necrotic-nephilim

[necrotic-nephilim]

hi! bit new here so sorry if it's been answered, but did you happen to read DC's knight terrors: robin? if so i'd love to hear your thoughts on jason and tim in that comic!

hi! i don't think i've talked in depth about my opinions on KT: Robin, no! i've definitely mentioned it in passing, bc my opinions on it overall are that it's very... lackluster, to be nice. i read the entire Knight Terrors event when it came out so i view it both as a weak entry on Jason and Tim's character, and a weak entry of the overall event. it's nowhere near the worst, i rated it a 5/10 when i read it, but it pales compared to -in my opinion- the writing in the better stories like KT: Detective Comics or KT: Poison Ivy.

i'm largely underwhelmed by Jason and Tim's relationship in the Rebirth era in general. it didn't hold onto the closeness the New-52 gave them, which is a valid choice when re-canonizing Post-Crisis, but it also doesn't have them as antagonistic as they are Post-Crisis. it's this strange, waffling middle ground where they can't seem to decide if they like or dislike each other. they snark at each other, but then are the best of brothers by the end of it. and Knight Terrors really highlights on this. Jason and Tim are snarky- particularly Jason, who rlly seems to dislike Tim. Jason has some interesting lines at the beginning, i think my favorite part of the comic is when Jason says Tim is too far up Batman's ass. they're just very... tropeified? Tim is the smart one who immediately figures out what's going on, which is a critique i have of Knight Terrors overall. i felt like in too many of the stories, the characters immediately knew they were dreaming and thus didn't take their fears as seriously. when the whole point of this event was the horror of it, seeing everyone react to their deepest fears. i had the most fun with the stories where the character truly thought it was real and they were truly petrified. and KT:R didn't play into that, bc it wanted you to see Tim as uber smart.

i'm not entirely against the "worst fears" given to both Tim and Jason. while i will vehemently die on the hill that Tim's worst fear is becoming Batman and what being Batman would do to him (esp post-A Lonely Place of Living) i do like the idea of his worst fear being not being fast enough to save his father. and Jason's worst fear being his own death and not saving his mother is fine. it's the easy choice, but it isn't a terrible one. i'm rather annoyed by how the comic goes overboard with the villain monologuing. i suppose it makes it more dramatic, but i think it makes for poor writing if you need the villain to slam the reader of the head with a monologue rather than assume they'll just get it. i don't need to be told the fear Tim is facing by the Evil Robin, the same goes for Jason. the fears speak for themselves, and i think the horror element would've come across stronger if we were just allowed to watch the nightmares play out and see Jason/Tim react to them rather than be quite obviously told why this is so horrifying for them.

the second issue is where all my issues really lie, though. issue one is... fine, it's just not particularly strong. but at least Jason and Tim feel vaguely like the characters they're supposed to be. Jason's snarky and violent and whatever, Tim's trying to logic his way out. it's very Rebirth-y, but the point gets across. and then the second issue dives into them trying to comfort each other and it just... falls apart.

not only do i haaate the thought of Jason and Tim comforting each other through their nightmares -or at least, managing to do it well- i think so many things both of them say are outright wrong. this comic sort of perpetuates the idea Jason is pushing people away, which... historically, he's really *not*. especially not the Batfamily. i don't think him hanging up on Oracle so he can do a mission alone counts as pushing people away. and as nice a line as "Batman failed you [Jason]" is, i don't see it coming from Tim Drake, of all people. who -as this comic even acknowledges- can be a Batman apologist. (they're both massive Batman apologists in Rebirth but that's neither here nor there) i think having Jason get very "woe is me" blaming himself for his death is flattening to his feelings on his death. it makes sense for Tim to blame himself for his father's death, but there's still that over-the-top "woe is me" factor. and i just hate it's repeated narrative that Tim "demanded" to be Robin (literally not what happened in ALPOD i feel like this fandom gaslights me sometimes) and this has him convinced that he's somehow unwanted. and again, having Jason be the one to soothe Tim and insist he's cool and badass for choosing this is such a slap in the face to Jason's issues with Robin, and how Jason has historically felt about teenage sidekicks. it's a cliche sort of scene, and it *really* doesn't work for Jason and Tim, bc we haven't earned this relationship we're being shown, where i can believe either of these characters like each other enough to be soothed by the other. it's lazy writing, and just... doesn't work for these two. i always felt it was such an odd choice to pair Jason and Tim together, even just ignoring how underexplained the mechanics are of them sharing a nightmare. other characters who share nightmares tended to do so with people they had deep connection with (the Shazamily, for example) but these two don't fit together and it just feels rather stilted.

the final narrative of Jason not being alone and Tim being stronger than he thinks is why i think the fears fall apart when dissected. i don't think Jason fears being alone, and i don't think Tim fears not being strong enough. it's a challenge of writing an event like this, giving a character a "worst" fear that feels thematically satisfactory (bc obviously it's pretty boring if Batman's worst fear is just a stereotypical phobia like. escalators. or bees. most phobias irl are phobias bc they're illogical and humans don't need justification for fear but. that makes for a far less interesting story, so.) but even then, i don't think the challenge was tackled *well*. it's cliche and doesn't dig into either of these characters. this comic takes the easiest way out with both Jason and Tim. it takes the easy plot, with the easy tropes, and has an easy ending. it also just logically caves in on itself. if we establish this nightmare realm doesn't follow physics or logic, then why did both Tim and Jason's nightmares just sit and not bother them while they had their deep conversayiong hyping each other up? that felt rather silly i won't lie. the final hurrah fight scene is just. tiring. like i said, it's all cliches and says nothing about either character. if anything, it just serves to further flatten them and mischaracterize them.

i like the art well enough, but it does sort of feel like the story was shaped around the cool designs for Nightmare Red Hood and Nightmare Robin, and it's being carried by how cool they look rather than just telling an authentic story about their fears.

and as a dirty JayTim shipper, personally i feel like this does nothing for me. it doesn't tap into what i find intriguing about their dynamic. even the New-52 felt more interesting in the JayTim dynamic it built- this is just a pale copy of it. if you're going to reheat the N52's nachos and make them comfort each other, you gotta at least keep the smooth dynamic they have where they click together and know each other better than anyone. but this isn't using that framework, so it wants you to believe they're less amicable, while also having them get along far too easily, and be far too cheerful. in a way it almost feels like they don't actually *know* each other at all, and are just speaking to each other's legacies more than their personhood. maybe everything Jason and Tim say about each other is true in the comic, but it's a surface-level read. there's no bite to it, and whenever i'm analyizing Jason and Tim's Rebirth relationship, i regularly forget this comic even *exists*. like most big DC events, it has the pitfalls of lacking emotional follow-through once the event finished so we can make room for The Next Big Thing, which means the "lessons" this comic is trying to teach Tim and Jason feel immediately forgotten. maybe this comic could be more interesting if Jason and Tim really did work together more afterward, and Jason reached out to Tim for help more. in that aspect, i'm almost inspired by it for fan-content, but i'm so frustrated by all the little details being off that i don't ever engage with it. which is sad, bc the pitched idea of "Jason and Tim are trapped in a nightmare realm together" sounds SO up my alley. i even saved this comic for last when i read all of Knight Terrors bc i had the highest hopes.

it's strange bc the writer seems newer to DC, and i actually loved the one other thing i read by him, Superboy: Man of Tomorrow. i just don't think his strengths lie in either of these characters, or the horror genre. that said, i have JayTim shipper friends who loved this comic and it deepened their love for JayTim, and they quite enjoyed reading the comic with shipper googles on. so mileage certainly varies, and i am just hypercritical of most Rebirth era comics. to the point i almost think i'm meaner to Rebirth than i am N52... Rebirth is utterly directionless. and even if the direction was usually Bad, the N52 actually had a direction most of the time. it was shockingly consistent with Jason and Tim. but Rebirth lacks that consistency and doesn't seem to know what to do with JayTim. i'll always vastly, vastly prefer Post-Crisis JayTim. my heart goes out to the weird little dynamic they had there. and this comic just. doesn't rlly add up to either era. i think my rating now would probably drop to more of a 3/10 or 4/10 upon rereading it to answer this, but i might just be jaded, lol. ty for the ask, though! i love yapping about them and this was a great excuse to collect all my thoughts on this comic bc boy, i clearly had a lot kjhgjhkj

[necrotic-nephilim]

Hi! I was reading the bonus prompts and I saw D/S but I don't understand what that means? 😓

hi, thank you for reaching out!

D/S is shorthand in the kink community for Dominance/Submission, and refers to the lifestyle, kink dynamics, and power play of those who choose to engage in a dom/sub dynamic, in which one person (the submissive) gives over control to the other (the dominant) within negotiated boundaries.

for the sake of the Kinktober event, you can interpret that however you'd like! it could be characters partaking in a 24/7 dynamic (ie: they are always operating as Dom and Sub and the kink influences their entire life) or it could just be a scene in which one character is "domming" another!

[necrotic-nephilim]

father

[necrotic-nephilim]

Kinktober in the Belfry 2025

Dead Doves in the Belfry discord invite

Ao3 Collection

Dead Doves in the Belfry, a dead dove: do not eat themed Batfamily discord server, is hosting our own small DC-themed kinktober event! This event is not meant to replace the main Kinktober event, but is something community-based to have fun with some prompts and create some interesting fanworks! Below are the prompts, and under the cut will be general rules, FAQs, and the prompts in plain text!

all graphics made by @divine-dominion

🦇 Rules 🦇

All ships are allowed, all content of any rating. Ships can include characters from any canon DC property. They can also be Canon/OC, Canon/Reader, etc. Crossovers are allowed, so long as at least one DC character is a main character in the fic!

Prompts can be combined with any other fandom event/October prompt list! The general Kinktober list, Whumptober, Inktober, etc. Go wild!

"Extra Prompts" can be substituted in for any day! If you don't like a certain day's prompt, feel free to use one of the extras!

Submissions can be posted on any platform! The Discord server, Ao3, Tumblr, ff.net, etc. There is an Ao3 collection (linked above), but feel free to post where you like!

There is no minimum limit for creation. Fics can be as short or as long as you want! Any form of fan content is accepted. Fanart, mixed media, etc. AI submissions are not allowed.

Prompts can be interpreted in any way you see fit. Feel free to get creative, there is literally no wrong way to do a kink.

There is no time limit on posting. You can add to the Ao3 collection whenever you'd like, it will remain open!

🦇 FAQ 🦇

- Do I have to join the server to participate?

Not at all! While this is primarily an event for the community in the server, anyone can participate! Feel free to share the prompt list and collection link with anyone you'd like! You're also welcome to join the server as a lurker! The Belfry is a relaxed space, no one is required to be active!

- Can I join the server just for the vibes and not participate?

Of course! The server is active all the time and has plenty of chats not related to this event at all! Feel free to come in and just say hi and hang out!

- Is this event only for the Batfamily/Bat characters?

Nope! This event is open to *any* DC character from *any* property! The server is Batfamily-centric so there's likely to be a skew in that direction, but we welcome any type of DC fan!

- Does the content have to be "dead dove"/darkfic to qualify?

Also no! Many of the prompts encourage darker themes, as the primary focus of the server (and my blog in general) is to provide a space for dead dove and a judgment-free fandom community, if you want to write something fluffy and soft, go right ahead! All content warnings are welcome, including none at all.

- What tag should I use when posting on Tumblr?

I will personally be tracking #kinktober in the belfry 2025 / #kinktoberinthebelfry2025. you can also tag me, necrotic-nephilim! I will try to reblog as many posts as possible!

- Where can I ask for more information?

You're welcome to join the server, or just send an ask to this blog! Since this is a more relaxed event, it doesn't have a dedicated blog, but I'm happy to take any questions you have!

🦇 Prompts in Plaintext 🦇

Mind Control | Breath Play | Voice Kink

Sex Pollen | Uniform Kink | Scent Kink

Super Strength | Masturbation | Watersports

Lasso of Truth | Autassassinophilia | Cockwarming

Fear Toxin | Topping From The Bottom | Edging

Alien Biology | Free Use Kink | Shibari

Speed Force | CNC | Anonymous Sex

Healing Factor | Incest Kink | Voyuerism

Mentor/Sidekick | Body Worship | Wax Play

Uniform/Suit Swap | Findom | Somnophilia

Villain Death Trap | Drugs | Forcemasc/Forcefemme

Batmobile | Human Ashtray | Muzzles

Lantern Rings | Sadism | Object Penetration

Inappropriate Use of Signature Weapons | Tentacles | Piercing

Bodyswap | Sensory Deprivation | Chasity

Kryptonite | Wound Fucking | Contracts

Hostage Situation | Cannibalism | Boot Worship

Alternate Universe Self | Punishment | Glory Holes

Hero/Villain | Inappropriate Boners/Arousal | Humilation

Patrolling While Wearing A Toy | Body Writing | Gags

Atlantean Biology | Disability | Micro/Macro

Bad Guys Made Them Do It | Omegaverse | Degradation

Still Force | Small Cock | Blood Kink

Hero/Civilian | Pet Play | Rape/Non-Con

Telekinesis | Branding | Age Gap

Utility Belt | Fear Play | Mirror Sex

Role Reversal AU | Sextape | Figging

Sentient Technology/AI | Fucking Machines | Gangbang

Magic Used During Sex | Sounding | Food

Villain/Civilian | Enemas | Impact Play

Lazarus Pit | Sex As A Bargaining Chip | Lactation

Bonus/Extra Prompts

D/S, Facefucking, Rough Sex, Alley Sex, Foot Fetish, Pussy Pump, Snowballing, Breeding Kink, Forced to be Quiet, Predicament Bondage, Dacryphilia, Humping, Uncomfortable Sex, Virginity, Brat Taming, Face Sitting, Inflation, Dollification, Genital Torture, Ruined Orgasm, Auctions, Necrophilia, Emetophilia, Cages, Lingerie

[necrotic-nephilim]

Helena reading list 👀 I was her fan before but i completely abandoned comics some years ago so i need to refresh on some characters

ignore that i'm a month late to this i'm SO sorry anon-

but yes of course! i'm going to split this reading list up in the general categories: essential reading (imo), good additional content if you want a deeper dive, and content that isn't *good* but is helpful for knowing where she is currently in the comics. since the main point is helping people get a grasp of where she's at going into Red Hood (2025) (tho, given GFM has self-admittedly not read these either, i suppose it's all optional) there's some Rebirth stuff that frankly sucks, but does bring you to speed on her current mythos.

before getting into the recs keep in mine firstly, these are all my opinions on what is good reading for her so my list may look different from others who are more comprehensive! and secondly: do *not* read Pre-Crisis or New-52 Huntress content. that is Helena Wayne. so, specifically avoid Huntress: Origins/Huntress: Darknight Daughter and Huntress: Crossbow at the Crossroads (2011). they're a different character. (yes, the DC official website says otherwise about Huntress (2011). it's wrong. ignore it.) frankly, you can just skip right over the New-52 as far as Huntress goes. Helena Bertinelli's only feature is in Grayson (2014) and she's not Huntress, she's Matron and. it's just not good, she's essentially a different person. you can and should skip it.

Essential Reading

Batman/Huntress: Cry For Blood

Huntress: Year One

both of these are only six issues! if you only have the bandwidth to pick up one Huntress comic, read Cry For Blood. it will give you her backstory, help you get to know how she generally interacts with the Batfam, and her ethos as a character. her Year One story is good, the writing just isn't as strong, but it does give more insight to her origins!

Additional Reading

Huntress (1989) - her debut run, and it is fantastic. however most of it's elements pertaining to her backstory are retconned and thus no longer canon bc of Cry For Blood. if you want good Helena stories, i recommend it, but if you just want to know her lore, you can skip this one

Nightwing/Huntress - this is a mini and explores the dynamic between Dick and Helena. some ppl hate this bc it's by Devin Grayson, i personally maintain it's in character and insightful for seeing how Helena feels about Batman

Robin III: Cry of the Huntress - is the writing great? no. is it a fun time to watch Tim and Helena bestieisms? yes. so i support it, personally. just accept she's a lil flat here.

Huntress/Spoiler: Blunt Trauma - only a one-shot, which is tragic but, i loooove how these two interacted! highly recommend it!

Birds of Prey: Manhunt - also a mini, and Helena's first time working with the BoP! the writing isn't great (it's by Dixon. so.) but you get to see Helena clash with Babs, which i find fun

Gail Simone's Birds of Prey - while i'll be honest, i don't personally love Simone's writing of Helena all of the time, this is where Helena is best known and it develops some of her strongest friendships. (Simone's run starts with BoP (1999) #56 and continues onward. there's also Birds of Prey (2010) by Simone as well, which i actually prefer more for Helena but is shorter)

Helena plays big roles in most 90s-00s Batman storylines (Contagion, No Man's Land, Hush, Last Laugh, Gotham Knights, etc) so those are fun if you want her in an ensemble cast, but they won't give you a lot of Helena-focused content. she was also in the JLA for a while but tbh, i was underwhelmed by her content there as well. i do rec both of her Showcase stories though, Showcase '93 #9-#10 and Benedictions (Showcase '94 #5-#6 and Robin #6) and rec those for shorter reads focused on her! you can also read Huntress (1994) if you want, it's only four issues, but it's not great so i don't consider it essential. the art is stunning tho, so it gets small points from me.

Rebirth Reading

Batgirl & the Birds of Prey - i'll be so honest, i haaate this run and i don't know any Helena fan who *likes* it. it attempts to fix New-52 Helena and return her to Huntress, but it makes the worst possible character choices. there is some important lore in a storyline about her mom so, i suppose it's required. but i hate it.

Nightwing Vol 4: Blockbuster & Nightwing Vol 5: Raptor's Revenge - again, a poor attempt at trying to figure out how to make Helena work in Rebirth. frankly, none of her Rebirth content is good. but it's. there, i guess. i would rec this less than B&tBoP personally, but it does tie into her time as Matron in Spyral during the N52'

Detective Comics Vol 1: the Neighborhood & Detective Comics Vol 2: Fear State - aside from her Secret Files issue, Helena feels wildly sidelined by this plot. it's not terrible but given it's built on DC not knowing what to do with her, she just feels like a nothing character to the point it's frankly skippable, i won't lie.

in summary: Batgirl & the Birds of Prey gives the layout for Rebirth Helena and her most recent backstory lore drops, if you want to be up to speed on that. but *truly* the best read is going to be Cry For Blood, followed by imo Huntress (1989). my top five recs that are easy to understand without a plethora of context would personally be Cry For Blood, Huntress (1989), Nightwing/Huntress, Year One, and Blunt Trauma! happy reading!

[necrotic-nephilim]

do u have any advice on how to maintain a more neutral(?) main blog while also running a batcest side blog? i wanna make one but idk. i’m just partially worried that my ‘anti’ friends might somehow be able to track me down 😭😭

hi anon! i think the hardest part about it is just the mental hurdle, and feeling like you're hiding some dirty secret. the more you get paranoid about it the harder it's going to be. which makes just making the blog the hardest part. i felt the same way about making this blog, and i was so paranoid trying to make sure it wasn't something other people could find. but the thing is, people aren't going to be *looking* in the first place, i promise.

of course the general advice is: make the username as different as possible, don't feel like you have to give personal info on the sideblog (or on any blog tbh), go by a different name if you want (shocking I know, my name is not actually Luciferos.), make your likes/following private on your main, but also you don't have to like the posts you reblog to your sideblog to begin with if that's a worry you have. also save to drafts before posting. i have almost accidentally posted to the wrong blog before and I always catch myself by making a draft first fkskdldls

but ultimately I think the bigger question you have to ask yourself is: why do you want to maintain friendships with people who would viciously judge or attack you if they knew you liked certain ships? i understand when they're you're entire friend circle, but i think that's more of a reason to let yourself branch out and make a Batcest Tumblr, bc it will give you the chance to make better friends, honestly. i didn't have great friends when i made this blog, but now I'm surrounded by rlly cool people who don't have warped views on fiction. and i get that some friendships are worth maintaining regardless of their anti views, but it is something to think about if your paranoia is this deep. you deserve friends who uplift your interests, not judge them.

[necrotic-nephilim]

When will you return from war 😔 i love all your analysis, ship posts, fics etc <3333

i am returning I PROMISE. i have so many things to say, i just forget to post them, I won't lie. my drafts are a sad, sad wasteland.

as for fics, i have far less time than I used to which is tragic. i wanted to do summer of Batcest (and I still might, just on my own time!) but it is going by so fast. cruel irony is when what I thought would be my least busy month has been the busiest of all. I'm blaming the universe.

but i will post more, I promise! i love you too anon <3

[necrotic-nephilim]

anyway the most frustrating thing about Gretchen Felker-Martin's upcoming Red Hood run is how it feels next to impossible to express potential concerns over the run without immediately having your take bandwagoned and twisted by people who are running with the most bad faith interpretation possible of every single thing she says or does and refusing to give even a shred of a benefit of the doubt to a comic that, i cannot stress this enough, *is not out yet.*

i recently posted about my tentative excitement for the run and by and large, i do stand by what i said in that post. i still think GFM's novels are great works, i still think Beast World wasn't the worst Jason comic, and i still think the concepts for the run sound interesting. but given her recent interview and some reason bluesky posts, my excitement is certainly more hedged, i won't pretend otherwise. but it's wildly frustrating to see people twist her words in the worst way possible and share out of context screenshots of the interview they clearly haven't even read. how am i supposed to expect this fandom to read her run with an open mind if they can't read an *interview* to form their own opinion? any shred of valid criticism/concern is immediately muddled by misgyony and transphobia and people doing full on acrobatics to make assumptions about GFM and her run. am i concerned she hasn't read any Red Hood comics or Huntress comics? yes. am i concerned her frame of reference for Helena seems to be that god awful Birds of Prey movie? yes. and am i concerned that she doesn't seem to understand the root of either of these characters? also yes.

but given the fact these two characters literally cannot get any worse? i don't know what you think GFM is going to do, exactly. Jason and Helena have both been at rock bottom for characterization for literal decades. and i can't help but feel male/cishet writers don't get half of this heat for their garbage takes on these characters that set them so far back in the first place. GFM's run might be great, it might be garbage, but it's likely not going to be able to return either of these characters to their "peak era" that fans worship, which atp, was nearly 20 years ago, which seems to be the only thing fans of either character want in order to be appeased and not rip GFM to shreds.

i just can't help but feel like this fandom is setting GFM up to be this generation's Devin Grayson. ie: the queer woman who is their lamb to slaughter to lay every bad writing/character choice for the next ten years onto, regardless of her control and/or involvement of the choices. with the even deeper irony being that Devin Grayson's mythical Nightwing run was *actually good*, most people just either didn't read it, or read only the notorious highlights in incredibly bad faith. it seems like GFM has no room for mediocrity here. unless her run is literally perfection, you're all going to rip her to shreds for it and jump at the bit to be transphobic/misogynistic in ways that aren't even subtle.

[necrotic-nephilim]

i just wanted to let you know i love you. thats all :)

i love you more random stranger. thank you <3

[necrotic-nephilim]

hi i just wanted to say that you recommended 'Amigo the Devil' in some of your fic notes and i finally gave them a try. Bro. Dawg. Buckaroo. THANK YOU.

i have been listening to their entire discography on loop all day this is fucking amazing. this is life changing and ilu /p you have blessed my ears 🫵😼🫶

HELLO. THANK YOU THIS IS DELIGHTFUL. THIS IS EVEN BETTER THAN COMPLIMENTING MY WRITING. COMPLIMENTING MY MUSIC TASTE IS THE BEST WAY TO BOOST MY EGO.

everyone should go listen to Amigo The Devil. *especially* if you like fucked up murder folk ballads. his entire discography is *phenomenal*. my top recs are Cocaine and Abel, Perfect Wife, If I'm Crazy, You Are Perfect Too, and The Weight. <3

[necrotic-nephilim]

bro come back we need your commentary more than ever. Jayhelena canon event

AHAHAHA I'VE BEEN LOSING MY MIND FOR DAYS ANON HOW'D YOU KNOW. perfect moment to show off the shitty meme i made based off a random message i sent in a discord server a couple of weeks ago.

jokes aside: i do have a LOT of thoughts on all of this, and even more thoughts on the reaction to it so ty for giving me the chance to rant.

as far as the comic itself goes: i am? cautiously optimistic, personally? hopes are high but expectations are grounded. Gretchen Felker-Martin is a *fantastic* trans horror writer (i highly rec her novel, Manhunt) but she's pretty new to the comics scene. she's written a single issue with Jason, a Beast World story that's pretty polarizing. most fans i know dislike it, my personal opinions on it are... it's a bit lackluster? i think some parts of it miss the mark on Jason's psyche, but the overall theme it's trying to convey about cycles of violence enacted on victims like Jason and police brutality are interesting. while it's not a great start for GFM with Jason, the Beast World event was so shit overall, and the whole concept of all these characters being "not themselves" mentally, i'm willing to overlook it. (idk if there are any good BW stories but all the ones i've read are shite... Helena's BW story has her literally being beaten by Cass using a laser pointer on her so... i will take *anything* over that personally lmao at least GFM seems genuinely interested in exploring Jason's inner workings, yk) it could go really well, or really poorly. i don't think we have enough info on GFM's writing to know how she'll handle an ongoing with these two, but my fingers are desperately crossed.

the main concerns i have about the comic are firstly the plot itself: which is described as Jason tracking down a cop-killer, and how that could so easily become copaganda. however, the Beast World issue GFM wrote was incredibly anti-cop. (and she even said on her bluesky that ppl shouldn't be worried about this run being pro-cop) so, i do think there's hope there. my other worry is the history of these characters GFM can't control- this story is happening right after H2SH which is frankly, a fucking disaster for Jason. and Helena's biggest Rebirth feature was Batgirl & the Birds of Prey, which was an even bigger disaster for her mythos. neither of these characters are standing on great foundations, and i haven't cared for either of their current characterizations for the past decade or so. it's an uphill battle for even a fantastic writer to try to meld good characterization with the current state of these two, and i could see it screwing GFM over, which rlly sucks she's not getting as fair of a shot as she could be.

all that said, the aesthetics look fantastic (tho, i'm not personally the biggest fan of either suit redesign) and i do love getting Helena and Jason out of Gotham, bc it means we won't have the everlooming Bat presence hanging over their actions. and as for the romance? i'm CACKLING. i've *always* suspected that if we ever were lucky enough for a Jason/Helena team-up, they were bound to end up fucking, and i'm DELIGHTED to be vindicated. this ship is one i do adore in concept (mostly as a hatefuck sort of thing) but could see go horribly. i trust GFM to write women, so i don't think Helena's going to get sidelined as a one-dimensional love interest, which is the biggest fear i've seen expressed. it's not *entirely* unlikely she'll be OOC (i don't think we know enough to comment either way atp, given GFM has never written her) but i do think she's going to be dynamic in this run. and honestly? with the shit content Jason has been getting recently (Robin Lives, the current fuckass Jaybin comic) and Helena having her backstory mutiliated and getting sidelined to hell as current comics don't seem to know what to do with her, i want this to go well *so* badly. i'm rlly hoping it will! and i do think the romance can absolutely work in a fun and interesting way. wouldn't be my top canon pick for either character, but i love the intrigue of it and how these two could (and hopefully are going to) challenge each other and find solidarity in their respective victimhoods.

that said, i certainly don't begrudge Helena fans for being pessimistic about this comic, or disliking the concept in principle. i'd far prefer Helena be getting a solo than be a supporting cast/love interest for a man's run. that said, i think calling this run a "power fantasy" and "wank content" (takes i have seen) is absolutely asinine. we don't have it in our hands yet, we literally can't say until it's out. (and tbfh- these takes are transphobic against GFM, even if unintentionally.) but at this point, i think anything is something for Helena, and i am not going to insult the concept until i've seen the story. if Helena fans don't want to read this bc they don't like Jason or just don't want to see her sidelined, i get that entirely.

beyond that, the take i am *not* a fan of is that this is bad bc Helena has been Dick's love interest. anyone who says *that* loses all validity to their argument for me. Helena has been a dynamic character long before she met Dick and to *only* view her as an extension of Dick and thus define every future relationship she has through Dick is the most ass backwards misogyny i've seen. also. it's comics, man. everyone's going to team up with everyone and fuck everyone. it's just the nature of these characters getting used over and over and over. it's so wildly degrading to Helena to pretend you're protecting her dignity and honor by not wanting her around Jason, or by treating her as just "Dick's love interest". (when she and Dick never properly even *dated* and have never been right for each other. that was sort of the whole point. but i digress.) i also think some takes from Helena stans about Jason are made in incredibly bad faith, just because some Helena stans find some sort of superiority complex in liking her and hating him. it has always read incredibly performative to me.

in summary: i have been deserpate for *years* for these two to interact, and i'm genuinely looking forward to reading this comic. i have reasons to be a little doubtful of some issues that *might* come up, but GFM is a great novelist and i hope that translates to her ability to write a great ongoing. did i ever *actually* want this ship to go canon? no, but under a queer woman whose pretty solid at exploring intersectionality and leftist politics in her works, i'm willing to hear it out.

and just so we're clear: the *second* this comic is out i'm putting the Robles variant cover where Jason and Helena are almost kissing straight on my wall. even if the comic is shit. i'm forever immortalizing it as a giant win for me personally, one of the few ppl capable of liking Jason Todd and Helena Bertinelli at the same time and being cool with the idea of them kissing, lol.

[necrotic-nephilim]

Acrobatics🎡

[necrotic-nephilim]

Okay so- i know it might take you awhile (or never at all) to see this, but i just wanna say that. I love you.

I stumble upon your fics by accident with the BruJayTim bits that you write for your quote game, and it make me giggles and kicking my legs at 2 in the morning.

Seriously, your writing is the thing that me lead me to love Batcest (mostly JayTim). It satisfied my twisted interest in nasty and bloody sex, and even got me out of my artblock (i had redraw a few scenes from your JayTim fics)

That's all, just wanna say how much i loved your work and all. Sorry if my English sucks, not my first language. Hope you have a nice day<3

aaaAAAAAA this is so sweet thank you anon! i love getting to spread the joy of fucked up bloody sex and it means the world to me when it sractches the itch for someone else.

and obviously no pressure, but i'd *love* to see the art you've made!!! it is the HIGHEST honor to me for my art to inspire art in other ppl, i am exploding just knowing that someone would even want to draw something i wrote. i love you more anon. you have my heart.

[necrotic-nephilim]

I'm going to be so real and say I love your casstim fic and ask if you have any other writings of them because I crave more

thank you so much that's so sweet of you! the only other CassTim fic i have written so far is here on tumblr, but i've written plenty of other ships in my masterlist and i hope to write more CassTim in the future!! i love them very dearly and they deserve more love. my kingdom for CassTim <3

[necrotic-nephilim]

so. now that my accidental hiatus is over and i've rattled myself free of the grave, i just want to give a general update on this blog and where i'm at with it. because i do love this blog and want to post, but when i made this blog, the intention of it was canon-based metas and discussions around DC that were often ship-focused, but also just generally my opinions on the fandom. and of course i enjoy rolling around in the filth and having a lot of sexual/dead dove posts on main, but it did overwhelm me a bit when that became my entire blog and i got more asks than i could keep up with.

so in the future, i think i'm going to stagger how fast i answer asks and try to find a healthy mix of my own metas, dead dove shipposting, and whatever else i want to put here. and while i don't want to close asks because i invite discourse my way, i do have to say i will be much slower to answering them. sometimes we will be whores on main, sometimes we will be analyzing this fandom and it's source material on main. who is to say. but either way, we're back and no one can get rid of me.

[necrotic-nephilim]

if you seriously call stephcass batcest i think you are so ingrained in WFA fanon you can’t even call yourself a comic fan

broke: people calling stephcass batcest because they're too ingrained in wfa fanon

woke: people calling stephcass batcest to piss off the anti batcest crowd

bespoke: people calling stephcass batcest to indicate that the concept of "batcest" doesn't really make sense and shoehorning the bats into a traditional nuclear family structure flattens their characters and does a disservice to the complicated, multilayered, and interesting relationships between them

[necrotic-nephilim]

per the sibling-zoning of Steph and Cass in the recent WFA chapter: surely there will be lessons learned here by the fandom as a whole. surely this will make people realize that a single comic from a specific canon does not suddenly define a nuanced relationship between two characters that has existed for years outside of any conventional label. surely people now understand that canon within this medium is ever-changing and not something you can apply as a whole. surely people will catch onto the fact that you cannot force a nuclear family dynamic onto a group of people as complex as the Batfamily and it's degrading when you try to. surely people will open their eyes and understand what canon says is not what you have to do in fandom and you don't have to advocate for your ship to be canon for it to be a good ship. surely everyone is going to realize that people do not always use terms like "brother" and "sister" and "father" in a rigid familial way and it's a very narrow and westernized view of those terms to assume that's always what they mean. and SURELY people know now that they can ship whatever they damn well please and this whole "batcest" label was always ridiculous and flattening of nuanced dynamics this whole time.

surely these logical conclusions will be drawn by the general fandom of the ship and no one is going to have a massive reaction and advocate for the creator of WFA to change their own work to suite their ship.

anyway. welcome to the Batcest circle StephCass, we've been waiting for you.

jokes aside though- i have endless feelings about this whole debacle ranging from "this is actually fucking hilarious" to "some of you are deeply missing the point you should be learning from this". i've expected DC to "siblingzone" Steph and Cass for a while now, as it's been trending in the general direction of turning the Batfamily into a nuclear family -especially in spaces like WFA- for years now. and for WFA specifically, it doesn't surprise me at all, nor does the outrage about it. but i do think this moment goes to show that WFA has *always* been like this. it has been assigning traits and relationships to characters that don't make sense for years now, and has been praised by the same crowd that is now upset about it. this is no more egregiously flattening of character relationships than the episode where Damian and Tim basically hug their differences out, or Bruce and Jason hug out Jason's PTSD. bc that's just what WFA is. a flattening and nuclear family-ifying property that destroys the nuance of these characters. and you can like it for that if you want, i truly don't care if ppl are fans of WFA or not- sometimes it's good to have the mindless fluff. but this reaction is so overblown to me.

because i've said it before and i'll say it again: no, i don't think StephCass is incestual by nature, and WFA having a passing "sisters" reference doesn't change that. (as said above: calling someone your sister doesn't always imply a familial bond on the level of biological or legal sisters and it's weird to act like it does) but i also don't think JayTim is incestual. nor do i think DamiTim is. and some ships like BruDick or JayDick are complex and context-dependent. because that's the lesson to learn here i want to emphasize again: "Batcest" as a label has always been arbitrary and nonsensical. i like using Batcest as a label bc by labelling myself a Batcest shipper, it makes it clear to the people who don't like Batcest that i'm not for them and vice versa. and in the instances of ships that are incestual, i specifically like them for the sake of exploring their incestual aspects. but the label doesn't work on the whole the way antis tend to use it, and of course it doesn't work for StephCass, but that's the point being made by Batcest shippers calling it Batcest in jest. it doesn't work for most of these ships. it's just a cudgel of a label that's *actually* used to mean "ship that makes me feel icky". and i do hope most StephCass shippers understand that the reason Batcest shippers are making cracks at StephCass now being Batcest is because the fight you're facing of "this one thing called them sisters but this doesn't actually apply to the canon i'm engaging with when i ship them and i don't want to be associated with that when i'm trying to engage with exploring a complex relationship in a romantic lense" applies to a *lot* of shippers labelled as Batcest shippers. some of us like the incest, but some of us don't and are getting lumped in with everyone else. i do feel bad for StephCass shippers to get caught in the crossfire of bad writing, sure. but you know. welcome to the clown car.

also truly as a random aside: stop doing incest math about StephTim. i don't know why i see so many posts using StephTim as a "gotcha" about how StephCass can't be sisters because "Steph is Tim's ex and Cass is Tim's sister so that would make StephTim also incest DC". first of all: there are no transitive properties to psuedo-incest, i fear. like. what. even if we pretend it's a good choice for Steph and Cass to be labeled as sisters, they're not adopted nor biological. it's something a relationship they're defining. it's almost as if that's sort of the point of *found* family, it's *found* in strange places. also have you heard of in-laws. my brother-in-law is just my brother to me because that is the dynamic i have with him and that's sort of how family works. i love you all. but please touch grass.