#deconstructions

[wrzky]

Measuring the worth of your contribution to liberation struggles based on impact is capitalistic. You won't see the end of it unless you realise the act of measuring worth based on output at all is the product of capitalism, the very rot that still colonises even your psyche. What matters is you did it.

If all you've ever done so far helped some people or even just one person, one life experienced that a better, humane alternative is possible, you've become one of the nodes through which resistance takes shape, liberation comes through, and movement lingers. Movement shouldn't be halted just because one person changes or disappears. Movement dies when nobody resists anymore.

What matters is you did it. No matter how small you think it is. You did it.

[vigilantsycamore]

“In real life people with superpowers would be self-serving assholes” 

what do you think a supervillain is

you realise that some people actually want to help others, right? you don’t think any of those people would get superpowers?

[tempoaryblogformightyjensblog]

I feel like people should realize how the chosen one is just another trope. It's not an inheritantly bad trope, it's just a trope.

You can have it be deconstructed or subverted or whatever. But you can also just put your own spin on it.

Luz Noceda is, IMO, an example of the chosen one trope. She does not have a special lineage nor was it something decided before her birth. However the fact that the Titan is sapient seemingly confirms that the Titan was indeed guiding her on her journey so that she could defeat Philip Wittebane.

She's still a version of the Chosen One. It's simply based on her own character rather then something decided beforehand. She seem d like a good witch with how kind she was and how she cared for his son so the Titan decided she was the right one. And that's not uncommon either, 'only the who is pure of heart can do X' or a protagnist proving themselves worthy of something great through their own goodness are not unheard of versions of it either.

Hell, you could write it so that it is a case of 'destiny' however it's something the protagonist wants. But might not achieve if they make the wrong decisions and such. That way it still involves agency and so forth.

You can write it so that a higher power is giving the protagonist nudges in the right direction but the ultimate decision to be q hero and do the right thing is up to them.

My point with all this is that the chosen one is simply another trope. Deconstructions or subversions can be fun, but that's not the only thing your allowed to do. Some seem to think that subverting it is the only thing you could do or that it's something you should avoid. When it's not, you can play it straight or simply put a spin on it if you'd like. It just depends on how you write it

[espanolbot2]

I mean, if you really wanted to do a dark version Archie, tell it from the perspective of someone in Riverdale who becomes increasingly weirded out that his odd, uncharismatic guy is somehow working his way through the entire town and surrounding area like he was in some kind of dating sim or gross harem anime or something. Or the romantic comedy version of that one Black Mirror Star Trek parody episode.

You could make it a meta commentary on those kinds of genres, particularly the creepy wish fulfillment aspect of it, but have the slowly building dread of someone realising that they’re trapped in a town that’s always slightly out of date, where no one ages, and where sooner or later everyone WILL date Archie makes for a much more scary, interesting story than “Betty’s got the serial killer gene, whoooooa!“ or “that bomb Veronica’s dad planted gave us superpowers, I guess?“.

Just saying, if you’re going to deconstruct it, there are more effective ways to do it than making a show that seems to be a parody in of itself of teenage dramas (ALL teenage dramas, regardless of genre). Ed Brubaker in his Criminal series, for example, had the storyline Last of the Innocent, which was a noir crime story that was basically a deconstruction of the stereotypical Archie story, where several years into his marriage with Not!Veronica, Fake!Archie regrets his choice and plots to murder her to be with his other highschool girlfriend Not!Betty.

Should be clear that the Archie analogue is very much the bad guy in the story, and it’s effective a tale of him ruining several people’s lives in his selfish quest to get back the life he thinks he deserves (albeit one where he has the Veronica expy’s money for himself, but married to the “nicer” of his two girlfriends instead).

What I’m saying is, if you’re going to do it, there are several ways it can be done in multiple genres. It helps if the story you’re telling is actually trying to SAY something though, either about the original story, its genre or the time it was created, otherwise you just get a potentially mean-spirited, grimdark story that exists JUST to be a shallow parody.

[theimpossiblescheme]

I’m still not done talking about this, apparently...

I think a lot of comic book fans’ recoil instinct from anything being a “deconstruction” comes from the misconception that those kinds of stories are always grim and gritty.  That’s not necessarily the case!  To deconstruct a story or trope means to break it down to its basic fundamental levels and play around with it, often exposing its inherent contradictions and seeing how they would play out in the real world.

For a good example of a deconstruction that doesn’t stick to the dark and edgy stereotype, read “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way?”, a Superman arc that skewers the very idea that “realistic” superheroes are all excessively violent and power-hungry.  It shows that Superman has thought about breaking his strict moral code before, but that sticking to it doesn’t make him naive or ineffectual.  Meanwhile the villains of the book, the Elites, have just as much power as he does, but repeatedly abuse it and then cling to the moral high ground because they only kill “bad guys.”  It’s still very much a deconstruction since it breaks down a very common trope, but it still comes down on the idealistic end of the scale rather than the cynical end.

Or for another non-comics example, the Discworld book Hogfather by Terry Pratchett, which takes a hammer to a lot of Christmas tropes.  There’s a scene where Death, who’s taken over the job as the Discworld’s version of Santa Claus for the night (long story), comes across the Little Match Girl and is told that it’s “tradition” for her to freeze to death alone to make everyone around her more grateful for what they have.  And Death promptly goes “No, screw that” and rescues her, saying there’s no greater gift he can give than that of a new life.  This feeds into the greater overall point that figures like the Hogfather or the Tooth Fairy come out of humanity’s need to bring mercy, justice, and kindness into a universe that can be very cold and cruel.  As Death says toward the end, “You need to believe things that aren’t true.  How else can they become?”

There’s room in deconstructions for genuine hope and heart, not just endless nihilism.

[victormalonso]

deconstructions | © víctor m. alonso

[headlesssamurai]

Kill the Minotaur (Collected Edition) Written by Chris Pasetto & Christian Cantamessa Art by Lukas Ketner & Jean-Francois Beaulieu

A darkly cinematic, maturely themed, inventive retelling of a classical Greek myth. Athens lost the war to Crete. Now, they pay tribute to King Minos by sacrificing their best citizens to his unearthly labyrinth. Conspirators believe Theseus can be the hero they need to end the mad king’s bloody reign but no one on this world has ever encountered anything like the savage minotaur.