not to code gotham as eastern europe but eastern europe is the gothic literature locus classicus so i'm in full right to do it and it's just such a good parallel because. for westerners/outsiders it looks like a literal nightmare but the locals find comfort and humour in all things that throw the foreigners off. you have to find hope in a place that the others claim to be unlivable. if you give up and leave, it will always stay in your heart like an open wound.

also it just never ceases to amaze me how there are so many similarities between gothic lit & eastern european lit of the period that we would never call 'gothic' because our ghosts and our supernatural elements are not portrayed as the Other most of the time. they're there to bring you closer to your culture and heritage. they are horrors that bring you home and connect you with your people. tell me this is not the perfect approach for gotham.

i think this is also why i hate the portrayal of the city as some unsalvageable monstrosity with no kidness to be found. often places where the circumstances seem the most dire, the cultures that are branded gruesome because of the focus on the dead produce the most loving communities, as they are needed.