AU where bruce and co. (his entire hoarde of kids, even jason in disguise) are at a gala. And it's a really big gala, party of the year type of thing in Gotham, absolutely unmissable. And usually, even the rogues know that this night is off limits, so it's relatively safe. So, they're all at this gala, right?
And then the joker crashes it because he has no respect for Gotham traditions. Breaks in through a window, yada yada. He starts to go on this whole villain speech as per usual, and everyone is waiting for the heroes to come. But all the heroes are at the gala, in their civilian identities, with a thousand eyes on them. No one can reasonably slip away, except for maybe jason, who's already seething mad and ready to attack. But with the chaos and people trying to get away, all the exits are blocked, and his helmet is at home.
Bruce is at the front of the crowd, facing the Joker. Joker sees him and makes a comment about Jason, and goes on about how Bruce must've felt when his baby died. And then he brings up how he killed the little birdie too, just a few days before the terrorist attacks that allegedly killed Jason. And he mentions how much he tortured Robin before his death, and Bruce snaps.
He leaps forward, absolutely hammering the shit out of the joker. Beats him up so bad, no finesse or technique to it, just pure rage. His kids try to pull him off, to no avail. No one else even tries. By the end of it, by the time the police arrive, the joker is more blood than body, and Bruce has finally calmed down. Everyone is just staring at him in shock, understandably. (The joker ends up in hospital, paralysed and in a coma)
His kids all drag Bruce home and give him an entire lecture about his persona and how his cover has probably been blown. About excessive violence and how he refused to kill joker but then pulled this in public?? They're all worried about the fallout in the news the next day.
No one sleeps that night, for various reasons, but then when the newspaper comes out the next morning... there's just nothing bad written?? The headline is something about Bruce being a hero for saving everyone from the joker, but there's no other mention about Batman or anything else.
Turns out, no one in Gotham is surprised that Brucie Wayne, no 1 airhead, beat up the joker because "did you SEE him as a teenager?? We were all just glad when he came from his travels pretending to be stupid instead of picking fights with everyone. If anything, it's understandable that he snapped, I would too if a clown started bragging about killing my son." The only reason no one brought up his violent past is because they were worried he would revert back to that behaviour.
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tattoo artist hobie/college au pt. 2!!
pt. 1
the Black Widow’s two-storey building was nestled between a café and a music shop, tinted glass windows gleaming in the late afternoon light. a bell dinged when miles stepped in, eyes flicking down to his watch reading 4:58p.m.; he let the door fall shut behind him as he took in the cool concrete floor and the matte black brackets of plants on the foyer wall, leaning his elbow against the front counter.
“hi,” he greeted the receptionist, who gave him an expectant half-smile. “uh, i’ve got a five o’clock with—”
“you’re early.”
miles’s heart did a flip-flop in his chest.
hobie stood on the bottom step of the staircase off to the side, long legs crossed at the ankle with his hands in his plaid pockets. his slouch against the railing was easy as ever, as was his smile; miles looked down at his watch just to give himself a second to recollect, trying not to let his brain stall. 4:59. “barely.”
hobie chuckled, and it made his pearl earring sway; miles’s eyes snapped to the motion like a magnet as hobie turned away, heading back up the stairs. “well, c’mon then.”
the narrow staircase led to the second floor, an open area with a few low couches and a coffee table. there were scones and tea on a tray; chai, by the smell of it, and hobie poured for them both once they sat down opposite each other. his teal converse bumped against miles’s toes as miles took his cup with whispered thanks and had a sip, brows raising.
“good, innit?” hobie murmured over his own, lips curling up the same way his fingers curled around the handle. “gift from a friend, his aunt makes it. help yourself to the scones, yeah?”
miles hummed, swallowing. his eyes flickered from hobie to the table to the wall and back to hobie again; the way he leaned back into the couch, loose-limbed and comfortable, was awfully distracting. miles took a second sip with that dark gaze on his skin, and the silence got louder.
“ay, sorry, i’m—” hobie sat up properly, hand on the back of his neck as he offered a sheepish chuckle. “i’m staring. s’rude of me.”
“nah. depends on why you’re staring.” the words were out of miles’s mouth before he could filter them, and he snapped his mouth shut in mortification.
hobie just laughed, piercings twinkling as he grabbed a buttered scone and bit it in half. “business first, brooklyn boy.”
miles valiantly willed the heat out of his cheeks and sat forward, putting his teacup down to pull his laptop out of his messenger bag. “so how’d you know about me? and my art?”
hobie smirked like he knew something miles didn’t. “school.”
he froze, narrowing his eyes. “...what do you mean, school?”
“we go to the same school.”
“we— wait.” miles knew hobie’s voice sounded familiar. “you’re the guy on our college’s radio station.”
hobie gave him jazz hands, brows lifting with a bemused smile. “the one and only.”
he gave hobie an incredulous look, mouth falling open. “man, i listen to you! how have i never seen you on campus?”
“we’re on opposite ends. i’m majoring in classical music,” hobie replied, grinning wide enough for miles to notice a smiley piercing against his front teeth. “you’ll never guess how i found out about you.”
“…i don’t know if i wanna ask.”
“ya happen to know a certain miss stacy?”
miles goggled. “you know gwen?! i mean, okay, no, gwen knows you?”
the other boy cackled, shoving the remaining half of his scone into his mouth and dusting his hands on his pants. “why’s that such a surprise, huh? we’re in the same block!”
“yeah, but—” miles sputtered, waving his hands about with his laptop forgotten. the way hobie’s eyes crinkled when he laughed was doing funny things to his brain. “you’re cool.”
and hobie really was; he was wearing dark red gloss today, lashes spiked with glittery mascara, a distressed black tank showing through the loose knit of the cream sweater hanging off one shoulder. he had a new ear stack on too, gold and garnet in a delicious contrast against his rich skin, and the tattoos on his forearms moved with him when he settled back against the couch.
“gwendy’s plenty cool,” he countered, playfully arching a pierced brow.
“not after you’ve seen her laugh so hard she shot rice out of her nose,” miles deadpanned, and he reveled in hobie’s wheeze. “but seriously, dude. there is no way in hell i haven’t seen or heard of you before.”
he knew he looked good, or at least decent; he had a solid sense of fashion and a workout routine that was consistent enough, but hobie was electrifying like a spark to your brain stem.
“let’s just say i like to keep it on the down-low.” hobie offered a mirthless chuckle. “a violin prodigy who hates practicin’ and prefers electric guitar, and still has one of the most sought-after scholarships across the board? i ain’t exactly got a fan club, now, bein’ the black sheep and all that.”
miles tongued at the inside of his cheek, fiddling with the charm bracelet on his left wrist. “they’re wrong about you.” hobie’s eyes flickered to him, sharp and intense, and miles shoved down against the way his heart was climbing up his throat.
“ya barely know me.”
“and yet i like you,” he challenged, setting his teeth against the verity. “and i’m not wrong about people very often.”
he watched as hobie’s eyes widened imperceptibly, falling shut as the other boy scrubbed broad palms across his face with a heavy sigh. “bloody— gwendy told me you’d be like this.”
“like what?”
“stubborn,” hobie muttered, peeking at him between two ring-clad fingers, full lips ticking up at the corner. he said the word like a compliment. “she’d warned me, y’know. i suppose just not enough.”
the laugh that slipped from miles’s throat was unplanned, thick like a weighty throw pillow to the chest. “sorry to break it to you, but my best friend is biased,” he said primly, pursing his lips. “also possibly a little bit crazy. and a liar.”
“alright, alright.” hobie’s grin was awry, pulling at his lip ring. it was ridiculously charming. “how ‘bout ya re-introduce yourself on your own terms, then?”
miles cocked his head, pretending to consider before he stuck out a hand. “miles morales. double major in visual arts and graphic design. it’s a pleasure.”
he tried not to shiver when hobie’s fingers wrapped around his, elegant and calloused, warm against his skin like the weight of hobie’s gaze.
“hobie brown. tattoo artist, lead guitarist extraordinaire—” he let go and sat back, dark eyes glittering above a soft smile, “—and i think you’ll find that the pleasure’s all mine.”
miles swallowed, mouth dry. his pulse fluttered.
oh, boy.
fin.
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"St. Just refused to give way before the storm that then broke out. He stood at the tribune, says Barras, 'motionless, impassive, unconquerable, coolly defying the whole House,' until the uproar ended in his impeachment and arrest.
He showed the same demeanour during the final scenes in the Town Hall, and at the scaffold, holding his head stiffly and disdainfully to the end. He would illustrate his own portrait of the perfect revolutionist, penned a few weeks before. He would show these false patriots how to die. 'The perfect revolutionist,' he had written, 'is inflexible, but temperate and sensible. He lives simply, without affecting the luxury of false modesty. He is the irreconcilable enemy of every lie, indulgence, and affectation. Since his aim is to see the triumph of the Revolution, he never finds fault with it, but condemns its enemies without involving it in their disgrace. He educates it without ever forcing his views upon it. Jealous for its reputation, he speaks of it carefully and with respect. The equality he claims is not that of legal privilege, but that which he shares with all men, particularly the unfortunate. A revolutionist is the soul of honour. He keeps the law of his own free will, not from lack of enterprise; and because he has peace in his heart. Coarseness he regards as a sign of deceit and remorse, or as hypocrisy masked by violence. Aristocrats may speak and deal with tyrants: the revolutionist has no truck with bad men. But he is not a fool. He is so jealous for the good name of liberty and of his country that he never acts without consideration. He is eager for battle; he pursues the guilt and defends the innocent; he speaks the truth to instruct, not to compel; he knows that if the Revolution is to triumph he must be as good now as once he was bad: and his morality is not a clever pose, but something heart-felt and fundamental.'"
J.M. Thompson, Leaders of the French Revolution
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