#itself to batman and that batman is the human who should be saved from the Demon Cryptid Robin™

[onbearfeet]

This is something that genuinely fascinates me about certain storytellers.

If you've ever been in a real emergency situation — blood and screaming, people will die if someone doesn't do something NOW and probably some of them will die even then — then you know that a lot of people will instinctively run in to help. They'll do it whether they actually can help or not. It's hardwired into a lot of humans, especially if the people in danger are children. (No shade. Mammals are often protective of their young.)

But not everyone will do it. Some people won't be physically or psychologically able to ... but some will have the knowledge and ability, and they just won't. Do. Anything. I grew up in earthquake country, so I think of it in terms of earthquakes; when the walls start to crack, everybody runs for cover, but not everybody grabs a baby on the way.

I'm a runner-in, always have been, so I'm fascinated by the stayers-out. I'm not usually interested in judging them (I can't honestly say staying out of, say, a burning building is a bad idea), but I do want to know what's in their head where I have the voice of an ancient primate screaming at me to save the troop.

The only stayer-out I've ever gotten to study up close was my probably psychopathic sibling, and I don't consider him representative of anything much. But the presence of that trait in a storyteller — much less one who takes on Superman of all characters — is baffling. Is there some kind of lack of empathy at work? Certainly Snyder seems to pick and choose who gets to be fully human in his movies, but that's a strange trait to find in a professional storyteller. Does he see stayers-out as heroic in and of themselves, as makers of difficult choices? If so, Superman really isn't the character to explore that through, what with his literal comic-book levels of power that enable him to save almost everyone most of the time. Maybe he was trying to make the best of Superman after Christopher Nolan comprehensively claimed Batman for a solid decade, and transplanted a Batmanesque moral dilemma like "Should I save the Joker?" onto a character for whom it makes far less sense?

The best hypothesis I have so far is this: Superman is a fantasy of power and goodness. It's a story about an incredibly powerful man who uses his power for good, and whose problems mostly arise from his power, his goodness, or both. Maybe Lex Luthor opposes him out of jealousy or fear of his power; maybe his goodness forces him to take on burdens that damage him psychologically; regardless, the best Superman stories turn on that axis. Perhaps Snyder was trying to question the legitimacy of that premise, or criticize the idea of a power-and-goodness fantasy itself in the way that some really good superhero fiction engages with those sorts of abstract concepts.

But given how much of Snyder's work seems to glory in fantasies of power and cruelty (300) or power and corruption (Watchmen) or ... call it power-and-badness fantasies, I guess ... I do have to wonder why he chose that particular fantasy to aim at.

I want to study that man like a bug in a jar, and I'm not sure I'll like what I find there.

not to shit on zack snyder again but it's really funny that he tried to make a big, grand, complex moral quandary on where superman should stand when he saves people around the world and then james gunn is like "he wants to do it because he thinks it's the right thing to do". sometimes going simpler means you get to the crux of what the character is all about much more efficiently. like wow it's really that easy

[garpen]

I love Gothamites thinking that the batfamily are Cryptids when they're not.

I also love the idea that to begin with, Gothamites know Robin has been a bunch of different human kids that the: Definitely a Cryptid Batman™ (bc let's be honest that thing is not human) has taken under his wing.

I think it makes the Robins scarier to them. Like "There's something fucked up enough about this kid that the Demon Bat took them in." And they're all pretty sure that every time there's a switch in Robin's it's bc the Cryptid Demon Batman thing probably killed them off or something.

They always try and warn off whatever new Robin he's taken in, but whenever they do the New Robin always laughs them off or attempts to assure them that they're fine and not worry.

[oopsallmabari]

like. if someone is capable of convincing me that having the viper be the black divine is a good idea, by all means. but i struggle to understand it beyond a weird first draft idea that should be treated as just that, a weird first draft idea that isn't canon.

overall i think the game is missing out on really involving the elves in a thoughtful way, and that includes the shadow dragons. so unless your rook is a shadow dragon and an elf, all of the major shadow dragons(i include dorian in this, even though he's technically an ally, i guess) are humans save for lorelei, the merchant? and save for tarquin, they're all mages, folks who have at least some standing in tevinter society. i haven't read the supporting novels/comics so i don't know all of the details surrounding mae and neve's backstories--but even though mae's been stripped of her magisterium seat and presumably faces discrimination in tevinter as a trans woman, she has had some level of privilege as an altus (she was a magister with a magister parent, so i'm assuming that's the accurate social class to put her in). dorian has been harmed by societal homophobia, but he is still an altus with a seat in the magisterium. the viper is, at minimum, an altus. elves are rescued from slavery, aided and supported by the shadow dragons, which is great, but they lack agency. they aren't the leaders of their own movement, they aren't even a strong consideration. a group of people, mostly human mages, can attempt to change tevinter by installing a new archon, theoretically for the benefit of elves (the primary victims of tevinter slavery), without including a single elf in the conversation, or even considering if their opinion should matter.

it is, imo, shortsighted at best to have the group of fantasy freedom fighters/abolitionists to mostly be controlled by the privileged, especially without making any commentary on that and the potential issues with it, especially if the writers' intent (even if not officially confirmed) is to make one of their advisors the leader of the imperial church, which seems to still be relevant and powerful in tevinter society, even with the magisterium. putting aside the logistics of the viper not getting caught, is tevinter just so corrupt that there's no real difference for him to make within his own station? is he unwilling to use whatever political power he has as divine because it'll expose him to personal danger? would it compromise the shadow dragons? why would that not be a problem in itself given the goal is to end slavery in tevinter, if the dragons' ability to take decisive action is stymied by their own leadership? why not keep the viper as an ally, a patron, a sympathizer with means to support with no decisionmaking power (even that has its issues, if you think about corporate capture of regulatory bodies/nonprofits)?

like, to my knowledge this is information people have gotten through datamining, so i don't take it as canon, but like...if we're gonna treat this as canon, i would like to think about the implications of it beyond how surface-level cool it is for fantasy abolitionist batman to secretly be the fantasy imperial pope. consider that yes, these are people with good intentions, but they do not exist absent the power structures they grew up in.

[empressgeekt]

batfam meets the justice league fic idea, where Nightwing convinces the JL that the batfam is the last of the race Gotham bat demons...

made on moble so sorry in advance.

Okay so it starts with Batwoman and Nightwing hanging around the watchtower. Eventually someone (most likely either hal or barry) asks how they are related to batman. Batwoman claims to be his sister, and Nightwing obviously says he's his son. When the question of who Nightwing's mom comes up (along with some of the league thinking that Nightwing was an accident, cause they can't see bats settling down), Batwoman simply says, "he doesn't have one."

The convo sudden shifts to the topic of the 'history' and 'biology' of the bat demon race. How they were nearly eradicated by a war with the Amazon's, and Atlantis, only a few really surviving and finding refuge in the caves below Gotham. Hwo they used ancient forgotten magic to remove all memories of this 'war' to keep themselves save. And finally how they reproduce asexually, by reviving the souls of children who were wrongfully killed. Taking the weak dead spirit and carrying them in their own soul until it could put itself back together.

When asked if this was how Nightwing was born, they confirm it.

BW: oh yeah. Actually 'wing was kind of a surprise you could say.

Hal: surprise?

N: YEP! You see I was kinda of dad's first so he really didn't know what he was doing...

BW: and it ended with bossy big brother screaming his head off in an emergence of a batling that he didn't know he was carrying.

Barry: screaming his head off?

N: oh...well the process of soul splitting, emergence, rebirth, whatever you want to call it, includes the host's soul breaking down enough to allow the younger newly revived soul to detach. It's very painful, So I've heard.

BW; so you've heard? Kid please I know you've heard your father when it came to your siblings rebirth.

Needless to say everyone (especially hal and barry), look at Batman the same way for the next few days.

when Bruce confronts his son and cousin, he honestly can't say he hates the idea. UT would throw off any suspicions sound hus true identity. Not mention give him a new way to mess with hal.

The rest of the batfam (let's say standard webcomic cast, with Terry and Matty McGinnis [time traveled/dimensionhopped], along with flashpoint!batman, because they deserve to be in the safe place rhay is the batfam too, for funies), also find this cover story hilarious, and spend all of dinner adding to the bat-demon mythos.

Thomas would've been the last surviving member of the demon army, who retreated and sought refuge in Gotham, along with his human turned immortal companion of Alfred. Bruce, Kate, and Luke (batwing) would his 'children'.

The normal children would all still be Bruce's. Inculding spoiler, as why she claims she isn't Bruce's daughter, she isn't passing up the chance to mess with the JL.

Eventually the idea gets suggested that they should trick the JL into believing that Batman is pregnant with a new batling. The prank idea slowly snowballs from there and Bruce is unable to stop it. So he agrees to join in, ans rhe prank planninf begins. Matty immediately volunteers to be the new batling, because he technically the youngest and doesn't have a vigilante alter ego yet.

The prank starts out slow. Batwoman and Nightwing increase their visits to the watchtower? Specially when batman is there and they are usually in the same room as him.

Bruce pretends to be more tired often, even pretending to take a nap, where the JL can find him. He also fakes head aches.

Eventually Clark asks him if he's alright. And Nightwing responds with

N: of course he's not. He's working too hard.

B: Nightwing...

N: there's a reason me and aunt BW following you, and it's so you don't over do it!

B: nightwing...

N: even grandfather is worried.

B: Nightwing. I have been through this 8 times already. I think I know my limits. Besides your grandfather has always been worried over the thought of a new spawn in the house.

Clark: !!!!

Once more things around batman grow awkward for the next few weeks.

The end of the fic would be the JL visiting the "bat domain" to meet Matty dressed up in a mask and brightly colored suit. And finding out about the literal small army that batman's been building. Not to mention cameo of Thomas in his bat suit scaring the living crap out if the justice league, and having the time of his life.

Edit: Alright its official, this is going to be my holiday special for this year. So, around Christmas time I'll post a link so yall can read this.

Edit 2: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51963331/chapters/131402920

Happy holidays! hears and early present!

[wonderstarmedia]

Been thinking about potential Absolute Fab Five ideas all afternoon after reading Absolute Flash #1 and like it's probably not gonna be anything like I imagine but ig

TENTATIVE ABSOLUTE FAB FIVE IDEAS

Dick Grayson

Same basic beats of his origin except Bruce doesn't adopt him but he does inspire Dick to become a teen vigilante who moves from town to town, and city to city saving people. He doesn't really have all the same technical genius that Bruce does so his gear would be a lot more makeshift. Like basically "We are Robin" type vibes. Extra kudos if he's also darker skinned and being Romani has a bit more focus than it usually does in his stories. Also please let him be canonically bi for the love of god. I think he'd either be second or last to join the gang depending on what the timeline with absolute batman would be. I'd love for Wally to meet the other four asap but if we have to wait like 3 years then I still think he should meet Dick after Donna.

Roy

Honestly I feel like this'd be a good opportunity to make him actually Indigenous? Even if atp we have Ultimate Hawkeye so DC won't be able to ever escape the "copying" allegations imo since him being a recognised Navajo tribe member is such a non-existent aspect of his character rn I think this would be a good opportunity to pull from that history and make it actual meaningful representation. I'm Ugandan so idk what exactly that'd look like but as someone also directly affected by past and present day colonialism I think it'd add a whole new dimension to his anger and his complicated feelings about being in the care of this billionare white man (if Ollie is still rich in the ultimate universe.) And maybe having Ollie in his life could be another way to handle the topic of addiction from jump with more grace than Roy himself has been afforded in the past? Ollie could be in recovery and Roy could be trying his best to help him out of it even though Ollie's trying not to make him feel like it should be his responsibility?

Kaldur'ahm/Jackson Hyde

Garth is my sweet baby fish boy but Jackson is my prefered Aqualad so I'd love for him to be on whatever first Absolute Titans there'd be 😭 and I think a Jackson raised by Black Manta could add a very cool dynamic to the team. It's not a Titans story without the exploration of what family even is and how it defines you and the conflict of his upbringing and who he wants to be would be familiar territory without it being the same 2 or 3 characters we always tell this story with. I'd love if he was specifically called Kaldur'ahm since he'd be raised in Atlantis in this but also cause 1) it's a cool name and 2) him in YJ was like the only good thing to come out of that show and I'd like his absolute characterisation to be much closer to that Aqualad at first. Maybe he and Dick have a lil flirtationship that probably doesn't actually go anywhere because it'd be funny if all the openly queer members on the team don't date each other.

Donna Troy

Unsurprisingly the character I started thinking about in the first place because in Return of Donna Troy she's literally stated to be an anomaly in the multiverse so there's a very real possibility that she'll have the least changes made to her despite the fact the Amazons are currently imprisoned for eternity and that in of itself could be a whole fun timeline thing in of itself that gives us a greater understanding of the Absolute Universe. Which I'd love actually, but I do think like with Diana you could give her a few changes here and there and she'd still be the most Donna Troy to ever Donna Troy. The PJO fan in me thinks it'd be cool if she was either a Titan (child of/embodiment of/some sort of connection to Atlas would be my pick cause the through-line from his association to the sky and her association with stars is so fucking cool imo) who was raised by humans or a human who was raised by Titans (again preferably related to Atlas in some way). This'd put her in direct opposition to the gods just by existing which makes her Diana's ally (kind of because being affiliated with Titans would still come with so many issues of if she could be trustworthy) but still give her all the conflicting identity issues that are so integral to her character. Plus it could lead to a dope af "I'm a Titan" line drop with a double meaning whenever the whole gang is together that'd also maybe give them being called Titans some context beyond the name sounding cool lmao.

I'd love if she met Wally first cause ofc she's my fave and I think their friendship could be sweet but also cause she'd be a great bridge for a crossover between absolute WW and absolute flash that we wouldn't have to wait for 3 to 5 for years because Wonder Woman wouldn't have to be all that established for her to show up? Like she could literally show up in the coming chapters wherever Diana is rn (how cool would it be if she did omg).

And lastly Wally West

I trust that I'm gonna love everything about him in this book but to add: how cool would it be if they made him trans 😭😭😭😭😭 it's DC so it's not gonna happen but his vibes are so transgender I need that shit so bad if you're not gonna give Jess anything then at least let absolute Wally be trans 😭🙏🏾 also I know it's an actual pipe dream to wish for canonical BirdFlash but man it'd be great if they also had some sort of yaoi going on😭

[kaithonks]

So I’ve had some Thoughts about Absolute Wonder Woman

Minor Spoilers for Absolute Wonder Woman 3

God. I wanted to wait until the first story line was finished to really start talking about Absolute Wonder Woman, since we are at 3 out of 5 at the time of writing. But I honestly couldn't resist, especially since I'm relatively new to Wonder Woman and just recently finished reading the first omnibus of George Pérez's Wonder Woman.

Something I generally worry about with female characters who center around being caring is that they kind of get infantilized. Especially if it's a situation like Diana's, where she's learning about a new world and culture. And while in Pérez's run there were moments where she came off a little immature, it was never in question that Diana couldn't handle herself. She struggled with questioning things but never gave up. And of course when you are raised in Hell, that's not going to be a question either.

But I think what is most interesting to me between the two is just how much Thompson is kind of turning the Wonder Woman's concept while still writing a very recognizable version of Diana. And apart from this, in how Diana takes up being humanities protector. One of the defining traits of Pérez's run was how he built the Amazons, who they were, and how steeped in their culture Diana was. She definitely went through more of a traditional hero's journey, which makes sense as Pérez was trying to write her as more of a mythical figure than a superhero, but in Thompson's Absolute, of course that Isle of Paradise culture is stripped away, yet Diana is still so firmly connected with the earth. She wholeheartedly accepts her duties and gives up her arm so easily just to save one man. She is less curiosity driven in Absolute. Yes, she hears stories from Steven and seems to enjoy them. It seems more toned down, and it's not really her mission this time to learn about them but to protect them.

I will miss the lassos of truth, and Pérez's use of it to defeat Ares will forever stick in my mind of how not only the lassos should be used but also why it's important to Wonder Woman and her core beliefs of truth and peace.

Again, I still sort of feel like I'm talking about Absolute Wonder Woman a bit too early, but having read Pérez's Wonder Woman, I'm feeling a path of history starting to repeat itself. Pérez and his team did really save Wonder Woman back in 1987. DC had really failed to take the success that was the 1970s Wonder Woman Show, and Pérez brought her back into the limelight. And I'm wondering if something similar isn't about to happen again with Absolute Wonder Woman, or maybe DC will again fail to capture success with this popular female character. I haven't read Absolute Batman yet, and I do adore Absolute Superman so far, but in terms of story writing and art, Wonder Woman stands a head above. It's actually my personal favorite of the pulls I have going right now. It's got me going back and reading more older Wonder Woman. I do hope this silences the people questioning her place within DC's trinity, and I'm pretty sure I'll be back to talk more about the absolute runs when the first arcs are done.

[loopy777]

Id say Dark knight returns has a lot of advantages that Watchmen does not.

As you note, because it has already established characters, we dont need to be sold on Batman. We just need to know he was gone, and that is in large part why gotham has become even more shitty.

It also manages to keep itself centered around one, single, cronological story about the Dark Knight coming back as opposed to watchmen that jumped all over the place and across time.

Not to say i dont have my problems with DKR.

The damn talking heads isnt a bad concept, and did help set the moor, but their screentime should have been cut in half at some point at the very least, or better yet cut all together. They served their purpose, and yet remained way past their time.

Also the whole Two Face plot is in my opinion a rather nice one, but it has no freaking ending. Like what happened? Did bruce give up on him once and for all? Did he go to jail? Back to arkham? I would really have liked to know. Its a big and iconic part of the story, and yet we have no ending for it.

And then there is the whole nuke plot. Its... Weird. I actually kinda like the idea of america being at the mercy of the USSR's nuclear capabilities for a good long while, and yet the russians dont pull the trigger, because even when they could exterminate the western world(or america at least) they are at the day human beings. But we dont get to see them actually make the decision not to do that. Instead we are told, and the story just sorta moves on.

Also superman absorbing solar powers from flowers is freaking wild man.

And then there is batman shooting that guy to save the kid.

Its a scene im torn on for a whole number of reasons.

On one hand... I can kinda see the idea for this moment. Its basically the whole idea that morrison tried to do with batman shooting darkseid. Putting the man who hates guns more than anything in a position where he has to use a gun, or a child, his charge and protectorate will die.

Its a lot less over melodramatic than magical bullets and batman giving a melodramatic "once in a lifetime exception" speech beforehand, which makes it feel a lot more real.

But on the other hand, the scene doesnt manage to sell it. Neither in selling and making it clear the fact that the punk actually survived(which takes away the biggest issue with this a lot of people have with the scene), nor in having bruce have a moment where he actually takes in what just happened.

Batman beyond episode 1 had this exact scene, and though it handled it by going in the exact opposite direction, it managed to convey the post gun moment in a way DKR should have done something similar as(honestly i wonder if the BB moment wasn't made with this moment in mind as a contrast).

Overall though, i would say DKR is a good batman story. A very good one... But i would not put it amongst the top ones by any means. It has amazing moments, but it's not aged like wine, though as a batman adventure, its aged way better than Watchmen has as a solo tale.

Also i have to agree conpletely with your take on Alan Moore.

Its kinda funny, both Alan and Miller went off the complete deep end, both in the exact opposite direction in large part due to personal politics, with miller going far right authoritarianism post 9/11, while Moore going complete anarchist far left as the years went on. It's just that while Millar's problem is that he's mostly just an asshole, Moore has the problem he's also kinda an asshole(If a lesser one compared to Miller), but whereas Miller went off the deep end methapohorically, Moore went off the deep end very literarily.

The man is genuinely insane, honestly thinks he's a wizard with magical powers and the ability to curse people, and probably should get treatment in a psychiatric ward for his own sake.

That's the difference between the drugs (Moore) and the drink (Miller).

Agreed on the Batman-with-gun moment. It goes by too quickly, isn't clear, and just kind of fades into everything else.

For the Two-Face plot, I don't think we need to see what happens to him afterward, as I believe the point is that his mind is now fully poisoned, so it's inevitable he's going back to Arkham. Batman, similarly, has fully devoted himself to his super-persona, so he can no longer reach out to Two-Face. The whole story could definitely use more room, but I think it works well enough.

[still-a-morosexual-help]

obviously, we don't know what exactly solomon is planning, but I find it hard to believe that he seriously thought mc would go against the brothers if it came down to it. if he truly did believe that he hasn't been paying attention. this is the same mc who was willing to use the dagger on themselves if it meant keeping lucifer alive. if they're willing to give up their own life for them, what makes him think they would be any different this time?

I actually believe Solomon when he says he isn't planning on actively fighting the demons or angels. That he's only making contingencies. And that all he is doing is for the sake of humanity. Because he is right, humanity is caught right in the middle of two superpowers & should another full on war break out humans will be at a major disadvantage.

But he put his faith in the absolute worst person.

General MC settled freakishly fast in the Devildom from day 1. They like the Devildom food when humans are not even supposed to be able to eat it. And they've always put the brothers before any sort of common sense.

Solomon might not have been there to see them try to stab themself for Lucifer (and I don't think he would have been told about it) but he was there to see them sacrifice a portion of their life span to save Beel, with 0 hesitation.

But he thought that, even after all that, as humans he would understand MC best, that they'd share a similar goal and ideals and values. And, as it turns out, he was wrong

Also I think it says a lot that this is present Solomon who's still looking for ways to take down the brothers & demons & angels if it came down to it. Present Solomon who has started seeing demons as friends rather than as pawns. Who is very close with Asmo and Barbatos and Simeon and Luke and even Levi & Raphael. Who has seen how the views of angels, demons & humans, regarding each other, has changed. How slowly, they are starting to see each other as something approaching equals. It's this Solomon who, despite all that, despite genuinely being friends with everyone, is still willing to collect the resources to take them down should it ever come to that. Batman Behaviour💅 ✨️

Also can I say, I love that we got a protagonist who was asked to choose between humanity and a second option and went ummmm actually

Diavolo defined demons as being free (which is where their major difference with the angels come in - seeing as the celestial realm is extremely strict). Demons do what they want, they indulge in their sins, and are chaotic because of it. MC has done what they wanted from S1 itself - no matter what they always did what they wanted and they got what they wanted and are stubborn enough to keep working for those things, and because of that they tend to be blunt and chaotic.

Of course they fit in with demons. Of course they made the choice they wanted, the one that'll make them happy, the selfish one rather than the one that was for the good of humanity

Om really gave us the most protagonist of all time <3

[jasontoddiefor]

“Bruce can’t kill! He’s not a cop. He will just beat the shit out of you, arrest you, and hand you over to the cops who he doesn’t even trust. Also he believes in redemption, which is why he utilizes the Gotham prison system despite it never being focused on redemption or rehabilitation and also he continues to utilize Arkham despite it canonically making everyone worse!”

The issue isn’t just that Bruce doesnt kill the mass murderers of Gotham, it’s that his moral stance has no nuance. He doesn’t believe in self defense or defense of others. If bane was killing Damian and Damian killed bane to save himself, Bruce would blame Damian. There’s no room in his ideology, it’s just as extreme and skewed as other characters. AND! He can’t just let it be his own ideology. He has to force it on other people as well

I‘m assuming the second one is from the same anon! If not I’ll still answer in one since they work together

You‘re bringing up multiple interesting points here so I‘m gonna break those down briefly!

Batman‘s (Legal) Authority

He’s a vigilante. He has been enemy of the force for a time. The fact that he’s allowed to operate at all hinges p much only on the fact that he’s going after criminals and Gordon like him. And the moment he goes after criminals that are on the “legal” side of things, he’s public enemy #1. He’s never had any kind of binding legal authority.

Violence used in arrests

Batman is violent. Sometimes it’s on purpose, to show him losing control and going to far, sometimes it’s just “Haha Batman go punch” comic book narration style. But we also see panels of Batman talking people down, not using violence as a first, middle, last and only resort. And my original point about that was that “beaten up” is still better than “dead”.

Reliability of the system

I mean, yeah we know the cops and Arkham suck but what else is he supposed to do besides what he’s already doing, weeding out corrupt cops and funding Arkham? He could start his own private prison but we’ve seen in other comics how much that Does Not Work. I think ultimately, Batman sees himself as an emergency service trying to pick up what the system itself can’t do while trying to fix it himself. Meanwhile, people still have to go somewhere.

Humanity/Morality of Batman

Bruce Wayne is a dick. Very my way or the high way, arrogant, and a man of extremes. He cares about people, about love, but Christ he‘s not a good communicator. He‘s got flaws, his inability to see nuance at times is certainly one of them. But what struck me - especially in Batman: The Knight, which was why I added that panel and cannot stop recommending that comic - was that Bruce defines himself by acting out of love, the want to protect, and the realization that if his mission is to save human life, he cannot take it. No matter how much he might resent a person or think they’d deserve it, if he became the kind of person that would kill for his mission, he’d become someone unrecognizable.

Batman‘s ideology as a frame

This is going to sound very dismissive and I promise I do not mean it that way. Batman is a character that says “we don’t kill, period. If you can’t do that, don’t do the job”. Like, that sounds incredibly offensive, but those are the standards to which he holds himself. I’m the best, I can do it without resorting to taking a life, so if you do the same job I’m doing, you should be just as able. Bruce didn’t really make any of his Robins his side kick, they more or less did that themselves, kicking and screaming, whether. Batman wanted them to be Robin or not. If they wanted to, they could drop out (ofc they don’t actually can bc we’d be left without any comics) but they don’t. So we’re back to Batman saying, “if you wanna do the job, you have to be able to do it this way”. Thus one of the Robins taking a life in self defense doesn’t fly because they’re supposed to be better. Is that particularly rational? Well, no, not necessarily, but that’s what it boils down to. If they had to resort to taking a life to save themselves, they shouldn’t have been in the position I’m the first place, but somewhere away from the fight. He trained himself until he could fight without taking a life and thus everyone else who wants to do the same should learn it as well.

All of these are associated with the whole discussion surrounding Batman killing, and you raise interesting points regarding how Batman operates and the hypocrisies involved. The last two are difficult to discuss particularly because we’re still reading comic book heroes and not actual legal irl batvigilante. I think this is still a step sideways from my original point that Batman’s refusal to kill on principle is a valid stance the character should be allowed to keep, but all of this is interconnected.

[randomnameless]

Seeing how badly sothis/byleth get treated by intsys makes me feel really badly for them and their fans. I thought self inserts were meant to fawn over the player but instead I see the company retcon them, replace, and low but high key shitting on them. I don’t think I would ever see this with characters like Link or Persona or the little pokemon kids so I’m not sure what intsys is trying to tell us about sothis/byleth if this what we see done to them, “they’re just a mindless beast”

As I realised thanks to talking and exchanging with people around and after years of discourse...

Fodlan suffers from "self-insert worship" but in a batman 5D chess gambit, from doylist wise, "player worship". Earl Grey must sell, thus the character who always loves the player and was made, designed, as the player's love-interest (Billy's), Supreme Leader's worship takes the cake.

As already pointed out, Fodlan games try their damnest to erase or not give any figs about Flamey, the "War" is just a background buzz and units are on snow class, and if something is to blamed for the destruction and deaths caused by the war it's deflected on the mole people, "Church/Kingdom BaD because they don't offer their heads on a platter" or the world and its systum - and the worst offender, on "crusts", aka, blood from a genocided race that mingled with "humanity" and is used as the scapegoat for everything wrong in the world. The "alien blood" is to blame and the real responsible for why Miklan tried to seduce people who didn't want to be seduced, or why classicism exist.

I exaggerate a bit, Heroes tried to poke holes at this smokescreen and it ended up with Supreme Leader running away from Lissa (the most persuasive character in the franchise?) because, hey, in her verse, no one told her 1+1 = 2, or no one she couldn't introduce to Aymr I guess.

(of course we have the lol!supports from the besf, but any opposition is resolved with a teaspoon in the following supports, there's no disagreement nothing, it's always "and John realised off-screen Supreme Leader was right and he was wrong", ultimate kuddos to the Ferdie support though, the biggest joke - but again, FE16's supports kind of suck).

With that in mind, Billy was always intended to be the SS Lord, and to opposed Supreme Leader (that's the gravitas and main steak served when you order Fodlan : "u will feel bad bcs u turn against ur precious student sad uwus").

And yet, not to prevent the irl players from, idk, buying Supreme Leader merch or routes or being engaged, even if it's through foolish fan-faction wars, Billy takes a backseat as Nopes fully embrace the core of the Fodlan games : Hresvelg Tea.

Player must feel bad for siding against Supreme Leader - so Supreme Leader must somehow be right, and make people at least some of them surface-level wonder if the ends justify the means, right?

Billy, when they are their character and not a self insert UI, thus must bow down to this rule - everything must be thrown in a blender so Supreme Leader's steak will look appetising, even if you have to destroy the tastiest risotto ever done in the process.

Rhea cannot have spotlight else we will be in a Lissa situation again - so if she has any, it'll play in the red herring already debunked 10 chapters ago "Church BaD Rhea BaD maybe she should have ruled over the world instead of letting HuMaNiTy rule itself". In Nopes? Conveniently, Uncle pops up so Rhea's goal changes, and she will prefer to save the world instead of putting the person who wants her out of Fodlan by tomorrow morning because her ears are pointy to the sword.

Dimitri? "BaD" as long as he wants to kill Supreme Leader, but when he'll become the Saviour King, he'll try to spare her and regret having to kill her - fuck to Baldo, Waldi, and the "creatures masquerading as humans" I guess - in FE16 ; in Nopes, he'll also join the "Church BaD" gang, thus isn't "really" opposing Supreme Leader, right?

Clout became a thing.

And Billy? Well, Barney's existence is their nemesis, so to prop Barney they should shit on Billy, right?

But to shit on them to this point - throwing them with the other Nabateans in Nopes in the "dgaf" trashcan but also, confirming the worst theories from FE16 (Jerry's not the best dad ever) hurts. Billy was, this time, sacrificed to make place for the new self-insert, but also, imho, to showcase how the damn space lizards are evil (and not only because we're playing an agarthan game/route, but also because it checks a certain someone's agenda).

So while I think it's less something of "the devs hate Billy" it's more like "the devs want you to buy Hresvelg Tea".

[like-rain-or-confetti]

Hey vanity I remember you saying something about if you wrote twilight again you'd make the Romanians and the Volturi darker. Any headcanons on that?

Please Vanity I need my fix. I'd remember you said you'll fund it because you don't do rehab.

Hey I'll pay if I have to... just name the price

(This is a joke btw. Don't feel pressured. I loved that last fic you posted)

When I tell you this had me hysterically laughing 😂😂😂...

Headcanons, I don't really have- mostly just thoughts of what I could differently and revamp some characters.

So I tend to wonder myself. Like a part of me thinks, they're less approachable. A.K.A Demetri and Felix- I'm looking at you buds.

I also wonder if some -like the Romanians- have any kind of compromising bone in their body? Like realistically, women have had to spend years fighting for their right to be heard and taken seriously. We still have people out there who would take that away and they aren't centuries-old vampires. So would a very old vampire male who has always gotten the first and last word be willing to give up that kind of power? I see this as one of the Volturi or Romanian covens thinking "Oh you want to do this? Tough shit. It's my way and that's that." Covens like the Cullens that interact more with humans have changed with the times but I wonder to what extent older and isolated covens would still be stuck in rigid ways and how that would go with humans who are of this time?

Beyond a revamping of sorts for Demetri and Felix- I tend to think about the level of violence. The Volturi have definitely gotten their hands dirty over the years and the Romanians literally enjoy torture.

Although all of this could be utter bullshit because I've recognised from writing for different fandoms that I have written for twilight frightened of what people take of my writing and what people will accuse me of rather than just let the story write itself without fear of judgement of those few who take it too seriously. Whereas say for Batman, it has been a case of expect shitty actions from shitty people. I think we all know the Volturi and the Romans especially are a collective of shitty people so anticipate shitty behaviour that's driven by outdated philosophies.

But I'd definitely say Caius, Demetri and Felix needed to be amped up a notch.

The flirty or goofy Felix should be reserved for those he is friends with or more at a certain time or place.

Demetri should be almost silent, as he has been in the books and movies. This might be mistaken as being shy but is really a predator ready to strike at any given moment. When he's interested romantically, that's when he becomes the irresistible dude he knows he is😂😭

For Caius, I'd like to put him more to use. Whilst he is undermined and overruled by Aro constantly throughout the movies. I'd like to display this as a rarity rather than a constant crutch. The two are sadistic lil' shits who bond over this.😂

For Marcus, I think I'd like to have him more of darker side too. Like beyond Chelsea there's a reason why he's still there. He isn't always this zombie who saves the day per say because he likes a good love story- all of that.

I dunno, these are just things that pop into mind. I think their brutal reputation could be kicked up a notch in my writing but worry about the consequences of that since this blog is only for fun and only intended to have fun. Not to mention I think I'd like to have the other Volturi guards more known in my writing.

I'm curious! Let me know what you guys think!❤️

P.S.

what did I say I'd fund now!? What did I get myself into this time?😭😂

My price...

Hmmmmm...

Could do with more Volturi and Romanian content? Anyone willing to annoy SMeyer into giving me that Volturi book or Romanian coven stuff? Not sure if I trust it but beggars can't be choosers!👀

[linkspooky]

Been very invested into your MHA meta, and most of it reminded of the -truly frustrating to me-debate around "Why Batman won'tjust kill/let someone kill Joker or [insert other villian]". It feels like in Red Hood ideology vs Batman's, people often fail to understand why Bruce insists on not killing and even occasionally saving villians' lifes. Killing Joke is especially interesting, bc there B admits it might come to him killing J, but he tries to reach out to J anyway, even after Barbara.

I actually have a meta discussing whether or not batman killing the joker would be justified, it's an old one right here. If you're interested in a more in-depth part where I talk about the Killing Joke, I cover it right here. I actually love the red hood and batman debate that goes on in Under the Red Hood (It's actually my second favorite comic storybook arc of all time), because it shows that Bruce is someone who values human life over everything else.

Also, like in Under the Red Hood itself, the debate isn't really about whether or not Batman should kill people. The whole conflict of the story is whether or not Jason can be saved, and Batman is using Jason killing people and therefore "crossing a line" as a reason not to reach out and save him. B/c Bruce is too paralyzed by the guilt of losing Jason. Which like, the answer to why Batman is against killing is because people always deserve the shot to come back and improve themselves. Therefore, Bruce should have been able to say to Jason "the reason I don't kill people is because they always have the chance to come back, and you have the chance to come back."

But, the ending is tragic. So yes, even in the story that is about whether or not Batman would be more effective if he killed people, the story shows batman shouldn't kill because no one is too far gone and batman's unwillingness to be the helping hand to Jason is what makes it so Jason isn't saved by the end of the comic.

I agree in Killing Joke too, the whole point of Killing Joke is that Bruce of all people even wants the joker to recover from his bad day, and Bruce knows that his and the joker's fight is only going to get worse the more violently Bruce stikes back, which is why he tries to reason with the joker even after he has shot Barbara.

[maxwell-grant]

You have done an (excelent) post on how to reinvent Batman as a Pulp Hero. Do you think you could do one to Superman as well? Or do you think it is impossible to do this with the progenitor of the Super Hero genre without transforming him in a totaly diferent character?

Well, you saying it as impossible only makes it seem ever more tempting of a challenge, but yes, it is a bit harder. I'm gonna link my Batman post here as a reference point.

Partially because Batman's a franchise I've thought extensively about for a long time in regards to what I like about it or how I'd like to approach if given the opportunity, which is not something I can really say for Superman until more recently the Big Blue to start orbiting my brain. I don't have years worth of redesigns or fan concepts saved on my galleries and files to comb through to pick and choose here, and my experience with Superman as a character is considerably different, in some aspects more deeply personal, and not really something I'd like to go into in this blog, at least not now.

Part of the reason why it's harder is also because Batman and Superman have very different relationships with their pulp inspirations. Batman was, ostensibly, a pulp character adapted to comics, a dime-a-dozen Shadow knock-off who picked up and played up diverging traits from other characters and gradually ran with them to gradually forge a unique identity. Superman right from the start was rooted in a much stronger conceptual underpinning: the Sci-Fi Superman and Alien Menace who, instead of being a tragic monster or a tyrannical villain, becomes a costumed adventurer and social crusader. Even the name Super-Man was taken from an early story of Siegel and Shuster about a telepathic villain who ends the story lamenting that he should have used his powers for the good of mankind instead of selfishness. I hesitate to call what Siegel and Shuster were doing “subversive” because that term's picked up a real negative connotation, and it's not like Siegel and Shuster were out to upend their influences (they were pulp aficionados themselves), but rather putting a more positive, new spin on them.

Which is why it also becomes a bit harder to do what I did with Batman and align Superman with some of his pulp-esque inspirations, like John Carter, Flash Gordon or Hugo Danner, without just making it "Superman but he's John Carter", "Superman but it's Flash Gordon", and "Iron Munro / Superman but everything sucks" respectively. It's harder to create a character that wouldn't feel reduntant and derivative at best, and actively contradictory to Superman at worst.

I guess if I had to come up with a "Pulp Hero Superman" take I liked, well first of all I'd have to take steps to distance it from the likes of Tom Strong or Al Ewing's Doc Thunder, those two are as good as it gets in regards to Pulp Supermen. I stipulated for Batman a "No Guns, No Murder, No Service" policy partially to distance my takes on Batman from all the "Pulp Batmen" that just add guns and murder and take Batman back to the barest of basics. Likewise, I'm adding a "No Depowered Science Hero" rule here, which means it's a take that's likely going to veer off a lot more into fantasy and probably enough tampering with Clark's character that it does risk becoming a different character.

Frankly I don't think I'm gonna succeed at doing these without just making it a new character entirely, because with Batman you can get away with just upending the character's aesthetic and setting and even origin and still keep it recognizably Bruce Wayne (in fact Batman does that all the time), which isn't really the case with Superman, who needs those to remain recognizably Superman as he goes through internal changes and character shifts. I guess what I'm gonna do here is more taking the building blocks of Superman/Clark Kent and see a couple new ways I can rearrange them to create a Pulp Superman

Perhaps something we can do is to scale back or recontextualize the "superhero" parts without diminishing Superman's role as a superpowered fantasy character.

One way we can start is by picking on that connection between Superman and the sci-fi supermen/alien monsters of pulps I mentioned earlier and play it up further, to create a Superman who's deeply, deeply alien in a way that no mild-mannered disguise or colorful outfit can really disguise, something so dramatically powerful and alien, that instead you could get tales about the kinds of ensuing changes and ripple effects this has on the world upon the The Super-Man's arrival. And for that I'm gonna have to quote @davidmann95's concept for Joshua Viers' absolutely stunning Superman redesign on the left side of the image above

The red, the goldish-orange and white, the alienness, the angelic, sculpted feeling, the halo, that innocently curious expression: it’s genuinely beautiful. Superman as a redeeming science-angel from beyond our understanding, as much past the uncanny valley of limited human comprehension as a Lovecraftian monster but tuned to the opposite key - you could spend an endless procession of human lifetimes trying and failing to understand this being, but all you’ll ever know for sure is that it is beyond you, and it knows you, and it loves you.

Superdoomsday from Earth 45, healed and transformed into the savior it was originally envisioned as? Some descendant of his, or a future of the man himself? An alien who picked up on a broadcast of Superman from Earth, and so inspired reshaped itself in his image to spread his ‘gospel’ to the stars?

Alternatively, to come back to Earth a little, many, many pulp characters and series were built off the antics and personalities of real people, celebrities getting their own magazines or serials or fictionalized takes on them, so perhaps one way to make a "pulp" take on Superman would be to emphasize a bit more of Superman's real-world roots, trends that inspired his creation directly or indirectly at the time. The Jewish strongman Sigmund Breibart and Shuster's interest in fitness culture, Harold Lloyd's comic persona, the rising "strongman" film genre in the early 20th century, actors Clark Gable and Kent Taylor that supposedly named his secret identity, Clark Kent being a socially-awkward journalist based of Siegel's own school experiences.

Maybe one start to an authentic Pulp Superman, who would still be Superman, would be to just ask the question "What if Superman was a real person and/or a celebrity, and they started making pulp magazines and serials dedicated to him? What would those look like?". You wouldn't even have to restrict it to just a story set in the 1930s, in fact you could even play around with the rise of new mediums over the decades.

This third one is a little closer to some plans I have for my own take on a Superman character, not necessarily what I would do with Superman proper but one of my ideas for a Superman analogue. Superman's a character I'll always associate strongly with childhood and childhood fantasy, and to tap into that I would emphasize the other end of the fiction that influenced Siegel and Shuster: comic strips, in their case specifically Little Nemo and Popeye.

In my case I would bring additional influences from some of the comic strips I personally grew up reading like Monica's Gang and Calvin and Hobbes, and I already talked a bit about Captain Fray in terms of how he’s a Superman character despite being a villain. I guess you could call this one "What if Superman was a public domain comic strip character, stripped of the importance of being the founding figure of a super popular genre or extended universe, and also was kind of ugly?".

He's not "Sloth from the Goonies" ugly, I swear I didn't actually have Sloth in mind when typing out this idea, I've never watched that film nor did I know until now that he actually spends the film in a Superman shirt. That's not really what I'm going for. Visually I was thinking of modeling my take on Superman heavily after Hugo from Street Fighter and his inspiration Andre the Giant, to really emphasize the “circus strongman / freak wrestler” aspect of Superman’s inspiration, particularly in regards to how Hugo’s SFIII version strikes a really great balance in making Hugo ugly and both comedic and fearsome in battle, as well as lovable and even a little dopey (without being outright stupid, like his IV self) in his victory animations and endings.

He's still Superman, he still goes on fantastical adventures to help people, he's still a deeply loving and compassionate soul whose face beams with joy and affection and who's got wonderful eyes and a great smile. It's just that this smile has a couple of mismatched stick-out teeth or some missing ones, and he's got a crooked smile some people take as smug or malicious, he’s got a strongman’s gut instead of a bodybuilder’s abs, his nose is a little busted (maybe he’s had too many crash landings), and his hair is a little wild or greasy, and he doesn't exactly have very good people skills because of how others usually react to him and, y'know, he doesn't get the kind of publicity Superman would get despite doing ostensibly the same things. He’s not deformed, he’s incredibly intelligent and capable, but in comparison to how superheroes are usually allowed to look, he might as well be Bizarro in the public eye.

It becomes a running gag that people tend to assume some nearby fireman or cop was the one who rescued the hundred orphans out of a burning building single-handedly, meanwhile he's getting accosted off-panel by police officers who think he set the building on fire, or think they can bully this weird man dressed funny. He goes to rescue old people in peril and occasionally they yell at him that they don't have any money. He doesn't get asked to lead superhero meetings or teams even though many in the community advocate for just how much he does for the world, he gets censored out of tv broadcasts or group shots (even his face is sometimes pixelated when they do show him), people invite him on talk shows and don't really let him talk or assume they got the wrong guy. He goes to rescue a woman dangling off a building, and then he gets attacked by like three different superhero teams who assume he must have kidnapped the poor damsel. He was the first superhero, he is the strongest of them all still, but he never really gets credit for it, it nor does he even want to. None of this at all stops him or deters him, except for some occasionally funny reactions.

This never really changes for him, he doesn't really earn people's approval nor does he have to, instead the stories, outside of the gags and adventures you’d expect from a comic strip, veer more towards others learning to be less judgmental and him learning ways to better approach people. He isn't any lesser than Superman just because he doesn't look like most people would want him to look and he doesn't have to look like Superman. Really I think we could use more superheroes that don’t look all so uniformly pretty.

Again, probably not a take that would work for Clark proper, but it’s one way I would take a shot at doing Superman with my own

I have other stuff in the works for this character but I'd like to keep them to better work on them for now, but yeah, these are three of my shots at developing a Pulp Superman.

Alternatively here's a fourth idea that's more pulp than all of these: Join up Nicholas Cage with Panos Cosmatos again, or whatever weird indie director he decides to pair up with next, and let them do whatever the hell they want with Superman. Give us Mandy Superman. Superman vs The Color Out of Space. Superman vs Five Nights at Freddy's. Superman’s quest to find THE LAST PIG OF KRYPTON. Anything goes.

[planetariumandacid]

I've just been thinking about how Bruce's life is somehow eternally spiraling just a few inches away from a dark abyss, which the world named The Bat-Man.

And, yeah, i think that The Batman and The Bat-Man are kinda... Different things. Because I think that there should be some line. In fact, there are dozens of lines when we're talking about something like Batman, but it just seems one of the brightest edges for me.

Because I imagine The Bat-Man more like the absolute manifestation of everything that Bruce Wayne has ever tried to achieve... Inevitably failing to do so every single time. Because this kind of thing would have required losing all of his humanity — to become some ghostly Prowler Of The Dark, which is kinda paradoxal if you give it a thought, because, even though he would have become more efficient and save more lives... he just wouldn't be the BATMAN any more.

Because he would have lost that thing that originally brought Batman to life, one of the most human feelings of all time — a sheer rejection of Death. A sheer reaction to death. Batman, in it's core, is an attempt to stop the bullet that killed Thomas and Martha Wayne, to break the gun, to grab the hand of the murderer — it's an attempt to stop the Death itself. A seemingly impossible act performed by a man who trained himself specifically to do impossible things.

The Bat — the only mammal that can fly.

But in his attempts to grow into something more than ordinary human, Bruce is very likely to lose that one thing that is responsible for making him who he is — a paradoxal man who sees in the faces of his foes, madmen and scandalous evil-doers, the face of a killer of his parents, covered in shadows; a man who is doing imposible things in attempt to try and save other families from experiencing what he has been through.

A child's image of a man who wouldn't let something terrible like this ever happen.

He tries so desperately to be someone like Clark, or some other superhero — to be an invulnerable shield, an unstoppable force of nature, a punishing arm of justice which is stopping the bullets in the thin air... But he has always been more of a guy who would've more likely catch the bullets with his own body than someone like Spectre. He's not "the shadow itself", no — he uses the shadows to do good things, just like in that one comic when he reforged the gun that killed his parents into a bat-logo, so the thing that broke his heart now would serve to protect him while he's protecting other people. And, I am going to get a whole-ass poetic right there, you can't catch the bullets with yourself when you are some kind of vengeful spirit or blob of darkness which Bruce sometimes think he must be, because letting yourself to turn into something like this would mean that, now, your main goal is not saving people anymore... Now it's about punishing people — and that's just not what I think the Batman is.

He is not a lightning from the sky, not an embodiment of vengeance, he's just a man — but he's a man who pushes himself to the boundaries of all that is possible for humans, and he's not crossing them, because that's what makes him work. An acknowledgement of his human limitations and, as a result, finding different ways to get around them.

Not to say that, every time he tried to do some doubtful shit with "going beyond limitations", it always ends really bad. Like that time he was on Bane-pills because he couldn't save a child, or that time with Red Death... Or with literally any other Batman in the Dark Multiverse.

Furthermore, being human is what makes him special — because, if he gets beyond imagination of a regular man... Would a Bat be so special in a world of birds — in a world where anyone could fly, could do impossible things like it's nothing special?

Actually, if we are to talk about what Batman is in my opinion, I just always thought of him like a concept, an ever-growing myth which is combining Dc Universe and our real world, feeding and living on our image of him... And the fuel to his existence is that no one really knows, who Batman is. And I'm not talking about secret identity stuff. I mean the whole idea of Batman.

A myth is a clash of ideas and opinions, a collision of different forms, an attempt to compare your image with vision of other people, and, in doing so — while you're doing so, the character will live. And the fuel to all of these conversations is that everyone has their own image of Batman, therefore nobody can agree on what Batman must be, thus nobody knows... Who Batman is. We are kinda creating legends of the dark knight just like the people of Gotham are sharing stories about Batman and how do they see him.

And that's just fine, because this means he probably, or most certainly, will live another 80 years, but that's not the most wild part... The wild part is that I think that, beyond all these reasons, the most important condition for Batman's existence is not the fact that we don't know who he is... But the fact that Bruce Wayne doesn't. Or can't decide. All this years, he tried to establish how does he see the Batman and, with every new important event in his life, this image kept changing and evolving. Bruce Wayne is creating myths about Batman pretty much just like we do – he desperately tries to understand what does he want to do with his life, what does he want from it and what does ut want from him, but, just nearby... There's always Batman.

With a mix-up like this, no wonder people would think that Bruce Wayne and Batman could be really two interacting personalities. It really looks like two separate men are fighting for their place in the world, for the right to live, and exist.

Taking into consideration everything mentioned above, yeah, this is just "Batman: Ego and Other Tales", random Grant Morrison comic and Neil Gaiman arc, but with more descriptions of a Bruce Wayne's dilf-ass.

It may actually seem self-destructive in some ways, but, honestly, what does any honest to God superhero try to achieve? A world where he wouldn't be needed. A world where he can just not exist. I mean, it's sounds kinda suicidal, but in a more complex way, you know?

[scrawnydutchman]

Moon Knight: The Dangers of Being a Symbol

*Spoilers ahead for the Moon Knight series on Disney+ and minor spoilers for the comics*

The MCU has yet to show any signs of slowing down in 2022. Not only is Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness less than a week away from release as of this essay, but Moon Knight has it’s 6th (and I think final?) episode of season 1 coming this wednesday. Going into Moon Knight I didn’t know what to expect. I like to consider myself a pretty big Marvel fan as I’ve been reading and drawing the comics and playing the video games since I was a kid, even before the MCU started rolling out with the first Iron Man in 2008. But even so I knew basically nothing about Moon Knight for some time and when he DID occasionally surface on my feed somewhere (be it a trailer for the show, a screenshot of the comics or a weird shitpost about him bullying Dracula for money) it usually left me with more questions than answers. After checking out the show and reading the comics I can safely say that being left with more questions than answers is . . . . . KINDA the appeal of Moon Knight . . . and it works shockingly well.

What I once wrote off in my own head as “Marvel’s answer to Batman” suddenly became not only a complex and original character and world in its own right, but quite possibly the most refreshing and original superhero I’ve watched/read about in recent years. Moon Knight is unlike anything I’ve seen before in this genre. It is an absolute mindfuck; with a narrative as fluid as vodka that is so topsy turvy that it constantly leaves you questioning what is and isn’t real. I haven’t had a superhero bend my imagination to this degree in quite some time and I definitely recommend it to any readers who are interested in a surreal adventure. I’m thoroughly enjoying “Moon Knight: The Complete Collection” and encourage others to check it out.

On top of all of that though, Moon Knight offers some keen insight on the superhero genre itself. It dissects the very idea of dressing up in a costume to represent a higher concept of justice or hope or what have you . . .and what that does to a human being. Moon Knight is certainly not the first superhero comic to tackle the topic of mental health but it DOES stand out for putting it in the forefront the way it does. To delve further into this point, we should get the synopsis for what Moon Knight is all about out of the way:

Marc Spector is an ex soldier turned mercenary who one day takes up a job from his employer to accompany a team of archeologists and raid an Egyptian tomb. Things quickly go south, however, as it turns out Marc’s employer had plans to kill everyone at the site and take the treasures of the tomb for himself. Marc tried to stop him but failed to protect any lives and ended up getting mortally wounded in the process. On the brink of death, Marc suddenly hears a voice. It is the voice of Khonshu, the Egyptian God of the Moon to whom the tomb belongs. Khonshu offers Marc a deal: If he swears to be Khonshu’s fist of vengeance against those who would hurt the “travelers of the night” (which is a fancy way of saying the innocent), Khonshu will save his life. Marc agrees and is reborn as “Moon Knight”, The fist of Khonshu with abilities like super strength and fast healing and weapons like clubs and moon shaped blades.

So on the surface it sounds like a generic superhero origin story, right? Just a simple explanation for why this guy has his powers and weapons. However, those who are familiar with Moon Knight will know that I left out a very important detail that gives Moon Knight an edge over other superheroes with his storytelling.

Moon Knight . . .has Dissociative Identity Disorder. Different personalities are in control of his body at different times. He isn’t just Marc Spector the disgraced mercenary. He’s also Steven Grant the charismatic millionaire.  He’s also Jake Lockley, the ultra violent cab driver. And apparently Moon Knight and Khonshu count as separate personalities too: making for a total of 5. 

Having such an unpredictable and often unwieldy mental illness causes Moon Knight to have a rocky relationship with his friends and superhero allies. It challenges the relationships he holds most dear on an intense level, to a point where he often scares away the people who matter most to him. 

So this just begs the question . . . why did Khonshu choose Marc Spector to be his fist of vengeance? Did Khonshu know Marc was such a damaged human being? The answer . . . is a resounding yes. Khonshu chose Marc BECAUSE he is damaged. It is his broken mind that convinced Konshu he would be an ideal candidate for the role. But what makes a damaged individual fit to be a superhero?

Despite me selling what sets Moon Knight apart from other super heroes, he isn’t THAT much different from them when you stop to think about it. Khonshu represents something that a lot of gods from a lot of different pantheons represent. He also represents what a lot of superheroes represent with their costumes and their storylines.

He represents an idea. A concept larger than any human being. He represents a specific philosophy: a distinction between what is right and wrong and how to respond against evil. In turn, his chosen avatar also represents this. Moon Knight becomes Khonshu’s brand of justice made manifest.

But how does a human being go about representing a concept that is larger than themself? What does it do to a person to serve an unknowable god or to serve ANY kind of abstract concept? What does a person have to be to give themselves fully to that philosophy and to that cause?

the answer . . . is crazy. 

Khonshu wanted Marc to be his fist of vengeance because Marc meets what a person would have to be in order to do so. Not only does he have the combat training from his time as a merc . . . but he’s mentally unstable enough to be easily manipulated by and he’s self loathing enough to do anything for redemption. 

Sounds really fucked up, doesn’t it? It’s a mentally ill man being used like a puppet by a sanctimonious and abusive God. The man loyally endures it for the most part because, despite the fact that being the fist of Khonshu cost him everything, he feels as though there’s nothing else going for him. He would rather be Moon Knight than Marc Spector.

This right here is the reason why Marc often finds himself on the opposite end of where the rest of the Marvel heroes are. He has difficulty earning their respect because of all this.

But honestly . . . . aren’t all superheroes slaves to their code?

Think about Batman. Batman made a swear on the deaths of his parents that he would rid Gotham City of the evil that took their lives. He takes his oath VERY seriously. But despite his training and his gadgets and his brilliance as a detective, Batman has set himself up for failure. He will NEVER rid the world of evil. For as long as there are those with evil intent in their heart evil will always be committed. Batman fights a battle he cannot win. He knows that. But it doesn’t matter. He has committed himself fully to his ideals and will not compromise anything for his mission. It’s no secret that his one man crusade has taken an enormous toll on everyone he loves. It gets his sidekicks killed and it breaks the heart of the one guardian figure he has left. But even so, he cannot stop. And his mind suffers all the more for it just like Marc Spector’s. When you really boil it down, the only difference between Batman’s mission and Moon Knight’s mission is that Moon Knight’s mission talks back to him.

Same can be said about Spider-Man. Peter Parker suffered immeasurable loss the day his Uncle died and it was his fault for not doing the responsible thing. Now he has committed himself fully to his mantra “with great power comes great responsibility”. From then on, Peter is punished for trying to have a life outside of his mission. His loved ones die at the hands of his villains, he spends less precious time with his Aunt May and often times he has to break up relationships with the women he loves because association with him ruins their life. But can Peter ever give up? Can be ever put himself first for a change so that he can be there for the people he truly cares about and live a normal, happy life? Of course not. For he has great power; and with great power comes great responsibility.

Much more often than not heroes are born from tragedy and commit themselves fully to a failing mission in a desperate need for redemption. But they are still human beings. Bound to make mistakes. Bound to be wrong. Bound to hurt others even if they don’t mean to. How can flawed beings take on such absolutist ideals? They must give themselves absolutely. To do so is to be mad. To give so willingly to such a mission it appears to some degree you must be broken from the start.

That’s why Khonshu loved that Marc was such a damaged individual. Khonshu knew that no well adjusted person would ever seriously take this responsibility.

We’d like to think that superheroes are the best of us and that they are awarded their power specifically for that. But honestly, they’re mainly just . . . . sad. You never hear about a superhero free of baggage and just wants to do good for good’s sake. Even boy scout heroes like Superman and Captain America have SOMETHING that is conditioning them into sacrificing their chances for a good life, whether it’s being the sole survivor of a planetary genocide or being a man who was pulled out of his time and now has nothing else to live for . . . but the mission.

All of this is why I REALLY appreciate the current take on Moon Knight. It isn’t your typical “lucky guy comes across fantastic power and decides to fight crime” story. It fully explores the more grim implications of all this. Khonshu isn’t like the wizard Shazam where he chooses champions for their nobility. The writer doesn’t pretend Khonshu is this pinnacle of goodness or ethics. Khonshu is a monster who uses individuals as tools for his agenda. And Marc isn’t his champion because no one else is worthy of such power. It isn’t Mjolnir. Marc is his champion because he doesn’t resist Khonshu’s will . . . no matter how much it piles on to Marc’s already immense guilt.

The saddest part is . . . Marc never really deserved any of this. He made a poor choice when he was a child and it ended up costing him more than he realized. That’s it. With proper care and love he could have been a healthier person. But instead he is burdened with carrying the blame for his masters, be it the Moon God . . . or his mother. The happiest ending for Marc is when he doesn’t have to be Moon Knight or any other of his personas anymore . . . but I doubt that will ever come. It’s always about the mission.

[purple-goo-writes]

Young and Beautiful Finale

 HERE IT IS THE FINAL INSTALLMENT!

Taglist: @clumsy-owl-4178 @myazael @woe-is-me0 @midnightmode @t1dwarrior-of-earth @stainedglassm@catthhay @dorkus-minimus @maskedpainter @waffleyunsure @marinettepotterandplagg @demonicbusiness @mystery-5-5 @justafanwarrior @ilovefluffbutsmutisalsogreat @thewitchwhowaited @ramos123

Dear lord, when I get to heaven Please let me bring my man When he comes tell me that you'll let him in Father tell me if you can All that grace, all that body All that face, makes me wanna party He's my sun, he makes me shine like diamonds

Will you still love me When I'm no longer young and beautiful? Will you still love me When I've got nothing but my aching soul? I know you will, I know you will I know that you will Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful? Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful? Will you still love me when I'm not young and beautiful?

“Bruce is dead, Tim. He isn’t coming back...Please drop this insane theory of yours.”

Dick’s words kept repeating in his head over and over as Tim stared unseeing at the data calculating on the BatComputer through the program he been working tirelessly to make. He knew his theory was right! He just knew it!

Bruce was lost in the time stream, a last act of vengeance from Darkseid.

And if Tim was right, when Bruce returned-

His thoughts were interrupted by the soft, fragile voice of their adoptive mother, “Timmy?”

“Come to tell me to give up too?” He asked, his tone rather harsh as Tim looked over his shoulder at the thin and grieving form of Marinette, wincing when he saw her flinch back at his tone, “Mom..I’m sorry that was out of line.”

The French/Chinese woman simply gave him a soft ghost of a smile, making Tim remember just how grief stricken Marinette was. And not just for Bruce-for the child she would never get to hold or had known of before the grief and stress brought by Bruce’s disappearance caused her to miscarriage. The young man felt guilt pierce his heart as he really took in just how Marinette looked; she was much too thin from losing her appetite due to first Bruce and then the miscarriage, he could tell she hadn’t cared for her appearance for days now (probably the last time Alfred was able to coax her from Bruce’s room) as she was still dressed a pair pajama bottoms and one of Bruce’s old shirts, her hair had started to thin from her stress and hung limply around her frame in an oily and stringy mass, and the paleness of her skin only enhanced the large bags under her red rimmed eyes. The woman who once stood proud and strong even in the face of an angry Superman had been reduced to a meer shadow of her former self.

The main reason Tim wished to get their father back. Without Bruce, Marinette was falling apart in her grief and nothing the kids or Alfred did could bring her back. And without Marinette there to help hold them together, the rest of their little family was falling apart. 

He turned fully around and got up, pulling his adoptive mother into a hung, “I’m sorry, I just came back from the meeting with the JL and they...they wouldn’t listen to my theory or reasoning.”

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She tried to keep them together, to be strong for her children. She tried so hard. But her heart cried out for her missing half and the pain was too much to ignore. Especially after the loss of the baby she had unknowingly been carrying.

Alfred understood after all he was the only one who knew that Bruce had finally gotten the courage to ask her out a month before Darkseid attacked. They wanted to wait before informing the children, mostly because they were amused by the plots the kids kept coming up with to Parent Trap them. Though Bruce was exasperated that they were using the skills he taught them for this.

Marinette could tell that everything was weighing heavily on the eldest twos shoulders’ as Dick and Jason tried to keep the family together and Gotham safe. The girls were scattered to the winds, though she knew that it was because they were trying to find alternate ways to bring Bruce back. They would call her every other day to check in or shoot her a text. 

When the stress of the months that followed caused Marinette to miscarriage, it was as if the last of her strength had become zapped and all she could do was grieve. She rarely left the master bedroom after that, only bathing and eating when Alfred managed to drag her out of the room-something she always apologized for burdening him with whenever she was lucid. It was just so hard to stay in the here and now, when there was no certainty if Bruce would ever return or if he was truly dead. When Bruce would never get to know about the life she had been carrying...when she would never get to see him huff fondly at their sons’ antics or the girls’ shenanigans...when she would never get to remind him of how much their children loved him, how much SHE loved him...She would never get to see the look of wonder on his face again whenever one of their kids made a new discovery or got excited over a break in a difficult case...

She would never get to propose to him like she planned to do, after all she had loved him for so long...She didn’t want to wait any longer and risk something happening..

Something like this.

It was one of her moments of lucidity when she heard the arguing and then Tim storming off to the Cave as Dick left the manor when they returned from the JL meeting. Marinette silently sought out her second youngest, confronted him and when he told her his theory...

She felt hope bloom once again in her heart. 

Tim theorized that Darkseid planned for the Omega Energy to build up each time that Bruce jumped through time and that once he reached their time, the Energy would destroy them all. A last ‘Fuck You’ from the God Tyrant after Bruce defeated him. Tim was trying to figure out a way to retrieve Bruce without destroying the timeline and undoing what Bruce had already done...

But, Marinette already had an idea. One formed from her desperation to get her love back, to get her children’s father back even if it came at the cost of herself. Gotham needed Batman and his Children needed Bruce Wayne. Without him, they were falling apart.

Marinette smiled serenely as she felt calm for the first time in a long time as the weight of her decision settled over her shoulders. She gently stopped Tim’s rambling and kissed the young man’s forehead, “Don’t worry, I have a way.”

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Tim felt ice settle in his stomach as cold dread froze the blood in his veins at the words Marinette spoke. His lightening quick mind already theorizing what her plan could be as Marinette stepped away from him and strode to the center of the Cave. But the shock of what she was going to do slowed his reflexes as he snapped out of his thoughts and to the here and now, rushing to stop her only to be meet with a green barrier. He hadn’t even noticed that she was wearing the Turtle bracelet...

“Timothy Drake-Wayne, as the Grand Guardian of the Miraculous I name you my heir and the Sole Guardian of the Grand Miracle Box.”

He should have known, she rarely was without at least 3 miraculous on her these days.

Tim felt the tears start to well up in his eyes as he pounded on to the barrier with his fists, “MOM! Don’t do it! We can find another way! PLEASE!” Desperation and grief speared his heart and laced his voice as he begged and pleaded for Marinette to bring the barrier down.

He wasn’t aware of his shouting and desperate pleading catching the attention of Damian and Alfred, the latter dashing off to inform the others and get them to the Cave in an attempt to stop Marinette. Tim could only watch through tears as Marinette simply smiled as she transformed into Ladybug for the first time in years before unifying the Black Cat with the Ladybug miraculous.

There was a blinding flash of light causing Tim and Damian, who had just ran into the Cave, to cry out and cover their eyes. And when they blinked away the spots of light, the two boys could only stare in wonder and sadness at the being standing before them. Before them stood a goddess, a being made of pure magical energy and radiated light.

But..

It was no longer Marinette.

Tim knew the being may have his mother’s memories, feelings and thoughts.. But he knew she was not Lost to the Magical energy as it consumed her to fuel the wish she was making. Magic came at a cost, especially when using powerful artifacts and combining them.

Because to bring back their Father, their Mother was going to sacrifice herself.

A serene smile shown brightly among the particles making up her being as the goddess crooned to her sons, unaware of the others running into the Cave, “Don’t worry...I will bring him back...”

And then Light filled the entire Cave causing them all to cry out in surprise and pain as it flooded their vision.

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She searched and searched as she fell backwards through time, before finally finding him.

As she fell...She watched as Bruce jumped through time.

She watched as Bruce lost his memories and was cast back to the dawn of time itself. Knowing she couldn’t bring him back yet, not yet. Even as Bruce was nearly killed and then rescued by a young human, getting his utility belt in the process. Watched with vague amusement as Bruce downed the pelt of a giant Bat and resumed his Batman persona even while running on instinct, using the tools from the belt to fight the tribe that tried to kill him. Screamed when he dove off the waterfall into the raging river below...

Marinette watched as Bruce saved a woman from a tentacled monster. Regaining some of his memories and using his detective skills as Mordecai to help solve crimes within the village that would later become Gotham. Cursed the witch who indirectly cursed her Love when she was hanged. 

Marinette could only watch as Bruce got closer and closer to their timeline, while waiting for her chance to intervene. She cheered as he fought Blackbeard. Raged when he was shot by Jonah Hex. Wept for him as he has to investigate his own parent’s murder and rages when that Bitch tried to sacrifice Bruce to his own myth. 

And when he jumped again, Marinette was able to intercept him finally. 

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Gold particles of light swirled around the enchanting being floating in front of Bruce, gently cupping his face as she stared down at him with a serene smile even though it was hard to see. Her golden form was made of a constantly shifting stream of particles it seemed, condensed together to vaguely form the visage of a tiny yet beautiful woman. Her hair was a nebula trapped in a flowing stream of midnight blue trailing behind her form as if floating through water weightless. And her eyes were burning stars of the blue crackling  with limitless power, diamond bright droplets streamed from them and swirled about the goddess' face freely yet she did not notice the tears. Bell-like laughter chimed from her as the goddess smiled brighter than the sun going supernova.

A breathless, timeless voice echoing around him in glee, "Bruce."

Bruce felt as if he should know who she is...

“It’ll be alright, my love. All will be well.”

He gasped as the warmth of her lips brushed against his forehead and the memories Bruce had lost came flooding back. All the missing bits and pieces that made Bruce the compassionate and loving father, and made Batman the unyielding and steadfast vigilante, he was. Things that weren’t returned to him with his suit.

“Marinette...”

He could only sway at the sudden rush of memories and how exhausted he was truly set in. Bruce blinked confused up at her as the goddess cupped his face gently, “Marinette...why?”

“Gotham needs you..” 

“But..”

“Our Children need you.”

“Marinette...”

He tried to protest, he knew exactly what would happen if she went through with this. Bruce reached up trying to cradle the heart shaped face of the woman he loved in the palms of his rough hands, “Marinette please..”

“I’m sorry Bruce,” the goddess crooned softly, sadness and steel lacing her words. 

“But I need You, Marinette,” He cried, begging her with those words to reconsider what she planned to do next.

“I love you Bruce.”

The finality of those words would forever be stamped into his heart even as blinding light flooded his vision.

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The light slowly died down, as if sucked back into the center of the room. The Bat family could only blink away the spots in shock as the light slowly condensed into two different figures. One was a familiar and much missed figure of a tall man dressed in a very familiar bat suit. And the other was a being made of pure light and the stars themselves.

Tim stood in shock, holding onto Damian as if to ground them both in reality. Did she really do it? But..

But at what cost?

They watched in shock as the woman gently took Bruce’s hands in her own and kissed his palms, “I love you all..”

They could only cry along with their father as the goddess slowly started to dissipate into little orbs of light, breaking apart and disappearing before their eyes. 

“Remember that..”

Until finally all that was left was a pair of earrings, a bracelet and a ring that gently dropped into a silent Bruce’s hands.

Batman had returned...

But at what cost.