#when bruce retires or passes he leaves a massive legacy

[batfamdcposts]

Cass should take over Batman and Tim should take over WE send tweet

[ellana-ravenwood]

Professor Wayne - Bruce Wayne x Reader !TeacherAU Part 1/4

FINISHED SERIES : PART 2, PART 2.5, PART 3, PART 4

Hey guys ! So I never wrote AUs before, because nothing ever really ticked my fancy and I usually like the original worlds too much…But then an idea suddenly popped in my head and refused to leave it, so I just HAD to write it. Here’s said idea. Bruce being a university teacher. So yeah, I kinda adapted Gotham to fit the story and I hope you won’t completely hate it, even hoping you’ll enjoy it :

My masterlist blog : @ella-ravenwood-archives 

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                                                ************

Your fists bunch up in the front of his dress shirt as you bring him even closer, his body so perfectly flush against yours now. You’re stuck between him and his desk, and it feels like Heaven. 

His tongue delightfully drags across your lower lip and you gladly grant him access to explore your mouth further. The little moan escaping your throat as your tongue dances with his seems to satisfy him to no extend, as his grip tightens around you, his fingers tangling in your hair sweetly but firmly, rearranging your head to change the angle of your passionate kiss.

And oh you dreamt about this moment happening for so long. Ever since you started to take his class in fact. About a year ago.

Your dream since a very long time was to become a profiler for the FBI. So of course you would sign up for (and were miraculously accepted into) what was known to be the best criminology class in the country, taught by none other than the famous Bruce Wayne.

He was famous in town for two reasons.

The first one wasn’t why you wanted so desperately to study in Gotham University, and was kind of depressing…Bruce Wayne, as his name suggested, was the heir of the Wayne family, who used to be the richest in Gotham.

Used to…Ever since his parents’ died, this changed. 

Unfortunately, whenever something bad happens, it’s immediately follow by another terrible event. Said event in Bruce Wayne’s case, came from ill intentioned people working for Wayne Inc that stole everything from him. 

His parents’ estates, their company, every single things they owned (even souvenirs such as family pictures)…The man who used to be Thomas Wayne’s best friend and business partner found a loophole in his will, and managed to turn things in his favor. 

It came from one simple mistake, and it was so stupid. Simple. And something that the Waynes would never have thought about ! 

First, what kind of best friend would steal everything like that ? Especially from a child who just witnessed his parents’ getting killed in a back alley ? How evil could you be ?

And second, they never paid attention to how the will was actually worded. Which was a fatal mistake. 

In case of their death, everything was suppose to go to Bruce, unless he was underaged and then it would go in the care of Wayne inc co-CEO and Thomas’ best friend, Aleister Golden…Only the document never truly stated that he had to keep it for the boy. It was only implied. 

And this stupid bureaucratic error is what cost young mister Bruce Wayne everything.In the span of a night, he went from « the boy who had it all » to one who was left with nothing. And how depressing was that, right ? 

The silver lining of him being  adopted by the man who used to be his butler, a certain Alfred Pennyworth, and not being thrown in an orphanage, didn’t make you any less angry whenever you thought  about it. It didn’t even touch you personally, you barely knew the man, he was just your teacher. But still, the injustice of it all made you furious. 

You had to admit though, that all this tragic story was also part of why you felt so attracted to him, you had a thing for damaged older men…maybe because you didn’t really have any parents yourself and could relate ? Because you had to work hard to achieve anything ? Your daddy and mommy issues ? 

In any case, that first extremely sad reason why Bruce Wayne was famous wasn’t really relevent to your situation. Nope.

The second reason though ? It was everything. It was why you wanted to become a profiler in the first place, and why you worked so hard to be accepted in the prestigious Gotham University.

Every aspiring cops, of any kind, knew about Bruce Wayne. 

For a long time he was the most efficient detective that ever worked in the US. You were pretty sure that 50% of the people behind bars in New Jersey, the state he was working in, had been captured by him.

But one day, a few years ago, a bad injury from famed serial killer known as “The Joker” (no one even knew his real name, and it seemed there were no records of his existence...) prompted him to retire. 

Fifteen knife wounds to the chest and abdomen can do that to you.

He wasn’t old though. Oh no, he wasn’t even forty yet, you heard. Though he had to be close from that number. 

But he started his career very young, earning a promotion of “detective” at barely 20 when he dismantled single handedly Gotham City’s corrupted cops network. 

Your hometown was known to be ground to the most corrupted forces in the USA, and that young guy came in and was able to stop it all (or almost all)…you guessed he earned his “youngest detective ever” badge.

According to everyone who ever worked with him, he was a workaholic and dedicated his soul and body to his job. It was obvious, why he became a cop, given his background. The murder of his parents, the way things were taken away from him, having to grow up in a decaying neighborhood (Alfred wasn’t a rich man) etc etc…Of course he’d want to right some wrongs.

You heard he didn’t actually want to stop being a detective, but his boss, Commissioner James Gordon forced him to take time off after his injuries. 

He refused to let him back on the job until his stab wounds were completely healed, which you thought was fair and logical…But Bruce Wayne could apparently not rest and he accepted the job Gotham University offered him as head of their criminology department (he did have a few PhD in his name after all).

This was five years ago, and clearly, his wounds were now healed. But it seemed he found a new meaning of life as a teacher, giving all his knowledge to future generation.

In your freshman year, another student asked him why he didn’t return to be a cop, and Mr. Wayne had an answer you could do nothing but admire :

“As a detective, it’s sure that I solved many crimes, saved lives and put scums behind bars..but I found, during my four years of teaching others how to do all that, that giving my knowledge to younger generations, such as yours, was more efficient to cleanse the street of cities like Gotham. Bear with me for a moment, and see it in that way : I was alone, doing all those arrests. Sure my peers worked a lot too, but, and sorry if I sound arrogant, I was the best. Now if I can pass that knowledge and skills of how to be the best to others, so they can in their turn become the best ? Then I’m putting in the streets more amazing officers than just me being out there, does that make sense ? »

It did. At least to you. And sure it sounded a bit pretentious, but it made sense.

Team effort. By him showing all the ropes and subtilities of his work to aspiring police officers and whatnot, he assured a new generation of dedicated fighter just like him. 

He wouldn’t be the only one anymore, and many people would take up his legacy. Continue his work on a larger scale. 

It made perfect sense.

You totally understood why he never went back on the job afterward, he found a new way of carrying out justice, and he realized it was indeed more efficient to do this. In fact, ever since he became a teacher five years ago, crime in Gotham went down by 23%, and there was no doubt in your mind that this drop correlated with the first wave of his students becoming officers in the GCPD.

There was something about Bruce Wayne, that was inspiring. 

All of his students, including you, could only admire the man, and the way he talked about his subject made you want to become the best profiler that ever existed. Made you want to work hard. 

He had a talent to “motivate his troops”, and his class was many people’s favorite. He inspired countless of his students and again, there was absolutely no doubt in your mind, or in anyone’s mind for that matter, that those said students were the new police officers in the GCPD. Those who would never be corrupted and that were doing a tremendous work right now.

Yes. Bruce Wayne was a famous and well loved man on your campus. 

And a damn attractive one at that…You were pretty sure every girl in your school had a massive crush on him, and many guys did too. 

He had handsome physical features like damn was he muscular, and this chiseled face ? You’d gladly get cut on that jawline. And don’t even start on his stunning blue eyes…Oh, and his voice ?! It was all velour and sexiness. 

But beyond that, he was also an incredibly charming man, who had a lot of charisma and an aura about him that just attracted people.

You admired the man in more than one way. 

And here you were, pinned against his desk, furiously making out with him. 

How did that happen ? You were so damn plain and boring compared to some of your classmates ! 

And yet his eyes fell on you, and no one else. 

Somehow he was interested in you, while he could have pretty much anyone he wanted. It was to you, he said to stay after class for whatever reason (you couldn’t even remember it now, as you were slowly unbuttoning his shirt). It was you he started to kiss passionately.

Your hands were now roaming his muscular chest (and wow the man worked out. Like, a lot), and his own warm hands were slowly creeping under your shirt, caressing your skin softly. Oh he was being so gentle…It made your mind melt.

But no matter how tender he was being, there was no mistaking the growing bulge in his pants. He was clearly not having pure thoughts right now, and the way you felt him twitch as you cupped him through his pants drove you crazy.

You were reaching for his zipper now, and he moaned your name desperately…

“(Y/N)…(Y/N)…Miss (Y/L/N) !!”

…

You opened your eyes with a start and jumped a bit in the air.

Oh fuck. Oh fuck fuck FUCK !

There he was, yes, right in front of you.

And sure he was saying your name, but the heat and desperation had left his voice, replaced by impatience. And sure he was standing close to you, but he was still inches away and was looking at you with a mix of annoyance and amusement, not passion and love.

Fuck. Oh fuck.

A wet dream. 

You just had a wet dream. 

And in class, at that.  This was so fucking embarassing.

You readjusted yourself on your chair, quickly wipping off the drool on your chin and sat down straight. You could feel your face growing hot in embarassment, and the snickering of your classmates didn’t help at all.

You couldn’t believe you just fell asleep in your favorite class !! But lately, you just worked so damn much, and your nights were so short…Professor Wayne’s voice brought you back to reality for good.

This definitely wasn’t a dream anymore. And the heat you felt on your cheeks made you want to crawl in a hole and hide there for the rest of the lesson.

“Welcome back on Earth, Miss (Y/L/N). While you were gone to Snoozing Land, we were talking about the social disorganization theory by…Would you happen to know by who ?”

Oh professor Wayne was ruthless. 

He taught so many valuable things, and was great at making complicated concept seem simple for everyone. He would go out of his way to make sure every single one of his students understood what he was talking about. 

But if one of them was goofing around (or sleeping during class…), he was known to not let it go and test them right after. No pity. 

You didn’t even have time to apologize for falling asleep during his lecture, that your brain was trying to remember what this all thing was about again…Your stuttered voice started : 

“Um…by…by…by...oh I almost got it...by...AH ! By professors from the Chicago school right ? Henry McKay and…and…and something Shaw ? »

A light sparkled in Professor Wayne’s eyes. 

Ah ? But he talked about them while you were sleeping. He saw your head doodling up and down as you were fighting the sleep off unsuccessfully. It started as soon as his lesson began (his voice was just too soothing...), so how did you know that ?

Could it be that you were reading the books he advised all his students to read in advance ? Usually, there were too much work for any of them to do anything in advance like that...Interesting. He continued :

« Clifford R. Shaw. Good. Could you maybe tell us, in your own words, what their theory is ? »

You gulped, focusing hard on your memories. And thanking whatever gods were out there that you read about this theory before. You remembered that you did such a thing because it was something that had to do with Gotham…something that resonated inside you, that you related to…AH ! Eureka ! 

“It’s a theory that directly links crime rates and the economical situation of a neighborhood ?”

You said, kinda unsure but now it was too late to stop. Under Professor Wayne’s gaze you continued : 

“Like for example the youth of a disadvantaged neighborhood that is riddled with poverty and social inequity is more likely to participate in illegal things because…it’s cultural ? Like neighborhood with a high rate of high school drop outs, unemployements, single parents, bad infrastructures etc etc is more likely to have subcultures that are more open to illegal things because there’s nothing else ? It only relates to basic street crimes though, like drug deals or muggings, not every type of crimes and um…yes…Am I completely wrong ?”

You looked at your teacher, worried. You weren’t sure what his facial expression meant right now, but the stress made you talk further : 

“You’re making a face as if I’m completely wrong…Maybe I’m mixing up this theory and another one ? I just recall reading about this in a book you suggested to us, and reading it because it kinda concerned Gotham in general, what with all our poor neighborhoods and large social inequities and…I’m going to stop talking now, I feel like I’m just saying nonsense…”

You knew your explanation was wonky and clumsy, but as your brain was still a bit asleep, you just couldn’t explain things better and oh my god why was he looking at you like that ? Were you really completely mixing things up ?!

But Professor Wayne didn’t have a look as if you were wrong, no, you were mistaking. He had a “interesting…” look, the kind that he rarely had when talking to his students.

He had a lot of absolutely brilliant students, but it was rare that he actually had ones that were thinking outside the box. 

Like, for example,  the fact that you went out of your way to read a book he mentioned because the subject had a direct corellation with Gotham City. 

Usually, his students would just do what he told them to, which made them amazing students but not perfect ones. He had enough confidence in his teaching abilities to know he taught those kids things that would turn them into incredible police officers. But he so rarely found that unique one that would go beyond his teaching and do other research on his/her own…

The face he was making wasn’t one of disapproval, but a thoughtful one. One that made him make a mental note in his head about remembering to pay more attention to you from now on.

He already considered you in the top of his class. And he already noticed you had a special way to write essays like none others, implementing your own ideas in things while still basing your reasoning on existing theories. 

Yes. He already knew you were above the bunch, but now…He smiled at you and said :

“Well I’m glad to see that sleeping during my lecture doesn’t hinder your knowledge and that you actually know what I’m talking about. Good job. But um, miss (Y/L/N), don’t let it happen again. The sleeping, I mean.”

You nod sheepishly  and avoid his (incredible blue) eyes to look down on your table, feeling half-ashamed that you fell asleep and was called out for it, half-proud that you were still able to answer his question.

“Miss (Y/N/L) explained this theory in a good simplistic way, nonetheless let’s focus a bit more on the social…”

The rest of the lesson went by without incident on your part, you paid extra attention to things that came out of Prof’ Wayne’s mouth, to the point that the man found it almost amusing, how you were drinking his every words. 

The bell rang, and it was time for lunch. You stayed behind a bit, and went to Mr. Wayne’s desk. He was slowly putting away his things, and you couldn’t help but admire the way he...Ugh. Nope. No no no. 

This kind of thoughts is exactly what prompted you to have a damn wet dream DURING class. You had to stop. 

Beside, the man was too old for you (but was that really a problem ? Yes no it was, stop it brain !), plus he was your teacher and you were pretty sure there were rules against student/teacher relationship and...What were you even thinking about ? 

As if you had even a tiny chance to date a guy like that. You once caught a glimpse of his now ex-girlfriend (according to the rumors), Selina Kyle, and she was clearly an above average woman. In every single way. Beyond  this world.

So you ? With your extra pounds and confidence issues and...Ugh. Here we go again with the self-deprecation. Oh well. 

You shook your head to drive those bad thoughts away and approached Mr. Wayne’s desk. Shyly, you said : 

“Um...Professor ?”

He raises his head and seems surprise to see you for a minute. His lectures were so clear and understandable that he probably wasn’t used to someone staying behind to talk to him...

Oh but if only you knew he was surprised because he was actually thinking about you and what you could become, maybe you wouldn’t be so insecure right now ? Of course, you’d never know that (at least for now). 

“Oh, (Y/N). What can I do for you ?”

You chased away sinful thoughts (but you couldn’t really help it, the way his voice rumbled as he said that...why was it so sexy ? Especially those words ? Oh man there was so many things you wish he’d do for you...starting with, actually doing you...UGH ! STOP IT BRAIN !!) and said, avoiding eye contact : 

“I’m very sorry about the...-you gestured to nothing in particular- all falling asleep thing.” 

He chuckles, and your heart skip a beat. Wow. Chuckle more often please, professor Wayne...Of course, you don’t say that out loud, and instead try to focus on what he says now : 

“It’s quite alright. We all have days where we feel a bit low on energy, don’t worry about it. It happened to me a few times in my studying years.” 

He smiles at you now, and you can’t help but get hypnotized by it, finally looking at him in the eye. You smile back, of a pure and sweet smile you probably don’t realize is extremely cute and say : 

“You ? No way.”

“Oh believe me, way. I wasn’t always the most hard at work in my younger years...Which doesn’t mean you should let it happen again.”

He says, raising an eyebrow at you. You manage not to blush by some fucking miracle, and say : 

“I promise it won’t happen again ! Thank you for your understanding.” 

You say with another smile that makes you cringe because you’re pretty sure you just look stupid right now. He answers : 

“I’ll hold you up to that young lady.” 

Young lady ? Oh...Oh what was he doing to your heart...You had to get out of there. Fast. You say : 

“Again. Promise. Won’t happen again. Um, well see you tomorrow sir, I have to catch up to my friends for lunch.” 

That was a lie. 

You didn’t have any friend on campus, they were all from rather wealthy family and you were from the wrong side of Gotham. You just never connected with them. 

All your friends were on the poor side of the city, in the streets...What was it again ? The “Social disorganization theory” ? Yes. Exactly. 

Right now, you were most likely gonna go study alone while eating a bland sandwich composed of old bread, one little piece of cheese, and ham.  

You slowly walk out of the classroom as he bids you farewell too, an awkward smile on your lips. 

Your heart races and you can’t help but smile stupidly because damn his understanding means so much to you and...What were you thinking ? If it was any other students, he would have probably said the same thing ! Professor Wayne was known to be quite nice and benevolent to his students. 

You shook your head, thinking that you were just another dumb schoolgirl who fell under his spell, and promised yourself you’d stop crushing so hard on him. Of course, you knew you couldn’t fulfill that promise. Bruce Wayne was just...Something else. 

On the topic of unfulfilled promises...The one you made to him about not falling asleep again in his class ? Yeah, it wouldn’t last long. 

************

Bruce shook his head and slapped himself lightly. 

What the hell got into him ? Why did he talk about his “younger years” ? Why did he call her “young lady” ?! He should have scolded her a bit more, like he would have done to any other students ! 

But he couldn’t help it, her smile was so sweet and she genuinely seemed tired...He just couldn’t bring his authoritative side out with her. 

During his years of teaching, it wasn’t the first time one of his student fell asleep in class. He always gave them assignments as punishment for it. But to her ? He just couldn’t bring himself to do such a thing. 

Something in his guts told him she had it tougher than any other of his students, and he knew about tough times...Besides, she really had a cute smile. 

He slapped himself once more. 

What was he thinking about ? She was one of his student ! How disgusting of him to even think that ? Sure she was over twenty one but...Ugh. What the hell was wrong with him ? 

That never happened before. He never didn’t punish someone just because he liked their smile. And he certainly never got that friendly with a student. Sure, he was an approachable teacher, but he always stayed professional. 

It wasn’t for the lack of flirty girls and boys coming his way. Many tried to seduce him and never succeeded of course. He was their teacher, it would be abusing his power to do anything with them. 

It didn’t matter that they were all consenting adults, he made it a rule to never cross that bridge. Besides, none of them ever interested him. It wasn’t that difficult to keep things professional. To gently (or not so gently for the one that insisted too much) reject them. 

But with her ? For God’s sake she didn’t even attempt anything ! She just said “sorry” and smiled because he was being nice, like any normal person would do ! And yet...yet she had such a sweet smile. He wanted to see it again...

For the third time, Bruce slapped himself. And promised himself that next time, if there was a next time, he would be colder towards her. Even if it meant being a bit of a dick. 

Next time, if there was a next time, he wouldn’t spare her. He would give her a difficult assignment as punishment, and if she came to apologize would ignore her. 

Yes. Next time. If there was a next time, he thought, as he dialed “Selina Kyle”’s number. He really needed to think about someone else right now, and his on-off girlfriend was always very good at distracting him. And vice versa. 

Besides, really, next time he would be harsh with you. 

If there was a next time. 

************

The next time came the following week. 

You had a lot of exams and studied well into the morning lights, plus you were working at the local cafe who was open until late at night...Needless to say you had barely a time to sleep. 

And today, after your final exam of the semester was done and class was continuing “normally”, you kind of just collapsed on your desk. It just so happened to be Professor Wayne’s lesson once more. 

One of your classmates, an asshole who thought he was the best damn thing in the world, called William Fryer, pointed it out to Bruce. 

For some reason, it annoyed Bruce that someone ratted you out like that. 

Sure you were in the wrong for sleeping in his class, but he didn’t like it. He also didn't like William Fryer very much, he always thought he had such a slappable face. With an annoyed “tt” he turned his head to you, stopping in the middle of his lecture. 

The truth was, he saw you slowly “melting” down on your seat and falling asleep since a long time, but he didn’t want to call you out in front of everyone again. 

Ugh...What was that about swearing to himself he wouldn’t go easy on you anymore ? He sighed, as William said : 

“Do you want me to wake her up, professor Wayne ? I can. I bet she went out too late last night, she’s never in her dorm room...” 

Bruce didn’t like what Fryer was implying with his words. He also totally ignored the little painful pang in his chest to the thought that you might have someone (or someoneS) in your life, and said : 

“No it’s fine. Leave her alone. I am about to talk about very important concepts, if she misses out on it then it’s her loss. Focus again please.” 

Fryer nodded and tore his disgusting hungry gaze off of you (why did the way he looked at you make Bruce so angry ?!), and the lesson continued. 

************

The bell rang and you jumped in your seat in surprise. 

Oh fuuuuuuuuuuuck. 

Did you fall asleep again ? 

A bit lost, still dizzy with sleep, you looked around you as people packed their stuffs and left the room. 

Yes. You totally did. Ffff...You bite your lower lip and look down at Professor Wayne’s desk. And there he was and...Did you just dream that or was he staring at you before you looked at him, and did he just turn his head away quickly when your eyes turned to him ? 

You slowly put your things away too, and went to his desk as the last few students left the room. He didn’t leave you the time to speak : 

“You promised, miss (Y/L/N).” 

He said coldly, and you gulped down before trying to say : 

“Yes I know but I was in the library all n...”

“No excuses.” 

His voice is so damn cold and harsh (though he’s strangely relieved that you spend the night in the library, and not at someone’s place..), and he doesn’t even look at you. It hurts you more than it should. He throws a bunch of papers your way and continues : 

“You’ll find an extra assignment in there that you’ll give me back next Friday. For breaking your promise and falling asleep again...”

You take the heavy file in your hand and sigh internally thinking all of it is just the assignment...But you’re not quite right. He hesitates a bit, his voice regaining some warmth unintentionally as he finishes : 

“There’s...There’s also today’s lecture. My notes of it. So you can catch up more easily.” 

You’re a bit surprise he’s giving you his own notes so you can know what today’s lesson was. You were already ready to chase after your classmates and beg them to give you their notes (those assholes would surely ask something in return). You’re about to thank him but he clasps his bag closed a bit violently and leave the classroom without even saying goodbye. 

Damn. You must have really made him angry for falling asleep in his class again...You hope to every gods out there that he’s not going to hold it too much against you, and that he doesn’t think you think his class is boring. 

No. It’s really your favorite. But you’ve been so tired lately...

You sigh sadly and leave the room too, walking to your work feeling more defeated and fatigued than ever. 

************

Bruce shakes his head for the hundredth time as he walks fast towards his car. 

He felt guilty for being so cold and harsh to you, though he shouldn’t. It was normal. He was suppose to be like that, to treat his student a bit tough sometimes when they did something wrong. 

But he couldn’t...he couldn’t shake away the sad look on your face, and the bag under your (beautiful) eyes. He didn’t see you smile at all this week...

For the hundredth and one time, he shakes his head. 

Damnit. What were you doing to him ? And fuck he should have never gave you his notes for you to catch up ! He told the rest of the students you’d just have to catch up on your own, which is why he didn’t woke you up that time. 

It was suppose to be some kind of punishment, and here he was, giving you his own notes AND an extremely easy “punishment assignment” he knew you’d write in a matter of ten minutes. 

He wondered if you’d notice that he made it so easy on purpose...He hoped you wouldn’t. It would be dangerous if you ever thought he gave you some kind of special treatment, even if he totally was and that was SO WRONG ! 

It went completely against his work ethic. 

But he just couldn’t help himself...Oh. Oh. Fuck. 

Before he knew it, his phone was out and he was calling Selina again. 

Feeling guilty as ever as he knew he was calling her only to forget about someone else...about someone else he shouldn’t have this kind of thoughts about. 

But he didn’t see this someone else’s smile this week, and he had to think about something else...Besides, Selina used him enough in return too. 

This was alright, right ?

************

This really was a shitty day. 

First you wake up late. Then you spill coffee all over yourself and don’t have time to change so bam, walking around with coffee stains on your shirt and pants all day...To bump into a football player as you were lost in your study as you walked (you became an expert usually, at avoiding obstacles while reading, but today...today you really were tired) and your computer falls out of your bag and breaks. Of course you can’t afford a new one. 

Then you fall asleep in Mr. Wayne’s class, and he gives you an assignment as punishment (though from what you saw of it so far, it seems rather easy). Now he also probably thinks you hate his class or something...

And then you almost get fired of your very necessary job at the local cafe because some asshole decided to “call corporate” on you for forgetting to put sugar with an order...and you can’t afford to lose this job, because if you do, how are you gonna pay for your fucking tuition ?!

What a fucking shitty day. 

And you weren’t even half-way through your shift...

You started work right after your last lesson around 7 pm (which was Mr. Wayne’s today) all the way up to 3 am. 

8 hours of making coffee and waitressing. It usually was fine, because the people coming to the cafe late at night were mainly students who were as stressed as you because they had to study, and therefor were nice to you. 

Of course, there were always exceptions, like that fucking sugar lady. 

But overall, it was fine. The manager of the cafe even didn’t mind much you studying discreetly behind the counter, as long as you were ready if a client came in and all. 

It was 11 pm now, and you were rearranging the cakes behind the window, making things look nice, when it happened...

The last blow to your shitty day. 

The door bell rang, as a new client came in. 

You rushed to the cash register to take his or her order and...

Are met with a very surprised Professor Wayne, accompanied by that woman you already saw a few times with him before, Selina Kyle. His supposedly ex-girlfriend (who was clearly not an ex). 

What the Hell were they doing here at this hour ? 

To be continued...

__________________________________

Ok well...What do you think ? I tried to adapt the Batman’s world to fit this AU, and I hope I didn’t completely fail miserably or just plainly bored you (?).  This series will most likely be in about four parts, maybe more maybe less, and um yeah, will be NSFW at some point. Ok. Um...Done. Hope you liked it, as usual, feedbacks are very welcomed. 

[vancouvertrueborns]

On December 27, 2018, South Vancouver lost a loyal friend, with the passing of historian Ken MacLeod, author of The Story of South Vancouver and John Oliver High School. The 74-year-old retired teacher lived his final years in Courtenay, but his heart remained in the Sunset neighbourhood of his childhood.

He attended MacKenzie Elementary and was an enthusiastic Boy Scout. As a student at John Oliver Secondary (J.O.), he joined every club and team that would have him, and founded the Mountain Dew Boys contingent of the Pep Club. He caught the acting bug in the school’s drama productions. He played football and broke his nose in a game of cricket.

His six years at J.O. (yes, they used to do grade 7 there) coincided with the adolescent pinnacle of the post-war baby boom, when John Oliver was the largest high school in Canada. The school frequently dominated in sports, music and scholastics, and Ken was sad to leave the frenetic place when he graduated in 1962.

He got his BA in education at University of British Columbia, and later an MA from the University of Victoria. Ken taught high school in Chase, Salmon Arm, Langley and Abbotsford. He coached over 60 teams, with an emphasis on his beloved sport of basketball.

In 1973, journalist Barry Broadfoot published Ten Lost Years, based on interviews with Canadians about the Great Depression. The oral history book fascinated Ken and he launched himself into the past. He traced his family roots back to 14th century Scottish king Robert the Bruce. He grabbed a tape recorder and began interviewing West Coast fisherman for a book that, although not completed, has resulted in a treasure trove of memories being donated to the Cumberland Museum and Archives. He immersed himself in Canadian armed forces history and was the military subject adviser to the Encyclopedia of British Columbia (Harbour Publishing, 2000). He guided 29 military and veterans tours to Europe, revisiting the Canadian battlefields, cemeteries, and commemorative sites. When he retired to Courtenay, he produced 19 musical shows, including an annual Remembrance Day review to honour veterans. Ken was a true ally of the  Canadian soldier and one of the first citizens to receive a Veterans Affairs Canada Commendation. He was also awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal and made an honorary Seaforth Highlander.

But of all the forays that Ken made back in time, his biggest push was reserved for his old stomping grounds of South Vancouver. In 1999, Ken formed the John Oliver Historical Society with the intention of quickly writing a small book about the school. The historian soon discovered that J.O.’s background was vast and rich, and so intermeshed with the surrounding community that he felt forced to combine the two topics into a massive 800-page tome entitled The Story of South Vancouver and John Oliver High School. The project was a 12-year labour of love. The author filled a room in his home with interview tapes, photos and memorabilia. He travelled all over B.C. to collect memories. A story about kids pole vaulting over creeks on the South Slope led to the story of sprinter Barbara Howard (J.O. senior matric, 1940) becoming the first black female athlete to represent Canada internationally. She competed at the 1938 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Sydney, Australia. That recollection led to memories of the Horticultural Hall, a barn-like structure that served as J.O.’s only gym up until the construction of a proper one in 1940. The rustic hall with its pot-bellied stove, continued as a back-up gym into the 1950s, and Ken chased down the holders of those memories, too.

The research snowballed. It is a miracle that Ken was able to publish the book in time to watch J.O. grad of ‘47 and billionaire Jimmy Pattison play his trumpet accompanied by Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robinson on tuba at the school’s centennial celebration in 2012.

Ken’s book is the only comprehensive history of South Vancouver on the shelves at the Vancouver Public Library. It is a fine legacy for an outstanding individual.

Even as Ken battled with lung cancer, he continued to arrange for his work to carry forward. An easy-to-search PDF of his book will soon appear on J.O.’s website. Other J.O. grads will continue his popular alumni e-letters. And Ken’s sister, Edie Kernighan (Grad of ’67) will work with her fellow classmates Alicia Hagerman and Nancy Nagel to help maintain the school’s archive. Their goal is to find a space to display John Oliver and South Van’s history. One possible venue is the school’s Unit Two Annex, an attractive 1926 Class-B heritage structure known as The Barn.

The rural reference is apt, because as Ken explains in his book, Vancouverites used to refer to the South Van crowd as “stump jumpers,” but the jabs stopped abruptly when the “farmers” living way out on Cemetery Road (Fraser Street) built John Oliver, which quickly became an educational powerhouse.

A service for Ken will be held at Courtenay Fellowship Baptist Church on January 12th at 1:00 pm.

In memory of Ken and his legacy to John Oliver Secondary School and South Vancouver, please consider a donation to John Oliver PAC 530 E 41st Ave, Vancouver, BC V5W 1P3 to support a scholarship and the JO Archives.

[UPDATE: Ken’s book The Story of South Vancouver and John Oliver High School is available as a free PDF download from the VSB Archives & Heritage website. Thank you to Derek Grant and his fellow volunteers who have done such a great job preserving the Vancouver school district’s history.]

[junker-town]

How your NFL team can fix its biggest offseason needs

Buffalo Bills

The Bills used free agency to build around Josh Allen, getting quantity (if not quality) as they work to prop up their budding franchise QB. Wideouts John Brown and Cole Beasley will add viable targets for a weak passing game, and linemen Mitch Morse and Spencer Long should keep Allen from getting his jersey too dirty in 2019.

There are still plenty of holes to fill in Buffalo, however. The Bills lack the kind of game-changing WR1 who can give Beasley, Brown, and Zay Jones room to thrive. They could also use a run-stopping plug in the middle of the defensive line now that Kyle Williams has retired, and the secondary needs help as well.

Miami Dolphins

Miami needs help just about everywhere, and while signing Ryan Fitzpatrick gives the Dolphins some experience at quarterback, he’s no long-term solution. First-year head coach Brian Flores also brought former Patriots Eric Rowe and Dwayne Allen south with him, which ... yeah, isn’t splashy.

That leaves plenty of work to do in the draft and 2019 will be a rebuilding year, so Flores should prioritize adding as much pure talent to a barren roster as possible. Replenishing the team’s defense — primarily at edge rusher and in the secondary — and the offensive line would be a good start for what could be a long road back to prosperity.

New England Patriots

The Patriots watched some premium talent leave this offseason when Trent Brown and Trey Flowers each struck off for massive contracts elsewhere and Rob Gronkowski retired. Filling Tom Brady’s need for receiving talent is the uninspiring new group of Demaryius Thomas, Bruce Ellington, Matt LaCosse, Maurice Harris, and Austin Seferian-Jenkins. On the plus side, veterans Michael Bennett and Mike Pennel should be able to replace some of the versatile upfront presence Flowers left behind.

New England still needs young blood at wideout and tight end, as well as a dominant pass rusher to keep players like Deatrich Wise and John Simon in rotational roles. With 12 picks, the Patriots could also grab an offensive tackle and — gasp! — a quarterback to potentially replace Brady one day (if he ever stops playing football).

New York Jets

New York is following a similar blueprint as Buffalo: adding talent around a second-year quarterback to help coax a giant leap out. That’s brought Le’Veon Bell and Jamison Crowder into town to revamp the offense, while C.J. Mosley will be called upon to lead the Jets’ defense.

The team still needs to address the departures along the interior of its offensive line in order to allow Bell to feast and to keep Sam Darnold upright. New York also needs help at cornerback to allow the Jamal Adams-Marcus Maye duo to shine and an edge presence to balance out an uneven pass rush.

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens lost some big names (C.J. Mosley, Joe Flacco, Terrell Suggs) and added a pair of their own in Earl Thomas and Mark Ingram. That’ll add an extra punch to the running game and provide a younger upgrade to Eric Weddle at safety, but Baltimore’s chance to repeat as AFC North champion may hinge on adding new, dynamic talent in this year’s draft.

The top priority may be giving Lamar Jackson the receiving (and tight end) talent he needs to thrive as a passer. He could use more help in the middle of his offensive line to clear a path for both him and Ingram on the ground, too. The Ravens also need pass rushers to replace the production Suggs and Za’Darius Smith left behind.

Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals’ quest to move on from the Marvin Lewis era meant re-signing marginal (or oft-injured) talent like Bobby Hart, C.J. Uzomah, and Tyler Eifert. Vontaze Burfict is gone though, so now the Steelers will have to drive 15 more yards than usual each time they play Cincinnati.

New coach Zac Taylor is an offensive-minded leader, but he’ll have to draft a cache of defensive talent to restore the Bengals to contender status. Cincinnati needs help in the trenches, with gaps at both defensive tackle and along the edges, and linebacker support — especially now that Burfict is gone. A quarterback to eventually take over for Andy Dalton could be on the agenda, too.

Cleveland Browns

Only the Raiders could match the Browns’ big-name activity this offseason, as new head coach Freddie Kitchens added Odell Beckham Jr., Olivier Vernon, Kareem Hunt, and Sheldon Richardson to his rising team. This influx of talent, coupled with the strong finish to 2018, has Cleveland looking like AFC North favorites for the first time in a long, long time.

There are still holes to be patched, though none especially gaping. A foundational left tackle could upgrade Baker Mayfield’s protection in 2019 and beyond. A linebacker who can be the Kirkland version of Jamie Collins and another cornerback would boost the defense. Oh, and a punter would help, too.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Le’Veon Bell? Gone. Antonio Brown? Gone. Jesse James? Also gone, but in much less dramatic fashion.

Who’s in? Mark Barron, Steven Nelson and, uh, Donte Moncrief.

So the Steelers need some fresh talent in this year’s draft. Getting an inside linebacker who can cover rangy tight ends and replace the leadership Ryan Shazier once provided would be a big win. Help at cornerback should Artie Burns never live up to his potential is also needed. And Ben Roethlisberger could use some supporting WR/TE help to keep Pittsburgh’s offensive legacy intact.

Houston Texans

The Texans lost two major components of their 2018 run when starting safeties Tyrann Mathieu and Kareem Jackson departed for eight-figure salaries elsewhere. Kevin Johnson and Christian Covington followed, leaving gaps only be partially filled by free agent signees Tashaun Gipson, Bradley Roby, and Briean Boddy-Calhoun.

Houston still needs secondary help, especially if Roby remains a bit of an enigma. But most importantly it needs to keep Deshaun Watson — who was sacked an unacceptable 62 times in 2018 — upright and healthy. Upgrading an ever-porous offensive line will be paramount to the team’s AFC South title defense.

Indianapolis Colts

The Colts jumpstarted their rebuild with a handful of impact additions last offseason, but have been relatively quiet this spring despite a wealth of cap space. Indianapolis re-signed Pierre Desir, bet on Devin Funchess living up to his potential with Andrew Luck, and then lured Justin Houston north after he was released by the Chiefs to cap a small — but potent — free agent haul.

Chris Ballard absolutely nailed last year’s draft, adding two different All-Pros. This year he needs some wide receiving help behind T.Y. Hilton and Funchess, a pass rusher to thrive next to veterans Houston and Jabaal Sheard, and some secondary help to keep Desir from shouldering the entire load in the defensive backfield. He’ll have four top-90 picks to get there.

Jacksonville Jaguars

2018 was an impressive mess, and the 2019 offseason brought quarterback Nick Foles and not much else to help it. Jacksonville is betting last year’s defensive regression won’t last, adding only Green Bay linebacker Jake Ryan despite losing Tashaun Gipson and Malik Jackson. It still has several good, young players in place, but it would benefit from finding an edge rusher to pair with Yannick Ngakoue.

The Jaguars’ lack of cap space places an extra emphasis on drafting playmakers — particularly wide receivers and tight ends who can expand Foles’ margin of error. On a similar note, help at either tackle position would help keep Foles protected. He was sacked 4.5 percent the past two years in Philadelphia, while Blake Bortles and Cody Kessler were sacked on 9 percent of their dropbacks in 2018.

Tennessee Titans

Tennessee has to make a decision about whether to commit to Marcus Mariota at quarterback or not as he enters the final year of his rookie contract. The team has given him some extra weapons this offseason, signing slot receiver Adam Humphries and lineman Rodger Saffold. The latter will be particularly useful after losing both his starting guards from 2018 — Josh Kline and Quinton Spain — this spring.

Adding more playmakers would help Mariota be his best self, but a few impact defenders could transform the Titans’ defense from good to great. Tennessee needs additional depth at all three levels of the defense, including pass-rushing presences both inside and out and some safety help alongside Kevin Byard. Fortunately, the 2019 NFL Draft is loaded with those type of players.

Denver Broncos

John Elway has pegged Joe Flacco, a man with worse numbers than Case Keenum in 2018, as his Keenum replacement. And though he added Ja’Wuan James to hold down the right tackle spot, he also lost interior blockers Matt Paradis and Billy Turner in free agency, creating a need to protect the former Super Bowl MVP — or whichever rookie takes over.

Yep, quarterback is a major need Elway will have to address at the 2019 NFL Draft. So is tight end, where Jake Butt has been limited to just three games in two seasons due to injury. The Denver defense could also use an infusion of talent after backsliding in 2018. Most notably, the Broncos could use a powerful defensive tackle who can take the blocking attention away from Von Miller and Bradley Chubb along the edges.

Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs needed defense, but were too cash-strapped to keep the big names they already had in 2019. Eric Berry, Dee Ford, Steven Nelson, and Justin Houston are all gone from last year’s AFC finalist squad. Frank Clark, Tyrann Mathieu, and Alex Okafor will help bolster the defensive rebuild, but they’ll need help.

Kansas City enters the draft with several needs and some unappealing picks with which to fill them, especially after trading its first-round pick for Clark. It needs secondary help to keep teams from outscoring Patrick Mahomes. And, if the value is there, the Chiefs wouldn’t be too off base by picking up some interior line help to keep Mahomes upright.

Los Angeles Chargers

The Chargers’ 2018 put them back in contention for the AFC West crown, but a tight salary cap situation meant the biggest contract they’d hand out would go to backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor. Los Angeles’ free agent losses were minimal — deep threat Tyrell Williams, lane-clogging DT Darius Philon, and oft-injured cornerback Jason Verrett foremost among them — so there’s a chance Philip Rivers’ team can compete in 2019 even without a new crop of rookie playmakers.

Of course, an impact draft class could be the missing piece that sends Rivers to his first Super Bowl. LA needs receiving talent to replace Williams and give Keenan Allen some downfield support — especially if Allen gets injured again. The team could also use some help along the edges to keep its veteran quarterback protected.

Oakland Raiders

Jon Gruden’s second offseason was somehow busier than his first, as he handed out massive deals to Trent Brown, Tyrell Williams, and Lamarcus Joyner after trading for unhappy Pittsburgh wideout Antonio Brown. Vontaze Burfict is also here to give John Madden flashbacks of his 1970s Oakland squads.

The Raiders are primed for a bounce back, but they’ve still got needs to address if they’re going to compete in the ultra-tough AFC West. They no longer have a Khalil Mack-like presence in the pass rush and could use help both on the edge and from the interior of their defensive line. They also need secondary help — a need that’s haunted the team for what seems like the past decade — and a useful dual-threat tailback to replace Marshawn Lynch ... whenever.

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys used this offseason to keep DeMarcus Lawrence locked down and bring Jason Witten out of retirement, which is a boon for both their receiving corps and any of us who failed to mute Monday Night Football in 2018. Signing Randall Cobb adds an extra weapon for Dak Prescott, who will be without Cole Beasley and Geoff Swaim after both signed elsewhere. And while George Iloka isn’t Earl Thomas, he’ll still add value to the Dallas secondary.

But Prescott still needs targets, particularly at tight end with Witten pushing 37 years old. And that defense could use a long-term solution at safety, especially since Iloka is only signed for a single year. Getting Lawrence a pocket-crumpling running mate would be a boost as well.

New York Giants

Dave Gettleman’s reshaping of the Giants’ roster has been puzzling for much of the 2019 offseason. He traded both Odell Beckham Jr. and Olivier Vernon to the Browns, leaving big shoes to fill at wide receiver and defensive end — although the latter trade landed guard Kevin Zeitler in New York, helping to upgrade an offensive line that struggled in 2018. The Giants also lost Landon Collins, one of the best young safeties in the NFL, in free agency.

The Giants found replacements by signing receiver Golden Tate, pass rusher Markus Golden, and safety Antoine Bethea. But all three are downgrades, and the team still has work to do at the most premium positions — not to mention quarterback, where a replacement for Eli Manning needs to be found soon.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles already have a roster that should continue to be in Super Bowl contention, so the offseason has mostly just been small tinkering to make it even better. The Eagles added Malik Jackson to the defensive line, traded to bring receiver DeSean Jackson back to where his career began, and added running back Jordan Howard in another trade.

There are no holes on the roster that desperately need to be filled, but Philadelphia could stand to add defensive depth. Michael Bennett was traded away to the Patriots, leaving room for another pass rusher to be added to the mix. More help in the secondary and a replacement for 37-year-old left tackle Jason Peters could also be top priorities.

Washington

The offseason started for Washington in a big way with the addition of Landon Collins, a transformative safety who should make a gigantic difference on defense. The problem is the rest of the spring has just been depressing for the team.

Alex Smith probably won’t be back in 2019, and Washington acquired Case Keenum as the quarterback to temporarily fill those shoes. The team also signed colossal draft bust Ereck Flowers for offensive line depth, and pulled cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie out of his brief retirement.

Washington is left with plenty of rebuilding to do. A quarterback of the future needs to be found at some point, but a pass rusher to complement Ryan Kerrigan may be the even higher priority. The team also needs receivers, defensive backs, and offensive linemen.

Chicago Bears

Last year, the Bears dove headfirst into free agency and then landed Khalil Mack in a trade just before the regular season. The 2019 offseason hasn’t been nearly as exciting, but it hasn’t had to be. Chicago is already a contender and tried nudging itself over the hump by signing safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and receiver Cordarrelle Patterson.

Clinton-Dix will help offset the loss of Adrian Amos, who joined the Packers in free agency. The Bears also lost cornerback Bryce Callahan and running back Jordan Howard, but the additions of Buster Skrine and Mike Davis should fill those holes.

All that leaves little work left for general manager Ryan Pace to do in the draft. The Bears could target help in the secondary, another pass rusher, or hunt for some skill position upgrades.

Detroit Lions

The coup of the offseason for the Lions was pass rusher Trey Flowers, who will make a big difference on defense if he provides more consistency than Ezekiel Ansah did. That was far from the only move Detroit made, though. The Lions also brought on cornerbacks Justin Coleman and Rashaan Melvin, tight end Jesse James, and receiver Danny Amendola.

Still, the roster has plenty of reconstruction left to do. Matthew Stafford needs more help, and Detroit could benefit from drafting another receiver and one of the many top tight end prospects this year. Most of all, Matt Patricia could use more pieces on defense — especially in the secondary and on a defensive line that needs to add more than just Flowers.

Green Bay Packers

It was an uncharacteristically active venture into free agency for the Packers, who added safety Adrian Amos, linebackers Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith, and offensive lineman Billy Turner. All those additions free up Green Bay to use the draft to fulfill its top priority of the offseason: Make Aaron Rodgers happy.

Outside of Davante Adams, there really aren’t many receiving options that the Packers can feel comfortable with on the roster. Both receivers and tight ends could be on the draft-day wish list for Green Bay. The Packers could also stand to round out the defense with linemen and defensive backs to complement their free agent additions.

Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings’ defense was still good in 2018, but quarterback Kirk Cousins wasn’t the savior who pushed the team over the top. Part of his struggled can be attributed to an offensive line that failed to clear space. Minnesota hasn’t done much to fix that yet, though. It lost Nick Easton in free agency released Mike Remmers, and only spent big money to retain Anthony Barr.

Protecting Cousins is clearly the top priority heading into the draft, at both guard and tackle. Other places on the roster — like running back, wide receiver, and defensive tackle — could stand to add depth as well.

Atlanta Falcons

The offseason for the Falcons has consisted of more subtraction than addition with Tevin Coleman, Robert Alford, Andy Levitre, and Bruce Irvin all leaving as free agents. Atlanta kept the most important impending free agent, though, by giving defensive tackle Grady Jarrett the franchise tag.

Still, Matt Ryan has no shortage of weapons, and the defense has speed at linebacker and in the secondary. Now, Atlanta needs to add beef on both sides of the ball.

The defensive line will be the more important project of the two with defensive tackles and pass rushers at the top of the wish list. The offensive line needs help too, but adding James Carpenter and Jamon Brown in free agency may serve as a solid band-aid for the situation.

Carolina Panthers

It’s starting to feel like a bit of a broken record at this point: The Panthers need to upgrade Cam Newton’s supporting cast. Keeping offensive tackle Daryl Williams and signing center Matt Paradis was a start, but the offensive line could still use more help and receiving options are thin after D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel — especially after the departure of Devin Funchess.

But the bigger issue is a defensive line that has Kawann Short, Mario Addison, and not much else. Julius Peppers finally retired and that leaves pass rusher as the clear top priority for the team heading into the draft.

New Orleans Saints

The Saints didn’t need to do much this offseason after a 13-win season, and that’s good because they didn’t have many resources to use. New Orleans needs cap space in the reserves to lock down Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara for the future. But the team still managed to tinker away in free agency and add tight end Jared Cook and center Nick Easton. It lost pass rusher Alex Okafor and running back Mark Ingram, but replaced the latter with Latavius Murray.

New Orleans isn’t scheduled to make its first draft pick until late in the second round, but there’s no single pressing need that the Saints have to address. Adding a defensive tackle, wide receiver, or cornerback who can contribute as a rookie could be all it takes to push the Saints over the top.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Bruce Arians’ first year coaching in Tampa looks like a rebuilding one. The Bucs made few big moves this offseason; their most expensive signing of the spring was punter Bradley Pinion. Kwon Alexander, Adam Humphries, and even Ryan Fitzpatrick have all moved on from Tampa Bay, leaving Arians with an opportunity to shape the team in his image.

Alexander’s departure leaves a hole in the middle of the defense, and the receiving corps are pretty limited after Mike Evans thanks to Humphries’ departure and the trade that shipped DeSean Jackson back to Philadelphia. Some high-upside defensive backs would also help bolster one of the league’s worst passing defenses — and allow quarterback Jameis Winston to win some games that aren’t shootouts.

Arizona Cardinals

While the Cardinals made some minor moves to improve an awful roster this offseason, their rebound from 2018’s bottoming-out will come through the draft. Defenders like Jordan Hicks, Darius Philon, and Robert Alford were strong supporting additions, but players like J.R. Sweezy, Charles Clay, and a 36-year-old Terrell Suggs probably aren’t going to be instrumental to the team’s rebuild.

Kyler Murray would, however. Taking a second straight first-round quarterback would give debuting head coach Kliff Kingsbury a passer he’s long coveted and make Arizona infinitely more entertaining. The Cardinals need plenty of help elsewhere, no matter who their 2019 QB is — restocking the team’s offensive line and receiving corps should be a priority during the draft.

Los Angeles Rams

2019 has been a measured offseason for a Rams team that built an NFC champion over the course of the previous two years. Starters like Lamarcus Joyner, Rodger Saffold, and Mark Barron have departed, replaced by Eric Weddle, Clay Matthews, and whomever can step up either in this year’s draft or from previous drafts.

The reigning NFC West champs aren’t hurting for talent, but an aging secondary could use reinforcements — many of which will be available at the end of the first round. There’s need up front, too, especially since it appears Ndamukong Suh won’t be returning to Los Angeles this fall.

San Francisco 49ers

San Francisco lost a season due to quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s knee injury, but 2019 should bring improvements thanks to the expensive addition of linebacker Kwon Alexander and pass rusher Dee Ford, and the low-risk, high-reward signings of Tevin Coleman, Jordan Matthews, and Jason Verrett. The free agent losses were minimal, too — the biggest names leaving Santa Clara were punter Bradley Pinion and rotational pass rusher Cassius Marsh.

The Niners have premier position in this year’s draft, which should allow them to pick up the pass-rushing talent they need with the No. 2 selection. Their second-round spot will yield a solid group of young receivers to team up with Marquise Goodwin, George Kittle, and Dante Pettis and push Garoppolo to a resurgent season. A little extra blocking wouldn’t hurt, either.

Seattle Seahawks

Seattle’s latest attempt to protect Russell Wilson swaps out J.R. Sweezy for Mike Iupati, which is a step in the right direction but probably not enough for Wilson to avoid being one of the league’s most-sacked QBs again. While retaining K.J. Wright and the awaiting-sentence-for-insider-trading Mychal Kendricks helps, that won’t offset the losses of defenders like Shamar Stephen, Justin Coleman, Frank Clark, and especially Earl Thomas.

If the Seahawks want to stave off a decline, they’ll have to add some defensive talent both up front and in the backfield to provide at least a passable imitation of the former Legion of Boom. Wilson still needs help too — not just from a cheesecloth offensive line, but also from a group of wide receiver and tight end targets led by Tyler Lockett and a 31-year-old Doug Baldwin.

[thisdaynews]

How the baby boomers broke America

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/how-the-baby-boomers-broke-america/

How the baby boomers broke America

The offering includes outliers like Pete Buttigieg, the millennial South Bend, Ind. mayor running openly on generational change. But the most likely outcome as it stands now is that the nation will yet again ask a baby boomer to fix what the baby boom broke. And it’s a lot to fix.

“We have Social Security. We have the national debt. We have what’s called ‘deferred maintenance’ in infrastructure. And of course we have the climate,” Bruce Gibney, author of “A Generation of Sociopaths,” said in the first episode of “Baby Bust,” the new POLITICO Money podcast series on the political and financial legacy of the baby boom generation. “I think the main impediment right now is the death grip the boomers have had over the political system.”

What went wrong

That death grip could hold at least another four and perhaps eight years in the White House.

Gibney and other critics of the baby boom generation argue that the huge cohort that came of age in the prosperous years after World War II spent much of their time in power cutting their own taxes, ensuring that giant entitlement programs are protected — at least for themselves — and doing little to protect the environment or invest in American infrastructure or address the mounting student loan crisis.

It wasn’t entirely their fault, students of the generation say. Boomers just grew up at a time when everything was fairly awesome and people assumed they would stay that way.

The baby boomers “grew up in an era when there was something close to full employment almost all the time. Wages were going up with productivity, and productivity was going up very fast. Incomes were growing at the rate of 2 percent a year, something that we haven’t seen since,” said Ruy Teixeira, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and himself a boomer. “The baby boom happened to get older at the same time that America adopted an economic model that was actually pretty counter-productive, which did not actually produce rising wages and incomes for people at a very good clip, that enhanced inequality.”

A bipartisan generational critique

The first boomer president, Bill Clinton, did raise taxes in the early 1990s and briefly created government surpluses after all the charts and warnings and televised lectures from Ross Perot. But he also suffered an ugly impeachment over personal misbehavior and efforts to cover it up.

And progressives blame him for expanding the penal state, cutting capital gains taxes for the rich and engaging in petty personal feuds with then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich — another boomer — leading to government shutdowns and the dawn of the kind of scorched earth, Forever War politics that now dominate Washington.

President George W. Bush, far from addressing government funding problems, engaged in a short-lived movement to privatize Social Security and added an expensive prescription drug program to Medicare whose main beneficiary was older Americans. His presidency was then largely consumed by the massive and costly post-9/11 war on terror, leaving concerns about climate, entitlements and infrastructure spending aside.

Barack Obama — technically a late-era boomer but more Gen X by personal temperament — attempted to strike a “grand bargain” with tea party-led Republicans and then-House Speaker John Boehner to address long-term entitlement sustainability and spending issues along with significant tax hikes.

But it all fell apart when progressives balked at entitlement overhauls and Republicans at tax hikes. The brief bipartisan moment when it seemed like some real change might happen vanished as quickly as it appeared.

The rise of Trump

Following Obama — whom many Gen Xers claim as one of their own — boomers helped elect another boomer, Donald Trump, partly on his promises to restore manufacturing greatness while also not touching any entitlements for those at or nearing retirement.

Trump essentially junked the entire approach of the tea party movement in favor of far greater spending on the military — along with Democratic priorities to secure the Pentagon money — and signed a $2 trillion tax cut that slashed rates for corporations and rich people with a little thrown in for everyone else. Under Trump’s watch, the annual deficit has grown close to $1 trillion and the national debt to over $22 trillion.

The GOP has essentially returned to the ethos of former vice president Dick Cheney — that deficits don’t matter — after they spent the Obama presidency threatening shutdowns and debt defaults over out-of-control spending. Critics of Trump’s fiscal approach argue the tax cut was the last gasp of the baby boom attempting to direct money to itself.

“The tax cut that was passed [in 2017] is the best example,” said author and attorney Steven Brill, also a baby boomer. “Most of the money the corporations have saved through that tax cut have gone to buybacks of stocks, which make the shareholders richer.”

Trump also pledged to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement aimed at sharply reducing emissions and rolled back many environmental regulations of the Obama White House.

Through all of this, presidents and Congresses of both parties, largely governed by baby boomers, did little to address what engineers suggest are nearly $5 trillion in infrastructure updates needed in the U.S. as rising powers like China pour massive resources into such projects. Calling every week “infrastructure week” has become a running joke in political circles.

Baby boomers in power, according to their critics, have done a fairly good job of ensuring that Social Security and Medicare will be protected for those at or near retirement — including tens of millions of boomers — but much less to ensure they will be fully funded for later retirees including Gen X, millennials and Gen Z.

Social Security and Medicare might not be going broke. But the outlook isn’t great.

“As long as people are working there will be at least money coming into Social Security,” said Nancy Altman, chair of the board of directors of the Pension Rights Center. “Even if Congress did nothing whatsoever, people would get three-quarters of their scheduled benefits, which is not good enough, but it isn’t nothing.”

Boomers defended

Many baby boomers defend the generation’s contributions, citing advances in gender equality, the protest movement against the Vietnam war and the civil rights movement (even though most landmark civil and voting rights laws were passed when the median boomer was around 12 years old).

Some also argue that it’s not fair to look at political failures through a purely generational lens, arguing that plenty of boomers (including Warren and Sanders) have long argued for more forward-thinking, less self-interested policies but failed to win enough power to enact them. And they say there is still a legacy the baby boom can leave to Gen X, millennials and Gen Z as those generations finally take over political power.

“Typical Xer, you’re saying, ‘Yeah, they gave us diet foods and yoga,’” said Neil Howe, managing director of demography at Hedgeye and a leading theorist on generational cycles. “I think boomers gave younger generations a language of communitarianism and whole-ism that they are going to use when it comes time to bind this country back together again.”

The boomer Democrats

The current crop of Democratic candidates is dominated by boomers and near-boomers including Biden, Warren and Sanders who are one, two and three in nearly every national and state poll. Biden has largely based his campaign around taking another shot at the Obama approach that sought to address major structural problems like climate change, entitlements and debt through coalition-building, both domestically and in international accords like the Paris treaty and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a giant trade deal meant in part to counter China’s rise as a global economic and military power.

Obama’s biggest legacy, the Affordable Care Act, was more of an incremental approach to driving down costs and making care more accessible. Biden has defended the law but is struggling to beat back challenges from the left that what is needed is not incrementalism but radical change including wealth taxes, “Medicare for All,” student loan forgiveness and free college. Entire industries, including big tech and Wall Street, need to be busted up and reformed, according to the Warren and Sanders view of the world.

For progressives and economists who believe deficits and debt really don’t matter at all, this is a welcome change in political direction. And Warren and Sanders both have widespread support from many younger voters.

But Warren has now found herself in something of a political quagmire as she promises to explain how she would pay for government-funded health care for all with estimates of the cost at around $3 trillion a year without boosting taxes on the middle class.

The millennial Democrat

Into all this comes Buttigieg, running as a millennial alternative to all the older candidates as well as more of a centrist who wants to take on structural problems left by the boomers but not in ways that send deficits and debt into the stratosphere.

“You have a different sense of urgency around these issues if you’re expecting in your lifetime to be dealing with them personally,” Buttigieg said on the podcast. “So by 2054, when I get to the current age of the current president, the shape of the world then, both environmentally, economically and beyond, that’s not a theoretical question; it’s a personal one that I have to prepare for just as a human being.”

Buttigieg added that, “There’s just no way we can get very far into the next few decades on this tax policy without a fiscal time bomb going off.”

And as for the baby boom legacy? “I think a lot of wrong decisions get made out of just a kind of political or moral laziness that says that certain consequences, because they’re going to hit down the road, aren’t consequences for the politicians who are dealing with them, especially politicians who work one election cycle at a time,” Buttigieg said.

What about Gen X?

Generation X, those born between 1965 and 1980, may never find themselves with a president to call their own, even if they lay claim to Obama, who was born in 1961. But that doesn’t mean the generation won’t have a significant role to play in future elections and political debates that increasingly pit baby boomers bent on protecting their investments and entitlements against millennials and members of Gen Z seeking to significantly alter the structure of taxation and federal benefits.

The role may wind up being quintessential Gen X, attempting to referee between much bigger generations to find some kind of compromise where everyone can win.

“I guess we’re going to have to choose, in some of these presidential elections, if it pits a baby boomer against a millennial with very different ideas, and I think there is significant political weight to Gen X and how those decisions are ultimately made, right?” said Amy Walter, a Gen Xer and national editor of the Cook Political Report.

“Like, we’re not meaningless in terms of which way we go in the coming presidential elections of the next four, eight, 12 — even longer than that. There is some significant political importance to how Gen X decides on a lot of these things.”

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