u/Unlikely_Message_446

I like the "His Dark Materials" books by Phillip Pullman, but I prefer sci-fi over fantasy. Can someone recommend a similar book but with science fiction elements?

I have two copies of the book, one with only 20 chapters with a glossary of the Nadsat language at the back, and another copy with all 21 chapters but no glossary. Is there an edition of the book with everything included? If so, please let me know

At the end of WW2, the Emperor of Japan made a Humanity Declaration where he admitted he was not divine and was just a normal human. This directly debunked the myth that had existed for centuries that the Japanese royal family are demi-gods who are descendants of the Sun Goddess. This led to the power of the Emperor significantly declining and Japan becoming more liberal.

Should the British monarchy make a similar declaration now? Admit that they do not have "divine right of kings" and are not hand chosen by "the grace of God"?

Frank Miller's "All Star Batman And Robin" (2005-2008) is infamous for being very weird, and having a very bizarre version of Batman called "The goddamn Batman". However, there is an explanation: before the events of the story, Batman and the Joker swapped minds.

Evidence:

• This version of Batman kills, and even burns criminals to death, which Batman would never do, but the Joker certainly would.

• This Batman smiles a lot, and even laughs maniacally at one point, which would be very on-brand for the Joker.

• "Batman" takes pleasure in his job throughout the comic, calling it "cool" many times. Regular Batman would never say this, as it is his solemn duty to fight crime because of the trauma of his parent's death, but the Joker pretending to be Batman would say this.

• Batman uses guns and handheld explosive devices throughout the story, which is completely out of character for Batman, but classic things the Joker does

• In this story, Batman kidnaps Dick Grayson, and the Joker is known for kidnapping children and psychologically torturing them, which he does by turning him into Robin. He also uses gas to knock him out to kidnap him, and gas is a classic weapon used by the Joker.

• When Dick Grayson questions where the T-Rex in the cave came from, he doesn't answer and just tells him to "shut up". If this was Joker's mind this would make sense since he doesn't actually know.

• At one point, Batman paints an entire room and himself yellow, so Green Lantern can't harm him. This is exactly like one of Joker's over the top pranks. Also, he has to spray paint his face yellow for this act and the Joker often paints his face in makeup.

• He often says he is "the goddamn Batman" which seems very unnecessarily wordy...unless this is the Joker putting on an act of what he thinks Batman is like.

• Alfred seems concerned about Batman's actions, which seems to suggest Batman hasn't always been this way, which would make sense if he swapped his mind with Joker recently before the comic.

• In his inner narration, Batman talks about the young Bruce Wayne who lost his parents in the 3rd person, as if he is a different person, which would make sense if it was the Joker reflecting on Batman's life.

• Batman calls other people "clowns" throughout the story

• Batman insults the other members of the JLA calling Green Lantern and Superman "morons" which is the kind of behaviour the Joker would do

• Batman happily accepts being given the label of "criminal" which would make sense for the Joker

• The Joker is completely unsmiling throughout the entire story, which makes no sense unless it's Batman's mind inside his body

• When The Joker first appears in the comic, he says "they call me the Joker" instead of just claiming the name himself, which would make sense if he is secretly Batman's mind in his body. He also adds that he "isn't very funny" which could be his subtle hint at his true identity

• The Joker is unusually muscular in this story, which could be explained by Batman's mind being in this body and trying to work out to get his old strength back

• The Joker is very intelligent, knowing the exact way to crush a larynx quickly and is able to learn the name and location of a random woman in his first scene, which are scientific and detective skills associated with the mind of Batman.

• The Joker's internal monologue has him call Gotham a dirty, ugly city, which is reminiscent of Batman's monologues

• The first help the Joker tries to get in the story is by going to Catwoman, and this would make sense if he was secretly Batman, since she is the enemy he has the most amicable relationship with

Lots of people say that at the end of Watchmen, Ozymandias "caught" the bullet, which leads to them powerscaling him as superhuman and supersonic. Some have even called this a plot hole in the "realistic world of Watchmen" (as if there isn't a giant squid). While I'm not saying this scene is completely realistic, I want to correct what's actually happening here.

When people say he "caught" the bullet, it makes people think he got it in his hand cleanly like Superman or the Flash. That's not what happened. Adrian falls over in pain, and his hand is leaking blood and he has to remove the bullet from being embedded in his hand. Basically, he got injured.

So he did not "catch" the bullet in the way people are imagining. The bullet still pierced him, he just redirected it into his hand instead of his chest. I'm not saying this is possible, but it's a lot more believable than how most people frame it as.