#superhero meta

[butwhyduh]

One of my favorite tropes is that the entire superhero community can’t believe batman is just a human.

“I thought you were a meta?”

“No.”

“Well how did you do that?”

“(Long explanation of a tech he invented.)”

“Oh so you have super intelligence.”

“No…. I’m just smart.”

Then they meet Robin and assume he’s super powered.

“Bit of a hypocrite to have a super kid when you won’t even let us in the city.”

“Robin isn’t a meta.”

“WhAT?? He’s just a CHILD??”

They think this with every new Gotham vigilante. Some still refuse to believe Nightwing isn’t a meta.

“Humans can’t bend that much okay?”

“He’s… well trained.”

“Batman you can’t expect us to believe that.”

#Bruce Wayne #batman #meta #dc superheroes #superman is concerned #batman is not a meta #dc tropes #Robin #nightwing #dick Grayson

[artbyblastweave]

A few years ago, there was a thread on r/asksciencefiction where someone was fishing for a superhero story with an inverted Omni-Man dynamic, or a setting where Homelander's initial presentation is played straight- a setting where the Superman figure actually is the paragon of morality he's initially presented as, but no other superhero is- a situation where you've got one really competent true-blue hero standing head-and-shoulders in power above what's otherwise a complete nest of vipers.

Someone in the thread floated My Hero Academia; while I haven't read it, my understanding is that that's not really an accurate read of what's going on with Stain's neurosis about All-Might being the only "real hero," that the point of that arc is that Stain's got an insane and unreasonable standard and that taking an endorsement deal, while bad, isn't actually grounds for execution. My own contribution to the thread was Gail Simone's Welcome to Tranquility, where a major part of the backstory involved the faux Justice-League's Superman analogue having a little accident because he's the only one who thought they were morally obligated to go public with the secret life-extending macguffin that the rest of the team is using to enforce comic-book time on themselves and their loved ones; while only a couple members of the team are directly in on it, the rest are conveniently incurious. And Jupiter's Legacy gets tantalizingly close to this- The Utopian, a well-meaning stick-in-the-mud, ultimately gets blindsided and couped by his scheming brother who creates a superhero junta staffed by a Kingdom-Come-style glut of third-gen superheroes, who are framed as fundamentally self-interested because only came onto the scene after most of the situations you legitimately need a superhero to handle have been neutralized. (The rub, of course, is that the comic is also highly critical of the Utopian's intellectually incurious self-righteously 'apolitical' approach to superheroism- if for no other reason than that it left him in a position to get blindsided by a coup!) While Jupiter's Legacy gets the closest, all three of these are only loosely orbiting around the spirit of the original idea, and there's something really interesting there- particularly if the Superman figure isn't hopelessly naive in the same way as Utopian. Because first of all, if you're Metaman or Amazingman or whatever brand-name alias the writer goes with, and you really earnestly mean it, and you put together a team of all the other most powerful heroes on earth in order to pool your resources, and then with dawning horror you gradually begin to realize that everyone in the room besides yourself is a fascist or a con artist or abuser or any other variant of a kid with a magnifying glass eyeing that anthill called Earth- What the hell is your next move?

Do you just call the whole thing off? Can you trust that they'll actually go home if you call the whole thing off? I mean you've put the idea in their heads, are you sure that they aren't going to, like, start the Crime Syndicate in your absence? Do you stick around to try and enact containment, see if getting all of these people on a team makes them easier to keep on a leash? But that's functionally going to make you their enabler pretty quickly, right? Overlooking "should you kill them-" can you kill them? You're stronger than any individual one of them- are you stronger than all of them? The first time one of them really crosses a line in a way you can't ignore- will that be a one-on-one fight? Are they the kind of people capable of putting two-and-two together and pre-emptively ganging up on you if you push back too hard? Do you just start trying to get them killed, or keep them at each other's throats so they can't coordinate anything really nasty? Can you squeeze any positive moral utility out of them, or is that just a way to justify not doing the hard work of taking them down? There've been works where the conceit is to question the default assumption that Superman in specific would be a good person, and there've been works where the conceit is to question the default assumption that superheroes in general would be good people. Something to be done, I think, with questioning the default assumption that everyone Superman becomes professionally close to would be good, and to explore how he'd handle it if they weren't.

#thoughts #meta #jupiter's legacy #welcome to tranquility #superheroes #story ideas #analysis

[oliveroctavius]

finding out that DC literally sued Fawcett out of existence over Captain Marvel only to buy up the rights once they'd folded and start referring to the city where Billy lives as "Fawcett City" as a cutesy nostalgic reference is really like

#superhero copyright battles are DERANGED #dc moment #olivertxt #not to mention that Batson was named after 'Captain Billy' Fawcett #shazam #industry meta

[hauntedestheart]

A cool find I think followers of this blog will enjoy: Image Comics recently finished publishing a series called The Schlub, which is about a loser dentist who accidentally switches bodies with a super hero- could have been gayer, of course, but a fun read.

I bought a physical copy like a good boy (support your local comic book shop!) but if you look for it online, it's out there. I also went through and pulled some screenshots of pages that caught my eye.

#male body swap #tf media #Speaking strictly as a comic it's probably one of the best “meta” superhero takes on superheroes I've seen in a while

[mikakuna]

you ever think about jason feeling guilty for being the only one in crime alley to make it out, to get adopted by a wealthy person. do you think he feels guilty for messing up his chance, a chance that any crime alley child could only dream of, by dying?

do you think about the guilt that must've coursed through him when he was younger, sitting at the wayne family table eating a single meal that could've fed other crime alley children for a month? how many sleepless nights must he have had, shifting from his luxurious new bed to the floor because he couldn't remember the last time one of the other children slept in actual beds?

do you think he felt guilty about going to one of the richest schools in gotham knowing that most of the crime alley children would never be able to even step foot in a school, too busy worrying about more important matters? he must've had those moments where he was so happy sitting in class because finally i can go to school and i love it i love it so much but then the regret suddenly hits and he remembers those teenagers who loved school and were so close to making it out, yet eventually they'd be spotted on street corners or running drugs.

the guilt must've weighed so heavy on his little shoulders.

#THE AGONY #his guilt is so different from bruce and dick and tim #they feel guilt about failing to save civilians from the next villain #but jasons guilt must be in the fact that he knows superheroes can't save people who would always be doomed by society #so many thoughts about the guilt this boy must carry #the survivors guilt of being the only one to make it out of poverty #jason todd #red hood #batman #bruce wayne #dc #jason peter todd #jason todd meta #dc meta

[racefortheironthrone]

This is probably a dumb question, but do you think that superheroes are an inherently fascistic idea? I was reading an anarchist essay that described the police as "militarized groups with coercive authority and a closed, bureaucratic structure. Not developing out of a social necessity to protect people, but rather as a means to give the ruling class greater control over the population and expand the state’s monopoly on the resolution of social conflict." That sounds uncomfortably like a superhero team.

See here.

And no, that doesn't really describe a superhero team. They generally don't have coercive authority (or any authority), they are almost never bureaucratic, and they often have quite tense-to-hostile relationships with the state. I also question the extent to which they're militarized (at least in the sense of a strict chain-of-command, formal rules of engagement, professional training, etc.).

I find that quote particularly ironic, in that superhero groups arguably most closely resemble anarchist self-defense organizations if they had a lot more power but were less actively engaged in trying to overthrow the government (but I repeat myself).

#comics #comics meta #superheroes #fascism #anarchism

[aziraphale-is-a-cat]

I want a Danny who wants to live. I want him running from the heroic stint he was forced into just trying desperately to live an average normal life not haunted by his parents or their great big portal fuck up.

I was his ghost form, as he starts to hate it and transforms less and less, to become more and more monstrous to fit the image of what it means that he's constructed in his head. More grotesque, and reminiscent of his death. His right arm permanently shriveled in a grim reminder of the incident that Kickstarted his stress filled teenage career.

I want a Danny that hates Batman, and Superman and Green Arrow, and Aquaman, and all the other heroes out there with kid sidekicks. He despises them for bringing more kids into this, letting them get so cemented into that way of life that they never even have time to concider any other career path than being responsible for everyone else's fuck ups.

I don't want himself scared of his past, I want him mad at it. Completely fucking outraged that as a fourteen year old who had just fucking died, he was let and even encouraged to take on the weight of responsibility for an entire town to the detriment of his social and educational wellbeing.

I want him to be a tragedy.

#danny phantom #dp x dc #dc x dp #i want this man to so vehemently hate his childhood that he actuvely chases away any superheroes that come investigating this meta that #makes all their detection equipment go off away no matter how friendly they try to be #i dont want him to be a father figure to the young justice team #i want him to be the classic 'bad influence' pulling them further and further from career heroism

[egophiliac]

So the final character turns out to be based on Ryugen, but it feels kinda weird how there is also one based on Zangetsu and they aren't brothers

Or what if plot reveals they are brothers and he was actually adopted or stollen

I CAN'T BELIEVE HE'S ACTUALLY RYUUGEN?! I made a joke about it when Toten got revealed but I didn't actually expect... (I'm counting it as a win though, which means I guessed three out of sixteen! ...given how wacky some of these got, I'm actually pretty proud of that.)

he seems very sweet though! I hope he and his secret hamsters are very happy together. 🐹

(also:

THIS WAS MY EXACT TRAIN OF THOUGHT TOO! either this is an incredible bit of meta foreshadowing, or an incredible bit of Takahashi trolling, and I -- I honestly don't know which is more likely)

#art #ride kamens #(sorry this is rougher than usual...the art is not cooperating today) (i still have so much i want to draw. sob.) #and so the final boy is revealed... #i appreciate that the grape dragon boy has purple dragonball hair. i accept this as meta commentary. #(also given how gung-ho 'thank you niisan :) i love you niisan :)' he is i am leaning towards a very dramatic mid-story twist) (moohaha >:) #i am liking the cast overall! some odd pulls but all good ones imo #i knew fourze wasn't gonna happen but i had kind of hoped for one or both of the hoppers... #ah well. if it does well they might start adding more characters #and my very specific dreams of anime riders with beautiful flowing locks of hair may continue to be realized #now we wait for launch i guess! #maybe we'll get another pv or something to tide us over in the meantime? #i'm interested in what the gameplay will actually be like #i hope we get to decorate our cafes! i want to have the cutest secret superhero base in all the land

[spacebubblehomebase]

(5/6) "R is for Revolutio- No. It's a Reminder." 🧡

Duke Thomas was a Robin. Though never an official one. He was part of a movement that aimed to better their city in the absence of their Caped Crusader. During his time with the other birds however, he learned exactly how the shared title could change countless lives in meaningful ways. Just as he realized that not just ANYONE could BE a Robin, but also that Robin could truly BE there for ANYONE. -Bubbly💙

#spacebubblearts #dc #my art #fanart #robin #duke thomas #signal #dcu #color #practice #hue challenge #orange palette #batfam #bat family #wayne family adventures #webtoon #meta #we are robin #robin wars #comics #this guy was so unhinged #tried to out riddle The Riddler fr #plus that he has these really underrated light powers which is cool as heck in my opinion #gotham #batman #vigilante #superhero #the daylight savior #obscure pun intended #Next Robin is our last so look forward to the complete set! =)

[kedreeva]

Eddie Munson's message as a character should never have been that he needed to stop running and fight to be a hero. It should have been that heroism can look a lot of different ways. It should have been you don't have to be a hero to have worth.

#eddie munson #stranger things #yes I am still mad #no I will not be stopping soon #but you're going to get meta tomorrow about something else #no it will not make anything better #yes it will make you mad too hopefully #also not for nothing but #Literally El's whole arc was the same thing #they tried to play it like it wasn't #but after spending a frankly bullshit amount of time #showing us how she was floundering without her powers #they dropped Mike going you're a superhero and El going Not Anymore #and then she has to get her powers back to save everyone #which like yeah okay she's literally the only one who can do that #but listen‚ look me in my eyes #she really could have used someone like eddie #to teach her that she doesn't need to be a hero to have worth #she's not listening to anyone else because they've all experienced her with superpowers #But Eddie didn't even see her defeat vecna at all #idk I'm just. the possibilities!!!!! the character development!!! #they could have had narrative parallels!!! #ugh

[youryurigoddess]

The stuff dreams are made of, or the interesting case of Anthony J. Crowley

We’ve talked a bit about Crowley’s trauma and his way of reclaiming the narrative in the past, but it’s time for some deep dive into the story he’s trying to tell. A story that meanders through the fabric of time and space, slightly changing with the human fashion trends, but slowly and surely bringing the demon closer to a certain angel like the red thread of fate.

1793

Some stories start in a garden, some even Before the Beginning, but this one starts with an Arrangement. Or, to be precise, a little bit after that.

See, most of the iterations of Crowley we saw throughout the history until then didn’t delve too deep into human cultural tropes. If anything, they were the inspirations behind more or less prominent biblical figures, maybe some nameless villains matching his demonic provenance and role assigned to him by his employers.

But in the hustle and bustle of the revolutionary Paris, Crowley emerges as a prototype of the Scarlet Pimpernel — a chivalrous Englishman who rescues aristocrats before they are sent to the guillotine. Stan Lee famously called him “the first character who could be called a superhero”.

Sir Percy Blakeney, the main character of the novel and the West End play under the same title, leads a double life. Appearing as nothing more than a wealthy fop, in reality he’s a formidable swordsman, a quick-thinking master of disguise and an escape artist. Even his own wife, Marguerite, has no idea.

Unfortunately Marguerite is being blackmailed with her brother’s life to find and expose the wanted Pimpernel. She regrets betraying her husband the moment she's forced to do it and spends the rest of the plot working to save him. She does, they make up, and return together to England.

In Aziraphale and Crowley’s case there was just a short stop for crêpes. But what seems to be an inspiration of a specific scene might as well come up later in the wider perspective of the show, so keep in mind those fragments of the musical’s libretto:

We all are caught in the middle

of one long treacherous riddle.

Can I trust you?

Should you trust me too?...

We shamble on through this hell

taking on more secrets to sell

'til there comes a day

when we sell our souls away.

We seek him here, we seek him there,

Those Frenchies seek him everywhere!

Is he in heaven? Is he in hell?

Where is that damn elusive Pimpernel!

1941

The London Blitz is when we see a full-fledged iteration of the superhero Crowley performing dashing and heroic deeds under the literal cover of darkness and air bomb smoke. In a bespoke double-breasted suit and a fedora — still free from the unfortunate modern connotations from the internet culture — he’s clearly channeling Humphrey Bogart as a private investigator Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon (1941) now.

It all starts with a woman and a simple plan gone wrong: Spade’s partner is shot dead, just like the man he was supposed to be tailing upon the request of a mysterious Miss Wonderly. And when a very soft-looking, sweet-scented man named Joel Cairo appears in his office willing to pay a hefty price for a "black figure of a bird", Spade starts not only a new job, but also his own quest for truth.

On the surface, The Maltese Falcon ends happily: the killer gets caught, and the hero winds up with the Falcon. But Spade's victory is completely hollow. The Falcon itself, originally meant as a symbol of loyalty, transforms into a symbol of a corrupting, futile, and self-destructive greed that makes people betray their own loyalties.

The treasure is just a worthless forgery and he’s fallen in love with the criminal — one of the first femmes fatales on screen. Despite his feelings for her and a kiss, Spade gives her up and submits the statuette as evidence, describing it as "the stuff that dreams are made of".

Remember the eagle lectern? The eagle was believed to be flying highest in the sky and therefore closest to heaven, symbolizing the carrying of the word of God to the four corners of the world. Aziraphale in the 1941 church scene is the closest to Heaven we’ve seen him on Earth. Just look at him: dressed in a smart, well-fitted coat with peaked lapels, symbolizing his Heavenly allegiance, and doing good this time not as a work assignment, but of his own accord. Being the closest to Heaven means the furthest and most unattainable for a demon like Crowley.

The Maltese Falcon is a metaphor for unattainability — things out of reach to desire and fight for, although never truly possess. It’s “the stuff that dreams are made of”. But Crowley secured the original — made of gold and encrusted with jewels, but hiding its real value under black enamel — eerily reminiscent of the demon himself and the unending kindness behind his inappropriately tight black clothing.

Quoting Michael Ralph — the production mastermind behind Good Omens — from the S01E04 “Saturday Morning Funtime” DVD commentary, “We wanted to tip our hat to the Maltese Falcon as being a precious object that no-one thought really exists but it does”. So we can safely assume that Crowley can and will achieve his dream in the future.

1967

Do you know what else happens in 1941 in Scotland? Ian Fleming, a British naval intelligence agent, meets with the famous occultist Aleister Crowley and asks him to lead the interrogation of newly imprisoned Rudolf Hess — a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany appointed Deputy Führer — given the two men’s shared enthusiasm for the occult.

This meeting has a significant impact on Fleming’s work as a writer; Aleister Crowley becomes the inspiration for his first villain Le Chiffre and creates a blueprint for most of the James Bond’s franchise ever since 1953, the publication date of the novel Casino Royale.

Meanwhile our Anthony J. Crowley believes in himself not being the villain he’s usually and sometimes forcefully painted as, but a superhero in disguise. The character of James Bond in particular inspires him so much that he buys petrol to get the limited You Only Live Twice (1967) window decals for his Bentley, dons his own tactical turtleneck, and sets off to organize a heist like no other. Sean Connery style.

Like a typical superhero, Crowley’s once again both saved and betrayed by his love interest. Aziraphale leaves him with a thermos of Holy Water, a faint smile, and a hope that they’ll soon match their speeds to meet halfway at the Ritz. The cancelled heist is not an ending, but a promise of a new beginning. And the fact that UK decriminalizes homosexual acts in the very same year is more than telling in this regard.

2019

An exceptional situation calls for exceptional solutions, and what’s more important than the impending Apocalypse? Demon Crowley does his best to put the arsenal of his 20th century film inspirations to good use.

"Ask yourself, do you feel lucky?" Crowley drawls, clearly imitating (although slightly misquoting) the titular Dirty Harry (1971). He’s hoping to be menacing and making the point of being the one on the right side of the law and history.

Some situations require more than quoting action heroes is not everything though. He knows what to do:

A jeep was heading purposefully towards the gate, and it looked as though it was crowded with people who were about to shout questions and fire guns and not worry about which order they did this in.

[Crowley] brightened up. This was more what you might call his area of competence.

He took his hands out of his pockets and he raised them like Bruce Lee and then he smiled like Lee Van Cleef.

'Ah,' he said, 'here comes transport.'

When in doubt, Crowley acts. He transforms into a combination of a stoic martial arts phenomenon and a sardonic, menacing character. His smile alone — even on Aziraphale’s angelic face, as seen in one of the final cut scenes — seems to be enough to ward off evil spirits, angels, and humans alike.

But we all know that even as breathtaking performances as those can’t protect anyone from the cogs of the Heavenly machine and its plans.

2023

No wonder that Crowley’s tactical turtleneck comes back in style after mere four years of retirement with a self-introduction “Former Demon, hated by Heaven, loathed by Hell. How will our hero cope?”. Something has changed during this time; he’s more mature now, not playing pretend by hiding behind the usual veneer of sarcasm and movie quotes anymore. Finally comfortable with the fact that this is his own story and there’s no need to become anyone else than himself.

The bookshop fire and the Heavenly trial still seem to haunt the demon in a way that makes him realize what all humans know: that every hero is his own biggest enemy. His ultimate dream might effortlessly change into his greatest nightmare any moment now, and the only thing he can do about it is hover in a two-minute distance from the epicenter of his feelings. But Crowley has no time to work on it when a new mission appears, to protect his angel from Gabriel and the combined powers of Heaven and Hell. Even if this — rather ostentatiously — is the last thing he wants to think about at the moment.

Crowley tries to plan ahead, while his story slowly warps into a different genre due to Aziraphale’s interruptions. He eventually changes back into his usual Henley shirt after agreeing to swap places and guarding the bookshop while the angel is off to Edinburgh, collecting more clues. Did he finish his personal quest off-screen? Did he just give up on it in the whirlwind of matchmaking shenanigans? Remains to be seen.

In the S2 finale our master of disguise in yet another turtleneck proves that he can successfully infiltrate even the universe’s back office. We don’t know where he drives off in the end, but one thing is certain — he’s got a plan. And a world (and his dream) to save, like a superhero he is.

#a turtleneck kind of day #crowley is a superhero #and a master spy #with a plan #good omens #good omens 2 #good omens meta #go2 meta #ineffable husbands #crowley #turtleneck crowley #yuri is doing her thing

[stealingyourbones]

#dpxdc #bones art #clois #danny phantom #Dan‚ Lois‚ and Clark are all besties #I did my best to keep everyone in character I hope I did okay #they know Dan is Phantom and everyone at the workplace just thinks hes a meta #Dan would just beat the shit out of people to get info about their corruption #he covers it up and scares people so much that they dont rat him out #superhero fun times #if anyone wants to use this as inspo for a fic i absolutely beg of you to go for it

[artbyblastweave]

While I'm thinking about it, the thing about Civil War is that it's an event that conceptually makes total sense as something that would eventually happen in the Marvel Comics universe as it had been depicted up until that point, particularly in the early oughts- the center obviously was not gonna hold. The hammer eventually coming down is inevitable, the tension between the wild cowboy soap opera antics of the superheroes and the government trying to reign them was well-established by 2007.

The problem is that once you pull the trigger on it, you can basically never go back. You can never plausibly have Iron Man or Mr. Fantastic or Captain Marvel return to a working relationship with any of the antireg people ever again after they spend a year and change running the extradimensional virtual reality gulag for all of their colleagues who wouldn't kiss the ring. A bunch of people died and a couple of the less popular ones even stayed dead. It's the kind of thing that happens in a bad future that you have to send Kitty Pryde back in time to prevent because it would so obviously be an irreparable annihilation of the status quo were it to happen in the main timeline. And yet, after a few greater-scope threats and a reconciliatory whimper, to the status quo we inevitably return. Comic Books Babey

#even funnier is when you consider that marvel universe time compression is inevitably going to crunch the first and second civil wars #into having happened within a couple of years of each other #genuine credit that they stuck with the SRA as the status quo for as long as they did though #thoughts #meta #hey does the Wilson Fisk as Mayor thing bring us up to four Superheroes are Illegal now arcs? #Five? #Marvel comics #civil war #marvel civil war

[archivingfanfiction]

Interview with a Bat

by Musers

“You reported on Daith’s attempt to remove me as sitting CEO of Wayne Enterprises.”

Clark paused for a moment.

The article he wrote about the incident was insignificant, yet something about it seemed to have stuck out to Bruce Wayne.

“A lot of reporters covered that story.”

“Yes. A lot of reporters did, didn’t they?”

It felt like a trick, but he nodded anyways.

“So many reporters-” Bruce’s eyes finally moved away from the guests and back onto Clark. “And yet-” he took a small sip of the champagne- “you’re the only one who didn’t mention my kids.”

-

Clark interviews Bruce Wayne at a society function, it takes them a while to figure each other out.

#superbat #superman x batman #identity shenanigans #fanfic #fic recs #alternate universe #slow build #superhero things #no metas in gotham's pants

[why-is-it-always-autumn]

Why is my mom asking if I've read Worm?

#only explanation given was 'book talk' #she referred to it as 'worm [comma] an online series' #have i read worm? no but it does feel like i should have #'really long text only deconstruction of superhero tropes featuring hundreds of characters moral ambiguity elaborate schemes etc' #is definitely the kind of story i enjoy #and ive picked up enough via tumblr to enjoy some of the memes and meta #but the stars have never aligned for me to actually read the thing #ill get to it at some point #worm

[alvindraperzzz]

One thing I want to see explored more in both canon and fandom is Cassie’s relationship with Diana’s mission.

Cassie is a powerhouse. She’s a fighter. She’s aggressive, and loves kicking butt and taking down villains who deserve it. She’s been that way from her earliest appearances, and it never really changed, all the way through the end of preboot. That may be fine for most superhero characters, but it’s a constant that just doesn’t really make sense for a protege and disciple of Diana of Themyscira, who has a mission, ideals, and an approach to heroism that differs from most. I can’t think of a single plot line that explores Cassie’s relationship to Amazonian ideals, and how they (should) affect her work as a hero.

What are those ideals? What is Diana’s mission?

The specifics tend to change between eras, writers, and reboots, but Diana’s mission is to bring peace and justice to man’s world. That’s pretty vague, and broad, and Diana is canonically often distracted from it by crimefighting and superhuman threats (which, fair, hard to teach peace when some megalomaniac is tearing up a city).

“The superheroes of this planet and beyond… their mission is to avenge, to protect, to police. Mine is different. My mission is to teach, to learn, to serve. Hippolyta preached, as I and all Amazons believe, that with understanding and respect all things are bearable, believable, and possible.”

In its simplest explanation, Diana’s mission is one of peace and equality. She’s an ambassador, bringing Amazonian forms of diplomacy and social structure to man’s world, and creating reform through education, opportunity, and service.

“I am trained as a warrior, Barbara, but I am trained also to think of those skills as a last resort. There is no human conflict which cannot be served better with words than with the sword.”

Her greatest tools are not her lasso or gauntlets, but reason and compassion. Violent force is her last resort; while her use of violence varies by writer, that was a recurring trait for the best WW writers.

“We have a saying, my people. Don’t kill if you can wound, don’t wound if you can subdue, don’t subdue if you can pacify, and don’t raise your hand at all until you’ve first extended it.” —Wonder Woman, Vol. 3, No. 25

Diana may utilize violence when the situation calls for it, but her objective first and foremost is peace. Before violence, no matter what they do to her or what they’ve done in the past, she reaches out. She tries reaching people through conversation, treating enemies and ordinary people alike with kindness, respect, and empathy. Love without discrimination. Redemption and transformation over punishment. 

Cassie adores Diana. She believes in her, and shares many traits. She absolutely believes in helping people, and that protecting another is worth her life. But she’s also inclined toward holding grudges, and often has a very black and white perspective on good guys and bad guys. She has compassion in spades, but has a difficult time putting herself in other people’s shoes. She was always gung-ho for a fight, but after Donna’s death, and the string of losses that follow, she grows increasingly angry and unforgiving in both her heroic and personal life.

I want Cassie to argue with Diana’s nonviolent principles. I want her to struggle with understanding and incorporating this pacifistic view, when violence is so ingrained into her own view of superheroes.

I want her to grapple with Diana’s teachings, and be at war with herself because a bad guy might deserve punishment in her eyes, but that isn’t always the right path to justice.

I want Cassie to act as a diplomat.

I want her to talk villains down, instead of punch first, ask questions later.

In that Titans storyline where she visits Alcatraz and sees the terrible conditions there, I want her to say, “What the fuck is this?” And force a prison reform.

I want her joining Diana on outreach efforts, advocating as Diana does for education and equality, and acting as her liaison.

Just. Stories about Cassie dealing with the teachings of her mentor and the Amazons, whether it’s enacting those teachings or coming into conflict with them.

#cassie sandsmark #diana of themyscira #she’s a brute force kinda gal and that’s great but it shouldn’t be that way every time #I know it’s probably a difficult thing to work into superhero comics #considering how much action and fight scenes play a role #But good writers managed a fine balance of Diana’s views and her handling of conflict #don’t ask me where those screenshots are from I forgot #the second one is definitely byrne’s run bc that’s his art style #I need a tag for my Cassie meta #this is my third or fourth big post on her #talking about cassie #cassandra sandsmark