Shipposting: Catwoman/Batman AKA Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne
It's an appropriate day to do some shipposting, right?
Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne AKA Catwoman/Batman (most iterations of Batman, but most recently Gotham).
This ship probably goes back to Batman Returns for me, which I saw at an impressionable age, although every time I rewatch it, I am all the more aware of how much went over my head back then. However, I fully understood that the broken woman and the broken man who liked to dress up and use weapons at night got each other, even if they were only on the same side some of the time.
I’d seen the Batman TV show with its multiple takes on Catwoman before, and I think that having different actresses playing Catwoman distanced me from the character, but around the time of Batman Returns, the stylish and complementary Batman: the Animated Series was on telly, being way less camp than the live action show. Then there were the other, less good Batman movies with no Selina and the Catwoman movie with no Selina. Trust Selina Kyle to get herself out of a mess.
Batman got rebooted, years passed, I flirted with crossover pairings for Bruce, and then came The Dark Knight Rises, which is probably the weakest of the Nolanverse movies, except for Selina/Bruce which is awesome, with the ending suggesting a happy ending for our physically broken vigilante hero and mostly reformed catburglar. Hurrah!
And then came Gotham, and weeBatCat. Positing that Selina witnessed the death of the Waynes, and the street kid would grow up alongside the orphaned billionaire, I don’t know if the show expected Mazouz to be as good as he was, or for the kids’ relationship to be as touching as it was. Selina was street savvy, tough (but not as tough as she pretended). Bruce was trying so hard, while broken, a little younger than her. In the midst of a show of high camp with serious ammo, they grew into teenagers who tried to date, while all along, we knew his desire to find justice for his parents and ultimately city would lead to him becoming the Bat, while her struggles to stay alive, stay loyal to her friends and mentors even after her mother abandoned her would lead to her becoming the Cat.
I love this ship for the way their moral codes clash; the way they’re often a battle couple; how her directness cuts through his obfuscation; how they are both damaged people who can understand the other’s identity issues. In various iterations, this couple of the night have had quite a hold on me (thanks, Burton, Keaton, Pfeiffer, Nolan, Bale, Hathaway, Heller, Mazouz, Bicondova, Kane et al).
For a taster of Batman: The Animated Series, enjoy the Batman/Catwoman short Chase Me.
I seem to be lacking Batman Returns goodies to share, so let’s turn to The Dark Knight Rises. Close to you by gss42x is a fanvid that should remind you of or introduce you to all the reasons TDKR gives to ship Selina/Bruce.
And then there's fic. Couldn't wash the echoes out by purple_cube (rated R) A really good distillation of Selina and Bruce in this reunion ficlet.
Après Nous, La Déluge by Feather (lalietha) (post-movie) I loved how these drabbles worked as drabbles and as a sequence and tell so much in so little about Selina and Bruce, the adjustments they're going to have to make, are making, and why.
how the cat caught the bat by thefireplanet. This is far more light-hearted, more in the spirit of ‘Chase Me’, than the usual TDKR fare. (I've recced other, angstier BatCat fic for the film - see my memories or tags for that and my own takes on the ship in fic.)
And then, for the story of wee Batcat and all their feels in Gotham, there’s the fanvid
Wicked Game by DJC Productions (spoilers up til early season 4.)
Phew. If I do more shipposting, it's likely to be less extensive.
This entry was originally posted at https://shallowness.dreamwidth.org/370777.html.
Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne AKA Catwoman/Batman (most iterations of Batman, but most recently Gotham).
This ship probably goes back to Batman Returns for me, which I saw at an impressionable age, although every time I rewatch it, I am all the more aware of how much went over my head back then. However, I fully understood that the broken woman and the broken man who liked to dress up and use weapons at night got each other, even if they were only on the same side some of the time.
I’d seen the Batman TV show with its multiple takes on Catwoman before, and I think that having different actresses playing Catwoman distanced me from the character, but around the time of Batman Returns, the stylish and complementary Batman: the Animated Series was on telly, being way less camp than the live action show. Then there were the other, less good Batman movies with no Selina and the Catwoman movie with no Selina. Trust Selina Kyle to get herself out of a mess.
Batman got rebooted, years passed, I flirted with crossover pairings for Bruce, and then came The Dark Knight Rises, which is probably the weakest of the Nolanverse movies, except for Selina/Bruce which is awesome, with the ending suggesting a happy ending for our physically broken vigilante hero and mostly reformed catburglar. Hurrah!
And then came Gotham, and weeBatCat. Positing that Selina witnessed the death of the Waynes, and the street kid would grow up alongside the orphaned billionaire, I don’t know if the show expected Mazouz to be as good as he was, or for the kids’ relationship to be as touching as it was. Selina was street savvy, tough (but not as tough as she pretended). Bruce was trying so hard, while broken, a little younger than her. In the midst of a show of high camp with serious ammo, they grew into teenagers who tried to date, while all along, we knew his desire to find justice for his parents and ultimately city would lead to him becoming the Bat, while her struggles to stay alive, stay loyal to her friends and mentors even after her mother abandoned her would lead to her becoming the Cat.
I love this ship for the way their moral codes clash; the way they’re often a battle couple; how her directness cuts through his obfuscation; how they are both damaged people who can understand the other’s identity issues. In various iterations, this couple of the night have had quite a hold on me (thanks, Burton, Keaton, Pfeiffer, Nolan, Bale, Hathaway, Heller, Mazouz, Bicondova, Kane et al).
For a taster of Batman: The Animated Series, enjoy the Batman/Catwoman short Chase Me.
I seem to be lacking Batman Returns goodies to share, so let’s turn to The Dark Knight Rises. Close to you by gss42x is a fanvid that should remind you of or introduce you to all the reasons TDKR gives to ship Selina/Bruce.
And then there's fic. Couldn't wash the echoes out by purple_cube (rated R) A really good distillation of Selina and Bruce in this reunion ficlet.
Après Nous, La Déluge by Feather (lalietha) (post-movie) I loved how these drabbles worked as drabbles and as a sequence and tell so much in so little about Selina and Bruce, the adjustments they're going to have to make, are making, and why.
how the cat caught the bat by thefireplanet. This is far more light-hearted, more in the spirit of ‘Chase Me’, than the usual TDKR fare. (I've recced other, angstier BatCat fic for the film - see my memories or tags for that and my own takes on the ship in fic.)
And then, for the story of wee Batcat and all their feels in Gotham, there’s the fanvid
Wicked Game by DJC Productions (spoilers up til early season 4.)
Phew. If I do more shipposting, it's likely to be less extensive.
This entry was originally posted at https://shallowness.dreamwidth.org/370777.html.