#once harvey became district attorney

[fakeicecubes]

Okay but I don’t feel like we don’t talk enough about Bruce after his parents death. Like this kid watched his parents die right in front of him. Obviously he’s a little fucked up. And I think for that first year he would barely leave his room because he was so scared and sad. Finally he started seeing some (not really good) therapist. But because this was like the 70’s or 80’s they didn’t know that kids shouldn’t be put on antidepressants so the meds they gave Bruce just made him more depressed and paranoid.

Eventually Alfred did just throw them out because he realized they were hurting more than helping. And Bruce finally started to get better……Until he re-entered high society.

Oh boy, were the papers ecstatic! They commented on everything. How he looked, how he acted, how he dressed. And well, the reporters from Gotham aren’t exactly the nicest. Or the least creepy. They would make horrific comments about his looks and Bruce could hear the things they said about him. One day he had enough of it and ran out of a charity gala. He was walking through the streets of Gotham but even then it didn't stop. Cat calls and stares followed him. And of course he's still in his fancy suit so eventually a couple of thugs correred him in a alley. Bruce was about to get jumped before one Harvey Dent got him out of trouble. And from then one Bruce Wayne got his first friend in years and the world seemed just a little brighter.

[docgold13]

Batman: The Animated Series - Paper Cut-Out Portraits and Profiles

Rupert Thorne

A powerful and ruthless crime boss, Rupert Thorne muscled his way into the Gotham City and swiftly took control over a large section of the criminal underworld.  Edging out former kingpins, Arnold Stromwell and Salvatore Valestra, Thorne’s enterprises ranged from narcotics to racketeering, money laundering, gambling and weapons smuggling.  Although his criminal endeavors were well known to the public, the corruption within Gotham's justice system kept Thorne in his penthouse and the authorities off his back.

District Attorney Harvey Dent was determined to put an end to Thorne’s grip on the city.  Dent’s dogged pursuit of Thorne became even more relentless as he was campaigning for reelection as District Attorney.  Dent was getting close and Thorne became desperate to put a stop to it.  

Thorne attempted to blackmail Dent after his agent had pilfered the medical notes from Dent’s psychiatrist.  Dent was contending with rather severe psychological difficulties and Thorne threatened to expose this to the public unless Dent agreed to drop all investigations into his enterprises.  Dent refused and a scuffle broke out wherein Dent was caught in an explosion that terribly scared half of his face.  All this resulted in the creation of the villainous Two-Face.  And Two-Face would prove an even greater threat to Rupert Thorne than Dent had ever been.   

A new breed of criminal was encroaching on Thorne’s territory.  Villains like Two-Face, The Penguin and The Joker were substantially cutting into his profit margins and The Batman was a near constant threat to his whole organization.  Determined to wrestle back control, Thorne hired the mercenary known as Bane to break the Bat and ostensively reseat Thorne atop the criminal empire.  

The plot failed, Batman triumphed over Bane and Thorne’s hold on power became even more tenuous.  In desperate need of cash, Thorne agreed to pool resources with The Penguin and the mob enforcer Carlton Duquesne in a venture to sell high tech weapons to the war-torn nation of Kasnia.  

The operation was taken down by Batman along with the mysterious new heroine, Batwoman.  Duquesne was convinced to testify against Thorne and the once untouchable gangster was sentenced to life in prison at Stonegate Penitentiary.   

The wonderfully intimidating John Vernon provided the voice for Rupert Thorne, with mobster first appeared in the sixth episode of the first season of Batman: The Animated Series, ‘It’s Never Too Late.’  

[starkstruck27]

My fourth fill for @harringrovesummerbingo!! Prompt + Space: Rainy Day, A1 Title: Cat Got Your Tongue? Major Tags: None Rating: Mature Word Count: 1808 words Additional Tags: Batman AU, Kissing in the rain, Rainy Gotham City, Billy as Batman, Steve as Catwoman Summary: Batman got a tip from the police commissioner that the Penguin is getting ready to do some recruiting for something big he has planned. While waiting for something to happen, The Cat shows up. Also on: Ao3

It seemed like it was always raining in Gotham City, or it was always about to. But then again, when it seemed like there was only ever bad news and bad days for the citizens of the city, it was hardly appropriate for the days to be full of sunshine. And tonight, while Batman stood on a rooftop, hidden in the shadow of a billboard, waiting for the Penguin to come out of his night club, the rain seemed completely justified in falling. 

It’d been a hard start to the summer this year in Gotham. First, Nancy Wheeler, aka ‘The Riddler’, had kidnapped the police commissioner’s daughter and held her for a week while the police department scrambled to figure out her clues. Batman had been able to figure them out after a few days, but then they’d gone on the run, and it took a week until he was able to get her back into Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane and get little Jane back to her father. 

After that, Jonathan Byers, aka ‘The Scarecrow’, had managed to escape Arkham by rigging the air conditioning unit with his fear toxin and scaring the guards into letting him out. Luckily, he didn’t let any of the other patients out, and instead he left to try and terrorize the city by unleashing his newest brand of fear toxin on a large crowd that’d formed for a press conference with District Attorney Harvey Dent. Batman had come just in time to stop it, and though he became afflicted by the fear gas himself, he was able to stall Scarecrow for enough time until the police showed up to take him back to Arkham.

And of course, just after that, Tommy Hagan, aka ‘Professor Pyg’, had somehow overthrown the cops on the bus that was supposed to take him and a few other prisoners to Black Gate Penitentiary, and they had all escaped. Pyg then came back to the city and managed to get a job with a catering company, only to kill the head cook and take his place in the kitchen. He then used both him and the cops he’d killed as the main course for the evening, nearly making hundreds of people eat their fellow citizens. His plans were foiled when Batman inevitably showed up, putting a stop to the evening before the first course was served and capturing Pyg, delivering him to Black Gate personally. 

And then tonight, Police Commissioner Jim Hopper had turned on the bat signal once again, and it was time for Billy Hargrove to turn back into his alter-ego and meet him on the roof of the police station. This time the havoc was going to be unleashed by Eddie Munson, aka ‘The Penguin’. Apparently, the police had gotten a tip from an anonymous source that Penguin was gonna do some recruiting at his club that evening for something big he was planning, and they needed Batman to help them figure out who was being recruited, and for what. 

And now Billy was waiting, waiting, waiting on the rooftop across from the Iceberg Lounge, hoping for any leads. So far, nobody had gone into the club except for the usual clientele, and he wasn’t hearing anything on the wire he’d managed to sneak onto the bouncer, nor on the one that he’d safely planted inside the club months ago. If Penguin was recruiting tonight, it was probably not going to be for a long while. Billy just hoped that it wouldn’t take all night. His suit was waterproof, but the rain was still managing to chill him to the bone as he crouched in the shadows.

“Well, well, well,” somebody said, and Billy knew that voice. “What’s a tall, dark and brooding thing like you doing up here so late at night?”

“Funny,” he said, “I could ask you the same thing.”

“You could,” they said, “But that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get a good answer.”

Steve Harrington, aka ‘The Cat’. A thief, and one with a rags-to-riches story that would put Cinderella to shame. He grew up poor and with neglectful parents, and did anything he could to survive on the cold streets of Gotham. And once he realized the lavish life he could live if he only just took it, he never stopped taking. He could steal anything from anyone, and was almost never caught. And even if he was, he always somehow managed to slip away and avoid capture from the police. He was the best thief in Gotham City, but it’s just for this reason that Billy had never turned him in whenever they met like this. Because even though he was a criminal, the best thief in Gotham City had managed to steal the Batman’s heart.

“I thought cats didn’t like getting wet,” Billy said, emerging from the shadows to step closer to his companion.

“Some do,” Steve replied, a certain look in his eyes that made something in Billy stir. “In fact, some of us live for it.”

Billy could feel himself starting to blush under his cowl, but he made sure that he didn’t show it. Steve still probably knew, anyway. “So you’ve decided to come out and play in the rain just for shits and giggles?”

“Oh, no, darling,” Steve said, his voice coated in sweetness, “Eddie’s got a little something for me, so I’m enjoying the rain while I can, then I’m going to go inside and get it.”

“What do you mean he’s got something for you?” Billy asked, putting aside the feeling in his gut in the hopes of getting some kind of lead. 

“I mean he’s got a room full of rich bitches and deep-pocket dicks that are just waiting to give me their purses and their jewelry. Every so often Eddie lets me in to take whatever I’ve got my eye on, and that’s why he’s the one birdie in Gotham that I don’t have any desire to sink my teeth into. He scratches my back, I scratch his.”

“Is that so?” Billy asked, “And what exactly is it that you have on him?”

“Oh, now, now, Batsy, you know by now that I only purr for the right price,” Steve said, teasing him with a wink and a cheeky smile.

“So, what do you want? Name your price,” Billy said, pretending he wasn’t about to fold like a deck of cards.

“I want…” Steve paused, pretending like he had to think, tapping his chin and everything, before turning around with a Cheshire grin. “I want a night with you. I want us both to take off our silly costumes and dress up nice and go to dinner at the finest restaurant in town. I want you to treat me like I’m royalty, like I’m your king, and like you’ll always be my Dark Knight. And then I want you to take me home, whichever of our places is closer, and I want you to punish me for all the bad things I’ve done. I want you to do whatever you feel is necessary to make sure I learn my lesson. And when I don’t, I want you to meet with me again, when I have more information about the criminals that roam the streets, and I want you to ask what my price is then, and we’ll do it all over again.”

Billy could feel the heat emanating from his own face as he listened to the things Steve was describing. And damn if he didn’t want it, too. But then he realized something that, right now, there was a more pressing matter at hand, and he had to ask about it before either Steve left or he swallowed his own tongue.

“What did you mean, ‘whichever of our places is closer’? Where do you think I live?” He asked, alarm bells going off in his head. He trusted Steve, but he knew he probably shouldn’t. And there was no way he trusted him with his secret identity. At least not yet.

“Oh, sweetie, I know where you live. I figured it out months ago,” Steve said, “And give Alfred my regards, by the way.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes you do. But don’t worry, baby. Nobody else could ever get it out of me, because the only price I want for information is the one I want from you. There’s no amount of diamonds or dollars in the world that would get me to give you up, or else don’t you think I would’ve done it by now?”

“How do I know that I can trust you?” 

“Well see, that’s the fun part,” Steve grinned, slinking closer. “You don’t.”

And when he kissed Billy, suddenly the idea of him knowing didn’t seem so bad. It was a dangerous thought, one that could potentially lead to his downfall, but Billy had never been one to shy away from danger. In fact, just the fact that he was where he was at that moment proved he preferred to embrace it. But for as nice as it was, now was not the time. He still had to find out what the Penguin was planning, and if Steve had any information, he’d have to get it sooner rather than later.

“Maybe,” he said as they finally parted, “Maybe I can pay your price on another night, but I need any information you’ve got now. What can you tell me about what Eddie has planned?”

“First you’ve got to give me your word that what I asked for is what’s going to be done. Tomorrow night, seven o’clock. I know you never go back on your word, so give me that, and I’ll give you what I’ve got on Eddie.”

“Okay, I give you my word. I’ll take you out tomorrow night, seven o’clock sharp,” Billy said, “Now, what have you got?”

“There’s nothing happening tonight,” Steve said.

“Pardon me?”

“Nothing is happening tonight. Eddie’s not recruiting, and he probably won’t be for another couple of days. He’s planning something soon, but it’s not going to go down for another couple of weeks, and if you keep your word, I’ll give you the insight on that once I have it. But for now, nothing’s going on.”

“That can’t be,” Billy mumbled, a little taken aback by what Steve said, and more than a little skeptical.

“Can’t it?” Steve asked as he walked to the ledge of the building’s roof.

“Jim Hopper said someone called in with a tip that Penguin was planning for something tonight.”

“And who do you think made that call?” He asked as he stepped onto the ledge, winking again before adding, “See you tomorrow night, Batsy.”

And by the time it had clicked in Billy’s head what he was getting at, The Cat was gone.

[twinhood-2dot0]

A Shallow Dive Into: Batman’s Rogues Gallery

­­­­I’ve introduced you to the Batfam, but an even more crucial a part of the Batman mythos is his Rogues Gallery, since the villain makes the hero, and all. Despite being mostly just troubled human beings, they’re one of the most varied and the most famous groups of villains. Some of them also represent some part of Batman’s psyche, which will be the ones I’ll get into first.

Joker

Joker is so prominent, there are as many theatrical versions of Joker as there are Batman’s in this century. Count ‘em, Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight (unarguably the best), Jared Leto in the DCEU (Worst one ever. Not gonna miss him in the new DC Universe.), Joaquin Phoenix in the eponymous movie, wait wait wait, are there actually more Jokers??? There’s also the cameo in The Batman played by Barry Keoghan! Okay, did not expect that. So, it’s 4 Jokers to 3 Batmen. Interesting. He’s also in all 4 Arkham games, so much that fans were jumping with joy when they thought he wasn’t going to be there in the 3rd and 4th games. Welp, even if he was overused, they probably had one of the best usage of the character in those games, and, I mean, can you really complain when Mark Hamill is voicing him?

Anyways, The Joker, in most versions, was a member of the Red Hood Gang (you might recognise that name. Yes, Jason Todd named himself after a previous identity of his killer.) who fell into a vat of acid (by Batman himself, most times). The acid bleached his face, and turned his hair green, and- in some versions- psychologically scarred him enough to turn him into the Joker. Do I really need to introduce Joker? Well, even so, kinda ruins the point of this post if I don’t. Joker is a psychopathic, possibly insane, supervillain with a sadistic sense of humour who has smarts that rival Batman’s and dedicated himself to ruining Batman’s life and hopefully breaking him psychologically. Most of his weapons include deadly prank objects or playing cards related stuff. His calling card is the Joker, the playing card version. The Joker famously said in Alan Moore’s “The Killing Joke” “If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!”. The Joker holds the belief that all it takes is One Bad Day™ to turn into what he did, and that is what he tries to do to Jim Gordon in the aforementioned graphic novel. This is the aspect of Batman that he embodies. They both had One Bad Day™ but became the polar opposites of each other.

Riddler

A much less prominent character in theatrical releases, but probably one of the best in the comics. I think the terrible Jim Carrey version in the equally terrible Batman Forever had something to do with that. The Riddler, aka Edward Nashton/Nygma depending on the story, (although I prefer Nygma, because, well, E.Nygma) is another criminal mastermind, but he is obsessed with proving that he is smarter, sorry, “intellectually superior” to Batman. “[Nigma] exhibits personality disorders consistent with a fanatic narcissist, egocentrism, and megalomania crossed with severe obsessive compulsion". – Batman in Arkham Knight replying to Catwoman asking “What’s Eddie’s problem?”. Riddler has figured out Batman’s identity once, although with the help of a Lazarus pit. How did Batman not get exposed? Check this out. I think that’s a great way to characterise Riddler with just one page.

A lot of Riddler stories tend to make him a little goofy, so I loved Matt Reeves’ take on him in The Batman and also his stories since the New 52. In the movie, he’s an orphan who was left to suffer due to the corruption in Gotham politics so he commits, well, political killings to fight corruption. I think Riddler was the perfect villain for the movie, as it’s an introduction to a new Batman and his psyche. This villain represents Batman’s intelligence.

Two-Face

Harvey Dent was a district attorney who was an ally in the court for Batman and Jim Gordon. Harvey was the White Knight, supposed to save the city from crime and corruption buuuuut one of Salvatore Maroni’s men splashed acid on his face during a trial, permanently disfiguring half of his face, and breaking him, leading to him developing a split personality, insanity, and an obsession with duality. Two Faces, dual pistols, two sides of a coin. He’s obsessed with flipping his once double-headed coin with a disfigured side to make decisions. You betrayed him? Heads you die, tails you go free. Also look at this detail from Arkham City.

His courthouse has two sides, one well-kept and the other trashed, just like him.

Scarecrow

Co-antagonist of Batman Begins and Arkham Knight. Damn, poor guy, always has to share the spotlight. At least his arc in Arkham Knight was decent enough. Jonathan Crane is a brilliant psychologist, obsessed with fear, and develops a toxin called the uh Fear Toxin. It makes inhalers hallucinate their greatest fears (or not, sometimes it’s just a disturbing warping of the environment, like seen in Batman Begins). Scarecrow doesn’t have much of a niche beyond making Batman face his fears, sadly, I think he’s a pretty awesome villain. Yeesh, he has a crap ton of origin stories, and with the speed DC seems to be creating relaunches, I don’t know if anything I say will be relevant for long. I just started reading Rebirth after finishing the important Post-Crisis storylines and they did like 3 more relaunches after that ;-;. Scarecrow represents the fear aspect of Batman. As Batman famously said, “Criminals are a cowardly and superstitious lot”, so he dresses up as a bat to strike fear into criminals.

Okay, that’s a few of the famous ones. Batman’s has a huge gallery of rogues and a lot of important ones that I failed to cover here, like the Al Ghul family, so I might have to create a second, and maybe a third part. Hope your journey into the DC Universe, if you do decide to partake (which you probably won't because you're such a busybody over-achiever :P so these might all just be boring and a waste of time) won’t be as daunting because of all these posts.

[drowninginduality]

Harvey was never crazy about Arkham, long before the bat ever started tossing them into the place. The building had always been broken down and awful, carrying a history of lousy doctors mistreating patients until they tried to reform the place as times changed. Harvey had been working his way to DA when he caught wind of the old asylum putting a fresh coat of paint on it's walls and hiring a handful of new and "progressive" staff. Updating their standards to barely modern, for the time, had been progressive enough for the building. Everything changed when the Bat took to the streets. Arkham's regulars rapidly changed from the general public to the extreme. Things had become serious when the colorful costumed maniacs that started to roam the streets of Gotham became less and less of a rare occurrence. What started out as a handful of criminals with silly motifs rapidly became characters like the Joker, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, Riddler, Bane, you name a "costumeable" gimmick and there was a cell in Arkham waiting for them. Who knew Harvey would later become a name on the roster of regular eclectic patients at Arkham? Regardless of how the coin fell at the end of the day, it became often Twoface was thrown in here to waste time within the walls of this place, dragging Harvey along with him. Most often, they both hated it here for a whole list of reasons. The treatments, the other patients, the building, the beds, the schedules, and even the constant chatter within Arkham were just awful. All of it. However, one day, Bruce Wayne was dumped in here and everything changed..

It came out of nowhere, so much so it was suspicious at first. Harvey had nearly choked when he saw Bruce's face being shoved down the chilly white halls of Arkham. He looked so out of place it hurt. What the fuck was Bruce doing here?! Unfortunately, Harvey nor Twoface had a window to speak with the ravenette until later in the day when they'd be released for that good ol' mandatory free time. They both attempted to be civil for once, not wanting to miss the chance to speak with Wayne. Harvey wanted to find out how the hell Bruce ended up here and Twoface wanted to find out how he can use this to get the hell out of here. The former district attorney had pressed into the room with their regular standoffish air, scanning the room for the familiar face of Bruce. It has been a long time since they'd been in the same room together but he'd never forget that face. Harvey could pick out that jawline from nearly any lineup. They'd spot the ravenette trying to avoid attention at a table towards the corner, of course already with two larger brute inmates gathering around the area to bother him. Bruce had been lucky enough most of the more violent rogues were currently out of Arkham or on solitary confinement for a riot or he'd have a lot more "fans" right about now. With nearly perfect timing, just as an incident was about to unfold, Twoface stepped forwards to intervene by slamming his scarred blue hand against the cold table. His mismatched eyes flickered towards Bruce, not paying much mind to the other brutes at the table. "scram riffraff— Wayne is ours." Twoface hissed, offering only one glare before he pulled the chair out from the smaller of the pair. "We're about to have a personal conversation, vamoose," Harvey added nonchalantly, waving his hand in a gesture reminiscent of his lawyer days. A few bitter looks were exchanged before the pair stormed off, seemingly not wanting to tempt Twoface. It left just the two of them now, sitting across from each other. "look at you, mister popular on his first day," Twoface spoke before Bruce could, a smirk befalling his face at the sight before a softness took over as Harvey's good side turned slightly toward the ravenette, "Bruce, what are you doing here? You don't belong here." [ anyone who is interested in rping, feel free to message me! I also rp on discord and Instagram if anyone would like to carry this starter there! I left it open ended for why bruce is there, I was thinking he's undercover or has been screwed over by another bad guy or something! I was thinking they'd end up being forced to work together, I was thinking about that bit in telltale & that bit with harley & twoface from the harley quinn show! But feel free to message me, we can change parts or talk about any further plot details! this is probably clunky but I really wanted to finally post something ]

[nintendouniverse2023]

<div>The following progressive of My Batman AU resembles some new origin stories and new accomplishments between the DC Universe.

Bio: Befoe Harvey began to have a split personality disorder, His father would often come home drunk, beating him and his mother up. He was one of many of Bruce Wayne’s long time friends, winning sort of spots and activities. As soon he was able, he left having to revived a scholarship ship in Gotham University were he meets his crush, Gilda.

Harvey Dent would eventually marry Gilda and became The District Attorney and being called The White Knight of Gotham City. Though in a position with few friends, Dent made a pact with Captain James Gordon and Batman to wipe the city free from Dr Deaths empire and soon crime once and for all. But eventually he keeps being bust due to crime keeps rising and rising, Gilda decided to something about.

During the Long Halloween events, Sal Maroni turned himself in as he believes that Harvey is Holiday. So during court, Sal splashed acid on Harvey’s face, disfiguring half of Harvey’s face and hand with it. Sal Maroni ended up with a 20 year sentence after that. Carla Viti ends up killed on the way to Falcone's birthday. Holiday kills nearly everyone in the Savator and Falconie’s empires but still, Riddler has no idea why Holiday did not kill him. Bruce visits Harvey Dent in the Hospital explaining to him that he’s worried about Gilda and a very bad ego in his brain, though he doesn't want to hear again, wanting to get out. At the end of Long Halloween event when finding out Gilda was the Holiday Killer after killing Carmine Falonie, Harvey would end up going insane as he disappeared and come back killing His Ex-Wife and Sal Maroni at the Christmas Crime Fiasco, Harvey was reborn as Two-Face.

Two-Face decided to take the law of Gotham in his own hands as he decides his with a two headed coin to make his decisions along with the split suit and A Gang. Two-Face created many crimes like terrorism, Breaking an Entry, Robbing the Banks and Gang Wars, Leading to Batman always here to stop him, Sometimes with an Allie or 2. Bruce even blamed himself for not saving him sooner.

Appearance: His left suit is gray and Black Gloves and Shoes, While the other half is orange and purple, with a spike shoulder on. Finally his right side on his face has some hair left and his eye was gray making him half blind.

Voice Actor: Troy Baker

Age: 28

Height: 6.3 ft

Weight: 182 ibs

Personality: Twisted, Overreact, High Tempered, Split Personality and Law Forcer

Favorite Foods: Shorbay

Family: Gilda Dent/Holiday Killer *Ex-Wife/Deceased*

Allies: Riddler, Mr Freeze, Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, Black Mask and The Penguin *sometimes*

Enemies: Half of Gothams Rogues, Batman and his Bat Team, Catwoman and The GCPD

Likes: Bank Robbery, Flipping his coin for the heck of it, Torture and Making Criminals face his own violent justice for their crimes.

Dislikes: Losing his coin, Failure from henchmen, Double Crossed and Being told what to do in Arkham

[shatteredfears-arch]

things abt harvey bc jessies starter reminded me and ima be at work all day so even tho i have the reply written i cant format or add an icon until tuesday;;; (CWs for the obvious if you know any of his various versions: parent death, abuse, forced institutionalization of the mother, manipulation, etc)

His coin is an american half dollar, misprinted so both halves have a face, and he’a had it since he was a kid. It’s sort of become his stabilizer, in any event you can catch his hand in his pocket fidgeting with it, and when he’s speaking for political events you can see him rubbing it between his right thumb and forefinger.

He’s left handed, but due to his interest in dualism, did learn to be ambidextrous while ‘testing the differences’.

His mother is guatamalan and cuban. Her grandparents immigrated.

In the comics, he has a brother named Murray. But as he’s too young to be the series Murray’s brother, i altered it a bit.

Thus, his birth father is M/urray F/ranklin, whom he knew. They were never married, and Harvey inherited his mother’s name: Dent.

Murray kept Harvey a secret, and would claim his mother was just ‘a helping hand’ or ‘old friend’. When she started talking, he belittled her mental state to get her institutionalized. Something he clearly intended to do with Harvey as well, using his declining mental health as an excuse— Harvey’s intense desire for justice stems entirely from the treatment he received from his father, and the mistreatment given to his mother. The way law enforcement agreed to help Murray just due to his fame (and, lbr, the fact he’s white) led to Harvey’s intense distrust of police as well, and his desire to ‘clean house’ on them when he was older. His political desires stem entirely from being mistreated his entire life, and wanting better for others.

He was at the studio when Murray died, and he smiled when he saw it. He’d tell the police he didn’t see anything.

When he was 17, he filed and became fully emancipated.

He got various odd jobs here and there so he could afford law school, and never inherited anything from his father. He has, however, kept every piece of documentation he had to prove Murray was his father, and what he did to him. Fully intent to one day destroy his already tattered image once Harvey made his own. He does not believe the dead should continue to be glorified if they did something wrong.

he became a lawyer at the age of 26, and became district attorney at 30. he’s currently almost 32. and he is older than bruce.

His survival skills taught him how to be manipulative. While part of him does consider Bruce a friend, he’s mostly friends with Bruce for Bruce’s money, and the knowledge of what that money can do for a campaign. plus the fact bruce also seems to distrust most of gcpd.

he’s mentioned before that the same day the waynes were murdered, so was his father, and he hasn’t been allowed to see his mother in years. it’s part of how he got bruce to be his friend.

he has an ex wife, and a daughter. his disappointment that they only had one child and not twins led to a level of resentment which is what broke apart their marriage (and.. the fact they got married and had a child at 18 years of age) and he ignored Duella most of her early life. When he finally went to therapy (outside gotham, he travels to metropolis) and started medications, he found it easier to show her love and affection.. but by then it was a bit too late.

Present day, Duella is 13, and Harvey and her mother share 50/50 custody. in both houses, Duella has an ‘alter’ to ‘criminals’ she idolizes. He did not mind when she had the ‘alter’ to J/oker. He does mind now that she has one for R/iddler.

His medication is kept under lock and key now due to Duella, during the R/iddler streams, flushing all his medication down the toilet and trying to take and destroy his precious coin. Causing the back to be completely defaced. His ex refused to also sign off on therapy, since she’d need to keep up the visits to metropolis when duella was with him, so he sent duella back to her mother during the rest of the r/iddler streams. he does not take her to events. He will occasionally mention her, however, and does not try to keep her a secret. He does tell people she’s troubled, though, and has used asking for advice as a front for empathy towards him and his career.

[twcfaces]

"That's why I stuck around my dad. That's why I gave him chance after chance, Bruce. Because he did a few good things for me and I wanted that to be the truth. I wanted to believe in the good beneath all the bad."

Harvey closed his eye, and took a breath.

"Even after I became District Attorney, I was worried about him. I still saw him every once in a while, even when I should have given up. I even put some money towards his living situation so he wouldn't be in some goddamn flophouse somewhere. He didn't have Mom anymore, not for a long time, and I felt--- I guess I didn't want him to be alone either."

He wants to go back to sleep. It's so nice there, at least for a while.

"Now I'm hearing it from the other end. I never wanted to be like him. I didn't want to be like him, and every time I see that in myself, I want to die."

The hand gripping Bruce's hand is shaking, squeezing down.

"It hurt so bad to stay. I don't want you to hurt like that. I don't want--- just forget about me, Bruce, please."

But dad never cared about hurting him, did he?

@cxpedcrusxder from x

"Why the two of you care that some- mental case had a breakdown is beyond me."

Harvey could hardly stand the concern behind it all. Was he really that valuable? Was he really that important to the well-being of everyone around him?

"He's one of about three good cops left in Gotham. He should be concerned with that." he sighed, "And you... I hurt you, Bruce. I hurt a lot of people, and I can't even promise I won't do it again, or that I won't hurt myself again, or that I'm going to get any better at all."

He's on too many sedatives to be saying much about anything of consequence - merely variations on what he'd been saying since everything got so much worse.

The guilt is crippling. The fear that remains in him is shameful and ugly.

"I hate this more than I can tell you."

He squeezes Bruce's hand despite that.

[like-rain-or-confetti]

hi!! i love the henchman/villain trope so so much so i wanted to ask if u had any ideas for two-face and black mask with a henchman s/o? how/when did they know that it was love, etc? thank u sm, i love ur work! <3

SAME!!! VILLAIN AND HENCHMAN TROPE IS BEAUTIFUL 😍 Thank you so much for the kind words! ❤️

Two-Face: Harvey is often haunted by the images of his past. What his life was supposed to be. A district attorney who did right by the law, helping those in need get justice. Give a voice to the voiceless. After he was attacked, he knew his life was cracking at the seams. He wasn't the same man he was before and the was sharing his body with another. The other claimed to have been there since Harvey was young but Harvey tried to reject that. He wanted to live in the fantasy that his father was a good person but the other held secrets. Dark twisted things that Harvey couldn't remember but Harv' could. He remembered it all and the attack only brought him to the surface. Then Gilda left and his life shattered into pieces. The life he once had and desires was gone. His faith in justice- gone. His belief that the world really cared about saving the good and incarcerating the evil. The truth was darker, evil was in every shadow and Gotham was full of them. He became cynical. Nothing really mattered. Things happened or they didn't. It was as simple as...the flip of a coin. That certainly didn't change when you started working for him. At first, you were no different from everyone else. When he got to know you, he thought you to be a nice person. You valued him. You didn't just give him respect. You seemed to want his input. Not to mention you were honest. If you were afraid of him, you didn't show it. Somehow the dynamic opened him up more than he'd find comfortable. Turns out his guard didn't stand well to individuals who didn't cower from his looks and actually treated him like a human. After sometime of this, he speculated his feelings. He knew what it was like, he'd felt it before but how did he know it was love? He knew he loved you the moment he thought of what it would be like to have a normal life. The same picture of marriage, work, even children but this time it was you he exchanged rings with, it was you he had children with. It was you waiting for him to come home at nights. Steadily, you'd remind him of home.

Black Mask: The major indication was how he didn't treat you like the others he employed. He was nicer. That didn't mean he was nice in any way but he didn't seem ready to attack you like he did the others. When Roman fell in love, he didn't exactly know what to do or what it even was. His parents weren't very loving and dffectionate to each other, their marriage more of a business transaction than anything else. Not to mention they weren't very loving with their only child either. So love and affection was something of a stranger to Roman. So much so he didn't think it even existed. Sure he knew about lust and considered that to be very real so he assumed that's what love was- lust that was diluted and infantile. A silly game people played to make themselves feel better. So the closest he got to was acknowledging that he wanted to sleep with you. Yet he couldn't approach you like he could everyone else. No commitments, no attachments. Blunt and to the point. Yet he always held back, he'd make the flirtatious comment and certainly wasn't discreet when he checked you out but unlike the others, he never crossed that line. It felt wrong, like he was waiting for a sign that you'd want his attention. Somehow you mattered. So how did he know it was love? Technically he didn't but he nearly lost his damn mind when a particular job went wrong and there was mentions of a bomb going off. He had sent you there with a few others. Roman was freaking out for no one other than you. He demanded to know if you were hurt and every little detail. After that you his. No one was to even look at you the wrong way. Yet he couldn't explain it. Not for one second could he explain why he felt that way. He just did. You made everything better. You could calm him down, you stopped him spiralling. He could depend on you with everything. You were special to him and he didn't know why. He just has to protect you. Forever.

[prettyyoungandbored]

Becoming Mrs. Wayne [The Dark Knight] Six

Pairing: Christian Bale!Bruce Wayne x OC

Summary: Demetria Gallagher knew her cozy life would change the second she became engaged to Bruce Wayne. But what she doesn’t know is she’s getting more than what she agreed to. (I am trash at summaries.)

Warning: None

Taglist: dragonballluver disgraceful-marvel-trash barikawho (Let me know if you want to be tagged in this!)

Previous

The Gotham Post 

The Woman with the Ring: In Her Own Words

By Demetria Gallagher

Photograph provided by Demetria Gallagher.

There was a plan for how my fiancé, Bruce, and I would go about announcing our engagement. I’d put in my two weeks at work, would spend a week moving my stuff into his place, and then once things had settled, his publicist would send out a press release.

But someone else decided it was up to them to let the world know and unfortunately, that was something we didn’t plan for. To do this day, we still don’t know who leaked it to the press.

Since then, my time and energy had been spent in frustration and anger. I was angry at the person who robbed me and my fiancé of those last few weeks of enjoying a private relationship, who robbed me of a peaceful and controlled transition into a life in the public eye. 

I was also angry at the media, despite having worked for television networks as a junior talent booker for over a decade. My inboxes were now filled with people, including my former colleagues at GCN, trying to get me to do one-on-one interviews or asking me to confirm reports. A friend of mine had called to let me know The Gotham Times was doing a piece on me and was contacting everyone I had worked with, known, and loved. 

The next thing I know, a not-so-flattering picture of me yelling at a Gotham Times photographer is published. 

I have broken down, ranted, and spent my energy wondering why the hell I can’t be like any other thirty-something woman who gets engaged. 

Now, I’m tired. I’m tired of hiding and I’m tired of driving myself over something that’s inevitable. 

It’s not that I don’t understand. I do. I understand the curiosity. 

For years, you’ve watched Bruce Wayne grow up. You’ve watched him with some model or actress or socialite on his arm, each more beautiful than the next.

Then one morning, it’s revealed he’s engaged to some random woman - not a movie star or a model or socialite. Instead, it’s a woman who could’ve been your next-door-neighbor or just some woman you could easily pass by on the street. 

It’s then revealed this woman not only worked for a news network, but she’s also a close friend of Gotham City District Attorney Harvey Dent.

I understand the need of wanting to pick me and my life apart in order to figure out what it is about me that made a “playboy” want to settle down. 

That said, to the members of the press, here are some of the answers to your questions:

No, Harvey Dent and I never dated. There has never been nor will there ever be anything romantic between the two of us. He’s been my confidant since college and is someone I consider a member of my family.

There have been several reports about how Bruce and I met. One publication accused me of using my job to get Bruce’s number while another said I used my friendship Harvey to get to Bruce.

Both are false.

First, Bruce has people who handles his press as well as the press for Wayne Enterprises, which is something members of the media know very well. Those numbers are given out to the members of the press and believe me, if I couldn’t get a representative to come on as a guest for a show I sure as hell wouldn’t be able to get Bruce’s personal number.

Second, Harvey never actually met or conversed with Bruce until a couple weeks ago.

I met Bruce while I was out to lunch with Rachel Dawes, a friend of Harvey’s and Bruce’s. He stopped by the table to say “hello” to her and we exchanged quick pleasantries and that was it.

It wasn’t until Harvey’s fundraising gala last year (yes, that fundraiser where Bruce walked in all of the competing Miss America contestants) that Bruce and I had a conversation that extended outside pleasantries.

What happened after that is not much different from other most relationship begins. We talked and then went out on a date and things took off from there.

Why Bruce and I kept our relationship private goes beyond the impact it could’ve had on my career and it’s not the public or the media’s business to know. Our relationship is our relationship and our marriage will be our marriage. 

I carry that same attitude when it comes to my family. My family doesn’t owe the public any explanation about who I am or what I was like growing up. 

Instead of reporting on what I majored in college or who is in my close circle of friends, I encourage the media to instead report on the changes being made in Gotham City. Instead of analyzing my friendship with Harvey Dent, why not focus on his accomplishments and his tireless fight for safer streets? 

I know I won’t be able to control the narrative all the time and I will learn to accept that, but for now, I have shared what I feel is more than enough for the media and the public to have.

Until then, the ones who know and love me know I have nothing to prove to them and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters to me.

=======================================================

Demetria knew there would be intense coverage of her essay in the days that followed. She trusted ‘The Gotham Post’ editor-in-chief Edith Monroe to handle interviews regarding the essay.  

Harvey had given a statement to the press praising her, but had also sent her a personal text telling her how proud he was of her.

Bruce also released a statement stating he stood by her and quoted her by saying “Our relationship is our relationship and our marriage will be our marriage.”

While there were still moments of doubt and second guessing, the waves of relief and serenity that continuously washed over her were what solidified to her that she had made that right choice. She did, however, make mental reminders to herself to stay away from the television and the newspapers for the next few days and focus on her mental health.

[talkwithmarcy]

Batman: The Long Halloween Review (Spoilers)

I may be a day late to get into the Halloween spirit, but with the endless amount of free time I got, I can celebrate whenever.

So I’ve watched Batman: The Long Halloween a while ago, and overall I love the entirety of the movie, BUT the end makes me question the entirety of it. It’s one of those times where you’re like, “I love it but I would change one thing to make it better.” And I’ll get to that later. Keep in mind, the Long Halloween is originally from the comics, on from what people say, it was pretty accurate to the comics. But my review is based only on the movie, I haven’t seen the comics, so if I missed something or made comment that could be better if I DID read them, bear with me or just don’t read this.  But let’s get to it.

To give a summary, the movie is about Batman, Commissioner Jim Gordon and Harvey Dent a.k.a Two Face, trying to solve the mystery of who is Holiday, an anonymous serial killer who is eliminating the Falcones, a mob family in Gotham, in different holidays through out the year, starting from one particular Halloween night.

Other than mystery, the movie is a great origin story on how did Harvey Dent developed to become Two Face, from the scars to the split personality or DID.

In this movie, Harvey is a district attorney who has been fighting to turn the Falcone family in for their own crimes as a mob family. And from what it seems, it was going well, as it was shown in the beginning of the first movie, where one of the Falcone family members, Johnny Vitti, nephew of Carmine Falcone, head of the Falcone family, worked with Harvey and gave him a lead to put the Falcones away once and for all. However, things fell apart when Johnny was murdered on Halloween night. One by one, each family member or associates are killed in each holiday. And this lead to Harvey going through this internal conflict of whether he should still try to put the Falcones down, or work with Batman and Jim Gordon to save the Falcones. And this struggle went on through out the year, including the Falcones suspected that Harvey is Holiday and made several attempts to kill him, until everything ended when Harvey finally became Two Face, and killed Carmine in the next Halloween.

This movie did well in a sense of directing the audiences suspicions to Harvey, using his strong feelings on wanting to put the Falcones away as an reason for the murders, as well as showing Harvey’s torment and stress through out the story that caused him to develop Two Face. They portrayed his wavering faith and patience perfectly, down to how he decided to form an alliance with other villains near the end, and the bittersweet ending of him turning himself in was beautiful.

SPOILERS, it is NOT him, it was his wife, Gilda Dent.

In the movie, Gilda Dent wanted to kill the Falcones as justice for what they did to her, before she married Harvey. The story is that she got pregnant with Carmine’s son, and he was willing to get married with her right of the bat. But Carmine could not accept a child out of wedlock, and so he had the marriage annulled and killed her unborn child. This led to such a strong passion to wanting to end the Falcones, to the point where she moved to Gotham and married Harvey, the one man who she thought can give her what she wants. However, as Harvey was facing his own inner demons, she has grown tired of waiting and decided to take matters into her own hands. From the entirety of the movie, it seems Harvey is unaware of her past and her desire, and so he was also unaware that his own wife is the serial killer.

There’s 2 things that I REALLY don’t understand in the movie, and here’s why.

The first one is Gilda as a serial killer that a mob family or Batman could not get rid of or catch. You’re trying to tell me that this normal woman, who has no combat skills or fighting experience whatsoever, from what the movie showed, was able to eliminate this powerful family one by one and never got caught? She killed a bunch of assassins in one night, in the same room, with nothing but one hand gun. Not even a rifle, just a handgun.

And considering the number of assassins that was available in the room, there should be SOME of them that are able to take her down, while she’s busy killing the other, right? 3 of these assassins are skilled enough to cause Batman trouble, to the point where he needs Catwoman’s help. But they couldn’t beat this one average woman in a trench coat and one handgun that will probably take a little time to reload, are you kidding me?

I absolutely hate it when stories kind of make the characters slow to give another character advantages or to create conflict. Like the live action Maleficent, the movies are great but this woman can turn any person helpless by turning them into animals or manipulate nature. So after watching her fight with King Stephan and Queen Ingrith, I’m always left with the feeling of, “why didn’t you just do that earlier?” This type of thing makes the characters look dumb and not very resourceful, and it just takes away the impact of the story. But back to Batman.

The 2nd thing that I have problem with is what makes me question the ENTIRE story, and it just doesn’t make sense. It is the fact that Gilda decides to kill the Falcones by herself, AT ALL.

She wants justice from the Falcone that ruined her life, and that’s the entire reason of why she moved to Gotham and married Harvey. She was gonna let Harvey do the work FOR her. But the reason why she became Holiday is because she thought that Harvey was taking too long. HOWEVER, in the very BEGINNING of the first movie, her FIRST victim, Johnny Vitti

was HELPING Harvey to put the Falcones away, which was what SHE WANTED. She ruined Harvey and became a criminal, WHEN SHE DIDN’T HAVE TO, all because she was impatient.

And maybe you guys will probably try to say, “oh well, maybe she wasn’t aware on Harvey’s progress in the case.” But the woman was able to know who and kill a bunch of assassins associated with the Falcones in one room, being able to break into a building unknowingly where she killed Carmine’s sister without guards knowing and sneak her blood-covered body in an elevator, sneaked onto a mob family’s yacht and successfully ran away from Batman in a getaway boat, etc. She not only has a strong desire and obviously SOME skills to end the Falcones, but she even decided to kill them one by one in EACH holiday, giving them no holiday to celebrate or remain happy. With her obsession and somewhat sadistic method to destroy the family, you’d THINK she was able to research or find SOME way to know that Harvey was SO CLOSE to giving her what she wants.

But either way, I still love the movie, Harvey’s internal conflict and his origin story is portrayed very well, as well as how they kept up the mystery of who Holiday is. The only things that I would change is just the inconsistency of the abilities or the intelligence of the characters.

[docgold13]

Batman: The Animated Series - Paper Cut-Out Portraits and Profiles

Candice 

The righthand woman to mobster, Rupert Thorne, Candice was a shrewd and ambitious criminal with eyes to take over her boss’ empire.  Far and away Thorne’s most competent operative, Candice hatched a scheme to neutralize the threat posed by the intrepid district attorney, Harvey Dent.  She discovered Dent was seeing a psychotherapist and broke into the doctor’s office to pilfer her session notes.  These notes showed Dent was suffering from significant psychological difficulties and Thorne used the matter in an attempt to blackmail Dent. This resulted in a disastrous turn of events that led to Dent becoming the villain known as Two-Face.  

As Two-Face waged his war against Thorne’s operations, Candice hatched a new scheme to take him down.  She posed as a police detective and convinced Dent’s fiancée, Grace LaMont, to alert her if Dent ever contacted her.  Believing she was doing the right thing, LaMont did so and this allowed Thorne and his men to get the drop on Two-Face.   Fortunately, Batman arrived in time to prevent any bloodshed.  An infuriated Grace LaMont belted Candice, knocking her out.  

Somehow Candice managed to avoid any serious jail time and was soon back to serving at Thorne’s side.  Yet she had grown tired of being a second and seized at an opportunity to take Thorne out and replace him as the boss.  

Thorne had brought in the mercenary called Bane to take out Batman.  Candice was assigned to act as Bane’s handler and she cozied up to the villain suggesting that, once he had taken out Batman, the two of them would be able to take over Gotham on their own.  Bane was intrigued by this notion.  

Batman ultimately bested Bane, throwing the defeated villain at Thorne’s feet.  Furthermore, Batman provided tape-recorded evidence of Candice’s plot to use Bane to betray Thorne.  This was the last Candice was seen and it remains unknown what ultimately became of her.  

Actress Diane Michelle provided the voice for the duplicitous femme fatale, first appearing in the seventeenth episode of the first season of Batman: The Animated Series, ‘Two-Face Part One.’   

[ljones41]

"THE DARK KNIGHT RISES" (2012) Review

"THE DARK KNIGHT RISES" (2012) Review Seven years after it had begun, Christopher Nolan's three-movie saga about the D.C. Comics character, Batman, finally came to an end. The saga that began with 2005's "BATMAN BEGINS", ended with 2012's "THE DARK KNIGHT RISES".

The trilogy’s third film, set seven years after 2008's "THE DARK KNIGHT", began with the aerial kidnapping of a nuclear scientist by an escaped terrorist named Bane. The scene shifted to Gotham City, where a fund-raiser was being held at Wayne Manor. The only person missing was millionaire Bruce Wayne, who had given up his vigilante activities as Batman after claiming he had murdered former District Attorney Harvey Dent. During the fundraiser, Bruce caught a maid breaking into his private safe. She turned out to be a resourceful cat burglar named Selina Kyle. Aside from a necklace that once belonged to Bruce's late mother, Selina did not steal any other object from the safe. Curious over Selina's actions, Bruce resumed his Batman alter ego and tracked down Selina. He discovered that she had been hired by a rival corporate CEO named John Daggett to lift and steal his fingerprints. Bruce also learned that Daggett had hired the terrorist Bane to attack Gotham's stock exchange and bankrupt Wayne Enterprises. And along with Police Commissioner James Gordon and Wayne Enterprises executive Lucius Fox, Bruce also discovered that Bane was a former member of the League of Shadows and planned to continue Henri Ducard's (aka Ra's al Ghul) goal of Gotham City's destruction. Bruce asked fellow millionaire Miranda Tate to take control of Wayne Enterprises to ensure that Daggett and Bane will not gain control of their clean energy project, a device designed to harness fusion power. Re-reading the above made me realize that Christopher and Jonathan Nolan had created a very complicated plot. For me, the plot became even more complicated two-thirds into the movie. "THE DARK KNIGHT RISES" obviously exists under the shadow of its two predecessors - "BATMAN BEGINS" and "THE DARK KNIGHT". I would say that this especially seemed to be the case for the 2005 movie. Batman and James Gordon's decision to lie about the circumstances behind Harvey Dent's death in the second movie had a minor impact upon this third movie. But Bruce's relationship and later conflict with Ra's al Ghul seemed to be the driving force behind his conflict with Bane in this third film. I had heard rumors that Christopher Nolan was initially reluctant to make a third BATMAN movie. Personally, I found that rumor a bit hard to believe, considering how "THE DARK KNIGHT" ended with Batman accepting the blame for Harvey Dent's crimes and death. But there were certain aspects of the script he wrote with his brother Jonathan that made me wonder if he had truly been reluctant. There were certain aspects of "THE DARK KNIGHT RISES" that I found troubling. It seemed a pity that the second movie ended with Batman and Jim Gordon's decision to lie about the circumstances behind Dent's death. I found their decision annoying back in 2008 and I still do. The impact behind their lie proved to be hollow. It merely kept Batman off Gotham City's streets and led Mayor Anthony Garcia and the city to pass a strong anti-criminal law that proved to be hollow following Bane's arrival in Gotham City. I also found Bane's mid-air kidnapping of a nuclear scientist and escape from a U.S. marshal (portrayed by Aidan Gillen) rather somewhat idiotic. I understood that Bane needed that scientist to weaponize the Wayne Enterprise device.  But I never understood why that U.S. marshal failed to take the trouble to identify the hooded prisoner (Bane) before boarding the plane.  In the end, the movie's opening sequence struck struck me as unnecessarily showy. Was this the Nolan brothers' way of conveying Bane's role as a badass to the audience? If so, I was too busy trying to comprehend the villain's dialogue to care. I understood why Batman had not been seen in Gotham for so long. But what was the reason behind Bruce Wayne's disappearance from the public eye?  His physical state was not really that severe.  Rachel Dawes' death? Rachel's death did not stop him from going after the Joker and Harvey Dent in the last movie's half hour. Was it an injured leg? How did he injured it? And why did Gotham's citizens failed to put two-and-two together, when both Bruce and Batman finally appeared in the public eye a day or two apart after many years? The only person who managed to discover Bruce's alter ego - namely Officer John Blake - did so through a contrived reason. For me, the movie's real misstep proved to be Bane's three-month control over Gotham City. As a former member of Henri Ducard's League of Shadows, he planned to achieve his former leader's goal of destroying Gotham City. And he planned to use Wayne Enterprise's energy device to achieve this. One - why not simply build or snatch his own nuclear device? Why go through so much trouble to get his hands on the energy device? Why did Wayne Enterprises create a device that not only saved energy, but could be used as a bomb, as well? And why did it take three months before the device could become an effective bomb? The Nolans' script could have frustrated Bane's attempts to acquire the bomb during that three-month period . . . or anything to spare the audiences of that second-rate version of the French Resistance. The latter scenario seemed so riddled with bad writing that it would take another article to discuss it. And what was the point of the presence of Juno Temple's character Jen? What was she there for, other than being Selina's useless and cloying girlfriend? And Wayne Enterprises executive Lucius Fox was last seen declaring his intentions to leave the corporation for good, following Batman's misuse of cell phones in "THE DARK KNIGHT". In this movie, he is back, working for Wayne Enterprises. What made him change his mind? But not all was lost. I found Bruce's introduction to Selina Kyle very entertaining and sexy. Even better, the incident served as Batman's re-introduction to Gotham City and allowed him to discover Bane's plans regarding Wayne Enterprises and the energy device. One of the more interesting consequences of "THE DARK KNIGHT" proved to be Rachel Dawes' last letter to Bruce. Its revelation by Alfred Pennyworth after seven years led to an emotional quarrel between the millionaire and the manservant and their estrangement. At first, I had balked at the idea of Bane carrying out Ra's al Ghul's original goal to destroy Gotham. After all, why would he continue the plans of the very person who had him kicked out of the League of Shadows? But a surprising plot twist made Bane's plan plausible . . . even when I continue to have problems with his three-month occupation of Gotham. Many critics had lamented the lack of Heath Ledger's Joker in the movie. As much as I had appreciated and enjoyed Ledger's performance in the 2008 movie, I did not need or wanted him in "THE DARK KNIGHT RISES". Tom Hardy's performance as the terrorist Bane was good enough for me. Mind you, I found it difficult to understand some of his dialogue. And when I did, he sounded like the late Sean Connery. But I cannot deny that Bane made one scary villain, thanks to Hardy's performance and intimidating presence. Before I saw the movie, I never understood the need for Marion Cotillard's presence in the film. I thought her character, Miranda Tate, would merely be a bland love interest for Bruce. Not only did Cotillard ended up providing a subtle and intelligent performance from the actress, her Miranda Tate proved to be important to the story as the co-investor in the energy device and for the plot twist in the end. "THE DARK KNIGHT RISES" provided some solid performances from other members of the cast. Matthew Modine shined as the ambitious and arrogant Assistant Police Commissioner Peter Foley, who proved to be capable of character development. Another solid performance came from Brett Cullen, who portrayed a lustful congressman that had the bad luck to cross paths with Selina Kyle. Both Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman continued their excellent performances as Bruce Wayne's "heart" and "mind", manservant Alfred Pennyworth and Wayne Enterprises executive Lucius Fox. In the end, the movie was fortunate to benefit from four outstanding performances. One came from Gary Oldman's excellent portrayal of the now weary, yet determined police commissioner, James Gordon. His guilt over the Harvey Dent lie and discovery of Batman's true identity provided Oldman with some of his best moments in the trilogy. Another came from Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who was superb as Gotham City beat cop John Blake. The actor did a wonderful job of balancing Officer Blake's intelligence, passion for justice and disgust toward the bureaucracy. When I learned that Anne Hathaway would end up being the fifth actress to portray Selina Kyle aka Catwoman, I must admit that I had my doubts. Then I remembered that Hathaway was an Oscar nominee, who has also done action before. Watching her sexy, yet complicated performance as the complex cat burglar removed all of my doubts. She was superb and her sizzling screen chemistry with star Christian Bale made me wish Selina had been Bruce's love interest throughout the movie. Speaking of Bruce Wayne, Bale returned to portray the Caped Crusader for the third and final time. I must admit that I found his performance more subtle and complex than his performances in the previous two movies. Bale did an excellent job in re-creating a slightly aging Bruce Wayne/Batman, who found himself faced with a more formidable opponent. I was a little disappointed to see that "THE DARK KNIGHT RISES" lacked the Chicago exteriors of the 2008 movie. In the end, Gotham City resembled a collection of American and British cities. But I cannot deny that I found Wally Pfister's photography very eye catching. And Hans Zimmer's entertaining score brought back memories of his earlier work in both the 2005 and 2008 movies. I have a good deal of complaints about "THE DARK KNIGHT RISES". It is probably my least favorite entry in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. For me, the movie's main problem centered around the script written by Nolan and his brother Jonathan. But despite its flaws, the movie still managed to be both entertaining and intriguing. It also has an excellent cast led by the always superb Christian Bale. It was not perfect, but "THE DARK KNIGHT RISES" did entertain me.

[rose---child]

Imagine a Batman au where Harley Quinn was a performer and preformed in a troop with robin. And at some point harley left the troop and went into getting her phd. That’s where she met ivy when they were both in uni as students and soon they feel in love. Fast forward to harley post getting a PhD and she’s really one of the best in her field. Soon harley gets asked by Arkham asylum to help evaluate the mental state of the prisoners.

Arkham is run by commissioner Gordon, a detective that goes by the alas “the Batman”, and Harvey Dent the district attorney. Harvey has connections with the crime world, and by connections I mean he runs the crime world and the world of law.

There’s a stand up comedian who starts developing an ego and he starts dressing in clown getup and dawns the name the joker and his jokes start to pivot to making fun of the circus but his mind was pivoting to manipulation. So far he hasn’t had issues in his apartment building where he lives but one day he decides he wants to lower his rent but he didn’t realize the place was owned by the mafia.

So his landlord, alias called “the scarecrow”, shoots his feet, ties him up and gives him laughing gas. Harvey hears about this man and hes arrested and the comedian gets quiet in a tacky purple oversized blazer. He’s first contacted and interrogated by the detective “Batman” and the joker tells what apartment he lives in and how he remembered he wanted to lower his rent since not enough money was comin in. He also remembered some gas tanks of some kind.

Next Harley interviewed him and he just sat there in horror. See when he was going to write a new batch of jokes for his routine he did some research on some of the greats of the circus and Harley Quinn kept popping up and she was incredible at acrobatics and gymnastics and she usually had a jesters getup and a giant mallet. He heard she left being a harlequin performer and got her PhD but he never thought a person that actually was a subject of his jokes would be someone he met. Harley asked him how’s he’s feeling, he said nothing. After a while Harley gets up to leave and he goes “do you miss it?” She stops in confusion “miss what?” “The circus”. She goes and sits back down “so you know who I am?” “Well yes I mean you’re one of the greats” “one of the greats!??? Huh that’s weird I never seen or heard that but what do I know” He then begins crying “I’m a fool I based my whole show on making fun of the circus and I never realized how foolish that was until now”. Harley just sat because she doesn’t know his material and only knows he’s a comedian as a profession.

The Joker starts to sob and cry and this doesn’t stop but eventually she says she’ll be back later to check up on him. Once she’s out of the room she stares at the wall and says to herself “what the fuck”. She tells her findings to detective Batman and he says that doesn’t really help but he’s glad he has some empathy.

Batman uses bats as his symbolism due to a accident in his youth, he’s a detective for the same reason but for a different event. When he was a kid he feel in a well and had to live with bats which he was fearful of. Why he’s a detective is due to him see his parents killed by a mugger on the way home one night. Young Bruce Wayne was raised by his butler and they use the estates wealth to help the local orphanage. Once he became a detective he was investigating a circus tent that was abandoned since there was suspicious activity around there. All he found was a young abandoned boy that is a trapèze artist. His troop accidentally left him behind and they said they aren’t coming back for him since they were ran out of town. Batman offered to adopt dick Grayson and give him residences at his manor.

Later he read through the notes Harley gave him and he realized they both used to be in the same troupe so he needed to ask her to help her figure this out

[aion-rsa]

Batman ’89: What Happened Next in the Burtonverse After Batman Returns

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This Batman article contains spoilers.

Tim Burton’s original vision for Gotham City and the Dark Knight are returning to the forefront of the DC Universe in more ways than one this year. Not only is Michael Keaton back in the cape and cowl for The Flash movie, which is currently filming in the UK for a late 2022 release, but DC is also releasing a sequel comic to Batman ’89 this week. No, this isn’t Batman Returns but a brand new continuation of the Burtonverse from Batman ’89‘s original screenwriter Sam Hamm and artist Joe Quinones that “pulls on a number of threads left dangling” by Burton, all while recreating the singular look and feel of the movies, down to Keaton’s iconic Batsuit and Batmobile as well as all of the cool gadgets and Gothic architecture.

This six-issue miniseries is a big deal — not just for fans of the Burtonverse and Keaton but for the creators themselves. You may already know the story of how “Batman II” eventually became the divisive Batman Returns: after delivering a box office smash, Burton and Hamm were quickly tapped to make a sequel, but the filmmakers disagreed on the direction the next movie should take, leading to the director replacing Hamm with Daniel Waters (Heathers), who churned out something much darker and sans Robin, the Boy Wonder. With the Batman ’89 comic, Hamm gets to finally deliver his own take on what happened next.

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As for Quinones, this comic wouldn’t exist without his designs for the book, which he originally pitched to DC in 2015 with writer Kate Leth. Revealed on his blog in 2016 were designs for Harvey Dent’s transformation into Two-Face, the debut of Batgirl and Marlon Wayans’ Robin (finally!), and even the return of Catwoman — all of which will finally come to pass in the new miniseries, according to DC Comics.

But how are all of these big moments set up in the comic? Batman ’89 #1, out this week, begins to set the stage for an interesting new future for the Burtonverse. Spoilers ahead…

Batman ’89 picks up after both Burton movies, effectively the director’s “Batman III” if such a wonderful thing existed. After the Joker’s death and Penguin’s demise, things in Gotham City are worse than ever, as the Dark Knight’s crusade seems only to lead to more crime. We’re treated to chaos on the streets from the opening panels of the book, which are set on Halloween night, as the remnants of the Joker Gang and Penguin’s Red Triangle Gang loot stores, mug citizens, and attempt to hijack two armored cars full of cash with a cargo helicopter. In fact, it’s after the Caped Crusader thwarts the Joker Gang’s helicopter, sending it crashing into a building, and leaving several citizens dead or critically injured and millions of dollars in damages, that Gotham DA Harvey Dent decides he’s had enough.

Meant to evoke the endless charm and swagger of Billy Dee Williams, who played the character in the first movie but didn’t return for the sequel, Dent is finally given the spotlight he deserved decades ago. In Batman ’89, he’s a man on his own crusade.

After Dent watching the destruction and chaos of the opening panels from the streets after a romantic dinner with GCPD Sergeant Barbara Gordon, whom he’s just proposed to (!), he decides it’s actually the Batman’s reign of terror that needs to be stopped. Dent thinks it’s a vigilante operating outside of the law that has bred even more crime and death in his city. Although Batman swore to protect Gotham in his letter to Dent at the end of the first movie, the violence that’s erupted in his wake has left the city under siege, forcing the National Guard to come in to patrol the streets. A curfew has been put in place, while the soldiers hunt down the Batman.

The first issue raises some big questions about Keaton’s Batman that would have made for captivating big-screen drama. Early on, the comic asks whether the Dark Knight is ultimately doing more harm than good in Gotham, where citizens now dress up as Batman or the Joker and fight each other in the streets. But a grumpy Bruce Wayne (he’s also graying) stubbornly stands by his convictions during a meeting with Dent, who visits Wayne Manor to ask for Bruce’s help in taking down the Batman. Like in the movies, the duality of the character of Bruce Wayne is front and center in the comic, with the billionaire befriending people in power during the day while working against them as Batman at night.

The book also plays up Wayne’s friendship with Dent because it will likely be a key factor in Dent’s transformation into Two-Face. While the beloved district attorney is still one of the good guys by the end of the first issue, the ingredients for Dent’s fall from grace are already in place. There’s the trick coin he uses to make his own luck (given its own origin story that beckons back to Harvey’s childhood in the streets of Burnside), his marriage to Barbara Gordon that will likely never come to pass, his anger at Batman and Bruce (who is hesitant to help Harvey), and the way he threatens two Joker thugs with a gun — although he’s only trying to scare them, we see that the district attorney is willing to get his hands dirty, not unlike Christopher Nolan’s own version of the character.

How does Dent’s war on Batman begin? By deposing the Caped Crusader’s greatest ally in Gotham City, Commissioner Jim Gordon (resembling Pat Hingle). Gordon faces a vote of no confidence after the violence on Halloween, while Dent and Detective Bullock try to lure Batman into a trap with the Bat Signal, which has to be repaired every couple of weeks because beat cops keeps smashing it. No, Batman doesn’t have many friends left without Gordon. We do see their friendship flourish after two movies-worth of crime-fighting, though. The comic even addresses Gordon’s connection to Bruce’s origin story, which feels like a nod to what Keaton hoped would be the subject of Batman III if it had happened.

By the end of the issue, Batman is once again a wanted man in his own city, and when he runs afoul of another major character, he finds himself directly in the National Guard’s crosshairs. Yes, the issue sets the stage for the debut of the Burtonverse’s Robin, who ambushes the Dark Knight while protecting another kid who stole diapers and baby food for his little sister.

Here is the most direct connection to Hamm’s script for Batman II and what would have been Marlon Wayans’ portrayal of Robin, as well as the book’s most intriguing reinvention. In Hamm’s screenplay, Dick Grayson is introduced as a young Black orphan surviving in the streets with the help of his martial arts skills. In the comic, Grayson has donned his own disguise — a hooded black cape and a yellow face mask — to help the poorest of Gotham, and there are some interesting elements at play here that I would have liked to see on screen, especially the depiction of Robin as a hero trying to save those that the Batman seems to forget while fighting flamboyant villains and stopping heists in Gotham’s more affluent neighborhoods.

Some readers have long criticized the character as not only an example of “copaganda,” despite all the crooked police officers working in the GCPD, but also of a very wealthy guy beating up and maiming poor people. Robin’s debut as someone fighting for those Batman’s war on crime neglects seems like a way to talk about (or at least acknowledge) some of the deeper systemic issues in Gotham that the Caped Crusader can’t fight with his fists. This examination, coupled with Dent’s own crusade, even as worries that he needs to “hide his real face” to fit in with the elite and affect change for places like Burnside, would have been revolutionary back then and feels more relevant than ever now.

It remains to be seen whether the six-issue miniseries will really lean into this type of commentary, but issue one is a promising start for a modern reinvention of the Burtonverse, even as it packs in the nostalgia and imagines what could have been had Keaton’s Batman been given a trilogy.

The post Batman ’89: What Happened Next in the Burtonverse After Batman Returns appeared first on Den of Geek.

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Teen Titans Spotlight #13: Cyborg

What are the two faces of evil? Cyborg's two halves? The two different houses Cyborg is climbing into at the same time? The gun and not the gun? The two cats in the painting? Probably Two-face?

Oh! I just understood this! I figured the chrome was Cyborg's face and the green was Two-Face's face. I thought maybe the pink was the other half of Two-Face's face but I couldn't figure out the other one until I finally started discussing black super heroes! I blame the lighting in my office and/or the colorist because the Victor "face" just seemed gold to me.

Two-Face sees Cyborg on television recognizes himself on a completely superficial level. But the superficiality is the point! He sees that Cyborg is accepted as a hero while he's seen as a monster. Maybe if Harvey Dent had become half sleek and shiny instead of half gross and disgusting, people would have accepted him and he could have gone on being a district attorney. But then it's also not the point because Two-Face understands that the people see Cyborg's deeds before they see his deformities (I probably would never refer to Cyborg's robotic parts as deformities but when you see some nice alliteration flashing its genitals in your face, you just got to put that shit in your mouth and go with it). And that's sort of the problem. Two-Face saw himself as a monster and thus began acting like one. Cyborg may think of himself as a monster from time to time but he doesn't let it stop him from making the world a better place. Harvey just uses his deformity as an excuse to not give a fuck anymore.

"We need an ad that declares 'Little kids who build our models fuck!"

I know I've suggested a ton of ways I'd use a time machine if I had access to one but I think I just came up with the thing I'd do first. I'd go back in time and tell the MPC model car company to get a different advertiser because I think their current one is a total pedo. Victor goes on a date with some woman named Cynthia Adams. I'd probably remember who she was if I didn't constantly fall asleep reading Cyborg comic books. I'm fairly certain I've used that line before but it's also possible I've just dreamed it every time I've fallen asleep reading a Cyborg comic. After the date, Victor doesn't score but mostly because Cynthia was being modest and chaste and instead of saying, "Show me that cyber-weenie, you sexy hunk of metal!", she just lets him go while secretly hoping he comes back to ravish her.

If she wasn't so thirsty, she never would have buzzed Two-Face right up!

Two-Face kidnaps Cynthia and uses the threat of her death to make Cyborg do what Harvey wants. Two-Face is all, "They'll see! There's no difference between us! None at all! Except maybe the kidnapping. And the obsessive coin flipping. And all the crimes. The only people hate me is because I'm not hot! But I'm a nice guy to! They'll see! They'll all see!" Cyborg's first task is to sneak into a woman's room and get his next task on a note under her alarm clock. But when the alarm goes off and she catches him, she calls him a monster! After escaping, Victor Stone doesn't think, "Fucking Two-Face. He made me scare the shit out of that woman by breaking into her house and startling her awake! Of course she was scared and called me a monster! Fuck, at least she didn't call me the n-word!" Instead, Victor thinks, "My name is Victor Stone. I am not a monster." Damn. Two-Face's plan is really going to work, isn't it?!

I'm perplexed as to why Cyborg begins jerking off in this panel.

While arguing with himself, Harvey admits that they first began calling themselves a monster. So the entire experiment is flawed! Two-Face wants to be able to blame his monstrous tendencies on the people who called him a monster because of the way he looked. So he's going to get Victor called a monster multiple times in one night and Victor will obviously snap! Who wouldn't?! I remember when I was called fat in junior high all those times while being fat that I became fat. No wait. Maybe that was somebody else. Nobody made fun of me because I was so fucking disconnected from what was going on around me that I never noticed. There were way better targets in junior high than me! I just went around telling everybody about how awesome Elfquest was. And they were all, "Really, fatty? Can I read your copy?" And I was all, "Sure! See you at the D&D game at lunch!"

I know I'm supposed to be reading this as if it took place in 1987 where you were supposed to think it was the robot half that everybody was afraid of and judging as a criminal. But this is 2019 and, well.

Imagine how short this issue would have been if Cyborg was connected to the Internet or had an internal cell phone. He must have had some internal gadget that could page Nightwing or the Gotham Police that he simply forgot about in the moment. Oh no, of course not. What am I thinking?! This is the era where Cyborg's only attachment was the white noise cannon! Cyborg finally confronts Two-Face on page 23 because this story is 25 pages long! Wow, I thought I was yawning a lot more than usual, even for a Cyborg story. Anyway, Two-Face declares he killed Cynthia thirty minutes ago because he totally read Watchmen and was all, "Oh fuck. That's a cool line. I am so using it some day!" But even that doesn't convince Cyborg to kill Two-Face. And while it means Two-Face gets to live, it also means Two-Face has to live with himself and the knowledge that maybe he was the real monster all along. Surprise! It wasn't society at all! Even though we all know it actually is society. People are fucking terrible. Surprise again! Cynthia was in a Two-Face mask and Two-Face was trying to get Cyborg to kill her! What a dumby! Hasn't he learned anything from Batman? If a hero doesn't kill, the hero doesn't kill! Sure, if this was Red Hood, Cynthia would be a fucking bullet sponge right now. But that's because he's expected to kill! How often does a hero who doesn't kill suddenly start killing? If you discount Hal Jordan. And Green Arrow. And Black Lightning. And Wonder Woman. And Black Canary. And Guy Gardner. And Fire. And Starman. And Obsidian. And Dr. Fate. And Black Canary. And, you know what, maybe this is too many ands for my initial premise to remain valid. Never mind. The issue ends with Two-Face realizing the problem wasn't "Cyborg could have been Two-Face" but that "Two-Face could have been Cyborg." Live with it, asshole. Teen Titans Spotlight #13: Cyborg Rating: B. I often tout Cyborg as boring because writers always simply do the same things with him. And while this is still another "Am I human?!" story arcs, at least it had a nice twist in that Cyborg plays off of a villain that you wouldn't have expected. Usually the writer brings in another character that's part robotic so that Cyborg can see his own humanity through the flaws of his foe. But has a writer ever thought, "Hey! Cyborg and Two-Face look fairly similar. I bet there's a story there?" Well, at least one did! And I'm happy to say they made a fairly decent go of it. Although wouldn't it have been nice if this story had been the last word on Cyborg's anxiety about how human he is?! Man, what if this was all the therapy he needed and for the next thirty years, DC audiences had been given a healthy Cyborg who would always be, "Oh yeah, I'm part robot! But I'm still all human! Want to fuck, baby?!" I miss that Cyborg that never existed.