I gotta ask where do you find all this Damian hate or Talia hate cus I personally haven't seen any. My tumblr experience in this fandom has been over all positive. Everyone I've seen seems to like every character. I have came into with hate about any character actually when I think about it. Genuine question. So where are you guys getting all this from? Cus from my perspective it looks like you guys are looking for it.
Oh! And always I don't understand the hate for wfa. It think it's cute and fun but I understand it's not everyone's cup it's just the energy gives that you wouldn't like me because I like it...
(you came across my fyp and I got curious that's all this really is. Not trying to be rude I promise.)
This is going to be a long post, so scroll down for the short answer.
First thing you need to know about me, I am a huge al-Ghul Family fan! I prefer Damian to the rest of the Batkids, Talia to Bruce and Ra's to any other characters. Second thing you need to know is that these characters, unfortunately, are often used as props to upvote other characters in one way or another, even at the cost of their own character assassination.
One thing I'd like to clarify, I do not actively seek out anti or hate comment of my fav characters--- in fact, I actively stay away from any variations of 'Bad mom Talia al-Ghul' or 'anti Damian' or 'Creepy Ra's al-Ghul', etc. etc. across any medias (tumblr, Twitter, ao3, TikTok). As we all find out later, everyone has a way of putting those kinds of element in any other tags.
The following examples I've provided are solely for illustrative purposes only. I do not condone harassments of any kind, and I do not encourage anyone to find these people unless you enjoy the kinds of contents that they produce:
As you may have realized, these aren't necessarily hate content, just people butchering my favorite characters for their blorbos to hug.
The first three images are being joking that Ra's would get on one knees for Tim, making Damian the butt of the joke, etc. The fourth picture is just?? Impromptu tag because why is Talia in it even though it's specifically about Bruce and Selina? Is she the ex? What.
This is literally a response from my own post where I make a satirical joke. Like. They come to my blog.
I applaud you for being able to curate your own internet experiences according to your preference, however it's a bit difficult for people who likes characters that are, for whatever reason, the punching bags for the fandom's favorite. The cause of trauma, as you will.
I can't escape it, because it's a popular notion that the al-Ghuls are the bane of everyone's existence within DC fandom spaces. That Talia drugged and raped Bruce (retconned), that she sleeps with Jason (also retconned), that Ra's is insane about Tim and obsessed with him (he talks to him, like, twice) and Damian is a feral Arab child that needed to be civilized.
I could scroll TikTok, came across a video that featured Talia in it, and the comments are filled to the brim with people saying bs like, "Remember when she SA'd Bruce?" or "Errmmmm do people forget that she cracks Jason like???". I decided to expand my repertoire and check the tags that aren't exclusively 'Damian Wayne-Centric' on ao3, and two scrolls in that boy was being put at the stake for being Robin or leaving Robin. Ra's al-Ghul is the victim of his own tags.
Regarding WFA, I have a sort of mixed-feelings about it; don't get me wrong, I recognize that comic to be fandom-pilled than it is a canon material. To me, WFA is as canon as 'Nothing Butt Nightwing' comic, or even Harley's Scratch and Sniff comic.
It's there for people in the fandom to enjoy, but not much of a canon material that you can refer to when discussing the depth of a character--- however, it's still not free from criticism as it also convey certain messages, and it's particularly bad considering that most (if not all) new fans either stayed loyal to that comic or only read WFA.
WFA is a comic that specifically made to indulge the fans, a complete fan-service if I ever see one, where they delve into popular tropes being thrown around in the fandom so they can garner more viewers.
Again, at the great cost of my favorite characters being butchered.
For example, episode 13 of WFA: Stupid Traditions.
Because of course, why would Talia who gave Damian Goliath (and should be canon in universe considering Goliath has made a few appearance in WFA) allowed Damian to have pets? Why would she allowed him to form meaningful connections with lowly beings like animals, even though both came from LoA who's notoriously known to be an eco-terrorist organization that protects the environment and whatnot? Preposterous!
I know it's not exactly an attempt of butchering Talia, but it's the implication. The sub context. Readers are meant to read that and goes, "Oh, poor Damian! He doesn't know how his birthdays should be celebrated because of his evil Arab family! Thank God his good white family is here to save him and lets him behave like a child that he should be!".
But in canon, this is how Damian's birthdays were celebrated when he was at the Waynes:
Either alone or Bruce flat out forgot.
It's the same element when Damian suddenly told Lizzie that Ra's used to lock him in a box without food and water and left him in the desert for seven days in the Trinity Special.
It's meant to invoke some sort of reaction from the readers without no real thoughts being put to consider how this might affect Ra's image and character as a whole. It particularly sucked considering this comic was written by Tom King. A.k.a the war criminal.
I've had similar conversations with many people asking why I hate characters like Tim Drake so much, and my answer is the same; I don't. I enjoy his character, but it's how people characterize him that made me annoyed. Not to mention how, again, my favs are butchered and assassinated to smithereens for him, and I suppose it's the same thing with WFA as well.
People who exclusively read WFA believes that it's canon, thus creating a problem where they thought fanon things are canon, even though it really isn't. They advocate that it's canon and they choose to disregard the actual canon materials, saying that the BatFam is this cool, loving bunch when these mfs cannot be in the same room without blood being shed.
Still, it's cool if you like it. I just wouldn't recommend it to other people, especially new fans, as their first comic.
TLDR; No, I didn't actively seek out hate content of my favs. Them being the universe punching bag is just a popular trope to curate the 'bohoo this poor white man' content, so I can't exactly escape it. No, I don't hate WFA, I just don't like it much. I can enjoy the Slice of Life but ehh. Don't treat it as canon or become your basis understanding of the characters and their relationships with other people, because it's inaccurate.
