Continuity
Sep. 5th, 2006 09:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shankieA very strange, meta-kinda ficlet thing.
I've always been drawn to the Joker and the idea that he has "super-sanity", that he knows he's not real, and that's why he is the way he is; no consequences. Over the years, in comics, there's been a few places where this has become really the only explanation for him knowing certain things, and in this medium? A fascinating analysis of the character.
Then rumours started flying around about DC killing off the Joker, in his current incarnation, to be replaced with a new one.
Combine the two, and this is my response.
Continuity
The Joker tries to explain something to Batman; and fails. Mention of character death, but no other warnings.
Batman saw the Joker, and instantly was on alert, scanning the area, listening carefully for any others around, but it was just the Joker, sitting on a bench overlooking the ocean, with wild green hair catching in a light all at angles that made it look eerie, although he'd never admit it aloud.
He approached silently, and was certainly still out of the Joker's perception when a tired voice spoke up, and a pale hand waved him over.
"Really no need for sneaking about. We need to talk."
Ever vigilant for some trick, some deception, it was a few long moments before Batman stepped forward. But still, there was nothing.
The clown's face was free of his ever-present red lipstick that set off the white skin; as such, he merely looked drawn with age and exhaustion, with no smile or laugh.
"Sit down, you're making me nervous, looming around like that."
"Nervous?"
"It's just an expression."
The Joker was silent until Batman was finally sitting next to him rigidly on the bench, and they listened to the sound of lapping waves for a moment.
"I'm quitting. I thought you should know."
Batman frowned, and looked over at him.
"Quitting?"
"Yeah. We've been at this a long time, me and you. It was just fun, for the most part. Like the world's greatest video game, before video games existed, never dying, no consequences. I always tried to make you understand, but... sometimes things were just too confusing. Too hard to keep track of things."
"What are you talking about?"
"It's not real!" The Joker waved his arm around and let it fall on his lap limply. "None of it! For once, I'd just like to have something mean something! I tried telling that Parker fellow, too. Listens even less than you do."
There was silence, and Batman frowned more deeply. The Joker was prone to not making sense or being rational, but it was the seriousness that really bothered him.
"You're still not listening, are you?" Joker asked resignedly, as if he didn't expect an answer. "No, I suppose not. I'm leaving now. You can have your illusions; take them. I don't want them anymore."
He got up and walked away, and Batman looked after where he'd gone, but found nothing there.
The next week, he was dead.
Like every time, there was the waiting, knowing that someday he'd re-appear again, without explanation or reason. Watching the monitors, keeping an ear to the ground as Oracle ran endless searches for anything that may give an indication.
They buried the body in a potter's field after an autopsy and considerable delay.
But the Joker never resurrected, and Batman was left wondering if his words had been something more than insanity... but his mind never let him. He would visit the unmarked grave, without disturbing the inevitable shrine of weapons, alcohol, money, and other gifts left on it, or without even approaching it closely. He just had to be sure. Drawn there by the need to know, and the unsettled incompleteness that had disturbingly appeared over time.
Other men tried to take his place, to varying levels of 'success', but it was never the same. Just hollow laughter in the night, like shadowy reminders.
The Joker was gone, and he wasn't coming back.
I've always been drawn to the Joker and the idea that he has "super-sanity", that he knows he's not real, and that's why he is the way he is; no consequences. Over the years, in comics, there's been a few places where this has become really the only explanation for him knowing certain things, and in this medium? A fascinating analysis of the character.
Then rumours started flying around about DC killing off the Joker, in his current incarnation, to be replaced with a new one.
Combine the two, and this is my response.
Continuity
The Joker tries to explain something to Batman; and fails. Mention of character death, but no other warnings.
Batman saw the Joker, and instantly was on alert, scanning the area, listening carefully for any others around, but it was just the Joker, sitting on a bench overlooking the ocean, with wild green hair catching in a light all at angles that made it look eerie, although he'd never admit it aloud.
He approached silently, and was certainly still out of the Joker's perception when a tired voice spoke up, and a pale hand waved him over.
"Really no need for sneaking about. We need to talk."
Ever vigilant for some trick, some deception, it was a few long moments before Batman stepped forward. But still, there was nothing.
The clown's face was free of his ever-present red lipstick that set off the white skin; as such, he merely looked drawn with age and exhaustion, with no smile or laugh.
"Sit down, you're making me nervous, looming around like that."
"Nervous?"
"It's just an expression."
The Joker was silent until Batman was finally sitting next to him rigidly on the bench, and they listened to the sound of lapping waves for a moment.
"I'm quitting. I thought you should know."
Batman frowned, and looked over at him.
"Quitting?"
"Yeah. We've been at this a long time, me and you. It was just fun, for the most part. Like the world's greatest video game, before video games existed, never dying, no consequences. I always tried to make you understand, but... sometimes things were just too confusing. Too hard to keep track of things."
"What are you talking about?"
"It's not real!" The Joker waved his arm around and let it fall on his lap limply. "None of it! For once, I'd just like to have something mean something! I tried telling that Parker fellow, too. Listens even less than you do."
There was silence, and Batman frowned more deeply. The Joker was prone to not making sense or being rational, but it was the seriousness that really bothered him.
"You're still not listening, are you?" Joker asked resignedly, as if he didn't expect an answer. "No, I suppose not. I'm leaving now. You can have your illusions; take them. I don't want them anymore."
He got up and walked away, and Batman looked after where he'd gone, but found nothing there.
The next week, he was dead.
Like every time, there was the waiting, knowing that someday he'd re-appear again, without explanation or reason. Watching the monitors, keeping an ear to the ground as Oracle ran endless searches for anything that may give an indication.
They buried the body in a potter's field after an autopsy and considerable delay.
But the Joker never resurrected, and Batman was left wondering if his words had been something more than insanity... but his mind never let him. He would visit the unmarked grave, without disturbing the inevitable shrine of weapons, alcohol, money, and other gifts left on it, or without even approaching it closely. He just had to be sure. Drawn there by the need to know, and the unsettled incompleteness that had disturbingly appeared over time.
Other men tried to take his place, to varying levels of 'success', but it was never the same. Just hollow laughter in the night, like shadowy reminders.
The Joker was gone, and he wasn't coming back.
no subject
on 2006-09-06 01:09 am (UTC)no subject
on 2006-09-06 01:14 am (UTC)no subject
on 2006-09-06 10:51 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2006-09-08 03:22 am (UTC)no subject
on 2007-11-13 09:34 pm (UTC)And so well written. Sad without bawling...just aching.
Aww! Meaniface! I want him back!
no subject
on 2007-11-13 10:50 pm (UTC)He didn't really stay dead, so, yeah. I do need to write him more; one of my first and still favourite fanfic scenes I wrote was a very Batman: The Animated Series version...