#gotham city

[violent138]

Gotham school assemblies had the Stranger Danger and How to Spot a Cult and Avoid it seminars scheduled back to back.

[mysteriouslbatsy]

My hero

[gothamscanner]

[comicgeekscomicgeek]

The weirdest part of this is that I haven't seen this conspiracy expand to any non-Batman Gotham heroes.

No one disputes that the Nightwing who sometimes shows up in Gotham, and the one who protects Bludhaven and leads the Titans are different individuals. (And Nightwing is largely assumed to be the first Robin, but no one has actually proved that).

What’s your personal favorite Gotham hero conspiracy? Personally, I’m a fan of the theory that the Batgirls are all one shapeshifting entity that changes aesthetics every now and then.

I...had not heard that one. That is a new one.

Unfortunately not one I can personally believe because at least the latter two Batgirls (the one with the sewn mouth and the one in purple who is PROBABLY Spoiler under a new name) have been seen more than once in public together. I can't imagine anyone holding much objection to the idea that the sewn mouth Batgirl is some kind of supernatural shadow creature. People who have had encounters with her find the silent heroine scarier than the Batman himself. The most COMMON Gotham hero conspiracy is the 300 times debunked idea that Batman is wealthy CEO Bruce Wayne with ever more desperate, grasping limbs attempting to pull everyone in Wayne's orbit into the conspiracy from Wayne's many adopted children to his octogenarian butler. Not even Wayne's admission to his quiet support for the Batman these many years going public via Batman Incorporated has slowed these theories down.

Personally though I've always been a "fan" of the "Fake Batman Theory"

(A publicity image of the then current Justice League membership taken in front of the Hall of Justice, Washington DC) Many Gothamites are convinced that the much more publically seen "side" of Batman, the one who appears in public alongside the Justice League cannot possible be the same Batman who has made himself a shadowy boogeyman on the edges of Gotham's underworld. That the Gotham Batman would never allow himself to be seen so openly in public or take umbrage with many of the details that his public appearances reveal.

This conspiracy most often posits that-

A. The Gotham Batman is some kind of nonhuman creature, a cryptid or monster of some description whereas the Batman who appears alongside the League is very obviously a human being as shown by his cowl revealing the lower half of his face. While the Batman's status as urban legend and criminal ghost story is well established, no proof of a nonhuman Batman has ever been confirmed (and no, the Man-Bat does not count)

B. The League's Batman is some kind of imposter. While softer versions of the conspiracy maintain that the League's Batman is a hero in his own right, harsher versions exist that claim the League's Batman is an imposter or charlatan meant to give the League some "urban" legitimacy. Because some Gotham people are so far up their own ass they truly believe the League could not exist without catering to them specifically.

C. The conspiracy is uncertain as to whether the League is AWARE of the "deception". Though how one proposes a mortal man keep secrets of that nature while sitting at the same table as Superman, Wonder Woman and the Martian Manhunter I haven't the fucking foggiest.

All in all this conspiracy is born of the very...particular self image that Gothamites create for and of themselves that I've already talked about in another post. This idea that their city is some dark island cut off from the rest of the world and not a large urban center less than an hour's ferry ride from Metropolis. That The Batman must remain some dark and mysterious shadow glimpsed from the corner of the eye rather than a crimefighter who uses reputation as a tool in his arsenal and, like most other heroes alive, has found working with a team like the League imperative in maintaining parity with the threats our world faces from within and without.

[going2hell4everythingbutbeingbi]

idk if someone has already made this post but. imagine gotham upholding bruce wayne as an example of "you can have a tragic backstory and not start doing weird superhero/villain crap" and he just has to Deal with it

[melonlthawne]

Dont come to New Jersey. Just don’t.

[timblrdrake]

GOTHAM CITY PSA: PLEASE stop letting your cats out at night

i just saw Red Robin get mauled by a tabby on fear toxin they really do NOT like the birds

[kaethefangirl]

bruce forces the batkids to go to his charity balls and he gives them suits and dresses for it- but he accidentally switches tim and Stephanie's outfits.

*Jason, Dick, and Duke huddled together looking at Tim and Stephanie walk into the ballroom*

Jason: They didn't.

Dick: They wouldn't

Duke: They did.

Stephanie: *wearing a black and red tux*

Tim: *holding her arm while wearing a bright purple dress, with heels*

Bruce: *sighs in tired dad*

[bat-stuff]

At a charity ball:

Socialite: So Bruce, how has Damian been warming up to the household?

Bruce: He’s been great. Damian is such a caring kid–

Damian, appearing out of nowhere: Father. Three decomposing hags had the audacity to caress my face.

[leafsheep]

Some random thoughts about Gothamites and scenarios I’ve come up with.

Metropolis citizen: Yeah so my exams were cancelled bc some villain took over the city the week leading up to them so the school said not to worry about it.

Gothamite: Fr? Last time a villain took over our city he killed anyone who wasn’t smart and had us take extra exams.

~~

Random Gotham kid: Hey teach, can I get an extension on my essay, my neighborhood was fear toxin-ed a few days ago and I’m just getting out of the hospital.

Standard Gotham High School Teacher: ohhh yeah…. Nooooo… sorry Jimmy but you know you had a week to do the assignment soo… you should’ve planned ahead.

~~

Health/PE teacher: Yeah so I don’t really wanna teach y’all today so we’re gonna watch this top ten video of Riddler’s shittiest riddles.

Student: after can we watch this compilation I found of the murder Robin interacting with stray cats?

~~

A Wayne kid just walking down the street

Gothamite: Can you give your dad this?

Wayne child: ??? This is a phone number.

Gothamite: Yeah, maybe you could talk me up too?

Wayne child: You’re MY age

Gothamite: Why does that matter?

Wayne Child: evident disgust

Gothamite: OH no, I want him to adopt me.

Gothamite: he’s our dad now.

~~

Gothamite: Did you hear that bizarre theory about the Robins being clones of each other? I mean wasn’t one of them a girl? How would that even work??

Bernard Dowd (made said theory for shits and giggles, also knows it’s complete bullshit): Maybe that clone was trans! Are you being transphobic right now? God I can’t believe you-

~~

Reporter: Video feed shows the infamous Red Hood standing bewildered next to his motorcycle at four am this morning, having apparently found it missing his tires. Eyewitnesses to the scene report Bludhaven Vigilante laughing outside of camera view.

[violent138]

While I'm sure bad guys in Gotham have learned over time that the Bats don't kill, that even after bashing your teeth in they'll flag down an ambulance or dump you unceremoniously at the ER, it's still a shaky trust.

One that is easily shaken seeing a child wielding a sword in the dead of night; nobody wants to learn how that is handled nonlethally. Or bad guys just surrendering one late night after running into an alley and Nightwing's standing over their unconscious buddy, holding the gun he wrestled away. They watch Red Hood break into the place they're robbing with a crowbar in hand and just decide they'd rather not chance it. They see a shadow that could be Black Bat and-- you get it.

[sharksandjays]

trainsurfing

[rad-batson]

I’m like 99% sure the Gotham Elite’s social customs are fucked up because Autism-in-Human-Form Bruce Wayne was just so fucking tired of high society’s weird and incomprehensible (and frankly ableist) social etiquette that he went full Virgin Mary About-to-Invent-a-Major-World-Religion, said “oh haven’t you heard?” and just started making his own random social rules. Like who’s going to stop him? The other elites? The dinosaur CEO’s? He’s richer. He hosts the better parties. He could tank your business in a weekend. So when he says “Weird passive aggressive fork language is out. Having a different utensil for every different food texture is in,” you use a different utensil for every food texture. Now when foreign elites visit Gotham, they have to learn a completely new set of social customs to fit in. It’s like a cult, but the cult is run by the most influential man in the world and Gotham’s personal Jesus. The followers are more likely than not mafia bosses named after a bird. You will be judged. There’s a test. Yes, you do get brownie points for being nice to the servers. For the love of god, stop making so much eye contact. The cloth napkins are folded into little ducks. Welcome to Gotham.

[catpriciousmarjara]

Getting a PHD literally anywhere else: Wow! Congratulations! What a great achievement! Amazing!

Getting a PHD in Gotham: Wow! Amazing! You're now on several Government, Civilian, and Bat watchlists.

So if any of the Wayne kids get a PHD, then the entirety of Gotham would be squinting at them suspiciously. They're rich, so resources, and most likely already insane with all the shit they pull.

What I'm saying is if Jason went and got himself a Doctorate in Literature, the whole city would anticipate the appearance of his villainsona called the Dead Poet(emphasis on the dead) or Bookkeeper or something else similarly nerdy and themed like that for sure.

I just know that it would turn into some Gotham inside joke with memes abound, and everytime Jason would, I don't know, give more funding to the neglected Arts Departments in Gotham University, or go to a school for read alongs to encourage kids to read, Gotham social media would go crazy and be like:

"The Dreaded Villain Dead Poet Reads Alice in Wonderland to Children! How Despicable!"

"Villain Dead Poet Lambasts Government on Banning Books! Leads Librarians to Riot!"

"Dead Poet Ramps up his Villainy by Establishing Educational Programmes in Crime Alley! Uplifting the Poor! What a Dastardly Villain!"

"Dead Poet Goes on Live Ranting About his Favourite Books! Favourite Author is Jane Austen! Is this the Feminist Agenda?"

And so on! It's a meme that refuses to go away. His siblings actively participate, and make the situation worse.

Dick held an online Gotham Villains and Anti-Heroes Poll and Dead Poet came out on top, over Red Hood. Jason is an actual Gotham crime boss, but his crowdfunded villainsona is more popular. No he's not salty about it at all.

Duke would create a montage of Dead Poet sightings.

Stephanie would make a Dead Poet meme compilation.

Tim would arrange Wayne Enterprises to donate to local libraries after allegedly being threatened by the heinous villain Dead Poet. (Jason did ask Tim to do that but not like that)

Barbara created an extremely popular Villain Watch account for Dead Poet.

Cass tweeted out Jason's favourite books as the villain Dead Poets reading list telling people to avoid them 'wink wonk', causing a massive uptick in the sale of those books ala Bigolas Dickolas.

Damian of all people tweeted out a pic of Jason playing with Alfred the cat accusing the evil villain Dead Poet of attempting to kidnap his cat.

And thats not to mention all the shenanigans they pull in their batsonas.

God bless Gotham and it's home grown, organic, not even remotely ethically sourced, free range chaos.