#don mitchell Jr

[the-fiction-witch]

Let The World The Burn Chapter One - Five

Nine years, after the brutal murder of Mayor Don Mitchell Jr at the hands of the riddler, his widow and son are supported by Bruce Wayne for the foreseeable future. But Unbenounced to Mrs Julliet Mitchell her son Luka Mitchell is taken under the wing of Bruce Wayne far more directly, funding his education and training the now nineteen-year-old Luka for yet undisclosed purposes. After all these years Luka has formed a cold detachment from the uncaring world around him. That is until he finds himself growing close to a new classmate who goes by Rose Asher, the two share all their secrets with one another as they fall hard and fast into a whirlwind romance that may have more layers than it first appeared.

Chapter One - The Gotham Rain

Luka Mitchel sat up in his room, he watched the rain as it fell against his window, illuminated only by the orange street light outside. It always rained in Gotham these days, so much so that it seemed comical. More than once Luka wondered how the whole river hadn't come up to claim them yet. He sat on his bed, legs crossed, elbow rested on his knee, and his chin sat on his knuckles. His washed-out jeans felt stiff to sit in and often caused him to shift, and his blue long-sleeve t-shirt fell loose around him to hide his many bandages. He kept it all hidden away, he felt he had to. The house didn't feel like home, it never had and he had no intention to share his secrets within it.

Every so often thunder would crack or rumble, a flash of bright white lightning across the sky, but he rather liked it, the sound brought Luka comfort compared to the endless silence without it.

He perked up a little as his bedroom door opened with a sharp whine, light flooded in from the hallway, shadowed only by the figure of his mother Julliet Mitchel. Her heels clacked on the wooden floor, her tight stockings adding a small swish to her walk as her legs rubbed together with each step, Her tight silver dress left little to the imagination, her hair done and make-up pristine.

But all of it made Luka feel sick to his stomach, unwilling to even give his mother a second glance.

"Luka darling? What are you up to?" she greeted with a cheerful and hopeful smile,

"I was just watching the rain..." he replied, as he refused to move his gaze from his window,

She smiled softly and closed the gap between them, trying to take a seat on his bed but he made no space for her to do so, so she abandoned the attempt. She brought a hand up and stroked across his face but as always he flinched away.

His flinch caused Julliet's smile to drop and she bit back a sigh, "Well, I'm going out tonight. With Steven."

Luka nodded slightly and tried to bite back his rage,

Steven was the newest in a long line of lovers his mother found comfort in. Even if Steven was closer to Luka's age then to Julliet's. But it always made him sick, to think his mother was out with these men. But he knew he couldn't say anything about it.

"I see... I assume you'll be gone all night?" He asked, but he already knew the answer,

"Yes, most likely." She nodded, "I've left some cash on the counter, why not get yourself a pizza and have some friends over?" she suggested hopeful to perhaps coax him from his room,

But Luka didn't have friends.

He almost wanted to snap at her but held his tongue and forced a small smile. "Okay... have fun."

"Alright, have a fun night, darling." She cooed, she pressed a kiss to his cheek before she headed out of his room and left the door open a crack.

He tensed as his mother kissed his cheek, but he knew he'd upset her if he fully moved away. He waited until he heard her leave, once he heard the door lock, the car left with her date. Luka sat and just listened to the rain for several more minutes as he tried to return his mind to the calmness he had before.

After a while, he forced himself out of the bed. Luka slipped on his black boots and walked down the stairwell. He pocketed the cash on the kitchen counter, grabbed his coat from the hook and tossed it on. He took his keys and locked the door behind him and made his way out into the rain.

Chapter Two - LIAR

He walked silently through the rain and took cover under trees and overhangs as much as possible though he ended up still soaked. He walked the damp sidewalk, for a while before he met the immense black gates of Gotham Cemetery. He snuck inside without much noise and headed to the usual place.

Luka was completely drenched by this point, but didn't care. He just stood in silence as another crack of thunder came through. He looked at the ground and almost tried to distract himself as the greystone stared back at him.

The stone read 'Don Mitchell Jr. Husband, Father and Honourable Mayor of Gotham City.'

But the stone also had bright green graffiti over it reading, 'LIAR'. It had appeared some weeks ago, but Luka hadn't the mind to clean it off. After all he'd learnt about his father these years since his death, it felt accurate.

Luka began as usual to talk to his father. He told his father about all that happened since his last visit. About his mother, about school, about bullies, about all the things he felt he needed to know. But, He still kept quiet about one aspect of his life. Even the dead weren't privy to such a secret.

He finished up and said his usual goodbyes before he turned on his heels and headed for the gates. But a sound caught his attention and he froze up.

The snap of a twig.

He remained still, silent and listened through the rain to hear the footsteps as they grew louder and louder.

Without even a second thought Luka slipped his hand into his coat pocket, and his fingers found a home around the blade he had stolen. His heart raced at the thought of truly using it. He flipped around prepared to attack, but he jumped.

It was a girl.

Chapter Three - Rose Or Rosie Too

She stood in the rain, she wore a black coat that hemmed around her knees, with a trail of small red buttons, her hands in her pockets, with a little red Breton hat that hid her hair.

Luka practically jumped out of his skin and quickly released his grip on the blade. "You… You almost gave me a heart attack," He gasped,

"Right place for one." She joked,

Luka couldn't help but chuckle slightly at her morbid joke as he slowly came closer to her. "Hi,"

"Hi," she greeted back,

"So… are you visiting a grave or…?" he asked a little unsure how to make conversation,

"Not visiting. It's just a shortcut home."

"Shortcut? Through a cemetery? at night?" He asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"I don't find the place that spooky." She shrugged, "far more terrifying things down a back alley in Gotham than in a graveyard."

"Fair enough…" He chuckled. He knew some of the alleys in Gotham you were guaranteed to run into some very unsavory characters and the worst you'd find in a graveyard is a raccoon. "So, I assume this is not your first time taking this shortcut?"

She shook her head, "No, I've taken it almost every day."

He smiled a bit at that. "Then how come I've never seen you before tonight?"

"We only just moved here."

"Oh, I see…" he chuckled slightly and gestured around them both, "I'm assuming this isn't the only possible way to get to where you're going, but… Maps?"

"Maps." She agreed, "and I like it here."

Luka narrowed his eyes, "What's there to like about a cemetery? It's full of dead people."

"It's peaceful. Quiet."

"Yeah… I suppose that's true,"

She nodded softly, "What about you?"

"I come here for a bit of peace and quiet as well… but I come for a specific reason too," He said as he gestured to the gravestone,

"Sorry-"

"Don't worry, it's fine," He said, "Actually… What's your name? I don't think I ever asked."

"Rose. Or well Rosie too."

He smiled as he heard her name. "I like that. I'm Luka."

"Very cute." She laughed, "The name… Not you- well… you too."

Luka couldn't help but laugh and blush a bit, "No need to correct yourself… unless of course, you don't mind me pointing out you're pretty cute too."

She laughed, "Thank you,"

He smiled and chuckled, his own laughter somewhat hid his small blush, "You're welcome,"

"Where do you go? For classes?"

"Oh, I go to Gotham Prep…" He answered,

"I'll be starting there on Monday," she smiled, "Maybe you could show me around."

"I… I think I could do that, yeah." He said with a nod.

"You don't mind the new girl hanging around and having lunch with you?"

"No, I wouldn't mind that at all." He said immediately, almost a bit too quickly. he did hope he didn't sound too desperate at the idea of someone wanting to actually hang around him,

"Great." She smiled, "uhh here." She dug around her pocket, pulled out a marker, and then offered him her hand,

Luka raised an eyebrow but slowly slid his hand into her own, he felt her soft skin brush against his own callus fingers.

She smiled and squeezed his hand before she moved closer and wrote her number across his hand with a little heart. She capped her Sharpie and smiled up at him before she gave his cheek a small peck. "Text me later, promise?" She smiled as she began to walk away,

He was left a bit in shock as she suddenly kissed his cheek. He was too stunned to really think straight, "Wait- yes, I promise!" He called out as she walked away and made sure she could hear him.

Rose soon disappeared into the rain and darkness of the night,

Luka's heart still raced a bit from the kiss left on his cheek. It was the first time he had ever had a girl kiss him, even on the cheek. He stood there for a moment as he watched where she had vanished into the night before he eventually looked at his hand, he smiled at where she had left her number. The little heart she put next to it only made his smile grow. He quickly put his hand in his pocket to keep it dry and began his walk home.

Chapter Four - You Like That Mat Today?

Luka stood resolutely in the heart of the gym, the familiar atmosphere thick with the scent of metal. He focused his mind, set aside any distractions, and allowed himself to enter a meditative state. The mat beneath him felt cool against his bare feet, as his body moved instinctively in a steady, rhythmic pattern.

With each bound, he could hear the sharp whistle of air rushing past him, the rope sliced through the space between his agile feet and the mat. His hands formed perfect, fluid circles as they expertly coordinated with the movement of the rope, gradually he picked up speed until it whipped around him like a blur. Breaths escaped from his lungs in rapid, short puffs, as beads of sweat streamed down his forehead, and traced paths down his chest and arms.

Luka was dressed in his signature workout attire. A pair of form-fitting red leggings that clung to his legs and a sleek black muscle tee with the harness of weights strapped securely around his shoulders and waist. His arms were graced with bandages and plasters to conceal his bruises from prior sessions. His hands wrapped up with red tape to keep his grip.

The gym, nestled deep within Wayne Manor, bathed in dim light, felt like his personal sanctuary on Saturdays. He had already pushed himself through a varied regimen, he had already logged hours on the treadmill, the rhythmic pull of the rowing machine, the solid crunches on the sit-up bench, and the fierce energy of the battle ropes. Each element of his routine was meticulously crafted to hone his strength and endurance, to prepare him for whatever challenges lay ahead.

"Ten more, then climb." Alfred barked from his seat on the sit-up bench as he took a sip from his water. The older man had been monitoring and supporting Luka all day, and made sure to push him a little more every week, "Yes?"

"Yes Sir," Luka spoke up,

"Count ten then climb."

"I've already done -" Luka gasped,

"Yeah well, should have answered me the first time."

"Yes sir..." he sighed, "One. Two. Three. Four.. Five.. Six... Seven... Eight... Nine... Ten."

Luka felt a rush of adrenaline surge through him as he dropped the rope, the word escaped his lips with an urgency that sent him into motion. Without a moment's hesitation, he discarded the rope onto the mat beneath him, its fibres absorbed the sudden thud. He took a deep, sharp inhale, to fill his lungs with air before he sprinted across the mat, his feet pounded against the surface. With a determined leap, he surged upward and grasped the thick, braided climbing rope that hung overhead. His fingers dug into the coarse fibres as he ascended. He pulled himself higher, and let out a few grunts as he clawed his way toward the top.

"Good, good." Alfred nodded,

The gym door creaked open with an unsettled whine and echoed slightly. Bruce strode in, his posture both determined and slightly weary, clad in his familiar black suit pants that hugged his legs and a crisp white shirt. His usual polished appearance was marred only by the stick he leaned on, an unintended souvenir from a recent skirmish related to his nightly escapades as Batman.

"Afternoon, Master Wayne," Alfred nodded to him, as he got to his feet to fetch a seat which Bruce refused.

"Luka!" Bruce called out,

"Yeah?" Luka smiled as he reached the top of the rope, he hitched his body over the metal rails and hung his body upside down to see him,

"Don't be cocky." Bruce snapped, "Down. Now. And climb, don't just jump."

Luka rolled his eyes and climbed down the rope. Once his feet hit the floor once more, Luka grabbed a towel to pull the sweat from his skin.

"How's he done today?" Bruce asked,

"Alright," Alfred shrugged, "Clocked a little lower than last week,"

"You put his weights up yet?"

"No, I figured we'd get him back up before we add more."

"Alright," Bruce nodded grimly,

"I'm right here, you know?" Luka chuckled,

"I'm aware." Bruce snapped, "You can start coming in on Sundays too then till your numbers get back up,"

Luka rolled his eyes and groaned, but knew he couldn't argue,

Bruce simply glanced at the mat,

Alfred nodded and headed to the mat,

Luka sighed and tossed the towel over the weight rack, He rolled his shoulders and stretched out.

Alfred did the same and the two settled into position.

"Don't go easy on him." Bruce chuckled,

"Hey!" Luka protested,

But Alfred took that moment to attack, almost getting Luka down, But the younger boy brought his attention back to focus. The mat soon became an intricate dance of punches and blocks, swings and ducts, steps and slashes. Many of these manoeuvres ended as always, with Luka on his ass.

"You like that mat today?" Alfred laughed after he once again knocked Luka on his ass,

He groaned with his back flat on the mat, "Yeah... well, all things considered. It's pretty cosy."

"Sure it is."

"Get up Luka," Bruce told him,

"I can't... I'm dead." Luka joked,

"And if this had been a real fight you would be, get up." Bruce ordered, "Nothing can be accomplished on the floor."

Luka smirked and used his feet to wrap around Alfred and flipped them over, "Nothing?" he raised his eyebrow,

"Enough." Bruce snapped,

Luka let Alfred go and helped pull him to his feet,

"Shower, then meet me in the study" Bruce snapped before he made his way out of the gym,

Luka sighed, gave himself another wipe-down and a gulp or two of water. "Am I in trouble?" He asked Alfred,

Alfred simply shrugged but gave Luka a look. A Look Luka knew well, he was in trouble but Alfred of course won't tell him why.

"Ffiiiinnnneee..." Luka groaned before he made his way to the shower.  

Chapter Five - The Knife

After a long and hot shower, Luka made his way slowly through Wayne Manor, his black duffle tossed over his shoulder. He held his breath as he reached the door to Bruce's study, and brought his hand up to the wood to knock.

"Come in Luka." Bruce snapped from within before Luka's hand even met the door,

Luka bit his tongue and went inside,

The walls within, tall and imposing with thick wood lined with shelves full of books and trinkets. A large arched window that looked out to the city beyond, a few red leather chairs and of course Bruce's large desk. Where Bruce sat in his chair, his elbows on the desk, and his chin rested on his hands.

Luka walked onto the rug and met Bruce's eyes, silently.

"How is school?" Bruce asked,

Luka didn't reply,

"Your studies?"

Luka didn't reply,

"Your mother?"

Luka did not answer again,

Bruce sighed and met Luka's eyes, "Have I somehow offended you, Luka?" He asked his tone sharp,

"No," Luka answered, "I simply find it pointless to answer,"

"Why?"

"You're the greatest detective in the world," Luka sighed, "You know where I go, what I do, who I see, the same for my school and my mother... I can't hide anything from you."

"Doesn't mean I do not wish to hear it from your own lips,"

"School is fine. Work is fine. Mom is fine." Luka answered dismissively,

"Good." Bruce nodded, "Your mother she-"

"Yes." Luka snapped, "The new boy is... Steven something,"

"Young?" Bruce chuckled,

"Twenty-five,"

"Have you given any more thought to your plans after you graduate?" Bruce quickly changed the subject,

"No," Luka lied,

"I have made my offer more than once,"

"I know, you have done enough for me,"

"And still I will do more... if you only would accept my help,"

"You have helped me, more than I have deserved and more than I can ever repay Mr Wayne." Luka explained, "I... I would not ask for anything more."

"Very well." Bruce nodded, "But the offer stands,"

"Thank you,"

"We will continue your training, but allow time to focus on your studies. Training can wait. I'd rather get you through the classes first." Bruce explained, "We'll go from there."

"Yes sir." Luka nodded, he turned to leave the study but before he took his third step,

"Luka," Bruce spoke up,

"Yes?" Luka didn't turn,

"Did you think you'd get away with it?"

Luka's blood ran cold and a shiver ran up his spine, "I- I don't know what you're talking about sir." But his voice gave him away,

"Luka, I'm the greatest detective in the world." Bruce threw Luka's own words back to him, "You can't hide anything from me."

"I suppose not." Luka sighed,

"Look at me, Luka."

Luka slowly turned but found himself too guilty to meet Bruce in the eye,

"Why?" Bruce simply asked,

Luka shrugged like a caught child,

"Why Luka?" Bruce's voice raised,

"It looked cool." Luka lied as his eyes trailed the corners of the rug,

"Don't lie to me,"

Luka bit his tongue a moment, he knew he was caught, he knew there was no way out of this. So there was no reason to hold back. "I feel safe with it," he muttered,

"What?"

"I feel safer with it." Luka said, "I felt strong, safe, secure when I carried it with me. More in control."

"True strength-"

"True strength, doesn't need a weapon I know." Luka snapped back, "But after nine years of telling me about the attackers, murderers and sick lunatics that walk Gotham's streets at night. Are you surprised I feel the need to walk around armed?"

Bruce's face relaxed slightly, as he pondered Luka's words. "If you don't feel safe in the house-"

"The house is fine. The school is fine... It just makes me feel better," Luka answered, "I've never used it. Doubt I ever will. But I have it, just in case."

"I see." Bruce nodded, "Alright,"

Luka nodded and turned to leave once more, he pushed open the heavy wooden door but was once again stopped.

"Luka. The Knife," Bruce ordered,

Luka let out a long sigh before he turned. He pulled his jacket from his duffle bag and ripped the knife and its holster from his inside pocket.

Bruce merely tapped his desk with his index and middle finger,

So Luka begrudgingly brought it over and set the knife down beside his fingers, but as he was about to pull his hand back Bruce grabbed his wrist.

"If you want something, you ask for it." Bruce told him, "You don't steal it."

Luka nodded,

"Yes?"

"Yes, Mr Wayne."

Bruce nodded and glanced to the door as he released Luka's hand,

Luka turned and stormed out without a word, his face screwed up with rage. He marched down the stairs and left the manor. He refused the usual ride home and tossed his jacket on and hood up, to start on the walk home in the rain. 

Chapter Six - Ten

[tremendouskoalachild]

Does the Batman Epic Crime Saga (they better come up with a better name fast) chronology make sense? well, no. am i gonna write a rambling tumblr post about it? you know it!

spoilers for The Batman (2022) and the first 4 episodes of The Penguin (2024)

The Batman is set during Bruce's second year as Batman, and takes place over one week: starting at 8 pm on Thursday, October 31, and ending on Wednesday, November 6.

The Batman was originally filmed as though it is set in 2019, and the days of the week in Bruce's journal match that year's calendar. the shooting was put on hold due to the pandemic, and once it resumed the movie's setting was moved to 2021 (some other dates in the film match that year, and it can be extrapolated from graphics shown on screen). The Penguin takes place firmly in 2022, retconning this.

according to his diary, the Riddler got the idea for his grand plan to reveal corruption in Gotham on Friday, July 16 (of that year, meaning 2021, presumably; the day matches the 2021 calendar). that would mean he spent 3.5 months (107 days) planning and setting it all in motion. he likely intended on using the election's date from the start.

The Waynes were killed 20 years prior to Don Mitchell Jr's murder (October 31), to the week, during Thomas' mayoral campaign (this corresponds to 2001, as seen in the Riddler's video).

here we run into my lack of familiarity with DC lore, but i believe the implication is that Mitchell became mayor in 2001, served 4 consecutive 5-year terms (and was up for reelection in 2021), and Maroni was taken down due to Carmine Falcone's information shortly after Mitchell first took office (the timing of the Maroni bust is very tenuous; i'm largely going by the various claims that Falcone has been the top dog for 20 years, and that removing Maroni was what got him there. there is also Annika's confused recollection of Mitchell telling her Falcone was the informant on that case, and that that's how Mitchell became mayor, even though we know the bust happened during his term. however, Oz was supposedly involved, as alluded to by Sal in The Penguin, and he was merely Sofia's driver just 10 years ago, before moving up in Carmine's organization and gaining control of the drops operation, which was already controlled by the Falcones at that time.)

The Penguin starts one week after Carmine Falcone is killed and the flooding starts (on Election day, November 5), so November 12, 2022.

Oz kills Alberto at night, and spends the time until his next shift securing an alibi and hiding the body, with the help of Vic. Oz takes Alberto's phone and looks through his calendar app, which is showing the current day as November 13, noting he has a shipment scheduled for the evening of Monday, November 18 (this day matches the calendar for 2024 and 2019, but definitely not 2021 or 2022).

The next day (November 13, assuming Oz checked the phone after midnight - seems likely, he went in at night, had a long discussion with Alberto, killed him, dragged his body to the car, and "recruited" Vic before this), Oz reunites with Sofia, recently out of Arkham thanks to her father's death. He is told to move the drops operation to Robbinsville by the Falcones within 48 hours, visits his mother's house, as well as Salvatore Maroni in prison, and frames the Maronis for Alberto's murder.

Presumably the next day, November 14, he visits Sal again, planning their heist. Luca Falcone has arrived to take over the family by then. We see the move to Robbinsville being ambushed by Maronis at night, likely 14 to 15 November (i doubt Oz organized the move he didn't want to do the same day he was ordered to do it, while coordinating with the Maronis; i also doubt Viti would let him get away with missing the 2 day deadline without a fuss). Sofia recruits a detective within hours to find the mole.

Alberto's funeral is on the following day, November 15 (not that it's particularly useful, but we know it isn't a Sunday from Francis mistakenly trying to go to Mass. if we accept the Monday is the 18th, then it must be Friday). After the funeral, Luca suggests to Sofia she leave for Italy. That night we see Vic bury Castillo and Ervad, and Sofia team up with Oz.

In the evening of the shipment, so November 18 according to the calendar, Sofia and Oz start putting their plan in motion. Graciela tells Vic she is leaving the next night, November 19. Johnny Viti confronts Sofia, telling her she has two days left in Gotham before either leaving for Italy or being disposed of, and gives her a boarding pass with the date Thursday, November 20, 2022. (in case you're curious, no, November 20 2022 is not a Thursday. more bizarrely, we know it was Monday on the 18th, so November 20 has to be a Wednesday. the last time Nov 22 fell on a Thursday was 2018, before even the original scrapped setting of the movie.) the boarding time is in the evening, so Johnny seems to be counting the next day, November 19, and the day she's supposed to leave, November 20, as her two days.

The next day, November 19, Sofia and Oz go to the Triads to negotiate, then blackmail Johnny to secure an audience and trial run for that night. It goes well but the Maronis arrive, and a dazed Sofia calls Dr Julian Rush for help after Oz abandons her.

She wakes up at his place the next morning, November 20, and mentions she is supposed to be on a plane to Italy by the next day - not that evening, as it says on the ticket her family bought her. Maybe she's confused after her traumatic incident, or is ignoring the ticket and choosing to interpret Johnny's ultimatum differently.

Julian says she has been out of Arkham for only a few weeks (she was exonerated through Alberto and Julian's efforts after Carmine's death, November 5th - 16 days earlier, so it appears that process was quick). She crashes a family dinner that evening, implies she is leaving the next day, and kills everyone in the mansion except for Gia and Johnny Viti during the night. She wakes Johnny up in the morning of November 21, where we end episode 4.

as for the flashbacks:

Vic's takes place in the hours before the flooding starts, not only confirming that it happened in the evening on November 5, but also that it was Tuesday. This date works for either 2019 or 2024, and matches the day of the week from Alberto's phone in episode 1.

Sofia's flashbacks: 10 years prior to The Penguin, in 2012, reporter Summer Gleeson approached Sofia Falcone with information about several women working for Carmine Falcone strangled over the last decade, so roughly 2002-2012. she herself was killed in the same manner shortly after, and the murders got pinned on Sofia. Sofia was arrested on Carmine's birthday, September 5, and she was held responsible for the murders of Summer and 6 other women (presumably the same ones Summer told her about, as her murder was made to look like Sofia trying to shut her up).

from The Batman we know that Maria Kyle was also strangled by Carmine during this period, in 2004:

while we're looking at tombstones, the Falcone family's plaques in The Penguin episode 2 are the source of Carmine's birth date:

Alberto's body is recovered the day after his murder, and the date November 13 is used on his.

some random tidbits about different characters' ages:

Bella Reál is 28 (said on the tv broadcast in the opening of The Batman).

Bruce Wayne is around 30/was around 10 when his parents died (not said in the film but mentioned in interviews).

Edward Nashton's fake ID under the name Patrick Parker has his date of birth listed as 03/30/1985, which would make this persona 36 in 2021. the ID under his real name appears to list 1984, which would make him around 37/17 at the time of the Waynes' murder, or 1994, making him around 27/7 at the time of the murder. the second interpretation is supported by the Riddler: Year One comic miniseries, written by Riddler actor Paul Dano, showing Edward as a little boy meeting Thomas when he announces his mayoral campaign (and appears to fit better with the speech Edward gives in the film).

Annika Kosolov was born on January 1, 1998, making her 23 if the film takes place in 2021. she is also Estonian. neat.

Selina Kyle was 7 when her mother was killed, which happened in 2004 according to Maria's tombstone in The Batman, making Selina around 24 if we use the 2021 setting (25 for the retcon timeline, birth year around 1997 either way).

Sofia Falcone was 9 when her mother was killed, which happened in 1994 according to her plaque in The Penguin, making Sofia around 37 in the show (birth year around 1985), around 27 when she was arrested and taken to Arkham.

edit: we actually do have Sofia's birth date, thank you @thevoidstaresback93! she was born on January 3, 1985, making her 27 at her arrest and 37 in the show.

from the above we also know that Carla Viti was 28 at Sofia's arrest and must be around 38 in the show.

similarly, we know Johnny Viti, which is apparently his legal name, was 43 in the flashback and must be around 53 in the show.

from his plaque we know Alberto was 38 when Oz killed him, and is a year or two older than his sister Sofia.

Carmine Falcone was 65 when the Riddler finally killed him.

his victims were mostly young women whose exact ages we don't know, long dead before the present day events; we only know that Isabella Falcone was killed at 34, and Maria Kyle at around 28.

Victor Aguilar is 17, since his ID shows his date of birth being April 23, 2005. his girlfriend Graciela is probably around the same age, since they go to school together.

revelations from the Riddler video:

Martha Wayne's parents were killed in 1981 (her mother killed her father and then herself), and her father was 36 at that point.

Wayne Enterprises sent the cease and desist to the journalist digging into Martha's family history on February 16, 2000, over a year and a half before the election in October/November 2001. what a dramatic period of time for everyone involved.

one last hilarious thing: this date in the canon comic released in October 2022, in the same year as the film, fits with the 2020 calendar.

[voidsuites]

I know you gave context in your post but I’m dumb and haven’t seen Robert Pattinson’s Batman so can I have some more context for the Bruce and Selina bot 😓

no you’re okay! no worries :)

in the batman (2022) bruce is investigating the riddler who’s slowly been exposing different parts of gotham’s local gov/police department/etc. for being corrupt and working with its criminal underbelly behind closed doors to get rich, and the riddler has bruce/batman on a goose-chase of sorts throughout the entire movie.

user is supposed to be annika kosolov in this bot— a waitress/waitstaff that works/lives alongside selina at the iceberg lounge who was involved with one of the riddler’s targets, mayor don mitchell jr. when the riddler kills the mayor at the beginning of the movie, photos of him and annika are leaked to the public to tarnish his image. members of gotham’s criminal underbelly— specifically carmine falcone— then go after annika because they’re concerned she knows too much about their plans and don’t want any loose ends. annika dies in the movie but user obvi doesn’t.

for the bot itself, selina enlists bruce’s help to get user back to her + user’s apartment after they’d been kidnapped. selina’s concerned about user’s well-being since they’d been missing for days, and bruce wants any intel that user might have on falcone/his plans/etc.

if u need me to elaborate more then just lmk! hopefully this helps— i’d probably just read a synopsis of the movie’s plot to kind of help u get the basic deets but hopefully i helped a lil :)

[short-skirt-longjackett]

Renewal Isn't A Lie Anymore pt. 9

(i'm back from the dead- and I think it's appreciated and appropriate if I started off with my most popular series lol)

-Edward Nashton x gn! reader

-warnings: canonical violence, some talk of nsfw, something a little hurtful ;)

While Bruce ran around Gotham looking for clues that would bring him closer to The Riddler, he was also looking for you. He knew he fucked up with you, but maybe he can salvage this relationship...Or would you just end up as brainwashed as The Riddler?

While Batman chased his own tail, Edward kept with carrying his plan. Though you two were now unlikely lovers and not exactly in a relationship, he didn't share any of his plans with you. He didn't want you involved. But you very much were since you were now his fuck buddy.

You laid in an empty bed. You just woke up from an exciting night with The Riddler. You sat up and looked out the window, viewing the gloomy and depressing city below. You looked around the messy room, clearly Edward left for work.

Getting up out of his bed, you shuffle around the cold apartment. Making your way to the kitchen, you noticed a small note.

'Gone to work, have a good day love'

You smiled, placing the sticky note on his fridge. From the top of your brain, you had nothing to do today expect go to pay your respects to now deceased Don Mitchell Jr. Though you never liked him, you felt for his family. He left behind a wife and a son, you only could imagine how hard it is for them. You obviously know Edward caused this...Though you liked Edward...You could only imagine what he could do to you if you ever went back to Bruce...or even talked back to him once. Edward was more than capable to kill you and make an example out of you, and you knew he would if he didn't like what you were doing or saying.

As you dressed, you think about the previous night. How he touched you, how he fucked you...You blush as you dressed in your all-black attire. You check yourself in the bathroom before you exit his apartment and make your way to the church.

When you got the church, immediately the press took photos of you. How you showed up with Bruce, how you kept your head down as you walked pass...You knew they would make this funeral an article on how you're no longer going out or being seen with Bruce. As you walked through the door, all eyes were on you. But you only kept your eyes forward, seeing the large flower arrangements on both sides of the casket.

As you made your way, you saw Bruce being spoke to by the new Mayor, who won by default. Though he stayed silent, you could tell by his body language he did not want to be there or spoken to.

'He looks skinner...He isn't eating' you thought. He turned and noticed you, freezing at your presence. You also didn't know how to feel seeing him. He awkwardly pushes through people to get to you, making your mouth go dry with anxiousness.

"Hi..."

"Hello Bruce.."

Was that all you could muster up? After all this time that's all you could say? You nervously look up him. He looked depressed, he always looked that way but this time it was different. "Y/n...Could we talk after this...? I don't want you to run off..." he said quietly, just above a whisper.

"Fine, we can..." you said, struggling to make eye contact. "I got a video of you last night...A certain video of you with..." God he couldn't even finish that sentence. Your eyes grew in shock. Oh god, he sent that to him? Maybe because you were in a horny daze you couldn't process anything he was saying, you didn't know that he was going to send it to him.

"I don't know...how he got with you or got to you...But I need to make sure you're okay," he said, soon looking up to make eye contact with a young boy that was the mayor's son. As you spoke, he then turned to look up at the floor above him. Though he wanted to listen to you, something felt off. He saw a silhouette of a man..but who?

You notice him not paying attention, "Bruce, did you just hear anything I said,,?" you said quietly, but clearly annoyed. You noticed where his eyes were, so you follow...But see nothing. "Bruce, what's wrong?" You whispered again.

As the gospel music played, a crash was soon heard. A car managed to crash into the building. Everyone screamed and moved out the way. As you saw Bruce run to protect the child. You felt a presence snatch you from the back, place something large, cold, heavy, and metal around your neck. What the hell? As you tried to look down, your hands roaming what was just put on you, your eyes widen. There was a bomb now attached to you by the said metal device. Start to freak out, people that were around you now ran away from you as quickly as they can. As you scramble to look who was the culprit and who could help, your mind only went to one person...Edward. Only someone of his genius could make something like this.

You started to tear up, trying to get the device off of you. "Is this a fucking saw trap?!" You yelled, tears now flowing from your face. Was this how you were going to die? Was this your resting place?

Was everything with Edward a ploy for this exact moment?

As you cried, Bruce looked over at your now crying figure. He internally freaked out as he saw you crying. As everyone ran out, some staying to see what was in the car. A man soon stepped out with the same device around his neck, only he looked more beat up. he had a card stepped to his chest and a phone taped to his hand, an unknown number calling the phone. The man looked just as panicked as you did. Soon police escorted everyone out, leaving you and this man alone with a casket in an empty church.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You and the man sat there in silence for what seemed to be hours. You tried to hold back your tears, you felt so many emotions that you couldn't even let out. The police sent in a small device to keep an eye on both of you as police stood at the entrance, guns and shield held up.

The man who sat across from you stay silent, tape over his mouth that simply read "No more lies". To the police chiefs and investigators, they were confused on why you were brought into the situations. You never took up bribes, you never lied on your promises. Hell, you made everything better. Was he just using you as an example on no matter good or bad, the rich must be taken out? Or were you hiding something? Soon, the phone rang again...and again.

Out of the shadows, Batman came out and approached you both. You both felt relief, more of him than you. Bruce looked down at you, looking at your face stained with tears. Even with your tears, you still look at beautiful as the day he met you. Bruce wanted to caress your face, tell you it would be okay and bring you home. But he knew he couldn't.

He took the tape off the mans face, soon answering the phone. You heard the Riddler talking to Batman, heard him talking about chances and how he was never given one. But now Batman has a chance to make everything right. As he spoke to your husband, he then spoke to Colson about riddles and how they were his retreat.

"Now...place the phone to my sweet angel...Y/n.." he demanded, the man showing the screen to reveal your disheveled look. You could barely look up at the screen to face him...

He betrayed you, used you as a pawn to make a statement...

"My darling, loving, caring angel...You are always so kind. You never lie...yet here you are in this predicament. Now, my sweet...I want you to answer three riddles. Three riddles and I'll set you free. You have two minutes...Are you ready?" he asked, trying to come off as a sweet and caring guy.

You simply nodded, taking in a sharp breath as you hear the beeping of the bomb go off. You had to make this count, even though you knew Edward loved you...he wouldn't hold back.

"What can you break of mine even if you never pick it up or touch it?"

"Your heart..."

"Good job! Now...What can fill a room...but takes up no space?" he asked, almost seeming he was giving you easy ones on purposes. You knew deep down he didn't want you to die.

"..Love.." you answered, seeming more agitated at the fact of why you are here. He wanted to use you to make a statement. As you answered, Bruce felt his jaw clench. He knew the Riddler fucked you, even had feelings for you. But at this point he was openly flirting and professing his love to you right Infront of him. Bruce knows he messed up with you. But maybe this could bring you together once he saves you both.

"You're so good at this Y/n! And they say public schools doesn't teach people anything..." he joked, but you weren't having it. You were beyond pissed.

"Now, 1 minute and 1 more riddle...I can be offered. A very important part of a relationship, I survive when it is true. What am I?" he asked, this one crawling underneath your skin.

"Loyalty.." you said, clearly pissed off. You were loyal to Bruce, then he slept with his crime partner, Selina, behind your back...Then you gave it to Edward, who was now sitting here, asking you riddles while your life depends on it.

You knew nothing of true loyalty.

As he congratulated you, the contraption fell off. It was freeing. You shot up, your hands feeling your neck area. It was so light now...As you felt tears of happiness and fear come up, your instincts lead you to hug Bruce. As you cried, spewing nonsense of 'thank god' and 'holy shit', you held tightly onto Batman.

Bruce instantly held you back, rubbing your back as you cried into his chest. He didn't want to let you go, and you clearly weren't going to let go anytime soon. He viewed you neck, it was read and bloody from the metal rubbing against your neck all he could give you right now was a small "it's okay".

You heard Bruce help the man answer his tougher riddles. You saw as he tried denying taking brides. Bruce set you aside as he stepped closer to him. Your breath was short as you listened to the bomb tick more and more. Before you knew it, Bruce used his body as a human shield to block you from the explosion. Bruce took the brunt of the explosion for you, protecting your body. Was this way to say sorry?

As you groaned in pain, Bruce whispering in your ear

"It's okay baby, I'm here..."

"You're safe, I'll bring you home.."

All you could do was just listen, you felt so weak. Your eyes closed as police ran in, only hearing yelling for a few faint seconds but nothing.

[allfandomstan]

After Dark~(Batman x Vigilante Reader), Chapter 4.

Genre: Action, Mystery, Suspense, Noir, Crime.

Setting: Gotham City Hall from ‘The Batman’ 2022..

Warnings: Mentions of Violence, Swearing, Dark themes, descriptions of blood, Cynicism, Psychopathic themes.

Word Count: 1.9K

Hey its me back with another chapter to the series! Finally after an 8 months hiatus or so, I conjured up the will to publish this chapter I’ve been working on. It’s not much but just something to smoothly carry the series forward🫣..

And my apologies if I screw up the movie timeline in upcoming chapters!😫 it’s been a while since I revisited the movie as a whole so you might see some errors here and there🙃.

Hope you enjoy!

***

Here you were, back at in your apartment.. again. Millions of thoughts ran through your mind like a flowing river that won’t stop at any point unless an intentional obstruction to the constant flow of water was put in place. Like a dam of sorts. All you could think of was about the event that unfurled earlier. From your argument with Sam to meeting Bruce Wayne, for the first in your life. Although you weren’t much sure about it..

The way his gaze met yours resembled some kind of shocking recognition and truth. Those deep ocean eyes looked familiar as ever, but you couldn’t quite pin point where you saw them. Yet..

His expression changed from monotone to slightly ‘intrigued’ when he laid his eyes on you. You noticed him scanning your face for something, like trying to read you like an open book. But why?

‘Had he seen you somewhere before?’

It sure looked like he did.

‘But where?’

****

The final touch you needed was your dark crimson coloured lipstick and then you were ready to go. To the Mayor’s funeral to be exact..

Today was the day Mayor Don Mitchell Jr. would be laid to rest six feet under, and you won’t say he will be resting in peace. You don’t think he’ll be resting at all because of the way he was taken from this world.. Brutally hammered to the head by a madman.

In a way you felt bad for the deceased Mayor even though you knew he was a corrupt-to-the-core asshole, but at least he should’ve been given a not-so fucked up death.

He died absolutely humiliated. With the words ‘No more Lies’ written on his taped up head with his very own blood. Not only did the Riddler kill him in the most devastatingly gut-wrenching way, but also tried to expose his deep seated secrets… The ones he feared would soon come to get him. And get him it did..

Bats hadn’t contacted you at all for two days straight. Not that you minded, really. You figured he was just busy getting his knuckles bloody from beating up the average Gotham thug he crosses more than once in the night. The city was crawling with them, especially during the late hour. But not just that, He’s most probably working on the case involving riddler, of course. The average Gotham thug was nothing compared to the chaos Riddler would bring if he’s not taken care of.

You wondered if The Bat had a life beyond crime fighting. Well of course he did. He’s human too, after all..

‘Why the fuck do I even care?’

You snapped out of your daze and tried to focus on the task at hand.. The Mayor’s funeral. Sure enough, you had to be there. Incase something happens.. And you had a tad bit of a gut feeling, that it would. You supposed he might be there too. Watching in the shadows, hidden from view. Of course he wouldn’t miss such a vital event if it means catching Riddler. This could be his right time to strike and evoke chaos among citizens in that town hall. You’d just had to wait and see if you were right. But you hoped the fuck not.

You finally put your trench coat over your self and grabbed your bag which contained your keys, burner phone and of course, your blade. You just had with you whenever you went out. Just in case..

****

The streets surrounding the Gotham Town Hall were packed with eager citizens who wanted to catch a glimpse of their coffin-ridden Mayor one last time. The Press and media were there too, to report and keep updated the curious minds of people who couldn’t make it to the funeral. The crowd was large pushy and suffocating.

You tried to get to the front, pushing past the crowd of people. When you finally got to the front you let out a deep breath. You had to say you were surprised as to why you you weren't smothered to death but you were grateful to make it out of the restless crowd alive.

At your current position you had a clear view of the road and the front of the Town Hall. There you saw police officers, prestigious politicians and a bunch of celebrities standing around, waiting for the venue to open. But your eyes landed on one particular person..

Carmine Falcone.

At the sight of that man, your fists subconsciously clenched inside of your coat pockets.

'What was he doing here?'

Then it made sense. Since the late Mayor himself wasn't the sinless of people, of course it was expected of him to have ties with someone as notorious as Falcone.

As you were focusing in on the Mob Boss, you became distracted by the sudden yelling of the people around you.

"Oh my Lord! It's Bruce Wayne!!"

Your gaze immediately took itself off Falcone and focused on the new subject at hand.

And there he was, The Gotham Prince.

Clad in a dapper black, wool coat and sporting the typical rich-guy look, appeared Wayne from his black Corvette.

Hmm, expensive you had to say. But of course.

You refrained from subconsciously rolling your eyes at the display. Bastard, making poor people eat shit.

You watched as he gave his car keys to an officer so he could park it elsewhere, and then walking off to climb the steps leading to the entrance of the Town Hall. You noticed his slight heaviness in step and the light hunch of his shoulders. And shit the guy looked like he hasn't slept in ages..

He involuntarily talked to the people around him which included Cops, celebrities and the Mayor candidate herself, Bella Real.

You watched as his head slowly turned to acknowledge the ungodly Man standing behind him with a crooked smile etched onto his face. Bruce then too, reluctantly met his gaze and engaged in a not so jolly conversation. Falcone placed a hand on Wayne's shoulder and patted it a few times before returning to talk to his henchman, Penguin.

'The guest list is just fucking incredible', you thought.

First you had the displeasure of finding Carmine Falcone and now, Penguin.

You watched as Penguin laughed, flashing his crooked brown stained teeth at Falcone. You bet whatever the asshole said must have been very funny indeed.

You looked away, disgusted. Men like Penguin had no right to laugh when so many lives had been ruined because of their deeds. Men like Penguin had no right to even breathe.

You would take care of that, soon enough..

****

About 45 minutes had passed and you found yourself pushing past crowds again trying to get into the Town Hall. You somehow managed to get in, all in one piece and stood by the side of the Hall along with the many citizens who already got in before you. After a while, the officers cut off any more citizens trying to come in as it was getting suffocating with the amount of people already inside the buliding. After entrance doors were closed, a metal barrier was put in place to separate second citizens, standing at both sides of the building from the first class. And among the second class citizens were you, of course. And among the first class were Falcone, Penguin, Bella Real and Bruce Wayne.

You sighed at the unlawful segregation, but you came to accept it eventually.

After about fifteen minutes the loud chatter quite down as the speech began. Several people, mainly Mitchell's Family and some politicians came up to deliver their honary speeches to commemorate the life and apreciate the accomplishments and 'good work' of the late Mayor. You scoffed at this. ‘How naïve where these people?’ Believing blindly to whatever Mitchell did was correct and truely for the betterment of Gotham. You doubted the man gave a single shit about this City or it’s citizens. The continuous speeches went on and on and you found yourself zoning out, voices becoming muddled and vision unfocused. Your mind started racing with thoughts consisting of ‘other things’. You couldn’t help but reimagine your first interaction with Vengeance. The way he pushed you against the wall, your chest flush to his abdomen. The way he held his intense gaze on you for longer than you’d wanted.. The way the rough fabric of his glove came to rest on the tender flesh of your neck, bruising it lightly..

All of this reminiscing totally had you off guard. You noticed that things were different now. In that very moment, it felt different.. You suddenly noticed that everything was abruptly called to a halt. Time had entirely stopped for a moment or so. Silence.. Chaos hidden in the element, waiting to strike like a serpent. There was complete silence until..

“Everyone, get the fuck out!”

You heard a man shout, possibly an officer on patrol. Then it all began. You heard multiple screams from behind you and then it all turned to chaos. People started running one by one trying to get away from something coming through the front. You wondered what it was and pushed towards the frantic crowd and towards where you supposed the danger was coming from. And then you saw it. Suddenly a GCPD SUV crashed through the glass doors of the building and skidded towards the Mayor’s casket. It all happened so quick you thought it was all in your head. Only that it wasn’t, unfortunately. You took a quick look around and there you saw Bruce on the floor with the Mayor’s Son in his arms. The boy must’ve been in the car’s way, you thought. And Bruce must’ve ran to get him out of the way before he got hit. Your focus was glued on Bruce and the way he gently helped the boy get back on his feet and tenderly guided him back to his Mother, horror etched onto her worn out features. Before you knew it a hand wrapped around your forearm rather harshly. You whipped your head around to stare at your intruder in the eyes but was met with the ones of a worried-sick to the bone Cop’s. “Mam’ you need to get out of here”, he calmly said trying to keep his cool in spite of all the chaos. You just stared at the officer for a moment or so without emitting any words in his direction. You found your eyes wandering back to Bruce once more. He was also being held by the forearm and being escorted out by some officers trying to get him to leave before the situation gets worse. You noticed his frantic eyes searching the place for something, or more like someone.. And then those Ocean blue eyes you found so mesmerising just a day ago found your own. You almost wanted to look away out of embarrassment because he caught you staring. But you didn’t. You kept your eyes glued onto his and his to yours. You two held a moment of eye-contact before your attention snapped towards the cop shaking your forearm. “Mam’ we don’t have much time. You have to evacuate.. Now!”

You nodded your head hastily and followed him to the evacuation exit. You looked back one last time, trying to catch a glimpse of Bruce, but he was long gone..

***

[silentangel00]

The Batman

(Reader Insert)

Chapter 5: Answer the Call

Chapter 4: https://www.tumblr.com/silentangel00/732845264415719424/the-batman

Bruce approaches City Hall where the funeral is being held for the late mayor. He gazes at the street that's packed with mourners, makeshift memorials, and Riddler-styled protesters holding up signs. Pulling up in front of City Hall Bruce exits his car as a Valet opens his door. He is immediately met with Paparazzi shouting his name and cameras flashing. He tries to give them a strained smile but immediately turns and ignores them as he reaches for his wallet to pay the valet. A familiar voice catches his attention and he turns to see the Penguin opening a car door.

"We're good, Mr Falcone." Bruce turns upon hearing Falcone's name and watches as he exits his car. His attention is distracted briefly as the valet calls for him and he hands him a wad of cash and turns to move through the thick crowd, bottle-necking at the entrance of City Hall, not taking his eyes off of Falcone. He starts to get closer before a hand slaps into his chest stopping him.

"Hey! Give us a wide berth here would'ya, slick" Penguin warns as he grabs onto him. The commotion catches Falcone's attention and he turns to eye Bruce.

"Hey, watch it, fellas. You got the Prince of the city there." Penguin and the guards loosen their grip and Falcone steps closer to Bruce. "Some event huh? Brought out the one guy in the city more reclusive than me." He smiles as Bruce glares with an edge, a sense of history between them.

"I thought you never leave the Shoreline. Aren't you afraid someone'll take a shot at you?" It was difficult for Bruce to bite back his tone with the mobster.

"Why? Cause your father ain't around?" Falcone cockily retorts "Oz, you know Bruce Wayne?" The penguin looks at him in surprise.

"Wow... is that right?"

"His father saved my life. I got shot in the chest, right here. Couldn't go to no hospital, so we showed up on his doorstep. He took me in, and operated right on his dining room table, kid here saw the whole thing up on the stairs lookin down. I remember your face. You don't think that meant somethin he did that?"

"Means he took the Hippocratic Oath."

"Hippocratic Oath... that's good ..." Falcone says in clear amusement at the answer.

"Excuse me," Bruce says as he abruptly moves on, leaving as Falcone laughs at him. Bruce scans the crowd as he walks inside. He clocks rifled officers among spectators above, and cops stopping a suspicious guy in front of him. Announcements over the speaker ring out in the large space of people

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for coming to today's memorial for our beloved mayor, Don Mitchell, Jr. Our program will begin shortly. As a reminder, the family asks that those wishing to honor the mayor's memory consider a donation to the cause most dear to his heart, the Gotham RenewalFund, our city's safety net."

"What good's a safety net doesn't catch anybody?" Bruce turns to the owner of the eerie voice. A man in a hooded work jacket glares with bitter angry eyes as the VIPs pass. "Didn't help my daughter when she needed it -- I can tell you that. Guy was just another rich scumsucker. He got what he deserved." The man then looks up at Bruce "Know what I mean?" Bruce studies his face as he nods in silence. The man's expression changes as he tries to place Bruce "Hey, don't i know you?" The man is cut off as someone calls Bruce's name.

"Bruce Wayne! Why haven't you called me back?" Bruce is startled as he turns to see Bella Real coming towards him.

"I'm sorry?"

"I'm Bella Real -- I'm running for mayor -- I wouldn't be bothering you here, but your people keep telling me you're "unavailable". Will you walk with me?"

Bruce starts to walk with her as he turns back to the angry man before; He glares and turns to disappear into the crowd. Bruce wasn't paying much attention to what she was saying as he turned back toward her but immediately his attention was caught again. There you were talking to a couple of people off to the side. He stops and stares still not listening to Bella as she bluntly urges him to do more for the city. You look around curiously til your gaze lands on him and you do a sudden double-take as you both lock eyes. You turn to excuse yourself from the conversation and walk over to Bruce and Bella, almost cautiously as if you weren't sure if he was actually Bruce or not. It's been so long and he looks so different you don't want to embarrass yourself by calling a complete stranger the wrong name.

"Y/N! So good to see you again." Bella chimes at your approach.

"You as well, though I wish it was under better circumstances of course." You say as your attention flicks back and forth between her and studying Bruce's face. Bella immediately wipes her smile from her face taking on a gloomy demeanor.

"Of course, of course... Are we still on for lunch next week?"

"Yes ma'am!" You give a small smile.

"I'm going to go pay my respects." Bella turns to Bruce "Will you wait for me? I want to continue this." She then walks off to the front where the Mayor's wife and son are sitting.

"...Bruce," You say giving the same smile that makes his mind turn static.

"Y/N?" He almost forgot that he has to pretend that he didn't know you were back in Gotham. You chuckle nervously as you subtly look him up and down. He has a darkness about his eyes, seems like he hasn't slept in days or weeks. A slight stubble and a seemingly natural look of being miserable.

"Wow... you look-" Awful "Grown-up! ...It's been a while hasn't it?"

"Yeah, it has... When did you get back?"

"Just a few months ago. I tried reaching out to you I promise--- but it seems you changed your number so I stopped leaving messages." Bruce gave you an odd look then looked away.

"It hasn't changed..." He didn't want to lie to you, even though telling you that he just hasn't bothered to check his messages made him feel guilty, but he didn't want to shut you out. Not anymore... "I have a lot of messages to get through so it's nothing personal. I'm just--busy"

"Oh... no I understand!" Even though you smiled at him he could tell he hurt you.

"I could give you Alfred's number, I'm sure he'd love to hear from you." Your face brightened at the offer.

"Oh yes please!" You hand Bruce your phone for him to type in Alfred's number.

"What brings you to Gotham?" He was genuinely curious, he couldn't conversate with you like this as Batman. This was his only chance, even if there was awkward tension between you two with how things were left off ten years ago. You let out an exasperated sigh at the question as you turned and started slowly walking toward the front with Bruce.

"I'm taking over the Gotham branch of the family business" You rolled your eyes. "I'm also volunteering for the GCPD"

"Yeah? How's that going?"

"Well ya know with everything going on it's been kinda crazy for my first case. Haven't slept in almost 24 hours." You say with a humorless chuckle, Bruce looks at you incredulously.

"Well even with lack of rest you look..." Beautiful "Fine." He says as he awkwardly hands you back your phone, your hands brushing for just a second as you return your phone to your coat pocket.

"Ha, thanks... can't exactly say I feel fine though." Bruce stops to look at you noticing the weariness in your voice slip through. You avoid eye contact though looking toward the front at the late Mayors son. " I was there that night--- helped consult on the crime scene. His little boy still has the same look on his face that he did that night..." You say sullenly. Bruce watches along with you as the mayor's son turns around to look at the crowd, his eyes landing on you and Bruce. Bruce looks away to you about to say something when a familiar voice catches his attention.

"Excuse me, chief. Can I talk to you?" Bruce slowly turns to see Gordon behind them talking to the Chief of Police, Chief Bock, in a hushed voice. "Gil Colson is missing... He hasn't been heard from since last night."

"Christ, not again." Chief Bock says exasperated.

"I'm going to go ahead and pay my respects, I'll catch up with you later Bruce." You say walking away before Bruce can turn to say anything else, so he just nods to your retreating form. He bites down the disappointment of his conversation with you being cut short, he continues to listen to the conversation between Jim and Chief Bock.

"You got people looking for him, Jim?"

"Sent a couple guys to his house. Nothing."

"What'd his wife say?"

"She hadn't heard from him."

Suddenly they're cut off by the sounds of distant screams; an awful groaning engine whines from somewhere outside -- then -- sickening thuds. Bruce's eyes immediately flit up in alarm as he turns back to face the entrance, he takes in his surroundings as people start to stand from their seats upon hearing the same sounds. You turn your attention to the back as well, slowly you walk back towards the front opening of the aisle -- curiosity and fear set in as you hear the alarming noises. Bruce takes a quick glance back at you but then follows where your attention is brought up to the second story landing where spectators panic as they turn, seeing something through the windows; all except a silhouetted figure gazing eerily down in Bruce's direction... seemingly waiting for something as the sounds from outside get louder. Bruce shifted on his feet, his gut feeling leading his attention to land sharply right back at the entrance where the doors explode in a blizzard of glass and concrete.

As the D.A.'s SUV rips through the doors and crowd, flowers picked up in the grill of the car, pandemonium ensues as the crowd scatters in panicked screams; some people are tossed into the air. You stumble back in surprise and are quickly knocked off your feet by someone in complete panic. The vehicle slams past guardrails and into the seated area. Bruce spins to see you only a few feet away, disoriented as you get back up on your feet again. He breaks into a sprint and hurls himself at you tackling you out of the SUV's path as it roars past, narrowly missing you as it launches seats over your heads. The car finally crashes into the central staircase, buckling upward with the engine still grinding till it stops...

A surreal moment of quiet then screams, tears, and panic. Bruce lifts his head off of yours as he holds the back of your head and quickly analyzes your face, making sure you're alright. He looks up to the second floor to discover the mysterious figure from before is gone -- Bruce rises with you still in his arms. He's holding tightly onto your elbows to keep you stable as you sway from the sudden rush of adrenaline going to your head.

"Are you ok?" You ask as you look up at him, but his attention is turned towards the SUV -- it's covered in a scrawled crossword puzzle pattern with the endlessly repeating message ‘D.A. -- D.O.A?’

Gordon and a bunch of cops surround the SUV with their guns raised screaming for whoever was inside the car to get out with their hands up. Bruce and you watch with bated breath as the driver door slowly opens all the way, a figure staggering out, hands raised, terrified...

"Christ, it's Colson." Gordon says in shock as he observes the D.A. with a bloody face and tape over his mouth with the words ‘NO MORE LIES’. A clamp is around his neck with lights rapidly flashing on it. A cop notices, horrified, and screams "There's a bomb around his neck!!" People start to scream and duck at this warning. Bruce pulls you in closer without breaking his stare away from the D.A. as a ringing goes off causing everyone to freak out and shield themselves further. The crowd looks up confused as Colson sheepishly lifts his hand and points to a cell phone taped to his palm. As it continues to ring Gordon turns, calling into the room of terrified people.

"Let's clear this place out! Now!"

Police start ushering people out but Bruce hesitates, chilled as he notices a greeting card taped to Colson's chest.

"Bruce we need to go." You say as you try to back out of his grasp to retreat with the crowd, but instead, his grip on your arms tightens. You look up at him curiously as you notice the intensity of his stare on the D.A. You reach up your hand and lightly tap his chest, "Bruce?" you call out softly. This finally gets his attention as he turns to you. "Let's go, yeah?" He silently nods and wraps an arm around your shoulder as he protectively escorts you out, glancing one last time over his shoulder at the greeting card taped to the D.A. -- addressed: "To The Batman."

As Bruce and you reach outside of the building he puts his hands on your shoulders and leans in to make sure you hear him over the commotion. "I've gotta go. Stay safe, ok?"

"Of course, you too." You watch as he walks away, and you turn in the opposite direction to go and find Gordon. Once Bruce reaches his car he leans into the trunk seizing an expensive leather duffle and slams the trunk closed. He disappears into the crowd as a flood of emergency vehicles screech onto the scene.

A short time later the outside of Gotham City Hall is jammed with police, SWAT, ATF, K9 units, and News crews. Gordon and you stand outside a Crisis Command Trailer where techs set up monitors as the leads argue.

"Unbelievable..." Gordon whispers out incredulously.

"Are they seriously fightin' over jurisdiction when that poor bastard is gonna blow any minute?" You say equally as appalled. Only a short while later the police send in a small whirring police robot. It rolls toward Colson as he sits alone, the cell phone in his hand echoing as it keeps ringing. Gil lifts his head as the robot stops before him, he stares oddly at it as a camera slowly extends towards his head.

"We got a picture!" One of the Techs yells out. Everyone suddenly quiets as they crowd around to see Colson just staring sadly into the robot camera. His expression changes when he suddenly turns, struck -- shock begins to fill his eyes.

"What's he lookin at?" Chief Bock questions. Colson sits there frozen as Batman emerges from the shadows, moving slowly across the floor toward him. Chief Bock's eyes widen as Batman appears on the robot's cameras, "Are you kiddin me?! What the hells he doin'?! ... Gordon!!!"

Gordon presses closer along with you to see Batman approaching Gil.

"Your guy's gonna get himself killed in there!"

Your jaw slightly drops as you watch with growing concern. Batman stops, towering over Gil, and reaches out to peel the tape off his mouth. Colson takes a deep breath "Please, he made me do it! I'm so sorry! ... He told me if I didn't do exactly what he said, he'd kill me. I'm so sorry!"

"Looks like a combination lock," Batman says as he studies the contraption around Colson's neck.

"Can't we just cut it off?" Colson whimpers out.

"Not if you want to keep your head." Batman then rips the card off of Gil's chest. On the cover is a cartoon of a lady holding a comically large old phone with the words 'In these trying times, Never forget...' Batman opens it, 'I'm just a phone call away.' -- under that in angry scrawl is the word 'ANSWER'. Gil lifts the ringing phone expectantly as Batman reaches to press the answer button. The phone's screen displays a live split-screen image of the riddler lurking out of frame on one side, and Batman on the other. Riddler stares for a beat before his chilling voice comes calmly through the changer.

"You came..."

"Who are you?"

"Me? I'm nobody... I'm just an instrument here to unmask the truth about this cesspool we call a city."

"Unmask?"

"Yes... let's do it together ok? I've been trying to reach you... You're part of this too"

"How am I a part of this?"

" You'll see..." Riddler says as he shifts to stand fully within frame. A police officer calls out to Chief Bock to come take a look at another monitor they have set up. GC1 news channel is running the feed from the Riddler's phone, broadcasting live through social media.

"Say hello to my followers, we're live! -- They're here to watch our little trial. At the moment, the man across from you, Mr Colson, is dead!"

Colson starts to panic upon hearing this, "Jesus, can we get somebody out here?! This psycho's gonna kill me!"

"SHUT UP!!" Riddler rises from his chair and presses in closer to the phone camera in anger as he screams with a scarily distorted voice " You deserve to be dead after what you did! You hear me?!!" The terrifying outburst makes Gil fall silent -- Riddler starts to eerily chuckle. " I'm giving you a chance -- No one ever gave me a chance." The Riddler has returned to an oddly calm demeanor as he continues, "Now... ever since I was a child, I've always loved puzzles... for me, they're a retreat from the horrors of our world. Maybe they can bring some comfort to you too, Mr Colson."

Colson turns the phone away from Batman and towards himself to face Riddler through the screen, "You want me to do puzzles?"

"Yes! Three riddles in two minutes! You give me the answers, and I'll give you the code for the lock! Do you understand?"

"Yeah, ok-" Gil rises from his seat and starts to pace " So you just want me to-" Before he can finish his question Gil shrieks as the countdown appears on his collar for two minutes and the Riddler starts without warning.

"Riddle number one! It can be cruel, poetic, or blind but when it's denied, it's violence you may find."

"Wait! Can you repeat that? I didn't -- I didn't -- Cruel... poetic?"

"Justice," Batman chimes.

"Huh?" Gil spins to look at Batman to panicked to think straight.

"The answers Justice."

Gil looks at the phone, "Justice?"

"Yes! Justice! And you were supposed to be an arm of justice in this city, along with the late mayor and police commissioner, were you not, Mr Colson?"

"Of course, of course, of course--"

"Riddle number two!" Riddler continues as you still watch on the screen connected to the police robot, biting your nails in anxiousness. " If you are justice, please do not lie. What is the price for your blind eye?"

Gil shakes his head in confusion "Price?"

"Bribes." You say out loud in frustration. Batman turns to the robot slightly as Colson struggles to keep his breath, hyperventilating as he repeats what you say to the Riddler.

"Oh God -- Bribes?"

Your brows furrow in confusion and you look to Gordon as you whisper " Can they hear me through that thing?" Gordon stiffly looks at you and nods as heat rises to your ears in embarrassment.

"He's asking how much it costs for you to turn your back." Batman corrects. Colson cries in exasperation.

"You gotta be kidding me!"

"Fifty-eight seconds!" Riddler interjects.

"How much?" Batman calmly pushes for the answer.

"Nothing!" Colson shakes his head in denial but Batman knows better.

"How much?!" He raises his voice pushing harder for Colson to answer. There's no time to waste.

"Ten grand!" Colson finally breaks. " Ten G's a month! I get a monthly payment just not to prosecute certain cases."

"What cases?"

"He didn't ask me that! Come on!" Colson holds up the phone to answer Riddler " Ten grand! That's my answer, it's ten grand!"

Riddler is obviously having a fun time of this as he giggles, " Okay, okay! Don't lose your head, Mr. Colson! Just one more to go before your time runs out. Last riddle!" He sings out, " Since your justice is so select, please tell us which vermin you're paid to protect..."

"Which vermin?"

"The Rat," Batman answers immediately knowing what this means, " The informant you all protect from the Salvatore Maroni case."

"How do you know about that?" Gil whispers out in shock.

"I'm trying to help you, what's his name?"

"Twenty seconds!" Riddler chimes excitedly.

Gil shakes his head, "No."

Batman steps closer urgently, grabbing Colson, "He's gonna kill you."

"I'm a dead man either way. You're talking to a dead man, okay?! If I go out this way it's just me, but if I give over that name, I have family, people I love -- He'll kill them too!"

"Who will?!"

"People are watching..." Colson whispers out.

"What people?!" Batman shakes him, trying to get something, anything, out of Colson.

"It's so much bigger than you could imagine. It's the whole system!"

Riddler starts to count down from five.

Colson cries-- "FOUR"

"Oh, God, have mercy on me.." "THREE"

Batman looks down in alarm as the timer ticks to zero hearing the Riddler sing out " Goooooodbye!"

Batman turns, shielding his face, as a blast erupts from the bomb around Colson's neck. Propelling Batman back as he slams to the ground, sliding into chairs, as his suit is in flames. Spectators from outside all erupt into rising voices of concern. Your hand slaps to your mouth, muffling a cry of surprise. High-pitched ringing fills Batman's ears as he lies on the floor in a daze. He struggles to open his eyes but can make out the forms of Gordon and you rushing toward him; followed by other cops with their guns drawn. His vision blurs as distorted yelling from the cops all around him fades and he blacks out.

Chapter6: https://www.tumblr.com/silentangel00/738078418748489728/the-batman

[dickfuckk]

A list of season 2 cast and crew members, confirmed and speculated

I will try and keep this updated

Not counting the obvious ones

Please note that this is a list of both cast and crew members, so PAs and such are also included and not just actors

Also if you're interested: on my bts instagram I only follow people who have worked on season 1, and people I suspect worked on season 2. So feel free to go through the list of people I follow if you're into that

A

Aaron Morton (Camera) - he’s listed on the very last picture as the camera-man

Adam Stein(Writer)

Alan F. (English solider)

Alexandria S.

Alison Telford (Casting)

Alistair Gregory - from this tweet so uncertain, but followed me back on my bts instagram account so seems to have some interest in ofmd

Amy Barber (Sound department)

Amy Tunnicliffe

Amanda Grace Leo

Amanda M. (Wedding guest)

Andrea Basile (Costume)

Andres Gomez Zamora (Visual effects)

Andrew DeYoung (Director) - I don’t remember if there was any other reason than the fact that he was in Aotearoa during filming

Andy McLaren (senior art director)

Andy Rydzewksi (Cinematographer)

Angelina Faulkner (Sound department)

B

Blair Nicholson (Camera)

Blair Teesdale (Camera)

Brad Coleman (Visual effects)

Brad McLeod (Special effects)

Brian Badie (Hairstylist)

Bronson Pinchot (“Torturer”)

Bryn Seager - I don’t remember why but I follow him

Bryony Matthew (Food stylist)

C

Caleb Staines (Camera)

Chantel Partamian (Visual effects)

Colin Elms (Art department)

Colin Rogers (Sound department)

Cora Montalban (Makeup and/or hairstylist) - I believe she was tagged in an instagram story once, and she’s followed by a ton of cast and crew members

Corrin Ellingford (Sound department)

Corey Moana (Camera)

Corry Greig (Art department)

Coti Herrera (Prosthetics/Makeup)

D

Damian Del Borrello (Sound department)

Daniel Fernandez (Spanish priest)

Danica Duan (Assistan accountant)

David Boden (production manager)

David G. (Stand in)

David Rowell (Financial controller)

David Van Dyke (Visual effects)

Dennis Bailey (Hairstylist)- Leslie revealed that he’s there.

Dion Anderson (Rescue diver)

Don A. (Swampy Town folk)

Donna Pearman (Assistant accountant)

Donna Marinkovich (set decorator)

Doug McFarlene (Pirate)

Duncan Nairn (Visual effects)

E

Eliza Cossio (Writer)

Erroll Shand (Prince Ricky)

Esther Mitchell (Camera)

F

Fernando Frias (Director)

G

Gareth Van Niekerk (Sound department)

Gary Archer (dental prosthetics)

Gemma Campbell (Visual effects)

Grant Lobban

Greg Sager (Safety manager)

Gregor Harris (Camera)

Gregory J. Pawlik Jr. (AD)

Gypsy Taylor (Costume designer)

H

Haroun Barazanchi (Set designer)

Harry Ashby (AD)

Helene Wong (Voice work)

I-J

Jacob Tomuri (Stunts)

Jaden McLeod

James Crosthwaite (Set decorator)

Jamie Couper (Camera)

Jason Samoa, possibly spotted on location

Jemaine Clement, pretty sure this is only based on his friendship with Rhys and Taika tbh

Jes Tom (Writer)

Jessica Lee Hunt (Makeup artist) - followed by a ton of crew and cast members and I believe she’s been tagged in instagram stories and such

John Mahone (Writer)

Jonathan Bruce (Sound department)

Jono Capel-Baker (Groom)

Jonno Roberts didn’t get the role from his audition, but could still have gotten a different role - hung out with Ruibo

Judah Getz (Sound department)

Julia Huberman (Sound department)

Julia Thompson (Costume)

Justin Benn (Republic of Pirates Town)

K

Karl L. (Action extra)

Kate Fu

Kate Leonard (Casting)

Kathleen Zyka Smith (“Red Flag”)

Kosuke Iijima (Fabricator/Sculptor?) - due to interaction on this post

Kris Gillan (Fabricator/Sculptor)

Kura Forrester - followed by quite a few cast and crew members, but I don’t remember if there was anything else to it

L

Laura Stables (SFX makeup artist)

Leanne Evans (Art department)

Lee Tuson

Leslie Jones (Spanish Jackie) - she’s spoiled this so many times, but gjfhdks

Leyla - followed by a lot of cast and crew members, don’t remember if there was more to it than that

Lindsey Cantrell (Set decorator)

Louis Flavell Birch (Blue coat)

Luke V. (Stand in)

[ometochtli2rabbit]

13.0.12.6.16

jun [1] KIB/AJMAQ [wisdom] - b'olonlajun[19] K'AYAB

galactic tone: unity

sun sign: WISDOM| vulture or bee/yellow or blue/south

sit on a rock - MAYA

ce[1] - COZCACUAUHTLI [vulture]

Xiuhtecuhtli | Itzpapalotl

xiuhuitzilin | day for tricking the Trickster

lord of the night: Tlazolteotl

trecena [1-COZCACUAUHTLI]: Xolotl - SOUTH

x: mahtlactli-onei[13]- hueiculhuitl - NAHUA

"The Old Maids", Leonora Carrington ,1947

The thirteen day period (trecena) that starts with day 1-Cozcacuauhtli (Vulture) is ruled by Xolotl. This trecena signifies the wisdom and freedom of old age; it represents the path of the setting sun. While the way of the warrior points to the relationship between predator and prey, this sign points to to the Third Way, which is neither: these are 13 days set aside to perfect the Way of the Scavenger. While the young heart must strategize between offense and defense, the old heart float like the clouds, stooping to earth only to take what no one else wants. These are good days for disengaging; bad days for participating.- www.azteccalendar.com

We enter a new trecena [13 day period] which has to do with aging and acquiring wisdom and freedom, of which we all could use a little more. Here are some songs that feature the word OLD:

Dolly Parton& Kenny Rogers: You Can't Make Old Friends [RIP]

Billie Eilish: Getting Older

Bob Seger: Old Time Rock & Roll

boygenius: Letter to an Old Poet

Dan Fogelberg: Same Old Lang Syne

Crystal Gayle: Your Old Cold Shoulder

Arctic Monkeys: Old Yellow Bricks

Mitski: Old Friend

Tame Impala: New Person, Same Old Mistakes

John Fogerty: The Old Man Down the Road

Nicki Minaj: Dear Old Nicki

The Bellamy Brothers: Old Hippie

Wu Wu-Tang Clan: Older Gods

Regina Spektor: Modern Girls and Old-Fashioned Men

The Mountain Goats: Old College Try

The Highwomen: Old Soul

Hank Williams, Jr.: Old Habits

Olivia Rodrigo: Out of the Old

Father John Misty: So I'm Growing Old on Magic Mountain

ABBA: The Way Old Friends Do

Three Dog Night: An Old-Fashioned Love Song

Demi Lovato: Old Ways

The Raconteurs: Old Enough

Neil Young: Old Man

Carpenters: Those Good Old Dreams

Don Williams: Old Coyote Town

Joni Mitchell: My Old Man

Steely Dan: My Old School

The Pogues: Dirty Old Town

Chicago: Old Days

Mick Jagger: Old Habits Die Hard

Aerosmith: Same Old Song and Dance

Judas Priest: You Don't Have to be Old to be Wise

The Smiths: Back to the Old House

The Isley Brothers: This Old Heart of Mine

Roxy Music: Same Old Scene

Charley Pride: She's Just an Old Love Turned Memory

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: This Old Town

Queen: Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy

The Four Tops: It's the Same Old Song

John Lennon: Grow Old with Me

Johnny Cash & June Carter: Old Time Feeling

Pink Floyd: Fat Old Sun

Depeche Mode: Stories of Old

Lana Del Rey: Old Money

Nirvana: Come As You Are & Old Age

Snotty Nose Rez Kids: The Warriors

David Bowie: Rebel Never Gets Old

Joan Baez: The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

The Beatles: Mean Mr. Mustard & Rock and Roll Music & Old Brown Shoe

Muddy Waters: She's 19 Years Old

Fats Domino: Old Man Trouble

Dionne Warwick: Feeling Old Feelings

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Reflections

by creepy_shetan While the city is learning to trust the Batman, Bruce is having trouble with being thanked. Set soon after The Batman. (Originally posted here as a fill for a bingo card prompt.) Words: 460, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: The Batman (Movie 2022), Batman - All Media Types Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: Gen Characters: Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth Relationships: Alfred Pennyworth & Bruce Wayne, Don Mitchell Jr.'s Wife & Bruce Wayne, Don Mitchell Jr.'s Son & Bruce Wayne, Dory (The Batman Movie 2022) & Alfred Pennyworth & Bruce Wayne Additional Tags: Community: genprompt_bingo, Between Canon, Between Movies, Family, Trauma, Coping, Dessert & Sweets, Stress Baking, Gestures of Gratitude, there are good socialites in Gotham besides Bruce (if only they had names) via https://ift.tt/6quitTR

[stenka-razin]

in 2023 I watched some movies

I was gonna catch up on all those best picture nominees from the last 5 years, but watched crap like Caligula 2 instead

The 1989 World Tour - Live (2015, dir. Jonas Åkerlund) Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022, dir. Rian Johnson) Flight 666 (2008, dir. Scot McFayden and Sam Dunn) Dracula (1931, dir. Todd Browning) Moonraker (1979, dir. Lewis Gilbert) The Pez Outlaw (2022, dir. Bryan Storkel and Amy Bandlien Storkel) Encino Man (1992, dir. Les Mayfield) Star Trek: Insurrection (1998, dir. Jonathan Frakes) Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood (2019, dir. Quentin Tarantino) Cleopatra (1963, dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz) The Alligator People (1959, dir. Roy Del Ruth) The Silence of the Lambs (1991, dir. Thomas Demme) Godzilla vs. Megalon (“ゴジラ対メガロ” 1973, dir. Jun Fukuda) Invasion of Astro-Monster (“怪獣大戦争” 1965, dir. Ishirō Honda) Breaking a Monster (2015, dir. Luke Meyer) Terror at Orgy Castle (1971, dir. Zoltan G. Spencer) Wake in Fright ("Outback" 1971, dir. Ted Kotcheff) m.A.A.d. (2014, dir. Khalil Joseph) Reservoir Dogs (1992, dir. Quentin Tarantino) Kung Pow! Enter the Fist (2002, dir. Steve Oedekerk) House (1977, dir. Nobuhiko Obayashi) Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981, dir. Steven Spielberg) Dunkirk (2017, dir. Christopher Nolan) Final Destination (2000, dir. James Wong) Glitch: The Rise & Fall of HQ Trivia (2023, dir. Salima Koroma) Basic Instinct (1992, dir. Paul Verhoeven) Pee Wee’s Big Adventure (1985, dir. Tim Burton) Caligula 2: The Untold Story (“Caligola: La storia mai raccontata” 1982, dir. Joe D’Amato) La noche del terror ciego (1972, dir. Amando de Ossorio) Rocky IV (1985, dir. Sylvester Stallone) Saw IV (2007, dir. Darren Lynn Bousman) House of Wax (1953, dir. Andre DeToth) Thir13en Ghosts (2001, dir. Steve Beck) Kashchey the Immortal (“Кащей Бессмертный” 1944, dir. Aleksandr Rou) Ghost Ship (2002, dir. Steve Beck) The Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971, dir. Piers Haggard) The Face of Fu Manchu (1965, dir. Don Sharp) The Brides of Fu Manchu (1966, dir. Don Sharp) The Vengeance of Fu Manchu (1967, dir. Jeremy Summers) The Blood of Fu Manchu (1968, dir. Jesús Franco) April Fool's Day (1986, dir. Fred Walton) It's Pat 1994, dir. Adam Bernstein) The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969, dir. Jesús Franco) Adam and Eve Meet the Cannibals ("Adam ed Eve, la prima storia d'amore" 1983, dir. Enzo Doria & Luigi Rosso) The Mountain of the Cannibal God (“La montagna del dio cannibale” 1978, dir. Sergio Martino) When Harry Met Sally… (1989, dir. Rob Reiner) Beetlejuice (1988, dir. Tim Burton) Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (2001, dir. Peter Jackson, Long as Shit Version) The Hobbit (1977, dir. Arthur Rankin Jr. & Jules Bass) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920, dir. Robert Wiene) The Wicker Man (1973, dir. Robin Hardy) The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974, dir. Tobe Hooper) House of 1000 Corpses (2003, dir. Rob Zombie) Chopping Mall (1986, dir. Jim Wynorski) Basket Case (1982, dir. Frank Henenlotter) Cube (1997, dir. Vincenzo Natali) Cube 2: Hypercube (2002, dir. Andrzej Sekula) Practical Magic (1998, dir. Griffin Dunne) Tropic Thunder (2008, dir. Ben Stiller) Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015, dir. J.J. Abrams) Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017, dir. Rian Johnson) Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019, dir. J.J. Abrams) Eyes Wide Shut (1999, dir. Stanley Kubrick) Superbad (2007, dir. Greg Mottola) Bruce Almighty (2003, dir. Tom Shadyac) House of Flying Daggers (“十面埋伏” 2004, dir. Zhang Yimou) Saltburn (2023, dir. Emerald Fennell) Grandma’s Boy (2006, dir. Nicholaus Goossen) Five Nights at Freddy's (2023, dir. Emma Tammi) Caligula and Messalina (“Caligula et Messaline” 1981, dir. Bruno Mattei) The Wizard of Oz (1939, dir. Victor Fleming, King Vidor, George Cukor, and Norman Taurog) A Christmas Prince (2017, dir. Alex Zamm) A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding (2018, dir. John Schulz) The Knight Before Christmas (2019, dir. Monika Mitchell) Goldfinger (1964, dir. Guy Hamilton) Total Recall (1990, dir. Paul Verhoeven)

[the-fiction-witch]

Let The World The Burn Chapter Six - Ten

Chapters One - Five

Chapter Six - Gotham Prep

The relentless rain pounded against the expansive property. Majestic tall red gates, their paint slightly chipped from years of exposure to the elements, framed the numerous fields, sports setups, and neatly arranged concrete yards that sprawled across the landscape. At the heart of the property stood a grand brown building, its walls adorned with an array of windows that reflected the gloomy overcast sky. A prominent clock tower loomed above, its hands at twenty-to-nine.

Throngs of young students surged through the gates, their laughter and chatter rose above the cacophony of raindrops. The air was thick with the energy of anticipation and camaraderie, as voices mingled and made a rich tapestry of shuffling footsteps and spirited conversations.

Luka stood slightly down the street, so as to not be in the way of those who headed in. His uniform consisted of black shined shoes with red laces, red trousers, a crisp white shirt, a black tie with raised red stripes and a black blazer with the 'Gotham Prep' logo embroidered to the breast pocket. He had his leather messenger bag across his shoulder and stuck his black earphones under his shirt and around the back of his ear, his phone in his hand as he texted with Rose.

He and Rose had texted back and forth since they had met. They'd barely even spent a moment separated from their phones.

Luka had promised Rose that he'd help her out and stay by her side the first week. So he waited for her to arrive, his eyes flicked between his phone and the road.

Soon enough a small blue car pulled up and dropped Rose off,

Rose hurried onto the pavement, she wore her own black shoes with red laces, black tights and red knee-high socks, a black skirt with a single red stripe around the hem, a crisp white shirt, a black tie with raised red stripes and a black blazer with the 'Gotham Prep' logo embroidered to the breast pocket. She wore the same red breton hat she had last time Luka saw her, and a little red backpack on her back.

The moment she came into view, Luka began to smile.

"Hi," she waved,

"Hey," Luka greeted,

Rose hurried over but stopped just short of Luka's personal space.

"So? Are you ready for your first day?"

"I think so," she nodded,

"Alright, come on." he tipped his head towards the gates, so the two began to walk side by side and joined the crowd. "Oh! Where's your phone?"

"My pocket,"

"I'd put it in your backpack, at least till you're used to the uniform." he suggested, "It's purposely shallow pockets so you can't hide anything."

"Sneaky,"

"It is, and if they spot your phone they'll take it." He nodded, "Three times they'll keep it overnight."

"Understood," She nodded, pulled her backpack off and quickly hid her phone inside, "Why do we still have to wear this uniform anyway?"

"Headmaster has this thing about conformity, I swear the guy thinks he's running a military camp or a cult." Luka joked,

Rose laughed,

"Everyone has to wear it, pre-school littles all the way up to us seniors, and even post-grads."

"Oh..."

"Yeah, even the teachers kinda have a uniform."

"How strange,"

"Wasn't like this at your old place?"

"No, we all wore our own clothes. All year groups did."

"Lucky," he smiled, "You- You uhh, do look nice though,"

"Aww, thank you." She blushed,

They made their way up the steps and inside the main school building,

"Anything else I need to know?" she asked,

"Keep your head down, and you'll be fine." He told her, "Gotham Prep isn't too bad, you'll just find everyone is kinda a pric-"

"Mr Mitchell." The booming and yet still vile voice of Professor Cuvier broke through Luka's words.

Professor Cuvier emerged from the shadows of the adjoining corridor, the tall man loomed over Luka and Rose in his black suit and red tie.

"Sir." Luka sighed,

"No, no, do continue Mr Mitchell. Grace us with your opinions of our school."

Luka did not answer, he knew he was in enough trouble already,

"That's what I thought," he nodded, "Headphones, and whatever it is they are attached to." He opened his hand expectantly,

Luka rolled his eyes, handed over his music player and pulled the headphones out from his shirt before he handed them over too.

"Thank you." Professor Cuvier wickedly smiled, "And you, Miss?"

"Rose Asher, Sir." Rose nodded,

"Ahh yes, our newbie." He sighed, "Hats are against our dress code, remove it at once."

"Oh- Sorry, sir." Rose slowly pulled her hat from her head and held it sheepishly in her hands, Her long black curls fell around her shoulders,

Luka couldn't hold back a small smile, he'd only ever seen her with her hat. And he immediately rather liked her hair down.

"Do you have a hair tie, Miss Asher?" He glared,

Rose nodded, she pulled a red ribbon from her back and pulled her hair up into a ponytail,

"Ensure this doesn't happen again,"

"Yes sir,"

"Good, come with me to the office. We'll set you up with your supplies and arrange a fellow student for you to shadow."

"Oh- Actually," Rose said, "L- Mr Mitchell already offered to assist me this first week."

"Did he?" He glared at Luka,

"I did sir," Luka nodded,

"Humm-" Professor Cuvier scoffed, "I would recommend selecting a more... academically focused student to shadow Miss Asher. Good to begin as you mean to go on."

Luka bit his bottom lip and glared daggers into Professor Cuvier's eyes.

"With all due respect Professor Cuvier, I would prefer to shadow someone I trust. And that would be Mr Mitchell." Rose smiled,

"Very well." He snapped, "Come." He turned on his heels and began to walk to the office,

"Thanks," Luka whispered as they followed,

"You're welcome," she smiled, as she fixed a strand of her hair behind her ear. 

Chapter Seven - Roast Quail

Luka pushed open the front door with a slight shove, the creak of the hinges echoed in the stillness of the late afternoon. He kicked the door closed behind him with a soft thud. After he tossed his messenger bag onto the staircase, the fabric hit the steps with a gentle plop, he made his way into the busy kitchen.

As he leaned against the doorframe, the warm, savoury scents enveloped him. His mother, Julliet, was the centre of the action. Stood at the kitchen island, her hair was meticulously styled, cascaded in soft waves, and her make-up was fresh and vibrant. She wore her tall heels and her body was elegantly encased in a blue sparkly dress that shimmered subtly under the kitchen lights. A yellow apron, slightly askew from her hurried movements, was tied around her waist.

In front of her, a large, stainless steel bowl rested precariously on the countertop. Julliet gripped a wooden spoon, her brow furrowed in concentration as she attempted to mash the steaming potatoes within.

Luka watched for a moment, a smile crept onto his face at the sight of his mother. "Hey..."

"Ahh! Hello, Luka darling!" she greeted,

"What uhh... what's going on here?" Luka raised an eyebrow,

"I'm making dinner, Roast quail and trimmings."

"... Mom, I haven't seen you cook since I was twelve." Luka narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"Yes, well..." she trailed off, "It's about time I did."

"Don't you have a date with Steven tonight?"

"No, I just want to spend time at home with my darling boy,"

"Okay..."

"So, how about you go put on your nice clothes and set the table for dinner."

"I just got back from classes, why do I need to be in my nice clothes to have dinner?" Luka asked as his suspicion grew,

"It's fun to dress up, and we're using the dining room today might as well make the most of it." she smiled,

"The dining room?" He questioned,

"Yes, we're having a nice big dinner, wearing our best, and using the dining room. Won't it be lovely Darling?"

Suddenly it all clicked in his mind, "Mom?"

"Yes, Luka?"

"Who's coming to dinner?" He glared at her to ensure she couldn't avoid his question,

"Why would anyone be coming to dinner?" She laughed unconvincingly, unable to meet his eyes,

"Who is it?" He pushed the matter,

"Alright." She gave in, "Steven is coming to dinner."

"Lovely, Have fun," he told her before he headed for the door,

"No, no." She stopped him, "All of us."

"Seriously, I'll eat later. Or go out-"

"Luka." She stopped, "Steven is a part of my life now, and he wants to meet you. I want my two favourite boys to spend dinner with me." She smiled as she took his hands,

Luka rolled his eyes, "Fine." he accepted begrudgingly,

"Thank you," she smiled, "Nice clothes, Please."

"Alright," he nodded,

Luka grabbed his bag and ascended the staircase to his bedroom, the familiar creak of the floorboards beneath his feet echoed softly in the quiet house. Once inside, he tossed his backpack onto the bed, where it landed with a soft thud against the neatly made covers. He swiftly changed into a crisp grey shirt and his dark jeans. After a glance in the mirror, he gave himself a generous spray of deodorant, followed by a few spritzes of his cheaper cologne.

He made his way back down the stairs, to the dining room. As he entered, he found his mother, Julliet, meticulously positioned the dining table settings. The table was adorned beautifully, with elegant settings for each place, delicate flowers in a vase at the centre, and an array of dishes artfully displayed, all ready for the evening's meal.

"Am I acceptable?" He asked,

"Of course, you are my darling." she cooed, as she rested her hands on his shoulders, "You look very handsome." she kissed his cheek,

"Mom," he complained before he hastily wiped it away.

The doorbell then rang and Julliet rushed to the door, Luka sighed.

Before long, she reappeared, her arm elegantly linked with that of a tall and slender gentleman. He had thinning blonde hair that caught the light in a soft sheen. Dressed in a crisp light yellow shirt that contrasted with his black trousers. In his other hand, he held a bottle of wine,

"Luka Darling, This is my boyfriend." Julliet introduced,

"Well hiya sport," He greeted, "Steven Franklin, Pleasure to meet you." he offered his hand,

"Hi." Luka forced a pleasant smile and shook the man's hand a little firmer than he first intended,

"Whoa- quite the grip there!" Steven Laughed,

"Yeah, sorry." he shrugged,

"Jul- Your mother has told me so much about you."

"Yeah, great..."

"Well, let's open up our wine." Julliet smiled,

The three took their seats at the table and Julliet built them each a plate full of food,

"Thank you beautiful," Steven smiled blowing her a kiss as he took his plate,

Luka thought back the urge to roll his eyes, as he took his own plate. "Thanks, Mom."

The meal was silent but the clacks of cutlery against plates, and the gentle coo's between Steven and Julliet. Luka very much felt like a third wheel, and began to speed up his food so he could escape to his room and start texting Rose.

"So, Luka?" Steven broke the silence,

"Yeah?" He glanced up,

"What did you get up to today?"

"...class."

"Oh, did you enjoy it?"

"Ughh, it was class." he shrugged, "So no."

"No? I loved my classes, I couldn't help but leap out of bed to get there on time." Steven smiled, "I went to Gotham High you know,"

"Cool."

"Your mother tells me you're at Gotham Prep?"

"Yeah."

"Very impressive, you need to be pretty smart to keep to the curve there." He laughed, "You must be a little genius,"

"Nope."

"Ohh now don't be modest,"

"No, really I've been the lowest-grading kid for the last three years."

"Oh?" he nodded, "Well I uhh I bet you must be super involved them, couldn't afford to lose student council or top athlete right?"

"Don't do any extra" Luka replied,

"Oh..." he hummed a tad confused,

"If you're wondering how I haven't been kicked out yet," Luka sighed, "I'm on the Scholar program,"

"Ahh." He nodded in understanding, "How uhh-" he began,

But Luka immediately knew the question, "We don't pay for it."

Steven hummed and nodded,

"His godfather handles it." Julliet smiled as she sipped her wine,

"Fascinating."

"So." She changed the subject, "We have something we wanted to discuss with you."

"Right?" Luka raised an eyebrow,

"How would you feel about me hanging out here more often?" Steven suggested,

"...sure," Luka shrugged, a little confused. As his mother's boyfriends had never asked about being here before,

"How about if he hung out with us every day?" she asked,

"Like, Move in with us?"

"If that's okay with you?" Steven smiled,

Luka sat silently for a moment, he didn't really want him to move in with them, but he also saw how much his mother wanted this and he knew he'd be moving out as soon as he graduated anyway.

"Sure, I don't see why not."

"Thank you my darling," Julliet smiled,

"Thank you, I promise we'll stay out of your way." Steven smiled,

"Yeah." Luka nodded as he finished up with his food, "May I be excused?"

"Alright," she nodded,

"Thanks."

"Course I'm sure you have things to do," Steven laughed, "Lovely to meet you Luka, hopefully, we can spend some time together once I get moved in."

"Yeah, sure." Luka forced out as he got out of his chair and quickly headed to his room, 

Chapter Eight - Over Crowded

Luka stepped out of his bathroom, feeling the cool air brush against his skin as beads of water clung to his body. He had a towel securely wrapped around his waist, while a second towel draped around his neck captured the steady trickle of water sliding down his thick curls. The damp locks fell slightly over his forehead, giving him a tousled look. He glanced around his room, the evening streetlights filtering through the curtains, his room lit by only a small orange lamp on his desk. Spotting his phone lying haphazardly on his unmade bed, he reached out and picked it up, the screen lighting up in his hand. As he quickly clicked his messages, his heart raced a little at the thought of chatting with Rose, his fingers hovering over her name.

Luka - Hey, just got out of the shower 🚿. Are you ready to call now? 📞

Before he tossed his damp towel into the overflowing hamper in the corner of his room. Setting his phone down on his cluttered desk, he carefully propped it up with a stack of books, their spines faded from years of use. The familiar buzz of notifications began to vibrate against the surface, creating a rhythmic disturbance in the quiet of the room.

He opened the drawer of his wardrobe, rummaging through its chaotic contents until his fingers brushed against a pair of vibrant red boxers. He pulled them out, and swiftly slipped them on, just as the vibrating phone continued to demand his attention. He glanced over and smiled, to see Rose's call. Her little picture filled his screen so he quickly clicked to accept it.

A soft glow emanated from the screen as she appeared, her figure dressed in thigh-high white socks that hugged her legs, paired with a pair of small cotton shorts and her loose-fitting hoodie. Her hair was in a bun. She sat comfortably in her desk chair, which creaked softly under her slight weight,

Behind her, the scene was cosy and inviting. Her bed was meticulously made, showcasing crisp white sheets tucked neatly beneath a fluffy comforter. Above the headboard, a string of slightly blue fairy lights twinkled gently. A print of a majestic phoenix adorned the wall,

"Hey!" He greeted rubbing his towel over his wet hair,

"Oh! Uhh hi, Luka?" Rose gasped her eyes firmly on Luka's half-naked body being presented through her phone,

Luka was confused by her tone so glanced at his phone and saw Rose's face, in that exact moment he realized if he could see her. Then... she can see him. So...he was basically giving her a free thirst trap, As he stood in only his boxers fresh out of the shower. Without hesitation, he jumped out of the phone camera's view and immediately began apologizing, "Oh my god- Rose I am so so sorry- I didn't mean to- I didn't-"

"It's okay," she cooed, "It's my fault, I assumed we were video calling. I should have asked first. I can swap it?"

"No, no it uhh it's okay, I wanna video call with you." he blushed as he quickly grabbed a shirt and some sweatpants, he tossed them on and came back into the camera's view, "Hi, again."

"Hi." she waved,

"Sorry about that, I uhh I hope it's okay." He said as he sat on his desk chair,

"It's fine, I'm not complaining." she shrugged,

They both laughed a little,

"So? What's up with you today?"

"Nothing much, just chores. Mom's still at work."

"Ahh, you gonna be okay? Home alone?"

"She'll be home in a bit, she never works nights. Says she doesn't trust this place."

"Can't say I blame her."

"What about you?"

"Fine, fine, normal stuff." He shrugged, not really wanting to tell her he'd been running around Wayne Manor all day, "Tired."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, not getting much sleep." he rubbed his eyes,

"Oh, your mom?"

"Yeah." he sighed, "I liked it better when she was out every night at least then it was quiet, now I just have to lay with a pillow over my head listening to '-eak -eak -eak -eak -eak'"

Rose laughed,

"Yeah, I swear I have learned so much about my mother since he moved in. None of which I EVER wanted to know,"

"Aww you poor thing,"

"Thanks, I'll be fine. I'm sure they'll cut it out soon."

"You can only hope."

"I don't know, house seems so... crowded now. Like Overcrowded." He sighed, "Feel like a third wheel around this place,"

"I'm sorry,"

"It's not your fault Rose."

"I know, but still I wish I could help."

"You are a help, Rose," he told her, "You're texts, calls, getting to hang out and vent with you. It's nice, "

"Well, I'm glad I can be of help, even just a little bit."

"You help me more than you know, Rosie." he smiled,

"Awwww!" she blushed, "You're too sweet to me,"

"I try my best," He joked,

The two settled into their familiar rhythm as they chatted for a solid couple of hours, They delved into discussions about their classes, sharing frustrations over difficult assignments and the pressures of upcoming exams. Each story was laced with laughter and exasperation often interrupting each other with amusing anecdotes that filled the air with their infectious laughter. In typical fashion, they also found time to complain and rant about everything and nothing, the usual banter that characterized their calls. From the latest ridiculous trends on social media to shared grievances about the weather, they let their thoughts flow freely, relishing the opportunity to voice their opinions without judgment with one another.

"We should call off then, don't want to keep you up too long," Rose smiled,

"It's alright, I don't mind." Luka answered, "Unless you wanna head to bed,"

She nodded and yawned, "I think so,"

"Okay, I'll see you on Monday at school anyway right?"

"Course, and I know we'll text tomorrow."

"I'm sure we will."

"Oh, Luka?"

"Yeah?"

"I think your shirt's inside out,"

"Is it?" he glanced down at himself, "Damn it, must have done it in my rush." he shrugged as he gripped the hem of his shirt and pulled it off, "Wait... now it's inside out?" He asked as he looked over his shirt, he was confused given it was inside out and now he pulled it off and still inside out, so it... it must have been the right way the first time - "Rose?"

Rose blushed and giggled slightly,

"My shirt was fine wasn't it?" he smirked,

"It was," she admitted,

"Rose!"

"I was just curious to see again."

"Hey!" He playfully joked,

"Sorry," she blushed

"It's alright, I'm not complaining." He shrugged,

"I just wanted to have another look before we call off."

"Yeah?" he blushed, "You just wanted to see?" he smirked as he tossed his shirt from his hands and leant back against his chair,

"You're very cute," she blushed,

"Well you're very cute too," He smiled, "Maybe I should call you shirtless every day." he winked,

She playfully rolled her eyes, "Goodnight Luka."

"Goodnight Rose," he smiled

The two waved softly to each other before they called off and Luka's phone went black,

Luka sat in his chair for a moment the smile falling from his lips, as he already felt like he missed the sound of her voice and the sweet view of her face. He tossed his shirt back on and took his phone with him to the bed, He shut off his light and left his phone to charge. Before he wrapped his arms around his pillow,

"Goodnight, sweet Rosie," he whispered into the darkness before he began to drift off to sleep.

Chapter Nine - Work Out

Deep within Wayne Manor, Luka grunted with every exertion, his muscles straining against the challenge of the pull-up bar. His fingers curled tightly around the cool, metallic pole, trembling slightly as he fought to maintain his grip through his leather gloves and bandages. Beads of sweat traced a path down his forehead, mingling with the determination etched on his face. With each chin-up, he focused intently, counting silently to himself,

Luka was clad in the same striking outfit he always chose for his training sessions. His red leggings hugged his legs snugly, The sleek black muscle tee clung to his frame. A harness of weights was strapped securely around his shoulders and waist. His arms bore the evidence of his hard work, wrapped in bandages and plasters that barely concealed the bruises he had accumulated during countless challenging sessions.

He kept his legs straight, feeling the tension run through his body, like a taut wire, as he pulled himself upward. Each ascent was a battle, but he maintained a steady rhythm, his breath coming in measured gasps.

"You're remarkably on the ball today?" Alfred laughed from the mat,

"Yeah." Luka snapped back,

"You trying to work off a pizza, I don't know about?" He joked,

"No, it's nothing," Luka replied between gasps,

"Mhm... sure." he nodded, "Hang time. Go on."

"Can't... I... Do... A... few... more..." He gasped,

Alfred paused, "Hang time. Now."

Luka groaned and did as he was told climbing up onto the bar and hanging down from only his leg grip, "Can't I do a few more pull-ups? Or a while more on the treadmill?" he pleaded,

"Luka, have you somehow been replaced by a CrossFit robot?"

"No, I just want to do alot of cardio and weights." he shrugged,

"You need slower, cool down stuff too or you'll end up hurting yourself."

"I know..." he whined, "But I just think-"

"What?"

"That doing a more intense workout will be better for me."

"Mhm..." Alfred nodded, "Why?"

"I just want to," Luka lied,

"You know Luka if you're having any issues with your confi-"

"I'm fine Alfred." he snapped, "I just... want to work out a little more,"

"Horse. Go on."

Luka rolled his eyes but jumped down and headed over to the brown pommel horse, he climbed up and began the usual routine so drilled into his mind he didn't need to think about it, holding each stay to his limit as was always the rules.

"Any late-night snack cupboard trips you want to hide from your mother?" Alfred asked, using this excuse to pry into Luka's mind while he was focused.

"I'm not ten anymore."

"Hence why I asked." he glared,

"You planning on fighting some boys at school?" Alfred asked,

"I'm not fourteen!" He complained,

"Alright, some cute little thing at school?"

Luka was silent, almost tumbling off the horse.

"Oh?"

"No!"

"Is there?"

"No... no... course not... what a... what a foolish-"

"Luka, is there some cute little thing at school you're trying to impress? Wanting to work out more maybe get to look nice with your shirt off?"

"...Maybe." He blushed as he jumped down,

"Who are they?"

"It's nothing-" Luka answered, "I just... She's nice, cute, sweet, adorable, pretty, smart... I just... I like her. And I wanna spend more time with her. Get to know her. I don't want to rush into anything stupid."

"Well, I'm thankful for that." he nodded, "I've had quite enough running around cleaning up Bruce's messes, I am too old to be dealing with yours."

"I know," Luka blushed, "I'm not stupid, I'm not gonna do anything dumb,"

"You think she might like you too?"

"I hope so... it's too early to really tell if she likes me back."

"Do you want her to?"

"...yeah."

"Well, there's no fault in asking."

"You think so?"

"What could go wrong," Alfred shrugged,

"Thanks." Luka smiled,

"Go on, hit the shower."

Luka nodded thoughtfully, a contemplative look crossing his face as he turned to head toward the shower. He took a few steps forward, but then suddenly paused, his hand lingering on the doorframe. "Uhh Alfred?"

"Yes, Luka?"

"Maybe uhh... could you not tell Mr Wayne about this?"

"And why shouldn't I inform Mr Wayne about your new enthusiasm for exercise."

"You know what he gets like," Luka sighed, "I just... kinda want, Rose to be all mine for a while you know? Just my little secret."

"Not a word," Alfred promised,

"Thank you!" He flashed a quick smile, the kind that lit up his eyes, before he dashed off toward the bathroom, eager to jump into the refreshing cascade of water from the showerhead. 

Chapter Ten - 4.35AM

The sun had yet to rise over the sprawling metropolis of Gotham, cloaking the city in deep shadows and a blanket of tranquillity. The streets, slick from the previous night's rain, bore silent puddles that mirrored the dim light of the early morning sky, creating a serene yet haunting atmosphere. It was a strange kind of stillness as if the world were holding its breath, waiting for the day to awaken.

Luka lay nestled in his bed, the covers drawn snugly around his waist, providing warmth against the cool air that crept to him. His unruly curls fanned out across the pillow, framing a face that was peaceful in slumber. His arms hung over the edges of the pillow, relaxed and devoid of tension, while his mouth hung slightly open, allowing soft breaths to escape, punctuated by the occasional light snore. A small pool of drool formed at the corner of his mouth, as he blissfully dreamed through the quiet moments before dawn.

But his peace was soon interrupted,

The jarring clatter of bedsprings reverberated through the room, mingling with the relentless thud of the headboard as it struck the walls with an almost frantic rhythm. Broken only by his mother's screaming and Steven's grunts.

Luka slowly peeled open his heavy eyelids, He felt a frown creasing his forehead as he instinctively recognised the sound that cut through the morning silence.

With a resigned sigh that seemed to echo in the stillness of the room, he turned his head, seeking refuge in the soft, familiar embrace of his pillow.

He pressed his face against the cool fabric, trying to muffle the unwelcome noise, or perhaps trying to smother himself in it.

But alas he was wide awake.

He turned and grabbed his phone from the charger,

He bit back a groan when he saw the numbers,

'4.35 AM'

Luka reluctantly forced himself up from the warmth of his bed, the remnants of sleep still clinging to him. He rubbed his tired eyes and took a deep breath, steeling himself for the day ahead. The soft light of morning filtered through the curtains, but he knew the atmosphere in the house would be anything but peaceful. With a heavy sigh, he trudged into the small, cluttered bathroom, his feet cold against the tiled floor.

He quickly discarded his comfortable shorts, letting them fall into a heap on the floor. Turning on the faucet, he adjusted the temperature until the water ran hot and steamy, filling the air with warmth. He stepped under the cascade, feeling the heat envelop him, and began scrubbing his skin with fervour. Each scrub felt cathartic, as he focused on washing away not just the dirt but the frustration he felt towards the sounds echoing from his mother's room. He lathered up with soap, working meticulously to cleanse every inch of himself, splashing water over his body to mask the unwelcome noise that managed to break through the bathroom door.

After what felt like an eternity in the shower, Luka finally allowed the water to wash away the last remnants of his thoughts. He reluctantly stepped out, letting the cool air hit his damp skin as he reached for a fluffy towel. As he dried off, the towel felt soft against his skin, soothing him momentarily as he dressed in his go-to lazy day outfit of comfortable joggers and a loose-fitting t-shirt that hung off his frame.

Luka groaned softly, cringing at the cacophony seeping through the walls. Determined to shield himself from it, he reached for his headphones, plugging them in and cranking up the volume on his favourite playlist. He smoothed his hair, splashed cold water on his face, wrapped his bruises and broken skin, and brushed his teeth vigorously.

And even still the sound hadn't ended so he gave up and went downstairs in the hope of being further from the sounds. He made himself a large plate of French toast and poured a bowl of cereal.

He mindlessly read the back of the box as he ate his food, reading over the various fibre and sugar contents while he ate.

Luka jumped as his phone vibrated but he happily grabbed it,

Rose - Good Morning 🙂

So he quickly texted her back,

Luka - Morning 🙁

Rose - What's wrong? And why are you up so early? You don't usually reply for at least few hours?

Luka - Mom woke me up,

Rose - Her and Steven again?

Luka - Yep

Rose - Aww, you poor thing, Sorry Luka

Luka - Thanks Rose, Just annoying to deal with.

Rose - surely they'll get over it soon,

Luka jumped a little as the sudden screams and groans broke through his headphones and then silence,

Luka - Yay!

Rose - Over?

Luka - Over. Now I just pray they don't start again

[dailyanarchistposts]

Bibliography

Akwesasne Notes, “Basic Call to Consciousness: The Haudenosaunee Address to the Western World”Geneva, Autumn 1977

Taiaiake Gerald Alfred, Peace, Power, Righteousness: An Indigenous Manifesto (Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 1999)

Taiaiake Gerald Alfred, Wasáse: Indigenous Pathways of Action and Freedom (Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 2005)

Harold Barclay, People Without Government: An Anthropology of Anarchy (London: Kahn & Averill, 1990)

Daniel P. Barr, Unconquered: The Iroquois League at War in Colonial America (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2006)

Murray Bookchin, The Ecology of Freedom (London: AK Press, 1982)

Murray Bookchin, Social Anarchism or Lifestyle Anarchism (London: AK Press, 1997)

Murray Bookchin, Nationalism and the “National Question” (Democracy and Nature: Vol. 2, No. 2, Issue 5, 1994)

Darren Bonaparte, Creation and Confederation: The Living History of the Iroquois (Ahkwesáhsne: The Wampum Chronicles, 2006)

Darren Bonaparte, “Kaniatarowanenneh: River of the Iroquois” (Wampum Chronicles)

Mitchel Cohen, “Listen, Bookchin!” (A Red Ballon Collective Pamphlet, 1999)

Ward Churchill, “Indigenism, Anarchism, and the State: An Interview with Ward Churchill” (“Uping the Anti”, #1)

Teiowí:sonte Thomas Deer, “The Hereditary Question” (Revolutionary Creations)

Teiowí:sonte Thomas Deer, “The new Revolutionary War” (Revolutionary Creations)

Teiowí:sonte Thomas Deer, “The Traditionalist Doctrine” (Revolutionary Creations)

Teiowí:sonte Thomas Deer, “Barred from the ‘socialist’ paradise” (New Socialist, #58, September/October 2006)

Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs and Steel (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1999)

Frederick Engels, Origins of the Family: The Iroquois Gens, Marx/Engels Selected Works, Volume Three (1884)

David Graeber, Towards an Anthropological Theory of Value: False Coin of Our Own Dreams (New York, NY: PALGRAVE, 2001)

Kanatiiosh Barbara Gray, “The Importance of Narratives in Understanding: The Passions & Law”

Hunter Gray, “Strawberries, the Iroquois, and My Strawberry Socialism”

Donald A. Grinde, Jr and Bruce E. Johansen, Exemplar of Liberty: Native America and the Evolution of Democracy (1990)

Kahentinetha Horn, “Traditional Culture and Community Competition: an Analysis of the On-Going Struggle between the Great Law and the Code of Handsome Lake in Kahnawake” (Mohawk Nation News)

Francis Jennings, The Ambiguous Iroquois Empire: The Covenant Chain Confederation of Indian Tribes With English Colonies (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1984)

Donald S. Lutz, “The Iroquois Confederation Constitution: an analysis.” (Publius Volume: 28 Issue: 2, 1998)

Barbara A. Mann, “The Lynx in Time: Haudenosaunee Women’s Traditions and History” (American Indian Quarterly, Summer 98, Vol. 21 Issue 3)

Lewis Henry Morgan, The League of the Ho-de’-no-sau-nee, or Iroquois, 1850

Arthur C. Parker, The Constitution of the Five Nations or the Iroquois Book of the Great Law, (Albany: University of the State of New York, 1916)

Natoway Brian Rice, “The Great Epic” (“Wampum Chronicles”)

Daniel K. Richter, The Ordeal of the Longhouse: The Peoples of the Iroquois League in the Era of European Colonization (University of North Carolina Press, 1992)

Dean R. Snow, The Iroquois, (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 1994)

John Steckley, “Wendat Dialects and the Development of the Huron Alliance” (Humber College)

Reuben Gold Thwaites (ed.), The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents: Travels and Explorations of the Jesuit Missionaries in New France 1610–1791

Anthony F.C. Wallace, The Death and Rebirth of the Seneca (New York: Vintage Books, 1972)

Sally Roesch Wagner, Sisters in Spirit: Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Influence on Early American Feminists (Summertown, TN: Native Voices, 2001)

George Woodcock, “Anarchy, Freedom, Native People & The Environment” (Aurora Online)

[omegaremix]

Omega Radio for July 29, 2013; #26.

Scope “Big Ferro”

Hank Crawford “Lament”

Mighty Ryeders “Evil Vibrations”

Los Chobros “El Sonido Cano Roto”

Ofege “Gbe Mi Lo”

Nite-Liters, The “Damn”

Johnny Hammond “Fantasy”

Geoffrey Stoner “Bend Your Head Low”

Jon Lucien “A Sunny Day”

Bobbi Humphrey “Jealousy”

Chick Carlton & Mesmeriah “One More Time With Feeling”

Blue Mitchell “Delilah”

Grover Washington Jr. “Black Frost”

Jesse Morrison “Love Won’t Let Me Wait”

Lee Ritenour “Theme From 3 Days Of The Condor”

Gary Burton “Las Vegas Tango”

Frank Ricotti “Vibes”

Sunburst “Mysterious Vibes”

Tower Of Power “By Your Side”

Mo Foster “Stateside II”

Larry Bright “Aura (part 1)”

Jacky Giordano “Latest News”

Alan Parker “Backing Track No. 20”

Passport & Doldinger “Continuation”

Azimuth “Outubro”

Brian Bennett “Solstice”

Jean Pierre Decerf “Gates Of Pop Empire”

Joachim Sherrylee “Iceberg”

Blackbyrds, The “Love Is Love”

Tom Scott “Shadows”

Francis Monkman “Getting Ready”

Mort Garson “Walking In Space”

Herbie Hancock “Butterfly”

Hysear Don Walker “Poo Joo”

Manzel “Midnight Theme”

Freda Payne “I Get High”

Minnie Riperton “Les Fleur”

James Mason “I Want Your Love”

Bonus Omega; first-ever vinyl treasures, sampling, and crate-digging broadcast.

[projazznet]

Blue Mitchell – Graffiti Blues

Graffiti Blues is an album by American trumpeter Blue Mitchell recorded in 1973 and released on the Mainstream label.

“Although not up to the same level as Blue Mitchell’s earlier Blue Note dates, this accessible set does a good job of balancing worthwhile solos with catchy rhythms and has dated surprisingly well”. – Scott Yanow/AllMusic.

Blue Mitchell – trumpet Don Bailey – harmonica Herman Riley – flute, tenor saxophone Freddy Robinson – guitar Joe Sample – piano, electric piano Walter Bishop, Jr. – piano Darrell Clayborn – electric bass Raymond Pounds – drums

[violent138]

Chapter Update

Absolute Corruption (25729 words) by Violet138 Chapters: 11/21 Fandom: The Batman (Movie 2022), Superman - All Media Types Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con Relationships: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth & Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle & Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent & Lois Lane Characters: Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Alfred Pennyworth, Selina Kyle, Dick Grayson, Original Characters, Barbara Gordon, Martha Kent, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor (mentioned), Don Mitchell Jr., Oswald Cobblepot Additional Tags: Dark Clark Kent, Dark Superman, Rape/Non-con Elements, Murder, Mind Games, Alternate Earth, Power Dynamics, Torture, Dubious Morality, Dubious Consent, Violence, Multiple Pov, Trauma, Mental Illness Series: Part 2 of Earth- 1477 Summary: To Clark, Earth had always been a cage, a miserable, lonely existence he wanted to burn to the ground. When he'd gone to Gotham, it was with one goal: to kill Batman. Quickly and painfully. But now? “You were magnificent on the bridge. A hunter, a killer. I saw it in your eyes.” After so long alone, Clark finally found someone. Bruce Wayne. And his new mission was to make Vengeance his true equal, getting the man to shed his weaknesses. Nothing was ever easy with Bruce, but Clark had no intention of letting anything stand in his way.

[ao3feed-harleyquinn]

monstrum

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/eqHsQc9 by aristorias To be a girl is to be a monster. One does not exist without the other. Clawing her way out of the womb and into the wretched world, Corinne Delisle was taught to be a monster. To be manipulative but genuine, tempting but pure, special but average. And with the neverending expectations pulling apart the sinews and the tissue that bound her together as one, she needed nothing less than the lucid memories of her morose past to her haunt her in the shape of the one person who could have sown her back together and made her a little less monstrous and vile. But no matter how desperately hopeful she felt when those blue eyes looked at her with reminiscence and maybe even fondness, there was intent in her reckless actions and not even her beloved past could stop her from fighting her to the truth that she so desperately needed in order to move on. Longing she felt, but Corinne needed the truth more than she needed him. She needed it more than she needed Bruce Wayne. Words: 2360, Chapters: 1/80, Language: English Fandoms: The Batman (Movie 2022) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Categories: F/M Characters: Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Selina Kyle, Oswald Cobblepot, Annika Kosolov, Carmine Falcone, Sofia Falcone, Alberto Falcone, Jim Gordon (DCU), Edward Nygma, Officer Martinez (The Batman Movie 2022), Joker (DCU), Harleen Quinzel, Carla Falcone, Don Mitchell Jr., Gil Colson, Pete Savage, Bella Reál Relationships: Bruce Wayne/Original Female Character(s), Bruce Wayne & Original Character(s) Additional Tags: Batman Identity Reveal, Secret Identity, Organized Crime, Slow Romance, Slow Build, Slow To Update, Blood and Violence, Psychological Torture, Childhood Trauma, Near Death Experiences, Abusive Parents, Bruce Wayne is Bad at Communicating, Out of Character Carmine Falcone, Drama & Romance, Eventual Smut, Batmobile (DCU), Batcave (DCU), Mentioned Joker (DCU), Implied/Referenced Sexual Harassment, Mentioned Harleen Quinzel, Edward Nygma is the Riddler, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Protective Bruce Wayne, Childhood Friends, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Violent Thoughts, Non-Graphic Smut, Mild Smut, Bruce Wayne is a recluse and NOT a playboy, Hate the playboy version, Sad little Brucey, Bruce Needs a Hug read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/eqHsQc9