#the same way DC doesn't care about character development

[erinwantstowrite]

Bad news: I’m pretty sure they already made Coffee Addict!Tim cannon to one of the video games 😭

the fanfictication of canon has started...

I personally do not have issues with some of the fanon headcanons of characters, right? like coffee addict Tim is fine I guess l, I think there's some middle ground there that people don't want to accept. and like the pit rage thing for Jason I think also has potential even though I personally see it more as a brain damage thing. I am a personal believer in the fact that fan spaces should be allowed to have these headcanons and jokes, it's what makes a fanon space thrive... but they do not need to be included in canon. like yeah it would be cool if Tim and Kon got together but I actually really liked Tim and Bernard and I know DC would fuck TimKon up. it would be nice if they would look at some of what people have to say about canon themes and stories and would implement some aspects. like hey maybe I do want to see some character development in my comics. maybe i want a little less angst sometimes because having angst 24/7 dulls the impact of said angst... but including headcanons like this just makes everything feel so cheap. like it is not a fanon work it is a canon work. there is a separation there that is important. sometimes things can live on as a fanon joke and it doesn't need to be in canon

[daisybell-on-a-carousel]

They are trying to convince me Jason was always reckless and angry and impulse and tbh that fact is worse than them killing him

[elarunciter]

I'm kinda tired of how DC writes Damian Wayne.

You know, I've read every single comic about him and the potential of his background is breathtaking. But DC keeps treating him as a plain character (except for some comics, mostly his origin ones), not deepening enough on his trauma, his childhood and the weight he has on his back after being the heir of good and evil.

For me, last series of Damian (not the one that just dropped on may, i haven't read that one yet) had the chance on really develop the character as he deserves but yet again they just did the least. And I can say the same about the las Batman and Robin series, I mean, what the hell is that Damian, he doesn't even look like him anymore, and his skin color, god, he is the son of Talia al Ghul too! They just sucked off all his personality, what Damian was.

Don't get me wrong. I know that series come after his "developement" of his solo series before, but, what a good developement of a character in a good script does is deep in his past, his awares and makes it evolute not by giving him a new personality but the aceptence of his issues and lead the character in a new way, even with his baggages.

I hope, someone understands my point tho is just an opinion anyway! I just needed to share this with someone haha. I don't know if I'll ever read DC taking some care on Damian' story, that is why I've been scripting a fancomic by myself, just to explore this idea I just dropped to you. (Yeah, that is the art you can see on my profile ;D)

[bitterrobin]

I see a lot of confusion on why calling Damian Wayne "feral" is racist/problematic, so here's a rundown.

There's a difference between calling your child or your younger sibling "feral" and calling a character like Damian "feral." You know your child/sibling/niece/nephew etc. They're real people, and unless they have a problem with it personally, then there's nothing wrong with calling them feral as a joke. It doesn't (shouldn't) affect their perceptions by other people. It doesn't become a label that follows them.

Damian al Ghul-Wayne is a fictional character. A canonically mixed Arab/Chinese/Jewish White character with a history connected to some of the most prominent Arab comic book characters, who themselves also get insanely mischaracterized.

He's constantly whitewashed. He's been written with racist undertones (the suicide bomber vest). He's had his character development and progress backtracked time and time again by DC. DC treats him weirdly most days and completely shitty in the worst stories.

A good majority of fanon hasn't done any better than DC. You cannot pat yourselves on the back for being more inclusive or mental health aware than DC when you call a mixed Arab/Chinese boy "feral". It's constant. You can come up with various titles and nuances for every Bat-character, for every Robin.

Tim can be smart, a skater, a genius, the one holding everyone together, the little brother, the one who needs love. Jason can be cool, morally "right" or "wrong", unstable, PTSD-stricken, the one who was betrayed, the one with Shakespearean tragedies. Dick can be fun, happy, the first one, the prodigal son, the one with complicated history and the big brother.

You give them room for exploration. Love and care and attention and research. Many headcanons. You either comply with canon or you don't, but there's substance to their character.

What does Damian get? He's feral. He's rabid. He's a gremlin. He can't be reasoned with. He has no self-control, he's impulsive. He's hurt others, and you can't forgive it. Sometimes he's homophobic. Or classist. Or plain mean and rude to your favorite boy. He's always carrying a sword. A psychopath with no regard for another's well-being (usually Tim in a lot of fics). He can't be taught what's right.

I've seen people cry that Damian needs to punished or kicked out or treated the same way he's treated others. He needs to be brutalized or talked down to. He can never grow as a person, because he's mean to Tim or Jason, and you need him to exist as the abuser. His first move is always violent.

Fanon compares him to an animal often; he bites, claws, hisses, growls. Bruce or Dick or Jason or Tim have to wrangle him, tame him, civilize him the white man's way in lieu of his brown mother and grandfather who "clearly" raised him wrong. You don't see the issue with that? The issue with always labeling one of the few major brown characters in Batman comics as the unreasonable animal? That the child of color is always the abuser, the instigator, to older characters?

And even if you don't see him this way, you don't write him this way - then are you giving him the care and attention you give for other Bat characters?

Do you know anything else about him other than his "anger"? Because he isn't always angry. In fact, he's typically well-mannered. Quiet even, when he's not being provoked. DC's writing will always vary but whenever Damian lashes out, he's usually written with a reason to act the way he does.

Are you making him intelligent like he should be? A hard believer in redemption? A neglected and abused child who isn't meek or crying or closes himself within? Are you willing to explore that he's always exhibited the "wrong" kind of trauma responses - lashing out, being snippy, ruining relationships, refusing to admit weakness?

Do you write anything about him without making his mother and grandfather comically abusive and violent? Will you give him the supporting cast/friends he actually has? Can you write his dad/siblings interacting with him without making them white saviors or therapy pets? Can you write him without a ship or his love for animals or being vegetarian overshadowing everything?

Is he a character to you at all other than a glorified plot device with a sharp tongue and the convenience of being violent?

[accirax]

(Reminder that you need to click the link that's beneath the screenshot.)

Already read the translation. Hopefully you can too because it's hilarious!

agreed, the three of them (and Jake as well) should be friends. although, i don't know if Drew really has any bullshit for Dan to put up with? he seems like a pretty chill guy. really, it's more Dan and Drew having to try to talk Tom out of whatever trouble he's gotten into now, yet Tom still following his heart and making mistakes constantly.

i'm also going to combine some more of the tweet asks below the cut!

This is actually pretty cute ngl. (saying as someone who doesn't particularly care for aleriya either way (though I can see the appeal/aesthetic))

ooh, they look good in red! maybe it should've been the red team instead of the yellow team. well, then we'd have to put Grett and Yul in red as well. maybe not.

this artist did a great job of capturing all of the detail in the costumes, and i like the kinda painterly brush they used. even though i don't ship aleriya either, they totally look like they'd be the romantic leads of a kids' picture book.

Aww~ :)

stop staring at me with them big ol' eyes-- (/j)

very cute! i like the color palette. sucks that this baby already has to wear glasses, though. imagine your eyesight being so terrible that you have to wear glasses before you can even read.

(or, maybe they're Cheryll's glasses. that would be precious.)

Love the redraw! :)

Aiden looks so over it, lol. as if you wouldn't be doing the exact same thing if James was out there doing cartwheels.

the artist did a good job reinterpreting the pose with the more realistic proportions of their style. maybe i should try doing some Disventure Camp pose redraws someday; that could be fun. although, i'd wager that the next DC thing that i draw will probably relate to season 4, though i can't say that for sure.

AWWWW!!!! X3 Really hoping that we get, at the very least a 5 second cameo of Drew in TomJake, since they all live in Canada. I need it. I miss my baby. He was gone too soon. ;-; I won't lie, I personally do not care for Jake and Tom getting a spinoff story, AT ALL. But I might end up watching it anyway, for the extra lore. And who knows, if it gets enough views and does well enough in the community, it *might* convince Jared and Robert to make spinoffs for other characters. Like Drew. Or Ashley. Or Alec (which is what I'm hoping most for if you could n't already tell).

the pose sort of reminds me of a polaroid that they would show in the credits of the movie to reassure that everyone is having a great time after the plot is over. actually, i guess it has similar vibes to the canon instagram post of Ellie and Tess graduating, so maybe that's where i got that idea, lol.

including Drew as a background gag would honestly be a brilliant idea. like, Jake runs off somewhere, and in the background, there's just Drew holding up a piece of paper that says "???". i have no clue where in Canada Drew and Tom/Jake/Miriam live-- the country is quite large, so it could be an equivalent distance to Ashley living in Texas and Ellie/Tess living in New York-- but given that Ellie will be in the series, someone is travelling somewhere! so it's definitely possible.

i'm pretty neutral on the TomJake series, mostly because i don't know what it's going to be about. in a best case scenario, it's a delayed wrap-up to All Stars, further exploring some of the plot threads that weren't fully developed leading up to and after Riya's win. in a worst case scenario, it's a disjointed collection of mildly confusing fanservice, a la "Derek and Trevor accidentally kiss in the shower." (i actually liked that episode as a whole, but man was that moment in particular cringe.) i'm definitely going to watch it just so that i know what's up, but i do feel like they probably could have better used this time elsewhere (more staff stories, official season epilogue, start s4 faster).

but, Sapphire, if they did an Ashley, Drew, or Alec spinoff, how would they lure people in by putting gay people in the thumbnail??? (/s) mostly kidding, but i'm sure it is true that they were willing to bank on a TomJake series because they knew that those popular characters would get the clicks. if we got another spinoff, it'd probably be jaiden-centric, lmao.

of course, Ashley and especially Alec are also pretty popular, so it's not outside of the realm of possibility! an Alec series would definitely good, to clarify his relationship with Fiore, learn a bit more about his family, and perhaps touch on what Riya's up to after the show. an Ashley show i fear would lack any conflict (because she slays at life so hard), but maybe we could learn a bit about her family too.

They would make a neat duo ngl. If Dan ever made it to All-Stars that is. 😅 I actually remember one Ally greeting where she said she thought Dan was a pretty cool/nice guy and how unfair it was the way Gabby cheated him in eliminations, or something along those lines. I can try to find it later.

oh, these two could definitely make a nerd alliance. throw in Alec and Lake and you'll have brains that brawn and beauty should definitely watch out for.

are Ally, Dan, and Alec the only (main) characters thus far to wear glasses? oh, i guess there's Oliver too. typecast fr.

Enjoy this random art of Lill leading a family of ducks

so cute!!!!! i love the ducks' little hats and scarves. the purple team deserved an animal mascot. i bet Ashley would love to pet these little guys as well :)

Add Dan, Drew & Tess and this book club is complete! 😁

"Disventure HS" intrigues me. is this an AU where they're all students in high school? even if Alec was a senior and Fiore was a freshman, having them that close in age would be cursed as hell. hopefully Alec is just the literal librarian. maybe it's "bring your niece figure to work day".

Ellie/Alec/Fiore/Lake/Dan/Drew/Tess would be a really interesting tribe to start with. i wonder who would get voted out first?

Hm. Interesting chart. The one I agree most with is that I definitely would've liked to see an interaction between Tess and Alec. Those two do have quite a few things in common (quiet, reserved/introverted, level headed, fairly intelligent, logical, lone wolves who like to read, etc.) so I'm sure they would've clicked well with each other. Eh, who knows? Maybe there was some interaction at the motel off camera. Though that is mostly just wishful thinking, since I highly doubt either of them would ever see a reason to talk to the other with how little they know about each other, being from separate seasons and all.

yeah, and Alec was in the Motel for a pretty short amount of time (2 episodes, maybe like 5 days). canonically, he probably spent a lot of that time talking to Fiore and then Connor. Perhaps Ellie and Grett as well.

god knows Alec could use a therapist friend, though. maybe if people started following each other online, they could wind up chatting with each other then! or, i'm sure Alec would read Lake's book someday, so he could at least see her illustrations then.

i think you can probably guess which box i agree with most. (it's the favorite friendship one)

thanks for sharing all of these tweets with me!

[thevindicativevordan]

Thoughts on Superman Earth One by JMS?

Reading it again transported me back to the Great Recession Era. Fitting that Earth One was envisioned as "Ultimate DC" because it is as much a product of the 00s - albeit the Great Recession era - as Ultimate Marvel was a product of 9/11.

What if Superman was Spider-Man is a pretty obvious direction to go when you've tapped the guy who just got done writing Amazing Spider-Man (and controversial second half aside I still love the JMS run) to come kick off a new Elseworld version of Superman. What fascinates me about this take on the character is that JMS, knowingly or not, applied the original Stan Lee/Steve Dikto approach to Spider-Man onto Superman. Unlike the modern approach where, black suit aside, Peter basically transforms into a secular saint post-Uncle Ben, 616 Peter remained an asshole. His evolution into the iconic Spidey we know and love was the product of years of character development. He did not suddenly transform overnight. Here we get a Superman who is the same way. First time we see him use his powers is to do this:

I have to admit I smirked when I saw that. Not because it's cool or badass or whatever, but frankly because it's the kind of edginess you plain don't see in superhero comics these days. Left me feeling almost downright nostalgic for the edge of yesteryear. Superman wearing Alex Mercer's fit is such a tryhard design choice. Sets the tone for what kind of Superman we're getting here perfectly too. No rescues or acts of heroism for this bad boy, instead we get Clark frying all the hair off a would-be mugger. Second volume has Superman fantasize about massacring an army because he couldn’t stop seething over a dictator who evicted him from a war torn country. Third volume has him chew out the UN for standing back and letting Zod try to kill him. Wrath is what this guy has in spades, to the point it seems to be his defining trait.

Rereading Earth One I was blown away by how large it's shadow looms over the DCEU. Even the coloring, subdued as it is, evokes Snyder's films before they had been finished. Metropolis isn't a gleaming City of Tomorrow, it's a recession ruin that evokes the worst parts of Detroit. No one is living there except the people with nowhere else to go, and while it's not actually explored at all, the idea of Superman being drawn to a city of outcasts works for me just as much as him unconsciously seeking out the one place on Earth that's closest to Krypton.

Ironic how much Snyder took from JMS, Waid, and Johns while managing to alienate all three. Obvious examples are Zod serving the same basic function in MoS that Tyrell does here, down to the hijacking of all Earth broadcasts to demand Superman turn himself over, or how a Kryptonian ship serves as Superman's equivalent to the Fortress. But then there's other little details like the memory of Jonathan Kent urging his son to "fly" playing over a triumphant moment for Superman, as seen in ZSJL. Makes sense because reading Earth One, the Clark depicted here is a far more believable result of the teachings of the DCEU Kents.

He doesn't want to be a hero, he wants to take care of his mom and himself (there's the early Spider-Man DNA). Altruism doesn't come naturally to Clark. And you know what? This is actually a great premise for an Elseworld Superman story! A Superman who is forced into the role, who spends the first couple minutes of an alien invasion trying to stop it while maintaining his secret identity, who has enough of a moral core to realize what he needs to do, but is scared to death of actually doing it? Elseworlds were created for a premise like that, something you could never do with the mainline guy. Where it falls short however, and the sin it shares with it's cinematic offspring, is that neither JMS nor Snyder realized how their Supermen came off.

After Superman deposes a dictator via arming a rebellion in the second volume, we're treated to a radio broadcast that proclaims a new democratic government has formed. Played totally straight as an unambiguous good deed too, at least within the second volume. For a book written long after the failures of regime change in Iraq and Afghanistan were obvious to all, and while the Syrian Civil War was raging, it comes across as totally naïve and tone-deaf. No one buys that it would be that easy. Now it does end up backfiring on Superman in the third volume, but not because JMS acknowledges the likely reality of Superman's actions where the nation would descend into total chaos, but because the rest of the world fears he'll do the same to them someday. For a series that is trying to be a grounded take on Superman if he were real, the portrayal of Superman meddling in global affairs feels downright fantastical.

Shame because there are great character beats where JMS emphasizes Clark's loneliness that are overshadowed by the poor writing overall.

Good stuff! JMS understands that isolation and feeling like an outsider are key components that make Superman who he is. Throughout all three books there's a plotline of Clark having trouble connecting with anyone, which he finally overcomes first by joining the Daily Planet after being inspired by Lois and Jimmy helping him in the fight against Tyrell, and then when Lisa saves him against Zod and the two begin to date. Despite my knocking the trilogy as a whole, that was something I enjoyed seeing play out.

With all the Spider-Man influence in play here, I believe JMS’ biggest mistake was not centering this Superman’s mission around guilt. Clark was selfish and didn’t want to be a hero, he didn’t immediately leap to protect people when Tyrell attacked for fear of being outed, and innocents died because of that decision. Making Superman be Clark’s realization that he let his father down and he has to live up to his father’s beliefs in humanity’s goodness by serving as an example, that would be a great “realistic” way to explain why Clark is Superman while sticking to the Everyman+ foundation. Peter Parker is Spider-Man because he let his uncle die when he could’ve prevented it by stepping forward to stop a thief. Clark Kent is Superman because he let people die when he could have stepped forward to stop Tyrell from massacring people around the globe to force him out of hiding. It’s taking Spidey’s origin and expanding it to the greatest possible scale via a global threat.

Biggest complaint I have is that this iteration of Superman feels unfinished. Earth One Batman and Wonder Woman, whatever your opinions on them, at least feel that they've reached their natural endgames. Batman builds a family to replace the one he lost and will fight crime forever. Wonder Woman destroys the patriarchy and builds a new feminist utopia. But this version of Superman? Everyone was scared of him because he showed a willingness to intervene where he pleased, and while he promised to not repeat his dictator deposing at the end of the third volume, I don't believe this Superman would stick to that promise.

A natural endgame for this Superman would be to go full Miracleman. Use his powers and his Kryptonian ship (which can apparently manufacture materials for him and even convert matter) to transform Earth into a paradise, marry Lisa, turn Lois against him, and end his days asking himself if it was worth it. He fulfilled Pa's dream of using his gifts for the better, and accomplished it through science rather than through tyranny like Jor-El, but Superman can't help wondering if he proved all the naysayers right. Especially since the person he asked to play conscience for him, Lois, doesn't think he did the right thing. Earth One Superman started his journey asking himself if his father's dream for him was one he actually wanted to pursue, you bring it full circle by having him end where he began by asking if fulfilling that dream was the right decision.

Now as for the rest of the characters?

The Supporting Cast

Daily Planet Crew - They're fine. None of them can be called great or memorable but they're recognizable as variations of the Lois, Perry, and Jimmy we all know. Only major difference is that I don't buy this version of Clark and Lois ever getting together romantically. They're rivals who respect each other but not "soulmates" (much as I hate that term). No chemistry between the two of them here (another commonality with the DCEU), and I'm actually glad this series ended without the two ever becoming a couple.

Lisa Lasalle - Never seen anyone touch on her that much, guess I'll be the first to say that pairing Clark with gritty and realistic Mary Jane Watson was actually sweet. A redhead who is the "girl next door" in Clark's Metropolis apartment, wants to be a model but has to hook on the side, is the first one outside his family to discover his secret identity, and has an upbeat party girl personality before revealing a deeper side later on? Go ahead and try to argue that isn't a darker and edgier take on MJ. Far as civilian love interests for Superman go, she's the only one I've ever liked enough to want as endgame for Clark other than Lois. Seeing Clark bring her into his world and take her to meet his Ma was a genuinely touching moment. Funny that adaptions of MJ tend to make her more like Lois, while here we get a Superman who dates someone closer to 616 MJ.

The Villains

Tyrell - Other than looking like a Hickman reject he's as generic as they come. He shows up, threatens the world, pushes Clark to become Superman, dies, and that's that. Not sure why JMS even went with this guy over using a traditional member of the Rogues Gallery. I do dig his techno-angelic aesthetic, too bad it's wasted on such a paper-thin character.

Parasite - Shockingly great take. His backstory as a hitman is whatever, but once he becomes Parasite he's exactly what I want Parasite to be. Loves being able to kill people, after draining Superman and finally being able to think straight, he feels no shame, guilt, or horror over the people he's killed and the monster he's become. Instead he fantasizes about finding a unique way to kill every single person on the planet, that's the kind of sociopathic energy I like to see. Also shares the delightful trait of zero accountability with his MAWS counterpart, blaming Superman for his sister's death despite it being his own fault.

Zod - Bland as his knockoff predecessor Tyrell. Don't even know why he's made into an El here, nothing interesting is done with it. I've always been a fan of Zod trying to recruit/win over Superman to his side, and at first he feints at doing that. After showing initial promise he firmly grasps the idiot ball for the rest of the book, having Superman at his mercy several times but insisting on making Clark "kneel", rather than simply finishing him off. Despite taking clear design influence from the MoS movie, this is a straightforward "modernization" of the Stamp Zod. Other than wanting Superman dead he seems to have no other ambitions. It's not even clear why he bothers with the pretense at first, when he has superior training and should be easily able to kill Superman in combat.

Lex² - Uhhh they sure existed didn't they? Weird how both JMS and Johns pulled the "instead of the person you think will become the villain, it's their opposite gender counterpart” (wife for Lex, sister for Two-Face). I guess if there were plans for a volume 4 we would've seen "Alexandra" use the kryptonite against Superman, maybe via creating Metallo? Could've been interesting with Alex talking about how she hates Superman for taking away her husband who was the one person she considered an intellectual peer, that would've been prime setup for this Superman to show he was also as smart as she was (since this Clark is explicitly a genius). Since that didn't happen they're merely a curiosity.

Final thoughts: JMS' best Superman work remains his Becoming Superman autobiography.

No clue if the events he depicts are accurate or exaggerated, but if it's fiction then it's the best Superman story that shows how he can inspire real people that I've read. Really hard hitting stuff in here, particularly for anyone who has grown up in abusive homes and had to rely on fiction as an escape. If you want to check out JMS' Superman work, I honestly recommend this over anything else.

[minerwarfare-suzuya]

Script Segment

This is a rework over my copy and paste of a script segment that discusses controversial topics related to Mobox87's art illustrations and graphic stories but it is more about how they can work in terms of story telling.

Understanding

For this part of the video, I'mma take the time to calm it down and come to some understandings from why Mobox87's controversial art pieces were made based on their inspirations and why I think some of these explicit images and graphic story telling is made to present how those sinister ideas can work, expect for the the pedophilic art considering there's nothing that can support her excuse for that one drawing that was a supposed "joke". First off, the artist grew up with tons of inspiring source material such as the fan made creepypasta comic series 'Pastamonsters'. Other types of material involving anime, video games, comics, manga, movies and TV shows that got her to where she's at to have talent in drawing illustrations and do storytelling. For the illustrations showing characters going through mental, emotional and physical domestic abuse with character ships is most likely inspired by two popular characters from DC in Warner Bros. Studios, "Batman the animated series" from 1992 - 1995 and "The New Batman Adventures" from 1997 - 1999. Now I think you guys can guess where I'm going with this if you're familiar with the series since you must know about one of the well written episodes involving The Joker and Harley Quinn. Both are a couple and a criminal duo that has a toxic relationship where Joker's interests are only for Batman. If I had to pick a couple that Mobox87 made that fit perfectly on this inspiration of why this is her way of character development and storytelling, it'd be 'Dr Sallem' and 'Blurry' because come on look, the characters obviously resemble them.

SO, let's go over an episode called, "Mad Love" from Batman the animated series since it's about Harley Quinn's origin and her relationship with the Joker which of course it is shown that the two aren't doing well together cause Joker is more focused on his work on trying to trap Batman for his next plan. Harley's focus is her love and wanting Joker's affection but she doesn't get any from him. So Joker just assaults her physically by not caring for Harley which she then blames on Batman for not getting attention from her manipulative love interest. Further on when watching the episode, Harley wants to impress Mr. J by trapping Batman to the point where he has no escape from being killed on the spot in a pool of piranhas but of course Batman uses his last effort to stall the situation that he's trapped in by convincing Harley that the Joker wouldn't believe her that she killed him. So, Harley listened and called Joker to come look at how his old plan to capture Batman actually worked but instead of a happy expectation on capturing the cape crusader. Joker barges in and slaps Harley in the face out of anger for her not understanding the point in capturing Batman which being the joke that the plan is supposed to fail. After Joker yells at Harley in the face, he pushes her out the window, nearly killing her in the process as she lies on the ground disappointed that she "didn't get the joke.", but still falls for him after receiving an apology gift back in her cell room at Arkham after being given medical attention.

Honestly, the plot and story involving "Mad Love" is great at telling how toxic relationships can be for the viewer at a young age. Though there is more Harley Quinn and Joker inspired stuff made with the characters Dr. Sallem and Blurry ever since the release of 2016 Suicide Squad movie which practically tells the same story but a little different. It was already discussed by the Moboxcritique blog when someone pointed out the similarities.

The topic of abuse can be done in a story for entertainment as shown from my example but when Mobox87 does it, most of the time the conflict on why that abuse is drawn in such detail isn't really written off well as an important plot element but rather it's just there cause the dominant person in the relationship is bad. The FNAF AU with Renata and William Afton had a better story telling on a toxic relationship mainly because William in the story grows insane and mad as he becomes a murder.

Then of course it became an ongoing thing with another ship and another which drags on to no end. I think that the Sassy AU with Dr. Sallem and Blurry does a great job on it's own but was obviously a cheap and more explicit knock off storytelling of 'Mad Love' without much of the pairings story telling cause QandA carried most of character development that just mostly time skipped and most of the stuff just didn't matter cause it was random or all over the place with illustrations or mini strips- *SIGHS* Let's just say that nothing mattered at all, it was just users requesting Mobox87 to draw this in response and when we did get something big in story telling or something animated. It was just a throwaway idea cause the story would get canceled months later after development. I do think Mobox87's new comic based on Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss does an improvement with story telling on domestic abuse despite it being gruesome like usual. It's about an imp that's trans and goes through the taboos of being in a toxic relationship and abusive lifestyle.

This one is more developed and plays similar to Angel Dust's story on how he deals with Valentino's abuse but more gritty. Funny enough Angel Dust is in the story as a cameo appearance with Valentino.

Anyways, besides the domestic abuse in story telling being constantly shown from an inspired DC Batman story described by me. You can check out this video about 'Mad Love' from 'Channel Awesome' since I think it tells it better than I did.

My general thoughts about this whole domestic abuse in story telling with Mobox87 artwork wasn't much impactful to me when I first came across it during the time I was a fan. It wasn't until later in the years I noticed it became constant that every oc in a relationship was going through some kind of abuse. Luckily I was able to get to read documents and look at folders of evidence of Mobox's illustrations and comics to show you each developed shipped characters. Now off to the next topic.

Let's get into other things from understanding such as the Nazi stuff. We've seen this topic spoken about a lot and you're probably thinking in your head, "What's there to understand?". Honestly nothing really because everyone who discussed the controversial Nazi artwork has gone off to say that it was wrong cause it's glorified (Yeahh, Mob ships gay nazis together, Mobox’s main OC, the rabbit Cassiann, is married to a vampire nazi doctor, a and has drawn nsfw of these nazi characters… And the jokes about nazis… And the Hitler joke) which yeah it's messed up considering its long history and how it's also stereotyped Germans during the years after WWII. Now don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with drawing characters as Nazis as long as the character plays a HISTORICALLY ACCURATE OR SATIRICAL ((examples of that last bit being Jojo Rabbit or Lupin the III)) even DC and Marvel or any type of entertainment we've seen characters as Nazis do an important role to play a part in just being a character's development or rival of conflict. Like 'X-Men 2000' and 'X-Men First Class' for example, the character 'Magneto' has a backstory of him suffering through a tragic event taking place in a concentration camp during WWII and gains vengeance on the ones who tortured him and killed his mother. Another good example is the beginning scene in the first Hellboy movie by Guillermo Del Toro, so know that it's possible to add a purpose to Nazi characters but honestly considering it's Mobox87, she didn't really care nor took the time to think about the drawings where she fetishized furries as Nazis which is messed up by the way she makes it look like a cool thing to the eyes of children especially considering that a fan base known as 'CountryHumans' got into the same controversy for having humanized personas of Nazis and the USSR. Especially when people made these flags personification being shipped together.

Alright, so I went on about how some ideas in domestic abuse and Nazi characters can work as a story plot element without it being glorified. What about the pedophilic or rape stuff? There isn't a good way to put this out there publicly but yeah it can fit in stories as a way to define what a villainous or just a fucked up character did but it's usually depends on how it's presented within books, movies and TV shows. Let's go over a controversial anime that touches upon this topic. For starters Goblin Slayer's first episode on season 1 is well known to have controversy over a specific scene without warning when it first aired. The anime presents itself as a DND (Dungeons and Dragons) type anime by introducing a character as a low level ranking guild member named 'Priestess' who joins in on a party group for a mission to go hunting Goblin as their first task. Further in this episode we get to see the group travel in a cave but end up getting taken down one by one from hordes of goblins as they meet their fate by being killed off until the episode gets to it’s controversial scene where one of the members of the party gest raped by a Goblin. I won't get into details but basically the premise of the story is that goblins are bad when infested in groups and reproduce by taking advantage of young girls and women until the main protagonist of our story comes in slaying goblins brutally, he's known as the Goblin Slayer. To describe the whole thing about goblin slayer is very grotesque but it has an interesting story that is carried by a character's motive to slay goblins and yeah it has very edgy plot element that touches on the sensitive topic of rape and pedophilia but those parts aren't what mainly carry the story nor is it glorified like how Mobox87 is drawing that type of content to children who follow her. Again some ideas and elements Mobox87 uses based on other sources of entertainment can work but differences is that they are always executed just cause they wanted to do it without a purpose or excuse or doesn't know how to properly present it besides be shock value for the viewer but they are a messed up person cause they went out of their way to show things that aren't meant for their audience. Some have speculated with Mob’s NSFW art, almost all of it is of guro, which is a fetish of gore/torture porn (also known as snuff), this, along with the prevalence of rape and abuse in Mobox’s work, has led to several people to believe she has a guro kink and a rape and abuse fetish on the ‘Moboxcritique blog’. So, to the fans, friends and family of her's that defend Mobox87 shouldn't enable her by making this type of art to share but hey even then the fans themselves are just as bad as her or even worse.

__________________________________________________

Will this be the final draft of the future video segment about the topic? No cause it's unfinished and I would like to represent more examples of understanding Mobox87's work and present examples of other types of media to make mental notes that sensitive topics like abuse or characters presented to be part of a propaganda can work.

[zeroducks-2]

Slightly related: in pretty recent dc canon, Slade and Talia do have a biological test tube baby together. his name is Respawn. I think neither Talia nor Slade knew about him though bc it was all Ra's al Ghul fuckery ?

Yeah Respawn, that poor little thing. You're correct, neither Talia nor Slade knew anything about him. - it's one of those thing where Ra's al Ghul goes "brilliant mastermind is 600+ year old and instead of doing anything which makes a lick of sense with his centuries of hindsight and experience of the world, he obsesses over people's genes".

Basically he spliced Talia's DNA with Slade's to replicate whatever gave him his meta-abilities, and since DC can't decide if Slade's abilities derive from his meta-gene, from the serum he was given or from both (hell, they barely can decide if Slade's hair is white because of the serum or because man's old), everything makes so little sense that somehow what Ra's al Ghul does ends up working, and he manages to create this test tube baby who indeed has both Talia and Slade's DNA, and the latter's meta-abilities.

But instead of doing anything meaningful with this kid, he keeps him locked up and tortures him (?), or uses him to get organs when Damian needs them (???), and doesn't even give him a name. Respawn picks out his own nickname, and he survives only because his healing factor keeps him alive despite all of the above, and somehow he also stays sane despite the years of isolation and hardcore physical abuse.

At some point he manages to run away and connect with Slade, and Slade *immediately* (and I mean after barely batting an eye) decides that this is his son and he will cherish him and protect him. And of course a couple of issues later Respawn gets brutally murdered right before Slade's eyes, because DC art directors are so competent and the only development they could think of was that of re-traumatizing Slade in the exact same way as it already happened with Grant (and with Joseph pre-reboot), making him lose a child brutally and by failing to protect him. Right before his eyes.

And so they also wasted a perfectly good character (Respawn I mean) which could have had an amazing plotline both with Slade and Rose & by himself, and a lot of potential for future development, just because they wanted the quick and easy drama of "child gets tortured for all his brief life for absolutely no reason, finally finds someone that wants to take care of him and dies a horrible death".

You can tell it didn't really work because not many people even know that Respawn exist, and those who know didn't get the time to truly grow fond of him since he's there for such a short time. And I bet you can also tell I'm pissed about it.

[spider-jaysart]

Would you be willing to share your character sheets/episodic ideas for your imagined supersons series? If not totally fine! A supersons animation would be so amazing tho btw I agree! I wish Warner bros was still the titan of children’s animation like it was when I was younger 😞

@katekanemybeloved

Ooooooh, yes!! I would be very delighted to share them!!! (And also, yeah, I wish that DC would go back to making bomb superhero cartoons again too :( like their cartoons were a big part of my childhood, ESPECIALLY the og Teen Titans cartoon series, which was and still is my top favorite animated series because of how awesome it was and still is!!!✨✨✨✨)

So here are the ideas that I've been having for my imagined series for a while now:

Some episode ideas:

Damian unfortunately has to babysit his baby neice Mar'i (who is 2 years old) for a night, even though he already had something planned on that same night, which was an investigation that he had wanted to learn more about since no one is taking it seriously enough to do it but just him. But everyone else in the family was said to be pretty busy that same night with missions of their own and Dick and Kory were needed somewhere very urgent that very night, so they chose Damian to be in charge of taking care of her until they both came back, so it upsets him very much since it interrupts his original plans. He's not very close with Mar'i either and finds her kind of annoying since he's not usually around such young kids her age. So on this boring night, he gets the idea to take her with him on his investigation instead and brings Jon along with him too, since he had came over to visit and hang out with him while he was babysitting. And during this fun adventurous episode with Jon, Damian, and little Mar'i, Damian later begins to actually develop a stronger care for his little niece and begins to not get so annoyed with her so much and actually starts to enjoy being around her more.

Damian has to get braces for a short time after an accident involving his teeth had happened during a mission, and he has to now try to learn how to deal with them for the time being, since it involves a lot of work and also kind of embarrasses him since some of his brothers and the other heroes playfully make fun of him about having them, especially since it kind of messes with his speech a little, which doesn't help him at all when trying to be a tough hero who needs to be taken seriously.

Jon and Damian both get sent to a summer camp since Clark and Bruce as Father's both think that besides their kids living the superhero life, they should also be able to have the chance to live like actual kids once in a while too before they lose the chance to actually do so when they finally reach adulthood in life. Damian's bummed about it and tries to find a way to leave the place, Jon's not upset about the situation at all and thinks that it will actually be a very fun experience to have. Though, they both later find out that there's possibly a very strange and dangerous creature lurking around the campsite that might just have a very big appetite for kids their age. So the Supersons both try to secretly investigate this mystery together to prevent the possible danger coming to their classmates there and get to also experience some of the fun things about summer camp too while they do so.

One day Jon begins to learn about the new fact that while he does like girls, he also actually likes boys too and is actually a bit confused by this, and thankfully has support on his side from family and friends while going through this new discovery about himself.

Jon is always hiding the clutter in his bedroom away from Clark and Lois by always shoving it all in his clothes closet. Though, one day while he's hanging out with Damian in his room, they both decide to play a video game together, except the controllers are missing, so Jon goes to check in his closet to see if he had thrown them in there by mistake with the rest of his mess and actually finds a shocking surprise for himself after he does so. He finds a big mysterious deep black hole on the floor of his closet that was never there before and believes that it has sucked all of his clothes and mess into it self. Him and Damian both then accidentally get sucked into it too after looking a little too close at it and have to now figure a way back out into Jon's bedroom as they both also learn about this strange new dimension together.

Damian decides to use the Batmobile behind Bruce's back one day during a mission with Jon and accidentally crashes it too during a road chase in said mission, so now him and Jon both have try to hide it and get it fixed on time before Bruce finds out about it.

Baby Mar'i gets involved in another mission with the Supersons again, except the three of them end up swapping ages in this one, so she gets turned into a kid while Damian and Jon are both turned into 2 year olds by the bad guy in their mission. So the three of them have to figure out a way together to stop this bad guy who's on the run and get said bad guy to turn them back into their normal selves before the spell becomes permanent for them all

An earth 11 episode of genderbend Damian and Jon just for fun

A school dance episode where some fun chaos happens for Damian and Jon

And of course there would also be fun episodes for all holidays during each year too (Valentine's, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc)

There would also be a birthday episode for Jon too

There would also be villains and bad guys for them to face in a lot of episodes

I have many more ideas but then it would probably turn this into a really long post lol

Character sheets and designs!!:

(Be sure to click on them for better quality!)

Damian and Jon in their hero and civilian outfits (So you know how Star from Star vs the forces of evil changes her outfit in episodes sometimes? Well, that's what Damian and Jon would also be doing sometimes in episodes in their civilian outfits too, which explains why they have more then one lol)

A closer look at them

Damian and Jon together

And Mar'i in her little Nightstar dress and normal dress (the blue star on her normal dress is supposed to be a little nod to the blue on Dick's Nightwing suit, while the star is also a nod to Starfire)

(These are all of the ones that I have for now, cause I have the other characters sheets too but then I would have to digitalize them first)

Ships involved:

Dickkory (they would already be married to eachother during the whole series and would already have baby Mar'i)

Bbrae (they would be engaged to eachother for the first season and a half of the second one, which would give us a fun wedding episode when it's time for them to marry. They would then be married to eachother for the rest of the whole series after that, but they wouldn't have any kids yet though until the final season of the series)

Timber or Timkon, or maybe Timber first and then later Timkon (not in a rush though)

Probably Damijon (I would probably continue to keep them as best friends throughout the whole series or maybe turn them into a cute ship very much later on in the series, since they do have a very great dynamic and chemistry with eachother as characters and as best friends...and also because their my otp :| but idrk)

Voice ideas:

For my imagined series, I've also always imagined Kon having the exact same voice as Marco from the Star vs the forces of evil series, cause it's also just the type of voice that I can always hear him speaking in whenever I'm reading fics or comics with him in it for some reason

And for Jon it would be a voice that sounds energetic and friendly

And Damian's would sound like the mature type of voice but still sounding like a kid and with maybe a bit of an accent in it too

For the Titans, Dick, Starfire, Raven, Beast boy, and Cyborg, I would give them the same voice actors that they've had for the og animated series and the new reboot series (cause it just really wouldn't be the same without their talented voices!😭)

Little other things:

Damian would be 12 years old in the series while Jon is 10 1/2 years old, so they would both still be in middle school in the series

Tim and Kon would be 16 years old

While Jon and Damian may be eachothers very best friends, they also have their own little friend groups. For Jon's friend group, it's Kathy, Billy, and later also kid!Jay and for Damian's group, it's Maya, Colin, Maps, and Tai Pham (they would all also team up as a whole group together sometimes in episodes)

I'm thinking of maybe adding a very young Chris Kent as a young brother for Jon and Kon so that he could grow up with Jake Grayson as a best friend after he's born and then they could also become the young Starburst duo together in the future, or maybe just adding him in as their brother as planned and letting him be around Jon's age instead

While Blackfire and Starfire may have their differences with eachother and even though Blackfire might not always treat Starfire in a good way like how she should as a sister, she sure does love her adorable baby neice Mar'i a lot

Baby Lian exists and has play dates with Mar'i

And yes, Jon would still be taller than Damian in the series lol

Duke would be in the series too (cause he deserves more love) and would also be a Batkid in the Batfamily

I would give the series a very fun and cool memorable theme song while a very fun animated intro is showing off examples of what their awesome adventures together as the Supersons is like (like something similar to Star vs the forces of evil style) everytime before an episode actually begins

It would definitely be a fun comedic show with humor to laugh at all the time but it would also become serious at moments when it needs to be (like the og Teen Titans animated series for example)

It also wouldn't be a show that's aimed at adults like the mature Harley Quinn animated series and it also wouldn't be a little kiddies type of show either, it would actually be the type of show that anyone of any age can enjoy, like the many other kids cartoons out there like: the og Teen Titans animated series, Star vs the forces of evil, Gravity falls, Steven universe, and many more

Cool and fun action scenes would definitely be included in all episodes of the series everytime whenever they're fighting bad guys and villains

Thank you very very much for the ask, @katekanemybeloved ! :D I really enjoyed sharing this!💖

Tagging: @quartzgallery @theredheaded-stuff @camo-wolf @paladin-of-nerd-fandom65 @cats-and-katanas @nobodycallsmerae @batboyblog @teeeentitaaans

[devine-fem]

Not an ask. Just wanted to say u always put the best stuff on my dashboard. ❤️❤️ and u have the best takes on my fav DC characters & ships 😅

AFAAFOUASHF (I'm fixated on Birdflash so I used this as a way to rant about them. I'm sorry this got a bit long ...) I appreciate this so much. I guess this is somewhat coming from my sudden fixation on Birdflash? No, I so get it. Thank you so much, @dinkgrayson. I so get it like I feel like I ship birdflash a little differently than the average person. Like I love Wallylinda like I do Clois and I also ship Dickkory really hard, so Birdflash are exes to me, it especially helps because fandom always depicts them as Robin and Kid Flash before they both met their soulmates, but I just ship them as exes, they are my favorite exes and I wish there were more fics where they were portrayed as exes and not endgame. Same thing with Supermanhunter. I ship Clark and J'onn as exes because if they were exes, it'd be so interesting. Same with Dickwally, I think the way they talk about each other just seems a little off... I don't know how to describe it but the way they grew from each other kind of felt like a breakup but one on good terms.

To me, Birdflash dated as Kid Flash and Robin [I also am so partial to them because I love Kid Flash!Wally and Robin!Dick... he's my favorite Robin... I just grew so attached to the fab five that I love Dick and Wally in those eras so much] because I feel like while they were Kid Flash and Robin they were much more unsure of themselves and would've jumped into a relationship a little bit more easily because they both desired some comfort from constant stress that no one else shared but each other because Robin and Wally at the time didn't have other robins or kid flashes to relate to. (I also use them as kind of the queer experience a little bit because in my head, I feel like they never really LABELED themselves as a couple, but they just kept seeking and finding in each other it stopped being platonic at a point. It's an envelope of the queer experience where your repressed and internalizing your emotions, especially in an era where Dick and Wally were created to be more relatable, I feel like it makes their characters a bit stronger...) Around the time Dick became Nightwing is when they broke up and on good terms, they stayed friends and purely platonic, but I also feel like they treat each other with a certain cadence of care/love that it feels very much like how you'd treat your ex. Just thinking about them being in a somewhat incognito relationship where Bats knows but doesn't say anything and they quietly break up which like helps with their development in my head is so chewy. I guess Birdflash a bit more looks down upon as of recently within the fandom because of how Birdflash shippers have treated Linda (I was surprised finding this out because it seemed so dead) but I also feel like it's not that serious because I understand that Wally is very family orientated but so is Clark. Clark NEEDS Lois and Superbat exists as to which SOME people treat Lois a bit harshly, but no one complains about that erasing Clark's character even though I really don't think Clark and Bruce are that much important to each other as everyone thinks they are (I don't like Superbat much either) Some people may treat Wally as an item to Dick but not me, I actually have read and know more about the Flashfam. I know more about Wally than Dick because I never really cared for the batfam that much... but that's just me. I'm a bit different and I wonder if like I'll post them more. Not sure. Sorry, ranting...

[escherstrange-ffxiv]

#24: Freetalk [Nonfiction]

I'm always fascinated by how others perceive Isillud and how he's developed.

(Proto-Izzy trawling Gaia DC photo studios, circa 2020. Notice the different face structure.)

Izzy was first conceived as a way to practice ERP AND poke into nightclubs (remember that Escher can't take alcohol and so has no reason to be in one), which shaped his personality. He needed to be someone who approached others. Flirty, forward, sexual. Knows exactly what he wants.

In other words, the complete opposite of me.

Making him on EU also meant I wasn't awake often enough to join nightclubs FOR the ERP. I'm a genius, yes. These combined factors just meant 95% that made Isillud *Izzy* happened in writing or off-screen, which just was the idea of him sleeping with lots and lots and lots of men.

It's okay to say it: He's a slut.

What happens after is the interesting part.

The description turned people off from his character. Ew, slut. Ew, he's only about the sex. No substance. When I finally brought him out for RP, other characters pegged him as a prostitute/someone with STDs just because he was looking for hookups.

I'm sure that comes from our personal biases: That someone sex-positive is a slut who doesn't care about protection, or that they must be doing it for the money. They're unclean from sleeping around, catching STDs left and right. It's an occasional IC joke to those who have interacted with Izzy, though limited to those who, again, knew him as a slut first.

(Proto-Izzy with new hair and specs, the main reason I didn't put glasses on him for the longest time)

Izzy wasn't a major RP chara until he met Seloix & Etienne and had an actual character arc DUMPED onto him. Suddenly I had to think of things I hadn't considered: Was Izzy using sex as a coping mechanism? (Partly) Can his arbitrary powers I pulled from my obsession with Vagrant Story be a bigger part of his character? (Very yes) Is he commitment-phobic?? (Yes LOL)

From there it snowballed into him getting blackmailed by a Garlean and to the crowning achievement of my RP career: Using sex to counter-blackmail a fae prince working for said Garlean into revealing his name, binding him to Izzy's command forever.

I did it, I finally used Izzy's defining trait to get the upper hand in a situation and it felt good. Suddenly Izzy wasn't just a slut, he was smart and resourceful under that horny twink veneer. He can fight, but he's more than an archer who sits in trees for days. He negotiates and talks his way out of things. He doesn't lie but withholds. His mouth is his strongest weapon (hurhur) yet the power of his words accidentally got a man pecked to death by crows and blew up a house (ask for details).

One day I bumped into the people who knew his initial character and they just made the same old jokes about his promiscuity. Slut. Diseased. They didn't bother asking what he'd been up to nor want to know. Disappointed, but I'd given up at that point. I knew Isillud was more than that; their loss.

That's on us as people: We fall back on stereotypes without bothering to learn about someone the minute sex is mentioned. A few RPers were genuinely surprised that I used ERP as a honey-trap plot device (really? Y'all that boring?). The people who interact with him enjoy him as a character even when he's trying to come on to them. I acknowledge it takes a lot for some to get past the "I'm interacting with an ERP puppet" because when *I* talk about him his sexual appetite is what comes out first, but seeing others willing to look past the term and liking him is...nice. Heartwarming, even.

I hope cross-region travel comes true because there are places on NA I want to take Izzy to, like a ✨Regency-era Ishgardian gay men's club✨. A Bee Club. A Brume dive bar. Just...everywhere. The potential for Izzy's interaction is wide, and I'm excited where he'll end up.

Keep shining brightly my beautiful slut; the world will be your oyster yet.

[docgold13]

Doc there is way more reason to why people hate Jon Kent these days simply beyond "Heterosexualism".

1. Bendis basically destroyed the character (& trolled his fans on social media about how "this was better") for the sake of that failed 5G crap Dan Didio was pushing before he bounced, & DC refuses to take the hint despite having to bring kid Jon back in other stories to get some (but not enough) good will

2. Taylor did absolutely nothing with that development in trying to make something interesting out of it, Instead just making him a overly bland passive-centeralist nepobaby parody of Clark who'll barely lift a finger until he "gets both sides of the story" & even then doesn't solve the problem but others have to.

3. Taylor didn't care Jon at all as both his series were more about shilling his other works than actually focusing on Jon. Nightwing popping up to become Jon's new BFF (barf) because Damian was a mess at the time? The Trash OCs from his Suicide Squad run to be "the real heroes" Jon needs to put trust in? Completely throwing away the cathartic Ultraman beatdown 2 issues into AoS so Jon can fart about & be insufferable in The Injustice universe for it's remainder ending with him coming to the conclusion of "My Dad doesn't do more for the world because he'll become a facist despot if he did!"? Truly this is how to make a good character for a generation.

I don't know about any of this stuff. I've only gotten to know the adult Jon in his handful of appearances in Nightwing (plus various post here and there of him being cute with his new beau). Sorry to hear you don't care for what's been going on with him.

I'm sure there are plenty of fans who like him, plenty who don't... seems the same for most all comic characters.

[emperorsfoot]

Only parts of DC's take on MOTU I've read are the crossovers with Thundercats and Injustice (Latter sucked) but I recall one of them opening with Adam fighting Faker inside the Palace and it seeming like that Faker actually did replace him and rule for a bit, due to some civilians commentating afterwards that they preferred how Faker ran things because they "Kept us safe". I like this idea of Faker actually replacing Adam and now having to put their all into playing the role including... 1/3

This is actually one of the things that I feel is missing from several iterations of the franchise, not just DC and Revelation.

Other characters being allowed the chance and time to grow.

In the DC run of the comics, (Eternity War, to be specific), there is a wonderful scene between Adam and Rattlor where Rattlor tells Adam that he values Adam as a leader, and that Adam treats his soldiers with more respect and dignity than King Hiss treated Rattlor. This is a small scene to wrap up an equally small subplot of the Snakemen working with Adam and Teela to liberate Eternia from the Horde.

But imagine if they had allowed that subplot to be a full arc. The Snakemen must come to the difficult decision to work with He-Man against a common enemy invading their planet. Slowly, over the course of several battles, the named Snakeman characters observe Adam's leadership, how he treats his warriors, how he treats his wounded, how he cares for his wounded. And then coming to the big cathartic moment when they finally admit to themselves that their own leader, King Hiss, was not a good ruler. Then growing to be comfortable enough with this revelation to be able to tell Adam himself! To tell their former enemy, He-Man, enemy of the Snakemen, that he is a better leader than the Snakeman king. Gosh I would have loved it if they gave us an arc like that!

Or in the 2002 reboot, we know so little about all the Masters aside from Adam, Teela, and Man-at-Arms! We know Ram Man fought with Randor during Keldor's rebellion because we see him in the flashback (although he has no speaking lines), and we know he is afraid of the dark because they make it a plot point in one episode, and we know that he can be seduced by singing and magic because that was also a plot point in another episode. But 2002 doesn't even tell us his name! Ram Man is an ensemble cast member who appears in more than half of the 2002 episodes, yet he's so underdeveloped that the 3 facts I just listed about him are all we know about him in 2002. Imagine if they had developed him more! Why is a grown man in his 40s afraid of the dark? Not just afraid of the dark, but paralyzed with terror of the dark? How did he become one of Randor's warriors? He's clearly not as well educated as the other Masters, is he from a poor family? Did he join the military for financial opportunities? Ram Man is just one example, but truthfully, all the ensemble cast needed more attention.

In the Classics-Line the situation is even worse! Most of the lore from Classics-Line isn't even in the comics! Most of the lore from the Classics-Line is given to us in interviews with Scott Neithlitch. There's a couple panels in one of the Ultimate Battlegrounds where we see that Man-at-Arms has been transformed into a Snakeman and the dialogue implies that things have been this way for a while. But this is the first the reader ever sees of Snakeman-at-Arms, and then he dies in the same scene. Teela is shown having a very emotional scene where she cries over her father's dead body for 1 whole panel, then Snakeman-at-Arms is never discussed or mentioned again. But imagine if that was a full length arc we could have gotten. How amazing would that have been?

Anyway, back to your original Ask: I would love to read a series about Faker impersonating King Adam and growing as a person either by choice of necessity. Since canon will never give us what we want, I encourage you to write it yourself! Take that passion and write it into a fan fiction!

I'd love to read it!

[zorilleerrant]

No, it's not a thing - at least not in comics. Comics writers aren't allowed to read fic or engage with the fandom much at all, to the point it's often detrimental to their love of the character. They generally don't know what the fanon traits are, unless it's something brought up a lot to specific people at cons, etc. - which of course would give a very flattened view of what people care about, and which is why most writers don't lend too much credence to it (for better and for worse).

What you're noticing is the tendency of new or untalented writers to pick a central trait and concentrate too much on it, and then a corresponding tendency of management/the editing team to insist that stories need to be accessible to new readers and therefore have one or a few particularly memorable traits. In the same way there's a reference sheet for art, there are reference sheets for character traits, which will generally list a handful of relevant, simplified traits, and a handful of relevant, simplified plot points. So if a writer isn't familiar with the character and doesn't care to research them, you'll end up without more nuanced references than those. (You may also end up with that if a writer, like Tom Taylor, sucks at everything.)

This is why you'll notice many runs of comics have character growth and development within that arc that's often incredibly detailed and nuanced, but has little to do with things that came before, and often aren't referenced in great detail after. This is also why standalone works often give a character a rich inner life that doesn't correspond to stories before or after, but is necessary to telling that particular story in that particular way. The writer has a story to tell, but it isn't influenced by the stories that came before, only by the cultural concept itself, or by how the character and plot archetypes of a character fit with what they have in mind.

There's also a genre difference to be aware of - most fic (and therefore most fanon) isn't strictly in the superhero/american comics genre, and is at closest pastiche, and is often a totally different genre. Romance is, of course, popular, but maximalism, stream of consciousness, slice of life, soap opera, and cozy mystery are also huge influences on the genre stylings of fic. This is true of many shorter and standalone arcs in comics, too, which is often why they seem to come out of nowhere or not fit with the rest of the narrative, often an issue in A-story/B-story formats where the stories aren't interrelated or thematically comparable. In fanon, however, there's the additional complication that it tends to be influenced by modernist and post-modernist outlooks on fiction that aren't as heavily represented in mainstream comics as a whole (although DC Black Label tends to be more similar in that regard).

There's also the curation issue - necessarily, with older works, you're much more likely to run into the ones that are better by modern metrics. While this means you'll miss out on things that have basic crafting errors or whose stories are incomplete or confusing, it also means that the older stories that are shared more often now tend to match modern perspectives on how stories should be characterized, plotted, structured, etc. Which means certain works are often centered much more than they were at the time, and considered more canon that their contemporaries. There's a corresponding nostalgia viewpoint that means audiences allow more leeway to older works, assuming they had more nuanced intent, while they think more recent works don't really know what they're doing. It's easier to do that when you can read a whole story at once rather than waiting for installments, too.

What this means is that, no, fanon is having little to no impact on canon, it's just that the process by which fanon you dislike is created and the process by which canon you dislike is created are extremely similar in both the idea-generating and writing procedure and the way they're checked for compliance with earlier installments. They also tend to be made by people with extremely similar attitudes towards the characters and the art. But in ten years, the comics that survive will be the ones that are interesting stories in their own right, not just Content and bridges between Content. The rest will be thought of as supporting canon, and it will be a lot less noticeable that it's shallowly characterized and bland. In the same way, fanfic, fanart, and other fanon that catches people's attention for high artistic and narrative value will be popularized and make its way around the fandom, and people will like it, too.

[leonawriter]

I'm honestly now holding what's basically canon (Kaito/Aoko, Hakuba/Akako) and what's basically my own AU (Kaito/Hakuba/Aoko) in my head, and trying to juggle them and keep the balance, because canon is good, it's cute, and I wanna see how it develops. And yet the idea of Hakuba/Kaito/Aoko is so, so good too...

Like, in terms of canon, everyone is neatly paired up just like Gosho likes it. I feel like if he wrote MK to fruition - even a quarter of the amount he's given DC - then Keiko would get a boyfriend, and.. who even knows. Let's ship Hakuba's Nanna and Jii-chan too. Hakuba/Akako is great in several ways as well, that I've said elsewhere - they're the "super logical/scientific-minded one" and the "literal witch" how could that be not fun to see play out?

In the version I have in my head? I'm kinda... well, it puts the three main characters together, and tbh I can see it in terms of dynamics what with Hakuba and Aoko being the two people who are both Kaito's age and who don't just want to catch him, but who are close to him, and care about him. Hakuba's also the only one who knows that Kaito is the Kaitou Kid, and who isn't Jii-chan, and he chooses to keep it to himself for the most part, still wanting to figure out why he's doing it, which grants a certain amount of... queer subtext? Why are you, a man, chasing down another man? To catch him in your arms?

Akako, in that case, is left without a partner, but... it made me think "what if her need to be desired by all men is just her feeling like she needs to feel like that?" She doesn't really know what "love" is. She's somewhere around sixteen to seventeen years old, and we never see her parents - ever. It's entirely possible that she's either on the aro/ace spectrum and doesn't realise it, or that she's either bisexual or lesbian and had been fixated on Kaitou Kid because he's the only one to not get caught by her magicks... and by that, he also becomes the one to help her figure out who Akako is.

And in the same way that Gosho's known to create characters if and when he needs them, I could see her finding someone else, maybe unrelated to it all and maybe not.

Or perhaps she'd simply become satisfied with her lot, now that she's found friends she's willing to risk herself for, and who are willing to put themselves out there for her in return.

[tragcdysewn]

was that esther yu? oh no no, that was just xiao lanhua, a canon character from love between fairy and devil. they are one thousand years old, use she/they, and are aware that they are not actually from washington dc. too bad they can’t stray from this city for long.

how long has your character been here:

almost two years now

what is your character’s job:

they work at sophie's flower shop!

where has your character been pulled from in their fandom:

between the end of the show and the epilogue. she's defeated tai sui, but is still waiting for dongfang qingcang to return

has any magic affected your character:

she was missing memories for a bit, only remembering up to her own death, and then was unaware as a result of the murder spree in june of 2023, but now has their full memories

and any other information you might find useful for us and the other members to know:

xiao lanhua was born xi yun of the xilan tribe, a neutral tribe between shuiyuntian and cangyan sea. they were the goddess of xishan, and grew up for a short time under the care of her parents, who made sure she knew the responsibility and power bestowed on her to keep peace between the realms

unfortunately, lord ronghao of shuiyuntian needed the power she held to resurrect his master, and destroyed the entire xilan tribe in an attempt to get their help. xi yun's parents hid her away, transforming her into an orchid seed and sending it far away

the seed landed in shuiyuntian, near the home of the arbiter of fate, si ming. si ming planted the seed, and helped it to cultivate spiritual energy and eventually develop a human form. after some time, it did, and xi yun became the fairy xiao lanhua, with no memory of their past

she remained in arbiter hall, as si ming's apprentice, for the next thousand years, until they noticed the fate of the man they loved, changheng, the god of war, was meant to end that night. she snuck off to save him, despite knowing they shouldn't interfere in fate, and accidentally fell into the prison he was resealing

it was there she met dongfang qingcang, and unintentionally bound them together with the one heart curse, swapping their souls with an accidental kiss. they managed to switch back, and escape together before going their separate ways

they reunited when xiao lanhua was nearly killed, and he realized he would be injured if she was. he insisted they stay together for both their safety, and she hid him in their home. he imbued a bracelet with his power, to ensure they were protected even without him, and it activated in front of all of shuiyuntian, leading to her being interrogated about the escaped leader of the moon tribe

dongfang qingcang revealed himself and took them away to cangyan sea, keeping her there until he could figure out how to break the curse on them, unaware the emotions that he'd had removed as a child were returning thanks to that same curse, drawing them closer to each other

a comedy of errors ensues, including a trip to the mortal world that involved them playing both husband and wife and siblings, xiao lanhua marrying changheng side by side with dongfang qingcang marrying the god of war that defeated him, and area warlord being very upset that he does, in fact, have feelings

they both confess after barely escaping shuiyuntian soldiers, and return to cangyan sea, where xiao lanhua goes through trials to marry him and become the moon queen, as well as finally learning her true identity and trying to keep shuiyuntian from declaring war on cangyan sea

the war comes anyways, and dongfang qingcang also discovers xiao lanhua is cursed and will die if she doesn't remove the bracelet he made for them, which is bound to her because they love him. he tries to make them hate him, but fails, and she ends up killing herself to break the curse between them and save those who fell on the battlefield

he and changheng manage to resurrect her, but she comes back as xi yun, initially not remembering xiao lanhua at all. they agree to honor her engagement to changheng, even after her memories return, to defeat the evil god tai sui, even if it means her second death

dongfang qingcang tricks tai sui, locking him in his own body and ensuring he can be killed by normal means, so that xiao lanhua can survive defeating him. she does eventually kill tai sui, and dongfang qingcang with him, though she holds out hope that he can resurrect in the same way they did one day

after arriving in dc, she reunited with an unaware dongfang qingcang, and is stubbornly pushing him into remembering. they also befriended two fellow clowns, and they spur each other on in the best possible way