#batman is so shape and i fucking love it
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This joke came to me in a fit of laughter (ALT description provided :3!)
#superman#batman#the flash#flash#wally west#bruce wayne#clark kent#justice leauge unlimited#justice league#abruptly I was hit with this joke when I made one abt myself being always 2 seconds away from crying and realised it worked oh so well#i had so much fun drawing this#esp bc i was really trying to find a good medium between my style and the jlu style#super blocky but also a bit more realistic than jlu#batman is so shape and i fucking love it#literally i just drew his outline i didn't even bother with the rest of it#gremlin fucking creature. man who is just an object#this is my first time ever doing like an actual attempt at dc-#homegrown art
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my favourite creature
#man i see this panel EVERYWHWRE i got so insanely happy that i actually got to see in while i was reading batgirl#i love it when batgirl or Batman are just like shapes and they really are just some fuckin creature so weird and ominous#i love it#batgirl (2000)#batgirl (2000) 59#may i say though i fucking hate tim in fresh blood#batman#batgirl#cassandra cain#cass cain#cassandra wayne#dc#fresh blood#laz.exe
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comics are in and of itself, an unreliable narrator.
i say this because i started my comic journey with jason todd. i read all his robin appearances, pre and post crisis, then read hush and under the red hood, and all i could think about was what the fuck. what the fuck batman. how did you become this. what happened between 1988 and 2006. how did the the man who's life revolved around caring for this child, teaching this child, learning from this child, protecting this child, losing this child — become hurting him.
it was so baffling to me i found myself slipping into the batman shaped void that many never return from (lol). and so now, i have read over 1500 batman comics, over 300 different writers, spanning over 80 years of publication. i finally get to what happened between 1988 and 2006, and how batman as a character has become as unrecognisable as he has remained familiar. i see the events of alpod, knightfall, cataclysm, no man's land, the 200 individual batman issues and 200 individual detective comics issues alone that had passed, not taking into account the the other long runs, mini runs, short stories or collaborative comics that were released in those 18 years. the people he had met, lost, been betrayed by, abandoned in those stories.
it has only been about 5 years since jason todd died for bruce wayne. 5 years that have felt like two decades.
it has only been around 4 years for jason since he climbed his way out of his grave. 4 years that felt like less than three.
so when reading as jason, i felt betrayed. how could batman do this? how can't he see? he knows how i would have mourned him, he knows how fiercely i love him, how all i want is for him to prove he ever loved me the same way. how can he not change after all these years? how is he not aware that he is not the change gotham needs? (how does he not see that he is what i need — needed.) how will he save gotham? he can't. he can't save gotham. he can't save me. but i can. i can fix it.
then i read as bruce and i am betrayed. who is this? why does he doubt how much i loved him? what changed? why did he change? (am i the one who changed? no, surely not.) after everything, the people i have hurt, the people i have lost, the people i have sacrificed for gotham, how can he doubt? he would have never asked me to do this before, he understood, i'm sure he did, before. i won't choose. i can't choose. where is my son. where am i. i can't save gotham. i can't save you. but i can fix it. i can fix you.
they're both wrong.
#the next step after realising your fav character is an unreliable narrator#is admitting you are too#bruce wayne#jason todd#saki comic talks
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DP x DC Prompt: The Watchlist
Batman has a watchlist. A list that contains every individual who could become a rouge and a contingency plan for if they did.
And while they, his children, often make fun of his paranoia and him for having it, they totally understand why he did. They lived in Gotham, for Christ's sake. Where everyone’s just a pin drop away from being the city’s next big villain, forcing the bats to scratch their heads while playing cat and mouse with a sicko for a good few weeks. And while they won’t admit it, the list has helped them a few times.
But that won’t stop them from making fun of any of the list’s new developments. Because you see, there was a new list. And it wasn’t just a watchlist. No, no, no. It was The Watchlist.
It was a new development after he and Robin went on an out-of-state mission to investigate some town in bum fuck nowhere Illinois. And it was under some pretty tight security as well, so they were expecting something good, like mad scientists or evil mayors. Not profiles of the kids who lived in the town. And while there were a few metas and vigilantes that made the list interesting, by the end of it all they just seemed to be teenagers.
Until they saw Damian. They hadn’t seen him since he came back from the mission with B. He looked tired. Like ‘Tim hasn’t slept in a week and is surviving on just coffee beans’ tired.
“Ah, I see you all have found it. Good. A few of them will be arriving next week as they’re a part of Gotham Academy’s student exchange program. At least three of them will be staying in the manor with us. Father will need you all to be on standby and to be ready for any possible scenario. Please, for the love of all that is good, do not encourage them in any way, shape, or form. And please do not dismiss them either. The outcome of doing that will be much worse. Is there more that I should add? Yes. Will I? No, because you won’t understand. Not until you've seen what I have.”
The demon child sighed, then looked them dead in the eyes. “Godspeed to us all.” Then walked away.
Okay, they were scared now.
#dp x dc crossover#dcxdp#dp x dc prompt#dp dc crossover#dpxdc#dc x dp#dp x dc#Batman and Robin went to Amity Park to investigate two mad scientists who were dealing with Lazuars waters#and instead#witness teenagers dealing with The Horrors (tm) like it was an everyday thing#because for them it is#Bruce KNOWS that the moment any of these kids crack its the end of the world as they know it#i like to think that all the kids are liminals and have powers but some aren't out about it as others#Danny knows that there's an outside entity in Amity but they don't seem hostile#protective even#so he leaves them be#i'm honestly not too sure what the profiles would look like#but i do know that they would look pretty normal until you either read into them too much#or was there to witness the shit he has witness#he's scared of those kids#but also want to protect/save them#cause the GIW still exist#and while not bad parents Fentons they aren't really good either#none of the parents are tbh
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Something I've seen in fics a few times but not for comedic effect is the idea that Constantine selling his soul so many times makes him look/feel Wrong to ghosts.
Like I love various Danny ghost shenanigans giving Constantine a heart attack in stories but just imagine that Constantine is like deeply, deeply unsettling for Ghosts & Liminals to be around.
To the point of whenever he and Danny meet for the first time at the Watchtower after Danny's joined the League, Constantine just walks in and upon turning to look at who just walked in Danny just shrieks like a small child and throws a chair at him out of reflex, diving behind Captain Marvel to use him as a magical human meat shield while screeching "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT???! WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" At the top of his lungs and doesn't stop until Batman makes Constantine leave.
Even after Zantanna explains Constantine's whole deal and Danny explains to the Justice League how totally fucked up that looks/feels like to him ("Dude, Ghosts are their core, for us you see that before you see the shape of whoever you're talking to. Like, imagine someone walks up to you with a face that looks like it's made out of a shattered plate and the pieces are bleeding"
Or like, imagine instead it's a thing were Jason and Jazz are dating and Jazz, Danny & Elle are invited over for a nice meet the family brunch - "Brunch is fun and casual!" Dick insisted, "Way less intimidating than if we had them over for dinner!") and Constantine pops in to talk to Bruce about a case.
And the second he walks into the room all three just shriek like they're from an episode of Scooby Doo.
Elle takes one look at Constantine and just nopes out of there so hard she doesn't even gk intangible as she throws herself out the window and starts flying for the hills. Danny screeches like a cat whose tail has been stepped on and jumps onto the ceiling and scrambles away. Jazz screams like a house wife from an old Looney Tunes cartoon and starts climbing Jason like a tree - which is a bit of a problem since she's half a foot taller than Jay and throwing his center of balance off a bit and now half of the plates are smashed on the floor.
Jason doesn't even notice though because he also is losing his shit over what the fuck that thing is and unlike Elle is far more interested in Fight rather than Flight and pulls out a gun - "Why'd you bring a gun to brunch?! Guns aren't fun or casual!" - and just starts unloading on Constantine (who is very lucky Jason has switched to non lethal rounds and that he's quick enough with his spells to largely keep most of the rubber bullets from hitting him) also while screaming at the top of his lungs.
And well, turns out Jason's new girlfriend is the older sister of that ghost hero the League's been looking to recruit and Bruce is gonna take advantage of that - Phantom has been hard to pin down, which is fair, bad history with government agencies trying to kill him and all - to talk to him about a place with JL, though first he's going to have to get him down from the ceiling and that'd be a lot easier if Constantine would just leave already, they are supposed to be having a family brunch this is his one day off!
(Elle screams her all the way to Metropolis and doesn't stop until she nearly knocks Superman out of the sky. He isn’t really sure what's going on, but he does manage to calm her down and takes her to go get some ice cream. When he pitches joining JL she tells him that she thinks he's kinda lame but that Superboy is cool so she's down. It's...honestly kinda devastating but Clark manages to get through it.
A note gets made when the two ghost heroes officially join the League that partnerships with Constantine should be kept at an absolute minimum.)
And lol yeah, just, Constantine being utterly terrifying to Danny and the Pham
#dc x dp#dp x dc#batman#danny phantom#justice league#danny fenton#danielle phantom#dani phantom#danielle fenton#jazz fenton#jason todd#john constantine#anger management#Constantine thinks it's kinda funny#once they get to the point that no one instinctively tries to kill him on aight anymore#he likes to sneak up on Danny just to make him jump through the ceiling#batman made him stop after Danny activated his Wail while screaming for half a second & nearly shattered all the windows in the Watchtower#Danny gets all of Constantine's soul contracts just to make John stop looking like that#Constantine immediately took the blank slate and started his favorite hustle again
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🌿🍁🍃
📢HELLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOO TUMBLR IT IS I-- ['oh g0d who the FUCK are you' I hear you thinkin'] *crawls out of shallow grave* I KNOW I KNOW- I dropped off the face of the Earth for a while long story, ya don't have time for allat'--
*AHEM*
Point issss I need to stop hoarding my work and maybe kinda sorta uhhh idk- POST IT more so that's what I'm gonna doo from here on out lest god smite me down.
So quite a while agooo I think someone posted my old Ivy design on here and well I updated her recently along with developing my other designs for the rogues in a little project I'm callin' 😵Spiral😵.
It's just gonna be my own set of designs for the Batman universe with some little tidbits of lore and all that jazz, im not a writer so I can't promise anything 💥GROUNDBREAKING💥but if ya follow me yer here for the funky fresh shapes and colours anywayy.
I'll happily talk about the designs and any other things yer interested in so don't be shy step right up, im gonna try and chit chat with yall and the DC/Rogues community more on here cause I do love ya MWAH💋
#is this where i put the tags#ahh yeahh yeah it is#okk#poison ivy#poison ivy design#gotham city sirens#batman#poison ivy dc#pamela isley#head empty#no tag ideas#uhhh#OOHHH#almost forgot#eedaeths scribbles#DC Spiral designs
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The 2022 Miss Universe pageant was last night!
Which means: the National Costumes are here.
Yes, there is video. It’s worth watching if you want to see how some of these look in motion, but I’m warning you in advance that the emcees keep doing these shitty little rhyming couplets, and they will make you want to strangle them with one of the many available voluminous gown trains. So I’m suffering on your behalf, and liveblogging.
First up: Albania.
Sparkly flag-inspired bodysuit with train is the voting “present” of the Miss Universe National Costume Competition.
Angola. She did a fun dance on her way to center stage, which would probably not have been possible in her original costume, which was “tree-inspired” and too big to ship to New Orleans.
Argentina. This is where the video does come in handy, because without it I would not be able to award her First Contestant To Visibly Struggle Under The Weight Of Her Outfit. It’s a waterfall. The rainbow crotch area was certainly a design choice.
Armenia. I would like to see what’s going on with the bodice behind the... shield thing? but she never put it down.
Also, it turns out that when one contestant has a costume dedicated to solemn remembrance of the Armenian genocide, and the contestant immediately after her has a costume that’s about beach parties, there is kind of an uncomfortably abrupt tonal shift that happens onstage.
Aruba. Like I said: weird tonal shift! She did a little shimmy dance at Miss Armenia as they passed each other and it was clearly awkward for both of them. This is made of recycled materials leftover from Carnival, which is cool? I guess?
Australia. This is a prom dress. Boo.
Bahrain. A rare pants look! There’s a lot of detail in the headdress and bodice that’s kind of getting lost, but it looks cool in motion. Also the theme is apparently “Bahrain is rich as fuck,” so congrats I guess?
Belgium. Okay so the theme of this costume, my hand to g-d, is “the window on the International Space Station that Belgium built.” Why does this requires a shit-ton of leftover Christmas tinsel and some very awkward-to-wear angel wings? I do not know.
Belize. This is fun! It’s a good “lesser-known Batman villainess” kind of look. Like if Ivy and Catwoman co-mentored someone. The actual theme is “the world’s only jaguar reserve, which is in Belize,” but I think it’s also kind of implying that she might be a were-jaguar. Which, again, is fun!
Bhutan. This goes in the “just an actual regional/folk costume” category, which is also kind of like voting Present, but it looks like the fabrics are nice.
Bolivia. She has an entire Andean condor on her head so I’m already on board. This photo only shows the cloak, which is covered in silver spangles in honor of Bolivia’s silver mines, and is also why her condor is perched on a miner’s helmet. The dress underneath is entirely made of swags of sparkly gold beads, so the visual effect is actually pretty nice in motion.
Brazil. The construction details on this are actually quite lovely! Lots of intricate beading and rhinestone work. Unfortunately that doesn’t convey well at any distance, and also that white fin peplum thing flaps around really awkwardly when she walks. Oh, wait, she can flip it up to be a clamshell thing behind her head!
That looks much better.
British Virgin Islands. First giant flower of the year!
Bulgaria. Apparently this is made of neoprene? So with that and the rainbow stripes, the effect ends up being kind of “what if Midsommar, but at a rave.”
Cambodia. It feels weird to say “yep, standard Miss Universe warrior goddess costume” but basically that’s what this is. I do like the green-and-gold color palette, though.
Cameroon. “The baskets represent the nation’s agricultural movement.” Okay! I like how it’s giving “Valkyrie, but make it Global South,” though I’m not sure three entire country-shaped cutouts were necessary.
Canada. Another fine Miss Universe tradition: contestant who knows how to dance en pointe so she’s going to goddamn wear a costume that goes with pointe shoes, Or Else. Some nice beadwork! I would let her be the third, secret red swan in Swan Lake if that were a thing.
Cayman Islands. Sexy Blue Iguana is a fun concept! There’s a tail in back of the cape.
Chile. Sexy Atacama Desert is kind of abstract, as these things go, but I respect her choice to wear something she could walk in.
China. Hilariously, the announcer was like “This look... does not match the bio we were given, so I’m gonna wing it!” The fabrics are nice -- the satin drapes and moves well -- but the embellishments are kind of meh compared to some of the Miss China looks I’ve seen.
Colombia. This is a legit great Sexy Phoenix, but I need you all to know that her crown got turned a little sideways while she walked to the stage and she clearly knew it and just as clearly could do nothing about it, and I feel bad for laughing but it was funny.
Costa Rica. Sexy hummingbird! I think I’ve identified a recurring theme for this year. Corset and wings are made of recycled materials, which is nice, and they look well-made -- a lot of wing-based costumes tend to flop around or go crooked in motion, but not these.
Croatia. Oh, honey. This has big “my mom helped me make this the night before it was due” energy, unfortunately.
Curacao. “Meet the Fisherman’s Wife, a woman with a key role in Curacao’s fishing industry.” Okay? Honestly you could have left off the basket and said “this costume represents the beautiful marine life of Curacao” and I would have been like “yep, checks out” but now I have many follow-up questions.
Czech Republic. This is meant to be a Mucha-inspired look but uh. Mostly it’s just. beige. I’m starting to feel like all the other Slavic countries saw advance photos of Miss Ukraine and were like “let’s just phone it in this year, girls, there’s no point.”
Dominican Republic. “This costume recognizes the importance of birds in Dominican culture.” They did make it with silk feathers, which I appreciate, because it would have been very weird to use real ones with that mission statement. Also I like her headdress, and the giant feather fans are a good way to nod in the direction of wings without the hassle of actually wearing wings.
Ecuador. This looks good in motion! She did some dancing onstage that worked well, and there’s a great sculpted Inca head scowling on the back of her headdress. This is still only a few notches above voting Present, though.
El Salvador. “History of Currency,” which is definitely a concept! The Bitcoin wizard staff is sure something.
Equatorial Guinea. A perfectly nice entry in the “actual regional costume” category, but on the video I was like “oh, yikes, her headdress is really wobbly” and then it FELL OFF and I felt so bad for her.
Finland. “Spirit of the Forest”? Fuck off, that’s a prom dress. Boo.
I’m going to pause here so this readmore doesn’t get completely out of control. Shit, there are 50 more of these? Well, I have only myself to blame.
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But like the ship trope where PERSON A looks like a childish brat on the outside but is actually the stable, mature one in the relationship
while PERSON B is the opposite wherein they’re super stoic, cool-headed but is actually super petty and aggressive at times.
tw/cw: soft yandere themes, seggs but not explicit
😤🫸🏽🫷🏽
That but with Villain and/or Vigilante! Reader and Yandere! Damian.
I’ve seen this a lot in Damian Wayne works so credits go to those amazing writers that inspired me to have my own take on this!! A lot of this is just a rehash/amalgamation of what people have already written but with some of my input and thoughts…lots and lots of thoughts.
Anyways, you seem like the type of person to ruin another’s life for the sake of it. Just your wicked whims. You’re notorious for stealing massive amounts of properties or (in case of Vigilante) beat if not kill people who you deem unredeemable.
MINORS/AGELESS BLOGS DONT GO BEYOND THIS POINT
VER I : I’m thinking second gen Catwoman/Batman + CatNoir/Ladybug (both the OG anime concept and the series) dynamic, just gn reader.
You’re always clinging unto to Robin/New Batman. Saying sweet nothings and flirting with him, if not full on making out/having sex with the vigilante. You like the dude, really. But your heart remains with Damian Wayne. Robin/Batman just really reminded you of him sometimes.
Hatefucking. Hatefucking happens a lot. Robin/Batman loves pinning you to the walls/floors of alleyways before you two get down and dirty.
Whereas, people (namely his fellow vigilantes) think he’s done with you, but he’s probably the biggest [Villain Name] fanboy out there.
He knows basically everything about you except your true identity. Which is somehow completely inaccessible to him.
Little does he know that it was actually his own doing, locking your civilian self’s private information as a favor between friends.
But because of this he misunderstands and thinks you’re even more of a genius or something because you managed to outwit him!! You!! Are!! So!! Damn!! Amazing!!
Damian acts cold with everybody. He’s a brooding guy. He doesn’t express much. Only about 1% of what he’s feeling actually gets put into action and/or words.
So the fact that he insists on taking on missions where he has to face you, assists you if you aren’t harming anyone, or actually indulges in your flirtation is a big thing.
So it’s safe to say when he found out you liked someone else other than him, that you were just using him to get yourself to feel better about not having said dude he gets petty.
You two used to have this pact, to never interfere with each other’s civilian lives and to respect your secret identities (of which he’s tried to breach remotely several times). But all that goes up in flames as he stalks you after a heist. Following you home.
He finds out about your secret identity, your ‘unrequited’ love for him, and you two begin dating. But you’re still oblivious about his other identity.
Damian kinda has a kink for it ngl. Like he’ll charm you as Robin/Batman even as you tell him you’re already dating someone else.
Like it’s so adorable how you keep resisting him, telling him how much you love his civilian counterpart.
But then he still proceeds to fuck your brains out as a Vigilante.
Man didn’t know he was into roleplaying until this moment. Like he’ll murmur stuff like “You say you love him, but nothing beats this. I’ve already carved a place inside you, Beloved. A place shaped in my image.”
Or “Where did your ‘undying love’ go, hm? Nowhere. You’re right back with me. Complete undone within moments of my touch.”
Things go a little awry though when you, ever the mature/communicative one in the relationship attempt to break up because Robin/Batman is leaving you confused as to how you truly feel. In addition to you not want to cuck your beautiful (soon to be ex) boyfriend any longer.
VER II: Is more on Vigilante x Vigilante. Similar to the one above except your relationship is a lot more professional and less hate-fuckey. You know of each other’s civilian/vigilante selves.
You’ve always admired Damian. Despite being quite close in age, you always saw him as a younger brother if not like a son almost. Witnessing him grow up and mature alongside you.
But your doting nature always came off a tad bit romantic. Flirtatious even. You tended to be a playful person after all. Hell you even call him Babe or Baby like that’s totally normal for you to call friends that.
A lot of your friends and colleagues always laugh at Damian’s expense whenever you arrive to come nag and/or flirt with him. It’s honestly hilarious. Judging from his murderous aura, people always thought that he wanted you 6 feet under.
The truth of the matter was that his glares and thoughts of murder were all directed to everyone else but you.
Damian never felt so at home and at peace with anyone or anything but his pets in life.
He’d be damned if anything happens to you.
Still, it frustrates him. He knows that you only see him as sibling almost. That you’d die for him but never date him. That despite your honeyed words he’s probably neck deep in the friendzone.
And so to the absolute surprise of everybody, he starts flirting back.
e.g. murdering those who slighted you and/or gazed upon your visage for too long, delivering their remains to your doorstep, amongst a bouquet flowers of course, and the occasional chocolates
You eventually fall in love back, though you ask him to tone it down on the violence.
- might edit more soon, but for now adios!!!
#yandere#yandere x reader#yandere imagine#yandere x you#yandere fic#yandere core#yandere robin#robin#robin x reader#yandere robin x reader#robin x you#damian#damian wayne#damian wayne x reader#yandere damian#yandere damian wayne#yandere damian wayne x reader
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damian: what did you draw
dick: a dog and he's bored.
dick: what did you draw?
damian: a stick.
dick: a stick?
damian: a stick from the park WHERE YOU PROMISED TO TAKE ME TODAY
dick: name a country beginning with V :)
jason: venezuela!
tim: vinland-
dick: huh??
jason: vinland?
tim: vinland
jason: OH MY DAYS! LOW IT! DONT CHAT TO ME! YOU SAID WHAT-
tim: i said vinland...
jason: VINLAND?!
jason: YOURE ON SOME JOKE TING
tim: he said F blud!
jason: whatchu said-
dick: 'V'!
jason: V.
tim: venus!
jason and dick:
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
dick: fuck you. I HOPE YOUR WHOLE FAMILY HAS A NICE CHRISTMAS.
jason: i'm sorry, but i just cant support the existence of white people. thats not right.
damian: oh really? whats that.
tim:
jason: an exception.
damian: would you... still... love me.. if i was ga-
bruce: hm? if what?
damian: no that was the question-
dick: what did you get tim for his birthday?
jason: i got him a kitten.
dick: really?! me too!
stephanie: i also got him a cat!
duke: looks like we had the same idea!
jason: duke, please... tell me you didnt get tim a cat as well..
bruce: i got him... a kitten.
tim with the 5 cats around his room: THIS IS THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER
dick: i'm also dressed, and- i made BREAKFAST.
dick: wait, where are my eggs-
damian: in my belly.
tim: why do you have a jojo siwa backpack?
damian: why are you such a fucking bitch.
tim: jesus fuck...
criminal running away from batman:
tim: look at this guy runnin.
tim: tf you runnin for?
tim: somebody chasin' u or something??
tim: ...
tim: OH FUCK WE CHASIN HIM-
damian: sis is this you right here in this alley?
jason: sister if you see a bitch in the alleyway with a dome-shaped red helmet over his head that is NOT me. GO. THE. OTHER. WAY.
joker as red hood:
damian: who is thissss-
dick: those are my favorite roast potatoes :)
jason: ill have you know...
jason: dick grayson.
jason: that those are actually MY favorite roast potatoes.
jason: so ill let ya off easy this time, dick grayson.
jason: with just this lil warnin.
jason: they cant be both our favorites, now, can they?
batman: what the-
terry: im batman. i need you to come with me
batman: who the heck are you?
terry: i just told you- listen. im from the future.
batman: how dare you point at me?
terry: you were pointing first
batman: rude to point.
terry: YOU ARE BEING VERY RUDE YOURE NOT EVEN FROM-
dick: which one pointed first?
damian: batman pointed first! obviously!
terry: YOURE POINTING AT ME RIGHT NOW!
batman: youre pointing.
terry: LOOK AT YOUR FINGER. LOOK AT YOUR FINGER RIGHT NOW-
batman: its different from normal pointing.
terry: YOURE ACCUSING ME OF POINTING WHY-
jason: alr important question for our friendship. when you go to the movie theatre do you ask for extra butter or regular butter? or no butter?
dick: i put skittles. not skittles- m&ms with the popcorn
jason: alr im gonna remove richard from this call-
dick: HOLD ON PLEA-
jason: something devilish has been brewing within me for years on end that will only escape through the means of physical violence.
#damian wayne#damian al ghul#dc universe#batfam#dc robin#batman#bruce wayne#dc batman#fake quotes#dick grayson#nightwing#richard grayson#batfamily#jason todd#red hood#robin dc#tim drake#tim drake wayne#terry mcginnis#stephanie brown#dc joker#the joker#red robin
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My hot take is that the same people who call Jason copaganda, pr-gunviolence or etc are from the same vein as people who blame schoolshootings on videogame violence, who blamed crime on Metal and satanism.
Instead of taking a critical look at a system within which a symptom of a problem is making itself known, you look if there is an outside influence, a kind of "virus" that you can blame for making it "sick".
DC comics are a little fucked up. That's the agreement you entered when reading them. All characters are inconsistent and sometimes in the wrong. Jason is a Bat, so at least it feels like he's maybe substantial enough to blame for the whole batclans issues, in a way that Helena Bertinelli (for example) can't be, because she is less closely tied and has less appearances. Congratulations, you have an identified patient! Jason is the problem that is rippling out and causing all these nasty and unsatisfied feelings the readers have about how crime is handled in these comics.
We see crime being fought in imperfect ways and our current cultural consciousness goes off with warning bells to identify the problem. But what you were taught was to identify what outside influence happens to be present and connecting the issue, and how to justify that all evil stems from this malignant influence. So surely if we could just remove this bad thing, we could go back to the wonderful world we knew where everything was ok.
That world never existed. The thing we are nostalgic for, is the world before we became aware of it's flaws. The problem has always been there, has always been an integrated part of this whole you used to love and admire.
But because the kind of people blaming Jason for "copaganda" do genuinely and truly come from a good place of wanting social justice (I'm saying you are good people. I disagree and think you are making a logical error, but we do care about and want the same thing. Good People) because you come here with the right intentions, you use the buzzwords of copaganda. Or gunviolence. You know from what you have heard that the issue is systematic, but you are struggling to find what that system equivalent is in DC comics. You are falling victim to the fallacy of assuming a main narrative perspective. Just as irl cops are hard to identify as the problem bc you might have to first struggle through the cognitive dissonance that your old worldview of good cops was wrong (so so wrong), you experience cognitive dissonance if trying to read comics with someone like Batman being wrong and flawed.
Looking beyond any superficial similarities to cops Jason is called out for (uses a gun, kills, enforcing his vision of justice) he really doesn't have much more similarities. He isn't a figure of authority, he lacks the nigh god-given justification to do whatever he wants whatever the outcome and is questioned at every turn. Just the sheer instances of Batman or another Bat showing up to beat Jason up and lecture him on what he does.
Extending this, he does not have the pervasive and persuasive power to shape a narrative. Jason's narrative is so far out of his hands. Which has been a core truth about him since for ever. From his maleable origin story, to his death, the years of him being gone and having No Voice Whatsoever, his resurrection in utrh showing him trying, struggling to have a voice against Bruce's story and being drowned out and denied his perspective, the inconsistency of his character after, each writer trying to shape him into something. Now cops fucking have a narrative. Their narrative is the main one we are fed. Their violence is structured and oppressive. Jason is neither a structural systemic power, nor is he oppressive of anyone. If you disagree with his violence for the sake of the moral highground of condemning killing.... Then, just, there are other media, you know.
Cop violence is systemic violence. It is violence that is "justified" to the extent it requires no justification. It is above being questioned. I am genuinely willing to hear an argument how Jason is cop-coded. But to me he is the punk resistance based "violence" that is only organized in the anarchical but organical sense of caring to protect the community that surrounds you. He doesn't approach Gotham as a paternalistic force of protection shielding it from above, but as one of them from within, showing up for the people who are suffering the way he has suffered too.
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Dick sneaks out to chase down a case about missing girls that Batman and Robin have been working on, ending up solving the case and freeing the girls by himself, while Alfred frets with worry about how Dick's putting himself in danger and throwing away his youth on this crusade and how he puts so much on his young shoulders.
And now I'm thinking about just how many times I've seen Alfred step in and steer Bruce towards a gentler demeanor when dealing with Dick's determination to go down this path's crusade. How often we talk about Bruce could not have stopped him from it, that Robin was a leash on the kid, rather than putting Dick in harm's way for his own need to fight criminals--but the same is true of Alfred. He watches that kid, he worries about him, he's afraid that Dick is throwing away the years of his youth on this fight and if he'll regret, he never relaxes because he knows Dick's two seconds away from sneaking out to go fight people grown adults who are legitimately trying to kill him.
But Alfred also sees the same thing Bruce does--that they're not going to stop someone that determined. And Alfred sees even further than Bruce does sometimes, in that Dick's desperate to prove to Bruce that he can be trusted to do this job, to justify the trust Bruce has placed in him, and that Bruce needs to gentle himself with the kid, even when he's terrified that Dick could have gotten himself hurt.
Yeah, Dick put himself in danger without Batman there to watch over him, but he did it for the same reason that Bruce started this path, too. That Bruce didn't put that spark of angry need for justice in that kid, Dick came by that all on his own, the night his parents were murdered, and neither Bruce nor Alfred were pulling him into something that he didn't want, they were instead giving him shape and form to channel that need.
Alfred has never liked this choice of theirs, to dress up in costumes and go punch criminals in the face, but he doesn't stand by out of passivity, but instead because he recognizes that Dick was going to do something and this was the best he could do to help shape the kid into something that would survive it.
Including stepping in to help him behind Bruce's back or straight up saying, "Yeah, I helped him and you are going to be gentle with him, because that kid is desperately trying to prove himself to you and you're the only stability he has and you of all people should know what he's feeling about needing to help people."
Alfred can't force either of them into a life that he would prefer for them, he can only help provide guard rails on the roads they've chosen, but what a difference that has made for them both. I love Bruce and Dick's relationship, I love it because the question of, "Where do you take a character who fights crime because of the trauma of his lost parents?" has a fascinating answer in, "You have him--step by painful step--grow into being a parent himself, learning to open himself up to being gentle with people he loves and fears losing, to learn to trust those he loves even though they might die." and, when Dick's own losses are mirrored in Bruce's, driving the parallels home even further, it's so important for Bruce to learn to be a father to this kid, as his own father figure nudges him back onto the right path.
Alfred is such an important part of that character arc for both of these characters, he is part of the thematic bridge of parents and children that runs through the Batman family of stories, and his role of guiding Bruce into being a better father--to heal from the loss of Thomas and Martha Wayne who should have been there to guide him--by telling him, in the most British gentleman way possible, to look the fuck around and see what's going through that kid.
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Shadow Damian (Reverse Robins)
Shadow starts with Damian, and I am drawing huge inspiration from his Infinite Frontier design. In particular, this absolutely gorgeous rendition by DuhDude.
(I fucking love this look)
I'm also taking inspiration from @adoptedbybruciewayne's design, which just so happens to have a very similar silhouette.
As I've said before, I'm aiming for "sleek while still somewhat disguising his body outline." The goal is to make him a harder target to pin down.
Black tunic-vest, the part below the (utility) belt shaped mostly like the green design. Keep the puffy sleeves, though they're now also black & ever so slightly translucent; the under-suit is actually very dark grey, so you still can't really see his arms, it just does weird things to the shadows.
The hood is NOT part of the tunic, it's a separate cowl like this (sized similarly to the green design), held on by a single snap so that it never chokes him or holds him back if it gets grabbed.
No bandages, but the bottom half of his forearm does have a metal cuff for protection. Black gloves under dark red fingerless gloves, and the cuffs are the same red.
There is actually a single red stripe running down each arm like a ribbon between the cuffs/gloves & his shoulders, but I feel like if anyone drew it, those would be the first detail to go. In any case, those ribbon-lines sorta pour below the curve of his collarbones to merge into a red bat in front of a gold circle. (Referencing this chart, it's probably a combination of the "Batman: Dead End" & "Batman Beyond" designs.)
(Quickly thrown together in GIMP, though the colors seem to have gotten messed up... it should be redder.)
No domino; he wears a black half-mask/mouth-guard on the lower half of his face (kinda like the "muzzle" mask Jason's been wearing in recent years), and paints the remaining visible skin with grease paint to disguise his features (think Battinson, but it's the entire upper half of his face.)
The effect being Damian's mouth, jaw & nose covered, his face cast in shadow, his skin painted black, so there's no discernible features... just these two piercing green eyes staring at you from under the hood.
The pants are well-padded (same dark grey as the undersuit), and he has extra armor on his thighs, though a lot more in-line with modern sensibilities.
(This, but black.)
I also love Damian's knee-high lace-up boots, especially how they're drawn in "Son of Batman" where they are all the way to the knee, with a very de-emphasized kneepad. Practical? Probably not, but I don't really like how the protective cap they usually put over his knees change the shape of the boots. So he gets those, but black instead of green.
(It is weirdly hard to grab a good reference image for these; they never look as good on the covers, for some reason.)
So that's my... excruciatingly detailed explanation of Damian's Shadow costume. Look forward to future breakdowns of Damian's Nightwing costume, how future Shadows evolved the look, and basically every other costume in the family.
#reverse!robins#reverse robins#reverse robins au#reverse order robins#reverse order batkids#reverse batkids#reverse batfam#reverse batfamily#damian wayne#damian al ghul#batfam#bat fam#batfamily#bat family#batkids#bat kids#batsiblings#bat siblings#shadow damian#shadow damian wayne#shadow!damian#shadow!damian wayne#mine
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Batboys x Thor!Reader
I HAVE TO I HAVE TO I HAVE TO. I just rewatched Ragnarok and I have seen a few posts speaking about Thor!Reader x the Batboys and I just had to write this. Please can people start making more headcanons and stories about this! Anyways, this is gender neutral and race neutral. I have also included some Marcel characters as well so hehehee enjoy!
Dick Grayson
First off, Dick loves your humour and how you deal with tricky situations
Like he admires how you can make lighthearted jokes as a giant dragon is trying to eat you
Which brings us to how you met
You piss off a lot of people, and this time you had happened to piss off someone with a dragon that’s trained to hunt down people
You knew you had to get off the beasts radar, so you went to the one place everyone would least expect you to be: Gotham City
Unfortunately the dragon wasn’t as dumb as you thought and followed you there, which ended with a lot of damage to Gotham’s streets, an angry dragon trying to bite your head off and an even angrier Batman
Nightwing joined the fight and just as he thought he was going to die when the dragon went for him, your hammer went straight through the beast and saved him
”Dragons have never really liked me that much”
”What?”
”Which is weird since they’re meant to be like puppies. I’m good with puppies.”
”They’re meant to be like WHAT?!”
He instantly fell in love with you. He enjoys how fearless and determined you are, even if you get beat up by a large creature occasionally.
You care about those you love and would do anything for them, something both of you share.
He understands your complicated relationship with your adopted sibling the best out of everyone you know, since it’s kinda similar to the one he used to have with Jason.
He knows your strong asf, but it never stops him from worrying about you.
He would do absolutely anything and everything for you.
He’ll never admit it but whenever you go into space and you take him with you, he gets really nauseous. Space makes him feel sick.
A lot of your enemies like to use him against you, and visa versa. It usually ends with the criminal being in critical condition in hospital after you beat the shit out of them. (Yes you beat up your own kidnappers)
Jason Todd
You were in a library cursing at the book in your hand as Jason walked past you.
He found it amusing how you were trying to be quiet as the librarian had shushed you a couple of times already, but what really prompted hi, to approach you was the fact that the book you were cursing at was a Greek mythology one.
He’s never seen anyone that worked up over a book about the Gods before.
The answer he received from you was one he was not expecting
”This goddamn book has so many inaccuracies! Thor is not the God/Goddess of Lighting, it’s Thunder you fucking idiots! They always get me confused with Zeus…”
”…What?”
When you saw his confusion, you held your hand out to greet him.
“Thor, child of Odin. And you are?”
”Uh, Jason…son of Bruce?”
He met you as Red Hood a few weeks later when Bizarro had a run in with a large green good friend of yours
“Ah! Jason! Son of Bruce.”
”I have no idea who that is.” He lied, but you could see straight through him.
You were actually able to recognize him due to some of his left arm getting exposed from having his suit torn somehow during the fight. He had a scar there that you had noticed during your first meeting. It was shaped similarly to a lightning bolt, which caught your interest.
You grew close and you both became very protective of the other
You always defend him against his family members, especially Bruce (who won’t admit it but sometimes he finds you scary)
You get along with the Outlaws very well too. You sometimes even join them on missions.
You love it when he teaches you something about plays, poetry and novels. You think it’s really cute that such a dangerous man can be so cute and romantic.
He’s definitely helped you save the world a couple of times.
Tim Drake
He met you during his Robin days
You were a friend of Kon’s, and he called in a favour when his team was failing miserably on a mission.
They were being attacked by some angry aliens who happened to be using some of their tech to mind control parts of the planet
Bart had gotten one of his legs broken pretty badly so he was out for a while, Cassie was knocked out, and Tim and Kon were barley winning their fights.
Suddenly some thunder sounded in the sky and everyone was blinded by a bright light (your thunder bolts hehehe) and the most beautiful person Tim has ever seen appeared out of nowhere from the sky and beat the function out of the remaining enemy
He’s a bat, and is very much like Bruce when it comes to being suspicious of people so he wasn’t so friendly to you in the beginning
Your first impression of Tim was that he gave zero fucks about anything. He’s pretty, but definitely doesn’t care about shit (or acts like he doesn’t)
You guys saw each other more when you helped the Titans, Justice League and even Batman out with a few missions
And also whenever Kon would invite you both out to the same places to hang out. You guys got very close over the years.
Then you guys began hanging out by yourselves in and out of uniform
You saw people while you were each other’s close friends, but you just always knew that you loved each other.
Then he became Red Robin and fell into a dark hole after Bruce’s ‘death’ and became very standoffish with you
You spent more time in space, where you made more enemies with dragons and men made of fire who like putting you in cages (Ragnarok reference hehe) and your family issues got a lot worse too
All the times you spent away from Tim (a few weeks) made you both realise that you’re in love with each other. So you returned home through Bifrost, and turned up at his nest one night when it was raining and confessed your love for him. (You were still covered in blood as you literally just came back from a fight)
You guys have always been inseparable together, but in a romantic relationship? UNSTOPPABLE.
#dick grayson x reader#dick grayson x y/n#dick grasyon#jason todd x reader#jason todd x y/n#jason todd#tim drake x reader#tim drake x y/n#tim drake#batman comics#batman#kon kent#teen titans x reader#the outlaws x reader#batfam x reader#I LOVE BATBOYS X SUPERHERO!READER SO MUCH#IM GOING TO MAKE MORE#Tim is always emo I’m sorry#I love him for it but come on#Jason simps for Shakespeare#Dick Grayson is the type to get car sick
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Sorry, Batman was just the other big Jewish superhero with lots of adaptations I knew. Have you seen enough adaptations to do The Thing? Or honestly, do Superman anyway; he fits thematically if not literally
I would LOVE to do a ranking of Clark Kents based on how Jewish they are thank you so much
Worst of the worst is Henry Cavill's Superman. This is Jesus. Fuck this Superman stop portraying him as an otherworldly savior he is of the people he is Clark Kent not just a monstrous twisted version of Kal El !!!! (Sidenote this is also the only role I have ever disliked Amy Adams in.) Jesus himself might have been Jewish way back when, but Jesus metaphors are not, in any way shape or form, Jewish. -2022 years of Christian persecution of Jews/10
As much as this hurts me, next up is Smallville's Clark Kent. Tom Welling does an excellent job in the role and is my personal favorite, but I do have to admit it's at least partially nostalgia. The show opens by putting him on a cross. He redeems himself throughout the show, however, embodying more and more of the comic's spirit as the time goes on, and by the end it becomes very clear that Clark Kent and Kal El are one and the same, and that that is what gives Superman his strength. Accepting your Jewish name ahem Kryptonian identity alongside your goyiche passing name ahem human identity over the course of ten years is very Jewish. 6/10 but it gets some nostalgia points lbr
Next up is Christopher Reeve, may his memory be a blessing. I have only seen two of his Superman movies, but they are such a joy to watch. He truly understood the spirit of the character, the kindness and selflessness and need to help others that stands at the center of who Clark Kent is. His passing at such a young age was a tragic loss in so many ways, the ways he embodied Superman included. 8/10
Finally we have the original comic Superman (i.e. pre52 and post Rebirth, fuck all that n52 nonsense). This Superman is, quite simply, Moses. It was a clear metaphor written into his character by Jewish creators simply trying to express their identities as Jewish immigrants in the late thirties, and so much of that identity has survived the test of time. They gave him a Hebrew name, for God's sake! If I've said it once, I've said it a million times: Superman is the embodiment of Jewish principles of goodness. Making the world a better place is an action, and what better place to see that than in Action Comics? 10/10, we owe so much to Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel.
#honorable mentions to Tyler Hoechlin's Superman who I've seen only glimpses of but seems perfectly nice#and to Dean Cain's Clark from Lois & Clark bc I'm sure I'll get to you someday#sorry for not doing The Thing but I haven't read any f4 comics except the two most recent issues by ryan north#and I've only seen the early 2000s movies#anyway enjoy :D#superman#dc#clark kent#smallville#man of steel#gross but you know. gotta be thorough with my tagging#dc comics#christopher reeve#tom welling#jewish#jumblr#jew tag#gail speaks#ask#anonymous
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Top 5 Ally PCs?
oh hell yeah let's fuckin go
1- pete conlan my best friend. he's such a disaster but is trying his best. fant-asma knuckle tattoos. wild magic sorcerer. he's never done anything wrong in his entire life, actually.
2- margaret encino. she's such a disaster but is trying her best. society if her INSANE call to the guards play in battle of the brands had worked. diet boston cream pie yogurt. found out the best friend she's definitely not in love with is engaged, so she became the sugar mommy for a hot dog-shaped space ship and its crew of people who are as fucked up as she is.
3- liam wilhelmina. he's such a disaster but is trying his best. seed guy. his best friend is a pig. he's peppermint batman, and before that his body "was like a walking apology". he must have known preston was almost certainly going to die with lapin, but he sent him any way just in case. he was the first to say slammed down big-style. aroace king.
4- kristen applebees. she's such a disaster but is trying her best. okay look. i'm exmo and gay i Understand Her. if i roll a nat 20 can i be alive. of course a 14 is good enough to ribbon dance to the ground safely. worst inspiring speeches of all time. created a buzzfeed god. raised worshipping a sun god and then started dating a werewolf cleric with a moon goddess. 1d4 gay spit damage.
5- timothy goose. he's less of a disaster but definitely doesn't have his shit all the way together and is trying his best. old man who just wants to save his son and go back to his husband, but gets roped into babysitting... them *gestures vaguely to the rest of destiny's children*. he's the gander.
#dimension 20#ally beardsley#pete conlan#margaret encino#liam wilhelmina#kristen applebees#timothy goose
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It's been a year since the premiere of Trigun: Stampede. The series, despite the fears of the fans of the '98 anime, actually turned out really good; Yasuhiro Nightow is a big superhero comics nerd, and wanted to have this new anime adaption be an adaption similar to the adaptions of the MCU, back when those movies were consistently enjoyable, and I daresay a bunch of the people watched Trigun probably were either already anime fans, or they were nomad fans who may have been really into the MCU at one point.
I have a lot of thoughts on an American perspective on Vash the Stampede as a character, with a lot of comparisons to American comic book superheroes. And while Trigun wasn't my first anime, I was hooked on it, as someone who grew up around Batman and Spawn's 90's popularity. During my first Otakon in 2001, I must have seen a dozen Vash's and Wolfwoods. I remember the year there was a Wolfwood cosplayer whose Punisher gun was shaped like the Star of David instead of a cross, making him a rabbi. That shit was amazing. The larger point is that I've loved this character for more than half of my entire time being alive, and I haven't seen a lot of discussion of Trigun viewed from a more political lens, and why it resonates so much with Americans (or at least me, who is an American) in particular
Buckle up, kids, this is gonna be long and rambly.
There was a period of time where I watched nearly every single new MCU movie in the theater. It was exciting seeing adaptions of comic books that would have probably never gotten a movie before the success of The Avengers. And I don't think it's a mistake that the most comic book-y of the movies are usually the best; Guardians of the Galaxy and its sequel remain as probably my favorite MCU movies. Nightow was working directly with the studio making a new Trigun anime and reportedly got the crew to watch a bunch of Marvel movies to set the tone for the anime as an adaption; it's why Vash got a completely new redesign that freaked all us old fans the fuck out. Though it appears that once again, Trigun tried and failed to get that massive Japanese audience that most successful anime have. But boy, oh boy, do us westerners fucking love Trigun, especially us Americans. Nightow's love of superhero comics bled into Trigun, and it just so happened that he was incredibly influenced by Spawn, Hellboy and Batman as much as he was influenced by Akira Toriyama and mechanical art. McFarlane Toys released a Vash figure that is McFarlane'd the fuck up. Nightow loves all superhero comics but especially the Blade trilogy.
Just look at this and imagine being 13 years old and seeing this on a screen for the first time with the instrumental hard rock opening.
Also, I wouldn't actually get around to reading Spawn until I was an adult, but you know what? It's pretty good. The writing is definitely weaker than the art, but holy shit, that art goes hard and I still think that shit's cool as fuck.
As stated before, around the early 2000's Trigun was considered peak anime, though it's been more overlooked in recent years in favor of Cowboy Bebop, an anime that has aged gracefully by comparison. But while Bebop has that sort of timeless cool and level of quality that drew the attention of filmmakers like the Wachoski sisters, Trigun has that very specific kind of adolescent sense of coolness that comic book fans get, especially back in the 90's before this sort of thing would be smothered to death by MCU's Joss Whedoning of superheroes. Spawn, Hellboy and Batman are still cool. And Trigun also has a shitton of guns, obviously, given that Vash being an incredibly OP gunslinger in a world where everybody has guns.
And America loves guns.
I think the contrast of Vash's pacifism while still wielding a gun is extremely interesting because it's not something you see very much (I bet if I watched more westerns, I'd have a better idea if this is a trope in them at all). Batman does not use guns and doesn't kill people, which is why there's still discourse around Tim Burton's Batman films to this day still; I don't think Kevin Smith has budged on this. Other more morally grey superheroes will use guns (by this definition I'm counting The Punisher even if he doesn't have any superpowers, unless you count severe PTSD as a superpower). And a lot of them had huge surges in popularity in the 90's around the time Nightow was making Trigun. Vash posed like Batman or Spider-Man looking brooding (like the gif above) happens a lot in the earlier issues even though that's not really his character.
Several years ago, there was an attempt by a conservative thinktank to discredit a bunch of Hollywood actors saying that gun violence in America is a serious issue and contrasted their statements scenes of them shooting guns in movies, but if we're being real here, gunplay in movies can be really fucking cool. Again I invoke The Matrix, or movies by Robert Rodriguez and John Woo. Look at video games, and compare the decline in violent crime that's been happening here since the 70's and 80's, as culture warriors bemoan movies and video games for becoming more violent. Remember when Wayne LaPierre, vice president of the NRA, brought up fucking Splatterhouse as a reason why Sandy Hook happened? Do you know what Splatterhouse looks like?
It looks like this.
You know how these guys constantly say the only way to counter a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun? Usually, the inference is that if the "good guy" with a gun shoots, he's shooting to kill. Deadpool and the Punisher would shoot to kill. But Vash is constantly trying to avoid it. And I remember as a teenager finding that really cool? And the manga and anime don't shy away from how impractical Vash's pacifism is. It's a bit more realistic than Steven Universe's ending, but also Steven Universe was made for children.
I know Avatar: The Last Airbender is often invoked when criticizing Steven Universe's philosophy, but I haven't really seen Vash's similar philosophy criticized in the same way, and I think a lot of that has to do with the presence of Wolfwood, who is the "I think we're gonna have to kill this guy" guy.
I'm honestly surprised I haven't seen art of this yet. I may have to get on that. I already drew Vash horrified at the Trolley Problem.
Vash is a character designed with maximum coolness in mind, but also an overpowered being who is capable of killing millions, and in the anime, he somehow destroys July City without killing anyone directly, but the destruction of the city led to a bunch of people dying. He's so deeply committed to not wanting to kill anyone that he's probably killed more people than he would have if he just shot Knives. The best Batman stories acknowledge that Batman's refusal to kill Joker has similarly results in the deaths of people Batman could have prevented if he killed one guy, and this could also apply to Vash's relationship with his brother Knives, who was kind of destined to be a mass murderer with a name like that, let's be real.
Online, we tend to joke about bringing out the guillotines, or justify not feeling an sympathy for billionaires who die in a sub trying to view the Titanic. But if you were given a gun and a real human person begging for their life, what would you actually do? Do you honestly think that you would be the ethical Death Note user?
Vash has guns but he chooses not to kill people; he prefers to not even use them unless he has to, instead opting to run away and look cool doing it somehow.
He really, really doesn't want to kill people. He doesn't become numb to people dying. It hurts him every single time he watches someone get killed. In reality, most of us that aren't sociopaths would be distressed at the thought of killing someone. The only reason armies in real life work is that they become inoculated to the idea of violence and dehumanize the enemy. Vash is no soldier. He is idealistic, he is empathetic, and he sees every human being as a person worthy of life. Batman refuses to use guns, as that's how his parents were killed in front of him. Vash has to use guns in order to protect people from getting killed. He has the ethics of Superman but the tools of a comic book antihero. He's the logical conclusion of an shonen anime protagonist in a world that chews up anyone with that kind of optimism and hope and spits them out. And yet... he still keeps going. He remains committed. He's still cheery, goofy, lovable Vash.
Batman used to kill people, in the earliest comics. With the Comics Code Authority, no superheroes could kill people. In the 80's, comics were getting darker and edgier, taken more seriously. While Alan Moore's Watchmen delved into the moral complexities in a world with superheroes that was similar to ours, Frank Miller was keeping Batman consistent, even as Gotham got darker and uglier.
Batman is a vigilante. The police can be helpful or they can fuck up everything, depending on what's needed for the story. In Batman Year One, there's a scene where Batman crashes a party attended by the elites of Gotham, politicians and mobsters mingling.
Seeing this during the Bush presidency blew my mind. I don't want to get into just how perfectly the members of his administration seemed to resemble a rogue's gallery of sorts with the shared goals of making a lot of money and bombing the shit out of Iraq and Afghanistan. I was extremely anti-war even before the 2000 election as a very opinionated 14 year-old watching, Jon Stewart on The Daily Show and feeling relieved that a grown-up was able to see through all the bullshit; it helps when the guy who's against the war and killing people is funny. I remember writing in my diary at 12 years old after Columbine happened that I wanted to take all of the guns and melt them down in a pot, similarly to that scene in Superman IV where he throws the entire world's nuclear arsenal into the sun. But also that same year I would fall in love with The Matrix... and not long after that, Trigun.
Again, we come back to the idea of someone using a gun, a weapon designed to kill people, and using it in pursuit of the exact opposite. That resonated with me. I myself was very idealistic, and the political climate of my teenage years seemed to do almost everything to stamp that out of me. Things feel just as fraught two decades later, but in slightly different ways. Pacifism is looked down upon, as indicated by the backlash to the ending of Steven Universe, and how one crazy lady called Rebecca Sugar, a Jewish person, a Nazi for writing it that way. But for Steven, things worked out. For Vash? Well, he still has hope somehow, despite everything. I think the fact that he strives to protect human life, even when someone is a complete monster, is admirable in that it cuts to the very basic desire to not see people hurt. But we're also selfish, and scared, and sometimes it's hard to conceive of a solution to a problem that doesn't involve violence. Seeing dead bodies on TV or the internet upsets us, but we're often paralyzed by feeling like we can't do anything, and even if we tried, we'd likely perish in the attempt. We desire revenge, punishment for those who transgress by inflicting violence, and we can rationalize using it against the right targets. Vash the Stampede would have a fucking breakdown dealing with the state-backed violence that's been a part of geopolitics pretty much as long as there have been states and geopolitics. Vash would try and solve the bombings of Gaza with an impassioned plea for both sides to stop fighting before he would somehow wind up making things worse and it would eat away at him inside, no matter how brave a face he puts on as he tries to find some kind of hope in a hopeless situation. And... you know what? I kind of wish more people would be like that. Maybe if there were enough people like that, these sorts of things wouldn't happen in the first place.
I wish more people could look at human suffering and feel compelled to try and stop it, not discriminating against one side or the other, trying to understand why people are doing what they do. Seeing anti-war protestors in Tel Aviv brings back memories of protests against the start of the War on Terror, and how hated America was internationally during those years, even when most Americans approved of the war. Michael Moore was booed at the Oscars for condemning George W. Bush and the War on Terror. It's terrifying that those in power want us killing each other and have conditioned us to support it. I want so badly for human beings to come together to just stop the violence, but it feels impossible, like we're destined for failure, like we might somehow make things worse or become worse versions of ourselves full of hatred and ugliness. But we should want to try, even if it's hard or unprofitable or we have no idea how to even do it. Somebody actually dedicating themselves to trying to fight our violent impulses out of love is appealing, and if they're more powerful than use, and can do more... well, I want the biblically accurate angel with every mental illness willing to martyr himself over and over again. But it is more fun when he's Bugs Bunny about it.
#political bullshit#trigun#comics#tl;dr#not fanfiction#I am high right now I hope this still makes sense when I'm sober
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