#dc fans was this comic any good? I won’t read it but I want to understand if these writers knew what they were doing

[sarafangirlart]

I was never really fond of Wonder Woman comics as an adaptation of mythology and this is no exception. So basically Darkside is now a child (for reasons I don’t care to look up) and the only way he can age faster is if he kills demigods and consumes their essence.

First of all, why the fuck would Perseus be in Wall Street? No scratch that, what the fuck is he doing in America? I’ve talked about this before but what is it with modern adaptations placing these Greek characters in America? I know Greece isn’t what it used to but why America of all places? Also where the fuck is Andromeda? He wouldn’t be so bored if he has a hot wife to come home to.

[stealingyourbones]

I don't really get the people who think reading the comics is such a radical idea. Don't they want to learn more about them? aren't they curious what makes them tick? what insane adventures they went on? what fears they have? what makes them laugh and smile? I'm from europe so I haven't seen any of the DC shows I see mentioned every once in a while (which means I really don't get the whole Clark hates clones thing... but that's a different thing) and it's only been this year that I have enough disposable income to splurge on comics, aka I haven't read that many just yet.

But I do think the ones I have read enhance the stories I'm trying to tell, which to me is a good reason to read them ;p but besides that, they are fun! they are just really fun to read

I’m glad you’re having fun reading comics man! It’s a shame that folks don’t read them as much but you know, I can understand it. I both asked some folks in the Haunting Heroes discord server and have some of my own points to make about this.

First of all I do still believe that you should consume some form of DC media if you’re in the fandom. It’s fun and there are comics, books, movies, tv shows, and every other form of medium known to man that you can take a peek at! Idk I’m just a bit DC enjoyer and think that looking at canon media to expand on your knowledge and help create ideas you wouldn’t have had if you hadn’t looked at said piece of media.

Now onto why reading comic books is hard:

Some folks simply prefer the fandom and not the official DC content. Whether they prefer fanon, find fics more accessible, or like the people in the fandom, they’d rather just stick to the fandom.

They simply don’t know where to start. Getting into comics can be INCREDIBLY overwhelming ( DC has done their best to fix this and has messed up more than once. My go to is to reccomend folks just start reading New 52 comic runs as it’s really good for new readers to jump into the comics with any hero that might intrigue them). Big comic events span multiple comic story runs and not a cohesive line of comics, some omnibuses for stories are out of print, the 80+ years of comics are daunting as hell, and everyone has their own opinion on the best versions of a character/where to start/what to read.

Money. Comics are an expensive hobby to have. They may cost $1-$5 each on average but that price adds up over time. I have a comic collection of roughly 1,300 comics. I’d estimate its value very roughly around the $7,800 range. It’s probably far more than that though and I know damn well reselling it I won’t get half of that value back. I’m very fortunate to be a college student with disposable income and for this hobby to be the only thing I ever really spend money on besides rent and food. Some people either can’t afford them or don’t want to buy a comic they don’t know if it’s good or not.

Varying quality. Comics are a very mixed bag thing where they can be incredibly written or some of the worst pieces of media you’ve ever read. With this being the case, it can be really hard to find a comic character or writer you like if that’s your first experience. It takes a while to learn about different writers and find out who your favorite writers are. What’s harder is some writers can make absolute masterpieces with one character and the next comic run they cover it can be absolute garbage. Not only that, everyone has opinions on what is a good comic run or not. It’s impossible to find a repeatedly stated and easily accessible list on the good comics to read.

Pretentious “Canon is God” fans. Experiencing “um actually this isn’t good because this isn’t how the canon character would act” responses from people can really fucking suck and diminish their want to experience anything that’s official DC writing. I’ve seen more than one person go into this primarily fanon focused space and insult people saying their writing isn’t canonical and therefore it isn’t valid. It’s Uber Pretentious, demeaning, and actively harms peoples interests in checking out canon content.

Timelines. I already kind of said it but DC’s timelines are a mess. hell, even New 52 has some fucked up timelines making all of Batman’s previous timelines canon but happen only within a seven year period. That’s WAY too short for how much history is packed in there. The amount of crisises that happen and fully change the lore and timelines of characters is bonkers, the comic runs that bounce between different comic runs are really confusing, and the fact that there isn’t a True Starting Point for reading makes it so hard to grasp anything that’s happening. It’s one of comics biggest issues and no matter what DC has done they have yet to find a convenient solution.

Sensitive Content. Comics from DC are littered with either intentional, badly aged, or ignorantly written plot points and writing choices that will turn away readers. DC has its fair share of sexism, misogyny, abelism, racism, abuse, sexual harassment, sexual assaults, or topics casually addressed that can be very triggering for some people. Especially since a large amount of that sort of content is handled incredibly poorly. One particular writer, Alan Moore, writes sexual assault scenes with absolutely zero tact or the delicateness that a topic such as that should be held in. It’s almost solely used as a “let’s make the bad guy do the most fucked up thing they could do” throwaway plot point. Comics of the sort dissuade a lot of readers because of both the heavy content within comics and how that content can be incredibly poorly handled. This is partially why some folks would prefer to read fics. Comics are a unknown mixed grab bag when it comes to content like this and things exactly like this is known to make PTSD symptoms worse while fics have tags and can warn you before you consume the content within.

Time. A lot of folks have busy lives and just don’t have the time to read them.

The ways they intake media. Some folks might have a better time watching a long commentary video that explains a comic or their brain can’t process the comic medium very well. I can read and retain comic knowledge but even I am unique in this aspect, my memory is frightening levels of bad and is proven by science to be absolute shit. I have to reread comics at least once a month to retain the basic bare bones plot. Just because one person can easily digest what’s going on in a comic doesn’t mean everyone can.

Comics are such a big part of my life. I love them so much and they’ve gotten me through so many things. My own experience with comics isn’t the same for others and my thoughts on reading comics differs with other people. A lot of people have equally as many reasons for why they don’t read comics as you and I have for reading them.

[question-why-not]

i really hate how the DC writers and some fans are so obsessed with “which batfamily can beat which” and with just seeing “cool fight scenes” and stuff

This awful obsession keeps taking precedence over and destroying any semblance of actual good creative stories

Jason Todd is probably one of the most common victim of this BS, see RHATO 25 and all of those stupid fights between Jason & the batfamily in Task Force Z, the writers making the characters fight in situations they absolutely don’t have to, at least not without trying to talk it out first (there was absolutely no reason for Jason & the batfamily not to communicate about what’s going on with the task force, it was literally only engineered to be a total failure of communications to have a batfamily VS Jason fight that looks cool)

i don’t actually read a lot of comics, i read task force z just to get context on that panel where Cassandra spooks Jason, but i’m sure other people here can tell examples where it happens to other characters too, but i do think Jason is a more common victim of this simply due to DC not having any real direction to take his character to because they won’t let go of the Joker, and even without that simply because they won’t let go of the conflict between Jason & Bruce, because “if it’s not broken don’t fix it” and these people are concerned with making money not with telling a compelling story

Also, like, fighting isn’t all the members of the batfamily can do????? They have a wider skillet than that, with each of them also having their own unique specialization??????

Dick is one of the best acrobats in the world, and extremely capable & experienced vigilante, he’s the oldest of the batkids and has the most experience as a result, and he’s also a leader in the vigilante community

Barbara is Oracle, a legendary hacker and leader+coordinator of multiple superhero teams, top notch computer skills second to none as well as multitasking and crisis management

Jason is a master tactician, he can toy with people and factions in extremely long term plans to achieve the results he wants

Tim is the shoe-in to being the world’s greatest detective, he’s a very capable vigilante overall, and his computer skills are top notch, not that far behind Barbara

i don’t know if Stephanie is considered “the best” of any batfamily skill in particular, i suspect this may be due to writers’ sexism treating her more like an emotional support character to others rather than as her own character most of the time, i don’t actually read the comics that much and my information is what i decided should be canon based on what i learned from the fandom and in my opinion makes for the most compelling story, please do tell me if Steph has been written to be exceptional even in the batfamily in any particular skill, she deserves to be

Cassandra is the world’s best combatant, hands down, she stopped and restarted a man’s heart to make a point using just a palm strike, in a front-on battle she can literally take anyone down before they can really perceive that she’s there, and her combat skills also happen to allow her to read people like an open book

Damian was trained by the league of assassins from birth, he’s extremely capable in everything in a similar manner to how Bruce is, his character arc is even not really about him learning how to be a badass vigilante and more about him learning how to express himself and connect with others

Duke is literally a superpowered hypergenius, i don’t think i can do justice to his abilities here so go look at his wiki page

Stop constantly making these people fight each other!!! There’s more to them than that, and it just makes for shitty stories!!!!

[batstickblog]

6 archetypes of characters and themes for won’t want Mortal Kombat 1 Kombat Pack

Greeting fellow followers. Been awhile has done one of these. Isn’t rant or anything. It’s been a year since. I shared my thoughts on animation or a topic related to a certain issue related to a certain company sided with a party, one of the states against allowing discussion about social ideology like sexuality and gender identity. Ain’t talking, that’s my most popular post from last year and I want to try something different rather rely on old posts. Share my thoughts about the release announcement reveal trailer for Mortal Kombat 1 from NetherRealm Studios themselves. They put out that trailer and several outlets already released articles and breakdowns of what's well came from the next installment from the franchise. Already I've been a casual fighting game player. I Have played variations of fighting series across different franchises like Mortal Kombat, Darkstalkers, Tekken, Streets Fighters, Virtual Fighters, King of Fighters, Marvel vs. Capcom, Super Smash Brothers. Can list the rest of fighting’s games that I play. Would make a list of everything that’s played in my entire life. That’s for like any moment when I get around.

Already Mortal Kombat fan’s talk about guests characters. As pointed out, these are what they’re ever talking about. Besides the stories, characters and mechanics of the game, the team felt NRS was aware of this and teased fans to expect what guest characters will entertain mortal kombat like so many others, from God of War to Rambo. Between that is bunches of horror icons, comic books characters like Joker and Spawn and sci-fiction characters like Xenomorph, Yautja and T-800. Also with gaming outlets not confirmed. Speculating that Mortal Kombat 1 guest’s characters are Peacemaker, Homelander, Omni-Man and Conan. Everyone was excited about these and thak to the Elder Gods for that.

If the peaks are true, hope not. Don’t know there a majority of small MK fans that are not disappointed or not a fan of these early lists of guest fighters they are getting soon in Mortal Kombat 1. From their perspective they are excited for this because…What’s the point? Homelander and Omni-Man? They already have Evil Superman for Injustice, minus brutality in their shows. Well Injustice’s Superman is near lawful evil as Omni-Man and further than Mortal compass as Homelander (if you read the comic’s or watch the show’s to learn some horrible, terrifying and right-up mess actions that Homelander had done in both mediums).

Injustice Superman is good guys compared to Homelander. and they’re going to play the same type of fighters, again as Superman from previous games and they’d completely from the comic’s as strength and backstory, still going’s recycled or Tweak up there move sets make fans can’t tell difference a-little. Peacemaker, the show was popular (and don’t it either the show or the characters. Really fan of Peacemaker). Already a DC character appeared in Mortal Kombat and one Pleated completed about this because it’s Joker in the last Mortal Kombat. Why are they why the creative team wants to repeat the same theme for Kombat Pack.

For example, look at Mortal Kombat (2011) for download content of guest fighters Kratos (Greek Version) and Freddy Krueger. So Mortal Kombat 9 was a mix of both video games and horror representation. Mortal Kombat X was led into more horror with their kombat packs with guest characters like Leatherface, Alien, Predator and Jason (well action-horror with Alien and Predator. Both respected franchises, sequel and crossover are action orientated with horror elements mixed with. Jason X was part horror and part action/sci-fiction).

Mortal Kombat 11 has superior guest characters than X and 9. Spawn, Joker, Rambo, Terminator and RoboCop. Kombat Pack for Mortal Kombat 11 was a throwback of classic 80s action flicks and comic books. Now with Mortal Kombat 1. Kombat Pack already doesn't look that good, felt Kombat Packs are retaining the same idea from previously downloaded content packs. Ain’t felt different or has a theme to stand out from the rest of the Kombat Pack. It’s kind of like cooking your favorite kind of meat like beef, chicken or pork. Cooked anyway you like it. Would looks the same. In result it’s would end-up taste differently. That’s what Kombat Pack are each different flavors from a new Mortal Kombat game when released. Always a bit different from the previous entry in the title.

Return the Discussing on the Peacemaker. Let's be saved for when NetherRealm possibly make a next injustice after Mortal Kombat 1 (possibly when it would ever happen, sometime around mid-late 2020s). It’s great that Ed Boon and his team at NetherRealm Studios are listening to the community closely on most requests. At the same time boom and his studio really needed careful consideration when what third party they wanted included in Mortal Kombat. Ain’t saying is possible. Remembering has guests from other franchises ain’t easy. There needs to be a deal to be made and other parties are willing to allow any of these characters to make appearances outside their series, that's the company's own. Isn't an executive. Now has made a list of mixers of characters and type of themes for Mortal Kombat 1 Kombat Pack. That’s won’t or didn’t happen when revealed trailer for line-up of Kombat Pack after the game release afterwards.

Reused Old Guest Character

Not characters. Character. Has seen a lot of people and even articles that brought up many one character outside of the Mortal Kombat universe. Requested his return to Kratos from God of War. Everyone needs to be calm and reasonable. They want Kratos back, not as old rage-destructive, ruthless, violent, brutal Sparta from Greek saga. Norse Kratos from 2018's God of War and God of War Ragnarök. More wise and civilized, still a berserk fighter when either those closest to him are not in near danger.

Reason

These aren't third-party games. A guest isn’t a major character. They're one time appearances despite different versions of them. Don’t bring-up echo/clone characters or two were versions of characters like Regular Mario or Dr.Mario in Smash they’d be completely different. As much like Kratos. His right-up aside many established franchise characters like Master Chief, from the sixth generation era. Kratos or Norse Kratos is not personal for me. Rather want new guest fighter instead rehash old guest fighters from previous titles that came before it.

Horror Characters

Right of the bat. Is horror. Mortal Kombat has a well known reputation within the Horror community and embraced the genre as a whole. Freddy made his guest appearances in Mortal Kombat 2011, following with its 2015 sequel Mortal Kombat X with Jason and Leatherface. Since then fan’s requested other horror characters in the next Mortal Kombat. Seen a lot of popular suggestions for icon horror and slasher’s characters, even recently new ones from a wide variety of potential guest characters like Michael Myers, Pinhead, Ghostface, Pennywise, Chucky, Megan and plenty horr. Sadly alongside seemingly fan’s requests ever since Mortal Kombat X or 11? Is groovy chainsaw-wielding, boomstick-blasting wisecracking Ash Williams (believe less few years back around 2019-2020 that’s Bruce finished with character, and didn’t respire his in live-action or probably included video game anytime).

Reason

Michael Myers, Pinhead and…Pennywise would believe visuals could believe those three would translate into the world of Mortal Kombat. Ghostface or Chucky can’t imagine those two stand against…No go against one of fighters who are literally god or have element mythos abilities that can set you on fire or rip-out your soul from y’all, physical body. Horror has worn out the meriden in Mortal Kombat. With nine and tenth main installments in the Mortal Kombat or first two games of NetherRealm Trilogy. It’s preferable that NetherRealm Studios shouldn’t put any horror or slashers killers in Mortal Kombat 1 or any future games for a while if they’re chosen. Horror is everyone's favorite type of genre, myself included. In the game (isn’t Deaf by Daylight) as Mortal Kombat. Definitely not for a while.

Movie Licenses Characters

Mortal Kombat narratives felt when watching a movie. Fitting during the early development days way back to the first original Mortal Kombat. Originally the team at Midway was going to adapt Bloodsport in the game. All that’s changed thanks to the commercial success of Capcom's Street Fighter II: The World Warrior. Midway Games allows Boon and his team to create their own arcade fighting game, known as Mortal Kombat and cultural influence has had in the gaming industry for 30 years. Gone this strong after these years. Even though Jean-Claude Camille was announced in Mortal Kombat 1 as Kameo Fighters, with complete likeness. Since then with the last release Mortal Kombat 11 with 80s action characters from The Terminator, RoboCop to Rambo himself. Alongside the three appearances after Mortal Kombat 11. Quickly floated by fans, many movie characters wanted to be seen in Mortal Kombat games like John Wick, Mad Max, The Bride (Kill Bill), Riddick, Voldemort and “Sigh” Darth Vader. What’s any scenario is that Disney, Lucasfilms, NetherRealm Studios and Warner Bros. Games negotiated an agreement to make a deal allowing one of the Star Wars most iconic villains ever like Darth Vader in Mortal Kombat. No way unlikely will happen unlike pre-Disney Star Wars did with Soul Calibur IV.

Reason:

As much love as characters from my favorite movies engage in Kombat one versus one fight. Mortal Kombat should have laid-back these cinematic influences. Includes NetherRealm pouring how much money through getting these actors' approval allowing linkness to be used by the characters they portrayed from films to appear in the game. Maybe Mortal Kombat Fans would see John Wick pinned against someone like Scorpion, Liu Kang or Johnny Cage. Don’t get me wrong, it's flawless to see that with creativity the way badass fiction cinematic stars would do with their own fatalities. I am good that’s should leave out any more movie’s characters for Mortal Kombat 1. Three action stars are enough for Mortal Kombat 11. Let's find new gimmicks of guest characters for Kombat Pack. Please. Found better options for guest fighters including license out movie characters. Known studios would want either Neo or John Wick in one of their games. Even as Reeves fans I had to no. I love The Matrix and John Wick. Those are favorites of Keanu Reeves movies, strongly disagreeing on them being in Mortal Kombat.

Comic Books Characters

Homelander or Omni-Man, that's this leak to be rumored. Not if confirmed. Seems people on the Internet believe and accept any information is true or not, that’s their beliefs. That era is currently where we are now. Mortal Kombat 11 when first announced that Spawn and Joker were coming. I was massively excited for these. Mostly Spawn, in classes during the course of winter semester the trailer with that incredible song playing during gameplay’s footage Spawn fought Scorpion. If’s was during the 90s that’s a dream crossover from my inner 90s younger self would rationalize most early entertainment mediums between comics like Spawn or video games like Mortal Kombat across together. Now since Mortal Kombat 11. Began seeing a lot of fans suggesting and wanting guest comic’s books in Mortal Kombat. Judge Dread. The Mask, Crow, V, WitchBlade, Shredder and of course, DC characters DC likes Deathstroke and Harley Quinn. So what’s i think about the whole thing, with honest opinions of me?

Reason:

Homelander and Omni-Man are too similar and would play the same archetype of Superman from similar, besides being twisted dark take on Man of Steel while they pretend to be heroes. They also both only been talked about because if leaks are true not be true or not. Either Warners Bros: Games or NRS only allowed these to capitalize both series popularity on Amazon Prime and due to massive fan’s demands. Plus got Peacemaker, why not save for the next Injustice then ever be a sequel to Injustice 2 or something like that. Isn’t because the show found popularity because with Injustice restrictions some of these violent comic books characters personality…Already not their personality. Movesets and not get to see all that bloody fatalities, that’s not seen in Injustice’s games. Didn't go against Comic Books Characters in fighting games like Mortal Kombat. My two characters want to see not in Mortal Kombat. Injustice instead. Jackie Estacado and Judge Dredd. Sure those two fit much better within Mortal Kombat. Judge Dredd and The Darkness are different and make sense. Because both series have connected with DC in the past with crossover issues from Judgment on Gotham to The Darkness/Superman. Invincible and The Boys have no connections and no context, for large amounts of fan’s requests. NetherRealm uses Homelander or Omni-Man as an excuse to allow developers to create brutal, impactful and bloody move sets for both Superman Analogues, which they couldn't do with the actual Superman from Injustice game.

Video Games Characters (the rights picks)

Past decent now or less than that’s since Kratos made his appearance in Mortal Kombat reboot 2011 game. Everyone Mortal Kombat wanting any video game’s characters to appear next in Mortal Kombat. Has seen suggestions of characters as Altair, Alex Mercer, Marcus Fenix (originally planned for MK9 for only Xbox exclusive, ultimately got scrapped), Raiden (MGS), Gabriel Belmont, Sweet Tooth, Akuma, Fulgore, Reaper, Sephiroth, Talion, Nemesis…Springtrap seriously and among the rest why Springtrap, from Fives Nights at Freddy? Don’t get the joke of it. This is what any fighting game fan dreams of. A roster filled with their favorite icons characters like in games like Mortal Kombat. Mortal Kombat is like Smash Bros. If Smash bros were T or less M rating. I read one reddit post complaining about how Mortal Kombat fans discuss guest characters from different franchises from other games.

Past decent now or less than that’s since Kratos made his appearance in Mortal Kombat reboot 2011 game. Everyone Mortal Kombat wanting any video game’s characters to appear next in Mortal Kombat. Has seen suggestions of characters as Altair, Alex Mercer, Marcus Fenix (originally planned for MK9 for only Xbox exclusive, ultimately got scrapped), Raiden (MGS), Gabriel Belmont, Sweet Tooth, Akuma, Fulgore, Reaper, Sephiroth, Talion, Nemesis…Springtrap seriously and among the rest why Springtrap, from Fives Nights at Freddy? Don’t get the joke of it. This is what any fighting game fan dreams of. A roster filled with their favorite icons characters like in games like Mortal Kombat. Mortal Kombat is like Smash Bros. If Smash bros were T or less M rating. I read one reddit post complaining about how Mortal Kombat fans discuss guest characters from different franchises from other games.

Reason:

Really nothing against the idea of video games representation in Mortal Kombat. All guest video games characters have a chance. For a while make your own list of guests that are not definitely. Thought’s made sense from both technical and gameplay perspective-wise. If you don't accept them, that’s fine. While suggestions of some of the characters like Sephiroth, Raiden (Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance) or Reaper are fun to imagine, I didn’t really find myself to be pleased or happy if NetherRealm announces any characters that feel out of place. Specifically satisfied that’s small percentage of fans wanted their favorite game character without a second thought throughout development.

Doom Slayer

Everyone needed to hear me out first. Hear me out first! Calm downs. These my personal hot takes, known how’s internet rioting up that’s you didn’t agree with the majority of people with them. Already. Don’t want Doom Slayer in Mortal Kombat. I Have a very good reason. Before grabbing your chainsaw and wanting to Rip and Tear for my heresy against my thoughts for not wanting Slayer in Fighting game, let me explain why I don't think that Doom Slayer is not a bad fit but isn't the first choice of characters. I want to see Mortal Kombat.

Reason:

How I disagree fan-favorite requested guests characters like Michael Myers or Homelander that’s has seen multiple times are highly requested characters from everyone felt like no one thought up any original guest characters for Mortal Kombat. They’d agree to that person list and copy off that person and add that one character place to aid those guest characters that everyone who’s all agreed want to see. For me. I am not following the same list or feeling in the same mindset on it. As a fellow fan of Doom. From playing all mainline games, collecting novels/art books and following the Doom community. Since then it has appreciated old-school shooters like Doom in recent years. Learn the acknowledgement about the development game cycles due to how this one of not the greatest but important games to gaming industry and culture revolution. Those who made some good arguments and points why Doom Slayer. Thought maybe instead about one of the Slayer ancestors? Would explain that later for another time.

[thevindicativevordan]

Comics this week ?

Action Comics #1059 - I knew it! I knew it was the Empire of Shadows! God I’m actually excited for Batman to show up in Action, I can’t believe it. Then again this is a very different kind of Batman, and it’s an evil Batman who is being used in service to (hopefully) make Superman look good. What a refreshing concept as opposed to the all too often reverse. Otho being the one Stone targets makes sense, like “Norah” points out, she’s a killer and the youngest daughter of the family. They have some things in common. God I love all the crazy tech that Steel has built over the run. It’s been great to have him be so involved and I’m going to be really disappointed if he gets dropped again with the “Superstars” next year. Shame Sandoval can’t finish this arc but I do enjoy Barrows. Nice little bit of Metropolis history with the street name, PKJ didn’t get to do as much of that as I was hoping for, but anything that plays up Metropolis as a “city of immigrants” suits me. Looks like Constantine and Etrigan will be showing up to help Superman delve into the Dark Multiverse to find Otho. Probably will learn the backstory of this Batman next issue, maybe even learn what happened to that Earth’s Superman too. Can’t wait! The Kenan story came to a satisfying conclusion as well, Yang did a good job within the limited pages he had. Justified why Kenan joined the Superfamily and why he isn’t interacting much with the JLC anymore. Last line paired with that panel shot was a gut punch. Yang set Kenan up for some great drama if anyone bothers to follow up on it which they probably won’t. Maybe I’ll get lucky and Yang will be the fourth writer for the Superstars next year after Aaron, Williamson, and Waid.

Steelworks #6 - Thought it was a solid freshman showing from Dorn. Ending was a bit rushed but there were some nice character moments across this whole mini, even if it’s definitely not an essential read for the line. Walker made for an entertaining bad guy by being so unrepentantly evil, it's nice to have a few of those guys around amidst all the sympathetic bad guys these days. When are we going to actually see JHI and Lana tie the knot? Maybe in Action? Would like to see that actually occur, it's been good for both characters imo.

Detective Comics #1078 - I have not read the Knightfall trilogy so I’ve never been a huge Azrael guy, but damn I actually am becoming a fan. Seeing gleefully charge a werewolf head on does a lot to endear him to me.

The Flash #3 - Love what Deodato is doing with the panels, really helps to sell the disorientation that Wally and Max are going through. Cool revamp of the Folded Man, my Flash knowledge has a bunch of holes in it so I don’t know what his deal has historically been. Good use of him here that makes me want to learn more. Bit nervous about the implication that Speed Force users are screwing up reality every time they use their powers, it reminds me too much of that Venditti plot point from New 52 GL about the Emotional Spectrum “running out”. Obviously they’re not going to stop making Flash stories so either they have to “fix” that if it’s actually the issue, or it’s a misdirect.

City Boy #6 - Good ending. Pak’s got a nuanced character in Kim, he’s so human and fallible that he could easily have ended up a villain as a hero. Seeing him rise above that at the end is inspiring in the way superhero fiction aims to be but usually falls short of. I don’t know if he’ll avoid falling into Limbo, he’s not a natural fit for any team, but I’d like to see both City Boy and Pak get more play at DC.

The Penguin #4 - After this week’s issue of Tec I wasn’t sure how King’s heist story would stack up against V’s - good thing that was a feint! Penguin’s taking a lot of risks here, that whole stunt could easily have ended with him being dead, but at least King showed that Cobblepot was actually nervous and unsure of how things would play out. This could easily be a Penguingod book but it avoids that pitfall.

[riddle-me-ri]

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My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Riddlers Reacting to Reader Wearing A “TikTok” Dress

A/N: okay so a few things:

1) This was one of my first original ideas for headcanons when I first decided to write fanfics again, so I’m excited to feel confident enough to write it rip (this is also one of the more self indulgent ideas I’ve had so bare with me)

2) Heidi Lavon owns my tiktok, so it’s my job to bless you with her content here’s her in the dress:

3) It’s called the Carmen Dress and it has a $300 price tag on god save queens

4)  As I mentioned this is 100% self indulgent, so sorry for ALL the errors, this idea has been brewing in my mind for months until I couldn’t hide it anymore, so if it reads like rambles…that’s why lol

( Also, I mention it in only one or two headcanons, but ALL these bastards would ask if it comes in green (unfortunately it doesn’t but I’ll be damned if a couple these guys won’t try and make it happen) also this all takes place in private)

Trigger Warnings: heavy suggestiveness (I mean...look at the dress) and strong language (I have a sailor mouth, sorry not sorry)

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143 notes - Posted October 13, 2022

#4

How our Riddleboys react to their asses getting slapped? Not like in a sex way. Just reader casually walks past and gives them a good ol’ smack on the ass to flirt in a silly way.

A/N: hehe…hehehe…sorry this request gave me the giggles for the longest time lmao. If this isn’t some shit I’d do hehe

How The Riddlers React to Having Their Asses Slapped

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148 notes - Posted December 14, 2022

#3

hi if its fine with you id like to request riddler with an artsy s/o and like theyre suffering artblock so they do a painting of him (he finds it sweet)

can be any riddler of ur choice and i also prefer gender neutral but if u end up writing fem i dont mind!

have a good night/day

-anon

A/N: aahhh that’s meee…this request resonates with me so well as an artist that suffers from art block or a chronic victim of endless reference scrolling to where I get lost saving references for everything but what I was looking for rip…only for me to settle and just draw Eddie from different media lol. And I'm so sorry ahead of time this got ridiculously long, I got really carried away and was having so much fun with the idea rip. So sorry for the length!

Riddlers React to Reader’s Art of Him:

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152 notes - Posted November 10, 2022

#2

I know Arkhamverse has trauma from being strangled, but I always want to kiss EVERY SINGLE RIDDLER on his neck! And that got me thinking... So I have to ask, how do the Riddlers feel about their necks? Like are any of them sensitive? Ticklish? Are any against their neck being touched? Do any love when their s/o goes for their neck?

A/N: okay but anon…how…how did you know I'm an absolute sucker for neck kisses?? Both giving and receiving?? Decided to go more headcanons this route, hope that's all right anon!

Neck Kisses with the Riddlers

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174 notes - Posted December 7, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Hey this was me who wanted a whole fic for this scenario for the bottom line "go be pretty over there away from me" could u do it thank u

A/N: I’m writing this at like 4 am cause I can’t sleep, so if this goes down later tomorrow I'm heavily editing it rip but hey at least I get to practice writing for other rogues that pique my interest! I hope I do them justice. This is another shot of just my own generalized takes on them (albeit I've been watching BTAS again, so they may seem softer than normal rip), and still no Joker sorry not sorry and most of these ended up being fluffier than I intended oop. Special thanks to @like-rain-or-confetti for supporting my ramblings in the tags of my reblogs lol

Batman Rogues x Reader - Yes, You’re Pretty…Now GO AWAY

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264 notes - Posted October 20, 2022

I’m genuinely surprised at all I was able to accomplish after taking a break from fandom and then kinda coming back full speed in September. I can’t even begin to imagine what the rest of this year would’ve turned out had I decided not to throw my hat in the ring. If I decided to just go ahead and post my first story, I wouldn’t nearly be as happy as a creator and I’m so grateful every day for the friends that I have made and continue to make on this platform. 

Thank you guys so much for everything. 

Here’s to 2023!  

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[obsessedwithstarwars]

Ooooooooh! I’m a glutton for attention. Not really, I have anxiety, I’m very awkward, and a major introvert but THIS makes my heart happy. You are very much not overstepping and this helped me to get some of my thoughts out of my head. Thank you Gil for engaging! Also sorry, I’m about to wordvomit some of my ideas so I don’t forget them all. Also if it sounds like I’m rambling, I am, I know it, and I am sorry but I also can’t stop won’t stop.

I am definitely having Regent Jazz, also Regent Dan because they both hate it SO MUCH. Dealing with Observants SUCKS. They take turns until anything big comes up then essentially rock paper scissors it for who’s gotta deal with the annoying eyeballs.

Becoming/being Regent is going to be like becoming/being an eldritch horror. Just because I said so and I think it’s a cool concept. I’m so excited to write about it -maybe even draw it. One thing’s for sure, shit will hit the fan and the JL will be relieved the eldritch being is fighting for them and also absolutely terrified at the idea of it turning on them. I gotta freak out Constantine somehow. He’s a hard man to impress.

I’m debating on identity shenanigans. You did it so well in Friendly Neighborhood Vigilante, (if you haven’t read it yet, READ IT NOW IT IS AMAZING) and I don’t know that I’d have a good way to fit it into the storyline. But if I can figure out a way, I definitely will!

The Fentons were left for dead and deserved it. Unfortunately they probably survive (I kinda need villains and they’re annoyingly great at it).

I would use DC villains here, but I am more comfortable with DP knowledge-wise. I will use one or two or five (it’s Gotham, hello) but want to look into Red Hood and his character and his interaction with the Batfam more before I write too much about any of them. I have some comics a friend gifted me on Tim so I’m not too worried about him; but the rest of them? I am doing some extensive research on and writing character sheets. (I will also do this on Tim. Let’s be real here, I would feel bad for excluding him from the rest even though he’s not actually real, wouldn’t actually know or has any real feelings to get hurt over.) Opinions and ideas are welcome, accepted tearfully (tears of JOY), and appreciated.

Also I don’t know DC timeline. *Hides face behind hands* LIKE AT ALLLLLL but it will be before Jason reconciles enough to move back into the manor. Which I hear he did. His relationship will be iffy with Bruce and wary with the rest.

Dan starts working with the Justice League as Phantom. This causes problems. Lots of problems. I kind of want Ellie too but I don’t know how to include her in the fic yet. Same with Vlad. And Sam and Tucker and Valerie. I will figure out MOST of them. Probably. Hopefully. Lady Gotham and Clockwork and Frostbite too.

From what I do know of Jason, he will most definitely try to hide this incident from the rest of the family and it will fail miserably. Barbara will find out. It is inevitable.

I’m thinking about going total cliche and having both Jazz and Danny be adopted. Of sorts. Maddie is still their biological mom but they both have different fathers through IVF. I vote Bruce (Danny) and Lex Luthor (Jazz) because Maddie has the brains to pull it off, but is it TOO cliche? If I do go this route, boy do I have PLANS. They involve DEATH.

Of course Danny has his own problems, like surviving puberty AGAIN. It wasn’t fun the first time and he’s not looking forward to a repeat with another Dash at another school. He is definitely going to the same school as Damian (courtesy of Vlad cash, comes back to bite them in the butt later) and shenanigans ensue. Also chaos.

Dan (haven’t decided if his name will be Dan or Dante or a combination of both like Jazz and Jasmine) is redeemed, but bitter and guilt ridden. He is either working with Vlad (who is redeemed… sort of) for his day job and hating every second of it orrrr working as Lex Luther’s bodyguard. Either way, he has work trips, which I need for the plot because Dan and Jazz take care of Danny. And it gets Jason (not Red Hood… okay maybe Red Hood) involved too.

The plot involves them all growing into who they are meant to be while fighting for their right to live and the rights of ecto-entities. (I need you to know that that autocorrected to ectopic pregnancies and I almost left it that way because I laughed) Also Red Hood/Jason growing closer to this weird family, slowly falling for Jazz, and working on his relationship with Bruce.

ALSO BRUCE. There is a lot of potential there.

And don’t think I’ve forgotten about the GIW. They are the WORST and will be dealt with.

Dang it. This was meant to be small. I haven’t even gone through their overall arcs/themes (or the actual plot) and it’s sounding more and more like a 40 chapter fanfic. Oh poop.

Also, this will go up on my AO3… eventually. Probably this weekend because my state is about to get hit with like 14 inches of snow, but I’m not committing to it. I am also not committing to a posting schedule because I’m moving in a few months and scrambling to get ready for that. Just know the brainrot is there and apparently not dissipating even after 2.5 years of DP obsession. I’ll post/link my AO3 on here when I add the fic.

If you have any ideas, feel free to voice them!

Still Alive (But Barely Breathing)

If someone had told Red Hood that he was going to climb through the wrong window at one of his many safe houses, he’d have laughed and flipped them off. Not just because it probably would have been the Demon Brat saying it and disregarding the little fucker would certainly get under his skin. And piss off Bruce. No. Jason was definitely too careful to make a mistake like that.

Well, until tonight.

To be fair, he had been shot. Twice. A through and through in his side, hopefully not damaging anything important, and once in the arm. But that might’ve been a graze. Going by pain, it hurt less than his side. Somewhere between “I need a bandaid” and “stepping on an infinite number of Legos with sharp teeth” on the pain scale. Honestly, he didn’t even want to look until he was safe. It’s not a problem if I can’t see it. And he was currently not safe judging by the sword the resident of this apartment held at his throat.

The first thing he noted was that she wasn’t afraid. In fact, she seemed hella pissed. Her beautiful blue eyes flashed in the moonlight. Most people, when they saw the helmet, along with his stature (Dickface said he was built like a tank) and intimidating presence, well, they got a little scared. This woman stood resolute, calm and determined in the face of danger. She had the presence of an Amazonian warrior. Now, Jason wasn’t much of a betting man, but he’d have put money down on her winning this fight.

Too many voices were vying for dominance in his mind. A part of him thought that if he could get the sword away from his throat, he stood a fighting chance of getting away. Another part considered his injuries. He was lightheaded already which was not a good sign. He needed to get out of here and get help fast. Another part geeked out over the sword. It was exquisite. This woman really had taste. The ornate filigree handle looked like a Swiss rapier, circa late 1600s. But the blade was not fragile like a rapier. In fact, it looked more like a sturdy longsword. Like she had taken pieces of history and meshed them together to create a sword that was beautiful but deadly. Another very small voice thought she was beautiful. He tried to ignore the last one it definitely wouldn’t help him here and hatch a plan to escape. She stepped further into the moonlight and all thoughts flew out of his head. He could have sworn her eyes were ice blue. Now they were a familiar bright green; practically glowing. Where had he seen that color before?

Trying to think made his head all fuzzy. Oh well. Time for some introductions. He felt like a seasoned warrior out to meet a new friend or foe. Attempting to speak felt like an impossible task.

“Hi.” He choked out, his voice gravelly and menacing with the helmet on.

“Hi Mister Red Hood!” A boy’s voice rang out from behind the woman. Oh shit. There was a kid. How did he not see a kid? Why was there a kid here?! He glanced around and noticed the sparse furniture along with a few moving boxes stacked in the corner. He… did he have the wrong apartment? This was his safe house in the Narrows. As far as he knew, no one lived on his floor or in the apartments above or below his. That’s what made this safe house perfect. It was convenient. It was safe.

The woman whispered something to the boy. He couldn’t tell if the words she spoke in a foreign yet all too familiar language were what made his blood run cold. Or the rapid blood loss was getting to him. Right. He needed help. Now. That forced him back into focus. He could feel his thoughts slowly slipping away. He grabbed onto the edge of the windowsill he’d just climbed through, grunting in pain at the sudden gush of blood coming from his side.

The woman tentatively lowered her sword, concern etched on her face. Good. This was good. He was… what was he doing? A wave of dizziness washed over him and he fell backward onto the floor. Black started forming around the edges of his vision. The woman rushed to his side and leaned over him. Her touch was light as she quickly assessed his wounds. Her hair enveloped his vision, so all he could see was her beautiful face. She was talking to him, face to face, er well, helmet, but he couldn’t hear her. Her voice distorted and muffled.

His last thought was, “Damn she’s pretty.” Before succumbing to sleep.

[ursie]

genuine question: if devin wrote dick as romani in a hurtful way, why does fandom seem so intent to keeping him romani while decrying the writer that made him romani in the first place? like, if it came from such racist/hurtful archetypes then why cling to it so much? (in contrast, i've seen people say that headcanoning tim as asian is bad because of sterotypes, which is why i don't understand the difference.) i barely read past the 80s comics i grew up with, i just read a ton of fandom arguments and the contrast between "dick IS romani" vs "tim ISN'T asian" is like. i don't understand it? i know fandom isn't a monolith but there are trends overall. idk, i figured you seemed like a "safe" person to ask this question in good faith. hope it doesn't upset you! thanks for taking the time to read and/or answer this. <3

Ok so the thing is bad rep is worse than no rep-yes but erasure is worse too so the solution isn’t to erase but to fix it and there has been genuine effort in canon and by Romani people in the fandom to address Dicks rep. While it’s undeniably rooted in some stereotypes there’s also no denying how important Dicks character is. He’s undeniably the most popular Roma character of all time and that’s an issue when people won’t acknowledge he’s Roma. He’s multifaceted and smart and brave and complicated and undeniably good ect these are really good characteristics for any character let alone one to represent any group of people. The best thing dc could do is either hire Roma writers (or Roma editors/sensitivity readers/ect) they need Roma people in the workroom not less Roma characters in comics. Because at the end of the day If we wait for perfect rep before we acknowledge it we’re not going to get it and that goes for any marginalized identity. People cannot know other’s peoples lived experience-which is why we need to push for our voices in the room. Almost all the diverse characters in comics nowadays started as stereotypes and were stereotypes til someone said no and chose to do the work so they could write them better or at least try-that’s what needs to be done. I think it’s funny (and this isn’t at you) that with Dick given his importance given his cultural influence people push for erasure due to some writing flaws when that’s not and never been the case canon or fanon for other characters I mean have you read early black panther? It’s not good. I think people need to reflect if they actually have an issue with how he’s written or if they not only don’t want to view him as Roma but don’t want to put in their own work of looking past the stereotypes either. Also tbh while you’ll see people tote that Roma people don’t like his rep (which I’m not saying there’s none who don’t) the posts that are most commonly referenced are by non Romani people (and one is by a total freak so yeah). In current canon Dick is probably about 1/4th “ethnically” Roma (though that hardly matters he’s Roma hes roma like. Roma is a race he’s just not white) but also in preboot, dick's father was a kalderash-american rom, dick also spoke lovari dialect in preboot. as of post flashpoint, dick's mom is an american roma but her vitsa is not confirmed, so i just like to hc john was kalderash and mary was lovara personally 🥰 like again the best thing dc can do is actually talk about the Graysons, Mary’s family, ect and make them human. Make them more than stereotypes. Actually talk about his culture and his family and his people-not just brush it under a rug until they reference it for diversity points later

As for your other question/point to me the difference between hcing a character as a different race vs like Dick is the push to view white characters as non white instead of actually making fan content of canon non white characters? Like it’s almost a white guilt thing w Tim (this is not at fans of color) but like you want to feel good about stanning characters of color but you also. Don’t actually stan a character of color (like Tim or Jason for instance) so you just hc them as non white (and yes often stereotypically) instead of like reading a single comic w Duke in it. Like racebending is fine and I think it’s good but when done by white fans it’s often actually done to like justify their distance from actual canon characters of color. Like I’m glad you think Tim’s Asian but you still won’t draw fanart of the batfam w Duke in it in 2022 yknow? You still prioritize Jason over Cass but you think he’s Latine, you hc Steph as ambiguously brown but you still characterize Damian in a racist manner, ect. Does that make sense I’m not actually sure I’m explaining well. Oh and in the case you specified Dick is canonically non white wheras Tim isn’t-and it should be noted that white isn’t the baseline-While no one’s saying writers had any intentions he was never stated to be white before-him being “retconned” as Roma isn’t really fair or true he was simply revealed to be so as again white cannot be treated as the inherent norm (nor should heterosexuality and being cisgender or able bodied) I’m not saying you’re wrong but I think it’s important not to think about that kind of stuff in those terms if that makes sense. I hope I cleared this up. I certainly tried and should you have any more questions my inbox/dms are open

Edit : adding on an important response from @royharper : the bottom line is that people who aren't roma should not be speaking on his identity as a rom because they have no idea what roma identity fully entails. i've seen people claim "he's not culturally connected, therefore he can't be roma" or "he can be white and roma, he's not a person of color" when neither of these things are true. for one, while devin is inconsistent in her writing, dick is shown to be raised within the culture as far back as her titans run in the late 90's, in which he is shown to be speaking romanes with his father in a dream sequence that is heavily implied to be a flashback of sorts, and as well lian states that dick can speak romanes when discussing the various languages that her dad, aunts, and uncles can speak. language /is/ culture for us, it's not something that any outsider can just learn super easily. it was really strange that she retconned this herself by the time gotham knights was written a few years later through the character yoska, who attempts to speak romanes with dick and finds that he can't understand him, however using this, along with the orientalist stereotypes devin tried to impose on both dick and yoska when writing about roma identity, as an excuse to say that dick is not "really a rom" is racist. outsiders do not understand the nuances of roma identity enough to make that judgement, and no, wikipedia is not an accurate source for information about roma. touching on the idea that roma can be white, this is a misconception. while outsiders may be folded into the community by marriage or adoption, this is not very common because we don't tend to marry or adopt outside of our communities. furthermore, roma is not an ethnicity. roma is our race. our ethnicities are our clans. there are roma with pale skin, there are even roma that appear white, but they are still racially roma and are still subject to racial discrimination. in response to the idea that there is an outpouring of roma fans who don't want dick to be roma at all, this simply isn't true. that rumor was originally started by someone who was outed as a racefaker, and is perpetuated by white fans who seek to weaponize this perspective to justify their whitewashing and racism. i've known more roma who were, while still critical of devin's orientalism/antiromanyism, ecstatic to have a roma comic character who actually speaks the language, as in comparison to doctor doom and the maximoff twins, who are arguably just as popular, who do not speak romanes in comics, or have only spoken one or two words of the language. dick is important in terms of representation for this fact alone. i can't fathom the amount of people who are not roma who think that just because roma characters are often subject to stereotypical writing that it's somehow better to simply erase their racial identity all together rather than doing their own research to avoid stereotypes when portraying the characters and pushing for these companies to start hiring roma creatives as we do with /every other character of color because not a SINGLE character of color in comics history has been entirely free of racist, stereotypical writing or of colorism and whitewashing in official artwork/. and yet you don't see people pushing for other characters of color to be made white. it's really very telling to me. and just for the record, since i know this is for some reason a popular talking point, dick's race was not retconned after devin initially wrote him as roma. his race has been referenced across numerous other comics written by other writers over the years, most notably tim seeley in his run of nightwing rebirth. while i have issues with seeley's characterization of dick, and he tends to sexualize him just as much if not more than devin imo, dick's racial identity plays a big role in the raptor arc. stop acting like devin was the only writer to ever write dick as a rom and that it was never seen or heard of again in canon after she stopped working on nightwing.

[ntshastark]

X-Men: Evolution is nothing like the comics

But still a better adaptation than the MCU

So, this tweet kind of really annoyed me. It’s in portuguese, but it says:

Good thing X-Men Evolution came out at a time when there wasn't much access to the internet, if this cartoon had come out now in 2022, even though it's a VERY GOOD cartoon, it would be massacred by the internet for not being faithful to the comics

My problem with it is how it implies that comic stans will tear any adaptation down if it’s not “faithful” enough. I won’t deny some people are like this, but I’d actually say (most) comic fans are actually more likely to enjoy an adaptation that’s nothing like the source material than most people. Under the right circumstances.

(Disclaimer: Whenever I say ‘comic’, assume I mean Marvel/DC comics unless stated otherwise; and whenever I say ‘film’ or ‘TV series’, I’m including both live-action and animation)

First, I want to make it clear that I’ve loved few cartoons in my childhood as much as I’ve loved XMEvo. It was HUGE in Brazil, as popular as XMTAS is in the USA. It was literally my first superhero obsession, and it actually, still to this day, colour a lot of the things I feel about the X-Men.

Second, I want to defend the right to not like an adaptation for not being faithful. I’m a fan of The Princess Diaries (book series), so that’s a pain I know all too well. It sucks to see a character or story that you love be turned into something completely different, and it’s a thousand times worse when this twisted version becomes the most popular one.

But anyway. How to be a good adaptation without “being faithful”?

1. Being its own, separate thing

Comics are basically the most adaptable stories there are. Those who read them are familiar with the multiverse, likely have several different versions of the same characters that they like, and sometimes even prefer an elseworld than the main universe. If you make a film or a TV series based on a comic and, from the start, treats it as just another different universe, it’s unlikely that a lot of people won’t like it just because it’s different. Maybe they won’t like those specific changes, but just the fact that there are changes is completely understandable.

(XMEvo never tried to be like 616, or even Ults, it always made it clear that it was an AU)

2. Not claiming to adapt directly if you’re not going to

Another thing about comics is that they’re old as balls. By this point, literally everything’s happened at least once, probably twice, maybe three times but with a different name now. It’s not like a book or even a graphic novel or a mini, where there’s a linear story with beginning middle and end. So there’s a huge number of stories for adaptations to choose, or even just tap into. If the adaptation isn’t an origin story, or specifically say it’s going to be based on a certain arc, no one is even gonna be able to directly compare it to the source material.

(The name ‘X-Men: Evolution’ isn’t a callback to any specific arc - at least that I know of - and neither are any of the episode names - which tbh really surprised me. The series taps into some origin stories but none of them are really the main focus)

3. Not being the only adaptation

And, side effect of comics being old as balls, there’s adaptations to spare. Rarely a book will be adapted more than once, unless the first adaptation is a success and then the adaptation itself gets a remake. The only exceptions I can think of are Literature Classics (so even older) and Percy Jackson (exactly because the fans hated the first adaptation for not being faithful to the books). The fucking horrendous Princess Diaries adaptation is actually getting a damn sequel.

Basically, comic fans are used to adaptations. They inevitably reach a larger audience than the comics and influence their perspective on the characters, which is “dangerous”. But adaptations end, the next one happens, the general public’s perception is adjusted again. An adaptation that people know is an adaptation and treat as an adaptation is never going to annoy a fan of the source material the way an adaptation that’s treated as the main version, or, even worse, seen as an original work, will. And being less annoyed by it means you’re more likely to give it a chance, even with it being different from the original.

(XMEvo came out 3 years after XMTAS ended, lasted 3 years, and 4 years later Wolverine and the X-Men came out. It also premiered the same year as the first X-Men live-action film)

4. It’s ok if it’s not, the comics are still there

And the thing about comics is that they don’t die. Even if the adaptation is bad, the comics are still coming out and you can just focus on reading them and ignore the rest. Sometimes, however, elements from the adaptation are incorporated into the comics. You can only hope it’s done in a organic manner and doesn’t interfere much with the established characters and relationships you already love.

(XMEvo did have an effect in the comics. Most notably, it was the first appearance of Laura Kinney. Laura was introduced in the comics as a new character, after XMEvo was already finished)

And what does the MCU has to do with this?

Well, you see. The MCU does absolutely not a single one of those things.

2. It chooses specific arcs to adapt - or claim to.

The MCU isn’t adapting “vibes”. Each character besides Spider-Man has their origin story adapted. Event names show up in the actual titles. Sometimes comic panels are directly recreated on-screen. There’s no way it could pretend to not be directly using specific comic storylines as a base (and then not paying the people who made those comics).

A film based on a book is supposed to tell the same story of the book. Maybe some details change, but the story is the same. Comics usually have a lot more leeway, but if you choose to wave that, you should be prepared to have your film/TV series judged accordingly. Committing to adapt a specific comic arc is completely different than simply making a movie about a character or a team that has decades of stories to pick elements from.

3. It monopolises adaptation. 

Not only have other Marvel adaptations been based on the MCU instead of the comics for a long time now (ex.: ’Avengers Assemble’ replacing ‘Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’ in 2013), but recently every single Marvel animated project was cancelled (’Guardians of the Galaxy’, ‘Avengers: Black Panther’s Quest’, and the entire Marvel Rising line-up all ended in 2019. ‘Spider-Man’ ended in 2020), and projects set in the MCU were announced (’I Am Groot’ in 2020, ‘Spider-Man: Freshman Year’ and ‘Marvel Zombies’ in 2021).

[[For the sake of completion: ‘Hit-Monkey’ (2021) was cancelled and ‘M.O.D.O.K.’ (2021) is in limbo. The only non-MCU animated properties still going - besides Sony’s Spider-Verse - are ‘Baymax!’ (technically based on Marvel comics, but in practice just a Disney property), ‘Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur’ (has been in production since 2018 and keeps getting delayed) and ‘X-Men '97′, which is actually the first non-MCU project fully produced by Marvel Studios (it’s clearly being done to promote the introduction of the mutants in the MCU, but at least some good is coming out of it) (ETA: Marvel apparently can’t recast the Fox X-Men cast until 2025, so I guess the only way for them to do something not MCU-based is not being legally allowed to)]]

It’s not that bad when a comic adaptation doesn’t do your favourite character justice if another, hopefully better, one happens not too long after, or even simultaneously but in a different medium. But the MCU has been going for over 10 years and there’s no end in sight. A character you like is dead, written completely different, had some of their more meaningful relationships erased, or was whitewashed? Tough luck. Maybe in 50 years this shit will be finally over and they’ll get another shot.

And, yes, this deprives Marvel fans who don’t enjoy the MCU of content, but it also monopolises the public perception of characters. That version, inaccurate as it is, is all the general public is going to know.

4. It doesn’t leave the comics alone.

Taking over all the possible adaptations wasn’t enough. There has been countless changes to the comics so that they more closely resemble the MCU. Characters’ stories, personalities, relationships. Team rosters, teams’ existences. Events are constantly recycled so that they help promote films that are (supposedly) based on previous events. It’s all done extremely obviously and clearly under instructions from above. Nothing about it is organic, most of it barely even makes sense.

There’s nowhere left to run. Adaptations other than the films are now either based on it (if you’re lucky) or part of it. The comics are being moulded to its image, usually to their detriment. Everyone else in the world sees “Marvel” as a synonym to "MCU”. Your favourite character is now incredibly popular, but only as a whitewashed antisemitic version, and if their fans could spit on you via twitter for pointing that out they would.

1. It doesn’t stay on its lane.

The MCU straight up claimed for itself the reality number of the original comics universe (616), even when it already had a established reality number (199999). It is in no way satisfied with being an adaptation, it needs to have the center stage. The comics, the original universe, what started everything, is pushed aside in favour of it. And this was officiated when they gave it the main universe’s number. The MCU is the main universe, and comics are simply the script’s first draft.

So I think it’s fair that “the internet” “massacres” it “for not being faithful to the comics”. Your regular comic adaptation doesn’t really need to be, but we’re way past that. If the MCU is to be the main universe, then the bare minimum it should be is accurate to the main universe’s stories.

[stxleslyds]

ive also stopped reading nightwing issues bc of all the same reasons uve posted lol.

u know those recommendation lists like "if you read book X, you might like Y" ? do u have any similar recommendations for fans of nightwing who are just tired of his recent runs? can be fanfic, old issues/ runs, other fandoms!

Hey there! How have you been doing?

It sucks that you have also stopped reading Nightwing, I think that the fact that many people have stopped investing their time in that run is very telling of both Tom Taylor’s writing and DC’s approach to Dick and Barbara as individual characters.

I hope better times (and comics) come our way!

As for recommendations, I have some in mind right now, I will list them down below!

Other Dick Grayson/Nightwing books I enjoy:

Future State: Nightwing

This book was pure bliss, two issues of competent Dick Grayson, leader of the resistance and the great comeback of his mechanic tendencies!

Outsiders vol.3

Dick is flawed, he is a shell of the person he used to be and is going through an immense rough time. This book shows us just how much the nickname “golden boy” doesn’t work for him at times. Dick is deep down still Dick but he also acts like a dick. Judd Winick makes him bearable thanks to the team by his side but most importantly thanks to Roy Harper who makes the perfect companion for Dick.

Nightwing vol.3 (New 52)

Alright, I know, New 52 was shit for the most part but I truly believe that Kyle Higgins did an amazing job with what he was given. His Dick/Nightwing was very sad and lonely but he was a beast, he was competent, an excellent fighter and extremely resilient when confronted with terrible upon terrible situations. To me this is a wonderful run if you pull it away from the whole New 52 narrative.

Batman: Gates of Gotham

They really popped off when DC gave us this beauty with Dick!Bats. The art and story are really worth anyone’s time. It is story heavy but it really gives us a look on what Dick was able to do as Batman even without his Robin. Detective heavy stuff.

Batman: Prelude to the Wedding: Nightwing vs. Hush

Now, this issue might have the advantage of Travis Moore’s ridiculously gorgeous art but the story is quite good too. We get a look at just how important Dick is, was and will be to Bruce and we also get some “unreliable narrator” vibes from Dick. If it was intended or not, I don’t know, but I can still appreciate it.

Nightwing: Old Friends, New Enemies.

Well, this one is on the list because it has the recompilation of “Cheshire’s Contact”. Those amazing issues in which Roy Harper trusts Dick only with getting his daughter back. Very enjoyable and a story that I would love to see made canon again.

Batman: Prodigal.

That’s a solid book, it is a good book to read if you want to see a bit of how Dick did in his first time as Batman and that time with Tim by his side. Not only are we offered Dick!Bats but we also get to see a more “domestic” side of him. Alfred left the Manor with Bruce so all the chores have to be done by Dick and it is always a good reminder for people who are convinced that Dick is a “human disaster” and cannot attend his own needs.

Nightwing vol.2 (#140 to #153)

Tomasi’s turn on that roller-coaster of a book was a good way to end it. He pushed Dick/Nightwing’s status up in every single way. Dick was a protector, leader, detective and so much more. His skillset and will to be (and become) better were always there. If you are looking for some BAMF Dick Grayson this is the place.

Other books that don’t have Dick Grayson:

Yeah, I can offer you some marvel… don’t know if that’s your cup of tea but check then out if you feel like it.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2020) #6

You could read the entire run (it is complete), it is honestly amazing. It is a team book so you won’t find many of the issues to be related to a single character. However, #6 offers an in depth look at Richard Rider (Nova). Richard is a leader, a team player and an excellent hero, but just like Dick he tends to put a lot over his shoulders and take the blame for things that maybe he shouldn’t. This issue is all about him and how he deals (or not) with his demons and everything else in his life.

Black Widow (2020)

This (ongoing) book is a masterpiece, Kelly Thompson is someone that sometimes misses me with her takes but ever since she took a hold of Nat, she has only made her more badass and interesting. This is an assassin heavy book, yes. But the villains and storytelling would really please some Nightwing readers. Dick and Nat don’t have much in common but I am sure that this book will be someone’s favourite either way.

Spider-Gwen/Ghost-Spider/Gwenom

This is me pushing Gwen Stacy as much as I can when I am given the chance. This book might not seem like it will match your average Nightwing connoisseur but there three separate books of Gwen’s life kinda give us the perspective of someone who might be like you and me and got powers. Gwen grows into the hero life and herself. The Spider-Gwen runs might be a bit too teenage heavy but it takes a turn once Ghost-Spider comes into place. Gwen is faced with more responsibilities, moving away from home (a whole ass different dimension) and then… Knull, 2021’s biggest Marvel Comics baddie. She is extremely fun and a bit too forward at times, it can certainly be a hit or miss but I would say that she is worth the try!

Dick Grayson Fics: I have to be sneaky; I will link here two asks in which I was asked about Jason Todd fics and I ended up recommending Dick fics that have Jason in them or “Dick and Jason are/were friends” because those fics make me weak and I just can’t help myself.

I will link the first one here! and the last one that I made here!

I hope you enjoy some (or all) these recommendations. I tried my best to remember some of my favourite Nightwing books, I got my notes back at home so I might be missing some. Maybe @hood-ex can help you out and rec amazing Dick/Nightwing books, she is my favourite Dick Grayson connoisseur!

Thank you for the ask, hope you have a lovely week!

[wearevillaneve]

Is This the Rise of Dark Eve and the Descent of Villanelle?

Comic book fans slow down, speed up, zoom in and pick apart an upcoming Marvel or DC trailer for every minute detail. too fans do that too, but they take their detective duties further. They study episode titles and short descriptions to extract every bit of subtle nuance and scour it for any possible clue as to what may happen to Eve and Villanelle. IF the recent "leaked" episode descriptions are correct, Season Four will put Eve front and center as the initiator of the action and Villanelle will be stepping back a bit into a reactive mode. This would be the exact opposite of how Season Three played out.

The fandom reacts.

I give the Villanelle the Redeemed story arc a short lifespan. Two, maybe three tops, and then it's done. It's easier to say you want to be forgiven your sins than to wash them away. Her time in the church will end in blood and fire. Villanelle can TRY to reform, but it's not gonna take. Tigers and stripes, ya know?

If true though, it looks like Season Four is going to be an Evetravaganza, and since the name of the show is Killing EVE, I ain't mad about it. It means I can finally retire the "Where is Eve?" memes.

Eve was done dirty in Season Three and if the scales get balanced a bit in the final season, I have no problem with it. I'm here for the Sandra Oh Supremacy.

Don't overly stress out over some titles and brief descriptions. At the time of this writing, the BBC and AMC sites have yet to be updated with this information. The same goes for the KE IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes pages. Hell, even Wikipedia doesn't have it completely yet, so it could all be wrong. But if it's right, how did this reversal of focus come to be?

Did Sandra Oh walk into Sally Woodward Gentle's office and say, "I'm not trying to start any drama, but Eve didn't have all that much to do in Season 3. Let's not have that happen again, okay?" Maybe. Not likely. That would have some serious diva vibes and Sandra doesn't seem to be that kind of actor. But she can read a call sheet or a script and know instantly that she's not the focus of the show. While it wouldn't surprise me if such a conversation did take place, we'll never know if it did until Sally, Sandra or Jodie writes a tell-all biography about their Killing Eve experience.

One thing looks to be fairly certain; there will not be multiple episodes where Eve and Villanelle go without even mentioning each other. That's a prospect which should make any Villaneve stan happy. What won’t make Villanelle stans happy is the situation it seems our favorite fashionista, kind-of-a-big-deal-in-this-business finds herself. She looks to be stuck in a religious rut to start the season and joining the walking wounded for a good part of the rest of it. As previously stated, Villanelle doesn't need redemption, shouldn't seek redemption, and truthfully, she doesn't DESERVE redemption.

I want the Villanelle who stabs a man in the eye and looks ecstatic as he dies. I want the Villanelle who poisons perfume bottles, clamps balls, strangles dudes with their knock-off designer ties, and snaps the necks of depressed teenage boys. Remember her?

God, I miss that Villanelle. I bet Eve does too now that she's feeling frisky, feral and, happily choosing violence.

We're obviously going to start off with a weakened and diminished Villanelle and probably one who won't get back on her game until later in the season. Hopefully, not TOO late because I had enough of weak, whiny, wimpy Villanelle in Season 3. Killing Eve has to bring back the Bad-Ass Villanelle. Give our lethal lady back what belongs to her. Give her back her swagger.

[lafayetteworld]

Robin 2021

Okay, so it's been a while since I've been actively posting on tumblr, mainly because I haven’t had time. That being said, the commentary I am about to make on the Robin 2021 series is not meant to offend anyone and while I am particularly critical, I also acknowledge that some people genuinely like it/prefer the direction its's going in. And that's fine. But I did want to break down why I feel the current series is just 'meh' to me at the moment and it’s not necessarily because Damian is potentially being shipped with a newly introduced character.

Please be aware, that there are lots of spoilers. 

So, to start off, I am a big fan of the older Batman and Robin (2009) series, where Damian had partnered up first with Dick and later Bruce (2011). I do no think they are flawless, certainly. I think, in particular, the Nobody plot - excluding of course the interactions between Batman!Dick and Robin! Damian which are gold - was very good. In just a handful of issues, I think we were offered a great insight into Damian's character and how layered he is. 

My first thoughts when I heard about Robin 2021, based on the announcement: Damian will follow his own path, for some reason he retains the Robin moniker which is weird but okay, it does seem like something he'd do I suppose. He will participate in mortal kombat-sort-of-tournament, which will showcase his abilities and in the process, 'he will seek his own destiny' (which I believe was a line used in the actual announcement). The reason he wants to win? Initially, it appeared to be only because he wanted to prove to be the world's best fighter -- which by the way, how is only a tournament of this level only coming up now? Anyways, ignored that. Not a big deal. The idea of watching Damian fight different opponents was appealing either way.

The art of those comics is perhaps nowhere as striking/appealing as Robin 2021 and there's certainly not as many elements to it, but there was just something about it. I stopped reading comics after, for reasons I can't recall but I do remember finding out that Damian was killed off sometime after. I was super heartbroken over it but luckily I found out about it right around the time DC decided to bring him so really I had to wait a short while to see the little shit being Robin again.

I am not as familiar with the arc on Alfred's death but I know Damian watched what was basically his grandfather figure die in front of his eyes. How it was addressed after was rather poorly and that's a discussion for another time, just as it is that hot mess of Gleason's Titans.

 My hopes may have been too high in thinking we will be offered the introspection we'd seen in Batman and Robin, or him deciding what type of vigilante he wants to be. Like who remembers Damian admitting 'sometimes I don't know who I am or what I want' or him saying he does not wish to be like Nobody. That was so poignant.  

First issue of Robin 2021 was a disappointment. I know that there's a lot of damage to the character that had to be addressed but why did he die from like the beginning? Why is it the first thing we see is the author's OC defeat him? I mean, we really didn't need that to find the tournament's rules. Anyway, I was so sold on the art that I could have overlooked all that, except then the art became inconsistent so.....

Do I think Flatline's design is awesome? Yep. Do I like that she is potentially a badass female fighter? Sure. Do I like her abilities? Somewhat? They haven't been explored that much. But to me, having an OC appear out of nowhere and kill the character I was hoping to watch mature/develop is a bit underwhelming. Then, we start getting references of how poetic it is that Damian may fall in love with the first girl that kills him. I thought it was funny at the beginning but subsequent issues only seem to point that actually, the author does want to use Flatline/romance in this journey of growth that Damian is undergoing. I mean, we really shouldn't be romanticizing that she killed him? The girl is serious about winning too. That she caught him off guard is actually rather awesome but I don't think it had to mean anything more than Damian meeting a potentially dangerous fighter and that he needs to be less reckless.

Damian is a pretty complex/difficult character with a lot to figure out. Why does he need a girlfriend? Why can't he have friends that helps him grow or mentor figures? Him and Rose have such a great dynamic, for example.

I see a lot of people saying 'well, he's a teenager boy so it's normal'. Yeah of course it is. But why can't it be the opposite? Damian isn't a normal teenager. Out there, may be teenagers who feel the same. They don’t care about this stuff. 

It is so frustrating, and underwhelming. Not because there's anything wrong with Damian having a crush. Not because there's necessarily anything wrong with Flatline. But because there's no need.

Why is it just because he's a teenager he has to have a romantic interest? If romance is introduced in a plot, surely it doesn't have to be just because 'he's a teenager'. And if he does, why does it have to be an OC that hasn't been explored very well? Flatline could be a seriously cool character without needing to be a romantic interest for Damian and vice versa, Damian has so much to figure out on his own. So for me it's not the shipping that’s an issue, it’s the reasoning and how it may perpetuate clichés when there’s other angles that could be explored. 

Also, why the hell is Alfred used to drive Flatline's likeability? If Alfred is Damian's guilt manifesting, then that's actually Damian thinking that?

'I like this one, Master Damian.'

Seriously. I really hope we end up finding out that was tied in with Flatline's ability or something. So, Williamson won't explore Damian's guilt over Alfred but he'll give us a panel where Alfred (or a manifestation of him) is basically giving his thumbs up for his OC. That doesn’t sit well with me. Not so early in the series, anyway. 

Why is this whole manga thing keep coming back? Yes, Damian reads manga. I loved this addition and I think it's great that Williamson actually brought it in. The fact that it was Flatline who found it seems cliché. And no, I don't think it's a parallel between the shojo manga characters and them two. I really hope that particular manga has a deeper meaning than that. The fact that we keep seeing the blood sprayed (or is it cuts? not sure) on it does seem to hint at that.

There were some good moments. Damian and Dick. Basically every single interaction between Damian and Ravager. The whole Damian and Conner could have been developed better, because it seemed rather sudden they had a heart to heart when Damian can be such a distrusting little shit. Damian reuniting with Goliath.

Why is it that we're five issues into this series and it's all over the place? I don't dislike it. The art is great, although there's so many inconsistencies. But it's been super hard to feel in any way about it other than just 'meh'.

Issue #6 was boring. I didn't mind Flatline and Damian analysing other fighters, it was interesting actually, but that it's still being framed as heading towards a romantic relationship is so.....well, eugh.

Overall, I just don't feel there's enough...substance? Damian does interact with a wide variety of characters and there are a lot of things going on - batfamily searching for him, Ra’s Al Ghul (which was funny yet so odd the way he was characterized), the whole tournament and magic island, so on.

Flatline is not the issue for me, but rather one part of why the series has not managed to appeal to me. I do feel there's a bit too much of her. Or rather, there's not enough of her as a character and too much of the whole 'they're teenagers so they'll have to end up having a crush on one another because he's a boy and she's a girl who literally stole his heart'. Like, I wouldn’t mind having Flatline or other fighters background explored, just to see the types of people they are and so on. 

I wish there'd more of Damian's inner thoughts too. If not that, then give us more fights. Not just snippets. It's a tournament. Let's see how badass they all are. Damian’s fight scenes in #6 were beautiful but brief. I hope the next issues will give us more of that.  As someone who does like Damian x OC fics, I can’t blame the author for wanting to hype their own OC, but I am also a great fan of friends to lovers, slow burns, friendships can be just as great as romantic relationships, of taking the time for mental/emotional growth. 

Anyways, if you've made it to the end of this commentary, I applaud you. Once again, if you do like the whole Damian x Flatline thing, that's cool. I don't, but I do understand to an extent why people find it appealing. And if you think the Robin 2021 series is amazing, then I am happy for you -- I wish I could be this enthusiastic about it.

P.S just saw the cover for issue #7 or is it #8 ? I think I may cry.

[wesavegotham]

So don’t hate me but I’m kinda liking damian’s animated versions better than his comic one I really like his comic one but after all the shit happening where he has been nerfed nonstop getting beat by Thomas Wayne Batman, the teen titans red hood (although Jason attacked from behind like a bitch) and now flatline beating him. Not to mention Bruce not being a father and Damian now Being blamed for everything when they all have no room to talk. God I was satisfied when his old team died in future.

This is going to be a really long post, my apologies in advance.

I absolutely get where you’re coming from. I personally still like comic Damian more because I feel like there is more nuance and layers to him compared to the animated universe Damian, but that is simply the fault of the limited time they could spent on him in the movies.

Movie!Damian certainly wins more fights than comic!Damian and was never regressed in any way that is comparable to the shitshow that was Teen Titans (2016).

You’re adressing a problem I have with comic!Damian too right now, a problem that I’ve already talked about with some people here on tumblr in private. Which is that for all the talk about what Damian can do the comics have rarely shown all those skills Damian should have being used in the actual story in recent years and that is frustrating. I find Damian’s arrogance interesting as long as I feel like he can at least back it up in some way, but in recent time he comes off as just an idiot because he has done almost nothing but fail and lose and the writers still have him act like he’s the greatest. But it doesn’t feel like he can back up his confidence anymore. At all.

If I had to name a skill that differentiates Damian from the other Robins right now then I could only list his skill to hide from Batman and that is a skill he only has for plot convenience. We don’t see him do anything to cover his tracks, we are only told that he somehow did it. And I’m pretty sure that the second this skill stops being convenient for the story it will vanish once again. It will probably end like it did with Jon, where Damian somehow hid so well that Jon said they would never find him in Teen Titans, when they wanted an excuse for Jon to not get involved with his friend’s fall into darkness, but now that DC wanted them to interact again all of that is forgotten and Jon has no problems finding Damian.

Damian is not the most social Robin, nor the most intelligent one and considering how he seemed to lose against everything and everyone in recent years I can’t say with a straight face that he’s the best at fighting or the most skilled. And that IS a problem. Damian will never be known for his social skills or his detective skills, those niches are already taken by Dick and Tim, but in theory he should be a great fighter or a highly skilled person. Damian has sacrificed his entire life for training, both in the league of assassins and during his time with the batfamily. But if Damian sucks at fighting (as in: he loses a lot more than he wins) and his skills play no significant role in advancing the plot, then what is the point of his character? Great, he’s good at drawing and likes manga now, but how will that help with a fighting tournament? Or with solving the mystery behind the league of lazarus? A protagonist is usually supposed to be able to change the situation he is in, that is why he’s the protagonist and not someone else. So what makes Damian so unique that only  he can solve the situation he finds himself in during Robin and not someone like Conner Hawke? Or what makes him unique in the batfamily? I hope Robin adresses that soon. 

Of course now one could say “He still has an unique position as Bruce’s biological child”, but that also was completely irrelevant in recent years. For all the moments since the start of Rebirth that had batfam-fans complaining that Damian was favored by DC because of his status as the only biological child of Bruce, there were actually very few interactions between the two. Stuff like Bruce talking about Damian or saying that he loves him was primarily found in scenes in which Damian was not present. Or it came way too late, like in Teen Titans (and Bruce refusing to hit Damian in the face because he is his child sets such a low bar, I refuse to acknowledge that as a sign of love)

If you look at how Bruce actually treats Damian or describes him then there is little love there. He ignored his 13th birthday, did nothing when Damian left him after the events of Justice League: No Justice, it had no impact on the Batman books at all, Bruce only called Damian for missions like two times, once in City of Bane (which was just so shitty, as I already explained in a previous post) and a second time in Detective Comics #1017 (He sent Damian to find a missing kid in a snow storm, while he dealt with something else), refused to comfort him at Alfred’s wake and when Bruce reflects on what happened in Teen Titans he blames most of it on Damian’s personality, both in Detective Comics #1030 and in Robin #1, and both times there is nobody questioning Bruce’s asessment. He really doesn’t have anything nice to say about Damian and apparently we are not supposed to disagree with him. So in summary: Damian seems to have no skills that make him indispensable for the batfamily, Bruce seems to have a very low opinion of Damian’s character and now that they have decided to give us Bruce searching for Damian the only reason for that seems to be that Bruce suddenly feels responsible for his child, even though that should have already been the case when Damian seperated from him in 2018 or at least directly after the second Teen Titans annual.

Even the kinda nice things Bruce says about Damian in Robin #1 can be called into question if you think about them. He says he has no doubt that Damian can take care of himself...and then we see Damian getting his heart ripped out at the end of the very same issue. Of course we know that Damian’s story doesn’t end there, so I won’t judge this too harshly yet, but to me this didn’t come off as Damian being able to take care of himself.

And I get letting Damian lose at the start of the tournament to establish Flatline as a threat and to make it clear that this tournament is not a game. I also get that Damian’s fight against King Snake was supposed to make sure that we still think of Damian as competent even though he loses later on. But at least for me, winning against King Snake was not cool or badass enough to make up for the fact that Damian was easily killed, in front of everyone, by a literal nobody like Flatline. King Snake is an old, blind guy, that didn’t show up in any DC comic I read since I started in 2018 and that was apparently beaten by Tim in his solo comic when he was 14 back in the 90s. Sorry, but that just isn’t impressive enough for me, especially since I’ve seen Damian lose so much in recent years. It doesn’t establish Flatline as a badass, it just makes me think that Damian is not that great of a fighter and shouldn’t be in this tournament.

I have some more thoughts on the tournament that make me wish that the arc will start being less about winning the tournament itself and more about something like taking down the league of lazarus soon (mainly the fact that a fight about being the best fighter is useless if the big guns are not taking part, the fact that you can only win by killing your oponent, which should be a problem for Damian and how nothing we know about the rewards for winning, becoming part of the league of lazarus und apparently immortality, is desirable for Damian), but this answer is already too long.

I’m going to be honest an admit that I did not like the ending of Robin #1 at all and that I hope that Williamson will show Damian being competent really soon because I’m not here for another pointless arc about Damian learning humility. I want to see Damian win for once, you know, like other protagonist usually do at the end of an arc and if Damian can’t even win or tell us what’s going on with him from his point of view in a book about him then I’m probably going to feel very disappointed by this book.

[anzanity]

WW84 review from someone who actually knows what was going on.

So there's a lot on the internet about how "bad" the new movie is. Well yall know me (or maybe not, but I mean this is a fan page so let's go with it). I'm a die hard fan of DC. Give me a question I'll likely have a answer.

So here's a honest review from a loyal fan.

The movie could easily be confusing and lame if you don't know who anyone in the wonderverse is.

But if you know who is who and what is what, then the movie is amazing.

Update: Obviously this isn't the only place I've posted this, but here's a common thing. People are used to the base build of comic movies: introduce bad guy, build up bad guy and evild scheme, big boom fight. Well the DC movies are changing that. This was more accurate to comic books story build: introduce character that seems lovable, they turn out to become a villain, mini fight, rebuild strength on both sides, bad guy gets a side helper/team mate to face off against hero, another mini fight, more regrouping, big finale fight that makes the main message of the plot clear. And to do this in a movie length because they assume people know the comics (because, let's be honest, the comics have been out for decades and the internet explains all of them easily).

Wonder Woman's character is all about having faith in humanity, the good in people. It's about discovering that good in yourself and others. And the movie shows that plain as day.

Now for the characters, they don't build up who is who or even name them flat out to make it more entertaining for fans of the comics to point out.

Now I won't give any big spoilers to the plot, but I am about to bust out the who's who. So if you want to be shocked, don't read past here. If you want a heads up, or have watched the movie and are confused, here is your lifeline.

The buisness man, Max Lord, is a JLA villain and buisness man who uses his own buisness suave to gain power. He's your typical power hungry buisness man who has a habit of getting things too big for him to understand and using them against the world to raise his own status.

Barbra Minerva, the quirky blond, turns to Cheetah, a powerful enemy for the loved Wonder Woman. Now depending on the comic you follow this is either Circe or Urzkartaga who grants her the powers. Both situations is because she envies Diana and wants to be more than just the nerd that everyone ignores.

Now for the Dreamstone. This was a tough one. At first I thought maybe it was a design by Circe. That woman did a lot of crazy stuff. But then, with the help of the internet, I came across what I recognized better, the Chaos Crystal. Upon finding this, I realized. This movie plot is straight from the Earth 2 comics. This crystal came from the gods, meaning they are likely following the Urzkartaga origin of Cheetah, and grants desires based on one real energy can amplify your wish to reality. So you give up something to get your deepest wish.

Now for the snazzy armor. That is based on the Golden Eagle Armor from the old comics. The armor is able to protect from all forms of weapons, electricity, and most blunt force or energy based attacks. It was originally designed by the Amazon's for Wonder Woman, but the added plot of Asteria was needed to make it make sense here. Wonder Woman only ever dawned this armor in fights that were to be exceptionally challenging for her.

The added hint at Stagg Industries was really more of just a side fun point. But they were a corrupt company so it fit well.

EXTRA SPOILER ALERT FOR THE BIG CAMEO:

And as for the cameo at the end, Linda Carter will always be a legend.

[lilfellasblog]

I tried to choose a question but, I'm pretty interested in answers to all those tbh

You. I like you.

Talk about the first ship you ever had. - Tiencha (Tien Shinhan/ Yamcha), which is why I'm very sympathetic to those also suffering in rarepair hell.

Talk about three of the most important ships throughout your life. Destiel, Tiencha, Analogical

What’s your current OTP? Oof, I think I gotta go Prinxiety! So much potential for angst with hurt/comfort.

What’s your current NOTP? You know, I honestly can't think of any tbh.

Do you have any poly ships? For my OTP question, I originally answered LAMP/CALM, so definitely that!

How do you feel about love triangles? I think they can be intriguing if done well. If there's cheating involved, it would be pretty difficult for me to feel sympathy for the cheater.

How do you feel about RPF? It's fine, do whatever you want. Fanfic has always been for fans, not for creators. Purity culture and entitlement needs to stop. It's like seeing a sign that says "Snapping Turtles", jumping in the pond anyways, then yelling at the people who put up the sign after you lose a couple pounds of flesh.

Have you ever shipped yourself with a character? Tbh, the closest I've gotten is wanting different characters to adopt me and take me from my home. But I don't think I've ever romantically shipped myself with someone.

Do you have many ships that never got together at all? *cries in All Of Them*

Do you ship any characters that have never met? Huh. I don't think so tbh.

Talk about your favorite first kiss. Well in college there was- Oh! You mean fictional characters! :3 I think Virgil's first kiss with Roman in Healing Broken Wings is my favorite.

Have you ever been disappointed when your ship finally got together? *cries in It's Never Happened*

Has a ship ever broken your heart? In fanfic? Yeah, I've read some sad endings before and that's usually not my jam.

How do you feel about will they/won’t they? I'm fine with it so long as it ends in "Yes they will!"

Have you ever “shipped at first sight”? Analogical, actually!

Talk about a ship you initially disliked. I think when Remus first appeared, I had a hard time imagining him with anyone because of what a gremlin he is. I've come around to the trash rat tho.

Talk about a pairing you’ve stopped shipping romantically. Destiel.

Talk about a moment which made you question an entire ship. Season 6 of Supernatural. Destiel. >:(

Have you ever shipped something despite yourself? Kind of? I've done spite fics with spite ships.

Talk about a ship you feel alone in shipping. Tiencha, or Tien Shinhan/ Yamcha. They'd be so cute together!

Is there a ship you just don’t get, but have nothing against? Any ships that are part of fandoms I'm not in. I guess maybe Tony Stark/ Steve Rogers? They have such different values and ethics. They literally need a threat to the entire universe to come together.

Which of your ships have the best chemistry? Oh Analogical, easily. Royality too I think.

Which of your ships deserve better writing? Tiencha :(

Do you mostly ship canon pairings? Lmao no.

Have you ever shipped a pairing before you even started watching the show/movie simply because of gifs and graphics or similar? Yes I have! Crowley/ Aziraphale.

Have you noticed a pattern in your shipping? Is there a romantic dynamic you’re more drawn to? Not really, it's kind of all over the map.

Is there a ship you’ve shipped for most of your life? Tiencha.

Does shipping come easily to you? Yes, I am trash.

Do you need to ship something to really enjoy a movie/book/tv show/comic? Definitely not. I was a Potterhead, and I still don't really ship anything there.

Name a couple of fandoms in which you have no ships. Harry Potter, Marvel, DC Comics. I'm not in those fandoms tho.

Talk about one of your favorite headcanons for a ship you love. Roman is playfully protective of Virgil, and Virgil teases him by dramatically swooning.

Share five must-read fics. "Unexpected Destinies" was my first fic that I got into. Destiel fic, very complex and interesting AU. I think it got deleted during a LiveJournal purge tho. I got really into the "Battle Scars" series for a hot minute. Disabled Goku/ disabled Yamcha. "Perfect Attendance" by Periwren is great hurt/comfort starring Roman and Logan. "Welcome to the Neighborhood" by LeFay_Strent is absolutely hysterical. Shenanigans with Remy and Virgil, background Prinxiety, baffled Logan, it's a good time. And "War is Hell (but crushing is way more awkward)" by Jasper01 is incredible in so many ways! Funny, tragic, accurate, romantic, sweet, heartbreaking, all the things!

Name your favorite fanartist(s). So many fanartists have moved away from Sanders Sides, so I'm having a hard time thinking of many. To make sure I cover everyone, if there are any recs please let me know and I'll signal boost!

Share your favorite fanmix for your OTP. *Googles fanmix* It would appear I have none.

Recommend 1-5 shipper blogs. Gosh, so many of the shipping blogs I follow have become inactive in the Sides fandom. So! If any of you shipping blogs would like a shout-out, lmk and I'll signal boost!

Do you create fanmixes/gif sets/fanart/fic/fanvids and so on for you ships? Fic. So much fic.

Do you have a favorite trope and/or AU for your OTP? I mean I'm partial to Healing Broken Wings AU. As for trope, I'm a sucker for angst with hurt/comfort.

Do you like and use ship names? Definitely! Much faster to type.

Is there a fictional relationship you’d really want for yourself? I'm taking the word "fictional" literally here, because there is someone I'm in unrequited love with that I'm working on dealing with and I would really love a relationship with this person even though I know any hope is fiction.

If you could change one thing about your OTP, what would that be? Prinxiety, and that Roman would get some goshdang therapy!

[youreacowgirllikeme]

Blind Date

 

Note: just an idea I had, hope you like it. some soft fluffiness, but also smut bc I’m still h word for Jake, especially after how he looked tonight on tv.

Pairing: Jake Tapper x reader

 Warnings: smut, NSFW

 

(sorry for eventual typos, I wrote this in a bit of a frenzy)

enjoy

 

“You look horrible. “Abby stated matter-of-factly as she sat down in the restaurant chair across from you.

 “I missed you too, great to see you, thanks. “you responded, not even bothering to argue with her.

Abby was your best friend since college, if she said you looked horrible it was either a joke or a fact. Considering the way she was looking at you, probably the latter.

“Hard week at work?”

 You let out a tired huff.

“You have no idea. We got this new client who booked us for a nation-wide tv ad, and they’re so incredibly demanding. I’ve been working overtime for three weeks straight, it’s a miracle they didn’t call me in today.”

Your monthly Saturday brunch with Abby was sacred, work be damned.

Your friend was giving you a worried look across the table. “Well, I’m glad they didn’t, you deserve a day off.”

 “Enough of my sad life, how is it going over at Fake News?” you joked.

 “Amazing actually. You won’t believe it, but I’ve heard through the grapevine that they’re thinking about offering me John’s Sunday spot on Inside Politics. Can you imagine, my own hour, as an actual anchor. It’s nothing official yet, but I’m so excited.”

 “Oh my god, Abby, that’s awesome. I’m so proud of you. We should celebrate.” you exclaimed, beckoning a waiter to order two glasses of champagne.

 Abby gave you a warm smile.
“Thank you, babe. But let me be honest, I’m worried about you. You look exhausted, even your voice sounds tired. When was the last time you did something actually relaxing?”

 “I’ve watched a movie, like, a week ago. And I do yoga, at least sometimes.” You tried to argue, not entirely sure if you wanted to convince Abby or yourself.

 A smirk settled over your friend’s face, and she looked at you like she just had the most brilliant idea ever. You did not like that look at all, it usually meant trouble.

 “Well todays your lucky day, because I know just what you need to de-stress a bit.”

 You just raised an eyebrow at her. 
“Care to elaborate, genius?”

 “You, my friend, need to get laid.”

You snorted. “Fun times, Abbs, you almost got me,”


“I’m serious, Y/N, when was the last time you had sex?”

“Okay, it’s been a while, but I’m fine. I don’t need a man to interfere with the little free time I have. And it’s not like the streets are full of men chasing me. I don’t have time to date, and, like I said, I’m totally fine with the way things are at the moment.” You tried your very best not to sound defensive. 

The expression on Abby’s face told you everything you needed to know. She didn’t buy a single word coming out of your mouth.
“Y/N, trust me when I tell you, blowing off a little steam would do wonders for your stress level. And maybe you’d even meet someone nice. And, lucky for you, I know just the guy. He’s someone I work with, and I think you’d get along perfectly.”

 “You’re not actually suggesting setting me up on a blind date.” You couldn’t believe your friend. The last thing you needed was an evening full of awkward small talk with some boring, sleek CNN guy.

 “Come on, Y/N, take a leap of faith. What’s the worst thing that could happen?”

+++

 (One week later)

 “I can’t believe I actually agreed.” You murmured to yourself as you rummaged through your closet, looking for an outfit to wear on that damned date Abby bullied you into.

You thought about the peaceful evening you could have had, curled up on the sofa with a glass of wine, maybe getting some work done.

But it was too late to back down now.

 “Let’s just get this over with” you told yourself, applying some lipstick as if it was war paint. “Let’s hope that the guy is at least good-looking.”

 The restaurant Abby sent you to was nice enough, a small and intimate place, perfect for a date. You couldn’t wait to have your first glass of wine, because you could feel your nervousness increasing with each passing minute.

You entered the restaurant, looking for the third table on the window side that Abby had described to you…and directly turned around, practically fleeing through the door again as soon as you set eyes on the man sitting there.

 Back outside, you took your phone out of your bag and furiously dialed Abby’s number. She picked up right away, but you were shouting at her before she could even say a word.

“You better tell me that you did not set me up with Jake fucking Tapper.”

Was she out of her mind? This was the Jake Tapper, the face of CNN, hell, the face of the media in this country. What the fuck were you supposed to talk to him about.

But your friend just chuckled at you through the phone.
“When you saw him on TV some months ago, you said he was your type. Plus, he’s intelligent, funny, and single. Perfect for you. And now stop making a fool out of yourself and go in there. You got this, girl. Love you, bye.”
And with that, she hung up.

 You took a deep breath and tried to calm your nerves. You could not just leave now, and stand up Mr. Breaking News himself. So you pocketed your phone again, squared your shoulders and went back into the restaurant.

You made your way over to the table, coming to a stop in front of it. The man sitting there looked up to you and smiled. And wow, what a beautiful smile it was, sincere, warm and inviting, taking over his entire face.

“Hi.” You said, trying to sound confident.

“I’m Y/N, Abby’s friend.”

 

“It’s so nice to meet you, I’m Jake. I’m working with Abby, but she probably already told you that much.”

“She did, but I’ll be honest, I know you, of course. Big fan of your show.”

God, why did you just say that. He was probably going to think you were some kind of crazy fangirl now.

 But he just continued to smile his open, friendly smile at you.
“Always happy to hear that.” He chuckled, pointing to the opposite chair. “Do you want to sit down?”

 “Yes, of course, sorry.” You said, feeling silly because you totally forgot that you were still standing. You quickly sat down and tried your best to appear calm and collected, even if your insides were in turmoil.

 “Would you care for some wine? They have a pretty impressive list, I could pick one for us if you don’t mind.” Jake asked.

 “Wine sounds fantastic. I love it, but I’m not really an expert, so go ahead.”

 Jake took some reading glasses out of the pocket of his suit jacket and put them on his nose. 
While he was studying the wine list, you took your time to study him instead. He appeared to be in his late forties, so there was an age difference of probably 15 to 20 years. You didn’t mind that at all, older men had always been more your type.

He had a really handsome face, kind eyes that looked even better when he had those glasses on, and you loved his salt-and-pepper hair. He was wearing a light blue dress shirt with a dark grey suit jacket. You caught your mind wandering to how he might look underneath his clothes and gave yourself a mental slap on the wrist. This was your first date, no need to get ahead of yourself.

“Everything alright over there?”

 Shit, he had caught you staring.

 “Yes, sorry, I zoned off for a moment. I had a stressful week at work.”

“Oh, yes, Abby told me you’re working in advertising. Any interesting projects at the moment?”

You went on and chatted about work a bit. You were fascinated by what he was doing, and taken aback by the confident, yet humble way he was talking about it. This was absolutely not the behavior you were expecting from the leading anchorman of the nations most renowned network. He wasn’t arrogant or self-centered at all and you were definitely charmed.

The wine Jake ordered arrived with your starters, and soon after you had your first few sips you felt some of the initial nervousness fading away.

Soon, the conversation was flowing freely, and you discovered that Abby was right, you really did get along perfectly. Jake was incredibly funny in a dry and witty way and his sarcastic remarks made you laugh more than once. You also discovered your shared interest in graphic novels and argued a while about weather DC or Marvel was the superior comic universe.

Jake showed you one of his own cartoons on his phone, and with each moment you found yourself more drawn to the man in front of you.
At some point his hand started to lightly brush against yours on the table, and each touch sent a warm feeling through your chest.

You talked some more over dessert, had some more wine and overall, a really good time.

The alcohol gave you a pleasant, fuzzy feeling, and the desire to just get up and crawl on Jakes lap grew with each look he gave you.

 “Excuse me, Ma’am, Sir, were closing up now.” A passing waiter told you and put the check on the table.

 “Let me take care of that, please.” Jake said, taking out his wallet. You just thanked him and enjoyed the view of him putting on his glasses again to read the check.

 He really was a perfect gentleman, you thought to yourself, as he got up to hold your coat and then the door for you on your way out.


“I really had a wonderful evening.” you said softly, as the both of you were standing on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. Jake shot you another one of his brilliant smiles, and you could feel your heart beating faster.
“Me too.” He replied. “I really enjoyed spending time with you, and I’d like to see you again.”

Now your heart was almost jumping out of your chest, and you could feel your own smile taking over your face.
“I’d love that.”

 Jake took one step closer, now standing so close you could almost feel the warmth radiating off his body. One of his hands came up to tuck a lock of hair behind your ear, his thumb slowly stroking over your jaw. His touch sent goosebumps all over your skin, and you slightly parted your lips, looking him directly in the eyes. They were warm, and dark, and you felt like you could get lost in them. And then he leaned down and pressed a kiss to your mouth.

It felt incredible, a kind of warmth that was totally unrelated to the wine spreading through your body, your skin prickling where his hand was still on your face.

You put your hands on his arms and kissed him back, enjoying the feeling of his soft lips against yours. He still tasted slightly like red wine, and you wanted nothing more than to explore the rest of his body with your mouth just as thoroughly.

 First date, you reminded yourself, and broke free from the kiss before your lust-clouded brain could make you do something you might regret later. You glanced up at Jake, who looked at you with an unreadable expression. Then, after what felt like forever, he finally spoke.

“Could I maybe have your number?”

 

“Of course.” You said, with maybe a bit much enthusiasm, but Jake didn’t seem to mind. You quickly typed your number into his phone, and just as you were finished, the cab you had called earlier was arriving.

Jake held the door open for you, and shot you one last, beautiful smile. “Good night, Y/N, get home safe.”

“Thank you for the wonderful evening, Jake. Good night.”

 You closed the door and the taxi drove off. You already missed his face as soon as he was out of sight, and you turned around to watch his receding figure through the rear window of the taxi.

Great, you were already down bad after one date. The man really got to you, and you desperately hoped that you would hear from him soon.

 As soon as you were home, you really felt the effects of the wine, so you quickly went to bed to get some sleep. Just before you were nodding off, you sent Abby a quick message.

 

You were right, he is perfect. THANKS xxxx

 

When Abby answered five minutes later, you were already asleep.

 Told you so ;) xxxx

+++

 When you woke up the next morning, there was a new message from an unknown number on your phone. Your heart made a flip in your chest, and you opened it as fast as you could.

 

Hi, this is Jake. It’s probably way too soon to text you, but I just wanted to let you know, again, what a great time I had yesterday. If you’d be up to it, I’d really like to see you again soon. Let me know if that would be alright with you. And have a nice Saturday :)

 

He had already texted you. That meant he didn’t think that you were crazy, or awkward, and that he wasn’t just acting nice, he genuinely wanted to see you again. You were filled with a giddy sort of happiness, and decided to answer him right away, there was no need to play any games here. Leap of faith, just like Abby said.

 

Good Morning Jake, I really enjoyed yesterday as well. I’d love to spend some more time together; would tomorrow evening be too spontaneous? I could make dinner, to return the favor since you paid yesterday ;) my place at eight?

 

As soon as you hit the send button you started getting anxious again. What if tomorrow was too soon? What if he thought you were being too eager?

“Stop it, Y/N!” you said out loud to interrupt your mental spiral. You wouldn’t make a fool out of yourself for this man, even if he was handsome, and intelligent, and funny. No way.

 But as you were standing in the kitchen five minutes later and heard your phone chiming from the other room, you were there in the matter of seconds to read the new message.

 

Tomorrow sounds perfect, just text me the address. I’ll bring the wine. xx Jake

 

You clutched your phone to your chest, the biggest, goofy smile on your face.

 You spent the remaining day extensively cleaning your flat, stressing out, going grocery shopping and stressing out some more. You face-timed Abby and bullied her into helping you pick out an outfit, since she technically was the one who got you into this mess in the first place.

Jake was occupying your mind whatever you did, and when you finally got into your bed that night, all you could think about was how his lips had felt against yours. Those thoughts sent a hot, burning feeling down between your legs and when you finally touched your pussy, you were already so wet and aroused that it only took you minutes until you reached your peak, Jakes name falling from your lips.

+++

To say you were a nervous wreck the next day would be an understatement. When you woke up, you decided to watch some TV to get yourself a bit of distraction. An ad was currently playing, and so you decided to check your mails first.

 

“Good Morning from Washington, where the State of our Union is in turmoil over the latest…”

 

Your head snapped up at the sound of the familiar voice coming from your TV, the voice that occupied your mind ever since your blind date on Friday. You had totally forgotten that Sunday morning meant Jake Tapper time on CNN, because usually you were either asleep or at work at 9 am. But now you took your time to really appreciate the man on your TV.

He looked way more serious than the Jake you got to know, no smile, just a stern expression and a dark suit and tie. Which didn’t mean that he wasn’t looking totally hot, and his intelligent and sharp remarks did nothing to calm your fluttering heart or the heat in your lower abdomen. You definitely wanted him, bad.


This is getting ridiculous, you thought to yourself, and turned the TV off to take a very long shower.

Afterwards, you spent the whole day pacing around your flat and annoying Abby with numerous text messages and another two face time calls. She assured you multiple times that everything would be just fine and by the time it was 7:45 p.m. the food was in the oven and you sat on your couch, waiting for the doorbell to ring.

When it finally did, you all but ran to the door only to stop and force yourself to take a couple of calming breaths before opening it. Jake stood outside, a bottle of red wine in his hand. He looked amazing with his white dress shirt and dark grey slacks, but again it was his smile that got your attention, he looked just as happy to see you as you were feeling.

Out of a sudden impulse, you surged forward and threw your arms around the man, hugging him and burying your head in his chest. He seemed surprised, but still put his free arm around you, embracing you.

“Hi.” You whispered, suddenly shy, but as you looked up to meet Jakes eyes you could see nothing but warmth in them. “Hi.” He replied, pressing a kiss to your hair. “It’s good to see you.”

 You slowly let go of him so he could actually enter your apartment. He followed you inside and you fetched some glasses for the wine. You talked about everything and anything over dinner, family, football, the book Jake was working on. You listened closely, and so did he as you told him about your passion for art and music. He even asked you to put some of your favorite records on as you moved over to the couch after dinner.

You were still talking animatedly but having Jake in closer physical proximity made it increasingly hard to focus on what he was saying.

Instead, your eyes and mind wandered to his hands. Without thinking, you reached out and put one of your hands into his, He stopped speaking, and looked at you. You could see the kind look in his eyes being replaced by something darker, more passionate.

 He spoke again, voice lower this time. “I’ve been thinking about you and our kiss without a break since yesterday. And just as long I’ve wanted to kiss you again, touch you again.”

He reached out, cupped your jaw with one of his hands and slowly ran his thumb over your bottom lip. It took every willpower you had not to suck his thumb into your mouth. This man had you hot and aching for him with just a single touch and a couple of words.

“Is that something you want me to do, Y/L?” his voice was only a low rumble now.

 

“Oh my god yes. Yes please.” You whispered, not really trusting your own voice to come out steady enough. 
The hand on your face slid to the back of your head and you uttered a surprised gasp as Jake just grabbed a fist of your hair and pulled you close, until your faces were only inches apart.

“You are beautiful.” He said, looking you deep in the eyes.

And then he kissed you again. And as soon as his mouth connected with yours, you realized just how much you had missed the feeling of his lips, the warmth of his body. But that was where the resemblance to the kiss you shared last night ended. Because this one was more.

More passion, more lust. Jake softly bit your bottom lip and used your surprised gasp as an opportunity to slide his tongue into your mouth. The kiss deepened and you could feel small sparks of arousal all over your body with every touch of tongue and every time he lightly tugged on the hair in the nape of your neck.

Your hands found their way around Jakes shoulders, roaming up and down his back. You were really glad he was not wearing his full State Of The Union Outfit, even if it had looked extremely hot, because as soon as you could feel the solid muscle through his thin dress shirt, you knew that those clothes had to come off at some point.

You lightly tugged on the hem of his shirt to pull it out of his pants and spread your hands over the warm skin underneath. Jake broke the kiss as soon as he could feel what you did, just to tilt back your head and kiss your exposed neck.

You couldn’t stifle a moan as he lightly sucked on your pulse point.

The feeling of his mouth on your skin made heat coil between your legs, and you tried to shift even closer to him, until you were almost sitting on his lap.

Jake continued to kiss your neck, while his other hand crept under your shirt to palm your breast through your bra. He lightly squeezed it and you moaned again, you nails raking softly over his back, making him groan against your skin.

“You like that?” he asked, and pinched one of your nipples through the thin fabric of your bra, and you could feel your panties getting soaked with arousal.

You decided that it was time to get rid of some clothing and started to quickly unbutton Jakes dress shirt, revealing more and more skin with each button undone. As soon as you were finished, he pulled the shirt of his shoulders and the view of his body made your mouth water. You ran your hands over his muscled chest, and you could see the way his eyes darkened again.

“I can’t wait to touch you everywhere.” He said in a husky voice and pulled your shirt over your head in a swift motion, and instantly his lips were on yours again, his hands roaming over your back, unclasping your bra. When your nipples came in contact with the skin of his chest, you couldn’t contain yourself anymore.

“Jake, please. Touch me, kiss me, anything. I need to feel you.” You pleaded, your voice slightly breathless.

 

“Take the rest of your clothes off, now.” Jake said, his commanding tone sending another surge of wetness between your legs.

 You got up from the sofa and stood in front of Jake. Slowly, you opened the zipper of your jeans and pulled them down, leaving you only in your black lace panties.

Jake was watching you, his intense stare burning on your skin.

“Everything. Off.” He said, never breaking eye contact.

Having the undivided attention of this man was so hot, you almost got lightheaded.

You slowly dragged your underwear down your legs, and as you were looking up again, you saw that Jake was palming the bulge that had begun to form in his pants. You wanted to touch him so bad.

“You are gorgeous. Amazing. Beautiful. Stunning.” Jake said, taking in the sight of your naked body. His voice was strained, this was clearly affecting him.

A light flush was beginning to form on your skin, you weren’t sure if it was because of arousal or embarrassment, but you definitely knew that you needed Jake to get his hands on your body, now.

You made your way over to him again and leaned down to open the fly of his trousers. His briefs were already tented by his erection, and you palmed him through his underwear, making him groan.

“Those need to come off.” You whispered, smiling at Jake, who just nodded and lifted his pelvis so you could pull down his trousers along with his underwear.

Finally, he was naked in front of you. He grabbed you by your waist and pulled you down on the sofa, lying on top of you. The feeling of his warm skin against yours was thrilling, you tried to get your hands on every part of his body you could reach, stroking his back, pulling his hair. Finally, you wrapped your hand around the base of his hard cock, giving it some light strokes.

“You feel so good, Y/N, I’ve been thinking about doing this since I first laid my eyes on you. I’ve been in a state since we kissed, and now” he whispered against your neck „I can’t wait to finally have that sweet pussy of yours.”

You couldn’t believe the words coming out of Jakes mouth, hearing him say filthy things like that was turning you on more than you could’ve ever imagined. Obviously, your thoughts were written all over your face.

“You like it when I talk like that, don’t you, sweetheart.” He said, pinching one of your nipples as he did.

“I…Oh shit, yes, yes I do. Please.” You whimpered, almost going you crazy with the need to finally feel him. 

He had mercy on you, reaching out between your legs. When he touched your pussy for the first time, you felt like the pent-up tension could make you faint any moment.
“God, you’re so wet, Y/N.” He thrust two of his long fingers into you without warning, and you almost screamed.
“And so tight.”

“I need you, please Jake, fuck me.” You were begging now, way beyond caring about any sort of decorum as his digits touched that sweet spot inside of you again and again.

 He withdrew his fingers and shifted on top of you before he put his hands on your tights, spreading your legs. You couldn’t even begin to complain about the loss of his fingers, he was already lining up his cock with your entrance, and pushed in, slowly, filling you inch by inch until he bottomed out with a deep groan. His length stretched you in the most delicious way, and you cried out as he was starting to thrust in and out of you, leaving you almost no time to adjust to his size.

You couldn’t talk coherently anymore, you were just chanting his name over and over as he was fucking you into the sofa. Your nails clawed into his back as he was leaning over you, his hair falling into his face. Just as you thought you couldn’t feel any more pleasure, he grabbed one of your legs and probed it onto his shoulder, the new angle making you see stars with every move of his hips.

“You feel incredible, so tight and warm around me, you are amazing.” He looked down on you, taking in your face, squinted with pleasure, his name falling from your lips over and over again.

He reached between your legs and started rubbing your clit, never slowing down his relentless, hard thrusts. The combined stimulation was almost too much for you and your orgasm was approaching fast.

“Don’t stop, please, just don’t stop.” You cried out, the pleasure running through your body like a wildfire.

“Look at me when you come, I want to see you. Look at me!” Jake growled, breathing hard as he sped up even more.

You hit your peak with a cry, sparks dancing over your skin as your walls clenched around Jakes cock. Your eyes were fixed on his, and he looked at you like you were the only person on the entire planet.

Seeing you come undone beneath him, Jake only lasted for another few deep thrusts before he came, shouting your name and spilling his hot release inside of you.

 He laid on top of you afterwards, his face on your shoulder, breathing deeply. You pressed a soft kiss to his cheek, and he turned his head to look at you.

“Hi” you said.

“Hi” he replied, your favorite smile spreading across his face again.

 “I liked that very much.” You said, pressing another kiss to his lips. He chuckled and propped himself up onto his arms with a small sight, rolling off you. Luckily, your sofa was large enough so you could comfortably lie next to each other.

“Me too, that was fantastic.” He replied and pulled you closer, putting his arm around you. You buried your face into his chest, soaking up the heat of his body and his wonderful smell.

 “Maybe you should come over more often.” You suggested, sounding a bit nervous again. You didn’t want to appear clingy. But this man had just rocked your world, and you couldn’t just act like nothing happened.

“I’ll come over whenever you want me to, sweetheart. Consider me at your beck and call.”

 “Stay the night?” you asked in a hopeful voice. You had work in the morning, but you just couldn’t imagine letting him go anywhere now.

He just nodded, smiled, and kissed you again. That soft, tingly feeling in your chest increased even more, and you just happily snuggled up to him.

 Later, as Jake was already asleep next to you, you took up your phone and sent a quick text message to Abby.

Next brunch is my treat! I owe you xxxx