Anyway, Thinking About How Bruce’s Mom Tendencies Bleed Over Around The League.

saw this post and couldn't help myself. everyone point and laugh at him

thank you @theofficialdailyplanet

I adore Garth

donna troy // king by florence + the machine

conversation i had abt which characters have dimples led to this :>

i love talking about the fistfight in outsiders #16 but the aftermath of it in #17 is equally delicious:

something about how dick and roy are standing noticeably further apart from the rest of the team (and yes, it's mostly because they just finished beating the shit out of each other) but it's the focus on dick's eyes glittering... how we know roy was bloodied and hurt too but winick focuses so extensively dick and the blood on his face.

like... here's his wound, here's how he's bleeding, here's how he's managed to force roy to cut himself on all of dick's edges... and still... the injury is all dick's. he's managed to push away the one person who has irrevocably supported him, built him a life raft so he doesn't drown in his grief and he did it intentionally. he knew exactly what to say to get roy to throw the first punch.

and then we get this interaction with kory & roy on the rooftop... starting off with roy looking up at the sky with a very conscious decision to not show us the stars or the sky. i can't help but think this is a reference to roy & lian's conversation in secret files '03:

because throughout the fight in #16, dick and roy throw punches and words carelessly, while also cognizant of exactly what to say to make it hurt... but neither of them say donna's name. neither of them give voice to the spectre that haunts the entirety of this arc in outsiders. they can't... it's all just so unbearable.

so for winick to bring kory into this role— another person who loved donna just as much but who's also been called in solely to get a handle on dick & roy— and for her to say that the team is concerned about roy as he's brooding on a rooftop all feels so intentional. once upon a time, donna would've been the one to check up on roy but she's the reason why roy is so hurt... she's gone and nothing will make it okay... not even cutting himself on dick's edges. so here he stands, so obviously defensive, unable to look at kory, unable to handle her concern, all while the foreground is gritty and dark. no stars, no sky

and then you have this heartbreaking panel... roy literally and metaphorically avoiding kory's concern, the team's concern... both physically and emotionally grappling away from the dick of it all. sure, he tells her that dick will give his all— because having faith in dick grayson is such an innate part of being roy harper that there's really no other way to answer kory.

but that added jibe of "particularly to prove you all wrong" is such a wonderful insight into how fucked up he is right now. he has faith in dick's abilities but he doesn't have that same faith in dick's intentions with him. at this point, roy has tried everything— giving space, not giving space, setting up a whole team & HQ, providing dick with an outlet for his grief, trying to talk to dick, trying not to... and yet. dick brought up the worst moments of his life casually... like a weapon that was always in his arsenal:

and so roy walks away from it. but then we have the punchline— dick hidden in the shadows, eavesdropping on it all:

which is such a direct parallel to the panels in secret files that there's really no doubt in my mind that winick is asking us to think about all of this in conjunction:

the two instances are markedly different too. in secret files, dick's hidden in the shadows, yes, but we see him visibly crying whereas in #17, we see him shadowed entirely... only the white of his domino visible. because while dick blames himself for donna's death, what he did and said to roy in #17 is different in terms of his self-blame because he did the latter intentionally. he knew exactly what to say to get roy to hit him, and he hit back... almost like he wanted to hit first. he didn't walk away from any of it till kory and jade pulled them apart.

can you imagine how deep his self-loathing must be at this point? first, he gets ousted as leader by his own team... remember, this is a guy notoriously hyperaware of criticism from others because for dick, it's fulfilment of his own self-criticism and failures. and then he flung poison at roy with both his face and fists... a guy who has only been trying to help him, a guy who's grieving for donna just like him... his teammate, his childhood friend. and he was ready to burn it all down. nothing will be bearable again so what does it matter if he burns another bridge?

and the most heartbreaking part is... there's no resolution. dick doesn't apologize, roy doesn't ask him to.

the panels directly after pick up three weeks later where they're noticeably separated... working on separate tasks and sub-teams:

it's so deeply important to me for people to realize how high dick's self-loathing and self-hatred are at this point in canon... how much that level of vitriol directed towards himself (and others) hurts roy... a guy who has been through that kind of hatred directed inwards where it just cuts and cuts and cuts... and how dick chose to weaponize roy's lowest moment yet again (like new titans #101). and still, roy won't stop reaching out... he doesn't know how not to. donna would kill them both if she could see them now.

dickroy in this era are just "tell me what to do so you'll stop hurting me" over and over and over except it's moot because they both know the answer... and she's been dead for months.

Bruce is Clark’s “my senses/powers are going insane right now, please cover for me” person and no one in the Justice League has ever fully caught on because Bruce (as Batman) will just suddenly start picking a fight with Hal Jordan (who is always down to argue) and distract the entire League long enough for Clark to either leave or get a handle on whatever is bugging him.

Kind of thinking about how Wally resented Kyle taking over Hal's place and seeing it from the pov that Hal and other heroes doubted Wally's ability to fill Barry's shoes as did Wally himself. But here comes this brand new kid who didn't even grow up a superhero like Wally did and everyone suddenly trusts him to fill his Uncle Hal's shoes. And that was so evidently Wally and Ollie's problem someone else was wearing the ring and Hal wasn't there. But for Wally that level of reassurance he needed was given to Kyle in the form of acceptance everyone nodded and said okay cool new GL when they didn't do that for Wally as the Flash. And to dig the knife deeper Wally begged Hal said it's me your nephew listen to me and Hal tossed him aside. But Kyle who didn't know Hal at all managed to get through to him and talk him down. So I think Kyle was just a list of bad reminders for Wally and Ollie and they couldn't handle seeing him around. To add even more insult to injury Hal adored Kyle and clearly was never going to share a sentiment of bitterness about his replacement

so ive been reading the kyle rayner run

best part about comic tumblr is that it is the only fandom i’ve been a part of where no one says “i just love the fandom so much we’ve created such a safe space here 🥺” like i have never seen even one post about how much someone loves the dc fandom. this is not a happy family this is a cold war and im just glad we all know that