#now that i think about it Damian going to college would be a neat development. let him study to be a veterinarian or artist or smth lol

[batbabydamian]

🦇🐥 Batman and Robin (2023) #5 rambling and a conspiracy theory lol

tbh this is the most exciting issue for me since…the first one 💀 i’m going to talk about the story and art separately because Nikola Cizmesija’s one of my favorite action focused comic artists so this issue’s a treat 😭

Alfred used to mediate during a lot of Bruce and Damian’s early relationship, so it’s refreshing to see Bruce take more initiative involving himself in Damian’s life even if it’s for a case lol

a couple instances of Alfred’s fatherly support on behalf of Bruce and Damian from Batman and Robin (2011) #2, 4, 39 and Teen Titans (2016) #1

Damian seems to take Bruce's involvement more as a sign he’s not reliable rather than Bruce finally just. being around to help him. which is fair 😭

this is complementary to Cizmesija’s art, but i love this half of the page so bad 😭 the negative space and the shaded foreground with Damian mid-run gives this feeling of time kinda stopping for us to really feel the impact of Damian’s entrance AND the effect it has on Bruce, like!! that wide eyed expression in the below panel!! 😭

Bruce’s quiet “you can do it, son” to A FULL BODY CHEER OF “GO, DAMIAN!” Bruce witnessing Damian be great outside of Robin, and on top of that it’s just another mundane moment that Bruce has wanted with Damian 😭

this is such a goofy bully line sdfgh though the whole “broken” bit might be a callback to Batman and Robin (2011) #1, in that Bruce is really trying to do his job as a father here or i'm likely reading way too into it

SO the “shocking ending” of Zach being Zsasz’s kid was definitely a surprise but then got me wondering what is up with Williamson doing reveals of new kids for villains lol otherwise, the hints in the issue were neat!

the tally marks!! at least tallying blocks is pretty innocent compared to kills 😭

and Damian would recognize how Zsasz moves, since he’s personally fought him before in Streets of Gotham (2009)!! very much not in a sport, but uh maybe it was to Zsasz

the art!! first a shoutout to the colorist Rex Lokus for giving Damian his green eyes and maybe melanin (it didn’t look consistent throughout so i say maybe)!! 😭 also a Talia by Cizmesija!! even though this panel calls her a “not great” teacher…💀

SUCH A FUN PAGE 😭 i’ve been into montage scenes lately lol and i love how quickly Cizmesija establishes Damian’s routine - Tues, Wed, and Fri are the funniest for me!! Damian grumpily getting lectured by his teacher in the foreground while his classmate’s still visibly steaming from the hit he took LOL, DAMIAN’S BUG EYED STARE WITH HIS SUNGLASSES UP, and then Damian looming. stealthily. in a tree. while some kid is blatantly pointing him out HAHA 😭

Cizmesija’s use of motion lines and effects when conveying movement is so cool!! the shonen manga vibes jumps out!! the smoke/dust trails following the movements; the limbs and soccer ball having a sort of blur effect with the motion lines. V COOL.

which leads to my favorite part of Cizmesija’s work - HIS IMPACT SHOTS!!

more motion lines and effects!! the splatter effects!! the arcs!! the jolting impacts!! GRRAAHH!! the setup to that impact shot of Zach's block is so great, and then following with Damian's reaction!! i almost wish that "???" wasn't there, just because that expression of stunned silence already feels so loud!!

last thoughts about Cizmesija's art is that i'm really hoping for a showdown between Damian and Zach next issue because i need to see a Damian fight scene in Nikola Cizmesija-fashion 😭 we get a taste of it with Orca and soccer but i NEED MORE LOL for now, dropping the moment when Damian overpowers Zsasz, in Batman: Streets of Gotham #11 since it was such an epic moment

okay SLAPPING MY CONSPIRACY BOARD!! so on another note Principal Stone being Shush is starting to feel like a red herring and Ms. Heather Hall could actually be Shush. Shush’s main point about Damian as his instructor was emphasizing how much potential he has, but the “wrong” influence could affect that

Stone and Hall have made the same observation about Damian’s potential, but the difference is how they address that - one wants Bruce to be more involved while the other wants Bruce to back off

Stone acknowledged Damian can take care of himself but still wants Bruce to step up in Damian’s life; Hall says it’s okay to be a helicopter parent BUT implies giving Damian space (which we already know Bruce has given so much of after Alfred’s death to the point of neglect 😭)

Hall even suggests moving Damian on to college, which would estrange Damian further. also idk how Damian kicking his teammates/bullies asses at soccer is really “making friends” lol

and of all the subjects she’s teaching, it’s AP Biology - according to the current case Batman and Robin are working on, which is centered around DNA-sequencing, it makes Hall the perfect accomplice to Langstrom

this is where my brain started reaching because i laughed at first at how specific that comparison is, but then it just made me think of how Shush’s first introduction was sniping Bruce LOL anyway, Bruce’s reaction is me 😭

one more Cizmesija appreciation panel - the lil running effects behind Damian :)

[queerbutstillhere]

12. We dated back in highschool then you moved away but now you're back in town.

(for @legitpumpkin an AU in which the Kent's and Wayne's live in the same neighborhood of whatever town you'd like to pick.)

"Hey, did you hear the news?"

Jon looked up, eyebrows knitted together, his tongue was poking out of his mouth from his hyper concentration.

"What?" He asked absently, looking away from his brother back to his laptop, returning to reading his article.

Kon said something about Tim and someone coming back.

"Cool," Jon responded in that same absent tone.

"Jon, you literally did not hear a word I just said did you?"

Jon just shook his head, quickly deleting and rewriting a section.

"Leave him alone, Kon, he has deadlines to meet," Chris inputted from where he was laying on the sofa beside Jon, at an awkward angle so his feet weren't on the younger man.

"Fine. Pardon me for trying to tell him that his former lover is back in town."

"What?" Jon asked, interest mildly peaked now.

"Damian's back home for the summer."

The rapid click-clacking of Jon's keys completely stopped, and he blinked at Kon.

"And Tim says he's thinking about moving back to the States completely."

"Oh-" Jon breathed out.

"You should go talk to him," Chris suggested, pushing at his knee.

"Yeah.... God it's been what, five, six years?"

"Six. Five, since you guys broke up."

Jon hummed, returning to clicking away at his computer.

"Are you still in love with him?" Chris asked, looking at his phone.

"I don't know? It's been five years, Chris, I haven't seen him except maybe in passing once or twice. We don't really talk except occasionally commenting on each other's social media posts."

"Who?"

They all looked up when Lois walked in.

"Damian. He's back home," Kon supplied.

"Oh! Yes. Bruce just invited us over for dinner, actually."

"He what?" All three boys exclaimed at once.

"Yup! At six, which means you three need to be showered and wearing nice clothes!"

"Oh yes, how dare we show up to our childhood best friends house in our jorts and tanktops."

"Kon, we all know Dick would absolutely destroy you for wearing jorts," Chris said with a snort. "I'll go take first shower since busy body over here is still working."

"Look! Once I get this article turned in, I'm officially on break, but this is a pretty big story so I need to make sure it's perfect before I send it to the editors," Jon defended himself to empty air, as Kon and Chris had both already left.

He sighed and returned to typing.

An hour later, everyone was clean and dressed and they all took the short walk down the block to the Wayne's house together. The Wayne residence was the largest, and loudest building in the neighborhood. There were always people coming and going, and always children around, despite the fact that none of Bruce's kids had their own families yet. They could hear yelling inside before they even got to the front door, and Jon smiled at the fond memories that hit him. Clark stepped up and knocked on the door, and within a minute, the door was yanked open by Dick Grayson.

"Hey guys!" He exclaimed with a bright grin, immediately hugging Clark, and then Lois, and then all three of the boys.

"Hello, Dick."

"Come on in! Dad and Alfie are just finishing dinner, I think the others got kicked into the living room at some point, they were being too noisy."

"Aren't they always?" Jon asked with a smile, his writers mind already crafting out how he would report on this evening.

"Hey, now, Jonno," Dick said with a laugh, having to reach up to ruffle Jon's hair. "Man I miss when you were only this tall."

He held a hand down by his waist, shaking his head at the 6"2" man and tsking.

"Anyway! Come on!"

"I'm gonna pop into the kitchen," Lois said, and disappeared. Clark hesitated before following.

The boys just followed Dick deeper into the house where yelling and barking was coming from the family room. They entered and discovered Cassandra and Jason wrestling on the floor. Tim and Damian sat on the furniture, and Ace running around barking in dismay.

"Guys!" Dick protested, crossing his arms.

Cass let go of Jason, who rolled to his feet, sticking his tongue out at her. She immediately blew a raspberry before flipping up.

"Kon!" Tim exclaimed, jumping out of his seat and running to hug his friend.

Jon however, had made eye contact with Damian. And hot. Damn. Jon met Damian when he was 10. He had seen Damian grow up, had personally witnessed the awkward teen years where Damian had been growing into his own body and face. Hell he had dated Damian through the tail end of it. He knew Damian was an attractive person - look at his parents, it was the only logical thing to happen - but he had some how gotten hotter???

Damian would be around twenty-six by now, he was tall, maybe not as tall as Jon, but he couldn't quite be certain from this distance. His face was angular and defined, not quite the sharp features of his father, but more delicate and feminine like Talia. Everything about him screamed neatness, from his trimmed eyebrows, and clean shaven face, to his carefully styled hair and clothing. His hair was a different style the Jon last remembered seeing, shaved short on the sides and longer in the back, styled in a quiff. He was wearing black jeans and a button down, and Jon could see a gold necklace hanging around his throat. His beautiful, full lips curled into a soft smile as he scanned over Jon, before lazily pushing up to his feet. Oh yeah, Jon was definitely still taller.

"Hello, Jonathan," he said with a sweet smile, walking over.

His legs were still long and lanky, and he still walked with an insane amount of grace, a habit he had picked up from when he used to do ballet.

"Hi," Jon breathed out, finding himself completely awestruck.

Damian walked right up to him, hugging him gently. Jon immediately hugged him back, noting that he smelled like vanilla and citrus, but not in a bad way.

"It's good to see you," Damian said softly. His accent had thickened significantly in the past few years, and damn that was hot too.

"Yeah, oh my God, it's been forever." Jon pulled back to look at Damian again, his hand lingering on his arm.

Damian smiled up at him, his green eyes flicking over Jon's face. "Five years, really. Not forever."

"Okay, no, but it is a long time. Where all have you been at?" Jon asked, letting Damian push him out of the room where their siblings were talking loudly.

"I've been all over. Finished my schooling in Switzerland, and then spent sometime traveling around Europe. Then I've been in the Middle East with mother for the past few years. I enjoyed the traveling, but I think I'm ready to be back home."

"Wow. You'll have to tell me all about it!" Jon said, eyes wide with amazement.

Damian chuckled, nodding. "I'm sure we'll have time. You're a journalist now, no?"

"Yeah! Just hit my one year mark with the company I work for right now," Jon said with a proud grin.

"That's good, do you enjoy it?"

"Oh yeah, it always keeps me on my toes. I very rarely get bored with it."

"Okay! Dinner is ready!"

Jon jolted with the suddenness of Bruce's yell. Damian chuckled, looking past Jon at Bruce who was waving them over.

Dinner was nice and loud and noisy and Jon was hit with this painful realization of "Holy Shit Maybe I Am Still In Love With Damian" and he desperately needed to tell his brothers this development, but he didn't know how to do it slyly. So he just sat there in gay turmoil for a whole hour of a dinner. Then, while the others were heading to the living room, Damian snagged his hand and pulled him to the front door, clipping a leash on Ace and then walking outside. Jon followed silently, curious what was going on.

"Do you remember when we used to just go on walks around the neighborhood?"

"I remember sneaking over to your house a couple times in the middle of the night just to go on those walks," Jon answered, watching Ace sniff a bush. "And I remember getting my ass whooped the week my mom found out."

"And yet you kept doing it all through highschool," Damian said with an amused glance towards him.

"What do you expect. I was young, dumb and in love."

Damian chuckled, glancing down the road before crossing it.

"So, fill me in on what you've been up too since I left for Switzerland."

"Oh. Nothing wild, finished college, got my major in journalism, and minor in psychology. Got my job the same month as graduation, moved out in August, and I've just kinda been focusing on work since."

Damian hummed. "You always have been a bit of a busybody."

"Hey!"

Damian just grinned and gently nudged Jon.

"So, shall I just ask the awkward question?"

"What awkward question."

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Oh!" Jon felt his cheeks heat up and then he shrugged. "No, not right now. I dated a few guys in college, but not anyone for a while."

Damian hummed and nodded.

"Uh. What about you?"

"No. With all the traveling, and living in the Middle East..."

Jon nodded in understanding, pausing as Ace darted in front of him. Without thinking he took the leash from Damian and let Ace smell the along the other side of the sidewalk.

"So what are you going to be doing, now that you're back? Working for your dad?"

"No, probably not. I'm going to resume my modeling career, and I'll be working as a environmental ambassador, just little things like that."

"Oh, cool."

Damian hummed, putting his hands in his pockets. They crossed the street and started to head back home.

"So we're totally gonna start hanging out then, right?"

"Well of course, you're one of my best friends," Damian said with a smile.

"Even though I'm your ex?"

"Jon, dating you was some of the best years of my life."

"Oh," Jon said softly, feeling his face heat up.

Damian chuckled and shook his head, smiling at Jon fondly.

Oh yeah, Jon still had feelings for Damian.

Send me a prompt!

[lavanderstarcatcher]

Book Review || Geekerella

Geekerella by Ashley Poston

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book wasn’t supposed to give me feelings – at least not to this extent. I hoped to smile, giggle and maybe shed a tear or two. Instead, I ended up bawling my eyes out, sniffing and tearing through the book at a speed that I wouldn’t have expected from myself. Why were my expectations low? Because of genre-wise, this is everything I don’t read. I often read books that are classified as Middle Grade instead of Young Adult, this book has found its unique spot between all my fantasy books. I don’t read romance; I don’t read contemporary because they aren’t usually my cup of tea. So, how did I end up buying this one? And foremost, how did I end up enjoying it?

First Impression

I needed a standalone book, because nearly every book on my shelf is a part of a series, and once I start a book series, I have to finish it. So, I was browsing the shelf in my local bookstore and came across this one. It was the first time a book sold me on just being there, sitting on a shelf. I always google the books I want to read, always, well, I used to be able to say always because this book sold itself. The cover is beautiful. The purple spine is very eye-catching, the art is simple and dreamy, the title short but oh-so-important. Because it already screams GEEK. I mean, GEEKerella. It’s like throwing fandom and fairy tales together – which is right up my alley. Because I’m a geek. I have been to anime conventions, I read fanfiction, I write fanfiction, I spend too many days browsing Tumblr, I’m a religious Pokemon fan though I don’t play the games anymore or watch the show. It was promising, and the synopsis did a remarkable job convincing me. Long story short, I picked up the story because I saw myself in it because it was a reflection of me, of a geek, of a nerd, of someone socially awkward, someone who spends days in their fantasy world.

Part romance, part love letter to nerd culture, and all totally adorbs, GEEKRELLA is a fairy tale for anyone who believes in the magic of fandom –Synopsis.

The story

The story is cut up three parts so I will address each part separately. I will hide significant spoilers if necessary, but I will mainly quite my favourite moments of the books and fangirl.

Part 1

“Look to the stars. Aim. Ignite.” –Ending monologue, Starfield, Episode 54

It wasn’t my favourite part. It’s rather forgetful, really. Nothing major happens, but that doesn’t make it less important. It introduces all the characters quite nicely, it sets up relationships between several characters (including the main couple) and it’s a good set-up for a few plot points

(view spoiler)

(Damien’s issue with Brian, the fact that Damian is in the jury panel during the cosplay contest, Elle’s desire to go to the cosplay contest and just win

(hide spoiler)). This part also creates a relationship between our two main characters, which is important as romance is one of the major parts of this story. So, I think it’s a bit forgetful but essential.

Part 2

“When you can’t win the fight, you get bigger guns.” –Episode 14. “Better Space Than Never”

Plot-wise, there isn’t that much progress. Elle goes through with her idea to go to the cosplay contest and through the part she is working on that. That’s it. But that isn’t what it’s important in Part 2, at least not in my opinion. It’s the relationship development that got me reeling. Elle makes a friend, another romantic subplot slowly kicks in (I saw it coming from the moment the two characters were in the same scene – I have read too much fanfiction) and Elle’s relationship with Darien strengthens. And this part really gets to me.

–I’m flattered you think of me – Darien –I think of you a lot, actually – Elle

In the book, they have about three weeks to get to know each other through text. It’s not very long, and it could be classified as instant-love. And a year ago, I would have said maybe yes it’s too fast. Because three weeks of texting isn’t a lot. But right now, I can relate. Not on a romantic level, but it’s crazy how well you can get to know each other in a short amount of time, even just through texting. One of my closet lives on the other side of the world – like, I can’t hop in a car and drive up to her house. And we know each other crazily well. At some point it felt like we knew each other for over a year, and it was just a couple of months. Right now it still isn’t even a year, and yet I feel like she has been at my side for ages, through high school, through several years of college. Then I realise she isn’t.

–Look up – Damien –Is it the sky? – Elle –Not JUST the sky. It’s the SAME sky. And if we’re both looking up at the same sky, how far apart can we REALLY be? What were the odds of us being put on the same slab of rock in this huge universe? – Damien –Elle, we might not know much about each other, and I might not be there, and you might not be here, but I’m glad to share this sky with you. Maybe we should start looking up together, ah’blena – Damien

But that’s my reasoning why I don’t mind the short period of time for their romance to develop. And it’s why this part really got to me. I see us in there, me and my friend. And maybe not in a romantic sense, but we get each other, we understand each other and we share fandom things. And even if it isn’t fandom things, we are there for each other. This part, especially the text messages shared between Darien and Elle, is what I live for, is why I broke my habit and picked up this book. I might not make much sense – maybe I shouldn’t write this directly after I finished the book – but this part reflects so many reasons I picked up the book.

–So which universe are we in? – Damien –The first – Elle –Oh good, I was scared for a minute there, ah’blena. I’m glad we’re in the impossible world – Damien –Why? – Elle –Because otherwise I never would’ve found you – Damien

Part 3

“You are not alone, ah’blena, and your stars will guide me home.” –Episode 33. “A Box to Remember”

You know, I haven’t cried in a while since reading a book. Yes, sometimes I shed a tear here and there, but I have cried too much during this part. Not all parts, of course. It was the beginning of the part, which could be compared to the Fairy Godmother scene in Cinderella, which made me emotional because I was happy for the friendship, the friendship was great, and it made me happy and so damn emotional. Then stuff happened, which I’m not going to spoil. Several subplots were neatly rounded up, problems were wrapped into a neat bow, and they got their happy ending. And I still cry, so stupidly much. Because the hurt and the struggles were real. How they wove their feelings together with the fandom of this story was great, the lesson that’s important to look beyond the appearance and reputation, that family doesn’t have to be blood-related and that there are always real friends, and that in the end of the day, being yourself is the most important thing of all.

Conclusion

I know I shouldn’t have written this directly after finishing the novel. I still feel a slightly light-headed, and there is a stain on my glasses that has been annoying me for way too long. But you know what, I hope that I managed to note down why I loved this book so much, and why I even bothered to write a review for it. I won’t be dipping more in Contemporary because of this book because I think this is really more fandom focussed and not meant to anyone. If I give this to one of my non-fandom friends, they won't get half of the things, I suppose. But that doesn’t make it a bad book, not at all. It’s a lovely book that I will reread in the future, the perfect ‘in between series’ book if I have to wait for a delivery or a next release. I doubt there will be ever a book 2, and I’m perfectly fine with that. I have plenty of series, and a good standalone book is hard to find. Though, in this case, all it needed was a bright purple spine and a nerdy title.

“Do you really mean that, ah’blena?” “I promise-swear, ah’blen.”

View all my review