#dick grayson support squad

[brucewaynehater101]

Batfam Suicide Squad AU:

Villainous versions of all of the Bats are shoved into one universe together. Up until this point in the AU, they do not know each other well. They've maybe seen each other on the field (which probably ended in fights and held grudges), but they aren't family. They are practically strangers.

Amanda Waller just wants to kill them. However, somehow, there's a force that's even worse than these fuckers. She needs a team to take that down, even if the participants are unwilling.

Bruce Wayne:

A cunning villain who can naturally lead teams. He primarily works alone but has proven to be efficient with any person he has to work with. He can bring out their better attributes, but he's ruthless, wary, and an asshole. He has contingency plans to take down anyone and everyone

Dick Grayson:

Practically immortal half-Talon assassin for hire. His rumored mentors are other Talons, Deathstroke, Superman, and various Titans. His skills in combat are fierce, his abilities are enhanced by his state, and his early childhood acrobatics do wonders for his abilities to escape and fight. These pale in comparison to his natural charisma and ability to turn enemies into allies.

Barbara Gordon:

The best hacker on this side of the galaxy. While she mainly stays off of the field due to her being paralyzed from the waist down, she is a formidable opponent. A significant number of politicians worldwide owe her favors, heroes and villains work for her, she knows top secret information, employs a number of traps to protect herself, and understands the nuances in social structures.

Jason Todd:

A brutal enforcer who utilizes fear, power, and death in his territory to demand obedience to his rules. Extremely skilled in various weapons, hand-to-hand combat, bomb making, and demonstrations of force. His senses, healing speed, and reflexes are uniquely enhanced by his exposure to Lazarus Pits. Despite his persona of being quick to anger, he's a masterful tactian and manipulator.

Cass Cain:

The only candidate who does not kill. Her combat prowess exceeds all other candidates and is rarely defeated in battle. Her eerie silence, ability to read others far more accurately than even psychics, and her stealthiness lead her existence to being more of a feared rumor than a confirmed sighting.

Tim Drake:

While he can defeat a range of opponents in combat, his strength lie in the plots he enacts anonymously. He is skilled in plucking strings and dominoes to create the outcomes he desires. Other abilities include hacking, combat, stealth, disguises, and manipulation. For any battle he prepares for, he rarely loses. Only a small handful of his crimes can be proven to be caused by him.

Steph Brown:

She is skilled in deflection, disguises, social circumstances, combat, and observations. Brown utilizes a variety of personas to distract her victims and lead them astray. She's deadly, but hides this aspect well.

Duke Thomas:

A daring and charismatic leader of a meta rights movement. His group has committed various crimes in their pursuits. He is the only born meta of the group, extremely skilled in utilizing his powers, decisive in outcomes, skilled in combat, and ruthless to prejudice. He can be charming and is extremely emotionally intelligent, which is a skill he uses to subtly influence others.

Damian Al Ghul:

Due to his high kill count, special permission has been given to allow the sixteen year old to be entered into the program. He's exceptionally skilled in all weapon combat but primarily uses swords and knives. He's astute and can utilize his age as a finely tuned weapon to infiltrate, distract, or disappear. He has experience with leading, murder for hire, and complex missions.

Alfred Pennyworth:

A formidable marksman and retired serviceman for MI6. His skills with all styles of guns, acting abilities, unflappable manner, medic training, vehicle maneuverabilites, and sharp tongue aid him in any supportive role. Although he is unlikely to assist on field, he will provide necessary background aid.

Tim and Barbara, in this AU, have both grudges and respect for each other. Tim does not match Barbara's computer skills, but he's a far better foe to her than most. Usually, Tim has a policy to bow out when Barbara is involved or find a way to hide his involvement from her.

Bruce doesn't know Damian is his biological son. Damian hopes to keep him in the dark. Dick, due to his training with blood scents, is the first to know about their relationship. This only occurs after Bruce and Damian get injured on separate missions and Dick makes the connection.

Jason and Damian both have tried to kill Tim. Because Tim seemingly can't die to their attacks, the two have made a game out of trying to kill Tim whenever they see him. Jason and Damian do not know the other also does this. Jason refers to Tim as a "cockroach-like bastard."

One of the batkids jokingly refers to Bruce as "Dad" and Alfred as "Gramps" due to their older age. This catches on with the rest of the batkids until it becomes a regular and fond nickname for the older men.

Bruce had a plan to escape with the help of Kate. After seeing Damian (he doesn't know that's his son), Bruce decides he can't leave a kid. Then he becomes fond of the rest of the group and delays his escape plan again until he can escape with them.

Which of the Bats know each other from encounters in the field? Who holds grudges against each other? What led each Bat to become a villain?

As far as background shit, idk.

I might update with a criminal dossier for each bat later

(In case it wasn't clear, this is a batfam meet late forced found family AU)

@hisaribi helped me with this ^^

[celaenaeiln]

Thank you so much for debunking the whole "Dick was a super angry child" thing the fandom has been pressing hard for the last few years it's one of my pet peeve characterization for him. (The other him being a Playboy) Does he get angry of course he does he's only human but he's usually very level head and even if he was the "Angry Robin" when he first started he was 8 years old and just lost his parents! I feel like anyone especially a child would be hurt and angry then but he didn't want revenge he wanted justice. He was a sweet child who just wanted to make his parents proud.

og post in question

Yes!!

Actually another anon asked me about this too a while ago - that I'll be getting back to soon - and I began writing right away but then I just couldn't. I had to put it on hold because I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of evidence that Dick was a happy robin. Not A happy robin, THE happy robin. I was exhausted because I didn't know where to begin, there was just too much evidence. I needed to create a separate post first.

It makes me so mad when i see Angry Dick Grayson posts because it's not even an interpretation of events. There's nothing to debate, there's no doubt, there's no question, there's no confusion, there's nothing to contest - HE WASN'T AN ANGRY ROBIN.

Jason says it himself! And unlike people in the fandom who've never read a comic in their life but like running their mouth off, he would actually know because he studied Dick. He watched all of Dick's videos when he was Robin. 11 years worth of videos. And this is what he says about Dick's robin:

Suicide Squad: Get Joker Issue #1

Jason straight up says that Dick was the happy robin. And that's just Jason. There's still Tim, Damian, Bruce, Alfred, Clark, the Justice League, and the Titans who talk about it.

Frankly it boggles my mind when I hear people who write takes say that Dick was an angry robin because even if they've never read any of the robin comics, they should at least know what he was like from what the adult characters say right? Did they really never stop and wonder why Jason keeps talking about not being Dick when he argues with Bruce? Or why Tim was so obsessed with Dick aside from knowing him from the circus? Or why Bruce writes entire monologues about how Dick saved him? Or why Alfred goes on massive rants about how Dick was the best thing ever to happen to Bruce and him or why he started crying and mourning when Dick merely left as Robin? Did no one stop to consider when they started going around saying he wasn't happy?

Honestly Angry Robin Dick Grayson characterization is a black hole of logic and intelligence.

The reason it became so popular is because it's a logical fallacy and logical fallacies sound convincing. This particular argument is the hasty generalization logical fallacy. Hasty generalization is when a statement is made after one or two examples rather than relying on extensive research to back up a claim.

For example: I got sick after eating pizza from Aleano's. Therefore, I must be allergic to pizza.

Proponents of angry robin dick characterization choose one example from decades of writing to claim that he was angry after his parents died which-seriously? Besides you'll start to notice that people who write those takes will never provide evidence because it's near possible to find something that doesn't exist. Sure one or two out of context photos might be provided but that's the best they can do to support that type of characterization. As much as we wish we were magicians from Hogwarts, no amount of wishing is going to transfigure the hundreds of comics filled with happy robin to him being an angry monster.

Also it's ridiculous that type of character because they're saying that if he's upset that his parents died, then he's an angry character. But if the Joker's happy that random people died, then he's a psycho. What do they want?! And that's not even the whole truth of it either. Dick was massively sad more than he was angry. He was taken away from his circus family and is left alone like all the time now. His life changed in a second - he's depressed. But he was able to work through it and that's how Robin was created.

Dick was not Robin when he went after Tony Zucco. The reason Bruce made him Robin was specifically because he admitted he didn't want Tony Zucco dead.

The problem is people sometimes hyperfocus so much on one detail that they forget the big picture. They centered 11 years of Robin characterization around one moment.

Let's get the facts straight. Robin is a success story. The greatness of Dick wasn't just that he was the smart, the best of the ages, and the greatest athelete - no. His greatness is that he is able to move. ON. He can do what Bruce never could. He could move on and take his parents death and turn it into something positive. He was able to overcome grief and not dwell in the past.

That's why he was able to be happy. That's why Bruce couldn't. And that's why Bruce needed Dick because Dick made him happy.

Alfred says this about Dick as Robin -

Robin: Year One Issue #1

"The addition of Dick Grayson into the Master's crusade has made a difference in him." "I do believe I saw him smile. There have been occasions in the pantry when I could just discern the muffled sounds of laughter echoeing up from that dreadful cavern beneath the manor."

People don't seem to understand. Alfred never approved Bruce's tenure as Batman. He loathed it so much he punched Bruce for it. It was Dick's light and goodness that changed Bruce's mind because he saw how happy Dick made him and how happy of a child he himself was.

And Dick? He never changed his personality in or out of costume.

Robin: Year One Issue #2

"He doesn't seem to struggle to lead a normal adolescence." "He's had no need to develop the masquerade that Master Bruce felt necessary." "His personality remains the same with or without the mask and boots. "

He's not the troubled kid some people seem to think he is. He wasn't mean or selfish or cast aside or raging moodily in a corner. Actually in the Batman (1940) and Detective Comics, he was seen as a role model for how helpful and kind he was. He was actually the one who went out of his way to help troubled kids because of his kindness, goodness, and empathy.

Checkmate (2006) Issue #14

Checkmate is a member of Task Force X under Amanda Waller and an ally of Batman's. She knows him. She knows what Dick was to him and Dick even mourns about the time when Bruce used to be happy. It was his joy and personality that did that.

Of course my argument isn't to be taken one sidedly saying he was constantly happy 24/7, all the time, in every occasion - no. Emotions are a spectrum and no one feels one emotion all the time. Thats silly. But, your personality outlook is based on what you feel most of the time. Dick sometimes got angry, sometimes got sad, etc. But in a dichotomy between happy and angry there is no doubt, no question, that he was overwhelmingly on the happy side.

There's a reason why everyone calls him happy. It's because for an overwhelming majority of the time, he was the happy robin.

52 Issue #25

Way back in the Batman (1940) comic Dick says, "I became Robin, history's first sidekick. And there I was, the laughing boy daredevil--"

Batman and Robin (2009) Issue #9

You can call him crazy, excitable, feral, overexcellent, etc. But never forget that Bruce once went insane after locking himself in a simulator that emulated Robin Dick Grayson's joy.

The incontestable truth - Dick was a happy robin.

[teadragondreams]

Thoughts on Nicole Maine's Secret Six (Organized [kinda])

Now that I've done some preliminary information gathering from stalking the appropriate tags and wiki articles, here are my thoughts on each member of the new Secret Six lineup! Keep in mind that I barely read the greater DC comics whatsoever.

Jay Nakamura (Gossamer)

Positive Asian representation in the Secret Six!? FUCKING FINALLY--Mostly with him and the other new members I'm anticipating some sort of soap opera style drama happening alongside the main plot-- and that isn't a detriment, it would be an active bonus.

Jon Kent

From what I've seen, much in the style of Dick Grayson temporarily taking on the Batman mantle, Jon *was* Superman for a while. Does he have a hero name specific to him or is he Superboy again? How many Superboys are there actually? (From what I've seen it seems to be just as complicated at the Batfamily-- but GOD am I SICK of the batfamily--) Anyway. I doubt they're going to have any continuity with the 2011 timeline but just imagining the interactions he could have with Black Alice or Catman if so--"Hey weren't you guys teammates with that guy that shattered my Dad's bones?!"

Dreamer (Nia Nal)

Read a part of that scene she has with Waller (I believe it was from Dream Team but not sure on that), but the fact that she actively scrambled Waller's memories and now this new series is in the aftermath of that ? Whoo boy is going to be fun! Especially becausefrom what I've gathered--Nicole Maines *is* Nia Nal, and probably has a clear direction with where she wants to take the character, right?

Black Alice (Lori Zechlin)

I love Lori! She's always been one of my favorites, especially because she is always accidently pushing the found family agenda with other members of the six. I know she'd made a few appearances around in other series like Suicide Squad and Night Force, and that's where her newer design comes from. But there are so many directions her characterization might go in this series that I'm just praying she doesn't get shoehorned into 'annoying kid member of team' because she's so much more than that! More of that "I feel tremendous guilt about possibly giving my dad cancer and purposely joined a team of mercenaries".

Catman (Thomas Blake)

Gotta love the Tomcat. I love how his design skews him back into "batman impersonator" but gets rid of that stupid hole in his cowl for a bang they gave him in DC Pride. I liked that story with him and Ghostmaker but I couldn't get over that stupid bang!! Addtionaly because he has so much internal conflict about what the hell he wants to do with his career as a mercenary/anti-hero/vigilante. His underlying attempts to be *good* to be *better* makes me glad to follow what he does. But honestly, I'd be even more glad if he was more of a supporting role in this mini-series, because his presence as a father/older brother figure (mainly seen in the 2011 run) are just incredible. Also I hope they don't make him the butt of too many eg(g)regious jokes.

Deadshot (Floyd Lawton)

Twenty bucks says they'll be at least 3 panels with him and Thomas in the hit or kiss zone. Wouldn't have it any other way.

Honorable mention section for that one issue cover that shows some of the previous members of the Six.

Bane

HOLY SHIT IT'S BANE!!! I literally almost cried in joy when that one Christmas special issue came out at the very moment I was like "I need to calm down with my Secret Six obsession it's not like there's ever going to be any new official material with them" and now boom. making this post. Super excited to see the big guy on a team again.

Scandal & Knockout

RETURN OF THE POLYCULE??? Not much to say here, I'll lament Scandal once again not being on the team proper, but I guess they've ditched that "all eight of us in this commercial are apart of the Secret Six" idea and are keeping the team to actually Six.

Jeanette

So happy to have you back queen, wish it was you on the front lines instead of your crusty little bf but understandable. I hope it's brought up again that she's like a majorly successful entrepreneur because it's so funny that she chooses to associate with these weirdos.

Chesire

I hugely disliked how Cheshire was treated in the OG Villains United Run. I'm fine with her being an antagonist, Jade could be a great antagonist!-- but I sincerely hope they avoid the stereotypes used to previously characterize her.

Ragdoll

I love this little freak! I am one of the (2.5)frequenters of the peter merkel jr tag. As long as A) the stupid little clown ruff remains and B) they let her be as much of a weirdo as possible, I will probably not have *too* many complaints.

Mad Hatter

peter merkel jr for the second time in your life you have the opportunity to do the funniest thing ever.

[zahri-melitor]

Is Dick Grayson-Batman not getting the opportunity to be on a big name JLA squad, (a la Kyle Rayner and Wally West take over for Hal and Barry during Morrison’s JLA era) a missed opportunity? Yeah, there was James Robinson’s “epic” C-list lineup, but I was wondering why you think DC seemingly weren’t interested in Bat-Dick having a bigger role in the wider DCU at the time? And in-universe, how would Dick function in a real Justice League, compared to Bruce? What would the dynamics with Clark, Diana, J’onn, etc. look like in your opinion?

There was definitely a push during Batman Reborn to have Dick strangely isolated from his support systems, to a level that it seemed to have some level of editorial mandate.

Dick got to be Batman, but he had to do the loner thing in Gotham, even though the loner thing in Gotham is not actually what Batman is about, really.

But Dick was not allowed to ask for help, even if his friends who would normally check in on him were nowhere to be seen. Tim got sent away and Morrison actively worked not to use him. Barbara and Dick was arguing. Dick and Helena were arguing. Cass was sent to Hong Kong. Bruce wouldn't return to Gotham and went country-hopping with Batman Inc. And Dick only really had a half-hearted JLA turn, though admittedly the JLA was also in the middle of dramas between Blackest Night/Brightest Day and Cry for Justice.

In terms of what Dick would look like on a 'proper' (classic titles) Justice League lineup? Honestly, it really sort of depends whether it's Dick doing a Wally and having to step up as a colleague of their mentors, or if it's say Dick-Wally-Kyle-Roy as a core plus some of the older generation.

Dick's not afraid of calling JL members out if he thinks they're not behaving correctly and he's directed field ops in events before. I think the big thing if he had had to do a Wally and step into Bruce's shoes surrounded by Bruce's ordinary colleagues would be that he would have felt somewhat unready, but also gotten annoyed if anyone tried to empathise with his loss. He can do the job. It's everyone treating him as Bruce or as Nightwing that would be his issue.

In a lot of ways, especially if there are chunk of members who are in his age cohort, it would just be like a Titans team. Dick's got a good working relationship with all these people, he knows all their skillsets, and he's acknowledged to be one of the strongest team leaders in the community. However, he also knows how to fold and act as a lieutenant if someone more senior is leading (like Diana. Or Clark) and I suspect he'd get slotted into that role at least initially.

[givemewallywestorgivemedeath]

Nightwing #100 was fun and a good celebration of Nightwing's history and progress. The Titans set up was really cool to see and I hope DC follows through with putting the Titans into the spotlight.

BUT

It can't be in the Nightwing series. I can't think of anything more damaging to The Titans as a team and to Nightwing himself than to have the entirety of the Titans crammed into a solo series.

This is why we have team series and solo series. People don't read Titan series for stories 98% focused on Grayson with every other Titans character relegated to a cameo support role. People don't read Nightwing for stories revolving around his Titans' leadership duties.

The best part about the Titans is that it's a diverse group of personalities and skillsets. Every character gets a chance to shine, every character has a distinct personality and goals. They aren't Dick Grayson's backup dancers or personal cheerleading squad. And Dick's book should be where he gets to just be himself doing stealth missions and clandestinely fighting assassins, without trying to be the perfect leader that's always got a plan.

I liked Nightwing #100 and I've liked the other times Titans characters have crossed over into the series. But this can't just be it. They have to have a Titans series. They have to.

[lorbanery]

I've been tweeting a bit through mine and @ark-shifter's first play-through of Gotham Knights on Twitter (you can see my ongoing list of the explicitly queer parts of the game (including Tim's canon bisexuality, The Squad making plans to go to Pride, and multiple pride flags as far as the eye can see) here). But I wanted to talk a bit more extensively about Dick Grayson in the game and how the writers and devs so carefully made him Schroedinger's Queer.

And just to be clear about this from the start: This is not a callout post or an accusation of queerbaiting. I'll explain more why later, but my stance is that they did an excellent job and I love the way they handled it.

Needless to say, but saying nonetheless: Spoilers under the cut.

First let me explain what I mean by Schroedinger's Queer.

Basically, every bit of queerness that comes up around Dick is circumstantial evidence. It might be confirmation that Dick is queer, but there might be some other reason for it.

I realize that's not very clear, so here's the examples I can remember off the top of my head:

During one of Dick's cut scenes, Alfred makes him some tea and serves it to him in a souvenir bi pride Bludhaven mug. You could interpret this as that mug being his mug, that he bought it because he identifies as bi and wanted the mug because of that. But he might have bought it because Tim is bi and it meant something to him because of that. He might have bought it for Tim. Or maybe he didn't buy it at all, maybe it's Tim's mug that he bought for himself when he was visiting Bludhaven. Babs emails Dick about an interview that he did, specifically mentioning the number he did on the interviewer. The email includes a snippet of the interview where the male interviewer talks about Dick being extremely flirtatious with him, and quotes him answering a question about his type with, to paraphrase, "I don't have a type, all people are beautiful." You can interpret this as an at least semi-authentic interview where Dick's answering genuinely, even if he is playing up a flirty public persona. Or, given the number of discussions of Bruce's flirty playboy persona (there's video of a half-naked table dance with an ice sculpture) in the game in general, you can just interpret this as Dick picking up where Bruce left off and taking on his own flirty playboy persona where he says things he doesn't really mean to throw the public off the scent. There's an email exchange between Babs and Jason where they make plans to attend Pride in costume because Babs overheard Dick and Tim talking about going together. You could interpret this as Tim and Dick talking about going without including Babs and Jason because Dick and Tim are the queer ones and it's a queer event and so they want to go. But they don't say why Tim and Dick talked about going without including Babs and Jason. Maybe Tim just brought up wanting to go but not wanting to go alone and Dick was like "Yeah totally, I'll come with you" and they were going to ask Babs and Jay to come with but they beat them to it. Tim tells Babs about this boy who flirts with him and just asked him out and he said yes. Babs is super encouraging and tells him that if he ever needs any advice, she's dated a lot of guys and she learned nothing, so he should just ask Dick. This could be Babs telling Tim that Dick has better experiences dating men than she does so he'll have better advice than her! But it could also just be about Dick being Tim's oldest brother and the one he asks for advice first anyway for things interpersonal stuff. Maybe she genuinely thinks that he's learned more from all the dating he's done. Or maybe it's just because he's a guy who's dated before and will know better what a guy wants out of a relationship.

Now I, as a queer and a firm supporter of Queer Dick Grayson, am certainly inclined to read these things in the gayest possible framing. But someone who is straight and/or inclined to see Dick as straight can easily just see someone who's supportive of his bi brother and uses hypersexuality as a means of distracting people from thinking he's roaming the streets at night fighting badguys (which, I'll be honest, is less effective for Nightwing than it was for Batman, but that's besides the point).

Like, say, the people who own the character and have a financial interest in discouraging any evolution of the character that could be controversial and/or they see as fundamentally changing him.

There have been efforts to introduce queerness into established superheroes (in both Marvel and DC) for DECADES. A lot of times when you see something in a comic that seems really gay and you're like, "How did the artists/writers NOT REALIZE" they absolutely did realize and are doing everything short of explicitly confirming it in-panel because the higher ups won't let them.

Tim Drake was originally introduced in 1989, basically as a way to reintroduce Robin with a more personable character than Jason had. He was not allowed to be explicitly queer until 2022.

33 YEARS.

For a character who basically existed as a second attempt to give Batman a Robin again because they were invested in Dick being Nightwing so they didn't want to revert him back, and they let Jason be killed, but Batman had only been without a Robin for his very first year of publication. So they needed someone in the position and they needed someone who was least likely to cause a visceral reaction in their readers like Jason did. (Which, to be clear, isn't to say that Tim hasn't evolved into a really interesting, nuanced, and generally wonderful character in his own right; or that the folks who actually created him didn't create him also conceive him as a fleshed out character.)

But we're talking about Dick Grayson. Who, at this point, has existed for 83 years. Less than twenty years shy of a century. He's existed almost as long as Superman and Batman — Superman was introduced in 1938, Batman in 1939, and Dick in 1940. He may not hold exactly the same place in popular culture that Superman and Batman do, Robin is still a legacy character, "Batman & Robin" is a phrase that basically everyone knows, and when you ask the average person who Robin is, they'll answer or describe Dick Grayson.

And Dick Grayson is not allowed to be queer.

He's too well-known. He's too popular. He has too much publication history where he's written, ostensibly, as straight. It doesn't matter that a large swath of his fans are, themselves, some flavor of queer. It doesn't matter that citing his publication history is patently ridiculous given the nature of the superhero comic industry. It doesn't matter that real life people have revelations about their sexuality at all points in life and "some point in their twenties" is literally one of the most common and far from the latest. It doesn't matter that bisexuality exists and would allow Dick to be queer without invalidating all of the (extremely popular) canon relationships he's been in over the years .

And this is when we swing back around to the question of how is this not queerbaiting.

First let's define queerbaiting. Queerbaiting is a term for media where the narrative hints at characters being queer — or that queerness plays a large role in the romantic plot(s) — but in actuality it's either a very small part or never actually exists at all.

A really blatant example of this was the marketing campaign for the first season of Riverdale. A clip of Betty and Veronica kissing was used in the ads and commercials. By featuring it in an ad for a show that hadn't premiered yet, they implied that some level of queerness between Betty and Veronica would be a regular, if not prominent, feature of the first season at least.

In actuality, the kiss was a single, one-off moment that, in the narrative of the scene, was just meant to surprise the girls running cheerleading tryouts and it never came up again.

With that in mind, I can see how reading all of these hints at Dick being queer with nary a peep of actual explicit confirmation might make people cry queerbaiting. But I don't think it is. For a few reasons.

One of them, I admit, is pure vibes. This all feels, to me, like a genuine expression of queerness. I don't know how many, if any, of the writers or devs of Gotham Knights are queer. But as a queer person — particularly one who's read queerness in Dick Grayson for a long time — this felt not only true to Dick's character, but true to a queer reading of his character.

Particularly in conjunction with word from on high that Dick isn't allowed to explicitly be queer. It's as queer as they could safely make him without getting in trouble or having DC scrap the whole project or give it to someone else.

And then ... there's everything else. All those bits and pieces and details that I mentioned in that Twitter thread. The rainbow flags, the gay neighborhood, the pride flag colorways for the bike, the number of explicitly queer NPC's just roaming around their version of Gotham. It would be one thing if it was just a one-off bit of idle dialogue about Tim's boyfriend and the interview snippet and maybe a rainbow flag above the arcade, maybe even the Pride mural in the gayborhood. That's what I would expect from a kind of well-meaning but kind of clueless dev team who doesn't really understand queer culture.

But you don't populate your game with gay NPC's and let players ride around on a nonbinary pride colored bike if you're not genuine in your desire to give some real, genuine, thoughtful queer rep.

[deadletterpoets]

I’m a bit peeved. I saw a preview for the Green Arrow issue next week and Barbara Gordon mentions Amanda Waller but she mentions Nightwing’s run in with Waller as if she has no connection to her and Nightwing does despite her actually working/running the Suicide Squad for a time. It’s just this new thing I noticed where Babs’ connections are made through Dick when she actually should have these connections without having to mention him.

Barbara Gordon having connections to people in the DCU away from Dick Grayson? Not in this economy.

I'll be honest I don't have too much opinion on this, in terms of having a passionate response. Babs has become more and more dependent on being support character to Dick since DC decided to officially put them back together. Her only real arc in Batgirls was duo lead with Dick (and is without a doubt the worst arc in that series I think everyone agrees) and her role in Nightwing is glorified love interest sidekick that kicks ass next to main hero so she's totally not just a sidekick. Sure, Chen whatever helps you sleep at night.

Babs should be leading a Birds of Prey book right now, but she isn't cause then DC might have to remember she has a life away from Dick Grayson

[dykerachelsummers]

“I’m worried about Dick,” Donna said as she tucked her bare feet under Keren’s thigh, wiggling her toes.

On Keren’s other side sat Roy, absolutely draped over the Kryptonian with his cheek resting on shoulder. He nodded. “To be honest, I can’t remember ever not being worried about Dick, but recently....”

“He broke up with Kory,” Keren revealed. “Said he wasn’t any good for her.”

Donna huffed angrily, crossing her arms over her chest. “He’s stealing B’s coping mechanisms again.”

Keren nodded, closing her eyes. “I’m just happy he can’t completely isolate himself. He spends half his time at home holed up in his room, hiding from me, but he has to come out sometime.”

“When...was the last time he talked to Bruce?” Roy asked.

“Not since Jason died,” Keren said, her tone mournful. “He went to him but...well, we all remembered how he looked after that meeting.”

“Yeah, Dinah saw him and ripped Bruce a new one,” Roy said.

“Good!” Donna exclaimed. “Someone needs to! I swear Dia’s done her best to talk to him, but he refuses to listen.”

“Yeah, Kal’s done his best too but B’s just so deep in his own grief that he refuses to see how badly he’s affected Dick.”

Roy groaned, before he moved so his head was resting in Keren’s lap. “This is such bullshit! Dick deserves better.”

“But he was healing from Jay’s death and Bruce’s reaction,” Keren insisted. “I don’t know what happened recently that made him slide back in his progress, but something has to have.”

Donna sighed as she leaned her head back. “We should get Wally and Garth and stage an intervention.”

“Remember what happened last time we stage an intervention?” Roy scoffed. “Dick didn’t talk to us for a fucking week.”

“Would’ve been longer if there hadn’t been a Titans-related emergency,” Keren pointed out.

Donna winced. “Don’t remind me,” she said. “That was a hot mess.”

[axlryan]

After watching the new Titans trailer I still can't get over how badly and epic-ly DC always manages to fail when it comes to their live action shit

[heroicadventurists]

DC announces that November 2021 is Robin Month

To kick off the month of Robin, DC will release two Robin centric comics

Round Robin Winners 🏆

ROBINS #1, written by Tim Seeley (GRAYSON, SUICIDE SQUAD: KING SHARK), with art by Baldemar Rivas (UNEARTH), peels back the domino mask on the realities and costs of being a Robin. Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, and Damian Wayne come together in the world’s most specific support group to finally talk about whether being a Robin was a good idea… but they can’t even do that without being ambushed. As an unknown assailant claims to have been the first Robin, the flock of Robins must figure out who she is, and what it means to be a Robin. - November 16

Robin & Batman comes from the Eisner-winning team of Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen. Lemire and Nguyen are teaming back up to tell the origins of Dick Grayson's crime-fighting career alongside Batman. The title will run for three issues with each installment set to be around 40 pages long. -November 9th.

[a-reader-and-a-writer-for-all]

So, I just recently hit 1k followers on both this blog and my NSFW 18+ blog, @a-reader-and-a-writer. When I started my blog back in October, I wasn't sure if I would ever get 100 followers, so this is so mindblowing to me. I cannot put into words how much the support, kindness, and encouragement everyone has shown me and my fics in the past 8 months have meant to me. So, I wanted to do a little event to celebrate this milestone!

Starting today, I will be accepting requests for the challenge and I will start posting the fics on July 1st. You can send them in through asks or DMs but please make some indication it is for the follower celebration.

Send me up to 3 gifs/pictures of a character listed below and I will write a fic based on/ connecting them. The images can be from different movies/episodes/mediums as long as they are of the same character. I will also accept group or team images such as The Avengers, The Suicide Squad, Top Gun team, etc. for a group fic. Feel free to specify a theme for the fic (angst, fluff, whump, hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending, etc)

I am feeling up to the challenge so feel free to send images that seem to go together or seem wildly different or unconnected!

PS. I understand that asks on anon won't let you send pictures, but feel free to send me links to images or gif sets because I still want those who prefer anon to be able to participate! 😁

Top Gun: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, Jake "Hangman" Seresin, Robert "Bob" Floyd, Natasha "Phoenix" Trace, Top Gun Team

Marvel: Pretty much anyone from the MCU, The Avengers, Daredevil, Punisher

DC: Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, The Batfamily, Rick Flag, Captain Boomerang, Harley Quinn, The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker, Adrian Chase, The 11th Street Kids

Star Wars: Din Djarin, Boba Fett, Poe Dameron, Kylo Ren

Misc.: Stephen Holder, Takeshi Kovacs, Ed Baldwin

*Reminder, I do not do smut, but I can do "suggestive situations" or lead up to smut. And this is a SFW blog so please no explicit pictures or gifs 💖

[not-so-mundane-after-all]

Fandom: DC Titans

Series: So Close, Worlds Apart - part 2

Title: Hey, Angel

Pairings/Relationships: Dick Grayson & Rachel Roth, Graysonfam

Chapter: 6/6

Summary:

While spending her time learning and training on Themyscira, Rachel feels homesick and longs to talk to her favorite person. She can't call him or text him, but Dick still provides her with a way to share her thoughts with him - all she needs is a sketchbook, a pencil and a few written down words.

He was counting the days - she is writing letters.

The final chapter is finally HERE!

I'm gonna be honest with you, it's not my best work. At least it doesn't feel to me like it is. It's a clear case of artistic burnout, pushing myself to finish this no matter how bland the writing is. I got the idea for it months ago but I lost the direction I was going in with this. So the fact that someone is actually still reading this and liking what's in here is beyond me. Especially comments about the imagery and world-building lifted me up! @ambeauty - C, my girl, I love you endlessly for your support!!!

Enjoy this one, lovelies!

Now it's time for a break. I'll be back when s4 hits our screens which is IN NOVEMBER BABY! WOOOO!

So see you then!

........unless inspiration kicks me in the ass and has me typing down lines of dialogue at 1am so I don't forget them in the morning lol.

And as usual... ✨the squad✨

@wonderbatwayne @escapism-through-imagination @meetmeunderthestarrynight @ambeauty

[river-bottom-nightmare]

Nightwing 79 Review

i said i would and i will. i did like this issue! not as striking and attention grabbing as 78, but i think this issue was meant to be a foundation one, laying out the groundwork for the future. overall, pretty good. also there wasn't enough bitewing. as promised, overly extensive metaphors and me reading too much into things under the cut

i know i've talked about this cover before, but this particular thing is oddly important to me, so i'll talk about it again

this is me, once again screaming about how artists put nightwing in traditionally feminine poses and how every time i see it i just get whiplash. i mean, true, the main reason why is because nightwing is a so often sexualized character, and putting him in these poses just increases the objectification, which is a goal that dc producers have. but there are very few popular male characters that do this. the only one i can think of off the top of my head is deadpool, but that was so obviously a critique and a way to make fun of the media industry. when they draw dick like this, they’re being serious. they’re putting him in appealing poses meant to show him off, and that’s something that’s traditionally only been done to women.

it's a very direct and very loud breaking of traditional gender roles in media, especially for a character as high-profile and historic as dick grayson. colour also plays a factor in this. the entire background is pink. i was absolutely shocked when i first saw it, when the teaser came out, because i cannot think of any comic book covers of male comic heroes this high-profile where pink is even just prevalent in the cover, let alone the majority of the cover. the pink does look beautiful: it offsets and highlights the black and blue of dick's suit gorgeously, but does it with more finesse than orange or red. but the fact that the stylistic choice was made to accent and draw this cover with aesthetic and beauty in mind, completely ignoring traditional hard-set gender rules in art, was a conscious choice and one i wholeheartedly support.

just another example of the sexualization i was talking about. i remember seeing harley quinn in this exact pose in suicide squad.

so far, taylor's been pretty dead-set on bringing alfred to the forefront of importance in this series. he wants people to know how much he loves alfred's character, and how much the butler meant to dick growing up. he was dick's father too. but what i adore is how taylor managed to stress alfred's importance in a way that didn't insult or belittle bruce.

this is one of the best bruce and dick interactions i've seen, and it's done in one simple interaction. in this, bruce is tough and harsh. he knocked dick down hard, but then he reached a hand down and helped pull dick back up. let me analyze their dialogue for a minute

on your feet: this is bruce telling dick to get up. he's trained dick, he knows what the younger boy is capable of, he knows his limits, and he knows what dick can do. this is bruce telling dick i know you're strong enough to get up, so get up and prove me right

are you just going to knock me down again?: surface-level, it looks like dick's complaining. he doesn't like bruce's rough training, and he's tired of bruce knocking him down. but look at his face in this. he's smiling up at bruce, knowledgeable and a little hopeful. he knows that bruce is doing this to help dick better himself, he's completely on board with the rough training, because they both know the rewards are incredible. also, he's teasing. he's bantering with bruce. there's an ease in that joking statement, one that belies affection and intimacy. they've only known each other for a little bit, but they're already slipping into a close familial relationship.

it depends on how fast you learn: this is bruce bantering back. this is bruce not being a stoic, unfeeling asshole. instead, he's shown with the dry humor that a good batman writer knows is a staple of the character. he's teasing dick, telling him he'll basically whoop his ass if dick doesn't learn fast enough. it's incentive for dick to train harder, while also being lighthearted enough to tell dick that believes in dick and doesn't want him to push himself too hard.

gosh i love the titans. also it looks like wally's staring at dick's ass.

this was cute. a prod at dick's silly and playful sense of humor, while not dumbing him down for the sake of a laugh. instead, he's joking about food, which is stuff everyone jokes about. this is the kind of stuff that'll actually make me laugh, instead of just making me vaguely uncomfortable.

bludhaven's almost always portrayed as a cesspool of a city. and to be honest, it really is. but this panel gives the city a meaningful history, while also giving us a reason for why dick moved there.

it talks of a time when people still thought they could beat the monsters. that if they fought hard enough, they could win the fight. it was a tentative hope that you could always overcome hardship.

dick's little "i like that it's still standing" shows how he still believes that, despite what the rest of the world thinks. despite everything that he's been through, dick is still tentatively an optimist, and believes he can fight the monsters of the world and win. it's a beautiful testament to his character, and i'm like that they added his signature element of hope back in. it used to be what he symbolized as robin, and despite his growth and character arc from robin to nightwing, this is one aspect of robin that i'm glad nightwing still has.

remember when i said "things that make me vaguely uncomfortable??" yeahhhh,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Shooketh Dick: A Sequel

(the expressions in this series are just,,,,on point)

this was an incredibly sweet and kindhearted thing for dick to do, but i found it kind of,,,,,,,,desperate? maybe that's just me, but let me explain.

dick's suddenly a billionaire, and he has entirely too much money that he knows what to do with. it's also alfred's money, what the man left to him, so dick forever links it with alfred. in addition to that, he's back and bludhaven and looking at it with "fresh" eyes. (at least, from a different point of view since he got shot in the head. then mind controlled.) he's desperate to do something with the money and he's desperate to help the people around him that so obviously needs up, so he comes up with an on-the-fly solution that's a little impractical and a little crazy, but it still helps and still does some good.

to me, dick seems a little lost. he hasn't completely found his balance yet, and he's trying to do things that will. he tries charity, because that's what bruce did and it's what he knows, even though he admitted that he always thought bruce could have done more as bruce wayne than batman.

they have a family group chat guys yall were right.

also, do i think that dick would ever actually get his wallet stolen?? no way in hell, he’d notice someone getting ready to pickpocket him a mile away. but i suppose it’s important to the Plot. 

okay this is getting interesting. first blockbuster, now maroni (+ the weird heart stealer guy). i can officially say that i am intruiged

this particular artistic quirk is shown a lot in this issue, and from this art team in general, but i feel like this panel is one of the best examples of it. it was stunning enough to take up a full page, and it’s well deserved.

the way they show dick moving is absolutely brilliant. as a reader, i like seeing these smaller versions of dick getting clearer and in more detail as they come closer to the screen. not only do they show depth in the picture beyond what a simple 3 dimensional piece of art does, it also shows the passage of time.

in addition, it showcases dick’s skill. dick spots these mobsters running after a group of petty thieves. he then, and follow me here, leaps off the roof of one building feet first, springboards backwards off the side of the adjacent building with his feet, gracefully continues his backflip, rights himself, shoots a line with perfect timing: just in time to soften his landing but not slow him down, execute said landing on top of a moving bus, keep running on the moving bus without missing a beat, shoot his grapple, use the grapple to swing, use the swing to build up momentum, then use the momentum to deliver a powerful blow to the mobsters. and he did all that fast enough to catch up with the mobsters, even though he was a ROOFTOP OVER. 

d a m n  s o n

this panel, the very first in the issue, is also another example of that art style, but a little more distinctive. i love the way they showed dick’s different costumes through the ages, along with him simply growing up. it’s a little heartbreaking, but a lot uplifting to see how far he’s come. thank god he got rid of the red. now all we need is the fingerstripes, and we’ll be golden

discowing my beloved. also i can’t clearly see discowing’s hair but it definitely looks like it’s pulled back. it looks like he put it in a ponytail. guys. guys. dick had a ponytail omg. 

he’s having a Hero Moment

are you talking about the city, dick, or are you talking about you? the kgbeast, the court, the joker. dick fell to each one of them, no matter how hard he fought. he won in the end, eventually and with his family’s help. but i think he’s feeling a little low, a little defeated right now. it’s almost like he needs a win, he needs to feel victorious, he needs to feel like he helped someone (hence the food and the hotel room), just because he needs to remember what it feels like.

these lines were supposed to resonate with you, and goddamn they did.

i looked at it from two ways. first, it’s the girl asking, begging nightwing not to hurt them. bludhaven doesn’t know dick the way gotham does, they’re still a little frightened of him. this child was brave enough to step in front of all of the other hurt and homeless kids and ask, to a strange man in a mask, if he was going to hurt them like the other men had. it’s heartbreaking, but commendable, and an echo of the city itself that dick’s decided to protect. they’re bloody and broken and terrified, but still gritty and brave enough to stare what they fear in the eye and ask it not to hurt them.

second, it’s dick seeing the question reflected in himself. recently, he got shot in the head and lost all his memories. while i think that the way ric reacted was a perfectly valid and human response to the situation, i think dick still regrets how callously and rudely he treated his family. then, he was manipulated by the court of owls, then he was brainwashed with a magic crystal by the joker. dick does have a guilt complex. it’s not a big as bruce’s, but it’s there. and right now, with this girl begging her not to hurt them, dick is probably thinking about all the times he hurt people, in control of his own actions or not, bc he “didn’t have a heart.” 

little ambitious don’t you think, dick?

also just look at the sunset colours loOK at the they could not make this any more obvious oh my godddddddddddddddddddddddd

in conclusion, i need more of her

[nightwingmyboi]

Is it okay to ask for a short summary of the Ric Grayson arc? I want to read the comics but I don't really want to risk my temper and mental health. I just want to see which parts I can read without exploding.

Yeah, I feel that. It’s a bit of a frustrating read. Basically: 

Dick is shot in the head, wakes up with amnesia due to drugs given to him by Dr. Haas. 

Dr. Haas’ conditioning and manipulation, along with his family’s pushy behavior, make Dick hesitant about his family. Bruce showing Dick a video of him being shot in the head is the final nail in the coffin. Dick freaks out, and no longer wants anything to do with Nightwing or the family. 

Dr. Haas suggests moving to Bludhaven. Dick does so, burning his old Nightwing hideout upon arrival. 

Dick is homeless on the streets, and takes a job as a cab driver to get some cash. He often goes to Bea Bennett’s bar, and the two begin to form a relationship. Meanwhile, a cop finds Dick’s suits, and decides to form a squad of Nightwings. 

Dick has violent, reoccurring nightmares, and goes to therapy sessions with the Scarecrow. 

Dick helps the Nightwings beat Scarecrow, and reluctantly is let into the group. 

Dick helps the Nightwings beat other crooks, including Duela Dent. As his relationship with Bea continues to develop, Dick tells her everything--about Robin, Nightwing, the amnesia, and his work with the Nightwings. 

Eventually Cobb attacks, and Dick gets put into memory-altering googles that give him a new set of memories--life growing up as a Talon. 

He is briefly a Talon, and is freed by a lucky hit to the googles. 

Dick has debilitating migraines because of the two sets of memories, and goes to Dr. Haas for help, only to discover her connection to the Court. Dick tracks her down and retrieves a memory crystal--an important tool in controlling him. 

The Joker gets the crystal, and implants Dick with a third set of memories, this one including his parents beating him and him becoming the Joker’s son. 

Dick attacks Jason and then Barbara with Punchline’s help. Eventually, people are able to get the crystal away from the Joker, and Bea gives it to Dick so that he can free himself. He does so. 

The family gives Dick a pat on the back, and the Nightwing suit. 

Dick’s really been through the wringer. I wonder when the last time he’s eaten or slept is...on top of all the brainwashing that’s messing with his head, how is he even functioning. Give this boy a granola bar, aspirin, and a nap please DC. 

If you want a more thorough breakdown, or to pick and choose comics to read, I figured it might be easier if I summarized by issue? Under the readmore. 

Batman #55: Dick is shot in the head. The bullet makes a pfffft sound effect for whatever reason. The suffering begins. 

Warning!! Get ready to be told over and over again in Dick’s internal narration that: a) Dick has amnesia b) he does NOT go by DICK c) he definitely doesn’t want to be Nightwing or be part of his family and d) he is a sad hobo man now. Onward. 

Nightwing Annual #1: Dick talks to his doctor about how his recovery is going. In flashbacks, we are shown the aftermath of the shooting and Dick’s recovery in the hospital. There is a particularly stirring scene with Damian in Dick’s hospital room...but from there the family’s handling of the situation is poor. This is the issue where the family shows Dick the video of him getting his brains blown out to jog his memory. Dick freaks out, and leaves the manor in a panic, determined to have nothing more to do with his family or Nightwing. 

Nightwing #50: Flashbacks to Dick’s time as Robin, fighting the Scarecrow. In the present, Dick tries to acclimate to his new life. We are given details of Dick’s condition, including his blackouts and his homeless status. Barbara tries to talk Ric into returning to the manor, and he refuses. The family concludes that there is nothing they can do. Dick burns down his Nightwing hideout. 

Nightwing #51: A touching scene with Alfred, checking on Dick. A cop stumbles upon the burned Nightwing suits, and decides to become Nightwing himself. Dick continues to try and sort himself out. He is almost mugged, and accidentally breaks out some Nightwing moves, seriously injuring the mugger. 

Nightwing #52-55: A group of cops decides to become Nightwing. Scarecrow continues to cause havoc in Bludhaven. Once again, Dick’s doctor is a supervillain--he goes to a therapy sessions with the Scarecrow. Bea and Dick’s relationship begins to take off; they are actually fairly sweet and have a fun dynamic, definitely a bright spot in these comics (that you’ll want to hold onto). 

Nightwing #56: A bit of a turning point. Dick sees one of the Nightwing squad get hurt, and feels the need to step in--he doesn’t want anyone dying in his place. He helps the group beat Scarecrow. 

Nightwing #57: Duela Dent comes to town. Barbara talks with Bea. The Nightwing’s give Dick permission to work with them, ironically :/ Dick helps them take down Duela Dent. Barbara meets up with Dick and apologizes to him for some of her behavior, then leaves. 

Nightwing #58-61: The Nightwings “train” Dick (lol). They continue to question whether he is capable and can be trusted, oscillating between “wow he’s impressive!” to “I don’t know if the newbie’s ready for this” to “you’re no Nightwing.” Backstory time for the Nightwings, Dick’s relationship with Bea continues to grow (she gets him a phone, which he didn’t have before RIP) and the gang fights a living fire. 

Nightwing #62-63: Dick continues to help the Nightwings. He lets Bea in on everything--the fact that he was Robin and Nightwing, that he was shot in the head and lost his memory, and that he is going out into the city to help the Nightwings when needed. She doesn’t like how he puts himself at risk, but supports him, saying that he can’t help but be a good person. The Court of Owls begins to close in, attacking one of the Nightwings. 

Nightwing #64-67: Cobb attacks Bea, leading to a fight between Dick and Talon. Talon overpowers Dick, and forces him to wear memory-altering googles that implant a second life in his head--a life as a Talon. He briefly becomes a Talon, attacks the Nightwings, and is freed due to a lucky hit to the googles. 

Nightwing #68: Cool Travis Moore art at the beginning of this one, detailing some of Dick’s true memories. Satisfying to see Dick beat Cobb up a little, and tell him that no one can define him but him. And despite all the crazy crap that just went down, Bea reaffirms that she’s willing to stick it out. 

Nightwing #69-71: Memories of his two lives war in Dick’s head, causing debilitating headaches. Bea and Dick discover Dr. Haas is responsible for Dick’s memory loss, and Dick tracks her down. He manages to take a memory crystal from Haas--a key tool in controlling him--but it falls into the Joker’s hands shortly after. Joker uses it to implant new memories--memories of Dick by the Joker’s side as his son. 

Red Hood and the Outlaws #48: A masked Dick Grayson attacks Jason. With Punchline’s help, Jason is knocked out. 

Nightwing #72-73: Bea calls Barbara for help. Barbara tracks Dick down, only to be defeated by him and Punchline. Barbara wonders how Dick could do this to her (because he’s been brainwashed Barb) and is forced to fight Dick in a cage match. Dick’s internal narration has devolved into nonsensical sentence fragments :( He remembers his parents beating him, which is a heartbreaking thought. In the end, Barbara runs away to save a hospital. Dick runs into Jason and Tim.  

Nightwing #74: Dick fights Jason and Tim. Barbara arrives and attacks the Joker, causing him to drop the crystal. Bea (ran from Bludhaven to try to help Dick) gives the crystal to Dick so that he can free himself. He does so. Batman arrives to say that “he’s ours again” and acts like Dick hadn’t just spent the last several comics being treated as an object to be passed around. The family barely reacts to Dick’s return. Bea runs back to Bludhaven, thinking that Ric no longer needs her. Overall, underwhelming and frustrating stuff here. 

Batman #99: Batman hands Dick a Nightwing costume. Back to work. 

[crossoverworldtree]

Superhero Logistics and Common Guidelines

In the crossover universe, there are characters that could be easily classified as Superheroes. People with Super Strength, that can blast energy from their hands, and even fly. However, what people assume about superheroes and what actually works in this 'reality' are often far different. Here are a few of the basics things that stand out.

Vigilantism is Still Illegal - Like in 'reality' as most people know it, going out (mask or not) to enact justice on your own is still an illegal activity. This doesn't stop everyone, but it does alter how more long-term superheroes operate. Many have signed up with the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (UNIT) and related organizations (G.I. Joe/MITHRIL), work for a major law enforcement agency (FBI, CIA, BPRD), or are tied to Private Military Contractors (Monster Hunter International) or other corporations (Weiland-Yutani, Wolfram & Hart, Black Ghost). Some operate legally as private detectives (Jessica Jones) and bail bondsmen (Malcolm Dragon). Others just use Good Samaritan Laws to their advantage. That means they can't hunt down a criminal, but they can intercede in a crime being committed. There are still true vigilantes out there, but they tend to be... more morally ambiguous. Most of them are solo operations that kill people (The Spider, The Shadow, The Punisher). Some for good reasons, others for bad ones. But never forget: The Klan is technically a vigilante organization. And also, never forget that Superman is an enemy of the Klan that almost destroyed them.

It's A Dangerous Job with Many Risks - Being a superhero can wear on the body pretty hard, and the mind as well, so most have one 'big' adventure and tap out. It's about as rough on the body as being a firefighter or professional wrestler. On average, this means they 'last' about a year.  3 or 5 years if they're really lucky or they live in an uneventful area.  With group support, it can raise up to 5 to 20 years. Wizards, aliens, and other supernatural beings can last longer, but time comes for most in the end. A career can end with an injury, psychological break, death, or (more commonly) they feel they accomplished what they needed to and retire amicably. In rare cases, they find someone to continue the legacy, even if they themselves have retired. If the hero has powers, their odds tend to fare much better. Unless they get grabbed by a group without scruples...

A Problem with PR - Some heroes have official ties to publishing groups to have their adventures used as a source of income (not everyone is a billionaire playboy). The stories told have an element of deliberate disinformation in them (often exaggerating powers to over 10 times their actual effectiveness), but for long-running 'franchise' heroes, things get foggier. "Bruce Wayne" hasn't operated as Batman since the 1950s. But the companies keep the name for branding purposes. When a 'new character' is introduced and later forced to the sidelines/killed off/etc, so the 'classic' hero can come back, it's more a sign that the 'new character' has taken over the main series mantle and their stories are now being told with someone else's name attached to it. Sometimes, this goes well (such as the transition between Bruce Wayne's Batman and Dick Grayson's). Other times, it becomes what happened with Cassandra Cain -- where she angered the editors unintentionally and they tried to 'bury' her reputation through the comics as best they could before 'burying' her. Not everything shown in comics happened to the person, some things are just made up for sales reasons, or for fun. And some of those things that are just made up are done out of spite.

Teams Are Not What You Think - Superhero teams are less 'teams' and more 'squads' or 'temporary team ups' than "Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice" type organizations. The first, the Justice Society, was a social club first and foremost. A place for 'capes' to talk shop and recover. Today, the true 'big hero teams' people think about operate through what is known as the Global Frequency or the Oracle Network: An index of smart, capable people called in for dangerous missions by people they trust, operated by Kara Zor-El and Barbara Gordon as their main 'operators' (though there are other operators trusted with the contact list). This is the legacy of Diana of Themyscira as a counter to the machinations of J. Edgar Hoover. Beyond that, there's little else in the way of 'teams'. Most are family units (like The Four and the Runaways), other 'teams' are tied to government or multinational organizations (UNIT, BPRD, Mithril/G.I. Joe, "The Shop"/The Department of Scientific Intelligence), corporations/businesses (Wolfram & Hart, Weiland-Yutani, Roxxon), occult orders (The White Council of Wizards, 'Deep Scan', The Men of Letters), support groups (Excelsior), educational facilities (Avengers Academy, Titans Tower), or PMC Units (Monster Hunter International). The more rigidly controlled the team is, the shorter it will likely last. This was demonstrated rather horrifyingly by the Youngblood Program when the US Military tried to make their own superhero military unit.

No Capes! - For the number of superheroes out there, few of them dress how one expects. Sure, those whose costumes provide practical benefits, or who feel the need to 'patrol' will put on costumes. But more often than not, especially in the modern-day, most heroes don't wear costumes. Either they feel they don't have time to put them on or default to an 'iconic look' consisting of street clothes. IE: Jessica Jones' leather jacket, Luke Cage's yellow shits, Connor Kent's "Superman" t-shirt. Some of these do have proper superhero costumes but would rather save lives than waste time getting dressed up. Similarly, Capes on those costumes are rare and often used for a practical reason only (IE: The Batfamily's glider and misdirection device, Superman's navigational aid). Still, the lead designer of super suits since the 1940s (Edna Mode) is a strong advocate against capes for practical and design reasons.

ACAB - There are many heroic cops in the crossover universe. From Lt. Columbo and a Texas Ranger named Walker to Detective Munch and Chris Redfield. What most cops in reality fail to live up to, they embody -- truly trying to protect and serve the public good. But they are rare. For each of them, there are dozens of corrupt cops or actual monstrous cops to make things worse -- like the one precinct chief in LA who turned his deceased officers into a brutal zombie army. If one of these hero cops manages to remain "under the radar" and become in charge of a department, they can do some real good. But a lot don't get the chance. They end up being 'promoted' and sent to the boonies to 'stop making everyone else look bad.' Most cops are more in it to abuse their power, being small-minded, conventional, and petty. This is why consulting detectives and superheroes occur in the first place- because most cops cannot match the threats out there. Even with the inflated budgets and military equipment, they lack the intelligence and will to truly act in the people's interest. In the past, some capes were 'deputized' to help with extreme situations, but most of the time, ACAB.

[kendelias]

✖️?💖

(this is ofc excluding our faves already <3)

glee:

billie ramos & joy schuester: billie, every time joy starts shit: GO BEST FRIEND GO. no but sincerely she would love her so fucking much; billie’s motto is very much “i support women’s rights but more importantly i support women’s wrongs” so she would bail joy out at every opportunity and back her up at all times. 

vi avery & dolly corcoran: i want queen bee vocal adrenaline besties is there anything wrong with that??? i want POWERHOUSE QUEENS!!!

vi avery & marilyn pillsbury: vi falls in with quinn, santana, and brittany for a little bit when she shows up to school, so she and marilyn would definitely hang, and queen bees gotta stick together. also no one knows struggling with sexuality quite like virginia avery so they could definitely relate there.

teen wolf:

adam argent & alexis argent: okay so ik we’ve talked about this a little bit before but SOME MORE THOUGHTS: lexi being so excited to move every time they did and cheering adam up about it, filling adam in about the supernatural before the family “decides” it’s okay. like just siblings man all my love for Them

adam argent & arianne martin: not enough content about the younger sibling squad. their own scooby doo gang WHEN? them hanging out when allison and lydia hang out, adam being Completely starstruck,,, just them head empty

adam argent & kailani mahealani: okay but these two becoming friends before him and danny,,, kailani being the biggest adanny shipper,,, just think on it just reminisce

adam argent & raegan stilinski: when will she adopt him pls,,, he had such a shit relationship with his mom he needs it okay. him teaching her sign language,,, her telling him he’s perfect as is,,, (also family dinners with stiles would be so funny and awkward)

maya lynn & eden dunbar: okay but maya being besties with not one but BOTH of the dunbar twins??? iconique! outsells! “it’s always been the three of us” type vibes! no but seriously maya needs more positive female friendships in her life and she and eden would get along like a house on fire i know it

maya lynn & lanie benson: them finding out about the supernatural TOGETHER??? maya wholeheartedly stanning lanie/liam (save her being a tad overprotective of him in the beginning probably but if they talked it out she’d get there). once again maya and female friends pls

oliver clark & scout stilinski: i love some popular besties tbh. oliver, after ribbing on stiles for three hours straight: not you though scout you’re an angel and we’re lucky to have you. also the angst of him keeping secrets about the supernatural while stiles knows... oof.

titans:

phoebe barrett & vanessa kline: dick grayson (honorific) and jason todd (honorific) for phoebe so she’d Love vanessa. she’d also think she’s such a badass and look up to her so much. all she’s ever wanted was to be a hero and vanessa is exactly what she envisioned!! 

phoebe barrett & tracey abbott: traumatized and with daddy issues? love that for them! i could see tracey taking phoebe under her wing and looking after her unlike anybody had done for her.

girl meets world:

gus minkus & hope matthews: can you say BEST SIBLING IN LAWS? also gus knows what it’s like to be overshadowed by a sibling (although in his case he doesn’t think of it as a bad thing quite yet). he would def be closer to her than riley tbh (he loves riley but like... hope just Gets It ya know) and would very gently call out all the riley favoritism (getting progressively louder about it as the show goes on). i just know in my heart they’d be besties tbh

gus minkus & katelyn shumaker: gus canonically does stage crew for every show farkle does, so he def would have met kate!! katelyn introducing gus to the other class and expanding his friend group would mean SO MUCH to him tbh.

supernatural:

maude song & elle winchester: honestly girlie lives with the winchesters for years and needs someone even Slightly closer to her age around. (all of her friends are adults like 10+ years older than her LSDNFFNKLF) since she’s just like dean, they’d get on like a house on fire tbh. also i feel like elle could sympathize with maude about like... not knowing who her father is/having a complicated relationship with him, losing her loved ones, etc. i need these traumatized besties in my life xoxo

honestly there’s probably more that’s just the one that jumped out at me!!

send me an ✖️ for some crossovers!