#tim has a hero complex because he believes he needs to be the one saving others

[flwrkid14]

The Reluctant Savior – Tim Drake’s Struggle with Self-Worth

There’s something incredibly heartbreaking about Tim Drake. He’s the guy who became Robin not because he was the fastest, the strongest, or even the bravest—but because he believed that Batman needed him. He made himself a necessity. Tim didn’t want to be a hero for the glory or recognition; he did it because he saw a family breaking apart and thought he was the only one who could fix it.

Imagine that weight. From the moment he put on the cape, Tim had this underlying belief that if he didn’t step up, everything would fall apart. And maybe it’s true. Maybe Gotham really would be worse off without him. But here’s the tragedy: Tim doesn’t just believe he’s needed. He believes that he alone is the one who has to carry that burden.

It shows in everything he does. The late nights hunched over case files, the countless hours in the Batcave—Tim pours everything he has into the mission, into being the glue that holds everything together. But the cost? It’s slowly eroding who he is. The person beneath the mask fades a little more every day.

And what’s worse? He doesn’t think he deserves to stop. He doesn’t think he deserves help. Tim Drake, the kid who single-handedly saved Bruce from the brink, can’t even admit that he needs saving too. When was the last time Tim truly let someone in? When was the last time he put himself first, or even thought about what he wanted beyond the mission?

His journey is so lonely, and that’s the part that really hits hard. Tim isn’t fighting because he believes in some heroic destiny; he’s fighting because he thinks if he stops, everything will collapse—and somehow, he’ll be to blame.

It’s almost ironic, really. The boy who fixed Batman can’t fix himself. He saves everyone but leaves himself to drown, over and over again. Watching Tim Drake’s story unfold feels like watching someone caught in an endless cycle of self-sacrifice, waiting for the moment when they realize that they’re just as worthy of being saved as the people they protect.

[pinkcowzz]

something about tim & dick’s relationship makes me feel so. !!!

they are both such complex characters and it really makes my heart feel so heavy to think about them for too long.

like. dick created robin out of his parents blood. the costume was inspired by his family's colors. the name was one he was given by his mother and the only reason he took up the role was because he wanted to get justice (revenge really) for his parents death. he was taken in by bruce who was SO YOUNG at the time and who was still learning how to cope with his own loss still. their relationship was built off of that shared grief and understanding. but then one day, dick learned to let go of that grief. he was able to not let it consume and control him. and he grew tired of living in the dark nest that bruce built for them. and bruce doesn't know how to deal with someone else he loves leaving him so he kicks dick out. like yes bruce is dick's father figure of course he is. but he was also his brother in a weird way. dick didn't want or need for his parents to be replaced so bruce offered him something different. he offered him a partnership. and partners are supposed to be equal but somehow bruce ended up placing himself higher than dick and it was suffocating so he had to leave.

and in dicks absence, bruce finds another kid. this time, it's a kid who does need a parent. jason's relationship with bruce is so different than the one that dick had and i have to imagine that it hurt. it hurts to see your father be better for someone else. it makes you think why? why not me? why wasn't i good enough? and to make matters worse bruce gave away dick's blood without a second thought. jason is given the mantle of robin and my god i cannot imagine the pain it caused dick to see someone else flying around in his colors. that was his name. and dick is still just a kid. yeah he's like legally an adult but his prefrontal cortex was nowhere near developed. so he's bitter and short and rude to jason. he has to take time to get used to having another kid at the manor and another kid in his colors but its fine! its fine! he does come around eventually and his guard starts to come down and he commits to being there for jason. but it was too late. dick leaves the planet to be a hero and when he comes back? jason is dead. the kid he was just starting to get used to is dead.

not only is he dead, but he's already in the ground and bruce? bruce goddamn wayne didn't even bother to tell him. how in the world could bruce ever consider them partners. as far as dick was concerned bruce was just as good as dead to him as jason was. and it hurts. it hurts to not be able to go home without seeing the ghost of a kid you chose not to protect, the ghost of a kid who died too soon wearing the same colors that your parents died in.

so dick doesn't go home. he doesn't speak to bruce. he builds himself a new life, the teen titans become dicks home. and he's okay with this. his origin is so similar to bruce's but he refuses to be the same as batman. so he faces his ghosts. he doesn't let them haunt him. he hears about haly's circus potentially getting shut down and he goes to deal with it.

and here is where dick meets tim drake for the first time. tim who tried to help him save haly's circus (albeit he accused the wrong guy but he was trying). tim tells dick that he needs to save batman.

and so dick brings him back to the manor. where tim tells dick just how important he was to his childhood. tim explains how that night at the circus shaped him just as deeply as it shaped dick. tim shares this complete and utter faith in robin, as if robin is enough to save batman from his own grief. but dick knows this isn't true. dick was barely enough to save himself from his own grief much less bruces. but nonetheless bruce saved dick when he was at his absolute lowest. gave him something to believe in. so maybe, just maybe, he can try again for bruce. but not as robin. it can't be robin. his partnership with batman died when he was kicked out and it was buried when he was kept out of the loop about jason. but tim knows that batman needs more than nightwing by his side. so he takes up the robin mantle. he takes it upon himself to 'save' batman. and in a way, he does. he helps bring bruce back from the edge.

and dick. the last time someone took up his families colors, someone died. and he refuses to allow that again. he refuses to be the reason that tim suffers. so he becomes the older brother he couldn't quite bring himself to be for jason. and to tim? he's wearing the mantle of two robins on his back.

his own standards are set so high and he tries his damndest to meet them every time that he puts on the mask because he knows where the colors of the suit came from. he knows why dick created this identity. he was there. he saw the grayson's fall.

and for a while, things are good between them. things are great even.

then the attack at titan's tower happens. and tim is told that he is just a placeholder (not a replacement like fannon likes to claim, but the words jason todd used were placeholder). and seeds of doubt start to be planted. was he ever wanted? was he ever truly appreciated? he did steal the suit the first time he put it on. was it fair for him to wear the colors that were born of dicks blood and that jason died in?

then tim loses his whole support system. stephanie. bart and kon. his dad. and finally, bruce.

dick has been so committed to never being like bruce. he has been so dedicated to relying on those who offer him help. nightwing is pillar in the hero community, but batman. batman was the foundation. he is considered a founding member of the justice league. he doesn't want to take up the mantle. it had never been in his plans. but jason proved too unstable to take up the role and of course he can't ask tim to. so he dawns the cowl he has grown to hate.

this just leaves one little problem. damian.

damian who has just been dropped off on bruce's porch by talia. damian who grew up in the league of assassins and is so out of place in gotham that dick doesn't know what to do. he never asked to be batman and he definitely never asked to be a father. yet here he is. having to do both. so he does what bruce did all those years ago and provides damian with the mantle that he created in order to give this kid some sort of outlet. he knows damian needs it.

by some unfortunate twist of fate, dick has unknowingly created such a painful parallel between his own firing and tim's.

and then tim discovers that bruce isn't really dead.

and this kills dick just a little bit more. of course he wants to believe tim. of course he wants his dad back. he wants someone else to be the one to make these hard calls and he wants someone else to parent damian. he doesn't want to be the one who has to fire his little brother in order to save the other.

but he can't take that chance. he can't risk the hope. because losing it would actually ruin dick. so he tells tim it isn't possible. because to dick? it can't be possible.

and this just furthers the wedge between the two of them. tim feels abandoned and lost and he feels as if he has nothing left.

and dick doesn't understand why tim can't see that he's right here. he's right here tim i'm still here why aren't i enough for you to stay?

anyway this got away from me a little bit but god their relationship could make angels weep it truly makes my heart stop if i think about it too much.

[hintofcolor]

If I’m in pain you are gonna feel it (I never got to tell him I loved him and it’s your fault)

Tim yells at Clark because he’s sad and misses his best friend

It was quiet. Cassie and Tim stayed back, while everyone else went up to the house, sitting under the tree that gave shade to fresh turned dirt and concrete slab. The trunk of the tree wide enough that they could sit side by side and still lean back against it. 

“Conner Kent,” Cassie read aloud the name on the tombstone, “the fact that that’s the name they went with makes me want to break the ugly thing.” 

“Go for it,” Tim responded as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes, willing the tears back in. He’s cried enough in front of people. “Maybe he’ll be offended enough that he comes back to tell you how rude it is to vandalize his grave.” 

Cassie chuckled, “If anyone would come back from the dead because of a hurt ego, it’d be Kon.” A small, soft smile settled on both of their faces.

They sat in comfortable silence just being in each other’s presence. They were the only two left. It hurt, but at least they had each other. It was nice, comforting, to just see the other. To watch each other’s chest rise and fall, to see their eyes flutter, tired and sad, glazed over with tears, but full of life. The sun turned a warm red and the sky lit up in vibrant colors. It was beautiful. It reminded Tim that Kon would never be able to keep the promise of showing Tim the sunsets in Hawaii

“You wouldn’t believe it man!” Kon beamed, “the sunsets and sunrises are unreal. It’s like they are fake. Like some one, I don’t know, painted them. I don’t know how to describe it.” Kon sat next to Tim on the water tower in smallville. Kon had flown up there, the whole ‘not being able to be himself’ thing weighing heavy. So they sat on the tower and Kon talked and Tim listened. When the sun started to set Tim smiled and made a remark about how beautiful it was and how he doesn’t see sunsets a lot because Gotham and pollution and such. Which in turn, made Kon start gushing about Hawaii. Tim turned to give Kon his full attention, while Kon sat with his arms resting on the barricade, his legs hanging over the edge, and his eyes glued to the sky. “You gotta see it I swear.”

“I believe you.”

“No I’m serious. I want you to see it for yourself. One day I’m going to take you to see a sunset in Hawaii. That’s a promise.”

 “I’ve got to head home.” Cassie’s voice breaking through the memories. “It’s been a long day, and it’s almost dark, I don’t want my mom to worry. Will you be okay? You can stay over at my place if you think your family will be to much.”

“Thanks Cass, but I’m okay.” Tim responded. A smile that didn’t reach his eyes settled in place. Like it belonged there. “I don’t think I’m through saying goodbye yet.”

Cassie simply smiled sympathetically. The look of his smile made her nauseous. She hurts too, so bad, but Tim has lost so many people already, she would give anything if she could just take his pain away. Seeing some one she loves in so much pain, knowing she can’t do anything about it, leaves her uneasy. As if she’s in pain for them. She wants to stay a little longer. Sit next to him, holding his hand, or resting her head on his shoulder, something to remind her that he’s still there, to remind him that she’s not going anywhere. She almost caved, sitting back down, staying with him till he was ready to go home. She even thought about going with him then too. Curling up in his too big bed, like how they all used to after a particularly difficult mission, leaving them feeling powerless and hopeless. All settled in one of their bedrooms, which ever was closest, just for the comfort of having other people around. They never talked, they just all silently got ready for bed and claimed a spot wherever was comfortable. However, she needed to get home to her mom, because as much as she loves Tim and wants to stick by his side, she really, really needs a hug from her mom right about now. To have her kiss Cassie’s head and tell her it’s okay, and that the pain just means that she cares.  

She flies off, refusing to go up to the old house. To many memories of the four of them are stored in that rickety barn and yellow home. She doesn’t want them tainted by grief. 

Tim watches her go. He leans his head back against the tree again. He was about to close his eyes when he heard footsteps approaching. He stood, perfectly ready to give whoever it was some privacy with Kon. Until Clark comes into view. An anger Tim didn’t even know he was harboring for the Kryptonian came bubbling to surface. Fast and Hot.  He pushed against the tree to stand up right and tall. 

“Are you proud yet?” He asked, venom dripping from every word. Clark turned to look at the boy briefly. Tim could see the guilt hanging heavy in his eyes. “He saved the world. Died a hero. That enough to convince you that he isn’t Lex? That he could be more than his DNA?” 

“Tim-” 

“No. I talk, you listen.” Tim spit. Clark recoiled, but stayed quiet. “You did nothing but push him away for absolutely no valid reason. What makes you think you have a right to stand here and grieve? When you were the one who made his life hell. For years, years Clark, I had to sit and listen as he doubted himself, doubted who he was, whether or not he was good, whether he was his own person. I watched him drive himself insane over his stupid DNA. Because of you, Clark! Because you couldn’t for three seconds consider that maybe, just maybe Kon is his own person. He had a mind, a beating heart, a soul, Clark, and you reduced him to a science experiment. You don’t get to stand here and act like this isn’t exactly what you wanted. Not when that stupid shield drug him down more than you could ever imagine” 

“I tried-” 

“YOU TRIED!? God Clark you can’t be this dense. The Kon you knew wasn’t even Kon! GOD! He changed everything about himself so that maybe, just maybe you would accept him! He died being a person he didn’t even recognize in the mirror. The clothes, that stupid t shirt and jeans, the hair cut, the glasses, his obviously dialed down personality. I can’t count how many times I listened to the same thing over and over, about how much he hated everything he had become, how didn’t feel like himself, how it was driving him insane. And every time I would tell him that there was nothing wrong with who he used to be and every time, every single time, he would respond with ‘Clark would disagree.’ All you did was change him into another version of you. Your opinion meant so much to him and you hardly even spared him a second thought. You wanna know how I know you didn’t try, because if you spent even five minutes talking to Kon like he was more than a clone bred to fight, you would know how much he hated Smallville. LOOK WHERE WE ARE STANDING! He couldn’t wait to get out of this place, and because you didn’t want to go through the, what, hassle? Of coming up with a story as to why he would be buried in someplace he liked. Buried in Hawaii? He is the in the one place that him feel even less of a person forever. God, Clark do you know how pathetic that is? How so royally fucked up that is? Do you know how angry he would be if he knew he had to spend eternity here? And yet you have the audacity to stand here and actually mourn him?.”

“I-” 

“I’m not done talking. You don’t get to mourn some one you wished wasn’t alive in the first place. We both know the only reason it hurts you so much is because this perfectly crafted ‘knight on a white horse’ person you created just took a hit. God, I wish in everything that some one would knock you off of that damn high horse. I am so sorry your hero complex took a hit. I am so sorry that you have to be the villain for once. That you couldn’t save Kon, whether it was from prime or himself. I am so sorry that you worked so hard to make Kon into Clark 2.0 only to have him die. I am so, so sorry that you regret not getting to know him. But that’s on you and only you. And that guilt you’re feeling, the guilt of not being fast enough. Of not getting there in time. Of letting some one die. Of some one dying thinking that you hate them. I get it. Trust me, I get it. A hundred scenarios running through your mind about how it could have been different, how you could have saved him. How you could have done better. How you should have kept them closer. When you are laying there at night, your stomach curled in on itself, your blood ice cold. The hot tears pouring down your face as some cruel reminder that you can’t escape from this. The type of guilt that has you hunched over the toilet, choking on your vomit because you can’t stop sobbing long enough and you’re body won’t let you do both. You don’t panic, you think if I go I deserve it right? You put on the cape and become sloppy and reckless because if you make it out, if you are able to go home and take them off, the pain will set back in. That guilt that is all encompassing, that drags with you all day and all night. Cause no matter what, you can’t wake up. That guilt? I can tell you with a doubt is the worse feeling you will ever feel. And I truly mean it when I say that I hope you choke on it. I hope you scream for help and no one listens. I want you to know what it feels like to be in so much pain while surrounded by people who make a living helping people. I hope people you consider family ignore your suffering. I hope that pain seeps into your skin. I hope the sound of Kon hitting the ground rings in your ears. I hope the sound of his heart stopping replays on repeat.” Tim’s voice breaks, tears are flooding down his face he can’t see anything, but he doesn’t care. He is so angry that nothing else matters. His voice drops to barely a whisper “I wish Kon were here. I wish he could tell you this himself. I wish he could tell you himself how much it hurt to know that you would never love him.”

Tim walked off, up the dirt road that lead to Kent’s long driveway. He paused at the old worn mailbox, before deciding to just keep going. He trekked down the long dirt road, with no clue where he was going. He knew Bruce would come looking eventually. He found himself lying on the cold metal walkway of the old water tower. He just stared up at the stars, like he was waiting for Kon to appear out of  the sky. He closed his eyes, tears still streaming down steadily and whispered the same thing over and over again. Maybe if he said it enough Kon would hear it. 

I love you. I love you. I love you.

[iwritethat]

Dick Grayson: Fine Cuisine

Summary: Fluff

• Dick is unprepared for a family meal but your offer your fine expertise and have the whole family asking questions about you.

Warnings: Mature language

A/N: Hello lovlies! I’ve missed you all so much, I hope this helps a bit and there’s so much more I could add onto this so please enjoy and lemme know how you all are~

>>>>—————————>

It started with a family dinner.

As many curious situations do in retrospect, but with a family of vigilantes whose relationship ties have frayed, intermingled and been resewn makes for more interesting get-togethers compared to most.

One thing they could all agree on though? Dick Grayson cannot cook.

"I can't believe that, they just assume it's going to end in a takeout?" Came your amused voice as you placed a coffee on your kitchen island that Dick was currently seated - or rather slumped at.

"It's because the last two times I've hosted something like this, takeout has saved my ass." The ravenette embarrassingly clarifies, voice trailing off toward the end and did his best to avoid looking at you.

Dick Grayson was technically a neighbour, albeit living a few floors below your more lavish (and expensive) apartment suite. After moving into the complex on the same day, you quickly excavated the common ground to build a solid foundation for friendship - as such, meet-ups like these became a regular thing, switching apartments each time.

"Then, I'll help you out." You proudly confirmed, gesturing to your grand kitchen which was the sole reason you’d brought the place - one of the many things Dick envied about your luxurious living area compared to the standardised version of his own, though on an Officers salary he couldn’t afford something like this.

"Ah (Y/n) no, I can't let you do that!” Came his instant reply, hands waving defensively as he adamantaly brainstormed another excuse. “Plus you'll be working that night."

"True, but that doesn't mean I can't set you up beforehand. We'll start tomorrow, I'll teach you a recipe."

———

As previously planned, Dick turned up at your door rather nervously even though he’d been around you many times - not once had he demonstrated a serious negative flaw to his character in order to impress you, but cooking was one of them and you were about to witness chaos that’d likely dispel any romantic inclination he hoped you held for him.

“Ready?”

“No.”

With a playful laugh, you rolled your eyes and pulled the male into your kitchen noting how he was likely tired from his shift at Blüdhavens Police Department earlier that afternoon so a good meal should do wonders. Maybe it’d give him a better nights sleep too? The acrobat never seemed to obtain many of those for some unknown reason, apparently it’s ‘too noisy’ in the city.

“Oh and you can host in my apartment, it’s bigger and I’ll have all the equipment you need. You already have a spare key anyway.”

“You’re really amazing, I don’t deserve you - y’know that?” There were deeper feelings involved in that seemily offhanded thank you, ones relating to his role as Nightwing and his past mistakes which all remained a hated secret from you.

It started well, Dick following along with ease and you concluded that he picked things up fast with how observant he was which sped up the process. The main course he’d nailed with your guidance and so, you decided to move onto dessert.

“Now we add cocoa powder to th-“ You’d froze, mouth open out of surprise with the substances dusting your lips, cheek and part of your left collar bone - the offender in question mirroring your expression, albeit holding back his laughter due to his colossal misjudgement.

“I - I didn’t think it’d go everywhere when I ripped the packet open...”

“You don’t ever rip the packet, you tear it gently!” Came your dangerously mischievous correction, licking the sweet substance from your lips before flicking the currently non-chocolate brownie covered spoon at him with flecks landing on the side of his face.

“Oh, it’s on!”

This ensued an all out war, the two of you ducking and dodging oncoming attacks as you danced around the kitchen island with varying results of accuracy until Dick decided to slide over the marble surface and capture you in his arms.

His embrace faltered slightly as your back hit the island during your feeble attempt to get away, finding yourself trapped between him and the cool surface too enthralled in the carefree antics to notice the proximity. A beat of silence passed once the atmosphere had settled, Dick releasing a breathy chuckle with his grip around your waist loosening slightly as you looked up with a victorious smirk - he took the opportunity to lean forward slightly as if testing the waters and careful to note any kind of reaction you replied with.

However, there was a lack of trust as all is fair in love and war, hence your devious reasoning to close the gap some more and with the softness of his warm breath dancing on your lips you swiftly leaned past his whilst dragging your tongue across his cheek. Dick pulled back instantly, a mix of disgust and offence in his eyes as you spoke.

“Needs more sugar.”

“I’m sweet enough as it is thank you, you’d know that if you’d have just kissed me instead of betraying me like that!” Dick wittily snapped back, admiring the melodious laughter that escaped you at his response.

“I’m sure you do, speaking of - these brownies should last until the dinner so you won’t have to make them again on the day alright? I’ll get everything ready so you don’t have to worry about a thing.”

“I guess you’d taste pretty sweet too.” Though referencing your kind nature, you couldn’t help but lightly punch him in the shoulder.

———

Regardless of Dicks wistful prayers, the deadline had finally arrived and his family would be sporadically arriving in a matter of hours - so help him.

"All the ingredients are on the counter - do not use anything else - and I've detailed the instructions on the whiteboard in case you forget anything." You pointed to each item as you spoke, donning a jacket before barely making it past the kitchen doorframe due to your neighbours dramatically desperate pleas.

"Can't you just stay? And do it with me?"

"I have to go to work." You laughed at his antics, the man looking like a lost puppy amidst your vast collection of kitchen utensils.

"Work will survive without you, c'mon you wouldn't lose out on much - I'll even pay for the trouble."

That, truly caused you to hesitate with a look of sheer bemusement, a mischievous glint dancing in your irises that mocked his claim almost as much as your sardonic tone.

"If you truly knew my job and paycheck then you'd take that back.” With that, you were quick to flip to a more cheerful voice as you waved goodbye to a pouting Grayson. “Anyway, you'll be fine and tell me how it went once I get back~"

"Wait (Y/n) h-"

The slam of the front door echoed your departure leaving a Dick feeling more lost than ever, the kitchen seemingly quadrupling in size now.

Bruce arrived first along with Damian, Cass, Duke and Alfred. Then there was Tim who’d apparently travelled from Titans tower and finally Jason who’d sauntered in fashionably late as predicted but only by 5 minutes. Each baffled by the sudden change of location which only intensified when the host brought out plates of home cooked dinner.

"..."

"This... this isn't take out..."

"No, it's actual food.” Dick confirmed almost offended and words laced with a hint of underlying sarcasm. “That I made myself."

"Okay, so uh - is it edible then?" Jason quipped back, smirking at his elder brother in a smug manner that only he could achieve.

"Would you just eat it? I went through a lot of stress and effort for this."

Dick encouraging everyone as he sat down, the action only bemusing the members of his family more as they complied to his wishes with varying degrees of hesitance from each of them. Damian trusted Dick the most, but he patiently waited for his father to finish his mouthful before even touching his own dish.

"Wow, this is incredible, the flavour and everything - Dick what happened to you?!" Duke enthusiastically mocked and continued to devour the meal with a sense of radiance which contrasted to Cassandras pure silence as she savoured every tasteful mouthful.

"Grayson, there is no way you are solely responsible for this cuisine." Damian suspiciously raised a brow at the older hero, tentatively laying his cutlery elegantly on the now clear plate.

"Thank you, and maybe I had some assistance from my neighbour."

“Thank you for dinner Dick, it was surprisingly delicious and please give our thanks to your mysterious friend too.” Bruce knowingly added, proud of his protégés accomplishments - though minor in comparison to Alfreds glowing exterior.

“I told you there was hope Master Bruce.”

"Bro, they left a whole list of instructions so you wouldn't mess up and hey, call if you need anything. Sounds like a plan -" Jason, who had waited until everyone was finished explored your kitchen in hopes of finding some evidence as to who their saviour was.

"Jason no! They're working!"

"It‘s an emergency, you’ve been replaced by a clone with adequate cooking skills!” Tim wittily added once leaning against the kitchen doorframe to observe the scene with Damian inspecting the whiteboard before questioning it’s purpose.

“Why leave this if they couldn't answer then?"

"That's the point, she will answer and I don't want to disturb her right now. They've done enough for me already." Dick painfully sighed, strategically slapping Jason’s phone into the air and catching it with his other hand in one swift motion much to the irritation of the latter.

"Hold up - she?" Duke cut in now, holding his hands out for emphasis and subtlety fishing for elaboration.

"Are you dating...?” Jason hummed, taking a moment to analyse Dicks reaction prior to cementing his assumption. “No, but you want to, right?"

“We are not -“

“You want to date someone?” Cass innocently inquired now walking in with a pile of plates, Bruce and Alfred following in afterwards with clean up of their own.

“I mean I -“

“I’ve seen enough of your crushes to know you have one, you’re already flustered by thinking about them romantically.” Bruce effortlessly deducted, Alfred nodding in agreement whilst commencing the washing up.

“You can’t just call me out like that Bats, after everything with been through too.” Dick feigned betrayal, a hand on his heart whilst Bruce shook his head.

“Oh yeah, how long did he wait for Starfire and Barbara though?” Tim jokingly nudged Jason who chuckled at the small dig, though charismatic and charming - when real feelings were involved, Dick Grayson wasn’t one to straightforwardly act on them.

“Real mature guys.”

“I think you should tell her.” Was the sincere voice of reason, Cassandras kind smile enough to silence the devilish remarks of his brothers who now shrugged in defeat.

“We could help...”

———

Miraculously, you'd attained reservations at the most eloquent restaurant in Gotham, located in the more luxurious district of the wealthy. As a result, it served only the finest gourmet cuisine and had waiting lists longer than any other, so much so that even Bruce Wayne had yet to successfully book a place at the establishment.

You had given him the news when he’d recounted the events of his family dinner (skipping over certain discussions) and how they were grateful for your generosity.

Now, you'd asked Dick for how many he'd like seated at the table so you could finalise the arrangements - he knew you worked there, meaning staff privileges were likely applied in this situation but he was still left speechless.

Gawking at the skyrocketing prices, Dick now understood how much missing one day of work would seriously cost you - he definitely couldn't have afforded your time that night after all.

"So, you say you're paying for this?"

With a painstaking hum of agreement, the eldest nodded with a hint of concern detected on his features, fortunately Bruce had come prepared with his own credit card (just in case). Although his family could be provoking and frivolous toward one another, they were also respectful in situations like these and wouldn't run the bill up too high like certain members would if Bruce had been footing the bill. Dick had a charismatic bond with all of them in that sense.

Meanwhile, you handled everything in your kitchen of organised chaos as the orders came pouring in, including that of Dicks table who you had yet to formerly greet.

"This is cereal..." The head waiter meant it more of a question than a statement, looking to you with upmost uncertainty due to the simplicity of the dish compared to those on your signature menu.

Did they even stock Lucky Charms with the ingredients? The answer was no, you’d intentionally bought them purely for this very day and scenario.

"I know, I know - please serve it to my neighbour on Table 12, he'll get it." You humourously assured the man who seemed to have more to say but didn’t wish to argue with higher authority.

"Ah, Chef..." Your sous chef called moments later, overlooking the scene with mild skeptism before realising the nature of your scheme.

"Hm?"

"You do realise he is currently seated with Mr Bruce Wayne, don't you?" Upon processing that unprecedented information you immediately bolted - hot on the trail of the waiter with a weak promise in your wake.

"What?! I thought he'd bring his friends along not his- oh god, I just sent them cereal- shit, I'll be right back!"

With strategy and precision, you carefully intercepted the tray only seconds before it’d be placed in front of the empty seat of Dick Grayson - the man in question probably taking a bathroom break.

"Aha, pardon me, this was an incorrect order on my part, please forgive the interruption." You bowed with an apology, disappearing in hopes the remainder of the party hadn’t the time to fully decipher the mistake.

Of course, unbeknownst to you, this was a table full of detectives who constantly observed even the most trivial of details.

"Was that... cereal?"

The night followed on as planned, yourself wrapped up in cooking and supervising throughout the night with the only interruption coming from the waiting staff informing you that Table 12 would like to meet the Chef. Such a gesture was commonplace for you, customers regarded as strangers being much less intimidating than your neighbours family - you couldn’t comprehend why, it’s not like you were dating him or anything but their auras just radiated strength.

"Good evening, I'm glad to hear you -" Arriving at the table, you weren’t given the chance to finish before Dick had stood to greet you with a warm smile gently brushing your upper arm once deciding against hugging you out of habit.

"Hey, (Y/n). You didn’t come over this morning, everything alright?"

"Yeah, it's fine Dick I just had to readjust a menu." You waved his worries off with a grateful nod, hands on your hips in accomplishment as you expected to resume natural conversation with him.

"Okay okay, compliments to you, the food was immaculate - but how do you know our brother?" A youthful male bearing a white streak through his hair cut in, genuine sincerity in his tone when offering his praise before incredulously gesturing to Dick.

"He's my neighbour."

"I - he's a what now?" Duke shook his head in disbelief, looking between you both rather unconvinced.

"Are you kidding me Grayson?!" Tim was next, the most exasperated out of the whole table as he pinched the bridge of his nose whilst Dick quizzically scanned each of his company for insight.

"What...?"

"You got cooking lessons from one of the top Chefs in the whole damn country, you're friends with her, and you didn't even know who she was?!" The slimly built youth exclaimed, apparently knowledgeable in regards to the culinary world and had read of your famous reputation.

“(Y/n) (L/n) owns this restaurant Dick. Also, thank for the other week, the recipe was lovely.” Bruce politely added, nodding to you with a smile.

“You didn’t say that, you only said you worked here.” Dick turned to you now, in a feeble attempt to justify his lack of acknowledgment to your renowned status.

“Well, I do. In my defence you never asked, I mean my apartment and kitchen are rather fancy - that didn’t come on minimum wage.” You replied a matter-of-factly with an air of confidence to your voice.

"Are we forgetting that this is also the chef who was going to serve Richard cereal?" At the remark from Duke, a heated flush adorned your skin due to the embarrassment of being caught - the whole table breaking into collective chuckles.

"You were? - Wow that's such a dick move!" Dick was openly laughing at your failed attempt at humour, lightly nudging your side as you pushed him away in playful defence.

"Shut up! I didn't realise you were with your family, or else I wouldn't have done it."

Jason immediately waved that claim off, cheekily smirking at you as he spoke. “Oh no, I'm so glad you did, honestly it's the main reason I like you right now."

“That and you spared us the horror of Graysons cooking.” Damian conviently inputted, conniving grin sent to his favourite brother.

“You’re welcome, ah I apologise but I should get back to work so please excuse me. It was a pleasure meeting you all.” Taking a calculating glance over the expanse of exquisite tables and order exchanges you thought it best to return to your duties with a gracious smile and started toward the kitchen.

“Can I drop by tonight, I won’t be able to afford any thank you gifts after this but I’ll bring you a coffee?” Dick cheerily inquired, causing you to spin on your heel with a shy laugh and confirmation of his proposal.

“Don’t worry, this is my treat. You guys don’t have to pay for anything so enjoy the rest of your evening.” With that you were once again swept up into the busy atmosphere beyond the kitchen doors.

The table remained quiet for a few moments, Dick sitting down and looking to them almost as if searching for their impressions of you only to be met with bemused, impressed and mischievous gazes.

Not for you, oh no - these were shamelessly directed at a now enamoured Dick Grayson.

“Please marry her.”

[thattimdrakeguy]

I’m writing this fic about the Batfamily and I’m afraid of writing them as OOC. If you are able to, could you please give some tips on each of the Batfam’s personalities and characteristics? To specify, Dick, Jason, Tim, Steph, Cass, Babs, Damian, and Duke are the characters I’m using. It would be really helpful! Thank you!!

This is a tricky question, because I don’t know the story of your fic to help you in any specific way. So if after this you wanna DM me for more specific help on how to work things out, I’ll be there to help you right away unless I’m doing something, but I have no plans.

I’m going to go from easiest for me to do to least easiest, because I obviously know Tim the best, but even then, it’s hard, because going off the character’s you are choosing, it’s set during the part of the timeline were he went OOC, but I’ll do my best just to say his general character so you can use that as a base for things. Like how he was developed in his origin and all that, and notable characteristics he’s had as he grew while still in character. With some that even if they weren’t around with some of those characters, would apply to them.

His is also going to be the longest, like way too long, because he’s a way more nuanced and complex character than anyone ever gives him credit for. So he takes a lot longer to explains by a freaking large margin. Like sorry if it’s too big, I just kept saying more as more came to mind because I feel like his nuances are what makes him interesting and easy to right. Once you get a hang of his nuances, and you get used to it, it makes it easier to put yourself into his mindset to how he works, which makes him easier to write as well.

(THIS IS AN INCREDIBLY LONG POST, AND I APOLOGIZE. I just really wanted to be thorough and give contexts to stuff. It’s less of tips and more of an overly long description of what I know about each character and what’s in-character and what’s not going off of how the character’s were developed to be, and not counting the out of character writing. So really sorry about this being so freaking long)

Tim:

Tim’s origin right off the back is having met Dick at a very very young age, I don’t think he could even strongly walk yet, so I’mma say three. He was instantly attached to Dick, he just admired him instantly just for giving him affection. He was his hero. But he was also there the day Dick’s parents died, which traumatized Tim and gave him nightmares for years. But being able to remember that night so thoroughly, he remembered a specific move that Dick could do that very few could, and that’s how he found out Dick was Batman, and logically, Bruce Wayne was Batman.

There’s a large misconception that as a little kid, Tim followed Batman and Robin around, but that was not the case. At least not physically and literally followed them around. Closest being when I believe he happened to come across Batman in his origin story, and purposely did his best detective work to figure out where Dick would be.

As shown several times but most strongly in his origin, but wasn’t as strong the more he went on, he’s sort of socially oblivious to what’s considered normal or not, or what other people are thinking of him.

For instance he just knocked on Starfire’s and Dick’s apartment, asked Kori (Starfire) if Dick was home because he needed his help, and when she said no, just bolted even when Kori asked his name. Just concerning the crap out of her. Even when he first met Dick, he just wouldn’t say his name because “NO TIME”, he just squirmed around place to place on his bike being completely oblivious of himself. In his first miniseries he searches up information on Clyde (a former government agent he saved and befriends) that he shouldn’t have, unaware that that’d obviously be crossing a line for some people. Even taking his girlfriend to a car show, where there was a lot of bikini models around, and it didn’t even occur to him what it’d look like he was there for. He was just genuinely bubbly to see the cars.

He doesn’t do any of those sorts of things out of malice, he’s always just presented as being incredibly oblivious of himself quite a bit. Most likely from not having his parents around that much as his childhood progressed, and typically just living in boarding schools, or with a nanny. So he didn’t really developed right as one interpretation, and another being (that was actually almost confirmed if it wasn’t for Tim getting a writer before another could say it) is that he’s on the Autism spectrum. Which is technically verified, as he has many symptoms of Asperger’s. But that isn’t technically canon, as it never got to be officially said. But it’s valid enough.

Tim’s main strength is his detective work, he also knows how to use a computer to his advantage. Many modern comics act as if Tim is a master hacker who could hack into anything. But he actually mostly used them for detective work, and small hack jobs, some of which he failed. He seemed to have learned more about hacking from Barbara, or at least some what implied, as Babs let him help her build a big computer, or something of that sort.

He also took karate as a kid, and is implied to have also taken gymnastics. It’s stated that he’s actually really good at gymnastics by Alfred in Tim’s origin, but his fighting skills, despite the karate lessons he had previously taken, isn’t as good as the others. Hence his staff, and having to be clever in how he goes about a fight.

How Tim operates as far as emotionally or mentally depends too. Sometimes he’ll go straight from the heart and get himself in trouble, but other times he’ll take his time to really plan something out for himself on the spot. It depends on how his emotions are at the time. If he was just picked on or beat up, he’ll be more agitated, and if something really really bad that happened, he just go so far in he just beats the crap out of everyone as bad as he can. As shown by trying to apprehend someone that shot someone he knew at school, or Batman betraying his trust (in an honestly out of character story). If he’s calmer though, or at least doing his best to be, he’ll use his brain more before he starts. I think his talents in planning have been overstated for ages, because while he’s good at it, he’s not exactly the greatest or overall good. Just enough to work fine enough to get the job done.

One of his biggest mental weakness’s, is his constant insecurity. Somethings that’s so constantly on his mind is letting someone down, rather it be Batman or his dad Jack, or even Nightwing, or his team. The reason why Tim acted so different and more of a seriously brooding personality in Young Justice, was because he was so insecure about not having powers that he thought he had to push himself to his limits. So he used some Batman leadership tactics, and fought harder than he ever fought before just to seem like he was even worth having around. When by himself though, it’s more of a sadness, an upset feeling in his gut. Tim has anxiety about things, rather or not he’s good enough. He’s not a super confident person when it comes to himself. He doesn’t think much of him.

One editorial person answering fan questions in the back of comics as they used to, even described Tim as meek. He doesn’t brag or think much of himself as super according to it.

He’s also stated and shown to be internally scared quite a bit, even shaking when he first got his own Robin suit. Another occasion saying the cold water might excuse his shivering. Which goes along with his anxiety.

Another thing about him that is more low-key and not as noticed, is how Tim, even though he clearly thinks of himself as a kid, heck even the letter column above says so, he has also said since being Robin he’s never had time to be a kid. But he is also still a kid.

As they specified his voice a bit more, he tended to use heck, Holy crud, dang, fudge, weenie, and even Pus Bucket (a reference to Ghost Busters) as his choice of cussing (if that even remotely counts).

And even if it’s not noticeable at first, is shown as having a secret teddy bear that he kept hidden under his mattress so I assume no one would see it.

He’s also a pretty innocent kid despite what all he sees. His mind doesn’t go to the gutter. He trusts people far faster than he should, even trusting Lady Shiva, the world’s most dangerous woman and know criminal right away.

Even Tim’s step-mother saying so out-loud. Showing that this is also the case in his personal life as well.

It also goes along with his social obliviousness. This stuff being rounded into not having any street smarts, which was a main theme for Tim directly in his first miniseries. As well as being naive.

Of course as life went on that wasn’t the case as much, but in the above screenshot, Dana (his step-mom) is saying that as Tim is already 16.

Tim in-general also being a super hero fanboy. As a kid he watched the news, clipped out the papers on them, collected, and even drew his own Batman art (and potentially) others to put on his wall.

Tim’s general behavior while socializing also depends on his emotions at the time. He’s normally very nice and friendly, when not super depressed or down on himself he’s bubbly. But he’s also still a kid, he can pout when he’s hurt, and passive aggressive to people he doesn’t like. Examples being, literally not listening to a jock that picks on his friends, an over-arrogant jerk he met in France, and even Steph because she kept being reckless and flirting with him when he didn’t like it.

Nothing straight up insults, but just generally passive aggressive, give them a clue he doesn’t like them very much even if it never worked. He just wants them to go away, unless they’re a straight up bully. Tim, if it’s no one he specifically knows that will invade his personal life, will beat up bullies. He really can’t stand a bully.

Another thing about Tim is that even though he’s an introvert typically, he’s also not very shy. A shy kid wouldn’t travel miles on a bike (and I freaking hope busses) to meet someone he barely knows because he believes in Batman needing a Robin. He also stands up to bullies, and unless he’s really uncomfortable could talk to about anyone. He even slept in only his briefs and undershirt in the house of someone he doesn’t know, with two people he also barely knows. With that example also probably adding up to the socially oblivious part of his personality.

As far as his relationships go, he canonically thinks of the Bat-Family as his family. Dick calls Tim his little brother, Babs treats Tim as her baby brother as well as acting like his/ Aunt/ Mom depending on the situation (I think Tim fell asleep on her couch after eating pizza while using his cape as a blanket and drooling. So Mom’s a stretch but still), Bruce is his distant but still father figure, Alfred is his grandpa (who he actually plays video games with), even Cass to an extent treating Tim as a baby brother as well.

He is very much the baby of the family. And Tim talks to them about personal stuff (bar Cass cause he was scared of her in the beginning), most of them from Alfred and Dick, to the mute hunchback in the Batcave Harold (who is a real character and I love him). He was always collecting advice from where ever he could get it.

He’s also intensely morally operated. He hates killing. He said he took an oath to let himself be killed before ever killing, getting PTSD from feeling responsible for a death, and even crying when he had genuinely thought Bruce killed someone.

As far as how he tries to present himself, he is constantly doing his best to take everything as seriously as he can, even shunning himself when he starts to stop taking things as serious, he wants to be seen as serious, trustworthy, and reliable desperately so he doesn’t let anyone down. He is constantly hard of himself, and is always trying to be what he thinks Batman wants him to be. Which is were a lot of his anxieties from. Even trying to think of what Batman or Dick would do because he regards them so highly. Even calling Bruce the great man he’s ever known I believe during one of his post-origin pre-Robin appearances.

He’s naive and oblivious of himself, as well as childish in some areas (I think his nanny yelled at him once for it), but overall what he tries to hardest at is taking everything seriously as possible, and using his brain as much as he can. He may not be the most mature, often actually handling situations very immaturely, but he does his best to at least seem like he’s mature, and to an extent he actually can be genuinely very mature, or at least as much as a naive oblivious child can be.

Dick:

This ones a lot shorter probably, because I don’t read him as much, but still have a good handle on him.

I think he’s a character very few always write correctly, because they ride too much into the friendly, compassionate guy. Which, compassion being his main motivator in how he goes about as much as he can, and he’s incredibly friendly, he’s also a very angsty and angry person deep down.

He’s a perfectionist, a trait fics tend to give to Tim more, but actually belongs to Dick. He gets really hard on himself when he thinks he messed something up badly, having nightmares over it, he doesn’t like himself when he messes up something badly. And even if he’s not a naturally angry person, when he is angry, he can be VERY VERY angry.

And until Batman writers in the early 00s started it, I wouldn’t even had considered him all that chatty. He had some jokes in him, was very light hearted when not in distress or mad, but as he was developed by Marv Wolfman, who basically created the Dick that has remained the base for him ever since, he was relatively a generally calm guy when he wasn’t emotional.

He was polite, a charming guy, the type of person you want to bring home to your parents basically. He dressed well. Did his best to keep people accommodated. 

He wasn’t a goofy, constant jokester that’d talk your ear off or keep begging for hugs. 

He’s not that kind of guy. He’s just a gentlemen.

He’s also not that much of a thot. He’s a “wait till it’s right” sort of guy when it comes to sex.

He’d do anything in the world he could to make sure his friends felt right too, and that they were okay.

But all this doesn’t mean he’s not just a one note personality. Depending on how bad he feels like he messed up, he’ll distance himself from people, stop caring as much about his appearance, get more violent and mean. He also doesn’t take well to Batman’s nonsense, he’s probably the person he got specifically mad at the most. He didn’t like the way Batman went about stuff after a while. He had complicated feelings towards him.

Despite people nowadays just thinking of Dick being Batman’s son officially, adopted, end of. That wasn’t exactly their relationship. Dick had a complicated relationship with Bruce. Part of him looked at Bruce as a big brother, and another half a dad, and he wasn’t even adopted, just a ward. Something that Dick was actually quite insecure about, till apparently he got adopted as a grown adult man (which I dunno is true or an edit, but I’ve seen it somewhere).

Dick’s relationship with Tim is pure big bro baby bro. He was very protective of Tim, calling him the closest thing to a brother he ever had, and little brother, before they were ever even officially brothers. He’d push Tim out of the way in times of big trouble, make him stand back, ruffled his hair all the time, and loved teasing him. But when they started off, Dick just sort of thought Tim was a weird annoying kid, given that Tim was acting so screwy during his origin, Dick really didn’t know what to make of him, but the closer they got, they got very very close. Dick cared a lot about Tim a ton once they got accommodated. Tim would even call Dick on the phone just to talk to him about anything from his day to his problems. Tim could count on Dick to help when ever he could. Tim was Dick’s dweebie baby brother who he took care of when needed. Even teaching Tim how to wash clothes personally since Tim didn’t have a clue. 

I don’t think him and Jason really had a relationship. He gave him a number to talk about stuff like Robin angst, and a few pics show they hanged out at least once or twice, but nothing suggests they were close. It seems like Dick was hard on himself, because Jason died before they could get close. After the Red Hood, Dick’s just kind of a-- dick to Jason, and Tim was too, but I don’t consider that in-character. Neither Tim nor Dick would be even remotely okay about the killing, but I can’t picture them treating him like he’s a joke and less than trash. Too much emotional baggage there. Tim would be distant to Jason, and Dick would be uncomfortable and conflicted. That’s my guesses on a more accurate relationship.

Dick’s always had a really big crush on Babs ever since he was a kid to the point they were stuck in a small area together and Dick lost dignity over-- I dunno, puberty effecting him. There’s no way I can put that that’s comfortable. But Dick has a crush on Babs, that got put into a romantic relationship both ways when they aged down Babs, but for some people the relationship is relatively gross because of the age gap, and feeling the need to age down a character like Babs, who just looked at Dick like a kid, to just date him. It’s complicated, and I dunno enough about them besides that exactly. I’m not the guy to ask on that.

He doesn’t have a proper relationship with either Duke or Steph, but it doesn’t seem like Dick’s ever been the fondest of Steph. And Duke’s new, and they only ever been around each other in fan service moments. So I don’t think he has a real actual relationship with Duke.

Dick and Cass despite I don’t think ever being shown much together, also had a sweet relationship. With Dick doing his best to make sure his sister (before she was adopted, but Dick treated her as one nevertheless much like Tim as Dick’s baby brother) was comfortable, acting goofy, and to  me coming across as if he’s always really wanted a sister. But they weren’t super close, but there’s enough there to say that they easily could become close.

Dick and Damian was mentor mentoree, and to a large extent Dick was Damian’s father figure as Bruce was dead. As written by Damian’s creator, Dick didn’t seem to like Damian at all in the beginning, but as Dick could realize and understand his responsibilities more, they did gain a closer bond. Dick would put Damian in line (besides when bad writers were too afraid to make Damian seem like he’s in the wrong fully), sometimes even the hard way, and could be very proud of him. They aren’t big bro little bro like how some current writers act for pandering purposes. But they did grow to be close, even if Damian’s naturally really emotionally distant. Dick always wanted the best for Damian, even if he couldn’t always handle it the right way or knew what to do. He was a guy in his early to mid 20s with the responsibilities of reraising a 10 year old kid that was raised and abused by a cult, who can blame him.

Damian

I’m kind of just getting Damian out of the way, because to be frank, he’s been a really crappily written character since his origin, because he personality just absolutely switches between every writer, and he’s just so badly written that way.

But I’ll go off of what I believe to be what his writer wanted, since that’s the most accurate you can get.

Damian was raised and abused in a cult. That dictates a lot of how he thinks.

He was not close to his mother (which is out of character for Talia, and they later switched that after the reboot, but to be frank if Talia was always in-character Damian wouldn’t exist as we know him. He’d be a total different person and character). And he seemed to despise the way his dad goes about things. He seemed very indifferent and had his mood set to angry in general when he first met.

Which made it all the weirder when an issue later Damian seems to want his parents to be together, despite making it clear he doesn’t even like or think much of either one of them at all.

He was also very entitled, because despite being treated as an experiment some of the time, he was also treated as a prince the other half of the time. He thought the world was his, and he deserved everything.

He nearly killed Tim because he thought he deserved being Robin, as Tim was just adopted and not a “real” son. Seemingly he thought that was what he had to do to have his dad accept him and treat him as he thought he should.

He also seems to think he’s above Jason as well.

He’s also shown as sexist and homophobic.

He was brash and reckless about everything. Had a talented in just about everything just because of how he was raised, and goes off on his own to do stuff, because I assume he thinks everyone else holds him back.

After Dick though, Damian learned to not be a murderer (which I also think he might’ve learned before cause he wants to live with Bruce, It’s a little weird and not given enough time to actually be developed fully in an easy to digest way. Which is another reason why I think he’s such a poorly written character), also more reserved, and reckless.

As he was originally intended, he was very tall and not cute. His height being around 5′2 to 5′4 at age 10. Meaning he was an inch taller than Tim was at 13 when Damian was 10 off of that first one, and only an inch shorter than Tim at the age he  met him, where Tim was 17 going on 18. It may not be drawn that way, but you also have to remember this is 00s and beyond era DC Comics were Tim despite being described as looking 12 got drawn as big as Dick sometimes. Don’t always use the art to go off of certain information. I say he wasn’t intended to be cute, because there’s a scene were he was at a gala, where a woman clearly wanting to gold-dig Gotham City’s most eligible Bachelor Bruce Wayne by getting close to her son, but she immediately backed away when she saw him.

Which sounds harsh, but Damian’s also basically the “anti-Robin”, he was everything a Robin wasn’t meant to be and he was intended to just die and that’s it. Hence why he was with Dick to keep the Batman and Robin dynamic intact, just in reverse. As you can see, they completely forgot what made Damian interesting when his character gained some consistency with his creator.

Damian’s development was that he grew a actual caring heart even if he still carried the generally same personality. He was dismissive of people, sexually harassed Steph, was generally anti-social-esque. 

And honestly because every writer after (even the one everyone seems to think is his best writer, which I massively agree times a billion and infinite more) just kept reverting him, again and again, even when they wrote stories with character development, it was gone again. And applied a whole bunch of traits that aren’t like Damian in the slightest, so if you pay attention. Ya can tell Damian’s not Damian, he’s literally not even a shell of his self. They just painted another one to look kind of like him, and even then they don’t do that because he freaking looks completely different some of the time. They botched him so much.

But that was the main thing about Damian. 

I think one reason he got close to Dick and no one else was because Damian from his origin (no matter how poorly written they showed it), always wanted to have a proper parent. Which it seemed he could never have. And Dick grew to serve that purpose, as Dick was the one teaching him lessons, and making sure he was actually safe.

But of course later on DC Comics literally forgot everything that was letting him slowly become a better character. So that sucks.

I partially came into this fandom because of Damian. So when I actually got to read him, I was so freaking miserable after. I genuinely wanted to like him so bad, even voicing that to people I was chatting too as I read the comics, but I literally just couldn’t see why anyone cared for his comics. I don’t think any of them are fully well-written.

But it did help me grasp what Damian’s suppose to be like as I could tell what he’s suppose to be and not suppose to be, much like how I learned about Tim’s actual personality vs the one writers that don’t care about him write.

Steph

Just doing this one to get a more negatively centered one out of the way, because I struggle to find any personality traits I deem actually likable when put under context.

Because she’s full of her self, reckless, cynical, more or less sexually harassed Tim, kissing him against his wishes (and before ya say Tim did that first. it’s a little less offensive when Tim didn’t do it sexually or romantically. That was just for a dumb trope. A reward kiss. It’s still gross, but it’s a different context that’s less directly offensive), goes behind people’s backs sometimes, can be emotionally abusive, and shows signs of physically abusive.

So I don’t exactly find her super likable. And her spot in the Bat-Family was so contrived, that often nowadays I just don’t pay attention her anymore, but in fairness a lot of that’s just cause she has crazy stans that start fights that were barely there, be hypocritical, and group bully folks. So it’s relatively hard for me to wanna look at her these days.

But to be more specific before she seems like an actual freaking demon woman or what ever. Some of that doesn’t come across as bad compared to what it could be. Besides the emotional abuse, that was just a thing and the comics and people just elected to ignore it even though that was written by her creator.

She’s reckless in a way where she clearly doesn’t have proper training to make sure no one or herself gets hurt. She’s been shown causing herself to get hurt or underestimate stuff. She also doesn’t listen to people that know more about what they do, and she usually relies on luck to get by.

She’s full of herself, because she more or less says she’s an adrenaline junkie, and might just be beating up bad guys because she finds it really fun and exciting. She likes the thrill. And tries to put a title of super hero on herself sometimes, because she tries to seem heroric as she does it. She also does it to make up for her dad, which is more admirable, but behavior wise and focus wise it’s more pinned on her just being an adrenaline junkie.

She also just constantly just flirt with Tim even when he didn’t want it. Which is what sexual harassment is. She also kissed him for her own satisfaction twice, once nearly getting them both killed cause people were shooting at them, and another as them and other people were close to freezing to death because they were stuck under snow. That kind of behavior able to be under sexual assault given the context for her kisses was just for herself. Even the time she tried to say it was to make up for Tim’s reward kiss, she quickly makes it obvious it was just because she’s very sexually attracted to him.

She also just nearly lets criminals die a lot because “What’s one more life”, and seems to not care much for the lesson of not killing, specifically her dad. Like she still has the moral standard not to kill, but compared to the others it’s not one she takes as serious. She learned her lesson on being cynical, but it’s still ingrained in her personality.

I also have a whole very long post on why her relationship with Tim doesn’t work, and how she was abusive. I don’t feel like going over that again but that’s a thing.

Besides Tim she has no real relationship with the others besides Cass, which is another relationship I don’t fully understand, because Steph borderline insults her, and Cass thinks she gets in the way so much she just fractures Steph’s jaw to knock her out. They gave them some admittedly cute moments, but it’s never felt right to me. Always felt forced and pandery, but it’s a thing. They’ve played tag each other, and talked about how both of their parents are abusive.

She also had one with in Batgirl, but the best I can describe that is, she helps Steph so she doesn’t hurt herself, and she can be pretty gruff sometimes, but is also caring. it’s just kind of a been there done that sort of thing.

A lot of Batgirl is sort of forced. Bat-Family has reasonable criticisms of her, writer does something to make them more unlikable so readers still like Steph, Steph proves them wrong, they respect her. It’s a formula for a few stories in her Batgirl run.

People have also said her and Damian have a sibling relationship, but I don’t agree with that. Damian sexually harassed her and kept looking at her boobs. Damian had a crush on her, but he was also a stubborn entitled jerk to her. Steph just got back at Damian by making him dress as a normal kid to embarrass him, and when she saw Damian never played before got him to jump on a bouncy castle. Besides generic banter that’s about it. And given Damian’s personality, they never did anything like that bouncy castle thing again. It’s a really big stretch to call that sibling-like. And even the stuff you could stretch is still doesn’t pay attention to the Damian talking about her boobs constantly thing. Parts of it was just pandery, as a lot of that Batgirl run was.

So I don’t overall have a good opinion of her. She’s perseverance and doesn’t give up, and won’t take no for an answer, but given the context it’s not in a good way besides saving Tim’s and others lifes a few times.

Babs

Despite having read her a lot I don’t know her a lot, because she’s typically always the other character in things. The lady that gets the information.

So I only know a few things about her.

She has the perseverance and won’t take no traits, but in a more positive context. She has no use of her legs but that doesn’t stop her from fighting crime and helping people.

She’s a serious, and mature personality. Every case is very seriously to her, besides a few Tim got into because they were just very goofy.

She can also joke a lot. She has a very teasing personality in her as well. Especially with Tim, she seemed to find Tim really cute and loved teasing him.

I pretty much only have panels of her and Tim besides a rare few maybe, cause as I said she’s mostly a side character helping out.

I have read Birds of Prey but that was possible a year or two ago, and I didn’t really pay attention so I’m not as sure.

She’s very leaderly, and will direct the traffic so to say. She’s a magnificent detective and hacker. Stands up for herself. Inquisitive. Her mind always seems to be thinking of the next thing to think about.

She’s a character I can’t talk about as well without it being one dimensional.

Cass

Cass is another character I don’t have the best grasp on but been trying to learn because she’s probably my second favorite Batkid even if I don’t understand her as strongly. But I do get a lot of her basic personality, and a bit of the nuances, even if I’m not ultra confident on it yet.

She’s quirky, she knows how to tease, but she can also be a bit objective based unless she’s bored it seems, like she does watch TV, but when she has a goal she will not stop until the goal is done. She’s a fully compassionate person as well, she sees little kid needing help, she helps little kid.

Also given her upraising she can be more socially oblivious than anyone else, even Tim. She’s walked around an apartment she was sharing with others butt naked. I think she accidentally flirted with Babs (not a shippy thing, it’s a, Cass said a thing she didn’t understand thing), because she couldn’t tell the difference between a platonic thing and cheesy romantic thing as she watched TV. 

She doesn’t always listen. She will just beat by her own drum unless she believes in something someone else said more.

Given her mind wasn’t raised to be socializing, a lot of this stuff makes sense and is kind of obvious when you think about it.

Cass can also be very stubborn when she has a goal, even when it’s against someone else’s wishes.

She’s mostly been a loner by herself, but she has grown to seem to genuinely like having company around to bond with.

She’s been shown being protective of Tim. Literally carrying him out of a fight zone.

Babs’s is more or less her mom.

Dick and Steph’s I’ve described before.

Distant with Alfred, but Alfred will occasionally drop by to help out. They’re still carrying if they aren’t as connected as others.

Not gonna lie I can’t remember her relationship with Bruce.

But that’s some of the basics and slight nuances of Batgirl. I’m still in the early part of learning about her. So I’ll probably understand her more later on. I genuinely really like her though. I like how she isn’t a one dimensional character like some writers make her out to be. She’s genuinely really fun to read.

Jason

I actually know Jason quite a bit because I made a big long post about his time as Robin (post-crisis only, not counting the scripts written before the 80s reboot, or anything inconsistent).

He’s anti-authority, angry, cusses, smokes, violent, murderous tendencies, aggressive, but also has a genuine heroic spirit, is appreciative of the opportunities he was able to have, loved being able to learn especially, had insecurities, and a lot of his violence was in the name of being a more aggressive way of justice. He’d never hurt an innocent.

A lot of this is explain by the fact he was raised on the streets more or less.

When ever he got especially violent was because of a bad guy hurting or killing an innocent or committing abusive acts of any sort. He probably seen a lot of bad stuff on the streets and doesn’t handle it.

He’s pretty decently cynical because of thinking that’s the best way to deal with it.

He was also moody, but after his upbringing that’s to be expected, and unlike what some thinks, Batman was actually understanding and did his best to help Jason back even if he didn’t get it as first.

Jason isn’t a villain, he is a pure anti-hero, he wants to help, he loves to help, when he feels like he should help he does. He just has his own way of doing it that lots don’t agree with.

When he became the Red Hood, all of this stuff just became amplified because of the traumatic event he went through and the feeling of not being avenged and abandoned again.

Where as before he’d nearly kill people, he outright does now with even left empathy. He had a sack of decapitated head once just so other criminals knew he wasn’t playing around. 

However his moodiness came out in different ways. He was actually a very calm, chill personality as the Red Hood, until his traumas got poked at, where he’d go back into his angry bitter ways, but to a more unstoppable way. He’d be more violent, more angry, more inconsolable, more unstable.

As the Red Hood, he is a very far ahead planner and tactition. People always call Tim the planner, but to me Jason is the planner and tactition of the group. He had a large plan that took a while to do, but caused him to accomplish a lot in a short time. Tim does it in the moment or moments before and does a fine enough job, but he isn’t a good leader. Dick is a good planner tactition and leader, but it can also just be shortly before he does something. Jason thinks very far ahead and how people will react and think, how to get under their skin, what will piss them off, what will give him what he once etc.

When he’s not unstable, he’s calm and collected, and is always trying to get under people’s skin. Not in a large over the top way, but just a bit. In an almost charming sort of way. A sly way. He pokes buttons when he’s calm and collected.

As to be expected his relationship with the Bat-Family is complicated. He’s mostly just in the Bat-Family almost purely because of his past in it, more than what he is currently. He’s more of a loner type that will get help when needed, but until the New 52 said otherwise, he’s not much of a team player as he mostly works by himself.

Bat-Family wants him to get better, but at the same time I think they recognize it’s gonna take a lot for Jason to get better, and since Jason is dangerous it creates a lot of overwhelming feelings. Bruce is upset at himself and is almost grieving Jason all over again, Dick has regrets he never had a chance to know him till then, and Tim’s relationship has been so varied and never really felt right, I’d say  most likely Tim would be scared of Jason, and upset at him. Jason was a Robin that killed. Going off of how Tim reacted to thinking Batman killed, he’d probably be genuinely miserable at the thought of what Jason became, and be distant from him.

Jason is sly and hard to read unless he’s emotional.

Duke

Duke is the hardest to say anything for, because he’s the newest, most obscure (even tho he is gaining quick prominence), and so therefore has less to go off of. Not helped by a lot of writers making him very two dimensional at best a lot of the time.

He is a natural leader, a dare-devil, very willing to put his life on the line at any time, and passionate and almost stubborn about helping people. He wants to save people, and he’s always wanting to help, because he wants to make his neighborhood a better place.

And that’s almost all I can say, because having read his mini-series he doesn’t have many character traits, and WE ARE ROBIN, where he was introduced and I got that from was short lived.

He’s only with the other Batkids when they really wanna pander, so I can’t even accurately say anything, and the few times you could make a guess it’s not in-character for the other. So he’s just hard to tell. Besides Cass.

I think he’d naturally get along with Bruce, Dick, and Tim, and he’s shown being closest to Cass in the Outsiders series. Considering Cass a sister I believe. They console in each other, care about each other, worry about each other, and look after each other. That’s the closest relationship he has.

But it’s hard to say a lot for him.

AGES:

To be blunt I can’t say with full accuracy because there’s so many inconsistencies plus reboots.

But I’ll go into oldest to youngest, because some don’t realize some ages.

Dick, was 21 when Tim was 13

Jason was 18 when Tim was 15

Cass is the same age if not older than Jason

Steph is two years older than Tim

I believe Duke is around the same age as Steph

and Tim and Damian’s ages off of that is pretty obvious.

--

Sorry this is so freaking long, but like I said, just DM me. I’m about to watch a movie, but I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. I at least hope this helped some, and if it’s too long, just message me because it’ll probably be less overwhelming then.

[shamemp3]

can u tell me a little about the personality of each batkid?

i can try!! idk if it’ll be great bc a bunch of writers give them diff attitudes and stuff but ill give it a shot!

dick: he’s more on the outgoing side, and he usually likes to keep things light, BUT he can be very hot-tempered and impulsive, since he does let his emotions get to him a lot of the time (a lot of the fandom likes to believe he’s all happy-go-lucky all the time, but he’s really not). despite this, he’s a very logical thinker and he tries to avoid his feelings and his friends/family by overworking himself but that almost always ends up with burnout. he’s not the best at expressing his feelings but he’s also not as closed-off as you’d think, and he’s very very very compassionate and empathetic. he’s also trusting, but not too trusting, he’s still very logical and knows what he’s doing when he’s analyzing clues and evidence. he’s also very conflicted with himself bc he wants bruce to be proud of him and he thinks the only way that’ll happen is if he acts LIKE bruce, but he also wants to be nothing like bruce. he has very high standards for himself, and if anything goes wrong, he’ll hold himself responsible no matter what. so yeah!! he’s very complex bc he can be outgoing but he could also avoid all his loved ones for weeks, he can be very emotional and hot-tempered but he can also try to dismiss all his feelings and be blunt and forward, and he often struggles with which side of his personality is really him. he’s not the ‘happy boy’ that a lot of the fandom describes him as.

babs: she is very witty and serious about what she does!! she doesn’t really take anyone’s shit and tells people off when they deserve it. but, she’s also very very understanding and she usually knows what to say and when to say it. she’s also stubborn and if she has her mind set to do something, nobody can really stop her bc she’s just so determined and into what she does. even when she was a kid, she was very mature and just had a deeper understanding of things than others her age might. she’s very careful and likes to think a few steps ahead before she does something, and she rarely acts on impulse (but i could be misremembering). so yes!! she can be either tough or warm, depending on who she’s dealing with and what the situation is. she’s responsible, dependable, practical, and has a huge sense of responsibility. she rarely lets her emotions get the best of her during fights, and she has many goals for herself that she stops at nothing to accomplish.

duke: he just wants to help!! duke is brave and will stand up for what he believes is right. he’s also incredibly intelligent and independent and won’t let complications stop him from doing what he wants. he cares so much about protecting people and just people in general. he is also a leader and knows how to approach situations with an equal balance of logic and emotion. he knows the risks and downfalls of being a vigilante but he still believes that he needs to do it because he can and so therefore he should. sometimes he doubts himself and feels lost but he usually doesn’t let his feelings get in the way and affect his job and his responsibilities. he is willing to do anything to help others, and that’s why he’s incredibly brave and connected to the people around him. he also knows when he’s in over his head and he knows when to ask for help. he also sometimes feels like he doesn’t fit in and so he needs to prove himself, but he doesn’t shy away from talking about his feelings and expressing his doubts and insecurities. he has a strong moral compass and is so hardworking and doesn’t give up because he always bounces back from his insecurities. he’s incredibly grounded and just,,, yeah the huge thing about him is tht he is willing to do anything to help bc he just wants to do what’s right!!

cass: cass!! she just wants to belong to something, she is so incredibly loyal to her loved ones because she values them so much. she gives off mysterious and reserved vibes at first, but once people get past her walls, she will do anything for them. she is very focused and also an incredibly quick learner and skilled fighter. she’s able to adapt to situations quite well. before she mastered her speech skills, she would show people that she trusted them through touch, which is why she’s big on physical affection. she feels incredible guilt because of her childhood, which haunts her quite a lot. her discipline and sense of purpose are very important to her and often keep her grounded. cass holds herself to very high standards when fighting, she needs to be a perfect fighter, and she needs to be the best. she needs to save lives, and if she makes a mistake, she’ll feel immense guilt and throw herself into her training to make sure what happened isn’t repeated. she likes to work alone and can be aloof, but this does not mean she doesn’t care about her loved ones (she is very compassionate), she just doesn’t always find it easy to express her feelings. she is also incredibly afraid of the death of her loved ones. as batgirl, she’s very intimidating and dark. she wouldn’t hesitate to risk herself if it meant saving someone else. her empathy can be overwhelming to her because her feelings are very strong, even though she doesn’t always reveal them. 

jason: people like to think that jason has always been angry and vengeful, but before he died he was nothing like that!! he was a very hopeful kid as robin and he liked banter and quips and was less serious than dick himself as robin. after jason died though, he grew to be very complex. his emotions are very intense, and depending on how much he controls them, they’ll either help him or they’ll ruin him. he can be rash and impulsive and can struggle with controlling his anger, but he does have a big heart, he just tries very hard to protect himself and not be vulnerable because after he came back to life, he found it hard to trust others (because he trusted bruce but then found out that bruce let the joker live), so he chooses to be independent and depend on himself. he’s neither a hero or a villain. he wants to help and protect those that can’t protect themselves, but his methods are different than the rest of the batkids in the sense that he will take the final step and kill people if he feels they deserve it. when he first came back to life, he kind of showed his feelings through his anger, but the longer he stayed alive the longer he grew to deal with his emotions, even though he’d slip up every once in a while (which we all do). also important to mention that he takes no joy in killing, he just believes that it's what has to be done. he’s impatient but he appreciates when people take the time to be understanding with him instead of judge him based on his past. basically he is also a very complex character, and he’s not the “bad boy” the fandom likes to pit him as.

steph: steph!! early on she was written as kind of aggressive, but that kind of faded?? idk she is stubborn and determined, and she can’t be held back. she’s friendly and warm but she’s also blunt and forward; she’s very honest with her opinions. she likes to think outside the box when fighting, and can be impulsive at times. she’s very patient and understanding and just understands people very well but like i mentioned, she won’t shy away from expressing her thoughts and feelings. steph doesn’t let people push her around, and is very strong. she doesn’t let herself feel down, she wants to be strong, especially in front of others. she’s funny and she likes to act cool and down to earth, and doesn’t like to disclose her negative thoughts to people around her, but every once in a while her anger will come back. she loves the rush of being a vigilante, but sometimes she can be too risk-taking and impulsive. she’s independent and mature, and very driven. sometimes she struggles with understanding herself, but she often keeps her feelings to herself (not always tho). she believes she has a responsibility to go out and protect the city, because she wants prove to herself that she is nothing like her dad, so she’ll take her job seriously, even if it comes at a cost. she has a confident attitude, whether she truly feels that way or not. she’s sarcastic and talkative and likes to be tough, but not everyone gets to know what really goes on inside her mind.

tim: in terms of thinking, tim is very similar to bruce. he makes an incredible detective and is very observant and focused. like dick, he tends to overwork himself, often to ignore how he feels. he’s very loyal and charismatic and keen, and loves doing what he does. he tends to doubt himself a lot and doesn’t always believe that he’s fit to be robin, even though he’s arguably the best detective out of the robins. he likes to work alone and can be awkward, but he’s still charismatic and likeable, and is very good at reading people. he’s serious and careful and tends to think first before doing anything. sometimes his logic can take over and he ends up ignoring his feelings. he can be reserved and distant because he doesn’t want to get too involved with people knowing how unstable and spontaneous his job/life is. he’s calculated and knows when to make difficult decisions, and is good at understanding his feelings. he’s a good balance of serious and laid-back, and knows how to act in different situations. but yea, sometimes he doesn’t want to deal with his feelings and instead chooses to put them aside and focus on something else, which ends up in him bottling up a bit too much. but yeah!! he’s very reasonable and also witty, and more well-spoken than people like to give him credit for. i feel like all i did is just talk about how logical he is but he IS also incredibly caring and understanding and he loves his friends and family and he notices little things about them. his self-doubt rarely stops him from doing what he knows is important, and he just wants to help change things for the better.

damian: he can seem arrogant, mean, and angry on the surface, but it’s just because he’s very careful with who he chooses to let in. he wants to prove that he’s worthy and skilled to both bruce and himself. he doesn’t really know how to deal with his emotions a lot of the time so he ends up being cold a lot of the time. he sometimes chews off more than he can take, just because he wants to prove that he can be independent and capable all on his own, but that often gets him in trouble. that being said, he is still an incredible fighter, he just hasn’t had as much experience as the others (obviously) and likes to take on more than he can. once he lets people in, he’s excited, funny, and energetic around them, and definitely not as cold as before, but he still is not too open about his feelings. he wants to fit in and spend time with his loved ones but he’s also afraid of being too open and vulnerable (which like. are u surprised. just look at his parents). he wants very badly to prove himself and also to help people and can feel very guilty if he cant save someone. when it comes to killing bad guys, he’s not opposed to it, he just doesn’t do it because neither dick or bruce want him to. in general he’s just very conflicted with his feelings and wanting to be more out there but also being very afraid of vulnerability. he also hates being underestimated, and is still learning to understand his emotions and deal with his anger. 

[student-film-lying-piece-of-shit]

YEA!! YEA!! Like hes such a genuinely good person and like. When he punched Jay like. First of all he didnt know him? Like theyd barely met. And secondly it was warranted at the time! And like once he gets close to Jay he would never do that again. He would never hurt him. Like if he was truly an angry person he wouldve fucked him up when Jay attacked him for the tape but did he? Nope! Anyway akdkfk im riled up abt it

what makes me genuinely mad is that jay also gets ramped up. other characters get angry and upset and show emotion; as ive said time and time again, marble hornets is a character study on what obession and lack of control does to a normal functioning person. we don't go too in depth with lore like the other slenderverse series'. hell, the operator doesn't even get called that in series. he's just a "thing". a driving force.

a lot of the damage caused is by other people. unlike, let's say, emh where we see the boys physically attack/get attacked from the creatures and have communications, that's not it with the ARK and the opreator. it's purely a scenario of psychological torment and it is ambiguous. it's not lore centric, but rather, "what would these people do in this case?"

the only one with any (canon) mental illness prior was tim. weather it was "that thing" or actual mental illness (or rather, how much of it was psychological damage / how much operator), he was is played out and written as a character with mental problems.

ive said this before. im psychotic. i have panic attacks (ive actually had to skip entries before on watching because of how real tims panic attacks were to me, it very much so resembled mine and it was a trigger), hallunations, suicidal ideation and things tim struggles with.

and he's the hero. he's kind. he has a sense of humor. he auditioned for marble hornets knowing brian wanted to, and getting the hint that alex was in need for some helping getting cast members. he played along with jay's lies, until he snapped because he found out the truth after years of jay blindly lying to him and having his life put online for the world to see.

after that moment, tim had every right to leave jay behind and not help him. but he did. he forgave jay, and he tried his best to be as transparent as he could.

him breaking down in the hospital, realizing that his vague childhood trauma could be linked to this all. him finally projecting this on himself, going through the cycles of grieving and bawling his eyes out and shaking because he realized he didn't only hurt him, but the few people he had around him who didn't think of him as some freak.

tim finally accepting the situation, understanding the reality, and almost finishing his grief cycle. tim trying his best to stay calm and rational while jay was going down the path he was also on.

tim not only offering, but making jay share the only thing that he had to keep himself stable and not dissociate.

tim breaking down, tim realizing that the thing he did to protect jay was a self fulfilling prophecy and that he couldn't save him. that you can lead a horse to water all you want but that doesn't mean it'll drink it.

at the end tim did what he did because he had no other choice. he even did try to rationalize with him (and i throughly believe him saying "we can work together" was sincere. that he wanted to give alex the benefit of the doubt that he wasn't a horrible human) and try to fight it with him.

and he's still here. he still made it. one line that always struck with me was "i don't trust myself with a gun"

tim was able to understand he would hurt himself. he knew his limitations and boundaries and was able to separate his emotions and reasoning. right after one of his only friends died. right after when he was all by himself. he was able to hold onto a strand of rationality.

it fucking motivates me to understand that i, too, sometimes wouldn't trust myself with things. and that's okay.

tim is one of, if not, the most complex and real feeling characters in a slenderverse series. he is a giant comfort for so many because every single character with mental illnesses like tim is seen as a pure, true villian and evil. we finally have a character who is a genuinely good person who was driven to hurt someone. stop taking ONE of the only things we psychotic and dissociative folk have in this genre and shit on it

[ravenquote]

OoC: Favorite Characters

I decided to focus on villains or anti-heroes, it’s hard picking just favorites in a general sense.

1. Harleen Quinzel A.K.A Harley Quin - DC Comic Universe I have been in love with this woman since September 1992 when she first aired in the Batman Animated series, Joker’s favor. Due to her brilliant creators of Paul Dini and Bruce Tim, led with the voice talents of Arleen Sorkin. She was born from her own raw desire to help people in her own best way possible, using her talents of understanding, reading and in many sense controlling people. Sadly, like Alice in wonderland, she fell into a realm of madness and uncertainty. She has been one of the most complex characters in animated history with large backstory and many turns and takes. Extremely popular on various forms and has made many appearances over the years even scoring some of her own comics and shows and now movies. When she was first created, she was merely a fill in and not meant to take and yet here she stands, a triumphant beauty whose overcome Abuse, trauma and degradation.

2. Azula - Avatar the last air bender animated television show + comics What can i say about Azula? In many retrospects she’s fierce, powerful, driven and just intelligent! I think a lot of people forget something pretty important about her: SHE WAS FOURTEEN! This young teenage, overthrew governments, taking whole cities and was the closest to killing the Avatar compared to anyone else. Not to mention her pure intelligence! People compare to playing a game of chess when it comes to moving people or controlling their actions. No, to this woman it was checkers. I truly believe if she didn’t become as over-confident as she did, the war would have ended with her taking the world. With the right nurturing, she would have become the most feared overlord the world would ever see.

3. Loghain Mac Tir - Dragon age book (The Stolen Throne by: David Gaider) and Dragon age Origins the Video game. Yeah, there’s a theme so far i am guessing you are seeing. I can’t help but appreciate sheer intelligence. Loghain is sort of obvious in the video games, it’s clear his intents. At the same time, there is far far more than what is merely on the surface with this man. An obvious villain, almost to the point of it being boring. Yet, why in the games are so many people hesitant and trusting of him? This man had proved himself, over and over, that he had his country in his heart and would do anything to protect it and keep it from the true monsters of the world. People. He was never shy about the routes he’d take, the lengths he’d go, he was brass, courageous, and deceptive. He called things out, forced people to seeing the bigger picture, he didn’t need to control or lie to people about things. He got what he wanted in the most unique ways possible, not his title, not his money, not his charisma but by being true in what had to be done. 

4. Sylvanas Windrunner - Blizzard Entertainment Video games I don’t see her as a Villain, an Anti-hero, yes. Look, we all know Blizz can’t seem to understand women or know how to write them on a large scale. I seriously feel bad for both, Piera Coppola and Patty Mattson as they have to watch this poor woman get brutally torn to pieces. I will always, always have a soft spot for her and remember the days where in many respects was like Illidain, and (above) Loghain. A woman who saw the bigger picture and would sacrifice anything to save everything she cared for. I wont drag on for her, simply because i know the most people who are doing this and following are from the Blizzard franchise and i know we have all heard many many layers to this continued argument about this particular character. If ya wanna PM about it or rant at me, bring it. I’m an Alliance player at heart, but i only got into w.o.w because of this woman. Both sides are shit. *drops mic*

5. Aaravos - Dragon Prince, Netflix television animated show. Okay, seriously, if you haven’t seen the show yet: DO IT! Just as with this theme, INTELLIGENCE, INTELLIGENCE, INTELLIGENCE! Tactful, charming, knowledgeable, i mean...look at that face! He is hands down perfect. Sadly, we still know very little of him but goshdamnit! Love! Love! Love! I can not wait to know more of him and see more of him. 

6. Maleficent - Fairy Tale story / Disney The jist of her, from stories and movies, is general: She was snubbed or insulted by the royal court and took her revenge on the child they were all celebrating. I’m sorry, but this has always been fantastic to me. What is more painful and hard to deal with then your own child being cursed? Claim petty if you want, but no, oh no my dear friend, this is a brilliant revenge. A normal person would blame the man in charge and curse him, but meh, whatever. Kings wont remember how they snubbed others, this is proven time and time again in many stories. Will this act ever be forgotten? Will the generations always remember not to snub a powerful faerie? You better believe it! She made a ever lasting mark, an impression that has lasted since the 13th century! Throughout the years no one has changed these facts: Maleficent was powerful, she was disrespected and she took her revenge onto a child. Normal stories like these over the years have changed both villains and heroes, or even circumstances. This classic has even seen the beautiful creation, directed by Robert Stromberg from a screenplay by Linda Woolverton, and still they honour the root of what was and with a focus on the villain and her origins.  How many villains get this?

7. Narberal Gamma - Overlord Anime/ Manga series Who doesn’t love a maid? Not to mention a Battle maid. Narberal is...mm, i don’t even know how to express her. She’s just generally cool, powerful, intelligent, loyal and honest with everything around her, just a demeanor of a refined perfection. She’s enjoyable to watch. Another thing i enjoy, she’s not the main villain. The show itself has many “villains”, i say in such way because it’s never really clear or obvious what you can count as villain or hero in a lot of ways. Yes, some are obvious but even then in many cases showed within it’s all about circumstances, who you are following, why you are following them. I enjoy the not so cut and dry of “good and evil”. This character also helps continue that ploy, helping and yet also killing people.

8. Carmilla - Castlevania Netflix series I’m a huge vampire fan, been so since middle school. I’m not as quick whipped as i use to be about the lore, history and so on when it comes to many Vampires and their origins. With such said, damn she made me bring out the books again, especially because she was one of my favorites to read about. I mean, Lesbian vampire. Do i need to say more? For now, i’ll only focus on the more recent adaption of her. So, yeah theme? We get it, intelligence. The world truly is a chess board for her, however she does not expect people to just flip the board on her. God, Jaime Murray, thank you so much for that wtf moment cause you expressed her sheer just horror at watching everything fall around her with perfection. Throughout the points we see Carmilla we see her truly be the tact master, stirring the pot and also showing her prowess in form. There is also a lot of restraint i don’t think people will give her credit for. We see how she expresses her emotions in violence, but i also think we are seeing it in a very, very pulled back way. I look forward to seeing how she changes her circumstances and sets things back into her own order in the coming season.

9. Akasha - Book series: The Queen of the Damned by Anne rice and movie: The Queen of the damned. Ah yes, the books that helped start the joys of vampires and how could i not fall in love with someone toying into the very beginning and trying to draw into the beginnings of a creature known throughout the world and time. Why do i choose Akasha considering i already touched base on vampires? Simple, she will always deserve a spot on any favorite list of anything. She gave so little cares about anything and only wanted the world to die and feel her wrath. Not to mention Aaliyah played this part so beautifully well it deserves every recognition it can get. I know she doesn’t seem to quite fit with the rest, but this is partly why she is so low on the list.

10. Callisto - Xena television series Last but certainly not least, we can’t forgot about this one. Good? Bad? Surely just pure chaos! She does what she wants and cares little about the consequences. It’s been ages since i’ve last seen the show i will admit, so my bases on her is a bit rusty. However, i will always remember her out of the many other villainous people we meet in the Xena universe. Fun, witty, combatant, you never knew what she was really going to do. As soon as she popped into a episode, i would recall fondly sitting at the edge of my seat just wondering how or why she did the things she did. There is my list of favorites, i’m sure you can see the themes between them all as many of them have common traits, inspirations and personalities. Hope you all enjoyed! Tagged by: @olivia-lovecraft​ tagging: *boops* you!

[whumpbby]

In JayDick what do you think about Jason would catch Dick’s attention? Because in JayDick I really do believe that Dick’d had to make the first move. Jay doesn’t have a lot of experience with dating or long-term relationships, so veteran dater Dick would have to take charge in beginning. What makes Dick fall for Jay? It’s easy to see why Jay falls in love, “Everyone one loves Dick Grayson don’t they?” Jay thinks. It’d be hard for Jay to believe Dick loved him. Dick could have so much better.

Depending on the situation, it all depends on how Dick is written/headcanoned. And how far Jason is gone in his villain persona. 

Dick generally has a thing for people who take none of his shit and can throw him down - stronger, mature, powerful. He needs the emotional connection with his lovers - and that’s the base of his relationships. He’s a flirt, because that’s his stage persona as Nightwing, but personally he’s not a in-and-out dating material. 

Now, Jason seems to be very guarded in dating scenarios, he will flirt quite well, but it always looked to me like he always picked a woman who was sure to be unimpressed with his advances/not swayed easily/too god for him? As if, a safe object to point his interest at because nothing would ever come out of it (I was actually surprised that Artemis returned his interest at all) or, if it did, there was not really any long-term aspirations. He seems to want a friend more than he wants a girlfriend - and it fits, because Jay is desperate for friendship and being recognised as someone worth anyone’s time. He needs friendfs more than anything. 

So, in this case, I see thins thing as Jason and Dick trying to build a more friendly relation - they never had it, not really, and Dick never stopped feeling guilty about it and Jay never stopped wanting it with Dick, so maybe one day they hashed out their differences - say, trapped in close quarters under extreme duress for awhile, when emotions ran high and thing just spilled out. They’re both stubborn like hell, so extreme conditions had to be employed for the thing to come to head. 

And form that point on Dick makes more effort to understand where Jason is coming from, instead of instantly disapproving of everything he doesn;t understand right away - he realises that it’s such a Bruce thing to do and he doesn’t want to be like that, because Bruce was the reason for their crappy relations to begin with. Dick tries to look at Jason with clear head and accept him as a new, adult person instead of a dead little boy they were all twisted into feeling guilty about... and, in time, he starts to realise that this whole mindset hurt Jason terribly, that Jay’s self-worth took a powerful hit, because no one gave him a courtesy of looking at him and not seeing a mistake. 

Apart from Alfred and Tim - who were always the most clear-headed and objective members of the family - no one even knew who Jason was nowadays. 

And Dick is startled and dismayed to realise that he doesn’t even have a clue what Jason went though when he wasn’t with them - fuck, he doesn’t even know the exact conditions of his death! He was never interested in knowing, trusting Bruce, the emotionally-stunted, consumed by guilt and despair man who never told the truth if it required him to be emotional. 

So, Dick starts with an investigation - and in time it starts to consume him more and more, because the trail he starts to uncover is so convoluted and weird, and terrifying. And no one knew - not even Alfred, because Jason never spoke of anything post his death. It was always “I died, remember?” that distracted them from inquiring what came after and what came before? Dick scours the archives, because if there’s one thing Bruce can be trusted on it’s keeping all information filed, and discovers that Jason didn’t just run away - he was looking for his birth mother. And, form the looks of it, he had found her, but Bruce’s investigation uncovered her shady dealings with the Joker. Did Jay know she was a bad person when he died? Was she responsible for the explosion? What happened after Bruce left them? (god, he left Jason alone, knowing that Joker was about, fuck!) 

Then he uncovers the note about the disturbed grave - the coffin broken from the inside - and has to take a moment to leave the computer and do something with his hands, because otherwise he was going to throw up. 

And as he does, he discovers more and more things, the picture it all paints is dark and desperate, and Dick starts to ask himself why he never did this before? Why didn’t he ask more questions and just took what Bruce told them? Was it because he didn’t want to know? Was it because it was easier to remain in the status quo? To see Jason’s  face-heel-turns as vindictive rather than the panicked flailing of a person in need of help they can’t ask for. To believe that Jason came back as a changeling, that he was not the boy they lost, that he was to blame for his choices.... and yeah, to a degree he was, but there are many people who made worse choices with much more clarity of mind than Jason ever had and Dick still gave them more than he ever offered Jason. The fact that he freely called Jason his ‘brother’ while giving him less patience and faith than he gave some of his villains...  Was it the feeling of betrayal they all felt when he kept killing or was it the fear of being forced to examine their own shortcomings? They were so comfortable in their grief after all and then Jason came back and threw a wrench into it...   

And all of that has to happen with Dick - he has to realise that and come to grips with that before he can start to heal their relationship - because it’s obvious that the effort has to come from him, not Jason. Jason already accepted being sidelined, staying on the fringes of the family in that strange push-and-pull Bruce keeps forcing on them in is emotional inadequacy. Jay gave up and Dick has to be the one to prove to him that he cares. 

So, he sets out to prove that he cares to get to know this new man Jason is now. And at first it startles Jason, puts him off, because what’s this? They have one shout-out once and now Dick wants to be friends? well, he can fuck off!

But one thing Dick is - is tenacious. You don’t get where he is without being undeterred. He makes effort and his hand remains outstretched, and slowly, inch by inch, Jason starts coming closer. 

As it happens, Dick is a bit of an example for the heroes, so many take his example and Jason slowly stops being the pariah in the hero society - if the first Robin is trying, means there has to be something about Red Hood that’s good, right? 

And, you know, the more Dick knows the real Jason, the more appreciative he is - Jay is still a good person at heart, he still cares so damn much and is scarily eager to put himself down to save others, and even though his methods are brutal, they’re never reckless, he is even more deliberate than Bruce in maintaining his image (and it’s such a Bruce thing, Dick can’t unsee it, how much of Jason is being straight up copied form their father, how can Bruce even pretend to disapprove?) and his plans are so complex and what you see is always just a small bit of them... Jay is so damn smart. Also, damn handsome and strong, and in desperate need of emotional support and help. And Dick was always a sucker for people who needed his help>___>

So, by the time Dick realises he’s fallen, he’s already deep in, hook line and sinker, and has no idea what to do with it at all :O          

[darkspellmaster]

Young Justice: Outsiders Theories -What’s going to happen in Season 3

Minor YJ speculation and worries

With the return of Young Justice, now with the added, Outsiders, a lot of reactions are happening based on the first three episodes. Now that I have had the pleasure of watching the three episodes, a few things have crept into my mind. So I figured, why not theorize about them. 

Side note...Going to add pictures later today because of time by me right now, and I need sleep, so I hope this doesn’t come out jumbled. Pictures when they are put in will be under cut, and some will have blood and may be less then pleasant. You  have been warned. 

Also spoilers for DC comics from around seven or more years ago, again, you have been warned. 

Terra being a Baddie? 

So right now we know that Terra has been Kidnapped and there’s some speculation as to where she is, and what’s going on with her. As many know thanks to the Teen Titans and a movie for the Teen titans as part of the DC Animated movie series, Terra was working as a agents for Slade Wilson, aka Death stroke. We know that Death Stroke exists in this world and that the YJ team has come up against him. 

Given that Judas Contract is such a well loved story, and something a lot of people would like to see done right, I’m wondering if we’re going to see it play out again under Greg and Brandon. If so, is Tera going to be brainwashed or is she going to be actually someone who is evil. We’ve had it in the past where she’s manipulated by Death Stroke and was actually a decent person. However, with YJ nothing is that simple. 

My only concern right now is that people will be upset if they go with the real event in the story and have Princess Tera actually follow her other selves path, only being more true to the actual story. Greg did say they were going to push things with this season, and her parent’s death are one way of doing that...another would be to reveal that she’s in love with Death Stroke and has been sleeping with him, which is what was going on in the original story. That could cause a lot of drama for Geoforce,and he would have to contend with what happened with his sister and a way older man. 

Also I wouldn’t put it past them to have her be saved by Slade and that’s why she feels connected to him. Terra from the comics was complex. This one probably will be too. 

Where is Wally West. 

So according to Greg there is no Speed force, however, we haven’t talked yet about time travel. One of the stories that happened for Barry Allen was that he and his wife Iris West wound up traveling into the future where they had their two kids, a pair of twins, one of whom has Bart, which I can’t remember right now. We know Bart came from the future, so we know that you can travel through time. 

So what if they gave Wally Barry’s story here. Suppose that the speed was enough to actively send him forward in time. But what period? Well there are a few times. Bart’s is one, Possibly to the time of the Tomorrow Titans, or the the time of the Legion of super heroes. Any one of these could lead to him coming back in various ways. 

However I caution something. Wally would not be coming back as the Wally that we knew. He would have changed, probably matured more, and, more than likely depending if they want to go farther with the story and hit home on the idea of merging both Barry and Bart’s stories into Wally’s trip, having him come back as an adult with a family and married to Linda Park. 

Now who is Linda Park? Well she’s Wally’s longest lasting and more famous love interest. She’s a tv news investigative reporter that he met after he became the Flash and for years they’ve had a bit of a contentious sort of romance where Wally tried to win her over and she didn’t fall for his typical charms, this eventually led to the two becoming friends, and her helping him on a number of cases. Eventually, after dating and her worried she couldn’t fit into his world, the two were married and had twins, Iris and Jai, both who had speed powers, though Jai’s were more connected to making him strong. (Both seemed to be based a bit on Mark Waid’s two kids of Wally’s from Kingdom Come.) 

If they decide to go this route it would fit in with the idea of Wally possibly becoming a second Flash, or work in some other way. Not sure yet. Also adding to this theory is that Greg used to work on a show named Gargoyles, where at one point he planed to have one of the main characters, Brooklyn, time travel back to Ancient Japan, meet another Gargoyle from the past there, marry and have a family, only to be brought back into modern time. 

Now I’m not sure how the time travel aspect works in YJ, if it’s only been two years in the future or not. But we do know it’s possible to move through time thanks to Bart. We also know there is no speed force, and thus he can’t be there, so logically the only time that would make the most sense is that he is in the future. It’s not hard to buy into the idea that Wally ends up meeting his Niece -Dawn Allen, and Nephew -Don Allen, also known as the Tornado Twins (who seem to be not dead in this version of the characters history) and possibly the Legion of Superheros, with Jenni Ognats, aka XS (Barry and Iris’s grand daughter and Bart’s cousin, Dawn’s daughter) who is one of the Legions members. 

Given that in the comics both Bart and Conner were revived in the future do to the work of the LoS, I wouldn’t be surprised if they agree to help Wally get home thanks to Braniac 13, who is their tech head. My guess is during this time away Wally will probably meet Linda Park, a local investigative reporter. The two probably will become friends, and then possibly fall in love. Due to not knowing how time flows in this case, I have to wonder if they will have kids or not, so Wally may come back married or in a relationship with Linda, who goes with him back to the past. 

What does Bruce know and why did the others up and leave the team? 

So Batman pretty much blindsided the team, and this is typical of him. Actually this fits in with his actions when he created the Outsiders. Back then there were issues with the UN about them going into Markovia (same as in YJ) only they had Lucius Fox in this case as captive and he needed to get in and get him out. 

So we have Batman forming his own group, probably Batman Inc, or they’ll be called the Outsiders while the other team will be something else. In any event, Bruce doesn’t do things unless he has reasons. Given what happened off world and the fact that there have been over 16,000 kids that have gone missing, this would have gotten his attention long ago. Knowing Bruce, and that he has ties to Talia in YJ, he more than likely has some clue of something going on thanks to Ra’s al Ghul having ties to the light. This would mean that he probably knows it has something to do with the light, and that with Luther on the UN this would lead to him trying to stop the JL and YJ in helping others. 

So what would he know? My guess, is that he knows about what Dick found and I think that Dick’s working with him on this. Bat Family tends to stick together, so he probably has them knowing that he knows something. How much they know, it’s up in the air. I don’t think Tim, Steph or Cissie know much of any thing outside of the fact that they’re going to try to stop Virtigo and other’s like him from kidnapping kids. But Dick and Babs, Katana, and Batwoman probably know more about the situation. As we know that both Dick and Babs were already on the case, and Batwoman is Bruce’s cousin Kate Kane, and a former Marine who is possibly dating Renee Montoya, (possibly the Question) who is a detective on the GPD, which means she would have info from her. Katana is probably working with Lady Shiva, anti-hero of the Batman comics, so she’s probably gathering info via her typical way of doing that. On top of that her family was killed by one of Baron Bedlam’s helpers, so she’s probably wanting revenge. 

I’m pretty sure Bruce knows that the Light are involved, I’m pretty sure that given the death of Ana, that she was used like many others that there’s hints of Apokolips. I’m damn sure that he’s trying to put two and two together and more than likely thinks the watch tower is bugged at this point, that was why he didn’t explain more. I have no doubt he sent Dick to recruit Jefferson. This is Bruce, leave no plan unfinished, Wayne. 

As for Hardware and Plastic Man, I get the feeling that both wanted in because of the kids as well. Both have had connections to kids and both are good guys. So Plastic, who has been sometimes Team Bats and sometimes not, but he was a criminal that knows about how kids fall through the cracks, and would want to help them. Hardware focuses a lot on inner city kids and believes they need a chance to better themselves and his genius intellect and past connections would be a boon to Bruce in this case. 

So what about Ollie? I don’t think he knows as much as Bruce, but I think he does know enough that he suspects there’s something darker going on with the missing kids. People keep forgetting that Oliver is only a bit less rich than Bruce and has his own group of people that watch out for things for him. So he probably has his own suspicions. Keep in mind Ollie is a guy that wants justice for all social issues, and if one thing would piss him off more than anything it would be missing kids. So he would probably meet with Bruce, talk about what they knew and Bruce would play to Ollie’s hot temper and get him to join in leaving. 

Cissie, who is connected to Ollie through her mother, probably is going to be more like Mia from GA going forward as her outfit seems to mirror Arty’s and Mia Dearden’s Speedy look, rather than her own main YJ look from the comics. More than likely Cissie feels the same way as Ollie about things, and (unless they change her back story to be Mia’s -please don’t) she would want to do whatever she could to protect kids due to the fact that so many look up to her because of her time in the Olympics. So her leaving for Ollie makes sense. 

Stephanie, who’s father is the Cluemaster, is known for her more hotheaded choices and for going in to prove herself. She’s also someone who would want to protect kids because of what happened in YJ’s past where she got taken, and probably also because kids like her who’s family is messed up may slip through the cracks and people don’t notice. Her leaving would make sense as she’s going to want to prove herself to Bruce, given that Tim’s probably the one that brought her in and they’re friends (at least right now -crossing fingers more later), and she would want to do her best to prove to Bruce that she can be trusted and is loyal. 

Tim did not look happy about it, but it makes sense for him to want to go too. Tim may not have grown up in a hard life, but he’s also the one that brought Bruce back from the deepest depression he had after Jason Todd’s death. His actions make sense as Cassie has always been a person that would butt heads with him due to him wanting to be like Bruce. He’s more of a detective type then Dick, or Jason, and with his computer skills he’d have probably agreed to this after realizing how this could affect people like the Runaways that they saved in the last season. Yes he wouldn’t have told Cassie as he would know she would tell Diana because the two are very close and would break everything. 

Why are Roy and Artemis living with Lian in the same house? 

I’ve seen a lot of people discussing what is going on with Roy and Arty. People are thinking it’s Roy and Jade’s house, but if it was you would see things that would indicate Jade is around, and we do not have that. In fact it’s clear that the house is very simple, meaning that it’s more than likely Roy decorating at this point. We know that the other YJer’s aren’t exactly okay with Jade/Cheshire, and she and Arty are not perfectly okay either. We also know she tends to fall off the bandwagon and follow her dad’s footsteps. 

So I don’t think she and Roy are together anymore. That doesn’t mean he and Arty are either. Given her loss, Roy would have been the first to take her in as he knows what dealing with pain and loss and that sort of thing can do to you, see his...um China-cat episode (and yes I am calling it that as you can’t tell me that wasn’t a nod to him being on Drugs way back when). Arty is still a college student, she’s gonna have loans and the like as she’d probably not take a lot of money from Ollie. So who’s paying for the house? Who’s house is it? Why it’s Ollie’s. 

Again, it’s in Star City, which is GA’s home town. No doubt Ollie saw what Roy saw with Artemis and Dianah probably pointed out her being down as well. Roy more than likely said he’d take her in, rather than her living on her own, and Ollie was like, no way are you and your daughter and Artemis living in that crappy apartment. Then took Roy and her house hunting and they chose a simple house. Ollie probably paid for it and they live there. It’s a lot like Roy’s house in the comics, that he bought back when he was working for Mr. Bones. 

Dr. Jace and her role in all of this? 

Okay so I’m sure a lot of people are probably going to like the idea of Helga and Brion, given that she’s very touchy with him. The problem is that they are probably going to make Helga also the reason that Metamorpho-Rex Manson (dude on the poster cover with the other outsiders) becomes what he is. He wants her to fix his issues. (Aso there’s a chance that Rex may connect back to Jamie with Egypt and that connection to the beetle.) 

Here’s the thing, Helga Jace is a known villain who works for the Manhunters, a group founded before the Green Lanterns by the big blue heads of Oa. The Manhunters are ruthless and dangerous and I think we see them in the trailers. They were supposed to police the universe like the GLs but they sort of screwed that over. Given we have John Stewart as a mention, we probably will see him and the other Lanterns later. 

So what would she want with Brion? Well if she’s working with the Manhunters than she’s going to have ties probably to Apokolips plot in some way. She’s helping make the kids into these monsters so she would have some idea of what they are being used for. Unless they change that. My guess is that she’s going to turn out to be actually one of the major baddies later on in the season and helping out the Light. 

Halo....

Okay so Halo was a young woman that got killed, lost her memory and was brought back by an alien and now they share the body in a way and she can use powers. In the case of Halo for YJ one thing I noticed is that her powers are very much the same look as the powers from Apokolips. As other’s have noted the color scheme is off with what does what in regard to healing and her force field. The thing is that the color scheme does match that of powers from Apokolips. This means that this may be tied to something or someone from that world. Could we possibly be seeing the New Gods in the near future? 

Darkseid and his plans...

Something’s been bothering me since I’ve seen these first three episodes and that’s the fact that a lot of this is reminding me of Infinite Crisis, or at least parts of it are and there are things that are reminding me of Final crisis as well. 

So there’s this thing in the DCU called the Anti-life equation. Humans seems to have it connected to the subconscious. Darkseid has been looking for this for years, and in Final Crises he was using humans and other beings in experiments to find the equation. This lead to the vanishing of Batman (Long time travel story there) and the battle for the Cowl in Gotham. 

On the show we know that Vandal Savage had brought War World to Apokolips, and said that their alliance still stood. Now we don’t know what the deal is, but it’s looking more like Apokolips is using the Light to create the monsters that we saw fighting the League at the start. But why would he need such things? Well I think that it’s got to do with the equation. Using them for the experiment would be a way to gather information in regard to pulling out the equation. 

It could also tie into the New Gods, and their war with Apokolips. We could be seeing an attempt at building up to a all out war between these two and the building of an army to use against the New Gods. 

Conner and Megan...and Match

I’m not sure how to talk about this one because it’s got a lot of twists and turns. I’ll do my best with this theory. 

So when I was watching the season so far, one thing that stood out to me was the fact that Megan and Conner’s actions are reminding me a lot of what Conner and Cassie were going through during Infinite crises. During the story line Conner was trying to deal with his previous actions. He had been taken over by Lex Luthor (triggered by some stuff in his DNA, and later it turns out it wasn’t Lex who was the main DNA, it’s confusing) but Conner fought his friends and was saved and felt guilty about it. Not long after there was a huge deal with the Infinite crises that was coming from Alexander Luthor (long story there), the first Superman, and Super Boy Prime, who were trying to fix the darkness that had come over the DCU. 

So who is Match a clone of Superboy that wound up fighting with him. He later became a good guy. and joined Titan’s east. But for a while he outright hated Conner and wanted him dead, as I recall. He was made to serve an The Agenda and kill Superboy. He eventually started to go good then started to Rot and was later killed by Superboy Prime. 

The reason I bring both these up is because of how Greg seems to be playing with the story for both these crises and it’s not hard to see similarties here. 

We have had clones before in the series, Match is a clone. Conner asks Megan to marry him, Conner and Cassie consumate their relationship in the barn at the Kent family farm (don’t ask that’s John’s writing), we know that Apokolips is playing with things right now, and we know that they took samples of DNA from the boys in the first season that hasn’t come into play (even if they smashed it, that doesn’t mean all is gone) and it wouldn’t be too hard to see them turning a Superboy clone into a Superboy Prime, by using Match. 

So what does this all mean for Megan and Conner. Well, honestly my guess is that we may see Conner sacrificing himself ala his character in the Infinite story line. 

Superboy Prime and Conner fought till Conner was wounded and SB P had to go get power armor to make himself stronger to beat him. However Conner managed to destroy a tower that SB P had made to change the realities. However he died in the process in Cassie’s arms. 

We know that YJ has a habit of killing off heroes each season. Kent Nelson in season 1, Zartan and Walley in Season 2, so could Conner be up next? We already have an engagement, and it would fit right in with the above story. 

There are a few options here though that could play out.: 

1. Conner doesn’t die, he and Megan get married and live out their lives as heroes, with the complication of them having to deal with his aging problem (You know, stuck at 16). 

2. Conner does die and we are down one Super character. They chose to bring in Damian and Jon Kent in the near seasons, and Jon becomes the new Super boy, or we see the arrival of Chris Kent (lois and Clark’s adopted child who is the son of General Zod), and he takes over the role as Superboy. Or we get Kara Kent, aka Supergirl to join in Conner’s stead. 

3. Conner dies and Megan goes through what Tim did, trying to clone him. Case A: she fails like Tim did and has to move on. Case B; she succeeds, but the Conner that comes out is closer to the original Conner from the comics and less serious and possibly isn’t interested in her. Case C: she makes a perfect Clone of him and that comes back as a story plot point later when he comes back alive. 

4. Conner dies, but is revived by the Legion of Superheroes, just as it was done in the comic and he comes back to the past with them for another season arc. 

There is also the option of Megan dying too, but I’m not sure if they would do that as of yet. 

Okay on to happier thoughts: 

Character’s that I hope we get in the near future.....

Anita Fite -Empress. It would be so cool to have her join the team and have an interesting relationship with Cassie and the other girls on the crew. Her powers are more magic based so that would fill in for the missing Zee. 

Slowbo- Clone or kid from the same planet as Lobo. He could claim to be Lobo’s kid, that would be amusing. Come on we need the trash talking nerd to get on Con’s nerves. 

The Ray, already being used by the CW seed, Ray was on YJ for a short time and was older than the other kids but he turned out to be a good mentor figure for them. 

Jade and Obsidian, Twin children of the first Green Lantern Allen Scott. Jenny (Jade) has powers like her father, except they are internal, Todd (Obsidian) manipulates shadows and merge with them allowing him to do things like fly and the like. 

Powergirl -if we can’t have supergirl then at least give us Power girl, as Karen Star is amazing and being Clark’s cousin with the same powers is cool. Also bonus if this gives us the idea of Earth 2. 

Since we have Courtney can we get the kids from the JSA? Like all of them? 

Also just where is Bunker? I could easily see him joining the cast as he would fit right in and be a fun character to have. 

Rose Wilson and Eddie -kid devil, would be a nice added bonus, along with Jericho (and leave him mute please). 

There’s way to many people I would like to see, including Argent, as Toni would make for an interesting female character. 

Can we also get Raven in there please. I miss Rachel.  

[thedcdunce]

Phantom Stranger

“I steer, but I cannot lead. That has always been my fate.” - Phantom Stranger

Aliases:

Grey Walker

Gender: Male

Height: 6′ 2″

Weight: 185 lbs (84 kg)

Eyes: Black

Hair: Black/ Grey

Powers:

Immortality

Magic

Abilities:

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic)

Storytelling

Occultism

Weaknesses:

Non-Direct Interaction

Talkative

Equipment:

Amulet

Universe:

Earth-One

New Earth

Marital Status: Single

First Appearance: Phantom Stranger #1 (August, 1952)

Last Appearance: Superboy Vol 5 #11 (October, 2011)

Powers

Immortality: He has survived attacks that would kill mortals, including having his heart removed.

Magic: The Stranger almost never uses spoken spells or magical rituals more complex than a seance or a circle of entrapment. However, his magical prowess almost knows no bounds. When the Stranger is acting in his bailiwick, he is almost supremely powerful. If he is not taken by surprise and can plan and act, he can be baffled only by universal forces.

Dimensional Travel: He can travel at will among the magical dimensions, including the Realm of the Just Dead, the Antechamber of Souls, Heaven, Hell, Apokolips, and the realm occupied by the Quintessence.

Eldritch Blast: He can fire energy bolts of great force.

Spectral Sight: He can see spiritual entities and travelers invisible to normal sight; he can perceive magical events at a great distance.

Illusion Casting

Dispel: He can dispel magic and sorcery, especially magic of mental control or illusion and deception.

Transmutation: He can perform some feats of transmutation, such as turning fired bullets into flowers and sticks into snakes and back.

Oneiromancy: He can send dreams of omen, warning, or information, though possibly only with the permission of Dream of the Endless.

Reality Manipulation

Self-Sustenance: He can survive and even communicate in outer space, though he may not be able to travel of his own volition while there.

Mental Awareness: He has at least some telepathic abilities, and can ordinarily perceive truth and deception, good and evil.

Teleportation: He can mysteriously vanish and appear at will, suggesting magical teleportation.

Abilities

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic): He is a moderately skilled hand-to-hand combatant, often surprising with a punch someone who smugly thought their protection against magic rendered them untouchable.

Storytelling: The Stranger always comes onto a new adventure as a story. He thrives in it and even acts in it, manipulating the events how he sees fit. When an event seemed to be supernatural in nature he depicted it to be normal and vise versa.

Occultism: He displays vast and keen insight into cosmic, magical, and mystical forces.

Weaknesses

Non-Direct Interaction: The Stranger's most important weakness, if that is what it is, is the sharp limitation on his acting directly and overtly. Threats which he would presumably have the raw power to directly defeat he must instead warn others about, especially if those others have some particular responsibility at stake. Even his information he apparently cannot provide clearly and explicitly; in many cases his warnings or clues are cryptic. It might be, for example, that he is forbidden from removing the responsibility from humanity's shoulders; he definitely believes in free will, and the availability of a balance of choices to humans.

Talkative: A weakness of a different sort is his oft-noticed tendency to speak too much; but this may be related to his need to make those around him understand the consequences of their choices and the fact that they face choices. He must not act in their place, so he must make them understand what their actions mean.

Equipment

Amulet

Origin

The Phantom Stranger is a mysterious figure in the history of the world. His origins, nature, even his name, have never been revealed. Various stories about his origins exist, including:

One tale postulated that the Stranger was a fallen angel who sided with neither Heaven nor Hell during Satan's rebellion and thus condemned to walk the Earth alone for all time. This is also backed by The Word who said that the Phantom Stranger was a fallen one.

Another proposes the Stranger was originally a private citizen during biblical times and was spared God's wrath. An angel was sent to deliver him from divine wrath. After questioning God's actions, he commits suicide. The angel forbids his spirit from entering the afterlife, reanimates his body and condemns him to walk the world forever to be a part of humanity but also forever separated from it. He then discovered his divine charge, to turn humanity away from evil, one soul at a time.

In a variation of the Wandering Jew story, he was an adult family man named Isaac with a wife and boy at the time when Jesus Christ was a small child. When King Herod sent his army to kill all small male children the army slew his son and wife. Blind with anger, he spent the next 30 years in a rage against Jesus. As Jesus was being tortured, Isaac bribed a guard to assume his role in whipping Jesus. Jesus then sentenced him to walk away from his home and country; to be errant until Doomsday. Eventually, his misplaced rage expunged, he spent the rest of his time helping society, even declining God's offer to release him from his sentence.

The last was a proposal that the Stranger is a remnant of the previous universe. At the end of the universe the Phantom Stranger approaches a group of scientists studying the event, warning them not to interfere in the natural conclusion of the universe. The story concludes with the Phantom Stranger passing a portion of himself to a scientist, the universe is reborn, and the scientist from the previous universe is the Phantom Stranger in the new universe.

A Stranger...

Early in his career, the Phantom Stranger would prove supernatural events to be hoaxes, saving many victims in the process. In later adventures, the supernatural events were real and the Phantom Stranger was given unspecified superhuman powers to defeat them. He later appeared in various other adventures, sometimes as a major participant; in others, the Phantom Stranger just appears and gives advice or warning to the featured heroes. Occasionally he serves simply as narrator. In some stories, he seems to be answerable to a mysterious Voice, implied to be God.

The Phantom Stranger played a major part in guiding Tim Hunter through time to show him the history and nature of magic. He has assisted the Justice League on numerous occasions, even being formally elected to the group. The Stranger also tried to foil Eclipso's plan to cause a nuclear war.

He also attempted to prevent Hal Jordan from uniting the resurrected body of Oliver Queen with his soul in Heaven. This earned him Jordan's wrath; indeed, the Spectre threatened to judge the Stranger to see whether God had "punished" him properly by refusing him access to Heaven itself. Nonetheless, the Phantom Stranger has assisted Hal Jordan during his tenure as the Spectre on numerous occasions as well, most notably in a short stint babysitting Hal's niece, Helen.

During the Day of Vengeance, the Stranger had been turned into a small rodent by the Spectre. He was still able to advise Detective Chimp, who sheltered him in his hat while he recovered his powers. He changed back using recovered energies and aided the Shadowpact, allowing them to see the battle between the Spectre and Shazam. That makes a point that the supernatural community generally regards the Phantom Stranger as invincible. The first reaction of some people to the Spectre's assault on magic is simply to presume that the Stranger will take care of it. Other adventures have shown the Stranger nearly as powerful as the Spectre. This however, is a recent interpretation. While others have never considered the Stranger as an easy foe to combat, given his unknown abilities, they also never considered him as invincible.

The Phantom Stranger's relationships with the other mystic heroes are usually a bit tense. The Stranger has no qualms gathering various forces in order to combat a certain evil, often invading those people's personal lives. However, he does not usually extend them that same courtesy. The Phantom Stranger has resisted such people as Doctor Fate in this, although Fate is in almost any incarnation an ally of the Stranger. Despite this, he does get along well with Zatanna; he appeared by her side to help remove the influence of Faust on Red Tornado.

Since he is ultimately an unpredictable force, others often meet the Phantom Stranger's appearance with distrust. Nonetheless, most heroes will follow him, seeing not only his immense power, but also knowing that the Stranger is in the end, a force for good. Notable though is Madame Xanadu, who has refused to join the Stranger on a few occasions, although she is a member of his Sentinels of Magic.

The Stranger also holds a unique relationship with the Spectre, as the two forces often come into conflict. He was responsible for gathering a group of mystic heroes in order to combat the Spectre, when its human host Jim Corrigan seemingly lost control of the Spectre. The Phantom Stranger participated in Jim Corrigan's funeral, when Corrigan's soul finally earned its rest and left the Spectre. The Stranger subsequently became one of the forces that stood against the Spectre when it went on a rampage without its human host, until the soul of Hal Jordan bonded with it. The Stranger occasionally took on an advisory role for this new Spectre. Aware that the Spectre now has yet another new host, the Phantom Stranger gathered a large group of magic wielders and mystics, including Nabu, Zatanna, and the Shadowpact, in an unsuccessful attempt to solicit the Spectre's assistance in the Infinite Crisis and later reforming the Rock of Eternity.

Fun Facts

The Spectre transforms the Stranger into a rodent, rather than killing him outright, because even the Spectre's power would be insufficient to kill the Stranger.

When the Spectre was defeated by a Black Power Ring, Black Hand could not comprehend the Stranger's true nature. Given that Black Hand is connected to Nekron, and can sense whether or not something is alive or a reborn being or an immortal, the fact is that the only description Black Hand can give the Stranger is "stranger than that".

Another possible origin of the Stranger, in which it was implied that Jonathan Kent, the future son of Superman and Wonder Woman, might grow up to be the Phantom Stranger. This also tied some of his abilities into the Hypertime concept, saying that he had the innate ability to enter other alternate timelines and to exist in the spaces between them. However, the adventure ultimately revealed this to be a red herring. The person in question had been deliberately placed in shadows to suggest that he was the Stranger; but when Wonder Woman finally saw his face, she said that she now realized he was not the Stranger.

The Stranger has some unique abilities like the ability to break the fourth wall and address the reader directly.

The Phantom Stranger is also known as the Brotherless One.

[nautiscarader]

The Dragon Prince - Season 2

It is very rare to see a show which has improved in nearly every aspect, but lo and behold, TDP season 2 delivers more. 

Just... more. 

More drama, more characters, more action, more humor, and more dark, complex, and mature storylines.

Spoilers galore beneath

First and foremost, I am very happy that the animation department has listened to our cries - the choppy animation is no more. The cell-shaded animation is odd, but it certainly no longer distracting from the action. And if you want to watch TDP season 2, then you need to pay attention to everything on the screen, because the things that happen on the screen are marvellous. 

The ongoing story, together with expanded flashbacks are excellent, and make the world believable and realistic. Wars do not happen in one day, they are the effects of years of conflicts, slowly building up, and the show has given us excellent reasons to believe and be invested in them.

Very few shows have created such interesting villains like this one. Soren, Claudia and their father, Viren aren’t just evil. They are not evil overlords and kidnappers - they are properly constructed characters with deep motivations. 

Viren is a pragmatist, who is slowly consumed by the dark magic, thus skewing his morals. His children follow his steps, though themselves start to realise he might be wrong, and yet come to the same reasoning as he did: that power can be used to overcome problems, even if it done in an immoral way.

Our protagonist grow up as well: I was mighty afraid that the show will do the “liar reveal” cliché between the brothers, or between Rayla and Callum, regarding the news of their father’s death, but fortunately, the writers have dodged the bullet on two occasions, because of proper build-up and the mountain of trust between the three (or four, since Claudia delivered it). The lessons they learned were deep, life-changing and not easy to swallow, and I think they accepting them will help kids all over the world. 

Speaking of difficult things to bear: Soren’s kinda-disability. the way it was handled was magnificent, albeit with Soren’s slightly awkward acceptance of it. But Claudia? She reacted just like you would if you were hit with such grave news. Characters in TV shows get slammed all over place without any bones breaking, but here? No, they did not joke. A dragon smashes you into a rock, you get a spine broken. End of story. On one hand, it would be interesting to see his character with the disability, but given he is a part of the cast, it would be problematic, I guess. And Claudia using Bambi’s life forces to revive his ability to walk might have even more dire consequences. Will she have to sacrifice more and more animals to keep him alive? Will the dark magic flowing through him corrupt him? Will Soren have to sacrifice his ability to walk in order to cleanse himself? Who knows, the possibilities are quite vast.  

Speaking of possessions: Callum and dark magic. That was something I wanted to see in S2, and I think it has been handled really well. Callum has potential to be a dark wizard, and while he has discovered his sky arcaneum, I have a feeling he will be tempted to dabble with dark magic in the future, breaking our hearts again.

And on top of that, you have relationships. Callum, Rayla and Ezran have very different connections to Soren and Claudia, as, say, Team Avatar to Zuko and Azula. 

Callum and Ezra were - and arguably are - friends with Claudia and Soren, they do have strong bonds (in case Callum and Clauida something even stronger), since they’ve known each other since childhood. It is not just a hero/villain cliché - they are, once again, well-defined characters, and as a result their relationships are strong, well-grounded and believable.

And the hugs between Rayla and Callum are melting all of shippers’ hearts, I cannot overlook that (but still no kiss, or almost kiss yet, but have almost had “I love you”).

The action is superb. Fight scenes are fast, well-planned, and gripping, exactly what you’d expect from a fantasy series. 

And of course, with a whole new half of continent to explore, as well as half a dozen plot lines in the human half to resolve, new seasons will have tons of opportunities to once again punch us in the gut, make us laugh, cry and be thrilled.

So, are there any negative aspects...?

Well... yeah.

One thing that is kinda unavoidable, are the parallels to Avatar The last Airbender. From occasional jokes and subtle nods, like with the haiku and syllables counting, through slightly more transparent like the animal hybrids, through bloody-freaking-obvious, like Callum being an airbender. Or sky mage, or whatever you name them here. It is pretty weird to see this happening again, since, well, it invokes the parallels to ATLA instantly, and let’s face it, ATLA is still better, so you might not necessarily want to remind us of a show we’d rather watch, Dragon Prince. 

Another one is Ezran’s character. Mind you, he got better in S2, especially with the revelation of his father becoming a spirit birb hybrid dying forever, but he is just a bit bland and too perfect for a 10-year old. I joked about it in my recaps, but he is jesus - he can do no wrong. And that is bloody boring! Look at Callum - he has flaws, he makes mistakes, that’s what makes him complex. And what does Ezran do? He goes off-track and can’t even get himself mauled by a banther properly. Get rekt.

He reminds me of Charlie from Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate factory - that kid was freaking perfect, without any flaws whatsoever, spewing moralistic phrases left, right and center, contrary to the one from the book and the classic movie. 

Plus, his abilities are never explained, and are so damn plot convenient! It is one thing to just having a skill of handling animals - that I would accept - another thing is being able to understand them - that’s a bit too much, but still cool - and something wildly different is TO HAVE A DIRECT MIND LINK WITH THEM. Ezran is OP, pls nerf. And the worst thing is, with just a bit of clever rewriting, they wouldn’t need that. Just move the splitting scene after they cross the moonpath bridge - so that Ezran is still with Zim when he has to fly to save them. Solved.

I guess you can make a counter-argument that he also learns it, just like Callum does with magic, but guess what: Callum makes mistakes, so we see he learns! I would like to see Ezran mistranslating some wild animal’s wish and getting comeuppance when he has to run up the tree. I KNOW! BRING THE TAFFY HIPPO FROM HIS DREAM! YES! HE WILL BE HIS SPIRIT TEACHER! Ekhm, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, Ezran’s unexplained abilities.  

In fact, I think so far TDP kinda delivered a disappointing deus-ex-machina payoffs in both seasons: mind link in S2 and Zim’s magic-breaking teeth in S1 allowing Reyla to have her hand. I was slightly disappointed then, and I was slightly disappointed now.

But I am willing to forgive it. Because quite literally anything else in the series is top-notch. The characters, for the most part, are complex and three-dimensional. The decisions they take are not simple and black-and-white. The villains are superb and blood-freezing, being able to scare you from the screen. They have added just enough Azula and Ozai juice to Viren and Aavaros to make them menacing and entertaining to watch. I love it.

On more than a few occasions the show has caught me off-guard and surprised me with its decisions, and I cannot wait for more of them. 

[anony-mouse-writer]

(the frustrating part about being a comics fan is seeing stories where the characters are deep and fascinating and complex and then like 3 issues later, they've reverted to using a moral compas more fitted to 90s action hero show.

that being said, batfam fandom has always been about cherry picking which characterizations we like best for a given context, sooooo)

it's incredibly fascinating that Cass' character is a study in nature versus nurture. Literally the only language she was taught was violence, and yet, upon examining the consequences of her actions, she chose and continues to choose her own brand of pacifism. Not one where no one gets hit, but one where no one dies because no one deserves that fear and draining of life that she saw in Faizul.

contrast that to her robin counterpart: Tim. Tim is very much a Big Picture thinker. He, more than anyone- maybe even Bruce - believes in the power of symbols. Gotham needs Batman, Batman needs a Robin. He likes the simplicity of a heroic story 'beat the bad guy, save the girl', but he has never set aside an alliance with someone and rarely set aside a plan based on the ethics of that person or plan. This is the kid who never crossed certain legal and ethical lines, not because he personally was against it, but because it would taint the Robin name. I think that's a lot of the reason he almost never makes his own aliases and instead adopts other peoples' - he defines his actions for each based on the role previously established to the symbols he takes up.

Both of them, for one reason or another, had to basically make their own codes of ethics for themselves for the first formative years of their lives and they came up with vastly different solutions with largely similar, but ultimately not the same outcomes.

Cass’ first kill, the one that leads her to realize what murder is and sends her in a journey to find her own way to be a hero, isn’t a virtuous person connected to our other characters. It’s a criminal, a kingpin with blood on his hands, invented only to die.

Cassandra’s first kill doesn’t draw her into the world of superheroics; it isn’t a person who impresses her with their virtue. It’s just some guy, someone Jason would probably justify killing, and the fact that it triggers her journey of self-discovery, morality, and extreme dedication to the preservation of life, says so much more about her than Faizul. Who Faizul is is inconsequential. The fact that he was probably just another replaceable asshole, a man who lived by the assassin and thus died by the assassin, is irrelevant to her. Making her first kill someone innocent or relevant to the cape and cowl crowd changes her story thematically.

From the very beginning, Cass’ motto has been “no one dies tonight.” Not because they’ve earned the right to live, not because they’re innocent, not because they will use the gift of life for good instead of evil, but because killing is fundamentally wrong. No one means no one, and that is reinforced by her developing this idea from watching the death of someone shitty.

Cass was raised to not know any other way, but she created her own path outside of murder without a role model to guide her. Cass is a character who was able to create a code of ethics from scratch, without the language or even concept of opposing murder to help her. That’s fucking incredible.

[douxreviews]

Batman The Animated Series - ‘Two-Face’ Review

"At last we meet, face to face... to face."

Two-Face has one of comic's most tragic origin stories and it has inspired some of the very best Batman stories over the years such as Jeph Leob and Tim Sale's The Long Halloween, Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, and this two-parter.

'Two-Face' is Batman: The Animated Series at its absolute best. Brilliantly written, exceptionally directed, and stunningly animated, it's the series' first true masterpiece. This is one of those episode you force a friend who has never seen it before to watch so they can see why you never shut the fuck up about it.

I already rambled on in a previous review about how BTAS always made the effort to make us understand its villains, now I'm going to talk about how it also made us feel sorry for a lot of them. In Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's The Killing Joke, the Joker theorises that all it takes to drive someone insane is one really bad day. The makers of BTAS obviously subscribe to that theory since that is how so many of the Batman's villains come to be. Most of Gotham's worst criminals start out as perfectly ordinary people who are living perfectly ordinary lives when something horrible happens to them (or someone they care about) that sends them on a one way trip into madness. And there is no more perfect example of this than Gotham's own District Attorney, Harvey Dent.

This story wouldn't have worked as well as it did if Harvey was just some random city official we'd never met before. We might not have seen that much of him before this episode, but we saw enough to know that he was one of the good guys and, more importantly, Bruce Wayne's best friend. Very probably his only friend. The friendship between these two is at the very heart of the story. Yeah, Two-Face might spend most of the story pining for his fiancee, Grace, but that doesn't carry nearly as much dramatic weight as the pain Bruce feels for letting his friend down.

If Batman is Gotham's Dark Knight, then Dent is its shining white knight. He's the hero people can look up to and believe in. He doesn't have to resort to costume theatrics to bring down crooks like mob boss Rupert Throne. His weapon is the law, but it's currently shooting blanks. Judges in Thorne's pocket are undoing all of Dent's good work. Frustrated with working within a corrupt system, and struggling with the strain of running for reelection, Dent is starting to unravel, exposing his own deep dark secret.

You see, Harvey has spent his whole life trying to be a good person. He worked so hard at it that he suppressed all his negative impulses. This has had the unfortunate side effect of creating his very own monster from the Id: the aggressive, violent, short tempered, gravelly voiced, coin flipping Big Bad Harv. Harvey's been able to keep his alter-ego under control before, but he's coming out more and more, and often very publicly. Fishing for dirt on Gotham's hero, Thorne's minions stumble onto Harvey's secret and the mob boss tries to use it to get the D.A. in his pocket. Big mistake. Big Bad Harv takes over and attacks Thorne and his men. Batman tries to intervene and save Dent, but just ends up bungling the rescue. One explosion later and Harvey Dent is no more, replaced by Two-Face, one of Gotham's most notorious criminals.

I'm going to stop now and take a moment to talk about how exceptional Two-Face's character design is. As is so often the case with this show, the elegance is in the simplicity. Timm and his team never made the mistake of over complicating how the villains looked. Partly because it would've made them more difficult to animate. Of course, just because it looks simple doesn't mean it doesn't have a deeper meaning. Two-Face's black and white suit is a possible references to the Taijitu, the symbol in Chinese philosophy which represents the dualist (yin and yang) aspect of Taiji (supreme ultimate). Yeah, this is that kind of kids' show.

But Two-Face is more than just a triumph of character design. He is easily one of the show's most complex and fascinating villains. It would've been so easy for the writers to just make Two-Face Big Bad Harv unleashed. But that would be obvious and not all interesting. Instead, Two-Face is a sort of melding of the two sides of Harvey's personality. He has all of Big Bad Harv's rage and violence, but it's tempered (occasionally) by Harvey's sense of order, which has been twisted so that everything is determined by the flip of a coin. It is testament to how well Two-Face is written that his obsession with duality never becomes a cheap gimmick, but is a symptom of his mental illness. Because that is ultimately what Harvey Dent/Two-Face is. He's a mentally ill man who placed his job before his own well-being and didn't get the help he desperately needed until it was too late.

Fortunately for Dent, he's up against a Batman who is more than sympathetic to the mentally ill, one who understands that, for all their crimes, his villains are probably the ones who need Batman's help the most. The other day I saw a post on Tumblr (yes, it's still a thing) where people talked about how well this series tackled the subject of mental health and how this Batman is portrayed as a more empathetic character who understands that many of his adversaries are sick people who just need help. Or as one person so brilliantly put it "The story of one fucked up, traumatised little boy, doing his best to help other fucked up traumatised people."

I Know That Voice

Rupert Thorne was voiced by John Vernon (National Lampoon's Animal House, Dirty Harry, The Outlaw Josey Wales).

Comic Book Connections

Two-Face/Harvey Dent was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane and first appeared in Detective Comics #66 (Aug, 1942). The character was originally named Harvey "Apollo" Kent, but this was changed to avoid confusion with Clark Kent. Rupert Thorne was created by Steve Englehart and Walter Simonson, the character first appeared in Detective Comics #469. In the comics he was a corrupt politicians rather than a mobster.

Notes and Quotes

--It's rather fitting that the series' first two-parter (production-wise at least) is about Two-Face.

--Despite having such a important role here, Grace is never seen or mentioned again after this story.

--First appearance of the Bat-cycles and can I just say I love their design.

--The final scene of Part I is terrific, one of the series' best moments, and looks simply stunning in HD, but there are some notable animation errors. For example, when Harvey is first shown in the hospital, his chin, neck, and hair are all undamaged. Also, his left hand is normal at the end of the episode, but is damaged by the start of Part II, although it is possible he later did that himself so that his left hand matched his face.  

--In the scene where the psychiatrist is trying to bring out "Big Bad Harv" when the lightning strikes, Harvey's face briefly flashes as Two-Face.

Candace: "My, this guy is crazy." Rupert Thorne: "Yeah, crazy like a fox. That little tantrum probably bought him another 10,000 votes."

Thorne: "So what do you say, Harvey? Do we have a deal?" Harvey: "There's just one problem." Thorne: "What's that?" Harvey: "You're talking to the wrong Harvey."

Two-Face: "Don't bother to adjust the picture. For the next five minutes, I'm in control." --Harvey is obviously a fan of The Outer Limits.

Thorne: "All men have something to hide. The brighter the picture, the darker the negative."

Alfred: "Remember, sir. Harvey Dent is no longer the great man we once knew." Batman: "I have to believe that somewhere under that monster is my old friend." Alfred: "That may make him even more dangerous."

Four out of four monsters from the Id.

Mark Greig has been writing for Doux Reviews since 2011

[sfdfmoviereviews]

Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)

The Event Cinema on Broadway (the one in Newmarket with the intersections, not the one in New York with the theatres) is a great place to watch some trash. I think it’s the faux deco decor, which attempts to marry the interior with the old building’s facade on a budget that wouldn’t get you a nice kitchen renovation. The suspense of disbelief it engenders- “sure it’s all chipboard and veneer. but it’s all in good fun!”- sets the mood for any janky movie you might be in the mood for. And so I made my way to Broadway to watch a Transformers movie. It didn’t help.

I like to start these reviews with a brief synopsis of the thing I have seen, but in this case I won’t. because the plot of this movie doesn’t matter. They have to get the thing to save the Earth and there’s some Arthurian stuff and like a tentacle robot lady and Anthony Hopkins is an old guy in a castle and so forth. It is both completely insensible and completely comprehensible at the same time.

As installment five in this bafflingly long-lived franchise, Transformers: The Last Knight again exploits the skewed expectations of the audience. I should find it remarkable that the ostensibly simple concept of robots that turn into things and fight each other has morphed into an absurdly complex mythos about the secret history of Earth, but from the moment Merlin (Stanley Tucci) declares that he wishes he was ‘sozzled’ the film constantly reinforces it’s notion that we are not here for grounding or verisimilitude. We are here for the grand promises of franchise cinema, the promises of epic scope and heroism and moments and comedy. All else- including any notion that such things need justification- are left at the door.

And so this is what Transformers is about really, a belligerent call to have a good time and to avoid overthinking it. Should you wish to infer some substance from the proceedings, the myriad of script writers attached to this thing have seen fit to adorn it with a theme. Legends are important dontcha know, and out hero Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) is paired with Oxford professor Vivian Wembley (Laura Haddock), who’s field of study is apparently father-induced jadeism towards the Arthurian Legends. Our heroes are induced to go on some Da Vinci Code quest thing by Sir Edmund Burton* (Sir Anthony Hopkins), the last surviving whatever of the ancient order of Whitwiccans. Along the way they learn that heroic legends are important because you, Mark Wahlberg, can be a hero if you believe in them, and it even helps if you haven’t gotten laid in a while so don’t worry about that. And don’t worry, ‘JPL scientist’ (Tony Hale) also learns that science is crummy. Also, repeat after me: Army- good, intelligence service with three-letter acronym- bad.

In the midst of all this, I guess there are some transformers. Megatron (Frank Welker) and Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) are absorbed in some struggle for/against Quintessa (Gemma Tran), the creator of Cybertron or something. Whatever this subplot and/or major conflict of the movie was about, it pretty much existed to justify calling this a Transformers movie.

I genuinely don’t know what Bay et al’s intentions are here. They may be earnest (and egotistical) enough to think the audience is actually following and invested in this great mythology, which for all it’s variances still refers back to the earliest films in an attempt to tie it all together. They may be smart enough to know we don’t actually care, but want to be assured that they do, and so they pepper the movie with references to things we might remember without aiming for a level of nuance that might create the impression that something has been missed.

As for the mechanics of it, the cinematography and editing and music, it is a mess. Sequences are both rushed and tedious, as we flick from one story element to another with no regard given to how it all might tie together. We follow Izabella (Isabela Moner), a kid hero with a robot sidekick who teams up with Marky Mark and his Funky Bunch, but then she spends a good chunk of the movie in abscentia before reappearing at the climax. We get an extended sequence of Decepticon introduction which might be relevant later, except then most of them are immediately beheaded and the rest just kind of fly around with Megatron probably. Whoever edited this thing doesn’t entirely understand how mid-credits sequences work, because the teaser for the next installment comes while the first chunk of credits are still rolling.

Somehow, there is an element of fun here. The banter between Wahlberg and Haddock is funny, when it isn’t excruciating or stilted. Sir Anthony Hopkins is off the chain, revelling in dialogue at great odds with the conventions of the old English landowner he plays, flipping off cops from his Lamborghini driven by his sass-talking steampunk ninja-butler Cogman (Jim Carter). I would not be surprised if others deride this element, but if it were in an MCU movie we would all be clamoring for a standalone film and quoting it incessantly.

You might have been interested in how the film would handle Izabella, given this trailer:

I was expecting to enjoy this greatly, as ‘kid inventor with robot friend and strong moral compass’ is catnip to me. I was also expecting to say that the character represented the success of market driven equality; Izabella not as a groundbreaking character but a demonstration of how the call for greater representation in film had reached even Bay’s ears. In practice she is none of this, as she is introduced and then largely ignored. In a broader sense the film’s approach to representation is incredibly uneven. Gil Birmingham calls out Yeager for calling him ‘chief’, but there are still so many stereotypebots. Haddock’s Vivian gets a much greater amount of agency than I think we have seen from a female character is this franchise, but plunging necklines and clinging outfits abound.

The transformers films would very much like to sell you things. Please buy GM vehicles and Caterpillar construction equipment and get it all from Xin.com.

Performances are irrelevant. Josh Duhamel is back, though.

I don’t know if the above adequately represents Transformers: The Last Knight, because it is so paradoxical. An unintelligible and tonally dissonant morass of franchise conventions, it nonetheless convey it’s intent to entertain with absolute clarity. Is it any good? Well no, not really. But as an exercise in the limits of big budget storytelling it offers astounding insight. But don’t see it.

Tim

*No, the one you’re thinking of was Sir Edmund BARton.

[jensenknowsdeanbetterthanyou]

9, 10, 11

Most disliked character(s)? Why?

Post s5 Sam who has become just a boring writers pet. Too much WWWS, too much shilling (are all the Supernatural fangirls they encounter going to be Sam fans?) too much Saint!Sam who’s actually a hypocrite (how can anyone who’s caused so much destruction and played a part in getting his friends killed preach about saving people like he did at the start of s11?) and this season it’s obvious that the next stage in the “how to make Sam as likeable as Dean” plan is to hand over Dean’s hunting skills to him and give him a long winded speech that’s supposed to be inspiring. The writers need to stop trying so hard, stop making him a stu and Mr Perfect™️…it’s dull! It’s annoying! They need to kill off “Sam Fucking Winchester” and bring back the messed up complicated Sam of s1-4. He was interesting then, he made huge mistakes, he was dark and almost antagonistic and it was much more fun to watch. He also got called out on a regular basis and we the audience were allowed to decide whether to like him or not. Since s5 though there’s been this one long back track, a campaign to make him some kind of uber hero who can do no wrong, it’s as if the writers are forcing the audience to like him, and I don’t like being told what to think. The more they try to put me in a choke hold and demand I think Sam is the best thing ever the more I’m likely to think the opposite. 

Second place goes to Lucifer who is a self parody now, and it angers me that we get several seasons of Mark Pellegrino’s mugging and only 2 episodes of the immense Tim O’s Cain. 

Most disliked arc? Why?

Anything to do with Sam and Hell/Cage/Lucifer. I resent that Sam went to Hell for a hundred years of woobifying torture that was designed to undermine and devalue Dean’s time in Hell. Gamble made it into a competition when she had Dean say his time in Hell was Disneyland in comparison because of course Sam has to suffer the most - that’s very important. We must all feel sorry for Sam and forget that Dean went through the same (only in a far superior and more psychologically complex storyline involving Alistair his torturer then mentor). Also, the fact they keep returning to this again and again while forgetting Dean’s time in Hell, reinforces my belief that they want us to forget Dean’s Hell arc despite the fact it was hugely important both to the show over all and Dean. Sam’s hell arc has also led to years of constant Limp!Sam from the Hellucinations to Cage flashbacks and just please make it stop I don’t care! The writers have a real boner for this and it squicks me out. 

Second place goes to The Trials (which I still believe were originally meant for Dean but the writers switched it around). Again just another excuse for the writers to indulge in Limp!Sam while forcing Dean into a caretaker role that reduces his importance as a character in his own right, and we got cheerleader Dean for half a season. 

Honourable mention is the BMOL which is just shit, and not Supernatural. 

Is there an unpopular character you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

I don’t know if she’s unpopular now but at the time I swear she was the most hated character at the time (before I started watching so this is second hand info) and that’s Jo. I related to Jo, in real life I was the younger girl in a boys world growing up, with older brothers and cousins, trying to make my mark so I easily felt for her. Plus I thought she was brave and capable while realistic and still allowed to be vulnerable and real. The only reason she was hated was because she was connected to Dean and got in the way of the epic love of Sam and Dean. Same with Anna and Lisa. 

There’s also Gordon who was incredibly fascinating, brilliantly acted, and could have been a multi season antagonist/frenemy if they tried. He could have been the Faith to Dean’s Buffy (very simple generalisation) and that tension between them could have lasted longer. 

I also kinda liked that tech guy from s7 who helped Dean, although he did give the usual boo hoo speech to Dean I guess his cranky old man act counter balanced nicely with Dean - but that could just be that I liked the actor who played him and have a soft spot for Dean teaming up with older guys.