Phantom does not like Bruce Wayne, he tells Batman with a completely serious face.
Phantom is hanging out in the Watchtower, shooting the shit with Green Arrow.
Well, Phantom is talking shit about rich people.
"Sounds like a personal grudge," Batman comments idly. Lots of people don't like rich people, so he isn't actually offended.
"Oh, I just hate a select few. Oliver Queen? He's fine." Green Arrow visibly preens.
Batman feels a lip twitch, but fights the smile.
"What about Bruce Wayne?" Superman asks, very deliberately not looking at Batman.
Phantom snorts.
"Bruce Wayne? I hope he wrecks one of those fancy cars and needs both his feet amputated."
The room goes completely silent.
"Holy crap, kid; what'd he do?"
"He backed Vlad Masters is what he did. The Wayne Tech he provided was used to get one-up on me; took me literally two months to escape." The kid cracks his neck, and the high neckline moves enough to show off a shiny new red scar.
Bruce feels the world drop from under his feet.
"He what?" The question is ripped from Batman's throat before he even finishes thinking it.
"Oh yeah, he also financially backed the supporting senators behind the anti-ecto acts. Bruce Wayne is a literal useless sack of shit."
"...I'm sorry, the anti-ecto what?" Superman's voice is strained as he asks, and his eyes are already starting to glow.
Bruce, after getting back to the cave, pulls Tim aside and together they rip into every single transaction the board did both over the table and under it.
And there it is.
Multiple board members had been using Bruce Wayne's name as they donated to shady politicians, essentially sold off his developmental tech that was supposed to be disposed of, and had been embezzling funds.
On all official papers, Bruce Wayne was the biggest backer for a law that was in clear violation of Meta Rights.
@simplestoryteller
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Hold on because you’ve got me thinking now. DO we think Bishop’s change in Fast Foward is genuine?
I think it might be, at least partially. Largely because of the episode ”Head of State” where he endangers his own life to rescue Stockman from the lab explosion/fire, it seems to reflect some degree of genuine character development. Also, when he is strung up in front of the turtles and talking about his time spent kidnapping and experimenting on aliens, he states “that was a different time in my life, not one that I’m proud of,” and his expression/reactions really seem genuine.
BUT, during that same sequence when he tells the story of how Stockman “went too far” and caused the lab to blow up the first time, he seems to place a lot of unnecessary blame on Stockman and does not own up to his own misdoings, which Ralph calls him out on. So I’m really not sure?
This ask reminded me I had a similar one in the drafts I just,, forgot about,,, BUT yeah I honestly do not buy that President Bishop's change is fully genuine, and that's detailed a bit more in that ask!
I'll agree that the rescue is a big point in his favor, though. Given the circumstances, Bishop was just severely retraumatized (strapped down on a lab table, preparing to be dissected,) so given he was probably acting under severe stress, his actions could easily be read as genuine. I definitely think there are ways to spin it to fit the interpretation that he hasn't changed, which I tend to go with in my own writing (and as such I won't detail too much, spoilers!) but it's very plausible Bishop chose to rescue Stockman in an attempt to make up for everything he'd done to him before, too. As Trauma pointed out to me, Bishop's rescue of Stockman in that scene directly mirrors the alien rescuing him in that same episode's flashback. That suggests this is Bishop paying it forward, in some sense.
I will say I do not buy that his guilt is genuine when he's describing his past actions, I very much find that to be an act. He refuses to describe the actual contents of what he did or why what he did was wrong, and continuously distances himself with his language ("I was a different person" and so on.) Paired with the fact that he has no qualms blaming Stockman and detailing what he did wrong, like you said, it comes of as VERY manipulative, to me. These are the tactics of someone who wants to be forgiven but isn't sorry. If you've seen a youtuber apology you've seen all these moves before.
In terms of Bishop's expressions, I always come back to the fact that he's a politician, and likely has been for a good few decades. He's in the public eye, and the success of his goals now directly hinges on how other people percieve him. It seems very likely to me that he's developed the skills to lie and persuade and come off as genuine in response.
But that's just my two cents! Honestly while the interpretation that he's still a monster deep down is my personal preference, it really can be read either way. Given the tone of FF, I do think we were intended to just take his redemption at face value. It's just that it's so much more fun when he's a liar!
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forget about coffee shops, what about a bookshop au with albedo?
let’s say you work part-time at a local bookstore, and at some point you notice that you seem to have a recurring customer.
he’s of average height, and has ashen blond hair that he wears in either a crown braid or a ponytail. his eyes are blue— the icy blue of frost on a cold winter’s morning, but not unkind.
and you’re far from the only one whose attention has been captured by him. quite a few of the bookshop’s customers also seem to show an interest in him. you can’t blame them, of course, but it discourages you to go up to him when he only ever gives clipped answers to those who try to start conversations with him, and politely turns down any offers for dates. he’s completely uninterested in them, so why should it be any different with you?
you’ve never seen him actually buy anything; rather, he just sits at the same table each day he comes, sometimes carrying a thick novel or sketchbook, thin gold-rimmed reading glasses slipping down his nose, or other days typing away at his laptop, eyebrows furrowed slightly in concentration.
you’ve never spoken to him, either— in fact, you’ve never seen him speak more than a couple of words to anyone— but somehow that makes you all the more drawn to him. sometimes, you wonder whether you should go up to him and talk to him, but decide against it; he looks so focused on what he’s doing that you don’t dare to disturb him.
a few times, you’ve met eyes with him from across the shop. you glance at him on occasion— you can’t help yourself, after all— and sometimes you find him staring back. in these moments, no matter how hard you try, you find yourself unable to pull your eyes away from him, and he’s always the first to break eye contact.
though you admire him from afar, you doubt he even registers your existence; he never even checks out any books. he just sits there, reading his own, or typing away at a laptop. occasionally he brings a sketchbook along, too. you wonder what it is that he’s drawing. in any case, you doubt it’s related to you. after all, you just lead a little life in a little bookshop, and that’s all he knows about you, and that’s all he thinks about you; if he thinks about you at all, that is. nothing more.
however, you like to think yourselves growing closer over the occasional shared glances you throw at each other across the shop. you entertain yourself with that thought, thinking, it doesn’t hurt to indulge my fantasies a little.
little do you know, he likes to think the same.
——————
“we’ve already told you, this book is out of stock. at the earliest, we’ll have it by thursday, but it’s not available now,” you repeated, speaking slowly in the mask of politeness that veiled your frustration.
“come on, get off it,” the customer scoffed. you thought, he has the character stubborn as an ox and vexatious as a wasp who refused to stop bugging you. “i know you have the book in stock. i saw you carrying it around just earlier today!”
this guy was watching me earlier? you forced down a shudder.
“that’s because it’s reserved for another customer,” you said, patience dwindling. “i’ve already told you that, too.”
“well, if they haven’t picked it up in person, that’s on them. i’m here now, and i’m saying, i’d like to buy that book,” he said, taking a step closer to you. you frowned, but stood your ground. before you spoke again, you had to bite your lip in order to hold back a string of insults before collecting yourself once more.
“well, i’m also here now, and i’m saying that you can’t buy that book,” you said firmly. what’s this guy’s problem?
“you’re meant to serve your customers, aren’t you? just do me a favour and why not let this slip, eh?”
you tightened your jaw, and took a deep breath. countless rebuttals and curses lay ready on your tongue, blocked only by the bookshop’s policy of politeness towards customers. “i’m afraid that’s not how it works.”
“is that so?” he leaned in towards you, eyes narrowing, a humourless smile on his face. you took a step back, suddenly feeling very trapped in the small space of the book-lined aisle.
“are you deaf, or just an idiot?”
your eyes widened as you tried to figure out whether the words came from you or not.
no, hang on. that’s not your voice.
both you and the customer’s eyes flew over to a figure sitting by the end of the aisle, reading glasses propped up on his nose, ashen blond hair hung around his shoulders. his attention was on his book as he spoke, not bothering to meet the pairs of eyes that were on him.
“what did you say?” the customer demanded, nostrils flaring.
the stranger turned a page of his book, still not looking up.
“ah, so deaf, then.”
“excuse me?”
he sighed placed the book to the side, as if he were tired of this customer’s mere existence. his cold blue eyes briefly met yours, and something inside you fluttered. maybe it was your head messing with you, but something in that gaze seemed warm.
then he turned his gaze to the customer, and his eyes immediately frosted over, any traces of kindness gone.
“oh, no, sorry. my mistake,” he smiled. “both.”
the customer’s mouth opened and closed, not unlike a fish out of water, struggling to find words. the stranger looked on at him expectantly, as if bored waiting for his reply. eventually, the customer managed to stammer out,
“w-what the hell has this got to do with you, anyways? go read your damn book.”
the stranger sighed again, and stood up.
“i’ll have you know that the one reserving the book was me. in that sense, it has very much to do with me, actually.”
the customer ground his teeth, but could say nothing. the stranger stared back at him, and their gazes were fixed to each other’s, one flaming with indignation, the other cool and steady.
after a long silence, the customer looked away with a humph.
“you know what? fine,” he growled. “take your book, then. i’ll just get my copy on thursday.”
as the customer left the shop, he sent you a pointed glare. you returned the glare, yours containing just as much venom, before turning your attention back to the stranger, who had returned to his table at the end of the aisle.
“you’re not the one who’s reserving the book,” you said bluntly.
“i know,” he replied, eyes again on his book.
you sent him an awkward smile, suddenly unsure what to say.
“uh, thanks for that, then. back there. i don’t know what was up with that customer.”
“no problem,” he said, turning another page.
the silence that ensued was short of comfortable, but you felt as though you couldn’t just… leave, now, after finally having a proper interaction with him. you fiddled with your fingers as you spoke.
“so, uh, i’ve seen you around the shop. sometimes. not that i’m intentionally paying attention to that, but, you know…” you cringed at the words that just came out of your mouth. you weren’t exactly making the best show for yourself. you decided to change the subject. “…and i, uhm, realised that i don’t know your name yet.”
he glanced up from his book, the hints of a smile playing at his lips. “albedo,” he said.
you hummed, thinking, nice name.
“thank you,” he said.
you hesitated at his words, and then flushed, thinking, shit. you had definitely not meant to say that out loud.
“and you?” he asked, after realising you showed no intention of speaking.
“oh. uh, right,” you hurried, before telling him your name. he nodded, as if he approved of it.
“it suits you.”
your ears grew warm. “uh, thanks.”
he smiled. (you were fairly sure that you going to get a heart attack at this rate.) “no problem.”
you glanced away in an attempt to hide the colour of your cheeks, and your eyes landed on the clock. you sucked in a breath of shock.
“what is it?” he asked.
“i must have lost track of time earlier… the shop’s meant to be closing now.”
“ah, i see. in that case, i won’t keep you any longer. i apologise for distracting you.” albedo said, hoisting his bag over his shoulder.
“nah, it’s fine. you don’t need to apologise,” you shrugged. i quite liked it, actually.
the chime on the door tinkled, signaling his departure. your mind immediately began to race, torrents of thoughts swirling around in your head— although, perhaps ‘swirling’ was too elegant a verb. ‘bouncing around in a cacophonous and directionless frenzy’ was probably more accurate.
he actually talked to you. no, he stood up for you. and he said your name suits you!
okay, me, you breathed. calm down. don’t get ahead of yourself. it’s just one interaction. stop losing your mind over it. you’re not some hopeless love-struck idiot.
your gaze wandered over to the table he’d been sitting at. you frowned. his book was still lying on the table, a paper bookmark slipped between its pages.
he must have forgotten it. i’ll give it back to him next time he comes.
you walked over and picked up the book, absentmindedly flicking to the book-marked page.
you hesitated.
because, instead of a bookmark, pressed between the pages of the book was simply a slip of paper. and on it, written in ink and a neat hand, was a phone number.
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ok right, let's think about this from diego's perspective for a moment
lets start at the baseline that ur the spoiled son of one of the most powerful man in the contry, the ✨hottest prettiest most popular coolest boy in ur whooole rich kid elite school✨, and you just started dating this rly hot girl
except u also went out on a date w some older girls on the side and got drunk and totalled a car and ended up in the hospital and now u have to do community service and ur powerful dad is manipulative and crazy and overbearing and u dont know how stand up to him and ur home life is a disaster and ur actually really unhappy with your lifestyle and you very likely have a precocious alcoholism problem and you feel u have to hide the things youre most passionate abt - like music - , repress who you might actually want to be and bow down to your father's pressures. but its fiiiiine as long as you dont think abt it too much, right?
right, anyway! the girl ur dating complains abt this annoying new girl in you ~elite~ school, the daughter of a famous singer. apparently shes weird, and mean, and combative, so tacky and rude and unfiltered and disruptive. this new girl heard some mildly incriminating things you and your girlfriend talked abt, and now shes worried. your attitude is, of course, to go up to the new girl and threaten her for no real reason
and she is, well. much like described: strong-minded, agressive, irreverent, no filter. says and does whatever she wants. talks back to you and then some. you grab her and shes like. who tf are you. no i cant get u my moms autrograph. you threaten her right out and shes just, im sorry, are u chapolin colorado?? i think u forgot ur antennas sweetie
(sorry just. her dialogue >>>)
(she also lights up a sinalizer inside as bus beside u bc of it, but you never find that out)
ok,. you go on to your little rich kid school club. you get attacked and stabbed on the way to ur secret community service - yknow, over the drunk driving, - and a little child has to live on the street bc ur dad arranges that his brother is wrongfully arrested over it. youre not happy abt it, necessarily, but also youre not the type of person who would do anything to stop it, especially against your dad
your dad humiliates you and tears you a new one and you're all very frustrated w life. but you bow your head to him and move on, as always, because what else can you do?
you get drunk, again, and ends up kissing your girlfriends' best friend
the next day you stumble upon that girl in the hallway, and provoke her - like before, she claps back immediately. didn't she realize already this is your place, and the rest of your friends', and not for people like her??
heres the answer: she starts fighting your friend for calling her mother a slut (in not so many words) and you get in the way - and she reads you and your dad for filth. then, she gets her finger right at the center of the wound - she'd much rather have her people and her mother's artist crowd and revealing clothes and ""lack of class""" over having a corrupt father who'd sent someone to jail for a crime they didnt commit.
see, she is the type of person who wouldn't let something like that happen without consequence .
you dont really have much to say to that, or much to do really, except. seethe
you say to your friends, the best thing to do is to ignore her!
and then, well, you dont
by the way, you are the ✨prettiest, hottest, most popular boy in school✨ and this girl, as established, is inconvenient, weird, shameless, uncontrollable, she has no class or respect for you or your friends, her makeup is too dark, her hair is strange, her humor is cutting, her bad temper is obvious. you, well, you can have aaaany girl you want - so you're definitely not and would NEVER be attracted to her at all!
anyway, a gossip rag comes up and talks abt you kissing yours girls best friend. even though it makes absolutely no sense for this new girl to be the one to do it - she doesnt even know you all, and really doesn't seem like the kind to say something behind the back rather than in your face- and even though you've talked a grand total of two (2) times (and "talked" here is being generous), you're suddenly Convinced , it Has to be her. bc....... her mom is a famous singer. so. irrefutable proof. right there.
that, ofc, justifies you throwing her overboard into a lake, even though she doesnt know how to swim. all your friends think you exaggerated, after all you couldve really hurt her, maybe even killed her - you shrug and laugh it off.
"roberta is very rough" you say. SOMEONE has to show her whos boss, someone has to show her who REALLY has the power here, you tell them. obviously that someone has to be you
could it be possible that you're trying to feel powerful after your recent fuck ups and your dads latest humiliation? is it possible you overdid it bc this girl pushes aaaaall your buttons ? that it irritates you that she's so strong-minded and defiant and you're not?🤔naah don't worry about it
so, she finds out you couldve KILLED her. and then she throws ur 15k guitar into the water as retaliation . as one does. and you are LIVID. it is a 15k guitar, and also the one thing you really actually love - music
as the very not-unhinged person you are, you threaten to drown her, (again). she says she isnt scared of you, and you insist that she is. you tell her you have A LOT of power (do you?) and if she "continues with the gossip rags", which she denies writing, you will certainly "put her in her place"
she clearly has no framework for what she should or shouldnt do, or who she should or shouldnt mess with. but that should show her
so she's actually pretty freaked out. and leaves. you don't see her for three weeks
do you take this is as a win?
nope! you, the ✨ hottest, prettiest most popularest boy in school✨ apparently did not have much better things to do these 3 weeks than obsess over her, bc the first thing you do upon coming back is going out to find her, threaten her (you have to cuddle her to do that, for some reason) and put in place a questionable plot to try to get her expelled
see, you tell her, you always get what you want (do you?) and the thing you want THE MOST is for her to leave the school
why do you care SO much abt expelling her? you've talked what, 3 times. you've certainly had worst, more violent altercations with other people in this meantime. you don't know that she would mess with you again. if you're SO powerful and able to show her who's boss, why worry so much about making her , in particular, leave? weeell, don't worry about it
you're so happy about this plan and managing to screw her over, that you get drunk again! in celebration, you toast to the girl who made you the happiest lately - roberta pardo! . you kiss a pillow as if its her. when your actual girlfriend hears you, she thinks it means youre cheating on her - and who can blame her?
and then! the plan fails. bc ur a villain and the power of friendship defeats you!
also, she's extremely clever. you'll realize in the near future, its rare that you manage to outsmart her - and the times you do, you usually regret . but let's not get ahead of ourselves
you're furious. you vow shes "going to pay" ;.
pay for what? she hasnt actually done anything, other than respond to your attacks - all of the times you've met, she's always been answering your own agressiveness, standing her ground instead of bowing her head.
you have so far: threatened her on sight, insulted her family, thrown her in a lake, accused her without evidence, threatened to drown her, and tried to frame her for theft and get her expelled. she has... insulted you back, thrown your guitar on a lake after you threw her, and outsmarted you, defending herself against your accusations
now, not only did she escape your little plot, meaning she will stay in school, where you'll see her everyday, she doesn't even have the decency to be intimidated anymore! now she has the audacity of saying she's not scared of you, that you're the one who is going to pay, and this has just begun.
you hear all of that very closely, by the way, because you're pushing her against a wall
youre even more ... furious and dedicated to ~~bringing her down
you've known her for what ammounts to one (1) week.
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