to the world we dream about and the one we live in

I'm trying to catch up on my pull and I have been laughing about this for DAYS now. Damian and Bruce working together for the first time in a while, Bruce tells Damian to be careful, and then IMMEDIATELY sets off an alarm after Damian informs him he has his first girlfriend I'm-

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People have posted panels from this but I decided just to post the whole two pages because I was dying at this entire exchange when I was catching up for Trial of Magneto last night. More rambling under the cut-

Jarro! Jarro! Jarro!

hELLO? BATMAN PUT BOMBS ON THE MOON?

Did I start reading Justice League 2018 just because I wanna read about Jarro? Yes, yes I did. But also, I always forget how funny JL consistently is, and Arthur's love for his teammates never ceases to amuse me

okay I know that everyone knows Batman goes to crime alley on this day every year (the night his parents died) but also the fact hes just... strolling down the street.... and theyre just like hey whats up man? is wild

Love me a self-aware Batman but also lowkey this hurts

Hi I have a new favorite monster he’s like a gayer, spookier version of Phantom of the Opera but with less murder I love him

Floyd is so concerned and Katana just doesn't give a single fuck I'm so done??

So, I find this exchange really interesting, for a number of reasons? Like the first thing obviously is that it’s so absurd for Bruce, the most paranoid guy around, to say he trusts everyone until proven otherwise. 

What’s been really interesting about amnesiac!Bruce is that though he doesn’t have his memories, at the core he still has the same personality, which is interesting because Bruce is very much a person who lets the past define him. Alfred himself even says earlier in this issue that this is the closest to a “real” Bruce Wayne as there has ever been (which is obviously referencing the fact that Bruce often wore Bruce Wayne as a mask and considered Batman to be closer to his real self but is also telling in that the way he acts is how he is under all the hurt and pain). Really the biggest difference is that amnesiac!Bruce isn’t afraid to show his emotions.

Honestly, with that statement, I think it follows that the reason Bruce is so paranoid is that with everything that’s happened with his parents and how Gotham is, that he feels he’s been given due reason not to trust anyone. Now this may seem like an obvious statement but it’s interesting in this context. Even so this leads me to believe that Batman is quite a bit more trusting than people realize.

He has a pretty large support network, honestly one of the largest if we just count vigilantes and people who either operate or started out in Gotham, and he actually does work either directly or indirectly with pretty much all of them. He’s never one to really let his guard down but he gives people the benefit of the doubt a lot more than they realize.

And still, one of the most interesting moments of trust for me to this day is in Injustice Year 3 (which Injustice, aside from Diana and maybe Clark, is pretty spot on with its characterizations) with John Constantine of all people. Batman is so genuinely shocked and betrayed when John leaves, evening telling the man that he trusted him. John Constantine of all people, like I love the man but he’s not exactly what one would call trustworthy. I’m not sure if he saw something in John like himself and assumed he would put the good of all over his daughter or whether he just trusted him to do the right thing, but I think it’s telling of his character.

Not to say Bruce isn’t a paranoid bastard but I always enjoy the moments when you can plainly see he’s not nearly as emotionless and detached as he leads people to believe (or that some writers and fans would have people believe). 

Amnesiac Bruce has got to stop making me cry like he’s really not all that different from normal Bruce the only difference is he isn’t like afraid of his own emotions. Like he’s being so sweet and then I remember that Bruce does shit like this on the DL and people don’t even notice half the time.

where’s that post that was going on and on about Bruce never doing anything to help the people or it’s city??

This whole page is precious from Bruce and Alfred laughing together to Alfred’s sass

It’s just nice, because we get a lot of the like emotional father/son moments with these two but we don’t get a lot of like happy, teasing moments (teasing yes but not typically this cheerful)

Tim’s mental double take was beautiful

the shade man the shade...