How much do you think the Signal’s debut shook the supervillains, and indeed all criminals, of Gotham? He destroyed their longstanding definition of a Gotham vigilante. All the rules went out the window. From now on, apparently anything goes.
[Early morning in a plain, modest safehouse. Jonathon Crane cracks his eyes open, yawns, slowly gets up and groggily shuffles to the kitchen/dining area, where he takes out a cup and prepares to use the coffee machine. Behind him his scientific equipment and notes are arranged neatly on the counter. A relaxed Duke is taking photos of them.]
Duke: (jovially) Good morning.
Jon: Good morning.
Jon:
Jon: Who the hell are you?!
Duke: I’m the Signal! (pats symbol proudly) The newest hero in town.
Jon: (blinks, still half-asleep) Like… the Bat-Signal?
Duke: Yeah, I’ve got this whole light theme going on.
Jon: But - it - it’s 6:30 AM.
Duke: Yep. Turns out crime doesn’t just vanish when the sun comes up, so I patrol in the daylight hours. The night shift has seven people; the day shift should have at least one, right?
Jon: But you’re a Bat! Bats don’t do that!
Duke: Actually, some species of bat, like fruit bats, are diurnal. I got precedent.
Jon, on the verge of a breakdown: Okay, okay, look. I have lost a great deal of sleep lately evading capture by the frankly ridiculous number of vigilantes active at night. You’re a teenager, a student with a very strenuous job. Surely you understand what sleep deprivation feels like.
Duke: I do.
Jon: Just please, please let me have my coffee.
[A weighted pause. Duke narrows his eyes, then softens.]
Duke: You get one cup.
Jon: Thank you.
[He makes his cup of coffee and lovingly inhales the smell. Just as he’s about to drink it, Duke bats it out of his hand like a cat. It smashes on the floor.]
Jon: YOU -
[Duke quickly cuffs him.]
Duke: Stop! Making! Trauma: The Inhalant! That’s all you have to do, man!
***
[Duke is fighting Poison Ivy in her greenhouse of killer plants.]
Duke, popping out the blades in his escrima sticks: Your vines are no match for my bat-chet blades!
Ivy: Great, another one who puns.
[She sends a new wave of vines, but he gracefully slices and weaves through them. Too gracefully. His reflexes are faster than even Batman’s. Curious as scientists are wont to be, she halts her attack, and then suddenly, silently strikes with a vine straight at the back of his head. He cannot possibly sense it coming. He ducks.]
Ivy: Wait… oh God, you can’t predict movements before they happen with crazy extreme ninja training like Black Bat, can you? I’m not fighting another Bat like that. No way.
Duke: Oh, no, no, no, don’t worry. I’m not nearly as well-trained as Black Bat. I just have superpowers.
Ivy: You what?
Duke: I’m a metahuman. I’ve got superpowers.
Ivy: But you’re a Bat! Bats don’t do that!
Duke: I get that a lot.
Ivy: Well, what superpowers?
Duke: I’m not telling you all about my powers - I’m literally fighting you - but basically I can process light differently. Part of that is seeing where it’s been, the past, and where it will be, the future. I call it ghost vision.
Ivy: How far into the past and future? Hours? Months? Years? Can you see before your birth or after your death? Can you predict other people’s deaths? Watch the rise and fall of civilizations?
Duke, whose ghost vision currently goes under a minute both ways: That’s for me to know and you to… (stares into the middle distance) I believe, never find out.
Ivy: (raises hands) I’ll go to Arkham.
***
[Duke kicks open the door to Edward Nygma's hideout.]
Duke: Give it up, Riddler, I've got a... whoa.
[He trails off as he takes the space in. There are papers - plans, to-do lists, riddles, ciphers, trap and gadget blueprints, maps and more - everywhere, in stacks, folders and scattered loose across every surface. A bin in the corner is overflowing with crumpled pages. Intricate model traps line a shelf, one fallen on the floor. One wall bears a large corkboard with green and purple strings connecting annotated pictures of the Batfamily, including a screenshot of Oracle's digital logo. Edward himself has not reacted whatsoever to Duke's entrance. He's hunched over at his desk, typing away at an expensive computer setup. On one side of him sit many energy drinks, on the other is a massive pile of empty cans. All this detail requires Duke's night vision to see, because the lights are off and the curtains are closed, the only light the computer's cold glow.]
Edward: (only briefly looking up to give him a haughty stare) Yes, yes, the Signal, I've heard. Rest assured, it will be my utmost pleasure to obliterate you in a battle of wits. I just need to finish a couple of things.
Duke: When was the last time you slept?
Edward: (slightly hysterical chuckle) Please. I have transcended my mortal weaknesses thanks to intense focus, indomitable drive and the miracle of stimulants, much as I presume you Bats do. You're in no position to lecture me on getting enough sleep. I mean, you're late, so you're clearly not on top of things.
Duke: What?
Edward: You're meant to be a daytime hero. It's a little late for that, isn't it?
Duke: (concerned) It's 8:00 AM.
[Edward blinks and looks at the clock on his screen. He frowns. He stands up, strides over to the window and opens the curtains, flinching at the bright morning light. Duke notices that he has deep bags under his eyes and looks even more tired than Jon did, but his movements are as energetic as ever. He stretches and winces from back ache.]
Edward: Ah. So it is. ...What day is it?
Duke: (more concerned) Monday?
Edward: Monday?!
Duke: Okay, you've clearly been in the zone for a while. And I know being autistic can make it hard to recognize and interpret your body's messages. When was the last time you ate?
Edward: None of your business. I'm perfect condition.
[He picks up another can. Duke punctures it with a batarang. Edward scoffs and throws it down in indignation.]
Duke: I don't think you should have any more of those. (scans the rooms with X-ray vision) Oh my God, there's no food in here. Did you forget to buy it? Listen, if you come quietly, I'll get you a full breakfast on the way to Arkham.
[Edward is distracted, rummaging through his rooms in search of food.]
Edward: Of course I have food, Duke. It's right... it's somewhere around... (finds the fallen model) oh, I was looking for this!
Duke: No, with my powers I - you know my identity?
Edward: (still distracted, talking increasingly fast) What, like it's hard? I know everyone's except Oracle and the Red Hood. If Jason had survived, he'd be a perfect fit, but he's dead. Now, true, Stephanie is still alive when I distinctly remember visiting her grave, but those are completely different situations. There was a motive to fake her death, to escape the criminal overlords she'd angered with that gang war; I cannot find any such benefit from Jason's faked death and relocation. Stephanie was gone for, like, a year. Jason has yet to return after most of a decade. Even -
Duke: You visited Steph's grave?
Edward: She was a brilliant adversary, I had to pay my respects. Anyway, even if Jason's death was somehow inexplicably faked, he wouldn't have chosen to live only as the Red Hood. Especially who the Red Hood was at first. That would mean sacrificing his close familial relationships and becoming his beloved father and brother's enemy. And why would he ever be a crime lord? It's a radical betrayal of all his values, and based on his backstory, he should resent organized crime. And Batman would never fight his own child. None of it makes any sense! But I can't figure out what else could work. Is he really just a random person the Bats took in in adulthood? So that's been weighing on me. And also -
[He trips over a folder and, weak and lightheaded, crashes to the floor. He's so exhausted that merely lying on a flat surface has him sleeping soundly in an instant, resting his head on a stack of paper. Duke stares at him incredulously.]
Duke: I'm buying you breakfast.
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so i’ve been posting a lot lately about paper girls (2022) and it just occurred to me that not everyone actually knows or has watched the show.
SO LET ME AMEND THAT!
paper girls is a 2022 (unfortunately) limited series on prime video featuring four 12 year-old paper girls from small-town ohio who get caught up in a time-spanning war between two rival factions. during this time-travelling journey, they each encounter versions of their future selves in various ways, learning how their lives have gone as they attempt to reckon with who they currently are, who they’ll grow up to be, and how — maybe — they can change that trajectory.
between moments of intense action and lighthearted comedy, the show really shines with its character moments. this is ultimately a coming of age story about erin tieng, tiffany quilkin, kj brandman, and mackenzie “mac” coyle. these four girls each have their own problems to grapple with, and each of them get some really stellar payoff in the series’ first (and only 😭) season, along with some truly and honestly heartwarming or rib-tickling moments of bonding between the group and various pairings within the group.
think stranger things but with a main cast of girls instead of boys and time travel instead of interdimensional monsters. also better, because the show takes the plights of its young protagonists seriously. the 80’s aren’t glorified, the girls face period-appropriate bigotry (while not in abundance, though, thank god), but their futures aren’t always sunshine and rainbows either. they have troubles and feelings that the narrative focuses on and gives proper space for instead of simply sidelining them for the plot, and there’s about an apparent growth over the season but an experience that makes the girls more nuanced and complex fairly immediately than most kid protagonists. god, i seriously can’t get over how good this show is !!
anyways, everyone needs to watch paper girls. amazon unfortunately didn’t renew it, and while legendary is still shopping it around, there’s unfortunately little hope for a continuation (even if it would really only need one season to wrap the story up, if that’s what it needs). that all said, it’s well well worth the investment and an excellent alternative to some other tired series, especially with the strength of its main cast.
I IMPLORE YALL WATCH PAPER GIRLS 😭😭😭
edit: yes there is a gay character who has one of the best on-screen arcs of coming to terms with her own sexuality and an especially beautiful and touching scene of affirmation from a future person. i won’t spoil who it is or what the scene entails but it’s seriously just. so touching and so affirming and beautiful
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