#he's not some super capable genius supervillain

[tanadrin]

@sadoeconomist

Something politically aware people on every part of the political spectrum from the left to the right think is true and leaders of the Russian, Chinese, Israeli, etc. governments believe in enough to talk about publicly and make major geopolitical decisions based on maybe is not just a crazy fringe conspiracy theory, could be that there's some truth to the CIA, NED, etc. having more involvement in these events than the video author thinks I watched all this stuff happen in real time, and I read your notes, which went over how Russian hybrid warfare succeeded in Crimea in 2014. Every major power takes hybrid warfare seriously, what's objectively stupid is your mischaracterization of how it works. Trying to astroturf a revolution out of nowhere simply by paying random citizens en masse to overthrow the government would indeed be stupid but that's not what it is. Your notes seem to suggest that the video says US was paying little attention to eastern Europe until 2013 but Russia was frequently reacting to imaginary US provocations because they are stupid. It's like there's a giant America-shaped hole in the video's narrative. Ukraine was understood to be a NATO-Russia geopolitical battleground long before Euromaidan, it wasn't just Putin shadowboxing imaginary opponents out of pure stupidity that led to this.

You seem to be operating on the basic assumption that governments don't do stupid things for no reason, or fall prey to obviously inane conspiracy theories. That's simply not true; governments are led by human beings, human beings are subject to a common set of cognitive biases, and when you're an authoritarian right-winger (as the leaders of Russia, China, and Israel all are right now), an explanation for your apparent unpopularity that pins all the blame on the CIA instead of your shitty policies and your attempts to cling to power flatters those biases.

But we don't need to speculate about the propensity of governments to do stupid shit, because we have plenty of historical and contemporary examples of governments believing in nonsense: Havana Syndrome in the US, AIDS denialism in South Africa, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories in Nazi Germany and Imperial Russia, etc., etc. And often these false beliefs lead to real strategic blunders: the Bay of Pigs, the Iraq War, World War II, etc. Sometimes world leaders are stupid! Like, leadership probably tends to select for some kinds of intelligence and ability--charisma, social intelligence, and so forth--but it doesn't automatically make you a geopolitical genius, or make you immune to believing false things about the world.

And the biggest problem with the conspiracy theory outlined here isn't just that we can trace its origin to a fringe American political cult, it's that it's not necessary to explain any development in politics since 1989. There is no problem in understanding the revolutions of '89 or 2000-2014 that CIA involvement is necessary to solve. Indeed, as the videos point out (if you would actually watch them), trying to use "the CIA did it" as an explanation adds considerable problems, bc color revolution theory doesn't work. It's based on misconceptions, misunderstanding of data, and a healthy dose of paranoia.

The only real problem is trying to explain Putin's behavior--and that doesn't require color revolution theory to be true, only that Putin believes it is true. And why he would believe something is true, when he has the supposedly vast power of the Russian state at his beck and call, is easy to explain: authoritarian dictators surrounded by yes men do not have accurate pictures of the world! From Idi Amin to Saddam Hussein to Vladimir Putin, there is a common pattern of authoritarian dictators losing touch with reality, getting really weird, and coming to believe all kinds of counterproductive stuff that flatters their egos. It would be an even bigger problem to try to explain why Putin was immune to that dynamic after 24 years in power.

"World leaders don't shadowbox opponents out of pure stupidity" is an assumption that seems wholly ungrounded to me. Why not? World leaders do foolish things all the time on large and small scales. World leaders make mistakes. World leaders can become paranoid and out of touch--and if they lead countries without functioning electoral democracies, they can stay in power regardless. World leaders are not a magic special class of human being. They're just people. And whether it's because they're your uncle who watches nothing but OANN and Fox, or they're the President of Russia and they have yes-men and the Global Research guys telling them only what they want to hear, they can end up making absolute nonsense a load-bearing part of their worldview.

#like putin has benefited from this myth of being hyper competent and calculating for years in the west #and i just don't think that was ever true #he's not some super capable genius supervillain #he's just a run of the mill authoritarian #who was willing to placate russian elites to get what he wanted #and once in power gradually solidified his power base #in a very run of the mill fashion

[bobbimorses]

I saw you mentioning that Clint's personality/portrayal in more recent works has been done poorly. What sort of things do you want to see acknowledged/come back in the modern Hawkeye portrayal?

ok, i’m gonna refrain from embedding panels since this will be so long. skip to the bold for what i’d like acknowledged again because i first try to analyze what recent misinterpretations stem from before getting to your point. whoops!

currently, people seem to overwhelmingly portray clint in only these terms: coffee, catchphrases, and clueless. now that’s not to say that the man doesn’t drink coffee, or that he’s an omniscient super-genius, but that people have taken traits from one portrayal they recognize and run so far with it that it seems like that’s all he is.

i think this is because a lot of people have either misinterpreted the circumstances at play in fraction’s hawkeye, or only know of clint from fanon or decontextualized panels from that run and subsequent appearances

here’s what was happening in fraction’s hawkeye: clint was in a state of depression. fraction’s run took a lot of inspiration from hawkeye’s first solo series (v1), by gruenwald, where clint’s also shown in a rut. in both runs, his depression partially stemmed from his lack of belief/confidence in himself. in v1, it’s a betrayal that makes him doubt he’s worthy of being loved. in fraction’s hawkeye (v4), it’s the amalgamation of all the beatings he’s recently taken in the avengers that makes him doubt he’s worthy of being an avenger.

v4 immediately follows from clint being burned to an absolute crisp (then healed...but not instantly) in a big event, avengers vs. x-men, while facing the phoenix-possessed x-men, aka god-like powered beings. issue 1 of v4 opens with clint being completely wrecked in a fall while avengering. he’d also been killed and thrown around a lot of other major marvel events in a short time prior to all this. basically, he’s been painfully reminded of just how human he is among a bunch of gods and super soldiers. he can handle the pain, but he can’t handle that all the breaks and burns are reminders of his fragility, his humanness; how was he unable to stop them from happening? he starts to question his place in the avengers.

so what you see in fraction’s hawkeye? the moping, the mess of an apartment, the subsistence on pizza, coffee, beer and cereal, long periods of just being on the couch and wanting to nap, the occasional apathy and bewilderment at things happening around him? that’s depression. clint’s not on his A-game, he’s at a low point. unfortunately, a side-effect of v4′s popularity (it’s a well-made comic!) is a lot of people only know this side of clint; they don’t have the image of clint on a good day to “compare” against, and think “this is it.” but that’s not it; i think v4 is meant to show that even the most heroic can slip into apathy when sinking into depression. v4 is about clint finally accepting help from his friends, his neighbors, overcoming his indifference, and believing that not only is he the one that has to stop the villains, but that he can and will. because he’s hawkeye.

now onto what’s lacking in portrayals that misinterpret/represent clint:

jumping off from that doubt in his capabilities, clint has previously been shown to suffer from insecurities. his outwardly overconfident attitude was, in his beginnings, a mask for his low self-esteem and total self-reliance. of course he knew he was the earth’s greatest marksman, but was this enough to take on all these world-ending threats? eventually, after proving himself time and time again, he shed a lot of these insecurities. his confidence was more than earned. his cockiness also threw enemies for a loop: “look at this dude with a bow saying he’s gonna annihilate us. as if he-OH NO.”

now, he’s being portrayed in an inversion of that same strategy: he’s written as getting enemies to underestimate him by acting dumb, bumbling, a klutz. the problem with writing this as clint’s consistent strategy instead of an occasional usage is uninformed readers, or decontextualization, will have people thinking he’s actually like that. that’s why i miss clint being brash and overly-boastful to throw enemies off. he’s already “just a guy with a bow,” why does he need an extra layer of feigned incompetence if everyone already sees him as that guy?

he does have that lingering thought of “am i really good enough to be an avenger?” but he responds to it by trying to be even better, and that drive is what makes him excel, one of the best, worthy of the rank. that drive should always be present. it also makes him kind of competitive (though that’s also just for fun)

snark & attitude: clint’s also always been snarky. i wouldn’t say he’s at the level of spider-man in terms of constant quipping, but when clint and pete have fought together, they’ve given each other a run for their money. clint’s humor also has a sort of lovable jerk quality to it at times, because he’s very light-hearted about it. he’s got a certain levity about him, because you have to when you’re aiming an arrow at a dude made of steel. i’ve seen this quality slowly return to the comics, i think. on that same note, his belligerence with authority, though obviously now more mellowed, can come in little doses like questioning aspects of a plan/order. clint is a confrontation magnet and can be a real loudmouth, even if he’s fiercely loyal to his team.

street smarts! clint has always been clever and had out-of-the-box thinking because he had to scrap by in an orphanage, then a travelling circus (and have you ever played a carnival game?). he’s used his smarts to gather intel, infiltrate (break into) places, trick people, and defeat many a villain. and he’s not above cheating to do it. he literally defeated an elder of the universe, saving the entire defeated roster of the avengers and the universe, by pulling an old carny trick.

trickshots: the first elder of the universe he defeated was with a combination of his cleverness and a trickshot. i want more trickshots again! ricocheting shots, shots where he’s had to determine all the involved angles almost instantaneously in his head, just ridiculously pulled off shots from a distance or at difficult targets all really demonstrate clint’s skill. he didn’t and doesn’t do all that training to not be the best archer. speaking of...

training: clint regularly trains to maintain and hone his skills daily. this isn’t really an issue with current comics writing per se but some people seem to think he just sits around all day (and not just for a vacation). literally his whole shtick is training a skill so much that he’s on par with superhumans. c’mon, guys. relatedly, he’s also skilled in combat because he trained with cap (ronin skills!)

acrobatics: clint spent his adolescence in a circus and was always trying to get in the show, so you know he brushed up on acrobatics. clint and cap even did some gymnastics training in the early days. i want more flips that clint didn’t necessarily have any business doing when he could’ve just leapt around with much less flare, like the typical showman he is (tales of suspense did have this)

accent: this one’s more nitpicky, but i’d maybe like a return of a little bit of a lilt on his dialogue again. i know marvel phased out overly-phoneticized accents, but clint, orphaned carny that he is, always had a casual way of speaking, and i enjoyed how that was reflected in his written dialogue. dropped g’s in gerunds, d’s in and, shortened word combos, etc. it doesn’t have to be over the top, just touches where needed. this is a thing that was kind of present in fraction’s hawkeye, actually.

leadership: though it’s not like marvel denies clint ever led multiple teams (editorial wouldn’t let that happen), lately he’s sometimes written as if he doesn’t have this experience to draw from, and sometimes not. it’s a bit inconsistent. this isn’t to say clint has to be the leader at all times, he works well in a team in any capacity--just don’t shrug off the development and coordinating abilities he gained from his leadership

disaster?: i don’t fault situations where clint's going about the motions and suddenly everything around him is a disaster because when isn’t it with clint’s luck, dude once got cornered by like 10 supervillains in a sewer. and the man can make some bad decisions. but just remember how he’d respond to a disaster: thinking up a plan (or trying to on the fly), using all the resources at his disposal to conquer the problem, maybe insulting 5 people in the process, trying to wink after he gets stabbed

i’m not trying to disparage some people’s interpretations of certain aspects of clint, i’m just advocating against a misunderstanding or persistent misconceptions of clint as a character. he’s a character rich in development because he’s been kicking around continuity for over 50 years now. he went from screaming at cap like a grounded teenager to being offered the shield and rejecting it out of utter respect. he’s complicated in his experiences, his relationships, and many facets of his character, though his motivations can sometimes be simple (help people, show off, prove i can be be that good by being better). to whittle hawkeye down to one note would be a disservice to clint barton’s journey and evolution.

actually, here’s a panel:

#Anonymous #to be clear this is abt comics #this answer was almost as long as my conlaw exam #meta #i've had a compilation of panels mentioning clint training sitting in my drafts #it's so long there's just no text to it #also not to say 'every appearance of clint should be written based on this template from issue -13 from thunderbolts' #bc that's just restrictive #varied writing keeps things fresh #but like...there's layers #WAIT i forgot to talk about his relationships #bring back clint's close friendships #it's like a running joke now when he shows up for a few panels in something #and everyone's like 'ugh hawkeye's here' #stop!!! #at least no road home had him and wanda on a diner friend date

[animatedminds]

Let’s Get Dangerous Review!

It’s dangerous. In a good way. <cue dramatic music> Okay, obviously there’s more thoughts than just that. I’ve been waiting for it for weeks, and it arrived just as awesome as I hoped. For the first time, let’s give my full movie style review to the double length Ducktales special: “Let’s Get Dangerous.”

The spoilers are open and widely discussed, so maybe don’t look past the following image if you haven’t seen the episode yet.

To note, I’m not entirely convinced that this was actually meant to be a pilot. It definitely does introduce a new status quo for the Darkwing trio of characters (minus Honker for now, here’s hoping they haven’t forgotten him), but it’s also a very remote story that still tries to take place within the context of Ducktales’ universe, so it really depends on what they choose to do.

But let’s just get down to it.

First off, as I mentioned in my earlier post… Taurus Bulba. He was maybe the biggest and most eye-catching aspect of the first part of the episode, as one of the few elements we hadn’t already seen yet, and his reputation as a really, really bad guy has quite preceded him. As I may have gushed somewhat about, he’s one of the best parts of the special.

James Monroe Inglehart, for those living away from the Disney scene for a decade, is an actor and voice actor most famous for being the original Genie on Broadway’s Aladdin. A grand, bombastic presence, he generally plays characters who - much like the genie himself - a big, jolly, kind but maybe a little mischievous souls that take the attention of a room and brighten up the characters’ day - like Lance, in Tangled the Series. The most interesting thing about Bulba is that Inglehart brings that exact same energy to the role, and so Bulba keep that jollity and lofty personality in a package that becomes increasingly less nice as the story goes on. As someone who keenly remembers Taurus Bulba as cruel monster willing to hurt kids and capable of crushing Darkwing like nobody’s business, the contrast was immediately fun to watch - and I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.

In this story, Bulba is recast from a crime lord intending to use a super weapon go on an endless plundering spree to a FOWL scientist with a respectable reputation who intends to use a super weapon to take over the world, and the transition goes off fairly well. The end result is a pretty standard mix of superhero fight and Bond plot, as Bulba ends up holed up in his lab with his squadron of elite supervillain minions - all plundered a particular fictional universe - with the heroes having to break in / escape from his captivity and stop him before he destroys everything. It’s very Silver Age, with Bulba in the role of maniacal villain, and he’s contrasted very well with Bradford - who is as always an antagonist who prides himself on pragmatism. This contrast leads to some great moments: Bradford’s increasing frustration with the cavalier attitude of both the heroes and the villains gives him the best stint of characterization he’s had since the beginning of the season - he basically spends the whole episode arguing with everyone about how badly thought out their actions are, while also badly hiding his own secrets.

The Fearsome Five (of which Quackerjack is voices by his original actor) are great to see, though used minimally. If you’re expecting to see classic show dynamics between the villains and Darkwing, that’s not really what they’re used for. Mostly, they’re minions with personality, and they’re more there to establish both to the audience and to Drake the character himself that he is ready to take on really big threats even with his lack of superpowers.

But enough about the villains, on to the heroes!

A couple episodes ago, with the Halloween episode, I criticized that story for not balancing its A and B plot all that well. This episode does not have that problem. The story is actually maybe about three fifths Darkwing’s story, and the rest of it is Scrooge and the nephews as they figure out what Bulba is up to independently of Darkwing and try to stop him themselves. It’s somewhat similar to Timephoon, where they’re there constantly and are doing their own bid to solve the story but the focus isn’t primarily on them. Instead, we have some of the best “HDL actually matter to the story” bits of the show, where they escape Bulba’s prison on their own and lead Bradford out, all the while slowly figuring out that something is shady about the guy. Meanwhile, Scrooge gets stuck in the original Ducktales universe’s most memed scene, which was a fun gag (but not the best gag - that would be the one and only Bonkers D. Bobcat as the Harvey Bullock-style cop in the Darkwing show).

Which I suppose can lead to a digression about the mad science bit here. The alternate universes here are… interesting. I always pay special attention to how things like time travel or other dimensions or alternate universes work in a series, and this one reminds me the most - I think - of DC’s Dark Multiverse: a collection of universes that are both explicitly fictional but made real because people created them. Ultimately, it’s less as if the OG Darkwing universe exists independently of the Ducktales universe and more that the in-universe Darkwing show as a world based off of it that the characters can reach into. I wish the episode had delved into that more, and now you’ve got people trying to use it to look for more establishment of OG Darkwing elements (though I was fine with it being separate, perceiving anything else as rather needlessly inexplicable), but ultimately that is not specifically what the episode is about, and is kept rather separate.

So what is the episode about? Like you didn’t already know…

As always, Gosalyn Waddlemeyer is a little girl whose grandfather was done away with by Taurus Bulba, and who falls into Darkwing’s lap over the course of his adventure with him. Here, her grandfather is (possibly) still alive, just lost in the ether a la Gravity Falls’ Grunkle Ford. And like the mighty glazed McGuffin, Darkwing’s goal in the episode is less strictly defeating Bulba as it is helping her get her grandfather and her home back. Gosalyn here is self-sufficient and action oriented (it may be my inner Brooklyn 99 fan talking, but I loved Stephanie Beatriz as her, and kind of wish she had gotten a wider range of lines), taking on her own crusade against Bulba until she realizes she can go to Darkwing for help, and is constantly trying to pull him into the fight - even while he is reluctant, and no matter what the danger - so that they can win and she can get justice. But in the end, she has to accept that they might not be able to.

As a longtime Batman fan, I immediately recognized a plethora of Robin references with Gosalyn. She’s a kid who’s family was taken from her by a villain, given a surrogate home by the hero - like Dick Grayson. She’s a street tough who originally met the hero committing a crime, and who is both skeptical of his heroism and heavily critical of his flaws - like Jason Todd. And she’s a young genius with a lot of scientific knowledge, tech skills and common sense - just like Tim Drake. There’s even elements of Carrie Kelley or Terry McGinnis there, in her determined if not gung-ho approach to heroism despite her circumstances and the hermit-like behavior of the hero.

And in the end, this is a fairly apt comparison, because Gosalyn essentially ends the story more as a Robin figure than previously, now as Darkwing’s more of a ward and official sidekick alongside Launchpad. The story does not, to note, involve her being adopted by Drake or becoming Gosalyn Mallard. Indeed, they don’t really end up having that sort of relationship. They’re distant and don’t really know how to relate to one another, and not about to broach the subject of family except in distant terms. There’s ultimately far less emphasis than before on Gosalyn and Drake being similar and hitting it off on a personal level, or even really Drake keying into Gosalyn’s potential and spirit as a person vs an element in his adventure. Throughout the story he regards her as a victim to be saved, then ultimately as an ally with potential to be respected, and in the end he gives her an offer to take up the mantle along side him while they search for her family… which ultimately creates something very different.

For people expecting something a little more akin to the implications the show made with Gyro and BOYD, Gosalyn here. The implication that they could be a family is brought up by Launchpad, but neither Drake nor Gosalyn are really there at the end of the story - I want to say they’re not there yet, but the way the story goes gives off the impression that the dynamic duo dichotomy is the relationship for the two the writing is most comfortable giving them.

Again, I’m a longtime Batman fan, so I understand and appreciate the nod. It gives them a really cool status quo that’s distinct from what came before it. Still, the strong father/daughter relationship between the two was very much the heart and soul of the original show, an endearing quality that created the character traits we love about both characters, and ultimately one of the primary characteristics that set the Darkwing family apart even from most comic book superhero stars - so even if they made something great out of it, it’s a shame to see Ducktales ultimately keep that relationship at arms’ length.

But that’s less a criticism and more just something I wish they had chosen to do differently - and it makes sense for the 2017 team’s take on Darkwing, which has always been more focused on “irrepressible hero who doesn’t give up” - a pluckie rookie growing into his competence - than “former fool whose great potential is unleashed through the people around him.” The latter is there, sometimes, but it’s not prominent. Original Darkwing was a man made better by his daughter, while the modern Darkwing doesn’t quite need that to find the hero within.

The only (and I mean only) criticism I have is the way the characters kind of jump around in how they respond to things. Drake wanting more crime, and then freaking out when super crime shows up and it’s way more than he thought he can handle is fine, and is one of the better character bits in the special. It being unclear whether Drake is against fighting supervillains because he thinks they’re too powerful vs because he doesn’t want to risk Gosalyn’s safety is another thing, though - it seems the show intended to imply the latter but forgot to include the line somewhere, so it’s not inferred until later and Drake suddenly benching Gos towards the end lacks set-up.

For her part, Gosalyn is suddenly and quickly afraid to fight for a brief moment so Launchpad can inspire her to face impossible odds, even though it was hardly the first time she had done so in the special. The ending I think wanted the characters to be somewhere that the rest of the special hadn’t gotten them to yet. But it’s all good - it ends well, so all’s well. Best gag of the episode, btw? Fenton, who is awful at keeping his secret identity secret, has hooked up Darkwing with his own hi-tech hero lair. Darkwing, despite supposedly being a detective (or at least an actor playing a detective), ends up as one of the two or three people remaining on Earth who hasn’t figured out that Fenton is Gizmoduck. Darkwing considers himself good friends with Fenton, despite hating Gizmoduck. It’s actually very funny.

It’s as of now unclear what is coming up for Darkwing. We know the St. Canard characters are going to factor in more as the FOWL plot progresses, and this episode kicks that plot into high gear - the characters now know about FOWL and their intentions, and are preparing themselves for a far more dangerous fight than usual. In short, with the midseason comes the renewed focus on the primary plot of the season, as per the usual. Like I said before, while I’m not as on board as most with the idea that this was a pilot, St. Canard was definitely established here - with series regular Zan Owlson as it’s new mayor, and a general aesthetic and set of protagonists. It wouldn’t be remiss for a future episode this season to take place there (though we know Negaduck isn’t happening this season).

The new few episodes, however, are focused more on the quest for Finch’s treasures and FOWL, so that’s going to have to wait for a while. We’ve been promised, as I recall, an episode that brings all the kids together (unless that’s part of the finale), which is nice - I may have mentioned before that the best episodes of the series have been the ones that put the kids (who are the characters with the most focus throughout its run) together and let all their personalities run through an adventure together - and with the cast growing somewhat constantly, it’s nice to know that no one is being forgotten.

Either way, I give the episode a great deal of recommendation - I only had a couple things that bothered me, and a few wishes for different choices, and ultimately I’m planning on watching it a ton of times just like I did the first Darkwing episode. From a classic Darkwing fan, and in the words of Bat-Mite, it’s a different intepretation to be sure, but not at all one without merit.

So thanks to Frank Angones, Matt Youngberg and the Ducktales crew! I hope my virtual thumbs up reaches them somehow, but either way, it was a good day to be dangerous.

#ducktales 2017 #lets get dangerous #darkwing duck #gosalyn mallard #launchpad mcquack #scrooge mcduck #huey dewey and louie #taurus bulba #FOWL #bradford buzzard #90s animation #reboot #awesome #keen gear #Animated Minds for Animated Times #Frank Angones #matt youngberg #disney afternoon #crossover #animation review #television review

[enchystemporarydomain]

A quick story wrapped around an idea I had. It involves superheroes, but is mostly about a budding BDSM fetish… I have a few more ideas for these particular characters, exploring a Super, Mortal relationship...

I’m reposting this because I can’t find it on my other blogs...

A blue cape of smooth material. with a lustrous gold frame, connected to a massive frame of muscle. She was wrapped in white kevlar from neck to ankle, and stood on sturdy black boots with blue soles and rims. No symbol upon her breast just yet, as she was fairly new on the super block, but aside from so there was no doubt she was a fully fledged, capable powerhouse. She walked across the small bunker room in pronounced, careful strides, her hands balled into fists. Her gaze focused.

She tossed her hair back and posed. And smirked.

Watching her was a man dressed in black. His ensemble was practical and protective but not without aesthetic appeal. The black bulletproof vest could be overlooked altogether thanks to the much more noticeable sleek shoulder pads and electronic gauntlets. He wore unusual sunglasses with rims made of some sort of technology and dark red lenses. Where his partner exemplified strength and power with her muscular frame and walk, his ensemble painted the picture of the mechanical and engineering genius he was.

He watched his partner-slash-boss and laughed as she posed. She joined as well, obviously cheery about testing out her new uniform. 

“Man, what even is that hair flip?” he said. “I said show me your power pose.”

“Hey! I will do a hairflip when I see my enemy,” she said. 

“Oh? Is your hair bulletproof too? Parry bullets?”

The two had a laugh, admiring their new uniform. They were somewhat frightened inside about their job. As upcoming supers their first job was incredibly important if they wanted to be recognized by the major organizations. Fighting supervillains and street criminals was a service to the people and definitely a noble idea, but they also needed to eat and pay bills and the Justice Ensemble offered grants, loans, and benefits.

The two made their way out of the secretly enormous bunker beneath their basement (hidden via a door behind a shelf) and got ready to pursue a lead.

“I mean this legitimately, though,” the lady said, smiling down at her much smaller partner. “I really do love the outfit. To be able to weave not just program nanomachines but weave them into stylish nylon and kevlar… it’s amazing I found you with just a Craigslist Ad.”

“It’s what I do,” he responded, wishing he could think up a cooler quote.

“And you do it much too well for what I’m paying you,” she said, guiltily. “Anyway, hop on my back. I’m flying us.”

“Alright, Madame Bolt!”

“Strap on tight, Puma.”

*** *** ***

Grant had been a medium fish in a small pond back in his home town. An engineer working at his uncle’s garage work. With the internet he had access to fellow geniuses. Cliques of talented, gifted engineers to whom the greatest goal in life was being hired by a fantastic tech firm. Worshipers of tech giants like Bill Gates, or Hurrit Akkar (known among the hero world as a cold villain).

Grant had different dreams. Not bigger or necessarily more ambitious dreams but great dreams. He idolized the controversial supers of the world. The Justice Ensemble, Do Gooders United, Robots For Justice, and all that they did. He had a few years of vigilantism under his belt in the small crime filled towns of North Ontario.

He wasn’t quite sure what was it that made him make the leap, though. A craigslist ad written by an otherwise unknown superheroine looking for an engineer to design suits? The job would take him to America, relatively far from his home, and would be an incredible risk. What if the start up duo never made it to the big time? What if the money dried up and he was left stranded here? What if his employer was incompetent? What if he was incompetent? So many risks, and yet he took the chance anyway.

Now, holding steady on his new partner’s back, flying over the buildings of Candesfinning City wearing his beautifully designed outfits, the wind in his hair, Grant put away all of the worries in his mind. They still had a long way to go, but the thrill and excitement was intoxicating.

They landed in front of the buildings they knew their targets, a low level cartel base, to be residing in.

Alicia, super name Madame Bolt, set Grant down.

“Alright, Puma,” she said, holding back a grin. This was the first time they were using their super identities, so the campy ridiculousness was still fresh in mind. “I’ll do all of the fighting. Follow behind me, but not too close.”

“Got it, Madame,” Grant said.

*** *** ***

Super fast, bulletproof, and strong enough to easily bench over two thousand kilograms, the low level street gang didn’t stand a chance. Alicia had such a handle on the situation that even when stray bullet was fired in Grant’s direction, a potentially devastating tragedy, she saw it moving as slow as a floating slug and stopped it.

It would have struck Grant in his specially designed bulletproof suit, but he was still happy he didn’t have to take that risk. 

With the gangsters taken care of (most of them hired teens plucked from the streets and only five armed adults), and the evidence of illegal firearms and drugs gathered, Grant hacked the three computers in the building. It was an easy job: even without his advanced equipment these cpus had no firewalls in place. Alicia was watching over his shoulder. She must have been expecting more quick-typing and code on screen because, judging by her face reflection on the monitor, she was somewhat disappointed.

“Nothing big. However, in one of their emails they let slip something about 821 Glasglow Island. A meeting between them and another organization, though they were careful enough not to be specific.” Grant said. “I think we should leave that to the feds, perhaps?”

Alicia shook her head.

“We can handle this better than any feds. Gasglow Island is just a few kilometers east from the piers,” she said.

“In that case we could head their right away, if you like-!”

The two of them heard police sirens outside. Alicia swallowed, nervous. There were rules about supers taking the law into their own hands, and so far the two of them hadn’t stepped of line according to them. However…

“...Do you want to make yourself known?” Grant asked his boss.

“No. Let’s get out of here,” she said.

“Okay. Want me to hop on?” Grant unplugged his USB drive and put it away.

“Nope. Stay still.”

“What do you-?”

Before Grant could get a word in edgewise, Alicia’s cape had expanded in size. It’s nanomachines, designed by he himself, manipulated the fabric and bound around Grant. His arms wrapped together in a tight, inescapable hold, then bound to his sides. His entire body, like a mummy in blue and gold. Shocked and helpless, Grant could only give out muffled cries.

He felt himself being picked up by his larger boss. She held him tightly against him, almost protectively. She was gently holding the back of his head as one would an infant, and another on his thighs, ignoring his squirming.

“Stay still, this is going to be incredibly quick,” she whispered, before lifting up off the ground.

She hopped out the window with Grant bound and in tow, then fled at incredible speed.

*** *** ***

She let him down at the island less than a minute later. Though she set him down feet first as carefully as she could he still fell on all fours. 

“Grant! I’m so sorry,” she said, helping up.

“I… I just need a moment… Woof!” he said, catching his breath. Being bound caught him off guard. And now… he was on Gasglow island now? How?

“I’m sorry, Grant. I didn’t have time to explain. It’s dangerous for a normal person to accelerate as quickly as I can so… So I used the cape you made for me to protect you,” she said. “It was entirely necessary.”

“Alice, it’s… it’s fine. I was just shocked…” Grant said. He was blushing rather hard and turned his back to her. Alice raised an eyebrow at this.

“Grant? You’re not hurt, are you?” She reached for his shoulder but he stepped forward.

“No, I’m fine. It was just frightening. Er…” He cleared his throat. “Are… are we going to have to do that everytime you have to fly me really fast?” 

Alice shrugged. “Well… I personally don’t mind. It’s the most effective method we have right now and it doesn’t hinder me in any way. But if you don’t like it maybe we can workshop it? You can whip something up?”

Grant nodded, rubbing his hands together in a way Alice hadn’t seen him do before. 

“Yeah. We’ll do that for now. Maybe I’ll invent a neck brace or something,” he said. He cleared his throat.  “So… this is the island. Should we look up this warehouse and see what the mob wants with it?”

Alicia didn’t answer for a moment. She was watching him, curious about how he was acting… He prayed she wasn’t putting two and two together.

Then she smiled. “Yes. Let’s go.”

She lead the way. Grant sighed and followed her from behind.

*** *** ***

The warehouse, it turned out, was fairly simplistic. No security cameras or even guards. A great many creates full of wrapped goods. Most of them legally owned by, presumably, one of the mob higher ups. But using Grant’s X-Ray tools and Alicia’s speed (and immunity to X-Ray radiation, thankfully) they found a crate of bullets hidden deep in one of the crates, beneath old boxes of cloths and linen. One quick anonymous picture sent to the feds and the two of them left.

Alicia tapped Grant on the shoulder before they left.

“I want to leave as quick as we can, less we’re sighted here and the mob will change tactics before the feds can investigate,”” she said. She beckoned for him to get into her cape.

Grant swallowed.

“Yeah… yeah sure. Just…” He stiffened and turned around. “Go ahead.”

Alicia smirked and wrapped him up in her cape. She held him firmly but carefully. And then they were off, faster than a speeding jet.

*** *** ***

As the weeks proceeded and the two spent almost every day zooming from place to place, Grant began to feel a bit more in his nature. Seeing his tools being used to take down monstrous organizations and help the needy made him happier and more excited than he ever dared. Alicia was similarly giddy, with every successful day celebrated at their home base (currently a modified house’s basement) with chinese food and netflix.

It seemed the city had caught on that it had two new vigilantes to worry of (not that they were hiding this at all). Simply by leaving some clues about their names, usually via cleaned, finger print-free notes with their signatures, the two of them had managed to spread the name Madame Bolt and Puma quite far in such a short time.

They still hadn’t decided on an insignia for Madame Bolt’s costume yet, however. They haven’t allowed anyone aside their enemies to even see them yet, so there wasn’t much to present on that front anyways.

One thing Grant still had to get used to was… the travel…

When they flew, generally she would allow him to ride on her back. It would be an awkward position, but the two acknowledged that it was the most efficient way to travel and they were mature about it. The cape between their bodies made the mode of travel less awkward as well, keeping them apart.

It was when a quick escape was needed where things were a bit… uncomfortable. Or rather, and Grant still had barely admitted this to himself yet, entirely too comfortable. Alicia would wrap her bolt all around his body so tight snug… She would cradle his body against her own, supporting the weaker man… And each time it felt much too nice. Much too comfortable.

And, damn it, it was far too arousing...

Grant was certain it would make Alicia far too uncomfortable if she found out just how much he was starting to like it. Would she fire him and find a less… awkward tech guy? Alicia, the great Madame Bolt, his boss and partner, seemed more like a roommate and friend these past few weeks, but he wasn’t so sure their companionship would withstand the test of… whatever this even was.

Little did he know, Alicia knew more than she was letting on…

*** *** ***

“Alicia? What’s the matter?”

Grant had come out of the little tool lab he had in the bunker to see the blonde avenger staring contemplatively at nothing. He sat down in front of her and leaned foreward. She sighed.

“Grant… Are we ever going to show ourselves to the public?” she wondered aloud. 

Grant nodded, thinking it over. He knew this was going to be something they needed to speak about soon. He let her continue.

“I mean… I know it’s my fault, I’m sorry. I mean, you work so hard. Not just making the tools but managing our brand… leaving those little notes and making sure the police see us as allies… And we need to go public one day if we’re ever to attract funding and attention…”

Grant looked over to the trash bin. Filled to the top with take out boxes and fast food bags.

“The funding would be nice,” he admitted. Alicia nodded. She looked so apologetic it hurt Grant.

“Grant… Right now we’re just vigilantes, and I know we have to move on upward to public crime fighting eventually. And though I have the budget to keep going as we are now for a while longer, I don’t want to put you through this if you don’t want,” she said. “I’m sorry that you’re stuck here. You have such talent…”

“Do not apologize,” he said, firmly. “Is the idea of going public really stressing you out?”

She nodded and sighed, leaning back on her chair. Though still muscular and strong, it would be difficult to tell this was the great Madame Bolt herself. The same Madame Bolt who was invincible, powerful, walked with grace and flipped her hair with gusto.

“Yeah, it is. I just don’t feel ready for it. Truth be told, even being an underground vigilante has been a huge step forward. I… I most likely would never have been able to do what we’ve been doing without your support. Not to… you know, guilt you into staying,” she quickly said.

“I want to stay,” Grant said, rather firmly. “If… if you want to keep being a vigilante instead of a full on hero, I’ll stay right here with you.”

Alicia looked surprised. She smiled. “Really? But why?”

“Because… Well… We do important work. But to be honest, that’s not all. Um…” Grant found himself becoming a tad sheepish. He willed himself forward… “Whenever I see you work… Whenever we’re flying across the city, and we solve a crime, it’s amazing. And you let me share in the feeling… of… you know… being a strong hero. I feel like I’ve done more here in this city with you in the past weeks than I ever got done on my own. I’m thankful you let me be a part of this.”

Alicia didn’t say anything, but her expression softened. Her hand crept closer to his own, though Grant didn’t notice and stood up, retracting it. She looked disappointed.

“I mean, we can stay anonymous if you want. I’ll have to take up a part time job, maybe make some extra cash on the side for us. Not sure where I’d-!”

Alicia had, with tremendous arm strength, slid the table between them out of the way and grasped him. She kissed him then and there, holding him tight. Grant closed his eyes, letting go of his thoughts and letting himself enjoy this…

They separated and looked at each other. He looked up at her, and she down at him. They said nothing for a moment. Then Alicia whispered…

“The bunker room…”

*** *** ***

She threw him down onto the queen sized bed. She chuckled as she crawled over him, letting her long blonde hair drape down over his body. Grant, in turn, reached up to stroke and feel her muscled sides and arms. He grasped at her shirt and reached up to kiss her again.She responded vigorously. 

Her knees surrounded him on both sides. Then she got down and pressed her whole body down on him. Since he was much shorter, however, her hips made it only to his thighs. Frustrated, she curled up again, splitting her knees outward so she could comfortably rest her hips over him. Nice and comfortable, and obscenely intimate. She kissed him while holding him down this way.

Grant needed to vocally mumble for her to stop, so he could remove his shirt and shorts. She was halfway doing the same.

“Alicia… don’t kill me, okay?” he whispered to her, half jokingly. She laughed.

“Oh no no, I’ll keep you nice and safe…” she said. Then she stopped trying to remove her shirt. Her expression became thoughtful again.

“Is something the matter?” Grant said. He worried if, maybe, she was already regretting this…

“Stay here…” she said. She got off of him (which disappointed him greatly) and walked out of the room…

*** *** ***

A minute later she came back in… in full hero uniform. Grant smiled at her return, but his face fell a bit when he noticed what she was wearing… 

She grinned mischievously, waving the blue and gold cape around…

“Not fair,” he whimpered. “You get to be Madame Bolt?”

“Well, I personally think Puma’s costume is too, well, hard and rough for bed,” Alicia said, walking back to the bed. She let the cape drape along Grant, who swallowed nervous. His erection, which was already quite visible, seemed to tighten and grow right then and he knew she could see it… There was no kevlar armor to hide it this time…

“But I know that my costume can be a bit more… enticing…” she said. She bent down and lifted his feet. He watched curious… and then in horror and excitement when she wrapped her cape around his feet, binding them tight together just over the ankle… Like rich, nylon socks…

“...You knew?” Grant said.

“Of course. It was so obvious,” she whispered, letting the cape crawl upward, pulling him closer off the bed…

“I’m so sor-!”

The cape pulled him right up and she caught him in a hug.

“Don’t apologize.”

Then she tumbled back down on the bed while holding him against her. She landed on her back and he landed upon her… face right against her chest. The cape tied him down and she held his squirming body…

“Alicia...M-Madame Bolt… Please…” Grant said.

“Please what?” she asked, continuing to bind him up and cradle him.

Grant didn’t know. He was so excited… his naked body bound, feeling the material quite vividly now… She was pressing him against her breasts… He wasn’t afraid of being kept wrapped up… with his hands stuck to his sides, his legs kept together, squirming against the inescapable hold, and her strong, gentle hands cradling him… He was afraid he wouldn’t last long this way… 

But instead of voicing this, all he could do was whimper. Alicia, Madame Bolt, was so mighty… so strong… too strong to push up against… He wanted to be there, wrapped up, played with by her… 

Sure, sex with her as an equal would have been amazing… but…

Her hand was on his ass. She was squeezing it. Grant groaned in pleasure… 

“It’s okay, Grant. I’ve felt your erection so many times while carrying you. I know what you want to do. I know what you’re afraid of and I want you to know… it’s okay…”

She rolled over so that she was atop him now. She positioned his wrapped up body so that their crotches would align. His head and face just above her chest… smelling and feeling her cleavage, still covered in the protective kevlar..

“I know you’re a strong, capable hero, and I won’t forget that just because you want me to be your mommy…” she whispered, and gave him dry hump.

That did it and he lost control. It wasn’t how their first time should have gone, really… But as he was mercilessly humped and pleasured within her cape, accepting his place in her power, he didn’t care at all what others would have thought. He loved this feeling…

She wrapped her strong thighs around him, groaning as she humped him nice, thoroughly, uninterrupted… Her strong thighs, her sensitive crotch, in the suit’s fibers, against him… She pressed down just firm enough to squeeze his dick, his balls, just firm enough to scare him, and released very slowly each time… She herself enjoyed this power over him… Oh how she wished he wasn’t so fragile… But that was the beauty of it all, wasn’t it? 

He loved being bound, and she admitted now she loved binding him so much. She loved having this cute little man under her power. In her cape. In her arms. Kept safe by her, but more importantly kept close. She yearned to bind him more. To strap him against her forever, and never let him escape. Never let him free. 

She’d pocket him, encapsulate him, belt and lock him, completely own him if she could. As she thrusted against his wrapped up body she fantasized all of these things… That each thrust was pushing him into her until he was thoroughly caught in her essence. The fact that the cape kept them from feeling each other’s warm skin was frustrating, but it would be worth it… building and building the need they both shared for each other...

She stopped when she could tell that he, and also she, were coming close to cumming… 

He groaned, wanting to continue, but she held him firm and didn’t allow it…

She released him from the safety of the cape, despite his protests… Then she stripped down…

She wrapped not her cape, but her warm, large, muscled body around her precious little super-partner instead. And as she allowed him to insert himself in her before continuing to thrust, she thought: “Yes. Now I’ve really got you bound…”

And she thrusted...

*** *** ***

It was almost morning when they finished, relaxing together in the king sized bed, surrounded with concrete walls, safe from the rest of the world. She still had her legs around his. 

“...I quite enjoyed myself,” she said, breaking the silence. Grant chuckled.

“...Um… so… I guess I shouldn’t make that neck brace I mentioned back when?” he said.

“Don’t you dare,” she whispered.

They fell asleep in each other’s arms, her legs wrapped nicely around his.

*** *** ***

“Oh Puma… Come here~” she called for him. Grant turned off the power drill he was using and took off his mask. Still in the smithing apron he left his lab to see his partner, now in more ways than one, standing excitedly. She was in uniform, though her cape covering her up.

“What’s going on?” he said.

“Grant… Next time the police come, I think we should stay and reveal ourselves to them,” she said.

Grant gave a proud smile as well. “So. It’s time for Madame Bolt and Puma to meet the adoring fans?”

Alicia nodded. Then she unraveled the cape revealing her uniform and Puma’s smile fell. 

“Surprise! Since you’re always working so hard on everything-” she began.

“Oh no…” Grant whispered.

“I decided to design my emblem by myself. What do you think?”

Grant, AKA Puma, the great engineer, stared in horror at the red emblazoned symbol on her uniform, just on her breasts downwards. A wonderful star image, and inside an image a bound up mummy, obviously meant to be him. Just stylistic and abstract enough to be mistaken for something else without context…

“Isn’t it wonderful? It represents our bond and teamwork quite well, I believe,” she said.

“Please change it.”

“See? The star is me,” she said. “And this cocoon here represents…”

“Please… No…”

[The End]

[revolveplots]

TITANS, (AND H.I.V.E.) GO!

mastermind(s) @youngnovas​ genre(s) action, superhoes, dc. premise based on teen titans. the titans are back at it again to protect jump city! bad guys every day and even worst, bad roommates to deal with. the whole crew lives in titans tower (located in sunny california) and as of late has been dealing with new member additions as well as the reappearance of the H.I.V.E. tearing up downtown. yikes! characters canons & oc. 

CANONS AND OOC NOTES UNDER THE CUT:

TITANS

robin / boy genius here can beat you in a fight in every single fighting style known to man. and his tech? simple, deadly and effective. literally the definition of robin (and batman) itself. the leader of the team. very strict and unyielding with his decisions. always an avid supporter of training, training, and more training. stick in the mud. it’s not that he hates fun but that he has too much to do to have any fun. scolds beast boy and cyborg all the time. soft spot for starfire. lost to jinx once (because she’s a cheat) and is still sore about it. getting increasingly stressed these days, not sure how vantablack keeps getting in the tower. (taken by @svrrows)

starfire / alien princess that can fly and shoot bright green energy from her hands and eyes. also has super strength. but supposedly all her powers depends on her ability to be happy/content and in tune with her emotions. literally a complete opposite of raven, but they’re good friends anyway. still trying to get used to earth’s traditions. trying hard to make friends with the new recruits, even the grumpy one (but she keeps saying things like “don’t worry! you didn’t fail! you’re just not good enough yet, welcome to the team :D”) (taken by @rackandrouge)

raven / demon? human? both. raven’s got a long list of capabilities but the majority seems to lie in the control of shadows, telekinesis, meditating, and having a patience of a lifetime to not wring beast boy or cyborg’s neck yet. not much if known about her bg among the titans, she’s not a sharer. admittedly good friends with starfire. not sure why the new recruits won’t look her in the eye though. (taken by @rottenfrvit)

cyborg / half cyborg, half man. also the titans’ go-to repair/tech man. friendly, protective over his friends, outgoing, cool, loving. hates the h.i.v.e. (gizmo especially) like no tomorrow. pretty sure one of them blew up his pizza joint. besties with beast boy, also often bickers (it’s a bro thing) with him though. bumps egos with robin badly sometimes. (taken by @ofeternity)

beast boy / animal morphing. everything he morphs into green though, idk. one of the youngest on the team. was abandoned on the streets and basically one of robin’s oldest friends as he took him in. total glutton. clingy. best bros with cyborg. impulsive and knows it! (taken by @youngnovas)

new recruit (1) / oc, only recruit to make it through robin’s tedious obstacle course (and expectations). giddy, nervous. clumsy but capable. scared of raven but that’s because of all the rumors they’ve heard. power utp. (taken by @yahang) 

new recruit (2) / oc, sidekick (don’t call them sidekick) to a famous superhero (utp) in another city. only dumped here because they’re too considered “too green” by said hero. hates it. wish cyborg and beast boy would shut up about it. power utp.

H.I.V.E

all graduates (or current students) of the hive academy (yes an academy for young villains), their assignment is to take down the titans. current “hq” is in some dingy flat above a bbq place (man when i tell you a supervillain’s life is not easy…)

jinx / uses a form of magic that materializes in a pink/purple of energy, notoriously bad luck energy (but it’s just her manipulating probabilities). unofficial leader but it’s more like babysitting at this point. doesn’t really want to be here, but doesn’t have anywhere to go. always in perpetual bad moods. also into pulling petty crimes/pranks with gizmo. (taken by @youngnovas)

gizmo / no powers, just brains, brains, brains. nasty attitude, extensive collection of high-tech weapons. makes his own tech and also some enhancers for the team. also insanely good at sniping. doer of petty crimes. super nosy, loves sticking his nose in everyone’s business. bossing the new additions around like it’s nbd. likes to pair up with mammoth since he’s the easiest to order around out of the group. also they pig out together. a lot. (taken by @tomywcrld)

mammoth / the big and bad. super strength (currently unmatched), durability and the works. (x) eats a lot and i mean a lot. always off trying to grab a bite before or during their little excursions. still pissed off his favorite pizza place is gone. eats downstairs often because of the discount (free if you scare the right waiter, bitch) lowkey scared of jinx after the time she jinxed (pun intended) him for a whole day.

vertigo / literally makes the world spin, that’s her power. (x) new on the team, seems to think she’s all that (bc 100% can bring you to your knees). ranked first in every class tbt H.I.V.E so she’s got a chip on her shoulder. doesn’t like jinx, treats gizmo like a puppy.

vantablack / can transform into shadows, blend in, mold attacks, and travel through them. (x) bit on the older side. doesn’t really take orders well. always sneaks into titans tower (and gets kicked out) like its nbd. it’s funny. finds starfire interesting (i mean alien? fr? cmon). (taken by @athaza)

new addition (1) / oc, recruited by mammoth after fighting in line with him over pizza. said pizza parlor, kaput! gone! sadness. hint: doesn’t like him. power utp.

new addition (2) / oc, deflected from the titans, or okay, simply put, didn’t make the cut. hates them now but that’s the point. not entirely an “evil” person though. jinx has them on watch just in case they turns out to be some sort of spy. power utp. (taken by @neueroses)

notes!

please comment below or dm if you’re interested! ages for these charas can be from late teens to early/mid twenties. fcs can be whoever you want!  i’m also open to adding more to the list if anyone is interested in expanding the plot :) 

#rv:group #grp:tt vs hive #lsrpg #krp #rpg

[conspiracieys-archive]

dusan nemec, but as a supervillain. what powers would he have, where would his base be, how would he keep his secret identity if he has on, what would his super suit look like, etc.

hmmmmmm..... this is a good ask! well... let's see. long as usual so i tried to cut it under a read more (but u know mobile tumblr doesnt WORK so im sorry)

his secret identity. he keeps it secret really well, just because he's got a real good poker face and he also doesnt attack, like, places that can be traced back to him. (the exception is the DedSec hq, assuming in this au theyre the superheroes in parallel to him)

but the hq thing is covered by the fact that there ARE a lot of anti-dedsec people ANYWAY (bc there's always gotta be a few ppl who just hate the heroes). but also hacking is a commonplace thing nowadays and in the WD universe (and consequently this au), hacking is just... Insanely Huge? everyone and their mom seems to be a hacker, so if electronic fuckery happens, it's not GUARANTEED to be his fault ya know?

(also he has like... super enhanced intelligence as a ..power (see below) so like, it's not hard for him to come up w excuses or be tactical about when he does his Villainous Shit)

[ALSOOOOO -im writing this after ive written almost everything else sry- he doesn't like..... reveal he has powers. to the world, Dusan Nemec is just an incredibly good coder and he's just got a genius intellect. but his Villain flaunts his powers and takes pride in what he can do.

so it's like "Well, Dusan, do what that villain did" and Dusan sits down and like, painstakingly writes line after line of code to try and mimic the effects of his technopathy but he can't do everything technopathy can. so it's really hard to pin it on him. ppl still suspect though. they always suspect.]

--

POWERSSSSSSSS. i was gonna save this for last but then i realized: his primary power is technology manipulation. the good guys with this power would be technopaths, but he LIKES the phrase 'technology manipulation' because Dusan likes to be able to manipulate things... people... technology... to do whatever he wants.

so like before he came into his power of technopathy, he was still really, really good with coding. he'd never admit to having hacked things before working w ctos, but he has. and then... [insert backstory here] and now he can bypass the need to code and just ... MAKE ctos respond to him. he can pull up any surveillance cam at will, he can access any file remotely (we will address this in the Super Suit section), he can hack the traffic lights, he can just... do anything.

and w his personality, THAT is what makes him a supervillain.

if you don't have ctos or blume devices in your house, he bypasses ALL of it and forces Blume and ctos software to install. hell, your sexy Samsung smart fridge? literally now it's just been forcefully turned into a Blume fridge. w his remote access he can just turn any phone he passes into a ctos phone. like only another technopath (DedSec - technopathy would be one of the biggest requirements to get into the core of DedSec) can prevent Dusan's abilities from infecting and destroying and essentially controlling their technology.

he also has slightly superpowered intellect. which i think is a stupid ability but also i'm giving it to him anyway cuz he's considered a genius within the wd universe. so why not throw in the fact that his mind itself, aside from technopathy, has been quite altered and has significantly more improved functioning than the rest of us.

and lastly he does have an Eidetic memory. which isn't rly a superpower by itself but in combination w superpowered intellect and technopathy makes it an asset to his power set, ya know?

he can and will remember exactly who has ctos installed, who doesnt, if he had to do it or if they were willing, etc.

and he definitely remembers every little tidbit he finds abt DedSec

--

ok so since we've established he's a technopath now, and we know there are weird basement levels of Blume's HQ, at least 3 rooms are just HIS to use. like no one, not even another technopath, can access them. just bc he has Blume HQ fortified to the nines. i mean DedSec could probably TRY and maybe succeed at getting into Blume HQ itself but like, they won't get into his underground base.

like no one knows that three rooms off of the server rooms are even... there? he's got sexy hidden doors. like false servers?? where to the eye they look and glow and flicker like proper servers but they're secret doors. legit no one knows they EXIST much less how to GET TO THEM. his HQ is, like, solid af

--

super suit. ok like the main thing is he has a helmet. like.... a fitted full head helmet w tinted tempered glass in the screen. it's all black on the outside, and like nice cushy fuckin memory foam on the inside (sleek and black too ofc) and the visor is also a computer. (remote access!)

his base outfit is a black fitted body suit that is also, like, technologically fitted?

i just want it to be glowy ok?? he also has it programmed so that when he uses his technopath abilities and channels them thru his hands, his finger tips light up bc he's just That Bitch.

in theory his helmet visor/screen could emote like Wrench's mask

over his body suit, he has like. ok bear with me but like. skinny black sweats? they're not super tight or super loose. they sit low on his hips and end mid calf. i love Dusan and i love his sweats ok. he wears them always i'm trash.

also he's stupid and has shoes build into his body suit basically? like they're really nice and have good support and they're just... part of the body suit.

no he does not wear anything over the top of his bodysuit. also obvs the body suit is like, from his chin to his toes, w long sleeves and gloves as well.

his glowy bits are like, sleet and soft grey.

it's gotta be weird cramming his dumb beard into his suit and helmet but he does it. for fashion and to give away as little as possible in regards to his identity.

oo also he has like a speaker in his helmet that works as a voice scrambler. so it's like. even harder to trace to him, and w his technopathy he can change the scrambler at will.

like deadass one time he attacks DedSec he makes his voice scrambler sound EXACTLY like Wrench and it's shaking.

he doesn’t have any visible logos, just cool tech-y lines down his sides, arms, and legs. probably his back too? by tech-y lines i mean the kind you see on microchips and stuff.

--

ok let's talk abt weaknesses bc i rambled abt how GOOD his technopathy is.

but bc of his superior intellect, and just based on canon stuff, Dusan is... like the ULTIMATE stereotyped villain in that he just... loves to Monologue.

so it's easy to drop a virus into his system if you just keep him talking.

like say he's showin down w DedSec and he has all but Marcus tied up and he's gettin ready to kill Marcus but Marcus gets him monologuing so, like, Wrench can use his own technopathy to manipulate a virus into Dusan's suit.

the thing is, Dusan is aware 99% of the time. he's aware of his suit's system. he's aware of how his system connects back to Blume HQ and his private offices off the server room. he's aware 99% of the time of everything

but when Marcus fucking Holloway plays dumb as a box of rocks, Dusan Nemec canNOT help but mockingly explain things to him. and Marcus is used to ppl thinking lesser of him, so it's really easy to play it up until...

WELL, YA KNOW???

n Marcus fucking BOOKS IT to save DedSec while all sort of DS imagery is popping up on Dusan’s visor screen and Ode to Joy but, ya know, the DedSec version all loud and violent, is BLARING into his ears and he cant THINK and he’s scrambling and by the time he can get his brain to focus and force out the virus, DedSec is gone

(he never learns, either. but sometimes it’s Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture or some shit. it’s always a different violent crescendo of a classical song, ok? he never ever learns but he comes to DESPISE classical music.)

that’s like, his biggest weakness. he can’t help but, well, mansplain when he thinks he’s better than everyone in the room (which is always) and someone asks a stupid question. he’s such a jerk in canon, and this au/concept makes it worse bc he has like, veritable proof that his brain is more capable than others.

--

and, for the grand finale of this answer, Dusan Nemec’s Super Villain name...

i have NO FUCKING CLUE. here are some options:

the Coder, the Hacker, MicroGhost??? bc he like... can come and go like a ghost??? microchip, fantasy name gen just gave me Incognito which is so stupid i love it??? idk give me suggestions.

tysm for the ASK. let’s get back on this DUSAN SHIT

#ask #dusan nemec #watch dogs 2 #dedsec #anonymous #bleep #i loved doing this actually? #thank you!!!! #long post

[howtohero]

#134 Secondary Powers

In the lexicon of the OPG (Omni-Power Genesis, the leading experts on superpowers and the first book in the Bible) there are primary powers and there are secondary powers. Primary powers are, you guessed it, a superhero’s most prominent powers. The one’s they use to save the day on the reg. The one’s listed on their collectible trading cards. Secondary powers are the unsung heroes of a superhero’s skillset (hmm, is a superhero metaphor really appropriate in a sentence about superheroes?) they’re the abilities the hero needs to have in order to allow them to use their primary abilities. It’s the invulnerability that makes it possible for those strong guys to break through brick walls without hurting themselves. It’s the friction resistance that prevents speedsters from bursting into flames. It’s the ability to withstand air pressure and breathe low amounts of oxygen that allows flyers to fly.

The example that we’ll work with in this post is pyrokinetics, though the points we make can be applied to a bevy of secondary powers. Their primary powers are fire projection, fire manipulation, all that good stuff. They’re the hottest guys on the block. But an often overlooked, though in retrospect totally obvious, secondary power of theirs is heat resistance. What good would they be without it. Imagine if every time they used their powers they had to be rushed to the emergency room to be treated for severe burns. They would be a pretty useless superhero. So generally they can tolerate severe temperatures that would melt, burn or fry a lesser being. (An even lesser known tertiary power of theirs is the ability to shrug off any and all insults, or burns.)

One of the marks of a truly talented superhero is the ability to use their secondary powers as additional primary powers. There’s no law saying that you can’t save the world using the little bonus gifts you’ve been given. [Tell a lie, there’s actually a little known law in a small province on the planet Cartalogia, the universes leading go-kart manufacturers, that specifically prohibits the use of secondary powers in go-kart races, so if you’re ever in a scenario where you need to save the world with go-kart race you should not use your secondary powers for fear of interplanetary war with the Cartalogians.] So you need to get creative and work to hone your secondary powers into effective tools all on their own. In our example that could mean participating in rescues from burning buildings or explosions. If the super-genius that was dispatching heroes to various crisis sites was only paying attention to primary powers they might assume that a pyrokinetic is the last thing a fire would need. They’d send out hydrokinetics or weather-manipulators. But that would be foolish and people would die! It might take a while for those guys to put the fire out. We need to get someone inside the fire to mitigate the loss of life. So you get a pyrokinetic. 

Additionally if you’re a pyrokinetic you could sign up with a space program and be the first person on the surface of the sun! That would be pretty sweet. Just make sure you sign up with a legit space program not like a mad science space program. Because a mad scientist would definitely skin you in order to make a heat resistant space suit for themselves. So if you’re filling out the forms and notice that the agency is called MASA (Malevolent Angry Scientist Agency) you should leave immediately. If you get it right though... wow. Imagine if you were the first person on the sun. You could retire from all that dangerous superhero stuff immediately. Think of the marketing deals. You could make a fortune off of selling sunglasses and sunscreen. I don’t know about you but if I were shopping for sunglasses I’d definitely purchase the brand that the first person to walk on the sun was wearing. (*Ahem*) Oh right, but that’s obviously not why we do this. We do this to help people. So keep on doing that.

Superhero costume designers need to be keenly aware of the nature of secondary powers as they often need to figure out ways to install them, so to speak, into a superhero’s costume. Nobody wants to be rescued from a burning building by a naked man. I mean, I guess if they’re tapped in a burning building, any savior will do, but ideally they’d be wearing clothes no? So they need to figure out how to make their costumes heat and fire resistant too. Or friction resistant in the case of speedsters. Or malleable in the case of stretchy guys or (uch) shapeshifters. 

Once you have a deeper understanding of your own secondary powers you’ll become much more effective in combating supervillains with the same powers as you. Other superheroes who fight these guys won’t necessarily be paying attention to anything but the big flashy abilities they’re using. But once you’ve gained a mastery over your own powers and intimate knowledge of what you’re capable of, you’ll be able to see past the more obvious abilities and get into the nitty-gritty of how they use their powers and what they might be capable of. This will give you an obvious edge when it comes to fighting them. Especially if they haven’t gone on the same introspective journey you have.  Just a heads up though you might have to swap enemies with another superhero to be your most effective self. This can get a bit dicey, superheroes get weirdly attached to their bad guys. It’s all very territorial. The devil you know and all that jazz. (Note: This doesn’t apply to Codename: Gabriel. The superhero/spy/alleged angel who frequently finds himself fighting the actual Devil. He knows that Devil and he does not like him. If anybody wants to swap nemeses with him give him a call, he’s definitely open to a trade.) To sidestep this try only fighting bad guys with the same powers as you from the getgo. If everybody does that then we’ll never have any problems like this. Though I guess there’d be nobody fighting the bad guys with the powers to fire bullets through time or the ones who shoot garbage from their hands. Those seem like the kinds of powers only bad guys have. 

An important thing to note is that, in some cases, if exploited by a particularly savvy supervillain (Note: If you are a particularly savvy supervillain it is illegal for you to read the rest of this paragraph), your secondary powers can also become secondary weaknesses. For example, superheroes who can project forcefields need to breathe. To account for that, the forcefields they create are not entirely impermeable, their secondary powers kicks in and allows oxygen and sunlight to pass through, and carbon dioxide to pass out. These tiny, microscopic openings in their forcefields could conceivably be exploited by a supervillain to pump in harmful gasses in order to incapacitate or even kill our projecting protector. So you once you’ve discovered the wonders of your secondary powers we’d advise you not to publicize it (like by writing a free to read blog post without any legal warnings). 

Learning about and mastering ones secondary superpowers can be a challenging endeavor, but the rewards are well worth the time you’ll need to put in. Once you’ve done this you’ll find that not only can you be a more effective hero but you’ll have gotten more in touch with yourself and grown as a person for it. Mastering secondary powers requires a level of self-awareness and introspection that utilizing your primary powers doesn’t and heroes who manage to do it often become more skilled at using all of their powers. 

#superheroes #superhero #comics #comedy #humor #funny #creative writing #lifestyle guide #secondary powers #superpowers #primary powers #OPG #Omni-Power Genesis #MASA #mad scientists #pyrokinetics #Hydrokinetic #force field projection #flight #super strength #super speed #endorsement deals #weather-manipulators

[words-writ-in-starlight]

Kitty from X-men for the headcanon meme?

Me, throwing canons into a blender: I Don’t Give A Shit

Also, hi, remember how I’m the only person on the whole internet who ships Kitty/Colossus and therefore have to create all my own content?  Yeah, sorry about this.

Send me a character and I’ll give you 10 headcanons!

Kitty joins the Institute at 13 and straight up stows away on a mission at 13 and six months because she hates seeing her friends risk their lives when she could help them, you will literally pry this from my cold dead hands, this is old-school X-Men canon and I’ll die on this hill.  The Blackbird is pretty large for a tactical plane, she just kind of crawls into a baggage compartment and waits to come out until they’re most of the way to their objective.  If Logan could get ulcers he would pop one on the spot, and Ororo probably actually does.

Kitty becomes one of the X-Men of choice to deal with alien spaceships very quickly, because she’s hard to contain, creative, well-spoken, and a genius with computers.  And besides, if you need to incapacitate a ship on the spot, there aren’t many better options than someone who can fry the entire onboard system by walking through it.

Kitty gets to a point where she’s about twenty and her relationship with the idea of death is...weird.  She’s not really blase about it, because while the X-Men come back reasonably regularly your average civilian does not, but also she’s used to being mostly invulnerable as long as she’s got some advance warning of an attack.  So she reads as intensely hypervigilant, but also utterly reckless and disinterested in her own safety.  She can tell you blind how many people are in a room and where they are relative to her, but also if you pushed her off a building she’d probably roll with it.  It’s weird even by X-Men standards.

It takes Kitty several years and more near death experiences than she cares to tally up to get Colossus to go on a date with her.  She appreciates his moral principles but would also appreciate it if he got on her level.  Just a little.  If she’s getting shot at and kidnapped by space aliens and otherwise put in mortal danger every other weekend, she should get promoted from ‘kid’ status, in her opinion.

Kitty and Illyana have kind of a weird relationship, because on the one hand Kitty was Illyana’s first crush (Illyana wouldn’t move in on her brother’s girlfriend/object of pining, but Kitty was smart and pretty and funny and Illyana is very gay don’t question me).  But on the other hand before Illyana was Magyk, Illyana was a six-year-old girl who loved her brother and worshiped Kitty, who seemed very grown-up indeed and told the best stories.  Kitty is mostly unaware of the fact that sometimes Illyana has a very uncomfortable lurch of dissonance between god you’re hot and you...kind of helped raise me for a while?

Kitty, contrary to a great many people’s thinking, is...not super emotionally intelligent.  For other people, sure, hell yeah, she can sit there and do group therapy for the tiny baby New Mutants or talk Logan down from the ceiling all day, she’s fucking crushing it and she has been since she was a kid.  But about herself?  About the way people feel about her?  Not so much.  Kitty trusts fairly implicitly that the X-Men love her, but tbh the only reason she was able to pursue Piotr is because he admitted out loud that he was interested in her.  

Kitty is a terrible artist.  She doodles flowers and stick figure comics and shit, and she knows she lacks inherent talent and won’t ever spend the time on it to really develop the skill, but she enjoys her terrible doodles anyway.  Piotr, who is an actual artist who paints on canvases and shit, thinks it’s adorable.

Kitty and Kurt are demons together.  Between the two of them they are the ultimate prank team in any universe, because their powers make it super easy and also because they love to fuck with people.  Depending on which person on the team they ambush, this has...variable results.  Rig the Danger Room to splatter Logan with bright pink paintballs?  Probably the worst thing that’ll happen is some very manageable carpet damage.  But one time they set up a jumpscare and Cannonball took out a wall when he spooked at it.  It wasn’t an important wall, as such things go, but like.  Still a wall.

Since the Institute holds a pretty varied collection of people, they have celebrations all the way through the month of December some years depending on when holidays fall (they’ve pretty much settled on the Solstice as a nondenominational ‘we all made another trip around the sun, get drunk if you’re legal and physically capable of doing it’ party) and Kitty is the honorary Jewish matriarch of the household, so she leads the Hanukkah celebrations with aplomb.  It’s hard to get all of the High Holidays off because supervillains (although Magneto has a handful of days where he’s reliably Not In Business and Yom Kippur/Yom Hashoah are among them), and she has literally never succeeded in getting all of Pesach off, but she does her best to observe them all anyway.  One year she showed up to a Purim celebration with lightning burns up half her body and a pair of crutches but like, she was fine, Mom, stop worrying about it.  And it’s very few years that Kitty doesn’t hold or attend at least one Seder because honestly fuck supervillains, they’re not the boss of her and she’s going to do the thing properly.

Kitty is much beloved by the X-Men.  This is a fact.  She’s one of the longest standing X-Men, one of the most loyal, one of the longest lived.  Even as a scared teenager who was far too young to be on the battlefield, Kitty never flinched, never tried to leave, and even when she’s been left behind, she was still ready to answer the call.  Every last goddamn one of the X-Men, even the ones who don’t know her as well personally or who might have a glitch, would pick up the phone if she called them at two in the morning needing a favor.

Fight me for Kitty Pryde’s honor.

#kitty pryde #xmen #THANKS FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK #headcanon meme #ask meme #AT LEAST HALF OF THESE ARE CANON #no look seriously 1 2 3 4 6 8 and 10 are all arguably actual canon because KITTY IS GREAT #FIGHT ME #FIGHT MEEEEEEEEE #*VIOLENTLY HAMMERS SIGN INTO GROUND* NO ERASURE OF JEWISH SUPERHEROES ALLOWED #NONE #GIVE KITTY THE INDIVIDUAL STRONG PLOTLINES SHE DESERVES GODDAMNIT #AND WHO DO I HAVE TO KILL TO FIND ANOTHER PERSON WHO SHIPS KITTY/COLOSSUS #honestly this was a lot of fun and i could easily hammer out ten more of these on the spot #BUT WHO THE F U C K DO I HAVE TO KILL #LIKE I'M GLAD TO WRITE 40 PAGE FICS AND SHIT #BUT I COULD STAND FOR SOME SMALL-SCALE CONTENT TOO #LIKE NORMAL TUMBLR SHIT #I MEAN FUCK #anyway here's wonderwall #idiot teenagers with a queue #necer0s #asked and answered

[addicted-to-dc]

Damian Wayne/ Robin X Reader- Murder Kitten

After this post, there will only be 2 requests left!! Yay!!!!!  Also, this was requested by @abigailredgrave, who requests some pretty awesome stuff!!! I hope you guys enjoy this and have a nice day!!!!  If I am counting this right, THIS IS MY ONE HUNDREDTH FANFIC!!!! YYYAAYYY!!!

Warning: Swearing 

Gotham was full of geniuses, but some of them were psychotic.  Psychologists say genius is related to mental illness, hell, even being crazy, but that’s why you keep it to yourself.  Most intelligent people either were like that or had disabilities.  The Riddler was an excellent example, but that would be too simple.  It bugged you to know that people don’t understand what’s underneath the super villain and superhero label slapped onto their foreheads, to not understand what their motivations were and what caused them to resort to crime.  Mister Freeze, or Doctor Victor Fries, resorted to crime to save his wife from an incurable disease.  You understood why his efforts were stopped by heroes like Batman.  He harmed innocent people, and that was not what society allowed.  Even if the people he harmed were corrupt, their influence would allow them to get away with almost anything.  Poison Ivy, or Pamela Isley, was a botanist who took Eco-terrorism too seriously.  You also agreed that something should be done to protect the Earth and the life it supported, but not as much as she did.  Most of the people labeled ‘Villains’ were geniuses, but they just used their brains the wrong way.

Luckily for you, you weren’t like them at all.  Sure, maybe you agreed with their ideas, but the less extreme versions.  You agreed that the human race needed to stop harming the planet, but not by human extinction.  Humans are capable of using renewable energy to support their electronic needs, but of course they won’t do it.  Cures could be made if scientists would focus on the diseases rather than focusing on biological warfare and creating new heroes.  Humans would be a greater race if they would band together and stop the fighting, but you knew that it would take a long time for that to happen.  People want to have a Utopia where everything would work out, there would be no war, and everyone would be equal, but there are some who are the complete opposite.  There are people who want the be the superior race with all of the power, who think their self-interests are more important than the lives of others.  The Earth’s past clearly displays that there will always be someone who does not see others as their equals, including the pompous asshats who enjoy to pester and bully you whenever you step foot on Gotham Academy’s grounds.

It’s not like your intelligence went unnoticed in the halls of Gotham Academy.  You spent less than half of the day at the Academy taking classes, and the rest at Gotham University.  Your teachers were surprised to see you, a 16 year-old, have a higher IQ than them.  After that, you were taking classes that college students could barely understand.  Out of all of the classes you took, Psychology and Criminology were your favorites.  It was fascinating to learn what the human mind was capable of, and you used that to your advantage. It was annoying that the Academy still required you to take electives, but you only had to take them this year, and after that you’d be able to go to college with a full ride.  It was easier said than done, but that didn’t mean you had to go through it alone.  Most of the students thought you were insane, but you simply understood the world more than them.  Even your humor was based upon it, but not everyone appreciated it nor understood it.  You based most of your jokes on the superheroes and super villains of the world, and knew the identities of most of them.  

“Okay, class, today is your final grade for the year,” Mrs. Merz stated calmly.  “You are going to finish making your improved cake recipes for the baking competition.  Since the Seniors are not here, you’ll be a bit understaffed, but since you prepared your dry ingredients yesterday, you’ll have plenty of time to bake your cakes.”

Turning over to your partner, Damian Wayne, you asked, “Did you bring the decorations?”

“TT.  Of course I brought them,” Damian answered, gesturing to the bag near his feet.  “I still do not understand why we decided on the ‘Willy Wonka’ theme for this cake.”

You rolled your eyes and tied the apron around your waist, “This is supposed to be dessert, and Willy Wonka specializes in desserts.  Most of the imbeciles in this class are doing a superhero theme or something idiotic like the beach theme Tyler and his posse are making.”

Damian scowled and put his apron on, “I do detest them.”

“Yes, and their cake has more capsaicin in it than Batman’s smoke bombs,” you said and placed your improved recipe on the counter.  “They did not even test their recipe out at home.”

Damian smirked, “Not like you did.”

You scoffed, “Unlike them, I actually enjoy this class and plan on getting good grades.”

“Also, they do not have your cunning intelligence and wonderful personality,” Damian inputted while placing the dry ingredients into a bowl.  “They have no respect for anyone but themselves, maybe the occasional harlot that they have relations with, but mostly themselves.”

“I agree with that,” you said while looking at the recipe and pulling out more bowls and measuring cups.  “I’m going to go get the liquid ingredients.  While I do this, can you prepare the dry ingredients for the frosting?”

“Of course I can.”

————————————

“Ow!” you shouted, placing your burnt finger under cold water.  “That’s hotter than Superman’s heat vision.”

“How would you know that?” Damian asked, stirring the raspberry frosting.  

“Have you ever heard the wonders of over exaggeration?” you asked, still running the cold water on your finger.  “Technically, if I had a piece of debris that Superman cut with his heat vision, I could tell how many degrees it would be.”

“You are full of many surprises, (Y/L/N),” Damian said and placed the bowl on the counter.  “Do you want me to take the cake out of the oven?  I think I can do it without burning myself.”

“I didn’t know the oven mitt was wet,” you muttered and gave him the other mitt, which was dry.

“Of course you didn’t,” Damian said and lifted the chocolate cake out of the oven.

You rolled your eyes and shut the faucet off when the pain in your finger died down, “Everyone makes mistakes, so stop bickering with me and criticize everyone’s cakes as ours cools off.”

Damian rolled his eyes and took the mitt off, tossing it onto the counter, “Fine.”

———————

“Their cake is greener than Poison Ivy,” you said while making a disgusted face.  “I did not see them add any green food coloring either.”

“Tyler’s cake is supposed to be grape, but it’s bluer than Mr. Freeze’s ass,” you stated, shuddering at the thought.  “Do you think his skin is baby blue or icy blue?”

“Why is this relevant?” Damian asked, poking at the cake to see if it was cool enough to start decorating.

You shrugged, “You know that my humor is mostly based on superheroes and supervillains, so answer the question already.”

“I believe it would be lighter than Icy Blue,” Damian admitted.  “The cake is ready.”

————————

“Damian, I need you to do something for me.”

Damian stopped sparring with Dick, looking over to his father with confusion, “What is it?”

“Come over to the Bat Computer and I will show you,” Bruce said, turning his chair around.

Dick gave Damian a puzzled look before following him over to the Bat Computer, frowning when he saw your photos on the screen.

“Why do you have (Y/N) on the screen, Bruce?” Dick asked with a puzzled expression.  “I’ve seen her around the college and the only terrible thing about her is her corny superhero jokes.”

Bruce rose a brow, clicking on a video file attached to your own file. “You’ve got Teen Titans, Young Justice, and the Justice League. Whats next? Toddlers of titanium?”

“What do you call an actress whose dress goes up in flames? Starfire.”

“I’m gonna wonder woman spin my way out of this.”

“I bet Aquaman hates Spongebob.”

“Robin’s mask literally only covers a fourth of his face, how has nobody recognized him yet! At least batman covers half of his!“

“Who the hell hides themselves behind a pair of glasses and a bitch curl-ooohh..”

“That pair of pants has more pockets than Batman’s utility belt.”

The last video showed you messing around with your glasses, taking them on and off saying: "Look I’m Superman! Wait, now I’m not!”

By the end of the clip, Dick was laughing while holding his stomach, which made Bruce give him an unamused expression.  Damian read over your file and noticed that you went to the same school he did, but you go to Gotham University for most of your classes.

“She obviously knows Clark’s identity,” Bruce stated, returning his attention to the screen, “and has a high IQ.  Damian, I want to see how much she knows, and if she’ll be a threat or not.”

“Oh, come on, Bruce!” Dick said, throwing his arms up into the air.  “(Y/N) might know our secret identities, but do you realize who you’re talking about?”

“Yes I do,” Bruce responded, “which is why I think Damian would be the perfect person to befriend her, and find out if she can be trusted.”

“I can handle it,” Damian stated.  “It is common knowledge that (Y/L/N) does not have any friends at the school, and she will be hesitant, but I’m sure I will figure something out.”

“Good, because our identities are at risk.”

———————–

“So, Sherlock, are you gonna do it or what?!?!” Tyler shouted, waving his homework in front of your face.  “Or do I have to make you do it?!”

“You know, when you call me Sherlock, you’re admitting that I am smarter than you,” you smirked, not even flinching when his fist met the locker to the left of your face.

“Shut it, Watson!! If you’re not gonna do it, I’m going to kick the shit out of you, you insane freak!” he threatened.

You scoffed, “'If you’re going to insult me stick to one character per show.”

“That’s it!!” Tyler shouted, raising his fist.

Just as it was going to meet your face, Tyler was pulled away from you and thrown onto the ground.  You looked over to find Damian glaring at Tyler.

“If you ever touch her again, I swear I will-”

“Okay, Murder Kitten, I think we should get to class before we’re late,” you interrupted, grasping Damian’s hand before he murdered Tyler.

“TT, I wasn’t going to murder him,” Damian grumbled.

“Judging by your posture and feral look in your eyes, that’s a lie.”

#Damian Wayne #older!damian #imagine damian wayne #damian wayne x reader #robin #robin x reader #robin imagine #dc x reader #dc comics imagine #dc imagine #dc #dc comcis

[trevorarms-blog]

Captain America vs Lady Shiva

This fight was recommended by Anonymous. You to can recommend a fight by messaging me or sending me an ask!

Captain America

Name: Steven “Steve” Rogers

Height: 6′ 2′’

Weight: 240 lbs

Physical Condition: In short, Captain America is at peak human physical condition. Captain America has no superhuman powers, but through the Super-Soldier Serum and “Vita-Ray” treatment, he is transformed and his strength, endurance, agility, speed, reflexes, durability, and healing are at the zenith of natural human potential. Rogers’ body regularly replenishes the super-soldier serum; it does not wear off. The formula enhances all of his metabolic functions and prevents the build-up of fatigue poisons in his muscles, giving him endurance far in excess of an ordinary human being. This accounts for many of his extraordinary feats, including bench pressing 1200 pounds (545 kg) and running a mile (1.6 km) in 73 seconds (49 mph/78 kph, nearly twice the maximum speed achieved by the best human sprinters). Furthermore, his enhancements are the reason why he was able to survive being frozen in suspended animation for decades. He is highly resistant to hypnosis or gases that could limit his focus. Rogers’ reflexes and senses are extraordinarily keen. The secrets of creating a super-soldier were lost with the death of its creator, Dr. Abraham Erskine. In the ensuing decades there have been numerous attempts to recreate Erskine’s treatment, only to have them end in failure. Even worse, the attempts have instead often created psychopathic supervillains of which Captain America’s 1950s imitator and Nuke are the most notorious examples. 312,628 points.

Combat Skill: He has blended judo, karate, jujitsu, western boxing, kickboxing, and gymnastics into his own unique fighting style and is a master of multiple martial arts. In canon, he is regarded by other skilled fighters as one of the best hand-to-hand combatants in the Marvel Universe, limited only by his human physique. Although the super-soldier serum is an important part of his strength, Rogers has shown himself still sufficiently capable against stronger opponents, even when the serum has been deactivated reverting him to his pre-Captain America physique. 243,508 points.

Other Skills: Rogers’ battle experience and training make him an expert tactician and an excellent field commander, with his teammates frequently deferring to his orders in battle. Thor has stated that Rogers is one of the very few humans he will take orders from and follow “through the gates of Hades”. Rogers has vast U.S. military knowledge and is often shown to be familiar with ongoing, classified Defense Department operations. He is an expert in combat strategy, survival, acrobatics, parkour, military strategy, piloting, and demolitions. Despite his high profile as one of the world’s most popular and recognizable superheroes, Rogers has a broad understanding of the espionage community, largely through his ongoing relationship with S.H.I.E.L.D. Although he lacks superhuman strength, Captain America is one of the few mortal beings who has been deemed worthy enough to wield Thor’s hammer Mjolnir. 739,976 points.

Weapons and Equipment: Captain America wields a vibranium-steel alloy shield. Captain America’s shield is virtually indestructible under normal conditions; while cosmic and magical or godly opponents have broken the shield, the shield proves strong enough to absorb Hulk’s strength, and repel an attack from Thor’s mystical hammer Mjölnir without any visible damage. It is able to absorb all kinetic energy and transfers very little energy from each impact, meaning Captain America does not feel recoil or transferred impact forces from blocking attacks. These physical properties also means the shield can bounce off of most smooth surfaces, ricocheting multiple times with minimal loss in aerodynamic stability or velocity. The shield can also absorb the kinetic impact of a fall, allowing Captain America to land safely even when jumping off of several stories, as can be seen in Captain America: Winter Soldier movie when he escaped from the S.H.I.E.L.D.’s STRIKE squad by jumping off an elevator. A common misconception is that the shield can “magically” return to Captain America. The “superhuman serum” that enhanced Captain America’s physical attributes also improved his mental faculties—such as cognition, perception, balance, aim, and reflexes—to near genius-level. This allows him to instantly calculate ballistic-physics and predict the probable trajectory of objects in motion. This makes him a perfect shot. He can dodge or deflect bullets with his shield without collateral ricochet to civilians, to calculate where or how the shield will bounce and when it will return to his location, or trip a running person to cause them to fall into a specific position. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, he pulls the shield back to him after it is stuck, but this is through an electromagnet fastened on his arm. After his memories are altered to make him believe that he is a Hydra sleeper agent, Rogers uses his precise knowledge of the shield to put Sam Wilson, its current wielder, in a position where he will fail to save a senator from Flag-Smasher by arranging for Wilson to be forced to throw the shield in a manner that Rogers knows from his own experience will miss its target by mere millimeters, as part of his agenda to undermine Sam’s status as Captain America. When without his trademark shield, Captain America sometimes uses other shields made from less durable metals such as steel, or even a photonic energy shield designed to mimic a vibranium matrix. Rogers, having relinquished his regular shield to Barnes, carried a variant of the energy shield which can be used with either arm, and used to either block attacks or as an improvised offensive weapon able to cut through metal with relative ease. Much like his Vibranium shield, the energy shield can be thrown, including ricocheting off multiple surfaces and returning to his hand. Captain America’s uniform is made of a fire-retardant material, and he wears a lightweight, bulletproof duralumin scale armor beneath his uniform for added protection. Originally, Rogers’ mask was a separate piece of material, but an early engagement had it dislodged, thus almost exposing his identity. To prevent a recurrence of the situation, Rogers modified the mask with connecting material to his uniform, an added benefit of which was extending his armor to cover his previously exposed neck. As a member of the Avengers, Rogers has an Avengers priority card, which serves as a communications device.Captain America has used a custom specialized motorcycle, modified by the S.H.I.E.L.D. weapons laboratory, as well as a custom-built battle van, constructed by the Wakanda Design Group with the ability to change its color for disguise purposes (red, white and blue), and fitted to store and conceal the custom motorcycle in its rear section with a frame that allows Rogers to launch from the vehicle riding it. 839,614 points.

Lady Shiva

Name: Sandra Woosan

Height: 5′ 8′’

Weight: 141 lbs

Martial Arts Skill: Lady Shiva has no superpowers, but she is regarded as one of the best assassins and martial artists on the planet. She is known to have learned and mastered numerous martial arts, including long forgotten ones. She is able to read people’s movements through their body language, predicting their movements beforehand. She taught this trick to her daughter Cassandra Cain. She is able to hold her own against multiple opponents. She is commonly seen as the world’s foremost martial artist, as powerful as Richard Dragon and Batman. Batman, who is also considered to be one of the greatest martial artists, stated that “she may well be the best fighter alive.” However, numerous martial artists have held their own against her or even defeated her. Cassandra Cain is the only martial artist to defeat Shiva in single combat, but others like Connor Hawke, King Snake, Nightwing and Black Canary have survived duels with Shiva. Although she is willing to kill, and on one occasion attempted to manipulate Batman into a position where he would have to kill in order to make a worthy opponent in the future, Shiva has shown a certain sense of honor, helping to train the third Robin in combat while working with him during an investigation, and assisting Batman in regaining his skills after he was injured by Bane and lost his fighting instinct even after his back was healed. She has also been noted as having some respect for her old teachers; when she and Black Canary learned that they had each studied under Sensei Otomo, Shiva noted that, out of respect for Otomo’s preference not to kill his opponents, she never uses the skills he taught her in fights where her goal is the death of her enemies. 733,122 points.

Winner

Captain America has a 82.84% chance of winning. Even though Shiva can match him if limited to only using his own anticipation and martial arts abilities she just cannot match his enhanced physical and mental faculties and weapons and equipment. She may be skilled but skill is only 1/8 of a fight. Bruce Lee was skilled but can you see him beat up some one who is 8 times stronger as well as much faster and smarter and is just as skilled and armed to the teeth? I’m sorry but Captain America does not mess around.

Who would you like to see fight next?

I was thinking Sabretooth

#captain america #steve rogers #marvel #bucky barnes #Iron Man #mcu #Chris Evans #tony stark #Avengers #stucky #civil war #lady shiva #sandra wu san #DC comics #dc

[preserving-ferretbrain]

Soon I Will Be Invincible - Review

by Wardog

Saturday, 08 September 2007Wardog dusts off her cape and puts her pants on outside the rest of her clothing.~Soon I will Be Invincible is a book written by a loser for losers. Perhaps I'm being slightly unfair but the guy on the back is aggressively bald, over-educated, a computer game designer and has written an over-angsty, over-affectionate novel about superheroes and supervillains. I'm not saying he's not somebody I would love to hang out with but then I'm not saying I'm anything other than a loser too.

I'm a fair-to-moderate reader of superhero comics but I'm no authority on the genre so what I'm about to posit could be either a) so obvious it's not worth stating or b) completely wrong but I do think there's been a bit of a change of focus. Back in the day, it seems to me that superheroes were deliberately presented as everyman figures, community-spirited boys-next-door who just so happened to get gifted with exceptional powers. They seemed to be saying: "This Peter Parker fellow, he could be you, you could be the superhero."

But, of course, moral values have shifted with time. We're no longer all about the wholesome friendly neighbourhood superhero, we want the dark and the driven and morally ambiguous. The people who read comics are, for the most part, people like me (weird, unpopular kids) and, here on either side of the millennium, superheroes - those gifted by pure chance or cruel circumstance to be more attractive, more powerful and more popular than, say, me - are beginning to look rather like the kids who laughed at me at school. Thus you start to pay more attention to the villains, initially just larger than life foils to set against the unyielding virtue of the superhero. But, unlike the hero, villains tends to be self-made men who have progressed down the long road to world domination by dint being more intelligent and more determined than everyone else around them. A familiar motif for weird unpopular kids, I'm sure. The superhero belongs to the realm of the blessed and the accepted. The villain is the perennial scorned and derided outsider. I could take over the world, you know. If I wanted to.

SIWBI takes place on an alternative earth that, although rife with aliens, fairies, superheroes and supervillains, future tech and magic, is recognisably our own. The first person narrative alternates between the point of view of Dr Impossible, brilliant scientist turned supervillain and Fatale, a newly created cyborg who has just been invited into The Champions, a famous group of superheroes, previously led by Dr Impossible's arch nemesis. The plot, such as it is, is typical superhero fare: Dr Impossible escapes from prison and hatches the usual supervillain scheme to knock the planet out of orbit and herald in a new ice-age. Meanwhile CoreFire, the leader of The Champions, has disappeared and the group must to struggle to re-form into an effective unit and deal with the events of their past. As is practically de rigueur these days in anything dealing with people with super powers, the self-consciously trite plotline and the comic book archetypes are there primarily to illuminate the recognisable human dimension to it all. Thus The Champions battle not only Dr Impossible but their own very human failings and, even as he flounces around in scarlet cape and helmet, Dr Impossible angsts over the whether "the smartest man in the world has done the smartest possible thing with his life." It's not exactly ground-breaking but it seems to work well enough and adds pathos to Dr Impossible's obsession with invincibility, not so much to protect him from those with superpowers but to protect him from the very ordinary world that has always excluded and derided him and never loses its power to hurt him.

There's a lot to like here, if you're into that kind of thing. The chapter titles are all stock phrases ("Foiled Again" etc.) and most of the secondary characters are nods to various comic book characters. In fact the whole style and approach of SIWBI is incredibly affectionate and genial, although I do have to wonder what it's doing presenting itself as literary fiction because I can't imagine you'll get it, or indeed see the point of it, unless you're also fond of and familiar with the genre to which it offers itself as an homage. And I know that Grossman wanted specifically to write a book but it seems a peculiar choice to me. His writing style is brisk and punchy, favouring a lot of dramatic statements that would look absolutely perfect floating above a character's head in a speech bubble ("It was time for me to stop punishing myself and start punishing everyone else") but when they're just a just a line on a page they occasionally fall somewhat flat. It's kind of the equivalent of writing POW just like that. In fact, the blatant attempt to "literary-ise" the book, and through association the genre, is one of the more irritating features SIWBI. You like comics, dude, just accept it. Some people will laugh at you, some people will agree, and some people will start to talk about Maus. Regardless, Watchman will never be Ulysses.

As well as occasional stylistic difficulties the narrative jumps between the present and the past in a rather jarring manner. Although it's interesting to get (some of) the backstory, it does completely ruin the pace to the extent that what ought to be an adrenaline-saturated rush towards the final stages of Dr Impossible's plan bog down in a lot of superhero dithering and bickering. For the most part, Grossman is at his best in his supervillain's head. The attempt to give Dr Impossible a reasonably credible psychology for behaving as supervillains behave within the genre (always explaining his plans to the good guys, shrieking I AM A GENIUS at every slight provocation and so forth) does not entirely work because if you were actually capable of such self-awareness one would hope you would also be capable of behaving in a moderately sensible fashion. Nevertheless, Dr Impossible's seemingly unflinching commitment to a role he knows must always be the losing one does generate a certain emotional resonance and bizarrely, as the novel stutters to his inevitable defeat, a certain tragic force.

Dr Impossible, painted with all the narrative garishness a supervillain deserves, is not a subtle character:

For a second I stand at the fulcrum point of creation. God, I'm so unhappy.

But he is complex. Grossman writes him with genuine flair and appreciation. And, one loser to another, it's impossible not to empathise with his broken and lonely desperation:

If you're different you always know it and you can't fix it even if you want. What do you do when you find out your heart is the wrong kind? You take what you're given and be the hero you can be. Hero to your own cold, inverted heart.

Villain he may be but he's probably the arrogant, articulate poster boy for every geeky comic lover out there.

Sadly, the other characters can in no way live up to him, so much so they seem almost like afterthoughts. The Champions bitch and moan like a bunch of sulky teenagers and, even if that was partly the point, it didn't make them easy or pleasant to read about. As for Fatale, new superhero on the block, who narrates with Dr Impossible, she's tedious beyond expression. I had a feeling that, as a woman, she was probably meant to be saying profound things to me but her narrative voice is pedestrian at best and offers none of the exuberance or emotional engagement of Dr Impossible's. I skimmed most of the superhero sections.

Even so, Dr Impossible is worth the price of admission alone. If you're even remotely interested in the superhero genre or have ever contemplated world domination while sitting by yourself in maths, you'll probably find something to enjoy here.

PS - Please note the views expressed within the article are solely those of the author. Ferretbrain as a whole does not believe Mr Grossman is a loser.

Themes:

Books

,

Sci-fi / Fantasy

~

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Arthur B

at 18:32 on 2007-09-08I'm sorry, but there's only room for one "arrogant, articulate poster boy for every geeky comic lover out there" and it's

this guy

. :)

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Wardog

at 16:05 on 2007-09-10Oh come on, geeks need all the help we can get :)

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Jamie Johnston

at 12:59 on 2007-10-01Aside from the merits and demerits peculiar to this book (which I haven't read), I wonder whether it was a good idea to try to do superheroes in a novel at all. They grew up in comics, which are basically a dramatic form like plays, films, or television. They seem to get on fairly well on film and television (never seem them on stage), but throwing them into continuous prose narrative strikes me as probably unwise and possibly self-defeating.

If Grossman has, as you guess, done it in the hope of giving the genre literary credibility, then he's rather missed the point, hasn't he? Putting superheroes into a novel doesn't make them into literature any more than doing 'Richard III' as a comic would make it into childish pulp.

'Heroes' is a pretty good example of an intelligent transfer of superheroes from one literary form to another because it recognizes and deals with the differences between the two forms. The scale of television (both the size of the screen and the length of episodes and series) means it can't cover the whole range of dramatic action that comics do, so it concentrates on what television does well, which is the drama of personal relationships; but it also remembers that saving the world is the point of superhero stories, so it uses the flash-back / flash-forward structure to suggest a larger drama going on without having to indulge in the big colourful battles which do the same thing in a comic. It also recognizes that on television, with live actors and real-time action, superhero costumes simply aren't going to be credible, so it simply ditches them.

I'd say a superhero novel should probably ditch costumes too, for different reasons. In comics, costumes solve three problems: first, how do we easily distinguish different characters when the simplified style of the artwork makes all faces and bodies look very similar? second, how do we make every page look exciting even when nothing much is happening? and third, how do we make it easy to work out what's going on when up to a dozen different actions need to be depicted on a single page smaller than A4?

The advantage of solving those problems outweighs the disadvantage of a slight loss of credibility. But in a novel none of those problems arises in the first place, so costumes have none of the advantages but retain the disadvantage of implausibility (which is in no way reduced by the traditional internal narrative explanation: "I must protect my secret identity by wearing a costume which incorporates a mask... and bright yellow tights and a billowy green cloak").

Gosh, if I look behind me through a telescope I can see the point where this comment stopped being relevant to the article... Oh yes, that's right. Well, I think that's probably why I'm very dubious about doing superheroes in a novel at all. The whole point of the superhero genre is that it externalizes the drama and symbolism of the story. The way the identity of each character is made explicitly visual through his costume and is expressed in action through his superpower is a prime example of that. The whole point of the novel, on the other hand, is that it internalizes the drama by taking the reader into the minds of at least some of the principal characters. Action in a novel is secondary - it affects the characters and triggers internal change. If there was ever a narrative form which was unsuitable for superheroes, it's got to be the novel, surely?

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Wardog

at 10:49 on 2007-10-04I think I read in the introduction or the acknowledgements or somewhere that presenting the story as a novel rather than a comic was a carefully thought through decision, and one the author felt strongly about. On the other hand, I do think the interactions of various literary (or artistic) forms is interesting and, for that alone, perhaps I feel more supportive of it than perhaps it deserves. I was possibly being quite unfair when I suggested it was a doomed attempt to confer a literary validity on a popular form. As you point out, books / comics hop easily to the big and small screen and back again and books do, in fact, turn readily into comics (I've even seen a comic version of Proust for God's sake) and it seems peculiar that it's always been an unspoken one-way street i.e. that things can be turned into comics and comics can be turned into movies but never the other way round.

For what I've read about Heroes, I think it was always designed primarily as a drama rather than a slightly more high brow than average contribution to the superhero-genre. Tim Kring claims explicitely that his inspiration was Lost, he has no geeky nostalgia for the days of X-men or whatever ... essentially he started with television and incorporated superheroes rather than starting with superheroes and incorporating television. If that makes sense.

And there are some quite amusing sequences about costumes in SIWBI in fact! I think the point is that the novel - regardless of whether you think it's an appropriate experiment or not - deliberately attempts to offer a plausible psychological landscape to the external superhero world. Thus, Dr Impossible has an outrageous costume to allow him to put aside the vulnerabilities (or attempt to) of the man behind the mask and become a supervillain capable of delivering the usual array of hysterical villain lines. And one of the themes of the book is the clash between the external and the internal, the visual and the psychological. It doesn't *quite* work because you can't actually offer up a credible explanation of supervillainous compulsions i.e. why do they always pour our the details of their dastardly plans at the slighest provocation.

But it was fun.

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Jamie Johnston

at 16:37 on 2007-10-07Perhaps my reaction comes partly from my continual annoyance at the use of the novel form in general. I feel that a lot of storytellers write novels not because that's the best narrative form for the story they want to tell but because either they prioritize being a novelist over telling the story to its best advantage or, worse, it simply never occurs to them that there are any other narrative forms at all.

But certainly I don't want to say that a story can't be transferred from a comic to a novel just as well as the other way round. In principle any story can be told in any form, it's just that some forms are going to be better suited to the nature of some stories. But genre is a horse of a different colour. Still, I mustn't be too categorical since I haven't actually read the thing! If he's trying to explore the inside of the characters minds then the novel is certainly the form to do it with, but I would tend to think that all that would really achieve is to expose the psychological implausibility of many central elements of the superhero genre. Which, from your comments, sounds more or less like what happened. But it's interesting to find the edges of a genre.

As for 'Heroes', I'm interested that you say that Kring (not a bad supervillain name, that) wasn't particularly interested in superheroes. I hadn't heard that, and judging solely from the content of the series so far I'd have guessed the exact opposite. I can count on one finger the concepts, super-powers, characters, and plot developments in 'Heroes' which aren't almost identical to things I read in the X-Men comics when I was 15. And I notice that the producer of 'Heroes' (and the script-writer of a couple of episodes) is Jeph Loeb, who was a writer on X-Men for a long time, if I recall correctly.

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Arthur B

at 17:12 on 2007-10-07I think that just shows Kring recognised that he doesn't actually know much about superheroes and was wise enough to hire people who did.

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Wardog

at 10:19 on 2007-10-09On a rather tangential note, it's interesting really that the novel, once the bastard offspring of better literature, is now very much established as, perhaps, the most authentic and recognised of all literary forms - perhaps in a few hundred years the comic will supplant it. I mean, there's not exactly much call for epic nowadays - what sort of narrative forms did you have in mind, Jamie? And I suppose the major point of interest for SIWBI is that it's a novel, not a comic. As a comic it would be sub-standard post-Watchman fare I'm sure. As a novel at least it doesn't get lost among a morass of very similar items.

And with references to Heroes, I think something similar is at work; because he is not a great big superhero geek, Kring is more concerned about providing good television and, therefore, lots of the very obvious superhero tropes and motifs and arcs he uses, he does so with the blissful ignorance of the utterly unitiated. Whereas any superhero fanatic worth their tights would probably be unable to use them as effectively because they'd be preoccupied with what enormous cliches they actually are...

#Ferretbrain #Soon I Will Be Invincible #Wardog #Superhero

[theconservativebrief]

I spend a lot of time thinking about Captain America. I think about how, after six Marvel Studios films featuring Chris Evans in the role, we’ve gotten to the point where it’s impossible to trace where Evans ends and where Cap begins. I think about how he’s evolved from a character whose duty was to serve his country into a character whose country let him down. I think about how he bicep-curled a helicopter.

And after seeing Avengers: Infinity War, and after seeing Evans tweeting about his character’s presumed cinematic end, I’ve thought a lot about what happens when Captain America dies.

“We don’t trade lives,” Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Cap, tells Vision around Infinity War’s midpoint, explaining that the Avengers leave no men, women, or any other forms of life behind. But as we see half the world’s population (including some of our favorite Avengers) decimated at the movie’s end, it’s not hard to foresee an outcome in next year’s Avengers 4 where Cap is put in the position of trading his life for others.

It’s been eight years since Evans donned the stars and stripes for Captain America: The First Avenger. In that time, he’s evolved from a selfless patriot to a man out of time to a prodigal son. Now, with the future of the universe at stake, the table is set for what could be the biggest moment in the character’s cinematic life.

Given Cap’s character arc, which has always been underscored by his selflessness, and how much Infinity War emphasized his stance on “trading lives,” it certainly seems like a noble sacrifice to save the universe lies in his future. And even if it somehow doesn’t come to that, he’s already cemented his legacy as Earth’s most enduring Avenger.

Cap in Infinity War. Marvel Studios

One of the biggest revelations in Infinity War is Thanos’s motivations for culling the universe: He believes that in order to sustain life, we have to reduce it by half. Resources are finite, and life is a burden on those resources. Eliminate life to an ideal degree (roughly half, according to Thanos’s math), and both life and resources reach an optimal level.

In other words, Thanos believes in trading lives.

The ultimate example of his willingness to trade is his choice to throw his adopted daughter Gamora off a cliff in order to obtain the Soul Stone. His sights are set on completing the Infinity Gauntlet and using it to create his vision of a utopia. Killing his daughter, whom he seems to genuinely love, is the price he’s willing to pay.

Steve Rogers and everything he stands for — and, by extension, the standard for what superheroes in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe strive to be — are the antithesis to Thanos. When faced with the choice between ripping the Mind Stone from Vision’s forehead and killing him, or protecting Vision and risking the fate of half the universe, Rogers refuses to trade a single life in the name of preserving his and countless others’. He’d rather die fighting than sacrifice an innocent to avoid the fight.

This stance is remarkable for a couple of reasons. First, Vision is an AI — Tony Stark’s computer program upgraded with the power of an Infinity Stone — which raises the question of whether Vision is even “alive” to begin with. Also, in contrast to Gamora and Thanos, Vision isn’t someone with a particularly distinct relationship to Steve Rogers. But despite this, Cap doesn’t hesitate in choosing to save Vision at all costs, risking the lives of Avengers and Wakandans alike to protect him.

When Avengers 4 unfolds next year it will most likely involve the resurrection of its vaporized heroes (especially those with confirmed sequels on the schedule). Because of this, I’d expect there to be a continued emphasis on Steve’s “we don’t trade lives” mantra — it’s one of the few lines he’s given in Infinity War, and it’s repeated — in contrast to Thanos’s worldview. There’s just too much symmetry and thematic opportunity there for Marvel to ignore it.

It wouldn’t surprise me if in Avengers 4, in order to undo Thanos’s massive cull, Steve Rogers would have to sacrifice himself to undo the damage of not trading Vision’s life — that he would be faced with having to “trade lives” to get back all the lives that were lost. And the only life Cap would be fine with trading would be his own. (It also wouldn’t surprise me if some sort of Soul Stone mythology leads to a confrontation between Cap and Red Skull, the supervillain from Captain America: The First Avenger who’s revealed to be the keeper of the Soul Stone in Infinity War.)

Cap sacrificing himself for the greater good would feel like the ultimate inverse of Thanos’s decimation: giving his life to save the people he loves, instead of killing someone he loves in the name of a greater good. It’s a sacrifice that only Cap could make.

Find you someone who looks at you the way Cap looks at everyone. Marvel Studios

Back in 2008, Marvel found itself a hero in Iron Man’s Tony Stark, who was sardonic, quippy, and smarter and cockier than his peers. Compared to other relatively earnest cinematic superheroes of the time, like the X-Men and Spider-Man, Tony Stark was the “cool” superhero we needed.

“It takes about two minutes of watching Robert Downey Jr. in action in Iron Man 3 — in any of his appearances as the armored Tony Stark, in fact — to realize what the other Avengers are lacking: Charisma,” Graeme McMillan wrote in Time in 2013, bemoaning the Cap’s stiffness and earnestness in comparison to the Avengers’ other leader.

But a lot changes in five years.

With the way the Marvel Cinematic Universe has since shaken out, with Tony Stark at fault for creating Ultron and ripping apart the Avengers in Civil War, Downey’s portrayal of an artisanal tech jerk hasn’t aged particularly well. (And while I don’t blame Marvel or Downey for this, I can’t see Elon Musk without thinking of the smarminess of Tony Stark, and vice versa.) Tony Stark’s cocksure genius has gone from being an asset to a liability, for the character and the franchise alike. And in those same five years, Cap has become the more endearing hero.

Ever since his first appearance in 2011’s The First Avenger, Steve Rogers has been defined by his spirit — it’s the reason he, in spite of his physical deficiencies, was chosen for the super soldier experiment. In 2012’s The Avengers, he’s a thawed-out man out of time; he has all the powers of a super soldier, but beneath his superhero surface is that scrawny guy who’s a grandpa among his peers. He’s a relic of America’s golden age, and his earnestness and selflessness feel like relics as well: too good and sweet to be of our contemporary time and place, and directly at odds with the modern sensibilities of Tony Stark.

But Cap’s evolution into the heart of the modern MCU begins with the surreal revelation in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier that the country and the government he believed in and fought for has spoiled since he left it, forcing him to redefine his heroism in relationship to the government that first made him a hero. Then in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, he’s completely at odds with the government, defying orders to save and protect his friends and the greater good, while Tony Stark aligns the remaining Avengers with the government in the name of atoning for the damage he caused by creating Ultron.

Clashing with Tony’s contemporary sarcasm, Steve’s earnestness becomes timeless. His heroism isn’t undertaken out of duty like Tony’s, but rather woven into the fabric of his being. Tony Stark’s goodness saves him from himself, while Steve’s goodness is quantified in saving others.

Infinity War ends with a cliffhanger and a twist. Thanos eliminates half of the universe — and half of the Avengers — as the movie fades to black. But in a post-credits scene, Nick Fury is seen sending a distress call to someone he believes can save the day: Captain Marvel.

We know very little about the upcoming 2019 Captain Marvel film other than that it’s set in the 1990s and that its titular superhero, Carol Danvers, a.k.a. Captain Marvel, is an Air Force pilot caught in the middle of a war between two alien races, probably the Kree and the Skrulls. Setting the movie in the 1990s, and then possibly sending the character into space to deal with cosmic threats, could help explain why Captain Marvel hasn’t already appeared on Earth at some point in the MCU’s 10-year history.

But with the Avengers and the universe in tatters, the table is set for Captain Marvel to make her debut and rally the troops. It also feels like the time when the original core Avengers will pass the torch to the next generation of Marvel heroes.

Evans hasn’t detailed the specifics of his Captan America contract, but he told Good Morning America during the Infinity War press tour: “I don’t know what’s next — but by 2019, that’s it.” And this week he tweeted about how grateful he was for the memories and the experiences of playing (in past tense) the character.

Officially wrapped on Avengers 4. It was an emotional day to say the least. Playing this role over the last 8 years has been an honor. To everyone in front of the camera, behind the camera, and in the audience, thank you for the memories! Eternally grateful.

— Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) October 4, 2018

Assuming Evans isn’t bluffing, there will be a storytelling opportunity for Captain America to pass his leadership of the team to another captain who happens to share many of his defining qualities (time displacement, an outsider to the core group, a US service member). It would make sense that Cap would sacrifice himself, but also that he would see to it that the Avengers are left in capable, caring, and responsible hands.

There’s thematic precedence for this in the comics that Avengers 4 could easily draw on for this scenario. In Captain Marvel No. 1, written by Kelly Sue DeConnick and drawn by Dexter Soy, Carol and Cap have a strikingly pertinent discussion about her taking the name “Captain Marvel” and leading the team. It’s primarily a conversation about legacy: Carol doesn’t want the title because she doesn’t want to be seen as stealing or besmirching the original Captain Marvel’s good name.

Cap and Carol in Captain Marvel No. 1. Marvel/Dexter Soy

Reading over that scene made me think about the title of Captain America as it stands in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel has, over the past seven years, created a humanity in Captain America. In taking up that mantle, Steve Rogers has become one of the most beloved characters in pop culture, and the defining spirit of the first generation of Avengers. Should Avengers 4 be his last hurrah, it will also necessarily be a celebration of his legacy.

Original Source -> Avengers: Infinity War is the beginning of a goodbye to Captain America

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15 Darkest Versions Of Superman

Superman is one of the most noble superheroes in the comic book world today. Since his creation back in the 1930s, Superman’s catchphrase has been that he fights for “truth, justice and the American Way,” and he’s been a symbol of all that’s good in the world. In fact, he’s such a great guy that we can’t help but wonder what would happen if he fought for evil instead.

RELATED: Men of Steel: 15 Comic Book Copies Of Superman

Superman has incredible power, including heat vision, super-strength capable of moving mountains, and heat vision that can burn through anything, which is why we’re glad he’s on our side, but what if he wasn’t? What if Superman turned to the dark? What if he used his unstoppable power for evil? Would he enslave humanity or destroy the world? On that dark note, here are 15 of the darkest incarnations of Superman we’ve ever seen.

JUSTICE LORDS SUPERMAN

The first dark version of Superman we’re looking at is Justice Lord Superman, a member of an evil, alternate-universe Justice League. The team, known as the Justice Lords, first appeared on the animated “Justice League” TV show in the 2003 episode “A Better World.” They came from an alternate reality where the execution of the Flash by President Lex Luthor enraged Superman into killing him. From there, the Justice Lords seized control of the world’s governments and imposed tyrannical rule on their Earth.

In the two-part episode, the Justice Lords traveled to the world of the Justice League, where they imprisoned the League and began their own brand of crime-fighting. Justice Lord Superman’s first act in the new world was to use his heat vision to lobotomize Doomsday, followed by immediate steps to take over the world’s governments. His incredible powers would have let him succeed if it weren’t for the regular Superman, who managed to defeat the Justice Lord before it was too late. The worst part is that Justice Lord Superman truly thought he was doing the right thing.

EVIL SUPERMAN (SUPERMAN III)

The 1983 movie “Superman III” had a lot of problems, but it did have the first movie version of an evil Superman. Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor) was a computer genius instructed by his boss to make synthetic kryptonite, but screwed up royally when his computer found kryptonite had an unknown element. Inspired by a box of cigarettes, Gorman substituted tar with the missing element and produced a form of kryptonite that didn’t kill Superman, but instead split him into a de-powered, mild mannered Clark Kent and a super-powered evil Superman.

With his personality twisted by the kryptonite, Superman immediately began using his powers to mess things up. He traveled around the world, defacing the Leaning Tower of Pisa, blowing out the Olympic torch, getting drunk and basically being the exact opposite of a hero. This version of Superman was dark in the sense that he did bad things, but was overall pretty campy, acting more like a jerk than a true supervillain. He still manages to get on the list, though, because Christopher Reeve did a great job.

DARK KNIGHT SUPERMAN

“The Dark Knight Returns” is a 1986 classic mini-series that showed an alternate future where Batman had gone into retirement, but returned a decade later when new threats terrorized Gotham City. In “Dark Knight,” Superman has become an ally of a brutal U.S. government opposed by Batman, and is ordered to arrest the Dark Knight. The story culminated in an epic battle between Superman and an armor-clad Batman.

The Superman of “Dark Knight” wasn’t necessarily evil, because he remained committed to freedom and American ideals that have been corrupted. With his secret identity of Clark Kent publicly known, Superman was forced to fight for the government to do some good in the world. Instead, Superman is stuck fighting Soviet-backed forces in Latin America in a prelude to World War III and even Batman instead of fighting crime in the streets of Metropolis. Rather than being evil per se, he’s a misguided and frustrated hero who finds himself trapped in global affairs.

SMALLVILLE’S KAL-EL

On the TV series “Smallville,” Clark Kent had a rocky relationship with his father, Jor-El, and that’s putting it mildly. He didn’t know his Kryptonian heritage until later in the series, and discovered Jor-El wanted him to conquer Earth instead of protect it. In season three, to save his adoptive father, Clark allowed himself to be reprogrammed into Kal-El, his Kryptonian persona. In the fourth season premiere, Kal-El was focused only on his “destiny” as ruler of Earth at the cost of his humanity.

For those who had come to know and love Clark throughout “Smallville,” his Kal-El persona was terrifying, completely empty of emotion and love for humans, including his adopted parents whom he barely remembered. He even threatened to kill Jonathan and Martha Kent when they tried to stand in his way. Kal-El had new powers and used them ruthlessly, fighting with Clark for control of his future as a Superman who would help or would dominate humanity.

RED SON SUPERMAN

What if Superman fought for the Soviet Union instead of the United States? That was the premise of “Superman: Red Son,” an Elseworlds mini-series published in 2003. In “Red Son,” Superman’s ship crash-landed in a collective farm in Soviet Ukraine instead of Kansas. Instead of being raised to fight for “truth, justice and the American way,” the Soviet Superman fought for Stalin and the Communist Party. He became a weapon of propaganda for the Soviet Union, upsetting the balance of power in the Cold War.

Soviet Superman was dedicated to his country, just like the American Superman, which made him incredibly dangerous for the wrong reasons, because he was a living weapon that the Soviets used to spread their power throughout the globe. He traveled the world with Wonder Woman, converting other nations to the Communist Party, and even became their new leader. He was a good leader for a bad world.

ULTRAMAN

The original Ultraman was a Kryptonian from an alternate universe whose spaceship encountered kryptonite during his journey to Earth, making him stronger instead of weakening him. It also twisted his mind. When he arrived on Earth, he named himself Ultraman, and assembled a dark version of the Justice League called the Crime Syndicate of America which conquered the world. When Ultraman learned of Superman’s Earth, the Crime Syndicate crossed into their dimension to conquer it.

First appearing in “Justice League of America” #29 (1964) Ultraman had all of Superman’s powers, but without the weakness to kryptonite. He’s ruthless and as hungry for power as Superman was for justice. He ended up in a cycle where he would be caught by Superman, break out, and fight Superman again. After the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Ultraman was recreated in “JLA: Earth 2” as a human astronaut who was killed and reconstructed by aliens with new powers. However, the 2013 New 52 reboot restored him back to being an evil Kryptonian again.

THE SUPERMAN (HARVEY DENT, TANGENT COMICS)

In 1997, DC released a new imprint called Tangent, which was intended to be a reimagined version of the DC universe, where the existence of superheroes had political and economic impact. It was sort of like their take on the idea explored in “Watchmen,” where superheroes have changed history and society instead of just existing alongside our world in the regular universe.

In the Tangent universe, Superman was Harvey Dent, an ordinary man who survived an experiment that accelerated his mind to new levels. With new powers of telepathy and telekinesis, Dent took on the persona of The SuperMan, fighting crime and ultimately becoming more cold and remote until he decided to take over the world. With his godlike powers, he easily subdued the world’s governments and imposed a brutal totalitarian state. In 2008, the mini-series “Tangent: Superman’s Reign” brought the SuperMan to the DC mainstream universe, where he tried to impose martial law, but the main-continuity Superman finally stopped him.

ERADICATOR SUPERMAN

The Eradicator first appeared in “Action Comics Annual” #2 (1989), created to preserve the culture by an ancient alien race until it was reprogrammed to eradicate all other cultures except Krypton’s. Thousands of years later, the Eradicator was given to Superman while on Warworld and it began its work again on Earth, creating the Fortress of Solitude and trying to manipulate Superman into becoming the ideal Kryptonian. When it failed, the Eradicator created a new body for itself based on Superman.

The Eradicator had all of Superman’s memories (even thought it wasn’t actually the real Superman), but was far more brutal and violent. It didn’t have the power to absorb solar radiation, so it relied on Superman’s body to transfer energy to it. Over the years, it became more compassionate and even fought alongside Superman and sacrificed itself to save Earth, but remained dedicated to preserving Superman and Kryptonian life. In DC’s Rebirth continuity, the Eradicator has returned, and it’s just as dangerous.

UBERMENSCH

In 2000’s Elseworlds tale “JSA: The Liberty Files,” the Justice Society of America were secret government operatives in World War II; the Bat (Batman), the Clock (Hourman) and the Owl (Doctor Mid-Nite) investigating a secret German weapon called Ubermensch (the German word for “Superman”). Hitler’s forces had found the alien and planned to use the Ubermensch to lead a German attack in Egypt.

In reality, Ubermensch was the alien we know as the Martian Manhunter. The Martian Manhunter has enhanced speed, strength and the power of flight, making him a fitting Superman, but with added telekinetic powers. Ubermensch could absorb the thoughts of anyone he touched, but Hitler only allowed contact with him, infecting Ubermensch with his own twisted worldview. Dedicated to the Nazi cause, Ubermensch almost allowed Hitler to conquer the world, but the Bat touched him and was able to give him a new perspective to end World War II.

OVERMAN

He came from a world where everything had gone wrong. First seen in “Animal Man” #23 (1990), where the Psycho-Pirate began releasing long lost characters from out of continuity, Overman was the result of a government experiment and other superheroes (based on the Justice League) cloned from his cells soon followed. Overman was driven mad by a sexually transmitted disease and killed everyone in his world, ultimately creating a doomsday bomb to commit suicide and destroy his world.

In “Animal Man,” Overman was just a drooling maniac carrying an oversized bomb. In 2015, Overman was revamped in a sort of Ubermensch as part of the “Multiversity” storyline in “Mastermen,” a present-day world where Overman was taken in by Adolf Hitler to lead the Nazis to victory. In an Overman-controlled world, he was plagued with guilt for his role in the genocides the Nazis carried out. He’s one of the darkest alternate versions of Superman out there without any of the fun of “Red Son.”

BLACK ZERO

Introduced in “Superboy” #62 (1999), Black Zero was from an alternate reality where Superman died and his clone grew to maturity to become Superman II (the superhero, not the movie). With the power of tactile-telekinesis, he could create a field around himself that made him invulnerable, allowed him to fly and also moved heavy objects, similar to Superman’s strength. Superman II tried to fight crime, but ended up losing a battle that cost lives, leading to a backlash against human cloning. He decided to rename himself after the pro-cloning organization on Krypton, Black Zero, and fight for clone rights.

Black Zero used Project Cadmus to kill off most of his world’s superheroes and recreated them as clones of the originals, but that wasn’t enough for him. He entered Hypertime (a cross between the timestream and the multiverse during an era where DC Comics only consisted of one universe) to travel to other realities to fight for clone rights as well. Black Zero was a fanatical and ruthless warrior who could only be stopped by the combined strength of numerous Superboys from across Hypertime.

DARK SIDE SUPERMAN

Darkseid and Superman have always been enemies, except in 1998’s “Superman: The Dark Side.” The mini-series showed an alternate reality where Kal-El’s rocket was diverted from Earth to Apokolips, where he was raised and controlled by Darkseid. In the beginning, he was forced to wear armor that gives him power through geothermal energy because he didn’t have a yellow sun to power him. The Dark Side Superman helped Darkseid destroy New Genesis, but Highfather transported him to Earth, where he met Lois Lane and learned the error of his ways.

Superman in this story is more a pawn of Darkseid than inherently evil, but much like the others, his actions have horrific consequences. With his direct and indirect help, Darkseid managed to extract the Anti-Life Equation from Superman’s cells and subjugated the world, and expand his reach. With Earth by his side and a yellow sun to power him, Superman was forced to fight Darkseid to end his reign of terror.

CYBORG SUPERMAN

In 1992, during the “Death of Superman” arc, four men came forward, claiming to be the reincarnation of Superman. One of them was a version of Superman with Kryptonian cybernetic parts who came to be known as Cyborg Superman. Unfortunately, Cyborg Superman was actually Hank Henshaw, an astronaut exposed to a solar flare that turned him into pure consciousness, and drove him mad in the process. His mind used Superman’s birthing matrix to create a physical clone of Superman to possess.

Driven by a desire to destroy the real Superman’s reputation, Cyborg Superman tried to use a nuclear bomb to destroy Metropolis. He was defeated, but used his power to inhabit machines to return over and over again, once even conquering most of the planet Apokolips. After his ultimate defeat, he was taken in by Sinestro during the Sinestro Corps War, making him more powerful than ever. Since the New 52 era, Cyborg Superman has been revamped as having been the father of Supergirl, Zor-El, who survived Krypton’s destruction only to have been transformed into the villain he is today.

SUPERDOOM

No, we’re not talking about the time Superman got infected by Doomsday. In 2012’s “Action Comics” #9, Superman became one of the most destructive forces in the universe: a franchise. Created in another reality by scientists who invented a machine that turns sound into solid objects, Superman was sold to a corrupt corporation called Overcorp. Their dark and brutal version of Superman was so popular that it ultimately took over the world, but the need for increased commercialization drove the superhero to travel to alternate realities and slaughter all other versions of Superman. It became Superdoom.

Superdoom gained power and changed form based on what people believed of him, a fitting metaphor of how commercialism seemed to affect Superman. In his quest for supremacy, Superdoom slaughtered countless versions of Superman until he came to an alternate Earth where that version of Superman trapped it between realities. Superdoom ultimately travelled to DC’s mainstream Earth, where he fought and was defeated by the New 52 Superman.

INJUSTICE SUPERMAN

“Injustice: Gods Among Us” was a 2013 video game about an alternate reality where Superman was driven mad with rage after the Joker destroyed Metropolis and tricked him into killing Lois Lane. Superman killed the Joker and set up a new world order with himself as supreme leader while the rest of the Justice League followed suit. When they crossed over into the mainstream DC universe, the heroes and villains fought to overthrow Superman’s dictatorship.

It was really all just supposed to be an explanation for why Batman would be fighting Wonder Woman, but it gave us a compelling vision of a totalitarian Superman. More than that, the game led to a comic book series that acted as a prequel, showing what led up to it. The comic told the descent of Superman into abandoning freedom to set up a One Earth government. It was a haunting tragedy where Earth’s greatest hero became its greatest enemy.

Which do you think was the darkest vision of Superman? Let us know in the comments!

The post 15 Darkest Versions Of Superman appeared first on CBR.com.

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Best Of The Worst: The 16 Baddest Supervillain Teams

Thanks to everyone’s favorite pointy-eared Dark Knight Detective, we all know that criminals are “a superstitious, cowardly lot.” That goes double for super-criminals. Perhaps that’s why the bad guys tend to congregate in groups, despite a distinct inability to set their egos aside long enough to function as actual teams. With the advent of films like “Suicide Squad” and the formation of a new live-action Legion of Doom in the CW’s “Legends of Tomorrow,” supervillains are more popular than ever.

RELATED: Evil Geniuses: The 15 Smartest Supervillains In Comics

Considering this newfound mainstream popularity, we thought it was the perfect time to run down a list of the most notorious villain crews around. These malcontents and ne’er-do-wells are the baddest of the bad, the most evil bastards in all of comicdom. Singly, they may be easy pickings… but together? Together, they’re the most vile, dangerous beings in all of comics. We bet being bad never felt so good…

SPOILER ALERT! Spoilers ahead for numerous stories published by DC and Marvel Comics.

LEGION OF DOOM

Arguably one of the most notorious team on our list, the Legion of Doom’s evil tendrils have woven their way into mainstream popular culture thanks to its origins as the villainous foil of the animated Super Friends. Debuting in the first episode of the classic “Challenge of the Super Friends” cartoon in 1978, the group’s roster featured some of DC Comics’ greatest villains, including Lex Luthor, Captain Cold, Gorilla Grodd, Solomon Grundy, the Cheetah and Giganta. Operating out of their iconic Hall of Doom, this powerful assemblage of super-criminals was tailor-made to go toe-to-toe with the mighty Super Friends.

Although there have been many stand-ins in the comics over the years, a true Legion of Doom wasn’t seen in print until Paul Dini and Alex Ross’ critically-acclaimed “Justice.” Still, there’s no denying the impact the Legion has had on fans and creators alike, inspiring countless cultural references and lending its name to the popular wrestling tag team, the Road Warriors. Currently, the L.O.D. are making life hell for the CW’s Legends of Tomorrow, as the Reverse-Flash, Captain Cold, Damien Darhk and Malcom Merlyn pool their talents and resources in an effort to change history for their own nefarious ends.

HORSEMEN OF APOCALYPSE

Famine, War, Pestilence and Death — in one incarnation or another, the Horsemen of the ancient mutant powerhouse known as Apocalypse have plagued the X-Men and the rest of humanity for decades. Created by Louise and Walter Simonson during their seminal run on “X-Factor,” Apocalypse’s biblically-inspired henchmen are perhaps most notorious for turning a despondent Warren Worthington heel, after he was stripped of his wings by the Marauders during the classic “Fall of the Mutants” storyline. Preying upon our basest fears, the Horsemen fomented widespread catastrophic change on a global scale, while using one of the X-Men’s own against them.

Despite several iterations of the Horsemen appearing in print and on film over the years, what makes this cadre of villains so dangerously effective isn’t simply their raw power and tenacity, both of which are admittedly substantial. Rather, their true strength lies in Apocalypse’s ability to subvert and manipulate the values of his enemies. Several X-Men, including Wolverine, Colossus, Sunfire and Psylocke, have served as Horsemen, making it all the more difficult for their teammates to thwart Apocalypse’s evil machinations.

FATAL FIVE

Hailing from the 31st century, our next entry owes their formation to their arch-enemies, the Legion of the Super-Heroes, who needed their help to defeat the Sun-Eater, a super-weapon designed to consume entire galaxies. The original line-up included the cyborg Tharok, Validus, Mano, the Persuader and the Emerald Empress. After helping the Legion defeat the Sun-Eater, the Fatal Five received pardons for their past crimes. However, true to their villainous natures, they refused the amnesty and immediately set about conquering the worlds they had just helped save. Despite their small numbers, the Fatal Five are massively powerful, capable of destruction on a planetary scale and taking on the Legion’s vast numbers on numerous occasions.

As perennial adversaries of the Legion, their origins have suffered from perpetual reboots and roster changes. Although they have remained on the down-low in recent years — while DC figures out what to do with the Legion — one member is set to make a major splash post-Rebirth in “Justice League vs. Suicide Squad”. Recruited by Maxwell Lord as a member of his team of spoilers, the seemingly time-displaced Emerald Empress agrees to help the master manipulator, in exchange for helping her search for “the Legionnaire.”

LEGION OF SUPER-VILLAINS

Originally appearing as futuristic foes of Superman, recruited by Lex Luthor to fight the Man of Steel in the present, the Legion of Super-Villains’ history is just as confusing and convoluted as their heroic counterparts, the Legion of Super-Heroes. Built around a core of super-criminal analogues of the Legion’s founding members, Cosmic King, Lightning Lord and Saturn Queen fought their heroic counterparts on several occasions, surrounding themselves with a diverse mix of superhuman and alien criminals, many of whom were failed Legion candidates.

With numbers and resources that rival the Legion’s, the LOSV infamously conquered Princess Projectra’s home world Orando and moved it into an alternate dimension to act as their base of operations. The campaign was notable for the death of popular Legionnaire, Karate Kid, who was killed by LOSV leader Nemesis Kid. More recently, it was revealed during the events of Final Crisis that Superboy-Prime inspired their creation much as Superman did for the Legion. The group’s current status is unknown in the post-Rebirth DCU, but with the Emerald Empress and a woman who appears to be Saturn Girl seemingly stranded in the present, we suspect it won’t be long until both Legions return to mainstream continuity.

FRIGHTFUL FOUR

The Frightful Four trace their origins back to 1965’s classic “Fantastic Four” #36, when the Wizard, Sandman, Paste-Pot Pete and Madam Medusa joined forces to fight Marvel’s first family — this was after a history of individual losses to the FF’s youngest member, the Human Torch. Over the years, the group has appeared in numerous configurations to plague the Fantastic Four, always under the Wizard’s leadership. Past members have included some true powerhouses, including Titania, Blastaar and Hydro Man.

Although his intellect doesn’t approach Reed Richards’ level of super-genius, the Wizard and his revolving cast of super-criminals managed to leverage their intimate knowledge of their arch-nemeses on several occasions, to strike the FF where it really hurts. This is perhaps best illustrated by the recruitment of Ben Grimm’s one-time flame and former FF member, She-Thing, into their ranks. Most recently, the Frightful Four were seen helping Reed Richards defeat the Quiet Man, who wanted to stage a global invasion by the monsters of Counter-Earth to set himself up as the world’s greatest hero.

THE CABAL

Born in the aftermath of “Secret Invasion,” the Cabal was originally Norman Osborn’s response to the existence of the Illuminati, a secret alliance of the Marvel Universe’s most influential heroes. Throughout Osborn’s “Dark Reign,” Doctor Doom, Loki, Namor the Sub-Mariner (playing both sides against the middle), Emma Frost and the Hood worked behind the scenes to promote their own hidden agendas. The Cabal was doomed to fail almost from the start, with multiple side deals and secret alliances forged between several members behind Osborn’s back. After Osborn’s siege of Asgard came to its gruesome conclusion, the Cabal disbanded.

When mysterious parallel universe incursions began to threaten Marvel’s prime 616 universe, Namor recruited a new, far more dangerous and unpredictable members to the group, including the Mad Titan Thanos, Maximus the Mad and former herald of Galactus, Terrax… who is also mad. Although they were successful in destroying many worlds in a last-ditch effort to save their own, Namor eventually betrayed his Cabal after months of sustained genocide. You know, because having two guys on your team who describe themselves as “mad” wasn’t an indication that maybe this was a bad idea. Karma’s a hell of a thing, though and Namor himself was betrayed for his murderous ways by the Illuminati, who left him to perish on a dying earth.

THE HELLFIRE CLUB

Perennial foes of the X-Men, who infamously sought to recruit Jean Grey into their ranks in their first appearance in 1980’s “Uncanny X-Men” #129, the Hellfire Club’s origins reach back to 18th-century England. The secret society has counted among its numbers some of the most influential and wealthiest families in the Marvel Universe. The Worthingtons, the Starks and the Braddocks have all held positions within the organization’s numerous global branches, even if they’ve remained remarkably ignorant of its clandestine activities.

The Hellfire Club’s Inner Circle includes some of the world’s most powerful mutants and funnels its vast resources into manipulating world events in their favor. Structured along the lines of traditional chess pieces, the Inner Circle’s roster has changed over the years as incessant internecine fighting has provoked numerous changes in leadership. Notable members include Magneto, Emma Frost, the mutant vampire Selene and Sebastian Shaw, who recently regained control of the Inner Circle, after deposing 12-year-old Black King Kade Kilgore. Facing the threat of extinction thanks to the Inhuman’s poisonous Terrigen Cloud, Shaw quickly aligned the Club with Magneto’s X-Men squad, welcoming the master of magnetism and Monet St. Croix into his Inner Circle.

SINISTER SIX

Much like the Flash’s Rogues, the Sinister Six is a group of blue collar superhuman mercenaries whose primary motivation is chasing down the next big score, while attempting to stay off the radar of their shared foe, Spider-Man. Originally recruited by Doctor Octopus as a means of taking out the wall-crawler using their combined might, the first incarnation of the group also included Kraven the Hunter, the Vulture, Mysterio, Electro and Sandman. However, none of the villains wanted to defer the honor of slaying the Spider to the others, so it was agreed they would face their enemy in succession. How this constitutes working as a team is beyond us, but the plot predictably failed. And we thought Doc Ock was some kind of super-genius.

Since that inauspicious debut, there have been numerous incarnations of the team, the most memorable in recent years starring in their own ongoing series, “Superior Foes of Spider-Man.” Although they only had five members, team leader Boomerang insisted on using the Sinister Six moniker. His criminal logic, while somewhat facile, is infallible, citing that there’s no better deal than calling themselves a six-piece and only splitting the loot five ways. Maybe they should have made the Living Brain leader…

SECRET SIX

Created by Gail Simone and Dale Eaglesham, the modern villainous incarnation of the Secret Six first appeared during “Villains United” as a carefully selected group of super-criminals recruited to undermine the agenda of the recently reformed Secret Society of Super Villains. Reporting to the mysterious Mockingbird (who turned out to be Lex Luthor), the Six eventually came under the leadership of Catman, after several battles with the Society. They remained together as a band of high-priced mercenaries, with something of a revolving roster, taking on a variety of jobs that pitted them against heroes such as the Birds of Prey and Wonder Woman, but rarely saw them actually paid for their efforts.

Recent addition Bane subsequently took over leadership of the group, but only led them on one ill-fated mission to Gotham City to murder several members of the Batman Family, which ultimately ended with their incarceration. The team’s latest revival, under the leadership of the ever-popular dreamboat Catman, has them working for a new Mockingbird, who was quickly revealed to be none other than the enigmatic Riddler.

THE ROGUES

Every superhero worth their salt has a stable of worthy supervillains capable of testing their resolve and pushing the limits of their abilities. Few, though, have banded together in the same way as the Rogues, a collection of working class villains dedicated to making life hell for the Flash. Led by the criminal mastermind Captain Cold, at one time or another, the Rogues have counted among their ranks virtually every major Flash villain. Outside of terrorizing the Flash, their prime motivation is cold, hard cash. They aren’t without their morals, however, typically refusing to kill unless absolutely necessary.

It came as something of shock, then, when the Rogues became inadvertently responsible for the death of the then-newest Flash, Bart Allen. Duped by Kid Zoom into murdering Bart, the Rogues hunted down and killed the evil speedster upon escaping the prison planet Salvation. During the “Forever Evil” storyline, they stood by their moral code, refusing to murder the citizens of Central City on the orders of the Crime Syndicate. Although they have yet to make a substantial appearance post-Rebirth, they were briefly seen considering leaving Central City, after a horde of new speedsters took to the streets.

SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER VILLAINS

Originally created as an evil counterpart to the Justice League of America by legendary writer and editor, Gerry Conway, the Secret Society of Super Villains (SSOSV) debuted in their own ongoing series in 1976. Recruited by Darkseid to act as his agents on Earth, the group turned on the evil New God, citing his past efforts to enslave the planet. The series, although short-lived, featured an eclectic group of second-string villains battling the DCU’s ultimate villain, while pursuing their own criminal endeavors.

Although there have been several incarnations over the years, including Libra’s Society during Grant Morrison’s “Final Crisis” event, it is perhaps their most recent, post-New 52 iteration that truly showcases the depths of the organization’s evil. Gathered by the mysterious Outsider as an army for Earth 3’s invading Crime Syndicate, this version of the SSOSV included virtually every supervillain in the DC Universe, as the Syndicate tried to change the world into a haven for super-criminality. Ultimately vanquished thanks to the heroic efforts of Lex Luthor and his Injustice League, the vast network of villains predictably scattered in the wake of the Crime Syndicate’s defeat.

BROTHERHOOD OF (EVIL) MUTANTS

First appearing in the classic “Uncanny X-Men” #4 as a band of mutant terrorists under the leadership of Magneto, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants’ agenda is nothing less than securing global dominance for the mutant race. Representing the flip side of Charles Xavier’s dream of living in harmony with the rest of humanity, the Brotherhood believes the mutant race is — and always has been — at war with regular human folk. Over the course of the organization’s long history, several incarnations have emerged, each with its own agenda. The most notable of these is Magneto’s prototypical configuration, which included future Avengers Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, and the classic line-up of the Blob, Pyro and Avalanche, under Mystique’s leadership.

In recent years, as the mutant race has come under attack from all quarters, the Brotherhood’s methods have become increasingly violent and unpredictable. Case in point: In an effort to create a new mutant utopia, Mystique’s most recent version of the Brotherhood conquered the island nation of Madripoor, using the Mutant Growth Hormone to transform the populace into a violent, hedonistic horde of over-powered miscreants. Not exactly our vision of a utopia, but what do we know? Maybe mutants dig that kind of thing?

CRIME SYNDICATE OF AMERICA

If DC’s “Forever Evil” storyline taught us anything, it’s that the Crime Syndicate of America are quite possibly the Justice League’s most feared adversaries — not counting Darkseid, of course. Created by legendary creators Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky way back in 1964’s “Justice League of America” #29, the CSA originally hailed from Earth 3, a parallel world where every aspect of society was reversed. Here, Superman’s villainous analogue is the evil Ultraman, while Wonder Woman and Batman are represented by the evil Superwoman and Owlman, respectively. Other members include a sadistic version of the Flash named Johnny Quick and Power Ring, Green Lantern’s nefarious, weak-kneed stand-in.

Although there have been a few different versions of the team over the years, depending on which version of DC continuity we’re talking about, it is the most recent incarnation that nearly succeeded in killing the Justice League and remaking the world in their evil image. This more bloodthirsty Syndicate employed widespread catastrophic violence to throw the world into chaos, even moving the moon into alignment with the sun to create a perpetual twilight world more conducive to Ultraman’s powers.

DARKSEID’S ELITE

Less a supervillain team and more an ultra-powerful arsenal of Fourth World WMDs at Darkseid’s disposal, the Elite are his chosen band of warriors and sycophants dedicated to his agenda of multi-versal conquest. Boasting some of the most accomplished soldiers, torturers and tacticians in DC’s multiverse, Darkseid’s Elite have waged war across multiple dimensions on their master’s behalf, most often against members of the New Gods of New Genesis and the Justice League. Counting among their numbers the animalistic Kalibak, the super-assassin Kanto, master strategist Steppenwolf and insufferable mouthpiece Glorious Godfrey, the Elite use their uniquely-suited abilities to prime targeted worlds for Darkseid’s dominion.

During the New 52 reboot, Darkseid engaged them in a war on two fronts, tasking Steppenwolf with an invasion of Earth 2 (where he managed to kill that world’s Wonder Woman, Superman and Batman), while battling the League and the Anti-Monitor himself on Prime Earth. Although both conflicts ultimately ended in Darkseid’s defeat, he is the darkest part of the cosmic balance between good and evil, and as such, is destined to return for his prophesied final battle versus his son, Orion. We can only assume his pantheon of dark gods will be on hand to pave the way.

MASTERS OF EVIL

Over the years, there have been almost as many versions of the Masters of Evil as there have been of their sworn enemies, the Avengers — and that’s saying something. The original Masters were recruited by Baron Zemo to help him exact revenge on his recently resurrected foe, Captain America, in the now-classic “Avengers” #6. Although Zemo’s influence over the group would eventually shift to other criminal masterminds, including Ultron, Egghead and most notably his son Helmut, it was daddy dearest Heinrich who got the ball rolling. Under the second Baron Zemo’s command, the Masters of Evil would arguably know their greatest success, with dozens of the Marvel Universe’s most dangerous villains storming Avengers Mansion, nearly overrunning the heroes with their sheer numbers.

Although ultimately defeated, the younger Zemo would take a more subtle approach during his next outing, assembling a versatile team of villains, who masqueraded as the heroic Thunderbolts. Later still, after a number of pretenders, including Justine Hammer and Max Fury attempted to organize new versions of the Masters, Zemo returned to once again take the reins of the team his father founded in the pages of “Avengers Undercover,” hoping to reconstitute a team worthy of his evil legacy.

SUICIDE SQUAD

Without a doubt, our final entry is the most popular crew of villains around. Thanks to the commercial success of a blockbuster movie, featuring a star-making turn for Margot Robbie as the delightfully mad Harley Quinn, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone on the planet who hasn’t heard of the Suicide Squad — and yes that includes your mom. Just ask her. A clandestine group forced into working for the United States government under the direction of tough-as-nails Amanda Waller, the Squad’s popularity has only grown since John Ostrander and Luke McDonnell reimagined the classic military unit led by Rick Flag, as comics’ supervillain version of the Dirty Dozen.

Although there has been a tendency in the past to recast villains like Captain Boomerang and Deadshot as antiheroes, it’s the team’s conflicting personal agendas and the constant threat of death on the job that keeps fans coming back for more mayhem. More than any other team on our list, the Suicide Squad taps into our fascination with the psychology of evil and how we can use it against our enemies. Fighting fire with fire may not always be the best strategy, but where the Squad is concerned, it’s definitely the most rewarding.

Don’t think these teams are all that bad? Let us know who you think is worse in the Comments!

The post Best Of The Worst: The 16 Baddest Supervillain Teams appeared first on CBR.com.

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