#the court of owls is literally one of the best villains we could get and it’s not even the final boss??? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bigskydreaming · 2 years

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The court of owls is a really good villain for Dick because they're directly trying to stripe Dick's agency entirely, something that he has always valued deeply and it's a core part of his character.

But DC doesn't usually like

Use that direct approach with it and idk i feel they could be always a shadow and a threath to Dick, lingering around.

And being such a numerous group, It could be used as an excuse to us unite the family around Dick a little more. Knowing he has been manipulated before, knowing they know their identities, always checking if Dick doesn't appear fearing he was taken... But trusting him to let him live his life

Idk. I just feel is so wasted as a concept...

YES EXACTLY EXACTLY.

I have such a love/hate relationship with the Court of Owls as a concept because it thematically ties PERFECTLY into Dick's core character themes and ongoing struggle to protect his personal autonomy, retain his sense of agency over his own life and actions.

Like their blatant view of him and approach to just exploiting him as a tool is a perfect encapsulation of so many of his most pivotal stories and arcs, as well as a great commentary on the classism that's embedded into EVERY version of his origin story, and has shaped how his life has been jerked around at the whims of rich and powerful people since literally before he was ever born.

The problem is exactly what you describe:

DC never lets any of that MATTER in any of the Court of the Owls stories. They just gloss completely over it all, and like....its part of my grievance with Talon stories in fandom too because like I've gone into my other issues there at length, but another key element of why I'm not a huge fan is the way people act like Dick being brainwashed into being a bad-ass super-assassin its like.....

Okay, I'm sorry, but that's just kinda boring to me? We've READ that story, a million times. Dick gets brainwashed by the enemy and becomes a huge threat has been done like, so many times. Him being a Talon or it being the Court that does it to him is at best a superficial change. Same with using Talonization to 'upgrade' Dick's threat level, like....mmmm, I don't love that because I think it glosses over the fact that Dick's entire concept for eighty years has been that he doesn't NEED superpowers to be one of the most dangerous people in the DC universe?

Hell, personally? I see the Talonization thing as a DOWNGRADE to Dick's danger and threat level, because yeah, it gives him a healing factor and faster reflexes but he's never needed either of those to hold his own even AGAINST superpowered foes.....

Largely because of the one thing Talon stories often REMOVE from Dick....his keen intellect and strategic mind.

THAT'S what makes Dick Grayson so dangerous, the way he thinks rings around his enemies while they're still stuck at the starting block. Making Dick a largely mindless Talon pointed and aimed by 'masters' who don't WANT him to think for himself like....that's the equivalent of putting the safety back ON the weapon that Dick Grayson's spent years honing himself into WITHOUT superpowers - all while keeping pace with rooms full of people who HAVE superpowers and even god-tier powers.

So yeah, I'm one hundred percent with you on Court and Talon stories frustrating me because the potential is there! It absolutely is! I just think its largely WASTED potential, because again....Dick being ACTUALLY brainwashed or controlled or reshaped by the Court? Dick being turned into a Talon, having to break free of their conditioning on his own, or be rescued from it by his friends and family, or learn to readjust to life AFTER being a Talon or used by the Court, recover from that ordeal?

We've literally read ALL of those stories, just with different villains. The Joker. The Church of Blood. Spyral. Etc, etc.

The stories we HAVEN'T read though?

Are the ones where Dick Grayson - AS Dick Grayson, not Talon, as just himself, fully and completely in control of his own faculties and the only one in the driver's seat in his head -

Looks at what the revelations of the Court and their plans for him and his life MEAN for him and his life. How that new information about their view of him, his family history, how all that changes and informs HIS view of himself and his family, and the paths his life has taken.

Give me the Court and Talon stories where Dick gets to reflect upon his realization that Bruce taking him in, everything he did in the spotlight as Dick Grayson, ward of Gotham's Prince, and as Robin and Nightwing.....that's quite literally what SAVED him from being kidnapped and turned into a pawn of the Court. All of that was likely the buffer that kept them at bay, instead of swooping in and claiming him in the aftermath of his parents' murder.

Give me the stories where Dick reconciles his feelings about how proprietarily these rich fucks view him and his family tree, how they think of him as literally THEIRS to do with as they please.....while Dick has to also grapple with the reality that its literally only the wealth, resources and power and privilege of another rich aristocrat that protected Dick all these years and kept him safe from that exploitation. Let Dick confront his feelings about how he thinks Bruce has taken him for granted at times, and compare and contrast it to how Bruce's peers WANTED to exploit him, let Dick voice to Bruce that he can be grateful to Bruce and his role in Dick's life while still needing to confront the specter of entitlement that has informed so many aspects of his life and choices that Dick has both gotten to make for himself, and choices that he DIDN'T get to make for himself, even though they SHOULD have been his choices to make.

Give me the stories where Dick struggles with the new revelation that the Court of Owls is made up of rich Gothamites who have literally brushed elbows with Dick throughout his school years, at various galas, when Dick was working at Wayne Enterprises, etc....and the whole while, many of these people - and Dick doesn't even know for sure WHICH ones, and might NEVER know - many of them were part of this secret society sneering down at him through polite masks while just waiting for the day they'd get to assume control of him and use him as their personal pawn. Give me Bruce being self-conscious and second-guessing how often he took Dick out among the sharks chomping at the bit to get their hooks into Bruce's son, all while Bruce himself didn't even have a clue of the danger surrounding Dick....BECAUSE of who he was mingling with. Give me the ANGST of Dick and Bruce struggling to talk about what it MEANS for both of them, to have to take another look back at YEARS worth of interactions with people Bruce never thought to think twice about, and that Dick likely ALWAYS had bad feelings about because he has good instincts about people and quite possibly KNEW many of these people skeeved him out for some reason, or were being weird towards him or about him....but he didn't feel secure enough of his place among Gotham's upper class that he was comfortable VOICING the fact that something about many of these people and his interactions with them probably always left him very unsettled.

THOSE are the Court of Owls stories I want to read! That's where the meat is, if you ask me. Give me THAT angst. Less Talon being exploited by the Court, more Dick Grayson spending YEARS in constant danger from the Court, with no idea how precarious his situation was all that time....

Until the day the truth about his family history and the Court's plans for him were revealed....and suddenly it all would have been right there in front of his face, impossible to look away from, and casting so much of what he thought he knew about himself, his past interactions and associations, and his own lived experiences among Gotham's elite.....in an ENTIRELY new light.

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iphoenixrising · 4 years

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So. No lie buuuut wow. Your work is well done. What other aus would you tackle if you had the time?? Inquiring minds need to know babe.

Aw, thank-you so much babe! I’m glad you enjoy my works.

Hm, other aus I would tackle (like I for real don’t have enough already LOL) if I had the time and inclination? Welp, there are quite a few tbh. I’ll throw down some of them, but don’t expect to see these any time soon. I have so many half-ass docs I need to finish already, you know?

But here’s a few of them:

- Civilian CEO Au, in which Tim becomes the CEO of Drake Industries and realizes how shady the business practices are. His clean-up attempt means he makes multiple enemies and pretty much gets his ass in danger. Cue some very understanding vigilantes saving his bacon on multiple occasions. And why are the wards of Bruce Wayne showing a sudden interest in WE’s competitor?? (Eventual smut, identity porn, and angst are a must.)

- Alien!Tim Au: Crash landing on Earth, meeting the Teen Titans is more than Tim was hoping for when his ship started malfunctioning close to Earth’s orbit. Word around the galaxy is how bad ass the Justice League is, so most thought human kind is mostly super beings of immense power. Some cute discoveries (how had no one introduced him to pizza before? It’s odd looking but tasty), some crime fighting with alien tech, and learning how humans “make love” with the team captain, Robin! (This one might be fun to do a one-shot or something some day)

- Self-Indulgent Identity Porn Au: what if Tim Drake took it upon himself to find people to train him so he could become a vigilante like Batman and Robin? A world where Tim didn’t go to Dick or Bruce to become a vigilante, but still gets training so he can try to stop Batman from destroying himself after the death of his second Robin. “Batman needs a Robin,” the masked kid tells him softly, “and I’m sorry I can’t be that for you. But what I can do is help you stop destroying yourself. I can help you save Gotham if you let me.” “I can’t have another kid’s death on my hands,” the exhausted vigilante sounds broken, gloved hands lying limp by his sides while the kid is bandaging the bleeding wounds in his abdomen. “Whatever happens is on my head, not yours. I know your Robin died, but I’m sure as hell not him.” What Batman doesn’t know about Sparrow? He’s literally the kid next door. (I just want to write an au where Tim takes his vigilante career in his own hands, and gets attention from villains and heroes alike when he’s training to become an associate of the Batman.)

- Talon!Tim au: I know, I KNOW. I’ve written short things about Tim taken by the Court of Owls to become the next Talon when the Court failed to get Dick, but I’d really like to explore this idea more. The aftermath after he breaks the Court’s brainwashing more specifically. How does he find a new normal after everything he’s been through? - Irresistible Omega Tim: Also something I’ve kind of explored when babes brought this up in Asks. I did a post about babe’s idea of Tim holding down Gotham after B gets lost in time here, but I’d really like to take something like this and make it about Dick and Dami coming back to Gotham after some hard talks and soul-searching (basically Dick refusing to let Dami go back to the League of Assassins, dragging him back to Gotham with the argument that Dami would be dishonoring Bruce’s memory and etc.) to find Tim exhausted and beat the hell up after weeks of patrolling on his own. Not to mention Tim presented while they were gone, so now there’s that. I want Tim to have a relationship with young Dami that’s positive, with an understanding Tim since he knows Dami’s an abused kid with a horrific background, and Dami doesn’t know what to do with Omega coddling (eventually he sinks into it tho) and Pack Alpha Dick fairly salivating to take care of their Pack Omega. Jay, Cass, and Steph wander in once Tim presents because Omega are the glue of the Pack, and just! Baddies taking an interest in Robin even though he wears scent blockers and suppressants and everything, but Smut, discovery, family, and supportive everyone ever. The fandom damn well needs this. - Yet another idea for irresistible Tim: What if! Babes, what if, Tim presented during that reunion with Kon after he came back from the dead and B was still lost in time? When Tim called him “Clone Boy” and took off the cowl. Just WHAT IF HE PRESENTED RIGHT THEN? What if Kon, an Alpha because Lex wanted an Alpha heir or whatever, could literally scent the stress and strain on Tim the moment the cowl comes off, can tell everything about Tim’s mental state right at that moment because he’s one of the few people Tim implicitly trusts, is dying inside because he knows he won’t be able to sway Tim away from “the Mission” unless his bestie is literally bleeding out... until Tim starts sweating and swaying, eyes going dazed, scent getting...sweeter? (Ugh, this Tim so battered and beaten down after all the fuckery with Ra’s and losing his spleen, and broken by losing his place as Robin, and just when he’s ready to throw in the towel, when he’s so fucking broken, he fucking presents. After pretty much figuring he’d be just a Beta, no, no, he’s a rare male Omega. A male Omega that smells like everything any Alpha could ever want. Tim glances up when he feels hot all over, even with the cold air on the rooftop passing over them, sees the way Kon’s pupils dilate. “Kon?” “I need you to come with me,” is abruptly out of his best friend’s mouth, “you’re going to take a break from this Batman hunt and come with me, T.” “Wh-What?” “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you, promise.”

So. SO yeah. Those are a few :D

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peter-btw-parker · 7 years

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Random Tags Rules: Always post the rules. Answer the 11 random questions posted for you. Create 11 new ones and tag 11 people. Let the person who tagged you know that you answered.

Tagged by: @princessunicorn13 @b-oota

Questions below...

Bre’s Questions

What do you want to be when you grow up? I want to be a psychologist/psytherapist

Any favorite book recommendations? Always! Let’s see... Leven Thumps, Charlie Bone, Ranger’s Apprentice, A Court of Thorns and Roses, Throne of Glass, The Door Within, Seraphina... too many XD

Who is your favorite Disney character? Probably... Princess Eilonwy from The Black Cauldron

Favorite villain? Maleficent.

Least favorite fictional character? Tamlin from A Court of Thorns and Roses

What superpower would you wish for if given a chance to choose? Shapeshifting

Favorite family member? I feel bad for answering this XD It’s kind of my little brother (3 years old) right now. He calls me by a nickname no one’s used since I was little and he absolutely loves doing things with me. He’s also the most random person I know XD

Do you give second chances? It really depends on the situation but yes, I do try and give people second chances.

Is there someone you miss right now? I one of my best friends. We talked about everything together and now she’s on the west coast for college :(

Where have you always dreamed of going? Either London or New Zealand. One for the culture and architecture, the other for it’s gorgeaous scenary.

Do you plan on having kids? If so, how many? Yes, and maybe 4 or 5? No more than 5 though

Lindsay’s Questions

if you could play any character in any movie, musical, show, or book being turned into any of those, who would you be and why? I think it would be incredibly cool to play Seraphina from Seraphina. She’s amazing and brilliant but also very average looking. She doesn’t try to stand our or being anything she’s not, and she goes through so many struggles because of who her mother was and who she is. And book 2... I cried...

favorite song lyrics? “How bout I jump out the window?” from Humbug by Owl City. Favorite Christmas song XD

you’re in a hot air balloon, sailing over any city in the world with the 3 people of your choice, where are you and who are you with? The city would be... Orlando, Florida because I want to know what Disney World looks like from the air XD I’d want to be there with my mom, my friend Taylor, and my second younger sister

if you were a sticky note on someone’s fridge, what color would you be, what would you say, and whose fridge would you be on? I would be a green sticky note, probably saying something incredibly sarcastic or punny (You legs will always lift you up), and I’d want to be on my friend Dottie’s drifge cause she “hates” my dumb jokes XD

a stranger walks up to you and claims to be a famous person, asking you for a favor. You recognize the name, but they still look completely foreign to you. Who is it, and how embarrassed are you? Would you do the favor? First thought was Tom Holland Let’s see... well, I’d be embarressed no matter who they were, no I would probbaly not do the favor. And the person would honestly probably be someone that literally anyone would recognize but because I forget the name to a face, I wouldn’t realize it XD

you see your least favorite teacher on the news for receiving an award for being an amazing teacher. Your reaction? Roll my eyes, scream “are you kidding me?! He’s the reason I hate math!” then go to Netflix or something

what’s one line from a book, movie, tv show, etc. that means a lot to you, and why? It can be funny, serious, made you cry, be a joke among your friends, etc.

if you eat donuts, what’s your favorite? If not, tell me about your favorite sweet! I used to really love glazed donuts but for the sake of my health and being healthy, I no longer eat them. Kit Kats on the other hand... I can’t stay away from those if you paid me

do you like lotion? Why or why not? Not on my hands because then they feel slimey to me, but anywhere else is fine

what is one show/movie you would reboot and why? Pretend like it’ll live up to it’s name and hype. Percy freaking Jackson! They destroyed the movie and somehow thought that making a second one would end well *smh* I refuse to watch them and constantly ask my mom if we can break the discs

favorite vine or video you think is funny? Either the one where Obama says “Thanks Obama” after trying to dip a large cookie into a glass, or one where and owl is talking to this lady and saying “drugs” in a weird voice with a weird head angle.

My Questions

1.) Which book character do you most find yourself acting like?

2.) If you’ve taken the Hogwarts House test, did your result reflect what you believe you are? If you haven’t, what house do you think you are?

3.) What comes to mind, memory wise, when you see the word “pillow?”

4.) Why is it your favorrite color?

5.) Replace your favorite book character with your best friend. How much will change? What will stay the same?

6.) Last thing you binge watched on Netflix (or anything else)?

7.) Favorite background/side character and why?

8.) What is a name that you’ve always admired?

9.) How good of a liar are you? How often does it get you in trouble?

10.) Fondest memory?

11.) How often do you take time to do something that is 100% just for you? No obligations, no requirements, no one stanidng over your shoulder watching.

@im-forever-a-fangirl @sugacraving @tom-holla @spider-bih @solartchalla @five-foot-two-joanne @ribbonsandchocolate @the-crime-fighting-spider @kaliforniacoastalteens @zendmylife @spidey-mantom

Sorry for such a long post! XD

#tagged #tag game #question game #saturae

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fishfingersandjellybabies · 7 years

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Of Times - fic

Characters: Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne Summary: He’d only asked to continue the conversation. He didn’t expect an answer, or the one he got. A/N: Sequel to Deja Vu and Everything. Bruce and Shawn are gonna have trouble getting Dick away from Damian’s bedside. It probably becomes near routine for Dick to tell Damian how much he loves him like, once an hour. It probably doesn’t really hit Dick until later how many of his best and worst times deal with Damian, and he probably gets all emotional about it, and then talks poor Shawn’s ear off about Damian AGAIN. Dick will ask Damian about all his best times too, and they literally all deal with Dick. Dick’s so touched he probably starts to cry. Damian probably feels guilty for that too, the poor baby.

Damian huffed, and the breath nearly knocked Dick’s cards off the mattress.

His older brother had been sitting in the uncomfortable chair, playing a ridiculous game of cards for the last three hours. Humming sometimes, talking some other times, glancing up at Damian after every card he laid down. Not looking for approval, Damian knew, but.

It was as if he was checking to make sure Damian was still there.

“You sound annoyed, Damian.” Dick said pleasantly. Laid a card down, looked up at Damian. “What’s up?”

“Surely you’re bored by now.” Damian countered, crossing his arms. Frowning when his IV tube tugged. “You’ve been playing Solitare for hours.”

“A little.” Dick grinned. Laid another card. Glanced up. “But it’s a good way to pass the time.”

“You can stop.” Damian pushed. “Do something else.”

“Doing anything else would require me to leave.” Dick explained. Laid down three cards now, looked up at Damian. “And I do not want to do that.”

“…You can.” Damian murmured. “You don’t have to sit with me.”

“Of course not. I just want to.” Dick laid another few cards, and then frowned. Clearly this was a losing hand, and he quickly scooped all the cards up, reorganizing them as he, again, looked at Damian. Damian suddenly didn’t like it, and snorted, turning his head away. A little too quickly, if the explosion of pain in his skull was any indication. He must have winced, or twitched or something, because suddenly Dick’s hand was on his arm. “You okay?”

“Fine, fine.” Damian tried to wave him off, but Dick didn’t lean back. “It just…it hurts. Sometimes. And nothing really seems to set it off it just…”

“When you least expect it, there it is, full blast.” Dick smiled apologetically. “I know, kiddo. It’ll be like that for the next week at least. Maybe longer.”

“It’s just annoying.” Damian heard the whine in his own voice.

“Hah. Tell me about it.” Dick chuckled. When Damian leaned back against his pillow, Dick still didn’t let go. “…Is this the worst pain you’ve ever been in?”

“Grayson, I’ve been shot multiple times. I died.” Damian reminded, and Dick frowned, looked away. “I mean, it’s up there, but…no. Not the worst.”

“…I feel like that should be comforting, but it’s not.” Dick whispered, voice bitter. And Damian knew by this point: that bitterness was aimed at himself.

“…Was it the worst pain you were ever in?” Damian asked thoughtfully. Dick glanced up. “When Hurt shot you?”

“Mm…nah. I wouldn’t say so.” Dick shrugged. “Top ten, for sure, but…nothing beats a paper cut, you know?”

Dick snorted at his own joke, and Damian rolled his eyes. There was a moment of silence, then, as Dick finally drew his hand back, and began to reshuffle his cards. Damian watched him thoughtfully, before:

“…What is the worst pain you’ve been in?” Damian asked. “Really?”

“Well…” Dick hummed, keeping his eyes on the cards. “That’s a bit of a tough question.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, do you mean physically? Emotionally?” Dick listed off. “I don’t think I have to tell you that there’s different kinds of pain out there.”

“Just��worst.” Damian repeated. “Whatever that means to you.”

Dick waited a moment. Just shuffled the cards. “Well. When I lost my parents. When Jason died. And Donna. And Bruce. Those kinds of things.”

“…Naturally.” Damian said after a moment.

But suddenly – Dick stopped shuffling the cards. Just held the deck in his hands, staring at them.

“…When Jason shot you.” Dick whispered. “Letting…” He trailed off. “Letting Talia’s doctors take you after Flamingo paralyzed you, and not demanding to come with you.”

Damian felt his chest tighten.

“I always wonder, even now. Maybe if I’d gone with you, Talia wouldn’t have had the chance to hurt you, and put those things in your spine.” Dick wouldn’t look up now. “…Seeing you on that stretcher, not knowing if I’d ever actually see you again…I had a panic attack that night. Did I ever tell you that?”

Damian didn’t answer.

“Being in that state is probably why I ended up trying to resurrect Bruce.” Dick chuckled, but it was self-depreciating. “…When I gave up Batman too. I hated that. I hated just…leaving you there. And then with the Owls. God…when the Court of Owls tried to take you I just…I literally thought my heart was going to stop, and I was going to keel over right there.”

Damian just stared at him, but now, annoyingly, Dick just…wouldn’t look at him.

“When you died.” Dick barely breathed. “When you died, I…the world stopped, Damian. Everything stopped. I didn’t remember what pain actually felt like before that. Or even after. Not even physically. No cut or bruise or anything even compares.”

Damian had stopped breathing himself. Was…well, shocked was an understatement.

“Right now is up there, though.” Dick laughed again, and it was sad. Dick finally looked up now, and there were tears in his eyes. “Right now hurts pretty bad too.”

“But.” Damian murmured. “But I’m fine, Grayson.”

“You’re not fine, kiddo, you just had surgery to get a bullet out of your skull.” Dick grinned incredulously. “And…and it’s my fault you got shot. You got hurt because some madman decided to use you to get at me.”

“No, I got shot because Simon Hurt is the most unoriginal villain we’ve ever faced.” Damian countered. “And that is not your fault.”

Dick smiled, but it was awkward. “You’re funny, you know that?”

Damian felt his lip purse in frustration. And without thinking about it, he jerked forward.

“No, I am not funny!” He scolded, pointing threateningly. “And you will listen to me, Grayson, or else I will…”

Pain raged along the back of his neck and his words faltered without his consent. Dick immediately dropped the cards to the floor and stood, holding Damian’s head between his hands as he gently pushed Damian back against his pillow.

“Calm.” Dick hummed, even as Damian habitually tried to fight him. “Careful, Damian. You go too fast and you’re going to set your recovery back two more months.”

“I’m sure not.” Damian groaned, holding the back of his head himself, squeezing his eyes shut until the pain subsided. When it did, he slumped back, dropped his arm and opened his eyes, looking up at Dick.

Dick smiled, shifting his hand to brush Damian’s hair back. “There you are.”

Damian scoffed and looked away.

“Uh-oh. I know that face.” Dick sang as he released Damian’s face and sat back down in his chair. “That’s your patented brooding face. What are you brooding about?”

“…What you said.” Damian whispered. “It sounds like I’ve caused you nothing but pain and heartache since we met.”

“…Oh, no, Damian, that’s not-”

“I apologize. That was never my intention.” Damian turned his head back, looking emotionless as he said: “But it makes more sense now, why you’d want to replace me with a child of your own.”

“That’s…” Dick’s face darkened a little, as if annoyed, but then it instantly brightened, though still seemed slightly apologetic. “Damian.”

Damian just raised an eyebrow.

“Our whole relationship has not been pain and heartache. And you know what? Even if it was, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I wouldn’t trade you for the world.” Dick smiled, leaning his elbows on the mattress. “I love you to death, kiddo. And I…I know I’m pretty bad at showing it. Or telling you. But that’s the truth. Or have you forgotten what I told you yesterday?”

Yesterday, when Dick’s girlfriend explained how much Dick talked about him. Yesterday, when Dick barged in on them with an emotional rant that Damian was still struggling to actually believe.

“You’re my favorite baby. You will always be my favorite baby. And god forbid I ever have my own baby…well, then you two would be tied.” Dick smiled sheepishly. “And it’s not all pain and woe. Did you know you star in some of my happiest moments too?”

Damian tilted his head in confusion.

Dick laughed, put a hand on Damian’s arm. “Playing Swordwalkers, when we defeated the White Knight all those years ago. Watching you solve your first case on your own. Going to the arcade.” That grin suddenly grew wide and bright. “The first time I saw you again after you came back to life. When you ran at me and let me hold you. That one’s my favorite moment of all time.”

Damian felt his face heat up. “…No it isn’t.”

“It really, really is. I think about it at least once a day, and every time you call or text me.” Dick promised. “I love you, Damian, and that’s never going to change. No matter what happens, where I go or how old I get.” That blinding smile faded, just a little. “…And I know it’s hard for you to believe something like that, what with how you grew up, how our family is, how much of a jerk I am sometimes, but it’s the absolute truth. And I will spend the next two months at least ingraining that into your cute little head, okay?”

Damian blinked. “Two months?”

“What, did you think I was going to let you recover on your own?” Dick snorted. “Please, kid. You were there for me, the least I could do is be there for you too. Alfred already made up my room for Shawn and I. She’s sticking around to help, too.”

“You…” Damian glanced away in embarrassment. “You don’t have to, I can-”

“I want to.” Dick cut off. “And I’m going to, whether you want me to or not.”

And Damian had no real retort to that. Was embarrassed and flattered and giddy and…any emotion you could think of. And it was exhausting him.

So instead: “…You’re insufferable, Grayson.”

“That’s what big brothers are for.” Dick chuckled, leaning up to kiss Damian’s forehead. He lingered there a second, then leaned back just a little. “…I’m sorry you got hurt because of me, Damian.”

“And I’m sorry I made you hurt your ankle.” Damian glanced up at him, tried to smile himself. “So I think we’re even.”

“Not even close!” Dick laughed loudly, pressing a second kiss where he left the first. “See, Damian? I told you you were funny.”

“Yeah, well. I unfortunately had a great teacher.” Damian smirked and Dick rolled his eyes as he leaned down to begin picking up his cards. Damian watched him for a moment, then: “…Grayson?”

“Hm?”

“…I love you too.” Damian whispered. Dick looked up. “I’m…sorry I’m so insecure about it. About all of it.”

Dick smiled knowingly, sitting back up with all the cards in his hand, and scooting closer to the mattress. “You’re the best, kiddo.”

“We’re the best.” Damian corrected.

“That’s right, we are.” Dick laughed for a good thirty seconds. As it died down, he held up the cards. “Now you need your sleep, but how about a quick game of Go Fish first?”

Damian thought about it. “Winner gets to pick a movie to watch later? And the ice cream flavor?”

And Dick stared up at him, face open and adoring and loving. It made Damian almost uncomfortable, he was so unused to such…bold-faced affection. But it also made him…happy. Warm. Relaxed.

(Because this is all he wanted.)

“Deal.”

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davidmann95 · 7 years

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On Nightwing #18

This is just getting unfair. I think I’ve mentioned before that Nightwing’s been sailing under the radar as one of the two or three most entertaining classic-style superhero comics right now, but Nightwing Must Die! as even more of a straight-up continuation of Morrison’s Batman than Grayson is basically scientifically engineered at this point to appeal to me. And with the latest development, there’s a lot to unpack.

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

I didn’t think Bane’s "I swear by the blood of my parents to avenge their deaths by spending the rest of my life conquering all criminals" was going to have any competition as the hypest moment in comics this year, but it seems the gauntlet’s been thrown down. Dr. Hurt is back - if visibly a bit worse for wear going by his suit and cowl - and the threat is on an entirely different level now, not just to Dick Grayson but to the Batman Family as a whole. And way beyond the surface-level homages to Morrison’s time on Batman (shot to the back of the skull, except this time Dick’s the one who has to beat the clock and save the day rather than getting yanked to the side in the finale issue of his own story!), he actually fits this arc like a black glove.

On basic level a big chunk of this arc has been about Dick in a parental position between Damian and the potential child with Shawn, so it makes sense for the ultimate Bad Father of their world to emerge as the real threat. Pyg’s his servant (one whose talents are particularly suited to what Hurt’s trying to do here, which I’ll get to in a second), his status as either The Literal Devil or an unwitting servant of Darkseid potentially justifies the weird Multiverse bits leaking in around the edges of the arc, and as Damian’s 14th birthday is imminent given Rebirth has established him as just turning 13, the events leading to Batman of Bethlehem start to get closer, and Hurt’s known to play a crucial role in them when Damian one way or another sells him his soul.

But there’s more to it than that.

The immediate question is: why Dick Grayson? Hurt visibly never cared about him in their first meeting, and while he was one half of that amazing double-punch with Damian in Batman and Robin, I don’t think that’d get him to devote a scheme on this scale to killing him when a sniper would do, much less risk the life of a Wayne. The answer of course is that he doesn’t want him dead. Hell, the solicit for #20 tells you that, and also makes clear why it’s Hurt: “Very few villains have ever broken Batman—but the man who’s been tormenting Nightwing is one of them! Why has he chosen Nightwing, and not Batman, to serve him in the dark new world he sees coming?” He wants a servant. More than that, one formed under very specific conditions, because “the best of you are driven by pain, powered by tragedy”.

This is not a new strategy for Simon Hurt. In fact, it’s the oldest trick in his book.

That’s why the arc is titled Nightwing Must Die. Not because he wants to kill Dick Grayson, but because he wants him to be Batman again - a monstrous new kind of Batman, broken and bent to the devil’s service. To Hurt, Grayson was never more than a worthless piece of big top trash, meant to serve his betters (might he know about the Court of Owls’ plans for him?). In this case via Pyg’s mind-eroding and person-crafting talents going hand-in-hand with the death of a loved one, tying together Dick’s fatherly concerns and Damian’s worries over who will inherent the cowl into a single coherent idea: is Dick Grayson supposed to be Batman? Of course this puts me in the awkward position of kinda rooting for Dr. Hurt, given my answer to that question is definitely and thoroughly yes (especially if that means no more editorially-forced Blüdhaven arcs that Tim Seeley’s visibly less interested in than the good shit on either side of it), but even though this probably won’t lead to Dick reclaiming the title, I’m hopeful that Seeley will finally be able to justify Nightwing as an independent identity in a way that’ll work to my satisfaction.

And on top of all that: where the hell do we go from here? Dr. Hurt’s back, and it feels like it’s going to take more than the remaining two issues of this arc to resolve that given the scale of the danger he represents. And if and when Hurt makes it out of this, it makes absolutely no sense for only Nightwing to be going after him alone; Batman isn’t going to go “oh yeah, totally Dick, you handle my immortal evil-powered grandad who once drove me insane all by yourself.” What’s his place going forward? Is he going to be heavily involved in Metal? If not, I suspect any further attacks by him are going to be on the scale of a full-blown crossover. Batman as a title is going into the past for awhile (I suspect because of Metal being the obvious Important Batman Story and running at the same time, same as Zero Year ran during Batman Eternal), and when it comes back I wouldn’t be surprised if Seeley’s old Grayson partner in Tom King collaborated on a huge Batfamily vs. Dr. Hurt story. If they hold off awhile maybe it could even be the big 80th anniversary Batman event for 2019, with Detective Comics #1000 playing in as Damian’s birthday approaches and the death of Batman (which King already hinted at coming in his run!) looms. In any case, while there’s still every chance the creators could blow it, I’m at the moment more than happy to see Simon Hurt return to wreak, as he would put it, spectacular new atrocities.

#Nightwing #Batman #Dick Grayson #Grant Morrison #Tim Seeley #Javier Fernandez #Tom King #Dr. Hurt #Opinion

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sueboohscorner · 7 years

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#Gotham "All Will Be Judged" S3 Ep19 Spoilers, Recap & Review

Alrighty then, nerds and geeks alike. A lot of awesome stuff happened in the latest episode of Gotham. I mean, usually, I’m pumped to see some stuff in episodes and then I’m just kind of “meh” on the other stuff, but on this episode, I found myself really enjoying the episode as a whole.

We got crystal owls, we got secrets uncovered, we got action, we got to see heads roll, we got a brand new character in the DC universe “The Executioner” in action with an actual executioner’s blade on his left arm, we got Harvey Bullock giving us excellent one liners, and we got Alfred’s bad, butler self, stabbing some people. Let’s get to it!

So Selina (Camren Bicondova), being all kinds of angry at Five (David Mazouz), storms into Wayne Manor and totally get right to the butt kicking and even stabs Five in the lower abdomen. The scuffle was intervened by Alfred (Sean Pertwee) and Five quickly takes advantage of the situation and knocks Selina out with a fire poker, all the while pretending to be all “Oh, Alfred! She attacked me! She’s crazy!” But then Alfred notices that “Bruce” doesn’t seem to be in pain in spite of being stabbed, and finally calls Five out and is all “Where’s Bruce?!” Then Alfred is, unfortunately, knocked out by Five and he manages to escape.

Now on to the real Bruce (David Mazouz), things get a little bit off putting with the Shaman (Raymond J. Barry). He does relieve Bruce from the pain of the night his parents were murdered, and now Bruce seems to be uninhibited so he can grow up to be a kick-ass bat. But the Shaman's attitude gets more and more unnerving as his assertion towards taking down the Court becomes more evident too. Not only that, it looks like his training with Bruce has had the same effect as the Court’s training of Talons: they are fighting machines who will obey any command.

Back at the Manor, Alfred tends to Selina’s wounds and tries to get into contact with Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie), who is not responding. Alfred resolves to go down to the GCPD himself and asks Selina to accompany him. Still sour about the whole mother incident, she adamantly refuses. Alfred lets her have it about the only reason she’s not helping is because Bruce kept the truth about her horrible mother and that Bruce has done nothing to help her and he has always been by her side. Selina hesitantly shrugs all that off until Alfred delivers the final blow by saying that fine, she should run away, just like her mother. Run away and never come back.

Meanwhile, Jim and Harvey (Donal Logue) manage to find a location that, I’m not going to lie, looks REALLY cool on the inside, but it also has a crystal owl. Remember that other crystal owl that Bruce had until Jerome smashed it? It’s a good thing that the Court has spares, am I right? They shine their flashlight on the statue and it projects an image of what looks like to be Gotham City and several highlighted locations.

But before Jim and Harvey could figure out anything about anything, a grenade is tossed into the building and then things go BOOM…literally. The person who caused the explosion was none other than the Executioner, A.K.A. Nathaniel Barnes (Michael Chiklis). He’s got a cool looking suit, armed with cool explosives and a bad ass blade that was put on his left arm. He was ordered by Kathryn (Leslie Hendrix) to kill James Gordon which, if you haven’t been paying attention, the Executioner considers Jim to be all kinds of GUILTYYYYYY and is all for killing him. Gordon and Bullock quickly escape.

At the GCPD, Alfred finally catches up with Jim and informs him that Bruce has been kidnapped by the Court. They compare notes and convince Alfred to go get the pieces of the owl at the Manor and with some forensic magic, they can put together a functional copy of the statue.

While all that is going on, Kathryn gets arrested and gets interrogated by Jim, She puts on an “I don’t know what you‘re talking about” act, and I don’t know about you but that just royally pisses me off. When Alfred returns and hears word that Kathryn is in the building, he barges in on her and Jim and does a little interrogating himself. When she tries to put that act up again, Alfred gives what I think is one of the best lines in season three: “I’m not a cop, I’m a butler.” Then he freaking STABS HER HAND!!! Whaaaaaaaa?!

*A moment of silence for the sheer awesome of that scene*

However, that awesome moment is short lived when the Executioner shows up at the GCPD and knocks everyone out with some kind of gas. The boys bring Kathryn with them to confront their new enemy. Of course she does all she can to draw attention to her and the group. The Executioner then goes on and on about the guilty of Gotham blah blah blah and how it’s up to him to help purge the city blah blah blah. Kathryn says she’s all fed up with his nonsense and to just get his butt into gear and get her out of there. Triggered by the word ‘nonsense’ Barnes cuts off her head- wait whaaaat?!!

Inevitably Barnes does get captured…only to escape a few minutes later.

I guess I have to mention Lee (Morena Baccarin) and what she was up to in the episode. Well, for starters, she has a nightmare about her dead husband Mario and she visits Jervis Tetch (Benedict Samuel) in Arkham Asylum. In his own devilish and deliciously manner, Tetch informs Lee everything about his plan and how it affected her, Mario, and Jim. He also lectures Lee about how it’s funny that she has been blaming Jim and him for what happened, when she herself is also to blame.

After the whole Executioner debacle, we are told that the blood samples of the Tetch virus have all been taken. The only people who know the combination to the virus are Jim, Lucius, and…..Lee.

I bet you’re wondering what happened with Edward (Corey Michael Smith) and Oswald (Robin Lord Taylor), aren’t you? Don’t worry, I just wanted to put all of the Ed and Oz bits in one summary.

As expected, the two villains are astonished to see each other and alive no less. Their communication with one another is almost comedic with the witty jabs at the other’s expense and the constant back and forth. They eventually come to some sort of truce to get the heck out of their cages, with a time limit in accordance to their not murdering each other agreement, of course.

They do manage to break out and scare some hobos while they’re at it, until the Riddler and the Penguin part ways, no doubt in preparation of the other’s retaliation.

The last thing we see is Lee sitting at a table in her home and she injects the Tetch virus into herself……..yeah, a LOT of people saw that coming. So now I’m just waiting for her to come up with her stupid little plan to hurt Jim and anyone he calls friend and to just go through the motions with her either dying, becoming Harley, or just become another crazy inhabitant of Gotham.

THINGS I LIKED:

I got to admit, I wasn’t really all psyched about the Executioner character because he is VERY much like a character already in the DC universe, Lock Up, and the whole shtick of a character “purging wherever the character lives of all bad stuff”, we’ve all seen it before. But I did enjoy the action I saw from the Executioner and the cool blade on his arm.

We got to see Jervis Tetch and all of his unsettling enjoyment of causing emotional pain to anyone he comes across. Very well done.

Now look, I like Selina and I get where she’s coming from with the whole mother angle, but when Alfred finally told her off, oh man did I enjoy it.

Alfred being a bad ass butler.

The show finally bringing back attention to the crystal owl. I wasn’t completely sure if it would be brought back up again.

I don’t know if I technically liked seeing Kathryn get her head cut off, but WOW!

I am overall impressed and satisfied about the episode and I would give it a 9 out of 10.

Got any questions and or comments about my review and recap? Don’t be shy, let me know.

As always, stay weird.

#Gotham #Gotham Recap #Gotham (TV series)

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spotlightsaga · 7 years

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Kevin Cage of @spotlightsaga reviews... Gotham: Heroes Rise (S03E15) How The Riddler Got His Name Airdate: April 24, 2017 @foxtv @gothamfox Ratings: 2.91 Million :: 0.9 18-49 Demo Share Score: 5.75/10 **********SPOILERS BELOW********* The Riddler doesn't need a reason to The Riddler, does he now? That's kind of the point and essentially what makes The Riddler such a legitimate threat. 'Gotham' clearly knows this, because Edward Nygma's motivations to become 'The Riddler' are sketchy at best. That doesn't mean that watching the man literally lose his shit for the entire episode didn't make for great tv. Corey Michael Smith playing Edward Nygma is always a joy to watch, but seeing him become totally unhinged and finally making a full transition into the green spray paint wielding, question mark tagging, riddle ranting, extremely dangerous Riddler villain with his mind's perception of Oswald Cobblepot 'sort-of' guiding him along is exactly the over-the-top, ludicrous nature that 'Gotham' has finally embraced that we have come to love so much. The coming of age, Riddler origin story isn't exactly what I hoped it would be... And even tho this is most definitely 'The Riddler's episode, Robin Lord Taylor's duel performance as both him in the flesh (briefly) and how he exists in Nygma's head almost steals the spotlight completely from Smith. Believe me, this is no fault of Smith's. Both men have established themselves as incredible actors, with a complete understanding of what it takes to make Gotham's 'campy' style work. Besides fantastic acting, Gotham is always bringing the set design. Its literally a marvel. Even these episodes that feel hastily pasted together are complimented with such great attention to detail when it comes to world building, costumes and set design that it's easy to excuse the show's shortcomings. 'Gotham' itself has turned S3 into the show we never knew that we wanted it to be. Out of 15 episodes of this current season, this is the first I've given 'less than stellar' marks to. I'm going to chalk it up to a mid-season dusting. I've never been on board with this trend television has developed over the years to take these very much long, extended mid-season breaks, stemming from a dip in ratings over the holiday season. A small break makes sense financially, but 'Gotham' for example was split multiple times. As we now refer seasons in A or B after the number of season it's currently airing. For instance S3A 'Gotham: Mad City' took a break after E11 at the end of November, just to resurface again after the holidays as S3A 'Gotham: Mad City' in the middle of January, but only running 3 episodes to finish 'S3A' out by the end of that month. 3 months later on April 24, here we are starting S3B. I get upset when someone breathes wrong when I'm writing, anything could upset my 'rhythm'. I couldn't imagine taking so many awkward breaks writing on one piece, let alone how that would effect the reader or in this case the viewer. Then again, we're talking about FOX who I still think should hire me to run their network... Or, hell, anyone with a basic knowledge of how television works, streaming deals, live ratings, DVR, and most importantly how all decisions affect the viewer and their ever-essential loyalty. Back to 'Gotham' and moving forward as S3B 'Gotham: Heroes Rise'... Despite a villain coming into his own for reasons only befitting to him, we see Bruce starting to use his skills that Alfred has been slowly teaching him to good use. Yeah, Sonny and his friends are going to have quite the headache. With Jim Gordon tied up in a rushed subplot (that's sure to turn into a well worn arc) with an uncle we literally know nothing about besides he has serious ties to the 'Court Of Owls', Lucious Fox is given the time to shine... Because, well, someone has gotta do some police work in Gotham and it sure as hell isn't going to be the always inept Harvey Bullock. But then we have Bruce vs 'Alt-Bruce', who so eloquently stabs Bruce with a syringe full of serum and calls out, 'Powerful knock-out drug!' I guess this is an ode to the original Batman series when every punch, kick, or attack was announced with a 'POW!' or a 'BAM!' We have some good plots stirring around, 'How The Riddler Got His Name' just wasn't exactly up to the normal par we've come to expect from S3. As expected, Penguin is very much still alive (thanks, Ivy!), so there is bound to be a massive blood battle on our hands. Hell hath no fury like a 'sexually fluid' human being scorned! Why should we believe that S3B will be as good as S3A... Well that's an easy one... 'Because you gotta believe in something'.

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itsybitsylemonsqueezy · 8 years

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Gotham 3x14

The Gentle Art of Making Enemies

And I want to slap and kiss the writer who came up with THAT title, because I mean... you smug, self-aggrandizing, self-satisfied jerk. But it IS accurate, can’t fault you for that xp

So, here’s how this is going to go. I have so many feels about this episode I can’t begin to organize, so I’m just going to rewatch it and liveblog the whole thing. Then later, as a resident crossover Fannibal/Gothamite, I plan to do a deconstruction of 3x14 comparing it to Mizumono, the infamous season 2 finale of Hannibal. If you’re not familiar, I’m afraid I have to ask you to watch this clip. I couldn’t find any gifsets that showed ALL of the blocking, even this clip doesn’t have Will getting out into the pouring rain, but now I’ve just said it was and is VERY RAINING, so that’s fine. I’m also giving you the EXTRA FEELS edition without the music behind it because it was SO HARD to find a clip that showed everything I needed. If you would like to hear the music of LITERAL HEARTBREAK though and PLEASE DO use it for the ending of this episode, in fact I will like PAY a video editor to overdub the end of 3x14 with Bloodfest, PLEASE, but if you would like to hear pain transcribed, here you go! Welcome to Bloodfest!

But more on all of that later, first, the liveblog! Under the cut, of course c:

You know, normally black outs are one of my favorite fic tropes, but I know for a fact no one is having ‘anonymous’ sex tonight

AU where Jim and Harvey are zookeepers

This is just... unbelievably painful to watch. I can’t watch Oswald being this stupid, it... ouch.

And Ed... EDDDD, UGH MY CHILD! MY BEAUTIFUL BABE!

You know Ed, I’m with you, we kinda all expected Oswald to kill her personally, it was kinda weird he didn’t. I know why, he was HOPING TO HELL you wouldn’t find out, but like THAT was ever going to fucking happen and that has been the WHOLE problem this ENTIRE time. Oswald hasn’t been thinking straight since he fell in love with you, if he had, he would have known that NO cover up, no matter how meticulous, how well-done, NEVER would have fooled you, Ed Nygma. And yet, time and again, and ESPECIALLY this episode, Oswald does INCREDIBLY. DUMB, THINGS. And he knows better. And that’s what makes it so hard to watch.

Oh baby, you are so... angry. And I mean that POSITIVELY, I mean that in the BEST way, because you are AT FUCKING LAST being angry WITH him, in FRONT of him, we are finally getting some positive goddamn traction on your emotions, you’re working through it! You’re doing it! I am so fucking happy!

And it’s clear, from the look on your BEAUTIFUL ANGUISHED FACE, that what UPSETS YOU, ABOUT ALL OF THIS, is the betrayal and GOOD. IT SHOULD. THAT IS WHAT YOU SHOULD BE ANGRY ABOUT. THAT IS WHAT YOU SHOULD BE CONFRONTING HIM ON AND YOU ARE AND I AM SO FUCKING PROUD! You are being explicit and honest and FUCK I AM SO HAPPY. YOU COME SO FAR BABY. YOU COME SO FAR! I AM SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU!

And Oswald... honey. I do love you, not as much as my son, but I do love you too, which is why I am so disappointed in you this episode. You keep lying when we are WAY PAST LYING. You keep saying THE WRONG FUCKING THING. And again, YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER. But you’re not, you’re being an idiot. I’m sorry, just... Ed confronting you WITH THE GODDAMN car was NOT the time to say ‘no I didn’t do it’ OSWALD HONEY. OSWALD. ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS. DO YOU NOT SEE THE LOOK ON ED’S FACE. HE IS NOT INTERESTED IN FUCKING BELIEVING YOU YOU PIECE OF TRASH. GET IT TOFUCKINGGETHER AND TELL ED THE TRUTH, HE FUCKING DESERVES IT.

Okay, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but just. I’m ALL about Ed in this, ALL ED ALL THE TIME. And one of the GREAT AND BEAUTIFUL THINGS this episode is doing is breaking their rule about not showing us Ed’s face when he’s saying something important. For the first time ever we get to see IN FULL FRONTAL CLARITY what he looks like and we know, viscerally, how he feels and I am SO PLEASED. There are no tricks, no lies, just pure unvarnished honesty. Except for the scene at the end where they do something SO CLEVER AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH but we’ll get to that later, all in good time. But here, where Ed’s explaining how he took everything from Oswald, he looks PAINED. He didn’t WANT to do this, he didn’t want to have to DESTROY his best friend, hero, and idol. It hurt him to do this, as all betrayal does, it hurts so much to be angry at someone when they’ve hurt you because you LOVED them. And you didn’t ever want to feel this way, you didn’t ever want to know that they could hurt you like this, that they WOULD. I just... UGGGGHHHH POSITIVE EXPRESSIONS OF EMOTIONS! I AM SO FUCKING THRILLED! NO MORE REPRESSION! NO MORE DENIAL! I celebrated the whole goddamn episode I AM SO HAPPY HE IS HAVING FEELINGS AND SHOWING THEM AND SAYING THINGS, I AM OVER THE MOON!

Court of Owls, blah blah blah, whatever, who cares

HARVEY. HARVEY ONCE AGAIN BEING THE ONLY SANE PERSON HERE. HARVEY BEING THE FIRST PERSON TO GO “Did you know we don’t have ANY mayoral staff right now? No mayor, no chief of staff, literally no one.” Because, think about it, NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT THE SHIT ED’S BEEN PULLING. NO ONE HAS ANY FUCKING IDEA. OSWALD’S BEEN OUT FOR AT LEAST TWO DAYS AND IT’S JUST HILARIOUS THAT HARVEY IS THE FIRST PERSON TO NOTICE. Also, how the fuck does Gotham even work? I mean, putting aside the fact that we’re a breeding ground for super villains, this city is HELL because the government is a pantomime soap opera. I mean... I... wowwwwww. Wow. But FINALLY now someone can go “Did you know we have literally no idea what’s going on? Huh. Maybe we should go check that out.”

Like, I want Jim and Harvey to finally go OKAY, WHERE THE FUCK IS OUR MAYOR, WHAT DID OSWALD FUCK UP NOW and be in the middle of trying to unravel all of THAT SHIT when ED HAPPENS. When Ed just, full Riddler, waltzes the fuck in and Jim and Harvey are both, “Ed??? Aren’t you Oswald’s chief of staff? Where is he?” Because on public record THAT IS STILL WHERE WE ARE. And I want Ed to just LAUGH at them to just go “Oh right! Yeah that WAS my job... good fucking luck! I’m not explaining ANYTHING!” and he goes off to fucking chaos riddle something else and Harvey just looks at that green streak of instability and says, “Well, clearly Oswald fucked THAT up.” and for Jim to just look at him in horror, offended that Harvey said these words in front of him, that Harvey let him know this and now he can never unknow it.

“The city’s one giant dumpster fire” Thank you Harvey. Thank you Harvey, you continue to be perfect.

Oh my goddddd EVERYTHING about Ed walking Oswald through his grand plan, EVERYTHING. I LOVE EVERYTHING. BEAUTIFUL. I love that Ed is incapable of NOT explaining how he did it, I love how he gloats, I even love Oswald’s naive disbelief and shock that all of this is how it happened. XDDDD

And OH MANY, that bit about dumping his father’s bones in a dumpster behind a Chinese restaurant? I AM NOW 100% CERTAIN ED IS LYING AND HAS BEEN LYING THE WHOLE TIME ABOUT THAT. And I’m really fucking relieved, oh man, good to know he was just being a shit. Because I COULD have believed Ed went so far to really dig up his bones, but just throw them in a dumpster? No, no, he was in forensics, we don’t treat bones that way. We don’t treat bones that way. And given that was such a spectacular, colorful lie for the pure purpose of pissing off Oswald, I now believe the WHOLE thing was just a fucking ruse and that makes me happy. Bless you Ed, bless you.

YEAH OSWALD, YEAH ED NEEDS YOU TO SAY IT, HE NEEDS FUCKING CLOSURE, WHY IS THIS A SURPRISE TO YOU. WHY ARE YOU BEING SUCH A LITTLE SHIT. OH MY GOD.

And ohhhh no. Oh no no no no. nooooo. I remember saying “Shut up shut up SHUT UP” to myself as I watched Oswald start “and you should thank me because...” because oH MY GOD NO. OH MY GOD YOU BETTER WALK YOURSELF FUCKING BACK DON’T YOU EVEN GODDAMN DAAAARE, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU THINKING?! Because BOY ON THE LIST OF THINGS NOT TO SAY, THAT IS THE VERY FIRST ONE. THERE IS NOTHING THAT COMES BEFORE “Tell Ed he would have murdered her himself” on the list of things YOU SHOULD NOT FUCKING SAY TO HIM RIGHT NOW. YOU SON OF A BITCH OSWALD. I know you know it, I even know HE knows it, but you GOTTA BE FUCKING KIDDING ME THAT YOU’RE GOING TO THROW THAT AT HIM AT A TIME LIKE THIS. WHEN HE CLEARLY ALREADY WANTS TO KILL YOU. YOU’RE GONNA... I can’t fucking believe you Oswald. I cannot fucking believe you. I... that REALLY cut me deep, I couldn’t believe Oswald would say that. And it doesn’t even fucking matter if it’s true NOT THE GODDAMN POINT.

To Ed’s INCREDIBLE credit, he doesn’t fly off the handle for that. Which makes me think he expected it, he prepared. Because HE DON’T EVEN FUCKING LISTEN. He refuses to fucking take that in and GOOD JOB BABY. GOOD MOTHERFUCKING JOB DON’T YOU LET HIM DO THAT TO YOU, YOU KEEP ON BABY, YOU ARE GLOWING AND I LOVE YOU, I AM SO PROUD.

“You’re a monster, just like me” IS NOT THE ARGUMENT YOU WANT TO BE MAKING RIGHT NOW. I just... I... it’s manipulation. You’re fucking manipulating Ed when he is MAD AT YOU FOR MANIPULATING HIM. OSWALD DID YOU THINK ABOUT THIS AT ALL BEFORE YOU SAID IT. IN WHAT WORLD WOULD THIS WORK, WHEN ON EARTH WOULD ED FUCKING LISTEN TO YOU??? EVEN if you’re right, EVEN if that’s true THAT DOESN’T FUCKING MATTER RIGHT NOW BECAUSE YOU ARE DOING THE THING HE IS MAD AT YOU FOR DOING. HOLY FUCK OSWALD.

It’s... it’s an insult, it’s a goddamn insult to who Ed thinks he is and who he wants to be, you’re... I just.. .WHY why would you be saying this? You are DENYING him his ability to control himself, you’re degrading him TO HIS FACE. AND YOU THINK THIS WILL SOMEHOW WORK???

Now, to be fair, I don’t think once, in this entire episode, is Oswald ever truly trying to save his own neck. The entire time he’s only trying to get Ed to see something, he’s trying to get through to Ed. Which I think is why Oswald doesn’t say ANYTHING right, he DOESN’T say what will get him out of this, when we’ve SEEN him do that MULTIPLE TIMES, because he’s not trying to do that right now. And I don’t think it’s because he doesn’t think Ed is serious, Ed is PATENTLY, DANGEROUSLY serious, I think it’s just... it’s not his priority right now, he’s just focused on talking to Ed. I think... genuinely, Oswald doesn’t care if this kills him for the entire episode. Even starting last episode, I don’t think Oswald cares that Ed will kill him, that loving him will kill him. Which is... WOW, wow, OKAY. I mean, major Hannigram feels, but putting that aside for a second.

It’s also unexpected for every character here INCLUDING Oswald himself. I mean Ed plans PERFECTLY, he has Oswald down to a science, he has him pegged for the survivalist gutter rat Oswald is, was, and always shall be. Which is why it throws EVERYONE OFF when Oswald doesn’t play to script, he doesn’t do ANYTHING he’s supposed to do, he flips the fucking tables and Ed is actually a LITTLE BIT angry at him for betraying him one last time; for here, at the last second, for the very first time ever, Oswald won’t defend his own life. Oswald says kill me, there’s something I care about more. And... Ed’s entitled to feel angry about that I think because MOTHER OF FUCK Oswald, couldn’t you have done this EARLIER, you know, couldn’t this have been something that occurred to you in ANY OTHER scenario, and it’s also fair that it doesn’t, it’s fair that this only hits Oswald now. But it’s awful because now Ed knows, can never unknow and has to go, ‘FUCK. Okay, knowing this, how do I... how do I feel? How do I proceed? I am still SO FUCKING ANGRY WITH YOU, but you won’t... you won’t let me hate you and kill you and just be over with it. Now it’s complicated. THANKS.’ Because Ed DID, Ed planned this PERFECT, flawless, clean ending and if Oswald had JUST run true to form, if he’d just followed the fucking script this would all be over and Ed would have peace, he could bury Oswald and it would be done. Now it’s a mess. Fuck you Oswald. Also I love you and I’m MORE GLAD THAN I CAN POSSIBLY SAY THAT THIS HAPPENED AND WOW HOLY FUCK THE WRITING I CAN’T BELIEVE THEY DID THIS, but also fuck you. But I’m getting ahead of myself, more thoughts on Oswald’s revelation when we get to it.

But, KINDA apropos, because that is the SECOND time Oswald throws love at Ed and here he’s doing it the first time and I LOOOOOOOOOVE, I LOVE LOVE LOVE THAT ED FUCKING CUTS HIM OFF AND SLAMS HIM INTO THE FUCKING GROUND. I looooove that Oswald says ‘I love you’ and Ed fucking snaps because NO YOU DON'T, NO YOU DON’T GET TO FUCKING SAY THAT TO ME, SHUT THE FUCK UP. He GRABS him to silence him and LAYS HIM FUCKING OUT and GODDDDDD. BEAUTIFUL. YES. I do find it kinda hard to believe that Ed has digested enough to articulate all of this so well, but I’m SO GLAD THAT HE IS. I’m SO GLAD he’s self-actualizing and is in a solid enough place in his own mind that he CAN lay down the law, again, I AM SO FUCKING PROUD. I AM BEYOND HAPPY HE IS HERE NOW. So, fuck it, I’ll just believe that in the past week he’s had enough time to think that he knows exactly and explicitly what Oswald did wrong AND how he himself feels about it. I am so... he has identified what’s wrong and WILL NOT let Oswald talk him out of it YOU GO BABY! YOU GO MY SWEETHEART, MY DARLING! SO PROUD OF YOU! I am so PLEASED his self-esteem has come so far that he can defy Oswald, that he can look his idol in the eye and say NO YOU’RE WRONG, that Oswald says the wrong thing Ed cuts him down to size, OH SWEET JUSTICE OF EQUALITY YES! FUCK YES! I BEEN DREAMING OF THIS!

I love this, I love everything, I love this, I love everything, I love Ed MOCKING his own tender gestures toward Oswald, twisting his old role, by taking his tie and THROTTLING HIM WITH IT. UGH. GET THAT PETTY VENGEANCE SWEET BABY! DO IT! MAKE HIM SUFFER!

Okay but LIKE FUCK Wayne Manor doesn’t have its own private generator. Just saying.

Okay, so this entire episode is all Nygmobblepot to me, but I’m actually also REALLY FUCKING HAPPY AND IMPRESSED with the Jerome-Bruce dynamic we’re building, that was also REALLY FUCKING GREAT AND SPOT ON. WAY better than last time. It’s just, Nygmobblepot is taking up 1 - 50 of my priorities, but Batjokes is coming in at a CLOSE 51 today because they did SO WELL and I’m really fucking pleased. I just gave my heart away to this other thing first xp

I adore the overture of their relationship here, I... the dynamics have gotten a LOT better. I love the home invasion so Bruce is on his home turf and is able to tackle Jerome on some equality. David is older now, he’s got my personality, more control. Jerome died and came back, so he’s a little closer to Joker madness. Bruce playing to his ego and showmanship is a MASTER stroke and I was so proud. And it’s SO GOOD that we’re getting this now, good and early, so that we develop that rivalry and fascination and adoration and obsession. Because you need ALL of that to harness a fulfilling and worthwhile Batman-Joker dynamic and we’re getting the seeds here I AM SO HAPPY. Because Batman and Joker must ALWAYS be equal and opposite, one of them cannot have advantage over the other for any length of time and when we started Jerome was at an advantage because Bruce was not old enough or equipped enough to handle him. We’ve done a lot of growing with Bruce since then, he’s in a more capable place now, so we have a much more even-footed relationship and I am thrilled. Again, THIS EPISODE WAS FANTASTIC, I LOVED ALL OF IT, NOT A PIECE OF IT WILL BE CRITICIZED BY ME.

In the words of TeamFourStar, “I know you’re playing me.. but you’re right.” Which is one of my FAVORITE CHARACTER MOMENTS IN ANY DICKBAG EVER

Okay, I love how PATENTLY OBVIOUS it was that Ed sent in this guy to free Oswald, because LIKE FUCK Ed’s not there keeping watch. I could believe he doesn’t want to watch Oswald die, especially something as grisly as this, but he’s still THERE. This guy didn’t just wander in. Yeah no, no. And the next bit with Tabitha and Butch confirms it, Oswald was ALWAYS meant to go free from this. Love it, love your plan Ed buddy, I love that this is ALL a massive trust exercise, holy god. AMAZE.

We have a lot of near deaths in this, seems to be a pattern

At least Jim can hit a cue, bless you Jim

Also, where is this carnival that IT has power for all the rides? Just saying... just saying.

The mirroring of Jerome meeting Bruce at HIS home, then taking Bruce to the circus, his own home... ahhh, just how any good first date should go XPPPP

Also, I really dig Bruce’s make up, we put a good design on him

Awww, I missed Butch, I love Butch, I missed him so much. *siiiigh* He makes too much sense for the bunch of hooligans he has to run with.

Also, TABBY. YOU NEED TO STOP BRINGING UP HOW YOU KILLED OSWALD’S MOM. I know you only do this when you think you have total control of him but that is a FOOLISH MISTAKE. He does remember, he will remember every time you do this, and you. will. die. THIS SEASON, I FUCKING BET.

I love that Jerome ALREADY wants to be understood by Bruce and that Bruce picks up on it fast enough to keep him talking, LOVE LOVE LOVE! SO CRITICAL TO THEIR RELATIONSHIP! UGH! SUCH GOOD CHARACTERIZATION!

BATMAN THEMEEEEE NANANANANANANA! Oh, sorry, wrong one ^^;

Also, dat ain’t how piranhas work. Stop piranha hate : ||||

Oooooh, DAT STAPLING THO. I LOVE that Jerome NEEDS him to react, oh god that was BEAUTIFUL! That was fucking FANTASTIC! I have CHILLS! God. Yes. Sew them seeds of obsession, START that courtship, HELLS yes!

Here comes Team Good Guys to save the day!

And another suspiciously near death here with Bruce ^^;

Annnnd BACK TO THE ACTION! I love that Ed and Oswald now have neck burns in the same place. I LOVE the tired, defeated voice Robin’s doing.

I do have one question though, why... why does Babs do this? She could just kill him, LEGIT. Why is she suddenly invested in the mental health of Ed Nygma? Why does she care if Ed gets closure? I mean... that’s the only reason to go through with this charade here at the end, the ONLY person this is helping is Ed and... we all suddenly have good and nurturing feelings toward ED??? What the fuck? I mean, I don’t understand why Babs has let him do ANYTHING. THIS WHOLE TIME. But just... I don’t know, does she feel some kind of kinship with Ed? If so, how?

And Oswald does... nothing that he’s supposed to. And what’s kinda crazy is Ed DID need an answer to the question, he did need to know, once and for all, no lies, no tricks, is there ANYTHING Oswald cares about more than himself? And Ed... wanted the answer to be no. Ed wanted that, again, so he could bury him, so he could kill his love for Oswald and bury it and be at peace. I mean, miserable, and lonely, but he could kill Oswald knowing it was the right thing to do. And Oswald... doesn’t let him have that, and it’s not like it’s Oswald’s fault, FOR ONE, the ONE TIME Oswald is expressing sincere emotion and he didn’t actually fuck something up, at least not intentionally. But, nonetheless, this prevents Ed from getting the closure he desperately wanted. And Ed says EXACTLY what I expected him to say, I was so pleased, word for word, I said it with him, “I... don’t know what it means.” AND YES. CORRECT. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO FEEL OR WHAT TO DO AND NEITHER SHOULD YOU.

And remember how I said earlier the writers were FUCKING PHENOMENAL here? Okay, so this episode was ALL geared up, all ready, for ED to have a fucking revelation. But instead we don’t, instead OSWALD has a revelation and I DID NOT KNOW HOW BADLY I FUCKING WANTED THAT. OH MY GOD. THIS IS FUCKING FANTASTIC. Not only was it TOTALLY defying of expectations, in the BEST way possible, it was SEARINGLY IN CHARACTER, and I just started making tea kettle noises, I just screamed at a range beyond human hearing when I saw Oswald start to go because OH MY GODDDDDDDDDD! I DIDN’T THINK WE WOULD GET THIS BUT WE GOT THIS AND I AM SO FUCKING HAPPY! THIS IS GENIUS! THIS WAS INCREDIBLE that they built up an episode that was clearly all going to be about Ed, and in the crux of it, we make Oswald break, not Ed, THAT’S BEAUTIFUL. FUCK ME THAT WAS BRILLIANT. I LOVE EVERYTHING.

The mutual horror and distress on EVERYONE’S FACES as Oswald TOTALLY FUCKING THROWS THE SCRIPT OUT THE WINDOW AND DECIDES HE WANTS TO LOVE. I love that everyone is MUTUALLY sorry that this happened, that this is a thing happening in front of them, ESPECIALLY Ed, who is the MOST sorry of all that this is happening.

Goooooddddddd SO GOOD. SO FUCKING GOOD. WOO! Okay, gotta focus on the good Bruce and Jerome fun X3

I love love love that Jerome ALREADY wants to partner with Bruce, I love that their chemistry is WAY more on par now, I love... just... everything. Fuck yes. YES. MUTUAL MADNESS. MUTUAL, OPPOSITE MADNESS. LOVE YOU TWO!

THE FIRST TIME BRUCE LOSES CONTROL AND IT’S JEROME YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! GOD THAT’S MORE IMPORTANT THAN LOSING YOUR VIRGINITY, I mean, this will mark Bruce and stay with him FOREVER. EXCELLENT PRELUDE TO THE REST OF YOUR RELATIONSHIP, THE FORESHADOWING THAT JEROME WILL ALWAYS BE THE PERSON WHO GETS UNDER YOUR SKIN, WHO MAKES YOU LOSE IT! FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES! SO HAPPY! SO FUCKING PLEASED! JEROME YOU FUCKING ENABLER I LOVE YOU BABY! YOU DOING YOUR GODDAMN JOB! BLESS! I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU BOTH!

Bruce is not okay, Bruce had an Experience back there, and he needs a hug. Jim, in the background, looking sad because he gets no hugs. GO HUG YOUR FUCKING HUSBAND YOU IDIOT. YOU HAVE A HUSBAND. GODDAMNIT JIM.

Jim punching off Jerome’s face. More things I didn’t know I needed. A Jim Gordon reaction shot to THAT. All is right with the world.

JIM. HOLY FUCK, BE WITH YOUR HUSBAND, DO NOT GO DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE. OH MY GOD WE ONLY JUST GOT YOU OUT OF THAT AND HARVEYYYYY, Harvey is here for you! Harvey loves you! And Harvey would LIKE IT IF YOU LOVED HIM BACK TO PIECE OF TRASH. UGH. Goddamnit Jim, BE WITH THE PERSON WHO TAKES CARE OF YOU, MOTHER OF FUCK.

Ah yes, Justice, and the Line conversations, some of the key staples in BATMANNNNNN! BECAUSE YOU GONNA BE BATMANNNNN. BATMANNNNN. BATMANNNNNNNNNNNNNN.

Court of Owls, blah blah blah, could not care less.

...OH. And Here We Are. Was literally my reaction to seeing Oswald shivering on the edge of the docks with a gun pointed at him. Again. Just... here we are. We are here. Of course we’re here. In fact ED PROBABLY KNOWS, Ed probably knows INTIMATELY and this is some kind of weird Freudian recreation of THAT, except that Ed Nygma is not Jim Gordon. And Ed has PERSONAL reasons alone for killing you. But once again, it’s your fault, yours and yours alone. Because you betrayed someone. So good job Oswald, you ran staggeringly true to form. Even your one break, of course, of course you CAN love and of course you’d stake your life on it and of course it would be the one time NO ONE wants you to. This is horrifically, painfully, in character.

I have sooooo many feelings about the speckles of water on his glasses and the camera angle with the ridge of his glasses so that when Ed says “I don’t love you” his eyes are so deep in shadow we can’t tell if this is true or not. His vision is, literally, so distorted, HE doesn’t even know if it’s true or not. And I have always FUCKING LOVED those glasses and NOW I KNOW WHY.

Oh my god, Oswald reaches for him and Ed slaps his hands away! Oh wow ^^; Missed that the first time. I mean yes, correct, but ouch. Mannn... this is... this is bad time, this is painful time right here.

Mannn Oswald CONTINUES TO SAY THE WRONG THINGS. “You need me and I need you” A CO-DEPENDENT ARGUMENT IS NOT ONE YOU WANT TO BE MAKING RIGHT NOW OSWALD. WHY ARE YOU SO FUCKING BAD AT THIS. ALSO WHY ON FUCKING EARTH WOULD YOU CLAIM THAT??? *siiiiiigh*

See, see Ed is FULLY WITHIN HIS RIGHTS for telling you to SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU KILLED SOMEONE IMPORTANT TO ED AND REGARDLESS OF ANY OTHER FUCKING THING THAT MAY OR MAY NOT BE TRUE, YOU, MOTHERFUCKER, GET TO BE HELD A-FUCKING-CCOUNTABLE. You keep changing the subject, you keep denying Ed his feelings, you keep shunting responsibility, JUST. STOP. FOR FUCK’S SAKE. That you love each other is NOT MATERIAL RIGHT NOW.

“You can’t talk your way out of this Oswald!” Ed has to TELL HIM THAT. AND ED KNOWS HIM SO WELL THAT HE CAN, that he KNOWS and. I just... I... And once again Ed is UPSET, he is in PAIN that he has to FUCKING KILL YOU, but you’ve left him with no other options because you’re not sorry and you can’t make amends and it’s KILLING HIM that he has to do this but he must!

And I think it’s actually the case of Ed needs to kill Oswald, but he doesn’t need Oswald to die. Because I think that’s ultimately what happens here, Ed needs to perform the act, at least emotionally, of killing Oswald, at least symbolically, at least killing the lie of their relationship thus far, because he needs that fucking closure. But he doesn’t actually need Oswald to die and disappear, he needs Oswald to... change, he needs their relationship to change and he needs it to restart. Which, fortunately, is exactly what he’s going to get, bless. This is all catharsis for Ed, this is all rebirth or, to use a Hannibal metaphor, a becoming. Ed is becoming here. More on that later.

And UGGGGHHHHH, Oswald makes the creation argument and I’M SO MAD AT HIM FOR DOING THAT TOO. UGH! YOU KEEP SAYING BULLSHIT, YOU KEEP SAYING THE WRONG THINGS, GODDAMNIT OSWALD! And I just... no, no, you can’t... though you do have PROFOUND influence on him, don’t you DARE take away Ed’s self-creation, don’t you DARE rob him of himself, he worked FUCKING HARD to get this far and NO I don’t fucking buy that this IS your doing. Give Ed is fucking due you piece of shit.

“And I am the only one in the world who truly sees you as you are, who you can still become.” ...but then you had to go and say that. And that, is, unfortunately, to my ever-lasting regret, true. You phrased it LIKE A TOTAL SELFISH DICK, but unfortunately, you’re still fucking right. DAMN it Oswald. damn it.

Oh baby... oh sweetheart, my heart broke when Ed said he was listening because Ed could take every lie and threat, he was prepared for that, and GOD BLESS HIM HE WORKED SO FUCKING HARD. But Oswald had to go and say something TRUE and that’s... that’s not fair. And, I will say this, it is true that Ed loves him. But Oswald shouldn’t have said that. He NEVER should have said it, he has no proof, and Ed is SO VERY FUCKING FAR from admitting it because FUCK YOU OSWALD. ACTUALLY, LITERALLY FUCK YOU, YOU DON’T FUCKING DESERVE THAT TODAY. And the thing is Ed isn’t repressing no more, he’s in control, so he can do WHATEVER THE FUCK HE LIKES AND YOU CAN’T TOUCH HIM. Which is why none of this shit works, Ed knows who he is, he knows how he feels, he’s on such GOOD FUCKING FORM today, I AM SO PROUD. And I know that Oswald isn’t thinking about saving his neck, he’s... trying to claw into Ed, he’s trying to... reestablish a relationship that Ed doesn’t want established, Ed NEEDS the closure and Oswald’s denying him. So it’s a fucking mess and it’s not fair. And, to Ed’s huge credit, he does his best to fucking cope and to manage the fact that Oswald loves him and he can’t unknow it anymore. Ed does a really nice, clean job everything considered and I love him and I’m so proud.

And Ed does come back to it, he does go “I’m sorry but... this isn’t about that. You hurt me, you did this to me, and I deserve to make things equal now.” I wouldn’t have blamed him if he couldn’t have gone through with it, really glad he does though and he shoots Oswald somewhere PAINFUL not NON-FATAL. A gut wound. The wound of the betrayed. WE WILL COME BACK TO THAT INTIMATELY WHEN I TALK ABOUT MIZUMONO.

And when Ed grabs him by the tie and pulls him in... I DEFINITELY thought kiss and... I’m not 100% that Ed WASN’T also thinking kiss. Like... the look on his face? That he leans in for a half second? I'm not POSITIVE it didn’t in fact cross his mind. And that’s just the chocolate sprinkles on top of the cherry on top of the whipped cream on top of the glorious sundae that this this episode. Fucking flawless. I loved everything. Everything is beautiful. WOW. YES.

And we know for a fact Oswald will be fine, don’t worry friends. This was all about the symbolic death and the emotional retribution and the closure Ed THINKS he’ll get out of this. But here’s the thing, and I’ll be curious to see what they do with this next episode... Ed doesn’t shoot him fatally and I want to know if that was a conscious choice or not. I HOPE it’s not, I HOPE Ed internalizes that he killed Oswald and that IT FUCKING BREAKS HIM. I hope it’s the regret and loneliness and PAIN that fucking causes him to split and his evil half dominates him and goes full Riddler. I FUCKING HOPE that all of this is because he killed Oswald I WOULD DIE HAPPY. Because THINK about it, think about HOW FUCKING INCREDIBLE THAT WOULD BE WHEN OSWALD COMES BACK. THINK ABOUT HOW IT WOULD FUCK ED UP SEEING HIM AGAIN, WHEN HE DID ALL OF THIS BECAUSE HE’S IN THE THROES OF SELF-LOATHING AND THE REASON WHY HE’S ALL FUCKED UP IS STANDING IN FRONT OF HIM? HOLY FUCK YES! GOD GIVE IT TO ME!

I mean, it’s fine if they play it differently, but I just think that’d be FUCKING EXQUISITE if Ed internalizes that Oswald’s dead and it’s his fault.

But basically, as usual, this isn’t REALLY closure because now Ed cant let it go. Now he’ll carry Oswald inside him forever because he killed him. And that’s fucking beautiful. And fucking great. And Ed’s gonna suffer and hate himself forever and I LOVE IT. Or at least until Oswald resurfaces again which I hope wont’ be for AWHILE. I want him gone and away and I want to have NO IDEA where he is or what he’s doing, I want it to blow my mind when he shows up again, because I want to sit here and suffer with Ed and grin at his misery over this 8DDD I AM READY, I AM SO READY, I WAS BORN READY.

Basically this episode watered my crops and cured my acne, I love it so much, this was fucking fantastic, 10/10, A+, FUCKING INGENIOUS, CANNOT WAIT FOR THE NEXT BIT!

#Gotham spoilers #Gotham 3x14 #The GEntle Art of Making Enemies #Ed Nygma #Oswald Cobblepot #Nygmobblepot #COME ENJOY WITH ME FRIENDS!#I HAD SUCH A GOOD TIME!#UGH SO GOOD #LOOOOOVED IT

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FEATURE: Crunchyroll Favorites 2016, Part Three: Everything Else!

Superhero friendships ended, the Death Star plans were stolen, we experienced more reboots than you could possibly imagine (although really, that's every year), and Emily cooked a lot of food. After looking at our favorite anime and manga in Part One, and our favorite games in Part Two, we're gonna close up Crunchyroll Favorites 2016 with our favorite EVERYTHING ELSE--movies, books, comics, and more! Let's get started!

NATE MING (@NateMing)

Voltron: Legendary Defender- I think it's safe to say that Voltron--the US edit of Beast King GoLion--was what got me into anime in the first place, so I was pretty skeptical of this new take on the story by the creators of The Legend of Korra. Thankfully, I had absolutely nothing to worry about, as this is a really fun reboot that not only keeps the high-energy feel of the original, but also pays homage to both Voltron and GoLion. I can't wait for the next season (also, Shiro's totally gonna die).

Ip Man 3- The first Ip Man was a cool quasi-historical beat-em-up with some great setpieces, but the second was only okay despite bringing in the legendary Sammo Hung. We're back to the good stuff with the third go-around--the Donnie Yen vs. Mike Tyson headliner is pretty awesome, but the real star is a rival Wing Chun instructor, played by Max Zhang.

Star Trek Beyond- I've always liked Star Trek more than Star Wars, and while Rogue One was great, the real surprise for me was Star Trek Beyond--co-written by Simon Pegg--going back to the series' optimistic roots and giving every character a chance to shine. Justin Lin already has experience delivering with ensemble actioners, and the Enterprise herself has never looked cooler. Just goes to show you can't always judge a movie by its trailer.

Shin Godzilla- This isn't the alpha predator from the 2014 US reboot--the King of the Monsters and reluctant, almost accidental protector of humanity. Hideaki Anno's Godzilla is a ruthless force of nature, death personified that leaves a trail of destruction and levels the heart of Tokyo in mere moments when pushed. Bureaucracy is the real enemy here, as the film constantly switches from meeting to meeting to planning session and back to another meeting to discuss the results of that planning session--sure, Godzilla's blowing stuff up, but nobody wants to take responsibility and act. I hope Anno gets another shot at the King, because this was fantastic.

The VVitch- Low-key, creeping horror can be very hit or miss, but The VVitch wins by never letting you settle down or feel safe. Spot-on period presentation brings us into an American colonial family banished to the frontier for being too religious for settlement life, and how their fanaticism is just as destructive as the dark forces that are literally at their doorstep.

Baskin- On the other hand, Baskin just goes all-out in its ferocity and surreal visuals, where five overly-macho cops investigate a cult and all hell breaks loose. Baskin is horror purity, almost like watching David Lynch join forces with Gareth Huw Evans--hold on tight, this one is absolutely not for the faint of heart.

Batman vol. 2 (The New 52)- Western comics rarely end, or at least they very rarely have good stopping points, which is why I was so satisfied with Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's New 52 run on Batman. From introducing new villains to really focusing on Batman's relationships with Alfred and Jim Gordon, this 50-issue run came to a close this year with an awesome, gigantic kaiju battle in the middle of Gotham. What's best, you barely need any background character knowledge to get started--just pick up Court of Owls and read all the way through to Superheavy. It's so damn good.

Monstress- Gorgeous, mysterious, and part of an intricate and sometimes terrifying world, Monstress has me hooked. Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda have crafted something that I try and show off every chance I get, something I want everyone to be a part of--a fantasy-horror story of revenge and intrigue set in an Asian-mythology-inspired world is just too good to pass up, especially when it looks this good.

by 多無

Fanart Friday comes to an end- After five years, I decided to close down my signature Crunchyroll column so I could focus on other projects. Fanart Friday - The Final Edition came on September 23, 2016, the exact fifth birthday of Fanart Friday, and it was great to say goodbye to the audience that was there every Friday for a half a decade. What's coming up next? Shaw City Strikers, a martial arts comic (and homage to shonen manga) I'm working on with some friends, and my new column BETTER NATE THAN NEVER. Stay tuned!

That one tweet- It's nice to see this tweet still making the rounds. The initial explosion was a sight to behold--it just goes to show that 1) being in the right place at the right time is a real thing and 2) you know you've made good content when people brazenly steal it and claim it as their own. Also, 3) you know you did a good thing when it makes actual Nazis mad.

PETER FOBIAN (@PeterFobian)

Crunchyroll x Funimation- My personal favorite anime couple of 2016. The partnership between Crunchyroll and Funimation may just be the biggest news for western anime fans since Crunchyroll itself appeared. It’s one of those “everyone wins” situations that’s almost unbelievable. More free streaming anime, subbed and dubbed, for everyone.

Westworld- I’m a die-hard Anthony Hopkins fan, love westerns, and love love love psychological thrillers with existential implications, so basically Westworld was made specifically for me and me alone. I’m extremely concerned with the direction the story is taking with the finale, but everything this season has been tremendous. Their use of a hybrid maintenance process/psychological evaluation to drive story is inspired.

Monstress- I have a love/hate relationship with American comics, and often take refuge in independent works. Monstress has me more excited about a Western comic than I have been since I started reading Powers. The world, designs, and style alone are so gorgeous I feel like I bought an art book, and the story holds a lot of promise with a supernatural revenge mystery with a predominantly female cast and divine implications.

Netflix Horror Serials: Stranger Things, Penny Dreadful, Hemlock Grove, Black Mirror- I’m not exactly a horror junky, but I’ve definitely spent a lot of time with the genre and couldn’t be happier about Netflix Originals diving in. After years of sitcoms, procedurals, and conspiracy shows dominating the environment it’s great to see some new blood (usually a lot of it) making its way out of cinema and into more available media. Not all of them are revolutionary works of art but they’re bringing in new ideas.

Captain America: Civil War- Like almost everyone, I’m a fan of the Marvel movies and feel like the Avengers movies turned over a new leaf with Civil War. Where previously they were the campier, less-directed collaborations of the more interesting personal narratives of the heroes solo adventures, Civil War was just right, reigning in the theatrics of Age of Ultron with a much tighter, character-driven story. I’m eager to see what the Russo brothers do with the MCU.

KARA DENNISON (@RubyCosmos)

Working in the Crunchyroll Newsroom!- I've worked as a subtitle editor/QCer for Crunchyroll's anime side for a while now, but this year I made the switch to the newsroom and it's some of the most fun I've had in ages. The people I'm working with are awesome (and a couple are old friends) and our chats throughout the day are both informative and hilarious. And hey, I can put on my resume that I've written about Tezuka's mouse porn.

(Re)Generation Who- This was my second year working with this awesome Doctor Who convention, and I was so pleased to be back with them again in Baltimore. I got to meet Peter Davison, Anneke Wills, Michael Troughton, and so many others who made the weekend amazing (not to mention re-meeting Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, and even more). Hanging out with them -- whether during an interview or at the bar -- is a delight and a privilege, and I can't wait to see what year 3 will be like!

SPACE.- Curiosity's 360 view of Mars posted as an interactive Facebook video. Watching the Pegasus XL rocket launch live. And the fact that the rest of the world is enthusiastic about it. I'm a big space geek and I always love finding more big space geeks. The fact that the majority of the people I encounter are just as ready to freak out about how awesome space is as I am is... well, AWESOME.

EVAN MINTO (@VamptVo)

Chapo Trap House- In the US, politics defined 2016, for obvious reasons. And for many like me on the left side of the spectrum, the political comedy podcast Chapo Trap House has served as an unexpected but welcome guide through the past year. But don’t let me get TOO sincere on you; the hosts have got a penchant for the ironic and absurd, as you might expect from a podcast named after a drug cartel that started off with analysis of pundits’ sexual pathologies and satirical praise for the Turkish deep state. Then again, between the brilliant comedy, they’ve inspired a lot of listeners like myself to get more involved in local politics, a feat that’s likely as baffling to them as it is to the political establishment they love to hate.

Zootopia- Who would have thought a talking animal Disney movie would steal the hearts of jaded adults like me in 2016? On charm alone, Zootopia is one of my favorite American animated movies of recent years, with its carefully observed and animated animal behavior. The diverse cast of animals allows the animators to portray a similarly diverse range of exaggerated personalities — the tiny, timid rabbit, the brawny, surly bison—and the breezy script puts them all to brilliant comedic effect. But what really impressed me was Zootopia’s social commentary, which uses a mess of stereotypes of both predators and prey to shine a surprisingly stark light on real-world issues of race relations and criminal justice. It’s classic Disney meets contemporary Disney!

Captain America: Civil War- I’ve got a bad case of Marvel fatigue (you’ll notice Doctor Strange didn’t make my list), but sometimes the Marvel Cinematic Universe still surprises me. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo, back after the previous high point of the film series, The Winter Soldier, deliver a similarly gray portrait of the Avengers, with the character flaws of the famed superheroes laid bare. It’s not as political as I would have liked, but Civil War is a surprisingly personal film with a deliberately unsatisfying, morally ambiguous finale. And yes, though he feels like a bit of an afterthought, the movie also has the greatest on-screen Spider-Man yet. Homecoming couldn’t come any sooner.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story- We’re just one year into the new annual schedule of Star Wars movies, so I can still muster some excitement about Disney’s reimagining of one of my all-time favorite franchises. Rogue One stumbles a bit at the beginning, introducing too many characters and planets without justifying their presence, but once the team comes together and heads off to steal the Death Star plans, the movie really kicks into gear. Seeing a classic Return of the Jedi-style space battle is enough to awaken some strong nostalgia even from me, but it’s the thematic resonance with the later films that really makes it all work — the forgotten art of the force, the Rebels’ desperation in the face of the Empire, and of course, the sheer terror of facing Darth Vader.

SAM WOLFE (@_Samtaro)

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story- Despite the release of The Force Awakens last year, Disney has already released a new Star Wars movie this year, and it’s a breed apart from what we’re traditionally used to. Rogue One took risks, and while some die-hard fans may have left the theater conflicted, the movie succeeded in exploring a side of the Star Wars universe never before seen on the big screen. This is the first time in history that two Star Wars movies have been released theatrically in two years consecutively, and although some fear that the brand might suffer from overexposure, it certainly hasn’t gotten stale yet.

Chris Niosi- A smaller story, but one that deserves recognition. Artist Chris Niosi, better known as “Kirbopher”, landed the role of Arataka Reigen in the English dub of Mob Psycho 100 this year. Niosi is known for numerous projects, including animation work on Skullgirls, lending his voice to several shows, and creating the web series TOME, a love letter to anime. This role, in my opinion, is significant because it cements Chris as an anime fan who made his dream of being an anime voice actor. Way to go, Chris.

A Personal Note- Look, 2016 was a rough year for a lot of people for a lot of reasons. Without trying to sound too preachy, as we move into 2017, remember to be kind to one another. It’s very easy, and dare I say it, trendy, to be cynical and apathetic when the chips are down. Take time to recognize what you have to be happy about, and how you can make a positive difference in peoples’ lives around you. If anime has taught us anything, it’s that when somebody knocks you down, you stand right back up and look ‘em in the eyes. I hope everybody has a good 2017!

NICK CREAMER (@B0bduh)

Italy- I took a family trip to Italy this past spring, and visions of Venice’s nestled alleyways and Tuscany’s rolling hills have been dancing through my head ever since. The rural European aesthetic of shows like Kino’s Journey and Haibane Renmei has always been one of my favorite settings, and actually walking through cities that realized those majestic worlds felt like wandering through a dream. It was an inspiring trip, and I hope to one day return.

Westworld- I haven’t really been making enough time for the big western TV dramas, but I was able to catch this year’s Westworld, and I’m glad I did. Though I found the show’s focus on mysteries at the expense of all else a little draining, the fundamental world it established was a fascinating place, and the show built up to some remarkable dramatic high points. It’s the kind of messy but ambitious narrative I always tend to root for, and the fact that it was populated by icons like Anthony Hopkins and Ed Harris certainly didn’t hurt, either.

The VVitch- I’d actually almost forgotten The VVitch came out this year, but it was likely the most gripping new film I’ve seen. In lieu of jump scares or gross-out violence, The VVitch constructed a breathing world that promised danger around every turn, where the fear and distrust of its human characters was every bit as terrifying as its supernatural predators. There’s something fundamentally ominous about the New England countryside - a sense of old secrets and old grudges, a place where humans are not meant to tread. By emphasizing the alien danger of the natural world and tethering it to a precise and claustrophobic moment in history, The VVitch stands as one of the most powerful horror films in years.

EMILY BUSHMAN (@yumpenguinsnack)

Personal Favorite Anime Food of 2016: Mushroom and Cheese Gyoza from Food Wars- This dish never made an anime appearance in this season of Food Wars! but, having read the manga, I really wanted to try this dish out. Soma teaches the gyoza folding method to a class of kids he's teaching, and he lets them fill the gyoza with whatever they want. One kid picked mushrooms and cheese, which at first seemed weird but in hindsight obviously worked out well. Chop the cheese and mushrooms finely and toss with some sauteed onion. Mix with salt and pepper. And simply wrap in gyoza wrappers. It's simple, it's fun to make with friends or on your own, and holy cow, is it amazing! Best of all, the ingredients are easily interchangeable with your own personal favorites, so it's a great recipe to experiment with. I told my housemates that they could eat all the extras I'd made...and sadly had nothing to show after an hour in the kitchen. I'd eaten them all.

Fan-favorite Anime Food of 2016: Katsu Pirohzki from Yuri!! On ICE- This was a big surprise for me. First of all, it's not the easiest thing to make at all. It requires a lot of focus, lots of parts working together, and an ability to handle sticky dough, in excess. Second, it wasn't actually all that amazing tasting. It's an extremely hearty dish, like a lot of Russian foods, and left me feeling over-full after eating one. I also found that I had to dip it in a sauce to heighten the flavor pay-off. For a recipe designer, the ideal is to have a perfectly seasoned, delicious dish, which isn't exactly what happened. But the story behind the dish makes it all worth it, in my opinion. Who would have guessed that this show would be so popular? I love the character dynamics, and the plot was just charming. Best of all, it inspired lots of people to try making this dish, to recreate the magic for themselves. I got more hits on this recipe than anything else this year on Crunchyroll, which is why I designated it the fan-favorite dish of the year.

Magical Roommate Favorite Anime Food of 2016: Sukiyaki from Princess Jellyfish- My roommate, Sarah, is my savior in times of crisis. When I have too much food, she always helps me eat it without a single complaint. So, I felt it was only right to give her a chance to choose her favorite recipe of the year. Princess Jellyfish is by no means a 2016 original, but I came across the recipe for this dish late 2016, and made it for my friends. We all love this show, and had all watched it together when it aired a few years ago. So, I had a hunch they'd enjoy a recipe from the anime, and I was right. It was an instant hit! My darling roommate, who I depend on to eat basically everything I make, elected this as her favorite dish of the year. According to her: "I like it cuz it was just as good as the one we had in Japan and I liked how interactive it was with not only the food but with our friends. I loved the veggies just as much as the meat and the sauce was to die for. It was super fun to eat with everyone and compete for the food with our friends."

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab- A brilliant sequel to a fantastic first book. The story focuses on a guy named Kell, one of the few remaining members of his kind of magic wielders, and his struggle to protect his adopted family from harm while also living free of their over-bearing protection. Along the way he makes friends with a cut throat thief who keeps him alive, mostly to suit her own desires, a prince who's too good at heart for his own good, and a dashingly dangerous ship's captain who's in the business for the keeping and collection of the deepest and darkest of secrets. I was startled to find that this book not only added onto the world building of the first novel, but did so in a way that skillfully integrated the events of the first book into the second. A heart-wrenching and gut-clasping read the entire way through. The first book in the series is called A Darker Shade of Magic. Not 100% necessary to enjoy the sequel, but it would definitely help.

Morning Star by Pierce Brown- A great cap to a fantastic space opera-y series. This story follows the life of one man, Darrow, and his quest to overthrow a government that takes care of the best of society at the expense of a those considered the lowest. Racism at its worst. What else is new in a sci-fi novel? It's a familiar plot carried out with the elegance and grace of a particularly dangerous chess game. This book takes no prisoners, cuts your throat, and leaves you to die. And while you're busy trying to return from the dead, it carries on carving a savage path of friends loved and lost, lives risked and gambled away, dirty, secret games played in the dark, and an ending that eviscerates you, heart and soul. The first in the series is called Red Rising. I recommend you start there, unless you like working your way backwards.

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And that's a wrap for our three-part series! Be sure to check out Part One and Part Two if you missed them! If you're still in the mood for past CR Favorites, check out the previous years' features here:

Crunchyroll Favorites 2015 Part One Part Two Part Three

Crunchyroll Favorites 2014 Part One Part Two Part Three

Crunchyroll Favorites 2013 Part One Part Two Part Three

Crunchyroll Favorites 2012 Part One Part Two Part Three

Crunchyroll News' Best of 2011 Part One Part Two

What were your favorite "everything elses" of 2016? Remember, this is a FAVORITES list, not a BEST OF list, so there's no wrong answers--sound off in the comments and share your favorites with us!

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Nate Ming is the Features and Reviews Editor for Crunchyroll News, creator of the long-running Fanart Friday column, and the Customer Support Lead for Crunchyroll. You can follow him on Twitter at @NateMing.

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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bigskydreaming · 4 years

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I honestly think Infinite Crisis was supposes to make Dick a Christ figure. His morality literally saves the world. Your thoughts?

Eh, to be honest, I wouldn’t have been a fan of that (and I hiiiiighly doubt that’s where Didio was going with that because he likes people being LESS focused on Dick’s impact, not more).

I’ve expanded on this a LOT in the past, too often to really want to go into it all that much again, but hopefully this will bring up a lot of those older posts as “more like this” options.....

But I really really REALLY dislike the emphasis canon and fanon tends to put on Dick at times as being so much more moral and pure and just GOOD than other characters, especially when its framed as something that’s innate to him, like its fundamentally just who he is.....

Because to me, that devalues it and him so much.

Doing the right thing, being good, its a choice one makes with every single choice they make. And our tendency in society to try and sort people into “good people” and “bad people” just glosses over that and ends up excusing so many of the bad CHOICES people make as they just go “oh I guess I’m just an asshole” and like....hiding behind that as though they never really had a choice in the matter, doing the right thing instead of the wrong thing was never really an option, because they are who they are and who they are is just an asshole, y’know?

And at the same time, it actually takes away from the triumph that is Dick Grayson consciously, willfully making the choice to do good with so many of his actions when there’s so much temptation and justification for him caving to making a less moral choice most of the time. I think this is a huge contributor to people hyping up the one good deed various villains or antiheroes make at times in the comics, while paying no real attention to the ten heroic things Dick does for every one of those....because there’s nothing really impressive about making the right choice, the hard choice, when its because you’re just innately a good person, a ‘better’ person than everyone around you. There’s nothing to celebrate or honor about someone making the decision to be helpful and healing and positive with their actions and contributions to stories if there was never any doubt that they would go that route, and they never really had the option to make a bad choice there and then instead.

Which then culminates in so much of the nit-picking we see in fandom (and with characters in canon) as people attack and condemn every single little thing Dick does wrong even at the exact same time they gloss over other characters in the same stories going around committing murder, betraying and backstabbing other friends or family, and a hundred other things. Because Dick is SUPPOSED to just be ‘better’ than everyone else, and innately just a good person while everyone around him has to STRUGGLE with their morality, any time Dick does anything that’s less than 100% noble or that prioritizes himself in a selfish way or even just is him expressing bitterness or resentment at his own mistreatment.....this is framed and contextualized as a FAILING of his. He’s failing to live up to the standard of “the best, most moral person in the DC universe, the multiversal constant” instead of accepting that he’s just a man like any other character, and every choice he makes is the end result of his own internal struggle against right or wrong. The fact that he so often makes the right choice or the more positive or helpful choice, even at his own expense a lot of the time....THAT is what makes him Dick Grayson....and that IS to his credit.....but the problem is, he never gets that credit when he’s just cited as being so good and pure and noble, because people are like “well duh, what else was he going to do? The wrong thing? The selfish thing? LOL, that would be OOC.”

And so he’s put up on a pedestal he has no reason to be on any more than anyone else does, and condemned every time he fails to live up to the impossible expectations that come with being placed up there......which means, he either never slips up and does anything that would go against the idea he belongs on that pedestal....in which case he’s rendered two-dimensional and cast as ‘impossible to relate to’ given that nobody is just so innately good that they make the right choice all the time, no matter what......

Or else he does slip up and does things that go against the idea he’s supposed to be on that pedestal and STAY on that pedestal....in which case people call him OOC or write essays about how what he did was so fucked up when what he did was like....have one fight with someone where he said mean things to the person saying mean things back, and somehow this ends up magnified to being on an equivalent level to actual murder, torture, cheating, betrayal and other things that are associated with other characters as their ‘flaws’....

Because this is what people point to as his flaws, and thus when talking about characters and flaws in general.....these things end up on the same level as those other things and thus get blown entirely out of proportion, when those same choices or flaws on display with any other character would barely warrant a second glance with fans.

So I just really really really dislike any association with Dick and Christ-like imagery or symbolism or implications, and extend that to pretty much any and all talk of him being so much ‘better’ as a person than even other DC heroes, or just innately good or kind-hearted or virtuous....

Because Dick Grayson is all of those things, I think, yes....but he’s all of those things by CHOICE, because he makes the choice to do things and act in ways that lead to him having that reputation, even when he has every reason in the world to lower himself into the muck and roll around in it like every other character gets free rein to do when they’re recovering from trauma or facing someone who’s hurt them or taken a lot from them.

And that’s not easy, but the difference between him and so many other characters isn’t that its any easier for him to make those choices.....its that he does it any way, despite the difficulty.

And that’s why I always spend so much time focusing on the fact that Dick killed the Joker, and that he was originally intending to kill Zucco before he decided he had more to lose and nothing to gain from it. And why I talk so much about the fact that killing didn’t break him, and likely wouldn’t break him if he felt he had to do so in the future in defense of his own life or to save someone else, or even to avenge another family member like with the Joker and Jason, or if he did so under someone else’s control or while brainwashed by the Court of Owls, etc....like, he’s not ‘too good’ to kill someone without it destroying who and what he is, the way that’s often framed with him.

And its why I’m so defensive about Dick’s infamous temper, and never because I think its OOC for Dick to be angry, but because I think the problem is he’s never ALLOWED to be angry, never considered justified, with his anger portrayed as something readers and other characters understand and support him expressing, and instead is pretty much only ever just labeled a character flaw, with it coming up in the context of him being TOO angry, TOO hot-tempered, TOO hair-trigger. Unreasonable, irrational anger, the kind that makes him hard to deal with instead of someone you root for when they get angry because they SHOULD be mad, the situation calls for it.

Because Dick has the same spectrum of emotions as any other character, and to deny him the same access to all of those emotions, not just the good or happy or positive ones, is to cut him off from a full half of his potential portrayals or depictions.....which y’know, pretty inevitably leads to a less realistic, less fully rendered or three dimensional character....which is what people often cite as why they don’t like him as much as other Batfamily characters, why he’s harder to relate to. Well no duh, when you restrict him from displaying or acting on half the emotions that make up the human experience! He’s going to seem less human, more ‘pure/noble/above it all’ - and nobody’s going to find someone’s struggles as compelling when the likely outcome of those struggles is expected to be Dick making a choice that’s so good, so honorable, so PURE, the mindset required to make that choice would be virtually unattainable for any of us - thus there’s no incentive, or even the possibility, of placing ourselves in his shoes, trying to view a situation through his eyes.

And Dick has the same option to make the negative choices, the harmful choices, the toxic or vindictive or vengeful or selfish or self-centered or callous choices that are available to every other character and every reader when following his stories and picturing themselves in that situation.....but when Dick never ever makes any of THOSE choices, and indeed, is never given even the option by the narrator, of making those choices - and has no chance at the forgiveness or understanding of readers, SHOULD he make those choices.....then again, of course you’re going to wind up with a character people find harder to relate to, and see little reason in putting in the extra effort to do so.

Because who wants to follow the stories of a character who makes them feel bad or dirty or ‘lesser’ than him by virtue of the fact that he never acts on a situation in any of the more negative ways people feel they might act if they WERE in his shoes....who wants to actually project themselves into those shoes if the end result is just going to be them feeling UNHEROIC simply BECAUSE they tried to relate to the hero and came away with the impression that this was a wasted effort, because they could never be as pure and good-hearted as that, they’d be too tempted to make the more selfish choice at times, the more vengeful choice, the more HUMAN choice....

And all of the above stems from just one simple thing, one sole mindset....

The idea that there are some people who are just innately good, and who don’t have to struggle to MAKE the good choice, the noble choice, the heroic choice....because they’re just so pure, so down-to-the-bone honorable by virtue just of who and what they are......and thus, if we’re not that way ourselves, if another character isn’t similarly regarded....there’s not even any point in trying to relate to that first character or be more like them....because its impossible.

You’re either that good by nature, or you’re not. You’re either Dick Grayson, or you’re no Dick Grayson and by extension there’s no point in even TRYING to be. No point in aspiring to be more like the example he sets in-universe or out, no point in trying to view him as an ideal to strive for instead of a benchmark for how far from a good person you are by nature and should just make your peace with being less ‘good/pure/noble’ than.

And so I’m always going to be knee-jerk UMM NO and also BUT HOW ABOUT NOT any time any discussion of Dick’s pure-of-heart status, too-good-too-noble-to-kill-and-not-be-just-shattered-by-it status, or any allusions to Christ-like symbolism or messianic narratives come up. I’m just always gonna be like, NOPE, no and also thank you but I like my Dick Grayson the same as any other hero, anti-hero, villain or just casual lookie-loo watching the superhero brawl happening downtown on their lunch break.....just a person, no innately better or worse than anyone else, with the same temptation to do wrong, be selfish, inflict retribution as the next person, and occasionally falling prey to his worse inclinations or instincts or behavior....

Because THAT’S what makes all the times he DOES rise above that behavior and set a standard in-universe for what a hero should be like, COULD be like, an example that actually CAN be followed, and met by others striving to make similar choices to him because they’re inspired by the fact that he makes those choices rather than resentful because they can’t imagine ever even being capable of making those choices....

THAT’S what makes all of that actually mean something, IMO.

Not his status as the DC universe’s multiversal constant and just all around best, most virtuous or good-hearted guy, an unreal gift that no mere mortal could ever actually hope to match or live up to.

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bigskydreaming · 4 years

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Have you read Nightwing 71 yet? Sorry if I spoiler anything, but Ric was "groomed" "manipulated" and "brainwashed" by owls and, he IS now. I mean, AGAIN. Wow. Does DC ever know that Dick(or Ric) has his own character and personality and he is human, not tool ready to be used whenever or whoever needs? I am getting sick of this Ric grayson the free real estate BS.

I just read it now and its what I was expecting to happen but somehow it played out even worse than I was prepared for. There’s one line in particular that I don’t want to spoil in case any followers still care about that book being spoiled in terms of specific/detailed spoilers at this point, but something the Joker says to Dick near the end of the issue just makes this soooooooo much worse IMO than just another brainwashing for him.

But I mean, lbr here. This isn’t the Church of Blood or even the Court of Owls messing with Dick’s mind this time. Literally playing God with his entire sense of self and view of reality. Its the Joker.

The. JOKER.

This has officially pushed this story arc over even my disdain for the Forever Evil mess, and as far as I’m concerned, the rest of the Batfam should be BEGGING for his forgiveness after all this is said and done, no matter what he ends up doing while under the Joker’s control. I’m honestly going to just skip any fic that attempts to conclude or follow-up from this arc with anything other than the Batfam ALL busting their fucking asses off to do the work this time and put TIME and EFFORT into getting him to trust them or even want them around again at this point, because anything less than that will just leave me steaming at this point.

Literally the ONLY thing I want to read right now is a fic where someone in his family figures out ON THEIR OWN, LIKE ACTUAL DETECTIVES that no one who has had his mind and agency violated and disregarded as often as he has - just that they even KNOW of - could possibly be alright, and so based off of even just plain simple logic he can not possibly be alright, and so could one of them just fucking SHOW UP for him, and not to try to fix him according to what THEY think he needs but just to be there and ask what HE needs?

Where they make themselves a resource rather than them the knight in shining armor to his damsel in distress? Where they let it be about HIM instead of it being about them avenging him or them putting him back together or them protecting him or them somehow ending up more front and center and making more of the choices in-story than he gets to even though its supposed to be about him?

Like....just a story where the Batfam doesn’t have to wait until he has a literal breakdown before realizing he’s not okay and hasn’t been for a long time. Where they look at the LONG string of times none of them have been there when he needed someone, and ask themselves WHY it is that they all expect him to be present and accounted for whenever they need him but none of them ever seem to be around when he could use a hand - even though they all always pretty much know exactly where to find him.....like, he’s the only hero in Bludhaven. They know this. Everyone knows this.

Like, its not that hard to google “is shit going down in Bludhaven this week y/n” and drive half an hour when they hear his circus just got burned to the ground AGAIN or his apartment building was just blown up or there are four randos running around in his old costumes or the local crime lord just hired a dozen major assassins to all try and bring him Nightwing’s head.

Or his evil dead grandpa who last we saw was being handed over to Bruce’s custody BY Dick himself is somehow out on the loose again, why aren’t his family putting bets on where Rob Zombie’s bound to end up at some point - oh yeah, watching him through his window all creeperlike - I mean, I know their dad’s a billionaire but that’s just easy money. When a dude whose obsession is as hard to kill off as he is and with the backing and resources of a whole secret society of rich fucks who all think Dick’s destiny is to dance on the end of their strings, like when they all show a tendency to keep coming back like cockroaches no matter how many times they get stomped, what’s the best proactive approach to being prepared for the next time?

Oh right, leave the sole focus of their constant attempts at abduction/manipulation/brainwashing completely isolated, alone and defenseless without even the memory of why he shouldn’t trust someone who shows up claiming to be his great-grandfather even when he actually turns out to be the real deal.....’see, its not that he’s lying about who he is, its that who he is happens to be evil.”

Seriously. HOW is this a family of geniuses??

HOW is fandom so often convinced its DICK who’s the dumbass out of all of them, when this is their brains on “oh no, Dick’s not here to tell us what to do while we bitch at him for it.’

Imagine fics where someone in Dick’s family looks at the HUGE number of holes in their knowledge of his life.....the periods of long stretches of time where NONE of them were in contact with him and thus have ANY idea what might have happened to their infamously-tightlipped-about-when-bad-things-happen-to-him brother/son without them knowing about it.....and wonder...hey, what DID happen to him during those times and isn’t it weird and WORRISOME that he’s never volunteered any info about those periods and we’ve never ASKED?

Aka the years he was estranged from Bruce because Bruce couldn’t pull his head out of his ass long enough to apologize to Dick for firing him and then turning around and hiring a new kid who gets the Wayne adoption AND the Grayson family name that were BOTH kept or taken from Dick when he was still pretty much just a kid himself.

Or the long months Dick spent infiltrating the mobs and then the Society of Supervillains when he was Coping Badly after everything that happened to him in Bludhaven, both what they know of and whatever else they don’t know of that could’ve been driving him back then....driving him straight into the company of VILLAINS rather than them.

Or literally anything that happened to him while he was working undercover by himself for the highly dangerous and infamous spy agency that also tried to take over his brain (PS - how many people don’t know that the ultimate resolution of the Grayson series, the endgame, was Dick battling the main villain for control over his own mind, because guess the villain’s plans for him were? Oh yeah, to be his new host body when he downloaded his consciousness into Dick’s body and kicked Dick’s consciousness to the curb. LOLOL. Ah yes. Everybody wants Dick Grayson - just without the parts that actually MAKE him Dick Grayson.)

Etc, etc, ad nauseam.

Everybody talks endlessly about how Dick Grayson is a people person and the heart of the family and his teams and nobody thinks twice about the fact that this is the same person who is so infamously often left on his own to his own devices battling the worst of the worst and everybody thinks oh he’s fiiiiiiiiiine. Like, I’m not actually sold on the idea that Dick is an extrovert rather than an introvert vs he just fakes being an extrovert very well....but what does it say that everybody ASSUMES Dick is this huge extrovert and yet.....it never occurs to them to seek HIM out and surround HIM with the people that supposedly an extrovert like him should need to recharge and recover after enduring shit like he does?

How about instead of a million fics where Dick’s agency is ignored yet again so the Batfam can dramatically find out about his rapes whether he likes it or not, and insert THEIR idea of what should happen next/how he should deal.....how about fics where he TELLS one of them or all of them about these or other events that have happened to him, on HIS timetable, of his OWN volition....because he WANTS to? Because he’s READY? Because he honestly believes it’ll help him to tell them, that they’ll be there for him, he TRUSTS this....because they’ve already done the work of proving to him they will or giving him reason to believe they will....rather than just leaving him with no other choice?

Just....

Think about how often Dick’s casually referred to as the glue that holds the family together or the emotional heart or center of it.....

And then wonder if maybe the reason the Batfam as a whole is so fucked up....

Is because what everyone calls the HEART of it is constantly left neglected, alone, and fucked up and not taken care of, not looked after....

Like....

What tends to happen when you don’t take care of your heart? Protect it? Keep it healthy, keep it safe?

Y’die.

Your body goes stone cold. You keel over. DOA.

Hmmm.

Don’t want the Batfamily to be cold...distant....a family in name only....

MAYBE YOU SHOULD PAY MORE ATTENTION TO ITS SO-CALLED HEART THEN.

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sueboohscorner · 7 years

Text

A 'Villain' is Born! #Gotham S3 Ep15 "How the Riddler Got His Name" Spoilers, Recap, & Review

Great, green garment, Batman! Gotham has returned after a long, long hiatus, much to the delight of fans of the show. Even the title alone is sure to catch anyone’s attention: ‘How the Riddler Got His Name’. Along with the title of the spring premiere of season 3, you might catch something else: The original tagline for the first part of season 3 was Mad City, aptly named after the Mad Hatter himself, Jervis Tetch, played with a somewhat perverted view of childlike innocence that the villain is mostly known for by the Australian actor Benedict Samuel. However, the tagline has changed into Heroes Rise. Now, it’s no secret that I myself tend to lean towards the villains, but we have seen many badass bad guys grow and thrive in the city of Gotham, but now it’s time to see just what our heroes will do to combat said villainy. Remember: a good villain inspires change. A villain acts. Heroes react.

Well, to use a cheesy line, the episode started out (literally) with a BANG! We first see a professor in his laboratory. Now, why should we care about this guy? Because Edward Nygma does, that’s why! (Played by Corey Michael Smith) He manages to tie up the professor and what does Ed do? Ask the poor egghead riddle after riddle. Unfortunately, the professor was not smart enough to match I.Q.’s with Edward. Nygma becomes enraged and almost saddened by each wrong answer to his riddles, until Edward basically smart shames the professor and then, well…… BOOM! You may be asking “Why would he do that? What’s his plan?” Calm down, and I’m going to get to that; I’m just giving you a spoiler recap for starters.

Speaking of villainy, we also see our favorite group that works in the shadows, the Court of Owls. You remember Bruce Wayne’s clone? (Played by David Mazouz) Well, guess what? The Court has been training him to become the perfect imposter of our hero Bruce. We see that Kathryn (played by Leslie Hendrix) declare that the clone’s training is complete. We also see a new character, Frank (played by James Remar), who turns out to be Jim Gordon’s uncle. Yeesh. Talk about a family history; Jim’s father was a decorated veteran and cop, and now we see that Jim’s uncle has been a member of the Court for who knows how long? Apparently, Kathryn wants Frank to reach out to Jim and ask him to join the Court. But if he can’t convince him….. use your imagination.

Back to Edward, still living in Dahl Manor, we see that he has been losing sleep and he has been taking pills. What kind of pills? My best guess is some form of the hallucinogenic drug. Why? The audience has seen, throughout the seasons that Edward does tend to see hallucinations, much to Ed’s chagrin. This time he’s taking pills to see visions whenever he needs to. And who he might be seeing in his head? Why, his ex-best friend, Oswald Cobblepot. (Played by Robin Lord Taylor) Yeah, it turns out that Edward is still in need of guidance to become more of who he is; more of a villain (his words, not mine). In Edward’s mind, Oswald is soaking wet, has a crab or two crawling on him, and is covered in scum. That would make sense, because the last time those two saw each other, Edward shot Oswald point-blank and pushed him into the cold waters by the docks. Literally, most things in Gotham go down at the docks. So Edward imagines his dead partner and summons him whenever he needs someone to talk to or some guidance. It would be more heartfelt if Edward’s mentality weren't deteriorating before our eyes. What Edward wants now in his life is to feel whole, complete, to figure out just who he really is. Nygma’s conclusion to that answer is to find the brightest minds in Gotham and see who can match his own intellect. To each their own, and all that. Mirage Oswald keeps fighting him on every step, saying that the way he’s going about this in a completely stupid way. Then Edward gets an idea for another contestant: Jim Gordon (Played by Ben McKenzie). Now, I like Jim, I really do, but come on. He is intelligent and strong in his own right, but I don’t think he would last a few rounds with Edward Nygma.

Edward sends a singing telegram to the GCPD, where Captain Harvey Bullock (Played by Donal Logue) is still cleaning up from the big hoopla that was left in Jerome Valeska’s wake. Lucius Fox (Played by Chris Chalk) informs Bullock about recent killings that have been going on in the city as of late. He takes note that each victim is either artistic or very intellectual. Fox is interrupted by the singing mentioned above telegram, telling them about the next possible victim. The card, of course, has a puzzle on it. The puzzle turns out to be a location: a chess tournament. Of course, Lucius Fox figures it out in less than a minute, and he, Harvey, and other cops from the precinct are on the move.

If you’re wondering about Jim, don’t worry. He’s just taking some time off to go on a hunting trip with his estranged uncle Frank. What could go wrong?

At the chess tournament, we notice that Edward Hazen overlooking view of the event. Again, he summons Oswald. Edward’s attitude towards his hallucination of Oswald is not necessarily bitter. That may seem strange, give in their last encounter, but we see that Edward does not hold much malice towards Oswald. In fact he still regards him as his best friend. Of course there is tension, but Edward does not really care for that at the moment. However the hallucination of Oswald is still fighting Edward at every step in turn that he makes. Edward even thanks Oswald for coming, to which Oswald replied that he did not have much of a choice. Edward is not too surprised when he sees the GCPD come in, but he is surprised to see Lucius Fox. You could consider it a delightful surprise. Ed activates an electrical device that is rigged to every chessboard in the building. No one is safe for the then move or not. But that does not matter, Edward has found his intellectual match. Lucius Fox. And he is already solved another riddle, a phone number leading to the person responsible. Edward Nygma. The phone call consisted of another riddle. Which leads Lucius to a grim answer: the belly of the beast. Which literally means that he had to cut into the belly of one of Edward’s victims for his next clue…..ew.

We take a minute to focus on Bruce and Alfred (played by Sean Pertwee) as they continue their training. Knife throwing training, which is freaking awesome in my book. But Bruce is clearly distracted in it interferes with his training. Alfred calls him on it, and what is on his mind is Selina Kyle (played by Camren Bicondova). Long story short: Selina’s mom turned out to be a garbage human and Bruce kind of knew about it, but did not tell her. They had kind of a messy breakup. Bruce tells Alfred that he received a note in the mail recently from Selina asking him to meet up with her. Bruce knows that his training is really important, especially after what happened with Jerome, but he can’t get her out of his head. So Alfred suggests that he takes her up on her note.

While Bruce is wandering the city, he comes across Sonny Gilzean and a bunch of his thugs. They start messing with him until Selina arrives. As it turns out, she did not send that note to Bruce. And then she storms away. Sonny and his guys start beating up Bruce at first, but the rejection from Selina seemed to take its toll on him and he fought back, and kicked major ass, I might say. As he turns to go back home, he encounters his clone, who drugs him unconscious as he plans to take his place.

We go back to Bullock, who is speaking at the police officer’s graduation ceremony. Until, uh-oh, Edward shows up and knocks him out. All the while, Mirage Oswald insists that there is no Edward without him. Edward admits some truth about that statement, but he will find something new in something better to replace Oswald with in his heart.

We see Lucius and Lee (played by Morena Baccarin) examining a dead body, cutting open his stomach, to reveal a police badge. That match belongs to Harvey. Lucius knows where Harvey is and he immediately leaves for the ceremony. To the young cadet’s remorse, Edward replaces Harvey as speaker. He throws a grenade into the crowd, but not before giving a riddle.

Lucius finally meets up with Edward who has Harvey tide up in a chair which is suspended over a stairway. Edward gives Lucius three chances, three riddles, to save Harvey. Fox gets the first two riddles wrong, but the last one he got absolutely right. Lucius also finds out that Edward killed Oswald Cobblepot, their mayor. But, we get a thumbs up from Edward while still making Harvey fall to his death. Lucius manages to catch him in time, only to find that the green suited man was gone.

On Jim Gordon’s end, he and his uncle have a long talk. Franks says that he came back to Gotham to patch things up. Then he comes clean about the Court of Owls, and how they are a secret organization that really pull the strings in Gotham. He reveals that he and Jim’s father were members of the Court and that that originally wanted him to join as well. But Jim’s father saw how much of a threat they were to the city and try to fight back. Frank reveals that the Court had set up a car accident that would cause Jim’s father his death. French had to prove his loyalty, so the Court sent in a way for years to an unknown location. Jim is of course, outraged by this and is unsure whether or not to believe his uncle.

After saving Harvey, he, and some GCPD members go out and try to find Edward in the Dahl Manor. The only thing that they find is a portrait of the mayor with a big, bright, green question mark on its face.

After a long day, we see Lucius get into his car. Edward was waiting for him in the back seat with a gun. Instead of completely submitting to the threat, to Lucius psychoanalyzes Edward. He sees that everything that Edward has done is some sort of act and he questions him about it. Nygma states that he feels like there’s someone inside of him, someone that could be feared, and someone that could replace Oswald. Lucius turns to Edward with a concern to look on his face and tells him that if there’s any part of him, that is still sane, he needs to get help. Edward seemed shocked at first. But he shakes it off and says…

“I am the Riddler!”

And he knocks Lucius unconscious.

We cut to inside a house filled with plants. We see a bed with someone in it. Hey, guys too, Oswald is ALIVE!!!!!! To and apparently he was rescued by Ivy Pepper. He wakes up and says one thing:

“I just remembered, there is someone I have to kill.”

The final moment that we see in the episode is Edward at the docks where he shot Oswald. He has one final conversation with his hallucination. To Oswald says that no one will ever be afraid of anyone called the ‘Riddler.' Edwards says that he did a value their friendship, but now he will pull it Oswald behind him. He dumps his pills into the water. He stands up straight placing a bowler hat on his head. The last thing that we see is a green suited man, Edward Nygma, no, the Riddler walk away.

Overall I did love the episode. It was really nice to welcome Gotham to back on Monday nights. It was so great seeing the characters come back and it was so great to see their next step or their journey in a pre-Batman Gotham. It does my heart good to see the actors bring more and more to the characters that we to all know and love to the table.

Things I liked:

Every single scene that Corey Michael Smith was in, he is now the Riddler, to and he loves every single minute of it. The Riddler is someone that a lot of us know even if we don’t read the comics. He is flashy, showy, intelligent, incredibly vain, and absolutely arrogant. Smith has already begun to take on to the Riddler, and already he is showing much potential, and he will certainly make his mark as the third person to ever be a live actor for the Riddler, and I can’t wait.

I always love me some Harvey Bullock. That should go without saying.

The relationship between Edward and Oswald as it continued seemingly after death. The illusion of Oswald said to Edward that he really isn’t talking to the real person. That he just imagined something that is already in his mind, but he just won’t face it. It shows that Edward really did respect Oswald and that he did see him as a teacher for him. Edward knew that he couldn’t just turn away from Oswald after he shot him. He needed to figure out who he was without Oswald. And the conclusions that Edward reached as he trudged through his epiphany was really enjoyable to see.

LUCIUS FOX, BABY!!!!!!!! A lot of people know only about Alfred taking care of Bruce. But Lucius Fox has just an important a role in Bruce’s life. Sometimes I see Alfred as the bright side of Bruce’s brain, and Lucius is definitely the left side. As a singular person, Lucius Fox is absolutely not one to be trifled with, especially when it comes to intelligence.

Poison Ivy saving the Penguin? AWESOME!!!

Bruce Wayne KICKING ASS!!!!

Alfred’s Shepard’s pie

Things I didn’t like:

Lee Thompkins. Don’t like her. Never did from the beginning.

8 out of to10!

Well done, Gotham. Well, freaking done!

Until next time, stay weird, Gotham

#Gotham

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davidmann95 · 8 years

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The Nightwing Problem

I mentioned this the other day in passing, but I’ve got more thoughts on the subject: I’m no longer convinced Dick Grayson as Nightwing is a good idea, damn cool as that costume may be.

I was convinced. Tim Seeley, Javier Fernandez and their collaborators really knocked it out of the park with the introductory volume of the new Nightwing book spinning out of Grayson; it combined the best of the world-trotting vibe from that with the acid-tinged death trap gimmicks of Morrison’s time with Dick as Fun Batman, and while I don’t think that’s incompatible with just making him Batman again, it’s still different enough from the regular model that it’s reasonable to distinguish it with a whole other identity. If you were able to entirely divorce him from what Nightwing has meant up to this point, and really grab by the horns what Grayson and that first arc of the new book set up for him - the dashing globetrotting super-adventurer who can journey into morally murikier territory than Batman himself, because he’s not vulnerable in the same ways Bruce is vulnerable - I think it could’ve worked. It might’ve still had some issues that I’ll get into, but it could’ve worked in spite of them.

But you can’t really do that; Nightwing had over a hundred and fifty issues to himself in that name before this came along. And as we were just reminded when Seeley journeyed into more familiar territory (I’m pretty convinced the first arc of Nightwing was at least in part really a reconfigured version of what would have been an arc of Grayson), the name doesn’t actually come with much other than baggage at this point.

To be clear: the recent Blüdhaven story by Seeley, Marcus To and company was by no means a bad set of comics. Nightwing is still one of the most underrated, purely entertaining superhero books out there right now, and I’m tremendously looking forward to the upcoming Nightwing Must Die pitting him against an army of his greatest enemies, from the Talon to Pyg to fucking Deathwing. I also know bringing him back to his iconic city was Geoff Johns’ idea that Seeley had to implement, as I expect was bringing back his old ‘rogues gallery’. But it’s still an arc - hot on the heels of an opening titled Better Than Batman - built almost entirely around reaffirming his status as a third-tier offshoot of the actual brand of importance. It’s literally him teaming up with the villains who couldn’t hack it in Gotham, and it draws a clear line between him and them as being in similar positions. I dig setting up his new haunt as the Vegas to Gotham’s New York/Chicago, but even that can’t erase the vague feeling that the characters’ had the keys to his nice shiny new car snatched out of his hands, and now he has to go back to the busted-ass old model his dad loaned him.

I get the impulse to hand him his own city - it gives a stable environment, obvious opportunities for building up a supporting cast, and a base to head back to even if he regularly goes globe-trotting - but as presented, Blüdhaven has always been Gotham-lite. Even now that it’s more pointedly distinguishing itself, it’s still a shadowy city of corrupt cops where Gotham crooks wander around. All elements that could work, but again, it’s straight-up established that the ex-villains here, the people it’s leaning into the nostalgia of Dick having once counted as arch-enemies...were the no-hopers who weren’t cool enough to be worth Batman’s time. Complete with Dick solving a stock Batman-style Whodunnit? hinging on one of the most iconically awful Batman villains in Orca the Whale Woman, and flirting with a morally ambiguous acrobatic lady supervillain. If Batman and Robin established Dick can work as an A-list superhero, and the last few years of Grayson and the beginning of Nightwing demonstrated a valid and fascinating new direction for him to be spun off into, this arc felt like it was reestablishing that whoa there son, don’t be getting too big for your britches now, you’re still Officially Worse Batman. Whatever you think of the stories themselves, that’s how Nightwing has been known for over 20 years, and that’s a narrative gravity I’m not sure he can escape as long as he has that name.

And even if he could, Nightwing isn’t his main identity anyway. The entirety of pop culture can chime in on that.

Not by a mile am I suggesting he should go back to being Robin (though Arkham Knight presenting an adult Robin working alongside Batman in Tim Drake has some interesting possibilities), but it’s more than just cultural weight that keeps that as his biggest identity, even in the comics. The thing is, Nightwing as a name doesn’t mean anything. Yes, I know Superman came up with it, and that these days there’s a connection with the Court of Owls, but those are purely abstract. There was some recent thing where he said “yeah, people think I call myself Nightwing because I’m like Batman, a flying thing at night, but really it’s because of Superman’s suggestion regarding a Kryptonian fairy tale”, but citing the nerd trivia explanation can’t change that the first explanation is clearly the actual reason he’s named that. That’s all there is to it; it’s a cool-sounding name. Robin on the other hand is an obvious pairing with Batman as a brighter flying creature, and if you think of it in the context of heroism you get the obvious connection to Robin Hood. And if you want to talk about him as an equal-but-opposite contrast to Batman’s Zorro figure, comparing him to a charming hero to the people so upbeat they called his partners his Merry Men goes a long way. Hell, Dick sure knew that, given Robin’s the title he picked as a crimefighter, Nightwing being a years-distant second choice. Robin is just plain a better name and identity, as evidenced by the fact that DC’s made at least 4 others of note to fill the void...Richard left behind. Nightwing again has a cool costume, but it can never be his iconic identity in even a best-case scenario; he’s not even Batman’s partner anymore, he’s just the off-brand. Short of showing up in a massively popular and acclaimed movie with virtually none of the elements that have established him over the years as a lesser Batman figure, I’m sincerely skeptical that any amount of momentum could change that forever. In a popular sense, it’s all he’s got.

What would I do then, unless that theoretical movie comes along? I say make him co-Batman again, and totally not just because my favorite writer did that within a year of me starting to collect comics. You can still do all the fun stuff Nightwing offers with him; he can have his own city if you really want, he can smile and go on fun adventures as Fun Batman now that Bruce doesn’t do that, you could even redesign his costume to be more in line with his sleeker Nightwing look while still being recognizably Batman. He gets A-list talent by default. DC sustained two Batmen for a year as equals, so it’s certainly possible. It’s simpler to explain too - when someone asks “Wait, what happened to the first Robin?”, “Well, now he’s Batman too, and Batman’s son is his Robin” works a lot better than “He calls himself Nightwing now and is his own minor superhero. Do you remember him as an occasional guest-star from the 90s TV show? No, he was Robin for that first part, the second part. Yes, there was a second part. No, he’s not on the Teen Titans anymore either. Anyway, he protects another city that’s basically shittier Gotham where he fights a bunch of crappy villains.”

Most of all though, Dick thrives in situations that threaten to undermine him. With his and Bruce’s relationship threatening to fall apart, wondering if he can cut it as Robin after Two-Face beats him, worrying about whether he can escape the ‘shadow of the bat’, trying to hold onto his morals as an agent of SPYRAL, struggling to reform Damian, even being trapped as Slade’s apprentice. He works when forces threaten his sense of stability, and he as a fundamentally upbeat guy naturally finds having to be Batman - plus all the attendant baggage besides - the ultimate destabilizing force, far more so than basically still comfortably being Robin into adulthood. It’s a perpetual conflict generator that still allows him to do his own thing as a fun character while also positioning him as a major player - the most major player possible. And given Anthony Mackie or Sebastian Stan are probably going to become a new Captain America onscreen in the next few years, I think the public at large is going to be primed to accept the idea of there being multiple Batmen of reasonably equal importance far more easily than they could be swayed to care about the guy whose main popular trait is not being Batman.

#Nightwing #Dick Grayson #Robin #Batman #Tim Seeley #Javier Fernandez #Marcus To #Opinion

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