#the riddle

Michael Parkes "The Riddle" lithograph (1999) Source

Michael Parkes “Aditi” lithograph (undated) Source

Aww, thank you so much!! 🥹 That genuinely means a lot to me because keeping Ben in character was probably one of the things I cared about the most while writing this fic. Thank you so so so so muuuuch ❤️🙏

I think, in that sense, I’ve tried to stay as faithful to canon as possible. Soldier Boy —Ben— is an incredibly violent person, and at his core he’s basically a giant man-child with a mountain of daddy issues.

I always say that men with daddy issues are like eternal little boys who never really grow up because they’re constantly looking back at their father and obsessing over what their father would have wanted from them. The problem is that they’ll never be able to live up to those expectations because, quite frankly, sometimes their fathers just don’t like them. And I don’t think people talk about that enough: you can have a child that you simply don’t like. I honestly think that’s what happens to a lot of men. Their fathers just don’t like them, and they have no idea how to process that.

Ben is an extremely violent person, and his entire self-image —his entire sense of self-worth— is built around this idea of masculinity that he believes his father wanted him to embody. But the funny thing is, we don’t even know whether that’s actually what his father wanted. Maybe his father simply wanted him to be a decent, functional human being, and the fact that Ben wasn’t capable of being that was what made his father see him as less of a man.

That’s where this childhood wound comes from: the frustration, the constant comparison with his brother, who seemed to fit their father’s expectations much better. Ben carries this massive ego wound, but he’s completely incapable of confronting it or dealing with it.

Part of the reason is that traditional masculinity —especially when we’re talking about someone who was born at the beginning of the twentieth century— doesn’t really allow for that. We’re not even talking about a contemporary misogynistic man. We’re talking about someone who grew up in a time when women didn’t even have the most basic rights. His entire upbringing, his worldview, his cognitive framework were built within that reality. He grew up in a society where women were legally and socially unequal to men, and where modern feminism simply didn’t exist as a normalized concept. The feminist movement back then was an incredibly difficult struggle. So he sees masculinity—or rather, his distorted idea of masculinity—as the vehicle through which he might finally become the son his father wanted.

But the irony is that the very misconception of masculinity he’s trapped inside is also what prevents him from ever healing. Because men aren’t supposed to cry. Men don’t talk about their feelings. If a man has a problem, he punches a wall instead of talking about it, because talking about emotions is for women or for “sissies.” All of those deeply misogynistic patriarchal ideas end up becoming a handicap, because they’re exactly what stop him from looking inward, understanding his own problems, and actually doing anything to heal them. In other words, the patriarchal ideology that he has built his entire identity around is also the thing that keeps him trapped inside his own trauma.

And honestly, that’s true for a lot of men. Fortunately it’s becoming less common, but it’s still very real. The message is always that real men don’t have problems, they solve problems. If you have problems, then you’re not a real man. So what does Ben do? He refuses to acknowledge that there’s even a problem. As far as he’s concerned, he has no trauma. No grief. No inner conflict. He just punches someone in the face, screams at people, and that’s the end of it. Except that’s obviously a lie. It’s pure masculinity marketing, because that’s not what masculinity actually looks like. Real men have to confront difficult emotions all the time. Even if they put on a performance in front of their friends or society, privately they still have to deal with those feelings.

The difference is that he’s Soldier Boy. And Soldier Boy isn’t a real person. Soldier Boy is a marketing product.

The persona has completely consumed the man. Over the course of decades—because he’s incredibly old—he’s convinced himself that the persona is real, that the persona is who he actually is. But it clearly isn’t. Otherwise he wouldn’t break down crying when nobody’s looking. He wouldn’t completely lose control every time someone reminds him that he’s just a spoiled rich kid desperate for his father’s approval. He wouldn’t have those explosive outbursts of rage. And that’s completely canonical. That’s who Soldier Boy is. Every single time someone touches one of his deepest wounds, he explodes. Because if you never talk about your problems, never process your trauma, and never express your emotions, eventually you become a pressure cooker that’s bound to explode.

That’s exactly what happens to him. That was something I really wanted to reflect throughout the entire fic because, to me, that’s the character. And on top of that, he has ideas straight out of the Stone Age. I had a grandfather who was born in 1928, and he basically had the same worldview. Well… not the Nazi part. But the rest of it, yes. Because that’s how a lot of men of that generation thought. The difference is that Ben is completely out of time. He has no idea what world he’s living in anymore.

And I think it’s important to portray him exactly as he is. You can’t suddenly write him as someone who fully understands modern society or who magically becomes some kind of social justice warrior overnight. That would fundamentally change who the character is. Personally, I found this version of him incredibly interesting to write because I love character development, I love character studies, and I especially love writing deeply unpleasant characters. I think they’re fascinating to explore in fanfiction.

.. so this gives us a perfect opportunity for the most disastrously chaotic dynamic (and love square) EVER.

ESPECIALLY if they don’t know the others true identities, or even they did and are just being lil shits anyways

Give me:

grumpy skeptical Clark to Bruce’s sunshine playboy persona.

Clark *trying to down as many aspirins as he can, half tempted to throw himself into the sun* : Bruce we needed to surround the enemy, not SEDUCE them!

Bruce *currently on his way to a dinner wearing the most seductive outfit known to man* : Well, you know the saying. We can’t gatekeep or manslaughter our way out of it. Girlboss it is.

Clark: Bruce you are going on a date with a STRAIGHT MAN

Bruce: Give me five minutes and then I’ll let you hear him scream my name

*horrified Clark noises*

==================================

Brooding and detective Batman meeting lie-detector and very effective investigator journalist Clark Kent

Batman: Tell me where the bombs are Riddler!

Riddler *currently tied up* : Hehe you’ll never find them~

Clark: Mind if I record this session Mr. Riddler?

Batman:

Riddler:

Clark:

Riddler: Who the hell-

Batman: .. Kent. How’d you even get here?

Clark: Irrelevant questions. *waves recorder* so..?

Riddler: Sure..tell the public I’m going to paint the walls red-

Clark *in investigative journalist mode* : So which devastating rock bottom led you to lose your mind and pursue this as a career?

Riddler:

Riddler: hey wait hang on this is a fulfilling career!

Clark *raising a judgemental eyebrow*: So.. you fighting a man dressed as a bat, with that atrocious outfit you must’ve gotten from hell and riddles that you’ll give him the answer to anyway.. this is fulfilling?

Riddler *voice breaking* : .. yes?

*questioning and judgemental silence*

Few hours later

Red Robin: .. why is Riddler crying and why does he also have a career counselling book in his hand?

Batman *just as surprised and kind of disturbed at how methodical and impressive Clark was in breaking down Riddlers plan based on evidence and connecting the dots* : Honestly I thought he was here for me and he started ignoring me so out of concern for his safety I demanded he paid attention

Red robin: And?

Batman: and he said “oh you don’t want me to pay attention to you” and showed me.. a lot of details and screenshots I don’t know how he got his hands on

Red robin:

Batman: Riddler also then attempted to escape and Clark just.. punched him so hard Riddler still doesn’t know which universe he’s in..

Red robin: well it could’ve been worse.. Clark could’ve pulled out a gun

Batman: .. he has a flamethrower

Red Robin: IM SORRY WHAT

Batman: .. and he told me we should work together sometimes, and I gave him few crime stories and plots to help raise awareness for the public and stop them.

Red robin:

Batman: also he gave me a therapy card.

=========

Give me ray of sunshine and leader Superman with no sense of self preservation Bruce Wayne

Superman: Good evening Mr. Wayne, there’s a credible threat against you so I’ll be on the lookout for today-

Bruce *sidling upto him* : .. damn.. when I said send your hottest stripper you did deliver..

Superman *beet red* : Im not the stripper sir!

Bruce: Really?

Superman *furious nodding*

Bruce: okay then.. hey listen, I’ve been learning about important dates in history lately.. do you wanna be one of them?

Superman. Exe has stopped functioning

Later

Superman: Mr. Wayne there’s a blackout and the building is under attack! Evacuate!

Bruce *running with gunshots behind* : Are you outside? You’re invulnerable right? Nothing can hurt you? Not even gunpowder or explosives?!

Superman *touched and pleasantly surprised* : yes.. so you don’t have to worry about me Mr. Wayn-

*glass breaks and Superman catches the dark mass falling in the air*

Superman: See? You’re safe-

*realises he’s holding a huge bomb about to detonate*

One explosion later

Superman: … you threw a bomb at me

Bruce: What?? You said you were invulnerable! I didn’t know what else to do with it??

Superman: So you didn’t think to tell me? Not even a warning?

Bruce: Listen that bomb was hot but compared to how smoking hot you were I didn’t think it ever stood a change

Superman: Mr. Wayne, listen. You should’ve atleast yelled or said something so I could’ve gotten it away in time. What if I hadn’t?

Bruce: I did! I yelled GET READY FOR A BLOWJOB

Superman:

Bruce:

Superman:

Bruce: ?? Did I do something wrong?

========

And obviously.. the usual golden retriever Superman x black cat Batman that we all know and love so I’m just going to leave it at:

Batman: Someone is going to die.

Superman: Of fun!

Batman: Sure if you consider burning to death fun

Superman:

Superman: Oh come on be a little optimistic! We must have hope! We will persevere!

Batman: we are literally being held hostages by aliens

Superman: ..listen okay, let me do the talking. We just gotta de-escalate the situation

Alien: You intruders! You will never get our superior defender systems-

Batman *done with this bullshit* : I already hacked into it twenty days ago and found all of your identities, families and now have full control over your systems of defends and weapons. If I wanted to hurt somebody.. I would’ve done so already.

Alien *tries to punch him, gets headbutted instead*

Alien *chuckles* : You have a thick skull Batman..

Batman:

Superman *frantic whispering*: Dontsayitdontsayitdontsayitdontsayit-

Batman: .. atleast mines protecting a brain. Wish I could say the same for yours

+ random stuff under the cut