Ace-connorhawke - The Better Green Arrow

I LOVE TIM DRAKE SO MUCH, HELP HE’S SUCH AN AWFUL GREMLIN, “Starfire’s right, we haven’t faced Deathstroke yet, we should prepare more.  I’m going to go look some things up.  So I can be prepared.  Because we should definitely listen to our mentors.” and TWO MINUTES LATER he’s already sneaking out the window and Kon and Cassie are shocked that he would GASP LIE to STARFIRE, and Tim’s like, this is amateur night, I lie to BATMAN. He looks so nice and polite!  He’s the responsible Bat, you don’t have to worry about him!  He said he would stay in, he looked so honest!  NO, TIM DRAKE IS A FERAL BAT WHO ONLY PRETENDS TO BE THE RATIONAL ONE, HE WILL LIE TO YOUR FACE AND THE SECOND YOU BELIEVE HIM, HE WILL BE OFF AND RUNNING AND GETTING STABBED IN THE SPLEEN OR SOMETHING.

The real tragedy of the whole “Batman contingency plans” thing escaping containment into the wider cultural zeitgeist is that it’s become completely divorced from the original context of, you know, the Tower of Babel story-line happening after a beloved member of the Justice League did in fact go mad, become all-powerful, and destroy all of reality.

Which is devastating because it loses so much when you take Hal Jordan out of it! In both adaptations and fan discussions!

Despite only being mentioned by name once in the story, Hal haunts the whole narrative in how unspoken he is. The whole theme of the story is the failure to communicate and how it destroys trust, and an essential part of that is how the whole League won't (and can't) talk about Hal.

When Kyle finally tries to bring him up, Wally shoots him down. He is the forbidden topic at the heart of the League's breakdown of trust!

When the contingency plans plot is removed from the context of Hal's fall from grace, isn't proceeded by a JLA founding member doing what was supposed to be unthinkable, Bruce's actions lose their emotional core. It becomes just "Batman is the coolest and smartest and also a huge untrusting asshole" instead of "Bruce was already on the knife-edge of crippling paranoia regarding his powerful allies, and then one of those same allies started slaughtering people and he couldn't do a thing to stop it, confirming all his worst fears and sending him right over the edge"

You take Bruce's feelings of very personal betrayal out of the equation. He's not operating on just hypotheticals, but fears that were heartrendingly justified!

Bruce claims the reason for his plans on some past mind-control incident, but Clark calls Bruce out on it being an excuse.

Maybe that's how it started, but there's a reason the fail-safes aren't against mind-control and possession. The fail-safes are ways to permanently stop your friends should they willingly or unwillingly become a threat.

And they both know it. They've argued about Hal several times before.

Bruce has a lot of unresolved feelings about Hal. He's still hurting.

The contingency plans are not some cold, clinical necessity. They are the product of pain.

I think all readings and tellings of the Tower of Babel should be followed by the JLA/Spectre story.

It provides the necessary emotional conclusion to the unspoken conflict! Because they finally have to talk about it! They heal the broken trust! Bruce admits how much Hal's betrayal hurt him and his faith in heroes, and gets past it! Instead of letting a former and potential future threat be eliminated as his fail-safes say he should, he invites the threat back, even if he can't guarantee it won't happen again, because he chooses to believe in his friend!

The contingency plans are a cool and interesting concept, but again, you can't just...take Hal out of it. You can't make it about some evil alternate versions, or about Clark. By doing that, you lose the most heartbreaking part of the story. Batman isn't in the right or the wrong, but he's not heartless. He's brokenhearted.

Hope you don't mind me putting my two cents in but I don't think that torture is really something that cass would do. Because of her ability to physically read people she's pretty in tune with what kind of pain they are in (and why killing Faizul hit her so hard) I don't think that emotionally or morally she would be able to torture someone.

What do you think are Cass' views on torture?

Hmmm honestly I think she doesn’t like it. She more subscribed to the terrify the shit out of the criminal to get an answer but she’s endlessly compassionate I really don’t think she approves of torture in any circumstance. Also given her abusive childhood, she stays away from that kind of unnecessary violence.

what gets me about the green lantern corps is that—in addition to being a space fascist nightmare that deforms individuals into agents of its unflinching doctrine and sublimates goodwill into reverence for the law—it's also just really fucking stupid. before critiquing any minutiae aspect of its conduct you have to understand that the glc operates based on a very rudimentary hierarchy of brute force. for all of the guardian's posturing, the only thing justifying their authority as the in-universe law enforcement hegemon is their possession of the most powerful weapon in the universe. and every major appearance of the guardians since the bronze age has demonstrated how utterly out of touch they are. it's not wisdom or even competence keeping the corps in charge, it's the goddamn power ring. the green lantern code of conduct is literally only relevant because the consequence of disobedience is lack of access to the all-powerful weapon, and even then that all depends on the guardians ability to enforce it. the whole institution is fucked as soon as someone (parallax, sinestro, krona, literally anyone, etc) with more material power challenges it—and the guardians know it. which is why they're primarily preoccupied with micromanaging the lanterns' conduct and only personally appear to combat "evil" when it threatens the sanctity of the institution (read: their authority). the yellow weakness only exists as a safeguard against potential abuse!! but like breeds like. what the corps' indoctrination ironically creates is the perfect conditions for developing authoritarian ideology. thus the respective "falls" of its greatest agents are not aberrations but a product of its design—refer to this post by @dctrfate. any difference of intent becomes irrelevant when everybody’s a fucking cop. there is no reason for the green lantern corps to exist outside of its own self-justification.

Hey. Do you know what book that Scene was from where Hal and Clark were on bikes?

A lot of people have been asking me this question and I really, really suck but I don’t remember. 

However! I am going to go back to the bookstore (Dymocks) again this weekend to try and find it so hopefully I will have an answer for you soon :)

Dick and Jason: Why couldn’t he be an understanding father for me 💔

Bruce to Cass in the other room: 3 people died during you 10 minute power nap what are you going to do about it

HSKSJDDHH the worst part is Cass is 100% like "No you're right. This is on me. Ugh I love how much you understand me ❤️" She and Bruce come back into the other room bonding over the shared guilt of not being able to stay awake to fight crime 24 hours a day while Dick and Jason sulk in the corner because look at how he pats her shoulder, he was never that understanding when we messed up 😔.

Kon: Do you ever feel like talking about your feelings Tim?

Tim: No

Bart: I do

Kon: I know Bart

Bart: I’m sad

Kon: I know Bart

I'm just having a good time scribbling and maybe I'll find a consistent style, maybe I won't, but I love Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown and so I also sketched Steph after I had posted these Cass doodles and then I don't think I ever posted it.

Kind of thinking about how Wally resented Kyle taking over Hal's place and seeing it from the pov that Hal and other heroes doubted Wally's ability to fill Barry's shoes as did Wally himself. But here comes this brand new kid who didn't even grow up a superhero like Wally did and everyone suddenly trusts him to fill his Uncle Hal's shoes. And that was so evidently Wally and Ollie's problem someone else was wearing the ring and Hal wasn't there. But for Wally that level of reassurance he needed was given to Kyle in the form of acceptance everyone nodded and said okay cool new GL when they didn't do that for Wally as the Flash. And to dig the knife deeper Wally begged Hal said it's me your nephew listen to me and Hal tossed him aside. But Kyle who didn't know Hal at all managed to get through to him and talk him down. So I think Kyle was just a list of bad reminders for Wally and Ollie and they couldn't handle seeing him around. To add even more insult to injury Hal adored Kyle and clearly was never going to share a sentiment of bitterness about his replacement

i think nate and guy have a lot in common tbh. i wish JLI had more of them interacting one on one. guys kind of a distaff counterpart to nate