#classic brutalia

[batnations]

Classic Brutalia recolored panels

[beautyconsumer]

Summary:

Bruce isn't new to fatherhood; having taking under his wing a kid who he saw himself in and bearing a hybrid pup... he didn't expect to find much difficulty with raising Jason.

Then again... Said kid isn't on speaking terms with him and Damian's mother doesn't know he exists.

He's far from perfect but he's gonna keep trying.

UPDATE (2/6) selkie pup Jason hours

[taliaalghulhub]

Detective Comics (1937) Issues 444, 445 and 448

Ok this is another comic I don't think a lot of people know about

Batman responds to an armed bank robbery and on confronting the person in charge she reveals herself to be Talia, after hearing the police entering Talia runs and Batman appears to shoot her in the back though he claims to have never pulled the trigger

He's accused of murder by Jim Gordon who claims there was nothing wrong with the gun and the fact that he loved her but hated her father was a valid reason he might have done it. Gordon tries to arrest Batman but Batman escapes leaving Scrag Donovan tied up to the bat signal

In Detective Comics 445 Jack Ryder shows that Batman is wanted for murder on the news. Alfred also askes Bruce is he murdered Talia to which he denies immediately

Batman then takes a prison guard uniform and disguises himself as a guard to go and visit Ra's Al Ghul in his jail cell.

Ra's then admits that he was the one who actually had Talia murdered and Batman framed for it, he then shoots himself and says that nothing is to precious to sacrifice in return for revenge agents Batman. As he dies he throws the gun towards Batman

He's seen by guards who then try to arrest him again, he's almost caught as a person he put in jail holds him through the bars but using gas manages to make his escape leaving only his cape behind.

Detective comics 448 opens with a shot of Gaston St. Lucifer's circus and Bruce disguised with a goatee and a fringed jacket, here we see multiple characters introduced including Sireena "The Sensuous Snake Charmer" , Grobo "The Smallest Strongman", Shondu "The Human Corkscrew" and Slapleather Smith "The Most Devastatingly Accurate Sharp Shooter"

Batman notices that Grobo is spying on him and attempted to follow him before he can go alert anyone he might be working with but he looses him. He finds himself near a house of mirrors and decides that that must be where Grobo is hiding.

Batman takes of his disguise so that he's in his armour and fights a group of henchmen in the house of mirrors. After leaving he runs after Grobo again then finds two guys playing cards in a caravan so he dresses as Ra's and confirms that Ra's is in fact behind everything he then also takes out the two men in the caravans before being taken down by one of the clowns at the circus.

He wakes up in the main tent with the ringleader of the circus sat on a chair and Sireena the snake charmer standing next to him, I'm sure you know where this is going,

Sirenna then reveals herself to be Talia in a blonde wig, she asked Batman to join then who says no then her pet snakes start to try and attack Batman

Batman is then attacked by the sharpshooter from earlier but he throws an arrow into the barrel of the gun jamming it

He fights the contortionist then it turns out the the clown from earlier was Creeper. He tries to then go after St Lucifer thinking that he's Ra's but it turns out that Ra's has disguised himself as Grobo

Something falls in the tent and it sets on fire, Batman takes Talia and leaves the tent as Ra's just burns to deaths

Gordon is outside and Batman shows him Talia but then Gordon "shoots" Batman in the back but it does nothing because it's Batman and they just wanted a good cover for the comic. Batman explains how everything worked I won't type it all out so I'll put the explanation at the bottom of this post.

Batmans name is cleared and Bruce drops an epic diss on Ra's by calling his life an "a monumental waste of genius"

[damianbugs]

You need to tell us what you think of your favorite Bruce ships. Pls

i should preface by saying i usually prefer bruce (in my own works and others, including comics) to not be in a relationship at all because i can't think of a time he's like ever emotionally stable enough for that. like ever. THAT BEING SAID isn't that all the more reason to throw him into a ship? doomed tragic romance you will always be famous to me

and because i am insane, here are some comic recs to go with my fav bruce ships!!

>batcat

a classic favourite, batcat!!! i will admit i am not the biggest fan of their rebirth stories, and the whole wedding fiasco and most of what tom king wrote about them (and in general) was. not enjoyable. but pre crisis/golden age batcat? MY PARENTS. just. silver and bronze age batcat too. what a refreshing and entertaining couple. the thing that really makes them compelling is at the end of the day they have the same goal; protect the people of gotham. the ways they go about it can be different, and selina especially faces some serious mischaracterisation in order to make bruce look like the "hero" in the relationship, but at their core and simplest expression of love, they share the same dream, and they both know that. it's this selflessness that connects them deeply.

> "The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne" (Batman the Brave and the Bold #197) is, in my opinion, essential batcat reading. a very bittersweet story!

> for a more modern read, "Only Takes a Night" (Catwoman #32) is a delightful read about how hopelessly in love they are. bruce is such a devoted loser.

> ghostbat

every character needs that one irreparably damaging young adult tragic romance that changed their life forever and that is what ghostbat is. khoa is the perfect foil to bruce, in that ultimately, they are two ends of the same spectrum. fiercely stubborn and confident in their own moral code but in the opposite way. this ship is particularly fascinating because even now, the respect and love they have for each other years later is so deeply consuming that it is prevalent in how they interact now. i don't think bruce would have been the person he is without his relationship with khoa pre-batman, in both a good and bad ways. i also really love the hc that khoa is bruce's first heartbreak (refer to: the Snow and Gun incident).

> "Batman The Knight" is like ghostbat religious text. this is all you need. let it destroy you.

> batlantern

no long paragraph about this one because its my silly guilty pleasure. sometimes u need a ship in which they just don't get along except for the times they do. hal brings out such an irritating (said fondly) side to bruce and its even funnier because it works mutually. i think another really wonderful thing about this pairing is that they are really not so different from each other (nothing says romance than being consumed by your guilt and stubbornness), but they both think otherwise, so they knock heads while also begrudgingly respecting about one another in a colleague-friend-crush way. they want to make out so bad it makes them look stupid.

> "Batman: Universe" is a great and short silly story that shows their dynamic really well. amused me greatly. not ship focused though hal is there for like. a single issue unfortunately. but fun!!

> i usually never recommend any new 52 books to get INTO a character, but if you're interested in this pairing and its most 'popular' fanon interation, then "Jutice League (2011)" is the best place to start. you can get to their better stuff afterwards! (there's also an animated movie about it!)

> brutalia

AND BEST TILL LAST. THE BRUCE SHIP OF ALL TIME. ruined my life. CHANGED my life. i wish i could explain how insanely important this relationship is in words. i love my pairings tragic and there is quite literally no other ship quiet as dramatic or poetic than brutalia. talia is often seen as bruce's "one true love" with great reason, and him hers, and despite that they will probably never actually get back together. in a wider lense, the al ghuls and bruce have an insanely complicated dynamic, and this inherent conflict about missions bigger than themselves makes brutalia's forbidden love drama all the more compelling. talia brings out the best in bruce, and bruce respects and loves talia in a way i don't think he does anyone else in his life.

to complain for a moment, it's no wonder that because their relationship (since it's very first introduction) was so irrevocably pure and consensual (they were both so ridiculously obsessed with each other), that Certain Writers had to pull out the most out of character and disgusting stories to make it clear the tone of batman was changing. talia is always a victim to racism, misogyny and just unbelievable ooc writing — most evidently in her stories with bruce, unfortunately.

AND YET. recent comics have realised how truly ridiculous it is to write her as anything but kind and strong, and bruce being anything but hopelessly infatuated. i think my favourite thing about brutalia is that bruce and talia is a relationship that has been separated for actual Decades and so both their characters have been developed to have their own tragic stories and growth. then when we get small moments that bring them back together and letting that past show through the cracks in their carefully constructed walls, it's all the more romantic.

beautiful heartbreaking ship. the kind of relationship historians would cry over. would have the romantic period publishing fifteen books over.

> "Batman: Son of the Demon" is ESSENTIAL brutalia reading. also, if you are insane and delusional enough, it can be the true origin of damian.

> the comic moment that inspired all romance the moment of forever the blueprint even is in the famous "Batman (1940) #244"

> for a more modern take, very recently in fact, is her appearances in Ram V's run of detective comics, starting from #1062. its not brutalia focused, but a great take on how natural and yearning their relationship is now.

[dyslexicandakeyboard]

Sorry - to correct. The place where Talia Al Ghul threatens to kill Huntress Helena Bertinelli out of jealousy that she might be Batman’s new “concubine” in the 90s Batman Legacy Event is in the issue Robin (1993) #33 and this was way way before Morrison and definitely way before 9/11. She was just not purely good person and was prone to these antics in her own ways (upset over Bruce not answering that they belonged together over Selina and threatening to rip their heart out if they got together at the end of Tec #526, for example) and I think it was really the Demon Trilogy (which O’ Neil who created her himself didn’t like and editorial wanted taken out because they didn’t approve and saw it as an out of wedlock romance), B:TAS nostalgia, and that era’s editorial (run by O’ Neil again) keeping Batman from his other significant romances that helped her a bit. Even when you go read the write ins for her classic stories she was never as popular as say, Selina (and you can tell from the Lazarus Affair Arc)

Yep, a lot of it is rose-colored glasses and nostalgia that has lead to this laughable brain-rot.

Many Talia Stans seem to think that Talia is Bruce's endgame (Which is not only stupid but a disservice to both their characters) and try to harken back to the good ol' days (Which weren't all that good) where Talia was this "heroic anti-heroine", which isn't really true, perfect for Bruce to prove their point. The Demon Trilogy, despite being non-canonical since it's conception, is taken as gospel in their circle and spurs them on. They also like to yap about how Talia is based off a Bond Girl, which in their eyes makes her Bruce's wife despite Bruce being a separate character from James Bond and that the character they say she's based off of dies.

Plus, most of their complaining that Morrison wrote a racist and sexist version of Talia usually fall short with this information (i.e all of the arcs she's been in where she's done bad and questionable things). This isn't to say that DC hasn't been racist or sexist (Batman Legends of the Dark Night first few issues, Holy Terror or any of their earlier works are examples) or that all Talia's depictions have always been free of any bigotry. But most of them use these accusations to stop any conversation that invalidates their version of Talia. Also, I've spoken about racism and sexism within fandoms (DC, Voltron, The Bear) in irl plus I'm literally mixed, so I'm not trying to invalidate anyone.

It's also weird how this attitude has flowed into the wider fandom and causes people to have this strange vision of Talia because if we look at this relationship without these blinders (nostalgia) still portraying Brutalia as a romantic relationship is just down right creepy and borderline abusive. Like in many of their interactions post O'Neil (And even under his editorial), Talia is honestly a down-right over-possessive, manipulative person with abusive tendencies and Bruce enables her. It's stifling because you can't treat it as anything other than romantic and healthy.

Plus, Talia's fans end up being more sexist as they take away Talia's agency when confronted with her bad actions and treat her like a child.

The panels mentioned.

Plus more panels of Talia being unlikable/abusive

[the-midnight-duck]

batman/bruce wayne ships and the songs they remind me of

superbat - summer is for falling in love, my jinji, amazing, the most beautiful thing, oblivion* innocent love

ghostbat - follow you, ifhy*, love on the brain, i.f.l.y., let you break my heart again, die for you, racecar*, glimpse of us no matter how many times you hurt me, i'll come back to you + love-hate relationship + i would do anything for you

bruharvey - pretty boy, heart to heart, dontmakemefallinlove*, i dont sleep, afterthought*, marlboro nights im sorry + i dont deserve you + highschool sweethearts

batcat - telepatia, this december, my heart it beats for you, rainbow bap*, stars, motive i can never be sure with you

batlantern - fall in love with you, time machine, loverboy, feels, supalonely, so this is love* we were better off as friends

batstantine - devil in a new dress, boyfriend, i cant handle change, hello?, softcore friends with benefits

batjokes - dictator*, snowcone, 7 rings, shut up and drive, save your tears*, dead to me the distancer + the overly complicated one + classic toxic relationship + make up sex

wonderbat - coffee on the beach*, streets*, cyber sex, 505, often, put your head on my shoulder* hot power couple

brutalia - the ghost of you*, ghost of you, young dumb and broke, falling, golden* 'we broke up for good' he repeats to himself

ironbat - do i wanna know, rom-com gone wrong*, set piece*, sugar*, fly me to the moon (neon genesis evangelion ost ver.)* secret love / forbidden love

*nice songs u should check out

[distort-opia]

do you have any Bruce/Talia comic recs (besides Son of the Demon?) I really liked them in that! (or fic recs) :)

Hmm. There's definitely more knowledgeable people to give recs regarding this particular ship, but I do have a couple of comics I can rec (besides the obvious variations ending in "...of the Demon") because I personally enjoyed the Brutalia dynamic:

The Batman Chronicles (1995) #8

A classic so you might've read it, but just in case. Contains a theme that repeats itself with Bruce and Talia, which is her saving his life, or trying but ultimately being unable to kill him despite what her father wants from her-- and the conflict is so poignant in this one. There's some beautiful lines in there, especially from Talia, when it comes to why she's in love with Bruce.

Detective Comics (1937) #750

Talia refusing to take Bruce's and her father's bullshit anymore, which is great... and that theme I mentioned, of Talia saving Bruce's life, but in the process going against her father's wishes. But then not going with him either despite him offering, and choosing her own path (an idea which I like a lot: Talia defining herself not by her love and devotion to her father or to Bruce, the two men in her life, but trying to discover who she is outside of them).

Batman: No Man's Land (1999) #0 (Ground Zero)

Alright, this is one of my two personal favorites. Bruce is broken after Cataclysm and has lost his way, but Talia comes to remind him who he is, and to be with him; but Bruce is in another relationship, so they keep passing each other, always kept apart.

Batman/Spiderman (1997)

The plot is fairly self-explanatory. It's a Marvel crossover by DeMatteis (who's written some great comics). Ultimately, it just contains the eternal conflict for Talia, to choose between her father or her love for Bruce... but alright there's this one moment of rare self-awareness from Bruce which I like so much and gotta point out: "Do I think, he muses, that I can save her, heal her, even though I've never been able... to heal myself?"

Batman: Urban Legends #22 ("My Son")

This is my second other favorite, and a more recent comic. Bruce and Talia fight over Damian, and it devolves into more than that, and it's so [clenches fist] toxic divorce vibes. Ugly and complicated, but in a way only two people who know each other intimately can be. They both jab at the places they know hurt most, but then they can just... peacefully talk about it after.

And well, there's the recent run in Detective Comics, by Ram V! From #1080 onwards it's been leaning into Brutalia heavily, or so I've heard. I haven't managed to catch up, but you could check it out nonetheless! As to fics, I unfortunately haven't read a lot (and can't find any bookmarks I might've made)-- but if anyone wants to add their own recs, I'm sure you can find some good ones.

[sing-me-under]

Here’s a list of my favorite ships for each of the Batfam that I have opinions on:

Bruce x Everyone/Anyone (no particular preference. Although I have a fondness for TwoBat (very specifically Two Face, not just BruHarv), GhostBat, BatLantern, and BruTalia, I am firm in the belief that anyone older than Barbara is fair game to be Bruce’s ex.)

Jason x Rose

Steph x Cass

Tim x Bernard (x Kon if I’m feeling classic.)

Damian x Jon

Terry x Melanie

[fanaticalthings]

A win for the Brutalia nation!!

Batman #122

Written by Joshua Williamson

Art by Howard Porter

[redwiccanrobin]

Another thing I appreciate about classic Brutalia are the moments where they’re just soft with one another.

[batnations]

recolored panels of classic Talia Al Ghul

[jostenneil]

hiii can u do brutalia, edwin, and a pairing of your choice from chihayafuru? (or u can just do all the characters in chihayafuru if you prefer that, doesn't have to be shippy) <3

omg joan ily this is going to be so much fun. i'll probably do them in separate text posts for organization but lemme start with brutalia hehe

doesn’t listen to music. ever / bruce obv, but not so much bc he's allergic to music as it is due to parental trauma. his mom had this rad record collection and one of his strongest memories of childhood was dancing around in the living room with her to music of any and every genre, so sometimes when he hears those classic retro hits it pulls him out of the present for a bit, and he gets rly sad. talia on the other hand is an arab queen schooled in the ways of fairouz and umm kulthum and sometimes she manages to get bruce back out of that stupor bc with her there's love in the room again

has never had a pomegranate / bruce is a white man so unfortunately this will be him as well but eventually cleaning out pomegranates and eating them while the juice runs down their hands and chin is a quintessential bonding activity that he, talia, and damian will share between them when talia's not busy with her worldwide humanitarian causes and is visiting for the summer

is a tax evader / neither omg they would sooner die. talia perhaps by association with lex corp but that's all sneaky stuff she let happen on purpose so lex would take the harder fall, she's just a queen like that mhm

is against legalizing marijuana / bruce jfkdjgljsdlkjbljsf. he has a change of heart tho bc stephanie schools him, as she should (post-dixon robin era stans do NOT interact i hate that man too but at least he didn't hate stephanie to the point of ruining her budding friendship with bruce entirely)

gets computer viruses the most / bruce bc dick is a little shit and his way of subtle rebellion as a kid is to stump bruce with computer viruses whenever he feels like bruce has too much of a stick up his ass. talia is simply too smart after selling her father out to lex to deal with computers she does the bare minimum with them that she has to otherwise she's a classic girl who thinks computers are a waste of time and an evil of capitalism

fell for an email scam and lost a lot of money / talia ;) ;) oh no lex i thought this was from one of our partners i'm so sorry :( i'll do everything i can to get the money back :( and then she doesn't

hooked up with someone in a gas station bathroom / bruce isn't this needy and talia has standards BUT if dc loved me and put them on ridiculous missions together more often that potentially involved roadtripping across the barren plateau and wind turbine dotted landscapes of the midwest then i think enough sexual frustration could be conjured up to push them both into this situation with each other, esp if it's after they've got out of a particularly nasty pickle with some bad guys

has a peanut allergy / bruce. it pains talia's heart she loves peanuts in her cuisine

has an account on reddit / bruce but only bc tim let him in on how much goes on on reddit boards and he thinks it could be a way to track villains down, bc obv the joker is going to lay out his mastermind plan on r/villainsofgotham for the batman to see in all its hellish glory (tbh i could see harvey using it ngl)

is sexist / bruce :( the women of the family pummel it outta him tho it just takes time

knows how cryptocurrency works / both bc bruce would know of through industry circles and refuse to trade in the filth and talia would know since destroying it's near the top of her humanitarian agendas list

seasons their food exclusively with salt and pepper / oh bruce. oh babie oh honey. let talia teach you the ways of spices and herbs and depth of flavor, you poor white king. there's a whole section of the pantry in wayne manor eventually dedicated just to the essentials of arab cooking bc damian is so disgusted with his father's taste palate and talia is sympathetic enough to send original ingredients over biannually

doesn’t remove the lint in the dryer before turning it on / well. alfred does it for bruce bc these are just the kind of things a butler-housekeeper knows and then talia doesn't deign to deal with dryers except when she's in her lexcorp era bc it's a forced necessity. but yeah she's smart enough to know about lint

is a cheater / bruce is simply too depressed to think about cheating when he's in a relationship with someone and then ok comics canon tangent ig but i HATE how some comics posited that talia was willing to throw herself at anybody and everybody i absolutely don't think that'd be the case and bruce was truly special to her so no i don't think she'd be a cheater either in any capacity

[baticorngirl]

Title: Scribbles of Love

Rating: General Audiences

Relationship(s): Talia Al Ghul/Bruce Wayne (Brutalia), Talia Al Ghul & Unnamed Child, Bruce Wayne & Unnamed Child,

Characters: Talia Al Ghul, Bruce Wayne, Minor Original Character(s),

Summary: Miraculously, Bruce and Talia have been married for quite a long time now. In fact, their first year anniversary is coming around the corner, and it's suddenly dawned on Bruce that he doesn't have anything to give her. He soon decides he wants to give her a love poem, but there's only one problem: Bruce sucks at writing poetry. As the anniversary comes closer and closer, will Bruce manage to write a half-decent love poem in time?

A/N: This fic is for @brutalia-week Day 1: “I made it for you”. It takes place in an alternate universe where Batman: Son of the Demon worked out. I think that’s all you need to know before you begin, so... enjoy!

(The fanfic is under the line below, but if you’d prefer to, you can also read it on Ao3(x) and FF.net (x)!)

__________________________________________________

Talia was training, as usual. Her feet were planted to the ground like a tree's deep roots, with her knees bent ever so slightly to get a good stance. The smile on her face was soft, but she made sure her strikes were anything but. Like Ra's has taught her so many years back, her moves were smooth and fast, a bit graceful… but powerful. The sword in her hand would've demolished anything in its path, as it zoomed around the room…. if she had been aiming for anything but an imaginary opponent, that is. Her hair flew into the air as she abruptly bent down (while still attempting to keep her feet as well-planted as possible) to swipe her "opponent's" feet. She pulled up and jumped, imagining that they were doing the same move back to her. Continuing to imagine each move, her arm twisted and turned to hit their sword back every time, getting faster and faster and faster and faster and…..

Knock, knock. Talia pulled herself up, mentally clearing herself from the perilous fight, at the sound of knuckles softly pounding on the door. "Come in," She called, slowly trotting over to the door. Just outside the door, Batman stood. His cowl was casually flung back to uncover his real face, and as he began to pull on his gloves and belt, it became clear he was about to get out of the vigilante gear. He sighed, neglecting to look at her as the pulling became more of just fidgeting and less of actually pulling them off.

"I… have to go." He began, his eyes still looking off into the distance. "It's just… a… small errand. I won't be long. Maybe an hour or two, but….. I can't keep watching the baby while I'm gone so I figured I should let you know." He immediately turned and began walking away as soon as he had conveyed the necessary information. Talia's eyebrow rose, noticing the odd behavior, but quickly shrugged it off. Her husband always acted secretive, so she doubted there was anything to worry about.

"Okay, Beloved. Farewell!" She quickly leaned in to kiss him on the cheek a moment before he left. Batman turned back towards her, his classic vacant expression turning into a smile for a moment. It only took less than a moment to go back to normal, though, as he quickly continued walking and went into a walk-in closet to get ready for his "errand". Once he was out of sight, Talia made her own way over to the baby's nursery in the opposite direction.

She swiftly picked the baby up, watching as the baby's eyes lit up in a giggle. The baby continued to smile and laugh even more as she kissed his small, round little nose. Talia rocked her child in her arms, ambling around the nursery. Soon, the high-pitched laughter had faded into the peaceful squeaks of a sleeping infant. The baby was slowly set back down into his crib. Talia patted his little head as gently as she could, before setting up the baby monitor and going to a nearby room to train a bit more.

Meanwhile, Bruce had just arrived at what he had told Talia was just an errand. He went into the front door, and was greeted by a friendly-looking person, sitting on a lounge chair just a few feet in. They smiled at him, and motioned for him to sit down at one of the many desks spaced around the room.

"Welcome. You're a bit early, so we'll just be getting started in a few minutes." They explained. He simply nodded in return. Luckily for him, they seemed to be unaware of his fame back in Gotham. Talia had still been doing some work under Ra's, and so they hadn't been in Gotham for quite a while due to where her father wanted her. Bruce had been enjoying the lack of fame and the dreaded paparazzi through their whole trip, and this was no exception.

Silence followed for a few moments. They both looked down their laps, unsure what to do or say. Awkwardness plagued them both, but eventually, the person in front of Bruce decided to start talking again to get rid of it.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Riley, what's your name?" They asked, reaching a hand out to shake hands. Bruce put his hand out as well, and they shook for a few seconds before he answered the question.

"My name is B-" He quickly got interrupted by a flood of people coming in. The clock had finally ticked that it was 10:00, meaning it was the exact time to start. Everyone sat down quietly. Riley jumped up from their chair, rushing up to the front.

"Welcome to this poetry class, everyone. I assume all of you are here to improve your knowledge of poetry to a level beyond what you were taught in school, or possibly even to build up to a career as a poet. My name is Riley, and I'm your instructor." They explained, and a wave of nodding ran through their audience. Bruce nodded, but stared for a moment in awe of the fact that he hardly remembered even just what he had been taught in school about poetry. He looked down at the desk in front of him, the idea finally occurring to him that maybe focusing all his later teenage years on training to become Batman instead of paying attention to High School was a mistake.

But there was nothing he could do about it now. Poetry hadn't ever been necessary until this situation. But here he was, lying to Talia that he was just "going out on an errand", because there was absolutely no way he could write her a love poem without extra help. It was an embarrassment, really, but poetry just wasn't one of his strong points. It required so much emotion, so much expression of it, and expressing his emotions just wasn't something Bruce naturally did.

"Of course, this is more of a beginner class, so even though some of you may become poets some day, we'll be starting with the basics for today's class." Riley continued the class introduction. Bruce sighed in relief. Perhaps he would actually be able to follow what the instructor was talking about, and be able to give Talia a half-decent poem when it was over. "First of all, most good poems have a lot of figurative languages. These are things that stretch the literal meanings of the words you use, and create an image or effect using them. Some examples are how saying 'Your eyes looked like stars' is a simile, a type of figurative language. There's also metaphors, which are essentially the same thing, but without using the word 'like'."

Bruce thought about this for a moment, and got out a piece of paper to attempt to start his poem with some figurative language. "What's Talia like?" He mumbled, remembering everything about her that he loved so much. She was such a good fighter, and yet kind of graceful, which he was sure he could relate to something, so he took note of that. Her eyes were kind of jewel-like, shiny and beautiful, and her dark brown hair was like chocolate, so he wrote that down, as well.

But most of all, what he loved about her was how much she tried for love. Even though everyone would say that her fighting abilities are her greatest power, her secret weapon, Bruce knew none of those meant anything. Not without the love she used those abilities for, at least. He wasn't quite sure how to say this poetically, though, so he decided to get back to it later.

Eventually, the class ended, and Bruce came back home. Then, next week, he went back to the class and continued to work on his poem. Every week this continued, until their anniversary came around. By then, his poem was nowhere near perfect, but he had tried. There was no way he could back out now, after spending so much time working on it.

Bruce stuffed the poem inside his pocket, and went to their room to get Talia. She sat on a stool, brushing her hair nonchalantly. She had already gotten changed into a beautiful dress, going down to her ankles with embroideries. Bruce stared for a moment, thunderstruck. An embarrassingly goofy smile was on his face, but he quickly shook it off and returned to his default, impassive expression.

"Are you ready, Talia?" Bruce asked, reaching his hand out to help her up. Talia got up herself, but took his hand anyway, nodding. Both bringing along a present, the couple held hands as they made their way to the car. They were planning on going to a fancy restaurant for their anniversary, and exchanging gifts after dinner.

"I can't believe it's been a year since we finally got together, Beloved." Talia said once they were in the car, smiling, "It's been so happy. We were so sad, and we kept having to reject each other, but then this happened, and now… I don't think anything will ever get in between us again." She clutched her necklace, thinking back to the time, almost a year ago, that he had given it to her. For once, she could think about that kind of time with pure joy and hope, instead of longing.

"Yes… I don't usually consider myself cheerful, but you're right. I honestly don't think we could be happier." Bruce looked down at his lap, lost in thought. "That baby is going to have everything. Our love, a family, a home, and of course, happiness. We've really done it." He mumbled.

Talia nodded, right as they pulled up to the restaurant. She scooched out of the car, pulling Bruce along with her. They went inside together, got seated, and ordered their food. As they waited, they decided it might be fun to give each other hints about the presents.

"I'm going to give you two gifts, technically." Bruce explained, feeling his pocket for the poem, plus the earrings he was going to give her along with it. "One's just…. A fairly basic anniversary gift. But the other thing, well, it's a bit more from the heart… I suppose. I don't know, I tried to make it special." He sighed.

Talia smiled, "That sounds wonderful, Beloved. I can't wait to see it." Bruce gulped at the thought that he may have gotten his hopes up for his half-baked writing, but she didn't seem to notice his nerves. "I just got you something basic, too, but it's the sort of thing that's customized to be quite special."

"That sounds wonderful, too." He replied, reaching across to put his hand on top of hers romantically. She wrapped her hand around his in reciprocation. They both leaned in to kiss, smiling.

"Here is your food," They both got knocked out of their romantic moment by the sound of their waiter's voice. They both pulled out of the kiss, and leaned back on to their own chairs. "Oh, was I interrupting something?" The waiter asked with a chuckle, before setting down both their dishes in front of the one who ordered it.

The waiter left, and both Talia and Bruce ate dinner. They talked and smiled as they ate, both attempting to get the other one to slip up and tell them what their present was, with little to no success. Soon, both Bruce and Talia were finished eating, and they quickly got out their presents.

Talia picked up a bag that Bruce had noticed she'd been carrying along throughout the trip, and reached inside. Out she pulled a little box, wrapped in bright, colorful, wrapping. She pushed it in front of Bruce, grinning.

"Go ahead, open it." She insisted. Bruce slowly began to peel the wrapping off, and opened the box that was inside the wrapping. Inside was a beautiful pendant, covered in small gems of all kinds of shapes and colors. The jewels sparkled, almost like magic, and a smile grew on Bruce's face.

"It's… beautiful." He commented, flipping it over in his hands cautiously. He stared, mesmerized at all the jewels. His fingers clutched it tightly. Talia's grin only grew. He was even more happy with it than she thought he'd be, and he hadn't even opened it yet.

"Open the pendant, it's even specialer inside." She nudged, slightly impatient. Listening to her words, Bruce gently flipped the pendant open. Inside, there was a picture of their sweet little baby. Talia reached over, touching a little bump on the back. He flipped it over, realizing it was a knob. Talia turned it, and the image changed to a picture of herself. "There's quite a few different pictures in it, and the knob changes it. I tried to get all of your closest loved ones, plus a picture of yourself in case you're ever in the mood to be vain." She laughed.

Bruce pulled it closer to himself to see it better, and began switching the knob between them all. "I… I love it." He leaned over to her, quickly pecking her on the cheek. "It's perfect." Her smile grew even more than it already had as he opened it. Bruce adjusted the knob to be on Talia again, and put it on.

"I'm really glad." Talia reached over and squeezed Bruce's hand. "Now, would you like to get out what you're giving me?" She beamed with excitement, almost as much as she had beamed when he opened his own. Bruce pulled the earrings out of his pocket, and nudged them in front of his wife.

"I suppose I thought you might like those, but I put a lot more effort into my other gift." Bruce spoke cautiously, too focused to let himself smile anymore. Talia took the earrings, which were actually quite beautiful and expensive, and exchanged the earrings she was wearing currently with them. As she does that, he pulls his poem out of his pocket. "I wrote you something. I know you were probably concerned about how I kept going out at the same time each week without telling you where I was going, but that was just because I had to take a writing class if I wanted to make this even slightly decent."

Talia frowned, "You keep a lot of secrets, but it's nice to know that at least one of them was out of love, and not fear or mistrust. Either way, thank you for the earrings. They are more than beautiful." She let go of the frown quickly after getting it, and gestured for Bruce to go on. "Now, I'm more than excited to hear what you've made. Go ahead."

"When you are here, I can only think about you, But even when you are far, I simply do it with longing, too;

I love you all the time, Day… or night, In the ocean, ground, or even sky, And this why:

Your eyes look like jades, And your smile like beauty in a solid form; You hair looks like silky chocolate, Your entire body is something I adore;

You are stronger than you seem, But so very graceful, as well; You fight stronger than a demon, With an angel's good intent, and morale;

Yes, you move like a swan, But much, much, more than that:

You love deeper than anyone could ever know, Just something that you have taught yourself, Your intentions are more than just moral, But an emotion, in itself;

So with that much personality, It is my honor to be able to love you back."

Bruce spoke the poem as clearly as he could, trying not to stutter or chicken out. It felt odd, showing this much emotion, but in a good way. Once he was finished, he looked up from his poem, smiling. Talia was rubbing her cheeks, wiping away the tears that had formed. Bruce leaned over to kiss the unoccupied hand, desperately attempting to make the moment even more romantic.

Before he had leaned back on to his own chair, Talia quickly pulled him into a kiss, "I love it, Beloved. Almost as much as I love you." She took the paper from Bruce's hand, folding it up and putting it in her pocket. "If you don't mind, I want to be able to remember this moment. Forever."

"Of course," Bruce said, trying to pretend he wasn't surprised that she had liked his poem so much. Perhaps she was simply humoring him to spare his feelings, but if she was, she was doing an incredibly good job at it.

They quickly paid for the meal. Bruce and Talia both beamed as they rode off into the night, hand in hand.

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A/N: Okay, now that you're done, some disclaimers:

I am not necessarily saying Bruce's poem was actually bad. He views it as bad, and it's certainly not perfect, but... I'm not necessarily saying it's bad myself, if that makes sense, (although I definitely did purposely not spend too much time on it when I was writing this).

Also, I'm not sure where this fanfic takes place, lol. It's just not in Gotham, but the rest if up for interpretation.

Oh, and I'm aware this entire fanfic is quite boring. The plot isn't very interesting, I'm afraid, but... oh well.

[dottie-wan-kenobi]

Airport/Travel AU and Bar/Restaurant AU

Okay I'm gonna pick Brutalia for this hope u don't mind!!

Talia and Bruce are both traveling to Gotham from,,, elsewhere I don't know that part doesn't matter. I also don't know why they're flying commercial and not private.

They have a classic luggage mix up -- they both have beautiful, expensive black bags that DO have tags on them but there's company business going on for them both and they're distracted. They see what looks like their bag, they grab it, they Carefully Do Not Yell into their phones as they hurry out of the airport.

When they finally have a moment to breathe through the work dramas, they look at their bags and realize. Shit. Now they have to deal with swapping back (and hopefully the other doesn't find the Secret Spy Shit they're both hiding). They have a slightly flirty, slightly threatening conversation. There's no time today to switch back, but they also HAVE to switch back as soon as possible. Somehow they work out they can do it in between work meetings at a bar nearby (probably one of them have a meeting at the bar).

So they meet at the bar, looking sleek and beautiful and dangerous. And they both absolutely know about the Secret Spy Shit in the other's bag, because of course they looked. And I just picture them at the bar, sipping on drinks, razor sharp smiles.

Fanfic Trope Mashup Game

[baticorngirl]

Title: The Truth is, “I Love you,”

Rating: K+

Relationship(s): Talia Al Ghul/Bruce Wayne (Brutalia), Talia Al Ghul & Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne,

Characters: Bruce Wayne, Talia Al Ghul, Damian Wayne, Original Villain Characters,

Summary: Ra's Al Ghul has many enemies, all of which will do anything to bring the powerful, murderous, Eco-terorist down. Even, as it turns out, capture someone who's technically also his enemy, simply because that enemy has more information than they do. Now, as Batman wakes up to see a small crew of criminals in front of him, it's time for the interrogation. But, unfortunately for that crew of criminals, Batman isn't being much help. Even under truth serum, there's only one thing regarding the League of Assassins he cares enough to talk... Talia.

A/N: I do not own the characters, DC does.

This is for @brutalia-week Day 6: Truth Serum, but @gothamlioness1 (my sister) also helped me come up with some of the details of the plot.

This fanfic, like a lot of my other Brutalia Week fics, didn't turn out very well. Consider yourself warned.

Oh, and one more warning: It's also pretty cheesy. Anyway, enjoy!

Related Links: Day 1(x), Day 5(x), Read on Ao3(x),

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Batman was very, very, out of it. His vision was blurry, his hands were shaky, and he couldn't really think straight, much less speak coherently. He tried to sort himself out, as he always did with these kinds of drugs, and it did seem to work a bit. Soon enough, he was able to see clearly enough to be able to make out the figures in front of him. He was fairly sure there were two men, and one woman. All were dressed in conspicuous all-black attire.

Unfortunately, even with the drug's effects quickly fading, he still couldn't seem to recognize them. He didn't even know them. A new villain, one skilled enough to apprehend the Batman himself, certainly wasn't good. He sighed, knowing the only thing he could do about it now was defeat the villain. Batman attempted to get up and fight them.

Scratch! His arms quickly hit rope, the tough, twisty texture of it giving a burning sensation to his skin. Only now looking at his own body, he immediately realized he was tied up. Golden rope constrained his arms, stomach, and legs to the chair. A classic tie-up, no doubt. He quickly squirmed to reach his belt, only to realize his kidnappers must have taken it away, as well.

As any good hero does, he still had some tricks up his sleeves, literally. Batman's fingers slipped into the precise place in his sleeves where he hid extra tools, only to realize his kidnappers had already found it, as well. Last he remembered, he had simply been patrolling confidently, just as he always did. He was sure he hadn't been having too much trouble stopping the villains, until these ones had come around. Now, here he was, feeling helpless against these kidnappers that weren't even recognizable. Batman scowled. It was pathetic.

"Good. You're awake." One of the men in front of him observed, a diabolical smile appearing on his face. Batman scowled even harder. "We heard about your affiliations with our enemies, the League of Assassins. You have information, and we want it." He casually reached over to a table and grabbed out a needle and syringe from it. "Of course, don't bother trying to lie to us. We won't listen to a thing you say until you've got this in your body." The man leaned down, looking intently at Batman's arm as he injected the syringe's substance.

Truth serum. Batman felt a familiar tingling from all the other times villains had used this trick. He had taught himself to be slightly more immune to it than most, but no one could really become fully unaffected. Besides, with all the knock-out drugs these people had used, it was especially hard to fight back against yet another drug. He leaned back in fatigue as the substance spread into his brain. By the end, he was drowsy, with only a need to say the truth. The serum had definitely worked.

"Hmm…. Good." The kidnapper felt around to check Batman's vitals and other important areas to check how the serum was working. He gestured a thumbs-up to his coworkers, who nodded. "My first question is a very simple one: What are your connections to the League of Assassins?"

"The leader's daughter," Batman began, smirking to himself a bit goofily. "I've kissed her….And hugged her…. A lot of times. We got married a while back, although unfortunately it didn't last long. Sometimes, I miss those days. I think I fell fully in love. In fact, I think I'm still in love…." He rambled, seeming uncharastically joyful to all the kidnappers, and they didn't even know him well. The truth serum definitely appeared to have had a bit of side effects.

The female kidnapper switched off with the other one, who casually went to get a cup of coffee now that he had a bit of free time. Ignoring his unprofessional behavior, the woman went up to Bruce with an evil look plastered on her face. "Oh, really? That sounds… intimate. Al Ghul must have trusted you a lot to allow you the hand in marriage of his own daughter."

Batman nodded, his smile dropping for a moment, "Well yes, but I had a bit of a bumpy relationship with my in-laws. Right then we were getting along, sure, but before Talia and I got married, her father and I weren't on the best terms. I don't think it's really important, though. Doesn't everyone have a bad relationship with their in-laws? Honestly, I should probably hold on to my morals and not say this, and I normally do, but…" His smile bounced back up, "She's worth it."

"Yes, yes, I know you were in love with her, but what do you know about Ra's Al Ghul?" The kidnapper asked, starting to get annoyed at his constant topic-changing. "What are his weaknesses? Anyone he cares about that you can use to get to him with?" She quickly asked.

"Well, there's Talia." Batman answered, "I'm fairly sure he cares about her a lot. I'm not surprised… I mean, he must be very proud to have such a brave, intelligent, strong, beautiful daughter." His smile grew a bit. He looked so silly, leaning to one side in a fatigued daze, with the biggest, most embarrassing smile on his lips. The smile began to fade, though, as his feeling of love and adoration turned into sadness and yearning for his beloved.

As he yearned, the kidnapper scribbled some of the things he'd said on a clipboard. "Well, since she does actually seem to be of importance, and you seem to want to talk about her, I'll finally ask you about Talia." She sighed, "Do you know of any of her weaknesses? Anything a person could use to lessen her fighting ability?"

"Well, she loves me, but that must be why you took me here. She of course has other loved ones, as well." He easily cooperated, but the truth sometimes wasn't the most encouraging. "Other than that, though, she's perfect. A wonderful fighter, such a good swordsman, but doesn't even need any weapon to defeat a whole army, and-" The kidnapper, now gritting her teeth and fuming with annoyance, reached over and slapped him right across the face.

"Shut up! I didn't ask to hear about how amazing she is! Hearing you ramble about her beauty and strengths isn't going to help! I need weaknesses, not strengths, you idiot!" Batman felt spit fly into his face as she screamed at him, but he was so out of it he hardly cared. She slowly backed away from him, the redness in her face beginning to fade. "Brad, you try to get him to answer better. I mean really, so far all I've gotten is a couple tiny pieces of information that we mostly already knew…." The last kidnapper, who's name was apparently Brad, looked up as she called over for him.

He made his way over to Batman, right as the female kidnapper eagerly pranced over to the first kidnapper, joining him and his coffee. Brad looked into Batman's eyes, as serious and determined as he could manage. Batman, after years of doing much more serious stares himself, was very unimpressed.

"Do you and Talia have any children together? Children that it would tear her apart to lose?" Brad started his question with a crooked smirk on his face.

Batman nodded, but as always, his answers were very little help. "We have a little boy. She trained him tons, thankfully. He's an astonishing fighter despite his young age, and would not be easy to get down. He's always ready for an ambush. Besides, she's the sort of parent who will always come to the rescue and protect him. Sometimes I still worry about him, like I always worry about my children, but that's always a huge comfort." He went on and on, to an extent that Brad had no clue why he thought he should talk about this right now.

"So he's practically impossible to capture? Now look, Mr. Batman, I don't like any fooling around, so I'm going to cut right to the chase- How does one defeat the all-mighty Ra's Al Ghul?" The interrogator questioned, stomping his foot on the ground loudly to create tension. But despite this loud motion, Batman was light-spirited.

In fact, he started to laugh. He never, ever, laughed, but it seemed the type of truth serum they used was doing wonders to make him looser and more open. "By 'one', I assume you mean yourself? Look, I'm going to be honest with you: There is no way you're going to be able to defeat him. Just look at yourselves! Lounging with coffee, right on the job! I wish I could humor you, I really do, but you're all just pathetic! You simply got lucky that I was so focused on fighting another criminal I was easy to ambush! Talia, on her own, could easily defeat all three of you in seconds." He thought of Talia yet again, and felt another sense of adoration run through him. She really was a very special person.

"Yes, I can, and I will." Talia quipped, To his surprise, and to his relief, Batman suddenly realized the person he'd been thinking about so lovingly was directly behind him. All three kidnappers just watched in terror as she lunged towards Brad, her sword swinging around in her hand. She swiftly stabbed the man, before moving to the other two. As they stared at their partner wincing in pain, a sense of doom came over them.

Before Talia could even try to stab the terrified kidnappers, they fell to their knees in a plea, "Leave us alone, we'll do anything!" They moaned, with their hands cupped in a begging position.

She stared down at them angrily, but sighed, "Fine. You will go to jail willingly, and never come near Batman, me, or our family again. That includes my father. When you do all that, and only that, will I let you go with this little of injuries." Talia announced, lightly touching the top of their heads with her sword to assert dominance.

The kidnappers looked down for a moment. Their eyes closed as they considered the thought of giving up on one of their biggest quests, and even worse, to spend the rest of their lives being held captive by the authorities. But, after one more look at that sword, they sighed and nodded.

"Good," Talia said. She side-eyed them threateningly, but quickly looked back towards Batman. With her sword still in her hand, she briskly cut through the ropes that bounded him. He immediately pulled himself off the chair, and pulled her into an abrupt kiss.

"Talia, I love you so much," He whispered into her ear as she recovered from the startle. She smiled, trying to hide her blush. "I've missed you, and I think about you a lot. A lot more than I should. But maybe, if I could see you more, I wouldn't have to constantly think back to my memories. I wish I could marry you again. It hurts to reject you, and it hurts every time we have to battle things out. I guess I just wish we didn't have to do that. I… don't know why I said all this, but I felt the urge to for some reason, Talia. I believe that means something." Batman gently pushed her hair out of her face.

She shook her head, "I'm sorry, Beloved, but I'm afraid it's not a matter of soulmates or fate telling you to say that. Those kidnappers gave you one big dosing of truth serum. All you can say is what you know… or what you feel. Once you come back to yourself, you'll regret everything you said while on that drug." Talia looked down solemnly. She bit her lip. "In an odd way, though, that only makes it much more romantic."

"That's the idea, it should be romantic. We need it to be romantic. Just for a mo-"

"Mother?! Mother? Did you find Father?" The sound of a child's voice shook them both out of their romantic moment. Damian ran towards them. "What happened?"

"He was easy to find inside here, and the kidnappers were easy to defeat. I'm afraid your help wasn't necessary, my son. I know you hate to get left out." Talia said jokingly. Her finger pointed to the empty syringe. "Your father got injected with truth serum, though, so I'm afraid he's not exactly acting like himself right now." Damian nodded in response.

"Why were you the one who ended up saving me? You only visit Gotham occasionally, to see Damian or complete an odd little mission that happens to take place here. What made you here now?" Batman asked curiously.

"Oh, those people were simply enemies of my father. So, with you in their custody, they eagerly sent ransoms -asking for his powers, his own family members, among other things- in return for your life. Apparently, they thought he genuinely cared for you, and that alerting an organization as powerful as my father's of your kidnapping wouldn't backfire!" She let out a short, dry, little chuckle, "Either way, he didn't even end up receiving them. I found the letters, and immediately came to Gotham as soon as I could. Luckily, I wasn't too far away."

"Oh, thank you for coming out of your way to save me." He smiled at her, before turning around towards the door. Batman gestured at it, "Isn't time for us to be going? I think I can already hear the sirens in the distance." As if on cue, a blaring moan followed his words, slowly increasing in volume.

"Yes, of course. Follow along, Damian." Talia put her hand on Damian's back, gently nudging him forward. The child quickly ran ahead of her arm, as if attempting to prove he didn't need any physical reminders to do what he was told. He frowned ever so slightly, but it was normal for the pouting, a-bit-too-confident, pre-teen he was. "I believe it's past Damian's bedtime. In fact, he should've been tucked in quite a while ago! Damian's at that age that it's vital for him to get his sleep, especially if he wants to be a strong warrior when he gets older." She made slight fun of her odd little child, but only in a playful way.

"Actually, I believe it's past Father's bedtime. He's the one that got injected with truth serum, not me." Damian argued bitterly. Regardless of intentions, he certainly wasn't pleased with the talk of his bedtime. "Haven't I been on good behavior, Mother? I don't remember being the one that could only ramble."

"Damian, you're a really good fighter, and just overall a great kiddo. You definitely don't need to hear it, but you're destined to achieve great things." Bruce replied. A confident smirk appeared on Damian's face. "BUT I still agree with your mother. I might have a problem with keeping not only you, but also your siblings out too late."

"We've never shown any signs of not being able to handle it, though!" The child persisted in his immature arguments, "Sure, there have been times bad things happened, but they hardly ever happened late at night!" He crossed his arms, stubborn as ever.

"No one's necessarily saying you're going to die from a bad sleep schedule, my love," Talia explained. She paused their walking for a moment, taking the opportunity to kneel down so she could look the boy in the eyes. "But you're only going to have so many moments in life where you can really lay down and relax for more than 8 hours at a time. Take the opportunity. Besides- Bruce, did you sleep last night?" She turned back to Batman, now positioning herself a little higher off the ground to talk to him.

"Nope!" Batman responded. His answer was quick, and his voice sounded almost proud of his bad habits. Or, at the very least, he had no intentions of fibbing or lessening the truth, making it obvious the truth serum was still very active in his blood.

"Exactly," Talia bent back down to Damian's height, "Your father was tired, and so he got caught by a villain. Not even a too bright villain, either…. I don't want that same fate for you, Damian. As your father said, you're capable of so much. You study, you train, and you are determined to win, just as you've been taught to. But you also need to take care of yourself, at least if you want to unlock your full potential." She kissed him on the top of his head, which only annoyed him more. Fortunately for her, Damian didn't feel like arguing was worth it anymore.

"Yeah, and I, at least, don't want you to end up missing out on anything." Batman slipped down on to his knee to join them nearer to the ground. "I want the best for you, Son. Because even if things get in the way of me always being there for you, and I sometimes have difficulty saying it, I still love you. We both do." He turned to Talia, smiling at her. She easily nodded to the loving statement.

With the family all together, being honest, Batman felt the urge to initiate a group hug. Normally, he would deny that kind of explicit affection, but the truth serum took away his doubt. It had taken away his need to hide and repress his emotions. So, even as the serum's affect was starting to fade a bit, he quickly wrapped his arms around the two of them.

Damian stared into his father's eyes, a mix of annoyance and just plain surprise embedded into his expression. But, funny enough, he didn't pull away. Neither did Talia. Because of course, at the end of the day, there was only one truth left; Love. True, pure, love.