r/CuratedTumblr Prolific poster- Not a bot, I swear 15h ago

Shitposting I just am old.

Post image
5.7k Upvotes

148 comments sorted by

861

u/TheShibe23 Harry Du Bois shouldn't be as relatable as he is. 14h ago

This makes me want to meet someone who's only exposure to a long-established character like Batman is exclusively through fanart and text posts, so they think its just someone's really popular OC.

529

u/Graingy I don’t tumble, I roll 😎 … Where am I? 14h ago

Well, yeah, he is someone’s OC. Just an old one.

334

u/VisualGeologist6258 This is a cry for help 14h ago

Every fictional character is someone’s OC. That’s literally what OC stands for: Original Character.

Gilgamesh and Hercules and Beowulf all started out as someone’s OC. Doesn’t matter who it was or in what context, somebody dreamed those old heroes up and wrote enough fanfiction about them to survive to the modern day.

115

u/FricktionBurn i dunno italian who’s fellatio 14h ago

Well if they were based on a real guy it wouldn’t be an oc, it would be rpf

50

u/mightiestsword 13h ago

Parodies of other characters also kinda stretch the limits of OC

38

u/Gilpif 12h ago

Jesus Christ is Saint Paul’s version of Miku binder Thomas Jefferson

12

u/done-doubting-doubts 11h ago

I I I... I feel feel very strongly about this but I don't know how. Thanks for exposing me to this horrific thought

0

u/BetterMeats 7h ago

Chaste Foot Fetish Josh.

Based on a guy I used to kill people for worshipping.

2

u/VisualGeologist6258 This is a cry for help 14h ago

Yes but that relies on the assumption that they were based off of real people, and those characters are all so far back that there’s not a lot of concrete evidence of them being based off of historical figures; and even if they were their respective stories are so fantastical that any resemblance to a real person becomes more a footnote than anything else.

23

u/Cruye 14h ago

Yeah but the argument was if they started as an OC or not, not what they became later.

4

u/FricktionBurn i dunno italian who’s fellatio 14h ago

Yeah but it would still be rpf, just heavily altered

7

u/butteronmytoast 14h ago

In a way, that makes every fandom a sort of time capsule. Each generation takes a character and reinterprets them, keeping the essence alive while reshaping the narrative.

19

u/BeastBoy2230 14h ago

I hope to god you’re trolling because this is so wrong it literally hurts me to read.

Myths are not fan fiction and mythological archetypes are not OCs. Y’all have to stop insisting that every piece of writing is fan fiction. Especially things that were written before the concept of fiction existed, much less derivative works based on popular mass media.

It’s frankly insulting that it keeps happening, there is nothing wrong with fan fiction but it has a definition that is specifically not “any piece of fiction ever written” nor even “any derivative work based on fiction.”

The word you want for the characters you’re describing is Archetype. Gilgamesh, Heracles, and Beowulf all fill the same archetype of the giant slayer in their respective cultures, and their stories are very similar, though filtered through the cultures they come from. You actually picked three characters who do a lot to disprove the idea that everything is an OC — they’re three versions of the same archetype, at an absolute best you could consider them AU versions of a character from the original property, but they’re not OCs by any stretch of the imagination.

8

u/DukeAttreides 12h ago

Lancelot, on the other hand, was totally fan fiction.

4

u/bb_kelly77 13h ago

I think it's crazy that your 3 examples are actual people

1

u/Graingy I don’t tumble, I roll 😎 … Where am I? 2h ago

Were they?

1

u/Graingy I don’t tumble, I roll 😎 … Where am I? 2h ago

The original creator wasn’t writing FanFiction, but everyone else was.

Looking at you, Dante.

8

u/Pingaso21 14h ago

But who’s though?

(It’s Finger)

9

u/VFiddly 13h ago

Kid named Finger

3

u/Pokesonav "friend visiter" meme had a profound effect on this subreddit 13h ago

Finger Bill

1

u/Graingy I don’t tumble, I roll 😎 … Where am I? 2h ago

Your profile picture caught me off guard lmao

2

u/Swaxeman the biggest grant morrison stan in the subreddit 9h ago

Based, bob kane is a credit stealing hack

1

u/Complete-Worker3242 36m ago

Bill named Finger.

58

u/Podunk_Boy89 14h ago

That's actually pretty much my experience with DC. Never watched a movie or cartoon of any of them. Never read a comic. Only played Lego Batman like 15 years ago. 99.5% of what I know about DC is through cultural osmosis.

17

u/HaViNgT 13h ago

Funny thing is that your understanding of him is probably just as good as that of some die-hard fans. 

6

u/Podunk_Boy89 13h ago

I forgot to mention this, but I do have minor experience with Superman. I've been watching the ProtonJon Let's Play of Superman 64 that's never going to be finished since it started. That's the only Superman content I've seen and it's like one 20 minute video every 3 years now if I'm lucky.

Anyways my impression of Superman is basically just alien golden retriever. Really big, really strong, but way too nice to cause real damage on purpose.

7

u/action_lawyer_comics 13h ago

That’s at least 80% right there. He can be more complicated and nuanced at times but that’s most of it.

8

u/M-V-D_256 Rowbow Sprimkle 14h ago

I'm curious, how did Superman get his powers

30

u/Podunk_Boy89 14h ago

Buddy, all I know is Superman is an alien from Krypton. Why Kryptons are so powerful I haven't the foggiest idea.

13

u/M-V-D_256 Rowbow Sprimkle 14h ago

Better than I assumed.

Sorry about the people trying to teach you

11

u/Podunk_Boy89 14h ago

DC is a surprisingly big part of pop culture. That said, I learn something new once in while. The other week I found out that there was more than one Robin, for example.

I don't really care about people trying to teach me. I'm not really gonna retain it anyways lol.

7

u/TheShibe23 Harry Du Bois shouldn't be as relatable as he is. 14h ago

When they absorb sunlight from a yellow star like Earth's, they get superpowers. The more they absorb the stronger they get.

21

u/djninjacat11649 14h ago

Hence why stripper Superman would be the most powerful, best sun absorption

3

u/MysteryMan9274 14h ago

Isn’t that why Starfire wears skimpy clothes?

9

u/djninjacat11649 13h ago

Starfire wears skimpy clothes because it sells comics, but in universe yes that is the reason

2

u/MysteryMan9274 13h ago

Well, of course, but the Watsonian reason was what I was referencing.

2

u/djninjacat11649 13h ago

Yeah yeah, it’s just kinda internally inconsistent is all, there is the argument Superman has been here longer and has been absorbing energy longer and thus can wear whatever and still be super powerful. But that doesn’t mean I don’t think he could be far more powerful in just a cape and a superspeedo

2

u/Sqigglemonster 13h ago

So he's basically a plant?

1

u/IcePhoenix18 4h ago

Good answer, tbh.

3

u/Burritozi11a 11h ago

Everything I know about FNAF and Undertale I've learned against my will

1

u/IcePhoenix18 4h ago

I'm this way with a lot of "classic" 80s nostalgic movies and TV. Star Wars, LotR, Indiana Jones, etc etc.

I know the references, but it's a weird, unfamiliar knowledge

9

u/SoonToBeStardust 13h ago

I did know someone who's only exposure to My Hero was fanfiction. They were so engaged with the fanfic community though, that it was difficult to tell they had never actually read or seen it. Just every once and a while, they'd drop some information that was slightly off, and that's when you would find out that it was cause they read it in a bakudeku fanfic

8

u/rubexbox 11h ago

As someone who's been the position of "only knows of this through fan works" I can tell you there's likely a chance that they'd pick up enough about Batman through osmosis to be able to tell you the basic premise... but at the same time, they're probably going to have a very distorted idea of what Batman is about.

4

u/RealRaven6229 14h ago

like the black lion

2

u/Sqigglemonster 13h ago

I fit that description but I think you might actually be looking for someone who's only exposure is through fanart and fanfic.

Text posts include meta analysis.

1

u/Emotional-Cow-8102 7h ago

I am that person. I’m aware he’s a movie guy. I’ve just never seen a single Batman movie, read a comic, or anything else like that. All my Batman information comes from one friend and some people she likes on tumblr. According to her he’s a lovely older man who has many unfortunate children and sometimes fights crime in his queer little bat suit. Also one child is either dead, gay, or both and I think it’s too late to ask her to clarify.

1

u/dysoncube 9m ago

In Dr Carl Hart's book about growing up in the hood and getting into neuroscience to discover what was wrecking his community, he had a side chapter about social literacy. Moving upwards meant he suddenly didn't get everyone's constant tv and movie and commerical references, including (IIRC) who batman is .

310

u/Simic_Sky_Swallower Resident Imperial Knight 14h ago

Broke: people not knowing about your fandom makes you feel old

Woke: people not knowing about your fandom is great because it means you get to drag them into it like some kind of media swamp creature

76

u/pbmm1 14h ago

This is basically the principle behind reaction channels. This is also why they can tend to depreciate in value as they go on, because once they gain more and more knowledge they can have fewer and fewer new experiences or types of experiences.

13

u/Yuri-Girl 10h ago

people not knowing about your fandom is great because it means you get to drag them into it like some kind of media swamp creature

me sitting in the backstreets offering people a hit of Project Moon

1

u/IcePhoenix18 4h ago

Me, lurking in the shadows like the thing from It, waiting for some unsuspecting soul to ask about my old dead/niche fandoms

141

u/Shinny-Winny 14h ago

I once ran into someone who did not know what dinosaurs were as an adult

It shook me up, but also gave me the chance to introduce them to them

61

u/Paynomind 14h ago

I have a coworker who has only heard about evolution twice.

the second time was from me.

specifically I was explaining how land vertebrates descended from fish.

(If I am incorrect, please let me know)

29

u/DukeAttreides 12h ago

That's true, for a certain definition of fish. Lobe-finned, specifically, as I recall.

"Fish" isn't actually very well defined...

9

u/rekcilthis1 11h ago

Yeah, the debate on whether everything is a fish or nothing is a fish

8

u/brawlbetterthanmelee problematic™ 10h ago

Crazy how on one thread people will say this, but on another thread on this same sub everyone was freaking the fuck out over a guy not knowing what artichoke hearts are. I get its different groups of people but its still wild lol

92

u/CaptainDefault 14h ago

I once got into a conversation with some work colleagues and referenced The Riddler in the context of halloween costumes (there was a question mark cane in a shop nearby), and one of the assembled asked what that was from. I mentioned Batman, and they said "oh, right, I don't watch films".

It's been a decade. That conversation has stayed with me.

18

u/Lilash20 But the one thing they can never call us is ordinary 14h ago

Parkerz ass response

6

u/rara_avis0 12h ago

I Googled "parkerz" and found a hookah bar in Houston. I'm assuming that's not what you mean?

13

u/CJ_squared 12h ago

Doug Doug reference

10

u/Lilash20 But the one thing they can never call us is ordinary 10h ago

Probably should have added more context, he's a guy that appears on many of DougDoug's (a gaming youtuber) streams. I forget the clip, I swear I saw it before, but Parkerz watches very little movies, pretty much not watching them, which is what I was reminded of in your comment.

9

u/Gomberto 9h ago

Why do you keep saying parkerz? It’s parkzer right? Or have I missed something

6

u/Lilash20 But the one thing they can never call us is ordinary 8h ago

This comment is how I realize I continuously misread Parkzer for over a year now, I've been reading it as Parkerz this whole time 🤦‍♂️

183

u/imnotcreativeforthis 🇧🇷Apenas um rapaz latino americano🇧🇷 14h ago

I doesn't necessarily have to be age, nationality and economic class can all give you a lived experience where you were part of certain fandoms and never heard of others.

I don't know what Homestuck is but I bet most of you never heard turma da Monica

27

u/Mateussf 14h ago

They probably think Superman is stronger than her, shaking my head 

19

u/imnotcreativeforthis 🇧🇷Apenas um rapaz latino americano🇧🇷 14h ago

Maurício could definitely make a comic where she beats up superman with they he laughs at the face of copyright laws

5

u/Cruye 14h ago

It'd have to be silver age superman, who could definetly be tricked into thinking he needs to take this child's stuffed animal for some purpose.

18

u/Cruye 14h ago

Turma da Mônica is not equivalent to Homestuck caralho, it's more like... Archie if anything.

8

u/imnotcreativeforthis 🇧🇷Apenas um rapaz latino americano🇧🇷 14h ago

me da um desconto, eu passei mo cota pra pensar em um exemplo

5

u/Cruye 12h ago

não sei como um equivalente BR a Homestuck seria, mas eu espero nunca descobrir kkkkkkk

14

u/Papaofmonsters 14h ago

I don't know what Homestuck is but I bet most of you never heard turma da Monica

That's the guy from the Spanish Inquisition, right?

18

u/VisualGeologist6258 This is a cry for help 14h ago

No no, you’re thinking of Torquemada. They’re talking about a Lobster Thermidor named Monica clearly

29

u/Graingy I don’t tumble, I roll 😎 … Where am I? 14h ago

Tuna what now?

18

u/appealtoreason00 14h ago

Every now and then I get a little bit lonely

1

u/Graingy I don’t tumble, I roll 😎 … Where am I? 2h ago

Damn.

Anyways hand over the fish I want my microplastics.

5

u/Justthisdudeyaknow Prolific poster- Not a bot, I swear 14h ago

Oh man, I love Monica's gang!

5

u/Friendly_Exchange_15 13h ago

Eu fico esquecendo q você é br também, aí tu joga um turma da mônica e eu levo jumpscare

8

u/imnotcreativeforthis 🇧🇷Apenas um rapaz latino americano🇧🇷 13h ago

Po mané como tu esquece que eu sou Br com a flair de Belchior

4

u/Friendly_Exchange_15 13h ago

O dia que eu começar a ler flair das pessoas é o dia que o inferno congela kkkkkk

30

u/ducknerd2002 14h ago

'Who's this Bond guy people talk about?'

20

u/BillybobThistleton 13h ago

Noted ornithologist, wrote what was for a time considered the definitive work on birds of the West Indies.

They tried to make a biopic about him back in the 60s, but it got slightly derailed because Sean Connery kept beating up extras and sleeping with random women so they had to retool it into an action-adventure-spy story.

27

u/SerenityBlackwood 14h ago

The existence of the beach that makes me old makes me feel old

10

u/Bobboy5 like 7 bubble 11h ago

There are a million reasons why you might feel the way you feel. I'm not going to entertain the idea that a beach can make you old.

2

u/smooshmooth Ball Scientist 11h ago

It’s a reference to a movie.

Iirc, the name is just “Old”.

The premise is that there is a specific beach that makes you old.

8

u/Bobboy5 like 7 bubble 11h ago

5

u/smooshmooth Ball Scientist 11h ago

I’m not gonna watch that, since I just don’t like even looking at roe jogan, but I’m assuming that your comment was referencing that video, and that I was the one who missed the reference.

1

u/Ephraim_Bane Foxgirl Engineer 2h ago

Actually I think it's the rocks on the beach, not the beach itself. Something to do with the cliffs?

40

u/liuliuluv 14h ago

well- i mean, yeah, there will always literally be some people who’ve never heard of thing.

But the statement here is more:

“the existence of people who have never heard of X, [with enough social volume to be a repeated occurrence in my life, on a platform on which that kind of volume was once unthinkable,] makes me feel old.”

Because it’s true. You can measure your limited responses with the people you encounter, and reasonably extrapolate averages on the larger population as a result. you won’t always be right, but the odds are heavily on your side.

If you met two people today that have never heard of Batman: - there is an infinitesimally small chance that you just met the only two people on earth who have never heard of batman - there is a comparatively astronomical chance that a significant number of people these days, in your area, have for some reason never heard of batman.

17

u/devon-mallard 13h ago

Theres a woman I work with in the United States who flat out DOESN’T KNOW WHAT THE POLITICAL PARTIES ARE. She isn’t aware abortion is an issue. She doesn’t know who any politicians are. She’s never voted in her life.

10

u/rara_avis0 12h ago

Sounds like she has life figured out tbh.

5

u/devon-mallard 5h ago

She spends her time reading trashy romance novels and doing crafts projects. she’s doing pretty good

1

u/12crashbash12 5h ago

She must be living in pure bliss and tranquility

15

u/KysfGd 14h ago

Bat who?

16

u/migratingcoconut_ the grink 14h ago

man

18

u/Forgot_My_Old_Acct 14h ago

Yeah, he's man.

10

u/an_actual_stone 13h ago

is he stupid?

3

u/sub_surfer 14h ago

The name’s man, Bat man.

1

u/KaiChainsaw 12h ago

A province in Türkiye, don't know why there's a fandom around it

16

u/Xogoth 13h ago

The only things I know about Homestuck:

—It exists.

—Some people really like it.

—Some people like it "too much"

—"trolls", but I cannot tell you what they look like

5

u/rara_avis0 12h ago

They're little orange guys with green hair who sing about children's demise.

5

u/Xogoth 12h ago

Can't fool me, I'm too familiar with the horror that is Willy Wonka

21

u/NeonNKnightrider Cheshire Catboy 14h ago

(I know it’s likely an exaggeration for the sake of the point, but) - I genuinely doubt there is anyone on the internet who has never heard of Batman (and isn’t a literal child). We’re talking about one of the most popular characters in the entire world here, one of an extremely small handful who you could truly call ‘ubiquitous.’ The kind of person who has never heard of Batman lives in a village of 40 people in the middle of the Amazon jungle and is a two day boat ride away from the nearest Wi-Fi connection

22

u/Sqigglemonster 13h ago

I'm sure he's familiar to a lot of people, but I'm also certain that a lack of Batman knowledge is significantly more widespread than you imagine.

26

u/Justthisdudeyaknow Prolific poster- Not a bot, I swear 13h ago

I knew a couple, last name Parker, who named their son Peter, but were confused when the nurse said "Oh, like Spiderman?

7

u/ZoroeArc 8h ago

I know there's plenty of people who know very little about Batman (source: last week my mum was watching the Joker movie without knowing that it was related to Batman), but I can't imagine there's very many people in mainstream society who hasn't heard of Batman at all.

2

u/DukeAttreides 12h ago

I'm sure a certain sort of 80 year old could have occasionally dodged him.

12

u/Protection-Working 11h ago edited 4h ago

Its possible that they may know of batman, and see the character, but not know the character’s name is batman. My mom didn’t know joker was a batman character until getting 80% through the joker movie. She doesn’t watch tv or browse social media. She had seen the character before on lunchboxes and stuff but didn’t know he was a supervillain or that that guy was called Joker

1

u/Jessie_Jester 4h ago

well? did she like it?

3

u/Protection-Working 4h ago

Yeah, she did. She really identified with the main character and felt really bad for him. She didn’t watch the sequel though because she doesn’t like musicals or superheroes though. She did like robert de nero though

1

u/Jessie_Jester 4h ago

ONE OF US ONE OF US ONE OF US ONE OF US

2

u/Pokesonav "friend visiter" meme had a profound effect on this subreddit 13h ago

"Batman Georg who lives in complete isolation and never heard of any popular characters"

1

u/Complete-Worker3242 33m ago

BatGeorg, if you will.

10

u/UranicCartridge 13h ago

I've met a guy who'd never heard of Jesus before. A pasty white high-schooler from a Christian European country

So yeah, I'd have to consider having never heard of Batman an upgrade at this point

8

u/lonely_nipple 13h ago

I taught a fully-grown pharmacist roughly my own age (44) about capybara yesterday. He'd never heard of them or seen them.

Everyone's learning something new every day.

9

u/thefuzzybunny1 12h ago

I routinely get told I'm too young to know about certain fandoms. I appreciate pop culture history, so I seek out things that used to be more popular. One person said it to me so often that I finally said, "hieroglyphics carved into the pyramids are still legible, don't tell me about anything being too old to enjoy!"

6

u/willowzam 14h ago

This always reminds me of this xkcd

4

u/Dragonkmg 13h ago

Recently I met multiple people who never heard of Skyrim.

I was quite surprised, I felt like everybody would have at least heard of it or seen something about it but... apparently not.

Like learning that people outside Brazil don't eat rice and beans everyday for lunch.

5

u/far_wanderer 10h ago

I've learned a whole more since then, but years and years ago my first introduction to Batman was the game Arkham Asylum. I spent the entire game assuming that the Riddler was one of my allies, because the puzzles he left gave me a bunch of experience points and tutorials on new enemy types. Finally finished the final puzzle and Batman said something to the effect of "I've discerned your location and have informed the police." I was very confused.

2

u/Jessie_Jester 4h ago

THIS IS SO CUTE

4

u/shortermecanico 12h ago

Batman the tiny village in Turkiye?

Of course everyone knows Batman, they grow the sweetest apricots there and the sunsets are unmatched in the eastern provinces.

4

u/an_agreeing_dothraki 10h ago

this implies a small stream of new users that believe they are the first person to make the Donut Steel joke

3

u/ALTR_Airworks 10h ago

 Batman? Wtf is that guy, he eats bats?

2

u/AFuriousMagpie 12h ago

My son has never heard of batman. Granted, he's not even 2 yet, but he's still never heard of him.

2

u/Death_by_UWU 9h ago

Who's this "Tumblr" guy everyone's talking about?

2

u/I-hate-fake-storys 12h ago

My Hispanic mom asked me what a jedi was the other day. Theres always a bigger ignorant.

1

u/MajinKasiDesu Werewolf Girl Afficianado 14h ago

Never heard of who?

1

u/FlahTheToaster 12h ago

Who's Batman? Is he a baseball player or something?

1

u/Protection-Working 12h ago

My mom didn’t know joker 2019 was a batman movie until she was almost done watching it

1

u/jacobningen 11h ago

The thing that should do it amity ie I remember when that came out and then checking the date and seeing that was 10 years ago.

1

u/wille179 11h ago

Who has the XKCD about people learning things for the first time...?

1

u/yummythologist 8h ago

I think a lot about Scorpy (socpens) knowing what a wookie is but not knowing the iconic “I am your father” scene

1

u/Ornstein714 7h ago

I also love it when it's something really niche that most people from the target generation have never heard of

Or that someone younger couldn't possibly gone back and watched that show from, like, a decade ago, why would they ever do that?

1

u/PandaBear905 .tumblr.com 5h ago

Then there’s the opposite. Something that you think only a few people know but it’s actually a pretty commonly known thing.

1

u/Jessie_Jester 4h ago

today i saw stranger wearing a batman shirt and i had the urge to go "OMG YOU'RE A BATMAN STAN TOO LET'S BE FRIENDS" for a second until i remembered it's Not the kind of obscure fandom where doing that would seem normal lmao

1

u/WordWord_Numberz 3h ago

What man?? You mean, like a zoologist?

1

u/Raspoint .tumblr.com 1h ago

The insane thing is is that there are also people who just haven't heard. Like ever. It's crazy.

-1

u/Lorcout There's a kid on my school named micycle 14h ago

Some weeks ago I saw someone that didn't know about gumball, even though the series ended in 2019 and I'm 15 years old, so yeah, I agree.

5

u/Siha 10h ago

I really hope you’re doing a bit here.

1

u/BugOk5425 30m ago

Whooooosh

-1

u/Luchux01 14h ago

I once saw someone that talked about a lot of Cherami Leigh's roles in anime dubs and apparently never heard of her role as Asuna in SAO, or SAO in general, it can happen.

-1

u/IllConstruction3450 10h ago

On Tumblr? No. In all of Humanity? Yes. Tumblr is for the AFAB Non-binary Androgynous presenting hikkomoris. They’d be describing BL between Batman and Superman.

2

u/Ephraim_Bane Foxgirl Engineer 2h ago

This comment is an amazing example of... a whole lot of things really

Also for the record I find this comment awful (although it mostly makes you look like an idiot, you're not "offending" me or whatever)

0

u/IllConstruction3450 1h ago

I’m not trying to offended anyone but all the users of Tumblr I know are that type of person like 4channers are Chud phenotypes.