#gotham 2014 meta

[it-happened-once-in-a-meme]

Gotham Analysis/Things I Noticed & Theories Masterlist

Repressed Queerness and Queerphobia in Gotham: An Essay (that I'm very proud of 😁) 🏳️‍🌈

How Gotham Characters' Religious Beliefs Change and Oswald Cobblepot's Fear of Hell 🔥

Funny Theory Why Some Nygmobblepot Scenes Were Never Mentioned Again

Nathaniel Barnes Appreciation Post

Jim Gordon's Presentation as a Tragic Hero🤨 (Jim Gordon Slander)

Why Narrows!Lee Thompkins Has the Time to Wear Make-Up 🙃 (Theory Containing Spoilers About Her Job)

Season 3 Nygmobblepot Theory: Edward Nygma Using Sublimation to Repress his Feelings for Oswald

The Gotham Character Most Likely to Figure Out About Ed's Sultry Hallucination of Oswald (the Answer Might Surprise You 😉)

Canon Physical Nygmobblepot Intimacy in the Mayor Era & Related Headcanons👔

Why Clone!Jim Gordon Was So Inaccurate (Theory)

Worst Hairstyle & How It Hints at Gobblepot

Edward Nygma's Opinion on Pizza Hawaii and Why There's a Pineapple in His Appartment (How I Met Your Mother Style) 🍍

My Question About Oswald's Bad Deed in Season 1 Episode 17

The Unintentional Humour in Season 1 Episode 16 (Charles Van Dahl)

The Sadness in Season 1 Episode 16 (Oswald Cobblepot)

Who Did Jim Gordon Vote For?

Nygmobbelpot Sugardaddy x Sugarbabe Vibes Go Both Ways (like Ed 😉😂)

What kind of a politician I think Oswald Cobblepot would be when it comes to LGBTQIA+ 🏳️‍🌈🤔

Fun Little Gotham Detail (Season 3 Edward Nygma)

Why Oswald Cobblepot Keeps Surviving Being Thrown into Water (Funny Theory)

What Happens When You Look Up IsabellA on the internet (ridiculous conspiracy theory)

Gotham Conservapedia Ridiculousness (Analysis of Homophobic Warnings 🤨) 🏳️‍🌈😂

Edward Nygma went from...to...💀

Different Perceptions of Oswald Cobblepot's Gorgeous Looks

Google's View of Nygmobblepot

More Os at What Cost

Gotham Ship Constellations🌃

Nygmobblepot (& Gobblepot) Girlfriend Parallels

Different Interpretations of Jim Gordon Hallucinating Barbara Kean

Why it would be funny if Ed was in love with Oswald

Fish Mooney Calling her Creator Daddy

Why some people compare Ed and Oswald's clothing style to H&M

Was Edward Nymga Really a Theatre Kid? 🎭

Season 3 Nygmobblepot Close-Up (Edward Nygma Grabbing Oswald)

Small Kristen Kringe & Myrtle Wilson Parallels

Bruce Wayne's parents simply can't die on-screen often enough 😂

[pengylove]

Unpopular opinions time, but let me talk about that famous "hug with knives to each other's backs" scene.

I might do a bigger post with screencaps and stuff later on, but for now, just my thoughts:

I don't think that Oswald for even a second thought about betraying and killing Edward.

You see, he's watching him very attentively throughout Ed's/Riddler's whole speech about taking Gotham back and he doesn't look entirely comfortable while at it.

And throughout the most important part of the speech, where he speaks about his plans, Ed/Riddler keeps looking at his reflection in the mirror, and throughout the whole speech not even once he mentions Oswald, always saying that he came back, he intends to reclaim Gotham etc etc - there is no 'we' here, only 'I'.

So what I think happened is that Oswald realized that Riddler is taking Ed over again, and he knows what it means, for Ed and for others, and Oswald wants so desperately to believe his Ed is stronger than Riddler, so he tells him they would be stronger together*, gives him a chance to prove he is more Ed, his Ed, than Riddler, but Ed/Riddler still doesn't look at him and only says "Perhaps", so Oswald pulls out his knife because he is almost sure that Riddler is taking Ed over, which will destroy his Ed and Gotham eventually, and that Riddler's next logical step would be to kill him, so Oswald pulls out his knife to kill him in turn - to rid the city of him and yes, rid Ed of this too - if Riddler decides to kill him.

And he asks for a hug, both as a way to open himself up to him, give him the perfect opportunity to literally and metaphotically stab him in the back, and as one last comfort before his death, a chance to die in the arms of the one he loves.

And the hug is perfect, it's everything he has ever wanted, but Oswald is ready to push the blade into Riddler's back the moment his blade enters his own and he gets teary-eyed because he wishes that this hug was true, that they could be together forever, Ed and him, in life, but he is afraid that it's not meant to be, considering their history and what he witnessed just now.

He gets teary-eyed and smiles shakily, sadly because for his in a lot of ways messed up life this is kind of a perfect messed up ending, to die in the arms of the one he loves, from the wound that one gives him and killing him in turn.

But then... Ed's feelings towards him turn out to be stronger. And he doesn't go through with the stabbing, and Oswald smiles, and hugs him tighter, because it is his Ed and they actually have a future together and finally, finally it looks like they are going to get their happy ending, and Ed hugs him tighter back...

And life begins anew.

*although that particular phrase, with that wistful look, with that little smile, might also mean he already made up his mind and he is talking about an "if" situation - they would be stronger, no one could stop them, if they could be together, if it was his Ed, if he wasn't planning on killing Oswald and Oswald didn't have to kill him

[salswitchtrial]

Oswald just existing makes Ed angry because he's everything Ed wants to be but he's still miserable, he's everything Ed wants to be but he cherishes the exact parts of himself Ed thinks being a villain will get rid of

[fanfic-the-wish-your-heart-makes]

About Oswald's injuries!!!

I don't have a picture, but if you search the scene where Sofia rubs his leg on YouTube, you can see his ankle gets red and swollen after overuse. I imagine his knee to be a little twisted as well.

Thank you!

I found the video with "Sofia Oswald Cobblepot leg" 😂

It mainly consists of her looking pretty and making me worry that she'll hurt him eventually 🙈🥺

This is the most leg I managed to screenshot:

It's uhm, very little but I'm afraid I'd see too many spoilers if I searched for more 😭

In any case, your description's really helpful 😊❤

[phemiec]

Gender/orientation headcanons about Gotham 2014 Edward Nygma and Oswald Cobblepot under the cut. More rambling character analysis than anything but hey enjoy.

(Feel free to fight me in the comments/reblogs. I love discussing this stuff and would like to hear other's interpretations as well.)

So getting right into it, Oswald I really love as a trans man, but also as a cis man who was denied acceptance as male much the same way Brienne of tarth is a cis woman denied acceptance as female. Either feels like a very feasible read.

Because of his inability to conform to masculine norms and ideals, he has had to claw his own identity as a man out for himself with very few role models and little support.

It's obvious his presentation, when he's able to control it, is very important to him, and the expensive and tailored suits, his styled hair etc, are very vital to his sense of identity which, while not manly in the mainstream sense, represent a masculine ideal to him and are empowering to his sense of self.

For that reason I think of him as very binary. Even when he dresses more typically "feminine", it's in the context of being a man and forging his own self determined male identity.

Edward is another beast entirely to me though. Unlike Oswald who is shown to have equal contempt/respect for the people around him, male or female, and treats men and women mostly the same, for better or worse: Edward is distinctly shown to treat men and women differently, but as he is foremost a narcissist, they represent different reflections of himself.

He sees women as trophies and affirmations of his success and power as a man, and other men as threats or challenges to that identity. His notions of gender are antiquated, and while he does follow Lee briefly, he does not really afford women the sort of respect of agency he shows to men. Masculinity to him is about conformity, and then later about power.

He tries to impress the men he is interested in by challenging them, testing their limits and proving his superiority over them intellectually. With the women he is interested in, he attempts to conform himself to their needs and become the perfect partner for each of them in order to earn their validation.

He only does both behaviors for Lee and Oswald, which is part of the threat they pose to him, they challenge the boundries of acceptable behavior he's allowed himself, and the reason he tries to kill both is (yes, his ego, but also) because they refuse to conform to the boxes he assigns to men and women, or buy into the ideal of himself he attempts to project, and instead they both demand vulnerability and self-awareness from him, and also they demand he sees them as themselves, as individuals and not reflections. Which is, of course, terrifying to him.

Anyway to Sum-up: Oswald is a binary (either trans or cis) man, demi-sexual and pan-romantic. He isn't really focused on sex at all and can't be straightforwardly seduced, but is very vulnerable to intimately platonic and romantic manipulation, less so as the show goes on but he still basically does everything he does for love, love of his favorite individuals, of groups, of the city itself. He'll say it's about respect and power but everything comes down to wanting love and acceptance.

Edward in the other hand is a bi enby so deep in the fucking closet he needs to be pried out like an impacted tooth. His sexuality is anybody interesting and smart who can affirm/reflect something about himself, and his gender is a riddle wrapped in a puzzle inside a massive attention whore. He is a Chris Fleming-coded theater nerd and his gender is showpig, he just wants a big blue ribbon at the county fair.  He is literally only a man because he thinks he can win at it, and that's that on that.

[leotanaka]

gotham's commitment to the "there are no good people in gotham" or "no heroes in gotham" narrative and that it's something that only law enforcement and the villains say and when you look at the regular citizens, the show constantly demonstrates that it is not and never has been true and they might not be successful and usually die in the process of trying to do the right thing but they still do it regardless.

it's also why, when you look at season 5, it's not the heroes or the villains who save the day, who stop bane and prevent the destruction of the entire city, it's the regular, every day citizens. if they didn't show up, gotham literally would've burned.

[fantastic-nonsense]

hey i saw your answer to the ask about alfred making damian robin in battle for the cowl. while i 100% agree that is not what happened in bftc, outside of that comic i think alfred has a lot more involvement. im not sure if this is a post-crisis exclusive blog, but in secret origins (2014) #4 we see alfred's feelings on damian and his conclusion that damian would listen to no one else except his father. so alfred forges a letter from bruce that asks damian to be robin. the end of the comic shows that dick knows alfred forged that letter but imo leaves it pretty open-ended as far as dick's decision. if you ask me, i think dick talked to alfred about damian being his robin or alfred picked up that things were going to way and decided to pull this to make that transition easier for everyone. sorry is this is weirdly nitpicky or contrarian im just really a sucker for alfred and damian's relationship.

[referencing this response on how the transition from Tim to Damian as Robin was handled]

Preface: I am not a post-Crisis universe exclusive blog (far from it), but since 1) the New 52 era's attempts at dealing with the Batfamily are a mess and a pain to deal with for a variety of reasons, and 2) the post-Crisis universe was and remains the definitive interpretation for most of the Batfamily's history and the basis for their interactions with each other, it's what I tend to default to when writing meta...especially in cases where the events under discussion originally happened in post-Crisis continuity. The exceptions to that tend to be characters introduced post-Flashpoint (ex: Duke), who have no previous continuity bogging them down, and characters who have had the majority of their stories and development take place post-Flashpoint (ex: Damian).

That being said, while I am aware that Secret Origins (2014) and particularly that story exists and have read it, I tend to default to ignoring it for a few reasons:

One, it's a story whose events make little sense within either post-Crisis continuity or post-Flashpoint continuity as they otherwise exist; minimally, the timeline doesn't match up in either case.

More specifically for the purposes of writing a meta about the transfer of the Robin mantle from Tim to Damian, it rewrites Damian into the pre-Reborn era Batfamily very awkwardly by pretending he was always there. It shows a League clothes-clad Damian taking on Victor Zsasz and Professor Pyg (which he did not do until he was already Dick's Robin) while pretending that Bruce had time to try and connect with him before he "died" (which, he didn't; Damian appears in two stories prior to Battle for the Cowl—Batman & Son and Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul—and his interactions with Bruce are fairly minimal in Resurrection).

It is a clumsy attempt to integrate Damian into the pre-Batman R.I.P timeline that ignores all of the ways in which Damian's early relationships with his father and the rest of the Batfam (particularly Dick and Tim) are directly informed by the fact that he wasn't there during that time period:

[Alfred, Dick, and Tim watch The Magnificent Seven in Wayne Manor in the immediate aftermath of Bruce's death. Damian is not present, as he was still living with Talia. An empty chair between Dick and Tim marks Bruce's usual 'movie night' seat] -Nightwing #151 (2009)

I thus find it very unhelpful to use in any capacity when discussing and analyzing interactions between those characters in the aftermath of Bruce's death.

Two, while I have no love for Battle for the Cowl, Tomasi effectively ignoring it completely beyond "Gotham was in chaos following Bruce's death" doesn't sit right with me either, especially since it was referenced (even obliquely) in several other New 52-era books.

Three, I love Alfred and Damian's relationship. I think it's one of Damian's most important relationships and we should talk more about it. But I also love Alfred and Dick's relationship, so I'm not particularly enamored with a reimagining where Alfred is the one who orchestrates Damian's takeover of the Robin mantle largely unilaterally. That's not his call to make beyond a suggestion to Dick that it might be good for him. I also think it takes a lot of agency away from Dick in the one transfer of his mantle that he canonically actually has control over and undermines a big aspect of Dick and Damian's relationship development to take those decisions out of Dick's hands and give them to "Bruce."

Four, and probably most importantly: that story is never referenced before or after that issue. That origin for Damian is long gone. Its portrayal of his childhood was revamped in Robin: Son of Batman. Its reconceptualization of Damian's entrance into the Batfamily has not been acknowledged since. DC's larger refusal to acknowledge Dick and Damian's time as Batman and Robin beyond subtle references ended during the Rebirth era. New 52!Tim quite literally wasn't Tim Drake and was only restored to being himself again post-Rebirth, so 99% of the interactions between Tim and Damian from 2011-2016 have been effectively discarded as non-canon. And whenever Damian becoming Robin is referenced after Secret Origins #4, it is nearly always referenced as Dick choosing him as Robin rather than him becoming Robin "at his father's request." So there's little incentive for me to acknowledge it given that it generally appears to not be canon beyond the scope of the New 52 era of post-Flashpoint continuity.

I'm sorry that this probably isn't the answer you wanted to read, but I hope this gives you a better idea of why I specifically choose to stick to post-Crisis and post-Rebirth continuities when discussing the transfer of the Robin mantle from Tim to Damian.

[knightwriiter93]

Debut of the Ghostly Gotham Knight

A Danny Phantom/Batman; Gotham Knights crossover

Chapter 1: Crash landing into safety

Date: October 17th 2014, Time: midnight, location: Statue of Jim Gordan.

It was raining once again in Gotham the gentle pitter patter of the rain bouncing off the roofs and the street of the city was simply white noise, Nightwing was resting at the base of the statue after dealing with a few gangs. Nightwing was reflecting on the promise he and the others made to the city exposing the Court of owls and their schemes dealing with some old villains here and there, forging new alliances making new enemies... It was a lot. The justice league had offered to lead a hand if it got too much for Nightwing and the others to handle. There was a second funeral held for Batman by the JL Nightwing, who had asked Red hood to give the eulogy as Batgirl and Robbin would be unable to and he wasn't going to be much better. Hood had agreed and to be honest it was definitely better than the one that Jacob Kane had given. Shaking his head to banish the recent memories Nightwing stood up and before he could grapple away...

"DUCK!" Nightwing headed the warning just as a speeding something or another blew past him and in an attempt to stop the whatever it is, managed to bounce along the path a few times before it slammed into the base of the gazebo cracking the foundation a little once the dust settled Nightwing sets faltered for a moment as what he saw was a child a year or two younger then Robbin sliver white hair that seem to blow in a none existing breeze, neon green eyes that reminded Nightwing of the Lazarus waters, a black and sliver bodysuit and a red and white duffle bag across the kids lap.

"hell kid are you alright?" Nightwing asked checking for injuries.

"where... Oh thank fuck." The kid started to ask before slouching. Nightwing watches as the kid reaches into the duffel bag and pulled out an ancient looking PDA that would have Batgirl and Robbin gaging, the kid placed the PDA into his hands patted it and then promptly passed out where a white colored ring blinked into view around the kids wast split into, traveled up and down the kids form replacing the sliver hair with midnight black, and the bodysuit with a T-shirt and jeans before blinking out of sight once more.

"belfry prep, one of our first aid kits I'm bringing in a Meta their injured and had handed me an ancient PDA that most likely has information on it about what the hell I just witnessed."

"understood Nightwing we'll see you and the young charge shortly." Alfred said as Nightwing picked the kid up and after summoning the Batcycle Nightwing drove back to the Belfry questions and worries racing though his mind which ultimately boiled down to; what the hell happened?

Several hours later

Danny jolted awake with a gasp and fell off the surface he had been sleeping on the blanket following him to the floor, where Danny was trying to get his breathing back under some format of control he felt more than saw a person sitting him up and talking to him trying to get him to follow their breathing it was working thankfully and after a few rounds of breathing the world around him fell into focus once more. Taking in his current location Danny took note that it looked like a living room from an old Pinterest board that his sister was raving about before she had left for college.the person behind him was... Robin?

"Wait? Robbin right your Robbin right?" Danny asked.

"that's me alright, You nearly crashed into Nightwing last night, Handed him a PDA of all things and promptly passed out before he could ask what was going on." Robbin said helping Danny stand back up, and placed him back on the couch that he had been sleeping on before hand.

"sorry about that I had only just shaking the bastards that were chasing me but one of them got a lucky shot in. Some kind of Disruptor I think, lost altitude fast and I really didn't want to crash into him if I could avoid it."

"we figured that much." Red hood said as he came up the stairs with a tray of food.

"here you need to eat something" hood stayed placing the tray on the coffee table.

"thank you. And I'm sorry for just dumping that PDA on you guys without context as to what was going on.

"your fine all though we do have questions as to what is going on but they can wait until you've actually recovered from three days worth of flight if the data we currently have is to go by I. Surprise you didn't crash before you nearly bowled over Nightwing like he was a bowling pin." Bay girl said

"hey! I would have dodged." Nightwing said only to get four disbelievingly eyebrows raised at him.

"My top flight speed is 112 mph I really don't think you would have dodged in time." Danny stayed nibbling on some buttered bread.

"Be that as it may we should let our guests finish eating, the bandage needs to be changed, and he still needs more rest before he can answer any questions." Alfred said startling everyone as they hadn't even heard him coming up the stairs behind Nightwing. With sheepish acknowledgments the bats and birds returned back to the task they had been doing before hand.

'what did I get myself into this time?' Danny asked himself as he watched the group disperse into various tasks while Alfred moved over to him with a first aid kit.

~and that's a wrap for chapter 1 y'all I'll see you next time when Danny clarifies everything that had happen and what everything on the PDA means~

[grayson10yearslater]

Welcome to our first monthly mod meta! ✒️ In addition to the fanworks challenges and opinion pieces, we have a meta post planned for every month of this 10 year anniversary!

How Dick Became a Super Spy

As so often in Dick Grayson’s history, his life came into jeopardy and the direction of his comic was changed due to a big crossover with equally big creative differences. Nightwing was pulled out of Higgins’ hands without much preamble. While Geoff Johns and Dan Didio were fighting about Nightwing’s death, two seperate writers were hired to take Dick Grayson’s story into a different direction. Both the in-fighting and the hiring fumble delayed the final issue of Forever Evil and Nightwing (2011). From the battleground within the pages of the comics and editorial, Grayson (2014) rose as a much debated but impactful Dick Grayson story.

The Death of Nightwing

How Dick became a super spy within the text is a story well-known if only in its outline. The Crime Syndicate arrived from Earth-3 in the DC main universe to wreak havoc, and Dick was the big casualty. Saved and then sacrificed, Bruce sends Dick onto an undercover mission, but by the time Tom King and Tim Seeley wrote Nightwing (2011) #30, Dick’s direction was already clear – it is the beginning of Grayson (2014) much more than the end of Nightwing (2011). To observe how Dick became a super spy in-universe, let us have a look at Forever Evil.

Having just dealt with Zaszak in Nightwing (2011) #29 - #30, Dick returns to Gotham to drop him off at Arkham in time to see that Superwoman means to free the inmates. Dick is taken captive by Owlman and her before he can stop them. As the Crime Syndicate rallies the villains of the main universe among them, they reveal a captive Nightwing’s identity and vow to destroy and kill everything and everyone he holds dear (Forever Evil #1).

Watching the reveal, Tim aims to confront the Crime Syndicate with the Teen Titans not only because he believes Dick is still alive but also so he can protect their remaining hidden identities. . Meanwhile Owlman sets his mind on keeping Dick, the counterpart to his Talon, alive (#3).  

Bruce survived the attack on the Justice League Watchtower and has allied with Catwoman, who he reluctantly brings down into the cave, where she points out that the time in which Dick first dropped onto the scene, was when she thought he could actually be happy as Batman. Bruce has taken Dick’s identity reveal badly, going as far as to blame himself for destroying Dick’s life by allowing him to be Robin and pushing him away, so that he had to become a solo hero. Owlman meanwhile tries to get Dick onto his side by forcing him into losing hope (#4).

Batman, Catwoman, and Luthor’s villain team eventually work together to reach Happy Harbor, where the Crime Syndicate has taken up camp in the fallen watchtower. Alfred of Earth-3 tells Owlman to return to the watchtower, while Grid was supposed to protect Nightwing, the Cyborg counterpart seems to be doing none of that. Grid, as any corrupt AI, willfully misinterprets keeping Nightwing safe to keeping him behind lock and key within the murder machine, partially because Ultraman believes Owlman wants Nightwing to team-up against him. As the heroes infiltrate the watchtower, Owlman reiterates to Alfred to keep Nightwing safe at all costs. Alfred goes against Owlman, probably because he also didn’t think much of Earth-3 Richard, and loses his life. 

Bruce and Lex find Dick trapped in the murder machine, which truly is a nuclear bomb ready to go off in five minutes except if Dick Grayson dies. The bomb has been linked to his heart. Bruce promises Dick they will only escape together while Dick pleads with him to leave. Lex makes the “executive decision” to kill Dick and revive him, which he is almost unable to do when Bruce attacks him. Obviously, Lex can’t just explain beforehand. (#6) 

Dick gets his life-saving shot at the last second, and Lex is pushed away so Bruce can take Dick into his arms, relieved to have him back. As they try to get the situation back under control, Owlman follows them, insisting that now that Alfred is gone too, Dick is all he has. He is not giving up on them being a team. He wants the heroes to win, and they do.

Still believed dead by a majority of the world, Bruce tells Dick he wants to take advantage of the fact. Dick is supposed to go on a secret mission. At the time, Owlman is haunting Gotham in search for Dick (#7) and Batgirl is mourning him (Batgirl #30).

Creative Boogaloo

Didio had tried to kill Dick Grayson before and Forever Evil seemed to offer him a new opportunity. He didn’t expect writer Geoff Johns to quarrel with him about the fate of the character. Their discussion about Dick’s death took so long that both Forever Evil #7 and Nightwing #30 were ultimately delayed. In fact, it was Batgirl #30, which ultimately spoiled some kind of death was awaiting Dick. 

One might think this was the only creative difference at that time, but the journey to Grayson (2014) took a lot longer than some might think. Initially there were rumours, which got confirmed to be true years later, that Tynion was supposed to write Dick Grayson’s new comic. 

A few pages of James Tynion IV & Meghan Hetrick’s NW #30 appeared around the time Grayson was published [Bleeding Cool], but that Tynion & Mikel Janín had already decided on a setting and a new costume for Dick was revealed only in 2021 [Gamesradar]. 

Before the announcement of Grayson, all people had to go off of was the Batman: Eternal Thanksgiving Teaser, released as far back as November 2013, half a year before Grayson hit the market. It featured a blond wigged Dick and led to quite succinct speculation. It is also why Dick sports a blond wig in Grayson #1. 

Other rumours involved an Outlaw Justice comic written by Tynion and the rise of Harper Row as Nightwing – though given how Bruce reacted to Dick’s death and how Snyder portrayed Bruce and Dick’s dynamic, she would have had a difficult time living up to that legacy [CBR Community Tynion].

While these rumours floated about, DC Editorial took the miscommunication that plagued the New 52 further by hiring two writers separately: Tim Seeley and Tom King. Seeley had previously only written a one-shot for DC but his Hack/Slash series was quite popular, while King had no comic book under his belt. Allegedly, Didio hired him because he enjoyed his debut novel so much. (Or maybe DD has something to hide from the CSI, we’ll never know.) 

Strange as it might seem today, Mikel Janín was the creative with the most power on Grayson (2014). He had been with DC the longest during that time. In fact, Janín’s debut comic at DC was Flashpoint: Deadman and the Flying Graysons in 2011. 

Even so, Janín might have been too busy with Tynion’s idea to design the first appearances of characters already featured in Nightwing #30. Helena Bertinelli’s first appearance, in which her costume includes a skull mask, was designed by Tim Seeley and he even got the ball rolling in regard to Dick’s new spy costume. (Tim Seeley Art Blog) 

Janín later created a couple of different Agent 37 concept arts before they decided on the one everyone knows today. [The middle one was only revealed years later.]

In an interview shortly before the release of Nightwing #30, Tom King spoke about what readers could expect. He revealed that Helena Bertinelli would make her comeback in Nightwing #30 and describes her as the "Batman of superspies." The first arc of Grayson would focus on her relationship with Dick. Ultimately, they decided to fashion her appearance and clothing more in accordance with the character's history as Huntress and not go with Seeley’s design. They not only discussed Dick’s new clothes but also his hair length in great detail. King explains that the sparring scene in Nightwing #30 was written to be "extremely difficult" for both Dick and Batman. Grayson would emphasise travel and exotic locations. Each issue would be set in a different locale, however, Dick's "heart" would remain focused on Gotham.

Furthermore, King reveals that Seeley and he had not met before, they did all their work by phone and internet. An interesting tidbit for all who like to know in which continuity context a writer sets their work: King approaches Dick’s experiences pre-Flashpoint as if all of it still happened. When Barry rebooted the universe those experiences were folded into the fabric of the New 52. While King and Seeley weren’t allowed to directly contradict the five-year-timeline, they set out and did play fast and loose with it. King's primary inspirations for Dick's character are New Teen Titans and Dark Victory.  [Comic Geek Speak PodcastComic Talk with Tom King] 

A few story elements King mentions will be familiar because the first part of Grayson remained blissfully uninterrupted by editorial, but what do you think of the road to Grayson?

Check out our Intro Post and come celebrate with us 10 years of espionage, sabotage, and partners who are sour, dark, and perfect!

[kittythelitter]

I've just been ping-ponging back and forth between Stranger Things and Batfam obsessions so here's a very self indulgent combination.

Au where Steve Harrington is Jack Drake's slightly older first cousin. They were close until Steve's parents disowned him and then reconnected sporadically when Jack was a young adult, but when Steve and Eddie got married, Janet severed ties claiming she thought Steve and his loser rockstar husband would be a bad influence on Tim. Jack reconciles with him when he wakes up from his coma, and asks Steve to take care of Tim if anything happens to him(Jack). When Jack is killed Steve and Eddie become Tim's guardians.

Rough Timeline.

1966 - Eddie is born

1967- Steve Harrington is born

1974- Jack Drake is born

1980- Bruce Wayne is born

1982- Clark Kent is adopted by the Kents

1983-6 -ST seasons 1-4

1987 - Upsidedown Closes for the last time + the Wayne's are killed in front of their son.

1990- Dick Grayson is Born

1995- Jason is born

1996- Cass is born

1999 - Tim is born/the Batman starts his stuff

2001 - Flying Graysons/first Superman sightings

2004 - the Justice League is formed, Boston legalizes gay marriage.

2005 - steddie marriage. Janet Drake throws a hissy fit and Jack and Steve stop speaking.

2007- Dick Quits Robin, Damian is born, andJason becomes Robin

2010- Jason Dies

2011- Tim becomes Robin

2013- Janet dies, Jack is in a coma

2014 - Jack wakes up. Wants to reconnect with his family (including Steve and Eddie), titans tower ™️

2015 - Damian arrives, Jack finds out. Steph is Robin and "dies"

2016 - Jack dies and Steve and Eddie get custody of Tim. Kon and Bart die temporarily.

Tim is going thru it and also suddenly has two VERY attentive guardians who have been dealing with weird bullshit longer than even Batman. They find out about Robin and lecture Batman and insist that if Tim's gonna pull a Dustin then Steve gets to babysit (be on comms).

Steve insists he's too old to be a vigilante but he is on comms all the time and on more than one occasion busts into a scene hitting goons with the batmobile and rescuing Bruce and Tim. He also basically forcefully adopts Jason after he finds out about titans tower. Eddie just laughs, but Jason used to be a big fan of Eddie's band so he is automatically the cool dad.

Somewhere in here Steve and Eddie kind of adopt Dick, Damian, Cass and Steph

Barbara and Max meet and it's Chaos.

Bruce tries to complain that Steve and Eddie are stealing his kids and Eddie's like. Alfred do you want some coparents? We'll adopt a full grown man. We've got kids older than Bruce that we consider to be ours. And Alfred is like. I'd love the help. He's a handful.

Anyway when Bruce "dies" and Tim's like. He's not dead! Steve is like. Yeah. I've seen weirder. Let me call supergirl- not Kara. My supergirl. Eleven. Yeah. You remember her right? She might be able to find him with her mind powers. No she's not a meta. She's had powers since before metas were a thing.

And El finds him and with her help the Justice League can get Bruce back pretty quickly. They offer her a position and she's like. I'm retired. But I'll always help a friend in need, so keep my number.

Anyways the ST crew are all adults and Tired because they thought when the justice league came around they'd be done. But Steve just keeps acquiring children who insist on getting themselves in trouble so even though he is fifty and Tired with chronic migraines and tinnitus he is still going to be the Best Damn Babysitter there is, and none of his friends/kids will let him do it alone.

Steve managed to keep it all from them before he needed to ask El for help but once the dam breaks they're all in and out of Gotham and meeting the Justice League and causing trouble left and right.

Lucas and Will both try to keep out of it and maintain their quiet lives but end up becoming emotional support/therapists/mentors to young heroes.

Dustin somehow gets to do some work on the Watchtower.

Erica, despite being in her early 40s, is trying to get the Teen Titans to unionize.

Nancy has access to guns she really really shouldn't.

Jonathan and Clark get along really well. Argyle can somehow understand the Flashes when they're talking at almost full speed.

And when Robin (Buckley not Batman-and-) meets Wonder Woman she cries.

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

A Pizza A Day Keeps The Villians At Bay

by Serendipindots In Gotham a 24/7 fast food joint, or a bar that serves meals all night long is pretty standard. However those places tend to be in the “nicer” parts of town, and definitely don't do deliveries. Especially at night. So obviously there's a market for a night time delivery service that will bring you your food *anywhere* in the city. That's where Dyzzy plans to make their fortune, after all, a delivery job can be pretty easy to run if you're a meta who can teleport. Or A way too cheerful teenager gets adopted by the batfam, most gangs, and several villains for willingly venturing into war zones and climbing buildings to get them their food. Words: 1865, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, The Flash (TV 2014), Justice League - All Media Types Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: Gen Characters: Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Duke Thomas, Cassandra Cain, Oracle, Justice League (DCU), Barbara Gordon, Stephanie Brown, Robin (DCU), Alfred Pennyworth, Batfamily Members (DCU), Alfred the Cat (DCU), Damian Wayne's Pets, Harleen Quinzel, Original Characters Additional Tags: Original Character(s), Batfamily Shenanigans (DCU), I'm Bad At Tagging, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Nonbinary Character, LGBTQ Character, Protective Bruce Wayne via https://ift.tt/8JCpOiT

[it-happened-once-in-a-meme]

Fun Little Gotham Detail (Season 3 Edward Nygma)

In episode 17, we see a picture of Ed on television:

The photograph in question is from the GCPD scene where he makes a big entrance and sarcastically says that he's glad to be back 😂

Meaning that there was either a photographer there that day who was told to take a picture of the sassy ex employee or that they had the idea themselves.

[pengylove]

Ok, but the way I see it, it's not about Oswald being the only one who truly sees "Riddler" aka "someone stronger, smarter etc" inside Ed, besides Ed.

Oh, Oswald sees "Riddler" alright, but he sees him for what he truly is - a parasite, a personality that manipulates Ed for his own gain, a personality that, eventually, will destroy Ed.

Oswald saw just what Riddler does to Ed and he doesn't want that for him, he knows that the more Riddler wins, the more Ed loses.

( Which is probably why he was going to kill Riddler/Ed in the infamous "hug with knives" scene, if Riddler/Ed stabbed him first, thus proving he is more Riddler than Ed, as I wrote here )

No, I think it's about Oswald being the only one (literally the only one, because even Ed doesn't see that) who truly sees Ed for who he is.

I think it's about Oswald being the only one who sees and knows that Ed is much stronger and smarter etc etc than Ed himself gives himself credit for.

That Ed doesn't need "Riddler", that he is strong, brilliant and magnificent just the way he is.

And it's honestly tragic that Oswald is the only one who sees that.

But it also explains most of the mess from S3 onward, because Riddler doesn't need Oswald in Ed's life, he needs him to be as far from Ed as possible, because not only does Oswald in Ed's eyes fulfills the purpose Riddler takes upon himself - to be Ed's guide so he can manipulate the hell out of him - but he, the bastard, also strives to raise Ed's sense of self-worth and convince him he doesn't need anyone else (doesn't need him, Riddler), that he is enough on his own... and that just won't do.

[salswitchtrial]

continuing with the theme of being equals that Ed and Oswald have through the whole show, another reason they didn't work out in season 3 (other than the murder, betrayal, denial) is that theyre not equals.

I don't mean in the obvious way of Oswald being Ed's boss and an experienced criminal, psychologically they're at completely different points.

Oswald is the most powerful he's ever been, running Gotham both legally and illegally, but he's vulnerable. He's the king of Gotham, so he can't use this insane drive for power as a distraction anymore like he has through the whole show. All of it is crashing down on him, his parents deaths, being brainwashed, more long term issues like, depression, loneliness. He's powerful enough to feel safe to process it all.(and he's honestly a little delirious from how depressed he is)

And where is Ed's mind during all this? Deep in that same distraction and denial Oswald just got out of, all of his walls are way up. He's not over Kristen, he had to get over it enough to find the body at the GCPD, he never even processed the trauma,(which is why he runs to Isabellas arms so easily) just straight to super villainy!

Neither of them care for the other at this point, I see the argument that it wasn't real love at this point, but I don't think they were even friends. Edward would take any distraction given and Oswald would take affection from anyone.

They're both, in the most unhealthy way ever, giving the other what they need in that moment. Ed finds distraction in having a powerful mob boss friend(his insane power trip during the entire mayor era is very entertaining), and Oswald gets to convince himself someone loves him!

[fanfic-the-wish-your-heart-makes]

💔 I just watched Gotham season 3 episode 14

"The Gentle Art of Making Enemies" and I'm not okay 😭

This might be my most incoherent blog entry->

What the hell was that?

Spoilers for it:

Ed seemed to hesitate so much and he !;@,% !! Ugh! I thought writing fanfic for episode 11 would be the hardest but aaah, what if it's even worse? It totally might be.

I'll still try to bring comfort into it when I write that chapter in my Nygmobs x reader series but ugh!

And the way he grabbed Oswald's shirt??! Did he want to pull him in & say something? And then didn't? What are your interpretations?

I think Ed still liked a part of Oswald 😥🤧

[scorbleeo]

TV Series Discussion: The Flash

Season 7 (2021)

Source: Google Images

After being struck by lightning, Barry Allen wakes up from his coma to discover he's been given the power of super speed, becoming the Flash, and fighting crime in Central City.

Source: IMDb (2014)

Simply Average

The Flash used to be a superhero TV show I loved watching for a good fun time because it's one of the brightest (mood-wise) superhero shows out there. However, season 7 just felt off. I am not saying I hated it, I just didn't love it as much as I should have.

So many of the villain-of-the-episode was...like why were they featured in an episode when it felt so half-assed? I might like the villain-of-the-episode concept but I rather have an entire season focused on dealing with a big bad than those one time villains being shown without much effort. And honestly, who was the big bad in this season? The speed force or August Heart? I'm just saying, if the writers cannot do a big bad for the season, why not just write up better plots for all the villain-of-the-episode? It's obvious the writers made the show so complicated by trying to one-up each epic final battle that they don't know how to one-up anymore.

Also, I know the show is called The Flash but do we really need to focus on the speed force all the time? Don't even get me started on Iris being part of the speed force now. I never liked Iris and I hate how she always thinks they can talk a villain out of committing villainous acts, but I much preferred her as a journalist than whatever role she is now... Seriously though, does that woman think because she talked Mirror Eva out of conquering their world, she can talk other villains out? I would love to see her try that bullshit in Arrow's world or Gotham's villains. I apologise for the Iris slander, I just cannot stand her.

What I would've liked was more focus on the others. Like what Frost went through with the charges? This woman does not get enough credit for saving Barry as much as people like his wife or Allegra did. I also really hated that Cecile's storyline of her time in a mental institution and then that whole Psycho Pirate subplot was brushed over in a blink of an eye. Unlike many superheroes in the Arrowverse world, Barry does not succeed alone most of the time. Yet, the rest of Team Flash is always so heavily slept on. I mean, don't talk about the OGs or the metas, Chester is constantly under appreciated. What I'm trying to say is, stop focusing on Iris and give me the rest. Please!

Rating: ★★★☆☆

More Arrowverse here: Batwoman Season 2 | Superman & Lois Season 1