#and I’m talking about adaptors and fandom when I say people

[watermelonsloth]

Tags from: ciboriaadastra

I can’t say I’m a Batman expert or anything, but he’s one of the DC characters I’m most familiar with and one of the DC characters I see butchered most often. People love to turn him into some grimdark codeless vigilante (even though his code is one of the most important parts of his character) or a symbol of hypermasculinity (usually toxic masculinity as well) and it misses the entire point of his character. Yeah his brooding and wealth and ability to kick ass and use of intimidation and tragic backstory and all of that is relevant to his character, but his care for the city he grew up in, his willpower and stubbornness in making it a genuinely better place, and his optimism that it will be better one day are so much more important.

I've spent most of Ghost-Maker's time in Gotham laughing my ass off, because these two are extremely hilarious and shippable, I'm always here for a good time that annoys the hell out of Bruce and the person I'm shipping him with, I want everyone to have a horrible time except me, me, I'm having a great time, but I actually legitimately loved this moment. Minhkhoa thinks that Bruce is failing Gotham because he stopped like five different crimes before he even got off the plane, a serial murder being a big example--and Bruce destroys his argument by saying he already had someone on it, they were waiting to see where he stashed the trophies so that the families could have peace, now they have to live with hearsay, that Minhkhoa destroyed a RICO case he was helping to build because the judges in Gotham are corrupt, that Bruce had already replaced the weapons shipment that he left in place, etc. And then there's Clown-Hunter, who killed a lot of people, and would do too well in Blackgate. But that's the absolute core of Bruce Wayne as Batman, exactly the problem he faces and his solution--one that isn't perfect, but he fundamentally believes in second chances. He believes in empathy for what brought a seventeen-year-old kid to the choices he made. Not to let him off without consequences, but that Batman fundamentally is an optimist who believes that people should be given help and care to be rehabilitated. It isn't just that Clown-Hunter watched his parents die in front of him, sure, that makes this more intense, but fundamentally Batman sends these villains back to Arkham because, however imperfect that help is, he believes there's always a chance for someone to get better. That is a CORE element of Batman's character and I love love love that it's so central to his fight with Ghost-Maker here. Like, if your Batman isn't coming from a place of optimism, however traumatized and grimdark and fucked up it can get at times, then that's not Batman.