#If I sound incensed I'm not I promise I'm just passionate

[zeroducks-2]

I believe I already explained this in another reply but my point isn't strictly related to ADITF (I speak more in relation to the events of UTRH), but regardless. Even if Bruce has all the circumstantial reasons which Jim Starling gave him for not going after Joker immediately, it's not like Joker disappears after the events of ADITF - during the years in between Jason's murder and his resurrection, Joker is still very much there while Jason stays very much dead.

(Indeed when Jason comes back he finds tons of articles about Joker killing people and doing his nasty bits as he's always done, and when Jason goes looking for him to enact the whole "you either watch me shoot Joker or you kill me", Joker is chilling at Amusement Mile, unbothered.)

The thing is that what Batman does about Joker doesn't work, it never did. Then a kid who Bruce regarded as a son gets beaten within an inch of his life and blown up, and not even this manages to move him from his (obviously flawed) approach to the "Joker problem". Jason remained unavenged both in the sense that Bruce didn't practically avenge him (neither as Batman nor as Bruce Wayne, who is a billionaire and has all the means necessary to make sure Joker gets sentenced to death in a court of law)*, and in his death was also meaningless since nothing in the dynamic changed: Jason was and still is just another victim listed in Joker's ever growing kill count.

I don't deny that Bruce suffered when Jason died, I acknowledge his grief and how he was spiraling down before Tim showed up and gave him new purpose and hope. But that's another story and it's a story dedicated to Bruce. Bruce's grief makes no difference in the story dedicated to Jason, where a kid wasn't first protected and then avenged by his father figure. And clearly Bruce's grief makes no difference when he cut his boy's neck to save Joker's life.

And that's where the argument of Bruce being Joker's victim loses me. Because that analysis is good and I can stand by it for some of its parts, but I also find it reductive, as it explains just one of the many facets of their relationship. I would need another post entirely to write a huge essay on all the aspects of how Batman and Joker are inextricably tied, how they need each other and basically can't exist without the other (and I wouldn't even be the best person to do that, there's folks on tumblr who are way better knowledgeable than me on the topic), but to make it short, it definitely is not as simple as "Bruce is one of the victims of Joker's abuse tactics".

But again that's a story dedicated to Bruce, and it doesn't diminish the fact that Bruce did not do anything that mattered in regards to Joker after Jason died (only contextualises it for us readers). Joker kept doing all the things he was already doing before, and another Robin replaced the previous one taking the same spot and the same role, so in every possible sense Jason's death changed nothing. And once he came back, Bruce openly and unmistakably chose Joker over him. Jason said watch me kill him since you can't do it yourself, watch me take my own revenge, and Bruce said no.

There's a meta reason for that too. Joker cannot die, he's the cockroach of DC comics, and if he dies he comes back (like many of them). But that surely doesn't change how the story was told: of all the things that could have happened we were shown that Bruce picks Joker over someone who he once regarded as a son. Batman, who doesn't kill and would never kill and he'd lose himself if he killed, was so desperate to save Joker's life that he sliced a boy's neck and left him to die in a building on fire. That is WILD, enough that many people argue that UTRH is irreconcilable with other Batman stories because of that. We aren't shown that Joker miraculously is alive after a plane crash in this case, or any other absurd thing like this one, we're explicitly told "Batman prefers his revived son to die again, over watching him take revenge on his murderer".

Which makes me circle back to my original point: I hate it when DC writes Jason as the prodigal son who needs a slap on the wrist here and a kick in the butt there. Who has to "earn" Batman's trust and fight for scraps of Bruce's fatherly love. Fan stuff can be whatever fans want, I don't care, but god do I lose my shit when I see that nonsense in canon stories. Bruce and Jason shouldn't even be on talking terms to put it really mildly.

When I see Jason and Bruce acting like the stereotypical "prodigal son and gruff but loving father" (in canon!) my blood boils.

Jason died. Bruce did not avenge him, not even "playing by the rules", so not even by arresting the Joker. He didn't do JACK SHIT after his boy was murdered. And once Jason came back, Bruce slit his throat in order to save the life of the man who murdered him, and then left him to die in a burning building.

They should be unable to coexist in the same room let alone speak let alone have a "difficult but ultimately loving relationship". I hate you DC I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE

[crystaltrinket]

how i love to see you smile - Naruto - Uchiha Sasuke/Hyuuga Hinata - drabble series for SasuHina Month 2022

Summary: Sasuke likes Hinata and she’s oblivious. Modern AU, High school.

[Rating: G | Prompt: Depaysement - intense homesickness; the sense of not belonging | Word Count: 500 | Warnings: None] @sasuhinamonth

Author's Note: My last pre-written piece! Hopefully, I'll be able to get Parts 4 and 5 done. No promises because my finals are Th and F. Please. Just end me now. Enjoy!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Sasuke slammed the door to his bedroom causing the sound to reverberate around his room. He didn’t even bother locking it. His parents had long ended trying to reconcile after their arguments. 

He raked a hand through his hair and paced around his room to cool down. Conversations with his parents about the family business often left him incensed. The matters were always about the same thing. 

His father wanted him to start thinking seriously about joining the family business. 

Last week, his father enrolled him in some after-school business classes without his knowledge under the guise of attending cram school for university. This week, he set up an appointment at the tailors for a suit fitting. His father even fished out an old photo of Sasuke dressed in a business suit for Career Day in kindergarten to remind him of his younger self's passion to continue the family business. 

Refusing to be part of the family business always made him feel like an outsider. It’s too bad his parents raised him to not give in to pressure. Sasuke flopped onto his bed, face down. He hefted a long sigh when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.  A small smile formed on his lips when he read the name on his phone. 

'Hinata - 1 Unread Message' illuminated on his screen. 

Quickly, Sasuke unlocked his phone and read her message.

'Is everything okay? I saw your name on Taisho-san's appointment list for a suit fitting.' 

'Father tried to set me up with a suit fitting by guilt-tripping me with an old photo of me dressed up in a suit.'

'I'm sorry to hear that. I guess they're not trying to be subtle anymore.' 

Sasuke grimaced at her observation. 'Definitely not.' He typed out a subsequent message. 'Are you getting fitted for another business suit?'

'Unfortunately... Father has me tagging along to his business meetings every weekend on top of doing the business audits and the managerial duties for the onsen.'

Sasuke scoffed. 'He does know that you're a senior in high school, right?'

'It seems to slip his mind often.' 

Sasuke rolled his eyes at Hinata's comment. If anyone thought he had it bad, they were sadly mistaken. Hyuuga Hiashi was way worse. 

Sasuke furiously typed away at his response, letting her know to tell her father to back off on the business job. 

'Anyway.' 

Sasuke quickly deleted his message as Hinata's text message bubble blinked as she typed out her message. 

'Was the photo your dad showed you the one from Career Day in kindergarten?'

Sasuke softly chucked and rolled onto his back, holding his phone over his face as he typed his response. Slowly, their conversation shifted from their unlucky positions as children of businessmen to mundane things that brought them more joy. Sasuke could feel the tension of the earlier conversations with his parents and his vexation with Hinata's father slowly left his mind. 

Sasuke felt at home for the first time on that day.