#with some of the reactions to dinah

[inthegloomglow]

The thing that frustrates me so much about the readings of TLOU is how people push their own morality and feelings on it and decide that is what the story was saying and what Joel was thinking or feeling canonically. "Humanity isn't worth saving if it's at the cost of a kid's life" "The cure wouldn't work with what they're describing because scientifically it wouldn't work" etc etc. Joel didn't stop and think about grand morality about saving humanity or not before he did it, he thought of his own feelings about his daughter. 

And fiction uses inaccurate science all the time and it's taken at face value as being canon, so to speak. The game said the cure would work, and even if not, Joel had no scientific knowledge. He never once says anything about it not working, or asking or implying he thought it wouldn't. Joel's motives were selfish, it's not some commentary on the morality of killing Ellie to make a cure.

People thought that because it made them feel better about a sad ending, to not have to question if what Joel did was right or totally wrong. I completely understand Joel's actions, I'm not arguing that. I'm just so frustrated how people see the final shot of the game being Ellie looking heartbroken over her trust being utterly betrayed because deep down she KNOWS he was lying, and they go 'woo hoo happy found family ending! Joel is a hero!' and then attack the second game which I honestly really really love.

#joel miller #tlou 2 #tlou #the last of us #anti joel miller #i'm not honestly #but some of his stans are so frustrating #the second game is COMPLETELY tonally and narratively sound #and YES a lot of the people attacking it #are horribly misogynistic and transphobic #and if they're not being those two things they're lowkey homophobic #or hell anti semitic #with some of the reactions to dinah #i could not like joel after the first game #because i wanted to #i wanted to excuse his actions #but watching him utterly disregard ellie's autonomy and wishes #BECAUSE REMINDER THAT SHE WAS OKAY WITH DYING #SHE EXPRESSLY SAID T HAT #PLEASE STOP ACTING LIKE IT WAS IMPLIED OR SOMETHING #he ignored her most basic right to autonomy #to her own body and life #for his own feelings sake #and then lies to her to keep her with him #and as the second game shows KEEPS lying to her to keep her with him #and it made my SKIN CRAWL #i couldn't get past it #no amount of love for their relationship #or enjoying the first game #could get me past how REVOLTED i am by joel's actions

[hogwartslegacyreactions2]

Hi there! First, I wanna say I absolutely love your works; they are all great, and I enjoy reading every one of their reactions!

Can I request to see HLC (including professors) react to MC sniffing them (out for many reasons, but mainly they want to remember their smell)? Just genuinely curious about what they would usually smell like :) Thank you! And wish to see more works of yours!

A/N: laughing so hard the whole time writing this 🤣

HLC REACT TO MC SNIFFING THEM

SEBASTIAN SALLOW: Old books and smoke. He smells like a stack of forgotten tomes that were set on fire. He raises an eyebrow and laughs. "You're not going to lick me next, are you?"

OMINIS GAUNT: Clean linens and a touch of mint. "...did you just sniff me?" One would think he'd be used to MC's weird behavior by now. Alas, he is not.

ANNE SALLOW: Wild flowers. She smells like she's been laying out in a meadow in spring. She smells her own robes. "What? Do I smell bad?"

IMELDA REYES: Broom polish and various wood scents. She gives MC a strong side-eye glare. "What are you doing?"

NATSAI ONAI: Incense and fresh cut grass. She gives MC an unsure look but smiles anyway. "You're acting strange. Even by your standards."

GARRETH WEASLEY: He smells like an apothecary shop threw up on him, that also exploded. "What? Do I still smell like burnt rat hair? I thought I got that out."

LEANDER PREWETT: Cheap cologne that screams "try hard", but at the same time isn't overly offensive. He side steps away from MC. "Please, stop that."

AMIT THAKKAR: Parchment and spilled ink. He startles when MC sniffs him and he jumps away like a startled cat. "What was that about?"

EVERETT CLOPTON: Depends on the day. There is no consistency with him. Some days he smells like a pack of dung bombs, others he smells like a summer breeze. He sweats nervously, hoping that MC doesn't smell dung bombs.

POPPY SWEETING: Ever smelled a horse with feathers? That's her. She watches MC curiously. "What are you sniffing around like a niffler for?"

~~~

ELEAZAR FIG: A well kept library. Old leather and parchment. He sniffs MC back. "I'd say we're both due for a wash after all the running around we've been doing."

MATILDA WEASLEY: Orchids, her favorite floral scent. She gives MC an unsure glance. "You could just ask what perfume I use."

CHIYO KOGAWA: Leather and sweat. Even with quidditch canceled, she's always out and about the grounds. "Don't sniff. That's rather rude."

AESOP SHARP: The wizard equivalent of Old Spice and a hint of fire whiskey. He just rolls his eyes. He doesn't get paid enough for this.

ABRAHAM RONEN: Sugar and cinnamon. Always smells like he just came back from Honeydukes. "Oh my, do I smell bad?" He's genuinely concerned and smells his own robes.

MIRABEL GARLICK: A garden. Flowers, soil, pottery; the whole shabang. "I was repotting mandrakes with the third years today. Sorry if I smell a bit ripe." She laughs.

MUDIWA ONAI: Incense and palm oil. She offers MC some incense. "Would you like to burn some for your dorm? You smell like you could use it."

BAI HOWIN: She works in beast pens all day. Enough said. MC doesn't even need to get close to smell her on some days.

DINAH HECAT: Amazingly. Nothing. Her time as an unspeakable has taught her to be undetectable, even by smell. Old habits die hard.

CUTHBERT BINNS: He doesn't so much give off a scent, as he does a cold chill if MC gets too close.

SATYAVATI SHAH: VERY faint smell of cherry blossom. She's very guarded of her personal space, so MC will have a hard time catching it.

PHINEAS NIGELLUS BLACK: Expensive cologne and hair tonic. He steps away from MC. Ew. Students.

#hogwarts legacy #hogwarts legacy reactions #hogwarts legacy professors #sebastian sallow #ominis gaunt #anne sallow #imelda reyes #natsai onai #garreth weasley #leander prewett #amit thakkar #everett clopton #poppy sweeting #eleazar fig #aesop sharp

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

For Birds of Prey insane dyke drama, I feel like it's hard to top the early period where Dinah still doesn't know who Oracle actually is, despite having basically accepted her 24/7 audiovisual surveillance and puppetmaster direction. It's just nuts (I can see Babs being wary of revealing herself to Helena, but Dinah?) and totally doesn't make Babs seem like an obsessive stalker, which makes it that much more amazing that Dinah's reaction is basically, "This might as well happen."

Chuck Dixon was accidentally writing some extremely specific kinks and that's all I shall say about that. tbh.

#barbara gordon #dinah lance #birds of prey

[havendance]

AN: Guess who read Black Canary (2007)? It me 😔 I wrote this real quick because Dinah deserved better.

(AO3 | Superlove (for melo))

Dinah looked up from the letter, from the only connection she had to Sin, alive, safe and far away now. She could still feel the terror of watching her fall. “How could you?” she demanded. “How could you do this without telling me?”

Ollie gently took the letter from her hand. He was burning it before Dinah could process enough to try and stop him. “The league had to believe she was dead,” he said. “Your reaction sold it. I’m sorry.”

“Get out,” she said.

“I wouldn’t have hurt you if there was any other way.”

“Well you did!” Dinah shouted. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye!”

“You can visit her once things quiet down,” he said. “This isn’t forever.” He was reaching out a hand to her.

“Just go,” Dinah said. “I need to be alone.”

“I love you, Pretty Bird,” he said. 

“Go!”

He went. 

Dinah was alone, just like she’d wanted. She didn’t even have Sin’s letter. She knew about keeping secrets—it was a fact of life in this game. If it had been any other secret Ollie had kept from her, she probably could’ve forgiven him. This wasn’t just any secret though, this was Sin, this was her daughter.

Dinah hadn’t wanted to be a mother. She hadn’t wanted to be responsible for  a child she’d leave behind when she went out every night, for another person who would cry at her funeral when some enemy inevitably got the better of her. Then when that changed, when she did want someone to pull her and Ollie closer together, someone to keep close when Ollie just kept running away, she couldn’t. Sin had been none of that. She’d been nothing of Ollie’s at all. Sin had been someone who had needed Dinah’s help. Someone she didn’t mind staying behind with. Her’s to protect, her’s to raise, her chance to do things right.

I’m sorry, Sin. In the end I couldn’t.

She should get up, She hadn’t showered or changed her clothes since… since going to rescue Sin. She should return Barbara’s worried calls. Dinah didn’t do any of that. Instead, she went over to the trashcan and pulled out the ring she’d tossed in.

“All of this, and I still love you, you bastard,” she said.

She could hear Barbara’s voice in her mind: You can’t seriously still be thinking about saying yes.

“I’m not.” It sounded defensive even to her.

You can’t trust him. This isn’t the first time he’s kept things from you. How do you know he won’t do it again?

“Oh shut up,” Dinah muttered. “It’s my choice, not yours.” She set the ring on the counter and shook her head. “ I’m over here arguing with myself, I need to sleep.”

She’d think about it in the morning. In the morning she would remember all the reasons why this was a terrible idea. She’d remember all the betrayals and stop being so happy. Tonight, though, as the delayed relief of reading Sin’s letter finally set in, all she could think was that he hadn’t caused Sin’s death after all. He’d even helped to save her. 

She clapped her hands together. “Bedtime, Dinah,” she said. “Shower and bed.”

But she still kept hearing Ollie’s voice saying “I love you, Pretty Bird,” in her head.

#dc #black canary #black canary (2007) #dinah lance #oliver queen #my fic #havendance writes #carthago delenda est

[protectoratenova07]

Coil has three main flaws that lead him to his death despite the amount of resources he has to call on. Possessiveness, cruelty, and pride.

Taylor picks up his possessiveness over Dinah quickly enough in Arc 7. She knows that he’d never give her up if he could. She also knows from her meeting with him in Arc 6 that he is a very prideful man. If he takes over a city, he wants it to be run well. If he gets what he wants, he’ll ensure his subordinates get what they want because what’s the point of being king if he can’t provide. She takes him up on his offer of anything that she wants, asking for Dinah’s freedom should she prove more useful to his take over the city plot in Arc 10. She then reaffirms this request as a promise, in Arc 16 when Dragon shows up, in front of all his subordinates. The other Undersiders, the mercs, and the Travelers all hear it so that Coil can’t back down or else he’d lose out the worth of his word, which everyone else is banking on to get what they want. 

And Taylor and Lisa know this. They know that they have to plan around either flaw of Coil’s to achieve a victory. If it’s his possessiveness, then they go with Lisa’s plan. Gather enough money, make Coil spend enough of his, so that only she can pay off his mercs and then bring Dinah home after the take over. If it’s his pride, then they go with Taylor’s plan. Get Coil what he wants, the city, and in return Dinah gets to go home.

But Coil also knows this. He reveals to them that he knows in Arc 15, showing that he can trick Tattletale’s power. He didn’t have to, but he wanted a bit of fun. A challenge against Tattletale to show that he’s better. The same as when he words his recruitment of Lisa as a choice. The same as when he guns down his assistant in his interlude because it’ll bring him some enjoyment. His cruelty. 

This is where he really fails. We find out in Arc 16 that Coil tries to kill Skitter about twelve times with a teleport trap, but because he’s using Leet as the tinker it consistently messes up if the trap is too lethal. He can’t keep trying either because he’s on the clock to fulfill the promise he made to Skitter. Coil wants Skitter dead. He needs her dead. But she won’t die. Time after time after time. It isn’t even the first time he tried to kill her but it is the time he needs it to work. 

He’s got an injured pride, is what I’m saying. If you ever played any video games, imagine trying to fight this one enemy who’s not even a boss, but no matter what you can’t manage to kill them because of some busted game mechanic and you’re also trying to beat the game under a mandatory time limit. 

That’d piss you off, right? To the point where you might take a more enjoyable route, just to finally get rid of this thing that has been bugging you right before the moment you beat the game. 

Coil has a double body of Skitter. He already planned for her to attack the Undersiders and teleport out with Dinah. Make them think she went rouge. But isn’t it better if, instead of trying so hard to kill Skitter himself in that burning building, he just focuses on weakening her to the point where when she meets up with her beloved, valued teammates, that they'll do the job for him? Won’t that be far grander? Especially because Coil already knows the Undersiders have agreed to turn against him for her. When he does take care of them as Director Calvert of the PRT, he can send them to the Birdcage with the knowledge that the teammate they killed never actually betrayed them.

Coil would keep Dinah. He’d even keep Tattletale and the body double he had with her as another false betrayal later down the line. He’d be able to say he kept his word to all appearances. Heck, he never said that he wouldn’t capture her again, so he might even think he did keep his word himself. And once he captures the Undersiders as a win for his civilian identity, he can revel in the Undersiders reactions as he tells them that he played them for fools for daring to betray him.

#parahumans #worm #worm spoilers #taylor hebert #lisa wilbourn #coil

[pluckyredhead]

Joshua Williamson, who is writing the new GA book, posted this on Twitter, and I have not stopped yelling since. They are all here! All of them!!! EVEN CISSIE!!!!! 😭

Because someone will inevitably ask me, here is who’s who:

Starting from the fire escape:

Lian “Shoes” Harper (yes, I still wish they hadn’t aged her up, but we can’t have everything) and Cissie King-Jones (Arrowette). I am especially excited about these two because a) Roy will FINALLY reunite with his daughter and b) Cissie has literally never interacted with any of the Arrowfam before even though a couple pre-52 comics implied that she was Ollie’s biological daughter (please please please). Next to them is Malcolm Merlyn, my #2 favorite GA villain, and below him is Count Vertigo, my #4 favorite GA villain. The mask in the sky looks like Hal Jordan’s.

On the ground starting from the left is new character Red Canary, who we know very little about. In the back are Onomatopoeia and Cheshire. Then we have Emiko Queen (Red Arrow), Peacemaker, Mia Dearden (Speedy), and Brick, my #3 favorite GA villain. Mia-as-Speedy was erased from canon with Flashpoint and she only briefly appeared as a very different character in the New 52, so I’m thrilled to see her back, and cannot wait to see Mia, Emiko, and Cissie interact.

Still moving right we have John Diggle, Roy Harper (Arsenal) in a variation on his best costume, Connor Hawke (Green Arrow) who appears to be sporting a manbun, some guy, and Dinah Lance (Black Canary).

There are SO MANY MEETINGS/REUNIONS teased here:

Ollie is currently “dead” so anyone interacting with him in any sense will be reuniting with him.

Ollie doesn’t know Roy is alive. (Dinah and Emiko do but had literally zero reaction to it, which...okay.)

None of the Arrowfam has interacted with Connor since pre-Flashpoint, so we have no idea what their relationships/history are like.

Same with Mia.

Connor and Emiko (nephew and aunt!) have never met.

None of them have ever met Cissie - Ollie was dead during her entire superhero career and Connor and Roy were always conveniently absent whenever YJ met the JLA or the Titans. She and Connor are siblings (probably)!

ROY AND LIAN ROY AND LIAN ROY AND LIAN

I CAN’T WAIT. Now just add George the Arrow Dog and Eddie Fyers and this will be perfect.

#arrowfamily #green arrow #oliver queen #connor hawke #roy harper #arsenal #lian harper #dinah lance #black canary #mia dearden #speedy #emiko queen #red arrow #cissie king jones #arrowette #comics spoilers

[charalysis]

Alice Liddle: American McGee's Alice

MASSIVE TRIGGER WARNING: THESE GAMES AND THIS POST WILL BE DISCUSSING THEMES OF S.A, PEDOPHILIA, MURDER, MENTAL ILLNESS, SELF HARM, PROSTITUTION, AND MEDICAL ABUSE.

Alice Liddle of American McGee's Alice and its sequel, Madness Returns, is a severely mentally ill character in the games she stars in. She endures trauma after trauma, with next to no assistance, alone. In this post we will break down what happened to her, her reactions, and how she developed.

Disclaimer: Despite mental illness being the main theme here, I will not be attempting to diagnose Alice, as I am not professionally trained and she does not have an official, canon diagnosis of any kind. I will however make inferences.

For those unaware, American McGee's Alice is a horror twist on Alice in Wonderland, following the protagonist Alice. In this first game, you play as 18 year old Alice Liddle, who from eight years old to that point has been living in Rutledge Asylum in England. The game begins with the player introduced to the catalyst of Alice being in the asylum: a house fire.

In this fire, Alice is the only one to survive from her family, with her parents and sister, Lizzie, dying in the fire. This causes a massive snap in Alice's mind as she watches the house burn and townspeople surround her.

In this scene we are also introduced to the idea that Alice was likely already mentally ill, as when the fire begins, what wakes her isn't the smoke or screams, its Hatter and March Hare screaming in her dreams about the fire, begging her to wake up. (However, its likely it was just a framing device, but we do see its what woke her.)

From then on, Alice spent her time in the asylum, nearly comatose. She was catatonic and would only speak in shrieks and shrill screams. She'd have seizures and episodes of hysteria before falling unresponsive and mute again. Her doctor's notes also describe an incident where she "wielded a spoon like a knife and the orderlies, then turned the makeshift weapon in her own arms".

Needless to say, the fire that killed her family severely traumatized Alice, and she struggles heavily with possible PTSD and survivors guilt.

Alice in the first game also expresses suicidal ideation, or at the very least a passive desire to die. She's heard saying, "Save myself? From death, is that it? Is that why I've come here? I'm not afraid to die! At times I've welcomed death..."

And, "Everyone I love dies violently; unnaturally. I'm cursed! Why go on? I'll just hurt others."

The latter of these quotes is indicative of her guilt; it shows she blames herself for not just her her family's deaths, but others, and believes those she grows close to will also die horribly if they stay around her. She expresses she thinks people are better off without her.

In regards to Wonderlands occupants and how they relate to her fragile and broken psyche... American McGee has stated that all in some way represent her fragments mind and emotions. How, I don't think is explicitly stated beyond the Queen, but I have theories:

Cheshire: Her subconscious and manifestation of Dinah in her mind. Dinah lead her to safety in the fire, showing the way out. Chesh is guide that knows more than Alice consciously knows, but things she's got hidden in her mind. He tells her the clues she's seeing and picking up on subtleties she can't. That's why he uses riddles.

Hatter: Hatter is obsessive and rambling. He's a sort of representation of her doctor in the asylum, after all he runs one himself. He's paranoid and obsessed with time and loathes mechanical malfunctions. He may very well be a sort of ego aspect, where the Queen is super-ego. He could also likely be the manifestation of Alice's own paranoia and frustration surrounding her own "malfunctioning" mind.

Queen of Red Heart: She is Alice. She is the part of Alice that causes her the most grief and torment. She is what keeps Alice locked in her psychosis; a malevolent manifestation of super-ego. Cheshire compares her to a cancer in the body, which must be excised or Alice would die.

Jabberwock: A creature who taunts Alice and accuses her of not caring about her family. He is what taunts her about their deaths and says that she was, "in dream land taking tea with friends", and she, "couldn't be bothered". He is her guilt and self anger and he is there to remind her of this guilt constantly.

Caterpillar: He provides her wisdom giver. He takes things she sees and can help her recontexualize them. He is similar to Cheshire, but more to the forefront. He is also seemingly the calm part of her mind.

Tweedles: looking identical to the orderlies in Rutlidge, the Tweedles are cruel to Alice and lack any higher intelligence beyond orders. They are childishly cruel and likely have something to do with Alice's self punishment.

Rabbit: More obsessed with time than Hatter, Rabbit is a mostly absent guide who rushes ahead of Alice and he's very, very fidgety. He likely represents her conflict between anxiety and comfort. The comfort being from him being based on her favorite toy, and his face being easing to her. But he's very paranoid about time and danger.

Duchess: Initially a manifestation of the cruel nurse in charge of her, Nurse D, Duchess is a violent cannibal. It could be argued her outfit initially resembles a nurses outfit too. Later in the second game, she is seen in more revealing clothes and no longer eats people, and prefers pig now. Her "overbearing goodwill" and appearance now more represents her nanny, Nan Sharp.

While I do not believe these games are a 100% accurate depiction of mental illness and trauma, they do a good job showing the struggle between one's self and the inner machinations of their mind as they struggle with their mental health, and struggle to learn to cope on their own.

The second game is much better about the direct correlation between Alice's real struggles and Wonderland falling apart.

In Madness returns, we see an older Alice struggling in therapy as her doctor, Angus Bumby, tries to make her forget her past. She wants to forget everything rather than continue to struggle with it. We see she's still being abused and exploited by Nurse Witless, who's blackmailing her.

In Wonderland, we see the Corruption and the pollution destroying Wonderland piece by piece as the Dollmaker (Bumby's influence and brainwashing) takes over her mind bit by bit. We see her remembering her childhood and the past Bumby tried to erase, and we see her piece the truth together as she slowly banishes the Dollmaker.

By the end of MR, we see a confident Alice, the pieces of her fragmented life and mind put back together as Wonderland blossoms and Bumby dies via a train after Alice confronts him with his crimes.

Tl;Dr: While imperfect in their portrayal of mental illness, PTSD, and more, American McGees Alice And A:MR depict the grittiness, the despair, and the pain that can come with these things fairly well. It also depicts a woman struggling but succeeding in helping herself and bettering herself. These games revolve around facing your issues head on and healing. Their use of symbology is fantastic in my opinion.

#character analysis #american mcgee's alice #alice madness returns #alice liddell #american mcgee #long post

[myveryownfanfiction]

Sharpuary day 12: Bad Day

18+ MINORS AND THOSE WITHOUT AGE IN BIO DNI

tags: @illiana-mystery, @iobsessoverfictionalmen

warnings: swearing

I walked into the room and slammed the door, stomping around the small space and throwing my jacket onto the back of a chair. I tossed my wand onto the small end table so I wasn't tempted to blast something to smithereens. Not noticing the other person in the room, I went to the bedroom and proceeded to take off my shoes.

"Bad day?" I looked up at the voice and frowned when I saw Aesop get up from his chair in front of the fireplace, closing the book in his hands and putting it down next to my wand. When I didn't respond, he leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms. "Based off your reactions, I'd say it was." We stared at each other for a minute before he made his way into the room, taking a seat next to me as I tossed my shoes into a corner of the room. "Black?"

"Black." I muttered. Aesop sighed and wrapped his arm around me. I shrugged it off and got up to pace. “I swear I’m going to hex him one of these days. Dinah couldn’t stop me. Hell you couldn’t even stop me.” I ran my hands down my face and paused, digging the heel of my hands into my eyes. Aesop chuckled as he squeezed my shoulder.

“I’m sure that’s not true.” I gave him a look out of the corner of my eye. “I for one happen to know that your hexes are not up to snuff. They never were for forte.” Groaning, I dropped my head onto his shoulder.

“Aesop now is not the time for jokes.” I breathed out as he rubbed my back.

“Isn’t it?” He asked. “I for one think it’s exactly what you need.” I rolled my eyes and pulled back. “Besides, the last one I saw you cast was a bat bogey hex and if I remember correctly you conjured an actual bat instead.”

“Yeah.” I muttered as I chuckled, running a hand through my hair in embarrassment. “The intent just wasn’t quite there.”

“Exactly.” Aesop said, pulling me back into him. “But for the right price, I could slip him some veritaserum or giggle water.” I laughed and leaned against him.

“And what would this price be?” I asked, looking at him with shining eyes. Aesop gave me a mischievous grin.

“a kiss.” He said simply. Laughing, I leaned in and kissed his cheek.

“there’s your payment.” I said. Aesop gave me a scandalous look. “You never specified where it had to be.” I pointed out. Aesop rolled his eyes.

“alright. Giggle water it is then.” He said. I rolled my eyes and kissed him on the lips, letting Aesop deepen it as he cupped my cheek. “Better. I’ll put both into his cup tomorrow morning at breakfast. Everyone can have a little fun.” I smiled at him and leaned into him more.

“thank you.” I whispered. Aesop nodded as he kissed my head.

“anything to turn your bad day good.” He promised.

#aesop sharp #aesop sharp x reader #aesop sharp fanfic #aesop sharp fanfiction #aesop sharp imagine #professor sharp #professor sharp x reader #professor sharp fanfic #professor sharp fanfiction #professor sharp imagine #hogwarts legacy #hogwarts legacy imagine #hogwarts legacy fanfic #hogwarts legacy fanfiction #sharpuary #sharpuary 2024

[just-an-enby-lemon]

I was thinking and I got the conclusion that stalker!Tim works as an AU not because Tim is (while not a stalker) canonically a weirdo (he is) but because Bruce is canonically even more of a weirdo.

We know that just like his reaction to the fake uncle shit, after dealing with the shock that this kid figured out his identity and bonding more with his new Robin, Bruce would just compliment Tim stalker abilities and give him new ones.

And that's to say I need more of stalker Bruce creeping people up. We already have him knowing all JLA secret identities without them telling him. But we need more. I want him knowing Hal Jordan's favorite ice cream flavour or Diana's birthday or Dinah's food alergies without no one telling him. He figures Ollies favorite fucking arrow and Zatanna's favorite Barbie movie, he discovered Arthur favorite snack and how exactally Martha Kent made her fried chesse to give a perfect copy to Clark when he was missing Smallvile during a space mission. He discovered Barry's competitive pokemon team! Everyone on the JLA is freaked. They think he has a secret mind reading/guessing superpower he might not even know about but is just stalkish paranoia. The only person he can't figure things out (and it keeps he awake some nights) is Captain Marvel (he is still the first to discover Billy is a kid). Martian Manhunter is the only one that knows Bruce is just weird but he knows he has good intencions so he doesn't care.

And it isn't only with the League. He makes extensive background checks in all his kids friends. The Teen Titans (both Dick's and Damian's) are freaked out by it. The YJ is actually fine 'cause they are used to Tim and it makes sense Bruce would be like that. The Outsiders (both Jason's but also Cass and Duke's) make their personal quest to mislead him. Not to mention the civilian friends. He is less obvious about it but the kids know and it freaks them up. Steph has a serius discussion over bondaries the day Bruce asks about Crystal's dentist visit and Babs is annoyed af when he just knows things about Alysia. And not only the kids all the other batfam members! The Birds of Prey straight up told him to stop multiple times. Helena once asked Sage's help to trick Bruce, Kate just used Alfred to order him to stop. Barbara interceded in name of Montoya as if she wasn't even in the paranoid stalker game with Bruce and Tim (Babs is worse than Bruce actually). Jim Gordon thinks is cool actually. But Lucious Fox is just "kid, I love you, but Alfred needs to teach you bondaries" and "how did you know Tam's baby tooth was starting to fall before me??" (Yes Bruce does this stalker thing since he was a kid/teen)

He also does it with the Rogues. At first they don't notice it because it's normal that their oponent knows things about them but starts to get weird. Selina freaks out when Bruce tells her to say happy birthday for her cat n12 (Dollie, he called it by name) when she hadn't even introduced him to her cats yet. Riddler had a genuine breakdown when Bruce just gave him the exact perfect copy of his glasses prescrition and all to replace his broken ones during an interrogation (he needed Riddler's help against a copycat). Harley punched Bruce in the face after he correctly pointed out she had just started her period and offered heater packs for her cramps, a chocolate ice cream and some snacks while driving her to Arkham, Penguin stopped doing crime for a whole week after he had almost fainted (being a crime lord is hard) for not eating the whole day and having high blood pressure for stress reason and Bruce just gave him a snack, a bottle of water and his meds (except it wasn't his meds, Batman just had a pill of Penguin's prescription in hand and wtf), Scarecrow recomended him therapy when he somehow figure out Jon's favorite candy bar and tried to use it as a bargain for information, Joker felt very flaterred that Bruce not only knew that he made his own dye using two pre existing dye products and a mix of chemicals but had the formula including the recomended brands for everyhing.

The only person who had no reaction was Clark. Clark sees Bruce being a weird stalker as just a fact of life and no one knows how to deal with it. (It's better than Tim "I wanna be like that" and Babs "cool but I'm better " aproaches at least). Talia Al Ghul used to consider it impressive and have a flirty competition to see if Batman could figure details about her. After they stopped being an item they respected each other enough that he just stalks Talia if is related to Ra, crimes, Damian or the League.

#bruce wayne #batman #justice league #justice league of america #JLA #teen titans #young justice #the outsiders #batman rogues #clarck kent #superman #martian manhunter #j'onn j'onzz #tim drake #red robin #barbara gordon #oracle #talia al ghul #bruce wayne is a weirdo #let bruce be weird af dc

[zachdefense]

Been bouncing around a bunch of thoughts about the thematic significance of Parahumans future-sight vs Otherverse future-sight

Worm/Ward/Pale spoilers below

How they work

In Parahumans, the characters that can predict the future tend to have non-deterministic powers, meaning that the future is not set in stone. Their reactions to learning about what's going to happen can change the future in one way or another. This is most clearly exemplified in Worm arc 7, where Dinah's odds for "Will all the Undersiders return" keep changing because Coil's treatment of her in asking the questions make it less and less likely that all the Undersiders will want to keep working for him. What's more is that the precogs will often have blindspots around each other. Even the most powerful precog, the Simurgh, is shown during her Ward interlude to not be able to fully predict things around other people using precognitive powers. The precognitive powers in Parahumans are basically simulations, plugging in "If everything else in the world keeps going as it is but I do X, Y will happen". That's why the precogs don't work around each other, because they have to simulate another person simulating what they're doing and reacting to it, and themselves simulating the other person and reacting to that, so on into infinity. And their powers just short out.

The Otherverse, however, uses deterministic future-sight. Jen Belanger states in Pale 20.8:

"...the sweet point an augur often likes to aim for is one that’s vague. Too narrow and you only see the future, often made unkind by spirits, and you can’t easily avoid what comes. Too open and you spend power to learn next to nothing.”

Basically, learning the future sets it in stone. Augurs in Pale don't like to be too specific when looking into the future because they can get locked into a bad outcome. So, they go vague when looking into the future, trying to be specific enough to see "This place is dangerous in the near future" but not so specific that they see "I will get my head cut off here tomorrow". That works in-universe because the spirits showing them the future are also controlling the fabric of magic and fate. So if they show you something, they will make sure it happens just as they showed you. They aren't liars

Why it's cool (aka thematically resonant)

I'm sure anyone who's read any Worm analysis is tired of hearing that Worm Is About Trauma, but more specifically to the point I'm making, Worm is about how people react to trauma. Some lash out at others, some try to make the most of it, but all of them get their powers in order to stop their trauma from happening again. That's what Parahumans-style precognition allows you to do: see that something is going to happen and then change it. Despite being a very dark story, there is always that glimmer of hope, that the terrible things that are happening can be stopped. And on the flip side, no matter how solid your plans are, how good the path ahead looks, something about it might change and you have to be ready to handle it. In Parahumans, the future is predictable yet uncertain, and that's both a blessing and a curse.

Pale, however is a much different story. It's about living in an unjust system and changing it for the better. The main characters are three teenage girls; one black, one gay, one neurodivergent. They all know life will not be fair to them. The Others of Kennet want to make the town a "free state" where their kind can go without being enslaved. They know for certain how they will be treated in the larger world. But Pale also has the most downtime of any Wildbow works. There's more scenes where characters are just interacting playfully, and needing to care for your Self is a major factor for the practitioners. In regards to Otherverse-style precognition, Pale is about knowing that terrible things will happen and managing to find some happiness anyways, while working slowly but determinedly to change things for the better despite the horrors.

Frankly, I don't think they'd work well in the other stories. Worm, being a darker story, needs that uncertainty to ride the line of maintaining stakes while not being a total downer. Meanwhile, due to Pale's lighter nature, if there were no consequences to fortune-telling then it wouldn't be impactful. It's the kind of story where someone could actually say "Never tell me the odds" and actually come out ahead, if that wasn't written into the rules of reality itself.

#wormblr #parahumans #otherverse #worm web serial #pale web serial #worm #pale #ward #wildbow #rambling

[cleromancy]

still thinking about (always fucking thinking about) what i posted here, on mia's explicit on-page murder vs. jason and felipe and how it's treated both by ollie and bruce respectively, and also by their respective *narratives*.

one of the things i loved about winicks ga/ga&bc run in general was like. it was so uninterested in punishment. when someone did something harmful the emphasis was on the consequences--material and emotional--rather than issues of Right vs Wrong. it focused on who was hurt, where to go from there, how to fix it, and i found that especially 🥺 when it came to mia killing.

because the reaction is so compassionate to her. like, no one is like shaking their finger at mia like You Did A Bad Thing, it's like ollie and dinah *both* immediately are horrified by the fact that she's going to have to live with this for the rest of her life and moreover that ollie put her in that position in the first place.

i already posted these panels but. look again.

and mia and jason as characters were in conversation with each other from the instant mia started being built up to be the 2nd speedy--the same way roy and dick were always in conversation with each other (because everyone knows the REAL second robin was the first speedy). and doubly so when winick took over and tweaked her backstory so she was also homeless. (gonna make a post on the HIV development at some point and how starlin openly talked about wanting to give robin AIDS...)

but like. look

vs

*Jason* couldn't handle it so now *i* can't keep him as my partner compared to. the blame falling directly, and rightly, on ollie for putting mia in that position in the first place... *and* this is the arc preceding the one where mia actually takes the speedy mantle! she wasn't speedy yet! she killed someone on her test run! and she still becomes speedy! and she does a fucking phenomenal job as speedy! tied for first fucking place if you ask me and roys my most favoritest and specialest guy!

and like. god. they don't linger on whether or not mia was wrong to kill that man. ollie clearly thinks there was another way, but he's not going to drill that into mias head, unlike someone else we could name, *bruce.*

"consequences, robin, such as me accidentally crushing a man to death by climbing a teetering stack of cars like a moron. for some reason i am heavily implying that this is your fault."

like ... come *on.*

and yknow. a lot of this is just that starlin was a fucking hack. but what we have here is still that bruce would rather bash jason over the head with moral lessons than ever give more than a cursory consideration to how hes fucking feeling.

(which is also, btw, such a stark change from how bruce still was in the contemporaneous tec run or even the batman run directly preceding it where when bruce screws up by not telling jason willis was (probably) dead, he admits he screwed up and apologizes. like, its such a tangible, jarring shift from bruce being a flawed but loving dad into whatever the hell this is. --lets not start on wolfman here because he did a better job than starlin, not that thats a high bar. im not opposed to the bad mentor/dad bruce character development *in principle*, its about the execution.)

but yeah, like, just the way like... its about who put mia in that situation. its about how jason just wasn't good enough. its about how mia gets to keep trying to be a hero. its about how jason is benched (<- he was supposed to stay home in 425; officially benched in 426). its about how it didn't matter whether or not jason killed felipe, because jason "couldn't handle it." its about how it mattered that mia killed someone, because she shouldn't have ever been put in a situation where she felt like she had to.

the discourse about ga 69-72 is always so tedious and always so thoroughly misses the damb point. but putting aside the whole like yes yes naughty jason he shouldn't have done it or at least shouldn't have done it like he did it--namely scaring the ever-loving crap out of her--what happened was jason came to her while she was in uniform (<- NOT EVEN KNOWING ABOUT THE MURDER!! HE DIDNT EVEN KNOW!!!) and among other things that was him going, i'm like you, what happened to me could happen to you, and she said i'm nothing like you and it won't, and he said, are you sure.

but when it comes down to it if mia died and came back and set up an elaborate murderous rube goldberg machine scheme to get to ollie it wouldn't work because the first damn thing ollie would do when he saw her would be to give her a famous arrowfam hug and blubber all over her. and. i mean. come on, the jokers ass would be grass, you know it i know it, ollie would have rather caused a diplomatic incident or whatever the fuck than let the man who killed his kid live. (<- i say kid over daughter deliberately btw. genuinely don't think mia was in the market for another dad after the first one. ollies still her family, shes still his kid, thats how it is. i probably wouldn't be so inflexible about this if fandom wasnt fucking obnoxious about insisting that she *is* and *must be* his daughter, but they are so i am.)

anywayyyyyyyy speedy sweep! wahoo

#dc #text #this was unrebloggable at first but i changed my mind. dont make me regret this 👍 #meta #mia #jason and mia

[readerinsertsaremyguiltypleasure]

Hiiii!!! Congratulations on 500 followers!!!! 🥳🥳 Can I get J and 9 for billy russo and the reader works for homeland with a spice of jealous dinah??? Thankyou!!!!

Thank you very much!!! Thanks for the prompt. I had a lot of fun with this one.

J. Hidden relationship 9. 'You're lucky you're so pretty.'

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

Working for Homeland was a satisfying job, even if you were only an assistant. Working for Dinah Madani, however, not so much.

Oh, she was a fine enough boss – didn’t pass off her own work onto you, never questioned your sick days, always said good morning… but she always had that look in here eye when she spoke to you. One that said she was better than you.

Which was probably why she had no problem flirting with your boyfriend right in front of you.

Fair enough, she didn’t actually know he was your boyfriend – you and Billy liked to keep your relationship private – but you still thought you deserved a bit more respect than being forced to watch her practically drool over a man.

Which was becoming a common occurrence. Ever since Homeland had taken a contract with Anvil, Billy’s company, Dinah had taken every opportunity to arrange meetings with him. And every time she upped her flirting game. She wasn’t even trying to be subtle about her intentions, that confident in herself.

In a way, you admired that about her. Confidence was something you often lacked. Sometimes you couldn’t believe you had landed someone like Billy, and you would have loved to have been able to shamelessly flirt with him when you had first met him. Instead, you had spilled your drink all over his Armani suit and then freaked out about how you were going to pay for it.

His price had been one dinner that had turned into two that had turned into three, until you finally found the courage to ask him out properly.

Madani wasn’t like that. She probably would have just sauntered up to him and given her number straight up like some sexy movie heroine.

Thankfully, she did have at least some professionalism, so she hadn’t gone that far. Yet.

‘Where’s the insurance form?’ she asked Billy, sorting through the paperwork she had requested he bring in. She was standing way too close to him for your liking. And you just knew she had strategically placed herself where he could get a good view down her blouse, which had one extra button undone than when she had come in that morning.

‘It should be there,’ said Billy, eyes fixed on the paperwork.

Madani held up the papers, showing him. ‘Nope,’ she said with a teasing smile.

‘I must have left it in the car.’

Madani chuckled and turned so that they were chest to chest. ‘You’re lucky you’re so pretty,’ she said, needlessly adjusting his tie. She didn’t seem to notice Billy flinch at her choice of words. ‘Would you mind getting it?’

Billy’s eyes flicked to you and you sent him a sympathetic look, hoping to give what reassurance you could.

‘Of course,’ he said, turning back to Madani. ‘Won’t be long.’

He gave you both a nod before walking out through the open doorway.

‘Very pretty indeed,’ said Madani as she watched him go. She turned to hand you the paperwork Billy had given her.

‘He doesn’t like being called that,’ you said before you could stop yourself.

Madani raised an eyebrow at you. ‘And how would you know that?’ she asked. The question wasn’t catty, but it felt like it was.

‘We’re seeing each other,’ you said defensively. Part of you worried about Billy’s reaction to telling Madani about your relationship… but he never said you couldn’t tell her about it, only that he didn’t want to advertise it.

If you had expected Madani to be apologetic about her behaviour, you had been sorely mistaken. She let out a huff of disbelieving laughter and put the paperwork down on her desk.

‘There’s no need to lie,’ she said as if she were talking to a child. You weren’t sure what irked you more, the fact that she didn’t believe you, or her condescending tone. ‘You like him too, I get it. Like I said, he’s very pretty.’

‘Don’t call him that.’

‘But I don’t see why we can’t play this fair and square,’ she spoke over you. She held her hand out to shake. ‘May the best woman win.’ The look in her eyes told you just who she thought the “best woman” was.

‘She already has won,’ came a voice from the doorway. You and Madani both startled and spun towards where Billy was standing, folded paperwork in his hand and contempt in his eyes. He walked over to Madani and practically shoved the paper into her still outstretched hand. ‘It was in my pocket,’ he explained before he turned his back on her and faced you.

‘Billy…’ you started, worried that he was going to berate you for revealing your relationship without asking him, but you barely got the word out before his lips were on yours in a kiss that was far too passionate to be appropriate for the workplace.

You didn’t care. Let Madani write you up; seeing the shocked then jealous expression on her face was worth it.

‘Are we still on for dinner, babe?’ asked Billy once he had pulled away. He still had his back to Madani, and you smirked over his shoulder.

‘Wouldn’t miss it,’ you said, enjoying your petty moment. There was a twinkle in Billy's eyes that told you he was enjoying it too. ‘In fact, I was just about to head to lunch. You free?’

Billy didn’t hesitate to move to your side and wrap his arm around you.

‘For you, always.’

‘You don’t mind me heading off a few minutes early, do you?’ you asked Madani, making your voice as sweet as possible. She was holding the form in her hands so tight you were worried you were going to have do up another one for Billy to sign.

‘Not at all,’ she said through clenched teeth. You couldn’t tell if she was embarrassed or angry.

Either way, you counted it as a win.

‘Thanks, boss,’ you said as you and Billy headed towards the door.

‘Very kind of you,’ he added.

You had just passed the door’s threshold when Billy stopped you both and looked back over his shoulder. ‘Oh, and Madani…  She’s right. Don’t ever call me pretty again.’

#billy russo prompts #billy russo x reader #billy russo x female reader #billy russo x you

[hogwartslegacyreactions2]

Thanks thanks thanks again! I have a list of ideas now (hehe), so here's the next one if you're interested.

Maybe it's super funny (in my mind it is) or boring, but I missed it in the game: The professors' (and maybe other victims) reaction when they discover that their personal belongings and letters have been stolen and the locks have been broken with Alohomora. Perhaps they don't see it until very late, or they catch MC in their rooms, or some other poor student (probably Garreth lol) or peeves is nearby and suspected … however you want to write it. ^^

I hope your day is full of joy~

A/N: That is one thing about video game logic that's never made a lot of sense to me. MC can just walk into people's locked houses and take whatever they want without consequence? Weird.

HL PROFESSORS REACT TO MC STEALING THEIR STUFF

MC: They got caught red-handed and sticky fingered. They knew they were in for it.

ELEAZAR FIG: "Oh, I was looking for that! Thanks!" He takes the item, oblivious to MC's intentions.

MATILDA WEASLEY: "You could have just asked." She glares disappointedly at MC. She holds out her hand and summons her possession back.

CHIYO KOGAWA: "How dare you!" She takes items MC was trying to abscond with. "Get out before I give you detention!"

AESOP SHARP: He has a sixth sense for this kind of thing. He grabs MC's hand with enough force they drop what they're holding. "I was willing to look the other way the first time. Now, there will be consequences."

ABRAHAM RONEN: "What are you doing with that? You're not trying to take it, are you?" He stares, dumbfounded that a student would try to take his things

MIRABEL GARLICK: "Hey! Don't touch that!" She angrily stomps over and takes the item. Depending on the value of the item, she may jelly-jinx their legs.

MUDIWA ONAI: "That belongs to me!" She gets a sharp stab of pain from her side when she stands to quickly to stop MC from snooping. She pulls out her wand and summons the item from MC's hand.

BAI HOWIN: "What do you think you're doing? You do realize that's my coin purse, right?" He yanks it out of MC's hand and points to the door. "Out!"

DINAH HECAT: "Stupify!" She leads a confused MC out and pushes them out the door without another word.

CUTHBERT BINNS: Material items mean nothing to him anymore. MC can take what they want.

SATYAVATI SHAH: "Excuse you! That's mine!" She holds out his hand, expecting MC to hand back the item.

PHINEAS NIGELLUS BLACK: "You! What the devil are you doing in my office!?" He sees MC with an item of his and he makes a motion towards them, but they run. He watches them sprint out the door to the balcony and jump the railing. When he gets outside, MC is flying off on a broom.

#hogwarts legacy #hogwarts legacy reactions #hogwarts legacy professors #eleazar fig #aesop sharp

[alixinwwonderland]

@wonderlandleighleigh requested a follow-up for this fic, so here we go, just in time for whatever the hell 501-503 throws at us.

If you’ve been steering clear of season 5 reviews and spoilers, do not keep reading!

Midge isn’t sure whether she’s thrilled or furious when Dinah informs her that Lenny is, in fact, back in town and has been for a little while.

What she is sure of, however, is that whatever she saw in Susie’s office still has her severely freaked out, and that dominant emotion is what sends her to a club one night. When she walks in, she notes with concern the shabbiness of the chairs, the scuffed floors, the less-than-clean smells. It’s not a dive, exactly, but it’s certainly not Carnegie Hall, and it’s a little too close for comfort to a not-quite-a-memory that’s been roiling through her head since that day in Susie’s office.

She settles in, far enough from the stage that she feels confident she won’t be seen until she wants to be.

Lenny’s great (what else is new), but there’s something frenetic and almost jumpy about him that worries her. When his set is over, she has almost no time to plan her next move because there he is, appearing right in front of her.

“How’d you know i was here?” she asks, genuinely baffled this time.

He shrugs.

“I got your pigeon?” Off her glare, he amends, “I heard your laugh,” and her heart does that annoying leap it has taken to doing around him ever since he leaned against a hotel bar in miami and complimented her dick jokes.

Something in her face must give her away, though, because the smirk fades and is replaced by something more like concern.

“I can go, if you don’t want to-” He’s cut off by her grabbing his jacket cuff, an anchor to keep him there and to remind herself that he is, in fact, right there and not a ghost or a memory that will slip through her fingers at any second.

He studies her again.

“Midge? Everything okay?” And everything is very much, not okay, and she suddenly finds herself at a loss for words. She’s only able to shake her head. Instantly, her hand is enveloped in his, and he’s steering her out of the club and into a quiet alley, where the bite of the night air helps her shake off the cloud of terror that’s been following her around.

She looks at him.

“If I tell you something, promise me you won’t think I’m crazy,” she says. The two of them have always had that ability to be on each other’s wavelengths - it’s what’s made them so good at trading banter and building on each other’s jokes, but it’s also what has allowed them to both realize when there’s nothing to laugh at. And, thank god, Lenny seems to understand that this is one of those times, and simply nods, leaning back against the brick wall without taking his eyes off of her.

Midge takes a deep breath, then lets it out.

As the story flows out of her, she watches him closely. To his credit, he does little to give his reactions away, but somewhere along the line, she learned to read him as well as he can read her. She notes the twitch of humor in the corner of his mouth when she rattles off the famous men she married and divorced (and jilted). She sees his jaw clench just a little when she admits how she and Joel could never quite fucking let go of the past. She sees his eyes soften in sympathy when she chokes up as she narrates what happened with her kids, and worst of all, with Susie.

Then her vision goes dark as she finds her face pressed into dark fabric, his arms wrapping around her and his hand gently stroking her hair as she cries.

“And now you probably think I’m completely fucking crazy, and I’m just...” she loses the end of her sentence in another sob, and Lenny just chuckles softly.

“Sweetheart,” he says, the term of endearment tripping off his tongue so naturally, it’s as if he’s been saying it forever, “I already knew you were a little crazy. The best people all are.”

And that, at least, gets a wet giggle out of her, and she pulls back, trying in vain to restore some sense of dignity.

“At the risk of sounding self-serving, uh...” Lenny flounders. “Can I inquire as to where...”

Midge looks up to meet his eyes, and his mouth snaps shut.

“Ah. I see,” he says. “I suppose that’s not surprising. Can I ask-”

“August. ‘66.” she says, and they’re quiet for a minute. “I don’t meant to-”

“To... what?” he asks. She shrugs.

“I... I heard what you said. At Carnegie Hall. I don’t want you to think I pity you, or I’m trying to fix you, I don’t want you to-”

“You don’t want me to... what?”

“I don’t want you to... You know. Feel pressured to do something, or not do something, because some crazy lady told you that a magician gave her a vision of the future.”

Lenny rubs a hand over his face, and Midge is suddenly struck by how tired he looks.

“Well, it’s a moot point anyway,” he says. “Because I already did something - or decided not to do something for a change - because some very funny lady looked very sad and that just about broke what’s left of this shriveled organ I call a heart.”

She looks up at him.

“Do not mother me,” he says in warning. “I meant what I said. I don’t want your pity. Fix you, and let me worry about me while I do this.”

“I’m always going to worry about you, haven’t you figured that out by now?” Midge replies instantly, and despite the lightness of tone, there’s a truth there that earns a tired but real smile from him.

“So does this mean you believe me?” she asks. He shrugs.

“The way I see it, it doesn’t matter if Susie’s little weirdo actually did magic or if it all was in your head. You got a glimpse-”

“More than a fucking glimpse,” she mutters.

“-A look,” he amends, “Of a future you didn’t like very much. Right?”

Midge nods.

“Okay then. So then, do things differently.”

“You make it sound so easy,” she says, a little petulance in her voice that makes Lenny grin.

“You seem very stressed right now, so I won’t make the ‘easy’ joke that just sprung to mind,” he quips. It’s Midge’s turn to shrug.

“I wouldn’t mind. I probably thought of the same one.”

Lenny smiles at her.

“Drinks?” he asks. “That’s one vice they’ll have to pry from my cold dead hands.” Off Midge’s look, his face falls. “Sorry, I didn’t-”

“Drinks would be nice,” she says, and as they walk, she slips an arm through his.

postscript: one week later

"Midge! What can i do for you?” Gordon asks as Midge flounces into his office.

“So, here’s the deal, Gordon, and I want to make this very clear,” she says, sitting neatly on the chair across from his desk. “I am never, ever, under any circumstances, in this life or any other, going to sleep with you. I don’t care what arrangement you and Hedy have. But it is never going to involve me.”

Gordon’s mouth drops open.

“We’ve got two options, now.” She leans forward. “One: you get over your habit of thinking with your dick, realize that I’m actually really fucking funny, and let me do what I’m good at. Or, two - I walk right out that door and I don’t come back, and the next time you see me will be sending the ratings skyrocketing for Jack -”

“Don’t say it,” he grits. Midge smiles beatifically.

“So, option one, then?” she says, sweet as pie, and oh, this future is going to be fun.

#the marvelous mrs. maisel #tmmm #tmmmfic #midge maisel #lenny bruce #midgelenny #tv: the marvelous mrs maisel #ship: you're still staring #ch: midge maisel #ch: lenny bruce #ch: gordon ford #mine

[professoruber]

Thoughts of Birds of Prey (2023-) #6

Spoilers for Birds of Prey (2023-) #6

So the newest issue of the current Birds of Prey comic has recently come out and I guess since I took the time to make multiple fairly long-ish posts about this run, I should go over my thoughts here.

To sum things up... I thought it okay but also not really too big of a fan by the end of it. I didn't exactly dislike it, but I guess it left me with too many questions and felt a bit too contrived. It was enjoyable enough, but kinda felt like my enjoy-ness of it decreased with each subsequent issue. It wasn't bad, but I guess that's my knee-jerk fresh reaction.

Of course, it still possible that there is more to the story than there is now and that future issues will reveal new information which might clear up some of my issues more, I'll be discussing that as well...

Note again that I am a novice in comics, and Gotham Academy was one of the first I read fully so perhaps I'm biased in that area. But to go over my thoughts for why I kinda feel slightly disappointed in more detail...

What was the point of Meridian?

Warning of future doom, apparently. So as it turns out, the real reason that Barbara wasn't include was because she died eleven times already

(the fact that this was far from Meridian's first attempt was foreshadowed last issue with her noting where the last battle "always is"). So someone is out to get the Birds of Prey, and they're possibly using Future Maps time travel tech to do it.

While this does somewhat answer the question of why Barbara was specifically excluded; still doesn't explain the secrecy.

Like, all these visions of Barbara dying have her in her Batgirl outfit, so couldn't she just have been informed she'd die and asked to oversee the mission as Oracle? Or does that also somehow lead to her death?

Being kept in the loop would also presumably have greatly helped avoid awkward feelings like this. And from what I know of Barbara, her tactical mind is probably more valuable than her martial art skills. But I guess whatever evil time traveller is targeting the BoP would've found a way to get to Babs anyway? (also on a side note; Barbara getting hurt by not being included was at least one thing I kinda predicted. My other, more thougt-out predictions though... well I'll get to those in a bit)

It also confirms that Dinah indeed did not apparently get any explanation for why she had to exclude Barbara until after the mission was complete and.... that feels weird?

Like I said, I'm a novice on comics (although I am now definitely adding more Birds of Prey stuff to my to-read list) so I'm not the biggest expert on these characters. Nevertheless it feels that Black Canary here would've agreed to attack Wonder Woman and her people while excluding Oracle all on the word of a time traveller she's likely never met before (and in the present is a teenager who she's likely never met before either) without even demanding a damn good explanation first.

I guess it was more dramatic from a story perspective for Meridian to reveal this stuff now and set up the next arc. But it still just feels contrived to me. Maybe I'm overlooking/overthinking something though?

Meridian's Motives

So I've gone over a theory before that Meridian was in fact evil and possibly even connected to Megaera. That theory was not confirmed, or overly supported, by this. And it does seem like Meridian is probably on the up-and-up.

Perhaps I'm a tad biased/sunk-cost fallacy right now since I spent a decent amount of time on the theory of Meridian being evil, but still worth noting that this mission ended up Megaera possessing Sin, albeit with Sin in control (and presumably actually in control because Megaera said Sin was in control while Sin used the lasso on her).

There's still quite a few similarities between Meridian and Megaera which are a bit difficult to overlook (you can check out the link I placed above where i went into more detail into that).

Its worth noting as well that Meridian mentioned that whichever evil time traveller is targeting the BoP, they're using her technology most likely. An interesting detail, and one which raises q

Could it be Meridian is hiding something still? All the information we know about the future and her motives comes from her after all.

Or could it be she's being controlled without her knowledge? Or a second Meridian is up and about?

Perhaps it seems like I'm still focusing a disproportionate amount on Meridian, but she still remains the driving force behind all this issues of the narrative which have somewhat hurt my enjoyment and given me questions.

And to repeat what I've said before. Meridian seems like a strange direction for the character of Maps Mizoguchi.

As I've alluded to before, I'm probably quite biased in this area because I've read Gotham Academy years ago before I really got into comics like I have recently and it was one of the first runs I've finished and stuff.

Maps is a character who wants to be Robin. And that's the path which she seems to have been developed upon during her fairly recent return.

Given how still early she is in her storyline of becoming Robin (or some other kind of vigilante) it just still feels like a strange choice for Maps Mizoguchi of all people to show up as a time traveling hero with a persona and skillset which seems in stark contrast to her every prior appearance.

Meridian does not appear to be a martial artist, Maps doesn't appear to be a tech genius. Magic would seem like a more likely 'superpower' than super-tech for Maps considering the more supernatural focus of Gotham Academy.

Maps has been established with a preference for swords while Meridian is only shown fighting using a fancy taser.

Am I thinking too deeply into it? Probably, yes.

But still feels like an overall strange decision to introduce Future Maps in such a manner. Especially when Present Maps has only returned to semi-focus in recent years and still hasn't really developed too much in her own current goals (such as being Robin).

So taking a character who's still in need of a bit more focus and development and then giving them a future persona which is at contrast to their current development chain? Seems odd.

Also at first i just assumed Meridian comes from a post-apocalyptic future which would be retconned out of the timeline by this arc. But Meridian's comments about how she doesn't take time travel lightly and is trying to right the timeline suggests she does not in fact come from a post-apocalyptic timeline.

So does that mean Maps is destined to become Meriden?

Again, this is probably my bias due to Gotham Academy nostalgia. But I'm not sure if I'm too much of a fan of this direction for her.

Especially, as I keep noting, Present Maps has only barely gotten started on working on becoming Robin (or any-kind of vigilante); but Meridian seems to suggest Maps is going to drop her current direction and go in a completely different direction at some point in the future.

Well those of my thoughts I guess. I suppose I'll see how things develop from here.

While I did find the Birds of Prey quite well-drawn so far and fairly enjoyable. All this thoughts I've gone over and the general feeling this arc was a tad contrived has all somewhat mitigated my enjoyment.

#professoruber thoughts #dc comics #birds of prey 2023 #birds of prey 2023 spoilers #birds of prey #bop #comic review #comic criticism #maps mizoguchi #bop meridian #mia mizoguchi #dinah lance #dinah drake #dinah drake lance #megaera #sin lance #barbara gordon #batgirl #oracle

[propheticpotato42]

At some point after the JL is really established Battinson!Bruce just starts bringing Selina with him to meetings. Like why should anyone else care all of the crimes she commits are his problem of anyones. And it’s not like she’s paying attention she doesn’t care, she’s just there for the free food(also she likes spending time with Bruce but can’t admit that). And yes they are holding hands under the table it calms Bruce down let them be. And no he didn’t discuss this with anyone she just started coming along, and no one could stop him or really wanted to.

The different reactions are great:

Clark is concerned because she is a criminal but he does trust Bruce. And Clark doesn’t understand their relationship and isn’t sure he wants to.

Diana is supportive of it. She noticed that Bruce is less anxious when Selina is there and they both seem to be happy so she approves. Also Diana low key approves of the stuff Selina does.

Oliver is proud of his bro, the two have known each other for a while and he’s happy that Bruce is with someone who he likes. And yes the relationship isn’t normal or particularly functional but those aren’t things that matter to Ollie it’s all about the love to him.

Arthur wasn’t paying attention and just assumed she’s a new member. They haven’t talked much but he did give her some home baked cookies as a “Welcome to the team” present like he does for every new member.

John Jonas(I don’t know how to correctly spell it sorry) thinks this is an awful idea but really doesn’t want to fight Bruce on this.

Hal may have objected but is more just perplexed by how Bruce managed to get with Selina.

Barry completely understands how that relationship happened and trusts Bruce’s judgement, also it’s his problem if something goes wrong.

Dinah already knew Selina from back in the day when she did security for some sketchy guys and knows that she isn’t a threat, also she likes Selina.

Billy Batson thinks that Selina is cool, and thinks that it’s cool-if like a little gross-that Batman has a girlfriend.

#dc comics #batman #battinson #battison #the batman 2022 #batcat #brulina #justice league #dc headcanon #aquaman #wonder woman #diana prince #superman #clark kent #arthur curry #martian manhunter #hal jordan #oliver queen #green arrow #dinah lance #black canary #barry allen #the flash #billy batson #shazam