love! He doesn’t really want to overthrow his father, he just wants his father’s attention. He’s not bad, he’s just drawn that way.

Which to me, begs the question: what if what Garth wants isn’t that simple, either? What if Garth is, in fact, a deeply ambitious person who is pretending to himself that he isn’t?

I mean, this is the guy who got tired of having a joke power and so set about becoming so ludicrously OP that he can fight the Spectre and send all of Atlantis multiple centuries into the past. He has been a diplomat and an ambassador. He’s been a prince. He’s the only Atlantean I’ve ever seen actually run for office. At one point, Arthur pisses him off so badly that he functionally takes over the kingdom and refuses to let Arthur back in.

I mean, look at this page:

I SCREAMED when I read this. He’s fighting both Black Manta and Ocean Master here, and he obviously has the magic chops to kick both of their asses without even trying - remember what I said about being ludicrously OP - but first he very loudly claims the throne. HE CLAIMS THE FUCKING THRONE. Was he even in line for it? Who cares! He’s taking it!

Garth is also extremely sensitive to where he sits in terms of power/stability/closeness to Arthur. As early as the Silver Age, when Aquababy was born, Garth’s first reaction was “What does this mean for me?” (This is a Silver Age trope - there are definitely stories from that era where Batman almost marries Batwoman and Dick wonders what will become of him, which has SO many unfortunate implications - but it hits different when there’s an actual succession to consider.) There are many, many instances of Garth being personally wounded whenever Arthur asks Mera or Dolphin or anyone else to handle something, and it’s clear that he’s mentally rearranging his rankings of Arthur’s preferred...courtiers, for lack of a better word. He is invested in climbing that ladder, while Koryak is either going to kick the whole thing over, or just leave.

Now I’m not trying to suggest for a minute that Garth doesn’t truly love Arthur. He wants Arthur’s love and respect and validation on their own merit (and he also probably grabs for titles because they give him a secure place in the kingdom, as opposed to “that kid Arthur found who he can and will discard when convenient”). Even the incident I alluded to before, where he won’t let Arthur back into Atlantis, is mostly motivated by a desire to protect Mera, who he arguably loves even more than he loves Arthur.

But I don’t think that’s all it is. I think he can love Arthur and genuinely want power, and that doesn’t make him a bad person. But everyone, Garth himself especially, sees him as fundamentally a gentle, even timid person, and I think he would probably have a hard time reconciling that self-image with his very real ambition.

And returning to the flip side, yes, I think some of Koryak’s bids for power are actually bits for Arthur’s love and attention - but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want power too. But Koryak’s public face and self-image are very tied up in aggression and strength, so people only see the ambition and not the wish to be loved.

So yeah, I think the way they mirror each other here is super interesting and a fun thing to explore! Characters can be multiple things at once, and sometimes they really don’t want to acknowledge that! Especially these two, who would hate to know they have a lot more in common than they think.

#garth #aqualad #tempest #koryak #koryak curry #aquasplaining

[kiseiakhun]

Ask Meme: GARTH

GARTH

First impression - I encountered him first in the rb Titans book so I thought he was the muscle of the team 💀 Like he was one of those STRONG BURLY MEN ready to FIGHT EVERYTHING. But I also fell in love with his design and paid a disproportionate amount of attention to him; he was the most visually interesting character in the book for me.

Impression now - I want Garth to [censored] me and [censored] and then [censored] and

All joking aside, Garth is such an interesting character to me. He has such an air of mystery about him probably because he never appears in any books and there's just. So much potential in his character? Like, if you go down a list and tick off his traits... he's one of the more tragic characters in the dcu and he has such a complicated relationship with his mentor. He's strong enough to stand next to the likes of Superman and Wonder Woman. It's been stated on-page that Garth is one of the most competent magic users in the DCU. He should be a powerhouse. He should be in every major event, standing next to the headliners, and it's so tragic that he suffered from the Aquafam irreverency syndrome that struck everyone close to Arthur. Garth feels like a character in limbo; Arthur himself is just stepping back into the spotlight, and now that we have Jackson he can't really fill the role of Aqualad. It's clear that the writers don't really know what to do with him and that's so sad :/

I looove him. I love the concept of his character. When he's written right (re: the way I prefer), he works as such a great counter-balance to the more hotheaded personalities he's usually stuck with. He gives breathing space on a team full of aggressively emotional people. He's like a rock to rest on among a stormy sea. There's so much to explore when it comes to just him, too - I mean, Garth is the LOST PRINCE of an UNDERWATER KINGDOM born with STRONG INNATE MAGIC POWERS who was ABANDONED BY HIS PARENTS FROM BIRTH in order to SAVE HIM. He has purple eyes!! He has cool tattoos! HE HAS SEXY EYE SCARS. He's the subject of an ancient prophecy! His relationship with Arthur jumps all over the place from love to hate to love to hate. He has SO MANY PARENTAL ISSUES you can fill up a whole book with them. He has SO MANY ISSUES. Garth is literally an anime pretty boy. I can't believe more people don't love him, except I can believe it because he rarely ever shows up ;_; Wasted potential, thy name is Garth

Favorite moment

Remember when he had to rehydrate himself every two hours? That sure was a choice.

In all seriousness though, probably the time he led the mission to save Lilith (Omen). Let him be smart and competent... let his friends see and acknowledge it...

Idea for a story - ONE DAY I'm going to write that Roygarth fantasy epic where they have to journey through Treacherous Lands to save someone (Wally). Currently I have just vibes. But once I find a plot it's over for you hoes.

Unpopular opinion - Imagine if Garth was popular enough for people to have opinions. Umm. I like his rebirth look better 😔 that's the version I was introduced to and unfortunately I imprinted.

Favorite relationship - I looove his relationship with the Titans, to the surprise of absolutely no one. I do wish his and Wally's friendship would get explored more - he and Roy have this vitriolic thing going on, and he occasionally pops up in Nightwing books to give Dick supportive words of advice, and he and Donna have similarish personalities (at least outwardly, Donna seems a lot less chill on the inside than the image she tries to project) so they have this tendency to just snark about the others from the side and it's great lmao. In comparison, his and Wally's relationship seems less prominent which is a shame imo. They're friends too!

Favorite headcanon - After Koryak died Garth plundered his clothes and stole his fashion sense. I realized a couple days ago that Rebirth Garth resembles Koryak far more than he does pre-Flashpoint Garth and I'm still recovering from it.

Also he's so chill because he smokes a metric fuckton of weed. (Garth ran out of weed at the start of rebirth and that's why he was Like That)

[ask meme]

#garth of shayeris #asks #ask memes