I believe in Gotham City

A bogeyman too big to be clearly seen. A rumor. A terror made of shadows and flapping wings.

[holy-red-hood]

[pm] Mercy? You want to be merciful to the insane criminals who will stop at nothing to achieve their ends? Who will break out of the bonds you put them in time and time again, spilling more blood, blood that is on YOUR hands? Not taking care of them, that’s what’s easy. To forget about them, to let the oh-so-upstanding Gotham PD deal with them while you turn your back on what they will do in the future, when, not if, they return to the streets. 

I don’t know how you deal with the guilt.

[unsleepinginthedark]

[pm] I. Forget. Nothing. Criminals aren’t homogeneous, and people like you and I aren’t the law. You don’t get to live forever, Jason. Morons who come after you will try to follow your example, and all you’re doing is setting a dangerous precedent. It’s irresponsible and reeks of short-term gratification.

[shiningstar-official]

Um. Okay. But all things considered, my PR department isn’t really a waste of time and resources. Compared to other peoples, it’s absolutely tiny. I do a lot of the work myself, to be honest.

[unsleepinginthedark]

[mask] There are better things to be worried about than your ego. 

[holy-red-hood]

[pm] Once again you mistake my choices for being easy. As much of a monster as I am you think I am, it is not easy. It is necessary.

[unsleepinginthedark]

[pm] Show me otherwise, Jason. Prove me wrong. Because sacrificing your principles for poorly justified revenge is easy. Mercy and support of the law isn’t.

[shiningstar-official]

How so? 

[unsleepinginthedark]

[mask] The concept is so self-explanatory that a gnat could write a thesis on it.

[holy-red-hood]

[pm] Taking care of the crime in this city. Once and for all. Making sure no other fathers lose their sons or daughters.

[unsleepinginthedark]

[pm] And what’s in the fine print, Red Hood? The ends justify the means? Methods and brutality are irrelevant as long as you get an easy fix to a hard problem?

[holy-red-hood]

[pm] A team of undead members sounds great to me.

[unsleepinginthedark]

[pm] And what exactly would ‘joining you’ entail?

[shiningstar-official]

What point?

[unsleepinginthedark]

[mask] That your horde of publicity generators are a useless waste of time and resources.

[holy-red-hood]

[pm] Why’s that?

[unsleepinginthedark]

[pm] Because you and I are no longer the kind of family who can do that.

Because the day I stoop to your level, is the day Batman is dead. 

[holy-red-hood]

[pm] I am doing something good with it. Instead of dismissing what you created, you could join me. 

[unsleepinginthedark]

[pm] You really wouldn’t want me to do that. 

[holy-red-hood]

[pm] I don’t know if you know this, but I’ve been through more than most 70 year olds have. Ya know, that whole dying thing? Not a ton of people have been murdered so I think I’m a bit older than you give me credit for, even if you weren’t there to see it.

[mask pm] Oh, we’re going back to that then? Easier to dismiss me when you don’t have to regard me as your failed dead son?

[unsleepinginthedark]

[pm] Back to that? We’ve never left it. I dismiss you because you’re out of control, and you don’t intend to do something good with your rage. My failures Your experiences don’t justify that.

[shiningstar-official]

Not really. I have a huge fanbase, so newsletters are in pretty high demand.

[unsleepinginthedark]

[mask] You can stop making my point for me anytime you want.

[holy-red-hood]

[pm] Okay, Psych. I’d rather be facetious than referred to as a child. And you’re really one to talk about passive-aggressiveness. Where do you think I learned it from? The League isn’t too big on being subtle, so I doubt it was there.

[unsleepinginthedark]

[pm] At eighteen twenty-four, you’re not as old as you think you are. And I guarantee that if you learnt anything from me, you’ve lost it since, Red Hood.

[shiningstar-official]

Neither do I! That’s why every issue of Shining Star Weekly is made from 100% recycled material!

[unsleepinginthedark]

[mask] The fact that it’s made at all is baffling.

[holy-red-hood]

[pm] I think you’ve got a different definition of tantrum than most people. Facetious would be more apt here.

[unsleepinginthedark]

[pm] Or, it’s an example of your passive-aggressiveness. Note how you immediately objected to “temper tantrum,” instead of mentioning this facetiousness business earlier. 

[holy-red-hood]

[pm] Tantrum? Really?

[unsleepinginthedark]

[pm] If you have some better term for people who recommend Shining Star merchandise to me, I’d like to hear it. Until then, my point remains valid.

[unsleepinginthedark]

shiningstar-official​ replied to your post: Would you like to join the Shining Star Fanclub?...

What about newsletters?

[mask] I don’t condone needless deforestation. 

[holy-red-hood]

[mask pm] I could say the same to you.

[unsleepinginthedark]

[pm] Better? Is your childish temper tantrum finished, then?