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What people forget about Bruce’s character far too often is that he doesn’t just refuse to kill his Rogues, he also pours money into getting them rehabilitated and the best psychiatric care he can. The money he pours into Arkham isn’t just for security. His refusal to kill the Joker is, in his mind, balanced by the sincere attempts to cure him. He doesn’t give up on people, that’s not who he is. He doesn’t toss them away and try to forget, he monitors their progress and does his best to help.

Depending on which version of the Joker you’re talking about this approach can make more or less sense. In a lot of timelines the Joker’s madness is not his own, it’s not naturally occurring and he was a normal person before being exposed to dangerous chemicals that altered his personality. In these universes it makes sense that Bruce holds out hope for a cure, that he maybe doesn’t blame the Joker as much for what he’s become. In the Gotham TV universe it makes even more sense since Bruce was actually friends with Jeremiah before he became a cartoonishly evil villain.

It’s a really sad misunderstanding of Bruce’s fundamental character. He never ignores the danger the criminals he puts away pose, he just doesn’t see killing them as a valid solution, which also makes sense considering how many of his villains keep dying and coming back to life! He wants to help them not want or need to commit crime because in a city like Gotham where both prisons and coffins have revolving doors it’s actually the most rational response to crime.

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I like the idea of Talon!Dick too much 😩

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haaattee that ✨ is associated with ai. that’s my emoji, not urs. you’re NOT whimsy.

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Small penises aren’t bad, balding isn’t bad, being short isn’t bad, being fat isn’t bad. Physical traits are not signs of morality, and the sooner people stop mocking people for their bodies (yes, even when they’re bad) the better.

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Gatekeeping is so good and important

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Pitiless man, you are no son it seems of Thetis or the horseman Peleus, rather the grey sea and the stony cliffs bore you, with heart of granite.

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I hc Dick will be non-verbal for a bit when Bruce first adopts him

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characters have to be a little bit awful in ways that you cant defend. its good for the ecosystem. your honor he did do that. He did in fact do that

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Early days ( feat. Nightwing and Jaybin )

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nice pair of characters who trust each other more than anyone else in the whole entire world it would sure be a shame if one of them betrayed that trust for the sake of trying to keep the other alive. it would sure be a shame to love someone so much you destroy them

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Bruce: I told you to go away

Dick: Obviously that didn't work

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To me a very important part of Batman's characterization is that while he himself acts generally stoic and serious, he enjoys being around people that don't. He likes the chatter.

Gotham Knights #22

I also like whenever his sense of humour is him making a joke with a straight face, completely out of the blue. (The "The warmth is overwhelming." "Unseasonably so." scene from UTRH comes to mind.) (Bonus points if he's surrounded by people who don't know him well and can't comprehend him making a joke, so they just stand there, questioning reality.)

Anyway.

I was thinking about Batman (2016) #55 again, in this context. You know, that one:

and:

(The banter goes on through almost the whole issue. It's great.)

So, headcanon time:

Dick loved to banter ever since he was a kid. But since Batman's stoic persona is in large part to keep his image as the Scary Bat That Criminals Fear™ - a valid and effective way to discourage crime - he couldn't really match Dick's energy while out on patrol, where people could see them. So, they compromised. And the compromise resulted in The Game.

The goal of The Game was to crack the other up while not breaking character - Dick would have to keep the quippy, chatty persona, Bruce would have to stay serious and say as little words as possible, in the flattest voice he could manage.

Both of them are immovable objects - Bruce may have a lot of practice staying collected and serious, but Dick has been a performer since he could remember - he can keep a straight face if he wants to, no matter what is happening around him. And The Game only made them better at staying composed.

Dick's strategy includes, among other things, making the lamest puns he can think of (the less sense they make and the more inappropriate they are, the better).

Bruce likes to just answer most things with a "no." (while going along with things anyway - also for comedic value), and then break the pattern by saying the most out of pocket thing to trip Dick up. Or he likes using his authoritative voice to suddenly say things both of them know very well are untrue. ("I don't think I've ever actually called you [the nickname I've been calling you forever]" brUCE-). The more unexpected and ridiculous they are, the better chance they have of startling a laugh from Dick.

The amount of times they actually succeeded in making the other laugh out loud is super low, because they both are very good at controlling their reactions, and are very competitive. But the banter is very fun anyway, and they're both cracking up on the inside.

(They also enjoy other people's reactions, because to those that aren't in on it, it just looks like Dick is very unsuccessfully trying to make Batman laugh, and Batman is being the wettest blanket ever. It's uncomfortable. Dick and Bruce know, and they're enjoying it immensely.)

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alfred gave them the sheets

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Still his miniscule snotty annoying tiny baby brother even after all these years

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They heard someone talking shit about Bruce