in 2021 i had the honour of a poem being published in short vine journal run by students at the university of cincinnati. you can find a free digital copy of the entire publication here
(bleeding from my wound) notice anythiung differebt about me ;)
PSA to fan creators who don't have a lot of regular contact with children: They are almost always bigger than you think. A 1-year-old baby may already be walking. A toddler is likely already hip-high. A 10-year-old may already be taller than at least one of their parents. A 14/15 year old may already have reached their adult height.
the levels of deranged evan has reached just to not be gaslit on this cursed ass tv world... not on prime time baby
“It’s impossible to figure out comic book timelines” - people who are not me and who I cannot relate to. I have crafted this, a coherent, canon-compliant timeline. A quick preface:
This is all for the Post-Crisis (i.e. New Earth/1986-2011/Pre-Flashpoint/pre-reboot/“preboot”/best) continuity.
My main principle here is diegetic evidence from comics >>>> evidence from supplemental materiel (like calendars, timelines from secret files & origins, character encyclopedias, etc)
Second principle is that mentions of ages, birthdays > mentions of time passed > non-birthday month placements (e.g. the start of school years).
We’re going to go youngest to oldest, because it actually makes more sense that way.
Damian is 10-11 at the end of preboot.
Damian’s birthday is not given in Post-Crisis.
Damian is 10 when he becomes Robin, per Batman and Robin vol 1 #1. He is still 10 in Batgirl vol 3 #17. That is the last time I am aware of where his age is said, so he may or may not have turned 11 in the short remaining time before Flashpoint.
Tim is about 7 years older than Damian. He is 17 at the end of preboot.
Tim’s birthday is July 19th (Robin #116).
Tim turned 16 in R#116, before the One Year Later event (where, as you may guess, a year passed), meaning he is at least 17 after OYL. Tim is still 17 in Red Robin #25. Damian becomes Robins between these events, meaning Tim is 17 when Damian is 10, and they are ~7 years apart.
RR#25 is the penultimate issue of Red Robin. Coupled with the significance of an 18th birthday and the fact that we never see one, there is virtually no chance that Tim turned 18 before Flashpoint. He’s 17.
Stephanie is <1 year older than Tim. Steph is 18 at the end of preboot.
Stephanie’s birthday is not given in Post-Crisis.
Stephanie was 15 when she first became Spoiler, per her recounting the story in Secret Origins 80-Page Giant. She is still 15 in Robin #59. In between these events, Tim is stated as 14 in Robin #43. Therefore, Stephanie is older. Stephanie “died” when she is 16, per the last story in Batman Allies Secret Files and Origins, between R#116 and OYL, meaning Tim was also 16. That makes her less than a year older.
She is also one grade above Tim, starting college in Batgirl vol 3 #1, shortly before it’s confirmed by Red Robin #17 that Tim (had he not dropped out) should be a senior in high school.
Stephanie starts college in Batgirl vol 3 #1, and we have every reason to believe she is starting at the “normal” time, making her 18. Since Tim is 17 at the end of Post-Crisis, and Steph is less than a year older, she can’t be any older than 18.
Jason is 1 year, 11 months, 3 days older than Tim. Jason is 19 at the end of preboot.
Jason’s birthday is on August 16th (Detective Comics #790).
No ambiguity here! Tim and Jason are exactly 702 days apart, unless Tim was born on or right after a leap year, making it 703. We know this because Jason’s 18th birthday is on August 16th in DC#790, which occurs after R#116 and Tim’s 16th birthday, but before OYL where Tim turns 17. This means Jason must have turned 18 when Tim was 16.
Jason’s age is never explicitly said after his return. But because his birthday comes after Tim’s, and Tim is still 17 at the end of preboot, we can be completely confident that Jason is still 19.
Cass is 6 months, 21 days older than Jason. Cass is 19-20 at the end of preboot.
Cassandra’s birthday is on January 26th (Batgirl vol 1 #33).
Cass turned 18 in Batgirl #37, shortly before both R#116 and DC#790, meaning before Tim turned 16 and Jason 18. This is well after No Man’s Land, so we can be certain Tim is long-since 15 (see below cut), and since her birthday is in January, we can also be certain Jason is long-since 17. This means Cass is less than a year older than Jason.
Cass’s age is also never said towards the end of preboot, but can be estimated via Jason (via Tim). Knowing Jason is 19 and Cass is 7 months older, we know she must be 19-20 at the end of preboot. However, since her birthday is before Tim’s, we cannot say if it’s passed to be more specific than that.
Dick is probably 6 years, 4 months, 26 days older than Jason (5 years, 10 months, 6 days older than Cass). He is 25-26 at the end of preboot.
Dick’s birthday is complicated, but imo the best bet for Post-Crisis is March 20th (see below cut).
Dick’s age is extremely messy, but here goes. Dick is 19 when Bruce fires him (Batman #419) and Jason is at most 12 when Bruce finds him shortly after (see below). Dick turns 20 while Jason is Robin (Secret Origins vol 2 #13 and New Teen Titans vol 2 #18). Dick is at most 21 in Deathstroke vol 1 Annual #1, after Tim is introduced. This means Dick is 20-21 when Tim is introduced at 13. The ONLY possible way to make all those ages work is for Dick to be ~6.5 years older than Jason, ~8.5 years older than Tim.
Dick’s age is not really said after that, except the vague mention in Nightwing vol 2 #134 that the time around his 17th birthday was “almost ten years” ago. This fits with what his age should logically be based on the difference to Tim, and we can confidently put him at 25-26 at the end of preboot.
A detailed timeline, references, and explanations of what was included or had to be ignored under the cut:
Keep reading
I know I’ve featured this scene on the Nazi Punch of the Day, but this version seemed particularly timely given the ongoing attacks on education.
so the netflix show has already shown us two of dream's other aspects, kai'ckul and the king of cats, but one of my favourite things about the endless in the comics is that they have a different incarnation for every single species and culture that has ever experienced them, in this case, if your people dream, you have a personalised Dream
and the comics are also part of the dcu, which means there are a LOT of other species out there to dream
many of these screenshots were taken from one issue which involves a meeting in dream's head between all of his different incarnations, some are just from other places in the comic, but my personal favourites include:
l'zoril, dream god of the green martians
to fill out the superheroes requirement, kryptonian dream
fish dream
flower dream, and tree dream
femme dream, with just as much dedication to not wearing a shirt as her masculine counterpart
bird dream, insect dream, and robotic insect dream
two different kinds of cat person
these funky lil guys
whatever is going on here with the tentacle robot, the teen titans looking motherfucker, the dragon, and the guy in the witch hat (all equally dream of the endless)
a literal stone statue that speaks mostly in egyptian hieroglyphs
and then there's this guy
Btw if y'all DC fans want a transmasc character might I point you to one of their recent additions, Julien Jourdain (Circuit Breaker)
Goofy goth trans cowboy
“can mutuals dm you?” my mutuals can fire me from a cannon through a brick wall, looney tunes style. as long as we’re all having fun
Expanding upon the idea I put in the tags of this post on my main blog.
Viren saw the monstrous part of himself in Claudia when she killed to revive him, and abandoned her because of it. Mostly I think because he saw it as a hurt he was causing and ran away. The same way he emotionally abandoned Soren as a child because seeing his son reminded him of the hurt he caused for his family. He COULD HAVE been on a path to forgiving himself. I think his attempts to reconcile with Soren and apologize (however poorly managed) were brought on by the realization of what he’d done to Claudia.
And we see him let go of the shame he was feeling (writing out the events that occurred, burning the letter when he realized he couldn’t put that burden on Soren). But he does not see himself as worthy of another chance. He views himself as a monster, and he views Claudia as a monster. That’s the part of himself he left behind for her.
He also left behind the part of himself that we saw in his dark magic fever dreams. The younger version of himself that believed there is always hope, that there is always another path forward. That people can change. We see that reflected -
(oh hey mirrors/reflections as a symbol: Leola and the sea of the cast out reflecting the night sky, the reflection of the full moon in the water of the nexus when Rayla went to rescue her parents from the coins, Ethari seeing Rayla in the reflection of the sword when she’s a ghost, the reflection of Soren in his sword when he “kills” Viren ((mmm I love these Soren Rayla parallels)) also YALL I think Claudia’s gonna die like WHYS Soren alone in his reflection!)
in Soren’s character arc.
Harrow, Runaan, and Viren were all prepared to accept death as justice for their actions. They all knew they were guilty of continuing the cycle of violence. Harrow stopped being ashamed and felt remorse for the actions he took and their effects. We can see this in his letter to Callum. He has regrets, but he believes the justice he deserves is death, not forgiveness.
Viren is finally coming to terms with his guilt and shame when he writes his letter to Soren. And he never delivers it because he sees it for what it is. But that doesn’t mean he’s fully prepared to let go (he never tries to reconcile with Claudia and I’d have to watch it again because it’s hard to tell at that point if he’d even want to. That man really just threw her to the wolves). His death is his final cycle into violence. Falling back onto the crux of dark magic - even if it’s to save people - and the dark magic literally requiring him to die. He’s running away into what’s safe and comfortable instead of overcoming that fear and trying a different solution even if it would be harder. He could have left with Soren and found an alternative (this is a narrative, he made this choice for. a. reason). His life to save Soren’s was not the only option, it was his choice.
Runaan was ready to accept death until Claudia decided he’d be better used for information. Which ends with him trapped in a coin (very similar to the way Aaravos is trapped in the prison for eternity). He had an opportunity to overcome the violence and listen to Rayla and Callum about the egg. But he chooses the cycle of violence again. And it’s what consumes him in his limbo. And then having the second chance to overcome that violence and accepting it is what saves him.
This is getting rambley and it’s getting late, but like - do you see my vision? Do you see the parallels? The themes? And so on and so forth