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jenliliscripts · 3 years

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Chapter 218

June’s POV

I prepared extra sets of clothes for us two since we're going to be out walking in the streets. It's better to be ready for anything. I know Jamie's going to come through with my request, but I can’t be complacent. I took the paper bag from the back and handed it to Lia.

"Here," I glanced at her. "Change into my clothes later before we go inside the ice cream parlor. I will too, after you. I just want to be careful. I don't want us to be in every news article tomorrow."

She tugged my arm towards her, then leaned on my shoulder. I instinctively drew closer, letting the side of my head rest on top of hers and began driving. It's a bit challenging to drive in this position, but I didn't want to break loose from her hold. It's just too comfortable, too warm—it's where I want to be.

"Junie…" her soft voice filling the void.

"Hmm?"

"If you could change something in your life, what would it be?"

The question caused me pause and think. The thought never crossed my mind because I was too caught up in my own bubble, stepping into my early 20s without a clear plan in mind, not taking the time to reflect on my past decisions. I used to say I knew what I wanted but they turned out to be empty words. I was chasing after temporary goals that would leave me unsatisfied after I've come to grasp them. I obviously didn't know what I wanted until I admitted that I'm in love with her. Loving her is the most certain thing I have ever felt in my entire life so if I could change anything in my life, I would want to meet her earlier.

"I wish I met you earlier, Lia," I said plainly.

"Why? That's so strange. There are many things you could change, but why that?"

"Ever since you came, life isn’t as dull as it was for me. How about you?"

She placed her other hand on top of our intertwined fingers. "I wish I wasn't afraid to explore the unknown. I wish I would just dive into things head first. Maybe I wouldn't be having a hard time sorting out some matters in my life."

"You know, that's what you told me that night."

Just like that, memories from that fateful night in Vegas flashed before my eyes. I could vividly remember everything that had happened despite my drunken state. Lia isn't really as much of a good drinker like me so she got wasted earlier than I did. I asked her questions that popped into my mind to keep the conversation going and prevent her from leaving. Looking back at it now, I think the real reason why I started latching onto her wasn't just because of wounded ego, but I was also smitten by her from the very beginning and I was quite late at acknowledging that.

Flashback: June 2019 at Las Vegas (June's POV)

She's onto her nth glass of vodka and she couldn't be stopped. I've already reprimanded her for being stubborn. Gosh, I don't want to carry her to her hotel room if she ends up passing out in here.

"Hey, J-june Tay…" she sighed rather audibly, visibly exasperated, probably because she has repeatedly failed to speak in coherent sentences. "June Taylor. Yes. Right that's your name."

"Yes, Miss Kim? You have any problem?"

She shook her head vigorously as she waved her hand. "No, no, no. Though I'm really frustrated with myself."

"For what reason may I ask?"

She pressed her index finger against her chest. "I always run back to my comfort zone when push comes to shove. I'm a competent person, but when shit hits the fan, I hide. I go back to the people and things that give me security."

"Isn't that normal? I think everyone has done that at some point in their life."

She closed her eyes, pouting her lips, showing her disagreement towards my answer. "I hate being a coward. I hate that I have to gather every bit of my strength to stop myself from getting back with my ex. It's tiring. But he feels familiar and he's all I know and I'm afraid he's all I'll ever know."

"He won't be the last, Lia," I told her, causing her eyes to open. She looked at me, bewildered because of my bold claim. "You'll meet more people along the way. Don't be scared of being alone. Actually, I think being alone is the best thing in the world. You get to do everything you want to do—fool around and not feel guilty after doing so."

"Ah! I don’t like being alone! Period!"

"Okay, fine. You don't like it. I respect that."

Squinting her eyes, she moved her face towards me. "You seem like a person who takes a lot of risks and hmm—a thrill seeker? Am I right?"

"I guess you could say that. Why?"

"I want to know—what's the most dangerous thing you've ever done?"

Her voice was noticeably sultry. Whether or not she had intended that, I am piqued by the sudden change in demeanor. I decided to ride along. "Having you here while you're drunk."

She smiled appeared on her lips, a mischievous one, exciting me further. "Why? Is there anything you want to do to me?"

I drew my face closer to her, straight up challenging her. She didn't flinch though, which is impressive if you ask me. My vision is a bit clouded, yet I didn't miss how her eyes sparkled as she fought off my stare. "I can do a lot of things to you right now. I'm just choosing not to."

She reached for my collar and tugged me towards her. Our faces were inches apart, the smell of vodka invading my nostrils as she breathed on my face. "How about we do something crazy? Help me break free from myself, will you?"

"How may I help you with that?"

"Marry me."

End of flashback

And I did marry her. Did I think it through? Nope. I immediately told her we should go to a private chapel and do it. As opposed to her reaction, I was exhilarated the morning after. But that time, my reasons were shallow. I saw Lia like some trophy that I could show my mom because she's so obsessed with marriage. Yeah, it was so immature of me. But now that feelings are involved, I'm genuinely happy by the fact that she is mine—at least on paper for now. It's impossible for her to find someone else while she's married to me. She'd think twice about going back to Tyler more so unless I file for divorce.

I haven't had the chance to ask the reason why marriage was her solution to the problem. Well, how could I ask when she couldn't even remember getting married?

Is it to prove that she can go on without Tyler or is it because she just wanted to do something she wouldn't imagine herself doing—marrying a girl? Maybe she wanted to defy her ideals and did something reckless, you know? There are quite a lot of reasons I could think of yet they remain as thoughts I won't be able to confirm.

"I haven't asked you in detail about what transpired that night," Lia said, momentarily glancing up at me before returning to her original position. "Who came up with the idea?"

"You," I answered, chuckling.

"I did?" Her voice resounded in the car, shock written all over her face.

"Yeah, Lia. It was you," I affirmed as I turned to the right. "You said you wanted to break free from yourself and suggested that marrying me was the way to achieve that."

She face palmed then made a loud squeaking sound, causing me to laugh. "I can't believe it. All along I thought you tricked me into it."

"The last thing I'll ever do is to deceive someone. I've told you before, I only lie when I have to."

"But how can you agree to an absurd idea? You should have stopped me."

"I kinda wanted it too even if it was very impulsive decision…" I confessed, my voice fading into the thin air.

"Wanted what? The marriage?"

"Yeah. And you. I wanted you."

She scoffed, completely in disbelief. "Me? Like you wanted to sleep with me or?"

"If I'm being honest, yeah. I wanted to sleep with you. But I realized something else a few months after. I didn't agree to marry you just because I wanted to get into your pants."

"Then what else?"

Does she really not know? I have never been good at hiding yet she couldn't see through my actions. Is she refusing to see and denying what's obvious?

"Later. We're here."

"Hi, uhm can I get a large cup of vanilla ice cream please and—" I looked over my shoulder. "Lili, do you want any toppings?"

"Nope," she replied, popping the 'p'. She was adorably bobbing her head to the music.

Turning back to the lady, I saw her jaw hanging slightly open. "A-are you June Taylor?"

I winked then pressed my index finger against my lips. "That will be our secret. Can you keep it for me?"

She nodded a few times then cleared her throat. "What else may I get you?"

"A cup of that cookie dough with chocolate sprinkles please."

"Is that girl your girl—" the lady cut herself off, realizing that she's overstepping. "I'm sorry."

A smile spread across my face as the thought came up. "She will be soon. I think I have a good shot at it."

"I'll keep that to myself. Yes, a cup of vanilla ice cream and one cookie dough with chocolate sprinkles coming right up, ma'am."

I served the ice cream then sat across Lia. "Here you go. Plain vanilla ice cream for you."

She grinned, snatching the cup from the tray then took a big scoop. As the ice cream melted in her mouth, she groaned in satisfaction. "Mmm, my favorite. I would never get tired of eating this."

Watching her from my seat, I also began eating my ice cream. Later on, I got a playful idea and just went with it. I stuck my finger into my cup and dabbed some on Lia's face. Her eyes widened, surprised by the rush of coldness that came into contact with her skin. "Hey!"

I pushed my chair back and dashed outside with my cup in hand. She followed me out, screaming at me while she took quick steps to catch up to me. "I'm competitive! I'll get back at you, June!"

My lungs were burning, but I was over the moon. Everything that has happened tonight is so liberating that I'm actually starting to believe we're different people, that this could go on forever. Am I selfish for wanting this so bad? For wanting Lia? And for possibly leaving her with no choice but to stay with me? I'm only holding on to a sliver of hope that she feels the same. However, the way she's acting tonight reinforces my belief that our feelings are mutual.

She disrupted my train of thoughts, jumping at me from behind, engulfing me in her arms. We were on the sidewalk, people walking past us like were nobodies. It felt great. It felt real. I wanted to stay in this moment for as long as I could. I don't want to take her home and deal with reality because I've made up my mind—I'm telling her the truth.

She forced me to turn around and smeared ice cream on my nose. "Now we're even."

I heaved and along with the heavy intakes of breath was the loud beating of my heart. Her other arm was still hooked around my back while I'm looking down at her, my eyes locked at her lips. I'm trying my very best not to kiss her here, but my mind couldn't go against my instincts. I leaned towards her and slowly closed my eyes, only to be stopped by the buzzing of my phone. Lia broke away, quickly retreating and avoided my gaze. I sighed, utterly disappointed by the ruined moment. It's Jamie's so I have no choice but to take the call.

"Yes Jay?"

"You have to go home now, June. Information got leaked. They know you're out. Not with Lia though. They just know you're wandering in the city. It won't be long until they find you."

"Got it. Thank you, Jay."

I terminated the call then turned to Lia. "I have to take you home now. It seems that the media has finally caught up."

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potahun · 4 years

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DMBJ Reboot Watch and Brainstorming

Brainstorming here cuz I pretty much lost the main plot watching eps 21-22 and I want to remember some of the pieces that are making me ponder (spoilers up to eps.21-22 ahead):

In the notebook of the guy called Du Ming Qiu (the past Cang Guan from the Children’s Warehouse), Wu Xie found a picture of the plane that crashed, and it was mentioned that the spirit jar was on the picture too. That plane crashed somewhere on the south-western border 30 years ago. The crash revealed the location of an ancient tomb.

We’ve got 2 things here: Plane, and Spirit jar. We also have a 3rd thing, which is the history of Warehouse 11 itself, so I’m going to think about it one by one.

Plane: In the first ep, we were shown that Wu Xie and his Third Uncle went to the location of the crash and that there was a transnational archaeological team put together to investigate the tomb at the time. In the tomb, shit happens, and the Third Uncle disappears (that’s how the ep makes it seem). Wu Xie gets out alive. We’re not told who saved him or took him home, but everything was on fire. For what it’s worth, we’re actually not told if there’s any connection between that tomb and Thunder City.

The Plane gets stored in Warehouse 11. We’re not told who did that.

Also, sometime, we’re not told when, Third Uncle went to the mute village and followed the path of the Underground river to search for Thunder City. We were told that he went with the son of the guardian of the village, and that her son (and presumably Third Uncle too) disappeared then.

As far as I know, unless those two things (Thunder City and tomb on the south-western border) are in the same location (or are the same thing), that means Third Uncle disappeared fucking twice. How does that work? I have no fucking clue.

So the only theory I can think of now is that, despite the way it was presented in ep1, Third Uncle didn’t disappear in the tomb on the south-western border. Wu Xie remembers that tomb and remembers the fucking airplane, but he never links those two with Third Uncle’s disappearance. He probably would have searched that way if Third Uncle disappeared then. So my current guess is that Third Uncle actually came out of that tomb, took Wu Xie home. Subsequently, as he was involved in the ‘listening to thunder’ business, he went to the village with the Underground river, where he actually disappeared.

Where does that lead? I have no fucking clue.

Spirit jar: We are told that the Spirit jar was on the picture with the plane, and we presume that it was first found post-crash. So this jar came out from the tomb on the south-western border 30 years ago.

The Spirit jar gets put in Warehouse 11. We are again not told who did that.

We are told by Du Ming Qiu that the Spirit jar was initially stored in the Children’s Warehouse (incidentally the nth reason why Warehouse 11 is fucked up and I have no faith in it). How did the jar get in, when the access to the Children’s Warehouse is only big enough for a child to get in and out? We are not told. We are told that the reason the jar was kept in is linked to how it could keep the humidity of the Children’s Warehouse at bay.

Subsequently, at an unknown point in time but when Du Ming Qiu was already an adult, the Spirit Jar has been moved out of the Children’s Warehouse. Since then, murders happen and 6 past Cang Guan from the Children’s Warehouse got killed.

Why was the jar moved out? We are not told.

Also, the Children’s Warehouse was closed down a number of years ago but we are not told how many years ago or why. We are just told that the records of the children who used to work there have been destroyed in a fire a “number of years” ago. We are not even told whether the murders started happening before the closure of the Children’s Warehouse i.e. while it was still working.

When it was still working, the Cang Guan of the Children’s Warehouse would switch every 4 years. The plane crashed 30 years ago. 6 x 4 yrs, that’s already 24 years, so this means that pretty much all of the Cang Guan who had known the Spirit jar as something belonging to the Children’s Warehouse, got killed (except, perhaps, the last “child” Wu Xie is looking for).

So the only theory I can think of right now, but this is almost pure speculation, is that the reason why all the Cang Guan who saw the Spirit jar in the Children’s Warehouse got killed, was because (i) the very reason why the Spirit jar was moved out was directly related to why the Children’s Warehouse had to close; and (ii) to prevent them from inquiring into why it’s been moved out. 30 years means a rotation between a maximum of 7-8 child Cang Guan, and we know six have been killed. Presumably, the missing “child” was the acting Cang Guan when they moved the jar out and closed the Children’s warehouse. Presumably, also, this final acting child Cang Guan has been intermittently watching, from inside the jar, the moves of all previous child Cang Guan, once the jar was moved out.

Incidentally, how was the jar moved out? A few possibilities: (i) the access of the Children’s Warehouse is too small for an adult but could be big enough for the jar (doesn’t seem like it from what we see but wouldn’t argue too much with the logic). That would explain how they stored it in there to start with; OR (ii) they smashed the jar and pieced it together again, both when they stored it in and when they took it out (why tho). That would explain why there were traces of it being smashed before and such; OR (iii) there is another access to the Children’s Warehouse and no one bothered to explain where it is or why adults can’t use it; OR (iv) the one outside is just a replica. That’d be weird tho.

Did the last acting child Cang Guan kill the other 6, or did this “child” only watch out and notify the murderer about their moves (e.g. notify the murderer that xxx is getting too close to the jar)? No fucking clue. Where does that lead and how does that connect to the main plot? Also no fucking clue.

History of Warehouse 11: We are told by Bai Haotian that, according to “legend”, Warehouse 11 is only 100 years old. 100 years ago, it was established by an unnamed merchant, who initially used it just to store some peculiar goods. Then, at one point, all the precious antiques in Warehouse 11 as it was before, were hidden in a river (unnamed) that ran for 20-30 miles. 6-7 years later, someone else rebuilt Warehouse 11, and spent 5 years getting the goods back up from the river. She says that, despite this, many areas of the Warehouse, as it was before, were abandoned and no one really knows what’s in there anymore. She also mentions that currently, Warehouse 11 is only at approx. 30% capacity.

Well, no matter what is stored in the abandoned zones, based on the “legend”, that means those goods could only have been stored 100 years ago. Max. We are not really told how old exactly the legend of the Nan Hai Wang/King of the South Sea is (I think?) but in ep. 3, Tang Tang mentioned that back in the Han Dinasty, this country of the Nan Hai Wang (Nan Hai Luo Yun Guo) already existed. Han Dinasty, that’s like 202 BC–220 AD according to Wikipedia. That is dead ass old. So if there is anything related to Thunder City in Warehouse 11, that’s a REALLY big piece of the plot that hasn’t been remotely explained yet.

Questions:

What is the link between the tomb on the south-western border and Thunder City? Location-wise, we know both of them are located south-west. On one side, the Underground river is meant to lead to Thunder City and the entry point is the mute village somewhere in south-east asia (I think they never specified the country, but still that’s south-west of China). On the other, the plane is also said to have crashed on the south-western border. It could be that these two locations aren’t too far from each other, but if so, we haven’t been told that yet.

What is the link between Warehouse 11 and Thunder City? Warehouse 11 is only 100 years old, man. Given the facts we currently have, if anything stored there is related to Thunder City or the country of Nan Hai Wang, it was most likely stored after the plane crash 30 years ago. At this point in time, we probably can’t even rule out the possibility that Third Uncle is the one, or part of the ones, who asked to have them stored there.

We are also told that at some point in time, presumably after the plane crash, Third Uncle went to Warehouse 11. At that point, he was already talking about there being thunder in the warehouse, so we can presume he was already involved in the “listening to thunder” business. This could be before he disappeared in Wu Xie’s eyes, or after. No one knows. If he is the one to have asked for Thunder-related goods to be stored there, it would be a plausible reason why they would allow him to be in Warehouse 11 (he’s there to check his own goods). The only other possible reason he’s there is that, as we’ve been shown in eps. 17-18, the staff of Warehouse 11 are inconsistently highly competent or incompetent bastards, so I wouldn't put it beyond them to have let a whole ass Third Uncle infiltrate either (God I hate this warehouse). Either way, Third Uncle’s been there. The only theory I can think of now is that he was checking on certain goods that have been stored in there, following the plane crash, and were related to Thunder City and Nan Hai Wang.

What is the link between the Spirit jar and Thunder City? Fuck knows at this point. It could be that the mystery surrounding it is just some kind of by-product, caused by certain things happening in the Children’s Warehouse. All we know at this point is that there is a reason for the Spirit jar to have been moved out of the Children’s Warehouse, and that they had to close down the Children’s Warehouse. That's a huge lot of possibilities. We don’t even know how long it’s been since Third Uncle disappeared so for all we know, something he did could be the reason why the Children’s Warehouse had to be closed. I have no fucking clue. Anything to do with the Spirit jar is, to me, a big fucking question mark at this point.

So one narrative based on 70% speculation and which stands ready to be corrected at any point, is this:

Third Uncle, following the excursion with archaeological group 044, came out of the Nan Hai Wang Palace (in China) and discovered a beginning of something with Mu Xue Hai and Yang Da Guang. At that point, this we’ve been told, a “mysterious” group of people had helped to get Mu Xue Hai and Yang Da Guang out and became interested in Thunder City. Thus, Mu Xue Hai, Yang Da Guang and Third Uncle were involved more deeply in this business, probably against their will.

The plane crashes. As someone who was already involved in this Thunder business, Third Uncle is part of the archaeological team that investigates and sees if this old tomb could be related to Thunder City. He barely makes it out unscathed because there is a shit ton of weird stuff in the tomb on the south-western border. But he does make it out and takes Wu Xie home. He and/or mysterious people ask for all the stuff they find from the tomb to be stored in Warehouse 11.

This said, Third Uncle is still involved in finding Thunder City. Possibly at this point, as part of the investigations, while Yang Da Guang is struggling to listen to thunder everywhere, Third Uncle goes to Warehouse 11 and finds clues there, probably based on what’s been stored there after the crash. Possibly at this point in time, stuff happened and the Children’s Warehouse had to shut down.

God knows how, perhaps in Warehouse 11, they find a new track to the village in south-east Asia and the Underground river. Perhaps, and this is a stretch, the track he finds wasn’t even stored there after the plane crash, but was just one of the things that were fished out when the “new” Warehouse 11 was built. Anyways, Third Uncle goes to the Underground river. As far as people are aware, he’s gone for good after that.

At some point in all these shenanigans, Third Uncle met Jiao Lao Ban and almost got him killed. (????????) Jiao Lao Ban is potentially part of the mysterious group of people who were involved in finding Thunder City with Third Uncle.

Mysterious people, having lost ways to control Third Uncle’s actions, try to get Wu Xie to finish the job. Hence the messaging and getting him into Warehouse 11 etc.

I am lost and stand ready to be corrected at any point regarding this word vomit. It’s just that this Warehouse 11 stuff is so damn convoluted and I have no idea how the hell it’s supposed to connect to the main plot otherwise.

Also, in all this thing, we have no idea what Er Shu is hiding from the others. Great.

#dmbj #the lost tomb reboot #chongqi #reunion the sound of the providence #wu xie #dmbj watch #I wonder if tomorrow's episodes will have any more info #how to ruin a beautiful pacing and make it terrible 101

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rukakikuchi · 4 years

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LOONA “So What” analysis and theories

It’s finally time! After rewatching and analyzing the music video for nth amount of times (lol), I’m here to bring you guys my personal analysis and theories for LOONA’s latest comeback “So What”!

So, without further ado... Let’s begin.

(Remember that these are only my interpretation and are not straight up facts. These are just theories that coincide with my personal view on the story of LOONA and the LOONAverse.)

Now that “So What” has finally been released, we have been shown the next chapter of the story of the LOONAverse, as well as a new side to LOONA we’ve never seen before.

So now that the next chapter of LOONA’s story has been released, it’s time to go through the music video and see what is going on.

Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil

An interesting observation that was made after the release of the “#1” teaser was the focus on certain facial features of the 1/3 girls; Hyunjin’s mouth, Haseul’s ear, and ViVi’s eye.

It’s been theorized this is connected to the saying “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.”

Well, this may very well be the case for the LOONA girls now that the Moebius time loop has reset again.

Because Heejin was able to break out of the loop, the Moebius strengthened itself in order to keep the girls apart and prevent them from trying to break out again.

Yves, Chuu, and Gowon appear to be in Eden, but I don’t think that’s the case. They merged their worlds together in “Hi High”; they met to become one universe.

Perhaps this is an Earth equivalent to Eden, a paradise that was made to keep them unaware of the truth of their world. (Think of the phrase “ignorance is bliss.”) Chuu and Gowon are happy and oblivious, but Yves is a “black swan” who is treated like an outcast.

They’ve essentially reverted back to before they ate the Forbidden Fruit and realized their true selves. Again, notice how Chuu is dressed in red (a color representing love) and Gowon in yellow (a color that can represent hope).

Without the knowledge they received upon rejecting Eden, they cannot become who they were truly meant to be.

However, Yves being shown acting outside the norm (not dressed the same as the other ballerinas) might be a hint to that she’s still vaguely aware of that side to herself.

Odd Eye Circle are separated from each other, and have lost their powers, although Kim Lip’s situation might be different from Jinsoul and Choerry’s.

One thing that was extremely prominent to me in “So What” were Kim Lip’s eyes. Specifically, the color of her eyes.

She is wearing pale blue eye contacts. And it’s not just in the music video; she is also wearing them in live performances of “So What”.

Now sure, K-pop idols are no stranger to this. In fact, Kim Lip isn’t the only one doing this. Yves has also been shown wearing light colored eye contacts for this comeback.

I also noticed Heejin and Choerry both looked like they had contacts in a couple performances, and I’m sure other members have done this too. But Kim Lip’s eyes have stood out the most.

This must’ve been intentional. This isn’t the first time something like this has been done for LOONA.

Remember the Halloween special stage where five of the members covered Sumni’s “Full Moon”? They had little references to the LOONAverse lore in there, too; notably, in Kim Lip, Choerry, and Olivia.

The concept seemed to be vampires, so everyone had dark red color contacts. Except for Olivia, who had pale blue/silver color contacts.

She doesn’t possess an Odd Eye, but perhaps this is a nod to her “wolf eyes”, aka the red glowing eyes we see in “Egoist”.

Choerry’s right eye, where her Odd Eye is, was a different color from her left eye; a grey blue.

As for Kim Lip, they used special makeup and placed a scar over her left eye, where her Odd Eye is.

Again, this must have been intentional.

But what does this mean for Kim Lip’s eye color in “So What”?

Well, I think that Kim Lip may still have her Odd Eye, but it has been sealed and she’s being prevented from reawakening it.

It’s unknown whether this can be said for Jinsoul and Choerry as well, since we aren’t given any hints of them possessing their Odd Eyes. It’s possible they might have lost them completely, or if they still do have them, they just haven’t awakened them.

Regardless, the loss of their Odd Eyes means that the three have lost the special connection they shared which defined them as the “Odd Eye Circle”.

Then, we have ViVi, who is seen throughout almost the entirety of the music video with a bandana over her mouth. She’s also shown to be by herself, separated from the rest of the group.

This coupled with her lack of lines when compared to other members’ distribution of lines in “So What”, has to be more than just coincidence.

Everything in the LOONAverse has a deeper meaning; everything has a reason for being there.

I previously mentioned that ViVi might be going through another kind of identity crisis. She’s not an android anymore; she became a human in “Love & Live”. Yet her expressions in “So What” seem almost robotic.

I believe ViVi has lost something that is vital to her identity; her voice. Because she has lost the ability to speak, she does not have a way of expressing herself and her feelings.

That’s why she seems so robotic in the music video; she’s been placed in a similar situation to when she was an android and struggled to connect with the others when she first met them. Thus she turns to graffiti as an act of self expression as well as rebellion.

All of these instances show that some of the girls have lost an important part of themselves.

Hear no evil = Blissful ignorance of the world.

See no evil = Loss of connection.

Speak no evil = Restriction of self expression.

Without these vital parts of their identities, they are unable to find each other and realize their true purpose. So Heejin has to break them free, but she can’t do it alone.

Follow me

For this section, I’m going to try and set up the order in which I believe Heejin found the other members after falling back into the loop. This is just pure speculation on my part in order to get a better grasp of the story.

The first girl who I believe Heejin finds is Olivia. The two have always been connected with each other deeply; they were like day and night.

In fact, I think it was Olivia who found Heejin after she fell back to Earth. Think of it as a potential parallel to when Heejin met Olivia at the end of “Egoist” after Olivia had her fall to Earth.

Next, I think Heejin finds Kim Lip. Again, this could potentially parallel to how Kim Lip met Heejin in “Hi High”.

Hyunjin and Choerry have already found each other. They are constantly shown together, mirroring each other.

We see the tuk tuks circling around them, symbolizing them being stuck in the loop, but we also see them get on one of the tuk tuks.

They are taking control of their fate to break out of the loop.

Heejin, Kim Lip, and Olivia find Yeojin (hence we see them together above with the dancers in this scene), but realize Haseul is now missing. They tell Yeojin what has happened, so she starts rebelling at her school to break out of the loop.

(And yes, I’ve seen it been pointed out, Yeojin literally looks like pre-debut era Jinsoul.)

Her actions end up influencing the other students of the school. So yes, Yeojin did indeed start a school uprising. 😆

Next are Gowon, Chuu, and Yves.

We get this scene where Gowon and Chuu are running down the hall together, when Gowon suddenly stops and looks behind her. As if she heard something, felt something, that told her she needed to get out of the loop.

I think this was the moment she received a message, possibly from Olivia, to tell her what was going on and help Gowon regain her memories. She relays the message to Chuu, and later both tell Yves what’s happening.

Yet again, another potential parallel, like when Yves and Chuu approached Gowon with the offer of escaping Eden.

So Yves starts rebelling as well, dancing freely how she wants to.

Gowon sends out the butterflies again, in order to reach the other members.

Yves joins Heejin and Olivia, along with Hyunjin and Choerry, and find Jinsoul in the subway train.

(Here’s a “blink and you miss it” moment: Olivia rips off the choker around her neck. Just like when she did it in the “XIIIX” teaser. She’s freeing herself of any restrictions.)

The last girl they have to find is ViVi, but they aren’t able to find her as easily. Like I previously mentioned, she’s constantly shown being cut off from the rest of the group, all by herself. Wherever she is, her location is somewhere that the others can’t get to, or possibly even know about.

So, how do they reach her?

A message to ViVi

Throughout the music video, we are given several shots that have a VHS static overlay effect over them. I previously mentioned how the static effect is always associated with ViVi’s memories/dreams, so this gives us a better idea of what exactly these shots we see are supposed to be.

No joke, I went through the whole music video and counted every single time we saw the VHS static overlay effect. Guess how many times we see it in the MV?

1. The chains breaking

2. Shot of ViVi’s face

3, 4, & 5. Hyunjin and Choerry with the tuk tuks

6. The members on the subway train

7. Shot of Yeojin’s face

8. Shot of Heejin’s face

9. Brief cut to static after ViVi drops the spray can

10. The sign reading “Make it burn”

11 & 12. The members on the subway train again

That’s right. We got 12 total instances of VHS static overlay in the music video!

I believe what we are seeing is Heejin and the other members sending a message to ViVi, possibly using something like the cassette tapes, in order to reach out to ViVi and let her know what they’re doing since she’s separated from the group.

Shots #9 and #10, however, I think are ViVi sending a message back, the sign reading “Make it burn” signalling to them that she got their message.

And also serving as a sign to Olivia of what she needs to do.

Burn yourself

In the beginning of the video, we see Olivia standing with a torch on what we can presume is the surface of the moon (the real location is likely the black sand beach of Iceland).

And we are given some very interesting narration.

“Do not accept the fate of the moon. Get off the track. Reveal to the world the hidden side. Burn yourself.”

Let’s break this down line by line.

“Do not accept the fate of the moon.”

The fate of the girls have always been tied to the moon, aka the heart of the Goddess. It was their destiny to meet each other and complete the moon of their world.

Their goal as LOONA has always been to find each other and break out of the loop, but what if that alone wasn’t enough?

“Get off the track.”

The “+ +” and “X X” timelines showed us the unification of the girls with themselves and their shadows, but it’s always ended the same for them. They find each other, and they try to break the loop, but the loop resets and they’re back to square one.

They kept taking the obvious choices they believed would allow them to break free. They need to do something different and cause chaos to break the loop.

“Reveal to the world the hidden side.”

Obviously referring to the back of the moon; the hidden side of themselves that they’ve never shown before. Their shadows, their truest selves that existed deep inside of them.

If they bring that side out, they can find new potential.

“Burn yourself.”

The word “burn” has been used constantly throughout this comeback since we got the first # teaser last year. Fans kept asking the question, what would they be burning?

And now, we finally got the answer.

From the description of “So What”: “It is possible to make different waves more than you can imagine if you challenge yourself with your passion(BURN), and go forward.”

From the lyrics: “Burn your intense heart.”

Deep within themselves, was a fire that was waiting to be ignited by passion. By the desire to break free of everything that held them back. To take control of their destiny; to choose their own fate. To be who they truly are.

And finally, they were ready to burn.

The beginning of the end

Olivia realized what she needed to do in order to break the loop. She was the only one capable of doing it. It was her mission, and hers alone.

“You, who was sent by God. Destroy all things without hesitation.”

Olivia has always been connected to fire, a symbol of destruction as well as purification. And now that we’ve coupled the term “burn” with fiery passion in “So What”, we are shown a second and more literal meaning through Olivia.

What if the only way to break the Moebius loop was to destroy it before it was completed? If they destroy the loop before it can complete itself, then the time loop won’t be reset.

So Olivia does what she has to, in order to free herself, to free everyone, from this curse. She burns the moon, to destroy everything.

The moon, which we associated as the heart of the Goddess, as something the girls were deeply connected to by fate, is set ablaze.

The moon that could not shine on its own without reflecting the light of the sun; the back of the moon which no one knows about.

Now it’s been lit up in flames, burning to shine its own light.

Meanwhile, down on Earth, we see all the members watching as the sky is set ablaze, with balls of fire raining down.

(Even the dance shots, we start to see them!)

We see all the members lit up in red light, representing the fire.

Heejin’s expression in particular really stood out. Her expression is sad, even heartbroken, watching the place she had once flew high to reach, now on fire and being destroyed. But she knows deep down, this will free her and her friends.

And with destruction, there will come rebirth.

The phoenix and Haseul

Like I mentioned in the breakdown for the teasers, what we see in # and “So What” is the destruction and rebirth of the LOONAverse. In order to free themselves from the loop, they had to destroy their old world to create a new one. They had to burn their hearts with passion to ignite that fire in order to be reborn.

In the final shot of the music video, as Olivia watches the flames die down on the moon, she looks down…

And there are two white bird feathers on the ground, burning, and being revived.

It’s clear who and what this represents; Haseul. The reconstruction and revival of the bird feathers after being burned shows that Haseul has been reborn.

Just like the phoenix, who rises from the ashes and is born again stronger than before, this tells us, the audience (and all LOONAs around the world), and Olivia herself, that Haseul will be reunited with the others, and she will be stronger than she was before.

And the same can be said for all of LOONA. Now that they’ve “burned themselves”, they can rise from the ashes, in a new world where they are free to take control of their fate. To reach their highest goals.

Like the phoenix, LOONA has been reborn, stronger. And now, free.

...

And that concludes my analysis of “So What”!

I was so happy with this comeback and now I’m excited to see what’s next for LOONA and the story of the LOONAverse going forward. There are so many possibilities of where they can take this story, and I am all in for the ride!

I hope you guys enjoyed my analysis, so until next time...

Stan LOONA! 🌙💖

#LOONA #LOONA 1/3 #LOONA Odd Eye Circle #LOONA yyxy #Heejin #Hyunjin #Haseul #Yeojin #ViVi #Kim Lip #JinSoul #Choerry #Yves #Chuu #Gowon #Olivia Hye #LOONAverse

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sol1056 · 5 years

Note

I keep finding new salt about s7, like: Sendak has 5 warships, which is less than Voltron destroyed in s1 when they went to save Allura. They also had fully recharged the Lion Energy to form Voltron again through the power of friendship. Why why WHY didn't they just fly in, form Voltron, destroy all the ships, and then help sweep up the pieces/defeat Sendak's final ground assault?

My family has a long-running gag about Haley’s Comet. If there’s only one cookie left on the plate, someone will point off in a direction behind everyone and shout, “Oh my god! Haley’s Comet!” and when someone (because someone always does) turns to look, the person who shouted grabs the last cookie for themselves.

One of the hardest parts of a large-scope story is the final set piece. You need the antagonist (or obstacle) to be big enough that it’ll appear unbeatable, with the odds stacked against the heroes. And you don’t want the heroes coming up with something out of left field (*koff* magic *koff*); the solution is most satisfying when it’s an ingenious extrapolation of some skill or knowledge you’d planted earlier in the story.

The strategy — defeat the Big Bad — is almost never in doubt. The tension lies in how the heroes will manage that, the tactics they’ll use. Unfortunately, when you dissect most of VLD’s finales, they consist of Attack of the Haley’s Comets.

S1, they went in with no plan except a frontal attack against an opponent with a thousand times their resources. Good thing they all had plot armor.

S2, the finale involved getting Zarkon to come to them, so they could shut down his servers to implant a virus (that did what, exactly?) while the rest of the lions dog-fought (lion-fought?) a bunch of sentries for the nth time, then Allura forced the entire station-ship-whatever to go through The Universe’s Largest Teladuv to send Zarkon, uh, far away, for some reason. Then they formed Voltron and sliced at the big station that was again a thousand times larger, fought Zarkon in a Voltron-sized suit of armor and, uh, lastly left the scene via wormhole. Like the station was back online, clearly not destroyed, and besides, Zarkon spent most of S2 easily able to catch up with them, once he knew where they were, so not sure why ‘sending him far away’ had any purpose.

(This makes Star Wars’ “shoot at this tiny duct on the surface of the Death Star” look downright brilliantly efficient in comparison.)

S3 had no finale, and S4 involved, uh, Voltron going up against a planet. And almost getting blown up. While two other teams tackled super cannons a system away. Shutting down the relay station to leave a gap for those teams to capture the cannons was possibly the only tactically smart move I’ve seen in a VLD finale, tbh.

S5′s finale… uh, Oriande, right. S6′s finale was… well, we had the copy-paste Winter Soldier fight between Keith and not-Shiro, followed by Sincline and Voltron facing off. The latter of which seemed to mostly involve a lot of yelling. *yawn*

S6′s finale, well, you already summed it up. I guess ‘just go right for the warships with the cannons’ would’ve ended the battle too soon, so they had to run around for an episode or so. Y’know, make sure we’re suitably distracted from the Haley’s Comet gambit and not realize until too late VLD had stolen yet another cookie.

When it comes to prepping for the finale, Star Wars is a great example of a simple finale that works, because it laid a solid foundation. From very early, the story drives home two things: the plans to the Death Star contain major intel, and Luke’s an amazing and intuitive pilot. We get early chatter about Luke racing, with reminders like his crack about shooting womp rats. Both elements are made credible by the story never contradicting these setups, so when you put together teeny duct + amazing pilot + tunnel-shot cinematography, you get a marvelous heart-pounding finale.

With the exception of S7 using the shields (a callback to S6E1), VLD has been pretty weak at hinting at skills or knowledge ahead of time. And that’s ignoring that the EPs/writers don’t seem to understand battle tactics vs a solid and efficient strategy.

They do manage to give Lance consistent tactical smarts (despite fen calling him the best strategist, which he’s not), but otherwise the EPs/writers seem fuzzy on how the two perspectives impact characterization. So right there, they don’t even have a solid sense of how a team would split duties to play to each person’s strength, and that means we end up with battle scenes where Shiro is focused on A, Keith zooms off for B, Lance yells at Keith, while Pidge and Hunk just scream a lot in the background.

A strategy is the big-picture objective: “We need to retrieve Allura.” It’s what must be achieved to consider any action complete: capture that hill, rescue the princess, block the reinforcements. “We come from this direction, move fast, hit here, and hit hard” are tactics: the steps to achieve that objective. Against an enemy with 1000x more resources and size, it’s also a damn stupid tactic.

The commander sets the strategy, the tactician figures out how the army will manage that. The team’s arrival at the Balmera is one of the few times VLD uses the concepts properly. As the general, Allura defines the main strategic goal. As the field commander, Shiro divides up the labor. Keith and Lance are tasked with blocking reinforcements, and Lance figures out the most efficient tactic: lock the barn doors before the horses get out.

For the most part, Keith is a strategic thinker, not a tactical one, and that makes him a less useful second-in-command compared to Lance’s pragmatic tactical approach. In fact, those two would be a powerful pair if the writers understood the differences to highlight the two approaches, and how each is crucial for a successful outcome.

What most insults me, as a viewer (and yes, I would’ve said the same at age 10, thanks to reading plenty of history with battle strategies), is that the EPs/writers seem to have decided complicated is a synonym for smart. The result is a series of finales that are actually… pretty stupid.

I mean, have these people never even read Lao Tzu? Just as a bare minimum.

What about subterfuge? Like, say, a cloaking mechanism. Wouldn’t that be handy. That got used once for all of Voltron, and it was never mentioned again. Sure, copilot to assist Pidge with the cloaking mechanism? Take your pick: Shiro, Coran, Romelle, I’m sure at least one of them could’ve managed it. Hell, as much effort VLD put into making Kosmo the smartest plot device ever, the damn wolf could’ve done it.

All warfare is based on deception. It’s not a dishonorable thing to pull one over on the enemy. Wormholing in is only half the sneakage, people.

Avoid striking at what is strong; hit the enemy’s weak points. Instead, Voltron just goes head-on, over and over, and the only reason it wins is because that’s what’s in the script. Take advantage of chaos: with Zarkon absent in S3, threre should’ve been tremendous opportunities (mostly from previously strong areas now weakened by the internal turmoil), but instead Voltron’s on the outskirts freeing planets like Puig. Well, sure, fine, but is that really the best use of the team’s limited resources?

Don’t move until you have the advantage, or something to be gained. Aim for what the enemy holds most precious. When the enemy fights blindly and desperately, use their blindness against them to lure them into an ambush (which is possibly the one maxim at use in S2′s finale). Related to that, Lotor does act on at least one principle: rousing and forcing the lions to reveal themselves, so Lotor can determine their vulnerabilities.

In a war story, I’d look to the uses of strategy and tactics as a way to reveal characterization (of which Lotor circa S3 is the best, if not only, example). But specifically this quote from Sun Tzu:

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

It’s a classic trope in war stories to have the strategist insist that knowing the enemy — thinking like them, understanding them — is key to victory. Thing is, it’s true. If you don’t understand the enemy’s assumptions, biases, desires, and dislikes, you won’t know how to use those against the enemy. You won’t be able to divine strength from weakness.

In S1/S2, Allura (and Coran) was the best-placed to understand Zarkon’s objectives, the way he thought, the reactions he’d have to any action. Shiro was a distant second for strategist, with more immediate (if fuzzy) experiences of the empire. In S3, with Lotor as the new antagonist and a completely unknown variable, this really would’ve been the best time for Keith to come to the forefront as a strategic thinker. Allura or Shiro might assume their understanding of Zarkon could be applied to Lotor, while Keith’s lack of firsthand knowledge meant a lack of bias for seeing Lotor as, well, Lotor.

There could’ve been some interesting contrasts to play with, there, in terms of the different strategic minds on the team. Especially when places against the differing tactical brains on the team (Lance, Hunk, Pidge). But I guess we’ll have to leave that for fandom to fix, along with that mess of a finale in S7.

#vld #voltron #strategy and tactics #tropes #warfare #analysis #sol thinks about stuff

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mamapeach7 · 4 years

Text

Daeul

Preview / Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9 / Chapter 10 / Chapter 11 / Chapter 12 / Chapter 13 / Chapter 14 / Chapter 15 / Chapter 16 / Chapter 17 / bonus

Chapter 14

Two months passed by quickly after the incident -- two months of police checks and visits, doctor’s appointments and physiotherapy for the young Daeul’s broken leg. Hanji suffered a shot taken on her left arm just before the police officer shot the unknown man in the leg.

Hyuk had taken time off work and allowed Jiho to take over the studio for the time being while he watched over his son and subtly, Hanji.

She stayed home with Minji for a week before realizing how much she had missed the little boy before quickly returning to work. Their days went by calmly and smoothly, meals spent together felt like tag-team -- Hanji struggling with one arm in a cast as she fed herself and Daeul, Hyuk stepping in to help her out and discard his own food.

Missus Chae often helped with Daeul’s baths but when she couldn’t, the boy’s father would offer his help. They sat on stools by the bathtub as they carefully avoided getting water on Daeul’s cast.

They weren’t miserable, however. For once in his son’s life, Hyuk felt he had finally contributed something to him. Perhaps it was Hanji’s words that convinced him.

“How does it feel?”

She wiggled her left fingers playfully in front of Hyuk and Daeul signifying that she was alright after having her brace removed, though a scar still remained on her shoulder. Daeul had his cast removed on the same day but still had to attend therapy in order to avoid a permanent limp.

“Thankfully, I’m not left-handed.”, she joked earning a smile from Hyuk.

They sat on the carpet in Daeul’s playroom as he continued to press leaves into his scrapbook. November had began and Hyuk would turn thirty-one in two days. He planned to return to work after his birthday and spend more time there before the New Year.

“Hanji, we never got to celebrate your birthday.”, he suddenly said.

Turning her attention to him, Hanji widened her eyes slightly. “I-I celebrated with my family…”

“Do you perhaps want to celebrate with us? W-We can have dinner on Sunday night -- celebrate both our birthdays.”, he said with a soft smile, something she began to see on him quite often these days.

Both our birthdays? She didn’t want to take attention from him. Not especially since it was mainly his.

“Let Minji know. I’ll send her the address.”

Sitting on the coffee table was a small black paper bag with white gift wrapping tissue peeping out from the inside. Next to it resided a note:

hey, paperdoll :)

this was left outside for you

sis.

Hanji carefully pulled the tissue out and reached inside to pull out a maroon box designed with a silver ribbon wrapping around it. Along its bottom was taped a white card reading,

Hanji,

Many thanks for all that you do for our family.

Happiest 27th birthday.

Kwon Hyuk

She bit her bottom lip playfully as a smile crept upon her face. The familiar writing and name made her feel warm and almost jitty on the inside as she carefully opened the maroon box. She was greeted with a silver necklace -- the simple figure of a circle placed on top of a triangle outlined with small diamonds.

“A doll.”, she whispered as she held the gift closer to her face.

“He asks that you wear it tonight.”, she heard her sister’s familiar voice say from behind her, making her shift her body. Minji stood by the doorway holding up a shopping bag in the air with a slight smirk on her face.

“I-I can’t go dressed like this.”

Hanji stared at herself in the mirror, unable to recognize who she was -- dressed in a short-sleeved, deep red, knee high dress, her usual wavy hair now straightened, her pink lips now glossed and the new piece of accessory laying on her chest.

“At-At least get rid of the necklace.”, she pleaded with her sister who immediately frowned.

“Hanji, it’s his present for you. W-What better way of saying thank you than wearing it for him?”, Minji reassured as he played with her hair.

She fiddled with the pendant using her thumb and index finger, pursing her lips as she eyed the black paper bag on her drawer. Shopping for her sister was hard enough, let alone her male employer. What would Kwon Hyuk like? A watch? No, he has enough of those.

Eventually, she just settled for a Maritime jacket she had luckily bought on sale which now seemed embarrassing compared to the necklace.

Upon arriving at the restaurant which address Hyuk had texted Minji, she dropped her younger sister off to the front as she sought a parking space. She stepped inside the waiting room as she dusted off her dress and fixed the collar of her olive green trench coat.

“Uh, reservation--”

“For Kwon.”, a deep voice said behind her making her turn around quickly, her eyes laying on none other than Hyuk himself.

He wore dark dress pants, a gray t-shirt covered by a white pinstripe blazer and the familiar pointy shoes which she had been greeted by on her first day of work. His hair was different -- much shorter than before considering his man-bun had been trimmed off, it was black and styled with a side part directing to his left temple.

He radiated a soapy yet manly aroma, something she had gotten used to after all these weeks spent with him.

They smiled softly at one another, almost to wanting to say something but savoured the comfortable silence moments before Minji and surprisingly, Jiho entered the room.

“Happy birthday...you two.”, Jiho spoke almost awkwardly with a childish smile on his face as he patted Hyuk’s shoulder and flashed Hanji a wide grin, which she returned. Minji placed her hand on her sister’s back before directing her to the dining tables where other guests were waiting.

“You look wonderful.”, she heard Hyuk whisper next to her and gave him a quick glance realizing he had been looking straight ahead rather directly at her to avoid any suspicion from the others.

She sat across from him and next to Minji, Daeul sitting with Missus Chae and Jiho across her sister. “I’m glad you’re here, Missus Chae.”, gleed Hanji as the older woman grabbed both her hands softly.

“Well, I can’t let you get caught up with this little one on your birthday night.”, she smiled.

“It’s really Hyuk’s but...Thank you.”, Hanji grinned her eyes turning into crescents.

“The others are feasting at home since they know I won’t be there to tell them off.”, Hyuk joked with a grin on his face as they began to take their seats, making Hanji smile widely at him.

Smiles and laughter was all she was throughout the night -- constantly covering her mouth each time she laughed at an embarrassing story told by Jiho or a follow up joke by Minji. Hyuk mimicked her notions carefully glancing at her in admiration each time she threw her head back and laughed.

At one point when Missus Chae had assisted Daeul to the washroom to get his diaper changed, and Jiho and Minji had been conversing on their own, Hyuk carefully leaned into the space between him and Hanji.

“It looks great on you.”, he spoke softly looking at the necklace laying on her soft milky skin. She grinned shyly as she placed her fingers on her chest, mumbling a soft thank you to him.

“I uh, I got you something too.”, she began as she reached from behind her seat and grabbed the black paper bag and shyly handed it to him.

“I-It’s not much but…”, she trailed off as she watched him reach into it with his eyes wide and his cheekbones high. He pulled out the jacket and unfolded it holding it up in front of him.

Shoot. You should’ve just bought the watch, idiot girl. “You hate it. You hate it -- it-it’s okay, I-I’ll return it next week and I’ll get --”, Hanji began to panic as she leaned over and tried to take away the jacket.

Chuckling, Hyuk began to speak, “Hanji. I-I love it, I really do.”

He wasn’t lying. It was definitely his style -- polyester with different pockets able to zip up rather than button which he always found more convenient. It was something he needed with the chilly autumn weather and afterall, it was a present from Oh Hanji herself.

He smiled at her widely and she him, staring longingly at each other for what seemed like the nth time that evening. She wanted to bury her face in her hands and scream in embarrassment but could only manage to feel the pounding of her heart against her chest.

“Hey, listen. The-The year will end shortly and...I was…”, he said slowly beginning to worry Hanji a little.

“What is it, Hyuk?”, she asked softly.

Inhaling deeply, he continued, “I-I’m taking Daeul on vacation at the end of next month…”

“Will you come?”

She stood at the window in their small living room, admiring the skyline and the bright lights in front of her.

You can bring Minji, if that makes you more comfortable.

Let me know.

“Everything okay?”, she heard her sister’s voice say behind her but kept her eyes on the view.

“I uh, I just think I’m beginning to love Daeul…”, Hanji chuckled uncomfortably. She wasn’t lying -- she really did start to warm up to the boy, along with his antics and habits she grew to familiarize herself with.

Minji looked at her sister from behind, sighing softly as she remembered how she and Hyuk had been engaging that evening.

“And what about his father?”, she asked, making Hanji avert her eyes downward unable to respond.

Fun Fact #14

Kwon Hyuk has the same birthday as my best friend loll

#dean #deantrbl #deanfluenza #kwon hyuk #story

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kierantc-blog · 7 years

Text

Dark Nights: Metal #1 - An In-Depth Look

So with the first issue of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Dark Nights: Metal dropping this week, i thought i’d take the time to write a bit about the references of the issue as not everyone fully grasped the magnitude or significance of everything it had to offer.

Braal and The Legion Of Super-Heroes

One of the things that has been teased by DC since Rebirth is the return of the Legion Of Super-Heroes. Currently they have Saturn Girl locked up in Arkham Asylum after her appearance in DC Universe Rebirth #1, and in Metal we get another mention. Faced with Mongul and his new War World, Batman wonders how he managed to do it considering the Braalians were suppose to be watching him. The Braalians are a race of human-like aliens from Braal, a planet that is home to LoS founder Rokk Krinn AKA Cosmic Boy.

Even though Rokk won’t exist for another 9 centuries, this is an important detail in the story. Rokk and other Braalians have a unique ability to manipulate magnetic energy, and as Batman later notes that a planet like Braal with a heavy metal core is probably going to come under some stress due to the nature of the current Metal problem, thus explaining why Mongul was seemingly allowed to make his new War World.

What's the deal with the Tribes?

In the DC Universe there were 4 known tribes at the beginning of mankind, the Wolf Tribe, the Bird Tribe, the Bear Tribe and the Bat Tribe. These all directly relate to known people in the DCU, the Wolf Tribe is known for being the tribe of Vandal Savage (although they were previously known as the Blood Tribe), the Bird Tribe is where Carter Hall AKA Hawkman came from, and the Bear Tribe was home to the Immortal Man, a person we saw talking about Duke Thomas’s mother in The Forge #1. And then we have the Bat Tribe....

The origins of this tribe directly relate to Bruce Wayne. In the first issue of the pre-Flashpoint story The Return Of Bruce Wayne, we find the Caped Crusader stranded in the stone age, surrounded by a small tribe known as the Deer tribe. Meanwhile the Wolf tribe, led by Vandal Savage, tries to kill Bruce as well as destroy the entire Deer tribe, but when Bruce fights back and saves the tribe, they decide to rename themselves the Bat tribe and would later be known as the Miagani people of Gotham.

This tribe would literally lead their lives around Batman (or Man Of Bats as they called him), carrying with them the relic of the original cape and cowl Batman wore when he shot Darkseid, which would eventually end up in a cave beneath Wayne Manor centuries later.

The tribes are a very important part of the story because they lead into the next segment.....Barbatos.

Barbatos? Who The Heck Is Barbatos?

So now that you understand the history of the tribes slightly, it’s time to rewind a little bit in the timeline of Bruce Wayne and venture back to Final Crisis itself. During this Crisis Darkseid has everyone on the back foot and he plans on destroying everything, but Bruce manages to get hold of a radion bullet that killed the New God Orion (Darkseid’s son) and uses it to mortally wound Darkseid.

In immediate retaliation, Darkseid unleashes the Omega Sanction and kills Batman. Even though Batman is dead in the present day, he’s thrown back in time by the Omega Sanction into the stone age. Then Darkseid releases the Hyper-Adapter, a creature that will follow Bruce Wayne throughout history, feeding on his timeline until it reaches the present day when it will effectively destroy all of creation. It’s basically Darkseid’s final gambit after realising that he was mortally wounded by the radion bullet.

As this Hyper-Adapter follows Bruce throughout time, it begins to share the legend of the Man Of Bats and sometimes appears as a giant bat as well as an octopus creature, but it’s the bat sigil that has the bigger impact and would later lend to the name Barbatos. It’s through this Barbatos myth that one of Batman’s biggest villains prior to Flashpoint would come to light, Doctor Simon Hurt.

In 1765, one Thomas Wayne of Gotham was part of a cult that summoned Barbatos, and when confronted with the giant bat Thomas would bargain with it and become imbued with some of its powers, granting him a long life. Thomas would later be driven mad by this power and would later adopt the name Simon Hurt.

During the Batman RIP story, Hurt would try to discredit the Wayne family name by claiming to be Bruce’s father Thomas in an attempt to take the Wayne family fortune but he would be stopped by The Joker of all people and a banana peel.

The important part of the story of Barbatos when it relates to Metal is that he was seemingly a tool of New God origin, but it appears he might actually be more than that. Could he in fact be a New God of the Dark Multiverse and the Hyper-Adapter we met in Final Crisis and Return Of Bruce Wayne was merely an avatar? Time will tell, but Barbatos is a name that we should keep an eye on going forward in this event.

Lady Blackhawk And The Bird Tribe

In Metal #1 we’re finally introduced to Lady Blackhawk, a woman we had heard rumblings of back in All-Star Batman (also written by Snyder) but now we know her identity, Kendra Saunders AKA Hawkgirl. The Blackhawks are a team that Kendra has seemingly assembled in order to investigate the disappearance of Carter Hall, following a trail of clues he left behind to his whereabouts. For years the Blackhawks and by extentions the Bird Tribe would utilise the expertise of various people such as T.O Morrow and his Metal Men as well as the explorers The Challengers Of The Unknown and the original Star Man.

For years both Kendra and Carter were curious about their ability to reincarnate over hundreds of years and began to investigate the Nth Metal in their wings. Eventually Carter concluded that the metal must have come from a dark side of the Multiverse where dark matter comes from. Kendra disagreed and in order to prove he was right he and the Challengers Of The Unknown decided to go there, and in the process the base of the Challengers known as Challengers Mountain was ripped out of reality. This is the mountain that appears in the middle of Gotham in Metal #1.

Given Batman’s comments here that the material for the equipment is old but rather advanced in design means that the Challengers Of The Unknown and Hawkman have seemingly been missing for a number of years, possibly decades.

The story of issue 1 ends with Batman finding Carter Hall’s journal in the study of Wayne Manor, hidden for some time and in it Carter says that he entrusts the journal to a family he trusts and name checks the Wayne family as a member of the Bat Tribe. This isn’t a sentiment shared by Kendra though as she tells the Justice League that Barbatos’ entry into their Multiverse will be paved by a member of the Wayne family, and as Carter says in his journal that Barbatos has marked this person since the “final moment of crisis”.

Kendra believes that Challengers Mountain appearing in Gotham is no coincidence and she’s probably right, but could her disagreements with Carter be bigger than we realise? If Carter trusts the family of the Bat Tribe and she doesn’t, it could be an indicator of the politics between them that forced Carter’s hand.

Neil Gaiman Drops By Wayne Manor

The ending of Metal #1 is crazy, like seriously crazy. Batman finds Carter’s journal in his study (coincidentally the place he chooses to become a Bat) and is confronted by a pale figure called The Dream Of The Endless who tells him that his nightmare is only just beginning.

This pale figure is a man created by legendary writer Neil Gaiman for the Vertigo series The Sandman. Now i haven’t read The Sandman but i know of it and the love it receives from all who have read it, and the fact one of the main characters of that series is in this book is a feat in itself. Unlike most creator/publisher relationships where the publisher can use characters as they see fit, DC and Gaiman have an agreement that his characters will only be used with his permission, so for one of them to be in Metal #1 means that Gaiman has given his seal of approval.

In The Sandman series, the Endless are physical manifestations of powerful forces that exist throughout creation. The man we see here is Dream, but there are others such as Death, Destiny and Desire. This particular version of Dream is inhabited by a young man named Daniel Hall, who is actually the grandson of Carter Hall AKA Hawkman and thus he technically belongs to the Bird Tribe. His mother, Hippolyta Trevor-Hall was the daughter of the Golden Age Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor and his father Hector Hall was the son of Hawkman who would later become Doctor Fate.

Daniel is not the first version of Dream to exist, the previous one Morpheus gave up his life for a new Dream to exist and they are different in appearance too, making it easy to identify the one from Metal #1 as Daniel. Morpheus in appearance has spiky black hair and pale white skin, with two white stars for eyes, whereas Daniel only shares the pale skin with him and has medium length white hair and black space for eyes.

The significance of Dream as a character is that he is literally the embodiment of all dreams and has untold powers that make him as powerful as any God, maybe even more so.

So why is he in Metal #1? This is speculative but if the Dark Multiverse is made up of Nightmares, the one person who would know about it is Dream, and he would certainly want to help the heroes against such an enemy, especially if his grandfather is somehow involved too.

So there you have it, i hope i’ve done justice to some of the story elements from Metal #1, it’s truly a fantastic story but it does need some background information for new readers to fully appreciate what Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo are crafting.

Anyway thanks for reading! I’ll soon be posting a review of sorts for the entirety of DC’s Rebirth lineup, but there’s a lot to go through so i’ll probably post it by Tuesday at the latest.

Stay safe.

#Dark Nights: Metal #DC Rebirth #Legion Of Super-Heroes #Final Crisis #The Return Of Bruce Wayne #Batman R.I.P #Doctor Hurt #Barbatos #Darkseid #Hawkman #Hawkgirl #Lady Blackhawk #The Sandman #Dream Of The Endless #Daniel Hall #Challengers Of The Unknown

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shingeki-no-scenarios · 7 years

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Title: Shadow

Pairing: Armin x Fem!OC

Genre: Angst, Drama

Warnings: Implied cheating, strong language, alcohol abuse

Summary: He tries to ignore it, but it was always there. It seemed to be more obvious in the night.

A/N: From this request. I got carried away and made this too long oops

She stepped into the apartment quietly, while hoping and praying that he wouldn’t hear her come in. It was 3 in the morning, after all, and she didn’t want to have to explain herself. She didn’t have an excuse prepared as to why dinner with the girls lasted 9 hours.

“You’re home.” a sleepy voice spoke, making her jump back in surprise.

“You’re awake.” she whispered, watching him slowly get up from his spot on the sofa and rub his eyes.

“I wasn’t awake. I dozed off about 10 minutes ago, then I heard the door open.” he replied, welcoming her for a hug. It was left unrewarded, however, as she headed straight for the room. He expected it, but it still hurt.

“I’m going to take a shower then hitting the sack. Feel free to join either activity.” she said nonchalantly, not even making eye contact.

“Oh, alright then.” he replied, to which she just replied . He did expect it– she has been cold the past few months, after all. What he thought of as simple PMS ended up being torture that went on for months.

“I love you.” he called out as he prayed that she would finally say it.

"Yeah.” she replied, as she closed the door.

––

“Let me take this call. It’s the team manager.” she said abruptly, quickly making her way out of the room.

It was the first time they’ve had an interaction this civil in weeks (or months. Armin wasn’t sure anymore– he lost count).

He was helping her pack her bags for a week-long business trip, and they were having a rather smooth conversation since she finally moved on from giving one-word answers and took on answering in complete sentences. As much as this change gave him hope, he was still suspicious. After all, coming home at 3AM (or not coming home at all) without any calls or texts, along with speaking less and less, became the norm for her.

“Yes, babe. I’m on my way. Let me just finish this, alright?” he heard her say from the other room. His blood turned cold.

Babe?

“I said yes, okay?” she said, her voice sickly sweet. “Yes, I love you too. Bye.”

With a heavy sigh, he continued on with folding her shirts and sweaters, smiling at her sweetly when she joined him, as if he didn’t hear anything.

––

“Well, if six of them went out, then the four of them must have been really cheap.” he added, voice shaking with worry. “I mean, it’s clear that only two of them had dinner.” he pushed the credit card receipt towards the group.

“Come on, Armin. Don’t you think you’re overthinking this?” Jean said as he eyed the receipt suspiciously. “I mean, it could be a glitch.”

“I disagree.” Eren interjected. “35 bucks for 6 people? At Greg’s? Do your math.”

“You always disagree with me, asshole.” Jean scathingly replied, eyebrows furrowing at the boy seated in front of him.

“That’s because you’re fucking wrong!” the other replied, raising his voice.

“Guys! We’re missing the point here.” Marco interrupted, cutting the argument before it escalated. “We all came here to listen to Armin, remember?”

Armin, on the other hand, sat motionless as he stared into space as the group started to debate. It was him who called for the meeting, yet he spoke a lot less than the others; he was in total shock. Even if he found it days ago, he found it hard to confront the issue, and he definitely needed the help of his friends. He’s seen it over a thousand times ever since she carelessly left it on the coffee table, but his heart pinched with anxiety whenever he laid eyes on it. It was a simple credit card receipt, but it was clear evidence and it held a grim reminder of the reality he didn’t want to face.

“Well, I’m sorry.” Connie broke the ice and offered a small smile of reassurance. The rest of the boys followed, finally registering what Armin just implied.

“It’s fine. I’m fine.” he replied as he gingerly took a sip of his tea.

Or at least he thought he was.

––

“Slow down, man. There, there.” Eren soothingly said as he patted Armin’s back. The poor blonde had consumed too many tequila shots, and now it was all coming out on the pavement of some unknown street.

Heaving one last time and wiping his mouth on his sleeve, his started to make his way back to the club, only to have Eren stop him.

“Let me go. I’m going back in.” he stoically spat as he shrugged Eren off him. He wanted to have one last drink, as he swore that he was one more shot away from completely numbing himself– it sounded perfect.

“Armin, this is the nth fucking night that you ended up like this. What is up with you?” the other exclaimed in exasperation as he ran his hands through his hair and lightly tugged at it. “Who are you?” he questioned; he did not recognized the person standing in front of him at all.

He felt as if he was facing a total stranger because it really wasn’t like Armin to drink himself silly– almost every night, at that. The intelligent and wise friend he had seemed to be gone, and was unfortunately replaced by a drunken fool. He realized that more than angry, he was simply concerned.

“Shit, I’m sorry.” he muttered, realizing how judgmental and impatient he has been. He knew what his friend was going through, but he still chose to be his short-tempered self. “I’m sorry, man. I didn’t mean to–”

“It’s fine.” Armin said in a deadpan voice as his blue eyes met Eren’s gray ones. “I should be sorry. I don’t know any other way to heal internal scars, so here I am, consuming alcohol like a fool.” he spat out with disdain. If he were Eren, he would be just as angry at how utterly immature he was when dealing with this situation. What could he do? He couldn’t leave her, but he couldn’t take the pain either.

Eren opened his mouth to retort, but it was quickly ignored as Armin rolled his eyes, then turned his back and walked back into the club.

––

The house was pitch black when she stepped in, save for the light that was coming from the TV screen. Squinting, she noticed the silhouette of a hunched figure that sat in front of the TV. Looking around, she noticed that the area close to him was covered in pictures of them, along with empty beer cans and empty noodle cups. The living room had become a total mess. What on earth is going on?, she thought.

“Armin?” she tried calling out, only to get no response.

Her vision was hazy (she had been out for a couple drinks with him), urging her to step closer to Armin and the TV set to see what was up, only stopping when she noticed the video he was watching– their wedding video.

“... to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.”

“Liar.” he muttered upon hearing it.

“Liar!” he yelled, throwing empty beer cans at the screen and letting out sobs of pain.

She jumped back in shock and covered her mouth, holding back a sob that was threatening to escape– she didn’t want him to know that she was there. She was guilty as charged, yet she did not have the gall to tell him.

The worst part was that she didn’t feel sorry.

Turning back, she quickly but quietly made her way out of the apartment, running as quickly as she could once she closed the door.

As soon as she exited the building, she immediately hailed and jumped into a cab, and gave the driver directions to the only place she found safe at the moment– his house.

“I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry. I don’t know. I don’t know why I do this. I’m sorry.” she muttered under her breath. Closing her eyes, she pressed the side of her head on the window and let the tears fall.

––

“I think we should get a divorce.”

The pair had been sitting in silence in the bathtub, letting the water run through their clothes and soak them to the bone. They weren’t sure how they ended up like this, but they were sure that they were coming to an end.

“I think we should.” she replied, her hands softly skimming through the clear water as she avoided his gaze.

She was still as beautiful as he remembered; after all, it was her looks that got him in the first place. However, something was missing. It was as if she was physically present, but mentally and emotionally absent.

“Look at me.” he pleaded, trying to make eye contact with her, hoping he could see past her icy gaze and look into her soul. Maybe that way, he would finally get answers.

“I can’t.” she shook her head rather violently as she buried her face in her hands, letting the tears fall there.

She couldn’t bare to look him right now, not when she didn’t feel any sympathy or empathy for him. In fact, she didn’t feel anything at all. She was a monster and she knew it.

“I love you.” he whispered.

“I loved you.” she whispered back.

––

Taking a deep breath, he let the cool, fresh air fill his lungs as the sun gently hit his face.

Ah, lovely.

He used to come to this side of the park with her, and several memories that were made in the exact spot he was standing came flooding through his mind. It took him a few years before he got the courage to come back to that spot, out of fear of the memories coming back.

Today, he wasn’t afraid at all.

In fact, he was happy.

As much as she hurt him, he was still able to smile for her, knowing that somewhere out there, she is giving love as much as she is getting the love she deserves. He was also happy knowing that by hurting, he was able to grow and grab onto other opportunities. Sure, he had gone through hell and back because of her, but he still had a lot to thank her for. Had it not been for her, he wouldn’t be able to give love another chance, and most importantly, love himself.

Just when his reverie was getting deep, it was broken upon hearing someone clear their throat. It was her.

“Hey” she said softly, offering a smile. Thankfully, it was no longer awkward between them.

“Hi.” he replied, noting how great she looked in her gown.

“You look great.” she commented as she gently dusted off the lint on his coat and straightened out his collar.

“So do you.” he said with a bashful smile. “Perhaps leaving each other did us good.” he added, making her burst into laughter.

“Clever.” she said through chuckles. “Anyway, we should head back. They’re all looking for you.” Furrowing his eyebrows, he checked his phone and gasped upon seeing he had 10 minutes left before it started.

“Yeah, you’re right. We should.” he mumbled, quickly putting his phone in his pocket and making his way out of the park. Oh no, the nerves were kicking in.

“Slow down!” she called out, giggling as she jogged after him. “You wouldn’t want to nurse your broken leg at your reception, right?”

#snk #aot #armin arlert #armin x oc #fic

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aion-rsa · 7 years

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Everything We Know About Batman’s Dark Nights: Metal… So far.

There are challenging times ahead for the DCU, and they’re coming via the much awaited reunion of creative duo Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo and their new Batman-centric event, “Dark Nights: Metal.” The main event follows prelude books “Dark Days: The Forge” and “Dark Days: The Casting” which will be penned by Snyder and James Tynion IV, with a revolving art team of John Romita Jr, Andy Kubert, and Jim Lee.

Snyder took to WonderCon’s stage with his collaborators to make the big announcement, proclaiming that “Dark Nights: Metal” is something that he and Capullo have been working towards since the very start of their time working on Batman, far before Rebirth took hold. He went on to insist that there have been clues peppered throughout not just “Batman” books, but DC’s entire line.

With all of that in mind, it’s time to start digging for these clues. Has the secret of “Metal,” and tangentially, the whole of Rebirth’s future, really been staring fans right in the face for so many years?

PERIODIC

During their panel at Dallas Fan Expo, Snyder singled out the finale arc of he and Capullo’s “Batman” run, “Superheavy” as holding some of the “biggest clues” for the trajectory of “Dark Nights: Metal,” and then went on to elaborate that some of the most obvious signals could be found in the periodic table motif.

“Batman” #45 includes a moment where acting Batman, Jim Gordon, visits the mysterious, filthy rich (and almost undoubtedly Court of Owls connected) Geri Powers, current president of Powers International, and financial and intellectual backer of the GCPD’s Batman suit efforts deep within a collider beneath the city. Powers explains to Gordon in what now reads almost too obviously as a parable that Powers International has been trying to find new element — things that are just beyond the edges of the periodic table — and then even confesses to Gordon that they’ve been successful.

In fact, they’ve been successful not once, but four times.

The first of their new elements is where the arc gets it’s name. An element called “Batmanium”, number 206, that is so dense that even a small Batarang sized chunk of it weighs close to two tons. “Superheavy” indeed.

Interestingly enough, Geri declines to explain what the other three elements they’ve invented are but drops this cryptic bit of information on Gordon after he expresses his concern about the collider’s safety:

“There are thirty thousand [colliders] in the United States alone. All like this, thrumming away beneath towns and cities and fields. Little universes being created and destroyed, moment by moment.”

This, perhaps even more than the new element itself, is interesting, given the scant handful of cover images we have to work from right now. The finished cover for “Dark Days: The Forge” showcases Batman in what appears to be some sort of Bat-drone infested dystopia — perhaps a Gotham of the future? Or maybe another reality altogether?

Is it possible that Geri’s metaphor about the creation and destruction of realities wasn’t so metaphorical after all? And what were the other three artificial elements? What has Powers International been doing since the start of Rebirth, anyway?

BATMEN OF THE MULTIVERSE

It’s worth noting that both Snyder and DC Comics co-publisher Dan Didio spoke pointedly about the implications of “Dark Nights: Metal” for the DCU at large, explaining that the consequences will be far reaching outside of Gotham, even outside the DC multiverse itself, so the suspicion of alternate realities coming into play is a pretty valid one to have.

It’s also worth noting that Snyder and Capullo’s run tiptoed around the subject ever so slightly as it came to a close.

While Bruce is working to regain his memories, issue #49 is inter-cut with double page splashes of strange, uncanny worlds in which Batman is cast as various genres of hero across varying settings. The splashes, in the context of the story, read as an extended metaphor for the nature of Bruce’s own memory and the way he conceptualizes himself and his role, but, with the looming threat of the multiverse itself encroaching around Gotham, it’s hard to ignore the other implications.

Namely, that in regaining his memories, Bruce was somehow catching a glimpse at different universe’s incarnations of himself in a literal rather than figurative sense….Maybe something spurned on by the Powers’ colliders work?

Also, Snyder noted during the panel that “Metal” will be pulling from sources beyond just his and Capullo’s own run, and specifically sited tapping into Morrison’s work with the character — a run that made a specific effort to fold in every bizarre corner of Bruce Wayne through the multiverse it could get it’s hands on.

More interesting still, Tim Seeley’s work in “Nightwing” has taken the time to reintroduce some elements of Morrison’s run into Dick Grayson’s story as well, with Professor Pyg as a newly reinvented villain and Dick maybe-or-maybe-not getting a first hand look at the multiverse via the business end of one of Pyg’s weapons. The “Nightwing” team has yet to be officially announced in conjunction with any “Dark Nights: Metal” tie-ins (in fact, no one has) but it’s extremely unlikely that a Batman-centric event will pass up an opportunity to tie into “Nightwing.”

Morrison easter eggs, and nods to the multiverse are definitely something to keep an eye on all throughout Gotham as the tension for the event builds.

MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

Alternate reality weirdness wasn’t Morrison’s only contribution to the Batman mythos. He also kicked off the (now mostly defunct) Batman, Inc effort wherein Bruce decided to “industrialize” his own super heroics on an international scale by recruiting other superheroes as the “Batman” of their own respective countries.

While this idea and ongoing book did carry over into the New 52, it quickly dropped off once the run was completed and the idea and many of the characters invented for it were lost to time as Snyder and Capullo’s “Batman” solo title continued on. However, the echos of Batman, Inc have shown up time and time again as a thematic motif through the vast majority of their work.

With Jim Gordon’s acceptance of the Batman mantle, the GCPD and Powers International launched an effort to create an “army” of Batman mech suits to be used by trained personnel in Gordon’s stead. Later, in the Rebirth run of “Detective Comics,” the Colony, a rogue military branch was revealed to be training soldiers in Batman’s own fighting techniques to form a sort of rogue, swat team that would function outside of any governmental (or moral) supervision.

In Snyder’s own “All Star Batman,” a reinvented version of the Blackhawk Squadron has recently been given a supporting role as a sort of shadow ops military team of indeterminate origins who may or may not have been working behind the scenes as far back as the “Zero Year” arc. What’s more, Bruce’s own efforts to clone himself and his memories to achieve a sort of artificial immortality, a Batman that would live on forever, were in part what granted the original Bruce his memories back in the first place.

The theme of people wanting to weaponize and mass produce “Batmen” of their very own — for better or for worse — has been a subtle tether running just beneath the surface of the Gotham-centric books for nearly eight years, and is certainly something that could be well on it’s way to getting a massive payoff in “Dark Nights: Metal.”

NTH METAL

Both Snyder and Capullo made sure to emphasize the fact that they weren’t just looking in Gotham for inspiration for the event, while both Lee and Didio have mentioned both Hawkman and the Nth Metal by name in conjunction with the story.

The most recent appearance of Hawkman was this year in the aptly titled mini series “The Death of Hawkman,” where Katar and Adam Strange faced off against Despero for the sake of Rann and Thanagar’s future. As you may have guessed, the story ended with Hawkman dying, but perhaps more interestingly, in the process Adam Strange was seemingly launched…well, somewhere.

His current status remains completely unknown as he was last scene tumbling through a multi-color void, seemingly completely disoriented.

Hawkman’s death came as the result of a hail mary attempt to defeat Despero, who, unsurprisingly, was looking to take over the Nth Metal inside his body to add to his own power. Despite Katar and Adam’s tragic victory, the final pages of “Death of Hawkman” show Katar’s skeleton floating in the void of space before a hand manifests from nothingness and crushes his skull — Despero reformed and unbeatable.

So far, none of the information presented about “The Forge,” “The Casting,” or “Metal” has confirmed a main villain, but if we had to guess at one, Despero seems to be a pretty likely candidate. After all, Dan Didio himself just recently confirmed that “Metal” will involve the return of Hawkman, and the two of them most certainly have a score to settle.

The post Everything We Know About Batman’s Dark Nights: Metal… So far. appeared first on CBR.

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