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ave-on-main · 1 year ago

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“Pre-boot Roy's dynamic with Slade is what fanon wishes Dick's relationship with Slade would be” is a bad faith fanon myth.

I’ve seen this statement go around since Dark Crisis ended last year and wittnessed people actually believe it, so here we go: It’s not true.

First of, lets talk about what allegedly makes pre-boot Roy the person that fanon thinks Dick is to Slade:

One panel that gets taken out of context to prove the statement above is Slade talking about Roy as his “ace in the hole” in Titans (2008) which gets equated to Slade calling Dick a “trophy” in Dark Crisis (2022). In context, these two instances are not the same. Comparing them makes no sense. More on why in the Roy section of this little essay.

Another point of contention is that Rebirth Dick secretly works together with Slade to protect the Titans (2016). People claim that is a rehash of what happened when Roy worked together with Slade while Roy was the leader of the Outsiders (2003), but the premises are entirely different. In Titans Dick works with Slade to protect the other team members. In Outsiders Roy uses Slade’s intel and funding without knowing he’s speaking to Slade. He thinks Slade is Batman.

It is also worth noting that the Rebirth version has more in common with the Apprentice arc of Teen Titans Animated 2003. TT 03 came out at the same time Outsiders did. Slade was revealed to be Roy’s contact in Outsiders #21 (February 2005). The first time Slade appears as Batman is Outsiders #4 (September 2003), but it is not known to readers or characters that Batman is not Bruce. The Apprentice arc of TT 03 started in Season 1 Episode 11 (October 2003). The show didn’t copy the comics, nor assumably did the comics copy the show. It could be a weird attempt at synergy to reveal Slade in 2005 but it is unlikely because DC cared very little about synergy at the time. Worth noting though is, that Slade’s role in Outsiders is extremely limited. Once his identity is revealed, he is no longer part of the plot.

Now, in fanon, the Rebirth version of events is largely ignored. If anyone in fandom wants to talk about Dick working with Slade, they’ll mostly use the more thought out version of the show as a blueprint or the Renegade arc of Nightwing (1996). Both comic and show are also actually written by writers who like Dick unlike Deathstroke 2016.

That Roy is important to Rose’s developement isn’t true. She babysits Lian but she barely talks to Roy or any of the adult Titans while she appears in Titans (1999). Nightwing: Renegade retcons that Dick was there while she babysitted Lian, but all Roy does is villify Rose, not once implying that he had anything to do with getting her on the Titans.

Equally as untrue is that Slade is actually obsessed with Roy over Dick. It’s a purely fanon take.

There’s also this conspiracy going around that Slade & Dick stans working at DC are retconning things to make Dick look better, which is, I can’t say it differently, an insane statement to make. Dan Didio erased the Slade-Dick rivalry from existance, so much so that Higgins could not use them in the same story even though he was writing both New 52 books. Seeley & King could merely put Deathstroke into Grayson (2014) as a papershield target practice. Christopher Priest dislikes Dick, which he not only states on his blog but is also obvious in his writing (Deathstroke #4). Interestingly, the people screaming about retcons ruining everything had nothing to say about Rebirth Roy being part of the NTT roaster while Grant attacks the team (Lazarus Contract).

Infinite Frontier ties Dick and Slade together once more, but it is almost all talk and no show. It’s a distant echo of their pre-boot relationship. There was zero build up to their reconnection. Frankly, a Dick & Slade stan would put a lot more effort into it. The only reason DC brought a semblance of their rivalry back was because of Red X nostalgia and it shows. Dick only dons the Deathstroke mask in Future State: Teen Titans to complement Red X and his hunt for Deathstroke in Teen Titans Academy is mention but never shown, not even as a one panel flashback.

Meanwhile Green Arrow is now the first hero Deathstroke fought (Deathstroke Inc. Year One) and Slade encounters Roy soon after (Infinite Frontier: Secret Files #2). DC is still trying to tie Slade to the JL rather than to the Titans.

But what are their actual Pre-Boot relationships?

Vastly different, that’s for sure.

At first, Dick is largely tied to Slade because of Joey and the similarities (skill-wise) Slade sees in Dick. Later Dick’s ties to Slade’s children and what that causes makes respect turn into hate.

Slade gets involved with Roy because of Cheshire and to manipulate the Outsiders by orders of Dr. Sivana.

Roy Harper and Slade Wilson

Roy in Deathstroke (1991)

The first time Slade and Roy properly meet (aka actually share a word) is in Deathstroke The Terminator (1991) #18. They are both undercover and pretend to work with Cheshire.

Jade introduces Roy to Slade, and Jade “asks” for Slade’s help by using what amounts to a slave ring she can reactivate any time to control him. Together with her other underlings they set out to steal nuclear warheads.

Not knowing they could be on the same side, Roy betrays the team by going after Slade. Slade defeats him, and Roy is left in enemy territory.

Roy makes his way back after Cheshire has already nuked Qurac. The destruction makes Slade and Roy temporarly work together to apprehend Jade and reveal their allegiances to each other (#20).

While Roy is on the Titans when Rose joins the team in the following crossover event, she doesn’t interact one-on-one with him. All he does is give Impulse relationship advice because Bart is crushing on Rose (The New Titans #126).

Titans (1999)

Roy and Slade meet when Tartarus attacks H.I.V.E. which at that point is lead by an incognito Adeline Kane but don’t have a one-on-one interaction in thie story.

Their first true confrontation takes place later. Slade’s been contracted to kill Cheshire due to her nuking Qurac. As Slade and Roy fight, Slade mentions Nightwing as a comparison between the two, and even though Roy temporarly gains the upperhand, Slade escapes to go after Jade. (#22)

Rose starts to babysit Lian after the Deathstroke & Qurac incident, but weirdly enough, she barely shares a word with any of the adult Titans. She’s really just kind of there.

Outsiders (2003)

Roy believes Batman is giving him intel and is funding the Outsiders (#6, #11) . In truth, the Batman who he’s been talking to is Slade.

It's when Dick learns that Roy hasn't been talking to the real Bruce, that Slade reveals himself. Slade fights Roy, taunting him about killing him and adopting Lian to make her an assassin. Slade realizes Roy isn't on top of his game and sees the five direct bullet wounds he's received on an earlier Outsiders mission. Taking pity, Slade decides to leave him alive (#21).

In #43 the Outsiders learn that Slade was hired by Dr. Sivana. The mad scientist saw potential in manipulating the team. It was not Slade’s idea to go after the Outsiders.

Titans (2008)

When Slade creates his own Titans team, Cheshire convinces Arsenal to join the team with her. She wants to use the opportunity to kill Slade. Roy pretends to have switched allegiances and joins the team.

Slade knows not to trust them. He uses Roy’s drug addiction against him by switching out Roy’s “regular” drugs with a substance called “Bliss”. (#27)

Later Slade uses Roy as his “ace in the hole” when the Justice League confronts them. He threatens to blow up his ship with a warhead. The League, lead by Dick as Batman, retreats as not to harm Roy. In this case, “always his ace” means the reason Roy is on the team is to be used as a human meat shield because other heroes still care for him (Annual #1).

At the end of this arc, Roy betrays the team and decides against resurrecting Lian and with that stops Slade from resurrecting Grant. Slade swears revenge on him because Roy literally did what the New Teen Titans did. “Killing Grant.” The Titans comic and the entire Pre-New 52 universe end with Roy and Joey deciding to reform the Titans because Dick still believed in the teams value.

Apart from the initial Qurac storyline, there’s no canon Slade and Roy story in which Dick doesn’t at least get mentioned.

Pre-New 52 Dick Grayson and Slade Wilson

New (Teen) Titans

Dick belongs to the six New Teen Titans that Slade originally takes on a contract against (New Teen Titans (1980) #02). Slade contacts the team soon after their first meeting to take them out. Dick plays the voice of reason during that second encounter and makes the Titans listen to Slade’s plan. Slade fails to kill them (#10).

During the Judas Contract, Slade learns Robin’s secret identity through Tara’s spying on the Titans (Tales of the Teen Titans #42). Slade attacks Dick in his office, telling him he won’t kill him if Dick doesn’t resist because H.I.V.E. wants the Titans dead or alive. Dick knows he can’t win a hand-to-hand fight against Slade and manages to trick him. Slade admires how Dick escapes, ascertaining that Dick is the leader for a reason. He’s the hardest to catch because powers don’t make a man. Just like Dick, Slade was the best even before he got augmented. It’s a first for Slade to loose his target. He blames it on being worried about the contract.

While Adeline and Joey get in contact with Dick, Slade delivers the Titans sans-Dick to H.I.V.E. (#43). Adeline proceeds to tell Dick how Slade became Deathstroke the Terminator. Afterward Joey and Dick team up to save the Titans (#44).

After Tara loses herself in her rage and dies, Dick concludes Slade and she were manipulating each other (Annual #3).

Dick remains in contact with the D.A. office to ensure the Titans are still going to testify against Slade but a Deathstroke imposter attacks Lilith. Slade’s attorney spins a defense out of the imposter (#53). Gar has his own plans for Slade while Dick and the Titans want to focus on aprehending the imposter. Dick gets sworn in as an expert witness on matters of identity, and he tries to use what Adeline told him about Slade in court, but Slade’s attorney uses Dick’s words against the Titans. Slade doesn’t go on further trial but will remain detained in prison and has a small confrontation with Dick. (#54)

Wildbeests are hunting the Titans and Slade gets hired by Dayton to save Gar and the others. He would have gone after them regardless to save Joey. He ends up searching out Dick’s apartment first, probably in hopes he hasn’t been captured yet (#71). Slade doesn’t realize that Dick is one of the Wildbeests he encounters, and the one who helpes Slade escape from the second Wildbeest.

The Wildbeests realize they have a spy and overpower Dick. Slade catches Pantha just as she finds pieces of Dick’s costume (#74). Slade invades the Wildbeest base, and Joey reveals himself to Dick and him (#75). The two end up fighting Joey, but can’t get through to him. Dick implores Slade to calm down and focus as they escape to Titans Tower. There, Slade stops Pantha when she attacks Dick shortly before the Wildbeests attack the base. Slade and Dick escape together. While Slade can’t believe Joey is doing this, Dick is the more realistic of the two.

Later, Slade gets them out of a tough situation by morally questionably methods. Slade expects a response from Dick but gets a proverbial shrug (#76).

Shortly before their final confrontation with Joey, Slade decides he has no other choice than to kill Joey, which Dick is against. Slade kills his son because he knows the real Joey regarded the Titans as friends (#84).

Slade and Dick meet on the Titans Tower island afterward. Dick notices him, which according to Slade not many are able to do. Dick asks why he couldn’t be bothered to show up at the funeral of the son he killed.

Dick attacks Slade in his grief over Joey, telling him to fight back. Slade does if only to tell him he lost someone too. Their fight ends when Dick admits he doesn’t get how Slade and Bruce can just keep bottling their anger up, he’d explode. Slade tells him that losing control hasn’t done him anything good and that he has to believe he freed Joey. He then shows concern for having injured Dick, but Dick denies his help, and they part ways without anything truly resolved (#86).

Dick in Deathstroke, The Terminator (1991)

Bruce calls Dick to get intel on Slade. While Dick knows how dangerous Slade is, he calls him a good man, to which Slade later responds by saying Dick’s wide-eyed and idealistic. (#7)

When Deathstroke gets into crosshairs with the Justice League and has lost much of his powers, the Titans set out to confront him. He encounters Dick and Koriand’r while he tries to escape. Dick tries to stop him and explains to him that if he’s an innocent man, he’ll stand by his side and help him get free of the charges (#14). In fact, the Titans saw what was happening to him on TV and Dick made the decision to help him or take him down depending on whether Joey dying pushed him over the edge (New Titans #89).

Dick and Slade end up working together when Eclipso tries to take over Earth’s heroes. Slade heads to Salvagion to get information about his current situation where he meets Nightwing, who’s been caught spying. Salvagion isn’t the enemy, though, Nightwing is there to retrieve information about Cyborg’s files to heal his friend. The files were lost when Titans Tower got destroyed.

Dick and Slade fight against enemy mercenaries, who are attacking Salvagion, and figure something is wrong. Dick then hires Slade and Pat to save the Titans.

By 1993 Dick’s appearances in Deathstroke and The New Titans apruptly ends because he had been taken back by the Bat Office. Editorial was quite strict at the time, demanding him to be written out of New Titans.

Slade in Nightwing (1996)

As Dick tries to apprehend an out of control Man-Bat, Slade shows up to do just that with tranquil darts, shooting Dick too in the process (#17). Dick learns that Slade has been contracted to capture Man-Bat alive and knows Slade doesn’t work cheap, so he and Barbara figure out who Slade has been hired by.

Dick ends up fighting Slade on a boat, treading barbs throughout, and ultimately taking Slade out long enough to escape with Man-Bat (#18).

While Dick’s working at the BPD, Dick one day comes home to find Slade in his apartment (#79). Slade reveals that he’s searched him out because he has a contract in town. Dick and Joey were such good friends, Slade feels it’s fair to tell him. Dick asks for the name of Slade’s target, but Slade hasn’t come to betray all of his cards, he’s simply trying to make a deal, so Dick stays out of his way. Dick considers calling for backup, but there’s no one he wants to put in Slade’s path.

During his police work, Dick sees Slade again and goes after him. They have a short confrontation in which Slade reiterates for him to stay out of the way, but Blüdhaven is Dick’s city, he’ll protect everyone in it. Slade threatens Dick and shoots when Gannon Malloy, Dick’s partner at the BPD, draws a gun at him. Dick saves him but gets shot in the arm (#80).

The Batfamily visits him at the hospital, and Dick asks Cass for help with Deathstroke. She fights Deathstroke and retrieves a disc from him that reveals who the target is (#81).

Dick succeeds to save Amy from Slade’s first attack, fighting Slade until he takes advantage of his injury. Dick tells Amy to run, stating Slade won’t hurt him. Even though Slade implies that he will, Slade doesn’t further fight Dick, going after his target instead. Dick ignores his own safety to attack Slade in close proximity again. It allows Amy to get far enough away for Slade to temporarly stop his hunt and punch Dick unconscious.

Dick remains by Amy’s side as much as he can, stopping Slade from shooting her by dropping bills on him and fighting him long enough to tell him that Dick s overbidding the contract put on Amy.

Slade responds by saying that he always knew that Dick had a heart (#82).

When Blockbuster dies some time later, new villains want to take his spot and as Dick learns Deathstroke will be the hired help, he considers how he can stop them while Slade knows his secret idenity (#110). Dick hunts down Westbrook to get into contact with Slade. By the time Dick returns home, Slade has received his message (which leads to the famous shower panel) and Slade witnesses how Dick has gotten involved with the Blüdhaven mob (#111). Dick tries to convince Slade that he is one of the bad guys now, but Slade claims he doesn’t have an interest in seeing Dick be a “selfloathing mercenary” now that he has to take care of Rose.

Dick wishes Rose good luck after both Grant’s and Joey’s deaths, and Slade ultimately decides through Rose’s input to let Dick train her. Rose tells Dick she was a nanny to Lian (paradoxially because he knows. He was there in Titans (1999)). They save Sophia Tevis and Rose tells her father, asking him if Dick gets to have a private life from them, which Slade replies to with “obviously not” (#112).

While Rose and Dick investigate another crime, Slade seeks out Amy Rohrbach, telling her he won’t hurt her because she is permanently off his hitlist. He can still kill her family, though. He is searching for Sophia Tevis behind Dick’s back and confronts Dick with her existence and proof that Dick in fact remains a hero (#113). Rose’s training continues, and while Slade does not trust in Dick’s loyalty, he lets him investigate the villains Slade is currently working with (#114). Slade decides to monitor Dick as he sends out Rose and Dick to hunt Superman. Dick has been given a glove through which Slade can monitor and change his heartbeat as well as hear what is going on. Dick uses the fight to show Rose that the ideology of her father is wrong.

When Dick is later confronted by Slade, who is threatening to kill him, Dick reveals that Slade cannot kill him for two reasons: 1. Slade killing Dick would cause Rose to betray him and 2. that Slade has always failed to kill him and that it never fails to make him mad. Slade lets Dick go, but knows Dick is messing with something too big for him (#115).

After Slade betrays Dick, Dick plants geiger counters in Slade’s house and makes sure Rose learns that her father has been poisioning her with the Kryptonite in her eye. Slade and Dick are fighting during the conversation. Slade tries to stay in control of the situation, but Rose ultimately believes Dick, especially when Slade tries to silence him even though Rose wishes to hear what Dick has to tell. Dick makes sure Slade knows he’ll get back at him someday for what he did to Blüdhaven (#117).

Titans (1999)

This Titans story takes place before their fallout. Deathstroke is fataly wounded by Tartarus and goes to the Titans for help. Dick reluctantly offers him a temporary place on the team, but not without putting a tracker on him (#10) and reminding Slade continuously that if he fights with the Titans, he must follow their rules (#12).

Deathstroke brings Dick up while fighting Roy, claiming Arsenal is no Nightwing (#22) and Rose later becomes the carekater of Lian but hardly talks with the Titans on panel.

Teen Titans (2003)

When Slade defeats the Teen Titans by manipulating several young heroes, the original Titans aren’t happy about it. Dick tells Slade to leave (#45). When he doesn’t, Dick and he fight while the other Titans take on his crew. During the confrontation, Slade taunts Dick, but Dick still stops Cass from trying to kill him.

When Slade tells the Titans they’ll never be able to trust Rose and Joey, Dick replies that they have proven themselves and will always have a place on the team. Slade gets away, revealing it was all a test to see if his children will have a good life with the Titans (#46).

Infinite Crisis (2005)

After everything that has happened with Grant, Joey and finally Rose, Slade blames Dick for his misfortune (#7). (The page this panel is from was apparently accidentally erased in the digital version of this issue. It can only be found in the digital collected edition and the print editions.)

Batman & Robin (2009)

Talia hires Deathstroke to kill Dick by letting him take control of Damian’s body. She states that Slade has a “long and eventful history” with the “foolish young Batman pretender”. Slade has waited a long time to get rid of Dick per his own words (#11). Slade wants Dick to know who is going to cripple him, so Talia intensifies the neural bond for Slade to be able to speak through Damian. They are working together because they have both lost their children to the hero community because of Dick.

Damian is resisting the control, which makes Slade unable to do much more than to reiterate his desire to kill Dick. Dick electroshocks Damian, knowing Damian can handle it, but Slade likely can’t because of his enhanced senses making him more vulnerable while connected through the neural link. Slade goes into shock, and Dick later searches him out after infiltrating Talia’s base to give him payback.

Titans (2008)

Deathstroke makes a deal with Mad Hatter, which causes his group of Titans to cause havoc in Arkham Asylum. Dick, then Batman, stops him from taking an inmate with him (#28). Slade calculates whether fighting Dick is worth it and decides to do so. Dick is still furious at Slade for what he did to Damian.

Dick is forced to let Slade get away to save two Arkham guards but pursues him, getting confronted by the new Titans team Deathstroke is leading (#29). Dick and Roy shortly work together. Dick tries to convince him that he is not a villain, but Slade tells Dick Roy is now on his side.

Slade and his Titans are able to leave while Dick deals with the freed inmates off-panel (#30). Ray Palmer point out to Dick that he is taking the confrontation badly, initially only blaming it on the appearance of Slade, who Dick has fought “more times than any [hero]” (#34). Slade reveals to Roy that he chose him for the team to ensure the League could not act in fear of putting him in mortal danger. Dick gives the order for the JLA to fall back but both Slade and Roy know they’ll still be pursued.

As usual, Dick and Slade share a snarky exchange before the serious fight begins. Dick leaves Slade to Ray while he engages with Roy. The hero Isis stops the fight because they are in her land. Dick makes it known that they should have killed Slade long ago but retreats with the League, giving Roy hope in the process to stand against Slade’s goal (Titans Annual #1).

Conclusion

Fans who enjoy the Dick-Slade dynamic whether at DC or in fandom aren’t erasing Roy to slot in Dick. Slade obsessing over Dick isn’t a new concept. He grew obsessed because their paths crossed many times over the years, and Dick has ties to all three of his children. Slade never felt obsession toward Roy.

If you want your fanon Slade to be obsessed with fanon Roy, and you want to transform canon moments, go ahead, nobody is stopping you, but don’t pretend it’s canon simply to erase Dick.

And before you all come with the Gar argument: Simply because the Gar-Slade and Dick-Slade dynamics came up around the same time does not mean they are the same. Gar and Roy are mostly tied to Slade through one person (Tara and Cheshire). Dick was initially tied to Slade through Grant (as were the other NTT) and then Joey, but their dynamic transcended that to something much more personal and the groundwork was laid by Wolfman himself when he made Slade point out how much Dick's capabilities remind him of his younger self.

The Slade-Dick dynamic is unique because it was allowed to transform and build-upon with each appearance (except for Dixon's). Enemies turning to frenemies then bitter enemies is not a story usually experienced like this in comics. It happens, but it happens as a backstory or under the same writer, not in real time.

#roy harper #dick grayson #slade wilson #arsenal #nightwing #deathstroke #fanon #fanon vs canon #fanon myths #robin #new teen titans #titans #joey wilson #rose wilson #grant wilson #ramblings

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asongofstarkandtargaryen · 1 month ago

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My thoughts on Nothing Butt Nightwing ( part 2 )

I guess the writer wanted some ~drama~ in Dick Grayson's life and nothing screams more drama than breaking up so Dickbabs had to be sacrificed to the ~dramatic altair~.

Let me share the actual scene before I continue:

Dick and Barbara, I'm so sorry this webtoon did you so dirty!!

Ofc you are not dating a real person, Babs! You are dating Dick McButt Grayson, whose whole personality is having a sexy ass and being a total idiot.

Dick can't read a tense mood bc he has to be a himbo 24/24 and Barbara already packed her things before she even talked to her boyfriend about their issues because that's totally how relationships work!!/s

Wait, it gets worse:

Dick Grayson, one of the most well developed and multi layered characters of DC, can't define himself outside being a superhero or Babs' boyfriend.

Dick Grayson who has a large family he loves, Titans who aren't just his teammates but also his friends, characters who are mentors to him and characters he mentors himself, people from the circus he was raised in, Bludhaven's civilians and the list goes on.

I understand that the premise about a superhero not being able to identify themselves outside their vigilante activities could make an interesting story. However, this isn't a story suited for Dick. Because he's not some teen who just started his superhero career and can't find the balance between this and his life outside of it. He's in his middle/late twenties and he's been a superhero for many years. After all this time being Robin, Nightwing, Batman and Nightwing again I think it's obvious he's past that phase.

Also, Dick defining himself as Barbara's boyfriend is an insult to their relationship. The reason so many fans like this pairing is because both characters have well rounded personalities and lives outside their relationship. It's wrong to define Dick as only Barbara's boyfriend just like it's wrong to define Barbara as only Dick's girlfriend.

I know this break up is probably temporary and that at some point they will become a couple again on this webtoon but for me this first episode ruined any interest I could have on this adaptation of theirs. I couldn't care less about this version of Dickbabs, because those two aren't the Dick and Barbara I know and like.

#dickbabs #dick grayson #barbara gordon #dc comics #nothing butt nightwing

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swift-creates · 1 month ago

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title: Protecting the Wrong Person

category: Gen

fandom: Batfamily

characters and relationships: Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Diana Prince

warnings: some violence, swearing, descriptions of injury, blood, accidentally hurting someone

Summary:

@ailesswhumptober Day 17: Abandonment, misunderstanding, “Why did I even think you cared?”

Clark stumbles across Batman confronting the Red Hood and intervenes, but (especially with the Bats) things are never as they seem.

notes: one of the first fics I wrote for this month! I really like this one tbh

Diana flew beside him as they quickly zeroed in on Bruce’s position, the docks at Gotham Harbor. “Try not to sneak up on them,” she’d said as they set off from the zeta tube. As if Clark needed reminding. The last time he had accidentally startled Bruce, he’d ended up with a Kryptonite batarang stuck in his palm. But Diana didn’t seem too worried about it, and neither was Clark; today was a peaceful day, and all they wanted to do was pick Bruce up early for a Watchtower briefing (and if they were accused of intending to sneak an episode of the Gray Ghost on the Watchtower surveillance screens before the meeting, they would surely deny it).

“Nearly there,” Clark said to her now. They were approaching the harbor, and he could see Batman and Nightwing facing down Red Hood. He tensed when he realised the rogue was armed, gesturing casually with twin pistols as he spoke, but their heartbeats were steady. They had it under control. Diana and Clark would not intervene unless it was absolutely necessary. He reined his senses back in to keep from eavesdropping — Bruce was always going on about privacy, despite the fact that he was always keeping tabs on everyone.

Batman said something, and Hood replied. Nightwing chimed in before gesturing to Hood, probably admonishing him for being so nonchalant with the pistols. His heart jumped into his throat as the criminal visibly scoffed and gestured even more pointedly at both of them, leveling one at each vigilante.

The gun was pointing straight at Bruce’s face. Hood’s finger shifted on the trigger, and Clark saw red.

Bruce watched fondly as Dick and Jason bickered over who had really taken out the last henchman.

“It’s my bullet.”

“And it would never have hit him without me kicking that panel into place.”

“All you can take credit for is the rebound. I shot it!”

Bruce resisted the urge to reach out and indulgently pat Jason on the shoulder (or even more embarrassing, ruffle his hair). “Nightwing, Hood. Good work.” Dick looked content enough with that, but Jason rolled his eyes perceptibly.

“It was good until Big Bird tried to take credit for my moves.” He jabbed one pistol at Dick, and Bruce tried to imagine him pouting under his mask.

“Little Wing, put those things away, you’re gonna shoot someone,” Dick said admonishingly.

Jason scoffed. “Please. As annoying as you are, I think I can not accidentally put a bullet in either of you. Comes from, y’know, having years of experience handling firearms and some fucking common sense.” He pointed the other at Bruce. “See? Not dead.”

Bruce opened his mouth to chide him, but couldn’t.

One second Jason was standing in front of them, then there was a flash of blue and red.

And then he heard Jason scream.

His body was moving before his brain knew he was, every instinct pulling him to pull his son away from the attacker. It took him a second longer than he liked to recognise who it was rearing back for another blow, and every bit of his panic and anger and shock snapped into his voice as he shouted.

“SUPERMAN.”

He froze at his name, and Bruce looked to Dick, but his eldest had already made it to Clark, wrapping his arms around familiar broad shoulders and yanking harshly back. If it had been just about anyone else, the super would have refused to budge, Bruce knew. But it was Dick, and he was close enough to see Clark’s eyes widen as he went down willingly.

Dick had always adored, borderline idolised Clark, trusted him with his life and the lives of his team and everyone else counting on them to save the world. But now Dick — cheery, gentle Dick — was snarling and pressing a Kryptonite dagger to Superman’s throat. “Get away from him.” He obviously had it handled (wait, where the hell did he get-? Nope, never mind, not now), so Bruce moved to Jason and felt the mask of his expression crack.

He was lying in the ruins of what used to be a brick wall, helmet cracked, one leg bending at an unnatural angle, the jagged edge of a bloody bone poking out of his side, and he was screaming. His baby boy, his son, who could take bullets without flinching and stitch himself up with barely a sound, was screaming in pain.

Bruce dropped to his knees beside Jason and reached for his helmet, pressing his thumb to the button that disabled the electric safeguards and pulling it off to cradle his son’s face. “Jason. Jay, can you hear me?”

“Nnh- B-Bruce?”

“Shhh. I’ve got you. You’ll be okay.”

Distantly, he heard Diana land behind him and pull Dick and Clark apart. “Kal-El, what have you done?” she whispered. Clark made no reply.

Blood bubbled from the side of Jason’s mouth as he let out a plaintive whimper, and Bruce stroked his hair soothingly before tearing himself away and rounding on his best friend.

“You made this mess. You’ll fix it,” he growled, jabbing one finger into the symbol on his chest. “Take him to the Watchtower.”

Clark winced, probably at the look on Bruce’s face rather than the jab. “Bruce, I,” was all he said before Diana slipped past him to look Bruce in the eye.

“He’ll react better to me, and you know it.”

“…Fine.” She frowned, but didn’t reprimand him and went to gingerly pick Jason up.

Jason gave a strangled cry of pain, and Bruce was at his side in an instant. “It’s okay, sweetheart. Just breathe for me.” He felt something in his chest constrict at the sight of Jason struggling to regulate his breathing. Brushing bits of rubble from his hair, Bruce leaned over to press a soft kiss to his forehead. “That’s it, Jaylad. You’re doing great.” He stepped back to let them go, shooting Clark one last glare.

Dick watched them from a nearby crate with eyes narrowed like a panther’s, smoothly returning the dagger to his belt and falling into step behind Bruce as Diana and Clark lifted off and he headed to the Batmobile. “I know he didn’t mean to,” he muttered, the first words he’d said since pinning his role model to the wall with a lethal weapon, “but he did.” Bruce agreed, pausing to squeeze his shoulder briefly. If he spoke, he was going to start yelling and never stop.

They got into the Batmobile and headed to the Gotham zeta tube. He would start yelling, but not at Dick. And the faster they got to the Watchtower, the better. He didn’t want Jason to wake up alone.

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not-so-mundane-after-all · 10 months ago

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Dick & Rachel and the Invisible String theory (part 4)

Hey, it's part 4! LAST ONE! I hope you liked part 1, part 2 and part 3. Seasons 3 & 4 get a joined part because while there aren't many String moments in these two seasons, the ones that are there are major.

Season 3 in general doesn't have much, considering Rachel is gone until episode 9 (and if what I'm talking about here was considered canon and writers had some more brains this season, we would have seen the String work at long distance but nooooo) but it doesn't change the fact that the content that is there is still stellar. And the String basically slaps us in the face with it.

For the past few months Rachel had been on Themyscira, where she trained under the Amazons and studied her magical abilities. And in episode 3x11 "The Call Is Coming From Inside The House" she comes back right into the middle of a mess. The Titans are scattered across Gotham City with no way of reaching one another, the city is against them so they need to hide and the big bad of the season took over Wayne Manor. The first person Rachel finds is Gar, who brings her up to speed on the current situation. Then they head out to search for the Lazarus Pit, because Gar had figured out that it might be how Jason came back to life after being killed at the beginning of the season.

Meanwhile, in a different part of the city, we see Dick stepping out in full Nightwing gear to answer Jason's challenge. The fight, to say it nicely, doesn't end well for him.

He gets fatally shot in the neck, then bleeds out on the ground while a crowd of Red Hood followers attacks him.

When it happens, Gar and Rachel are underground of some office building, where the Lazarus Pit is located. Suddenly, the Pit starts glowing and the whole place starts to shake as if there was an earthquake happening - and Rachel senses that something really bad is happening to Dick, though she can't tell what. We see her eyes glow red as her power erupts from her and hear her ear-piercing scream.

Two things here. The Pit isn't reacting to Dick's death — it wouldn't make much sense if there was a small earthquake happening every time someone dies in Gotham, right? — but rather to what's happening to Rachel. And what is happening to her?

It's a reaction to the physical pain of The String being broken.

Her scream literally sounds like she's being ripped apart. It's so loud, Gar is covering his ears. She loses all grip on her magic and lets it explode out of her. She can feel Dick dying and therefore their connection breaking.

Now, remember these two things I mentioned in season 2 breakdown that I said I will bring up during season 3? Now it's time to talk about them.

In Dick's last hallucination in 2x11 we see two memories of Rachel, one of which is the moment she entered his mind trapped in Trigon's vision to save him — which proves that Dick was aware of what's happening at the time and remembers it in great detail. And if he was aware, if he was awake somewhere deep in there back then, it means he was also awake to see this:

Imagine him, trapped in there, banging his fists against the walls of his mental prison and screaming, having no control over his body and being forced to watch it. Had he felt it? If Rachel felt the pain of his death, was he able to feel the String being ripped out of his soul the same way Rachel's heart was ripped out of her chest? How bad did it hurt? Did he also scream in pain?

Episode 3x12 "Prodigal" picks up right where the previous episode left off and we see Gar and Rachel roaming the city streets, looking for Dick. Rachel can feel he's dying (meaning he's not completely gone yet) and she uses that feeling to find him. Again, the String is leading her to him.

They get to the place of the fight and find him on the ground. Rachel screams and runs to him, starts crying as she drops to her knees next to him and that alone is heartbreaking enough because it looks like the weight of her grief is pushing her down. It's not a controlled fall — she stumbles and drops.

She tries to heal him with her powers but it's too late, it doesn't work. She and Gar are both devastated. Having no other choice, the kids take his body to the Lazarus Pit with the help of Gar's new friends - the bats.

They spend their time holding vigil by the edge of the Pit and waiting for Dick to come back. Rachel doesn't want to take her eyes off the water, as if that alone would bring Dick back. When Gar asks if she can sense him in there, Rachel simply replies that "he has to fight". They can't help him anymore. All they can do is wait.

Meanwhile, Dick's soul goes through a little journey through his past, present and possible future, in order to decide whether or not he wants to come back to life. And even while under the magical waters, his connection to the living world remains intact, because before the journey begins, he can hear Rachel and Gar's voices. He can hear Rachel begging him to talk to her.

Eventually Dick emerges from the water and Rachel grabs onto him to help him climb out of the pit. He drops unconscious right after and she doesn't let him go until he wakes up and gets back on his feet. (It's also worth mentioning that this is the first time he sees Rachel in months, he had no idea she was back until now — talk about a crazy reunion)

He's alive. The String is restored. And also more powerful than ever.

And how do I know that? Because season 4 is where it gets insane.

The shit they're pulling here? In season 1 this would have been impossible. There's not many instances I'll be talking about here but they're huuuuuge and also the most logically unexplainable out of the entire series.

In Episode 4x02 "Mother Mayhem", after Lex Luthor mysteriously dies, Dick takes Rachel to the man's office so she can use her magic and figure out what happened. A vision shows her a house somewhere in town, and when they get there, they find a bloodied body of a woman on the kitchen floor and a little girl, Aria, in her bedroom upstairs, who's trapped in a nightmare. By entering her mind, Rachel is able to save the girl from the masked attacker, and from the dream she gets another location — an abandoned building. The Titans gear up and head out to investigate and find out that it's a slaughterhouse turned into a ritualistic lair. They go upstairs and seem to cross the whole length of the building, but Rachel breaks away from the group and comes back downstairs, following a feeling of someone watching her.

Upstairs, the Titans find bodies of five men, including Aria's father, hanging on chains, their blood being drained into the buckets at their feet. They're still alive so the group rushes in to get them down.

Meanwhile Rachel is wandering through what looks like the basement level of the bulidng (look at the high position of the boarded window between the two lamps, all it took me to figure it out is paying attention to the placement of windows throughout the scene), far away from the group at this point, having sensed that the figure that attacked her in Aria's nightmare is hiding here somewhere and she's trying to find it.

The masked figure surprises her and attacks her from behind, knocking her to the ground but she's able to defend herself with her magic right before the masked man is about to stab her.

Back upstairs, Dick suddenly turns and shouts Rachel's name, knowing that she's in danger. He drops everything and runs, leaving Kory and the boys to take care of the victims.

Now, I've rewatched this many times to figure out the logistics. Rachel went at least one floor down, to the basement, while the others went up from the ground level. She is on the other side of the building while the rest is trying to free these guys from the chains. How the hell did Dick know she was in danger? First thought: he heard her. BUT. There's no giant scream. Yes, she shouts at the figure but she seems to be too far from the rest of the Titans to be heard (especially over the rattling of chains and overall commotion) and even if they have comms in their ears, wouldn't everyone be able to hear her? Gar and Tim don't react, Kory doesn't either until Dick turns and calls Rachel's name — and that's not even a reaction to Rachel herself but to what Dick is doing. When he takes off, she looks after him over her shoulder but doesn't do anything, neither do the boys. And if they all heard Rachel being attacked, wouldn't at least Kory go with him? For backup? Wouldn't she have the same kind of reaction?

This is the clearest example of the pattern of Dick being able to sense when Rachel is in danger. The previous examples were really small compared to this. The String tugged at his gut and told him to run, and he left everything and immediately took off. She couldn't be heard. No one else reacted. They didn't know where she was. Only he knew, was able to find her, and then comforted her when she was shaken after the attack.

Now we move to episode 4x08 "Dick & Carol & Ted & Kory"

Dick, Kory and Rachel are stuck in a town hidden behind a magical barrier with all its residents being brainwashed into a perfect life (welcome to Wandavision, everybody). Rachel gets separated from the others and held captive by the Church of Blood, while Dick and Kory, on top of searching for her, are fighting with their own progressing brainwashing (and start confronting their feelings for each other).

First moment I want to mention is a small one and a liiiiiitle bit of a stretch but you've seen enough of my delusion at this point that it shouldn't even surpirise you that it's here.

Kory is rapidly succumbing into the brainwashing and more often taking on the persona of Carol — a perfect wife with the perfect life she shares with her husband Ted, who Dick is turning into. He's having it a little easier to keep control over his mind, but he's starting to struggle as well. They're at "their house", trying to figure out a way to protect themselves from losing their minds (a way that's bringing up some buried feelings as a side effect) so they can search for Rachel. Kory is losing her mind to Carol while Dick is trying to keep a very important conversation going, when suddenly he sees this:

A flock of ravens in the sky is basically an equivalent of Rachel sending a flare. A big neon sign saying HEY, I'M HERE! It's another example of Dick dropping everything and rushing with help. Kory has fully turned into Carol at this point and he obviously can't leave her like this (which he emotionally promises to her, saying that would never) so he takes her with him and asks her to stay in the car while he goes for Rachel.

Another one from this episode, a bit later. And this one's big. Again, it's Rachel bringing Dick back to reality, and this one is at the same level as the one from 2x01, if not bigger.

They found a way to break the brainwashing and the barrier. They head to the location. In the car, Dick is starting to turn into Ted, but all Rachel has to do is snap her fingers.

Later he fully switches into Ted, while they're attacked by guards inside the building — which makes the situation really bad because Ted isn't a fighter. He doesn't have the training and instincts, and curls on the floor in fear as the guards beat him.

And it's up to Rachel to remind him of who he is:

That first memory of her, of that little girl from the interrogation room staring at him with wide, pleading eyes full of tears is his anchor to reality. Obviously, Detroit holds a very special place in both of their hearts, it's the origin of their story, and the mere mention of it brings back who Dick is and what he's fighting for. It snaps him back in an instant and just like that he's back in the game, moping the floor with the guards.

Honorary mention to the third time she has to bring him back in this episode, only not from brainwashing, but from a cloud of rage that blinded him when he got his hands on the machinery responsible for the brainwashing and destroyed it all with his bare hands.

Then we have episode 4x10 "Game Over" which, along with 4x02, is their episode of the season. Now, I could write a whole new essay about the significance of the "Your weapon is your love for this child" line and said weapon, but I'm going to leave this for a fic. Here, I'm going to talk about something that happens later.

Dick and Rachel are performing a dark magic ritual to serve the link between Rachel and her half-brother Sebastian. The ritual gives "the inner evil" a physical form so it can be killed with a blade made out of love (how poetic, isn't it?). The monster that appears is connected to Rachel and feeding off her life force, so the longer it exists, the more energy she loses and in the end can die. After a brief fight with Dick, the monster runs away — Dick hesitates, not wanting to leave Rachel, but she tells him to go chase it.

Now this where we can see the String at work. The communication is the easy part this time — they have comms in their ears, they can talk to each other. But Rachel, despite being vulnerable and drained of energy, can sense both Dick and the monster. The monster? Sure, they're connected, it literally came out of her. It's the whole point of the ritual. But Dick? She knows where he is in the building, can tell him where to go and warn him when the monster is near. It's like she can see through his eyes, she stays connected to his mind and is able to guide him. What's more is that they are both aware of the connection and using it to their advantage. They're working like a well oiled machine at this point.

Technically, the blade can also be backed up by the String, since it's supposed to be powered by Dick's love for Rachel ("Your faith will make the blade. Your weapon is your love for this child."). Through the entire fight and chase, Dick is struggling to make the blade work, because he's thinking about it too much, and only succeeds when the monster takes Rachel for a target and has his hand around her neck, choking her. Fear for her safety is what makes the blade work.

And that's it! Man, writing it all down and gathering evidence took me way longer than I expected lol. What can I say to wrap this up? Dick and Rachel's relationship progresses as any other on the show, it has its ups and downs, but there's also this extra factor that makes it something more. It's right there from the start and it's consistent thoughout the entire series. Whether we call it fate, destiny, the invisible string or just a simple coincidence of events that wasn't thought out by the writers but somehow happened anyway, we can't deny that it's there. At least I can't — that's why I love them so much.

If you somehow read through all of this delusional blabbering and got to the end, thank you for your time and for allowing me to share a piece of my heart and brain with you. Creating these posts reignited my love for these two birds, it was a good decision to do so.

#dc titans #titans #dcu titans #tv: titans #titans season 1 #titans season 2 #titans season 3 #titans season 4 #dick grayson #rachel roth #dick and rachel #nightwing #raven #kory anders #garfield logan #Graysonfam #titans meta #fathers and daughters y'all

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obsessedftshit · 8 months ago

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Young Justice S2 Ep1

This episode felt like a new beginning especially with all the new hero entries.

I screamed when I saw him. Like look at him 😩. Fucking sexy as fuck.

I gasped when Megan kissed that monster fish dude. Like Connor and her broke up? When? Why? Tbh I think they might've broken up either because of his anger issues cause Connor can't control his anger and she might've been tired of dealing with them or she felt insecure about herself and then broke up with him. Cause it makes sense since she's dating a monster and she is one as well. These r my theories but let's hope it was a good reason cause even tho I didn't ship them at first, Megan was the best thing that happened to Connor especially after he found out he was a Cadmus clone and all.

Naah cause I love his facial expressions. But look, it seems like he hasn't gotten over her and is definitely jealous so maybe Megan broke up with him. I feel bad for him but I can't wait for...

Him and Wonder Girl. Like ahhh when she first showed up I was so confused on who she was and then Batgirl said "Wonder Girl" and I was like 😯. Nah she's so cool. I already love her. I ship her with Connor cause it just seems like they would click. She's strong. He's strong. She's funny and cocky and he's aggressive and angry. Perfect match. Also, her wardrobe style is like Connor's. Not too fancy but casual. I can already imagine their chemistry.

When I saw Batgirl, my jaw dropped cause y tf is she so fine. She and Wonder Girl both. God damn. They're my mommies guys along with Artemis.

Look at Wondergirl. So fine and funny. She has my heart rn.

The way Nightwing nodded. I'm sat.

Connor's facial expressions 😭. I can't.

Him 😩. Also, Robin's smile is so cute.

Also, so Robin's real name is Tim smth? Cause Nightwing said his name "Tim" but in S1 in that episode of the circus one, the owner of the circus called Robin Dick Grayson so I'm confused.

Gifs made by moi

#dc #dc young justice #dc justice league #justice league #young justice #gifs #dc gifs #young justice gifs #young jusitce review #nightwing #megan x connor #connor x megan #wonder girl #batgirl #robin #dc robin #connor kent

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sergeant-angels-trashcan · 2 years ago

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absolutely unhinged Top 5 Beatdown things that have me feral:

besides the fact that nobody mentioned jackalopes or the fresno nightcrawler while not mentioning the basis of thunderbirds in native american lore

Garret’s entire being when he comes in. Soft boi!

Ryan and Shane’s old straight married couple vibes continuing

Ryan calling out Annie for dropping the shot.

“my balls are not cryptids” “oh that’s my whole list”

“it lies to people?” “and it talks”

“it bites its own ass”

“that’s probably the worst snake i’ve seen since that penis snake”

“i don’t know what that means and i don’t want to know. don’t expound up on it. don’t let him do this! he’s just going to show you his penis, this is what he does” cue ryan losing his shit

ryan visibly restraining himself from commenting about shane’s bird

“akin to a pumpkin spice latte”

dunsten checks in for the second time this season

“beautiful rendering”

they can go into a jar

it’s not outlandish to be like, maybe it’s hiding in that 95%

how giant? big! big big big!

you know what else they thought were strange sea monsters--whale penis! let me show you a picture

ryan looks at shane’s phone despite the fact he should know better by now

raisin bran nessie

nessie flipping the bird

humps in the water--yeah, BACK humps, not like--

mongolian death worm

garrett and ryan having a full conversation about checking their backseats for killers while shane goes through the six stages of grief

“you always wanna talk about your worm!”

garrett regretting his life choices as shane talks about eating worms

“i love! this worm!”

shane’s delight at the reveal of the vegetable lamb of tartary. “how very whimsical!”

plants don’t have mouths or vocal cords so they might be screaming

you guys want to harm these cryptids

“what if it was just like a fucked up guy”

mothman callback to the mothman call in the bu mothman episode

ryan and shane still impressed with the mothman statue’s ass

ryan and shane once again being given a trajectory for what straight dudes act like and missing by a mile

ryan asking for a picture of mothman’s ass

“no, don’t give him that”

ryan reassuring him no it’s good dude

then the whole sidebar about nightwing’s ass

swamp santa

“you MUST go, it is absolutely delightful“ said in the tone of a rich WASP talking about taking summers at martha’s vineyard

the sad realization that the boys haven’t been to the mothman festival and garrett turning down that offer

good guy, great statue, very erotic

“in deepest java, there is a wing’d creature”

ryan comparing his hand to garrett and shane’s

taken to GOD knows where

get your fuckin hand out of my face

seems like you want to see a lot of their genitals

“well no, from a scientific--” “no don’t bring your pervy stuff in here”

#watcher entertainment #ryan bergara #shane madej #top five beatdown #garrett watts

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clay-cuttlefish · 1 year ago

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Gotham Central 1-24 and the stories in between, splitting it where The Question 2005 starts. I feel so incredibly normal about this era. Definitely not putting off my school readings for this. (In my defense Plato is a long-winded bitch.)

In the Line of Duty (GC #1-2)

This is a really strong start. Gotham Central works because it makes dealing with supervillains feel meaningful to the average person in Gotham - sure, Batman shows up and gets them eventually, but that doesn't mean everything just goes back to normal.

Freeze is barely in this and he's unsettling as hell. The cold gun is creepy!

Dead Reckoning (Ted #777-782)

Immediately derailed by a Tec story. It's a good one, at least.

I like that Gordon became a teacher, even if he's not qualified at all.

Why does Arkham have an isolation cage.

I'm with Two-Face here, if he can drive an Arkham employee to a nervous breakdown it's probably better that he do it instead of Scarecrow or whoever.

Harvey ignoring his coin for Gordon's sake... they are friends...

As a guy who loves the imposter Two-Faces and the pile of miscellanous Clayfaces I love this story.

All the side villains are very fun here. Scrungly gossip Riddler, wacky self-sabotaging Joker, no-nonsense Penguin, mad scientist Scarecrow... I like these guys a lot.

Harvey's out. That's probably fine.

Motive (GC #3-5)

Mostly Reneeless. A good episode of a cop show. Idk what to say about it.

The Queen is Dead (Gotham Knights #38-39)

Helena's been kidnapped by Checkmate, and Vic shows up to tell Nightwing about it and beat up a goon. I miss them.

Half a Life (GC #6-10)

Screaming, crying, throwing up, etc.

Renee's talk with Maggie about their different experiences being out is a really good moment.

God I don't have coherent thoughts about this it just kills me.

Crispus. Dude. She's been framed for murder and you're annoyed she didn't come out to you?

At least Josie's here.

HARVEY YOU SON OF A BITCH. You don't get to blame Two-Face for this one! This is on you for being a creepy possessive fuck to the point you were flipping on it!

"You've been living two lives, and I've broken down the wall between them" we're still a few years out from that one and she'll do it of her own volition with some help actually but thanks

"I don't see what that has to do with us." I am going to put my head through the drywall. What are you talking about! What am I supposed to do with this!

"You're welcome." Bruce I will actually kill you.

Soft Targets (GC #12-15)

Renee's back! Nothing too major for her here, but she's... levelled out, I guess.

Hub City mentioned! As the one police department more corrupt than Gotham. Sounds about right.

I'm not generally a fan of the Joker but this is a pretty good story. it's an elaborate scheme to mess with Batman that hurts a lot of people along the way.

Maggie should've killed him. I am not on the "Batman should just kill the Joker" train but she shot him like five times and at that point him surviving is just overkill.

Life is Full of Disappointments (GC #16-18)

No Renee but Helena's here! Just for a moment to ask Mafia questions.

Unresolved (GC #19-22)

There's a Previously On segment now, this really is Law and Order: Gotham.

I don't have it in me to feel bad for Bullock. He's been an awful bastard this entire time and trying to pretend he was a "good cop" just makes me like him less.

Thank you, Josie, for being the voice of reason.

Ohhh my god girl why are you immediately willing to defend him.

Corrigan (GC #23-24)

Crispus bringing his wife and kids to Renee and Daria's for brunch... this is the one real friendship Renee has.

Unfortunately Renee getting a nice thing means her life immediately gets worse.

This guy being named Jim Corrigan is. A choice? I get it when there's last name overlap between characters, or when it's minor characters overlapping, but the Spectre's not niche. Maybe it's intentional foreshadowing of Crispus' time as the Spectre but I seriously doubt that was on the table at this point.

Her and Daria's relationship makes me implode.

#clayposts #clayreads #the question #renee montoya

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king-crane · 2 years ago

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SNAKES.

@blood-son

It was hard to describe, truly.

Every dog had its day, but Crane wasn't a dog.

A snake. Laying in wait for the time to strike -- let the dogs like Cobblepot and Joker and Tetch squabble over scraps. He didn't have the funds that Cobblepot did, the technology that Tetch did, and certainly not the charisma and personality that Joker did.

But he was smart, and he was patient.

When fear lingers, it begins to fester. The smallest twitch, the smallest reaction could make even a worm explode with righteous fury and anger, powered by adrenaline and the mighty amygdala. Crane was no worm, either -- he crushed those beneath his feet.

He was a snake.

He was smart, and he was patient.

So, when the fear had been allowed to fester... no, when it had been nurtured, for so long, with no true outlet, it was only right that his response be extraordinary.

Gotham was his. At least for the night, she was his, until the next wannabe tried to steal her away from him, or The Bat came to collect his dues.

Fear gas flooded the streets, and through it all, The Scarecrow walked tall, Jonathan Crane buried deep, deep beneath. Furiously scribbling down notes, the Scarecrow observed. He was no physician, but even he could tell when someone was too weak to recover, and so he did the merciful thing.

Eight souls departed. Doctor Mercer back in Arkham would be disappointed in his spiral, in this episode -- but he was barely even a fucking professional. A hack, was what he was. He tasted fear, and he wanted more. He'd break that worm beneath his feet soon enough, but right now it was time for the rats, scurrying from one place to another in an effort to escape him.

He was no rat.

He was a snake.

He was smart, and he was patient.

Chestnut hair. Muscular build. Above average height. The specimen practically presented itself to him, and without missing a step, Crane approached, grabbing the victim by the neck to haul him to his feet. Pupils dilated. Shallow breathing -- but he was conscious. And when his eyes landed on Crane, Crane could see the tiniest flicker of anger.

Good. Good.

"Quite the promising specimen, you are." The gentle rasping of Crane's voice reverberated from beneath his mask, vibrating like a purr deep within his chest. With his free hand, Phobos was readied, a flick of his wrist filling the syringes on the end of the gloved claw. "Let's explore further, shall we?"

Before he could plunge further, however, a sharp pain hit his arm and he was forced to drop the specimen, clutching at his wrist. The pain was familiar, but all too foreign at the same time. Usually he would hear a Batarang coming, but this...

His eyes searched for his attacker, until they landed on a familiar half-pint.

Well, not truly familiar.

He hadn't had the pleasure of meeting the current Robin -- or at least he didn't think he did. Nightwing? Sure, of course. The Red Robin? Yeah -- a bit derivative, but yes.

This one?

Crane stood at his full height, amongst corpses and screaming victims.

"Where's your daddy, pipsqueak?"

#born in blood ( damian. )#blood-son #HOPE THIS IS OK #violence tw #death tw #blood tw #psychosis tw

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britcision · 9 months ago

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So: item the first, we regress. Dick totally did not think Tim was the tiny black haired brother with the autopsy wounds; Tim is the one he remembers later because he’s the one comforting Dick, Jason is Having An Episode in Crime Alley because Dick is screaming his name like he’s just been murdered all over again

Dick not remembering this adds to the fun because Jason can try and actually talk about his feelings like a Mcfucking Adult all he wants, Dick was concussed and barely remembers the bleeding

Jason’s all awkwardly “well shit I never knew you cared” and Dick’s left with “I mean I do but what finally tipped you off”

Item the second: Bane/Croc ABSOLUTELY try to unfloor this lamp

Ellie installed that thing special

It cannot be removed

This forestalls at least one dramatic attack gesture in good old “I can pull the axe out of the wall wait fuck hold on” fashion… and makes it so much weirder when Gotham’s newest vigilante, Phantasm, pulls the same lamp up like it’s a paper fan 3 seconds later to acquaint them to it Nightwing style

She also replaces the lamp once the fight is over

It has a little paper star taped to the top that somehow survived all of the carnage intact

"Oh my god he’s dead- we killed a vigilante, OHMYGODOHMYGOD—" A hysterical voice screeched out, decidedly feminine and loud enough that the comn line picked it up.

"He broke in here for no reason first! We have probable cause as to why you brained him with our wok!" The second interjected, calmer than the first, but there was still a line of tension, like they were uncertain about what they were saying.

"Oh my god, oh god we’re literally so dead Batman’s literally going to murder me and you and us and—"

"We're already mostly dead, he can't kill us. Although I thought he had a no killing rule anyways, so maybe we’re safe? Ancients, that is a lot of blood. You think we should call an ambulance?" Static filtered through the comn line before stabilizing again and wow. The residents of the apartment were really just having a full conversation over an unconscious Nightwing- in earshot of a microphone recording every word- like this was a normal occurrence. Maybe it was a normal Friday night for them, Barbara couldn't exactly judge.

"I'm not calling an ambulance, they might arrest him. Hell, they're probably gonna arrest us! Danny, we're fucking unresgistered metas in Gotham, I’m a clone—"

"—Not metas and I won’t let anyone arrest you—"

"—It's the same thing to the government at the end of the day. You're right though. I think I hit him too hard, we're going to lose the deposit with the amount of blood getting everywhere. Head wounds bleed a lot right? Maybe he's not dead."

"He's not dead, we'd know if he was."

"Oh. Right. Man. That is a lot of blood, our IKEA rug is ruined. I liked that rug, you think we could ask him to buy a new one when he wakes up or is he on the normal vigilante salary of nothing?"

“Mhm. I'll go get the med kit, you handcuff him to the table so he doesn't jump us when he wakes up. Keep the mask on- I don’t want to piss off whatever buddies he’s got listening in.”

#dpxdc #dcxdp #dp x dc #dc x dp #oops all dannies

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ao3feed-brucewayne · 2 years ago

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The King who Reins Supreme

by Lumi09

Jason flexes under his family’s hold. His muscles flex, skin going deathly pale to the point they can see his veins. Except they were green and wriggling like they were alive.

“What’s happening?!” Nightwing screams over Jason’s anguished cries.

Jason’s back flexes, arching off the bed, kicking and screaming. Gnashing his teeth, attempting to bite off anyone’s nose or even rip the skin of someone’s face. Froth gathers at the corner of his mouth, green spittle flying the more he howls.

Danny faintly hears Signal “ohfuckohshitohfuck” repeatedly in the background.

Jason rage episodes are getting worse and the family (reluctantly) calls for help. Enter Ghost King, and whatever is up with Todd is a lot more than what anyone could imagine.

Words: 3574, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Danny Phantom, Batman - All Media Types

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: Gen

Characters: Danny Fenton, Clockwork (Danny Phantom), Pandora (Danny Phantom), Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Duke Thomas, Damian Wayne, Original Villian Character - Character

Relationships: Danny Fenton & Jason Todd, Batfamily Members & Danny Fenton, Danny Fenton & Dick Grayson

Additional Tags: yeehaw, this is my life now danny phantom and batman ig, Eldritch, Eldritch Danny Fenton, Eldrtich orginal villian character, Danny Fenton Needs A Hug, Ghost King Danny Fenton, Demons, Jason and danny are the best of friends and have history together, everyone wants to fight Danny until they don't want to, but in their case Danny joked about taking their souls, Exorcisms, an entirely orginal plotline, my world my rules, Cryptid Danny Fenton, OP Danny Fenton, Angst, Crack, except there is no comedy, let Danny act cryptic on main !!, let him live that theater kid life of his as the Ghost King !!

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/44547220

#IFTTT #bruce wayne #batman #the dark knight #the cape crusader #gotham #dc universe #ao3 #ao3feed

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kidflashimpulse · 2 years ago

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okay i guess i should do a thoughts dump post cause otherwise im gonna be spamming the tag with like a hundred posts lol:

warning, this is basically word vomit lol

first let’s get the non bart stuff out of the way:

- as much of an ass lor is he’s most probably the most insanely talented villain out there, his dad is a fool for not listening to him it’s gonna bite him in the ass !

- the zods tho r such a great couple LOL like they’re all so entertaining to watch, Ursa is unhinged we love to see it !! when they were in the solar pods i found it so funny they were like those cheesy couples that enjoy sunbathing together i’m sorry

- Kaldur showing sympathy to the kryptonians was needed tbh

- Dicks heartbeat thing? total throwback to Artemis faking her own death

- Rocket being caved in by the boom tube? messed up

- Also idk why everyone’s assuming team bioship kicked the bucket none of them were bleeding and this season has been very clear with having no problem showing gore and ur telling me Darkseids son, Martians and a Speedster were done by some blast? nah i don’t buy it

okay so moving on to our fave Kid Flash content 😁

- im sorry but bart calling supes big guy 😭 that’s so precious i love it

-in fact i really appreciate Clark looking out for Bart, tbh he must’ve been paranoid that his keeping secrets from the League could’ve (well, they have lol) endangered Dick, Zee and Bart. Like imagine if he was indirectly responsible for something happening to the Flash’s grandson, who is Kid Flash, who took up the mantle from the Flash’s nephew who famously died on a mission, like that is something that would weigh him down terribly for the rest of his life and i really got that impression since last episode and especially in todays. ALSO i love seeing bart as KF essentially working along side Supes on this high-stakes mission, like if we put it into perspective everything going on is really crazy it’s just that we’ve been kinda desensitised to it cause of the weekly release pace lol anyway now Clark is just left to worry about Dick and Zee (conner and earth and the galaxy being the obvious worry aside)

- the funniest thing was how all this was going down and Dick and Bart are just so unserious LOL we have Nightwing on one end quoting gandalf whilst Bart is literally a ball of excitement about LITERALLY everything and anything, they’re such dorks lol

- in fact, whilst ideally i would’ve preferred a bunch of other dynamics between bart and other characters to be explored this season, it’s interesting to see how he fits in within the older generation heroes and how they work together

- in fact x2 (lol), this whole arc is pleasing my lizard brain that finds both Conners and Barts classic comic involvement with both Legion and Superboy turned evil plots as so essential and how they actually are still connected in Earth-16 despite them being from different “hero generations” (both being part of outsiders aside, there wasn’t much of a connection between them prior to this plot). When I saw that detective board where they were both being investigated by Dick well let’s just say I literally screamed out loud LOL

- moving on, like i said in another post, i can’t believe this guy. He’s basically running (heh) on fumes but acts like nothing happened and just continues with the job literally immediately, someone get him to bed to catch some sleep (no bart laying unconscious doesn’t count as rest)

okay now on to some things that i’m annoyed by:

- i feel like the legion characters have been done kinda dirty this season, it was great until pretty much last episode but the thing is what we have had of them so far which i really enjoyed isn’t that much and has been so spread out thinly through out the season that i feel like their plot opportunity wasn’t fully taken advantage of

-whilst this main plot is objectively attention grabbing, i do think the pace throughout the season was a bit off and there really is a bit too much of telling instead of showing in terms of story telling technique, which is a bit meh. I think way too much time was invested in stories that really could’ve been tied up in significantly less time and could’ve been invested in more relevant stories

all in all, enjoyed it but i am annoyed with some stuff but oh well it’s okay, at the end of the day it gives birth to loads of head canons that i wanna write fics about

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obsessedftshit · 8 months ago

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Young Justice Ep 1 - 6 Review

I started watching Young Justice for the first time. Like I always heard about the show but I never actually watched it other than a few clips. I watched Justice League when I was little but I don't remember it that well and I'm getting a little tempted to watch it but first I'm gonna finish Young Justice. Tbh, I only actually started watching it cause of all the thirsty edits of Nightwing on TikTok. The animators knew what they were doing with him but he hasn't showed up yet so I'll be waiting patiently for him.

Episodes Review

So far the episodes are perfect as usual to any normal cartoon show. Nah but I actually miss the old cartoons like Ultimate Spiderman or the Avengers Assemble cartoons. I've always been obsessed with that style of animation. It's not too anime looking but also not too realistic. Just perfect. The plot and story line is also really good. I kinda regret not watching this as a child but then again, I always did rewatch the old cartoons I grew up watching.

Character Reviews:

Robin

I love his character. I've always loved him in the old Batman series (I gotta rewatch that too). Nah but I forgot he was so young. I thought he'd be 15 but he's 13 and Kid Flash is 15. Nah but he's so smart for a 13 year old. He knows how to hack shit and is literally a mini version of Batman. One thing I don't like is how he keeps wearing shades when he's not in his costume and there's nothing wrong with that but I wanna see his eyes. Like I know what he looks like but I still wanna see his eyes.

Kid Flash

I screamed when I saw him and Flash in the first episode. I literally love the CW Flash series so seeing them show up made me so happy. And I love how Wally is literally like a 15 year old. Sassy and playful. When I first saw him without the costume and mask, I freaked out cause he had freckles! He looks so adorable with freckles. I also love how he flirts with Megan. It's so cute and funny.

Aqualad

Ok when I first saw him I gasped. Like have u all seen this fine ass man. And the way he talks 😩. It's so soothing and calming. I also knew he would be the leader cause leadership radiated off of him. I'm glad they ended up making him the leader officially but damn, he's fine as fuck.

Superboy

When I first saw him in the tube thingy I was in shock. He's so handsome compared to Superman like damn. But one thing I don't like about him is how he's full of rage. He's technically the Hulk but DC version. There's nothing wrong with his rage but he just seems to not think and let his emotions control him. I also didn't like how mad he got at Megan when she read his mind by accident to comfort him that they'll find a human name for him. Like boy chill. She's being nice and you're acting like a little bitch. I also feel bad for him cause so far Superman has been avoiding him and leaving him alone. He's not acknowledging Superboy making him feel as though he's not worthy. But I also understand why Superman is doing that since this is technically his son but he obviously doesn't want to think that. I hope Superman helps him out though.

Miss Martian

I like her especially how she's the first female member in the Young Justice. But what I don't like about her is how she likes Superboy. Idk but I don't see any chemistry between them. Like I get she has a crush on him and it should stay like that in my opinion. I don't want them 2 to end up together cause I really don't see it. Also, I didn't like how in one of the episodes the members were treating her as if she's not ready. Superboy was especially being extra rude to her, that's why I don't want those 2 to get together.

Artemis

Ever since I saw her in the intro, I've been in love with her cause I knew she'd be related to Arrow somehow and I love Arrow, especially the Arrow CW show. Idk y but I thought she'd be serious like Arrow but I realized in the cartoon Arrow isn't that serious but also a little playful where she is similar in that way. I also love how she and Kid Flash argue like little teenagers. Tbh, I ship those 2. I actually hope they end up together.

Roy

I had no idea he was Roy but his personality is exactly the same as it was in the Arrow CW series. I want more of him. I love how he stands up to the adults and started being a solo hero. I need more of him.

Arrow

I know he's not in Young Justice but I love him so much. Like I love whenever he and Batman show up in the episodes like ahhh.

Batman

Omg I forgot how cool Batman looked when he had his whole cloak down on him. Idk y but I was always obsessed with Batman instead of Superman. I liked Superman but I loved Batman more. I love his personality and monotonous tone. So good.

Well that's all I have to rant about Young Justice for now. So stay tuned for more updates about Young Justice.

#young justice #justice league #dc young justice #dc justice league #robin #roy #arrow #batman #superboy #aqualad #miss martian #armetis #kid flash #superman #young jusitce review #dc

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otakuminami · 3 years ago

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I needed Dick and they delivered

Spoilers

OMG They delivered a great start to Dick’s arc. Like I got worried for a second that after Rocket’s plush arc, Dick’s might suffer as well. In a way I’m happy that it started, but like I cared more about what was happening in this episode than I did in Rocket’s arc.

For starters, Flying Dick Grayson (aka Dan Danger) is back. I’m just in love with the idea that Dick goes back to being a Flying Grayson every now and then. I live for more acrobat acrobat Dick Grayson, even though we see him as an acrobat Nightwing. I just need more performances from Dick is that too much to ask?

Also I was screaming for a net. I know he doesn’t need one, but you know

Trauma

Anyways, I love the whole enforcing not only the acrobat part of Dick’s character but also the detective. I feel like we don’t really get to see enough of him being a detective anymore (from any of the bats really) so I’m glad to see it here.

I love how they sat next to Clark and was like “Superman” without looking at him. Like they could have just been like “hey Clark got a minute?” But they had to be dramatic I love it!

Clark is not giving into peer pressure

Good for him!

This reminds me he’s kinda like Bart now.

I love how that’s how they got the entire group back together again. It worked seamlessly.

Kaldur took a needed month off (I think he should have taken more but sometimes having too much time off is bad too).

“Wyynde loves the look” made me laugh so hard

Also is Admistad wearing a Red Robin outfit or is it just me? Did Tim become Red Robin?

When I was watching them all get together, I was thinking don’t get Miss Martian involved please, and I’m glad they didn’t. Do you know how much trauma she would be in if she heard there might be a chance her husband is alive? Like I know he is alive but like she’s still mourning him and I feel like that’s something you tell someone when your absolutely sure.

Barbara mentioned as an amazing hacker! Love it!

Also the Bart Allen is missing alert. I’m like amazed that they do that. I’ve never thought about it but do you know how useful that could be. I wonder what other times that has been used.

I’m also crying because Jay had to call in to find his speedster teen

I’m crying think about when he decided to say he was missing. How long did he wait? Did he think he was with the outsiders for a bit? Did he have yo call the outsiders to find out he wasn’t with them?

But back to Bart’s time traveling adventures

His thought to go run and grab a collar and put it around Lor Zod’s neck with a determined look on his face like this isn’t the jokester he pretends to be. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this but Bart is almost like a completely different person than the one he acts. I’ve noticed this back in season 2 and I’m kinda glad that they remembered it because I don’t really see this type of character a lot.

When Lor Zod put a collar around Bart’s neck, I screamed. The trauma he faced when he was younger and all the effort he did to change the future only to then be placed back into the same position he was in made me want to yell at the unfairness of it.

I really hope we get to see some memories/backstory/trauma of Bart’s future. Like I know it’s probably not important but I would like to see more of him.

Also Lor Zod is basically abusing Bio ship. He needs to just get his ass kicked by someone already.

Maybe Miss Martian

The fight between the OG team and Klarion was pretty cool.

Also baby Teekl is so cute!!!

Klarion’s opening speech about contacting him only to stop when he realized who it was got me laughing hard. Does he do that every time? How many times does Teekl interrupt him when he does it? Are people intimidated by it? When I saw it I was like yeah ok Klarion you think you’re scary.

Magic School bus? I wonder who’s going to be Miss Frizzle and who’s going to be Arnold?

Phantom girl finally wakes up. I wonder how she is going to get them out without getting caught.

Also I’m getting the vibe that Ursa is going to be more of a threat to them than Dru and I don’t know how to explain it.

Also Conner thinks he killed Clark? Poor Conner. He’s suffering and he doesn’t remember everything.

Does he remember who M’gann is?!?

Also House of Luther,

I almost died.

But they mentioned Kara!

Indirectly but still! She’s in the universe!

At the end when they found signs of life in Kaizer Thrall, at first I thought it was Kara because she was mentioned and also they’re doing Kryptonians.

But then they said human and male and 11 and I was like who could that possibly be? We were all hoping for Wally to return this season but that can’t be him unless he de-aged but that’s highly unlikely even with the powers of a speedster because it’s kinda odd to do that.

I absolutely have no idea who this could be.

#young justice phantoms #young justice season 4 #nightwing #dick grayson #zatanna #raquel ervin #kaldur #conner kent #phantom girl #bart allen #klarion

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