#why do comics hate writing Bruce as a good person actually

[jennrypan]

..Bruce, didn't tell Dick that Jason was dead.

And then punched Dick for even asking about it.

OH MY GOD ALL HIS KIDS NEED TO KILL HIM!!!! SACRIFICE HIM IDCIDC

Can someone who actually likes Bruce write him PLEASE. Im tired of motherfuckers making him abuse his kids and then NEVER have his kids react negatively, TIRED of them having to constantly apologize this asshole. We get it, your parents died. Doesn't mean you abuse your kids if they have a different opinion from yours!!!! Go to hell!!!

Fuck!!! I hate Canon Bruce. Fanon Bruce is the only thing that matters ever. Canon Bruce can die and I HOPE it's at the hands of Dick, Jason and Stephanie specifically :)) and when he's gone. KILL THE JOKER NEXT!!

[celaenaeiln]

I literally can't take it anymore. I need to get this out of my system. This is a hate-rant about why almost every single thing Tom Taylor has written is wrong.

First and foremost is the bimbofication of Dick Grayson. Tom Taylor loves to write him like this idiot who doesn't think at all. Being cheerful does not mean being dumb.

Nightwing (2016) Issue #79

"You seem unusually contemplative"? All Dick does is contemplate!

Nightwing (1996) Issue #3

His mind is always running!

Nightwing (2011) Issue #13

Nightwing (2016) Issue #38

I just picked a random issue from all of these comics and in every single one of these, Dick's planning, thinking, and strategising constantly.

Tom Taylor literally treats him like he's stupid or something.

Also the degradation of his abilities

Nightwing (2016) Issue #79

A vigilante for 20 years. Who has faced assassins, hitmen, psychos, surprise attacks, metas, and you're telling me he didn't know that a untrained kid snuck up and stole from him?

He forgot who he was, he didn't forget where he lived! Even when he was Ric Grayson, Dick had procedural memory. His battle instincts stayed with him.

Nightwing (2016) Issue #52

"Then...I didn't even know what I was doing. I took him down--took him apart in seconds."

This man is a vigilante machine when he was amnesic. Why the heck would Dick ever let his guard down?

His robin reference

Nightwing (2016) Issue #92

Even Bruce in Batman: Hush has said it-Dick was the best. His skills were the best of anyone he's witnessed which is one of the reasons why Bruce let him be Robin in the first place.

This scene is so wrong that there's a robin scene that came out before this in direct opposition of this Tom Taylor Shitshow.

Robin & Batman Issue #1

This was actually pre-robin. Bruce had him do a solo-trial run to see his skill before he made him Robin and this was the result. Compare that to Tom Taylor's scene and the result is humiliating. For Taylor.

Tom Taylor's version of trying to show that Dick loves the people comes off as him hating crime-fighting. RIP the whole Robin firing drama and Nightwing birth i guess.

Nightwing (2016) Issue #79

"We could have avoided all of this if we'd just stayed in and eaten kibble."

Nightwing (1996) Issue #3

Dick would rather die than stop crime-fighting. After Blockbuster's first attempt, his life was hanging on by a thread and he still continued crime fighting.

Nightwing (1996) Issue #91

After Blockbuster blew up his apartment, this is the single-minded determination Dick had to continue crime-fighting. This is him at one of the worst lows of his life but he refused to give up but now? He has everything and Dick wants to ignore the murder of a child to stay inside and eat kibble which - what the heck? I know he's seen as a happy character but him finding dog-food desirable is too far!

Also the idiocy of which Tom Taylor had Barbara calling the cops in Bludhaven for a stolen wallet. Newsflash! This isn't her first rodeo here.

Nightwing (2016) Issue #81

vs

Nightwing (2016) Issue #24

Nightwing (2011) Issue #23

Given how Dick's easily defeated enhanced metas and "very good" fighters, him falling down the stairs is a little to absolutely impossible to believe.

Another thing I love about Dick that Tom Taylor deciminates is his grace. Dick is the most graceful person in DC. His balance easily matches Selina's enhanced cat powers.

But yet. You have.

Nightwing (2016) Issue #83

Nightwing (2011) Issue #23

yeah. okay.

Taylor's motorbike scenes of Dick make me so mad. The boy is a pro at crazy. It's one of his best traits because he does the wildest stunts and he pulls it off.

Nightwing (2016) Issue #93

Nightwing (1996) Issue #86

He lands on his feet. He grabbed a villain mid-air, crashed into a window, and was perfectly fine. Actually no, he's not fine because he's worried about his bike's paint job.

Nightwing (2011) Issue #24

He just sailed over a whole crowd of people and started kicking butt like what he just did wasn't extraordinary - which for him is just another tuesday.

Nightwing (2016) Issue #95

yeah, tell 'er Dick.

He doesn't need someone to hold his bike.

One of the worst things in Taylor's run is how Blockbuster went down. It suddenly reminded me of Selina's stupid ideology which is why I think I got so ticked off.

Nightwing (2016) Issue #96

Blockbusters' thugs loyalty to him isn't a make it or break it deal. He's one of strongest criminal organisations and the knowledge that he owns one of the worst prisons that he could easily put his underlings into would've instilled fear into his thugs, not freedom. Furthermore Blockbuster takes good care of his people that don't piss him off. He teamed up with Nightwing in the scarecrow era in Nightwing (2016) because someone was messing with his people. He's extremely intelligent and superstrong, and he's not just going to be brought down by the knowledge that he owns a prison. It's Bludhaven. If he didn't, then there would be something suspicious given that he runs the city. It's the way Taylor dumbs down Bludhaven's villains that gets to me. Imagine him writing Batman (2016). It's like saying, "yeah the Joker was just a little misguided but he found the right way again after a stern talking to by Batman."

Nightwing is a big name.

When Dick first came to Bludhaven, one of the police officers was like we don't want your crazy here or something. Also Bludhaven loves Nightwing. They want him.

So why is everyone pretending like they don't know who he is?

Nightwing (2016) Issue #90

The police, the citizens, the villains-all of them. Dick fought Brutale and beat the crap out of him way back in 1996 comic. He's a Bludhaven regular. Just because Dick forgot who he was doesn't mean anyone else forgot him. Amnesia doesn't work that way.

Nightwing (2016) Issue #54

A whole team of Nightwings were formed during Dick's amnesic period because of how badly he was needed and missed. It's almost like the Tom Taylor run is set in an alternate universe.

I ran out of image space but what the absolute fiddlesticks is up with Dick being scared to jump. It better be a manipulation tactic but at this point I think Tom Taylor doesn't even know that Dick is manipulative.

[punkeropercyjackson]

Jason Todd takes dump by someone who's read every single issue he's ever been in and watched/played almost all his adaptions

He's afro-dominican,specifically monoracial and a third gen inmigrant on both Catherine and Willis' sides.He's strongfeatured and darkfeatured and his green eyes are a warmer/softer shade instead of the 'staring into your soul' meme

He's also jacked(fat + buff)and overly muscular Jason is unattractive while skinny pale Jason is unfitting

He's transmasc agender and partially identifies as a girl hence freely uses 'ftm' for himself and is a butch but in a goth punk way

He's also demisexual and bipan

Triple A(Austim,Adhd and Anxiety)with ptsd and also cluster b(bpd and npd)

The best love interest for him is/would've been a black Super who's Clark and Lois' adoptive kid and his childhood best friend that grew up to join The Outlaws due to their history

Og Rhato was an absolute disgrace to his character and he hates Roy fullstop and Roy should've hated him back instead of being a pussy.Kory deserves Dick and the Titan Girls forever and ever and the former dosen't even have to be romantic,she just has to be important to him and her own fufilled character too.JASON for that matter deserved to reunite with Eddie and him,Rose,Artemis,Kyle,Duke and Thad along with a bunch of other properly written characters should've been The Outlaws,including ones introduced in Rhato itself so it would an actual superhero team run

Duke should've been not only an official Robin that was adopted by Bruce a bit after Zero Year but JASON'S Robin with him being Duke's Robin too.Jason would literally rather die again than be part of 'The Batboys' without Duke and that's why it being so accepted in fanon pisses me off so much because it shows zero care for transracial adoption representation('transracial' meaning 'adopted child that's in a different race family')and how it's inherently more interesting and nuanced storytelling than every 'Bruce adopts every kid he meets' edition.Duke deserves his own special relathionships instead of having to share or settle when nobody else does or has to

He hates being sexually degraded and objectified and considers it as bad as his death being used against him because he sees it as another form of violation of his personhood.The reverse is also true so when it comes sex and even just romance,he's all about consent and if someone won't respect his they have zero chance or appeal to him

Normies do nothing for him.He's t4t,autistic4autistic and poc4poc strictly no exceptions and he dosen't actively seek out dating because he thinks platonic love and familial love are more important

The Tim beef is not only hilarious but top notch writing because for once the white boys don't give a fuck about eachother and perfer the girlies and the poc.90s Young Justice,the Robin 1993 gang and Tam is wayyyy better as a cast for Tim than Jason could ever be too

Jayrose and Jaytemis are very good ships because Rose and Artemis keep their personalities around Jason and they have belivable reasons to be attracted to eachother within dynamic and individual characters too.Jaykyle has excellent potential but people who make it horny should just admit they're racist and want Kyle to be Jason's pet moc and Jayeddie should've been what they tried to make Jayr*y as it actually works with Eddie and there's no overlap between him and Roy unless you're shallow and bad at writing

'Wonder Woman fan Jason' is rather tokenish and unathentic and also i just don't think he'd like Diana that much at any point at all tbh.His childhood superheroine idol is Starfire because it makes way more sense(and no,not because of the Dick,it's because Kory is exactly what he admires in women in general)

Alchoholic/smoker Jason are not just canon contradicted but not sexy.It's better to give him comical vices like ridicilously bad for you food and being a pro-gamer

'Robin!Jason is an altruistic,peppy optimistic softboy who's a huge nerd in both meanings of the word and lowkey loserish but also has the bite losing his parents and living as a street kid for years gave him and is a little shit' supremacy or nothing

He listens to My Chemical Romance,classic punk bands and rap the most

He's NOT like Dean Winchester,Deadpool or Danny Fenton and saying so is an insult to his character because he'd hate them if they met

He IS like Percy Jackson,Miles Morales and Ichigo Kurosaki and it needs to be said way more since it's actually accurate

Trans woman Jason is just Marceline Abadeer /pos

If he were a supernatural creature,he'd be a werewolf

Talia is the only acceptable adoptive mom for him and making jokes about ThatTM scene in Lost Days is no better than batcest but with the added layer of violent racialized misogyny.Momlia is also better if Jason's afrolatino because we need more brown/black family dynamics that're healthy and wholesome

'Shiva is Jason's biomom' is gross and offensive to Cass and y'all know damn well him thinking she could be his mom was the writers being racist weirdos,NOT Jason looking wasian.Cass and Jason being on good terms can be well-written but they would NEVER be eachother's favorites and Cass' story is a femalecentric one by design

Stephanie and him are meant to be found siblings and J*ysteph is gross because it's literally just a cishet crack ship version of Stephcass and 'tis exactly why Jason should be her brother for parallels instead of erasure.They're also just not compatible romantically or funny for the bit,it's misogynistic towards her and looks bad on him thanks dating his little brother's ex.Also make Stephanie black too you weirdos and i mean BLACK,not 'blonde blue eyes loose curly hair and badly drawn melanin'.Dead Robins Club is A+ and him and Damian already have good dynamic,no notes

Dick and him should be close since his Robin days with Dick also playing a pseudo-parental role as is the natural order for eldest siblings BUT Dick should written as themself,not an adultchild.Neither of them would ever care about Slade because they're not chronically online white gays who think being anti-kink is code for queerphobia

And him being a Jane Austen fan is him being pretentious but it's funny so it's fine

[trekkele]

Hi!

I was kinda curious about something. From what I‘ve seen in the Fandom it looks like Bruce was heavily judging and talking down to Stephanie when he found out about her Teen pregnancy, and he also used her to try and make Tim jealous about having a new Robin?

Considering Bruce never even wanted a Robin/dislikes his family also being Vigilantes (even if he is simultaneously proud of them) I don’t get why he would try and lure Tim back like that.

Especially his treatment of Stephanie seems wildly out of character. He wants to help Gotham as a whole, he doesn’t judge prostitutes, desperate criminals, or anything of the like, AND specifically has a softspot for Kids and teenagers, so his behavior makes ZERO sense.

But I get that canon does what it wants and sometimes goes for shock/drama for the heck of it and writes characters in a way that is more "interesting" (it really isn’t).

So what I really wanted to know is; is this also accepted as canon in the more Bruce friendly circles? Or is it more like Bruce cutting Jasons throat with a Batarang, where it was rightfully so decided that that‘s stupid.

(was there a """good""" or """understandable""" reason Batman acted like that?)

Ok so this is actually multiple questions and i love all of them because while i hate canon’s treatment of Stephanie and Steph-and-Bruce i love the core concept of the characters - which is, how do you deal with a alternate version of yourself? (Because i will never shut up about Steph and Bruce being parallels).

So to start, you mention fandom writing Bruce as judging her teen pregnancy which i cant speak to because i avoid those fics with prejudice and i havent read/dont remember if the canon ever even deals with that - but long story short No He Would Not. It does not fit his character or his stated goals to act like that. I dont really have more to say on that because the idea is absurd to me, so its kind of lighting up ??? When i try to imagine it.

(Also Bruce absolutely had a teen pregnancy scare/scandal are you joking? Easiest way to get your hands on the billionaire babies fund.)

The “make Tim jealous for Robin” is unfortunately, true but also that era of comics is so confusing. Tim is in boarding school with Alfred, he specifically asked Stephanie to take over Robin and for Bruce to train her, Bruce finally thought he was done with baby vigilantes but no, this kid arranged for a babysitter for him … bonkers.

The thing with Steph is that she was already a vigilante. Spoiler was an independent actor for almost as long as Tim was Robin, she didnt need Batmans permission or approval to start (but lets be honest she probably wanted it.) or continue what she was doing! So the thing with Bruce being harsher during training or refusing to train her … it wouldn’t work. It didnt work. It in fact led to the eventual confrontation with Black Mask and her “death”.

Majority of the Bruce and Steph fics ive read have done some serious frankensteining with her backstory and their relationship - for good reason. A lot seem to cut the teen pregnancy storyline entirely (a fact i feel neutral about. Its interesting and adds depth to Steph, but the way we talk about teen pregnancy has changed a lot since it was written.) as well as the idea that Bruce was trying to make Tim jealous- instead its about Bruce trying to convince Steph that being a vigilante is too hard, too dangerous, and too limiting for her to continue, which is mean yeah but at least its in character, especially for post Death in the Family Bruce who just wants these dumb kids to stop taunting death.

Its unfortunate that canon basically confirms Bruce’s fears with Stephanies death and its mildy infuriating how fandom treats it.

I cant speak for all of “Bruce friendly circles” (love that btw) but thats what ive seen more of, when their relationship is even discussed. I personally prefer fics that focus on her being Spoiler, and more independent of Bruce because of it - like Robin was an internship for a position she ultimately rejected, because it wasnt something she wanted. Also Barbara being more of her Batman with Batman being support staff. If that makes sense.

Was there a “good” or “understandable” reason Bruce acted like that? Grief, fear at what could happen if he let Stephanie keep vigilanting, Steph being unwilling to operate within Robin rules after being independent, and the usual “can you please go to bed its a school night” could work if you retconn his worse moments tbh. Was there a good or understandable reason Bruce was written like that? Misogyny and the inability to conceive of a female character who doesnt need him.

Im not actually sure i answered your question so Fic recs that include those big rewrites i mentioned: Blackbird by goldkirk, First as Tragedy, Second as Farce by autumngray

[bi-bats]

Imagine that due to Things and Circumstances DC has handed you the power to make 3 things canon for the rest of time and comics writers afterwards will have to actually abide by them!

What would you pick?

Okay after thinking long and hard about this, I have come to my conclusion. Also this is SUCH a good ask holy shit thankyousomuch this was SO fun to think about:

1. Jason cannot compromise his morals or stance on killing or guns.

Reasoning: the writers are using this to get Jason back in the batfam and I hate it. The WHOLE POINT IS THAT BRUCE CARES MORE ABOUT HIS MORALS THAN HIS SON AND I HATE THAT THEY'RE MAKING JASON COMPROMISE SO THAT HE CAN RECEIVE BRUCE'S LOVE. IT'S A BAD MESSAGE. THE POINT IS THAT BRUCE IS CHOOSING HIS MISSION OVER HIS SON AND THAT SUCKS, AND I FUCKING HATE WATCHING WRITERS BE LIKE "WELL HE'S RIGHT SO JASON SHOULD REALIZE THAT SO HE CAN BE A PART OF THE FAMILY AGAIN" LIKE NO THE OTHER POINT IS THAT THEY'RE BOTH RIGHT! THAT'S WHY ITS SO HARD. BRUCE IS RIGHT THAT ONE PERSON SHOULD NOT GET TO BE JUDGE JURY AND EXECUTIONER AND JASON IS RIGHT THAT THE PEOPLE WHOSE LIVES THEY'RE SAVING ARE USING THAT LIFE TO CAUSE MORE HARM ITS. ITS THE POINT. Its the point. And the fact that they're throwing out these two important conversations (bruce allowing his morals to define his love for Jason, which would be an incredible thing for him to work through, and the really legitimate conversation about how there is no right way to do what they're trying to do) because they want Bruce and Jason to hug is SUCH a disservice to BOTH of their characters. Woof sorry I went off about that one

2. They need to age all the young justice characters to college age and they aren't allowed to go back.

Reasoning: What the fuck is even going on with DC rn? The last comics I was reading, Tim was like 18ish, Kon was reading as like. 16 in one issue and early twenties in the other, and Bart was reading like a 17 year old. They're writing Jon as older than both Kon and Bart right now and I just. What the fuck is even going on? I know he was aged up but like. Theyre writing Damian as like 15/16 and Tim is BARELY reading as older than him rn. Meanwhile, they basically have Dick running the Titans like the Justice League. Wally has kids who are heroes.

Young justice should be in their early twenties. College aged kids. It's really frustrating watching them not age up at all while they age up every other generation. Age those kids up and let your teenage characters be Damian’s generation.

3. Batman should not be allowed to show up in more than 18 comics per year if he is not part of that team. (This isn't technically a canon decision, but it is a rule I would impose)

Reasoning: JL, Nightwing, Detective Comics, Batman (obviously), World's Finest - all of those or fine. But shit like the Flash?? WHY ARE YOU HERE? GO HOME!!!

That said, I'm okay with it if like there's a 6 issue arc of the Superman where he's operating in Gotham. That's fine. That makes sense. And those would come out monthly, so they'd be able to do a comic with him once a month for 6 months of the year and twice a month for 6 months. But they need limits on how often they're allowed to have him show up where he doesn't belong because without it they're just dropping him in everything!! I was SHOCKED he wasn't somehow a part of one minute war!! And like, I love the guy but get the hell out of my flash comics okay you DON'T need to be here. Bye boy

Anyways thank you SO MUCH FOR THE ASK THIS WAS SO FUN ILY 💚💚

[t4tails]

Spoilers for OBD. Yeah it is heavily implied in obd that Edward was born evil and his father was right to be suspicious and condescending towards his son, and his abuse and discipline was a father's attempt to keep the monster at bay. Also, he actually hates riddles and games because he is not a creative person, actually. Just book smart. This is the textual reading, at least. Tom King wanted to write a deep psychological exploration of his motives , but it falls apart because a lot of its premises are dumb, the plot gets very dumb and a lot of this " exploration" is surface level. Also, Batman waterboards a person for no reason. Ed's mother is a sex worker for some reason ( because it's dark and edgy). His father took Edward from her when he was born. Later, Edward kills her off-screen for no reason. I don't think Tommy understands the various things he implies with all of these story elements. People who dont like or care about the Riddler character will tell you this is his best modern story. Won an award and everything! I wouldn't be so angry with it if it wasn't so gassed up by so many people. Tom King has Jewish roots himself, I guess that's why he wrote Bruce that way. Broken clock, etc.

yeesh. yeah when i see the good reviews on that book i do have to remind myself that the average person doesnt care or even actively dislikes the riddler so their ideal riddler story is in fact one that ignores his normal characterization in favor of something completely different + edginess. comic fans are not known for their literacy, to put it mildly

[zahri-melitor]

Batman Eternal

I think for a weekly, event comic that was promising to deliver the Bat Family, it underperformed. Some people had a good event, some people had a mediocre event and were underused, and there were a few absolute shockers.

The Good:

In terms of a 'push Bruce to the limit' event, it was interesting in that this one pushed Batman, the Bat Family AND Bruce, separately, to their limits. I'm used to events being 'pick two of the three'. That said, it still underestimated the effectiveness of its supporting cast.

Bruce had a solid event, in that it was focused on him and broke him down to build him back up by running him ragged and keeping him guessing on 'who caused this'. Honestly I don't have a lot to say about Bruce's plot, sorry. It was an okay mystery running through various rogues? I think making Cluemaster Who Dunnit was not the right choice (Arthur should always be a bit pathetic), but I can see why they picked him in the story that's returning Steph and after making Riddler the big bad for Zero Year.

Selina actually had a reasonable event. She got her entire backstory rewritten and ended up controlling crime in Gotham at the end of it, but eh, the former happened to a lot of people during n52 and the latter is something Selina ends up doing every now and then. Her plotline involved organised crime and Carmine Falcone, so it was even something associated with her long term story arcs.

Jim Gordon: look, once we get past the incredible miscarriage of justice that was Jim being arrested and convicted for manslaughter (please, please, explain to me how Jim shooting the signal box input was what caused the trains to crash, rather than the railway routing that meant there was timetabling and no fallback override for two trains SHARING TRACK while running in opposite directions), it was essentially just an excuse to put Jim in Blackgate and start up the plots there. Which you know, went pretty well. Jim got to be the strong man, show off his personality, and presumably this all sets up the Superheavy plotline (sigh).

Julia Pennyworth. Look, I don't hate the idea of Julia, so much as am confused by the very tight timeline constraints required for her existence (post about this coming), and I resent that DC let the team basically invent a new Oracle without being allowed to acknowledge that Oracle is Barbara Gordon. It's like it's an important role in Gotham! Anyway. In terms of what Julia brought to the page, I did appreciate that the writing team seemed committed to increasing the number of women characters populating Gotham, I am happy to have someone not Alfred running comms for the Bats, and I can see several ways she'd be an interesting character to have around, long term, for storytelling. I could grow to like her. But man. I had a really hard time swallowing her existence while Barbara's in the same event having her character destroyed.

Harper Row is so clearly Scott Snyder's pet. Honestly, I really enjoyed her design and the general arc of her story; adding an electrical engineer to the group is actually a relatively unoccupied niche and gives her points of differentiation, but by handing her such a major part of the plot while other, fan favourite characters were appearing and getting not much at all was setting her up to fail in the eyes of the audience.

Steph ranks up in the 'had a good event' category. She essentially reran her origin story combined with aspects of her War Games plot (before everyone yells at me, I particularly noted the correlation with the part of the story where Selina hid her with Holly coming through here with Steph hiding from Arthur and her getting dumped at the Rows for protection. Go actually read War Games). I liked the concept of the Spoiler blog being what she used as her name inspiration here. I again wouldn't have minded if she had actually interacted more with other Bat characters (everyone got very siloed here) but you know what? The story brought her back and set her back up in her default sort of background state. Seriously, they picked from Steph's biggest stories here (her origin, War Games, and actually parts were in conversation with War Crimes, which is a phrase I never thought I would say), and that was a reasonable decision imo.

The Mediocre:

Luke Fox got an interesting plotline with Jim Corrigan and the Spectre. Unfortunately it rarely interacted with the rest of the story (apart from leading to Arkham blowing up). This could have been a separate mini.

Tim got to appear in actual Bat titles, doing actual Bat things, and while being abrasive I could squint at him and see his original characterisation. Tragically despite this he basically didn't get to interact with existing characters he knew for most of the plot. Got handed the idiot ball on occasion to show off Harper. I wish he'd had more opportunities to spend time with characters I know and enjoy him with.

Kate Kane was there, for this event. She got to spend some time with Barbara and Jason. She also really didn't do much of anything. It felt like an obligatory 'you currently have a solo' appearance.

Jason Bard: look this is where I'm conflicted. If this was simply Random Cop #34, I'd have probably bumped it up to good but unrealistic (in terms of the speed run to Commissioner), but as a Jason Bard story? About all they kept or knew of Jason was that he's a cop, he was mentored by Jim Gordon, and that he Has A Limp. I am still outraged they made Babs give him the limp, I think making him a minor antagonist of this was a waste of bringing back Jason Bard, and the endpoint left him in a position where he's moderately unusable by other writers (there was a slight set up for 'transition him over to a detective agency' but there was no resolution on why anyone in Gotham either among the GCPD or the Bats would trust him after this).

The Bad:

Hush. No, not so much in his story (it was boring, it was Tommy being Tommy, yawn), but in the fact for no apparent reason Tommy is running around with his head bandaged. WHY? No reason was given. Using the bandages as his 'costume' is actually painfully irritating, because he wore the bandages during the original Hush as he was healing from facial reconstruction surgery. Here, he was imported into New 52, with his face wrapped in bandages, and no reason given. He wasn't trying to become Bruce and steal his identity. He was just...in bandages. Because that's how he looked in Hush and the fanboys think of him, despite the fact he basically never appeared in bandages again AFTER the initial Hush storyline. I'm infuriated in the pointless iconography that misses the original intent that this is.

Barbara had a terrible event. Even if I excuse everything as she was still grieving over Dick's 'death' and Jim being in jail, and the fact she was undergoing personality surgery in her own title (Batgirl #35 sigggghh), a complete random 'ship Barbara and Jason together' plotline came out of nowhere premised on the fact Barbara was missing Dick? Or something? And their age gap in n52 nonsense is only a couple of years, rather than Babs being ABOUT TEN YEARS OLDER and having babysat Jason. Ugh.

Speaking of: Jason Todd did somewhat better than some of the others in that he got to actually hang out with Barbara and Kate for a storyline, and honestly pairing him up with Kate is a route DC should look at more often in terms of character mediation, but lost 1000 points for the Jason/Barbara stuff. Also had a terrible costume (but what's new there).

Crystal Brown I am so sorry. Not only did you get yet another completely new look and personality, you lost all the few characterisation elements we had for you, you collaborated with your ex-husband, and you betrayed Steph at one point. You should be awarded damages for pain and suffering.

Lincoln March/Owlman: you were in this event SOLELY to confuse Steph and delay her cooperation with everyone else. I resent your entire existence in this timeline and it irritates me that Scott Snyder set up an entire previous event essentially to introduce you to the main universe and then waited going 'did you get it?' You are not Thomas Wayne Jnr sorry.

[omegaversebookshelf]

BatFamily: Omegaverse Edition

I have been recently re-hit by my enduring, overwhelming love for these anxious, extremely competent, disaster humans. So I'm making this post to cope with the Feelings.

This is just going to be a breakdown of the gender designations I usually give each member of the family, and why, the short version, because there's a lot of them. (Does include some more peripheral members, the only requirement to be included here is to be part of the core cast really)

I might do more in-depth posts for them on an individual basis at some point in the future.

Also this post is p much ship-neutral, with some acknowledgements of canonical relationships.

In age order...

Talia: (Becuase she is actually the oldest rip) Talia is an omega. Her relationship with Ra's in the comics is in a large part defined by his despair that she would be the perfect heir "were she not a woman" (pause for eyeroll) (Ra's is an alpha, of course. He doesn't get a full section because fuck him) This is just that scaled up. She also took control of multiple criminal organizations partly by weaponizing her femininity (but mostly by killing people and we love that for her). This also adds some layers of complication to her relationship with Damian. And also the rest of the Bats and Birds but Damian is the one she cares about.

(Also like, on a more serious note, the absolute character assassination she has undergone during her run time is horrific in a way that is very much centered around her identity as a woman, and specifically a woman of color, and I cannot in good conscience ignore that. Fuck Grant Morrison. All my homies hate Grant Morrison)

Alfred: Alfred is an alpha. Yes, I know most fics have him as a beta but I firmly believe alpha fits more with both his backstory (military and theater) and character (very protective and willing to get lethal with it.) He's a very low-key alpha, who, as the Wayne family butler, most people assume to be a beta, but his is very much an alpha.

Bruce: I write Bruce as a beta. Brucie Wayne is the epitome of non-threatening himbo and being a neutral beta helps with being not taken seriously as a danger. It also adds a wider layer of disguise for Batman, since the general consensus is that Batman has to be an alpha. (Also lets me have the trinity be "one each"* and that makes me happy. They’ll get their own post together soon)

Beta Bruce also means he gets to be consistently flummoxed by his children’s situations. He is more comfortable with alpha things, since both Alfred and his parents are/were alphas so they’re more familiar to him.

Selina: An omega. (As you can tell, Bruce may or may not have a bit of a weakness for omega women who don't take anybody's shit XD) Selina is an archetypal femme fatal (though also so much more) couldn't have her be anything else. This also adds to her reputation in Crime Alley, both in the sense of building herself into a serious faction and in her reputation as a safe space for strays.

Barbara: An alpha. More independent than the rest of her generation, only a Bat on her own terms and has never worked for Batman, only with him. As Oracle, who most people never meet in person, she is fairly genderless, though very much fem-presenting, but that counts a bit less in an omegaverse context.

Dick: Dick Grayson is an omega, the tendency towards being flattened into "sexy golden retriever and support of the family" and ignoring of the very real complexity in his character and storylines? he couldn't be anything else. (No, I'm not salty, don't @ me) Robin is genderless/gender neutral, Nightwing is an omega. (Titans era Dick Grayson did not give a flying fuck, as appropriate for a run about teenagers figuring out who they are in the world.)

Cass: I usually write Cass as either a beta or an omega. Part of her character is how she is deceptively non-threatening at first glance while being able to absolutely wipe the floor with the majority of her opponents. I usually lean beta for her, because I think it adds to her bond with Bruce. She has very firm connections with Babs, because of her support and care, so giving her that kind of mirror to Bruce helps balance out that relationship. It also allows for the continuation of Beta Batman in the Future. (Because Cass absolutely should be the next Batman I have been saying this for a decade and I stand by it)

Jason: Jason is an alpha. There is just something about the particular flavor of non-toxic masculinity that comes with Jason’s character that I think lends itself to this very well. Also something something expectations of violence and choices.

Stephanie: Steph is an omega. When I was first figuring these out (back in like, 2016-ish) I went back and forth between beta and omega for her before ultimately coming down in favor of omega. On the shallow side, it allows for the three main batgirls to hit each gender option. On the character history side I think it fits her teen pregnancy storyline she had. And it just fits her particular story imo. She fought literally everyone to be a vigilante. Everyone in her life has told her no at some point.

Tim: Works well with any gender, I usually opt for beta!Tim just because I think it lends itself well to his general perception as Bruce’s mini-me (despite how far from the truth that is in some significant ways). Usually if I’m not writing him beta I’m writing him alpha.

Duke: Duke I lean towards alpha both because it helps balance the family out (the perils of being the newcomer) and also I have a fondness for “chill but also absolutely unhinged” characters as alphas. Also, in a similar way to Jason, his gender means people tend to assume/underestimate how much his intelligence is involved in what he does (intersectionality also hits hard here let’s be real). I just really like the idea of Jason and Duke sending like, crossword puzzles back and forth to each other as a weird form of bonding okay.

Damian: Imma be honest Damian is who I go back and forth on the most. Any option gives a good story for his character, they’re just all different ones. Baby Damian would consider being an omega something to be ashamed of, being an alpha proof of his superiority, and being a beta merely acceptable (and maybe a way to relate to his father). As he grows into the person he is now, it would be either accepting his own worth, or accepting the worth of others, and figuring out how his gender identity and the social roles that come with it play into who he is as a hero and as a person.

I adore Damian so much. When I first was getting into comics he and Dick were just wrapping up their stint as Batman and Robin and they hold a special place in my heart.

Genetically, all three options are possible for him, his mother is an omega, his father a beta, and at least three out of four grandparents are alphas.

[bluespiritshonour]

NGL Batman sometimes reads like The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas (or Brothers Karamazov, whatever you please)

Like, in order to keep saving the city Batman needs a child to demean and abuse and take his emotional frustrations out on. The cost would be paid by those children so Batman can go out and be a hero (selfless? Ha, selfless!)

And no, I'm not coming at it from the child soldier angle. It's fiction, I can suspend my disbelief.

But when canon comics themselves hate the concept of Robin and write storyline after storyline focusing on loss of innocence (Jason Todd dying; Tim Drake losing his whole world—Grayson was spared because he wasn't Robin any longer—but soon enough they were retroactively injecting that shit into his backstory (Robin: Year One and many others that I can't care to list)—so yeah, kinda hard to keep my disbelief suspended when canon is trying to shake me into ✨rEaLiSm✨

It's really funny to see them try to juggle gritty realism and also keep Batman a hero. Like, I can suspend my disbelief that a benevolent billionaire exists—but, uh, it looks like the creators have a thing against suspension of disbelief.

But even then, it's not about the Robins being child soldiers. Golden Age comics never treated Robin as child endangerment—it was just Bruce who was simply a jerk. Dick had abandonment issues and really low standards of parental affection and none of it had to do with being Robin. It was Bruce's shitty parenting.

But I am speaking of it as in, Batman has infinite patience for random kids on the streets but not those in his tutelage—the way he loves only in death (dead people don't need emotional labour from you; neither do kids that don't really depend on you)

And more often than not, one of these kids has been dealt a far worse hand by life than Batman has ever had. And he still has the gall (the writers and DC and everyone else) still have the gall to pretend his tragedy is the greatest.

He lost his parents! So did countless other superheroes; if anything he was more fortunate than most.

Fans love to say Dick Grayson was everything positive in his life and changed him for the better—and so does canon sometimes—but that's simply not true. (If it is, why don't you ever see it play out fully? The only time I ever saw it happen was in Lego Batman)

He doesn't love Grayson enough to change for him, if anything, he just found a kid that he can lean on emotionally and give nothing in return. As a result he was slightly better adjusted. Introduced him to the vigilante lifestyle not because he thought it was good for him (in most cases it was) but because he himself was lonely. In this way, he gets to have companionship and not do the emotional labour that's required of a father.

He doesn't love anyone enough to change for them: his kids, his friends, his lovers. He's only ever capable of loving in death.

(The exception, again, being Andrea Beaumont from Mask of the Phantasm; the only time I ever felt bad for Batman and actually liked him)

But then, what's one movie in the face of more than 80 years of canon?

It's really funny to see.

“He makes so many personal sacrifices”—well, he does take out the frustration of it on those that he's supposed to look after and care for or he'll go off the rails...so? Your point?

It is Omelas.

[heroing]

BRUCE & DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER

*note: i have DID and am writing this from that experience.

** note two: while this is to give anyone who interacts perspective, none of these alters will EVER acknowledge being different people. it likely won't come up in threads unless the other writer specifically requests it.

this got so so so long lmao.

VOCAB LESSON:

alter: sometimes also called 'headmates' (this is the term i use for mine). these are the 'alternate' identities. a lot of people consider them as distinct people, separate from the "base personality", though some might consider themselves only facets.

switching: the process of changing from one alter to another. this can be sudden, uncontrolled switches (often caused by a trigger of some kind) or slower, more controlled switches when someone is deliberately called to the front.

the front/fronting: the place of control/who is controlling the body. there can be multiple alters fronting at the same time, even some that control different parts of the body at the same time.

splitting: the act of creating a new alter. the initial one is typically caused by some kind of trauma but other ones can split off for any number of reasons, some even being deliberately created.

MEET THE ALTERS:

bruce wayne: the primary alter. he's what you might consider the "base" alter. i tend to call him the "cowl down" alter. he's most present in moments when the cowl is down and he's around smaller/non-public groups of people. he's more emotionally stable and softer. he's often more reasonable and lenient. he does occasionally front while in the cowl when a gentler touch is needed but he prefers to interact with the cowl down.

batman: the "cowl up" alter. he formed during bruce's batman training. he tends to be harsher and more brutal. willing to do things that bruce might not. he's calculating and willing to put logic/the mission before emotion. if the cowl is up, it's probably batman. he doesn't front at all if the cowl is down/off.

brucie: the "public face" alter. formed when bruce started having to have a public persona and kind of freaked out about it. his entire job is being the public face. he's ditzy and forgetful and kind of a whore. he's the most obviously a different person because he doesn't always remember things from when bruce or batman were fronting. (dick in particular seems to view him as a separate person canonically. see: that gotham knights arc)

the bat: the "persecutor/protector" alter. this is the original alter to split off bruce. it takes the form of a giant, almost humanoid bat. it flips between encouraging bruce, protecting him from his own past emotions/memories, and persecuting him for his failures. it never fronts. (this is drawn from the ram v detective comics run, btw, check it out.)

failsafe: the "persecutor" alter. even more than the bat. he was deliberately created by batman to do what he couldn't. including kill. he was supposed to be a last resort but there have been times that he has wrested control for periods of time. (canonically, he is called batman of zur-en-arrh but i hate that name so i stole the name of a DIFFERENT batman thing. see: the current zdarsky run for more.)

tommy: the "child" alter. also formed around the same time as the bat. he is based off tommy elliot and presents as a childhood friend in bruce's memories. which is why his memories don't line up with what the ACTUAL tommy elliot says. while tommy has fronted before, it has almost never been alone, has always been accidental, and alfred has done a good job of getting him away before anyone notices.

THE TIMELINE:

bruce sees his parents die. he splits the bat and tommy.

he trains to be batman, realizes he might not be able to handle everything this entails, and batman splits off.

batman is worried about his ability to perform both as a hero and a civilian. he deliberately creates failsafe to do what he can't. brucie splits off on his own around this time.

i didn't include him above but matches malone splits when bruce goes undercover for a little too long.

there are some other thoughts i have, like internal workings, their relationships with each other, their relationships with people outside the system... but that's a post for another day. this one has already gotten so long.

again, this post is mostly just for OOC knowledge as it likely won't come up in threads unless requested.

[fanderficreader]

The Great Battle.

A/N: again this is something different from my usual writing, but I felt like doing it anyway so here you go. Enjoy.

Words: 1600

TW: threats. That’s it.

Fandom: Marvel, DC.(im not really a big dc fan but I tried to write them as best I could, so sorry if it’s not good, I tried.👍😅)

Peter was walking down the street of queens when he saw a dark figure. As he got closer to it, it turned out to be none other than.... Batman? What was he doing here? Peter thought. Peter was pulled from his train of thought, when he started getting closer to him. "Hey! Kid!" He started. "Do you think you'd mind telling me where the hell I am!?" He said urgently. "Uhh... you're in New York. Sir..." he couldn't believe he was talking to a comic book hero right now. 

"I know, but where exactly in New York am I?" He asked. "Um, queens New York. Uh, sir..." he didn't know how to address him. This was so weird. He's never met a real life superhero before. Well... that wasn't the avengers that is. "Which way to Gotham from here." He demanded. "Um, I don't know. I've never been." Peter was so nervous. He wasn't prepared for this. Or what was about to happen.

Next thing Peter knows, he's surrounded by DC superheroes. Peters heart sped up so fast, he was convinced he would have a heart attack. He couldn't believe his eyes. He shook it off and started figuring out how many were actually there. There was Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Batman(obviously), Robin, Aqua Man, and Superman. So yeah, he was definitely surrounded.

Peter then got pulled -once again- out of his train of thought, because Superman started to talk. "Hey uh, why are we interrogating this kid?" He kind of reminded Peter of Cap. "Because, we don't know where we are." He started. "The last thing any of us remember is getting shoved into Darkside's portal, and then ending up in this god forsaken place." Peter perked up at the word portal. "Did you just say you were brought here by portal?" He asked very intrigued. "Yes, why?" Bruce said. "I know a guy who I think can get you guys out of here."

~~~~~Cut To Strange's House~~~~~

"No." Peter immediately froze. "What? Why?" "Because I'm not doing it. End of discussion." Strange sounded  a little like tony for a second. "But you helped me with my multiverse problem. Why can't you help them?" Peter was so confused why he wasn't wanting to do it. He's literally the person that's like 'if anyone is here that doesn't belong, we must put them back. The fate of the multiverse depends on it.' So peter didn't get why he wasn't gunna do it.

"Why won't you do it? You're all about setting things right, so the universe doesn't implode on itself." "Because I said no. Now can we drop this please?" "Why?" Peter was gunna keep pressing it till he gave him the answer he was looking for. "Because." "Why?" "Because." "Why?" "Because." "Why?" "Oh My God kid! You want the real answer?" Peter nodded. "Fine, if it'll shut you up." He started. "I don't want to indulge in this issue, because they are from the DC universe." Finally it all made sense to peter. "So you're telling me, that you don't want to help them... Because They're DC Characters!?" 

"Yes." Doctor strange wasn't ashamed to admit it. He didn't like them and everyone knew that. "You are so discriminatory." "Why do you hate them? Huh? Is it just cause you think they're stealing your brand?!" Peter would fight any avenger any day, over the fact that DC was awesome. "Yes, yes I do." And strange was one of them. But, not today.

~~~~~Back To The Superheroes~~~~

"Hey guys." Peter walked over all awkwardly. Not knowing how to tell them that they'll never see their families again. "So, umm. How do I put this...? Uh, he said no." He watched as all their faces paled. -even at night you could still tell- "What!?" Bruce said. "Ok, ok. Now don't panic, or do anything you'll regret!" Even though they were superheroes, peter was still scared of at least Batman. Who was also the one to make the first move.

He came charging over, and picked Peter up by the shirt. -usually he wouldn't do this to a kid, but to be fair he was also kind of in another universe- "where is he!?" He started. "I need to talk with this man!" Peter panicked as he was let back down. "I don't think that's a good idea." Peter started. "He kinda doesn't like you guys..." "What, why?" Green lantern finally spoke. "I dunno. Something about you guys being rip offs of him, since you're both superheroes, but he thinks he's better then all of you..." peter got nervous at that last part. Thinking Batman might take out his anger on him.

"He said what now!?" Aqua man said. "I think it's time we give him a piece of our mind." Green lantern said. "No No! No, no. That won't be necessary!" Peter was panicking. What if they tried to hurt strange. -I mean they wouldn't win, but he at least wanted to give them a fighting chance at not dying- "then what do we do now? We can't go home, but we can't stay here." Wonder Woman explained.

"Hey. I have an idea!" Green lantern said. He motioned for everyone to go over to him. They then huddled together and started whispering about something. When they broke apart, they all turned to peter with mischievous grins. Peter immediately felt a pit in his stomach. "Hey uh guys, what were you guys whispering about over there?" Panic started to fill peter as they got closer.

"Oh nothing, just chatting about how we could spend our time while we're stuck here." "And how you said we can't get back at that other guy for saying no." When they got even closer Peter saw the good intent in their eyes and calmed slightly (key word, 'slightly') "w'What are you guys g'gunna do..." "oh relax. We're not gunna hurt you." Robin said. At this point Peter had forgotten about him... "We at least just want to get back at one of you, for not letting us leave." Green lantern said. "So we decided on you." Wonder Woman said booping his nose to emphasize the last word.

They then all together, lifted him up and took him to a good spot in the alleyway. When they got there, they plopped him down on the concrete, and all huddled around him. He started breathily laughing, cause he was so scared. They hadn't really thought what they would do with him yet. They just kinda thought about messing with him, and that was the farthest it went. "Robin, any suggestions?" Batman said. "I don't know. Let's test the waters first." He then leaned down and examined his facial expression to try and tell what he was thinking.

What they didn't know, was that peter was thinking they were gunna tickle him, when they all first surrendered him. Now that was all he could think about, and if any of them moved closer to him, he would flinch. When robin was staring at him, he noticed peter staring at his hands. He looked down and noticed his hands were hanging by the kids side. When he moved them, he would jerk away. He realized what was going on, so he got up and whispered it to the others.

"Oh, I see." Batman then made his way over to peter, and poked his side. That earned him a flinch, and something akin to a giggle in return. Bruce smiled. He would do this with robin all the time, so he knew exactly what to do and where to go. He poked peters side again, and again, and again. Until the kid was full on giggling. "You were right robin. He is ticklish." Peter's face heated up at that. "I want to get in on this." Green lantern came over and started spidering up his other side.

Then Wonder Woman came over and took care of his neck. At this point Peter was ecstatic and giggling up a storm. Which got a bunch of awws from Wonder Woman and green lantern. Then Aqua man got in there and scribbled his under arms. Robin came in last and started with his knees. With Batman and green lantern at his sides, Wonder Woman at his neck, robin at his knees and Aqua man at his arms. Superman went for his feet, after watching this all unfold for a little bit.

When peter felt someone take off his shoes he screamed. "WAHAAHAAHAHTT NOHOHOHH!! HEHEHAHAHAHEHA!!" He was in stitches at this point. They went at it for a while, until peters laughter went silent. Then they stopped. "Wow, I should come here more often, if I get to see you every time." Wonder Woman said, emphasizing the last words with a flutter to the neck and ear. Peter scrunched his neck, and let out the last of his giggles, before he curled into himself on the ground.

A few hours went by, and he finally was able to convince strange to let them go. "Bye guys! I hope to see you soon!" Peter waved goodbye. "I don't." Stephen said under his breath. With that strange closed the portal, ultimately keeping them in their universe forever. (At least that's what Stephen hoped) either way, it's safe to say that this has been the most interesting day Peter has ever had. He hoped it would happen again soon.

(A/N) I hope you like it. I don't know how I feel about it tho. Either way I tried my best. I'll try to write again soon. Bye! ✌️😁

[cer-rata]

⭐ : Most underrated character in your opinion

🌠 : Something about canon/fanon you dislike

⭐: John Henry and Natasha Irons. Not that they never get any shine. But...in a lot of ways they're haven't really gotten a lot to do in the past 20 years and that's sad. I think they're important for Metropolis, and the Superman mythos, and comics in general for what they represent, but...you know. They're there. There are characters that I think have been shafted worse, (Karen, Kara, Kenan, Jon, A--actually let me stop before I end up naming everyone) but Steel's tenure has been just...so uneventful for so long. He deserves to be on the Justice League at some point, and honestly. I would be thrilled if Steelworks got a book. Can you imagine a world where Steel and Mr. Terrific got to be characters at the same time? I digress.

🌠: That's an either/or slash, so I will ignore it and make two points instead. :3

Canon: I hate that Clark and Lois can't be like. Just...fine, at being parents even. Not even good at it but just not horrible? I feel like I've been talking about disdain for children a lot recently (it's a hill I will die on), but...I just think it's shitty writing tbh. And I looked pretty closely at the more recent examples. And they just smack of wasted potential. The stories are never allowed to go anywhere, which is so odd considering Bruce gets a new child to kick down a flight of stairs every 8 or so years. I don't' understand why the symbol of hope and progress that Superman is supposed to be is eternally saddled with making only the worst choices he can about his kids. I think even the Magog stuff in World's Finest was kinda like...Clark really?

And this is not to say I think he and Lois should be perfect parents, but there's a lot of ways for parents to stumble and shockingly, they often have to do with preexisting personality traits. Apathy and stupidity color neither Clark Kent nor Lois Lane, so if you want them to mess up their children, maybe at the very least tie those problems into flaws they already have.

Or again, maybe just tell a nice coming of age story for once.

*Ahem*

Fanon: People don't read enough comics. And like...I'm not saying you have to read everything all the time, I cheat and skim and ask for summaries, but I mean more that the general cultural awareness of the content of Superman media is far below that of Batman media and because of that people don't pull from as much established stories as I wish they would, and as such tend to lean on other characters to support narratives that are supposed to be about Supers. Again that's not some kind of moral judgement, it's just a consequence of not being as familiar with the material and it happening often enough to kind of just become a thing. I do blame the publisher primarily for the way they've marketed a select few characters ad nauseam and somehow wonder why other books aren't doing so well. Batman is only so popular because of the long, decent and consistent history he has of pretty good media adaptations, and aggressive marketing. I feel like most generations have a moment where Batman was culturally a big deal, and that's not just a reflection on the fiction but on the money and attention given it to by its caretakers.

To me fanon is a theory that answers a question left open by the actual text. I think when people just...say things happened that didn't and are in direct conflict with what is written on the page, it's just ...fanfiction. Which I like, but it's explicitly not canon and I think that should be clear always.

And that does tie in to my first point actually, because the less you know about a character, the more you make up, and if you don't really get the bones of the original idea, then it's really easy to start projecting, and then you have popularized fan depictions consumed by people who only read fanfiction and suddenly there is earnest complaining about a canon that does not exist. Which just...makes it hard to communicate sometimes, and I don't have the patience always to drag out the scans every time I want to talk about my fave, but there's no real guarantee that anyone is knows has base concept anymore, you really have to check every time.

Don't be Grant Morrison. If you want to reference something specific, read the thing first. No one knows what Clark's reaction to Kon actually was and why it was what it was, and it's...well it's actually really funny to see discourse pop up about two characters where no one present knows what's going on, but also, like. Yikes.

[vellaphoria]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you for the tag @waffleinator-inator! <3

20 Questions for Fic Writers

How many works do you have on AO3?

There are 40 that I’ve solo-authored, and 9 that I did varying degrees of work on when a group of dc writers doing a round robin fic collaboration thing

What’s your total A03 word count?

It’s a bit thrown off by the aforementioned colabs, but I don’t want to go through and do the math, so the overall total is 567,072

What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly DC! The comics variant, that is. And within that, mostly Batman-adjacent characters. Though I also have one fic each for the avengers, the silmarillion, and haikuu

What are your top five fics by kudos?

Excluding the collaborations, it’s:

Cut and Run (Bruce crashes Tim and Ra’s’ dinner/business meeting; T, gen, 1.6k)

Deadfall (Canon divergence where Tim died in Red Robin and was resurrected/kidnapped by Ra’s; M, gen, 125k, on hiatus)

Recursion (Tim accidentally travels back in time to when Dick was just starting out as Nightwing, which is complicated by the fact that they still haven’t made up after Damian became Robin; M for mild nsfw, DickTim, 20k)

Complications (Outsider POV of post RR-canon divergence, ft. morally grey Tim; G, gen, 1.7k)

This Whole Damn City Thinks It Needs You (But Not as Much as I Do) (There has been a fair amount of building ust between Dick and Tim after Red Robin. Dick decides to do something about that; E for blatant nsfw, DickTim, 23k)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes, but very slowly!

I respond because is someone took the time to engage with my work and actually write one, then it feels like it’s only right for me to put in an equal amount of effort to respond.

What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

That would probably be the DickBabs with unrequited DickTim wedding Tumblr fic (here, if you like pain)

What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

It’s hard to say. Since I tend to be averse to bad endings, most of my fics have happy endings of one sort or another

Do you get hate on your fic?

Sometimes. Usually from people who can’t grasp that limited third person POV means that the narrating character doesn’t have perfect information at all times, or people who are upset that characters don’t make 100% rational decisions 100% of the time.

Do you write smut?

Yep! <3

Do you write crossovers?

Depends on how you define them. I tend to do a lot of AUs which blend elements from other settings with DC, but I don’t really enjoy writing characters from different, unrelated media meeting.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge!

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! My Running (and when to stop) DickTim series was translated into 中文-普通话 國語 by SummerVapour and tiktiktiktiktam, which is linked on the fic itself

Have you ever co-written a fic?

Yes; I helped write a few fics in the round robin collaboration series A Journey of Personal Discovery Through Social Isolation. Amusingly, we named it that a year before the pandemic started.

What‘s your all-time favourite ship?

DickTim, to absolutely no one’s surprise :D

What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Probably To Break Every Bended Knee; or, Apocrypha. I really love the setting, but the fic is supposed to be JayTimDick and all the endings I plotted for it ended up being DickTim with Jason kind of doing his own thing. That doesn’t seem like a particularly satisfying conclusion to anyone interested in the story, so I decided to put my time elsewhere.

What’s your writing strengths?

Comments that have gone into specifics have said that my fics have good characterization, visualization, and engrossing plots.

What’s your writing weaknesses?

I’m very bad at brevity, so writing short, snappy fics that also make sense doesn’t usually work out for me.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I pretty much only speak English, so I don’t tend to do it. If I ever had a fic that absolutely needed it, then I’d ask for writing support from someone who actually does speak the language in question.

First fandom you wrote for?

Depends on how you define wrote. If you mean wrote and published, then it’s DC. If you mean wrote when I was a kid and then let disappear into the files of a long-defunct computer, then probably Stargate SG-1.

Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

Of the stuff I have published, probably Recursion. Though if I’m allowed to include WIPs, then I’ve been working on a DickTim slowburn on and off for a while now. It’s meant to cover things from when they meet to post-Red Robin, with a fair amount of mini canon divergences throughout. Currently it’s somewhere upwards of 50k, but I haven’t had a chance to work on it in a while. If you're in the mood for it, no pressure tagging @gerryrigged, @marirah, and @themandylion :D

[halfagone]

Err no, I’ve heard horror stories about that run. It’s moreso I have a problem with how some fanfic writers write him I guess, it’s really inconsistent. For example, I like how you write him. He seems pretty close to how I envision Batman myself.

You are not wrong about the horror stories for Gotham War. But I will say it's not purely fanfic writers that write him differently from each other, even a look to official comics shows that the writers don't know what they're doing with him half the time. The same could probably be said for a lot of the live action movies.

I actually had a wonderful discussion about Bruce | Batman with a friend last night, about how he has so many layers to his personality but he doesn't often show them. He is the epitome of an Unreliable Narrator because he is willing to lie to even himself sometimes. And I think a lot of writers, fanfiction or otherwise, tend to take him at face value.

Another thing I've noticed when it comes to fanfiction authors in particular, is that they use certain aspects of a character or their personality according to what's necessary for their story. I've written Jazz as the supportive sister that's in over her head in LL's Ascent, but in Fever Dream, she's half the reason why Danny was missing for like 15 hours before the Bats found him because she made an insensitive comment about Danny's work ethic. She's still that older sister that cares too much and tries harder than she should have to, but her mistakes and flaws aren't as obvious in, say, LL's Ascent in comparison to Fever Dream.

It's the same way with a lot of fanfics too. Sometimes we make Jack and Maddie horrible, vile parents, and sometimes they're only... okay. Sometimes they're even amazing once they get past the ghost thing! The same thing with Bruce. Sometimes he tries so hard for his kids, and it's beyond obvious that he's making an effort. And sometimes he's an abusive ass like in some canon comics. Do I prefer one interpretation more than another? *glances at all my Good Dad!Bruce fics* ...I mean, I don't think I can lie about that.

Just keep searching~ And I'd definitely recommend staying away from certain tags, like Bruce Wayne is a Bad Parent because there's almost a 90% chance you're going to read something you're going to hate.

[aingeal98]

I'm at the point where people not including Cass and Duke in batfam fics is not the most pressing issue to me. Like OK fine whatever enjoy your bland fanon 4 Robin shtick based entirely on tumblr posts where they all have one personality trait. At least I can mostly ignore it.

But for the love of God stop fuckin tagging Cass in batfam fics where she literally is off screen for 99% of the story. Why do you think anyone browsing the cassandra cain tag would be interested in your fic where the 4 male Robins (Duke doesn't exist in these fics for obvious reasons) all joke and do fluffy activities together and then once every few chapters you mention that Cass is away in another country. You can mention her without tagging her! I do it with batfam members all the time when they're not the main focus of my fics!

You can't even blame canon for this like Wayne Family Adventures gives you a solid basis for fluffy canon batfam and you, the so called progressive fandom, immediately rush to write out every character that isn't straight or white passing enough for you. Damian can stay since it let's you write angst about Talia being a dragon lady and Bruce saving him and Jason and sometimes even fucking Tim from Damian's evil brown side of the family I guess. Everyone else? Non existent. "I don't know that much about them" you say and then in the very next breath admit that your characterisation is based of other fics and wfa is the only comic you've read. What about wfa makes you understand the 4 boys enough to write them as the core family, but not Cass, who appears more than Dick in the webtoon. It's so transparent and I'd hate it less if it didn't stop me from enjoying what I actually like. Aka good Cass related fics. And also good Talia related fics but that's even rarer.

Like, write whatever you want I'm done hoping the fandom gets better when racist Talia fics still get thousands of kudos every week. Just keep that shit out of the tags for those of us who do actually care about these characters.

[electricprincess96]

Three Jokers is so very close to acknowledging and understanding Jason Todd, his trauma and mor importantly so close to giving us a Bruce that understands Jason and his trauma..... and then Barbara Fucking Gordon waltz in and acts all high and mighty because she "healed" from her trauma better than Jason did his so that makes Jason like the worst thing ever in her eyes.

Like I'm sorry but 1. This story seems to be under the impression Jason never actually died just.... fake died and 2. Barbara literally says she had a support system in place to help her get through her trauma and that Jason didn't have that..... but that's somehow Jason's fault? Like no... that's not how that works, Jason didn't have a support system because he was catatonic upon busting out of his grave and then after that picked up by assassins. He couldn't call out to his family or friends if he wanted to.

And for the most part this story has Bruce acknowledging that... Jason isn't as bad as Babs makes him out, he defends Jason to Barbara and Jim. That's all I want to see Bruce do, defend his children. Because ok Jason's hardly a saint in this story but he's not doing anything like truly awful.

Oh also hypocritical of Babs to say Jason needs to stop clinging to his trauma by going by the name Red Hood (I've always hated this take that Jason needs to give up Red Hood to heal, no reclaiming something from an abuser can very much be part of healing) but Barbara is allowed to keep reminders of her own trauma to help her healing process. Like whys it ok for her but not him?

And I hate the Jason and Babs relationship. But not for the reason most people do. Most people hate it cause Babs is getting passed along from Bat Boy to Bat Boy and they think shes better than that. No I hate it because she's so awful to Jason this entire story and I think he deserves better than that. He's faced enough trauma and judgement, he doesn't need her acting all high and mighty and making him feel worthless and small for the person he's become, a person that really isn't as bad as she makes him out to be in this story. Like I'll be the first to admit Jason's flaws but in this story.... he's really not that bad.

But positives. Artwork is STUNNING could look at this comic all day and never get bored. Jason and Babs are both beautiful, like ok hate this couple but damn they'd have pretty kids if this artist is drawing them.

I liked seeing Jason get to show off his detective skills. Many Batman fans and writers nowadays like to write Jason off as "the dumb Robin with anger issues" because they like to reduce the Robin's to like 1 trait each and "smart Robin" gets given to Tim but the fact is all the Robins are intelligent and capable detectives. They were raised and trained by Batman afterall. So seeing Jason finding out things on his own was good to see. I like seeing Jason be more than just the angry brute.

As I say when Babs isn't speaking the sort of quiet understanding that Bruce and Jason have is nice. I quite liked it. It looks like they are in a place where Bruce is trying to give Jason space while also trying to be someone who can support him. Then Barbara talks and everything falls apart but this is the positive section so I shall try to ignore that.

Overall.... I don't hate this story. As I say it gets very VERY close to nailing Jason and his relationship with Bruce. It somewhat fails in many MANY other aspects but honestly for this pretty art style alone I could be convinced to recommend it. I've certainly read much MUCH worse comics in recent years.