There's ghosts at your heels and fairy tale worlds ahead. What do you do? Jump down the rabbit hole!
The Otherknown
Lorian Merriman
Chandra is a 12-year-old accidental time traveler with a reluctant new dad, who happens to be a member of a feared galactic crime syndicate.
Guilded Age
T Campbell, John Waltrip, Florence Machina
Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
2 Slices
RJ Morel
After a case of mistaken identity, will awkward Daisuke find help from excitable Mamo, or will his love life be thrown completely off track?
Countdown to Countdown
Velinxi
Iris Black is a self-proclaimed inventor with the curious ability to bring his drawings to life, and yearns to find a space where he can use his powers freely.
Paint the Town Red
Windy, Winter Jay Kiakas
Winona runs a werewolf shelter with partner in crime, Odile in the Gothic city of Merlot. One day they take in an injured vampire, and soon unravels many of the dark secrets of Merlot.
Mac Hall
Matt Boyd
The legendary early-aughts webcomic that inspired a wave of webcomic creators.
Dumbing of Age
David M Willis
Joyce has been homeschooled her entire life until now, when she's suddenly a freshman in college! Things don't go well.
Blindsprings
Kadi Fedoruk
Tamaura, wrested into a world 300 years in the future, must find a way to save the magic fading from her country.
Slightly Damned
Chu
Rhea Snaketail returns from the dead, befriending a Demon who falls in love with an Angel. The afterlife ain't what it used to be!
Cyanide & Happiness
Explosm
Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
Fantomestein
Beka Duke
Desperate for companionship, Frankenstein's Monster pretends to be the Opera Ghost. A grave mistake.
Beeserker
TJ Cordes
This comic is about a robot powered by bees, but it's also about the kind of people who think filling a robot with bees is a good idea, and why they're wrong.
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I watching a show called “Mayday: Air Disasters” and in one of the episodes the NSTB investigators discovered that the plane lost cabin pressure, and that the checklist for troubleshooting that alarm DID NOT have Step 1: PUT ON OXYGEN MASK. It was down somewhere near the bottom of the list, so as the flight crew worked the list, hypoxia set in, their vision got blurry, their thoughts got fuzzy, and they passed out, leading to the everyone on board dying long before the plane crashed. (the masks that fall down from the ceiling in the passenger area are only good for about 10 minutes; they’re only designed to let people breathe long enough for the pilots to get the plane below 10,000 feet.)
Check lists now have PUT ON MASK as Step 1. I’m still shocked that the O2 alarm is just a chime that can easily be confused with something else. There should be an audible “Oxygen” or “Depressuring” soundbite that plays. Also, from watching this show, there should also be an audible “Autopilot OFF” sound. Too many crashes because pilots didn’t know the autopilot had failed or the cabin had depressurized.
Chimes are allways problematic. There is a LOT of things that can cause an accident so you can’t put airhorns on everything. Plus, when things start going bad, there is often not just one chime going off so you can have less relevant suppressing more important ones that would more properly clue the pilots in to what is actually happening.
Of course as many accidents showed, you can put AIRHORNS on some chime and if pilots are in enough stress they will still ignore it as secondary to dealing with the primary problem.
PS. I find that @MentourPilot on YT pretty much blows TV shows about accidents out of the water by being more serious and explaining how from pilot’s PoV something happened, plus focusing on lessons learned rather than the bombast of dissaster.
Mayday is pretty good. It’s on… I wanna say… Science Channel? Although I’ve seen repeats on the Weather channel and somewhere else. It’s an hour show that simulates what they believe happened in the cockpit, even if they don’t have a cockpit voice recorder (CVR) to go off of. My example above, the plane flew some time after everyone was dead, so all the CVR had was the sound of the alarms. But they go over mechanical faults or pilot error (such as that caused by what you were talking about, such as being fixated on a smaller problem and unconsciously ignoring the fatal one) And then they usually end with a “lessons learned” and what changes occurred because of the accident.
Yep yep yep. In some of the episodes they’ve mentioned pilots confusing one chime with another or misinterpreting a generic “master caution” light and trying to troubleshoot an issue that’s not related to what caused the alarm. (also, now in the days of Multi-Function Displays and other video screens in the cockpit, there’s no excuse for a generic “master caution” unless a separate screen has a more explicit explanation)
When you run out of “Mayday” episodes i recommend a podcast called “Black Box Down”. No pictures but the talking is pretty in-depth geeky if that’s your thing.
Yeah I’m iffy about people who do that in the same kinda way they also go “everyone’s on the spectrum”. It just ain’t true!!
But for reals Amber and Dorothy defs have displayed autistic tendencies on more than one occasion, (Amber being DID, which often overlaps with other neurodivergences, also Willis himself being more than halfway through an autism diagnosis at this point).
I agree with you. Neurotypical people experience overwhelm and burnout. Neurotypical people enjoy writing and stories and have hobbies that they’re passionate about. None of these things are indicative of autism.
The way Amber went on about her fixation in her last panel, unrelated to what Dorothy said in the penultimate panel, not exactly a neurotypical thing to do, just sayin’ :p
This. I’m almost certain that Amber’s ND in some other way than the DID we’ve seen so far. Joyce is confirmed autistic, which means many of her family might be. Dina and her family are clearly also autistic. Becky and Walky I peg for ADHD. Dorothy and Jennifer are particularly keyed into being what people expect them to be and are both cracking under that strain; I think the comic has already strongly hinted that Jennifer is likely undiagnosed autistic, but Dorothy could ‘simply’ be burning out as an NT. However every single NT character in this work is drawn from an ND lens.
Amber has DID, is cripplingly socially shy, has an extreme fatigue reaction to overwhelming light, sound or social environment, and was demonstrated to have grown to mask better over the years. In a conversation with Dina where they’re comparing similarities regarding struggles to fit in around NT adults.
especially when the people talking about said characters are themselves neurodivergent. there’s no shame in finding joy in similar traits and potential shared experience
Yes! Nothing about this is autism-specific, but relateable content is actually really important for people. Let ND people headcanon shit, it hurts no one.
It’s amusing in a tragic way that she believes she needs to have a perfectly “clean record” in order to become president. Considering the people who have managed to become presidents so far.
Then again, it’s also pretty sad that getting counseling or therapy would be considered as a threat to such a “clean record”…
Sadly, it’s a fair and reasonable perspective when you consider the number of previous FEMALE presidents, especially when you look at the opposition they had.
If she’s sued, even in civil court, depending on the case, her psychiatric records, even her psychiatrist’s notes, can be subpoenaed for evidence. Unless sealed afterward, any one can pay the fees to have them revealed to the public.
Is it okay though? I feel like the scenario leads to a lot of questionable motives on Bruce’s part considering he adopted Dick at like ten years old. Would this count as grooming even if Dick made the first move? Amber need to put some content warnings on her slash fic.
It varies depending on continuity, though it’s basically always weird to me. It’s just fanfic, granted, if she’s into the weirdness, that’s her jam.
Like, I remember at least one comic where Dick was basically already an adult by the time Bruce presented adoption papers to Dick, though he was certainly Dick’s guardian that whole time and had waited to even suggest adoption out of concern it’d be taken as disrespectful to Dick’s birth parents’ memory for Dick, though he need not have worried.
Uhh, I guess the minimum weirdness scenario is Batman Forever, kinda.
I mean certain things are implicit in the pairing tag itself and the words “canon compliant” (or at least not tagging to indicate it’s an AU where they meet as adults.) No one’s searching the Bruce Wayne/Dick Grayson tag and NOT recognizing the inherent *gestures* everything there.
To be clear, that one squicks me out, but it does have decades of history and infamously subtexty panels behind it, for good or ill. And given Amber and AG’s whole thing was in being Batman specifically (AG primarily, but they were working together a lot closer before things really started,) I can see Amber using him as a functional self-insert and thinking Dick’s hot or something to that effect.
I mean I don’t really want to litigate how the characters feel about it or how Amber is meant to be read here or if Willis the writer agrees or disagrees but punchline or no, if you write Batman and Robin doing it you’re messing around with it because you like the idea of murky boundaries and consent. Given who Amber is, that’s exactly in character for her to do, and besides — they’re not real people, who gives a shit if you make them do fucky stuff.
I didn’t say it wasn’t in character or an irredeemable thought crime, just that it’s a fucked up dynamic and “they’re not related so it’s technically okay” is a transparently flimsy justification for why it’s not in a way which is clearly the punchline.
I mean Batman and Robin as a ship is older than Kirk/Spock. Seduction of the Innocent came out in the 50s. It’s really not that messed up. People are just becoming ultra paranoid about anything that could be slightly considered grooming, even in fiction. It’s silly.
IMO I think Amber is just deflecting away from handling Dorothy’s crisis because she’s not equipped to deal with it by talking about her fanfic. Sort of like how pre-emo Ethan would derail uncomfortable issues by talking about Deathazaurus.
Just adding: the part where Batman adopted Robin itself read as queercoding at the time, because adopting your romantic partner was the only way to get any kind of rights. It was the only way your partner could inherit from you or visit you in the hospital. How quickly we forget, honestly.
Also the actor who played Robin in the 60s shipped it.
The idea of Robin being a literal child adopted AS a literal child is pretty new. Most portrayals of the character for a long time were Robin as a young adult and Batman as a slightly older adult, and didn’t specify when they’d met.
Glad to see people are having this argument. I scrolled down to the comments specifically to see it.
Not to participate in it. God no. I’m in the batfam fanfic community so I have seen many, many iterations of this argument and do not want to participate. But I’m glad to see the debate continues.
Oh Dorothy… even if that was somehow possible, you’d be miserable in the end. It isn’t impossible to help people, but you’ll find it easier if you are in a good place first.
As for helping everyone, that just isn’t feasible. There are plenty of people who will be miserable by their own choices, and no amount of help will fix that. Start by helping yourself, then the people directly around you. Take small steps, it helps you not be overburdened, and end up falling.
Could it be that since she was a child she already had that posture?
I highly doubt that she promised that to herself, I dare say that she met someone who encouraged her to the point of making a promise to that important someone, a family member that she valued very much or a friend from a long time ago, perhaps, just Perhaps that is why she has held that being president is “the key” to helping everyone, but with everything that has happened so far, that is why things have abruptly faltered.
That’s right, she needs to help herself first and it’s obviously speaking too soon, but it’s possible that guy named Arnold influenced that.
Helping everyone doesn’t mean fixing them up perfectly, though. It just means making their lives objectively better, even if it’s just by a small amount.
Like, if you delay the climate change apocalypse by a day, I’d say that counts. It doesn’t mean a lot to every starfish you throw back in the ocean, but it meant something to that one.
being a people pleaser ends up getting you taken advantage of in some case as well, but otherwise dorothy can still help on a smaller scale, no one’s ever gonna turn down volunteer work after all even tho she’s more concerned abouth er current friend grop over strangers
What she said made her happy wasn’t making everyone’s life better, it was maintaining a belief that she could if she worked hard enough. And while that’s not a religious belief, it damages her in ways that religious beliefs damage people.
The promise of happiness, and if you’re not happy it’s because you’re not believing hard enough. An unrealistic goal, with consuming demands.
The fulfillment comes later.
She doesn’t know what makes her happy. Even if helping other people is part of that, she hasn’t distilled that out yet.
ngl i’d be perfectly happy getting like, 200 dollars or so , even if i have other issues at the time, 200 dollars wouldnt make something worse (unless it’s a case where it’s an issue of ppl borrowing money/gambling)
Oof, having been on both sides of this interaction, it sucks so hard. Needing help but having nobody around and seeing someone who needs help but knowing your emotional bandwidth is running dial-up are both so isolating in their own ways. Especially because it comes off as “Oh, so everyone has to listen you your problems, but you can’t listen to someone else’s?”
No, no we can’t. I try, I end up being both unintentionally callous and unhelpful because my empathy decided to shut off, and then you leave more upset. It’s best to go find someone more qualified to help.
Which could be what Amber’s doing, I’m not actually sure where else she has to go rn, I’ve forgotten whom her main support columns are at this moment. Though I also might be projecting a bit too much here; Amber seems more in the “vulnerability makes me uncomfortable” vein rather than the “I want to help but can’t” vein.
Amber is terrified of becoming like her father, but LITTLE DOES SHE KNOW she’s actually WORSE than her father already because she wrote a Batcest slashfic on ao3 once
Maybe you can make “a lot of people’s lives better” but I don’t know about “everyone”…but atleast it’s made clear her presidential aspirations was for the greater good first and foremost and not just seeking the highest achievement.
Though unfortunately it was unlikely that becoming the president would allow her to serve the greater good.
I honest to god, was thinking of drawing something with Joe being like…turned on/emberassed by Amber walking around in her underwear around the house during vacation since they’re like…stepbro and stepsis now but I decided against it cuz it felt too…Cliche anime setup.
Eh, they met in college so still not as bad as Bruce and Dick. That’s closer to if amber started hooking up with Richard.
(I do not care about step siblings if they met at mid-older teens plus, it’s the being raised together that makes it incesty and weird, not the legal status)
Haha yeah. That vibe of “this girl I found hot is now my sister cuz our parents are banging.” Is an interesting one to me. Cuz there’s nothing actually wrong with two similarly aged unrelated people dating. But its like complicated by the label of “siblings” that was thrust on them, through no action of their own.
Conveniently we didn’t see Joe putting the moves on Amber prior and I doubt Joe is her type. But it would still be a fun scenario to play with.
That used to be mine, i was like Dina for physics for a long time.
Now what mainly does it for me is figuring out how to do stuff in GameMaker, which also conveniently happens to be my job. Every time I plan out and code anything for a game, be it a menu with buttons, a goomba-like enemy for a platformer, a particle system, etc. it’s always really satisfying 🥰
I stopped getting Happiness a while ago, to the point where I was vining with King Haggard pretty hardcore for a while there. But I’m happy with Satisfied or Unbothered, in which case nostalgic old video games and my kids are what I disappear into when I need to escape my own mind. Oh, also the last unicorn. I re-watched it last weekend and was a sobbing pile of feels all day afterwards, but in a good way. I just really didn’t get as a kid how the whole thing is pretty relatable to midlife and raising kids, Molly Grue is my hero we stan a mfing Queen.
Honestly? It used to be sex. But that’s not really a good solution for all sorts of reasons. Also being on hrt crashed my libido. I used to write but that I kinda just stopped doing. Now it’s just spicy food and Palia.
Sorry, thank you. I sometimes forget to keep that part inside. Thanks for the supportive message. I’ve got a therapist and have been at this for 30+ years. I’ll be ok.
Oh Dorothy. Honey. Stop trying to make everyone happy. Make *yourself* happy first. And don’t lie to your therapist, tell them everything. Screw your political ambitions.
It was a bomb to drop on Walky. Even if he wasn’t dating Lucy telling a 18-19 year old. The happiest id been was when I was with you is a lot of pressure.
i’m sure she’s also into ‘degenerate weeb shit’ on top of the western fandom stuff as well (that said, stepsibling and parent stuff is also its own category, i can imagine it happening with ‘love’ with siblings versus guardians, but outside of movies or specific cases, i feel like unless i was already friends with somene, if we suddenly became step siblings we’d prolly infuriate each other depending on the personality as roommates or so versus crushing, unless it’s just ppl who are just stuck together and horny like roommates in quarantine but within teh realms of fanfics that’s fine versus amber pushing like ethan and asher together)
Also ABSOLUTELY dogshit ship. Like to the point where I’d say Bruce Timm’s weird obsession with Batman/Batgirl is more normal. Like he raised Dick. That’s just a weird and sus dynamic. There’s a million people you can ship in the Bat family and that’s like…the worst two. I’d argue Dick and Jason Todd is more above board than that.
Wouldn’t Bruce x Tim or Bruce x Damien be worse?
Yeah, he raised Dick from when he was 10 or so, but he was a ward, not a son (I think he officially adopted him after he was an adult).
But he did adopt Tim after Cap Boomerang killed his dad, and Damien is his blood son.
Not saying Bruce x Dick is a good ship.
I’m just wondering why it’s the worst dynamic.
I think I read Bruce and Dick as worse BECAUSE they’re like the OG. I think of Batman and Robin as a father-son duo. Damien is technically worse but I think of him as some horrible gremlin and I don’t think about Tim at all.
Honestly, the Bruce x Barbara is worse to me.
1. She her history with Dick (and some thing with Jason that I’ve only heard mention of.
2. His relationship with Jim Gordon.
3. They made it a canon thing in at least one form of media and possibly several.
That bothers me just slightly less than the Norman Osborne x Gwen Stacy thing.
Heh…raised dick
This dude needs to start going by Richard at some point bc “Dick Grayson” is fine but I can’t take him seriously with just his first name
Dick Grayson’s name is one of the funniest consequences of a long-running superhero franchise I’ve ever seen – it was completely normal in the 30s, and then by the time the modern meaning of “dick” became a thing, both the character and his name were just too cemented in comics canon to meaningfully change, and now all the writers can do is carry on pretending as if it’s still normal. Like, the only time anybody even had the courage to try and lampshade it was in the Lego: Batman movie, and that only just barely worked.
I think Dick works well for him because of all the characters in Batman I can see Dick having a good sense of humor about it. Plus he is kind of a ladies man so it’s oddly fitting.
The problem with trying to make everyone happy is that some people only derive happiness from perpetuating a system of persecution specifically designed to make others unhappy by depriving them of basic civil liberties.
Or, in more damning words, trying to make everyone happy is just centrism.
Useless, unproductive, ineffectual Centrism is sadly the only recourse for those of us who want to make everyone happy and only end up making everyone angry yup.
Who’s your biggest Batman ™ ship.
I wanna say Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn but like…with the Caveat that I mostly just like it in BTAS and similar comic runs. Lately both Harley and Ivy have just…lost some of their appeal to me and therefore the ship has as as well.
Oh also I like Steph and Cassie for no real reason. They just aesthetically look great together. Maybe with Tim if I want a fun little polycule, but even that just feels more like friends with benefits sorta way.
It’s the push to make them both antiheroes instead of evil lesbians in love, maybe?
In a similar boat. Pretty fond of Dick/Kori (Starfire) from watching Teen Titans as a kid, but that’s more of a Titans ship. Ditto for Barbara/Dinah being more Birds of Prey than Batfam. I do like SuperBats, I suppose. Not my favorite Superman ship but it gets the decades of subtexty comic panels/stories without the baggage of the ward situation. And I like Selina. Not sure I like her with Bruce, but of his Actual Love Interests she’s probably the one I’d buy quickest.
I think that’s part of it. Ivy in general has been watered down in a way I just don’t like very much. She’s sorta just become “Harley’s girlfriend”. Ivy’s always had this free agent, femme fatale vibe but now the two feel like they’re joined at the hip. I was a fan of Ivy before Harley and I honestly like them just as much separately as together.
The new Poison Ivy series by G. Willow Wilson is actually really good, and strives to fix this exact problem! If you’re tired of Ivy being reduced to ‘Harley’s girlfriend’, I highly recommend giving this series a try.
I’ve read it and while there’s stuff i like there’s still some stuff I don’t. It’s not quite what I want out of an Ivy series. But it’s a
Step in the right direction at least. Im still waiting for the issue where it “clicks” and I’m like. “This is what I want.”
To be honest maybe it’s cuz I prefer her in the antagonist role rather than the protagonist. Like a “she holds all the cards and we see how people react to or overcome her abilities. None of the “villains” of this run have really stuck out to me and the first storyline reads more like a tragedy unfolding slowly. I like seeing her headspace but its mostly in the service of a plot I find dull.
Dick and Kori, they’re cute and it’s very funny watching them be openly mega horny in other animated material. Bruce and Selina bc I’m a sap, still love ivy and Harley tho I’m still mad they did the cheating bisexual thing. On the note of that show, even though we barely see them Kiteman and Golden Glider. They’re so adorable individually and together, they gave her such a cute design. I love them so much, give them a show
This got me thinking about how Batman is actually really unique as a superhero franchise in that Batman never really had a ‘normal’ romantic interest. Like, Vicki Vale didn’t really last beyond the 60s as a consistently canon character, and Catwoman is so wrapped up in her own anti-hero/villain plotlines a lot of the time that her character never quite got cemented as Batman’s Romantic Interest ™ in the same way that, say, Lois Lane did for Superman, Mary Jane Watson for Spiderman. It’s made Batman a bit of a ‘confirmed bachelor’, in a way, which is probably a large part of what always attracted me to the franchise, even as a kid.
Anyway, my actual favorite ship in the franchise is probably Dick/Barbara, particularly as Nightwing/Oracle. They make for a nicely wholesome and mutually supportive power couple.
That’s true. Honestly kinda funny cuz Marvel keeps tearing Peter away from his loves and happiness because they think it makes him more relatable. And I’ve seen a lotta backlash from fans that their favorite superhero is mandated to get his heart ripped out every 5 years or so. But I never see that complaint with Batman. When his love life is in the shitter we’re mostly like “yeah that’s about right.”
Maybe its all in the branding. Spider-Man is “your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man”. He’d give you a swinging upside down high 5 on your way yo work. But Batman is the “Dark Knight”. Brooding on rooftops and disappearing mid-conversation. Being lonely just comes with the territory.
Also yeah I like nightwing and Oracle together. I think something about that just carries a “we’re not just kids with crushes anymore. We’re put together adults who love each other.”
I was, for a brief moment, happy that my OTP (PeterXFelicia) was the main pairing in Spiderman, despite everything else in that run sucking.
And then they broke up without any big fanfare. Just up and shot any interest I had in the book.
Doctors can help a lot of people, but they don’t have the reach to help or hurt the millions of people that a US president can and inevitably will with a good deal of their decisions. Everything from vaccine distribution to infrastructure funding to giving weapons to Ukraine just to bring up the latest president.
Making everyones lives better is both a huge goal and an incredibly vague goal. I’m not surprised it stopped working to make her feel better . I get the impression that her increased micromanaging was an attempt to get immediate happiness in making things better but that ended up causing overbearing behavior or in walkys case for her to regret her previous help. Dorothy needs to find another thing that makes her happy that doesn’t involve being team mom .
I’m pretty sure Amber had another personal trick, but I don’t think dissociating and fighting on top of moving vehicles is the solution to all of life’s problems.
Making everyone’s lives better is a good goal, but I hope Dorothy realizes soon (if she hasn’t already) that becoming president isn’t a good way to do that. Sadly, the current US political system is designed to only make things better for the wealthy, regardless of who’s in power.
There probably isn’t a better way to do it though. Even if you can’t accomplish as much as President as in childish dreams, it’s probably more than by any other route.
Me if I ever see Tony Hawk: Hey you’re Tony Hawk the famous skateboarder. That’s right I recognise you. Won’t be able to get any content out of this will you, you piece of shit
How to read all 28 issues of my Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane run on Marvel Unlimited:
1: The first four issues were published as the miniseries "Mary Jane."
www.marvel.com/comics/serie...
today in #9chickweedlane i learned we have to be shown children learning and relearning what sex is, for Reasons, even though they already clearly know and have prepared nuanced questions about it!
also that Gran must hate, if she's still alive, how Old Juliette is the same but with gray hair
one of my favorite things is when a commenter explodes WHEN DO THESE CHARACTERS GET THERAPY but directed towards a character who canonically has a regular therapist
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btw if you're one of those rando bluesky weirdos who doesn't know me but sees me in the wild being sarcastic and don't know i'm being sarcastic because you haven't taken like 30 seconds to, like, maybe look at my user profile or something, keep walking, you're not going to score internet points here
Here's an entertaining cite at the bottom of the first page
Josh Gerstein@joshgerstein.bsky.social ⋅ 3d
JUST IN: Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan moves to dismiss federal criminal case against her for allegedly helping immigrant hide from ICE. Her lawyers say she's protected by official acts & judicial immunity and 10th Amendment. Doc: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Where did Hollywood go so wrong? I thought movies were supposed to be an escape from reality, a chance to put your worries aside and not have to think about any underlying ideas or concepts. Well, not anymore.
theonion.com/you-can...
It's not a new argument, of course, but Chesterton dismissed it effectively in 1908.
"You will hear everlastingly... this argument that the rich man cannot be bribed. The fact is, of course, that the rich man is bribed; he has been bribed already. That is why he is a rich man."
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com ⋅ 3d
Hawley dismisses Trump lining his pockets with his memecoin: "Listen, I think nobody believes that Donald Trump can be bought. I mean, what does Donald Trump need more money for?"
preternia @preternia.com ⋅ 2d
Josh Gerstein @joshgerstein.bsky.social ⋅ 3d
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com ⋅ 3d
Pavel
@spavel.bsky.social ⋅ 12d
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PROTIP: put on your OWN oxygen mask first
Well I had a comment ready to go but it was basically this but less clever, so…
MASTER TIP: Put your head between your knees and kiss your ass goodbye!
JUSTTHE TIP: Nnnnnightwing
I watching a show called “Mayday: Air Disasters” and in one of the episodes the NSTB investigators discovered that the plane lost cabin pressure, and that the checklist for troubleshooting that alarm DID NOT have Step 1: PUT ON OXYGEN MASK. It was down somewhere near the bottom of the list, so as the flight crew worked the list, hypoxia set in, their vision got blurry, their thoughts got fuzzy, and they passed out, leading to the everyone on board dying long before the plane crashed. (the masks that fall down from the ceiling in the passenger area are only good for about 10 minutes; they’re only designed to let people breathe long enough for the pilots to get the plane below 10,000 feet.)
Check lists now have PUT ON MASK as Step 1. I’m still shocked that the O2 alarm is just a chime that can easily be confused with something else. There should be an audible “Oxygen” or “Depressuring” soundbite that plays. Also, from watching this show, there should also be an audible “Autopilot OFF” sound. Too many crashes because pilots didn’t know the autopilot had failed or the cabin had depressurized.
Chimes are allways problematic. There is a LOT of things that can cause an accident so you can’t put airhorns on everything. Plus, when things start going bad, there is often not just one chime going off so you can have less relevant suppressing more important ones that would more properly clue the pilots in to what is actually happening.
Of course as many accidents showed, you can put AIRHORNS on some chime and if pilots are in enough stress they will still ignore it as secondary to dealing with the primary problem.
PS. I find that @MentourPilot on YT pretty much blows TV shows about accidents out of the water by being more serious and explaining how from pilot’s PoV something happened, plus focusing on lessons learned rather than the bombast of dissaster.
Mayday is pretty good. It’s on… I wanna say… Science Channel? Although I’ve seen repeats on the Weather channel and somewhere else. It’s an hour show that simulates what they believe happened in the cockpit, even if they don’t have a cockpit voice recorder (CVR) to go off of. My example above, the plane flew some time after everyone was dead, so all the CVR had was the sound of the alarms. But they go over mechanical faults or pilot error (such as that caused by what you were talking about, such as being fixated on a smaller problem and unconsciously ignoring the fatal one) And then they usually end with a “lessons learned” and what changes occurred because of the accident.
They should’ve had Majel Barrett record these lines. Maybe then people would pay attention to them.
*doot doooot* “Warning. Loss of cabin pressure. Oxygen mask deployment in seven seconds.”
Of course the entire passenger cabin should go to red alert, complete with lighting and klaxons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbLb–P4MbA
Yep yep yep. In some of the episodes they’ve mentioned pilots confusing one chime with another or misinterpreting a generic “master caution” light and trying to troubleshoot an issue that’s not related to what caused the alarm. (also, now in the days of Multi-Function Displays and other video screens in the cockpit, there’s no excuse for a generic “master caution” unless a separate screen has a more explicit explanation)
“Warning. Warp core breach a lot sooner than you think.”
When you run out of “Mayday” episodes i recommend a podcast called “Black Box Down”. No pictures but the talking is pretty in-depth geeky if that’s your thing.
put on your own batman mask before you help strap on your homie’s nightwing mask…
Not everyone has a batman mask.
I mean, I have one somewhere, but I would never find it in time.
Amber: Did somebody say strap on?
Excellent advice.
Also, don’t listen to Raidah(sp).
This whole strip is an autism mood for reals
If you don’t mind me asking: How so?
Amber displaying hyperfixation in her Batman x Nightwing fic, Dorothy on the verge of autistic meltdown 🥺
I’m reminded of the people who go “haha I’m so OCD, I have to organize my DVDs alphabetically.”
Yeah I’m iffy about people who do that in the same kinda way they also go “everyone’s on the spectrum”. It just ain’t true!!
But for reals Amber and Dorothy defs have displayed autistic tendencies on more than one occasion, (Amber being DID, which often overlaps with other neurodivergences, also Willis himself being more than halfway through an autism diagnosis at this point).
I agree with you. Neurotypical people experience overwhelm and burnout. Neurotypical people enjoy writing and stories and have hobbies that they’re passionate about. None of these things are indicative of autism.
The way Amber went on about her fixation in her last panel, unrelated to what Dorothy said in the penultimate panel, not exactly a neurotypical thing to do, just sayin’ :p
This. I’m almost certain that Amber’s ND in some other way than the DID we’ve seen so far. Joyce is confirmed autistic, which means many of her family might be. Dina and her family are clearly also autistic. Becky and Walky I peg for ADHD. Dorothy and Jennifer are particularly keyed into being what people expect them to be and are both cracking under that strain; I think the comic has already strongly hinted that Jennifer is likely undiagnosed autistic, but Dorothy could ‘simply’ be burning out as an NT. However every single NT character in this work is drawn from an ND lens.
Amber has DID, is cripplingly socially shy, has an extreme fatigue reaction to overwhelming light, sound or social environment, and was demonstrated to have grown to mask better over the years. In a conversation with Dina where they’re comparing similarities regarding struggles to fit in around NT adults.
I feel like self-diagnosing as ND is very different than finding relatable ND-associated traits in fictional characters
especially when the people talking about said characters are themselves neurodivergent. there’s no shame in finding joy in similar traits and potential shared experience
Yes! Nothing about this is autism-specific, but relateable content is actually really important for people. Let ND people headcanon shit, it hurts no one.
Settle for a few people, honestly. That’s better than most of us ever manage.
Would Batman every surrender to that logic? Nay!!!
usually it’s reserved for besties/spouses/partners but i can see the appeal of community work atl east
ok we know dorothy has seen a counselor before and talked about her feelings, this seems like something they should address
We also know she intentionally hid things from her counselor so as to not hurt her presidential bid.
right, forgot about that. dorothyyyyy!!!!!
It’s amusing in a tragic way that she believes she needs to have a perfectly “clean record” in order to become president. Considering the people who have managed to become presidents so far.
Then again, it’s also pretty sad that getting counseling or therapy would be considered as a threat to such a “clean record”…
I’m reminded of John Fetterman’s experience with getting treatment for depression
Sadly, it’s a fair and reasonable perspective when you consider the number of previous FEMALE presidents, especially when you look at the opposition they had.
Yeah, but she’s a woman. The rules are different.
If she’s sued, even in civil court, depending on the case, her psychiatric records, even her psychiatrist’s notes, can be subpoenaed for evidence. Unless sealed afterward, any one can pay the fees to have them revealed to the public.
before or after the conversation on Transformers sex?
after the last counselor she did say something like ‘trauma is grist for the mill’ so prolly a diff counselor
Is it okay though? I feel like the scenario leads to a lot of questionable motives on Bruce’s part considering he adopted Dick at like ten years old. Would this count as grooming even if Dick made the first move? Amber need to put some content warnings on her slash fic.
I think in Amber’s story, Nightwing put the moves on Batman. Not the other way around, though it is still a bit questionable.
I mean Sirksome stated that as the scenario, yes.
It varies depending on continuity, though it’s basically always weird to me. It’s just fanfic, granted, if she’s into the weirdness, that’s her jam.
Like, I remember at least one comic where Dick was basically already an adult by the time Bruce presented adoption papers to Dick, though he was certainly Dick’s guardian that whole time and had waited to even suggest adoption out of concern it’d be taken as disrespectful to Dick’s birth parents’ memory for Dick, though he need not have worried.
Uhh, I guess the minimum weirdness scenario is Batman Forever, kinda.
I’m with Patrick Willems on this one. They should have just gone ahead and had them gay for each other in Batman Forever.
I mean certain things are implicit in the pairing tag itself and the words “canon compliant” (or at least not tagging to indicate it’s an AU where they meet as adults.) No one’s searching the Bruce Wayne/Dick Grayson tag and NOT recognizing the inherent *gestures* everything there.
To be clear, that one squicks me out, but it does have decades of history and infamously subtexty panels behind it, for good or ill. And given Amber and AG’s whole thing was in being Batman specifically (AG primarily, but they were working together a lot closer before things really started,) I can see Amber using him as a functional self-insert and thinking Dick’s hot or something to that effect.
Dick *does* canonically have the hottest ass in the DC universe.
Poison Ivy, looking traumatized: “I am never using sex pollen on the Bat and his sidekick ever again mother of SHIT…”
Harley Quinn, sitting in a lounge chair in the corner reading the paper: “Oh yea hun I’ve been on AO3 i could’ve toldja that…”
Joker, silently putting on a trench coat and sunglasses. ..
Gonna go out and flash police officers while fully clothed.
“They fucked EVERYONE. Me, each other, the joker, half the rogue’s gallery, the ones who escaped it were already out of town”
“The police are pressing charges, they know who batman is, there is genetic evidence all over town”
What you are describing — the “is this wrong” from someone with power and authority over another — is literally the appeal of such a story.
That it’s a fucked up dynamic and “they aren’t blood relatives” being a flimsy excuse seems like the point of the joke
I mean I don’t really want to litigate how the characters feel about it or how Amber is meant to be read here or if Willis the writer agrees or disagrees but punchline or no, if you write Batman and Robin doing it you’re messing around with it because you like the idea of murky boundaries and consent. Given who Amber is, that’s exactly in character for her to do, and besides — they’re not real people, who gives a shit if you make them do fucky stuff.
I didn’t say it wasn’t in character or an irredeemable thought crime, just that it’s a fucked up dynamic and “they’re not related so it’s technically okay” is a transparently flimsy justification for why it’s not in a way which is clearly the punchline.
I mean Batman and Robin as a ship is older than Kirk/Spock. Seduction of the Innocent came out in the 50s. It’s really not that messed up. People are just becoming ultra paranoid about anything that could be slightly considered grooming, even in fiction. It’s silly.
IMO I think Amber is just deflecting away from handling Dorothy’s crisis because she’s not equipped to deal with it by talking about her fanfic. Sort of like how pre-emo Ethan would derail uncomfortable issues by talking about Deathazaurus.
Just adding: the part where Batman adopted Robin itself read as queercoding at the time, because adopting your romantic partner was the only way to get any kind of rights. It was the only way your partner could inherit from you or visit you in the hospital. How quickly we forget, honestly.
Also the actor who played Robin in the 60s shipped it.
The idea of Robin being a literal child adopted AS a literal child is pretty new. Most portrayals of the character for a long time were Robin as a young adult and Batman as a slightly older adult, and didn’t specify when they’d met.
I mean the real secret is it’s a story and they’re not real people so she can write whatever the fuck she wants
Glad to see people are having this argument. I scrolled down to the comments specifically to see it.
Not to participate in it. God no. I’m in the batfam fanfic community so I have seen many, many iterations of this argument and do not want to participate. But I’m glad to see the debate continues.
“Fandom. Fandom never changes.”
/perlman
I see now that leaving was the right choice
Getting advice on dealing with anxiety from Amber is like getting diction lessons from Tommy Wiseau.
That seems ok, in the test after the lesson you’re sure to get a high mark.
Ahahaha. What a reference, PirateTawnee.
Amazing
You win.
*chef’s kiss*
Oh Dorothy… even if that was somehow possible, you’d be miserable in the end. It isn’t impossible to help people, but you’ll find it easier if you are in a good place first.
As for helping everyone, that just isn’t feasible. There are plenty of people who will be miserable by their own choices, and no amount of help will fix that. Start by helping yourself, then the people directly around you. Take small steps, it helps you not be overburdened, and end up falling.
Could it be that since she was a child she already had that posture?
I highly doubt that she promised that to herself, I dare say that she met someone who encouraged her to the point of making a promise to that important someone, a family member that she valued very much or a friend from a long time ago, perhaps, just Perhaps that is why she has held that being president is “the key” to helping everyone, but with everything that has happened so far, that is why things have abruptly faltered.
That’s right, she needs to help herself first and it’s obviously speaking too soon, but it’s possible that guy named Arnold influenced that.
Litsen bro: if you work hard, plan out everything, and have an iron will: you can too can BE Batman.
And also help people or something.
Helping everyone doesn’t mean fixing them up perfectly, though. It just means making their lives objectively better, even if it’s just by a small amount.
Like, if you delay the climate change apocalypse by a day, I’d say that counts. It doesn’t mean a lot to every starfish you throw back in the ocean, but it meant something to that one.
being a people pleaser ends up getting you taken advantage of in some case as well, but otherwise dorothy can still help on a smaller scale, no one’s ever gonna turn down volunteer work after all even tho she’s more concerned abouth er current friend grop over strangers
What she said made her happy wasn’t making everyone’s life better, it was maintaining a belief that she could if she worked hard enough. And while that’s not a religious belief, it damages her in ways that religious beliefs damage people.
The promise of happiness, and if you’re not happy it’s because you’re not believing hard enough. An unrealistic goal, with consuming demands.
The fulfillment comes later.
She doesn’t know what makes her happy. Even if helping other people is part of that, she hasn’t distilled that out yet.
OK, so who thinks those red spots on Dorothy are freckles and whose chips are on hives?
My nickel’s on hives.
They’re probably freckles, given they are also present in the DoA porn within which Dorothy is featured (can confirm)
Ah. The voice of canon!
I’m guessing freckles, since we haven’t seen Dorothy scratching, or act like it is bothering her.
True, true. Maybe she’s just used to them, though. Maybe she uses Benadryl as a combination antihistamine and sedative.
Acne. I like the idea that more freckles in media are acne and it’s just impossible for you to distinguish.
Oh, yeah! Exactly! Like all those spots on the nose of the protagonist in “Assassin Roommate”? Totally blackheads!
Case in point…
https://www.eatyourlipstick.com/assassin-roommate/comic-142
well, she does canonically have freckles, but i wouldn’t be surprised if that are a also broke out into hives on top
Strategic ambiguity!
She’s always had those: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-9-comic/01-flyin-to-the-red/punchingame/
Ooh, great flashback! (Which my phone tries to autocorrect to “fleshback.” Which also works.)
Flyin to the Red is one of my favorite story arcs of DOA.
“Ah forgive you.”
“I’m – I’m sorry.”
“Ah know.”
Better is easy.
Perfect is hard.
Indeed
What’s that apohorism? “Perfect is the enemy of Good”? Dorothy needs to learn to settle for “good enough”.
Anything worth doing, is worth doing poorly.
ngl i’d be perfectly happy getting like, 200 dollars or so , even if i have other issues at the time, 200 dollars wouldnt make something worse (unless it’s a case where it’s an issue of ppl borrowing money/gambling)
Oof, having been on both sides of this interaction, it sucks so hard. Needing help but having nobody around and seeing someone who needs help but knowing your emotional bandwidth is running dial-up are both so isolating in their own ways. Especially because it comes off as “Oh, so everyone has to listen you your problems, but you can’t listen to someone else’s?”
No, no we can’t. I try, I end up being both unintentionally callous and unhelpful because my empathy decided to shut off, and then you leave more upset. It’s best to go find someone more qualified to help.
Which could be what Amber’s doing, I’m not actually sure where else she has to go rn, I’ve forgotten whom her main support columns are at this moment. Though I also might be projecting a bit too much here; Amber seems more in the “vulnerability makes me uncomfortable” vein rather than the “I want to help but can’t” vein.
Even in dial up, there’s 56k and 1200baud. Meanwhile I’m over here using TCP/IP over carrier pigeons learning semaphore.
Someone implemented IPoAC?
Amber that is the least okay thing you’ve ever done
Amber is terrified of becoming like her father, but LITTLE DOES SHE KNOW she’s actually WORSE than her father already because she wrote a Batcest slashfic on ao3 once
Maybe you can make “a lot of people’s lives better” but I don’t know about “everyone”…but atleast it’s made clear her presidential aspirations was for the greater good first and foremost and not just seeking the highest achievement.
Though unfortunately it was unlikely that becoming the president would allow her to serve the greater good.
If AmberxJoe ever becomes a thing that would make that extra awkward in hindsight.
Amber and Joe are already weirded out by the idea of being step-siblings. I seriously doubt they will ever hook-up.
I honest to god, was thinking of drawing something with Joe being like…turned on/emberassed by Amber walking around in her underwear around the house during vacation since they’re like…stepbro and stepsis now but I decided against it cuz it felt too…Cliche anime setup.
unless y’all would wanna see that.
I’d like to see it.
Well then you’re just setting yourself up for Stacy having a “oops stepson I’m stuck in the washer” moment, right?
It’s a cliche for a reason.
“What are you doing, step-Joe?”
Megamilkshirtcoughcough
feels like step-incest is done to death
All the taboo with none of the repercussions.
need more sexy tow-truck drivers
Woah. Necrophelia is a whole other ball of wax. Dull pasty waxy skin, still lifeless eyes, the eternal stillness of their unmoving chest… step-bro.
Eh, they met in college so still not as bad as Bruce and Dick. That’s closer to if amber started hooking up with Richard.
(I do not care about step siblings if they met at mid-older teens plus, it’s the being raised together that makes it incesty and weird, not the legal status)
Haha yeah. That vibe of “this girl I found hot is now my sister cuz our parents are banging.” Is an interesting one to me. Cuz there’s nothing actually wrong with two similarly aged unrelated people dating. But its like complicated by the label of “siblings” that was thrust on them, through no action of their own.
Conveniently we didn’t see Joe putting the moves on Amber prior and I doubt Joe is her type. But it would still be a fun scenario to play with.
If it ain’t too early for a game…
Amber says her trick for when she’s having trouble is to remember what makes her happiest and double down on it.
What would be this thing for you?
Reading.
Sleeping.
Attempting to figure out how things work.
That used to be mine, i was like Dina for physics for a long time.
Now what mainly does it for me is figuring out how to do stuff in GameMaker, which also conveniently happens to be my job. Every time I plan out and code anything for a game, be it a menu with buttons, a goomba-like enemy for a platformer, a particle system, etc. it’s always really satisfying 🥰
Though I should have used Conan’s answer: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women!
Not that the quote is canonical (or Conanical). It’s just from the movie.
Maintaining the belief that someday, if i work hard enough, I could make everyone’s lives better
My girlfriend smiling.
Awww!
I stopped getting Happiness a while ago, to the point where I was vining with King Haggard pretty hardcore for a while there. But I’m happy with Satisfied or Unbothered, in which case nostalgic old video games and my kids are what I disappear into when I need to escape my own mind. Oh, also the last unicorn. I re-watched it last weekend and was a sobbing pile of feels all day afterwards, but in a good way. I just really didn’t get as a kid how the whole thing is pretty relatable to midlife and raising kids, Molly Grue is my hero we stan a mfing Queen.
Playing piano. Not for an audience, but in public anyway.
Laura plays “No such thing as superman” on the hacked hotel lobby piano:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj7o0d5tla4
Depending on the day and the depths of escapism needed: craft projects, or cuddling up with a soft blanket to watch adorable baby animal videos.
Honestly? It used to be sex. But that’s not really a good solution for all sorts of reasons. Also being on hrt crashed my libido. I used to write but that I kinda just stopped doing. Now it’s just spicy food and Palia.
Practicing methods of auto-termination.
Wow. Really? I’m sorry to hear that. Even practice can be very dangerous.
Have you tried talking to The Samaritans? They are very good listeners.
https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/
Also, the people on BUS can be very good listeners, even if they don’t allow su notes on the BBS.
https://buslist.org/phpBB/index.php
Sometimes BUS has a long response time, but they also have a list of other ways to connect with a caring ear or eye:
https://buslist.org/
I hope you are OK.
Sorry, thank you. I sometimes forget to keep that part inside. Thanks for the supportive message. I’ve got a therapist and have been at this for 30+ years. I’ll be ok.
You can make everyone else’s lives better. But what is the limit to ‘everyone’?
Also, as other’s have said, you should focus on you first.
Dotty you can make everyone happy you’re not a taco, but maybe you can make some folks happy so buy Amber and Dina a taco.
Guys. Amber’s thighs are kinda killing me just a little bit.
I see what you mean
🫠
In Emperor Palpatine’s Voice: Do it.
You’re not alone.
She does have them.
EVERYONE HAS THIGHS
-Rokudou no Onnatachi.
All thighs are equal, but some are more equal than others.
Thighs:
Who needs them?
We all have them
They’re just like us
What is this, a celebrity speedraw from memory?
You know what’s in thighs?
Femurs.
Oh Dorothy. Honey. Stop trying to make everyone happy. Make *yourself* happy first. And don’t lie to your therapist, tell them everything. Screw your political ambitions.
She’s acting like horny fanfic wouldn’t make everyone’s life better
I honestly thought she was going to say “Walky”.
They would be a bomb to drop on Amber right now
It was a bomb to drop on Walky. Even if he wasn’t dating Lucy telling a 18-19 year old. The happiest id been was when I was with you is a lot of pressure.
No Amber, it is not okay, that’s the kind of bullshit that leads to garbage like Usagi Drop.
i’m sure she’s also into ‘degenerate weeb shit’ on top of the western fandom stuff as well (that said, stepsibling and parent stuff is also its own category, i can imagine it happening with ‘love’ with siblings versus guardians, but outside of movies or specific cases, i feel like unless i was already friends with somene, if we suddenly became step siblings we’d prolly infuriate each other depending on the personality as roommates or so versus crushing, unless it’s just ppl who are just stuck together and horny like roommates in quarantine but within teh realms of fanfics that’s fine versus amber pushing like ethan and asher together)
Also ABSOLUTELY dogshit ship. Like to the point where I’d say Bruce Timm’s weird obsession with Batman/Batgirl is more normal. Like he raised Dick. That’s just a weird and sus dynamic. There’s a million people you can ship in the Bat family and that’s like…the worst two. I’d argue Dick and Jason Todd is more above board than that.
Grooming is gross confirmed.
Wouldn’t Bruce x Tim or Bruce x Damien be worse?
Yeah, he raised Dick from when he was 10 or so, but he was a ward, not a son (I think he officially adopted him after he was an adult).
But he did adopt Tim after Cap Boomerang killed his dad, and Damien is his blood son.
Not saying Bruce x Dick is a good ship.
I’m just wondering why it’s the worst dynamic.
I think I read Bruce and Dick as worse BECAUSE they’re like the OG. I think of Batman and Robin as a father-son duo. Damien is technically worse but I think of him as some horrible gremlin and I don’t think about Tim at all.
*surprised lol*
You don’t think of Tim at all? I see you’re one of the writers at DC
Damien is a wonderful little gremlin. He’s my favorite
Also Damien’s usually baby like idk if he’s ever been written as over 15 so like. Even worse there too
That’s exactly what I said on Patreon last night.
Except that the Batman and Batgirl pairing is equally messed up to me.
Not less
Honestly, the Bruce x Barbara is worse to me.
1. She her history with Dick (and some thing with Jason that I’ve only heard mention of.
2. His relationship with Jim Gordon.
3. They made it a canon thing in at least one form of media and possibly several.
That bothers me just slightly less than the Norman Osborne x Gwen Stacy thing.
stop shipping batman with his surrogate children and start shipping him with his true soulmate, Commissioner Gordon
That would lead to him discovering Commissioner Gordon’s secret identity and so will never happen.
Commissioner Gorden and Alfred however …
Gordfred OT3
Look, Batman is demonstratedly into keeping the mask on. Gordon’s secret is safe.
Its the oldest crackship of all tho, since Seduction of the Innocent
Heh…raised dick
This dude needs to start going by Richard at some point bc “Dick Grayson” is fine but I can’t take him seriously with just his first name
Dick Grayson’s name is one of the funniest consequences of a long-running superhero franchise I’ve ever seen – it was completely normal in the 30s, and then by the time the modern meaning of “dick” became a thing, both the character and his name were just too cemented in comics canon to meaningfully change, and now all the writers can do is carry on pretending as if it’s still normal. Like, the only time anybody even had the courage to try and lampshade it was in the Lego: Batman movie, and that only just barely worked.
I think Dick works well for him because of all the characters in Batman I can see Dick having a good sense of humor about it. Plus he is kind of a ladies man so it’s oddly fitting.
The problem with trying to make everyone happy is that some people only derive happiness from perpetuating a system of persecution specifically designed to make others unhappy by depriving them of basic civil liberties.
Or, in more damning words, trying to make everyone happy is just centrism.
Useless, unproductive, ineffectual Centrism is sadly the only recourse for those of us who want to make everyone happy and only end up making everyone angry yup.
Who’s your biggest Batman ™ ship.
I wanna say Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn but like…with the Caveat that I mostly just like it in BTAS and similar comic runs. Lately both Harley and Ivy have just…lost some of their appeal to me and therefore the ship has as as well.
Oh also I like Steph and Cassie for no real reason. They just aesthetically look great together. Maybe with Tim if I want a fun little polycule, but even that just feels more like friends with benefits sorta way.
It’s the push to make them both antiheroes instead of evil lesbians in love, maybe?
In a similar boat. Pretty fond of Dick/Kori (Starfire) from watching Teen Titans as a kid, but that’s more of a Titans ship. Ditto for Barbara/Dinah being more Birds of Prey than Batfam. I do like SuperBats, I suppose. Not my favorite Superman ship but it gets the decades of subtexty comic panels/stories without the baggage of the ward situation. And I like Selina. Not sure I like her with Bruce, but of his Actual Love Interests she’s probably the one I’d buy quickest.
I think that’s part of it. Ivy in general has been watered down in a way I just don’t like very much. She’s sorta just become “Harley’s girlfriend”. Ivy’s always had this free agent, femme fatale vibe but now the two feel like they’re joined at the hip. I was a fan of Ivy before Harley and I honestly like them just as much separately as together.
The new Poison Ivy series by G. Willow Wilson is actually really good, and strives to fix this exact problem! If you’re tired of Ivy being reduced to ‘Harley’s girlfriend’, I highly recommend giving this series a try.
I’ve read it and while there’s stuff i like there’s still some stuff I don’t. It’s not quite what I want out of an Ivy series. But it’s a
Step in the right direction at least. Im still waiting for the issue where it “clicks” and I’m like. “This is what I want.”
To be honest maybe it’s cuz I prefer her in the antagonist role rather than the protagonist. Like a “she holds all the cards and we see how people react to or overcome her abilities. None of the “villains” of this run have really stuck out to me and the first storyline reads more like a tragedy unfolding slowly. I like seeing her headspace but its mostly in the service of a plot I find dull.
Dick and Starfire, just because they’re both hot as hell and a good source of inspiration.
That time Robin fell for that sentient chunk of Clayface was pretty sweet/tragic/horrifying
HEARTBREAKING.
Oddly enough, Batman: the White Knight (and the subsequent series) had made me a pretty big fan of Batman with Harley.
Dick and Kori, they’re cute and it’s very funny watching them be openly mega horny in other animated material. Bruce and Selina bc I’m a sap, still love ivy and Harley tho I’m still mad they did the cheating bisexual thing. On the note of that show, even though we barely see them Kiteman and Golden Glider. They’re so adorable individually and together, they gave her such a cute design. I love them so much, give them a show
Also everyone x therapy
Dick and Harley, at least their initial interactions in Batman and Harley Quinn, the 2017 cartoon. Until Bruce walked in on them….
Yknow what? Fair. Yknow as bad as a rap as that movie gets there’s more stuff in it i like than dislike.
This got me thinking about how Batman is actually really unique as a superhero franchise in that Batman never really had a ‘normal’ romantic interest. Like, Vicki Vale didn’t really last beyond the 60s as a consistently canon character, and Catwoman is so wrapped up in her own anti-hero/villain plotlines a lot of the time that her character never quite got cemented as Batman’s Romantic Interest ™ in the same way that, say, Lois Lane did for Superman, Mary Jane Watson for Spiderman. It’s made Batman a bit of a ‘confirmed bachelor’, in a way, which is probably a large part of what always attracted me to the franchise, even as a kid.
Anyway, my actual favorite ship in the franchise is probably Dick/Barbara, particularly as Nightwing/Oracle. They make for a nicely wholesome and mutually supportive power couple.
That’s true. Honestly kinda funny cuz Marvel keeps tearing Peter away from his loves and happiness because they think it makes him more relatable. And I’ve seen a lotta backlash from fans that their favorite superhero is mandated to get his heart ripped out every 5 years or so. But I never see that complaint with Batman. When his love life is in the shitter we’re mostly like “yeah that’s about right.”
Maybe its all in the branding. Spider-Man is “your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man”. He’d give you a swinging upside down high 5 on your way yo work. But Batman is the “Dark Knight”. Brooding on rooftops and disappearing mid-conversation. Being lonely just comes with the territory.
Also yeah I like nightwing and Oracle together. I think something about that just carries a “we’re not just kids with crushes anymore. We’re put together adults who love each other.”
I was, for a brief moment, happy that my OTP (PeterXFelicia) was the main pairing in Spiderman, despite everything else in that run sucking.
And then they broke up without any big fanfare. Just up and shot any interest I had in the book.
Me and my friend often joke that Spider-man’s greatest villain is Marvel themselves.
i actually cant quite tell which of them is oversharing more in this scenario, hmm
All your base
All your base
Your base
All your base
Are belong to us
Anyone else think Jason Todd comes off as a jilted lover in Under the Red Hood?
No
Yes
Have you considered a career as a clown, Pagliacci?
I underestimated her. I thought for sure the president thing was just about aiming as high as she possibly could.
and even then i’d think a doctor would prolly ‘help’ /make more ppl’s lives better versus presidents , healthcare charge aside
Doctors can help a lot of people, but they don’t have the reach to help or hurt the millions of people that a US president can and inevitably will with a good deal of their decisions. Everything from vaccine distribution to infrastructure funding to giving weapons to Ukraine just to bring up the latest president.
oh! It’s Sarah and Dina’s birthday today.
Happy Birthday Sarah and Dina
Awe happy birthday Sarah and Dina!!!
🥳 🪅
Aw kid. Just change “everyone” to “more people than you could otherwise”. It’s not that much of a step down, but it’s actually manageable.
She could help pass climate legislation or something.
But I’m pretty sure she’s not including supervillains in “everyone”
Making everyones lives better is both a huge goal and an incredibly vague goal. I’m not surprised it stopped working to make her feel better . I get the impression that her increased micromanaging was an attempt to get immediate happiness in making things better but that ended up causing overbearing behavior or in walkys case for her to regret her previous help. Dorothy needs to find another thing that makes her happy that doesn’t involve being team mom .
technically ok… the best kind of ok.
Reprising a comment thread from earlier,
Dem thighs-sss-zzz…
So this is Dawn of Wingstuff?
“was”
Oh Dorothy, you still can. I swear it.
And you don’t even have to work hard to do it:
“Don’t just do something! Sit there!”
We believe in you, Dorothy. You can learn from Robin to stop caring about anyone but yourself.
I don’t think your coping mechanisms will work for Dorothy, Amber, but hey, it’s Saturday, why not fuck around and find out?
I’m pretty sure Amber had another personal trick, but I don’t think dissociating and fighting on top of moving vehicles is the solution to all of life’s problems.
Making everyone’s lives better is a good goal, but I hope Dorothy realizes soon (if she hasn’t already) that becoming president isn’t a good way to do that. Sadly, the current US political system is designed to only make things better for the wealthy, regardless of who’s in power.
There probably isn’t a better way to do it though. Even if you can’t accomplish as much as President as in childish dreams, it’s probably more than by any other route.
she could blow up the sun
I’d argue a Senator or Judge is probably better. Presidents are limited to being the embodiment of their party’s values versus their own.
I’m starting to think they’re not gonna make out at all