Batman Comics - Tumblr Posts

me when my siblings and I fight over stupid things

EVEN MORE TIM AND DAMIAN BEING THE SIBLINGS EVER

Commission Info / Kofi

I'm a timbern girlie 100% but what do you think, random strangers?

Do not ship him with the other batkids/bruce they are his family. I will delete your comment.

(I feel like my posts are getting pretty negative lately so here have another poll! I love posting these, you have no idea how much I hold back!)

Batfam: A bunch of teens/adults actively trying to murder each other

DC: look they're fighting! Don't you wanna know who's strongest!?

Fans: Aw family <3

DC: Tf do you mean family?? Look Jason tried to kill Tim again!

Fans: Siblings <3

DC: Bruce gaslight Tim into thinking everyone was trying to kill him!

Fans: He's such a shit dad omfg

DC: BRUCE ISN'T HIS DAD!?!!

I love it how we as a fandom collectively invented the concept of the "batfamily" when in reality it's just a bunch of messed up kids/teenagers and a few even more messed up irresponsible adults running around with their deeply dysfunctional relationships

Bernard would absolutely not agree to that, he'd go throw hands with batsy immediately.

Bernard: hey watchu want for your birthday?

Tim: oh I don’t really do presents anymore

Bernard: oh, why not?

Tim: …okay first you gotta promise me you won’t get yourself injured trying to fight Batman-

I see so many "steph's his favorite kid" posts as if he didn't absolutely hate her?? People are determined to see bats being a good dad but it was actually really important that he wasn't? And I don't care that much but people get so mad when you mention it

omggg i L O V E it when people completely change steph and bruce's relationships for their little headcanons hahaha it's not like her entire existence as a vigilante defied his orders as batman. it's not like he pushed her away and was mean to her in every other interaction. it's not like it's crucial for her character to feel like she's not wanted there. no, he's just dad :))))

Imagine a little montage of all the shit they've done to eachother (like we see them fighting to the death or smth) but in the background that happy i-love-my-family instrumental music plays

I have no idea how to explain that music but yk what I mean right?

I choose to believe Bruce throwing a batarang at Jason's throat also happened in the WFA universe. Because it makes this more amusing to me.

ive been calling this the quack quack suit bc why is it so ducky??

its not ugly tbh, just kinda plain and like after the cuntiness that red robin serves its kinda weak but we need balance 7/10

He's so prettyyy

Tim drake doodles <3

Happy Tim day everyone!

happy tim day! 💫

BRING BACK BATMAN'S FREAKY LIVING CAPE

tbh. a little obsessed with how some artists drew batman’s cape in the 90s

batman’s cape as smoke, batman’s cape as shadows…. batman’s cape as wings…

batman’s cape as this almost living, almost breathing thing

(panels from batman: shadow of the bat, #74-75, & batman: legends of the dark knight, #120)

The really funny thing about 2016 suicide squad is that it never really explains killer crocs backstory and in other stories he is just a regular guy with a skin deformity. Which makes the movie ten times funnier if you’re imagining him with that backstory, and that he is just some criminal and that they gave him a cell with a little pool in it and no bed.

Killer croc walking into his cell for the first time: where is my bed? Why is there a pool?

Guard completely serious: enrichment

this came from a tik Tok and I love every single one and yes its the despicable ai art too but ignore that for the amazing headcanons mix with actual canon <3

Rip Damian Al Ghul Wayne, you would’ve loved Dungeon Meshi.

I imagine Maps gets him into it. It’s doesn’t take a lot of convincing since they already have a dnd (or whatever dc’s equivalent is) campaign with Jon, Maya, Kathy, and Colin. Damian prefers to read physical copies so he orders a box set and binges it one night.

His favourite character is probably Chilchuck. I think that he relates to not being treated seriously, especially because he’s yet to grow out of his baby face. He also finds him the most reasonable out of the group, which he appreciates.

He is a huge Farcille fan. He is kinda mad that they never got together at the end, but he does have an ao3 account so…

He really appreciates the world building. He especially likes how all the races have different and unique features. I think he’s already planning a campaign set in the world of Dungeon Meshi.

DP x DC | Prompt #1

𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍, 𝐃𝐫. 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝚊𝚍𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛 "𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝" —𝘐𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘑𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 "𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩"— 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗𝚓𝚞𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚜𝚊𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝙂𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙢. 𝙷𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖: 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦? 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚜𝚊𝚏𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍. 𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎... 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚞𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎. 𝚂𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝙄𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙤𝙞𝙨, 𝚒𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚝𝚢𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚞𝚛𝚋𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛: 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘢 𝘻𝘰𝘰, 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘢 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘮, 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘢 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦. 𝙷𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚍𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎 —𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩— 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛-𝚣𝚎𝚛𝚘 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎. 𝙳𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚊𝚏𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚘𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙐.𝙎. 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚗𝚘 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚟𝚒𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜, 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎.

𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝙰𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛 "𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝" 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚐𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝. 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝙂𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙢 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚛, 𝚘𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 '𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘉𝘢 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘦' 𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚍𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙰𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚛 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍. 𝙷𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕. 𝙰𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝙰𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚕 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚢. 𝙸𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚋𝚊𝚗 𝚗𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚣𝚎. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚍𝚍 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝙰𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎𝚕 "𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚢" 𝙵𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛 "𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚏𝚎𝚛". 𝙷𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚘 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚕. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚍𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝, 𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝚂𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝙰𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚔. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚞𝚗, 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚢'𝚜 𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛. 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚠𝚊𝚢, 𝚜𝚘 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚑 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚔𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚖𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚑 𝚖𝚎𝚝 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 "𝚐𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝." 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚕𝚎 𝚒𝚝𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚋𝚢 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙰𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖! 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚑 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜, 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚗. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚗𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝙻𝚎𝚊𝚐𝚞𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙, 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎. 𝚂𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝙱𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝙻𝚎𝚊𝚐𝚞𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 "𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚜," 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝. 𝙸𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚍, 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚘 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝙱𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚎 𝚋𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢. 𝙽𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝙱𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚊𝚝-𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚢; 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚋𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚋𝚢 "𝚖𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚒𝚐𝚎𝚘𝚗." —𝚈𝚎𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚊𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚖𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚒𝚐𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚜.

DP x DC | Prompt #1.1

𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍, 𝐃𝐫. 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝚊𝚍𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛 "𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝" —𝘐𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘑𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 "𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩"— 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗𝚓𝚞𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚜𝚊𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝙂𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙢. 𝙷𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖: 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦? 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚜𝚊𝚏𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍. 𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎... 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚞𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎. 𝚂𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝙄𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙤𝙞𝙨, 𝚒𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚝𝚢𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚞𝚛𝚋𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛: 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘢 𝘻𝘰𝘰, 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘢 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘮, 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘢 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦. 𝙷𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚍𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎 —𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩— 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛-𝚣𝚎𝚛𝚘 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎. 𝙳𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚊𝚏𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚘𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙐.𝙎. 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚗𝚘 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚟𝚒𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜, 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎.

𝙰𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍, 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚐𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚢. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚘𝚗: 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚘𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚜! 𝙾𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝, 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚞𝚝, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛, 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚍𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗'𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚎. 𝙳𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚢𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚍. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚞𝚗, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚜. 𝙾𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜, 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚢. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜' 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚘, 𝚜𝚘 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙸𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚋𝚘𝚢𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 —𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚢𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚜𝚌𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚊𝚐 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 "𝚑𝚘𝚝 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕" 𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 —𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚔𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚌𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚐𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚜 —𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝, 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚝𝚘𝚘, 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝙱𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚎. 𝚂𝚊𝚏𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚢, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚕... 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚗𝚊𝚗𝚝. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍, 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚖 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍: 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚗𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍. 𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝, 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚞𝚙 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔-𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚙𝚒𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚑 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚢. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚜. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘: 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚛 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚗𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎? 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚗𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚢 𝚒𝚏 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘. 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚘. 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚢 𝚒𝚏 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚝, 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚢, 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜. 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚎𝚝. 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚍, 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚑 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝙱𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙷𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘. 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚘𝚕𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚒𝚝 𝚊 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚌!

DP x DC | Prompt #1.1

𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍, 𝐃𝐫. 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝚊𝚍𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛 "𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝" —𝘐𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘑𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 "𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩"— 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗𝚓𝚞𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚜𝚊𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝙂𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙢. 𝙷𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖: 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦? 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚜𝚊𝚏𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍. 𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎... 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚞𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎. 𝚂𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝙄𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙤𝙞𝙨, 𝚒𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚝𝚢𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚞𝚛𝚋𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛: 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘢 𝘻𝘰𝘰, 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘢 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘮, 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘢 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦. 𝙷𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚍𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎 —𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩— 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛-𝚣𝚎𝚛𝚘 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎. 𝙳𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚊𝚏𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚘𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙐.𝙎. 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚗𝚘 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚟𝚒𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜, 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎.

The Billionaire Boys Club

Batfamily x PhD student reader

(This takes place around 3 years after the Intern. )

The Intern: Day one The Intern: The Laughing Fish The Intern: Outreach Gala

After interning in her hometown, Y/N was recruited to do her master's degree fully funded by Lexcorp. She had developed an attraction over the 3 years working with Lex Luthor, yet his controlling behavior led to Superman warning Y/N about the CEO's affections. Her master's thesis was on the environmental impacts of Kryptonite use and storage.

Gotham City's explosive tonight. The annual environmental gala has somehow brought fresh life into the sallow streets.

The gala's decorator deserves a raise. Lush vines descend from the high ceiling wrapping around the pillars. I narrow my eyes. Are those real carrier pigeons? Every flower from any climate you could possibly imagine flood the walls in a sweet cascade of fragrance. The sweet aroma tethers me to the present. Dick and Tim give me sly smiles from across the ballroom. Stumbling past the walls of plants, Bruce gives me a thumbs up.

"You clean up nice."

I give him a small smile before glancing down at my Wayne sponsored garb. The long satin dress hugs my hips in an almost risque manner. A respectable slit begins at my mid thigh showing off my red and black pumps. I grimace at the unknown cost.

"You know you didn't have to go all Pretty Woman on me Mr. Wayne." I joke smoothing out my silk gloves, "I do have a paycheck."

Bruce smiles. It takes me off guard. A real smile with squinted eyes and smile lines. As goofy as the most attractive man in the room can be. Compared to his work persona, it's nice to see.

"Ms. L/N, I would never ask you to spend your money to play dress up for a gala I invited you to."

I nod not knowing what else to say. An entire styling team showed up at my door this morning with rack of dresses to choose from... and the shoes... well let's just say it would have made Cinderella run back home and demand to know why she couldn't have gotten Bruce Wayne as her Godmother.

His eyes gravitate to the pendant draped across my neck. A sting of pain registers on his face. I shift uncomfortably once he starts to stare. At my discomfort, Mr. Wayne apologizes.

"I'm sorry Ms. L/N. I haven't seen that necklace in a very long time."

I raise an eyebrow. Mr. Wayne never divulges this much personal information.

"Old flame?" I joke wiggling my eyebrows.

He shakes his head with a pained smile.

"That was my Mother's necklace."

My eyes widen. Martha Wayne's necklace. Instinctively, I reach to take it off. I already couldn't afford a ruby necklace, but a Wayne family heirloom? Hell no.

"I can take it off if you-" I start reaching for the clasp.

Mr. Wayne stops me in my tracks.

"Don't worry about it. That was a long time ago. "

I still hesitate. I glance awkwardly around the ballroom.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Mr. Wayne weighs carefully, "Besides, it might make for an interesting headline."

I scowl.

"I'm not going to like this am I?"

A devilish grin appears in response to my dismay.

"Welcome back to Gotham Ms. L/N."

Bruce's sons materialize a few seconds later. If I wasn't used to them suddenly appearing in my office, I would have shrieked.

"Tim. Dick." I greet with a nod, "Always a pleasure."

The younger boy looks at me like I am a puzzle piece he can't quite figure out where to put yet. Dick is as charming as ever.

"Y/N, I can't believe Bruce roped you into being his date. Have you ever considered unionizing?" He teases with a grin.

"At least, I'm getting paid to be here. What's your excuse?" I tease lightly hitting his shoulder. "Don't you have a hot date tonight Bludhaven?"

A painfully familiar shadow interrupts the conversation.

"Mr. Luthor."

Turning around, my legs begin to shake. What a wonderful... surprise. Lex nods to the three men before setting his sights on me.

"Mr. Luthor,"

Saying his formal title feels wrong, yet calling him Lex wouldn't be right either. Not after everything that has happened. Timothy's analytical gaze burns my peripheral.

"Ms. L/N, would you join me for a dance?"

I hesitate eyeing the audience that is forming. Extending his hand, Lex continues, "For old times sake?"

Three people stopped talking to gawk. I don't have much of a choice. With the amount of gossip mongrels here tonight, if I say no my face will be plastered on every gossip column in Gotham... If I say yes, well at least it will only be in Metropolis Gossip columns. I don't have much of a choice.

"Of course... Mr. Luthor." I agree through gritted teeth letting him drag me onto the dance floor.

If I thought agreeing to a waltz would quell speculation, I was poorly mistaken. Dozens of eyes follow our every movement including my boss's.

"You are only feeding into their curiosity." Lex whispers in my ear, "Those vultures know when you are weak."

"Is that what I am?" I question finally looking into his green eyes, "No need for flattery Alexander."

"There isn't any other way to explain your disappearance."

"-That's not fair."

The fire in his eyes leaves me speechless. This was not how I planned to spend my Saturday evening. For a moment, I fantasize on how this night could have gone. I could have had an early night enjoying take out... exchanged my favorite book with the cute guy next door. Slept in. Instead, I am bickering with a man who could be my Uncle over the fact I didn't take a job offer...and potentially start a relationship with him.

"Okay, so I cut you off." I start, "I'm sorry I hurt you, but things couldn't keep progressing like that. My project ended. It was time for me to go."

...and Superman told me that you started tracking my whereabouts... along with bugging my apartment... Go to therapy.

Lex shakes his head.

1, 2, 3

1, 2, 3

1, 2, 3

"You were offered a complete stipend. A guaranteed job offer. Why would you turn that down?"

My lips press together into a fine line.

1, 2, 3

1, 2, 3

1, 2, 3

The orchestra roars into a crescendo. The dance speeds up.

"You know why...." I hiss trying to keep up with his increasing tempo.

I've never been good at multitasking.

1, 2, 3.

1, 2, 3.

1, 2, 3-

"-Say it," Lex demands gripping my fingers tighter, "Tell me."

The ring on his left hand gets caught on my gloves tearing the beautiful silk right down the center. The radiant green draws my attention. Kryptonite. After all this time, he still wears it. Rage causes my face to go hot. I stop dancing to grab his ring.

"This is why Lex," I snarl, "Because I am sick of watching you destroy yourself. You've read my research."

A smart ass grin stretches across his face. The onlookers exchange curious glances at our lack of dancing.

"I paid for it." He replies smugly.

"Then you should know how ludicrous this behavior is. You are going to die before you win."

His eyes get sharp. I must have hit a nerve. A vein in his forehead grows prominent. Another couple dances past us. Lex tears me out of the way before I get bulldozed. A few beats later, we are back in the dance. His hands grow tight around mine like he's afraid I might disappear again. My knuckles turn white from the pressure, but I won't give him what he wants. Pain laces up my palms.

"So, you would rather waste your career working for a halfwit like Bruce Wayne?"

I freeze for a second. This is what this is really about. Lex is jealous that I chose to work for Bruce. If it was anybody else, he could convince himself that I was downgrading, but I went to his direct competition. Thinking of the conversation I had with Bruce earlier, when nobody else is around Bruce has a strange intelligence in his mannerisms. He had initially joked about not reading my research, yet the intensity behind his questions later that week proved otherwise. How did my job search end with watching the boys club battle it out?

"I will only say this once: My life is mine. What I choose to do is my decision. Say what you want about Mr. Wayne, but at least he respects my privacy." I growl ripping my hands out of his grasp. "Have a nice day Mr. Luthor."

Storming past the "Garden of Eden" display, I slam open the double doors. God.... Everyone there probably thinks I slept with him.

Tag List: @jjsmeowthie