Pretty soon we’re going to have to put that word on a top shelf, because people clearly can’t be trusted to use it.

I think that, is a very apt observation.

Mustard being motived by a personal tragedy foremost rather than an altruistic desire to protect and help others serves to parallel her to the darker and edgier versions Batman quite well.
I would guess that Mustard is doing this because she feels powerless to help her sister, and this is a desperate, dumb, and selfish attempt to try and regain a sense of power and certainty within the situation. The story is correctly framing Mustard’s “interrogation” of Livewire as an abuse of power on Mustards part given that she is attacking a main cast member who has been victimized by the same organization which took and harmed her sister.

This is a very clever critique of superhero fiction which condones the excessive use of force, disregards the human rights of criminals, and normalizes complete lack of accountability for those with power. It fits really well with the comic’s deconstruction of the “superheroes as police” trope, which does help soothe the sting of my disappointment with Mustard in-universe.

I fully expect this stunt to blow up in Mustard’s face catastrophically, with her students and colleagues learning about her misdeeds and being rightfully disgusted or even rejecting her for it. It would be sad and funny if Mustard ended up labeled and treated as a “criminal” in a similar way to how she treated Livewire.

I do hope Mustard can self-reflect later in the story, as it seems like her nurturing and playful behavior was a mask she made to cope in wake of losing her sister. Mustard eventually becoming a more honest and kind person who works to make it up to those she has harmed could serve as an example of the value of restorative justice. However, at this point in my comment essay, I guess I’m just writing fanfiction, so I suppose I’ll stop here.

can we please stop plastering “coded” to every word, it’s so weird. and it’s often used without even knowing the meaning to said words

I don’t think she cares much about that, she’s just waging the mental war to pull an advantage in the physical one. Long as she’s able to keep her attitude light, she’ll have an emotional advantage over the clearly frustrated Spicy Mustard. We know Livewire’s good enough to at least escape fighters that her opponent here has matched evenly with, so if she can banter her way into making said opponent irritated and unfocused, that might be enough to turn the tide.

Disregard.