Just be still.

Picture of a woman on a porch in a rocking chair carrying a walking stick and swinging it around, chasing newbies off the lawn. Occasionally, she clears her throat, lights a campfire and tells old fandom stories, the kind that are long forgotten in the annals of the interwebs. That's me. I'm a bitter old fandom chick. Here there be: ☀talia al ghul | ☀batman | ☀meta | ☀fanfiction | ☀chitchat | ☀screaming | ☀media | ☀makeup | ☀murder | And then those things again. | ☀And baby animals | ☀And some more stuff. Header by Gyodragon, art goddess. Commissioned by me.

[nothingofnotereally]

I think the Checkmate delay is related to what is currently happening with Damian. Bendis shared an image of Damian on a motorcycle wearing Robin's outfit, and with the latest solicitations, we know that Damian will give up Robin's mantle. I am concerned about Talia's role in this, Bendis could make Talia take advantage of the situation to make Damian turn evil as in the future.

I guess he could, but why would he want to? He’s the only one who’s given them a positive relationship  in years. Also he likes Talia and is trying to move her away from being a mustache twirling villain.

[nothingofnotereally]

Didn’t Denny say that was Talia was 19 when she made her first appearance?

That was Morrison!

[jojoo]

💚Ghul Family💚

[jojoo]

Talia al Ghul

[martaare-llopart]

Send me an Emoji // one of your favorite outfits and I'll draw Our Darling Talia! Aka Miss July~♡

Feel free to reblog and join the challenge with the hashtag #Dc comics calendar challenge!

Don't be shy♡

[nothingofnotereally]

has denny o‘neill ever confirmed talia's age?

Not a specific age.  In Birth of the Demon she said she was “not yet 30,” and in an article he wrote, he said she was pretty young and clarified that he meant by our standards, not Ra’s al Ghul’s. 

[nothingofnotereally]

When Bendis says he loves "her origins in the Batman's mythology" and "her relationship to Damian", what does he mean? In the image it seems that there are links, could you show what appears in those links? Thanks!

Pretty neutral links - origins went to her first appearance, and the Damian bit went to his first appearance.

I will note that he probably didn’t choose the links.  If you want to know how he sees her relationship with Damian I’d suggest reading Event Leviathan #5-6 and Event Leviathan: Dawn, but in a nutshell Damian is defensive of her when Green Arrow complaints about her, and she states that she was preparing Leviathan (the organization) for Damian to inherit when it was taken from her by Mark Shaw.

[nothingofnotereally]

Seriously Bendis said that about her? Do you know if he said something else? Couldn't you share what he said? It's very interesting

Yeah!  So here’s what he’s said about her in that one article:

It made me extremely happy but I wasn’t surprised because if you read Event Leviathan, he definitely does write her with more sympathy than recent writers.  

And, I HATE TO KEEP BRINGING IT UP just because it makes me sound like a namedropper and I swear I’m not, I’m just trying to answer the question askndad  but he did tell me that he has a plan for her and that she will no longer be a mustache twirler by the end of it.

[nothingofnotereally]

What have i read about Talia defeating Deathstroke? Something about Bendis saving her with the Lazarus pit? I can't see the DC Universe site and I can't know :(

DC Universe is having some kind of “Who would win?” debate/vote/contest of some kind.  Deathstroke beat Talia, but Bendis used a wildcard round to resurrect her via Lazarus Pit, so she’s back in the fight, lmao.

Nothing serious! The most important thing about it was Bendis’ quotes about her - that he’s always been a fan of hers and that Checkmate is going to be a big gamechanger for her character.  

Anyway I went to the DCUniverse forums and people were coughsputtering that there’s no way Talia could beat Deathstroke so I felt the need to note that she already has, and in his own book, written by his own ongoing writer, and using his own sword.

[nothingofnotereally]

Luckily what happened in RD:LD is no longer canon since New 52 but it still hurts to see that and people keep remembering that moment since it is in one of the best Red Hood comics. You're right about what you said but if that moment were canon, I don't think Bruce will forget it. He would forgive Talia but I don't think he will be with her again and it would be necessary to see what Damian thinks of this. What do you think?

I can never just answer a question… sob.

So okay I think on a realworld level, whether Bruce got over it/let it go or not depends on whether a writer was pro talia or not, you know?  At this point it would only ever be brought up for some drama.

But if we talk about Bruce as a character, I think a one night stand between Jason and Talia is the least of his worries with either of them.  

Also, if we were going to look at their relationship in its traditional form, he would have to let go of it, because he was never able to control his feelings for her - it was one of the key points of their relationship that made it feel so “big.”  He couldn’t arrest her, he couldn’t fight her, really, and he could never forget her or let her go.  Of course thats the most traditional sort of 70s-2002 version of their relationship, and the whole Jason/Talia thing was part of the movement away from that.

As for Damian, I’m guessing he’d be grossed out and talk shit about Jason.

But seriously, to me it was never THAT big a deal - uncomfortable yes, but I never would have considered it a pairing dealbreaker for either of them.  It never even occurred to me that people would think of it that way until I started talking to other fans.  But again, I do think it helps that I basically think of comics as soap operas with superpowers.  In the end, any given thing only matters to the degree that it’s emphasized, which I think is key to the success of the genre… because everyone acts strange, goes evil, does OOC stuff from time to time.  It’s inevitable with all the changing writers and editors and such.

[paramar]

Batman -The Tailor by TerminAitor

[nightmareloki]

[crybringer]

Best comic I’ve read all day.

[siphersaysstuff]

See, stories like this would get me to read more superhero comics. ‘Cuz this is superb.

[dirtyriver]

Great! There actually was a tailor story in Detective a few years ago, but it never looked this cool.

[tenderofriki]

Astrocity spirit in gotham :D

[dreamrabbit]

This is the best comic story I’ve read in a long time. Completely and utterly wonderful.

~DreamR

[gabzilla-z]

This is so beautiful. Gets the hell gothamites must face every day, the threat the villains in the city represent and the hope Batman gives perfectly 

[gabzilla-z]

I thought this was a good time to bring this back

[nothingofnotereally]

Amazing.

[nothingofnotereally]

I loved Brutalia but after reading RH: Lost Days...I hope Talia is away from Bruce romantically. How could she sleep with Jason? She knew the fight between her father and Batman and it was clear that that can only end badly. What would have happened if Ra's had killed Batman? Would she have slept with Ubu? I read what you put on Twitter, and I agree, it is a very bad decision that anyone could make but it's not something you can forgive and I'm sure Bruce wouldn't forgive it either.

I feel like Ra’s would be more disappointed in Talia’s choices than angry if she slept with Ubu but anyway, IDK.  I can answer this on a couple of different levels, and they’re all valid to me.

First, since that specific segment of Lost Days took place post-Hush, it also probably took place post-Death and the Maidens which means Talia was off her rocker.

Second, I think in real life it would be a tough thing to forgive.  I wouldn’t say that it’s not something you can forgive - people can and have forgiven that kind of thing in the past. It depends on the person involved and where their head is at.  But comics are kind of like soap operas - all kinds of crazy things happen and then people just move on from it. People try to kill each other and then fall in love, people turn into horrible villains and then turn back into heroes and then back into villains and then back into heroes and then lose their powers and then become cosmic entities... I’m not going to draw the line at Bruce forgiving a woman he loves as much as he loved Talia for sleeping with his estranged, adult son after being dumped for Catwoman and then tortured by her sister.

Third, to be honest, it was also part of an era where Talia was being targeted for removal from Bruce’s romantic history and future, and I’m sort of unwilling to let that attempt be successful, at least where I’m concerned.

And finally,  at this point it’s not even clear whether that still happened in continuity.  I believe Jason actually said in RHatO that Essence was his first sexual experience. 

...but I’m also just not that bothered by it, I don’t know what to tell you.

[nothingofnotereally]

Talia al Ghul Fanzine!

So I got myself involved in a Fanzine for Talia - it’s pdf only, but there are physical stickers and prints you can purchase as well. 

THIS WAY TO THE STORE...

Here is an excerpt from my very own story, The Heart Has a Cutting Part.  

[fyeah-taliaalghul]

The shop is finally open for business! Click the link here to check it out!  Pre-oders will go from now until March 25 12:00 AM EST Throughout the month we will be doing some creator spotlights to highlight the wonderful people who have worked on this zine. 

[nothingofnotereally]

Hello, I am in this zine.  

[devonkong]

Surfing Pikachu on the Great Wave off Kanagawa

Artist: Devon Kong Year: ca. 2017–2018 Type: Digital art

[nothingofnotereally]

I am very happy that Talia has more importance in the future issues of "Leviathan" but I am afraid of bendis... I see very likely that Talia and Green Arrow have a relationship, Bendis will have heard of "Arrow" and will think they have a relationship. By the way, don't you think Bendis' way of writing Talia looks a bit like Emma Frost? I see many similarities (both say "darling" to everyone, and both will be queens of an organization)

Man, it must be complicated to be Bendis, rofl.  Okay starting from the bottom.

His way of writing her does sound a bit like Emma, but I don’t blame him for that because IMO he’s picking up where Silencer left off - that is exactly how her voice was written there, which is notable because of course he has Silencer appear.  When Event Leviathan 6 came out and Silencer showed up, I mentioned on Twitter that I assume she sounds that way because it’s how she sounded in her most recent major appearance, so it’s a matter of where she goes from there.  I can’t guarantee that’s why, but it makes sense and when I said it Bendis did hit that like button so I’m guessing that’s the case.

And that would scare me, except I do know he’s working on getting her out of that crazy villain place (because he told me), so I am optimistic.

Also, he is aware of Talia as a character, fyi.  From the comics, I mean.

[nothingofnotereally]

So Bendis is going to be doing a Checkmate book that spun out of Leviathan and Talia is on the roster. Thoughts?

I’m basically bouncing up and down about it.  Talia? On a team with a bunch of heroes?  As a main character?  By a superstar writer?  Drawn by Alex Maleev?  Hi I’m here for it.

The other thing is, it’s basically confirmation on the page of the general feeling I’ve gotten from the more recent work with her, the “leaked” timeline from NYCC and the setup in Event Leviathan - that DC is slowly but surely bringing her back to herself.  Bendis did say it would be a roughly year long story that tests her character…  so I mean I’m not necessarily banking on Talia finishing this very miniseries back to her original form (well she’ll probably never be EXACTLY her original self again but you know what I mean - a nuanced character, an antihero, not a psychopathic supervillain).