riversiders

I write fanfiction on ao3.com. "In my fanfic, everyone is bi and everyone is polyamorous" profile image art credit insta: @_ohcosmic

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Sanatorium by @ao3riversiders

They're forcing Bruce to rest. Tucked away on the Kents' farm in rural Kansas with Superman as his keeper, he has little choice but to cooperate. At least Dick is happy—happier. It's good for him to be around normal, well-adjusted people. They can be there for him in ways Bruce is incapable of.

The more he reads of his mother's journal, the more certain he becomes; Bruce Wayne was never destined to be part of a happy family.

Meanwhile, back in Gotham, the Batclub's hard at work. It'll be a dirty job, bringing Thomas Elliot to justice. Luckily, Lois, Harvey, and Selina are perfectly comfortable with the morally grey.

Image source: Cat's Nightmare (1907), Louis Wain

[fforsythiaaa]

Once when I was in undergrad, someone described something as “problematic” in class and our professor was like, “That’s cool, but ‘problematic’ doesn’t really mean anything. It means that the thing you’re describing has a problem, and in and of itself that’s not bad. Art, especially, should always have problems, or else it’s not interesting and not art, either. It sounds like you’re trying to say that this is bad, but you don’t want to say ‘bad.’ Is that right?”

So from then on whenever one of us called something problematic, he would make us talk it out until we could name the “bad” thing we were hinting at. In this particular class, 7/10 it was some type of oppression, and the remainder was like, “I’m uncomfortable because this is very new/confusing/pushing boundaries that made me feel safe.”

Once we stopped calling things “problematic” and stopping at that, class got way more interesting and... we all had to say, like, “that’s racist” or “that’s misogynistic” or “ew capitalism gross” out loud, which a lot of us had never done in a classroom before. Or we had to be like, “Uhhh... I’m not sure what’s so bad?” and confront our own beliefs and that was maybe even more useful.

Anyway. Whenever I see the word problematic, I can’t help but think of this professor being like, “Good starting point, now let’s get specific.” I think when we have to commit to saying “that’s ___” it requires a lot more careful thought about the truth and impact and complexities of whatever we’re claiming. Sometimes there really is some bullshit afoot, and also sometimes it’s art, and it should be full of problems, because that’s what art is.

[beggars-opera]

I once saw an article put it this way: often "this is problematic" is used to shut down discussion of a thing, by casting a sweeping but vague judgement. But really if used at all it should start a discussion about what the problem is.

[ao3riversiders]

I've recently come out of the fanfic author closet and have started openly talking about my fics to new people I meet out in the real world. It's genuinely wild how often they'll respond, "oh, send it to me! I want to read it!"

I keep giving out the link lmao. And then I immediately add the disclaimer that the current story is very dark and they might learn things about my psyche they didn't want to... but they still want to read!

Will I regret this??? Time will tell.

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Cats and Dogs by riversiders [Orphansverse]

It's not that he doesn't like Clark. He’s obsessed with Clark, actually, and not just because he somehow conned his way into dating him.

As suspicious and crazy as it makes Bruce feel, he cannot deny that Clark cares. He’s constantly checking in on Bruce. They talk on the phone practically every day, and Superman has become a frequent and regular visitor at Wayne Manor. Dick adores him. Alfred does too. He keeps making hints about ‘letting Mr. Kent into the club in an official capacity’.

Clark is wonderful. He is good—too good.

He won't treat Bruce the way Bruce wants to be treated.

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Orphans by riversiders

Bruce Wayne is being threatened by a violent stalker. Clark Kent is incapable of letting it go.

Image source: Eurasian Eagle-Owl by Wright, Magnus von - Finnish National Gallery, Finland, Unsplash

[ao3riversiders]

Jeez, back on Tumblr after more than a decade away. I'm rising again, like a phoenix, or Jesus, or something.

Mostly I'm here to yammer about superbat and my fics and hopefully talk to people who are also interested in the Torture and Subsequent Healing of Bruce Wayne. Probably no one will ever see this blog and that's okay, cause my author's notes are getting too long so I need somewhere to ramble.

It's the internet equivalent of me babbling in a corner to myself about Batman. Lmao. So let's be mutuals if you're into that???