This is a far larger post than I ever imagined it would end up being. As such, I'm going to explain the basic premise and then put a cut. If the first part catches your eye, I really think the rest of this post will appeal to you. Enjoy!
In my original post I somewhat haphazardly assigned members of the Justice League to various Elements of Harmony. This came out as:
Clark Kent [Superman] as Honesty
Bruce Wayne [Batman] as Kindness
J'onn J'onzz [Martian Manhunter] as Laughter
Barry Allen [The Flash] as Generosity
Diana Prince [Wonder Woman] as Loyalty
Hal Jordan [Green Lantern] as Magic
I decided to use the colors Tumblr allows and semi-match them up with the elements in the show. Except magic which will use the last available option, green. As above, I plan to use these colors for the rest of this post to connect the colors to the elements, to break up all the text in a better way.
At the time, I was really proud of finding what felt like perfect spots where everyone fit in however now I can admit there was more thought I could've put behind my choices. I mostly just had a lot of ideas I wanted to get out all at once.
That's not to say I lacked an explanation. In fact, my reasoning for every choice was as follows:
Bruce was Kindness. In the most simple terms, all his core beliefs are built on being kind. He doesn't want another child to have to go through what he did. He takes in the Robins, to help them grow beyond their tragedies. He truly believes in rehabilitation for everyone. I wanted to highlight this aspect because it feels far too easy to ignore.
Clark was Honesty. His most basic beliefs are the fight "Truth and Justice". He's a reporter who aims to call attention to injustices to help the oppressed. His primary antagonist is Lex Luthor, a man built of lies (especially when he's president). Clark is constantly striving to be true to himself, to be as human as he can be while still being from another planet (he's not an alien in this AU, but that's generally his character).
Hal was Magic. In this AU, the lantern ring is a magical artifact, so his clear control felt like an obvious fit. I also wanted to keep a pretty standard Justice League line-up, so I couldn't pull out Zatanna or Constantine (I theoretically could've used Shazam/Captain Marvel, but I don't personally care for him as a Justice League founder)
Diana was Loyalty. She fights for her people and carries their beliefs with her everywhere she goes. She also remains loyal to every group she once fought beside, even if they begin falling farther from the light.
Barry was Generosity. Due to how much he gives to others. He's often portrayed as the most heroic of this bunch, often recognized by his city for everything he gives. There's also that Christmas episode of Justice League where he's just trying to get a gift for some orphans.
J'onn was Laughter. At first, I couldn't come up with anything for him. I liked the idea of the semi-serious character also being the beacon of laughter. Also, I remembered he had a cookie addiction and he consistently makes me laugh the most (I mostly just remember J'onn as being really funny, and I had a vision at the time).
Now, I went in a different order because the first three (Bruce, Clark and Hal) I thought of immediately, it was the second half (Diana, Barry, and J'onn) I actually struggled with. Simultaneously I wanted Barry to be generosity, laughter, and loyalty as I wanted Diana to be loyalty and generosity as I didn't know what to do with J'onn for awhile.
Ultimately, I felt like I could do better. So I looked at everything again, and returned to the drawing board.
Re-Thinking the Elements
This leads me to this post today. I'm going to walk you through my full process of reassigning the Elements to these characters.
Let's start with what (I think) they can't be:
Clark Kent cannot be Magic - Superman is a more physical character with his fighting style, magic is the only thing he lacks an invulnerability to.
Bruce Wayne cannot be Magic - He understands the make of magic, but generally does not perform it himself.
Barry Allen cannot be Magic - Another one with no relationship to magic at all. He's also going to be more of a scientist in this AU, Which means he has less of a belief in magic (similar to Doctor Hooves).
J'onn J'onzz will not be Magic - Both because in this universe he's a Changeling, which is a different kind of magic from the pony-aligned elements.
Hal Jordan will not be Generosity - This isn't enough of a core belief for it to be a first thought, it's more fitting for others.
J'onn J'onzz will not be Generosity - This isn't often emphasized, and doesn't fit him at the start (since, as a changeling, he'd start off hoarding love).
Bruce Wayne cannot be Laughter - Bruce can be funny, in fact I prefer him when he quips, but it was Clark who said, "Do us both a favor and buy one" in reference to a sense of humor.
Diana Prince will not be Laughter - Again, I'm sure she has a sense of humor, but I think it would be something you'd have to earn.
Bruce Wayne cannot be Honesty - Bruce "The Batman" Wayne is the LEAST honest person on this team. He's often keeping secrets and only sharing when necessary.
J'onn J'onzz cannot be Honesty - Not J'onn in a canon timeline, but in this universe he spends AT LEAST the first season lying to the Justice Drove.
Now, for the "most logical" options for each Elements. This is going off of the element that each hero obviously embodies. Overall, what you'd guess at a glance.
Diana Prince as Honesty - She literally wields the "Lasso of Truth" as her primary weapon. Of course she's the Element of Honesty.
Barry Allen as Laughter - He's well-known as funny guy, and I had once assigned Flash Pinkie Pie's verse in Flawless.
Clark Kent as Kindness - If Superman taught us one thing, it's that Kindness is the new Punk Rock. It only makes sense that he'd embody this trait.
Bruce Wayne as Generosity - A large part of his character that people tend to forget is how much Bruce gives to Gotham. He puts everything into his city, from his sleepless nights defending it to his countless days launching programs and funding everything that may help.
Hal Jordan as Loyalty - Hal's brand of loyalty is more tuned for the GL oath. He has it memorized, and for as rebellious and reckless he may be, he stays loyal to the code.
J'onn J'onzz as Magic - Despite what I said earlier, J'onn still ends up being magic. Simply because that's the only option leftover.
However, this line-up doesn't fully fit each character in a way I'm satisfied with, especially when it comes to J'onn.
Similarly, where my first interpretation was almost trying too hard to subvert expectations, this version feels too surface level. It's just as disappointing, but for different reasons.
I struggled with several forms of reworking where each element went, before I decided to look at other interpretations. It was here that I noticed that the Pillars and the G5 leads appear to have different elements from the Mane Six. I really had all the freedom to decide what they would be.
But before I came up with my own, I wanted to attempt one more thing, sticking closer to DC than I had before...
Lantern Corps of Harmony
DC just so happens to have its own set of artifacts charged by the emotions/character traits, so I figured I might as well look into that. To see if it could fit.
For those unaware, there are about Nine prominent Lantern Corps
Red for Rage
Orange for Avarice (greed)
Yellow for Fear
Green for Willpower
Blue for Hope
Indigo for Compassion
Violet for Love
White for Life
Black for Death
Since there's only six elements of Harmony, I decided to remove Avarice, Death, and Life from the options. From there, I changed out the two most negative emotions, Rage and Fear, for their positive opposites, Joy and Bravery.
With this, I decided the list would be:
Clark Kent [Superman] as Hope. Clark wants the best future for everyone.
Bruce Wayne [Batman] as Bravery [Fear]. Despite exchanging the elements, I did still want the negative original to fit the characters, and Bruce uses fear to his advantage.
Diana Prince [Wonder Woman] as Love. She's actually be a violet lantern, and love seems to be a driving character trait for Diana (not always the romantic kind)
Barry Allen [The Flash] as Joy [Rage]. Similar to his laughter reasoning.
Hal Jordan [Green Lantern] as Willpower. This is already his defining character trait.
J'onn J'onzz [Martian Manhunter] as Compassion. He can read minds and generally has a strong sense of compassion for others.
I actually enjoyed this version quite a bit. Unfortunately, it felt odd for the elements to parallel the Lantern rings while Hal has a lantern ring in this AU. Despite the ring acting like an Alicorn Amulet.
I couldn't go through with this form, although I did keep it in mind with my final variant...
The DC Elements of Harmony
Disclaimer: Not the official Justice Herd line up, there's no Hawkgirl and the Flash/Green Lantern are different. I just liked the image.
Finally, I was determined to truly match the Elements to characters. No more presets, I was finally going to come up with unique elements to match everyone in the Justice Drove. Since that's what the elements would do within lore (However, I would still allow myself to use elements that exist within the show).
First, I had to make a list of what these characters are passionate about, what fuels their core beliefs as heroes:
Clark Kent/Superman, obviously he stands for Truth and Justice. He also holds a big love of humanity, and is MOSTLY very moral in a lot of his depictions. He's also very optimistic and hopes for a better tomorrow for all life. He's also overall very kind to all forms of life, even when it wants him dead.
Bruce Wayne/Batman, a big debate surrounding Batman's character is a battle between Vengeance and Justice, that's the entire premise of a Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode. Although, he also wants peace, he desires a world where no child ever has to experience what he did. He wants to protect the innocent. He also believes in redemption, often to a fault. He thinks everyone can be better if they just try.
Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, firstly, there's the obvious in her Lasso of Truth. She also has a strong love for almost everything, and that's part of what keeps her fighting for the "Man's World". She also has an extreme curiosity, she wants to learn more about everything. It's what allows her to still feel so young despite having been alive for centuries (also how time works differently to an immortal being). She also holds a strong sense of empathy and compassion for others.
Barry Allen/The Flash, Barry seems to carry a hope for the future. He also holds his family very close to his heart.
Hal Jordan/Green Lantern, the entire concept of Hal's ring is the ability to overcome fear utilizing his immense willpower. He also has a great care for others, and especially his home.
J'onn J'onzz/Martian Manhunter, due to his ability to read minds, J'onn has a very strong sense of empathy and compassion
Clearly, there are some overlapping themes within these heroes, but I still managed to pick out what I think is the most important. As such...
⋆The Final Result⋆
Clark Kent/Superman will be Honesty, I know it's a bit lame that I went through this entire character arc and landed on Clark being Honesty again, but honestly nothing else could fit him. "Justice" doesn't seem like the best element (it sounds a bit extreme), and he still ends up being an Alicorn later (and like Twilight, he's going to rule over a concept). So while I do believe there's an argument to be made about Diana deserving Honesty, I think this decision is for the better for the long-run.
Bruce Wayne/Batman will be Amity, in case you're unaware, the definition of "Amity" is, "friendly relations" and is a synonym to peace. Which is again very similar to kindness as an element. However, I think the idea that Bruce is fighting for peace fits his character better than kindness. Even though, it still keeps the vibe of "kind"
Diana Prince/Wonder Woman will be Wonder, it feels pretty repetitive for her element to be her namesake, but the idea that Diana still has so much interest in this strange world feels like a good place to start this version of her character.
Barry Allen/The Flash will be Laughter, I do not plan to just straight copy Wally West into my version of Barry Allen, but I do think he's one of the more lighthearted characters. It might not be laughter, so much as joy, but he will be a bit of the heart for the team.
Hal Jordan/Green Lantern will be Determination, Determination is a synonym for willpower, and I felt it sounded more like an element than "willpower"
J'onn J'onzz/Martian Manhunter will be Compassion, With the ability to read minds, J'onn feels the most led by compassion. But also, for this AU, he doesn't start as a colorful changeling. Meaning that showing care and compassion is something that J'onn finds a bit difficult.
With my final decisions, I really wanted to select elements that the characters would not only embody from the start, but elements that they could grow into. The idea I had, is that the elements will be more "alive" in a sense. They won't speak, but I always envision magic as a bit alive in a way.
So, by the end, the plan is for these characters to develop into a full embodiment of their elements.
Clark will become true to his past and present
Bruce will decide to fight for a peaceful future (choosing Justice over vengeance)
Diana's wonder will help her embrace this new world she's found herself in
Barry will fully embrace having fun again, instead of spending all his time with his research
Hal's determination will help him either embrace or grow past his dreams
J'onn will open up his heart to be truly compassionate for everyone he's met in his journey
If you've read all of this, thank you so much!! I really hope I've managed to fully explain my idea behind the elements for this AU. This has been in my drafts for almost a full month.
Okay- So like, I've been thinking about Carebears which led me to thinking about My Little Pony...because I was small with an MLP phase once.
Anyways, I have a hyperfixation on DC, and that just got me thinking...You know how fucked up Bruce's cutie mark would be??
Like- Your parents die via...I dunno magic accident or something?? (Maybe they get mauled by an Ursa Minor/Major or Timberwolves, instead of being shot dead in an alleyway). Thomas had like- Some surgeon cutie mark and maybe Martha had the freaking pearls (she was a model).
And little Bruce is TRAUMATIZED, and then, in running away because he's a scared, lost child...A bunch of Bats (vampire fruit bats??) swarm him until he's kicking and screaming and Alfred comes to save him.
And it isn't until he's home, still shaken up, still broken...and he sees his cutie mark is sitting there. A bat on his backside...and he's realized what his life's purpose is.
Even better with a grown-Bruce Wayne (there's a pun there, I'm sure, but all I can think of is "Bruce Neigh"), and showing his cutie mark in public would be to reveal his alter ego...So he just pretends to be a grown blank-flank. Some show sympathy, assuming his passion was stunted the night his parents died in front of him
Also, obvi this universe would have the Justice League as the Mane Six/Elements of Harmony, and I think that would go...
Honesty - Superman/Clark Kent (haha, Farm boy)
Kindness - Batman/Bruce Wayne (also accidentally made a Fluttershy parallel)
Laughter - Martian Manhunter/J'onn J'onzz
Generosity - The Flash/Barry Allen
Loyalty - Wonder Woman/Diana Prince
Magic - Green Lantern/Hal Jordan (really any Lantern works, Hal just comes to mind first)
No Aquaman...because he'd be a seapony, and J'onn is a changeling in disguise. Also, because I was thinking about it:
Barry and Diana are Pegasi, Bruce and J'onn are Earth Ponies (J'onn is pretending but it counts), and Clark and Hal are Unicorns (Hal wears his ring on his horn, and Clark ends up becoming an Alicorn at some point).
Edit: I'm likely gonna end up doing more with this, so from here on out I'm gonna tag it as the "Batmare!AU". Since that's what I'm calling Batman in this AU
Welp, I've made 65 posts without any introduction (outside of my description), so here's who I am!! New-Obsessions-Daily (best shortened to Daily), or Mawce/Danny.
🗨, Pronouns: They/Them or Anything, I'm genderfluid so literally everything and anything works...as long as I can tell you're talking to me.
📝, Hobbies: One of my favorite pastimes is overly analyzing the media I consume! Be it through character studies, mild criticisms, or appreciation of details. I also enjoy creating art through both writing and drawing. I have several personal OCs (200+) not related to any specific fandoms, but if I ever end up posting them, I'll likely make them their own separate blog. I also enjoy writing fanfiction, but it isn't normally anything casual (usually I make lore and AUs instead of just writing a one-off scenario) Speaking of-!
🕸, Alternate Universes: I presently have two AUs that I plan to add to somewhat frequently,
Batmare - MLP×DC, where I take settings/concepts from Equestria and shove in various DC characters. I'm, at the time of writing this, still in the lore/planning stage, but I do plan to eventually write something similar to a script/fanfic. So if that interests you, for sure stay tuned!!
Young Justice: Generation - A concept for a season 5/reboot of the Young Justice show. The idea is that it focuses on the "next generation" of heroes aka Lian Harper, Damian al Ghul, Jon Kent, and more!
Knowing me, I'll likely end up with way more eventually!!
💌, Fandoms: As stated in my name, I have MANY fandom obsessions, they're my favorite things to talk about!! While I primarily started this blog to talk about DC Comics and its characters, but that's not the only think I have an interest in! There's also-
The Fallout Franchise (Fo3, FNV, Fo4, and FTV!)
Skylanders (As well as most toys to life games)
My Little Pony (G4, but also you could likely figure from the existence of Batmare)
The Bioshock Franchise (I've played every game)
Phineas and Ferb/Milo Murphy's Law
Musical Theater (Shucked, Heathers, Hamilton, Wicked, Cats, Into the Woods, etc)
AND MORE!! (I plan to add to this list as I post about more of my fandoms)
This very well maybe become a longer post, but I'm satisfied with this introduction for now!
If this has you interested in more about me, below includes various of my favorites. So if you agree with me there, I'm sure we'll be fast friends.
Feel free to reach out if you want!! 💟
💝, My Favorites: I figure, this category can exist just for anyone reading this to get to know me better, I'll include various favorites for my above fandoms...Because I need everything to be in exact categories for my brain to call anything a favorite.
📰DC COMICS🦇
Fav Villain: Harley Quinn
Fav Justice Leaguer: The Flash (Wally or Barry)
Fav Green Lantern: Kyle Rayner
Fav Member of the Batfam: Duke "The Signal" Thomas
Fav Robin: Damian al Ghul-Wayne
Fav Ship: DamiJon
⚙️FALLOUT SERIES☢️
Fav Game - Fallout: New Vegas
Fav DLC - Old World Blues/Dead Money
Fav Fo3 Companion - Butch DeLoria & Charon
Fav FNV Companion - Arcade Gannon & Veronica Santangelo
Fav Fo4 Companion - Nick Valentine & John Hancock
Fav FTV Character - Norm MacLean
🍎MY LITTLE PONY🍏
Fav Mane Six: Rarity
Childhood Fav: Fluttershy
Fav Background Pony: DJPon-3/Vinyl Scratch
Fav Song: Art of the Dress
🌌SKYLANDERS🌠
Fav Skylander - Sonic Boom (she was also my first figure and I adore her so much)
Fav Skylander Giant - Ninjini
Fav Smol Skylander - Terrabite
Fav Swap-Force - Rattle Shake
Fav Air Type - Whirlwind (it'd be unfair to count Sonic Boom twice)
Fav Fire Type - Hot Dog
Fav Water Type - Chill
Fav Life Type - High Five
Fav Earth Type - Flashwing
Fav Tech Type - Drobot
Fav Magic Type - Star Strike
Fav Undead Type - Cynder
I've literally been working nonstop on Lore stuffs for my Batmare AU (because I'm a writer), and I've seen like- Three posts on Instagram with art of Superbat as ponies!!
I swear- I've never felt more seen than I do rn. My vision is literally realized
Without trying I made up my Batmare!AU, I have a Young Justice Season 5-type AU (That I've taken to calling Young Justice: Generation), AND I just accidentally came up with a semi-Batman Beyond AU where Bruce didn't royally fuck-up all his relationships.
I've been thinking about pre-existing characters in my Batmare!AU, and I've more or less decided...
The (MLP) Villains are the same, or have been replaced by an adjacent (DC) Villain
Chrysalis stays the same - J'onn is a Changeling instead of a Martian, so he's on of her children.
Starlight Glimmer's villain role is likely going to be taken by Lex Luthor. Aka he's getting a more Syndrome-esc origin for this AU as feeling scorned by magic/cutie marks. Also might give him some history with Clark since I'm obsessed with Smallville.
Also Nightmare Moon is a really big character to MLP Lore (as she's the only reason the Main Six are together), but I haven't yet decided if I want another character to fill her role exactly (banished princess) or if I just want a different DC Villain (ponified) to be the reason the Justice Herd (working name) team up.
Speaking of Nightmare Moon, prominent characters (like the princesses) have been replaced by characters that match the vibes
Celestia is replaced by either Jor-El or Lara Lor-Van, who mysteriously disappeared after a conflict in Canterlot/Krypton (might come up with some fusion name for that), and no one knows what happened to their son
But actually, whichever parent is the Alicorn teleported him to a random rock farm on the outskirts of Ponyville/Smallville - Meaning Clark is LIKE Applejack (kinda), but with the farm of Pinkie Pie
Similarly, Queen Hippolyta will likely fill the role of Cadence (kinda) she's going to be an Alicorn from Themyscira. Which for this Lore is going to be an island full of Pegasi/Griffons (because it's going to be in the sky)
I might give them a more crystal texture when they're on the island, that slowly goes away as they're away from home. Since it is semi-mixed with the Crystal Empire (being that I might make Sombra into a Wonder Woman villain)
I do plan to include the Justice Society as a semi-Pillars of Equestria. Which will likely end up being apart of Diana's lore.
The Mane Six is just gone, they don't exist in this universe
While I think it would hilarious to have the Mane Six and the Justice Herd, it just makes more sense for only one to exist
However, the Justice Herd still fill the role of the Mane Six. Be it with the personalities or their use of the Elements of Harmony
Organizations Still Exist, even where their characters do not
Canonically, for this universe, Hal's father is a Wonderbolt, so they still exist. Although this AU is moreso just using MLP as a base as opposed to a crossover of the two
Nevermind, I still have to decided what (DC) characters do and don't exist for this universe.
Like, I adore the BatFam, but I'm unsure of if they'll exist within this universe. Since that's a lot of foals for Bruce to take in
I might treat the "Seasons" (since each season of MLP tends to end with a big villain confrontation) as a year and have the characters age through that. Thus unlocking more options for characters
However, ignoring that I do already have concepts for what most of the BatFam will be Pony-wise. The only one not included in that is Damian (because he's not a pony in this AU).
Also, the lore behind "Green Lantern" is that it's a magical artifact that gives ponies the power of the Alicorn, so while I'm not saying there isn't more than one, I am saying that Halcifer will be the only one we meet for awhile. (Also Alan Scott is going to be a "Pillar of Equestria")
Final, mildly unrelated notes:
I haven't decided on this yet, but I might just steal "Maretropolis" for where Clark moves to after growing up in Ponyville/Smallville
I also haven't decided if they're going to be as spread out as they are canonically, or if I'm going to saddle them all in the same town (I'll probably do both, and just leave the farther distances to the characters who can fly)
I might make Ponified names for the characters?? Like based on their talents, I'm not yet sure as I'd have to do more research (combing through SEVERAL G4 Ponies and finding the relation to their names/Cutie marks/talents)
Also, if this interests you, here is the original where I introduced my original, general idea.
