MOVED TO @RULEBENT

a whisper of a ghost story. when first he fell, they carved martyrdom into his bones, twisted any remnants they could find until he was worthy of show in their museums, until the lie of him was something they could use. and then he became the haunting, the blood - soaked villain who moved into their horror stories, always existing between the truth and a nightmare. and now? now they pick apart truths and frame him any way they wish, forget that hands are washed with blood and his is the alias that pulled apart the centuries. that anger, that thing they fear the most in him, but lie claim to anyway; that was his. the could not create from what wasn’t there, couldn’t breathe a brutality into him that he didn’t always own. the winter soldier has not gone, simply become his to own, while he watches them all forget it.

   —       ❛   i’m not an avenger. ❜        he won’t be either, turned that one down the moment it showed up. he works alone, finds a path back to redemption by burning down everything that made him, doesn’t trust the people in charge to make decent decisions.       ❛    what’d they do that puts you not in the mood?   ❜

ＩＴ　　ＷＡＳ　　ＰＲＡＣＴＩＣＡＬＬＹ　　Ａ　　ＴＥＣＨＮＩＣＡＬＩＴＹ            ❀✿❀            barnes had been guilty by association ,      only separated from the so-called superhero group by title alone .      she’d only been in new york for a few months since her death            (      pamela’s death ,      ivy rose like a phoenix from the ashes of pamela’s past      ) ,            but the avengers ,      and other idiots like them            (      spandex-wearing self-proclaimed saviours of the city      ) ,            had managed to give her problems at every turn .      ivy had quickly become their villain to despise ,      her so-called radicalized perspective on climate change proved problematic ,      no matter what personality she would don .      ivy had no obligation to entertain his advances ,      and yet hand still gestures toward the seat across from her ,      legs cross as cerulean hues fixate on the man before her .                        ❝      your friends don’t seem to like me very much .      ❞                        the understatement of the year causes smile to drop from her disposition ,      brow arches as head tilts to the side .

to my dear bruce,

it’s been nearly three months since we’ve spoken,   since i decided to tell the world the truth about me.   i wasn’t sure how you would react      ------------      how would any sane, logical person respond after finding out that their girlfriend is the queen of the underworld?      ( i wouldn’t know,   i lost my sanity a long time ago,   at the same time that pamela died in that lab ).      i’m still not entirely sure why i’m writing this letter to you now;      writing a letter in itself seems so archaic,   but you’ve been ignoring all of my texts and calls,   all the emails sent both to you and to alfred as a last ditch effort at reconciliation.   if things had been different,   if we had reconnected before this damn city had ripped me apart,  maybe we would’ve been perfectly happy together.   after all,   you’ve always been the only person that i could talk to,   the only person that allowed me to feel normal      ( despite all of the shit that was happening at home,   despite the hidden bruises and hesitant smiles ).      even recently,   you were the only person that reminded me what it felt like to be human again,   reawakened parts of myself that i thought had died long ago.

some days i think that i see you in the streets,   in the endless sea of faces that i interact with daily.   maybe it’s wishful thinking,   but i hope that one day we’ll meet again,   that you’ll forgive me for all the lies and secrets.   maybe you’ll even understand why i did the things that i have…

i don’t think of myself as the villain that the media paints me out to be,   and i don’t think that trying to saving the earth is a crime.   my radicalization came as a direct result of the crimes of gotham,   the corruption of government officials due to human greed,   a reality that maybe you never had to face due to the sheltered life you’ve been living.   the people of gotham are dying,   just as surely as the earth itself is,   and i want to be a figure of liberation for them all.

the batman is the only thing separating me from true liberation,   but i hope that he’ll see the truth too,   before things get worse than they already have.   i don’t want to hurt anyone,   i don’t want to become a monster,   but i can become the villain that gotham so desperately wants me to become;      you know better than anyone,   what these pressures do to a person,   what expectations force you to turn into.   i’m so close to achieving my goals,   to finding out who the batman is,   to bringing a green utopia to gotham.   i had hoped that you’d be by my side when it all happened,   that you would be in my corner,   but maybe it’s better that i have no weaknesses when the war commences.

i miss you,   bruce.   i miss quiet mornings in wayne tower,   late nights talking about anything and everything.   i’m sick of the memories making me feel guilty,   i’m tired of the regret;      i don’t want to hurt anymore…   maybe i should just let you go.

this pains me more than you’ll ever know.

love, pamela isley  your dearest ivy

dear @nightwarn​​,

you don’t want to hear from me,   and that’s fine;      our relationship should’ve died with pamela months ago.   i’m doing what needs to be done,   and i won’t let you make me feel guilty for it.

i will find the batman,   and i will kill him.   then,   i will purge gotham of its poison.

you will never hear from me again.   don’t try to stop me,   or you’ll join the rest in their graves.   this is your only warning.

      hazel  hues  grew  wider,  not  quite  about  to  believe  what  her  alleged  twin  sister  was  saying.  it  was  hard  for  to  wrap  her  mind  around  the  fact  they  were  twin  sister  to  begin  with,  but  the  fact  @ivygroved​  needed  words  of  encouragement  not  to  murder  someone?  it  was…  shocking,  was  it  not?  why  did  she  need  words  of  encouragement?  you  simply…  did  not  kill  people!  

        ❝  i-  well,  i…  ❞  layla  tried  to  speak  up,  but  words  were  quite  failing  her.  ❝  you  might-  go  to  jail?  and  i  doubt  they  would  let  you  have  plants  there.  ❞  was  that  enough?

ＴＨＥ　　ＵＮＩＶＥＲＳＥ　　ＭＵＳＴ　　ＢＥ　　ＰＬＡＹＩＮＧ　　ＳＯＭＥ　　ＴＷＩＳＴＥＤ　　ＣＯＳＭＩＣ　　ＪＯＫＥ　　ＯＮ　　ＨＥＲ            ❀✿❀            it’s the only explanation that ivy could come up with ,      the only way to justify the fact that she was somehow related to layla            (      quiet ,      nerdy ,      goody-two-shoes layla ,      ivy’s polar opposites            ------------            she could barely stand @enternecers’s presence before finding out the truth ,      barely anything has changed since finding out they were related      ) .            heavy sigh escapes pursed lips as she studies her so-called twin ,      barely concealed judgemental stare finds its way to the other before eyes roll in their sockets ,      figure leans backwards in the polypropylene chair before arms cross .

          it’s      silence      that      frame      shared        moment ,        whilst   unyielding   glare   follows   familiar   figure :        heavy   scrutiny     splitted   between   interest   and   distrust         ―        yet   none   able   to   taint   facade   of   control   that   druig   would   offer   @ivygroved​ .        hands   remained   together   before   his   stance ,        a   heavy   sigh   at   last   crossing   their   surroundings :        opening     space   for   his   voice   to   follow  ,        colored   in   habitual   lull .

            ❛    if   you’re   trying   to     recruit   me     again …       i’m   sorry   to   say   you’re   once   more   wasting   your   time ,       love .    ❜

sc .

ＩＴ＇Ｓ　　ＮＯＴ　　ＯＦＴＥＮ　　ＴＨＡＴ　　ＩＶＹ　　ＷＡＮＴＳ　　ＴＯ　　ＷＯＲＫ　　ＷＩＴＨ　　ＯＴＨＥＲＳ            ❀✿❀            but even she isn’t stupid enough to ignore druig’s abilities ,      the kind of control that he has over the minds of meer mortals ;            the two of them would be unstoppable together ,      would be able to keep the peace in all of gotham            (      and eventually ,      around the entire world ,      successfully ending the threat to the holy mother’s wellbeing      ) .            gaze tilts to the side momentarily as coy smile spreads across her expression ,      strands of copper are brushed out of her eyes before lashes bat in his direction ,      lower lip juts out in a subtle pout .                        ❝      you always assume i come here to try getting something out of you .      what if i just wanted to stop by for a visit ?      you outta buff out that chip on your shoulder …      ❞

     bruce  felt  himself  jolt  on  the  inside ,  that  pained  jab  of  anxiety  surging  out  from  the  center  of  his  chest ,    yet  on  the  outside  he  was  still  when  feeling  somebody  jot  their  index  finger  on  his  shoulder .   bruce  turns  stiffly  to  face  the  other ,    the  hands  inside  of  his  pockets  clutched  themselves ,    listening  to  her  words  with  a  slight  twist  of  his  head .   her  voice  had  an  uncanny  familiarity  that  sent  a  shiver  down  his  spine ,    gooseflesh  breaking  out  along  his  arms  in  gotham’s  unforgiving  november  air ,    a  face  having  been  lost  in  the  fog  of  his  mind  quickly  reemerged  with  full  color .

     ❝   pamela  …  ❞     he  wasn’t  expecting  this ,    it  felt  exposing ,   his  gaze  is  anywhere  but  on  her  at  first ,    he  sees  others  walking  past ,    uncaring  to  their  existence   (   it  was  just  them ,   like  how  it  use  to  be  ).      ❝   people  say  a  lot  of  things  in  this  town.    ❞     he  scoffs  as  eyes  land  their  attention  to  her .   from  day - drinking  recluse ,    to  freak  who  keeps  his  parents  on  display ,    rumors  spread  themselves  on  tacky  tabloids ,   bruce  learned  it  was  best  to  keep  them  in  the  dark ;    none  of  them  assumed  it  was  him  going  out  on  these  nightly  escapades  of  violence ,  as   bruce  wayne  was  a  coward  in  their  eyes .

     memories  like ,  a  projector ,  flicked  through  the  inside  of  his  head ,    remembering  the  last  summer  the  two  of  them  had  spent  together ,    and  in  his  hand  was  a  flower .     (    for  you  .  .  .  )    and  she  took  it  in  her  hand ,    her  lips  turned  to  a  partial  smile .     (   this  is  a  weed ,  bruce  .  .  .  )    ;    his  own  lips  now  slightly  up - turn  after  hearing  her  finish  her  words ,    shoulders  easing  up  on  the  tension .      ❝   well  you’re  a  hard  girl  to  forget  –   what  brings  you  back  to  gotham ?    ❞

ＳＨＥ＇Ｄ　　ＦＯＲＧＯＴＴＥＮ　　ＷＨＡＴ　　ＩＴ　　ＷＡＳ　　ＬＩＫＥ　　ＴＯ　　ＢＥ　　ＨＵＭＡＮ            ❀✿❀            the warmth of her smile settles in the pit of her stomach ,      twists it in unfamiliar ways as gaze registers the familiar face once again ,      as cerulean carefully studies the newly matured features .      she’s aware of the spotlight that had been placed on bruce in recent months ,      the same scrutiny she’d received after inheriting her family’s fortune ;            she and bruce had always understood one another in ways that their peers never could ,      even before things got complicated with them both ,      before they’d lost contact amongst the business of new lives            (      or maybe it had just been too hard to reach out to one another ,      too painful to grasp onto the only reminder of when things had been happier ,      when they’d both had families to turn to      ------------            she couldn’t blame him for them falling out of touch ,      but maybe he could’ve prevented her endless suffering ,      maybe he could’ve saved her      ) .            bittersweet reunion doesn’t change the smile fixated on perfect visage ,      fingers gently push up the bridge of her glasses as a reminder that ivy needs to remain in character .      pamela isley would resurface for the first time in nearly a year            ------------            diffident ,      unstable ,      gullible pamela ,      ivy’s only weak spot .                        ❝      ah ,      you know how things are .      ❞                        there’s a vague wave of her hand in the air before head ducks downwards ,      subtle shyness peeking through portrayal as arms cross .      still ,      words remain bold as gaze fixates on the loose pebbles on the sidewalk beneath her sneakers            (      ivy wouldn’t be caught dead in nike’s ,      yet they seemed to be all that pamela wore      ) .