THE WHITE KNIGHT ARC AND ITS CONNECTIONS TO THE DARK KNIGHT MOVIE
Since it came up in my last analysis, I got the urge to rewatch the Dark Knight movie so it's finally my time to make an in-depth comparison between this and the White Knight arc which is heavily inspired by the movie.
I will list all similarities I could find by comparing the Yuumori characters to their Dark Knight movie counterparts. I will mention the differences when it is interesting, but I didn't want to turn this into a movie review, so The Dark Knight is still worth watching. However, even with that, warning: there will be spoilers regarding the movie.
(And since you've mentioned you would be interested, @diveintovortex , I ping you.)
But before I switch to the character comparison, here's these two covers where the manga actually referenced the movie with using one of its most popular quotes (said in a crucial moment by Harvey Dent).
"The night is the darkest just before the dawn. And the dawn is coming."
The three main characters of the arc and the Dark Knight movie roles they have: the Lord of Crime/Batman, Adam Whiteley/Harvey Dent and Milverton/Joker.
THE LORD OF CRIME / BATMAN
Let's talk about the similarities between the Lord of Crime (here, I will mean the role, so not just William, but all three Moriarties) and Batman.
First, they have some similar tools - the Lord of Crime shown to use something similar to Batman's equipment he can get onto buildings with, he also wears a coat.
Both of them hides their identity from the public and both of them have a well-respected public persona - the Moriarties are nobles and Batman is a wealthy businessman, Bruce Wayne. Both of them also donate a lot.
Both of them has an agent/informant in the police - for the Lord of Crime, it is Patterson, for Batman, it is James Gordon (and both Patterson and James Gordon wear glasses).
Both Batman and the Lord of Crime are someone the common people looked up to first and saw as their hope - then their views changed when Whiteley and Harvey Dent arrived to the scene.
Both Batman and the Lord of Crime fight for a good cause, to make a better society with means outside of the law (but unlike the LoC, Batman doesn't kill). Batman wants to clean Gotham from the mobs and the Lord of Crime England from the evil nobles. Gotham and England are also shown to have similar curses what makes the people on the low's life a hell - Gotham has corruption what makes the city unable to thrive and England has the class system.
They both got refered to with the name "Dark Knight. For Batman, it occurs at the end of the movie and for the Lord of Crime, it's the title of the next chapter (which, despite that the Lord of Crime doesn't appear in it, is all about the Lord of Crime in talks between Milverton and Ruskin and Sherlock and Mycroft).
Getting more into the plot-wise similarities - at the start of the White Knight arc, someone complains that kids nowadays play that they are the Lord of Crime and even injuring each other during that. At the start of the movie, people dressing up as Batman show up and fight criminals in even more violent ways (like using guns what Batman never used) which also lead to complaining from the ordinary people.
In the movie, Batman catches the Chinese mob leader and gives him to Harvey Dent, so through the information he can get from him, Dent can catch the other mob leaders - while in Yuumori, Albert gives information to Whiteley about the corruption in the House of Lords and their connections to the mafia. These informations can be used to Dent and Whiteley solve the problems.
As Harvey Dent becames the hero Gotham needs and seems to be able to solve the problems, Bruce Wayne thinks he can quit being Batman - just like the Moriarties think they don't need to continue with the Moriarty plan because Whiteley can bring the equality they wanted.
After Harvey Dent turns into the villain Two-face and murders people, then dies (but not by Batman's hands), Batman tooks the blame for his crimes, so Gotham can still have the hope what Dent gave to the people. The Lord of Crime similarly takes the blame for Whiteley's crime, so people can still believe in his equality movement.
This way, Batman becomes a villain in the eyes of the society - just like the Lord of Crime. And they both getting chased by the police at the end of the movie/arc led by their police agents, James Gordon and Patterson (in the anime) who both know the truth, but for the bigger good, they decided to play along.
ADAM WHITELEY / HARVEY DENT
Let's move onto Whiteley and Harvey Dent.
Both Whiteley and Harvey have blond hair, really idealistic personalities and a well-respected public position - Harvey is district attorney and Whiteley is a parliament member.
Harvey Dent fights for the same issue as Batman just like Whiteley fights for the same cause like the Lord of Crime, but they are with the means of the law. They also get threats for their activities.
Both of them called as White Knight by the people who view them as their heroes.
Whiteley uses his hunch (intuition regarding people) and puts his most trust into getting by with this, similarly Harvey Dent believes in his ability to make his chance and use a coin (even if it's a tricky one first) to make decisions. Both of these will lead to their ends.
Both of them survives an assassination in public, but Harvey Dent notices the gun in time, while Whiteley smells the smoke. They defeat their assassins by themselves.
For Harvey, his moral support is his girlfriend, Rachel while for Whiteley, his brother Sam. After they lose them, both of them fall apart and commit crimes.
They both end up using a not lawful method to achieve their goal - Harvey, despite being against Batman's ways, ends up siding with him and Whiteley tries to blackmail. Both of them fails.
Bruce Wayne supports Harvey Dent's activities with money and the Moriarties support Whiteley with information - and neither Harvey or Whiteley knows that they are supported by Batman or the Lord of Crime.
Both of them get betrayed by the police they put their trust into and lose their loved ones thanks to them what makes them commit crimes. (But since Harvey was more mentally unstable even before that, he actually starts murdering people while Whiteley only commits one murder).
In the anime, after Whiteley commits the murder, the blood on his face makes him similar to Harvey Dent after he became Two-face.
"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain." Harvey and Whiteley died and remained as heroes in the people's eyes while Batman the Lord of Crime who lived and took the blame, became villains in the eye of the public.
MILVERTON / THE JOKER
The biggest deviations from the Dark Knight movie is between Milverton and Joker's character so I want to start with the two biggest differences: Milverton has a public persona outside his villain activities (but what he also use for those villain activities) while Joker doesn't. Joker also acts more impulsively and hates control while Milverton is a control freak. But beside these two, there are lot of similarities between them as well, even if sometimes with a twist.
The Milverton cover to the White Knight arc is really similar to one of the Dark Knight movie posters.
Milverton wearing a purple suit in the anime similarly to Joker (while the missing green from Joker's outfit is found at Ruskin). Both of them have overly messy hair.
They both use the media to scare/manipulate the public and kills those henchmen they have no more use of (but unlike Joker, Milverton has Ruskin as his constant partner in crime, also his bodyguards while the Joker is completely alone).
"Some men just wants to watch the world burn." Both Joker and Milverton's only goal is to cause as much suffer as they can. Neither of them can get negotiated with - Milverton doesn't blackmail for money just for torture and Joker even burns the money what he got as a payment.
Joker keeps telling to people how he ended up like that, how he got his scars, but the story is always different. We never learn the truth about his background. Milverton is the same - he gives some explanation why he is evil but that story exlains nothing and most likely a just a good-sounding excuse. We never learn how he turned into a villain either.
Joker wants to cause chaos what turns the civilians into monsters. Milverton's Jack the Ripper plan was the same and he also mentions that his media power is just to tempt people to sin.
After the mob is unable to catch Batman, Joker visits them and offers that he will deal with him, making them to hire him with showing his power by killing one of the mob leaders first. Similarly, Milverton kills the failed assassin to make the House of Lords to hire him, but in his case, to deal with Whiteley.
However, similarly to Joker's obsession with Batman's defeat, Milverton is also obsessed with defeating the Lord of Crime.
Joker looks down on the mob leaders like Milverton looks down on the House of Lords. Both thinks that they are the only worthy criminals because they don't do evil for personal gain.
Joker wants to make Batman to break his one rule (no killing) by murdering one of Batman's loved ones first. Milverton uses a similar method to tempt Whiteley to sin.
"I took Gotham's White Knight and brought him down to our level." Joker wanted and caused the good-hearted Harvey to fall to make him someone like him similarly to Milverton who also wanted and made Whiteley to sin.
****
It ended up to be quite a long post but that's just shows again how much the movie inspired the arc. I really love both and anyone who didn't watch The Dark Knight yet, I can only recommend!
dash is dead im teleporting to the past
https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard?max_post_id=606474489540042752
Omw to my house, I passed a dog with homophobia in her eyes ๐
okay... please assume they're clothed and not just poorly drawn blobs... i won't tag this, it doesn't deserve to be in moonriver tag
may I offer you another platonic ship in these trying times
I really need to write something romantic just to push myself out of my comfort zone, but yeah, here's plot
a short summary:
Near marvels at spacecrafts. Near commits crimes. Near doesn't miss Light.
I love every fucking part of this.
A random Milverton x Reader because I was in that mood. It's a humourous little one-shot where Milverton is rather amused and less of a snake (but with him, who can tell for sure? :))
****
You work at the Heim News Agency. You finally get your awaited promotion and this makes you so excited that you accidentally run into a white-haired man in the corridor. You have no idea who he is but you try to explain the situation.
THE MAN YOU RUN INTO IN THE CORRIDOR
Finally, the awaited promotion!
You hold the paper in your hand and you can't believe what you see. The hard work paid off - you were afraid that you would never get rewarded because you come from the lower class, but it seems, no one cares about this at the Heim News Agency. Which means that you can aim even higher, but you are already overjoyed due to what you got now. With the paper, you excitedly, maybe even too excitedly run over the corridor. It is careless and childish, but you cannot hold yourself back.
Well, you probably should have paid more attention.
At the corner, a figure appears out of a sudden and you are unable to stop anymore. You run straight into the manโs arms and you both fell to the ground from the strong hit. You are a little afraid to peek at your victim, after all, it wouldn't be good for your promising career if you run into your boss, but the man who sits in front of you is someone you never saw before. He has white curly hair despite that he doesn't seem to be old at all and he is quite handsome. With his unique golden eyes, he stares at you in confusion. You are the one who first gathers yourself, so you quickly jump up and reach for the man's direction.
"I am terribly sorry for hitting you!" You apologize innocently. "I finally got the promotion I dreamed of. I was working hard to get it so I became quite overjoyed and forgot about my manners."
The man watches you for a moment and you cannot tell if he is angry or not. He has a calculating look in his gaze, like he tries to determine what type of person you are. Then a smile appears at the corner of his mouth and accepting your hand, he lets you help him up. His touch is warm and soft, the warmest and softest hand you ever had a chance to hold.
"Congratulations on your promotion." He says while he picks up the paper what you dropped and after giving a glance on it, he hands it over to you. "It is good when someone is enthusiastic when it comes to their work. It is only worth doing something if you enjoy it and enthusiastic workers are necessary for a company to thrive."
He talks like he owns the building, but it is definitely not the case, you think - he seems too approachable to be one of the higher-ups. But you have the feeling that despite the man's weirdness, you like him - one can't really complain about weirdness if they have a tendency to rush on corridors.
"But" the man, after quickly ordering his suit, adds, "be careful how much you will get overjoyed in your workplace. Not everyone is so forgiving like me when someone hits them."
"Of course, of course!" You agree with a chuckle. "I am sure it could have been much worse if I hit someone else. I could have ran into the company president and that must have been a terrifying experience."
"You think so?" The man tilts his head and looks at you with amusement.
"Yes. I would definitely get fired if I happen to run into President Milverton. Just imagine the commotion it would cause.โ
The man's golden eyes strangely sparkle up.
"Indeed, what a commotion it would be." He seems to have fun with the conversation. He leans closer and whispers with a playful smile. "Well, I admit that it is also my bad trait to get overly excited when I hear pleasant news related to my hobbies and when that happens, I also can't stay still. My se...my friend can tell some stories regarding that. Maybe it's better for both of us if we donโt meet the company president." He lets out a little laugh and you can feel his breath at your ear. You wonder what his hobbies are, you want to know more about him. You can already see that you get along well.
"Then you can understand how hard it is to act calm in a situation like this. I am relieved that you are not angry at me." You reply and you feel that your cheeks are blushing. "Do you also work here?"
His smile becomes wider.
"Yes. I am the one who inspects the articles before they get published. I find working in the world of the media interesting and profitable." He adds. "And you?"
"I always wanted to become a journalist." You nod. "This is why I am so happy for my promotion." You like the man more and more ever since you collided, so you shyly ask. "Would you like to go out with me for a coffee? I would be really interested to hear more about your hobbies and I can also compensate you for ending up on the floor."
You hope that you were not too direct after such a short time of being acquaintances but the man doesn't seem to mind your invitation. He takes his watch out of his pocket and checks it.
"It would be a pleasure to continue the discussion, but unfortunately, I still have a task I need to fulfill today." He declines, to your greatest sorrow. "But next time you run into me, you need to pay me a piece of strawberry cake in the confectionery. Strawberries are my favourite."
โNext time, I will buy you an entire strawberry cake.โ You promise cheerfully and you already decide to make sure to run into him in the near future. You know that you wish to meet this man again. It is quite fateful that you hit him of all people.
With that, you say goodbye to each other and the man continues his way in the opposite direction. You walk away, this time, in a normal tempo, which is hard because your talk cheered you up even more.
You suddenly realize that you forgot to ask the manโs name.
they traumatized a man with big brown doe eyes and a slutty waist and they want me to be normal about it ?
He felt this since childhood. Everyone is looking at him. When he was outside, he felt everyone's gaze on himself. It made his skin crawl. Despite the fact that every time he turned around to realize that no one was actually looking, he couldn't shake off this feeling. That horrifying thought always gnawed on his sanity. Everyone โ every single person โ is looking at his clothes, monitoring his footsteps, listening to his voice; everyone would not miss the chance to devour him the moment he slips up, the moment they see a flaw, a mismatch, inaccuracy. He felt like he was under constant scrutiny.
He had learned to live with it. His every thought, his every action and every word must comply with strict guidelines the society has set, must add to his perfect image and not subtract from it. In a new place he must choose the only correct path out of millions possibilities. One that would make him seem like a good person, good, trustworthy and righteous man. One that would earn him being treated with humanity and respect.
The feeling followed him into adulthood. Now, when he had taken on William's name, he must control his image with even more scrutiny. Is his voice low enough? Is his stance too relaxed? Does his body look normal enough? When he first saw himself in the mirror, the person he must be, he stopped eating. One pound of fat could ruin this perfect image. Two weeks later Louis force-fed him, muttering something under his breath. William only smiled weakly and fell asleep in the plate of Louis' stew. He wasn't able to fight off his own mind any further.
He started doubting himself. Rather, he never stopped doing that since he had learned that important thing about himself. A child, he immediately doubted the conclusion he had reached. He had heard that people like him are abnormal, insane. No matter how much efforts he put into complying with society's own guidelines, that same society would push him away. He had heard that people like him are killed. He had seen that many times.
His reflection isn't his anymore. He's just pretending. Putting on someone else's skin with that someone else's clothes, hair and mannerisms. Nothing was his. He has just borrowed his skin. It looks out of place on him. Everyone can surely see that. The longer he looks in the mirror, the more he feels sick. Everything he has grown to consider his doesn't belong on him.
"Brother are you alright?" Louis asks with audible concern and wraps his arms around William's shoulders. It's somewhat soothing.
He forces himself to close his eyes and tries to smile. He is sure that it looks forced and tight. Because it's just not her face.
ohhh, i have just pissed off a good chunk of russian fandom and got told to a) lock myself up somewhere and throw away my phone, b) visit a psychologist, c) kms.
another thing they said is that we're not in english fandom. my friends told me that i should post it here. so i will. after i translate it.
and remember, not all in our fandom are like that. no. idiots are just a bit more socially acceptable there.
from the colored manga. pls don't get bored ny this series yet lmao. (part 1, part 2, part 3)
best friends forever outfit. nice, simple, and sweet. he looks cute in this. not the biggest fan of the color matching but i know i'd put on something worse. also he still looks nice. so. 7.4/10
surrounded by idiots outfit. This is like the zip shirt from last part but blue. Honestly I'm not as much as a fan for this version. He once again blends in a bit too much into the surroundings. But it's not *too* bad i guess. 5/10
kira? in higuchi? it's more likely than you think outfit. i like this one! little white shirt underneath and grey-ish collar. very basic but you know what i love everytime light wears black top (especially sweatshirts like this) + khaki? The colors inverted would be white top + blue pants. I just like L and light opposing each other in any way so much. 8/10
according to the keikaku outfit. first of all, mf seems to like this shirt sm. the jacket is a bit ??? bc it looks more like something soichiro would own instead of him but at the same time it's very fitting? maybe it's a hand me down aha. though we need to talk about his pants. i can't believe light yagami wears white pants ๐. i have a personal deep distate on them i'm sorry lol. you're lucky i like his top. 7.5/10
the gang is back outfit. feel the major "i'm back bitches" vibe from this outfit alone. it looks similar like the ones he has pre confinement/yotsuba. perhaps that's the intention. not much opinion abt this one tbh. 4.7/10
sexy nemesis murder outfit. ah yes, a nice outfit for your nemesis to die homerotically in your arms. honestly, i prefer the anime's white shirt + khaki take on this outfit way more. it feels more fitting. this one kinda feel dull and idk, he looks like he came from divergent's abnegation fraction ๐ญ. 6.7/10
pro hacker outfit. i assume it's sweatshirt underneath bc we've seen him in that ribbed/striped pattern a lot before. not too bad i guess, simple and easy. Something about it just really pleasing to me but at the same time it's not? Weird. 7.8/10
new world outfit. aka the last outfit he wear for the first timeline of death note, before we jump to 5 years later. honestly, it's just pretty much dull. it's all grey and grey-ish. very much contrasting misa who has a bomb outfit here. but color aside, it looks fitting and nice on him. because what would be not? he's light. 6.7/10
okay this one doesn't have as many outfits as the previous parts but i want to divide it so next week we can cover the timeskip outfits, yay.
so. I won't be tagging anyone because I am shy and friendless. here are the wips, though:
adam whiteley supremacy
then he'll die as well
angst
the bible the patriot
some slop about the oc
gay ansemble
let's play kira
idea 1
an idiot
coffee shop au chat fic what is this
Light the Father
a fleeting bus homosexuality
misora naomi x oc
notlikeotherpeople
cross
revolution
fish
that shipping challenge
Moriarty note
ficwriters
well...
I am positively cooked
Rules: In a new post, list the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have WIPs.
Thank you @empressofthewind for the tag!! Very fun and timely, since we get to see which one of these I'm strong enough to complete by next week lol I'm only including the names of wips I have something to say about, and excluding the ones that are just full-on descriptions of what's gonna happen lol
I'm too shy to tag anyone, let alone tag the same number of wips I have </3 please feel free to play along if you like <3
Your Time Starts Now
Would I Do It Again
Near the End
Ghoul Boys
Welcome to Your Life
Square One
Next in Line
a moment of your time
new game, same toys
conversations I never had
we've lost the plot
if you're gonna kill me at least take me to lunch first
to think that immortality meant never dying
sticks and stones
I'd like to report a murder(er)