#way better <33< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[cryptablog]

Simon petrikov girl dad of 3

-Marceline

-Fionna Campell

-Finn Mertens (not a girl but that doesnt change anything)

[ruvigapo]

Run boy run!! The sex monsters eat salmon!!

In which i arrive Fashionably Late to the fishssek party

[exocorpsehq]

happy 26th birthday, technoblade.

🐷👑🎂💝

Timelapse:

[moonwoodhollow]

short break from my mcm build to decorate Supriya's and Ada's (by @bunnithechubs) flat.

[casscainmainly]

"My long-held belief that Duke and Luke should not get along" <- could you please elaborate on this? I'm fond of both and I collect your thoughts and analyses like they're rare trading cards so I'm ready to be all 👀🫳🍿

First of all anon this might be my favourite ask ever, I've been dying to write my thoughts on these two so THANK YOU. Secondly my belief that Duke + Luke wouldn't get along actually stemmed from WFA, I was super annoyed with Luke giving Duke the pep talk in ep 76 because they have no relationship!!! Then I started thinking harder and realised they are a really interesting pair. In case anyone hasn't noticed I'm fond of giving Duke relationships where he's annoyed with the other person so 😭 this is very on brand.

The thing about Duke + Luke is they are, on the surface, similar - they are Black members of the Batfam who operate mostly independently, 'separate' from a legacy as Signal/Batwing (though I will deconstruct this later), devoted to their family, have a strong sense of justice, and view crime-fighting as a business. But I believe at their cores they are fundamental opposites - and it's this hidden opposition that makes me think they wouldn't vibe with each other. I'm focusing on We Are Robin Duke and Batwing Luke, though I will also refer to Duke's Signal days + Luke in Detective Comics.

(This is going to be a long post because this is lowkey my Luke + Duke thesis 😭)

Introductions

Duke and Luke were both introduced in the New 52, actually in the same year (2013!). What's really cool about their intros is that you already see how different they are. We first meet Duke in Zero Year, where he's fishing in the subway and then attacked by a gang; we then get the famous scene of him solving crosswords by Bruce's unconscious body. When Bruce tells Duke and his family to leave, Duke refuses, telling him they can't leave Duke's grandma and that all it takes is one riddle to free the city from Riddler's influence.

By contrast, we first meet Luke in the spotlight as he's wrestling for MMA in Batwing #19. He's been wrestling to get Batman's attention, refusing all job offers from his dad to do so (and thus creating some juicy father-son tension). In Batwing #20, we see he has two degrees from MIT, lives in a fancy apartment, and is really tech-oriented; his cover story for Batwing is that he's travelling the world.

Already, there are a couple things that already firmly separate them:

Class: Duke is from the Narrows whereas Luke is rich

Connection to Batman: Duke stumbled across Batman and gained his attention quite organically, whereas Luke was actively begging for Batman to notice him

Agency: Duke's actions were motivated by the extreme circumstances of Zero Year and a desire to help rooted in his material environment, whereas Luke's is a more internal, abstract wish to help (pointing to their class differences again)

Gotham: Duke refuses to leave his city, whereas Luke immediately packs up and travels the world

Intelligence: Both of them are fiercely intelligent, but in different ways - Duke loves puzzles and riddles whereas Luke is more inclined towards engineering and technology

And these differences only grow as they get older!!

Maturity

Duke is 16 (in my head, canonically it's vague but he's between Damian and Tim so 14-17) and Luke is 23. This age gap is honestly not that big, but I think it would feel big to both of them. And what's worse is that Duke is quite mature, but Luke is said to be immature:

Batwing #23

I don't think Luke is actually immature, but it's a recurring theme that other characters perceive him as unwilling to grow up; and I genuinely do think Batwing, for him, is kind of an adventure at first. Now compare this to Duke, whose circumstances disallowed him being childish. He had to grow up because his parents weren't around anymore, and he became quite jaded as a result. Even after he's mellowed out in his Signal days, I still don't think he could tolerate working with someone who comes off as light-hearted as Luke does. Duke would be annoyed by how he perceives Luke doesn't take things seriously, and Luke in turn would be annoyed when Duke inevitably criticises him for it.

Arc

Following on from above, their arcs are actually in total opposite directions. We first meet Duke alone and disillusioned with everything, putting his whole being into finding his parents. Then, through We Are Robin and Robin War, he begins to understand what Robin means as a symbol and finds community, leading to his brighter personality in Signal comics. Luke, however, begins very light-hearted (as seen above), with a huge respect for Batman and the Bat symbol. Once his family starts being torn apart, though, he becomes increasingly aggressive, more isolated, and in a much darker place. Compare a narration box from the last issues of both:

Batwing #34 / We Are Robin #12

These encapsulate their journeys: Duke learns that he doesn't have to act alone, whereas Luke struggles with accepting all that has happened since he put on his suit. Being a vigilante improves Duke's life, whereas it essentially ruins Luke's. This is why I don't think that WFA ep made sense!!! They have nothing in common in terms of the vigilante experience, and I think they would frustrate each other because they have such different conceptions of what the vigilante life is!!!!!!!

Batman and Robin

Okay so I said that Luke + Duke aren't legacies; even though Batwing is one, Luke doesn't actually talk to David Zavimbe, and his Batwing is not spiritually connected to David's really. But Luke and Duke both do take inspiration from other Batfam members - Batman and Robin, respectively.

Batwing #25 / Batman (2011) #45

Luke is the rare Batfam member whose motivations don't spring from tragedy - he's inspired one night when Batman saves him and he jumps in to help. Luke's love for Batman is wrapped up in Bruce himself, as a person rather than a symbol; he genuinely thinks Batman is awesome and wants to help people under his name.

Duke is the exact opposite - Robin is not a person for him but a symbol, and a symbol that can be spread to many people. It's also intimately tied with Duke's relationship to Gotham, because Batman is "on the gargoyle" and Robin is "on the street". Importantly, Duke says to Darryl that "I know you work for him, but you're us". Working for a singular person is in opposition to this 'us' that Duke believes in.

Luke, though not exactly an employee, literally wanted to work for Batman, Inc. Batwing is in many ways a 'job', an alternative to the corporate life Lucius wanted for him. Duke would, I think, take huge problems with Luke's philosophy as a whole. Separated from Gotham, attached to Batman as a person rather than as a symbol, Duke just literally wouldn't understand where Luke is coming from. And Luke, too, doesn't seem to respect Robin as a mantle (this is after someone mistakes him for Batman in Batwing #34):

I think Luke views Robin as firmly a kids' role, a sidekick for Batman; that would annoy the STUFFING out of Duke. I actually could write a whole post in itself about this incident and Luke being mistaken for Batman but that's for another day. The point is they are attached to the Batman and Robin legacies which in themselves are already vastly different, but Duke is kind of anti-Batman and Luke is a little anti-Robin, so they would not mix.

Family

One thing they do have in common is a deep love for family. But even then, their familial relationships are extremely different: Duke has a wonderful relationship with his parents, bolstered by the fact he lost them for a while, whereas Luke has a contentious relationship with his. Duke in some ways idealises his mom and dad, while Luke is sharply aware of his parents' shortcomings.

Batwing #20

Now this wouldn't be an issue normally, but Duke canonically has, like, a problem with judging other people's families. It's a really consistent (and somewhat hilarious) trait of his:

We Are Robin #5 / We Are Robin #5 / Gotham Nights #8

The Dre comment ("you're a mob kid?") is particularly telling. Because Duke has such a good relationship with his parents, and because he's shaped so much by them, I think he sees children as reflections of their parents/families. It's hard for him to see someone completely divorced from their family - you even see this a bit in Batman & The Outsiders, where although Duke understood Cass' disagreements with Shiva, I don't think he really got the nuances of what that felt like for Cass.

Luke's relationship with his father is complex and contentious. They love each other, but Lucius' desires for Luke just don't match what Luke wants, and Luke can't tell him about Batwing either so it's a constant back-and-forth. This secrecy is another thing Duke wouldn't get - I've made posts before about Duke and honesty, and it's a huge value of his. It's significant that as soon as his mom is healed she finds out about Signal; dishonesty is not really a factor in Duke's life, whereas it is Luke's central conflict. Luke's entire thing with his dad and his alter ego is something Duke has never had to deal with, and I think Duke would just be like 'tell him?? and make up??' and Luke would sigh so loud and hard.

Personality and Authority

But all of that aside, I just think their personalities wouldn't mix! Duke is a jaded teenager whose overt honesty and resistance to authority often give off a bad first impression (see his first encounters with Black Lightning, We Are Robin, Damian, even the Bruce train scene...). People do warm up to Duke quick, and once you love him you adore him, but there's a hurdle to becoming close to him that you have to leap first.

Luke, on the other hand, is affable and immediately likable. He's popular in school (as Russell mentions in #25), has experienced college social life, and is open and friendly. I think in an initial meeting Luke would find Duke off-putting and rude, while Duke would find Luke shallow and annoying. Luke is an extremely confident person, as shown in both Batwing and Detective Comics (particularly the latter). I think Duke would take this confidence as him being stuck-up, especially because Luke is rich.

Their class differences also separate their reactions to authority. Luke doesn't take authority at face value - he disobeys Bruce basically as much as Duke does. However, given his upbringing he isn't that anti-authority. Compare Luke and Duke's attitudes to cops:

Batwing #25 / We Are Robin #2

The Luke narration box is after the cops shoot him and accidentally make him kill his best friend 😭😭😭 like if that had happened to Duke his inner voice would NOT say that. This is another example of how their different upbringings and personalities cause them to have DRASTICALLY different outlooks on things. Batwing also sides with Batwoman when she kills Clayface in Detective Comics, something I think Duke would not do (he would've sided with Cass) so their ideologies often put them on opposite sides.

FINALLY, and least importantly, Luke is not a reader. This is a recurring thing and it's so funny:

Batwing #21

That's Tam telling Luke to "read a book". I think this exact interaction would happen with Duke taking the place of Tam, where he'd just be super annoyed that Luke doesn't enjoy literature. Honestly I think Duke might remind Luke of Tam in a lot of ways, since Duke is Bruce's golden child just like Tam is Lucius'. And that would annoy Luke, like he can't escape annoying younger siblings even as Batwing?? Bruce liking Duke more than Luke, even when Duke doesn't even care for Bruce's approval, would send Luke's blood pressure through the ROOF.

Conclusion

Um anyway I'm so so sorry this was so long but that's why I think Luke and Duke wouldn't get along!! It's mostly that they have such different outlooks on literally everything and their personalities clash. Anyway, if anyone bothered to read til the end here's your reward!! A little edit of what SHOULD have happened in WFA ep 76:

[swingstep]

so i saw that angela does not have a shimeji yet. ... fixed it :)

ta-da!! now you can have a tiny little library director running around your screen, free of charge!! ^w^ she is very polite and will only steal your windows Sometimes. its ok, she is allowed.

link will be provided in the replies of this post; godspeed, have fun, and cherish your local angela today! 🎉✨

[krussyarts]

16 benadryl sub drop incoming

Reference

[lizzyelmsworths]

@rinacentral — EVENT 1: FAVOURITES 🩵 ↳ rina and a song from each taylor swift album

[chonkymoth]

My hare-brained theory is that Sean is going to die due to his heart issues, excessive drinking, etc but thanks to Laszlo now having a grasp on how to reanimate the dead...well, you get the idea

[rjshope]

Hobi being a ray of sunshine for @raplinenthusiasts and @cordiallyfuturedwight 💛

[mayadoesfandomstuff]

Love it when a character is revealed to be someone physically disabled or chronically ill and that the world around them is just an escapist fantasy that, although gives them short-term relief from their awful and cruel situation beyond anyone's control, would eventually make them so out-of-touch with reality that it destroys their very being and they begin to lose who they are in the fantasy because escapism is not, in fact, the solution to their problems

[reinafish]

[jackabbot]

you can complain about small fandoms all you want but no one will be more appreciative of what you make

[breezypunk]

They can do both.. as a treat :3

[yannfredericks]

Hey!! First of all I love your writing, especially your portrayal of the gang and scorbus!!!! I wanted to ask, we can clearly see that albus is extremely close with the gang and Polly is definitely his best friend( apart for scorpius ofcourse) but who is SCORPIUS'S best friend? I always wondered if it were karl, but even he seems closer to albus and it kinda makes me feel like scorpius feels left out a bit but ofcourse I cam be extremely wrong and this ques was just bouncing around in my head !!

Hiiiii!!! Oh my goodness, thank you so much! That is such a compliment and I’m so glad you like my writing and version of the gang 🥹 this is going to be a little long and ramblely bc that’s just my nature I’m afraid!! anyway!

I think you’ve kind of hit the nail on the head there, and Scorpius definitely feels quite left out with the gang for a while. I think part of that is his only child-ness and the fact he Does Not Want to share albus with people. Like albus is His Friend and he definitely has a harder time initially accepting the gang as being their friends. Albus definitely has similar feelings for Scorpius but bc the gang don’t initially blend so well with scorp he wouldn’t realise the extent to which he feels possessive of albus (like Albus doesn’t realise Scorpius feels possessive bc he himself has no reason to bc it doesn’t feel like they’re stealing Scorpius away from him, if that makes sense??)

Which is funny bc I think there’s a world where Scorpius would be the one saying hey they’re being nice to us we should give them a chance!!! but that flips the second he realises it means albus isn’t Only His anymore, and he’d have a lot more trepidation for anything deeper than a surface level friendship with them. Albus would also be pretty unsure but I think surprisingly he falls into it a little easier than he’s expecting too whereas scorpius struggles a lot more than he’s expecting to. They are each others Best Friend at the end of the day but I do think watching Albus get closer to them is difficult for Scorpius but as long as he’s still Best/Number 1 then he would manage (he probably has the mindset of ‘I was his friend before you and I’ll be his friend after you’ for a while there)

ANYWAY!!!! I have reasons as to why I think he’s really close with all of the gang but he definitely only gets there bc of the perseverance of Yann and Karl specifically. Yann is very intentional about trying to include Scorpius and relate to him whereas Karl is just Like That imo. Karl’s not so good at reading social cues (read: bullied scorbus for 3 years thinking what he was actually doing was Banter and Befriending Them) and so he wouldn’t be deterred by Scorpius being less receptive.

I think Yann and Scorpius have a lot in common and are actually really very similar people, Yann just has a lot more confidence. they both come from money and they both have family in France and are therefore fluent (imo!!) and I think that is a starting point for bonding between them. Yann is very good at reading people and naturally takes on more of a leadership role in his friendship groups and I think he’d see Scorpius’ reservations immediately and really work at including him and inviting him to do stuff both on their own and with the others. I think it’d be very difficult for Scorpius to dislike Yann, he’s just too earnest and well meaning (and obviously desperately in love with polly and that always humanises someone) !!!

On the other hand, Karl is just too likeable once you get to know him. I think the fact he keeps trying with Scorpius would eventually work in his favour and scorpius would become begrudgingly quite fond of him, even when he’s being objectively Loud and Annoying. his heart is just too big and once scorpius realises that everything Karl does is a misguided attempt at connection and friendship I think they’d suddenly click. Karl would follow him everywhere and literally not take one pause for breath and scorpius is like why is he doing this why is he following me why is he talking to me and when he realises the answer is ‘because he’s desperately lonely and desperate for connection’ he’d become waaaaay more open to it. He indulges Karl in ways that the others don’t and I think that connects them!!

Of course it’s kind of hard to show all this bc I realise I almost exclusively write Albus POV so he’s not always privy to the stuff that’s going on with scorpius and the others when he’s not around. Also he definitely has a special connection with Polly, but that’s bc I have always seen Albus and polly as two sides of the same coin and once they realise that they become unstoppable <3 also I think scorbus and yolly go on double dates (potentially even before they realise that’s what they’re doing) and polly and albus get flustered over their bfs speaking to each other in French <3

in the life after verse specifically I think the shared trauma def bonds Craig with scorbus and I think he and Scorpius become much closer than Albus realises. outside of that verse I do also see scorpius and cbj being really close, I think they like the same trashy romance books and scorpius pretends he agrees with Albus that they’re above them but in secret he reads them with Craig and they gush over them :D

anyway ahhhhhhh I’m sorry this is so long and self indulgent!!! TLDR: Scorpius is probably closest with Yann and Karl, but everyone is really close with everyone once their friendships are fully developed. He doesn’t really have his version of the Polly and Albus friendship but Karl is possibly the closest to that? I think Scorpius is just really fond of him. Yann comes very close too just bc they’re so similar at heart.

Thanks so much for asking this was so fun!!!!!

[spookythesillyfella]

if tony ever had the motivation to bake . no doubt he'd try doing this

★ original meme under cut