#young justice dark crisis spoilers

[sohotthateveryonedied]

the VALIDATION in this chili’s

[unknownunseenunheard]

Okay I’ll give Meghan one thing: unlike the fandom, she clocked that timkon was one sided on Tim’s side the entire time (like we’ve been shown repeatedly if you aren’t going off fanon material) so thank you for that

[the-overanalyzer]

okay i need context for timkon what just happened

In the last issue of the Dark Crisis YJ mini, Tim and Cassie have a very brief talk about that time they dated while Kon was dead.

In sequence with Sum of Our Parts, Fitzmartin's earlier story about Tim working through his confusion to figure out that he likes guys, the message is pretty clear: Tim was in love with Kon, was in denial about it, and sublimated those feelings into a relationship with Cassie as a coping mechanism.

I'd have preferred it if the book had just come out and said it, but I'll take what I can get. Tim's in a relationship right now anyway, and I can see why Fitzmartin wouldn't want to get more concrete with the ship she isn't actually writing.

[fantastic-nonsense]

the sheer comedy of knowing that literally everyone is going to ignore Earth-16 being called one of the Multiversity Earths and will continue to refer to it as "The Young Justice cartoon universe"

[chamiryokuroi]

whats going on with tim??? i’m so confused?????

There was a leak of tomorrow’s DC:YJ where it is implied Tim had a crush on Kon back in the day, which would make timkon canon at the least one sided

[SPOILER UNDER THE CUT]

[pinkcreatorshark]

DARK CRISIS: YOUNG JUSTICE #6 (FINALE) SPOILERS

So, I skipped a bunch of issues because I got lazy, but here's my thoughts for DCYJ the finale, and my overall thought of the run at the end.

First of all. Look at them all ready for battle and this mf out here posing and looking directly at the camera.

So Im not sure why the comic turned into the "Cassie is the greatest hero ever" power hour but I mean sure, I guess. Literally everyone the past like three issues is just "Cassie you're so great and amazing and smart and pretty" it started to feel like a Cassie book and not a YJ book.

Imagine getting told by both guys you dated in a span of a few minutes that they were never really in love with you

Never getting over Tim admitting he had romantic feelings for Kon, and then Kon saying he didn't have it in him to live anyone. Unrequited timkon is real. (I'm saying this as a timkon, timber, AND timberkon shipper)

I'm sorry but Human!Red Tornado looks like Ric Grayson in a dramatic cape

So Conner being invisible is honestly the saddest shit. Being unseen is his biggest fear, and that was who's whole thing in this run, as well as where the new Superboy comic is going. His fear of being unseen, unheard, and unneeded. He needs to feel needed or he doesn't know what to do with himself. He feels like he HAS to be the one to save the day or what's the point of him being there? That shit broke me.

Overall Thoughts:

So, the comic run overall was. Not very good from a character perspective, but was fine? I guess?

It felt like the writers understood some characters and completely butchered others. It went from being a Cassie hateclub to Cassie is the best hero ever in just a few issues and that. Felt weird. It did have some funny moments, like homophobic Batman, and literally everyone including Bart realizing how gross his writing was towards women back in the day.

It also addressed some stuff, albeit a bit heavy handed, that I think doesn't get talked about a lot like how Tim and Kon tend to third wheel Bart a lot and how Bart is just treated as some dumb kid when he's probably one of the smartest on the team. It also remembered kons TTK which I call a win. But it also completely misunderstood some things, like Cissie saying why she left the team.

For a moment it showed what YJ used to be but it quickly became a parody of itself. And I think that was intentional because of who the villain was, but also it was too much so and it felt forced which hurt it in the end.

There also was a lot of hating on the new generation characters that have been giving a lot of poc and LGBT rep, which. Was not the way they should've gone about it. I don't think that's what they were intending, they were trying to make the villain make a different point, but it was toeing a very controversial line.

Overall, I feel like the run had a lot of potential, but leaned too heavily into the parody of nostalgia. It focused too much on what WAS and not enough on what IS. I think they were trying to make a YJ comic that re-solidified the bond between the characters, which I guess it accomplished, but it didn't in such a way that it made it seem like their relationship was flimsy at best to begin with and that their trauma was just something they could apologize for and everything be okay again.

I'm giving Dark Crisis: Young Justice a 5/10

[celestial-ringleader]

Dark Crisis: Young Justice Thoughts

Y’know what I’m not waiting until after work, I’m getting mad over DC:YJ and some fans online are also just making me annoyed so I’m gonna break down all my thoughts on the comic. This will probably get rant-y so if you dont like that feel free to ignore. Or don’t. I’m not your dad.

So to start off, I decided to look into what the writer’s other DC projects, how much experience she had in writing, and what she’s prominently known for. As of right now, her most prominent works have been DC:YJ, Tim Drake: Robin, and the DC Pride special for Tim. As far as I can tell, she hasn’t been writing for DC for a while, her earliest work being in 2021 with Batman: Urban Legends. But what she is most known for seems to be writing for Supernatural, the last three seasons specifically. Which all this combined is not promising. Megfitz hasn’t been doing DC comics for that long and from what I can tell based on the writing, most of her info comes from fanon interpretation or summaries about Young Justice. If there is evidence she read the comics for the sake of DC:YJ, feel free to add on.

Now that that’s out of the way, holy shit this comic was so painful to read. In the beginning I thought it had potential to be good, I assumed it was going to be some kind of story about the characters avoiding their grief and living in the past instead of thinking about the future, but the moment the third or so issue came out I knew that this just wasn’t gonna be that. And dear god did it spiral out of control. To make this easier, I’ll just break this down into chunks so I can organize my thoughts. (DISCLAIMER: I will not be going into the art style of the comic because to me that doesn’t say anything about the quality of writing, look at the current Nightwing run for example: it looks great but its writing is holy wattpad batman. I’ve also read a good chunk of comics YJ ‘98, a good amount of comics about Kon-El and Tim Drake from the 90s into the 2000s, so I like to think I know what I’m talking about. If anyone comes into my comments or inbox being nasty, I’m gonna ignore you. I don’t have time for that shit.)

The Plot

To say this plot was really convoluted and non-existent wouldn’t be enough to describe how messy it all felt. The plot was pretty alright in the first and second issue but it very quickly started to make less sense and the characters started acting very strange just to get the plot along. In fact, I’d say the plot was moving forward and the characters were dragged along for the ride rather than it being the characters moving the plot forward. This was a simple premise and it became needlessly complicated, shit would just happen, the characters would react, and then another thing would happen; rinse and repeat. It felt incredibly rushed overall, and I’m aware it was only six issues but I’ve read miniseries that have done more in six issues than what happened in DC:YJ. After I finished reading it, it just felt like nothing happened at all and that’s weak storytelling if it left no impact on the audience or just made the audience mad.

Like what was the rising action, the climax, the falling action? Why was it full of the characters meandering around and not having agency in their own story?? How can you have a story last for six issues and still leave barely a dent in the grand scheme of things?? As I read this, I kept wondering if this was an early draft that wasn’t edited with how much of a skeleton the plot was.

The Dialogue 

This won’t be a big segment, but the dialogue felt unnatural to read. At best it was clunky, at worst it was uncanny. I’m sorry but people don’t talk like robots or say quippy shit all the time. The scene I have in mind is the one where Tim is telling Kon about how he and Cassie were torn apart when they thought he was dead, but it was written in such a jarring way that it just felt like someone pressed a button on a piece of cardboard and it started talking. This emotional scene felt so lifeless and that monologue had no impact. At other times it felt like the characters weren’t actually saying these lines and were only speaking because that’s what the plot dictates.

This brings me to a sub-section; the drama. My god the drama was so ham-stringed and confusing. A lot of the drama presented was drama that had already been settled or was shit that straight up didn’t fucking happen. Kon was already aware of Tim and Cassie getting together after he died and he understood why they did, Kon already knew that Tim was in a rough state after he died so the “reveal” left me thinking “...no fucking shit?? you guys had a whole heart to heart about this???”. The only explanation I have is that Megfitz couldn’t come up with anything new so instead fell back on old drama and hoped the fans would be like “haha I remember that!” but literally every YJ fan I’ve talked to just rolled their eyes. Congrats you remember basic shit, now can you prove you know how to write dialogue with their personalities still in tact. Jfc.

The Characters

GOD. GOD FUCKING. U G H H HH H HH H HH HH H 

This is the part where my theory that Megfitz did research through twitter a la Tom Taylor and this is also the part where I get angry because WHAT WAS THAT BULLSHIT CHARACTERIZATION I READ WITH MY OWN TWO EYES?? Not only did the characters feel lifeless, they also were just so so far from themselves that they felt like clones. Like I kid you not, I thought Cissie was a clone or an illusion early on and was very quickly disappointed when I realized that this was just shitty writing.

I went into this comic reading for Kon, from my pfp you can probably guess he’s one of my favorite comic characters period, and dear lord that writing for him was atrocious. Not only did you have him disregarding his friends, but there were a lot of instances where he brought up old drama (as I stated before) and was largely uncaring about how others felt. Which is so wrong on so many levels. Like how can he just yell at Bart and make him cry?? Kon-El?? Being a dick to his friends???? What the fuck was Megfitz even referencing for him?? Like yes he was a little shit of a teen and would make a habit of flirting with people, but at the end of the day he cared about his friends and never looked down on any of them. Especially Bart, Tim, and Cassie. He never saw Cassie as “small, meek, and helpless uwu” he was attracted to her almost instantly yes, but throughout YJ ‘98 and TT ‘03 it’s pretty obvious he respects her as a person and knows she’s strong and capable. In fact, it was Cassie who even broke off their relationship and he never held that against her and was happy to let their relationship go.

Which brings us to Cassie and Cissie....dear fucking god. For a comic that claims it’s speaking out against sexist writing from the 90s, the portrayals of their female characters sure felt really fucking sexist. Cassie only existed to have a very lazy “girl power” moment, Cissie was nothing more than a cardboard cut out who acted so OOC it took me out of the story, and literally no other afab YJ members were mentioned. Did Greta just stop existing in their minds? Anita became their friend, why was she listed under villains? The part that made my head turn the most with Cissie was when she claimed that she left bc she felt like it was all about “the boys” and was telling Cassie she should just stop looking for them essentially bc they were “holding her back” and I’m here thinking that Megfitz straight up didn’t read YJ if she forgot that Cissie leaving was because she wanted to live a normal life, not because of any resentment towards her friends. In fact she went and visited them frequently after leaving and every time they were all so happy to see her back. Ofc they wanted her back on the team, but they respected her decision and encouraged her to live the life she wants. To move on to Cassie, this portrayal made Geoff Johns’ writing for her seem amazing in comparison. She was the leader of YJ, she was respected by her friends, and they never left her out or made her a “third wheel” in their friendship. Yes, she wasn’t there from the get-go but once she, Cissie, and Greta were added it all became a mutual friendship between the six of them. Tim, Kon, and Bart didn’t look down on her just because she was a girl. That was how the fans treated her, which is the biggest reason why these characters are unrecognizable:

The fans are the ones who prioritized Tim and Kon and left out Bart and Cassie, not the comic. The fans are the ones who made Bart out to seem dumb, the fans are the ones who would make Cassie exist only as a love interest. These interpretations seeped into the comic and made it seem like it was this toxic friendship when it LITERALLY WASN’T. NONE OF THAT HAPPENED IN CANON. 

And this might be a hottake for some people, but I just don’t like how she’s writing Tim. Just looking at anything with him in it feels like it’s fanon Tim and not the same Tim who’s existed for well over thirty years. He just has no personality outside of “the smart Robin who is bi” which is basically how fandom sees him. And I’m a huge fan of Tim, he’s my favorite Robin out of all of them and I’ve been reading a bunch of comics with him and it’s just so annoying that people are just gonna assume DC:YJ Tim is all he is; bc in that case I don’t blame fans for thinking he’s boring after this. But that’s a whole other rant for a later date.

The Message

What even was it. Like literally what was the message or purpose behind this comic? Originally it seemed like the boys were avoiding their grief and then it became this whole thing about “ew 90s BAD and if you liked 90s comics you’re BAD” completely ignoring that a lot of iconic characters today were from the 90s. This felt like it was a slap in the face as someone who loves YJ ‘98 and all the characters, yes I know YJ was never perfect but I still overall loved it and I loved seeing them just being teenagers figuring out their place in the world. With any story, it needs to have a purpose and a message for the audience to take and think about; with this, I felt brain dead because of how plainly it was laid out for me. The audience couldn’t take anything else aside from the overwhelming message printed so plainly. Mickey was doing all of this because...he doesn’t like the current heroes and wants to see more of “his heroes”....way to jab at YJ fans who just want them to be back together dude. Way to make YJ fans seem irrational and hateful towards current heroes. This wasn’t a commentary on grief and filling the role of a predecessor who passed away, this was just telling people that 90s comics were bad and you shouldn’t have nostalgia or want to see more because then that means you hate the current characters. If this is a problem, then just WRITE THOSE STORIES. Don’t make some big meta commentary that spits in all our faces, just write these characters. 

Final Thoughts

This comic run was a mess. it had so much promise and potential to be good and it fell so fucking flat. I haven’t read a comic that disappointed me this much since Trial of Magneto, and for people who have followed me for a minute knows how I feel about that. Somehow DC:YJ makes Tom Taylor’s Nightwing run look eons better and that is saying A LOT. Overall this comic was a six issue waste of my time and I wish I did more with my money and my brain cells, but at the end of the day comics are just gonna be like that. Either they’re good or they’re a swing and a miss. Needless to say, this has turned me off from any further works Megfitz does and I will put YJ on the highest shelf until writers learn to actually write and understand these characters. After what happened with YJ 2019, I’m having less and less faith in that but idc.

Usually I don’t give number ratings for comics, but for this one I’m making an exception. I rate Dark Crisis: Young Justice a 3/10. Get better Megfitz.

[lafoget]

listen DCYJ was horribly written with tons of factual errors and VERY BAD META (i refuse to take seriously the author who written-out Anita from the main characters and put under the label "villain" and stripped Cissie of her personal story and fully completed arc just to show how David's run was focused only on boys), but at least we got a one sided timkon and maybe an old Cassie's origin, so... a small victory i guess...

[roseworth]

[timothy-kaplans]

Meghan Fitzmartin: Yeah we’ll be exploring Tim and Conner’s relationship* *only retreading old arguments from far better books and a tacked on vague reference in the second last page, while gassing up a underdeveloped and boring love interest. 

[whisplion]

Anyways it seems I need to contribute writing to timkon for whatever the dumpster fire that is happening in the comics. I saw someone said that Conner was basically said to be very hetero in the new comic. I don’t buy it.

[the-overanalyzer]

So...the leak was real. I wish it was a little more explicitly said, but as someone who's been fixating for 15 years on the idea that Tim and Cassie were using each other as a substitute outlet for their unresolved romantic feelings for Kon, I'm honestly giddy at even this much acknowledgement.

[youngjusticecapades]

hey mf what the fuck. what the fuck. what the actual fuck. what the f

[odditycircus-2002]

Medusa!Reader and Shang Tsung in Mortal Kombat 1 Story Mode Part 11

PREVIOUS

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Spoilers for Mortal Kombat 1 Storymode: Proceed with Caution

The first thing you did when you and your group were finally able to get a safe distance away from Ying's Fortress was punch Shang Tsung in the face and then Quan-chi.

"That's for your part in the Other Shang Tsung's plan!"

Jerrod has to physically hold you back from doing more to them before reminding you there is a more pressing problem. He promises that both Sorcerers will face justice when this crisis is averted. Jerrod's assurance is enough to placate your fury for now. Shang Tsung scowls deeply at the Emperor's words but, for once, doesn't say anything.

You then turn to look back toward the fortress, finding legions of stone warriors marching as one in a long line, similar to ants. You listen as others start speculating about the army and strategies to defeat them, along with Titan Shang Tsung and Titan Y/N. Until the Shang Tsung you know, comes up with a good question about more than one timeline. Although, you looked like you physically wanted to vomit when agreeing with the Sorcerer.

"As much as it pains me to say, Lord Lui Kang, Shang Tsung is actually ri- ... Not wrong to think like that. My Titan self mentioned a timeline of her own, meaning there has to be more than two timelines."

"Precisely. We lack strength, but we could find it in other timelines."

Lui Kang appears surprised by your argument before his expression takes on one of deep thought. This gets the ball rolling as everyone starts strategizing to gather allies from other timelines in an overwhelming opposing force against Titan Shang Tsung, including a plan for Lord Lui Kang to reclaim his Titan powers again. You just hope he’ll be able to do so in time.

Meanwhile, your Titan self conspires with Titan Shang Tsung while overwatching the construction of the Portals Nexus point. Titan Y/N instructs Shao to defend the portals at all costs, as Titan Shang Tsung commands Geras to find Lui Kang. Although Titan Shang Tsung expresses frustration toward Lui Kang’s development, Titan Y/N assures her husband that they will succeed, and when they do, watching Lui Kang suffer will be all the sweeter to savor.

”You always know how to brighten my mood, my love.”

Meanwhile, you were observing the Dragon Army with the rest of Earthrealm’s champions, regrouping with them to talk strategy in Lord Lui Kang’s absence. Kuai Liang tasks you as the field medic and air support.

You’re not ashamed to say that when both Shang Tsung and Quan-chin opened their mouths again, you were seconds away from biting them both. Again, Jerrod had to hold your shoulder to silently tell you to drop it for now.

With everyone’s role assigned, you take to the skies. Immediately, some stone soldiers spotted you and started hurling boulders towards you. You were barely able to dodge the barrage of the first one, and even then, you got scrapped and bruised. So not only did you have enemies on the ground to assist against, but you also had them in the air, so nowhere was truly safe. Fortunately, you could stop constructing a newer portal by dismantling the scaffolding.

While you were supposed to be general air support, you often found yourself having to assist both Raiden and the Sorcerers. Such as with a Darker Rain and Smoke, turning both of them to stone after Shang Tsung and Quan-chi defeats them.

”Thank you so much, sweet Y/N.”

”Don’t tempt me to cut out your tongue and force Quan-chi to eat it.”

You finally got to take out some of your fury on a Dark Shao, which you 100% enjoyed helping to beat down. The fact his life force was connected to the portals was just a bonus. Although, he almost caught you off guard when you went to tend to Raiden to heal up his fractured ribs. Luckily, and unfortunately, Shang Tsung and Quan-chi saved the young Earthrealmer just in time. You didn’t miss Shang Tsung’s flirtatious look as he walked to confront Dark Shao. As much as you wanted to end Shao, you knew you had to heal Raiden first and even more this time considering he took a lot of hammer blows.

Fortunately, both Sorcerers succeeded and took both Dark Shao and Reiko’s souls, stranding the Dragon Army within Earthrealm. Saving your timeline. However, your relief was soon replaced with irritation when Shang Tsung reminds you and Raiden about how he and Quan-chi risked their lives to save the realms.

”I have to agree with Raiden. What you did hear was simply cleaning up your own mess.”

However, there wasn't a time to squabble amongst yourself. Not when there was still the remaining Dragon Army to defeat.

...

Back with your Titan self, you accompanied your Titan husband to Lui Kang's Hourglass. You arrived flanked by either side of your minions, some Shang Tsung crafted explicitly in a way so they may be gifted to you.

”Titans fighting Titans? Now that’s something new.”

You comment in amusement when noticing that Lui Kang has found Titan allies while giving them all an unnerving smile. A shiver of anticipation goes down your spine when Titan Shang Tsung reiterates the new plan he told you earlier of annihilating Lui Kang's timeline from existence.

"Shall we begin the process, my flower?"

"Let us proceed, darling."

Both of you then released your minions onto Liu Kang and his allies to keep them occupied. Shang Tsung and you walk hand in hand toward Lui Kang's Hourglass, stopping when you're both close enough to combine your magic with your Kitana and Mileena. The cracking of glass ringing out like chiming bells in your ears. Of course, Lui Kang's ever-faithful servant, Geras, attempts to save the Hourglass with his own blast of magic.

You let out a hiss before directing some of your magic to Geras, just enough to gain his attention so he looks directly at your eyes. Your gaze worked like a charm to turn Geras into stone. However, before you can celebrate, the construct shedded the stone off him like dried mud. So you bare your fangs in frustration as you try again to turn him into stone, only for him to then unpetrify himself. This cycle repeats long enough for Lui Kang and his allies to band together and use their power to overpower you and Shang Tsung's attempt at destroying the Hourglass, simultaneously repairing the relic of any previous damage. The magic overwhelmed you both to the point you and your husband were brought to your knees.

"Dearest!"

You shout as your face morphs into one of concern, with your snakes slithering in his direction and hissing in your shared distress. Shang Tsung gives you an assuring look.

"I have survived worse."

You both supported one another back on your feet to retreat into your timeline with the rest of your defeated minions. You glare at the rest of your fellow Titans, who were wise enough to not even look your way. Which only frustrates you more.

"Shang Tsung, I believe it's about time we gather some new allies of our own."

"Agreed." A/N: Remember to like, reblog, or comment! We just got one or two posts left to go!😁😁😁😁

Playlist

“Redemption” by Besomorph and Coopex

“Bloody Mary” by Lady Gaga

“Fix You” by Danny Olson

[buds-and-baubles]

the origins of apollo and midnighter

for anyone out there who has wanted to know what their original backstory was before dc had changed it to them being kids who were abducted by aliens and were experimented on to recieve their powers, you've come to the right place! let's get right into it. (spoilers for stormwatch vol.2 issues #4-6)

apollo and m were described as former U.S soldiers who served on a superhuman black ops team created by weatherman henry bendix called stormwatch zero, which is a subdivision of stormwatch. stormwatch for the record is a united nations created "crisis intervention unit". stormwatch zero was so secret that the rest of stormwatch didn't know it existed.

apollo served as the leader of stormwatch zero, which are very much influenced by the justice league if you take a look at the team roster. they were described before this as "normal humans" who were bioengineered/built as superhuman. odd wording at the end, right? also what happened their teammates? why have them labeled rogue?

we are first introduced to the team all naked, told to get on their uniforms. apollo expresses confusion at not knowing where they are, which isn't answered. m doesn't get why bendix is leaving them in the dark, which bendix replies that it's a "proving mission" in which he defined the parameters.

now why would they not know where they are or wake up naked, i wonder? what does he mean by proving mission? is there a catch to their powers? yes.

uniforms given out and code names assigned, you no longer have your names nor exist (also questionable if they had a choice). most of his phrasing sounds like.. a dirtbag father honestly. it's weird.

this strike team was sent off on their first mission to go to a mysterious facility in the desert to steal information and cripple illegal development committed by a 'rogue state'. in reality, bendix sent them to steal a bio-reactor extrapolated from alien (daemonite) technology that served as a benign advance in medical technology made by americans.

however, the bio-reactor defended itself by annihilating everyone but apollo and midnighter. when they tried to teleport away, they couldn't. bendix deactivated their portal devices and left them for dead for failing their mission. the worst part? it was rigged against them.

apollo and m managed to escape from the facility and learn of bendix's treachery. rather than fight, they decide (or really have no choice but) to stay quiet and anonymously went on to fight for a better world under the radar. they're in hiding for five years in various places, the last being them living on the streets of san francisco.

after this point is when the stormwatch plot kicks off where they discover weapons which use human brains in their design. these guns are connected to a utopia-like place called nevada garden. stormwatch was already looking not just into the two of them but also this garden, and catch them before they can go after the garden by trapping them on stormwatch's space tower. they learn here that bendix is dead by another member of stormwatch and after some convincing on the grounds of fighting for a better world, they help.

the garden is destroyed with their assistance, and when asked what they want, apollo and m answer with this; "when we took on our codenames and uniforms, our real names and lives were deleted. we want them back." the new weatherman named jackson king instead says he will give them comfortable and protected new lives away from stormwatch as best as he can manage.

here's a thought of mine that's bugging me: bendix is a proven lying madman who hacked the nsa and had to be killed by one of his own. he could've lied about apollo and midnighter's origins. nobody could disagree with him.

you could argue their origin for being young adult soldiers is true and just destroyed by bendix very well, or.. worse. i've seen some people suspect them to be sent and experimented on as kids to then go through training as soldiers. i have another thought that a fanfiction i read brought on; they were created in a lab test tube. why?

they have no 'real' name, apollo and midnighter are their names. they were described as being bioengineered or built by bendix. they wake up confused and naked. they are given their uniforms and codenames, their old lives and names deleted. but what if they never had old lives or names?

what if they were grown to adulthood with their abilities created and training implanted before they woke up? you could also say they were test tube children who grew up and trained as soldiers, also. however, i'm more inclined for the first option as the naked panel supports that.

if you've read for jay nakamura, you'll have recognized the name henry bendix. he is who experimented on jay, who was a child. who is to say he didn't do this back in wildstorm? he could've kidnapped kids or make test tube children/adults. hell, this guy could probably make a clone easily.

so in the end, we'll never know the whole truth of their origin. they'll never remember because the memory wipe, there's no files about their old lives or names, and bendix would never tell whether dead or alive. they don't know how old they are, what their birthday is, nothing. they could've been born adults who never even had a chance to be a child.

thanks for listening in! i know it's a lot but once i started, i couldn't stop. this fucks with me though. could apollo and m really be test tube grown superhumans like superboy?

[laufire]

april reading meme!

BOOKS

We Will Devour The Night by Camilla Andrew. The version I read is available in the author's ko-fi (aninkwellofnectar), and the final version will come during fall of this year. I've talked about this saga before (The Essence of the Equinox), and I still recommend it to those of us who like complex characters (especially female characters), gothic horror, and lush prose. This is a sequel, and I like it even more than the first instalment. It gets deeper into the darkness of the world and it's an amazing read. The third and final part has started been posted on ko-fi as well, for anyone interested.

Why Does He Do That? Inside The Minds of Angry and Controlling Men by Lundy Bancroft. I wish I could make everyone read this book. It wouldn't fix everything, because it runs against a lot of people's deep-seated belief systems, but maybe it would make SOME of them start second-guessing those beliefs... Anyway. A MUST read in terms of abuse and intimate partner violence.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. I read the book for the first time about 15 years ago, and only reread it now. I loved it even more than the first time. The atmosphere, the revenge tale, the love story between Catherine and Heathcliff, all the ways these families' lives affect the others, how you have to parse through Nelly's account of events... I still wish I could hit Lockwood in the head with a stick lol. Just once. Not even too hard! But hit him in the head, I would xD

COMICS

Batman: Huntress/Spoiler - Blunt Trauma. One of those "it could've been so good if it was good" comics. It would've had to NOT been written by Dixon, of course. His ideas about these two characters are palpable here. He's met real women and girls, I know this, but he's completely failed to take anything from these meetings into account to understand them as people. And boy, does it show in his writing.

Green Lantern: Willworld. I've had this comic in my list for aeons and I moved it up when I found out its author would be writing Jason's upcoming ADITF "what if" story starting July. I really liked this one, and how it showcased Hal's character. It's not a guarantee I'll like his Robin Lives run, because comic writers have biases and blind spots and huge gaps in their knowlege regarding certain characters, but "he seems to be a good writer" is already a huuuuge leg up compared to most modern Jason content lol.

JLA: World Without Grown-ups. This was interesting because I've watched the Young Justice (cartoon) version of this premise, which is VERY different, from the villains to their goals to the handling of the crisis (since the cartoon had an established teen team), down to the emotional beats (the Zataras). They're too different to be compared, tbh. This one was quite fun though, and it made me feel very fond of Bart. Also Tim's parasocial relationship with Jason's memorial made an appearance LOL.

Colin Wilke's appearances. I am MOURNING this kid. He has like 9 appearances (and a couple of them are barely a few pages) but each one is gold. Bring him back. Make HIM Damian's best friend. Integrate him in the storyline!! His character and his dynamic with Damian had so so much potential. I am definitely going to include him in my fics.

Batman: Li'l Gotham. (plus the two stories introducing it in Batman Annual #27 and 'Tec Annual #11). A couple of things conspired (including me finding out there's a version of Colin in this lol) and I ended up reading it while I was sick. It's mostly fun fluff (as opposed to just corny fluff) and a quick read without much meat in it, but a few things nudged the inspiration muscle and Dustin Nguyen's art is adorable.

Batman Tales: Once Upon a Crime. I liked this one more than the above! It follows in that universe (a Gotham where everything is smaller and cuter lol), mixing it with some fairy tale vibes. Pinocchio!Damian is A Concept. Although my favourite story was "The Snow Queen", with Mister Freeze. The art goes into a whole other level in all of these, but especially that one.

Batman: The Chalice. Bruce Wayne receives the Holy Grail. I read this one in my list of Talia appearances and hers is the part that interested me: Ra's wants the Grail to make her immortal, like him, and Talia tells him that she has no desire to live forever. Her words are "Having lived my life in your company, the prospect of eernal life is not the attraction for me it might be for another." There are A LOT of things you can read into that sentence, and one of them, to me, is the idea that death to Talia would be an escape from Ra's, which is... interesting. Sidenote: this one was written by Dixon, who once in a while gets his wired crossed and is not wholly terrible with female characters xD

Ghost/Batgirl. I hadn't heard of Ghost before but I'm kinda curious after reading this mini run. I found a lot of the concepts it worked on (resurrection, mind control, etc.) quite interesting, although I ended up feeling the execution didn't delve too deeply into them. It's an story I might want to reread and pick apart at some point, though.

JLA: Tower of Babel. Yeah, THAT arc lol (also part of my Talia-reading). I also read JLA Secret Files and Origins #3 (in May, though), which shows Talia's whole thoughts on it as she steals the plans + some of the consequences the whole thing has for the other bats whose teammates no longer trust them (Dick, Tim, Barbara) + the wording of Bruce's contingency plans (which btw includes acceptance of lethal methods against Clark lol)... he certainly got off easy after this añsdlkfjasdf. Honestly, imo, the most selfish, cowardly thing he did was walking out before the JLA could tell him they'd voted him out. I know he and the comics probably won't frame it like that afterwards, but that's how it felt to me. The very least he could've done is face his teammates.