u/Sneedus_Masneedus

I’m irreversibly broken, done horrible, unspeakable things. I don't see a future where I can give anything to the world, one where I can be happy or make other people happy. Poison, from the shell down to the core. I just want to be free from this reality, from myself. But I can't. I'd be traumatizing my parents, the people who love me, who probably look to me and my sister for purpose and meaning in their own lives. And I don't know what to do. There's nothing in me that makes me to want to live a worthwhile life. I don't want happiness. I can't live a meaningful live because I can't see anything in me that resembles humanity. I have no motivation to do anything at all. Everything in existence feels vapid and hollow. But I can't end it either. I can't leave behind a legacy of waste, hurt and grief. All I know is living in a state of apathy and boredom, cheap and artificial spikes of pleasure. Is this all there is? I see my peers, motivated, confident, self-assured people, all of them, everyone, at least some shred of belief in the world, or self-vindication and purpose. But I can't see anything in myself or around me. What do I do? What can I do? Does anyone know?

TV - The tuttle cult in True Detective. This strange, evil practice going back decades, an amalgam of Southern US lifestyle, "Mardis Gras" european traditions brought over from settlement, and alien, occultist extra-dimensional philosophy. Practiced by sick and twist minds who would do anything to validate their monstrous, murderous, pedophilic instincts. Yet, through the subtle magical realism throughout the show experienced by Rustin Cohle, even with the knowledge of his mental problems, there's still an unnerving feeling that there's some dreadful truth to it.

Music - First Utterance by Comus. Something about the way this record provokes a sense of something primeval and unknowable, something lurking in the dark forests of pre-historic pagan england. Something written in the morbid rules of nature, only known to a long dead people from a time forgotten to us, yet some sinister aspect of it feels like it still lurks in the darkest corners of existence and mind. The taboo, the evil, the untouchable, the ever-present.

Real life - Strange cultural anomalies with indigenous roots like Kakadu in Australia, or weird rural cults with limited info about them like the twelve tribes or the water people.

History - The religious practices of the Proto-Indo-Europeans, niche levantine gods like Qos and their presence in the development of Christian and Jewish scripture / religion, and the Sea Peoples during the bronze age collapse.

The last isn't a great example of this, but something about the fact that this obscure and mostly unknown culture or cultures could have as much as an impact they seemingly did on lasting civilizations, and appear as such an existential threat in their surviving records as they did, intrigues me in the same way the other examples do. Ancient, anomalous and fear-provoking. Something hiding in the dark reaches of my nightmares. Something suggestive of the worst parts of the human psyche.

That's all. I think it would be fun to rip cones with them in the x-basement.

Mans suit was injecting him nonstop 24/7 with an unholy combination of speed, amphetamines, morphine, painkillers, military-issue stimulants and god knows what research chemicals the Black Mesa Crack Division was cooking up for two to three weeks straight. The minute he takes off the suit he'd be getting massive withdrawals, and with the likely endless funds and comfort he'd be rewarded for saving the planet several times, I guarantee he'd be gacked off the shard every day of his life. Mofos probs got so much trauma he'd be nonstop injecting his vortigaunt buddies galunga special intergalactic cook just to escape the pain. His dick would be bloody and raw from stimjacking and he'd get cardiac arrest or od two weeks after they use the borealis to blow up the combine mothership or whatever. Poor dude doesn't stand a chance

The Writer's have been self-aware, but not to the extent that it was in those middle seasons where everything had to be crass, absurd and meta to an obnoxious and tone-deaf degree. After nine seasons of the show, it's like they've finally accepted the baggage that comes with a series running that long, that just trying to recapture the formulas of the earlier seasons doesn't work anymore. Which is kind of ironic considering how much plot points have been drawing from season one so far, I.E. Rick's recurring alcoholism, Snowball showing up, Jerry getting a job.

IMO, the writers trying to be as shocking and out-of-pocket as possible without giving thought to the characters, the world, and actually coming up with novel or interesting sci-fi ideas is how we ended up with garbage like incest baby and the Ice T episode. Nice to see the change of pace this season / last season to a lesser extent.

I'm sorta trying to make a reading order which can give a kind of complete story of Batman while also including the most essential Bats stories between Infinite Crisis and New 52.

It stays in continuity for the most part, with the exception of Dark Knight Returns because to me it feels like the perfect ending. There are a lot of other great stories that could be included and would flesh it out more, but I decided to cut a lot of stuff like Second Chances, Legends of the Dark Knight, Bad Moon Rising, etc for a more condensed and less contradictory list.

This is what I have so far. Thoughts?

Year One

The Man Who Laughs

The Long Halloween

Dark Victory

Robin Year One

Batgirl Year One

Son of the Demon

Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on a Serious Earth

The Killing Joke

The Cult

Second Chances (Issues 1 - 6)

A Death in the Family

Year Three

A Lonely Place of Dying

Prelude to Knightfall

Knightfall

Batman (Moench / Jones)

Contagion / Legacy

Road to No Mans Land

No Man's Land

Hush

Under the Red Hood

Dini's Batman Run

Grant Morrison's Batman Run

Final Crisis

Morrison's Batman and Robin

Snyder's Batman up to N52

The Dark Knight Returns

Edit: Ended up switching out Nightwing year one for second chances / year three because it contradicts the other stories less. Additionally, second chances through to lonely place of dying flows together really smoothly.

I actually love the character, and a good chunk of my fave Batsy stories have him as the antagonist, but seriously, it's time to move on. I honestly think every interesting thing that can be done with the Batman / Joker relationship has been done, and at this point the character has been worn way too thin. The constant cycle of Joker commits ten 9/11s > Batman Stops him > Joker breaks out of Arkham > Repeat is so goddamn tired. The "Joker pushes the no-kill rule to the absolute limit and Batman triumphs because he doesn't kill him" thing has become so fatigued, that instead of it feeling like a compelling moral victory, it just makes Batman's obstinance more and more frustrating and less believable each time it happens.

It makes the Batman project feel quixotic and inhibits Bruce's character growth. It makes the narrative feel stagnant, and I'd say there's a very good chance this is why writers have used him less in the last few years.

Obviously Bruce shouldn't be the one to merk him. And I'm not saying wipe Jonkler from the face of the comic industry (Besides that's never gonna happen, it's the comic industry), but like, can they just kill him off once, before the next DC universe reboot happens? Please?