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misrepresentedmorallygrey · 2 months

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PROPAGANDA

Jason Todd

Jason is as someone else put it succinctly "a mass-murdering terrorist and tax-evader". He does evil, the story constantly condemns him as evil and sinful and thuggish and stupid and uneducated and overemotional. He does have a lower and more selective kill count than Luke Skywalker, John Wick, Disney Mulan, etc. So you got part of the fandom writing an annoying flood of fan fiction about him being a warm soft nice guy skipping through the daisies with his fam (hey have fun, guys). Then you got another side picking out the worst ex-canon comics for him (while they ignore the worst ex-canon comics for their own fave characters i.e. "my fave only did evil because of a mind-control potion, but Jason always chooses to be evil even though the story and the writer himself said he was crazy and broken and suffering from magic insanity")... and accuse him of being a cop (he is a cop-hating cop-killing terrorist murderer criminal thuggy thug thug constantly being hunted by law enforcement in a world bursting to the brim with actual copaganda while the heroes regularly cooperate with police—so many anti-fans are misusing the term copaganda because they hate this fictional character to the point they want to train people to be blind to actual copaganda). Jason is absolutely a villain—and he returned to his hometown when it was a battlefield with hundreds killed in the latest conflict, ruled over by a child-killing torture-enthusiast. War is always wrong and evil, and Jason was raised to be a soldier in that war—and when the promises of justice and safety never came true, he decided to seize power through murder. Jason is evil. He is inarguably a lesser evil than what usually plagues the town. Innocent people are alive because he got his hands dirty. He is such an asshole. People like him should not exist. He shot a 10-year-old in the chest, and nobody not even the 10-year-old cared the next day because it really wasn't a big deal. He was kidnapped by a billionaire with a taste for young boys, and it's literally not a big deal. His crimesagainst fashion are unforgivable tho.

Batman's adopted son and second Robin that got killed by the Joker and came bag to enact a revenge plan by becoming a Gotham drug lord. He had a duffel bag of 8 decapitated heads at some point and planted a bomb on the Batmobile and then got his throat slit by Batman to save the Joker. He stole his older adoptive brother's (first Robin) identity and blew up a high school but he forbade Gotham's drug rings from selling to children and actually became an anti-hero in Gotham and killed the people Batman wouldn't (rapists, drug lords, etc.). He attacked his little adoptive brother (third Robin) and beat him to a bloody pulp. He also slept with Batman's baby mama. He raised a fucked up Superman clone with kindness. He has lead teams of Outlaws on multiple occasions that love him. He's on good terms with many (not all) of Gotham's vigilantes.

Listen. I love the guy, I love him dearly, but I feel like people these days are trying to make him like completely justified in everything he did?? And like you can see where he’s coming from, sure, but my man did absolutely beat Tim Drake, a teen, half to death for the crime of being Robin. He’s morally gray! He had decapitated heads in duffle bags! Let my guy be morally gray please stop woobifying him

Jason Todd is regularly stripped of his autonomy in fandom to make him more palatable and “redeemable”. They attribute his legitimate trauma, annger, and pain driven actions to “pit madness” a side effect of the way he was resurrected. Not only that but so many people don’t even know what he actually does when he comes back, it’s like a shitty game of telephone where each person tells the next a slightly altered version of his return and at the end everyone thinks that Jason hates the kid who took up the Robin mantle after him and wants to kill him and that he is mad at Bruce for no reason and all Bruce needs to do is tell Jason that he is loved (despite Jason having a lot of evidence to the contrary) and everything will be all better. His values and beliefs and convictions are treated as invalid and his trauma is something he needs to just get over because it’s inconvenient and harmful to everyone else and doesn’t he know that everyone else was also traumatized by his death?

vigilante who kills people • traumatized as hell • has trouble differentiating between good deeds and selfishness • shot his little brother on the spine • tried to kill his other two brothers • operates under the belief that controlling evil is the only way to help innocents • has an immesurable love for the people of Gotham and really wants them to be happy and safe!! • please for the love of god fandom stop talking about him as if the bad things hes done are forgiveable AND as if the good things he's done don't matter

Gonna be honest even canon misinterprets him. There's no winning. All you need to know about DC universe is that multiple different writers have had a go at writing him and every time he is wildly different which is maybe why people interpret him very differently?? Canon interprets him in a he did everything wrong way a lot of times and fanon interprets him in a he did nothing wrong way because he is blorbo to many, when he is very much someone who did a lot of shit wrong but also had a lot going on, while thats still not an excuse for like, a lot of maiming and murder, and (usually) later in the timeline he is less trigger happy and has evened out from villain to morally grey, his whole "redemption" to being morally grey is usually up to fan interpretation whether or not they're chill with letting him keep murdering bad people or they say no murder in general, and whether or not bats is chill with the whole he keeps murdering people thing since he has a staunch no murder stance. Also!! a lot of people in fanon write in the whole pit insanity thing as a way to excuse a lot of the things he did while in his full on villain era, and like,,, i don't think that was canon??? like i straight up think the whole pit madness thing was made up but a lot of DC canon is wibbly wobbly already so its hard to say. hope this wasn't too word salady but i hope you understand that whenever you are consuming any piece of media, canon or fanon, with this man in it you have literally no idea what you are stumbling into you, you are playing fucking spin the wheel, which flavour of Jason Todd are we reading about today. I will say though, canon does objectively treat him like dogshit and only really brings him back every now and then as a punching bag for Batsy whenever they want to have edgy emo abusive dad bruce wayne because comic writers think found family is for chumps and so is being a good parent and actively resist it with every ounce of their soul :/ so I understand why fanon strays so far away, it's just that fanon also can't seem to agree on the degree of morally grey he is?? idk someone save Jason it's the worst custody battle of the century between canon and fanon.

Miguel O'Hara

he is dj internalized homophobia. he is so so sick in the head

#misrepresented morally grey #round 2 #bracket c #both bracket #batman #jason todd #spider man across the spider verse #miguel o'hara

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the-batacombs · 8 months

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Thinking about Jason. I don't know why, he hasn't had a serious turn in my head yet, I guess. Also the half-argument from...Batman 137? where they're yelling about like, death and crime and utilitarianism -- that got stuck in my head.

Anyway it lines up with this other issue I have with DC comics, which is that the way they write Batman sometimes feels...deeply hypocritical? Other heroes kill people and fight violent criminals but aren't enmeshed in a deep dark tragic space where they're always apparently two steps away from turning into a deeply immoral/abusive/totalitarian figure. But future/AU Batmen are routinely stuck in this box. As far as I can tell, the potential reasons are

(a) there's something wrong with Gotham. (This is what's happening in the current 'Tec run, I think, and exists in all the "Gotham eats her children" headcanons.)

(b) Gotham's villain-hero landscape is uniquely disturbing and eats away at the souls of its participants. (??? I guess? This feels silly unless it's explained by (a), and fairly boring as a basis for storytelling, at least to me.)

(c) Bruce Wayne is has a uniquely sensitive empathetic response, and is probably really poorly suited to a life with this much violence, and all of it just hits him harder than it does the other heroes; people like Bruce tend to self-select out, and Bruce is just stubborn.

Wonder Woman kills people and the WW writers don't throw themselves all over the page talking about how Wonder Woman is going to succumb to a life of violence and trauma. (I mean, maybe sometimes they do. I'm woefully under-read on WW, but I'm confident enough in this assertion to put it here. Corrections welcome!)

So like...what's up with Batman? Future!Batman!Tim and future!Batman!Damian get this treatment as well, sometimes, and that's also baffling -- because Bruce Wayne, so far, hasn't succumbed to the kind of deeply immoral/abusive/totalitarian figure that DC likes to portray as just lurking around the corner. Is he uniquely able to withstand the pressure of the role? (Well, Bruce and Dick Grayson, of course.)

And with Jason...I do get Bruce's position. A death is a death is a death and at its heart (thank you Kingdom Come), Bruce is just trying to make it so that no one dies. Jason has a utilitarian point, as is sketched out in Batman 137, but it seems clear the actual issue is simply that his ethical position is different from Batman's. Jason thinks a death can be justified; Bruce doesn't.

(Are there any Cass and Jason comics? Because I would love love to see a Cass "ripped the bat off of Kate's costume" Cain and a Jason Todd ideological clash.)

(Why are Cass and Jason on the same side of Gotham War? DC, did you think this through?)

But, see: Batman works with Wonder Woman. Batman adores Wonder Woman. He may disagree with her methods, but that doesn't prevent Trinity team-up after intergalactic mission after them all showing up in each other's comics. So why are Batman and the Red Hood constantly at each other's throats? / Or -- why does DC seem to act as if there is no solution? / Why can't Batman work alongside the Red Hood? Some thoughts:

(a) The paternalism issue; Bruce considers himself uniquely responsible for Jason's actions, and his stepping aside as condoning them. The feels like an easy solution: Bruce Wayne's kid is not a kid anymore. He can make his own decisions.

(b) Gotham again. What other people do in other cities is their own business, but Gotham is Batman's city and he's not going to stand by and let Gothamites be killed. (Counterpoint: Kate? I haven't read any Batwoman but the extent to which DC keeps these separate is wild.)

(c) Jason refuses to consider a team-up without Batman's concession to his methods/refuses to change his methods in the interests of temporary peace. (Valid as an interpersonal stance but I thought we did this already in Urban Legends? Maybe not.)

Anyway I don't have a solution to this yet but I'm pretty sure Wonder Woman is the key. It'll probably come out as a fanfic by the end of the year; I've got a title already, so it had better.

#jason todd #red hood #robin ii #batman #bruce wayne #wonder woman #I'm literally just thinking aloud here #everyone acts like it's impossible to solve and someone has to cave but I don't think that's exactly it #it's like -- yeah do I think they're going to come around to the same page? no. do I want them to? also no.#but do I think they could reconcile? yes.#I want them to both maintain their positions and have their primary conflict change and develop #rather than rehashing the shape of the same fight again and again #I'm also not as well-read as a lot of you #I'm working on it but it's slow #so if I say something demonstrably wrong you're welcome to provide a correction #anyway opinions change and all and I might have a different perspective in eight months but I've been thinking about this a fair amount #lately

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little-pondhead · 1 year

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DC Prompt:

Modern-day Batfam member (take your pick) gets swapped with their alternative self from The Adventures of Batman (1968) or one of the earlier comics. Everyone has to deal with the modern!Bat in the cartoon world, and the cartoon!Bat has to deal with the modern world.

———

Cartoon!Robin: Gee, Batman! We’re in a real pickle here! *proceeds to body a man with a comically large hammer*

Modern!Batman: I’m sure I can work with this. Damian, don’t stab your brother, you’re the older one now.

———

Modern!Nightwing: Old man, I love you, but sometimes violence is the answer. *proceeds to commit several war crimes that haven’t been invented yet*

Cartoon!Batman: what the f u c k

———

It’s important to note I know absolutely nothing about this particular show or the earlier comics, I just thought it’d be really funny to see cartoon!Dick or someone else use cartoon logic on modern-day Gotham rogues.

#pondhead blurbs #dc #batman #robin #batman and robin #cartoon!Robin runs on cartoon logic and Tim is tearing his hair out trying to figure out the physics behind it #cartoon!batman is having a mental breakdown because now he knows his little boy is somehow even MORE violent #and just as cheery #Alfred come pick him up he’s scared #cartoon!batman is very stressed about how many kids his alternate self has #cartoon!Robin is delighted to find out how many siblings he now has #he’s still Damian’s favorite somehow #modern!Nightwing solves every cold case in GCPD’s archives within a week and demands Bruce takes a break

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just-an-enby-lemon · 1 year

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Cluemaster: Hey, bro, I know I never call...

Kiteman: You did drunk call me that one time.

Cluemaster: I already said I was sorry for spreading around that you were in love with your kite and calling you to brag about it. As you said I was hella drunk and angry your weird ass podcast somehow now has the same level of fans as my old gameshow. Who the fuck cares that much about kites? Or C list vilany?

Kiteman: Did you just call to remind me why I hate you?

Cluemaster: Of course not, Chucky boy, your my favorite lil bro.

Kiteman: Arthur... I'm your only brother.

Cluemaster: Yeah? You're still my favorite.

Kiteman: Okay. Fine. What do you want?

Cluemaster: You're good with kids right?

Kiteman: Oh do you want me to babysit little Steph? I haven't see her since she was a baby! That'll be soo much fun!

Cluemaster: Oh, no, no. She is too old for a babysitter. I kindda called 'cause I need your advice.

Kiteman: Sure. Go on.

Cluemaster: How would you stop a prank war between your teen daugther and your bussiness partner that happens to be living at your house?

Kiteman: Woah. Define prank war?

Cluemaster: Like they just being annoying with each other... like non-stop Shrek music and painting one of her walls green?

Kiteman: Are you working with a child, Artie?

Cluemaster: No. Childrem are not really good at puzzle robberies.

Kiteman: So who the hell is in a prank war with your fourteen year old daugther? Is it that Polka Dot weirdo?

Cluemaster: ... Riddler.

Kiteman: Be honest, Arthur.

Cluemaster: I am!

Kiteman: Why the fuck would he work with you? Didn't he like was brought on to one of your trials and tried to sue you for being a copycat?

Cluemaster: No idea. I don't really remember all my trials.

Kiteman: Fair. Still isn't he like an actual treat? Like Batman actually tries to be always involved in his crimes instead of just sending a Robin or a cop kindda treat? Or hangs out with Cooblepot and Harley Quinn and fucking Catwoman and even Scarecrow and Joker kindda treat?

Cluemaster: Yes, so what?

Kiteman: He is waaay above your league. How the fuck do you got him to work with you?

Cluemaster: He is working for me because he recognizes my genius.

Kiteman: *sarcasm* Yeah, sure. At least it explains why I've been hearing that your plans don't totally suck anymore.

Cluemaster: Will you help me or not?

Kiteman: Anything for little Steph. But seriusly bro, the guy is a mentally instable killer, he is real Arkham loonie, A-lister and all this shit are you sure is safe to have him living with you? Specially if he and Stephanie are fighting!? She is just a kid! What if this prank war thing escalates and next thing she is in saw type death trap or something?

Cluemaster: Well than help me not to! I can't just kick him out, do you know how much I've been proffiting later?

Kiteman: And also he is an instable killer that used to hate you and wouldn't react well to being kicked out?

Cluemaster: Yeah, this too. Look I think you're overestimating the guy. He is smart and all and he can take a punch but I could take him out real easy in a one on one. He screamed like a little girl when he found a roach in the kitchem. I think I'll be fine.

Kiteman: Sure, you do you.... Maybe.... you could just.... help them find something they have in common? A TV show they like or something. It used yo work with us. They will bond over the thing and forget they hate each other for a bit.

Cluemaster: See was it that hard to help me?

*Chuck hangs up*

[Three months later]

Cluemaster: Chuck! I need help!

Kiteman: Can you call in another time? I'm bowlling with the guys, Calendar Man and Condiment King cannot win a second time, one weird rap about their love conquering all was ENOUGHT.

Cluemaster: Is about the whole prank war between Nygma and Stephanie thing.

Kiteman: Oh. So I guess my advice didn't work.

Cluemaster: No, no, it did. It worked way to well actually.

Kiteman: *worried* That sounds bad.

Cluemaster: Yeah... it happened that the thing they had in common was that they really hate me.

#this might be the start of a brown family au #because i have a lot of feelings about them #for me kiteman is actually a pretty chill down to earth guy besides the whole kite crimes thing #and instead of the tragic backstory were his kid died in the dumbest riddler plan ever #he just always wanted to have a family but he is too akward and has some nd coding and didn't had the chance yet #so he wants to bond with steph because she is his niece and all #but he and arthur don't have a good or stable relationship and he haven't been there for steph and she doesn't even know about him #so he is just afraid of talking to her #he and arthur started fighting because their parents divorced when they were 13/15 and they stayed with different parents #also while i preffer charlie a lot Cluemaster is a B Lister here while Kiteman is a C/D Lister #Kiteman is friends with all Gotham C-listers with the exception of Polka Dot Man because they just don't hang in the same places #they have some misinformation about each other and think the other is a freak but they would be pals if they meet #cluemaster hangs with b listers and non gothamite c listers #chuck actually got relieved after the last bit cause he imagine grooming or steph becaming a killer or smt real bad #he actually likes Riddler a bit after that because sibbling rivalry and because he is starting to realize Arthur is a shitty dad #Eddie did try to sue Arthur in Arthur's first trial #he was called to testimony why Arthur shouldn't go to Arkham and it was when he discovered that you can't copyright a criminal mo #it was also his first time on trial cause some rogues are considered unfit to stand trial and he is one of them #riddler #edward nygma #stephanie brown #arthur brown #cluemaster #kiteman #chuck brown #cheatday is @sillymanwithocs ship I'm just borowing it

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fancyfade · 7 months

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I got into DC recently and latched onto Talia like a baby duckling. Like even before I fully understood her as a character I was ready to fight for her honor, which is when ran into your blog on her tag.

The Talia brainrot has been really rotting my brain SO you got anything Talia related? Arcs you wish were explored. If you were put in charge of a Talia run what would it be? Outfits you saw, or made up, that you think she would rock? Do you know any other blogs that are normal (as in they know Talia's OG characterization) about Talia? HCs? Your bio says you like Star Wars, so what Star Wars character do you think she would be friends with? (I think she would be friends with Satine Kryze) Who do you think she would despise? Do you think she would be a Jedi? If so what era do you think she would thrive in? What's her favorite Shakespeare play? Do you think she would have a favorite quote from him? (I think it would be Beatrice's "I will eat his heart in the marketplace" from Much Ado. Beatrice's relationship with Hero is so personal to me and I definitely think that's the type of cousin/ older sister Talia would be). Something DC brought up once about Talia, but you think it should be explored more (WHO IS AMALA DC??? WHAT IS HER FRIENDSHIP WITH TALIA TELL ME MORE).

Oh most importantly: How do you deal with comics that completely screw her up? I'm reading Tomasi's Batman and Robin and GOD I barely get through the beginning of Vol 2, and I know there are comics that do worse with her. So I know I can't just drop comics that do a nasty job with her because then I should just quit Batfam comics in general and try some other fam and I have NO idea where to start with that and ugh.

Just anything about Talia.

Also, I know I typed a lot and if you don't want to answer some of them that is 100% fine! Or if you want to answer them in parts across different posts. I just need more with her.

hmmm so talia arcs i would like to see

well probably b/c i am just re-reading lexcorp, but i would like a more satisfying end to president lex stuff and lexcorp talia. I feel like he just kind of grabs the idiot ball, unless I am remembering the end to this saga wrong. like IIRC it was due to him being stupid in batman/superman and not any of the people trying to take him down... which is SUCH a shame b/c a story of talia teaming up with the superman characters and helping them take down lex could be so interesting. like. we saw talia feed calvin carson info to get him to go to the press about lex. we saw clark go undercover* to try to find some dirt on lex after lex covered up his crimes. lois got a lot of dirt on lex he conveniently made disappear about his involvement in OWAW . i want to see this all come together in a satisfying way!!

for star wars, I think Satele Shan (from SWTOR era) interacting with Talia could be very cool! both in I just think both characters are neat, but also for some interesting mother son parallelisms and contrasts. Talia initially wants Damian but then realizes she has to give him up to avoid him being raised in the league and to protect him from his parents possibly dying on him, Satele I don't think we see a ton of reason why she gives up Theron, but in general I viewed her as a character who did not want to be a mother, and she knew that she couldn't be theron's mother while still fulfilling all her obligations to the Jedi and fighting the sith, and that's OK (Fandom hates this). I think seeing them interact and team up to stop a bigger threat could be cool.

Also would be cool: To see Talia interacting with Imperial Agent's crew (again SWTOR :P). Talia in her lexcorp era often feels very much like she'd fit in with the vibes they are going for in that story, which is that no one really trusts anyone completely, or in many cases at all. A lot of her time in Lexcorp she has no allies and has to play all her cards very close to her chest as she's dealing w/ very dangerous people. especially if you go with defector-imperial agent (who defects in chapter 2 to... that guy who's name i forget since it's been a very long time since I played swtor IA. ardun?). B/c my understanding of defector IA (I've never played it b/c Aereinys is too mad to consider it, even tho she also hates the empire at that point) would, being a double agent appearing to work for the empire and having to pull off missions successfully for them to stay useful, routinely work against people who otherwise would be on her side, while working for people she finds morally repugnant.

For Jedi stuff I think Talia would want to be one of those chill nerdy Jedi who meditate and study. But if we go with her in canon plotlines a Jedi Shadow would work well :P

I don't read much shakespeare so I can't say much for what her favorite Shakespeare play would be. if we're going w/ Talia + literature appreciation, I can see her liking Hombre Pequeñito (link) which is admittedly a short poem and not a play but :P

For dealing with comics that completely screw her up: I honestly just write my own headcanon stuff and that's my canon now. It is helped a little by the fact that new 52 created a big break in my mental continuity, b/c they messed up so many characters I care about (Babs, Cass, Jaime), so all of DC from 2011 til now is very much "I do what I want". So there is stuff to re-write but less stuff.

I got my own fanfic (link) for how pre-Morrison Talia can meet Damian, and that's what I hang my mental canons on for them.

I do know that people who are reading Ram V's TEC run say it's got pretty good Talia, I haven't read it yet but hopefully they're getting her back on the right track.

for other blogs that are good about talia u might find some in my talia al ghul tag (link)... there are a lot of good blogs tho. @brucetalias, @immortaldino, @fluffykitty149, and @arellas are often who I think of for the Talia fans!

*for like 1 issue ;_;

#anon #ask #talia al ghul #dc comics

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distort-opia · 2 years

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I love your Batman meta related posts, and I enjoy reading through them. I’ve noticed that a common theme in some of them revolve around Bruce being an abusive parent. I’m sorry if this is too much to ask, but may you please go over some examples of Bruce being abusive to the batfam, and how it’s not an OOC characterization for him?

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoy my occasional Batman thoughts. Indeed, I've expressed more than once that I do believe Bruce is an abusive parent -- though I feel like others before me have articulated the reasons for it far better. Which is why I will offer some of my opinions below, but I will also redirect you to a couple of metas on this topic I myself agreed with and found interesting, which contain examples of Bruce being abusive (with comic receipts a lot of the time): here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here... look, pretty much go through the “Batman’s C+ parenting” tag of bitimdrake’s blog :)) Many bingeable good metas to read.

I think it's very important to note that abuse is a heavy and complicated topic. People perceive and deal with abuse very differently; and people become abusers in different ways. You can certainly encounter individuals who maliciously and intentionally use their power or privilege to abuse others, but more often than not it's not that simple. It's not that black and white. Sometimes, a parent might genuinely love their child, but they might have no idea how to express themselves healthily or raise them, and they might end up doing a lot of emotional damage to their child because of it. And in my opinion, Bruce falls in the second category. He doesn't intend to harm his children, emotionally or physically -- but he ends up doing it nonetheless, again and again. That’s not to say Bruce can’t be a good parent. He has been; he’s supported the Family, he’s praised them, he’s shown them he cares, and I’m pretty sure he’d die for them if he needed to. And that’s the most interesting part: he’s a realistic parent with abusive tendencies. He’s human. He’s fallible. He loves his children and he tries his best, and he’s learned a lot over time; but he also makes a lot of mistakes.

I’ll go into more detail on each type of abusive behavior he displays (so warning for that), and why I don’t consider it OOC, under the cut. Because I was like ‘haha I’ll just link some metas’ but then I got long again. Sigh.

It's a joke that's made a lot, how Batman is supposed to be a loner, and yet he has one of the most extensive Families and ally circles in DC. But once you get to know the character, it's not at all a contradiction. Bruce lost his family, and that trauma shaped him. It's the basis of Batman. It makes perfect sense that he'd yearn to create one of his own... but the problem is, his desire for connection is many times outweighed by his absolute, paralyzing fear of it. If he has a family, if he has people he cares about, then he can lose them. Bruce is terrified of loss, and this fear is one of the main roots of his pattern of emotional abuse.

This pattern tends to manifest in three forms. The first is neglect. He distances himself from his children, treats them as soldiers in his neverending war on crime, keeps them at arms length -- both because he wants it to hurt less if he loses them, and because he's never developed a healthy way of dealing with his own or others' emotions. In many ways, it's self-preservation, and not just towards the Family. In general, Bruce's repression, intellectualization, and emotional distancing is a way to avoid being hurt. This drives his belief that emotional attachments are, in the end, a weakness. He can't focus on the Mission if he's constantly worried about the people fighting alongside him... but he also needs them. And here one of Bruce's darker traits come in, too: his ruthlessness. He can't be everywhere all at once, he can't operate alone and be as efficient as when having a small army of trained soldiers at his side. For the sake of the Mission being fulfilled, and with the goal of protecting Gotham and saving as many people as possible, he allows the Batfamily to exist. Bruce is capable of 'turning off' his emotions and only acting in the interest of a higher goal, in a way that's hurt and pissed off his friends and Family multiple times. I'm not at all saying he doesn't love them, or care about them. That's the crux of the matter. He does care, and he's afraid of what happens when he cares, which again and again prompts him to act cold and distant and emotionally push them away. But, ironically enough, it's this exact same issue that leads him to display the third kind of emotionally abusive behavior: excessive control.

Bruce has been shown to be invasive and manipulative, wanting the Family to follow his orders and punishing them in various ways when they don’t -- because, if you're terrified of losing something, one way to ensure you're not going to lose it is to contain it, and never take your eyes off it. Carefully control it. See, he can't entirely cut all ties, both because he loves the Family and because he needs them from a utilitarian point of view. But he can try to emotionally protect himself by distancing, and he can try to protect them by controlling them... by knowing everything that goes on in their lives, and (sadly) trying to get them to make choices he would make. He’s got a bit of a thing when it comes to rewarding the Family for acting the same way he does. It’s a complicated mix of Bruce’s arrogance, God complex and that controlling overprotective streak I mentioned; it’s ‘I think of every worst-case scenario and prepare for everything and train for everything and essentially try to become God, so if you act the same way I do, you will be safer and less likely to get hurt.’

The third form of his emotionally abusive pattern is the expectation for others to prioritize and handle his emotions. This pretty much follows the other two kinds; Bruce does say very hurtful things, he pushes people away, he keeps secrets and refuses to ask for help or include his children in intimate aspects of his life; but he also expects them to not let him do it, and it's... this one is really tough. I don't think it's ever quite hit him, the realization of his egocentrism: the way he makes so many things about himself. His emotions and his state of being are the priority, for his kids, and they always watch out for Bruce's anger, for his self-destructive tendencies, for signs of him retreating so they can pull him back from the brink, and the thing is, that's not their job. The kid is not supposed to take care of the parent, it's supposed to be the other way around. But more often than not, it's not Bruce handling his childrens' emotions, it's them navigating his. Dick and Tim, especially, are subject to this. Hell, Tim basically became Robin because he saw how Bruce was spiralling and went 'is no one gonna take care of that??', stepping into the role himself when Dick refused to (and good for him). And thing is, while a huge part of why Bruce adopted and trained them is empathizing with their traumas and caring about them, another part of it is... a need for grounding himself. Bruce knows he's always walking the line. He knows he's got a lot of darkness that he's always fighting to keep contained, and he can't manage it alone. He keeps himself human through his connections, his attachments; his Family, most of all. And so, it's not surprising that his children end up having to chase Bruce and figure out his emotions and take care of him, make him socialize and act like a person -- it's part of why Bruce forged these relationships in the first place. But it's still not fair to any of them. And it's impacted them in various unhealthy ways. There's certainly an argument to be made that some of them began to base their value, and self-worth, in how useful they were to Bruce. Bruce's approval is something that's so deeply craved in the core Family circle, and it's... sigh. It's downright insidious, sometimes. Bruce does so many shitty things, but they keep coming back, often at token signs of apology from Bruce or barely any crumbs at all.

And if it were only that. But Bruce's grief and his fear of loss always turn to anger. Batman is fueled by that anger, and Bruce has... lots of issues in dealing with it and venting it in a healthy way (see the above general issues in handling his own emotions). And so, you have the pattern of physical abuse, and not just the emotional I described above. In his grief and his anger, Bruce has exploded and hit his children more than once. It's tough to say who suffered more from this: Dick or Jason. Maybe Jason, since Bruce's tremendous amount of guilt and self-hatred towards him just turns into more anger, and that translates into even more potential violence. Especially when Jason breaches Bruce's rules. He gets very angry when anyone breaches his imposed rules, especially the no-killing one, and here’s where his harmful need for absolute control and some of that arrogance come in. Bruce justifies this kind of behavior in various ways (and the narrative does too, because it has to -- Batman has to be the hero), the most prevalent excuse being his treatment of them as soldiers, or a downright refusal to admit he’s even viewed as a father figure by them. This is an overarching issue in itself, his reluctance to admit he’s wrong.

In the end, so much of this has roots in Bruce’s trauma, which is the main reason why I don’t see it as OOC. He tries to save everyone because he couldn’t save his parents back then. He’s so controlling because he cannot even conceive of ever being that helpless again; he’s terrified of losing the people he cares about and still so incandescently angry at the criminals that took them away. Needless to say, he’s plenty neurodivergent, too. And disappearing for over a decade and training for being Batman, being away from Alfred and having his parents taken away at such a young age... never afforded him the opportunity to learn healthy ways of emotionally regulating himself. Neither did it teach him to reach out to others in a healthy way. And all the resulting issues, that he’s never truly dealt with constructively, converge in all the ways Bruce has fallen into abusive behaviors as a parental figure.

Hope you’ve found this an interesting read! I tried to keep it as general as possible, seeing as the metas before I’ve linked are a lot more specific. I also want to assert that this is my personal assessment of Bruce’s character, and that (obviously) everyone is free to create their own interpretation; I take no issue with people who prefer to headcanon and write Bruce solely as a good parent. But the canon reality of him not being one does exist, and is still interesting to dissect.

#thank you for the ask anon!#in the end I did write meta too #Bruce you truly contain multitudes #asks #batman #bruce wayne #batman meta #bruce wayne meta #batfam #batfam meta #abuse #abuse cw #my meta

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androxys · 2 years

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I think if I could somehow mail a single TPB to every Batman fan on the planet for them to really read it would be the Death in the Family/Lonely Place of Dying trade paperback collection.

Like, I’m not saying that these stories are The Best Batman Stories Ever Told, or even that they’re particularly good. (I personally think LPoD is a great story, but that’s neither here nor there.) I do think, however, that these two stories are foundational to SO much of the modern Batman mythos as we know it (or interpret it, as it may be) and people are at a disservice by not understanding

a) That Bruce loved Jason and that Jason’s death was an unquestionable, morally indefensible tragedy

b) That Bruce went Totally Bonkers immediately afterwards, to the point of Superman having to get involved

b.2) That Batman and Superman are more than just co-workers, and that they’re actually friends

b.3) That Superman and Batman still have to exist within larger systems (though this point and everyone’s personal take on the whole U.N. situation varies, because sometimes comics sure make bad choices)

c) That Bruce was devastated by Jason’s death, and went into a death spiral of his own

d) That his friends--namely Alfred--did in fact see this happening and were summarily rejected by Gruff Bruce

d.2) I wish that, in this fantasy world, I could also mail The Caped Crusader Vol. 1 so that people could contextualize what Bruce was like immediately before and immediately after Jason’s death, and how people like Gordon reacted to this obvious and immediate change.

e) That people could see the actual origin of Tim Drake. Like, really, what he actually did rather than all the misconstruction and fanon telephone that is natural, but not entirely correct. This would then hopefully have the consequence of informing everyone’s understanding of Tim’s place as Robin--yes he’s a little crazy. A little intense. A little over-eager and afraid at the same time. But very importantly a character defined by connective tissue.

f) That Dick and Alfred have very interesting roles in those two stories. I mentioned Alfred already in DotF, but in LPoD those two are also cruising on the crazy train (both the normal vigilante one and the dead-Jason express) and picking up speed.

f.2) There’s a lot of Dick character work that happens here in short order--his circus roots, his relationship with the Titans, and then the beginning of his relationship with Tim as brothers. But it also establishes the way that Dick cannot become Robin again, that he can’t regress--Nightwing is who he’s supposed to be. Not being Nightwing, the identity he created for himself, is a disservice. This will color his time at Batman, and dovetails neatly into his held truth that he cannot save Bruce from Bruce.

f.3) Alfred is an interesting case study here in how quickly he jumps onboard with Tim, considering how opposed he is to Bruce’s self destruction in the endless war on crime... unless he views Tim and the dangers of Robin as an appropriate stopgap to hold Bruce from absolute destruction. That sure is a lot of burden to be put on one teen, however, so there’s another interesting wrinkle.

g) That this trauma never goes away. Even once Jason comes back in Under the Red Hood, the pain of losing him is still something that all of the aforementioned people still deal with because the death of a child is something you never fully get over. And it’s not like Batman didn’t try to do anything--he was fully ready to kill Joker. He was ready in the U.N. building and then left him for dead on a crashing helicopter. That’s part of what makes Jason’s return in UTRH so tragic, but the potency of that tragedy (you didn’t avenge me, Bruce) is amplified.

Anyway, this got to be much longer and much closer to a rant than I anticipated, but this thought has been rattling around in my head since I saw one too many things that made me think “this person has not actually read A Death in the Family,” so this is my soapbox.

#dc comics #batman #dick grayson #jason todd #tim drake #long post #chit chat #a death in the family #a lonely place of dying

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romancomicsnews · 4 months

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Where would I put Chris Pratt in the DCU?

It's no secret director and now head of the DCU James Gunn loves himself certain actors.

He continues to add additions to his DCU from past work, including Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern Guy Gardner and brother Sean Gunn as billionaire Maxwell Lord.

While these castings are both fun and exciting for the future of the DCU, since both of these castings, a realization came upon me. Jame Gunn will likely cast many of his friends into this universe. And while most are talented, accomplished actors, there is one man who has been looming over my soul...

Chris Pratt.

No do not get me wrong, he is a talented actor. From The Lego Movie to Guardians of the Galaxy, Pratt has a way of impressing me. Granted every now and then he is a Mario or an Owen Grady, but he continues to be a big star and be a draw for financial success. Which is kind of the problem.

I worry if Chris Pratt does join this universe, due to his stardom he likely will be given a major role. Granted I don't think Gunn would make him Batman, but could Peter Safran? Could larger execs?

He's a big white guy and a big draw. By that logic, he could play The Flash, Booster Gold, Green Lantern, or really anyone he chooses.

So in order to save those for actors who I can more properly see as those characters, I put together a few roles I think Chris Pratt can play in the DCU, some more fun, some more serious, some more longterm, and some for a fun one off, ending with the one I like most.

Let's start by going over a couple of things like:

What is Chris Pratt good at?

A lot actually.

Chris is very good at playing characters who are losers. From Star-Lord, Barley Lightfoot and Emmett, Chris voices or plays lovable underdogs really well.

Chris also loves playing army guys. It's clear from the Terminal List and Tomorrow War, he likes to be a soldier. Perhaps we find something military for the guy to do

The man can do funny, but has range. Particularly in James Gunn flicks, Star-Lord has some really emotional scenes that resonate every viewing. We don't have to go silly.

Other Stipulations

No matter who we pick, Chris Pratt will be compared to Star-Lord. It may be wise to stay away from characters like Star-Lord (so you won't be seeing Adam Strange, or Booster on this list).

Chris is also a draw right now, and a busy one at that. If he is entering the DCU, it may be smart to give him a vital role, but not one that needs to be in every movie. So we're probably not looking at Hal Jordan, but Kilowog isn't off the table.

Finally Star-Lord didn't wear his helmet at all last movie. So I'm guessing we'll want to pick a character where Chris can show his face.

5. Kite Man

We're starting off our list with a bit of a joke turned icon much like Pratt himself.

Kite Man is a C list villain who is often the butt of a joke and never taken extremely seriously. Chuck Brown uses Kites to commit crimes, and while he is an excellent glider, he's rarely ever a threat. He appeared in Batman the Brave and the Bold but is mostly known as a background character in the Harley Quinn Series.

While the character is usually around Gotham City, he could absolutely be put in any city in the DCU and make just as much sense. He could be fun as a one and done Batman villain, but even more fun as a recurring villain, kind of like Turk Barrett in the Netflix Marvel shows.

He's silly, pathetic, but likable, and leaves a lot of room for Pratt to make it his own. It feels like going back to his Andy Dwyer days, which could be fresh at this point.

While this is fun and I would love it, I don't know how overall useful this is of Pratts skills, or if him being so big takes away from the fun of Kite Man. It may be too small or too frequent for the mans schedule as well, but I thought it was worth a mention.

4. The Ventriloquist

If we wanted to tap Pratt's voice work and serious acting, The Ventriloquist is a character I've been hoping to see for quite awhile.

Arnold Wesker is a crime is a meek meager man who has a psychotic break and uses a puppet, nicknamed Scarface, to execute crimes and become a mob boss.

This is a a great duel role I think a comedian can strive in, and one that can push Pratt into another level as far as acting goes. It could put him in talks with actors like Paul Dano or Heath Ledger for the greatest Batman villain.

It also wouldn't be a role Pratt would have to do for long or frequently. He could be the start of the Batman trilogy and die in the first film.

My main concern is if he can pull off the meager nature of Arnold. I think an actor like Charlie Day, Ty Burrell or even Will Ferrell might put in a performance that get people talking about it much more.

Again I wouldn't be mad at it, it would definitely be a different and weird pick. But not my first choice for the character or Pratt.

3. Jor-El

I kind of love this one.

Jor-El is a role with big potential for a star. Being played by both Marlon Brando and Russell Crowe, it may require a modern day mega star. Is Pratt that mega star?

Utilizing Pratt here would be extremely different then how we've seen him before. He would be militaristic and more dramatic than we've seen him before. Plus he's big enough to believable be Superman's dad.

It may be smart to put Pratt in an older mentor role. But will he be too distracting as Jor-El? And is his voice as iconic as Brando or Crowe?

I think it's still a role I'd be happy to give to Pratt. But I have two more I think would be more fun for his set of skills.

2. Jay Garrick

He'd look pretty good in the tin hat.

Jay Garrick is the original Flash, a speedster who is often over 100 years old and a major mentor to Barry and Wally.

Now he may be very old but is often much more spry due to the speed force. And we can age up Pratt using VFX or just give him a little gray in the temples. Depends on how old you want to make him.

Having Pratt as the original Flash Jay Garrick would hint at a larger DC Universe, one with a Justice Society, and him play a role much different than Star-Lord.

As Jay, Pratt would be crucial to the universe but not as needed in the big team ups as Wally or Barry. If he did want a prequel, we can set one in WWII similar to the Justice Society movie.

As The Flash, Pratt can be funny, charming, but now wise and mentoring, which would be a good change of pace for Pratt. This would be a lock for me, if there wasn't a role I think he may nail even better.

1. Pat Dugan - STRIPE

A sidekick. A has been. A loser. Connected to a wider DC Universe. A Mentor. An inherently silly character. Very midwest.

Chris Pratt is Pat Dugan.

Originally the driver and sidekick for the Star-Spangled Kid who eventually became Star Man, Stripesy finds himself mentoring the younger new Justice Society after his step-daughter Courtney discovers Star Mans staff and becomes Stargirl.

Due to being useless in the past, he creates a make shift Mech suit known as STRIPE and uses it to fight evil with his step-daughter, who both form a special bond.

Pratt would be hitting many of the keynotes he's great at while playing a character extremely different from Star-Lord. Unlike Peter, Pat is very human, and relatable. He was not accepted as a hero during the Justice Society days, so he has something to prove, and feels tremendous guilt for what happed to his old team.

This would be a great role for Pratt. As secondary lead, he could appear in big team up movies, or stay out of the fight and be a mentor character only. He'd have a huge impact on the universe, be a window into the past, and play a role that is dramatic, funny, and gives us something new and different from what we've ever seen from Pratt.

I don't know if he should be, but if Chris Pratt is joining the DCU, he should be our STRIPE.

Thank you so much for reading! Please consider following, and check out my socials and other sites here! And let me know: Where would you put Chris Pratt in the DCU?

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martyrbat · 1 year

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[ID: a close-up of Batman with his cowl on. He's angrily snarling at something off panel. The text to the right of him reads, “Like (the Superman story,) Peace on Earth, War on Crime ends as it begins,” recalls DC Comics editor Charles Kochman. “Both books are very cinematic. Dini's writing is economical and compelling, and it perfectly captures the tone and voice of the characters in a way that's individually distinct. As the Emmy Award-winning writer of Batman: The Animated Series, Paul's facility with this character is especially striking.”

Says Dini: “Like a restless spirit, Batman is cursed to seek salvation for a terrible sin he committed in his past life, which in his mind was not being able to prevent the murder of his parents. Batman's war on crime is a symbolic war against himself.” END ID]

#thinking of him (bruce taking the burden of every single death hes ever witnessed and believing he could of changed it #/is ultimately responsible because he didnt prevent it even if it was literally impossible)#i know i JUST quoted this but. always just thinking of dinis bruce #king needs to get a tumblr #crypt's panels #bruce wayne #batman #c: batman: war on crime #meta

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sebeth · 6 months

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Who's Who In The DC Universe #1: Adam Strange, Aegeus, Air Wave I, Air Wave II

Adam Strange by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson

Adam was fleeing from South American natives when he was struck by the Zeta Beam, a “beam of energy sent from the planet Rann in hopes of communicating” with Earth

The Zeta Beam teleported Adam to Rann instead

Adam meets a scientist named Sardath and Alanna, his daughter

Adam became the Rann’s first citizen and savior and later married Alanna

Rann is a planet of contradictions: “Some of its divided city-states possesses science far in advance of Earth, while others exist in almost barbaric splendor”

Adam teleports back to Earth whenever the Zeta Beam wears off, he then has to calculate where the next Zeta Beam will strike (always south of the equator) to return to Rann

I’ve always loved Adam Strange. How can you not enjoy an archaeologist who has space adventures? I’d recommend the Adam Strange miniseries that came out shortly before Infinite Crisis (no, not the Rann-Thanagar War mini-series, the “Adam Strange” mini-series that preceded it. It was excellent!

Aegeus by Don Heck

A Greek national who was planning acts of terrorism when he met Bellerophon (yes, the one from Greek mythology). Bellerophon had become an Olympian-hater so he gave Aegeus a magical bow and arrow, six daggers of Vulcan (shouldn’t he be called Hephaestus (?), and Pegasus. Aegeus then decided to pick a fight with Wonder Woman and the Amazons. It doesn’t end well for him.

For such a long-running character, Wonder Woman’s rogue gallery does not have the depth of a Flash, a Batman, or a Spider-Man. Aegeus is D list. Has he even been seen post-Crisis?

Air-Wave I and Air Wave II by Alex Saviuk & Dick Giordano

Did you know Hal Jordan’s cousins were heroes? And not of the Green Lantern variety?

Lawrence (Larry) Jordan was a native of Earth-2. He developed a helmet and belt that allowed him to into any radio wave, project his voice through radio waves, among other abilities. He created the Air Wave persona, battled nazis, and joined the All-Star Squadron.

Larry traveled to Earth-1 under “unknown circumstances”, became a district attorney, married a woman named Helen, and has a son named Harold (Hal). No, not that Hal Jordan.

Criminals later shot and killed Larry as revenge against his crusades as a district attorney.

Hal inherited the Air Wave equipment and persona from his father.

His mother had a breakdown after the murder of his father and was confined to an institution. Hal was taken in by his cousins, Jack and Jan Jordan.

Hal received some coaching on heroics from his cousin Hal (yes, that Hal), Green Arrow, and Black Canary.

The only appearances of either Air Wave that I’ve read were when Larry or Hal made appearances in the All-Star Squadron or JSA series. They were okay.

I suppose a quick detour is needed for younger readers about the various earths that will be mentioned in the Who’s Who:

Earth-1: The earth of the Silver Age heroes to 1985/1986: the home of Barry, Hal, Katar, Shayera, etc

Earth-2: The home of the Golden Age/original versions of DC’s iconic heroes: Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, Carter Hall. Also, the home of the Justice Society, All-Star Squadron, Infinity Inc, etc. Bruce, Clark, and Diana among other will have versions of themselves on both Earth-1 and Earth-2. The difference is the Earth-2 versions can age, marry, and have children while the Earth-1 versions stayed young and single.

There were multiple other earths, this is off the top of my head so the designations may be wrong, but a few more were:4

Earth-3: The home of the Crime Syndicate (reverse world where the Justice League are evil, and the villains are the good guys)

Earth-F: Home of the Fawcett heroes

Earth-C: Home of the Charlton heroes

Earth-Q: Home of the Quality heroes

DC simply created another earth when they bought out another company and then plopped the newly acquired characters on it rather than try to insert the characters on a prior earth. Crossovers between earths were frequent. DC eventually decided the continuity was too complicated and thus the Crisis on Infinite Earths was born. I don’t know, I was nine years old when the Crisis began and I understood the continuity just fine, so how complicated could it be?

#DC Comics #DCU #Adam Strange #Aegeus #Rann #Bellerophon #Wonder Woman #Air Wave #Larry Jordan #Hal Jordan #All-Star Squadron #Green Lantern #Who's Who In The DC Universe

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wesavegotham · 2 years

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Honestly. In main continuity, I feel Bruce shouldn't get married at all or even have a biological kid like Damian or Helena. Cuz marriage & fathering kids bring unnecessary soap opera elements to a grounded pulpy crime detective fiction format. Yeah, Damian had a cool arc with Dick in the Morrison run, but his continuing presence had sidelined other characters like Tim & Cass. Sigh...Im gonna get so much pushback.

Dick should be the one that gets married. I really wished that his wedding with Starfire wasn't derailed last minute. It would make more sense cuz Dick is more involved with the soap opera drama due to his time in the New Teen Titans.

just make know so when out there

Er...did you send this to the wrong blog perhaps?

Because while I agree Bruce shouldn't get married it's for different reasons than you. Batman's story is written to go on forever (like a classic soap opera) and even if Bruce got married to idk Catwoman, sooner or later it would only end in divorce, death or retcon anyway and then the batcat fans would whine even louder that the two people with huge committment issues and incompatible lifestyles aren't together forever. As if all of Bruce's romances (including Catwoman) weren't designed on purpose to have an expiration date and not work out. Like most relationships in soap operas.

But why are you writing to a Damian fan's blog that you don't think Damian should exist?😅 I don't even get why you lump Damian and Helena together, while Helena was implied to have grown up in a rather domesticated way on Earth 2, Damian is a completely different case?

I don't see how Damian brings "soap opera drama" to Batman that Bruce didn't also have with his adopted kids. My impression from older comics is that they were even more soap opera like because they had a stronger focus on relationship troubles and stuff like "might Bruce lose custody of Dick/Jason?" Getting a story in which Bruce and Damian's relationship is the A plot and not the C,D or E plot of an arc is damn rare.

Also, grounded pulpy crime detective format? Pulpy, okay, but I wouldn't call Batman grounded or even a detective format most of the time. Only a small amount of Batman stories are actual detective stories and he's dealing with aliens, magic or gods all the time and has done so for several decades now. Let's be honest, it's more an action/adventure story with soap opera like relationship drama that borrows some noir detective aesthetics.

Also, yeah, you're going to get pushback for saying stuff like Damian caused characters like Cass and Tim to be sidelined. Because you're wrong. DC has never sidelined Tim, they just started treating him more like everyone else. That's not the same🤦‍♀️

The evil Cassandra arc started before Damian's introduction (during a time when DC wasn't even planning to make Damian into recurring character, he was supposed to be dead after the Batman and Son arc) in Tim's Robin book. Damian had nothing to do with that storyline, if anything Cass was treated badly to give Tim a story.

Or are you talking about stuff like Steph and Cass getting erased in New 52 and believe that it had something to do with Damian? You, know, the character DC killed off two years into the reboot like they had planned to do since the start? And who has since been kept far away from the batfamily? During DC Rebirth Damian wasn't even under the control of the Batman office, the Superman office had him. And the Robin solo DC gave Damian that started with a tournament arc that some whiny Cass stans thought should have belonged to Cass? Guys, Robin 2021 is a book that only existed to do some damage control after DC absolutely destroyed the character in Teen Titans and to launch two events, Shadow Wars, which was more a Deathstroke Inc vs League of assassins story than a Damian one and Batman vs Robin, which so far is pretty much just a Batman focused story.

No idea why you talk to me about what to do with Dick, I never cared that much about him.

No idea what you're even trying to tell me with that last sentence.

Anyway, if you really feel the need to blame a character (and not simply DC) for how Cass was treated you should probably look more towards Tim or even more likely Barbara. Since it was DC deciding that Barbara should be batgirl again that probably got Cass erased in New 52. People who seriously think Tim is being sidelined in favor of Damian are simply delusional and entitled, sorry. Like how spoiled do you have to be not to see how many damn chances DC has given Tim time and time again. DC loves Tim.

#damian wayne

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redhoodedangel · 2 years

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Girl in the Bubble (Arkham Knight!Jason Todd X Reader)

So, I've had this idea from my mind for a while, but I couldn't decide between a Titans!Jason Todd X Reader or an Arkham!Jason Todd X Reader. And yes... Reader has memory powers like Namine from Kingdom Hearts.

I'm still working on 'Scars that Last', it's just taking a while for me due to school, work and the holidays. Hence why I did this oneshot.

Here's Y/N's Outfit:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jason had one mission and one mission only…

Kill Batman…

That was his sole calling when he emerged from Arkham Asylum. That was the only reason he had survived that gunshot the Joker shot him out with. Even though the Clown Prince of Crime, his tormentor, was dead, it still didn’t satisfy his need for salvation… for vengeance… for purpose…

It didn’t chase away the bastard’s laughter…

It didn’t chase away the nightmares…

It only made the scars on his body burn…

He needed that clarity… that relief… and killing the Bat was the way to do it… at least for him…

However, there was one little snag that he didn’t expect…

He wasn’t expecting Scarecrow to bring in precious cargo in the form of a woman in white…

Aka, you…

You were encased in a large metal box, almost the size of one of the stores in the mall they were stationed in. The front of it was mostly composed of bullet-resistant glass. From what he could see, the room looked like an average bedroom, except everything was one single hue of white. A bed with a nightstand and lamp in the back right corner. A wooden walk-in wardrobe in the back left corner. A desk with an easel and art supplies near the right of the window. A bookshelf and beanbag near the left hand side of the glass. The only strange thing in the room was the pod-like contraption in the center that looked like the bud of a flower.

You, however, were an anomaly that he had never seen before. You were dressed in white, much like the room. You sat at the desk in front of the glass, drawing in a sketchbook with colored pencils. You looked like an angel, trapped in a bird cage. You looked really lonely... and afraid... like he was back with Joker in Arkham all those years ago.

"Curious, Knight?" Scarecrow's raspy voice came up from behind him. He hadn't even realized that he was staring at you... until he saw you looking back at him with awestruck eyes through the glass.

“Curiosity isn’t exactly the word I would use.” Jason hissed slightly, his masked gaze still looking at your own. You almost relaxed under his gaze, despite his helmet showing no sign of anything friendly.

“Fascination, then? No need to be ashamed in admitting you have one. She’s quite the unique specimen. Being born with the power to manipulate and see another’s memories is bound to turn a few heads,” the doctor stated, walking up to the chamber.

The Arkham Knight noticed that your demeanor suddenly changed. Your brows were furrowed in anger and your body was tense. He could tell that you were trying your best not to snap the pencil in your balled-up hand. The most glaring detail was that your eyes had turned the color of molten gold upon staring at Scarecrow. It honestly made Jason wonder what might happen if someone pissed you off just enough…

Nothing pretty, he’d imagine…

“You said memory manipulation?” Jason asked, trying to sound uninterested as to not raise suspicion from the criminal doctor.

“Yes. She can alter one’s memory, rearranging it to her liking and even erasing certain memories and putting false ones in their places. She can even amplify the emotionally charged energy of them.”

Jason looked back at you, just as you turned your glance back to him. The gold in your irises slowly faded as you calmed down, returning to their original (e/c). But, he could tell that you weren’t very fond of Scarecrow.

“So, why is she in that box to begin with?” Jason had many questions. But, he still pretended that he wasn’t interested in why you were here… in a soon-to-be war zone. With no warning or notification…

“I simply want to see what kind of emotions can strengthen her power. But, she’s resilient and stubborn. Refusing to show any sign of progress.” The doctor seemed a little amused by your seemingly tough attitude… and not in the good way from what Jason noted.

“Does ‘she’ have a name?” Jason feel like it was dehumanizing to not call someone, especially one who held significance to one of the Gotham supervillains, by their given name. You were still a human being, not a lab rat. Even if Scarecrow currently saw you as the latter.

“(Y/N). She has no surname or known birth certificate. Nothing to match her to a family, other than her blood.”

With that, Scarecrow walked off to God knows where and what. You and Jason continued to be fixated on each other, your hand subconsciously drawing on the paper of your sketchbook. Jason was able to deduce that your artwork and powers were interconnected. As if your sketchbook was a conduit or talisman of sorts to help you better control them. He didn’t know what you were drawing, but he didn’t really have to know.

He had a mission to fulfill...

He had to kill Batman…

With that, he walked off, leaving you with a disturbing image on your canvas…

~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few days had passed since Jason’s first encounter with you. Scarecrow had asked the Knight to deliver some food to you. For what reason in asking him, he didn’t know. All Crane had told him was that you didn’t trust the other villains or any of the soldiers, which was understandable. But it still sounded like a half-assed excuse, coming from the doctor.

Punching in the access code on the door’s keypad, he was able to enter your room. Upon coming in, he saw that you were nowhere to be seen in the room. You weren't in bed, at your desk or sitting in the beanbag near the bookshelf.

He then heard a sudden thud coming from the closet near the door, indicating that you were probably inside, getting changed. He then placed the food on the dining table near the viewing window. He continued to survey the homily cell as the pure white aesthetic made it feel all too surreal. Especially with the strange flowerbud-shaped machine in the center of it.

Jason's eyes then flicked over the wall to the right of your desk, noticing an array of sketches and drawings, taped to the wall. A few of them seemed innocent and child-like at most. However, the most recent ones that were front and center were much darker… and familiar…

Squinting a bit, he realized that the pictures were all his memories. Specifically, his memories of the year he spent, imprisoned by the Joker in Arkham Asylum. All the torture, all the pain he experienced… laid out on multiple canvas…

At this point, Jason didn’t know whether to be angry or confused. Did you draw his memories subconsciously? Is that why you were staring at him when you both first locked eyes? Did you smile because you saw all the good that came before the Joker took him? Or at least, the good moments he thought were happy at the time…

You were definitely a complex case, he had to give you that… but, he wondered… would your powers allow you to access the memories of those in his? Of course, he wasn’t going to make you do anything to Batman or his partners… that was his job. Plus, he knew better than to take advantage of someone who was already being abused… much less, mess with something or someone he didn’t understand…

He learned that lesson the hard way, thanks to the Joker…

An audible gasp sounded from behind him, causing him to whip out one of his pistols and aim it behind the pod. Only for him to realize that the source of the sudden gasp was you…

You were now wearing a white knitted, oversized cardigan over your signature attire, possibly to keep warm. Your (h/c) hair was faintly damp, meaning you have showered hours before he arrived. You were hiding behind the pod in fear as your eyes landed on him with his gun trained at you. He then lowered his gun and put it back in its holster.

“I-I wasn’t expecting you to be here…” you said in a panic, partially hidden behind the door.

“Should've announced myself, then." He apologized, which was very unlike him and he caught himself doing it. He didn't know why, but he felt more human around you... like he wasn't a broken husk of a man...

"You're probably wondering how some of your memories ended up on paper, aren't you?" You slowly came out from the pod, revealing your whole form.

"I am, actually. Cause, to be honest, I don't get how you do it." Jason leaned himself against your desk, arms crossed over his armored chest. You couldn't help but eye him up and down briefly without him noticing. I mean, any woman would if they saw this man walking around in his military uniform.

"I have to look at someone for a certain period of time, in order to see their memories. But, it's only the ones that are most... defining in someone's life. It's kinda a subconscious thing and I can't really control it when it happens. Unfortunately, yours were your time in Arkham Asylum with the Joker..." you tried to speak your words very carefully in hopes of not upsetting or angering him.

“I see. And the drawings?” The Arkham Knight asked, turning to the artwork once more.

“I mainly use it to create a better image of the memory I’m looking at because all I really see are flashes or small glimpses. It also helps when I’m trying to rearrange or rebuild someone’s memory chain. Hell, even delete or remake them. Not that I’ve ever really done that intentionally. I’m actually against it…”

Jason cocked his head in wonder, trying to understand what you meant by that. Who, in their right mind, would make you erase a person’s entire history of their own benefit? ‘No one’, was the answer that he got from the nagging voice of the back of his mind.

“Listen, I… I know you probably don’t want pity or anything like that. Believe me, I’m not pitying you, but…” Before Jason could get a word out, tears were already welling up and falling from your eyes. Your eyes were tinted that golden color from before. The color switch must be triggered by you feeling a strong negative emotion.

“Hey, hey, hey…” The militia leader got up from his position to walk to you and place his hands on your hands. It was an attempt to calm you down, which was odd. Why was he so vulnerable and protective of you suddenly? Maybe, it was because your situation reminded him of his own back in the asylum. Sure, you weren’t being beaten and physically tortured, but he imagined being a prisoner and test subject to Scarecrow was equally horrific.

“I’m sorry, but… you were just a kid. You were only doing what you thought was right. You were trying to help the innocent and those who couldn’t defend themselves, but then… that bastard…” Your eyes were now completely gold and puffy from tears. You were so empathetic… how is it you’ve managed to keep that after all of Scarecrow’s experiments and being locked in a cage.

“Hey, it’s over now. I’m out of that damn place and I’m never going back.”

“I know, but the scars still remain, don’t they?”

He knew that you were right. He was definitely wounded, both inside and outside, physically and mentally. Hell, he felt repulsive with himself, standing next to your perfect form. His heart broken, his soul tainted and wary and his mind in a dark place. Sure, you were no different. No doubt you had seen horrors he could probably see in a horror movie.

But, he has a mission that would mend all the damage to him as Robin…

But, after the plan is accomplished, he planned on freeing you from your shackles…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Needless to say, Jason didn't get his revenge on Batman like he had intended. Within the last moment, he no longer had the desire to kill the man who he believed had left him to die. He realized that all the Joker told him was lies and misinformation, just to get him to do what he wanted in case he died, which he did. It still didn't make him feel better, but he didn't have time for that.

The militia was now under Crane and the other criminals' command. This meant that you were, no doubt, in danger or were more at the mercy of Scarecrow than ever. He knew what he had to do next... he just hoped he wasn't too late...

As he made his way to your containment chamber, he saw an unconscious soldier outside the open door. He began to assume the worst and darted into the room, dodging over unresponsive bodies as he did. Once he was inside, he couldn't find you anywhere. However, upon looking at the soldiers on the ground, he noticed that their eyes were wide open and their mouths agape. As if they were in some kind of catatonic shock...

A soft sobbing came from the pod in the center of the cell. Unfortunately, it was closed and he didn’t know how to get into it. There was no padlock or control panel that could unlock it. So, he went to the next best thing… he knocked a few times on the outer walls of the pod…

A hissing sound came from the machine as two pieces of the shell came down slowly like doors. A white mist came seeping through the opening walls. Jason had to move out of the way to avoid getting hurt or squished. Once the shell is accessible, he saw you curled up in a fetal position, crying. Your head was bowed as your shoulder shook and jumped.

Jason reached out to touch your wrist, being ever so careful as he did. However, you immediately started to freak out, going, “No, stop please!! Please!”

“(Y/N), it’s me!” The familiar, modulated voice was enough to snap you out of it and realized that you weren’t in danger. Instead, you were in the safety of the Arkham Knight, or Red Hood. The grip he had on your wrists suddenly felt less threatening than before and more comforting.

“Knight?”

“It’s actually Red Hood now. But, you can call me Jason. Just not when I’m wearing the mask.” He said, keeping his voice down as to not scare you again. He then lifted you up to your feet, where he noticed that you had a backpack on. Meaning you were planning to make a run for it before he or any of the militia came.

“Got it… Jason…” you smiled ever so slightly, despite your damp cheeks and misty eyes.

“What happened here? Why are these men like this?”

“My powers… they sometimes react, depending on my emotions. When the militia came in by Scarecrow’s order, I got so scared that I froze their minds,” you looked down at one of the mind-bent militia on the ground in shame.

“Why are you upset about this? It was self defense. You were protecting yourself!” Jason asked, slightly aggravated that you were feeling bad for a bunch of corrupt soldiers.

“Because the last time this happened, the person I was protecting myself from lost their memories! I literally gave them permanent amnesia without having to move a finger! Do you even know how sick and messed up that is?!” You yelled, raising your voice for the first time since he met you.

Under the mask, Jason’s eyes widened with disbelief. He knew your powers were capable of erasing memories one by one. But, wiping a person’s memories within a split second out of defense? That was a form of fight-or-flight he had never seen before, nor did he want to feel the unforgiving wrath of firsthand.

“Before Scarecrow, I was an orphan in Gotham’s foster care system. My mother had died after childbirth and my father walked out on us before I was born. I used to get bullied a lot at school by many of the spoiled and rich kids. No one wanted to be my friend or sit next to me at lunch,, either. Having no family or money tends to do that to you. It was only made worse by the fact that no families wanted to take me home with them. According to them, I had this 'quality' about me that made me seem otherworldly to them. I didn't know what they meant by that until later on." Jason could only guess what happened next by the crestfallen look on your face.

"One day at school, I was cornered in the girls' bathroom by the dubbed 'Mean Girls' of the school. They kept picking on me, saying no one wanted me because I was a freak and a nobody. They then started getting more physical, pulling my hair, kicking me, beating me with their bookbags. It got so bad that I can't take it anymore... I screamed the loudest I ever have in my entire life..." You took a shaky deep breath as tears filled your eyes.

"When I opened my eyes, the girls were like these soldiers. Catatonic, wide-eyed, unresponsive... I ran away and never looked back. News about what happened to those girls spread and, apparently, they suffered from permanent memory loss, despite no brain damage being found or seen... Now those girls may have tormented me, but if there's one thing that I would never wish upon, other than Death, it would be being stripped of their identity and life..." You were suddenly filled with rage as you turned to look at Jason, eyes glowing amber. You walked up to him with the intent to set him straight, if he wasn't already. He then backed up in fear, firmly believing that you had snapped.

"You know what that's like, don't you, Jason Todd? The Joker twisted every good memory that Bruce Wayne, the fucking Batman, ever gave you... A home, a family that wasn't dysfunctional and addicted to drugs, a purpose... Until you couldn't even remember why you were so happy to be his sidekick- no, not just his sidekick- his goddamn son anymore! And yet, you don't even give the man the chance to explain himself to you? Why he couldn't find you and bring you home! Maybe you would have learned that Tim Drake, your supposed 'replacement', wanted to be Robin and Bruce had no other choice because he needed more help in finding you! Or maybe that the Joker and Harley had molded you into a failsafe, in case he didn't live long enough to kill Batman himself! So that, even in death, he still gets what he wants! Is that what you wanted, Jason?! To fulfill the wishes of a dead man's darkest and sickest desire?!"

"I didn't kill Bruce, (Y/N)!" Your eyes widened in shock as they reverted back to their original color. After taking a breath to calm down, you choose your next words very methodically and thoughtfully.

"Then, why are you here, wasting your time with me, a girl in a bubble? When you could be out there, saving the day and stopping the reign of the very people you want to destroy? I'm not worth any of your time..." Jason took his time with his answer, trying not to lose his cool again. When the words that he thought up began to fail him, he, once again, did the next best thing…

He pressed the button that releases the front of his helmet...

You had seen his face before in his and the other supervillains' memories. From his time with Bruce and as Robin to his imprisonment and torture at the Joker's hand. However, seeing his scarred face in person was like meeting an intimidated person in a public place.

"Because I don't want you to end up like how I am now... not with Scarecrow" With that, he leaned down and pressed his lips on yours. His right arm holding you up, nearly lifting you off the ground as you fought to keep yourself from collapsing from confusion and bliss. This was your first kiss and the person was someone you feel a strong connection with...

With someone who was promising to set you free from your cage...

With someone who was once trapped in a cage of his own...

~~~~~~~~~~~~

#batman #arkham knight #arkham knight x reader #jason todd x reader #jason peter todd #jason todd imagine #y/n #soft!y/n #barbara gordon #bruce wayne #dc comics #dc universe #dick grayson #red hood x reader

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dreamsclock · 3 years

Text

“WHAT MAKES A MONSTER?” - DSMP ANALYSIS

a c!dream analysis about monstrosity, humanity, and the difference between them

warnings: death, manipulation, prison arc themes (torture/abuse + apologism for both), exile arc themes (abuse/manipulation), discussions of morality, dehumanization, general dark themes.

disclaimer: this analysis is not to detract or excuse c!dream’s wrongdoings and crimes. instead, i’m discussing his supposed monstrosity, what makes him monstrous to us/other characters, and why that is! ALSO, all names refer to characters in the SMP unless specified otherwise.

note: a lot of the books and authors discussed in this are based around old english texts, but still apply overall to ideas of monstrosity - i’ll include them at the bottom in case you want to read them yourselves !!

WORD COUNT: 4980

Monster to us is not a new term. It’s also not new in the Dream SMP - the dichotomy of ‘hero’ / ‘villain’ and ‘human’ / ‘monster’ are so common when describing characters (especially recently) that it’s easy to take those titles at face value. But what is a monster? What is the invisible line between humanity and monstrosity that a character has to cross in order to be one? And why do we see them that way? These are all questions I’m going to talk about in regards to the SMP, namely Dream, but also touching on Ranboo, Wilbur and Tommy too: some in terms of heroism, some in terms of monstrosity, most in terms of both.

So what is a monster? We’ll start there.

Most critics seem to agree that a monster is something… Other. Regardless of its species (alien, human, god, inexplicably, an Egg that corrupts people against themselves - looking at you, weird talking SMP Egg), no monster is ‘human’ in every single way that matters to an audience. We see this time and time again throughout all kinds of media - Frankenstein’s Monster (Frankenstein), Darth Vader (Star Wars), Nurse Ratched (One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest), Voldemort (Harry Potter), the Joker (Batman / DC), It (eponymous), and the list goes on. So many characters we class as ‘monsters’ (or as displaying great monstrous tendencies) are also characterized as being “apart” from general society, be it because they are literally nonhuman, or because they are “missing” a key component of what we consider to be humanity (emotional responses, compassion for others, regard for human life), and interestingly, some of these human monsters also try to cover up their humanity (or have it covered up in some way): clown makeup (Joker), mask (Darth Vader) uniform (Ratched). Monstrosity is something other and unfamiliar to us as a society - and very often rooted in ableist, homophobic, racist or otherwise bigoted thoughts/mindsets (in this analysis, I don’t touch much on that, it’s just something I’ve noticed I thought was interesting).

So monstrous is not human. Not in the way most of us understand humans. Arguably, a monster is one extreme or the other - too inhuman, as is the case with most very stereotypical villains/monsters, or TOO human. We see this in psychological thrillers and in human monsters that do very bad things for the sole reason of giving into human nature to survive (Grendel, Beowulf, perhaps) or avenging their loved one (Grendel’s mother, Beowulf), or even just out of anger and hatred at the world, as is common with heroes-turned-villains. Instead, the monstrous taps into our conscious and unconscious fears stemming from the past all the way into the future, ranging from fear of the technological and scientific advancements (Cyborgs/Doctor Who monsters, Frankenstein) to the evil that lies inside everyone (Voldemort, Joker, any hero turned villain) to even the fear of ourselves and becoming ‘less’ or ‘too’ human (as touched on above) and branching out in numerous ways. This is interesting, because it begins to highlight WHY exactly we see these creatures/people as monsters - we fear them, and subsequently reject them as being human, and call them ‘monsters’ perhaps to distance ourselves from them.

But I still haven’t really answered what a monster actually is! I suppose when it comes down to it there are two main types of monsters people seem to agree upon - the physical (an animal, alien, creature, human) and the abstract (illness, war, death, chaos, human nature, et cetera). However, there is a mix of these two categories, where, like I mentioned above, as soon as a monster falls into becoming a conscious/unconscious fear of ours, we turn it from something concrete (person/creature) to something abstract (Cohen, Monster Theory: Reading Culture). A good example of this, because I’m not very good at explaining, is seen in really classic literature: Frankenstein, that is a physical flesh-and-blood creature that is also an embodiment of the early 19th century’s (when it was written) fear of advancements in technology and science.

A monster can be human and embody something abstract or a concept we fear - Kristeva (Powers Of Horror: An Essay On Abjection) puts it in a really good way: we are confronted “with those fragile states where man strays on the territories of animal” (or, in our case too, a concept). She argues, for Grendel’s mother in Beowulf, that it is this fact that turns her into a monster - she threatens human understanding, her existence does not “respect borders, positions, rules”. I’d like to say that’s part of what pushes it into the ‘monstrous’ category, that sort of undefinable, uncategorizable blend of two known “spheres” that threatens the collapse of those two spheres: a monster, like I mentioned earlier, is something Other, and being undefinable and having your existence be against known spheres of society is nothing if not Other.

Now, how does all this come into play in Dream as a character, and more generally the Dream SMP? For that, I also want to look at Cohen’s book (that I blitzed through in a DAY lmao) Monster Theory: Reading Culture, where in part one he talks very specifically about seven theses of monstrosity:

1. THE MONSTER’S BODY IS A CULTURAL BODY.

We’ve kind of spoken about this already, but monsters are very often embody cultural, national or global fears and anxieties. There are some fears that exist in many parts of the world - the dark, predator animals, et cetera, and monster stories come to use those against us to create monsters we fear. In the same way, more abstract concepts become embodied in villains - corrupt authority/cruelty of psychiatric hospitals in the 50s is highlighted in Ratched (Cuckoo’s Nest), fear of straight white men being fucking awful in the Joker - you get the picture.

Arguably, Dream embodies, to characters and audiences alike, the doom of L’Manburg (as well as almost everything else Bad). Though not responsible for every war and mishap, he does find himself involved in them, by inserting himself in or others dragging him in, and it’s clear from character reactions and our own (remember the sinking feeling in your stomach you used to get when Dream logged on to the server?) that he has sort of come to embody all things dark and evil on the server. That, of course, hasn’t been helped with the fact the characters also feel that way about him - even if it’s not always the case, Dream is accredited with every crime and flaw on the server, further dehumanizing him and turning him into a Big Bad of sorts, a puppet-master monster controlling things behind the scenes (and it is this unknown that worries us). Dream from the start wanted L’Manburg gone, and though ultimately Wilbur and Techno destroyed it first, and then Techno, Philza and Dream, we still all see Dream as the destroyer of L’Manburg. A lot also see him as behind the “fall” of L’Manburg, too (i.e.. when it became Manburg, the corruption of Wilbur, the wreck of a government that was the New L’Manburg Cabinet, etc.) - as L’Manburg was seen almost completely as a force with “good” people who loved it, Dream’s wish to have it destroyed frightened us and the characters, who in turn turned him into an embodiment of that fear.

2. THE MONSTER ALWAYS ESCAPES

You know the moment in a horror movie where the killer or creature comes back for one more jump-scare? Yeah. It’s a cliché in horror when there’s a monster on the loose, and it’s no different with Dream… and we can thank REAL Dream’s manhunt videos for that. Though IRL Dream is not his character, his skills and intelligence carries over into his character, and we see the very peak of these time and time again in every manhunt. We all know how it goes - the hunters have Dream in an impossible situation, and all hope is lost, until he pulls through and kills them in an array or fireworks, or traps them on the roof of the Nether, or leaps off a high ledge in the Nether to ride a Strider, or some other crazy move that leaves us reeling. The fact is, while Dream is the “good guy” in those manhunts and we’re rooting for him to win, when it comes to his character in the Dream SMP, it’s often the opposite.

When it comes to his character in the Dream SMP, we view him as the antagonist (someone in the way of the protagonist’s, in this case Tommy/Tubbo/Ranboo/literally anyone other than Techno at this point’s, goals). And we are also all too aware of the skills, intelligence and impulsivity he possesses - Dream is lethal in Minecraft, and is very very rarely beaten when he’s trying hard. In fact, it is so unbelievable when he IS beaten that many people don’t believe it, instead suggesting he’d let himself lose to lull other characters into a false sense of security, or that he has other plans up his sleeve. This is especially pressing now, where Dream is locked away in prison and every character is a) still absolutely terrified over him and b) certain he is going to break out. Time and time again, we have watched content creator Dream get out of impossible situations in manhunt - now, we’re terrified that his CHARACTER is going to pull the same stunt, we’re waiting breathlessly for that trick up his sleeve, for him to give us one last jump-scare.

3. THE MONSTER IS THE HARBINGER OF CATEGORY CRISIS. // 4. THE MONSTER DWELLS AT THE GATES OF DIFFERENCE.

Okay, this is where things begin to get interesting. A really common sign that someone or something is a monster is how they look - in other words, the less “human” something looks, the easier it is to characterize it as inhuman and monstrous. For Minecraft skins, this begins to get clear when we take a look at Dream’s skin in comparison to our heroes’ skins. For this section I’ll be focusing on Tommy, Tubbo, Wilbur, Fundy, Bad, Ant, Sam, Techno, Schlatt and Dream.

HUMANS - Self explanatory: these skins look human and their characters are confirmed to be human, and this category covers Tommy, Tubbo, Wilbur, and Schlatt, the former two being “heroes”, the latter two being “villains”. Despite Schlatt and Wilbur doing awful awful things, it’s very rare you hear them being spoken about as monsters in any sense of the word: bad people, sure, but PEOPLE nonetheless.

NONHUMANS - Also pretty self explanatory: these skins don’t look human and have been confirmed or largely agreed not to be human, and this includes Fundy (fox), Techno (pig), Bad (demon), Ant (cat) and Sam (creeper). These are all known species to us, in real life and Minecraft: we understand what they are and can categorize them as animal, demon, mob, et cetera, and though their morality and general character arcs differ, there is no confusion or speculation that MATTERS as to what they are.

And now, of course, we get to Dream. While CC!Dream has confirmed his character wears a mask, and also that he prefers human fanart (but likes either!), whether or not he is human is WIDELY debated, and indeed it’s a source of argument for two reasons: a) debating whether he is possessed by something (a dreamon) or b) whether he is inhuman for another reason. Fanart of Dream is perhaps the most varied in terms of depictions of him, ranging from a human, to a demon/dreamon, to a straight up dude with an orb head (orb head Dream my beloved LMAO). With very little confirmed by CC!Dream himself or his skin (,,a green blob), the fandom is left to theorize, which falls into that monstrous, frightening category of Unknown and Other. While there are other non-human characters on the SMP, we at least KNOW of them - Dream is an unknown, of unknown species and unknown origin, someone who refuses to “participate in the classincatory "order of things", “a form suspended between forms that threatens to smash distinctions”. Dream is different from the other species and characters on the server, whether he is possessed, dreamon, entirely human, something else, and it is this unknown that leads a lot of people to say he is a monster, in that he hurts humans because he isn’t one, that he can’t experience human feelings, that he is immortal, et cetera.

5. THE MONSTER POLICES THE BORDERS OF THE POSSIBLE.

Cohen’s fifth thesis talks about those who are considered monsters often BECOME them because of this rejection of their humanity - they embrace the “monstrous” and claim it as their identity despite it being assigned by others. I could talk about this forever LMAO: right from the start, we see Dream being cast into the role of the villain - in the L’Manburg War, in the Manburg-Pogtopia War, in every skirmish and every conflict, and by the time season two rolls around, he is undeniably what most would consider to be a “monster”.

Dream constructs his villainy around what others is already expected of him - going from “I’m NOT god” in the dethronement scene to “I’m basically a GOD!” after bringing Tommy back to life, accepting Tommy’s “you’re a monster” with a simple “okay”, calling himself a “puppet-master” after dozens of characters, and thousands of fans, have called him one… I am not trying to argue Dream became a monster through entirely the actions of others, but he definitely took the monster part to heart - how many names along those lines has he given himself?? How many “evil” lines has he hit out with (“I’m just toying with you, I’m playing with my food” “every hero needs an origin story (...) You can have Tubbo” “if you can’t kill me, what does that make me? Some kind of God?”) over season two? It’s very hard to argue that he hasn’t constructed an identity for himself out of other people’s presumptions of him, regardless of whether they were right or not - and even harder to argue that he hasn’t at least picked up on some of the dehumanizing language he has been referred to over the past two seasons.

6. FEAR OF THE MONSTER IS REALLY A KIND OF DESIRE.

Oscar Wilde (my beloved) argued in his defense of his book The Picture of Dorian Gray that the only sin committed in the book is that which the audience reads into it or sees within themselves. In the same way, the monster, Cohen continues in his sixth thesis, acts as a buffer through which we can live out desires and wants that are socially unacceptable for us to admit, but can be projected instead at the monster. And this is something I think we see a lot of in terms of monstrosity for the SMP - and I’ll be talking about Ranboo as well as Dream in this part!!

So first, a quick example from our man Cohen - he argues it’s possible that sea serpents and monsters were invented to sit along the edges of medieval merchants’ trade routes to discourage exploration and ensure they had power over trading oils and such. In the same way, Dream and Enderwalk Ranboo are created monsters, because certain other characters have desires or wants they see as “unfitting” of them as a person or “morally wrong”, so they project it onto Dream and Enderwalk Ranboo.

We’ll start with Dream. The person who first begins to turn him into something monstrous is Wilbur back in the L’Manburg War, when he claims Dream is a tyrant, and then in the Manburg-Pogtopia war, where he has not yet fully admitted to himself or to Tommy that he is hellbent on blowing Manburg up no matter the cost. In his mind, and in Tommy’s, it is easier to present Dream as the one who wants chaos rather than Wilbur himself - Dream, who very clearly only ever wanted order and peace rather than what Wilbur suggests he does. It could be argued Quackity in season two does the exact same with Dream in his (discontinued) El Rapids arc: he paints Dream as the tyrant when taking power when really it is QUACKITY who wants to be the one taking power, which he soon goes on to do !! Quackity views Techno and Dream as enemies not because he necessarily disagrees with them, but because he wants what they have — power — and arguably projects his own fears/desires of tyranny on to them.

And we can see this same thing between Ranboo and Enderwalk Ranboo. We know Ranboo agrees with a lot of the same ideas as “pre-season two” Dream and goes about his goal of trying to get rid of sides in a similar way to “pre-season two” Dream: by joining the side of his friends / whatever side he thinks is right and fighting for it while trying to convince people NO sides would be better. His Enderwalk side is a side he is scared of - the voice even takes the form of Dream, who we spoke about before as seeming like the embodiment of all things bad and evil on the server, including the destruction of L’Manburg, which Ranboo’s friends cared about immensely - and one he tries to vilify, however indirectly. This is also furthered by a part of the fandom that are convinced a) Enderwalk Ranboo is evil and helping Dream to be Evil ™ (to the extent there’s theories Enderwalk is going to kill his and Tubbo’s son Michael), or b) Enderwalk Ranboo is being manipulated by Dream into being Evil ™. Either way, we see Ranboo as “good” and Enderwalk Ranboo as some form of “evil” or “wrong”.... neither of which have been shown to us as true. For all we know of Enderwalk Ranboo, he is dramatic, he speaks in cryptic riddles, he helped Dream blow up the Community House / visited him in prison because they are “friends”, he has more control over his Ender abilities, and he wants Ranboo to face and know the “Truth”. The fact is, we don’t have a lot to go off of with him, but the fact we immediately associate him as evil despite him very likely being a projection of Ranboo’s unconscious desires for unity and no-sides on the server just because Ranboo is scared of him is valid (we’re liable to experience the same emotions as the protagonist: Noel Carroll brings up that we are liable to fear monsters if the protagonist also dies), but perhaps flawed, considering we know almost nothing of Enderwalk Ranboo.

DISCLAIMER: this was written before Ranboo’s lore stream on the 23rd. Things may change accordingly!!

7. THE MONSTER STANDS AT THE THRESHOLD OF BECOMING.

When Cohen states that the monster stands at the threshold of becoming, he is claiming that the monsters in these texts are on the threshold of becoming human. This is the final thesis I want to touch on, and perhaps the most interesting. Because the monsters are unknown, but perhaps what is most frightening about the “unknown” of monsters is how close they might be to humanity. I’ve mentioned before that monsters can often embody wide scale anxieties, fears or even desires, and it’s the last one that I think scares a lot of characters and people.

With Dream, arguably? He’s right. His overarching thought of “we should be unified, we need order and peace, I want a family and I would do anything to get it” is UNDERSTANDABLE. worse, it’s sympathetic. this is a human want — I spoke about earlier monsters being “not human enough” or “too human” (or indeed a mix of both) and I think Dream leans more towards the second category of TOO human. While on one hand he seems inhuman in his methods and what he says, his goals and what he Accidentally reveals about himself are undeniably, painfully human:

I HAD to lose everything. I had to lose everything to GAIN everything.

The Dream SMP always… This is what I’ve talked to you before, is always the goal has just been that- It’s all one united server that everybody follows the same rules, there’s no countries, there’s no- you know, any of this. It’s just- … One giant like- family, right?

I just wanted to bring the server together. Have it be... a happy family.

I cut my attachment. I blew up my house, I lost my friends, I lost my items, lost my crossbow... everything that was important to me. I cut everything, 'cause that's what gave people power over each other.

And it’s this that’s so painful, right? Because how many characters on the SMP want a family? How many characters on the SMP would kill and die for their family? How many characters have realized the same thing - that attachment has power over people,,, and how many of them, if put into Dream’s shoes, would have done the exact same as him?

It’s terrifying as well as painful, because we realize that in his circumstances, in his mindset, our favorite characters could end up the same. The worrying thing about turning a character into a monster is that it lets us forget how easy it is for anyone to become one. Monsters are monsters because we’re scared of what we don’t know about them, because we’re scared of our own forbidden desires and fears we project into them, but also because we’re scared that if we look at them too closely, with an eye of humanity, we might see ourselves staring back.

And finally, for the final part of this mini (not mini actually) essay: “I had a sudden image of your poetry capturing you like the Minotaur in the labyrinth," Cohen (Monster Theory: Reading Culture) reports someone writing to a writer Nichols, "—and started wondering what is the relationship of someone to the mythology they make up? Anyway. Best, Matt."

Matt, thank you for raising such an interesting point. What IS the relationship of someone to their monster? Let’s get into that, will we?

In short: what is a hero without a monster to fight?

We can’t have one side of the dichotomy without the other. What is peace without chaos to define it? What is good without evil? What is, in our case, a hero without a monster — how do we judge fictional moral standards if we have no evil monster to set heroes apart from them?

In her book, Powell discusses the idea of what a hero is, which is also essential to understanding what a monster is. In terms of medieval society, a monster is needed to mark out “a loosely defined moral boundary that ordinary people” — and heroes — “should not cross”. In a fantasy or historical world without institutionalized laws as such, especially in a world as “free” (in terms of worldbuilding and institutions/laws) as the Dream SMP, the characters need a standard to compare themselves against. Without Dream, Tommy wouldn’t be seen as a hero. Without Dream, none of the characters would necessarily be seen as good. But Dream embodies a moral line which people should not cross. In Old English texts, “the presence of monsters lends to an externalized form of morality to the tales of heroic pagan warriors who are not bound by an internalized moral responsibility to the Christian God”, and I guess it’s sort of the same here, even without the religious part. Without a specific legal system, who is to say what “bad” is unless defined by Dream and other “monsters” of the SMP? There is no (proper) religion to answer to, no authority to say what is good and what is bad. Heroes are turned from men into heroes based on the actions not solely of themselves, but of the monsters they are against, and we can see that so clearly with Tommy and with Dream, who have committed several similar crimes, but Dream’s evil of exile and other Bigger Crimes ultimately are seen as outweighing Tommy’s, rightly or wrongly. We may have been inclined to believe that Tommy deserved to be punished for burning down George’s house had Dream not taken it to the extreme that he did (exile, manipulating Tubbo/New L’Manburg/etc).

WRAPPING UP

In conclusion (and a Very Long Conclusion), monstrosity is a really fucking complicated thing, but is ultimately based in fear, our own (or the characters’ own) unconscious desires they see as monstrous, and also based on our need (or the characters’ needs, in this case) to distance characters we see as “evil” from humanity / characters we see as “good”. It’s much easier to keep your favorite characters “morally good” when you have a monster to compare them against: not to mention, it’s much easier to think of a human “monster” like Dream as deserving of torture and death when he is dehumanized as a monster, instead of as a person who has made bad choices and done shitty things, but is ultimately still a person.

Because, as Mittman and Hensel point out in their book Classic Readings On Monster Theory, we make monsters. We make society and define what “known” and “unknown” is, we bring monsters to life with our fear, hatred and disgust of them, just like Doctor Frankenstein did with Frankenstein. And the danger of forgetting this is that we also forget the true horror of monsters: whether they actually are or not, they are human, because we are the ones who make them.

Dream makes a good point: “evil is in the eye of the beholder”. Monsters are relative to the culture or people that produce them: a witch would not be a monster to the population of Wizarding Britain in the Harry Potter series, but would be seen as a monster to Muggle Britain instead, to put it in that way. It’s important to remember monsters are people, for several reasons: a) it reminds us monsters are our own creation, and that b) in a very cliché sense, the worst “monsters” are just people.

Why is this important to remember? Because it reminds us how easily any one of us (or our favorite characters, in this case) could slip down the path of monstrosity. We see this in Quackity already — his parallels to Dream in the exile arc are scarily close, and this isn’t coincidental or bad repetitive writing. Quackity is a human: we know this, and his story has been incredibly human-based, based on his trauma and goals and how far he’ll go to reach them, and we see him torturing, manipulating and even getting his fiancé blown up to achieve these goals. And yet we see very few people call him a monster. Does that mean he is one? Where is the line we draw of determining what makes someone a monster? And then, can we begin to excuse a monster’s actions based on them being a monster - that is to say, how can we be angry at a monster for acting like a monster?

The best way to treat a monster is to treat them like a person. Not a good person, but a person nonetheless — far from excusing their actions, it only ends up condemning them more, but it also opens the door for compassion or empathy towards those characters. We can study a character as a Person, rather than a Monster, and we can think “you are a bad person who has done bad things, but I can see how you ended up here and I am going to do my utmost best not to end up like you.”

The true horror of Dream as a character is that he IS a person who has still managed to do all these awful awful things: that he was pushed to a point one way or another where he as a person could do those things to another person. Hell, calling him a monster arguably desensitizes us to what he’s done, and in turn desensitizes us to what is being done to him in prison: whether you are an anti of Dream’s character, a fan, an apologist, somewhere in between, it doesn’t pay to think of him as a monster: instead, seeing him as a Person (even if he turns out to be nonhuman, we can treat him like other nonhumans on the SMP like fundy, bad, ant, sam, etc.) makes for a far more interesting, a far more horrific, and far more tragic reading of him.

It’s a hard thing, to view an evil character as human, because it’s not something we want to admit — that any of our favorite characters could have turned out the same or worse had they been in that scenario, that we see how they got there, that we see they are like us (not an unknowable unfamiliar monster, but a human, a person, like us) — but it’s worth trying to do. Mittman and Hensel say it best: “Assertions of monstrosity are not merely insults, but are fundamental denials of the humanity of human beings” — because humanity is not good or evil, and we don’t have to pretend like it is.

tysm for reading !!

REFERENCES USED

each title or brackets next to them has a link to either the full book/article, a link to a summary, or a link to buy the book if you’re interested!!

Classic Readings On Monster Theory - Mittman and Hensel (READ FREE)

Meditating On Men And Monsters:�� A Reconsideration Of The Thematic Unity Of The Beowulf Manuscript - Powell (LINK TO BUY)

The Nature of Horror - Carroll (SUMMARY) (LINK TO READ)

An Essay On Abjection - Kristeva (FULL ESSAY)

Horror And The Maternal In Beowulf - Acker (FULL ESSAY?)

Monster Culture: Seven Theses - Cohen (FULL ESSAY)

EXTRA NOTES (TBA!)

c!dream and perspective bias (twitter comment thread)

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