08 baby, walking stick user, talk to me abt sanrio, boy bands, superheroes, films, whatever!! im on ao3 @chansrroom where i post for DC, BTS, Jake Gyllenhaal films, whatever i feel like
I think Clark would get really parasocial with celebrities and if some scandal came out he'd like investigate with his powers to see if the people he likes are really bad people as a guilty pleasure but obviously he cant get any evidence out of it to show others so he has to sit there and read through online discourse and bind back his fingers from typing a response after seeing some people go crazy with their hate/love
man the public defender discourse pisses me off so bad. yeah. yeah I do think that every single person deserves representation. yeah that includes people who *have* committed rape and murder and abuse. when I say every single person I mean every single person. if your idea of justice excludes one person it excludes everyone. next question
“so you’re saying you’d represent someone who has admitted to sexual assault?” i’m saying I have.
“so you’re saying you’d represent someone who has admitted to domestic violence?” i’m saying i have.
"so you’re saying you’d represent someone who has admitted to child abuse?" i'm saying i have.
and i am saying i have given each and every one of those clients the same level of professionalism, effort, and zealous advocacy i have given my clients who are victims of the same. that is how due process works, and every person is guaranteed it.
i have nothing but respect and admiration for my colleagues in the public interest sector who represent those who have committed and/or been accused any and all crimes, no matter how "morally reprehensible" others may find them.
public defenders are among the best, brightest, and most selfless attorneys out there. they are on the front lines of combating the carceral state and protecting the rights of every day people. get it straight in your heads. thanks.
Being a public defender is one of the most essential and under-recognized jobs someone can do to help maintain our democracy. Fuck absolutely anyone and everyone who goes after them. If you’re against public defenders you are fighting for fascism. There’s nothing more to say on the matter.
Pretty much anytime people are trying to smear an ex-lawyer politician by saying "they represented murderers/pedophiles/whatever," what they really mean is "they were a public defender and made sure the system treated everyone fairly, which is the only way a judicial system can ever actually dispense justice." Sounds like someone we need more of in government.
I really love picturing the batkids having an "I need my dad" moment. Like yes, they all desperately fought for their independence and may have told Bruce they don't need him hovering over them, but they still have those days. Doesn't matter if it's one of those times where it's one bad thing after another, or they forget their wallet. All they know is that they need comfort. Of course, the bats being the bats, there's a system to this.
An interaction with a rude person? A text. Broke their favorite mug? A phone call. Woke up feeling a little off? FaceTime. Bad day at work, school, extracurricular activities? A visit to Bruce at the office. Really bad patrol? They'll stay a few days at the manor and hover around their dad. Although they'll never admit they need comfort, Bruce always has a hunch that something is wrong. Call it his parental instincts or whatever, but he's already preparing himself for the most random conversation he's about to have for the day.
according to all known laws of batman, a robin should not fight crime. batman hates child endangerment. the robin, of course, fights crime anyways, because robin doesn't care what batman thinks.
It is a little funny that some popular Batfanon hcs about Bruce (Bruce bans metahumans from Gotham, Bruce adopts black haired blue eyed children) are basically just variations of 'Bruce is racist'. Like why do people want Bruce to be racist so bad 😭😭😭
I'm guilty of using that in one of my superbat fics. And I only really wrote it so Clark could use his "I'm actually an alien" card as joke.
Only after I found out it's not really a thing, and I would never use it now. Definitely gives racist vibes now it was pointed to me, and Bruce isn't racist.
bruce wayne is a man who has had his worse fears happen to him in real life multiple times and somehow hasn’t thrown himself off the top of his fuckass manor yet and that is why he’s sexy to me. i like my men tormented, disturbed, and selfless to the point of self sacrifice please and thank you.
Graaah! Okay. I need to get something off of my chest.
I have complicated feelings towards Batman and his no kill rule...
On one hand, I understand why he wouldn't want to kill people, and sometimes, his no kill rule is cool!
Only sometimes, though...
Before I start, I have preface that I unfortunately don't know much about comics, so take all of my rambling with a HUGE grain of salt
ALSO, important note! I do love Batman! I love him very much! I am just... a bit annoyed about how, specifically the 'Batfam' part of the fandom treats Batman as this almost godly figure who's always right about everything. If you enjoy that part of the fandom, I don't hate you, and I honestly don't judge you! Like what you like! Just... tag appropriately, and maybe, if you want to, of course, branch out a little sometimes.
Anyways, on to my thoughts! Be warned, this will be long
Also, warning, I do get very... heated over this. I have a lot of big feelings that I haven't been able to vent about properly lmao. (Also, I won't get into it, but I have some... personal problems with the Batman franchise, so you'll definitely see a lot of that in here lmao)
Okay, I want to compare Spider-Man and Batman for a second, okay?
Spider-Man also has a no kill rule, but how Spider-Man and Batman go about their rules are very different.
Peter doesn't kill (from what I've gathered) because anyone could be an 'Uncle Ben' type figure to someone else, and he doesn't want anyone else to feel that type of pain
Batman's no kill rule, again, from what I have gathered, comes in two parts. The first is basically Peter's no kill rule, he doesn't want anyone to feel the kind of grief he felt when he watched his parents die. That is a very respectable motivation! The other part, is that he believes anyone can change and become a better person. Also extremely respectable!
"Hey, if his motivations for not killing people are so respectable, why do you hate him so much?" I hear you asking.
Well, it's a few things, but right now, I'll focus on the environment around Bruce and Peter that makes the difference. Peter lives in New York City, and while it's pretty bad crime wise, the people and the villains there are... normal, I guess you could say. The villains, specifically Peter's villains, are more focused on hurting Spider-Man than the general public most of the time. And most of the time, the villains can't easily break out of wherever is holding them.
With Gotham City, however. It's a very different story. Law enforcement is mostly corrupt. Guards in prisons and asylums are corrupt. The villains there want to hurt the general public. I can only imagine the homeless population in Gotham. The city practically breeds villains and henchmen for the villains. Batman is putting these villains in a place he KNOWS can't contain them for long. And when they eventually get out? They hurt people. Batman isn't solving the problem, he's just mitigating the damage. If he is taking on the responsibility of stopping these villains, then he is responsible for all the deaths they cause when they break out of Arkham Asylum.
If Gotham were a better city, then I would greatly respect Batman for his no kill rule, and his ability to see the good in everyone. But he is not in a better city.
Another thing I want to highlight, is that Peter knew his Uncle Ben was a good person. That is why he doesn't want anyone to lose their 'Uncle Ben'
Batman doesn't want people to feel the grief he felt when he watched his parents die.
Those are two different motivations when you break it down. Grief is a natural thing. It sucks, and it was probably traumatizing to watch his parents die, but it's a part of life, unfortunately. Bruce's no kill rule stems from his trauma, which makes him... strict, let's say, with his rule.
Peter was also undoubtedly traumatized by his Uncle Ben's death, and in most iterations, I'm pretty sure he also holds his uncle as he dies. But, Peter's no kill rule isn't stemmed from his trauma alone. It's still hard for him, but he's... kinda moved past it. He's accepted it. Peter's no kill rule more stems from his kindness, and the fact that even people who might seem evil, might still be an important person in someone else's life.
With that in mind, Bruce's no kill rule feels almost... selfish to me, personally. Even if someone objectively has no one who would mourn them, Bruce wouldn't kill them because of his OWN feelings about the matter. Even if killing that person would save hundreds of other people's lives, he values his own morals and feelings above that.
Peter doesn't like when other superheros kill when he's actively with them on a mission. But, again, from what I've gathered, let's other superheros do their own thing on their own. He may be disappointed in those heros, but he doesn't tell them off of fight then about it.
BATMAN HOWEVER. He actively gets into other heroes' businesses. Okay, that might be a bit of an overstatement. He gets into his 'family's' business, even if they aren't actively on a mission with him. They aren't allowed to make their own choices for themselves, even when they are fully grown adults.
Now, I must admit that a lot of this is simply writing issues. If the comic's creators didn't write such edgy versions of Batman, then we wouldn't have this problem.
But man, the Batfam part of this fandom is.... most of them make me angry with how they treat Bruce as someone who could do no wrong and who's always in the right, no matter what.
... do I have anything else to write about this subject??? Let me think, one second.
Uhhh, most of my other criticisms are just complaints about bad writing or how the fandom treats Batman and his list of associates that help with Gotham.
I don't know enough about Spider-Man's comics to speak any further on him, unfortunately.
OH! I absolutely, undoubtedly, HATE how Bruce gets his sidekicks.
Okay, look. I have no problem with regular sidekicks most of the time. But how they write Bruce and his sidekicks really gets to me, because they act like Bruce didn't have any other choice, and how he treats them like soldiers most of the time.
So, Bruce adopts Dick Grayson. Dick finds out that Bruce is Batman, and begs to join him. Now, to allow Bruce a modicum of credit, he didn't immediately say yes. It probably took a lot of begging and pleading, and then training before he let Dick go out as Robin.
But he still said yes. I don't care that Dick had watched his parents die, like how Bruce watched his parents die, Dick is a child. A CHILD. Not even a teenager.
Not to mention, Bruce was a fully grown adult when he started going out as Batman, not a child or even a teenager. A fully grown adult, with full metal capacity.
No matter how smart the child is, their brains are literally not finished developing yet. Children physically cannot fathom the consequences of a decision like this.
And then, Jason. Need I say more? Jason was murdered by the Joker. And then Bruce either kept the suit Jason died in, or he placed a random suit in the memorial in the Batcave. And the memorial. All it says is 'A good soldier.' Not a good son, not a good child, but a good soldier.
Bruce cares about his own feelings about Jason's death than what Jason would have wanted in the wake of his death.
Batman then decides, yes decides, because he is a grown man who makes his own choices, whether he's buried in grief or not, he decides to stop holding his punches so to say.
Bruce has put it upon himself to help save the city, and that comes with responsibilities and power. Bruce abuses his power when he stops holding his punches. He neglects his responsibilities when he stops pulling his punches.
He is supposed to help people, not needless beat people up.
And then, little old Tim comes along. Apparently, Bruce needs a child to help him reign himself in. Tim carries the weight of Bruce's emotional state. As a reminder, at most, Tim is a teenager at this time. And Bruce, as I have stated multiple times, is an adult.
As much as I... dislike Tim's character, and subsequently how the Batfandom treats him, he doesn't deserve to carry that weight.
I need to look more into Steph, Barbara, and Cass's characters because, unfortunately, I don't know much about them. The Batfandom tends to focus on the guys more. From what I know about Steph, however, she was done extremely dirty by Batman. Like, wow, Batman is probably sexist, types of done dirty.
1. Bruce literally has trauma. Him not killing is not only because of his morals but because he literally witnessed the murder of people in front of him as a child. Saying he is responsible for stopping people permanently while he is literally volunteering, as opposed to like the cops, is dumb.
2. Why are you blaming him for not killing? Why not the cops? The justice system? He has no responsibility to this. Even if he just stops being Batman, there is nothing wrong with that. He has no obligation to the cause.
3. Selfish??? SELFISH??? He is still a human being. He has emotions, he can have opinions, he has morals, personal lines. You're trying to blame the one person most opposed to murder for not murdering criminals. By your logic, literally anyone with a gun should kill villains because they can and it'd save people.
4. 70% of fanon is just hating on Bruce or making him shit at everything to put the Batkids on a pedestal. No one thinks he can do no wrong.
5. Addressing his sidekicks. Him letting Dick be Robin was because either way, Dick would go for Zucco, even if no one was helping him. Him being Robin was dangerous, yes, but it was a much safer outlet than him going out independently. (Bruce was a teenager when he left ALONE to travel the world and train to become Batman btw) I can't defend him for letting Jason be Robin, no, but you're believing in a common misconception. Alfred put the plaque there. Bruce did not put "a good soldier" on Jason's memorial. Alfred did. Tim comes along, attempting to blackmail him into letting him be Robin, Bruce rejects him, and ALFRED sends him out wearing the Robin suit, with no training. Bruce did not pass on the mantle, and did in fact think that there shouldn't be any more Robins. Stephanie made her own Robin costume and again, Bruce was reluctant to let her be Robin, but she was Spoiler before that. It's Dick all over again- either help them or let them go alone and probably die. In fact, Bruce sat at her "deathbed" and comforted her as she "died". He also banned Leslie from the US and practicing medicine as she told him she had withheld medicine that could've saved Stephanie in an attempt to "show Bruce the error of his ways" (she faked Stephanie's death, she didn't die)
People grieve for themselves and not for the people who died. Ofc they shouldn’t self destruct, but grieving is something deeply personal especially the loss of a child is an unimaginable pain.
So yeah Bruce should be allowed to grieve in his own way as long as it‘s not destructive, but even if his grief is destructive you shouldn’t hold it over him as some sort of deep moral failure of his. Is it good he grieves destructively? No. But is it understandable given his son died added with the previous trauma (especially around death) and mental health issues he has? Yes!
Bruce in this instance needs help, and that is not a failure of his but normal in the situation he is in.
As previously mentioned the „good soldier“ thing was Alfred but did you know that the night of Jason’s murder Bruce did try to go after the Joker with the intention of killing him. Superman sopped him. Superman had to stop him by literally beating him up and saying that Jason wouldn’t want this. (And Joker also had diplomatic immunity at the time an killing him would’ve caused a war - which is a whole other can of worms)
The above reblogs bring up very valid points, and I also want to add some things here. This is not an attack on op, just some additions that I feel would be helpful context:
-> Re: the robins; this is the child sidekick franchise. When superhero comics were released they needed characters for the kids to relate to, and so child sidekicks became a thing. The fandom has a common misconception where they think Bruce goes out looking for orphans to indoctrinate into his mission, when it's nothing like that. Bruce sees children hurting and takes them in, giving them the support he didn't receive in his own traumatic childhood. The Robins are not Bruce’s doing, Dick wanted to join Bruce and he was going to do so anyways so Bruce let him join him and kept him trained and as safe as he could. Jason became Robin after he helped Bruce arrest a corrupt orphanage matron and he too was trained and kept safe. Bruce actually considers taking Robin away from Jason to keep him safe, which is actually the catalyst for him going to Ethiopia to find his mom and dying. Jason died because Joker killed him, make no mistake here, NOT because of Bruce. Blaming Bruce, who so clearly grieves the boy he raised and fought alongside, for the murder of said boy is not what should be done. With Tim, it was Alfred who made him Robin. Also, Tim never had to 'bear the burden' of Bruce’s mental health, that is a fanon idea. Tim being around Bruce was enough to help Bruce not be so self destructive. Batman needs a Robin not to be a child soldier, but to be someone to take care of, someone to return home to. Steph was a vigilante before Bruce was ever involved in her life, and I will admit her time as Robin was not the best. But that's the writer's misogyny sneaking into the story, coz why would a man who has before this worked with multiple female heroes suddenly be so callous with Steph? Again, I won't dismiss his actions, just pointing out stuff. After Steph leaves Robin behind, they have a way better relationship. Damian became Robin because he thought he should, as his birthright. Bruce didn't force him into Robin either. Cass isn't a Robin, but she's a batkid and she became one because she wanted to, and aligned herself with Bruce’s goals. Duke was part of the We Are Robin thing, which was ALSO started by Alfred. Duke and Bruce actually have a pretty good mentor-mentee relationship.
So, all in all, Bruce doesn't see any of the Robins or his children as 'child soldiers'. Robin and Batman are partners, Robin has always been about child autonomy and not about forcing children into servitude for adult fights. Of course, with 80 years of published media there will be some outliers, but this is the general truth.
-> Re: mourning Jason; at the time Bruce puts up a memorial for Jason, he is dead. People don't grieve with the dead person in mind. Bruce didn't grieve Jason the way he wanted because he was dead! And couldn't gave a say in it. Jason finding offense to Bruce’s grieving does not mean Bruce grieved wrong. The memorial is an eternal reminder of how badly things went wrong, which is why Bruce is always shown as more reluctant to take Robins in after Jason's death. Nobody thought Jason would come back and have an opinion on how they mourned him. Jason being unsatisfied is selfish, not their grief. And that's compelling characterisation for him. And again, Alfred was the one who put up the 'good soldier' plaque, not Bruce, because Alfred is a veteran and that's what they did for people in the service. He likely also did that as his own way of remembering Jason's contributions as Robin. So the 'good soldier' plaque is not what people think it is. And also, Bruce did almost kill Joker. Superman had to stop him because Joker has diplomatic immunity as the ambassador of Iran. Killing him would've caused a world war. The moment that immunity runs out, Bruce crashes a helicopter with the Joker inside into the ocean, and believes him to be dead. The Joker coming back after that is because he is DC's villain cashcow and they can't let him die.
-> Re: Bruce’s no-kill rule : Bruce believes all life is sacred, yes, even criminal lives. Because criminals are also people. And Bruce is also a person, a severely traumatized person specifically because he watched his parents be murdered. Bruce believes in rehabilitation and restorative justice, and actively works with Arkham Asylum to make it so the inmates don't go out and commit those crimes again. He has multiple initiatives as Bruce Wayne to facilitate the reduction of crime and the rehabilitation of criminals into general society.
Expecting one single man to kill people when he doesn't even need to be doing any of this is just. Not it. The death penalty and such is the jurisdiction of the government, not one vigilante's. And well, if Batman kills his rogues, guess who he also has to kill by his own set of rules now? Jason Todd, because Red Hood was a crime lord who terrorized people and killed a lot of petty criminals just to send a message. If anyone wanted to rid the streets of the Joker, they can. Joker is mortal, he dies to a gun. But Bruce doesn't have to be the one pulling the trigger. Expecting someone who is already doing so much for Gotham to go against his one set rule/boundary and kill people, just because a different fictional character with different fictional circumstances can is not a good justification. Peter Parker is not comparable to Bruce Wayne because they have fundamentally differing stories and experiences.
The no-kill rule isn't even something exclusive to Bruce. Not even within the Batfam. Dick also has a no-kill rule, but people love to forget about it. The often referenced panel with Dick almost killing Joker is him in a high stress situation, while the Joker has him fooled into thinking Tim is dead. Once Dick realises Tim is alive, he hates himself for what he almost did and is grateful that Bruce stopped him and kept Joker alive. Bruce kept Joker alive to save Dick the guilt of murder. Why aren't we mad at Dick for not killing the villains in Bludhaven, a city often called similar to/worse than Gotham?
Also, Bruce only intervenes when the person killing people does so in his name/wearing his symbol. The Bat symbol is Bruce’s legacy, carrying the weight of Bruce’s ideals. The Bat symbol also means that whoever wears it agrees with Bruce’s ideals, and does not kill. Cass puts it best when she rips the symbol off of Kate Kane when she kills someone in front of her and Bruce. So, when someone goes around wearing that symbol and kills people, doing everything that it doesn't stand for, Bruce has the right to intervene. He doesn't seek out heroes to condemn them for killing. He may regard them with less respect, because again, he believes life is sacred. He doesn't accept the self righteousness of heroes who kill people. He has no issues with killing in self defense, other than a profound sadness that the victim had to resort to murder to get away.
Again, this is not meant to be an attack on op. This got a little long, I apologise. I hope some of this helps put things into perspective, and hopefully op will enjoy Batman media in the future :3
all about your favorite… but who is your lest favorite? in the batfamily ofc
I don't really have a definitive least favourite character in the batfam anon.
I hate all the batkids equally, especially their fanon version of it.
I hate everyone who makes fun of Bruce's trauma,and hardships, EVEN as "pranks" or whatever.
As long as the kids are not being physically and/or mentally abusive assholes to Bruce, I'm completely fine with them, hell I love them like that.
The actual problem is the fans that glaze batkids and make up shit about Bruce to get mad at him and abuse him, which in turn makes me hate the batkids even more.
I have a very tumultuous relationship with them.😮💨
Batfam AU where when Jason gets ressurected, Bruce was at the LoA grounds coincidentally
Theres no time for the feeling of being forgotten to fester within Jason but there's still anger directed towards Bruce but more importantly, towards the rest of the family. Bruce is Jason's GUY. He fucked up, yes, but Bruce was there and loved him. He's still angry at Dick for being rebellious and mean to Bruce when he emerged as Nightwing.
Still a lot of miscommunication, it takes forever for Jason to know that Bruce was in fact on his way and only a second too late, but they havent lost as much time together.
This is me saying inadvertently that I dont really think of Dick and Bruce as father and son, more like an eldest sibling with the baby that their parent had way too late on accident.
Jason, however, is Bruce's baby.
Im like 5k words into this btw I hope to publish it soon
Personally, I think we need to abandon the very basic term of the Al-Ghuls being of Arab descent because it is so basic, broad, and does not even make sense.
Due to them also being of mixed Chinese descent, I'd argue that Ra's Al Ghul's parentage is located to the region of central and south Asia rather than the west (where the Middle East and the Arab region is) Due to most comics citing his age to be around 400-700 years old, Ra's birth is post the Arab/Islamic empire and the Mongolian empire. If we keep in mind the fact that Ra's parentage is still half Chinese, the most logical assumption would be that the other half had come from a nearby country--India, Nepal, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan--that had been overcome by the Arab empire for the writers to 'consider' the other half as Arab.
And with Nanda Parbat being based off of Nanga Parbat in Pakistan and located within the Himalayas, I do not think my theory is too far off if I do say so myself.
If we want to dissect DC racism further, one could make the assumption that the writers assume any South Asian person who isn't dark can't possibly be from South Asia. With a lack of education being so prevalent, one could see that in the 70s and 80s, somebody would just assume a lighter South Asian is Arab 😒