#aquaman the becoming

[floralovebot]

i know there are only like five of us but i feel like garth stans really don't talk enough about how left out he feels with the titans. dick and wally are Best Friends. donna and roy are on and off again. dick and donna are too much to explain. on average, roy is close with at least one of dick's siblings. dick donna and wally all go on to be in the new teen titans. garth isn't Close with any other titans but the originals

and it's this thing where,,, it's not his Fault yknow? he's not mean or spiteful or creepy or anything that would warrant them not liking him as much. he joins in on their jokes, he risks his life, he shares his feelings, he does everything that he knows friends do. but just the virtue of him being atlantean and them being land dwellers ruins everything. he Can't spend more time with them, he doesn't understand their culture, he will always choose atlantis.

they'll always be his friends but he can never truly be with them or form deeper bonds. he'll always be the last one to know what's going on, the last one they call, a complete shadow and afterthought.

and sure there's a part of him that knows this, that feels bitter and lonely. but he can't even be that mad at them because he does the same thing. the titans are never his first thought, he never calls them first, he doesn't reach out and ask if they're okay, they're always the last ones to know what happened to him. the titans are such a huge part of his life but they're barely in it.

there's just something so inherently lonely about garth that i feel most dc writers don't understand. they just don't get it. they don't get what it's like for this boy who was all alone, never had parents or a family, suddenly being taken in and having to act like he knows how to be a son, a friend, a partner. meeting kids his own age and wanting to bond with them so bad, having to watch as they all get closer to each other and leave him behind, not being able to do anything about it. never being taken seriously, always the last choice... garth man.....

[theflowerofthecommonwealth]

He likes looking at the Fishies.

He’s making friends!

[ormymarius]

anyone else find it hilarious mermaid man and barnacle boy are more well known to the general public than aquaman and aqualad’s partnership

[wanderingmind867]

If DC could sue Fawcett Comics over Captain Marvel/Shazam being a rip-off of Superman, then Marvel should have sued DC over Aquaman! Aquaman definitely had elements of his backstory stolen from Namor, and it's not even hard to notice it! Captain Marvel was really different from Superman, but Aquaman was literally a more generic Namor! And i know I'm biased here (seeing most of dc's acquisitions of other companies as crooked deals; plus also finding namor better than aquaman), but listen: even if you like all four of the characters i mentioned here, you gotta admit that Marvel had every right to sue. If DC could sue Fawcett, Marvel could sue DC! Fair is fair!

[dawnquafam]

If Atlanteans always smell a little like fish, then cats must be obsessed with the Aquafam

[thedupshadove]

Do you think Superman might envy Aquaman, from time to time?

I mean, think about it. They were both raised by humans, but with Vague Memories and Portents suggesting that something more was going on.

The difference being that when Arthur discovered the truth, it came in the form of a vibrant and living realm for him to enter, with people who had been searching for him and were eager to reach out a hand. Whereas Clark's discovery of the truth merely revealed that the night sky was full of corpses.

[notmoreflippingelves]

1, 17

Fandom Year in Review Asks

Favorite fictional characters this year

Last year's undisputed blorbo of Esteban Flores (Elena of Avalor) has continued into this year, though it has been a struggle considering how largely quiet the fandom is (and the fact that I am once again indifferent to the most common/popular ships in what remains of said fandom).

My love for the Ace Attorney fandom continues, and due to the release of the AAI collection port, I have been strongly in my Kay Faraday feels in particular. (Literally every time I pick up my game to play more, I am just overwhelmed by how adorable and funny and endearing and overall 'best girl' she is at all times).

In terms of new-to-me fandoms, I have enjoyed the "helluvaverse" and particularly the characters of Sir Pentious from Hazbin Hotel and Moxxie and Millie from Helluva Boss.

However, 2024 is most notable as the year I finally bit the bullet and ventured into the intimidating sphere of comic book fandom and predictably became DCU trash. My main blorbo is Dick Grayson, who I already knew pretty well through general pop cultural osmosis (mainly Adam West Batman and half-remembered episodes of BTAS from my childhood).

Other DC characters that I already sort of knew from general knowledge but grew to really love are Clark Kent and Lois Lane. I also had peripheral knowledge of the rest of the "bat kids" from my DC fan mutuals, so I also figured I would probably like them as well--and I did (Though I under-estimated how much I would adore Stephanie Brown in particular). However, I did also encounter some additional faves characters that were pretty much entirely new to me--of which I would say that Donna Troy and Garth of Shayeris are the ultimate faves. (Though I pretty much love everyone from most Titans lineups tbh)

Your fictional true love of the year

As of late, my current main blorbos are more "projection objects" for me than crushes. I do find them attractive and enjoy reading the sexitimes fic, but they are not characters that I can particularly see myself dreaming about dating tbh. Still in terms of which ones I loved the most in a platonic sense and dedicated the most time to, probably either Esteban Flores or Dick Grayson as seen above.

In terms of fictional characters that are crush-worthy examples specifically, it's probably gotta be either Shi-Long Lang or Justine Courtney/Verity Gavelle from Ace Attorney Investigations or Hercule Flambeau from BBC Father Brown. In all three cases, I spent pretty much the entire time said characters were on-screen smiling with my face in my hands like a schoolgirl.

Fandom Year in Review asks

[diogenescynic2288]

Aquaman the Becoming

This reprints the title miniseries, a short from the Aquaman 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular and a different two issue miniseries called Future State: Aquaman .

So, Jackson Hyde the black Aqualad with water manipulation powers goes on an intense solo adventure and at the end is also using the Aquaman code name.

It's written by Brandon Thomas. It's really good.

This one I also bought on Free Comic Book day at The Vault of Midnight for regular cover price.

Diogenes's Reading Log for 2023

So it's a new year by the solar calendar of the Romans and/or Catholics.

I already finished up some books this year.

Batwoman Volume 1: The Many Arms of Death

This is the first Batwoman trade of the Rebirth era. There is an intriguing glimpse of Kate Kane's past as she returns to an island haven of criminals that was a significant place in her past.

Credited writers are Marguerite Bennet and James Tynion IV. Credited artists are Steve Epting, Stephanie Hans, and Renato Arlem.

[aqua-dan]

#MakeComicsSillyAgain

[youweremadetosoar]

When a movie flashbacks to a moment in the main characters past and they’re young enough that they have to use a different actor, sometimes I think the younger actor deserves their own story.

Like, I’m watching the first Aquaman, right? And it flashes back to teen Arthur being trained, and finally hearing that his mother is dead because the King found out she had another son (who was arthur), and the teen actor is so good.

He’s so raw and emotional and it works really well for the story but if I close my eyes it’s like a totally different character and I would love to have seen THAT character grow up into aquaman. I think it would have been a different story, and I think it would have been really good.

I just think seeing an Aquaman who’s defining characteristic is how much he cares, especially contrasted with how a lot of the other characters, like his brother who was raised as royalty, come off as really callous.

And we do see some moments of vulnerability from adult Arthur in the first movie like when Orm breaks his mother’s trident in the ring of fire, his confrontation with the Karathen, or when he reunited with his mom, but I would’ve loved more of it.

I also think it would have made a better love story because I truly believe Mera would have no idea what to do with a real, genuine person, given the life of royalty that she was raised in as well. In most of the movie we see her just annoyed with his jokes and she does eventually see under the humor to the king inside of him but it would have been cool to explore her character without her constant annoyance towards arthur.

And, in my opinion, since Arthur was raised by a single father who, in my opinion, seemed quite in touch with who he was and what his son’s duty was, I think it makes the most sense for Arthur to be incredibly self-aware.

[fancyfade]

koryak needs to get a restraining order against aquaman writers

[mellowdiplomattrashpsychic]

I bet Vlad was cured first while Frostbite was making the antidote. Lab rat or whatever, you know?

But I can see this happening afterward.

Young Justice were the ones who strayed from the plan. They're crazy enough to do it, and its not like they haven't strayed from plans before. It was a really bad idea that could horrendously backfire, but it was worth a shot.

Ghosts were nothing but emotion. It's what made the ectoplasm keep them together, keep them going.

So Tim suggested using a mixture of Joker Venom and Fear Gas. With only a bit of explanation, everyone was in. Bart went with it from the start, getting the right ratio and amount by the end of the conversation.

It wasn't hard to make. The hard thing was pulling it off.

(Somehow, they did.)

It was a close call, but they managed it.

And once the new concoction started running through the prince, he regained partial clarity.

"Can't hurt... th-them...."

And they see him struggling for control, everyone one does before he turns away with a manic laugh. He goes after Pariah.

It's an intense fight between them. The army can't do anything, this was a fight between royalty. They couldn't pick sides.

With both distracted and the army with much less power, as Pariah needed all he could get against Danny (who leveled up big time because of the venom and all the tyrant stuff), they went to free Clockwork.

That was the true game changer.

Instantly, Clockwork pulled off the most OP move and used his time powers to heal everyone and trap the most of the army into in a bubble, freezing them.

It was hard for him to do, as the seals effects still lingered, but he managed it.

Dan and Vlad were the ones to go after Pariah and Danny, both with multiple antidotes for Danny so either could give it to him whenever. They also decided that it must be done multiple times due to Danny's strength level. They had to quicken the progress no matter what.

So Dan and Vlad join the battle, the heroes are playing support (mostly magic users) and clean up as the mess left in the wake of the battle was crazy big. There restrained the remaining soldiers and rescued and helped people who couldn't evacuate in time.

And when Danny was given the cure, he had stalled. He was both fighting with and fighting back the antidote. He was pulled away from battle and restrained by Captain Marvel and Raven as he was given more of the antidote by Dani, who also helped hold Danny down through using his weakness to electricity.

With only Pariah left as a threat, all attacks centered on him. Heroes remained at a distance of were quick with their distractive attacks. The Acients helped out to fight Pariah back, enhancing the current blessings they gave their favorites. So you bet that some rogues/redeemed rogues had been there, like Poison Ivy.

And once Pariah was defeated, Dan and Vlad didn't hesitate to finish him off.

The last thing they had to do was give Danny the antidote to the venom Young Justice made and the remnants of the battle.

Oh, and the legal side to things. Because now, all the Dans and Vlad were royalty. Dan and Vlad won by right of conquest, both dealing the final blow. Dani had technically tied with Danny in a fight during the restraining process, so she was officially a princess. But because Pariah was Ended after the mini Dans' "fight", Danny and Dani ascended to the throne.

It was a whole thing.

Something that confused them to no end and they hated it. Vlad was exhausted, Dan was confused on what exactly he wanted to do but it for sure wasnt that, Danny was struggling to not have his core shatter from guilt and mourning his family and dimension, Dani was fully against it with the responsibility it held that would trap her.

So Vlad disappeared, deciding to sleep it all off. Dani ran away. And weirdly enough, Dan stayed with Danny to help him, distracting himself from everything else.

The Justice League were given compensation by the Ancients and they held off any political talk until the 4 ghosts could sort things out.

Yay

The Tyrant Prince

Danny was living his best life, his parents accepted him as a Halfa, the GIW was disbanded and their remnants couldn't do anything to him or other Ghosts, Vlad was being less of a jerk and he found love with someone. But then Pariah returned, and the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep was in pieces, Danny did his best to fight the Tyrant King, but the King has a new power, a type of Ectoplasmic Venom in the new claws on his gauntlets, Danny was poisoned by the venom and turned on those he held close to his core, his entire home dimension, gone in a single day, with Danny, Vlad and Dani being the only surviving ones there. Vlad was slightly poisoned by the Venom, but escaped before he could be poisoned more, Dani fled with Vlad to the Far Frozen, where Frostbite began to see if he and the other Yeti's can make a cure for Danny

As for what Danny has been doing? He's been helping Pariah in his conquest, Clockwork was sealed by the Tyrant King, but not before the Time Ghost freed Dan from the Thermos he was trapped in, Dan did his best to battle the King and his new Prince, but ultimately he too had to flee. As for the other Ghosts fate? Pandora? Seeking aid from a dimension with her Amazonian sisters, Ember? Barely got away because Skulker gave her time to flee. At the cost of his own afterlife, the musician ghost mourned her on and off boyfriend, Walker? Fought to the very end when his rules didn't align with Pariah's, Ghost Writer? MIA, Johnny, Kitty and Shadow? They are still being chased by Pariah's army, Undergrowth, and Nocturne? Still battling Pariah's army to buy Pandora time, The Observants? Mostly gone, with the few remaining ones in hiding with other Ghosts in the Far Frozen.

Dani was trying to be quick, getting something for Frostbite to help with the cure for Danny, of course it went horribly wrong, with her being chased by both King and Prince and them slowly gaining on her. When she spotted a natural portal nearby, she took the chance and dove in the portal, which had begun quickly closing behind her. She landed in the middle of a meeting with the Justice League and Pandora, both her and the Ancient of Hope can feel that Pariah and Danny are getting closer to the dimension they are in, so they both need to get these people ready to fight the Tyrant King and his Prince, with the plan to End the King amd free his unwilling Prince from the King's Venomous control

[ormymarius]

not enough fish people fuckers on this site, let me fix that

look at them

[random-movie-ideas]

Aquaman Villain Movie Ideas, Part IX: King Nereus

King Nereus is the king of the rival Atlantean kingdom of Xebel. In the comics, he was the betrothed of Mera, before she married Aquaman, and ended up taking over the throne in her absence. In the more recent movies, he was reimagined as her father. I can imagine it going either way.

Origin Movie: If a movie centered on Mera and her original mission of assassinating Aquaman, both King Nereus and Siren are easy characters to use as the main villain for when she ends up turning to his side.

Sequel Movie: I imagine he could come around in a movie after Aquaman and Mera have already been established, with Mera revealing her past and her original goal.

Finale Movie: If a series fully revolved around Aquaman and Mera's relationship, and Siren was done in a previous movie, I could imagine Nereus and the rest of the kingdom coming around as the final villains.

Supporting Villain: Siren's an easy co-villain for him (we might even go the suitor angle and combine him with Siren's boyfriend Kandor). Or he could work with the Dead King too. He's done that before.

Here are my rankings:

Supporting Villain: a full Xebel-based movie with him and Siren could be good.

Sequel Movie: I'd probably establish Mera as queen first.

Origin Movie: It's possible.

Finale Movie: There are better final villains.

What do you think? Who should I cover next?

[citizensoldiersblog]

no more dreams about arthur curry, please. I don’t need another book to write

[noisilyscreechingsong]

Image this:

Danny is sixteen. He just found out he is to become King, with a capital K, when he becomes a mature ghost, which is at least 20 years after his death. So he’s got time. Everything’s fine. Except for the Observants pushing his education. Tutors shoving information down his throat like he’s cramming for finals. Princess Dora, Pandora, Frostbite, and even Clockwork checking on him frequently and making a schedule for him to come visit their territories for little learning sessions. Fright Knight has been following his every move. And let’s not forget the other random ghosts he’s never even met before coming to ask for favors or to complain or just give him their problems in general and expect him to fix it.

He can’t even let his frustrations out! All his regular rogues avoid him now! Even Vlad doesn’t want to get involved, but that could be because he’s still bitter about not getting the crown like he wanted.

Good thing he knows a king that has probably been through the same thing.

King Arthur of Atlantis. In other words, Aquaman.

Because Danny wasn’t technically king yet, crowned prince is probably the right title?, he couldn’t just call him up or send a letter asking to meet. So Danny decides to go give the man a visit himself.

Using process of elimination, he was able to find Atlantis after about two months of research and searching. He didn’t have a whole lot of free time, okay?

Turning invisible and flying through the water was a lot easier than he thought. Getting through the barrier was a piece of cake and the castle was obvious to find. What wasn’t obvious to find was the king himself. He wasn’t in the throne room, or his study, or the training grounds, or literally anywhere in the castle. He checked.

No. He finds the king playing some game with some kids in the underwater city.

It was surprising to find him there, especially after the etiquette lessons from Dora, but it gave Danny some hope that maybe he wouldn’t be miserable and burdened with paperwork and boring meetings when he becomes king.

Danny turns visible. They were still invested in the game but the guards noticed him. Spears were pointed at him in a second.

“Halt! State your business,” the guard demands.

The shout caused everyone in the area to stop and look, including the king.

Danny raises his hands in surrender.

“Uh, hi. Sorry to stop the game, I just wanted to talk- sorry, speak to King Arthur, if- if that’s okay? There wasn’t an address to mail to that I could find-“

“It’s okay,” the king interrupts. “Let’s go somewhere private to talk then. Do you have any weapons on you?”

Danny perks up at the opportunity to finally talk to him.

“Yes please! And no, no weapons, sir.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” the king replies with a smile. Danny smiles back widely.

“My king-“

The king holds up a hand to stop the guard’s worries.

When they finally arrive to the throne room of the palace King Arthur turns to Danny.

“Who are you?” He asks in a tone that was a bit more serious than it was before.

“Oh! Sorry. Hi. I’m Danny. Danny Phantom. It’s nice to meet you, King Arthur,” he answers quickly with a nervous smile.

The king nods, obviously thinking about something else as he watches Danny with guarded eyes.

“How can you breathe underwater if I may ask? I’m curious.”

“Well that’s easy, I’m not breathing.”

“You’re… not breathing,” the king repeats with skepticism.

“Yea,” Danny agrees freely. “I don’t have to breathe if I don’t want to. You know, because of the whole ghost thing.”

“Ghost?”

“Yea. Can turn invisible, walk through walls, fly- you know. Haven’t you ever seen a ghost before?”

Danny tries a bit of humor with a crooked smile, but it falls when he sees the contemplative expression on the king’s face.

“Wait, seriously? You’ve never seen a ghost?”

“I’m aware of a ghost named Deadman apart of Justice League Dark but he is invisible to everyone.”

“Really?! I didn’t know that! I need to go talk to him! Where can I find him?”

“Hold on there, guppy. Didn’t you want to talk about something?”

Danny is drawn back to the topic at hand.

“Right, okay, so I was recently told I was gonna be king in like twenty years, which is news to me, and now they are just throwing everything at me with all this information I don’t know what to do with and I’m getting complaints and requests and everyone is expecting so much from me when I’m literally sixteen years old! I don’t know what I’m doing with my life, whether I want to go to college or if I’ll even graduate high school, and they want me to solve territory disputes and create new laws and provide protection for those who want to go into the living plane. I just- I don’t know what I’m doing and the only king I could think of was you, so I guess I was wondering if you could, I don’t know, give me some advice or if I could shadow you for a bit to see what an actual king should do or act. I know it’s a lot to ask coming from someone you don’t even know, but I’m just a bit overwhelmed with everything and I don’t really know where to go from here and was hoping you would at least understand. My friends don’t get it and the other ghosts are kinda afraid of me now because of my title and they wouldn’t get it anyway…” he trails off awkwardly.

Arthur had never had this conversation before. He was honestly flattered and the kid looked genuine. Maybe he’d wait until one of the magic users okay-ed the young ‘ghost’ before revealing any information about himself.

He pulls out a device and throws it the kid. Danny dodges just to snatch it out of the air from reflex alone.

“That’s a communicator. I’ll send Deadman and Constantine your way and call when I get the okay. Where are you located?”

Danny’s toxic eyes were big and hopeful, shining brightly through the water.

“Thank you, sir! Amity Park, Illinois, the most haunted city in America!” He answers proudly.

The king just smiles.