I haven’t come to say I’m sorry
I stayed home yesterday and I'm home again today with this cold. It's just an endless onslaught of phlegm and misery (even with cold medicine), and I would rather not be at work for that. (I'm sure my co-workers would rather I weren't, either.) Plus, to add insult to injury, yesterday I got my period, four days early. Bah, I say. Bah. And also feh.
*
Two out of my three yuletide noms were accepted (Gotham Academy and We Are Robin), and the one that's left is the one I thought was a surefire okay, so that's good. I'm still fiddling with my requests - I will probably take off the ones that are only "I WANT THIS STORY" in favor of ones where I don't have such an overriding need for a particular story or type of story (e.g., all I want from Uprooted is Agnieszka/Kasia, so I will probably drop that one) - but I've got a third draft of the letter done. It helps that my likes/dislikes don't really change from year to year and most of it is applicable to whatever fandoms I end up requesting. Now I just need to see the final tag set to figure out what to offer to write.
eta: My third nom (Alif the Unseen) was approved! /eta
*
Speaking of comics, which we were obliquely up there, I finished Batman Eternal yesterday. I give it a strong recommendation, if you're willing to accommodate some weird new 52 characterization on occasion, some terrible cheesecakey art in some instances (Selina is the most common victim, but Barbara suffers from it too occasionally. My other issue with the art is Jason's fucking uglyass helmet. He has such a pretty face and we never get to see it; instead he looks like the fucking Red Skull all the time.), and an overly long, overly convoluted plot. There's a whole running subplot about Arkham that is just boring (I guess it set up a spinoff book I have no interest in reading) and it keeps Batwing from interacting with the rest of the Batfam in fun ways. (I also don't approve of Lucius Fox selling Bruce out! What the hell!?)
What this story does have is Stephanie Brown's first appearance in the new 52, as Spoiler, and while I was thrilled to see her, I do feel that her characterization was a bit bobbly. One of the overarching themes of this story is fathers and daughters (I know! it's as if they know me! too bad it wasn't as emotionally resonant as it could have been), which is why it's a great place to introduce her, but I didn't believe that she for one second would ride away when the city was burning down around her. Yes, given that she was on the run from hired killers for several months and was probably exhausted and at the end of her rope, I suppose you can make a case for it, but she spent all that time trying to stop her father's plans from coming to fruition. For her to walk away when that actually came to pass and people were in immediate need of help seemed really off to me.
Of course, it then let her have the awesome "I'm BATMAN" moment upon her return and her saving of Bruce, but I am very attached to the pre-reboot idea that Bruce (and Jason) is Vengeance, Dick (and Tim) is Justice, and Steph is Hope. (I guess given the overall arc of Robin: Son of Batman, which I also read the first couple of issues of this weekend, Damian is Atonement [and also Legacy]. Which is a hell of a thing for a 12yo boy to be.)
I'm also a little bitter about how easily/quickly Bruce accepted Harper into the family (if not the cave) but how he always gave Steph such a hard time pre-reboot.
I also feel like the father-daughter theme would have been strengthened by having Kate around a little more (why was she 'called in' to help at the end? Is she not a Gotham mainstay in the new 52?), because Kate and her dad's relationship is one of the things I loved about Batwoman, and then they had a falling out and it hurt, so that would have played nicely here.
But also this would have been 1000 percent more heartclenchy if Cass had been there. CASS. Because none of the father/daughter stuff resonated with Bruce in this, and since it's his story in the end (which, I guessed what the final-final twist would be and meh), that's unfortunate. Alfred's passed out half the time, so the Julia-Alfred stuff didn't come across as strongly as it could have because there wasn't a huge amount of interaction (and it doesn't really unpack the fact that he chose Bruce, his adopted son, over her, his bio daughter (from her POV since he says her mother wouldn't let him see her) even though she sort of comes to accept that he's doing important work with Batman), and Jim and Babs have a beautiful and loving relationship to act as a parallel for the others, but the strength of their relationship is never in doubt.
But if Cass were there, adopted daughter of the Bat, conflicted between his mentoring/father figure-ness, and David Cain's terrible parenting, that might have strengthened things. (There's also Selina and Rex - and I'm still not sure how I feel about Mob Boss Selina [though I guess they took Helena out of play by giving her Spyral, so someone had to do it] - and whoever that Joker's Daughter character was. My disinterest in the Joker cannot be textually rendered. They could have done some interesting paralleling with Vicki Vale and her editor, but they didn't, but she was pretty kickass in this, though I really wanted her to punch Jason Bard in the face. Asshole.)
Had this been pre-reboot, Julia could have been boots on the ground while Babs was doing the coordinating (and the BoP would also have been available), and Steph could have been the trusted ally while Harper was the new girl Tim was fascinated with (well, for Tim - I did enjoy Alfred being like, "Yes, he has problems talking to ladies.") who everyone grudgingly let help but didn't trust. Because I feel like wow, the reboot Babs is much, much younger and bubblier and feels like a teenager, which, you know, no. (Man, even without being her dad, Bruce managed to fuck her up with his inability to express admiration and emotion, because she's like, "He didn't choose me, so I'm never going to measure up!" while Jason is like, "She was always better than us Robins!" a sentiment with which I'm sure Dick would [secretly] agree.)
Otoh, I did really love Jason's adoration of her (THEY FINALLY GOT A REUNION AND IT WAS GOOD, even if it wasn't the way I really wanted it to be (AND A TEAMUP WITH BATWOMAN <333), and of course he has a crush (or more) on her, but I was glad to see he was smart enough to realize that it wasn't going to go anywhere (even if she appeared on at least one occasion to encourage him), because, as he says, he is not Dick. And then he rides off at the end with Roy and Kory. (I'm still "...?" about that choice overall in the reboot, but it was especially weird to see juxtaposed with him leaving/not leaving that message for Barbara at the end. Like, I don't think Jason intentionally single white females Dick (...except when he does? but that ended in tentacles and tears and it was also terribly written, so I try to pretend it never happened), but the narrative does it to him a lot (and I guess Bruce did it to him too, intentionally or not), and I feel for him. (I also thought that his characterization wobbled a little at times - since when is Gotham not enough for Jason? HIS WHOLE SHTICK IS THAT HE UNDERSTANDS GOTHAM BETTER THAN BRUCE. I HAVE A LOT OF ~FEELINGS ABOUT JASON OKAY. ANYWAY.)
I found it interesting here that Dick's absence looms most heavily between Jason and Barbara, not between Jason and Tim (and there's no mention of Damian at all, even when Bruce storms into Ra's sick room to threaten him - I guess Ra's hasn't stolen Damian's body at this point?), though Tim felt the most Timmish to me in the little I've seen of him in the reboot. Still needs to lose that feather-cape though. Sadly, Steph did not hit him with a brick for any reason.
I'm happy Alfred has a badass daughter and I enjoyed seeing her become an honorary member of the family and wouldn't mind her coming back for more adventures. I liked Harper but yeah, maybe things came a little too easily to her (or I could just be bitter about Steph, as mentioned above).
I knew pretty early on that it was going to have to be a Court of Owls/Lincoln March related thing at the bottom of it - who else would have that reach/power? - which is why I was pleasantly surprised when Arthur Brown was like, "IT WAS ME ALL ALONG!" because we saw him setting it up! And yet I still expected it to ultimately be someone else, so I was like, "well played, Arthur." And then it was someone else and I was disappointed again. Though I guess that plays into the other theme - Bruce and his false brothers. Both Tommy Elliott and Lincoln March are his doubles, the way Jason Bard doubles for Jim Gordon (and James Gordon Jr. is Jim's dark double).
Huh. While I do kind of spoil the final twist of the plot there, most of it is about Batfamily dynamics, so if you read for the plot, you probably don't know anything more about it now than you did when you started reading. *hands* I HAVE A LOT OF BATFEELINGS OKAY. I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS.
I also have to say, if you're not into Batman but you like found family stuff, you would probably enjoy a lot of these big Batman event stories, because for a grimdark loner he sure built himself a family of competent badasses. And I guess the thing I really like is that they feel like a family. They fight like families fight, but the stories aren't necessarily built on the heroes fighting each other. *side-eyes both Dawn of Justice and Civil War*
Anyway, Cass is supposed to show up for Batman and Robin Eternal so I will probably end up reading that when it's complete (the first issues aren't even out yet).
*
Ugh I guess I should drag myself out of the house to get coffee and maybe more tissues.
*
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/784116.html.
people have commented there.
*
Two out of my three yuletide noms were accepted (Gotham Academy and We Are Robin), and the one that's left is the one I thought was a surefire okay, so that's good. I'm still fiddling with my requests - I will probably take off the ones that are only "I WANT THIS STORY" in favor of ones where I don't have such an overriding need for a particular story or type of story (e.g., all I want from Uprooted is Agnieszka/Kasia, so I will probably drop that one) - but I've got a third draft of the letter done. It helps that my likes/dislikes don't really change from year to year and most of it is applicable to whatever fandoms I end up requesting. Now I just need to see the final tag set to figure out what to offer to write.
eta: My third nom (Alif the Unseen) was approved! /eta
*
Speaking of comics, which we were obliquely up there, I finished Batman Eternal yesterday. I give it a strong recommendation, if you're willing to accommodate some weird new 52 characterization on occasion, some terrible cheesecakey art in some instances (Selina is the most common victim, but Barbara suffers from it too occasionally. My other issue with the art is Jason's fucking uglyass helmet. He has such a pretty face and we never get to see it; instead he looks like the fucking Red Skull all the time.), and an overly long, overly convoluted plot. There's a whole running subplot about Arkham that is just boring (I guess it set up a spinoff book I have no interest in reading) and it keeps Batwing from interacting with the rest of the Batfam in fun ways. (I also don't approve of Lucius Fox selling Bruce out! What the hell!?)
What this story does have is Stephanie Brown's first appearance in the new 52, as Spoiler, and while I was thrilled to see her, I do feel that her characterization was a bit bobbly. One of the overarching themes of this story is fathers and daughters (I know! it's as if they know me! too bad it wasn't as emotionally resonant as it could have been), which is why it's a great place to introduce her, but I didn't believe that she for one second would ride away when the city was burning down around her. Yes, given that she was on the run from hired killers for several months and was probably exhausted and at the end of her rope, I suppose you can make a case for it, but she spent all that time trying to stop her father's plans from coming to fruition. For her to walk away when that actually came to pass and people were in immediate need of help seemed really off to me.
Of course, it then let her have the awesome "I'm BATMAN" moment upon her return and her saving of Bruce, but I am very attached to the pre-reboot idea that Bruce (and Jason) is Vengeance, Dick (and Tim) is Justice, and Steph is Hope. (I guess given the overall arc of Robin: Son of Batman, which I also read the first couple of issues of this weekend, Damian is Atonement [and also Legacy]. Which is a hell of a thing for a 12yo boy to be.)
I'm also a little bitter about how easily/quickly Bruce accepted Harper into the family (if not the cave) but how he always gave Steph such a hard time pre-reboot.
I also feel like the father-daughter theme would have been strengthened by having Kate around a little more (why was she 'called in' to help at the end? Is she not a Gotham mainstay in the new 52?), because Kate and her dad's relationship is one of the things I loved about Batwoman, and then they had a falling out and it hurt, so that would have played nicely here.
But also this would have been 1000 percent more heartclenchy if Cass had been there. CASS. Because none of the father/daughter stuff resonated with Bruce in this, and since it's his story in the end (which, I guessed what the final-final twist would be and meh), that's unfortunate. Alfred's passed out half the time, so the Julia-Alfred stuff didn't come across as strongly as it could have because there wasn't a huge amount of interaction (and it doesn't really unpack the fact that he chose Bruce, his adopted son, over her, his bio daughter (from her POV since he says her mother wouldn't let him see her) even though she sort of comes to accept that he's doing important work with Batman), and Jim and Babs have a beautiful and loving relationship to act as a parallel for the others, but the strength of their relationship is never in doubt.
But if Cass were there, adopted daughter of the Bat, conflicted between his mentoring/father figure-ness, and David Cain's terrible parenting, that might have strengthened things. (There's also Selina and Rex - and I'm still not sure how I feel about Mob Boss Selina [though I guess they took Helena out of play by giving her Spyral, so someone had to do it] - and whoever that Joker's Daughter character was. My disinterest in the Joker cannot be textually rendered. They could have done some interesting paralleling with Vicki Vale and her editor, but they didn't, but she was pretty kickass in this, though I really wanted her to punch Jason Bard in the face. Asshole.)
Had this been pre-reboot, Julia could have been boots on the ground while Babs was doing the coordinating (and the BoP would also have been available), and Steph could have been the trusted ally while Harper was the new girl Tim was fascinated with (well, for Tim - I did enjoy Alfred being like, "Yes, he has problems talking to ladies.") who everyone grudgingly let help but didn't trust. Because I feel like wow, the reboot Babs is much, much younger and bubblier and feels like a teenager, which, you know, no. (Man, even without being her dad, Bruce managed to fuck her up with his inability to express admiration and emotion, because she's like, "He didn't choose me, so I'm never going to measure up!" while Jason is like, "She was always better than us Robins!" a sentiment with which I'm sure Dick would [secretly] agree.)
Otoh, I did really love Jason's adoration of her (THEY FINALLY GOT A REUNION AND IT WAS GOOD, even if it wasn't the way I really wanted it to be (AND A TEAMUP WITH BATWOMAN <333), and of course he has a crush (or more) on her, but I was glad to see he was smart enough to realize that it wasn't going to go anywhere (even if she appeared on at least one occasion to encourage him), because, as he says, he is not Dick. And then he rides off at the end with Roy and Kory. (I'm still "...?" about that choice overall in the reboot, but it was especially weird to see juxtaposed with him leaving/not leaving that message for Barbara at the end. Like, I don't think Jason intentionally single white females Dick (...except when he does? but that ended in tentacles and tears and it was also terribly written, so I try to pretend it never happened), but the narrative does it to him a lot (and I guess Bruce did it to him too, intentionally or not), and I feel for him. (I also thought that his characterization wobbled a little at times - since when is Gotham not enough for Jason? HIS WHOLE SHTICK IS THAT HE UNDERSTANDS GOTHAM BETTER THAN BRUCE. I HAVE A LOT OF ~FEELINGS ABOUT JASON OKAY. ANYWAY.)
I found it interesting here that Dick's absence looms most heavily between Jason and Barbara, not between Jason and Tim (and there's no mention of Damian at all, even when Bruce storms into Ra's sick room to threaten him - I guess Ra's hasn't stolen Damian's body at this point?), though Tim felt the most Timmish to me in the little I've seen of him in the reboot. Still needs to lose that feather-cape though. Sadly, Steph did not hit him with a brick for any reason.
I'm happy Alfred has a badass daughter and I enjoyed seeing her become an honorary member of the family and wouldn't mind her coming back for more adventures. I liked Harper but yeah, maybe things came a little too easily to her (or I could just be bitter about Steph, as mentioned above).
I knew pretty early on that it was going to have to be a Court of Owls/Lincoln March related thing at the bottom of it - who else would have that reach/power? - which is why I was pleasantly surprised when Arthur Brown was like, "IT WAS ME ALL ALONG!" because we saw him setting it up! And yet I still expected it to ultimately be someone else, so I was like, "well played, Arthur." And then it was someone else and I was disappointed again. Though I guess that plays into the other theme - Bruce and his false brothers. Both Tommy Elliott and Lincoln March are his doubles, the way Jason Bard doubles for Jim Gordon (and James Gordon Jr. is Jim's dark double).
Huh. While I do kind of spoil the final twist of the plot there, most of it is about Batfamily dynamics, so if you read for the plot, you probably don't know anything more about it now than you did when you started reading. *hands* I HAVE A LOT OF BATFEELINGS OKAY. I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS.
I also have to say, if you're not into Batman but you like found family stuff, you would probably enjoy a lot of these big Batman event stories, because for a grimdark loner he sure built himself a family of competent badasses. And I guess the thing I really like is that they feel like a family. They fight like families fight, but the stories aren't necessarily built on the heroes fighting each other. *side-eyes both Dawn of Justice and Civil War*
Anyway, Cass is supposed to show up for Batman and Robin Eternal so I will probably end up reading that when it's complete (the first issues aren't even out yet).
*
Ugh I guess I should drag myself out of the house to get coffee and maybe more tissues.
*
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/784116.html.
people have commented there.