Can we stop making everything about Batman/Batfam? Especially to the point that the other character and their part in the media, is pushed aside to make room for (a/the) Batfamily.
((Long post under cut))
If the profile picture didn't already give it away, yes, I have Shazam/Captain Marvel in mind while writing this.
His entire collection is flooded with Batfam works. I’m not against writing him interacting with the Batfamily, but all of the works are about him being used as someone who is basically going to or needing to become a part of Batman’s gaggle of orphans. Not him as a separate character with his own lore and really anything more than a plot point. Billy has siblings, a talking tiger, a magical city, a job, a superhero life and SO much more. But none of that is really expanded on (let alone added), unless it’s convenient in “Billy becomes a Batfam” fic. They don’t demonstrate his character on its own, he has to be portrayed in a way that makes him seem inevitably a part of the Batfamily, never just his regular self. (or with his own media or fine on his own.)
I would understand, but I’ve seen so many cases where a Batfamily member just straight up replaces a Shazam/Captain Marvel character. It just seems like a Billy fic can’t not be about the Batfamily in an essential way. To the point he’s treated like a random character they can just drop in to a Batfam centric work and not include much of anything about him and still treat it like a Shazam fanwork. There were so many times where Billy’s media could have been used or included and just wasn’t in place of Batman media.
My opinion may be very biased, but to me it just feels like they’re taking over all of his fan portrayals in the fandom without even including his lore, other characters, and correct depiction.
(No, I am not asking you to write him 100% accurate, but at least try to show that he’s his own character and not some drag-and-drop black hair orphan that needs to be saved, because that is not his character.)
I will admit I am upset, it seems like the only time his character is used is to be added into a work about Batman and his potential as a Bat. But he has his own media too, which goes unused or pushed aside to make him helpless in Gotham and in need of Batman to take him and protect him or show him “the true meaning of family” when:
A) Billy is self reliant, he’s got a job, an apartment in some cannons, and his own family. He is not helpless, he does not need to be saved by someone. He is a powerhouse of a superhero for one, the golden age comics tell a lot for two, and he’s been homeless or living alone managing himself in every cannon that has him without a foster family for three.
B) He has trust issues against adults and is also against the foster system. He is a consistent runaway from foster homes as well. But still, he found a way to love his own family. He does not need a new one to show him that or to adopt him.
C) He has his own family. He has Mary Batson/Broomfield, his sister; Freddy Freeman, his brother; and more if we include the Vasquez: Darla, Pedro, Eugene, Rosa and Victor. (We could also include Uncle Dudley, his Fawcett-based relative.) Billy already knows the true meaning of family and he has one. Even if we don’t count the Vasquez, we still have Mary, Freddy and Dudley; who are all major parts of his lore/character consistently. To get rid of all of them, is to remove large parts of his lore. It also, to me, is very odd to cut out his own family to give him a new one to show him love.
Anyways, what I mean is that he’s really only been written recently as someone a part of the Batman franchise, but he isn’t. That trope is fine, BUT, it’s almost the only time he is written and that is not the only part of his character or media. It makes it feel like that his only role is to be a part of the Batfamily when in reality that’s kinda getting rid of his character.
I hate to put it like this because I don’t want to make people feel bad about what they’re writing and enjoying, but it’s like those fics are taking over the Shazam fandom, and not even making it about Billy while doing it.
—> Feel free to discuss in replies I will try to answer.
