#one of my fav btas scenes

[harleenquinades]

batman: the animated series || s02e09 - trial

[pumpkinstrawbrew]

been rewatchin' BTAS recently. so here's is some of my absolute fav episodes to name. 📺💥

...

(naturally, that's not all of my favorite episodes, haha. BTAS is just nearly perfect in terms of writing of an animated show. aside from a couple of lackluster eps, an' a few that i just don't personally care about much.

but anyways … 

‘blind as a bat’ was one of those eps, which actually made me so paranoid as a kid. losing your sight is one of the scariest things, which can happen to a person. an’ i love how they portrayed this via bruce, whose whole life is literally him fighting crime, but how will he do it now, when he can’t see anything? like, it doesn’t stop him of course. but man. it was so gut punching. BTAS not only understood batman / bruce, but they also gave him a lot of vulnerable moments like that. i mean, this was also one of like 2 or maybe 3 eps, where we see bruce tear up an’ it’s always gonna tug at my heart strings. admittingly, penguin mostly was there just to be well, an asshole, but i like how much it says about him, when he giddily an’ sadistically corners bruce, fully enjoying the fact, that he’s helpless. 

‘eternal youth’, i gotta appreciate how terrifying this episode is. an’ the utterly messed up the concept behind it. i think, that BTAS had really nailed the fact, that poison ivy is honestly a horrifying person. her rapey gimmick aside, her motivations an’ how far she’s willing to go for it … oh, she’s such a delightful psycho! i love, love ivy who acts like this. a proper female villain to boot an’ who’s also not a one trick pony, but can bring a lot of more of awful an’ chilling things to the table. not to meantion, that it's always good to see batman's other rogues, than the clowns to threaten batman's loved ones, esp if they had no idea that they do it.

‘joker’s favor’, for what it worth i’m happy, that i still can fully enjoy joker an’ harley’s characters at least in some media. i suppose, arkhamverse is fine too, but over the years, i feel like both of the clowns were overused in literally everything under the sun to the point, where i’m unable to stomach them in most outlets nowadays. i jus’ don’ wanna look at them or hear about them or anything … but here? oh, what a blessing! the best harley to ever exist. an’ one of two jokers, that i actually really like. as for episode itself, this has such an interesting flavor to it. not only we get to see what it’s like for a normal gotham citizen to be at the wrong place an’ at the wrong time, but also what smth like that can do to an otherwise a simple, everyday man. also, the joker crawling on his knees like a coward is always great. since i feel like many writers forget that aside from a crazy murdereous psycho, he’s also supposed to be a narcissistic wimp, who’s deeply afraid of death. an’ it was harley’s debut ep too. she’s so casually evil in it as well. an’ that’s kinda why i drew her without a mask btw. since we do see her face in that very ep.

‘nothing to fear’. i’ve talked so much about that ep, but i don’t mind talking about it yet again. a life changer episode for me. i also remember that while ‘pretty poison’ was entertaining as heck, an’ ‘on leather wings’ was breathtaking in some scenes, i’m pretty sure, that it was ‘nothing to fear’, which fully convinced a child me, that i will be always on the clock, sitting next to tv to watch every following episode of this show. so, yeah, forever gentle of this one an’ the concept behind it. also so many parallels an’ bruce’s fee-fees. i love how jonathan would always have that deeper, private key to bruce’s mind. an’ how bruce is always there to terrify him right back. 

‘read my lips’, when i was a kid, the twist of that episode made me so intrigued. bc i wouldn’t have ever thought about who the main villain was an’ how the show would handle it. like, you would expect a villain in typical sense. a man or a woman. or smth like that, not an actual dummy an' person who controls him, but belives that he's not. i love how this whole thing made bruce low-key paranoid as well, bc at some point, he also almost believes that the dummy is alive an’ cursed or smth. i also love how he doesn’t right away realizes that arnold is mentally ill an’ not just pretends like he is. bc it would have been such a clever scheme, if it was one to begin with.

to conclude this all, i will prob for sure ref those eps in my upcoming BTAS fic, bc yeah. i have a tunel vision in a way lol. but mmm, BTAS really feels like timeless classic at this point.)

[caffeinatedattorney]

I just finished watching someone's playthrough of Arkham Shadow.

BRB, gonna throw up from grief.

; _ ; AAAAAAAA. Welcome to Arkham Shadow Brain. You won't stop thinking about Batman and Two Face for a looong time.

The game is so not anything I expected, but there's so much going on! they put so much care into the dynamics between characters and the direction in the acting that it feels so unlike other games in the franchise. A vr game hardly anyone will play bc it's vr 😭😭

It's so up close and personal, by far one of my fav adaptations to date. It's funny after joker 2 and caped crusader where he was announced to be in and hyped up.

I have so many thoughts still I rewrote this several times. Ugh, it's so deliciously tragic! It means so much to see a character with a story like Harvey's receive like, the weight it deserves and be so idk multifaceted? Bruce and Harvey, are so flawed, there's so much going on with them. They're so arrogant, angry and hurt and they want to do something about the world so it never happens again.

-I had a Hc on what their relationship as traumatized and socially stunted kids would be and this is so... much of that.

-I love that Leslie shows up so much here. I know her from btas and seeing her here was so surprising but so fitting. I know she's in the comics and was one of the many supportive figures in Bruce's life so seeing her doing that with Harvey is soo ;_;

-Idk if you heard the tapes but you realize that there's more behind Harvey's accident and how he knew about it and you only find this tape with the conversation in the ship near the end of the game where you found him and have to follow him,,,, ough

-Harvey goes above and beyond believing he's doing you a favor by shooting Joe Chill (it's what he would've done to his dad). Then, you take the cowl off and he thinks you hate him for what he's done and the stuff he said about batman in the tapes among other things. He probably suspected you were batman,,, but couldn't confirm it and he wasn't going to ask.

-Harvey felt he was losing himself from way before the events of the game, but he didn't care that much about himself as a person. It was always about keeping up appearances and having everything under control. His job being more important.

-I think Harvey didn't trust Leslie about his mental health as an adult, much less Bruce. It's like, he's an adult now, hes married, he can fix this city he might as well act like it. Then, he does some dodgy shit, it blows up in his face and he now has to atone for it somehow and still doesn't go to the ppl he trusts. At least, that's how I'd explain Harvey, not Harv, bringing Joe chill into the ship that late and leaving Bruce a message.

-the rooftop scene when he drags you down is harvey saying: "I love you but I hate myself more"

-Also I sort of interpret the ending as Harvey having no hope for himself. I think he's trying to comfort Bruce by saying this isn't the end of him. Kinda like when Bruce hit him, he's hurt and freaking out but he still gives Bruce fighting words bc it's not about harveys well being but having everything under control.

There's likely many ways to see it but I lean towards the least hopeful considering how fucked up he must feel.

Anyways, I'm glad you got to see it! I'm still very much not over it lmao

[jonathan-cranes-mistress-of-fear]

Have any tips on writing Jonathan/Scarecrow? Or things to especially avoid? I don’t write cannon a lot but want to try with him for a fic I’m writing due to a fun scene I had in mind, plus scythe fighting is really fun. But it’s a bit intimidating to tackle one of my fav’s and a strong character like him. Also thoughts on Crane being immune to fear toxin?

Hey, I can help! Here's some general knowledge and tips you might find useful!

Jonathan, depending on the origin (year one, verses say, btas) he can either be afraid of crows or empowered by them. He loves to scare birds in general though and sometimes even has a crow companion. None of these choices are right or wrong, it depends on what you want to write

He lives off others fear, and even his own fear. Sometimes he takes the toxin just of feel fear. There's even canons were he's virtually emotionless from toxin overdose

Speaking of above, I personally hate the trope of Jonathan not being immune to his own toxin. Let's be real, he tests it on himself all the time and definitely has SOME kind of immunity. It's literally his baby, he's not going down if batman injects him with it. Sorry DC, but I'm different.

He is VERY SMART, one of THE smartest rogues if not literally the smartest. He's gonna use your words against you, he's gonna analyze you deep down and tear you apart from trauma to trauma.

Even so, he's had a lot of childhood issues. He is bullied by kids and adults like.So, it's possible to get to him just by mocking him.

OH. And don't forget the fact that he himself is a bully. He's the "it happened to me, so I will make everyone suffer as I did" type. The irony is not lost on him

He's not weak. If he can successfully use a scythe, he's fucking strong, it's just that he appears lanky and weak. It's all muscle I assure you. (Don't forget violent dancing -- see batman annual 19 for good references) He will use his looks against you in this way, don't underestimate him. (also, sorry DC -- he's built different)

As for what to avoid, well that's up to you. You don't have to make him scared of crows, or give him a bird friend. You can write him super dark and nasty, absolutely vile. Misogynistic, even. Some comics do that. (not that I agree, but I can see it being valid)

Honestly, just have fun, maybe use a handful of comics for inspiration. I'm of the mind that there is no right or wrong way to use comic characters like in the DC or Marvel verses, because SO MANY writers have written them and there's always going to be contradictions---and with that, someone will ALWAYS like what you have written. Not everyone will, but you don't need it to appeal that way, find your niche. That's how we prosper as creatives.

I hope this helps!! <333

[t00thpasteface]

Howdy! Long-ish lurker, first time asker. Your posts the other day(s?) about encouraging people to put themselves out there, and also the general vibes of your shebbz shouts have inspired me to start blogging. But that's not important! What IS important is that recently I managed to introduce my friend to Superman TAS (unrelated to your blogging about it) and we've been having a blast. His thoughts pretty much boil down to: Lois being sassy towards Perry? EPIC! Livewire being sassy towards Superman? AMAZING. Lex Luthor being Lex Luthor? OFF THE CHARTS. But this is only important for context!

What's REALLY important is that a few days ago we were watching the two-part opening to Season 2 and we started noticing that in some frames Mala has rounded ears, and in others she has pointed ears. Then we noticed the same thing is going on with Jax-Ur's ears! We started paying more attention until we spotted one scene from 8:15-8:22 where Jax-Ur's ears shapeshift frame-by-frame before your very eyes and we were HOWLING with laughter and replaying it over and over

MUAHAHAHA!!! YES!!! MY EVIL PLAN (to encourage people to interact with each other and use the microblogging site for actual blogging and human connection) IS COMING TO FRUITION!!!! also good to hear other people are liking this show. it's such a fun way to wind down and have a giggle when i'm too tuckered out to draw between classes, and the fight choreography is both impressive on a technical level (the mail truck scene is a personal fav) AND just plain cool and hilarious to watch.

i take a lot of random screenshots of brilliant, funny, or weird stas & btas frames to send to my friend, but several of the pics i took of that two-parter were just "oh mala looks great here".

i admit i love mala VERY MUCH. she's serving boethiah to me. she's so CUTE and SILLY and about as jacked as they'll let a chick get in these shows. i think she should be let out of the hell dimension to blow stuff up for fun here and there as a special treat because i like her. I SUPPORT WOMEN'S WRONGS!!!!

[harleyquinn-clownprincessofcrime]

Here’s my “Mad Love” scene | storyboard thumbnails. Now working on the official one atm. W/ BTAS Animated Series Joker bc he’s my fav. 😇

[pumpkinstrawbrew]

What initially made you fancy Scarebat as a pairing?

oh my, that’s such an enchanting question, as it is brain wrecking. i honestly struggle to put my thoughts into proper words. it feel like it’s too little an’ too much at the same time.

but ah, you can say, that my very first brush with them as a ship happened years an’ years back, when a kid me was sitting in front of a TV, waiting for BTAS eps to air. essentially, they are the ship that i carried with me for the majority of my life, without ever realizing it. when i was a kid, terms like shipping an’ any meaningful ways of interacting with my fav fiction, wasn't smth that i could comprehend or really be into in any grand sense. back then, i was noticeably obsessed with their shared eps, a tad more than with some others. an’ i also was obsessed with this scene. looking back at it, this reaction made a lot of sense. it’s almost like falling in love with the thing at first sight, while having zero understanding as to why. 

there are many things, that make scarebat a very 1:1 ship for me. but i think what got my attention at first was the general feeling of their overall dynamic. i adore horror / mindfuckery-coded stuff, always had, an’ i adore how horror in general can be intertwined with allegories to deeper things, esp when it comes to love / obsession / connection, that you can only form / obtain while enduring smth *mutually* terrifying. i love intensity in fiction, some sort of conflict that cannot be just talked over.

bruce's an' jon's personalities play into this bit so well. almost too well, like this was crafted for oddballs like me, who crave confined, one-to-one dynamics the most. an' what i mean by this, is that they’re both fairly isolated, emotionally closed off people. one of them cannot keep most of his connections for long *bruce*, the other one is borderline incapable of doing it *jon*. but regardless of the differences behind the reasoning of them being left stranded, they are stuck in the same situation.

bruce’s public persona can only fool someone for so long, bc as soon as they want to know him a bit closer, things get complicated. one of problems, that most bruces face is that his approach to relationships an’ intimacy, makes it seem like no person could ever be good enough for him to open up. or it feels like this would take too much time, that no one seems to be willing to waste. an’ i’m not saying that there should be clear-cut acceptance of everything or instant clicking understanding, no. what i’m saying is that knowing bruce, truly knowing him means putting an ungodly an’ enormous effort into it, an’ it’s fair that most people won’t feel like doing it. bruce's mental an' emotional barriers are high. so unless someone is ready to climb them for years, an' forgive his inability to react to thing in the way they want / he needs to, there is just no way to ever get on the other side. an' in meantime, the reward for their hard work might not be enough to sustain them. eventually, it might look like that barrier is just going on forever.

in comparison, jon's situation is different, even if it results in the same thing. but where bruce is liked just enough for people to attempt an’ get close to him, no one ever bothered to know jonathan. no one was really understanding him, or trying to. he’s neither easy nor appealing to approach. he’s not charming. he’s not kind. he might have been a fairly harmless, humble lad in his youth, but he’s not humble about his current situation as adult at all. if anything, he’s unpleasant an’ often confrontative about it. ill-fittingly arrogant even. most of the time, viewed by others either as a sore loser or irredeemable monster. jon is used to people simply assuming things about him, without even talking to him first. so depending on his mood / state of mind, he reacts to it accordingly. he's also paranoid an' his main knee-jerk reactions are often violent or a bit too extra. this would seem like a waste of time to even try to know such a person, wouldn't it? esp if he bares his teeth more often, than he tries to be polite in return.

him an' bruce are actually very similar when it comes to their distrust of others. crane might get into monologues about how the others wronged him, bc he kinda knows that most people who he tells this to would either not care at all or die at his hands. there isn't any actualy exposure happening. just him venting. bruce has alfred, so he does tell him certain things, usually when he has no idea what to do or wants a second opinion on smth. but neither of those situations is the same as actually showing off your belly so to speak.

both batman an' scarecrow don't have a very healthy outlook on trust, vulnerability and' intimacy. i mean, jon has no idea what the last one is even, an' he had only bad expirience with the first two. so his view on it is ever worse. more warped. which makes a perfect reasoning why he often literally crowbars his way into batman's brain, kicking at his mental walls, an' getting past them that way, regardless if bruce wants it or not. an’ while jonathan does it with all of his victims, it doesn’t mean that it’s personal for him. oftentimes, he’s more focused on pleasure he gets from it vs what the person actually sees in terms of learning about them. their fear might be interesting to him, they themselves are not so much. that’s until batman. until time pass, an' they exposed to each other in certain ways for like 20 times. the sheer fact that they can only be fully vulnerable, when they hallucinating an' exposed to ft, with no one around to haunt them, but each other is pretty telling.

i love how their differences coexist very neatly with their similarities an' how their respective issues *a disorder in jon's case* only add to it. esp since it's not like just anybody would work for jon. he doesn't want just anybody. an' bruce had a lot of experiences with various people, be it sexual or romantic, but he needs an anti-social wacko to be his keeper, bc no one else would wish for his everything, due to who he is, rather than what they think he are. an' jon needs someone with that insane amount of belief in him, that won't write him off as a mere creep like everyone else did.

certain things can heavily depend on specific aus, or versions of them, but overall, the way they are confined in that psychological, emotional bubble is very bewitching for me. it’s like holding one of those glass balls an’ see what happens within it once you give it a shake. 

in general, scarebat is a rare kind of ship where everything works so nicely. their personalities, motivations, parallels that they have, along with differences that they use to fuel one another. man, even their designs an’ appearances *inside the costume or outside of it* collaborate amazingly into overarching story that can be told.