MAN OF STEEL.

definitely not superman. what gave you that idea? he’s just a normal human man. he’s literally just a guy.

may or may not actually be an alien from the planet krypton with nigh-godlike powers that he uses to defend humanity

countryyyy boyyyy i looooveee youuuuuu blahhhhh

please don’t pick a fight with him. 

actually? pick a fight with him before he gets too much power back, just to say you did it

your new best friend (if you’re a pretty good person)

your new most annoying enemy (if you’re a villain)

brings coffee into the office, is always the one who gets stuck holding the door open, gives people his umbrella when they forget theirs

your local “bikes to work at his office job” guy

When Bruce said he had to leave, he meant to do it alone. Each word out of Clarks mouth ground on his nerves more-so than usual. It wasn’t the first time Clark had pissed him off of course, but this time felt different if only because he couldn’t get a handle on his emotional response. That fact didn’t make any sense to him, and thinking about it logically was proving difficult the more Clark spoke. He already knew his shit.

Each one of Bruce’s kids knew how to interpret the way he cared and loved them, that’s what he thought anyway. His close friends should know the excessively roundabout ways he showed he cared too. He was never vocal about it and he can’t ever imagine saying those three fragile words to anyone ever again. Arguing with Clark about this was futile, and he was trying his damnedest to leave it alone.

Clark follows at his heels and he feels more on edge than he’s ever been. What hits him more out of this is Clark’s desire for him to show himself as something other than a cold heartless monster- the fact that he even says that gives a sting that this man didn’t understand him at all. He should know him better than this. Why was Clark so stupid?

Once they’re outside Bruce turns on the heel of his foot in a flash with one swift right jab to the Kryptonians cheek- it felt extremely satisfying to be able to hit him without breaking his knuckles in the process. “Fuck you Clark!” That practiced control shatters like a broken dam and everything Bruce held in spilled out.

“Why the hell should it matter to you the way I live my life? It is my job to keep the people I care about safe and no amount of me letting someone love me-” the word love taste sour as he says it, “- is going to soften their suffering. They’ll suffer regardless! It doesn’t fucking matter to me that people I don’t care for might see me as a cold and heartless monster when the people that do know me should know, just as you claim to.”

Bruce turns his back on Clark and fixes his coat. “This is the last time we’re having this conversation. If you can’t understand why I do this, then we’re not as close as I thought we were. Goodbye Clark.” He steps away to leave him behind, feeling the need to keep his distance and retreat to a place he can collect himself again. Bruce needed to go over the events of this conversation, mostly to figure out how or why these emotional outbursts were happening, it wasn’t because he wanted to think about Clark’s words. It was a broken record, Bruce wasn’t going to change the way he wanted people to perceive him, he wasn’t going to allow himself to become so vulnerable again.

    Bruce had never really punched him before. Not like this. He had always been able to sidestep in the blink of an eye, or catch his fist mid-throw, or simply deter one just by virtue of being literally invulnerable. People often compared it to punching a brick wall -- but in all honesty, punching Clark was much worse, because he would disregard the fight at hand to check for injuries. A part of him even realizes now that he could stop that punch before it lands, even without his usual reflexes.

    For some reason, he doesn’t. Clark doesn’t even throw up his arms to attempt to block it. Instead, Bruce’s fist collides with his cheek hard, and there’s a reverberating pain and a click in his jaw as he tries to recover from the blow. Honestly, he counts himself lucky that this is the first - and hopefully the last - time he’s ever been on the receiving end of a punch from Batman.

    Once he’s come back to his senses and stands upright again (albeit still holding his tender jaw), Clark expects more cruelty to spew out of his mouth. He can see the pain on Bruce’s expression, hear it interwoven in every hurt word he speaks, and his heart aches for his best friend. He regrets - hates - every harsh word he’s said so far. And yet, he can’t help but open his mouth and try to apologize, try to make amends despite knowing he’s royally screwed this up.

    “Bruce, wait! I’m sorry!” Clark never expected honest words to shock him. He had expected his tongue to twist that apology into something cruel again, as it had done this entire conversation, but for once he seems to have found himself again. He knows this argument is far from over, but still, the relief feels like a heavy weight has been lifted off his shoulders. “Please, don’t walk away!”

    It’s almost certainly not going to work. Bruce has already turned his back on him and Clark isn’t even sure what he could possibly say now to remedy this, despite being snapped back to his senses by a punch. He doesn’t really expect his best(?) friend to give him the time of day anymore, but he still feels compelled to say something.

ANONYMOUS ASKED: You know Kal you can't help someone who doesn't want help. You can only extend your hand for so long before you must let that person go. You can't save everyone, some people are just intent on destroying themselves. Its sad, I wish you could help everyone :(

     “How could you say something like that?” His tone is bold, commanding -- typical Superman. Yet his words are anything but, betraying how hurt he is at the sentiment, even as his voice never falters. “Do you have any idea how hard it can be to admit you need a little help, let alone ask for it? I don’t expect everybody I reach out to to want my help. Or anyone’s, for that matter. But that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve to have someone fighting in their corner.”

     “If I ‘let someone go’ when I had every opportunity to help, I’m just as culpable in their pain and suffering as whoever or whatever is inflicting it on them. I know that I’ll never be able to save everyone who needs it, but... I will never willingly give up on someone. Can you imagine how that must make them feel? To see Superman on TV, lifting buildings and extinguishing fires, wondering why he didn’t help you when he had the chance. And what if that next little push to help them, the one you’re suggesting I give up on and don’t take, was all it would have taken to save them?” 

     “And helping someone isn’t always just about insisting they take my hand. It’s a lot more complex than that. For all the direct help I do -- you know, saving people from disasters or taking down the latest bad guy -- there’s a lot of indirect, unintentional stuff too. It’s about giving people hope. It’s about seeing goodness in the world and deciding to live on, or make a difference in your community, or even just improving one small thing about yourself. So that people don’t have to want Superman’s help to get it, you know?”

ANONYMOUS ASKED: Superman's birthday is on the 29th right? How is your muse celebrating? (❁´◡`❁) And doesn't he technically have two birthdays. I remember Clark Kent's birthday being june 30th.

     you’re exactly right, feb. 29th (or rather, today!) is superman’s birthday! and he actually doesn’t do all that much to celebrate it, especially in spirale city, since he mostly regards it as a secret identity thing, you know? fans of superman around the world like to have a day to celebrate, but aside from a few public appearances to thank people for their kind words (and probably donate their gifts to charity lbr) he doesn’t do much celebrating in private!

@INVITEDEATH ASKED: 🎧 + souperman  //  Send “🎧 + a muse” and I’ll pick a song from my playlist that reminds me of them!

DIRTY AIR  //  two door cinema club

give me the vine  and i’ll give you the wine bring anything that will burn and you’ll get fire in return we’ll start a fire, fire, fire, fire, blazing, raising hell now, well now, anything to catch your eye

SUNBURN SURRENDER  //  capital cities

in my city, moving through the stress, i try to stay light float above the stress, but when i’m not high you are my upside, you send me  the brightest of memories i’m not dreaming, that’s your silhouette this moment, fleeting i’ll never forget, i need your fixing you are eclipsing, pretender my sunburn surrender

TIMEBOMB  //  walk the moon