#considering something marvel/dc related

[scrap1pile]

Things are ever so slightly in motion

[deadcrowcalling]

DPS headcanons

charlie can't bake for shit, like he literally can't even make a box cake. he always screws something up

on the other hand, pitts is an amazing baker. the dude will make a whole damn cake from scratch like it was no big deal

anderperry = adhd and autism duo. you pick who is who

cameron is a history buff. i saw something saying he'd love top gun and i totally agree. that kid is a NERD

todd's a cat person

neil likes both. whatever makes todd happy makes him happy

charlie's a lightweight, unlike todd who (as we know) can down whiskey like nothing

considering DPS is set in 1959, meeks and pitts definitely were marvel and/or dc comics nerds. maybe one liked marvel and one liked dc, and they constantly fought about which was better. or they both like one franchise and trash talked the other

the rooftop radio dance party was totally not meeks and pitts' only dance party. they've had many

all the poets have at least been to charlie's huge house once and done stupid shit in his pool. somebody definitely belly-flopped off the diving board, really regretted it, and now it's an inside joke between all of them (probably be Knox or Pitts, if i'm honest.)

meeks likes plants. he's totally got a few small plants in his and pitts's dorm. totally has a tiny succulent named after some superhero (modern!au he'd so name it something dumb like megatron)

if transformers had come out when the poets were kids, pitts so would've been a transformers kid

charlie totally has converse (specifically red ones) and draws on the rubber parts (this is inspired from a comment on my post where i drew on my vans)

in relation to the last one, he's totally written carpe diem on the shoes. and a lighting bolt

modern!au knox would play fortnight 24/7 and never shut up about it

modern!au todd and neil have a shared farm on stardew valley. and a minecraft house

scratch that, all the poets have a minecraft server they all play on. charlie's house looks like ass while todd and meeks have a library that looks better than most modern architecture

growing up, meeks would sit in the library for hours skimming through the encyclopedias until he found anything that caught his eye. he'd be there form when the library opened to until it closed. the librarian eventually caught on to his schedule and started bringing him little sandwiches and chips and a juice, and always brought him something in the morning, like a granola bar.

maybe that's how pitts and meeks met. pitts was looking for cool like sci-fi novels and saw meeks sitting all by himself with a giant pile of encyclopedias next to him. pitts picked out a cool book and sat by him, the two never saying a word. this continued for a few weeks until one of the two worked up the courage to introduce themself. they became fast friends.

cameron over prepares. always has bandaids on him. mostly because charlie's constantly getting hurt

anyways, i could ramble for days! lmk if you like stuff like this and i can post some more headcanons and stuff

[frownyalfred]

20 Questions for Writers

I was tagged by @lurkinglurkerwholurks

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 146! It would be a larger number if I hadn't deleted all of my Supernatural fics back in the day. There were at least 30 of those, maybe more...

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

913,163 - I'm hoping to hit a million soon!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Batman, Superman, Justice League, Star Wars, Marvel

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? Take Care of Business Everybody Wants You It Was Always You a sky of honey Anything Like Me

5. Do you respond to comments?

Not anymore :/ I have a really hard time keeping up with writing if I'm responding to comments. I hope my readers understand.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hmm. Probably lonely town? Dick is getting de-fibbed in the alley by Bruce, and it's not clear if he's going to survive or not.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

here as I am is hilarious if you're into jealous!Clark. otherwise the weight (salmon ladder fic) always gets me.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Yep. Mostly on borderline, but on other fics too. I love how, as I've gotten better at writing, it's changed from "wow this sucks, your writing is awful" to "you suck because you chose to have [character] do this." Luckily I think most of the hate filters over here to Tumblr, where I can happily block and forget. These days, I mostly get people commenting about how I'm wrong about something. Wrong about something I researched and triple checked before posting...

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yep! All of them, I think? At least, I haven't balked at much yet. I'm not really into the excrement related ones, so I think that would be one of my no-go's.

10. Do you write crossovers?

Yep! bloodletting (Mandalorian/Star Wars and DC Crossover) and a few Marvel/DC crossovers.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yep, a few times. What I'm more pissed about is all of my textposts being monetized over on TikTok and IG. I could be making bank off of those, considering the reach. And several of them are basically mini-fics.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! Tons. Check them out here. There's also some podfics and related works there.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not really. I've made attempts but I'm really bad at it. I tend to write spur of the moment and follow my gut on where the conversation/action goes. Planning out a fic with a partner would do them a disservice, I think.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

I really love Superbat, but Codywan is right up there with it. Something about Cody being a loyal BAMF soldier and long-suffering big brother gets me.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

My vampire AU. Not because I don't want to continue but I cannot decipher my notes as to what should happen next.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I'm very quick, I can type up a full draft in a few hours. I like natural, snappy dialogue and I think I'm good at it. I don't shy away from weird or uncomfortable situations. I'm comfortable with writing a lot of sex/etc.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I write too quickly, sometimes I get ahead of my plot. My dialogue and descriptions can sometimes be a little too bare, or I overcorrect and become too flowery. My fics take on the tone of whatever I'm thinking about at that time.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

If you're confident in your language abilities, go for it. If you're just plugging it into google translate, consider why you're doing that first. Is the addition of this new language actually something someone would say in that moment? Or are we just using it to signal to the audience that they speak another language? Is there a way to show this without telling? That being said, I love using Mando'a in my Star Wars fic, and I've studied it for a while now to be able to do so.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Supernatural

20. Favourite fic you've written?

Probably borderline or a sky of honey. Both took a ton out of me and I'm proud they're whole and standing on their own right now.

---

I'll tag anyone who wants to play! Go wild.

[nitewrighter]

I love your take on how Peter Parker would mesh into the DC Universe, especially as the guy that the Forever People and New Gods gravitate towards. When it comes to Spidey getting tossed into cosmic level threats, such as the original '84 Secret Wars miniseries, he's usually the designated "guy everybody underestimates" because even though Peter is a street-level hero by choice, he can punch SIGNIFICANTLY above his weight class. Like taking on "They can smack The Hulk around" heavyweights. Not only that, but he's a scientific genius who can rub shoulders with the likes of Tony Stark and Reed Richards, in spite of being this dorky, wisecracking wallcrawler.

His whole thing is that when he's around other heroes, because Peter is so secretive about his secret identity, others tend to make wild assumptions about him that Peter never bothers to correct them about, because he is just that short of being Batman-levels of paranoid about his secret identity being uncovered and having it or his loved ones used against him. He's ALSO the one who believes the best in everybody, regardless of what they might think of themselves. He holds his peers to a certain standard, so when they betray that standard, and betray their fellow heroes, THAT'S when Peter gets pissed, and you have moments where he solos like... the ENTIRE X-Men team or something to that effect.

It's why Wolverine, despite being an extraordinarily violent individual, considers Spidey a friend, because Peter genuinely believes that Logan can be so much better than he believes himself to be.

He's like this hodgepodge of Billy Batson, Dick Grayson, Jimmy Olsen, and Bruce Wayne all rolled into one wisecracking package.

I think it also helps that Spider-Man very easily slips into the role of someone who speaks out on behalf of those who are marginalized because, at his roots, he's from a very economically unstable background--he's usually having to negotiate his superheroism with a job that barely keeps a roof over his head, and I think one of the things that makes Spider-Man such a beloved and relatable characters is that, his connection to the world of superheroes doesn't actually protect him from the very mundane, everyday threats of existing in capitalism. He has to worry about keeping a roof over his head, he has to worry about keeping a roof over Aunt May's head, he has to hold MJ's hand while she sobs over community theater programs for local kids get shut down or how she didn't get that callback because even though she's immensely talented she, quote, 'doesn't have the right look.' So he's also this natural advocate of people who get passed over by life in ways all these Marvel heavy hitters don't even think of.

Captain America: Why didn't [Villain of the week] just do [very obvious Lawful Good solution]?

Spider-Man: Because No Child Left Behind shut down 5 different schools in his area, he's in a food desert, a drug arrest for a drug that is now legal is still on his record and actively affecting his hiring prospects, and during the decades you were on ice lawmakers have been steadily killing all the local and federal support programs and antitrust laws you enjoyed in the 40's.

Captain America: Ah. Yeah. That'll do it.

So I think the Forever People (and by extension, the Hairies), being kind of a love letter to counterculture themselves, would be a great team-up for Spidey. Again because they're technically aliens and lack a lot of Earth context, everything about our planet is amazing and new and groovy to them! I think it would be a good blend of characterization, again, with a Spider-Man who's definitely getting severely burnt out and struggling with the sustainability of being Spider-Man and existing as Peter Parker.

Jack Kirby's notes on the Hairies also definitely overlaps with his philosophies on the Forever People, so I'm definitely putting this in here:

Kirby is literally so passionate and insane. But I love the idea of a very exhausted and jaded Spider-Man putting it on himself to be a guide and protector for a polycule of mind-blowingly optimistic space-hippies and somehow healing in the process.

(This is the vision) (Also maybe Spidey gets to get fused into Infinity-Man with all of them at some point. Infini-Spidey. Working name.)

[vo-kopen]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mikescrase/zip-1-3-an-imperfect-superhuman-vs-body-horror-cyborgs

Fricking heck, this is my third time writing this fricking message, because tumblr keeps sending me an error message. I even tried to save the second time as a draft and it still deleted everything. So I am restarting this again. You know tumblr, if you can make a booping event, you can make your site fricking functional.

Anyway, I am terrified for the world. The far right won Tuesday, they are going to try to strip rights from minorities, police brutality will increase, food regulation will loosen and more people will get sick, weather reporting will be privatized and the climate crisis will be undocumented, and the environment will only get more poisoned. Things are bad.

Those are all the real issues, issues that can kill many people and ruin lives. Those things matter. But stories matter too. I love superhero comics, and I know both Marvel and DC’s parent companies are led by supporters of the returning regime. I fear they will fall in line. The MCU is already military propaganda, and I fear the comics and characters I used to love will be fully twisted into a weapon of the right. I don’t want something that once brought me joy and escape to be reduced to a triggering scar.

So thank goodness for Zip.

Zip is an indie British comic that follows an imperfect superhero, but really is about disabilities. The lead’s super speed sabotages her from all sides, and society does not even pretend to care as she falls through the cracks. The comic holds up a gritty mirror to society, and unlike certain metaphors at “the House of Ideas,” I find that Zip nails it. Her struggles resonated deeply with me as an Autistic, and her first issue is one of my favorite comics of all time. But the comic is far from hopeless. While she messes up frequently and does attempt suicide in issue one (I mention that as a trigger warning) she decides at the end of that issue to keep living and she succeeds in saving a life. Things get dark, but there is joy too.

The kickstarter for issue three of Zip has just launched, and it needs support. Zip’s creators are not juggernauts like the big two, they need help raising the funds. Times are rough now and they will only get harder, but if you have money for comics, consider contributing. When I contributed to the second campaign I got my choice of comic cover for my physical book, and while you can buy digital copies of the first two issues off comixology, the Kickstarter can get you downloadable pdfs. So even if Bezos wants to take the comic away, he can’t. Also frick Bezos, hope you choke on a cactus.

Anyway, Zip issue three follows up on some threads from issue one, but the plot is focused on the titular hero facing down generative AI in the form of a swarm of nanomachines that consume everything to make hollow husks. As an amateur writer, I really appreciate them taking a stand against generative AI.

Speaking of art, Gail Simone praised the artwork for the issue two campaign, so that’s an endorsement.

So consider supporting this indie comic, it helps small creators, the book takes stands I don’t think the big two would, and in the upcoming regime I could use more disabled heroes to relate to. There is a reason most of my OCs are Autistic. Gosh imagine if I ever got to crossover one of my heroes with Zip. I certainly have a few who could gel with her disabled focus.

Tagging @thefingerfuckingfemalefury @majingojira @hellyeahheroes @nitpickrider @akirakan @littlemissonewhoisall @espanolbot2 and anyone else who would be interested in this gritty comic about disabled superheroes. Issue one is one of my favorite comics, it hit me hard and I recommend it heavily, but issue two was solid as well and it introduced a member of her rogue’s gallery. So if you have money for comics, consider helping this book get made.

[artbyblastweave]

Considering the time-frame in which that one DC "Blackest Night" crossover came out (roughly around the Return/5 comics in late 2009-2010), do you think that the event was at least somewhat inspired by or distantly related to Marvel Zombies?

(for reference: Blackest Night was the one where one of Green Lantern's bad guys created a New And Even More Dangerous Lantern Corp (as was the trend) that could resurrect the dead, including deceased superheroes as evil zombies.)

Almost certainly it was- and if it wasn't, I remember it being perceived as such, people describing it as DC's answer to Marvel Zombies at the time and in the years after, sometimes in a positive way and sometimes in a "stupid fuckers missed the bandwagon" way. Personally I remember clocking out almost immediately upon learning it was an in-continuity event and thus something that wasn't going to stick.

Ironically, the real DC answer to Marvel Zombies, DCeased, didn't come out until 2019, when Marvel Zombies was almost totally fallow as a property- which goes to show that these things are best divorced from bandwagoning attempts. Wait till you've got a fun idea for a horrible little alternate universe and then pull the trigger!

[saintvainglorious]

Fics I Enjoyed in September & October

Includes 10 fics from the following fandoms: Black Sails, Captive Prince, DC Comics, Harry Potter, Star Wars

Compromising by samvelg Star Wars | Gen | 13k | Not Rated

Five times Admiral Piett misunderstands the nature of Luke and Vader's relationship, and the one time he doesn't.

Paternal Relations by willowcrowned/@willowcrowned Star Wars | Gen | 1k | Teen & Up

“No,” Vader says, “I am your father.” Every bit of the pain, the terror, and the rage that have been flooding Luke’s senses is completely drowned out by utter confusion. What, he thinks, the fuck. Then, a sinking feeling completely overtakes him. The Force is telling him the truth of Vader’s words— he can feel them resonating, falling along invisible threads and weaving their way through his being— but there’s something not quite right about them. Vader is his father, at least technically, but there’s something he’s missing, something that he— Oh shit, Luke thinks, Vader is my dad’s ex-husband.

What Lurks in the Dark by DragonflyBreak Star Wars | Gen | 155k | Teen & Up | Part 1 of Along a Different Path

A simple mission to check out an abandoned weapons factory turns into a dangerous fight for survival. Trust is broken, loyalties will be tested, and dark secrets are brought to light. Because sooner or later, the truth always comes out.

Lovefool by Kittendiamore Captive Prince | Damen/Laurent | 5k | General Audiences

It starts, embarrassingly enough, with an ad from Craigslist: "I’m a 21 y.o art student (male), writing a thesis on the relationship between performance and the awareness of the audience. You don’t care about that. I’m an actor offering to give you the most dramatic night of your life. I’ll be your date to any event/function/family gathering, and convince your friends/family members that I’m either: the biggest mistake of your life or the best thing that ever happened to you. Up to you. I’m very good at what I do."

all this and heaven too by spinawren/@wrenaspun Captive Prince | Damen/Laurent | 15k | Mature | Part 1 of selkieverse

Laurent felt his mouth twist. “You want me to stay, but not enough to do anything about it.” Damen’s expression softened. “I wouldn’t make you stay,” he said, “for the world.” He said, “Laurent, it would be such a sacrifice.”

we shall be free; we shall find peace by mediant/@blorb-el DC Comics | Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne | 36k (WIP) | Mature

Clark has accepted what it means to be Lex's prisoner - the pain of the Green, the experiments, the hands on it. The long years buried in its containment cell, let out only to act as Lex's weapon, as Lex's tool. It had fought back at first, but years have ground it down and away to almost nothing. Then Lex hands it a baby. And Clark realizes that while it may have hurt humans, and lied about what it is, and it may deserve to be locked away - Kon deserves to be free.

thieves by Ajaxthegreat Black Sails | James Flint/Charles Vane | 4k (WIP) | Explicit

“I’m not averse,” Vane says, and Flint marvels at it: his ability to be so entirely straightforward, his total lack of shame or subtext.

Theories of Magic and Mind by M_Leigh/@morgan-leigh Harry Potter | Sirius Black/Remus Lupin | 28k | Teen & Up

“Pensieves are subjective, just like memories are,” Remus continued. “So I can’t just—pull out memories of Hogwarts and play them like films for you to show you exactly what happened. A lot of it is sort of fuzzy and fragmented and it’s not a reliable record of events. But I thought it might be helpful.” Sirius considered the fact that circumspect, reserved Remus Lupin was offering to crack open his mind and let Sirius inside. “All right then.” Memory magic, across three eras.

Light in August by orestesfasting Harry Potter | Sirius Black/Remus Lupin | 21k | Explicit

Summer, 1977. With the full moon approaching, Sirius heads up to the Lupins' countryside cottage to make himself useful. Or to make a complete and utter arse out of himself, because really, that's all he can seem to do around Remus these days.

Born Under Punches by orestesfasting Harry Potter | Sirius Black/Remus Lupin | 13k | Mature

The truth is that he’s kept this love on the back burner of his heart for so many years that he’s grown accustomed to the smell and can sometimes almost ignore it completely. He likes to think he’s made peace with the fact that he’ll never know what it tastes like.

Frog and Toad Aren't Friends Anymore by swordfishtrombones Harry Potter | Sirius Black/Remus Lupin | 10k | Mature

“Is this really all because I wouldn’t live with you?” Remus is still feeling a little fuzzy, but he’s beginning to get chilly and fed up, and he wants to be on common ground. “Some people just aren’t good flatmates. I wasn’t trying to say I liked Adrian and Mary better than you, or whatever you’re thinking.” Sirius runs a hand through his hair and squints at the streetlight, twisting his mouth like Remus is truly hopeless. “It hurt,” says Sirius, “my feelings.”

[pomfypanda]

hey do you have any experience with western comics? I know you're like a big manga head but I can't remember you ever mentioning something like dc or marvel. any indies you enjoy? garfield?

90% of comic I read is mostly manga related, but to me it doesn’t matter what “region” a comic is from because a manga has the same storytelling elements as a western comic and Vice versa. I just tend to read manga since they were so easy to illegally read online and I grew up with them.

However, I am familiar with “big names” like Jack Kirby and even studied under professors who are considered pillars for DC or Marvel. One of my professor used to regularly publish batman comics. I’ve even talked to Scott Pilgram man once in a zoom class.

I’ve never really gotten into garfield, but a similar franchise I respect a lot is Calvin and Hobbes. I used to read The Walking Dead comics casually a few years ago.

I read some Webtoons too, but I’ve never really read any really small indie comics. A lot of them are very juvenile to me (and I suspect I will start out exactly the same)

The first anon ask about my passion in 3 years instead of how the musk of my balls smell like. Than you Anon.

[hollowsart]

What's your go-to when a Marvel or DC character isn't in TSSM (quite obviously with the DC ones)? Do you make them from scratch, or do you pick another show, such as Earth's Mightiest Heroes or someone from the BTAS universe?

whoops this response got long:

I usually go about starting with the overall general basics of the characters and then I look around to see what others have done, or I take ideas from my favorite animated cartoons that had the characters in it.

For Marvel and Spider-Man specifically, I take heavy inspiration from TSSM. the biggest examples of this are with Doc Ock, Mysterio, and Electra.

For DC, however, (specifically Batman) I take inspiration from BTAS and The Batman (2004)! I haven't actually done really much at all with the DC side of things.. Also Teen Titans is my main source of knowledge for those characters, I hardly know anything beyond that show.

If I can't find any fanmade takes or anything that really grabs me and gives me ideas for my designs and takes on the characters, I'll just... Try to come up with something on my own from scratch. Talking with friends helps to get unique ideas, as does outside media influences.

it's rare I will take a character and their design directly from a source, but my version of Penguin would be a good example of that. I do still need to give him a new outfit, but he is relatively the same as The Batman 2004's Penguin, but with a lot of my own personal headcanons and perceptions of how I would prefer the character to be.

Mixing and Matching some characters between Marvel and DC is also a lot of fun. Plus, if some characters (Scarecrow) are the same name and same-ish appearance between both franchises, you can just... remove one. (Jonathan Crane is the one that remains for my verse as the Marvel Scarecrow is.. not really that great? and really provides nothing of substance or quality nor any reason to keep existing).

Or. I will take two characters and merge them into one singular character. or even replace one with the other and completely remove that other character, they don't even have to be related. (White Rabbit Lorina & Beetle Janice switching roles, but Janice ceases to exist.. Beetle being replaced by the 2nd person to take the mantle in the comics, Leila Davis!)

Often I will simply just rewrite the characters almost entirely. Beetle, again, being an example, White Rabbit, too, just to name a few off the top of my head lol

In the end, I do also usually resort to just basing the character on my own random headcanons. If I can't think of anything for the character, I may consider swapping their gender and see if that helps me come up with ideas.

It's fun to get creative and play around with ideas for characters. Changing their relationships and backstories, but still keeping the character recognizable and maintaining at least a couple main elements of their backstory.

[redhoodinternaldialectical]

5, 16, 20?

Linking the original ask post cause it took some digging to find it again lol

Something you see in fics a lot and love:

B-boysss... kissing :3

lol okay uh the overwhelming majority of what I read is jaytim that's rated Explicit, so there's, ya'know, a lot of patterns in there that I've self selected for, but attempting to get into a more meaningful answer, I really like the way that fanfic repeatedly digs up old shit and uses it as a catalyst for characters to gain greater intimacy with each other. The constant reinvention and re-contextualization of Jason and Tim's various fights is neat to me

A tiny detail in canon that you want more people to appreciate:

Oooh I'm gonna throw up the post I already made about the guy Jason manipulated into playing puppet for him

But that feels like cheating so I also want people to appreciate the asymmetrical aspects of the OG spoiler outfit, because I adore it so. I am a SUCKER for shoulder pads/spikes and 80s asymmetrical outfits.

Your very first fandom:

That's... actually pretty hard to answer.

The first online community I truly got involved with is City of Heroes. Loved playing the game when it was live, and I role played in the Homecoming servers for fourteen hours a day, seven days a week, for about five years. I still play every once in a while too! If you see Dread Captain Bones, David Drakal, or Cowboy Cline around, those are me :3 The only issue I have with saying it's this one is that I'm not entirely sure this counts as a fandom?? It really is more a role playing community than anything like a fandom for the game itself, most people only very lightly engage with the setting and it's considered a tad crass to get any of the named canonical characters involved with your character's story lines.

We could very technically count Naruto simply because that was the first one I ever tried to find fanfic for but uhhhhh... I started with ff.net with a super dark E rated fic because I thought E meant for Everyone and bounced off it so hard. I'm very sorry geisha AU naru-sasu fic I read when I was like thirteen, I tried so hard to like you, but my PTSD was not having it lmao

There's also half decent arguments to be made for Marvel comics, Doctor Who, or Vampire the Masquerade simply because my parents are/were such massive nerds lmao

Both of them did a lot of LARP and one of my favorite pictures of my mom is her as either the Sheriff or the Prince of our city ripping someone's heart out via a sponge soaked with fake blood :3 so yeah I def grew up learning about the clans and the lore and such

And this is very much a Marvel household lol My parents used to do story time with me about the X-men, and like they are completely accepting of my metal head and queer stuff, but I feel like it hurts my dad's soul just a little bit that I ended up being so into DC and so uninterested in Marvel. Whenever we talk about some of my (not romance related) plotlines for my DC fics he'll substitute in vaguely equivalent Marvel characters because he simply cannot be asked to dedicate braincells to DC characters lmao

Me: "I'm really looking forwards to writing out how the super geniuses and stuff push the limits of what Jason and Tim did to the diseases."

My Dad, knowing FULL WELL that I am not including any Marvel characters in this fic: "Oh yeah, Reed Richards would go nuts trying to figure that shit out."

My dad also collected Doctor Who episodes, like the ones from 1963 all the way to modernity, I grew up watching the black and white stuff, and for sure tumblr did expose me to Superwholock, through I never felt like I was a part of that.

It might actually be DC comics itself that's my first fandom! I just never really interacted with any sort of online or fandom space directly until Boostle dragged me into DC fandom's sphere of influence.

Anyhow I hope my ramblings were interesting/entertaining and thank you muchly for the ask! :3

[madwheelerz]

Powers, where do they come from and what are the rules as told through Henry Creel and comic references?

We all know that powers have rules, especially in the world of comics. In comics the way heroes gain their powers varies immensely, but for the purposes of this post I will only be focusing on few different ways that heroes obtain powers and in particular the ways that they gain power in superhero comics such as marvel and dc.

I could go in order, but I actually wanted to, but I want to start with Superman and Supergirl. Both of these characters that we have name-dropped are born with their powers, but those powers are only powers because of their location. On their home planet they are normal people, you could even consider them weak, hence even the small piece of their home planet renders them hopeless without protection. Wonder woman was sculpted by clay and gifted her powers so while she was created with them her creation wasn’t exactly normal.

The Fantastic Four are civilians who gain their powers after being exposed to cosmic rays during an unauthorized outer space test flight in an experimental rocket ship designed by Dr. Reed Richards. He-man has powers that originate from Castle Grayskull. The Sorceress who lives there is the one who granted Adam the ability to transform and also communicated telepathically with him.

Professor X and Jean Grey are both mutants meaning that they were born with their powers. The Green Lantern’s powers are directly related to the rings the wear and these rings chose their owners. We also have Cyborg whose limbs are made out of a radioactive chemical element.

So, what does this say about powers? Well to categorize them: 1) being born with powers, 2) radioactivity or chemicals that alter your state and give you powers, and 3) getting your powers from an outside source. How much of this applies to Henry Creel?

His powers suddenly manifest (due to abuse? When I looked it up it said that’s how Professor X manifested his powers). His taken for experimentation that, by all means, should be illegal and these experiences lead to his powers being withheld for a period of time. During this time the lab searches for ways to replicate his power and while doing so prob at him in order to find out how to manipulate his powers.

They might have used chemicals or radioactivity to do this. El’s experience with her powers is heavily tied to electronics which we know more often than not emits radiation. Plus, the little things that are placed on the heads of the children. This seems to be more for amplifying and training, however. Anyway Henry. Then El sends him to the upside down and he is exposed to the natural forces of the area, and he is altered. He should be dead. He was struck by lightening and we see that his hand has mutated. The vines that hook up to him are seemed to be connecting him to something, but these are all new parts of his powers. New mutations that aren’t from the lab.

This indicates that the upside down is capable of altering someone beyond recognition down to a molecular level. I think this might have been what happened to Barb and Will. During her funeral we are told that the cover story is that there was a chemical leak from the lab which killed her. If I remember correctly there is also the paper claiming that Will was in the lab vs the one claiming, he was found in the shed. I think that the slugs being placed within Will and Barb as well as the vines indicate that they’ve been altered by the upside down specifically.

Being in the upside down alone won’t change you but interacting directly with the elements there (the vines?) most likely will. We might also want to keep an eye on what our characters are wearing on their hands.  

@aemiron-main because I think you might find this helpful maybe. @wheeler-things​ I know you said something similar before so here’s what I think

[evilwickedme]

🔥 any topic of your choice

I think we need to be more forgiving of people who are new to comics. Comics are a really inaccessible medium and especially if you're trying to get into one of the big two companies you're inevitably going to be confused and uninformed. I've been reading DC comics for about a year now (not including watchmen or wonder woman by Greg Rucka which I read years ago but didn't manage to get me into DC), and I've only really been a part of the fandom since July or August, and it's still really confusing and hard to tell what's fanon and what's canon. I have so many characters I haven't managed to read for at all despite wanting to, or only a handful of issues, or only minor appearances. I'd love to have read every single one of Roy Harper's pre-52 appearances but it's just not feasible, especially since DC particularly is inaccessible in another way - their app is only available to US residents. If you want to pay for comics then it's going to be expensive, even digitally - I managed to get Young Justice books 1-3 through comixology, which in itself is not a cheap subscription, but then the rest of the series is $20 a pop!! That's a lot of money!! And in print books go wayyyy higher, or even if they don't cost that much if you're buying a bunch then it's going to get expensive. But even if you're not paying it's confusing to just jump into something like this - don't get me wrong, this is what I've done both with marvel in 2015 and in DC last year, but it's not an easy thing to do and at first you're going to be fucking baffled. You're never going to know everything, it's not physically possible. Even for marvel, which, again, I've been reading since 2015, I haven't exactly come close to reading everything. I haven't even read every Deadpool comic, not even his main titles! I want to read gwenpool and moon knight and daredevil and non-spider-verse-related Spider-Man stories but it's just really fucking difficult to prioritize, not to mention keeping up with current runs.

And I'm doing my best, right? Like I recently finally managed to start reading superfam comics, and last year I started reading x men and scarlet witch, and as I said above I've been reading young justice, and I'm keeping up with like a dozen or more ongoings, and it's so fucking hard and I'm lucky to have enough disposable income and free time to do this. And people have been genuinely fucking mean to me. Like really super fucking dismissive bc how dare I ship the obvious most popular ship and not this more niche one when I haven't even read an appearance of that character!! How dare I not know everything about this run when I haven't gotten to that run yet bc I'm still trying to even track it down!! I can't prioritize comics I can't get my hands on when I have a shelf and a half of DC comics and I've only read about a third of it!!!

And it's worse for people who don't have the money and free time that I do . My parents pay my fucking rent and I only work part time, okay, I'm in a really privileged position. Some people are only reading the DC webtoons or only watching the young justice TV show and yeah it's frustrating to see so many people who don't know your favorite characters as much as you do, but I've been a Deadpool fan for close to eight years now and I've never gone onto anybody's page and told them that they're interpretation is bad and they should feel bad, I keep that shit to myself or AT WORST I complain to my friends in DMs or WhatsApp messages or whatever. The only stuff like this I complain about in public is stuff I consider genuinely harmful (the pit rage trope for Jason for example) or upon specific prompting, and even then I do it on MY blog, not somebody else's, and I don't tag it so people looking for content that they enjoy don't have to see it.

Like... Basically I feel like people are too harsh on casual, peripheral fans, or people who are new to the material, or even people who aren't new to comics but just don't know as much as you. A lot of people don't have any other options. You don't have to like the content they make. But actively going into their content or constantly making negative content about them is exhausting. I'm really tired of constantly seeing memes about how terrible batfam stans are. I don't even disagree, I just think you're annoying. But I don't reblog those posts just to shit on op. Maybe some of y'all should consider it.

[overlooked-gems]

A Look At Stuff You Probably Never Heard Of: One Operation Joker

This is sort of a new one. I’ve never really taken a look at anything DC or Marvel-related. Even more so, this one isn’t even created by DC, but is a manga all the way from Japan, but still published by DC. Today, we’ll be taking a look at... One Operation Joker!

One Operation Joker is a manga series written by Satoshi Miyagawa and drawn by Keisuke Gotou. It was serialized in “Kodansha’s Morning” magazine on January 7th, 2021 with an English translation to be released on September 5th, 2023 for the DC Universe Infinite, with digital and print versions becoming available afterwards.

Another day in Gotham, Batman is fighting with Joker within some sort of chemical facility. With his back against a railing, Joker pulls his usual schtick; trying to get Batman to kill him and pointing out how they’re not so different. But the moment Batman lets his guard down, Joker throws him into the chemical vat below, somehow transforming him into an infant, which wasn’t something he was expecting. But because Joker’s existence has no meaning without Batman, he decides to raise the baby until he becomes Batman again. He eventually ends up naming the baby “Bruce” after the owner and chairman of Wayne Enterprises, Bruce Wayne, “mysteriously vanished”. He also brings in Johnny Frost and Harley Quinn to assist him.

The manga is quite detailed, with special attention going to the faces and expressions with the comedy coming from reactions to a situation, mainly Joker struggling with being a single father or Johnny realizing Joker is raising a baby. It also shows a few difficulties with raising a child, like baby-proofing sharp corners, buying the right-sized diapers, and finding a suitable daycare.

And now, the time has come for the Final Recommendation Never Let Go Of It||Get It||Hold Onto It||Try It||Consider It||Stay Away From It

The series is pretty charming, what with Joker trying to balance being a criminal madman with being a responsible parent. As stated before, a good amount of the comedy comes from Joker trying to be a parent.

I also want to give special attention to Harley, who takes on the role of “Bruce’s” mom. Not only does she quickly get along with him (as seen in the image above), but she also helps secure a daycare for Bruce when Joker was struggling with the interview process. Clearly, she’s happy with being a mother.

The series itself is still ongoing and your choices are to either read the manga online with fan translations or wait for it to officially be released in the West by DC.

An with that, I’ll see you next month!

[guiltyofbitchcraft]

So a few weeks ago, some friends and I were talking about the state of DC comic titles and how it feels like most of the titles they're releasing are Batman-related titles and that, based on our vague awareness of solicitations, the trend didn't appear to be ending any time soon. This, of course, made me curious and sent me on a fact-finding mission to find out specifics. Not even just about the state of batman related books but of DC in general. So I have deep-dived into looking at all current titles and upcoming titles for DC (and a little bit of Marvel too just to see how they're stacking up against the competition). I'm sure most of the information has been talked about before, it's not super hard to find, but here's what I found out.

A few disclaimers:

-For the sake of simplicity, I considered any title "current" if it had started before or had not ended until after January 1, 2023 (mainly cuz I planned to post this on the first day of the year but I...didn't. Oops.)

-For upcoming changes to titles I'm only going to look out as far as March as that's how far out current solicitations are.

-While I did all this research myself and I double-checked my work, there is absolutely a chance that I made a mistake as I am only human. So if you see something that you are confused about or know to be incorrect, just let me know!

-My knowledge of current marvel canon and titles is very low. I'd like to get back into Marvel soon but I have not yet. So I could not do a deep dive comparison of the companies in the way I wanted to simply because my information on Marvel right now is very limited.

Alright then, having said all that, let's get started:

Ongoing Titles

DC only has 18 ongoing titles currently, 3 of those are Looney Tunes, Scooby-Doo, and Mad Magazine so not part of the DC universe. Meanwhile, Marvel has 41. 8 of those are not part of the Marvel Universe, they're either Star Wars or Alien vs Predator.

Of DC's current ongoing titles, 12 of the 18 are within the Batman/Gotham franchise. 4 of those titles directly include Bruce Wayne. The only other "families" that have titles are Superman (who has 2 but 1 of those is Batman/Superman: World's Finest), Wonder Woman (1), and Flash (1). There are only 2 ongoing team titles right now and those are Batgirls and Batman Incorporated.

Of Marvel's current ongoings, the two largest "families"/franchises I could find are the X-men (with 9 titles) and Spider-man/Symbiotes (with 5). Keep in mind Marvel also has over double the number of ongoings. They also have around 12 ongoing team titles (although 2 of them are ending in February)

DC has announced 8 new ongoings that will come out throughout the year however only 1 of them (Superman) is going to start within the next 3 months (February). DC is also ending 2 of their ongoings in the next 2 months (Batman: Urban Legends and I am Batman) so for the month of March DC will only have 17 ongoings.

Limited Series (and one-shots)

DC is currently publishing 32 limited series. About 17 of those are Elseworlds or otherwise do not take place in main continuity (8 of those are Black Label). So DC has about 30 titles taking place in main continuity right now and half of them are limited series.

Marvel currently has 25 limited titles, 4 of which are Star Wars.

Of the 32 current limited series, 16 of those titles are Batman/Gotham related. 8 of those books have "Batman" in the title. However, it is in the limited series that we do get our first non-Batman/Gotham related team comics: JSA, WildC.A.T.S, and Titans United: Bloodpact. Although I don't believe Titans is in main continuity.

Throughout the next 3 months, 18 of DC's current limited series will end and 10 new titles will start. 2 of these new series are Batfam/Gotham related, 2 of them are Superman related, and 2 of them are Milestone comics. Marvel is also ending 18 limited series in the next month, but they're also starting up 21 new limited titles.

By the end of March, Marvel will have 28 limited titles and DC will have 26, so Marvel will actually have more limited titles out than DC (although who knows how long that will last/if it will last at all as we don't know what either of them will start publishing in April yet.)

Both companies are also publishing a lot of one-shots in the next 3 months (DC mainly because most of their Lazarus Planet event will be published through one-shots). DC will publish 17, and Marvel will publish 14

I thought about trying to also list statistics about how DC is doing diversity wise but this may not be the best post for it. Something more directly focused on that topic would probably make more sense. Especially because just because a title features a woman, or a queer person, or a person of color, or a disabled person, or so on, doesn't always mean they're doing it well.

I also am not including creator statistics either because I just found that trying to track them through titles the way I was doing is not the most accurate way to find out how much work they're all doing (especially artists).

But yeah. I have no idea if anyone finds this interesting the way I do but if so here it is. If anyone wants to know where I got my information from I used solicitations, the database on leagueofcomicgeeks.com, and the lists of Marvel and DC's current publications that are on Wikipedia. DC is 100% oversaturating their content with Bat-related titles, and that doesn't appear to be changing for the next few months. Definitely not a surprise there. However, before I started digging I did not realize how few ongoings they had, especially compared to their limited series. And of course, all of this is subject to change, especially after March because that's when their Lazarus Planet event will wrap up. Not to mention it still appears like they are going to announce more titles for their Dawn of DC initiative. Either way, I just hope they start doing better and start taking risks (especially risks that don't involve Batman).

BTW I didn't just do this little research project to shit on DC, I am a DC fan myself. I just am generally disappointed with what they've been doing as of late, and with what they haven't been doing.

[therapy-ghost]

Hi! Here's my information for our mega matchup exchange. Could I please get a romantic matchup for Resident Evil, DC, Marvel, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Helluva Boss, Hazbin Hotel, Pokemon (with a preference for Sun/Moon or Sword/Shield), and Genshin Impact?

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Straight

Age: 20

Zodiac Sign: Gemini

MBTI: INFJ-A

Ennegram: 5w6

Personality: I'm pretty quiet in social settings but if someone talks to me first, I can keep a conversation going. I will occasionally go up to someone to initial a conversation but not very often. With people that I'm close with, I'm very open and sarcastic. And I make a lot of self-depreciating jokes (even though I have a high self worth). I set very high standards for myself but I also usually meet those standards. People say I have a good poker face/a scary glare but I've never seen it. People also say I look like someone who "knows what they're doing".

Likes/Hobbies: Reading, writing, anime, video games, and listening to music (stuff like Hamilton, Panic! at the Disco and Offspring). I want to be a fantasy writer and I am currently studying an English major at university.

Dislikes: Spiders (deathly afraid of those), being forgotten when I'm gone, and disappointing those who I care about.

Looks: I'm 164cm (5'4") and have an average build (not too curvy but definitely not straight up and down). I have green eyes that everyone thinks are brown and curly/frizzy dark brown hair that is down to the middle of my back

I hope you have a lovely day and that life is treating you kindly! Looking forward to getting to work on your matchup as well!

~Eren

Resident Evil: Luis Sera

I love him to be honest(I dont like his remake design tho)

he 100 percent has a pokerface as well, he just has a bit of a hard time keeping it

also makes self depreciated jokes so you can easily have a joke off.

if you two are sitting on the couch and you both see a spider at the same time; he left an hour ago.

he's a hamilton viber; will rock out to the schuyler sisters with you and try and sing you'll be back like in the musical(Spit and all)

DC: Dick Grayson

supportive king right here

you wanna write a fantasy book? already bought! as sson as you start writng he is on the waitlist for one.

he's a bit of a diva; so if he has something to rant about, he play with your hair while you do whatever.

now, unlike Luis, he can deal with spiders for you; he is your knight in spandex armor.

he also will watch anime if you are watching it, just wants to spend time with you sice most of the time he is either working or... working.

Marvel: Bruce Banner

he is also kinda quiet in social settings so you two togetehr is just like your own little bubble.

you have a little corner dedicated to you in his lab for you to write or read or whatever when you come to visit him.

he will help you if you want help in your quest of high standards.

he has somehom gotten hulk not to try and kill you so... yay

JJBA part 5; Bruno

mom's are made to be supportive and thats what he is, he is a mom

he buys a copy of your book once it comes out for everyone.

he would never be disappointed in you; he is there for you always.

he enjoys simple small talk about how your day is going and what you have been up to.

if you need peace and quiet, consider everyone gone on a job.

Helluva Boss: Vortex

bro is chill

he is like 6’11” so you look short compaired to him lol.

music exchanging with each other, I feel like he will enjoy a bit of offspring.

if you need help with anything to achieve your goals, he’s the man.

he’s the extrovert for you so you don’t have to start up conversations and just jump in when you feel like it.

Hazbin Hotel: Lucifer

honestly… *shrug*

golden retriever x black cat but the golden retriever will bite you with out hesitation.

he’s described to be very silly and out going, so I guess the conversations with be fun.

Relates to King George a bit to much(being to head of hell in all his greatness)

treats you like a literal queen; what ever you feel like, videos games, books, movies; you name you have it in your hands in the next 20 seconds, and if you don’t want anything, that’s fine to.

Pokemon Sword and Shield; Raihan

using his internet following to advertise your book once it’s out.

matching bandanna’s for you too

he is probably one of the more extroverted people on this list so conversation jump started

uses you expert ability of dialect to make his post and literally anything seem better.

with his social following and the fact that he is with you; you will never be forgotten

Genshin Impact: Kaeya

This cheeky bastard will pick you up, he is a ‘tall male’ after all.

he is very sweet to you; every time he comes back from a mission with the other knights, his first course of action will to be hunt you down and give you a hug.

he is also quite sarcastic so… joke swat?

he likes to sit literally anywhere and read with you.

if you like to have your hair played with… so does he; so playing with hair is also something he does(it’s a blue character thing)

I really hope you enjoy this; and have a wonderful day/night!!!

[superklutzkent]

punchline | marvel x dc oneshot

excerpt below the cut

All things considered, it really had started as a good day.

Or, as good as any day can be when you’re stranded indefinitely, quite possibly permanently, in a whole other universe. But Peter’s rather gotten used to that by now, it isn’t so new to him. Still, he prefers not to think about the idea that he might never find a way home, so he pushes that worry into the back of his mind whenever it rears its anxiety-inducing head.

The day, like any other day, had started as any usual morning would. Peter was still on the bench, restricted from doing any kind of Spidey related stuff on the outside until his body had properly healed. Not that he was injured, more so out of balance with how he was only just getting used to sleeping in a warm bed and eating full, hot meals again. Alfred is a saint, he thinks, a blessing in disguise because he’s never met someone who can cook as well as he can. As good as he is, however, nothing can beat May's homemade wheat cakes.

But he had been feeling antsy as of late, itching to patrol, or at least do something.

So when he’d finally been allowed to go for a discrete swing, just to satisfy that itch, he’d been almost leaping with joy. He didn’t have an escort following him around, watching his every move either as the others were too wrapped up in various places around Gotham. Crime had reached its peak lately, meaning the Bats and Birds were spread thin. If only he could help.

He really hadn’t been trying to look for trouble, not exactly. He’d been minding his own business actually, taking a slow walk down the street, breathing in the not so fresh air and enjoying his time outside after being cooped up indoors for so long.

Unfortunately, he’d just so happened to wander right into an ongoing hostage situation and could do nothing as he himself was also taken hostage.

He hadn’t thought much of it at first, he’d seen a lot of situations like these ones before, stopped many himself so he thought that perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad. Just some low time crooks trying to make a scene, no biggie, right?

Wrong. It just so happened that this particular hostage situation was orchestrated by none other than the Clown Prince of Crime himself. 

Parker Luck strikes again.