#this is why gotham knights is such a dream game to me. NO BATMAN

[gothamcityneedsme]

most disappointing thing ever: the play as robin dlc does a long extended flashback where i play as batman.  smh. 

[simpingforheros]

Bring Me To Life

Pairing: Arkham Knight!Jason Todd x Female! Reader

Summary: Destroy the Batman and get his companion back? Jason almost didn't believe Slade until... Warnings: Usage of female pronouns, Nudity (NO smut), Swearing, Character Death, Angst, Resurrection, Infantization ( I didn't know how to better describe this), Unhealthy relationship dynamics, Kinda Dark/Obsessive! Jason, Mentions Electroshock therapy, Implied Brainwashing, Slade being a creep, Mentions of Drug Abuse, Mentions of Child Neglect, Mentions of Child Homelessness and unsafe situations, SPOILERS for Death in the Family (Comic 1988) and Arkham Knight.

Author's Note: Hiya Everyone, This is the first fanfic I've written in a while and the christianing fic for this account. I may start a casual little series with this, but I don't know yet. Also any comic and game inaccuracies are either because I forgot or I adjusted it to fit the story.

Also while this post is mostly safe for work, MINORS DNF AND PLEASE READ WARNINGS. I DO NOT AUTHORIZE ANYONE TO STEAL MY WORK OR REPOST IT ON OTHER SITES.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It was supposed to be him...

Those dark nights he had spent alone on the streets as a child didn't seem so bad looking back on it. Jason understood struggle even when he had lived with his parents who spent grocery money on alcohol and drugs. Living on the streets didn't feel so much worse, especially since he had... "Jason, Mr. Accetta gave me some scraps from dinner rush today! There's even a whole pizza in here!"

Her. His one friend had since he was thrown into this harsh world. She was the only person he knew at the time to never stop smiling or finding a positive outlook on things. He couldn't even remember when they met, but he could hardly remember them being apart.

Whether he was stealing or fighting, she was there as a faithful lookout or a willing accomplice. She taught him how to take tires off of cars like her granddad taught her and he taught her how to throw a punch like his dad used to throw. An unstoppable duo who ran the alley as well as two 11-year-olds could.

The harsh winter nights they spent crowding together were his favorite memories from that time. Even with the bite of Gotham's winds at their toes, his partner would never falter to talk about anything and everything as he listened. She would talk about her dead grandparents a lot and all the stories she had with them before they passed away, but his mind couldn't recall them at all. He just remembers the constant dream that she told him every night.

"One day, Jay, I'm gonna have enough money and get an apartment in Old Gotham..." Jason's nose turns up as he listens to his friend as he bites on his food. "Why Old Gotham? Isn't it just falling apart?"

She giggles as she pulls the oversized coat closer to her shivering body. The jacket was from a relative but the fabric lost those memories as its fibers were now bones. She still had it even after she left the streets...

"Because it's the most beautiful place in the world...I will get an apartment someday and you and I will live there. We can even get like a cat or something."

The familiar burn on Jason's face blooms as he asks, "Why would you want me there?"

"Because it wouldn't be my dream home unless you're there with me."

He wouldn't find out until a few years later that her grandparents used to live in Old Gotham until her grandfather died and her grandmother had to move as she would unknowingly follow her husband not even a year later...

Those nights in the streets melted into nights spent in the warmth of Wayne manor. As the two thieves became kings after a faithful night with the Batmobile, Jason was brought into the world of crime fighting along with his closest friend. As they trained and donned their capes, She would show a new side of herself to Jason. The overly happy young girl from the streets became an anxious teenager as he became angerier.

"Jason..." Her voice woke him up in the darkest of nights. His body ached from the nightly fights from the previous day as he turned to see a familiar sight.

A now 14-year-old Y/N standing in the crack of the door. Her fidgeting figure indicated all he needed to know before he raised his blanket as she scurried to get in the bed. This was a ritual that started when they moved in. Both would grow anxious at night as they went from the open streets to a large, confining manor. Alfred almost had given up on trying to scold the teens as they were found sharing a bed more times than being separated.

As she curled into his side as much as she could without hurting him, he could practically hear her mind tinkering as her E/C eyes stared into his chest.

There wasn't the need to discuss what was on her mind. At least not right now. She was concerned about the growing tension between Bruce and Jason. He was becoming reckless and Bruce was having none of it with her often getting dragged into the middle of the fights.

He hated that he never tried more...

It shouldn't have surprised him when all the conflict had finally caused a break in the family. Especially when Jason began looking for his birth mother. Y/N tried to be supportive of him as he investigated his leads. Those leads eventually led to Jason reuniting with Bruce as he investigated a possible arms trade in Lebanon. The reconciliation and the prospect of finding his mother left him blind to any form of common sense, but what kind of common sense could a fifteen-year-old make in the life they lived?

He should have listened to her concerns when they finally found Sheila Haywood, his real mother. Y/N had a bad feeling from the start but he dismissed her worries. Jason had no clue that the night he was supposed to meet with Sheila was gonna end up being one of the worst nights of his life....

"Jason, maybe you should wait for Bruce to be here so he can come with you." She suggested softly.

His eyes roll as he adjusts his costume. "Because it's none of his business. I'm just meeting with my mom and talking out some stuff..."

He didn't tell her about the blackmailing he witnessed earlier that day between his mother and the Joker. But, he would find out later that she already knew about it through Bruce.

Her hand reaches for his shoulder and pulls him around to face her. "I'm serious. You shouldn't meet with a woman you barely know in some fucking warehouse in the middle of nowhere!"

Jason can remember the hurt he felt when he heard her snap at him, Oh, how angry he got with her when all she wanted was to protect him. He remembers yelling at her the worst thing he thought he could say to her.

Why the fuck did he ever say that to her?

"I'm sorry your parents didn't want anything to fucking do with you, but I'm not gonna let your bitter ass ruin my shot to be with mine."

He remembers the hurt that filled her eyes and the string of regret pooling in his gut. With a fake smile on her face and tears pooling in her eyes, Y/N says softly,

"Okay...I'm sorry," The sharp sting in his neck as she pressed the vial of sedatives Bruce gave her into his veins. "I'm sorry to do this, Jason, but Bruce said you wouldn't go down that easily."

Jason couldn't remember what he said after the spark of betrayal hit him, but he hated himself that the last time he saw those eyes they were clouded with the tears he caused....

"Y/N! Please talk to me!" Jason begs into the coms as he rod on the back of the motorbike with Bruce.

He should have known. Her instincts are never wrong and he doubted her.

When Bruce found him unconscious and told him about how Joker was involved in all of this, Jason should have known that it was all a trap. His mother wasn't a poor blackmailed soul, she was a conniving bitch who profitted.

He also should have known that Y/N was gonna go meet with Sheila instead of him. Where the Joker was waiting for her.

"Y/N, please. Please be okay...." He begged to the coms as he can only think about what he said to her the last time they spoke.

"J...Jason...."

"Y/N!" Relief washed over him like a wave as he heard her voice. Her broken pained moaned of his voice made him sick as he tried to at least rationalized that at least she was alive. "Don't worry, honey. We know where you are and we're coming to help you."

He didn't know that she was laying battered and broken against the locked door as she stared at the bomb that was ticking away on the wall. Her labored breaths blocked out the ticking on the comms as she whispers out.

00:12

"Do you remember the apartment?..."

"What apartment? The one you talked about in the alley? Why are you-?"

She interupts him, he can hear the familiar curl of her smile in her pained voice as she whispered,

"I wanted it to have a window facing the east end...the stars always looked pretty over there..."

00:10

"Y/N, what are you-"

"I wanted one of those Tabby-looking cats like the ones we saw in the alleyway outside of Mr. Accetta's restaurant...Name it Frank after that old Italian fucker...I was hoping we could go back and actually buy dinner in that restaurant someday..."

00:08

"Are you okay? Why are you talking like this? We are almost there. I can see the building! We are almost here. I'M COMING TO SAVE YOU."

Jason's desperation was palpable as he heard his beloved talk like she was on her deathbed. His panic causes Bruce to drive faster as the Batcycle inches closer to the warehouse. "Jason"

00:04

"Jason, I love you...I have since I was 13..." She admits as her voice trembles. "I used to dream we would become the family we always wanted with each other...Thank you for being in my life and I'm sorry I let you down..."

00:03

"Y/N, I -"

00:02

"Wait!"

00:01

"Goodbye, Jason..."

.

.

.

It should have been him who died that night... It was supposed to be him. NOT HER.

Jason blamed himself for her death as soon as he helped pull her broken corpse out of the rubble. He tried to convince himself that it wasn't her. This wasn't his Batgirl. Not his best friend who would run around the manor with him or help him pickpocket pedo freaks on the street. This broken little girl that was in his adoptive father's arms wasn't his first love. She was a bright, kind light who protected her loved ones, not this broken shell who wore her skin...

But, it was her...

He blamed Bruce for it too. He was the one gave her the orders to keep Jason away from the warehouse. He had to have known that she was gonna go instead. Bruce should have known she was because she wanted to be wrong about Sheila so Jason could be happy...

He also blamed the Joker. He wanted that Clown dead... His opportunity presents itself after he tracks Joker down to an abandoned wing of Arkham trying to flee from blowing up a children's hospital.

Blinded by his rage and bloodlust, Jason went in alone and without any communication. Y/N would scold him in her grave as he fell for the trap, sealing him in a cycle of hell for a year.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"What if I could?"

"Do what?"

"Bring her back. Would you be willing to work for Crane if I could bring back the little Batgirl?"

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

He knew it was bullshit.

Bringing back someone from the dead was impossible.

Jason would have been satisfied if his pseudo-partner/ prisoner, Deathstroke, just told him that he would be able to kill the Batman and wipe the hell hole that is Gotham off the face of the earth. He already dedicated a full year after his escape from Arkham to building his army.

His only regret during this time was not killing Joker himself. Even after all the torture and pain that clown did to him, he regretted not bashing the Joker's skull in after their last encounter as Slade helped him escape. It wouldn't have mattered to him at the time that Slade would have killed him because it wouldn't have been revenge for his own torture.

it would have been for Y/N. For the hell she faced that night. After a few months in Arkham, Jason almost accepted his torture as punishment for not dying that day for her because he experienced everything she felt. Every day he experienced everything she had to feel those short agonizing hours for an entire year. She must have been so scared and Jason couldn't save her.

The only thing that kept him from giving up was the memories he had of her and the burning hatred for those who caused her light to be snuffed out too soon.

He just wanted to feel that warmth again...

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"If you can do that, then I'll burn the whole world to the ground for that fucking lunatic."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Please Jason. Let us help you!" Barbara Gordan begged from her cell as Jason snaps at her.

"THERE IS NO HELPING! I CAN FIX IT!"

Jason was manic. His men were being tugged around like dog toys by Batman and Slade had left him hours ago to attend some matter he didn't care to ask about. His time was running thin and he knows he needs to end this soon. It didn't help that those he didn't want involved are here as well like Barbara.

"Sir..." A militia soldier says as he nervously walks into the room. HIs men were already aware how stupid it was to come near him when he's in a crazed anger. Jason's head whipped at him like a feral man as he grits out.

"What is it?"

"Deathstroke is here...and he uh..."

Impatience reaches a boiling point as Jason raises his gun and shoots the militia solider in the head as Barbara shrieks. The red puddle of death fills the sterile room with lead as Deathstroke walts in. Jason turns his back towards him as places his helmet back into place.

"My, what a mess you made." Deathstroke mockingly scolds. The hidden smirk almost causes Jason to snap again.

"Where have you been? Batman is out there taking down my tanks faster than my men can repair them. You told m-!"

The Arkham Knight's monologue was intruppted as he turns to scold Slade by his heart dropping to his stomach at the sight before him. He swore that if he didn't hear Barbara's gasp and the whisper of fate's name, he would have woken up back in that dreaded wing of Arkham Asylum.

Slade chuckles as he rattles the chain in his hand as he says coyly, "What? Am I not allowed to go fetch your payment?"

Standing behind Deathstroke was a naked woman. Her tangled up (H/C) hair ran down her shoulders as her wide innocent eyes shined through the now white tendrils framing her face. Her body seemed more mature but all muscle mass she had was faded. Her face seemed aged but he recognized the curve of her nose and those lips he imagined smiling at him through his darkest moments.

"Y/N?" He helplessly calls out to her as he feels himself pulled towards her like a magnet.

If it wasn't for the stark white streak and gnarly, painful-looking scars on her body, Jason would have thought this was Scarecrow's fear toxin. It couldn't be possible, right? She was dead. He knew she was because he held her body. He felt how cold she was and watched how her lifeless eyes looked up to the ash ridden sky.

Those eyes now looked at him with no familiarity, but a childlike wonder as she naively smiles at him.

"How?" Was all the Arkham Knight could muster as he reaches to grab her. To pull her into his arms and never let her leave.

Deathstroke grabs the collar that was wrapped around her neck and yanks her back behind him as she chokes on her breath. He chuckles as he looks back into Jason's voiceless mask.

"The Lazarus Pit brought back her body." He explains as he hauntingly twirls the chain in his hand. "Of course, after you agreed to work with Crane, I brought her back immediately. Unfortunately, the poor thing suffered from Pit Madness."

A cruel smirk appears on Deathstrokes lips as he pushes the girl's hair back to reveal circular scars on her temples. Jason felt rage bubbling up in his throat as he recognized what those scars were.

Prolonged Electroshock Therapy

"You sick!" Before Jason could throw a punch, Slade places his gun on Y/N's forehead as he chuckles. The woman didn't even sense the danger as she continued to observe everyone with a curious eye. Jason immediately backs off as Slade continues.

"Of course. Her treatment did cause her to be cured of the madness but at the cost of her memories. She barely remembers how to take care of herself so you make it like that. Especially when you want to fuck her."

Jason was thankful for his mask as he would have killed him from his glare. To imply that she was just a potential fucktoy made him itch to bury this man in the deepest bowels of hell. As he quietly glares at him, Slade finally offers him the chain. The Arkham Knight accepts the chain as the assassin warns him,

"Now since you got your payment. You better keep your end of the deal..." His voice becomes threatening as he says.

"Because I can easily kill her just as I brought her back.'"

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AN: I was gonna write more, but I got exhausted so this is all I got. Let me know if it's a vibe or not.

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@simpingforheros fanfic. I DO NOT AUTHORIZE THE COPYING, STEALING, OR REPOSTING OF MY WORKS ON OTHER WEBSITES WITHOUT CREDIT.

[fractualized]

Knight Terrors: The Joker #2 is out and I have never had so much to chew on in my life. I'm trying to moderate my enthusiasm so I stop exceeding the image limit making these posts, but there is so much going on!!

(spoilers ahead as usual, along with violence, gore, and death as usual)

At the end of last issue, we were left with the mystery of what exactly is up with supposedly dead Batman's reappearance, but this issue answers that pretty quickly:

This is at first presented as Joker's dream-within-a-dream, but later we get confirmation that Joker is sleepwalking as Batman. Sleep-vigilante-ing. Sleepigilanting. He's a Batman Who Jokes!

With Joker awake, we find that some time has passed, and now Joker is married to Lena, the wife of Johann to whom Joker showed some kindness back at the real-world hospital before she died. They also have a child, Albert, who was also a dying patient at the hospital.

The poster is for an actual movie I haven't seen, but it's about a scientist who is betrayed by a wealthy patron who takes credit for his work, and then becomes a beleaguered clown who has a heroic and tragic end. Oh, Joker likes a movie about a clown who was betrayed by a rich guy? You don't say!

At first I was amused by the onesie, but then the story returns to Joker at work and we see that he's no longer wearing a plain gray suit. He's in his usual Joker colors, perhaps indicating that he's found comfort in this humdrum life? This corporate dullness is his identity now? Oh dear.

Also he's interviewing Mr. Freeze.

Joker asks why Freeze wants to work at WE, and Freeze says he wants to lay low now that Batman is killing people. Like the last issue, Joker insists that Batman is dead, and he also acts like his memory of his old life is fading.

Fair point, Victor, but I don't think you're getting the job.

Is Poison Ivy Joker's secretary?? Well, no one would look for her there, I'm sure. So long as she resists the temptation to poison her boss.

Cut to night: Joker starts sleepwalking.

Oh my god, Joker has his own dour bat-monologue. Batman's truest fanboy.

This brings me back to Joker War, when Joker told Bruce that Gotham City didn't want to be saved. But here Joker is, protecting her dead body for/as Batman anyway.

Gremlin Batman, being up front about his MO.

These clowns are with Gaggy, who sadly cannot get Joker to remember him but does receive some TMI.

Poor Gaggy. ANYWAY, we cut to a corporate baseball game between Wayne Enterprises and freaking LexCorp. In dreamworld, Jimmy Olsen works for Lex, at least until he jokes about how with Joker's sports ability, he should be called Batman.

omg AND BRUCE IS THERE

Damn right Joker is your man, Bruce!

Talk. Dinner. At Bruce's place. IT'S A DATE. So much packed into an instant classic batjokes panel.

When Joker arrives at the manor, Insomnia is there, and… like… there is so much going on.

- Joker seems to recognize Insomnia as his boss, but then instantly accepts that he's now Winchester, Bruce's butler. (Not sure if Joker noticed Insomnia was also the umpire at the game.)

- Insomnia tries to say that Bruce was called away, in a classic Batman bit, and when Bruce shows his face, Insomnia seems perturbed. He doesn't want Joker to talk to Bruce.

- YEAH BRUCE IS WEARING THE KILLING JOKE OUTFIT. The tourist costume that Joker wore when he shot Barbara. Alright. Okay. Alright. Okay.

There is so much going on!!

You may have noticed that Bruce called Insomnia Windham, not Winchester, and he misnames him again here, as Winthrop. Joker regularly does this to people, particularly henchmen.

Also, Joker earlier told Bruce that he can't eat seafood, but that's all that's being served. lol

Here's an extended version of a gag from Batman 1989, and also Joker noting that his sense of humor has resulted in lawsuits (but not in him being fired, of course). There's an implication that Joker's been muting his personality at work, adding a layer to all the jokes he unleashes when he sleepfights as Batman.

The next bit just calls for the full page.

- Bruce saying the world needs a little craziness, that the city needs Batman, so that life makes sense, so that it isn't boring.

- Insomnia trying to stop the conversation twice, and shut down by Bruce twice (again with the wrong names).

- Bruce saying he wouldn't be the same man if Batman died and indicating he knows Joker feels the same way. Batman is integral to both of their identities. Just laying it out there that Joker is acting as Batman so the city doesn't lose something irreplaceable.

- Bruce saying, jk, Batman is fine and whatever is wrong with Johann, Bruce must have dreamt it up. He's telling Joker what's going on in reality, that Batman is fine and this is a dream!

- Insomnia blames Bruce's rambling on a seafood allergy, but he's applying a trait of Joker's to Bruce. He's just strengthening the connection.

And maybe the allergy is supposed to be real for Bruce too, and not a throwaway, and he's eating like a ravenous animal, because he doesn't care, because like Joker he dives into danger even when it's idiocy. And because Bruce basically is Joker. Joker sees them reflected in each other, but also Joker's subconscious is telling him all this to bring himself back to reality. The TKJ outfit on Bruce of all people is glaring signal meant to shake Joker out of it. It's just wrong. But it's also that Joker is hearing the truth from someone he really knows. Yes, it's not the Bat who laughed with him in the rain, at the futility of trusting each other, but the face behind the mask is the man who wanted to help him anyway. Maybe Joker does want to trust him deep down I KNOW I'M RAMBLING THIS IS A LOT

And it all gets into Joker's conscious thoughts too. He's, uh, distracted at work the next day.

Hey, Freeze got hired after all!

HR can't have you being silly, Joker. You start killing people at work again like a good Batman nemesis, and then you might take the dream in a different direction! Insomnia doesn't want that, and he tries telling Joker that Bruce is just messing with him.

And Joker intends to clear his head, but when he goes home he discovers his secret corpse is no longer well-kept.

Batman's corpse, face down and ass up. What an image!

Joker's old life will not be suppressed!

As Joker loses it, he's contradicting himself. All this time he's been saying Batman is dead, but now it's "he tried to make me think that Batman might have died." Either his thoughts are scrambled up, or "he" actually refers to Insomnia, or maybe both. But regardless, now Joker needs to prove that Batman is alive. If Batman is alive, then the boring little life Joker has made for himself makes total sense. Batman has always made Joker's life make sense.

Joker resurrects his old skills and creates a plan to catch the Batman, but the logic behind it is that Batman is uncatchable. So if Joker's plan fails, then the Batman running around is real, and everything is okay. Then of course Joker takes a "nap" so we can see this plan come to fruition.

It starts with a gaggle of violent clowns attacking a couple on the street. "Batman," with no memory of this plan, appears to stop them, and is overwhelmed.

And one of the clowns releases toxin.

The Batman was caught, and he's exposed. He's not real. He's Joker, and he's dying. Batman is dead, and everyone needs him. Joker needs him.

And it's with this revelation that Joker wakes– and we get confirmation that it's shot-in-the-head, sewer rat Joker who is having the dream! This has to be confirmation that he's the real one, doesn't it? Right?? It's possible the other Joker had his own dream… But I have a soft spot for the underdog. I hope he's our guy and Mr. Waffles defects to his side. Then everything will be right as rain!

Speaking of, Joker does seem to shake the dream off pretty well. For now, anyway.

I wasn't sure how to interpret this at first, but I figure it's just that Joker doesn't care too much for these friends, and having weird dreams about Batsy is more appealing even if they're nightmares about losing him and becoming a defanged normie.

Still, I expect this nightmare will bolster this Joker, who started out lost and despondent, in his efforts to get rid of his doppelganger and re-establish himself as Batman's one-and-only nemesis. Maybe bring some flowers to smooth over the divorce thing, apologize for trying to cut his face off…

[swanimagines]

FANDOMS

I’m that weirdo who’s willing to write for fandoms no one else writes for so don’t judge me. :D I like to challenge myself, so if I like the movie/tv show/game, I'll often write for it! Even if it's a "weird" fandom. Please note: this does not mean I write for every fandom there is. If the fandom isn't listed here, it's unlikely I even know it or then I'm just not interested. You can ask if I know it/if I could write for it, but please do not send in requests assuming I write for a fandom even when it's not listed.

READ MY RULES BEFORE REQUESTING!

The list for my fave characters to write for is below the fandom list in case you're interested!

(My random and unpopular fandoms are below the main list to make this easier to read)

I WRITE FOR ALL CHARACTERS UNLESS I STATE OTHERWISE IN THIS LIST

FANDOMS I WILL WRITE FOR:

MOVIES

10 Things I Hate About You

(James Cameron's) Avatar franchise

Batman: The Dark Knight Trilogy

Disney & Pixar movies (animated + live action)

Full list here!

Edward Scissorhands

Enola Holmes

Hunger Games

Jumanji (1995, 2017 and 2019)

Little Women (2019)

Lord of the Rings + The Hobbit

Marvel

Spider-Men (Maguire, Garfield, Holland)

MCU (up to No Way Home)

Venom (1 and 2)

X-Men (2000-2006 + 2011-2019)

Deadpool 1 + 2

Fantastic Four (2005-2007)

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

Pirates of the Caribbean (2003-2017)

Shazam!

Sky High

Star Wars

The Skywalker Saga

Rogue One

Solo

Star Wars: Jedi (video game series)

The Chronicles of Narnia

The Maze Runner

Titanic

TV SERIES

Bones

Chicago Med

DC Titans

Gotham

Free Rein

H2O: Just Add Water + Mako Mermaids

His Dark Materials

Julie and the Phantoms

Lucifer

Once Upon A Time

Peaky Blinders

Shadow and Bone/Grishaverse as a whole

Stranger Things

Teen Wolf

The 100

The Queen’s Gambit

The Sandman (Netflix)

The Umbrella Academy

The Witcher

Wednesday

Xena: Warrior Princess

VIDEO GAMES

Assassin’s Creed (up to Syndicate)

Baldur's Gate 3

Detroit: Become Human

Dragon Age games

Ghost of Tsushima

God of War & Ragnarok (2018 & 2022)

Horizon Zero Dawn + Forbidden West

Kingdom Hearts games

Marvel’s Spider-Man + Miles Morales

Red Dead Redemption 2

Sly Cooper

Star Wars: Jedi (video game series)

Tomb Raider (the new trilogy)

Uncharted up to Lost Legacy

Watch Dogs/Watch Dogs 2/Bloodline

RANDOM

Freddy Carter’s characters, at the moment these:

Kaz Brekker

Pin Hawthorne

Jason Ripper

Tom (15 Days)

I also write for Ellis through research (from 2018 horror movie The Convent)

Gideon Fletcher

David Friedkin

(Also likely Ray when Recursive Dreams comes out)

SUBLIST: NICHE MOVIE FANDOMS

(These are all very small and random fandoms so that's why I separated them from the main list)

AND CLARIFICATION, YOU CAN REQUEST SOMETHING FOR ANY OF THESE!!

MOVIES

Aquamarine

Catwoman

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

Ella Enchanted

Flicka

Garfield movies

Home Alone 1 & 2

Love and Monsters

Moulin Rouge

Notting Hill

Peter Pan (2003)

Red Eye

Rise of the Guardians

Stardust

The Dark is Rising

The Martian

Warm Bodies

—

This list is growing all the time!

Below I’ve listed some fandoms I once wrote for but not anymore in case you wonder why are they missing even though I have fics for it here. I've also included a reason why I'm no longer writing for it.

FANDOMS I NO LONGER WRITE FOR:

Wizarding World (Harry Potter + Fantastic Beasts)

I was bullied out of the fandom and even though it has calmed down since, I no longer have interest to come back. The fandom is divided in three major "camps" now after JKR started clowning around and I don't want to be part of that drama.

[mooniemonstah]

So I created this blog because I needed to make some type of catharsis about how worried I am about Gotham Knights.

 I was so thirsty, desperate for Jason&Dick content. I still am. Seriously, everytime DC waste their BatFam titles on the comics by having D*ck/Babs related stuff and Jason doing whatever shit on other teams I sigh and ask myself why can’t we just have one short run, just ONE with a Jason/Dick team up?! I don’t like Tom Taylor at all, but I was pleased to see at least he was the one that tried to deliver an annual issue with a NG and RH team. It was mediocre and fanservice, I didn’t care that much about the story but it was something... And also it helped me to see other people’s reactions about the Nightwing/Red Hood team up concept, and notice there is some general interest on the idea.

I don’t know why it isn’t exploted more by DC.

I love the Arkham series, I have a very soft spot for Arkham Knight Jason even if the writting on the third game is not everyone’s cup of tea. A BatFam related game that isn’t part of the Arkhamverse is not my dream game come true, but I get the need to introduce a more canon accurate depiction of Robin!Tim Drake so I welcomed the Gotham Knights proyect with open arms.

I wasn’t totally sold out by Red Hood’s design at first but it’s weird to see people hating on this just now, when Jason’s face was introduced back in the first trailer they delivered:

The designs are not a concern for me personally anymore. It’s the animations, the clunky combat, the magic lazarus pit jump especially while playing with Jason. It doesn’t seem to be well executed at all.

In regard of the combat aspect, there should be a better balance between his hand on hand combat and guns. It doesn’t matter to me if they’re lethal guns or not. In the Arkham games is hard to believe there are no goons dying when you have Batman and Nightwing stamping their faces on the electricity connection boxes around the rooms, just for name an example. If the brutal hand on hand fight were well animated then people wouldn’t bee complaining as much about the logic of the guns.

Rec Hood’s poor hand on hand movements looks so boring in comparison to Nightwing’s constant flips towards the scenary, that makes you wonder why would you choose a character that just stands there shooting people while you can pick the other characters and see entertaining fights. And Nightwing’s flips don0t even look that good. They’re not fluid enough to be believable :C

It’s so frustrating! Because I loved that they showed their team up playthough, and that the new promotional material and concept art is focused on the two of them, and the cinematic scene in the Belfry was good! It was the kind of interactions I desperately wanted to see between them. But the animations are so rough, even when Dick is walking on civies, it looks weird and unnatural. Why?!

I have mixed feelings about the crafting menu stuff but it’s minor in comparison to how generic the rest of the elements seem when put on screen. It also doesn’t help that they canceled the release on PS4 and Xbox ONE... it almost look like they want to fail on purpose.

Can the game be delayed at this point? Does anyone in charge of this proyect really care anymore?

I care, I care a lot and my heart is already broken. I have no hope that this game wll deliver something different when it comes out. I even tried looking for other gaming journalists and gamers’ opinions about the subject, the most optimistic ones to cheer me up but I don’t think this is the game many of us wanted. It smells like soulless corporative business and it sucks.

Remember the Batgirl/Robin playthrough against Mr. Freeze? What happened to that game? How in the world has that game become to the game we saw teased yesterday on May 10th? Maybe that alpha game never existed, maybe that was some cinematic demo especially created for the DC Fnadome two years ago. That would be so sad if proven to be truth. 

I don’t even get this canceling previous gen launch thing from a business perspective either. I live in Argentina, I know NO ONE who has been able to get a PS5 except my brother (and he has been saving money for a long while specificaly for that reason). I can imagine how the situation is wolrdwide, even if the percentage of people that owns a PS5 or Xbox Series S is sure to be much higher on first world conutries. Like, do the WB Montreal studio acutally believe they’re gonna sell that much copies when most people don’t have a a Next Gen console yet?

I guess the only thing I wonder now is if we will ever going to get an Arkham Knight BatFam game after this game crushes and burns? Look, it doesn’t need to have Robin at all, it can be just about Oracle helping Nightwing to track and stop Red Hood on his bloody crusade? Let me have my fanfics.

[iphoenixrising]

hey we haven’t heard anything from you in a while. everything good? How’s life treating you? All my love for one of my favorite batfam writers!💗💗💗

Hi babe.

Ah sorry, I’ve been super busy at work and with kiddo :( I mean, I’m still writing when I can, but it’s just time and motivation. My project has really taken off (reads as: expanded) and most nights I’m chipping away at the massive amount of documentation for not only a Java-based framework, but an entire Platform *sob* So, it’s just such a huge amount of old articles and brainstorming sessions and meeting minutes and just ugh. I mean, it’s kind of interesting to try tracking all these things down and figuring out how they’re going to work together since the developers (from 12 to 50-ish, my God and now they want me to read markdown and do pull requests for comments and shit because this is my fucking life) are still working on the platform services, the development environment, and all these fucking tools I’ve never heard of (Kubernetes, wtf is this thing??) so I’m learning a foreign language almost tbh.

Did I mention *sigh*?

ANYWAY, also some of the things I’m working on that are like Batfam are a little more...I dunno, just things that a bit harder for me I guess, but even if I write just a sentence or two, I still count it as a win.

But like...I said something about a Sentinel / Guide Au, and even though I’m at what would be a good stopping point, I’m not very happy with it :/ So, if you’d like to see kind of what I’ve been doing, I’m going to throw down what I’ve got below the cut. 

Warnings: 

DickTim, Angst

Sentinel/Guide Au

**

After he brings B back from time, send the Dark Knight back to Gotham, he gives in to things long overdue, and trains with Shiva–

–to be an effective Guide.

Years of suppressants made it literally hell without them, trying to keep his shields up, trying to push out the telepathic traffic suffocating him the second he opens up just a crack.

Shiva, of course, had been her cheerfully murderous self, plying him with the full onslaught of a powerful Sentinel.

"You will be drawn to us from now on, Little Bird. You will want to protect us, bring us back from the abyss. If you choose to allow your powers as a Guide rein free, then you must learn to fight against the urges."

The fucked-up part is–

–she's right.

If he wants to stay in the life, wear the cape and cowl under the new name, go back to the Titans (since they've been looking for him again, fly-bys and searches for his tech), then he needs to learn how to deal with what he can do and how to deal with the instincts that come along for the ride.

It's not enough that Shiva is in the middle of hunting down a few former students ("They have made...the wrong choices." 

"That's rich coming from you, you know."

"We all have a code, Little Bird, and I am no different.")

but they managed to run into a few other Sentinels along the way.

He'd like to say he'd taken his ass beating like a pro at this juncture in the vigilante game, but the reality is, they'd had to take shelter in a shitty lean-to, so he could be tragically, metaphysically hung-over.

He gives up the cowl and suit, utility belt and sundries. He goes as a wrecked teenage American boy, changing it up from the last time he trekked behind Lady Shiva and took on her adversaries. He tries not to think about Dick or Jason, Dami or Alfred, tries not to think about the confused look on B's face in his safe house, drying his hair after a long shower, trying to readjust to the current timeline.

("You aren't going back to Gotham?"

"I still have things to do."

"...there's something you aren't telling me."

"There's a lot I'm not telling you."

"Come to me when you're ready, Tim. No matter what, you're always going to be one of my Robins.")

Instead, he learns how to keep himself, and the Sentinels around him, safe and sane while trying to stay two steps ahead of the next fight, the next clue, the next "training."

In Shanghai a few months later, he knows it's time to move on when people part ways for the brightly clad superheroes coming en-masse down the packed street for him.

Well, moving on it is.

Going back to the Tower, away from the Bats and Gotham and the Rogue Gallery (thinking about facing the Joker this raw and open is fucking terrifying), was the best he was going to get considering the circumstances.

Those circumstances being the pointed twitch over Kon's eye and Bart's very intense gaze.

"You were supposed to call, asshole. The OG Batman has been back in Gotham for like months and you've just been, you know, chilling with Lady Shiva?"

Tim, who is so out of bullshit at this juncture, feels better after a hot shower and some old sweats with a Superboy t-shirt, throws up his fucking hands.

"All right, fine. I never told anyone. I...I've been on suppressants since I was a kid, just like my mom. Guides..."

"It's not that bad anymore!" Cassie tries helplessly, the first to actually reach across the table for his hand.

The instant connection makes them both gasp. It’s a shallow one, just a dip under her natural shield (he knows it’s Cissy, the Guide that’s been helping her until now, bringing her back whenever she hits a Zone, recognizes the touch of their Arrowette), just a skim over her immediate emotions  this thing now untried and how utterly calm he makes her just by hands lightly placed. 

"O-ooh," is soft while his fingers tighten, his eyes sharpen, his shields constructing around her, his instinct to protect.

"Not necessary," Gar chimes in, still leaning against the door between the kitchen and communal entertainment room, "we're all good in the Tower, T."

Is what shakes him out of it, hastily pulling away from Cassie's hand.

"Wow." Wonder Girl breathes out, eyes soft and half-mast, looking at him dreamily.

"Nope." Because he can already feel the headache coming on, how her hand tries to grab back at his.

“We could fight better together, Tim!”

“Do you even know how strong a Guide has to be to take care of four Sentinels?”

In one terribly creepy singular move, Bart, Kon, Gar, and Cassie give him that look.

You know, aimed at his face.

"No one," Bart cuts in, eyes wide at the exchange, of Tim's aura warm and inviting suddenly stronger, reaching out... "Tim, T. No one has to know."

The flash of fear, a residual from the tunic, makes him hedge back a subtle step back.

Kon pointedly grips him by the bicep, over his shirt while Bart moves enough that his shoulder bumps into Tim’s ribs, halting the possible escape attempt.

“Okay, okay, backing off. New powers are about a bitch, not like we all haven’t been there once or twice.” Kon soothes over, taking small steps and tugging until Tim is moving with him closer to the communal kitchen where his seat is empty at the island, and they can possibly get proof the guy actually eats.

“Amen,” Cassie throws up a hand and is already digging through the fridge until she finds–

–the last grape Zesti.

Tim’s eyes narrow dangerously on that singular can, his body moving before his brain can take over because he’s sliding on his old chair, the can cold against his fingers, too thirsty for caffeine that he can’t even.

Sure, it’s a trap, but with these guys, at least he knows it.

“I’m very not ready to do anything remotely Guide-like in the field,” the soft ca-saaaa as the can opens. “You want me to sleuth, fight, and strategize, then I’m all for it.”

Bart is just suddenly in Kon’s usual seat beside him, spinning around in tight, fast circles, “you mean you’re thinking about coming back? To the life?” 

“Dude, that would be stellar.”

Tim side-eyes his besties, “it was never in the plan to-to stop.”

“Can’t blame us for assuming, you know,” Gar grins toothily, “no Red Robin for a while, my dude.”

Tim goes quiet, staring down at the can between his hands, shoulders hunched over.

“At least,” Raven’s voice is smooth and soft, comforting, “tell us why now, Tim?”

“Why now?”

“Why begin training as a Guide now?” She clarifies, sliding into the seat across from her, and the coolness of her aura, not a Sentinel, but something purely Raven puts his frayed nerves at ease, makes it easier for him to find the words.

“I turned 18,” and he can’t look at them while he admits to it, “and...and I figured out who my Sentinel is after Ra’s kicked me out the window.” (I was fine going out that way. It was fine. I was saving Wayne Enterprises from the League of Assassins, I was fighting the good fight. It shouldn’t have happened that way...why did it have to happen that way?)

“Oh,” and Cassie’s eyes get huge.

“Ra’s al Ghul is your Sentinel?!” Bart fairly screams.

“No dude,” Tim rolls his eyes and finds his can suddenly fascinating. “It’s...Dick. He’s...yeah. It’s him.”

“I didn’t hear that,” Kon hurries, standing shock-still, “I didn’t hear any of that.”

“Not him,” Bart is gritting his teeth because dammit, why couldn’t Tim have been his Guide? The universe was totally, wholly unfair.

A muscle in Tim’s jaw flexes, his nose pinkening along his upper cheekbones. He blinks watery eyes, takes a deep, deep breath to try and keep himself under control. 

“Yeah,” and Tim sighs a little, the ache in his chest more acutely painful when he thinks about that moment waking up in the Cave, Dick in the Batsuit without the cape/cowl combo smiling down at him, still painfully unaware of the connection drawn tight between them.

(He doesn’t need me. He’s got Babs and Dami. His Guide and his Robin.)

Getting the absolute fuck out of the Manor had been his first order of business once he’d come to, just sprouting whatever placating bullshit Dick needed to hear to let him go without much of a fight (this time).

Finding Bruce and staying the hell out of Gotham hadn’t helped the pull he inexplicably felt, or the pressure of minds around him that had sent him to Shiva in the first damn place. His Guide abilities were overcoming the suppressants, so he was out of time...and out of options. 

Still, even with the training, he occasionally has the dreams at night. Not the usual array of awful nightmares from his real life, Jason shooting him in the chest at point-blank to make sure the job gets done this time, Bruce dying right before his eyes, turning into that skeleton husk Superman brought to them thinking it was the real thing, Damian sneering at him with the katana held high, spitting out how it’s time the real Robin took his rightful place just before bringing the blade down–

No, no, it’s even worse than those.

It’s shadowy hands touching him, the warm wet of a mouth over his skin and scars, gentle voice in his ear telling him how beautiful he is, how much he’s needed, wanted, how it’s not just because of what he is or what tunic he used to wear, it’s all because he’s Tim. He doesn’t wake up when his dream self realizes it’s Dick over him, those blue eyes taking him in, pinning his wrists down to look over every inch of his naked body. He doesn’t wake up when Dick starts preparing him. He doesn’t wake up when Dick kisses him hard and desperate. He doesn’t wake up when the tears dry on his face and their bodies line up.

“Mine,” his dream Sentinel doesn’t even hesitate, “Don’t ever run from me again. Do you understand me, Tim?”

Just before Dick pushes, he wakes up, panting and hard, his instincts going crazy enough that he has to meditate to calm down.

Cassie gently wraps her hand around his shoulder, making sure they don’t have skin-to-skin contact this time. “I’m sorry,” she smiles gently at his frown, “I know you and Dick have had some...issues in the past few years.” But he can read the guilt in her face. Back when everyone thought Bruce was dead and his cape had been yanked out from under him, Dick had sent Cassie to try talking some “sense” into him. She still feels awful for jumping on the same train everyone else had been riding, the ‘that guy is suffering from depression’ instead of believing he might actually be right. 

(It still stings though, doesn’t it?)

He doesn’t say anything back, just looks out one of the big windows and pulls out of her hold to take a drink of his Zesti.

“But,” Gar quickly jumps in, “you’ll stay in the Tower and fight on the team again, right? Like, no more trips with World’s Deadliest Assassins?”

Tim visibly hesitates, pausing with the can up to his mouth. 

Slowly, he lowers it, his eyes taking on a cold calculation that is and isn’t like their old Rob. “Like I said, I can’t be a Guide for anyone, and I mean that. Second, I told you the truth in confidence, so I expect everyone to keep my secret. Third, I’m not anywhere near ready to go to Gotham or face the Bats, so for now, I’m fighting under the radar. If those aren’t acceptable stipulations, I’ll grab some of my clothes from storage and be out of your Tower.”

“Storage?” Kon glances around at the team, “Tim, buddy, why do you think we’d have your stuff in storage?”

“I assumed Dick would already approach you about making Damian part of the team,” his tone is absolutely empty, emotionless. “And there’s no way both of us could be here at the same time, so...” he lets them put it together from there.

The look of utter devastation on Kon’s face makes him feel slightly better.

**

Coming back when Cassie, Bart, and Kon have his back, just like they were closer to the end of their YJ run, makes the transition easier than it realistically should have been.

And it really might just be how low the dose of suppressants are now, or that he feels comfortable stepping into Robin’s role on the team, just with a different name, a different mask. It might just be how Bart has a tendency to hover with that hummingbird energy coming off him even when he’s seemingly standing still, maybe it’s Kon’s TTK pressing at his back even if the guy is across the room, maybe it’s how he and Cassie have leadership meetings where they just binge watch reruns of Gossip Girl and eat ice cream to bemoan their woes. 

But maybe, it’s how he can feel them pulling at his shields unconsciously. Maybe it’s how he can sometimes push back enough, can skim just the edges to get impressions of angry, sad, depressed and gently erect a mental shield without delving deep without permission, can give them the space they need from their intense senses and powers. 

Just another way he can be the regular guy on the team, working under the radar. So much a part of his role in the first damn place. 

He doesn’t realize it becomes something normal until they take the good fight a little too close to Gotham for his liking, but the choices were few and Luthor is such an incredible ass hat that Tim actually plays it down, dresses up as CEO Tim Drake to divert their baddie while the team takes apart his latest weapon of mass destruction on the down-low.

What he absolutely doesn’t expect is to leave the lobby of one of the most posh restaurants in Metropolis–

And walk face-first into Dick Gryson’s chest.

(Technically, it’s Nightwing, but really, this doesn’t make the sitch any better.)

A hand, black with blue fingerstripes, covers his mouth, and the sound of a grapple retracting is a pending oh no that he doesn’t fight the vigilante pretty much kidnapping him off the street in broad daylight. 

He can only thank God it isn’t skin-to-skin contact because his inner senses are flaring this close to the Sentinel, his Sentinel, that he has to grind his back teeth to keep himself in check. He pulls away the second they land it on solid rooftop, shoving his sleeve back to check the team’s status on his hidden wrist computer. 

Mission success! 

“Imagine my surprise,” Nightwing growls, hand on his shoulder to spin him around, “when I find you having lunch with someone like Lex Luthor instead of taking my damn calls, Timmy.”

Stepping out of that hold is subtle because Tim is looking over the side of the roof, adjusting his tie to try putting some distance between them. “I’m undercover. Those are the things people like us do when we’re running an Op, Nightwing.”

Those whiteouts narrow on him, a trick only Dick can really pull off effectively. “None of that tells me where the hell you’ve been for the last year since you left to find Bruce, found him, and didn’t come back.”

His back straightens, eyes looking away when the irritation and heat of anger hits him harder without the nice little cocktail of suppressants and stabilizers, makes his own shields tremble at the burning sear along the edges of his consciousness. 

Instead of saying something he might come to regret, Tim sucks in a breath through his nose and works through the bolt of pain, gathers his shields around himself to keep the Sentinel from unerringly lashing out at him again.

“What the hell are you even doing here? Recon on Luthor? For which nefarious plot?”

A black and blue hand slashes the space between them, “not even important, Tim. So, how about you call your team and tell them you’ve got some Bat business because we? Need to talk.”

“I’m sorry, what now?”

“You heard me. I’ve been trying to get in contact with you for weeks.”

“I sent back your case files, asshole–”

“Not about cape and cowl shit, Tim!”

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about right now,” even though he does, he really does. He just doesn’t know why it has to happen now.

Nightwing, however, has had enough of the talk and with a whip of his arm has a bolo out and thrown, his natural speed as a Sentinel might be slower than someone like the Flash, but it still has Tim wrapped up tight faster than he can realistically dodge.

The sight of the vigilante Nightwing swinging through Metropolis with the CEO of Wayne Enterprises over one shoulder would be big news in the city if anyone had been bothered to really look up.

**

The hotel is nice Tim thinks while wiggling around on the bed where Dick pretty much dumped him. His fingers are already getting the bolo loose from around his upper body by the time Dick has the mask off and the Nightwing suit unzipped to flop around his waist.

The Gotham Knights t-shirt underneath is a new one since the old faded one got blown up in that little explosion in the ‘Haven a few years back.

Dick lifts and sets a chair down with a pointed clack, sitting down to watch Tim squirm his way up. He’s got the bolo loose enough to brace his palms.

“What part of I’m in the middle of an OP–”

“Don’t care,” Dick cuts him off ruthlessly, those blue eyes hard and jaw tense. “I honestly don’t give a crap about the Titans right now.”

“Well I sure as hell do thank-you very much,” Tim pulls the bolo off, tosses it across the room with an angry flick, facing his former mentor, former partner, former friend with those old feelings creeping up his throat to make the taste in his mouth coppery and bitter.

“The only thing I care about right now is that I finally caught up to you. The last time I even saw you was that swan dive–”

“I’m aware. Being kicked out of a window is pretty memorable, even for people like us,” he keeps it deadpan, keeps the anger and irritation, the feelings of shit like betrayal and it must have been so easy to throw me the fuck away.

“The point is, smart ass, you left the Cave and haven’t been back. You only answer my emails about cases and bad guys. But when I ask you to come back home, which I have, Tim, I don’t even know how many times, and I get nothing! We need you–”

“Why would I come back to Gotham for you?” Is what spills out of his mouth, something bitter and foul. “You’ve already got a fucking Robin to be your little brother, remember?”

Welp, there goes playing it cool.

But watching Dick jerk back like Tim had landed a physical blow was more satisfying than he wanted to admit.  

“Are you kidding me right now? You’re still angry about that? I’ve explained to you exactly why–”

The irritation in Dick’s tone, obvious disgust when he leans back and crosses his arms over his chest is just about enough.

“You explained it just fine. You made your choice, so everyone just has to deal with it, right? Yeah, that’s really being my equal.” 

Tim makes himself stay deadly calm and cold, moves his legs away from Dick’s to stand and take a few steps away from the seething Sentinel to adjust his tie and try to get his hands to quit trembling. 

“I can’t believe you’re acting this childish, Tim. I’m really disappointed with you right now.”

“Glad we’re on the same page, Dick, disappointed in each other,” but it strikes him anyway in the small, sad place where he held on to the hope they could still work everything out somehow and at least go back to being friends. A small part that’s been slowly dying in degrees, and that last hit is enough to make it so absurdly painful.

(All those years in the R, fighting the good fight, being brothers, having each other’s backs, and it all ends here, doesn’t it?)

“What? I did everything I could do for you! I–”

“If that’s what you want to believe, then that’s fine. I don’t have any reasons to argue with you,” staring at his own reflection in the mirror, seeing the red start to creep over his cheeks, his eyes get overly shiny, Tim Drake straightens his spine and flexes his own shields. 

He keeps himself together enough to turn on a heel and walk calmly to the door.

“Tim, just...okay, just wait. Let’s talk this out–”

He doesn’t even turn, hand already on the knob, just pulls open the door and takes a hasty step through. It’s only the first step, but Dick is still just suddenly there, trying to snatch at Tim’s wrist with a bare hand, managing the brush of fingertips over a pulse.

“Don’t leave like this,” Is the last thing Dick says before the electric shock slides up his spine, the pull to all his senses almost has him on his knees.

The touch has Tim lurching away, jerking his wrist up to cradle against his chest, the red burn of Dick’s emotions beating at his shields harder with just a simple graze.

It ends with Dick still in the doorway, braced against the frame, gaping, and Tim leaning heavily into the wall across the hall, a wince on his face.

Stupid metaphysical connections and shit.

The touch hadn’t been enough to, you know, like bond them or anything, but it’s widely believed True Pairs didn’t even have to touch to get impressions from one another.

“You asshole,” he seethes at that shocked expression. 

“You feel like I betrayed you,” is low and thick, Dick’s eyes a little dazed with what he picked up through the momentary connection, “it hurt you so much when I made Dami my Robin because I didn’t even talk to you, I didn’t trust you. You think I just threw you out of my life. How could I ever do that to you...?”

If Tim was a better Guide, on a higher dose of suppressants, he would have been able to keep himself closed off enough that if they did manage to touch, he could have kept Dick out of his shields, wouldn’t have given him the ability to skim over shitty emotions.

If Tim was a better Guide, he wouldn’t have the urgent need to run.

But welp, here they are.

As the thought takes shape in his brain pan, that he’s in his civilian day-ware and can run down the hall while Dick –still half in Nightwing– is trapped in the doorway, his knees firm and his eyes dart wildly to the side, giving himself away.

And since Dick was Batman, is Nightwing, is a Sentinel, he sees the writing on the wall and absolutely refuses to let it happen. Dick shoves with his arms, darts out into the hallway, makes his suddenly weak knees work enough to shake up Tim’s plan, seizes the apparent Guide, his Guide, in a princess hold and get back before the door even starts to close.

“Put me–!”

But Dick folds his legs to sit with his back against the door, and wraps both arms around the struggling third Robin. He can hold onto Tim better than a bolo anyway. 

The push at Tim’s shields is a pressure he isn’t used to dealing with, and it’s painful to fight against it rather than just let the tentative connection open. His hands curl into fists in his lap, trying to strain against the arms pinning him while concentrating on strengthening his shields. 

He doesn’t realize he’s whispering, “no, no, no,” under his breath. 

“Please,” Dick lays his forehead down on top of Timmy’s head, “please don’t go. Not now. I’m finally...Tim, I get it now. I swear, I get it.”

“...doesn’t matter. Too late.”

“That isn’t fair,” the smallest shift and Dick is breathing against his throat, making him shiver, “I just found out you’re...a Guide. My Guide. We haven’t even started yet. It can’t be too late if we haven’t had a beginning.” It gets worse when Dick breathes in his scent deeply, a noise coming out of his chest.

“We have had a beginning,” he bites out, fists tight, concentrating on keeping his shields strong but flexible, “we’ve had years–”

“And I’m not ready to throw all of that away.”

The pressure against his mental shields finally eases up as Dick raises his head, gives him a little shake to make him look up. 

“You already did, remember?”

“I didn’t... I never threw you away. That’s not what I meant or wanted. Yes, I should have handled things better. I know that now, and I’m sorry I hurt you. I was sorry before, I just didn’t know how to tell you, how to make it better between us.”

Tim’s eyes narrow, and he doesn’t let up in case this is one of those diversionary tactics to put him in a false sense of security. 

(They fight bad guys. Sometimes, they have to cheat, and he wouldn’t put it past Dick to do just that.)

“I don’t know what you think is going to happen here,” he finally tries, staring up into those blue, blue eyes (I trusted you once, and fuck if I’m going to let you do this to me again). “But whatever it is, you’re wrong. I’m not going to come back to Gotham and be your Guide. I’m not going to bond with you because the universe says I’m meant to be some kind of magical counterbalance.”

Dick’s expression crumples, his arms go a little slack. 

“Tim, we’re...we’re a True–”

“I don’t give a fuck about True Pairs, Dick, not anymore. Babs has been your Guide since you both presented. She wants the job, she can damn well have it.”

It’s not a fight to push against Dick’s arms the second time and stand up out of his lap.

“You’ve loved me since the moment you put on the cape, Tim. I know you have.” When what he means is I know now.

“I loved you before that, you asshole, and you betrayed me. You don’t get that chance again.”

Turning away shouldn’t be this easy now that Dick knows the truth, but it is, and the very last parts of him still hoping, still craving, are just as easily–

–wiped out.

Dick’s eyes are watery when the door hisses and creaks upon opening, and it’s an automatic thing, reaching a hand up just expecting Tim to take it.

“Tim. Timmy, please.”

“Good-bye, Dick,” is already fading with rapidly retreating footsteps. At least he can keep some of his dignity because Dick will never know he falls the fuck apart as the elevator goes down.

**

Author’s notes:Here’s why I don’t like this: 1. I want to talk more about why Tim chose Shiva as the Sentinel to teach him how to be a good Guide. Like, I want to explore that dynamic more because I’ve never really had the time or space to write Shiva as we see her in Tim’s Robin run.2. I wanted to go more into the expanded senses of Sentinels and how to - hell, I dunno, make it seem to be a little closer to cannon maybe? Like point out some of Dick’s greatest escapes and be like part of that is due to his Sentinel power. 3. Dick says some shitty things, and I don’t give him any context. Like, at that point, he legit believes he did the right thing at the time, and look! Tim’s Red Robin so everyone wins! But yeah, once he got under those shields, the truth shakes him up. 4. I dunno, this au might not be for me. It doesn’t feel very different from some of my other angsty things I guess but meh. Who knows, I might fix it someday :D 

[aion-rsa]

The Batman Trailer Breakdown and Analysis

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

The Batman trailer is finally here, accompanied by Nirvana’s “Something in the Way.” The two-minutes-and-a-half of footage presents a nightmarish new take on Gotham and the Dark Knight, an impressive feat considering only 25% of the movie has been shot so far, according to what director Matt Reeves said during the DC FanDome digital event.

Matt Reeves’ Batman reboot explores the early days of the Caped Crusader’s career, about two years into it, and focuses on a younger Bruce Wayne who is haunted by his past as well as a new villain who’s leaving victims all of the city for him to find.

We see in the trailer as Batman is hunted by a serial killer who is leaving him letters at every crime scene, teasing that the movie will feel more like a detective story than the usual action take. The trailer also gives us our first look at several villains, including Penguin, Catwoman, and a gang that seems to call back to a group first introduced in an animated series.

While the trailer makes quite a few things clear about this new Batman movie universe, there are a few lingering questions left in the promo’s wake. So we’re going breaking down the trailer to see what’s really going on in The Batman. And if there’s anything you spot in the trailer that we missed, let us know in the comments!

Before we get started, take a look at the trailer again:

Okay, let’s get started:

The trailer kicks off the character reveals right away, giving us our first look at The Batman‘s version of the Riddler — at least I’m pretty sure this is him. The riddle-obsessed villain isn’t really known for wearing a full facemask with glasses over it, but as you’ll see throughout the trailer, this movie seems to play like an extended fever dream full of grotesque baddies set against an almost overbearingly dark Gotham City.

This is the perfect version for this new take on the Riddler, who seems more like a serial killer here than the grinning megalomaniac we know from the comics, video games, and Batman Forever. In fact, Paul Dano’s Riddler looks about as far the opposite of Jim Carrey as you can get.

The trailer definitely sets up the Riddler as the main villain of the piece, a killer obsessed with getting to the Batman by leaving behind corpses and messages for the Dark Knight at his crime scenes. Above, we see one such victim, his face wrapped in tape with the words “No more lies” written over it.

Uncovering a lie seems to be a major aspect of the movie, as its a message the Riddler repeats to the Batman several times in the trailer. It suggests the Riddler knows something about the Caped Crusader that no one else does. Does the villain know that Bruce Wayne is the masked vigilante? Or does this lie run much deeper than that?

The fact that the Joker movie also dealt with the idea of the Wayne family’s hidden past — in that case, that Thomas Wayne may have had an illegitimate son — and that this movie could have at least one potential connection to last year’s Taxi Driver-inspired character piece makes me think the Riddler knows a secret about Bruce’s past. The Riddler, who seems to be speaking to Batman throughout the video, tells the Dark Knight at the end of the trailer that “he’s a part of this,” meaning whatever the villain is doing was designed to punish Bruce for something.

Reeves has said that his take on Batman is more of a detective story than an action movie, and this trailer definitely delivers on his promise. We see Jeffrey Wright’s Jim Gordon investigating the crime scene the Riddler leaves behind at the start of the trailer, while a forensics team takes photographs and gathers evidence.

One piece evidence is a green envelope left behind for Batman. Inside is a card with a riddle that I can’t quite make out, but it’s undoubtedly meant to lead the World’s Greatest Detective to the next clue in the Riddler’s twisted game. We also see that the Riddler has also picked up a few things from the Zodiac Killer’s book of riddles, as he leaves behind a code for the Bat to crack.

A blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shot of a framed newspaper at the crime scene gives fans of The Dark Knight and The Long Halloween a nice easter egg to mull over. We already knew John Turturro was set to play crime boss Carmine Falcone in the movie but now we know that his comrade in crime/rival Salvatore Maroni also exists in this universe and has been busted for transporting drugs at some point before the start of the movie. Was Maroni one of Batman’s early targets? Maybe we’ll find out.

Here’s an excellent look at what the top half of the new Batsuit looks like. It’s pretty much a suit of armor, although the cowl and cape seem to be made out of leather. And as we already knew, this Batsuit has a collar, which is a pretty neat addition to the usual suits designed for the movies.

This scene also confirms that by year two of Batman’s career, he’s already on good terms with Gordon and the GCPD, although something tells me that relationship ain’t gonna last very long…

I have no idea who this is, but I’m going to guess it’s The Batman‘s version of Commissioner Loeb, the corrupt head of police that preceded Gordon. Since the movie is getting a GCPD-centric spinoff on HBO about the corruption inside the police force, I’m going to assume this version of Loeb will be a bit closer to the power-hungry chief introduced in Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s Batman: Year One.

We also get a look at the new Batcave, which is about as minimalist as the Dark Knight’s secret lair can get. In fact, it looks more like a garage than a secret underground science lab/high-tech surveillance station. It even looks like this version of Bruce spends more time working on his Batmobile than on his computer piecing mysteries together. Can you even call that a Batcomputer? It looks like a workbench with a dual-monitor PC setup. Does this dude even get wi-fi inside his underground mechanic shop?

Bruce is at someone’s funeral for someone I don’t recognize when a car comes crashing through the church. Inside seems to be a man with a bomb and a letter for Batman strapped to his chest. Does the Riddler know Batman is attendance already or does he think this latest scheme will lure him there?

Either way, we also get our best look at Pattinson as Bruce. It’s interesting to see a version of Bruce who doesn’t sport slicked back billionaire hair. Instead, Pattinson wears more of an emo slick — very fitting for the mood of this trailer.

We get our first look at Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle doing what she does best: stealing. Reeves said during DC FanDome that this version of Selina hasn’t quite morphed into Catwoman at the start of the film and is instead still being shaped into the master thief we know and love.

The trailer shows us a brief snippet of Selina taking on Batman, suggesting that the characters will be at odds with each other in the movie. But could this be the start of a love-hate relationship like what we’ve seen in past takes on this duo? This should be interesting.

We also get to see Colin Farrell’s absolutely incredible transformation into the scarred Oswald Cobblepot, who, according to Reeves, is still working his way up the crime ladder in this movie. He’s not yet the powerful crime lord known as the Penguin, but it sure seems like he causes plenty of havoc for the Bat nonetheless.

Here’s why I mentioned that Joker connection earlier. The gang of face-painted goons that challenge Batman in the trailer sure look inspired by the Clown Prince of Crime. My initial reaction was that The Batman was doing the Jokerz, the Joker-worshiping gang introduced in the Batman Beyond animated series, but what if these guys were actually inspired by Arthur Fleck’s actions in the ’70s-set movie?

We know that by the end of Joker, Arthur has a cult following rallying around him, despite the fact that he’s admitted to murdering quite a few people by that point. His followers, who don their own clown makeup and masks, see Arthur as a freedom fighter, someone fighting for justice in a corrupt city where the rich have it all and the poor have nothing. It wouldn’t be surprising to see that Arthur has become a symbol all these years later, inspiring the next generation to go out into the streets and cause their own chaos.

I know WB has said that both The Batman and Joker exist in their own universes, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the studio was suddenly anxious to tie these two movies together after the massive success of the latter. If Pattinson ever does take on the Joker, you can bet your Batarangs that WB will try its very hardest to make it the Joaquin Phoenix version of the villain.

Anyway, we eventually watch as Batman beats the ever-living shit out of one of these clowns. It’s a bit…much.

While Batman and the GCPD seem to be on good terms at the start of the trailer, things have certainly taken a turn later. We first see Bats getting into a scuffle inside an interrogation room surrounded by cops and then later escaping a building while police officers shoot at him. That second shot actually seems to recreate the famous panels from Year One where the Dark Knight escapes an abandoned building surrounded by the GCPD with the help of a swarm of bats, a scene that also inspired an action sequence in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins.

Why are Batman and the GCPD suddenly at odds? It’s possible this is part of the Riddler’s plan to destroy the Bat. Has the villain framed the Dark Knight for something? Or has Batman gone too far in his search for justice?

The new Batmobile is front and center towards the tail end of the trailer. It’s a very cool and surprisingly realistic take on the Batmobile unlike what we’ve seen in past movies. This muscle car definitely looks like something Bruce would have worked on himself inside the Batcave.

Finally, we get a look Batman sans mask. There’s no elegant bachelor under the cowl in The Batman but a beaten down, soot-covered man who looks more troubled than any other Bruce before him. Pattinson’s Bruce almost looks more inspired by The Crow than Ben Affleck, Christian Bale, or Michael Keaton before him. It definitely looks like he’s taking the character in a new direction.

We’ll find out for sure when The Batman hits theaters on Oct. 1, 2021.

The post The Batman Trailer Breakdown and Analysis appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[ty-talks-comics]

Best of DC: Week of March 25th, 2020

Best of this Week: Batman: Curse of the White Knight Book Eight - Sean Murphy, Matt Hollingsworth and AndWorld Design

And here we are at the end of the road.

The original Batman: White Knight gave us a tale of a hero who refused to see the error of his ways - a man that would lie to his friends and destroy his treasured city as long as villains received the justice that they deserved, but he never saw that he was becoming one of them. Enter Jack Napier, the former Joker, cured of the madness that led him down the path of costumed villainy for a time. He became a symbol for the change that Batman refused by offering to rebuild the broken down parts of Gotham and stopping Batman once and for all.

Unfortunately for Napier, he couldn’t keep the Joker at bay long enough to see his dream Gotham come to fruition, but he did manage to inspire, not only the people of Gotham and its police force, but Batman himself. Of course, not everything could remain peaceful. Soon after all of that happened, Azrael and the Order of St. Dumas cropped up to cause trouble and save Gotham from its false protector: Batman. Azrael serves as the logical conclusion to what Batman’s war on crime could have been.

After several issues of cat and mouse, Batman is finally on the trail of Azrael with the Gotham Terrorism Oppression Unit (GTO) at his side. Initially, Sean Murphy makes the chase look like a team effort with Dick Grayson leading the charge, but Matt Hollingsworth gives slight hints at Batman’s state of mind with an orange glow around the Batmobile before getting close enough to remote shut off the rest of their cars. AndWorld Design excellently captures the slowing down of the cars with their lettering going from high energy “VvvvvvvVvvvvvs” to slow, sputtering “Pkk, Pkk” sounds as the wheels begin to stop.

Dick, being the one closest to Bruce, had a conversation with him in the last issue and anticipated that he might have done something like this and tells the rest of them that it was because he didn’t want them to stop him from killing Azrael. Batman then zooms off to chase Azrael on his own, catching the villains foot with the cars grappling hook and hilariously swinging him around while drifting the car before reeling him in and reversing the car into a plane - all the way at the Gotham Airport. 

Sean Murphy is known to be a big car guy and he showcases the 1989 Batmobile with beautiful side shots, powerful flames blasting out of the exhaust right into Azrael’s face and even a single panel of Batman using a six gear shift to reverse. All of this badass car action results in a massive and fiery explosion. The big panel is beautifully shot with the plane being small in the background, the huge, orange pyro coming out of it, a big “BOOM” lettering in red to accentuate the power and Batman wielding some kind of assault rifle.

Of course, this is a betrayal of everything Batman is about and Azrael even acknowledges Bruce’s “No Killing” rule as the bullets bounce off of his armor before easily gaining the upper hand on this desperate Batman. Azrael then holds him by the collar of his cape and thoroughly dresses down Batman’s mindset for this entire fight, comparing the struggles of Bruce’s war on crime and futile search for peace as being the same as his own. 

Murphy and Hollingsworth draw the scene with a palpable sense of intensity as the fire rages around them while they stand on the debris of the plane and the Batmobile. The shot is pulled out, allowing for AndWorld to utilize the empty space for Azrael’s monologue while the hot oranges paint everything around them. As Batman fears his own end, Murphy draws him with terror in his eyes and a defiant gritting of his teeth as he tells Azrael to “go to hell,” for saying that they are one in the same and threatening to flood the city before Dick’s car barrels into the villain and causes another explosion. 

Initially, I questioned why Murphy decided to invert the timelines of Jason and Dick as Robins, but this book understandably gives good reason. One of the things that Dick had been dealing with over the course of both of these stories is his conflict with Batman over what the proper course of action should be when it comes to Gotham. He’s been Bruce’s biggest critic when he was destroying Gotham and didn’t want to be another casualty like Jason was, so he joined the GTO to stop Batman.

Murphy draws on this when Dick confronts Batman on his recklessness and Batman recognizes that everything he’s done, including adopting Dick and dragging him into this never ending battle all played a part in ruining his life as well as the lives of everyone close to him. Jason’s dark cloud has always hovered over Dick, but with tears in his eyes, he tells Bruce that he still believes in him and that he needs to end this fight as Batman, not as Azrael. Hollingsworth lowers the intensity of the orange backgrounds to make the scene more somber before Batman rushes off to do things the right way.

With the Rapiers of Edmond Wayne by his side, Murphy and Hollingsworth give readers an excellent double page spread of the Batmobile VROOOMing down the streets while various panels of Bruce’s interactions with Alfred, Victor Fries and Jim Gordon remind use that there’s a good man under that cape and cowl, a man that yearns for justice and peace in Gotham City.

Knowing that Azrael plans to flood the city, Batman tells the GTO to shore up defenses and get everyone off the streets as he goes to finish the fight at the Gotham Reservoir and pops out of the Batmobile in an AMAZINGLY heroic pose with double rapiers sans cape, beckoning Azrael to take him in a sword fight. Murphy leans into Batman’s Zorro roots as he chooses to fight with honor, calling out Azrael’s faith, knowing that his sword’s Arabic name is God’s Will and that it is all that a God fearing man like Azrael should need and they duel valiantly.

Murphy, Hollingsworth and AndWorld Design give readers an amazing scene of Batman disarming Azrael rather than trying to kill him, removing one of his gauntlets with a deft flick, giving it a “HRRN” sound, removing his cape to get a rapier between his armor with a “WOOSH,” indicating the speed and flow of his movements. Bruce even goes so far as to let Azrael knock the rapiers from his hands so that he could knock the helmet off of his head by trapping it between the “CLINKing” panels of the Batmobile as they close before taking the villains sword.

Azrael, knowing that he’s going to lose and trying to throw Bruce off of his game for a moral victory, starts insulting Thomas and Martha’s deaths, calling them leeches of Gotham's wealth. This causes Bruce, in a rage, to “HACK” across Azrael’s neck, slitting his throat. Murphy makes it look so sudden, Hollingsworth ratchets up the intensity of the flames in the background and emphasizes Azrael’s blood as it pours out onto the ground, proclaiming that Bruce “eliminated the last Wayne.”

Murphy and Hollingsworth treat readers to a beautiful panel of Bruce looking at his beloved city, shadowed in the night sky with orange glows coming from the streets while Azrael bleed out on the boat, Batman quickly decides to suture his throat and use his blood to keep it flowing into Azrael while proclaiming that being the protector of Gotham has always been about more than being a Wayne or a Bakkar. It’s bigger than blood and that’s why Jason Blood gave Edmond’s Journal to Bruce, because Batman was always Gotham’s true hope.

The series then starts winding down with Bruce saying his goodbyes to Dick and Barbara and the rest of the GTO with varying levels of banter. Even Harleen has a moment where we think she’s going to drive Bruce away as he allows himself to be arrested for his vigilantism, but he convinces her that she’s done all that she needs to and that she saved his soul when he was at one of his lowest moments just like he did for her after leaving The Joker. It’s sad and sobering, especially as these scenes are given a blue hue and these characters have a mutual love and respect for each other.

Murphy also drops in some political commentary at the end where the City of Gotham argues over Bruce giving away all of his fortune to the City and whether or not it goes far enough or veers too far into socialism. While this particular White Knight story has been focused on the heroism side of Batman, I might have liked more of this commentary throughout the book, much like it was focused on in the original series. Though, who’s to say that that’s not where Murphy is going as this book ends on something of a cliffhanger with a SURPRISING reveal.

For the end of such a phenomenal book, I can gladly say that this was absolutely worth it. From the compelling story, to the amazing art, coloring and lettering, almost everything about this was perfect in every way. I really enjoyed seeing Batman’s journey from angry vigilante to true savior of Gotham and the dichotomy between him and Azrael as an angry war veteran. Knowing that Sean Gordon Murphy has been given free reign to start his own White Knight Imprint, I’m ultra excited for what the future holds!

Also, support me on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/join/TyTalksComics

[thecomicsnexus]

BATMAN: NOËL NOVEMBER 2011 BY LEE BERMEJO, BARBARA CIARDO AND TODD KLEIN

SYNOPSIS (FROM DC DATABASE)

In Gotham City, Batman tracks down a man named Bob Cratchit that he knows to be working for the Joker. Bob has a young son, and out of desperation, he took a job doing a delivery for the Clown Prince of Crime. Batman catches up with him, though, causing him to drop his package. The package is full of the Joker's money, and Batman grabs him, interrogating him about his enemy's whereabouts. Bob knows nothing, and knowing that the Joker will want his money back, he uses Bob as bait, and lets him go free - with a tracker placed on his scarf.

Bob returns home to find his son Tim fashioning a makeshift Christmas tree out of a dead plant and some garbage. The boy is excited to show his creation to his father, but the stressful encounter with Batman has left Bob rather harrowed. Tim wanted to add something to represent Batman to his tree, because Batman is a good guy. Thinking of himself, Bob mutters that sometimes good people have to do bad things.

In the Batcave, Alfred notes that Bruce seems to have a rather severe cough, and should probably not be out in the cold so much. He notices that Bruce is performing surveillance on the Cratchit household, and expresses some disgust at his master's invasion of privacy - and in particular his placing a child in danger by using a parent as bait. Bruce believes that if left to his own devices, Bob Cratchit will raise his son to be a criminal like him. Alfred coldly warns that there was once another boy whose future was risked on his watch.

That boy was Robin. As Batman's sidekick, the boy had brought out a side of his mentor that has not been seen in some time. But Robin is dead, and has been for years. And with him went that happier side. Still sick, Bruce has a vision of Robin, and that apparition warns that he will be visited by three more people who will help him to see what he's lost.

Batman responds to the Bat-Signal and meets with his confidante Commissioner Gordon. Gordon tips Batman off to a report that Catwoman plans to knock over an auction house and may have some information about the Joker's whereabouts. Batman thinks it would be a waste of time to check into it, given the games Selina plays, but decides to stop her anyway.

Near Sprang's Auction House, Catwoman jokes that she could hear Batman's laboured breathing from far away, and dares him to chase her. Angrily, he grabs her and demands to know where the Joker is. Coyly, she responds that she made the story up just to get him to come for her. As he leaves in anger, she calls after him that he has changed. He used to be more determined to pursue her, more willing to play. Annoyed, he gives in and chases her, and something about that action reminds him of the man he used to be, the man he was with Robin. However, in his condition, he is not able to do all he should, and when she makes a desperate leap across a gap between buildings, he misses his mark and falls into the alley below.

Down there, he has vivid memories of his parents' murder. His reverie is interrupted by the appearance of Superman. He comments that he heard Bruce coughing all the way from Metropolis, and using his X-Ray vision, he determines that Batman has the beginnings of pneumonia. Bruce shrugs him off, and sighing, Superman takes his friend's hand and offers to give him a lift to his car. Batman agrees on the condition that they stop by the Cratchit house. Superman comments that it is bad for a hunter to use parents or children as bait. Despite the fact that it is clear that there is plenty of love between Bob and his son, Batman is blind to it and treats the family only as a means to capturing his foe.

Superman is disappointed with Bruce's approach, and decides to show him something. Lifting the Dark Knight high above his city, Superman urges him to see the good within Gotham's citizens in their every day life. Gotham's present is full of acts of good will and kindness above and beyond its crime and dirt.

Superman takes Bruce to the home of Commissioner Gordon, where he has invited one of his officers to share some 'cheer' with he and his wife. The officer comments that there were some Batman sightings across the city, but things seem otherwise quiet. Gordon admits that his relationship with the vigilante isn't easy to keep, and his guest suggests that Batman is a necessary evil. Gordon responds that Batman is by no means evil, but that he walks a fine line and occasionally blurs that line too much. He likes to think that he can temper that instability in Batman.

Afterwards, Superman drops Batman off at the Batmobile, warning his friend to take steps to improve his health. As Bruce makes his way to the car, though, it suddenly explodes, knocking him back. Nearly unconscious, Bruce only has enough time to see a figure approaching before he blacks out. The Joker drags Batman from the alley into a cemetery. He kicks the unconscious Dark Knight into an open grave, and begins shovelling dirt on top.

In his unconsciousness, Batman dreams of a future without him. The city is full of riots, and it has been overrun by rival gangs inspired by his example - only more willing to cross the line. These gangs are at war with another gang inspired by the Joker. James Gordon is tried for aiding and abetting a known criminal, obstructing justice, harbouring a known fugitive, malfeasance in office, and accessory. He is found guilty and sentenced to 30 years without parole. Wayne Manor and its contents are sold at auction and Alfred watches his life taken away from him. Everyone who had cared for Batman is worse off - and why should they care if he died when it seemed to them that he didn't care for them at all? Realizing that he has a chance to make this all right, Batman returns to consciousness, and thrusts his fist up through the dirt which had covered him.

That night, Tim answers a knock on his door, and is horrified to find the Joker standing there. He begins laying out tools of torture on the table and demands to know where Bob is. When he threatens Tim's life, Bob gets up the nerve to come out with a baseball bat and threaten his one-time employer. Unfortunately, the Joker dodges the blow quickly and places the muzzle of a revolver in his face. He demands his money, and makes it clear that he will kill to get it.

Suddenly, Batman smashes through the window and knocks Joker to the floor. Before the clown can retrieve his gun, Bob Cratchit grabs it and turns the tables. He cries out that if the Joker wants to play games with his son's life, he will show him how to play, cocking the revolver. Joker dares him to fire, but Batman urges Bob to show his son that he is not a criminal; to show him what a hero is. Reluctantly, Bob lets the weapon drop, and Batman delivers the Joker to the police.

Tim and Bob are brought closer together by their experience, and Commissioner Gordon's faith in his mysterious friend is restored. Batman returns to the cave, and goes to sleep.

The next day, Batman furnishes the Cratchit household with a real Christmas tree, presents, and even a job for Bob courtesy of Bruce Wayne. Later, Bob would tell the story to his son, borrowing motifs from Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol", hoping to teach Tim that a man can change for the better.

REVIEW

I am not a Christmas person (I may be dead inside) and I am definitely not a fan of “A Christmas Carol”, perhaps because the story has been adapted too many times, with mixed results. It’s just best to create a new story.

In any case, this novel focuses in the idea of people being able to change (which is the right approach to the original material), and puts Batman in the role of Scrooge. I could debate about how accurate this could be, but the story was non-canon and it happened on the same month as the New 52 debut, if you needed more reasons to believe this was an elseworld. So let’s just accept that this Batman is always on “Mike W. Barr” mode.

I felt like the Catwoman part of this novel is perhaps the less interesting one (but it also feels like that in the original to me).

The creative twist in this novel is the way it’s told. While we can accept a narrator telling the story in a book without thinking too much about it, here, it comes as a surprise. When I started reading the novel, I thought someone was telling this story, but no. I differ with the DC Database interpretation, Bob is not telling this story with elements of “A Christmas Carol”, I think he is telling the Christmas Carol story as he remembers it. And we just happen to see a different version than the one he is narrating. It’s a bit complicated, but let’s just agree on the fact that Bob couldn’t know about Superman, Catwoman and Gordon. So we are reading two stories in parallel that have the same elements.

The art, well, do I even need to say something? It’s just mesmerizing, and the colors give his pages an “Alex Ross” feel.

I give this novel a score of 9

[kenzie-kitty]

Enemies? Part 2 -Batman/Joker

Part 2 of “Enemies?”, which was posted not too long before this.

Definitely a trigger warning for a suicide attempt in this part :/

Part 1 is here

~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was evening in Gotham, raining as usual, and the sun was setting slowly behind the tall buildings. The only strange thing about the night was that it was the end to a relatively uneventful day; the bank robbery was the only crime that had happened, and no one had actually gotten hurt.

Joker wasn’t feeling up for any other adventures at the moment, and he doubted he would any time soon. He considered taking off on an early retirement, but he’d come to actually like Gotham and the people in it. Specifically one person.

As he wasn’t doing anything illegal, he chose to go for a walk; he loved the smell of gasoline and smoke that had permeated the joke shop due to his arrival, but city-polluted fresh air was just as great. The streets were deserted, as they generally were in the southern side of the city, so Joker didn’t have any issues while he strolled through the cracked streets. His mind kept going back to his Dark Knight, the man who had stolen his heart without even knowing it. He couldn’t help but give himself the tiniest slice of hope that they’d end up together; he wanted desperately to know the Bat inside and out.

‘Don’t be stupid, clown. He’s a hero, you’re a villain; you’ll never be together. He’s a million times too good for you,’ his mind taunted him, slashing at his emotions with mental knives. He argued back and forth with the harsh little voice, eventually giving in and agreeing with it. He even started to join it.

His distracted mind was the reason he didn’t see the dark shape coming at him from his side.

~~~~~~~~~

Bruce, now in his Batsuit, made a quick trip to the police station as soon as the sun began to sink. He’d wanted to know more about the robbery, surprised to hear that Joker hadn’t made his usual jests or even shown his face. Come to think of it, the clown had been acting stranger than usual for the past couple months; Batman had heard him more than once muttering to himself, and he thought he’d heard the clown say something about a dark night.

Before he left the station, Gordon pulled him aside into the lockup.

“Listen, Batman. We’ve all noticed how you and Joker seem more… friendly than you used to, and we’ve kinda found that if we do as he says most people survive. So, uhm, we still have his coat and weapons from yesterday and I thought I’d give them to you to get back to him,” Gordon explained, handing Batman the dirty purple coat and a small shoebox filled with the aforementioned weapons.

“We aren’t friends. He doesn’t have friends. He’s just calmed down a bit, and I’m taking advantage of the down-time,” Batman claimed, taking the Joker’s belongings. He left the station and climbed onto his bike, speeding off in the direction of the bakery he’d dropped his clown off at the night before.

‘There I go again, calling him my clown,’ he thought, getting more and more annoyed at himself. He’d even asked Alfred about the food, but nothing sounded like it would’ve caused this. Besides, it would’ve stopped by this point had it been the food.

The bakery came into view and Batman parked in the shadows between it and its neighbor. Looking in one of the broken windows, he could see that no one had so much as touched anything inside recently; he wasn’t surprised he’d been mislead, Joker was becoming less hostile but he wasn’t getting any dumber.

He decided to walk around in case he could find any semblance of life in the dirtier side of the city. It didn’t take long for him to hear the distracted mutters of the Joker, nor did he have to look far to figure out where the costumed man was. He saw the green hair first, glowing slightly neon in the light of a lamp, and then the greasepaint came into view. Batman had to smirk at the way Joker would subconsciously flick the strands of hair from his face.

It was then that he noticed the coat he was wearing, identical to the one he’d left at the police station. He almost laughed aloud at the thought that the Joker had a closet full of identical outfits; he managed to achieve a blank look on his face before he moved toward his clown. ‘Stop calling him that,’ came the little voice again, but he ignored it.

As he got closer to Joker, he heard parts of what he was muttering. “Stupid clown… never be together… too good for you… never deserve his love… might as well die…” He suddenly became concerned for Joker, although he had no idea who or what he was thinking about. He closed the distance between them and shoved the clown into an alleyway, holding him against the wall with his hands over his head. For a moment, Joker struggled, not knowing for sure who was holding him down; the second he realised it was the Bat, he calmed down and sighed.

“If this is about the bank, it was because I got… bored,” Joker claimed, an unreadable look on his face.

“You’ve been awfully calm lately,” Batman accused, pushing his other questions to the end of his list. “What are you planning?”

“Do I really look like a guy with a plan?” Joker retorted immediately. “No, I’m just… letting everyone get used to the silence before I hit them with a big surprise.”

Batman narrowed his eyes at his clown, pressing Joker’s wrists together in his one hand as he began to struggle slightly. He couldn’t help but notice the lean yet muscular body hidden by the layers of tailored fabric, and the full lips underneath the bright red greasepaint. He mentally shook his head to refocus and continued the conversation.

“You left your things at the police station.”

Joker shrugged. “Yeah, but I know a good tailor and I have many more weapons than where those came from,” he smirked and winked at the Bat.

Batman kept his face straight as he revealed the coat and shoebox with his free hand. “Now you have the original coat and more weapons. Gordon wanted rid of them,” he supplied the explanation before Joker could ask; he was always doing that, giving the explanation the second he assumed his clown would ask. ‘Stop calling him yours, Wayne! He’s not, he’d probably rather be with Dent than you.’ He once again pushed down the voice.

“Why give them back when you know I’ll probably just cause more damage with them?”

Batman shrugged, “They’re yours and Gordon doesn’t want them. Neither do I.” He mentally punched the voice telling him he was lying about not wanting them, if only just to have a piece of the clown with him.

Joker stared at him for a heartbeat, suspicion clear in his eyes, before nodding slowly. “Well, I can’t take them from you with my hands caught above my head, now can I?”

Batman grunted and released one of his hands, quickly tightening his grip on the other to keep Joker where he was. The clown grabbed his things, first putting the coat over his arm then holding the box in his hand. “Uh, thanks,” he muttered, looking away from the caped vigilante and out into the dark street.

“I have more questions,” Batman informed, gaining back his clown’s attention. Joker nodded and put on his normal bored expression. “Ask away,” Joker motioned for him to continue with his freed hand, the weapons in the box sliding around making clicking sounds as they hit each other.

“Why steal money when you’ve said yourself that it’s not about the money,” Batman asked, dark eyes narrowing. Everybody had wondered it, constantly saying that he was contradicting himself.

Joker sighed in slight annoyance. ‘No one ever listens!’ His verbal replay showed he was becoming tired of answering the question. “It isn’t about the money, not for me. But, to everyone else, it is! See, people think that it’s money that can make them happy, but in reality it’s anything else. Friends, adventures, excitement, love! That’s what brings happiness; not money.”

Batman was taken aback by the answer. He didn’t think his clown- this mass murdering, bank robbing clown- was so sentimental. He then had to wonder if Joker had these things; he knew his clown had his own adventures and excitement, but friends and love? Everyone in the city was awaiting the day they’d see the clown’s corpse on TV as they danced around it.

“How’d you come up with that?”

Joker shrugged as best he could with one arm still extended above his head, slightly painfully he might add, and looked away from his Bat again. “Let’s just say it, uh, came to me in a dream,” he jested quietly, licking one of the scars inside his cheek. He was trying his hardest (ha, hardest) to ignore the way his Bat’s body was pressing against him; there was hardly any space between them. He tried to figure out a way to get out of his Knight’s grip, or at the very least put a small amount of space between them.

“Would you, uh, mind not standing so close to me? I’d rather not be pressed against you,” Joker lied. He internally winced when he noticed that he hadn’t made that statement sound anything close to being the truth.

Batman heard the lie in Joker’s words, though his mind tried to tell him he was imagining things. ‘Joker couldn’t possibly feel anything close to even liking me. He just wants to play mind games, just like he always does, don’t pay any attention to what he wants.’ The Bat ignored the Joker’s request and asked yet another question. “What’s the next big surprise?”

Joker found it increasingly more difficult to concentrate, especially when Batman repositioned his feet to find a more comfortable stance and inadvertently brushed harshly against Joker’s hips. Joker took slow, calming breaths to try to cool himself down, not hearing Batman’s question as he did so.

“Joker, answer the question,” Batman growled, surprised he was able to hide his reaction to accidentally brushing against his clown’s hips. Joker wasn’t responding and Batman could see that something had made him uncomfortable. ‘No, he can’t be… He’s just playing around,’ his brain insisted even as Batman could see a flash of… arousal? flash through his clown’s eyes.

“Joker?”

Joker blinked, finally calm enough to realise that his Knight was staring at him suspiciously through his mask’s eye holes. He cleared his throat and managed a smile. “Heh, gotcha!” He shouted weakly, somehow knowing his Bat wouldn’t be convinced. He had to get away before he said anything more condemning. “I, uhm, just realised that I, uh, left my oven on,” he smirked nervously before somehow wriggling out of his Bat’s grip and taking off down the road.

He ran fast, not caring how awkwardly tight his pants had gotten; he had to make it back to the joke shop without further stalling. He was close to his hideout when he was again shoved into a wall in an alley by his Knight.

“Oh, hello. So we meet again, Dark Knight,” he greeted as sarcastically as he could to cover his arousal. The fact that he’d been forcefully slammed into a wall (twice) was not helping.

“What are you hiding, Joker,” Batman growled, hoping to get the answer to the underlying question. It suddenly occurred to him what Joker had called him. ‘Dark Knight? He’d been muttering about a dark knight for days, could he have meant… me?’

“N-nothing, I have nothing to hide. Well, I mean, I do but nothing actually of concern to you,” Joker mentally cursed himself as he managed to somehow sound more suspicious.

“What did you call me?”

Joker’s paint covered eyebrows knitted together at the question. He’d been expecting something more… aggressive to follow his statement. “W-what do you, uh, mean?”

“You called me ‘Dark Knight’,” Batman clarified. “Why?”

Joker mentally stumbled for an answer that wouldn’t reveal how he felt; he couldn’t think of a believable reason to call him that, not one that wouldn’t bring the expectation of further explanation. He swallowed thickly, looking everywhere except his Dark Knight. He hadn’t even realised he’d called him that out loud, and he certainly hadn’t been wanting to do so.

“You’re not answering,” Batman growled. Joker couldn’t help but be aroused by the deep sound of the false voice and the feeling of being pressed against by the man who haunted his mind day and night. He knew that if his Bat moved his leg even slightly to the left he’d be able to feel Joker’s erection through both their layers of clothing. He had to distract the masked vigilante somehow and run; he didn’t want to hurt him, he’d done enough of that already. So he went with the next thing he thought of.

Batman’s eyes widened as his clown’s painted face was suddenly closer, their lips forced together with the surprisingly strong hand of the clown. He stood there, head stooped down in their kiss, as Joker let out a happy sounding hum. Then, as quickly as it had happened, the kiss stopped. Batman opened his eyes, although he wasn’t sure when they had closed, to see an empty space in front of him.

Joker was gone, but his paint was on Batman’s face as the only evidence he’d been there in the first place.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Joker slammed the joke shop’s door closed and leaned back against it, sliding down to sit on the floor. He felt the tears threatening to spill from his eyes. ‘Why did I do that?! He knows… He fucking knows!’

His head fell forward into his hands as his elbows rested on his knees. He tried to hold back the tears, knowing they’d lead to sobs; he hadn’t cried in years and knew he wouldn’t be able to handle himself if he started now. The salty liquid streaming down his face, creating tracks in his makeup that was already smearing off, had its own ideas. His shoulders shook as he realised he’d made a mistake by letting himself feel anything for his… the Batman.

He stood suddenly, slamming his fist backward into the wooden door and ignoring the sting in his hand as he walked into the back room he’d made into his bedroom. He found the bottle of vodka he’d taken from a gas station a couple days ago and twisted the cap off. Taking a long swig from it, he fell back onto his small bed and let sad sleep take over.

~~~~~~~~~

Bruce pulled the last of his costume off and tossed it to the ground of the Batcave. He’d changed into his normal clothing before he remembered the greasepaint that was still on and around his mouth. He pressed two fingers against his lips and pulled them away to see them covered in red and white paint. He wiped the last of it off his face with his black shirtsleeve and exited his secret hideout. He headed home to his penthouse, hoping to be able to think over his clown’s actions.

~~~~~~~~~~

Time had passed since their kiss, ten hours to be exact. Joker hadn’t left his hideout in that time, instead spending the day sitting on his bed unmoving. His minions had knocked on the door plenty of times but left believing he wasn’t there; he knew at some point they’d either enter to check on him or completely leave him be, but he didn’t care. Caring had been what hurt him in the first place. It always did.

He vaguely noticed the sun setting and the room becoming darker as time slipped deeper into the night. He supposed he should get up and eat or drink something before he passed out, but couldn’t bring himself to move until he decided to do something to get rid of his feelings.

He stood shakily and walked slowly to the dingy bathroom. His reflection showed a tired man with more tanned skin showing than greasepaint and dark rings under his eyes. The green in his hair was fading, but he didn’t have the energy to re-dye it. Looking away from the grimy mirror, he picked up the three shallow jars of his makeup.

He opened the first jar to see pasty white cream that he knew would be cold on his warm skin. He carefully slathered it over his face, leaving the areas around his eyes, mouth and scars clean of white as he knew they’d be covered in their own designated colors. Closing that jar, he twisted open the jar of black, seeing inky darkness as he did so. His fingers dipped inside and brought his covered fingers to his eyes. He smeared it over the lids, making sure no skin was showing through.

The red was always last, and he made sure to wipe the white and black residue off his fingers before he coated them in the crimson paint. He covered his lips first, pushing his thoughts of Batman’s soft lips as far from his mind as he could; he knew any tears would ruin the perfected makeup. His fingers painted the red over his scars and he shuddered slightly as he felt the jagged edges.

He stepped out of the bathroom and pulled on his purple coat, the one his Bat had brought back to him, feeling the familiar slight bulge of his favorite blade in his pocket. Sighing and rolling his shoulders back in a move of decision, he left the joke shop, thinking it would be his last time seeing the old building.

~~~~~~~~~~~ (Trigger warning for this upcoming part)

Bruce was back in his Batsuit as he stood at the top of one of the many skyscrapers of Gotham. The sun had set once again as he stood watching over his city. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice come over the radio waves through the earpiece in his mask.

“Batman, I know you’re listening to this and even if you, uh, aren’t, you’ll hear it later,” Joker’s voice said quietly. He sounded… different; there was a twinge of pain in his nasally voice. “I, uh, I just want to say that we’ve had a good run, you and I. But, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. I suppose I should resort back to my more normal self and give you a time frame to find your, uh, victim. So, you have five minutes until they’re… dead.”

Batman immediately jumped down from the building, using his suit’s wings to guide him away from the ground and across the sky; Alfred, who had been listening, used the signal to pinpoint the location of the voice. It took only a minute and a half for Batman to find the place; Joker was at the top of one of the largest skyscrapers in the city. And he was alone.

The Bat quickly used his Bat hook to scale the building, leaving him with only a minute left to figure out his clown’s plans. The clown in question had moved to the opposite end of the roof and was standing on the edge of the roof, his back to the vigilante.

“You found me,” he halfheartedly congratulated him, his shoulders slouched as he stared down to the ground.

“Who’s the victim?” Batman questioned, worriedly hoping he wouldn’t get the answer he was thinking. Hope was not on his side.

“Don’t you get it, Dark Knight? It’s me!” Joker shouted suddenly, swaying forward concerningly. He glanced at the purple watch he had around his wrist to see that he had ten seconds left. He turned, and what Batman saw made him gasp.

Those green eyes that were usually filled with anger and murder were now filled with sadness and tears. His makeup, which had obviously been applied with great care, now had streaks on the cheeks. A gust of wind blew his coat back to reveal his favorite suit, the one with the metallic blue, hexagonal patterned dress shirt, green vest, purple jacket, and purple slacks. He had a light green pocket square in the jacket’s breast pocket and shining green cufflinks on the sleeves that peeked out from under his coat’s sleeves. He was dressed how he wanted to be remembered; as the Clown Prince of Crime.

“Joker… You don’t want to do this,” Batman reasoned, taking a step toward him.

Five seconds.

“Yeah, I, uh, really do,” Joker confirmed quietly, edging his feet back. “And you won’t stop me. Because this city would condemn you for saving the terrorist clown.”

Three seconds.

“I’ll save you because no one deserves to die, especially not like this. Especially not you,” Batman insisted, taking two more steps forward.

One second.

Joker gave what he thought would be his last smile. “Goodbye, my Dark Knight.”

He felt the upward draft hit him hard as he fell backward off the building; his wavy hair flew up along the sides of his painted face and his coat was plastered against his back. He knew more tears were leaking out of his eyes, but he didn’t care; he closed his eyes against them and waited for his body to hit the ground and blackness to take over.

He must have been halfway to the ground when something wrapped around his ankle and stopped his fall. ‘No! No, no, no, no, no! He’s not supposed to save me! He can’t save me! We’re enemies, and it isn’t even like he’s breaking his rule! I was killing myself!’ He mentally screamed at his Bat as he was lifted back up to the roof. His back hit the side of the building every so often, but he barely felt it as the (second) bottle of vodka he’d downed merely fifteen minutes ago finally numbed his body.

“You,” he muttered with depressed annoyance as he was pulled over the edge and set down in a sitting position. “You just couldn’t let me die. Why not?! Huh?! I have nothing left to live for, Batsy! You’re the only one who’s willing to save me, and now it’s for no real reason. You wouldn’t have broken your rule, I was jumping on my own! Why can’t you just forg-”

His depressed speech was suddenly cut off as his lips were covered by Batman’s. Shocked, he froze, not sure if this was some sick trick to just shut him up or if it was real. He couldn’t sit still for long, however, and he leaned into his Bat’s chest, returning the kiss wholeheartedly as he placed his hands lightly on his chestplate. He felt as Batman grinned against his lips and couldn’t help but pull away to see the rare sight.

Batman was still smiling as his clown pulled away; he could accept that he was in love with the murderer and that the murderer was in love with him.

Joker smiled back at his Dark Knight, then looked away as he realised he’d probably never get anything like this again. I mean, they were enemies. Right?

“Hey, look at me,” a smooth voice said. Joker knew it had been his Bat, but it wasn’t gravelly; it was familiar, though he didn’t know why. Looking up, confused, he opened his mouth to speak but was stopped by a gloved finger.

“Listen, Joker,” he started. Joker braced himself for the next words he knew he would hear. “I think I should get you off of this building just in case you got physically hurt or you decide to try again.”

Joker hadn’t been expecting that to be the next words, but he nodded. Batman lifted him with one arm before grabbing him around the waist. “Now, we could take the stairs, but it’s faster to fly,” the Bat smirked, giving his clown a slight squeezed before jumping off the building and using his free arm to guide them down. Joker felt the updraft of wind hit his face, but this time he wasn’t crying or falling. He was floating with a grin as he held onto his Bat’s arm.

They landed safely on their feet and Batman lead them to where his Bat Bike was waiting only a few blocks away. They hopped on, Batman in front and Joker on the back for the second time that week with his arms around his Bat’s waist, the dark cape being moved to the side. They sped off in the direction of the storage lot for Wayne Enterprises. Joker wondered what they were doing there when Batman likely knew where Joker was staying, but he didn’t say anything as he navigated inside the fenced in lot.

“Normally, I would’ve blindfolded you or something, but I have to doubt you’d do anything to hurt me at this point,” Batman informed him as he stopped before a group of large storage trailers. Joker was still getting used to the familiar smooth voice that was obviously the vigilante’s real voice.

“You could blindfold me anyway, I wouldn’t mind,” the clown teased, resting his painted chin on his Dark Knight’s shoulder. The latter glanced back with a smirk before slowly driving them forward and through the large door of one. The inside was dark for a split second before the floor began to drop down; Joker was amazed by how discreet the Batcave was made. No one would think to look in Wayne Enterprises.

It took only a moment for his amazement to be for the brightly lit, white room. He saw a desk covered with high-tech computers and televisions sitting in the center of the floor. To his right, a section of the wall rose up to reveal a dark garage-type space and he saw his Bat rolling his bike into the space before closing it.

“Alright, c’mere. I have to check for wounds, so take off your coat and jacket,” Batman instructed, motioning for Joker to follow him and sit at the desk. Joker did as he was told and looked around as Batman placed his two clothing items at the empty end of the desk. “Your shirt will have to come off, as well, so I can actually see if there are wounds,” he teased gently, his lips hovering just next to Joker’s ear.

The makeup-covered man felt a small shiver traveled up his spine as he unbuttoned his flashy shirt and folded it sloppily in his lap. The vodka was wearing off and he could feel fresh bruises on his back and a slight headache was pounding in his head.

“No bleeding, so that’s good,” Batman murmured as his fingers slid lightly around his clown’s back. He was shocked into momentary silence to see scars scattered across his skin, and that was only his back; he had to wonder what -or who- had happened to this man, besides himself. He stepped slightly over to Joker’s side to check his arms and head for any wounds he might have overlooked. There were less scars on Joker’s biceps, but the few that were there looked to be painful.

“What’s the diagnosis, Doc?” Joker jested quietly, feeling the slight sensation of bare hands brushing over his skin. He suppressed another shiver as he realised his Bat was examining his other scars, the ones he could keep hidden. “I know it, uh, looks gruesome,” he swallowed quietly, pulling his arms quickly through the sleeves of his shirt and redoing the buttons.

“They suit you, Mr. Puts-his-own-life-in-danger-so-many-times-I’m-amazed-you’re-still-alive,” his Bat joked, resting his forearms over Joker’s shoulders.

Joker snorted but remained quiet as he leaned back into the armored chest of his Bat. He froze as the entrance opened again; his Bat stood up straight and blocked the view of his clown from the arriving newcomer.

“Alfred, how good to see you,” Batman greeted in his false voice. Joker heard quiet footsteps coming closer and he couldn’t help but panic a little as he thought of what this Alfred would think. ‘Oh, fuck! What if he’s already in a relationship with this guy?’

“Well, I didn’t see you back at the pe-”

“I’ve been busy,” Batman interrupted, gaining a suspicious look from his elderly butler. He motioned with his head that he had someone here, but didn’t move to reveal who it was just yet. “You remember when I had you look for where the Joker was? Well… Found ‘im!” His false voice had gone back to his normal one as he forced Joker’s chair around and moved to stand beside him as his clown waved nervously at the old butler.

“Uh, hi,” Joker greeted slowly, looking at his Bat and back to the nicely dressed, older British man a few times.

Alfred stood looking at the two for a heartbeat before he addressed his master. “If you’re going to bring you boyfriend to you cave, you could at least put a sock on the pod’s door,” he teased, giving Batman a smirk.

The caped man was stunned into silence by the statement as Joker laughed incredulously; the Bat smacked his shoulder playfully, causing his clown to let out an amused “Ow.”

Alfred shook his head and turned back to exit  the cave, muttering something about young love.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okie, so I’m gonna post the rest in a final post a.k.a. Part 3

I hope if you’ve made it this far you’re enjoying this. I’m honestly feeling giddy like I did when this was first written, so I hope it’s well received.

Please don’t copyright, it would be super mean.

[iwritethat]

Jason Todd: Un-retirement

Request: I don’t think so?

Warning: Suggestive themes (lowkey nsfw idk), mature language

A/N: lol, it’s a bit suggestive but y’know.

>>>>—————————>

Retirement.

Did that not mean shit to these stupid heroes in spandex? Apparently not since you've got Red fucking Hood 'stealthily' tailing you from your workplace.

"Just come out already, I can't be asked for this kinda crap right now helmet head." You sighed, slamming your fist against the wall in frustration. Sure enough, your hunch was correct however as the metallic crimson you'd crossed on numerous occasions emerged from the shadows.

"You've still got it Deadpool." That nickname regretfully stuck due to your similar abilities, not that you minded since it was tribute to an unbelievable Marvel comic character despite his psychotic tendencies.

"Save it, whaddya want Red? Because if you hadn't noticed I'm retired. Done. Gonzo. Buh-bye." Your voice was cold yet full of sarcasm, you were doing okay out of costumes and capes - anyone could see that.

After your sentence in Arkham, getting released from that corrupted hellhole encouraged you to balance on the 'straight and narrow', away from the mercenary work. Currently you were a waitress, lowish pay but the plentiful tips kept you afloat in a rundown apartment area.

"You're a waitress (Y/n), that's a bit of a downgrade from an established antihero but whatever - I'll take what I can get."

"You get nothing." Was your stern response to his observations, waving a dismissive hand and retiring your attention to walking home.

"Would it hurt you for once, to just do it the easy way?" The vigilante prepared an offensive stance, your night of knocking hands off of you clearly hadn't concluded as of yet.

"Yes. Yes I think it would."

Painfully you ended up brawling with him and honestly, being back in the game was brilliant - thinking on your feet, flipping, fighting, and using your environment against him. Of course you were winning, healing factors were quite handy at least until the bastard shot you directly in the heart. With a choke of your breath, fingers darted to the wound where thick scarlet streams flowed like a waterfall, you couldn't breathe for a few seconds and as gut wrenchingly painful as it was, you left the bullet inside for the time being and dropped to your knees with an agonising cry.

"It's been a while since I've been shot, I guess I'm not as quick at repairing anymore..." The Red Hood froze, it never took you this long to heal. Instantly he skidded next you and desperately checked for your pulse, attempting to cover the wound and tossing his signature helmet aside to increase visibility.

"Why aren't you healing?! C'mon please!" He radiated a sense of urgency, who knew he cared right?

Silently, your fingers encased a solid plank of wood from the alley which instantly collided with the back of your enemy's skull, a hollow crack echoed through the empty street resulting in an unconscious male dropping to your shoulder. With a exasperated sigh, you unravelled the bullet from your skin, flicking it to the floor as your healing did the rest and afterwards literally hauled the well built vigilante into your current residence thoroughly pleased with your dramatic 'death' scene. Should’ve gone into the acting business.

You weren't inexperienced in this type of situation, having tied the potential threat up to your bedposts by his wrists and paced your room awaiting his return to semi consciousness for interrogation. A low groan was heard and you stood at the foot of the bed with his mask balancing between your fingers.

"Fuck no-" Your prisoner went to move, wrenching his arms to find themselves immovable right now, but you left his feet untangled so he could at least manoeuvre himself to sit up a little.

"You have beautiful eyes Jason Todd, lovely colour and I apologise for the less than decent accommodation but I needed to know what you wanted."

Jason wasn't usually cooperative but given your unusual relationship and current upperhand, he believed it to be the best path and so with a seething mumble of profanities he elaborated. "Help. Specifically your help to save the city from your old associates who are now interested in chemical warfare thanks to their new leader."

"Knew they'd be lost without me, too bad too sad. Next~" You mockingly sang, releasing a dreamy sigh as you inspected his crimson domino mask.

"That's it?! This is your city too!"

"Re-tir-ed, get it? I don't want to get arrested, as soon as I go out there I'll have Bats and the police after me again. So much aggravation." You responded with a deadpan expression and careless shrug.

"(Y/n), we wouldn't have dug you up if this wasn't serious. We need you, Gotham needs you. Huh, never thought I'd be saying this shit."

It took a moment to contemplate, but you're 80% confident that he could see the warring emotion in your eyes, the controversy and faltering settling in. It wasn't until he felt your weight rest on him and you gently press a knife to throat that he smirked.

"Kinky~"

"You better not be lying to me Red."

"I'm not, but there are better ways of torture, just so you know."

"Ugh, temporary 'unretirement' - that's what this is understand!" You voice was one of melodious discontent, fluidly slicing one of his hands free and standing up to go through your closet in search of your boxes up vigilante uniform.

Jason was preoccupied with releasing his other hand, that was until his attention was diverted by none other than yourself stripping right in front of him. Obviously out of respect he attempted to keep his gaze off of your beautiful figure and lace undergarments but the smug smirk you wore whilst slowly putting on your suit only made it worse. God why'd you have to be so hot? He always thought you were attractive but this was the equivalent of a wet dream for most that'd met you. As a result hormones were wizzing around the room like flys and it didn't take long for you clock his slight problem.

"Mmm, you're right Jay. There are other forms of torture..." Ringing with a seductive air to you, your knee slipped past his hip allowing you to tantalising straddle him with your hands  running up his toned leather clad chest.

"I love what I saw but Gotham-"

"Can wait 10 minutes for to persuade me to save it." As soon as your breath his hit ear you felt him harden even further underneath your hips and release a low moan he was no doubt trying to hold back when you rolled against him.

"Make it 20." His voice was now laced with lust, lower and huskier than before as he spoke only pulling you closer.

With a confident smirk, you moved to kiss him and he instantly reciprocated with no hesitation, allowing you to push him back down onto the bed where you could continue your rather intimate make out session.

At least until Batman slammed the door open before anything could progress, causing you to pull back and sit up with a pleased smile adorning your swollen lips.

"Good news, I'm reporting for duty Batman sir!" A mocking salute was aimed at the dark hero who continued to scowl then direct his discontentment toward his former partner who lay below you. Out of consideration, you went you remove yourself but that action was sabotaged when Jason latched his hand onto your waist to keep you in place, tugging you back onto his hips instantly - certain things Bruce didn't need to know about.

"Don't look at me like that! Like you've never fraternised with the enemy, least I have fucking amazing taste." The Red Hood defended, classic snarky tone in play.

"Hnn... We don't have time for this." Batman glared at you both, swishing his cape as he left. You boredly sighed but supposed it saved you getting undressed again, so once patting Jason’s bat symbol centred on his chest you readily skipped after the Dark Knight.

You were going to love this little game.

[supersonicsidekick]

Arkhamverse Fic Recs

So, I really like fic recs, so I decided to do one for the Batman: Arkham Series, since it can be hard to find good fics in this universe. Recommendations and comments under the cut.

If He Had Come and the sequel Desiderium by bronwe_iris Jason Todd has been a prisoner of the Joker for nine months. Then, against all odds and all hope, Batman rescues Jason and brings him back to Wayne Manor to recover. But has Batman come too late to save what is left of Jason? (AU of the Arkham Knight video game)

This is without a doubt my favorite Arkhamverse AU. The writing is amazing. The characterization is amazing. Everything about these stories is amazing. There's a reason why they're on most Jason Todd fic recs. 

The Edward Nigma, Private Investigator Series by Queen_in_the_North One year ago, Edward Nigma awoke from a coma missing his memory and his compulsion to leave riddles. One year later, he finds himself in a Gotham that's changing and not for the better. Who will be his friend? Who will be his foe? Most of all, can Edward Nigma exist without riddles? 

A good series if you like AU set in the Arkhamverse and Edward Nigma.

Cigarette Smoke and Snark by ScaryScarecrows A collection of one-shots involving Jason Todd.

ScaryScarecrows has one of the most unique and catchy writing styles I’ve ever seen. It’s addicting.

Bet On It by catsaremyboyfriend there's a member of the militia in arkham knight who goes "yeah, and if i lose this bet i have to tell the arkham knight he'd look better in a cape" and i wanted to write that fic so here we go. 

This is one of my favorite Arkhamverse fics. I love it so much. It's everything you could ask for in a fic about the Knight and his militia. The last line killed me.

Encryption by batwayneman As she watches Scarecrow's broadcast, Barbara knows what she must do.

One of the tags is ‘Barbara is a badass’. What more do you need to know?

All of No Man's Land is Mine by wouldyouliketoseemymask In the years between the events of Arkham Asylum and Arkham Knight, Scarecrow plots his vengeance.

A great piece covering the gap between Asylum and Knight. The Origins interminsion is probably my favorite chapter because it’s reminiscent of Scarecrow Year One.

to see a perfect forest through so many splintered trees by girlsarewolves Darkness. Cold. All she knows is the absence of light and heat. Her life has become nothingness. She doesn't even get the blessing of sleep. Sometimes she hears things. Sometimes, there's a voice, breaking through the haze. Harsh, frigid, familiar; a voice she would know anywhere, no matter how different it may sound now. "Some day, Nora," he says. "Some day I will find the cure. I will be able to bring you back into the world. And maybe then I will finally remember what it is to feel warmth."

A heartbreaking oneshot set before, during, and after In From The Cold.

Server Access by deathofaraven The server room was cold and unfriendly, but the company was nice. One of the few things Barbara actually appreciated about the GCPD. And if there was someone around to appreciate his intellect...well, Edward wasn't complaining.

A surprisingly cute oneshot set pre-Origins centering on a friendship between a pre- Riddle Edward Nigma and a young Barbara Gordon.

Blossom by thelinksthatconnectus (orphan_account) Jonathan Crane is in Arkham, The Joker is gone, and Poison Ivy is dead. Harley, having escaped from Arkham, is left to try and pick up the pieces of dreams that she no longer has. However, she may not be as alone as she thinks.

An emotional Harlivy oneshot set after Arkham Knight.

Reptilia by CanidSerpent He looks like a vile genetic experiment gone wrong, he knows that. It's not the hard part, it's not what makes him despise humanity and all it stands for. It's because they are a hopeless and fearful species, that grovels and cowers at the slightest hint of danger. To him, that makes them worth nothing less than meat.

A short introspect on Waylon Jones. It’s a good read if you’re a fan of Killer Croc.

empty apologies don't mend broken glass by girlsarewolves Forgiveness is not in their nature (they'll always come back to each other eventually)

A short SelinaIvy piece with great chracterzation. A little NSFW, but not really. 

The Butterfly Effect by Me It happened in an instant. One moment Gordon was being escorted by Batman to the Clocktower. The next, he was being hauled into one of the Militia's APCs, Batman nowhere in sight. (AKA the Batman: Arkham Knight AU where the Arkham Knight and his Militia are successful in capturing Commissioner Gordon.)

I know it might seem kinda shameless recommending one of my own fics, but I really like the premise of this fic and think you might as well. Just like the real life Butterfly Effect, the story deals with the consequences brough by what you would think is an insignificant event.

Insight by Me A series of Oneshots set in the Batman: Arkham Universe about the Arkham Knight and his Militia from the Militia's perspective. 

This right here is some of my best work. I love this collection so much sometimes I can’t even believe I was the one who wrote it. And I’ll be updating it soon, so there’s that.

[wizardysseus]

if you're still doing the top five thing, top five superhero adaptations

ASK ME MY TOP 5/TOP 10 ANYTHING

adaptations to film/tv, i assume? like i can’t just list ultimate daredevil and elektra as my fave au and call it good?

captain america: the winter soldier

still in my top movies, full stop. when it came out i ran around campus trying to find my friends and begged them to go with me. i sat next to a friend who’s a very casual superhero fan herself (stays out of fandoms) and made her laugh because whenever she looked over i was, like, clawing at my own face. i cried pretty solidly on her shoulder through the credits?? i believe @a-corndog-named-schibbs was there, too, and should be able to attest. later i read the source material, which got me into other cap and winter soldier comics, which made me into the bitter bucky stan you know and love.

it’s just… a dang good film. it’s suspenseful and funny and heartfelt and sad and hopeful, and every time i watch it, i leave feeling a little more the way “trouble man” sounds.

batman: the animated series

this is just my opinion which is correct, but kevin conroy is the best batman. The Best. if such classic and unbeatable performances as this weren’t enough, there’s also mark hamill’s iconic joker, og harley, the al ghuls, and the rest of the gotham rogues. btas has absolutely hysterical episodes like “almost got ‘im” (the rogues wonder who invited joker to their weekly poker game), “harley’s holiday” (i personally award her a gold star that says You Tried A Little Bit), and “the man who killed batman” (kazoo eulogy. that is all anyone needs to know.) — and then it brings the emotion of two-face’s origin, mr. freeze’s tragic love story, and bruce being trapped in a dream where his parents are alive. i love the theme song. i love the old school gotham vibe. i love my weird loser family of villains who cannot function without an aesthetic. i love everyone in this bar

x-men: days of future past

another of my top movies, not just for the sheer delight i have in anything to do with time travel. i’ve watched it again, uh, a lot, and i will say its flaws bother me more now than they did the first time. but charles’ and raven’s character arcs still hold up, and that’s the core of why the film matters to me. charles struggling to confront his intensely painful empathy (well, telepathy, but in a narrative sense, empathy). logan telling him to form the x-men — even if it does all go to hell someday, still bring the family together. raven paving her own path, making mistakes, but wanting to do the right thing; eventually choosing mercy over vengeance, and it saves her people in the present and the future. that was powerful for me.

i also love that when they send logan back they’re like “ideally charles would go, but you’re the only one who can make the trip, so have fun.” and then everyone in the past goes “wow, you were the exact wrong person for this job” and logan nods good-naturedly like “thanks, i’m aware”

the dark knight rises if i’m being real

i have my bones to pick with nolan, i do (cough whitewashing the al ghuls cough)! but !!! BUT !!! 

tdkr was the movie that finally hooked me on batman. i enjoyed the other two films — the heavy-handed philosophical drama of nolan’s whole trilogy really works for me, which made it a good intro. but tdkr specifically did something beyond that. nolan!batman gets a lot of shit for being too dark, too gritty, too scary. but tdkr is about the reversal of those things — truth and its consequences, hope, sacrifice, and hard-won rest. it’s practically eucatastrophe. and i’m just glad there’s a universe where bruce retired with selina and is at peace. i only want the best for him, you know?

besides, the track “why do we fall?” alone could get it on the list. thanks hans

wonder woman (2017)

there was a time in my life before i saw this movie 3 times in 6 days, but thank god, better times have come. 

diana means a lot to me, as a character. she’s one of the first i called “my wife” and meant it (i think the others were claire temple and avatar korra? so that should tell you something about me). i didn’t need the movie to be flawless, but i needed something genuine to who she is. like her, the film is genuine, tender, badass, and philosophical. maybe humanity doesn’t deserve all of that from her, but she loves them us anyway, because her conviction lies with love itself. that message is close to my heart, and despite a misstep with her backstory, it’s very diana.

i also happened to see the film (the first time) with the same Extremely Casual Fan friend i took to catws, and once again cried on her through the credits. she is good to me.

honorable mentions

batman returns

logan

before s2 came out i would have said netflix daredevil, and i do still love the first season, but i’m also Betrayed™, so y’know. that said:

daredevil 2003 (it’s the worst movie ever, i’ve seen it twice this year)

[comic-movieheroesranked]

Cinematic Comic Characters Ranked! (Year 2008) Final Part

Wow, I just want to say that 2008 really stepped it up when it came to comic movies released. Granted, a couple weren’t the best but overall this year was one of the best out of the bunch. The Dark Knight and Hellboy II: The Golden Army are the only sequels this year, while The Punisher: War Zone and The Incredible Hulk serve as reboots. Star Wars: The Clone Wars serves as a prequel and we also see the debut of Iron Man, Speed Racer, The Spirit and Wanted! Lets start off our largest list yet! Here’s the Top 20 of 2008!

*SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE MOVIES HIGHLIGHTED ABOVE*

20. Emil Blanksy/Abomination (The Incredible Hulk)

"Give me a REAL fight!"

Like I said in 2007's list in regards to The Stranger in 30 Days of Night, if you want a character to be disliked by me, have them kill a dog. Emil does this right in the beginning as he and his team hunt Bruce down in Brazil so, naturally, my body was filled with glee when the Hulk trashed them all. This is apparently a turn-on for Emil because he gets obsessed with having the power Bruce has. It doesn't take much for him to convince Ross and then, later, Samuel Sterns to eventually help him become Abomination, a freak of immense power. Him and the Hulk enter an epic fight on the battlefield that is New York City that ends up with him getting his ass beat.

19. The Octopus (The Spirit)

"I don't like egg on my face."

The Octopus was such an outrageous character man! And unlike Jigsaw and his wack brother, The Octopus made it work for him! With help with the overall setting of the film, The Octopus showed that even though he's not all there, he's still a major threat to Central City. His thirst for immortality and world domination put him at odds with The Spirit, who also holds a grudge against him for killing him. He pulls all kinds of evil doings, including dissolving an innocent cat, which was the last straw for The Spirit. After he loses the vase of Heracles's blood, The Octoplus then blows up from a grenade shoved in his body.

18. Rachel Dawes (The Dark Knight)

"If you lose your faith in me, please keep your faith in people."

Rachel is still fighting crime in the courtroom but this time with her new boyfriend, Harvey Dent. I expected an obvious love triangle with Bruce to happen, but I don't think that's what we got. I don't think Rachel cared for Bruce like she did in the first film, but because of the promise she made she felt guilty and kept denying her feelings for Harvey to grow. Her fight for justice shows up several times as she takes down crime lords in the court and even face to face with the Joker when he goes after Harvey, but her relationship with Harvey and Bruce is what brings her demise. Her death was shocking but it would be the final tool for Harvey Dent's transformation into Two Face.

17. Ahsoka Tano (Star Wars: The Clone Wars)

"No, I'm the one with enthusiasm."

Ahsoka is a young Jedi in training that's been assigned to work under Anakin Skywalker's teachings. She falls quickly into the little sister role but she shows just as much determination as Anakin when he was a young Jedi, which is why I think he grows to like her. She proves her skill again and again and she even saves Anakin a few times when he's in a tight spot, though he won't admit it. She ends up taking care of Jabba's newborn and returns him safely so the tension between the Hutt's and the Republic can end.

16. Princess Nuala (Hellboy II: The Golden Army)

"I'm afraid it's the other way around."

Princess Nuala definitely has a strong sense on what is right and what is wrong. Even if she dislikes the way her people are living, she knows that attacking the humans with the Golden Army is wrong, and therefore hides the last piece of the crown from her brother after he kills their father. She seeks help from Abe and the two bond over the fact that they both have similar learning powers through their hands. Now. Once we found out that she feels everything Nuada feels, I knew she was going to die. I did not see her taking out herself though. I should've, because she was cool with her dad sentencing them to death but it still really shocked me when she went ahead and knifed herself, taking her destructive brother down with her.

15. James Gordon (The Dark Knight)

"He's a silent guardian. A Dark Knight."

With the Joker wrecking havoc on Gotham City, James Gordon had to step his game up big time. He honestly did the best he could, coming up with a great plan involving him faking his own death so he could capture the Joker that ended up promoting him to Commissioner, but the clown prince of crime was just always three steps ahead. He managed to beat Gordon at his own game several times and ended up giving him a deadly enemy, Two Face. Gordon and Harvey Dent's animosity towards each other come to end when Two Face tries to take out Gordon's family. When Batman saves them, they both agree that Batman must take the fall for Dent's death.

14. Anakin Skywalker (Star Wars: The Clone Wars)

"The desert is merciless. It will take everything from you."

Wow I actually liked Anakin in this movie. I think it was because he wasn't shown as this moody teenager who was just constantly filled with angst the whole damn time and instead showed him as a leader and now teacher of Ahsoka. They didn't focus too much on his relationship with Padme, which also wasn't his strongest point because again, he was just moody as hell even if he was in love. He really grew as an individual and was able to bond with Ahsoka through their travels despite him not liking her in the beginning. We got to see his angst a little bit when they returned to his home planet but I understand, even if I think it's silly, that you can't have a Skywalker on the screen and not have them go through angst.

13. Wesley Gibson (Wanted)

"What the fuck have you done lately?"

So part of me liked Wesley and the  part of me didn't. I liked how he decided he wasn't going to be treated like shit anymore and stood up to all the toxic people in his life. I do like how polite he was and his determination to really be something he could be proud of. And I liked his friendship with the Executioner and his relationship with Fox. I didn't like how he all of a sudden got this superiority complex as soon as he learned a little knife trick. Like he was constantly throwing mad shade at us, the viewers, and it was a little off-putting because no one should be able to talk as much shit as he did when they allow their best friend to bang their girl for years before finally doing something. Also, why did he hate Cross so much? I get he thought Cross killed his father but damn he was hunting him down as if he had known his father his entire life! But I was glad he was able to discover the truth and then use everything he learned to bring down Sloan and the Fraternity once and for all.

12. Harvey Dent/Two Face (The Dark Knight)

"You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

Harvey Dent is Gotham's White Knight. He's a lawyer that can't be bought and is determined to bring down every corrupt person in the city, which earns him a lot of enemies. When the opportunity to bring down all the crime lords shows up, he forces his way into Batman and Gordon's plans, causing tensions with the latter. But he ends up biting more than he can chew once the Joker shows up. Not only does he end up burning off half his face, but he loses Rachel as well. Her death is the final straw and Harvey Dent becomes Two Face after having a little chat with the Joker. He seeks out the cops that betrayed him, the crime lords that set it up, and even Gordon, who he blames for Rachel's death. His thirst for revenge gets him in a confrontation with Batman, ending with his death. Instead of revealing what actually happened, Gordon and Batman agree to keep Dent's White Knight reputation.

11. Abe Sapien (Hellboy II: The Golden Army)

"Despite the appearances, I bet Red will make an excellent father figure."

Abe is the most supportive friend a hellspawn can ask for. I mean, he works well with everyone. He helps support Liz after discovering she's pregnant and he even gets along well with Tom Manning. He ends up developing the biggest teenage-boy crush on Princess Nuala and starts wearing contacts, listening to love songs, and even gets drunk with Hellboy as they bond over their women. It was slightly annoying when he gave the last piece to Prince Nuada for Nuala's safety, but he was right when he pointed out Hellboy would do the same for Liz. Nuala's death definitely took a toll on him which is one of the reasons why I think he ended up quitting with the team.

10. Sand Saref (The Spirit)

"Do I look like a good girl?"

A femme fatale, Sand used to be Denny's young love as they grew up in Central City. She dreamed of diamonds, cars, and loved reading stories of Jason's Golden Fleece. When her uncle dies, she decides to break up with cop-loving Denny, and finally go after everything she wants in life. Now known for marrying rich and then killing her husbands, keeping all the money for herself. With everything she's asked for, she goes after the Golden Fleece, which brings her back to Central City. When her Fleece get's switched with Octopus's vase of blood, she becomes a major player in the war between him and the Spirit, who she learns is Denny back from the dead. Their feelings come back when he learns she still had the necklace he gave her but they aren't acted on until the final fight. With her hands on the Golden Fleece, Sand uses it's impenetrable coat to protect The Spirit and then the tow proceed to make out in front of everyone, including his current girlfriend. They break ways though, Sand choosing her diamonds and The Spirit choosing the city's protection.

9. Prince Nuada Silverlance (Hellboy II: The Golden Army)

"Let this remind you why you once feared the dark."

So I don't feel like Prince Nuada was a bad guy, he really thought he was bringing justice to his people by defeating the humans who raged war on them for years. He has a respect for nature and cares deeply about his kingdom, which is why he couldn't deal with how they were living under his father's rule while the humans destroyed all the green from their planet. So he did what he had to do to gain control of the crown pieces but then became at odds with Hellboy and his team. They end up fighting a lot, Nuada is crazy talented with the spear, but Nuada always got away because Hellboy couldn't hurt him without hurting Princess Nuala, Abe's crush. It isn't until Nuada has complete control of the Golden Army that he's defeated by Hellboy, but even then he won't stop his mission until Nuala kills herself, killing him as well.

8. Pepper Potts (Iron Man)

"I do anything and everything Mr. Stark requires. Including occasionally taking out the trash."

If there's one person who can put Tony Stark in his place, it's Pepper. In fact, I'm pretty sure Pepper can put anyone in their place, proof being when she handles the disrespectful reporter, Christine. She's Stark's personal assistant and handles literally everything in his life, since the millionaire genius is pretty much incapable of doing anything besides creating amazing technology (he really should know his social security number). It's Pepper who discovers that Obadiah was the one trying to kill him and it's Pepper who helps Iron Man take him down. There isn't a resolution to the chemistry between Pepper and Tony, but since she's still his assistant, there's still hope.

7. Denny Colt/The Spirit (The Spirit)

"She is my lover, and I am her Spirit."

I get why literally every girl in this movie fell for the Spirit, he's extremely charismatic. How he learned to do that after rising from the dead, I don't know, but it's a skill he mastered and it's got him out of several tough spots as he tries to protect the city (granted it's gotten him in tougher spots too). He has a hilarious rivalry with The Octopus which puts him in even more hilarious situations like fighting in the mud with toilets, jumping off buildings with his pants off, and fighting goons holding gun with nothing but snowballs. Despite all of this, he manages to save his city, kiss the girl (ends up with another girl), and finally takes The Octopus down with a grenade.

6. Hellboy (Hellboy II: The Golden Army)

"I'm not gonna kill him, Abe. But I am gonna kick his ass!"

Our favorite petty hellspawn is back! Nothing much has changed since we lost saw Hellboy. He's still in love with Liz and his kittens, still desperately wants to fit in with society, and still has a nasty temper. Despite all their arguing, Hellboy and Liz still find a way to make it work, especially now that Liz is pregnant with his babies. His relationship with Abe also expands, Hellboy taking on a big brother role as he helps Abe deal with his feelings with Princess Nuala, and by 'deal' I mean they get drunk and listen to sad love songs. Despite the annoyance of Krauss being added to the team, Hellboy manages to lead everyone against Prince Nuada and his powerful Golden Army. When he takes them all done, him and Liz quit the department and walk off to start their new family.

5. Bruce Banner/Hulk (The Incredible Hulk)

"HULK SMASH!"

The Hulk is the first superhero that's gotten a reboot in my list's history. Even though the film is technically a sequel, lots of things were rebooted and, in my opinion, for the better. Not only do we get to see the Hulk in his destructive glory but I feel like we were finally able to connect to Bruce as a human. He's someone with a problem that has the potential to cause serious harm for anyone near him so he isolates himself from everyone he cares about and tries to find a way to get rid of away. Of course he can't stay hidden too long and ends up reuniting with Betty, but with the army trying to selfishly use his contaminated blood as a weapon of their own, the journey just gets harder and harder for Bruce. In the end, when he's fighting Abomination on the streets of New York, Bruce nearly kills him as the Hulk but with the help off Betty he's able to manage his rage, if only briefly, and runs off to British Colombia. There we see him last, his glowing eyes hinting at his newfound control over the Hulk.

4. Fox (Wanted)

"We kill one and maybe save a thousand."

If anyone believes in the code and in the Fraternity of Assassins, it's Fox. This is someone who was actually a victim of what happens when an assassin doesn't kill their target. It's probably why she joins, herself, and quickly becomes one of the best they have. She's badass in every way, shape, and form. From curving bullets, driving in crazy speed chases, and climbing the side of a train as it gets ready to fall over a rocky cliff, she's someone who's capable of anything. When she finds out her name, along with everyone in the Fraternity's names, show up she disobeys Sloan and honors the code it the most epic way. With one final curve of her bullet, she manages to take down everyone in the room, including herself.

3. Bruce Wayne/Batman (The Dark Knight)

"Because sometimes the truth isn't good enough. Sometimes, people deserve more."

The Dark Knight is back and the streets of Gotham couldn't be any more safe, but it's not just him that c an take the credit. Gotham has a hero with a face taking down these crime lords and his name is Harvey Dent. This man gives Bruce hope that maybe he can step away from the suit and live a normal life with Rachel after all, but all that comes crashing down once the Joker steps to the plate. Bruce made a mistake in underestimating Joker, thinking of him as a common criminal, which ends up costing him the lives of several people including Rachel. Bruce has to really think outside the box when it comes to stopping him and when he finally does, he ends up with another threat in the form of Two Face. When Harvey Dent regrettably dies, Bruce understands that the general public will go into chaos if they find out about his corruption and so he decides to take the blame entirely, saving Harvey's reputation along with Gotham City's safety.

2. Tony Stark/Iron Man (Iron Man)

"The truth is...I am Iron Man."

The genius owner of a millionaire dollar business. Tony Stark is one of the most brilliant men the world has to offer, and he puts his brains into making weapons for the military to help keep the peace. It isn't until after he's kidnapped by terrorist with his own weapon technology that he realizes his mistakes. He turns a new leaf and decides to create a hero of sorts to help protect people from those who wish to harm them: Iron Man! Tony Stark's charisma and humor throughout the film was so fun to watch and his journey to becoming a hero was even better to see happen. At the end he does what no hero has done before, he reveals he's indeed Iron Man, not wanting to hide away from his responsibilities.

1. The Joker (The Dark Knight)

"Why so serious?"

Is anyone surprised? 2008 had the most bad ass characters by far with returning champions Batman, Hellboy, and Angelina Jolie (even though she won as Tomb Raider instead of Fox) and the debut of Iron Man. There's only one person who could steal the throne from them at that was Heath Ledger's Joker. The Joker ruled every scene he was in and was, in every sense of the word, a madman. From his multiple backstories on how he got his scars to his nurse outfits, Joker installed fear and uncertainty in everyone that crossed his path. An agent of chaos, Joker quickly flipped Gotham upside down and had the entire city scrambling to figure him out and put a stop to him. And even though he does eventually get stopped because Batman does have more strength in the end, no one figures him out. He's a puzzle piece that remains unsolved because every time you try he finds a way to create the biggest, most chaotic storm in your life. It's his wild plans that aids in the creation of Two Face, after all. The Joker is one of the greatest enemies Batman has ever faced and his reign as one of the greatest villains of all time in film is still evident almost ten years later.

[everygame]

Batman: Arkham VR (PS4)

Developed/Published by: Rocksteady Studios / Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Released: 11th October, 2016 Completed: 6th August, 2017 Completion: Finished it. Did some of the extra stuff, but none of the Riddler’s nonsense at all. Trophies / Achievements: 61%

Well, I’m doing these out of order because this game actually wasn’t the first thing I finished on my (borrowed!) PlayStation VR, but the other thing is brilliant and I want to talk about it (feel free to guess what it is, it’s definitely the first thing you would think of playing on VR?) whereas this is total balls and a really good thing to use to talk about VR.

First up: VR! It’s weird! I’m surprised to discover that the PSVR feels like, well, the budget option that it is, with a much ropier resolution than I remember it having at E3s and the like (I probably just wasn’t using it for as long to notice) but that the head tracking—as to be expected—is one to one, and when you are in a game world—any game world—it’s nice to just look around, and the one thing that you never seem to get tired of is moving your head in 3D space without moving your entire body. So, you know, peeking around a wall, or in a doorway, or sticking your head through a window. It’s brilliant after a lifetime of first person games where your hero is basically strapped to one of those Hannibal Lecter carts and you’re just wheeling them around.

The thing is, though… looking around is kind of… as fun as it gets. Because—and here’s me going to sound fat and pampered—the other VR opportunities are… kind of a chore? Or rather, they’re “events” that you genuinely very much have to be in the mood for. So: standing while playing the game, and walking around (a bit, not too far, watch out you’ll hit your shin off the coffee ta—see I told you). Or doing stuff with move controllers. Although to be fair I haven’t used that Farpoint gun thing yet. Somehow, the feeling I’ve generally had with this helmet on has been “hmm, I wish I was just sitting on the couch looking at a screen holding a controller.”

I mean, let’s take Batman here. Batman Arkham VR literally never gets better than the title screen. Standing in front of the bat signal, looking out over Gotham. The actual game… well, I mean, I hope it cost you less than a tenner, because it’s about an hour of content, and the content is so incredibly slight that I was shocked. Literally the first third of the game involves going downstairs to the bat cave and putting your suit on.

Actually wait that’s not true. In hilarious fashion, the game opens with you watching—in VR, from the height of a child—Bruce Wayne’s parents get murdered. How many times have these poor bloody people been murdered? I guess it’s fun that you can just, like… turn around and not watch it. VR!!!

Here’s the thing—and this is probably going to annoy you if you didn’t enjoy my “why didn’t they just do this???” from the Wolfenstein: The New Order article—When you get to the end of this very short little game, there’s a “twist” that I thought meant the game was actually going to be really clever. Basically, I thought it was going to work like one of my absolute favourite text adventures, 9:05, where by finishing the game based on all the prompts you learn something and can then play the game through again and… do the actual right thing.

However, it doesn’t do that! There’s one story and that’s it. My mistake was based on the fact that at the start of the game (well, a third of the way through the game) in the Batcave there’s a blood-sample kit, and I didn’t use it. So I thought that what you would actually do is test your blood at the beginning, realise you’re infected and then do something else instead of what you’re originally planning to do.

But then I found out that the game is set after Batman: Arkham City, where you already know Batman is infected, and anyway he’s done something so terrible that you sort of can’t fix it. (The worst thing of all is probably that it’s “all a dream” anyway—or at least, that was my understanding.) I do wish it did something—anything—clever at all, though.

Ok. wait, maybe I didn’t really explain what the game was? Look, all you do is, as Batman, is stand and look around, and then essentially point and click to make things happen. It’s the world’s most basic adventure game. You don’t even need to, like, go between different places to solve a puzzle, you just do them all linearly. And the only even vaguely action-like thing you do is shoot batarangs in a practice mode, which is fairly fun but it takes about two minutes.

Now, I’m not going to say that I hated this. Actually, it does exactly what you probably want for it—it’s a VR tech demo where you get to look at Rocksteady’s excellent Batman assets, and sort of get to “be” Batman, vaguely, for an hour. This is not so far from, like, a FMV game being used to show off your new CD-ROM drive in the 90s. I mean, that’s fine! But it doesn’t bode well.

Will I ever play it again? Heck no!

Final Thought: Batman is good though, isn’t he? What a weird dumb thing to think is good, though. A sad billionaire who uses his money to beat up people while dressed in bondage gear with more backstory and continuities than are bearable. And yet playing this—and hearing my pal Brandon Boyer bang on about how good it is—sure did make me want to finally get around to playing Batman: Arkham Knight! Ah well.

[yefeth]

Today's message with my first cup of the day is, “Accept failure as part of success.”

No one likes to fail. I’ve avoided trying for fear of failure. Unless we try and unless we are willing to fail, we can never hope to succeed at reaching our dreams.

Abraham Lincoln lost eight elections, failed in business twice, and suffered a nervous breakdown. Yet, he became one of the most influential Presidents in U.S. history.

Michael Jordan said, “I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

My dad told me, “Failure is only failure if you fail to learn from it.” I’m sure Lincoln and Jordan learned from every failure and applied the knowledge to becoming better. If we want to be successful, we must learn how to become successful. Failure is the best instructor for those lessons.

In the Batman Dark Knight Trilogy, Bruce Wayne said, “I wanted to save Gotham. I failed.” Alfred Pennyworth replied with the same words he told Bruce as a boy, “Why do we fall sir? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up.”

The success of standing on our own comes from the failures of falling. Let’s determine to not fear failure but to embrace it. Accept failure as part of success.

Beverage Credit: My weight loss coffee, of course. Some weeks on my weight loss journey the scale tells me I failed. I know it is just a minor setback in the overall progress to my goal. My coffee continues to help me overcome and find success.