#you can't not do them justice like that

[cassmouse]

Working on my new main original project atm and-

'I'm not gonna go overboard on the poetic romance'

'I'm NOT going to make this too much of a romance'

And then

Oh my god I am going overboard with the romance

#I have such a clear idea of her in my head and she's pretty as shit #so I have to describe that in the most poetic way physically possible obviously lmao #that's how pretty girls work #you can't not do them justice like that #anyway this has been going surprisingly well will update y'all #no name so I can't make a tag for it like tsos 😭 #damn jesus it's been a hot minute since I even looked at tsos #well #this is my life now #but I do feel bad about abandoning colbie and arica like I'm obviously gonna come back to it but I do feel bad 😭😭 #I'm so sorry you two I promise I'll work on y'alls story at some point #ANYWAY this story is still cool as shit #my surrealist horrorrrrr #yeah you can't tell yet lmao #writeblr #writing wip #story extract #still untitled... Might have a title and then a tag for it later down the line?? #surrealist horror wip

[starflungwaddledee]

some rather strong first impressions were made.

required reading for the magical "voice" headcanon and another for starstruck's signature in particular. asked by @trainerbob23 !

#did i need to do a 9 page comic for this... well who knows. i had this scene in mind for a long time and wanted to do it justice! #important moment for both of them. you can see starstruck just generating the bandee shaped mental illness in real time. #and bandee resolving to be her point of contact with waddle dees if the others can't handle it #he is after all; the strongest and the bravest and the best of them. #“what is this signature like” it's like meeting something that has a human face but you can tell it is Not Human. think: uncanny valley #it also took her quite some time to pick up her own voice. she could not speak (popstarian) on her own for a while #she does not mimic anymore though if she can help it because it tends to weird others out and she wants to avoid that!! #it's not like a fun or enjoyable impersonation; it's like a perfect recording on a device. #also i guess this is *finally* the reveal of the 'hospital' mentioned previously that folks noticed and also like... her name 😂 #anyway.... thank you to everyone who voted for starstruck in that poll and has encouraged this insane self indulgence... wow. #never thought i'd get to draw stuff like this and have others look forward to it. i really hope you'll enjoy this!!! #my art #my comics #starstruck dee #bandana waddle dee

[chittychittyyangyang]

#rwby #justice league x rwby #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #bumbleby #blake #yang #I know everyone seems to be excited for jealous blake #but I can't stop looking at blake's face like #'yang do you know how much core strength and body control it takes to swing you around like it's nothing #like I do for our signature attack and you never say shit about it' #give blake (and all of them) muscles 2023 #ccyy edit

[sergle]

how come you don't draw the ppl / characters you have the hots for

there's a certain kind of artist that can do that... a better type of artist................. and an artist who can stand to look at the reference material for more than a few seconds at a time.

#i can't look at someone i'm TRULY attracted to for very long before needing to basically walk it off and this is not a joke #but also there are a few Types of artists and one of them is the type where most of the work is self portraiture #or like. self adjacent. hence all the art. of. fat women. that i make. sort of more of my likeness #but also if you do a bad job drawing someone you think is hot then it's sort of like well. maybe i should consider killing myself #sergle answers #sometimes you don't want to. BESMIRCH. something that you like. by not doing it justice when you draw it #weird coming from me bc I used to draw EXCLUSIVELY fanart but also I wasn't thinking about it that hard at the time

[andromeda3116]

people actually went on about how game of thrones made it socially acceptable to be a fantasy nerd, as though the lord of the rings movies hadn't been released less than a decade earlier and left far greater cultural ripples and i am just

got may have made the adults feel better about liking fantasy, but lotr got into the kids' heads when they (we) were just young and impressionable enough to be absolutely transported and emotionally rewritten by don't you leave him, samwise gamgee and my brother, my captain, my king and and rohan will answer

lotr was rewriting entire generations' brain chemistry long before asoiaf and so obviously it's not fair to compare any post-lotr fantasy novel to it, and each book series was trying to do different things within their own spheres and so that also is not a fair comparison, but in terms of the cultural impact of the adaptations that came out within a decade of each other, saying that it was game of thrones that made fantasy mainstream is baffling

game of thrones could only run because the lord of the rings movies laid the path, and i will die on this hill

#lotr #lord of the rings #lord of the rings movies #i started this post because ''may it be'' came up on my playlist but now i think i'm going to start my nth rewatch of the trilogy #there is a lot to discuss about it re: comparison to the books but it's like... #for all the changes they made - good and bad and neutral - everyone involved in making the films *loved* the source material #they all *wanted* to do justice to it and believed in it and it shows #i think of some posts i've seen about how frustrating this modern push towards tongue-in-cheek irony over sincerity #so afraid to be corny or cheesy that you have to tack a joke onto every real emotional moment #like no fuck that #give me sam hauling frodo onto his shoulders saying ''i can't carry it for you but i can carry you'' #give me aragorn gently kissing boromir's forehead as he dies #give me merry and pippin throwing themselves at the uruk hai to distract them from frodo #give me theoden's grand speeches and gandalf's pained expression when frodo says he'll carry the ring #tbh i think that sincerity is a large part of *why* it has such staying power even now #because it is a story you are meant to get deeply emotionally invested in and not hold yourself a little ironically apart from #it isn't meant to sell merch it's meant to bring you to middle-earth and capture your heart and make you believe that the war can be won #with love and loyalty and hope and fellowship and fidelity and integrity and just... just refusing to give in to despair #it is earnest. it is unafraid to be melodramatic or corny because it believes in the story it's telling. #and so it imprinted onto a whole generation growing up right at the cusp of a barrage of apocalypses #anyway. i have Feelings about these movies and their impact and how that mirrors and enhances the books' own impact

[blueskittlesart]

do u have any navi thoughts from your oot replay

i've been waiting to answer this until I actually beat the game in my current playthrough because navi is another one of those characters that i think of in like a "set" with several other characters who serve relatively the same thematic purpose; in this case that purpose being the "mother" character, and i wanted to have all the characters in that set fresh in my mind. it's notable that while oot shows us very clear and consistent instances of the ways in which the adults of hyrule fail to protect their children, there ARE several adults who DO go out of their way to both oppose ganondorf and protect and nurture the children under their care. All of these characters are adult women, and all of them explicitly help the children out of some sort of parental responsibility or sense of duty towards them. in this group I include link's late mother, impa, nabooru, and navi.

all 4 mother characters, despite being adults or adult-coded, reject the inaction mentality which characterizes other adults in the game. they become either direct supports or shields to their children from the conflict the world has to offer them, and they are always explicitly punished for their interference--link's mother is killed trying to protect her son, impa's village is burned, nabooru is brainwashed. The mother's fatal flaw is that she will protect her child above all else, even in a world in which children cannot truly be protected. however, with the exception of link's mother, these characters manage to persist even in the face of her punishment, and this is where I think navi becomes the exemplary character.

Navi, after a lifetime of being link's only support system, the only adult in his life he could truly, consistently count on, receives her punishment at the hands of ganondorf--in the final battle, she is pushed out. she is unable to reach her child. she cannot protect him. However, BECAUSE link has grown up with her at his side, he is strong enough to take ganondorf down. and when ganon rises again, navi is there to support link, promising not to leave his side, and the intuitive targeting of that battle (a mechanic which navi is inherently tied to!!) makes it a cinch to win. Navi, and the other mothers we meet, are a reminder to the player that the world doesn't HAVE to be the way it is. Their persistence when punished, their insistence that their children ought to be protected, is a reminder that good adults do exist, and that good adults raise good children. link and zelda are able to win in spite of the adults who refused to help them, but also BECAUSE of the adults who DID. It's a reinforcement of the core theme of oot--that childlike idea that the world SHOULD be good and fair and if it isn't, it should be changed until it is. The mothers of oot are examples of what the world COULD be, reminders that it is possible to grow up without losing hope or growing bitter, and they are examples of the next step for the children they've raised to change the word--to continue fighting even in the face of punishment, to refuse inaction, and to foster that same hope and persistence in the generations to come.

#one thing i've really been noticing this time around is the specific way in which navi's targeting works #because even though other 3d games have that targeting mechanic navi's targeting is noticeably different #in two ways. the first being that she specifically targets weak spots in enemies almost as if she is pointing them out to link #and the second being that she is capable of targeting things link himself doesn't see #whether it be invisible enemies or triggers that are out of his reach or scarecrow points or whatever #it's really reminiscent to me of the way you teach problem solving skills to a kid. you see them struggling with something and beginning to #get frustrated and you say 'hey let's look around. do you see any solutions?' and if they can't see the solution themself you might point #and say 'hey what's that?' just to get their attention on it and help facilitate that train of thought for them #because like in most other games targeting is sort of assumed to be link's own intuition in battle #and therefore it will usually allow you to focus on one enemy within a swarm of them but it won't explicitly light up the weak spot for you #navi does that for link because she's essentially the mother teaching her kid how to problem-solve. #and when she's taken away in the final battle link is able to fight anyway BECAUSE she put so much time and effort into raising him #that he no longer needs her to facilitate that problem-solving process. he already knows how to beat ganondorf #because he's done it with her before. and that's exactly the mother's role in her child's life #protect him and raise him as best you can so that when you can no longer be by his side he isn't afraid. #foster that sense of justice and encourage him to keep fighting to change the world even when it seems unchangeable. #god. ocarina of fucking time #zelda analysis #asks

[ctrl-lupin]

Yes, I would be very interested hearing your head canon (@tim-ribbert-56) (in response to this post)

I have decided for my personal entertainment that Clarisse de Cagliostro is related to Lupin III, and here's why.

-pulls out Arsène Lupin's Wikipedia page-

In the novel La Comtesse de Cagliostro, a young Arsène Lupin (at the time going by the name Raoul d'Andrésy) was courting Clarisse d'Etigues, a young lady of a well-to-do family, and trying to win her hand, despite her father's disapproval.

Throughout the course of the novel, Lupin meets and falls in love with Joséphine Balsamo, aka the Countess of Cagliostro, and abandons Clarisse in favour of her. To clarify, Joséphine is not actually countess of anything, she is (or claims to be) a descendant of Giuseppe Balsamo aka the Count of Cagliostro (who was also count of jack shit), a famous conman from the 18th century.

Shenanigans ensue, which I will not go into in details on, but oh my god I am insane about Raoul and Joséphine, I want to dissect them and study them under a microscope. It turns out Joséphine aka Cagliostro is evil as fuck, Raoul/Lupin realizes that and goes back to Clarisse (whom he had previously abandoned like an old sock, I fucking hate this guy), marries her, and a few years later has her kid.

Unfortunately Clarisse dies in childbirth, and Joséphine, who was still around and very very pissed at Lupin (and jealous as hell of Clarisse whom, may I mention, had never personally antagonized her in any way whatsoever, Joséphine is just fucking bonkers). Joséphine also kidnaps Lupin and Clarisse's son, Jean, and raises him as her own son. (I have not yet read the following novel The revenge of Cagliostro so I don't really know what Jean's deal is, I just know he's an antagonist).

The following is my headcanon, based on these events. In the universe of Lupin III, Joséphine Balsamo was actually countess of the small kingdom of Cagliostro (maybe Giuseppe was count, maybe he conned his way into becoming count, maybe he bought the land and built a fake kingdom with a fake history, who knows).

After the events of The revenge of Cagliostro, Jean settles down in the country of Cagliostro, gets married, has a child, and that child will later have a daughter of their own, who they name Clarisse, after their late grandmother. Clarisse de Cagliostro, of Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro fame, would thus be the great-grand-daughter of Arsène Lupin, making her Lupin III's cousin/niece/whatever you call this specific degree of separation.

I am choosing to make Clarisse de Cagliostro a great-granddaughter of Arsène Lupin, rather than a granddaughter, because Arsène Lupin was very young when the events I described unfolded: he is 20 years old when he meets Clarisse d'Etigues and the whole Cagliostro debacle happens, and 25 by the time Jean is born. I'm assuming he had Lupin II much later in his life. So Jean and Lupin II (half-brothers) would have a significant difference in age, and so Jean's hypothetical child (grandchild of Arsène Lupin, so of the same generation of Lupin III) would be much older than Lupin III. Clarisse de Cagliostro is younger than him, maybe around the same age if you stretch it, so she's have to be a great-grandchild.

Now I need to read The revenge of Cagliostro and study Arsène Lupin's wikipedia page in more detail to determine when exactly Lupin II was born and who his mother was. And also where Albert's family branched out, because the fact that he's called D'Andrésy should theoretically place him as a descendant of Arsène Lupin's mother but not of Arsène Lupin himself; but Jean was also going by that last name, so who fucking knows.

No I am not insane I promise, I am just a gigantic nerd.

#i have very mixed feelings about Papy Lupin Original Flavour #cuz you see in the first books he was pretty much like his grandson #a charming little bastard; smug as hell but also charming enough to make up for it #like. an ego the size of the eiffel tower but it's highly deserved #if he robbed me i would just thank him #you wanna punch him in the face but like. lovingly #then around The Hollow Needle he started acting weird #and after that his ego grew into a god complex the size of the eiffel tower and he just lost all the charm #like. just a huge dick honestly. #i thought that was a logical evolution after (SPOILER FOR THE HOLLOW NEEDLE) his wife got brutally murdered in front of his eyes #mere HOURS after they got married and he gave up his whole career as a thief for her #which would be an understandable evolution #but no he's also retroactively an asshole in The Countess of Cagliostro which is a prequel #i guess leblanc just decided 'lupin's a dick now' #which sucks #but on the other hand it's very funny to kinda hate-read The Countess of Cagliostro #i was honestly rooting for Joséphine for most of the book #she is fucking insane which is exactly what raoul/lupin deserve #you know that Mountain Goats song 'no children' ? #'hand in unloveable hand; i hope you die i hope with both die' #or that post that says 'i don't ship them they're too toxic / well i hope they kill each other mid-fuck' #well that's me with them #just reading on to see how many more life-ruining decisions raoul can bodily throw himself at #also leblanc did joséphine dirty!!!!!!!! #LET MY GIRL BE EVIL FOR GOD'S SAKE #none of that 'her fragile feminine nature' and fainting after murdering someone because deep down she can't bear her own cruelty #what the fuck #let her be genuinely unhinged!! let her bash raoul's head in with a meat hammer!!!! #(yes that is something that she tried to do) #anyway. justice for Joséphine Balsamo. god forbid women do anything

[mechieonu]

my favorite interpretation of deathpuss atm is the one where puss is a manwhore and death is oblivious

#by which i mean #death has such a complete lack of romantic experience that any kind of flirting goes over his head #and any that doesn't just flat out bluescreens him #that and i can't see puss being anything other than unrepentantly honest w ppl he finds hot #so it'd just be like #puss: yeah i can take you #death‚ drawing his sickles immediately: IN A FIGHT? #anyways go read the golden hourglass on ao3 its the best deathpuss fic ever #& these tags are incredibly generalizing & don't do the both of them justice #deathwish #deathpuss #death in boots #<- i love that ship name

[unproduciblesmackdown]

rhetorically: is there a standard for how to treat people based on universally recognizing their personhood, or is there the idea that how we treat people should be determined by our assessment of their vibe or whether we like them based on their harmless behaviors

ppl will posit "politically, you should lend this support to even individuals you don't like" while also positing "if you don't [engage in behavior they deem likable] how do you expect any support XD"

are people required to move from a status of "less deserving" to "adequately deserving" based on others' assessments of their likability, what essential job interview performance are they supposed to do with whom to be judged, who's getting to judge, why are they getting to judge.

the application of the twin experiences of being autistic in general and being abused interpersonally (and, i mean, societally) wherein ofc you're not "likable" and ofc the abusive treatment towards non normative nd existence is framed as "well what do you expect when you Won't Just [do things the way i want you to / think is correct]." people questioning what "community" or "relationship" is meant to mean, politically.

thinking how common social isolation (not the quarantine sense) actually is, and how people may recognize this isn't ideal and don't posit that like i guess all these people are losers who bring it upon themselves and also shouldn't have any support in their life if they have no personal friends, while also apparently embracing the idea that people they think act wrong will put other people off and isolate themselves. like how abuse needs isolation and the people abusing aren't the more isolated ones, even if you think "well ppl who are bad and act wrong? will be alone b/c no one likes them." like how behavior that abuses & harms is framed as disabled (with a pathologized view of disability ofc) while it's disabled ppl more likely to be abused & harmed, actually.

all like about how you have to Prove Yourself win people over and mask and talk and be popular and approved of and not Weird and [interpretations of nd existence as rude / hostile / mean / etccc] and/or perhaps you have to seem sympathetically admirable or sympathetically pitiable and if you don't make eye contact and befriend everyone around you how do you expect to not be left to die

#jumping up in the air freezeframe and i didn't even bring up [the family] or [the romance] for their own probably longass tangents #i mean they weren't kidding that [ableism] can [be fucking everywhere with complete earnestness & casualness] #while anyone goes ''disability justice? that's so new you can't expect anyone to care to even know much less adopt it'' #what's next; not using someone's singular they/them/their pronouns? Yeah That Too. i mean what do you expect? & no one cares? #like shrug guess i'll die.png; and in [this day & age]? what a shock that would be. shock Not meaning ''sixty''; though it can #and i don't expect ''wow but they were so beloved & popular & charming & etc so i guess it's tragic'' #loveless people of the world and i mean Loveless as a term i'm not being figurative. you know what tf is up in general.

[layzeal]

the smear campaign towards aaron bushnell on tumblr is so insidious man

#there's an intrinsic difference in the way language is used between zionists on twitter vs on tumblr #both are equally bad. but on tumblr it just turns my stomach because of how psychology and social justice is weaponized #it's similar to how terfs do it. which is why seemingly harmless posts will fly under the radar #like on twt they'll not even try to pretend and just claim he's a dangerous anarchist who wants death to america or wtv #but on tumblr they know that won't fly so they say ''wow see how anti-israel people are obsessed with death. this is cultural christianity'' #and use psychological language to explain that you can't take him seriously cause he was mentally ill or grew up in a cult #and suddenly this is about how it makes THEM feel. when a man burned himself to death due to having been complicit in genocide #genuinely fuck all of you

[thisliminalspacedaydreams]

there is a thing not enough people talk about and it's that I can't get into a new obssession, before I am done milking the fuck out of the one I'm currently on.

(Like, do I know JJK is going to be my jam? Yes. Do I know it's going to ruin my life in the worst/best way? Yes?

But I'm in my attack on titan era and if I take a sharp left turn now I'll be missing out of the aot glorious content I'm currently spiralling and drowning in and it's just not a concession I'm willing to make at the moment.)

(And like, are there fics I want to read? Yes. Will I be able to enjoy them right now? No. I'm PACING MYSELF I AM WHO I AM I NEED TO DO IT JUSTICE YOU MUST BE PATIENT.)

#it'll be there for me when I'm ready #jjk #aot #I'm looking at the 184772 tabs #of #ao3 #and OTB is staring at me #and I can't open it #AHB is begging me to be read #it's just not time #but it will come #you will be there always #unless you're like #not anymore #but then i've got no one to blame but myself #murder husband fic #so many good fics #so much inability to currently do them justice

[fakehelper]

you know, one really good thing about this whole ordeal is that not only are native fcs getting new resources fast, but they're also in way better quality than the ones that existed before. I'd rather have 100 really well colored, sharpened, and properly timed gifs than 800 rushed gifs that clearly lacked effort on any day.

#like im sorry but when you're putting out gifs that are of the BACK OF THE FCS'S HEAD #that are entirely blurry #that are so dark you can't see the fc #what is the point #just to say you have 800 gifs?? #and how many of those are useable? #if you really want people to use those fcs to share those stories and to do justice to that person #why wouldn't you want to take the time and make sure their resources are as good as you can make them? #to ensure that as many people as possible WANT to use your resources? #you're doing a disservice to the community at that point #especially if you harass the people that try to gif the same fcs

[saryasy]

okay this is a bit random but i just wanted to drop by and let you know that i absolutely fucking love the way you write bucky. like i also absolutely fucking the way you write sam and sambucky but god. the way you write bucky gets to me. his voice in everything you write is so clear and true and just. you always make my heart ache for him and you give him so much depth and it’s always so obvious how much you care about him and yeah. i just love it so much

dude

duuuuuuuuuude

you've rendered me speechless in case you can't tell. like how am I supposed to react to this??? when someone whose writing I greatly admire and is marvelous at grasping the characters says something like that??? what am I supposed to do with my life now

I'm literally grinning from ear to ea rn. beyond happy that my love for that funky pathetic little dude is coming across

thank you so much for this, love 😭😭😭😭💖💖💖💖💖🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷

#asks #a endless pain and suffering #(my absolute beloved) #i appreciate this more than you can imagine darling #like #i love writing him and sam so much #but sometimes you can't help but wonder if you're doing them justice #if you're getting them right #so yeah this is incredibly encouraging #again thank you endlessly for it #i love you so much

[knife-dad]

What if I re-enter my comic book phase but like, do it better this time

#i really liked blue beetle and i really liked my adventures with superman #and i want to rewatch young justice and i want to try batman the animated series... #like what if i start liking superheroes again but only the good versions. like i do with star wars #im not a big comic reader because for some reason that kind of content slides right off my brain #so i can't invest in a ton of comics and graphic novels if i won't read them #but like. i could just give it a little try. you know

[maarigolds]

One thing that I feel like the show is diving in even more than even the books did (because the books are from Lucy's pov), is how fucked up the kids are.

Not just Lucy, Lockwood and George, I mean all of them. We really see a society in which kids (the ones with a talent especially) are forced to grow up much sooner than they should have to. They are treated like adults by adults, and so they act like they think adults would (we see them do it all, from working dangerous jobs, to living alone, to dealing with payments... even drinking and flirting, for crying out loud).

It doesn't always work, of course, because they're not adults and they're not equipped to deal with these things... Which is how you get entire generations of traumatized people, by the way. During the course of the series we see very few adults realize this (the woman who owned Annabel's house, the DEPRAC undercover agent, occasionally Barnes), and the rest don't do shit about it because they see it either as perfectly normal or as unavoidable. The kids themselves seem to view not being treated like adults as weird and annoying.

So yeah I appreciate them talking about it because being forced to grow up too soon and only realizing it when it's too late, is definitely something a lot of people can relate to.

#(myself included) #(not to trauma dump) #also when i say flirting i don't mean that kids can't flirt. it's just the way they do it. you know what i mean? #also poor george who doesn't realize the way joplin treat him is. not right. #because he sees himself as grown because he has the scars to prove it. but he's not. he's not grown. #none of them are #but yeah in case it wasn't clear i really like the show! it's done justice to the books #lockwood & co #lucy carlyle #anthony lockwood #george karim #flo bones #lockwood and co

[phantomchick]

Looking back on Batman (2022)

Enough time has passed now that my initial adrenaline rush )and then later afterglow) over Batman 2022 has resolved itself at least enough that I can look back on the film a bit more critically.

I enjoyed this movie, I enjoyed this Batman, but and this is a big but, this movie did not like Batman.

The thing about Batman is that he's a grim dark fantasy where a hero who's in pain can use that pain as a motivation to help people, to change things, to strive for a better Gotham because he just can't fucking accept the Gotham that allowed his parents to get killed while coming home from the movies, that kills so many other parents and children and sucks the people that remain into a mire of corruption and austerity. This is not that Batman, this is a Batman that's utterly oblivious to the problems with wealth inequality until the movie rubs in his face and even then has his inaction in his role of Bruce Wayne while letting his Batman role monopolise his every waking thought presented as his main problem. This is not a Batman that announces to a dinner party, “Ladies. Gentlemen. You have eaten well. You've eaten Gotham's wealth. Its spirit. Your feast is nearly over. From this moment on...none of you are safe.”. That attacks violent crime on two fronts by giving legitimate jobs to ex cons by day and solving kidnapping or murder cases by night.

And most crucially this isn't a Batman that ... succeeds. By that I mean yes he solves the grand mystery, yes he saves people in the flood, but the classic Batman would have saved that man he interrupts the bomb disposal squad to answer Riddler's phone call for. The classic Batman would have saved Falcone, evil doer that he is, not because he deserved to live but because Batman is a hyper competent hero who's comic gimmick was that he was quick witted enough to stay ahead of the crooks and always save the person in front of him as a result, perhaps it's only natural for that to be subverted with the Riddler as his enemy (a character invented with the intent of putting the detective hero to the test when it came to his cerebral limits) but because this is a stand alone film, which as the name says has this Batman stand alone with the contents as the only basis to judge him with it has the effect of making his presence as a hero less warranted. After all, does Batman's presence in this film really save anyone besides the flood victims and Selina?

Yes the only victims who really get killed are all bad people but... that's not the point of Batman, the point is that he saves everyone he can.

The film also does the whole 'batman creates his own villains and actively makes the city worse because he espouses vengeance and violence' thing which egh, slightly more palatable with the transition from vengeance to hope, but I really don't fucking like it all the same. And besides that I dislike the idea that vengeance can't be hopeful, that a man who lost everything in one terrifying night, who got no justice, whose loved ones and personal loss and whose innocence remain unavenged saying to himself "I am justice, I am vengeance, I am the night!" as a way of reclaiming everything that's happened to him and everything he wants to be for the people of Gotham whose cries go unanswered by corrupt law enforcement and an even more corrupt bureaucracy, is presented as invalid, as somehow immature. When Batman was always crafted as a mature hero in the mold of the Scarlet Pimpernel and Zorro and James Bond, of Sherlock Holmes! That was part of his central appeal! He's the cool mature down to earth, detective hero.

Here he is reduced to a naive rich boy who's so ignorant his main approach to crime is to inefficiently beat the shit out of whatever hoodlums he encounters and who literally doesn't have the idea of using his money to fix the poverty or corruption fuelling the crime until Riddler highlights what his parents wanted to do for the city by denigrating it + the politician lady who repeatedly points it out. It's a movie that loves Batman but also passionately declares the stupidity of Batman. Perhaps that's also inevitable because solving crime by beating it up while dressed as a Bat is well, silly, when you approach it with real world cynicism instead of the wish fulfillment, the fantasy of being rich and powerful and smart enough to actually do something about an entire city that's drowning in crime, that has been drowning, suffocating, for decades, and have a hope of succeeding. There is no fun of acting like an airhead so the other rich people and crooks will underestimate and look down on you like they look down on everyone in the city as you use your access to learn things people outside that circle of rich opportunists can't and then use it to reveal their crimes as a vigilante whose identity no one suspects. Instead we have a traumatised Bruce Wayne openly beg Don Falcone for information who indulges him because he owes his father that favour and Bruce Wayne isn't a threat, is it interesting pathos? Definitely! Is it dramatic and fun! Also yes! Is it traditional Batman/Bruce Wayne secret identity shenanigans? Well kind of in that it gets him the extra information but genuinely not so much because it's not really an act. Does it have to be traditional Batman? I really don't know. We can't ever create something refreshing like this movie was if we don't try to deviate from the norm and in that regard I think it deserves respect. And yet. There's a but.

This movie doesn't let Batman succeed at anything but the bare minimum as a vigilante but it does let him try his best, always and it lets him care, deeply. Which is enough that it pulls through as a good batman film. However for all the budget and clever characterisation I don't think it's a great Batman film. After all Batman is a superhero fantasy and in those, the good guys are allowed to save the day.

#and yet #batman 2022 #bruce wayne #meta #thoughts #personal #batman 2022 meta #batman #something about how he doesn't prevent the flood but does save some people in it could be a great metaphor #for how batman in the comics can't ever fix gotham (because then the comic would end) but he can save people who live there #but i don't actually think that's what they meant to do here #my main problem is the movie clearly doesn't approve of vigilantism and like that's fine but it's a movie about a superhero #and it never lets us really suspend our disbelief because it's too busy being cynical about the whole concept #and like maybe that too is refreshing in its way? the whole this is a stupid way to deal with crimes thing is true #but it also fails to acknowledge that #what other recourse is there? with a police force that's literally in the pocket of the mob #when you look at it like that batman becomes a much more understandable alternative course of action #and a vehicle of narrative catharsis for people who know the law isn't protecting them but still desire justice #desire that the criminals be they the rich defrauding them of what little money they have or the mob bosses actually will see consequences #the whole concept of vengeance is too readily dismissed as toxic and as diametric to hope imo #like yeah i'm all in on a redemptive justice system that actually helps people reform but the idea #that bad powerful people shouldnt be made to face consequences by batman if no one else (because cops and lawyers and politicians won't) #is dismissed soooooo readily to the point where bruce's initial stance on justice as vengeance is presented as two dimensional #something about that bothers me #and i think also gets to the core of batman as a character and to the core of why I can't fully vibe with this presentation of him #for all its many boons