I think the major reason why so many depictions of Batman rub me the wrong way is because, imo, the major character trait of Bruce shouldn’t be his anger or his darkness or his inability to move on from the death of his parents or whatever. It should be his empathy. His compassion. Those are his major flaws. No, seriously. They’re the reason why everything keeps going wrong in his life.
Because he can’t seem to delegate and prioritize? He has that sort of wide-ranging empathy that covers everyone, and it leaves no room for the people closest to him in his life. He cares, and that’s the issue, because he cares too damn much and it’s spread so thin that it goes right back to making him look cold and emotionless and detached. There’s no way he can save everyone, to be what every single person needs, but he tries anyway. And he can’t stop doing what he does because there’s always something going on, and he doesn’t have time to take care of himself or take care of those around him because that’s selfish! Because there’s always someone who needs him, someone who needs saving, and what right does he have to slow down? What right does he have to take a breather, to take a rest from The Mission when he can be out there making a difference?
And that’s probably the reason why so many people keep flocking to him, especially those in vulnerable positions like orphaned kids, because they see it. They see his kindness, his compassion, his genuine desire to help, and they know that it’s real. They know, because Bruce takes the effort to show them. Because Bruce is great at being kind to strangers! We’ve seen it demonstrated over and over again in every piece of media he appears in. He’s great at winning people over, great at getting them on his side, but it soon becomes apparent that they’re not his priority? And it’s okay when they don’t really know each other, but then he becomes a friend, a father, and he still doesn’t make time in his day for them. Still doesn’t hold them in higher standing than the rest of the world, because he can’t prioritize the people he likes. What right does he have to choose?
I just… I can’t see Bruce as being inherently selfish. I can’t see him being cold and unemotional when he wakes up every day (or night) and keeps fighting for a city that doesn’t seem to want to get better. That doesn’t scream logic to me? That screams of someone who feels deeply and intensely, who values hope against all else. Even if he’s pragmatic and pessimistic and a bit (a lot) of a mood-killer, there has to be faith holding him up.
And yk… emotional doesn’t mean he’s good at showing them. Doesn’t mean he knows how to show them. Bruce seems to have that neurodivergent and/or PTSD thing where the stronger, more intense his feelings are, the harder it is for him to actually show them. Maybe because he’s scared, or maybe they just paralyze him, whatever. So you’ve got this odd dichotomy where he can comfort strangers, he can make little kids smile both in and out of costume, but the closer you get to him the more he seems to withdraw from you. Because he feels too much. Because the words get jumbled in his head, and they don’t come out right, or heck, they just sort of… stop, somewhere, or maybe they just don’t even form. We’ve got so many examples of him saying the right thing to strangers, to acquaintances he only knows the name and face of, and so many examples of him phenomenally fucking up when it comes to his kids or anyone that he loves.
coat ca. 1970 via The Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
There’s some common threads I see in the anti-voting posts going around, and I feel like I need to discuss some of them. Let’s start with the biggest one:
Voting to punish evil. I see lots of variations of this. Biden is supporting Israel, therefore we can’t vote for him. Is there any viable candidate who would stop the genocide? I don’t think the anti voting crowd actually cares. They are appealing to moral feelings rather than political strategy, because strategically, you have to realize that voting is not going to change foreign policy, and that change has to be pushed by other means. It’ll probably be something in the long haul.
Democrats should run someone else. First of all, this is a shit strategy. You don’t primary your president in the second term unless your party is falling apart. This may come from people from countries where replacing the head of government is easier, but the POTUS is the de facto party head. Also, going to the lack of thought to the goal — do you know someone willing to primary Biden and able to win who would do the things you want.
Biden hasn’t done anything anyway. This is just a way to bat away pro arguments. There’s plenty of lists of progress on lots of things. Student loans, insulin price caps, regulations, anti-trust.
Putting the entire Palestinian genocide on Biden. I’m not saying there’s not culpability there, but understand that the entire US government is in support of Israel, on both sides. It was a miracle we got a handful of Senators to call for investigations. We should cut off aid, absolutely. Who’s running to do that? And keep in mind that Israel chose to engage. US officials would have liked a more limited response, not out of care for Palestinians, but because they know from experience that it will come back to bite Israel in the form of newly radicalized Hamas recruits.
Liberals just have no hope for change. This is a new one. Just some idea that people are stuck in a rut and that’s the reason the two party system exists. The two party system is a mathematical consequence of the way we vote. There is reason to hope for change. The change, though, whatever means you choose, will take decades. Keep working at it. The hope is not that this election will fundamentally change things. The hope is that many small political actions over the years will push things forward.
Funnily enough, I haven’t seen a whole lot of third party promotion, just lots of this rhetoric aiming to punish. When voting, ask yourself:
Is this problem I have with this candidate something that the other candidate would be better on?
Are there other political actions I can take that will help?
What things can change with a different President or Congress, and what needs to be pursued by other means?
Withholding your vote as a punishment isn’t really going to help. Biden doesn’t know who you are or why you are not voting for him, and there is no one with a chance of winning that will do everything you want. But you have other means. Protest, organize, donate, build up alternatives, advocate for a different system.
Vote to give yourself space and get a little bit. Do other things to keep things moving.
Also another thing that I cut out of my post about Dick and flying trapeze, but am posting here: height. Because I’ve seen a lot of talk about Dick’s height on tumblr recently. You can headcanon Dick at whatever height you want. Go nuts, have fun. But. First off – trapeze and aerials and acrobatics are all different things, and they are all different from artistic gymnastics. The “ideal” body for a gymnast is not the same as the “ideal” body for an aerialist or a trapeze artist. While there is crossover, they are not the same. (Example: I can throw a full twisting layout off a trapeze. If I’m on the ground, I can usually manage a cartwheel.) Dick in comics is obviously good at gymnastics as well. In the comics, on trapeze, Dick has been both a flyer and a catcher. I have a friend who’s 5’1, which would actually be on the tall side for elite women’s gymnastics. She is an amazing flyer. There are tricks on flying trapeze she is too short to throw. Not a lot of them, but there are some. In my experience, guys who are both great flyers and great catchers tend to be 5’10-6’0, 175-180 lbs. This isn’t a scientific study, this is just personal experience, and you can have Dick be whatever height you want in your story or headcanon or whatever, those are yours, but in canon I’d say this is something DC actually got right for once. And there’s no reason Dick can’t be 5’10 or even 6’0 and still be a great flyer. Being tiny is not a requirement for being a good flyer, those things aren’t mutually exclusive.
Wearing hanfu. The half-shouldered style resembles what would've been worn for ease of archery and the like during the Tang Dynasty
Favourite Designs: Poem Bangkok ‘The Dreamer’ Spring 2022 Collection
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