#gotham commentary

[shyjusticewarrior]

See Tim gets it. Take notes, Bruce.

[iyohme]

and i know that you mean so well;

but i am not a vessel for your good intent!

("Tongues and Teeth," - The Crane Wives)

my serotonin got jetpack bursted into the stratosphere with this blurb by OP. Your brain is so juicy and moist and wrinkly OP. Godspeed. I'm not even into DC but the whole "Burnt out and neglected, and now a bunch of people driven by guilt guilt guilt want me back so they can feel less guilty?" just made the racoon in me rub its hands menacingly hoho

Just imagine not even living your best life; just a shadow in the lives of the illustrious Waynes, a ghost in a castle, visible only to the loyal servant and the occasional curious paparazzi who shrugs and looks away--after all, there was no mention of you in any occasion: must be the kid of in-house staff. How nice of Brucie Wayne to allow even the children of in-house staff the opportunity to study at such a high-end college! (The reporters chortle and snicker at your barely-passing marks, sighing at such a wasted opportunity. Oh well. And then they move on to the tabloid topic of the week, after the strutting socialites and the rich and the arrested Rogues.)

You gather things.

You gather pieces of a cracked dream, a single plastic teacup you had brought into the cavernous mansion the day you held Alfred's old, gnarled hand. Ears ringing and slippers still stained with your parent's blood as they were gunned down before your very eyes. You gather your things, what made you before you were "Wayne," so to say. Your mother's old cigarette box, smuggled from the crime scene, your one memento of the woman who you could not forget but never forgive.

A juxtaposition of love and hate, forever crucified. The image of the Virgin Mary inside the tin box seems to be a mockery of faith, across from her image lying cheap cigarettes.

You gather test papers, all barely passing and with more reds than blacks, and grind them up into strips with the shredder you had brought; just one time the black card Wayne had given you, and it left the bitterest, sourest aftertaste in your mouth. They burn so cozily on the school Bunsen burners, especially when sprayed with alcohol, immediately immolating like timelapse sparkler videos. You gather your name before the Incident, you cherish it, and you repeat the syllables in the dead of night, spilling past your mouth. Even if it was the name of a child-abusing monster, it was still yours, and it was still of use.

And use it, you would.

While they go and be a family, you work to begin yours.

You gather funds: it's easy to take on odd jobs when people do not suspect you. You tuck away that black card at the bottom of your study table drawers, forgotten there like scribbled-out pages of an essay, an unfinished drawing, and leftover candy wrappers. It's a bit-by-bit work, but you know the Waynes wouldn't even see it happening. Your brothers and sisters (an absurdly alien concept, as they don't even acknowledge you exist ninety-five percent of the time) are prodigies paraded around at every event. You are the unseen ghost flitting through their shadows.

Graduation comes and goes. It's laughably easy to falsify having lost your social security number and other documents--Gotham is that much of a shithole, you suppose. The man in the cowl notwithstanding. His efforts are admirable, but weak. Recidivism is common in this place, as if there were some sort of pull that incited the people in Gotham to cruelty, to madness.

It's absurdly Lovecraftian, in its own way.

You are not even living your best life, and yet you are free. Alfred knows; he always knows. If you are The Ghost, then the aged butler is a man one step between the doors of death, and he sees you every time you move. Your room is empty, and he raises an eyebrow at your satchel: all your items already stored elsewhere or given away.

("I suppose this was a long time coming, Little Master."

Tap tap tap. Footsteps on marble floors, setting sun.

You shrug. "Eh. The Waynes gave me a roof and education. It's all good."

You grunt. "Well, people change. Like you know, how kids being gifted stop being gifted when they grow older." You say, instead of 'Well, if a child doesn't get any praise or attention if they do good and probably even less if they were bad, why even bother?')

A pause. "Your academics were not so lackluster when you were younger."

You promise to try and stay in touch. (You crossed your fingers behind your back.) You leave, sunset on your face.

The nap you had in a dingy hotel with far too many odd stains and not enough locks you could put on was the soundest you've ever slept in years.

Freedom smells like summer air and the last rays of sun, followed by the cold blue hour.

It takes three months for an out-of-state college to accept you. It's far from Gotham. It has a dormitory. Excellent. While you were indeed a mediocre academic student, you had banked everything on band scholarships.

Who knew more than a hundred clarinet players had unclaimed scholarships yearly? Packing up your small life in bags, you take a train upwards to another state.

(Meanwhile, in Gotham, there is an odd sense of unease as Bruce Wayne stops by an inconspicuous door. It's relatively clean, as expected of his manor, but the worn out brass on the handle suggests that someone had lived there before. He opens the door. Steps in. A bed, a dresser, a study table. Bare bones.

The unease intensifies. But who?)

Someone had lived in here, yes.

[gothamcity-official]

Tim Drake's 17th birthday

Today is Tim Drake's tenth 17th birthday. We wish him many good things as the years pass, hopefully including finally aging properly

[tobinsonny]

sonnett vs kc 9/28

[mysecretwindowuniverse]

1x7 | Penguin's Umbrella ☂️

*Insert insightful commentary about masculinity, the performance of masculinity and the way it dictates social hierarchy in a heteronormative society, power dynamics, power dynamics in the context of sexual penetration, phallic symbols, queerness, social othering, antagonistic intimacy, desire and repulsion, the scene’s meta commentary on love, etc., etc.*

[thecruellestmonth]

Bruce Wayne + Ra's al Ghul parallel: "a manageable number I can control"

In JLA: Tower of Babel, Ra's al Ghul orchestrates military conflicts, economic collapses, and disasters around the world, so that "the human race thins itself to a manageable number I can control."

JLA (1997) #44 "Tower of Babel Part 2", written by Mark Waid (2000)

In Batman: Gotham Knights #38 (2003), Bruce Wayne says he's been pushing Stephanie Brown out of the Batsquad (by freezing her out of her support network, crushing her confidence, firing her), because he's "trying to protect this extended family from becoming too large and unmanageable."

Batman: Gotham Knights #38, written by Scott Beatty (2003)

[disappointed-carrot-mush]

Gothamites and various thoughts

I was having a conversation with my sister a few weeks ago and we got on the topic of the civilian in Gotham. They are such underutilized characters and they really do dictate Batman. Batman and Bruce does everything he does for the city and its people and yet we forget that so often, to the civilians of Gotham Batman is a cryptid not unlike moth-man in a way, a beloved symbols of hope for some and a fears symbol of deaths for others

to call back to Batman beyond the first few seasons really use inference a lot and I may be reading to much into it but it depicts Batman’s and the civilians bond really well, when Batman gives up so did the city, when the city stop trusting Batman and the police shunned him away Bruce gave up and never look back.

Terry knew something needed to be done so he went out into the streets and caught for the people for his city, even if they didn’t trust him, he was alone.

as sad as it is Batman will be alone, by design he’s supposed to be alone, yes Bruce has the batfamily but Bruce feels like the stress and pain of Batman is his load to bear and to him he’s alone because he doesn’t want anyone to suffer no matter who they are, that’s why he lets joker live, why Jason is both his greatest accomplishment and biggest failure.

I think that we should see a moment in witch Batman is on the ground about to die, give up whatever and for some reason nobody can back him up and when all seems futile, citizens, Gothamites surround the Batman and protect him, weapons drawn ready to fight for the man who has sacrificed everything for these people to see another day, like that one scene in the Tony McGuire Spiderman film, where he’s saved the train and civilians cradles his broken body and keep his identity a secret and make sure he’s ok, but for Batman it would be more fruity darker because it’s bat man

this was brought to you by a stomach ache and my Batman obsession seeping back into my life, just a thought or three I guess, I’m so sorry for my grammar

[harleycao]

Jason Todd Is Right

Trigger Warnings: mentions of k*lling, mentions of corruption/government corruption,

Jason Todd is right and even a lot of Jason fans don't seem to accept/realize that.

The problem is that a lot of people think about Jason and his stance on killing based on how the real world works rather than the one in which Jason exists. Because Gotham can NEVER be rid of crime and corruption. It it was, Batman would no longer be needed and that wouldn't sell.

Jason is right that Batman will never be able to eradicate crime completely. But controlling it is possible.

He's also right that the joker should be killed but that's a post of its own.

[shipcestuous]

I just found out the show Gotham has a shit ton of incest or incestyish stuff? Whaaat I have to watch it

I think that might be an exaggeration, I don't want you to go in overhyped. But it's a good show and definitely worth watching regardless.

I think most of the stuff was discussed here on the blog, in this tag, if you want to poke around. But maybe you want to avoid spoilers.

The show has a major focus on Batman villains, so there are a lot of relationships that are a little...weird, in a fun way.

[shyjusticewarrior]

Bruce be like "my family will be fine with Jason being unwillingly altered and sent away."

Motherfucker, Tim wasn't even okay with you throwing Jason into a wall and screaming mean things at him.

[actiaslunaris]

Gotham City Ballad - a Batman vid - gen

This, my city.

Created for Hannah. Contains physical triggers. Features the voice of Kevin Conroy, reading "Chicago" by Carl Sandburg; the instrumental track "BRICK BALLADES ~ Houston st" by Toshihiko Sahashi; and audio by felix.blume, cognito perceptu, TRP, and aesqe, from freesound.org.

[gothamcity-official]

FAQ

Q: How many mods run this account?

A: There are three of us, although we have been told by our supervisors that Oracle can and will send alerts through us. To talk to us, say one of our names, “Maxi”, “Samuel”, or “Rusty”, if you want to talk to one of us specifically, or “Mods” or “the Mods” if you don't care who answers.

Q: Do any of you have specialties?

A: Rusty knows the most about the vigilantes and their histories. Samuel supposedly knows the most about the rogues, although he's never had to prove this. Maxi proofreads most posts and knows the most about mundane aspects of living in this city.

FAQ continued under the cut (OOC information at the bottom)

Q: Mod pronouns?

A: Mod Maxi uses she/her, Mod Samuel uses he/him, and Mod Rusty is genderfluid and won't care.

Q: Do we report villain or vigilante sightings to you?

A: You can, but you should probably send them to BatWatch or a crisis line. Since there are only three of us, we aren't on 24/7 like the crisis lines.

Q: Do I report it if I saw Batman and Catwoman making out on the roof?

A: We've seen that, everyone has seen that, please stop sending us pictures.

Q: Do I report it if I see heroes or vigilantes that do not live in Gotham?

A: Like BatWatch but unlike the crisis lines, we have filters for out of towners.

Q: Red Hood is a crime lord, not a vigilante, stop reporting on him.

A: Die mad about it. (Edit: Maxi and our supervisors said we can't say that.)

Q: Why do you talk about Wayne Enterprises so much?

A: They have so many events that you should try doing things in this city without running into something done by them.

OOC Information

Mod Maxi, Mod Samuel, and Mod Rusty in respective order

This blog is run by one person! If you want to talk to me specifically, talk to me in an ask by calling me “Ali”, “Mod”, or “OP” (my pronouns are she/they)

If you want to get in touch about things not pertaining to this blog, my main is @nookisms

All links on posts will be relevant to the content that's in the posts.

If you send an ask, I will answer it. Eventually.

You may notice (in the future) that I have posted about the same events multiple times. Since I'm running this like an official city account, I would think they would have monthly or annual reminders for their citizens. I don’t know if they do this irl.

Most neighborhood names are taken off several maps I could find of Gotham, but sometimes you just gotta ignore if things are canon and go with what feels right.

Will there be canon events? Everything is canon somewhere.

This blog's intended ambiance was inspired by Welcome to Night Vale, which is a normal podcast to Gothamites.

[alastors-radioshow]

“So, do we have ladies or gentlemen around these parts who enjoys riddles~? If so, I have one for you~

Ehehem..

Without me, you will never know, without me, you will cease to grow. I must be taken to get ahead, or you are stuck in place in stead.

What am I~?”

[ciboriaadastra]

Detective Comics (2016) #1083

And there it is! My favorite "trope" with Batman stories: calling the thousands (millions?) of bats to swarm for a grand entrance. Nature (Gotham's bat population) is reclaiming the earth. Order is to be restored.

[gotham-is-the-best-worst-show]

Talking About The Isabella Arc part 1

CW: Helluvaboss discussion

I hate for one of my first posts on here to be negative, but I feel so mad that we were pitted against Ed in the whole Isabella situation.

I really wish that we would have got to see Ed's side of the story. I felt like the whole time, we were so disproportionately seeing it from Oswald's perspective, that it really was unfair to Ed as a character.

I know that Oswald is an extremely important character to the show, and Ed's character is usually an accessory to Oswald, but . . . As a Riddler kinnie, it’s so unfair.

The thing about me is I love fictional relationships in which both characters are equally bad people, doing equally selfish things to each other. It’s like candy to me, it’s so interesting to explore and write about, and it’s always exciting.

And that is one of my favorite parts about Oswald and Ed's dynamic, that they are equals. When one of them has the upperhand, the other will eventually come out on top.

I think that their power dynamic is very compelling. Oswald helped to begin Ed's criminal career, and Ed seems lost without his guidance. But also Oswald is hopelessly in love with Ed and will always be waiting for the day Ed reciprocates.

I feel that they both love each other so much for reasons that are selfish. Oswald loves Ed for the same reason Fish Mooney loved Oswald: she 'made' him. Ed loves Oswald because he gives him a sense of identity he can’t have on his own.

I really hate the way that gay men who are in unrequited love are sometimes so infantilized by the framing of the narrative. I’m thinking about the character of Stolas in Hellavaboss (I despise that I have to mention that show).

In the beginning of Helluvaboss, the show is a lot more honest about Stolas' morality and selfishness as a character than it gets as it goes on.

In the beginning, we see Stolas as an entitled noble who cheats on his wife with an imp, using Blitzo for his own shallow sexual gratification while being belittling to Blitzo, uncaring about the effect this has on his daughter until she brings to his attention the way it damages their relationship.

Blitzo, too, is shown to be cold and callous to Stolas for reasons that are understandable, but also it is clear he is using Stolas too, for Stolas' grimoire.

I think that this was a good set up.

I was really hoping for Stella to be a somewhat sympathetic character who is lashing out because she is being betrayed by her husband who she loved, because I am very much not into the way that (often) queer-created media or queer fanon likes to demonize women who get in the way of the gay ships. (Examples: hatred for and abuse of Harley Quinn because she gets in the way of BatJokes, hatred for and abuse of Lizzie Midford because she gets in the way of SebaCiel)

This sort of thing happens with any ship, that people hate certain characters for getting in the way of their ship, but it’s just annoying to me the misogynist undertones when it comes to women characters. (Saying Lizzie deserves to die because she has an annoyingly high voice . . . Um . . . She’s a preteen girl . . . Of course she has a high voice . . . It’s okay to not like her voice, but most people who say that obviously hate her more for being a ship cockblock)

It’s so much more interesting to be able to have sympathy for all sides.

And also, I was hoping to watch a show that is honest about its own character's immorality, and lets us feel for them anyway. No moralizing bullshit to only make us feel for the 'good guys' and hate the 'bad guys'. Just a show about horrible people all around that we can nonetheless relate to and enjoy.

But as it goes on . . . Things fall apart.

The show started to frame Stolas in an infantilizing light, making Blitzo out to be the villain only because Stolas is in love with him, which is so fucked up, because Blitzo doesn’t have to love Stolas, or anyone at all. That’s just kind of true of anyone. Nobody has to be in love with anyone, even with people who they are in a sexual relationship with, and that’s a fact of life.

Even though Blitzo obviously has romantic feelings for Stolas, that’s also not an excuse. He doesn’t owe Stolas anything. This whole relationship was based off of mutual selfish gain, and so, it’s really not Blitzo's responsibility that Stolas caught feelings.

It seems to me a very easy way to manipulate the audience. Because the majority of the fanbase of Helluvaboss are queer people and they know very well what it feels like to be in unrequited love (often with a straight person, or else someone who is struggling to be honest about their identity), they are more likely to sympathize with Stolas.

And Stella is demonized completely, so she’s just a bitch who abuses Stolas because she’s a bitch and does the bitchiest things the writers can think of to make you hate her.

All this would be fine if the show stopped doing this weird thing where it tries to retcon its own characters' morality and manipulate the audience into thinking characters who are horrible people are worthy of sympathy and love and other characters who are also horrible people aren’t deserving of sympathy and love because of the manipulative framing which screws with the plot and makes the characters uninteresting pity-bait or hate-bait.

This is something that Gotham does sometimes, but it’s not such a glaring issue, I feel.

[wateroflifefrommountains]

Thank You Tumbr: BoP Story Unspoiled! Damn it DC, you fucked up again: I asked for 2 things, 2!

First of all, Thank You all for not spoiling the BoP (2023)'s story. It was damn cool and I felt endorphins rush through my head after reading it [that might be the caffeine talking though] It is HYPE, it is amazing, and it is going to be a classic, I just know it. Now, for the Gotham War Issue 2. GOD DAMN IT!!! There were 2 things that needed to happen. The first was that the story needed to establish WHY Cassandra would outright turn on Bruce despite having a nearly identical ethos to him. The second is NOT JOB THE BATKIDS. I get that this is about Bruce and Selina and the rest as a supporting cast, AT BEST, but please have some respect for the characters. Also, are we establishing Grappling Hooks as Cassandra's kryptonite? She got taken out by a grappling hook in the Batgirls run and again in the Gotham War storyline. Is that her Achilles Heel? Here is Cassandra Cain, one of the most dangerous people in the world, a creature that can fight any human to a standstill or win. Fear her and the symbol she wears... except if you have a grappling hook cause she cannot dodge those for the life of her. I mean, it's not like she was taught to dodge bullets or anything.