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bluejaywriter · 6 years

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A Brief Look Into Modern Internet Folklore: The Evolution of Isabel Maru (Dr. Poison)

Abstract: One of the most interesting things about WonderPoison fanfiction is how Isabel Maru’s character has evolved in the last 5 months. Isabel’s evil nature (as per the canon) makes her character very difficult to work with, especially when the end goal is to pair her with someone like Diana. Early WP fanfic grappled with this much more than fics do now, even in such a short time period.

TL:DR This post is a brief(ish) history of WonderPoison. Continue reading at your own risk. Also, you get to find out my three favorite WP fanfics!

In Search of A Remedy, the first WP fanfic ever posted on Ao3, arrived, somehow, before the film was even released. It doesn’t broach romance between these two, but it does offer a possible explanation of how Diana might find Isabel after the war and begin a friendship of sorts. Set directly after the end of the film, Isabel is still quite close to the canon- cold, closed, dedicated to her work, and verging on the edge of insanity.

The next two works (nearby and resettled, unsettled) were posted almost immediately after the film was released, and would eventually become the backbone of miss_belivet’s “wonderpoison archive”. The series depicts a very long courtship (around 10 years) of sorts between these two, with careful attention given to the fact that Diana is constantly keeping tabs on Isabel’s behavior. These two are quite formal and serious together, even as they move into their established relationship, with Isabel being ferried to Themyscira to live a semi-independent life, and Diana visiting her in between missions. Isabel never quite loses her edge, and Diana never settles into domestic life with her permanently.

The NEXT two works in this fandom were posted about a week after the movie’s release, and Jolene (which is tied with Johanna as my favorite WP fic of all time) was the first fanfic that I thought showed how blindingly perfect this ship could be. Isabel is still ruthless, Diana is still gentle and kind, but somehow- somehow- they find themselves putting that aside to be together, even if it is just for a night, or a short lifetime. I still read it every so often because it’s ridiculously beautiful, and it’s also the first fic that I felt wrestled with the moral issue (and it found them irreconcilable, and just threw them together anyways, because if love was powerful enough to keep Diana from killing Isabel in the first place, it could certainly be powerful enough to draw them back together now).

After Jolene, WonderPoison fics were being released almost daily- and then the Verge interview with Elena Anaya was released.

AND HELL BROKE LOOSE.

Hell did not break loose, but between Elena’s descriptions of Isabel’s past and character (the evil parts and the humanizing parts), and miss_belivet following it almost immediately with Johanna, we were shown under no uncertain terms that Isabel Maru was not just Ludendorff’s chief psychopath, but she was a human being; a talented, broken, grief-stricken, and relatable woman with the most tragic of pasts... I read Johanna and my heart stopped. I read Johanna and I realized that there was still hope for this woman- and I wanted to give it to her.

I started writing around this time, when the fandom was beginning to realize it didn’t need to preface each fic with a disclaimer about knowing Dr. Poison is evil and an acknowledgement that this is of course a crackship. More and more fics were posted from Isabel’s POV, and more fics offered a humanized version of Isabel- one that still presented her with that cold persona from the film, but now featured a strain of tragedy and humanity lurking underneath.

By the middle of July, several weeks after the film had been released, Ao3 was a mixed bag of “traditional comic book movie villain” Isabel Maru fanfics, and fluffy WP fanfics. It was almost bizarre to see them juxtaposed one after the other- evil WWI chemist Dr. Poison shorts followed by WonderPoison hurt/comfort oneshots. (One of the most impressive fics that came out at this point is my third favorite WP(ish) work, Shell Shock by Bellicose_Blue, which is a stunning take on the idea that Isabel, not Ludendorff, was Ares.)

By the beginning of August, the fandom was quiet.

Through all of this I was writing Hatred. I remember watching the fandom die down and wondering if I was devoting my summer to something no one would be around to read when I finally posted the epilogue. I remember spending hours in the library, writing page after page of WonderPoison meta, trying in vain to mold Isabel’s character into something remotely compatible with Diana’s.

I devoted two long, dragging chapters to Diana and Isabel’s reconciliation, and still wasn’t happy with it. But eventually, I myself, as a writer, had to believe in the power of love and let my characters run with it, logic be damned. Because maybe love and relationships really actually aren’t that logical, in reality.

I’m not going to harp on and on about Hatred (I wrote 30,000 words for it, isn't that enough??), but that fic was a labor of blood, sweat, and tears, because to get Isabel Maru from a place where she was completely full of hatred and bitterness, to a place where she essentially became Diana’s light was DIFFICULT.

But the fandom has gotten there with quiet ease, whether Hatred helped get it there or not. The fandom version of Isabel is still cold, snappy, and morally ambiguous, but she is also wicked, snarky, amusing, and even caring at times. She has soaked in our headcanons and our angst and our love for the last five months, and it shows.

I’m quite proud that writers today don’t feel the need to apologize for their love of WonderPoison. I’m quite proud that Isabel has become such a full character, with her tragic past and her cats and her sass and her pure, blind adoration for this lovable goof of a goddess (also, Diana has loosened up quite a bit in the fandom, have you noticed?).

And to be honest, it’s rather striking for me to watch Wonder Woman now and wonder in amazement at how on earth we got such an amazing woman from this caricatured, underdeveloped supervillain. But we did, somehow. And I cannot wait to see where she’s going next.

Links to referenced fics (shoutouts to all of the authors!!):

In Search of a Remedy by nire the wonder poison archive by miss_belivet Jolene by Chokopoppo johanna by miss_belivet Shell Shock by Bellicose_Blue Hatred by BlueJay_SilverTongue

Notes:

1. Just a disclaimer of course NO ONE who is writing WonderPoison needs to adhere to current fandom Isabel! Please, write her as close or far from canon as your creative heart desires! I just wanted to show that writers now have such a range of ways to write these two, and I’m so excited to see how that continues.

2. Also, I wanted to write this up for anyone who is new to the WonderPoison fandom, anyone who is curious about how on earth we managed to successfully ship Diana “righteousness incarnate” Prince with Isabel “actual mass murderer” Maru, and anyone who just wants a trip down WonderPoison memory lane.

3. Justice League comes out in a few days and I fully expect Ao3 to become SWAMPED with fics shipping Diana with her male league members, so I wrote this to celebrate the journey that this lovely fandom has taken over the last five months, and how we’ve all helped and supported each other to make these characters the couple that they can be today.

#WonderPoison #The Ultimate Guide to the Fandom #Wonder Woman #Isabel Maru #Dr. Poison #Also if I didn't mention your fic it doesn't mean I don't like it #It means I need to make this a podcast and talk about each fic at some point :-P #I love every WonderPoison fic are you kidding #Writers please let me know if you'd like to be removed from this post #I can't believe I wrote all this what is wrong with me

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