#evil opposite to ‘Batman is the man Bruce is the mask’

[sing-me-under]

YOUR ART IS SO PRETTY! :) also as a fellow dsmp/batfam lover I was wondering who would be who if you made an au of the other? (From batfam to dsmp or dsmp to batfam, you can choose!) me personally Tommy gives a bit of Damian,,

Hello hello! Thank you very much ✨✨✨ I’m glad you like my art!

About the DSMP x Batfam AU…. I really had to think this one through. I love both of them, but they have such different character dynamics and ideologies. Even the very worlds they are set in are like complete opposites. However, I have also read like so many (so many) superhero AU fics for the DSMP (before the fandom tag got overwhelmingly oversaturated), so I have some thoughts on…

DSMP Characters as The Batfam

You’re right. c!Tommy does feel like he’d be a good match for Damian. Loves animals? Feral? Stabby? Genuinely good? Artistically-inclined? The youngest? If we’re going by characters traits, Tommy would absolutely be Damian… But if I did that, I’d spend way too much time comparing characters who can’t be compared… So my list is going to be based on vibes. Same vibes are also why I’m choosing to make L’Manberg the main members. I’m completely disregarding age, motivations, personality, etc. This is all (mostly) vibes. There is some justification for them.

I wasn’t able to think of a match for everyone, but I got a decent chunk.

Wilbur as Batman

Fundy as Nightwing

Quackity as Oracle

Tommy as Red Hood

Tubbo as Red Robin

Jack as Spoiler

Niki as Batwoman

Ranboo as Black Bat

Slime as Batgirl 2 (also Cass but specifically Batgirl-era)

Eret as Talia

Philza as Ghostmaker

Kristen as Martha and Thomas

Technoblade as Azrael

Karl and Sapnap as Harley and Ivy (who’s who? Idk)

Dream as the entire Rogue Gallery — every single rogue just compressed into one blob of a man

I felt compelled to draw Tommy as a Robin and Red Hood.

Notes under the cut. They’re explanations for what little of my thought process can be converted into comprehensible words. It’s long. I ramble A LOT. Read at your own peril.

I’m pretty sure the obvious explanations are Wilbur, Tubbo, Techno, Karl&Sapnap, and Dream.

c!Wilbur is so much like Bruce Wayne — it’s kind of not funny. There’s the obvious “led children to fight a war” thing, the “compulsively acquiring children because they won’t leave him alone” thing, the “becomes evil immediately after crossing the no kill thing” thing, and the “sad little meow meow wet rag of a man but still extremely charismatic” thing…

c!Tubbo and Tim Drake are the closest 1:1 of this entire list.

Okay, okay. c!Techno as Jean-Paul. The vibes are wrong if we’re talking about canon Azrael, but I’m specifically thinking of fanfiction/“goes to family dinners WFA-style” Azrael.

c!Karl and c!Sapnap have such “married anti-villains befriending the heroes” vibes. I love them so much in superpower AUs even when they’re not with c!Quackity. As I’m writing this, I’m remembering that Schlatt and Quackity are also very often written in a Joker x Harley Quinn situation, but we’re talking about Batfam!

Dream is like the caricature of a Gotham Rogue(TM). He’s got the sympathetic motivation sticky noted onto a decades’ worth of terrorism with only the vaguest hope of redemption that he’ll probably never actually get because he’s too popular as a villain. I could make a point for any character interpretation (both fanpn and canon) of c!Dream as Ivy, Penguin, Riddler, Scarecrow, Black Mask, Joker, etc. (also, not a Rogue, but Ra’s too)

The thing about the DSMP is that it almost feels like a reversal of DC. It’s like a mirror, the same solution from a reversed conclusion. That also means DSMP characters appear un-traumatized and naive then get completely fucked over by the sheer horror that is the SMP, meanwhile DC characters appear fresh from traumatized and find themselves in a position to believe in goodness. The late-stage DSMP was filled with isolation while DC heroes always end up in found families.

It’s why I couldn’t think of a proper match for Damian.

What I loved about late-stage c!Tommy is that he keeps (disguises) that hope and love for people despite everything. Meanwhile, Damian’s character development is learning all that from the ground up. The vibes are similar but not the same. Honestly, for a hot second, I considered Purpled as Damian but alas, not enough Purpled content. If I were to project my own timeline of events upon the DSMP, Purpled would make a great Damian-esque match.

But that does not change the fact that Tommy as Red Hood has the best vibes.

No one else is quite as “doomed by the narrative and irreversibly changed yet somehow still painfully compassionate” in the same way Tommy and Jason are (also the “rejecting their father/brother but still loving them unconditionally). Their vibes are truly something.

I’m also very stern in my belief that c!Tommy should never kill because it would negatively impact his character development, but he very very easily could have gone the Red Hood route. By technicality, it’s more like Tommy as Robin 2, but I so dearly love the potential of villain! and anti-villain!Tommy. It’s such an underutilized concept. (Also I wrote a protege AU like way back and it makes me think of Red Hood now lol)

But originally, I flip-flopped between Fundy as Red Hood and Tommy as Nightwing, but I dunno. The logic was there but the vibes weren’t.

If we were considering a timeline of events, Tommy would make a great Robin 1 with Fundy as Robin 2 . Dick Grayson was the OG child hero, much like Tommy. He was angry and craved justice but he was also full of Light. Meanwhile, c!Fundy grew up in Tommy’s shadow.

However, Fundy also has that “if I can’t make them smile, I’ll make them cry” thing that Villain Dick Graysons also tend to have. Dick is always like four steps away from flipping a switch and becoming a supervillain. He tries so fucking hard to do good, but if he ever determines that “being good” isn’t enough to “do good,” he takes over the world. But Dick would also like step away from toxic energy by holing himself up in his apartment filled with depression, which is exactly what Fundy did.

Fundy and Dick are more “blood-soaked wet cats with strained smiles and bowling alley carpet polos” and Tommy and Jason are more “dramatic Greek tragedies.”

The Batgirls and adjacent female Bat vigilantes came to me immediately, but it’s not as long as the above.

Quackity as Barbara Gordon. He followed Wilbur filled with Hope and Justice. Quackity makes an excellent Batgirl 1. His Las Nevadas arc would then be Oracle but Lawful Evil and also completely isolated from any friends, family, or rational support. Quackity isn’t inherently bad. He still has good intentions, and he’s still good at heart, irregardless of how he portrays himself. He’s the classic femme fatale, including the whole sexist Hollywood “he needs a strong male love interest to take care of him” thing because he is absolutely spiraling on his own. Anyway, I am a fiancés shipper, so this would lead to a Birds of Prey-esque team up of LN and Kinoko.

Jack Manifold has Stephanie Brown’s “glitter bomb in the face” and “functions entirely on spite but also is just really tired of being hurt” energy. Jack isn’t quite Stephanie, but his dynamic with Tubbo made me consider him as Spoiler. Also consider: Jack and The Nuke being Steph’s Robin 4 arc.

Slime is so much like Batgirl-era Cassandra. There’s a lot of “innocent vs naive, manipulated by those with intentions, both evil and morally just” going on. Batgirl!Slime and RH!Tommy would have such a dynamic. I think about Fort Big a lot.

It is literally a crime that c!Jack Manifold and c!Slime never interacted in the DSMP.

Ranboo as Black Bat. I don’t know how to explain it, but Tim Drake and Cassandra have such a great dynamic (albeit one that I’m only familiar with in fanfics). I was originally going to say Ranboo as Orphan, but I don’t think he’s quite there. Maybe GhostBoo as Orphan.

Speaking of ghosts, GhostBur as Carrie Kelley’s Robin. He’s in the wrong places at the wrong times and (unknowingly) shoves himself in situations, and he’s got that unfair “why” going on during Doomsday. Unfortunately, GhostBur suffers from memory loss and is often willfully ignorant. I think in an AU space where’s he’s an actual character and not the echo of an idea, he’d make a great elseworld-type Robin.

c!Niki is a WLW revolutionary war veteran with a very close relationship with Wilbur. There’s more, but again, Vibes.

Now here’s where my hot takes truly lie: Philza as Ghostmaker and Eret as Talia.

We all like Dadza but c!Phil? Absolutely not a Dad. If you actually look at c!Phil without the rose-tinted lens of his content creator’s dad energy, c!Phil and Ghostmaker aere weirdly similar? I really don’t know how to explain it exactly, but I think that Phil would have brought Wilbur up as like this weird amalgamation of BTK-era Bruce, Phantom One, and Clownhunter, leading to Wilbur eventually being… not abandoned because Phil wanted Wilbur to have more independence… but struggling to make it on his own. Eventually, Wilbur would follow his parents’ (Mumza would be Martha AND Thomas) footsteps and become something that’s essentially the same but different. Like how Ghostmaker is basically Tynion’s Batman OC but somehow more edgy except Wilbur is in the opposite direction. Like how Martha and Thomas saved people through philanthropy and surgery and Bruce wanted to save people in his own way too. Phil and Kristen influenced Wilbur towards fighting crime… Also I could totally see c!Phil becoming a crime fighter as a fun and challenging art form rather than any genuine interest in being a good person. c!Phil’s got that immortal dilemma where he’s basically a sociopath running purely on an ingrained and steadily eroding moral code.

Now… Eret as Talia. Where do I begin? I love Talia. She’s such a badass but also she’s a kind person who believes in Bruce’s cause but she’s also extremely loyal to her father’s cause but she loves her family so much but she’s also a assassin princess but the world is against her and everything she is will only continue going downhill until she either becomes straight up evil or stands her ground. I love the characterization of Talia who chose to side with “the greater good” against the person she loves and more has to live with the burden of this decision for the rest of her life and continue to do what needs to be done even, for better or worse… Did I say Talia? I meant Eret. Wait, no, it’s both. That applies to both. Talia’s choice is betraying Bruce to aid her in running a global assassin cult and killing people. Eret’s choice is betraying his revolution to run a monarchy and enforcing taxes. Yes, the vibes are the same.

This has been my TED talk. Thank you for reading this far.

#personal #dsmp #batfam #too many characters to tag #dsmp au #dreamlessart

[ragingbookdragon]

Ma'am may I please request some ghost maker x batsis content?🤧

Maybe one where gm is being all philosophical and batsis just goes "you're weird dude" and walks away. I imagined some list A comedy when writing this but it turned out bland but meh. I'm sure you are going to make something great out of it.

You may! You know what's a great pairing? One who's all philosophical and the other who's like "this is bullshit". Enjoy! -Thorne

**********************************************************************

Her eyes drifted to the tracker, the blinking bat signaling that he was just a few more meters beyond the door. When her siblings had called and said they weren’t sure where their dad had gone, it was up to her to find him. And she did, after six devices had been eaten by some mysterious network and only a single glowing symbol remained, that of an animated ghost—somebody was going to pay for her new tech. That shit wasn’t cheap. But she had to hand it to the creator of the network—it was virtually impenetrable by any means, and she had skills akin to Oracle’s and her third brother.

She crept along the side of the wall, eyes flowing all around for traps of any kind, but nothing seemed to be out in the open. It unnerved her as she reached the door, gently waving a hand across it, awaiting a sensor to go off in her cowl signifying a hidden trap.

When no warning came, she curled her hand around the doorknob and opened the door, entering the room. Immediately she raised a hand to her eyes, turning off the detective mode. Opening her eyes, the stark white walls practically blinded her.

“Sheesh, get some color in here,” she whispered, walking up to the large desk. The space reminded her of the Batcave, just opposite of dark and creepy.

Nearing the desk, she glanced at the device in her hand, the blinking bat right there and she looked up, seeing her dad’s utility belt there. A click sounded behind her, and she spun on her heel, already whipping out her gun.

A man stood before her, dressed in a white suit with a black and white mask over his head. “Good evening.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Where’s Batman?”

“Bruce is taking a nap after being injected with a heavy cocktail of antibiotics and anesthesia.”

“Take me to him,” she demanded. “Or I’ll shoot you.”

The corner of his mouth cocked up in a smirk and he leaned against the desk. “You must be (Y/N). The oldest child.”

“Adult,” she shot back, thumbing the hammer. “And I will shoot you if you don’t take me to my dad.”

“I take it he never told you about me?”

She glared at him. “The only thing I’m interested in being told is where he is at this very moment.”

“As I said,” he shrugged. “He’s resting.” Standing up, he took a step towards her, watching carefully as the barrel of the gun followed his movement. “I’m Ghost-Maker.”

“I know the name.” (Y/N) answered. “Or the stories at least.” Gazing at him for a moment, she scrutinized their situation before sighing and shoving the gun back in its holster. “I know you’re a friendly too.”

He tipped his head side to side. “That’s debatable most days.”

Her eyes flickered to his as she stowed the device. “Where is he?”

“Up the stairs in the med bay.” Ghost-Maker did a one over on her. “I forgot that other than Red Hood, you were the only one who used lethal force. We’re alike, you and I.”

(Y/N)’s face pinched as she pulled off her cowl. “Don’t compare me and you. I don’t kill people to complete my desire of crime fighting. I take lives only if it’s absolutely necessary.”

“Please,” he murmured coolly. “You’ve killed quite a few people outside the mask.”

“Bad people,” she hissed. “Very bad people. For very good reasons.”

Ghost-Maker stared at her. “Is it not enough to fight evil for the sake of fighting evil? What about the perfection of fixing the world? Don’t you imagine a society where there is no crime?”

“What? And have mindless zombies everywhere?” she rolled her eyes. “Deviancy allows for the world and society to change. If there is no deviancy, nothing changes.”

“Ah, there’s the sociologist in you.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “You feel for humanity. The impact of doing good will come back.”

“And you don’t.” (Y/N) retorted. “Because you’re a psychopath who believes emotion is detrimental.” She waltzed over, mocking, “Is the big bad Ghost-Maker afraid of being kind to somebody? Is he afraid he’s going to turn into my dad if he believes there’s good in people?”

His smirk annoyed the hell out of her, and he leaned forward, getting nose to nose with (Y/N). “I think you’re upset that your dad views me as an equal and you a subordinate.”

“Fight me,” she growled.

“Why would I fight someone who’s like me?” he questioned. “You and I could change the world more than we could destroy it together. Think about it. With my method and your…emotion…we could change everything.”

(Y/N) cocked a brow and simply stared at him before muttering, “You’re a weird dude.” She brushed past and walked towards the stairs, leaving him confused and if he were honest, a little offended.

Ghost-Maker was quick to turn on his heel, following her up the steps. “Now wait a moment! How was any of that weird?”

“Because it’s you.”

“That makes no sense!”

“It does.”

“No, it doesn’t!”

“Dad would agree with me.”

“Well, of course Bruce would! It’s Bruce! You know what—"

#ghost maker imagine #ghost maker imagines #ghost maker x reader imagine #ghost maker x reader imagines #ghost maker x reader #ghost-maker x reader #ghost-maker x reader imagines #ghost-maker x reader imagine #ghost-maker imagines #ghost-maker imagine #ghost-maker #ghostmaker #ghost maker dc #batsis x batfamily imagine #batsis x batfamily imagines #batfamily x batsis #batsis #batfamily x batsis imagine #batfamily x batsis imagines #batsis x batfamily #batsis imagines #batsis imagine #batfamily x reader #batfamily x reader imagine #batfamily x reader imagines #batfamily imagines #batfamily imagine #batfamily #dc imagines #dc imagine

[hauntedbythefanficsofmypast]

BatMom- Dick Grayson

This is the beginning of a five part series, starting with Richard Grayson.

Masterlist

Part 1[Here]

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Dick Grayson, Her First Bird.

Marinette sighed as she stepped out of her car thanking her driver as he pulled her luggage out of the trunk. She turned looking up at the mansion taking in the appearance and remembering how he described it all those years ago. When Marinette first got to know Bruce Wayne, before he broke her heart. Although she couldn’t place her blame on him, after all Bruce wasn’t looking for love. No, he was looking for revenge and Marinette was looking for love in the wrong place. They were two different people and while Bruce did love her, he didn’t love her. Marinette knew that, and she accepted that while it took sometime, she moved on. But now she was back after what she would call a cry for help, but Bruce would call a request for assistance. Although he would never really admit that he asked for help. 

She walked up to the door and knocked politely thinking of the person who would most likely answer. Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce’s honorary father, and technical butler. If the man was anything like Bruce described him he’d answer the door.

“Hello?” Alfred greeted open the door taking in Marinette’s stylish yet obviously comfy clothing. “Ah, you must be Miss Marinette, Master Bruce has told me much about you. You’re here to help him with Young Master Richard.” Marinette laughed softly pushing her sunglasses up allowing her to see her twinkling blue bell eyes. 

“Now Mister Pennyworth, you and I both know Bruce doesn’t ask for help. He implies that he needs it, but refuses to say the word. Then if you say it he will deny ever needing it.” Alfred let his lips twitch as he grabbed Marinette’s bags. Gesturing for her to enter the manor.

“Miss Marinette, I think I am going to enjoy having you around.”

Marinette walked calmly down the hall to Richard’s room, she paused taking a deep breath knocking gently on the door. “Richard may I come in?” She was silent, an understanding smile covering her face. She sat down by the door, side sitting as she slipped her shoes off. “Very well, I will not come in without your permission. However I simply cannot sit out here in silence, that’s much too boring and I abhor silence! Did you know turkeys were once worshipped as Gods? The Mayan people saw them as vessels of the Gods, so much so that they domesticated turkeys to have roles in religious rites. Sounds absolutely silly right? Though I can’t fault them as it is their beliefs, and they had not actually met Gods unlike me.” Marinette smiled as she heard another body sit down on the other side of the door. “In fact I believe they’d be surprised at how unbelievably silly they are! As well as tiny, but don’t let that trick you, even without their chosen human they pack a nasty punch. They are also very protective of those they call their own. Of course not many know that, very few have been blessed to be chosens, and unfortunately quite a few have abused the power. I fear that I may one day abuse it myself. Though my little Goddess always tells me it’s not possible.” The door creaked open slightly and one breathtakingly blue eye peered out at her.

“You’re a chosen?” He asked softly, causing Marinette to smile brightly, as she patted the spot right next to her.

“I am actually the Guardian of them, Tikki is my patron and I her champion. She is the Goddess of Creation and Good Luck, her opposite is Plagg God of Destruction and Bad Luck. Would you like to meet her?” Dick Grayson was quick to open his door and sit next to Marinette his eyes sparkling for the first time in a long time.”Tikki, come out and say hello.”

“Hello there.” Tikki said softly, flying around the young boy’s head giggling. “I’m Tikki and this is my chosen Marinette!”

“Hi I’m Richard Grayson, but I prefer Dick.”

“Nice to meet you Dick.”

“Golly Tikki! It’s nice to meet you too, and you Miss Marinette!”

———————————<3————————————

Dick Grayson, After the Fight.

Lady Noir slipped into the tower, careful not to let her power flare and alert the half demon her dear Robin had befriended. She made her way to the kitchen and began unpacking the groceries she had bought, leaving the Chinese take out on the counter. She didn’t even pause when the doors slid open revealing Robin. Who stared at her unimpressed, arms crossed and a slight glare in place. “I suggest you drop that glare Birdie, or else I shall not give you the Chinese I brought. Or the chocolate milk, I know it is still your favorite.” She turned to him with a smirk flipping her braid over her shoulder as she took in her baby bird.

“Did he make you come here?” He said with no emotion in his voice, but Lady Noir could hear the silent plead. The begging for her to say that Batman hadn’t sent her to reprimand his wayward bird. Lady Noir snorted as she unboxed the take out pulling out her favorite and breaking apart her chopsticks. 

“Nonsense, B can’t make me do everything for him. This is something he needs to fix himself.” She said before sitting down on the stool posture as elegant as ever. She calmly ate her Chow mein, waiting for her first bird to come to her. Robin glanced out the window before slowly making his way over sitting across from her at the breakfast bar. “Can’t a cat want to see her favorite bird?” She questioned looking at her noodles with an amused smile as Robin snorted.

“Considering you’re using Plagg instead of Tikki I am a little more worried.” Robin said surveying the hero in front of him, watching as her smile wavered. He hated when her smile waved; she had one of the most beautiful smiles he ever saw. He had always wanted to smile as brightly as she did, and never believed her when she said he already out did her. However since the split between him and Batman. Robin had rarely smiled. “Why is Lady Noir here and not Ladybug?” He questioned looking into her eyes, blue hidden by a green protection. Lady Noir placed her chopsticks down before reaching a shaking hand out to his cheek stopping short.

“Plagg, claws in.” She called softly letting the transformation drop before softly caressing his cheek, moving her other hand up to hold his face gently. Tilting it side to side to assure there were no injuries. “You know Tikki, if she came she’d refuse to leave without you.” Marinette said as her thumb gently brushed the bottom of Robin’s mask. “May I?” She asked softly, but Robin could see the desperation in her blue bell eyes. He grabbed her wrist gently squeezing it, not liking when her eyes closed in resignation. He panicked when she began pulling her hands away, and gently pulled them back to his face. Nodding as he enjoyed the familiar warmth. Marinette gave him a gentle smile as she removed the mask, revealing her Dickie Grayson almost all groan up. “There’s those beautiful blue eyes.” She said softly as a few tears fell from her own. “I’m sorry to intrude Dickie, but after-after what happened last month-I just-I wanted to-I had to see you. I had to see you in person myself. I need to make sure you are okay. Oh baby bird, when I saw you on the news frozen and unable to defend yourself. At the mercy of the Brotherhood of Evil, I-I was terrified.” Dick squeezed her hand gently before standing up and moving to the other side of the breakfast bar. He dragged her into his arms hugging her tightly wrapping his cape around them as best he could.

“I wasn’t scared.” He admitted softly as she cried on his shoulder. “They didn’t scare me, because I knew that no matter what. I knew that you’d come for me, I don’t know about Bruce anymore, but I knew you’d always come for me.”

———————————<3————————————

Dick Grayson, Ladybug v.s. Tarantula.

Ladybug landed gracefully on the build and launched herself at Tarantula tackling the girl off Nightwing. She gripped the girl by her throat slamming her head against the concrete with an almost inhuman growl. Straddling the girls hips asuring no chance of escape before viciously rain punches down on her.

“How. Dare. You.” She growled stopping after the fifth punch, snapping out and grabbing the arm Tarantula tried to hit her with. She glared before breaking the girl's wrist in her grip. “How dare you lay your hands on my bird. How dare you attempt to rape him!” She growled out standing up and dragged the girl up by her ponytail. “Kaalki, open a portal.” She dragged the girl to the portal ignoring her attempts to get away.

“I don’t kill, in that department you are unlucky. You see, I’m going to send you somewhere no one knows about. You will never see another human being for the rest of your life. Have fun little girl, for you shall never hurt another again.” Ladybug growled out the fire in her eyes scaring Catalina.

“No please! No I’m sorry, forgive me!” She cried out but was ignored as Ladybug threw her through the portal.

“Close it Kaalki.” She said both her and the God ignoring the girls cries. “I don’t not forgive rapists.” She turned back to her blue bird hurrying over and pulling the sobbing young man into her arms. Cradling and rocking him slowly, he wrapped his arms around her waist crying into her shoulder. “I got you baby bird, let it out. I’m here now, I’m here you’re safe. I’ve got you I’m right here.” She whispered softly, running her fingers through his hair. “I’ve got you.” She kissed his temple softly. 

———————————<3————————————

Dick Grayson, Batman’s Cowl.

She leaned against the clock tower watching Batman on his first patrol with his Robin. A frown on her face as she watched them feeling older than ever when she never heard the familiar cackle. No, there would be no cackles in Gotham for a long while. She watched as the Batmoblie rolled into an alleyway, and the duo jumped down. She looked up at the sky begging herself not to cry, at the cruelty of life. Her blue bird was never meant for the cowl but there was nothing she could do. Her bird was anything if not stubborn, he had made his decision and she would not be mad like the League was. No, she would support him and her newest bird. No matter how violent he was towards her. She’d be there every step of the way to make sure the cowl didn’t darken her Birdie.

———————————<3————————————

Dick Grayson, Court of Owls.

Lady Noir glared down at the man below her as her combined powers from Tikki and Plagg rippled.

“The Gray Son belongs to the Court.” William Cobb said to her emotionlessly from where he stood above her bird. Nightwing-no his mask was gone, that was her Richard, her Dickie staring up at her with those terrified blue eyes.

“You’re wrong he belongs to no one but himself.” She said firmly, taking in her bird’s unfortunately great grandfather. “And if I have to beat that into you to prove it, so be it. No one, especially not blood lays a hand on my bird and gets away with it.” She flung her yo-yo out wrapping it around his wrist and yanking him forward and off balance. Before propeling herself forward with her baton. Beginning a dangerous dance of which she refused to lose.

“Hey baby bird.” She said softly, hiding her pain as her transformation dropped. She sank to her knees pulling his head into her lap gently playing with his hair. “I’ve got you.” Dick sobbed softly into her lap letting his emotions run freely. Coming to terms with the fact that Haley’s Circus wasn’t his home, they were simply grooming him to be a killer. Taking comfort in his one constant since the loss of his parents. His heart breaking even more over the fact that they had planned to hand him over to them. He knew Marinette would never, she’d never do that to him.

———————————<3————————————

Dick Grayson, Death of her Eldest.

Marinette sat despondent as she started at the casket in front of her. Tears falling down her face hidden by a black veil. Her eldest was gone, she’d lost another child. She couldn’t protect another one of her boys, how many would she fail. Tikki and Plagg sat on her shoulders hidden by her black graying hair and her veil. A sob broke from her as she brought one hand up to her face. Attention landing on the mourning mother who finally broke since the news. Since her first baby bird died and she wasn’t there, just like she wasn’t there for her Jay-bird. Life was cruel, so cruel to take two of her birds from her. People turned away from the mother allowing her to let her grief out, they all knew it was a terrible fate. To outlive your children, she had no idea of the three boys wishing to comfort her. Yet fearing they’d make it worse.

———————————<3————————————

Dick Grayson Becomes Ric Grayson.

Yes she had been deeply upset to find out her eldest had faked his death. Then she had been pissed at Bruce for telling her Baby bird the family would know. She resolved to spend as much time as she could with her birds. She never thought it would backfire like this, never thought she’d watch her son get shot in the head. Yet here she was by his bedside in Gotham Advance Medical Hospital. She had barely left his side since, she didn’t want to lose her son again. So every day she sat there holding his hand and reading books out loud to him. They day those beautiful blues opened though had not been happy, for what mother would be happy when the rule son asks who they are. It was weeks later that she finally visited again, breaking into ‘Ric’s’ apartment. “Shit, pulling stuff like this will get ya shot lady.” Rick grumbled looking at the unfamiliar woman with graying black hair.

“Please you wouldn’t shoot me, even now guns make you uncomfortable.” Marinette states calling him out and causing the man to tense. “I’m not here to fight, I just could leave without saying goodbye please allow me that.” She took his silence as a go ahead, still not turning around to look at him. “The day I realized I saw you as my son was amazing yet heartbreaking. I loved you so much, you were my boy yet I knew I would never be your mother. I watched you grow into such an amazing and beautiful young man, and now I’ve lost you again. Only this time you may never remember me.” She stood up and turned to Ric not hiding her tears as she cradled his face. “I will always love you.” She said softly kissing his forehead before stepping back and walking past him closing the door behind her as she left. Leaving Ric feeling as if someone important had just left.

 ———————————<3————————————

Dick Grayson, Remembrance.

“Not Ric.” He said softly, staring at the ground before slamming his foot down and breaking the crystal. “Dick” He said, turning to Barbara-Batgirl, turning to Batgirl and Beatrice smiling softly. “It’s Dick and I need to find my mom. I need to apologize to her as soon as possible.” Batman landed besides Batgirl the rest of the bat family following. “Let’s hurry up and take care of Joker. I need to see mom.”

Dick walked through the door to Marinette’s penthouse, holding take out from her favorite Chinese place. “Is that you Jay-bird? Did you guys take care of the Joker? I’m sorry I couldn’t help. I wish I never sprained my ankle.” He heard her sigh softly from the couch as she hadn’t turned around yet. “Jason? Baby bird don’t ignore me.” She called out slightly annoyed but he could hear the underlined affection. “Jason Todd-Wayne I swear.” She turned on the couch gasping when her eyes met his eyes. “Hi mom, I’m home.” He said softly rubbing the back of his head.

“Oh baby bird, oh my boy!” She cried out trying to stand as she started crying. She limped  around the couch, causing him to rush towards her wrapping his arms around her waist. 

“Hey mom, sorry for hurting you.”

“Oh my baby bird, I’m so happy.”

———————————<3————————————

Dick Grayson, his Wedding day.

She stood by the door watching him adjust his tie as he looked in the mirror just making it worse. “Honestly Dickie, are you ever going to get a tie right?” She teased walking over and slowly fixing it. She brushed it down gently, her eyes tearing up when she spotted the bluebells in his breast pocket. “Birdie.” She said softly reaching up with her right hand and cupping his cheek gently. “I am so proud of you.” She whispered as a tear slid down her face. “You’ve grown so much and now you’re marrying a beautiful woman that loves you so much.” Dick gently wiped the tear off her cheek. 

“Don’t cry. I hate when you cry, it makes me feel guilty.” He said causing Marinette to snort as she shook her head. Tikki flew out from her hiding place in Marinette’s clutch doing a circle around Dick. “Hello Tikki, I’ve missed you.” Tikki smiled softly at the man standing in front of her.

“And I you Young Grayson, if I may I wish to give you my wedding gift now.” She flew up kissing his forehead gently giggling as her power rippled around him. “Young Grayson, I grant you and your chosen mate Good Luck and Fortune in your future together.” Dick looked at her in surprise while Marinette shook her head looking at her Patron.

“You always have to outdo me.”

#batmom #batman #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #miraculous fandom #miraculous fanfic #miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #miraculous ladybug #marienette dupain cheng #batfam dick grayson #dick grayson #bruce wayne #tikki #plagg #tikki and plagg #tikki and marinette

[thejiaqiverse]

So a few posts ago I mentioned how for my fanfic AU Clark Kent is NOT known as “Superman” right? That’s majorly because he’s known as the “Nightwing”! Surprise! And because, Clark’s “superhero” career in The Bat and the Kryptonian is initiated and then entirely founded by Bruce Wayne! Bruce even picked his Nightwing-hairstyle (HUGE changes ikr)

Yes, Clark has a Brightburn-ish background; no, he’s actually NOT evil

You must be wondering where’s Dick Grayson now. That will be explained in the future......

Squeezing in some backstory elements:

BE-1 —this AU’s Bruce already knew why his parents were murdered and who called the shots not long after a masked “joker” gunned them down (drawing a bit of inspiration from the Joker movie), someone who had a plan in mind for Bruce (that’s not exactly in Bruce’s best interests) informed him upfront. Although later in life Bruce succeeds big times and is worth almost 20 billion dollars (this will become an unfortunate running joke...), all those years he knew deep in his heart that he, along with his parents, are all being used as pawns in a high-stake game; he knows he can be taken out literally at ANYTIME if he’s just a little uncareful

BE-2 —Clark’s (Kal-El’s) Kryptonian background is even more intriguing. Brightburn AU, a.k.a. the AU where Kryptonians are evil invaders feared by all civilizations (hence one of the many reasons why Diana wants to kill Clark asap). Planet Krypton “imploded” out of nowhere. Kal-El was at the time one of many genetic experiments created on Krypton, after the “implosion” he was the ONLY life within the “implosion’s” range that survived, no Kryptonian could explain how and why. Lead scientist Jor-El decided to send Kal-El as a wildcard to the planet Earth—an interesting planet he studied and was fascinated with. Kal-El is quite an abnormal case, for one the substance supply needed to quick-grow a Kryptonian embryo into a full adult before reaching the target planet (so they can then immediately start the invasion upon arrival) did NOT work properly for him, he only grew into a cute little baby. Martha and Jonathan Kent, whom recently suffered a devastating miscarriage, decided against reporting the alien spacecraft and took him in as their own.

BE-⭐️ —SUMMER CAMP!

Kal-El (12 at that time), renamed Clark Joseph Kent upon adoption met this new kid at camp named “Michael Murphy”. The two almost immediately struck up a tight friendship, they were inseparable. Before parting ways when camp ended “Michael” finally decided to reveal his real name to his trusted friend Clark, but only got to finish saying “my name is Bruce...” before he was interrupted then picked up. So, Bruce Wayne (8 at the time) who’d just lost everything and was in hiding met Clark at summer camp! So, Clark while trying to reach his new friend afterwards ended up mistakenly sending letters to a 50-something-year-old dude named Bruce Murphy and got all his letters returned to him, how nice

Going back to this sketch I made

as a general reference for myself: let’s follow the thought process of Bruce designing and crafting both his own and Clark’s costumes.

First and foremost, although Bruce is an insanely rich billionaire, in reality he can NOT simply spend as much money as he’d please here (there are good reasons, to be looked at in the future). In other words, he really needs to think about the cost and effectiveness of things and consider what is really needed and what is unnecessary for each occasion. Leads to an incident where Alfred noticed Bruce cutting budget from his own gear to improve Clark’s, needless to say Alfred’s not pleased

What is notable for the Batman costume, let’s see... it’s a uniform dark color, with only the Bat-logo having a dull gold outline and the utility belt having a very light gold tint. All parts of the costume are pretty unreflective in order to camouflage it with the dark of night. The mask provides vision and hearing enhancements, the eye portion’s appearance is close to Spider-Man’s mask’s design (follows facial expressions, no constant frown). The Batman of this AU still can’t really fly, his cape helps him glide tho. The base suit serves as a power boost (in this AU it has something similar to Black Panther’s suit’s energy conversion function, which boosts punches, kicks and stuff) and as a protection against a wide range of outside impacts (strikes, fall, cuts, gunfire, etc.). The utility belt is used for storing gadgets and tools and holding the top and bottom pieces of his costume together. The base suit is comfy and makes sure the wearer is not too warm or cold, so he doesn’t need to wear anything except for regular sport boxers underneath

Moving on to the Nightwing costume. This costume is like the Batman’s polar opposite in many ways. Opposite from how the Batman’s mask covers the upper half of his face, Clark’s mask covers the lower half of his face and provides no visual or hearing enhancements (because Clark does NOT need those). As an added disguise, Clark’s natural eye color, which in this AU is dark grey, becomes very blue under the disguise of his mask—it even gives his naturally dark brown hair a blueish tint. The cape is lightly iridescent under sunlight and splits into two parts vaguely resembling two wings, Clark definitely stands out wearing it. The base suit is very aerodynamic and centers in on the purpose of not splitting open when Clark throws his powerful punches and kicks, so connecting parts (lighter-colored) are stronger and more elastic. One very important thing Bruce found out is that Clark needs protection against Kryptonite, believe it or not, when making his costume Bruce actually gave it Kryptonite-proof properties, which help Clark tremendously later on (trust level over 9000). Lastly, despite having holsters/pockets on his belt Clark doesn’t bring gadgets from home (not even his phone, Bruce maintains Ghost in the Shell-esque communication with him at all times)

Well that’s all for now about this AU

#fan art #au #dc #brightburn #batman #bruce wayne #nightwing #clark kent #superman #i dunno how to tag this #i changed things up so much #superbat

[super-sons-a-bitches]

Damian has been away for 10 years. He can finally come home, but will anyone want to see him?? Especially after how he left.

The assorted adoptees filed in through the various entrances to the cave: waterfall, grandfather clock, and zeta tube. They acknowledged each other and made their way to the Batman sitting in front of the large computer that was their command center.

“What’s this all about, Bruce?” Dick took off his domino mask and wiped some of the water off of his helmet.

“He didn’t call you here,” a voice spoke from above. The four vigilantes turned to see Damian plugging new coordinates into the zeta tube monitor.

“Out with it, drama queen,” Jason drawled. He didn’t have time for this kid’s antics and was quickly growing impatient.

“I’m leaving.”

“You called us all here to tell us you’re going on patrol? What do you need the skies cleared or something?” Tim scoffed, bravely haughty while still in his pjs.

But Dick looked on in concern. Bruce just studied his son.

“What do you mean?” Dick asked.

“I’m leaving. And not on patrol, Drake.” Damian shot the Red Robin a glare. “My grandfather has called me back to the League.”

A cacophony of protests rose up, but the son of the bat just held up his hand.

“I’m not taking comments at this time. I’ve made my decision. I only wanted to make you all aware before I left.”

“Damian, please,” Bruce started. But Damian couldn’t bear to let him finish.

“Goodbye, father.”

“Recognize Robin, B37.” The zeta tube lit up and the son of the Demon and Bat stepped through before another word could be said.

“The Demon’s Head has passed. Hail the new Head of the League of Shadows.”

Years of training and Ra’s had finally determined Damian ready to take up his throne and allowed himself to pass on without being restored by the Pit. He was gone. But Damian’s work was just beginning.

He immediately set out orders to reorganize and reorient the League. He set in motion a path towards real positive change. The League became a force for good. For international security and humanitarian efforts. All the things the League proclaimed to be though tainted with Ra’s’s contradictory methods.

Much of Damian’s life for years was fighting off challenges for the throne and claims that he has betrayed the spirit of the Demon. But he maintains order, strengthened by the resolve for true justice and morality that his father taught him.

Finally, after years away, Damian returned to Gotham.

But not to his father’s door.

Damian sat instead on the rooftops, looking out over the city skyline. He wanted to see how it had changed. Even in Nanda Parbat, he heard how Batman had disappeared with Robin, how Bruce Wayne was transforming the city.

Damian could see the difference. The shadows were softer, the edges smoother, the streets literally cleaner. His father’s work paid off.

Maybe it was a good thing I left.

He made his way to the manor and stopped at Titus’s grave. He wished he hadn’t missed his beloved dog’s life. He wished he hadn’t missed his own life.

That’s what it felt like, standing on the manor lawn, looking up at a house that no longer felt like his own.

He didn’t think he could face his father yet, even though the door was only a few hundred feet away. So, instead, he made his way to Bludhaven.

The young Demon had grown soft in his exile and would now freely admit his affection for Grayson. Softened by how often he had needed Grayson’s brotherly comfort. Craved it so deeply in the dark, cold rooms of Nanda Parbat. And how often he wept for lack of satisfaction.

But when he came to the penthouse, he found he was too afraid to take the elevator up and knock on the door.

Yet again, Damian turned away from the reunion and walked on. He wandered, grieving the life he left behind, the life he naively thought he might be able to get back.

Lost in his self-pity, he didn’t notice crossing the street. Didn’t notice reaching the park. Didn’t notice passing a pub overflowing with the Friday night crowd. Didn’t notice entering the university campus. His reverie was only broken as it started to drizzle and he came upon a bench in the spotlight of a lamppost. He sat, lowering his hood to stare up at the rain drops streaking through the yellow-tinted light.

He didn’t notice the man across the street stop. Dead in his tracks.

Ten years, but how could you forget a face like Damian’s?

Eyes, emerald green, sparkling in the artificial light. Raven-black hair always cropped short. He didn’t stand for unruliness. Jaw sharp as shards of glass, creating a severity only broken with his life-giving smile.

Jon counted his life’s achievements in the number of times he had made Damian smile.

Ten years was a long time to go without a worthwhile achievement.

Seeing him, Jon wanted to be mad. He wanted to hate Damian for just showing up at his school out of nowhere. Or worse, for ending up at this spot at this time accidentally, and actually intending to keep up his isolation.

But all Jon could manage was tears. He missed his best friend. Desperately.

Before he could make himself angry, Damian’s head fell and eyes landed on the man across the street staring at him.

“You left.” Jon didn’t even cross the street. Just spoke across the distance, through the lightly falling rain.

Damian let an emotion slip across his face, but then he didn’t wipe it away. He didn’t hide it behind stone. Jon didn’t understand.

Here sat Damian Wayne, son of Batman, spawn of the Demon, heir to the League of Shadows, willingly letting Jon see he was sad.

So deeply sad.

It shook Jon to his core and any attempt at anger left his mind.

“I’m so sorry.” Damian really meant it. He was sorry for so much. Sorry he missed Jon’s life as he’d missed his dog’s and his own.

“Why?” Why was he sorry or why did he leave or why was he here: Jon didn’t even know what he was asking. He just needed more. He didn’t really need an explanation. No, if he was honest with himself, he didn’t care. He needed to keep Damian talking so he wouldn’t leave again. Not yet. Not while he still needed more.

“I won’t make excuses.” Damian looked at his feet. Jon watched the rain streak down his face, too far away to see that they were tears stinging the older man’s eyes.

“Try.”

Damian lifted his head to meet Jon’s eyes. His feet were still rooted to the spot on the curb in front of the school library, books in hand, eyes wide in shock, poised to sprint either across the street separating them or down the sidewalk away from him.

“My grandfather. He made a play.” Damian paused to collect himself. “He announced either I come home to take his place or he’d pass the throne to Scythe.

“You wouldn’t know him,” Damian explained at Jon’s confused expression. “He did his job too well to be recognized outside the League. A sadist, masochist, truly evil murderer. The most skilled of all of my grandfather’s Shadows. The most dangerous. I knew my grandfather would go through with his threat, even if Scythe went against his vision for the League. And he knew I couldn’t let that happen.”

“We could have-.”

“No,” Damian interrupted firmly, standing up from the bench at last. “He was too dangerous. And my grandfather’s games, they needed to stop. I couldn’t keep letting the people I cared about get hurt because of me.

“I wasn’t worth that.”

It hung in the air, the most ridiculous thing Jon had ever heard. Without needing to think, his feet finally moved to take him onto the asphalt and towards the opposite curb.

He stopped just before he reached the sidewalk.

“We would’ve said you were.”

He didn’t drop Damian’s gaze. Lightning blue eyes, all soft edges and bright colors, sparkling a little in the drizzling rain. Strength and trust, just like before. He was beautiful.

But Damian wasn’t as strong as him.

He broke the contact and looked down at Jon’s arms.

“Only you would spend a Friday night in college at the library.” He forced out a chuckle. “And on your 20th birthday no less.”

Jon silently cursed himself for his weakness as he asked, “Is that why you’re here?”

He shouldn’t have asked. He didn’t want to hear that it wasn’t.

“I don’t know.”

Jon frowned.

“I didn’t think I’d have the strength to face you,” Damian continued. “But my feet brought me here anyway.”

“Smart feet.”

Damian’s head jerked up, eyes finally showing something other than the sadness that had filled them for longer than Jon knew. It was amusement. And Jon’s heart leapt at the sight.

“And are yours smart enough to get you out of the street before you get run over?” Damian teased,  emerald eyes twinkling, but he didn’t wait for Jon’s response and instead stepped forward to meet the Kryptonian at the curb.

Even now, Jon was taller than his companion, by just a couple of inches, so that their eyes were level until Jon stepped up onto the sidewalk. The distance between them had now shrunk so much, Damian could feel his breath on his face. He had to tilt his up slightly now to keep eye contact. That irked him.

Jon noticed it too, but found it endearing. Maybe not as much had changed as he thought.

“I’m really glad you’re here,” he whispered. “Whether you meant to be or not.” His eyes trailed a drop of water traversing the strong angles of Damian’s face, straying as the drop did at the corner of his lips. Lips that were whispering back.

“Me too.”

Jon couldn’t take it anymore. His hand moved to cup Damian’s face, thumb stretching to swipe away the offending water, stuck defiantly in the creases of his mouth. He paused for the slightest of moments to meet Damian’s eye.

Damian noticed the hesitation and willed his eyes to reflect his need.

And then Jon was tilting his head down and his lips were meeting Damian’s.

Jon tasted sweet, his lips were soft, and he moved slow.

When he broke away, Damian took control, not ready for the moment to be over. One hand went to Jon’s to keep it in place and one went to his neck to keep it bent down. And they crashed together again.

Damian smelled of earth, his lips were strong, and he moved with purpose.

Jon wrapped his other arm around him as Damian’s tongue pried open his lips and began exploring.

Damian was desperate to drink in as much of Jon as he could, trying to learn this new Jon. This beautiful, forgiving man.

Jon held on tighter, part of him still afraid that if he let go, he’d lose Damian again.

But when they finally broke apart to breathe, Damian didn’t move away. Instead, he rested his forehead on Jon’s chest and … laughed.

The Demon’s Head was laughing and Jon couldn’t help but join in, feeling giddy. He nudged at Damian’s head with his nose and shorter man looked up.

“Ten years of birthday wishes, I was started to think that Earth tradition was bullshit.” He chuckled, Damian’s eyed widened. “But I finally got my wish.”

“Happy birthday, Jon,” he replied smiling. “Now I just have to work up the courage to go see my father and the others. Hopefully the rest of my reconciliations will go this well.”

“Hopefully not in quite the same way, though.”

Damian pulled back and punched his arm. Jon laughed.

“Only joking.” He turned and linked his arm in Damian’s, starting to walk down the sidewalk to leave campus. “Though, I’m still gonna keep an eye on Grayson.”

#damijon #jondami #jonathan kent #damian wayne #supersons #batman #robin #batfam #dick grayson #nightwing #jason todd #red hood #tim drake #red robin #my writing #writers of tumblr #fanfic

[gavillain]

Joker Nicholson

Tied with the DCAU version as the “true” Joker for me. 

Is his rendition of the Joker basically Nicholson playing Nicholson? Yes. Is that exactly what this character needed to be? Also YES. Nicholson does a fantastic job of being a theatrical foe who's also a very serious threat. This adaptation bears the distinction of allowing us the chance to get to know Jack Napier before he becomes the Joker. We see Nicholson playing a ruthless mob enforcer and then later finally getting the chance to give into his melodramatic insanity. This, in turn, lets us see the layers of Nicholson's performance. We understand what kind of a person the Joker is behind his Joker persona, and, as a result, he's even more despicable to us. Yet he maintains his sense of fun that defines the Joker with him dancing and throwing money on a parade float before trying to gas everyone in Gotham to death. He hits all the notes the Joker needs to hit.

Both the original Batman film and The Dark Knight feature the Joker murdering someone with a writing utensil in the form of a joke, but while Ledger Joker just uses the murder itself as the punch line, Nicholson's Joker dramatically delivers a punch line: "The pen is truly mightier than the sword" after his kill. For Ledger's Joker, murder itself is a joke and amusing for him, a trait not especially unique amongst villains. But for Nicholson's Joker, murder and mayhem are the medium to deliver his humor. He doesn't kill people BECAUSE it's funny, he kills people WHEN it's funny.

The Joker, as such, is kind of the ultimate comedic villain when you get right down to it. He's funny, not just because he cracks jokes and one liners but because his villainy itself is funny. He's very much emblematic of a dark sense of humor that perfectly goes hand in hand with Gotham City's dark and gothic setting. This is even more appropriate given how brooding and serious our hero Batman is usually portrayed as. Their very color schemes illustrate this contrast perfectly with Batman favoring blacks and grays while the Joker's ensembles pop like a bowl full of skittles. They're perfect antitheses. While Batman is a serious enforcer of justice, the Joker is a comedic force of evil and cruelty. If all the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players, then Batman and Joker are the players bearing the iconic theatrical masks of tragedy and comedy respectively. They incarnate that duality.

That theater comparison is no coincidence either. Batman, after all, is a classic dramatic tragic hero in the same vein as Oedipus Rex and Hamlet with all of the baggage and messy complexities that that entails. Joker comes from a very similar theatrical stock character place as Batman. Recall my earlier reference to the Harlequin? That's not just a cheeky allusion to his sidekick's namesake. The Joker is very much a reworking of the Harlequin stock character acting in opposition to the tragic hero. The Harlequin is a clever and mischievous trickster figure designed to work in opposition to the melancholic Pierrot, and many of Harlequin's qualities are inherited from the devil characters of medieval passion plays. And that's exactly the role that the Joker assumes: a devilish trickster to combat the melancholic Batman. Batman, in assuming his mask and a dramatic costume, takes on the power of the theater, and so his greatest enemy becomes an equal and opposite force also of the theater. What, did you think Clowns vs Bats was some arbitrary choice to represent chaos and order?

This version of the Joker also introduces an element unique to the Burton franchise that's also one of its most controversial decisions: it makes Jack Napier the man who killed Thomas and Martha Wayne. As the man personally responsible for the traumatic event that fueled Bruce's transformation into Batman, he's effectively the man who created Batman. And since Batman is the reason why Jack fell into the vat of chemicals, Batman effectively created the Joker. The two diametrically opposed forces of tragedy and comedy created each other. I really like that touch and how it adds sort of an interesting layer of the two not being so different after all. Also, it adds a very personal underpinning to the Batman vs Joker conflict, and I just loved it for that.

Send me a character, and I’ll give you my opinion on them

#Joker #Jack Napier #Jack Nicholson #opinion #long post

[thedeaditeslayer]

My worst moment: Bruce Campbell and unmanageable costumes — 'no one ever talks about the pinches, the scrapes, the chafing'.

Here’s an article where Bruce Campbell shares an interesting story from on the set of Army of Darkness. 

According to Bruce Campbell, who hosts the latest version of “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” on the Travel Channel, there is a decent percentage of risk-takers featured on the show. “Probably 20% of our stories are daredevil-ish and that’s always fascinating,” he said. “Who does that? Who are these people? Who’s crazy enough to launch themselves on a motorcycle doing flips? Or smash things with your head or pull things with your hair? How did that all come to be?”

Campbell’s role is mostly to provide voiceover, which means he has yet to meet the individuals spotlighted. “But I hope to because I do a lot of conventions and I tour and man, nothing would be better than to get some of these folks doing a live demonstration at one of these conventions. There are astonishing skills here.”

Does Campbell have any notable skills?

“Oh, amazing skills. I can read a teleprompter like nobody’s business. I do have one skill I developed: It’s a diagonal banana slice. If you just slice your banana — bing, bang, bing — the little slices that land in your bowl, 42% of them are going to stick together because they’re all the same shape and angle. So I do an alternating angular slice. You cut diagonal, spin the banana, cut on the opposite diagonal. And now these diagonal chunks are falling in and when they hit each other, they are bouncing off each other there’s no way they’re going to stick together. You’re welcome.”

He was quick to point out the skills highlighted on the show are “things that you and I could not do. When you see what these folks have gone through in their lives and what they’ve overcome, talk about their worst moment! A lot of people in these episodes have had moments that changed their lives and this is what they did to overcome it or deal with it. It’s surprisingly uplifting.”

When asked about his own worst moment in a career that has spanned many incarnations of the “Evil Dead” franchise as well the USA series “Burn Notice” (and much, much more, detailed in his memoir “If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor" and its sequel "Hail to the Chin: Further Confessions of a B Movie Actor"), Campbell recalled a story about a costume that got in the way of a certain bodily function.

My worst moment …

“I was shooting ‘Army of Darkness’ (from 1992), which was the third ‘Evil Dead’ movie and it was our version of ‘The Vikings’ — when we were kids, (director) Sam Raimi and me and some of the other guys, we liked ‘The Vikings,’ which is this Kirk Douglas movie (from 1958) where it was like, attacking castles and burning oil and stuff like that. We were all at our physical and mental best and we had enough of a budget that we could make this big epic.

“In the movie, I play two characters: Good Ash, who is the main character, and also his rival, Bad Ash, who is possessed and is a demon. The demon makeup took three hours to put on and I’m in a demon costume with a demon suit-of-armor. And because I’m possessed, I’m wearing contact lenses that blocked out my vision and I have these demon gloves that are like these Playtex gloves you would wear to wash your dishes or whatever, but they’re monster gloves and they have two-inch nails on them. Like, sharp, menacing fingernails. They were so clumsy. I couldn’t do anything once I had them on. Couldn’t open the door, couldn’t hold a cup of coffee.

“We were shooting in the desert outside of Palmdale, California. It’s the middle of the night — and I have to go to the bathroom. And my only option was out in the darkness, somewhere in the desert. There was no port-o-potty at this particular place.

“So someone, like a production assistant with a walkie talkie, was like, ‘Alright, I’ll take Bruce by his arm and lead him off the set over to some yucca plant that’s out of the light.’ It was probably out behind this castle where we were shooting.

“So I’m standing there and realize, I can’t unzip my own fly — let alone get access to it in order to do what I needed to do, because of the fingernails on the monster gloves. It takes two people to put those gloves on and they’re not easy to remove. Once they’re on, you’re not taking them off to do anything. They’re on. They’re yours for the night.

“So, what am I going to do — call my wife over to help do this? Because I wasn’t going to ask the walkie-talkie person to do this. So I said, ‘You need to find my wife and bring her over because there’s an issue here. I cannot access myself to do what I need to do.’

“And I’m thinking: Is this what I’ve stayed in the film business for? For this? Is this what it’s come to? You know, you work hard and train hard and you can’t even urinate in the dessert. The raw indignity of it!

“My wife did end up helping out. She figured out what was going on pretty quick, no one needed to explain it. She was the costume designer on the movie so she was partially to blame for my misery. Her name is Ida Gearon and I said, ‘Ida, look: You and your department, we gotta figure something out here! I need easy access.’ She laughed but it wasn’t funny to me. After that, I think we cut a slit in the glove so you could bend the glove back and pop your real hand out of it. So a box cutter was the solution. Easy solution, took four seconds.

“If she hadn’t been on set that day, the makeup effects guys would have had to come out and remove the gloves — and that would have been a half hour that we didn’t have.”

How long before was Campbell able to laugh about the moment?

“About 10 years later it got funny (laughs). It took about a decade to get funny. It’s still not really hilarious. That was early in our marriage so it was a good test of our relationship, I suppose. It encouraged her to come up with a solution so it was a win-win, as they say.

“Sometime costume designers don’t think about the practical side of things. Or just the weight of what you’re wearing. I did a TV show called ‘Jack of All Trades’ where I was a masked marauder that always wore this velvety red cape, and I put the thing on and it almost gave me scoliosis. I gave it back to the costume designer and said, ‘Put this on and do a sword fight, I dare you. This needs to be a half or a third of the weight.’ She wanted it to flow right, which was absolutely correct. But I was like, ‘We’ve got to find a middle ground between what looks good and what is manageable.’

“The Batman costume? No thanks. Everybody’s like, ‘Bruce, would you ever want to be Batman?’ Not a chance in hell. I would be Commissioner Gordon, no problem — wear a nice suit, double-breasted pinstripe, everything’s good. But nothing could compel me to take a role where there’s a lot of prosthetics or that kind of all-encompassing costume. Earlier on in my career, no problem, get me in that suit, heck yeah! But now, you couldn’t write a soliloquy that could get me into one of those suits. I’m busy fishing.

“I’m not the first guy to say this, by the way. If you get cast as Batman or Spider-Man or Superman, kiss your bathroom goodbye. Or wear a catheter, or something. It’s the nightmare of these costumes. Hey, hurray — you’re Iron Man! Guess what? You’re never urinating again unless it’s in your suit.

“I mean, this is the nightmare of the modern-day actor wearing these stupid costumes (laughs). Everyone’s saying, ‘Oh God, Robert Downey Jr., he’s Iron Man, what a great career!’ and he’s probably cursing that stupid suit to this day. And the rashes, no one ever talks about their rashes — the pinches, the scrapes, the chafing, oh the chafing! I bet they sell more talcum powder to Marvel productions than to anybody else. Our beloved Chewbacca just passed on (played by Peter William Mayhew) and the only thing he ever talked about was how stuffy and uncomfortable that suit was. It’s like acting inside of a yak.

“So that was a real low point for me. People think you’re starring in a movie for Universal, this is the highpoint of your life. And actually it’s like, no, this is a low point.”

The takeaway …

“Don’t wear elaborate costumes (laughs). It’s almost as simple as that! Just don’t go there.

“Or, make sure you go through a NASA-style testing process where it’s like: Put me through all the possibilities. I’m sure the new Batman is going to benefit from everything they learned from all the previous Batman costumes, all the predecessors. Plus, I’ll bet the materials are lightweight now. If it were me, I’d call them all — George Clooney, Val Kilmer, Christian Bale — and be like, ‘Guys, what do I need to know about the dumb suit?’ I’d be right on top of that.

“It’s a thing called prep and it’s a lost art. I actually ran into a producer who had a T-shirt that said, ‘Prep is for (losers)’ — on his shirt! That’s what we’re dealing with.”

#Bruce Campbell

[mauricewiththedreads]

Low art from the movie “The Dark Knight”

To begin with, this movie is considered low art because it was produced and distributed by mass technology, and contained plots directed at attracting a large audience. To start, throughout the movie, Batman stands for honesty and goodness while the Joker is a symbolism of chaos and evil. Both sides are forced to make quick-witted decisions in order to stop the opposing vigilante from doing his desired work. The citizens of Gotham are put in the heart of this circumstance and feel obligated to go against their values to stop the chaos. 

Numerous people habitually pursue their dreams and values but often become blinded from their true intentions by the world they exist in. To understand the circumstance the citizens of Gotham are placed in we must first understand each side they are being pulled from. First is the good side, represented by Batman/Bruce Wayne and played by Christian Bale. He stands for everything good and has one personal rule as a superhero that prevents him from killing any person. Batman believes the law must punish the immoral so he stays in the shadows of the night. The law depends on Batman to do the work they illegally cannot do.

 So Batman makes it possible for the law to easily come across these criminals even when they run beyond national borders. These unlawful acts committed by Batman are easily looked past due to bright light always surrounding him. There are many scenes in which the lighting shows the goodness of Mr.Wayne. His underground office wear all his superhero work is done has a ceiling purely of bright white lights. Also, the bright Batman light on top of the building is a symbol of good around the city. When the light is shinning many criminals second guess crimes they have always committed.

Furthermore, Bruce Wayne is always looking through the windows in his home that radiate with natural light. Batman’s suit may be completely black but this is in order to be a stealth hero through the night. When looking closer at these night time scenes each one consists of Batman standing in the darkness but always with a very bright light somewhere nearby. Secondly is the bad side, represented by the Joker and played by Heath Ledger. From first sight of the Joker you know he is wicked. He wears a purple suit coat, green vest, green tie, and a patterned gray suit. His hair is always a mess and black make-up surrounds his eyes. 

These are all dark colors but they are not to hide in the darkness of the night such as Batman’s outfit. He is not trying to hide; he wants to prove people how evil he really is. The joker also has a piercing voice that is not forgotten combined with an evil laugh that shows his true ecstasy. He has no limits and thrives to do the unexpected just to see how people will react. Christopher Nolan begins this movie with ordinary people wearing a Joker mask while they are robbing a bank. Each member of this mob is shot after they do their part of their job until the real Joker becomes the last one standing.

The first scene in the film is pure evil and captivates the audience quickly although I believe the director is trying to create early signs of symbolism. These ordinary men believe if they wear this Joker mask they are some how something they never could be on their own. The next scene also symbolizes something similar to the robbery scene but on the opposite side of the spectrum. The mob is meeting when all of a sudden multiple want to be batman try to engage in the action to stop the wickedness. They too are wearing costumes and masks just like Batman’s creating a clear relation between the outfit and super human power.

The real Batman even states at the end of this scene when asked what is the difference between him and the other phony batmen, “I am not wearing hockey pads!” Early in the film it is evident people are trying to be something they are not causing themselves pain and in even some cases death. If the fake batmen wouldn’t have worn that attire they would have never stood up to the mob and created the clash that the real Batman was forced to fix. The abilities of the two vigilantes in the city captivated many people and they starting forgetting who they really were. The city in Gotham is in chaos.

They no longer know what they stand for and are starting to wonder if fighting evil is, in fact, creating more evil. One man who stands strong even when the public is second guessing is Harvey Dent played by Aaron Eckhart. He is the new district attorney and is respected by the entire city for stopping corruption all over the town. He is a clean shaven man with blonde hair and blue eyes who presents himself as a very proper man. This scenes proves that this man is a good man. If he were unshaven, had dark eyes, and dark hair it would be hard to consider him a truly good man. 

The director realizes this may not be true with everyone but it is a typical stereotype in our society today. As the movie goes on the enemy, who is forcing him to second guess his values, tests him time and time again. Being an honest man is no longer putting criminals away; they are always on step ahead. By the end of the film, the Joker crushes Harvey’s values and blinds him from what his true goals were in life. His two-sided face shows this visually after being burned in the explosion. Also, Harvey has a coin with a head printed on both sides. This coin never can land on tails but Harvey claims to people, “I make my own luck”.

This symbolizes his values and how he believes he can accomplish anything at this point in the movie. After an explosion kills his girlfriend, he reclaims the coin but one side of the coin is now completely black. Harvey at this point, mad at the world, flips the coin to put others life up to chance. He no longer says he will make his own luck: the coin flip is now up to chance. The worldly things in life ruined Harvey to the point that he becomes better off dead. Once the noblest man in the city, Harvey Dent becomes caught between choosing the law or his own way in order to bring to an end wrongdoings.

It is not an accident that the lighting is so bright. It reminds Batman what he stands for even in the darkest times and keeps him from breaking his one and only rule. He could have ended everything there with one punch but knew taking the short cut would not pay off in the end. This is what makes Batman the true superhero of the movie. We must put our wants and needs behind what is right in many situations in life in order to truly reach our goals.

#Aplang20art

[hawkofkrypton]

Why I’m very hyped about “Brightburn” (a horror version of the Superman tale)

“BrightBurn” (produced by the Guardians Of The Galaxy director James Gunn) is an horror movie starring an evil child with supernatural powers, but not in the typical way.

We all know the story of Superman: A space rocket lands near a farm, a couple farmers find a baby in it, and this baby develops extraordinary powers over time. But what if he doesn’t use them to do good, but to harm and kill whoever he wants to?

The idea of an evil Superman is definitely not something new, we’ve seen it before in comics, cartoons, videogames and even a couple of movies (Megamind for example), but we’ve never seen an evil *kid* Superman.

There’s something so terrifying about the idea of a child who can fry you with a look or ram your guts at the speed of sound to the nearest wall, turning you into mush. Or destroy a plane, leaving no survivors, just for the heck of it. (Which is amusing considering that everytime a plane is about to crash, Superman is the one that *saves* it).

The two trailers that have been released so far seem to take a lot of inspiration from Man Of Steel, a Superman movie that came out in 2013 and had a more realistic take on the character. This is not surprising, since Gunn said multiple times that MOS is his favorite DC movie, he even modeled Ego’s character in Guardians 2 to Jor-El’s appearance in Man Of Steel.

The name of the kid himself, Brandon Breyer, is an alliterative name, which is very common when it comes to comic book characters, just think of Peter Parker, Bruce Banner or even Reed Richards. I also really like the whole “demonic” motif to it, with the red glow from his rocketship, the fiery effects of his heat vision, and even his mask looks scary as hell. It kinda resembles Scarecrow’s mask from Batman Begins, another DC reference.

Overral, I really hope this movie does not disappoint. The premise and the potential are there, and while I usually align more to the optimistic side of things, I hope Brandon goes full villain towards the end. Many villains suffer from turning into heroes and loosing what made them interesting in the first place, although sometimes the opposite its also true, but Im preetty sure that a kid willing to crash an entire plane and leave no survivor and then munching a snack right next to the remains of it definitely ain’t gonna get redeemed. Hopefully. S-fully.

#dc #dceu #superman #man of steel #james gunn #brightburn #nightmare fuel #scarecrow #dc comics

[bi-honor]

Why the “Batman should just kill the Joker” argument is stupid.

Pre-scriptum: This turned out a bit longer and a lot more complicated than I’ve expected. Please bear with it.

Sunday night, before heading back to uni, I decided not to sleep (like a sensible person would), and instead started watching Gotham.

And shit, son.

A show that actually understands the underlying themes of Gotham?

I can't believe it.

This realization reminded me of the million times, when I've been hit with the good ol’ "Batman should just kill the Joker, he is so stupid" argument.

Hearing this always drove me crazy, but now I can actually present a (somewhat) coherent debunking, so strap in for a little rant.

So the two main arguments, that come up are as follows: Killing the villains would more effectively reduce crime.

Batman’s presence is just worsening Gotham’s situation by creating/pulling supervillains into Gotham causing even more death and suffering in the process.

Now, depending on the exact iteration, these are correct observations, but they miss the goddamned point of everything.

Batman is not a person. He is an ideology. He is not a man, as much as the idea, that justice is real and is coming to kick your ass, in a city where major criminal offenses are justified with “this is Gotham, kid. Get over it”. It is not a coincidence that Bruce is commonly referred to as the mask of Batman and not the other way around.

He is trying to uphold the power of law and correct the system where it is goes to shit. This is the reason why many of his small scale opponents are corrupt cops and why several of his allies are people such as Jim Gordon (who is trying to fix the police from the inside) and pre-Two Face Harvey Dent (who does the same on a legal/political plane). How he uses his personal financial and political power reflects the same.

Now, the reason why I’m harping on about this is that one of the core tenets of human civilization is the “no kill” rule, which is also the most important element of Batman’s backstory. Killing is viewed as necessary evil by many people, but the end goal should always be minimizing it, and shifting the focus to rehabilitation. It is not a coincidence that Arkham is an asylum, not a prison. Due to writers wanting to use the same villains, and their relevant themes, they cannot be cured (long-run comics be damned), but that does not change the fact that it IS an asylum (a facility or rehabilitation), not a prison or the Phantom Zone (which are only for containment, and are linked to much more “wholesome” heroes).

Batman is often praised for his rouge’s gallery and for good reason. Besides packing style and AWESOME in troves, they are all (at least the good ones) defined by a single or a few overriding flaws and deviations from order. Here is a (non-conclusive) list: Wanting to demolish all order as a reaction to its flaws (Anarchy), declaring oneself above the rest due to outstanding intellect or some other quality (Riddler), wanting to abolish civilization and let nature take over (Posion Ivy), taking arbitrary laws too seriously (Two Face) or my personal favourite: putting one’s personal trauma above the rest of humanity (Dr. Freeze), they all represent real and understandable ideologies that are constantly up against the ideal of law and order. And don’t forget the antithesis of Bats and literal definition of LE, Joker, who quite literally represents men’s tendency to be evil just cause, and who also happens to be the ultimate cynic (more on that in a minute).

But the villains are not the main opposition of Batman. It is Gotham itself (thus the name of the show). Batman doesn’t become Batman because people are being abducted for experimentation or because the Joker is killing people. He becomes Batman, because he is living in a city, where two people are shot in front of their child for a necklace and everyone just waves it off as yesterday’s news. The real enemy is cynicism, the idea that things cannot and will not change for the better. He is one of the few, who faced with cynicism and neglect for such things, stands up and says ‘No. It does not have to be like that.” He is dead-set on bringing a better world to fruition and breaking the fundamentals of his beliefs would equal to ceasing to exist as what he is and the resistance he signifies. He can be cynical in his approach, but always within bounds, and never on an ideological level (barring deconstructions, but those are deconstructions for a reason).

(I don’t want to write an entire dissertation, so I swore I wouldn’t bring up paladins or Sanderson, therefore I assume the dear reader can make the connection)

In the faithful Batman stories, both his unrelenting realism and fundamental care for others are emphasized. He approaches situations with a level head, and almost always asks the villains to put the weapons down, before actually engaging in combat. For example, in the animated Justice League series (the be all, end all of animated superheroism) we see Batman tell the entire JLA that they can either kick him out or see why a contingency is needed for their own power, and we also see Batman sitting down on a swing with a little girl who might be a danger to the fabric of reality, so she wouldn’t have to spend her last minutes alone.

One could say that Batman himself is quite the broken and hypocritical character as he exhibits many of the traits which identify his villains. He is a vigilante (Anarchy), almost solely inspired by personal trauma and loss (Freeze), constantly imposes an arbitrary moral code on others (Two-face), and so on. However there are many reasons why this only betters the whole thing.

First and foremost, Batman is trying to create the synthesis of the ideal and the realistic and make it into a comprehensive and ordered system, which just so happens to be the fundamental challenge of legislation and governance. Secondly the best Batman stories and his meta villains (Arkham series, Red Hood) can very effectively bounce off of these “flaws” allowing for a further exploration of the themes. Thirdly, when his fundamentals are broken (the original Dark Knight) and it is not fucked up (LOOKIN’ AT YOU SNYDER) it makes for a very effective deconstruction. There is also a fourth reason, but let me get back to that later.

Now, on the show itself. In one of the first scenes we witness Gordon being ridiculed, after not shooting an obviously miserable junkie and taking a more circumvent approach, just so killing could be avoided. Later we see police applaud a serial killer for killing crooks, right up until he targets a policeman (who is also a crook btw), where they suddenly go all “we don’t kill a policemen, hurrdurr”. Said serial killer turns out to be a guy who worked with orphans for decades and thought the only way to change the city would be to start killing the corrupt. He doesn’t even have to pick his targets, because anyone, who has the slightest smidgen of power in Gotham would be a proper target.

The villains in the show are also shown to be evil, but also fundamentally broken as people, which is the cause of their villainy. Cobblepot is very obviously a bullied loner, Nigma is viewed as a loser by everyone while he just wants to share what he finds interesting, Selina’s only brush with authority was getting thrown into institutions and Ivy experienced an abusive family. Being broken doesn’t excuse their choices, but it does give rise to them, tying into the fact that there is a root cause for evil other than human nature and that it can be treated.

Now the final reason why Batman not being perfect is not a problem, is that he is not actually the ideal hero of the world of Gotham. Due to all his hypocrisies and nigh superhuman nature, he is not actually the best synthesis of order and Gotham. The real ideal is Jimmy Gordon himself.

Why? He shares, both the unrelenting idealism and humanity of Batman, but he does so without having to resort to terror tactics or vigilantism. And without access to ALL THE MONEY or superhuman intellect. This is the reason why he is the main of the show and not Bruce and also why in some versions of the story, Batman falls, giving rise to more perfect heroes and Gordon is the one who tidies up the GCPD and/or becomes mayor.

Take for example the pier scene from the show [mild spoliers]. Harvey (a different one) takes Jim and Cobblepot out to the pier and says that Jim must shoot the guy into the water or their ass is grass. Now, Jim is presented with two options here. Comply (give in to status quo) or Resist (and die shortly thereafter, also feeding into the status quo). Batman would choose Resist, which is a valid choice, but only for him and not the layman. However, Jim recognizes the false ‘agency’ inherent in the choice and breaks the system by coming to a third solution. This moment, in one scene summarized, what the struggle for a better Gotham is and how it can be achieved.

(Struggling not to bring Geralt into this)

Which ties us back to the main point of this whole thing. Killing the Joker or any other villain for that matter, does not solve the problem, because the Joker is not the problem. The problem is that Gotham is a place which produces people like him on a consistent and reliable basis and that its own habitants believe that this cannot be changed. Viewing killing as the only solution only strengthens the very core of the problem and at best momentarily cures some of the symptoms, but not the sickness itself.

In the spawn of 4 episodes, the show demonstrated, what is the problem of Gotham, how it affects everyday life and thinking, how truly superhuman Bruce is even as a kid, how the city creates its own broken people, what challenges someone has to face if they want to produce change and it managed not to be crowded to incomprehensibility or made into a cheese-fest. I hope it will not go off its rails, as I don’t know if anything ever inspired this type of positive excitement from me. Rant over

#batman #Gotham #Paladin? #Rant #Comics #JimmyGordon #QuestionablePostingSchedule #probably controversial #Someone'sgoingtostabme #Whataretagseven #JLA #Joker #1amMorality

[thedcdunce]

Two-Face

“You should know better by now. Fate has chosen... and cannot be denied.” - Two-Face

Real Name: Harvey Dent

Gender: Male

Height: 6′ 0″

Weight: 182 lbs (83 kg)

Eyes: Blue

Hair: Brown

Powers:

Toxic Immunity

Abilities:

Law

Firearms

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)

Weaknesses:

Multiple Personalities

Equipment:

Double-Headed Coin

Automatic Handgun

Base of Operations: Gotham City

Universe: 

Earth-One

New Earth

Parents: Christopher Dent; father

Citizenship: American

Marital Status: Married (Gilda Dent; wife)

Occupation: Lawyer

First Appearance: Batman #81 (February, 1954)

Powers

Toxic Immunity

Abilities

Law: He was a successful attorney, and is proficient in nearly all matters pertaining to criminal law.

Firearms

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced): Dent has been extensively trained in Hand to Hand combat.

Weaknesses

Multiple Personalities: Two-Face does things according to chance and therefore relies heavily on his coin to make decisions, making the coin his Achilles' heel.

Equipment

Double-Headed Coin: Two-Face uses a two-headed silver dollar, one side of which is defaced, the other side clean. Flipping the coin dictates Harvey when making any significant life decisions. If the coin lands on the scarred side, Two-Face will pursue acts of evil. If the coin lands on the unmarked side, he is compelled to commit acts of good.

Automatic Handgun: Typically Two-Face uses a variety of automatic and semi-automatic handguns to conduct his criminal affairs. He usually carries two. Sometimes he carries his pistols with acid bullets.

History

Harvey Dent was the District Attorney of Gotham City, and a close, personal ally of Batman. Unfortunately, the notorious gangster, "Boss" Moroni, threw acid in Dent's face, severely disfiguring it on the left side, leaving the right side unharmed. Because of his new appearance, Dent underwent a mental breakdown and became the insane crime boss Two-Face.

Earth-One: Origin

Harvey Dent's origin and transformation of Two-Face on the Earth-One universe, mirrors that of his Earth-Two counterpart. After his disfigurement, he started a crime spree as Two-Face until he was eventually stopped by Batman, who talked reason into him and convinced Dent to have his face restored with plastic surgery. After the successful procedure, Dent became a law abiding citizen once more, but unfortunately his face was permanently scarred after he tried to stop some thieves and came withing range of a massive explosion. With his face scarred and his mind twisted once again, Two-Face returned and he started a second crime spree in which he almost succeeded on eliminating Batman and Robin, but he was eventually captured.

Dent somehow managed to escape and started a scheme to murder several shareholders of a company to seize their assets and get himself a reconstructive surgery with their money. He was stopped by Batman and Green Arrow, but they failed to capture him.

Criminal Activities

A few years later, Two-Face escaped prison and resumed his criminal activities. Two-Face gathered a small gang and started a series of robberies, with subtle relation to binary numbers. His ultimate goal was to steal a cache of gold doubloons lost in an ancient ship, and although he almost succeeded, his compulsion to obey his two-faced coin allowed Batman to stop him. Two-Face was locked in Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane, but he managed to escape with outside help. Once free, Two-Face used an atomic bomb to blackmail the US Government, but once again he was stopped by Batman. Two-Face was soon sprung out of Arkham once again, leaving the Joker behind. This action forced Joker to escape and thwart Two-Face's plan. As they confronted each other, both criminals were promptly captured and taken back to Arkham. Learning from past mistakes, Two-Face and Joker teamed-up to steal a valuable item from Oliver Queen and this attracted attention from Green Arrow, Batman and the Atom.

After stealing the binary codes for a nuclear weapon, Two-Face blackmailed the American Government into giving him 22 million dollars. However, Two-Face was forced to change his plans when Batman and the Federal Agent King Faraday tried to stop him. Two-Face relocated his operations to New Orleans where he tried to steal the double amount of ransom money, but he was stopped by Faraday and Batman. Although his plans where thwarted, Two-Face escaped to an apparent death.

In the months that he remained missing, Harvey sought the help of Albert Ekhart, the surgeon who restored his face the first time and Harvey had him restore his face a second time. With his new face, Harvey adopted a new identity and tried to earn the love of Gilda, his first wife. However, Dent challenged Batman, convinced that his new identity would protect him, but Ekhart's surgery didn't last long and the new face started to fade. Batman learned that Two-Face was responsible for killing "Boss" Moroni as a revenge after he killed Gilda's second husband, causing her grievance. During the final confrontation with Batman, Two-Face recalled the incident that turned his life and after Gilda showed him love and support, Two-Face turned himself to the authorities and returned to Arkham willingly, in hopes of being cured and eventually return to her love. Later, Two-Face escaped from Arkham and created a master plan to capture Batman using his own hideout as the perfect trap. His plan was successful and Two-Face held Batman prisoner for a week, time in which his plans were foiled by Robin from the outside and Batman from his prison.

Once again Two-Face escaped from Arkham thanks to his henchmen working on the outside and he stole a binary computer system, which he used to choose his next crimes. He was soon contacted by Circe, a former associate of Black Mask, who offered Two-Face a partnership. Two-Face agreed, unaware that it was all part of a plan by Batman to get to him and in the final struggle, Two-Face was recaptured by the combined efforts of Batman, Catwoman and the new Robin.

New Earth: Origins

Harvey Dent was born into a life of hardship. Growing up in a lower-class family, Dent was raised with an instinctive dislike and mistrust for the upper-class. His violent, cruel and mentally ill father frequently bullied and abused him as a child, with his favorite game being flipping his double-headed coin promising to spare the child a beating if the coin landed tails. These harsh surroundings resulted in Dent developing repressed mental illnesses of his own, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. His hard work ethic, however, allowed him to rise to become a lawyer and, eventually, the District Attorney.

He was nicknamed "Apollo" by the media, because he was charming, good-looking and seemingly untouchable. He was dedicated to his job of upholding law and order, and became one of the first supporters, allies and even friends of the Batman. At the time of his job as D.A., the worst criminal threat in Gotham was the nigh omnipotent mafia boss Carmine Falcone, "The Roman." After Dent struck several blows to the Roman's Empire, Falcone hired Mickey "The Mink" Sullivan to eliminate the D.A. However, the attempt by Mickey's gang to take out Dent failed. He forged a triumvirate with Batman and Commissioner James Gordon to bring the man down within the law, no matter what the cost. His slightly angrier temperament led Batman and Gordon to distrust him slightly, believing there was a possibility he might be the mysterious " Holiday" killer who was gunning down mob members at the time. The alliance ended tragically when Sal Maroni, believing Dent to be responsible for the death of his father, threw acid in his face during a trial. Dent was horribly scarred on the left side of his face.

Dent escaped from the hospital and descended into madness. He became obsessed with duality and opposites, and developed a second persona, the villainous Two-Face, to compliment the law and order obsessed Harvey Dent. As Two-Face, his trademark was crimes involving the number two. His obsession even shows in his clothes, which are usually composed of two halves made out of very different materials. He carries a double-sided coin with one side scratched at all times.

His first crime as Two-Face was the killing of his corrupt Assistant District Attorney Vernon Wells and Carmine Falcone. Two-Face was eventually incarcerated in Arkham Asylum.

Two-Face next escaped from Arkham Asylum on the following Halloween, stole his old case files, and began the dismantling of the Falcone crime family. A new killer began following The Holiday's pattern, only this time not killing mobsters but cops. Dent saved Jim Gordon from the Hangman, as the new murderer was dubbed, and told Gordon he was not the Hangman. He continued using his alliance to the rest of Batman's Rogues Gallery to dismantle the mob. It was during this time he was having an affair with his successor as District Attorney, Janice Porter, a person he used to meet back at Gotham University when he was a professor. Porter was soon killed by Two-Face when she said she loved him. Over the the course of the year, he finally succeeded in eliminating Carmine Falcone's successor, his daughter Sofia Gigante Falcone who was revealed to be the Hangman the entire time, and even though he was taken in, Two-Face had permanently shifted the balance of power in Gotham's underworld from the mob to the so-called "costumed freaks."

History with "The Boy Wonder"

Two-Face was the reason Bruce Wayne fired Dick Grayson, then Robin, from being his partner. After a failed attempt to rescue the then D.A. from Two-Face, who also had The Dark Knight captive as well, Two-Face brutally beat Dick, scaring Batman into firing Dick.

Later, Two-Face killed a henchman by the name of Willis Todd who happened to be the father of Jason Todd, the second Robin. In the wake of Todd's career as Robin, Two-Face came in conflict with the new Boy Wonder, who helped Batman put an end to Dent's new criminal spree.

A Lonely Place of Dying

Two-Face's last encounter with Jason Todd as Robin was unfortunate as Batman captured him and he was sent to Arkham. However, shortly after Todd's death, Batman broke Two-Face out of Arkham in order to locate member of his gang, who were located in one of Two-Face's hideouts in Santa Prisca. Although Batman found the wanted criminals, Two-Face escaped and remained on the loose for some time.

Eventually, Two-Face resurfaced and carried out a number of obviously two-related crimes, following a voice he thought was his own subconscious, but who in fact was the Joker, manipulating Two-Face's fragile sanity. Batman became increasingly obsessed with catching him and Two-Face became fixed on taking down Batman. Meanwhile, Tim Drake tracked down Dick Grayson and attempted to convince him to return to his position as Robin for Batman's safety. Nightwing refused and followed various clues left by Batman, meeting up with him for the attack on Two-Face's base. Two-Face has prepared a trap for the heroes and learning about the peril, Tim adopted the Robin identity and confronted Two-Face to rescue his idols. Tim's intervention saved Batman and Nightwing and helped them apprehend Two-Face, leading Batman to accept him as the third Robin.

Knightfall

When Arkham Asylum was partially destroyed by Bane, Dent was among the various inmates that managed to escape the place in the ensuing chaos. Two-Face went to the old Gotham City Courthouse, which was about to be demolished and he planned to eliminate Batman. For this purpose, he tracked down and killed a crime boss in order to get his people work for him. Leaving the corpse of the gangster as a clue for Batman, Two-Face lured the hero into a trap.

Two-Face then staged a trial for Batman at the old Courthouse, where he acted as judge, jury and prosecutor. Two-Face blamed Batman of betraying his trust before the accident with Sal Maroni that scarred his face and therefore, he blamed Batman for him turning into Two-Face. Batman managed to free himself during the trial and after a long chase and a battle in a nearby construction site, Batman defeated Two-Face thanks to Robin's timely arrival. Afterwards, Two-Face was arrested by the GCPD and taken to prison.

No Man's Land

In the aftermath of the earthquake that left Gotham City in shambles and declared a "no man's land," Two-Face kidnapped Commissioner Gordon and put him on trial for his actions, with Two-Face as both judge and prosecutor. Gordon played upon Two-Face's split psyche to demand Harvey Dent as his defense attorney. Dent cross-examined Two-Face and won an acquittal of Gordon.

It was also during this time that Two-Face met GCPD detective Renee Montoya. Montoya was able to reach the Harvey persona in Two-Face, and was kind to him. He fell in love with her, though the romance was one-sided. After the earthquake that ravaged Gotham, Two-Face outed her as a lesbian and framed her for murder, hoping that if he took everything from her she would be left with no choice but to be with him. Montoya was furious, and the two fought for control of his gun until Batman intervened, putting Two-Face back in Arkham Asylum.

Hush

A short time later, Two-Face met the brilliant surgeon, Dr. Thomas Elliot. Although Elliot specialized in neurosurgery, he was competent enough to repair Dent's face via plastic surgery. Dent's sanity was restored, and the menacing "Two-Face" persona seemed to be gone forever. Thomas Elliot was also the villain known as Hush, and he had hoped to manipulate Harvey into acting as one of his many pawns in a campaign against Batman. With renewed sanity, the former D.A. stood by the side of law and order and betrayed Hush, catching him in enough time to save Batman's life, and shooting him into the Gotham river.

One Year Later/The Return of Two-Face

Having regained his trust, Dent was trained and conditioned by Batman to act as Gotham's primary vigilante protector when he, Robin and Nightwing all took a one-year hiatus to train during the Lost Year. When Batman returned, a series of murders occurred implicating Harvey and involving Two-Face's M.O. When confronted on the issues by Batman, in his anger at being distrusted, the Two-Face persona resurfaced, and talked Dent into scarring his face and returning to his life of crime.

The Great Leap

Shortly after this, Dent went to New York City and summoned Nightwing to ask him for help keeping a former colleague and love interest, Carol Bermingham, safe from harm. Two-Face kept track of Nightwing and his past love by calling to her phone, and a few moments later, he discovered Nightwing's safe place and broke inside. Two-Face forced Nightwing to fight several henchmen while under the influence of Scarecrow's Fear Toxin. As Nightwing discovered Two-Face's scheme, Carol tried to talk to Dent, but he shot her and left him to be saved by Nightwing. However, hours later when he met the people who hired him to eliminate Carol, he learned of Carol's death and in a burst of anger he killed the criminal, blaming Nightwing for the situation. Two-Face's revenge materialized when he planned a massive attack that would've destroyed half of Manhattan, but he failed at the last minute after being stopped by Nightwing. Two-Face is taken to Arkham, where he promises Nightwing that he will get out and get his revenge.

Two-Face escaped from prison and went to Gotham, where he was allowed to stay on Gracchus's hideout. However, Gracchus betrayed Two-Face's trust when he impersonated Two-Face and scarred a famous actress and beautiful woman, Millicent Mayne. Dent decided to leave the place, sparing Gracchus's life.

Battle for the Cowl

After Batman's apparent death, Two-Face became one of the two major contenders for control of the Gotham underworld along with the Penguin. When Two-Face's arms shipment was attacked, he assumed that Penguin was responsible and declared war on him. Despite his loss, Two-Face still created chaos in the city until he was confronted by Catwoman, who wanted to apprehend him, but Two-Face managed to escape.

When the United States Army arrived in Gotham, Two-Face was forced to hide from the public eye, since most of the chaos created in the city was being blamed on him, despite the fact that he wasn't responsible.

Two-Face soon realized that there's another person under the Batman's cowl. He hired a teleporter and manages to infiltrate the Batcave. When the new Batman investigates the cave, he is ambushed by Two-Face with tranquilizer darts, and in a hallucination he sees Dent in a red and black Two-Face themed Batman costume. However, Alfred Pennyworth saved the hero from Two-Face's torture after he subdues his accomplice, and with his help Batman convinces Two-Face that he is the real, original Darknight Detective.

Two-Face has been at odds with Gotham's latest district attorney, Kate Spencer, also known as the vigilante Manhunter.

Since the arrest of Black Mask, Two-Face has been working at regaining his former power over Gotham. However, his plans have garnered the attention of the FBI. After he discovers a mole in his midst, he flees only to be stabbed by his own henchmen. Two-Face is left for dead, his body dumped off a bridge. Sometime later, two fishermen in the middle of a lake reel in Two-Face's water-logged body.

Fun Facts

Left side of the face disfigured, often seen as brownish pink. Hair is white on the disfigured side. As Two-Face, the left side of Dent's face and left hand are mutilated and discolored. Dent also suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder.

Occasionally, Two-Face will drive a "getaway" vehicle painted to reflect his personality.

Sometimes, the guns tie into his motif, such as wielding dual .22 semiautomatics or a double-barreled shotgun.

Harvey Dent is also known as Apollo, and One-Face.

#two face #two-face #injustice league unlimited #ilu #dc #dc comics #thedcdunce

[ataboolife]

“Wolverine, Batman, and Spider-Man: The Holy Trinity of Masculinity” - Why Superheroes Help Celebrate the Nature of Masculinity While also Addressing its Perils.

I’ve come to believe the reason why superheroes play a large part in culture is due to the symbolism they represent of humanity. Since the dawn of storytelling, we have always made wisdom palatable and entertaining through fiction — a truth hidden in an elaborate tale. Superhero comics, movies and video games have become the next step in the evolution of story telling. I also believe there is a subconscious attraction for men to be drawn to superhero tales. Not only because it would be cool fly or stick to walls, but they’re communicating a wisdom about the nature of masculinity. We all wish we had the strength and the gadgets to take on great feats, but do we need to be a superhero to be the best parts of ourselves?

  Wolverine: The Indestructible Protector

I often fanaticized as a child that I had the ability to heal immediately from any mortal wound and have adamantium claws extend out of my hand whenever I needed to fight; hell, I still do it as an adult. Despite my childish delusions, there is an understandable allure to Logan which all men can feel whenever they see him in the comics or watch Hugh Jackman fiercely bring him to life. He speaks to a profoundly animalistic and noble part of masculinity: the protector.

Despite the profoundly skewed current views on sexual roles, there is an intrinsic duty to protect that all men have to fulfill because it is in our nature. We must have the ability to protect the ones we love. We’ve done so ever since we first protected them from the ferocious beasts outside the cave during the dawn of man. Today’s threats may not be as primal in modern culture but they still exist, and we’re sometimes powerless to stop them. It may be a burglar, a random street mugging or predatory bankers whose greed caused a recession.  But there are times when we can face these threats and engage them. Meet them head on and subdue them. But to do so comes at a physical price through injuries or even death. Wolverine can face any threat without paying that price.

Wolverine speaks to the protector side of masculinity because he is what we wish all can be for the ones we love. Even without his adamantium-laced skeleton and claws, Logan is a skilled warrior and his unyielding will in the face of adversity, and god-like enemies represent a real aspect of the masculine spirit. But it is the combination of his skill, will, and powers which make him a deity of the protectors. We wish that we can take on danger and challenge without being scathed. To lose a battle without the scars such as Wolverine does, even when he fights the Hulk. Some men seem to embody this, such as your tough as nails Uncle or a Medal of Honor recipient. They are men who protect, fight and live to tell the tale.

Even though we wish to be indestructible and have our “claws” ready at any moment, we are still vulnerable from the things we fight for. Logan has survived brutal punishment over the centuries, but he is haunted by the women he loved and lost, notably Jean Grey. He’s even tried to settle down and raise a family, i.e. “Old Man Logan,” but danger always looms wherever he goes, and it’s the ones he loves who pay the price. Through drinking, limiting his intimate relationships and being a solitary Ronin, Wolverine tries to make his heart indestructible. Which is the problem all men share: the more powerful we become as protectors, the more vulnerable our hearts are from the ones we finally love.

Wolverine is best of what he does, and what he does isn’t really nice. Embracing the protector side of masculinity is an ugly task because we as men have to face our shortcomings and become better so we can protect the ones we love. It also means facing both failure and death. We wish we can be a living weapon and indestructible, but this is reality and not the comics. Wolverine only died once and was resurrected; we don’t get to be so lucky, which is why men are fascinated with Wolverine.

  Batman: Gotham’s Father

He is vengeance. He is the night. He is the paternal figure of Gotham. Batman may be the most revered fictional character ever created. The boy Bruce Wayne was made a man through tragedy, using his resources to fulfill the full potential of his body and mind, he has devoted himself to protecting Gotham from the evil that borne the Batman. Bruce Wayne has three personalities/identities, with two being a mask. There is the playboy-industrialist-philanthropist Bruce Wayne which the public sees, which is an elaborate decoy. There’s the Batman which strikes fear into the monsters of Gotham. Then there’s the real Bruce Wayne, the one that exists between both worlds. The one that only Alfred knows.

Batman is in many respects is a selfless father figure for Gotham. He even has adopted surrogate sons such as Dick Grayson and Jason Todd (the prodigal son), who were orphans also. Like many fathers, he provides his family with resources, discipline, and knowledge; even if it’s on the extreme side. Bruce was born into wealth but he uses it and his influence to create new technologies to help humanity or invest resources into Gotham so the city his love can grow. Then there’s the Batman who uses his body and mind to protect Gotham, like any true father who would do anything to protect his family.

Like Batman, father’s wear a mask or show different personalities depending who they are in front of. A father will show a different personality to his friends, to his coworkers, and a different one to his family. When there is tragedy or hardship, he puts on a mask to hide his fears and sorrow so he can lead his family. And sometimes these masks or personalities maybe even be used to hide lost dreams or quiet desperation.

Why does Batman only show his true self to Alfred? Alfred represents absolute trust. A surrogate father to the young Bruce Wayne, he has never forsaken him and never judged him the lunacy of dressing up as a bat. But he understood the pain and the goodness in Bruce Wayne and fostered and guided him as any loved one could. In reality, Alfred symbolizes the one person a father can be vulnerable to and doesn’t have to be afraid to show their fears and dreams. This person could be a parent, mentor, a best friend or a wife.

Despite the heroic paternalism Batman displays, he is deeply flawed because he can never truly be honest to another person, besides Alfred. If you live a life of wearing a mask, then you will alienate the people you love. Dick Grayson, his first son, left Bruce because he was afraid to become like Batman, a man obsessed with vengeance and is afraid to live without his mask.

  Spider-Man: The Realistic One

Out of all the superheroes, Peter Parker a.k.a. Spider-Man is the most realistic. Realistic because he represents the truth of becoming a man. Spider-Man was just a teenage boy when he received his amazing powers. And like many of us, he makes poor choices when given new freedom or ability. We would use ours to get attention or to impress a girl, such as when I rear-ended my first car because I was too busy trying to get the attention of the pretty girl driving next to me... Sometimes we get lucky but other times unintended consequences are created by our actions, and we have to reap the costs of them. Such as Spider-Man letting the robber go who would later kill Uncle Ben.

Spider-Man is every boy who has ever had a crush on a girl who's out of his league, whoever had a dream, and who has ever been bullied. But it wasn’t the powers that made him a hero; those were just a means. It was the call of responsibility that Uncle Ben has instilled into him, which his death had fortified. Every person has the potential to become something much more. And it’s in our youth when we are bitten by the symbolic “radioactive spider” of inspiration that we learn that we have a calling. We sometimes squander our calling because of the fear of rejection or the fear of failing to live up to our potential. It’s responsibility that gives us great power. We take responsibility for ourselves, our mistakes, our shortcomings. Then we do something good with them.

Unlike Batman and Wolverine, Spider-Man’s beauty is that he is vulnerable. He wears a mask not only to protect Aunt May but so his greatest foes can’t see him afraid. His smartass remarks are a way of coping with the bloody fights he goes on. He feels pain and sadness when his relationship with Mary Jane is on the rocks. He worries about paying the bills and getting good grades. He is every man who has been given a great responsibility and must find a way to balance it with a healthy, normal life.

 The Hero in Us All

Men play an essential role in existence, as do women. Though the sexes may not be equal biologically or in societal expectations, both sexes are equally crucial for humanity. One sex can’t live nor enjoy the beauty of life without the other. It’s hard on both sexes; neither one has it easy. We both have roles to play, and sometimes those roles are unfair. Women are expected to be beautiful, caring and nurturing no matter what. Men are expected to be stoic protectors and providers.

An excellent superhero example for women is Gal Gadot’s version of Wonder Woman. She isn’t just a mighty warrior, but a strong maternal figure who uses compassion and grace as a superpower.  She doesn’t treat the men fighting with her as inferiors but fellow soldiers on a mission. She even shows a wonderful excitement over seeing a baby with its mother. Wonder Woman represents an icon who can be both feminine, intelligent and a warrior without forsaking her natural role or the opposite sex.

We all have roles to play and different ways to play them. We can never be indestructible like Wolverine, resourceful like Batman or acrobatic like Spider-Man. These heroes are based in fiction, but they were borne out of the best qualities of men. What men innately have. We can train ourselves to be the best physically and mentally. We can face terrifying situations for the ones we love. And we can become heroes if we take responsibility in doing so.

#batman #wolverine #spiderman #wonder woman #gender politics #sex roles #gender roles #masculinity #men #protector #provider #paternal #super hero #bruce wayne #logan #peter parker #psychology #philosphical #gender

[lfthinkerwrites]

Valentine’s Day in Gotham

Title: Valentine’s Day in Gotham

Fandom: Batman

Pairings: Dick Grayson/Barbara Gordon, Jonathan Crane/Edward Nigma, BatCat, HarlIvy and past Jarley mentioned.

Rating: G

Summary: Valentine’s Day is a very dangerous day.

“So remind me: how did you convince Bruce to take tonight off?”

There was a slight pause before Barbara voice’s answered over the audio link. “Well, it wasn’t entirely my idea. Alfred helped. I might have told Bruce though that his access to his comm satellite would be shut off if he didn’t spend some time with Selina on Valentine’s Day.

Dick grinned. “You’re an evil genius, you know that?”

He could almost hear her grin on the other end of the link. “I try. How’s everything going out there?”

Dick surveyed the skyline from his perch on top of the First National Bank. By Gotham standards, it was a quiet evening. “Pretty good. Just took out some guys trying to make off with an ATM, but other than that, nothing’s really happening. Tim already took off. He and Steph are going to some show in the East End.”

“I know, it’s all Steph’s been able to talk about for the past week. Cass is back at the manor keeping Alfred and Damian company. Any word from Jason?”

“He said that he was going to go out drinking with Roy since he’s in town. Damian volunteered to listen into the police scanner in case they start another brawl.” Dick shifted a bit as he scanned the city streets through his binoculars. Nothing out of the ordinary, just like it had been for the past few hours. “I can’t remember the last time we had a quiet Valentine’s Day like this.”

“We can thank Ivy for that I guess. Harley’s been a lot quieter since she dumped Joker.”

Dick laughed a bit at that. “I’ll say. Remember last year, Joker stood her up so she rigged about a hundred heart shaped balloons to explode over City Hall to get his attention?”

“Don’t remind me, I was washing glitter out of your costume for weeks after that. But enough about last year.” Barbara’s voice became more flirtatious. “What are we doing this year?”

Dick grinned. “Uh uh. I told you, it’s a surprise.” He’d booked reservations at Di’Bruzzio’s over a month ago. It was one of the most exclusive places in town and Barbara had been dying to get in to try it. “I’ll do one more sweep of downtown, then I’ll pick you up at seven?”

“Sounds good Boy Wonder-wait. I’m getting a report off the scanner. There’s a disturbance at Beautiful Blossoms on 19th street.”

Dick pulled out his grappling hook. “I’ll check it out. See you in a bit babe.”

It took Dick only about ten minutes to arrive at the flower shop. He paused momentarily to observe the situation from the rooftop of the building across the street. A crowd of people were fleeing the immediate area on foot, but his attention was caught by a lone figure running the opposite direction towards the back streets, carrying a bundle in his arms. A figure wearing what appeared to be burlap. Dick narrowed his eyes and began his pursuit.

The figure was running as fast as his long, spindly legs could take him, but years in the circus and in crime fighting had made Dick faster. He’d overtaken him on the rooftops in a matter of moments, before choosing to drop down in an alleyway directly in front of him, cutting him off. The figure stopped dead in  his tracks when he almost collided with him. Dick pulled his escrima sticks out and put himself into a fighting stance. “Freeze Scarecrow!”

Jonathan Crane stood in front of him, panting. “Not now,” he murmured. “God damn it, not now!” He clumsily shifted his bundle to his left arm and with his right hand, reached into his pocket and pulled out a small vial of what Dick could only assume was fear toxin. “I’ve no time to dissect your fears today!” Crane hissed out, throwing the vial at Dick and running back from where he came. 

Dick dodged the vial effortlessly and resumed his chase. He realized while Crane was standing there that the rogue wasn’t wearing his ever present fear gauntlet. And was without his scythe. Almost as if he really didn’t intend on actually doing anything today. He didn’t think too much about it though as he caught up to the older man and, with a flying kick, took him down. Crane lay sprawled on the pavement, still clutching the bundle. Dick knelt down and took it from him. “Let’s see what you’ve got here-” Dick uncovered the bundle only to see a bouquet of flowers. Twelve lavender roses, to be precise.

“Roses?” Dick asked, looking back down at the fallen rogue. “You attacked a flower shop to steal roses? Why-” The answer occurred to Dick. “These are for Riddler, aren’t they?”

Crane refused to look at him as he slowly got back up on his feet. “I do not need to explain my actions to you, whelp!”

Dick was doing his best to keep from laughing, but he couldn’t help the grin spreading across his face. “You forgot it was Valentine’s Day, didn’t you? That’s why you came out unprepared.”

Dick couldn’t see the man’s expression under that hideous mask, but from the way that Crane was looking down at his feet, he could guess he’d hit a bullseye. “I have been...somewhat preoccupied with my work as of late. I didn’t intend to forget. I didn’t realize what day it was until he texted me an hour ago.” He looked up at Dick and he could just see his eyes glaring at him from under the mask. “It’s not funny boy!”

Dick had to laugh a bit at that. “Come on, you have to admit it’s a little funny.”

“We’ll see how funny it is when Edward gets home in an hour only to find that I’m not there. I don’t think I need to remind you how churlish he gets when he thinks he’s being neglected.”

Dick winced. He remembered the time that Crane apparently forgot his and Nigma’s anniversary. Bruce had had to call the League in to help settle that. Dick took a quick look at his watch. 6:45. “Look Crane,” he said. “I’ll tell you what. I’ve got somewhere I need to be. You’ve clearly got somewhere you need to be. If you go straight home, no fear toxin, I’ll let you and Nigma spend tonight together. Then I’ll take you in later. Got it?”

Crane stared at him for a long moment. “Done.” he said. “The bouquet?”

Dick wrapped the bouquet back up, but not before covertly placing a tracer in the wrapping paper before handing it back to Crane. “Much obliged,” the rogue stated, before turning and walking off into the night.

Dick shook his head. Still better than the exploding glitter balloons last year.

#crack ficlet #scriddler #dickbabs

[thejokersenigma]

Christmas Fan Fiction Advent Calendar 2017 - Day 21 - Rogues x Bruce Wayne - The Great Christmas Trap Part 2

Ok, so this isn’t great, but I didn’t really know what I was doing with it so I’ve kind of just spent the last couple of hours randomly writing haha Hope it makes a bit of sense, I would have liked a bit more time to play around with the ideas a bit more, but as it is I’ve over run past midnight anyway so.... opps.

Hope you Enjoy

MASTERLIST

Bruce Wayne arrived on the scene moments after the alert was sent through to him. The whole place was abandoned as he had expected. That evening it had been reported to the GCPD that the carnival folk had been driven out of their homes in the wake of a number of the escapees from Arkham overrunning their camp.

Bruce had jumped on the case straight away. It seemed like a good opportunity to gather most of them up and ship them back off to the Asylum – though Bruce knew he had to be careful – this many rogues was a dangerous combination and he would have to be cautious in the steps he made.

But it did strike him as odd that the criminals would suddenly to gang up and work together. Something must have united them together for some reason.

Brue had pulled the batmobile up outside the entrance to the carnival grounds and now jumped out, landing in a flurry of his cape. He looked around. No one appeared. Nothing happened. No trap was sprung.

He scanned the area he could see, but there was no movement. He cautiously strode into the entrance, passing amongst the deserted rides and shut up food caravans.

That was when he noticed it. A crude drawing of the bat symbol was scribbled over an admission board which had then been nailed to a vendor’s caravan. Beyond that he could see another sign stuck on a bumper car ride. It was the bat sign again, then ‘THIS WAY BATSY’ written crassly below it.

He didn’t want to just walk into a trap, but it was the only hint towards where he would find the criminals. He followed the signs, which led to more signs and more signs pointing him the way, eventually ending at a haunted house - at least that’s what the sign next to it read. However, the actual building looked the exact opposite of a haunted house. In fact, it strongly resembled a giant advent calendar.

He frowned in confusion at the building with a 24 ‘doors’ or though some of them clearly were real doors, and others not so much.

Suddenly, as he surveyed them, the red door with number 1 on it swung open and Harley Quinn swaggered her way out with a largen grin on her face and a small pistol in her hand. “Hey there, Batsy!” She called excitedly, giving him a wave and skipping towards him, though making sure to stop just outside the range of his reach.

He watched her every move, making sure to keep an eye on her gun. She noticed where his eyes continued to travel. “Oh, don’t worry about this!” She dismissed, lifting it up and swinging it in her hand, “It’s just to make sure you behave and don’t ruin the fun!” She exclaimed with a large grin.

Bruce didn’t say anything, keeping his face unchanging from his dark expression.

“Alright, party pooper!” Harley sulked when he wasn’t as excited as her.

“Let’s get it started!” She suddenly declared with an evil, knowing look on her face. With that she strode back through door number 1, which promptly slammed shut behind her. Bruce heard the locking mechanism.

So, he could follow her that way, but he would have to spend time picking the lock, or disabling the system if it was electronic - which it likely was. Or he could play their little game for now and go through the second door.

He went for door number 2. But it wasn’t a real door. Neither was the third. Only when he tried the fourth door did it open. He warily stepped through, the door swinging shut behind him and the darkness covering him like a cloth. A tap on his sleeve activated the night vision lenses in his mask just as a punch went for his face. He managed to duck in time, but was then suddenly hit from behind which knocked him forward, making him stumble. Another punch landed directly in his stomach, winding him. He instinctively rolled away from the assault, buying him a few moments to gather himself and get a look around. His goggles could pick up outlines in the dark – 5 of them. People with odd shaped heads that tapered into points. Hats. Santa Hats.

A laugh echoed out around him, and he spun round, the noise sounding right behind him, but then the laugh sounded again, seeming to encircle him and he recognised that is must be on the buildings intercom system. Happy that no one extra was in the room with him, he turned back to watch the advancing people, dodging their punches and taking one out with a well-aimed kick to the back of their legs, knocking them to the floor with a crack.

“Good evening, Batman.” Greeted the gleeful voice over the speaker. Jervis Tetch. That explained the hats. “I see you met some of the lovely carny folk that work at this fine establishment!” He exclaimed excitedly, “I’m afraid they don’t take kindly to trespassers though – something we all found out – which is why they’re sporting these wonderfully festive hats! I’m afraid they’re not much to look at though – hence the lighting – but they do give a mean wallop!” Just at that, a fist rammed into Bruce’s jaw, snapping his head round. Tetch was trying to distract him, he had to try to tune him out and focus.

So, as Jervis chattered on overhead, Bruce focused on the four remaining men. Jervis was right, they could hit with quite a bit of force and it wasn’t that much of a surprise when Bruce took into account the size of the signals coming up on his night camera – these men were huge blocks of muscle – they must be the bouncers of the carnival.

Bruce managed to grab a hold of one of the hats, pulling it off the guy’s head leaving him stunned and confused, Bruce didn’t hesitate, sending a fist straight into the guy’s face to make sure he wasn’t going to think about coming after him again. He threw the hat aside and faced the last three

It didn’t take long to take down the others – they were no match for Bruce’s skill and finesse and all ended up lying unconscious on the floor. Bruce removed all of the Santa hats in case any of them awoke and still had the urge to beat him to a pulp, gathering them into a heap on the floor.

Suddenly the light’s overhead flickered on, making the room painfully bright and forcing Bruce to cover his eyes with his hand, quickly terminating the night vision.

He blinked his vision back to normal as the speaker overhead crackled into life again. “Congrats, bats!” Cried Jervis, not sounding at all phased that his men had been beaten, “Move onto your next door.”

Bruce hesitated a moment before he picked up the pile of Santa hats and left through the door opposite the one he had come into – this one reading number 7.

The door pushed open easily and he stepped through into a large circular, empty room. The door behind him closed on his back once more, but this time the lights didn’t go out. He threw the Santa hats to the floor and took a better look around. The room wasn’t circular – in fact the only way he could describe it was a Tetradecagon – a 14-sided room – with every other wall panel being a door and the others floor to ceiling length mirrors.

Suddenly, as though he had triggered something, the wall began to spin at a ridiculous pace before abruptly stopping again.

Clearly, he had to pick a door. But what if he picked wrong? And what if he picked right?

He headed for the door opposite him. He pulled at it and it opened with a twist of the handle, but it led directly into a brick wall.

He went for the door to his right, but as the first door closed, the walls suddenly began to spin again blinding fast again, before coming to an abrupt halt. He thought better of trying the next door and went back to the previous one.

It was no longer a brick wall, instead a thick vine snapped out of its hiding place and he dodged behind the door, slamming it back into place and forcing the plant back into its hole.

Poison Ivy.

Now he knew slightly what he was up against.

Suddenly the walls span again. It seemed to be that every time he closed a door the room span and gave him a new door.

He pulled the exact same door open a third time, but the exact same vine lashed back out at him. He repeated his previous movement, lunging behind the door and forcing it back into place – but the plant had learnt from last time, and tried to fight against the door being push at it and Bruce had to wrestle the vine back into its hole.

So, the doors didn’t always change – this might be harder than he had initially anticipated. The room spun again, then stopped once more.

Bruce chose a different door this time. The one two doors down on his left this time. He pulled it open. The wall again. This was going to slowly drive him insane. Maybe that was the plan.

It felt like hours he was stuck in that room, pulling open random doors in frustration, the walls spinning and making him dizzy. It was only as he stood in the centre of the room, breathing heavily that he noticed something. The mirrors and the doors weren’t on the same spinning mechanism. The doors were slightly set back from the mirrors. The mirrors could spin separately from the doors, so the walls might spin, but the doors didn’t always.

He threw a batarang at one of the identical doors and it landed heavily in the wood, firmly fixed. He then pulled open one of the doors behind him and a thorny vine whipped out at him alongside a large man-eating flower that also snapped at the air where he had been a moment ago. He shoved at the door, forcing it back inside and slamming it with such force that it broke some of the vines that didn’t get back inside in time.

He heard a strangled cry from somewhere.

The walls span again and he heard a snapping noise. The batrang had broken as the walls had spun. When the room stopped, he examined each door. There. That one had a small indent in it where the batrang had stuck - so this time the doors had spun as it wasn’t in the same place as last time.

He began to pull them all open systematically, each time the walls spun, and sometimes the marked door moved, sometimes it didn’t. It allowed Bruce to work out where the next door to try was.

On his 5th attempt he opened a door that led into a black box. All he could see was mistletoe growing around the doorframe and he was about to step into it when a pair of lips lunged at him and he dodged nimbly out of the way and back into the odd shaped room.

“Aw, come on hun!” Sneered Ivy, “It’s Christmas…” She purred, “And we’re under the mistletoe… Don’t cha wanna give me a kiss…?” She pouted, her lips a deep red.

Batman lunged at her to tackle her to the ground, but she suddenly disappeared upwards, a vine, he hadn’t noticed around her waist, pulling her up through a trap door in the little box of a room. The trap door slammed closed in his face as he watched her vanish. He punched it and shoved at it, but it was solid and locked down tightly. He growled in annoyance, but tehn turned his attention in front of him where he could vaguely make out a door thanks to the light coming in from the room of mirrors and doors. It read 13.

He pushed this one open.

When he stepped into the next room his feet nearly slipped out from beneath him. The floor was completely covered in ice.

It was the largest room so far and the next door was clear on the other side of the room. But it was too easy to just have to skate across this layer of ice, surely?

He took a step forward none the less. Nothing happened. He took another few steps, making his way to about a third of the way across the room before something happened. A pipe seemed to suddenly appear from a hatch in the wall in front of him on the right. Out from the pipe shot a short, rather square-looking, Penguin which dropped onto the ice. Another followed, and then another. A second hatched appeared on the wall opposite and more penguins fell onto the ice until there was at least 15 of them lined up in a row before him. A tiny army to stop his crossing, all – he now noticed – holding small Christmas presents.

It had to be Oswald Cobblepot, but this couldn’t be it - there had to be something more to this than just the line of little metal penguins.

“What you are thinking is correct, my mammalian friend.” Came the familiar of the voice over yet another intercom. “My acquaintances here are not alone, each has the joyful present of a small explosive – and, when I say small explosive -  I mean enough to take off a limb or two.” Said the Penguin gleefully. “Enjoy getting to your next door.”

The intercom buzzed off and then Bruce was left alone on the ice. He didn’t move, watching the Penguins carefully, trying to calculate what to do. Suddenly – most likely because Oswald had hit a button wherever he was – the penguins began to advance towards him. Bruce had to do something soon. He threw a batarang at one of them and it immediately exploded with a loud bang, shrapnel flying everywhere, and revealing a hole in the ice that led into a pool of water below.

Bruce ran for the hole, his feet sliding away underneath him and hindering his progress, the penguins waddling furiously after his heat signal and he dived into the freezing water below. The penguins followed after him, plummeting into the water, their heavy metal exterior dragging them down, the contact with the water signalling for them to explode. They had sunk far enough that they didn’t do anything but slightly crack the ice above, but Bruce felt the sudden force of water pushed into him and had the weird feeling of intense heat and freezing water washing over him.

He waited until the water had calmed again, the bubbles rising to the small air hole, and he then headed that way as well. He managed a gasp of air before something grabbed his ankle in a fierce grip and pulled him back under. Bubbles escaped from his mouth at the shock and he glanced down at his leg to see a scaly hand gripping him, the claws digging painfully into his leg. Below that he could see glowing golden eyes in the gloom of the water.

Killer Croc.

Bruce kicked at the leg, but the grip held tight. Instead of pulling away, Bruce turned and dove straight at the beast-man. He took Croc by surprise and managed to land a punch to the croc’s jaw - though it wasn’t nearly as strong as if he’d done it on land – the water pulling against his arm and slowing him down considerably.

Crocs head still span to the side, but quickly twisted back with a snarl, his teeth snapping at Bruce’s hand which Bruce pulled back quickly. In his anger, Croc forgot to hold Bruce down and loosened his grip, both hands now clawing up to grab Bruce’s chest instead. Bruce made the most of his freedom and pushed himself back as far as he could, his lungs beginning to ache and strain. He swam desperately for the air pocket, catching site of a shadow above him on the ice. He propelled himself as quickly as possible through the water, launching himself onto the ice and scrambling out, his muscles stinging from the cold and his lungs aching painfully as he gasped in oxygen.

Croc wasn’t far behind him even though Brue had rolled himself away from the ice hole, however, Croc was struggling with the frozen conditions, scrapping desperately at the ice as he attempted to climb out of the water after the batman, his slippery scales hindering him where his claws helped.

Bruce half ran, half slid across the ice to the shadow he had seen, which had been Oswald Cobblepot who had come down from his hiding place to paw over the broken pieces of his inventions and to watch the rest of the show from the safety of the ice. Bruce now took him by surprise, knocking him off his stubby legs and shoving him towards the hole in the ice, directly at Croc who - in his surprise at the large man now skidding toward him – instinctively released the ice and grabbed at the man, sinking his claws into the fat little body and both of them falling through the ice.

Bruce made the most of this window and darted for the door, throwing himself through it and slamming it behind him.

His body shook with cold, and his lungs still stung painfully as he panted for air, but he didn’t have long to recover. Having run through the door numbered 19 he was in yet another dark room. There was a faint light coming from somewhere that bathed the room in shadows – though Bruce couldn’t make out where it came from.

Something was dangling from the ceiling - they were vine like things with something larger hanging from them at the end, and he wondered if Ivy was back with more killer plants.

But then a spotlight illuminated a single of these odd things hanging things. It was a puppet. An old fashion puppet on a string.

Not just any puppet, but Scarface - Arnold Wesker’s beloved criminal puppet. Except he wasn’t in his usual smart suit and hat - he was dressed like Scrooge from A Christmas Carol in an old fashion Victorian nightgown and hat with a candle in his hand.

“Bah Humbug!” He cried, suddenly lunging at Bruce and waving his candle in his face. He fell back to his position and burst into a cackling laughter. Bruce readied himself, not underestimating him, despite his apparent absence of his usual machine gun.

“You’re just like me, Batman!” The dummy cried, “You’re an old Scrooge! Look at all of these guys trying to make your Christmas, and you couldn’t care less!” He laughed. “All a bunch of hum bug!” He cackled, doubling over in his laughter.

What Bruce hadn’t realised -  all his attention on the dummy in front of him - was that the other strings had crept closer to him, surrounding him and the puppets at the end of these ropes now lifted themselves upright, all armed with the weapons that Scarface wasn’t.

Suddenly some movement caught Bruce’s eye and he realised what was happening a minute before they all lunged, immediately dropping to the floor as they threw knives at him, stabbed towards his body or let off shots from pistols.

Dropping to the floor would only work that once though – Bruce now needed to think of a way out of here before they attacked again. He threw a batarang across one side of the room, cutting numerous strings sending some of the puppets hurtling to the ground, others now only hanging by one or two stings, making their aim more difficult, but only making them that more dangerous for Bruce.

He glanced around for inspiration, then saw it. Arnold Wesker was controlling Scarface somehow – it must have been directly above the puppet.

Bruce leapt to his feet and, pushing off from some of the puppet’s heads, he launched himself up into the rafters, finding an panel missing in the ceiling and grabbing at the edge, pulling himself up and into the ceiling as guns went off, narrowly avoiding them by kicking his legs out of the way just in time. The knives were also thrown, but they didn’t clear the ceiling, clattering to the floor below.

He now found himself face to face with Arnold Wesker who was kneeling in the small space that was clearly being used as a tunnel network between the rooms. He used the edge of a batarang to cut the ropes leading to Scarface still below and Arnold gasped reaching out to stop him before collapsing back on his heels when the dummy fell to the floor below in a heap.

“Here, cuff yourself.” Bruce said bluntly, throwing a pair of handcuffs at the pathetic man. They landed by the man’s knees, but Arnold didn’t argue, picking them up and slapping them on his own wrists.

Without another word, Bruce remained crept down the hallway to the next ‘room’.

He came across a man crouched in the shadows in front of him, peering down into the room below - clearly waiting for Bruce to come through the door and participate in the next challenge. Bruce snuck silently behind him and shot his hand out, grabbing the guy by the back of his neck and pinning him face down on the floor.

The man burst into a harsh, high pitch cackle that Bruce knew all too well.

“Batsy! I must say I’m impressed – I thought you’d take the door!” He giggled, “But I guess you’ve never been one to play by the rules!”

Bruce pushed the Joker’s face further into the metal floor, but the Joker made not indication of the pain he felt. “I must say though, I’m also kind of sad – you missed my joke!” He cried, pointing down at the room below as well as he could in his position.

Bruce didn’t want to take his eyes off the clown, but he glanced down to see four giant nutcracker dolls lined up, ready for him to walk through the door.

The glance away was enough time for the Joker, who reached into his pocket in that split second and pulled out a can of something, twisting his wrist and pressing the trigger before Bruce could stop him.

Silly string blinded Bruce for a second and the Joker managed to wiggle his way out of his grip. “Damn it, Harley!” He growled to himself.  “It really is a shame though, batsy,” The Joker said, coming back to himself, somewhere in front of Bruce’s unseeing eyes, “They would have given you a good bruise and everything!” The Joker sulked, “Maybe even a souvenir scar to add to your collection!” He called as he ran off down the tunnel.

Bruce finally cleared the horribly sticky string from his face, and then from his hands, but the Joker was long gone. So much for taking the tunnel the rest of the way -  the Joker would warn anyone else ahead and they would form an ambush for him. He’d have to return to the rooms.

He glanced down at the huge nutcrackers below him. Without the Joker controlling them, would they still work? Only one way to tell. He fell through the trap hole and landed heavily on two of them, toppling them to the floor.

The others didn’t move. Their eyes were unnerving and seemed to follow him, but they made no move towards him, even as he backed away to the door numbered 24.

The last door?

He pulled it open and stepped into the next room, the door slamming shut behind him once again. The intercom over head buzzed. “Oo hoohoohoo!” Giggled the Joker’s voice, “This oughta be fun!” Bruce could practically hear the infamous grin.

“Get out Clown, this is my room.” Came the voice of Edward Nygma.

“Aww, come on, it’s the last room Eddie! Everyone’s gonna wanna watch – you better make it good!” The Joker cackled.

“Oh, sure, because everyone else’s has worked so well.” Snapped the Riddler.

“No need for the tone.” Snipped Oswald Cobblepot.

“It’s not my fault Harley swapped my Joker Gas for Silly String!” Cried the Joker.

“Can you all just shut up and get on with!” Barked Ivy.

Silence fell amongst the men. “Fine.” Came a mutter, but Bruce couldn’t tell who it was.

Bruce could almost feel the eyes on him. He took a few steps towards the unlabelled door on the other side of the room and walls suddenly erupted from either side, sliding along the floor and connecting with the other in the middle of the room, forming a very solid barrier to the door.

“Merry Christmas, Batman.” Came Edward Nygma’s formal voice over the speaker. “I’m not going to over complicate this, like my colleagues.” He sneered, and it sounded like he had shot the other criminals with him a dirty look. “I’m keep it simple. You answer my riddle, you get to leave. You fail... and well… I have a man called Victor Zsasz here who I’m sure you are already well acquainted with… I’m sure he’d love to give you a very Merry Christmas.”

“Now we know the rules…” He continued, “Let’s play!”

“When does Christmas come before Thanksgiving?” He asked.

Bruce thought about this for a moment. “When does Christmas come before Thanksgiving?” The Riddler asked again. “Come on now, Bats, this is easy.” He goaded.

“In the dictionary.” Stated Bruce up at the ceiling.

“Nice one, Batsy.” The Riddler commented, but laughed when Bruce looked at the moveable wall. “You didn’t honestly think it would be that simple a riddle, did you?! That was just a little warm up to see if you’re on your game.” He said, “Now it’s time for the real one.”

“You are trapped in a room with no windows and - now - no doors.” Laughed the Riddler. “You have a knife and an orange.” These two items suddenly fell from the ceiling. “How do you escape?”

Bruce was silent, but he walked up to the items, picking them both up, examining them and thinking.

“What the hell is he on about?” Oswald muttered over the intercom.

“Look at him!” Cried the Joker, “Batsy’s stuck!” He laughed.

“Well no wonder!” Cried Ivy, “Eddie’s lost it – that’s impossible!”

“Nothing is impossible, my dear” Said Jervis, though he didn’t sound completely confident.

Suddenly Bruce took the knife and pierced the orange, cutting down the middle and splitting the fruit into two halves, placing them on the floor. “Half and half equals a whole.” Stated Bruce clearly, to the wall in front of him. “I can escape through a hole.”

There was flickering of light and a live projection of the Riddler was shot onto the moveable wall. He gave Bruce a slow thumbs up and half a smile. “Congrats, bats.” He said, and the walls parted, revealing the door.

Bruce strode towards the door, voices shouting behind him.

“That was it?! He answers two bloody questions and you just let him go?!” Demanded Ivy hysterically.

“Come on Pamela, there wasn’t any real point to this anyway.” Comforted Jervis.

“I don’t care! You don’t give up a chance to get the bat!”

“See this is why we don’t do these sorts of things.” Mutter Oswald.

Bruce left them bickering and emerged out the exit of the building, back to exactly where he had started, staring up at the revamped Haunted House.

Harley stepped out after him as though she’d been behind him the whole time. “Don’t worry, Batsy,” She smiled, “We’ll put everything back to normal for tomorrow!”

He stared at her for a moment before he turned to walk back to the batmobile. He believed her that this was just a one off and it sounded like they would punish themselves now – fighting over the best way to take out the Batman.

“Merry Christmas, Batsy!” Harley waved happily at his retreating figure. He glanced back slightly as he walked and lifted a hand in return.

#joker #penguin #oswald cobblepot #poison ivy #harley quinn #killer croc #the riddler #edward nygma #jervis tetch #the mad hatter #christmas #the great christmas trap #bruce wayne #batman rogues #batman x rogues #bruce wayne x rogues #batman fan fiction #batman #bruce wayne x rogues fan fiction #batman x rogues fan fiction #christmas fan fiction advent calender #dc #dc fanfiction #fan fiction advent calendar #thejokersengima #thejokersenigma fan fiction #day 21

[dr-archeville]

Batman - The Merciless (A Dark Nights: Metal Tie-In)

Written by Peter Tomasi, pencil’d & ink’d & colour’d by Francis Manapul, letter’d by Tom Napolitano.

One of Barbatos’ “Dark Knights” from the “Dark Multiverse.”

So I was right, the Bruce Wayne of Earth -12 (not Earth-12, Earth -12) isn’t an Evil!Batman/Wonder Woman meld, he’s an Evil!Batman/Ares meld.  Who murdered Wonder Woman, but wears her symbol because... he still loves her?  Because some part of him thinks he’s doing this all for her?

Also, I believe those are supposed to be ARGUS/Checkmate/Other government agents kneeling before him.  I think that’s Amanda Waller (of ARGUS) in the upper right, the masked girl is Father Time (of SHADE), above her is Director Bones (of the DEO).  And that looks like Steve Trevor that The Merciless has by the throat.

In this interview, Scott Snyder said “Metal is really a story about moments — moments that I’ve gone through myself — where a person is struggling with depression, anxiety. In those moments, you wake up and feel like every version of yourself that you can see going forward is ugly and failed.   All your worst fears about yourself become manifest in your own mind.   It’s almost like a voice telling you that the person you’re going to be tomorrow is a worse and worse version of the person you are today.”   (The Dark Knights are Batman’s internalized fears.)  “The Merciless, the Wonder Woman analogue, it’s Batman’s fear that if he waged war on crime the way that people want him to — the way that Wonder Woman does in a sense that it’s a total war — he would ultimately win it.  But he would win in a way that would force him to lose his humanity.  It’s the opposite of the way he actually fights crime — with his code — which is as much about letting him maintain his humanity as keeping other people safe.”  There’s hubris there, too -- “I won’t be corrupted by this magic helmet,” says man obviously corrupted by magic helmet -- moreso than with any of the other Dark Knights.

#DC Comics #Dark Nights: Metal #Batman #Bruce Wayne #The Merciless

[aion-rsa]

The Many Origin Stories of The Joker

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The Joker has had many different versions of his origin told over the years, including in the new movie.

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This article contains some spoilers for the Joker movie. We have a completely spoiler free review right here.

The Joker is probably the most recognizable supervillain in the world. Loosely ased on famed German actor Conrad Veidt in The Man Who Laughs, the Clown Prince of Crime’s unique look and penchant for elaborate, themed murder has left a giant mark in the public consciousness.  His real world origins are in dispute - Bob Kane claims the Joker was his creation, but Kane was so full of it that Jim Steranko, the legendary artist behind the groundbreaking Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD, once went upside Kane’s head because Kane patted his face like some nobody kid. The general scholarly consensus is the Joker was created by Jerry Robinson and Bill Finger rather than Kane.

And while the Joker’s real world origins are disputed and nebulous, his in-continuity origins are generally pretty thematically consistent. The real variation comes from a creator’s fundamental view of the Joker: is he a character within the Batman universe? Or is he a primal force standing in opposition to what Batman represents? Or are you...whatever the hell Gotham was? Let’s take a look.

THE RED HOOD: VARIATIONS ON A THEME

Most Joker origin stories hit several of the same notes. A man is involved in a crime in a chemical plant, falls into one of the tanks, and comes out a crazed psychopath with chemically bleached skin and a shock of green hair, often with a permanent smile of some kind. 

In most of those, the man involved is a flamboyant criminal known as the Red Hood. While the Joker’s first appearance was in 1940’s Batman #1, his actual origin wasn’t fleshed out for more than a decade. In 1951’s Detective Comics #168, it was revealed that a dapper master criminal in a domed red helmet was planning a heist at Ace Chemicals. He was caught in the act by Batman and Robin and dove into a catch basin full of chemicals to escape them. Those chemicals deformed him, turning him into an evil-looking clown, so he leaned into the gimmick and became the Joker.  

This origin is the foundation for a lot of variations. In Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s The Killing Joke, the unnamed man who becomes the Joker was originally a lab assistant at Ace Chemicals who took up the most dangerous job known to man, stand up comedy, to make extra money to support his pregnant wife. When that didn’t work, he then signed up with some mobsters to rob his former workplace as the Red Hood. After his wife died and he was forced to stick with the robbery anyway, he jumps into a chemical vat to escape Batman, with the usual results.

read more: Every Batman and DC Easter Egg in the Joker Movie

And in Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s “Zero Year” from 2013, the story is basically the same, only with the Red Hood being a gang of criminals instead of just one. It’s the mysterious Red Hood One, the leader but possibly one of any number of rotating primaries, trying to escape Batman by jumping into a vat of chemicals as a planned heist of Ace goes wrong.

There are small differences to each of these origins, but they’re all fundamentally the same - one bad day turns a regular person into a super-psychopath. It’s worth noting that two of the four modern movie interpretations of the Joker also go roughly down the “chemical bath” route. While we never learn the exact details, it’s a safe bet something along these lines happened to Jared Leto’s nameless Joker of the DCEU before Suicide Squad. But other big screen Jokers took a slight detour...

JACK NAPIER 

Tim Burton's Batman from 1989 followed a similar premise, only without the Red Hood aspect. Jack Napier was set up by Carl Grissom, his immediate supervisor in the mob, to die in a robbery at Axis Chemicals. Napier caught on to the setup and killed Grissom, but falls over the side of a catwalk and is accidentally dropped into a vat of chemicals by Batman, who was trying to save him. There, we get the added bonus of a bullet ricochet scarring and paralyzing the facial muscles of the vain and handsome Napier, hence the permanent grin.

read more: What the Joker Controversy Gets Wrong

This is also pretty much what his origin was in Batman: The Animated Series. Jack Napier is referred to by name several times throughout the series, and a gangster who Bruce is convinced eventually becomes the Joker is responsible for the death of Andrea Beaumont’s father in Mask of the Phantasm. However, this takes some piecing together, because to the best of my knowledge, it’s only ever referred to and not directly shown. 

WANNA KNOW HOW I GOT THESE SCARS?

Not every origin story for the Joker follows that pattern. Or any pattern at all, really.

Heath Ledger’s Joker is probably the one that is most solidly planted in the current popular consciousness. Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight very pointedly did not give a clear origin for the character, opting instead to present him as a force of chaos, a kind of psychotic antibody to the Batman’s rigid order. He gives two vastly different (and terrifying) origin stories at different points in the movie, one where his father carves up his face because he’s a violent drunk, and one where he does it to himself to make his wife happy after she gets her own face disfigured by bookies. We’re never told if either is true, but that’s the exact point the movie is trying to get across - it doesn’t matter where he comes from, just what he’s doing. The Joker in The Dark Knight is less a character, and more an elemental reaction to the existence of Batman.

read more: The Many Deaths of the Joker

Grant Morrison did something similar with the Joker in his epic run with the character in the late aughts. In the first, pre-Batman, Inc. part of the story, Bruce is led to believe that his father is still alive and a servant of the dark Bat-god Barbatos. One of the primary goals of the arc is for Morrison to weave together all of the disparate eras of Batman - the wackiness of the Silver Age, the grim and gritty Batman of the post Dark Knight Returns/Year One era, the street level guy who fights regular old murderers in the Golden Age. 

Morrison really wanted the reader to understand that everything counts. In doing so, he set the Joker up as Batman’s foil - while Batman was using his Zurr-En-Arrh personality as an emergency backup, to reset and run on automatic while Bruce Wayne healed, the Joker was also resetting his own personality periodically. This Joker, he argued in a bizarre and wild prose issue (Batman #663, if you’re checking), was super-sane and would alter his own thoughts and methods to match the times. So for this Joker, nothing was true and everything was true at the same time.

GOTHAM

And then there’s Gotham. Good Lord, there’s Gotham. Bear with me now, because we’re about to enter “Xorn’s brother Xorn” territory.

Jerome Valeska is a violent, mentally ill anarchist son of a circus performer with a signature laugh. He kills his mom, confesses, and gets tossed into Arkham, where he inspires a cult. He and his cult escape, and they kill Sarah Essen to help someone run for Mayor, before getting killed by that Mayoral candidate to tie up loose ends. He gets resurrected by his cult, collects a team of supervillains, sows anarchy around the city, and dies again. In the process, he hoses down his identical twin brother Jeremiah with assorted chemicals, which turn Jeremiah insane. Jeremiah is a much more low-key serial killer, and in the last season, he gets tossed into a vat of chemicals making him even crazier. 

read more: The Actors Who Have Played the Joker

It’s important to note that at no point were any of Jerome or Jeremiah or any of Jeremiah’s personality changes ever actively identified as the Joker. They just shared almost all of the Joker’s characteristics at varying points. And there was lots of laughing when they were around. Heavy allusions and all. Man, Gotham was a lot.

THE JOKER

Arthur Fleck is a wannabe (and terrible) standup comedian who lives with his mentally ill mother. Awkward and shy, Arthur has some issues, including an unnerving laugh that has nothing to do with humor. Instead, a brain injury (brought on by years of physical abuse he suffered as a child) causes him to break out into fits of uncontrollable, mirthless laughter, which is sometimes seems painful, like a coughing fit. Lest you feel too sorry for him, Todd Phillips’ Joker movie makes it clear early on that Arthur leads an unhealthy (and thoroughly narcissistic) fantasy life.

read more: 10 Times the Joker Almost Nailed Batman

Arthur reaches his breaking point after a mugging, the loss of his job, the continued deterioration of his mother...and a triple murder he commits on a subway car. His spiral continues as more facts about his past are brought to light, and he finally snaps, donning clown makeup (rather than something more permanent) and embracing his destiny. Of course, the movie offers a slightly ambivalent ending that makes it clear that, like Ledger’s conflicting stories, this may be only one of Joker’s POSSIBLE pasts…

Joker is in theaters now.

Read and download the Den of Geek NYCC 2019 Special Edition Magazine right here!

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Feature

TV

Books

Jim Dandy

Oct 4, 2019

DC Entertainment

Joker

Batman

from Books https://ift.tt/2VbU5du

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