#i love selina but i don' want her with bruce Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[beautyconsumer]

why when having the batfam playing as a nuclear family they use batcat when Talia is right there?

and this is not, by any means, hate towards Selina's character. On the contrary, having Selina play a mom in a nuclear family feels against her character when Talia was literally made to be Batman's love interest, regardless of how she has been written in Morrison's run, (which was retconned)

[brvceselina]

what are your batcat taylor swift songs?

oh anon... you really want to go there?? you see basically my mind lives in a 24/7 tswift + batcat <33 

under the cut bc boy do i have words about this 

its impossible for me to not think of my batcat fam, aka em, haley and kayleigh (love u guys <3), whenever i think about taylor and batcat bc i have had many, many, many conversations with them about this and basically ‘cornelia street’ is one of my #1 batcat songs ( i mean the line “ I get mystified by how this city screams your name “ & “ I'm so terrified of if you ever walk away “ scream selina kyle to me) 

-coney island: i made a post about it a few weeks ago but i see it more from a bruce pov “ Were you waiting at our old spot in the tree line by the gold clock, did I leave you hanging every single day?” (imagine selina on a rooftop waiting for bruce to come home, rip to my feelings i guess)

-daylight: i see this as a future batcat song, when they have found some peace after reconnecting with each other after all those years apart: “ I've been sleeping so long in a 20-year dark night // and now I see daylight, I only see daylight” & also i recall a late night chat with em about how the line ‘you gotta step into the daylight and let it go’ fits so well with selina after stepping into the studio of wayne manor again bc even tho the place holds such beautiful memories for both of them, is also the place where she was shot and almost bleeds to death so, at first, its really hard for her to just be there (after bruce comes back, after they´re past the anger, the sadness and the regrets towards each other, after she finds the strenght to go back to his place again) but in time she learns to just let go of that awful experiencie and just hold on to the beautiful memories they have in that room (’ hold on to the memories, they will hold on to you’ boom there´s another tswift + batcat reference for you)

-king of my heart: the bridge screams batcat “ Is the end of all the endings? //

my broken bones are mending // with all these nights we're spending // up on the roof with a school girl crush // drinking beer out of plastic cups // say you fancy me, not fancy stuff // baby, all at once, this is enough” (missing batcat moment of them on some rooftoop actually acting like teenagers for once and just being silly while drinking cheap beer even tho he´s a billionaire)

-all you had to do was stay: a selina anthem if you ask me. “ all you had to do was stay // had me in the palm of your hand // then why'd you have to go and lock me out when I let you in?” when bruce left gotham, selina was already in a ‘yes, i know what i want, i know i want to be with him and let´s go all the way for it’ state of mind, she was sure of what she wanted and of course, that was the moment he decided to leave (good reasons, bad execution), so that completely destroyed her bc she was ready to give him everything and he just left without even saying goodbye to her. also ‘you were all i wanted’ (tswift lyric) vs ‘i wanted you’ (an actual line from the show)?? i rest my case. 

-death by a thousand cuts: ‘quiet my fears with the touch of your hand’ selina, as we know, has many, many abandonment issues and that was a constant fear in her mind whenever she was around bruce, like ‘dont get too close, don´t get attached, he´s going to leave someday’ but everything he looked at her, everytime he smiled at her, he made those fears go away, he made her feel she had found a safe space so eventually, she became too attached and the heartbreak when he left was the price she paid for that. 

-cruel summer: “and i walked through the garden gate, everynight that summer just to seal my fate” s4 was when they were at a point where everyone in gotham could tell that selina kyle and bruce wayne were something, ra's al ghul, being the creepy, nosy obsessed with bruce dude that he is, of course knew that, so he told jeremiah that the only way to get through bruce wayne besides alfred (hello he had killed him once) was through selina. ‘jeremiah shot me to get to you’ she says to him after, so while being with bruce, she basically sealed her fate that nigh she was shot. 

oh my god this is way too long already and i dont even know if this makes ANY sense. 

-cowboy like me: another full batcat song. “ and the skeletons in both our closets plotted hard to fuck this up” those two are filled with so much trauma, so much fear, so much repressed feelings that those ‘skeletons in their closets’ were really trying to destroy them but, at the end, they managed to beat them. 

you know im going to end this here before i end up writing like a full freaking eassy on how i relate every taylor song to batcat, kay? 

thanks for asking <3 

[teentitanimals]

im working on a BIG Batfamily project, and WOW have i realized how much harder this is gonna be than i first thought it was... for now, have an excerpt- or, rather, Selina Kyle’s information card of the project :) im pretty proud of this! information and story subject to change

Selina Kyle-Wayne

birth name: Selina Calabrese

Main Alias: Catwoman

Other Aliases: Catbird (in Gothtopia), The Cat, The Cat Burglar, Irena Dubrovna

Current Age: ~46 (When first CW; 21. When had HK; 36. Retires CW; ~55. At death; ~70.)

Birthdate: March 14th (Alternatively; March 31st)

Hair Color: Black

Hair Length: Short

Eye Color: Green

Race/Ethnic/Skin Color: Half-Cuban; Possibly Italian, Scottish, and/or Latina descendant (White)

Sexuality: Bisexual

Gender: Female (She/her)

Height: ~5’11” (Tall)

Weight: ~146lbs (Sorta Heavy)

Build: Slender, Curvy

Biological Parents: Maria Kyle, Rex Calabrese

Step-Father: Brian Kyle

Alleged Father: Carmine Falcone

Biological Sister: Magdalene “Maggie” Kyle-Burton

Biological Half-Brother: Aiden Mason

Brother-in-Law: Simon Burton

Biological Cousins: Nick Calabrese, Antonia Calabrese

Alleged Siblings: Sofia Falcone, Alberto Falcone, Mario Falcone

Surrogative Sister: Holly Robinson

Ex-Lovers: Sam Bradley Jr., Eiko Hasigawa, Moreland McShane

Husband: Bruce Wayne

Parents-in-Law: Thomas Wayne, Martha Wayne

Siblings-in-Law: Thomas Wayne Jr. (On Earth-3), Rochelle Wayne (in Elseworlds: Reign of Terror)

Surrogative Father-in-Law: Alfred Pennyworth

Surrogative Sister-in-Law: Julia Pennyworth

Cousins-in-Law: Kate Kane, Beth Kane, Bette Kane

Surrogate Daughter: Arizona

Biological Children: Helena Kyle, Helena Wayne (from Earth-2)*, “Aion” Wayne (In Batman in Bethlehem)

*(HC; Helena is legally her adopted daughter on Earth-1.)

Step-Children: Damian Wayne, Athanasia al Ghul, The Heretic (clone of DW), Tallant Wayne (clone of DW), Alina Wayne (maybe), Bruce Wayne Jr. (On Earth-3839), Dick Grayson, Lance Bruner, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Cass Cain, Duke Thomas (maybe), Terry McGinnis, Matt McGinnis

Daughters-in-Law: Koriand’r, Dana Tan

Step-Grandchildren: Mar'i Grayson, Jake Grayson, John Grayson II (On Earth-2), Sasha Todd, Clark Wayne (On Earth-3839)

Step-Great-Granddaughters: Lois Wayne (On Earth-3839), Lara Wayne (On Earth-3839)

Catwoman Run: ~34 years

Succeeded By: Eiko Hasigawa, Holly Robinson, (First Name N/A) Black

Wikipedia. Batman Wiki. DC Database. DCAMU. Animated Series. Comic Vine.

(tw; self-harm, suicide, child abuse, illegal prostitution, drug addiction, sexual abuse, death)

Selina Calabrese was born to Rex Calabrese and Maria Calabrese with a sister two years older than her named Magdalene Calabrese. When Selina was very young, her mother escaped from Rex, also known as The Lion, leader of the Calabrese Crime Family, and became the husband to Brian Kyle, legally changing all their names to Maria Kyle, Maggie Kyle, and Selina Kyle. Maria had a son with him, Aiden Kyle. Their relationship was not healthy, with Maria being very suicidal and Brian being drunk and abusive. He would often yell at and harm Maria and her kids, and Maria, although she loved her kids, was distant, more often spending time with her cats. One day, Selina came home from school to find her mother dead in the tub, having cut her wrists until she bled out. A year later, Brian died from alcohol poisoning, and Selina called the police, packed her bags and ran away. Maggie and Aiden were taken to the orphanage, and Aiden, being fairly young, was almost immediately adopted by a family, where his name was changed to Aiden Mason. His contact with his half-sisters was cut off, although he would eventually seek them out as an older teen and young adult. Maggie was adopted after a few months, and was raised very religiously. She kept in contact with Selina best she could.

On the streets, Selina would steal food, clothing and other material from grocery stores. She was eventually caught and put in the orphanage. She acted out a lot, causing her to be sent to Juvenile Hall. When she turned age 13, she was sent back to the orphanage. There, she realized the place was embezzling money. To make sure she never told anyone, they put her in a bag and dropped her in a river. Selina managed to escape, and then stole documentary proof of their embezzlement to give to the police, some money for herself, and her own files in hopes of reuniting with her brother or sister. Instead, she found out that Brian was not her birth father, and that her father was an unknown mobster man. Selina continued living on the streets, stealing food and jewelry to meet her own, as the money she stole would not last forever. She would be taken in by an old thief gang leader named Mama Fortuna, who treated the kids under her care like slaves. Eventually, Selina would run away with a friend from the gang named Sylvia. They could not survive on their own and always had a shortage of money, and Sylvia took up prostitution to support them both, and grew to hate Selina for it. They parted ways.

When Selina was 17, she began illegally working as a prostitute under an abusive pimp named Stan. She stumbled upon a 13-year-old Holly Robinson who was being sexually abused by a cop. Selina beat the cop up, inspiring Holly who said that was the first time anybody had shown her she could fight back. The two became roommates. To pay for living expenses and food, Selina continued stealing, and Holly eventually became an illegal prostitute too when she was 16, despite Selina being against it. Her underage status resulted in Stan getting into a fight with a drifter, who, unbeknownst to them, was Bruce Wayne in disguise. A few weeks later, Holly would wake Selina up to show her Batman, still new and fresh, beating up corrupt police officer and former Commissioner Branden. Selina, inspired by how someone can don a costume and have everyone either be happy or terrified to see him that she can do the same too, would confront and fight Stan about his abuse, officially having her and Holly quit prostitution. She spent money to buy an expensive costume- her first Catwoman costume. She robbed a local store, and one of the security guards called her “Catwoman”, which she liked and chose to be her name. Stan, wanting revenge on Selina and Holly for quitting, kidnaps Maggie. After a few days, Selina locates him, saves her sister, and beats him to death in a rage as Catwoman. Selina informs Maggie of her new persona, who disagrees heavily, especially seeing as she killed a man, but promises to keep quiet.

The police investigate Selina and Holly, and one police officer sexually harasses Holly. Enraged, Selina went out as Catwoman with intent to kill him, but Batman intervened and made her see how her anger blinded her. Terrified she was a danger to Holly, she sent Holly to live in a convent with Maggie, who was a nun (although she would later give up her nunage to marry her husband, Simon Burton). Catwoman would begin her crime life properly, crossing paths with the likes of the Joker, the Riddler, Poison Ivy, and others, and flirting with Batman, of course. While Selina continued on to be a thief as Catwoman for the next few years, Holly felt she did not fit in the convent, and eventually found herself back on the streets. She got addicted to drugs and went back into prostitution.

While Holly was away, Selina temporarily got a new roommate, a young blonde girl nicknamed Arizona who reminded Selina a lot of Holly. She took her under her wing, and Arizona acted like her sidekick for a while, before she eventually found her own feeting and started a life on her own. She still kept close contact with Selina, though.

After five years, a gang leader named Bone killed a close friend of Selina’s named Lola MacIntire, who knew Selina was Catwoman and let her crash at her place after her apartment was destroyed. Bone wanted revenge after Catwoman had stolen from him. This devastated Selina, who viewed it as completely her fault. At Lola’s funeral, Selina encountered her old friend, Gwen Altamont, and the two began working together. Catwoman stole cars for Gwen, and encountered a metahuman thief named Spark while on the job. Catwoman convinces Gwen to let her work with Spark, and the two plan to rob Penguin of the fifth dagger they need to complete a set of valuable knives. Catwoman stakes out at the restaurant Penguin likes to eat at a day before he would be there, which Spark questions why they are doing so a day before. Catwoman notices a young hooker getting tranquilized and dragged into a van. Catwoman leaps into action, Spark soon following. They save the girl, and, after questioning local prostitutes, find out there have been multiple kidnappings and murders like this. Catwoman investigates and plans to defeat the kidnappers. After failing to stop a kidnapper in the act, Catwoman contacts Detective Carlos Alvarez, a detective who has been chasing her tail but that she knows is a genuinely good cop, for help. They track the kidnapper, Matilda Mathis aka Dollhouse, the daughter of Dollmaker, to a mansion. Catwoman fights Dollhouse, but Batman interrupts their fight, allowing both to escape. Catwoman questions her ability to be a vigilante, knowing she’s a better thief.

After those series of murders to other prostitutes, Holly quits being a prostitute and heads to her and Selina’s old apartment. She is pleasantly surprised to find Selina lived there after the destruction of her other apartment, and the two reunited. Holly began working as a spy of sorts for Catwoman, gathering information of what was happening on the streets of East End. Although she eventually stopped taking drugs after living with Selina for a few months, she felt concerned that she was still looking at the world through the eyes of a junkie to gather intel. During this time period, the Scarecrow releases a gas that makes everyone believe they are in a utopia- Gothtopia. There, Selina believed she was Catbird, partner to Batman. Where Batman could see glimpses of reality, Catbird just thought him delusional. While people who could see through the illusion questioned their sanity and committed suicide, Catbird began investigating a criminal named Steeljacket, who was also convinced their reality was an illusion. Steeljacket explained that the suit he was wearing kept him alive and he needed her thievery skills to get him the money to repair it. Catbird helped him, and the familiar adrenaline rush of a robbery made her remember her real identity of Catwoman. After Batman freed the city from Scarecrow’s toxin, Catwoman reminded him of how they shared both a partnership and a true romantic relationship in Gothtopia. Batman denied the extent of his romantic feelings, even though the toxin showed them both what they wanted to see.

A few years later, Black Mask, who held a vendetta against Catwoman, kidnapped her sister Maggie and Simon, killed Simon, and then forced Maggie to eat her husband’s eyes, driving her insane. Black Mask also kidnapped and beat Holly with the help of an old childhood friend of Catwoman, Sylvia. Catwoman kills Black Mask, Holly kills Sylvia, and they save Maggie, who is put in a psychiatric institute. Holly isolated herself and nearly fell back onto old habits. Selina decided Holly needed time to heal outside of Gotham City and needed proper training, so she sent Holly to a rural safehouse where she trained in hand-to-hand combat with Ted Grant. Selina and Slam Bradley, a detective friend of Selina’s, located Holly’s long lost brother Davey, and the two reunited.

Eventually, Black Mask was revived by a Black Lantern, and immediately sought out Maggie, threatening to kill her and anyone else Catwoman cared about. Catwoman, with the help of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, defeated Black Mask again. Maggie escaped, and no longer wanted anything to do with Selina, blaming her for her insane condition and Simon’s death, and believing Selina was possessed by a cat demon. Maggie sought out Sister Agatha to exorcise her sister, but when Maggie saw Agatha’s cat, she snapped and killed Agatha’s cat and then Agatha because she believed Agatha was in league with Selina’s cat demon. Maggie then searched through Agatha’s relics and tools, stumbling upon a supernatural substance in a container that warped Maggie’s sense of reality further. To Maggie, an angel was released and claimed it would help her destroy Selina’s cat demon. Maggie finds Selina and Harley Quinn and attacks them with heightened abilities. Harley refers to Maggie as “Sister Zero”, and then becomes possessed by the “angel”’s influence. Catwoman manages to get through to Harley, confusing her enough to escape Maggie’s control. Selina forces Maggie to escape, who starts to formulate a new plan to save her sister’s soul. The angel told her to team up with Azrael and Crusader during Gotham’s Judgement Day, which she does. Maggie believes she is her sister’s test of faith, which means either Selina will get cleansed of her cat demon, or Maggie will die. But in the end, when Maggie has a chance to end Selina’s life, she can’t bring herself to do it. Maggie ends up back in a psychiatric institute and starts to slowly heal, although sometimes Sister Zero breaks out.

Holly begins a relationship with a girl named Karon, who she moves into the apartment of. She also becomes the supervisor of a group of street kids known as the Alleytown Gang, training them to act like the spies and informants of Catwoman’s network. Unbeknownst to Holly, Selina had grown tired of seeing her role as Catwoman ruin her life over and over. Selina burned her suit, but would be forced to don it again after a woman named Roulette contacted her about a competition between thieves that threatened the lives of children. Catwoman got a new suit and raced to save the lives of the children. After competing in several rounds, she realized that there never were any real children in danger. Roulette had actually been hired by a man named Hunt Stone who wanted any evidence that connected his ancestors to a famous murder stolen and erased. Selina began sabotaging every aspect of her strictly regimented and planned out days, until Roulette was forced to declare her the winner of the Race of Thieves to make her stop. During this time where Selina went missing, Holly acted as Catwoman to keep other criminals at bay.

With Catwoman I back in action, Oracle asks Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn to keep an eye on Vicki Vale, who has evidence on the members of the Batfamily that need to be destroyed. Selina notices an artifact in Vicki’s possession that she had once stolen. It reminds her of the days when Batman used to chase her, and she reminisces on them. Her flashback is interrupted as Harley breaks into the room they were monitoring, wanting to get her hyenas back because they had stolen them from her. Vicki bolts out of the room, and they lose her trail, but Selina managed to get her phone number. She planted a fake call to lead Vicki out of her apartment, allowing Selina to break in and take pictures of her Batwall, which Batman and Oracle needed. Selina reminisces about her crime life.

When a mysterious malefactor came to Gotham with a yearlong plan to ruin Batman’s life, Catwoman began investigating into the turf war between the Penguin and newly returned mobster Carmine Falcone. She was captured by Falcone for causing him grief years ago and he nearly killed her, but Professor Pyg attacked Falcone, having a vendetta against him. Catwoman plans to kill Falcone, who she suspects might be her biological father, but before she can, Batman intervenes. She leaves Falcone and his mob to Batman, but sometime later while trying and failing to stop a deal to sell a baby snow leopard for its fur, a young girl locates Selina. She tells Selina that her father wanted her to attend a meeting in Blackgate Penitentiary. Her real father was Rex Calabrese, the crime boss from whom Falcone had taken power. Selina declined the request at first, but a street kid named Jade came to find her next, informing her the girl before her was killed by gang violence. Selina asked Rex for his guidance in becoming a mob boss herself to keep the mobsters in check from killing any other kids. The leadership of the Calabrese Family and the ownership of the Egyptian Nightclub were passed onto her as the legal heir. Catwoman, wanting to make sure Batman knew she was still on the side of good despite becoming the head of a crime family, told Batman everything she knew about the group of Arkham escapees still on the loose. After she got invited to a secret weapons sale that were actually weapons stolen from Batman’s own supply, Catwoman began to research high bounties in Gotham, and was tipped onto Stephanie Brown. Catwoman kidnapped her without realizing she was the current Batgirl. She was rescued by Batman and the situation was resolved. Soon Batman got captured by Lincoln March, and rioting broke out across the city. Selina forced her people to help prevent the riots while also secretly making strategic thefts to further her causes. During this time, Selina gave up her Catwoman mantle to Eiko Hasigawa, a heir to the rival Hasigawa crime family, and a love interest of Selina’s.

Eiko’s time as Catwoman was short-lived, though, as Eiko and Selina merged the Hasigawa and Calabrese families, leaving Eiko as their leader while Selina went back to her normal life… Sort of. She realized she was pregnant from a one-night stand with Sam Bradley Jr., and Holly Robinson took on the mantle of Catwoman at Selina’s request. Selina made up a fake identity, Irena Dubrovna, to peacefully give birth to her daughter, legally known as Helena Dubrovna. Sam Jr. had died by the time Selina realized she was pregnant, but his father, Slam Bradley, wanted to provide for his new granddaughter. Selina could not resist the thrill of Catwoman, and donned the suit alongside Holly a few times. Unfortunately, Film Freak and Angle Man had deduced where Selina lived after catching the two Catwomen on film, and kidnapped Helena. Selina easily rescued her daughter, and then had Zatanna Zatarra mindwipe the two villains of Selina’s identities. With Batman’s help, she faked “Irena” and Helena’s deaths, putting Helena up for adoption. She asked Zatanna to wipe her mind of knowledge about Helena so she wouldn’t put her in danger again, but Zatanna refused.

After returning to her solo role as Catwoman for nearly a year, Selina allowed herself to be arrested and sent to death row at Arkham Asylum for the murders of over two hundred terrorists. It was her friend, Holly, who had really committed the crime, but she trusted Batman would prove her innocence, therefore saving her and Holly’s lives. Nearly a year later, Helena Wayne, biological daughter of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle, from Earth Never-Two passes into Earth Never-One and gets trapped. Helena meets this world’s Selina Kyle. The two become close, with Helena still mourning the death of her mother in her universe and Selina missing her daughter. Selina was worried that being too close to her alternate universe daughter might lead her to the same fate as her Helena Kyle, but this Helena was an experienced adult who had lived through an Apokoliptian war. She was a capable vigilante who could hold her own perhaps even better than Selina herself, and Selina felt her concerns fade away. After another year passes, Selina asks if she can adopt Helena Wayne, despite Helena being 21-years-old. Helena, surprised, agrees. Almost a year after that, Bruce proposes to Selina and she accepts, becoming his wife.

Selina Kyle is, in general, highly flirtatious, seductive, and willing to use her looks and her charms to get what she wants- in fact she’s even proud of it. She’s also, much like her namesake, graceful, sly and light-footed, known as one of the greatest thieves out there. Despite her past of being an abused victim, she stands with her head high since she first donned the Catwoman suit (it can be quite enconfidating, that anonymity). She was never one to sit back and let herself or others get abused, and she sympathizes heavily with abused children, young women and sex workers especially. While her career as Catwoman started out to support herself and her friends, it eventually became an addictive adrenaline rush she couldn’t give up. Even though she’s ‘reformed’, she still has sticky fingers and loves the thrill of getting away with small robberies, especially when her husband is the Batman. She enjoys getting under his skin. She isn’t too big on black and white morality, instead choosing to do whatever is necessary for the situation. She’s not ‘above’ killing, but she’s no homicidal murderer, and it’s never her first option, although attacking her loved ones is a sure way to push her closer to the edge. Although admittedly in her earlier days, the empowerment of being Catwoman got to her head, and she let rage cloud her judgement, leading to her being more willing to brutally harm and kill. She’s very willing to take risks, enjoying the danger even, and she’s incredibly stubborn and persistent. She never had much of a villainous ego, nor does she have a superhero complex. She walks the line between the both with confidence, never worrying about being in the gray. Sometimes it ticks her off when Bruce and others think she should commit completely to one or the other, when she’s perfectly fine where she is.

Reblogs appreciated! Stay tuned for the finished project, which is this... but for every Batfam member ever

[inappropriatefangirlneeds]

Gotham s5ep11  “They Did What?” Personal Review & Rambling 

I DID IT .... I WATCHED THE GOTHAM FINALE 

“We need to make it a bomb again.” Absolutely no warning cause that’s all no spoiler anymore for a long time 

So I´m not sure if it´s good thing I´m watching this ages late, partly I guess I could be more emotional, partly not. It´s sweet to see how everyone and their aunt is teaming up for the city. “Well, this is gonna make one hell of a bedtime story some day.”   With Nyssa al Ghul holding the baby I briefly totally forgot the plot and wondered where did that child come from again? And my brain went back to the (godawful) “Ra´s present for Barbara is a child” theory, and then I remembered oh no it was Jim ..and I was like .. eh, magic baby would have been the better plot. So that´s how we started this but at least Jim and Barbara were quite sweet, even with the child (I usually just cringe and crumble in sheer terror of what kind of responsibility a child is whenever one of those appears but they made it sweet)  BARBARA KEAN & JIM GORDON were such a great team!  Also Barbara just looks so damn fine, they really did good with that. And just bless the FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHERS of the Show , handcuffed Barbara taking out the guy with her legs > Jim later handcuffing Nyssa to keep her close to not get shot at < Good Stuff!  * ~ 24:05 even up to the Steps of SELINA KYLE , Just the way she walked before fighting Bane was such a neat detail   ”My father made his name destroying empires.” NYSSA AL GHUL I guess with more time she´s got potential but rushed like that her character is just boring. 

“Can we really be so cavalier about the destruction of Gotham?” Oh OSWALD COBBLEPOT that´s part of why I fell in love with you. So he and EDWARD NYGMA go over the whole “listening to your heart never did you any good Oswald” spiel, and “I´ll miss you”, or “not so much”, Ed kind of is saying “don´t go” , but just not quite, the usual, you know, I can´t bring myself to care much but damn do I like watching their pretty selves talk through it.  * Edward later follows Oswald, claiming it´s about the city, says the submarine can only operated by two people, and actual people, dog didn´t work.  The usual. * Holy Shit, JIM GORDON ´s so gorgeous. It´s not like I had forgotten how pretty he is but damn that episode hit me hard again with Jim feels. Him over that map, going through their strategy. Daaaamn daaaaaaaaamn. * JIM GORDON & OSWALD COBBLEPOT in something that might as well be just fanfiction: “Oswald, come in.” / “Still have those eyes in the back of your head, Jim.” / “No. You just have a remarkably recognizable odor. Part dandy, part snake. After all these years, it hasn't changed. Drink?” / “No, thank you. Dulls the senses.” /  “That's what I was going for. Surprised you're still here. Figured you'd be long gone by now. That storm you've warned me about for so long, it's finally here.” /  “Sure, I could escape... with money, I might add... but then what? Stand on the shores of the mainland and watch the army burn it to the ground? Then watch tasteless industrialists and vapid politicians rebuild it? No. My life is etched on the walls of every alley and dirty warehouse here. My blood lives in its broken concrete. I'm staying to fight. For my legacy.” * LESLIE THOMPKINS caring about the people of the Narrows was great, I don´t know, if I like that she “abandoned” them in order to stand next to Jim but I can let it pass because of the way she did: She respected and trusted BARBARA KEAN to get them out. I can accept a plot that doesn´t pit those two women against each other (anymore). It was equally great that Lee just told Jim to “yes, go to your child”, and not to forget the scene where Barbara is thanking Lee for what she did, and “Barbara Lee Gordon”  * Lucius is full on providing gadgets for Bruce, including that Bat Beacon that slowed down Bane. Nice but eh.  Also they rehash Jeremiah´s plan to turn the city in a labyrinth to slow down the army. “We need to make it a bomb again.” Battery goes Bomb again, but eh, kind of fell flat for me

* HARVEY BULLOCK pointing out they are fighting SOLDIERS that are just following orders was a good touch. And it makes sense that JIM could brush that aside, he knows what they signed up for. That´s what you do, that´s what you accept. * Also I can stan a good  story that rejects and is a slap in the face of  the "NUREMBERG DEFENSE" so props to that! Just the execution fell so remarkably flat for me. I felt nothing then the people came back with Barbara, nothing when the soldiers pointed their guns at Bane.  BRUCE WAYNE & SELINA KYLE   Just Selina checking in with a “Bruce?” to make sure he actually wants to do that bomb thing was so precious. Also her recognizing that he is and accepting his choice. [Rant Below]  Them later sitting on the stairs and talking was sweet too, except for what they talked about.  SELINA KYLE MRs. & MR WAYNE So apparently they paralleled those in this episode 1.  Selina´s shadow is just right under the painting of Mrs & Mr Wayne and Bruce just plants the bomb right in the middle of her shadow ~19:40) 2.  Selina telling Bruce on the stairs she will be there whenever he needs her and Bruce replying that this is what his parents used to tell him.     Which is a good setup for the kind of conclusion Bruce draws out of all of this but also I´m gonna rant about it below but first:  3. Bruce says his parents would have and did sacrifice everything for the city. He´s making the same choice but apparently can´t see that Selina has as much a choice to do so as he and Mrs & Mr Wayne have .  So in the end I´m getting overly emotional, angry, hurt, let down to be precise:  How dare BRUCE WAYNE leave SELINA KYLE  behind like this?! Given the backstory that´s bound to be so much more painful than whatever Jeremiah or Bane ever could do. Selina has been through this after Jeremiah and she made a choice. She stayed, she thought and she was (not that that matters but let´s not forget it) damn good at it. I know Bruce thinks he´s making a “sacrifice” but how dare he take away this choice from her. How dare he hurt her like that.

* Most importantly though ALFRED PENNYWORTH in that COAT at the end looked so damn dashing. I´m in love. But I don´t like that they made a point of benching his character like that. He added plenty to the fight, he´s been in hospital before, he can add still contribute like he always did. Don´t let it end like this. Yeah I do need at least three seasons to magically happen before the 5th. OSWALY COBBLEPOT & EDWARD NYGMA Round #2  * Edward apologizes for freezing because of the grenade, Oswald understands. Edward gags when seeing Oswald´s hurt eye but claims it is just a scratch. * Back in a remarkable awesome looking place they lick their wounds: > Oswald feels not appreciated he wants “credit for our loyalty, our selfless bravery?” aka Love.  > Edward however feels better than everyone else. He used to be “Shy awkward, pathetic Ed”. Not anymore. He´s better! “I don't want their thanks. Or their respect. You know what I felt, standing shoulder to shoulder with those people out there? Nothing. I... feel... absolutely nothing for those drab... boring people.” Never again. I've shown this city who I truly am once before, and I will do it again. They will bow to the Riddler, and they won't get up until I permit them to.” >> The notion of the “Thankless Job” is there too with Ed but Ed get his kicks out of separating himself from the people, he´s different and above them he doesn´t care about their opinion and has no real stakes in their well being. Oswald however obviously still want´s the recognition of said people, and he wants the good and nice kind, so it´s important that they aren´t miserable.  However “Yes. You're right. Our accomplishments have been erased, our brilliant minds underrated. If they had let me run this city the way I wanted to, it would not be in ruins now. I had the men, the money, - the guns... “ 1. Oswald falls in line with Ed´s reasoning, appeals to his brilliance spleen but tweaks it for his need.  Edward says he has to rule and they have to bow to him.  Os says Ed is right, follows in line with Ed in reassuming a strife for leadership but adds his twist that this is necessary not so much because he (just as Ed thinks he is) is superior but because his leadership is “good” for the people. He´ll do good for them so they´ll like him.  >>> Oswald wants to rule to not have the city in ruins and get praised for that >>> Edward wants to rule because he´s better and deserves so regardless of other imbeciles thoughts or needs.  2. Divide et Imperare Edward is quick to make sure to point a finger to an enemy and separate Oswald from Jim “Gordon took them.”  Oswald just might as well try to go back to old methods and try build alliances with Jim and the law again, Edward recently saw Oswald and Jim kind of teaming up again and he just can´t have that. Just like Mr. Penn was in the way. Jim is a threat.  One to be undermined at all costs: “Gordon took them. Why? Because he still sees you as Fish Mooney's umbrella boy, and he always will.” 

3. One Ring to bind them. Edward starts with a selfish reason but is quick to put Oswald back into the plan. First there´s “I” suddenly he talks about a “We”:  “I only came back to help him save this city so that I could take it for myself. We would be stronger together. No one could stop us.”  4. Do they believe each other?! Apparently they don´t because the both go in the hug with a drawn knife but are relieved when they don´t feel one in their own back. Which was really nice and fitting imagery. I can live with that “conclusion” but I have so much open questions.  I really got to look for post that worked through all of this. > Oswald obviously must be weary of Edward because (I just have to believe) that he sees through the manipulating words of Edward. (as listed above) [[[ Especially the scene with Jim: They had a rather respectful, familiar interaction. I can´t quite believe that he follows Edward´s claim that JIM only thinks of him as that umbrella boy. I do think Oswald gets that Jim takes him serious, just well considers all his crime stuff to be wrong, and that´s quite a different thing than what Ed claims.]]]  > What is Edward´s angle there? Yeah he might not have been able to operate the submarine alone but granted his speech it sounded like he would think that he is capable of taking the city for and by himself. Why is he appealing to Oswald to form a “we”?  Just to get him in the hug situation and test him, asses a possible future threat to his claims?  The only other proper motivation for that would be …. he likes Oswald.  5. “Brothers” Hahahah * Okay, but Oswald´s face when Edward and his mirror self do their thing …Damn …. * 8:26 Are the “Captain Jim Gordon” letters on his door window colour ??! * Jankey Piss Whiskey, what is Jim drinking?  * Oh no, not the General

[onceuponanotherassumption]

All that I know is I don't know a thing (Selina Kyle x Daughter!Reader) Part 1

Masterlist

Note: Reader is the daughter of Bruce and Selina, and is dating Jason (though he’s only mentioned in this one).

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

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The sound of heels clacking against the cement floor resounds through the apartment building, (y/n) stops in front of a door. She rummages through her handbag, fishing out the keys to unlock it. Her eyes are instantly directed to her mother, who was too engulfed with whatever she was drinking in her mug.

“Mom, I’m back.”

“You’re home early…” Selina places the mug down on the table and quirks a brow at the clock. “Not enough patients?”

“Or more like, I just quit my job.” (y/n) nonchalantly mutters, plopping down on the couch. But judging by the look her mother was giving her, it was clear that she heard her.

“Again? This is the third time already!”

“I don’t like it there,”

“That’s what you said last time.”

“I hate the staff…”

“Not a reasonable excuse, (y/n).”

“They don’t pay me that much…?” (y/n) tilts her head, donning a smile at her mother.

“You’re the legitimate daughter of Bruce Wayne. You don’t need a job to earn money.” Selina sighs in exasperation, taking a seat next to the other.

“No, I’m the daughter of a cat burglar who loves me very much!” (y/n) chuckles, laying her head on her mother’s shoulder.

“I’m beginning to question if I really do love you…”

“Mom!”

“(y/n), why did you quit again? There are only a number of hospitals in gotham.” Selina observes how the latter’s smile drops into a frown. “I thought you wanted to become a doctor…?”

“I do, I honestly do. It’s just…” (y/n) purses her lips, contemplating whether to tell everything or not. “I sort of have a predicament going on…”

“What predicament?”

“I think…someone’s been following me around.” (y/n) mutters, her fingers twiddling around the hem of her skirt.

“What?!”

“Mom, calm down. I’m not entirely sure yet.” She takes her mother’s hands in hers. “It might just be a coincidence-”

“In this city? I don’t think so.” Selina furrows her brows. “What happened? Spit it out.”

“But-”

“Spit it out. Now.”

“Fine…” (y/n) sighs, crossing her arms. “It started with my first job. Someone kept sending me bouquets every day, at first I thought it was Jason but…it turns out it wasn’t. Then these stupid sticky notes kept appearing around the hospital quarters everywhere I go, they were innocent comments at first but then they got a little out of hand…” Her lips shut tight, unable to continue.

“And I’m guessing that this happened as well in the last two hospitals you’ve worked in?” Selina furrows her brows when (y/n) nods in answer. “Does your father know about this…?”

“No. Dad’s already busy parading in a bat suit every night.” (y/n) remarks, a small laugh escapes her lips as she attempts to lighten the mood. She gets up from the couch, stretching her arms out for relief.

“(y/n), you shouldn’t have kept this to yourself. What if something had happened to you and I had no clue?”

“Nothing has happened so far, mom. And I can protect myself, you trained me.” (y/n) takes a detour behind the couch, wrapping her arms around her mother’s shoulders.

“That’s not—” The sound of a phone ringing interrupts Selina, she glances at the phone on the table before looking up at her daughter.

“Whoops. I thought I put it on silent mode…”

“Your boy toy?”

“He’s not my…” (y/n) was about to retort but stops herself, sighing in defeat. “We’ve been dating for two years now. Jason isn’t that bad of a guy.”

“I know.” Selina stands up from her spot on the couch, patting (y/n) on the head. “Pick it up already.” She grabs her mug on the table before proceeding to the kitchen, hearing her daughter answer the call. As soon as the door to her room shuts, Selina quickly takes her phone out to make a call of her own.

——

“What a pleasant surprise for you to visit, Miss Kyle.” Alfred opens the door wider, letting her walk inside. “Is there something the matter?”

“Is he home?” Selina asks, straight to the point. She didn’t have the time for formalities, not when her sweet ‘little��� daughter was in danger.

“Master Bruce is down by the cave, I’ll have him upstairs in a few.”

“I’ll be in the living room.” She practically already knew the whole geography of the manor, her feet directing herself to the said room. It wasn’t until a few minutes later that she heard quick footsteps by the doorway.

“I…I heard you came to visit?” Bruce tries to compose himself, obviously out of breath from presumably running all the way upstairs.

“Is it that surprising that you’d run all the way up here?” She asks, trying to hide the smirk on her lips as she turns to look at his appearance. “I did give you a warning.”

“I wasn’t sure whether you were being serious or not.”

“Well, here I am.”

“It’s just that, you rarely visit…” Bruce clears his throat, running a hand through his hair. “Would you like a drink or…”

“I’m certain that you might need a drink more than I do.” Selina chuckles lowly.

“Ah…”

“Look, I’ll cut to the chase. I’m here because of (y/n)…”

“(y/n)? What about her? Did something happen?!” There it was, that worried look that Selina liked. It sort of swelled her heart knowing that Bruce at least cared about their daughter.

“From what I gathered, someone’s stalking her at work. Whether or not he’s harmless, I need you to do something about it.”

“The fact that you’re here, I doubt he’s harmless.”

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1208

Monday, April 16, 2018

 Today is going to be challenging here in Ottawa. Freezing rain overnight has left thick ice on everything. It's going to take a lot of muscle and time to scrape off any cars parked outside overnight. Penny has been going at hers for half and hour and she still hasn't left for work. I would normally go out and help her but I caught a bad cold and I feel like poop. I probably got the bug on the flight home from Cuba last Tuesday. My immune system let me down this trip.

 Our week at the Brisas Guardalavaca resort in Cuba was near perfect. Beautiful sun every day. I took one of the resort bikes out for a ride on one of the only cloudy mornings, got rained on a little but made it back to the resort unscathed. I donned mask, snorkel and fins every afternoon but one to swim out to look for tropical fish on what remained of the reefs after last year's hurricanes. I'm happy to be home but I wish winter would finally leave the area. Just going to stay in today and try to get better.

 Domino #1 - Gail Simone (writer) David Baldeon (art) Jesus Aburtov (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Killer Instinct part 1. It's my lucky day. The merc with the facial tattoo is back on the racks and she's being take care of by a writer and artist team that I like a lot. This story starts off with Neena Thurman's birthday but may end in her death day. If I didn't like this whole issue and the many guest stars so much, that last page guarantees that I will be reading the next issue.

 Immortal Men #1 - Jim Lee, Ryan Benjamin & James Tynion IV (storytellers) Jim Lee & Ryan Benjamin (pencils) Scott Williams & Richard Friend (inks) Jeremiah Skipper & Alex Sinclair (colours) Carlos M. Mangual (letters). The End of Forever part 1. I used to get excited when I saw Jim Lee's name attached to a new project because his art was so fantastic. At least to me it was. His X-Men and Batman stuff made me go "wow". Now I look at his art and feel meh about it. This latest New Age of Heroes book introduces a team of immortals that are brand new to me. None of them made a positive impression. I didn't finish reading the Dark Nights Metal stories and this team ties in to that series so that's probably why I couldn't get into this debut. These Immortal Men will be short-lived.

 Xerxes #1 - Frank Miller (story & art) Alex Sinclair (colours). I really liked 300 when it hit the racks 20 years ago. This new 5-issue mini promises to be just as good. This time the Greeks and the Persians go at each others' throats in 490 BC. I have an interest in ancient history so I'm going to follow this story to see what happens.

 Exiles #1 - Saladin Ahmed (writer) Javier Rodriguez (pencils & colours page 4) Javier Rodriguez (pencils) Jordie Bellaire (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Here we go again with Blink leading a team of heroes to save the multiverse. This first issue introduces two team members and the big bad guy that they'll be facing. I liked this debut. It reminded me of the Unstoppable Wasp book with young Nadia. I really enjoyed Javier's art in Spider-Woman so I'm giving this new book a chance.

 Batman #44 - Tom King (writer) Mikel Janin & Joelle Jones (art) June Chung & Jordie Bellaire (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). I loved the silent scenes where Selina picks out her wedding dress. Those pages are interspersed with flashbacks showing different times in Batman and Catwoman's tumultuous relationship. The lead up to the wedding has been amazing. I'm starting to get a bad feeling about the blessed event however. The "'til death do us part" part may be a nasty surprise that the creative team are going to spring on us. I really hope not.

 Oblivion Song #2 - Robert Kirkman (writer) Lorenzo De Felici (art) Annalisa Leoni (colours) Russ Wooton (letters). Still liking this adventures in monster land series.

 Runaways #8 - Rainbow Rowell (writer) Kris Anka (art) Triona Tree Farrell (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Julie Power/Lightspeed is all grown up. I remember reading Louise Simonson and June Brigman's book when it first hit the racks in 1984 and loving the Power Pack kids. I never would have thought that Julie would mature into the woman she is now and would be dating Karolina. Julie's visit to her girlfriend's is interrupted by a surprise villain who wants Victor's head. I was surprised because I thought he was a good guy now.

 Superman #44 - Patrick Gleason & Peter J. Tomasi (writers) Doug Mahnke (pencils) Jaime Mendoza & Doug Mahnke (inks) Wil Quintana (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). Bizarroverse part 3. Thank Darkseid this story is over. This climax had more Bizarro characters so the confusion I felt while reading this issue was increased exponentially. Even the sound effects were Bizarro. I hope we get back to normal next issue.

 American Gods: My Ainsel #2 - Neil Gaiman (writer) P. Craig Russell (script & layouts) Scott Hampton (art) Rick Parker (letters). Find out why this arc is called My Ainsel.

 Spider-Man #239 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Oscar Bazaldua (art) Brian Reber (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). The Sinister Six deliver their stolen S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier to the buyer. A special guest star team helps Miles to stop the handover. Somebody is going to die I bet.

 Detective Comics #978 - James Tynion IV (writer) Javier Fernandez (art) John Kalisz (colours) Sal Cipriano (letters). The villain tips his hand this issue. I just noticed that all the ad pages were in the back of this book so that reading the story was a lot smoother. I wish every comic book was printed that way.

 Avengers #687 - Mark Waid, Al Ewing & Jim Zub (writers) Paco Medina (pencils) Juan Vlasco (inks) Jesus Aburtov & Frederico Blee (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). No Surrender part 13. The Avengers find out what they're involved in as Voyager confesses to her duplicitousness just in time for the bad guy to ratchet up his threat to destroy the planet. The scene between Jarvis and Bruce Banner bodes well for the return of the Hulk.

 Avengers #688 - Mark Waid, Al Ewing & Jim Zub (writers) Kim Jacinto  & Stefano Caselli (art) David Curiel (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). No Surrender part 14. The Avengers need every hero they can assemble to defeat the Challenger after he crowns himself the Grandmaster Prime. It's going to take a lot of sacrifice to save the doomed planet. Who will not survive is the question.

 Old Man Hawkeye #3 - Ethan Sacks (writer) Marco Checchetto (art) Andres Mossa (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Clint is hunting Thunderbolts and Bullseye is hunting Clint. We all know that Clint doesn't die in this story because he still has to go on a road trip with Old Man Logan. I'm curious to see how he survives Bullseye.

 New Mutants #2 - Matthew Rosenberg (writer) Adam Gorham (art) Michael Garland (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). The team gets sent to the Arctic to deal with a giant problem. Meanwhile a new New Mutant makes a surprise appearance on the last page. Maybe Doug Ramsey will show up too.

 Amazing Spider-Man #798 - Dan Slott (writer) Stuart Immonen (pencils) Wade von Grawbadger (inks) Marte Gracia (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Go Down Swinging part 2. I love the design of the new Red Goblin. The sacrifice that Peter has to make to keep himself and everyone he loves safe is huge. Now we'll see if he can come up with a way to beat the Red Goblin without his web shooters.

 Marvel 2 in One #5 - Chip Zdarsky (writer) Valerio Schiti (art) Frank Martin (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Ben and Johnny find themselves in a universe where GalacDoom has eaten everything except Earth. Now he's going to eat it too. Then what? There's nothing left to eat. Not very bright, GalacDoom. Seeing the Silver Surfer and Emma Frost doing the Smallville thing was cool though.

 All-New Wolverine #33 - Tom Taylor (writer) Ramon Rosanas (art) Nolan Woodard (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Old Woman Laura part 1. We jump into the future where Laura is queen of Madripoor after the good guys win Doom World War. Wait until you see who the POTUS is. Laura has only months to live due to a genetic glitch and one of the items on her bucket list is to kill Victor Von Doom. Someone shows up in the last panel and April 25, when the next issue hits the racks, can't come soon enough for me.

 Astonishing X-Men #10 - Charles Soule (writer) Aco (pencils) David Lorenzo (inks) Rachelle Rosenberg (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). A Man Called X part 4. As much as I liked Aco's art in the Nick Fury mini, I didn't think it suited that spy versus spy story. It's perfect for this reality warping story though. The team tries to save the villagers of Fetters Hill in the Scottish Highlands from the villain Proteus before he can spread his madness even further. I'm interested to see how they do that.

 X-Men Red #3 - Tom Taylor (writer) Mahmud Asrar (art) Ive Svorcina (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). The Hate Machine part 3. I don't remember much about the villain Cassandra Nova but it's clear she's one very nasty person in the first three pages. I'm not usually a fan of super hero teams but Tom Taylor writes the All-New Wolverine and Gabby and Laura are on this team so this book stays on my "must read" list.

 Star Wars: Darth Vader #14 - Charles Soule (writer) Giuseppe Camuncoli (pencils) Daniele Orlandini (inks) David Curiel (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Burning Seas part 3. Vader is sent to the oceanic planet of Mon Cala to hunt down some surviving Jedi that slipped through the Empire's clutches when Order 66 was executed. The defiant Mon Calamari are thwarting his efforts. Mmm…calamari is yummy.

 Captain America #700 - Mark Waid (writer) Chris Samnee (art) Matthew Wilson (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). So disappointed that a time paradox was used to beat the bad guy. All that matters to Cap fans is that Steve is back in the "present" and the series continues.

[dougcook]

I wrote words and created sentences to review a game that came out months ago!

               “He will remember that.”

               Well, I goddamn hope so.

               I’ve never played a Telltale game before. I’ve heard they’re great. A lot of people talk about THE WALKING DEAD (Seasons 1 and 2), but I passed because I don’t much care for THE WALKING DEAD. It took me too long to realize GAME OF THRONES was a Telltale game and not a cheap tie-in, and by the time I did I learned the big ending and wasn’t particularly interested anymore. I’ve never played BORDERLANDS so TALES FROM THE BORDERLANDS was never really considered. I’m always intrigued by games that have a shifting plot based off of your choices – HEAVY RAIN got a shot years ago because of this, I fell in love with MASS EFFECT partially due to how skillfully it builds on your choices over three games [1], and I randomly took up LIFE IS STRANGE to see how they did it, even though it was an unknown to me.

               But I know Batman. And in the wake of an uncertain future for Batman video games following Rocksteady bowing out after ARKHAM KNIGHT, I was eager to try BATMAN: THE TELLTALE SERIES.

               Alright, so I’m not such a big gamer that I can talk about gameplay for long, and it’s not a huge factor for me. I mean, I need the gameplay to work and be fun, but beyond that there’s not a huge difference. And while I think there’s a lot BATMAN: THE TELLTALE SERIES has going for it that the Rocksteady games don’t, the gameplay is nowhere near as fun or engaging. The QuickTime event nature of its action makes them tedious to me, and anytime I had to move Bruce or Batman around is was mostly frustrating. And I despise the game forcing me to highlight circles when investigating things with the right joystick, it feels so damn awkward, like being asked to write with my non-dominant hand.

               Thankfully, the game’s real interest to me was its story, and how it developed behind my choices. And this is clearly Telltale’s bread and butter. There’s a lot of spoilery stuff to unpack here, so probably stop reading if you haven’t played and want to remain spoiler free. Or don’t. I don’t care, do what you want.

               So the game’s real strength is its use of Batman lore against the player. And it’s undoing as well. It starts off well enough, by introducing Oswald Cobblepot as a handsome, thin young man around Bruce’s age, and an international criminal. It takes a canon idea (the Cobblepots and Wayne’s as rival families, until the Cobblepots crumbled, leaving Oswald bitter), and takes it in a fresh direction of establishing Wayne’s equal and inversion in all ways. It’s fun!

               This even applies to the big thing I presume people being pissed about: Bruce learns that Thomas and Martha Wayne were in league with Carmine Falcone and corrupt Mayor Hill, and that specifically Thomas is the brutal evil mastermind, committing enemies to Arkham Asylum for petty reasons, such as Esther Cobblepot simply to gain her land for the construction of Wayne Tower. Guys what a great idea! By casting the shadow on the memory of Bruce’s parents, it forces the idea of Batman to be analyzed: why does Bruce do this then, if his memory of his parent’s morality was a lie? (This gets compounded when it comes out that Thomas and Martha’s deaths were a hit ordered by Hill, and not a random mugging). Where does Bruce’s moral code come from, and does it remain afterwards? This is, of course, not really a chance for Bruce Wayne to grapple with these thoughts, but a chance for us, the player, as we dictate what kind of a man Bruce/Batman is.

               This takes me back to a memory of a coworker and I discussing THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS. I really love the book, I do, but I’m not blind to the unfortunate fascistic implications of the book’s portrayal of Batman. He has power and takes more because only he can be trusted with, etc etc. My coworker didn’t see this as troubling – he’s Batman, he is the only person that can be trusted with power. He couldn’t see that, while the fictional character as written by a person is pure and always makes the right choice, that’s not a lesson we as people can take and use in our lives. Superheroes work best as Aesops, and too much Batman fiction gives into the power trip of the character. It comes from the base root of everything, this intrinsic idea: the trauma instilled Bruce with a hardline moral code that makes him incorruptible. BATMAN: THE TELLTALE SERIES forces us to reconcile how that moral code can remain intact when the cause is shown to be even more impure. I find it interesting so many players make choices as Batman that are more merciful when faced with this.

               It’s a shame the things we don’t control are borderline too much. Like the Rocksteady games, it’s a pretty tough sell that Batman doesn’t accidentally kill anyone with his roughness. Batarangs enter eyes; heads slam against walls. I want to applaud the game’s desire to show violence as brutal, I just don’t know if I have it in me to go through anymore crime scenes where people’s eyes are gouged out.

               Oh yeah, and the game seems to have an obsession with eyes. Batman gives Catwoman a black left eye after punching her; the lens on the goggle on that same eye is broken in the next episode, along with Batman’s left eye. Alfred’s glasses are found with the left lens broken, and he can possibly lose that eye by the end of the game [2]. Penguin at one point dons a…um, thingy that looks like a monocle, leaving his left eye open. Falcone is shot (oh yeah, he gets offed so much earlier than one would expect) with a shot to the left eye. So does Thomas Wayne when we finally get the required Wayne’s death scene. And of course, there’s the Harvey Dent scarring, a major part leaving his left eye uncovered, ala THE DARK KNIGHT [3]. The game’s central focus seems to be on secrets; everyone’s got ‘em, and nobody’s what they appear. Except Gordon. Fucker’s a rock in Batman fiction.

               The first three episodes of the game move at a breakneck pace, with things getting wilder until the third episode’s climax, which reveals you were being played the whole time by…Vikki Vale? Um, cool? It’s not that it breaks canon (I’ve shown a fondness for that so far), it’s not that it’s left field (it’s foreshadowed very well in retrospect), but…like, how the fuck does somebody become Gotham’s Lois Lane while secretly planning…huh, not super sure what her end goal was besides screwing with Bruce Wayne. The fourth and fifth episodes continue to fly by, with fun cameos [4], explosive moments, and some heartfelt scenes. But ultimately, the climax falls short due to Lady Arkham/Vikki Vale just…not being interesting. It works, story and theme wise, to fight her as Bruce Wayne, but it’s so muddled what motivates her and what she really wants. It’ so unclear she comes across more like throwing a tantrum. And to have an interesting version of the Penguin as her number two, and even a Two-Face who’s betrayal stings so much due to a strongly developed friendship with Bruce both playing second fiddle to Lady Arkham, well, it’s disappointing.

               The game starts strong, and ends with a bit of a dud. But its highs, man they’re really high. A quick-hit of amazing stuff in this games: Bruce throwing down the Batman cowl and yelling at Alfred, accusing him of lying about his parents; Bruce and Selina Kyle fight off Penguin’s goons in a bar to, well, jaunty bar music; Bruce pulling off the “I’m about to be caught as the other man in a love triangle so I’ll tip-toe away carrying my clothes to hide” move while carrying the friggin’ batsuit; Batman and Two-Face have a showdown in Wayne Manor; Bruce reassuring a despondent Alfred he’s not to blame for the game’s events.

               BATMAN: THE TELLTALE SERIES can delight and make you weep, but only when the villains aren’t around. Rating: 14 out of 17 Stolen Waynetech Grapplers

[1] – There’s a handful of series in fiction that are so tightly wound together that I never engage with a single installment out of context – I begin the series at its start and I go until it ends. HARRY POTTER, THE LORD OF THE RINGS films, and MASS EFFECT are the three examples I can name without hesitation. I’ve played through the three MASS EFFECT games straight three times. [2] – I confess, this didn’t happen in my play through, I simply read about it after. [3] – I consider it a true delight that I could’ve avoided Harvey getting scarred, but that’s another “armed with canon” moment for you. I assumed it was gonna happen, thus I was complicit. [4] – Let’s talk Joker down here briefly. I liked him, mostly, interpreted as like, that awkward, nerdy guy you knew in college with the weird sense of humor. His knowledge of everything Lady Arkham comes across as 80% “get out of jail free” card, but it does kinda fit. He’s…aight.

[brvceselina]

Hi Itzel! I was listening to Gorgeous from Reputation today & when I heard the lyrics “I'm so furious at you for making me feel this way/you make me so happy it turns back to sad/there’s nothing I hate more than what I can't have/guess I'll just stumble on home to my cats” I started getting Selina/Batcat angst vibes. Just wanted to scream in your inbox for a sec since I know you love Taylor Swift and batcat as much as I do. 💜

hey soph! YES!!! the power those lyrics have!!! 

the ‘you make so happy it turns back to sad’ bit?! it screams batcat but not oly in a selina to bruce way but BOTH ways and that makes it even more angsty and sad. plus ‘there´s nothing i hate more that what i can´t have’ just gave me so much selina vibes from your fic, actually!!! the one with the martha´s pearls? and how conflicted she was about the mere concept of bruce being hers one day and i don´t know, soph, this particular lyric is very, very selina and it hits you right in the feels, doesn´t it?? 

THANK YOU for coming to my inbox!! im always down for screaming about taylor and batcat with you

[brvceselina]

gotham :) for the fandom ask.

THANK YOU SO MUCH

@selinaakyle​ soph this one´s for you too

The first character I first fell in love with: selina for sure. i mean in the pilot she looks so small and cute in that very first scene with the cats?? so yep :´)

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: babs. her season arc one was boring and it gets weird really quickly so i was like ??? and she suffered so much changes through the seasons and erin handled them like a pro

The character everyone else loves that I don’t:  … oswald. i just feel like his plot was always revolving around the same thing that (for me) it became really boring to see. 

The character I love that everyone else hates: selina. people throw so much at her (i´ve seen it mostly on instagram and twitter tbh) and im like !!!!! also this could apply for all the gotham ladies too. they get hated for the exact same reasons the male characters are loved *insert extreme eye roll here*

The character I used to love but don’t any longer: ??? i don´t think this applies to me?? i still love all the characters that i loved before lol

The character I would totally smooch: can i say again that this applies to the gotham ladies???

The character I’d want to be like: oof idk, they´re pretty messed up people lol. let me be cheesy for a bit and say bruce and selina for how both of them fight to overcome their own darkness and transform it into something else (i really want to throw a nice ‘step into the daylight and let it go’ reference here bc this answer made me think of a future!batcat rant that i had with em a while ago).

The character I’d slap: jeremiah. and white bane. and butch.

A pairing that I love: besides batcat (*heart eyes*), babitha and jimlee bc they cute

A pairing that I despise: butch/tabitha… just whyyyyy

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1279

Sunday, September 15, 2019

 I'm posting this a day early because I've decided to go fishing tomorrow morning, possibly for the last time this season. It's been very windy this weekend which has kept me off the water. The winds tomorrow morning are supposed to be light so I will get on the lake and try my luck. My expectations are low as fall temperatures have settled in and my lake seems to be fished out. I've seen many boats in previous years and I am sure not everyone was following the rules of size and limits. I noticed a lot less boats out this year most likely because people aren't catching anything and not returning. I am happy if I land one fish and just enjoy my time doing something I love to do. I'll be busy doing the Capital Comic Book Convention next weekend, September 22. Dear friends from Calgary are visiting the weekend after that (September 29) and the weekend after that (October 5) we're doing a road trip to Freeport, Maine. I hope I don't get detained at the border.

 Guardians of the Galaxy The Prodigal Sun #1 - Peter David (writer) Francesco Manna (art) Espen Grundetjern (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Prince Prah'd'gul returns home to avenge the death of his father. He has an extreme reaction to his brother's betrayal and the ending made me chuckle. Peter David likes a good pun so the Sun in the title is the joke in this issue, not the Guardians of the Galaxy. Prince Prah'd'gul is a very powerful new character and it will be interesting to see where he pops up next.

 Ironheart #10 - Eve L. Ewing (writer) Luciano Vecchio (art) Geoffo (layouts) Matt Milla (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Riri and Shuri must stop a villain from gaining unlimited power but they are up against some group that includes a long lost relative of Riri's. This mystery is enough to keep me reading.

 Moon Knight Annual #1 - Cullen Bunn (writer) Ibrahim Moustafa & Matt Horak (art) Mike Spicer (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). This is an "Acts of Evil" one-shot. The basic concept of "Acts of Evil" is a super hero versus a super villain story. Here we have Moon Knight trying to keep Kang the Conqueror from getting three Egyptian artefacts that will give the bad guy complete control over time and remake reality in his own image. I should have stopped reading as soon as I saw who the villain was. Marc Spector jumps around in time and gets help from other Moon Knights to thwart Kang. Reality is saved once again. The end. These kinds of stories don't thrill me.

 Detective Comics #1011 - Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Christian Duce (art) Luis Guerrero (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). This issue along with #1010 was a nice two-parter with Batman versus Deadshot but it wasn't very interesting. I liked the two old World War II castaways but I didn't like this version of Deadshot. I like it better when Deadshot is a semi-good guy.

 Punisher Kill Krew #2 - Gerry Duggan (writer) Juan Ferreyra (art) VC's Cory Petit (letters). This book is just too ridiculously fun. Frank finds an unexpected ally while hunting down the frost giant that killed a family during the War of the Realms. It's the last person that I would have expected to be in this story. The last page has another surprise appearance that makes me want to read the next issue for sure.

 Sabrina the teenage witch #5 - Kelly Thompson (writer) Veronica Fish & Andy Fish (art) Jack Morelli (letters). The first story arc ends with Sabrina saving the day. Yay. The next story doesn't hit the racks until 2020 and it should be good with Sabrina's secret identity in jeopardy.

 Black Cat #4 - Jed MacKay (writer) Travel Foreman (art) Brian Reber (colours) Ferran Delgado (letters). The Fox has enlisted the help of Felicia and her henchmen for his final heist before he retires. That's why the robbery at Doctor Strange's house last time and this issue it's the headquarters of the Fantastic Four. Johnny is the dupe but plans go awry and a super villain pops up to make matters worse on the last page. We haven't seen this blowhard in a while.

 Catwoman #15 - Ram V (writer) Mirka Andolfo (art) Arif Prianto (colours) Saida Temofonte (letters). I didn't mind Selina's move to Villa Hermosa after the non-nuptials but the change in writer and artist lowered my enjoyment of this title. I will be putting the cat out after this issue.

 Miles Morales: Spider-Man #10 - Saladin Ahmed (writer) Javier Garron (art) David Curiel (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). If you noticed the higher $4.99 US cover price and the higher page count it's because this issue is Legacy #250. The main story features villains from Miles's original Ultimate Universe and a shocking final page that brought back vague memories for me of what happened back in that universe. The bonus story is the origin of Starling by Saladin Ahmed (writer) Annie Wu (art) Rachelle Rosenberg (colours) & VC's Cory Petit (letters). She's the granddaughter of the Vulture which explains the suit she wears so she can fly. I like that she's a good guy.

 Young Justice #8 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) John Timms (art) Gabriel Eltaeb (colours) Wes Abbott (letters). Wes Abbott (letters). The team wind up in Earth-3, home of the Crime Syndicate of Amerika. This earth's version of Young Justice is just as nasty as their missing elders and we go from fight to fight as Wonder Girl, Superboy, Red Robin and Impulse battle their evil counterparts. It's all narrated by a native good guy who wants to rid their world of the evil doers. It was a nifty surprise to find out who that was. I can't wait for them to get out of this universe because constant fight scenes get boring.

 Silver Surfer Black #4 - Donny Cates (writer) Tradd Moore (art) Dave Stewart (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Reading this penultimate issue was a mind blowing experience. Part of this is Galactus's origin story and wow, was it ever cool. Tradd Moore really captures the cosmic scale of this story. The panels showing the Surfer towing Galactus's incubator were awesome.

 Batman Universe #3 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Nick Derington (art) Dave Stewart (colours) Carlos M. Mangual (letters). Batman's time on Thanagar doesn't last long and he's back on Earth healing up at the Hall of Justice. Now we know that Vandal Savage has his hands on a mysterious power source and he's trying to use it to conquer the world. This issue has Batman teaming up with Green Lantern on Dinosaur Island. It's nice seeing a lighter side of Batman in this adventure.

 King Thor #1 - Jason Aaron (writer) Esad Ribic (art) Ive Svorcina (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). I can't believe I've been reading Jason Aaron's Thor stories for seven years and loving every issue. This final story takes place in the far flung future as the universe is dying and King Thor and his granddaughters are trying to save it from Loki the All-Butcher. Between this and Silver Surfer Black the universe is in dire straits all due to the god Knull. This book looks so pretty. When the big bad shows up on the last page I just knew they couldn't keep him dead.

 Powers of X #4 - Jonathan Hickman (writer) R.B. Silva (art) Marte Gracia (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Each issue of this book and House of X builds on the new Mutant Foundation. Jonathan Hickman has made me care about the X-Men again. The beautiful art certainly helps too. I like when minor characters come to the fore. Mister Sinister and Doug Ramsey/Cypher are featured this issue.

 Batman #78 - Tom King (writer) Clay Mann (art) Tomeu Morey (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). I loved this issue of True Romance. It's Selina and Bruce, wearing a Magnum P.I. disguise, getting all hot and bothered on a tropical isle. Batman continues to get stronger in preparation for his return to Gotham City and a confrontation with Bane. This single issue illustrates why I've enjoyed this title so much.

 Age of Conan Valeria #2 - Meredith Finch (writer) Aneke (art) Andy Troy (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). I'm trying to decide if I want to continue reading this story of Valeria hunting for her brother's killer now that I know who it is. The art isn't bad but it sure doesn't do much for me.

 Gwenpool Strikes Back #2 - Leah Williams (writer) David Baldeon (art) Jesus Aburtov (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). As if Gwenpool wasn't hilarious on her own, this issue ups the frantic antics quotient by teaming her with Deadpool. Their adventure inside 4 Yancy Street made me laugh a few times. I need this kind of humour now and then.

 Loki #3 - Daniel Kibblesmith (writer) Oscar Bazaldua (art) David Curiel (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). I liked the little tour inside the House of Ideas with the Children of Eternity, Now and Then. I think they're a great new concept. This is a nice interlude issue before we get back to Loki's battle with Nightmare.

 Daredevil #11 - Chip Zdarsky (writer) Marco Checchetto (art) Nolan Woodard (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). I wish there wasn't so much @#%*!-ing in this book. My brain tries to substitute the appropriate swear word which disrupts the reading process. I eventually smoothed things out by going bleep in my head whenever those annoying symbols appeared. Matt still hasn't donned the red costume yet and he even turned down help from an ex-girlfriend. Meanwhile, one of Daredevil's followers is nabbed by the cops while stopping a guy from abusing his girlfriend. I'm really happy Marco Checchetto is on this book. His Kingpin and Owl made an impact on me.

 Invisible Woman #3 - Mark Waid (writer) Mattia De Iulis (art) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). If you passed on reading this solo adventure of Suzie's you're missing out on a great spy story and some gorgeous art, especially this issue. Sue looks hot in Adam Hughes's cover but she's even hotter inside going under cover to a posh party. This story is surprising me all to heck.

 The Amazing Spider-Man #29 - Nick Spencer (writer) Francesco Manna (art) Carlos Lopez (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Here's another enduring love story. Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson have known each other for a very long time. MJ knows Peter's secret and she's cool with his super heroing. I'm glad they're a couple again. There's more action in this than Batman #78 with Spider-Man trying to rescue a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent from the bad guy with the outcome setting up more problems for the web-slinger.

 Event Leviathan #4 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Alex Maleev (art) Josh Reed (letters). The identity of Leviathan is still a mystery and it's the reason I'm reading this story. I also think that it's going to have a significant affect on the DCU after it's done. Brian and Alex have collaborated for a long time and I have enjoyed all of their projects. It's unfortunate that more fans don't appreciate Alex's art. This book should be selling a lot better than it is.