Fandom Snowflake: Day 8 - Favourite Piece of Canon

[crookedspoon]

Day 8

In your own space, share a favorite piece of original canon (a TV episode, a song, a favorite interview, a book, a scene from a movie, etc) and explain why you love it so much. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Initially, I didn't think I could come up with /pieces/ of a canon and/or express my thoughts into words because my brain didn't work. I considered gushing Wooden Overcoats, because that is giving me a lot of joy these days, but I love it as a whole and wouldn't have been able to single out a part of it.

And then I played Batman: The Telltale Series again today. And it reminded me how much I love the Harley/Joker relationship in it. Or the Joker figure in general. I'm not even sure in how far this counts as original, because it's more of a remix in a way, but it's officially snactioned, so here goes:


First of all, Joker is not the Joker yet as we know him. He's weirdly sweet but creepy dude named John Doe. Secondly, Harley did not become Harley Quinn because of the Joker, but for her own reasons. So from the first, their relationship is flipped on its head. It's John who is head over heels in love with Harley, and Harley who sees him as her toy. It's such a fresh take on their relationship and I absolutely love seeing Harley in the strong queenpin of crime role.

I do think we're going to see John's transformation into the Joker before the second season is out, but I honestly can't say whether it happens because of Harley of because of Bruce. Which brings me to another thing I love about Telltale Batman: John's feelings for Bruce. He calls him his best friend and all, but the homoeroticism is hard to miss.

Perhaps it's not explicit enough for some folks, but I still think it's cool to see a high profile character such as the Joker harbouring feelings for another man. And also seeing him express his feelings for Harley to Bruce. From the first, he says he's in love with her, and actively seeks Bruce's relationship advice, because he wants to deepen his relationship with Harley. I don't know which path you have taken, but John listens to Bruce even when he suggests manipulating her into liking John and I love how ominous that is. John oscillates wildly from utterly adorable to "holy shit what a creep" to "I thought for sure he was going to blow a fuse just now" in seconds and I adore how his voice actor portrays his unstable nature. You get the sense that there is something fundamentally wrong/deranged with this proto-Joker (one of the things he loves about Harley is her ruthlessness), but he's also shown to care deeply about Bruce and to even have a sweet and charming side to him (which in turn makes me re-evaluate the more mainstream relationship he has with Harley: if the Joker has this side to him, it's not far-fetched that Harley would give him chance after chance even though he keeps abusing her).


Anyway. This is my rambly and inadequate attempt at putting into words what I love John and his relationship with Harley.


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