#fancyfade

[bitterrobin]

B, J, Q, S for ask me, fandom edition!

B.) A pairing you initially didn't consider but someone changed your mind:

AZDICK!!!! it blipped on my radar very recently….and the Potential…it makes me curious. Unfortunately I haven’t fallen super off the deep end yet bc I actually need to re-read/finish Knightfall + the ensuing arcs. It was the great @dustorange that made me realize jpv and dick could have many issues for each other <3

J.) Name a fandom you didn't care/think about until you saw it all over tumblr:

hmm. Idk I was wary of the Six of Crows fandom on here after reading the book, and was planning on never interacting beyond the actual text. But then I stumbled across great fics and a couple blogs that I liked that changed my mind.

Q.) A ship you've abandoned and why:

For a hot second I shipped damijon. I know...wrote fics and everything (will never get published) and then I actually read more and realized that I actually kinda hate Supersons (comic). Learning about Chris Kent and actually getting into Superman, just kinda widened the rift between my former love for the ship and the realization that I was really only into it bc Jon is the only immediately obvious m/m ship Damian has in fandom (broadly) and notably, I was still in high school. Since then, my hype for any ship with Damian, period, has dwindled by a lot but I still prefer Chris, Colin & Nika over Jon. They are just friends to me, and even then, not a big fan of Jon being his only friend ever.

S.) Show us an example of your personal headcanon:

Random: Colin Wilkes's voice is a little deeper and a lot more gravelly/rough than a normal kid's due to the effects of the Venom. It make the transition into Abuse easier, so he can better pretend to be an adult, but it also is another one of many factors that play into his lack of enthusiasm for fostering/adoption. He thinks it's funny to imply that he's been smoking since he was a baby though (Damian falls for it once).

Another one is that Damian doesn't do well with overly-sugary/sweet foods, and they make him nauseous the first time he tries anything in Gotham. After he actually throws up once, he vows to never eat American desserts again. (This fails, mostly because ice cream is more palatable, and you can only refuse enough times before Dick finds it suspicious and asks if he's lactose intolerant. He is not, and Damian insists so. Alfred is still selective w his dairy for a while.)

Serious: Both Damian and Talia struggle with making/having friends because of Ras. Not because he forbade them, but the League environment just makes it hard and painful, and Ras doesn't understand how much that matters bc his friends are either long dead/intellectual pawns. Any friends Talia had died, went on to betray her, or simply aren't close to her anymore -- and she's went on to cut off any connection to the League she can. Damian has never made friends easily, but he has gotten along w other kids in training in a friendly competition-sense. Because of their experiences, Talia is maybe a little too insistent that Damian cling to any friends he makes in Gotham, and frowns upon the connections he still keeps w the League. Damian is, of course, very annoyed by this.

[zuzuzuko]

Comic run: hard to pick between blue beetle 2006, Batgirl 2000, and robin: son of batman

Single issues: batman chronicles #5 (oracle year one story) and batman chronicles #8 (talia story) are really good and I love them

I’ve never read blue beetle but Batgirl 2000 and Robin: Son of Batman are some of my faves too. Honestly they’re like the textbook definition of a Good Comic™️.

I think I’ve possibly read Batman chronicles #5 but I don’t really remember. It’s been a long time since I’ve ready any oracle stuff tbh. I know I haven’t read #8 so. I’ll put them on my to-read list tho~

[garthofshayeris]

i know you said you think 90s aquaman would be executed differently today - do you mind explaining how? I'm curious about it (and reading thru that series atm :P)

Absolutely! While I do think 90s Aquaman is the best overall run, there are plenty of cringe-y things that could be improved upon. I think a lot of people forget the context of the time something is published (unfortunately, the 90s are actually several decades behind us) and while that doesn't excuse anything, it does open up potential to see things that don't age very well.

I think the overall treatment of Mera and Dolphin would have been better. Dolphin is so clearly written as a Love Interest First, Character Second that it puts her in an unfair light. Mera as well is hardly in the series, which I don't think DC would want these days. If it was written today, I think DC would have kept Mera around and had Dolphin be the Other Woman/Love Triangle aspect. I hate love triangles, so I don't think this would be an improvement per say, but it is what I think would happen. They would probably develop both women as being opposites of each other though, which could be fun.

Speaking of, I think they would have spent more time on the Garth/Dolphin romance. It's clearly a "we don't know how to use Dolphin now" moment because she was not very developed outside of Orin's storyline. I'm still down for a Dolphin/Garth romance, of course, because I think DC is still too cowardly to let him fuck a mermaid. Maybe in another 30 years? But with Dolphin as a developed character, the romance could happen over time instead of over a few issues.

I think Koryak and all the interactions with his people would be handled with a lot more research and grace. Admittedly, I have never heard an Inuk individual's stance on this comic (if you know of anyone, please link me!!), but reading those issues now...much improvement to be made, for sure. I would love to have Koryak really promoted as an Indigenous hero and that could happen if they had the right writers/researchers on the team. His powers are cool and honestly, I really like Koryak. This also applies to Orm, who is also an Inuk in the series. Although his purple Ocean Master outfit is my favorite, I total redesign could be cool. My hot take is that Orm is better when he's a jealous human. Not that New52 Orm is bad (it's the only character change I LIKE in the recent series) but there's something SO funny about Aquaman having super petty villians.

Vol 5 has a huge cast of really interesting characters, but not all of them got to shine. I think it's more likely that several of them would have gotten mini series or limited solos if it was made today. There's so much opportunity to lean into different mythology as well from around the world.

I think the lore of Atlantis overall would not need much changing (it's nothing like the current run, but in my perfect world where this is happening, the current run is wiped out and restarted lol) BUT if they wanted to loop in some characters who came from anything post-Flashpoint, I think a lot of them would fit very well into the storyline. The downside is that the writers would need to use their noodle and actually adapt the characters, and Aquaman writers are not allowed to do that. I think DC takes them out back and shoots them if they try. That's why none of our faves are in the comics :/

so tl:dr...more respect for the female characters, more respect and research into cultures used in the story, and better focus on some of the minor characters. If only...

[paigeoforacle]

Ok I know you've got babs for your ask game already so let's go with Dinah

Thanks for the ask, Fade!

As with last time, I'm not gonna tag people since I tagged several already. But here we go!

1. How would I reboot the character? Honestly, not too much is needed. I like the idea that the Lance's are, like, the ultimate legacy heroes having gone back a couple centuries. Otherwise, keep her post crisis stuff and maybe ditch Ollie.

2. A single change from 52 on that I would keep? Honestly rhe ways her cry has been used. I've never been so turned on by someone bass screaming to stop a train.

3. 3 changes I do not like? The entirety of Cry for Justice, her being forced with Ollie (I think she can do better) and her seeming absence from current books.

4. Instead of tagging, I just wanted to say thanks again Fade for the ask.

[moonlayl]

25 more star wars asks 4, 15, 18

4. which character is the most misunderstood?

a lot of characters seem to be misunderstood by fandom in my opinion, but I'm going to stick with Luke. I just think that in almost every discussion of him in fandom, his character is reduced to a simplified version of himself, or certain traits he has are completely erased or ignored. He's not just an oblivious ball of sunshine and kindness, nor does he eventually only become a calm collected no non-sense man in rotj either. He's a combination of a lot of those traits, and that's what makes him interesting to me. And he’s also not the type of character to never get angry, or frustrated, or depressed, and he certainly doesn’t always succeed in not losing control over those emotions. It’s the fact that he lives with them and still tries to do his best to help others (though sometimes he loses sight of that at least in legends, but still comes around) that makes him a good person and a hero. He became a person who throws himself at danger without a second thought to help ALL people, because he simply believes it’s the right thing to do, and doesn’t value his life over others. In rotj, he did almost lose control and fought Vader out of rage, and that almost cost him his soul. But then he realized and refused to continue on. And he has flaws. A LOT of them and he makes a lot of mistakes, but he still stays true at his core (at least so far in legends). I cannot stress enough how he’s not the all smiley sunshine angel, like this is a deeply tortured soul who has been through so much, but it’s the fact that he CAN look at the bright side, he CAN still smile, and he doesn’t let all his pain and sorrow stop him from fighting back or helping others, despite what he’s been through (what would make anyone else decide to stop, and reasonably so) that makes him a great character imo, at least when written right.   

15. what’s the funniest moment in star wars? 

That Han, Luke, Threepio, and Ewoks scene in return of the Jedi. It was funny and silly and not something you’d really expect in the final movie of a trilogy like this. Especially so close to the final battle, but that’s the thing about star was. It’s supposed to be fun and weird. Yeah it has important themes, and can be depressing af at times, but it’s also supposed to be fun, and lighthearted moments like this are important. Plus it gives us an insight on the characters as well. Like Han being so angry at Threepio, Threepio like always being his annoying but endearing prim and proper self, and Luke trying not to laugh at Han’s reactions like the little shit that he is (another thing some fans don’t seem to think Luke is, plus it kind of shows us his patience and fondness of droids) .

18. what’s your most unpopular star wars opinion? 

Anidala sucks (because of both characters) the relationship was ridiculous and didn’t work from the beginning, but a lot of the issues in this relationship actually contributed to the eventual downfall. Almost everything that bothers me about this ship actually seems to work pretty well with how and why both of these characters’ stories ended the way they did. Like the impulsive decisions they both made at a pretty awful time, especially given who they both were, really did play a role in how blind Padme was to certain things, and how obsessive Anakin became. It a no point seemed even remotely like a healthy relationship, but it also sadly makes sense for them to get together so quickly despite the red flags because of both the ways they grew up and the restrictions they both faced. I also disagree with the idea that Luke and Leia are just like their parents?

Another one would be: Legends does a lot of stuff better than Disney, but Disney has also done certain things that were much better than Legends.

Thank you so much so much for the ask! I enjoyed answering.

Star Wars Asks

[badsithnocookie]

reverse unpopular opinion: Satele shan, koth, malgus (hardmode don't kill me :P)

satele shan

i love jedi mom because she is flawed and complicated and human. she is a woman who struggles with her faith and what it demands of her and what she believes it demands of her, with her past and present trauma, with the fact that every decision she makes could have an outcome that will affect trillions of lives. which while an unpopular onion (and thus not really a reverse unpopular onion) is still a positive one. i think?

koth vortena

koth’s plan to destroy the gravestone rather than let it fall into the hands of vaylin-n-scorpio was well reasoned and thought out, and its only flaw was the narrative decision to not tell lana/the rest of the alliance command structure (although i really want to know how he managed to acquire and install the bombs without anyone noticing - but anyway). he adores that ship, but he is rational enough about it to know that it’s a game changer and the only true advantage that odessen has against the eternal fleet. it’s not just about the tech, though: there would be an enormous amount of intelligence that could be gathered from the ship and its systems about the alliance and its activities, which if it fell into vaylin’s hands would leave odessen wide open to attack. better to destroy one ship than risk losing literally everything they have built.

malgus

okay something positive about malgus well here goes nothing

i gotta hand it to bioware he is basically the perfect posterboy for the game for edgelords and empire fandom. he’s got all the callbacks to vader - the build, the breathing apparatus, the attire, the lightsaber - but few of the drawbacks. his lack of helmet means he’s got a recognisable face that can be used in merch and advertising. his lack of romantic entanglements in the game means that he’s a great cypher to project onto for all the incel sithaboos. he’s just ‘unconventional’ enough that he can be seen as bucking the empire’s authority even as he enforces it. and as a white guy it is basically guaranteed that someone somewhere will find him fuckable, making him a built in romance option if fanservice needs become dire.

this is as positive as i am willing to be about malgus. 🤷

[arabian-batboy]

Her book is good, but it doesn't really explain why she was accepted into the family so fast. Also unfortunately it's crossover galore. Crosses over with Bruce Wayne murderer and fugitive plotline and some wierd martial arts ninja plotline with Connor hawke. Has tie in issues with jokers last laugh and officer down. So yh it's a good book but sooooooo many crossovers and it wouldn't answer the question you want answered re: her first days in the batfam and they were so chill about her presence.

Well that’s disappointing, people don’t suddenly walk away from their old life for no reason on some random Monday’s evening , so I expected that we would see a backstory about Cassandra deciding that enough is enough and leaving her father and his teaching behind or at least seeing how she first met Barbara, I mean the book was 73 issues long? They could have answered some of these questions there.

After reading NML, her joining the Batfamily happened a lot faster than I thought, I imagined we would see her gradually changing and adaption to her new environment with other characters slowly letting their guard around her, but instead we had Bruce (one of the most cautious people in the world) being all “girl you’re hired, now lets go.”

[majuuorthrus]

That rabies tag you had (being legit afraid of it) reminded me that when I first heard about it i was so terrified of it I checked every corner of my room for bat's (the most common carrier in my state) before bed every day, no matte r how improbable it was that a bat snuck in the house. Then I would shut my door to keep any animals my family might have negligently left in the house out, of course

Bats are pretty much the only way rabies gets into the UK (to take a live non-human mammal out of or into the UK you need pretty stringent vaccinations or a lengthy quarantine) so I was worried about them.

Although most migratory bat species to the UK aren’t carriers of classic rabies, which helps reduce transmission risk, and you’re only at real risk if you handle bats.

(Non-rabies related bat fact: one of the UK’s bat species is actually just this one bat from a species that lives on the continent. This one singular bat just likes coming over to Sussex for some reason. Possibly a holiday.)