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ladylofspades · 3 years

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Headcanon for Piri and Iggy

Now this is my first time to ever make a headcanon for a series I love, so please take it easy on me!

For those interested, please read on :D

Human Name: Mariano Lorenzo Villalobos Balagtas Nickname: Enzo Name Meanings:

Mariano - male equivalent to Maria; 'bitter'; name also means 'Star of the Sea'; named after Mariano Gomez, one of the three priests executed for mutiny (GOMBURZA)

Lorenzo - means laurel in Italian; a symbol of victory, fame, honour or accomplishment; named after Saint Lorenzo Ruiz, the first Filipino saint and martyr

Villalobos - means 'town of wolves' in Spanish; named after Ruy Lopez de Villalobos, the Spanish explorer who gave Enzo his first name Las Islas Filipinas

Balagtas - means 'to trail blaze' in Tagalog- named after Francisco Balagtas, a prominent Filipino poet during the Spanish occupation; author of Florante at Laura

Personality:

Pre-Colonial - independent, organized, skilled fighter, resourceful, creative, family-oriented, hardworking, hospitable, proud of his heritage, a born leader, a great singer and a believer in the supernatural

Spanish Colonial - he still maintains the same personality as he did in the pre-colonial period, with developing traits of stubbornness, slight laziness (Filipino time), and religiousness. After being kidnapped by Britain for two years (who was a pirate at that time), he became knowledgeable in English. He develops a love-hate relationship with Spain.

American Colonial - bringing all his traits from his pre-colonial and Spanish colonial times, now with a more carefree air. Thanks to Britain years prior, Piri was fluent in English, surprising America. Piri becomes more fluent in the language to the point he made his own English language known as Philippine English -- a combination of both British and American English with a Filipino twist and -- since he was a former colony of Spain -- some Spanish terms.

Japanese Colonial - all above traits, but he became more solemn, more irritable and more stubborn after being told off by Japan right when Piri was about to graduate/gain independence.

Modern Day - he still maintains all his above traits but masked behind a more carefree, sociable, teasing, trendsetting, cheerful personality that everyone has known him for.

Headcanon for Enzo towards Arthur

At first, Enzo found Arthur weird when he spotted the latter sketching among the trees nearby. To Enzo, it's rare to find a blonde person in his home country.

But the more Arthur visited the area, the more fonder and more curious Enzo became towards him.

It was through Arthur that Enzo got a chance to see what magic is like, and is always enamored by it since then.

Whenever Arthur visits, Enzo always readies food and drinks for them. But whenever he doesn't show up and Antonio is around, Enzo would give them to his foster brother. Though he loved Antonio, the boy was still sad that his newfound friend didn't come to visit.

Enzo loved watching magic either for Arthur to him stories, or to be lulled to sleep.

Enzo felt betrayed when he found out that Arthur was a pirate. But after being assured that he was anything but in danger, Enzo relaxed, and even decided to stay with him for two years.

Enzo had a hard time speaking in a British accent; but apparently got to speak the language and learned it quickly. Of all the times he spent with Arthur, Enzo loved it when the Brit would test his vocabulary and then treat him to something sweet.

During his time with Arthur, Enzo gets to express himself more about his feelings and thoughts towards Antonio -- both good and bad.

Because of the admiration he had towards the Brit, Enzo was saddened when Arthur returned the boy to the archipelago.

When he was placed under Alfred's care, Enzo would write letters to Arthur on how he gets annoyed with the American, and openly complains about him.

To Enzo, he feared that by learning the American English, it would replace what he learned so far from Arthur. To prevent that from happening, he decided to make his own English form known as the Philippine English -- a mix of American and British English with Spanish terms. It was heavily influenced by American English, but some British terms and grammar were retained in it.

Of all the Allies, Enzo is very close towards Alfred and Arthur -- with Alfred who had watched over him until the night of independence; and with Arthur, who he had a history that dated back to when Enzo was a boy.

Headcanon for Arthur Kirkland towards Enzo

He is very much like how he was portrayed in the series, but has a soft spot for children and cute creatures.

To Arthur, Enzo was a boy whose future was taken away by Antonio. And believes that, even though Antonio meant well to keep the boy safe, Enzo would have to leave his foster brother and live on his own.

Even though he had the means to take him in, Arthur decided to not do so. But it didn't change the fact that he genuinely cared for the boy. He would watch over the boy, even if it means from afar.

Since he and Antonio are rivals, Arthur was the one who encouraged Enzo to rebel against the Spaniard. This was done not only because of the rivalry, but because he truly believed that Enzo is more than capable to fend for himself.

Though implied, even Arthur was saddened that he had to return Enzo after being called back to England.

When he found that Antonio was going to let Enzo go, Arthur immediately pushed Alfred to take care of him.

Arthur disproves of the skit plan, after finding that out from Alfred in one of the latter's visits to England.

Even after Antonio left the teen, Arthur made absolutely sure that Enzo is protected at all costs, even if it meant having Alfred taking care of him.

Whenever Alfred had problems in taking care of Enzo, Arthur would advise him on how he could take care of the teen. Having known the boy for a long time, Arthur knew how the boy acted, felt and thought. He was genuinely dismayed when Alfred decided to do things his way, and wasn't surprised when things went from bad to worse for the American; but he warned Alfred that the American doesn't do anything funny towards Enzo OR ELSE.

When the teen was finally able to live on his own, Arthur treated Enzo out to dinner celebrating his first night of independence. On that same night, Arthur says, "Let's make it official," letting out a hand for Enzo to take. They shook hands as a sign that Arthur now sees Enzo as an equal, and no longer someone else's foster child or ward; but as a person of his own.

== My Headcanon between Modern Day Enzo and Arthur ==

Since Enzo is old enough to drink, he gets to go to drinking parties with Arthur. And if there are any karaoke machines in the venue, the two would either sing together or have a singing showdown, hoarding the microphones until either both of them passed out, or sing until closing time.

Whenever Arthur gets tired to sing, Enzo continues to sing songs until he plops onto his seat.

When both are drunk, it was Alfred who drags them both to a friend's residence depending on the country they're in. If it's in Enzo's home country or region, Indo would be the one to carry them both home.

During Halloween, it became routine for Enzo to help Arthur come up with ideas in the scaring contest with Alfred.

Whenever he's bored, or when they were not occupied, Enzo would call up Arthur and invite him to a ghost hunt or a paranormal investigation.

Once they went to every haunted place in both countries, they would save up money for travel to other haunted places in the world.

Whenever they have a sleepover in England, Enzo was saddened that his Diwata couldn't come along since England was far away -- with hopes that he could introduce his fairy to Arthur's. To make him feel better, Arthur would invite Ms. Fairy, Unicorn, Brownie, Flying Mint Bunny and Captain Hook. Seeing Enzo interact with his companions was heartwarming for Arthur.

When Arthur became terribly ill to the point of being hospitalised, Enzo would always be by his side. A trained nurse himself, Enzo saw through Arthur's stay until the Brit's full recovery.

When Enzo falls ill, he would usually not tell Arthur so as not to trouble him. But was surprised to learn that Arthur found out about his sickness anyway, and cared for him until he got better.

Arthur and Enzo would cook together whenever they hang out in either residence.

Enzo would usually ask Arthur to take a selfie with him, the latter not minding at all. And whenever Alfred photobombs the selfie, Arthur would chase after him, while Enzo keeps snapping photos of himself with the two running in the background.

Enzo was the fourth person to follow Arthur in Twitter (Alfred, Francis and Matthew being the first, second and third respectively) and third to follow the Brit in Instagram; whereas Arthur was the seventh to follow Enzo in Twitter (the first six being the SEA family) and in Instagram.

Arthur is well-aware that Enzo's family was protective of the latter, and keeps a safe distance.

Ever since Arthur ran away from his group in Europe, he decided to stay with the SEA family. Enzo was more than delighted to volunteer to let Arthur stay in his house.

In contrast to Alfred, Pien grew friendly towards Arthur because of how delicately the Brit treats him. As a response, Pien would climb either on top of Arthur's head or rest on the shoulder, much to Enzo's delight.

Horror and fantasy are must-watch movie themes for Arthur and Piri during movie nights.

Whenever he finds the time, Arthur would help Enzo recap some British terms. BUT without telling Alfred unless the American asked for it.

Arthur still sketches birds from time to time, and would sometimes sketch Enzo with birds on his arms, shoulders and on top of his head, much to Arthur's amusement.

This is all I have so far for their headcanon! But for a more detailed (or nitty-gritty) story behind the headcanon, check this link out!

#hws england #hws philippines #hws hetalia #hws headcanons #hetalia headcanons #my first headcanon ever #i just love those two!#being very close friends #who would scare alfred during halloween

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witchyameita · 3 years

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do you-

do you have any AmeIta 👉👈headcanons? only if you want to!!

I was hoping someone would ask me this- thank you for your question! :)

These are just some mixed general HC's but I can definitely get into certain/ specific ones too ;

- Italy makes up songs for America on his guitar (like the Germany song)

- Randomly, they'll start impersonating each other just because it's funny

- Alfred does his best to learn Italian so he can understand and talk to Feli in his mother language

- At the meetings, Alfred will randomly send Feliciano memes which in turn makes Feli burst out laughing

- One of the reasons they started dating was because of their combined love for food

- Feli's favourite person to paint is Alfred and Al is more than willing to pose for his artist.

- Even though Alfred isn't the best cook but he'll make Feli breakfast since he wakes up first.

- On Halloween they're the couple that ALWAYS matches costumes

- Whenever Italy is cooking dinner, America brings home his fave dessert since he appreciates Italy's cooking

- On Feli's birthday Alfred will host a huge fireworks show just like on his own birthday

- They have a combined playlist of songs they like or that fits the other It's basically meme songs

- At a party with drinks, Feli will choose not to drink (or will only drink one) so Alfred doesn't feel left out.

- Their preferred spot to have dates is either at a trampoline park, or the cinema

- On the days leading up to valentine's day, Felicano will leave notes around the house that have some romantic message or a joke

- On warm nights Alfred will lay a blanket down and will stargaze with Feli, even pointing out celestial bodies or constellations.

- They like to tease/ prank their older brothers at the same time poor Matt and Lovi

- If Alfred kills a spider or gets rid of something that scares him, Feli will always call him "my hero"

- Most Saturday mornings they will watch cartoons while eating breakfast.

- They share the same braincell

- Both are so interested in one another's countries that they do research (which is done by asking the other millions of questions.)

- Thanks to Italy, America's favourite type of food is Italian

- They always say "I love you" to each other even after a fight which was only once because they couldn't decide if Die Hard was a Christmas movie or not, technically not a fight

- America is very loud which Italy enjoys this because he knows he isn't lonely. (Plus he’s quite loud himself)

- If something at the store interests Feliciano, Alfred is quick to buy it for him.

- Whenever Al is out shopping he always buys flowers for Feli

- During the holiday season, they always watch Christmas movies, overly decorate, and have a friendly competition of who has more Christmas spirit. They always end up with a tie though.

- Definitely the video game couple; Feli plays games like Animal Crossing and the Sims. While Alfred plays games like Dead By Daylight and Injustice 2 . Either way they always end up playing together.

- Italy loves wearing America's glasses even if they hurt his eyes after a while

- If Alfred was in college Feliciano would 100% make his lunch (and does if he has to work too)

- Feliciano likes to cling onto Alfred and he likes to jump on him.

- Every time they see one another it's always loud excitement: "Americaaaaaaa~!" and "Italyyyyyy!"

- They give each other nicknames; Italy calling Al things like amore mio, bello, principe mio, etc. (my love, handsome, my prince.) America in turn calling Feli things like his sun, sweetness, baby, etc.

- When trying things like ice skating/ skating, Alfred always manages to catch Feli if he falls.

- Somehow Feli can understand everything Alfred says when he has food in his mouth

- If Italy gets homesick, he looks into America's eyes because they're the same colour as the water in Naples. or just his home in general

These are just some of my HC's, I do hope you enjoy! Maybe a part 2?

#hetalia #ameita #aphamerica #aph italy #otp #headcanon #i love them so much #make them canon

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river-bottom-nightmare · 4 years

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i’m having a bunch of jason robin feels and now i’m imagining him, dick and babs vibing before the joker ruins everything. i’m devastated thinking about it because it would be so cute. also those three during that era are basically team rocket and now i’m imagining them dressing up as team rocket for, like, halloween or something and babs and dick force jason to be meowth. in the future they force 6’2 jason who towers over them back into the meowth onesie and thrive once again as team rocket. they are unstoppable no matter what a very grumpy jason says. alfred brings out the old photos to show the rest of the fan baby jason dressed as meowth and jason is dying inside but he cant leave because he’ll make alfred sad (and he doesn’t wanna leave but shhhh).

oh my godddddddddddddddddddd. yes yes yes yes yes yes YES.

i love this idea so goddamn much.

because yea, in the beginning it’s a little awkward, because dick can’t look at jason without seeing anything other than the last vestiges of the graysons being forgotten, and jason can’t look at dick as anything other than an idol who left shoes jason’s trying so hard to fill but isn’t sure he’ll ever make it, and babs and dick have this on-again, off-again thing that makes babs want to scream because she knows jason doesn’t see her as anything other than “dick’s sorta girlfriend” and she hates it.

but eventually, dick looks past robin and starts seeing jason, starts seeing scabbed knees and papercuts from books and an angry little scowl that dick swears up and down is adorable. and jason works with dick and babs, learns that he doesn’t have to be dick’s replacement, because he’s his own person and he can make his own robin. and babs comes into herself, makes sure everyone knows that she’s a part of the family because of herself, not because of dick, and the jason starts looking up to her too and it’s one of the best things she’s ever felt.

it takes a while, and there are some things said between them that they can’t ever take back. with every hand dick extends towards jason, he can’t help but remember a face that’s so young, so old, so lost screaming “you’re not my brother!” and how hearing those words sent a shard of ice straight through his heart. every time babs gives dick a grin, ruffles his hair, or tugs him into a hug, she can’t help but think of his heartbroken look as her fury overtook her, cursing the name catalina flores, only finding out months later that everything she did had been something dick didn’t want, and babs wasn’t there to help him pick himself back up. and dick will flinch a little, every time jason aims his guns too wildly; babs keeps a wary eye on him when they’re together, even as she offers him a smile, and jason would tell himself over and over again that it was sick satisfaction he felt, not horror at the fact that his family was scared of him.

but in a fight, him and dick move together fluidly, back to back and watching each others weaknesses like they’re really brothers, and jason’s starting to think that they are. and mending things with babs takes time, but they’re sitting on the couch together eating takeout, her legs in his lap and her eyes sparkling, and dick thinks they might have fixed what was broken between them a while back and just never noticed. babs and jason will have teasing arguments over comms in only 18th century moral philosophy quotes that only the two of them and maybe bruce have the patience to understand. and maybe, just maybe, they’ve been family again for a long while. all it takes now is for one of them to admit it.

,,,,,,,,,i am really sorry you just wanted to talk about baby jason dressed as meowth and i came here with the feels and that was not at all what this was supposed to be about. but you gave me such a good IDEA and i just AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

anyway thanks for this babe, this was really fun to think about!

this,,,,,did sorta turn into a writing thing, so i’ll tag my peeps anyway: @woahjaybird @birdy-bat-writes @anothertimdrakestan @subtleappreciation @screennamealreadyused @pricetagofficial @catxsnow @dangerduckjpeg @bikoncon

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jonathan-cranes-mistress-of-fear · 4 years

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Gotham Halloween Headcanons

Sure, kids love dressing up as batman, but most of the children like to dress up as the rogues! Because of this, it’s usually save for the rogues to go out in costume on Halloween night.

The Gotham Walmart sells bootleg Bane masks, scarecrow costumes discretely labeled as “corn goblin” and sexy catwoman one piece suits for adults. There's also outfits for EVERY Robin, and even a rainbow batman suit. Gotham Walmart has you covered on Halloween.

Children have started a ritual of leaving out a bowl of candy corn for Scarecrow much like they would leave cookies out for Santa, in hopes that he vistas their house and scares them.

The Gotham animal shelter suspends adoptions during October because teenager used to adopt the black cats and put them in harms way for a laugh. Selina protested and they decided to stop.

Damian Wayne is the other unofficial black cat protector. He stays out late and night and protects/captures any black cat, keeping them at Wayne Manor until October is over.

Damian then holds an adoption event where he and Bruce adopt out the cats in November. He has strict background checks and only gives the cats to responsible owners.

Jonathan Crane likes to set on the front porch of his farmhouse hideout and wait for children while fully dressed in a scary costume. When children come up, they see a bowl in his arms and try to take some. And if they do, Jonathan literally jump scares them!

Bruce holds his annual Halloween Gala on Halloween Night, but usually has to leave early because Scarecrow is starting bullshit.

The other Robins, including Tim, Jason and Dick, go undercover and keep an eye out for crime, as Halloween is a popular night for tomfoolery.

If they’re not planning anything devious, the rogues like to party at the Iceberg Lounge.

Calendar Man Once successfully kidnapped Barbra Gordon on Halloween. Sadly, he got his ass kicked when she broke free of the ropes holding her, and then she repeatedly ran over him with her automatic wheelchair. He never tried this again.

Alfred dresses up as Batman to entertain any kids who trick or treat at Wayne Manor. Every year he changes his costume to accurately represent Bruce’s current armor set. He even does a good impression of the iconic batman voice. He gives out full sized candy bars, of course.

Joker always gets caught the night before, and placed in one of Arkham’s top security cells so he can’t do anything dastardly on Halloween.

Speaking of Arkham, they hold a Halloween party for the inmates and bring candy to celebrate. The inmates are known to trade amongst each other for their favorites.

One year, the rogues had a one day truce where they promised Batman that they would not do any crime, with the condition that they get to judge a Halloween contest between the kids of gotham. Word got out, obviously, and kids spent the whole month perfecting their look a like rogue costumes in an effort to win a years worth of candy (supplied by Penguin himself) In the end, it was a three way tie.

#Jonathan Crane #Scarecrow #The Scarecrow #Damian Wayne #Robin #Gotham #Gotham Rogues #Catwoman #Selina Kyle #Halloween Headcanons #Gotham Halloween Headcanons #Mistress' Headcanons #Mistress' Headcannons #Penguin #Oswald Cobblepot #Calendar Man

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batfamscreaming · 3 years

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Winter Break in Kansas [80s AU] 1/2

Bruce bade goodbye to Tommy and Harvey without telling them anything of his own plans for the holiday break.

(....both of them looked gaunt. Holidays hadn’t even begun. They didn’t muster much enthusiasm for the goodbye, and Bruce didn’t make them.)

He didn’t put on the hat or scarf until they were a good distance out of the building, where the other two wouldn’t see, and bundled himself up unrecognizably as best he could.

Nodded.

“Let’s go.”

Clark slung his backpack over his shoulder and started down the stairs where they could get a cab to the bus stop.

“Have you ever been to Kansas before?”

Bruce shook his head.

“No,” he said, tugging out a few dollars from his pocket and shoving them towards Clark.

He’d pay.

Clark took them without argument after seeing how that worked during Halloween.

Into the cab they went.

“Don’t blame you. Nothin’ there.” He joked, and away they went.

A cab to the bus station.

Then the bus to Kansas.

It would be a day’s ride.

Bruce had packed books.

...they had agreed, even if silently and grudgingly, that they would just have to give up on their research for the duration of the break.

...on the up side, they would finally have a little time to read what they wanted to, at least.

He tugged out two crime thrillers, passing one to Clark, along with one of the lunches-to-go he’d bought at the cafeteria for the trip.

For the first hour or so, he sat up primly, despite his disguise.

And then, as the bus ride kept going…

He tugged his legs up under himself and curled up in the seat with his book, letting himself lean a little into Clark’s shoulder when the seat was cramped, finally looking content.

Clark let him lean into him as much as he wanted, especially considering the crampedness of the seats.

He read a little and ate some of their packed lunch, and then for a lot of the ride he dozed. Riding in a bus or car had that constant hum that drowned a lot out that was easy to focus on and sleep to. It was better than the erratic noise of the city, that was for sure.

As they went on, the bus taking occasional breaks at rest stops, the hills died down and things became increasingly flat.

And then, early the next morning, they pulled in to their stop.

“Here we are.” Clark mumbled, grabbing their bags from overhead and passing Bruce his as they climbed off.

...it was surreal.

Absolutely surreal.

For someone like Bruce who had grown up with always something blocking the horizon, the sheer flatness of the world around him left him feeling a little… disoriented.

Vulnerable, even.

But he kept the hat and scarf on, holding his bags and exhausted from the bumpy ride, and followed Clark closely as he climbed off the bus.

Clark barely had to even look around before he motioned for Bruce to follow, ducking around the other people climbing off the bus. He went right to an old station wagon with a man stood leaning on the hood, arms crossed to keep in the warmth and an old truckers cap on his head. When he saw them he stood and waved.

“Hey Pa.” Clark smiled, and hugged him as a woman with dirty blonde hair opened the door and stepped out of the passenger side.

“There’s my baby boy.” She cooed, already grabbing Clark and kissing his cheeks while he groaned and protested.

“You must be Bruce?” Jon said, extending a rough hand towards him. “You can call me Jon. Clark’s father.”

His face was sun scorned and wrinkled less from age and more from working outside every day of his life, his hair cut short and dark brown.

He had that feeling again. Like he was floating, somewhere else entirely, only partly aware of what was happening in front of him. Only sort-of involved.

It was a familiar one, even if school sometimes lessened it. Sometimes.

He was hoping it would leave if he left Gotham. But here it was. Right away. Watching Clark run to his mother or her run to him, and his dad, and hugging--

He took the father’s hand, shook it, and said, “Bruce Wayne,” in the voice that was bigger than he felt in his head.

“So Clark tells me. Quite the name back out East.” He said, giving Bruce a firm handshake.

When Martha was finished embarrassing her son she walked over to Bruce. “I'm Martha, now let's get you boys where it's warm.” She put an arm around Bruce and gestured for him to get into the back where Clark was already piling in.

Oh.

He felt dizzy. And tight. His jaw tightened the smile onto his face to keep it there, even as his heartbeat rocketed up, until it was pounding in his ears.

(Waking nightmare)

He stumbled forward over his own feet, but followed where the arm took him, same as he did when Alfred started trying to guide him away from paparazzi anytime they glimpsed him. Anytime they got an excuse.

He held his bag tight and piled in beside Clark, regretting every step that took him to this conclusion.

While his parents got back in Clark looked over at Bruce with concern. His heart was like a drum suddenly.

“You okay?” he whispered.

Bruce’s face had fallen into a brutal neutrality once the eyes weren’t on him anymore. Blank and stiff.

But he nodded faintly, lying.

“... Okay.” Clark said, not believing it at all, but not prying further.

“So is it just as cold out there as it is here?” His dad asked.

Typical banter.

Him. It was him. He was being talked to.

Talk.

“Haven’t been here long enough to say,” Bruce said, lost somewhere over the horizon with no buildings to stop him.

“It’s colder in Gotham.” Clark added as they started to move once everyone was buckled up.

“We’re pretty tired from the trip though. Is the guest room ready?”

“Oh yeah it’s all waiting for you. Will you two want breakfast or you gonna collapse into bed?” Martha asked.

“Bed,” Bruce managed, even though he knew he should’ve said more than that.

But in his head he was already at a family breakfast. Staring at them over a meal. Having to talk more before he could think or control his heart or breathe and actually feel it filling his lungs, not just faintly keeping him conscious by a thread.

“Yeah we’re beat.” Clark said, although he wasn’t very tired. This was mostly for Bruce’s sake.

“We’ll just get some rest and then we can have lunch and stuff, okay?”

“Okay, that sounds good. I still need to run out and grab a few things anyway.” Martha said, and with that the conversation would taper off and away from the boys.

Clark did pass a look over to Bruce though, just to check on him.

...gradually, Bruce’s heartbeat started to slow again as the conversation moved away, and he didn’t have to drag himself to pay attention to it. Didn’t live scared of the response he missed. He could just stare blankly forwards and hover for a while.

But that was it, too.

He just… hovered.

The usual awareness wasn’t in his eyes. And he knew it wasn’t there.

And the part of him that wasn’t in front, that wasn’t keeping them in society, breathing, not being kicked out of the car of the only people he knew for miles and miles--

That part of him was screaming. A sound not even Clark could hear.

Wake up. Pay attention. It’ll happen while you’re not paying attention. It’s going to go wrong. If you don’t pay attention everything will go wrong.

But he couldn’t drag himself to the front yet.

He couldn’t do it that fast.

They drive for awhile before turning into a tiny little town that was just starting to wake up, and then they even drove away from that and down long barren roads onto a long dirt driveway, the farmhouse soon coming into view.

“Home sweet home.” Jon said as he pulled up to a stop.

“We’re here, Bruce.” Clark said quietly, trying to get his attention so they could climb out of the car.

It helped. His name. Instruction.

He shuffled out of the car, pulling his backpack back on, and at the very least managed to glance at the small farmhouse and and and

(he counted exits)

Before following Clark inside, looking dazed.

Like he did definitely need the bed.

“I’ll show Bruce to his room, he’s pretty wiped.” Clark said, leading his friend up the steps and… maybe putting an arm around his shoulders to guide him a little better.

“It’s up the steps. C’mon.”

He made a small confirming sound at his name, and

Arm.

Followed the arm. Pressed into it.

(Tommy guided him like this, sometimes. Alfred did. Away from the worst of things. Back to the manor, or their room, or--)

He was lost in three places at once. The farmhouse here, and the manor, and the academy and coming out of the alleyway under a policeman’s coat.

But he could make it up the stairs, and be guided to the guest room, at the very least.

Clark got him up the steps, paused only for a moment to point at the bathroom. “Bathroom is here. And this is the guest room.”

He opened it up to reveal a very old, dated looking bed with an empty dresser and bedside table with a lamp. Floral comforter and frilled pillow cover.

“Sorry it’s… very grandma.” He huffed. “But, uh, you get comfortable. You want something to drink?”

Looked fine. Normal, even.

He shook his head.

“...how long?” he asked.

“... How long what?”

...fuck. The word. Didn’t she say lunch?

“Til lunch,” he said.

How long to recover.

“Oh, like, uh… you still got awhile. It’s only eight right now so four hours? Ish? And if you need to chill in here longer you can.” Clark said, looking at an old clock over the door.

Four hours sounded like both an eternity and no time at all.

Bruce set down his bag and nodded, not sure what to say.

Not sure how to ask to start.

Alone.

Rest.

Privacy.

Please.

“I'm gonna bring you something to drink and then you can sleep or whatever.” Clark said, turning away and heading downstairs.

He came back a moment later with a cup of warm tea.

“Here. Just yell if you need anything.”

And then he would leave Bruce to recover.

“Okay. Thanks,” he said, letting the hot tea sit.

...he held it in his hands.

….the heat helped.

He could smell it.

...once he was alone, he closed his eyes and sat on the floor, holding the cup between his hands and just… breathing it in deeply.

He took a drink. Followed the heat as it traveled down his throat.

….

It was sort of like Alfred’s tea.

Two places, now. Only lost in two. That was manageable.

A little more color came back to him. He finished the tea. The cup cooled and it didn’t help anymore. But he was a little better.

...he didn’t have the energy to do much, though.

So he kicked off his shoes and climbed onto the unfamiliar bed, biting down on his hand as hard as he could, and once all he could think about was his hand, he closed his eyes on the pillow and let go.

And he would go to sleep.

And in four hours, he would be fine again.

In four hours or so, Clark would knock on his door.

“Bruce? You awake? We're gonna have some lunch now.”

There was a jump in heartrate as Bruce jerked awake, but he still understood well enough what had been said to him.

“Y-yeah-- just let me get to the bathroom.”

“Okay, just come down to the kitchen when you're ready.” Clark said, leaving him be. His footsteps could be heard going down the stairs.

...Bruce waited until the footsteps were down the stairs and a little fainter before crawling out of bed.

His clothing was wrinkled from sleeping in it.

He grabbed a new shirt and set of pants, and folded the two he’d been wearing on the bus. Grabbed his comb.

Bathroom.

He washed his face and combed his hair back, the way he always wore it, unless he ended up shoved under a John Deere hat. Made sure his shirt was flat and his clothing straight. Tied his shoes back on.

He hurried down the stairs.

This time, he was Braced for It.

Now that he was more aware of his surroundings he could take in the details.

Worn furniture. Warm. Lived in. Family pictures on the mantle over the TV that was playing The Price Is Right. Noises from the kitchen.

Clark and Martha were there, Clark over a bowl of soup and Martha watching the TV from her position in front of the stove.

“Well don't you look nice.” she grinned. “You hungry?”

Maybe ironically, Bruce wasn’t used to being complimented on his appearance.

Maybe because he grew up with Alfred, and he was wearing the bare minimum to please Alfred.

“Thanks,” he said, voice a little steadier than it had been that morning. “Yes, ma’am.”

“You like chicken corn soup?” She asked.

Clark was eating the same thing that was on the stove in a large pot; a homemade soup with bits of chicken, corn, and other things to make a hearty, white soup.

Without being asked Clark got up and started to get Bruce something to drink.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had it before,” he said honestly, watching Clark out of the corner of his eye.

“Well if you don't like it you don't have to eat it, okay?” Martha said, getting out a bowl and filling it with soup. She set it down in front of him with a spoon.

“We got tea, milk, or OJ.” Clark said, looking over at Bruce.

“Thank you,” he said again, sitting where she set it, and glanced back at Clark. “Tea?”

“...oh. I forgot the cup upstairs--”

“That's okay, just bring it down later.” Martha said.

“This is iced tea, but if you want more hot tea I can make that too.” Clark said, pulling out the jug to show Bruce.

Bruce blinked blankly at him, as if just confronted with something he had no idea about.

“Iced tea?”

The two looked at each other like Bruce was the alien.

Clark poured him a glass of iced tea and set it in front of him.

“Wondered why I didn't see it anywhere at school.”

Bruce looked down at the cup like it was a challenge.

“...”

He kept eye contact with Clark as he sipped it.

It didn't taste anything like hot tea. It was sweet with a tiny hint of lemon.

Clark stared him right back.

“... Well?”

…

Bruce stared down at it.

“...I think I felt one of Alfred’s ancestors disown me just now,” he said, and took another sip.

Clark laughed, “But do you like it?”

Bruce nodded.

“It’s good.”

It was a little like a flat soda, almost?

“Good.” Clark grinned and sat back down to finish eating. Martha looked to be scooping the soup that was left over into freezing containers and labeling them.

“You gonna give Bruce a tour of the farm when you're done?”

Clark looked over at him, “You want one?”

“Sure?” Bruce said, “Whatever the plan is.”

He had no idea if there even was a plan. He’d focused so hard on getting here he wasn’t really sure what to do otherwise.

Even Clark had admitted there wasn’t much to do besides bowling.

So his only plan right now was to run with manners and hope it got him somewhere.

He ate the soup and drank the tea, not finding it quite his taste, but eating and finishing it all the same.

Clark didn't really have a plan either. He had just heard his friend had what sounded like a really lonely holiday and invited him along.

So they finished their soup and set the dishes in the sink before bundling up to take the tour.

“You ever been on a farm?” He asked while walking down the front steps. The third one creaked.

He followed Clark’s lead. Ran upstairs to bring down the cup and wrap his own scarf (thick and dark) around his neck as they headed out.

“Gardens don’t count?” he asked rhetorically. “Then no.”

Clark chuckled, “No. Gardens don’t count.”

A man was pulled up in their driveway in a tractor with a plow hooked to the front talking to his dad, and Clark waved but didn’t go over. Instead he lead Bruce towards the barn.

“All the corn is down now since it’s winter, but we still got the cows I can show ya.”

Bruce nodded, following along behind him.

“Okay?”

He’d never seen a cow before.

...the sight and smell of them stopped him dead.

“...that’s huge.”

“How big did you think cows were, Bruce?” Clark laughed, closing the barn door behind them.

The cows were in their stalls for the winter, some laying down to sleep while others had their heads stuck through the bars to feed from their trough.

It did smell pretty bad, but Clark didn’t seem to mind. He walked over to one and pet between its eyes.

Bruce honestly didn’t know how the cows stood the smell.

...he followed up behind Clark, watching him pet the cow, though his curiosity was focused a bit more on the petter than the pet-ee.

“They’re nice once you know how to act around them.” Clark said, looking at Bruce. “Just, y’know, gotta be aware they can break your foot. Here-” He reached out to take the other boy’s hand and place it gently on the cow’s head where he had been petting it.

The fur was course almost. Rough. Not really soft but not really wiry either.

Bruce was honestly not even really thinking about petting the cows--

...but Clark’s hand was warm, and it startled him into complacency, hand being pulled out of his pocket like that and held, even just for a moment.

…

The fur was coarse. But she was warm. The cow. And even though the fur was coarse, the skin under it was soft as Clark’s hand on top of his.

… “Wow,” he said, knowing he had to say something.

“See? They’re nice.” Clark said, oblivious to what was going on in Bruce’s head right now.

“C’mon.” He said, leading him out of the barn and towards the backyard.

“That’s our own little garden even though it’s just a patch of frozen mud right now. We grow tomatoes, zucchini, strawberries, tons of stuff. Mom makes jam. I’ll have her give you a jar to take back if you want. It’s really good.”

He lead him into a smaller barn after that. It had a four-wheeler and a few tractors inside.

“This is where we keep some of the equipment.”

Bruce followed Clark around the farm, feeling a little dumb and dumbfounded, and not sure what to feel the rest of the time. The farm life was… very different from the world he knew. And he respected it, he was pretty sure--but he didn’t really know much about it.

So he followed politely, looking around.

He pretty readily agreed to the jam.

“Alfred will like it,” he said.

“Cool. Y’know you gotta show me around your mansion or whatever sometime.”

A dog barked and soon a dog with black and white splotches was running up to them.

“Oh, and that’s Daisy.”

She tried to jump up at Bruce in excitement, tag wagging.

“Woah--” Bruce took a step back as Daisy jumped up at him, but--

...it was a dog.

Bruce bent down a moment later and was scratching her behind the ears.

Daisy put on that ‘thats the spot’ face and leaned into it, grumbling happily.

“I don’t think I’ve ever asked, do you have any pets?”

Bruce… made a bit of a face. And shook his head.

“No. Not anymore.”

...he was content to keep scratching the dog behind the ear as long as she’d lean in.

Clark stood and just sort’ve… watched him for a moment.

It was nice to see him content like this. Away from pressure.

“You feeling better than you were earlier?” He asked, as though he somehow knew.

…

“Yeah. ...sorry about that. It won’t happen again.”

He’d bite it back as often as he had to.

“It’s okay, dude.” Clark shrugged. “You don’t have to pretend you’re okay when you’re around me. It happens.”

Bruce just… focused on the dog.

Clicked his fingers at her.

“I am fine, though,” he said, not even fooling himself. “...you didn’t tell me that’s what your mom’s name was.”

… It took him a moment. He looked confused, then his eyes went big.

“Oh. Oh, damn. I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about it.” He looked ashamed and ran a hand through the curls in his hair.

Bruce shook his head, not… looking at him, for that. “It’s fine. You shouldn’t have to.”

He should’ve been able to handle this on his own. It had been years. (six years.) He should be fine.

But his throat was dry, even after draining the whole glass of ice tea, and his fingers were getting cold, even in the warmth of Daisy’s fur.

Why was he still talking?

“Dad didn’t die first,” he said. “He kept calling her name.”

Daisy tried to lick his face, tail wagging.

“... I’m sorry, Bruce.” Clark said quietly. “Must be hard.”

He had never lost someone before.

He didn’t know how it felt.

He’d said it wouldn’t happen again, but he felt that creeping chill on the edge of his consciousness, threatening to drag him out of Smallville again. It wasn’t there yet. It hadn’t yanked him in violently like back at the bus station. But he could feel the prickle of it; the threat.

He sat down crosslegged in the field, and let the dog lick him.

When she stopped he just… shook his head.

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” ‘it must be hard’ wasn’t… something he was used to hearing. “I’ve got money and Alfred to take care of me. I’m fine.”

Clark sat down with him on the cold, frozen dirt.

“Yeah but that’s just money and Alfred ain’t your dad. You might have what you need but not what you want. ‘N money can’t buy that.”

“So, like… are you fine?”

He looked over at him and tried to meet his eyes with his own bright blue gaze that somehow stood out even more than Bruce’s. The sun was high in the sky and there weren’t as many clouds to hide him like their were in Gotham, and you could see how much his skin almost glowed in the sunlight.

That wasn’t what people were supposed to say, and the urge to argue Kent down made a thousand things meant to be kept secret bubble up on his tongue.

But he swallowed them down.

...he seemed much smaller out here, under the big, clear sky. In Gotham, in its narrow streets and foggy skies, he stretched up and could fill a room. Here he was just a small, lost shadow: dark clothes, pale skin.

And when Clark tried to meet his eyes, they were glazed wet, and in the process of being blinked away, even as Bruce’s voice said, steadily, “Yeah. I’m fine.”

…

“When I’m eighteen,” he said, guiding Daisy down to lie in his lap for a belly rub, “I inherit everything they left behind. And I’m going to take it and run away, until not even you’d be able to find me.”

Daisy rolled into him and was very happy for the belly rub.

“... Why?” Clark asked, sounding sad. “Just to get away?”

...at least someone understood.

Bruce nodded.

Clark nodded too.

…

“Where you gonna go?”

Bruce shrugged.

He didn't know. He didn't care much.

“Okay.”

…

“Well-” Clark nudged him a little. “-I’d like it if ya kept in touch at least a little.”

He gave him an award-winning smile.

...Bruce found himself looking at that smile, and… it was hard not to feel some guilt.

“We’ll see,” he compromised.

Clark went quiet and just sat with him then.

…

After a few minutes though he blinked and stood up, looking down at his driveway.

Bruce looked up.

Glanced down the driveway. Saw nothing.

But he looked back up at Clark without any doubt. “What do you see?”

“It’s Pete ‘n Kenny.” Clark said just as you could start to hear the car. He offered a hand down to help Bruce to his feet.

“Friends of mine. Guess mom told ‘em I was coming home.”

Bruce didn't need the help, but he took the hand anyway, pushing Daisy off his lap carefully as he went.

“Yeah…?”

He was a little anxious about meeting Clark’s friends.

He was bad with people. And caring about Clark made things suddenly infinitely more complicated if he failed to make a good impression.

“Yeah. Don’t worry about ‘em, they’re good people.”

Clark lead him over to the car as it slid to a stop, two boys sat in the front.

“You’re back!” The passenger shouted.

“Yeah, for winter break.” Clark said, then gestured to them. “Kenny, Pete. Pete, Kenny, this is Bruce. Friend of mine from school.”

“Yo.” Kenny waved from the driver’s seat, Pete from the passenger’s side.

Bruce waved back with a “nice to meet you,” and hung back, not willing to overstep. He was already looking at Pete and Kenny’s haircuts and their clothes, and starting to get an idea how Clark must've felt, standing out in school.

They dressed a lot like Clark did. Layers. Worn clothes. Mud around the ankles and hand-me-down jackets.

“Get in, both of ya, we’re heading down to the tracks.” Kenny said, pointing to the back seat.

“Uh.” Clark looked at Bruce. “You cool with tagging along?”

He looked hopeful.

Bruce shrugged and--well. He had no reason not to?

“Sure.”

He climbed into the back with Clark.

“Nice.” Pete grinned, and once they were in, Kenny started to back up and turn around to head out.

…

At first they didn’t really talk to Bruce. They just filled Clark in on all the town gossip. Who was boning who, who was getting knocked up, who had fallen out or gotten in trouble.

But soon that did come around as they pulled into a gravel spot by some train tracks. Pete leaned back and looked at Bruce. “He tell ya why he ran off to Gotham?”

Clark might’ve gone a little pale. “Pete.”

“Said he was layin’ low,” Bruce said, picking up Pete’s accent a little bit from being surrounded by it for a little. He crossed his arms on the seat in front of him and leaned forward, asking for more without saying anything.

“I’ll kill you, Pete.” Clark warned.

“Yeah. Layin’ low after blastin’ a guys arms off with his eyes.” Pete grinned.

Clark threatened to climb over the seat and smack him, and Pete just kept laughing.

“Pete you fuckin’ dumbass, you know he can actually kill you, right?” Kenny huffed.

Bruce just… looked sort of confused for a bit at that.

What did that mean? If it was an in-joke would Clark be that upset, but if it was leaning closer to real, what did that even mean?

He knew Clark… was different.

But he didn't realize he hadn't seen half of it yet.

“...what?”

“You didn’t tell him?” Kenny said, a little surprised.

Clark stopped smacking Pete, who was laughing his ass off. “Kenny! What do you think laying low means?!”

“Well I mean, c’mon man, you brought him here. Damn near everyone knows you’re an alien.” Kenny said, unintimidated.

Clark just… slumped back into the seat, as far away from everyone as possible, and shoved his face in his hands.

…

You know what?

Bruce was going to unpack all of this later.

Right now, all he could do was turn, look Clark dead in the eye, and say, “suddenly I understand why you had such a hard time with ‘snitches get stitches’ with friends like these.”

Clark was rubbing his eyes. “God.”

“Ah c’mon Clark. We gotta embarrass our buddy in front of his new friend.” Pete grinned.

Clark glared at him. “You’re honestly lucky I trust Bruce not to say anything. You know how much shit I could get in if everyone in Gotham knew? Area 51??” He gestured wildly to himself.

“If it makes you feel better people are starting to say those three were just tripping on something and imagined the whole thing.” Kenny said.

Bruce was still just… running with this. As it happened.

Unpack later. Survive right now.

(From his position, he could get an arm around Kenny’s neck and choke him as payback for Clark’s trust being violated)

(There was a red mark against Kenny from this, against Pete. Snitches get stitches. Silence was golden. Loose lips sank ships.

Trust no one.)

(‘You’re honestly lucky I trust Bruce not to say anything.’ When-- when had that-- when had he earned that?)

“What did happen?” Bruce asked instead.

He was ten places in his head, and lost in none of them.

They all looked at Clark.

…

Clark sighed and rubbed his head.

“Some assholes shot up the gas station last year. Killed like five people. I knew where he’d gone, I could hear the yelling, so I tracked them down. One guy shot me in the face with a revolver. I tossed him through the front of the house. Next guy shot me in the chest with a shotgun. I ended up burning his arms off. Then Pete came around and ended up clocking the last one with a shovel.”

He said it all so… numbly. Like he had unpacked in awhile ago and could now just… recite it.

“They lived?” he said, deciding not to question the… burning. The being followed. The shotgun.

“... Yeah.” Clark said quietly.

Bruce had gone back to his Gotham accent. His voice had been falling into his harder, more serious tone.

Pete and Kenny called this story embarrassing to Clark.

“But you did it?”

Kenny and Pete were looking at one another, watching this unfold after they had set it into motion.

“... Yeah?” Clark said again. “I can do… a lot of weird shit.”

Maybe the new fragile city kid going hard and cold wasn't what they'd expected when they started talking about small town maiming.

“Yeah, no shit, you beat my mile,” Bruce said. “...but you burnt their arms off.”

…he waited for one more confirmation, looking Clark in the eye just as Clark had done with him half an hour earlier.

But once he got it--even just a flash of a ‘yes’ in a look between them, Bruce said, “Good.”

And Clark did say ‘yes’.

But then he looked confused.

“Good?”

That was the first time anyone had said that.

And Bruce said it again.

Firmer.

“Good.”

Clark blinked and stared at him, like a whole other option had opened up to him.

…

“Damn,” Kenny said. “Hardass Gotham.”

Kenny still had a mark against him, and he wasn't helping himself, so Bruce didn't feel bad when he turned the full weight of a glare on him.

Maybe his eyes couldn't ‘burn off’ anyone’s arms, but that just meant that his blue eyes were cold and hard as ice.

“They shot five people? They deserve what's coming to them.”

… Kenny backed up and put his hands up. “Not sayin’ they didn’t.”

“Yeah, no one is saying that.” Pete added. “I mean, if he hadn’t showed up then they were gonna kill like their whole family.”

Clark still didn’t say anything. He was looking down, like he had never been told that what he had done was good. Not really. Whenever they had mentioned how he had done well it was also interlaced with ‘but what could have happened to you’.

They were going to kill their whole family.

They were going to kill their whole family?

That part hadn't been said. Just: Clark tracked them down. Clark fought them. Clark got shot.

Clark lived.

(They were going to kill a family, and Bruce, already mentally exhausted from the morning, from bracing himself against names, from coping, found himself seeing it happen in an alleyway unlike anything he'd seen in Smallville, and he was so tired of spending the day in that place.)

“Cool. Cool, so… fuck this,” he said, and turned to Clark, seeing him spaced out. “Hey. Kent. Snap out of it. You said you guys got out more than us, right? Time to prove it.”

Find somewhere else to go.

Somewhere to lose this conversation entirely, before they got lost in it.

“Uhhhh fine.” Clark groaned and sat up. “Let’s go.”

Pete put the car in reverse. “Where to?”

“... Bowling?” Clark shrugged and looked at Bruce.

“I'll pay,” Bruce said, fine with that.

“See you throw every single ball down the gutter again.”

“You were last!” Clark pointed out.

“Yeah. I have nothing to prove,” he said, straight faced.

“But I might try harder out of revenge now that I know I wasn't wrong about my mile.”

“I was gonna apologize but I thought that would be saying too much!” Clark pleaded with him.

“They makin’ you take gym, Clark?” Kenny asked as they drove.

“Yes.”

“Oof.”

Bruce-- Bruce wasn't angry at Clark for it, not really. He'd been the one playing mediator at the time. Half of him just… needed something to keep going. To be huffy about--something that didn't matter--so he wouldn't be huffy about things that did.

“Tommy and Harv aren't gonna say anything even if they’ve figured something out,” he said, finally leaning back some and trying to uncoil the tight knot in his shoulders. “I told them not to that day.”

And no matter how loud Tommy was, no matter how much the teachers liked Harvey-- at the end of the day, Bruce was the one in charge. He didn't say much, but when he told them to not pry or talk, neither of the other boys would.

That weight didn't transfer to Kansas well, but after that conversation-- it lingered on him, some, in the back of the car, in his nice dark clothes, and the cold exhaustion in his eyes.

“They've been letting him skip for asthma, but running a four minute mile blew that out of the water some.”

“... Thanks.” Clark said, looking over at him.

“Guess since no one is in on it over there things are kinda hard.” Pete said.

“You have no idea.” Clark mumbled.

…

“This is kinda a relief. You knowing now.”

...he relaxed a little more.

“...I'm gonna be processing this for a while still,” he said. “...but I guess it at least makes sense now why you didn't think I was insane about the Talons being real.”

….somehow, the thought that Clark hadn't just been humoring him the last few months took precedence.

Clark huffed a laugh.

“Talons?” One in the front asked.

“Nah we’re not talking about that shit with you two.” Clark said firmly.

No way.

…

Bruce found himself smiling a little.

Mentioning it had been a kind-of permission, but… he was glad it wasn't taken.

Clark kept their secrets.

“So,” he leaned forward onto the front chair again. “Clark said something about corn demons?”

“What?” Kenny said.

“What?” Clark said too, then paused. “Oh, there's uh, that hell gateway over in Stull I think I mentioned.” Clark said.

“Eh, people just like to bullshit about angry ghosts that come out around Halloween.” Pete said.

“Our murder rate just spikes on Halloween,” Bruce said. “Why’s it a hell gateway?”

Said the Jewish boy.

“I have no idea.” Clark admitted.

“Isn't Gotham like one of the biggest crime places in the US?” Pete asked.

“Recently, yeah,” Bruce said, keeping it steady.

“What's it like there?” Pete asked.

“Ever been stabbed?” Kenny followed.

“Jesus, guys.” Clark sighed.

“I would probably not be walking around so great if I'd been stabbed,” Bruce said flatly, thinking of the caning in school, and the dread Tommy and Harv had of going home, and grisly pictures on the front page.

“You two sound like you watch way too much tv.”

“They do.” Clark said flatly.

They pulled into the bowling alley.

It was… very empty. The inside only had two people in staff with the radio playing and an arcade tucked in the corner.

“Same show that told you we were supposed to be out partying when we just snuck out for ice cream?”

Bruce pulled out a handful of bills and handed them to Clark mostly out of habit.

He could probably actually… buy things here without being recognized, maybe. But habit still won this round.

Clark didn't mind, walking up and paying. “Absolutely.”

“Snuck out for ice cream?”

“Didn't think you could get any lamer, Clark.” Kenny chuckled.

...it did make him think, though. A connection he hadn't been able to make, but that he'd made sure to hold onto the pieces, just in case.

“...what they said earlier doesn't happen to have anything to with how easy scaling the wall was for you, right?”

Clark waited until they were away from other prying ears to answer.

“Um, yeah. I might've been kinda… flying. For that.”

Bruce turned and stared at him again.

“What?” He whispered back.

Clark cleared his throat as if embarrassed. “I can fly.”

Bruce is going to need a long time to work through all this.

But right now, he's compartmentalizing like a pro.

“...what else can you do?”

“Uh,” Clark mumbled as he tied his bowling shoes. “I can see through things. Like x-ray vision? And can hear really far. Like--”

He looked up and his eyes glowed blue. “I can see one of the employees back behind the counter picking his nose. And he's humming that really annoying country song that won't stop playing on the radio.”

There was something in that which nagged Bruce. Being watched without being able to tell. Being heard. But--

But he had something to soothe it, a little bit. And confirm.

“I can hear the humming, too,” he said.

Not as a challenge.

But.

He believed Clark.

This was something most people couldn't hear.

And if he could hear that, Bruce would also believe the sight.

Clark looked a little surprised, happy even.

“Really?” He smiled a little, like he suddenly felt less alone.

“And, uh, I try hard to not listen in on private conversations and stuff if it makes you feel better. I don't want to hear everything. It just happens. I have to focus to pay attention to what close.”

...the apology was fine, but the second part still kept him a little on guard.

“Like the teachers meeting with students after class,” he said, and trying to not think of how close some private discussions had been to Clark. “...how far away?”

Clark made a face as though the answer pained him.

“Miles. Like… three miles? More if I focus.”

...not even Bruce’s razor hearing did that.

He felt the knot in his chest tighten almost imperceptibly.

“...but you don't.”

“No. I try to ground myself and focus on what's next to me.” He got up to get a bowling ball. Picked out the heaviest one and twirled it in his hands idly like it didn't weigh a thing.

“I try to keep it to like… a few rooms away sort of hearing. That's the smallest I can get without having to strain myself.”

A few rooms away.

(Kisses don't make sounds, Bruce told himself, but all the same, felt his heart speed up a bit at the memory.)

“A few rooms clearly?” he said, watching how Clark spun the bowling ball as if it were just a basket ball, meant to be tossed around in the air.

He picked up his own ball to wait his turn. It was lighter. But it was still heavy in his lap.

Clark made a face again. Guilty.

“I… I can hear your heartbeat through walls, so. Yeah. Clearly.”

He looked at Bruce, apologetic.

“I'm-- I'm sorry.”

...that.

That was… too much.

He could only hear his own heartbeat in his ears and thundering in his chest, and it was too much for him.

But he couldn't have this conversation here.

He couldn't have it anywhere, maybe.

He couldn't think too hard on that, on his very heartbeat always being listened to, on the illusion of privacy, and the thought of--

He picked up his bowling ball, numb and dead to the world, and with no distractions and a mechanicalness to his movements, he rolled a strike.

They weren't talking about this anymore.

… Clark looked down, not saying a word as Kenny and Pete 'oooed’ over the strike and wrote it down.

They wouldn't bring it up again, talking about random things and trying to nudge Clark back into the conversation. But he didn't say much. He just… rolled his ball a little too fast a little too hard until he got the hang of it again.

And when it was over, no matter who won, they would drive the two back out to the farm.

Bruce kept up what amounted to polite conversation if he was pulled in.

He didn't remember who won.

He didn't remember what they said, or if he shook anyone’s hands as they dropped them off back at the Kent farm.

He wasn't as cold and detached as he'd been that morning, but he knew he was wading further from shore, and that he should pull himself back.

But he didn't want to do that around Clark right now.

Hot tea wouldn't pull back this.

When they pulled back into the farm Clark hung back at the car, if only for a minute.

…

“Thanks assholes, now he hates me.” He hissed and slammed the door a little too hard. It rocked the car and they yelled, but he didn't care.

He walked in behind Bruce and tried to tell his parents yes, they had fun, went bowling, tired now.

Up to his room.

….

Bruce followed.

Up to his room. Guest room. It wasn’t lavish or high quality, but it smelled a little dusty, like the manor, and he could choke on that a little and feel a bit better in the familiar prison of old and carefully preserved items.

‘Granny’ Clark had called it.

(Bruce’s grandparents had died by the time he was born. Parents married late by parents who married late by parents who married late.)

…

He managed to sit on the bed for a full five minutes, hands held carefully in each other and breathing slowly, heart steadying, before he locked it in place.

And he left the room, footsteps quiet as he could make them on the carpet, and went back downstairs.

#aka bruce dissociates in kansas #if i hear a single martha joke i snipe on sight #batman #superman #superbat #80s gay superbat #rp logs #the total visit is like 70 pages lol

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meeps-madness · 3 years

Text

Ya'll remember the episode where England and America have a competition on who can scare who more.

The fun childish behavior behind it was cute and I loved it! I love to add my own thoughts to it too.

I see that lil scare competition starting between Arthur and his older siblings long ago first with All-Hallows Eve. Obviously so, as the original festival is of celtic origin and many of the modern holiday's traditions coming from Scotland. Now, I can only see this scare-a-thon being a monthly build up. They start in the beginning of October with cheap scares that slowly progress into psychological horror leading up to the actual day of Halloween. Alway's trying to one up each other and themselves from the year's last. Mind you, that haven't been able to do it every year due to nation circumstances, but when October rolls around and they can; they do it.

I can see in more recent years, with more time on their hands and less conflict between one another, that it's only gotten worst on the scare meter. Honestly, I could see Arthur starting his own scare war with Alfred for two reasons. The first being because he enjoys how easy it is to scare an in denial scaredy cat like Alfred, but the scares are less extreme and haunting then with his brothers. Also, Alfred's take on the competition is refreshing for Arthur as Alfred's tackticks are mostly jumpscare in nature and though it's proven time and tine again to not work on Arthur. He finds it endearing the effort he places into every attempt.

The second reason being he needed a break from the darker ended scares that his brothers can create, so why not suddenly go on holiday for a week or so towards the end of October. Not to say Arthur's running from his own brothers. No no. He just needs a break every other year or so from their age old competition, since sometimes certain scare's feel as if they were a joined effort against him. The disturbing nature of his brothers minds combined during this time of year would be terrifying for anyone. Let alone, directed towards their youngest sibling who they know very well when it comes to what makes his skin crawl and heart fasten.

#Halloween mode: On #scaring one another is another form of sibling bonding and i wont hear otherwise #hetalia #hws england #hws america #uk brothers #aph england #aph america

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catxsnow · 4 years

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17 with Jason Todd :)))

17."Is that fake blood? Please tell me that is fake blood"

I changed it a little bit lol

Jason was fine during Halloween until he was with Roy. He'd take you on cute dates, plan a matching costume, stay up until the late hours of the night to watch scary movies. However, the second that Roy crashed your two-man party he became a prankster. The two of them teamed up against you every year and it drove you nuts.

Fake spiders, spooky noises when you thought you were home alone. They loved to hear you scream in fright. This year, you were ready - you weren't going to give them the satisfaction of being scared. Jason already promised you that he wasn't going to pull anything this time but you didn't believe him.

It was the night before Halloween and Jason was out on patrol with Roy. Whatever they were planning, it would happen tonight. You searched the entire apartment from top to bottom and the only thing that you could fine was an empty pint of fake blood hidden deep within Jason's closest. Classic move, but they had done it before, last year to be exact.

Satisfied, that you were prepared for whatever was going to come next, you laid out on your couch with Hocus Pocus playing on the TV. The boys were going to be gone for a couple more hours and you had the place to yourself.

To your surprise, it was less than an hour later that Jason and Roy came tumbling through your window. Jason had his arms slung over Roy, who was trying his best to hold his friend up. Your first instinct was to panic - but you had known better. This was it, this was their prank to get you.

"(Y/N)!" Roy barely made it to the couch to set your boyfriend down. Fake blood covered his torso, as well as a long rip in his suit. "Jason got hurt, bad. He needs your help."

"Ha ha, guys, very funny. I found the fake blood, did you really think you could get me two years in a row with similar pranks? I mean how stupid to you think I am? Fake Blood? So unoriginal, honestly I expected more out of you this year," You stood above them both with you arms crossed over your chest and a satisfied smile that you were finally one step ahead.

"What?" Roy nearly screeched. He looked between you and Jason with a frantic look. "We didn't get fake blood, (Y/N). I'm being serious, Jason is hurt!"

"I'm not falling for this again," You stood your ground. Roy huffed out a breath of air for how stubborn you were bring. He reached for the button to pop of Jason's helmet to try and prove to you that he was telling the truth. When you saw his face, you faltered.

Jason looked far paler than ever. His eyes drooped closed and he struggle to keep them open - even when Roy patted his cheeks to keep him awake. "Nope! Not falling for it!" You threw your arms up in the air and turned away. They had really out done themselves this year.

"(Y/N)!" Roy yelled as you walked away. It was the most serious that you had ever heard him before. So serious that you knew that he wasn't pretending anymore. This was real, and Jason was hurt. You rushed back to his side, looking over his bruised face and large cut. Holy shit, he wasn't kidding.

"Jason!" You panicked. "Fuck, oh fuck! Oh my god, babe. I'm so sorry, I thought you were playing. Shit, fuck. Roy! Why didn't you bring him to Bruce? This is Alfred's job!" Roy watched as you sprinted to your bedroom to bring back a med kit to try and fix the cut that he had gotten from his night out.

As soon as you left the room, Jason's eyes popped open and a grin was on his face. He raised his fist to Roy, who bumped it. The two of them had to hold back their laughs. A little white makeup, some help from Zatanna to make the cut look real, perfectly placed fake blood, and they had created the best prank by far.

You ran back into the room with tears welled up in your eyes. Jason looked awful, whatever happened must have been horrid - he rarely came back this bad. Roy almost felt bad as you fumbled over everything and feverishly wiping your eyes. It wasn't until you pushed Jason's hand away from his wound did the spell wear off.

His suit was cut, but his skin perfectly fine. You stopped in your tracks, suddenly furious at they're prank. He really hadn't been hurt, just like you had originally thought. "Are you fucking serious?"

Jason and Roy both broke out into laughter. They had gotten you so good - too good. You stood up from the couch with your fists at your sides and angry tears streaming down your cheeks. It was one thing to joke about spiders - it was another to make you worry that the love of you life was dying.

Jason stopped laughing as he saw how upset you were. He pulled you in for a hug and kissed the top of your head. Looking back at it now, he could see why you were upset - they had gone too far with this one.

"I'm sorry, babe," Jason apologized. He hated seeing you upset - especially when he was the reason behind it. The idea seemed so good at the time that they couldn't pass the opportunity up, not when Zatanna was so easy to convince to help them. "No more pranks, I promise."

Jason felt you nod into his chest, thankful for the final end of their endless war with you. You never pranked them - but maybe next year would be your year to get them back for all the times that they had scared the life out of you. The ultimate prank, one that would put Jason in his place for good.

Suddenly, Roy joined your hug. He had his arms around you and Jason. It was hard not to feel bad about what happened when he watched you cry in his best friends arms. However, ending these hilarious pranks? That seemed too hard to give up. "I can't promise that."

"Roy!"

"Fine, no more pranks."

#jason todd #jason todd imagine #jason todd x reader #red hood #red hood imagine #dc imagine #dc #halloween prompts

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ribcage-rodents · 4 years

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How Iris first had an inkling that Wally had a crush on Dick. Ok so like, bc Star and Gotham are absolutely horrifying during Halloween, Barry is like “I’ll patrol then Iris will take the babies trick or teating”

Originally Wally is really upset bc he wants to go patrolling w his uncle but once he finds out that he gets to hang out w the other hero’s he’s psyched.

So Wally is like 12-13 and dresses up as the flash naturally. Roy is like 14-15 and he’s totally too old for Halloween and over it bc he’s super angsty, and dresses up as like Jason form Friday the thirteenth or some shit bc Black Canary forces him to. Robin only ever celebrated Halloween during his circus days when everyone would paint their face scary and flying Graysons would do aerial ballet show w black fabric so it was like spiders but after that it was just horrifying.

Anyway so Barry picked up this tiny Batman costume and Iris was like “Barry hon, isn’t he like 10? Shouldn’t you get him a bigger outfit?” (He two years younger than Wally, and four younger than Roy) And Barry is like “no trust me babe he teeny”.

Batman shows up to their house followed by a tinsity winsty baby tiny Batman bc Barry ran it over b/f patrol. And wow is that cute. Tiny baby Batman is basically glued to Batman’s side, his teeny little head coming up to Batman’s lower thigh, last time Iris checked 10-year olds aren’t supposed to be that tiny but wow is it adorable. (I’m sorry I just love teeny baby Dickie& giant looming built-like-a-tank batdaddy)

Barry told her what Batman had already explained. That Robin is foreign and doesn’t really know a lot of holiday stuff and also has been severely traumatized the past couple of years and doesn’t really like strangers and knows better than to take anything from strangers.

So it’s obvious that Robin would rather be tied up and drugged w fear gas than in a family aquatintence’s home about to go trick or treating. And Iris is a little resentful of the other boys, hard as she try to be understanding, bc Wally looks so disappointed bc he just wants to have friends and these guys don’t want to have fun.

Anyway Roy is kinda warming up to the whole trick or treating thing but sometimes he can be really mean to Wally but maybe Iris is just overprotective of her boy. Iris takes several pictures during the entire night despite both Batmans being adamant about no photos.

Robin refuses to go up to any house but Iris doesn’t comment on it. She doesn’t want to alienate him, so she doesn’t say anything. She goes up and grabs him a peice of candy but he disappears into the night. She panics for a good couple of seconds but calms when tiny Batman shows up next to Wally and Roy.

She doesn’t try again after that. He likes to walk at the back of the group and every time Iris tries to keep an eye on him, bc he may be a trained hero but central isn’t as safe as smallsville and her parental instincts are going off. Every couple of blocks Wally will try to walk next to him and talk and it’ll work for a while then Robin will slow down and fall behind and Wally’s angelic little baby face gets so sad.

As their trip comes to an end Iris can see Robin wrapping the cape around him tightly w his eyes screwed shut and it breaks her heart a little bc this poor boy must be so uncomfortable and scared that he’s trying to imitate the feeling of his mentors hug. It’s a jarring to imagine Batman hugging anything but she supposes that a baby as cute as that must make even the dark knight just wanna squeeze his sweet rosy, chubby cheeks. She reaches out to place a hand on his head, bc he’s too short to comfortably put a hand on his shoulder.

He jerks back immediately and death glares her, his anger showing full force through the white eyelets. She sent him an apologetic smile and he seemed to unbistle a smidgen.

Once they were finally home Iris watched them from behind the kitchen counter. Wally and Roy were digging into the candy while Robin perched on top of the couch. He kept scratching at his arm, Barry said that it was fine as long as it was controlled. Apparently the poor baby had a pretty serious anxiety disorder and tended to scratch to make himself feel better, it was ok as long as he didn’t have an attack.

She tossed him the single candy across the room, he caught it swiftly in his tiny baby hand. (So cute) Wally shot up to his feet. “That’s not one of my candies right?” Iris smiled, her prefect gluttonous boy. “Nope it’s from your uncles,” it was lie but it didn’t harm anyone. “That’s my backup candy!” Wally cried racing towards the door and snatching up handfuls of candy from the trick or treater bowl. Iris pretend to scold him for being stingy.

Robin slowly unwrapped the candy then examined it breaking off a piece and finally eating the snickers. His eyelets widened comically and he chewed slowly staring down at the candy before shoving the entire (not that fun size is really that big) thing in his mouth. It was absolutely adorable! She wished she had take a video and wondered if this was his first ever candy. (Dick usually just ate cotton candy as a kid, he hadn’t discover cereal yet. But since his parents died he hasn’t had real sugar, Alfred has strict hold on anything sweet in the house and Robin was deemed too energetic already.)

Apparently Wally agreed bc his mouth was wide open and his face was a blotchy-red color. His eyes were filled w what Iris could only discribe as adoration.

Wally swallowed then stood up again. His arms filled w sweets. “Here you can have my candy!” Wally all but shouted at the other boy, he paused for a second looking at his arms, “or we could share,” he suggested instead.

That’s what got Iris, even before his flash experiment Wally has never shared food, not even w his uncle. But here he was offering up some to a boy he hardly knows bc he thinks it’s cute when he eats candy. God she might cry.

Robin smiled at Wally. A real smile, the first one she’s seen all night. “You could still have it all if you wanted!” Wally said again his face turning a couple shades darker and thrusting the candy at robin, who artfully avoided his touch.

“We can share, don’t speedsters need extra calories?” Wally nodded and then proceeded to gather up the rest of the candy scattered on the floor. It was then that Iris noticed that Roy and dipped.

She was slightly panicked. Roy could probably fight for himself but he’s still a baby, a baby that Iris was in charge of. She hurriedly pulled out some blankets and turned on the tv for the boys while she dialed Barry who called Ollie. In a strange turn of events Ollie actually apologized to Iris, saying quote, “Roy’s a little jack-ass of course he snuck off. Don’t worry I’ll find him, probably screwed off to get drunk at some highschool party. Thanks for watching him while you could, I honestly expected him to scurry off a lot sooner.”

It didn’t exactly ease the tension in Iris’ chest but watching those two babies sitting on the couch pass candy back forth watching Charlie Brown specials made her feel a lot better. They were on opposite sides of the couch and Iris could see Wally’s little fingers twitching by his legs, he got up to go to the bathroom and came back only to really casually sit right next to Robin, like basically on his lap.

Robin wiggled up onto the arm of the couch.

“Ok so this ones a Milky Way,” Wally said passing the treat up to Robin.

He popped it in his mouth and chewed. “What’s the difference between this one and the snickers?” He asked, Iris was a little surprised by how good Robins accent was, he spoke like a natural English speaker, which he wasn’t. Every once in a while he’d use a word wrong or mispronounce something, a lit of something would catch on what he was saying but his American accent was pretty flawless.

“Snickers have peanuts, milky ways don’t,” Wally supplied in a duh voice. Robin smiled, “golly, you sure know a bunch about candies. You must be really smart!” And isn’t that so cute! Everyone treats the speedsters like idiots just bc they’re dense but here Robin is picking up on the hidden intelligence like a Batman should. Wally puffed his chest out all proud his face was still all red like a patchy strawberry.

A couple hours passed when Batman showed up. Wearing a different not soaked in fear gas costume, both Iris and Wally were sad to see robin go, well Wally was more devastated. The minute Batman stepped through the front door Robin was disappearing underneath his cape, according to Barry Robin doesn’t like to be more than 3cm from Batman at all times.

“Maybe we can hang out more!” Wally called his blush finally fading. A chipper ok sounded from somewhere in Batman’s cape, (Wally’s face turned scarlet in an instant) at the same time Batman gruffed out a no. Wally’s perfect baby face fell, Batman and Robin left. “Hey don’t worry kiddo I’ll talk to him!” Wally gave a half-hearted smile then went back to his candy eating.

Later he was engrossed in a discussion of patrol w his uncle while they both ate most of central’s candy supply.

As Barry and Iris got ready for bed an hour or so later she turned to him w a mischievous smile. “So it’s seems like Wally’s got his first real crush!” She sing-songed. Barry looked at her confused a toothbrush sticking out of his mouth. “Who?” “Robin” she responded. “That’s doesn’t make any sense!” She signed, somethings speedsters really were dense.

#dick grayson #birdflash #wally west #babydickie #roy harper #batdaddy

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weridobybirth · 4 years

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Halloween (1987)

The Night HE Came Home!

On a cold Halloween night in 1963, six year old Michael Myers brutally murdered his 17-year-old sister, Judith. He was sentenced and locked away for 15 years. But on October 30, 1978, while being transferred for a court date, a 21-year-old Michael Myers steals a car and escapes Smith's Grove. He returns to his quiet hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois, where he looks for his next victims.

~Halloween (1987) facts ~

The famously freaky Michael Myers mask was a cheap, $1 mask of Captain Kirk from Star Trek -- stripped of its eyebrows and sideburns, and stretched out and painted white.

John Carpenter named the lead character Michael Myers after a British film promoter who helped him with his previous movie, Assault on Precinct 13.

Although all of the girls in the movie played teenagers, star Jamie Lee Curtis was the only the only actual teenager .

The original script was titled, "The Babysitter Murders " but a lack of budget meant the story needed to take place on one night, Halloween, the scariest night of the year.

The movie was shot during the spring, the crew had a hard time finding pumpkins.

The fictional town of Haddonfield , Illinois, was based on screenwriter Debra Hill's hometown of Haddonfield, New Jersey. The movie was actually shot in Southern California, which is why eagle-eyed viewers can spot the occasional palm tree in the background. Michael Myers's childhood home was an abandoned house in South Pasadena.

Jamie Lee Curtis is the daughter of Janet Leigh, who starred in Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriller, Psycho. John Carpenter considered her being cast in Halloween as a tribute to Hitchcock.

To help Jamie Lee Curtis, John Carpenter developed a "fear meter" to gauge how scared she should act, because the film was shot out of sequence.

Because Halloween was shot in spring instead of fall, the crew painted paper leaves and scattered them around the set. And because the budget was tight, at the end of filming, the crew would collect the leaves to be reused in another scene.

Jamie Lee Curtis made $8,000 for her work on the original Halloween, which was her first film.

Since there was no money for a costume department, all of the actors wore their own clothes. Jamie Lee Curtis bought Laurie Strode's wardrobe for less than $100 at JCPenney's.

After an early screening of the film, a critic complained it wasn't very scary. John Carpenter decided to compose an entire score in just three days for the movie.

Originally, Nick Castle was just going to hang around the set during filming -- that was until John Carpenter suggested be play Myers.

In Halloween, Sam Loomis is Michael Myers' psychiatrist played by Donald Pleasence. Sam Loomis is also the name of Psycho's Marion Crane's secret lover, in another homage to the Hitchcock film.

John Carpenter intentionally gave Michael Myers actor Nick Castle minimal direction about how to play the killer. During the scene where Myers kills his victim by impaling him against a wall, he told Castle to tilt his head "like he's observing a corpse."

The character Laurie Strode was named after John Carpenter's first girlfriend, according to screenwriter Debra Hill.

The overall darkness of the film wasn't intentional. The budget simply didn't allow for more lights to be purchased.

The killer is called "The Shape" in both the Halloween script and the movie credits. The name was borrowed from the Salem Witch Trial judges who referred to spirits who harm others "shapes."

Jamie Lee Curtis, whose career was launched by this iconic horror film, once admitted that she hates scary movies . "I loathe horror movies," the Hollywood actress once confessed. "I don't like to be surprised."

The movie's stabbing sound effect was made with a knife being plunged into a watermelon.

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birdy-bat-writes · 4 years

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Idk why I can totally see all the batboys having a bet to see who can scare Bruce at least once during Halloween and plot twist Alfred wins 😂

Oh yes. Cass almost succeeds by asking Bruce if he’ll drive her to her date. The man nearly has a heart attack but he gets one look at her and knows she lying because even she can’t keep a straight face and if she was going on a date, she’d either borrow Barbara’s car or her date would pick her up. “Good one, Cass.” “No, I-I’m seriou..ous.” she giggles out.

Jason: tries to scare Bruce with a chainsaw but only gets the response “Oh yeah the shrubbery in the front yard needs trimming. Would you get that?” Much disappointment.

Dick: wears a mullet wig and puts on the disco-wing suit for patrol. Now he doesn’t see fear on Bruce’s face. Mostly confusion but he can actually catch the makings of a smile. So that’s something.

Damian and Tim: try to scare Bruce by being obnoxiously nice to each other. He doesn’t believe it for a second.

Alfred definitely wins, the real bet is figuring out what he did! Bruce was shuddering after some mysterious encounter in the kitchen with Alfred that somehow no one saw??? What did he do?? All they know is Bruce was scared and Alfred looked very pleased with himself. That only reinforced the fact that the scariest person in the house will forever be Alfred.

#dc #I love you guys #ask hours #birdy bat asks

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coffee-n-bagels-comic-universe · 3 years

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Kirby's Full Bio (1984)

"I'm gonna rip your guts out and eat them, then I'll rip your face off and wear it."

Name: Kirby Trevor

Aliases: The Giantess, Gluttony, Kirby Lucifarian, (Gluttonous Machine)

Nicknames: Tall-ass

Age: 29 (Born January 13th 1955)

Race: Human, 1/4 Irish 1/4 Welsh 1/4 Norwegian 1/4 Scottish

Gender: Female. She/Her pronouns

Sexuality: Biromantic (Asexual)

Height: 6'8" / 203 cm

Weight: 250 lbs / 17 stone / 113 kg

Eye Colour: Blue

Hair Colour: Blonde

Clothing Style: Casual - Gothic

Religion: N/A (In a 'would prefer not to say' way)

Personality Traits: Self-Indulgent, Hard-Working, Gloomy, Reserved, Blunt, Sensitive

Strengths: Knows what she likes and what she wants. Willing to bleed hard-way if needed. Keeps to herself until she needs to speak or act.

Weaknesses: Extremely secretive. Eats almost 24/7. Won't talk to anyone when feeling down or missing home.

Likes: food, camper vans, pick-up trucks, Orange ("both the colour and the fruit, but not the juice"), trifle, Halloween, Easter, pigs, boars, quad bikes, chrysanthemums, lager shandy (aka Panaché), black shirts, black jumpsuits, horror movies, comedy movies

Dislikes: Jellied eels, VW beetles, tractors, neon colours, Battenberg Cake, Christmas, people who pronounce Samhain as 'Sam-Hain', spiders, moths, motorcycles, Poison ivy (the plant), skirts, shorts, hospitals, wasps, social events

Family: Heaven Trevor (Mother), Eric Trevor (Father), Kennedy Turnbull (Maternal Aunt)

Friends: Vickie, Billie, P.G, Holly, Eli, Sam, André the Giant

Enemies: Moolah, Wendi Richter, Big John Studd, Hulk Hogan, Lord Alfred Hayes, Dynamite Kid, Brutus Beefcake

Role: Mouth (Kinda), Muscle (Kinda), Brain (Kinda), the intimidating one/ human scare tactic

Backstory/Past: Kirby grew up as a tall child, permanently taller than everyone around her. Her mother the less successful sister of a chief nurse and her father one of eight kids. No one knew how tall she would eventually be and how much pain she'd end up in before she got corrective surgery at the age of 19 (she stopped growing at 6'8"). She pays for everything in her life through wrestling, something she'd learnt from her family.

Kirby started wrestling professionally when she was 16, and back then she was only six-foot-two. Having a flair for the dramatic and a desire to up the amount of money she could splurge on food, Kirby trained to be a highflyer and soon doubled her drawing power because of it, after all, it's not every day that you see an actual giant do a backflip and succeed. Going under the mask as a way to market herself as a potential threat came soon after this.

Although, in reality she knows deep down that she wears the mask to hide her face and remain somewhat private in her everyday life. She would make people think that if the mask was removed, during a match, that she would become much more savage and cannibalistic and attempt to bite her opponent. Vickie talked her into becoming the Gluttonous Giantess within the 'Daughters of Darkness’ and soon after joining her natural height and weight advantage put her on the track for being the biggest draw of the group, a role Kirby doesn't much like.

By the time she was 24 (1979) the group was fully put together. Upon joining the WWF, in 1984, Kirby was the first to suggest that they try and see if the other wrestlers would talk to them or even be willing to open themselves up to outsiders. This meant that Kirby and André quickly befriended each other, respecting each other for their love of food, time alone and each other's pride in their family, heritage and culture. She's known to test how stiffly her opponents can take her moves. If she knows or trusts them she goes softer.

Voice: Jessica Hynes

Style of Wrestling: Highflyer

Regular Moves: double leg drop (to the gut/groin), diving leg drop, sitout inverted suplex slam, plancha, mulekick, Feeding Frenzy (wild punches to the gut), Organ Grinder (dropkick), Hungry for Blood (diving clothesline), Consummation (rope aided corner dropkick), Number of the Beast (tiger feint kick from between the middle and lowest ropes), Vampire's Bite (Sitout Jawbreaker), Butcher's Knife (open-handed chops)

Finishers: Overfeeding (High-Angle senton bomb), Cheshire Grin (Inverted facelock neckbreaker slam), Let Them Eat Cake (Banzai Drop), Giantess Splash (Splash into a pin)

Commentary Nickname: The Ogress (usually), fourth of the seven (rare occasions - whole group scenes)

Refers to Her Fans as: The Gluttonous, The Gluttonous ones

#Lucifarians #Wrestling Family #wrestling fic #original character

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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The Dark Knight Trilogy: Horrifying Scenes That Still Make Us Cringe

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Later this month, Zack Snyder’s Justice League is hitting HBO Max. Despite the anticipation and a near-guaranteed positive reception from the vocal #ReleaseTheSnyderCut fan contingent, this will likely be Snyder’s last foray in the DC Universe. Indeed, one of the studio’s chief complaints with Snyder’s vision, which they believe impacted box office receipts, was his darker tone when compared with the quippier MCU. However, Snyder’s approach only mirrored many of DC’s most popular storylines, from Frank Miller’s violent The Dark Knight Returns to the on-screen The Dark Knight Trilogy from director Christopher Nolan. Snyder can hardly be blamed for expanding on what audiences were already responding to when it came to DC characters on film.

Less than a decade ago, Warner Brothers was hot off of the success of Nolan’s trio of films that no one would describe as light-hearted or quippy. The Batman of Nolan’s films was not inspired by the kid-friendly or campy iterations of the character found in the Batman TV series from the ‘60s or Joel Schumacher’s films, but by Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s Batman: Year One, and Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s Batman: The Long Halloween. That is to say Nolan and Christian Bale’s Batman sought to be a street-level, gritty, interpretation of the character that emphasized noir and a grounded reality.

Snyder didn’t make Batman too dark for film audiences, that was already done by Nolan. Below are just a few examples of the darkest, most horrific moments from The Dark Knight Trilogy.

“Swear to me!” – Batman Begins

Audiences knew they were in for a different type of Batman from the moment they heard Bale’s gravelly voice while he was in the suit. Whether Bale goes too far with his growly tenor and into comedic territory is up for debate, but the choice is certainly memorable.

Bale really gets to rough up his vocal cords during a specific scene in Batman Begins where the Dark Knight confronts crooked cop Arnold Flass about Dr. Jonathan Crane’s mysterious drug shipments. After failing to strike fear in Flass, Batman hangs the portly man upside down from a building. When Flass swears to God that he doesn’t know anything, Batman replies, “Swear to me!” his face tremoring with rage. This is the opposite of one of George Clooney’s one-liners during his time under the cowl. Bale’s Batman establishes himself as something to be scared of and as an all-seeing force to be reckoned with.

The Demon Bat – Batman Begins

While horror has seeped its way into Batman comics many times, particularly during Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s recent run with the character, there hasn’t been a ton of nightmarish imagery present in the film adaptations of the character. However, the hands down scariest portrayal of the Caped Crusader on screen comes in Batman Begins. When Bruce Wayne said he wanted to strike fear in the hearts of criminals, this must have been what he was talking about.

In the climax of the film, when Cillian Murphy’s Scarecrow attempts to poison Gotham City’s water supply with his fear toxin, the good doctor is confronted by Batman and given a taste of his own medicine. The fear toxin takes effect and Crane begins to see Batman as a demonic, literal interpretation of the Batman, with black goo dripping from his mouth and jet-black eyes. This monster version of the Bat was certainly a step in the right direction for comic fans hoping the Batman films would get the terror element of the character right.

Bruce Attempts to Kill Joe Chill – Batman Begins

This scene from the first film in Nolan’s trilogy is the darkest because of how real it feels for the main characters. The moment happens not when Bruce Wayne is masquerading as a vigilante dressed as a bat, but when he’s a young man still trying to come to grips with the murder of his parents. Bruce learns that Joe Chill has been paroled so that he can testify against Gotham crime boss Carmine Falcone. Bruce waits outside of the courtroom with a gun, intending to kill Chill after his testimony. But when Chill arrives at the public lobby, one of Falcone’s goons beats Bruce to the punch, shooting Chill dead.

Bruce’s childhood friend Rachel Dawes discovers Bruce’s intentions and slaps him across the face. She berates Bruce and tells him that his father would be ashamed of him, something that undoubtedly must be hard to hear for the angry, grieving young Bruce. This moment serves as a sort of rock bottom for the character before he decides to leave Gotham behind and travel the globe, immersing himself in the criminal underworld, a journey that would inevitably lead to him becoming… the Batman.

Joker’s Pencil Trick – The Dark Knight

No one needs to spill more ink about how brilliant Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Clown Prince of Crime, the Joker, was in The Dark Knight. It’s an iconic performance that has forever shaded the public’s perception of Batman’s greatest nemesis. He’s simultaneously funny and scary, brutal and sniveling, chaotic and cunning. He can make you smile then suddenly want to shield your eyes.

It’s all right there from his first real introduction in the film when he struts into a meeting between Gotham’s crime lords and offers his services in killing the Batman. Nailing the core components of the character, his penchant for showmanship, his violent tendencies, and his twisted sense of humor, the Joker pulls off a “magic trick” by slamming a gangster’s head through a pencil that was stuck upright on a desk. Not exactly the kind of party trick that you’ll see Ant-Man performing in the MCU!

The Death of Rachel Dawes – The Dark Knight

While the Joker hatches many unsettling schemes in The Dark Knight, like televising himself murdering Batman imposters, threatening to blow up hospitals, and the game theory ferry experiment, his most despicable crime is also his most personal one. After being taken into custody, the Joker reveals that he has set up a no-win trap for Batman, forcing him to choose between Rachel, his love, and Gotham’s White Knight, district attorney Harvey Dent. The Joker has them tied up in different locations, rigged to explode on the same timer, and Batman only has time to save one of them. Joker gives the hero their addresses, but in a cruel twist, switches who is where. Bruce believes that he’s saving Rachel but saves Harvey instead. Meanwhile, the GCPD tried to rescue Harvey, but arrives just in time to watch the building holding Rachel burst into flames.

While Rachel may have been an underserved character, only really used as a victim and love interest until her ultimate fridging, her death was still a shock and a dark turn that other superhero movies, barring the otherwise forgettable The Amazing Spider-Man 2, have always refused to make. Rachel served somewhat as Bruce’s moral compass, and her death left the vigilante adrift and prone to his darkest impulses.

The Transformation of Harvey Dent – The Dark Knight

The flipside to the above is that Batman’s last-minute rescue of Harvey Dent leaves him scarred, traumatized, angry, and fundamentally changed. It’s not just that Harvey loses half of his face and becomes a grotesque victim; it’s that the minute Rachel dies, all of his idealism and motivation to be a force for good and change dies with her. With one act, the Joker takes away the hero that Gotham really needs to end corruption and injustice.

It’s not just that Dent falls; he falls hard. He murders police officers (corrupt though they may be), kidnaps children, and introduces as much anarchy into Gotham as the Joker. Ultimately, he’s stopped by Batman, but his death and fall from grace is a demoralizing moment, and the decision to lie and prop up Dent as the hero he was rather than the monster he became is a necessary but deeply troubling withholding of the truth. Don’t let the triumphant score and imagery at the end of The Dark Knight fool you; this is a supremely downbeat ending.

Bane Breaks the Bat’s Back – The Dark Knight Rises

Batman is a badass who is rarely bested on screen. Even in Zack Snyder’s interpretation of the character, he’s able to subdue a figurative god in Superman. However, in Nolan’s third and final Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, Batman finally meets his match, and it’s not pretty. After being lured into the sewers by Selina Kyle, Batman walks right into a trap and fight with Bane, the jacked terrorist who was excommunicated from the League of Shadows, and is every bit as badass as Batman. After eight years sitting on the shelf and a career of crime fighting that has left him battered, Batman is absolutely demolished by Bane, who pummels Bruce before finally picking the hero up over his head and snapping his back over his knee. Heroes occasionally lose on screen, but not like this.

Alfred’s Arc – The Dark Knight Rises

Alfred Pennyworth is a crucial character in the Batman mythos, and he’s typically portrayed as a compliant, if slightly disapproving, enabler. However, that’s not so in The Dark Knight Rises. Portrayed by Michael Caine, Alfred breaks hearts by revealing to Bruce that Rachel intended on marrying Harvey Dent and sternly telling his surrogate son that his war with Bane will eventually lead to his death and that he “won’t bury” another member of the Wayne family.

It’s one of the most emotional moments of the film. Alfred basically abandons Bruce, a decision that heightens Bruce’s isolation and hero’s journey. Alfred only returns toward the end of the film for Bruce’s funeral where he tearfully confesses to the late Waynes’ gravestones that he “failed” them. While Alfred’s story ends on a hopeful note, with him spotting Bruce alive and well in Italy, it’s still quite the breakup between Master Bruce and his most loyal advisor.

The Story of Talia al Ghul and Bane – The Dark Knight Rises

While the best villains typically have sympathetic backstories, few have as a traumatic and scarring one as The Dark Knight Rises’ villains, Talia al Ghul and Bane. Toward the end of the film, it’s revealed that Talia grew up in the same place that Bruce found himself in after Bane broke his back. Born in a primitive prison known as the Pit, Talia watched as her mother was assaulted and killed by the other prisoners. The pair were placed in the Pit in exchange for Ra’s al Ghul, with Talia’s mother agreeing to take his place in exchange for his freedom. Talia only survived through the protection of Bane, who eventually helps Talia escape the prison, but he’s badly beaten and disfigured in the process.

Following Talia’s escape, she locates her father and he returned with the League of Shadows to exact revenge on the prisoners that killed his wife and the men who put her there. Afterward, Ra’s and the League saw to the treatment of Bane, but were unable to stop the continual pain he experienced. Eventually, Bane is recruited into the League, wherein he is given a mask which supplies him with analgesic gas to curb the constant pain from the injuries he sustained while protecting Talia. If you thought Bruce had a traumatizing backstory, you must have merely adopted the dark.

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dccomicsimagines · 5 years

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Fighting for Your Life - Bruce Wayne x Reader

Requested by Anon - Will u do a bruce wayne/medium!reader where reader can see ghost? They r dating n during a date, bruce got shot n in a coma where he temporaly become a ghost. She freak out n tries to help him before become permanent. Pls do dis. Tks.

Author’s Note - I made it Halloween. Hope you don’t mind.

***

“Bruce, are you sure we need to go to this thing? Can’t we just skip it?” You asked as you pulled on the last part of your 1920′s costume.

“No, we can’t. Lucius would kill me.” Bruce pulled on the suitcoat to his 1920′s gangster outfit. “But I promise we’ll make a quick exit after we made an appearance.”

You checked yourself in the mirror before coming over to help Bruce with his tie. “And what will we do after that quick exit, Mr. Wayne?” A playful grin grew on your lips.

Bruce smirked at you. “Oh, I imagine we can find something fun to do. Just the two of us.” He kissed you long and hard. You laughed, loving the feel of him against you.

Alfred knocked on the door, causing you both to pull away from each other. “Master Bruce, Mx. (Y/N), we must get going or you’ll be late to the party.”

“Kill joy,” Bruce pouted slightly.

“Stop it.” You pressed a quick kiss to the corner of his mouth after you finished his tie. The two of you headed out the door to avoid the wrath of Alfred.

***

You got yourself a drink at the bar while Bruce made rounds to make sure he made an appearance. Once again, you were grateful that you were unknown enough that you didn’t need to make the rounds with him. The high society people tired you so.

“Hello,” a man said as he sat down beside you. He was dressed in a nice suit that wasn’t really a costume. You gave him a tight smile.

“Hi.” You took a sip of your drink, careful not to look at him.

“I have to say you look wonderful tonight. Are you with someone?” The man turned around to lean against the bar and looked around the room.

You turned with him, nursing your drink. “I’m with that man over there.” You grinned when you saw Bruce. Bruce saw you were looking at him. He smiled at you with love before turning back to who he was talking.

The man snorted. “Looks like a Wayne.” He frowned. “You might want to get him out of here. There’s going to be trouble.”

You frowned. “What do you mean?” You glanced over at him as he started to fade away.

“That waiter has a gun.” The man’s voice was soft before he faded completely. Your eyes widened, looking over at Bruce to see the waiter behind him pull out a gun.

“Bruce!” Your scream echoed throughout the room. He turned to you, frowning at the horror on your face. The gun went off with a loud bang. He fell and all you could do was scream.

***

The beeping of the heart monitor was all you heard as you sat by Bruce’s hospital bed. He looked so pale, so lifeless. Alfred was outside talking to Clark Kent, who came by when he heard the news.

Your heart ached, remembering how the doctors said Bruce was in a coma and how they weren’t sure if he would come out of it. A humorless laugh escaped you. Who would have thought Batman would die as Bruce Wayne?

You held his hand, pressing a gentle kiss to the back of it. “Oh, Bruce. Please wake up.” You closed your eyes.

“(Y/N), what’s going on?” Bruce’s voice sounded from beside you. Your eyes snapped open, frowning when you saw Bruce hadn’t moved in front of you. “Am I dead?”

You turned to see a ghostly form of Bruce standing beside you. “Oh no,” you gasped, checking real Bruce’s pulse. It was still as faint as it had been. “No, you’re not dead.” You turned back to look at ghost Bruce in confusion.

“But you only see dead people,” ghost Bruce said, staring down at his body in shock.

“I know that, but you’re still alive. Your heart monitor is going, your pulse is still there,” you snapped. The stress getting to you. “This has never happened to me before.” ‘

Ghost Bruce patted your shoulder. You couldn’t feel his touch except for a icy feeling running down your spine. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. You didn’t do this on purpose.” You shivered, looking up at ghost Bruce. “I should have known something weird would happen. Something weird always happens on Halloween.”

He snorted. “You couldn’t have known I would get shot.”

“No, but I was warned by a ghost only seconds before.” You frowned. “How did he know about it?”

“(Y/N), I understand that is curious, but I am wondering how do I get back into my body?” Bruce sounded calm, but you could hear the fear in his voice.

You bit your lip, squeezed real Bruce’s limp hand. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s the same as when I try to get a ghost to move on? We have to finish your unfinished business.”

Bruce blinked. “Couldn’t I just wake up from a coma to do that?”

“I don’t know. Why don’t you just wake up?” You got to your feet to stare down at ghost Bruce, frustration and fear getting the better of you. Bruce looked at you with wide eyes. You froze. The blood rushing to your face in shame. “Sorry, this is scaring me. I don’t want to lose you, Bruce.”

“You won’t.” He reached out to pull you into his arms, but only passed through you. You shivered from the chill. “We’ll figure this out.”

A sigh escaped you, but it caught in your throat to come out as a sob. You let yourself feel it before focusing on the task at hand. “Okay, so I think we do need to find out why you got shot. The man who shot you is currently in police custody.”

“They would allow Batman to interrogate him, but that’s not going to work,” Bruce said. You hummed, nodding before an idea burst through your mind.

“Well, we can still have Batman interrogate him.” You smirked before turning to leave the room. Bruce looked confused as he floated along behind you.

***

“No, (Y/N). This is a terrible idea,” Bruce snapped as you handed over the batsuit to Clark. The three of you were in the batcave.

Clark eyed the suit nervously. “Are you sure about this, (Y/N)? Bruce would kill me for wearing his suit.”

You sighed, giving Clark a smile. “It’s fine. Besides, if it helps us get Bruce back into his body, I’d even let you drive the batmobile. Just think of it as dressing up for Halloween.”

“That’s not funny,” Bruce said behind you. You eyed him as Clark left to change. “(Y/N), this is not necessary.”

“Yes, it is necessary. We have to get you back into your body and solving who shot you is the only way we can think to do that.” You crossed your arms. “Batman is the only one the police will let interrogate the shooter, and I certainly can’t be a believable Batman. Clark is the only one who can do it.”

Bruce grumbled. “And how are you planning to go with him? You can’t go as a civilian.”

“Let me handle that.” You smiled at him, almost forgetting he was a ghost. Your stomach dropped, but you turned away before he could see your lips pull into a frown.

***

“Why did you shoot Bruce Wayne?” Clark, dressed as Batman, growled at the waiter. The waiter looked tired, handcuffed into the chair in the interrogation room at the police station. You stood behind Clark in your makeshift vigilante costume. Ghost Bruce stood beside you, shaking his head at Clark’s Batman voice.

“I don’t sound like that.” Bruce crossed his arms. You had to bite the inside of your cheek to keep from smiling.

The waiter shook his head. “Why should I tell you? You can’t hang me from the roof of a building in here.” He sneered. You had to fight the urge to punch him.

Clark paused, clearly having no idea how to interrogate. “This is why you should have gotten someone else. Clark couldn’t interrogate someone even if his life depended on it.” Bruce shook his head.

You growled, stepping up to tower over the waiter. “You killed your mother and father.”

The waiter flinched, looking up at you in shock. “No, I didn’t. It was never proven.”

“Because they couldn’t find the bodies. I know where you buried them.” You narrowed your eyes.

“You couldn’t know.” The man looked at you in disbelief.

“Under the foundation of the new house that was being constructed next door.” You smiled coldly when the man paled. “Unless you want me to tell the cops, you will explain why you shot Bruce Wayne.”

The man swallowed hard. You could feel Clark and Bruce staring at you in awe. “I was paid to maim Bruce Wayne by Oswald Cobblepot.”

“Why?” Your voice coming out in a low growl.

“I didn’t ask why.” The man shrugged his shoulders. “Now you won’t tell the cops, right?”

You narrowed your eyes. “Nice try, but you are going to pay for killing your parents and hurting Bruce Wayne.” You quickly turned to see Clark’s jaw dropped open. Ghost Bruce was just admiring you. “Let’s go.” You left the room with Clark trailing behind, trying to regain his composure.

“Good job.” Bruce reached out to touch your arm only to pass through. He frowned, frustrated. You felt the chill, giving him a tiny smile.

***

“So how do we want to play this?” Clark asked as you three stood on the roof neighboring the Iceberg Lounge.

“We’ll want to make sure to get him alone. He would be in bed at this hour,” Bruce told you, glancing at your watch.

You sighed. “Bruce says he’s in bed, so we should break into his bedroom.” You crossed your arms. The night air was cold this high up.

Clark hummed. “I think I should go in alone, (Y/N). You don’t have the training for combat if this goes badly.”

“I hate to admit it, but he’s right.” Bruce reached out to touch your shoulder, but stopped himself this time. “You should head inside. I’ll stay with Clark.”

“How are you going to talk to him then?” You asked Bruce. Clark looked surprised, guessing what Bruce must have said.

“Hopefully, I won’t have to.” Bruce glared at Clark.

“He’s glaring at you. Apparently, you’re not supposed to mess up and ruin Batman’s reputation,” you explained to Clark.

“Hey, it’s Halloween. If I do something out of character, maybe they’ll think I’m just some random person dressed as Batman,” Clark laughed. Bruce growled, not amused.

You sighed, closing your eyes. “I’m going back to the hospital. Just make sure you figure this out, okay?” You looked at Clark.

“I will. I promise.” Clark gave you a hug. You melted into his arms, needing the comfort of human touch. Bruce cleared his throat. You pulled away before turning to face him.

“You better come back to me.” Tears sparked in your eyes as you looked at his ghostly form.

Bruce smiled at you. “Always.” He leaned forward and gently pressed his lips against your forehead. You closed your eyes, imagining how it would feel as the chill ran through you.

“Good.” You headed toward the fire escape. “Be safe.” Clark nodded before flying into the air.

“Don’t you dare fly when wearing my batsuit. I don’t fly,” Bruce shouted. You had to bite your lip to hold back laughter.

***

You sat by real Bruce’s bedside, holding his hand. Alfred was dozing nearby. You kept looking at your phone, waiting for the text from Clark or for Bruce to wake up. Doubts ran through your mind. Did you do the right thing? Was that what Bruce needed to return to his body?

Time passed and eventually you fell asleep with your head on Bruce’s hand.

Slowly, you were tugged from sleep when you felt the hand beneath your cheek move. You quickly sat up, gasping when you saw Bruce’s blue eyes looking at you.

“Good morning, sweetheart.” Bruce’s voice was harsh from lack of use. A grin broke onto your face. You leaned forward to kiss him hard on the lips. Bruce moaned, doing his best to kiss you back.

“It worked.” You laughed, pulling away to catch your breath.

“It worked.” Bruce reached up to rest his hand on your cheek. “Alfred went to get you some coffee. He didn’t want to interrupt us.”

You frowned. “Like we were going to get frisky in your condition?”

Bruce laughed, wincing when he hurt himself. “Apparently.” He took a deep breath, working through the pain. You reached up to lay your hand over his. “I was thinking you should join my night work. You looked so good last night and the way you handled that man. It gave me chills.”

“You can get chills as a ghost?” You teased, too happy that he was awake and alive. The warmth from his hand felt wonderful compared to the chills he gave you last night.

“Har, Har.” Bruce smiled at you with love in his eyes. “Oh, and if you ever let Clark wear the batsuit again, I’ll get my kryptonite out.”

“As long as you are there to wear it, he shouldn’t have to.” You kissed him again. Happier than ever before.

#bruce wayne #bruce wayne x reader #bruce wayne imagine #batman #batman x reader #batman imagine #dc comics imagines #dc reader insert #superman #clark kent #halloween

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femcel404 · 5 years

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Batfam headcannons

These are random, enjoy.

Tim cannot sing for shit, he sounds like a dying pig. Unless he's singing in a Florence Whelch-type voice, because then he sounds absolutely amazing. Not even he understands it.

Stephanie loves heavy rock music and recent pop music equally, and likes to play it loud.

Damian once called Harper "practically useless" while she could hear him, to which she replied "Choke on it" almost instantly. Earned instant respect from Jason, Tim and Steph.

Babs has turned off Tim's computer remotely more times than she can count, and each time is equally hilarious.

Jason starts his facts with "it is a truth universally acknowledged" in a British accent. Every time. He loves Jane Austen.

Tim gets along REALLY well with John Constantine, because disaster bi TM, and Tim just thinks John is super cool (John called Tim "son" once but ssshhhh).

When Dick first brought Wally to the manor, Damian didn't like him one bit. When Dami caught them kissing on the couch though, he was frustrated because West makes Grayson happy so I can't eliminate him, but I still don't trust him!

Bruce gets annoyed when Dick Brings Wally on patrol with him, only because they flirt over the coms and it's REALLY cheesy. He has cringed one too many times.

Cassandra absolutely adores vintage dresses, and has over 40 of them.

Helena and Damian get along. They put salt in Tim's coffee together and it makes Jason laugh.

Steph can speak in a variety of different accents, including German, Irish, British, Australian, Indian, London, and more. When she and Tim first met John Constantine, she greeted him in an accent the same as his own, and he burst out laughing. She calls it her great victory.

Babs puts whoopie cushions under the seats of the bat-mobile. Hysterically hilarious every single time.

Harper and Duke can say "what the fuck you trickass bitch" is absolute PERFECT unison, and they use is regularly.

Tim can walk in heels. No one knows why or how.

Dick can also walk in heels, because even though he is now fully grown, Wally is still a good 10 inches taller than him. So Dick adapted.

Jason, Cassandra and Donna Troy have a book club. They meet on Sundays. Only 4 people know, and that 4th person is Rita Farr/Elasti-girl, who joins them when they read books from the 1930s.

Jason and Rita Farr have a friendship built on their mutual love for old books. They actually recognised each other from league database photos at a secluded book shop.

Damian get anxiety if he leaves something behind, like his mobile phone on the coffee table, or something as simple as his drawing in another room. This annoys him on patrol, because he gets twitchy and anxious if he doesn't retrieve a batarang.

Alfred doesn't swear when Bruce is around. When Bruce is not around, the occasional "shit" can be heard. Occasionally. No one says anything about it.

Wally once pranked Jason by vibrating at such a frequency that he was able to walk through Jason without hurting him. It scared Jason so much he squealed.

Tim is asexual and proud. He takes approximately zero shit.

Tim doesn't actually talk much unless he is spoken to. He's kind of a happy loner.

Cass communicates through morse code when she can't be bothered signing or forming words.

Dick tried joining the JL for all of one week, but Wally kept slipping their inside jokes into conversation and Dick essentially got kicked off for laughing.

Tim and Steph are strangely close friends for people who used to date. They say they look past that though. They believe they are healthier as best friends.

Steph loves being single because she enjoys not having the pressure of a relationship with this lifestyle. Although, she would like a small family one day.

Tim, the disaster bi TM that he is, has yet to find himself a partner. (Though there is this guy in his physics lecture at university, Jesse, who Tim thinks is a literal angel.)

Kate , Tim, Dick, Wally, Harper and maybe sometimes even the disaster bi magic duo (Constantine and Zatanna) go to the Gotham pride parade. Tim hacks the speakers and plays lady Gaga.

Kate also teaches Tim how to fight without needing to use much physical strength, bc we all know Tim is Smol TM.

Tim can mimic the joker's laugh perfectly, and for that, the joker has expressed respect for Tim. Though it was pretty funny when the joker started laughing only to be joined by Tim who then proceeded to beat him up. Even Bruce laughed a bit.

Jason and Cass have "emotion sessions" in one of Jason's safehouses once a month, where they share their frustrations and sorrows, and smash cheap mugs of the walls.

Steph makes waffles out of chocolate mud cake mix. Not even Alfred can master the art of it.

Damian sometimes wishes the role of Robin wasn't as important to him as it is. He never acts upon those wishes.

Tim has a Tumblr and posts fanfic, headcannons, gif sets, and legendary shitposts. (One of us, One of us, One of us!!)

Stephanie and Barbra both donate at least 12 inches of their hair to charity every 3-4 years.

Both Stephanie and Barbra totally rock neck-length super-choppy hair for the first 2 months after the donation. They also seem to somehow pull off the awkward length where their hair falls in their face, but it's still not long enough to fit into a pony tail. (Also the both DEFENANTLY rock swishy between ears and shoulders, then between shoulders and back lengths. These girls look stunning in anything!)

Dick still owns his discowing suit, and he wears it to Halloween parties. Wally likes it.

Duke once had to get Bruce's help as batman during the day, and joined the villain they were fighting in laughing at how stupid the batman costume looks during the day.

Jason sounds like darth Vader cross iron man when he has his helmet on, and Dick, Wally and Roy all tease him about it.

Tim stands in corners at charity balls and galas. Partly because he doesn't like talking to strangers, but mostly because no one will catch him drinking coffee and champagne mixed together like a madman.

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krolock-in-the-snowlock · 4 years

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I watched Broadway’s Dance of the Vampires so you don’t have to

Ever wondered how bad the broadway version actually is? Now’s your chance to find out, my friend...

So about a month ago, I came across a bootleg of the broadway show and, because it was late and I am a Certified Idiot, I decided to watch it and write down my thoughts. Having heard how bad it was, I knew to expect a train wreck, but I had no idea just how much of a train wreck it was going to be until I pressed play and witnessed something that truly cannot be described in words.

I was originally just going to post my whole list of thoughts but it ended up being over 5000 words (many of which were me screaming NO and wHYYY) so I’ve put it in a separate post, so click that link if you want to read it in its entirety!

Instead, I’ve decided to do a (slightly) shorter summary of ‘highlights’, if they can really be called that, with a kind of silly score for each ‘category’. A review, if you will. I’m sure I’ll have missed some things, but this should hopefully at least give you an idea of what exactly they did to poor Tanz der Vampire. Still, I apologise for the length of this in advance - I just had a lot of thoughts, okay?

A quick disclaimer: While I have seen clips of producations of Tanz from various countries, I’ve only seen the whole production once - the Berlin bootleg from somewhere around 2009-11 - so I’ll mostly be comparing with that!

I know the broadway musical is a big taboo subject, so I’m not expecting many, if any, to actually read any of this. But if you ever wondered how bad it was and didn’t want to have to actually watch it, this post is for you!

So, without further ado…

The Characters: -7/10

Let me begin by saying that many of the characters bear almost no resemblance to the originals. The worst case, of course, is with Giovanni von Krolock. A cringeworthy caricature, his awful faux-Italian accent, terrible jokes and horrifying bat form make him the polar opposite of what Krolock is supposed to be. In my notes, I actually referred to him as Giovanni rather than Krolock, because this is not Krolock; where Krolock is mysterious, aloof, powerful, and occasionally slightly sarcastic, Giovanni is silly, makes puns in nearly every line, and commands no respect or fear whatsoever. I resent that I began to ironically enjoy mocking him by the time I’d finished watching it.

Alfred is absurdly confident and confrontational, and narrates everything he writes in his journal (and tbh is probably a closeted bi). Sarah now apparently has friends and is allowed to leave her room. Koukol doesn’t exist, and is replaced by a man that Krolock hypnotises, who sometimes acts like a dog. Herbert is French, ridiculously stereotypical, and there is a very poor attempt from Krolock at pronouncing his name in a French accent. The other characters are fortunately mostly the same as the originals, although not entirely.

The Music: 2.5/10

Oh, the music… how do I begin?

Long story short, it was generally horrible. Multiple songs were cut entirely, and others were mashed together into strange frankensongs. The opening song, for instance, is completely different (and was what immediately made me realise I’d made a terrible mistake in deciding to watch it). The lyrics were mostly not as interesting as the original German lyrics, and often had less syllables, so the songs often felt empty and drawn out.

Many of the songs had slightly different overall meanings/purposes to their German counterparts, and I though that songs like Total Eclipse and Invitation to the Ball were way too sappy and romantic, lacking any of the drama and tension of Totale Finsternis and Einladung zum Ball. Krolock had been so ridiculous the whole time that Die Unstillbare Gier sadly could never have worked, even if the lyrics had been better. The singing itself was actually pretty good from what I remember, which was the only thing that saved the music, but Krolock’s horrible accent ruined many of the songs he was in. There was so much potential for it to be good if they’d just done a faithful adaption…...

I could go on forever about the music (as I do in my full commentary) but that would probably need a whole new post! So instead let’s move on to…

The Costumes: 2/10

Boring. Sarah’s red ball gown is nice enough, but all of the other vampires’ costumes are painfully simple and poorly designed. Krolock lacks a cape for most of the musical (which is a crime), Herbert is dressed in a hideous bright blue coat and an aggressively yellow wig, and the finale costumes are just simple black leather coats. It all lacks any of the detail or, in Herbert’s case, sparkle, of any of the other versions of the costumes that I’ve seen. While I should probably note that this was in 2002, it is still noticeably simpler than other productions of Tanz around the same time. Krolock also lacks his usual makeup, and Herbert’s is just ugly. And Krolock’s top hat in the opening? Why???

The Staging: -5/10

When they aren’t dancing, most of the ‘staging’ is just the characters at opposite sides of the stage facing each other. It doesn’t matter what is supposed to be happening in the scene, or the message of the song; they just... stand there. Occasionally, if you’re lucky, the characters might stand next to each other, but such close proximity is a rare occurrence in Dance of the Vampires, saved mostly for Alfred or Krolock with Sarah or Herbert and, in a strange duet about books, Krolock and Professor Ambronsius.

Krolock does pretty much nothing in Die Unstillbare Gier, and the staging for Einladung zum Ball was very confusing, at least when they weren’t just standing still. Sarah’s bedroom inexplicably becomes a cloudy place with no floor, and it was never quite clear whether the scene was a dream or not. Considering the rest of the musical, either possibility is honestly equally likely. At one point at the start of the first act, Krolock literally rises out of the ground in a huge coffin. I could go on. Also the sponge Krolock gives Sarah is a fraction of the size of the one he gives her in the original, which I like to think is a metaphor for the broadway production itself.

The Sets: 3/10

While not accurate to any other versions at the time or since, a couple of the sets were admittedly quite pretty (though still not quite on Kentaur’s level). However, there was no inn structure for the first act, and some of the sets were quite limited. One of the most popular (and nicest) sets in the second act is a huge stairway covered in a frankly impractical number of candles.

In the finale, despite the characters on multiple occasions declaring that the story takes place in Transylvania in “18something”, the background is for some reason Times Square with all of its neon signs (which I’m pretty sure did most certainly not exist in the 1800s). Whether a huge location change and time skip of a couple hundred years has taken place or whether the directors and set designers finally gave up trying to make the story make sense, I have no idea.

Worst Moments:

I just had to include this section! These are only a few of the worst and/or most bizarre moments I could pick out. I’m sure there’s more that I forgot but here are some (read: quite a few) of my favourites:

Krolock, wearing a top hat, rising from the ground in a giant coffin before saying, “God has left the building”

Krolock appearing as a hideous animated bat thing

Sarah and her friends getting high on mushrooms in the opening

The fact that Sarah’s birthday is on Halloween at midnight during the total eclipse of the moon

Krolock offering Alfred a sponge shaped like a penis then slowly tilting it down when Alfred says no

Ambronsius decorating Sarah’s room in Halloween decorations to scare off Krolock

Krolock genuinely being convinced that Sarah is a literal princess until he visits her room

Krolock and Ambronsius harmonising about books together

The big grey winged gargoyle demons dancing on the bed during Carpe Noctem

Krolock repeatedly dressing in a big grey dress and pretending to be his own mother/wife/who even knows what

Alfred angrily threatening Krolock, followed by Krolock physically attacking Alfred (this happens on more than one occasion)

The nonsense ‘prophecy’ they randomly introduce

“I use my body as a bandage, I use my body as a wound” (and this is instead of “Ich will frei und freier werden, und werde meine Ketten nicht los”) WHAT DOES IT MEAN

Koukol-replacement saying, “Okay, here he is, the man you’ve all been waiting for, his excellency… the Count von Krolock!) and Krolock waving and pointing like a rockstar as he kisses people walking down the stairs to the ball

Krolock dramatically dying on the stairs at the end of the ball for a solid minute

The Good Parts

Surprisingly, there were a few redeeming features!

Firstly, the couple of songs where they kept things very similar to the source material (such as Knoblauch) were actually quite good at times. Unfortunately, this isn’t to say that they were necessarily good, but compared to the less faithful parts they were a nice surprise, even if Knoblauch was never my favourite song from Tanz.

The singing itself was generally pretty good too! I also hate to admit that I did at times find myself laughing a little at the awful jokes.

And... uhh...

...yeah, that’s about it...

Some Highlights From My Notes:

And finally, here are some out of context quotes from my notes that I feel sum up the musical quite well:

It sounds like he’s about to start a really sad rave

I was gonna roast the lyrics some more but I’m gonna be honest I’m not sure what he’s saying

This feels on the same level of what kind of acid trip hallucination parallel universe have I landed in as seeing the Cats film in the cinema

Is this actually Deadpool in disguise with all the fourth wall breaking

Crawford looks like he regrets everything and can I just say Michael so does everybody else

He looks like a potato or a rock or that neutral nicolas cage face that people put on the sequin cushion

This sounds like a poorly written Krolock/reader wattpad fanfic

Giovanni would highkey be like lol arent i so random rawr xd on myspace

He might as well have said, “Itsa me, Mario”

They’re just stood there like two pigeons aimlessly squawking at each other

Alfred is like a chihuahua with small dog syndrome barking at a bigger dog, except Giovanni is barely bigger and is a flea-infested Chinese Crested dressed in a cheap Halloween costume

The throne glides like a magic carpet only it doesn’t leave the ground so I suppose it’s actually more like a chair with wheels, which is much less exciting

He just stands there like a poorly-dressed rock

-22/10 would not listen again

Final Comments:

So, if you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading and I hope that was somewhat informative and/or entertaining for you! It took me weeks to get through the whole musical because I couldn’t stand watching it for too long at a time, and maybe you can see why! Like I said at the start of this monster of a post, there’s probably a lot that I’ve forgotten to mention, so if you’re unfortunate enough to have seen any of this car crash of a musical, feel free to add your thoughts! :D

#tanz der vampire #dance of the vampires #watching the broadway production was a good 4 hours of my life that I’ll never get back #was it worth it?#honestly I’m not sure #but here we are

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