#i mean i also know arkham asylum is like not that great but in my head i’d thrive there | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bubblesxo · 19 days

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i dont know if you will see this but i am a big fan of your g!bruce meets the batfam!!!! I literally have tumblr just for this series (and now that I’ve tried it im beginning to love it ngl) . Annyywaayy ive just read the new chapter and it’s so good!?? Like i am really excited for the next chapter!!!

Oh and I haven’t watched gotham ( im planning too ) but i sometimes mix the twins????? Like your explanations are good dont get me wrong but yk when your reading and you need to check which ones which? Yeah … and like i want to fix that idk how .do i just like memorize the twins personalitys??

also in this au is theres 2 jokers??????? I saw you once mention Jerome(?) being revived or something

ps .im that great at English sorry .

oh wow wow wow thank you so so much!! i'm really glad that you're enjoying my story so much! it really means a lot to me. <33 i think your english is good! but if you need/want me to clarify anything i say here, just let me know and i'll try to rephrase it for you!

okay, so in the Gotham tv show (this has spoilers for all 5 seasons, so read on if you're okay with that) the way that they approached writing the joker was actually really up in the air in the beginning. this is because they didn't have the rights to use the name "joker," and so fox (the company that made the show) planned on making a bunch of smaller characters in the show as a kind of easter egg as people who could be the joker or who resemble him in some way.

this changed when cameron monaghan (the actor for both jerome and jeremiah) guest starred in s1e16 "the blind fortune teller." in it, the character of jerome is introduced as a 17/18 year old boy who travels with the circus with his mother, who is a snake dancer. he is meant to be one of the aforementioned joker-like characters in the show and wasn't actually supposed to be included again after that episode, if i am not mistaken.

however, the viewers LOVED his performance and jerome came back in season two as a member of the maniax, a group of arkham inmates who were broken out of the asylum. i won't go too into detail about the actual plot, but in seasons two, three, and four, jerome shows up in at least a few different episodes with very memorable storylines each time.

it isn't until season four of the show that jeremiah is even revealed at all! jeremiah and jerome are identical twin brothers, however, jeremiah has been in hiding for years under the fake name "xander wilde" in an attempt to escape jerome, who wants to get revenge on him for lying to their mother about what he (jerome) did when they were children. basically, jeremiah lied to their mother (lila, who jerome is revealed to have killed in 1x16) that jerome tried to kill him, causing jeremiah to be sent away and be adopted by rich people and get to go to a well-funded private school where he could live out his best life as a child prodigy (which was jeremiah's end goal to this), whereas jerome was left behind in the circus that they lived at (haly's circus, the same one that dick grayson later was raised in before being adopted by bruce). during this time, jerome was horrifically abused by his mother, his uncle, and his mother's many romantic partners. this eventually caused him to crack, which creates the character we see in the show.

here's an easy way to remember the difference in their personalities:

in the standard american deck of cards, there are two jokers: one that is black and white and one that is in color. in this analogy, jeremiah is the black and white joker and jerome is the one in color.

this is jerome:

he's got a *very* boisterous personality. he's outgoing and charismatic and, of course, severely messed up in the head. he *enjoys* the pain he causes people and does it with little to no reservations. he thinks things through less thoroughly than jeremiah but jerome always has a plan and is actually quite smart. i couldn't do him the disservice of calling him the dumb twin, despite some points about jeremiah that i'll get back to later.

anyway, jerome has a grand plan for all of gotham: he believes that, fundamentally, everyone in the world is like him and is also at least a bit crazy inside. he wants everyone to tap into their inner selves and let themselves run free / go crazy. he successfully ensnares huge hoards of gothamites with his persuasive way of speaking and interesting flare to his words. he amasses a large cult following, all of whom are very similar to him in the sense that they all demonstrate similar signs of instability.

here's some more gifs of him.

jerome kind of invented the iconic "HAHAHA" signature joker laugh in the gotham universe, even though he isn't the one who goes on to become "mr. j" (gotham's version of the joker) in the end (that's jeremiah, though i have a lot to say about that).

jerome's always smiling, a genuinely creepy smile that throws people off at first but can be really scary once you know what you're looking at. he single handedly turns gotham into a madhouse on multiple occasions and is the one who basically spread the "crazy" to the general population (for short: genpop).

he's a classic cult leader in the sense that he can mesmerize a whole room with his magnetic presence but also will ruthlessly cut down any of his followers if they so much as upset him (or even if they're just being annoying or could have a greater purpose, like when he stabbed a follower in the gut to take their blood to draw a frowney-face on bruce).

that reminds me, another important thing to know about jerome is that he has an iconic stapled-on face! this is because he died once (in season two, though he came back to life for season three onwards) and one of his followers tried to revive him using some insider medical knowledge from doctor hugo strange (who is just... a whole thing. ew.). he thinks that he failed at doing this and steals jerome's face so that he can wear it on television in an attempt to control jerome's followers (spoiler: this doesn't work).

however, it turns out that jerome *was* revived from this, and he's pretty upset that some dude stole his face! so he uses a staple gun to re-attach it after he gets it back (and kills the guy who did it). his face is later punched off by jim gordon but reattached more properly during his time at arkham afterward (the carnival scene happened in season 3 and jerome came back with a kind-of healed face in season 4).

here's some gifs with jerome's messed up face!

jerome is the colorful joker because he's very much expressive. he lets out every single emotion he feels---unless he's trying to deceive someone, at which point he is a phenomenal liar. (in season 1 when we are first introduced to him, he almost successfully gets away with the murder of his own mother.)

jerome is funny and laughs a lot and is *loud.* he's also absolutely insane and incredibly cruel, as well as impulsive, but he's able to curb his instincts if he feels like he can pull off a big plan.

jerome is a showman by nature. he's a product of the circus and it *shows.* everything he does is like an act, something that is acknowledged by many people in the show.

he's a funky lil dude. totally crazy, but kind of adorable at times.

he's also SEVERELY traumatized from his horrible past and has huge trust issues.

so, yeah. jerome is colors! remember that.

unfortunately, pookie died in season 4 and doesn't seem to have been revived this time </3

now, onto his twin brother jeremiah!

jeremiah is, at least at first, presented to be the complete opposite of jerome. he's calm, collected, and seemingly sane---at least at first. bruce trusts him at first and he even befriends him for a period of time before jeremiah betrays him.

jeremiah is a genius engineer, and, when looking into his past, we can assume that he was a child prodigy. he worked with thomas wayne before he died and designed the wayne plaza building under the aforementioned alias "xander wilde." he also locked himself in an underground maze for ~6 years (i believe?) and never went outside, instead sending his proxy (ecco) out to act in his place during business transactions.

as seen here, jeremiah seems to be the complete opposite of showboat jerome:

when we first meet jeremiah, we are told that he is totally sane, but we can later see that this is not the complete truth.

i'll use jeremiah's project as a metaphor for this. jeremiah was building a set of generators which could make energy harvesting and usage much less expensive and much more bio-friendly (if i remember correctly). bruce promised to fund his project and jeremiah accepts his offer quickly.

after jerome dies in season 4 after kidnapping bruce and jeremiah, he left behind a concoction of chemicals that seemingly make jeremiah go insane. this is a play on joker toxin / joker venom from the greater dc universe.

however, after jeremiah reveals his new self

he says that the spray did not actually change who he actually is, but just gave him an altered appearance. there are a lot of fan theories about this, but the general consensus is that the spray likely lowered his inhibitions, which gave him the kick needed to reveal his true self.

even his complexion resembles the joker he corresponds with: black and white. he is the black and white joker because he isn't as expressive, is way more calculated, and is more cruel and less happy. even his skin is paper white.

here's some gifs of what he looks like after those "slight cosmetic changes" :

that looks a lot more like the joker we know and love today, right? bleach-pale skin, red painted lips, green hair. he's instantly recognizable as the stereotypical joker now.

remember when i mentioned the generators? let's go back to them. the entire time that the generators have been around, they've also been perfectly functional as powerful bombs. their ability to be used as bombs does not undermine the fact that they can also be used as generators, and both of these things were true at the same time *for the entire time they have existed.*

it is in this way that jeremiah's paradoxical nature has always existed. jeremiah is crafty, cunning, and absolutely vicious. he has no care or concern for human life in general and will sacrifice most people in his life if it means that he will get what he wants in the end.

this is shown both before and after the joker toxin in how he lied about jerome when they were children (which caused jerome to be heavily abused) and in how jeremiah willingly killed one of his most devoted and beloved followers, who was being ransomed, just because someone put him on hold and it was personally easier for him to just kill him than sit on hold on the phone for a while. (he also has a vicious streak, though, because he immediately moved the demolition of the bombs up to immediately once he was out of the blast zone because those people inconvenienced him.)

something that's important to realize about jeremiah is that he has an issue with being called crazy. jerome does, too, but he eventually comes to accept the term, almost like he's reclaiming it, but jeremiah is *violently* against it. that's one of the things that set him off in the previously mentioned interaction.

both jeremiah and jerome are obsessed with bruce, though in different ways. jeremiah sees bruce first as his best friend and later as the "brother [he] could never have, that jerome could never be." jerome just sees bruce as a particularly entertaining and interesting kid who he enjoyed tormenting who he would eventually kill.

anyway, despite jeremiah being crazy (or, depending on who you ask, just less inhibited) he is still crazy smart and calculating. he thinks through everything before he does it and his master plans seem like they go on forever with 10000 parts to them and backups and contingencies galore.

the only time that jeremiah ever really seems to break out of this is when he's fighting with bruce. while he still does have a greater point to make or something he's trying to accomplish, he thinks through things less with him and shows his impulsive and rash side a bit more, which is interesting because jerome showed his thoughtful and contemplative side when faced with the obstacle that is bruce thomas wayne. i love parallels and contrasts, especially in these two characters! i just love writing about twins, they're always so interesting.

some important things about their relationship to one another:

even though jerome kidnapped jeremiah and seemingly strapped a bomb to his neck (after breaking into his house and telling him that he would kill him), jerome doesn't seem to actually want jeremiah to die. instead, as we later find out, he wants jeremiah to unleash his true self and carry on his legacy of chaos and cruelty in gotham for him after his death. this is why he left behind the laughing gas for him.

(the fact that jerome thought to do all of that shows that he really was a smart character and that he truly did understand the world around him well. he knew exactly what would happen in the event of his death, i.e. bruce offering to fund jeremiah's work and jeremiah accepting, as is shown when jerome has the joker venom in a present box which claims to be sent from wayne enterprises.)

jeremiah *hates* to be compared to jerome in any way, as he thinks of himself as "the face of true sanity." he actually has an entire notebook full of jerome's ideas, which he says he will outdo and perfect, thus defeating his brother in the end, which i don't know if i agree with, but whatever.

i think that it's because of the reputation that jerome got at the circus. jeremiah wanted people to think of him as better than jerome and as the perfect child, which he succeeded at. to him, jerome is synonymous with crazy, which i've already mentioned that he hates to be called.

okay, just one more part to talk about. the infamous, much anticipated Mr. J!!!

in the series finale, it is revealed that jeremiah, after falling into a vat of acid, is horribly disfigured and pretends to be in a vegetative state for the whole ten years that bruce is on his quest to improve himself before becoming batman. he does this as a way of waiting for bruce to come back to gotham so he can continue to be obsessed with him.

however, though this is jeremiah, it seems that he has actually gone through immense mental trauma sometime during this time (perhaps during his fall into a vat of chemicals), which has caused him to sort of lose his sense of self. he once says that there was "another me" [another him] once, which is, of course, referring to jerome. this implies that jeremiah sees jerome as an extension of himself, almost, and almost makes it seem as if mr. j is a whole different entity of his own.

hopefully this clears everything up a bit for you!! let me know if you have any questions or want to know anything specific about the characters and i will be glad to oblige!

thank you once again for being so kind as to leave this ask!! it really made my day. thank you for enjoying my fic, i hope it continues to live up to expectations. i have a lot of fun things planned (and i am very happy that you decided to look into these characters more, because they are actually extremely important to the plot as we get more into the actual story!). <33

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zahri-melitor · 2 months

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New 52 Bat Comics: What to read

Claiming everything in this 5 year period is irredeemable is a long ask, and there’s both some stories in here that are important in terms of ��where things happen’ and others that are just genuinely entertaining reads. I enjoyed myself on multiple occasions as I worked through this period, and I'd like to put a spotlight on those occasions.

Here’s my suggestions of what to pick up if you are interested:-

Batwoman, particularly J.H. Williams III’s run (#1-24). If you have any interest in Kate Kane at all, this picks up immediately following Rucka’s Elegy storyline in ‘Tec, and only has the smallest levels of retcons built in to update from pre-Flashpoint (Cameron Chase gets a character reset, the DEO is slightly different, there’s a chunk of alluded to backstory with Renee Montoya that’s been shaken up by Montoya losing a lot of her history). Marc Andreyko’s run should have been better than it was – he handles the editorially-mandated Kate and Maggie breakup in a way that’s very familiar if you’ve read Andreyko’s Manhunter, but never manages to achieve a particularly interesting plot. I would however suggest reading the Batwoman Annual written by Andreyko, even if you stop at Andreyko, as it ties off the Williams III story.

Gotham By Midnight: Gotham police’s secret magic division, where Jim Corrigan, as the Spectre, is dealing with supernatural threats. Exactly the sort of minor series that gives more depth to Gotham as a city.

Detective Comics #30-44: Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato’s run on ‘Tec and the guest story from Ben Percy (Terminal 1&2) is probably my favourite mainline Batman storytelling of all of n52. It’s very police force based, rather like Rucka and Brubaker’s runs in the early 2000s. It’s focused on Harvey Bullock, but in a compelling way. They handle the concept of Batman, both from Bruce and from an outsider’s perspective, in a way that reminds me of some of the best Batman storytelling. The first two arcs are better than the third, for the unavoidable reason that Jim Gordon’s Batman in the third arc. Ben Percy’s Terminal 1&2 is a genuinely compelling airport disease outbreak story, and unlike a bunch of these types, holds up to read post-2020.

Arkham Manor: Despite what the title might make you believe, this is a delightfully fun story. Come for ‘what happened when Arkham Asylum fell into a hole in the ground’, stay for possibly my favourite Victor Fries characterisation ever. Next time anyone tells you Bruce Wayne doesn’t care about the rehabilitation of criminals, remember he gave up his HOUSE so they had somewhere safe to stay and he convinced the cops and psychiatrists to let Victor Fries live in an igloo on the Manor lawn basically for enrichment purposes.

Gotham Academy: look, if you want a lighthearted school story about teens that dips into some of the weirder mythology of Gotham without getting too bogged down in it? This is a fun read. There is definitely bonus when you know various other Gotham properties well, but at heart it’s just a magical/meta-filled school.

We Are Robin: I really like this as a story fleshing out Gotham and what Robin as a concept means to the children and teens of Gotham. Duke’s great and this solidifies a lot of the characterisation Snyder gave him and really grounds him with a backstory, but Riko Sheridan is also sparkling off the page with potential.

Batman & Robin, #1-23. Frequently frustrating, this is probably the best balance of writing of Damian in n52 and of Bruce’s feelings towards Damian. The 5 issues immediately after Requiem really set out for me the difference in discussion of death of a child between 1989 and ALPOD and 2013 and Damian’s death. I also think this contains the best writing of Damian actually struggling with his legacy as a ROBIN and with his feelings as the youngest child of the family.

Robin: Son of Batman: this in contrast is more of a look at Damian’s backstory PRIOR to his first appearance in Gotham and dealing with his feelings and penitence for his actions with the League of Assassins. It’s good if you want a whole-hearted attempt at balancing the inherent contradictions between “Damian’s existence and childhood is a betrayal by Talia that is hard to forgive” and “Talia as a complex character who loves her son”.

#z canon read throughs #story recommendations #there's some gold in that wash pan for n52

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spoookydoesart · 2 years

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Please let me have this. The concept of Jervis is so good even though his comics aren’t…great…..and writing a Wonderland-loving weirdo as a Wonderland-loving weirdo just sounds fun. So, I guess you’d call this my…

• JERVIS TETCH Headcannons / Interpretation •

• ——— •

Jervis Tetch- or, the Mad Hatter- was a once respected neurologist turned criminal. Unassuming at face value, he creates chaos through his backwards intelligence and hypnotism, molding Gotham to fit his vision of ‘home’.

• ——— •

Jervis was a neurologist, studying the subconscious. He was lonely, with few friends as a result of his social anxiety and awkwardness, but otherwise lived an average life.

This loneliness would bubble up into desperation, driving him to begin his criminal career before he would dawn his alter ego- the result of an unreciprocated crush on his coworker. He’d inconspicuously use hypnotism to make strangers steal gifts to impress her with, the small scale and lack of traceability leaving Jervis guiltless. But eventually his crush would catch on, refusing his gifts and eventually demanding he never talk to her again. In a panic, he would hypnotize a group of bystanders into stealing a large sum of money, which accidentally lead Batman straight to him. Batman would find Tetch begging for the woman to willingly leave Gotham with him, promising anything she wants with the stolen money.

His intelligence and fondness for mind control would land Tetch in Arkham Asylum, which was more than a shock to him. Of course he knew he was risking jail time, but Arkham?? He didn’t think anything he was doing was THAT bad! But now, he was sitting next door to some of the Gotham’s worst villains, amongst their ranks! He could never live a normal life again…. He didn’t want linger on those thoughts, escaping through one of the few distractions he had at his disposal- a copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. He reread and escaped from the reality of the Asylum so often that it soon became his most important influence and, in addition to acclimating to his criminal status, resulted in the creation of his alter ego- the Mad Hatter.

• ——— •

Jervis is deceptively non-villainous- pleasant, soft-spoken, and chipper. He enjoys “helping” others, and has moments of ditziness and anxiousness. If you had met him on the street unknowingly, you’d likely think he was just a well meaning eccentric with his head a little too far in the clouds. He does, however, have an awful temper, and is also quick to shift blame away from himself.

Many say he isn’t ignorant to this perception, with debates whether or not he knowingly plays up his personality to manipulate others. Generally, the people who know his history don’t typically respect him, but also don’t put down their guard around him. After all, there is no arguing his use of hypnotism and mind control, and the wacky schemes that are difficult to crack because of the nonsense logic that only he finds sense in.

The Mad Hatter has two main goals:

Make Gotham into a Wonderland. Causing general chaos, really. What he means by this isn’t clear (perhaps intentionally) as his schemes can be inconsistent. However, it’s usually with two underlying themes- regaining control, and not being alone.

To kill Batman. Ooooh he wants him dead. Jervis blames Batman for the loss of his old life, and sees this more that anything as a service to the people of Gotham, protecting the “innocent” from having their lives ruined as well.

• — — — •

(Character Concepts / Sketches)

#batman #batman tas #jervis tetch #the mad hatter #headcanon #au #maybe?#idk what I would call this #mainly the vibe was hes majorly dorky tho PF #edgy Hatter has continued to not work. also I did not include the Alice name in the love plot because that. is where most versions get weird #anyways the bookworm from the old live action show gave him his copy of Alice in Arkham. because they’ve been played by the same guy #BIG NOTE- not saying I could write him better than professionals. this is just my dream Jervis tbh #also I hope people don’t hate this. because I’m not a fast (or very good) writer and this whole this took some timeee #also also I know my art style does NOT lend itself to comic book vibes very well PF #I repeat tho. only tas Jervis is cannon. thank you

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theconstitutionisgayculture · 1 month

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What are some of your favorite games of all time?

This is a great question, more questions about video games, less questions where people make up things I never said and demand I defend those positions, XD

Anyway, here's a short list:

Pathfinder: Kingmaker. The best isometric RPG ever made, in my opinion.

Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. The best version of one of the best games ever made.

Mass Effect Trilogy. Yeah the third one shit the bed in a lot of ways, but I still enjoy the series as a whole. Playing a game series where your choices carried over from one game to the next was groundbreaking in the 2000s, and I always enjoyed my time with these games. Especially rereleased in the legendary edition.

Resident Evil 2, Original and Remake. My favorite Resident Evil game of all time. Great game, great story, great characters.

Resident Evil 4, original and remake. Second favorite Resident Evil game. Also, my husband's favorite game ever. I love seeing him get excited over it, XD

Suikoden 2. Great gameplay, great story, best game in the series.

Tales of Zesteria. Mikleo my beloved!

Jaws (NES). Yes, it's bad. Yes, it's short. No, I don't care. This was one of the first games I ever owned, and me and my dad used to play it together when I was very little. I have a lot of fond memories of trying to figure out how to beat the game with him. I still remember how excited we were when we started to figure out the gameplay loop for the very first time.

Mortal Kombat 2. The game that introduced me to the series, and still one of my old favorites. I still play and love MK to this day because of it.

Kingdom Hearts, whole series. I can't really pick one game, because they're all both really, really good and really, really bad, XD. But I love the story and the characters, and I've enjoyed each of them in different ways. But if I had to pick just one, I'd probably pick 2.

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic. Still the best Star Wars game ever made. Still one of the best western RPGs ever made. The plot twist is still one of my favorite moments in video game history.

Max Payne 2. Ugh, so good. Great storytelling, fun gameplay. Took everything great about Max Payne 1 and did it better. RIP James McCaffrey.

MegaMan Battle Network, whole series. Probably the best reimagining of a classic IP I've ever seen, from the old days when "reimagined" didn't mean "vandalized". I was several years older than him when the first game came out, but in a lot of ways I grew up with Lan and his friends, and these games will always have a special place in my heart.

Jade Empire. Another great BioWare western RPG. Great setting, good story, unique characters, and really good and unique-for-the-time combat.

Soul Nomad and the World Eaters. I don't even know why I like this game so much, but I do, lol. They should have given the male PC a romance ending with Gig, though >_<

Pokemon Red and Blue. Pure nostalgia entry, but even though there are a lot of boring Gen 1 haters, to be a 10 year old kid when the original US Pokemon craze was at its peak was something special, and the games and the Pokemon will always be cherished in this house. Gen 1 supremacy, noobs!

Batman Arkham Asylum. You have no idea what it was like growing up a Batman fan and a video game fan in the years before Arkham Asylum. Every Batman game was terrible. It was a running joke how no one could do a good Batman game. Hell, half the word of mouth for AA was "did you hear someone's trying to make a good Batman game?" That they got many of the incredible voices from Batman the Animated Series back was even better. RIP Kevin Conroy and Arleen Sorkin. (And fuck Mark Hamill)

Legacy of Kain, whole series. Aside from Metal Gear Solid, this series is the definitive master class on video game storytelling and voice acting. I love the plot, I love the characters, I love everything. I hate how the ball was dropped so hard after Defiance, because that game set up an amazing follow up that just...never happened. It was such a sad fall from grace, because in the early 2000s this was the AAA game series. Everyone loved it. Everyone was desperate for the next game. And then it just kind of fizzled out after a few missteps and developer woes. And it died a quiet death in a proto-live service multiplayer game that no one wanted and even fewer people played. And while the tragedy is appropriate to the Gothic setting, I'm still hoping against hope for a faithful remake of the first games that spurs the original developers to finally finish the series the way it always deserved.

Honorable Mention: Final Fantasy 8. Gonna be honest here, 70% of my love for this game comes from fanfiction, lol. I played the game when I was a kid, and didn't really like it. It was weird and looked bad (I played it long after I'd gotten used to the "modern" graphics of the PS2 generation) and even with a Codebreaker and cheats the final boss was super frustrating. But there's some really great FF8 fanfic out there. Stuff I reread every few years. And it's given me a phantom nostalgia for the game.

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wtfgaylittlezooid · 1 year

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srry if this is a weird question but what batman stuff would you recommend to someone with no real prior knowledge of it? followed you bc of kirby knowing nothing about batman but it looks like a lot of fun and ive considered getting into it. im not sure where to start with it though. do you have any favorite stuff thats like. "oh if you're new to the franchise you GOTTA check x out first"?

The best thing about Batman is it has absolutely no consistency. Really the characters tend to change depending on the writers and artists. So go apeshit! I got into it by getting sick and binging every Scarecrow comic i could find online in my brief periods of consciousness LMAO

Also keep in mind I am still very much bullshitting my way through Batman and DC in general EFGUIEWWEF

But the ones I would recommend aka the ones i started with:

The Long Halloween

13 Issues. One of the most iconic Batman stories, and one of my personal favorites. Specifically it centers around Harvey Dent, Carmine Falcone, and Batman all trying to identify stop a killer called "Holiday" from offing another member after member of Gotham's biggest crime family.

The art is absolutely gorgeous and captures tone perfectly. It also showcased a handle of the Batman rogues on the side and is REALLY fun trying to guess who the killer is alongside the characters. It also has a sequel: Dark Victory!

Here's the link to read it

Batman: The Audio Adventures

This is my personal favorite Batman media. It's an official podcast focused on the 60s Batman! Which means its a lot goofier than a most of current Batman.

It's a dark comedy podcast, but don't let that fool you. It knows when to take itself seriously, and features a small handful of the Batman Rogues! Also my favorite detail is that it takes the guise of a radio show- complete with fake ads that hold foreshadowing and funny gags! It does a great job of capturing the chaos of Gotham with the constantly interchanging multiple storylines, but keeping it understandable.

Also this podcast is entirely free. You can find the entirety of it on Youtube, HBO Max, and Spotify.

Arkham Series

If you prefer video games or playthroughs instead of comics, I highly recommend the Arkham games! There's Arkham Origins, Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, and Arkham Knight. They all have VERY interesting and well done versions of the characters and are a blast to play.

I recommend starting with Arkham Asylum, since its the first released of the games and is much easier to jump into than the others, imo. You basically play as Batman dropping off Joker to the asylum as usual, but everything goes wrong and ends with all the inmates taking control of the Asylum, leaving Batman to uncover Joker's newest plan and fighting through the Asylum hes been trapped in.

Arkham Asylum is normally $20 on Steam, but it has a free demo you can play. Also the games tend to go on sale pretty often and you can usually get the whole series for less than $10

Batman: The Animated Series

I have to recommend this one. It is the most iconic Batman media and has done so much for the characters and series. It's a fun series with lovely animation and surprisingly heartfelt episodes.

It has some of my favorite interpretations of the villains and one of my personal favorites of Batman! It doesn't pretend Bruce Wayne is heartless and beats the shit out of criminals for the hell of it. It's a great watch!

You can watch it on HBOMax with a subscription, but since streaming services are a parasite, you can also find it on PrimeWire.

#batman #dc comics

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nellienellnell · 9 months

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Finally Getting the Joke

Fandom: Batman, DC Comics

Characters: Harley Quinn, The Joker, Jeremiah Arkham, Poison Ivy

Warnings: None

Series Summary: Fresh out of her residency, Harleen Quinzel begins her career in psychology at Arkham Asylum, a place of terrifying rumors and even worse truths. Armed with her wits and some determination, she sets out to make a difference and help Arkham's inmates. Will she be strong enough to face what's waiting for her, or will she succumb to the insanity surrounding her?

Chapter Summary: Harleen starts her first day at Arkham.

Words: 3,866

A/N - Welcome to my first fic! I'm very new to this, so there's bound to be some errors. All criticisms and critiques are welcome (and encouraged)!

Chapter One - Entering the Mouth of the Beast

It was morning, she was sure, but the clouds that encircled the building blocked out the sun entirely, holding it in constant night. The state of the building only added to the unease one felt as soon as they met its steps. There was also the impression that it was frowning, almost crying. Standing before the brick behemoth was a young blonde woman, who flattened her sweaty palms against her skirt. After taking a deep breath, she climbed the steps and pulled the front doors, entering the mouth of the beast.

The daunting nature of the situation made her mind buzz with worries, like if her makeup looked quite right or if her hair was still under the strict hold of her hairspray. She toiled over the look of her smile, if it was too toothy. Frustrated, she gripped at her blazer, buttoning it and unbuttoning it, only to button it again. Her short black heels clacked loudly against the tile flooring, which only embarrassed her further. At one point, she even tried to tiptoe, but that only looked weirder. Only a few steps more , she reminded herself. Only a few steps more to Dr. Arkham’s office.

The door creaked softly, and a worn-looking man in a white coat looked up from his desk. He smiled faintly at the woman who then entered.

“Excuse me, Dr. Arkham?” She mutters. He stands from his seat, offering his hand out to her.

“Yes, that’s me. And you are…”

“Quinzel,” The woman yipped. “Harleen Quinzel. Doctor Quinzel.” Tacking on a title to her name was still foreign, tumbling clumsily off her tongue.

“Right, quite right. Your first day,” Arkham remembered. “Please, take a seat,” Harleen looks behind her, finding a chair. At first, she finds she doesn’t know how to sit; legs crossed or uncrossed, hands folded or at her sides. Finally, she decides on locking her ankles and placing her hands on her knees.

“I was reviewing your information again, Doctor Quinzel. I must say your qualifications, your references, they’re quite astounding,” Dr. Arkham said, pleased. He fished a paper from a jumbled stack on his desk.

“I mean really!” He beams, leaning back in his chair. “Top of your class at Gotham State,”

“Valedictorian,” Harleen chimed. She then noticed her intrusion and sank into herself. Dr. Arkham didn’t seem to notice.

“Valedictorian! Excelled during your residency with only good things to say about you. Kid, I think you’re going to do great things.”

“Really?” Harleen grinned. The look of her smile didn’t bother her much, she couldn’t hide it anyway.

“Really,” He answered her. Then, leaning towards the desk, he donned a much more serious look. “With all these shiny accomplishments, I really have to wonder. What made you choose a place like Arkham? You could have had your pick of any major institution in the country.”

“I know the reputation Arkham has. . I don’t live under a rock. Over ten years I’ve spent in Gotham, I’ve heard the horror stories. That’s exactly why I applied,” Dr. Arkham furrowed his brow. “Those ten years, I fought tooth and nail to get where I am. I want to help people, Doctor. Even these people. I think they might need help most of all, quite frankly.” For just that moment, her confidence bloomed, and the continuous buzzing in her head began to settle.

“Well,” Arkham started.. “I think you’re a perfect fit. Welcome to the team, Doctor Quinzel.”

“Thank you, Doctor Arkham.” Harleen bowed her head respectfully.

“Has anyone shown you around the facility yet? If not, allow me to give you the full tour,” Arkham said before standing and gesturing for her to follow him out the door.

They started down a corridor, where Arkham would go to explain each office, with its use and who usually works inside. The two passed the filing room, where all inflows of mail and documents end up to be sorted, though, by the looks of the room, its purpose had long been neglected. Every few steps, one of the lights just above would flicker, and the scent of cheap coffee wafted by their noses. Harleen was introduced to many of her coworkers, who looked through her glumly, muttering hellos and other basic introductions.

The hall would then make its way to the wards, sealed away behind a locked door that Dr. Arkham opened with a keycard.The lights were significantly darker after they trekked into the inmate section of the facility. Harleen recounted her residency and the places she’d been, but what she saw around her was nothing like her memories. She remembered common rooms, people constantly around to offer help and company to the patients. Instead of that she only saw emptiness, with each patient awaiting silently in their rooms. Cells, more like , Harleen thought with a shudder. Only a thin sliver of glass made the world outside their doors visible. Some of the windows revealed eyes behind them, watching the doctors walk. It was almost instinctual for Harleen to look away, avoid their gaze, refusing to look back into their eyes.

This issue didn’t bother the man she walked with, however. He continued to talk and explain the history of his asylum, not even noticing the eyes that glared as he passed. At several doors, he would pause and begin a speech about the criminal who lived inside, what they had done, and how Arkham had finally gotten their hands on them. Like it was a field trip through a museum. Or a zoo. He brought up news headlines and police reports. When asked about psychiatric records or case files, the information was much more sparse, and the doctor became much less enthusiastic.

A light sparked in his eyes when he remembered the asylum’s fascinating newest addition. Arkham excitedly led the way, guiding Harleen through a series of doors until they arrived at one plastered in warning posters. “EXTREME TEMPERATURE WARNING” they read. “PROCEED ONLY WITH PROPER PROTECTION”.

Dr. Arkham went up to the door, slid open the slot, and turned back to Harleen, grinning ear to ear. “About a year ago, his wife was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Doctors said they couldn’t help. So, get this, he tries to freeze her . I guess to preserve her. But his experiments backfired on him. Now, his body has to be kept at sub-zero temperatures in order to survive.” He backed away from the slot, making way for Harleen. Slowly, she stepped forward. As she got closer, her breath became visible, escaping in white plumes. The frigid air met her nose, spreading its chill across her cheeks. It was colder than any winter she had ever experienced.

She peered through the slot, almost expecting to see hanging meats and to be told he had actually led her to the walk-in freezer as a joke. She thought she’d see nothing. But instead of either, she did in fact see a man. His skin discoloured, lacking any human warmth. He shared more resemblance to an ice sculpture of a man than to one of flesh and blood. Though his history had been explained to her, and for what she knew he was safe and sound, the sight of him caused her to jerk back.

“We must be sure not to leave his slot open too long,” Arkham explained as he slid it closed, clicking the lock. “Even a slight raise in temperature could potentially be fatal.”

“How awful,” She lamented.

“Don’t feel too bad. This man is up there with the likes of Riddler or Bane. He caused a lot of casualties in his crusades. Almost put Batman in the hospital.”

Harleen grimaced. “I almost think he should have.”

The tour continued on as usual, only now Harleen couldn’t resist wondering how many of the inmates had been victims of the Batman. How many had never been given a proper chance at all, from the likes of masked vigilantes and police and even the asylum they’re all doomed to fall into. She was of the opinion that even he deserved a room in Arkham. He was one of them, just as crazy and psychotic, but he was a flavour of crazy that society could stomach.

“Oh, and another ‘special case’,” Arkham once again prepared to show off another door. “A metahuman with the ability to control plants. Unlike most of the others, she’s not allowed time in the courtyard, as she could use even a single blade of grass to bring the whole building down.” Like the previous door, he pulled open the slot for Harleen to look into.

Inside, a figure within sat atop a bed, her knees held tightly to her chest. Crimson red hair trickled over her shoulders and down her back. Her head turned slowly to face the intrusion. Harleen found herself making eye contact with the figure, looking into her green eyes. The emerald depths contained only contempt for the doctor’s presence. Harleen identified something in that glare, a feeling that travelled the distance between them and gathered heavy in the pit of her stomach.

Dr. Arkham slammed the slot shut. “Don’t let the calm fool you. She’s as crazy- maybe even crazier than most in here.”

“Who’s assigned to her case?” Harleen asked, her eyes still fixated on the slot.

“Ehm,” The man rubbed his chin. “I don’t think anyone is at the moment. No one’s ever gotten much from her, she’s not really a talker. What, do you want her case?”

“I would like to try. Maybe I’ll be the one to get her to open up.” She said hopefully.

The older doctor laughed. “Hey, I like the enthusiasm. I don’t think that would be a bad idea.”

“She’s the craziest, you said?” Harleen asked. Arkham knitted his brows, shifting his eyes around the room.

“Well, not the craziest, I suppose. But we do have a man who takes that title. Come on, I’ll bring you to his room. When we get there, just stay calm. If he says or does anything, try not to react, it only gets him riled up,” The doctor warned. Harleen gulped down the lump in her throat.

The elder doctor’s pace sped up significantly as they neared the room. His fists repeatedly clenched and unclenched, with his knuckles turning stark white each time they closed. A close inspection would even reveal tiny beads of sweat clinging to his temples.

They passed through multiple clearance checkpoints, and after several keycard slides and passcodes punched in, they arrived at a giant, looming metal door. Unlike the other cells, there wasn’t a slot for Dr. Arkham to pull open. There wasn’t a window to connect the room within with the outside world. The door was smooth, strong metal. Harleen would have guessed it was a bank vault if she didn’t know any better.

“So… is he like the other two? Does he have special abilities, or special requirements to keep him alive?” Harleen asked, gesturing vaguely towards the large door.

“Worse,” Arkham croaked. “He’s completely human.” Harleen looked back at the door, and the lock that kept it in place.

“That’s all for a human man?”

“Doctor Quinzel, behind this door, is arguably the most dangerous man in Gotham, if not the country.” He stressed. A moment of realization washed over her.

“He’s the Joker .” She breathed.

“We’ve held him up to five times now,” Arkham began. “Blackgate has had him four times before us. He even served an extensive stay in Belle Reve in Louisiana. It seems prisons are more of a hotel to him, given that he never stays very long. The only thing we can do is adapt, strengthen our security, basically “Joker proof” the asylum. That has all amounted to this, a vault of reinforced steel; materials donated to us by Gotham city bank. It needs a passcode as well as a key for the door to open.” The doctor continued to explain.

“His meals are given to him through this compartment, which connects to another door on the other side.” He pointed to the small square hatch beside the door. “The tray goes in, the door is then locked again on our side, while his door is unlocked remotely; this way he doesn’t have to leave or make any physical contact that would put anyone’s safety at risk.”

The precautions they took made sense to Harleen. She had certainly lived in Gotham long enough to know about this inmate. She knew he was dangerous. She knew that he had escaped many prisons, tricking and killing his way out of each one. Above all, she knew of all the blood he spilled, and the risk he imposed on society. Still, there was a question she couldn’t fight out of her mind.

“So, he’s always completely alone? No company? No counsel? Isn’t he here to get treatment?”

“He’s here because we need somewhere to keep him. Your heart is in the right place, Harleen, but he’s not capable of being helped.”

“Everyone can be helped. It just depends if someone is actually willing to put in the work. Respectfully, I know it isn’t always easy, but it can be possible.” She argued.

“Respectfully, ” The doctor echoed. “Some people can’t be helped. And when it comes to people like him, they shouldn’t be helped. They’re not worth the effort.”

Harleen felt heat rising in her face, fueled by a familiar anger. She wanted to argue. This was a debate she knew well, having encountered it all throughout her schooling. Where was the line? What did it take before someone was too far gone? It was on this topic that she often disagreed with her classmates and professors. After so many fruitless efforts, she learned to just keep her mouth shut. But, for some reason, this time was different. This time, it made her ask something stupid.

“Could I be put on his case?”

“It’s only your first day and you want me to put you on the case of the most prolific murdering maniac that we have in here?” Doctor Arkham raised his eyebrows.

“What can I say, I’m ambitious.” Her tone implied she was joking, but inside she knew she was serious.

“I can tell that about you, Harleen,” Arkham laughed. “You’re going to do great things, but let’s work ourselves up to it. Baby steps, Doctor Quinzel. Baby steps.”

“Baby steps,” She repeated in agreement.

Dr. Arkham escorted Harleen out of Joker’s section of the facility, but just before they were out of earshot, Harleen heard faint laughter in the distance. A primal kind of sound, like that of a hyena. A sound born of impulse instead of joy. Something inspired by convulsions, with the same amount of control as a cough, or a sneeze, or hiccup. A necessity that clawed its way from deep inside the chest and up one’s throat. It echoed down the hall following them, chasing them, as they left. She felt it gnashing at her heels, running a chill up her spine. She couldn’t escape it soon enough.

With the tour concluded, Harleen was led back to Dr. Arkham’s office. He pulled open a drawer from his filing cabinet and leafed through manila folders. Making his selection, he plucked some files and settled them into a pile, which he then turned and handed to Harleen.

“I would like you to look at some of the cases we have, Dr. Quinzel. See what sticks out to you, what might interest you. From there, we can try to get you started with a patient.” Arkham instructed. His eyes darted anxiously to his watch.

Harleen quirked her head, “Well, what about the one from earlier? Could I start off with her?”

“I would rather you start out smaller. Preferably with a patient who doesn’t have powers. It’s just the precaution of your safety, really.” He answered, before once again lifting up his sleeve to inspect the clockface on his wrist.

“It has been a pleasure meeting you and welcoming you on board, but I really must be going. They’ve scheduled me into another meeting to discuss the efficacy of Arkham,” The aged doctor shook his head. “We’d be a hell of a lot more efficient if they would stop voting to cut our funding.” His weary eyes sealed themselves to the floor as he stood frozen; apparently drifting into deep thought. After a beat, his eyes returned to him, and they locked with Harleen’s.

“Good luck. I will try to check back with you in your office later.” Arkham exited through the door, beginning a quick pace down the corridor.

“Doctor Arkham, wait!” The doctor did so, spinning around.

“My office,” Harleen spoke. “You never showed me which was mine.”

Arkham blinked absently. “Oh, yes, right. I got quite carried away. So confused anymore. Your office is in the west wing, down that hall, and to the left. I would take you to it, but I really haven’t got the time. It should have your name, so hopefully not too hard to find.” With the information delivered, Dr. Arkham scurried back and out of the corridor.

Following the directions she was given, the psychologist came upon the door that, according to the Sharpied paper taped beside it, belonged to her. She took the doorknob in her hand, but it resisted as she tried to turn it.

Rosy embarrassment painted her cheeks. Reluctantly, Harleen approached the office door adjacent to her own and knocked. Heavy footsteps preceded the jostling of the doorknob and the door swung open, revealing a short, pudgy man. The few remaining wisps of grey hair laid messily across his balding head. He looked Harleen up and down and cocked an eyebrow.

“Whuddya want?” He grumbled.

“Quinzel. Doctor Quinzel. Harleen Quinzel. Psychologist,” She reddened further and she closed her eyes tight, organizing her thoughts. “Sorry, my office is the one across the hall. It’s locked.” The man looked at her, then to her office door, then back to her. He scratched at the stubble on his chin.

“So you got that office, huh?” The tone was mostly rhetorical, but held traces of genuine surprise.

Harleen nodded. “Yes, but it’s locked and Dr. Arkham left before he gave me the key.”

“I’ll call up security for ya,” He said, turning and receding back into his office. Under his breath, he continued to mutter. “Thought we should have kept that shut up.”

She had gotten tired of staring at her watch. The second hand ran countless laps around, each completed circle marked by a lunge from the minute hand, who had gotten many good jumps in before someone finally turned the corner.

“Heard you got a locked door,” said a young, and oddly chipper, security officer who punctuated his statement by jingling his ring of keys. The energy he carried was visibly and immediately different. For the first time since she entered Arkham, Harleen’s shoulders untensed.

He stepped forward, taking note of the office, then went to his collection of keys, picking at each one until he concluded on the correct one. He inserted the key, hesitating briefly before turning and opening the door. His head whipped around, assessing the entire room. Finding the switch, he flicked on the lights, before backing up and holding the door open for Harleen to enter.

“Thank you so much. How embarrassing to get locked out on my first day,” She forced a laugh.

“Hey, don’t sweat it. And you’re very welcome, Doctor…” He leaned back to look at the paper on the wall. “Quinzel. Did I get that right?” The officer’s eyes gleamed.

“Yes, that was perfect.” She giggled, though this time was genuine.

“Well, I’m Aaron. If you need anything else, just ask for me. I’ll see you around, Dr. Quinzel.” Aaron waved before leaving.

“Yes! I’ll see you around!” She bit her lip. “I hope.”

The swivel chair squeaked under her weight as she settled into it. She inspected the nicks, scratches, and scuffs that adorned the dark wooden desk. They mingled alongside white rings; the ghosts of hot coffee mugs that had been placed there before. Hiding these imperfections from view, Harleen laid out each of the files that Dr. Arkham had handed to her.

Which would be the perfect choice to start out her career at Arkham? As she read through the files, she found that there would be a spark of remembrance when their criminal alias was mentioned, and suddenly Harleen would envision the morning that she had read that name in the newspaper, or heard about their crimes on TV.

It intrigued her to learn about the person behind the mask, so to speak. These criminal masterminds were once children. They were people with families and jobs and hardships who one day decided to throw it all away and create a whole new identity. One that would solely exist for their spiraling life of crime, theft, and violence. They traded blazers and suits for masks and capes, items and colors that would show everyone who they were. Who they’ve become. Who the world has shaped them into.

Harleen carefully read over each file multiple times until her brain became foggy and her eyes blurred. After a few hard blinks, she looked at her watch to find that nearly three hours had passed. Each minute was felt in the stiffness of her neck and the soreness that stretched down her back.

A knock at the door broke the silence of the room and caused her to jump slightly.

“Come in,” she chimed.

As commanded, the door slid open and Dr. Arkham stepped inside. The way he studied her face made Harleen worry if it outwardly showed how tired she felt. But, looking back at the aging doctor, it seemed like he was just as tired as her.

“Long meeting?” She asked. Arkham looked at the floor and placed his hands on his hips, sighing.

“Very. It shouldn’t be a fight to keep our funding stable but,” The doctor waved his arms up and let them fall loudly to his sides in defeat. “That’s just how it goes now.”

There was a beat before he shook away the stress and remet Harleen’s face, now with more enthusiasm. “Did you get to look through those files?”

“Oh, yeah,” she responded. “I just got done rereading each one like, five times.” Dr. Arkham laughed.

“And? Do we have any winners?”

Harleen looked at the spread of manilla folders once again, recounting the contents of each one. Her eyes fixed on one sitting in the middle. It was slightly slimmer than the others, but she had found the contents interesting. She picked at it and handed it to Arkham, who had now taken a seat in front of her.

“This one, I think. #181. Mortimer Drake.” she told him. Dr. Arkham flipped through the papers in the folder, then held up a photo. A grin spread on his face as he let out a chuckle.

“Oh, yes, I remember him,” he said, still smiling. “The Cavalier. Yes, I think this will be a great choice for you, Dr. Quinzel. I’ll go ahead and set up your first session.”

#Harley Quinn #Harleen Quinzel #Arkham Asylum #DC Comics #my fic #fanfiction #The Joker #Poison Ivy #Mr. Freeze #The Cavelier #my first fic #I went through this several times already there better not be huge glaring errors

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march-harrigan · 1 year

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Arkham Dork Squad: 5, 6, 18! And for another one: 13, 20, 21 for your lovely lil haresona u-u

OKAY, SO! I answered 5 and 18 for Jervis here! The rest, I'll put under a cut.

Jervis

6- Favourite thing this character has said? - This is a tough one, because I love just about everything that comes out of this man's mouth and it also really depends on the version! From his entire monologue in his Joker's Asylum story and his breakdown in BTAS(Perchance to Dream). Or sillier things like his rhyming argument with cash in Arkham Knight or... Just about anything in Secret Six.

One that did stick out to me though, in terms of characterization and how I generally perceive his motives was in Arkham Origins. When he's testing the mind control devices on his "rabbits."

"That's always been the trouble, though, hasn't it? No one ever wanted to hear what Jervis had to say. He might as well have been invisible."

THIS is exactly what I mean when I say he feels overlooked. Jervis has a need to feel seen. To be important and valued enough to be heard. And that's exactly where at least some of his issues with control begin.

Jonathan

5- What do you not like about this character? - I'm gonna be honest. The major thing I dislike isn't even that deep. I just think he should be depicted as Southern more often. That we should have a selection of official, Southern-accented voices to pick from.

Don't get me wrong, I love the depictions of Jon that we have. But ever since I learned about Year One Scarecrow, I need that Georgia boy!

6- Favourite thing this character has said? - You know that part in Arkham Knight where you go back to the clock tower and you have to take out a bunch of militia guys and Scarecrow's waxing poetic about fear? Describing the effects it has on the body, how ancient it is, the kind of primal fear our ancestors felt?

Yeah, all of that.

18- What’s something you associate this character with? E.g. a certain colour, object or scenery? - I associate him with autumn colors. Orange, brown, and red mostly. Obviously, there's just the entire concept of fear. He's usually on my mind when I get the urge to binge some horror content.

Halloween is another big association. Whether he loves it because it suits his motif or hates it because of related trauma, I feel like every version of Jonathan Crane has some strong feelings about Halloween, one way or the other.

Eddie

5- What do you not like about this character? - I don't really have a lot of negative to say about Ed. At least as a whole.

I guess if I were to gripe about a specific version, it would be Gotham. I liked him well enough? But his transition from Ed Nygma to the Riddler was just. Not great in general. I feel like someone who's watched the series more than once could explain it better than I can. It was all very weird, and not in a good way.

6- Favourite thing this character has said? - Honestly, everything out of Arkham!Riddler's mouth is pure gold. He's quickly become my favorite just for the shit he says and Wally Wingert's flawless delivery of that shit! The most memorable though would probably be the classic:

“You solved it? Ah, but this is merely check, detective. Soon I will be mating you. Wait, I meant chess! Chess, you base, gutter-minded savage!”

18- What’s something you associate this character with? E.g. a certain colour, object or scenery? - The obvious color is green(and to a lesser extent, purple). I associate the Riddler with games and puzzles of all kinds. Just going by the things on my desk there's crosswords and Rubik's cubes and... Yeah, even dice, although he's more about skill than chance.

Portal comes to mind too. I feel like he'd enjoy the games(and making his own test chambers).

March

13- Contrary wise if it is an OC, what’s your favourite story with them in it you’ve written? - I am... Honestly so bad about actually writing the content for my self-inserts and OCs. Any plotlines that happen are either in my head or RP if I'm lucky.

I guess one of my favorite ideas I have for them(on how they meet Jervis) is the one where Jervis has recently broken out of Arkham. He returns to his old hideout to grab a few things only to discover that someone's broken in.

He finds them at the table. Full costume, feet propped up and sipping tea. They claim to be the March Hare and he just kind of... Accepts/goes along with it? All is forgiven because, after all, "what's a little breaking and entering between friends?"

However, what Jervis will not tolerate, is their FEET on the TABLE!

Shortly after this, he helps them improve their costume, including a set of ears with a neural link that enables them to control the ears via thought and emotion.

20- Contrary wise, if this character is an OC, how does their presence change the story? - Call me Mary Sue, but the biggest change is just. To Jervis. The friendship(and eventual romance) helps stabilize him to a certain degree. Though, at the same time, March is a huge enabler for some of his crimes. A simultaneous "I can fix him" and "I can make him worse."

21- Wild card! Talk about anything to do with this character! Anything at all! - Gonna do a Jervis-related one and one that's not related to Jervis because like. This sona is for self ship, but I also wanna develop them as their own character beyond "haha date Jervis."

Depending on version(AKA if it's one of the takes where Jervis does the rhyming thing), March will rhyme along with him. In fact, it's not uncommon for the two of them to have conversations entirely in verse where they complete each other's rhymes. They are both VERY good at improv this way.

March likes to collect weapons and has quite the assortment. Various swords and knives, a medieval mace. Some throwing knives in the shape of playing cards if they feel like being a bit more On Brand. They have a few guns, but those aren't really favorites. It's more that they can acknowledge them as more efficient in certain situations.

There is, however, a tommy gun they've gotten attached to. They favor it during heists.

Bonus: Their favorite tea is Earl Grey, but they're also big on breakfast teas.

#questions answered #ask meme

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justafleck · 1 year

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Alrighty clownies, lets have a discussion! We are going to talk about my blog a little bit just in case there is any confusion in terms of interactions with my portrayal. Please take a moment to read.

First and foremost, I do have a carrd that’s got my rules, about and a link to my arcs are located at the bottom of his about page. I also have the links to my arcs on my pinned post on my profile for your convenience. To be blunt, I can tell if you haven’t read my rules, arcs and my about pages. Although I am very tied to a canon portrayal, I do have important information noted in all three places that explain to you how my Arthur functions whether it’s during the Joker 2019 timeline or after.

I have also just linked them on this post right here on the first paragraph and I highly suggest you go give them a read if you haven’t already as I will not hesitate to drop threads the second I’m made aware you have not acknowledged any key points to my portrayal. It’s rude and disrespectful: I take the time to read yours, the least you can do is read mine. After the movies timeline is currently and will remain entirely headcanon based. I am aware that they are making a second ( what i dare call ) movie ( musical...wtf ) : though there is not a single thing I like about the sounds of the future production thus for my blog will have absolutely nothing to do with it. That’s for a tangent another day: the important thing is that you read the information I provide to you so that you know what my portrayal is all about.

Important Notes ( straight from my rules & about page ) : — I will not water down or filter Arthur Fleck as I don’t want to take away from his canon character.

— Do not try to change Arthur’s canon. The events of the movie are crucial for his character development and unless heavily plotted otherwise ( and I mean HEAVILY plotted ) .

— Do not expect me to or try to sway me to write Arthur as any other variation of Joker. He is Arthur Fleck. If you have any question on what he may or may not do, please ask me. Never assume!

— There will never be a time when I would ever write rape, sexual assault, dubcon, incest, racism or pedophilia on this blog. If you write these things, see yourself to the door.

— Arthur will never be abusive.

— Arthur's personality will never be watered down, filtered or altered for a ship. He continue to still have suicidal tendencies, thoughts and actions. Being in a relationship will not magically cure Arthur of his mental illnesses.

I would like to elaborate a bit about my portrayal of Joker. While there are many variations of Joker: I write Arthur Fleck and Arthur Fleck only. He is no where near like the other Jokers. He is mentally ill, but everything he does is with a great purpose. He doesn’t kill ‘for funsies’.

There are no mass murders, massive explosions, bank heists or any of that off the wall stuff. He does not have ‘goons’ : he does have followers that he may rarely use to his advantage but he prefers to work solo. There is also no vats of acid: we literally saw the build up to him becoming Joker in the movie. There will also never be any of that clique abusive Harley & Joker content on this blog either: he treats ALL of his partners with respect and dignity. His kill count by the time he is put into Arkham Asylum at the end of the movie is 6 people. His victims are the three wallstreet guys, his mother Penny Fleck, Murray Franklin and the first therapist he’s assigned in Arkham Asylum. I headcanon in his Asylum arc that during his first escape from Arkham asylum, he killed people to get out of the Asylum. Though I did not specify the amount in the arc, I’d say it was most likely anywhere between 8-10 maximum. The only reason this happened is one: to ensure his freedom and two: he is heavily influenced by Jonathan Crane’s fear toxins. He is not in his regular mind. After his escape, he does continue to kill those who betray, hurt or slander him. In his P U N C H L I N E ! arc, he does kill the owner of a night club ( a truly horrible man : it’s all written out in plain text in the arc ) and takes over the club. He doesn’t murder people he deems innocent or people who have generally have nothing to do with him in any capacity nor does he go around popping heads on the streets just because he’s got a gun in his hand. This isn’t grand theft auto. At this point, we can lose track of his kill count but please do not assume that he’s just going around blasting everything that moves like he’s playing call of duty. That is just not how my Arthur works.

I’d much appreciate it if you need clarification: please, come and ask me if you’re unsure because the quickest way to peeve me is by assuming things that Arthur would simply never do.

#✦✧There is no punchline✧✦ ➝ ( important )

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fordarkisthesuede · 2 years

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I got tagged by @fractualized - and I had to think about this for a while. Sorry for the delay, frac'! I pretty much felt like this all week (lol):

GIF by lostwithoutmyboswell

Ok, so we're gonna start from #5, because I decided to rate these like a loon:

#5:

Birth. Starting off on the disk horse topic of HP fanfic. Listen, regardless of how I feel about the series now (which is messy, to say the least), there's one thing I still can't help but love about it...and it's not only tiny, but half of the reasoning behind it is of my own making. It's Peeves the Poltergeist. I LOVE Peeves. He's my favorite character type - short, temperamental, powerful, 90% humor and fun, inhuman, and neither a Good nor Bad guy. I rarely used to read HP fic back in the day, but I noticed that for such a big fandom, he never had much to his name. (And what I did find was...disappointing for me.) I reread the series in 2015 for the first time in a while and did some Deep Thinking about him. What his limits are. How he's presented. Where he even came from. The bare scraps of canon and Word of God (distasteful) material pushed my buzzing brain to write about him, and eventually churned out this little origin story. I wrote several one-shots surrounding him, but this is my favorite of the bunch. In my eyes, it's simple, short, and effective in storytelling. So I like it. (^_^)

#4:

The Whole Nine Yards. Yes, my current WIP is on the favorite list. It started off as a sex-romp list, because I had too many positions and kinks I wanted John and Bruce to try. It first grew into showing Bruce/John as a couple at home, because my main fics in the Perseverance Project series don't get to show them being all lovey-dovey as much as I'd like. Then I added a few dashes of angst for character building. Then it evolved into including what AtBoM skipped over (for various reasons) - visits at Arkham showing their [growing] love and trust rebuild post-S2, and showing different sides to them.

So what we have now is: "Two guys in love met in an asylum 2.5 years ago, and less than one year after they first met, one keeps coming to visit the other. The visits' subjects are then related to current day, where they finally live together like a real couple, with all it's ups and downs, and sexy results". It's a mouthful, I know. ;D But I think it works!

It's great to explore all these things and essentially back-track a bit versus rewrite any part of AtBoM. Plus, I get to mumble about something that always interests me in this 'verse: Bruce's relationship with his parents. To go from loving them and putting them and their deaths on a pedestal to look to for inspiration to keep going on being Batman, to learning they were the biggest criminals in the city and a key reason while he's even having to be Batman... That's gotta affect how he looks at things. Like, I mentioned Bruce's dislike of his house in AtBoM and TToJ, but here it's full-force. It was a mausoleum for their memory and now it's just a means to an end. He doesn't consider it home, or even rightfully his. But John living there with him makes it a home. Their home. :')

Also, I feel like I'm playing a decorating game and a dress up game with it! Kind of like The Sims, I guess. xD John's room and summer wardrobe are fun to craft as I go. (Don't worry, you'll get to see John's classic outfit at the end. For...reasons.) Plus, soon* you'll see Bruce's bedroom revamped!

#3:

A Ghost Too Far. Disk Horse, part two. Peeves is the one thing I still wistfully sigh over and go "ah, what could have been"...all while knowing that I took the bones of my blorbo and crafted him a full body myself. It's been 7 years since I started writing this particular story, and it clocks in over 230K words. As things are now, I have no idea if I'll ever actually finish it, for a myriad of reasons. So to make a long story short (HA!):

Out of the hundreds of thousands of HP fanfics, and the handful that had Peeves as a character, I found Peeves had no proper big epic romance story of his own and decided to make him one, combining it with one big exploratory setting of How He Is, all set in 2003/2004. His destined romantic partner is an American witch (queue eyeroll), acting as a one-year-only DatDA teacher (queue harder eyeroll), who I can describe in modern** terms as a gender-non-conforming adult punk who is absolutely fascinated with ghosts. She makes it a point to study the castle ghosts, especially Peeves, as poltergeists are super rare and physical ones are apparently unheard of outside of him. She makes a deal with Peeves that he can break just about anything she owns and annoy her all he wants, in exchange for information on how he works. Which I worked out via the aforementioned HP reread and lots of Deep Thinking as literally by feeding off of (aka absorbing) magic from humans, like his "relatives" the Dementor and Boggart. Unlike them, he primarily eats high energy feelings of "anger" "sadness" and "excitement", because he was created in a castle with children who can have powerful feelings of all three very easily. Is this theory of mine presented in canon? Who fucking cares anymore, the author's dead in all senses but literal.

It might not be finished, and it might never be, but writing out this monstrosity of a theory while getting a guy like Peeves to fall in and explore love for the first time holds a special place in my heart. Because not only does Peeves reside permanently in my brain (I'm pretty sure he's the Writing Gremlin who suggests those "this is what goes painfully wrong" scenarios), but so does Dandrane, who I hand-crafted to be Peevesy's romantic partner. I love her. I owe her. Her favorite color is hot pink; because of her, I have gotten over my old feud with the color pink. I wrote her to be 30 while I was then 24; after a while, nearing/turning 30 no longer bothered me. I wrote her to be cool, confident, and a little horrible. Because we all have that bitchy little voice in our head sometimes... The desire to break something without consequences... The need to have our anger recognized rather than ignored or attempted to be placated... Dandrane is a wonderful vessel for these feelings, even after all this time.

She's my cool girl. My tall bean. My silly little flamingo. I want to put her in an enriched enclosure and watch her with a set of binoculars.

#2:

At the Brink of Midnight. My most popular fic is second-place in my heart, at this current hour. (Ha!) For reasons I'm sure you long-time readers already guessed, that I have mentioned time and again in it's author notes: this fic was FUN to make!!!

The Halloween setting! The fresh takes on Scarecrow and Poison Ivy! John recreating Joker! Bruce rescuing John! Bruce finally hugging John! THE CONFESSION SCENE! A rave scene in a graveyard!!! Batman and Joker teaming up to kick ass!!!!!

It's! So! Great!!! It's not too long, but still a big novel-length! Easy to read and get lost in! It presents an original character who carries the possibility of redemption! It hits all those story beats I craved to see for a Season 3! Hell, even now I'd be hard pressed not to expect to see Dr. Crane in any potential sequel we'd get IRL!

Are there things I'd change? Sure. But nothing major. I'm still happy with it, even 4 years later. Maybe part of my love for it is also a desire to be able to pump out 110K words within a few months again...

#1:

The Tolls of Justice!

Is it my most popular fic? Nah, it's #2. But it's my #1. The king of my heart. It took 2-and-a-half years to finish, in no small part because 2020 was a bitch. And despite the frustration at writer's block, despite the silly errors that I still need to go back and fix, and despite the time it took...God, I LOVE it.

Whenever I reread part of it, I get sucked in and read more than I meant to. I know the majority of the little notes I made, but whenever I read one of the tarot hints I can't help but go ehe he he. I read John's breakdown in Arkham, and his transformation into what is his final form of vigilante!Joker, and I still tear up. I see the theme of a writer playing God, of having a defined inescapable ending but proving that choices still matter, and just sit with it in utter delight.

I have many favorite moments: Tiffany and John's day out, the entirety of the Wayne Gala, John and Iman's investigation at the theater, Batman's descent into the Court of Owls' secret lair with Robin... But I have a favorite bit. It's the kind of thing I giggle over while kicking my legs in my seat.

So in Chapter 12, Batman and Joker are having a few moments together before the Big Battle in the high tier of seats above the main floor/"stage area", able to watch the Court of Owls' mock-trial below. In theaters, the highest tier is sometimes known as "the gods" seats.

As my version of the CoO has their whole thing built on "our God wrote down our destiny exactly and the Evil God keeps causing chaos to interfere", and considering the DC multiverses and that Batman and Joker are constantly in them, and as Bats and Jokes are generally simplified as "Order and Chaos"... They're figuratively 'gods' in "the gods" seats watching the show below. ౧(*മ് ധമ്)੭ु⁾⁾

As for WIPs, I only have 2 at the moment. I use OneNote to write all my ideas for it (when I'm actually writing them down):

As you can see, I have sections for The Whole Nine Yards (abbreviated "W9Y" in notes only) and the untitled "BtTTS S5" below. (The "After Hours" is just IRL work notes, when I had to use my personal PC for work in 2020, and "Noir "is literally a list of film noir movies I'm keen to watch. I've been really into them lately!)

Right now S5's notepad only has 2 sections - the Thinkbox and "J Tech". The Thinkbox pages are pretty much the brainstorm dumping ground...but TWNY's is actually laid out rather nicely, like this. I'd post a screenshot, but then this post would...uh, turn nsfw... (; ' o' )

Right now, the only WIP word docs are here, in my "BtTTS - The Perseverance Project" folder:

As for tagging...hm. Um... Since it was frac' who tagged me... I choose @distort-opia, if they're so inclined! (And anyone else who wants to!) Edit: I am a fool who does not reread properly. 😭 Sorry hun, you already did it! So field's wide open!!!

*at the time of this posting, TWNY Chapter 7 is still in progress. It's 2/3rds of the way done! (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧

**at the time of writing the story in question, the term "gender non-conforming" was not known about as widely as it is now; basically, I knew what it was without knowing what it was called.

#fanfic #telltale batman #batman the telltale series #hp fanfic #hp #fanfiction #my wips #juce #batjokes #peeves the poltergeist #long post #fractualized #bttts #self rec #wip challenge #fuck jkr

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selkymaiden · 9 months

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so sorry again for the double ask but i feel inclined to ask for my other wife, mina.

how would mina’s relationship with each of the 🧩❓s that exist be like? who do you think she’d get on with like a house on fire 😏

Don't ever be sorry!!! Tbh they're good exercises to really think about these little idiots. Naomi you really be hittin' the good good 👌👨‍🍳 *chef's kiss*

Alright but let me say this is very hard because 🧩❓ is so... Ofc very vastly intelligent and I am not. LMAO. So it's like the author (me) is creating a character (Mina) who is very smart, or brilliant in her own way so I have to do my best in not making her look bad. Like fuck. All because I'm committed to the bit. Aka romancing fucking uhhhh puzzle face.

Because I have actually thought about the different iterations of him!

But oh my god It's so hard with comic book characters though, since theirs so many different ones. And in no way am I a 🧩❓ expert flakjwer same with 🐧 so I'm always worried what if someone see's this and they're all 🤬 but then I tell myself I'm old and I simply should not care and do what I want. Because all the rest of the old people do 😂😂😂😂

I'll start with BTAS though, as always, since I grew up with it! Oh! And I will say each Mina in each universe is for that universe, or she'd be changed a little to fit that 'Earth' as DC likes to call it. But BTAS 🧩❓ is a lot more tame, at least I think he is, compared to some of the others out there. I mean did he try to murder his old boss? Yes. But his old boss did fire him and not give him credit for everything he created so... You know... And if I pull in some of the uhhh New Animated Series and comics that go with this version of him. I think it could work. There's actually a great piece in the comics where 🧩❓ he admits he has a problem and states he needs to go back to Arkham himself. Here is an audio someone made of it, the post also has a link to the comic if you wanna read it! But it's just the self awareness and you know stop setting deathtraps Mina is obv going to be all 👀😊 Like you did it, baby! You're breaking the cycle! Because she wants to root for him and care for him and be partners! I'm so sorry I will just also say she is so cheesy! She'd love to be partners or rivals with another detective- As much as she sees the good she's doing in finding you know a missing person or helping someone out with a cheating scandal (for money) she wants to be better than anyone else that might be doing the case. So she kind of sees her job as a game and would love to have someone else to play the game with, and that to her is 🧩❓

Okay, let me just get Batman: Zero Year or Capullo 🧩❓ out of the way. It would never work. LMAO. Not in probably a million years. I myself like this version of him! But what he did is the most whack-ass shit and Mina would NOT be okay with it like ever. If he ever got out of Arkham Asylum she'd probably narc on him point blank, like lock that MF back up. I don't know if you've read Zero Year (is it part of N52? I don't know the new stuff sorry flkajwer) but he basically turned all of Gotham into an entire fucking jungle, like he destroyed everything and fucking ruined millions of lives. All for what? For what? Because only the smart should survive and shit like that??? Now if they met before he did all that when he was just a 'consultant' or strategist at Wayne Enterprises, she'd probably bang him! But it would not be a relationship and after he does what he does she'd just be... Kill this mf even if he's sexy in some insane manner. She'd probably be an antagonist to him on this Earth.

Batman 2022 ehhhhhhhhhh Imma be real, I almost barely remember him when I watched that movie. It's like my brain blocked him cuz I thought he was... I don't know. It was too realistic and I see 🧩❓more camp. But Mina in that universe again would just be 'Let's swat this man.' She'd probably be the person on his forums just heckling him and when he tries to find her IP or ANYTHING on this user (her) he can't. So it pisses him off. Basically, it would not work because she does not care for incel men. That's probably what she'd see him as. Or those people that worship or are fascinated and collect serial killer items. The only saving grace is if he had, again, self-awareness of what he was doing or acting. Because Mina in that universe would understand to change things... A lot of people in power would need to be taken out. Whether by assassination or some other means like spilling the truth. But the way he goes about it, it's just not it for her. Again she'd probably be an antagonist to him actually in that Earth.

THIS IS SO LONG ALREADY I'M SO SORRY!

UMMMMMMM SPEED RUN OTHERS!?

Young Justice - I think it would work because he's so... That version of him is so soft and goofy! Mina would probably, not be okay, but would defiantly harp on him to change professions but she wouldn't impede in what he does. Even if it's bad. Like super bad where the young justice league has taken him in before. She'd be a bystander and just the one that says: "I told you so." She's waiting for him to learn his lesson cuz how he's written is much lighter and she'd be smitten by his gappy teeth and lisp.

OH and Gotham!🧩❓ That would be interesting bc she'd probably have to watch out since 🐧 literally killed one of Ed's girlfriends. But if birb is occupied with snake then... Maybe? Again she'd be like 'lol you gotta stop killing people dude uhhhh' and would more likely want to be a rival or just outsmart him than be romantic. At first. I'm sure she'd get a crush but how Ed has been written after (accidentally) killing his first GF he's uhhhh a lil unhinged. As that whole show is but lakfjwerkl

There's like telltale!🧩❓, unburied, and uhhh omg just a lot of others and I'll be honest in most of those Earths she'd be an antagonist. She's not GCPD or a cop, but she is someone who's defiantly done cases and probably found out they were victims of his death traps. And she's just like 'wtf no!' and not be okay with it. Even if she's a bit of a hypocrite and is okay with other... murders... (her friend Sophie turning people to stone lfkajwer) But there's a line!

I saved the best for last because I love Akrham! 🧩❓ I have the most ideas for them. Well, several. Like there's a good ending and a bad ending just like a game, cuz it's fun! I will just say bad ending is probably the most likely that would happen, but bad ending is just them killing each other. And in the most mundane way, or annoying way he'd see it as. Because it would not be some elaborate death trap or puzzle that does him in, or just something complex. She shoots him. They might even shoot each other. And bleed out next to each other, very possession 1981 is how I picture it. tw blood and gore if you click links alfkjwelrk (I'm sorry I'm unwell 😔) It would be in a cool setting though! Probably in one of his lairs, or he's constructing a new death trap for Batman or even Wonder City! But good ending is always him eventually becoming a Detective, like other versions of him, so in a way, he does become redeemable. I mean originally this version of him started off working at the GCPD and wanting to expose the corruption in Gotham, he just went about it all... Bad. LMAO. Also, I love how the progression through the games you see how he goes from clean-cut to just total ratification. When Mina begins talking to him she's only seen photos of him, so when he worked GCPD and when he's in his nice green suits! but when they do get to meet in person PHEW she takes one look at his pathetic, skin and bones, wet little dumbass and is just 'I need to care for him' but also be mad bc you know he's annoying AF.

#I'M SO SORRY IT'S SO LONG. It's just cuz his character is a lil more close to my heart so i have more onions on him and my gorl #i will just say if you read tags first if you wanna see main ship version it's the very last part of the ask #damn do i tag this as them or mina?? lfakjwer #But thank you so much!!!#oc. mina #xo. lovefool #roberthouses

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canadian-riddler · 2 years

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Y’know I don’t think I’ll ever understand why the DC comic writers chose to give Edward a S&M kink. Like I remember that one time he came to Penguin with a cast on his leg and told him he had the best beating, and to pass his number to one of the girls Oswald hired to beat him. It’s especially weird since he looked genuinely scared when Edward was dragged into being attacked. Idk, I guess something about seeing a guy who was chronically bullied and beat up as a kid and hating it, now enjoying getting his LEG BROKEN, kinda bugs me. 🤨

I mean, I don’t shame. But it just seems like a weird choice in my opinion...

I suppose we'd have to ask whether Riddler actually had that backstory in that continuity? I think the first place that was brought up was in the one-shot Questions Multiply the Mystery, but sometimes DC has origin story one-shots that are out of continuity and were never actually canon (Scarecrow Year One being a notable example). I can't confidently say him being bullied or beat up is actually part of his canon backstory for this reason. He DOES offhandedly mention it in Arkham Asylum but of course this is also a separate continuity.

Aside from that, to my knowledge people who have been abused sometimes do get into BDSM and enjoy it because it allows them to take power in a situation where they were once powerless. This obviously doesn't usually encompass broken bones but we the audience don't actually know what happened. Maybe they had a great time and then he fell down the stairs. Maybe he'd just like to see her again when he's able to dictate the situation.

#so says Indy #anon #asks #Riddler

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therealeagal · 5 days

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Joker: Folie a Deux (trailer)

RA RA AH AH AH

ROMA ROH MA MA

GAGA OOH LA LA

Irony works on multiple levels. Sometimes if-then doesn't suffice. It's hard to explain.

Picture of a man. A tragic anti-hero really. So fully justified was he in killing his bullies. They got what they fucking deserved. But SOCIETY couldn't handle it!

So our hero finds himself in the clutches of Gotham's very own Arkham Asylum. But all is not lost, because he finds the love of his life, one Harleen Quinzel, also trapped by the wicked whims of the SOCIETY that they definitely both live in. So begins their whirlwind romance that we should definitely see as heartwarming because they are SOCIETY's true victims, you see. Don't let the fact that Harley is played by Lady Gaga fool you. It's not a bad romance at all. It's a great romance.

THIS Joker and THIS Harley are completely in love. Because THIS Joker and THIS Harley live in a SOCIETY. Their love is ideal. #RelationshipGoals

I WANT YOUR LOVE AND I WANT YOUR REVENGE UPON SOCIETY

YOU AND ME COULD WRITE A GREAT ROMANCE.

It does have a certain ring to it, doesn't it?

What the world needs now is love, sweet love. It's the only thing that there's just too little of. Joker: Folie a Deux is set for release on October 4th of this year. Once again I am debating the pros and cons of watching it.

On the one hand, I'm always right, so do I really need to see it for you to know that my description is correct? On the other hand, is a review of any substance if the reviewer hasn't read it. I never read Mein Kampf, but I could probably hazard a guess that it's not about puppy dog kisses and cotton candy dreams.

Somewhat surprisingly, no one got pissy at me when I criticized the first movie. Well, not here on tumblr anyway. Over on Twitch, I've got a sporadically ongoing argument with some folks over whether Jared Leto and Cameron...what was his name? I think it was like, Monaghan or some shit...the guy from Gotham. Anyway, whether those two were better Jokers than Joaquin Phoenix. Spoilers: I argue on the side of "They were".

And I mean, not to knock on Joaquin's door personally. Actors, by and large, work with the roles they're given. You can't dunk on them just because they were in a bad movie. Well, you can. It's literally possible. But you probably shouldn't. Depends on the movie, I guess...

But just for old times sake, if you find my assessment to be mistaken in any way - if you, in fact, consider Joaquin Phoenix's Joker to be the greatest movie ever made and you greatly anticipate falling asleep masturbating to Joker: Folie a Deux every night - I want you to very strongly consider not @-ing me about it, bro.

Please and thank you. :)

P.S. I brought back the masturbation joke! And it's still funny! When you got it you got it.

Cheers!

#joker #the joker #joaphojo #joaphojo part 2 #joker folie a deux #lady gaga #joaquin phoenix #harley quinn

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imaginedisish · 2 years

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Oblivion (Bruce Wayne x Fem!Reader)

A/N: Hey guys!!! I’m so sorry this took so long. I really haven’t been feeling too great and this ended up being much longer than I ever EVER expected it to be. This was based on a request for Bruce to save the reader...and then things uh... escalate. Dear anon, if this was NOT what you wanted, feel free to request again. I prefer writing a reader who is also a vigilante, so if you wanted them to just be a regular citizen, I will gladly write that too! Anyway, I decided to base this one off of Oblivion by Grimes. I felt like it was pretty fitting. Enjoy! Requests are still open!

Summary: After you’re captured by The Riddler, it’s up to Bruce to save you.

Warnings: Spoilers...go see the movie!! Kidnapping, violence, MAJOR CANON DIVERGENCE: Nightwing/PreviouslyRobin!Reader...who also happens to be Bruce’s lifelong friend (so they have to be around the same age, which is also major canon divergence), cursing, and most importantly SMUT!!! 18+ Unprotected PIV (wear a condom), oral (female receiving), probably some grammatical errors considering I only really read through this once...that should be it.

Word Count: 5,072...longest one in a while, maybe too long

Your black combat boots crash violently against the wet, black pavement as you increase your speed. Each step is a slap, the sound ricocheting against the brick walls that held the alleyway in place. You can feel the tears welling in your eyes as your breath hitches in your throat. A single tear escapes, finding its way underneath your eye mask and down your cheeks.

I never walk about after dark

It's my point of view

'Cause someone could break your neck

Coming up behind you

Always coming and you'd never have a clue

It was getting harder to stay away from them, to keep that much needed distance between yourself and the men in the green masks. There were too many of them. It would be impossible to fight them all off, especially without Bruce. It didn’t help that they had found a way to disengage the electricity in your escrima sticks, yielding them essentially ineffective.

You felt so stupid, so idiotic for thinking you could handle this by yourself. Just hours ago, the Riddler had escaped from Arkham Asylum, and apparently, he didn’t do it alone. Bruce begged you to stay at the tower, to let him handle this one by himself. But you couldn’t.

“You need to stay here!” He shouted, storming towards the entrance to the cave.

You shake your head, waving your suit around in your hand. “It’s like you’re forgetting that we’re supposed to be in this thing together,” Your voice is condescending and slightly passive aggressive. You hated when he got like this. It made you feel like he thought you couldn’t handle the very path you had chosen to go down.

None of this was his choice. It was all yours.

“I shouldn’t have ever told you about the Gotham Project,” He mutters, heading down to the cave. The words sting more than he meant for them to. You hop into your suit, following close behind. “This was all one big mistake,” He says, his eyes staring deeply into yours. What hurts most is that you know he means it.

“Great to know that’s how you feel,” You say, trying to sound cold and apathetic. It doesn’t work, your true feelings bringing themselves into the light without your permission.

His face softened, finally realizing the impact his words had on you. He shakes his head remorsefully. “I’m sorry,” He whispers. “I didn’t mean that.”

“But you still said it,” You say back, grabbing your escrima sticks from the rack next to you and placing them in the holster on your back. You slip your mask over your eyes. “See you out there, Bruce.”

And then you were gone.

You couldn’t stop replaying the scene in your head, and it was slowing you down.

There was a fence at the end of the alleyway. You’d have to scale it perfectly, quickly, with absolutely no mistakes or slip ups. If you tripped or slowed down, even the slightest bit, you wouldn’t be going home tonight.

You’d never see Bruce again.

That was the fact that crushed you more than anything else, especially after what had happened that evening. What Bruce couldn’t realize was that you understood the risks that came with helping him. You understood what it meant to be a vigilante. The one thing that you struggled to come to grips with was the idea that each night could be your last one with Bruce. That’s what mattered to you. A world without him simply wasn’t worth living in.

But you’d never tell him that.

He could never know how you felt about him. It would ruin everything. It would destroy your friendship, your dynamic, not to mention the whole Batman and Nightwing thing you two had gotten yourself into. All of that would be gone. And so, you kept it hidden. Although, with how close the masked men were getting to you, and how the night was seemingly playing out, it seemed like all of that would be gone soon anyway.

You approach the fence, springing up off the ground with ease. You grip onto the chain-link fence tightly, landing on the upper middle portion of it. You ready yourself to jump over the top in one clean swoop. You bend your knees slightly and launch yourself again.

Before you can clear the fence, a gloved hand clasps tightly around your ankle, yanking you back down. You grab the cold, metal netting of the fence, pressing your other foot firmly into one of the holes. Another hand finds its way around your free ankle, pulling it out of the hole. You try to hang onto the fence tighter, but it doesn’t matter. You knew this was it.

“Where’s your Bat now?” One man shouts, cackling as he yanks you tighter. You can feel your hands scratching against the dirty metal, little cuts forming against your sweaty skin. You slip off a little more, second by second.

You kick in protest, taking one hand off of the fence to grab one of your sticks from their place in the holster on your back. You look down, bashing the stick against the wrist of the man holding your left ankle.

“S-shit!” He cries out, letting go of your ankle as he falls to the ground. “I-I think she broke my fucking wrists!”

“What’d you expect?” You scoff, swinging at the man holding your right ankle. He lets go instantly, falling against the brick wall next to him. The other men fall back, cowering into the shadows. You shake your head, “Thought you’d all be a little more intellectually advanced than that.”

You climb back up the fence, finally pushing yourself over.

“Dumbasses,” You mutter to yourself, falling gracefully on the other side of the fence.

You hear a slight chuckle from in front of you. A chill rolls down your spine.

“I thought you’d be a little more intellectually advanced than that…” The callous voice repeats your words from just seconds ago as three shadowy figures come out from behind a dumpster, approaching you quickly. “Get the bird girl so we can end this now.”

The masked men jump you, pushing you down to the ground, forcing a white rag over your mouth. You squirm, trying to use your sticks, but they’ve got your arms held down tightly, leaving you defenseless.

You stop fighting, just to briefly imagine Bruce one more time.

And then, there’s nothingness.

Pure black.

————

“What are we waiting for?” A not-so-distant voice calls out. “Why don’t we just livestream this thing and kill her?” You can hear something bubbling violently not too far away.

You’re slowly regaining your consciousness. You can feel wet concrete underneath you. You try to move your hands, but they’re zip tied to something cold and hard. Your eyes open apprehensively, taking in your surroundings. To your right is a pool of brown sludge, gurgling and foaming vigorously. Whatever it is, it smells disgusting.

“I want to wait for the bat,” Another voice says. “And I don’t think we’re what’s going to kill her.” He finally emerges into your view, his forearms resting against the railing on the other side of the pit of fizzing water. His eyes meet yours. “Look at that, she’s awake.” He walks around the pool and over towards you.

You swallow harshly. “Where am I?” You question. You’re surprised they hadn’t duct-taped your mouth shut. The man is in front of you now, kneeling down. You recognize him instantly.

The Riddler.

“We’re at the Gotham Wastewater Treatment Plant, Nightwing,” He says, practically singing, bursting with happiness. It terrifies you. “You see that pool next to us?” He asks. You swallow again, nodding as you look to your right. “When your Batman gets here, we’re gonna put you in there…” He trails off, staring deeply into the water.

“Well, you’re gonna be disappointed to know I can swim,” You say in retaliation, your voice extremely condescending. “I even got to brush up on my skills when you decided to flood the entire fucking city.” You’re practically spitting at him.

He cackles, the sound of his laughter chilling you to your core. “You can’t swim in air, silly,” He says, his smile wide.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” You ask. “You really think I’m a bird, don’t you?” You try to stay confident, joking with him petulantly. It’s what Bruce would want you to do.

He laughs again. “That’s an aerated pool,” He explains between laughs. “The air makes the density of the water so low that anything that falls in there,” He pauses, grinning even wider than before, his eye twitching in delight, “Sinks instantly.” He stands up, leaning back against the railing that surrounded the pool.

Your heart beats out of your chest as your eyes look around the plant frantically, searching for some sort of solution, some way out. The sound of the seething water fills your senses. Despite all that’s going on, you can only think about Bruce. You shouldn’t have wasted your time fighting with him. You should’ve heard him out and handled the situation like a mature adult. If you two didn’t have such horrific communication skills, you wouldn’t be in this mess. Or at least, you wouldn’t be in this mess alone.

But you hated admitting that you couldn’t do things alone. You wanted to prove to him that you could handle yourself. Naturally, it was your hubris that would lead to your downfall. You were just another naive tragic hero.

And no, I'm not a jerk

I would ask if you could help me out

It's hard to understand

'Cause when you're running by yourself

It's hard to find someone to hold your hand

You look up at the clear night sky. The Bat Signal hangs proudly next to the shimmering stars and the glowing moon. You knew Riddler was right. Bruce was coming. But you didn’t want him to. You didn’t want him to see you, not like this.

You know it's good to be tough like me

But I will wait forever

I need someone else

To look into my eyes and tell me

"Girl, you know you've got to watch your health"

“Why are you doing this?” You ask, shaking your head. You knew what the Riddler’s goal had been, but you didn’t understand his concern with you.

He kneels down to your level again. “You and Bruce Wayne,” He whispers, quietly enough so that the other men can’t hear him, “Need to pay for the sins of your parents.”

Your eyes widen. It finally hits you. The Riddler knew exactly who you were.

He knew that your parents were close to the Wayne’s. He knew that your parents had political power. He knew that it was your father who was running for governor while Bruce’s father had been running for mayor. He knew that your father had funded the Wayne campaign, endorsed Thomas, and swore to help with the renewal. He knew that your parents were seemingly killed on the same day as Bruce’s. The only difference between you and Bruce was that you didn’t have the wealth or fame he had, and so it must’ve taken The Riddler more time to put two and two together.

He chuckles softly to himself, tucking a single strand of hair behind your ear. You cringe, wincing away from his touch.

“I thought the best penance for the two of you would be for him to watch you die,” He whispers softly. Your stomach twists in a knot. You feel yourself growing nauseous at the thought.

“Please, don’t do this,” You beg. You can’t believe you’re trying to plead with The Riddler. This all seems absolutely insane to you. “You don’t know shit about anything,” You argue, trying not to confirm that he was right about your or Bruce’s identity.

He simply shakes his head, his smile still plastered against his lips. “I know everything,” He says back. “And it’s almost time that the world does too!” He’s shouting now, celebrating the success of his plan. “When he gets here-,”

He’s interrupted by the sudden screeching of wheels in the distance. Your head whips to where the sound had come from.

“There he is, right on cue!” The Riddler rings out, beaming with a terrifying amount of childish glee.

The familiar, modded out Dodge Charger springs out of the shadows and into view. The car skids to a stop, just a few feet away from you.

Bruce cuts the engine, aggressively opening the door, and slamming it shut.

“Batman! Glad you could finally join us!” The Riddler calls out. Bruce storms across the concrete. A group of men in green masks swarm him. After a few seconds of punching, the men are all incapacitated, and Bruce continues on his path towards you and the Riddler.

“Let her go, now,” Bruce’s voice is rough and tense, filled with anger. “This isn’t between you and her, it’s between you and me.” You can see the hatred in his eyes, despite his face being covered by his mask.

But this wasn’t just about Bruce anymore. The Riddler had figured out everything.

“Oh Bruce, Bruce Wayne…” The Riddler trails off. He was somehow scarier without the green mask he used to wear. “I know exactly who you are. I know exactly who Nightwing is too! And now she has to pay for her father’s sins, just as you still have to pay for yours.”

A man in a green mask picks you up, shifting you enough so that you’re now on the opposite side of the railing. He lets you go, your legs dangling over the aerated pool. You’re held above the gurgling water by the thin zip tie around your wrist that was still connected to the railing. The man takes out a pocket knife, readying to cut the zip tie whenever the cue was given.

Bruce pushes The Riddler out of the way with ease, and charges towards the man guarding you. He frantically slices away at the zip tie as Bruce picks up his speed. He comes face to face with the man, punches him once, and throws him to the ground.

But he’s too late. The zip tie cracks, and you can feel yourself slipping. “No!” You cry out as the zip tie finally breaks. You feel a jolt downwards. You shut your eyes, bracing yourself.

And then, something warm wraps around your wrist. You slowly open your eyes.

Bruce.

He pulls you back up, wrapping his arms around you once you’re high enough above the railing. You fall against him once you’re back on the ground, your legs feeling like jelly. Your heart beats out of your chest. You try to catch your breath, but nothing seems to be working.

“It’s okay,” Bruce assures, his voice soft and smooth. His gloved hand combs through your hair. “I’ve got you. You’re okay.”

You shut your eyes, pressing your face into his chest. The sound of sirens fills the air. The work had been done. There was nothing to worry about now.

You pull yourself off of Bruce to look up. Bright red and blue flashing lights surround you. Gordon walks out of a police car and towards The Riddler, who’s knocked out on the ground. He puts a pair of cuffs on him, and hands him off to the SWAT team that had reported to the scene as well.

“Thanks,” He says to you and Bruce. He lightly pats you on the shoulder. “You alright?” You simply nod in response. The tears underneath your mask says otherwise.

A few more words you didn’t pay any attention to are exchanged between Bruce and Gordon. After a few moments, Bruce guides you over to the car and opens the door for you, helping you to slip inside. He shuts your door, and heads over to his side of the car, slipping inside and turning over the engine.

Just as quickly as he arrived, the two of you left. He skids away from the scene and into the darkness. Even if someone wanted to follow the two of you, to figure out for themselves who you were, they’d never be able to keep up. Bruce’s underground tunnel was also a massive help to keeping the secret. You didn’t quite understand how he was able to build it, or how much money it could’ve possibly cost.

The car ride was quiet, and somewhat awkward. Despite having been so kind towards you after saving you, it was clear that Bruce was irritated, annoyed even.

“I’m sorry,” You whisper as you finally approach the cave. You look over towards Bruce, his mask now off. He parks the car without saying a word. He takes the key out of the ignition, opening his door, stepping out of the car.

You furrow your brows in confusion, stumbling out of the car to follow after him. You watch as he steps out of his suit, hanging it up on a rack. He walks over to the computer with something in his hand, typing away at the keyboard furiously. You stand by his side, immediately seeing the torn open envelope.

TO THE BATMAN.

There’s a card next to it. There’s a robin on the cover, a clear nod to the title you had once held.

The cover reads: A Little Birdie Wants to Tell You Something!

You open up the card. Naturally, there’s a riddle inside.

Why didn’t the cops ever arrest the bird’s father? They didn’t care that he was a-robin. But I do.

“He knows who you are,” He says, continuing to type away.

You put the card down on the desk, and apprehensively place your hand on his forearm. You’re not sure how angry he is, or whether or not he’s actually angry at you.

“I-I know,” You stutter, brushing your fingertips softly against his skin. “He told me everything when he had me…” You trail off, not wanting to remember what had just happened. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter. No one is going to believe him.”

Bruce’s eyes narrow as they stare into yours. He stops typing. “It doesn’t matter?” His voice is harsh and frustrated. “He almost killed you! If anything were to ever happen to you, I’d never forgive myself!” He’s shouting now. “And now he knows everything about us!” You take a step back, slightly afraid of Bruce’s anger. Your hand falls from his arm as he continues typing again.

You take your mask off, throwing it on the ground. You slip out of your suit, revealing the bruises that covered your arms. You let it fall to the floor with a defeated sigh. You ignore the tears that are welling up in your eyes. You were done. After everything you had done for Bruce, after all the years you had stood by him, secretly loving him, you were done. You had hit your breaking point.

“I quit,” You say, your voice apathetic and soulless. “I can’t do this anymore.”

Bruce freezes, clearly shocked at what you had said. “What?” He asks, his voice soft, the anger having dissipated. He turns to walk towards you. “W-why?” He stutters.

“Because of all this stupid fighting we do!” Your voice is loud, booming off the walls of the cave. “You’re so oblivious Bruce,” You explain, your voice a bit quieter now. “If you opened your eyes every once a while maybe you’d be able to see things differently, or maybe you’d be able to see things in general.”

He takes a few more steps towards you, shaking his head. He inhales deeply, as if he has something he’s nervous to say. “I’m scared,” He admits. It was something you always knew, but something he had never openly said. You figured he would never admit it. The Batman isn’t supposed to get scared. “I get angry with you because I’m scared to lose you. One wrong move, just like tonight, and you’re gone.”

That part, however, you did not expect to hear.

“That’s not an excuse to be a dick,” You retort, still angry.

“Please, just give me a chance to-,”

“No,” You cut him off, walking away. “I’m done. I’m done standing by you and loving you and getting absolutely…” You trail off, quickly realizing the word vomit that had just come tumbling out of your mouth.

I did not just do that, You think to yourself.

Bruce grabs your hand, forcing you to turn around. “Say that again,” He demands, his eyes soft, gazing into yours.

“S-say what?” Your voice trembles.

“You know what,” He says.

You inhale deeply. “I’m done standing by you and getting absolutely-,”

He interrupts you immediately, “Not that part. Don’t pretend like I didn’t just hear what you said.”

Your heart sinks to the pit of your stomach. It’s too late. He already knows. You might as well say it again.

“I love you,” You confess. You had imagined this moment happening differently. You imagined it feeling like the weight of the world would lift itself from your shoulders. That’s not at all what this was like. Somehow, you felt worse than you did before. “I can’t keep doing this thing masked crusader thing when I love you and I know that you don’t feel the same-,”

Before you can get another word out, his lips crash down onto yours. His hands find their way to your hair, his nails scratching against your scalp, his fingers knotting at your roots. You moan against his mouth. The kiss is frenzied, starving. His body melts against yours as he pushes you into the wall behind you.

Bruce’s tongue slides against your bottom lip, tasting you, taking you in. You open your mouth, allowing your tongue to intertwine with his, to taste him too.

He slows down a bit, closing his mouth again. His lips part from yours, but he doesn’t move from his spot. He rests his forehead against your own. “I’ve wanted you like this for so long,” He says in between labored breaths. “Don’t be done loving me…” He whispers, trailing off, trying to catch his breath. “Because I haven’t even told you that I love you too, yet.”

The words course through your system, your eyes widening as they replay over and over again in your head.

“I love you,” He repeats, his lips pressing back down onto yours. His hands trail down your sides, stopping at the hem of your tank top. His fingertips slide underneath the thin fabric, his nails grazing carefully against your stomach, sending chills down your spine. You could feel your wetness pooling in your panties. You needed him to touch you.

His moves his thigh in between your legs, keeping you spread apart for him. You can’t help but grind against him, searching for some sort of relief. He quickly catches on to what you’re doing, and instantly removes his thigh. You groan at the loss of contact.

“You want me to touch you?” He asks, his fingers toying with the waistband of your leggings.

You nod desperately. “Yes, please,” You beg. He smirks, dropping to his knees as he yanks your leggings and underwear down to your ankles with one swift movement. He doesn’t stand back up; he stays down on his knees.

He presses the palms of his hands against your inner thighs, pushing them apart slightly. You take the hint, opening up for him. You look down, his head in between your legs. He smirks, knowing exactly what he’s doing to you.

“Do you want my tongue, sweet girl?” He asks, his hands slowly climbing up your thighs, growing closer to your heat, to where you need him most. You swallow, nodding your head even more desperately than before. “You’ll need to be more vocal than that,” He says, his fingertips crawling up to your clit.

“Yes,” You whimper, his fingers finally landing on your core. “I-I want your tongue.” He smiles, his fingertips exploring your folds, spreading your wetness around.

He brings his face closer to your heat. “You’re so fucking wet for me,” He says, his breath hitting your clit as his fingers toy with your entrance.

“Please,” You beg, the teasing becoming too much for you to handle. “I need you Bruce, plea-,”

His lips latch onto your clit, his tongue swirling around the swollen bundle of nerves. You cry out at the contact.

Bruce hums against you. “You taste so good,” He praises, the vibrations of his words only adding to your pleasure.

He sucks on your heat, the feeling practically sending you over the edge. You still feel his fingers toying with your folds, threatening to enter, but only if you asked.

“M-more,” You whimper.

You can feel Bruce smile against you. “What’s that?” He asks in between laps.

“More,” You plead again. “It f-feels so good, Bruce.”

Two fingers suddenly enter you, filling you up completely. “Good girl,” Bruce says approvingly. “S’good when you use your words for me.” His praises were bringing you to your peak faster than you had anticipated.

His fingers pump in and out of you rhythmically as his mouth continues to clamp down onto your core. His tongue swirling, his lips drawing your clit into his mouth. It was too much for you to handle.

“I-I’m so close,” You stutter, your walls clenching around Bruce’s fingers.

Bruce picks up his pace, his fingers ramming into you. “Then come on my tongue,” He commands. “Now.” Your walls flutter, spasming as you come undone on him. Your eyes roll back, your knees buckling. Your vision goes white, your chest rising and falling frantically. He laps at your clit a few more times, his fingers slowing down their pace, helping you to ride out your orgasm.

You slump against the wall as Bruce pulls his fingers out from you, leaving you feeling empty and cold. He stands up, his face just inches away from yours. You can see your wetness glistening on his mouth. He presses his lips against yours, inviting you to taste yourself, the salty kiss melting against you.

You reach your hand down to his crotch, feeling his hardened length strain against his sweatpants. You wanted more. You wanted him inside of you.

You needed him.

He grabs your wrists, forcing them against the wall and above your head. “I told you before,” His voice is smooth like honey. “You need to use your words.”

Your breath hitches in your throat. “I want your cock,” You whisper. Bruce smirks, his hand still clasped against your wrists, holding them in place. His need for control was enough for you to come right then and there.

He lets go of your wrists, trusting that you’ll leave them where he put them, and takes his t-shirt off, revealing his well-defined abs. He slips out of his sweatpants, casting them to the other side of the room. His bulge is completely visible through his gray boxers. He pushes himself in between your legs, testing you. But you don’t budge. You fight the urge to sink to your knees, and keep your hands above your head.

“Good girl,” He whispers, pulling down his boxers. His cock is big, bigger than you had imagined. You inhale deeply, almost intimidated by his size.

He picks you up, your back still leaning against the wall as you straddle him. The head of his length toys with your entrance, spreading around your slick.

“I need you, please,” You beg. “Please Bruce.”

Without warning, his cock pushes into you all the way. He pulls back out before sliding back in, giving you a much needed second to adjust to his size.

“Fuck,” Bruce groans. “You’re so fucking tight.”

You moan at the sound of his words, his cock filling you up. He pumps in and out of you rhythmically. With one hand on your ass and the other at the nape of your neck, he brings you over to the desk on the other side of the room, placing you down.

He has more control here, speeding up his thrusts as his hand finds its way to your clit, rubbing hard, fast circles against the already overstimulated bundle of nerves with his thumb.

“I-It’s so much, Bruce,” You cry out, knowing that you wouldn’t be able to last much longer.

Bruce brings his lips to your neck, nibbling on the skin softly. You whimper at the feeling of your skin in between his teeth. “You’re taking me so good, just like that,” He whispers, his breath brushes against your ear, the sensation overwhelming you.

He increases his pace as he digs deeper inside of you, his length hitting you in the exact spot you need him most. You’re so close, too close.

“I-I’m gonna come,” You moan, struggling to keep up with him.

Bruce brings his head out of the crook of your neck, his forehead now against yours. “Hold it for me, sweet girl,” He demands, pumping in and out of you. You swallow harshly, nodding as your walls flutter around him.

His thumb presses into your clit, harder this time. You can feel him starting to get sloppy, struggling to fuck you faster even though it’s what he wants more than anything in the entire world. It’s animalistic.

You can feel his cock spasm inside of you. “F-fuck,” He groans. “Come on my cock,” He whispers, and you do as he says, finally letting go of what you had been holding in for him. You can feel his release inside of you as you come around him, your walls contracting tightly.

He slowly pumps in and out of you a few more times before finally pulling out. His forehead is still resting against yours, your chests falling and rising in tempo with one another.

“I want that again,” He says. His voice is calm, soft, satisfied. “I meant everything I said before. I’ve wanted that for forever, and I want it forever. Please don’t quit,” He’s begging now, just as you had begged for him before.

“I won’t,” You promise. “I won’t. I’ll stay with you.”

Until oblivion.

See you on a dark night

1K notes · View notes

risusnet · 3 years

Text

Something there that wasn’t there before.

Jonathan Crane x Reader

Summary: [Y/N] is a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum. Bruce Wayne is holding a charity gala to help raise some funds for the asylum and [Y/N] along with some colleagues are invited. Her friend and crush Jonathan Crane was one of her co-workers that was invited too and they both enjoy the evening together.

Prompt: “Be still my heart.” Word Count: 2,626

You worked as a psychiatrist in Arkham Asylum and you, along with some of your other co-workers, had been invited to a charity gala hosted by Bruce Wayne which intended to help raise money for the Asylum. You were wearing a beautiful dress that you had picked out a few days earlier and had just parked up in your car outside the gala hall, you sighed feeling nervous to go in. There were going to be so many people there, one of which was Dr. Jonathan Crane, your friend and co-worker who you had been low-key crushing on for the past few years, your heart jumped into your mouth just thinking about him being there.

“I bet he’s wearing something really nice- wait no- he’s just your friend, shut up!” you thought aloud.

You pulled yourself together and got out of your car, shyly walking to the door and trying to distract yourself from the photographers and reporters at the entrance who were also here about the gala.

“Name, please.” said a frightening-looking bouncer,

“Dr. [Y/N] [L/N].” You told him,

“Ah, I see your name, you may enter.”

“Thanks..” you quickly entered the hall.

It was a beautiful venue, priceless golden chandeliers hung from the ceiling of the corridor with marble lining the floor that led to a foyer. For a corridor it was massive, it felt intimidating. You cautiously wandered onward, the corridor was fairly empty with only a few people littered here and there, some people on the phone, some couples making out and drunk people stumbling around aimlessly. You reached the entrance of the hall and looked around, there were so many rich and famous people here, it was easy to feel like you didn’t belong here. You saw some of your co-workers spanning the hall, there were some of them together in groups, sticking together but then you saw someone in the crowd that was not with the rest of your colleagues. It was Jonathan. It felt like time stopped when you saw him, he was wearing a really lovely suit and you felt your pulse quicken, you took a step backwards and bashfully looked at the ground,

“Be still my heart.” You muttered to yourself.

You braced yourself and walked on into the foyer, you decided to get something to drink to set your head straight. After sipping your drink, you looked up only to lock eyes with none other than Jonathan on the other side of the room. He smiled at you and smiled back, if you had still had the water in your mouth you probably would have spat it out in surprise. Luckily, you were able to hide your surprise pretty well.

The moment was cut short when a man who seemingly worked for Bruce Wayne came onto the stage and told everyone that the ballroom was now open and people began to make their way in the direction of the ballroom. You put your drink down and followed the crowd, you could see Jonathan up ahead in the corner of your eye and you tried to ignore him for your own good, however, you were doing a terrible job at that.

Once you entered the ballroom, you were mesmerised by how enchanting it truly was in here. You took in every last corner of it and smiled in awe. Your eyes travelled back down again and you suddenly felt a little shy again, remembering Jonathan was here. You really had to get a hold of yourself and forget your feelings whilst you were here, you had to act professional!

A soft song was being played by the orchestra they had hired and many people had already coupled off and started dancing and talking in the ballroom, you found a place off to the side to stand and took in the environment. Jonathan walked over to you and stood next to you,

“[L/N], Hello.” He nodded in your direction,

“Crane, good to see you.” You responded.

“It’s rather, chaotic, in here, isn’t it?” He smiled,

“Yeah, it’s a bit overwhelming,” you laughed a little.

You looked in his direction slightly, he was still just as handsome as before, shit. You ended up catching Jonathan's gaze on accident, to which caused him to speak,

“Would you like to dance for a little?” He said, his tone slightly softer than previously. You paused, you wanted to, but felt shy, how typical.

“Are you sure?” you crossed your arms and looked at him,

“It might be fun, plus, we may as well get in a few of the photos from the event.” He joked,

“Alright, sure, let’s go.” You both walked into the main area of the room where people were dancing. Your mind felt like it was literally screaming at you, you weren’t sure if it was in an ‘Oh my god, this is so exciting’ way or a ‘No no no no no, abort abort, abort mission’ way. Anyway, you still seemed pretty composed and he took your hand, either way. You started to lazily dance along with everyone else, you felt completely in your element and yet completely out of it at the same time, a very strange feeling, maybe it was just the nervousness.

Funnily, photographs were taken of you both, you spied it just out of the corner of your eye and you’re pretty sure he noticed too. Dancing with Jonathan and now you have proof of it? There’s some bragging rights!

“Wait- what if people get the wrong idea? I’m gonna be hassled by questions and rumours going back into work.” You thought in your head.

“What if those ideas are good ideas?” a voice replied. Voices aren’t meant to reply to you in our head so that means that…

“Huh- Did I say that out loud-” you felt a little embarrassed, then you remembered what he responded with, “..Hey, wait a minute-”

“Don’t worry about it.” He cut you off with a grin. Is he going to ignore what he said? Great, now you are going to worry about it, or more specifically, you are not going to stop thinking about this. Maybe, ever.

“If you say so.” Your eyes held a mixture of uncertainty and curiosity, whilst he looked slightly smug. There was a vague air of flirtatiousness between the two of you as you continued dancing, you both spoke to each other in a manner that wasn’t flirting, but borderline was. However, it was usually like this when you spoke, you just had that kind of dynamic. You can’t blame yourself for catching feelings in an atmosphere like that, right?

You felt a lot more comfortable than earlier, you had probably just gotten used to his presence. He was always good company and the rest of the bustling gala just seemed to phase out. There had come a point in which you and Jonathan had stopped speaking altogether and just had your eyes fixed on each other. You guys were also having a… moment? You were edging closer and closer to one another absentmindedly and a layer of tension filled the air.

“Guests! Thank you for coming to this lovely gala we have been hosting today!” Oh yeah, that’s where you were. You and Jonathan stopped dancing and turned to face the voice and saw Bruce Wayne now on the stage introducing the event. You released a breath you didn’t know you were holding. “You all probably already know why this gala is being thrown today, we are here to support our very own Arkham Asylum and its employees who work tirelessly to try to reform the criminals it holds. The dining hall is now ready for everyone so if you follow the butlers they will direct you to your seating! Thank you.” Bruce gave a winning smile and moved away from the microphone and off of the stage.

You looked to Jonathan who nodded in the direction of the hall and you both started to make your way over.

The room was beautiful, with hundreds of tables brimming the hall. You stuck to Jonathan like glue, because despite all of the friendly-seeming faces, it was still pretty nerve-racking and he didn’t seem to mind, in fact, he seemed to enjoy being your protector.

You were eventually seated, with Jonathan being in the seat next to you on your right. You were glad for that, at least. Apart from him, you were surrounded by a load of unfamiliar faces that lined your table, not that that was surprising, you couldn’t recognise 90% of the people attending this.

There was a lot of, ‘How do you do’s and ‘What is your name’ and ‘Where do you work’ as everyone around you settled in. They asked you and Jonathan many questions about your jobs upon learning that you both worked at the asylum.

“So, Dr. Crane, what’s it like working with a bunch of criminals? Isn’t it dangerous?” one woman who appeared to be quite rich asked. She wore an expensive dress and a face full of extravagant makeup.

“Ah, well, we don’t just have them running rampant with a knife or such whilst we are in appointments with them.” His comment earned some laughter from the table. He was good at this, you smiled to yourself knowing you were in good hands and that you could relax a little because Jonathan knew what he was doing.

A different man, one who sat on your left side began to strike up a conversation with you.

“Dr. [L/N], a pleasure to finally talk to you. I have been meaning to ever since I saw you arrive!” This comment earned a suspicious side-eye from Jonathan but he quickly looked away and continued the conversation he was in.

“Oh, well it’s an honour to meet you, sir.” you politely responded and extended your arm to shake his hand, which he took, shook and lingered for a bit too long before releasing it.

“You must be very intelligent to be a psychiatrist. Where did you study?” He leaned over remotely closer, awaiting your reply.

“Gotham University for the most part! I enjoyed my time there, actually.” You tried to be oblivious to how he was acting, but it was super off-putting.

“Ah, a good one. I have known friends who have attended there!” His breath stinks of booze. He was closer still and you were starting to feel uncomfortable.

“Thank you, I’m sorry, but could you excuse me. I think I need to use the restroom.” He nodded his head and you stood up. Jonathan had an idea of what was going on and waited two minutes before leaving too.

You walked as fast as you could to get yourself some air. You were back in the foyer and nearly at the bathroom when a hand grabbed your wrist.

“[Y/N]!” You turned around and your eyes were met with Jonathan. “Are you alright?”

“I’m... I’m sorry. Everything was just really… hectic. I needed some air…” You weren’t quite sure what to say.

“Was it that man? Did he make you feel uneasy, or something?” His eyes looked full of care and concern. He really knew you well.

“Yeah, I’m sorry for dragging you out here, you can go, you don’t have to worry.” You tried to brush it off but he could tell how it got to you. He moved his hand, which was still holding your wrist, to hold your hand.

“I’m not just going to leave you here when you’re like this. I’m someone who cares for you.” He sounded truly earnest, it made your heartbeat speed up when he said that. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Trust me. If it will make you feel better, we can switch seats. If he tries anything, even if he looks at you in a strange way, I’ll see to it myself.”

“Jonathan… Thanks.” You smiled to which he returned it.

“Shall we?” His facial expression shifted to a smirk.

“We shall.”

You both made your way back to the table, sitting in each other’s seats. You realised you were still holding hands and had to unfortunately let go to sit down. You settled back down and the man from earlier began to speak.

“I think you two are sitting in the wrong seats.” He was so clearly annoyed but tried not to show his frustration by placing an obvious artificial smile on his lips.

“Hm, it seems that we are,” Jonathan said, turning to you. “Ah well, no point in getting up again.” He shrugged and was pulled into another conversation with someone on the table.

At some point, you had ended up placing your head on his shoulder to lean against which he let you do. It was comfy and by the time you realised you had done so, it had been about 5 minutes and he was fine with it so you decided to bask in the moment.

Bruce Wayne, that mysterious rich guy, was once again back on the stage.

“Hello everyone,” he had a drink and a tiny spoon in his hand which he clinked to the glass to command everyone’s attention. “Now, I’m sure you’ll be happy to hear, is the best part, where I give you all a load of free food! Feel free to indulge yourselves as the butlers bring the food and beverages around to the tables.” Then he confidently strode off the stage and back to his seat. His table was less full of businessmen in suits and more full of beautiful women in expensive dresses.

Everyone turned back to their conversations as trays and plates came out of the ginormous kitchen hiding somewhere in the back. There were all sorts of food that you had yet to try in your life but you were eager to. You had to sit up though so that meant lifting your head off of Jonathan’s shoulder.

You, along with the rest of the guests began to eat the food served. Whilst also maintaining some light conversation. By this time, you had quite the collection of business cards handed to you by various people at this table.

Bruce stood up to toast to the event, “Here is a toast, to this pleasant gala and to those we are holding it for. A toast to all of the incredible employees of Arkham Asylum who are and aren’t here today!” He raised his glass which everyone else followed suit with.

Half an hour later and everyone was finishing up their meals and you too felt very full and idly set your head back onto Jonathan’s shoulder. You looked up at him from there and he looked back, laughing a little before looking away again.

The gala was starting to wrap up and people were starting to leave. Bruce went onto the stage to say his official goodbye causing a massive flock of people to also call it a night for them there.

“We should probably give it a minute before leaving, save getting trampled.” Jonathan looked to you, who was still leisurely resting on his shoulder.

“You’re right.” You said watching people leave, “This was surprisingly fun.”

“I agree, I didn’t expect to have this nice of a time. Maybe it’s just thanks to you though.” Jonathan now rested his head atop yours.

“I’m glad you were here too.” You sighed happily.

“We should see each other outside of work more.” He said, nonchalantly.

“That would be nice.”

“Are you free next Saturday?” Oh wow, he’s good, real smooth.

“Yeah, in fact, I am.”

“Looks like we’ll be doing this again soon, then.” He had that smug grin again. Then sat up, took your hand and you both walked out together.

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sohotthateveryonedied · 3 years

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Hiii!! I really love your tumblr posts and I'm pretty new to the Batfam (meaning I have only read fics and textposts about them, no comics) and I wanted to ask about the year Bruce/Batman gets "lost in time". I know general things of what the kids have been doing–Dick became batman and fired Tim from robin, giving it to Damian, everyone thinking Tim was crazy for believing Bruce was alive, (don't really know what Jason was up to though, was he still murderous towards Tim? Does the pit still affect him? Also I have no idea about Cass and Duke, were they introduced at this point??) Anyways, my real question was why was Bruce lost in time, what villain put him there? And how did he get out? And how long was he "dead"? Was Bruce in another reality or like just asleep the whole time? Oh! And how soon did this happen after Damian got introduced to the family–a couple months?

I'm so sorry this is so long, but I hope you answer and thank you!!

(I’m going to try and cover all my bases here by going into how exactly Bruce “died,” what went down during the Battle For the Cowl, what the Batkids did while Bruce was gone, and how Bruce came back. Hopefully it all makes sense?? We’ll see how it goes lmao.)

Part 1 - What Happened to Bruce:

So there was this event called Final Crisis (which I won’t go completely into since it would make this post a million times longer than it already is), but the bottom line is that Darkseid wants to overthrow reality and release his Anti-Life Equation, which would overthrow the whole planet and turn everyone into slaves. (If you’re interested in knowing more about the storyline, here’s a Reddit thread that explains it WAY better than I could.)

What I CAN tell you is that during his final confrontation with Darkseid, Bruce is hit by an Omega Beam and turned into a burnt chicken nugget killed. Poor guy.

Final Crisis #6

Clark and Diana bring the body back to the Batcave and break the news to the Batfamily. Batman #687 covers a good portion of the aftermath such as Bruce’s funeral, the Batfamily grieving, and Dick coming to terms with his new responsibility of becoming Batman.

Batman #687

Part 2 - Battle For the Cowl:

Musical chairs time, fellas! After word gets out that Batman is gone, Gotham erupts into chaos. Dick doesn’t want to take over the mantle, Tim needs Dick to take over the mantle, and Jason says “fuck it” and takes over the mantle himself because somebody around here has to. He becomes this murderous psychopathic Batman and starts taking out criminals with deadly force because someone’s gotta do the job, so it might as well be him.

Batman: Battle For the Cowl #1

(Okay honestly, this series had some pretty bad characterization overall, which sucks since it’s such an important storyline. Jason is portrayed as this violent psychopath, which...okay, he was kind of insane after the Pit and all, but not to this degree. Personally, I choose to owe the bad characterization to Bruce’s death because as much as Jason resents Bruce for all he’s done, he does still love him and losing him would be devastating, which would exacerbate his already fragile mental health. As for Damian, this happens roughly three years after his first appearance, so we can assume it’s been a few months since he first joined the family. He’s still relatively new at this point, so nobody knows how to write him yet. He ends up being depicted as if his main two personality traits are Bratty and Assassin-Child and that’s it. It’s all just a mess.)

Anyway, Tim tells Dick to become Batman and stop Jason’s reign of terror. Dick says no, so Tim follows Jason’s lead by saying “fuck it” and putting on the cowl himself. He goes to confront Jason, which ends in Jason beating the crap out of him (again) and leaving him for dead after Tim declines his offer to become Jason’s Robin. Dick goes to save Tim and ends up fighting Jason.

Battle For the Cowl #3

Dick wins, Jason disappears, Tim is fine, and Dick finally gets his head out of his ass and becomes Batman.

Part 3 - What Happens to Each Batkid While Bruce is “Dead”?:

Dick:

As I said, Dick becomes the new Batman a month after Bruce’s death. He’s got big shoes to fill, and it takes some time for him to get used to his new role. He and Damian end up flipping around the classic Batman and Robin dynamic, with Batman now as the fun counterpart to Robin’s edginess. Dick, Damian, and Alfred relocate to the penthouse above the Wayne Foundation building, operating out of a secret Bat-Bunker in the basement.

Batman #688

Jason:

After Battle For the Cowl, Jason is still batshit insane and determined to make Dick’s already stressful life even harder by becoming a supervillain with an ugly costume and an even uglier hairstyle. (I know it’s just because the artist sucked, but still. Jason is horrifying to look at during this time.) He mostly just gets on Dick’s nerves by running around Gotham with his new sidekick Scarlet and killing criminals as Batman and Robin wannabes. Eventually, Dick has Jason committed to Arkham Asylum and he hangs out there until Bruce returns.

Batman and Robin (2009) #5

Tim:

Tim...doesn’t do great after Bruce’s death, mentally. Dick makes Damian Robin, his reasoning being that Robin is more of a sidekick and he sees Tim as his equal. By making Damian Robin, Dick hopes that it will give him the stability he needs to keep him from straying back toward the “bad” side. (It’s the right move ultimately, although his execution was pretty messed up since he didn’t discuss it with Tim beforehand, but he’s allowed to make mistakes. Dick’s father just died and now he’s in charge of picking up the pieces of their broken family. It’s a lot to handle.)

Long story short, Tim has a breakdown, realizes that Bruce is alive, dons the Red Robin identity, and cuts ties with his family to travel the world in search of proof. It’s a rough time.

Red Robin #1

Damian:

Our little guy becomes Robin! So proud of him! As I explained earlier, Dick makes Damian his Robin with the assumption that it will keep him out of trouble, and he’s right on that account. He mentors Damian, teaching him how to channel his violent instincts into something productive, and it works! Slowly but surely, Damian makes the transition from bratty assassin to actual hero!

Batman and Robin (2009) #22

Cass:

Duke sadly was not introduced at this point in time, so he missed out on all the pandemonium. Cass, however, has been Batgirl for years by now, but she got kind of pushed aside by the writers after Bruce’s death. Bruce disappears shortly after adopting Cass, but once he was “dead,” the writers sort of moved Cass around for a while, not quite knowing what to do with her. First she was with the Outsiders. Then they got disbanded and Cass tried forming a new network of heroes to take over for Batman if needed. Then she helped out in said network during Battle for the Cowl, taking care of a newly ravaged Gotham. Then Cass gave the Batgirl mantle to Stephanie Brown after she became disillusioned with the role, thanks to the loss of her father and mentor. Then Cass picked up and moved to Hong Kong to “follow Bruce’s plans” by continuing whatever work he had set up for her there. It was all very vague and confusing, and Cass more or less got swept under the rug during this time. Thanks, writers.

Batgirl (2009) #1

Part 4 - How Bruce Came Back:

When the Blackest Night storyline happens, the Justice League realizes that the corpse buried under Bruce’s grave is apparently not the real one and that he’s actually alive out there somewhere! How wild is that! This is further proven by Dick after he places Bruce’s body in a Lazarus Pit to revive, which has the same result because it’s very clearly Not Bruce and they should have listened to Tim from the start.

Batman and Robin (2009) #9

Anyway, what actually happened is that the Omega Beams that Darkseid shot at Bruce didn’t kill him, but rather blasted him back through time to the prehistoric era with his memories wiped. The Omega Energy inside of Bruce ends up catapulting him through various time periods, which is all part of Darkseid’s plan. With each time-hop, Bruce builds up more Omega Energy in his body which, when he gets back to his original time period, will be unleashed and destroy everything.

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5

It’s been a little under two years since Final Crisis, though in-universe it’s uncertain exactly how long Bruce has been “dead.” We can assume it’s been a year, give or take. The way he comes back is too scientific and complicated for me to understand, so uhhhh the bottom line is that Tim and a few Leaguers save Bruce at the Vanishing Point and the day is saved! Hooray!

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #6

(If you want to read about how it actually goes down, then I seriously recommend reading Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne. It’s only six issues, so it’s a quick read and it explains the situation far better than I ever could.)

Bruce eventually reunites with his family after spying on them for a period of time as Insider to see what has changed in his absence:

Bruce Wayne: The Road Home

After that, things quickly settle back into their new normal. Dick and Damian stay on as Batman and Robin. Bruce goes back to being Batman as well, with him handling Batman Incorporated business and Dick continuing as Gotham’s defender. Tim keeps the Red Robin outfit, Steph stays on as Batgirl, and Cass becomes Black Bat. Jason stays in Arkham for a while before filing an appeal to be moved to a regular prison. He kills 82 inmates in less than a week and gets transferred back to Arkham, which he promptly escapes from. It’s a ride, I tell ya.

Aaaaand that’s about it! I hope this answered all of your questions!

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