#spoilers: joker's wild

[isaac-roc]

A scary murderous bird is just a friend you haven't made yet.

Fresh new stupid comic just to see if this one's gonna show up in the outer wilds tag, if it doesn't then tumblr is officially opressing me. Anyway if you like this check out my blog for the "invisible" outer wilds comic lmao

Edit: apparently everyone can see them. Except for me somehow ^^' but hey. That's nice :)

#my art #outer wilds #outer wilds spoilers #eote #eote spoilers #if this one doesn't show up I'll become the joker

[goatsghost]

ignoring all of…. this….. but tbh jason as a girl dad???????? sign me up???

batman/catwoman: the gotham war #2

#gotham war spoilers #gotham war #batman/catwoman: the gotham war #batman/catwoman #jason todd #joker #ggw liveblog #like he’s already kind of taken in scarlet and that was almost parenting lol #it was mostly batman-and-robin-ing but still #also i am enjoying this arc so much lmao it’s so wild

[stealthnoodle]

Delighted by the continued presence of dialogue options that let you play Joker this way, and even more delighted by this unfazed reaction to one

#p5 tactica #p5t spoilers #i assume futaba eavesdropped on his “punish me more” exchange with takemi and was just like yeah that tracks #also if i had a nickel for every p5 spinoff that has joker get retrained/stepped on/beaten up by a sadistic hot girl within the first hour #i'd only have 10 cents #but it's wild that it's happened twice

[vinelark]

do you have any good reverse robins fic to rec?

oh hell yeah!

Reverse Robins: Joker Junior series by miyaji_08 i rec’d the second fic in this series over here for the timkon of it all, but the series—two parts, both complete—is also one of my absolute favorite reverse robins stories. it goes the joker junior!tim route, so heads up for A Lot of tim-centric trauma, but gives tim (and everyone else) so much healing, too. it also gets creative with the robin of it all, as in, the call sign for batman’s partner is different from the jump because dick wasn’t around to originate “robin” for it, which i always think is a fun extra detail. the batfam characters are great and the young justice crew is also great, so read for top-tier hurt and comfort and great characters and satisfying plot and tim and damian competing to see who is the most Tired big brother of the bunch.

blood of the covenant by envysparkler robins are angsty in any order, but man does this hit the angst sweet spot, which in turn makes the soft parts feel even softer. i genuinely can’t decide what my favorite dynamic is in this AU, between damian & tim (damian wracked with guilt, tim hurting and still wanting an older brother even if he’d never admit it) and tim & jason (no spoilers but chapter 4 especially lights my brain up like a supernova) and tim & dick (i think about the part where dick grayson [tiny, cheerful] uses tim [undead, annoyed] as a jungle gym like once a week).

Wing Beats in Reverse by firefright a longfic where jason gets kidnapped by the mysterious red hood, who turns out to be jason’s not-so-dead predecessor. the jason pov here is great, and i was so compelled by how this AU explored his place in the bat family, and how it managed the emotional fallout from the kidnapping. tim is also so interesting in this—it does something i love in a reverse robins concept, which is make tim’s motivations (and lazarus pit effects) less about anger/hurt/revenge and more about ice cold logic, about being the villain so the bats don’t have to/whether they want him to or not. plus some league of assassins trauma as a cherry on top. also, kon gets to show up for a bit. (as a fair warning—and spoilers ahead—the fic has a somewhat hopeful ending for tim, but doesn’t reach full reconciliation in the scope of the plot.)

i woke up so worried that the angels let go by circees a short but potent batkids age reversal au that’s also a grisha au, starring duke as the coveted sun summoner that damian is trying to deliver to safety without mentally adopting a new brother (damian fails on the second part). even with my limited memory of grisha lore i could tell a lot of thought was put into this au, and i have a feeling it would be even better if you are able to catch all the details. i also love that even in a fantasy world where some of the bat family have magical abilities, duke is still extra special—a great analogy to being a metahuman among the bats.

The 90s Are Back! by RedWritingHood saving the two silly ones for last to lighten the mood! in this one, red hood!tim gets de-aged to sixteen and meets all his new siblings. it’s like .01% angst and 99.99% shenanigans, and pretty much all the dialogue is super quotable but Dick holds out his hands like he's calming a bunch of wild animals. "Okay, I know everyone's real upsetti spaghetti right now, but I think we all just need to calm down." might take the cake.

Clowns Don’t Kill People by mademoisellePlume very short, very silly reverse robins brother shenanigans, in which tiny dick grayson isn’t scared of recovering joker junior!tim because dick, having been raised in the circus, doesn’t associate clowns with evil yet. the fic is fun (and a great palate cleanser if you need a break from the angst above), and the author’s note at the end made me fully laugh out loud.

#reverse robins #fic rec #batfam #when tim as the undead robin is done well it's so 🤌🤌🤌 #once again i reserve the right to add more later because i def forgot some

[fractualized]

Three Jokers Are Not Better Than One

(or, cheap twists don't make a good story)

Would you look at that? It's time to bitch about Three Jokers!

(spoilers for a 3-year-old comic ahead)

Gotham War got me into hater mode, so I figured it was time to take a second look at Three Jokers, written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Jason Fabok. I first read it when the issues came out, and I thought it was possible that the story isn't as bad as I remembered. I don't know why, since for the past three years I've been haunted by the possibility of it being deemed canon.

Of course, at the time of conception, Three Jokers was intended to be canon. Johns set up the premise in the Darkseid War storyline of the 2011 Justice League run, in issues published in 2015/2016. Batman takes control of the omniscient Mobius Chair, and he tests it by asking who killed his parents. Then he asks a second question, which Hal Jordan presses him on several issues later.

[Justice League (2011) #42 & Justice League (2011) #50]

Four years later, when Three Jokers was set to be released towards the end of 2020, Johns did at first confirm it would be canon despite being released via Black Label, where books are not meant to be part of the larger continuity. In later interviews, however, this assertion got walked back in favor of saying the canonicity is up to each reader, which is kind of a wild thing to say. "Look, this story merely proposes that one of our most popular characters has actually been three different dudes the whole time, which totally has a negligible impact on how that character should be seen and has interacted with the world. Take it or leave it!"

But then, DC's idea of canon has been pretty squiggly of late, especially with the increasing multiverse shenanigans. In the final issue of Dark Knights: Death Metal in 2021, the reader is told, "with our past finally set, myriad new futures are opening up. And as hypertime heals, we'll likely experience flashes of them– and even alternate pasts– in pretty epic fashion." Infinite Frontier followed, with a press release declaring, "When our heroes saved the Multiverse from Perpetua in Dark Nights: Death Metal, everything was put back where it belonged… and we do mean everything. All the damage from all the Crises was undone [....]"

I have a lot of thoughts about this, revolving around what the heck does it mean for storytelling and how we should understand characters that apparently, somehow, everything is canon? How are we supposed to take this as anything other than the omniverse being an excuse for DC Editorial to wave off responsibility for a legible timeline? "Batman can be in two places at once because, uh, the Monitor sneezed?"

But this too-long essay is about Three Jokers, so I'll narrow my concern: if character histories can simply change with a multiversal glitch, in whatever overwrought way those are usually explained to us, then it sure feels like it doesn't matter that Three Jokers was published under Black Label. It sure seems like, at whoever's whim, Three Jokers can still get locked into the main storyline. I mean, Zdarsky still hasn't explained what that three Jokers shit in Batman #135 is about. On the other hand, we know that the explanation for the two Jokers in The Man Who Stopped Laughing does not involve the multiverse, and Joker is supposed to reunite with Batman over in Zdarsky's story when that story closes out, so… I actually have no reason to be confident that means anything.

"But why would Three Jokers getting canonized be so bad?" you may ask if you've never read Three Jokers (or if you fully enjoyed it).

Speaking for myself, it starts with the premise: taking a character and saying, "actually, this is not one complex guy but three different guys, which fractures the character's motivations and relationships over the last several decades." When that character is one you enjoy very much, this twist is not fun. It's a fundamental change to who they are.

Then five months before the release of Three Jokers #1, Johns and Fabok did an interview with Entertainment Weekly. Some things the pair said raised red flags:

1) Three Jokers' story would focus on the trauma that Barbara, Jason, and Bruce suffered at Joker's hands, per Johns. "If you suffer some trauma, you don’t just get over with it and move on with your life, it changes who you are. Sometimes it changes you for the better, sometimes it changes you for the worse. You can heal right, and you can heal wrong. That’s really what the book’s about: Healing right, healing wrong, and surviving."

2) Johns also said of the story: “It goes back to the beginning when Batman first encountered the Joker, but it’s also The Killing Joke and A Death in the Family that speak to the book and that we’re building off emotionally." And Fabok mentioned that the book's look would be based on the aesthetics of The Killing Joke: "I really want it to feel like it could be a spiritual sequel, at least artistically."

These remarks foreshadowed a disconnect. A key part of The Killing Joke itself is that both Joker and Bruce experienced terrible trauma ("one bad day"), but in responding to it, they made different choices: broadly, Joker choosing to hurt people versus Bruce choosing to help people. Johns excluding Joker from his comments about trauma felt like a sign that he ignored a key part of the character, despite Joker being a core part of a new tale "emotionally" inspired by TKJ.

(We're setting aside "you can heal right and you can heal wrong" for now. Ohhh, we'll get back to that.)

Johns' blind spot was confirmed a few months later when he was quoted by the DC Nation Twitter account: "There are very few characters that are, to me, as irredeemable as The Joker. There is nothing in him that is good."

Wow, what close analysis from Mr. Emotional Build.

Look, I don't need Joker to be redeemed or woobified. (Ask me about the "Pushback" storyline from 2004 and hear my gnashing teeth crack a filling.) But I would like the full breadth of his character acknowledged, especially when you're claiming you're writing about trauma, especially when you're creating a "spiritual sequel" to one of best known Joker stories (if not the best known one).

Then Three Jokers finally came out, and over three months it proved to be neither an examination of healing nor very interesting, at least not in an enjoyable way. What it has to "say" about trauma, for any of the characters, is no different than the limited conclusion made in previous Batman books: mainly the drumbeat of fighting off the darkness by being a bigger person— or at least not killing your enemy. Making Joker into a role played by three different people adds nothing; it amounts to little more than a gimmick.

Hell, even as a gimmick, it's flawed. Theoretically, the three Jokers represent phases of personality the Joker has embodied over the years— but the representations we get don't make sense. Here they are summed up in Book 3:

Sorry, what? The Criminal is less interested in theatrics? In what time period was the Joker ever not interested in making a big show of things in one way or another? Maybe this is supposed to be an "early" Joker in terms of the Rebirth/InfiniCrisisDarkCarnateTier/whatever more recent conception of him, but I'll wager that's not what people think about when they think of Joker at his start. They think about Golden Age Joker doing goofy shit and laughing maniacally. They're not expecting this morose man.

The other thing is that, in Book 1, the narrative "assigns" each of our three protagonists to a Joker: Bruce to the Criminal, who appeared at the start; Barbara to the Comedian, who shot her; and Jason to the Clown, who killed him. Now at first I thought Johns was saying one Joker took over after another, but since Barbara's attack and Jason's death happened 9 months apart in 1988, which are not different Joker eras, I think we're supposed to see them as sort of… cycling on and off depending on the needs of the scheme? Maybe? But the descriptions above are still confusing. Why am I supposed to see the Joker who got carried away with the fun of beating Jason with a crowbar and successfully blew him up as less sadistic than the other one?

Johns does appear to lampshade this confusion in the middle of Book 1, when we get all three Jokers in a cabin in the woods. The Clown and the Comedian have this exchange:

This and a later panel with the Comedian actually imply that he and the Clown are interchangeable, even though they're supposed to be different. So are they or not? Is there an actual reason we need three Jokers, or did Johns just think it was a neato idea and then spend four years trying to figure out a "layered" justification for it?

The other thing about this cabin scene, and about the Joker trio largely, is that it should be fun and it's not. There should be chaos! Zaniness! At the very least, all the narcissism in the room should generate a competitive friction, make their interactions more dynamic. (Really it should generate bloodshed and end with one man standing within like ten minutes, but I'll grant the choice to save that for Book 3.) Instead it's almost mundane. The cabin isn't even decorated! It's dark and dreary, like the Jokers are dark and dreary. If we're gonna have three Jokers, can't they at least be Jokering with each other?

The same thought comes when I consider the very beginning of Book 1. It all starts out like a typical Batman story: three deadly crimes are committed in one night, the Joker seemingly responsible for all of them, and Bruce, Barbara, and Jason are drawn together as they try to figure out what's up. Of course, thanks to the Magic Chair, Bruce already knows there are three clowns, but Barbara and Jason are thinking that Joker is working with two look-alikes to create confusion. And considering the basics of what happens in this story, what the Comedian's larger plan is meant to accomplish, why couldn't this have been written with just two look-alikes? I mean, yeah, it would require Johns to forget about his continuity bomb, but maybe the story would have been better (and shorter). Again, the creation of other Jokers isn't doing much for what the plot is getting at. The three crimes that start us off would still serve the function of reminding Bruce of how Joker's been a constant in his life. The taunting of a convincing Joker look-alike is enough to set off Jason's anger and sadness about what happened to him, and his fears of what he could become. The climax with Joe Chill would have to be redone, but the threat of him being Jokerized isn't the crucial plot point; the Comedian's film of him is. Bruce doesn't even have any substantial thoughts about there being three of his nemesis.

But, alas, the story goes how it goes. And as it goes, we also see that Jason behaves more cruelly in his search for Joker than Barbara and Bruce. For example, Jason attacks and threatens one of Joker's victims to get information, feeling justified because the guy has a rap sheet, while Barbara scolds him and Bruce tells the victim, "I'm sorry this happened." What I find notable about this is that while comics regularly present Jason as hot-headed and Barbara as reasonable, Bruce… uh… If you gather a random selection of Batman comics, you'll find that his level of violence is all over the place. This story, however, requires a more somber Bruce, whose violence is more reactive, because Jason and Barbara serve Johns' dichotomy of "heal right" versus "heal wrong." We can't have Bruce on the sadistic side of the scale fucking that up, and besides, Jason's long been the posterboy for healing "wrong."

That notion comes to a head at the end of the issue. The heroes have encountered and subdued the Clown at the aquarium when Jim Gordon calls. The GCPD found another Joker, and Bruce leaves Jason and Barbara alone with the Clown to assist.

Goodness me, who could have predicted Jason might kill a restrained Joker? Not Bruce, who absolutely should have. Barbara is there to talk Jason down, sure, but what else is the Clown gonna do but needle Jason to kill him?

The Clown cackles then, declaring that Red Hood is his Robin, for the very reason of his violent impulses and how much he upsets the Bat, and of course Jason shoots him in the head, because oof.

Honestly, on this second read I found this scene a smidge too oof. Jason was a determined little Robin, dedicated to saving his awful mother to the very end, and him cracking and declaring that he'll work for a criminal… I don't know. I don't think it's impossible, but it feels superfluous. I don't think such a reveal is necessary to get Jason to fire. I think the Clown focusing on how the new Red Hood is actually quite similar to the old, as well as how Jason matters less than the neverending battle between Batman and Joker, is enough emotional stress to get to the same end result.

But that's a minor quibble; we've got bigger fish to fry! Such as the specter of the "healed right/healed wrong" dynamic that reappears as Barbara and Jason argue over the Clown's corpse.

Barbara leaves angrily after this, but man. I wish the story overall took more cues from this scene, that in a Black Label story we could stray from the simplistic idea of how a Good One would save Joker and a Bad One wouldn't. I want to explore Jason's assertion that Barbara didn't do her best to uphold Bruce's one rule. I want to know if maybe she's tired of being the fucking Good One.

Hell, let's go further: what if we were surprised by Barbara killing the Clown before Jason could? The Clown's taunting about Jason could have gotten to her too. We could have a story about how being put on a pedestal as a Good Victim is a cage, about Barbara struggling with falling from that position, about Jason feeling unsure if he should commend her for an act that obviously hurts her or comfort her for something he would have done himself. That's an actual examination of the struggle to process violent trauma— that you don't need three Jokers for!

But the story we have never gets back to Jason's suggestion that Barbara let the murder happen, not in this issue or the following two. This issue just ends with Jason hoping that the Clown was the actual Joker and that he didn't kill the wrong guy, which is a pretty "LOL oh yeah" line when you remember that he and Barbara don't know there are three Jokers yet.

Book 1, truth be told, isn't that bad. On my reread, I started to wonder if my only real issue with the story is that it's not as engaging as all the hype insisted it would be.

Then Book 2 starts, and goddammit. GODDAMMIT.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: why can we not have more DC writers having fun with Joker's multiple-choice backstory? Why did Johns read The Killing Joke and decide his interpretation would be this?:

Ugh. UGGGHHH.

I don't recall the issue, but there's these panels that circulate sometimes of Harley Quinn encountering Joker in Arkham or prison, in which they exchange words about their relationship and he's a creep and she kicks his ass. I have no problem with Harley kicking Joker's ass. He deserves it. My problem is that those panels play out like an empowerment scene in a generic Lifetime movie. My problem is that it doesn't have the flavor of Harley and Joker. My problem is that it's lazy.

And that's my problem with what Johns does with Joker's backstory in TKJ. He could take it anywhere, and he goes gritty without an ounce of nuance. Because hey, this is Joker, and  "there is nothing in him that is good," right? We'll just ignore that one of DC's all-time classics, the one this garbage is ✨inspired by✨, has Joker reflecting on a past for which he is an unreliable narrator, but in which he laments how his comedy dream put his growing family in a bad spot, in which he desperately aligns with shady people so his family can be secure, in which he's devastated by losing the only person he has in the world and their growing baby. And these memories could be distorted or entirely fake, but what's interesting in TKJ is that Joker never tells anyone else about them, even in his big speech to Batman. The flashbacks are not part of an attempt to manipulate anyone or convince them his world view is correct. It's a tale in Joker's head that, regardless of the truth, deeply affects him. It's what drove him to go to horrendous lengths to prove his point, even if the point is wrong.

But fuck that, right? We're going lazy! We're going cheap! We're going with the Jeannie backstory, but actually Joker was only terrible to her. The Comedian fondly fantasizes about terrorizing her and their son, because he's 100% an abuser, because he must have always been that way, with not a single appealing quality that we need to reckon with as we so often do with toxic people in real life. Even the freaking stutter Joker had as he struggled with stand-up comedy is given to Jeannie. Seriously?

I cannot emphasize enough: fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck this "take."

On the other hand, when the Comedian is brought out of his stupor, we do finally get something super funny:

At least we'll always have this panel of Joker eating cat food.

The Criminal only interrupted the daydream because he's mad the Clown is dead, and the Clown was so eager to be dead I thought it was part of their plan buuuuuuut I guess not. Then we jump to Bruce figuring out that the "Joker" that Gordon cornered is just another victim, a dead judge. Barbara appears to tell Bruce what Jason did, and they discuss it over comms on the road.

Bruce, shockingly, says that they can't really do anything about what Jason did.

Pretty sure the guy who batarang'd Jason's throat rather than let him kill Joker would have a more intense reaction than this?? Or any reaction other than sober understanding? Maybe Bruce is still coping with finally dealing with three Jokers at once and will flip his shit when this all resolves. Or maybe he's just thinking, "it's okay, I still have two emotional support clowns left!" I don't know. He's so weirdly passive in this story.

What's more aggravating, though, is the other aspect of this conversation, that Jason "healed wrong." It would be one thing as a pat judgment Bruce is making, but we know from that interview that Johns positioned "healed right versus healed wrong" as the story's theme. It's not good. It's way too glib a framing for evaluating how people who've gone through trauma are dealing with it, in any context. Sure, there are better and worse coping mechanisms, better and worse outcomes, but healing is an ongoing process that can be so individualized. Reducing it to "right" and "wrong," saying that one is "strong" and implying that the other comes from some sort of deficiency… I hope Johns just spoke poorly and he does understand that it's not that simple.

Now, is it a stretch to apply that critique to Jason killing criminals at his whim? Sure, deciding that you personally should play the role of judge, jury, and executioner is not a good way to deal with trauma. But that's not exactly what's happening here. This "healed right versus healed wrong" framing is being applied to Jason Todd going after the Joker. Obviously, I like Joker, but can we be real about this? Can we be real in a Black Label book, the imprint where comic books (allegedly) have room to take things more seriously? Can we take the question of, "In this fictional world where Joker is an unstoppable fatal mayhem machine— now THREE machines— is it completely out of bounds for someone to finally kill him?" and be like, "Errr…not really?" When this story explicitly denies Joker even one teeny redeeming human quality, are we seriously still going to say, "Well, you know, if Jason takes the life of the man who murdered him and millions other people, because he doesn't want him to kill more people, which Joker will absolutely do and we all know it, doesn't that say something awful about Jason?" Are we really??

Plus the judgment about healing is put into the mouth of a man who— say it with me!— regularly dresses as a bat and beats the ever-loving shit out of people because his parents were murdered. Toning Bruce down in this particular story doesn't hide that.

Although, what I think is intended as a flawed assumption on Bruce's part is his other line, "Jason's suffering." It implies that Barbara still isn't, but we are shown Barbara reflecting on her paralyzation, even now when she's "strong" and has healed "right." And the story will get into this a bit later, but it absolutely does not let Barbara and Jason escape the dichotomy. To the story's detriment, their interactions go in a wild direction, but we'll get to that.

First, Bruce and Barbara's investigation leads them to Blackgate, because the fingerprints on the murder weapon for the dead judge belong to none other than Joe Chill. However, we learn that Chill has been in the medical wing for two months because he's sick with cancer.

Meanwhile, Jason's investigation leads him to a closed athletic center. The pool inside is filled with the chemicals stolen from Ace at the start of the story, as well as dozens of pale naked bodies with green hair. Jason's attempt to contact Barbara is interrupted when one of said bodies bursts to life and grabs his ankle, asking for help. Jason reacts with hostility, kicking the poor guy, and I'm not sure if it's because he's unnerved by a room of floating Jokers or if it's pretty normal for him to not keep his cool even for the sake of an obvious victim of a horrible crime. A Gotham City vigilante can't be that shocked by one guy being alive in a pile of bodies, can they?

But that's all setup. When the guy falls unconscious, the Criminal and the Comedian ambush Jason and drag him away, one saying, "He'll be perfect."

It's a line that meanly gets your hopes up, poking at a subject that could make all this more interesting.

Jason awakes, strapped to a chair and as naked as the bodies in the pool. The Criminal says he and his pals have spent a lot of time trying to find the perfect candidate for a new Joker, and he repeats the question of what's up with Jason taking on the Red Hood moniker.

It seems that, like DCAU Tim Drake in Batman Beyond before him, Jason Todd will be transformed into a fourth Joker! But it won't only be because it will wreck the Batman. It'll be because Joker already sees himself in Jason. This is something new to explore! There are places to go here; other comics hinting at Joker's past point to him having a childhood not dissimilar to Jason's, of growing up on the street, experiencing abuse, and learning unpalatable ways to survive. We could see Jason struggling with the possibility that he has more in common with Joker than he wants to think about!

But we won't. Inexplicably, the Criminal turns around and says that despite their similarities, despite Jason hating Batman as much as he does, despite the Comedian (presumably) saying Jason is perfect, and despite getting Jason ready for the pool, Jason actually isn't good enough, not "bright" enough. (Because all the Jokers we have in this dour story are so bright?)

And then the Comedian just beats the hell out of Jason (saying it's more fun than the first time, in another annoying nod to how he and the Clown are the same damn Joker) and says they're leaving Jason alive because maybe he'll prove them wrong and he'll become a new Joker after all? But the current Jokers aren't really going to go for it. Their interest is just abandoned.

The point is only to freak Jason out, so when Bruce and Barbara arrive, fight a horde of Jokerized victims, and find Jason alone and naked and vulnerable, he does not react well when Bruce tries to ask if he's okay. Jason turns on him and blames him for setting him on this path, for leaving him in the dirt, for replacing him easily. He lashes out at Barbara too, asking if she's going to lock him away, but ultimately it's easier to take comfort from her.

A direct reference to Return of the Joker here, focusing on the shadow Batman casts over the lives of his partners, the responsibility he bears in how Joker targeted them to hurt the Bat, and how poorly he offers comfort himself.

It does segue nicely into the next scene, when Bruce and Barbara get Jason to her apartment to rest. Bruce leaves to keep investigating, and Barbara is pissed because this is the exact lack of support that contributed to Jason going his own way. Support is highlighted again when Jason wakes in Barbara's room and looks around.

Aside from Barbara seeking out books to deal with her physical and mental struggles after Joker's attack, the old calendars show the help she received from her father and health professionals.

And this scene does get into something that's missing from TKJ, in which Bruce tells Joker that no, not everyone will retreat to madness like he did. How we react to trauma is greatly affected by the resources available to us.

This scene is nice. It's nice to come from the action to some place quiet and for someone to say this Jason, something he's wanted to hear. It's late in coming, but it's pain validated.

And then Johns fucking ruins it.

Man. Just. Ugh. Yeah, I know people seek comfort in moments of vulnerability, but… the reader knows. The reader knows moments like this aren't included to be like "oh, this was an isolated blip of human behavior! The story won't call back to it later!" Johns apparently wants Barbara/Jason to be a thing. And if you want a solid reason for that… well, we don't get any good ones.

Meanwhile, Bruce is in the cave, and I'm only mentioning that because these folder labels are incredibly funny:

Then the issue ends with Joe Chill kidnapped from Blackgate by the Comedian, who has a video camera and asks him to talk about why he really killed the Waynes. Dun dun dunnnnnnnn! Is that a twist on the way?! Well, yeah, but not really the one you think and it's incredibly stupid.

Finally we are at Book 3. Jason is suited back up, and he and Barbara have met up with Bruce in the cave to figure out how the Jokers plan to create another, better Joker.

Soooooo Jason and Barbara had that whole conversation. Jason was shaken by what the Jokers said to him. But now he's completely back on track. Allllllrighty.

Jason and Bruce then have an argument rehashing everything that Barbara said she was sorry Jason experienced, with Bruce saying of course he'd love to kill the Joker, and Jason pointing out that he obviously hasn't. Jason also says he thinks the only reason Bruce isn't turning Jason in for killing the Clown is to protect Batman's identity. Barbara just tries to de-escalate with her doe eyes. They're back to the status quo, and it sucks, which is the point. When they try to get back to the investigation at hand, Bruce pauses and attempts to apologize.

And again, with this blatant TKJ reference, it feels like we need to dig into the parallels between Jason and Joker! They both insist it's too late! They won't take help! But surely Jason isn't as far gone! There's something to chew on here.

But nah, this story is heading toward a big ol' revelation, foreshadowed here:

🎶 Why the fuck you lyin'? 🎶

Finally they get the alert that Joe Chill was kidnapped, and on investigating his cell, Bruce finds a bunch of letters addressed to… himself, Bruce Wayne. He seeks out the prison reverend.

Which is unintentionally hilarious, because in the storyline that started this whole three Jokers nonsense, there's a Batman Darkseid War one-shot where Joe Chill's behavior does not remotely align with this.

Lol comics are fun.

In the middle of Bruce investigating the letters, we get Jason being all repentant with Babs again.

You just said? You totally were?? Gonna kill more clowns??? How is this supposed to come off as genuine? Granted, Jason doesn't try to kill the other Jokers after this, but the apparently impetus for reversing course is... uh... we'll get there.

Anyway, among Chill's letters are tickets to the Monarch Theater, so the heroes all head over for whatever the Jokers have set up for them, which of course includes another horde of failed Joker zombies. During the fight, the Comedian's interview of Joe Chill plays on the screen, and the Criminal reveals they have Chill tied up in a chair suspended over a vat of green chemicals.

As Chill on screen explains that he killed the Waynes out of hatred and envy for how much they had, and how much he regrets his actions, the Criminal explains that he considered both Jason and Barbara as strong candidates for the new Joker. And wait. WAIT. Mr. Johns, sir, are you telling me it crossed your mind to write a story in which Barbara becomes the new Joker? That's so much more interesting than the bullshit we're getting! Imagine it: Barbara dealing with the dissatisfaction of being the "good, strong victim" and just losing her shit. You could combine that with how uneasy Jason is with his similarities to Joker, and maybe Jason is the one who convinces Barbara to turn back. This is Black Label! This could've been anything! Anything!

But we've got Chill. And the Criminal goes on to say the reason he wanted to make a new Joker at all:

Are… are you? I'm pretty sure Joker is pretty well fucking defined. He's a murderer with a very dark sense of humor who is obsessed with Batman. That's been a pretty good through-line.

Also, Joker pretty clearly means a lot to Batman, as that middle panel with Jason seems intended to remind us, but the Criminal does clarify that he wants to be "everything" to him, which is why he's pulling Bruce's parents' murderer into all this. I guess I can't blame him for reaching for the stars?

Cue big fight scene. The Chill recording continues to explain his regret, and soon the theater is on fire. Batman saves Chill and knocks the Criminal unconscious. Chill thinks Batman is going to kill him, but Bruce saves him from a falling brick wall instead— before the Criminal revives and tries to set off a bomb to kill them all, maybe. There's a BOOM flag sticking out of the dynamite a few panels later, after the Comedian shows up and shoots the Criminal in the head. TWIST!

The Comedian surrenders, and after a scene with Jason picking the most awkward time to suggest he and Barbara try being a couple and Barbara looking pissed she has to tell him no, we jump to Bruce and the Comedian in the armored police car.

As a batjokes shipper, looking at these pages is weird, because they are good food for the brainworms. The Criminal wanted to engineer a Joker who meant the most to Batman, but the Comedian wanted to be that Joker. It's a weird plan, considering that Joker prefers Batman over Bruce Wayne, so he would be more likely to not want to heal Bruce's wound lest the healing lead to less Batmanning, but still. This crazy plan is all about maintaining Batman's attention.

But I can only enjoy these panels out of context, not just because I'm pretty weary of insanely elaborate plans that manage to work out, but also because there's just so much to hate in the rest of the story, especially the real twist that closes it out.

Before we get to that, though, we're thrown back into the Jason/Barbara nonsense with a very gross letter he writes to her.

"Dear Barbara, I want to make a change. But I can't do that without you. I know I've come across cold and distant…"

1) Look, love can help people heal. Barbara could be a good friend advising Jason on what might help him. She could help bring him back into the batfam fold. This letter is not that. This letter is pushing someone to be in a romantic relationship with you for the explicit purpose of getting them to heal you. That's not how love works. That's using someone as a tool. It's supposed to be sad that Barbara never sees the letter but it's good, actually. Don't put that shit on her!

2) This romance came out of freaking nowhere and now we get Jason insisting he can simply stop being Red Hood for the sake of it— but only for the sake of it, apparently! Does Jason think his worldview as Red Hood is an impediment to healing or not? This is just surface-level melodramatic nonsense. And I wish that was the point, but no. Again, the letter getting swept away is presented as sad.

3) Speaking of which, who tapes a confessional letter that exposes your vigilante identity to a door where anyone can see it? You'd slip it under the door at least. Johns couldn't figure out any other way for the letter to vanish? Get out of here with this contrived nonsense. There should've been panels of Jason rereading the letter, realizing how unhinged it is, and throwing it away himself.

4) Is the "Funtime Cleaners" guy in his purple uniform supposed to be Joker? Or representative of Joker's influence on their lives? If yes and it's him, he's a goddamn hero. If it's symbolic, what does that mean, that even when you reach out to others… elements out of your control will keep you alone? 'Cause that sure is bleak for a book allegedly about healing.

With all that done with, now we get to the big twist, the dumbest fucking part of this story, the end, the takeaway. Of course it involves more crimes against The Killing Joke, which I'm increasingly convinced no one at DC has actually read in the past thirty years.

Bruce drives up to Alaska, and we get this reveal.

Do the kids still *headdesk* nowadays? That's what I'm doing. There will be a blood stain.

1) So Bruce has known the Joker's identity, or at least the Comedian's, basically the whole time. We're just retconning that the Joker question he asked the Magic Chair wasn't for information; it was a second test question. And all this is in the face of Bruce lamenting many times over the years that he doesn't know who Joker really is, of him lamenting it in The Killing goddamn Joke. "I don't know him, Alfred. All these years and I don't know who he is any more than he knows who I am. How can two people hate so much without knowing each other?" We're just. Fucking excising that. A line alluding to Bruce's motivation for visiting Joker in TKJ's opening scene.

2) We're rounding out the lazy revisions to the TKJ backstory with some copaganda! Geoff Johns doesn't think it's possible for Joker to have been anything but a horror to his family, but he does think it's possible that random officers in the friggin' Gotham City Police Department— in early Batman lore no less, when they were at their most corrupt— would fundraise for a "lady" they clearly don't know to get her out of the city to safety. Also, what was the plan for when Joker asked to see his wife's dead body?? Congrats, you've come up with something dumber than "Pushback."

3) This scrawls more highlighter on how bad the premise of there being three Jokers is, because the flashback in TKJ happens before Joker starts out. Like that's how Bruce always recalls it; he didn't meet the Joker until after what happened at Ace Chemicals. So isn't Jeannie then actually the Criminal's wife? Because the Criminal is the one who behaves as Bruce remembers Joker was at the start. So is the Comedian obsessed with the Criminal's wife for some reason? Or is the Comedian actually the first Joker, and the Criminal came later and used to be more wacky? What is going on here?

Under all these questions, per the final page, the point of Three Jokers is still visible: ultimately, his victims matter more than he does. But that's a hilarious point to a story that revolves around three of the guy, with very little payoff to the gimmick, and when part of the plot is that the heroes still shouldn't kill him.

And again, just because a story makes reference to healing, it doesn't mean it's "about" healing. The most we get is the knowledge that Barbara and Jeannie received support from other people. There's no discussion of how long it took either of them, of why Barbara came out the other side not wanting to kill Joker, of anything Jeannie has done since she left Gotham. The possibility that Jason could find connection is promptly throttled by a forced romance. It's implied that the Comedian's plan worked for Bruce, as we see Bruce at Chill's deathbed, holding his hand, and at Chill's grave. You might be interested in Bruce's thoughts as he juxtaposes Chill's repentance against the fact that his parents are still dead, so you can assess if this really would affect the feeling of loss that drove him to his lifelong mission, but you won't get them. The "how" of healing is up to the reader— who is never asked to extend the same thought process to the Joker. And you personally do not have to give a crap about Joker, but again, if this book is supposed to be about responses to healing, about Jason's response versus Barbara's, then taking an actual look at Joker feels relevant!

So there we are: fourteen pages of me venting my little heart out, hoping the premise of Three Jokers never gets looped into canon. I'm well aware that my personal attachment to a character means nothing against DC's incentives to promote stories with Big Twists (and endless events and multiverse bullshit), but then again, those incentives are based on what people will buy. So if I can add to the voices saying that Three Jokers is bad, and you should not spend your money on it or books like it, maybe I can be one vibe of many that keeps the Joker as one single bat-obsessed murderclown...

Though if not, I can always retreat to older comics. I still have plenty of those to get through.

#three jokers #the killing joke #batjokes #batman #joker #bruce wayne #barbara gordon #jason todd #analysis #my jibber-jabber #tl;dr three jokers is just usual batman stuff with a dumb gimmick #and jaybabs thrown in for the lulz

[bubblesxo]

i dont know if you will see this but i am a big fan of your g!bruce meets the batfam!!!! I literally have tumblr just for this series (and now that I’ve tried it im beginning to love it ngl) . Annyywaayy ive just read the new chapter and it’s so good!?? Like i am really excited for the next chapter!!!

Oh and I haven’t watched gotham ( im planning too ) but i sometimes mix the twins????? Like your explanations are good dont get me wrong but yk when your reading and you need to check which ones which? Yeah … and like i want to fix that idk how .do i just like memorize the twins personalitys??

also in this au is theres 2 jokers??????? I saw you once mention Jerome(?) being revived or something

ps .im that great at English sorry .

oh wow wow wow thank you so so much!! i'm really glad that you're enjoying my story so much! it really means a lot to me. <33 i think your english is good! but if you need/want me to clarify anything i say here, just let me know and i'll try to rephrase it for you!

okay, so in the Gotham tv show (this has spoilers for all 5 seasons, so read on if you're okay with that) the way that they approached writing the joker was actually really up in the air in the beginning. this is because they didn't have the rights to use the name "joker," and so fox (the company that made the show) planned on making a bunch of smaller characters in the show as a kind of easter egg as people who could be the joker or who resemble him in some way.

this changed when cameron monaghan (the actor for both jerome and jeremiah) guest starred in s1e16 "the blind fortune teller." in it, the character of jerome is introduced as a 17/18 year old boy who travels with the circus with his mother, who is a snake dancer. he is meant to be one of the aforementioned joker-like characters in the show and wasn't actually supposed to be included again after that episode, if i am not mistaken.

however, the viewers LOVED his performance and jerome came back in season two as a member of the maniax, a group of arkham inmates who were broken out of the asylum. i won't go too into detail about the actual plot, but in seasons two, three, and four, jerome shows up in at least a few different episodes with very memorable storylines each time.

it isn't until season four of the show that jeremiah is even revealed at all! jeremiah and jerome are identical twin brothers, however, jeremiah has been in hiding for years under the fake name "xander wilde" in an attempt to escape jerome, who wants to get revenge on him for lying to their mother about what he (jerome) did when they were children. basically, jeremiah lied to their mother (lila, who jerome is revealed to have killed in 1x16) that jerome tried to kill him, causing jeremiah to be sent away and be adopted by rich people and get to go to a well-funded private school where he could live out his best life as a child prodigy (which was jeremiah's end goal to this), whereas jerome was left behind in the circus that they lived at (haly's circus, the same one that dick grayson later was raised in before being adopted by bruce). during this time, jerome was horrifically abused by his mother, his uncle, and his mother's many romantic partners. this eventually caused him to crack, which creates the character we see in the show.

here's an easy way to remember the difference in their personalities:

in the standard american deck of cards, there are two jokers: one that is black and white and one that is in color. in this analogy, jeremiah is the black and white joker and jerome is the one in color.

this is jerome:

he's got a *very* boisterous personality. he's outgoing and charismatic and, of course, severely messed up in the head. he *enjoys* the pain he causes people and does it with little to no reservations. he thinks things through less thoroughly than jeremiah but jerome always has a plan and is actually quite smart. i couldn't do him the disservice of calling him the dumb twin, despite some points about jeremiah that i'll get back to later.

anyway, jerome has a grand plan for all of gotham: he believes that, fundamentally, everyone in the world is like him and is also at least a bit crazy inside. he wants everyone to tap into their inner selves and let themselves run free / go crazy. he successfully ensnares huge hoards of gothamites with his persuasive way of speaking and interesting flare to his words. he amasses a large cult following, all of whom are very similar to him in the sense that they all demonstrate similar signs of instability.

here's some more gifs of him.

jerome kind of invented the iconic "HAHAHA" signature joker laugh in the gotham universe, even though he isn't the one who goes on to become "mr. j" (gotham's version of the joker) in the end (that's jeremiah, though i have a lot to say about that).

jerome's always smiling, a genuinely creepy smile that throws people off at first but can be really scary once you know what you're looking at. he single handedly turns gotham into a madhouse on multiple occasions and is the one who basically spread the "crazy" to the general population (for short: genpop).

he's a classic cult leader in the sense that he can mesmerize a whole room with his magnetic presence but also will ruthlessly cut down any of his followers if they so much as upset him (or even if they're just being annoying or could have a greater purpose, like when he stabbed a follower in the gut to take their blood to draw a frowney-face on bruce).

that reminds me, another important thing to know about jerome is that he has an iconic stapled-on face! this is because he died once (in season two, though he came back to life for season three onwards) and one of his followers tried to revive him using some insider medical knowledge from doctor hugo strange (who is just... a whole thing. ew.). he thinks that he failed at doing this and steals jerome's face so that he can wear it on television in an attempt to control jerome's followers (spoiler: this doesn't work).

however, it turns out that jerome *was* revived from this, and he's pretty upset that some dude stole his face! so he uses a staple gun to re-attach it after he gets it back (and kills the guy who did it). his face is later punched off by jim gordon but reattached more properly during his time at arkham afterward (the carnival scene happened in season 3 and jerome came back with a kind-of healed face in season 4).

here's some gifs with jerome's messed up face!

jerome is the colorful joker because he's very much expressive. he lets out every single emotion he feels---unless he's trying to deceive someone, at which point he is a phenomenal liar. (in season 1 when we are first introduced to him, he almost successfully gets away with the murder of his own mother.)

jerome is funny and laughs a lot and is *loud.* he's also absolutely insane and incredibly cruel, as well as impulsive, but he's able to curb his instincts if he feels like he can pull off a big plan.

jerome is a showman by nature. he's a product of the circus and it *shows.* everything he does is like an act, something that is acknowledged by many people in the show.

he's a funky lil dude. totally crazy, but kind of adorable at times.

he's also SEVERELY traumatized from his horrible past and has huge trust issues.

so, yeah. jerome is colors! remember that.

unfortunately, pookie died in season 4 and doesn't seem to have been revived this time </3

now, onto his twin brother jeremiah!

jeremiah is, at least at first, presented to be the complete opposite of jerome. he's calm, collected, and seemingly sane---at least at first. bruce trusts him at first and he even befriends him for a period of time before jeremiah betrays him.

jeremiah is a genius engineer, and, when looking into his past, we can assume that he was a child prodigy. he worked with thomas wayne before he died and designed the wayne plaza building under the aforementioned alias "xander wilde." he also locked himself in an underground maze for ~6 years (i believe?) and never went outside, instead sending his proxy (ecco) out to act in his place during business transactions.

as seen here, jeremiah seems to be the complete opposite of showboat jerome:

when we first meet jeremiah, we are told that he is totally sane, but we can later see that this is not the complete truth.

i'll use jeremiah's project as a metaphor for this. jeremiah was building a set of generators which could make energy harvesting and usage much less expensive and much more bio-friendly (if i remember correctly). bruce promised to fund his project and jeremiah accepts his offer quickly.

after jerome dies in season 4 after kidnapping bruce and jeremiah, he left behind a concoction of chemicals that seemingly make jeremiah go insane. this is a play on joker toxin / joker venom from the greater dc universe.

however, after jeremiah reveals his new self

he says that the spray did not actually change who he actually is, but just gave him an altered appearance. there are a lot of fan theories about this, but the general consensus is that the spray likely lowered his inhibitions, which gave him the kick needed to reveal his true self.

even his complexion resembles the joker he corresponds with: black and white. he is the black and white joker because he isn't as expressive, is way more calculated, and is more cruel and less happy. even his skin is paper white.

here's some gifs of what he looks like after those "slight cosmetic changes" :

that looks a lot more like the joker we know and love today, right? bleach-pale skin, red painted lips, green hair. he's instantly recognizable as the stereotypical joker now.

remember when i mentioned the generators? let's go back to them. the entire time that the generators have been around, they've also been perfectly functional as powerful bombs. their ability to be used as bombs does not undermine the fact that they can also be used as generators, and both of these things were true at the same time *for the entire time they have existed.*

it is in this way that jeremiah's paradoxical nature has always existed. jeremiah is crafty, cunning, and absolutely vicious. he has no care or concern for human life in general and will sacrifice most people in his life if it means that he will get what he wants in the end.

this is shown both before and after the joker toxin in how he lied about jerome when they were children (which caused jerome to be heavily abused) and in how jeremiah willingly killed one of his most devoted and beloved followers, who was being ransomed, just because someone put him on hold and it was personally easier for him to just kill him than sit on hold on the phone for a while. (he also has a vicious streak, though, because he immediately moved the demolition of the bombs up to immediately once he was out of the blast zone because those people inconvenienced him.)

something that's important to realize about jeremiah is that he has an issue with being called crazy. jerome does, too, but he eventually comes to accept the term, almost like he's reclaiming it, but jeremiah is *violently* against it. that's one of the things that set him off in the previously mentioned interaction.

both jeremiah and jerome are obsessed with bruce, though in different ways. jeremiah sees bruce first as his best friend and later as the "brother [he] could never have, that jerome could never be." jerome just sees bruce as a particularly entertaining and interesting kid who he enjoyed tormenting who he would eventually kill.

anyway, despite jeremiah being crazy (or, depending on who you ask, just less inhibited) he is still crazy smart and calculating. he thinks through everything before he does it and his master plans seem like they go on forever with 10000 parts to them and backups and contingencies galore.

the only time that jeremiah ever really seems to break out of this is when he's fighting with bruce. while he still does have a greater point to make or something he's trying to accomplish, he thinks through things less with him and shows his impulsive and rash side a bit more, which is interesting because jerome showed his thoughtful and contemplative side when faced with the obstacle that is bruce thomas wayne. i love parallels and contrasts, especially in these two characters! i just love writing about twins, they're always so interesting.

some important things about their relationship to one another:

even though jerome kidnapped jeremiah and seemingly strapped a bomb to his neck (after breaking into his house and telling him that he would kill him), jerome doesn't seem to actually want jeremiah to die. instead, as we later find out, he wants jeremiah to unleash his true self and carry on his legacy of chaos and cruelty in gotham for him after his death. this is why he left behind the laughing gas for him.

(the fact that jerome thought to do all of that shows that he really was a smart character and that he truly did understand the world around him well. he knew exactly what would happen in the event of his death, i.e. bruce offering to fund jeremiah's work and jeremiah accepting, as is shown when jerome has the joker venom in a present box which claims to be sent from wayne enterprises.)

jeremiah *hates* to be compared to jerome in any way, as he thinks of himself as "the face of true sanity." he actually has an entire notebook full of jerome's ideas, which he says he will outdo and perfect, thus defeating his brother in the end, which i don't know if i agree with, but whatever.

i think that it's because of the reputation that jerome got at the circus. jeremiah wanted people to think of him as better than jerome and as the perfect child, which he succeeded at. to him, jerome is synonymous with crazy, which i've already mentioned that he hates to be called.

okay, just one more part to talk about. the infamous, much anticipated Mr. J!!!

in the series finale, it is revealed that jeremiah, after falling into a vat of acid, is horribly disfigured and pretends to be in a vegetative state for the whole ten years that bruce is on his quest to improve himself before becoming batman. he does this as a way of waiting for bruce to come back to gotham so he can continue to be obsessed with him.

however, though this is jeremiah, it seems that he has actually gone through immense mental trauma sometime during this time (perhaps during his fall into a vat of chemicals), which has caused him to sort of lose his sense of self. he once says that there was "another me" [another him] once, which is, of course, referring to jerome. this implies that jeremiah sees jerome as an extension of himself, almost, and almost makes it seem as if mr. j is a whole different entity of his own.

hopefully this clears everything up a bit for you!! let me know if you have any questions or want to know anything specific about the characters and i will be glad to oblige!

thank you once again for being so kind as to leave this ask!! it really made my day. thank you for enjoying my fic, i hope it continues to live up to expectations. i have a lot of fun things planned (and i am very happy that you decided to look into these characters more, because they are actually extremely important to the plot as we get more into the actual story!). <33

#ask response #ask reply #gotham #gotham tv #gotham tv show #gotham tv series #bruce wayne #batman #g!bruce meets batfam #jerome valeska #gotham!bruce #tv: gotham #gotham joker #gotham rogues #gotham series #bruce wayne gotham #gotham 2014 #gotham fox #gotham show #dcu #gotham city #jeremiah valeska #gotham jeremiah #jerome gotham #valeska brothers #valeska twins

[the-trinket-witch]

PlayfulLand Theories before the event starts!

Everybody's excited for the New Twst Halloween Event coming to the JP servers, right? I am too. These bones been rattlin' since I found out. And my brain has been rotting with theories and predictions. Are they baseless? Likely. I would like to say I've seen enough of a pattern in this game to see a familiar plot coming down the pipe. Call it grasping at straws or pareidolia, but I'm having fun turning this all in my brain. Everybody in the Brainrot Buggie, we're making wild guesses and throwing shit at the wall to see what is right. 

(SPOILERS FOR TWST PLAYFULLAND EVENT, TWST CH. 6, BLACK BUTLER: BOOK OF CIRCUS. CW for Child Abuse, manipulation/loss of physical faculties, and general body horror)

Biggest takeaway from this theory dump: Fellow and Gidel aren't the main antagonists of this event. 

"But Trinket, they're the face of the event! How are they not the Big Bads?" I hear you wonder. It's because they weren't the Main Antagonists in their own source material. These two were:

Stromboli and The Coachman.

Assuming anyone reading has already watched the 1940 film, will note these two are connected to Honest John and Gideon/The Fox and Cat by their financial dealings. The Coachman in specific pays the Two for them to round up boys to bring to Pleasure Island to meet their fates. In most iterations of Pinnochio, Mangiafuoco/Stromboli and The Coachman are two separate entities. One adaptation, though, combines them. And while I will not delude myself to think it was an inspiration for the potential 'Actual Big Bad', an idea came to mind when thinking of the character from the 1996 The Adventures of Pinnochio, Lorenzini. A couple ideas, actually…

But before I get to that, where else in Toboso-sensei's work have we seen Charismatic Gingers in Circus Settings who are the bait-and-switch 'face' of a story arc?

That's right:

Joker. 

I guess not really 'bait and switch', but a lot of emphasis was put on him as a character when Book of Circus first came out. But then he and the rest of the Circus troupe began mentioning a man they called Father. Baron Kelvin. 

Before his obsession sparked for Ciel, he was a philanthropist who could have been considered a good man. But in the state we meet him in for the first time in BoC, he's a completely changed man obsessed with becoming physically appealing to Phantomhive, to the detriment of the children who had and would come under his 'care'. Their bones became the ceramic used to give prostheses to the rest of the circus. 

What if we're gearing up to have a similar figure 'pulling the strings' in this coming event? An amalgamation of Stromboli/The Coachman/Baron Kelvin…and Monstro the Whale? 

"Why Monstro? We already have a reference with Azul's cafe!"

Remember Lorenzini that I mentioned earlier?

He's also a combination of The Puppetmaster, Coachman, and Whale.  What if this Combination character… was a Whale merman? A merman looking for a different way to stay human, in a sense 'Become a Real Boy'? What if his transition to humanity has him stuck in one location out of the way? What if this is all a trap to sap the life/magic out of these boys so he can shirk his mer form for permanent legs? While it could be a stretch to say this is the case, lemme see if I can coherently explain…

@thecosmicjackalope posed the notion that the extraneous went characters might in some way be foils/parallels to the Overblot Gang. So far we have Idia getting a parallel with Rollo (two siblings dealing with the grief over the death of their brother), what if this is an event paralleling Azul and his dynamic with The Tweels? 

Shady fish men with (possible) varying degrees of disgust with their mer forms

Equally fishy business practices

Employ more physically capable individuals to do his 'legwork'

Plan(ned) on having the student body of NRC under their thumb of servitude

Employ magical tactics to entice and bind those they want into their grasp.

On top of all of this, what if his magic extends to both Fellow and Gidel? What if those two are just a regular fox and cat given sentience to do a whale's dirty work? Would they turn back after being defeated? That would explain the motivation, outside of just 'I'm getting paid handsomely to bring these boys in and not ask questions'. Even if this part is all thrown out the window, the idea that a shady Ringmaster lording over Playfulland just won't leave me. So then, what else can I guess about this event? (NOTE: THESE ARE ALL QUESTIONS AND THEORIES, not posed by much/any evidence)

The costumes/masks might specifically be used to control the boys. In a way similar to The Beast and the trees of Over the Garden Wall, thanks to @squidwen for the notion, maybe the masks progressively creep up on the NRC boys both subduing them, and eventually sapping them of life/magic? What if the incentive for the boys to act 'like jackasses' is how the mask takes root/grows? What if the end result (the host losing their life/stores of magic) their bones turn to wood?  What if the park is literally built of the Bones of Fairgoers Past?

Something I already began to theorize about when the announced SSRs came out was: why those three were picked.

Ortho we know shares A LOT of parallels/references to Pinocchio already. It's basically a given that he'd be a part of this. He is naive and fresh, so he could very well follow wanderlust wherever (by whoever) inspires it.  But why Kalim and Ace? Ideas for each:

Kalim:

He's a trusting person (played as 'To his own detriment')

A bit of a party animal

One to go with the flow, isn't quick to realize he's in deep shit til it's too late

Ace:

Brutally honest

Brother worked at a theme park. (Possible enticement to bring him in, on the promise of finding him somehow?)

One of the biggest liars of the cast-couple that with his immaturity and quick willingness to shirk responsibility, he's a prime candidate to pick off to someplace that promises leisure and fun away from school.

All three of the SSR boys are technically prime folk to lure off to the equivalent of Pleasure Island. Kalim with his weak will and shortsightedness, Ortho with his lack of experience both as a bot and now as a legit person, and Ace again because he has the most maturing to make for this arc. If anybody becomes a literal donkey in all of this: I can see it most likely being Ace. 

Assuming the rest of the Event Cast are only there on the premise of having drawn the short straw and not able to go to the Glorious Masquerade, I don't have any other theories for them. (Though I gotta say I'm digging the much more blatant Mad Hatter Ref in Trey's design.) A gameplay theory I had is that maybe we have to fight them to 'cut them loose', with eventually Ortho, Kalim and Ace being the 'final' bosses of the event, who defend the Puppetmaster in one final stand. 

For a TL:DR:

It's Book of Circus 2: Electric Boogaloo if it was written by Neal Shusterman (of Full Tilt fame). A Fishman wants to be a Real Boy, masks are terrifying, and Ace is an immature clown who's gonna get a lotta folks put in danger.

#twst #twisted wonderland #twst theory #twst playful land #twst event #fellow honest #twst gidel

[paper-gold-theories]

Villainous Spoiler Theory: Poker Face the Joker and the 53 former member of the Baraja Deck.

From the images from Steven Artworks Twitter you can see that the four suits of pokers represents four skill sets the Baraja guards and Baraja ninjas.

Spades ♠️ - knives

Heart ♥️ - heavy weights, strength

Diamonds♦️- Arrows

Clubs ♣️ - Bombs

Aside from clubs (bombs), from the image below, Poker Face appears to have hints of having 3 out of 4 skills.

Has two diamonds on her cheeks

Carries a knife like a spade and is holding a spades card.

Wears three hearts on her clothes.

Hence I theorised that Poker Face basically has all the skill sets of all the four suits in poker and was basically the "Jack of All Trades" in The Baraja Family.

From the image it might hint which skill set she is dominant in:

She appears to be spade dominant or best at using knives as you can see her carrying a knife and the 10 of spades, or it might also hint that 10 of spades is the only person in the Baraja she is on good terms with.

Her second dominant skill is heart or strength as there are 3 hearts in her costume.

Her third skill set is diamonds or bows, as she has two diamonds on her cheeks.

Finally her weakest is clubs or using bombs.

King Casino is the head of the Baraja Family. Baraja means deck of cards in Spanish and in poker there are 52 deck of playing cards.

However there is one more unofficial card, which is the joker card. In poker the only wild card or the card that can represent any card in the game, is a joker card.

Hence from Poker Face's clown like appearance, I theorised that she used to be the Joker of the Baraja Family and the 53 member.

Poker Face History as Joker and Owning Her Own Cassino After She Left The Baraja.

Poker Face or Joker used to be part of the Baraja family. With her flexibility and skill set of four suits, I theorised she definitely is a high ranking member of the Baraja Family, perhaps second in command when King Cassino is away or she might be his personal body guard.

However I theorized she also has a wild card personality as well as skills.

Because of this she rebelled against him probably because of their conflicting personalities, like his old fashioned nature and or just doesn't like the way he operates his casinos, the Baraja Family, organized crime, ect in general.

From the looks of it, she didn't leave on good terms with him as you can see her stabbing a deck of cards with a knife, which I theorised represents her hatred and rejection of the Baraja gang and King Cassino's way of operating things.

Despite not liking the way King Cassino runs things she loves the cassino life hence she decides to to start up her own Cassino with her own rules called Winning Love Cassino. (The name shown at the slot machine behind Poker Face)

Additionally at the same time also likes her image but at the same time wants to distance her association with King Cassino Baraja Family. Hence I theorzied this is why she changes her name to Poker Face to rebrand herself. (She might have a clown mask before but just changed it to a poker face themed or perhaps that was her original mask as the Baraja ninjas similarly all don't show their faces in their costumes and she also probably hates it when people call her Joker)

Possible evidence to support is when it was mentioned in Arenque News that King Cassino owns 52 casinos in the country and owns almost all the casinos in the contry.

As mentioned, the joker card is the unofficial 53 card in a deck of poker hence I theorized the only cassino not owned by King Cassino in the country is the one owned by Poker Face.

Her hatred of King Cassino and her already leaving The Baraja Family explains why she is not in The Risky Heist comics even though there is poker cards and poker themed villains mentioned all the time.

Like the other villains, she probably does not know Porccini's plan to frame King Cassino, although if she does, I theorized although she hates King Cassino, she will not work with Porccini because she disagrees with how he does things, has a hatred towards him when she had to fight him and his men while she was still in the Baraja Family and the grudge is still carried even after she left, and finally she also does not trust him to not double cross her.

However she will definitely be perfectly fine with her former boss having his betting licence revoked and not being able to operate his 52 casinos and possibly being sent to Mictlán, as it means less competition and good for her business as people will definitely go to the only other operating Cassino in the country.

There are many ways she was able to open her open her own cassino, one is that she might have made a deal with Black Hat Organization to invest in her business or lend her money for her business. As well as help her get connections.

I theorized another benefit of being part of Black Hat Organisation is that they might have some policies against screwing over other members if it affects Black Hat's business in some way as Porccini was afraid Black Hat might come after him for helping a P.E.A.C.E. heroine and frame one of their own members or she and King Cassino might have signed a treaty similar to how King Casino signed one with Porccini.

Hence King Cassino cannot do anything directly to destroy her business, such as sending the Baraja to wreck the place.

Even if he did, I theorized that they would have a hard time fighting the "Jack of All Trades" and hold her ground to defend herself and protect her business (though I theorized it would definitely be difficult if she were to face King Cassino).

Hence I theorized she she probably made this deal so as to not to cause destruction to her casino and effect her business.

She appears to be doing well as Flug mentions that she is one of the many respected and feared villainesses he listed in the Villainous Q&A.

I theorised that one of the reasons she is also a feared respected, and recognized is because of her skill set being a dangerous flexible and multi skilled villain, that people would definitely not want to mess with.

Another reason is that Flug also mentioned that although Black Hat Organisation provides services, products, ect for Villains, the success of the Villains depends on their competence.

So another reason why Poker Face is also feared, respected and recognised because she probably has a really good business plan and pitch on how to run a profitable cassino that is able to differentiate herself from King Cassino who, although can't attack her directly, can try to destroy her business in a competitive way, as he basically monopolises almost every casino in the country.

On top of her success, she also wants to make a soul contract deal with Black Hat one day to defeat her Arch Nemesis. As shown in Episode 1 when an P0K3RF4CE commented "goals" when Penumbra wants to make a deal with Black Hat to defeat her Arch Nemesis.

So does that mean Poker Face has her own hero Arch-Nemesis or does that mean she considers King Cassino as her Arch-Nemesis and wants to eliminate him in the future? 👀

As mentioned above, I theorized BHO members can't screw over the other members if it affects Black Hat's business, but perhaps Soul Contracts might be an exception or loophole as it outranks other contacts or there might be some other loophole around it. This two will definitely be an interesting conflict in the future...

#villainous #villanos #villainous poker face #villainous king cassino #villainous theory #villainous theories #black hat organization #villainous blackhat #villainous black hat #dr flug #dr kenning flugslys #flug #villainous headcanons

[bananabreadcaramel-4]

Might contain minor spoilers to the fast pass.

This might be a bit of a stretch but Ive noticed that Sahed seems to be the wearing a joker themed mask.

I believe this to be an intentional character design. According to this Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joker_(playing_card)), the Joker (the playing card) tends to be illustrated as a jester; a professional joker or ‘fool’ at a medieval court, that looks like something like this:

"The Joker can be a very beneficial card or a bad card to have. In Euchre (a card game) it is often used to represent the highest trump. In Gin Rummy it is wild. However, in the children's game of Old Maid, a solitary Joker represents the Old Maid, the card to be avoided."

This could symbolise the unpredictable nature of saheds character and how we, as fans, cant tell if he will turn out to be another antagonist or an ally to julia.

Also, "The Joker is often compared to "(the) Fool" in the Tarot or Tarock decks. They share many similarities both in appearance and in play function."

According to The Fool's Tarot card, it could have two interpretations depending on if the card is upright or reversed. I found this one article (https://astrotalk.com/tarot/the-fool) that is a bit long but here is a small summary:

Upright The Fool card is usually considered a positive tarot card as it indicates new beginnings.

"Moreover, it also signifies the infinite potential and innocence of the person when he is about to start his life. If The Fool card appears in your tarot card reading, it shall mean that you are about to start a new and exciting adventure in your life. This adventure would bring you new leanings along and demands a leap of faith in the process which is in front of you. But, with that, it promises you firmly new experiences."

Could this possibly hint at where the story will take him as a character? Freedom from the circus and a fresh start? Would that make him the embodiment of that card?

Anyways, "The Fool in a reversed situation definitely means new beginnings. However, you shall jump into decisions foolishly, without thinking. Your decisions would be reluctant, and you would be too impulsive to take them." You shall run into the most dangerous things without fear and see yourself sometimes in situations that shall affect you negatively in the long run."

The riot plan from episode 28 seems very risky and could potentially go wrong. I think that since this is the beginning of the story, that saheds character leans more on the reverse The Fool card before eventually switching over to the upright The Fool card (no, I am totally not obsessed with this webcomic).

#marionetta #sahed marionetta #marionetta webtoon

[j0kers-light]

Can we learn more about the three main goons? Their backstories, thoughts about Joker, motives, a detailed description on them etc. unless you can’t cuz spoiler territory

Heyy hi anon!! 🖤✨

You requested some lore on Joker’s top goons? Of course I can explain and I’ll omit any spoilers! To get to the clown you have to get through his top three which are Frost, Mac, and Neo; his most loyal henchmen.

Let’s begin with Joker’s right hand man; Frost!

He’s Joker’s first employee and by default the only person that Joker truly trusts (besides you of course).

Frost will get his own separate oneshot but I envisioned him to loosely reflect the same Frost depicted in the comics. His description is as follows: Frost is at least 6’3, a very scary looking guy, who’s super tough with an attitude befitting his nickname. He’s the brawn of the three. Definitely ex-military so he’s assertive, with a no nonsense demeanor, and he never smiles. He’s the oldest of the top three and undoubtedly the leader. He’s number one for a reason.

Frost is African American with a buzzcut from his military days, deep brown eyes, and he has a face scar running up his cheek. No one knows anything else about him. He’s just as mysterious as Joker regarding any previous history.

He prefers fighting with his hands but give him a gun and he’s an excellent shot. Joker respects Frost and vice versa. There’s an unspoken bond between the two. Could Joker be an old army pal of Frost’s? Who knows, but no one questions the connection they share. You cross Frost and you cross Joker. Simple.

Frost can essentially take over and run the gang during Joker’s absence. Frost doesn’t like being in charge and his famous slogan, “I don’t get paid enough for this” is said sarcastically because Frost would do anything for his long time friend and boss. I don’t wanna go too into much detail here since he’s getting his own oneshot that will include more lore on his backstory and etc.

Up next we have Mac! Number two!

Most people under Joker’s employ blend in appearance wise but not Mac. He’s got the face and attitude of a frat boy yet he willingly works for Joker.

Mac was originally a Gotham University undergrad but found himself in some trouble after a wild party and one big misunderstanding. His only choice was to beg Joker of all people to save him. Mac paid his debt off twice over but fell in love with the criminal underworld and joined the gang after graduating.

He cut ties with his family and he’s been under J’s employ ever since. Of course he conned his way out of paying student loans. He uses his business major to help Joker’s illegal businesses prosper. Mac also handles the gang's finances/bookkeeping since he knows everything about the corporate world. If there’s a legal mess that Joker needs fixing, Mac is the one to call.

His description is as follows. Mac is a naturally blond Caucasian with calculating blue eyes. Not too tall but he’s giving pretty boy. Even though he cut ties with his family, Mac is still arrogant and snooty; he reeks of new money. His greatest weapon is his mouth. He can talk himself out of any situation, (he paid extra attention in debate class) yet the blond loves to crush his opponents where it really hurts; their wallet.

Because of his frat boy personality, most of Joker’s crew doesn't take the blond seriously until he gets serious and shows them why he’s ranked number two. His loyalty is unwavering since Joker quite literally saved his life.

Mac brings a fresh, younger experience to the gang and his paid education doesn’t hurt either. If Joker asks Mac to do something, the businessman will sigh or roll his eyes in a playful show of annoyance, but it’ll get done immediately. Fun fact: Mac’s phone is constantly in his hand since he’s running the business/legal side of things. He’s the brains out of the three.

Which leaves us with….. Neo. Number three.

Oh this sweet summer child. I had high hopes when I originally created his character. He is the newest of the three but earned his rank for his more hands-on approach at loyalty. His actions show why he’s number three.

Neo is a charmer, a flirt, very charismatic, super cocky, and he is also a mercenary. When Joker wants someone professionally killed, he calls Neo. For a young man, his body count is ridiculously high— both in kills and sexual partners. If he marks you as his target, you’re dying one way or another. Did I mention he’s hot?

Neo’s description is as follows: Lightskin, a traditional tall f__k boy with endless drip. A walking red flag. Neo is originally from Atlanta, GA (and modeled after one of my ex’s pls don’t judge me) He owns multiple clubs in the Georgia Peach area and already had a reputation when Joker recruited the hitman for his payroll. One look into Neo’s hazel eyes and you’re bound for heartbreak or a swift death. Whichever you prefer. He’s got long natural hair and is one of Florence’s clients because he likes it artistically braided. Is it a coincidence that your childhood friend is dating your current lover’s hired hitman?👀

When Neo isn’t charming the ladies and keeping Joker’s clubs and other nightly entertainment business running, he has a gun in his hand– eliminating Joker’s targets with ease. Clean and precise, Neo hates a messy kill and rarely gets his hands dirty with actual blood.

Unfortunately…. Neo is in the dog house for stepping out of line. He let his rank get to his head. Neo inserted himself into your life and exposed himself to your friends and family. Plus he’s one of the variables to the whole, Flo finding out that you’re dating The Joker fiasco. Yeah not good. Neo mixed business with pleasure and now he’s suffering the consequences.

I can’t go into detail with his character since SPOILERS! but Neo will redeem himself and prove his loyalty to Joker again very soon.

Omg this was so much fun to fill!! I love these three and love adding them in oneshots and head canons! They really are Joker's friends even if he doesn't know the meaning of the word.

#thanks anon! #thanks for the ask! #ledger joker #lore building #i love them so much! #his lighthouse

[boinin]

Blue Lock Manga

Chapter 216 scanlation is out!

Just when I thought I couldn't like Snuffy more... (spoilers under the cut)

Previous chapter analyses

NOT BAROU WITH A KOTOWARU RIGHT OUT THE GAP 😭

I feel like gorilla boy is slept on as a character. My main exposure to the fandom is here and on Reddit, and man suffers a lack of dickriders simps in either place. Anyway, stuff like this endears him to me. You can always count on Barou to be reliably unreliable as a character. He's consistently a pain in the ass, something I really admire about how characters are written in this series.

But he's not my favourite thing about Chapter 216. That crown goes to...

💞Zombie Doggo Don Lorenzo💞

Yet again, we have a character trauma dumping on Barou to try get him to acquiesce, lol. But the way it's handled is more comedic than serious, with a great panel of Snuffy dragging Don by the ankles by the collar to go get his teeth fitted. (picked that up wrong 🤷‍♀️)

We finally get to see what Don's like (beyond the lil kitty remark), and... dude's high-key an adorable space cadet? He looks like a scummy zombie, but like... he's endearing. And I guess his story about Snuffy did enough to get Barou to come around, because we've now got the full Ubers backstory, not to mention a reveal of how that goal happened.

An ode to Snuffy: guy genuinely seems like an amazing mentor to these players. He's blowing Noa, Prince and Lavinho out of the water as coaches. My tierlist now stands at Snuffy -> Prince -> Noa -> Lavinho in terms of how useful they're proving to their proteges.

That goal was really cool, with the teamwork of Ubers making it possible. We see how Isagi pieces together what's happening (man's COOKING) but not quick enough to prevent Barou scoring. I love how they're leaning into the hunter/prey thing with Barou. He's such a hype player, and I think this match is going to cement him as one of the highest threats among the BL players. His talent's never been in doubt, more so his ability to play with others. In the U-20 arc, he was pivotal, but only as a joker/wild card substitution. Here in NEL, he's got a whole team backing him to score. Having seen the resolution of how that goal took place, I can see how Ubers whupped Barcha. Lavinho definitely doesn't foster teamwork in a way necessary to combat Snuffy's side.

The question is - will BM be able to take them on, with their egoist, teammate-devouring-teammates playstyle?

Logically, I'd say no. But I think there's a reckoning coming for Kaiser, through Ness. They've shown how bestboi Hiori is analysing the plays , and we all know he plays zombie FPS games... Man's about to get subbed in for a deranged Ness, and he's gonna headshot Lorenzo. If Isagi loses Ness to gain another ally in Hiori, I think we're about to see a whole suite of chemical reactions unlocked, including an upgrade to Planet Hotline. Here's hoping!

#bllk chp 216 #text post #blue lock spoilers #marc snuffy #don lorenzo #hiori yo #mine #bllk #bllk manga spoilers #bllk manga #baro shoei #bllk analysis #boinin talks bllk #blue lock

[flowercrowns-n-punks]

Understudy Hermie au! Im so smart for this au name lol/silly

Inspired by @oakay post on scam making a new hermie anyways.

Tagging moots who shown interest lol you my little taglist for this xD: @locke-n-k3y & @justablah56

Based round spoilers of the new episode

This is an au where Scam makes a new hermie using what he knows of hermie's memories, but also its hard to make this one the same so there is differences

Compared to who once was Hermie a forgotten joke,method actor ,dc villian lover, sly,coy even will go into things for the long haul [aka how long it took to get the mascot cotsume]

This one. A lively jokester on more so silly pranks and giggly lively , whose a musical nerd through and through , wild, maybe a bit reckless, not as into dc as og hermie. Constantly doing things to get himself seen instead of letting himself fall invisible.

How Herm was made has vague memories of the first one , or longing emotions the linger and remain in the concept that was built there.

Meet Understudy/ Not Hermie!! Or well just Herm.

He's not burnt, instead of joker makeup has a card theme & heart cheeks , hair swap on which side is short n long.

Different pattern sweater vest, round glasses instead of rectangular, a bowtie!

But!!

Imagine having vague skewed memories of a friend group you were "with" for so "long" and you got "badly injured" so you "were told" to stay in the goof realm til you were "better" and you're friends will come and "visit" again.

Only when scam is surprise they are back here and herm so excited to see them again cause he was remembered![bits of old hermie not wanting to be forgotten due to being constantly forgotten]

Only to be met with horrified or disgusted looks telling you that you're not real and not hermie.

[JUST LIKE HERMIE DEEP SEEDED IDENITY ISSUES!!]

Even when the teens nickname him cause calling him hermie is weird , even trying to connect with this strange "imposter" the more differences show.

Like sharing theatre love but this hermie loves musicals more

Dc villians? Doesnt method act nor very into them but loves the riddler alot!

Maybe it wont be so bad with this odd not hermie? Its not the same it never will be , the teens use a certain deck to bring the first hermie back.

Now with the fear of being abandon and replace and the og hermie facing what was to be his understudy.

And honestly i look forward sharing this silly au of coping i have so much planned n moreee

#dino stuff #dino rambles #dndads #dungeons and daddies #dino's art #dndaddies #art #fanart #hermie unworthy #dndads hermie #hermie the unworthy #dndads spoilers #dndads au #lol i apologize for my ramblings locke n aether xD #this is how i cope/silly #Understudy Hermie au #Understudy Au #dnddads Understudy au

[seventhstar]

percolating some wild identity porn akira/ryuji thoughts tonight. persona 5 (royal?) spoilers below the cut

ok so aged-up identity porn where akira and ryuji are part of separate and rival phantom thief groups--i'm thinking that maybe akira and ryuji never met on their first day at shujin and therefore awakened to their personas separately?

akira and futaba are one group, the remaining thieves (minus akechi) are in the other

however akira and ryuji are dating irl. however neither of them know that the other is a phantom thief

this is good for two reasons

one, bc i think it would be really funny if ryuji, like, irrationally hated joker who he had never met and only seen from afar, for the good reason of "joker might be the mental shutdown guy" and the less good reason of "joker is hot and i don't like it"

yes i do think at one point one of his teammates is like "hey doesn't joker look kinda like akira" to fuck with ryuji and yes ryuji does lose his mind. they're nothing alike! akira is nice!

meanwhile akira is prowling mementos with a knife, a gun, and 0 chill

and then he and joker actually meet, and ryuji hates him even more bc joker is even hotter!!! irl. meanwhile akira clocks skull=ryuji immediately and has to decide whether to be a good boyfriend and confess all or be a terrible boyfriend and hit on skull until he notices

alternatively, you know how the nijima palace ends with the gang enacting a complex plot to fake akira's death? okay that but since akira's operating without an entire team, it goes a lot worse.

so ryuji experiences the one two gut punch of 1. getting a call that his boyfriend is dead 2. discovering the weird government entity that informed him of this refuses to release his body or provide any information 3. waking up in the dead of night to find a very alive akira stumbling into the apartment beat to shit 4. experiencing both intense relief and intense rage at the same time as a still-drugged and bleeding akira confesses all

#persona 5 #pegoryu

[brights-place]

★ 𝐉𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐫 ★

Playing cards game without the joker is not possible for the games mentioned below. Jokers play an essential role in these games and aid the players in reaching the game's objective. Take a look at some of the popular games that can't do without the joker card each game a joker is in there will always be an Objective

Poker In poker, jokers are referred to as wild cards or a pair of jacks. The deck of cards used to play poker contains two extra jokers that feature the character of a clown or court jester; these are the wild cards. When a player draws a joker, they can use it to substitute any card of their choice. While wild cards are commonly used in online poker games and home games, they aren't generally used in poker tournaments and poker games in casinos.

Euchre Euchre is a trick-taking card game where the joker was invented while playing cards. In the Euchre game, the joker holds the reputation of the highest trump (the right bower). The left bower is the Jack trump suit.

Canasta In Canasta, the joker plays the role of a wild card along with the deuce. However, there's a slight difference between the joker and the deuce within the game. While the joker carries 50 points when used in a meld, the deuce carries only 20 points when used in a meld. Clearly, the joker has more significance here than the deuce.

Pitch Pitch is a card game with many variations. The role of the joker in pitch depends on the variation. For instance, in some variations, the joker is used as a point card, while in others, the value of the joker depends on whether it is a high point card or a low point card.

Mighty Joker plays a considerable role in the mighty card game too. It is the second most powerful card in the game. However, players cannot use the card in the first or last trick while playing mighty.

War

The war card game has several variations where the joker is more valuable than any other card.

Crazy Eights

The role of the joker in the crazy eights card game is unique. The card holds great significance in the game as a player can use it to force the next player to skip their turn.

Chase the Joker A modification of the old maid card game, chase the joker, is an exciting game, and so is the role of the joker in it. While Ace is one of the essential cards in games like rummy and poker, this game uses joker as a replacement for Ace.

Go Fish Go fish is a two-player card game that uses a joker to avoid the situation of a tie of 13-13 pairs

Jokers are powerful but people cast them aside thinking that it wasn't part of the main 52 Deck that is a lie the joker is one of the keys to understand this crucial world that's why the Joker was kept hidden never seen in a game in Borderland The card contained a power in all 4 Suites.

- Diamond ( Intelligence ) - Heart ( Betrayal ) - Spade ( Physical Work ) - Club ( Team Work )

The joker adds a fun element to different card games as it is used as the highest-value card in some games and can substitute valuable cards in other games. It is a double-edged sword, but if used correctly, the joker card can be the sole reason behind you winning the game. The way you get to the main objective and find the answers are from the Joker.

The Person Who rules the wild card the J O K E R card itself is the one and only Y/N Quinzel the Jester who holds the Joker in her palms.

Yet THEY Don't need to know that at all...

The Story will contain the following items

- Spoilers Of Alice in Borderland S1 & S2

- Violence

- Gore Lots and LOTS of GORE

- Psychotic behavior

- Weapons

- Manipulation

- Life and Death Situations

- Swearing

- Drugs

- Sex 💀

- Traumatic Shit

- Angst Full on Angst

- Some Bits of fluff

- Murder

- Lots of Crimes

- Alchol Usage

- R@p3

- A SmartAss who is like a cat ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

- Cannibalism

If you do not feel comfortable a it's those items I advise you not to continue! Also please vote and comment I like reading everybody comments also English is not my first language so please tell me if my sentence aren't good. Other than that welcome all to the wonderful story The JOKER

#alice in borderland #shuntaro chishiya #hikari kuina #rizuna ann #kuina x ann #chishiya x reader #chishiya x you #chishiya x yn #chishiya x y/n #chishiya fanfic #chishiya fanfiction #chishiya imagines #alice in borderland imagines #alice in borderland fanfic #alice in borderland x reader insert #aib #aib imagines #aib fanfic #aib fanfiction #aib x reeader insert #chishiya alice in borderland #kuina alice in borderland #ann alice in borderland #chishiya aib #kuina aib #ann aib

[felixcloud6288]

Higurashi: Abducted by Demons Chapter 2

After how tense the last chapter ends, we need to get back to lighthearted hijinks. Cue the titties.

And I'm absolutely certain the girls were plotting to get Keiichi in that outfit from the start.

I get why Rena had a moment here. It was genuinely cute.

If anyone's interested in the game they played, Rich Man Poor Man or Daifugō can be played with a standard French Deck. You use the standard 52 cards and a joker. It's best played with 3 - 5 people.

You deal the cards evenly to all players. Whoever goes first can play one of six starting sets: one card, a matching pair, a three-of-a-kind, a four-of-a-kind, a five-of-a-kind (requires the Joker), or a set of sequential cards. The Joker is a wild card and can be used in place of other cards.

Players then attempt to play the same type of set but they have to play a set with a higher rank. If you either cannot play anything better or don't want to, you can pass your turn. Once all players either cannot play anything or don't want to play anything, the round is over and whoever played cards last gets to play a new starting set.

The winner is whoever empties their hand first while the loser is whoever is last to do so.

Extra note: Card ranks work like most standard card games except 2 beats an ace and 3 is the weakest rank.

This arc really pushes the Keiichi-Rena romance angle.

Keiichi and Tomitake are surprisingly good at handling guns.

It's still the first arc and the story still has to introduce everything and get us to care. So that's why Tomitake is hanging out with everyone during the Cotton-Drifting Festival. The story needs to establish who he is, his goals, his dreams, etc. so that it hits harder when he's found dead the next day. Later arcs won't need to do this since we'll already have rapport with them.

This chapter also introduces the basic premise about the bigger mystery going on. Rena mentions Oyashiro-sama, the guardian deity of Hinamizawa. Then right after, Tomitake and Takano tell Keiichi about the series of murders and deaths that have occurred and which are the crux of the whole series.

It feels kinda strange rereading the description of each incident because they're all so bare-bones, especially the one about the woman who was beat to death.

And at the end of the chapter, we meet Detective Delicious Oiishi. Notice that when he shows his badge, the actual prefecture name is hidden so the author doesn't have to bind the location of the story to anywhere real.

NIPA BEAM!!!

back

Spoiler Discussion

This arc pushing the Keiichi-Rena romance stuff is likely because it has to speedrun so much as the first arc. The tragedy at the end won't hit as hard if we don't establish how close Keiichi is with Rena.

As I mentioned, Keiichi and Tomitake are good at handling guns. Keiichi had bought a gun and would shoot things to destress and he got in trouble with the law when he intentionally hurt people with it. Meanwhile, Tomitake is a sniper.

I think the Cotton-Drifting festival serves an unintended purpose for the people of Hinamizawa. As we learn later on, everyone in the village and people who frequently visit it are infected with a localized brain parasite. While it is generally benign, the host will often suffer paranoia and hallucinations when under heavy stress. This is called Hinamizawa Syndrome. The symptoms can be reduced or even reversed when the victim has a sense of security and trust with their community.

The festival is a time when all the villagers come together to celebrate and affirm their ties to each other. Throughout the chapter, Keiichi is actually experiencing just that. He's been stressing out because of what he's learned, but spending time at the festival with his friends relieves that stress for him.

Meanwhile two of the previous incidents were caused by people suffering from Hinamizawa Syndrome who felt entirely isolated from everyone. In fact, Keiichi will develop symptoms in this arc because he believes himself isolated from the village as well.

And Rika's ominous comment is the first hint that she knows more than she appears. She knows this is the last day they'll be able to enjoy in this world.

And the message she wrote on Tomitake's shirt was "Let's do our best next time." She's probably already given up on this world and that message is meant for the next Tomitake she meets.

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#higurashi no naku koro ni reread #higurashi when they cry #higurashi no naku koro ni

[4mulaone]

one thing about me is when i miss a racing event i will go completely off grid until i can watch it in full bc being spoilered makes me insane in the membrane literally if u reveal the weather conditions i will go full joker mode so my friends umprompted have started sending me charles leclerc instagram updates with the captions scribbled out like feeding a wild fucking animal through the bars of its enclosure . real recognises real

#jealous bc ur habitat is not stable nor nutrient rich NOR populated with a plethora of highly fertile bitches bitches ? #hmm! not a problem i have per say……..