#twenty years? nothing??

[spielzeugkaiser]

The ages in this show!! I have made some jokes about this before, but it gets me - with aging Ciri up and bringing her closer to Jaskiers age when they meet I can not help but draw parallels. Like Geralt bonded way differently with both of them (which makes sense because Ciri has been his Child surprise since birth and Jaskier just randomly turned up one day and followed him like a puppy) but it's so funny to me. also I'm 100% sure Jaskier was horny as fuck from the beginning so there was a whole different vibe from the get go

#the witcher #the witcher netflix #jaskier #geraskier #geralt of rivia #yennefer of vengerberg #I wanted to draw Geralt being maximum tired by remembering that #and also #ALSO #one thing I still don't forgive them from S2! (or like one of many many things #it wasn't just Yennefer who changed Geralt #it was 100% Jaskier first #if Geralt had been in the 'butcher' mindset of 'I need nobody' when meeting Ciri #if he hadn't met Jaskier before and had been friends with him for TWENTY FUCKIN YEARS #if Jaskier hadn't worn him down a bit - make him less guarded and more open #Geralt meeting Ciri would not have gone as well as it did #It's my firm believe that Jaskier is Geralts first deep relationship outside of his brothers were he truly bonds and learns to trust again #you can take that from my cold dead hands #and not because Geralt is a loner who doesn't talk to people - we see he has a lot acquaintances #but nothing is ever permanent there #no one who stays #I want to draw something funny but in my mind!! #I want a fic were Ciri and Jaskier talk about this and Geralt acknowledges that too #also a fun version #ciri and jaskier shenanigans

[lilianade-comics]

Rest in peace Danielle, you tried babe

#vlad actually would be mostly cordial to the boy dani brings home cause he already did twenty background checks on this twelve year old. #but anyway yeah. vlad and danny agree on nothing except that dani should be protected at all costs. especially from 12 year old boys #much to her unending chagrin #danny phantom #vlad plasmius #dani phantom #danielle phantom #cheese melt

[silverwhittlingknife]

Dick Grayson & Tim Drake: Reading Guide

Once upon a time, two kids met at a circus... and the rest is history.

table of contents:

who are these losers?

what's fun about them?

why a reading guide?

how does the reading guide work? (tl;dr: there are quick recs, a selected chronological list, and a complete chronological list)

where is the spreadsheet? (x)

who are they?

Dick Grayson and Tim Drake: the first Robin and the third Robin.

Also known as the circus boy and the earnest computer geek, the hotshot and the pretender, the slighted prince and the new apprentice, the acolyte and the hanger-on, Nightwing and Robin, Batman and Robin, Batman and Red Robin, and Marcia and Cindy (BftC 3, N 110 & 119, B 617, DC 677, Detention Comics 1, R 168, RR 14).

Or as Jason calls them, "You idiots" (TT 47).

More seriously, Dick Grayson is one of the most enduring comic characters ever - he's been around since Detective Comics 38 in 1940! He's Batman's first ward, first partner, and eldest son. When Dick's parents are murdered, Bruce identifies with him, comforts him, and takes him into his home, where Dick ultimately volunteers to join his crimefighting mission. By candlelight, the Dynamic Duo swear an oath: That we two will fight together against crime and corruption and never swerve from the path of righteousness!

Tim Drake was created in Batman 436 and formally introduced in Lonely Place of Dying. He's a lonely kid who imprints on Dick when they meet as children, and Dick hugs him and promises to do a quadruple somersault for him; he's horrified and worried about Dick in the aftermath of the Graysons' murder, which he witnesses. He watches Batman comfort Dick, deduces Robin's secret identity, and becomes a secret devotee of the Dynamic Duo. Though he admires them both, it's ultimately Dick who he idolizes and tries to emulate when Bruce is spiraling: Batman needs a Robin. No matter what he thinks he wants.

Their slow-burn strangers-to-friends-to-brothers-to-antagonists-to-brothers-again arc develops from 1989 to 2011, and it's one of the standout examples of the DC Post-Crisis era's commitment to gradual character development and careful continuity.

what's fun about them?

SO MUCH!!! But one of my favorite things is their friendship has RANGE!! They go from sweet kids to tense strangers to loyal friends to brothers over the course of real-life years and tons of comics. They fight, they tease each other, they get protective, they worry, they chase each other down, they walk away... there's just so much story here.

They meet at the circus as children, when both their parents are still alive. They meet again, years later, when Bruce is reeling from Jason's death and they team up to stop him from hurting anyone. In the early days, they're brothers-in-arms and never quite family - instead, Dick is Bruce's loyal-but-estranged eldest son, and Tim is Bruce's new loyal-but-wary apprentice, with his own family and his own semi-estranged dad. The slow process of evolving toward found-family is a delight to watch.

They work together as Nightwing and Robin over four years of in-universe time and for over twenty years of real-time, gradually forging a fierce bond of friendship and, ultimately, brotherhood.

Then Bruce dies, and they have some huge fights.

But even when they're estranged, even when they're not speaking... they never stop loving and trying to protect each other. No matter what.

why a reading guide?

Quotes from New Titans 60 and Batman 441 (1989), Nightwing 25 (1998), Nightwing 69 (2002), Red Robin 1 (2009), Red Robin 12 (2010), Gates of Gotham 3 and Detective Comics 874 (2011)

I think reading guides are cool!! And somebody asked me about one!

More generally, I think reading guides are always helpful, but especially with Dick & Tim... you know, when I first started out trying to read their comics, I got kinda overwhelmed. Because on the one hand there's SO MUCH CONTENT - they're one of the classic enduring friendships in all of post-Crisis! their relationship is a HUGE BIG DEAL! they're constantly calling each other and hanging out and supporting each other and arguing!

But at the same time, all of that content is scattered across lots of different books, in Robin and Nightwing and Detective Comics and Batman and New Titans and Titans and Young Justice and Teen Titans and Shadow of the Bat and Gotham Knights and Birds of Prey and Showcase and DC Holiday Specials and so on and so forth. There's not One Definitive Place where you can read The Dick-and-Tim Story.

So: a reading guide!

how does the reading guide work?

Dick and Tim are in over 400 comics together and over 800 comics each separately. That's a whole lot of comics! So I've made a spreadsheet with three different reading guides, depending on how interested you are in these two:

1-5 Quick Recs: If you just want to check out a couple comics, check out these quick recs for "if you like fluff," "if you like angst," etc.

200 Starter Comics: If you want to do a comprehensive, chronological Dick-and-Tim read without committing to all the comics, this list has some of their major team-ups plus some solo comics so you know what the heck is going on. Most of them have a "sneak peek" you can use to decide if you want to read it.

Big List: A complete list of all the comics Dick and Tim are in, in chronological order, with links to dc.fandom and to DC Universe Infinite. It has filter views.

This spreadsheet was a labor of love, obsession, and SO MUCH PROCRASTINATING doing other things. I update it sometimes.

where is the spreadsheet?

it's here. have fun <3

#anyway sibling asked what i was working on a while back and i said that i was looking up regex formulas #so that i could create hyperlinks for a massive spreadsheet organizing a list of twenty-year-old batman comics #and sibling said ''uh. oh. okay'' and i said 'WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IT :D' and sibling declined dsfdsfdsfds #genius is never understood in its own time #i really do not know how to tag this so that i'll remember what i tagged it. guide? list? COMIC guide? comic reading order? #comic reading guide #comic recs #i guess. i got nothing #dick & tim #dick grayson #tim drake

[buthappysoverrated]

this is going to be my entire personality for a week

#until dtamd drops I'm going to be obssessed with this #this is insane #they're happily married for more than twenty years and they buy each other those terrible ugly hair clips to rail each other up #they have fucked nasty in every flat surface in philadelphia #iasip #iasip s16 spoilers #macdennis #mac mcdonald #dennis reynolds #it's always sunny in philadelphia #hy speaks #nothing

[wizzard890]

Bastian and Volo - The Antichrist and his Hound

There once was a boy who served in a castle. The noble family who lived there paid him no mind.

One day, like a blow through the heart, that boy saw God.

Something bright. Something terrible. Something holy, greater than every blazing star: Bastian, second issue of the Duke of Burgundy, seething and ambitious and wrathful.

Souls depart the body through the eyes; the boy never looked away.

.

Bastian was eighteen when he noticed Volo: the young son of a stablehand who had taught himself to read, to carry, to serve. Desperately ready to file himself into a cold and razored sword for Bastian's hand, if only that hand would close like a collar around his neck.

And so, in time, Bastian seized him.

.

It is your turn to see them now, years on, as the storm gathers.

Ecce homo: A Conqueror on a pale horse, his banners flying behind him, with a hunger for heaven on his lips and a burning crown on his head. But that which truly bears his glory runs at his heel.

Ecce canis: A chaste and brutal Galahad, rimed with frost, leading the legions of his Lord to any end, any dictate, as long as he is granted the final honor of slitting his own throat on Bastian's altar.

They are linked by a silver chain. God to slave, king to knight, love to worship. Even death cannot break it.

.

There once was a dog who served his master. The dragon who holds his leash will never let it go.

#*KICKS OVER A CHAIR* #your honor they belong together (derogatory) #Bastian and Volo are the stuff of nightmares - the stuff of biblical prophecy and the utmost horror #and they are fully and completely obsessed with one another #it was a long road for Bastian to realize what he had in Volo but once he did he was uh -- radicalized shall we say #he fucking loves Volo - he loves his dog! - his dog just happens to be a perfect and chilly and upright twenty two year old man #and to be called a good dog by Bastian is to Volo like being called by name was to Christ's disciples #there is no task Volo will not fulfill - no act he will ever find degrading - nothing he will ever EVER hold back from his Lord #and Bastian knows that and loves that and loves him and takes and takes and takes and takes #Volo is the hilt of his great and terrible sword and Bastian knows no power like resting a hand on that hilt - at the nape of Volo's neck #they are so feral I am breathing into a paper bag about it every second #heretic

[autismmydearwatson]

THAT WAS DUNE???? THAT WAS JUST A QUIRKED UP WHITE BOY DOING SO MANY DRUGS HE BECOMES JESUS

#I finished Dune can you tell #So it's a pretty good analysis of ecology and colonization and white savior complexes #Except I like that Paul literally can't run from his destiny as a white savior. No matter what he tries to do to stop the Holy War #the loyalty of his followers ALONE is what will cause it! #He can do the most ordinary things a 18 year old boy is capable of with some added psychics and it will be sanctified #because of the Bene Gesserit manipulating the indigenous population into seeing Godhood in everything their perceived messiah does! #When he says “I didn't even draw my knife but it will be said of this day that I slew twenty Sardaukar by my own hand” #“I cannot do the simplest thing without its becoming a legend. They will mark how I parted from Chani #how I greet Stilgar-- every move I make this day. Live or die it is a legend. I must not die. #Then it will only be legend and nothing to stop the jihad.“ #And “I have seen a friend become a worshipper” #goddddd hes trying so hard to escape his fate but his cult are so loyal to him his fate will come no matter what he does #dune

[autopotion]

I will be real posts that are like "Laios has a pure heart and everyone who hates him is ableist against an autistic guy innocently pursuing his special interest" are annoying as hell. I don't disagree that Laios is most likely intended to be read as autistic/neurodivergent, and is incredibly endearing & compelling for it, but acting as though he has no flaws and is a Sweet UwU Baby that everyone is mean to for no reason ): feels deeply infantalizing to me, as well as unnecessarily hostile towards the rest of the cast. Like did everyone forget that one chapter where it's revealed that he used to wish monsters would kill his old village. Which isn't evil or anything, it's a fascinating insight into Laios's deep-seated anger with his father & his envy of monsters, but it is an interesting character choice that doesn't quite fit the mold of "perfect and innocent." Additionally, 1. How many characters actually do hate Laios and 2. If you're counting Kabru among them (which him "hating" Laios is an over exaggeration of the exact nature of their antagonism) what makes you think Kabru isn't intended to be read as autistic or neurodivergent? He's presented as a foil to Laios in that he has his own intense interests and fixations, but they skew in the exact opposite direction, towards people, emotions, and social situations. They are two sides of the same coin.

#unforgivable dungeon meshi #the anime has brought a rash of 'laios is a sweet twenty year old minor who has done nothing wrong' posts #and i really do not care for them. it feels like cole dragonage discourse p2

[catboymoments]

tip: I am so fucking mad

#yall will be like ohh mental health is so pronouns we love disabled advocacy #and then go out of your way to stalk harass and doxx a disabled poc who (checks notes) was a teenager with a dissociative disorder and did: #(checks notes again) stupid but overall not dangerous things #and proceed to compare them to real life predators and send the feds to their house for no reason #for internet clout. #you should not be proud of having quote ten years of documentation end quote on them when said individual is TWENTY THREE. #the way people on here treat ppl with mental illness is fucking incredible because they’re nothing but something to laugh at or something + #to dogpile and gang up on for some non existent justice #go outside

[skitty-kirby]

Time for more Sword and Blade rambles because the brain has indeed rotted. Had a really funny thought about how throughout the whole anime, Sword and Blade were overconfident and quick to throwing themselves into danger- often getting their asses handed to them or disarmed in the process. Very reckless but with their heads held high.

Meanwhile in the finale when shit hits the fan? Suddenly they're panicked- constantly asking "what do we do?" and overall are showing obvious fear without trying to hide it- to the extent of almost arguing with each other by the end; something they never did before.

I honestly really adore this fact because: a. it's reminiscent of their first encounter with Meta Knight, how when Wolfwrath nearly took them out they ran away in fear but came back because they trusted him. Here, despite them being afraid again (and for the first time since then, obviously showing it), they still hold fast and trust his command. and b. it made for wonderful contrast for their writing and added heightened realism given the severity of the show's final events and the situations at hand. I need sleep. :)

#In this essay I will//shot #'why am I doing a character analysis for a twenty year old anime' you might ask? #because if over ten years of being obsessed with the series won't stop me nothing will apparently xD #love to see layers with characters. Giving them the ability to be afraid or silly when they usually just act serious or confident is: #(chef's kiss) #kirby right back at ya #kirby #hoshi no kaabii #kirby of the stars #meta knight #kirby anime #sword knight #blade knight

[gaycrouton]

I think Mulder’s maturation in the revival is perfectly encapsulated when juxtaposing the endings of Babylon (10x05) and Nothing Lasts Forever (11x09).

They poignantly show the progression of Mulder realizing the answers he needed were never in the sky but right in front of him.

In Babylon, when Scully is being vulnerable with Mulder, he gets distracted and withdraws from the moment, from her.

Contrastingly, in NLF, Mulder stands vulnerably in front of the eyes of her God and professes that, above all else, he is present for her. He listens.

Babylon (10x05)

Scully: Well... maybe it's beyond words. Maybe we should do like the prophets and open our hearts and truly listen.

(Mulder becomes distracted).

Scully: What?

(He begins looking away from her).

Scully: What?

Mulder: Did you hear that?

Nothing Lasts Forever (11x09)

Mulder: Well, what are you talking about, Scully? Because I don't know if any god is listening, but I am standing right here. And I am listening. Right beside you. I'm all ears. That's my choice.

Scully: (looks around church to see that they are alone, whispers something inaudible in his ear, then continues talking in normal voice) That's not my four-year-old self looking for a miracle. That's my leap of faith forward. And I'd like to do it together.

Fox Mulder : (he nods) I've always wondered how this was gonna end.

(He reaches for a taper and lights another prayer candle)

Even the final shots demonstrate the shift in Mulder’s perspective.

The end of Babylon depicts two people who become insignificant when lost in the details of a bigger picture.

NLF shows the power and beauty of two soulmates wholly committed to being each other’s worlds.

#I’m a revival defender #not a Babylon defender #don’t get me wrong #but their romance arc is supreme #season eleven Mulder is prime character development #a twenty five year arc #women really do mature faster than men #citation: the x files #msr #x files #scully #mulder #dana scully #fox mulder #gillian anderson #mulder and scully #david duchovny #x files meta #Babylon #nothing lasts forever

[dc-said-bi-robin-rights]

They’re girlfriends your honor

#cassrose #rosecass #cassandra cain #rose wilson #batman fandom #batman family #batman #batfam #batfam social media #batman social media #batfam social media au #batgirls #batgirl #ravager #deathstroke #daughters of assassins unite #you have nothing to lose but your dubious parents #it’s a hate crime these two haven’t interacted in like ten years #actually make that twenty lol #I have so many thoughts about them #they’re girlfriends your honor #batfamily social media #batfamily social media au

[androgynouspenguinexpert]

the gravedigger and the nightingale

#redacted audio #redacted asmr #redactedverse #art #illustration #redacted porter #redacted vincent #porter solaire #vincent solaire #chewing on the bars of my enclosure thinking about how these two are all the other could have become #porter had been broken down to nothing and rebuilt himself to be useful to survive #vincent lost everything then had everything and more handed to him without him asking for any of it #also ive tweaked vincent again to make him look noticeably younger than the others #twenty year olds do not have jawlines that could cut through a brick #his eyes are also larger and his nose has been upturned a little bit more #he still looks like an adult (because he is one) but ive softened his features and i think it turned out really good #porter is also here #(i say that like hes not one of my favourites)

[letoscrawls]

me explaining that yes Alia is 16 in Dune Messiah but she's actually been an adult ever since she was a fetus bc her mother had no choice but to drink the Water of Life which accidentally gave her all the other memories of dozens of bene gesserit so all these women live inside her head so it makes sense for her to date the living corpse of her father's right-hand man even though it's not really appropriate and also that's how it was in feudal societies and he probably likes her bc she's the spitting copy of her mother whom he had a crush on but never confessed his feelings out of respect for his duke and-

#dune #dune messiah #alia atreides #it would have cost nothing to set the book fifteen or twenty years after the first one so alia could be in her twenties #fuck you frank herbert #i'm rereading dune messiah and i hate that duncan and alia are so cute together #hayt places first in my personal ranking of the duncans #he was really okay until jessica pointed out he still had feelings for her SHDFSDFHDFHj #dune spoilers

[skoulsons]

hey.

anyway.

#do you think this has a deeper meaning #like he’s holding an alive sarah #signifying his status as a person. like he’s alive. #and then the kid in the QZ who’s dead and covered. no identity. nothing. #kind of like Joel at that point in time #and then ellie. unconscious but alive #and joels getting her out- he’s saving her #and he’s walking from that twenty year death to a new alive life with ellie #does that make sense?? #ynow?? #that or I just like overanalyzing things #the last of us hbo #tlou spoilers #joel miller #ellie williams #sarah miller

[jamiesfootball]

Always lowkey simmering a Leverage AU in the back of my head hear me out:

Ted is an ex-insurance investigator who was able to get his son life-saving medical treatment because his first, original Crime Pal Beard was like ‘Ted if your company doesn’t come through with the coverage, we’re doing things my way.’

The company did not come through. The company did let him go due to suspicion of Ted’s involvement in the incident, but Ted will happily remind folks that no charges were formally pressed. Henry is alive and healthy and living with Michelle, who divorced Ted shortly thereafter (not just because of pre-existing marital problems, but because Ted wouldn’t tell her anything about why the doctors “””suddenly decided to do the procedure for free”””). Shortly thereafter, Ted fled the country.

What Ted learned from the whole experience is that there’s a lot of people out there, good people just trying to live by the rules, but sometimes things happen that are just out of their control. And well- if we’ve got the means to help the good people out when no one else will, then shouldn’t we try?

“We’ve got means,” Beard agrees. “And motives.”

They do things Beard’s way now.

#also Rebecca is a grifter who gave it up when she married into money and her name(s) echo mysteriously through the back alleys of London #“did you hear about this Secret Princess Lydia who went missing in the 90s?’ ‘yes Ted that was me’ #the woman is constantly dodging every half-told lie she made on a lark twenty years ago but she is amazing at keeping them straight #and Roy- Roy long ago took an injury that ended his career as a footballer before it started #and he fell into a bad spot as a hitter #and then he fell into a worse spot #and then he dug himself out for his neice that no one knows about (see: everyone knows about think mafia kid no one is allowed to touch her) #the problem now is he’s getting old #the hits hit harder and his speed isn’t what it used to be #(Roy Kent’s slow is still leagues beyond what these young wannabe punks can do these days) #keeley! she is a sneak thief. very charming. tiny. great with repelling down sides of buildings #loves money and shiny rocks and thinks Rebecca is the bee’s knees #and then there’s Jamie who is a 24 year old hacker with gaudy taste no knack for accents and a problem with authority #in this au him and ted have basically split Nate’s backstory #Ted’s dad took him to bars and taught him little tricks and mind games- nothing fancy just stuff an HR person might know #meanwhile Jamie’s dad took him to shady deals in bars because his dad was a fixer who’d put bad guys in touch with each other #jamie keeps a tracker running on his laptop with his dad’s whereabouts at all times #unfortunately he didn’t think that anyone else would bother looking for him- he’s not exactly a big time crook #but Ted and his crew have pissed off Rupert Mannion who is big time and who wants to hit back at Rebecca for making a fool of him #and Mannion’s people have identified that the way in to breaking their little crew is through Jamie #who’s name sounds so ridiculous people have assumed it was fake this whole time #anyways #thanks for reading #I will likely never write this but boy I have ideas 💡 #leverage au #ted lasso #jamie tartt #roy kent #keeley jones #rebecca welton

[laundrybiscuits]

(wait for the season to come back to me tag)

It gets less strange, as time goes by. Eddie doesn’t make any kind of noise about him moving out at some point, and neither do Steve and Robin. Turns out they don't need to store any bodily fluids in the fridge, and in fact if Steve didn't know better, he wouldn't be able to tell that Eddie's drinking blood at all. Steve assumes he's getting animal blood from somewhere on a regular basis, but as far as either Steve or Robin can tell, he never takes it inside the apartment.

Anyway, it turns out Eddie can still technically eat human food, but about half of it tends to come back up afterwards. They’re still figuring out what works and what doesn’t. Robin made a little chart with smiley-face and frowny-face stickers, which Eddie has been gleefully filling out. He’s drawn little fangs onto the stickers with a Sharpie.

That’s another thing: to Steve’s mild surprise, Eddie and Robin have been getting along like a house on fire.

“I really wish I’d known him in high school,” says Robin, slicing bell peppers for dinner.  “I think it would’ve made Hawkins a lot more bearable.”

Steve doesn’t really remember Eddie at all from school, which is probably a really good thing.

He can’t imagine the guy he was back then being this obsessed with Eddie. Well, no, that’s not true. He can imagine it, but he’d have been such a jackass about it. Probably would’ve fucked a few girls about it. Maybe would’ve even bullied Eddie about it.

“Did you come out to him yet?” Steve asks Robin.

Robin leans all the way out the kitchen door, practically horizontal. Steve grabs the back of her belt so she doesn’t overbalance. “Hey! Hey, Eddie!” she yells.

“What, Buckley!” he yells back.

“I’m gay!”

“Cool, me too!”

She lets Steve’s grip swing her back in, grinning. “Your turn, dingus.”

Steve’s going to. He is. The longer he waits, the more awkward it gets. He’s got nothing to lose. He—

Robin takes him by the shoulders, spins him around, and pushes him out into the living room.

“Uh,” he says. “I’m—bisexual.”

Eddie actually does, like, a full-body twitch; his eyebrows climb practically to his hairline for a second, and he sets down his book.

“I’m…very proud of you? Thank you for telling me?”

“Why are you being weirder about me than Robin,” says Steve, annoyed.

“Because you’re being weirder about it than Robin was! I don’t know, I don’t have a lot of practice with, uh, this. Also, Robin was a band geek who dressed like Annie Hall, and you were—popular.” He draws out popular like it’s got three key changes in it, waving his hands in the air.

“Yeah, okay,” Steve huffs. “Sorry I wasn’t, like, alternative enough to be a real queer.”

“No, c’mon, Steve, I didn’t mean it like that. I accept you! Buckley, get in here and accept Steve with me.”

“Ste-eve Harrington,” Robin sings out, wandering out of the kitchen to wrap her arms around Steve’s waist. “We accept you and your beautiful bisexual soul.”

“Thanks,” says Steve dryly.

Eddie points at him. “Feel accepted.”

“I feel accepted,” Steve says; daring, he holds out an arm, and Eddie hops up to let Steve pull him into the hug too.

“Good,” says Eddie into Steve’s shoulder. “You should be.”

#steddie #fic: wait for the season to come back to me #I'd been slogging through angst and complaining about it #and today I was like. but what if I didn't tho. #what if I just wrote about the vaguely weird coming-out you do when you spend most of your time in queernormative spaces #and you already kind of know about the other person even if nothing's been officially confirmed #I've literally said 'samesies' to a coming-out bc I'm the woooorst #the other day a straight friend asked me 'when did you come out' #and I was like...this morning. yesterday. last year. twenty years ago. #also I feel I have been focusing too much on the pathos of this story and not enough on vampire shenanigans #I'm making the executive decision not to care about tonal shifts