#every time I go into a supervillain rant

[trashbatistrash]

,

[suzukiblu]

WIP excerpt for @qwertynerd97 behind the cut. If I had a nickel for every time an unethical billionaire cloned the superhero archnemesis he's obsessed with, I'd have two nickels. Which is not a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice. (( chrono || non-chrono ))

They really do get to Amity in, like, surprisingly good time, all things considered? At least Tucker’s surprised, anyway. If nothing else he would’ve expected a random ghost attack he’d have to teach Superboy how to fight ghosts really quickly during to happen, given . . . literally everything about his entire life since the age of fourteen, pretty much. Or maybe a supervillain or something, since Superboy’s in the mix right now and all. 

Mind, Tucker definitely did go over how ghosts work and all on the flight over and also during they two convenience store snack/pee/walk breaks they took, since he would personally like to avoid the demi-Kryptonian whose DNA he desperately needs free access to getting overshadowed. And also, like, it’s just a dick move to take anybody to Amity Park without mentioning the ghosts and how to deal with them. 

There are just . . . so many ghosts. So many. 

So, so many.

Superboy hopefully actually listened to at least most of the “Amity Park: Ghosts, Spirits, & Not Getting Your Ass Spectrally Kicked By Either 101” speech and didn’t just tune him the frick out for infodumping on him too hard and talking his ear off, but it at least seemed like he was listening? Like, he asked some questions and stuff and seemed to be following along okay, more or less? Mostly? 

Tucker really, really hopes Superboy listened to the ghost speech. 

“Okay, so like, avoid anybody too glowy for right now, maybe?” Tucker says as Superboy lets him down on the sidewalk just down the block from FentonWorks, which Superboy is currently squinting through his sunglasses at. Which, like–fair, Tucker figures. Definitely fair. “As in let me deal with anybody too glowy for right now, that’s probably just for the best right now. Like I’ll tell you who’s cool and who I’m gonna have to soup and who we need to flee from in a blind panic, yeah?” 

“‘Soup’?” Superboy repeats skeptically. 

“Thermos thing,” Tucker clarifies. “Remember the Thermos thing? We call it souping, sometimes. Also I mentioned we need to not say anything whatsoever to Danny’s parents, right, like I definitely mentioned that being a thing?” 

“Seven times,” Superboy says. “One of which was a seventeen-minute rant about their shitty tech skills.” 

“They don’t test! They don’t even have any basic safety protocols in place!” Tucker hisses. “Literally they got one of their kids literally killed via a portal to the Infinite Realms with no safety locks on it and didn’t even notice! Like I’m not this liminal because the Fentons have safety locks or literally any basic shielding or food safety knowledge! Which, on that note, don’t eat anything they offer you, if they offer you anything. Probably they won’t, they’re not really the type to think about basic human needs or general human politeness, but yeah.” 

“Yeah, I’m still not clear on the whole ‘liminal’ thing,” Superboy says. “The liminal thing is confusing.” 

“So are literally our entire lives,” Tucker replies frankly, making a mental note to get him a mini-primer or something. Maybe some notes or a spreadsheet. Like just whatever Superboy can brush up on while they’re poking at his DNA or whatever, basically. There is no such thing as knowing too much about ghosts, as far as he’s concerned. “So anyway, yeah, just lemme take the lead with the Fentons. Actually any Fentons? Just–let me take the lead in general, for right now. Like–uh. Please?” 

Probably Superboy is not gonna be down with that, actually, because he’s–actually Tucker’s not sure, is he an emancipated minor, or . . . ? Like, dude makes his own money, obviously, and he does his hero work solo, plus it’s not like he called any parent/guardian about leaving Hawaii on basically a whim, so . . . yeahhhhh. 

“I’m down with that,” Superboy says with an easy shrug, spreading his hands. “Your stomping grounds, man, not mine.” 

Tucker stares blankly at him for a moment, then decides not to look that gift poltergeist in the mouth. 

“Cool,” he says. “Uh–thanks. Uh–this way?” 

“Oh yeah?” Superboy asks, cocking an eyebrow at Fentonworks’ whole . . . Fentonworks-ness as he looks at it over the top of his sunglasses. Tucker boils in embarrassment, and also boils in renewed bewilderment about how pretty this dude’s eyes are. Just–pretty. So pretty. Tucker just came out to rescue Danny’s clone-sister/daughter/cousin and he is honestly feeling so attacked right now? “Good thing I sprung for the local tour guide.” 

“In my defense, this town is so much weirder than you know,” Tucker says. “Just–so much weirder.” 

“There’s this eternal party in space I just go to whenever I’m bored,” Superboy says. “Got a teleport thing that takes me, it’s kinda sick.” 

“. . . okay so your opinion of ‘weird’ is not universal, is what I’m hearing here,” Tucker says after a moment. Danny would friggin’ love that, if they weren’t all freaking out about Dani right now. 

“That’s what they tell me,” Superboy replies with another easy shrug. 

“I’m definitely making the mistake of assuming you’re a normie, yeah,” Tucker says, which is definitely a mistake he keeps making, for whatever reason. Probably, like, habit from interacting with literally every other living being he’s encountered in his life up until two years ago, he guesses. “Alright, yeah anyway, Fenton parents, threat level . . . orange, I’d say? Like not full red, but we’re getting there. So, uh–follow my lead, and please don’t maim them if they try to net you. Or shoot you. Or shoot you with a net, that’s also a–uh. Yeah.” 

He spares a moment to suffer in mortification over the way Superboy’s pushed his glasses up into his hair to squint at him, then flees–strategically retreats–towards FentonWorks. 

It is just very clearly time to strategically retreat, is all. 

Or, uh, time to figure out how to handle Danny’s parents, Tucker mentally amends with a wince as he gets close enough to see their stupid van haphazardly “parked” more on the sidewalk than the street. Parts of it are actively smoking; the rest is dripping bubbling ecto. 

“Trippy,” Superboy muses, floating up a few feet to peer over the top of his sunglasses at the top of the van. Tucker dives forward and automatically grabbing the guy in an attempt to yank him down out of the air before anyone mistakes him for a ghost. They very much do not have time for that right now, especially right outside the Fentons’ place. 

Unfortunately, his yank less yanks Superboy down than it yanks himself up, which is officially the closest he’s ever gotten to doing a pull-up, so he guesses that’s cool or whatever, but also not helpful. 

“Did I mention how you shouldn’t fly around here?” Tucker asks, maybe a little bit dangling off Superboy’s waist right now. Like, just a tiny little sort-of bit. “Because if I did not, that was a serious oversight on my part. So, uh, please come back down here, dude.” 

“Says the dude who’s climbed up here,” Superboy snorts, but does, mercifully, actually settle back down on the sidewalk. 

“I would not describe that as ‘climbing’ so much as ‘failing’, but you do you,” Tucker says. “C’mon, we’re going in. Try to look, uh . . . less like a superhero.” 

“I am literally incapable of that one, buddy,” Superboy says dryly, raising an eyebrow at him. “On account of how they made me in the literal exact image of the superhero.” 

“. . . yeah alright, that wasn’t a fair ask,” Tucker admits with another wince. Well–Danny’s parents aren’t that observant when they’ve got a distraction distracting them, and obviously they need distracted, so . . . it’ll probably be fine? Probably? 

. . . . . . maybe they should just sneak in Danny’s bedroom window, actually. Maybe that would be the smarter play right now.

[justrantingaboutrandomtopics]

The ninja try to put some common sense in Lloyd regarding Harumi

After season 16 finale:

Cole: So….Lloyd, about sending Harumi to Kryptarium for life-

Lloyd: No. We’re not doing that.

Cole: Oh come on Lloyd. If you would just listen to reason-

Lloyd: No. We’ve had this conversation before and she’s still staying.

Zane: Lloyd….why is Harumi walking around the monastery?

Lloyd: She’s just helping. Rebuilding the monastery and all. I invited her over to stay for a while after it’s finished.

Zane: I highly recommend not letting a ex-supervillain stay at the monastary and letting her walk around freely.

Lloyd: She’s helping! It’s just like with Garmadon. He changed why can’t we trust her?

Zane: Even you don’t trust Garmadon.

Lloyd. It’s different. It’s just for a little while. Then again it wouldn’t be too bad if she stayed here for longer-

Everyone collectively from across the monastary: No!

Jay: So Lloyd! Any idea when Harumi is moving out? In a week? Two weeks? A few days? Tomorrow?

Lloyd: She hasn’t said anything about it yet. Give her time. Maybe a month? Probably longer. But it doesn’t matter.

Jay: Oh really….a month…..we’ll do you mind kind of nudging her towards moving out. Possibly soon. Very soon. Like this week? Or tomorrow? Please? Because-well-I’ve kind of been feeling scared even in my own home and get a mini heart attack every time I see her so I was thinking…..

Lloyd sighing: Jay, I’m not going to force her out. And you have no reason to be scared of her. Everything will be fine.

Jay: Really? REALLY? I have no reason to be scared! She tried to kill me! TWICE! So I can’t be sure! Sorry for being a little traumatized from that and not trusting her! And you out of anyone should know! She traumatized you the most! And-*Presume hour long rant*

Kai: Okay listen up Lloyd. As your cooler older brother figure it is my responsibility to make sure you know everything on how to make it in this big world. But that also means I have say the tough things sometimes so I’m going to be straight with you. Stop simping over your evil ex-girlfriend!

Lloyd: What-no! I’m not doing that! Harumi and I are just friends!

Kai: Raise your standards Lloyd! You can do better than that!

Lloyd: Is that what you are worried about?! That’s not even true! And it doesn’t even matter.

Kai: Ofcourse it does!

After the dirty looks they gave her at the end when Lloyd got off the dragon with her you cannot tell me they just forgave her.

I know this is probably completely out of character but this was too funny not to write.

[pluckyredhead]

Did I just read your Super Sons primer from 2020 at 3 am on a Monday morning because I'm having a real normal one? Maybe?! I'm wondering how you feel about how they and their relationship has developed since then. IMO it's... Pretty bleak. 😩

I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT IT. (Also here's the primer for anyone who missed it.)

So I will say that 95% of everything Jon has been in since he got aged up has been hot garbage, but I do think the exception is when Damian is around. But let's take it from the top!

First of all, I don't necessarily think they should de-age him again. Generally speaking I think it's better storytelling to focus on fixing things moving forward, rather than undoing things moving back. Sure, if DC came up with some big cosmic event that reset Jon to 11, I certainly wouldn't complain, but I'd rather see them, uh...do literally anything with Teen Jon that doesn't suck.

But yeah, aging Jon up to begin with still makes me livid because:

I want my baby to have had a childhood.

It's fully character assassination for Lois and Clark. They would NEVER let their 11-year-old go to outer space with a supervillain. Lois would NEVER just abandon him out there, and Clark would NEVER respond with "Well, I'm sure he's fine, wanna have marathon sex?" I honestly have no idea what Bendis or his editor were thinking.

They have not done a single interesting with him since!!!

Putting this behind a cut because it got LONG. Also spoilers for Beast World in there.

I've said this before, but I have to assume that Bendis wanted to age Jon up because he wanted to write a Legion book. But he also in his wisdom decided to bring Kon back into continuity at exactly the same time, which means we have two nearly identical Superboys that DC didn't and still doesn't know what to do with. Kon clearly couldn't have joined the LOSH because he already had a team, but you know what Super teen was available, and not 11, and who has a history with the Legion that goes back almost as long as Clark's? KARA. But I will save that rant for another day.

And honestly, Kara dodged a bullet, because that Legion book was unreadable. Bendis at his most Bendis-y wall of text interrupt-y conversations and no plot. If I give Tom Taylor any credit it's that the second he got his hands on Jon, he torpedoed Jon/Imra as a ship. GOOD.

And when the LOSH book finally went out with a whimper (that JLA/LOSH miniseries! what was that!!!), we entered the Taylor Era. Taylor's quirks are less stylistic and more narrative than Bendis's. You can spot Bendisian dialogue at twenty paces, but a Taylor comic tips its hand when it sets up a really interesting premise or a really high stakes threat and then immediately undercuts it with a little wet fart noise of nothing. To wit:

Jon's starting college! This will be an interesting challenge for him to readjust to normal life after six years in a torture-volcano and an indeterminate amount of time in the future, and also considering he never graduated from sixth grade. I wonder what will - oh no he dropped out after three pages. (He has done NOTHING in his civilian identity since, btw. I guess he's too busy hovering just behind Dick at all times to work on his GED or whatever.)

Jon is going to confront Ultraman! Finally the comics will have to engage with all the trauma he must have - oh no Ultraman's dead.

Jon is trapped in the Injustice Universe! This is a really dangerous universe that might make him question everything he knows about - oh he just lectured everyone and flounced off home.

Beast World is a perfect example. Taylor seems to think that having a hero effortlessly solve a problem makes them look badass, but it's actually the effort that makes them look badass. So like, we spent five months keeping the Kryptonians and other A-class heroes away from the spores because the spores are attracted to power and if a Super got spore'd everyone would be in big trouble...but then in the last issue, they just have Jon fly up to everyone with a spore in them, wait for the spore to jump at him, and catch it? That doesn't make the Titans look smart or Jon look tough. It makes all of them look like idiots because it it was that easy, why didn't they do that in the first place?

On top of that, Taylor doesn't ever really earn relationships. Jon and Jay is the obvious one. Jay has no personality. There's no chemistry between the two characters. Jon might as well be dating a cardboard cutout labeled "Proof of Queerness." (Or "Bernard." Ahem.) But we're supposed to be like, yes, give Tom Taylor a GLAAD award for using queer characters as props, when he's going to turn around and kiss Chuck Dixon's ass on social for being homophobic about Jon? UGH.

Honestly worse for me though is the Jon and Dick relationship. Because Taylor is writing both characters, we're supposed to believe that there's this close mentor-mentee bond there? I don't think they EVER interacted before the Taylor era. (And don't even look at me with that retconned-in scene of Dick finding lost baby Jon. You're telling me that Superman, with his X-ray and telescopic vision, needs to call Bruce and Dick for help finding his own son? Fuck off.)

Anyway it all combines to make basically every Jon appearance for the past three years profoundly unsatisfying. Even the stuff that isn't by Taylor never goes anywhere. Remember when he was jealous of the Super Twins for two panels? And then everyone forgot about it forever? SIGH.

HOWEVER.

However.

If there is one thing that Bendis and Taylor and every other writer got right, it's that Jon is crazy bonkers in love with Damian always and forever. Jon has been written like shit since 2019, but he has also not wavered in his devotion for even one single solitary second.

THE EVIDENCE:

This is the first thing Jon does when he gets back to Earth:

He then tells Damian he's contemplating not joining the Legion because he'll have to leave Damian behind. Damian tells him to go and then come get him if it's cool.

Turns out the Legion is cool. Jon comes and gets Damian. The Legion isn't happy about it and Jon threatens to leave if Damian can't stay, while gazing adoringly at Damian's unconscious body cradled in his arms:

Eventually LOSH is canceled and Jon comes home and starts following Damian around by listening for his heartbeat. LIKE PALS DO!

Then Damian gives him a pep talk!

Then there's this ABSOLUTE CUDDLE:

The way Damian nuzzles into Jon's shoulder! Can you even stand it!

And then there's this:

The climax of Son of Kal-El, btw, is one of the several times Jon is saved by Damian and confides in Damian and turns to Damian for comfort or advice...and Jay is just sort of standing there off to the side. I am fully aware I have ship goggles on but the degree of emotional investment Jon has in these relationships is not the same.

Then they had a special issue teamup:

Then we got Dark Crisis, and I actually love this interaction between them, because they are very different people with very different upbringings and this feels extremely in character to me for how they would both handle the loss of their fathers:

But even when they disagree, they still instantly support each other. Jon comes back with information? Damian makes a plan:

Also, we got the 2022 Pride issue where Jon, Jay, and Damian go to Pride together. I know that story is...contentious...but leave me here with Damian sulking while Jon and Jay kiss, okay?

Then we get Adventures of Superman, which is objectively awful, but Jon does spend his whole time in the Injustice universe thinking about Damian like the seagulls in Finding Nemo saying "Mine? Mine? Mine?"

This whole arc is truly hilarious. Jon finds out that Damian accidentally killed Dick and his response is to a) go find Batman and yell at him for not supporting Damian enough for accidentally killing Dick, and then b) go find Damian to be like "Wow, that must have been really hard for you (accidentally killing Dick)." There's being ride or die for your BFF, and then there's whatever the fuck Jon has going on.

(Meanwhile there's an incredibly uncomfortable scene with him and Injustice Jay where Jay "tests" him by trying to get Jon to cheat on regular Jay. So. That happens.)

And then just this past month we got Nightwing #110, where we learn that Jon is still listening to Damian's heart:

He completely freaks out watching Damian in danger, and immediately intervenes when it looks like Damian is about to kill someone because he knows what matters the most to Damian. Also, this happens:

YOU WIN THIS ONE, TAYLOR.

AND THEN THEY BICKER I LOVE IT WHEN THEY BICKER:

AND THEN DAMIAN LETS HIMSELF BE VULNERABLE BY ASKING JON IF HE HURT ANYONE WHILE HE WAS A KITTY, AND JON GIVES YET ANOTHER SPEECH ABOUT HOW DAMIAN HAS NEVER DONE ANYTHING WRONG EVER, IN HIS LIFE, AND DAMIAN STAGGERS OFF, LEANING ON JON.

This isn't even getting into the Trinity backup stories in Wonder Woman, which, like...Tom King is not valid but Jon and Damian are such an old married couple in them? It's truly incredible?

It took me like 45 minutes to parse Jon's line here as the general 'you" and not specifically Jon saying Damian wasn't straight. But like..."That's for straight people, which has nothing to do with us" is a hell of a thing to say, Jonathan.

I ALSO haven't even talked about DCeased because it's a different universe, but! Jon sitting with Damian while he dies??? MY HEART.

IN CONCLUSION:

Yes, they should never have aged up Jon.

Yes, most of his appearances since have been terrible and bland.

But OH BOY, do he and Damian remain in love.

[moonlit-imagines]

Rekindled

Dick Grayson x Kyle!reader

warnings: guns/violence, death, brutality. like, the typical arkham game themes. not graphic, tho!! mostly mentions

a/n: this sorta takes place in the arkham knight storyline but you really dont have to know anything about that game to read this, i wanted to give enough detail bc i liked this idea and the arkham game fandom is under appreciated. also lowkey y/n is based on an oc but almost all my y/n’s are <3

prompt:

Gotham was on fire. You were dumb enough to stay behind. Selina had been MIA for longer than you were used to, and every effort of contact was futile. Last time this happened, she had been arrested and thrown into Arkham City, so it was needless to say that you were a bit worried.

Last thing she told you was that a “pretty worthless supervillain” needed her help with something, but she left it at that. Yeah, she had a habit of making herself scarce, but she was your only family and you two always kept in touch. And now that the evacuation was in effect, you felt even more uneasy.

You pulled on your suit, black leather and spandex hugging your body tighter as you zipped up. Pulled your gloves on, claws and all. Clicked the belt around your waist, equipping your small set of weapons and utilities. The headpiece was pretty simple, just some silly cat ears to match your aunt’s, along with the goggles for good measure.

Gotham was more dangerous than you’d ever seen, only delinquents like yourself roamed the streets. Except, they didn’t carry a code like you. Scarecrow caused a panic, this “Arkham Knight” had a personal vendetta to fill, the city was on its knees. Tanks were starting to load onto the islands, troops taking over buildings, and riots overwhelmed what little protection was left here. You knew a few places to go, but your best bet was the movie studios.

Panessa, Batman’s secret base with the Wayne name slapped right on the outside, it always made you smile when you saw it. You were hoping to find an ally inside, maybe someone who could help you find Aunt Selina.

And you may be thinking you’d just sneak inside like a lovely little cat burglar would, but why not try the front door. “Stray.” You spoke into the voice box and chuckled as the doors opened for you. “It’s like they were waiting for me to crawl on back.” You stepped inside and into the elevator and poked the down button, trusting the rickety old elevator to deliver you safely to the lower level.

When you stepped out, there was only one familiar face that wasn’t behind a pane of glass. Didn’t know Batman kept prisoners. “Y/N?” Robin asked from across the room, setting down his tablet to meet you halfway. “What the hell are you still doing in Gotham?”

“Selina’s missing and I didn’t want to leave without her. What’s…all this?” You motioned at the containment cells, starting to understand why there were prisoners when you noticed their Joker-esque features. The lot began to make trouble, beginning to harass and poke fun the same way that clown would.

“Ignore them. I’ll call Batman.” Tim told you. “Make yourself comfortable, I guess. You already broke in.”

“Broke in?” You scoffed. “I used the door, actually. Still have my little voice thing activated. I just had to say my name and I walked in. Kind of rude to assume I just break in just because I happen to be a burglar from time to time.” You ranted and heard a chuckle from Robin just before Batman answered his call.

“He wants to talk to you.” Tim called you over, holding out his arm in an awkward way to you could talk to Bruce.

“Tell me everything, y/n.” Batman instructed.

“Hey, good to see you, too. Uhh, yeah, so Lina said she was hired by some loser supervillain to steal something they needed. That was basically all she told me before she left, been a few days. Can’t get ahold of her.” You explained, looking over at Tim and shrugging. “She considers most of the so-called ‘supervillains’ of Gotham ‘losers,’ though, so it doesn’t really narrow it down.”

“Okay. Stay at the movie studios. I’ll look into it.” Batman hung up just like that and you rolled your eyes.

“Yeah, I’m not allowed to leave either. This…” Robin motioned to the Joker lookalikes, “is what Joker left behind in his death. All that infected blood from Arkham City, it wasn’t all caught, and I have to find a cure.” Robin went back to his tablet and you sat on a nearby chair. “Catwoman tell you much about the City?”

“Only that it was a shithole and Two-Face is a loser.” You started scrolling through the computer before you, reading little lab notes here and there. “How’s Oracle?”

“She’s in the city, of course. Refused to evac, wanted to help, but no one expected anything less.” Robin noticed you snooping, but let you continue. “Nightwing’s okay, too.” Your eyes peeked to the side and your brows raised. “Well, not really. Ego’s bruised since Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy kicked his ass the other night.” You laughed out loud, quite amused by the news.

“Good, he probably needed it.” You leaned back in the chair. “You know, I could probably help out there.”

“I already tried, Batman said to stay here.” Tim sighed.

“I don’t work for Batman. Maybe I wanna go kick some ass and try to find my aunt.” You explained, only half-jokingly. If was only seconds after that projections of the Riddler showed up all over Gotham. “Oh, brother. Not this guy.” You groaned, watching Nygma go on about his plan until Catwoman appeared on screen, causing you to bolt up and out of your chair. You would have run for it now if not for his explicitly telling you to stay away.

“Oh, and Stray, dear? Keep away, please. This is for Batman and Batman only, and if you get too close I might just…oh, well, you know.” Riddler chuckled at the insinuation that he’d detonate the bomb around Selina’s neck. Robin looked to you, noticing you were completely flush as you watched the broadcast.

“Y/N, he’s won’t let Nygma do anything to her. Try to stay calm.” Tim tried to snap you out of it, which only caused you to transition from fear to rage, jumping up from the chair and pacing around to keep from hitting him.

“Just…shut up, T—Robin. Shut up.” Your claws were drawn and you were steadying your breathing before things got ugly for everyone. More taunts were thrown at you from the Joker-infected and you needed to get the hell out of here, so you headed for the elevator.

“Wait, hey! Y/N, you can’t go out there, it’s not safe.” Robin jogged up beside you, but you ignored him. “You can’t save her right now, Riddler is obsessed with besting Batman. You can’t interfere or it’s over.” You stepped into the elevator and just as you were about to press the button, “Dick is in the city.” You paused.

“Why do I care?” You rolled your eyes and watched Robin pull a wrist communicator from his belt.

“You care.” He handed you the comm. “You can call any of us with that. We have our locations on, too. Keep in touch.”

“Where is he?” You sheepishly asked, looking down at your boots. You knew Tim had a stupid, told-you-so smirk on his face.

“Near the docks, he’s working on something. He’ll probably need your help.” Your eyes sort of lit up when you heard that, but you quickly took yourself back to reality knowing Tim was just trying to make sure you weren’t alone out there. For Dick’s sake.

You were still considered apart pf the family, even if Selina and Bruce weren’t a thing at the moment and you and Dick had gone your separate ways. You still caught yourself thinking about Dick Grayson often, wondering what could have been, what you would have done differently, why you guys even chose to leave. Sometimes it made sense, sometimes you struggled not to pick up the phone.

But now you stood on the rooftop of Panessa Studios, looking out to a city in ruins. A city in need of saving. As much as you respected Bruce, there’s no way you believed he could do this all alone. And if he was going to save your aunt, maybe you should lend a helping hand in the meantime. You fiddled with the device on your wrist, trying to get the hang of the new model communicator until you found Nightwing’s contact programmed in. Clicking the button made your stomach drop, you froze up as the line rang.

This comm was given to you, but wasn’t updated in the system as yours, so Nightwing answered the message from Batcom #1 and was shocked to see your beautiful face waiting for his answer. “Y/N! Are you…are you still in Gotham?” Dick’s calling of your name was embarrassingly high-pitched, but he recovered it upon his question. “Please tell me you’re not here.”

“Dick, I’m wearing cat ears and my aunt is being held hostage at the moment, of course I’m here.” You sarcastically answered, just like he remembered. “Tim gave me this thing, said I could go help out if I wanted. Just have to stay away from Riddler stuff for the night.” You explained, showing the Panessa Studios sign in the background.

“Yeah?” You could see Dick’s smile, like he and Tim knew exactly how to plan and you just wouldn’t figure it out. But despite this cold, brutal night, you felt all warm and fuzzy inside when that smirk grew on his face, you knew he was happy to have this opportunity. “I kind of need a partner for what I’ve got going on, Penguin’s doing something shady down by the docks. Wanna join me?”

“I could get behind that.” He sensed a bit of flirtation in your voice. “Meet you there?”

“I’m already here, why don’t I meet you in the middle? It’s really bad out here…” Dick rubbed the back of his neck nervously, thinking he’d come on too strong.

“You’re worried about me?” You chuckled and he told himself his suspicions were true. “How sweet.” You began walking to the edge of the roof, beginning to plot your path to avoid any psychopaths that may try to murder or kidnap you. “It’s not that far, I’ll be fine.” You hung up on him and he took a deep breath. Seeing his ex, probably his first love, after a long, long hiatus, it probably freaked him out more that Gotham’s takeover right now.

You barely felt the nerves he did, you knew you had a certain power over him. Not that you’d like to use it, not like you used to. Getting away with petty little crimes with your charm until you finally gave him a chance, let him show you the other side of things. Betraying that trust would put you down the wrong path once again.

Dick waited patiently for you, staring at the rooftops you may travel across to try and spot you, completing ignoring the smoke and flames from below. Running into trouble up there wouldn’t be much of a problem, everyone was busy robbing stores and shooting each other on the ground. You’d heard about some freaky bodies strung up on rooftops, some more Riddler shenanigans hidden around the place. Honestly, it didn’t surprise you much. This was Gotham City, where anything could happen.

Soon you found yourself just a few more steps from your past. You and Nightwing, both masked, stood across from each other with only a gap between buildings between you. With a graceful leap, you swung above the road and landed right beside the vigilante, who was a bit too stunned to speak, but he was the famed Dick Grayson…he doesn’t stay quiet for long. “Nice landing.” His smooth voice made you smirk involuntarily.

“Hope I didn’t keep you waiting.” You rolled your whip up and clipped it back to your belt.

“Eh, you did…but I’m willing to forgive and forget.” He quipped in his nonchalant tone, same boy you’ve always known. “Bat bossing you around?”

“Yeah, he wanted me to stay at that run-down movie studio. I really wasn’t about it.” You sighed, looking down at the arms deal below. “But I guess you know the feeling a lot better than me. I never really listened to the guy, you know?”

“Oh, I know.” Nightwing chuckled, kneeling down by the ledge. “You’re my inspiration for breaking away. Always giving Bruce shit, not taking him seriously. He hated it.”

“Hated me?” You asked him, wide-eyed.

“Actually, I think it was the reason he liked you so much back then. Usually people see him as like, an authority figure.” Nightwing explained, still observing the Penguin goons below. “And the people who didn’t listen were usually still a little afraid of him. But you were just that ‘kid’ who never quite listened and didn’t quite care.” You chuckled at some old memories that came back to you with his words. Memories of awkward patrols and first encounters with Batman and the first Robin. You and him were so young back then. So young and so hopeless.

“So you’re saying he approved of me?” You teased with a taunting smirk and poked Nightwing in the arm, causing him to scoff and roll his eyes. “Oh, yeah, the big bad Batman approved of the poor little street cat.”

“Well, as close to approval as possible. He is still a hardass.” Nightwing realized in that moment how easy it was to fall into your old ways. No awkwardness, just two people who have a bond you can’t break with time. “So, uh, these guys down here.”

“Righttt, the Penguin guys. North Refrigeration, huh? Man, you’d think Oz wouldn’t be so predictable.” You remarked as a car sped past you on the street behind, shooting an automatic rifle into the sky, but you paid little mind to it. “Remember the Iceberg Lounge? He must really like the cold.”

“He’s definitely got a gimmick.”

“Don’t we all?” You pointed to the cat ears on your headpiece and you both burst into quiet chuckles. “Are we gonna go down there or what, Dickie?” Your nickname for him made his heart flutter.

“Bruce wanted me to wait, he’s got a plan.” Nightwing sighed. “I’m only listening now because of how insane it is tonight, but I wish he’d let us handle it ourselves. He needs a break.”

“I think we all do.” You crossed your legs on the concrete rooftop and wrapped your arms around them, looking past the illegal activities below and over at the city skyline across the water. “If we all make it out of here alive, I think it’s time I leave Gotham.” You stared in silence for a few moments, pretending not to realize Dick staring at your profile. “Wanna do my thing and not listen to Bruce?” You snapped out of it and raised your eyebrows in a playful way. “You can’t say no, it’s not in my nature to listen to big strong men.”

“You wanna go bother these guys down here? They’re just doing their jobs.” He joked, getting up to play your game.

“Oh, well that’s too bad.” You shrugged, nearing the edge of the roof. “Maybe I just wanna say ‘hi.’”

“Oh, well if that’s all you wanna do.” Nightwing stood beside you and you both took a quick leap from the building to the ground, startling the group of thugs and interrupting their very important work.

“Shit! Catwoman?” One of the thugs asked before getting punched in the gut by yourself.

“Hah, he deserved that! Rest of us know who you are, Ronnie’s just a dumbass.” Another thug assured you before Nightwing shocked him with an escrima stick. You both took turns knocking around these cronies until all of them were laid out across the ground, only ones left were hiding inside of the van beside you.

“That was fun.” Nightwing nudged you with his elbow as you walked side by side to the back of this van. “We’ll have to do that again sometime.”

“How about when we find their hideout?” You suggested, knocking on the van doors. They flung open and were shocked to see two vigilantes waiting for them, then desperately drove off just as you’d planned. Nightwing grabbed you by the waist, pulled you close, and used his grapple gun to bring you both back the the rooftops so you could easily follow the van without being spotted. It was a bit off-guard, being pulled in like that, but you didn’t mind at all.

After some time and a bit of flirty remarks here and there, you both made it to the Penguin’s hideout. “You sure you’re in? There’s a lot of people in there, we can still wait for Bruce.”

“Come on, Dickie. It’s nothing we haven’t done before.” You tilted your head to have him come along with you and led him to an unconventional entrance. “It’s gonna be tons of fun, you’ll see.” You opened the rooftop vent and slid down first, crawling beneath the floor and estimating how many men you’d be going up against with your infrared goggles. Probably twenty or so, but you and Dick had trained together for a long time, it would all come back to you in an instant—you hoped.

The both of you popped out from the shadows and immediately started beating on these criminals, watching them all scramble to figure out how to react. “Told you, fun!” You called out to Dick, tossing a pair of bolas at a goon’s legs causing him to trip right into Nightwing’s roundhouse.

“Never doubted you for a moment!” Nightwing answered, pushing another thug your way so you could catch his arm with your whip, pulling his fist into his face. “Ouch! Why’d you do that, man?” Nightwing punched your victim once again. “Starting to think you like getting hurt.” The two of you continued throwing punches in sunch a calculated, synchronized way, catching a few as well. Once a thug managed to land a punch to your face, Nightwing was right to the rescue. “You okay?”

“Never better, baby.” You held your cheek and he worried you’d got a concussion for a moment before realizing you called everyone “baby.” Dazed, he also caught a punch to the back, knocking the final thug down with only his elbow. “That was it? That wasn’t even a challenge, that was a warm-up.” You told Dick, who was still kind of staring at you. “Hey, I told you I’m fine, don’t worry.” You smiled.

“It’s not that.” Dick chuckled. “It’s just, I’m thinking about what you said earlier.”

“What’d I say?” You kicked a guy’s arm away from your foot, wondering what Dick meant.

“About leaving Gotham…I’ve got an extra room at my place.” Dick shamelessly offered, but you could hear the nervousness in his voice.

“An extra room? Did you move apartments?” You raised a brow and saw his cheeks turn red under his mask.

“Uh, well…no.” He rubbed the back of his neck with his gloved hand. “I have extra room in my bed, though…if you’re down.” You stared at him, shocked and expressionless. Not many people could do that to you. “I don’t want to put you on the spot, and I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. I don’t expect anything out of you, but y/n, I want you in my life again.”

“…What?” You quietly answered him, still dumbfounded by the sudden proposal. You absolutely loved seeing him tonight, and you loved fighting beside him, and you loved him. It was like everything was coming back together.

“I left Gotham, I left everything behind. I left you behind. And I know that was both of our decisions, but if you’d just leave Gotham with me tonight, after all of this is over, I’d like to start over with you however you’d like.” Dick and you stood below these dim string lights in this criminal base surrounded by beaten foes, piles of money, and loads of firearms. A hell of a place for a romantic speech like this. “I just realized how much I was missing without you. And all the dangers of tonight, and you and I getting stuck here. I don’t want to be apart again, y/n.” He confessed to you.

You both quietly stood there a moment, not knowing what to do. You were still sweating from the fighting that had concluded a few minutes ago. Still breathing heavy with a fast heartbeat, but now for a new reason.

You said it yourself, you wanted to leave. Tonight solidified that decision. And Selina would understand. You were a Stray, you went where it was good for you, and maybe Blüdhaven would be good for you. It wasn’t on fire nearly as much, didn’t have as many supervillains, wouldn’t give you a target on your back.

And it had him.

And he was offering you everything.

And without another thought, you took a few paces forward into his arms and pulled his face in for a deep kiss, hands carefully cupping his cheeks as not to scratch them. Dick was surprised at first, but couldn’t resist what he’d been wanting since he left for Blüdhaven. He wrapped his arms around your waist and slowly kissed you back, the passion was still there. Both of you felt it.

You pulled away slightly and gazed into his eyes, both smiling stupidly from the kiss. “Does this mean you’ll come with me? Please say it does.”

“Yeah, Dickie, I’ll come with.”

taglist: @ravenmoore14 // @summersimmerus // @xoxobabydolls // @evilcr0ne // @thedarkqueenofavalon // @elenavampire21 //

[indywasdeepfried]

I’m still losing my absolute mind over the many ways they could change Arcane Viktor into his LoL form or at least make him a mid-point between their own original writing for arcane or mix it with the 2012-2016 League lore

Literally every time I see this scene I start thinking about how Viktor already seems so in control of the death ray lol -

Fr giggling and kicking my feet at this foreshadowing - like you can already tell he’s got good practice with it, especially with the way it’s being handled and the precision of the hermitdonger carving

I honestly like to think that he steals it along with a hextech crystal (just to par in with the original-ish lore between Jayce and Viktor’s argument),

Also judging from how ‘alive’ the hexcore itself seems and the way it’s got a good grip on Viktor it might be safe to say that it’ll have a pretty shitty effect on him mentally but Yk benefiting him physically - maybe that’s what’ll make him wanna go into his glorious evolution and feel nothing ..

ANOTHER THINGG

Blitzcrank eughhhh I’m not quite sure if he’ll be introduced/made by Viktor in Arcane tbh, but that’s all depending on how long this season will go for (pleaspleeaseplease be long I’m desperate) COUGCOUGH Urgot too maybe ? COUGH

I’m just really interested to see how he’ll go from This mf to this mf (I will still love him no matter what)

One thing I am praying they don’t do is turn Viktor into his modern LoL supervillain-like character who sends his mind-controlled chem slaves to go do the dirty work, I really don’t think it would fit in with his character or really compare up to the other antagonistic roles other characters have

Alr random ass talk session is done sorry guys I wanted to rant about the best boy

[sad-catbrick]

Look, guys, I get it. Timmy Turner is selfish, angry, and not very smart. Why? Because he’s a ten year old.

Think about it this way. His parents don’t pay attention to him. He goes home to someone he doesn’t like, yelling at him to go into his room. I could have a whole rant about Vicky’s character and why she turned from teenager to downright supervillain.

This is a ten year old child given unimaginable powers. Of course he’s going to want to see his favorite comic character, of course he’s going to ask for a super bike, of course he’ll want to see dinosaurs, of course he’d want to get back at people, of course he’s going to wish impulsively because he’s a child. No one has appreciated his efforts to be better, or to help. From what I’ve seen? Every single time he makes a wish for someone else, or even just tries to help them.. it backfires in some way, they make a dig at him, or it wasn’t helpful in the first place. He’s a kid! Of course he’s going to decide that he won’t help anyone who doesn’t care!

You can’t assume he’s going to be perfect. Because he isn’t. Because that’s just not possible. He’s just scared and angry and alone. He wants to have fun and goof off and impress people.

[the-journal-in-law]

Are We Not Enemies?

@saltydumplings

"You left me!" the villain accused, eyes narrowed and lined with the faintest hint of tears as they jabbed a finger towards their nemesis.

The hero's expression, however, remained bewildered. "I went on holiday..."

"You didn't tell me!" the villain snapped.

"I was gone for a week--"

"I thought you were dead! I thought Supervillain had killed you so I hunted them down and I killed them to get revenge for you!"

The hero's mouth fell open wordlessly, eyes going wide. "Y-You did what?"

"What? Was I supposed to just let your killer go?"

The hero spluttered. "That's what I expected, yes!"

The villain went quiet at that, tilting their head down so the hero couldn't see what they were feeling. Hoarsely, they repeated, "I thought you were dead..."

"Are you - are you crying?" the hero said incredulously.

"Shut up!" The villain wiped their eyes on their sleeve. "I wouldn't have had to do it if you hadn't disappeared on me!"

The hero was speechless. Then, in a confused voice, they said, "Did I miss something? Are we friends? Heck, lovers?"

The villain fixed a blank look on them. "Excuse me?"

"It's just...the way you're reacting is more like a concerned wife than a murderous maniac." The hero gestured helplessly.

Really, all they did was respond to an emergency call right after getting off the plane. And - surprise, surprise - the first villain they had to fight after their holiday was the one the hero was often called to apprehend.

What did surprise them was when the villain suddenly stopped their monologue upon catching sight of the hero. Then, the villain had teleported them to an abandoned warehouse where they proceeded to rant about taking a break off work without telling them.

"I'm really sorry if I did miss something. You know, my friend calls me an oblivious idiot on good days, and with you being - well, a villain - I never considered you would want to date me?" The hero's voice went high. "Not that you being a villain means I don't want to date you. Just that I kinda wasn't expecting it? N-not that I think you want to date me. We can be friends! If you're open to it. It might be a bit weird, what with us being on opposing sides, but I'm sure we can--"

"Hero," the villain interrupted. "Breathe."

The hero gasped in a huge breath. With a weak smile, they said, "S-sorry. I tend to ramble a lot."

"I know," the villain said. "It's not like you haven't kept an entire conversation going during our fights - by yourself while fighting. This is a pretty late apology."

"I do that?" the hero wondered, then shook their head. "Nevermind! Can we go back to the fact that you killed Supervillain?"

The villain crossed their arms. "I figured it was past time for someone to topple their throne."

"Wait, no," the hero said. "You're not getting away that easily. You said and I quote, that you killed Supervillain to get revenge for me."

"Did you seriously say 'and I quote?'"

"Answer my question."

The villain stared consideringly at the hero, and it almost seemed as if they were going to comply. "I don't remember you asking a question."

"Did you get soft?" the hero pushed. "Did I melt your cold heart and now you have warm, fuzzy--"

"No!" the villain yelled. "As if I would get feelings for you."

"Wow, harsh," the hero replied, a little hurt. "Is me being a hero turning you off that much?"

"It's not about you being a hero," the villain hissed. "I couldn't care less about that. It's about your little holiday jaunt forcing me to take over a criminal empire!"

The hero gaped. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I killed Supervillain!" the villain shouted. "That means every one of their supporters and whoever else who wanted their position is going after me now."

"I-I'm sorry?" the hero stuttered, not sure if they were actually to blame but knowing better than to voice that out loud. "Do you...do you want to go on a date?" they blurted.

The villain raised a brow. "A date."

The hero winced. "Yes, a date. For compensation?"

The silence stretched long enough for the hero to nearly take back the offer.

"A date," the villain repeated, this time a little manic. "Yeah, why not? A date with a hero..."

"Is that a 'yes?'"

"Yes," the villain said, finally allowing themselves a small smile.

[1mlostnow]

𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞!!

Hi!! I’m Evan! This is Intro Post IV.

- Red text is primary information, things that I’d like to bring attention to, or just things I’d like to elevate above the others

I’m genderfluid, I only use he/him, I don’t have a label but I mostly like guys, and I’m a minor!!! If you’re 18+ feel free to interact but please don’t DM me or send asks.

[spotify] [insta] [wall of text] [tone tags] [ppth staff]

This intro post is incredibly long so I put primary info before the cut ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ I love using those faces

Apologies if the red or the Blinkies are hard on the eyes :<

Other Blogs ⇩

EvanRadio : @evan-radio

Poetry and Writing : @1mfoundnow

House MD [B. Corcoran] : @head-of-forensics

House MD [G. Kramer] : @plastic-surgeon-gabi

Blinkies below the cut and throughout intro :>

Table Of Contents ⇩

1. The Basics

2. Fun Facts

3. My Resume

4. Primary Music

5. Guide To Tags

6. Hobbies

7. Other Media

8. Kinnie List

9. Primary Fandoms

10. Cast List

11. Outro

[ The Basics ]

- I absolutely adore nicknames, feel free to call me anything you want; chances are I’ll be fine with it

- pretty basic DNI -> homophobes, transphobes, racists, xenophobes, proshippers (wincest ಠ_ಠ)

- feel free to interact or spam (the good kind), my notifs are off so you won’t be bothering me at all!! Feel free to do asks or anons as long as yr a minor, I love love love answering asks. I promise I’m not scary, I don’t bite (anymore lol)

- I would prefer it as a personal boundary that you don’t DM me unless you truly deem it fit, those 1 on 1 situations tend to be incredibly uncomfortable for me. If there’s truly something you’d like to speak to me about in private, go for it.

- I love my mutuals to death. Whether we talk every day or haven’t spoken once, ily :)

- I greatly appreciate tone tags!!! There is a list at the top of this intro with a tone tag guide!

- CDT timezone, typically active from 7 AM - 12 AM (this will change to 6-8AM and 5-11PM soon)

[ Fun Facts ] + notes

- my car’s name is TOMATER (all caps)

- im the ninth wonder of the world

- I love doing little drawings

- if you want one just ask (examples at end)

- once again I love love love my mutuals

- Richard Cameron defender for life

- theme changes often

- ADHD & severe social anxiety

- if you ever draw anything for me I’ll love u forever

- The Man Who Would Be King (6x20) is the best SPN episode and nobody can convince me otherwise

- if I don’t respond I swear I’m not ignoring you!! Chances are I said ‘I’ll answer later’ and then forgot—just @ me!!

- if you ever have any corrections for one of my posts (typo, incorrect facts, hurtful language) please please let me know whether it be public or private, as the last thing I’d want to do is upset anybody.

[ My Resume ]

- Professional Ghostbuster, Midwestern Cowboy, Supervillain (for the fits)

- Bug you put in a jar with sticks and leaves and a few holes in the lid so it can breathe kinda guy yk?

- Weird kid and loser for life (I’m happy this way)

- I believe I’m incredibly funny (tell me if I’m not)

- Most sentences have bonus sentences (for the thoughts that didn’t fit into the sentence right)

- hot feral scientist

[ Primary Music ] + fav song by each (‘m basic wtv)

- AJJ -> Getting Naked, Playing With Guns

- Cage The Elephant -> Spiderhead/Halo

- Car Seat Headrest -> Life Worth Missing

- David Bowie -> Rebel Rebel

- Radiohead -> Karma Police

- Seb Lowe -> The Man, The Myth

- The Front Bottoms -> Be Nice To Me / More Than It Hurts You

- The Smiths -> Pretty Girls Make Graves

- Vundabar -> Worn/Wander, Sad Clown

- Will Wood -> Memento Mori

[ Guide to Tags ]

- #evan speaks -> yapping time, applies to majority of my posts

- #evan rants -> I’ve got a lot to talk about!!

- #evan draws -> I draw :3 some art at the end

- #evan can’t vote -> US politics (doesn’t come up that often, but still)

- #evan loves his mutuals -> y’all are my best friends and ily sososo much

[ Hobbies ]

- Occasionally crocheting

- Reading and writing

- I play alto sax in marching band (never rains on the *redacted* 🫡🌧️)

- loveeee art so much, specifically pencil drawing and painting

- idk if music counts as a hobby (listening+playing)

[ Other Media ]

Shows -> Supernatural, Sherlock, House MD, My Babysitters A Vampire (Rory my beloved), Scooby-Doo, Over The Garden Wall

Movies -> Dead Poets Society, Ghostbusters, Velvet Goldmine, The Truman Show, Goonies, Stand By Me, Saw Franchise, IT 2017

Others -> Homestuck, The Secret History, getting into newer classics (highschool english class books tbh), I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream

[ Kinnie List ]

Steven Meeks (DPS), Castiel (SPN), Richie Tozier (IT), Truman Burbank (TTS), Egon Spengler (Ghostbusters), Adam Stanheight (Saw), Henry Winter (TSH), Will Graham (Hannibal)

[ Primary Fandoms ]

Supernatural, Sherlock, Dead Poets Society, Homestuck, Ghostbusters, House MD

[ Cast List ] <- y’all are like my family ily

@pingunaa @ghostboyhood @wordssricochet @poetsinnyc @meekspeaks @midwest-quill @yourfavvgal @alightelixe @lv3buzzz @craicapparition @asclexe @lefthandedspaghetti @notcatseatheadrest @wilsons-three-legged-siamese @de4d-poet-kisser @cherrishnoodles @blakenation1 @desire-mona @prettypinkbubbless @sesamie @hemlocksloadofbull @mighthavebeenmurder @tired-and-bored-nerd @neil-perrys-suicidal-tendencies @sillyhyperfixator

^^ if we ain’t close like that lmk and I’ll take you off dw ♥︎ and if I somehow missed you please please tell me and I’ll fix it right away, there’s some people I was gonna add but I wasn’t sure if we were friends like that yet lol

Outro!!

If you made it to the end of this thank you thank you thank you so much it means the world to me.

I can’t add more photos, so I’ll make and link a separate post with my art, so you can decide if that’s something you’d be interested in!!!

[ art here!! ]

[atwoodsfemalefantasy]

so sorry to take a break from politics for a second, but i need to rant about this new Joker movie.

please no. please please please no. for so many reasons.

the simplest of which is that the Joker is just such a tired story. it's been told so fucking many times. we get it! toxic masculine asshole falls into chemicals, turns into supervillain, manipulates and abuses his girlfriend, "sOcIeTy" yadda yadda fucking yadda. it was interesting for a while, but it's not anymore. there's no new way to tell this story!! it's been told!!

if you know me personally, you know that Harley Quinn is an icon of mine, and the movie Birds of Prey is extremely important to me. now before anybody comes at me about how "bad" a movie BoP was, i don't wanna hear it. you won't change my mind in thinking it's incredible. the only legit criticism i've seen has been badly veiled misogyny, or upset about the pacing (it was told by Harley Quinn! what did you expect?). but Birds of Prey was AMAZING because Margot Robbie fought HARD to FREE HARLEY QUINN. as the comics have made clear, Joker/Harley is one of the most toxic relationships to exist. Joker is manipulative, abusive, take all the credit for Harley's work, and overall, it's just a shitty relationship. but somehow the Joker movies have convinced the media that Joker/Harley is soooo romantic because Harley is so ride or die. Joker/Harley feeds into the "dark romance" genre. it appeals to men because Joker forces Harley into sexuality and Harley does whatever he says. women somehow got tricked into thinking it was romantic, too. and this pisses me off especially because in the comics!!! Joker/Harley is established to be abusive!!! and Harley gets out!!! and has a healthy relationship with Poison Ivy!!! and in BoP, Margot Robbie had to FIGHT the writers every step of the way to make Harley a) leave the Joker b) not go crawling back to him and c) be her own, fabulous person like she is in the comics. the point is, BoP and Suicide Squad 2 Harley is perfect, lines up with comic Harley, and is a huge role model for women, especially women leaving toxic relationships. and NOW this new Joker wants to throw all that away and make Harley that girl who bends over backwards to support Joker's abuse again! they want to undo all of that progress just to give us the same old "love story" that's really just a sick man preying on a girl (who was put in an uncomfortable position to turn him down because she was his therapist!!). why must we tell this same, tired story, WHILE throwing away all our progress with Harley that Margot Robbie pushed so damn hard for!

and finally, i'm just sick of how the audience receives the Joker. no matter how obviously Joker is shown as not a good guy or role model, teenage (and older) boys will ALWAYS view him as this hero who enforces toxic masculinity in a way that's cool enough that it sucks them in! the more we tell this fuckers story and glorify his shitty behavior (EVEN IF THE MOVIE IS TRYING TO BE SATIRE THAT CRITICIZES HIS BEHAVIOR), the more boys and men will insist that he's a role model and let their own toxic masculinity and woman hating grow and feed off him. THE JOKER IS NOT A FEEL GOOD STORY!! you're not supposed to hear the Joker talk and actually agree with him!! but just like American Psycho, these men will take a piece of media telling a CAUTIONARY TALE/SATIRICAL PIECE about toxic masculinity and make it their whole personality and use it to justify their own shitty behavior.

Gaga, please. I adore you, but i expected more from you. we do not need another Joker. i'm not prepared to see the halloween costumes of girls who are genuinely tricked into thinking this story is romantic. i'm not ready for the boys and men imitating the Joker again. i don't want to hear the same damn story again and again and again when the original point has been lost and misconceived dozens of remakes ago. why.

[stormz369]

I’d be so fucking pissed at Bruce, what do you mean they would’ve gone out and done it no matter what? You can make plans to trap and defeat aliens and supervillains, but you can’t keep your 10 year old from fighting crime? You don’t protect them from the media, from their abusive teachers or friends, from the world around them as their father, and you don’t protect them from dying and abuse as Batman. Why is a city, a simple location worth the lives and suffering of children? When will you love your children more than you love the idea of something else? When will you actually take steps to stop the cycle of villains and abuse and death? Not to mention they ARE child soldiers. “Wah wah wah but they WANTED to fight!!!” do you seriously think that no child soldiers wanted to fight in battles previously? That they weren’t fed so much propaganda and stories glorifying fighting or came from situations where fighting felt like freedom? You summed it up so much better than I can with the “if the city needs the blood of children, does it deserve to be saved?” Line!!! It’s not even the batkids that Bruce is constantly willing to sacrifice for Gotham or to keep from breaking his stupid rule, it is all the street orphans who will be picked up by any of the rogues as collateral or stress relief or whatever. It’s all the kids used as a punchline for joker, or brought into Two-face/Penguin/Black-Mask’s gangs in order to afford to live, or in the wrong place wrong time from Ivy. All their blood, because batman doesn’t kill but he also doesn’t tell children that they should be protected because otherwise he’d have to acknowledge that he NEVER protected his kids the way he should’ve.

Sorry for constantly sending you rants or ideas for each of your chapters, I’m just really hooked. This was much more than what I was thought of in my previous ask and it’s delicious. I can’t wait for Steph or Dick to try and talk reader out of the self hatred and she’ll just go “I used the power I had over Jason to force him to do things he wasn’t comfortable with. He begged for no needles back in the alley, and I almost immediately went against that the second you all asked that of me. I knew his boundaries for physical touch beforehand and yet still let him touch me in ways I knew he would hate if he was in his present state of mind. He wasn’t ready for this reveal either, and I helped to basically force him into that situation. I made Damian upset, made him think I’m disappointed or didn’t trust him to take care of himself when really I’m just utterly terrified for him and I’m so pissed that all of you looked at a child who was raised to be a soldier and never gave him the permission or ability to be anything else because it fit what you all wanted. I don’t regret my anger towards Bruce, I only wish I was more coherent in it. But nothing you can say will make me stop hating myself for what happened with Jason, and I am fully prepared for neither him nor Damian to ever trust me or want to be around me again now that I’ve proven I’m not actually that safe of a person to be around.” Meanwhile, the two bonded boys are listening in (all of them are, but those two are hiding out of sight, wanting to be with you but scared you’ll hate them) and it just breaks their hearts to hear your assessment of last night and of yourself :((((

Please never apologize for sending these, they give me life! I love, love, LOVE getting to hear your thoughts, especially the rants!

Fun fact; the blood of children line was reworked from a rant I threw at my dad after watching the first season of Umbrella Academy! 😂 I hate Reginald Hargreaves so fricken much....

💯 all of this! Bruce/Batman does not protect anyone, least of all the people who NEED protection most! I don't care how much the children "yearn for the capes" or whatever; I yearned for things I shouldn't have had as a child all day every day!

[shapa-likes-art]

aha! i have returned! with more supervillain au asks! >:D

What if they started dating before Virgil found out Roman was the Phantom? It'd probably be a lot angstier I'd assume lol

What was their first date like? I'd take Roman for the classy guy to take them out to some expensive fancy restaurant, but then something more private and romantic after, but could you confirm lol?

do they have arguments often? (i probably know the answer to this already but asking anyway lol) if so, how do they get resolved/how do they fix them?

i don't really have anymore official questions tbh but if there's anything/any tidbits or mini fun facts you'd like to add/rant about use this as an opportunity to do so!! id love to hear anything :D

Hello :3.

1. I feel like Skye (@thunderholtz ) and I have talked about it before but I can't remember clearly haha

I feel like they'd feel kind of betrayed but I can't recall much about how exactly it would go I feel like skye would be better equipped to answer.

Roman would probably be very calm and resign himself to accepting that Virgil might leave him and they they'd be hurt and angry and so he's prepared many methods on keeping Virgil with him or having them keep secrecy.

2. Their first date wasn't all that classy imo

Roman knew that Virgil would probably prefer a more chill and casual date than to a big and extravagant one. He might reserve a table at One of Virgil's favorite restaurants and after they take a small walk and then they go over to Roman's to cuddle and talk while they watch a show. Very sweet and chill.

You're not too far off! :D.

3. They do not <3

They might bicker sometimes and challenge each other with stupid and silly stuff but they almost never get into huge arguments.

Both of them are very logical so whenever they start to have a beginning of an argument they pause and go into separate rooms to calm down before meeting back up in the living room and calmly and carefully discuss and talk it out.

They get resolved so quick and without much frustration you can barely call it an argument. They just end up cuddling and exchanging affection.

They might have play-arguments however because they don't have any often. Its mostly them being silly and overdramatic bddjdbfb

Skye and I joked that they once had a "breakup" where they did one of their play arguments that ended with "GAAASSP how dare you, we're over >:0!!" and both know it's all a joke.

One of them acts offended and leaves and they pretend that they're spending time away from each other before they get bored and call the other back and they reunite with a playful kiss and monologue and they continue their lives like normal hahaha

4. Skye and I have many aus of this au it's insane

Right now we're talking about an AU where Roman's royalty and Virgil was hired to be his assistant. Because of circumstances, they start fake dating and because of Dominic and Analyn they get engaged.

We like to do silly things and concepts with this au. In every au of this au, Roman's still phantom and still some sort of heir and Virgil's still Nonbinary and still some sort of Journalist.

We also had an au where they met in high school in a boarding school and they were kind of Rivals <3.

You're free to ask about the aus of this au hahaha

[azdoine]

The truth is, when you become a comic book fan, when you go into a store to buy your first issue, the store-owner takes you into the back and indoctrinates you into a cult worshiping the Muse Calliope, who gives all comicbook fans the ability to write four thousand word essays complaining about the absurdity of literally any random combination or assorted minutia, but curses you with an obsession with the same. I do care about the statistical probability of supervillain distribution in comics, and even the more general distribution of the population, furthered by the increasing tendency for people to put Gotham and Metropolis right next to each other, which just boggles the mind. I would happily rant, some other time in some other thread, about the general absurdity of people in comics having the skill-sets they do, or about how as many power-level and theme appropriate villains end up exactly where they need to be to not genocide a nation, because imagine if Darkseid accidentally landed a city over or landed in Metropolis, Illinois, a real city with a population of six thousand? But if you put a gun to my head and said 'Are you gonna tell me that the statistical probability of bad guys existing makes it into the top ten, the top one hundred, even the top one thousand of you issues with comics? Are you saying that the ideal state for superhero comics should be Clark Kent driving to work every day, drinking coffee, watching the news, doing his job, and nothing happening, because what are the odds of a Superman-worthy villain showing up in Metropolis specifically or even wanting to, and that's the ideal state of the industry in your eyes?' Then with tears of blood leaking from my eyes, I'll look at you and be forced to admit 'Well, no, I guess not. I like when the super guys punch each other.'

[theboywithburninghands]

The Mood of Humanz

And here’s the other Gorillaz album I’ve listened to the most. Same deal as the last one, just sort of felt like… talking about how each song makes me feel. Uh I didn’t include the interludes, since they’re just interludes. I also didn’t include any of the Super Deluxe tracks since I’ve only heard most of those once (except Garage Palace which is awesome) and wouldn’t have a ton to say. Read it or don’t, it’s fine with me.

1: Ascension: The beginning of a climactic party or protest concert. Here to hype you the hell up and make you excited and angry and happy.

2: Strobelite: You walked into a party that’s somehow chill and absolutely bumping at the same time. People are friendly and non-judgmental and the dance floor is open and there’s plenty to eat and drink.

3: Saturnz Barz: Feels like a cool, space themed retro video game that was made by someone from a different country that had an incredibly hard life. You don’t know what they’ve gone through from your place of privilege but you respect the hell out of them and what they’ve managed to do.

4: Momentz: Feels like you met a guy who’s way cooler than you to dance and hang around with at a party. He tells you about a one night stand with a girl, but by the end of the night you feel like he’s actually pretty sad and lonely.

5: Submission: This is a weird one, bear with me. This one feels like you’re in a poly relationship with a girl and a guy. You’re constantly depressed out of nowhere. Your girlfriend is sweet and patient and constantly there to support you, and she’s getting worried about your mental health. The guy doesn’t input much, maybe because he’s busy or he has his own demons, until one night when he just snaps and rants at you about how he can’t come to your pity party every day and you need to do something to help yourself. They’re both helpful and unhelpful in their own way.

6: Charger: This one is another tricky one. I think a YouTube comment I found about it sounding like a scene where a supervillain gets their powers describes it better than I ever could. It definitely sounds dark and menacing, but in, like, an awesome way.

7: Andromeda: Not a whole lot to say about this one. Feels like a big dance around a huge neon planet, maybe with some stars on the ceiling. Definitely a sort of “big finale” feeling to a party, or like the biggest budget dance event.

8: Busted and Blue: This one is easy. A bad depressive episode. Like, lay on your floor and stare at the ceiling while wishing you weren’t born, depressed. Feeling like a waste of skin, an irredeemable piece of scum depressed. Your loved ones secretly hate you and have hated you for years, depressed.

9: Carnival: Feels like a scary and kind of intentionally grotesque theme park. There’s stuff to do and games to play, but the guests around you seem nervous and the entertainers are way too into their job, or keep mumbling about how the system is manipulating you.

10: Let Me Out: Things are bad and they’ve gotten worse. They need to change or there won’t be a future for anyone. Some people are screwed just because they’re not part of the ruling race. It ain’t getting better, but you shouldn’t give up.

11: Sex Murder Party: Feels like the middle of a party (duh) but you spot a really ugly argument going on between a couple. One of them is sky high and acting reckless and the other is sitting in the corner, seething. They might do something crazy. You should probably go somewhere else.

12: She’s My Collar: A snapshot of a really sexually satisfying but unhealthy relationship. It’s not good for you, but it’s what you need right now, so you keep your mouth shut and enjoy it.

13: Hallelujah Money: A rich person you really don’t like is on tv somewhere in public, so you can’t turn the tv off. They’re bragging about another accomplishment they don’t deserve, and you have to listen to them. This song is kind of like peeling back the mask and showing exactly what kind of greed and arrogance this person is vomiting out without the veneer of kindness.

14: We Got The Power: A pretty simple motivational song. Feels sort of artificial, which may or may not be the point.

15: The Apprentice: Kind of like watching someone you used to like become cruel and incredibly pompous when they’re offered a fat paycheck. Reminds me of trash streamers.

16: Halfway to The Halfway House: Feels like a splitting headache that suddenly hits you in the middle of a party, so you have to lay down somewhere and ride it out while you watch people around you have fun and get wasted.

17: Out of Body: You’re not really fitting in at the party, until you find a girl that persuades you to try something different and kinda crazy. Drugs? A real satanic ritual? She’s nice and talks you through it but why are her eyes glowing? You have an incredible time, but she disappears after everything is over.

18: Ticker Tape: Getting home from a party and relaxing by yourself. You don’t feel amazing, but you’re content at least. It’s getting cold so you can see your breath on the way home. Peaceful.

19: Circle of Friendz: Throwing empty beer bottles at a brick wall while you and your friends sit around and do nothing. You guys have been friends for ages and can spend time together and get nothing interesting done and still be satisfying. It’s a waste of time, but a pleasant one.

[bigskydreaming]

which came first comics nightwing renegade or cntt cartoon renegade?

I'm pretty sure comic book Renegade came before the cartoon Renegade, but tbh I try to keep the two versions as separate in my mind as possible because I consider them to be apples and oranges and really dislike how much the cartoon version/arc ends up transplanted into comic universe stories.

Like I'm always saying, if people want to do a fusion of the two or transplant the one to the other for specific reasons, more power to 'em, but just as a general thing, I dislike how much it happens because I think its left a lot of fandom convinced that the equivalent of the cartoon storyline happened in comics too, and like.....the dynamics between Slade and Dick in the comics and the cartoon are COMPLETELY different.

There's literally no point in the comics where Slade and Dick ever had the kind of dynamic that MADE the cartoon Apprentice Arc work as well as it did, because from Slade's very first encounter with Dick he saw him as an actual threat and adversary - as he already was - not just somebody who could BECOME that with enough time and training.

Renegade in the comics was like....not an apprenticeship at all, there was no illusion on either Slade or Dick's side that he was there to learn anything from Slade, in fact he was there to TRAIN Rose in exchange for Slade just using his influence in the Society of Supervillains to make certain things happen, in accordance with the plan Dick was working on to try and safeguard Bludhaven in the longrun.

Anyway, sorry to turn a simple fact-based question into a rant, lol, but yeah I believe comics did Renegade first, and it gave the cartoon writers enough of an idea that they were like hey what if we made Robin Slade's apprentice here....but beyond that, there's almost no connection or parallel between the two storylines.

But I do think the widespread perception that the Nightwing Renegade story was just a comic-book version of the Apprentice Arc has led to a LOT of fans and fic writers basing their fundamental perception of Slade and Dick's dynamic on like....a kind of history that never existed between them, and never could. Because Dick's had a lot of complicated feelings about Slade over the years, but the one thing he's never been is afraid of Slade, because he doesn't see Slade as some big insurmountable foe that he worries will always have an edge over him.

From the start of their interactions in the comics, Dick's view of Slade has always been "yeah I've kicked your ass before and I'll do it again, let's go!"

He considers Slade to be one of his most dangerous adversaries and doesn't actually take it for granted that he can win every encounter with him, and he'd prefer to have his team with him, or to craft some contingency to outmaneuver Slade, or find some way to avoid going one on one with him.....but that's because that's Dick's approach to being a superhero in general.

He's been doing it too long to ever take anything for granted, but he has no specific fears, doubts or insecurities about his ability to go up against Slade one on one, whether in terms of combat, strategy, or some test of wills. They've never faced off against each other as anything other than equals, neither completely confident of their victory ahead of time....because they've never actually been student and master in the comics, and Dick doesn't credit or owe any of his skills or training to Slade's tutelage.

[guiltypart]

I want to state first that this semi-rant isn't exactly because of the release of X-Men 97 and all the posts on Tumblr because of it. I don't even have a Disney+ account to watch the show. Most of my comic knowledge is from reviews and thinkpieces to keep up with what is going on. But this is something that's been in the back of my mind for a while, and all the posts have brought it to the forefront. And hey, now that I have a sort-of-blog, I might as well write my thought out.

One of the things that I don't like about how comic books are written and published is the constant need to return to the status quo.Regardless of what happens in a comic, any change that occurs will eventually be undone to go back to the characters' baselines. Even character death is constantly undone to the point that it's become a joke. This happens for a lot of reasons, some good and some bad, I don't want to get into that here. What I do want to get into is how not every status quo is created equal.

A lot of these status quos are fine for the characters themselves, because the general premise of the book doesn't call for a lot of angst. Superman and Iron Man, for example, have a fair amount of respect and support in their daily lives. They don't have PERFECT lives, but Clark Kent has a strong support system of friends and family and Tony Stark is both wealthy and is happy to be considered a genius as far as I understand. But other characters don't get off so easy. Spiderman's status quo is that his need to be a superhero constantly wreaks havoc on his personal relationships while at the same time he is vilified by the press, so he continues to do a thankless job because it's the right thing to do. What this results in, though, is Spiderman constantly losing friendships and relationships to get back to this status quo. Batman, meanwhile, is the dark, brooding protector of Gotham, but to maintain that status quo, he is constantly angst-ing over his parents and keeping other people, including those close to him at arm's length so that he would never not be brooding and melocholy, and Gotham will never actually deal with the corruption and crime because then it wouldn't need Batman to protect it.

One comic book that gets really hit by this is the X-Men, because the basic premise isn't just "people with superpowers train at a secretive boarding school", but also people with powers that are constantly discriminated against at large, so that they both have to stop supervillains as well as protect each other from bigots, opportunists and mobs, trying to be recognized as people and not monsters. This is a good premise, but the problem is that this is also the X-Men's status quo that they keep returning to. Combined with the fact that Marvel doesn't do reboots the way DC does results in a situation where the X-Men are never going to make any meaningful progress and are constantly set back in terms of civil rights. To me, at least, it's gotten to the point where I can't really suspend disbelief anymore. To me, it's less "Magneto was right" and more "Status quo is god." There's always another hate group that doesn't have any resistance in the population despite how dangerous these have proven to be. There's always another sleezy politician with the same rhetoric, or making the same agreement with someone like Trask despite how they always spiral out of control. More importantly, there's never any progress, because status quo means we can't move beyond where we are, and where we are is hated.

And I know a lot of people could probably argue that just like the initial message of the X-Men, this too is reflective of the real world, especially now where I live where conservative politicians and organizations are still trying (and sometimes succeeding) in rolling back civil rights. But my problem with that is that this is not a realistic world. To borrow something once said by the reviewer Linkara, the worlds of superheroes have:

People with extra-ordinary and supernatural abilities constantly appearing and affecting the public for good or bad.

Technology that, if not commonplace, is still readily at hand and way more advanced than what it is in the real world.

Several non-human societies (Atlanteans, Martians, demons, genetically altered raccoons, etc.) constantly visiting Earth.

Magic as a provable and measurable existence.

To go a bit further, there are a lot of societal fantasies too, such as:

Billionaires that are ethical, albiet not perfect.

Justice systems that often function as intended, with corruption and villains getting off on technicalities considered not the norm for the world, to the point where being able to stay out of jail is almost treated like a superpower itself.

Cites and countries that just don't exist in the real world.

Despite the fact that all of these non-human societies have been interacting with humans, human society is still very much the same with very little influence of any non-humans.

The point is that these worlds are not realistic to start with, so there is no reason why they have to always act "realistically" except for the reason of "because Marvel/Disney/the author says so." Marvel could give the Mutants some permanently unalienable rights, but because they constantly return to the X-Men's status quo of "always prejudiced against", they never will.

I realize that all of this probably sounds whiny on my part and I probably didn't completely get my point across like I wanted to. It's just...Magneto doesn't have to be right within the context of Marvel's Earth. There could be actual societal change that permanently helps mutants. But again, since that would permanently change the status quo, it won't happen because of how comic book writing and publishing works, and I'm at the point where I can't help but see the hand of the author in it all.