#the superman one my dad got me is the ONLY good one ive seen

[senseiwu]

HELP I looked up to see if there were even martian manhunter plushies and

They're horrifying 😭

These are NOT like the plushies i dreamed about 😭😭

[batarangsoundsdumb]

hae interrogationes multae respondeant quia demens .

if you read this entire ask post you deserve a gold star and financial recompensation

Um, Obviously because when you’re adopted by a white guy you automatically become white duhhh

this is about this post lmao and yeah youre absolutely right, you have to hand your poc card in when you get adopted by a white guy.

Do you think Cass would listen to Yanni, the YouTube channel epic symphonic rock, or some other stuff? There's some cool mashups but idk if that's up your alley, I kinda feel like I'm pushing it with my weird taste of music by recommending an orchestra cover of metal, but i just love that sort of thing and mashups :P @harvestyourcherries 

i haven’t heard of that? but in my personal (correct) opinion steph listens to classical music, and then both modern and older, and then also stuff like black sabbath, iron maiden, but also hardrock and hardcore. i like the idea of cass just liking the most extreme screaming songs full of noise and then also listen to pachelbel’s 370th sonata yanno? THANK YOU for the rec tho

speaking of ur cass playlist hc...reminds of the time (yesterday) i found 2 playlists randomly on spotify from the same user. one was abt 3 hours of instrumental/classical "dark" & "nostalgic" music. the other almost 11 hours of nothing but hardcore bass/synth/electronic music. just an incredible tightrope act to put on in public. the synth one was also called like "psalms for synth sluts" which is Also incredible

tbh i LOVE synth SO MUCH like for no reason at all but then also cannot handle a poppy electronic beat lmao. but this seems like the kinda thing i’d do but just in one (1) playlist bc i just sort songs by vibe instead of genre? that’s how i end up with britney spears and billy ray cyrus in the same playlist. 

Oh, I want Kate Kane playlist next! It would be amazing if you could do one when you have time and will 🙏

how rude would it be of me to just say no? like sorry kate but idk you and also you seem way too keen on the us military for an institution that homophobically targeted you? (and also commits war crimes) but let’s unpack the fact that the institution that caused the death of your mom and sister and also got you blacklisted for being gay is still one you align with???

'yes i am' 'no you're not' 'yes i am' 'no you're not' 'yes i am' 'no you're not' 'yes i am' 'no you're not' 'yes i am' 'no you're not' 'yes i am' 'no you're not' --- when i tell you i fucking screamed LOL!!!!!!! i can imagine the cameraman not knowing if he should cut to commercial or keep it on these two weirdos fighting on stage (bruce definitely ruffled dick's hair/noogied him right?? 

about this post but yeah lmao. this cameraman just turns to like the audience to get a reaction and it’s just multiple moments of CLEAR shock.

you are the only funny person on this hellsite

how egotistical is it for me to say that i get this ask multiple times a month? bc it literally happens so often it’s hilarious to me.

Wish there was more john/Bruce content 😔😔😔 was so hungry I actually looked at canon media 😔😔😔 (Justice League Dark babeeeyyyyyy)

check out batman: damned for some mediocre content but at least it’s john/bruce (also very interesting story and stuff, just got very >:( over this weird part where harley quinn tried to r*pe bruce or something? it’s not for everyone)

dick grayson but he's nicki minaj

his anaconda don’t want none,,, unless...... 

Dick Grayson was never a cop, he played Marshall on Paw Patrol

you are SO right. also paw patrol is a fucking good show idc. that shit could’ve been the new steven universe on this hellsite.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CS1lI0bLI7-/?utm_medium=copy_link

...

why do people keep reposting my CONTENT. if you are not funny yourself don’t just grab shit off of tumblr and post it on insta,,, get a life. sidenote: should i start an insta and get all these ppl to take my content down that would be funny as hell.

Might I suggest for a Gotham City Meme: something about the true crime fandom thirsting for the rogues gallery

ok can i just say something slightly controversial?? no? i don’t find true crime ppl who are into criminals funny, that shits disturbing irl im not gonna bring that into my very chill universe.

i may have never seen a 'jason cleaning guns in sink' fic but i do know he WOULD

THANK YOU

bestie im sorry to say this to you but while you can, and people do wash their guns in the sink, that is a lot of lead in a very vital part of the kitchen.

people tend to do it in the bathtub.

WHY???? like damn why do you even have guns

i dont think i read many gun sink fics exactly but i have read lots of fics where jason cleanes his guns in the living room. usualy dissembles them and cleans them with a rag i think

lmao fair enough, like i think that’s a large part of what i remember as well.

if you say you've seen/read gun sink fics I believe you. I think those of us who didn't see them are lucky or maybe didn't search for fics by tags or something idk

i mean ive never sought them out but i HAVE seen them,, like definitely i know almost for certain.

saw your tags and I'm interested in Steph/Kara now. They would be the most chaotic couple <3

literally thoooo, i have a wip where they get together in a zombie apocalypse and like UGGGHhhh i am so in love with them.

I am the Breece anon. Thanks for the recommendation; am reading now. I’ve always been a hardcore Superman fan because I love my pure himbo farm boy. My logic is, if one Bruce is a Broose, then multiple Broose are a herd of Breece. And this is a hill upon which I will perish.

fair enough,,,, like moose, meese, goose, geese, bruce, breece. i get your logic and i stand by it as well. (glad you enjoyed the comic recs!!!!)

It's a beautiful day in Gotham, and you are a group of horrible Breece

OH my god dude lmao

there only being 42 fics on ao3 for tim and bernard is honestly so sad i need more

it’s like twice that now!!! we did it lads. (tho very sad that my fic isnt number one but like number 4 :((((  )

i'm too late you already did the poll lol but may i suggest bethy (bernard + timothy)

shit dude that wouldve been so fucking funnyyyyy. think ppl have just stuck to timber tho, tim/bernard kinda died down recently and i think it’s too bad, they’re a great couple and i love them.

Wait, hear me out

Bernothy @redlightofdawn

great recommendation (lmao this ask is from like a month ago) but very sorry to announce that NARDTH is the superior shipname

Wait, we know that bernard likes milfs (Tim's step-mom) but what about dilfs? gilfs?

Wait no, I regret sending that ask

these were two seperate asks and they’re HILARIOUS. in my personal opinion tho,,, milfs, gilfs, dilfs are just about vibes and bernard is just attracted to sexy ppl who may sometimes be milfs, dilfs, or EVEN gilfs.

crime in bludhaven would drop to half if nightwing had a boob window. in this essay i will-

WHERE’S THE ESSAY ANON, WHERE’S THE FUCKING ESSAY

Wait if Barbra and Tim r at opposite ends at all times what happened to Barbra once everyone’s Tim’s ever love before started dying lol

she won a lottery ticket and spent 2 weeks on a resort in the bahamas before returning home and finding out that the joker was arrested for tax evasion and then spent a month staying at her big tiddie goth girlfriend’s house before conner came back to life and she broke her pinkie playing table hockey.

Why is the opposite end thing so funny and compelling to me. Tim comes back from his depression quest for Bruce and Babs is now a literal god

lmao when tim loses his spleen barbara reaches nirvana.

Are you still taking music recs because I have three songs that remind me of Jason that I think you'd like

send to me or lose a toe

🌸 ⭐ put this star into the inbox of your favorite blogs. it’s time to spread positivity! ⭐🌸😋

thanks, i wont tho on account of i wont.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMduBy3Sr/

⬆️

This is the whole of Blüdhaven and everyone anywhere.

Nightwings ass alone saves more people in a calendar year and does more for so society than most heroes do their whole career.Also u are one of the funniest tumblr pages out there. The vibes are unmatched and the memes and tags ✨send me✨.Thank u and goodnight @julia-flow 

fanksss also lmao.

That's going to be a little bit difficult to explain, but

There's some music that you listen to and you think, "oh my gosh, I can perfectly imagine Dick Grayson singing this song, with the same voice as the singer because that voice matches with Dick Grayson"?

oh yeah totally lmao. i have a lot of songs that i think are just entirely dick grayson yanno? kind of all of my playlists have that vibe, but i really find bleachers to fit with dick? idk.

"Lois lane/Superman" fics this, "Lois lane/Clark Kent" fics that, (/lh) let's get into the real good stuff. Some people ship Lois, Clark, and Superman as a throuple. Most popular fic tag for sure

yes totally, i think they’d be absolutely killer on ao3 and clark gets so fucking embarassed about it.

I miss your post, hope you’re doing okay!!

haha this was like 2 months ago, but i was doing fine then too! just didn’t have a lot of inspiration in terms of content.

Doot doot!

noot noot

I’m confused. What did DC do now? Like with nightwing? And another sibling? Please spoil everything for me

lmao they gave him a secret sister plotline where they had his dad cheat on his mom with tony zucco’s wife, bc dick’s life wasn’t traumatic enough yet.

sorry but it's so funny that batman is called "the dark knight" when the gotham city baseball team is called the gotham knights. it'd be like if a vigilante was running around new york called like "the scary yankee"

lmaooo no. but like yankee comes from dutch names or something so wouldnt it be HILARIOUS if gotham knights came from like german names and bruce would be running around called the dark KLAUS UND NIEK @graysonnightwing 

(not a batcest shipper) it’s so funny to me that the responses are “i’m a batcest shipper because i can differentiate fiction from reality and and it doesn’t bother me personally, but i understand why you oils think it’s weird” to “i wish all batcest shippers a very fucking die”

yeah lmaoo. i personally basically flipped my entire stance around to ‘i dont care please leave me and everybody else alone’ bc i think there’s really no point in starting a moral dillema over some fucking fandom bullshit. Please just,,, go home,,, log off, find a nice forest to have a little walk in and remember that somewhere in history, somebody probably died in the place you’re standing. and you will also die someday, and somebody will have to look at your internet usage and see you fighting multiple people anonymously while being named ‘nightwingsbuttchin200186′ like... calm down, we’re all gonna die this is not the thing to worry about.

so since like "wards" don't really exist in modern society almost all the batkids are foster kids, right? i used to work in the system and imagine: monthly visits from social workers and guardian ad litems, bruce having to get permission to take the boys anywhere out of state, calling their social worker at like 8 a.m. like "yeah dick broke his arm again... a gymnastics accident this time...." their poor social worker. bruce send her a huge bouquet and box of chocolates every month to stay on her good side

i imagine the social worker just getting into the case like ‘yeah let’s get this kid a good guardian’ and then ending up having to work with 22 y/o bruce wayne and his 50 y/o dad. and so this social worker is like ‘okay we can work with this, this is the best home i can find’ and then like it ends up landing on its feet and then the kid gets adopted and then they get a call a year later like ‘uhm so hi, this kid tried to steal my tyres can i adopt him?’ and like 3 years later. ‘okay so basically, my neighbours’ kid imprinted on me and now they’re dead, can i keep him?’ two years later it’s like ‘okay so this assassin child-’

ever since I saw that one post of yours, the meme that's something like "I know that abba's backup dancer got me" with a picture of discowing, I've been haunted. Every once in a while I'll be minding my own business then the image of abba's backup dancer dick grayson aka nightwing aka discowing will flash in my mind and I'll be frozen in place. Today at work I was in the middle of folding clothes and suddenly once again discowing entered my mind and I suddenly lost the ability to see anything except He. Thank you.

wow. the IMPACT.

Braver than any US marine man props to you🤝

this shit is about the time i wrote an article on batcest, like man,,, the fact that i didn’t get cancelled is MIRACULOUS. also like,,, uh if anybody on here did gossip on me,, send screenshots i’d love to see it.

Hello, just wanted to say your article was great. Thank you for taking the time to provide an unbaised answer. It should provide people with nuances they couldn't possibly conjure on their own.

May I ask where your username originates from?

yes you may (also thanks!!!) i thought it up when i was trying to find an original username bc i didnt want to be called like ‘timdrakes something something’ or ‘jason todd something smoething’ or ‘dick grayson something something’ yanno? so i thought batarangs, they sound so dumb and that’s my username story... now it’s my whole entire brand lmao.

yno that bit in kick ass where red mist asks kick ass if he wants a hit of his blunt, was that the inspo for stoner tim

no? it’s bc i think stoners are hilarious and drugs are great. (dont do drugs tho) 

How would u feel if someone actually wore one of those bruce or ollie pride shirts u edited

fenomenal next question.

Dick as lil huddy and Jason as James gave me radiation poisoning and now I’m screaming crying throwing up so thx for that

(Rico suave as Tim is perfect tho literally no changes needed)

i was so funny for that shit wasn’t i??? lmao i loved those weird ass fancasts

You're doing the Lord's work by providing us with all these Gotham/Metropolis citizens memes, thank you for being so relentlessly funny @nellethiel-aranel

you’re welcome!! i really enjoy making memes, but getting validation for my content and my memes is REALLY nice.

Bruce is such a slut in your memes and honestly i love that for him @rhodey-rhudert-rhodes-main 

he’s that much of a slut irl too dw.

Bruce and Alfred have an emergency pride flag for the batkids. Oliver Queen printed an emergency "I love my gay son" t-shirt and as soon as Roy told him he was dating Jason, Oliver started wearing that shirt everyday and Roy always cringes when he sees it. Oliver also has an emergency "I love my lesbian daughter" shirt just in case for Cissie.

lmao YES i had a post like this bc like all of their kids/family members are so gayy

stop bringing back batfam fancasts it is not real it is not real it is not- 😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀

oh yes it is my darling.

did discowing burn down the notredam because he hates the bees? @allulily

no he did it bc fuck the french.

im gonna beg for 1 thing and 1 thing only. please please please put physical by olivia newton john on dick's playlist

okay then beg. bc i wont. physical reminds me too much of glee and that hurts me mentally.

your playlist is sorely missing some Madonna. Specifically Into the Groove, Like a Prayer, and Vogue

i’m scared of madonna that’s why she’s not on there. she haunts me in my dreams.

suggestion: son of batman by aaron dews for dick’s playlist🤩

sorry, i listened to it and the vibe didn’t agree with me.

Hear me out, metropolis citizens sending rare pair fics of Clark Kent x Superman fics to Lois to edit

yes, absolutely hilarious. even more funny if they send like physical copies, no address attached and lois sends it back marked with red ink, SOMEHOW

Imagine all the smut Clark must of read editing the fics

clark reads smut confirmeeed

NOT LOIS READING SUPERBAT PORN AND EDITING IT A 2AM 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

hc that alfred is a meta that boosts healing factor of the people around him. if the bats are injured as much as they seem to be they would be doing bat stuff MAYBE half the year. no one including alfred knows about this. whenever the kids move out they inexplicably dont recover from injuries as fast and feel better whenever they visit the manor they just chalk it up to homesickness. bruce just thinks he heals really fast. alfred thinks everyone doesnt take care of themselves properly @finchcollector

that’s actually such a great idea, but i think that alfred would find out and learn how to concentrate it better so he can help more people, bc he’s great and i love him.

One of your dickfast posts reminded me of that tweet that goes: 'so you've had sex how many times? Yeah technically that's not a bromance' lol that's dickwally or dickroy

literally tho. like that’s all of dick’s friendships. once it gets past a certain time dick is like ‘wow i wonder what it would be like to make out with wally, wally come make out with me’ and wally’s like ‘we’ve done this like 40 times, dick, you know what it’s like’ and dick is like ‘sorry are you complaining?’ and they just make out.

superfam and batfam associations??

-batman and superman

-dick/barabara and supergirl?

-conner and tim

-jon and damian

pls enlighten me I am confused

nope,,, uhm batman and superman, but dick and superman as well, and then conner and tim, jon and damian and steph + babs with supergirl

I came across a fic in which Wonder Woman calls Batman "Stella" (like Stellaluna, the children's book) and I can imagine the batkids hop on the trend and maybe copies of the book appear at random places (aka, everywhere Bruce frequents)

sorry can’t reciprocate that was the name of my high school chemistry teacher and it gives me nightmares to think about.

good human what are your pronouns?

wouldn’t you like to know?

I need me some gothamites preferring harley over joker memes

everyone prefers harley over joker youre just very fucked up if you dont

don't understand why people try to add like veteran policy to the batfamily

dick pulling out his veteran batfam member card so he can eat first: step aside, peasants

Do you know the song Simmer by Haley Williams? It (the first verse anyways) reminds me of Jason? It's about rage.

damn yeah i LOVE HAYLEY!!!! youre right thoo

Okay so I like listen to your stoner Tim Drake playlist 24/7 but would he listen to skegss? Also I keep adding songs mentally it’s killing me 😩✋🏼 Anyways,, I literally love and worship your playlist 😃🤞🏼 And uh yeah have a good day ✨

stoner tim drake playlist is lyfeeee. also dont know who skeggs is? i’m stupid? have a good day!!

All the Robins (and Batgirl) decide to trade costumes for one night just to fuck with Batman and all the villains in Gotham. @subspacecadet 

batman knows it’s them youknow but like,,, what does he call them? he’s like ‘red hood?’ and 3 people answer and he’s not about to compromise some identities so he’s just Pissed.

I aspire to treat cops the way my dad treats them. This man is a 45 year old Asian immigrant to the US and the treats them like his pets. He talks about them like unruly children. Sometimes he pays off local cops to shut up and stop acting racist. And usually it works. I don’t know why but I can see Oliver Queen doing this

vibes... and also yes? oliver queen handing a local cop a donut to shut the fuck up lmao. but yanno i commit enough crimes to not really want to ever see a cop ever, so they kinda scare the everloving fuck out of me.

seeing as tim hasn't aged in years, that means he was 17 at peak emo tumblr era. im back on my emo tim bullshit and im not letting it go

emo tim had a wattpad account send tweet

People seem to think that batman is so dark and serious when the rainbow batsuit is right there. He wore it with no shame.

dude the 60s were a DIFFERENT TIME

dick grew up in a circus, jason grew up on the streets, and tim was probably raised by the internet

all of them cuss every other word and you cannot tell me otherwise

bitch i KNOW but dc has to change to an 18+ rating if they want to sell comix with swear words in them so we gotta deal with imagining the swear words in ourselves

thoughts on teen titans and young justice

haven’t seen teen titans on account of havent seen it and young justice was LITERALLY my favourite thing ever, tho i do gotta admit it’s not at all similar to the young justice comics unfortunately. i really wouldve liked to see timmy bart kon cassie and cissie animated on tv!!

ew ew ew how to delete batcest shippers I genuinely digust them

log off tumblr?

Okay as poc who was called racist for calling an Italian pastabrain: in the batfam are Italians bit Damian just yells various insults about the others being Italian. Just him yelling “What are you doing you moronic spaghettihead!” At steph etc

huh? i meant real italians. homeboy is telling steph he hopes she chokes on her fucking garlic.

I think it's dumb as hell to pull the batman is the best fighter in the batfam argument because like it's just irresponsible of Bruce to let his kids fight when they couldn't possibly be on his league or something

fair enough, but also like who cares they could all kill you just sit down and take a beating.

lady shiva, thalia al ghul and Selina Kyle are all milfs @notanothertimburtonenthusiastugh 

unfortunately, i have to admit,,, you’re right

why tf didn't someone give joker a death sentence already? like he's a mass murderer...give him the electric chair treatment wtf

idk i think plenty of people would have tried to murder him already (boring answer is: he is a popular character so they can’t kill him off bc he brings in lots of money)

There’s no such thing as “ copaganda”.

all american media is propaganda. happy to clear this up for you

is it bad that I find lady shiva owa owa

no. find her as owa owa as you want.

aight I'm guessing the order of your favs in batfam:

1. tim

2. Steph

3. dick

4. Duke

5. the rest

you’re wrong but it’s cute that you tried, i generally don’t have favourites, but i have a special place in my heart for steph, tim, dick and cass. bc they were like my introduction to batfam. but damian, jason, duke, bruce, babs and alfred are NOT FORGOTTEN OR UNLOVED

oh my god i was literally just readily willing to believe that italians werent white ty for clarifying it was a joke im so dumb sdkvjskdfs

i mean some italians aren’t white? italian is a nationality as well as an ethnicity, so like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

since I saw so many people doing headcanons about the nationalities of batboys, I see Dick as an Italian.

dont know if youre serious or not, but sure.

super random but

jason 🤝 damian

old english

lmao fair enough.

tim absolutely has 1 gay uncle and his parents shit talk said uncle all the time so after bruce adopts him he specifically reaches out to this uncle to be like "heyyyy just so you know you majorly influenced my life yes i know i havent seen you since i was 5 and at the family reunion yes i know you dont remember my name idc thank you im gay too" and then they never talk again.

yuppp lmao that’s definitely something that could happen. i can also consider tim having no family members, like none. until he does like a dna test and he realises he has like an aunt living barely 2 miles away from him who’s like some illegitimate child of his grandpa.

I dare you one of them sends clark superman/clark fic and clark corrects the shit out of it and then goes like ps his dick is not that big, just telling as someone who has seen it. internet either explodes or goes who tf did he not fuck at this point.

i think everybody would call clark a buzzkill and try to cancel him over that.

so you're telling me Tim Drake wouldn't buy Starbucks?

no. dunkin donuts all the way

One of my favorite things is imagining people finding out jason came back from the dead and being like "oh no does he have magic powers now?!?!?" and he just pulls out a gun and tries to shoot joker

now he doesn’t even have the gun :) lmao

my favorite batfamily fanfictions are the ones where they use their shitty codenames, unironically, in any context

bruce gets codename ‘ugh’ everytime. he hates it.

crazy that tim being a 17 y/o ceo and a stoner who does brand deals are all actual canon things written in detective comics comics and not made up for shits and giggles by you, tumblr user batarangsoundsdumb @rowdeyclown

SO CRAZY HUH?

batman au where everything is the same but his utility belt is bright pink

absolutely, but i raise you, his boots light up like sketchers when he kicks people.

unbeknownst to the superhero fandom writers in the dcuniverse, clark and BRUCE are one of the most prolific fanfic writers in the superhero rpf tag on ao3. clark writes the best lois x superman angst, full of unhappy endings and scenes that are a so detailed you'd think you were in the middle of a superhero beatdown. bruce made an ao3 account to fuel "the do the butts match" thing, and makes batman/bruce fics from time to time. he wrote a superbat fic as a joke but ended up making it REAL porny. @concrastinator

dude they’re WAY too busy for that. Oliver Queen and Hal Jordan on the other hand are the most prolific fanfic writers in the superhero rpf tag writing what is Mostly porn.

When the dining table topic gets to politics, Steph says "eat the rich" as the solution

bruce just silently takes away her fork and knife while she’s talking.

[marjansmarwani]

just say you're hurt, we'll face the worst

Carlos & Owen || Tarlos || 2.9k || ao3

This is a birthday fic for actual ray of sunshine Paige - @sunshinestrand 

You’re a lovely human and you deserve the world, but I hope you’ll take this instead. I hope your day is as wonderful as you are my dear 💕

Additional shoutout and thanks to both @officerrxyes and @terramous who helped me fix this when I was stuck for quite a while. I would be lost (and still staring at this fic) without you both!

One last note: if this seems familiar that’s because it was inspired by one of the parts from my tarlos week fic that’s when I knew - I just took one of the vignettes, expanded it, and told it from Carlos’s perspective. 

------------

In hindsight, maybe he should have called first. 

Standing on the front step was probably the wrong time for that realization but here he was: on the front step of the Stand house facing the confused expression of his boyfriend’s father. 

“Carlos,” Owen said in surprise as he opened the door, “TK’s not here right now.”

“I know, he had a shift.”

Owen raised an eyebrow at that, but didn’t push. They stood in silence for a few more moments before Carlos elaborated, “I’m here for you, actually.” 

This got a look of surprise from the older man, “Is everything okay?” 

“Yeah, everything is fine. I just...wanted to know if you wanted a ride to chemo today?” 

It came out rushed and Carlos couldn’t blame Owen for his bewildered look. He rushed on with his explanation: “I know TK has been taking you and he had to work today but I’m off so I figured I would take you—if you wanted.” 

“Did TK ask you to do this? Because that’s very sweet of you both, but you don’t need to waste your day off on me, I’ll be fine on my own. Which is exactly what I told my son but he seems to have selective hearing on the matter.”

Carlos shook his head, “No, he didn’t ask me. But I could tell he was worried about it so I figured it would make him feel better if he knew you hadn’t been there alone.” 

Owen studied him for a few moments before shrugging, “I’m not opposed to the company, as long as you are sure about wasting your limited free time with an old man.” 

Carlos held up his keys, “Great, I’ll drive.” 

---------

The ride there was silent. Carlos went to open his mouth a few times, to try and start some sort of conversation, but each time his mind went blank. He was fairly certain Owen was having a similar problem, if the glances he kept shooting Carlos were any indication. 

He wasn’t entirely sure why he felt so nervous about this — it wasn’t as if he hadn’t spent time with the Captain before. Nights spent with TK had taught him that both he and Owen were early risers, and sharing a cup of coffee in the morning hours had become a routine for them. Those were largely silent moments though; each man taking the time to savor the coffee and the quiet of the start of the day. In all honesty, Carlos wasn’t sure what to talk to the other man about. As far as he knew they only had one common interest: TK. 

Of course, there was a lot to talk about when it came to TK Strand. Carlos could easily rave about him for hours. But while talking about how easily he could drown himself in TK’s eyes, never once even thinking about coming up for air with Michelle was one thing, doing it with TK’s father was something else entirely. 

Just the thought of TK’s eyes and the things they made him want to do to him pulled him in and before he knew it he was interrupted from his daydreaming by a voice from his passenger seat: “So…” Owen started, “how are things with TK?”

Carlos cleared his throat awkwardly, prying himself back to reality and turning his face so Owen couldn’t see the blush creeping up his cheek. The man did not need to know the thoughts he had just been having about his son. He kept his tone decidedly nonchalant as he answered with a simple. “Good, things are going good.”

And they were back to square one.

---------

Thankfully, the drive to the treatment center was not a long one. 

They parked and Carlos hovered anxiously off to the side as Owen got signed in and followed his lead to the treatment room. He took in the surroundings with interest—he had never seen the inside of a chemo treatment center (thankfully). He couldn’t say it looked anything like what he had pictured. But then again, he wasn’t sure exactly what it was he had expected. 

He watched quietly as Owen was set up with the IV and smiled at the nurse as she passed by. Then it was just the two of them and they looked at each other with uncertainty.

“So,” Owen began. 

“So.” Carlos agreed. He glanced around the room awkwardly before his gaze settled on the IV in Owen’s arm. 

“Does it hurt?” he couldn’t help but ask. 

Owen shrugged, “it doesn’t feel great, but it’s really after that you feel it.” 

Carlos nodded but Owen kept talking, “Why don’t you tell me more about yourself? I really don’t know all that much about you, Carlos.” 

“Oh,” Carlos responded, surprised, “are you sure that’s what you want to talk about?” 

Owen shrugged, “Sure. I’d like to know more about the person my son is so smitten with besides,” he paused to lift up the arm with the IV in it, “what else do we have to do right now?” 

“What do you want to know?” Carlos asked, unable to keep all the anxiety out of his voice. 

“Where did you grow up?” 

“Here, or pretty close to here. We lived just outside the city.” 

“Are your parents still around?” 

“My mom is. My dad passed when I was a teenager.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

Carlos shrugged, “it’s not that I don’t miss him, but it’s been a while. It’s become normal, something I don’t really think about all that much anymore.” 

He paused as he realized the territory they were treading into. Given their current location, it seemed a little bit too much like tempting fate for Carlos’s liking. 

Thankfully Owen either agreed or sensed his hesitation because he selected a new topic, “Siblings?”

“Two sisters. They drive me nuts, but I love them.” 

Owen chuckled, “older or younger?” 

Carlos grimaced, “older, and they never let me forget I’m the youngest.” 

Owen laughed outright at this, but his laughter abruptly turned into a groan. Carlos sat up, looking at him anxiously, “Are you okay? Do you need anything?” 

Owen shook his head, “No, there’s just some...unwanted company headed this way.” 

Carlos furrowed his brow as Owen plastered on a smile and raised a hand in greeting. He turned in his seat to see an older man waving back at him, a broad smile on his face. 

Carlos gave Owen a skeptical look, “him?” 

Owen nodded, “him. He may look harmless, but trust me, you will be praying for the awkward silence once he gets going.” 

“It can’t be that bad.” 

“It can.”

Carlos was not convinced and Owen shook his head, “Fine, don’t believe me but when it gets weird I will throw you under the bus as a distraction without hesitation.” 

“I was raised here,” Carlos deadpanned, “they don’t call it southern charm for nothing. I think I can handle some small talk.” 

“I knew there was a reason I liked you.” 

Any response Carlos could have given was interrupted by Owen plastering the smile back on and nodding to the older man who was now approaching them, “Wayne, how’s it going?” 

“Still breathing so I guess I can’t complain. How about you? How are things in the fire fighting business.” 

“Busy, as usual.” 

Wayne, apparently, chuckled but his expression turned curious as he noticed Carlos. 

“And who’s this?” he asked as he settled down into the chair beside Owen’s. “I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure.” 

“Coach, this is my future son-in-law, Carlos Reyes.” 

Carlos could feel the blush creeping up his cheeks and it took considerable effort to keep his voice even as he objected, “Owen we’re not...we haven’t even…” 

But the older man waved off his protests, “Please son, don’t even bother. It’s only a matter of time. It doesn’t take an expert to figure out that you’ll be there sooner or later and I do happen to be an expert in my son.”

Carlos was saved from the trouble of trying to form an answer to that by their neighbor clearing his throat awkwardly. 

“Well isn’t that something,” he noted mildly. “What do you do Carlos, are you a firefighter like the Strand boys?” 

“No sir,” Carlos responded politely, “I’m an officer with the Austin Police department.” 

Wayne turned to Owen, eyebrows raised, “A cop and a firefighter? I thought y’all didn’t get along?” 

Owen shrugged, “We try not to hold it against him.” 

The older man chuckled as he leaned back in his seat, “It’s good to see you with some more company here, regardless. Did you know this damn fool thought he could do this all on his own?” 

The last part was directed at Carlos, who looked over at Owen with a raised eyebrow but Wayne barreled on, “he thought he could keep it all hidden, didn’t want to ‘worry anybody’. Complete horse shit, if you ask me.” 

“We didn’t,” Carlos thought he heard Owen mutter under his breath but the coach carried on undaunted.

“I told him that was crazy talk, of course. Not even Superman could do this on his own, and you ain’t him, my friend.” 

“That hurts, really.” 

Wayne scoffed at him and looked about ready to go for round two when Carlos interrupted, “You’re right, but it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t have a choice anymore — he’s not alone. He has a whole team behind him. Whether he wants it or not,” he added as an afterthought. 

Both of the men are looking at him now, with differing expressions. Eventually, Wayne looked back over at Owen, “I like him.”

Owen was studying Carlos, who met his look and refused to drop his gaze, “He has his moments, I guess.”

----------

Things passed roughly in the same for the remainder of the appointment. There was a steady stream of conversation between the three men and as much as Owen may claim to be annoyed by the older man, Carlos had a sneaking suspicion that it was mostly a front. As they were wrapping up and saying their goodbyes, Owen insisted that he would take Carlos to lunch. But by the time they reached the camaro, the spring had decidedly left Owen’s step and he sunk into the passenger seat in a heap, face pale and drawn. 

Carlos frowned at him as he climbed into his own seat, “Are you feeling okay?” 

There was silence for a moment and Carlos could see him considering — trying to determine how little of the truth he could get away with, he assumed — before he sighed and shook his head. 

“I think that took a lot out of me. I’m just feeling kind of worn,” he winced as he looked over at Carlos, “rain check on lunch?” 

“Of course,” Carlos assured him without hesitation. Owen gave him a thin smile as he turned on the car and pulled out of the parking lot and back towards the Strand house. 

They rode in companionable silence for a few blocks until Owen spoke: “What did you mean back there, when you were saying I wouldn’t be alone?” 

“I was saying that you have a family here in Austin, and that family is not going to let you go through this alone. We won’t let you.” 

“We?” 

Carlos swallowed nervously, but his voice was firm when he responded, “We. That family expands outside the firehouse and your crew.” 

“And includes you?” 

They arrived at a stop sign and Carlos took the opportunity to meet Owen’s gaze. It wasn’t accusatory or smug. It was simply curious, and maybe a bit hopeful. 

“Yes,” Carlos confirmed, “I’ll be here when you need me. You’re the most important person in TK’s life and whatever is important to him is important to me. I will be here.” 

There was silence again as Carlos pulled through the intersection and they continued on their way. When Owen spoke again his voice was thick with emotion, “I don’t think I am the most important person in his life. Not anymore.” Carlos looked at him sharply, but Owen just smiled; “I think you have that title now, and I couldn’t be happier about it.”

Carlos turned his attention back to the road, heat rising up in his cheeks. Owen chuckled from beside him, “I’m sorry, I don’t want to overwhelm you. I just—I just want you to know how happy I am that you make him happy. How happy I am that you two found each other.” 

“Yeah,” Carlos responded softly, “me too.” 

--------

Owen made it into the house on his own, though Carlos stayed close to his side, just in case. As soon as they entered he seemed to deflate. He looked sadly at the kitchen and sighed. 

“I thought I would at least make lunch for us since going out didn’t happen but…” 

Carlos shook his head and gently turned Owen towards the hallway containing his bedroom, “Don’t worry about it, I can scrounge something up if I get hungry. Just go lie down and rest for a bit, I’ll hang out until TK gets home in case you need anything. Then maybe the three of us can try dinner later, if you’re feeling up to it.” 

“You don’t need to hang out here, you’ve already spent your entire afternoon with me.” 

“My mind’s made up, you’re not going to change it. Now go, before you fall over.”

“Are you sure you’re not too good to be true?” 

Carlos rolled his eyes and Owen chuckled before turning to head down the hall. He paused at the threshold of the hallway, turning back again, “Carlos?” 

“Yes?” 

“Thanks, for everything.”

Carlos smiled, “Don’t mention it, I’m happy to help. Besides, I can think of worse ways to spend an afternoon.”

Owen shook his head at him in exasperation, but his smile betrayed him. With a wave he disappeared down the hall and Carlos waited until he heard his bedroom door close before grabbing a glass of water and settling on the couch to wait. A glance at the clock told him that TK should be home soon so he grabbed a magazine that was sitting on the coffee table to flip through idly, killing time and trying to keep his mind from racing. 

It’s not that he’s worried about TK’s reaction exactly, but it did feel like he crossed a line today. Things in his relationship with Owen had decidedly shifted. While that wasn’t a bad thing, Carlos still felt weird about it happening without TK’s knowledge. They always made an effort to communicate clearly; to avoid miscommunications, to ensure that they were always on the same page. 

Any worries he had were quickly banished from his mind by the sight of TK stepping through the front door. He paused on the threshold, eyes widening as he noticed Carlos on the couch. 

“Carlos?” he asked as he set down his keys, “what are you doing here? I thought we weren’t meeting until later?” 

Carlos set the magazine he had been pretending to read on the couch, a bright smile spreading across his face at the sight of TK. “We were,” he confirmed, “but I wasn’t here to see you. Not that I don’t want to see you,” he added hastily, “hi - how was work?”  

TK rolled his eyes but his smile betrayed his amusement as he crossed to the couch, leaning over the back to give him a kiss: “Nice save. Work was fine, have you seen my dad?”

Carlos nodded, the smile on his face from seeing TK and getting to kiss him fading with the shift in topic, “he’s resting, the chemo session took a lot out of him today.”

TK nodded solemnly. He turned in the direction of the hallway likely with the intention of checking on Owen but paused, turning back to face Carlos with a curious expression.

“Wait,” he said slowly, “why would you come to see my dad today? You knew he had an appointment…” he trailed off and Carlos smiled sheepishly. 

“I knew how worried you were about him going alone and I had the afternoon off, so I went. He was surprised, but I think he appreciated the company.”

TK was giving him a strange look so he stopped and frowned, his mind slipping into overdrive, “Was that not okay? He didn’t seem to mind…” 

“No,” TK said quickly, “no, it’s fine. It’s more than fine actually, I just...you spent your afternoon off sitting with my dad at his chemo appointment?”  

Carlos shrugged, “I like your dad. Besides, it was important to you so it’s important to me.” 

He meant every word of it. 

There was silence then as Carlos looked at TK curiously, not sure what to expect. TK for his part was staring at Carlos as if seeing him in a new light. Carlos was just about to ask what was wrong when TK leaned down again, placing a deep, lingering kiss on his lips. Carlos leaned into it, savoring the feeling on TK’s lips on his own. When they pulled apart, TK’s eyes glimmered with unshed tears. 

“Thank you, Carlos,” he said, voice low and sincere. 

Carlos smiled at him, reaching across the back of the couch to grab his hand. He intertwined it with his own, holding TK’s gaze all the while. 

“I’d do anything for you,” he said simply. 

The smile he got in return filled his soul and in that moment, Carlos came to a realization. He was hopelessly in love with TK Strand and there was no going back. 

Even as he thought it, he knew one more thing without a doubt: he didn’t want to. TK was it for him, and he could be happy loving him for the rest of his life.  

[read on ao3] 

[davidmann95]

Did you enjoy Detective Comics #1027?

Anonymous said: Detective Comics 1027?

adudewholikescomicsandotherstuff said: Tec 1027?

Anonymous said: Thoughts on Detective Comics 1027 ?

My own cover of choice since the main one while also very good was a wrap-around, which doesn’t work quite as well for a 144-page beast like this (plus in place of that there’s a cool spooky Batman silhouette on the back). And I did enjoy it! Unfortunately it isn’t as much of a tier unto itself relative to its anniversary brethren of the last couple years (Batman’s 5th next to Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern’s one apiece, and the entirety of Marvels’ two) the way the creative lineup had me hoping, but it’s still got some great work and is a steal at $9.99 for what’s basically a modest trade.

Blowback by Peter Tomasi, Brad Walker, Andrew Hennessy, Nathan Fairbairn, and Rob Leigh: That being said it does not start out on a great foot. I was actually willing to cut this a little slack - Walker’s artwork is gorgeous, and I’m willing to believe Batman would go into an internal poetic monologue on the nature of crimefighting in the midst of an escape - but Tomasi’s tendency for devolving into nonsensical stream-of-thought rambling grates here like never before, and the ending is a total non-sequitur. I just don’t understand how Tomasi has seemingly reached that sort of Miller/Adams rarefied air where he can turn in literally whatever he wants and get it printed.

The Master Class by Brian Bendis, David Marquez, Alejandro Sanchez, and Joshua Reed: Thankfully, immediately followed up by one of the better ones. I feel like this story is exactly what this site specifically wants out of its Batman comics - the Batfamily bickers and solves a mystery involving one of the rogues gallery doing something slightly silly, Bruce himself mostly just hangs back to let the kids do their thing and praise them at the end. Much as I’ve found his Superman work revelatory, I can’t deny that it’s Batman who’s produced Bendis’s best hit-miss ratio since coming to DC, even if it’s a very different kind of Batman than we would’ve expected from him. And naturally Marquez brings it, definitely one of DC’s best acquisitions of the last several years.

Many Happy Returns by Matt Fraction, Chip Zdarsky, and Aditya Bidikar: Okay this was not the version of Batman vs. Joker coming from the Sex Criminals team and the writer of the great Bat-Olsen Prank War of 2019 I imagined. It’s a straightforward story ending on a familiar thesis, but it’s the best execution of it we’ve ever seen, and while I was expecting it to look very good I was not expecting Zdarsky to walk away as the artistic MVP of an anthology with Mora and Burnham in it. And while I’m usually a philistine who doesn’t notice these sorts of things, Bidikar’s lettering here is also conspicuously great. They all have better things to do, but for real give this team a Batman ongoing, best story of the issue.

Rookie by Greg Rucka, Eduardo Risso, and Tom Napolitano: Followed by the worst! Not in terms of pure storytelling - it’s Rucka and Risso, of course it reads fine - but as a “yes, most cops suck, but if you try REALLY hard you can totally be a good cop, even in Gotham!” story in 2020. In 2015, 2016, and 2019 I was excited about Rucka’s returns to DC, but between this and Lois Lane #12 this is the year I never want to see him write a superhero comic again.

Ghost Story by James Tynion IV, Riley Rossmo, Ivan Plascencia, and Andworld Design: Finally Tynion gets to write in the era he’s I think really wanted all along, and Rossmo’s a surprisingly good fit for it. A tight, nifty little high-concept romp that touches on the big concerns you expect with an anniversary issue without getting too self-serious about it.

Fore by Kelly Sue DeConnick, John Romita Jr., Klaus Janson, Arif Prianto, and Troy Peteri: A standout! One of those ‘addressing a bunch of modern Batman criticisms head-on’ stories while keeping terse enough to let Romita Jr. on one of his better days do his thing; surprisingly this is the only “Batman as a scary badass of few words fighting street crime” story in here, and this team’s really good at that.

Odyssey by Marv Wolfman, Emanuela Luppachino, Bill Sienkiewicz, Jordie Bellaire, and Carlos Mangual: ...huh? I guess this qualifies as a history-of-Gotham/detective story, but even for a veteran like Wolfman with nothing to prove I can’t grasp why you’d get offered a big anniversary story and turn in...this. And Luppachino and Sienkiewicz are two great tastes who don’t taste great together.

Detective #26 by Grant Morrison, Chris Burnham, Nathan Fairbairn, and Steve Wands: I’ll admit the point of this one sailed over me beyond the clear message of “there were pulp heroes and then Batman happened” on first reading even if I enjoyed it, but thanks to @khancrackers​ I got it - much as Batman was the amalgamation of many influences the guy here had all the ingredients, but he could only think to become the latest iteration on an already rapidly-curdling idea. There were plenty like that, 26 issues worth in that book alone, but it was #27 where the spark lit and something unique was born. In Morrison’s own words elsewhere, “You’ve GOT something. You SHINE.” Which itself makes this an interesting companion to his Batman epic, which has fistfulls of ‘lesser’ iterations of the basic idea, but they become heroes because they’re inspired by Batman himself. It would be the best story of any Batman anniversary issue that didn’t include Many Happy Returns, and is still an interesting final word on the character as a spiritual prologue to Morrison’s 7 years with him. Oh, and Burnham fucking rules, obviously.

Legacy by Tom King, Walter Simonson, Laura Martin, and John Workman: It sure is a Tom King Batman comic. Which isn’t a criticism! But it sure is what it is and not much more. I guess he felt he needed it to be a sequel to something Simonson had done before (while also tying into his own run a bit), and worked with what he had. And speaking of whom, while I haven’t seen much else of his contemporary material I think this is where I’ve realized Walter Simonson’s work is turning into a caricature of itself in much the same way as Frank Miller, but in a much more generally palatable way.

As Always by Scott Snyder, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Marcelo Maiolo, and Tom Napolitano: I was surprised by how much I loved it and I kind of want this to be Snyder’s final Batman story? It’s a perfect full circle in multiple ways, as it’s not only a Batman/Gordon story mirroring Detective Comics #27 itself, but Snyder’s own first Batman work, even as it shows how much his vision of Batman has changed since Black Mirror. A perfect ‘last’ story for the collection, the next two glorified advertisements notwithstanding.

Generations: Fractured by Dan Jurgens, Kevin Nowlan, Hi-Fi, and Andworld Design: A nothingburger, but a hilarious one because a couple days after Jim Lee’s statement this is basically hollering “hey kids, have you heard of 5G?!” Still gorgeous with Nowlan onboard.

A Gift by Mariko Tamaki, Dan Mora, Tamra Bonvillain, and Tom Tapolitano: Of course pretty as hell with Mora and those Bonvillain colors, but as an actual story it feels perfunctory, some standard Batman ‘once my very important dad said...’ lecturing across a throwaway action sequence with a tease. I dunno if this is setting up Tamaki on Detective, or a future Tomasi story without him just writing it himself, but while it’s basically competent and therefore doesn’t end the book on a wet fart or anything, you can’t help but wish it could’ve been just a little better.

So 7 out of 12 good ones. That’s definitely not as positive a ratio as I’d gone in expecting or even walked away with the impression of, but that’s still 81 pages of good comics, and even the lesser stories mostly still have quality art. In summation, Rookie <  Odyssey < Blowback < Generations: Fractured < A Gift < Ghost Story < Legacy < Fore < The Master Class < As Always < Detective #26 < Many Happy Returns, and the pinups by Garcia-Lopez, Campbell, Cheung, Bermejo, and Coipel are all as good as you’d expect.

[thecosmicjackalope]

It’s probably not gonna happen but you know what would be amazing for next episode?

Kiteman leaves without saying anything to Harley or Ivy, who are then left comforting each other about the situation. Both feel like pieces of shit and both are confused about how to move on. Days pass. Weeks pass. As the city rebuilds itself, Kiteman is nowhere to be found and there’s a wall between Harley and Ivy. Everything between them is awkward now because Harley still wants to pursue Ivy but Ivy is riddled with guilt and is still confused about her feelings for Harley and for Kiteman. The crew suffers through the tension, moving between helping them get through their shit and trying to find Kiteman. Ivy wants to find him and so does Harley, but there is still an undercurrent of jealousy from Harley because Ivy’s focused on finding Kiteman and won’t even talk to her about the future and “what happens now.”

During all this, Gotham’s abuzz with gossip about what they have seen and everyone’s taking sides (like how we all are in the comments sections). There’s a good portion of the population that are hounding Harley and Ivy about their “new relationship”, some people are spitting on Harley and calling her a home wrecker (especially Kiteman’s parents, which would kind of be a nice little way to nod at the fact that despite being assholes they do still stand by him), Ivy has people who are talking about how glad they are that she’s dumped “that loser” which fills her with even more guilt, and everyone is laughing about Kiteman, with some wondering about where he is.

The scene shifts and we find Kiteman out of his costume, grounded, without his kite, blending in with everyone around him and succeeding because no one sans Ivy has seen him without his get up. He wanders from place to place, never really going anywhere, sometimes dropping by old spots where he and Ivy had some moments together. He’s not eating, he’s sleeping too much, living like he’s already dead. He walks by a wedding venue and sees the happy couple kiss and look into each other’s eyes lovingly.

He forces himself to look away.

Eventually he wanders into THE PIT or somewhere nearby, feeling low as dirt, lost, confused. He still hasn’t said a line since the episode started. He’s hanging out in the wreckage and the waste, he sees a kite, or perhaps a little harlequin doll, or something that reminds him of what he’s lost. And he snaps, and starts stomping on it and having a breakdown when he feels a hand on his shoulder. He turns to see that it’s Bane. Expecting Bane to attack him or do worse, Kiteman - or, “just Chuck” at this point - welcomes death. Bane refuses. In fact, he sits down with Kiteman and the camera and the audio pans and fades away respectively as they begin to have a long honest talk.

Back in the city of Gotham, Harley and Ivy have one big argument with a lot of their ugliest feelings bubbling up to the surface and bursting out. Very harsh words are exchanged. They separate, leaving behind the crew, lost, confused and hurt that three people they care about are suffering so much. Ivy goes to be alone in a place she loves, maybe an old greenhouse. Harley goes to a carnival or maybe some batting cages to practice her swing. Each of them respectively are confronted by different people who have something to say - Ivy is approached by Catwoman who “had a feeing she’d be at her usual spot” and Harley is confronted by Batgirl and Batman. They all talk.

Batman talks to Harley about relationships and responsibility and knowing what you want and listening to other people, going off of his own failed romances with Talia and Catwoman respectively, possibly even acknowledging a budding relationship with Wonder Woman or Superman (or both, as, in a hilarious twist, their incident with Ivy’s pheromones lead to them questioning their relationships with each other and trying to be a poly throuple). Batman closes the convo off with saying that Harley has to face the music for the people she’s hurt, but also says that he’ll be happy to see her with someone who treats her right and encourages her to listen to her heart. Harley admits that she feel like she doesn’t deserve love and Batgirl argues that yes she does. She thanks Harley for some of her good deeds, and especially for inspiring her to stand up for the person she loves (her dad) and be his hero, the hero that Gotham needed, while Batman was out. And she closes her end of the conversation by telling Harley that no matter what she chooses, she will stand by her decision. Harley smiles and hugs her, and humorously, Batman gets dragged into the hug and hates the whole experience.

In their own space, Catwoman and Ivy talk. Ivy vents to Catwoman about everything that’s gone down and all of her feelings and guilt and confusion about it, and for once, Catwoman listens, without fuss, without sarcasm, without a word at all. When Ivy admits that she thinks it’s over between them and that maybe it was doomed from the start, Catwoman talks about her romance with Batman, how she always expected it to be doomed, caused it to self destruct and how very deeply she regrets that she let him get away and didn’t try to actually fix the problems in their relationship. She admits that she’s lonely and that she lives her life alone and that she enjoys it, but that it doesn’t come without problems. It comes with regrets. It comes with emptiness. It comes with too heavy a price sometimes. And she encourages Ivy, in her own aloof, standoffish way, that if Ivy really feels like she has something special with Kiteman and Harley, she should pursue it. She should be honest with her feelings about both.

So Ivy and Harley run into each other, and they apologize and tell each other what they want. Harley wants Ivy, and also to take responsibility for how she did Kiteman dirty and wants to mend her friendship with him. Ivy admits she loves Harley and Kiteman both and wants to talk to them both to see if they can all pursue something together, namely, if Ivy is romantically with both, and if Kiteman and Harley are okay with that.

But first they have to apologize and take responsibility for what they’ve done.

At that moment, Kiteman enters the doorway. He’s wearing his uniform, he’s got his things. Ivy and Harley are relieved to see him, but somethings wrong. They can tell something is wrong. He walks past Harley like she’s not even there and he talks to Ivy and tells her that he’s leaving Gotham for another city, somewhere where he can start over, somewhere with lots of wind to soar majestically or something or other. Ivy asks him why and he finally finally lets out all his hurt feelings. Without yelling or raising his voice, he calls her out on all her bullshit, stating that if she had just respected and loved him enough to be honest, they could have worked through it. But she didn’t. And to him, that was unforgivable. He says something along the lines of “ive been a joke to everyone around me since the day I was born. But I thought, for once, I found someone who saw me for who and what I really was. A person. When I met you, I finally thought I found my match, my partner in crime who I could spend the rest of my life with, who would be with me no matter what. But I was wrong. In the end.... I was just a joke to you too.”

Ivy is hurt by this and tries to apologize but Kiteman says he’s made up his mind and he just came by for closure and to give her a proper goodbye. Harley tries to apologize, Kiteman ignores her but does tell the others he’s out of the crew and flies off.

He takes one last look behind him, but he doesn’t look at Ivy. He looks at Harley, not with hate, or anger, but bitter disappointment and betrayal. And it’s at this point that Harley truly realizes what she’s done.

Since You’ve Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson, aka Harley and Ivy’s trademark wedding song request, starts playing in the background as a sequence starts to play. Ivy and Harley drift apart. The rest of the crew - Frank, KS, Clayface and Sy - all struggle with the loss of Kiteman. If Harley was the brains of the group, Kiteman was the heart, and without him everything feels colder. Life in Gotham goes on. Villains fight heroes. People rebuild. College kids graduate, and Joker and his new girlfriend witness the kids perform at a school play, with all of his goons in the audience cheering them on. Bane continues helping others. Nora, Jennifer and Catwoman pay their respects to Dr Frieze and leave flowers on his grave before going out to dinner together as friends (and yes, they all have Cobb Squad tattoos on their arms). Riddler still does his riddles but has started teaching a class for cardio at a local gym and is deeply enjoying it. The only job Dr Psycho can get is running and operating a Ferris wheel ride at the local carnival, which, ironically, he’s good at and he actually kind of enjoys, if only because it’s easy money. He watches as a short little girl JUST misses the height test...and uses his powers to alter the sign so she can ride, just so she doesn’t know the crushing disappointment he felt when he was a kid. (Humorously, When she inevitably falls off the Ferris wheel later, he casually catches her with his powers and sets her back down on the ground without even looking up from the porn mag he’s browsing.) Batgirl and Gordon play videogames together until something comes onto the police radio, after which they race to the roof to meet Damien and Batman waiting for them in a jet. Damien shows a flicker of jealousy towards Barbara, but there’s clear implication that the two will form a strong sibling like bond. Batman smiles at Gordon and Gordon smiles at Batman.

Gotham rebuilds. Life goes on.

But in the very last scene, as the song comes to a close, the crew disbands, and Harley and Ivy separate, with heavy hearts and too much baggage between them for anything, even their friendship. King Shark goes back to the ocean, ready to throw himself into his loveless marriage. Clayface leaves for Hollywood, ever hopeful that maybe someday he can become a true thespian. Ivy takes Frank and Harley takes Sy. As Ivy and Frank look on with teary eyes, Harley gets into her car and drives off into the sunset, and leaves Gotham city limits while crying her heart out.

And that’s how the season ends.

[carolinesiede]

Reflecting on 2020

The strangest thing about 2020 was how familiar much of it felt: Working from home, extended periods of isolation, weeks and months blending together. To a much lesser degree, those are things I experience each year as a freelancer. And while I suspect it will take awhile before the full extent of the trauma we’ve all lived through this year fully sets in, right now I’m mostly focused on gratitude. I’m grateful for the health of my loved ones. Grateful I already had a work-from-home routine to maintain during the pandemic. And grateful that I was able to quarantine with my family for much of the year—which had its challenges but also its rewards too.

In my 2019 year-end post I wrote about feeling like my career was finally on an upward trajectory after several years of plateauing. This year obviously offered some new wrinkles in that regard. I made significantly less money and felt familiar fears about how sustainable this career actually is. But having less work also gave me more time to focus on the actual craft of writing. I feel like I reached a new level in terms of voice, clarity, and the ability to self-edit. I'm the sort of person who constantly (arguably, obsessively) strives to be better, and it’s rewarding to feel like that hard work is finally slowly starting to pay off.

In addition to devoting my quarantine time to mastering a favorite curry recipe, getting really into the Enneagram, finally learning to French braid hair, and rewatching all of New Girl, I also had some really cool opportunities scattered throughout the year. I interviewed John Barrowman about his surprise return to Doctor Who, which felt like a real milestone for me. I also contributed to the Los Angeles Times’ list of TV shows to binge-watch during quarantine, which appeared both online and in print. And thanks to everything going virtual this year, I was able to attend a press panel for the fifth season of This Is Us, which is the sort of thing I’m not usually able to do as a Chicago-based critic. 

My career is always a juggling act between film and TV, and this year made me appreciate how valuable it is to be able to move seamlessly between both worlds. I took on new TV assignments covering the first season of Stargirl and the second season of The Umbrella Academy, both of which were a blast to write about. And while I didn’t watch quite as many films as I did in my insane catch-up year last year, I did fill in some more major blindspots. I also contributed to The A.V. Club’s list of the best films of 2000 and shared my own ballot over on Letterboxd. Oh, and I set up a Letterboxd this year too!

Elsewhere, I made my debut on Bustle and The Takeout, and ended the year with a Polygon article about “Kind Movies” that pretty much sums up my entire ethos on storytelling. I was also named a Top Critic by Rotten Tomatoes, which was a real honor. But the pride and joy of my career remains my rom-com column, When Romance Met Comedy. I devoted a whopping 49,000 words to analyzing 25 different romantic comedies this year. And I’m really pleased with how the column has grown and with the positive feedback I’ve received.

I have to admit, I sometimes worry that year-end highlight reels like this one can make my life seem easy or glamorous in a way that doesn’t reflect what it’s like to actually live through it. I'm tremendously lucky to get to do what I do, but I also struggle a lot—both with the logistics of this career and with bigger questions about what value it brings to the world. My goal is to approach 2021 with a greater sense of intentionality. I want to be more thoughtful in my career choices, more purposeful in how I use social media, and more active in my activism and politics. I’d also like to do 20 push-ups a day everyday for the whole year, but we’ll see how long that resolution actually lasts.

Finally, on a sadder note, one other defining experience of the year was the loss of my dear internet friend Seb Patrick, who I’ve known for years through the Cinematic Universe podcast. Seb created a wonderfully positive nerd space online, and was a big part of my early quarantine experience thanks to the Avengers watchalongs I did with the CU gang in the spring. I’m so grateful for all the fun pop culture chats we got to have throughout the years, several of which are linked below. Seb is tremendously missed, and there’s a fund for his family here.

As we head into 2021, I’ll leave you with wishes for a Happy New Year and a roundup of all the major writing and podcasts I did in 2020. If you enjoyed my work, you can support me on Kofi or PayPal. Or you can just share some of your favorite pieces with your friends! That really means a lot.

My 15 favorite films of 2020

My 15 favorite TV shows of 2020

Op-eds, Features, and Interviews

Women Pioneered The Film Industry 100 Years Ago. Why Aren’t We Talking About Them? [Bustle]

2020 is the year of the Kind Movie — and it couldn’t have come at a better time [Polygon]

Make a grocery store game plan for stress-free shopping [The Takeout]

What’s Going On: A primer on the call to defund the police [Medium]

Doctor Who’s John Barrowman on the return of Captain Jack Harkness [The A.V. Club]

Episodic TV Coverage

Doctor Who S12

This Is Us S4 and S5

Supergirl S5

Stargirl S1

The Umbrella Academy S2

The Crown S4

NBC’s Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch Musical!

When Romance Met Comedy

Is The Ugly Truth the worst romantic comedy ever made?

Working Girl’s message is timeless, even if the hair and the shoulder pads aren’t

You’ve Got Mail and the power of the written (well, typed) word

Love & Basketball was a romantic slam dunk

How did My Big Fat Greek Wedding make so much money?

America eased into the ’60s with the bedroom comedies of Doris Day and Rock Hudson

I can’t stop watching Made Of Honor

Notting Hill brought two rom-com titans together

It’s time to rediscover one of Denzel Washington’s loveliest and most under-seen romances

Something’s Gotta Give is the ultimate quarantine rom-com

20 years ago, But I’m A Cheerleader reclaimed camp for queer women

On its 60th anniversary, Billy Wilder’s The Apartment looks like an indictment of toxic masculinity

The Wedding Planner made rom-com stars out of Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey

After 25 years, Clueless is still our cleverest Jane Austen adaptation

William Shakespeare invented every romantic comedy trope we love today

Edward Norton made his directorial debut by walking a priest, a rabbi, and a Dharma into a Y2K rom-com

The forgotten 1970s romantic comedy that raged against our broken, racist system

His Girl Friday redefined the screwball comedy at 240 words per minute

Before Wonder Woman soared into theaters, the hacky My Super Ex-Girlfriend plummeted to Earth

Dirty Dancing spoke its conscience with its hips

The rise of Practical Magic as a spooky season classic

In a dire decade for the genre, Queen Latifah became a new kind of rom-com star

Years before Elsa and Anna, Tangled reinvigorated the Disney princess tradition

Palm Springs is the definitive 2020 rom-com

Celebrate Christmas with the subversive 1940s rom-com that turned gender roles on their head

The A.V. Club Film & TV Reviews

Netflix’s To All The Boys sequel charms, though not quite as much as the original

The Photograph only occasionally snaps into focus

Jane Austen's Emma gets an oddball, sumptuous, and smart new adaptation

Pete Davidson delivers small-time charms in Big Time Adolescence

Council Of Dads crams a season of schmaltzy storytelling into its premiere

In Belgravia, Downton Abbey’s creator emulates Dickens to limited success

Netflix’s Love Wedding Repeat adds some cringe to the rom-com

Netflix takes another shot at Cyrano de Bergerac with queer love triangle The Half Of It

We Are Freestyle Love Supreme is a feel-good origin story for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first troupe

Sara Bareilles’ melodic Apple TV+ series Little Voice is still finding itself

Netflix’s sexist rom-com sensation gets a minor upgrade in The Kissing Booth 2

With Howard, Disney+ movingly honors the lyricist who gave the Little Mermaid her voice

The Broken Hearts Gallery tries to find catharsis in heartbreak

Netflix’s ghostly musical series Julie And The Phantoms hits some charming tween high notes

After We Collided slides toward R-rated camp—but not far enough

Holidate is a bawdy start to Netflix’s holiday rom-com slate

Kristen Stewart celebrates the Happiest Season in a pioneering queer Christmas rom-com

Isla Fisher gets her own Enchanted in the Disney Plus fairy tale Godmothered

Podcast Appearances

Debating Doctor Who: “Orphan 55”

It Pod To Be You: The Wedding Singer

Reality Bomb: Defending Doctor Who’s “Closing Time”

The Televerse: Spotlight on Doctor Who Season 12

You Should See The Other Guy: The Ugly Truth

Only Stupid Answers: Stargirl’s season finale

Motherfoclóir: Ireland and the Hollywood Rom-Com

Called in to Nerdette’s Clueless retrospective episode

Cinematic Universe Appearances

Cinematic Universe: Superman IV: The Quest For Peace

Cinematic Universe: Birds of Prey

Cinematic Universe: Infinity War watchalong

Cinematic Universe: Endgame watchalong

Cinematic Universe: Terminator 2

Cinematic Universe: Josie and the Pussycats

Cinematic Universe: The Cuppies 2020 (Cuppies of Cuppies)

And here are similar year-end wrap-ups I did in 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013.

[sbawnmendes]

30 things i learned about shawn after 30 q&a's (part 2):

hii, im back with a part 2 because you all seemed to like the first part & i absolutely loved making it! there is always something to learn so im here to share 30 MORE things ive taken away from another set of 30 q&a's on this tour!

(photo creds to owner)

1)  “to be honest with you, i started realizing that people are actually entitled to have their own opinion. they can think i am not good..not everybody is going to like me. i used to get mad & i realized i’m wrong for thinking that they have to think i am good.” that right there is growth. live by your own rules, makes yourself happy & in being happy with yourself, you’ll see that the people that love you & the ones that matter the most will be the ones to stick around. 

2) he owns a pair of crocs which leads me to 3 very important question - why have we never seen him wear these things & what colour are they & does he have any of those cute little charm/pin things in the holes? like a little guitar or something

3) shawn on bullying & the best way to combat it - “this is one problem i have..i remember being in school & i remember hearing ‘if someone is being bullied don’t say anything. step back. don’t get involved. go tell a teacher.. which i also agree with BUT i also think it is very important..if there is a situation going on that could be harmful & you could get hurt, be careful don’t get involved but to show love to people who need to feel the love. there is not enough. we even do this to ourselves..we critique & judge ourselves so much & we don’t love ourselves enough. i think everyone is so scared of being cocky or over the top confident & so scared of telling someone they love them 100 times a day & that is ridiculous because we will be the first to tell someone when they’re doing something wrong & we will be the first to tell ourselves when we are doing something wrong & i think that it is like..in those situations i find that the one who is bullying is the one who needs the most love & the most attention & the most support. we need to focus more on the people who are bullies & why they are & giving them the information as to why they shouldn’t be doing that & how much it is hurting. it is really up to you to choose the path of love for yourself & everyone around you over the path of negativity & hate & that starts with you.”

4) he. is. MeLtiNg.

5) the smell of popcorn makes him DIE on the inside, the drama is seriously expected at this point from sir leo 

6) touch is his love language - ‘LikE HuGs” yes shawn..like hugs 

7) “every time i think something negative i’m like, ‘ooh i’m feeling tired today’ i go, ‘no..could be worse. i could have diarrhea but i don’t’.”

8) forgive yourself.

9) apparently he is too good for chocolate now & sour peaches are his new favourite candy?? leave it to shawn to like the most random candy on this planet

10) his will to live through a zombie apocalypse is high..like 3rd last to live buuuttttt his need to feed is way higher so byebye shawn 

11) he just keeps getting funnier & funnier..i don’t know what brian is putting in shawn’s wheaties in the morning but keep doing it!!  

12) still really wants to eat a bug?? first it was a cricket & now he is telling flies he is going to eat them..some sort of bug whisperer i think. ‘shawn’s bugs be gone’

13) he is “moving away from calling fans honey” (no he isn’t) & suddenly he thinks it is just totally acceptable to call them darling..someone come get romeo over here

14) he is absolutely amazing at expressive faces when he is telling a story in the most dramatic way possible. there is no room for guessing. if he is confused, he is the most confused he has ever been. shocked? literally looks like he survived the electric chair. the look of complete & utter adoration? got that one down pat..where is the ring?

15) 60 shows later, he stretches sooOooo much & still can’t touch his toes 

16) *poses like superman, deepens voice & practically whispers* “mi amor” i know i know,..no need to elaborate (right milo?)

17) no gluten, no dairy, no problem! & thank the LORD he isn’t allergic to dogs anymore *cough cough* @ buzzfeed 

18) he is performing at the area 51 raid so be there or be..abducted (what is this set list going to look like?)

19) he thinks ferb would win over phineas in a fist fight which duh 

20) shawn’s baby fever is at an all time high & has tried to schmooze multiple parents into letting him take their toddlers on tour with him. mom/dad/guardian, need a day off? send your 3 year old off with this extra tall baby across the continent for a few days..i’m sure they’ll be fine! 

21) apparently shawn doesn’t actually look at his clothes before buying them because somehow he managed to buy the weird but oddly cute white t-shirt with the little monsters on it without realizing there was even the drawing on it 

22) treat you better is & always will be “the shit” 

23) mr. attitude. his sass levels are level 108 & it is hilarious..still loves to mock people BUT he combats his sass with the sweetest little interjections or comments whether that be “i love your earrings” or “hello beautiful” or “you’re adorable...i hope you just know that forever you’re adorable”. sour then sweet, kinda like a sour patch kid. sour patch - rockstar edition 

24) remember that one kid in 7th grade that argued with their teacher to the point of tears only to dramatically leave the classroom & run into the bathroom where the teacher had to go after him & get him out? yeah..that was shawn mendes. also “hEy 7tH GRadERs, iT’S sHaWN”

25)  if there was a fire in his house, screw everything & everyone else..the guitars are priority 

26) shawn’s advice on self love - “we spend all day judging ourselves. we will be like, ‘why did i say that that way?’ or ‘why did i laugh like that?’ that’s a very normal thing to do. what we never do is compliment ourselves. every single time you hold the door for someone and they say thanks, you never go, ‘shawn that was really nice of you!’ or someone is walking & you smile at them & they smile back, you probably just made their day but you never walk away like, ‘you’re such a nice person!’ if we spend so much time judging ourselves for things that are wrong, we need to fight that & compliment ourselves every time we do something right. keep a mental track now. wake up in the morning like, ‘i did my hair so nicely today! yeah, looking great!’ compliment yourself & you’ll start gaining a habit of loving yourself as much as you do telling yourself you suck & then your whole life will change.”

27) he does this really cute thing where he says things without thinking & will ramble for like 30 seconds without making any sense & then say something like “i don’t know why i just said that” or “i don’t know what i’m talking about” & basically talks to himself out loud in front of 200 people & it is probably the most endearing thing ever 

28) “there is something about being in love with poison that is super attractive to me”

29) he likes both green & red (purple? i don’t know) grapes because “they all taste the same” & i’m not sure if that was supposed to be a metaphor for ‘no matter what you look like on the outside, were all the same on the inside’ but i’m tearing up either way

30)  shawn bought 30 of his friends, 30 of them, airpods for the bus ride from toronto to nyc for his 21st birthday. 30 friends. 30. rich

[ufonaut]

could you recommend me some comics to read that have a good amount of batjokes content? and any that you think would be essential for a new dc fan to read? thank you! have a good day!

hiya, yes, of course!!!!

batjokes-positive comics:

the killing joke  – an obvious choice but it still remains some of the best written joker content out there, words dont do it justice, you just gotta experience it

batman (2016) #48 and #49 – the best man arc from tom king’s run, this is the very peak of batjokes for me personally in the sense that joker’s feelings are treated as not only real but entirely sincere and exactly as important as selina’s, bonus points for just how well joker is written (both from a gay pov and a mentally ill pov), i’ve gotten a bit into why it’s so worth reading here and here (warning: part of the wedding arc but considering the outcome i’d call it entirely safe)

arkham asylum: a serious house on serious earth – this is one of my all time favourite comics and while its portrayal of joker isn’t anywhere close to my favourite, the story itself is amazing and pretty heavy on the ‘bruce is exactly like his rogues’ symbolism, if ur into that (which i am)

batman: europa – i haven’t actually finished reading europa because i’m the worst kind of fan but i’m told it’s full of batjokes

the joker: devil’s advocate – not a favourite of mine but hints at joker not being straight, very batjokes-heavy

i’m probably legally required to mention the new 52 arc that goes through “death of the family”, “endgame” and #48 (snyder’s run this time) because it’s definitely a staple of a certain type of batjokes but it’s never been the thing for me (warning: joker cutting off his own face, lots & lots of gore and edginess), it’s not bad per se but definitely not the direction i think batjokes should go

dc essentials for new fans

superman for all seasons – this is the definitive, and i dont use this term lightly, superman comic, it’s the best thing i’ve read in my LIFE, it literally captures clark’s character perfectly and honestly was what got me to love him so much. it’s a good introduction to who, exactly, clark is as a person too so i definitely recommend it and am planning on rereading it myself VERY soon simply because it’s so amazing

world’s finest (1990) – bruce/clark & joker/lex team-ups ahoy. great plot, even greater writing, one of the best thing dc’s ever done imo

batman (2016) #51 - #53 – also from tom king’s run. bruce has to go on jury duty for mr freeze’s trial and tries to convince everyone that he’s not guilty. ESSENTIAL and EXTREMELY good bruce characterisation, up there with top 3 bruce moments as far as i’m concerned solely because it actually acknowledges that batman isn’t bruce’s real self but rather a coping mechanism, his life as ruled by trauma and the very real fear that every new tragedy will be That Night again 

superman: speeding bullets – an elseworlds one-shot (which is a sort of alternate universe) about baby superman being found by the waynes and growing up to be bruce. it somehow manages to be a very solid comic in its right and features some A+ bruce and clark characterisation

justice league international (1987) annual 2  – very corny, extremely hilarious and an eternal favourite. joker does his thing, batman is so very tired

robin: year one – pretty much what it sounds like but it’s very well-written and it’s got some very peak harvey dent moments

scarecrow: year one – GOTHIC HORROR GOTHIC HORROR GOTHIC HORROR crane’s origin, a very dreamy comic for me personally despite the ooc bruce

batman (2011) 23.1 – joker adopts a baby monkey and lives out his dreams of being the world’s bestest dad (genuinely & sincerely good)

batman (2011) 23.2 – solid riddler story, one of the few times eddie is actually shown as being mentally ill and it’s very well written

penguin: pain and prejudice – oswald origin, made me cry the first time i read it, which is the highest compliment i can imagine (and oswald’s not insufferable for once)

batman: gotham adventures #2 – one of the best two face stories i’ve ever read, made me love harvey forever and ever (warning for childhood abuse)

mister miracle (2018) -- 12 issues miniseries by tom king & mitch gerards, still on-going but i got into it without knowing literally anything about the characters and it’s now one of my all time favourite comics (and also! one of the most real thing ive ever seen written about trauma, this is literally everything), it also invented true love

[thestagthatlovedthewolf]

This last weekend (+Thurday and Friday) was Comic Con Portugal, and I have things to share!!! This was the first time in Lisbon (better said, Oeiras, as they kept repeating because the “mayor” wanted some points), which to me worked much better because I do not have to spend money in hotels or long distance trains... The space was huge and outside, so it was very good they changed it to September :) But in terms of the organization, they really need to decide better who they put interviewing people, there was one guy that was just really bad, and I know Joe Reitman can’t do them all (but his with Dolph Lundgren was so great - he was just so happy and excited), but can’t you bring in Mário Augusto to do some of them (not just the Disney panels).

First of all to the Americans, there will be this short movie making some festivals in the US, called Sleepwalk by Filipe Melo, and I want to tell you if you have the chance, check it out!! It’s a beautiful story inspired by a comic I read either last week of 2017 or first one of 2018, I had gotten it for my Dad as a Christmas present; I’m not sure if the comic has been translated, but the movie is fully in English and the story is very related to America.

Continuing on what I got to watch, I watch The Passage!!! Probably my favorite thing of the all Comic Con, I’ve been hearing about it since the episode “Red Queen” of The 100, and then all the press Henry Ian Cusick has been doing for it - I was very curious and I was blown away... The show did not look like something I would like, I just wanted to look at Ian (and I must say seeing him in a big screen is pretty awesome), and his performance was great, but then the story is really interesting and they leave open so many questions in the pilot, that I’m intrigued. But the best thing was the girl’s performance, Saniyya Sidney was adorable and so funny in all the interviews I had seen, but she was great in the show - she was fun and sweet, she could also really hold herself in moments of emotional pain... Really looking forward to January and the rest of season 1 (and still hoping that this show does not mean the dead of Marcus Kane, because it’s not good enough to forgive that).

Also watched the pilot of Outpost and Siren, which I know has been out in the US, they were okay, but did not intrigued me to continue watching. Also watched the movie The House with a Clock in Its Walls and it was not great - the story was not that good... and the acting from the kid was not excellent, and Jack Black was not a funny character... so I would only advise if you’re in love with Cate Blanchett - she was very good!!

This part is over and I want to talk a bit about the panels. Dan Folger (Jacob from Fantastic Beast) is one of the funniest people ever, he just couldn’t stand still and he would get up and yell at nothing, and tell jokes - he has a podcast and he’s going to put both panels he did in there, so check it out :) It probably won’t be as funny as with the visual, but still pretty good.

Then my favorite Dichen Lachman (Anya from The 100 and in the picture above), she was so sweet and nice, and I was really close to the front, so I could really see her!! And I really love the way she talks about Anya, it seems to be a character she really enjoyed playing, and she really wished that there could have been more, she feels that it’s a character with a lot of unfinished business and she would like a “Grounders” prequel. She also talked a lot about Reileen from Altered Carbon, so I’m starting the show now!!

Nicholas Hoult (the Beast from X-Men), he was so sweet!! He hugged a girl and she hadn’t asked, she was just wearing one of those free hugs signs and he just offered and it was the best thing - the girl was just so shocked!! And he talked about Skins a lot, because that show was huge here!! And I think he said one of his favorite scenes to film was when they stole Chris’ body and drove across the town - they did not close the streets, so they saw funny reactions to driving with a coffin through the streets

Then Dolph Lundgren (Ivan Drago from Rocky IV), he was just so awesome!! His stories about Rocky were just so excellent!! And him sharing stories about his own life was just so good - did you know he has a degree in chemical engineering? I’m super excited for Creed 2!!

Finally, Elyes Gabel (Rakharo from Game of Thrones), but sadly there was only one Game of Thrones related question, everything else was Scorpion talk, which I know nothing about...

These were the actor panels, which I feel that are the ones that people would want to talk about. If you have any questions about one of them or want more details, send me an ask!!

I also cosplayed this year, only in the weekend (the other two days just used fandom shirts - The 100 and Star Wars), I went with Drusilla Blackthorn from The Shadowhunter Chronicles, specifically from The Dark Artifices - she’s my favorite character of that particular series, and overall in the entire Shadowhunter world, she’s the one I most identify with, the way she talks about her body rings so true and it’s not something I normally see in media, especially fantasy. And then on Sunday, Clarisse La Rue from Percy Jackson and she’s my favorite - I LOVE HER!!! And these two girls, dressed in Hogwarts uniforms, actually asked to take a photo with me!!!

And to end this very long post, here are some of the things I bought!!! First the tote bags (Indiana Jones and Star Wars) were free, being given out by the channel “Hollywood” during their awesome concert of movie music (also a Mission Impossible tote bag, but I gave that one to my dad)

Saga (Volume 8) by Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples, it finally came out here!!! I’m so excited to read it!!!

I actually got some fanart this year, this “Leia and Han” one is so beautiful and I regretted not buying it last year :) And it’s by an artist going by Little Black Spot - they have a website, www.littleblackspot.com!!!

Then these two beautiful stickers - Leia and Poison Ivy - by Inês Barros (inesbarrosillustration in instagram). If you follow me, you’re probably a asoiaf fan, and if you like Sansa Stark and/or Daenerys Targaryen, check her out, because she has these beautiful prints of them!! (I really wished she had some of Arya - I found no prints of Arya at Comic Con...)

Two Daredevil comics and they were 6 euros each!!! 6 euros, guys!!! 12 total!!! That’s was so cheap.... they are in Brazilian, which I do not love, because it’s confusing at time, but I’ll take it for the price. Also they have Elektra and Medusa!!!

Three mugs - they are not all for me... I saw the Battlestar Galactica and I had to get it for my brother (BSG has so little merch...), and then they had a deal of three for 20 euros (one is 8 euros) and I was taken... The Winterfell one is obviously for me - it’s so beautiful!!!, and the Batman and Superman one is for my dad

Then I wanted some Lost merch, because I’ve just been deep into the show lately. There wasn’t much, actually two POPs - cheaper than usual - Kate and Jacob, but I only get POPs for characters I really love, and while I have a few favorites in Lost, the only one I would consider buying is if they ever make a Penny one, because I LOVE her so much!!! But I got this Dharma pin with all the stations!! It was between this one and a Dharma beer pin...

And then a Martell pin, because I lost the one I got last year... and my Stark one was feeling alone. I need everyone to know where my allegiances lie :)

Also got a lot of Japanese food for my brother, but by now he has eaten everything!! (And one of the drinks, he didn't even remember to let me take a sip...)

This post is actually done now, to conclude this it was an AMAZING for days, and my favorite was definitely Friday!!! Not too many people, or too little, Saga came out, I watched The Passage and I had the panels with Dan Folger, Nicholas Hoult and Dichen Lachman!!!

[alicedoessurveys]

59 Questions

1. Do you own a dreamcatcher? yes, my nan gave me one when I was younger and ive kept it in my room ever since 2. What is the last thing that you bought for somebody else? I bought my sister a tub of ‘the pink stuff’ (its a cleaning product, were both obsessed) 3. Opinions of That 70’s Show? ive never watched it  4. Do you often find yourself talking to inanimate objects? only technology when it doesn't work properly and I get annoyed haha 5. What was the last book that you read? Was it any good? ive been reading ‘31 proverbs to light your path’ and its actually really good

6. Have you seen the commercials for Fushigi? nope 7. Have you ever painted a room? What colour? yes a few times, many different colours 8. Which flavour of popsicle is the best? not keen on popsicles 9. Have you ever pantsed/been pantsed by someone? my sister used to pants me all the time when we were kids but only in out house, never when we were in public. although she did used to hold me up and stick my bare ass out the window, I was like 5 and she was 13 10. Lava lamps; yay or nay? they're super chill  11. Do you have the DVR feature with your cable? is that where you can record telly? if so then yes but we dont call it dvr 12. How many drawers does your dresser have? 4. ive got my eye on a bigger one from Ikea but its like £200 or something and I cannot afford that  13. Who is the most opinionated person that you know? my dad 14. Movie theater popcorn is better than microwave popcorn, right? I dont like popcorn. love the smell, not the taste or texture  15. When was the last time that you caught lightnin’ bugs? never 16. Do you enjoy attending family reunions? depends which family it is  17. Have you ever been to a race track? yes 18. Is your closet a mess? its actually okay at the moment because I tidied it the other day but I need to reorganise it better help me marie kondo  19. Have you ever read A Series Of Unfortunate Events? no 20. Bobble-heads; yay or nay? I have a Groot bobble head on my car dashboard 21. Which web browser do you use? safari 22. Do you still listen to CD’s? in my car yes  23. Do you comment on stupid things that characters do in books, out loud? occasionally yes, under my breath 24. Have you ever seen the blade-less fans? no? 25. Why does the dog always die in the end of stories? because life is cruel 26. Have you ever silkscreened a tshirt? idk hat that means  27. What was your favourite cartoon growing up? simpsons, rugrats, mona the vampire, arthur  28. If you put ‘Count’ in front of your name, then you’d be? count alice 29. Have you ever solved a Rubix cube? never tried  30. Did you ever have a rock collection? no, but I think my sister used to when she was a teenager  31. Do you have a favourite bromance? From tv or a movie. my brain has gone completely blank, lemme come back to this 32. Buffy The Vampire Slayer; yay or nay? I was too young to watch it when it was a thing 33. Do you like The Offspring? idk what that is  34. Are you a fan of delicious flavour? I mean, obvs 35. Describe to me your favourite pair of pajama pants. think fleece blue with superman logo on them, they're so bloody comfy 36. Do you find flea markets and thrift stores enjoyable? yeah 37. What colour is your wallet? black and gold 38. Have you ever left a note in a book at a library or book store? no but I do like leaving little positive notes tucked inside menus at restaurants for people to find,  39. Do you tweet excessively? I used to tweet a LOT but now I just tweet when I have seething to say (which is not very often) 40. Have you ever been to a Renaissance Faire? no, id like to but its not really a thing in England  41. Can you play the drums? I try 42. Do you like those SkullCandy earphones? meh 43. Have you ever been somebody’s photography subject? yes, I prefer being behind the camera  44. Have you met amazing people online? Im too awkward and lack the social skills to actually make conversation with people so 45. Would you be happy if I coloured a picture for you? go for it  46. What show do you think MADE the 90’s? friends? idk, I was born in 95 so I dont remember the 90s 47. Have you ever called somebody a hot mess? me, minus the hot 48. Orange Julius is godly, yes? who? 49. Has a music video ever given you the chills? yes! Demons by James Morrison is the first one that comes to mind 50. The Goonies or Stand By Me? neither  51. Who is your favourite Lord Of The Rings character? never watched it without falling asleep  52. Jimmy Eat World; yay or nay? idk 53. Do you think more than six impossible things before breakfast? yeah, usually my to do list for that day  54. Why is a raven like a writing desk? I havent the slightest idea  55. Who taught/will teach you how to drive? dad taught me the basics, my driving instructor taught me the rest  56. What was the last thing that you ordered online? cleaning stuff 57. Do you have the emotional range of a teaspoon? :’) 58. Have you ever given a ‘World’s Best Mom/Dad’ mug? yes 59. Are you using headphones right now at this very moment? no

[gokinjeespot]

Monday, August 28, 2017

 Sorry about not posting last week. I went for my annual mini stay at Round Lake with Penny and did not read any of the comic books that I brought with me. This week's off the rack is kind of sparse because we hosted our friend Ken Steacy from Victoria for a few days. Ken drew a lovely picture of Mary Jane Watson for me which thrilled me to no end. All my geek friends are envious.

 Batwoman #6 - Marguerite Bennett & James Tynion IV (writers) Renato Arlem (art) Adriano Lucas (colours) Deron Bennett (letters). This series goes in a whole new direction and will be a complete surprise to fans following Kate's adventures. It's the future and Gotham City has changed a lot. I can't say that I like this new story but die hard Kate fans will be happy to see some familiar older faces show up.

 American Way #2 - John Ridley (writer) Georges Jeanty (pencils) John Livesay, Danny Miki & Paul Neary (inks) Nick Filardi (colours) Travis Lanham (letters). This story has more impact now because of what happened in Charlottesville, USA recently. It isn't pretty, that's for sure.

 Invincible Iron Man #10 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Stefano Caselli (art) Marte Gracia & Israel Silva (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). That was fun. Riri's Latverian adventure comes to an end and everybody lives happily ever after, but just in case you think that will last the last panel will send chills up and down your spine. I love this book.

 Totally Awesome Hulk #22 - Greg Pak (writer) Robert Gill (art) Nolan Woodard (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). The conclusion of W.M.D. introduces Weapon H. He's one hybrid that I think will be a big hit with fans. And if the near instant sell out is any indication, copies of this issue will be a collector's item.

 Generations: Wolverine & All-New Wolverine #1 - Tom Taylor (writer) Ramon Rosanas (art) Nolan Woodard (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). This was a good one. Logan and Laura fight a bunch of ninjas but it's the emotional good-bye that got to me. It reminded me that Wolverine died. Well done Tom. It would be great if Ramon was the regular artist on Laura's book.

 Dark Nights Metal #1 - Scott Snyder (writer) Greg Capullo (pencils) Jonathan Glapion (inks) FCO Plascencia (colours) Steve Wands (letters). Ready or not here comes another major threat to all 52 universes of the DCUs. Remember Blackest Night? Bigger than that. You can't get any bigger until the next big event. So Scott is going to weave this tale with every bit of DC material available including some surprising characters that I never would have associated with the good old Justice League. If you're a big DC or Justice League fan you might get into this. Me, I'm going to pass just like it did with Marvel's Secret Empire.

 Genius: Cartel #1 - Marc Bernardi & Adam Freeman (writers) Rosi Kampe (art) Brad Simpson (colours) Troy Peteri (letters). I remember reading the first Genius mini introducing Destiny Ajaye in 2014 and liking it but this new mini starts off too much like Nick Spencer's Morning Glories to interest me enough to want to keep reading. If you want to see how a secret government military agency manipulates Destiny then have at it.

 Star Wars #34 - Jason Aaron (writer) Salvador Larroca (art) Edgar Delgado (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). My favourite thing about these new Star Wars stories is how they are introducing cool new characters to the franchise. I love Doctor Aphra and her homicidal droids and now we have a solo adventure with Han's "wife" Captain Sana Starros, the smuggler. The art technique that Salvador uses to make Lando and Han look like Billy Dee Williams and Harrison Ford is pretty neat.

 Aquaman #27 - Dan Abnett (writer) Stjepan Sejic (art & colours) Steve Wands (letters). The secret of the mysterious guy who looks like Arthur is revealed. Meanwhile Mera is trying to find a way to get into Atlantis and enlists the help of Aqualad. Garth's looking hip with the tattoos and goatee.

 Luke Cage #4 - David F. Walker (writer) Nelson Blake II (art) Marcio Menyz (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). This is turning out to be a journey of self discovery for Luke. There are a lot of bad guys to keep track of but that only makes the hero stand out more.

 Super Sons #7 - Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Jorge Jimenez (art) Alejandro Sanchez (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). Superboy helps the Teen Titans restore Robin to his old self again. You'll get the joke if you read the 2-part "Planet of the Capes" story. It was nice seeing Starfire again.

 The Mighty Thor #22 - Jason Aaron (writer) Russell Dauterman & Valerio Schiti (art) Matthew Wilson, Veronica Gandini & Rain Beredo (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). Sindr, the Queen of Muspelheim reminds us that the War of the Realms is still ongoing as Malekith and Loki pay a visit. The meeting is interrupted by War Thor and a fearsome battle ensues. I must say that I prefer the hotness of Sindr to her dad Surtur.

 Wonder Woman #28 - Shea Fontana (writer) David Messina (art) Romulo Fajardo Jr. (colours) Saida Temofonte (letters). David Messina is a new name that I've just added to the artists list and he did a good job on part 3 of "Heart of the Amazon". A bounty has been put on Diana and bad guys are coming out of the woodwork to collect it.

 Spider-Men II #2 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Sara Pichelli (art) Elisabetta D'Amico (inking assistant) Justin Ponsor (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). We find out who hired Taskmaster and the answer will surprise fans all the way from here to Manhattan. I love when Peter and Miles team up.

 Superman #29 - Keith Champagne (writer) Doug Mahnke (pencils) Jaime Mendoza with Scott Hanna & Rob Hunter (inks) Wil Quintana & Tony Avina (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). Part 1 of "A Minute Longer" brings back a couple of super villains who we haven't seen in a long time. Don't think too hard about how they've returned, just enjoy the art and super conflict that Clark has to face. Could see Hal Jordan popping in this story.

 Astonishing X-Men #2 - Charles Soule (writer) Mike Deodato Jr. (art) Frank Martin (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). The five team members sent to the astral plane to defeat the Shadow King are in grave peril. One of them is not who we think he is. I'm thinking that person will make a big difference when the battle is joined.

 Batman #29 - Tom King (writer) Mikel Janin (pencils) Hugo Petrus & Mikel Janin (inks) June Chung (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). This is the most intense dinner party ever depicted in a comic book. Tom is killing it with this story. Mikel's Joker is grim and his Riddler is a far cry from the cackling Frank Gorshin on TV. "The War of Jokes & Riddles" is still keeping me guessing and coming back for more.

 Archie #23 - Mark Waid (writer) Audrey Mok (art) Kelly Fitzpatrick (colours) Jack Morelli (letters). Riverdale responds to the accident that has devastating consequences for one of the major characters. I'm not fond of Archie as a bumbler but Mark shows us that his heart is in the right place.

 Plastic #5 - Doug Wagner (writer) Daniel Hillyard (art) Laura Martin (colours) Ed Dukeshire (letters). This will probably be the weirdest comic book story that I will read this year. The "hero" is a mentally unstable guy who is in love with an inflatable sex doll. I liked the art and the ending was satisfying. It's a straight up revenge story that will make you cringe.

 Generations: The Unworthy Thor & The Mighty Thor #1 - Jason Aaron (writer) Mahmud Asrar (art) Jordie Bellaire (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). These Generations one shots are definitely worth reading if you're a fan of the characters featured. This may just be a simple case of the two Thors fighting Apocalypse but Mighty learns a lesson from a young Unworthy here.

 Batman/Shadow #5 - Scott Snyder & Steve Orlando (writers) Riley Rossmo (art) Ivan Plascencia (colours) Clem Robins (letters). Uh oh. Batman's dying and the villain is destroying any chance of saving him. The Shadow doesn't know what to do now. Insert maniacal laughter here.

 Sabrina #8 - Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (writer) Robert Hack (art & colours) Jack Morelli (letters). Sabrina has a steep price to pay for bringing her boyfriend back from the dead and we find out what it is on the last page. Waiting two months for the next issue is going to kill me.

[comicsrelaunched-blog]

Number One Reviewer (releases from 15th of Feb 2017)

A lot has happened over the last week in the comicbook world: It now look as if Ben Affleck is not only done with directing Batman, apparently he now wants out of playing Batman, DC announced The Lazarus Contract a big new crossover that will involve Deathstroke, The Titans and The Teen Titans and Marvel released a Behind-The-Scenes look at Infinity war.

But instead of things that are yet to come we now look to the present and more importantly this weeks new releases. Emerald Outlaw comes to a close in Green Arrow #17, Dylan’s story continues in Kill Or Be Killed #6, more controversy comes from Captain America: Steve Rogers #11 and Slott’s latest Spider event comes to a close in Clone Conspiracy #5.

As for our brand new series we have 3. All from DC this week, Batwoman spins out on her own, Damian and Jon form the Super Sons, and DC gives The Wildstorm universe a Rebirth.

Batwoman: Rebirth #1

Writers: Marguerite Bennett and James Tynion IV

Art: Steve Epting

The 6th book to join the Batman line in the DC Rebirth, Batwoman spins out of James Tynion’s Detective comic series. This rebirth issue is used to mainly reestablish Kate Kane as a character after her New 52 fiasco. We make away through important moments of Kates life up until now, where we see Batman tell her that the ‘monster venom’ has hit the black market, which i assume is what the main plot of the first arc will be in the new series

Each moment of Kate’s life we see have been perfectly chosen to give an almost perfect amount of emotional impact, we see at her at her very best and her very worst. These moments are so impactful that they really cement who Kate Kane is, a strong determined woman who will stop at nothing to serve justice. What is so obvious here is her difference from Batman, she is so much more human, mainly seen in the panels showing her several different loves. Kate Kane’s sexuality was what caused the controversy of her last series when DC stopped writer James Williams plan to marry the character with Maggie Sawyer, Just like their run however the sexuality is dealt with so well in this issue.

Epting’s art is super strong as always, many of his panels, especially those set in Coryana, have a very strong noir influence and remind me of Sean Phillips Fatale work. But what really stands out is Epting’s recreation of Eddy Barrows cover of Detective Comics 934.

The rebirth issue is showing a lot of promise for the ongoing, and if it follows the strengths we have seen from the character in Detective Comics this series could be one to watch.

8/10

Super Sons #1

Writer: Peter J Tomasi

Art: Jorge Jiminez

One of the best elements of DC rebirth has been Jonathan Kent. Superman’s son. Throughout Superman and Action comics we have already seen Jon develop so much in such a short period of time. We recently got to see the first meeting of Jon and Damian Wayne in the pages of Superman and now that spins out into a brand new series. 

The two issue arc following the first meeting of Jon and Damian was a lot of fun, and that fun continues here in this new series. It’s very much a book for those who have been reading and enjoying the latest superman books, it’s a lot more lighthearted than the Bat-books that re on the shelf. Jon once again is portrayed as this young kid with a desire to do good but with the moralistic issues of keeping his powers secret. There is nice little sequence that has an anti bullying message from Clarke and Lois. 

Damian and Jon couldn’t be more different, a hereditary thing i think. Jon questions the very fibers of Damian’s personality, that leads to a lot of fun banter between the two, the piggyback line is personally my favourite. The greatest part of this issue is that we get to see the difference in parenting styles of Clarke and Bruce and surprise surprise they couldn’t be more different, Bruce only knows what his son has done through Alfred where as Clarke cares about everything his son has to say. Seeing Jon waiting up for his dad to return warmed my heart.

The Art for me is where this issue falls down a bit. It’s slightly inconsistent, it’s hard to see the kids ages and the art is quite pointy that is until Batman and Superman are on the scene where all of a sudden the art becomes incredible.

Super Sons makes a fun debut, with a lovely pair of contrasting characters. This could become the a very strong series, becoming a complimenting companion to the Superman and Batman lines, while offereing something very different to the likes of Worlds Finest.

7/10

The Wild Storm #1

Writer: Warren Ellis

Art: Jon Davis Hunt

The Wildstorm line has been with DC now since 1999 and was always a separate universe. That was until 2011 when with the events of Flashpoint the Wildstorm universe merged with the DC universe, however the Wildstorm characters popularity would dip pretty quickly with all of the titles being cancelled. In the DC You era Midnighter was a surprise hit and that continued with Midnighter and Apollo in the rebirth era. But what about the other characters well this is where this book comes in. The Wild Storm #1 is the first book in DCs new Wildstrom imprint, the second new imprint in the rebirth era, however unlike the Young Animal imprint, Wildstorm is once again a separate universe.

Warren Ellis uses this first issue to introduce us to several characters of the new rebooted universe, including Zealot, Engineer and Miles Craven. This first issue revolves around an assassination attempt on Jacob Marlowe the head of HALO, who is then saved by Engineer. While the plot is a very basic set up for whats to come, Ellis’s characterization is on point here, particularly for Engineer and Jacob Marlowe. What really elevates this issue though is Hunt’s art, it has this bleakness to it, that really differentiates this universe to the DCU and the redesign of Engineer is ridiculously cool.

#1 is a very intriguing start to the series but needs a bit more wow factor to keep it so and i have no doubt that Waren Ellis is capable of that.

7/10

So that’s this weeks new #1s, promising starts for 3 new series. Come back next week for reviews for the first issue of JLA and Elektra.