lowkey idk what im doing

profile is a delicious pizza i made and ate

[oysterenjoyer]

Patchnotes: changed username again! ; changed personal tag

Next order of business: ORGANIZE TAGS ; rewrite pinned post

If you see this post, hi. This is my part-time, catch-all blog. I sort of just reblog things I like and put no thought into anything except, perhaps, writing an essay in the tags.

[vacuously-true]

It is extremely rare that I get unintentionally rickrolled. It is extremely common that I look at a link and think to myself, that's a rickroll, and I click on it. Then I get to enjoy the satisfaction of being correct, as well as the entirety of Never Gonna Give You Up. That shit is a banger. If someone offers me a link directly to that song you think I'm not gonna take it? No. You know the rules and so do I. It's Astley time.

[sistinalark]

[cryptidcharlie]

highschool days!

[getthembees]

Cass and her complete disregard for her identity in Batgirl 2000 is one of my favorite parts of the story especially the conversation where Babs asks her about her future identity, and if she wants to go to school or get a job etc. and cass brushes her off. And obviously she changes her mind and they erase the recordings of her from the CIA because she wants to go outside with Babs again. But the thing is, nowadays Cass does have an identity. She’s adopted by Bruce and while it might not be entirely “legal” (as in have the right legal documents vs in name only—it’s pretty nebulous afaik) there’s still a good chance that she does now exist in some official legal capacity. And yes, they erased the recordings and the evidence, but she still went into a building full of government officials in the FBI and CIA who all saw her face, and all very much do not like her.

All this to say if I was in charge of a cass story I would set it close to after her adoption, when Bruce is back from being dead. Cass is back in Gotham and still coming back from that insecurity of truly “belonging” in the family (both due to the events of OYL/BG 08 and being in Hong Kong). Being adopted in an official capacity is a way to assuage that insecurity. Maybe there’s some article about it. Maybe someone snaps a picture. Or maybe it’s just the official documents. But one of those agents that she beat the shit out of sees it. And he’s bitter. He remembers the jackass teenage girl who broke their treasonous agent out of custody. Who attacked them. Who destroyed their shit. Who laughed at it and treated it like a joke. And he remembers how they had her dead to rights—except, no matter what they did they couldn’t find a trace of her. She was like a ghost. And then all the evidence dissapeared.

But here she is. Not a ghost. Cassandra Cain, adopted daughter of Bruce Wayne. She exists. And if she exists, that means they can get her.

I think it would be a really great callback and good way of showing Cass’s growth while also having it come back and haunt her. Teenage Cass who didn’t even think she was going to be alive at the end of the year, who didn’t see herself having a future or an identity, suddenly finding herself with a name and a family and wanting that. To finally find security through that adoption, only for the actions of her 17 year old self to come and bite her in the ass. Something she can’t fight herself out of and something that threatens the identities of her family as well. Unstoppable force (cia agent who hates her guts and wants to see her destroyed on every level) vs immovable object (Cassandra Cain. no other explanation needed)

[hannigramislife]

BIBLICALLY ACCURATE TIM DRAKE, LET'S GOOOOOOOO!!!

[oifaaa]

When i tell you my enjoyment of comics went up when I accepted that they are soap operas which is also something I think the people writing comics need to accept

[steblynka-draws]

Self-destructive tendencies

[oysterenjoyer]

trying to force my brain to find this funny so i can be my own #1 fan but its not working

[starrygatorr]

characters who are actually two characters are so important to me. d.i.d. doppelgängers. possession. twins. clones. au versions of the same person. sometimes a guy is two guys and that is so so so important to me

[teddyrocker]

you would think in this era of shortening attention spans and wanting instant gratification, we would have more sympathy for bart allen, for whom the rest of the world is playing in like 0.25x speed. and yet.

[isfjmel-phleg]

Significant issues of Superboy (1994): #4

During my reread of this series, I'd like to highlight a few issues that stand out to me as especially important to understanding the character and narrative. It's a hard series to read because there is so much messed-up stuff going on and not always the greatest narrative awareness of that. Kon was written with the intention of being a sort of "wish-fulfillment" character, but a closer look at the stories reveals something closer to the tragedy of a naive "child star" of sorts who is either exploited or neglected by almost every adult in his life.

The previous three issues have established Kon's seemingly glamorous new life as the hero of Hawaii. He has no parents, he doesn't have to go to school, he flies around fighting bad guys with his awesome powers while spouting quips full of 90s slang and pop culture references, attractive adult women are throwing themselves at him...you know, everything anyone could ever want, right? Not concerning or questionable at all! Especially for someone who technically only has a few months of actual life experience.

But recently he's developed a bad cough and collapsed during a fight in a volcano. Shortly afterward, he joined fellow hero the Ray in another battle but during an argument with Ray got energy-blasted and almost killed. His cough is worsening, and he's not doing well. The adults in his life--Rex and Roxy Leech (Kon's sleezy, corrupt manager and his daughter), Dubbilex (a pseudo-alien telepathic clone assigned by Cadmus to act as Kon's "chaperone" on his travels), and Tana Moon (the twenty-three-year-old reporter who used Kon's first appearance in Metropolis to get her big break and is now showing romantic interest in him)--are concerned about him. Dubbilex thinks it might be a clone plague he's been hearing about and thinks they should bring him back to Cadmus for examination.

Does anyone listen to him? Nope. Kon insists, between hacking coughs, that he's fine. So the others decide to distract him from his illness by watching the pilot episode of a proposed animated Superboy series. This issue is all about how Kon is publicly perceived, how that image is managed by others, and how his role as a commodity conflicts with the inconvenient reality of his being a young, vulnerable human.

The issue begins with the opening segment of the animated show, which presents a sanitized version of Kon's backstory.

It is true enough that he was created after Superman's death as a replacement for him, but this wasn't supposed to be an altruistic "spark of hope" as this narration claims--those "hardworking Cadmus scientists" were creating a clone as a commodity that they could control. We get a look at these scientists admiring their work--Kon inside the tube he was grown in, but only seen in silhouette, concealing his nakedness and softening the rather dehumanizing image of a child developed in these conditions.

Kon's breaking containment is portrayed as a "disaster" in which "the maturing process was interrupted--halted!" Note the use of passive voice that conceals who exactly did the interrupting. In fact, it wasn't a tragic mishap; it was the Newsboy Legion rescuing Kon from punishment after his brain had rejected attempts to implant code words with which to control him. "But the young hero survived!" claims the narration--more correct to say that he escaped Cadmus. Instead, Kon's heroic career from then on is painted as an intentional triumph, with rhetoric that firmly associates him with Superman's legacy: he "continues his never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way!"

And then finally, a proper look at Our Hero, as the crowds call out, "Look! Up in the sky!"

Animated Kon descends from the heavens with a flourish, looking perhaps a bit older than he really is, his trendy costume and muscular physique in full display. And the crowd exclaims things that establish him as both a role model ("Making the streets safe again!" "Wish more kids were like you!" "Inspiration to us all!") and an object of desirability ("Such the stud-muffin!" "Saw him first!" "HOT!" "Doing anything Saturday night?" "Take me to your Super-Grotto--PLEEEASE?!").

This is how Kon's public image is being constructed.

And then we cut back to the issue's reality. Kon at this moment isn't looking like a powerful hero. This is the first time in this series that we've seen him out of the suit and dressed like a civilian. Simple t-shirt and shorts, with a blanket around his shoulders and a thermometer in his mouth--he's not well. Tana looms over his chair, possessively touching his arm and telling him not to get a swelled head about this. Roxy is smoking inches from his face. Dubbilex is distracted by the show's theme music. And Rex is yelling at everyone about how this pilot is "a work of art in progress!"

Kon asks, "Does Jason Priestly do my voice, Rex? I always thought I had a kinda Jason Priestly sorta voice!" He's getting caught up in the glamour of being presented as a celebrity, but he's also asking about who his character's voice actor is because his character so far hasn't spoken a word on screen--the animated Superboy is an object to be used and admired, and the audience shouldn't much care what he has to say for himself.

(Priestley starred in the popular TV series Beverly Hills 90210, which Kon is a fan of--he's seen discussing it in #0. How seriously we're supposed to take Kon's assessment of his voice is unclear, but for a sampling of Priestley's voice in the pilot of 90210, here's a clip. I think it's a plausible comparison; there's a youthfulness and attitude that are in keeping with Kon. But this could just as well be Kon's flattering himself with a comparison to a popular heart-throb.)

What the real Kon is saying is mostly continuing to insist, while coughing his lungs out, that he's not sick. This is further opportunity for everyone around him to clash. Tana positions herself as the one looking out for him, mostly so she can throw shade at Roxy. Dubbilex tries to bring up the possibility of the clone plague he's been informed of, but Rex shouts him down because "We got a cartoon to watch here! Gotta have priorities, people!"

The narrative is once again making it clear that Rex doesn't really care about Kon outside of exploiting him, but the skewed priorities or ineffectuality of everyone else is more subtle. No one is really trying to help him in any meaningful way. And Kon's refusal to acknowledge his illness indicates how much he has internalized that he must be strong and functional at all times.

So the pilot rolls on. It's drawn in a style reminiscent of Batman: The Animated Series, which was still running when this issue was published, but it also takes a lot of cues from the 1960s Batman show, with phrases like "stately Leech Manor," "your youthful ward, Superboy," "old chum," and the "Super-Grotto" (Batcave). There's a heavy emphasis on action and violence, and the characters are all stock types. Rex is portrayed in a Bruce Wayne-like role as the benevolent owner of the world's largest fortune, Dubbilex is his "wacky telepathic D.N.Alien butler," and Roxy has been transformed into primordial slime that Rex is trying to restore to her human form.

The real Roxy violently objects to this creative decision, and Dubbilex takes issue with his likeness being used without his permission. Kon isn't so worked up, but he does note that he hasn't even appeared yet in his own show.

When he does appear, he's flirting with what appears to be an adult woman whom he's taken to his Super-Grotto to use the hot tub. Until he's called away to rescue his guardian.

There's a ridiculous, overblown plot of Rex being in a death trap, Superboy does some punching and quipping (in a turn of phrase that does mirror how his live counterpart speaks), but ultimately Rex's cleverness saves the day. Throw in some token meaningless "morals" spouted by characters (like "a good education is important" or "it isn't very nice to lie"), the benevolent guardian summing up the story to his youthful ward over a meal, and a "touching" ending of hope for Roxy's restoration, and all the cliches are covered. Superboy does nothing in this show except flirt, quip, and fight, and Rex (whose live counterpart has been the driving force behind this production) is arguably the more important character and actual protagonist.

And no one except him seems to like the pilot. Roxy is critical of her portrayal, Dubbilex is critical of the science, and Tana, who has a background in broadcasting, points out that "there isn't a standards and practices group in the world who would approve that show." And why not? Perhaps the concerningly sexualized portrayal of a real-life minor? The unethical exploitation of this child's image? Nope. "It's too violent."

Tana's not concerned about the portrayal of the boy she claims to be so protective of. Her beef with this show is its violence. (and yes, that's probably a comment on inconsistent standards of what's acceptable to depict in media intended for young audiences.)

We don't get to hear Kon's thoughts on all this; he's too busy coughing. Roxy is mildly concerned--"Easy, S.B.--it [the show] ain't that bad. Almost, but not quite. Hey--you want I should getcha a drink?" But Kon insists on getting it himself, making a joke under his breath about swallowing kryptonite. Tana has heard the coughing fit, but her only reaction is to glare at Roxy for stepping in as the caring one before she could. Kon's wellbeing isn't her actual priority; she's more interested in winning this romantic rivalry.

She even asks him to get her a soda while he's in the kitchen. He doesn't reply. That's when she finds him passed out in front of the open refrigerator, not breathing. A carton of milk--a symbol of nurture and childhood--lies spilled on the floor next to him.

The interaction of the adults in Kon's life with the animated show underscores how much he is being overshadowed, ignored, and exploited. This entire pilot has been produced without his knowledge, and watching it is more important than getting him medical help. Whenever anyone does try to help him, they are either shouted down or have ulterior motives. The adults bicker about how they are being portrayed in a cartoon that presents his agent as the protagonist and reduces Kon to an oversimplified caricature of himself, while ignoring not only how the show exploits their boy but also how bad his condition is getting right in front of them. No one is really looking out for him. His opinions are all but absent. He's so used to presenting an image of invulnerability that he can't accept assistance or the fact that he's not well. Heroes don't get sick!

But he's not a blandly heroic cartoon character like his animated counterpart; in-universe he is a very real, very young boy whose physical needs are going overlooked while his caretakers argue about the merits of a cartoon show designed to profit off his public image, which treats him as an object.

And it takes his completely passing out to get anyone's serious attention.

[skjdfbbcnxkslsljsgcbxnksla-deac]

controversial opinion, but characters are so much more interesting when you are able to forget about shipping them for a moment and actually appreciate their unrelated personal plot/arc. if the most interesting thing you can think of about a character is the ship you like them with, then I don't think you actually like that character very much

[starcrossedconverse]

just a reminder, if you claim to be a comics fan but your excuse for never having read comics is because you can't afford to get into them or think pirating is morally wrong, then you don't have to be in a comics space. you don't have to engage with fans of the source material. you don't have to argue over canon events that you haven't read, and you don't have to hate characters based off fan behavior. you don't have to put yourself into situations where you feel defensive about not reading the source material, and then lash out at those suggesting that you should. because we are discussing comics. in a comics space. and you are not a comics fan.

[starcrossedconverse]

LMAO that did NOT take long

[saturnbabyblue]

[vanillaxoshi]

imagine a new young justice but its called young just us instead

[snakesinsocks2005]

Batman Beyond. B.B. bb. My bbs... my babies...

[artomaly]

I liked the new Backrooms movie