#dc sucks with characterization

[cyanide-sippy-cup]

Whoever decided to put the Batfam member who's supposed to come from a dark place in life and understands how slippery the slope really is when it comes to falling into crime in the fucking Kite Man show and have her mindlessly impale a guy should be slapped. Once for making a Kite Man show and once for Steph.

Like she's not above killing people. She's not like Bruce who refuses to take a life ever. She'd blow the Joker's fucking head off if given the chance. But she's supposed to understand the regular dudes. She understands the importance of a life. She knows that guy's probably got family at home, or at least deserves to be given a chance. It took a long time before anybody gave her a chance, she knows how hard it is in that life.

Then again it's a spinoff of the Harley Quinn show so what did I expect.

[cyatzura]

i am a real hater about this like the fanonization of characters has been rampant for years but then that part of the fandom was rewarded with the wfa webtoon and it's popular so ofc they would try cash in on other parts of the fandom so we got this abomination

[newgraywolf]

So, I lied, apparently the brain worms are too strong, So here’s part 2! Same as last time, I’m on Mobile, and I’m sure there are many errors/mistakes, please tel me and I will edit it once I can!

Red Hood was having a bad life day. First, he has to deal with Bruce (he was supposed to protect him, save him, save everyone) trying to get him to come visit (as if he doesn't want to, but he can't, not until He's dead not until he (they,she,he,it ) had vengeance).

But then he has to deal with Replacement (his brother, (Their King, the Ruler, will he help them, can their revenge finally come?) And he just can't calm down! He can never be calm while He's still alive!

He can barely even remember what he was saying, and looking back at his helmet footage his voice doesn't even sound human sometimes, and some of his words seem to be, different (why can nobody hear me,him,her,them, why, why, why, someone please listen, someone help us).

But he does remember one moment, in the middle of his rant he, he felt calm, content, almost relaxed for the first time in years (for the first time since he (They,she,he,it) died).

But then he noticed something, barely noticeable. When he looked at Tim's shadow, he noticed it seemed a little different, a little off in a way he just couldn't quite seem to grasp, but then he noticed it reaching out to his shadow and his shadow, seemed to move too? Despite the fact that neither Tim nor himself moved.

And then he looked at his shadow and squinted his eyes, he swore he saw a crown with flames made of shadows and a small ring on its hand as it reached over. And when their shadows seemed to clasp hands, and he swore he saw a flash of Lazarus Green come from Tim's shadow, and it seemed to be a little more solid, the flames on the crown grew a little, and when that happened, he seemed to feel. Content (Their king, protector, Ruler, savior, has promised, he will help us, he will avenge us).

Jason knew one thing was sure, he would need to tell Bruce about this. Maybe he could come over to the Manor, he didn't feel quite so angry anymore.

Short DPXDC Prompts #809

Danny is extremely weak and injured and he really hates overshadowing people. He does the next best thing: takes over the shadow of a person. Unknowingly, Danny just possessed the shadow of Red Robin.

[frownyalfred]

Hi. I'm not a canon purist and enjoy some fanon content very much, but I do think people in the fandom should at least familiarize themselves with the canon content and source material. It's easier to break the "rules" so to speak and experiment with canon when you know what that actually is. I've noticed a lot of fans that are only familiar with fanon criticise content that doesn't line up with what they believe to be canon but isn't. The Red Hood for example. I've seen writers who portray him as the violent criminal he is in much of the canon be completely decimated by Jason fans who only know fanon and the retconned version of Red Hood and completely deny canon even exists and refuse to even glance at the comics. Transformative works are important and playing in the sandbox is for everyone but fandom literally cannot exist without canon. Canon is important and people can do whatever they want with it but they should respect it enough to at least look at it.

Hi anon, I'm going to hold your hand as I say this, and I will say it as gently as I can: This is still a form of canon purism.

We can absolutely agree that readers shouldn't berate or abuse writers for how they choose to portray characters in fic, whether that's a more canon-faithful characterization or a popular fanon version. If readers don't like how a character is portrayed, we should encourage them to hit the back button instead.

I want to draw your attention to some of the words you used in your ask above: "should" "respect" "decimated" etc. Those are some strong words to describe how you think people need to behave, in order to exist in fandom. Of course, there is no fandom without canon source material -- I'm not denying that. But with such a wide and varied canon, the DC fandom has examples of the Red Hood you mention above, AND the "retconned" version you also reference. Both are canon, as in actually, officially, canon. WFA is canon, and that Red Hood looks very different from the Red Hood you describe.

Now, I think your issue is that you enjoy a certain version of canon, and you're frustrated that the fandom doesn't also, as trends ebb and flow, enjoy that canon as much as you do. Again, I want to acknowledge that just because a certain version is popular, it doesn't give folks the right to berate authors for writing a different version. But again, I don't think that's what we're really talking about here. From your ask's tone, I think you're suggesting that people should, in order to participate in fandom, read that older canon, that different version, or as you say, "glance at it" before enjoying or writing the fanon version.

Guess what? They actually, really, really, don't have to. It sounds like you have some issues with judging your fellow fandom members who don't read what you do or reference certain canon. But the magic of this fandom is, you can enter it at any point. We're a big pool, and if someone's entry point is the Lego Batman movie and that's it, that's still valid.

Fandom stems from canon, yes, but I almost never hear people talk about movies, or web comics, or other media when they talk about "required reading." It's always a comic. I really wish people would reflect on that before suggesting it as the one true path to being a fan.

The other thing I don't see asks like these reference ever is the reality that sometimes a fandom outstrips its canon material, and that that's an eventuality in some spaces. Fanon interpretations become popular, and people write about those specific characterizations or scenarios. They ebb and flow, like I mentioned, and some are more canon-faithful than others. Some completely reject canon, and again -- it's still fandom. It doesn't make it better or worse than a more canon-faithful fic. It's just different.

I had a couple asks about this topic a few weeks ago, and I'm assuming you haven't read those or you likely wouldn't have sent me this ask. But in them, I discuss how sometimes we need to suck it up and be unhappy that canon-faithful fics aren't as popular in a fandom at a specific time, and stop punishing fellow fans for writing and enjoying those fics. And we really need to stop shitting on them publicly on Tumblr.

Because often, what you're really saying is that you wish more people would write more canon-faithful fics, and stop writing ones about fanon topics you don't enjoy or think are accurate. And to that, I again say, there is nothing you can or should do to change that behavior from others. If you want to read it, write it, enjoy it, etc, do it yourself. Build the comic-faithful community here, write fics and promote challenges, create a discord channel and discuss your "required reading" there.

We are all writing and reading fanfiction at the end of the day. It is a great equalizer in many ways. My silly Lego Batman fic is just as valid as a canon-faithful rewrite of a certain Batman issue. One is not better than the other, or more deserving of respect. You will never get me to admit otherwise on this blog.

tl;dr: people should absolutely not berate authors who choose to write canon-faithful characterizations. however, there are layers of judgement and disdain many DC comics canon-faithful authors/readers have for their fellow fans that I think we need to examine critically in order to coexist respectfully.

[bloomeng]

I always hear discussions about Jason and pit madness and whether or not it’s canon and I mean on the surface level it’s not canon in the way most fans use it in their fics. But pit madness is canon; the difference is it supposedly only lasts for a brief stint right after getting out of the pit. So to say Jason didn’t suffer from it is also not technically true. Now I haven’t watched/read every piece of Batman media about the Lazarus Pits and it could I guess be a later retcon, but if it is then it’s at least existed in canon since BTAS.

What I don’t love in this discussion is the policing of people when someone suggests Jason might struggle with it. Like yeah I agree Jason is far more interesting if you don’t write away his actions based on “pit madness” but this is fandom. Since when have people not played with ideas like this? Sure there’s also the annoying thing where people learn about it through the grapevine and think it’s canon but there’s nothing we can do about that. Anyway, antagonizing people is always going to be a worse offense.

Like ok. I don’t like wingfics, (I swear I have a point with this) I think they generally don’t improve the canon story especially in Batman where one of the most interesting plot points is them not having powers. But that doesn’t mean I go up to people creating wingfics and tell them it’s not canon and imply they’re dumb. Headcanons by nature exist to play in a sandbox and I feel like this fandom routinely forgets that. They’re so invested in a canon— that is canonly malleable— that they forget how fan spaces work in the first place. I get it that the DC fandom does have more issues with incorrect characterization and people not being willing to consume the source material than your average fan space. And I agree it can be annoying. But antagonizing people creating stuff isn’t helpful either.

Fun fact I actually read a really good batfam wingfic that took the idea but went in a completely different direction. Point is concepts you don’t like like pit madness can act as a form of constraint which can yield some pretty cool things if you’re open to it. And if you read something and it’s bad you can close the tab.

Anywayyyy pit madness Jason may suck his characterization away but damn if the art doesn’t look great. Red and green contrasting colors. All I’m saying.

[jayladfanpage]

what jason ships are you partial to? reasonings and silly musings would be fun to hear as well :) My personal fav is jaykyle !

To be entirely honest, there's very few Jason ships I outright dislike, those being Jaymia, Jaytim, Jaydick (no real reasoning behind this one, it just icks me), and Jaykara. Everything else I can at least partially get behind. My FAVORITES, though...

Jayde/Sladejay is a big one. I'm obsessed with Jason dating older men and I do see Jason, at least in his villain era, appreciating the fact that Slade respects his methods and his ideology. Slade himself has a lot of hard-set morals and a deep, obsessive love for his family despite causing them nothing but pain, which sounds like a certain Gotham vigilante I know. Also, we all know Slade likes them younger. (Even though that's really bad characterization, it's still funny, so whatever) and I do see them genuinely making each other "better" in that villain power couple way. They wouldn't make each other good people, but they could make each other happy and content and fix their emotional cravings together.

Another big one is JayKyle as well! They're just so toxic and messy I fucking adore them. The epitome of "If we hate each other enough this might work." Both of them need to get dicked down good in order to shut up and the other is more than willing to do it. Jason being completely isolated when he was a hero vs Kyle being introduced to so many heroes at once it's hard for him to forge genuine connections with most of them in the beginning. Both endlesly getting compared to their better, more loveable predecessor. I'm insane

... Jayroy. And I'm not sorry about it. Obviously if you’ve seen my ao3 you're aware of how much I just adore them but. ARGH THEY MAKE ME INSANE. Part of this is because RHaTO was my first DC comic and I'll always be at least a little emotionally attached to it, for all that it sucks ass. Also, I do thing that Roy "Savior Complex" Harper would obsess over the idea of fixing Jason -- especially since Lian had just died when they formed the Outlaws in my timeline. I also think Jason would help Roy with his rampant abandonment issues ( @royboyfanpage has some great posts about that if you're interested) due to how unwilling he is to let go of people, RHaTO characterization notwithstanding. And I just think Roy Harper is really fucking hot and Jason deserves a kind, stern dilf with long hair

You may notice that none of these answers include women and that's because Jason's kind of a dick to most women he interacts with. I am excited to see where JayRose goes though!

[artbyblastweave]

🔥 Textually "political" superheroes, ala Green Arrow being a leftist and Flash being a conservative, Bastion being cancelled, etc.

Rapid-firing your specific examples- half the fun of Green Arrow is the tension between his leftism and his absurdly privileged status as a billionaire superhero. I wasn't actually aware Flash is a quote-unquote conservative- I'm assuming this came up in that godawful comic that tried to map out how the League would vote in the 08 election- but honestly this is kind of a "he's a white midwestern cop" moment, I feel like the politics associated with his job are always a little bit of an elephant in the room for the Flash Fandom. Bastion is his own post I've been meaning to make for a while, but the short version is that Bastion is a really, really funny dark comedy beat, if you choose to apply that lens.

Circling back to the Flash specifically, though- I get the sense these days that big-two superheroes are rarely characterized as meaningfully politically conservative, in the quotidian manner in which many, many real life people are. I certainly get why they shy away from that, I'm not saying that I want them to pick a couple leaguers who seem like The Type and have them start flying Gadsden flags, I'm just saying it has a certain impact on the verisimilitude of the setting when nobody on these teams has the generically shitty politics of that coworker you roll your eyes at or the Uncle you dread seeing at Thanksgiving. I think it was Memecucker that had a post a couple years ago about how you probably couldn't get away with anything analogous to that thing they once did where Hal Jordan was expressly racist as a character flaw that he had to overcome- you probably aren't gonna get an A-lister who's transphobic and has to be taught the error of their ways, for example. I'm not entirely certain how true that is- pretty true in my reading experience, but then again, there are a lot of comics, so maybe someone took a swing at that hornets nest and I just missed it and I've been talking out my ass for about 800 words.

(I did hear rumblings that they tried to do like, a coming-out-to-tepidly-accepting-parents metaphor with Franklin being a mutant during the Krakoa thing? I don't recall people talking about that beat in a positve light, which makes sense. "Have you tried not being a mutant" has always been a fraught analogy no matter which group is being referenced.)

Anyway my final takeaway is that indie cape things, by virtue of not having to keep everyone in their casts sympathetic and marketable in perpetuity, generally have way more leeway to depict superhero communities with a much wider spread of (potentially horrific) personal politics. Bastion being an example of that- if he showed up in Marvel or DC, he'd be, like, a bit character who shows up in a two-shot issue to get demolished or shown-up by Actual Superheroes (tm) but in Worm? Nope. There's no decades-long protagonist like Spider-Man or Batman through whose lens we view this setting by default. Bastion's as much a superhero as anyone else we've met, he's exactly as real, weighted exactly as much as the rest of them. And he sucks.

[imsaunteringvaguelydownwards]

On the topic of the tim drake coffee addiction thing bc Im thinking about it again. I’ve seen loads of people make arguments for both sides and tbh both sides have valid points (tho I will say the comic people have considerably more valid points).

Like on one hand, yes it’s fun to play around with their Fanon characterizations, yk the whole Batfam schtick, Bruce Wayne being a good dad (tho that’s a whole other issue), tim and his fucking coffee, blah blah blah. I won’t lie, sure I joke about these characterizations bc it’s fucking fun. It’s alright to enjoy a media in a lighthearted manner bc fuck if life doesn’t suck rn. HOWEVER I think it’s equally important to be able to acknowledge the canon characterizations.

because in all honesty, a lot of the Fanon characterizations butcher their canon versions. Tim CANONICALLY prefers energy drinks (if you want a coffee addict I point you to a miss Barbara Gordon), he CANONICALLY is a chronic napper, and CANONICALLY is more of a skater boy than your typical smart nerdy boy. Yes, dc is a sandbox of canon, you Frankenstein what you want half the time with all the different authors and characterizations, but this doesn’t mean we should completely ignore how they act in canon.

yes, some of them in canon ARE badly written, but some of them are also people just wanting their favorite characters to never fuck it up. Both can be true.

long story short I think comic fans and fanon fans need to find a happy medium. Comic fans can try and get off their high horse and find what they like in these fanon versions, maybe even work to make the fanon versions more canon. Fanon fans need to read some comics and maybe watch a few more shows than just young justice (yj ily but there’s DEFINITELY some inconsistencies there) (kon im sorry for what they did to you) (give this boy his jacket and sunglasses back please god) (I’m not saying fanon fans only watch young justice but it’s certainly a trend I’ve noticed)

anyways yeah this isn’t meant to be serious if you wanna engage and continue this conversation just try to have an open mind and take a step back. A couple of fictional characters we all love are not worth pulling teeth.

[mrmanbat]

Ik it’s easy to look at the shitty comics DC is putting out these days and get frustrated. And yeah, it’s easy to point fingers at that cringey fanfic written by a middle schooler who’s never picked up a comic in their life.

But I need you to understand—fan fiction is not the reason the comic industry is struggling.

I get it. It’s frustrating when your favorite characters get woobified beyond recognition. But fanfiction is what keeps fandoms alive. Sure, sometimes bad characterization slips into canon, and yeah, that sucks—but honestly, that’s the worst thing fanfic is doing.

If anything, fanfiction is propping up the comic industry. You know how many people get into comics through the fanfic pipeline? Way more than you’d think.

You’re not doing a public service by hating on fanfiction. You’re just being pretentious.

[junkdrawerfan]

And so we continue! Part Two:

Previous || Next

Robin II (1991)

Tim Drake vs. The Joker! I can only assume they created this set of comics to prove that Tim Drake is better than Jason.

AHHH! Finally I get to see some examples of Normal-90s-High-School-Boy (TM) Tim Drake lol! I am so excited to see Tim as this like "TOTALLY NORMAL NERDY RELATABLE BOY" even though that gets stripped away over time. Having read some modern comics, Tim Drake is NOT a normal boy and considering some of the hijinks I've heard about I refuse to believe he was ever a Normal Boy.

As part of his relatability he plays DC's version of D&D. But also he's got a way cooler fit & hair compared to his equally nerdy friends. God your shonen protag vibes are showing, Timmy!

Maybe I am gushing too much but this is such a fun civillian dynamic to have! Why don't I see this in fanfics!! Tim who is being courted by the popular crowd and refusing them. Fuck peer pressure Timmy! I know this is 9th grade. I am sure his high school experience evolves but still... I have ideas now for fics!

He does like coffee!

Hmmm.... don't love that. I heard about this aspect of Tim's character. Gonna keep my eye on this thread.

So I guess people don't realize there are multiple robins huh? Thats fun!

I know stories are happening in between Robin I and Robin II in the Batman & Detective Comics series where Tim is working with Batman. And both Robin I and Robin II are fairly early in Tim's run, but it is interesting that the boy who volunteered, who insisted that Batman take him on is so filled with self doubt. It gives an interesting characterization of Tim. Tim Drake is a boy who doubts himself but can't stomach not trying anyway. Or maybe...Tim Drake is a boy with a gut of steel and a heart full of fear.

Alfred is really holding it down! I love his relationship with Tim. He is Tim's mentor just like Bruce. <3

Ah Tim! You little GENIUS! Bruce is out of town and Tim is afraid the Joker will realize the Batman isn't there to keep things inline. So he makes a hologram of Bruce to scare small time criminals and keep the Myth of Batman going! What a smart cookie! He's truly the Robin with The Plan!

Aw man, the hologram fell apart and Joker realized Tim isn't Jason. What will happen next!!

Politicians such and these old geezers suck a lot. Learning more about the political system and the cops in gotham, Gordon doesn't really strike me as a model cop -- especially considering modern standards. He's very much that 90s cowboy of a cop. Obviously, a victim of the time period. Thats why i maintain the only decent rewrite of Gordon I want is a Gordon who was a former Internal Affaris investigator who witched to officer just so he could become a Commandor who pours most of the budget into Internal Affairs to get rid of corruption in the GDPC and reform the cops!

He and Buffy should meet! I think they'd have a lot to bond over.

Dick where are you! Your little brother needs you! For real though its interesting to me that Joker is around and Batman is out of town and neither Alfred or Tim are like "We should call Dick to help so Robin is facing the Joker alone." Of course i know its to get the Timmy vs Joker show down we want and prove Tim can outsmart the Joker! Like comics are always ready to manufactor that drama. But taking it at face value, how poor is Dick and Bruce's relationship in the beginning of Tim's time as Robin that Tim doesn't think he can rely on Dick despite admiring Dick and Dick helping Alfred convince Bruce to keep Tim as Robin in Batman #442!

Woo! He beats the Joker in the end. It takes a lot out of him but his plan comes together and he wins! So proud of you Boy Wonder!!!

Robin III (1992):

Okay we've skipped some time ahead (note to self go back and figure out when Tim's Dad woke up!) and Timmy is back with the Drake's, shit is going down in gotham with gang wars galore and he's struggling to balance that Superhero-Civilian lifestyle

I get why people write Jack Drake as jealous of how close Tim and Bruce are in fanfics.

The Drakes being neighbors means we get cool shit like this:

Why isn't this in more fanfics!! Thats cocol as hell!

WOOO! King Snake is back in town!!

Also Tim has lied to Bruce in like every comic I've read about him except his intro and Robin II (where he couldn't lie to Bruce because Bruce was out of town lolololol). Tim you king

OOOO! I didn't realize this plot happened! Thats awesome! Again WHERE ARE THE FANFICS!

Fucking Teenages Man! Even when they know the right answer, they don't do it!!

Okay thats enough for this run. I will continue in part 3!! I am excited to get to Robin 4 :D

[whoracleoracle]

comic review: heroes in crisis (2018) by tom king

⭑ ⭑ (2/5 stars)

yays:

i am a sucker for dc crossover events and the like (which is setting myself up for failure honestly because they are always extremely controversial), and so i really enjoy seeing all the heroes come together and interact. in this run my favorite pairings were booster gold & blue beetle, along with brief batman & flash (barry allen). the art in these issues is great MOST of the time (more on that in the nays section). i think the strongest aspect of this run for me is the concept! the idea of the heroes confronting PTSD is so interesting, and that’s what makes people flock to this comic run. this comic also includes a ton of heroes that i am not familiar with, and some that i wasn’t even aware of. it’s fun to see new heroes and it can help me and anyone reading branch off into other interesting B/C/D-level heroes in DC. the highlight of the comic is the speech that superman gives to the press following the release of the sanctuary data to the daily planet. very well written and has a nice core theme to it that i would like to see expanded on.

nays:

the handling of mental health is a glaring issue in this run, and the design of the sanctuary is deeply flawed. the justice league is full of massively intelligent people, and it seems like they would be able to develop a slightly better therapeutic system. also, they have medical teams, why not real therapy teams? i also don’t really care about the murder mystery aspect at all in this story, it just is so uninteresting and it takes way too long to resolve. more of the character analysis and individual hero “confessions” (even the whole comic just being those character studies) would be way cooler than the weird narrative misleading you the whole way through and then pulling a gotcha at the end. wally being the killer isn’t so much my complaint as the fact that there IS a killer in the first place. also, lois lane SUCKS in this comic! first, she is drawn so weirdly sexual, there’s one page in particular that took me out of the story so quickly because she’s posed so sexually and it’s supposed to be a serious conversation. she is so dismissive and cold about handling the sanctuary story, and it’s brushed over so quickly that lois exposes the whole jla pretty much without hesitation, and superman doesn’t give the other members of the trinity any warning. that’s my last and most glaring complaint, is that the trinity is super weak and lame in this story. they’re the backbone of the justice league!!! they are the hope of the world, and they fight together day and night, and have overcome hurdles together for years. they have such a bad dynamic in this comic, and they work poorly together. overall, the characterization seems like there are too many characters for the writers to handle them well.

worth a purchase:

i will not be adding this to my personal physical collection, because i think the problems outweigh the benefits for me. as much as i want to have major dc timeline events on my shelf, this one just doesn’t stick out to me and it is a run that i honestly wish wasn’t canon. there are still cool aspects, and it’s a big event, so i think people should read it if they want to be familiar with dc canon.

[brucewaynehater101]

In your opinion, who would make a better job at parenting or being a father figure for Damian. Taking in consideration their personalities and who would help him more to find his own way between Tim, Jason, Dick and Bruce. How do you think they would approach it?

Oof. Great question. Now, slight warning, it does depend on the characterization of everybody. Since DC sucks at sticking to it, imma try to do this by life experiences and their most often reactions to them.

For Damian himself, his parent would have to balance his trauma with his need to be parented. For instance, Damian might not feel safe being without a weapon on him. In order to not drown in anxiety and being constantly alert, they may have to allow Damian to have a small knife or some other protection gear on him. Also, taking away art or other activities from Damian as a punishment might be counterproductive. Some parents ground their kids by taking away their things. Damian, who might not have been able to focus on leisure activities in the LoA, might have some trauma and attachment issues. He could just abandon art altogether if he believes it would get taken away whenever he misbehaves (especially if the rules for misbehaving are unclear). Damian will be testing the boundaries for his own safety. He will want to see what happens when he messes up and how badly he can mess up and still be loved.

If Dick didn't have to focus on being Batman, he'd be a great father to Damian. He has patience, understanding from his apprenticeship with Slade, and understands the cultural shock Damian is going through. He also has experience with helping the younger generation (either his siblings or younger members of the Titans) through their issues. The only issue is whether Dick has time between whatever is going on in Bludhaven and what's going on with the Titans. If he didn't have as much on his plate, he'd do amazing for Damian.

Jason wouldn't be as great as a father figure as Dick, but he'd do exceptionally well as a brother and uncle figure. He would be a bit busy between the Outlaws and Red Hood business, but he would make time for whenever Damian needed a place to get away to. As a temp guardian, he'd do great. If he had to look after Damian for a few months, they would figure it out. Jason would have to learn how to give rules and enforce them when it came to Damian.

For Tim, it really depends on their first meeting. In canon, that was very poorly executed by Bruce and resulted in their feud lasting years. The others around them continued to handle that poorly, and it is neither Damian or Tim's fault for that. They are both kids and are trying to rely on the adults around them to assist (as they should be able to). However, Tim would be a semi-decent dad if the first meeting went differently, and Tim was the only one around to step up to the plate. As long as Alfred, Dick, and Bruce are able, Tim wouldn't try to parent Damian as well (which makes sense). If they had a better relationship, he may offer Damian brotherly advice and help out that way.

Bruce is a tricky one. If we're talking about animated!Bruce, he'd be an excellent dad. He has parenting experience, he has the blood ties that Damian respects, and he is patient. He's parented at least three traumatized kids with different kinds of trauma and needs (Dick, Cass, and Jason). If we're talking about comics!Bruce, then no. That man is too caught up in his own emotional turmoil and has verbally abused his kids too much to be a good father figure (plus other stuff). Bruce's character has the potential to be an amazing father, but comics!Bruce is horrible and we shall burn him.

[perenians]

PEREN’S CURATED KYLE RAYNER READING LIST 💚

CORE CHARACTERIZATION:

green lantern volume 3 issues #0 and #48-181, annuals #4, 6-9

PERSONAL RECOMMENDATIONS:

green lantern: secret files (1998)

green lantern: circle of fire (2000)

ion: guardian of the universe (2006)

convergence: green lantern/parallax (2015)

CROSSOVERS, EVENTS, OTHER APPEARANCES:

hard travelling heroes - the next generation (1996): green arrow volume 2 #110-111 (ties into green lantern volume 3 #77-78)

dc universe holiday bash (1996) #1

flash/green lantern: faster friends (1997)

dc universe holiday bash (1997) #1

three of a kind (1998): green lantern volume 3 #96, green arrow volume 2 #130, the flash volume 2 #135

aquaman volume 5 #10

JLA volume 1 #1-76

new titans #115-130, annual #11

JLA/titans (2002)

countdown presents: the search for ray palmer (2008)

ARGUABLY IMPORTANT READING:

rann-thanagar war (2005)

green lantern: the sinestro corps war (2008)

blackest night (2009)

brightest day (2010)

green lantern: war of the green lanterns (2011)

green lantern: rise of the third army (2013)

green lantern new gods: godhead (2014)

green lantern: lights out (2015)

AVOID:

green lantern: new guardians (2011) - it’s bad. also just kind of gross in its treatment of kyle & his dad

omega men (2015) - mischaracterization of both the original omega men AND kyle

hal jordan and the green lantern corps (2017) - sucks.

[snottertooder]

5 stages of being a Jason Todd fan

Stage 1: you have surface level knowledge from Arkham knight or Batman under the red hood. There are 4 robins. He’s the angry one.Most stop here.

Stage 2: you fall down the rabbit hole, enjoy the batfamily , the Pinterest fanart and start reading wfa, believe in pit madness, your bat family only consist of the 4 robins and bruce(if the others are involved they are just background noise), you even come across the outlaws and batcest.

Stage 3: you discover tumblr, and gain consciousness you have two paths you can take

Fanon Jason Path: The delusion- you continue being at stage 2 but widen your horizon with tumblr, you read his comics from tiktok/tumblr, you headcanon him with an autopsy scar, love the J scar, “Jason wayne”, “Jason al ghul”, Bruce Wayne is a good father, Jason is Bruces favorite son, hate Willis Todd, love his dynamic with Tim, possibly batcest, love the batfamily, ship Jayroy, you are active in the Fanon and have “Jason Todd apologist” in your bio. You ignore everything happening in Canon because it’s a shit show. You lock in and consume every fan made media he’s in, love the skits people do on tiktok (respect the grind), follow inkydandy and have a Wfa profile picture. You also write fanfiction

Canon Jason Path: the truther- Hate everything and everyone, painfully consume every media he has ever been in. You understand his character in an other worldly way and can probably write him better than 90% of his writers. But because he’s so badly written, you absolutely dread everytime hes in anything, you hate Jayroy/Joyfire/batcest, you read his comics and cry yourself to sleep, You can’t stand YouTube/Tiktok/Twitter only fans, get into arguments with stage 1 /2 Jason Todd fans. Your drafts are filled with character analysis of every panel he has ever been in ,you hate wfa, have a love/hate relationship with winick, hate all his ships, You hate him being in the batfamily and you especially hate Tim Drake. You have a weird parasocial relationship with Jason where on one side you would make out nasty with him but on the other he’s your son. You also write fanfiction

Stage 5: you either retire or leave because you grew and matured. You realize you’ll never get what you want out of his character because he’ll never be properly written ever (the classism will never stop). His characterization is so bad Fanon has become distasteful and all over the place, his comic writing is so atrocious you get migraines out of it and most of all he’ll never be what you want him to be canonically (may it be good written, a Villian, a hero, an anti hero, a son, a family man,lone wolf, etc) you either stop consuming dc entirely or you move onto other dc characters that are “better written” but barely make any appearances. You only come back when you hear big news about his character from either a mutual or on social media. Which will suck you back in and you’ll go back to him like the toxic ex he is (I’m a victim)

Alternative stage 5: you block the Tim Drake tag and continue to bond with the other people who are on the Canon Jason path. It’s mentally exhausting but hey! It can’t get any worse… right…?

[sassylittlecanary]

Just finished Black Canary: Best of the Best #5 and guys, Tom King is actually, officially on my hit list. His writing of Shiva is just offensive at this point (calling Dinah "white trash" and mocking her mother's death? seriously? this woman has HONOR, assassin or not). But also I've decided I kind of hate his characterization of both Dinah Sr. and Dinah Jr. I think any modern DC writer needs to read Canary's Golden Age series before writing her, because this is just atrocious. Making her so unlikable is such a disservice, plus what's this BS about Dinah Jr. not being as good/trained a fighter? Golden Age Canary is a martial artist. Post-Silver Age Canary (Dinah Laurel Lance) is one of the best martial artists in the world to the point where Shiva thought she was worth training. All respect to Dinah Sr., but she's very average compared to her daughter. Everything about the way Tom King portrays the passing of the Black Canary mantle sits so wrong with me. It's probably not King's intention, but it's making Dinah look like a pale imitation of her mother (especially if she didn't really want to be a superhero in the first place). I get that comic continuity is weird, but this just sucks.

[thunderberryz]

So, some more random yelling about Splintered Fate: Holy hell, do I love this game. Yes, it is basically a Hades clone and can be a bit buggy at times, but I have become so ridiculously invested in this version of the turtles that it's not even funny.

Outside the fun gameplay that, nonetheless, makes my poor right thumb and wrist sore (I use an off-brand controller for my Switch that ain't exactly the most ergonomic), I've been aggressively invested in the lore of the universe. Naturally, as a one-off video game, this particular universe isn't as developed as, say, literally any comic book or cartoon iteration, but there is still a BOATLOAD of lore to dig into and with some things left open-ended, it leaves a lot of room for fanon interpretation.

Now, at first glance, the universe takes the most inspiration from the IDW comics; this is made apparent through details such as Stockman being the mayor of New York City, as well as Angel being the superhero Nobody. That said, you can very clearly see a lot of inspiration taken from other iterations as well; the turtles' characterizations strongly remind me of their 1990s movie counterparts, and there are a lot of fun nods to the 2003 series. (The Foot clan's crest is the same as the one in that particular iteration, and both the Sword of Tengu and Heart of Tengu appear as equippable Artifacts.) There are probably other fun easter eggs/references as well, but I mean... I'm a fake TMNT fan lmao <- Still hasn't watched 1987, 2012, or Rise.

Some fun details that I've noticed:

In their selection descriptions, Leonardo is referred to as the "soul" of the family, Raphael as the "strength," Donatello as the "brains," and Michelangelo as the "heart."

As typical of Leonardos, Splintered Fate Leo was ambushed on the rooftops by the Foot at the beginning of the game. He was not, however, tossed through a window. He got sucked into a portal instead.

Michelangelo references the Ninja Rap in a potential dialogue when selecting him, which is really cute.

A lot of Donatello's battle dialogue makes it clear he's fond of classical literature and poetry.

Mentioned in a previous post, but this version of Raphael has acrophobia rather than a hated/fear of bugs like 2003 and 2012.

The turtles confirmed to be AC/DC fans thanks to posters hanging in the lair. (Or as it's referred to in-universe for copyright reasons, AB/CD)

They also own a SNES from the looks of it

Despite the universe being heavily based on IDW, Metalhead does not have the same origin as his comic counterpart; he is stated to have been created by Donatello from scrap. (In the comics, he was a creation of Harold Lilja, Donatello's online frenemy.)

Casey's design in the game leans pretty heavily towards his depiction in the 1990s movies where he was played by Elias Koteas.

The Turtle Power elements in this game are weird. Flame and Water? Pretty standard. Astral Light and Astral Dark? Okay. Ninja, Utrom, and Ooze... interesting.

One of the Dreamer Coin upgrades is a nice nod to the Pantheon.

The Sword of Tengu's description made me lose it; it's basically one big nod to the fact that the Shredder was an Utrom in the 2003 series. (Now, I don't think SF!Shredder is an Utrom, but if he were, it'd be hilarious.)

Some details that are left ambiguous

It's unclear whether this version of Splinter is Hamato Yoshi's pet rat or Hamato Yoshi himself. (There's no mention of the reincarnation plotline from IDW, so I doubt he's "Hamato Yoshi reincarnated as a rat.") Edit: Just got a dialogue that confirms this version of Splinter is indeed Hamato Yoshi. It's just a question of whether he follows IDW's plot of him being Hamato Yoshi reincarnated as a rat that was later mutated, or if he's simply Hamato Yoshi who was mutated into a rat.

It's also unknown whether the turtles directly mutated into teenagers as seen in some iterations or actually grew up from babies/toddlers into teenagers.

While Utrom appears as an "element of technology," the actual Utroms are not mentioned; as such, it is unknown whether they are a benevolent, peaceful species or a more warlike one.

Ooze is depicted in two forms; a purple-pink variant that manifests as a Turtle Power and is also used by Rocksteady as well as the Punk Frogs, and a green version that's depicted in the Broken Ooze Canister artifact. I'm inclined to believe that the green ooze is the one that actually mutated the turtles and Splinter, although it begs the question of what the purple ooze is.

Due to the absence of Harold Lilja, it's not indicated where Angel got the suit she uses when in her "Nobody" persona. (Dialogue would imply that Donatello did not build it.)