Yes! And also, no. what I'm trying to do here is look at blackface from a variety of angles. There's an Author's Note up on AO3 that explains it better (but it's about as long as a chapter so I haven't reproduced it to other spots), but the gist is: Minstrel uses his make-up to invoke fear in his enemies, but also confidence in himself and other black people that want to reclaim those qualities of ourselves that are demonized (like we've done with the very term 'black' itself), but also to challenge the idea that exaggerating his natural features has to be positive or neutral. like, our skin is dark, our lips are big. sometimes i like that, but sometimes it's just neutral facts about me, you know? Basically, he's using his natural features to accomplish a goal, but also part of an ongoing question of how those features are viewed.

thanks!

Wow! thank you so much for saying that! This has really been a passion project of mine and it's really great to see that's communicated well in the story. Sorry for missing this comment btw, I don't check this site as often as I should, lol. I hope you enjoy the rest of what's coming out, we're entering one of the better storylines in a couple chapters!

In this instance, Bruce is using third person to evoke the voice of anyone who would ask this question either directly to Alfred or in general. "Bruce Wayne" is a celebrity, and his name carries weight just as much as his presence does, so what Bruce is really saying is "What happens when people take note of this moment and notice that I wasn't present? That the Bruce Wayne brand/image wasn't a part of his own party?"

The first chapter is purposefully confusing to add to the mystery. I know that's a cliche, but, well he is based off Joker, and part of what makes the Joker so interesting is that we never start a story knowing who he is or what he wants. His background won't be revealed til later, and a key part of the story is Batman trying to figure it out. And Minstrel's appearance is very nondescript because that's the imagery we're working with. If you've never seen minstrel art, the characters tend to be very non-descript because the point wasn't for them to be anyone in particular. There is some variation between minstrel characters to denote gender and and age, but in general they tended not to be very clearly defined because the point was to say, effectively, "this is every Black person." And that's what I'm doing with Minstrel here, part of the reason he wears his blackface makeup is to be like "I'm everyone and no one" and that sends a multilayered message to Gotham's citizens; it means that some people should fear him and the influence that he can carry while others should feel assured at how well he can blend in and continue his work. And as for whether he's the villain here--you can decide whether his actions are more or less villainous or heroic, but Minstrel understands himself as a villain. He's not interested in being a hero or anti-hero, his philosophy is that there are too many Black heroes and not enough Black villains. A good story has a good villain. Like the Joker, Minstrel's a mystery to everyone, even the reader will never get a full picture of him. In the coming chapters, I'll talk about his childhood and his time with the Joker, but there's always going to be this gap between when he left Joker and then started up on his own, and that's never going to be established in this specific story because it doesn't really matter to this story. I do want to do follow up stories featuring Minstrel in the future once I'm done with Maroon, but for now, his backstory is kind of...again, it's like the Joker: a backstory for the character can be good, and it can be meaningful for A story, but I don't think the catalysts towards him becoming Minstrel are really that interesting for THIS story.

anything I can clarify?

what are you confused about?