Murder Strut Caleb

Batfam head turn around

Full image under cut

Bruce is straight up calling Superman a freak, on the record, to a Metropolis reporter. Metropolis, AKA Superman’s city.

And not just a freak! A freak dressed like a clown

He’s also clearly calling Superman a clown

He’s also drawing the obvious connection between Gotham’s most famous freakish clown (Joker) and Superman BUT

He’s also implying that Gotham City has a particular aversion to freakish clowns, i.e., also implying (since Metropolis is mentioned right before this) that Metropolis doesn’t, or at least doesn’t take them as seriously as they should

IN OTHER WORDS, not only do you, Clark Kent of Metropolis stan a hero who 1) dresses like a clown 2) is a freak 3) reminds me of Joker, your whimp-ass little town doesn’t even know what it’s talking about when it comes to freaks dressed like clowns

GOTHAM KNOWS CLOWNS WHEN IT SEES THEM

Superman is a clown, according to Bruce Wayne, one of the most famous Gothamites of all time

AND HE IS SAYING THIS DIRECTLY TO SUPERMAN’S FACE

Dragon!Bruce: Minemimeminemineminemine (finding nemo seagull style)

The idea of Bruce being opposed to Red Hood but his dragon being unironically proud of his son’s bloodthirstiness and confidence is SO funny to me. The poor man is walking around like “Jason….dont…” meanwhile the dragon inside of his head is like “YES!!!”

— — —

“—and if you’re going to run from a traffic stop, do it before you give them your license,” Jason finished, crossing his arms. “Questions?”

A man in the front row of mismatched folding chairs raised his hand. “Even if it’s fake?”

“Yes, even if it’s fake.” Jason took a breath before continuing. “It’s still your face, height, and weight, right?

Slowly but surely, the group began to nod.

“Mr. Hood?” A skinny twig of an 18 year-old raised a hand.

“Yeah?”

“My buddy told me that if they arrest you, and they don’t read your, uh,” the kid stumbled looking nervous. “Your, uh, Melinda rights, they have to let you go.”

Jason sighed into his helmet. There were times when he appreciated Bruce’s breathing tech. The sigh had been filtered and dispersed just after it had finished.

In the intervening moment, the group began to lean forward in their folding chairs, attempting to parse the silence.

Jason lifted one finger.

“They’re Miranda rights.”

Second finger.

“And no, they don’t let have to let you go. Best case scenario, they’ll have to throw out anything incriminating you said. That’s it.”

A plumber-for-hire perked up in the last row, opening his mouth.

“Shit you said during questioning,” Jason clarified quickly.

“Wait. You’re not supposed to talk during an arrest?”

Jason closed his eyes. Behind his helmet, they couldn’t see him. He couldn’t see them. It was beautiful, just for a moment.

Someone scoffed.

“What are you, a fucking snitch?”

“Devon,” Jason said, recognizing the voice, “Chill the fuck out. Brady, what the fuck are you saying when you get arrested?”

Brady was trembling in his seat.

“That I’m gonna f-fuck them up. And t-their families.,” he stuttered. “And I might even s-steal their dog so their k-kids hate them f-forever.”

“See?” Jason waved at Devon. “Terroristic threats. Not snitching.”

Nobody laughed. Jason could sense the incoming questions like they were bullets curving toward his head.

“Terroristic threats?”

“Okay,” Jason said. “So remember when we talked about the different definitions of assault?”

Examples:

Buying the Kent Farm. He couldn't buy the house outright, it would draw far too much attention and link his and Clark's identies, even with several steps in between. So Bruce bought the bank, then the Farm.

In Batman Begins, he buys certain gear in bulk to avoid suspicion. He gets thousands/millions of cowl prototype bases because buying ten would be strange.

All of the journalistic manuvering. It's very look here, don't look there. It's artistic. It's sleight of hand with the media. "Brucie falls into a fountain the same night Batman needs to take a night off" no, even better. Bruce, as Brucie, captures attention in a way that doesn't let you even realize that you should be paying attention to something else. He isn't taking away your attention. He has it, and that's the point.

The painstaking and painful steps he takes to fund and oversee the Justice League while maintaining credible distance. The fact that he's able to spin it as CSR without anyone putting the pieces together is impressive.

Tech/behaviors he employs to ensure the government thinks Batman is a low-level vigilante with limited access to complex resources.

talk to your coworkers about this. remember that the "taking advice from everyone except the experts" thing cuts both ways. you can be the non-expert guy at work who isnt an expert and gives someone advice they decide to follow based on vibes, but your advice can be the right advice instead. this is something we can all do.

I've gone. Not one for goodbyes, I thought it best to slip out quietly. Love to you all, Giles.