#league/tactician

[aurelion-solar]

Arcane Jinx Unbound - TFT Cinematic

[zeekar]

Look at him... My little guy...

[arkangelo-7]

I bet the JL has a “how fucked are we” metric that’s literally just how many of Bruce’s kids are there.

Like if he pulls up to the alien invasion or whatever with just Robin, then everything’s fine. More than fine, actually, because Bruce feels comfortable enough to bring his eight year old along for the ride. This battle will take approximately fifteen minutes and they’ll all get shawarma after. Not fucked in the slightest.

But if Red Robin shows up too… hmm, okay, this is getting somewhat serious. Tim is one of Bruce’s most trusted partners; he’s the smart Robin, the tactician, the loyal one, and so if Batman brought him along then it means he’s at least a little bit worried about shit hitting the fan and wants one his advisors around. But the combined brain power of Bruce and Tim is pretty much unmatched (DC plot armor for the win), so everything will be fine, basically. Superman might take a hit, but everything’s going to be fine. Just keep calm and you’ll all make it home in time to Door Dash some Panda Express before it closes. So not that fucked.

It starts to get serious after that. When Signal and Spoiler roll up the scene, shit has definitely hit the fan. Batman’s worried enough to call in reinforcements and he’s probably doubting the League’s ability to listen/obey his orders, so he needs a backup plan in case things go really south. But with Signal’s abilities and Steph’s superpower of turning anything into a joke, chances are you’ll be okay. Maybe impaled or something, but okay. But still, fucked.

When Nightwing shows, the JL knows it’s starting to get dicey out on the field. See, Nightwing’s got his own team, his own issues—the fact that he set that all aside to help out his dad is cause for concern. On a scale from 1-10, they are at a 7. Above moderately fucked.

And… oh God. Black Bat? Most of the time the JL doesn’t even see her, but once she makes herself known and starts fighting alongside her siblings, they all start to silently freak out. Black Bat is a fucking machine and if she’s breaking a sweat trying to fight the Big Bad, things are definitely not going to go well. They start praying that Batman figures something out. They freak out. They are intrinsically fucked.

But God Forbid you catch sight of the Red Hood. The prodigal son is a legitimate killer, and if Batman’s letting him blow out brains then the JL knows he’s desperate. And a desperate Batman is not good. At all. They are definitely fucked.

[memetic-trigger-hazard]

Trope blender strikes again!

Since the formation of the Justice League Dark to deal with supernatural threats, Diana had been acting as the team's 'Superman' for lack of a better term.

It was, however, not a position she was entirely suited to, as ironically enough when engaging supernatural threats she was better suited to the same role that Batman played in the Justice League, engaging with superior training, tactics and specialised tools while also acting as battlefield tactical command.

With the lack of any other candidates however, she made do. But not for long.

Thanks to a wandering little girl, Diana had gained a new cousin and uncle who were refreshingly free of the hubris of the Greek pantheon, as well as an unexpected (and terrifying) meeting with her Grandfather who was far different from the stories, she supposed death and a few millennia would calm someone down. She was pleased however to add some paternal family members she could enjoy calm moments with.

Her Uncle was willing to help, however his backlog from the previous King in addition to the repairs and ongoing negotiations for reparations with the United States government made her feel guilt for placing further demands on him.

Her younger cousin however was more than happy to "get out of the house", her Father's comments about the expansiveness of a TARDIS castle completely ignored.

Ellie was already training with her old friend Pandora (So many happy reunions) so Diana was more than willing to take her to Themascerya for an initiation to the Sisterhood of Amazon's. Danny was ecstatic that his daughter was making friends.

Now Ellie as Banshee is JLD's front line fighter and Diana is the tactician, a dynamic duo of their own. Diana is so proud of her little cousin.

Which is why today was very..... Strange.

~

Basically the JLD have to head to the Watchtower for some threat, Ellie is super pumped because SPACE and Diana is excited to take her smol bean cousin to the Watchtower for the first time.

Batman and Co arrive and Drama TM occurs because "Holy shit that little girl looks like a Talia with blue eyes", Damian starts accusing and mouthing off, Ellie freaks because her Dad has warned her about the League of Assassins, so she freaks and bails.

Diana is explaining who Ellie is, how they're related when Uncanny Valley Danny in human form comes out of a portal in his "Royal Casual" work attire. Loose jeans,button up with vest, fluffy slippers with a coffee mug in hand. He's facing Diana, paying 0 attention to who else is there beyond "cool space station".

"Hey niece, why is my daughter running through my castle screaming about killer birds?"

"Ah, I believe she is referring to Robin being a former member of the League of Assassins." Diana replies.

Batman and the rest of the Justice League are tense, assessing this possible ally who RADIATES power and death. Anyone affected by death can feel it like static in their teeth during a lightning storm. Those who have been into the Lazarus Pits feel safe yet the overwhelming urge to KNEEL BEFORE YOUR KING.

"Well shit, someone actually escaped from the Fruit Loop Supreme? Anyone who gets away from my asshole grandfather is alright by me." Danny replies as he turns to look at the various heros, taking a sip from his mug.

"Danyal?" A faint hopeful whisper as Damian takes his mask off to look at his Brother (HOW, HOW? HE LOST HIM HE'S HERE HOW?) His dead twin somehow here and changed so much.

*Slurp*

"Well shit, didn't expect this."

This entire time Bruce's brain is making crunching noises.

It's not the extra son that's apparently God of the Afterlives. It's not the granddaughter.

Diana is his son's niece. Bruce had sex with his grand niece. Barbara is right, he needs therapy.

[mysterycitrus]

i wish we went back to like…. definitively showing why specific characters lead teams. like dick grayson is the unanimous leader of the titans in most runs for a reason — he’s a highly experienced tactician and leader that isn’t afraid to make hard decisions and he gets forced into it by the fab 5 so he doesn’t get caught up in his feelings. that’s a lot more interesting than like…. characters leading teams of people with more experience just because they have a bat symbol. actually show me that they’re capable of being in charge. show me dick grayson actually doing tough leader shit instead of being quirky and always making the easy call. wonder woman should be leading the league. why is batman hanging around the team of magic users. i don’t even need to elaborate on the outlaws

[lavena]

I feel like we never get to see Damian when he is truly at home.

When we see him at Wayne Manor we see a boy who just witnessed the death of many of the people he grew up with, assassins he trained beside slaughtered and his grandfather dead.

We see a boy that has been taken away from all he has ever know, all the customs, the rules, the food, the wildlife and plants, the people, the very weather is nothing that he is used to.

He suddenly never gets the chance to speak his native language, he has no one to help him adapt, normal behaviors for him are considered wrong and strange.

He is not at home in his father's house.

The scene we see of him at the League is during a test, training that is meant to be difficult and tortuous. Then immediately after we see a deadly attack on the compound he calls home, the people he love are evacuating and panicking, he has to pay them no mind and make his way past crowds of people he knows to find his grandfather, to defend him. He fails.

His home is not his home when it is under attack.

We never see Damian at home.

Just once I want to see him at home.

See him on his way to the mess hall in his silk green robes, walking camly with his line of advisors.

All children around his age, the eldest 5 years his senior, the youngest 5 months under him.

A boy and 3 girls, one is the smartest and fastest person he knows, she is the next in line to be his tactician, she trains just as hard as he does, he beats her in hand to hand but can never catch up to her in a race. They study mathematics and history together, quizzing one another and working hard to out do the other on their tests.

2 girls, twins, the best shadows the league has to offer him, they are still learning but most teachers can't catch a trace of them in the rafters when they are sneaking into the kitchen to steal damian cookies. They will be his shadows, his elite guards, the two people he trust to not know where they are behind his back.

The last is a boy, 5 years his senior, built with thick muscle and broad shoulders. No one can beat him in raw strength and flexibility. This boy trains with Damian to take on enemy's stronger than himself. This boy will be Damians right hand man, the one who steps in front of attacks, but also wards them off completely simply by being at Damians side. Damian trusts this boy enough to sleep at his back in the open air.

All 4 of these children have put their lives on the line for Damian before. They have killed for him before, and he for them. They have a bond that was not bought, but earned. The boy had once carried them all down halls and hoisted them into the rafters so the guards wouldn't catch them outside past their bedtime.

Damian and these children are the next to inherit the League. They will be more formidable than Ra's Al Ghuls team of 14 guards, tacticians, and trusted advisors. They have such intrinsic knowledge of eachother that words are not needed. These children have never known anything except eachother, they are life long friends.

Or they were supposed to be.

They were going to be. Until their guardians dragged them away from the fighting, fleeing from the attack, leaving their prince without his guards.

The fought tooth and nail to get back to him, and by the time they returned to Nada Parbat their prince was gone. The Princess, Talia, told them he was safe, but he would not return for some time.

Their home never felt the same after that.

Damian left his home in that fight, left the people he trusted most.

I want to see Damian at home somewhere.

Let him see the people he fought with, the people he trained with, the people who love him and call him Prince without a mocking or teasing tone.

I know his time with the League was not kind, was not the environment any child should grow up with, no one should have as many scars as Damian does at his age.

But he is a prince, he was bound to have assassination attempts, so he was trained against such attacks. It was horrible and awful and he had to kill, but he survived.

There is no way to something as powerful as the League to exist without any kind of warmth. There had to be moments where the screams of children weren't from the pain of training but instead the screeches that come from playing tag, or running from an elder sibling whi grabs you around your waist and swings you into a couch violently.

Screams as they ran from guards that would quickly trail into giggles and pants for breath as they couldn't contain their laughter.

Damian was not in a safe place, but that doesn't mean it was devoid of joy.

The Bat Fam deserves to see their youngest at his most comfortable.

Dodging knives that were thrown, not with the intent to hurt, but to tease. Their games of tag and hide n seak were dangerous, it help them to not panic in time of actual danger. A knife would be thrown and dodged in the same second as a conversation was started.

A race up a mountain was aided by arms reaching or throwing one another over obstacles. Attacks are made with the expectation the other will respond accordingly, a tussle is a normal form of greeting and bruises are almost a welcome sight.

You are alive it says, alive enough to be moving with me and you will continue to do so.

Your injuries prove your strength, a cut from a thrown dagger is greeted with a smile and a returned throw.

They are just as easily greeted with a tackle to evade an assassins attempt as they are a tackle to simply tussle, either way the other party is thankful for their contact.

The first time Damian sees his advisors again 4 knives are thrown at him, all dodged and responding ones are dodged as well, right after all 4 of his friends are tackling him to the floor and reaching out to check he has no wounds from his travels. They laugh the whole time and drag Damian from the floor to their joint rooms. They have much to catch up on, never mind the line of 4 vigilantes standing behind their prince, mouths agape at the violent yet unmistakablly friendly actions towards their youngest.

They will se much of the same actions throughout the week they reside their, knives are thrown and danced away from in one moment and a guard is bending his knee to softly bump foreheads and whisper " Welcome home Little Prince, we have missed you" in the next.

[callmearcturus]

valonia47: IMO Dottie taught Ted avoidance and denial as the only allowed coping skills, which is how he ends up in England in the first place: avoiding the conflict and denying how bad his marriage has gotten. In that sense returning to Kansas is Ted breaking out of that and reconnecting with Henry on a regular basis instead of avoiding the inherent reminders of his relationship with his dad

two problems with this take, if you'll forgive my need to make a rebuttal.

ONE: Ted winding up in England because of conflict avoidance and denial is not how I read the situation at all. Hell, I don't think a man can move to another country without knowing things are bad, and every time he brings up Michelle, it's regarding the trouble in their marriage.

also, uh

given the entire fuckery with Dr. Jacob, I don't know if I actually agree at all with that take. Ted winds up in England because a pretty serious betrayal of trust.

this is one of the most interesting things the show does imo. like when Ted first talks about therapy and is dismissive/negative on it, I literally went "ah another otherwise progressive midwestern man who nonetheless doesn't like therapy" because bruh that's a thing for sure

and then ted tells sharon about his history of therapy and I was like "okay that's a little unusual but cmon ted you're better than this"

and then the fucking slap in the face happens and oh my fuck, Ted was right, he was manipulated by a fucking therapist holy shit, like all of his hesitations are entirely justified.

TWO: For Kansas to feel like a success for Ted, a LOT of shit would have needed to be done differently.

a. he needed to make the choice of his own volition, not because his mother pulled That Shit on him as punishment.

b. the show needed to actually show Kansas as living place that has support systems and people Ted loves. WHICH TO BE CLEAR: THE SHOW COULD HAVE DONE. fuck, if you want to read a fic that actually makes Ted moving back to Kansas make sense, I highly recommend Lafayette Goes To America, which I vouch for as a Missouri native is a loving and wonderful depiction of KCMO and why you'd want to live there.

c. why the fuck did they do that creepy fucking musical sting on the final shot of ted in kansas? i watched it with a friend who'd never seen the finale and they fucking gasped at it.

d. and this is a huge one for me is the trick each season with the opening/closing shots.

each season opens and closes on one character in a very deliberate move, like a reminder that you should be focusing on this person and the journey they've been on.

and it's not a necessarily positive journey.

with Rebecca, we watched her through season one transform from a hurt, vengeful, cruel person who was thrilled to ruin the lives of everyone around her if it helped her meet her goals into someone who finally recognized the gravity of their callousness.... but not before her actions led to the team being relegated.

with Nate, we watched him blossom as a tactician and strategist, and he winds up the head coach of West fucking Ham by the end..... but in the process, he loses everyone who supported him and he repeatedly fails to recreate those relationships in S3

with Ted, the show holds me down and kicks me repeatedly in the stomach until i admit i love a good tragedy I MEAN ted is successful, loved, respected, and supported by the people around him, he continues to work on himself in this place that he comes to adapt to and love... and instead of him asking "hey maybe i should review my custody arrangement and ask my son if he'd like to live here with me" he loses ALL OF THAT

there's this moment that makes the pain worse, this little (intentional? unintentional?) jab rebecca gives him. she begged this man to stay, offered to make him the best paid coach in the league, to personally assist in helping his family join him here, and he leaves.

it's a rejection. it's a rejection of richmond as meaningful, as people who love him, as his community and family. it hurts so fucking much.

none of them were worth trying for, ted? not rebecca, who held you tight when you had a panic attack? not trent, who detonated his career after shielding you from a press shitstorm? not roy, who came back to you and fucking quoted Jerry Maguire to your face, choosing to speak your language? fucking hell.

I blame Dottie for this, for how she looks at all the process Ted's made, resents it, and tears him back down. but the refutation of these people and their worth is part of the tragedy.

ANYWAY UH. I RESPECTFULLY DISAGREE. SORRY.

[void-occupation]

I don't know if someone's done this already, but imagine the Justice League is doing some mission or another and Batman gets captured. Maybe it was on purpose, maybe it wasn't but whatever the case, the JL is now Concerned. Their main tactician is gone, and some of the villains are Batman's Rogues, who they admittedly don't know much about

They bust into where ever Batman's being held and only one person is there that they see. They take them out and wander around until they find Batman in a room with Harley Quinn. They go in guns blazing only to stop in pure confusion

Batman is tied rather impressively to a chair while Harley sits opposite of him with a clipboard in hand and glasses perched on her nose. Bruce looks absolutely miserable while Harley turns around with a wide smile as if she hadn't been holding Batman hostage. To be fair to her though, Bruce honestly had figured out how to escape his restraints about 5 minutes after he woke up, but he knows that the Joker doesn't ever listen to Harley and she'd get upset when her "impromptu therapy" sessions would get interrupted when they were in college together. He'd always had kind of a soft spot for Harley so he'd stayed. Not that anyone else needed to know that of course

everyone's interaction goes something like this:

Harley: Oh hi!

Superman who is Terminally Polite: H-hey. How are you?

Harley: Oh, I'm good. Batman and I were talking about his obvious abandonment issues and severe anxiety!

Bruce, mortified and hiding it surprisingly well: No we weren't

Flash: Is this...normal???

Harley: Yeah, just about - any time I get to watch him I usually give him some therapy. He obviously needs it and it's not like I'm doing much with my degree otherwise!

Bruce: First off, rude. Second off, why is everyone just standing around? We've got work to do!

And the entire League jumps guiltily as they realize they were kind of just staring at their captured teammate when there is indeed work to be done about the rest of the group they're facing. Then, Harley drops the bomb that she wasn't even involved???? She just heard that they'd captured Batman and broke in to Therapy at him while he couldn't get away

[thesummerstorms]

The other thing that I think I would want in an Annabeth Wayne AU that I don't think I've seen so far is Bruce being absolutely pissed at Athena.

It was bad enough with Talia and Damian, but Athena is a literal god of wisdom who should know better AND he doesn't even have the "culpability" of having slept with her.

She one hundred percent saw Batman, tactician of the Justice League, was drawn in by her aspect of the Goddess of Strategy, and proceeded to create a child without his consent, a daughter who she didn't even raise before the child became a weapon.

And like whatever else, however fucked up Damian was by his own training to become a child-weapon, at least Talia loved Damian.

Whereas Athena loves Annabeth in the way a Goddess loves, not the way a Person loves, and I don't think Bruce, whose entire identity is so fixated on his relationship with his own parents, would recognize that as love at all.

And, like, Talia put Damian through a lot of shit. I think Bruce would be angry there too. But when push came to shove, she at least at some point brought him to Bruce because she thought it was in her son's best interests.

Athena actively lead Annabeth away from Bruce and into the streets at the age of seven, which Bruce would never see as in her best interest, whatever Athena's godly perspective is, however badly he reacted after Jason's death, even though he couldn't see (and dismissed the idea of) the spiders and the monsters. She was seven. In the streets of Gotham.

Athena let Annabeth fight a major role in two wars back to back without being there to train her or protect her or love her or even advise her. Athena advocated for the cold blooded murder of the other children who had actually tried to keep his daughter safe. Athena sent Annabeth against Arachne when Athena's children have universally died on that quest for a thousand years.

Athena let Bruce think he had gotten Annabeth killed because of his own inability to handle his grief. Let him think his daughter was dead or worse for years. Would have let him keep thinking that if the Fates didn't have other plans.

And just, in true fashion for all of my ideas on a PJO x DC crossover, everyone really comes out more traumatized than before. This includes Bruce.

Because now he wasn't just used unknowingly for a child just once, but twice. And in both cases he's going to have to live forever with the guilt of not having been able to protect his kids from what their other parent wanted to make of them

(On top of all the ways he has directly failed them and made any complexes worse, of course )

[amidst-wonderland]

ELIZABETH LANCE-WAYNE

REAL NAME : elizabeth lance-wayne FACE-CLAIM : olivia cooke MAIN ALIAS : siren OTHER ALIASES : starling ⭑ batgirl ⭑ black canary ⭑ crow ⭑ molly malone KEY RELATIVES : bruce wayne (father) ⭑ dinah lance (mother) ⭑ damian wayne, (half-brother) ⭑ olive west-wayne (daughter) ⭑ ronan west-wayne (son) AFFILIATION : batman family ⭑ justice league ⭑ birds of prey ⭑ teen titans ⭑ suicide squad ⭑ flash family ⭑ team arrow ⭑ wayne enterprises BASE OF OPERATIONS : gotham city ⭑ keystone ⭑ star city ⭑ new york city

ORIGIN & LIVING STATUS

ALIGNMENT : hero LIVING STATUS : alive, formerly deceased PLACE OF BIRTH : gotham city UNIVERSE : prime earth IDENTITY : secret CITIZENSHIP : american MARITAL STATUS : separated, it's complicated. OCCUPATION : wedding planner ⭑ socialite (former) ORIGIN : hereditary metagene obtained from mother, black canary. took on protégé role of starling as a child. CAUSE OF DEATH(S) one | killed by the joker after being stabbed with an electric rod during an arkham aslyum surveillance mission with robin and kid flash in an attempt to blow the island sky-high. two | shot by royal flush gang's queen during 'task force x' operation three | impaled by zoom in an act of revenge against flash iii four | beaten to death by 'death metal' alternative, screech in attempt to protect her children

SKILLS & ABILITIES

expert detective master martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant ultra-sonic scream (canary cry) enhanced strength and speed expert strategist, tactician and field commander trained gymnast espionage utilises high-tech equipment and weapons, such as her element adaptive mono-wire proficient archer sound immunity

RELATIONSHIPS / ASSOCIATIONS

marriage | wally west long-term | roy harper fling | adian cobblepot ⭑ joseph wilson

heroes | bruce wayne ⭑ dinah lance ⭑ wally west ⭑ zatanna zatara ⭑ barbara gordon ⭑ dick grayson ⭑ roy harper ⭑ donna troy ⭑ jason todd ⭑ tim drake ⭑ stephanie brown ⭑ cassandra cain ⭑ renee montoya villains | harley quinn ⭑ magpie ⭑ cupid ⭑ rainbow raider ⭑ royal flush gang ⭑ screech ⭑ mad hatter ⭑ catwoman ⭑ hazard ⭑ poison ivy ⭑ killer frost ⭑ joker ⭑ punchline ⭑ court of owls

MISC.

elizabeth was the batgirl to jason's robin and is arguably the closest with him, post resurrection.

after being stripped of her cowl again by bruce, elizabeth winds up babysitting 'task force x' with long-time friend, roy harper and dawning a new short-term alias, crow. the two find comfort in each-other within the band of belligerent criminals as ex-titans, roy after his split with jade and elizabeth longing for a love she doesn't even know she's forgotten.

she’s viewed as an almost modern day ‘daisy buchanan’ type figure in gotham for better or worse

elizabeth's wayne!persona feeds into the catty high-school popular girl, a little ditzy but applying where it counts. she's no valedictorian but fronting the cheer squad and the debate team whilst earning herself prom queen is no small feat (think torrance shipman) but unfortunately for her date and half the school's male populous, she's head-over-heels for nobody but keystone's cocky redhead with a heart of gold. post-gotham academy, she becomes a hilton-type party girl which doesn't go down well with wally.

even after their separation (in name only, these two would literally die for each-other) wally is still persistent that she keeps her flash button-pin on her person at all times, just in case. even after a fight, yet another break or just a storm-out he'll always be there when she needs him and he knows she's stubborn enough to only press it when she really needs him.

liz was a pretty taken aback by wally's reappearance. learning of a life she once had, the children she'd forgotten and unlike everyone else that accepted wally back almost immediately, liz was a little slower, much to wally's impatience.

she covers for her mother as black canary during league outings whilst dinah is on maternity leave, even keeping with the mantle when teaming up with wally when he returns to the flash role.

dinah and bruce were only briefly together, bruce hadn't even begun his career as batman and dinah was working part-time as a florist and club singer.

liz and dick are the same age.

all three of her costumes incorporate led lining, more-so her time as batgirl with the cowl, her batgirl colour-coding was black and sheer white, whilst starling had an ombre rainbow lining - similar to the bird and siren taking on both aspects with the black and white costume and rainbow led lights.

KEY ARCS / MOMENTS / STORYLINE

MATCHES (UNDER THE RED HOOD PREQUEL)

central characters | elizabeth lance-wayne (molly malone) ⭑ jason todd ⭑ tim drake ⭑ cassandra cain ⭑ selina kyle ⭑ adian cobblepot ⭑ oswald cobblepot ⭑ edward nygma ⭑ carmine falcone ⭑ dick grayson ⭑ barbara gordon

whilst batman is off-world with the justice league, the rest of his team have been tasked to protect gotham so newly returned elizabeth gets a whiff of a developing human trafficking ring, she swiftly adopts the 'molly malone' persona in order to infiltrate their operations and put a stop to it. however, she's met with some resistance from the city's newest mob-boss, the red hood.

notable beats

one | this is elizabeth's first solo operation in gotham since the batgirl mantle was taken from her and since she married childhood sweetheart wally west, who is currently off-world with bruce. two | selina helping elizabeth get into the spoilt mafia brat image with hair as big as her tits, heels as fake as her lips and leopard print dress peaking above her ass. during this, cass watches on at the pseduo-mother / daughter moment, longing back to her own childhood. three | seducing oswald cobblepot's absolute meathead unit of a son, adian as malone's guard-dog boyfriend after 'spontaneously' meeting in gotham's 'my alibi' strip club with the promise of opening a brothel (refuge for victims), playing on his sycophantic eagerness to get impress / out-do his own father, mirroring elizabeth's own ambition. four | red hood interrupting her first meeting with the gotham rogues, removing their attention from her, to him. jason identifies liz immediately, being aware of the 'malone' schtick from bruce but decides to toy with her game-plan just to tick her off. five | jason overhears an argument between tim and liz ordering him and cass to back-off the op, he decides to stir the pot by ambushing the boy-wonder. six | elizabeth returns to her and wally's shared penthouse only to be confronted with the red hood confirming her identity as a wayne and poking at her marriage, "does west know you're hanging off penguin jr?" taunting her to press the alarm, knowing bruce and the scarlet-speeder would return seeing the mess she's made of the op, jason offers her a hand.

ROYAL ROULETTE (THE SUICIDE SQUAD) - breakdown to be added

below is just some fun i had after seeing the suicide squad, enjoy!

SNIPPET

“Joining you, Dubois will be two classified and undercover operatives with decades of field experience between them, though you may find their methods in comparison to your active teammates are rather passive.” Amanda Waller drags out as she walks the marksman through the bleak halls of the prison. “Both parties are, like you doing this with a certain level of willingness, but again like you, they have their own rather elusive baggage.”    Dubois continued to follow the woman into her office before being shown some very familiar inmates, one blond and the other ginger, who’d been a real pain in his-    “Arsenal. Speedy and Red Arrow all known aliases of former Green Arrow protégé, Roy Harper. I know you’re aware of Mr. Harper’s craft, but you may relax. He is your covert second-wave operative on this mission.”    “Does he know that?”    “He’s been warned, whether or not he wishes to push my buttons is entirely up to him.”    “Blondie here, is your problem.”    “That’s not Quinn, is it?”    “Far from, this is Siren. Meta-human.”    “Christ.”    “That’s a moot point a third of your team are meta-humans, but this one, used to be Batgirl.”    “Fuck off.”    “Watch that tongue.”    “I thought the Bats were good guys.”    “Yeah, well some of them have tendencies, including this one.”    “What’s she do?”    “Classified.”    “How’d you get her to agree?”    “Classified.”    “Does the Batman know?”    “He knows his daughter is doing covert work for me.”    “Ooh, lying to the cape-crusader is-“ Dubois furrowed his brows, “Did you say daughter?”    “That I did. Siren is a meta-human with enhanced strength, equipped with a Canary Cry that can shatter just about any form of glass within a two-mile radius. Her mother is Black Canary, her Step-father? Green Arrow and her husband is the fastest man alive,” Waller tensed, “Dubois, no matter what the circumstances may be, I do suggest that you and your team do not cross this woman, specifically Quinn.”    “What do the Gothamites have history?” he joked, although Waller did not reciprocate.    “You don’t spend five years as Batgirl without a run in with the Clown. Joker killed her brother, paralysed her teammate, and critically injured herself to the brink of death that she spent seven months in the ICU, all to enact a grand idea that involved blowing Arkham Island to bits.”    “What happened?”    “Two metal rods, and fifty-thousand volts. Folks said the scream could be heard from Metropolis.”    “How’s she not dead?”    “Rumour is Kid Flash was able to restart her heart.”    “So Quinn’s a sore-spot?”    “I don’t want them left alone, Siren won’t kill but Quinn would in retaliation, and I don’t want the job of explaining to Flash why his wife’s body was left in some South American jungle because of a psychotic jester who nearly killed her as a teenager.”    “The bomb threat?”    “As far as she's concerned, there isn't one.”    “Why?”    “Guess.” “What about Quinn?” “Quinn’s quick and unpredictable, Siren could be dead before I hit the button. They’ve known each other for a decade - know how to make each other tick therefore it is your job to make sure they don’t."    “You want me to babysit two grown fucking women? If she’s this much of a hassle then what use is she to us?”    “Siren has trained with nothing but the best, she is a skilled, heavy hitting fighter, acrobat, tech genius, can speak four languages fluently – one of which you will need – and can be an excellent diversion when the moment calls for it. Her skill set is vital to the completion of this mission.”    “And yet Quinn?”    “Cannon fodder. She’s got more balls than any other man on your team.”

[tabl3]

(my version) elite force intelligence ranked & explained

this is on a scale of 10, where 5 is the average

Chase: 10/10 (obligatory duh) intelligence is his whole gimmick. he has access to every bit of knowledge in the world, as well as being a master tactician and strategist, along with being a master in engineering/technology. the only spots that he sometimes lacks in are emotional intelligence and street smarts, but he's literally the smartest being ever created (besides Marcus)

Oliver: 7.5-8ish. he's the second smartest on the team in book smarts sense. he's second in street smarts and is very adept at technology/science. he's also decent with emotional intelligence in most cases (ignore the first part of the series lol) he's also maybe the least dense on the team, meaning picks up social cues easily. all-in-all he's plenty smart in every category which lands him a nice high number

Skylar: 7. while she isn't super book or street smart (specifically the latter) her battle strategy and tactic skills are insanely high (maybe rivaling Chase) she's also extremely technologically advanced because her people are. also going back to 1st point, she's like,,, at least 6 in terms of book smarts

Bree: 6. Bree is decently book and street smart (for being in a basement 15 years) assuming she had 7 classes in high school, I feel like she'd probably get like 4 B's and 3 A's, so above average. she's also innovative because she has to be with her bionics. also her experience gives her a leg up in strategy. she is semi-stunted when it comes to emotional intelligence sometimes, but she's good enough at it

Kaz: 4-4.5. he isn't book smart by any means, or good at strategy (besides "hey, let's blow this up :D) he hates science and technology because it's boring to him. but he's leagues above the others in street smarts terms, plus he is an excellent manipulator lol. he's not totally dumb (much smarter than he thinks) but he is lowest on the team

bonus:

6. Leo: 8. Leo had dogshit grades lmao, but that's because his intelligence lies in engineering and science. this kid is a prodigy. the people who rival his skills in inventing are,,, Chase, Giselle, Douglas, Marcus, Donald,,,, so,,, that says enough. he's also very street smart and emotionally intelligent. shout out the Dooley

7. Adam: 3. so surprising no one, blud is the lowest on the list. he's never needed to be intelligent with the fact that his bionics rarely require strategy and he's super OP. the only ones in the whole series that he couldn't solo w/o help of some kind are Krane, Marcus, Mr. Terror, and the Calderans. says enough p.2. the only person on the good side he couldn't crush is Skylar. (even though Bree and Chase are both smarter, faster, and more skilled than he is, if he had no attachment to them, he'd be able to outlast and destroy them) soooo intelligence isn't his schtick. he is however very well-adjusted emotional intelligence-wise for being in the basement 16 years. he's bad at showing feelings, but picks up others' pretty easily. he's also super perceptive of things no one else notices. he also isn't brain-dead and can understand anything on a basic human level. so he has some plusses, but brother just isn't one that needs smarts.

[aurelion-solar]

Arcane Jinx Unbound - TFT Tactician Splash Art

[bigfan-fanfic]

Bruce finally coming to his senses and stop being batman and being a good Lil hubby for batdad and doing anything to make him feel comfortable while also trying to be a better father for his children and trying to take good care of them

tbh this would be so healthy for Bruce and so good for the world. Not that he doesn't do a lot of demonstrable good as Batman, but he can do so much more as Bruce Wayne in different ways. And that's just outwardly, like focusing on charity work and business reform and political lobbying and supporting the Justice League as a tactician and not a field operative.

For all his kids, he's setting the example of the exit strategy, of knowing that you CAN leave the life and still be happy. He's going to a therapist that they find for the Justice League (and making the League so much more mentally healthy this way too btw) and slowly he's starting to heal, to merge his personae and finally start living as Bruce Wayne instead of Batman. He's healing with Dick and Jason and he's actually trying out calling them "son" more often along with their names, and the other terms of endearment he uses. Damian is not at all happy about having to leave heroing cold-turkey but Bruce doesn't make him switch over completely. He has a seat at the table and is in the loop. He doesn't even have to switch back over to doing in person school instead of virtual. Damian finally gets to see who he is without assassin-ing or vigilante-ing. And don't forget all the others, too!

and for Batdad, there's an unspoken apology but there's also an adorable lack of direction Bruce has. He's forgotten how it was, living only one life at a time. So Batdad almost has to re-teach him how to have free time, how to relax, how to plan things in advance that don't need seven different contingencies. It's just... peace. Gotham's still shitty at first, but he's not using a hammer to sweep it up anymore, he's working with other tools. And he can help with his intelligence and training in training others and studying things from control room, and he turns out to be really damn good at it.

Just... I would love to see this.

[oscarisaacasimov]

The Princess Bride swordfight - how Westley won

Inigo is a better swordsman that Westley.

Let me explain:

... No, there is too much, let me sum up:

In the books, it is explained that Inigo is a wizard. That is the only other plateau above grandmaster in sword fighting, and it is mentioned in the book that there are only 3-4 other Wizards in existence.

He is also a Spaniard, and for those of you with any knowledge of historical fencing, you'll know that the Spanish Destreza style of fencing is widely regarded as the most lethally efficacious.

(Watch The mask of Zorro to see some excellent Destreza style training)

Westley was a prodigy. If he had started fencing at the same time as Inigo we wouldn't even be having this conversation. He learned everything he learned in 5 years compared to Inigo's studying for his entire life.

But Wesley also learned on a ship, which means he more than likely learned to focus on an entirely different form of fencing. I'd wager to say that Westley was at the level of a grandmaster, but as far as the sharpness of his mind goes, he was twice as brilliant as Inigo.

Westley is always observing, and he not only learned that Inigo was a Spaniard, but saw the ornamentation of his handle, and had an up close look at his right hand's callouses just as he was cresting the cliff, and in that short amount of time, put it together that he was facing a swordsman of "inconceivable" skill, which is why he immediately plays against Inigo's ego by drawing his sword left-handed behind his back, while panting.

Inigo sees this and thinks he's going to get to fight a left-handed fighter, and wants him to be as rested as possible.

Wesley then endears himself to Inigo, treating his opponent with respect and bringing his would-be assassin to the point of actually having him say, "You seem a decent fellow I hate to kill you."

Which is leagues beyond the level of affection he had for him just 5 minutes prior.

He then proceeds to tucker him out, and uses his terrain to his advantage, forcing Inigo to fight in a more constrained close-quarters manner, instead of out in the open where he would have had the clear upper hand.

He indulged him in fighting left-handed because he wanted to encourage a protracted duel, knowing that even though that was Inigo's goal, it was also his weakest point, because a swordsman of that level of skill hasn't likely, for many years, actually had a protracted duel.

He then begins to banter about swordsmanship with him, which, in my opinion, was simply to confuse Inigo about what was going through Westley's mind, and how he was controlling the situation. (Remember, Westley wins all three of his duels with Inigo, Fezzik, and Vizzini by using his mind. Utilizing their assumptions about him against them)

It isn't until he clearly has the upper hand, and Inigo is exhausted, swinging with both hands on his sword, that he engages in his final tactic: distracting him by flicking his hair out of his face with his sword. A move that he knows Inigo is going to respond to no matter what, as evidenced by the two blade marks on either side of his face.

Westley meant what he said when he stated he would rather destroy a stained glass window than an artist like Inigo, as he recognized Inigo's skill wholly and without mistake.

Inigo was, and is, a better swordsman than Westley, he just wasn't even half the tactician.

source: Facebook group "The Princess Bride: Inconceivableposting" by Ian Patrick Pearce.

[mysterycitrus]

it is kind of sad though because even in the actual comics they don't really show dick as a great leader (thinking about ntt rn but there are others), they just dumb everyone else down. like there are so many different things you could pull on to make him the great leader he's supposed to be but they are rarely willing to put in the effort of thinking about why this guy is leading among so many people who are incredibly powerful and able to avoid a lot of the physical limitations he has

honestly like…. such a good point. i try really hard to write smart characters in my fic (even if they make silly choices) because it’s so crucial to how the bats operate and tbh dick should be on a whole other level of people managing. i think my fave examples of some of his leadership are from titans99 or outsiders2003 because they portray thee most interesting parts of how he communicates with others — the fact that he’ll make shitty choices that people disagree with and that the people he’s leading will disagree with him but still trust him anyway. that’s partially why i love the fab5 so much, cause when they’re written well they absolutely will call him out on his horseshit. but there’s still that absolute trust in his capabilities as a tactician.

like dick as a leader makes a lot of sense on paper — he has one of the longest tenures in the community, he housetrained the biggest bitch on the league, he’s rigorously moral, and he has broad emotional intelligence (even if he frequently uses it for evil). it makes sense that people, especially those with powers, would want to trust someone else to handle the logistics of working in a team with others with the same capacity for destruction. his specific skillset of thinking on his feet while calculating ten steps ahead makes him more popular than bruce and more outwardly confident than tim.

the downside to this tho is like u said — it relies on the other members of the group being written well. roy harper would not bend to dicks will just cause he said so. kory can and will kill against dicks orders. wally forces him into the leadership role to stop him from becoming like bruce. and if ur a writer who doesn’t give a shit he’s an easy character to just insist is smart and talented and trusted “just cause ❤️” rather than proving any of it in the text

[fastestmanalive333]

Earth-1987: Jason Todd

Red Hood: Heroes for Hire

I think I'm gonna be working more on my version of Jason Todd I do want to show more of Jason, Rose and Eddie being a trio.. they'll be fun to right.. scarlet is gonna appear as well as Waldo an old pre crisis character... he's a clown with a gun.. they'll sorta run an organization that's sorta based on fucking up supervillains.. Jay will have goons of his own.. it's like the opposite of a mob.. they don't run the city.. they help people in need... it'll also be a sorts heroes for hire type thing.. Jay, Rose and Eddie will often partner with the Birds of Prey, funny thing is.. Jay and Rose's tactics are a bit more extreme sometimes and Eddie and everyone sometimes do need to hold them back in some cases but they mean well.. Jason will also have multiple types of guns... and since he's an acrobat on top of league training it really just makes him an extremely skilled fighter and tactician.. dick states he's a better fighter then him.. Jay outsmarts him numerous times in Morrisons batman and robin until dick outsmarts him he has a sailor mouth.. him and rose often play gta.. Jason will be 19 it'll sorta continue where he left off in barman and robin fleeing with Scarlet but it'll mostly go in a newer direction but it is canon to this portrayal with slight changes... one... Morrison got Jay's hair color wrong it was blonde... two he won't be ugly looking.. and he will recite stuff in the mirror he does fuck around a lot and he annoys dick for the sake of it.. to pranks in the mail to using his bank account.. to sending illegal shit to his address ends up getting him arrested once he gets out but he's very much the role of a snot nosed brother he has a fun charm to him and it balances both his pre crisis and red hood personalities and Nocturna will be referenced Anton Knight/Night Slayer being a recurring antagonist for him.. him and Rena will also reunite, his main love interest will be Rose tho