#ghost maker khoa

[mobilerafie]

Bruce Trying to Integrate Khoa Into The BatFamily, But It Goes Terribly Wrong

[jasontoddsgaythoughts]

I just think a holiday romcom movie starring these four would heal me a bit

[bellandeano]

LETS FUCKING GOOOOO canon vampire minhkhoa khan. once again i experience what it is to win

[24hrsoda]

acute observation….

[arabian-batboy]

Ghost-Maker stans both Damian and Talia? I have never related to a fictional character as much as this before.

[rhiaemrys]

In other news. I am now a ghostmaker fan. BY jove is he funny. He's objectively better at Bruce's job at least 2/3 of the time (by a given metric of better). He doesn't get attachements. He's had two sidekicks and two love interests all of whom are reflective of Batman because he so desperately wants to fill the hole of what he thought he could of had with Bruce but didn't and so now on some level he believes that if he shows Bruce he's truly better at being Batman Bruce will come around. He cannot for the life of him not take a jab at Bruce. He has not stopped thinking of Bruce ever. He was willing to stay in Gotham to help Bruce out despite being a guy plagued by chronic vigilante wanderlust. He is literally a walking ninja cyborg aesthetic post.

Minhkhoa Khan you will always be Him.

[fourcorpsmen]

Batman (2016) Batman: The Knight (2022)

[thepineconelord]

Ghost-Maker Reading List and Order (ultimate cool version by me so its correct)

essential reading/recommended reading/optional reading

Batman v3 (2016) #100 [this is his first appearance, but it's very brief and not necessary to understand the character]

Batman v3 (2016) #102-105 [Ghost-Maker's introduction arc, very important]

Batman v3 (2016) #106-111 [lead-in to the Fear State arc, lots of good moments, the secondary story starting in #107 is Ghost-Maker focused and absolutely essential to understanding him]

Batman v3 2021 annual [my favorite Ghost-Maker story of all time]

Batman Fear State Alpha [he's barely in this, but if you want some context]

Batman v3 (2016) #112-117

Catwoman (2018) #37-38 [I have a fun time with these appearances, but you don't need to read them unless you like the Wight Witch story-line]

Batman Urban Legends #11-13 [he shows up briefly in the Wight Witch 'Stigma' story-line]

Batman Fear State Omega [he's barely in this, but he has such funny lines]

Batman v3 (2016) #118-121 [context for Batman Inc stuff if you want it]

Shadow Wars [an event story that Ghost-Maker shows up in. Find a reading order on the Wikipedia page]

Batman: The Knight (2022) #1-10 [technically he doesn't show up until issue 4, but just read the whole thing. Also this is the most up to date cannon of the backstory, even if I like it less :/]

Batman v3 2022 annual [Batman Inc kick-off]

Batman Incorporated v3 (2022-2023) #1-12

DC Pride (2023) "The Dance"

DC vs. Vampires: World War V #3 & #4 (he's in these. I don't know much about Dc vs vampires, but if you like it, he's here!)

Misc non-story appearances (you'll be disappointed if you read these for him)

Infinite Frontier #0

Justice League (2018) #75

DC Pride (2021)

DC Pride (2022)

Harley Quinn: Uncovered

DC's 'Twas the Mite Before Christmas

Wildstorm 30th Anniversary Special

Absolute Power Task Force VII #7

Trade Paperbacks

Ghostmaker/Clownhunter [collected issues that mostly feature stuff from the issues I've already mentioned above]

[vinelark]

khoa & tim fake uncle postfic

because i’m thinking about tim’s fake uncle again and because i’m also thinking about ghostbat: au (loosely inspired by this) set during tim’s early robin era where tim does a version of the Fake Uncle thing, which coincides with minhkhoa khan sneaking into town to spy on bruce.

the thing is, khoa has been off the grid for a while and just learned about jason--both that bruce got another kid, and that said kid had a fatal run-in with the joker. bruce had told khoa to stay out of gotham years ago, but khoa isn’t about to let that stop him once he catches up on the news and pieces together bruce’s grief spiral that only recent calmed down with the appearance of a new robin. a new robin who is, conveniently, posting a veiled job offer for an? uncle?? on the internet, and doing it entirely on his own.

so khoa fashions himself a fake struggling-but-not-too-struggling actor identity and lands himself the position of tim drake's uncle. it’s a perfect way to peek at bruce’s life while flying under the radar, because this tim kid is very eager to keep his fake uncle as separate from bruce as possible. khoa expects to be in and out of this job in a month, maybe two, as soon as he’s sure bruce is stable and not going to crumble because bruce cares so much and khoa knows it’ll be his undoing one day and—anyway. it’s a temporary gig. the kid’ll have to come up with a cover story when khoa inevitably disappears, but that’s not khoa’s problem. and tim probably shouldn’t be making up fake relatives anyway, so khoa will be teaching him a valuable lesson. (the lesson: always make sure you have collateral on someone before trusting them. you’re welcome for the parenting help, bruce!)

except. it’s not so easy to leave.

after just two weeks khoa starts realizing that:

tim is bonkers

like, off the wall bonkers

and brilliant

bad combo, khoa knows from experience

tim desperately cares about bruce and dick and alfred

but does not see himself as part of the family (hence the fake uncle thing)

khoa also realizes that tim keeps secretly patching himself up at home (because he’s downplaying any injuries after patrols) and eventually khoa is like. “okay. i don’t care what happened*, but you do have to stitch that up properly. my fake self can’t be in trouble for child endangerment.” and he patches up a surprised and wary tim. this becomes a routine.

*(khoa knows what happened, he was stalking batman on patrol that night. like most nights.)

ANYWAY. basically what i’m saying is: identity shenanigans where bruce’s ex is lurking around gotham pretending to be tim’s uncle and tim doesn’t know about the ex thing and bruce doesn’t know about the uncle being fake thing and everyone is keeping secrets from each other. and khoa goes from “this is a convenient way to spy on bruce” to “if anything happens to this unhinged baby robin i will kill everyone in this room and then myself” and ends up co-parenting tim without bruce realizing.

also in between having concerning realizations about tim’s self-preservation skills and spying on bruce, khoa finds time to have fun with it. like imagine a parent-teacher conference at tim’s school. the school calls bruce to schedule because his contact info is still on file from when tim was staying with him. but obviously khoa catches wind of this and decides to also turn up, in full uncle disguise, and spends the whole time fucking with bruce and having a blast.

like bruce was kind of checked out last year when the conferences happened and now he’s starting to claw out of his grief enough to be present and engaged. especially now that tim is staying with his “uncle” bruce is like wait. wait. and is trying to make more of an effort, so he shows up to the conference. and then at the conference khoa is just lounging in his chair like, “tim fell asleep in class? good for him, i’ve been telling him to get more sleep” and bruce is trying to be Even Better Dad to compensate while his eye is just constantly twitching.

[parent-teacher conference shenanigans with contributions from @cairoscene, @90kon, & @mammutblog:]

teacher: i won't sugar coat it, tim is very nearly failing literature

khoa: ah. a ridiculous subject anyway.

teacher: i notice tim is very... isolated. he doesn't seem to engage much with his peers, even when they try to initiate conversations with him

khoa: well children are idiots, i don't blame him

teacher: tim got in a fight—

khoa: did he win?

khoa: oh tim’s getting an A in science? we should celebrate. i’ll take him to get ice cream for dinner. we usually do that anyway but this time he can have extra sprinkles

bruce: that’s not— [deep breath] in my experience tim has trouble remembering to eat a balanced diet when left to his own devices, which is important to his growth at this age.

khoa: yeah of course. that’s why sometimes we get frozen yogurt instead

bruce: tim is lactose intolerant

khoa: [pulls out a packet of lactaid] i know

anyway!! after a bunch of shenanigans and awkward actually-taking-care-of-tim moments, something big happens where bruce and tim are in deep trouble and khoa breaks cover to burst in and rescue both batman & robin and all secrets come out. tim is shocked that he didn’t figure out who khoa was (in tim’s defense, he’s had a Lot going on) and bruce is soooo mad he didn’t see through the disguise, but also bruce is. grateful. that khoa has been there for tim, especially when khoa finally gets to do a full “get your head out of your ass” rant about the various ways tim has been pretending to be way more okay than he is.

khoa: if you’re going to CARE about people so much the least you can do is! pay attention to them!! this kid is your problem, act like it!

bruce: sounds like he might be Our problem now

khoa: only because i don’t trust you to get the job done 😤

(ALSO because khoa is literally there to lurk and observe he notices the league slipping into gotham and they end up rescuing a resurrected jason early.)

anyway i just think the concept of khoa being tim’s deus ex machina adult is so fun. like tim is on some international mission with young justice and it seems like all hope is lost and then freaking ghost-maker swans in and takes out all the enemies and gives tim a whole rant about How Is Bruce Letting You Run Around Like This, Does He Know What You’re Getting Up To In Your Spare Time, Where Even Is He. the vibe is ghost-maker dropping a (carefully patched up) robin on wayne manor doorstep with a sticky note on tim’s forehead reading TAKE BETTER CARE OF YOUR THINGS.

(bonus au of this au from aubrey where bruce DOES see through khoa’s disguise:

Tim: Bruce, this is my uncle--

Bruce: ANTON?!

Khoa: 😘

Tim: oh my god DID YOU FUCK MY FAKE UNCLE, BRUCE?)

also please look at this khoa and tim art again for the vibes

[camo-wolf]

Ok guys Bruce Talia and khoa in a polyamorous relationship how do we feel about it?

[itsmebeff]

woahhhh i know that guy i think

[mammutblog]

[frothing-at-the-mouth]

A little out of character but I thought the idea was funny.

[bellandeano]

fuck you [little guyifies the worst day of your life]

[24hrsoda]

while i know ghostbat will never truly be canon because DC will never admit to bruce being queer, i would actually enjoy (and maybe even prefer) a one-sided relationship between them to be explored or discussed, from minhkhoa’s perspective.

one where Minhkhoa keeps coming around because he loves bruce. he has some feelings he’s refused to acknowledge for the last 15+ years, but he can still work with them in the form of being there for/with bruce.

he also understands well and fully that bruce loves him, but not in the same way, and that they can’t be together. and that’s fine. he still loves bruce, and he won’t say so out loud, but he’ll be there for bruce out of love. he’ll do ridiculous things like lead bruce’s international team of batmen, or buy the house next door to bruce, or train that stupid kid that he think deserves to be jailed, or help bruce save the people of gotham. because he loves him. even if that love never amounts to anything deeper. even if bruce loves him too, but never in the same way.