#see the thing is--i am wayne's biggest fan

[queerdiazs]

Eddie’s alive, just stuck in the Upside Down, but he doesn’t go to Dustin or Mike or Lucas—oh, no. And not even Steve, either, no matter how much he respects the dude.

Nah, Eddie traverses the woods of the Upside Down, knows where that old beat up truck sits that he and Wayne found a few months ago during season that they fixed up with the blessing of the landowner, and waits for his uncle there. 

Eddie’s trailer is fucked and he knows Wayne doesn’t have the money to afford a hotel room, so he sits in that truck in the woods, shivering and bleeding and singing songs to keep himself awake, and waits until Wayne turns it on.

And when he does in a few hours, Springsteen’s faintly heard and Eddie laughs because he loves his uncle, adores the man and he wishes he told him more of that when he had the chance, but he’s determined he’ll have more time later, he just has to get out of this hellish place first, and so he starts talking. 

It startles Wayne at first, swears and yells flying, and then there’s tears shared between them, so close and yet so far apart. Eddie explains what he can, pressing his hands into his wounds in hopes of slowing the bleeding, and he tells Wayne to hurry with an aborted, “I love you.” 

Wayne hurries. He fishes his rifle out from beneath his seat and thinks—about the kids who joined Eddie's club, about the band kid and the kid with the questions and the other kid, too, with soft brown eyes and a sad smile when he ducked his head in acknowledgment—and takes off. 

He finds Harrington’s house, knocks on the door until the kid comes running. He slings it wide, revealing himself and the band kid and Henderson, Wayne thinks, who's momma is sweet and kind at the diner, and says, “My nephew is alive. Let’s go get him.”

And he didn’t know what he expected from this kid—if he thought he’d get directions or what—but he’s surprised when Harrington nods, slips on some shoes, and follows him outside to his truck where Eddie's voice is still coming through the radio. 

Harrington says hi, a broken sort of thing, and promises they’re on the way, for him to just stay where he’s at, and Eddie giggles, says, “My knight in shining armor,” because he's always been romantic, and Harrington goes red and says, “Goddamn right I am,” and Wayne listens to Eddie's laughter the whole way to the portal that takes them to the other world. 

It's dark and ugly and dead, but they find Eddie fast. He’s bleeding out, blubbering as soon as he sees Wayne and Steve—“Call me Steve, please.”—and it takes both of them to carry Eddie up and out of that shithole dimension. 

They take him to the hospital, Eddie resting in Steve's arms the whole way, and as soon as Eddie's taken back and stabilized, Wayne and Steve collapse in the hallway. They’re quiet when they do it, but Steve's tears are hot and Wayne’s grip is tight and they hold one another close. They ask a nurse for an extra bed in Eddie's room; she’s reluctant but she does it anyway when Steve asks nicely. 

Wayne and Steve camp Eddie's room as he rests, talking quietly and getting to know one another better and sharing stories of Eddie. soon, Wayne passes out in the recliner—helps his back if he sleeps upright since those discs have been deteriorating—and wakes up a few hours later to see the extra bed unused.

Steve’s crawled up into Eddie's bed with him, nestled close and tight, and they’re both awake, faces turned toward one another as they giggle and whisper and chuckle, but Wayne can’t hear them and he thinks that’s okay. 

He rests some more, content to listen to the soft sounds of his boys—his boys, ‘cause Harrington is his now; a decision he made when he saw the darkness in the kid's eyes that reminds him so much of his own shit—lull him to sleep. 

That is, until one Dustin Henderson hears the news that Eddie's alive and safe and recovering. He causes a ruckus and a half, and the hospital staff is in shambles, and Wayne laughs because he might just have to make Dustin one of his own, too.

[myeagleexpert]

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕨 𝕞𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕘𝕠 𝕠𝕟

Yan!Batfamily x Singer!YN (neglected) Inspired by @@gotham-daydreams's fic, your work is wonderful and makes me think about many things…. One of the things I think about is if they found Reader from her music….

Summary: Despite everything, the show must go on. Warnings: Mention of healing processes, Reader has a trigger in the middle of an important show Mention: Reader as YN, Dick Grayson, Friend!Reader Note: This fic takes place before the events of Not [ ], before they meet Reader and become yandere because of her. Check out and value the original author's work, it's a very complete and interesting fic! < 3 You can find more of this here

“YN! YN! YN!” the crowd screamed her name, the fans excited to see their favorite idol, wanting more of her performance.

The makeup artist was applying the final touches to her vibrant makeup while the hair stylist was reshaping the curls of her wig. The final touches before going on stage again while they were backstage.

“Everyone loved your performance! They’re screaming for you out there!” says one of the dancers excitedly

“The last song was amazing, YN! We can feel the energy here!” praises the makeup artist while touching up the glitter in her eye

“Aaaah that’s great! I’m not nervous like last time so it’s good to see it’s working out!” Yn says while drinking water, her first times on stage had been shy and awkward, but after overcoming that initial barrier today she performs with confidence, dancing and interacting with the audience masterfully.

“1 minute to get back on stage guys!” one of the organizers warned, making everyone there, including YN, mentally prepare for yet another amazing choreography.

You can do it, YN! she started to motivate herself mentally while reviewing the next song.

“M ama ma i make my own mantra……”

Ow, the broccoli loved this song! My broccoli like the choreography!

“30 seconds!”

I should have run for my music career before, the broccolis supported me from the beginning, why did it take me so long to do this?

“20 seconds!”

Ow….. I remembered, because of them…… just thinking about everything that happened at Wayne Manor, YN's vibe and mood drop, the magazine cover smile is replaced by a blank look and under eyebrows furrowed in frustration.

“10 seconds!”

Why am I thinking about them now? They don't even deserve to be in my thoughts. It's showtime, Yn, focus!

“3….2….1”

“Time to go on stage! It’s showtime!” the crew starts cheering and clapping with YN, getting into the festive show mood as they enter the stage

“WHATS UPS BROCCOLISSS?!” YN excitedly greets them through the microphone, the audience goes wild, screaming and raising the show props.

The house is full, today the show is in one of the biggest concert venues in London, with all the floors packed and the VIP area swarming with important people, reporters, cameras, today is a success! YN’s costume shines and stands out in the dark house, with sparkles and sequins that reflect the light in shades of pink and blue, the wig sets her apart like an anime protagonist and the dancers dance with expression and boldness. It's at these times that YN feels on top of the world, not out of arrogance but out of belonging… this is her place, this is what she does best. Her heart is full of joy as she jumps choreographing with the dancers, she feels light even when she sings with all her body and soul. And it's exactly at these moments, when life likes to poke at the wound…

Amidst the lights of the place while YN was catching her breath, she saw out of the corner of her eye, among the many people in the stands, a person suspiciously similar to him… Dick Grayson. The breath she was trying to recover to get into the next part of the song gets stuck in her throat as she remains paralyzed while searching for that man in the crowd.

"It's not possible… it can't be him… not today!"

Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne's eldest son, the first Robin, the boy prodigy… these are some of the names and titles he received throughout his life, but all YN wanted to call him was brother. His image was warm and kind, always hugging the other brothers and helping the new Robins adapt, transforming this time with them into something familiar and a memory to keep in the colorful albums of the mind… but why not me? Why does everyone have the right to his charming smile while I am left with the stiff back of ignorance? Why could everyone spend time with him while I was always the last option?

Why? Why? Why?

And unexpectedly, Yn was no longer a confident singer on the path to success, she was a defenseless and insecure girl who sought affection from her brother. She felt transported to the terrible mansion again in a state of agonizing nostalgia, where her small hands tried to intertwine with his with hope… only for him to let go of her hand with a not very disguised look of disgust.

“Oh YN, I can't stay with you now! I have to go to patrol!” With an unapologetic smile, Dick entered the movie theater where his friends from the Teen Titans were for one of their many hang outs.

Yn knew she didn't have the love of Bruce, her father, but was she so terrible that she didn't deserve her brother's affection?

“Can I really call you brother?”

No, you don't deserve it.

At that moment, little voices in her head conspired with YN. Imposter Syndrome? Who knows? She seemed to be slowly succumbing to the many memories of the mansion, the turned backs and the disgusted eyes, the neglect, the cruelty, the shadows in the corner of the smallest room in the house that seemed to be the only refuge besides Alfred himself, who, despite having done everything in his power, still did not fill the emptiness that the girl felt…

Walls full of gold, silver and bronze medals and trophies from various sports, records and photos with important people would be enough to make anyone feel proud of the honors and merits conquered with their own sweat. But for the innocent girl, they were just poor failed plans to get the family's attention. It is no wonder that, when she left the mansion, she left her belongings and the glories of her childhood in the same room without looking back, with the idea of ​​a new path to be taken.

"YN, you go in now." The manager said through the singer's earpiece, counting the seconds for her to enter the chorus……but she didn't enter "YN?"

She was thinking too much, lost in thought, thinking too much……

Why wasn't it enough? Why wasn't I enough? Why? Why?

"YN, are you okay?"

Why was I so lonely? Why didn't anyone want to play with me?

With great skill, the singer next to YN pulled a remix for the two's song when he realized that something was wrong while the stage management called YN backstage, she went there on robotic stages with her hand on the communicator, making the audience think it had just been a technical problem. They got her water and sat her in a chair.

ł ₮ⱤłɆĐ ₴Ø Ⱨ₳ⱤĐ ₮Ø ₲Ɇ₮ ₵ⱠØ₴Ɇ ₮Ø ₮ⱧɆ₥, ł ₮ⱤłɆĐ ₴Ø Ⱨ₳ⱤĐ ₣ØⱤ ₮ⱧɆ₥… ₴Ø ₩ⱧɎ ₩₳₴₦'₮ ł₮ Ɇ₦ØɄ₲Ⱨ? ₩ⱧɎ ₵ØɄⱠĐ₦'₮ ₮ⱧɆɎ Ⱨ₳VɆ ₵Ø₥Ɇ?

"YN, are you okay?" the manager asked, he had been with YN since she started taking her first baby steps in her music career, it was a worrying scene to see her cold and without answering a word, he frowned as he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder “YN… we are here with you, what is going on?”

₩ⱧɎ ₩ⱧɎ ₩ⱧɎ ₩ⱧɎ ₩ⱧɎ

“Why?…” she murmured, frowning as she looked up, still lost in old memories and some random point on the ceiling. The confused manager turned his head slightly, confused about what she was talking about.

Friend!Reader, who was nearby and recognized what was happening, as he had been by her side several times when this happened, approached and told the manager that he would take care of her.

“Hey, Earth to YN, what happened there?” he said, hugging YN, she didn’t return the hug, she just stayed leaning against him like a corpse.

“Friend!Reader…?”

“Yes, YN?” he asked

“Why, Friend!Reader…… why not me?” and with whispered words she buried her face in Friend!Reader's shoulders, as she let herself be carried away by the contained emotions and he hugged her trembling form tighter.

The wound that was beginning to heal was opening again, like a bandage aggressively ripped off a skin that was being reconstructed. The wound in her mind pulsed with a constant pain, a memory of something that had never been completely healed. Like a poorly made scar on her skin, the pain was a constant reminder of something that no matter how much she tried to ignore it and start from scratch, it still hadn't been resolved.

Like medicines that have a set time until the end of their effect and at some point, the pain returns, that was Yn's focus while she convinced herself that everything was fine and that she had overcome the situation…. sooner or later the effect wears off, and the pain returns. But while she tried to heal, each emotional trigger seemed to rip the wound open again, causing uncomfortable and uneasy feelings…

“I saw one of them, Friend! Reader… I'm not sure, but… I know I saw him! In the corner of the show, my show….” she whispered to him, almost in tears

“Calm down, YN, let's talk about this…”

“He was there! I'm sure the others must be there too… laughing at me, saying I'm not good enough to be on stage… or maybe, maybe he doesn't even recognize me, you know?”

“That's enough, YN!” said the friend, shaking the singer by the shoulders. He hated seeing her like that, so insecure and fragile. “You can stop right there!”

“You're one of the best people I know, and my best friend! You're really good at what you do, you have an excellent voice and you dance really well! YOU'RE AMAZING!” He continued with a smile on his face “And if a family of rich kids didn’t know how to recognize that in you, that’s their problem! Screw them! If I ask anyone out there, they’ll give you a list of 100 reasons why you’re amazing!”

Then he points to the screen that showed the audience singing and having fun.

“Those people do like your music, but they didn’t come because your music sticks like chewing gum” he jokes and is relieved when he sees a smile on her sad face “They’re here because they admire you YN, whether it’s with a YouTube channel or on a social network all dressed up.”

He then puts a finger on her chin, forcing her to look at him.

“So no insecurity here, no self-sabotage, no sad memories… not here! You’re my best friend, and you’re at the peak of your career. So go out there and ROCK!” With that, Friend!Reader gives YN a big hug and gets excited when he sees that her friend is starting to get back to normal.

“What did you write in those diaries?”

“So many things, I don’t remember right now..” you laugh lightly “But now, the ones I hope like my music are my fans.”

“YES! AND WHAT WILL THEY REALIZE WHEN THEY READ YOUR DIARY?”

“THAT THEY DON’T MEAN ANYTHING TO ME!” The two cheer and joke around with each other, with the support of Friend!Reader, she starts to get excited and return to the stage, singing louder and stronger, entering the chorus of the remix.

She remembered the reserved and empty seats of her first shows, all reserved for family, and saw that years later, strangers occupied all the seats in the concert hall. She remembered when she was little, she would rehearse alone in her rooms for school auditions, and now she sings for a large auditorium in one of the biggest capitals in the world. She remembered lame excuses and looks of contempt, and realized that everyone there was looking at her with admiration and love.

Her family wasn't in a haunted mansion, they were backstage taking care of her, they were on stage dancing and singing with her. She knows who the real ones are, so why worry about the ones who aren't? They say that time heals, but in truth, it's the process that heals. It's painful. Agonizing. But when it's over, you look back and realize how much you've come from it.

She sang with every lyric and every syllabary, she intoned the words with truth and determination, she proclaimed from the bottom of her heart with strength to everyone at the concert and to herself:

“HAVE YOU SEEN, COME AND READ MY DIARY THEN YOU WILL SEE THAT YOU DONT MEAN S H I T TO ME”

(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ Every like, repost and comment is very welcome and appreciated. ♥

@imaginarydreams I hope you like this version of the good ending :D

If any of you want to be tagged, let me know in the comments <3

[flyingcatstiel]

SuperbatWeek 2024 fic recs

Day 7: FREE DAY!!! Superbat? | Superbat! | Superbat

a song came after by susiecarter [T, 4,500 word count]

It requires every ounce of will he can bring to bear to force himself to meet Clark's eyes. Clark looks shocked; the expression is undiluted by anger or dismay, though perhaps he simply hasn't had time to grasp what just happened. His eyes are wide, round, impossibly blue. Color is rising into his cheeks. His mouth is half-open, slack, with the slightest damp shine where— "That was," Bruce makes himself say, and then stops. Christ, what word can he use? What adjective is there that acknowledges his trespass fully? "Inappropriate." Inadequate, but it's the best he can do, and Clark needs to hear something, needs to know Bruce recognizes his own mistake for what it is. "I apologize. I—"

Comment - This fic starts where usually fics with a similar trope end. Bruce is out of the dream world where he lived happily with his husband Clark. For thirty years. Now he's to deal with the cold reality where Clark is not his beloved. Muscle memory is his biggest enemy.

Conflated by PamiGami [T, 31,900 word count]

“Are you sure you’re feeling quite all right, sir? I was but fairly sure the head hadn't been impacted.” “No… no, please. Listen. I’m in his body, but I’m not him. I can prove it.” Ill at ease, Clark rubbed at the back of his head, not stopping to think about the weird sensation of feeling not his own curls, but somebody else’s hair. The man continued to stare at him with piercing and scolding eyes. “I believe you.” He nodded. “Mister Wayne doesn’t say please this early in the morning.”

Comment - Somehow, Batman and Superman have switched their bodies, their apartments and their day jobs. Clark and Bruce are left to figure out what to do and why they're sharing a body with some random civilian. Identity shenanigans, full throttle.

Just a Formality by FabulaRasa [E, 4,600 word count]

Bruce and Clark get married, for reasons. And then they fall in love. Nope, it's not Victorian time travel! I am straight up about this.

Comment - Clark didn't know that some things on this earth could be as painful as kryptonite. Things like fake marriage.

Saudade by liodain [T, 20,400 word count]

It's midsummer, 2006. In the wake of his son's death, Bruce Wayne tries to outrun his grief on a cross-country road trip. When his car breaks down on a dusty road in the heart of Kansas, a friendly stranger stops to lend a hand.

Comment - A soft, melancholy start to a beautiful long distance friendship between a grieving father and a Kansas youth with a heart of gold. Also known as a fic where Bruce and Clark meet before the events of Man of Steel and it changes everything.

ship-to-ship combat by pomeloquat [M, 76,800 word count]

"Clark. What the hell is this," Lois asks, staring at Clark's Bruceman WIP folder. Clark's first instinct is to fly away, but that would still leave his fic on display for her to see. His second instinct is to blast a hole straight through his laptop screen with his heat vision, which isn't much better. Clark, in an attempt to make some spare cash, unintentionally stumbles into the world of superhero fanfiction, becomes a prolific writer for Gotham's OTP, and tries his best to fend off rival fans who want him to convert to superbat instead.

Comment - Triple identity shenanigans and a love letter to fandom and shippers. This fic has everything - heartbreak, heartache, unrequited feelings in double doses, self sacrifices and near misses, ship wars and RPF. And on top of that, it's the funniest fic I've read across many fandoms, hands down.

tell all the truth (but tell it slant) by susiecarter [M, 33,000 word count]

It takes a while for Batman and Superman to work things out, once Clark comes back from the dead. Pretending to date each other in order to explain why Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent are in the same place so often? Doesn't help as much as you might think.

Comment - When Batman himself is organizing and micromanaging a fake dating narrative to keep their superhero identities secret, what could go wrong? Apparently, everything. It's the worst time of Clark's life, it's the best time. It's a love story.

And last but not least, some spicy superbat fic recs!

Caught In His Gaze by DontStopHerNow [E, 1,500 word count]

This was supposed to be a stakeout to be sure Clark Kent had not lost his mind due to Kryptonite poisoning. Batman gets more of an eyeful than he expected when Clark does what people do alone in their apartments, though. He cannot look away.

What's In A Name? by frozenpotions [E, 15,000 word count]

Clark accidentally walks— or rather, flies in on Bruce enjoying a private moment. He'd probably have an easier time moving past it all if Bruce hadn't been saying Clark's name.

take a pic, strike a pose by shipyrds [E, 5,600 word count]

It’s probably a good thing Clark’s in private, because when he does check his notifications he almost cracks his phone in half. Bruce has sent him a picture. He’s in the suit, in the Batcave, and there’s probably other things happening in the picture, but Clark can’t really see any of those, because Bruce is– posing? Or maybe the camera just caught him like that; maybe he just happened to be catching his cape one-handed, setting off the sinuous curve of his bicep, the Bat logo straining across his chest. -- Bruce sends Clark a pic. Unfortunately, it goes out to some other people too.

My other superbat fic recs are here.

Happy reading!

[dubacheryking]

timdami headcanons?

okay so i am SO sorry i took so long to answer this. for one thing i've never properly thought about it??? which is weird. also i just have swiss cheese brain oguh

ANYWAY having finallly put some thought into it i have a list:

damian is the little spoon. this is primarily because tim is weirdly possessive of him and does not like to sleep without knowing where damian is

to expand on that, tim usually will not sleep when damian is not around. this has been the cause of mutliple arguements.

they live in the literal shittiest apartment ever because after moving out of wayne manor they get into really shady work and are never home. one would think damian is a spoiled brat who will only have the best with the way he acts, but he can't fucking stand being stuck in one place so he Does Not Care about the place lol

they spend most of their time traveling together! its cute. or it would be, if they weren't both such PRICKS and would stop getting into arguments in public

of course, the traveling-all-the-time thing brings up the question: what about damian's animals? to that i say, they have a private farm setup where he keeps most of them and visits frequently. goliath stays with, because its easier than traveling via plane

they have been thrown out of multiple airports

they have been banned from multiple countries

they have had public sex on at least 5 occasions, and their family is, sadly, familiar with at least 3 of those

them being together definitely caused a rift in their relationships with bruce, which was devastating to tim and kinda meh to damian (he was already disillusioned with his father at this point). neither of them really talk to him anymore. if tim goes to wayne manor, it is alone

obviously, they're completely obsessed with each other. they know where each other is at all times. they communicate constantly. even if they're in the middle of a fight (not uncommon), they still keep an eye on the other's trackers and shit. it would maybe be cute if it wasn't weird as fuck.

tim is controlling. damian is also controlling. they're just controlling in somewhat different arenas, so it mostly works

for example: anytime damian tries to change his deodorant or shampoo, tim freaks the fuck out and changes it back and damian's new ones go missing. if tim deviates from the schedule that damian made for him (think, like, a nighttime routine), damian will lose his shit. hopefully this gets across what i'm saying

and if not, what i'm saying is that they're the fucking worst. dear christ i hate them so much

tim is a weezer fan. sorry, damian.

they ARE capable of being sweet, though. they frequently surprise each other with very personal and thoughtful gifts.

damian's favorite book is 'where the wild things are' by maurice sendak. remember that one line, about loving someone so much you eat them whole? tim got that tattooed between his shoulder blades. it is his only tattoo.

damian meditates every morning. tim meditates at night. if they try to do it together, they inevitably end up fucking.

no, really, tim is a weezer fan and damian fucking hates it. he thinks weezer sucks. he still took tim to see them live several times, and he was miserable the entire time, but he didn't complain once.

whenever they have to go undercover, damian insists that tim take on a female alias. i think you can figure out why.

talia respects tim but does not want damian to date him. honestly, i don't blame her for that. she's tried to have tim killed at least twice.

one time, tim threatened to kill damian and then reanimate his corpse as a perfect lover/puppet situation once during a fight. damian will never admit it, but he jerked off to the idea.

also, he's FOR SURE jacked off to the idea of killing tim

they have burial spots picked out for themselves and a suicide/murder pact. they've fucked on their future graves. also, no one except them know where the spot is.

jason is their biggest supporter. he's also a shithead:)

honestly i could think of more, but this got away from me. i hope this is what you were looking for, at least in some way!!! i like my timdami deranged and terrible<3

[total-drama-shark]

First impressions on every contestant!

Warning this gets long.

Millie

Was really interested on the possibility of a nerdy character from her introduction, but I feel like my biggest gripe with her is the whole “my generation” thing, it just feels slightly mean spirited and not realistic for a personality trait. Teens generally don’t like being told that their generation sucks or that they’re all dumb or have their use of technology criticized. The ones that do dislike their generation are those either trying to receive approval from older people or “I was born in the wrong generation” type kids. She’s just, unrelatable.

Axel

Her voice is higher than I expected, I like the survival theme and was surprised we got another zombie conspiracy nut in the cast (so happy we got a Shawn cameo/reference as well!) she really is like a mix of Jo and Eva with a sprinkle of Shawn and I wish we got to see more of her!

Priya

Super interesting to see a contestant raised by TD fans, and her intro was amazing! Baby and toddler Priya! Owen reference! She is 100% going to be an interesting character. I guess there’s also a subversion of a big Desi stereotype with her, she wants to go to med school but her parents want her to enter a more unconventional and unstable field, I don’t know exactly how to feel about this, specially since I’m not desi myself.

Zee

My man!!! I love me a skater/surfer dude and the Jude vibes are impeccable!! He is so chill and just here to vibe. I’ve audibly laughed at multiple of his lines and just love him so much. I also think he’s neat amputee rep, he’s casual about it and was just born that way, but can make fun stories up about it.

Ripper

Am I disappointed by the fart and potty jokes? Yes, but besides that I actually really like his character! An annoying bully who despite his best efforts is a loser. Also if his voice doesn’t fuel the nowen child headcanons out there I don’t know what will.

Damien

A total newbie! Very opposite to Priya in this case and also super interesting character trait for him, I hope both him and Priya can function a bit to show off the POV of both old and new fans alike. He’s also very entertaining :)

Scary girl

Exactly what I expected from her and more! She is very much one dimensional compared to most the rest but I love her! I love wildcards! So excited to see her shenanigans

Bowie

Introducing yourself as the first openly gay contestant is definitely a first impression! I’ve got to say I adore his competitive and scheming nature and you can tell he’s in it to win it, he also has amazing social skills and is overall an icon. I know not everyone will be into the idea of the first openly queer contestant being very stereotypical but I’ve always thought that just as while his sexuality isn’t the center of his personality and there’s at least another queer character that isn’t as stereotypical it’s all good, and by the looks of it that will be the case. Also I know multiple gay dudes that act just as him so I have a bias.

Chase

Did not expect a stunt Youtuber type guy but I definitely should’ve seen it coming, also DRAMA?? Pre established EXES??? I am so interested in seeing how this pans out

Emma

I love her voice first of all and I did not expect her to have been part of the stunt Youtuber group, hope the ex drama isn’t all there is to her character and I really enjoy her friendship with Bowie so far!

MK

Oh I love her, we haven’t seen a character like her before and she has so much potential! A character that knows she’s underestimated and takes advantage of that? Yes please!

Caleb

Pretty much a Justin copy, I can’t really say much about him and we knew how things were going to pan out so I can only hope he’ll make if farther and get more development next season.

Wayne & Raj

Hockey dudes! They’re such jocks and can sense the “makes fun of me lightly for being unathletic but cheers for me when I finally start participating in sports” energy from them so hard, they’re fun guys and feel so much like real teen boys.

Nichelle

An actual TV star! I didn’t see that coming but I love it! Love seeing the little flashbacks to her shows and movies and seeing someone in the show be treated as an actual celebrity, she’s also as far as I’ve seen pretty smart, level headed, and humble for a TV celebrity! So interested in seeing her work!

Julia

The influencer chick! Her intro was amazing and I definitely didn’t expect her to be into healing crystals, feel like she’ll be a very interesting character and I await her interactions with Nichelle.

[jessource]

THE GOOD WITCH BY MAISIE PETERS LYRICS

still argue like my mother and suppress stuff like my dad.

i don't think i wanna get better.

the way i loved you, i will not be embarrassed of that.

you broke me big time.

you give up like a ghost leaving halfway through the band.

i let you butcher my big heart.

you broke my heart and my self-esteem.

came a boy and left a man.

this is armageddon.

i knew loving you was letting you leave.

i am exhausting and you're not in love.

i'm the best thing that almost happened to you.

i stay up, you're sleeping like a lamb.

you're gonna walk into some underground bar.

goodbye from your biggest fan.

i wish i would've seen it sooner.

you got two types: countryn and western.

this is my coming of age.

lost my page when you kissed me.

the love we had was covered in snow.

told her you were just a friend.

was i just an idea you liked?

yeah, i'm sure there was heartbreak.

i saw you and your girlfriend.

i'm dating but dating just for sport.

i am unhinged.

it was endless roads in the same old boots.

loving you was easy, that's why it hurts.

i'm delaing with the heart you broke.

you built me like a promise 'til it broke me like a curse.

we could live off magic and maybe's.

you couldn't have loved a girl any harder than you loved me.

i'll leave you behind, but that don't mean it's easy.

it wasn't real, but it was for me and you know that.

one day, you're gonna wake up.

oh, is she just like me?

i'm throwing you a bone.

still don't play the black keys.

how's it feel to have made me cry?

got the news just last month.

i've pleaded.

i'm not holding my breath.

i wish it was two weeks ago.

you swore that you'd be there for me.

mr i don't want a label.

you're kinda awful, but you're not awful on purpose.

you look better, what the fuck?

i tried to rewrite it, but i can't.

if a man says that he wants you in his life forever, run!

well, fucking sue me, 'cause at least then we could talk.

you took what you took and you left what you left.

i'm kinda busy but like, stay in touch?

i sleep through the night.

if i'm tricky, why'd you kiss me?

has she got a better body than mine?

i know the girl that you want and it scares me.

oh, mr bruce wayne, where is that cape now?

you're laughing like a kid.

i thought i gave you the best of me.

how come you're taking me from your arms?

oh lord, i'm going back to therapy.

if you don't love me, why you'd act it.

what was cheap to you to me was all i had.

maybe you're lost and you just can't see what you have.

i will try forgiveness, but i will not forget.

you couldn't keep what you couldn't tame.

i was good to you.

i still love you.

you still get to me, but i still let you.

you were it for me.

if i'm not careful, i'll wake up and we'll be married.

do you love her?

you're pretty like a girl, till you're vicious like a man.

i beg you, and you don't understand.

i am not allowed to want you any longer.

now we're living the dream and i hope we never wake up.

will you tell me just one more lie?

it's sad and it's true.

we don't speak 'cause it's too tricky.

you touched me, now your touch will last for centuries.

i wish when we went to the beach that day we'd taken more pictures.

bye bye from your girl.

i'm doing better.

i've been lied to.

i can write you out the way i wrote you in.

you said we're like your mom and dad.

i'm the greatest love that you wasted.

you got every single thing you want and i just watch.

i gotta get my act together.

you burnt down easter island as if it wasn't sacred.

i still want you back.

taste my venom.

pretend that it's what you wanted.

i know how your tone works.

you pushed me out quicker than it took me to put my jeans on.

don't you know that you're losing this?

i thought it would be us for life.

but now you're gone, honey, i can't sleep.

you made me little miss unstable.

this song's for you, and it's all we have.

i gave you all of myself.

oh my, what happened here?

yu gave me the world and you gave me your word.

you'll throw your rocks and you'll scream that you hate me.

still flinch at the sound of a door.

i'm on a one way trip to take over the world.

a haunted house nobody lives in.

wow, hey, it's been forever. do you wanna get a drink, like together?

i save you a seat and you say you wanna stand.

of course, you couldn't read me.

i can finally breathe.

what about (name)?

you're just a boy, and i'm kinda the man.

you wanna hear about it?

i can't help thinking that she's got a better body.

everybody pretends that they're great but what if you actually might be?

yeah, i know you did bad, but if one more person says it i might go mad.

the worst way to love somebody is to watch them love somebody else and it work out.

you think i'm alright but i'm actually bloody motherfucking batshit crazy.

take the hand and go with him.

run.

i'm just talking to your memory.

you'll see a pretty little thing catching eyes in the dark and it's me.

i'm not gonna wait, now i know better than that.

she stays up, he's sleeping like a lamb.

i had to let it go.

[dairy-farmer]

So here I am, feel free to ignore if I'm breaking any boundaries.

 Your story actually made me think of Tim’s process through the trauma and mainly how he processes most adult things. I do like soft, hurt, self-sacrificing Tim like any hot, red blooded fan, of course.

But let me argue that Tim Drake is not a child child, he has been his own responsible adult since he was six. He learned budgeting and bills and taxes and stranger danger and all the things adults eventually teach children from TV/the internet and he is not ashamed of it.

Kinda that when Jack and Janet left him alone with a housekeepr, he basically parentified himself.

So in comes the 12/13 year old who sees Batman tiptoeing the edge and goes: I can fix this dude so hard!

And yeah, Bruce is almost lost to his grief and barely conscious of the utter shitshow around him, “sure, whatever kid, be Robin, but train with other adults, I’m too broken hearted to adult right now. Oh, you learned from Alfred and Dick, great, Imma teach you and oh, you disappeared for a while, huh, you got even better, I wonder what you did, well whatever let’s go on patrol.”

And years pass, Bruce heals, he gets his family back, he gains allies and perspective.

And maybe one day he is high as a kite on some scarecrow or ivy drug or whatever, he beat the villain, he did the justice, weee~

And he realizes he is home and Tim’s tiny hand is pulling hin towards the bathroom and he is confused.

Tim, on the other hand, is so used to Bruce’s shit, that he simply taps him on the back of the knees to make him kneel by the toilet bowl and goes: “Okay, you feel up to puking on your own or should I make you?”

And Bruce is even more confused because his children usually weren’t like this, they were soft and depended on his stability, none of his children should see him this vulnerable.

And maybe he takes a little too long to reply because suddenly Tim is shoving two fingers down his throat while holding the back of his head and suddenly Bruce is vomiting and Tim pats his heaving back and makes sure none of it goes in his  hair while TSKING because “Really Bruce? Don’t be a baby, my hand can’t hurt that much, I’m like 13.”

And Bruce, for once, realizes he is not the parent in this relationship and he is not sure how it happened.

You can extrapolate Bruce Mommy/Daddy-issues Wayne would definitely fall for that scarily inteligent teen that has become his highly unimpressed new mommy if you like.

Or he simply tries (and fails) to parent this child who somehow doesn’t need him like Dick and Jason and Damian ever did and he is frightened that if Tim doesn’t need him he will leave.

Which is why Tim gets more benefits than Dick and Jason ever did at his age COMBINED.

A car? You got it.

A Ducatti? Red, black or both?

Your own team instead of integrating you to Dick’s? SURE THING!

It is quite telling that even if Dick is Bruce’s oldest adopted child and the one he is trusting the mission to, TIM is the one who is supposed to inherit the company and thus Batman’s biggest source of income and Bruce’s charity and social justice pet projects in case of Bruce’s death.

________________________________________________________________

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i just read the comment you left on ‘here cometh the iceman’ and i cannot tell you how happy i was to be greeted by this in my inbox!!!!!!! 😍 😍 😍 😍 😍 😍!!!!

i love your tim HC so much because it reallly does align with how he behaves so often! tim is a child who has, often, had to parent himself. in the comics it’s implied that the majority of his developmental years in school were spent in boarding schools where his only supervisors were teachers and the few adults whose job were to look out for them. but even then tim would’ve had to learn how to deal with a lot of things himself- he had to put himself to bed, decide what and how to regulate his diet, how to deal with interpersonal issues along with any tension that came with living with another kid his age. tim is essentially a young adult in a child’s body. and to contrast that is bruce. who arguably, while he is an adult, lacks a lot of the landmark developmental milestones that tim has already had (through no choice of his own). 

bruce has alfred as a kind of crutch so many of the “adult” things tim experienced were things he never learned or developed the skills for. hence why when they came together, tim who was the more responsible, mature, and developed “adult” took care of bruce. it’s such an upside down pineapple situation where bruce is the grown up but the child and tim is the child but the grown up. so tim caring for bruce like when he gets poisoned and needs to vomit, tim treats him like a child who has swallowed something he wasn’t supposed to. he falls into caring for bruce like it’s a routine and bruce is struck with the realization of what had been happening while his head was buried in the sand from his grief.

bruce has sooo many hangups about his parents and their deaths, his relationship with them has guided so much of his life and how he expresses (or doesn’t express) his love. alfred had cared for and loved him but always maintained him an arm’s length away perhaos out of respect for bruce and the relationship he had with his parents. but tim! tim treats him in that soft way his mother did, taking a rag and dabbing away the sweat from his brow when bruce starts sweating buckets after vomiting. so many things tim does for him reminds bruce so starkly of his mother and father and it kind of makes him uncomfortable but that feeling gets trampled by and is the reason he never puts a stop to it - he likes it. he likes being doted on and cared for, he like that tim feeds him warm broths, oatmeals, and chicken soup. he likes that tim presses featherlight kisses to his scrapes and cleaned wounds. with tim there’s no expectation of him to make the first move, be responsible, or be the parent. not like there was with jason or dick.

but there’s also the fact that bruce no longer offers something to tim. safety, protection, etc. the things you expect from a parent. tim doesn’t want them, in fact he’s the one who provides them because bruce startles awake from a bad dream and tim is already there to comfort him.

bruce attempting to become the parent in their dynamic similarly failing leaves him scrambling and leaves him scared about the fact that tim could leave him.

this fundamentally changing their dynamic is so good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! its why tim gets more leeway than the others, why he’s treated differently and “allowed” so much independence. i think if jason and dick weren’t so preoccupied with their own lives and issues they might stop and be like “hey wtfff”.

tim and bruce’s relationship and dynamic is one of the most fascinating to me because the two of them are mirrors, foils, and almost caricatures of each other in some cases. the two of them share so much in common but are also fundamentally different people. if tim had been in bruce’s shoes from birth he would’ve likely followed the same path but been different. same with bruce. if he had been the little idealistic boy whose parents more or less neglected him, he would’ve followed the same path as tim had but been....different. the two of them are such good characters, their shared history and dynamic is fascinating and thank you so much for this really good deep dive into their character and relationship!!!!!!! it’s so good!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jaded-quill]

Finally watched "The Batman" and the first thing I gotta say is: WTF that was Colin Farrel as Penguin?!

Ok though, I get the love for it now and how it stands out from all the previous Batman iterations. The biggest thing being Batman himself. Like, I am no Pattison fan. Nothing against the guy, just not a Twilight fan, etc, but he did a great job.

So the character really fits the canon with being Batman, who only becomes Bruce Wayne when he had to. Even more of a recluse than older versions because, let's face it, any modern telling has to account for technology causing issues otherwise.

He's already established as The Bat, but is still learning how to use the persona, and he spends more time being The World's Greatest Detective than beating people up.

I wanted to laugh at his hopelessly emo look when the suit and mask have just come off, but Batman has always been emo. He just doesn't usually look it quite so much.

I love how he runs around in a bulky jacket with a hoodie hood and often biker helmet to lurk in the shadows as a normal dude. His quick change is at least once just shucking the jacket and putting on the cowl.

I love how Jim Gordon is practically a friend, and has kept other cops from trying to arrest Batman, and they have this wary reaction to the Bat, but accept his help.

I love Selina, and the chemistry the two have right off the bat. It feels a little different. She feels a bit different.

I appreciate the badguy mostly succeeding for once, partially because Batman's ego or self-preservation gets in the way and stops him from properly interpreting the evidence at a critical juncture. He was so certain Riddler had figured out his identity, but if he'd really stopped to think, he'd see that the "platonic flirtation" with Batman didn't jive with the attempt on Bruce's life. Instead, he was convinced his cover was blown and very nearly gave himself away because of it. It was a seriously impressive display of barely-masked vulnerability peeking out through his eyes and posture as Riddler talked about Bruce.

Oh and he spends at least as much time rescuing people during the flood as he does kicking ass. Maybe more. The bit with the flare was a stellar set of visuals that told so much without words.

Also, the use of his Vengeance title throughout finall made sense when he realized at the end that he could also be a source of hope.

Like, just stellar writing.

Even his tech seemed advanced in some ways, but mostly the really useful shit like the contacts, which are very likely to be real soon enough if they aren't already.

Nothing too outlandish, really. Also, while he does have a souped-up batmobile, his fancy regular car he takes to the memorial service is a perfect impression of the shape of his traditional ride while still a normal enough car.

Basically, I just really appreciate this movie, a ton. It isn't something I'll rewatch a bunch, but I gotta give judos.

[drikadreemurr]

Tim Drake - A AU rant-thing

Greetings there Tumblr! This isn't something I usually do and I often get hesitant on sharing things with others... but this has been eating up my brain in a bit and I just need to get it out there. So I am really new to the DC universe, but I have always loved Robin. I remember going wild watching the Original Teen Titans and The Batman from 2004 on TV. And now that I know at least the basic ordeal of the 4 Robins, I can say that Tim is my favourite.

The last month I decided to check out what they were trying to do with him in Tim Drake: Robin and like most I didn't really liked it, but also saw that it HAD so much potential on trying to build a solid base for who Tim can be in this new universe.

I guess that's what most -if not all of us- Tim fans have been waiting and wanting to see: WHO is Tim Drake here? I get that today characters suffer a lot from being brought to a FLAT portrait like Jason being the "angry one" or Damian being the "spolied brat" one, wich we all know it's not the ONLY thing they are, SPECIALLY Jason -- and Tim is over and over being portraited as the "lost and insecure" of the bunch. And we know he IS that too, but that's not all there is to him. Reading Superboy - The man of tomorrow (Even as it being a bit... eh?) I thought: why not make Tim go through something big like this too? What I liked about the Tim Drake: Robin run is how he was set out in a entire different enviroment from other comics: He's not at the Mansion, not at his or his dad's appartment or some other random house. He's still in Gotham, but in a new separate part that seems mostly overlooked by others - including the vigilantes. And as for foes... The Chaos cult really needs to go, or at least suffer some huge overhall to be a REAL, SERIOUS threat to Tim. I mean c'mon, he is the guy that EXPLODED half of Ra's al Ghul bases, he can deal with a 16th century cult.

I know it's "hard" to built a decent threat to Tim if we take into account his hacking/fighting/detective skills, but not impossible. I keep looking back into that comic where Tim and Jason get stuck on that loop of their nightmares and the one thing I like about this comic is the two of them working together. I think that instead of focusing on making threats in form of real villains, would it not be possible to make them something else like in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish?

The way I see it, Puss had way to many lives and Tim... has way too many personas, leading to the point where he doesn't know WICH one makes up Tim Drake in the end, and THIS is what I consider to be his biggest threat.

I have this idea cooking in my brain: Thanks to some dimensional-travel shenanigans (Don't know exactly what could have happend here), Tim ends up in a dimension where almost everything is identical to his own, but: 1. Batman and Robin are nothing more than a discontinued series of comics and TV show; They were never real, living breathing heroes and this line came to a abrupt and bitter end when a tragedy happend on the TV set.

2. The only existing heroes here are the Supers (Superman / Supergirl and Superboy).

3. The Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson of this place still met eachother and currently run WE together. Also, Bruce is the owner of a museum dedicated to The Batman Series in honer of his father.

4. His parents are ALIVE. Still, that doesn't mean things are perfect - He lives with his mother who is now a history teacher in Gotham while his father lives on the other end of the country running Drake Industries all by himself.

The main thing I thought of this whole deal was for Tim to be put on a situation where he NEEDS to figure out who he is taking into account that:

- No Batman means no Robin. No Robin means he never had anyone to stalk throught the nights, and so, he could NEVER become Robin in the first place.

- His parents being alive, while still in VERY BAD TERMS, means he would no longer be a lonely only child. In fact, he would much rather do anything to get away from the galas and parties his mom would often drag him to.

In the other hand, I would like this "AU" to also focus on other characters like Bernard and that other girl that would often help Tim on some occasions - While Tim was gone, Bernard could very well try to fill his empty spot with his own hero persona, he did learn how to fight to protect himself, why not put this to use in a time of need? Also, I would really like to JASON be the one travelling to the other dimension to drag Tim back, but not as the Red Hood - No Batman and no Robin also means no Joker, wich means no death and no Red Hood - but just as Jason. Out of all the Batfamily, I think he is the one to mostly be able to talk through Tim and relate to him. I often think of that scene of Vee and Luz at the museum and I just think that it suits both:

They both know what it is like to be left behind and alone, still, THEY ARE NOT THE SAME, one of them never really had a choice.

ANYWAY, I have some small "points/scenes" on my head for this crazy idea and I could develop more about them later, I still have no idea if something in this line had been done already.

If you reached this far, thank you for reading my insane ramblings about Tim and let me know if you would like to see more about it :D

[whoreforharlow]

Yall already know i had to come be a hater to my favorite white boy lol

Jack really lacks marketing skills. This is the most J Cole/Kendrick Lamar, "I don't gotta show face to my fans for them to show out", kind of energy that I don't think he's earned to put out. Like he does little to no promotion for his music, his movie, his drink, but like is expecting a surge of support...but he's definitely not built the reputation for it. CHTKMY kinda flopped as his sophomore album, and that had tons more marketing and anticipation. He's dropping a random album in the middle of whenever, and I don't really think people are expecting greatness from it. Like his feature on Mockingbird Valley wasn't stellar, so like I'm not really super excited for this album.

I've always been bothered by Jack being reclusive as an artist, knowing that yes he deserves privacy, 1000000%, but him giving -10 interaction with his fandom in what is still the growing stages of his career gives off GOAT energy, which logistically, this man cannot be a certifiable GOAT in hip hop. Like he can maintain a personal and professional boundary while still interacting with fans that doesnt compromise his privacy and personal life. Honestly he can drop off once he's solidified himself on the throne like Cole and Kendrick, I'm not saying he's gotta be a instawarrior like Drake, and he can literally disappear without a trace, but you gotta earn that kind of unwavering support with unwavering quality. There is no chance of disappointment when it comes to Kendrick or Cole or Drake or Wayne or Jay or any of the rappers who've earned their spot/title. I almost think it's cocky and arrogant of Jack to see himself as equals to them in that aspect: that drop off and pop up energy, but popping up with mediocre music 🤷🏽‍♀️. Like I'm almost disappointed for younger Jack because he really wanted it and older Jack is kinda dropping the ball. Perhaps his desires changed and he's not as hungry?

I think it stems from that one Drake interview where Drake says he feels like he can't do the "drop off, pop up" thing with his fanbase like Cole and Kendrick, and I wonder if Jack is trying to get ahead of that? Idk, I just feel like he's gotta do better with fan interaction and building his brand better, especially to at least show his appreciation to his fans online.

I'm sad to say that I'm more excited for Jack Harlow fanfics to drop than this man's actual music 😅 like I'm more into the idea of this man lol, he's my favorite face claim at this point 😂

I am super excited for WMCJ, from the trailer it looks great. I'm glad he's into acting, I'm sorry to say it, it seems he's a better actor than rapper 😬

It's crazy because I really liked his older stuff. Like up until TWTAS, which I wasn't the biggest fan of, but I thought was decent for his freshman album. I think Jack's music lacks story, or something to connect to. Like even if he held onto the "white man in rap" narrative, it would give more of a story. His music just seems themeless, and I think that's why I'm growing tired of it. Mockingbird Valley really fell through for me, feeling like it's the same as all his other songs. There really isn't much development in his pen and idk if that's because he's been co-signed by the greats on CHTKMY, or what, but I expect more.

[disorganizedkitten]

Bursting Bubbles of Bad Luck Chapter 7

Miraculous Ladybug | 2020 | 1,331 | Ao3 | Prev | Masterlist | Next

July 3rd-Boredom

So the whole discord chat idea? Magic was the less fun part. Felix should have let Allegra add him ages ago.

The Dead Fandoms Discord - Channel #Go-Go-Gadget-Chatroom

21:25

Snow Cone King: I’m just saying, Ics, that if we have to petition Walmart, we should at least do it with a lot of people.

Flutetastic: ...Almost everyone on this server and probably half of tumblr and a corner of twitter and a few people from school and my entire family

Considering my family includes you and all the cousins on your half too, that’s a lot of people.

Snow Cone King: Amb. Ics, ics you know what this means?

Speedster: Y’all, I think we should just use the online petition thingy. Get millions of email subscribers from all over the world.

Snow Cone King: My dad probably would totally sign a petition to get Inspector Gadget merch back in stores and then actually make it happen

Flutetastic: It’s sm fun to see you have one of those My Dad Is A Millionaire epiphanies.

Flutetastic: Als, why do you save your logic for the middle of our discussions?

Speedster: Gotta take the time to come up with my genius.

Snow Cone King: Show off.

Penny Could Kick Me: I find it very amusing to watch you guys casually say things like ‘one of those My Dad Is A Millionaire epiphanies’.

Snow Cone King: :Squinty eyes: i can’t tell if that’s an insult

Penny Could Kick Me: Is me laughing out loud at you insulting?

Flutetastic: Say no

Snow Cone King: I haven’t decided.

Fluteastic: FE AMB! Q ARE YOU LIKE THIS?

Snow Cone King: I think so?

Penny Could Kick Me: I love you guys.

Snow Cone King: That’s def. A compliment. Thank you.

The Dead Fandoms Discord - Channel #By-The-Power-Of-Greyskull

7:45

The Orange Death: Y’all I just found an article saying Damian Wayne and Adam are friends and someone needs to explain to me how that happened and if that means I missed a He-Man reboot

If so, Imma cri

Snow Cone King: Wait who has the rights to He-Man?

The Orange Death: Honestly I figured it was netflix ‘cause they just did that she-ra reboot but like

Apparently not?

Snow Cone King: I’m looking this up amb

Useless Ace: I thought the last reboot was in 2010?

Snow Cone King: I am apparently a very uninformed fan

There was a life action movie in 1987

The Orange Death: What

Snow Cone King: My to watch list is much bigger

I thought there were only the two versions? I don’t even know which versions they were now?

Useless Ace: Welcome to the world of fandom my friend. Experts are few, far-inbetween, and deserve mad respect bc I could care less to follow every bit of canon ever

Snow Cone King: Mood

Snow Cone King: As of dec 18, 2019, Netflix wants to do a CGI reboot

Useless Ace: Oh thank goodness. My biggest beef with the She-ra reboot was the lost potential for Adam/Adora shenanigans.

Snow Cone King: Have you watched it?

 Useless Ace: See above

Snow Cone King: :facepalm:

Actually I can’t judge, it’s still collecting dust on my to-watch list

Whatever

Snow Cone King: Reading more and Mark Hamill? Will be Skeletor?? That sounds like it'll go really well

The Orange Death: Y’all I have no idea but now I’m excited

About time He-Man came back

Snow Cone King: Fr tho, I can’t find anything about ties to dc or where he’d have met Damian

Flutetastic: Whack

The Orange Death: You’re telling me

Snow Cone King: You’re telling me.

Snow Cone King: I’m giving up. Some fandom guru who actually knows stuff can figure this out

The Orange Death: Valid

8:58

Snow Cone King: I lied and looked further and apparently not only are there multiple comicverse crossovers (Injustice vs the masters of the universe)(DC Universe vs Masters of the Universe)(he Man and the Masters of the Multiverse(I’m guessing is a crossover too)), but there’s a THUNDERCATS one too!

 My childhood will be complete as soon as I read that

Useless Ace: Dude that’s amazing

That’s going top of my to-read list

Snow Cone King: Mood

Gerald: Mood

The Orange Death: King, you really are a king, thank you so much!!!

Useless Ace: I rlly hope they give Adam a better costume like they did w/ Adora in the new reboot

The Orange Death: It’s a bit overdue

The Dead Fandoms Discord - Channel #Magic-Troubles

14:19

Snow Cone King: amb there’s a illusion lady in my lit class and normally Idc but she’s being so annoying and she keeps illustrating the whack tales she’s telling and the teach could care less but she’s directly in my line of sight and I wanna learn

Is there a nice way to ask her to stop?

Goldie Queen Of France: Tell her she’s making it hard to see. Rlly, just bc we’re magic doesn’t mean we have the right to be a jerk

Snow Cone King: I’m a jerk by nature

Just wanted to make sure

Flutetastic: King, you’re not magic

The Dead Fandoms Discord chat - Channel #Less-than-dead-corner

23:39

Killjoy: I’m just saying! Thanos’ plan was dumb!

Jackie of Jackaland: You didn’t even watch the movie

Killjoy: I don’t have to watch a movie to know that it’s dumb to kill people for resource management when another option is literally just to make more resources

Jackie of Jackaland: Valid point op but pls start watching movies and reading comics before you rant about them based off of someone else’s tumblr rant

Killjoy: That’s less fun

Jackie of Jackaland: You mean less headache inducing

Goldie Queen of France: @Killjoy @Jackie of Jackaland polite, remember? If you’re gonna throw hands, do it in the dms.

Killjoy: Right, sorry

Jackie of Jackaland: Sry

The Dead Fandoms Discord chat - Channel #Magic-troubles

20:13

Snow Cone King: Wait are trails colored different by sect or by person?

Coracle-Miracle: Supposed to be by person, but mine turned a purple/black after whatever happened with the heart

Snow Cone King: Ouch

Coracle-Miracle: It hurts less to use magic the more I use it, although Idk what that means. We’re just powering through

The Dead Fandoms Discord Chat - Channel #MURDOCH

4:30

Snow Cone King: If I ever leave Paris, I want to go to Canada

Mapleblood: Dude that is my entire life motto

‘Cept I’m Brazilian

Point stands

Speedster: Valid x100

The Dead Fandoms Discord Chat - Channel #Less-than-dead-corner

17:20

Flutetastic: Salut, t’all, should I watch Gravity Falls?

Pigtails ftw: I say yeah

It gets weird later on, so I never finished, but I liked what I saw in the beginning

Flutetastic: Awesome. I wanna see if it beats Paris rn

Pigtails ftw: What even is Paris rn?

Flutetastic: Mood

Pigtails ftw: No but like, legit. What’s going on over there?

Flutetastic: #That-Real-Life

The Dead Fandoms Discord Chat - Channel #That-Real-Life

17:23

Flutetastic: @Pigtails ftw so yaknow about the magic hearts thing?

Pigtails ftw: didn’t know they were real

Flutetastic: Common response

@Snow Cone King @Coracle Miracle @Rough-Glamor @Goldie Queen Of France come help me out

So the heart/miraculous of Modification got corrupted by somebody, so far no one knows if they’re a strong sorcerer or a lucky human, but it happened and is messing with all change mages.

Snow Cone King: And he uses the extra power to possess civilians and turn them into rampaging monsters who are supposed to hold the city hostage for the hearts of Destruction and Restoration

Coracle-Miracle: which are, btw, also the hearts of purity and chaos

Snow Cone King: How does that work?

Coracle-Miracle: Those two hearts are the strongest and have multiple tie-in clauses, like luck, but that translates to really dangerous and often selfish sorcerers so instead they split into sections within theirs. It’s really interesting actually! Jaclynn O’Conner wrote a really cool book on it, I suggest you read that.

Pigtails ftw: That sounds demonic

Flutetastic: It nearly is

[trulyinspiringmovies]

The Flash

"The Flash" is a fun movie... if you choose to judge it without its numerous controversies.

Barry Allen is a speedster with the ability to go back in time. Despite the warnings from Bruce Wayne, Barry goes back in time to save his mother from being murdered. This obviously causes his future to change in unintended ways. What he doesn't realize is that changing something in the past affects both the present and the past.

It's no secret that there's been a lot of controversy regarding Ezra Miller and their behavior. I just want to clarify that this review will, for the most part, only be reviewing the movie itself in its own vacuum. I will, however, talk about my thoughts on the controversy after I've said my piece. Now that I've established the format of this review, let's get into it. So, I am a fan of the Flash. I remember rushing home from school to watch the CW television show every Tuesday. I was already a fan of "Arrow", so I remember watching the world premiere of "The Flash". I was also a fan of "Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox". When I saw that this movie would be loosely adapting that storyline, I had mixed feelings about it. Then, the initial reviews came flooding in and they were all talking about how this movie was better than The Dark Knight trilogy. The hype started to build within me because of how Warner Brothers was standing by this movie, even with all the behind-the-scenes disasters. I thought that this movie must be worth all the hype. Then I finally watched the movie in theaters and it was just okay. It's not bad, but it's not the best superhero movie ever. It's just average, maybe a little, tiny bit better than average. Ezra Miller's performance was praised by so many people in the industry, but I thought it was fine. There were a few great moments of acting, but it was teetering between good and obnoxious to me at times. The adaptation of "Flashpoint" had some good qualities and some bad qualities. There were a few changes that I thought were creative and other choices that felt uninspired. For example, I thought the connection between the spaghetti analogy and the can of tomatoes was creative, but I thought the final villain reveal was a bit uninspired. I think one of the biggest points of contention for this movie was the CGI. Personally, I thought it was bad, but not too distracting. I just don't really like the backward justification from the director about how the CGI was purposely bad because, from Barry's perspective, there are visual aberrations when going at the speed of light. Other than that, I didn't really care too much for the inclusion of Michael Keaton's Batman. I thought Sasha Calle's Supergirl was fantastic and I'm sad that we won't ever get to see her character explored. That's really all I have to say about the movie. In terms of the controversy, although there's a lot to talk about, I only really want to comment on two of them because they somewhat affected my thoughts on this movie. For starters, I think Ezra Miller's actions have been deplorable. They clearly need mental help and I hope they get it soon. I think a denouncement of Ezra's actions from Warner Brothers would've gone a long way in helping with the controversy, but instead, they never did and instead praised their acting in this film. I think that was a really bad move and I hope they finally come out in the future to address the problems instead of waiting for the drama to die down. The second thing I wanted to touch on was the cameos at the end of the film. That was truly in bad taste. I get that the studio wanted to make the universes all feel connected, but the choices were all the wrong ones. Not only were there a lot of deceased actors who couldn't give their consent to be in this controversy-ridden film, but there was also a cameo from George Reeves, who infamously committed suicide because he thought he couldn't escape his role as Superman. And to put a cherry on top of this shit sundae, all the deceased actors were brought back to life via horrible CGI. The filmmakers also didn't include Grant Gustin at all, who was arguably a more influential Flash than Ezra Miller ever was. The Nicolas Cage cameo was fun for those who knew about the Kevin Smith story, but it wasn't enough to wash the bad taste out of my mouth. All in all, I think this movie is better off forgotten. It really feels indicative of the tumultuous and ugly time that Warner Brothers is going through.

★★★

Watched on July 4th, 2023

[a-tale-of-legends]

Don't worry, I wrote all of this down in a google doc so I won't forget. Kohaku has a * next to her cause, again, I'm thinoing about her beinf Groudon's Chosen instead of latios. I don't think I'll change it unless I decide Wally is paired with Kyogre but that seems weird ngl.

Chosen Powers 

Jin- Air. Pretty self explanatory. So flying, wind blasts, breathing in the ozone layer/space

*Kohaku- Illusions( physically or in the mind) can turn invisible. Slight empath. 

Kenji- Healing fire, though can be used offensively. Can essentially resurrect himself with his fire. Can also fly, possibly my creating fake wings but I'm not sure yet. 

Aiko- Power over waves and storms. Can breathe underwater and can create typhoons if she wants to( spear typhoon is her favorite move). Surprisingly defensive, thanks to Lugia's multiscale ability. 

Danica- Distortion/antigravity. Shape shifting? ( Can turn into a faint goop demon). It's hard to explain exactly what Danica's powers are, since they just seek so flexible. But her abilities are essentially Distortion and Antigravity. Occasionally gets possessed, willingly, by Giratina to do extra damage. 

Kiran- Is not a Chosen, but is the direct ancestor of Arceus via Arceus' Angel, Sakura. Ultimately still a regular human, but can form light barriers and manipulate the shards to their will. 

Alexis- Hard to make powers based on the whole ideals thing, so for the most part, Alexis' powers are electricity. Though I am thinking about him being able to sense ones conviction. Can't get hurt when shocked….much. Tends to attract electric types. 

Elliot- Fire baby. Purely offensive. She likes getting creative with it though. Have a better sense of whether or not someone is lying. Can't tell 100% though. Fire resistant, for the most part. Tends to attract fire and dragon types. 

Eva- Ice. Like Elliot, loves getting creative with it. Usually uses it as an add-on to her tech. Is more resistant to the cold,though she still doesn't like it. 

Wayne- Water swords, doesn't exactly needs to hold them fight. He isn't the chosen of the swords of justice, just Keldeo, but he can use/ create swords that reflect them, thanks to Keldeo being their pupil. I guess he's kinda like Ezra Scarlet from Fairy Tail? Cannot breathe under water. 

Jude- Tricky given she's an aura guardian. Because of that it's less of Yveltal giving her powers and more of him adding onto her existing ones. Can see unseen spirits and talk to them ( kinda). Has the ability to take life from other living beings and use them as her own source of power. She…. isn't exactly the biggest fan of that, so she just resorts to the cool death scythe Yveltal gave her. Pure aura powers- high sensing, can feel others emotions and see their aura's. 

Dante- Not as tricky. Designated healer of the group. When Jude takes ( unwillingly) , Dante gives. Being the Chosen of Xerneas makes sure that his life span doesn't end up going array, either with immorality ( that he doesn't want) or losing his life span each time he heals ( also something he doesn't want). However, it does require energy,and can cause headaches. 

Amsonia- Heads up, doing more research to get their powers right. Generally speaking: can create wormholes and aren't at risk of becoming a faller as she's immune to the effect wormholes have. Can create shadow force fields, and in general get more power at night. Speaking of night, kinda has Lunar powers, but I don't exactly know what that means. 

Poppy- Somehow even harder to figure out. I could make things easy and make his powers based around fire, cause you know. The sun. But I want to stay true to the steel typing which makes this hard. But, much like Ames, Poppy can create wormholes and be unaffected by them. And of course solar powers. Maybe he can turn his body into metal??? 

Naomi- While a lot of chosen gets enhanced speed, durability etc, Naomi is one of the few that specifically focuses on it, especially her physical strength. She has her own sword too, thanks to Zacian. The most prominent of her abilities is The Howl, a voice based attack that can either stun, push back or command a given enemy. It can only affect one given direction, however ( unless she focus and screams to the heavens lol). 

Carol- Bountiful harvest ( plant life being able to survive regardless of harsh weather), Ice powers, being able to see the future and past ( mostly future) with small visions, and can knock the soul out of someone.

Chosen Weapons

Jin- Whip/ Ribbons

Kohaku- ???

Kenji- Fans

Aiko- Staff ( Bo staff and Naginata)

Danica- ???

Kiran- Literally none

Alexis- Bat???Guitar???

Elliot- Bat??? Guitar???

Eva- Tech Gauntlets + her own tech

Wayne- Multiple swords

Jude- Scythe

Dante- Bow and Arrow

Ames- Charkram

Poppy-???

Naomi- Sword + Voice

Carol- Ice daggers

[beginnerblueglass]

Ok I still am not the biggest fan of the boss fight in Titans S2:E1, but the second half of the episode has my heart ❤️

Some things I love:

Slade’s introduction, the reveal of his armoury and badass suit

The way that all of the colours brighten, it feels like springtime, a relief after the intense (but intentional) wintry drabness of S1

Wayne Manor in the light of day for the first time, it almost looks like a nice place to live (it’s a crime we didn’t get to see Alfred, but the focus is rightfully on Bruce and Dick)

Their conversation!! All of it is great. Too much to say

Them drinking tea together, laughing together. Everything is not totally fixed, but you can feel the joy of the beginning of reconciliation. Dick mentions the good things about being raised by Bruce, Bruce says, “I’d be curious to know what they are.” Dick says, “Another time,” promising further conversation and spending more time together. All I could ask for really

Watching the kids and Dick explore Titans tower gives me feelings. You can smell the sense of homecoming. The music choice was perfect!

Gar checking out the armoury, seeing the og Titans in their suits

New beginnings!!!

[spammreviews]

THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS OF HARLEY QUINN SEASON FOUR

I found the first two seasons of Harley Quinn to be very fun and occasionally poignant. Season Three had an underwhelming ending, in my opinion, but there were definetly many bright spots.

However, to me, Season Four has felt a bit…how should I say, unpalletable? Here’s why, put into a nice list because why not.

Sin One: Too much violence, sex, and overall edginess.

This is easily the most bloody and horny season. That’s fine. There's nothing intrisically wrong about blood and horniness. I actually think it kind of works with some episodes, like with the Vegas episode. Vegas is a crazy place, and Harley and Ivy are on vacation. The gore fits the vibe of the location and the characters trying to relax. However, the sex and violence really started to get annoying after a while. One of the most edgy moments is the end of Episode Four, the episode with the business conference on the moon, which is kind of horrific. It would be fine if this wasn’t, you know…a comedy, but ending an episode on a bunch of people horrifically dying left a very sour taste in my mouth. Then there’s Episode Six, the episode taking place after Nightwing's death, which is just a downright miserable string of blood and gore which isn’t funny. Once again, I’m fine with gore. I’m a horror fan. However, it clashes with the vibes of the show.

Also, speaking of Episode Six, what the hell was up with the Jons? This is a very progressive TV show, and then we have these weird homophobic stereotypes. Yeah, I get that the Jons are fantastical non-human beings, but they so clearly molded them from homophobic stereotypes, it’s weird.

Also, this season’s incessant horniness gets a bit too much. The jokes about Dick’s ass were fairly funny in the first episode, but by Episode Six it was just annoying. His coffin having an ass on it crossed some sort of line, but I’ll get to that later.

Two: Too many characters, ideas and plot threads.

Here are all of the characters who appear in multiple episodes in this season: Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Bane, Nora, Lex Luthor, King Shark, Joker’s Wife, Joker’s Son, Nightwing, Batgirl, Alfred, Gordon, Terra, LavaGirl or whatever her name is, the other one, Dr. Psycho, Clayface, Captain Cold, Shark King’s children, that Plant Guy, Damian Wayne, Talia-Al-Gul, the Jons, Superman, Mama Nacaroni, and Potato Harley Quinn. And, I probably forgot a few. As you can see, I can not remember all of these characters names. There’s also all of the characters who just appear in one episode. The result of this is that there are a bagillion plot threads. We have the love triangle between Nora, Bane, and Captain Cold. We have Harley trying to be a member of the Batfamily. We have Poison Ivy’s business stuff. We have Poison Ivy mentoring The Natural Disasters. We have Joker becoming evil again. We have the investigation of Nightwing’s death. We have King Shark taking care of his children. Some of these plot threads are only a few episodes, but you see what I’m saying. It’s a lot, and not every episode can fit this many plots. As such, we get multi-episode long stretches without certain plots being brought up. So, when they’re reintroduced, it’s confusing.

You might notice throughout this write-up that I have forgotten the names and details of many things. This is not from lack of interest. This is because I am human, and this has been a very convoluted season of TV with so many moving parts, and it’s hard to tell what’s important or not. Also, there’s no breathing room, everything happens all at once, so you can’t soak anything in.

Three: To much “and then” story telling, and no consequences for the characters.

This is probably the biggest problem. In a good story, every event is a consequence of the last event, like dominoes falling. For example, Princess Leia is captured so she sends R2D2 and C3PO to find Obi Wan, so they end up stumbling onto Luke. Sometimes, the consequences of a character’s actions aren’t clear right away. John Mcclane takes off his shoes, and then he gets his feet cut up half an hour later. In most cases, this is how you make good and entertaining storytelling, and this season spits in the face of that.

Nightwing’s death at the end of Episode Five is maybe the worst example of this. It’s extremely random, not feeling like the consequence of previous actions. Then, we get stuff like Harley and Ivy time traveling, which comes out of nowhere and then becomes a pivotal plot point.

We also get The Joker returning to evil, not because of something our characters do, bit because…he’s bored. Sure. And then, he shoots Batgirl. Because why not. That’s another problem. In this season, bad things don’t happen to characters because of mistakes they make. They just happen. Ivy messes up the plan to depose Lex not because of her own faults, but do to a random accident she had no control over. Then, she does succeed because of some character who I guess previously showed up, but who I don’t remember. With that, the plot isn’t being driven by the decisions Ivy makes, it’s being driven by random luck.

A much smaller example that pissed me off is in Episode Eight, where there's a scene where Harley and Ivy fall from way up in the air and then they’re fine because uhhh…they just are.

In (most) good stories, characters succeed because of skills they have, and they fail due to faults they have, not because of luck.

It also leaves the plot feeling very aimless. This is especially true for all of Episode Six, which is just random event after random event. The Jon’s turn into one giant Jon because why not and then they fight Ivy for reasons.

Sin Four: The clash between episodic and serialized storytelling.

This season doesn’t know if it wants to be a set of episodic stories where every plot is self contained or a serialized story where there’s one whole arc. Now, some shows succeed at mixing these two, just look at another DC animated TV show, My Adventures With Superman. The first three seasons of Harley Quinn also did this fairly well. However, this season simply doesn’t, at least in my opinion.

Season Four feels like it keeps going back and forth between serialized and episodic. Episodes Five and Six do build on each other, setting up a pattern in our eyes, and then there is episode Seven. The main plot of this episode is Harly and Ivy time traveling to the future, which is its own self contained adventure, and then there’s Batgirl’s subplot, which does lead into other episodes…sort of. Then, there’s Episode Eight, which also has two separate plots The first is Nora protecting the Legion of Doom building from Lex, and it’s important for the series wide arc. However, the sideplot, Bane’s pastamaker adventures, is completely disconnected from the overarching story of the series. Having these two next to each other feels weird.

Also, why does Bane need a character arc? He’s a silly parody character.

In addition, lots of plot points went nowhere, like the Jons. They appeared, they were around for three episodes, and then they left, with no real impact on the story. If they were there for just one episode, it would be fine, but having them be there for multiple episodes makes us think they’re important.

It doesn’t help that this show keeps randomly introducing plot threads. At first, it seems like this season will involve Harley and Nightwing learning to get along. Then, Nightwing dies at the end of Epiaode Five. That whole character arc they were setting up with him goes nowhere. Then, it seems like there’s gonna be a mystery about his murder. Well, we get a few episodes of that, and then it’s solved.

There’s also the whole Alfred thing. He seemed like such a fun character in Episode Two, then Harley seemed kind of bummed out when he got arrested. I thought this was setup for a breakout. But, we then see him briefly in Episode Four, and he’s fine.

Also, this season can’t decide what Ivy is doing. She goes from wanting respect from her peers to wanting self gain to wanting to make things right with Harley to wanting to stop the world from ending. These plotlines don’t get enough time. None of the internal and external conflict Ivy faces are given enough time to be explored.

This season just keeps on changing the dynamics, and the conflicts, and as such, it feels extremely messy. It’s somehow more disjointed then an episodic story. At least in an episodic story, characters have fairly set dynamics which rarely change. However, this season plays willy nilly with everything about these characters. It’s constantly changing, but there’s no actual progression.

Five: They keep highlighting how little the world makes sense.

I didn’t mind how nonsensical the world-building was in the first three seasons, because it was funny. However, one of the biggest conflicts of the first couple of episodes here is all about Ivy and Harley struggling now that Harley’s a hero, and it just illustrates how little this makes sense. It becomes hard to ignore.

Six: Mean spiritedness

I think one of the reasons why I really disliked Episode Six, the episode after Nightwing dies, was because of how cruel it was, especially towards Batgirl. She goes through all of this emotional damage, and it’s just miserable. It is a very miserable episode. Sure, stories can be sad sometimes, but this is a comedy, and it felt like a lot of the misery was played for laughs.

Also, I get that Nightwing is a fictional character, but if you have such a beloved character in your show, and then you show him as a jerk, tease redemption, kill him off, and then make a bunch of butt jokes at his funeral scene, will then…it will rub people the wrong way. Yeah, he’s not real, who gives a crap, but like, lot’s of people really like Nightwing, it’s not pleasant to see him being treated like nothing but an ass. Also, butt jokes about Nightwing were already an overused joke, so seeing the show use them just feels a bit cringey.

Seven: Everything just makes no sense.

Okay, so in Episode Eight, we meet Potato Harley Quinn. She is just like Harley Quinn but overly committed to justice. Because, as we all know, potatoes are famous for their sense of justice.

Joker is evil, but not as evil as he was in Season One, because he was a huge misogynist in that season. Also, is Joker still the mayor? Shouldn’t this be a big deal?

Also, the characters just don’t act like people. During the entire plot with Nora, Captain Cold, King Shark, and Lavagirl trapped in The League of Doom Headquarters, everyone kept acting so bizarrely I just grew detached from it all. Oh, and then it ended with Lavagirl blowing up the entire place which somehow didn’t kill all of them. This would be fine if the show was all silliness, but this show also occasionally dabbles in drama. However, this drama all fails because this show just doesn’t care about reality anymore.

I’m fine with plot holes, this series has always played fast and loose with reality, as I previously stated, but this season has simply been too much. There’s only so much nonsense I can handle before my brain rejects it.

In conclusion, Season Four of Harley Quinn had some fun moments, but these seven main problems ruined the overall experience for me.

[daggerzine]

The Dave Benton Interview: Catching up with The MadTown Man by Eric Eggleson

If you haven’t heard of Dave Benton, then you didn’t grow up in the Midwest, or Madison specifically. I “lived” at his record store and saw one of his former bands, Spooner, too many times to count. But when I found out he was in a new band, the ghost particles, I had to check them out. And am I ever glad I did. They are a supergroup of sorts if you’re familiar with the Madison music scene (Ex-Spooner, Fire Town, The Rousers, First Person). What’s even better is I got to see them perform at one of their few and far between shows in Madison this summer. I contacted Dave to see if he was up for a Dagger interview and here’s what he had to say.  

Have you lived in Madison your entire life?  I originally lived in New Jersey; my family moved to Omaha, NE when I was 11. I attended U of Nebraska for one year and then transferred to a smaller state college, Wayne State in the small town of Wayne, Nebraska. (Not affiliated with Wayne State University in Detroit). It was there that I first met Doug “Duke” Erikson. After college I moved to Madison in 1972.  

When did you begin your musical career?  I was 15 when I formed a band with friends.  While in Nebraska I played with five different Rock bands over the thirteen years. It was all good fun and preparation for the next level.  

What musical training do you have?  No formal training.  

Anybody help your training?  Just friends, sharing chords. I discovered from the outset that I could play by ear and copy melodies from records.  

When did you feel that you “made it” in the field? Why?  After many years, our band Spooner was signed by Chameleon Records in 1989, with distribution by EMD, then WEA, and finally Roadrunner. It was the only time I made any real money.  

Are you still involved with MadCity Music (record store)?  I sold the business in 2007, and it’s still going strong to this day.  

Who influenced you the most in your musical career?  My dad was a big Jazz fan and would often bring records home. I’ve lived through all the eras of Rock ‘n Roll, and I was knocked out by Eddie Cochran when I was young. The biggest influences were The Beatles and all the ‘60s Garage bands.  

How did the ghost particles come about?  In the fall of 2019, Joel Tappero mentioned to me that he was starting to work on some songs with Phil Davis. I told them I was interested, and we started to get things going. Then the pandemic hit that winter, so we switched gears, and all got the same Multi-Track software. Since we could no longer get together, we began recording via file-sharing. Don came on board fall of 2020. Jeremy Tappero did all the mixing and drums at his studio in Bloomington, MN. He currently plays bass with Soul Asylum. Lee Laski started as our new drummer in 2022, shortly after the first album was released in May of that year.  

Loved seeing you perform live. You played some new songs, what's the target date for that release?  We are just starting to record another new song. The target is to get the album out in 2024 sometime. There will probably be vinyl on this one.  

On Bandcamp it states, "Tracy Benton, bodhran on ‘Three Things,’" any relation? Sister.  

Tell me more about The Waterdogs. Not familiar with them. Are they still a band?  The Waterdogs were an instrumental Rock band active from 1984 to 2017. The other members were Lee Laski, Ernie Conner, John Hauser, and Don Irwin. Lee, Ernie, and Don were also playing with roots rockin’ The Rousers all that time. John Hauser came from Paul Black’s band. There were two Waterdogs albums, Live from 1986 (cassette only) and Thermal from 2000 (CD only). There was also a 7” single, “Hawaii 5-0/Theme From Spydog” in 1988.  

Any suggestions for new bands breaking into the business?  Just do what you love and maybe something will happen. Team up with a good songwriter and be there to lend your talents and serve their songs. And let go of your ego.  

Favorite tour?  Spooner was the only band that really toured, mainly in a ten-state area. We played as far west as Lawrence, KS, and east to NYC, where we played the Peppermint Lounge, and Metropole in Pittsburgh as well. All the rest of my bands were more regional.  

I used go to Merlyn's both nights when you played a weekend. However; the first time I saw you, you opened for The Cretones (my first visit to Merlyn's as well). What were some of your favorite Spooner moments?  The Merlyn’s gigs were usually special. There were some clubs we played fairly regularly where our following was sizable, Teddy’s in Milwaukee (now Shank Hall), The B&B in Oshkosh, Lefty’s in Green Bay, Fitzgerald’s in Berwyn, IL, and Tut’s in Chicago. We did a lot of openers. A few that stood out were Marshall Crenshaw in DeKalb, IL and Bloomington, IN; Question Mark &The Mysterians at Tut’s, The Police at Headliners in Madison, and Joe Ely at Fitzgerald’s. The shows on the UW campus were always great too, Great Hall and The Terrace.  

What’s your favorite song to perform live? Why?  For the ghost particles it would be “All The Love.”  

Beautiful song with a kick! How did that song come about?  Well, you’d have to ask Phil about any initial inspiration. He sent us the file of the basic structure and we all put it together. I played the fuzz guitar parts and the synth strings as well because Don wasn’t yet with us at that time. I also used an EBow on the break. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXLlReHDkiE&t=9s  

What’s your favorite cover of another band?  Maybe “Mr. Tambourine Man,” because it’s so recent with ghost particles, or “Roadrunner “ (Modern Lovers), which Spooner did.  

You did a great version of "Tambourine Man." Loved Spooner's version of "Roadrunner" as well. Did you see Jonathan Richman when he played Merlyn's?  I did see JR at Merlyn’s, and at O’Cayz as well.  

Favorite venue to perform at?  Merlyn’s in Madison, 1979 to 1983.  

Who would you like to work with if you could?  I’d like to work with Duke Erikson again. We were working on recording some songs for which he wrote the music, and I wrote the lyrics, about six years ago. He became very busy with Garbage again.  

Would love to hear those songs! I’m hoping it will happen. What type of music?  All Pop/Rock songs, more like Spooner.  

When writing a song, what comes first, lyrics or melody?  I’m not really a prolific songwriter. With my long-running instrumental band The Waterdogs, I wrote everything on guitar, of course, and it was primarily lyrics with Spooner.  

If you could switch to any other type of music, what would it be? Why?  I love Reggae and the rhythmic possibilities, but that ain’t gonna happen.  

Any new bands you like or would recommend?  I listen to tons of music, both new and old. I think The National are great.  

Top Ten desert island discs? (10 albums you couldn’t live without.)  That’s a tough one, but here are some favorites off the top of my head. Love Forever Changes; Roxy Music (1st album); The National Boxer and High Violet;  Jackson Browne For Everyman; The Jayhawks Sound Of Lies and Smile; Beach Boys All Summer Long; Hawkwind Warrior On The Edge Of Time; Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section. Just the tip of my big iceberg there.  

Finish this sentence: I want to be remembered for…being fair and kind, and being a solid Garage-level guitarist. I hope you’ve learned a little more about Dave and why I think he’s a legend in the Madison music scene. You can see why I wanted to jump at the chance to learn more about him and his music. Be sure to check out his music below.