#I have my own ideas for the dream team for Harvey to lead though

[about-faces]

What do you think of a Harley/Harvey romance? Or do you think they won't just fit and better left as friends or antagonists? Do you think Harvey would be a good fit as the 'token dude' among the Gotham Sirens (Harley, Ivy , Selina)?

Honestly, I don’t know what kind of dynamic Harley and Harvey should have. You’d think they’d have some common ground to build on, between their names and their taste in split fashion! But beyond that, they’re a pair of characters I can never quite figure out when it comes to them being together as anything but antagonists, which is boring to me.

(Note: when I speak about Harley, I’m taking about my own personal understanding of her, as I prefer the character. She’s been so inconsistent ever since she became the Sexy Elmo of the DCU, to the point that she’s more a vague merchandise concept than a character. For all intents and purposes of this, I’m thinking of her as Arleen Sorkin’s Harley from BTAS for the most part)

The big fundamental difference is that Harley is all about fun, while Harvey is all about pain. The guy literally wears his agony on his face, and is a big wet blanket for any irreverent antics Harley might want to commit. It's not even a Bert-and-Ernie situation where there's a wacky character and a stoic, straight-laced character, because Harvey is just TOO serious and TOO tormented to be any fun for Harley. There's little room for give-and-take between them. There's just Harley trying to be wacky while Harvey stares at her like someone who has entirely forgotten the concept of fun.

Now, that's not to say that Two-Face can't be a fun, wacky, flamboyant character for Harley to play with! But we'd have to go back to his late Golden Age characterization, where he was entirely focused on outlandish crimes based around the number two. I could possibly imagine a Harley who encourages Harvey to be that kind of Two-Face again, doing something like... oh, let's say, robbing a circus while riding on two horses at the same time. Harley might have a great time with THAT Two-Face!

Now, one might thinking about going the opposite direction. That, instead of encouraging his worst criminal instincts, there's some potential for Dr. Harleen Quinzel to actually be a healing influence on Harvey Dent. Unfortunately, I can't stop thinking about that comic where Mark Russell had Harley "cure" Harvey of needing to listen to his coin, which not only overlooks the core reasons why the coin is so important to him (Russell just kinda treated it as an obsessive quirk and no deeper), but it also shows how Harley's professional care only resulted in making for a more deadly, unpredictable Two-Face:

(Sidenote: brilliant as Russel is as a writer, you can tell he doesn't understand Two-Face because Batman doesn't refer to him as "Harvey.")

I'd love to see Harley as someone who truly empathizes with Harvey Dent, someone who actually understands his trauma from abuse and his internal divide, but it seems impossible to consider how both characters are usually written. It would require a Harley Quinn who actually does fundamentally care about helping people and a Harvey Dent who is written as both a good man and a victim.

Which is where Stjepan Šejić's Harleen was so fascinating and frustrating alike. Harvey is a major character there, and he's miswritten as a hardline dickbag who is all about being Hard On Crime, just for the sake of clashing with the tragically-empathic Dr. Quinzel.

This Harvey Dent is not sympathetic. He's a moralizing prick who straight-up advocates for a fascist police state, including releasing Arkham inmates to show Gotham in order to unleash martial law. It's a perversion of the subplot from the 1989 comic strips, where Harvey wants to resign for unwittingly almost aiding a plot to do exactly what he tries to do in Harleen. To top it off, this Two-Face is willing to re-flip his coin to get a desired result, which is just Bad Two-Face 101.

And yet, despite ALL that, Šejić makes an impressive stab at showing how his compassionate take on Harleen is two-of-a-kind with even this jerkass Harvey Dent.

Even now, I don't know what to make of this, nor do I know what it could possibly mean for either characters. But I remain intrigued by the potential implications of two tragic characters who both lost everything and became "monsters" all in the name of trying to help others. Two irreconcilable people, bound by fate and ideals and "Ha Ha."

So no, I don't know what kind of relationship these two could ever have. I'm even more doubtful there could ever be romance between them. But in other circumstances... who can say? Maybe in some AU, there's a tormented, scarred crime boss driven by revenge and punishing the Haves (Halves?) on behalf of the Have-Nots, and he surprises even himself by bonding with a whimsical, colorful, tortured, and tragically unstable mischief-maker in pigtails.

Maybe. Just maybe that'd work.

[zanetomich]

Ambition: A Double-edged Sword for Success

Ambition is the Harvey Dent of our reality. 

Two-faced. Good and bad.

You need ambition to achieve your goals and hopes and dreams. You need ambition to inspire the will to act. 

But there is another side to the lucky coin:

Too much ambition.

I have heard about this a time or two throughout my life; but never have I understood the meaning. Lets face it, how in the hell can having too much ambition be a bad thing? How can aspirations to “do everything” work against you? 

There is one simple answer to that.

Too many ideas and expectations are a recipe for procrastination.

I know that because I have struggled with it forever. 

Now let me be clear on this. You damn well should inspire to do everything. By that I mean everything you WANT to do, whatever that may be. Aim for the brightest stars and ascend as high as you can! 

Think about the NBA and the common concept of “load management.” 

When Kawhi Leonard was with the Toronto Raptors, the team went the extra mile in assuring that their star player wasn’t overloaded game-after-game with heavy minutes. They kept him fresh by mitigating the load of an 82-game schedule. Sitting Kawhi every so often to avoid fatigue and injury. By the time playoffs rolled around, he was ready for a grind of the ages with his mental focus zeroed in on his goals and his determination sharper than ever. 

The NHL has even began to explore this concept with starting goaltenders. Instead of a goalie playing 60-70 games in a season, the argument is made now that they should start 40-50 and split duty with the backup goaltender more evenly. 

Add this concept to your mind. 

Your brain is an intelligent, fascinating tool capable of manifesting greatness. Ideas come from there. It is a star organ for your body and needs rest and managed load. Sometimes you can have too many ideas for your own good! And that can wear you down before you even begin. Trying to process everything all at once can lead to mental detonation.

Mitigate your ambition and ideas. Balance thinking with actually doing; but no so much so that you amount to nothing as a result of overloading your mind. You CAN do all the things you want to do. You CAN achieve every goal if you break it up evenly.

The feeling of being overwhelmed envelops your brain and body to the point where nothing can happen. Nothing! You spend more time fantasizing about success rather than actually physically putting in the necessary work to make it a reality. 

It is kind of like an obsession. Visualizing the ideal future more-so than having your nose to the grindstone. 

It’s tempting to fantasize because we want success to happen so quickly for ourselves. We get lost in our dreams sometimes. At the same time, it depends on what success means to you; but that’s a conversation for another day.

Visualization is an excellent tool to use in regards to manifesting your destiny; but don’t become obsessed with it. 

I have had days where I sit at home, replaying in my head over-and-over: 

“Okay, today I am going to wake up at 5:00 am and write a 1,000 word short story. Then I am going to write a song. After that i’m going to edit a podcast. Then I’ll get the next chapter done for the rough draft of a novel. Then i’ll work out in the gym at 2:00 pm. And in the evening I will practise guitar.” 

I get so excited about the feeling of accomplishment and the idea that I’m doing so many different things that I wind up sitting on my couch with my hands glued to a PS4 controller or rewatching The History of the Eagles documentary i’ve seen millions of times. The complete opposite happens and nothing gets done. I think about it; but I don’t do it. I don’t meet my own expectations. 

Distractions, distractions, distractions.

The aspirations are there. Ambition is certainly there. What’s missing? 

Focus. Organization. Quality control.

Being too ambitious can blind you from reality and the big picture itself. 

All this thinking and planning in your head amounts to nothing getting done in the realm of reality. Quality is sacrificed. Time is wasted.

The truth is, your exhausted before you even start. Mentally that is. Stress takes hold and your body becomes paralyzed with overloading thought.

And this is where load management comes into play. 

You have to manage your thinking. Take everything one step at a time. You can do whatever you set your mind to. But you can’t do it all at once! Allow your brain time to mentally cool down. Delate tasks accordingly. Write it down. 

Ambition is a catalyst of success and a prophet of stress. 

Be careful what you blend ambition with. Even though it goes hand-in-hand with your dreams, it can easily give life to procrastination. 

Tame your thoughts. Sooth your feelings. Set your focus on the first priority. Move on to the next if your stuck.