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Was goofing around last weekend, and doodled this after Te made me think about what Kara's true nature would/should be, seeing as canon cannot make up its mind and it's painful to watch.
I don't actually think she'd be a chain-smoking teen rebel without a cause. Tho I did reminded myself of this, which I have pinned up on my YJ wall at work. :D ( Read more... )
I don't actually think she'd be a chain-smoking teen rebel without a cause. Tho I did reminded myself of this, which I have pinned up on my YJ wall at work. :D ( Read more... )
Most of all I hate it from the aesthetic POV. And since the super family is invulnerable, aesthetics is the #1 consideration!! (along with tradition and blah blah blah)
I made a chart. LOL Of why the classic uniform is so much better. The colors and shapes are simplified, there's "less going on" which makes for a stronger impression.
Also in terms of Flow, the classic look flooowws better. The shapes complement each other and everything is pulled together at the hem line. with the new look, the flow lines are broken numerous times. It literally chops the form into pieces.
::sigh::
I did say the costume is purely aesthetic and the functionality doesn't really matter, in my eyes. I think that's why I can let go of the cape issue. How do you feel about capes? I think they're the most silly remnant of the old days - they're hugely impractical and would get in the way of everyting, especially for flying superheroes. But dangit, they look SO dynamic! LOL And they're iconic and all of that, and even if they don't make any sense whatsoever I love them. ^__^
What's your favorite costume, miss Te? :)
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God, that was such lousy canon! It's like they thought we'd all be okay with it if they said a woman chose to dress her like a superpowered [insert problematically-gendered slut-shaming word here.] *sigh* I hope to *Christ* that gets retconned even if the suit doesn't change, because -- meh.
I mean, okay, in one of my WIPs, I talk a little about the Kents and my theory -- based on how the Clark-in-my-head grows up -- that, no matter where they stood politically and socially before they took Clark in, they damned well made a command decision to be as open-minded as humanly possible as soon as they got an inkling of just *how* alien their beloved son was going to grow up to be. It just makes sense.
That said, Martha knows nothing about Kara at that point but that she's a young girl, and confused, and somewhat fearful, and also *a Kryptonian*. Who dressed *really damned conservatively* in public. It -- makes no damned sense.
And it's not like I hate all midriffs indiscriminately, I like them quite a lot in the right place on the right person. AND, the more I'm learning about Kara the more I think that maybe she'd actually dress like that. But that's a big Maaaaybe. It seems like if nothing else she has a respect for the "uniform", and her job, and at least in this respect she'd be appropriate?
I have to admit, I'm having a hard time coming up with a bared-midriff suit that I found likable. The more *I* learn about Kara -- and the more I think about who she should be, given how she was raised and all of the issues she'd probably have as a young-aristocrat-suddenly-without-a-society... I don't know. I *can* see her as someone who would willfully choose to expose herself out of a sense of rebellion and a need to express some of the confusion in her mind, but it's a little bit -- and sometimes a lot -- of a stretch. I mean, have they even tried to handwave something in about Kara feeling stifled on Krypton?
In my head, the cheeriest, just-going-with-it-est Kara would choose something like the original uniform. It expresses -- some -- Earth gender norms without saying anything in particular about her attitudes and private life, it allows her to be attractive to her new people, and it expresses her allegiance to the House of El. But even that would be an experiment, and I think as she got older she would damned well cover up even more -- both as a response to the kind of fucked-up world we live in and as an expression of her life-long allegiance to where she came from and who she is *inside*. I don't see her fighting crime in a *burqa*, but something like the uniform Dinah wore in the early days of BoP, or, hell, something more like what *Clark* wears. Form-fitting, attractive, and *serious* -- because crime-fighting is serious business, and she damned well has all *sorts* of legacies to live up to.
In her private life, though? All bets are off.
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Yes, that is my problem exactly - I don't know what is going through her mind. Is she confused about her current role in Earth society? Is she stifled in any way that would cause her to act out rebelliously? I'll gladly consider any possibility as long as it's backed up and consistent. I do think that she wants Clark's approval, acceptance from the only family member and the new world -- thus she'll behave herself on the job, and dress for the job. No stupid bared midriffs! XD
But even that would be an experiment, and I think as she got older she would damned well cover up even more -- both as a response to the kind of fucked-up world we live in and as an expression of her life-long allegiance to where she came from and who she is *inside*.
What about the Kryptonians? I get a Heian Japan vibe with a big dose of the Roman empire mixed in. Unbreakable ideas about honor and propriety, backed up by a strict militaristic regime... Hm, I really don't know much about them. XD So yeah, it's hard for me to guess at what Kara's ingrained values are. Please enlighten me if you know? ^_^
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Yes, *that*. It's never seemed to be so much to ask to have people who are brought in to write a given character *read at least some of what's come before*. And not just a few issues of the last guy, either. These comics and toons are all available with a minimal amount of effort. Even if you already know you're going to go in a different direction, it just works better if you truly understand what's come before. I mean, that's the essence of writing good AUs, right there. Comics fans can suspend a whole lot of disbelief, but why make them bend over backwards to do it? Write your wild and out-there stories, but let them be informed by what's come before.
I will happily follow a writer from point A to point B-Z -- or from point A to point Oobladooble Prime -- if that writer gives me a path I can use *to* follow.
What about the Kryptonians? I get a Heian Japan vibe with a big dose of the Roman empire mixed in. Unbreakable ideas about honor and propriety, backed up by a strict militaristic regime... Hm, I really don't know much about them. XD So yeah, it's hard for me to guess at what Kara's ingrained values are. Please enlighten me if you know? ^_^
From what I've picked up from various comics and toons...
1) Oligarchy, with Jor-El -- and sometimes Lara, too -- ranked highly. 2) Hugely conservative physically in terms of what's allowed in public -- there's a scene in some comic somewhere with Lara weeping over sending her baby to a barbarian world where farmers sometimes take their shirts off *even though they're outside*. 3) Monocultural, with everything that implies in terms of a lack of personal freedom and individuality in general. 4) Punishing of iconoclasts. 5) Married to their tech in many, many ways -- those machines raised their kids and wiped their asses and *everything* in between.
All the other things I've written into stories have been mostly made up, with the monoculturalism as a jumping-off point. I mean, you really have to wonder what happened to the people who disagreed.
And to the people who didn't look like Jor-El and Lara.
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You know, I'd never have thought about this on my own, but you're absolutely right. It's *painful* on more than one level, really, and -- heh. When I showed this to my Jack, ze pointed out that male comic creators *love* chopping up women in one way or another. *Always*. Think about how many breast shots and ass shots and *crotch* shots we get of female superheroes vs. the dramatic full-body and iconic chest *armor* shots we get of men. Well, you know all of that already. I don't think Turner and whoever else chimed in did this on purpose, I just think they were just that thoughtless.
I think that's why I can let go of the cape issue. How do you feel about capes? I think they're the most silly remnant of the old days - they're hugely impractical and would get in the way of everyting, especially for flying superheroes. But dangit, they look SO dynamic! LOL And they're iconic and all of that, and even if they don't make any sense whatsoever I love them. ^__^
Sweet Jiminy Christmas, I love the capes. I love the capes -- and I love mocking them mercilessly. They really do look amazing, and -- McKone on TT v3 did something with the cape that made me a permanent fan: He had Tim fold his arms inside the cape in such a way that he was covered entirely save for his head and his boots like... well, like a *bat*. It was *so* in-character and *so* incredible that I fell in love forever. That said... man, they are retarded. And sometimes *fucktardedly insane*. They can keep them forever, as far as I'm concerned. Tim? Looks wrong now. In *many* ways to me, actually. He and Bruce should always be caped.
Favorite costume... hmmm...
I have a couple of choices. Green Arrow and Red Arrow look awesome and just the way they should in most of the incarnations I've seen. The third NW uniform -- and the NW uniform in DCAU. Just -- *chrrrowl*. Even though I have no idea where he keeps his stuff. *handwavey*. He's got a pocket universe in his boots. DCAU Timmy Drake, especially as drawn by Burchett (angular, older-teen-esque, kinda sexy) or Levins (wow, I wouldn't let that man near my male children, but -- *heh*, go him for equal opportunity pervination). Kory. Because -- it's grown on me. For her. She *would*. I really do think she has anti-clothes rays beaming out of her pores. Tim's *second* Robin uniform, which is a lot like the DCAU Tim Drake's, but has that wonderfully drama queen-esque cape. Tim's arctic Robin suit from somewhere around ROBIN #55 or so. (Put it on, Tim! Put it alllll on!) "A Better World" Justice Lord!Clark. Holy *hell*, that uniform is hot, and I totally bring it back gratuitously in one of my WIPs. Diana's armor in Kingdom Come. Troia's star-suit! And, for that matter, her Wonder Girl suit, which was *adorable*. Tempest. Cass' -- and Helena's! -- Batgirl uniform. Babs' Batgirl uniform, which made clashing horribly look *sexy*. Every single one of Kon's uniforms, which get progressively gayer. I swear, his next one is going to be gold lame spanky pants, roller blades, and pasties. Supershield pasties.
Finally -- of COURSE! -- I am forever loyal to the first Robin suit. It's insane. It's ridiculously pervy. It says *so many problematic things* about *both* Bruce and Dick. It made Jason -- who was generally drawn less like a changeling and more like a *boy* -- look like terrifying pornography. And --
Pixie boots. Now and forever.
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