#a living jrs would throw up pretty drastic changes

[fowl-fox]

I know I keep asking you all these random questions, but- in AF, it always irked me that we never learned about Fowl Sr.’s return to Fowl Manor, given that he was recovering from being in a coma (I know his amputation sight would have been healed by then, but I don’t think he would have been strong enough to walk on a prosthetic for a while- he probably used crutches for a bit). Like... what was that like for the Fowls. I know that the books never go into it, but I would have hoped that it was a brief period of the Fowl Family being just... happy to be together again, even as they were having to dramatically restructure their lives again to adjust to the head of the family being home again, especially for Tim and Angeline. Any thoughts or headcanons or what-not?

Ask as many questions as you like! (That goes for anyone else as well.) It gets my brain going and motivates me to start writing things. Also sorry this took a bit, I've got medical crap going on rn.

As usual, I'm gonna toss this under a Read More, because boy, did this get long, I apologize. And I'm going to warn you, a lot of this delves into how I feel about Artemis' relationship with Tim and Angeline overall. But it's those feelings that drive most of my headcanons, so I feel like it's best to talk about them.

Let's start with Artemis Sr. and his state of being after rescue. I'm gonna pull some quotes from my copies of The Arctic Incident and The Eternity Code throughout my pondering, please bear with me.

At the beginning of TAI, we're given a laundry list of ailments Fowl Sr. has when he's dragged out of the water in the beginning of the book:

"Though the man's clothes were relatively intact, his body had not fared so well. His bare hands were mottled with frostbite. One leg had been snapped below the knee, and his face was a horrific mask of burns."

"He'll lose that leg for sure, (...) A couple of fingers, too. That face doesn't look too good either."

When it's Holly's turn to drag Fowl Sr. out of the water, his heartbeat is dangerously low, due to deadly cold water. We know she kept him alive, healed the chest wound caused by the blunt force of the shell Butler shot him with, as well as a blinded eye that wasn't mentioned previously, but we're not really told anything else, which I suppose leaves it up to our imaginations as to what ailments he's left with.

We know he lost his leg, but did he lose some of those frostbitten fingers? Frostbite doesn't fuck around (Mayo Clinic link, if you'd like), and while it's not mentioned, it would be likely his captors would have had to amputate a few of those as well, to prevent the dead tissue from eventually killing their meal ticket. His face was severely burned from the explosion, how extensive was the scaring after everything was said and done? We know magic can heal scars if that's what the magic is told to do, but Holly probably wasn't worried about that in the moment, and she makes this statement:

"I got him," she gasped, "One live Mud Man. He's not pretty, but he's breathing."

So even with Holly doing what she could, it sounds like Fowl Sr.'s condition was still really rough. Rough enough to need prolonged medical attention. He'd spent nearly two years in a coma before waking up in Murmansk, and the ordeal of his rescue was enough to throw him back into a coma, as we're told in The Eternity Code.

Except wait a minute. In Artemis Jr.'s diary excerpt, we're given some information that contradicts the previous book.

"It had been over two months since Holly Short used her healing magic on his battered body, and still he lay in his Helsinki hospital bed. Immobile, unresponsive.

The doctor's could not understand it. He should be awake, they informed me. His brain waves are strong, exceptionally so. And his heart beats like a horse. It is incredible, this man should be at death's door, yet he has the muscle tone of a twenty-year old.

(…) Holly's magic has overhauled his entire being, with the exception of his left leg, (...) He has received an infusion of life, in body and mind."

(...) my father had no need of medical attention. He simply sat up, rubbed his eyes, and muttered one word: 'Angeline.'"

So now Holly's magic apparently healed everything but the lost leg? What?

I love the Artemis Fowl books, but I will always be a little frustrated with their inconsistencies. But you know what? It's great for giving yourself permission to play around with your headcanons. If Colfer changes what he wants when he wants, I certainly won't feel bad about doing it.

I'm going to go with the TAI and say that Tim was still in a really rough state after everything. Ignoring that supposedly his muscles were fine, he'd still have to learn how to walk on the prosthetic. And tbh, I'm just going to believe that his muscles weren't magically perfect. Maybe easier to build back than they would have been without the magical infusion, but there was definitely gonna be work involved. And that's ignoring probable mental trauma. He was in a coma for a large portion of his captivity, but there was a brief period of time where he was conscious, with captors that maybe couldn't kill him, but definitely didn't treat him well (though it sounds like he was being a difficult captive, but yeah, of course, he's a Fowl lol.)

(Detour Thought: My mental picture of Artemis Senior has always involved heavy facial scarring, especially on the side of his face where the damage was apparently bad enough to blind him.)

But to get back to your original inquiry (Jesus, Blue, I am so sorry at how badly I've dragged this out) I do like to think there would be a period of recovery and restructure that would involve the Fowls getting to be a happy family together. Great potential for a hurt/comfort fic, if you ask me.

--

I'm going to be frank, (and this opinion puts me at odds with the fandom at large, I know) - from my interpretations of the books overall, while Artemis certainly had a strict upbringing with parents who were usually busy and definitely irresponsible, I never got the sense that it was a loveless childhood. Nor did I ever get the sense that Artemis feared his father as a person, but rather that he feared disappointing him, which at no point are we told ever actually happened. I've read these books a million times, I've never found anything in them suggesting Artemis ever disappointed his father, nor that Tim was ever actually cruel to Artemis. Strict, yes. Overly formal? Definitely. But not cruel.

Now, the fact that he felt he had to jump through so many hoops to maintain his father's approval? Bad parenting, Tim. Also, don't encourage him to be a criminal mastermind, maybe. But also Artemis is an over-achiever by nature, which Tim just either didn't clue in on or more likely imo, thought it was in Artemis' best interests as an heir of a criminal empire to be that way.

Aside from Tim and Angeline later suggesting he try to be more 'normal' and let go of his criminal tendencies, and that one incident of Angeline pulling a guilt trip (all of which is a whole other thing I won't get into rn), Artemis' parents speak positively to and about him. I just honestly think they don't know how to be actual parents, which, being aristocrats, tracks. They function almost more like older siblings after TAI, really, which isn't exactly great, but it could be worse.

We know his father used to read to him regularly when he was little (ending with a kiss on the head, which I always thought was sweet) and we know that Angeline was always warm and available to him whenever possible (until her grief-stricken dementia set in.) Artemis has a moment of angst at how strict/formal his upbringing was compared to the twins, but overall he generally speaks positively of his parents, and he loved and missed them enough to risk his life several times for them. Even when he's frustrated by their joined presence making it harder for him to conduct criminal activities, he still misses them and thinks about them often when he's away from them.

--

Which yeah, that's what this all boils down to for me. Artemis just wants time with both of his parents, and Artemis Sr.'s recovery, in my headcannon, would absolutely allow for that time he so desperately wanted, deep down. Assisting in the physical recovery, using the down time to really talk and catch up (without mentioning his fairy adventures, of course.) It would be a drastic change and awkward to adjust to initially, but overall I think it would be good.

And as for Tim and Angeline? I think there would be of course the joy of being reunited with the love of your life, because Tim and Angeline are absolutely soul-mates. But I also imagine there were many, many conversations of regrets and questioning how to move forward as a family from this point. Angeline seems to defer to Tim as the one who makes decisions for the family as a whole, but she isn’t afraid to give her input. I bet they were scared, in a way, because not only has everything changed, but the future is uncertain. They have to restructure their whole life, and while overall the changes are positive, they’re not going to be easy.

I also feel like it would be difficult for Angeline in particular because while Tim returning is a joyful thing, she now probably has some self doubts. Why did she fall apart so tremendously, at the expense of not only her well being, but her son’s? While she isn’t the best parent, I imagine Angeline will always carry heartache about her time in the attic and how she forgot her own son. And to an extent I bet Tim does too, because it was his disappearance that triggered it.

And now I want to write a fic about all of this, which I guess I'll add to my pile of ideas I've been playing around with.

–

I'd definitely like to hear more thoughts on the matter from you if you have them!

#fowldom #artemis fowl #fowl senior #angeline #this is long #but i've put a lot of thought into this even before being asked #so here you go #headcanons

[yayeetsonny]

Sisterly Love~Big sister Kelley O’Hara x Reader

Prompt: Big sister Kelley and 19 year old reader. Lots of sister love and fluff. Requested by: @cpaeralricey 

Hopefully I did it justice! Enjoy! :)

Kelley PRO//

Okay, let me just say up front that having a younger sister is everything I want in life and more. My little sister Y/N O’Hara is my best friend and I love her more than I am able to even understand. 

You thought I was gonna say I hated her and that I couldn’t stand her didn’t you? Well… Ha! Jokes on you. That is definitely not the case. Now that’s not to say we don’t get on each other’s nerves sometimes, because we certainly do but 95% of the time we get along super well and practically do everything together. We even play soccer on the National Team together, it’s amazing. Y/N blows me away with how talented she is and how good she is at the game. 

Since I’m 31 and she’s 19, the age gap makes it hard for me to take credit for the skills she’s learned. But that’s okay, she is a great player in her own right and has future captain of the team written all over her. Speaking of Y/N, I was so lost in thought I didn’t even hear her come into my room, in the apartment we share in Washington.

“Kelley?! Hellooooo, Earth to O’Hara?!” 

“Huh? What’s up kid?”

“I’m bored, entertain me.” She whined

“And why would I do that?” I asked, playfully shoving her.

“Because, silly. You loooove me!” She said, drastically flopping on my bed.

“Say please and I’ll consider it.”

“Pleaseeee?”

“Mmmm… Okay fine!” I playfully rolled my eyes.

I went over to the bed, picked her up and threw her over my shoulder. I carried her to the living room as she squealed at me to let her down.

“Kelley!”

“Yes young squirrel?”

“I’m not a squirrel, you are!”

“Tell that to the fans, You can jump just as high as I can!”

“Uh huh, whatever you say sis.”

I finally threw her down on the couch giggling at the pout on her face.

“Oh come on, don’t pout. You love when I do that.” I said, pouting back

“Nu uh!”

“Yeah huh!”

“No!”

“Fine, You leave me no choice… Here comes the tickle monster!”

With that, I attacked her sides and her stomach with tickles, smiling and laughing as she giggled and squeal in surprise and delight.

“Admit that you love when I pick you up!”

“Never!”

“Admit it!”

“No!”

“Yes! Yield young one and I will show mercy.” I said in a goofy “monster voice”

“Okay, okay! I admit it!” She yelled, finally giving in to my unrelenting tickling.

“Aha! I winnnnn.” I said smugly.

She stuck her tongue out at me, crossing her arms and once again pouting adorably.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.”

“Mmm. What do you wanna do now?”

“Uhhh… Can we go to the park and kick the ball around a little?” She asked

“What’s the magic word?”

“Pleaseee?”

“Then yes, we absolutely can.”

After we gathered our gear we headed to the park by our apartment. Once there we fell into a gave of 1v1 easily. I’d be lying if I said Y/N didn’t give me a run for my money, that kid is fast. She was able to get the better of me more than once and I was incredibly proud of how far she’s come as a player.

After we grew tired of the game we decided to take a break and just lay in the grass cloud watching .

Y/N PRO//

“Hey Kel, look it’s a little birdie!” I said excitedly as I pointed at the cloud I had spotted.

“That it is! Good eyes kid.”

“Hey Y/N, see that one over there?” She asked pointing to one just below the one I saw earlier.

“Yeah?”

“What’s it look like to you?”

“A squirrel.”

“Just what I was thinking.” 

We giggled at the reminder of silly nickname she had earned from our fans long ago. They now tend to call me “Baby squirrel” “Young Squirrel” or “Squirrel Jr.” It’s actually really cute and I love that her fans love me just as much as they do her.

“Hey what about that one?” I said pointing to one that looked like a t-rex

“A dinosaur of course!”

“Exactly!”

We continued on like that seeing everything from Mickey Mouse to a old man with a beard.

After a while we decided to call it a day and head home. When we got there we put away our gear, took turns showering and then once we were both done and ready we decided to just order pizza and play cards. 

We decided to play James Bond, which evidently we’re both pretty good at. Soon enough, what started out as a fun little game to pass the time turned into a full blown competition

“Oh come on! How do you do that?” I said, shocked at my sisters ability to get four of a kind so quickly.”

“I don’t know kid, Maybe a little bit of luck? Little bit of skill?” She said cockily as she once again beat me in our 7th game.

“Again.” I said, determined to be declared the champion.

Sure I had won 3 of the seven games but Kelley had beaten me 4 times in a row and I wanted to wipe that stupid smirk off her face.

“Okay, if you’re sure.”

“Oh I am.”

“You’re on.”

I ended up winning the next 2 rounds but then she crushed me in the next 3, and I had to accept that she was indeed the champion.

“Well now that we know who the true queen of James Bond is, what do you say we watch a movie or binge a show?” She asked, once again picking me up and throwing me over her shoulder.

“Ugh. Okay.”

“What do you wanna watch?”

“Hmmm… How about we binge Grey’s Anatomy?”

“Oh yes! I’ve been trying to find a good time to start that show.” She said

Several Hours later..

After at least 7 episodes of Grey’s we decided that, that was enough for the day and started to get ready for bed. I went off to go change, Kelley doing the same before we met in the hallway between our rooms. I was right across the hall from her so that if I ever needed anything she was there quicker.

“Goodnight little one, I love you. Sleep well.” She said, giving me a tight hug and a kiss on the forehead. I was about 2 inches shorter and she took full advantage of that fact.

“Hey, I’m not little.” I said indignantly.

“Oh, but you are. Who’s older?”

“You…”

“Who’s taller?”

“You…”

“Exactly, so by default you are little. At least to me.”

“I’m 19 now though! That’s not little, I’m legally an adult.” 

“That may be, but you’ll always be my little sister. You know that.”

“Yeah…” I said disappointed

“Hey now, don’t get all sad on me. That’s a good thing.”

“How so?” 

“Well… You’ll always have your big sister Kelley there to protect you. On and off the field. And, you have a best friend to do a bunch of different fun stuff with.”

“Always?”

“Always.”

“I love you.” I said, pulling her into another hug and tucking my head in her neck.

“I love you too. Get some sleep okay?”

“I will. You too, goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

We separated into our respective rooms to sleep. Although that didn’t last long as I had decided that I wanted to be with my sister instead. Grabbing my super fluffy, soft blanket, that she gave me for Christmas last year I made my way over to her room.

“Kel?” I whispered into the dark.

“Yeah?”

“Can I sleep with you?”

“Of course you can. Get in here,”

She didn’t have to say anything more, I padded into her room and plopped down on her bed. Making myself comfortable, I turned to face her.

“Thanks.”

“Anytime kid. Now go to sleep.”

When I turned away from her, she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me tightly against her chest and played with my hair, lulling me to sleep. I knew I could always count on my sister to be there for me and to be my best friend for life.

THE END

I hope you guys liked that one! Sorry for any mistakes.

- N

#kelley o'hara #kelley o'hara x reader #uswnt imagines #uswnt #fluff #sister fluff #kelley o’hara imagine

[cartoonfangirl1218]

Winner’s Curse Prologue

Note: Thanks to @edream93 who gave me the “crazy” suggestion to stop lagging on one of my old fics and do something new and for encouragement in this beginning prologue. This is going to deal with more potential fae problems in Auradon and the villain’s dire living conditions on the Isle. Hope you enjoy. 

2 weeks after Cotillion 

“Everyone shut up!” Queen Nerissa commanded loudly banging her fist on Queen Grimhilde’s table so that the assembled villains would pipe down about how they were missing their latest soaps or needed at their shops.

She surveyed those present. Each with their own skills and ruthlessness that would be useful when the time came for them to invade Auradon.

At her right, sitting on her throne since she refused to sit at the dinner table with the rest of the villains was Queen Grimhilde, filing her nails.

At the head of the long, dusty, unused dinner table was Dr. Facilier in a heated debate with Ursula next to him. Going over past grudges and insults no doubt. They’d had a complicated history since Ursula’s accidental pregnancy resulting in twins.

Further down the table next to Ursula was Morgain Le Fey conferring with Circe. They were newcomers to the Isle. Just arrived six months ago as part of King Adam’s second crackdown following his spawn’s coronation so neither showed the signs of defeat and neglect in their appearance as other villains had. Both were impeccably dressed, the rot of the Isle had not touched them when it came to physical beauty. Their long black locks were free of tangles and they managed to maintain the velvet robes that they had come with so that the patches and faded material were not visible. And their skin remained perfectly pale and smooth.

Which was more than Queen Nerissa could say for Mother Gothel who sat across from them scowling enviously. She looked reminiscent of a gargoyle with her frizzy hair and wrinkles that were deeply entrenched into her forehead despite her vigorous use of a anti-aging cream that she had found among the Auradonian’s leftovers.

Next to Mother Gothel were three of Agrabah’s formerly most powerful sorcerers, Jafar, his sister, Nasira and Mozenrath. Jafar and Mozenrath had been going at it, arguing over who was more powerful and who humiliated Aladdin more while Nasira sat in the middle of them rubbing her temples at their infantile fighting.

Squished between Dr. Facilier and Mozenrath was Yzma, the former advisor of Emperor Kuzco and formerly a kitten before her banishment to the Isle. She seemed to be praying for a bottle of wine if she had to deal with these people and was mumbling something about cow potions under her breath.

At the other end of the table was Queen La, impatiently tapping her ragged nails on the table. She hadn’t aged so drastically as the others- keeping fit by hunting animals in the Isle’s jungle area allowed her to look almost pretty in her skimpy hyena fur bikini. But age had taken its toll on the immortal Atlantean too, crow’s feet were creasing her angry cyan eyes.

The villains immediately quieted down at Nerissa’s action but still harshly glared at the interruption of their tirades. 

Queen Nerissa paid the glares no mind. They were harmless, just delusional blowhards still yakking about their evilness even though none of them had their magic anymore. Or even muscles to punch someone to the ground. They were pathetic, aging mortals griping about their glory days.

Well that was all going to change.

Giving a steely glare back at them, Queen Nerissa looked at each of them in the eye as she began her explanation for why she had brought the 11 of them to Queen Grimhilde’s castle.

“If any of you cared to figure out why I’ve called you here, look around. We all have something in common here. Something that no other villain in this forsaken place possessed.”

“More brains than Gaston?” Yzma suggested, rubbing back the wilted flower attached to her hat. She had a recent confrontation with that lug head when Dr. Facilier made her pick up Zevon from Dragon Hall after Gaston Jr. mummified him with his own leather coat and stuff him in the garbage pile. It was humiliating to have such a louse for a son. And pummeled by an idiot like Gaston’s spawn!

“More evilness.” Jafar half-heartedly guessed, slouching in his seat and rubbing his hungry stomach. He wished he could be back at his shop with some moldy baklava.

Dr. Facilier took a discreet glance around, absentmindedly his useless shadow cards in his hands. “Hmmm” he hummed, his voice transitioning to its infamous velvety tone, “I believe what la reine is implying is that we all had magic.”

“Yes.” Queen Nerissa cut in shortly with a curt nod in the voodoo man’s general direction, “We all had magic before we were sent to this hellhole.” “So what?” Ursula interrupted.

Queen Nerissa tensed, glaring at Ursula until the hefty sea witch rolled her eyes and made a dismissive “continue” motion with one of her tentacles. “King Adam may have stopped us from using magic with his little dome around the Isle, but Maleficent and Ursula’s brats have done something useful. They have broken the barrier twice. They have weakened it enough so we may have a chance to gain some power back.”

It was almost comically that at her last claim, all the villains leaned forward in unison waiting for her to explain.

“I have invited you all here to join my coven. With the barrier weakened, little spurts of magic can come into the Isle and we can practice here, growing and combining our powers until we can break the barrier from within. And from there, we invade Auradon for a glorious, bloody new reign.” Queen Nerissa exclaimed proudly.

The other villains looked toward each other, evil smirks spreading across their faces, minds alight with visions of revenge.

“We can have King Beast grovel at our knees!” Circe gasped. She had been particularly vengeful toward the former king for throwing her on the Isle despite various Auradonian citizens vouching for her to stay in the U.S.A. and that she had reformed. 

“And his head decapitated on a ship mast.” Ursula added, protectively touching her stomach where Prince Eric once stabbed her.

The only one not joining in the happy atmosphere was Queen La. The former queen was stonily glaring at Queen Nerissa as if assessing for the best way to rip out her jugular.

“Your coven?” she growled, slicing the excitement to dead silence. The other villains’ happy grins faded away s they realizing the meaning behind that possessive word and Mozenrath and Morgain Le Fey got up, looking ready to fight.

“I meant, my coven as in it was my idea.” Queen Nerissa began to explain.

“I will not work under your coven. I am the Queen of Opar.” Queen La got up, fists clenching as she strode towards her. Mozonroth sat down with a satisfied smirk at the thought of the coming catfight. 

“Was queen!” Queen Nerissa cut in but Queen La continued her furious complaints. 

“I am Queen. I magicked my own kingdom. I brought rain. I had an army of leopards who when they rebelled, I disintegrate into dust. I fought Tarzan three times and he, not once, was he able to kill me.” 

“Just put your soul into a rat body.” Yzma snickered.

Queen Nerissa began backing away to Queen Grimhilde’s throne as Queen La reached throat-grabbing distance, “I was not defeated by a little princess by losing my balance and falling off a building. I will not work under someone who is my inferior!”

Queen Nerissa didn’t bother to defend that she had been stabbed before falling off a building as Queen La’s sharp nails aimed at her face when Queen Grimilde threw a box in between them.

The shoe box clattered to the ground and out scurried a small purple lizard.

“What is that!? Is it poisonous?” Mother Gothel screeched, getting up on the table with Circe and Nasira.

“That’s Maleficent.” Queen Grimhilde answered, shoving between a momentarily shocked Nerissa and La.

“Can we keep this meeting moving along? I need eight hours of beauty sleep a day.” Without a big display, Queen Grimhilde pulled out a vial of bright pink liquid and threw it at the lizard that was running under the table causing several villainesses to screech with uncharacteristic fear. The lizard began to grow and morph into the familiar, formerly petrifying figure of Maleficent.

“So our magic potions can work?” Yzma whispered joyfully.  

Flinging her head back so that her horns almost stabbed Dr. Facilier’s hat, Maleficent stretched and cracked her bones before turning to face Queen Grimhilde. “About time!” she huffed and turned her attention to the other villains.

“Scared of a common lizard, no wonder you were defeated by royals. You’re just as soft as them.”

“Hey, I have a right to be scared. Didn’t Nasira’s daughter almost die from some lizard bite last month?” Circe questioned.

“It wasn’t a poisonous lizard, it was just the infection from the bite. Though I think she was being a bit over dramatic about it if you ask me.” Nasira said, “Just because I don’t have medicine to treat a wound doesn’t mean she was “dying” or whatever.”

Maleficent snorted derisively to signal a topic change, “And La, you were defeated by a half-witted gorilla man and his British twat of a wife. Your soul was in a rat’s body before you came here. You don’t have the staff that allowed you to have a kingdom or bring down rain. You don’t have any claim to being someone’s superior....Now as for the coven, it will not be ruled by Nerissa, it will be ruled by-” 

“Not you.” Queen Nerissa moved next to Maleficent, away from her safe spot next to the throne. “You’ve been gone for months, Malfi.” 

She smirked at Maleficent’s clenched scowl, “You’re no longer the Queen of the Isle and with your daughter turning out to be as big of a goody goody as Aurora I don’t think you have any claim to being the Mistress of all Evil.”

“Exactly.” Queen Grimhilde agreed, glaring at Maleficent to respond, “As a coven, we shall have no ruler. Just a common goal. Bring King Adam to his knees and kill the royals that have foiled our plans and ruined our lives far too many times.”

“How do we know you won’t try to take the power for yourselves?” Jafar challenged.

“How will we know that you won’t?” Queen Grimhilde shot back.

“He’s too weak to be able to do such a thing. He’s nothing without his cobra staff.” Mozonroth said. “Why you-” Jafar reached to strangle him when Morgain Le Fey waved her arms and the two dueling sorcerers split apart with a force pushing them to the walls.

With a satisfied smile Morgain Le Fey confirmed, “We can use some of our former magic. And as the only one here who has been in a coven before, you should know that covens work without a ruler. Just one common goal as Grimhilde said.”

The rest of the villains seemed to begrudgingly accept that explanation so Morgain continued to talk.

“Even without our wands or staffs, we can still use alchemy. Ursula, your powers are derived from the sea right? You don’t need your necklace.”

Ursula nodded, “I would prefer to have my necklace but yeah I can do it.”

“Jafar? Nasira?” She turned to the Agrabahans.

“We can try to go back to the old fashioned magic until we can have our objects back again.” Nasira answered as Jafar got up and shuffled back to his seat, wiping himself of imaginary dust.

“La?”

“Queen La. I’m fine without my staff. I was a High Priestess before I became queen.”

“Mother Gothel?”

“I can use old spells.” Mother Gothel answered.

“Good. Then we can all be useful in this coven.” Morgain said. “The most powerful magic users on the Isle. And soon to be most powerful rulers of Auradon.”

“What about Madam Mim? If we are going to have all the magic users, shouldn’t we include her?” Dr. Facilier questioned.

“A coven either has three people or thirteen people.” Queen Nerissa said, “Besides do you really want to work with that madwoman?”

None of the villains volunteered to continue with that suggestion.

“No leader?” Maleficent hissed through clenched teeth. “You’re saying that we’re all equals.”

“In the coven at least.” Queen Nerissa said, “I was thinking on the Isle...we can be at the top of the food chain. After all, we have powers. The others don’t. They should all bow to us.”

Maleficent smirked, “That would be good.”

“So we’re all in agreement. We work together until we take over Auradon. In the meanwhile, dominate the Isle.” Queen Grimhilde clapped her hands and some of Maleficent’s goblins came in carrying trays with unfermented wine.

When Maleficent looked at her incredulously, Queen Grimhilde just shrugged, “You were gone. So I took them.”

The villains took their seats at the table, and clinked glasses to their coming takeover of Auradon.

#my fanfic #my fanfiction #disney descendants #winner’s curse #maleficent #queen nerissa #evil queen #queen grimhilde #jafar #nasira #ursula #mother gothel #circe #dr.facilier #yzma #morgain le fey #queen la #mozonroth

[eggoreviews]

Viddy Games Monthly #1 - February 2019

Is this really late? Sure Is!

Here's something new I'm trying! In this 'issue' (lol):

NEW RELEASES - A look back at everything exciting that dropped this month, from Resident Evil 2 to the new 2D Mario!

NEWS - January is usually pretty dry for viddy games, but there's some interesting stuff still!

Release dates, updates and more!

NEW RELEASES

Fitness Boxing (RD: January 4th - Nintendo Switch)

And here we have Nintendo’s first real attempt in this console generation to draw in the fitness crowd they catered to so well with the Wii. Except, Fitness Boxing feels a lot more technical and niche than those other titles from a decade ago. Fitness Boxing’s main draw is teaching you how to improve your boxing form, meaning it’s definitely not one to play with the family unless you’re all die hard boxing fans. But if you’re less interested in picking up the technical aspects, Fitness Boxing works just as well as a fitness companion, coming packed with its own motivational trainer (I haven’t picked this game up purely because it would feel like I’m cheating on the Wii Fit Trainer. Plus this basically dashes all hope of Wii Fit Switch so I’ll need to mourn that for a hot minute).

Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr.’s Journey (RD: January 11th - Nintendo 3DS)

As the 3DS reaches the end of its lifespan and its screentime in the Nintendo Directs gets shorter, this Mario & Luigi title could well be one of the last RPGs we see on the system. In this enhanced remaster, the worlds of turn based RPG and 2D platformer collide and, coupling this fact with some odd setpieces including Bowser’s literal stomach, also make for one of the weirdest games on the system. Despite this, there’s no doubt that it works. With the addition of the Bowser Jr.’s Journey expansion, there’s undoubtedly a wealth of content to explore here, especially if you’re new to this oddly charming RPG spin-off.

New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe (RD: January 11th - Nintendo Switch)

The latest in a long line of Wii U ports, Nintendo has bundled up Mario U and Super Luigi U and released it yet again on the Switch. This is by no means a bad thing, as we had yet to see a 2D Mario on the system, but the general consensus seems to be that the play time is much shorter than the price would have you believe. Of course, if you’re a die hard Mario fan, there’s no doubt you’ve already picked this up and it’s definitely worth a go if you didn’t have a chance to play on Wii U. Alongside this, new features include new playable characters and helpful items for if you’re like me and are terrible at platformers (I welcome these changes). But really, I think the talk of the town was the fact they patched in Blue Toad before release when everyone got sad that he was absent. Thanks Nintendo.

Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition (RD: January 11th - Windows, Xbox One, PS4, Switch)

An enhanced port with updated HD graphics to celebrate the 10th anniversary of this beloved entry in Bandai Namco’s Tales series. This edition comes packed with a beefy selection of new content, including all that was exclusive to Japan at the time of the PS3 port’s release. Generally, this game scored high at the time of its release, being cited as an interesting and unique JRPG that was made all the better by its trademark combat system that has been carried throughout the series.

The Walking Dead: The Final Season - Episode 3: Broken Toys (RD: January 15th - Windows, Xbox One, PS4, Switch)

Against all the odds, the critically acclaimed Walking Dead game series has somehow survived the closure of its creator, Telltale Games, continuing under Skybound Entertainment. The series continues to shine in critic reviews, which thankfully continues into the penultimate episode, Broken Toys. With a firm release date of the final episode being March 26th, we won’t have to wait long to finally witness the end of Clementine’s story.

Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes (RD: January 18th - Nintendo Switch)

The third entry in the No More Heroes series has finally arrived 9 years after its second effort, though this time to mixed reviews. The gameplay fans of the series are used to has been totally overhauled this time around, instead throwing Travis into a possessed game console containing six wildly different, self-contained video games. This time, the gameplay is entirely from a top-down perspective. Some enjoyed this radical change of pace for the series, but other fans of Travis believed the drastic change was a little too jarring to enjoy in contrast to this entry’s predecessors.

Resident Evil 2 remake (RD: January 25th - Windows, PS4, Xbox One)

The highly anticipated remake of Capcom’s horror classic finally dropped this month, and let’s be honest, it’s everything fans wanted. The controversial move to ditch the usual fixed camera the early RE games are known for so the game could be built in Capcom’s home-grown Resident Evil 7 engine was what made the game so immersive and genuinely terrifying. With tons of gameplay tweaks, Capcom managed to tread the line between creating a fresh experience and staying faithful to the original game. Entirely different puzzle solutions, new dialogue and a whole new playable character in Sherry Birkin ensures that those who know the original inside out will still have more to discover, but the return of each horrifying boss and setpiece in glorious HD puts the nostalgia into overdrive. Plus, the tofu block came back so really there’s nothing to gripe at.

Kingdom Hearts III (RD: January 29th - Xbox One, PS4)

Here it is. The game fans have been waiting 14 years for. The one that ties every character and confusing plot arc together and says ‘Merry christmas, Baymax is in this game now!’

With a few fan favourite worlds returning among a handful of new ones, Kingdom Hearts has finally launched itself into the current gen with a heartfelt tale of friendship and big hair. There really is very little to say about this, because we all knew it was going to be good.

Also out this month:

First person shooter Bright Memory released this month to positive reception, despite controversy around the stolen assets used by the devs.

Charming adventure game Vane dropped this month, allowing players to explore a beautiful world as a boy who can turn into a bird.

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, the critically acclaimed combat flight sim series, released for PS4 and Xbox One, with some great VR content.

Life Is Strange 2 Episode 2 - Rules released this month, continuing the heartfelt tale of two brothers on the run

Gothic Indie RPG Sunless Skies released at the very end of January, showing a detailed focus on narrative and exploration

NEWS

What’s been happenin’? Probably a lot, but this is what I picked up on!

Metroid Prime 4 has gone a bit wonky

As everyone has probably heard by now, the long awaited Metroid Prime 4 has officially been halted and restarted, as announced in a commendably transparent video Nintendo published on their YouTube channel last month. Basically, they weren’t happy with how development was going so they’ve gone back to square one, this time with the help of past Prime developers Retro Studios. Honestly, this is a really good sign, as it shows how committed Nintendo are to creating a solid game to stand next to the other three. Plus, this makes a Prime trilogy switch port way more likely in my eyes, so hooray for that.

Piranha Plant got here early!

At the tail end of January, those who redeemed their plant boi codes turned on Smash and suddenly got the gratefully received ‘Piranha Plant joins the battle’ message! I can confirm I made a bit of a weird dolphin noise when I saw he’d turned up before the estimated February release. In another post, I’ll be breaking down his moveset in a bit more detail, so keep an eye out for that if you’re a fellow plant connoisseur!

Sony patents retro back-compatibility for PS5?

A new patent Sony put through last month that they tried to sneak by us MAY hint at retro back-compatibility for their next system, spanning all four of their home consoles. If this news is true, this could give Sony a massive edge in the next console gen, as remasters and retro games become increasingly popular, as well as the fact that people are unlikely to want to leave the considerable PS4 library behind. So at the very least, we can hope for PS4 games to be playable on the PS5.

Cross platform achievements could be a thing!

A since removed GDC listing teased the possible integration of Xbox Live onto iOS, Android and, interestingly, the Nintendo Switch! At a base level, this would very probably mean that achievements between these two consoles would be cross compatible, or at least viewable on either console. While nothing is confirmed just yet, this could be a sign of the growing partnership between Microsoft and Nintendo.

Nintendo is really lovin’ their mobile games!

With Switch sales beginning to level out ever so slightly, Nintendo seems to be turning to the mobile market. A mobile Mario Kart was announced a couple of years ago, but now it finally has a name, Mario Kart Tour. It’s now slated for a Summer 2019 release. Alongside this, Nintendo have announced Dr. Mario World for mobile, as well as rumours bubbling under that Dragalia Lost could be seeing a localised port for Canada and Europe.

New Nintendo Selects for the States!

Super Mario Maker, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D and Star Fox 64 3D have arrived in America as Nintendo Selects, thankfully proving that Nintendo aren’t quite willing to let the 3DS die just yet. Not to be that guy, but Majora’s Mask over in Europe as a select would be pretty great. Pls.

Indie Highlights

And finally, Nintendo has dropped another Indie Highlights on us, featuring the likes of Wargroove, When Ski Lifts Go Wrong, Forager and the (long awaited?) Goat Simulator port. Worth a look if you’re looking for something a little wackier to play this month!

That’s all the headlines for this month!

FREE VIDYA

Are you subscribed to whatever online service your console has? Then oh boy, you got some free stuff!

NES Nintendo Switch Online - Blaster Master & Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

This month, Nintendo added the ever wonderful and upsettingly hard Zelda II to their retro lineup, along with lesser known run-and-gun platformer Blaster Master.

PlayStation Plus - Steep & Portal Knights

It’s a good month for snowboard enthusiasts over on the PS4 this month, as Ubisoft’s open world sports game Steep joins the lineup. Alongside this, the artistically charming RPG Portal Knights was free last month. January also marked the final month of PS Plus support for the Vita and PS3, with Fallen Legion: Flames of Rebellion & Super Mutant Alien Assault joining the Vita lineup and Zone of the Enders HD Collection and Amplitude free for PS3 owners

Xbox Game Pass

January was a hecking good month for members of the Xbox game pass, with the entire Life Is Strange saga joining the service, along with other quality games such as Just Cause 3, Farming Simulator 17, Absolver, Aftercharge and ARK: Survival Evolved.

RELEASE DATES

Yoshi’s Crafted World

Nintendo released a story trailer for Yoshi’s creative new outing, showing off Baby Bowser and Kamek as the game’s villains. The release date set for this uniquely cardboard platformer is March 29th, so fans won’t have to wait long!

Kirby’s Extra Epic Yarn

Breathing new life into the 3DS is this enhanced port of Kirby’s Epic Yarn, which originally released on the Wii in 2010. Featuring all new content that wasn’t available the first time around, fans of the Kirby series will be able to pick this up from March 8th.

Final Fantasy remasters

After the exciting announcement in September that beloved Final Fantasy games would be coming to other consoles in 2019, Square Enix have finally announced release dates for a couple of these titles. Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster will hit the Switch and Xbox One on April 16th, while Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age arrives on both of these consoles on April 30th.

RUMOURS

Welcome to probably the most controversial segment of this, the rumour-y bit! Just a pre-warning that nothing talked about here is by any means confirmed, so keep your expectations tempered.

SNES for Switch Online?

A recent datamine into the NES Switch Online app has apparently revealed a list of 20 SNES games in the code that could be coming to the system in the future, including Mario World, Kirby Superstar, A Link to the Past and Super Metroid. I’m hesitant to say this is true because nothing has been said on Nintendo’s end yet, but considering the lack of content for Switch Online as of yet, I’d say it’s fairly likely in any case. If this is true, we can all hope for DK Country and EarthBound also because pls Nintendo.

Smash Ultimate Fighter Pass Leak

There have been two notable datamines in the past month that could reveal our four remaining DLC fighters for Smash Ultimate. The first uncovered three names in the coding for the game, Plant (obviously referring to Piranha Plant), Jack (Likely Joker from Persona 5) and Brave (Speculated to be Erdrick from the Dragon Quest series). The reason why Brave is so heavily speculated to be Erdrick is because, in Japan, the hero class Erdrick belongs to in Dragon Quest is called ‘Yusha’, which translates to brave in English. Alongside this, one of the heads of development for Smash Ultimate, Shinya Kumazaki, recently posted a photo of the iconic shield from Dragon Quest with the caption ‘the brave’s shield’, which naturally sent the internet into meltdown. Personally, I think Erdrick is pretty much a dead cert for the DLC roster at this point, especially after that Instagram tease.

Thanks for reading!

In the next issue, most likely in the first week of March, I’ll be reviewing the likes of Jump Force, Metro Exodus, Far Cry New Dawn and Anthem, plus giving you a rundown of anything game-y that happens in February! Plus, the new game of the month feature will begin next time, as I explain my choice for January’s best game. Have a fun day. Stay hydrated.

#news #gaming #eggoreviews #nintendo #nintendo switch #kingdom hearts #The Walking Dead #super smash bros #smash bros ultimate #Smash Bros #kirby #yoshi #final fantasy #mario #super mario #tales of vesperia #january #viddy games monthly #travis touchdown #resident evil #metroid prime #piranha plant #indie highlights #playstation #xbox #mario kart #nes #snes

[ex-atomos]

♡ - If your muse were rendered unable to fight, what about them would change? Would they be able to handle it?

Valia - If Valia could no longer cast... it would destroy her. Not that she’s ever been good in a fight, exactly, but magic is what she bases her entire self-esteem on. Kinda shaky.

Alberic Sr - It would be related to his age, or he would see it that way. He’d retire and spend his days fishing and doling out advice to new fighters.

Alberic Jr - Something drastic would have had to happen. I would say no, he wouldn’t be able to handle it as it’s the only thing keeping him alive currently. If he lived, he’d probably spend the rest of his days running in fear.

Tin - Hmm, he’d probably become a bit bitter about it. He’d throw himself into his work (as anything but a guard obviously), which is pretty much his response to everything isn’t it...

Chanar - He would be worried and his self-esteem would take a major hit. It wouldn’t destroy him, but he would be afraid that he couldn’t protect his family and would be a burden to them. At least he’s not Dotharl... >

O’teral - This would be a problem... and probably one he’s already planned for. He would be forced to give up leadership over his tribe (thankfully, he has planned for who would take over) and would drive them to learn to protect themselves even more than he does now. After that, he would probably leave, even if they protested, and just disappear.

Ralin - He’d be more paranoid than he is now, but Ralin was never much of a fighter. If things were more peaceful for the guy, he’d be FINE cause all he really wants is to stay in academia and drink his tea.

Brinn - We’re seeing this happen in RP atm actually. He can’t handle it at all. He wants so much to protect those closest to him that he risks everything to be stronger... which is what lead to his current situation. He thinks he’s completely useless and full of self-hate atm. We’ll see how he pulls out of this.

J’iha - That... would be a problem. She’s young and just starting to find work for people other than her dad. She’d have to depend on him and Colt’s not exactly the most dependable guy. I think though it’d be like the anime trope of the daughter who has everything together taking care of her absent-minded dad. But he’d protect her til his dying breath, so she’d be alright.

Thanks for the ask!

[potr1774com]

Why is defending our children rocket science?

Laws are in place.  Schools are gun free zones.  But why are the schools themselves still defenseless?

What are we NOT doing, that can be done, to REALLY protect our Children in school?

How come we don’t model protecting our Children off how we protect our politicians, celebrities, courts, and money?  Are politicians, celebrities, courts, and money more valuable than our children?

Below are some measures the government can take IF THEY REALLY CARE ABOUT OUR CHILDREN AND NOT THEIR POLITICAL AGENDAS:

School district / state policies to regulate the entrance and exits of students and that specifically address the instances of an active shooter, locking doors, trigger silent alarms, and giving the teachers the ability to defend the students.

Metal detectors and/or metal detector wands at the controlled entrances and exits of schools.

Volunteer/paid security staff (of whom pass state and federal background checks and receive all required firearm training) on the school property to respond to any security threat promptly.

Dress code and backpack requirements and/or limitations. 

Enable law enforcement to conduct more frequent school property / locker searches.

All above measures can be funded through federal funding without a need to increase any taxes.  The federal funds are made available by diverting or discontinuing less important federal funding projects.  Instead of sending money to Planned Parenthood or Syria for example, send them to our schools. 

This way our children get the same level or protections our politicians, celebrities, courts, and money does.  Works for them.

There are military veterans who would be more than willing to volunteer to protect children… they did that already; volunteered to serve a country that hates them.   There are plenty of organizations and companies willing to donate the equipment for safety and even donate to help fund the safety costs…

Parents need to start attending any and all open forums that discusses school safety and start demanding that the schools themselves are actually MADE SAFER!  DO SOMETHING!  STOP DEBATING, PREACHING, AND POINTING FINGERS! Take Action, organize town halls!  call your schools, call your school board!  attend meetings!  FIGHT FOR THE SAFETY OF OUR CHILDREN!

Whats the problem? 

The fact that Gun Control advocates are demanding MORE laws just PROVES laws aren’t working.  The fact that schools are gun free zones, proves that gun free zones don’t work.

What what is enacting MORE laws going to do exactly?  School shooters don’t obey laws.  Therefore, more laws will do absolutely nothing to protect our children in school.

Funding isn’t an issue.  Planned Parenthood gets 30 million in federal funds.  Syria was given millions of dollars by the Obama administration.  Why pay foreign aid to countries that us that money to fund terrorism.  Why dump so much money in the United Nations and not just require other countries to step up their contributions.  Pretty sure there are a lot of pathetic unfruitful government programs out there they can divert funds from.

Red Flag Laws… sound good, but school shooters should not have been in possession of a firearm under per-existing laws.  What are Red Flag laws going to do to prevent this?  Nothing, except give the government the ability to remove more guns from the public (that’s the point, shhhhh).

Background checks… are already conducted for all firearm purchases, yes, even at gun shows.  Throwing the word “Comprehensive” in front of “background checks” does not change what is already being done.  Again, something these school shooters would not have passed in the first place.  But what did background check laws do for schools shooters, nothing.

MANIPULATION OF STATS AND LIES

ARGUMENT 1:  Gun Restriction Reduces Violence: You will hear all about reduction of gun usage in areas were there are strict gun laws but what they fail to point out is the drastic increase in the use of other objects to commit violent acts.  England is the proof of this.  The stat that is also left out is the increase in victimization.  People are attacked the same, just with different objects, but now have less means of self defense.  Let us not forget, MEXICO has extremely strict gun control laws yet has 5 times more gun related homicides than the US.  The 29 year ‘assault’ weapons ban (1980-2009) had little to no impact on homicide rates.  In fact states with restrictions on the carrying of concealed weapons had higher gun-related murders.  (Mark Gius, “An Examination of the Effects of Concealed Weapons Laws and Assault Weapons Bans on State-Level Murder Rates,” Applied Economics Letters, http://www.tandfonline.com, Nov. 26, 2013).

ARGUMENT 2: The Amount of Guns correlates with The Amount of Violence. Gun ownership does not increase gun violence.  gun ownership doubled in the twentieth century, the murder rate decreased (Thomas Sowell, “The Great Gun Control Fallacy,” http://www.theguardian.com, Dec. 18, 2012).  John R. Lott, Jr., PhD, author of More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws, stated, “States with the largest increases in gun ownership also have the largest drops in violent crimes.  Switzerland and Finland has the highest gun ownership rate per capita in the whole world, yet, the lowest gun homicide rates in the world.

ARGUMENT 3:  High Capacity Magazines.  You will hear that high capacity magazines were used in half the mass shootings, but you won’t hear that the shooter either did not use the weapon with the high capacity magazine or the shooter did not even use all the ammunition in the magazine.  Thus, rendering a high capacity magazine as to no effect.  Though these items are not necessary, banning them is just a waste of time and serves no real purpose for addressing the real issues.

ARGUMENT 3b:  Bump stocks. You will hear that bump stocks need to be banned because they make weapons into full auto… The logic here proves the ignorance of the person arguing.   If the shooter does not have a bump stock, they can just pull the trigger, faster.  But, again, these items are not necessary, banning them is just a waste of time and serves no real purpose for addressing the real issues.

ARGUMENT 4:  Protecting Women from Domestic Violence. You will hear that we need more gun control to protect women from abuse and domestic assault.  What they fail to tell you is that the women of the statistics were not carrying a weapon to have the chance to defend themselves.  In fact, the CDC report, that 2.4 million weapons are used in self defense incorporates this in its self defense stats. Also an interesting point is that they also fail to mention that current laws to prevent homicides related to domestic violence already exist and were not followed; thus, the law was irrelevant.

ARGUMENT 5:  More Laws Make it Harder for Criminals. You will hear that a June 2013 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report states that “[a]lmost all guns used in criminal acts enter circulation via initial legal transaction.” and Between 2005 and 2010, 1.4 million guns were stolen from US homes during property crimes.  What they won’t point out is that this is a violation of current laws… thus, proving that laws don’t stop criminals… similar to argument 1.

ARGUMENT 6:  Reducing Suicides. You will hear that 51% of suicides use a firearm.  But much like the case in England, someone willing to attempt suicide will just use one of the 49% other tools.  The issue is not the tool but the desired act and to achieve the desired act, any available tool will be used.  The 49% found a different tool and did not need a gun.

ARGUMENT 7:  It is the governments job to protect us. Already been addressed and is the most sad and pathetic argument in the history of the human race.  See We Don’t Need Guns, We Have The Police and The Government Will Protect Us

Gun Control arguments fail unless they admit the true intent of the goal.  To disarm the society so criminals have no guns to illegally attain.  Sounds noble, if you want to dictate someones freedoms and rights, which, is not freedom or right.  If you want to be the oppressive tyrant that tells another person how they can and cannot defend their child and family.  Sounds a little Nazi-ish.  But go right a head with your nazi seeming, self-righteous self and you tell people how they should live, without guns. Sounds ‘Murican of you; dictating someones freedom. *sarcasm* read : No One Wants To Take Your Guns, We Just Want To Take Guns

How about you protect the kids first, then “preach” your oppressive tyrannical gun control later.  I say “preach” because Gun Control advocates aren’t looking to have civil discussions and debates…

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#Gun Control #Government #Civil Rights #Action #Right To Life #Family #support #freedom #defense #Pub

[aion-rsa]

INTERVIEW: Snyder On All Star Batman, Collaborators & Future Mysteries

The penultimate issue of “All Star Batman’s” explosive second arc, “Ends Of The Earth,” (that would be issue #8, for those of you playing along at home) goes on sale on Wednesday, March 15, so CBR sat down with writer and Batman guru Scott Snyder for some perspective on the apocalyptic epic.  

Unlike the first “All Star” arc, which featured artist John Romita Jr. on each of the five issues and focused predominantly Two-Face, “Ends of the Earth” has been crafted by a revolving cast of superstar talent and villains, with Jock breaking the ice in issue #6 with Mr. Freeze, Tula Lotay coming in on #7 to work with Poison Ivy, and now Giussepe Camuncoli stepping up to the plate with a Mad Hatter-focused story for #8.

RELATED: Bane May Now Be Batman’s Ultimate Arch-Foe

Snyder took the time to share some insights on his process with his collaborators, interests in Bruce Wayne’s psychology, and deeply personal influences on the story, as well as tease some plans for former “Batman” and “We Are Robin” mainstay, Duke Thomas; and the mysterious summer event he’s working on with artist Greg Capullo.

CBR: “Ends of the Earth” has a pretty drastically different tone and cadence than “My Own Worst Enemy”  — it feels a bit like going from a Tarantino movie to something a little more David Lynch flavored, especially in this issue. What motivated you to shift gears like this?

Scott Snyder: For me, it’s the point of the series. I think people are starting to see what I was going for with “All Star.” I had such a great time with Greg [Capullo] on “Batman”-proper, and we’re gearing up to do more stuff together and there’s just a sort of bombast to his work — a kind of singular style. He’s so elastic that it allows me to experiment with story, but with “All Star,” I really wanted it to be something that I’d get to look at both the mythos and the villains from completely different angles, and also to be able to use it as a showcase for different artists. So, to challenge myself as a writer to write Batman from all different kinds of prismatic viewpoints, and to make it personal, to do stories that are about now and that matter to me — that was kind of the goal from the beginning.

The arc that’s coming up after this with Rafael [Albuquerque] is going to be kind of singular for those four to five issues, one style, but very different than these four. I want to keep surprising with each one. “Ends of The Earth” has a mode that works with very different artists, it’s about different ways that the world could end, and somebody making an argument to Bruce, saying, “look at the fragility of things right now, you’re just a bedtime story that we tell ourselves to make ourselves feel better, but ultimately everything is tenuous.” [The world] could end in biological warfare like in the Ivy story, natural cataclysm with the Freeze story, and now with Hatter it’s about this descent into subjective madness. It’s the desire I think all of us have to shy away from some of these huge problems because they seem so insurmountable. It’s easier to see the world the way you want, to take information the way you want, to create your own perception.

That’s what the Hatter story is going for. It’s almost as though each villain is presenting a different vision of the fragility of things, and then it all culminates with issue #9.

It seems like you’re going for a record for most villain cameos-per-issue across all of “All Star.” Can you talk about your process working with artists like Giussepe Camuncoli to pick out and design some of these cameos?

Well, part of is just the way “All Star” has been working. I’ll go to an artist in advance and ask them, “Who’s the villain you’ve always wanted to draw?” Most artists say “all of them.” Everyone wants to draw the mainstays and the cave and the Batmobile.

Part of it is making sure that when I talk to them that, when they do pick a villain, that I have a really good story in my head for that villain. Then what I try and do is speak to the strengths — so, for example, if Jock weren’t the one doing Mr. Freeze, I would have set it somewhere else. But since I know what he likes to draw, I know the feel he creates, it allows me to be flexible as a writer.

Here, I knew Giuseppe really wanted to make things feel like a very conventional action comic at the beginning and then have it spiral out of control. He was very clear about picking Dean [White] for colors and Mark [Morales] for inks because he felt they would create this really distorted, painterly feel as things got more and more psychedelic. He wanted to start with it looking very “house” style since he recognizes his own style as sort of conventional-with-flair. He draws Spider-Man, so you know he has that really cool, modern, “Big Two” style — but he can push himself beyond that like you see in some of his indie work.

So, it’s that! It’s talking to each person and figuring out what they want to draw, picking a villain, making sure we have a really good story, and then asking if there are any peripheral things we can fit in organically. If I get a chance to put in the tangential villains and they work with the story I’ll always throw them in.

Issue #8 really zoomed in on Bruce’s issues with identity, which is something you’ve played with recently, before at the end of your run with Greg Capullo. Is there something you’re specifically interested in conveying about Bruce’s layers as a character across these stories?

Oh, totally. It’s something I return to a lot. [His identity] and his mortality, I think, are the twin pillars of the Batman material I like to dig into.

I think the thing that’s fascinating in terms of his identity, when you peel it back, is that it’s insane. I mean, it doesn’t make any sense. It’s the mission of someone who is completely out of their head — and yet it’s heroic and inspiring to us as a folktale. There’s really a very rich vein to mine there where you start to poke [that part] of him.

In this story in particular, what Hatter is trying to say is that everyone in the world right now wants to live in their own head. Everyone wants to put on a hat and skin the world the way they want — see their car differently, their house differently, the spouse differently, whatever it is they want. Everyone wants to lean into that. Batman sees that argument and thinks it’s a terrible thing, we have to see the world the way it is. He’s a detective, he works on empirical evidence, he talks [directly] about the need for transparency.

So Hatter flips that idea on him, asking [Bruce] “You understand that you’re the biggest culprit of this [delusional world view], right?”

The way Hatter actually proposes this to him — that he’s living in an actual, literal fantasy — is likely untrue. But if you step back from it a little, Batman really is living in a sort of fantasy all the time. He’s skinning the world the way he wants to see it; as a place where a vigilante can work and is a hero instead of a villain.

I love that aspect of him, that he exists at this intersection of heroism and pathology. It makes him human.

Let’s talk a little about Duke Thomas, who’s been the focus of the “Cursed Wheel” back up stories for the duration of “All Star.” This issue left him in a bit of a tenuous spot — can you tease what readers should expect to see from Duke and his role in the Bat Family in the future?

Definitely. Duke’s played a big role for us in terms of supporting cast for a while and we want people to get used to seeing him with the Bat Family. I get worried sometimes that throwing somebody into the mix in Gotham without a “home” — no matter how cool the character may be — they can kind of wind up vanishing.

With Duke, it’s about long discussions with Geoff Johns and DC about finding the most viable place to land him. Is putting him in the mantle of a known character of somebody else that exists like a Robin or a Nightwing? Or is it trying something original?

We veered towards the latter, so with the next issue, you’ll see a big change in terms of his status and his mission. It’s going to lead into the story I’m doing with Greg Capullo. [Duke] evolves within that story, and you’ll see his role within the Family really crystallize at the beginning of the event [this summer].

So [the “Cursed Wheel”] is going to end with a bit of a cliffhanger. You’ll see the transformation of him into a character will have a very distinct role in Gotham, and with the rest of the Family; and also reveal things about some mysteries going on around the DC Universe as well.

Any hints as to what his codename might be?

Yeah! Well, it’s all been decided. It’s actually been one of the biggest debates. Everybody has a name they want for him, and they’ve changed as his role has changed.

Here’s what I love about Duke as a character: He’s always believed, as a kind of outsider from the Family, that heroes are independent of their their inspiration. [He believes that] Robin was independent of Batman, and doesn’t “need” him in that way. Similarly, all the other [Gotham] heroes go out at night, Duke is starting to go out by day. The city is very different then. He’s following in the footsteps of his parents that way. So all this starts to crystalize around who he’s going to be.

There have been different names. As he’s evolved, people wanted to call him all kinds of bat terms, but I think we’ve settled on something that works.

I’ve always really liked “Lark” for him, and that name got a little shout-out in this issue.

Yeah, I do too! Not to talk too “inside baseball” here, but the fact is that I’m really interested in giving a new writer [from my class] a chance with him, and an artist. So the concern I had with [the name Lark] was pointed out by DC, which I think is logical. It’s that that name doesn’t have quite the “teeth” for a series. It doesn’t sound…y’know, [Laughs] “Let’s go get ‘em!”

For as much as I like [the name], it needs a little more “muscle,” according to [editorial], and I would agree with that. So, we’ll see! These are the discussions we have long, long talks and lots of things on the board over.

The takeaway from it is this: At this point in my career, it means a lot more to me to try and create new characters and land them in ways that open up avenues for other writers and artists to drive in. I think [Duke] will get new kinds of stories. If he works [solo], nothing would make me happier. If he doesn’t, he’ll always have a home with the Bat Family.

Speaking of side-characters, this issue also included the Blackhawk Squadron, which hasn’t been around for quite some time. They’re a group that carry a lot of history with them. What inspired you to dust them off?

They’re part of a bigger mystery I’m excited to explore. That’s all I can say for them right now.

As a big fan of the more “cerebral” Batman stories, this issue reminded me a lot of Neil Gaiman’s “Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader” in the ways it called into question the nature of Bruce’s reality. Was that something you had in mind as you wrote this story, or were there any other influences you were calling upon?

Oh, I love that [story], yeah. The stories that I love are always baked into the DNA [of Batman]. For example, “Perchance to Dream” is one of my favorite “Batman: The Animated Series” episodes, so there’s echos of that, there’s echos of “Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader,” there’s echos of “Arkham Asylum.”

There are a lot of those things in there.

One thing I haven’t really spoken a lot about is that the goal is to make every one of these stories contemporary. So the Two Face arc is very much about the moment when the discourse between all of us has gotten so ugly that, regardless of what side you’re on, you start to question the nature of people; whether people are “darker” than they are “good.” [This moment] influences the way people think of each other, regardless of who you vote for or what side you’re on. “My Own Worst Enemy” is largely about the scariness of that feeling.

What each of the villains [in “Ends of the Earth”] are trying to lead up to is the kind of finale where the [next] villain in issue #9 is like, “Look, this is a time when everything is about to fall apart, and here’s all the ways it can happen.” They’re meant to [represent] those anxieties that are in the air.

But the second thing I’d say to your question is that [these stories] are meant to be personal. One of the things that this story is about is the way it feels when you are not feeling well. For me, having had boughts with depression and anxiety, panic attacks, all those kinds of things, since I’ve been a teenager. In one form or another,  [those things have] been a part of my life.

This issue, and the reason I did it all in first person narration, is that I wanted to create the feeling that you are most used to, [the feeling of] being in Batman’s head when it’s clear — a clear window — which is how it feels when you feel well. But when it starts to get panicked, and you start to feel depressed or anxious, that window darkens and pretty soon all you can see is an ugly reflection of yourself. That voice in your head that seemed friendly gets very ugly and you can’t stop it.

That’s the reason this one was in first person narration, when the Ivy issue had no narration, and the Freeze issue had third person storybook narration. It’s part of trying to make them intensely personal on top of being contemporary. That’s one of the real joys of the series, that I can go intimate in terms of my own fears and also speak to some of the things that Batman makes me brave about in terms of the sort of zeitgeist concerns of today.

“All Star Batman” #8 arrives in stores March 15.

The post INTERVIEW: Snyder On All Star Batman, Collaborators & Future Mysteries appeared first on CBR.

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