i'm gone from there
Last night when I was carrying my laundry home, I felt a twinge in my back. That's not good, I thought as I hefted the bag up the steps to my apartment. And oh, I was not wrong. I stayed home from work because I could barely get out of bed this morning. I ended up sleeping for a good long while, and then I decided to turn on the tv and watch last night's ep of The Good Wife and Monday's Hawaii Five-O.
Except that the picture on the TV was frozen, so I rebooted the box and, well, four hours later, the box is still trying to reboot. It gets to a certain point in the process and then starts over. I spent half an hour on the phone with TWC and the guy rebooted it remotely, and it did the same thing, and then I unplugged it and plugged it back in and it did the same thing, so unless it somehow magically fixes itself, I will be getting a new box on Sunday. Between 8 am and 11 am, because I need to have a TV for football. Oy.
In the meantime, I've read Robin: Year One and Nightwing: Year One, as well as Batman: Gotham Adventures, which is based on the animated series.
I enjoyed getting some of Dick's backstory, and had serious heart-eyes over the bit in Nightwing: Year One where Dick and Jason work together to save Alfred, which I know I've seen before (scans_daily, probably), but which makes me happy. Even if Dick spends most of his time hitting on Barbara (even though it's implied [or more like stated outright, to be honest] he's still dating Starfire! Dick, you dog. Of course, I'm also the one who wants to put him in a three-way relationship with Starfire and Raven, so...), I'm okay with that, because Jason's, like, twelve at the time. And I can't think of anything to say here that isn't some sort of really awful pun, so I'll just leave it at that. (Or, I guess what I mean is I think Dick would fare well in some sort of poly arrangement, as long as the various other people were okay with it, which I guess is where the rub is. so to speak.)
I also enjoyed the Gotham Adventures book, but have to dock a star for the mullet. Seriously. There is no time ever when the answer to the question, "What should I do with my hair?" is "have a mullet." Ever. At least in N:YO, he doesn't get the awful yellow feathers or whatever they are on his costume until the end (Alfred, man, what were you smoking when you came up with that? Speaking of Alfred and the costumes, I think my favorite explanation ever for Robin's bare-legged costume is that Bruce told Alfred to make the kid some pants, and, well, Alfred's British. He thought it was a little odd, but so much else was odder, you know? I forget where I read that [probably also on scans_daily somewhere], but it makes more sense to me than 'let pre-teen boys run around half-naked while fighting crime on purpose.')
I was also thinking more about my issues with Return of the Joker. I really liked all the stuff with Terry (though Bruce, seriously, firing the boys who work for you is just dumb. stop doing it.), but because of my impatience with the whole not killing bad guys thing, I was more like, "If Batman had taken care of this problem earlier, Tim wouldn't have had to go through that." So I wasn't all, "Batman's heroism is tainted now!" so much as I was, "It's about fucking time someone put that murdering psychopath down. Too bad Tim had to get all messed up first, and has to carry that with him now." (I also have some feelings about YET ANOTHER AWFUL THING THAT RUINS A ROBIN'S LIFE AND GIVES BRUCE MORE MANPAIN, because, you know, I know he feels responsible and guilty and awful etc. about everything, but it's not just about him! And his responses, whether intentional or not, MAKE IT ALL ABOUT HIM. Which makes me want to punch him in the face. Ahem. And yet, I do really like him and want to give him cookies sometimes. BRUCE IS VERY CONFUSING.) I have some issues with that kind of heroic nobility. Mostly because if you're going to do a job, you finish the job. Leaving the Joker alive to escape over and over again and wreak havoc is not finishing the job, and it just gets more people killed. Which is, I suppose, one definition of a hero. Heh. And possibly why I really do sympathize with Jason.
I thought it was well-done, sad and creepy, but yeah, obviously, I have brought my own issues to the table on this one.
And since I've got all this tl;dr in here anyway, I might as well add my thoughts about the revelations of the JLU episode "Epilogue" as they relate to Batman Beyond. Most of which can be boiled down to: I did not like it. At all. And that might be an understatement. *cough* Let me tell you why.
First of all, that Terry's biology or genetics are what makes him suited to be Batman is SUCH BULLSHIT! WHAT IS THAT I DON'T EVEN... *growls*
Terry becomes Batman because he wants to avenge his father's death, and then because he sees it as a way of atoning for his past as a juvenile delinquent. And then he keeps doing it because it needs doing and he's good at it, and he clearly enjoys it. And to show that there's more than one way to BE Batman and still be a person who has other things in their life (i.e., that Bruce's crazy way is not the only way; I imagine this is also one of Dick's functions in the canon, since he seems fairly well-adjusted, all things considered, but since he doesn't appear in Batman Beyond - at least, not in the animated version - that's beside the point).
To boil that down to "He's Bruce's biological son! Of course, he becomes Batman" is to undercut THE WHOLE POINT OF THE SHOW. not to mention how shitty it is in regard to Bruce's adopted sons, who apparently JUST DON'T CUT IT because they don't share his genetics. WHAT THE FUCK EVER, SHOW! I AM IGNORING YOU!
And that doesn't even get into the complete logic fail. I don't know much about Amanda Waller aside from the fact that she's voiced by the AWESOME CCH Pounder (and that all her god-talk in the episode annoyed me), but she seems pretty on the ball, so why on earth would she not just CLONE BRUCE instead of all that bullshit about changing Terry's father's reproductive DNA and then letting it mingle with Terry's mom's (so, basically, half Bruce, half random normal person), and then plan to assassinate his parents and what? WHAT? YOU DO NOT LAST AS LONG AS SHE HAS COMING UP WITH DUMBASS PLANS LIKE THAT!
Also! In a world where gene splicing is a TEENAGE FAD, are you seriously going to tell me that Terry didn't find this out earlier? I mean, I know he's not really a great detective, but seriously? (I am guessing Bruce has always known, because of course he would, from the moment Terry showed up. Which is also shitty. Not that I can't see him keeping that a secret, but it make me like him less, and I do like him.) Like, I can see if you'd started the show with that premise - Terry discovers his dad is not his bio-dad, and he goes hunting for the genetic donor and lands at Bruce's door, but that is not the story Batman Beyond told, so. (And there's also Matt, so she got the heir and the spare, huh?).
And I supposed Terry's assholery here is meant to be written off to genetics, as well? He was more mature as a 16yo and I liked him a lot better. I mean, he comes to his senses at the end, but ugh, making him more Bruce-like in his personal relationships is not a winning strategy, writers! The reason I like him so much is that he's mostly not an asshole!
Apparently, I had a lot of thoughts on that. Heh.
Also, not quite unrelatedly, I might have woken up in pain, but I also had WORDS IN MY HEAD. WORDS FOR STORIES. This hasn't happened in MONTHS. TWO DIFFERENT STORIES even. Not that I've written them down yet. But they were there and I will!
Now I have to go check and see if the dough for my lemon buns has risen. I will probably have pictures at some point, if all goes well.
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/234201.html.
people have commented there.
Except that the picture on the TV was frozen, so I rebooted the box and, well, four hours later, the box is still trying to reboot. It gets to a certain point in the process and then starts over. I spent half an hour on the phone with TWC and the guy rebooted it remotely, and it did the same thing, and then I unplugged it and plugged it back in and it did the same thing, so unless it somehow magically fixes itself, I will be getting a new box on Sunday. Between 8 am and 11 am, because I need to have a TV for football. Oy.
In the meantime, I've read Robin: Year One and Nightwing: Year One, as well as Batman: Gotham Adventures, which is based on the animated series.
I enjoyed getting some of Dick's backstory, and had serious heart-eyes over the bit in Nightwing: Year One where Dick and Jason work together to save Alfred, which I know I've seen before (scans_daily, probably), but which makes me happy. Even if Dick spends most of his time hitting on Barbara (even though it's implied [or more like stated outright, to be honest] he's still dating Starfire! Dick, you dog. Of course, I'm also the one who wants to put him in a three-way relationship with Starfire and Raven, so...), I'm okay with that, because Jason's, like, twelve at the time. And I can't think of anything to say here that isn't some sort of really awful pun, so I'll just leave it at that. (Or, I guess what I mean is I think Dick would fare well in some sort of poly arrangement, as long as the various other people were okay with it, which I guess is where the rub is. so to speak.)
I also enjoyed the Gotham Adventures book, but have to dock a star for the mullet. Seriously. There is no time ever when the answer to the question, "What should I do with my hair?" is "have a mullet." Ever. At least in N:YO, he doesn't get the awful yellow feathers or whatever they are on his costume until the end (Alfred, man, what were you smoking when you came up with that? Speaking of Alfred and the costumes, I think my favorite explanation ever for Robin's bare-legged costume is that Bruce told Alfred to make the kid some pants, and, well, Alfred's British. He thought it was a little odd, but so much else was odder, you know? I forget where I read that [probably also on scans_daily somewhere], but it makes more sense to me than 'let pre-teen boys run around half-naked while fighting crime on purpose.')
I was also thinking more about my issues with Return of the Joker. I really liked all the stuff with Terry (though Bruce, seriously, firing the boys who work for you is just dumb. stop doing it.), but because of my impatience with the whole not killing bad guys thing, I was more like, "If Batman had taken care of this problem earlier, Tim wouldn't have had to go through that." So I wasn't all, "Batman's heroism is tainted now!" so much as I was, "It's about fucking time someone put that murdering psychopath down. Too bad Tim had to get all messed up first, and has to carry that with him now." (I also have some feelings about YET ANOTHER AWFUL THING THAT RUINS A ROBIN'S LIFE AND GIVES BRUCE MORE MANPAIN, because, you know, I know he feels responsible and guilty and awful etc. about everything, but it's not just about him! And his responses, whether intentional or not, MAKE IT ALL ABOUT HIM. Which makes me want to punch him in the face. Ahem. And yet, I do really like him and want to give him cookies sometimes. BRUCE IS VERY CONFUSING.) I have some issues with that kind of heroic nobility. Mostly because if you're going to do a job, you finish the job. Leaving the Joker alive to escape over and over again and wreak havoc is not finishing the job, and it just gets more people killed. Which is, I suppose, one definition of a hero. Heh. And possibly why I really do sympathize with Jason.
I thought it was well-done, sad and creepy, but yeah, obviously, I have brought my own issues to the table on this one.
And since I've got all this tl;dr in here anyway, I might as well add my thoughts about the revelations of the JLU episode "Epilogue" as they relate to Batman Beyond. Most of which can be boiled down to: I did not like it. At all. And that might be an understatement. *cough* Let me tell you why.
First of all, that Terry's biology or genetics are what makes him suited to be Batman is SUCH BULLSHIT! WHAT IS THAT I DON'T EVEN... *growls*
Terry becomes Batman because he wants to avenge his father's death, and then because he sees it as a way of atoning for his past as a juvenile delinquent. And then he keeps doing it because it needs doing and he's good at it, and he clearly enjoys it. And to show that there's more than one way to BE Batman and still be a person who has other things in their life (i.e., that Bruce's crazy way is not the only way; I imagine this is also one of Dick's functions in the canon, since he seems fairly well-adjusted, all things considered, but since he doesn't appear in Batman Beyond - at least, not in the animated version - that's beside the point).
To boil that down to "He's Bruce's biological son! Of course, he becomes Batman" is to undercut THE WHOLE POINT OF THE SHOW. not to mention how shitty it is in regard to Bruce's adopted sons, who apparently JUST DON'T CUT IT because they don't share his genetics. WHAT THE FUCK EVER, SHOW! I AM IGNORING YOU!
And that doesn't even get into the complete logic fail. I don't know much about Amanda Waller aside from the fact that she's voiced by the AWESOME CCH Pounder (and that all her god-talk in the episode annoyed me), but she seems pretty on the ball, so why on earth would she not just CLONE BRUCE instead of all that bullshit about changing Terry's father's reproductive DNA and then letting it mingle with Terry's mom's (so, basically, half Bruce, half random normal person), and then plan to assassinate his parents and what? WHAT? YOU DO NOT LAST AS LONG AS SHE HAS COMING UP WITH DUMBASS PLANS LIKE THAT!
Also! In a world where gene splicing is a TEENAGE FAD, are you seriously going to tell me that Terry didn't find this out earlier? I mean, I know he's not really a great detective, but seriously? (I am guessing Bruce has always known, because of course he would, from the moment Terry showed up. Which is also shitty. Not that I can't see him keeping that a secret, but it make me like him less, and I do like him.) Like, I can see if you'd started the show with that premise - Terry discovers his dad is not his bio-dad, and he goes hunting for the genetic donor and lands at Bruce's door, but that is not the story Batman Beyond told, so. (And there's also Matt, so she got the heir and the spare, huh?).
And I supposed Terry's assholery here is meant to be written off to genetics, as well? He was more mature as a 16yo and I liked him a lot better. I mean, he comes to his senses at the end, but ugh, making him more Bruce-like in his personal relationships is not a winning strategy, writers! The reason I like him so much is that he's mostly not an asshole!
Apparently, I had a lot of thoughts on that. Heh.
Also, not quite unrelatedly, I might have woken up in pain, but I also had WORDS IN MY HEAD. WORDS FOR STORIES. This hasn't happened in MONTHS. TWO DIFFERENT STORIES even. Not that I've written them down yet. But they were there and I will!
Now I have to go check and see if the dough for my lemon buns has risen. I will probably have pictures at some point, if all goes well.
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/234201.html.
people have commented there.