#joker is the only thing holding them both back into a brawl
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Am also excited for labyrinth!! Mayhaps some Helena processing or reacting to what Marc did when they had finished hunting mobsters for the night?
“Spare room is still empty,” Barbara says, distracted by whatever one of the League members is asking. Helena thinks she catches a glimpse of green light, and—the thought of what Bruce would say about Oracle playing tech support for Green Lantern makes her grin despite the weariness that’s heavy in every limb.
“That mattress is awful,” she complains, and instead of making for the spare room she collapses on the long couch against the wall, practically sinking into the cushions. It’s a terrible, awful couch in a truly painful shade of maroon, but Helena has a long-standing adoration of it that manifests as threats to revolt if Barbara ever gets rid of it.
“Then sleep on the floor,” Barbara tells her, merciless. She frowns, entering a few last keystrokes and then sitting back, watching whatever program she’s got running for a long moment before she pushes her chair back from her computer and turns it. The sweep of her eyes takes in Helena’s slightly battered costume, the empty holster on her thigh, the crossbow on the floor, and she smiles. Helena loves that smile. It’s pure guile, and whenever Bruce or Dick insists that Barbara is the nicest of the Bats, Helena has to laugh. Barbara's tempered steel and opaque glass, never quite what you think she should be, and Helena finds that she likes the unpredictability more than she’d ever thought she would.
“I see you and Moon Knight got along,” she says, lancing her fingers and leaning forward to rest her chin on them.
“When you sit like that it makes you look like a supervillain,” Helena tells her, and leaves out the fact that it makes her look hot, too. The on-again, off-again thing with Dick isn't really something Helena keeps track of, because it’s none of her business. It makes the flirting harder to handle, though. From both of them.
“I would make an amazing supervillain,” Barbara says, unbothered, which is equal parts true and absolutely terrifying.
Helena laughs, pulling one leg up to unlace her boot, then the other, and kicking them off. “If you ever go supervillain, I get first dibs on being your henchwoman,” she says, and Barbara smirks, coppery hair sliding over her shoulders and almost hiding the sharpness in her eyes.
“Only if you go back to the costume with the cleavage,” she counters, and then, before Helena can process the flash of heat at the thought of Barbara looking, she asks, “Moon Knight?”
“I'm keeping him,” Helena says without hesitation, because it’s true. Moon Knight waded into a bar fight right next to her, never even blinked at her methods, and didn’t so much as waver when she all but told him her father was mafia. He’s perfect. She hasn’t had someone willing to brawl with her like that in years. Not since Barbara was forced to leave behind the Batgirl mantle, honestly.
Barbara's smile is slow and a little wicked. “Even though Bruce wants him out of Gotham?” she asks.
Helena rolls her eyes, stripping off her gloves and tossing them on top of her boots, her mask following. “Bruce can choke on his cape,” she says without sympathy. “Plenty of people in the League kill when they're forced to, and Bats likes to think he has a monopoly on Gotham, but he doesn’t. If he did try to keep a hero from helping people in the city, when they're only going after bad guys, that would be shitty, and he knows it.”
“I don’t think he realizes that he knows it,” Barbara says, wry. “You know how Bruce is. He’s going to dig his heels in until he’s forced to admit to an emotion.”
Helena pauses, something about that phrasing catching her attention. She tips her head, eyeing Barbara narrowly, and asks suspiciously, “An emotion?”
Barbara laughs, raising her hands. “He does have them, you know,” she points out. When Helena keeps staring, though, she snorts, and says, “When Moon Knight got shot. I saw them together. Bruce was…softer.”
Well. That’s an interesting thing. Helena cocks a brow, and says, “Does Bruce realize that Moon Knight just summoned his god to cover Gotham?”
Barbara's smile is wicked. “Bruce doesn’t even know who Moon Knight is yet.”
That’s even more interesting. Helena laughs, swinging her feet over the side of the couch and sitting up, leaning forward. “There was a god in the sky,” she tells Barbara, and it’s still a little hard to believe. She’d seen the shadow, and the wings, and the wall of darkness around the city like a fortification. “Moon Knight said he’s the doorway. And Bruce Wayne got gooey about him?”
“Before the god part,” Barbara says dryly. “In all fairness. But it will be interesting to see what happens when he realizes.”
Because Barbara isn't going to tell him. Barbara ended up paralyzed by one of the Joker’s mad plots, and Moon Knight killed the Joker, put that particular ghost to rest. Barbara's got her loyalties, but—Helena can understand why they're knotting themselves around Moon Knight, in light of that.
“He’s got a mean left hook, god or no god,” she says, and then pauses, narrowing her eyes. “Wait, this Khonshu, is he, like, a realgod? From an established mythology? Would I find him if I cracked open a world religion book? Or is this another extradimensional entity pretending it’s a god thing?”
Barbara shrugs. “Does it matter?” she asks, a little wry. “Moon Knight believes in him. Khonshu was Egyptian, once, but according to legend he’s a dead god. Maybe it’s something wearing him like a suit, or maybe it’s something pretending, or maybe Moon Knight resurrected a god. I don’t think it makes a difference.”
Barbara's always been the smart one, Helena thinks, amused. Helena’s got good aim, and a good punch, but there’s a reason Barbara leads the Birds of Prey.
“Thoughts on making Moon Knight a Bird?” she asks, leaning forward to give Barbara a smirk. “Honorary, or whatever. His god looked like a falcon there for a minute. I think it should count.”
Barbara laughs. “I was thinking he could be our mascot,” she counters. “Nominal patron god of the Birds of Prey. Khonshu seems to have a thing for warrior priests. I don’t think he’d object.”
“No one should object to having us around,” Helena says breezily. “Zinda’s the life of any party. And Dinah’s probably down with a god who eats hearts and heals human trafficking victims.”
“I’ll start the paperwork, then,” Barbara says, grinning. “Print up a plaque. Should we get Moon Knight a trophy or a condolences card?”
“Both?” Helena offers, and she grins back. Thinks of Moon Knight, perfectly happy to give as good as he got, whether it was in the fight or just when they were bickering, and laughs. “I promised him roses,” she says. “Roses and condolences card in the trophy?”
“Sold,” Barbara agrees, and reaches out. She obviously means to shake on it, but Helena claims her hand, slides off the couch to flop down at her feet, and drops her cheek on Barbara's knee.
“Bruce is going to have an aneurysm,” she says, entirely delighted by the idea. “He’s having feelings about Moon Knight.”
Barbara chuckles, stroking her hair, and she’s really beautiful when she smiles like that. “I’ll show you the tape,” she promises, and Helena is definitely holding her to that.
[On AO3]
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joint prompt with @ara-kadeu
Tell us about the Keahi-Moon Wedding!
What customs did they observe?
Hilo’s broad hand gravitates towards the ornate dagger on a simple chain around his neck, his smile proud even if it’s borderline shy. “Well, before the wedding, Ara proposed by having this made for me.” He holds it up for a slightly better look; the hilt now has an additional stone, of course, for Lana. “She, um, didn’t beat me to it by much. I might’ve been faster if I hadn’t spent so much time perfecting the bracelet I gave her,” Hilo adds with a sheepish laugh, letting the dagger settle against his chest again as he rubs the back of his neck.
“For the wedding itself, we had it at the temple, naturally.” It seemed perfectly natural to them, anyway; how could they not honor the goddess who’d visited them on Airang to bless their love herself? “Exchanged rings.” Now Hilo holds up his left hand to display that: a relatively simple but well-crafted ring in a hammered bronze that matches Ara’s bracelet. “She had this enchanted so I wouldn’t ruin at the Forge, or just by being myself,” he clarifies with a chuckle. “Alamea, the uh, last living cousin of my generation, performed the rites for us.” Hilo’s smile turns a little nostalgic, a little sad as he shrugs. “Neither of us had parents to perform the parental rites, but. Everything else, we observed.”
What was the most memorable moment for each individual?
“Oh, seeing her in her dress for the first time.” Hilo doesn’t even have to pause to think, his grin broadening again as he shakes his head. “Not even part of the wedding, I know, and definitely not how she wanted it to happen. But she looked… stunning.” He smiles to himself, slowly shaking his head like he still can’t believe his luck -- and there are still big parts of him who can’t, even years later. “I think that’s the most memorable because that’s when it became the most real, y’know? We’d been planning for months, of course, but that was when it became really real.”
Looking back, was there anything they’d have liked to have done differently?
“Mm…” Hilo takes a deep breath and tilts his head back, lapsing into silence for a moment as he considers. “Maybe the one thing that was the most ‘out-there’ for me was that we rented out that great big ballroom in the Joker for the reception. I wouldn’t change that necessarily, but I think it would’ve been nice to have something more low-key, too. I mean, my family is mostly made up of Ones of Clubs,” he points out with a low chuckle. “A lot of them hadn’t even seen anything like that before. But we’d invited Aces, too, so.” He smiles and shrugs. “Maybe it was best to err on the fancy side, and let my family have their loud party-brawl some other time.”
Divorce is done by simply stating the intent for divorce three times in a row before a witness. How does your muse feel about this?
“Eh.” Hilo laughs, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s wild to me that it’s that easy, I guess. I’ve both joked and not joked with Ara that I worry about divorcing her accidentally. But…” His smile softens and he shakes his head. “It’s not like I’d ever want to state any intention to divorce her, even as a joke, and definitely not three times in a row. If I decide to, I guess we can still make those jokes at home, while Lana’s too young to play witness yet.” He pauses, then adds with a laugh, “And there I’d probably only be thinking about it if she tried to ‘help’ in the kitchen again, like the time she ruined the complicated pastry I’d been working on for forty-five minutes already.”
#task.#moon ara: i'll be your gravity#barely proofread this tbqh#but bry looked it over so#blame her for typos pls and thnx :jouiface:
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Just as necessity is the mother of invention, sexuality is the malformed sister to sadism for your average, run-of-the-mill sadist; Joker is no exception to this rule of the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) in psychology. It is one of very few things those who have studied him can actually agree upon professionally.
Joker scores high on the nine-question Sadism Test (high meaning here that he ticked every box) and as often happens in such cases, he scored as being reasonably hyper-dominant and hit the sexual sadism (the act of being aroused or taking sexual pleasure from the pain or humiliation of others) box. And openly admitted such feelings were an everyday occurrence for him when faced with such situations.
Trying to pinpoint the exact origin of this paraphilia is difficult. Many have tried and gotten nowhere. They know from research over the years on individuals such as J, that it began in childhood: every sexual sadist hits a point in childhood where the differentiation between sex, pain, and gratification is blurred. In joker’s case, the when and the how is unclear.
He rarely speaks of his family and of his upbringing; in fact it is perhaps the one subject that when broached or prodded can result in violence on his behalf. He may tease with a detail here and there, but then he will shut down and avoid further discussion on the topics. It perhaps began one faraway day back in 1975 when Joker was four years old. He barely remembers it, having a better memory of the similar events which followed after this year and were a natural occurrence to him up until he was eight years old. 1975 was the first time, but by no means the last.
Franklin Field in Dorchester, Boston in ‘75 was quite possibly a more violent area to reside in than today. Back then, there were homes poorly constructed by local government to exclusively house working-class families, whose majority red-flagged as holding criminal records, being single-parent units, or holding a different ethnicity than Caucasian. There were so many of these buildings cropping up that ghettos began to be born. Gang war-torn places where children were let run riot, barely clothed or washed, and where nobody dared walk at night; there were markers posted loud and clear on certain streets or neighborhoods that meant you shouldn’t even walk here in the day, such places fondly called ‘danger zones’. The ramshackle little houses were bunched in top of one another but they were never homes. Homes had white picket fences. These didn’t. They were not built with a park nor local stores. They were not built to fix the problem of the swelling number of working-class families or an influx of immigrants; they were merely built to contain them, to hide them.
Today, if you walked Franklin Field with Joker, he would be lost. Perhaps an aged building or two store might stand out with memories; but many of the ghettos of ‘75 have been long since demolished after investigations in to sanitation, construct, public health and safety, and history. They were deemed unsafe, unethical, and more problematic than helpful.
Joker’s birth family was one of very few Caucasian families in the ghetto wherein they lived. They were one of too many families whose parents worked blue-collar and pink-collar jobs, held criminal records, and who also were listed as single-parent though both parents lived within the one home. In 1975, the law which stated unmarried couples were entitled to the same rights of married couples - including mortgages - and that their offspring’s birth certificates had to have their red stamp of ‘Illegitimate’ removed, had yet to be fully accepted and recognized on a societal scale. Many families like Joker’s ran in to everyday problems despite the fairly new law: they still were held in bad odor and often received poor treatment on an individual basis.
They were also one of too many families where both domestic and child abuse ran rampant; although in ‘75, many laws we have today regarding such mistreatment had yet to be put in place. Husbands disciplined wives and children in a way then believed to be ‘the norm’. Raping your wife was not made illegal until the ‘80′s.
One faraway day back in 1975 was when four-year old Joker first witnessed his mother being raped by his father. Standing in the corridor and peering in through the crack in the door, awoken by a violent brawl between drunken, broke father and angry, resentful mother, he watched. He was too afraid to move once it began. He wanted to so badly, but he couldn’t move. He had to watch. His eyes wouldn’t close. He had to bear witness. So he did. Trembling with pudgy hands in his mouth, he wept and watched and peed his jammies in terror.
She was crying and screaming, fighting. He was carrying on regardless, tearing away her clothes and beating her all the while. She began to stop fighting and just begged, laying there. He began to grunt, showering her in spittle, sweat, bruises, bad words, and laughter. She didn’t enjoy it. He did. He always did. She never learned to enjoy it. Nor did Joker ever learn to enjoy the occurrence. He learned to bury his head under his pillow instead.
Sex was pain. Pain was pleasure. The bruises adorning his mother on an almost daily basis fed in to the bruise kink which in turn fed in to the sexual sadism. Which reared it’s head slowly, the way cancer grows, and reaching a sizable shape in puberty. When torturing insects and a random pet that had strayed in to teen Joker’s territory, suddenly a new pleasure came to him after a childhood spent merely enjoying the feeling of control; a rigid lump would form in his pants, and thus began the fantasizing at night or at random times in the day. Fantasizing about humans. Women, men, people he knew, stars he would never meet. Sometimes, these sadistic fantasies were the only way to achieve relief. Sometimes they weren’t necessary. But never again did animals hold the same amount of pleasure for him. A boy moves on to bigger and better ideas. A boy experiments and learns just what his father found sexy about tears and pain. But a man now named Joker will never talk about this.
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Robin The Movie Pt 2
Part 1 Part 3
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In another part of the world, a boy gasps for air as he emerges from a Lazarus pit.
After crawling out, he coughs as several figures watch on.
“Where... who am I?” Jason asks.
It zooms in on Ra’s Al Ghul’s smirking face before it cuts to black.
Batman and Nightwing are sneaking through the shadows, bringing justice to Gotham like how they did as Batman and Robin.
But then it cuts to them fighting, screaming at each other in the Batcave while Tim is behind the corner hearing it all.
Tim is insistent. Batman needs a Robin. He needs someone to the his light so that he doesn’t fall too deep into the darkness of the city and the darkness in himself.
Dick considers his reasoning for a moment, but he’s not going to be Robin again. He gave up that mantle when he left Bruce. Dick snaps his fingers before pointing to Tim and then the scene cuts off.
It cuts back to Tim training, before shifting to his initiation as Robin with Dick’s blessing.
Soon enough, Batman and Robin patrol the streets of Gotham once more.
Then Tim’s mother dies and his father paralyzed. Tim is forced to retire as Robin and Stephanie takes the title in his stead.
Stephanie leaves not long after.
Batman is left without a Robin for a while.
During that, the Joker is found to have been beaten by a crowbar. Several criminals of all levels are found dead or brutalized.
Batman follows the lead and Nightwing aids him. They are lead to the Red Hood.
The dynamic duo face the Red Hood on the ledge of Wayne Enterprises. The whirling of helicopter blades hovers between them before the lights from the copper blind the camera and the scene switches to Jason and Bruce, masks off.
Jason’s Red Hood.
An explosion happens in a building and then Jason and Bruce are on opposite ends of the city.
Red Hood is nowhere to be seen after that, but his name is whispered between cities and always makes its way back home, to Gotham.
Tim comes back to being Robin the next day and is very confused.
Then Tim’s father dies and Dick and Jason now have a new brother.
But life goes on for the Bats.
The scenes switch between the two previous Robins and the current one.
One moment it’s Nightwing in the Cave, then next he’s in the Watchtower, the people he’s with shifting and unfocused like before, but someone with red hair always peeks through. Dick’s laughter and voice echoing. At some point, Dick looks out and mutters Jason’s name.
Then it’s onto Jason sneezing, before a female voice tells her, “Bless you.” Then next it’s Jason and another friend aiming to strike on the roof of a building. Next it’s Red Hood and two others brawling off some goons. The sound of explosions, gun shot, arrows flying, and things breaking echo in most scenes, but as does Jason’s hollering.
Tim’s moments are mostly with the Bat, investigating a case, defusing a bomb, fighting the Joker, etc. But there are brief moments where Robin is fighting beside younger heroes, their faces blurred or they’re too far to see amidst the chaos of battle. A boy says some slang that’s very out of date in one scene and then it cuts to the laughter of several teens and then to their chatter and whispers.
Nightwing visits Gotham often, so that he can be a better brother to Tim than he was to Jason, so that he can help mentor this boy in handling the Bat’s emotional incapability and teach him how to read Bruce’s micro-expressions.
Everything goes on well enough for them.
But then Br- Batman dies and Gotham is left without her Dark Knight, and all he’s left her is his blood son, a Robin, and his first son.
Jason steals the mantle and leaves a trail of death and destruction in his wake before he and Dick duke it out in a battle for the cowl. The battle is fierce and leaves plenty of bruises and scars on both brothers.
In the end, Dick wins. He is the first son, the Dark Heir. He’s the only one who could be Batman right now.
Dick makes Damian his Robin.
Why?
“Because you’re not my Robin, Tim, you’re my brother.”
With that, Tim dons the mantle of Red Robin and travels the world, believing that Bruce is alive and that he needs to find him. Dick wants to believe him but he doesn’t risk hoping.
Batman and Robin defend Gotham once more, but whoever is behind the mask of the dynamic duo now, it’s different from who they were previously. Everyone can see it. How the Robin is dark and brooding, violent and angry while Batman is kind and almost cheery, willing to talk and willing to listen.
(Whispers go around some of Gotham’s Rogues, that the current Batman is the first Robin)
Red Hood appears a handful of times, sometimes as a foe, nuisance, or ally (one day tossing Damian into a river and blowing up a building, the next he’s beating the same human traffickers that they’ve been tracking and almost kills one of them, then that Friday he tackles Dick away from gunfire).
During one of the moment’s their goals meet (the Joker’s being pushed into a van headed for Akrham as Batman and Red Hood stand in front of an orphanage, Robin is speaking to the GCPD), Dick tells his brother Bruce’s message for him in his will.
Jason leaves and isn’t seen for a few weeks, even by his Outlaws. But before he left, he wondered aloud if a Lazarus pit could revive him, couldn’t it revive Bruce?
Dick tests this theory out with Batwoman supervising him. In the end, that Batman is not this Gotham’s original Batman. Tim is right, Bruce is alive.
Dick tells him that as soon as he gets back and the two investigate Bruce’s disappearance further. Dick trying to get Tim to talk to people again, he’s basically been isolating himself since he left to travel.
Tim does after much prodding and also goes back to the mansion and helps with cases during the many dead ends he encounters.
After one too many close calls and and situations, plus some reflection, Jason stays in the mansion again with the rest of the family until Bruce is found and Gotham has her Bat again.
Eventually she does have her original Bat again, and Dick goes back to being Nightwing.
Batman and Robin patrol the streets of Gotham once more. Both are dark and brooding, but their edges aren’t as sharp as they originally were and they aren’t letting the change in partners change that.
Nightwing goes back to Bludhaven and his teams, Red Robin returns to his teams and his own missions, Red Hood goes back to the Outlaws.
Dick comes by Gotham often enough for Damian’s sake, and Tim passes by to see Bruce and Alfred. Jason sometimes sneaks into the mansion, only Alfred knows and the few times that Dick and Tim are they, they’ve caught Jason.
The Bats aren’t always together, other times they’re scattered. But all of them still do well enough on their own and with their allies and family.
A scene of Nightwing and a speedster taking out some wannabe villain.
Red Hood fighting off a swarm of Mafia grunts. While some of them are being flung across the room by two other people.
Red Robin standing calmly while surrounded by various large goons, outside a bomb is thrown up into the sky and blows, Red Robin doesn’t flinch at the sound and instead moves to beat the guards.
Robin fighting off a robot with the Justice League’s powers, behind him is a small crater where a boy donning Superman’s S stands up from the rubble. The Superboy and Robin launch for the robot together.
Tragedy finds the family once more, like it always does.
Talia Al Ghul brings Heretic, an evil adult clone of Damian, to challenge the boy. Which cost him his life.
In a fit of irony and cruel poetic justice, Damian is impaled by his own sword and bleeds out next to the skeleton of the bat he killed when he first came into the cave. The memory plays back in slow motion while the rest his life flashes before him.
Damian is gifted the chance to speak to Dick as he’s dying, and he leaves a message for his other siblings and his father before he passes.
The funeral is quiet as the rain beats down on the Earth. Jason watches from a distance. Dick sobs into the chest of his friend. Tim has a hand on his shoulder in comfort. Bruce stands tall and strong, but the pain can be seen in by those who know him. Some kids around Damian’s age all sob, the same boy from before falls to his knees before his mother and father come in to hold him.
Time passes and they can’t hope that Damian’s not dead because Dick saw him die. He saw him bleed out in his arms as his life faded away.
But then one day Damian’s grave has been dug up. His body’s missing.
#dick grayson#jason todd#tim drake#damian wayne#robin#nightwing#red hood#red robin#bruce wayne#batman#dc#batboys#batbros#batfam#batfamily#dc comics
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Best of DC: Week of November 27th, 2019
Best of this Week: Batman: Creature of the Night Book Four - Kurt Busiek, John Paul Leon and Todd Klein
Kurt Busiek is amazing at humanizing and retelling the stories of our favorite heroes.
He managed to do so during his tenure on The Avengers and even more so on his breathtaking Superman: Secret Identity. He delves into the mindsets of characters and creates an emotional attachment between them and the reader that draws you into their individual struggles and his work on Creature of the Night is no different. He manages to juxtapose the story of Batman from the perspective of a fan of Batman in the "real world" and despite the long wait, it proves more than worth it.
Batman: Creature of the Night follows the life of Bruce Wainwright, inheritor of the Wainwright family fortune and company after their murder by a home invader. Throughout the series we see him deal with his family's death by doing his best to live up to their ideal, making the City of Boston better through philanthropic pursuits and smart business decisions. Though, he has a dark side to him, believing that he's managed to conjure an actual Batman-like protector for the city and believes it to be his stillborn brother, Tommy.
The last book saw Bruce obsessed with the origin of The Batman, how he was able to solve crime and how his company was succeeding because of the various arrests and takedowns, finding out that "Batman" had been the cause of everything. He had gone after Bruce's business opponents, exposed their wrongdoings and essentially cheated their way to the top. This sends Bruce on an unfortunate Spiral, thinking that all of Boston was corrupt and that maybe the other business people and Bruce's own allies might have had something to do with their deaths.
This issue begins with a splash page of a page from Batman; specifically where Thomas and Martha are killed by Joe Chill. It's also taken extreme damage likely from the Batman entity that Bruce believes to exist. This shows just much Wainwright's own parents deaths has affected him and his mindset. We also get a few shots of Bruce's messy office. John Paul Leon makes sure to draw the readers attention to just how much Bruce's life is beginning to spin out of control. His floor is full of trash, booze and even a bra from who knows and Bruce himself is found by his assistant Robin, passed out among the mess.
In his stupor, he asks her about coffee before flinging himself off of the roof, turning into the Bat entity himself. Robin isn't surprised and we learn that she's known about Bruce's supposed abilities since the first time she and Mr. Jepson, one of Bruce's employees (his Alfred so to speak), saw him transform two years prior. If I remember right, the moment when Bruce was on the roof was when he found out about what Tommy had done and it's implied that Bruce was up there alone the whole time.
Unfortunately, Jepson suffers a heart attack after seeing his boy like that and is admitted to a hospital in and out over the next few months or years. Jepson's failing health leads Bruce to continue winding down, violently stopping crime while knowing that it's not actually doing anything better. At the same time, Robin is tasked with taking care of him by Mr. Jepson as she's been with them both for a very long time, Bruce even played her way through college. When Bruce goes to jail over a bar room brawl that left the other guy hospitalized, Robin bails him out.
These scenes are grim and paint Bruce at almost his lowest, drinking in some decent looking bar and getting angry at even the smallest of slights. A man bumps him and Bruce decides to make a big thing of it, so they take the fight outside and Bruce gets his ass kicked while being watched by a small crowd. As it goes on, the Bat entity, or at least what we perceive as the Bat Entity from Bruce’s perspective, emerges and begins to absolutely wreck the other man. Leon uses minimal, flat colors for the entire issue and these pages are some of the more dynamic of them. Leon makes Bruce look animalistic and his eyes are colored red, signaling the change and after his arrest, he’s unshaven and looks like a mess.
Bruce and Robin’s relationship together serves as the main crux of the book with her watching him as he goes down his dark path and doing her best to get him back on track. Bruce, however, is still caught up in his parents murder and the continued injustices that Boston is home to every night. Both of them are fighting losing battles and growing darker with each passing day. Their relationship reaches a particular low after a still drunk Bruce plants an unwanted kiss on her after she picks him up from jail. This is particularly horrible because of their aforementioned history together. She tells him that he needs to see a therapist or help of some kind.
Initially, he thinks that he might disagree, but says yes and explains what he’s been going through to his doctor. It seems like a very cathartic moment for him, getting everything off of his chest and eventually being prescribed antidepressants. For a while, he returns nearly to his normal self. Jepson and Robin are happy for him, but we learn later on that he feels like the antidepressants make him feel sludgy and confused. He feels like he needs to wean himself off of it for a little while, having had fear that they would break his connection to Tommy or kill him.
Bruce immediately begins to become more paranoid, asking why someone would want to kill Tommy. He starts to believe in some grand conspiracy to ruin him and his family and he decides to go to a private room in his company’s offices. Leon colors this scene with a light cool blue, giving off the feeling of Bruce’s cold “logic”, though the reader can likely also interpret this as Bruce turning inward to himself. He’s lonely and with only Tommy to really talk to, he’s not exactly the most reliable of narrators. He truly believes that everything that’s happened to him, including Jepson’s sickness, has been part of a carefully orchestrated plot to plunge Boston into darkness.
In an amazing reference to when Dick Grayson first discovers the Batcave, Robin opens the door to find Bruce alone in the room. Framed against his immensely large connection board, Bruce kind of looks like a crazy person. He berates her for not respecting his privacy and asks what could possibly be so important for her to find him before she informs him of Jepson’s passing. What was initially small paranoia morphs into FULL conspiracy paranoia with Bruce being absurdly sure that someone is targeting him for getting close to the real culprits behind his parents death. Robin tries to comfort him, but he tells her that she needs to run for a little while and she calls him delusional and pleads with him to get help.
Unable to handle the truth, Bruce flies away and later has a hallucination of Batman’s greatest villains surrounding him, telling him to take the pills. Joker, Catwoman, Two Face, Penguin and Riddler surround and taunt him. Leon makes sure to draw them as normal, potentially actually being there, but as Bruce’s mental state continues to unravel, they begin to deform and swirl into a mass of laughter and color/ As they begin to overwhelm his senses, Bruce tosses his antidepressants off the roof of the building as the background is colored a bright white - a clearing of the head in a way.
Bruce returns to his board and begins to connect the dots, trying to find out who benefits the most from the deaths of his parents. He notes local politicians and other people he couldn’t hurt as Batman and then has an epiphany. He goes to confront Detective Gordon Hoover, the man who had been in charge of Bruce’s and various other related cases before his retirement. He destroys one of Gordon’s walls when confronting him and soon after, Robin arrives and checks on the detective. He tells her that Bruce has gone insane and that all of this was coincidence at best before telling her where he went.
Concerned with his continuingly deteriorating state of mind, Robin ventures to Boston’s Franklin Park Zoo, a place very near and dear to Bruce as his family had a huge stake in it when Bruce was a child. He’s absolutely destroyed the entrance way and is in the Bat exhibit when Robin finds him having a complete mental breakdown. Leon absolutely smashes the art in this sequence, portraying Batman as fighting back against his enemies. They swirl around him in the same mass as earlier (with Ra’s al Ghul thrown into the mix for whatever reason) and Bruce says that he has to tear Boston down to make it better.
Robin, having had enough and sensing that Bruce might do something he’ll regret, asks him if that’s something that Batman from the comics would do. This manages to snap Bruce out long enough for Robin to reach him. She asks him who he’s talking to, who he’s fighting against and Bruce struggles to answer, seeing Batman’s Rogues gallery slowly swept away by the mass of bats around them before disappearing himself. Much later, we pick back up with Bruce who’s dating the girl he met in college way back in Book Two. He’s back on his medication with a modified dosage and Robin is doing well too. He realizes that there was no conspiracy and that he’d been holding on to his pain, causing him to almost have a psychotic break… though he still maintains one really important familial relationship.
Though the gap between Books Three and Four were absurdly long, the quality of the story was well worth the wait. Kurt Busiek doesn’t write as much as he used to, but with this book, he shows that he hasn’t lost a single step along the way. This was an amazingly character driven story that kept me interested throughout. John Paul Leon’s art was a big part of that as well with just how beautiful it was. Together, they managed to craft an underrated masterpiece. I loved the story of obsession and inspiration and how Batman can influence just about anyone. Bruce Wainwright turned out to be a really interesting character, both because he was very much inspired by Batman so much so that he modeled his life after him and because of his mental illness.
I can only hope that this book succeeded well enough that Busiek and Leon come back for another book together or Busiek does a third of these with Wonder Woman as the hero inspiration. Overall, high recommend.
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The Unwritten “Rules” of Smash Bros. Speculation
Super Smash Bros. has become one of the most ambitious crossovers in all of gaming, featuring characters from seemingly endless franchises duking it out. With each new installment, fans eagerly make the cases for their preferred choices, and with the advent of DLC, even after the game launches fans still speculate as to who will join the battle. The most recent title, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, is no exception. As of this writing, we have six more DLC characters incoming for Ultimate, and speculation is in full swing. While it IS fun to speculate, attempting to narrow an almost infinite number of choices down to just six is quite the undertaking, so I thought it’d be more interesting to instead look at the arguments people often have for or against certain inclusions. I aim to compile the “rules” of who can and cannot get into Smash Bros. and see which rules hold water and which ones are on thin ice. Let’s begin!
NINTENDO ONLY
I’ll start with what was once one of the most binding rules for speculation. Smash Bros. was at one time, a celebration and collection of solely Nintendo-owned IPs, and despite fans pleas, various other characters from other companies surely couldn’t join in the fun. At least, until Brawl. Snake from the Metal Gear franchise and Sonic the Hedgehog himself made the leap from dream to reality as they were added to the roster and from that day onwards, nothing has ever been the same. In fact, we’re at a point now where most wish lists are populated almost entirely by third-party characters. It’s safe to say that this particular rule WAS broken and should be casted aside, however in its place another, similar rule has cropped up.
FRIENDLY RELATIONS
OK, so Nintendo doesn’t need to own the character in question…but they damn well better have been on a Nintendo console! The better the relationship between Nintendo and the game/franchise in question, the better chance they have of appearing in Smash, at least according to some people. Looking at our guests in general, this rule DOES seem to hold some water. Snake is a tad of a stretch, as the bulk of the Metal Gear Solid games aren’t on Nintendo platforms, though Twin Snakes exists, and the original Metal Gear was on the NES, so you could make an argument for him. Sonic, Mega Man, Simon and Pac-Man have made plenty of appearances on Nintendo consoles and while Microsoft owns Banjo now, he got his start with Nintendo. But then we have Cloud and Joker, who throw a wrench into the works. Both characters at the time of their playable debut had only appeared in spinoffs on Nintendo systems, with the games they made their ACTUAL debut in not appearing on any Nintendo console. Cloud famously made his debut in the first Final Fantasy game to NOT be on a Nintendo system. Over the years however, Cloud would appear in cameos in smaller spinoffs, as early as the Game Boy Advance as a summon in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and as per Sakurai’s own explanation, Cloud is meant to be a rep for the franchise on the whole, and there were indeed six other games Nintendo had on their consoles as “justification.” For Joker however, the Persona series stuck to Sony platforms, though the series they spun off from, Shin Megami Tensei, DID have tied to Nintendo, and the spinoff Persona Q was released as a 3DS title, so he gets in…BARELY.
I do find it interesting to note that, even if fans might not hold belief in this “rule,” other developers seem to respect it. When asked if Dante from the Devil May Cry series could see a playable appearance in Smash, Capcom instead stated that his own games would have to be on Switch first…and then a few months later, they put Devil May Cry 1 on Switch. Is this merely a coincidence? Maybe, but it’s pretty funny all the same. So far this rule has been bent, not broken, but I think it’s only a matter of time. This of course isn’t the only “rule” that’s open to some wiggle-room.
2 SEXY 2 VIOLENT
Nintendo is a family-friendly company and while they DO occasionally opt for more mature titles, they seem to put a lot of importance on casting a wide net and not going for too many ratings above T for Teen, or the rough equivalent in Europe and Japan. So when it comes to Smash, which is in part a celebration of all of Nintendo (plus guests), it pays to make sure THAT game keeps a similar rating. So any character addition that could jeopardize that rating is immediately suspect in the eyes of fans, and I’m inclined to agree. Throughout Smash’s life, we’ve seen how Nintendo and Sakurai have had to bow to the almighty ratings board. Items like the Ray Gun are designed to be as cartoonish as possible, and while this IS a game about smacking people around with punches, kicks, tail swipes and the like, it’s often presented in a very over-the-top manner to lower the impact. Now, there’s plenty of ways to play up the more cartoonish aspects of violence for new playable reps, but there seem to be limits. Bayonetta can’t use her gory Torture Attacks, for one, and when it comes to firearms, the series is a little gun-shy with depicting them. Snake famously only uses explosives, despite firearms being pretty common in his games. However in recent years we’ve seen some deviations from this. Bayonetta is allowed to use her guns, and Joker himself prominently uses his own gun. Granted, Bayonetta’s firing magic bullets and technically Joker’s using a model gun, but they’re still more realistic than the standard Smash shooter. So while it’s POSSIBLE to see the likes of the Mortal Kombat cast or the Doomslayer himself, I also wouldn’t hold my breath.
(Credit to @LetItMelo on Twitter)
God forbid you show any skin either! If a character is overtly sexual in their design, there’s a good chance they’ll be excluded from all the smashing going on, and we’ve seen this in various different forms throughout the series. Following the onslaught of horny players using the in-game camera to look under character’s skirts and the like in Melee and Brawl, female character models now have nothing but darkness underneath skirts and dresses. Or you can be like Rosalina and have the entire universe there. Even non-playable characters can’t escape alteration or even outright removal. Data suggests that the Fire Emblem character Tharja was supposed to be a trophy in the 3DS version of Smash 4, however the trophy does not exist in-game and the fact that her outfit is mostly a sheer bodysuit likely has something to do with it. In Ultimate in particular, the Xenoblade character Mythra had her Spirit altered; her boob window was removed and she gained tights on her otherwise bare legs. And this was just for some 2D art! Then there’s the case of Mai Shiranui, who was excluded from making a cameo on Terry Bogard’s stage, despite the multitude of other SNK character cameos and her status as one of the more recognizable SNK characters. In the Japanese version of Terry’s showcase video, Sakurai specifically states that the ratings board prevented them from including her.
But Bayonetta got in! And sure, she did, but with some concessions made. Her Wicked Weaves no longer leave her naked, only losing part of her outfit, and her more sexual traits are downplayed. There’s also Zero Suit Samus’ uh…let’s say alluring design, so there’s clearly wiggle room here, but at the same time both characters in question are still relatively covered up. I’m not saying it’s impossible for a Senran Kagura or Dead or Alive character to make the leap to playable status but I AM saying that they’d probably have to cover up or get some breast reduction surgery before they can make their debut. Still, ratings are not set in stone and over time, things change and gray areas emerge. With that in mind, I suppose we might as well take a look at one of the murkier, unclear “rules” fans have invented.
HE’S AN ASSIST, GET OVER IT
Being a playable character isn’t the ONLY way to be represented in Super Smash Bros. of course, and throughout the years we’ve seen various ways to get in on the fun. Stages, items, trophies, assists, Spirits, and Mii costumes all exist as ways to make a nod to virtually any franchise under the sun, but the question remains…if you’re already represented in such a way, do you have a shot at being made playable? Looking across the games, the answer would seem to be “Maybe in the next game.” Pit was a trophy in Melee before being brought back (and redesigned) for Brawl. The likes of Little Mac, Dark Samus and Isabelle have been Assist Trophies in one game, only to become playable in the next, and while Chrom and King K. Rool were Mii costumes in Smash 4 they’re playable in Ultimate. So far, we haven’t seen a single character make the playable jump in the same game, even with the option of DLC, but is it really such an impossibility?
Looking at items, like the Assist Trophies or even the Pokeball items, there are times when certain items won’t spawn, so it’s not too much of a stretch to say that, if Waluigi was chosen as a playable character, you couldn’t just find a way to keep his Assist Trophy from popping up in a match. This seems to happen in stages too; if a Link is playable in the Spirit Tracks stage, another character conducts the train. To run counter to that though, Ridley being made playable (and scaled down) is likely the biggest reason that the Pyrosphere stage didn’t make the return in Ultimate. That being said…Chrom is playable now, but he’s still part of both Robin’s Final Smash AND their win screens so…who can say what the actual edict is here?
Spirits are definitely a strange issue; if we take it as fact that if you have a Spirit in the game already, you can’t be made playable…that essentially means that 99% of Nintendo’s stable are ineligible and that just doesn’t seem right to me. Why limit yourself that much? Your only remaining options are brand new games that come out after Ultimate, though we’ve also had DLC spirits added in to promote a lot of these games. I’d like to assume that, at the very least, if you get in as a DLC Spirit, it’s unlikely that you’d be made playable later on. We have cases like the random Resident Evil Spirit event that casually gave us the most popular villain (Wesker) and the three most iconic protagonists of the series (Jill, Leon and Chris), which would make me question what a Resident Evil Spirit Board for a potential DLC character would look like. Why add that franchise in AHEAD of their playable appearance? Overall, I’d argue that a character with a Spirit in the base game has a chance of being made into playable DLC…but it’s a slight chance.
But then we have costumes…and this is where it can get interesting. Characters that are already playable can have costumes based off of them, as the likes of Link and Samus demonstrate, and even in the case of someone like Chrom who finally made the leap to playable, his costume still exists. But it’s the third-party costumes that garner the most attention. At launch, none of the third-party costumes from Smash 4 were in Ultimate, though as the Fighter’s Pass has doled out characters, these costumes have been slowly brought back, alongside new ones. At present, all of Namco’s costumes have yet to be seen, as well as the costume of one oft-requested puppet, Geno. Does this mean Namco will get a DLC rep, or that Geno will finally make the dreams of many fans come true? Anything’s possible, but there are no guarantees. As we can see with the likes of Sans and Cuphead, it’s also possible for characters to be added in as more elaborate costumes than your typical Mii flair. It certainly seems more likely to me that, say, Shantae could get a special Mii costume, even when she’s already a Spirit in the base game, and this might apply to other fan favorites too. On the whole though, there’s just a lot that’s up in the air regarding this particular rule. Nothing has contradicted it yet, but I can’t say I’d rule anything out in this case. If there’s ONE stipulation we have gotten confirmation on MULTIPLE times however, it’s this next “rule.”
NO GOKU ALLOWED
Smash Bros. celebrates video games, end of story, so all the cries to add in X character from some other form of media are ultimately fruitless. Sakurai won’t add Son Goku from Dragon Ball, and we won’t get Iron Man or Shrek. At present, the only characters that aren’t strictly FROM a video game, are at least intimately related TO video games. Both R.O.B. and Mr. Game&Watch are basically mascots for the NES and Game&Watch systems respectively, and they’re deeply tied to Nintendo’s own history as it is, so no one really bats an eye at their inclusion. Aside from kinda “tainting” the pureness of the series by introducing something that’s not a video game, there’s also licensing issues to consider…as well as the fact that it’d be a Pandora’s box the likes of which we’d never recover from. If Goku got in, then why not George Costanza or Spongebob or Walter White? It’d never end and the series would lose its identity.
There are still, however, a few characters that fans desperately want in the game, and they have this rule to contend with first. Geralt of the Witcher series is brought up as a possible inclusion, however the character originates from books. While the games have certainly gained notoriety and in some cases have surpassed the books in the public consciousness, that doesn’t change the fact that Geralt isn’t strictly a video game character. Oddly enough, however, he’s made the rounds in a lot of different video games over the past few years. He’s available as a character customization option in Daemon X Machina for one, a Switch-exclusive mecha game from 2019, and also in 2019 he was a guest character in Soulcalibur VI. Granted, that series has already seen guests from other mediums, like from the Spawn comics or characters from the Star Wars series. His appearance in Monster Hunter: World is also pretty unexpected, so it wouldn’t be completely out of nowhere to expect him to eventually make it to gaming’s biggest crossover, but I have my doubts. There’s also Sora from the Kingdom Hearts series, and while he DID originate in a video game, he is co-owned by Disney, and is closely tied to their properties as a result. Now, it’s not as if Nintendo hasn’t had a relationship with Disney; plenty of Disney games have appeared on Nintendo systems, but including Sora in Smash would either mean erasing any connections to the Disney characters in his games, or adapting them and subsequently breaking this massive rule and causing pandemonium! OK, it’s not as serious as all that, but it’d be a…delicate deal at any rate. Disney is pretty protective of their IPs, and Sora is also co-owned by Square Enix who is also pretty protective and hard to work with…Cloud barely got back into Smash Ultimate for one thing, and the rights for all that Dragon Quest music couldn’t have been cheap, so I feel like Nintendo wouldn’t be willing to go in on this a third time, especially with Disney’s involvement. But…miracles can happen, I suppose.
LITERALLY WHO?!
For our last “rule” here, I want to tackle one of the more subjective stipulations: relevancy. When it comes to shooting down character choices, you’ll often hear things like “that series hasn’t had a new entry in YEARS, so why would they promote that?!” or “that puppet’s been in one niche game that no one knows about!” It is true that characters in Smash do tend to promote newer games, as the likes of Roy, Corrin, Byleth, Joker and Hero show. I mean, why ELSE is the hero from Dragon Quest XI the default costume, other than that he’s the new hotness? But I think it’s clear at this point, especially when it comes to Ultimate, that being relevant isn’t everything. King K. Rool hasn’t been used in well over a decade, but he was added due to fan demand. A similar thing can be said for Banjo, as Microsoft hasn’t exactly used that IP in a while, and many would argue that Minecraft is a much more relevant rep from Microsoft if anything.
You’ll see people complain about certain inclusions with the argument that “no one knows who that character is!” but often that just demonstrates the complainer’s own bubble. Many in the West might not have gone CRAZY when Hero was announced, but Japan LOVES Dragon Quest and its inclusion is HUGE. Sakurai himself even notes this when going over Terry Bogard and SNK’s own history in the arcades. Relevancy only matters so much; if fans want them, and they bring something new and fun to the table, they have a chance. So this rule, as far as I’m concerned, isn’t one to take seriously. One man’s niche is another’s mainstream, really.
CONCLUSION
At the end of the day, Super Smash Bros. frequently makes dreams come true and breaks through any preconceived notions regarding who can and cannot smash, so I do find it somewhat of a fool’s errand to compile these “rules” and act like they’re the gospel. In truth, Nintendo and Sakurai can do whatever they want, and with enough time and money, anything is possible. There was once a time when we thought Sonic or Banjo fighting Mario and Link was a pipe dream, or hell…the entire concept of Nintendo all-stars all in one place was pretty farfetched over 20 years ago, but look at where we are now. As the old saying goes, rules are made to be broken…so clearly our next 6 characters are Doomslayer, Kasumi from DOA, Waluigi, Geno, Sora and Hank Hill. Yup. And I for one will be INCREDIBLY DISAPPOINTED if that is not the case!
In all seriousness, speculate away, because at the end of the day, it’s pretty fun and harmless by itself! Just…hype responsibly, OK?
Happy Smashing
-B
#smashbros#supersmashbros#smashultimate#nintendo switch#doom guy#doomslayer#waluigi#sora#kingdom hearts#geno#super mario RPG#fighter's pass
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And Their Retribution Shall be Swift and Terrible
AN: White Knight ‘verse. (The next bit comes out this year and I’m VERY EXCITED ABOUT IT, OKAY.)
“--called me Happy Feet! To my face! As he rammed into me at full speed!” Oswald is snarling, fingers flexing dangerously around the stem of his wine glass. “Just because I wasn��t in full control doesn’t mean I missed that.”
Leave it to Oswald to be awake for insults. Jonathan would almost feel pity for Harvey Bullock if he hadn’t brought it on himself.
And, well, Bullock is annoying.
“I’ll have his head--” Oswald tosses back his wine like a shot and pours himself a new glass. “--preserved in formaldehyde and displayed in my house if it’s the last thing I do!”
It shouldn’t be as funny as it is, but Jonathan has to take a hasty swallow of his pumpkin ale to avoid infuriating the little man even more. Thankfully, his barely-contained snicker goes unnoticed.
“Oh, come now, Oswald,” Edward says, voice dripping with disdain. “Batman won’t let you within five feet of him. Unless you want to choke on a handful of pills?”
“Batman can’t be everywhere at once, Edward,” Oswald snips. “You’ll be a fine distraction, with that big mouth of yours.”
“Excuse me--”
Kitty sighs and leans back against him, bottle hanging from her fingers.
“Why do they always do this.”
“I don’t know.” He tries to slide a finger into one of her jean pockets and can’t. “These aren’t pockets.”
“Curse of women’s clothing. Why do you think I steal from you?”
He gives up on the pocket (pocket...humph, to what, a Barbie doll?) and settles for a belt loop. Oswald and Edward are actively bickering now and he’s not the only one laughing; Mary Dahl is hiding her face in Waylon Jones’ massive forearm, ringlets shaking with giggles. To be fair, it’s quite the sight. Oswald’s in a wheelchair, legs thrust out and encased in plaster from ankle to hip. Edward has casts, too; his left arm and leg are useless to him, and he’s reduced to gesturing with his (neon green) crutch.
Is it so wrong to hope this turns into a physical brawl? They’re evenly matched, really. Oswald’s chair is electric.
“Who do you think would win?” he asks Kitty, taking another swallow of his ale. She hums.
“Oswald. He’s used to fighting injured and, well, we’ve seen Eddie run.”
They have seen Edward run. Bless his heart, he is not...athletically inclined.
(He runs like a drunken giraffe.)
“I could probably incite them. A needle here, a jab there…”
“Don’t.”
“As though you wouldn’t be laughing.”
“Still.”
“I could, though. It’d be easy...appeal to Oswald’s pride and Edward’s ego…”
“Jonathan, no.” She twists around to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “Just because you can does not mean that you should.”
“The fight of the century,” he continues, grinning. “Special injury edition.”
“You have no shame.”
“None.”
“--that so, Happy Feet.”
“WAH!”
Oh dear. Edward has a pushed few too many buttons, apparently, because Oswald is suddenly rolling towards him, knife in hand. Edward hops away, knocking over chairs as a tragically effective barrier. Kitty snorts and doubles over, forcing Jonathan to readjust his arm around her waist to keep her from falling off his lap.
“This is the best thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
“Now who has no shame?”
“Cheeky.”
Any (further) potential injuries are forestalled by the arrival of the one person who has been conspicuously missing since Joker boarded the Sanity Train to Betrayal Town: Matthew Hagen*.
Clayface.
As monstrous as poor Waylon has become, Matthew certainly gives him a run for his money. Ten feet tall, with every step he takes making a terrible squelch, it’s understandable that the room goes silent at his arrival.
Well, until Ivy sweeps over to him, predatory smile firmly in place, and purrs, “Matty, darling, you’re late.”
It would figure that the plant would be fond of the clay…
“Where is Joker,” Matthew growls. Well. That’s not something you see every day. Most people are a little more cautious in brushing Ivy off. Strange times.
“Arkham,” Oswald snaps. “But not for long.”
Matthew turns as if to leave and Waylon stands up, tail thrashing behind him and tripping a waitress. Mary dangles off his arm for a second before he notices and sets her on his shoulder.
“You don’t have sole rights to the clown, Hagen,” Waylon warns. “We all got fucked over.”
“You don’t even remember it--”
“That’s not the point--”
“Gentlemen,” Oswald says loudly, as though he wasn’t just about to murder Edward, “not in here. We all have grievances to settle, so why don’t we all sit down and discuss the particulars.”
Hypocrisy or none, everyone settles down and there’s a few minutes of silence while they all enjoy their drinks and get refills. Once the electricity in the air has waned, Matthew leans back in his chair, face breaking into a squiggly grin. Jonathan doesn’t like it.
“Nobody seems to be havin’ any ill effects,” Matthew drawls. Edward snorts.
“Fortunately for Tetch, my brain is unharmed--”
“Not from that.” Everyone’s silent. For once, nobody seems to have any idea what he’s talking about. If this turns out to be Batman… “Didya ever figure out how Joker got to you?”
“Hatter’s chips. The little sneak.”
“Sort of.” Matthew takes a drink (only water for him, alcohol makes him dry and flaky...literally) and grins some more. “But not on you.”
“Clearly on us. Quinn likely--”
“Nope.” Now that his bottle is empty, Matthew holds it up and drips a piece of himself into it. “Just on me.”
It takes a moment for that to make sense, but when it does, oh, boy, does it make sense. A conduit. That they-
God-
He gags, tasting something sour at the back of his mouth. He’s not the only one, either; Harvey Dent is eating Tic-Tacs like his life depends on it and Edward has apparently forgotten his feud with Oswald in favor of asking frantically, “Are my eyes yellow? Tell me quickly, you useless--”
“Never mind you! Andrew! Get Applegate on the phone, now--”
“Ya made us drink clay, ya goddamn buffoon, what do I keep ya around fer--”
“Sorry, sir--”
“--fed me a man, I’ll kill him for that--”
Kitty hands him a Listerine tab from her purse and he takes it gratefully. So what if it was a year ago, that is disgusting, that is not sanitary.
This is Batman’s fault, he decides. He should have taken care of Joker years ago. And once this whole mess is straightened out, Batman and his little helpers will be the next to go.
But first, Joker. And Harley, and Tetch. But to be honest, he’s mostly interested in the interloper, the one who got in way over her head. If she wants to sit with the adults, she needs to learn her place.
Everyone is shouting and demanding that Harvey share his Tic-Tacs (he’s slapped Scarface to the floor already, resulting in Wesker panicking), and he has a headache.
“Enough.” It’s a skill he has, honed first as a student teacher and then as a doctor, that he doesn’t have to raise his voice to make himself heard. “This isn’t getting anything done.”
Predictably, Edward has something to say.
“And I suppose your vote is to flood Arkham with fear gas.”
Bold of him to assume there aren’t booby traps left over from his time there. But he keeps that to himself. Save things for a rainy day and all.
“Not today,” he says mildly, feigning interest in his nails. “We all want a chance to have it out with the one responsible. Petty squabbling isn’t going to help, so we may as well draw straws or some equally mundane thing and see who goes first.”
He’s expecting resistance. But for once, Oswald just sends for paper straws and a pair of scissors.
They get third crack at the clown. Third is acceptable. Plenty of time to plan, with minimal likelihood of him dying beforehand; Edward gets to go first, followed by Harvey. The gathering breaks up shortly after that, with minimal grumbling, and they board the late train home.
“Seeing as nobody mentioned Neo Joker,” Kitty murmurs, arm looped through his in lieu of trying (and likely failing) to reach the loops on the ceiling, “d’you think she’s fair game?”
“First come, first served.”
“Mm.” The train takes a rough turn and they both glance up to check for bat-shaped hitchhikers. None appear. “Good.”
“Tired?”
“I want my toothbrush.” Her and him both. “And then, yeah. I’m ready for bed.”
“May visions of decapitations dance in our heads,” he deadpans. She pokes him in the arm. “Ow.”
“Really?”
“No.”
Tomorrow, they’ll start their search. Gotham isn’t as big as people tend to think. It’s impossible to hide in it. Oh, yes, they’ll track her down, by hook or by crook, and then they’ll see, they’ll just see how loud their little interloper can scream.
THE END
*I’m not sure which Clayface is meant to be the one in this comic, but seeing as it takes a lot from B:TAS, I’m going with that one.
#Jonathan Crane#Kitty Richardson#post Batman White Knight#Rogues gathering#they're pissed#Oswald Cobblepot#Edward Nygma#Mary Dahl#Waylon Jones#Matt Hagen#mostly just an excuse to get them all together and observe
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Injustice #4
Warning, Spoilers Ahead…
Injustice: Gods Among Us # 4 by Tom Taylor.
Dick and Damian spar in the Batcave. Dick critiques Damian: “You keep aiming for that killing blow, you’re trying to hurt me, which I’m trying not to take personally by the way, but it’s not all about the body and head. Your opponent has sticky -outy bits that are easier to reach. Not only does your opponent have sticky-outy bits, they may also have had some bad circumstances that led them to a point where you’re fighting them. Some criminals deserve a second chance. Second chances are harder with a severe brain injury.”
An angered Damian hurls an escrima stick at Dick’s head, which is caught by the newly-arrived Superman.
“That’s not very sporting, Damian.”
Dick assures Clark: “It’s okay, Superman. I knew it was coming. He tries it all the time.”
The opening scene is foreshadowing for later events in the series. Damion’s routine hissy fit with the escrima sticks will end up having severe consequences.
Events before the beginning of the series in this universe are rather vague. We don’t know the circumstances of Damian’s introduction to the Bat Family. I would assume it’s similar to the mainstream universe. Damian appears older than 10, possibly in the 13-14 years old range.
Tim became Red Robin in this universe but we aren’t given details. Did Final Crisis happen? Was Bruce lost in time and presumed dead? Or is Dick’s mentorship of Damian similar to the animated movies?
Superman is at the cave to speak to Bruce. Damian says Bruce is “broodier than usual.”
Damian thanks Clark for killing the Joker: “Not that the Joker’s gone, everything just feels safer, you know?
Dick asks Clark if he’s okay. Clark says he’ll manage.
Clark demands to know where Bruce was when Ma & Pa Kent were kidnapped.
Bruce tells Clark that he has to “stop what you’re doing”.
“I have to stop what? Stop saving lives? Stop bringing dictators to justice?”
“You’re scaring them.”
“They should be scared. They should be too scared to press the button. They should be too scared to pull the trigger. They should be too scared to hurt each other. You taught me that. You’d do exactly what I’m doing if you were me, if you could do what I can.”
“You killed a man, Clark.”
“I did. And every time you let that madman live, how many more did you condemn? Did you even feel responsible? Did you even feel guilty?”
“Every time. But we don’t get to choose who dies.”
“One death. To save millions.”
“One. Death.”
“It always starts with one. That’s how justification works. But once you justify something once, you can do it again and again. It becomes easier. Right and wrong blur.”
I find myself on both sides of their argument. Bruce is absolutely correct on the slippery side nature of taking the law in your own hands. Superman and company have no right to run the world. On the other hand, killing the Joker is something that should have been done years ago. The Joker’s body count is in the hundreds if not more. There is no hope of redemption for him – and even if he suddenly regretted all of his previous actions, there is no way to atone for his scale of murder. And this is before the Metropolis massacre. The Joker – and Harley’s – death toll is now in the millions!
A Japanese fleet harpoons whales in the ocean only to encounter a very angry Aquaman.
Aquaman sinks the ship causing the Justice League to respond.
Diana urges Arthur to withdraw. Arthur refuses – the ocean is his kingdom and he will protect it as he sees fit.
A worried Atlantean soldier blasts Diana, starting an Altantean-Justice League brawl.
We return to the Batcave where Clark accuses Bruce of loving the Joker: “You’re not sitting in the dark mourning Metropolis, are you? You’re mourning him. You’re angry at me for taking the Joker away from you. You loved having him around. Your constant nemesis. The two of you played your stupid game and people died. Why did you let him do this to me, Bruce?”
While the suggestion of a Bruce/Joker love match is disgusting, Bruce should have ended the Joker years ago. Honestly, the Joker should have been killed – and left dead – in the Death of the Family storyline. After the paralyzing Babs/murdering Jason combo act, the only thing the writers seem to do with the Joker is have him commit yet another atrocity. Boring and redundant.
Clark continues his rant, bemoaning the loss of his wife an unborn child. Clark specifically mentions the loss of his unborn child denying the world of another Kryptonian, “someone who would have made me feel less alone.”
Maybe Clark should try being nicer to Conner!
Clark criticizes Bruce’s parenting skills: “You’re sitting in the dark, ignoring Dick and Damian. How many friends did they have in Metropolis? Have you consoled them? Have you held them? Your parents died and left you, Bruce. What’s your excuse for not being a father?”
I don’t know if the events of a future Injustice annual were planned out at this point but if they were, Clark’s speech is rather ballsy and hypocritical considering his treatment of the Titans in the aftermath of the destruction of Metropolis.
Did Clark ever consider Bruce is “sitting in the dark” at the Batcomputer because he’s searching for his missing son? The one Clark banished to the Phantom Zone?
Dick and Damian wouldn’t normally have “friends in Metropolis”. Jon was never born and Dick doesn’t hang around in Metropolis. Is Clark’s “friends in Metropolis” rant the first clue Bruce has regarding the whereabouts of the missing Tim and the Titans? Is that the reason Bruce punches Clark at the end of his speech?
Clark switches from angry to concerned in a second, examining Bruce’s hand. Normally, I’d say it’s a typical Clark move, but in the Injustice-verse it’s a sign of Clark’s growing instability.
The Batcomputer alerts the duo to the brawl in the Atlantic Ocean. Clark decides to head over there.
Bruce warns Clark: “You can’t yourself above us, Clark. You’re right. I’m not saying I’d act differently if I had your abilities. I’m not saying I wouldn’t try to impose peace but you…you’re a better man than I am.”
Not anymore, Bruce.
Alfred asks “Master Kent” if he’s staying for tea.
“I’m afraid not, Alfred. And you don’t have to call me ‘Master’”.
“Good. Let’s remember that.”
Alfred is not fond of Clark’s shenanigans.
Aquaman has summoned a creature so huge that its arrival causes a tsunami. That’s right, the Kraken has been unleashed.
Batman warns Aquaman via a communicator: “Listen to me. He’s coming. He’s in angry. He’s in pain. You’re hurting his friends. You need to stop or there’s no telling what he may do. Do as he says.”
Superman wants Arthur to withdraw the Kraken.
Arthur does after reminding Clark the League started the brawl. Which they did. Arthur attempted to calm the situation down after his soldier blasted Diana. Diana decided she was “tired of words” and started the rumble.
Arthur and Clark argue.
“I called for a worldwide ceasefire.”
“Even your voice does not reach down into the deep, Superman. If you wish to rule the surface world…”
“I do not seek to rule, only to protect.”
“I understand, with the destruction of Metropolis, you lost your kingdom. But you can’t have mine.”
“I do not want…”
“Superman, whether you see it or not, your reign is beginning. But the sea is mine alone to command.
The League realizes “Atlantean armies are rising in countries across the world.”
Superman: “Arthur, what is this?”
“A reminder. I am not some self-appointed leader of an insignificant country who can be bullied into submission. Every port. Every ship. Everything that flies over the oceans does so with my blessing. Your world would halt grind to a halt if I willed it. Every land mass borders the sea. Your entire world is inside mine. Consider this a show of strength. Now get the hell out of my ocean.”
Bruce fumes: “You idiot. He’s not going to respond to an ultimatum!”
Clark orders Diana, Hal, and Billy to accompany him: “Aquaman is using his strength. It’s time we showed him our strength. It’s time we showed everyone who would threaten the world just how much power they’re dealing with. No more holding back.”
The foursome then lift Atlantis out of the ocean and re-locate it into the middle of the Sahara desert.
That’s the show of strength? Lifting a city containing thousands of civilians, women and children, and putting it in the middle of an environment where they are unable to breathe or tolerate the extreme heat. Sounds more like a murder plan.
It should be noted the panels containing the “rising Atlantean armies” only showed the Atlanteans standing in formation on the coasts – not actually attacking.
I’m not defending Arthur – he, along with Clark and Diana, all acted like immature toddlers having a fit.
The forcible removal of Atlantis is where any remaining sympathy for Clark went out the window. He acted like a terrorist. A “proper show of strength” would have been engaging the Atlantean armies not threatening unarmed civilians. It boggles my mind that the rest of the Justice League has been fine with Clark’s actions.
Diana is clearly a more sinister version of herself in this universe. She’s been egging Clark on the entire team and she is the cause of the Atlantean confrontation.
Hal should know better – Sinestro was removed from the Green Lantern Corps because of Superman-like actions – but he’s shown bad judgement in the past so I could maybe see him siding with Clark. It’s still iffy as Hal hasn’t been traumatized by the destruction of Coast City in this universe.
Hawkgirl – well, if she’s “Hawkworld” version of Shayera then she would be comfortable in a military-run world
Raven – will be shown to have fallen under Trigon’s influence so she’s clearly fallen to the “dark side”
Cyborg, Captain Marvel, and Flash are simply too good/sweet to fall in line with the dictator posse. Boggles my mind to see the trio blindly following Clark and Diana’s orders.
Diana informs Clark that Arthur is ready to speak to him. Clark demurs, stating “I’ve achieved nothing by talking today.”
More like cowardly refusing to own up to his actions.
Arthur urges Diana to steer Clark “away from this course of action”, warning her that “you will have scared a lot of people today. Ordinary people who will not want gods and aliens telling them what they can and can’t do.”
Diana refuses as she believes “this course of action is what’s best for the world.”
Diana returns to Clark and informs him that Arthur “will pull his armies back into the ocean”.
Clark has Billy and Hal return Atlantis to the ocean, nothing “this action didn’t sit well with either of them.”
Diana tells Clark “Don’t worry about what they think. You did the right thing. You did what needed to be done.”
“So you’ve said.”
“I won’t let you doubt yourself.”
“What else?”
“What?”
“Surely Arthur had more to say.”
“No. Nothing.”
Diana omits Arthur’s concers and his expressed sympathies for the loss of Lois.
Diana is quite the sinister manipulator in this universe. She’s all but hurling Clark down the “slippery slope” of his actions.
It’s easy to see the reasons of Clark’s descent. He’s lost his wife, unborn child, and his entire city. He’s isolated his parents in a fortress instead of mourning with them. He has a fierce anger towards his best friend because of the Joker and is unwilling to listen to Bruce. Diana, his other best friend, is urging him to indulge in his worst impulses. And the rest of the Justice League – minus Arthur – is too cowardly to call him out.
Next issue: It gets worse. Of course, that could be the summary for every issue.
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Beetles...beetles everywhere...*shiver*
Bit of a smaller progress update this time around. I have to be up early today, but I still wanted to play some Smash just for the purpose of getting in SOME progress before Springfest.
First off, I couldn’t download the 3.0 update right away due to a server error. I tried multiple times, too. Luckily, I looked it up on Twitter and I’m far from the only one to have this issue. Many many people were hyped for Joker, so the servers overloaded...I heard a similar thing happened when Octo Expansion came out in Spla2n. Nintendo REALLY underestimates how many people get excited for these competitive games, huh? XD
Since this doesn’t effect me playing single player stuff, I didn’t let it stop me from getting stuff done. It bummed me out a LITTLE, but hey, it’s not like I was gonna immediately try him, and Stage Builder can wait. I got other stuff to do!
First off, I cleared Classic with my boy Olimar. I love the theme of exploring different planets and featuring characters from outer space, and it gave me more time to reacquaint myself with him. Afterwards, I got challenged by Pokemon Trainer and lost. I considered playing Classic with K. Rool, but decided to do that later. Like...maybe after I’m done with WoL, I’ll have this stretch where I try out newcomers one after the other.
In WoL, like I said, I didn’t get as much done as I usually do. I didn’t uncover any new areas, and instead just spent some time clearing out the southwest jungle area. My main goals were to activate the green switch and to save at least one character, and I accomplished both, though not without some annoyances on the way. Nothing as irritating as the Kapp’n fight or as rage-inducingly hard as the Star Rod fight, but still notable. There were a couple fights featuring multiple of one item, and they chose the most annoying flipping items to base fights off of! There was one fight against a girl named Roll Caskett puppeting an Isabelle, and every single item was a Hocotate Bomb. OK, I’m not sure what the correlation is, but it was really annoying having to keep track of and dodge every single one of those things! While they keep slaughtering my Pikmin as they lag behind me...XD So that one took a couple tries! But it wasn’t the worst. There was also some guy named Andy, and in his fight, against a Dr. Mario and three Snakes, had a gimmick where they would heal if left alive too long, and EVERY. ITEM. WAS EXPLOSIVE. Every single type of bomb, even the fake Smash Balls, were there, and the Snakes contributed their own explosions. PLUS, it was at the Halberd, so I also had cannonballs and lasers to worry about. The only thing not working against me is that the opponents could hurt each other. So, that fight was a major pain too, but at least it was an interesting challenge.
But the absolute WORST fight was the Beedle fight. Yes, Beedle, the “THANK YOOOOOOUUU” guy. Never before have I hated a pun so much because every single item in this Item Tidal Wave fight was a BEETLE! FLIPPING BEETLES! EVERYWHERE! My least-favorite item! I’ve never liked those things, I think they’re so stupid and cheap. I go out of my way to disable them in multiplayer whenever I have the chance to, and I normally don’t mind items. I draw the line at that one. And of course WoL has a fight that’s all about the things, featuring the flipping item magnetism thing on the enemies, so they’re getting them more than I do. WELP, gotta stay on the bottom layer of the stage, since if I go any higher up, I can’t flipping escape beetles! They’re OHKOs in the stupidest way possible! So yeah, I hated that fight! All it was was trying to keep track of every single beetle on the stage so I can dodge them, and making sure my enemies weren’t holding one before getting up close to them. It wasn’t fun. It was ridiculously stupid.....which I guess fits for the Spirit. XD
But yeah, there was still some silver lining. I made it to the green switch, I rescued another character (even though it was DK), located another character that’s currently blocked off, and found some cool Spirits. In particular, I don’t regret fighting Beedle, since his shop contained a handy support Spirit, Stork, which costs two slots to grant you immunity to strong winds. Not resistance. Immunity. Outright IMMUNITY to strong winds! Gee, I wish I had that before! But at least if that terrible gimmick ever comes back, I’m prepared...
So...yeah, that’s about it. I still had a lot to talk about even though it was a shorter session. I was able to get my revenge on Pokemon Trainer before ending and trying again for the update, this time being successful. It’s taking a while, but it’s moving!
Gotta say, after spending over an hour playing as him and only him, I officially like Olimar again. Geez, I forgot how fun he can be to use! Even though his specials aren’t as good as they were in Brawl, his smash attacks are so good! The elemental damage from the Pikmin is really something, and Purples are just downright powerful when you land one. Throwing Pikmin and having them latch is something I don’t remember utilizing a lot, but I’ve been doing it more often today.
No map update this time, since like I said, I didn’t uncover any new areas. The only difference from my last screenshot is that the switch icon in the jungle is gone, and one of the character icons in the jungle is gone.
.....Oh, sweet! My update finished as I was typing this! How I missed you, Stage Builder...Hopefully I come up with designs later!
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Smash Ultimate early impressions
I held off on Smash 4, because I didn’t have a 3DS or a Wi-U (only played other people’s copies), but since I already had a Switch, even though I was nearly broke, I splurged on a copy of Ultimate on launch day.
Character wise, wow, the cast is huge this time around. Every character from every previous game is back plus more. I normally don’t say this, but there’s a few characters I’d rather not see in this game . . . The Mi characters (or as I seem them, non-characters). . . But seeing how they grandfathered in other characters I enjoy who might not have made it back in otherwise (e.g. Wolf) I won’t hold against Ultimate. I’ll hold it against Brawl, the game that originally brought in them in. So yeah, let’s let that go and in with the HOLY FUCKING SHIT THEY ACTUALLY PUT SIMON BELMONT IN THIS GAME !!!! AND HE’S GOT ALL THE RIGHT WEAPONS!! AND HE LOOKS PERFECT. So glad they went with him as the playable character instead of Alucard. I mean, I know a lot of people got into Castlevania with Symphony of the Night, but there were 2 whole generations of Castlevania games before that (with IMHO far better gameplay than the “Metroidvania” games and speaking of “Metroidvania” It irks me whenever someone uses this term as a misnomer when applying it to a true Metroidesque games that lack Symphony’s level up cake bullshit).
So yeah, I got another (reputedly high tier) alt to fall back on when my Samus just isn’t cutting it. Or I’m feeling bored.
This honestly leaves me with only 2 other characters I’d like to see in Smash. Geno (of course, and I think he has a good shot of making it into the DLC additions), and Captain N (this would make him the first character not from a video game in smash, but just think about it, now that Simon’s in this thing they have the whole team minus the Captain.
So far DLC-wise I heard they put in Joker from Persona 5. I held off on Persona 5 due to it being in high school again, and having only a male protag, but I’ve heard good things about it so, eh.
Customizing with spirits is a nice touch, even nicer that you can make multiple custom match settings and turn that shit off, if you just want to play it straight.
Hold back to exit menus is great too. Although blazgear pointed out to me that was already in Smash 4, so good on Smash 4
Perfect shielding to parry is . . . I like it so far. Not sure how I’ll feel about the ease of playing it safe further down the road (just gotta make sure you er on the side of releasing shield too late rather than too early).
Speedwise, I have a hard time grasping, I’ve heard reports of “Faster than Brawl, Slower than Melee.” I wonder if this one is faster or slower than 4.
Lag sucks. Hence the problem of playing on a laggy HD TV, because others in the house don’t play games is an issue.
Haven’t touched online, cause I’ve yet to play a 2d fighter that didn’t fuck with my timing online, and Nintendo now charges a monthly service fee.
Adventure mode is full of so many nice moments of nolstagia. I was pleasantly surprised with who they went with for the main character. My favorite moment was the giant Street Fighter II Omage complete with what sounded like original CPS I music.
It does run for a long time though. With at least 2 parts where I thought I was finished and yet I was not. completed it to change the menu music. Managed to clear it 100% on Hard mode using spirits, but without using the skill tree at all (I felt like most of those abilities would have thrown me off for gameplay outside of Adventure mode). Referenced a guide to find Richter though.
Music Wise Some people might be flabbergasted to hear this with how many tracks there are in this thing, but I’m disappointed. In short, not enough chiptunes. I’ve unlocked most of the tracks in this game (all the ones that show up for purchase in the shop, plus some others) and there were so many tracks that I was stoked to hear, but then immediately disappointed upon listening, because they were remixes. Sometimes shitty, sometimes mediocre, sometimes surprisingly good, but almost always worse (in my humble opinion) than the original. I mean, my favorite NES track of all time is Castlevania III’s Mad Forest, and Mad Forest is in the game, but it’s not the NES version, or even the Famicom version (most people like this one better, I like the NES one slightly more), It’s a shitty remix that sounds suspiciously like the garbage version that played as the theme for (the garbage redesign of) Syfa Belnades in Castlevania Judgement.
Most of the remixes are labeled as such, but some of them are not.
On the bright side, we got CPS I & II versions of every character from the Street Fighter II Games, and a ton of awesome F-Zero originals including both versions of White Land (my favorite tracks from F-Zero) and a remix (and one of the best remixes in this game at that)
Another good remix is that Gerudo Valley one.
.
.
.
I’m gonna go watch the Joker reveal trailer
#Smash Ultimate#Super Smash Brothers#Super Smash Bros.#Super Smash Bros. Ultimate#Super Smash Brothers Ultimate#Geno#Captain N#Fuck that Mad Forest remix
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4.3
Coordinates F-17
NSR Ranger
Senior Staff Conference Room
10:26 hrs
Every chair in the Conference Room was filled save two, at the head of the table and one next to the CAG Alek Mauz. The Captain faced the Door as it slid open and Tripper walked in, in his dress uniform the first thing he noticed was the large rectangular glossy black table with a mug of Caf in front of every member of the Senior Staff the second thing he noticed was the Tall Pantorian standing next to him.
“What’s your name son?” Captain Eggos Namin said
“Flight Lieutenant, Taus Maic Call Sign ‘Tripper’ Sir!” Taus said
“You are now, Squad Leader, Taus ‘Tripper’ Maic” Captain Namin promoted.
“Congratulations Tripper” Alek congratulated
“No offence sir, but Joker is my squad leader” Taus said seeing a potential way out of command
“The Ranger is headed to Midpoint station to undergo a retrofit. We are also taking on three extra squadrons: one X-wing, another Y-Wing and a B-Wing squad. I saw what you did out there, we need more squad leaders, who are bold, ready for action, and willing to take the fight to the enemy. I want you to lead the new X-Wing Squadron. and I think you gave it the perfect name Squad Leader Taus Maic will you lead Slayer Squadron?”
Taus paused a moment realizing that it was more of an order than a question then said “Sir, Yes, sir”
“Good, after the meeting Alek will fill you in on your duties and to assemble your command staff” Captain Namin said
Taus nodded and headed for the empty chair and sat down. Then the real briefing began.
“At this moment we are headed to Midpoint Station. It is a large moon station, which from now on will be our base of operations, we will receive additional repairs, men and supplies from Midpoint. Waiting there already are replacement pilots and ships, along with the new fighters for Slayer Squadron, the New Y-wing Squadron and B-wing squadron. The Squad leader for the Y-wing staff will be selected from the night owls, while the B-Wing Squad leader will come with the squad, now Captain Mauz has some business”
“I have received the personnel files for our replacements after the briefing. I want to talk with all the squad leaders, and assign our new pilots to squadrons.” Mauz said
All the squad leaders nodded in acknowledgement. Tripper hesitated realizing that it meant him now and nodded as well. The rest of the meeting turned to supply and logistics, Tripper got bored and zoned out. Then he thought how terrible a squad leader he would make, if he could not pay attention to basic logistics. Tripper then tried taking notes but at the end of the meeting, he looked over his notes and they were filled with things that never a) he did not understand b) did not care about. c) does not understand. Nevertheless his data pad had a solid four scroll section of supply requisitions for uniforms and cronos.
Captain Namin, then dismissed the Senior Staff; while the majority of the room stood up stretched and left, the Carrier Air Group, which included, Alek Mauz, Joker, Otis Tik, the A-wing Squad Leader, and Natalia Gee the Y-wing Squadron leader as always they were seated next to each other, each Squad leader only show one hand, Tripper knew that the hidden hands were holding each other under the table, desperately trying to keep a secret that everyone knew like trying to bail out a sinking yacht with a spoon. The only other person in the room was the Hanger Chief Marcus Canton, whose head was down and was fast asleep.
“Before we begin, Tripper, you need to select your Squadron command. You need a Flight L.t, and Flight Officer, do you have your picks yet?” Alek asked
“I have my pick for Flight L.t and with Jokers permission, I would like Sabbac, as for my Flight Officer, I do not have any picks yet” Tripper said
“Sure you can have him, just about every pilot in my squad owes him money.” Joker said
“Including you? Natalia asked
“Maybe?” Joker said coyly
He head kept down, but Chief Canton said groggily “I own the Rodian close to 1,500 credits,”
“Ok! In other news we are receiving, 14 new pilots, their files should be on your data pads by now” Alek said, cutting off the off topic discussion and trying to refocus the group.
Tripper looked down at his data pad and saw the new personnel files.
“Please review the personnel files and bring two candidates for each open position you have but with the new Slayer Squad, I want the more experienced pilots starting there” Alek commanded.
Everyone nodded and began to scan their data pads. It was silent for several minutes when Joker suddenly said “I don’t believe it!”
“What’s up?” Alek said
“Alek do you remember, Greg Dashwood?” Joker asked excitedly.
“Yeah he was our old squadron leader back when I first traspherd here.” Alek said
“Didn’t he get court martialed?” Ots Tik asked “Right after Akbar’s fall from grace?”
“Last thing I heard from him is that he joined the Resistance with Akbar” Natalia Gee said.
“He sent me a holo message a couple months ago, saying he was setting up a farm on Concord Dawn, Eh, whatever the reason, he’s back now!” Alek said he paused a moment then said to Tripper “Wiat, Tripper, with your permission I think I found your new Flight Officer.”
“How could I forget old Dashwood” Tripper said “I would be disappointed if he wasn’t my Flight Officer”
The rest of the meeting floated by silently, as the other squad leader poked through personnel files, but in the end the majority of the pilots were going to Slayer Squadron, except for four, two went to the Firebirds and another two went to the Blue Birds A-Wing “Aces”. Tripper checked his crono and sighed, it was time for lunch and he was ready to make a mad dash to the mess hall. Alek then dismissed the meeting and everyone got up and left, Chief Canton stayed where he was, the squad leaders debated if they should wake him up or tie his boot laces together, but Alek convinced everyone to just leave him where he was. As Tripper exited the door, Joker ran up to him when Joker reached him he almost split his Caf on Tripper’s dress uniform he made a face that seem to say “AHHHH” then said,
“Hey Tripper, round up the Firebirds we have a few things to talk about,” Joker said
“Yeah sure thing,” Tripper noticed that Joker stopped and walked back into the conference room “hey wait, where are you going?”
“I’ll catch up later” Joker whispered and slipped back in the conference room.
Tripper stood still looking toward the door more interested than confused. A few seconds passed then Joker slipped back out.
“What did you do?” Tripper grilled
“I forgot something” Joker said faking innocents
“Tell, me you didn’t” Tripper said “I swear Joker if you tied Canton’s boot laces together, I throw you out the nearest airlock”
“Oh please, give me some credit!” Joker said, Tripper felt relieved for two seconds then Joker finished “I just put two spoonfuls of Cinnamon in Canton’s Caf”
Tripper’s eyes went wide. “no, No, No! Grands are overly sensitive to Cinnamon” he lamented
Joker tried keeping a straight face as he said “I know I know!”
They stopped walking as they heard an overly loud spit take from the Conference room, they looked at eachother and read each other's mind by the time Chief Canton shouted “JOKER!!!!!!!”
Joker and Tripper were already running full tilt down the hall shouting to “Make a hole Make a hole!!”
Eventually they made it to the Firebird’s crew quarters when they opened the door they heard Sabbac chips being shuffled around.
“Ha, Ha, Ha It’s all skill no luck” they heard Drip say
“Hey, Drip, you know you're losing right?” Sabacc Rodian’s voice pointed out.
“My point still stands” A faux humiliated Drip said causing Book, and 11 to chuckle.
Joker and Tripper passed the few bunks and had an unobstructed view of the whole game.
“Sabbac, do you remember rule one?” Joker asked like an annoyed parent catching their child getting in some mischief.
“Yes, Joker, everyone is going home with what they came with” Sabbac answered annoyed .
“Good!” Joker said sitting down on one of the bunks closes to the sabbac game “cause, two Squad Leaders walked right in and caught you, playing an illegal game of Sabbac”
“Wait, what do you mean by two squad leaders?” Sabbac said interested, the other pilots in the room disengaged from their activities, reading datapads, writing letters home, etc and sat up and listened.
“Tripper! Take it away!” Joker said using his hands to showcase Tripper
“Before we begin, are we all here?” Tripper asked looking around the room and doing a headcount, Sabbac, Drip Book and 9 were playing Sabbac, the other newcomer Mally Vos (10) was in a top bunk staring at the ceiling, but now she slid her legs over the side so she was sitting and looking directly at Tripper. Root put away his datapad and looked more confused than intrigued. Both the Weequay Rash Tacknor call sign Mob and Mac Ran known as Brawl were the only two surviving Firebird Pilots not in attendance.
“Where’s Mob and Brawl?” Tripper asked
“They hit the gym, they said the’ll be back around 1200,” Root said not surprising anyone
The door slid open and Mob and Brawl walked in, doing the mental math of the chance of this coincidence was pointless as the third person entered the room.
“CAG on Deck!” Book shouted standing up from his game and going to full attention every other pilot followed his example.
“At ease,” Alek said “relax, I’m just here with my old squad to support them in the coming changes.” Then he nodded at Tripper and Joker to let them know he could continue.
“I was called in to the Captain.” he paused still in shock of the past hour “I am now promoted to Squad Leader” he paused again “I am to lead, the new Slayer Squadron. Sabbac?” Tripper asked.
“Yes??” Sabbac answered questionly
“I want you to be my squadron’s X.O, can you do that?” Tripper asked.
“Yes, sir I can!” Sabbac said cheerfully.
“My Flight L.T will be Greg Dashwood, he was Firebirds old squadron leader, before we were known as the Firebirds.” Tripper said this for the benefit of the new pilots back in those days it was Dashwood, Firebird, Joker, Sabbac Brawl Squid, Noodles and him and a couple other pilot who rotated in and out periodically, Tripper then thought of where each of the original Birds were, Firebird got promoted to CAG, Sabbac is now the new Slayer Squadron Flight L.t Brawl, is the Firebirds Flight L.t, Squid was K.I.A trying to destroy a TIE Bomber base. Noodles became the BlueBirds Squad leader and Dashwood was court martialed, after Akbar's fall from grace. In hindsight they should have listened to Akbar, who warned the New Republic about the First Order threat for years, but no one listened to him. After he sent a task force to intercept a First Order kyber shipment. His political enemies had all the leverage they needed to out him as Supreme Commander. Dashwood agreed with Akbar’s assessment of the First Order, and he said that voicaly many times in many meetings and gatherings, many of the younger pilots Tripper included, were persuaded by his arguments. Six months before the war Dashwood in secret tried to desert, with the majority of the Ranger’s pilots they headed to the Hanger where they were going to take as many X, Y and A Wings and join the Resistance until Chief Canton figured out what they were doing and locked down the hanger. The Wookie Marine team arrived soon after while Dashwood was considered an extremist, he was not willing to cause a shootout so he surrendered. The Tribunal could not replace half the pilots so all the blame was placed on Dashwood, who humbly accepted it, this would have been grounds for execution, but the Resistance still had many allies left in the senate, so he was only kicked out. Now as Tripper thought of it, he realized that Dashwood had been correct from the beginning.
“Ok! That switches up our squad leadership a bit,” Joker said “I’m still Squad leader, Brawl, you're the new X.O and Drip you're the new Flight Officer, everyone cool with that?... Good, cause there's nothing you can do about it.”
Alek smirked his heart missing Joker’s banter and the Squad as a whole,
“I want all Squad Leaders, and Staff in my office, 10 minutes before we arrive at Midpoint which is in” Alek checked his crono “two hours, but until then, what's the buy in?”
Firebird 10 didn't say a word, she just sat on her bunk and looked over the Sabbac game brewing. Root went back to his reading. Sabbac began to deal out the cards to Alek, Joker Tripper, Drip Book, 11, Brawl and Mob, with that the banter insued with many jokes and ribbing.
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CH 59
“Liz, what the fuck?” Dave skidded to a stop just in front of her as she waited in the parking lot.
“Everything’s fine,” she said calmly, nodding to Josh as he dropped his arms from her shoulders.
“I leave you for ten fucking minutes and you’re attacking people?” he threw his arms to the side, completely bewildered by her behavior. “He’s trying to get people to come help break your neck!”
“Fucking hell,” Josh whispered under his breath and took off running for the bar.
Liz laughed bitterly. “He can’t do it by himself? You should have let me leave when I first asked.”
“Liz!” he stared at her, wide eyed. One minute she’s charming everyone, the next she’s starting a brawl in the parking lot.
“Dave!” she shot back, “I’ve got this handled! This is how disagreements are dealt with.”
“What kind of mob boss shit is that? This isn’t fucking Hollister! This isn’t Sons of Anarchy or fucking Easy Rider! These are actual people that I have to go talk down from putting their fist through your face!”
“Just tell him to come out here and we’ll get it over with,” she grinned at him, but her eyes flashed with something other than happiness, “I’m a big girl, Dave.”
His confusion turned to anger at her seemingly casual air about the entire thing, knowing that Josh was just inside doing all he could to keep Jesse from storming out here and killing her. “Do you normally start shit that your fucking biker gang buddies have to finish for you?”
Liz visibly bristled at that, “What did you just say?” her voice was almost a whisper.
“Is this about the oath or whatever?” he tried to change the subject, sensing he had really hit a nerve with his last question.
Liz turned away from him and headed for her bike, “This isn’t about the books, Dave.”
“Then enlighten me!” he shouted after her, “You can’t fucking walk into a bar and start-“
“You think I don’t know that?” she yelled, whipping around again and running back up until she was just inches from him. She dropped her voice to a harsh whisper, “You think I wasn’t told about how shit works around here? You think I can just smile and act like I’m having an awesome fucking time when some fucking asshole is using a picture of my dead grandfather as a fashion statement?”
Dave paused to register what she had said. He hadn’t realized it was that bad, that whatever Jesse had done was that offensive. All he had heard was Jesse screaming bloody murder from the back of the bar at how he had been disrespected by some groupie. “Liz, I-“ he reached out for her, but the back door of the bar exploded open and Jesse stormed out with defeated looking Josh right behind him. Dave put himself between Jesse and Liz and just hoped he could talk him down.
“Move,” Liz insisted, pressing her fingers into his back.
“Liz, you don’t understand-,“ his eyes darted from Jesse to her when she calmly stepped out from behind him.
“This fucking bitch!” Jesse yelled, rushing up into Liz’s face and pointing his finger between her eyes. Dave threw his arms around Liz’s waist to pull her back, but she stiff-armed him away.
“I did you a fucking favor,” she growled, pointing right back in Jesse’s face, “You’re lucky I’m the one the one that saw it first.” She briefly wondered where the rest of the club members were, probably too drunk to even realize what was happening just feet from their bikes.
“What is this bitch fucking talking about?” he laughed haughtily and looked up at Josh and Dave, trying to buffer support from them.
“I knew it,” she drove her finger into his chest, backing him up a step. “I fucking knew you weren’t in the Jokers. You’re just an asshole with a vest and a bike.” Dave put just one arm around her waist this time, but let her stand her ground.
“I’ve never hit a woman, but…,” Jesse chuckled, but made a show of rolling up the sleeve of his flannel shirt.
“Good,” she spit back and dug her nails into Dave’s forearm, “Means you still have a chance to join something you obviously want to be a part of. Maybe I’ll put in a good word for you.”
Jesse frowned and knit his brow together, trying to understand what she was telling him. He looked over her shoulder to Josh, who rolled his eyes and nodded, “Yeah, dude! That’s what I was trying to tell you! She showed up on his bike! She’s got a damn good reason to be pissed.”
Jesse stood frozen, his eyes darting back to Liz. “So, who is-“
“He was my grandfather,” her voice was calm again and she relaxed enough to cross her arms over her chest.
His blue eyes went wide, like he was seeing her face for the first time, “Meghan?”
“No,” she corrected him. “I’m the baby.”
“I didn’t know-“
“No, you didn’t. So you can buy me a beer and we’ll move the fuck on,” Liz pushed Dave’s arm away and stepped past him, shoulder checking Jesse on her way back into the bar.
Dave and Josh both visibly relaxed, each of them letting out a deep breath and turning away from Jesse.
“I didn’t fucking know!” he yelled at them, “How was I supposed to know you’d show up with Old Man Jack’s granddaughter?”
“Go!” Josh yelled, waving his arm towards the bar, “We won’t hold her back if you piss her off even more!”
Dave leaned forward onto his knees, trying to catch his breath. He thought for sure Jesse would at the very least take Liz to the ground and he would have to get in the middle of it.
Josh folded up on the pavement next to him and shakily pulled a pack and lighter out of his shirt, “Well, that was fun,” he muttered, tilting his head to light his cigarette. He looked up at Dave and handed him the pack, “Here, man.”
Dave sat down hard next to him, lighting his own cigarette and taking a deep drag.
“Your girlfriend is…” Josh took a drag, trying to think of a word to describe Liz.
“Crazy? Reckless? Volatile?” Dave rested his elbows on his knees, pressing his palms into his forehead. He was having a difficult time reconciling the sweet, funny, easy going Liz with the unhinged maniac he was just harshly introduced to.
“Kinda,” Josh considered this for a moment, looking just behind them at their bikes lined up in the lot, “But she’s fun as hell and she’s fucking hot. I’m sure this is just a one-off.”
Dave shook his head, “I’m too old for this shit, man.”
“She didn’t even flinch! I thought she was gonna leap onto him like a Facehugger, you know?” he wiggled his fingers around and made alien noises. “Didn’t you tell me she beat the shit out of some guy at a gig? I could use a crazy girl like that.”
Dave took another drag and looked up at the bar. He didn’t think he could go back in and face her after all that. The fight at the gig was one thing, she was attacked and chose fight over flight, but this? Provoking someone out into a parking lot, someone bigger and more reckless than her, only to taunt him? He hated confrontation, but she apparently thrived on it and someday her luck would run out and he would have to deal with the aftermath. He could easily chalk it all up as an off night, she was under a lot of pressure and maybe she just snapped, but something in her demeanor told him she had done this before. “I might let you have her,” he said quietly.
*
“Okay, okay, let’s go.” Josh and Dave heard Jesse laughing and exchanged a look, unsure of what they were walking into.
“Wait!” Liz’s voice rose above all the laughter and Dave rounded the corner towards the bar. He stopped short at the sight of her and Jesse standing together, shotgunning tall cans of beer. A metal bar tray was between them with smoldering ashes still emitting wisps of smoke into the air and Dave noticed the back of Jesse’s vest was bare.
“See?” Josh yelled over at Dave, clapping him hard on the shoulder. “Back to normal!”
Dave watched Liz and Jesse laugh for a moment before turning on his heel and stalking out of the bar.
*
“Dave! Where are you going?” Liz called as she hurried after him.
He swung his leg over the seat of his Harley and reached back for his helmet. Away from this batshit crazy night? Away from these fucking lunatics? “Away,” he muttered.
Liz stepped back a little and looked at her shoes, unsure what exactly he meant with that one word answer, but feeling completely rebuked regardless.
“You’ll get back safe, right?” he asked, watching her closely. He wasn’t sure how she would react to him leaving, but after her little tirade earlier the idea of her breaking down in tears seemed impossible.
Liz nodded, keeping her head down so that her hair shaded her face from the lone light in the lot. She wrapped her arms around herself and stared at her shoes, but she didn’t say a word.
“Great,” Dave fired up his bike and Liz jumped at the sound, spinning back around and quickly walking back into the bar. He watched the door close behind her and waited a moment before kicking the bike into gear and speeding off.
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How Dark Nights: Death Metal Reboots the DC Universe
https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
The end of Dark Nights: Death Metal #7 is the last stop of more than a decade of Scott Snyder driving the DC metaverse’s bus. The conclusion to the Dark Nights saga, which started in 2017 with Dark Nights: Metal and ran through an entire Justice League series before concluding here, closes off storylines Snyder and his creative partner Greg Capullo seeded as far back as their first issue of Batman when the New 52 launched.
And with Infinite Frontier and Future State, DC’s next publishing initiatives, on deck, it’s worth taking a look at what Death Metal did so we can try and understand how the pieces fit together. Because if there’s one thing to take away from Death Metal, it’s that everything fits together. Even if you really gotta stomp on the pieces to get them to stick.
THE ANTI-CRISIS IS HERE!
The final couple of issues of Death Metal throw a little bit of a curveball at readers. The entire series has felt like it was heading for a confrontation between Wonder Woman and The Batman Who Laughs, the Jokerized Bruce from the Dark Multiverse who (everybody take a DEEEP breath now) led an army of dark Batmen on behalf of Barbatos, the evil Bat god, in Metal; escaped captivity with Lex Luthor’s help in Justice League; betrayed Lex and usurped his role as evil overgoddess Perpetua’s right hand in Hell Arisen; and had his brain dropped in the body of a Bruce Wayne who had been turned into Dr. Manhattan after being killed by Diana earlier in Death Metal (with a chainsaw made from her invisible jet…just roll with it), giving him the nearly limitless power he needed to betray Perpetua earlier in this series. And from this point forward, we’re referring to him exclusively as BWL. Now let’s all go get a glass of water.
Ok, back? Cool.
So the rematch in the last couple of issues of Death Metal is what the rest of the series has felt like it was building towards. And we definitely get a BRAWL: Diana, charged up with Anti-Crisis energy (we’ll get there), is a giant embodiment of her golden lasso, and several times in the issue, she punches BWL so hard he traverses the history of the DC Universe.
But it turns out BWL isn’t just fighting to dominate the entire multiverse. The Hands are returning.
The Hands and the Green Lantern Connection
You know how DC time travelers can’t go back and watch the beginning of creation? Whenever they try, they just see a giant hand. This is pretty well established, going back to John Broome and Gil Kane’s old Green Lantern story about Krona, the Guardian scientist who first attempted to see the dawn of time.
Turns out, the giant hand is part of a race of them: enormously powerful cosmic entities that bear a passing thematic resemblance to Marvel’s Beyonders, only sized up in power a few times. That hand we see when Krona tries to violate the laws of the multiverse, it belongs to Perpetua, and she’s one of them. Now they are coming to judge this local multiverse, and Perpetua and BWL both think it’s going to go poorly. So poorly, in fact, that BWL is asking Diana to join her Anti-crisis energy with his, as it’s their only hope of preventing The Hands from sweeping everything away and starting over.
Crisis Energy and Anti-Crisis Energy
Oh that.
Perpetua and BWL power themselves up first (in Justice League and Hell Arisen) by harnessing the unseen dark forces of the multiverse – the invisible spectrum that manifests as John Stewart’s Ultraviolet Lantern powers, or the Speed Force’s opposite number, the Still Force, for example. They eventually graduate to eating universes to expand their power. These are examples of what Death Metal categorizes as Crisis Energy.
Diana is charged with its opposite: Anti-Crisis Energy. This energy is produced by the connective tissue of the history of the DCU, by the totality of the DC Universe’s history. That’s why “everything counts” in Death Metal #6 was a big deal: it was a massive power up for Diana. It’s also an interesting meta critique of DC’s history of reboots.
Crisis Energy is described *by Diana* as being selfish and short sighted, focused on short term gain at the expense of respecting the sweep of history. Anti-Crisis energy is constructive, drawing strength from the depth and breadth of 80 years of DC continuity.
We have to be careful assigning authorial intent where none may exist. But it is certainly a valid read of Death Metal to see criticism of DC’s accelerating continuity reboot cycle built in. It doesn’t take an enormous leap of logic to transpose Crisis Energy and all of Diana’s critiques over to Crisis Events and some of the fan criticism – short term sales boosts at the expense of the richness of an 80 year publishing history.
Who Was Right? Wonder Woman or the Batman Who Laughs?
Diana, of course. She refuses to give into BWL’s cajoling, punches him through continuity a few times, and eventually meets The Hands, who come to her wearing the form of…her.
More specifically, they show up as Golden Age Wonder Woman.
The Hand she speaks with explains to her that they were going to sweep away Diana’s multiverse because of its propensity for gross selfishness, but Diana’s personal heart and generosity touched them, so they’re giving the DCU another shot. Only this time, they’re putting everything back in place: the full history of the DCU, along with a blossoming multiverse. And it’s heavily implied that the barriers between worlds in this multiverse are going to be…less walls, and more suggestions. The price the Hand extracts for this boon is Diana’s existence: she ascends, no longer living as a physical being on Earth Prime. Instead, she joins the Hands protecting the new multiverse from a hinted at but as yet unstated threat.
It’s worth noting here that this evolution of the DC multiverse somewhat mirrors Snyder’s evolution as a writer at DC. His early Batman work, on the “Black Mirror” arc of Detective Comics, and early in his New 52 Batman run is very carefully plotted and paced. They’re written more like traditional detective/horror stories. Similarly, the DC multiverse has been slowly returning to continuity since Infinite Crisis and 52, only very slowly, with rigid rules and boundaries about what constitutes the new multiverse. Remember the Orrery of Worlds?
The difference, in both Snyder’s style and the cosmogony of DC’s multiverse, are the rules don’t matter anymore. Death Metal, both in how the story is told and where it leaves the DC multiverse, has a certain “FUCK IT, EVERYBODY HAVE FUN AND WE’LL CLEAN UP LATER” vibe to it and if we’re being entirely honest, that’s kind of exciting.
What Does this Mean for the Future of the DC Universe?
I’ll admit, it hits a little different landing after a year of wild rumors about the future of DC’s publishing line. The journey of Death Metal saw a bunch of new bosses coming in and rumors and threats that they were going to rip the DC Universe down to the studs, and whatever came next wasn’t anyone’s business.
The end of Death Metal is a jubilant explosion of everything bright and beautiful about the DC Universe – our heroes have made it, and not only did they survive, but they did so specifically because everything in their publishing history saved them. Everything counts now, everything happened, everything mattered, and it’s that counting/happening/mattering that saved the day. And then Black Canary, Superman, Wally West, and Batman play a big metal concert for all the celebrating heroes. With Jarro on cowbell.
Future State is the next step, in-universe and out of it. Death Metal closes with a group of heroes and villains – Martian Manhunter, Mr. Terrific, Hawkgirl, Lex, Talia, Vandal Savage, and maybe Wally West (it’s not explicitly clear that he’s part of the group and not just visiting) – gathering together to talk about the cosmogony of the new omniverse. Hypertime is healing, the multiverse is growing so infinite that it’s now the omniverse, pasts and futures are opening into what Wally calls an Infinite Frontier (NEXT PUBLISHING PHASE MIC CHECK!). But Earth Prime is no longer the center of the multiverse the way it once was, as you can see from your handy dandy Multiversity map. It’s replacement is actually two worlds: one yet unstated, and one the group of DCU bigwigs is calling…the Elseworld.
After reading the first batch of Future State books, one could be forgiven for assuming many of those stories take place there. Each book has a blurb about the saved multiverse, and the wealth of new possibilities growing out of the ashes of Death Metal. These books are dripping with multiversal references. But I think that’s beside the point – some of the Future State stories will end up being Elseworlds tales; some, possible futures; and some will slowly integrate to regular continuity. I think the variety is the actual point here; variety of settings, variety of stakes, and a variety of stories and storytellers.
One would think that emphasizing variety might also lead to variances in quality, but the hit rate for the Future State books is remarkably high. These books are genuinely exciting to read. Several of them look nothing like what DC has been doing before, almost to the point where we can hold a funeral for DC House Art Style.
The characters are certainly vastly different from what came before, and a couple of them are going to be absolutely huge – watch Yara Flor, the new Wonder Woman. If Joelle Jones’ first issue of Future State: Wonder Woman is any indicator, she’s going to be extremely popular.
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It has been a long, and sometimes very odd journey to get here, but between the power chords of hope from the end of Death Metal and the completely new jams being played in Future State, it’s hard not to be cautiously optimistic about the future of the DC Universe.
The post How Dark Nights: Death Metal Reboots the DC Universe appeared first on Den of Geek.
from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/38iD7SX
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I tried my hand at some Mass Effect fic!
Summary: A mission confronts Shepard with his worst nightmare. Garrus and Wrex realize that even Shepard has his limits. (Chapter 1 of 2)
Set in Mass Effect 1 during the mission on Elodus. Warning for PTSD and one brief mention of past suicidal thoughts.
Read on AO3!
Shepard should have known.
The Mako's engine revved up as its wheels hit heavy silt, the rocky hills of Elodus giving way to the smooth desert-like expanse of a plateau, devoid of any living being and Shepard should have known.
He'd been listening to Garrus and Wrex bicker over their choice weaponry in the back, letting the now-familiar chatter on the com link wash over him as he focused on getting them to the structure on the distant horizon in one piece. Questionable driving skills aside, the Mako was still a handful to handle but he was getting better at it.
At least that's what Joker had assured him, with minimal smirking. Shepard'd take what he could get.
A dot on the radar marked their goal, blinking, getting steadily closer. Shepard kept glancing at it, trusting the device over the bland landscape around them, something about it setting his teeth on edge. There was no movement to be seen.
“– am I right, Shepard?”
“Oh now you're playing dirty.”
Shepard turned his head with a highly eloquent “Huh?” – judging by his squadmate's deadpan expressions, they'd both been counting on his opinion to win whatever argument they're having.
Wrex stepped forward, a grin tugging at his scarred face. “Just say biotics are superior. Nothing like bursting into battle head-first.”
Before Shepard could go beyond raising an eyebrow, Garrus shook his head sharply, clicking his tongue. “And get yourself killed, you mean? Be my guest – I can shoot well enough for the two of us.”
“See, that's the problem with you Turians. Always relying on tech to get the job done.”
Wrex laughed, Garrus bristled, Shepard prepared himself to interrupt–
And the Mako went flying, ripped off the ground as if it weighed nothing at all. Warning lights flashed, equipment shook loose, clanking, metal on metal – all the air in Shepard's lungs left him in a rush of gravity and vertigo; the belts keeping him in his seat dug into him hard enough to bruise but that was the furthest thing on his mind as they came down with a heavy crunch.
Finally the pressure on his chest lessened, a weak “Fuck” making it past Shepard's lips as the world settled around him, upside-down. Trembling hands searched and found the clasp holding everything together and once it was gone, he spilled on the roof like a box of tools turned on its head.
“Garrus!”, he coughed, picking himself up, straining his eyes to see in the sudden darkness around him. “Wrex!”
Someone groaned to his right, “Present. You alive, Krogan?”, and further away: “'m here. I thought you're getting better at this shit, Shepard.”
Ignoring the jab, Shepard's first instinct was to hail the Normandy. Static. Figures. Only local access, then. He readjusted the fit of his helmet before following the nearby wall with glove-covered hands until he hit the door, then started pushing against it. It didn't budge. Behind him: shuffling steps and the distinct sound of a new magazine sliding into place.
Garrus huffed. “Looks like we'll get to test that theory of yours sooner rather than later.”
The ground rumbled, swallowing Wrex's answering quip and shaking the downed Mako enough that Shepard practically felt every bone in his body rattle with it – and a dawning realization made his pulse spike, blood running cold with the instant panic rising within him.
Because he recognized this feeling. It's the same that haunted him in his dreams, the same that had announced the beginning of the end all those years ago.
Shepard should have known.
Power gathered at the palm of his hands and before Shepard could think about it, the door exploded with a blast of biotic energy. “Move!”, he yelled over his shoulder, barely waiting long enough for his squad to make it outside; Shepard turned and threw up a shield just in time to hold off the worst of the debris bursting around them.
“What is that?”, he heard Garrus growl, saw him and Wrex pointing their guns at the phantom hidden in sand and dust out of the corner of his eye–
Shepard didn't need to look. He reached out, grabbed and jerked Garrus' rifle down, “We gotta get out of here”, he said hoarsely, darkness dancing at the edge of his vision, drained from his biotics or fear or both yet adrenaline still sang in his blood, kept him going.
There's no time to check the look in Garrus' eyes, the flash of confusion and indignation enough for Shepard to know retreat was the last thought on the Turian's mind, no time for careful strategy, for second-guessing.
“We have to run”, Shepard repeated, louder over Wrex's angry “What?!” – and Garrus yielded, just as a high-pitched shriek pierced the very air around them–
And for the first time since Akuze, Shepard stares into the opened jaws of a Thresher Maw.
It all goes to hell faster than Garrus can blink.
Suddenly, they're running. Garrus is dimly aware of the insistant tug of Shepard's hand clamped around his arm, of the blurred blue of biotic shields building and falling around them, of Shepard's strained pants over the com link. Wrex is only a few paces behind them, a mass of reds and browns and seething rage, cursing under his breath so colorfully Garrus' translator chip simply gives up.
Their boots sink into loose sand with every step, burning the energy they could put into standing their ground and fighting instead. Garrus chances a glance at Shepard, wishing he could see his face beyond his helmet but the glimpse he gets makes his gut drop.
Whatever that thing is: It made Shepard, vanguard fighting machine Shepard, bail instantly. That alone makes the soldier in Garrus swallow his doubts and follow his lead.
It seems to have the opposite effect on Wrex. They bypass a formation of jagged rocks – perfect for cover, Garrus can't help but think sullenly – and the Krogan's patience snaps. “What the hell, Shepard?!”, he bellows, breaking a path through the sand like it's the front line of a hostile army. Shepard says nothing.
A few paces are spent in silence, alerting Garrus to the sudden lull around them; looking back, he sees the worm... creature is gone, the horizon once again plain, unassuming dust. Garrus feels Shepard's grip on him tighten. He noticed it too.
“Not yet”, he hears him mumble, almost to himself, “not yet.”
Then the very desert under their feet trembles, shifts, breaks apart–
“Wrex, shields!”
–and Shepard's words start making a lot more sense. Even with two people fueling it, the biotic field around them shudders visibly, flickering out after a second or two – enough to get them out of the immediate blast zone, if just so.
Gaze turned skywards, Garrus's heart almost stops as the creature towers over them. He's never seen anything like it on Palaven. Does it even have eyes? All he can make out is it's huge jaws, gaping and empty and dripping with–
Garrus acts on pure instinct. Diving for his squadmates, he tackles Shepard to the ground and makes Wrex stumble, too; a spurt of clear liquid flies over their heads, close enough that a few droplets land on Garrus' back.
He doesn't pay attention to the burning sensation running up his spine, doesn't stop to worry about the dazed way Shepard's crawling back on his feet – Garrus grabs his Commander, throws him over his shoulder and runs, trusting Wrex to follow.
No matter his previous grievances with Krogans: they can take more hits than anyone in a brawl. Even if that brawl includes a hundred-foot monster in the middle of the desert.
The enraged screeches of it only spur Garrus on. He can feel Shepard struggle in his tight grip, hissing at him to “calm down, Commander” as respectfully as he can; “there”, Shepard snaps back, gloved hand pointing past Garrus' head to the left where the slopes of a mountain range meet sand.
“The mountains, huh?”, he hears Wrex's gruff voice behind them. “Keep going, I'll keep that acid shit off of you!”
Protest is halfway out Garrus' mouth yet it's Shepard who goes ballistic, biotics running hot enough that Garrus can feel it through his armor.
“No! Wrex–“
Wrex bares his teeth, “Shepard”, full of warning.
“Do not engage. That's an order!”
A glob of acid splashes on the ground. Garrus side-steps it in the last moment. “Can we save our asses first and then talk about details?”
“Just trust me”, Shepard growls. Wrex doesn't reply.
They don't stop until their boots hit rock.
Shepard slides off Garrus' shoulder the moment they do, all kinds of dizzy and disoriented, waving away Garrus' attempts to steady him. What he needs right now is solid ground under his feet and some space to think.
His hands are trembling.
The panic he's been holding back since the Mako is a tight coil in his chest, slowly spreading out. Not yet. He can feel the others' eyes on him, painfully aware how weak he must seem to them: This is not the Commander Shepard we know, he can almost hear them think.
The memory of his therapist is blurry, one vague face among many by now but he still remembers her calming tone of voice. Breathe. Shepard does. Forces his back straight, balls his hands to fists.
His amp port is numb with pain. He'll deal with that later.
“Shepard.”
He closes his eyes in the privacy of his helmet. “Wrex”, he sighs, turns around to face him.
Wrex looks like he's doing some holding back of his own, cracking his neck, shifting weight, crossing his arms. “Care to explain?”, is what he comes up with, jaws tight.
Shepard rarely sees him so... fidgety. It's clear he's furious – having to back down from a fight does that to a Krogan – yet Wrex listened to his orders when it counted the most, and Shepard knows he owes him for that.
So he nods, “Yeah”, calls Garrus' over from his silent watch over the horizon. A sudden chill runs down Shepard's back as he's reminded why that might be necessary. Threshers rarely hunt outside their territory, however, and Shepard counts on that fact now just as he did during their rushed escape.
They make themselves comfortable on a nearby slab of rock; Shepard sits down heavily while Wrex paces. Garrus stands to his right, a steady presence in the corner of his vision. He's tinkering with something – his com link, Shepard recognizes with a quick glance.
No more distractions. His squad deserves to know the truth.
“Six years ago I lead my first mission for the Alliance.”
His words are hesitant, and Shepard hates himself for it, hates the fact that what should've been a cornerstone of his career is the reason he can't wear the title of Commander with pride. He stares ahead and sees the arid planes of Akuze, hears the hushed conversations of his marines around him.
“We'd lost contact to one of our colonies and my unit was sent to investigate. Found the settlement empty, colonists gone yet no bodies, no sign of violence... So I told 'em to set up camp in the dunes. No point in searching at night, right?”
A mirthless chuckle catches in Shepard's throat. Wrex's gaze is on him. Shepard holds it for a long moment.
“That's when those things attacked. Woke up to complete chaos around me, made it out in time to see them just... tearing the camp apart.” Wringing his hands, the dry noise of plating on fabric distracts Shepard from the memories that bubble up like bile. He looks down, swallows heavily around the lump in his throat.
“The smell, the– the screaming, I'll never forget it. Went through a unit of fifty marines like it's nothin' and we didn't even know what hit us. Never encountered Thresher Maws before so we didn't know about the acid and, well.”
Others might've been forgotten but Shepard remembers every name, every face of the squad that set foot on Akuze with him. Writing the condolence letters had taken weeks. It was the only way to honor them for their sacrifice.
Shepard exhales slowly.
“Turns out they don't follow you forever. Dragged myself to the LZ and got the hell out of there... I was the only one who made it back.”
Wrex has stopped pacing and even Garrus is motionless. There's more he could tell them: of the months and years he spent wishing he'd died with them, how much he hated it to be hailed as a hero for his biggest failure.
In the end, Shepard settles for: “Doesn't matter if we could've taken that thing on. I won't let it happen again.”
Then he falls silent, out of words to say. The silence stretches on, lingers – follows them persistent as a shadow as they board the Normandy hours later. Shepard goes through his post-mission duties on autopilot: skips the med bay by pointing Dr. Chakwas towards Garrus, writes up his report, takes heat from the Alliance brass for losing the Mako. The three migrane pills he's dry-swallowed knock him out eventually.
Hours later he gasps awake with the afterimage of melting flesh and torn limbs burned into his eyes. He spends the rest of the night puking his guts out, the bathroom door firmly locked behind him.
To be continued
[AO3 Link]
#mass effect#mass effect fanfiction#commander shepard#garrus vakarian#urdnot wrex#my stuff#there's more coming soon i hope c:
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8P Unit Song CD Vol.2 - Enoki Junya + Masuyama Takeaki
duet - キタカゼトタイヨウ (The North Wind and the Sun)
There are things I can't pass on down,
So I'll keep on holding to 'em as I reach the top.
Enoki Junya - Evergreen Eyes
From here on out, you'll definitely become amazing,
So cast your eyes upon a wider world.
Masuyama Takeaki - New World [9/17 - Congratulations!!]
Right now, just look into my eyes,
And the world shall turn upside down, as we're born again.
Full translated lyrics for all songs under the cut!
キタカゼトタイヨウ (The North Wind and the Sun)
E: I've found out that there's yet another eyesore today,
Even if I get swarmed by them, it’s fine - I loathe them anyway.
M: Shut out that chilly noise piercing through the air,
They’ll keep on going anyway, about stuff like learning.
E: My poker face is the complete opposite of what's real, it's obvious isn't it?
M: You fake joker, if that's what you desire, I'll fight you, so,
E: Get out!
M: Get out!
Both: Right now!
Blow or Shine!? Never, ever get in the way of my rule!
Brawl again! Our senses will only be honed for as much as we exchange blows,
E: One for All!?
M: All for One!?
E: Oh no no!
M: Oh no no!
Both: Before anything else, for my own sake, this fist is gonna crush into you!
M: I've reflected that our matching eyes is an unusual paradox,
Jealousy crosses over this mirror, messing with my heart
E: The wordy reason for this is that we're connecting beyond words,
But it's just that we're burning exactly the same, right?
M: A draw game doesn't exist, this is nonfiction which uses both white and black
E: So if I'll go over this borderline, I would meet a,
M: Brand-new!
E: Brand-new!
Both: Myself!
Blow or shine!? There are things I can't pass on down, so I'll keep on holding to 'em as I reach the top,
Brawl again, if this is a competition, only one of us can win,
M: Destiny!?
E: Actually!?
M: Oh no no!
E: Oh no no!
Both: Until I become stronger than everyone else, I'll sell my purpose away!
M: An unexpected pair,
E: Laughing bitterly,
M: And bumping
E: Fists
Both: Like how friends do, ironically.
Blow and shine! If our shared foe's throwing his weight around, then, as one,
Let's go along, just for now, and feel how fighting side by side feels like
E: One for All!?
M: All for One!?
E: Oh no no!
M: Oh no no!
Both: Before anything else, for my own sake, this fist is gonna crush into you!
Enoki Junya - Evergreen Eyes
I've always watched you, and that's why I know --
You're scared, aren't you?
To you, who's weak against unfamiliar things,
This [new] chance is a test.
The dreams you'd laid out in your youth,
Remember them once more.
This gentle gaze on you will never change,
So just keep on focusing on where you are.
It's okay if you've only got eyes on your own path;
Whenever your tears fall, you can always come home.
We've always been across each other from the start,
And there were also days we've wasted, aren't they?
I've really been worried
About you, who believes people's words without question.
Even if people would hurt you,
You'd still be nice, and believe in them.
If you keep on ignoring the bad things, you'll never be an adult,
So it's fine to shed some of your naivete sometimes,
As long as you put your brightness back in the end.
Send a signal from the bottom of your heart,
And I'll catch it.
From here on out, you'll definitely become amazing,
So cast your eyes upon a wider world.
The possibilities are endless no matter where you'll go,
So let your morning footprints resound.
This gentle gaze on you will never change,
So just keep on focusing on where you are.
It's okay if you've only got eyes on your own path,
Whenever your tears fall, you can always come home.
I'll always be praying for your happiness.
Masuyama Takeaki - New World
Dream dreamer, dream dreamer, sweet dreamer, baby,
Dream dreamer, dream dreamer, cool from a dream...
A nightmare woke you up, but there's nothing you should be afraid of,
It's just superstition, let laughter be your good luck charm.
Whoa, I'm not a fortune-teller, but,
Whoa, I've looked into it,
Whoa, and it seems like the dream you had yesterday foretells only good things.
Just one word, that's all it takes, look - it's just like magic
Right now, just look into my eyes,
And the world shall turn upside down, as we're born again.
Dream dreamer, dream dreamer, sweet dreamer, baby,
When you pouted your lips, I went and kissed them softly.
You don’t know the truth - that you yourself are a lucky charm.
Whoa, let's go make a fresh start,
Whoa, there's nothing to be scared of,
Whoa, everything up until yesterday was just a lie, just believe in that.
You are beautiful, beautiful, that's the truth, and you didn't even have to use magic,
Right now, softly close your eyes,
And we'll stain the world with new colors, as we're born again.
Sweet dreamer, sweet dreamer.
Time has come, time has come.
Change yourself, change yourself.
The sun sets and the moon rises, just like your heart and your smile,
Right now, just look into my eyes, and you'll see how brilliant you are in them.
Look here, you're beautiful, beautiful, that's the truth, and you didn't even have to use magic,
Right now, softly close your eyes,
And the world has new colors, as we're born again.
Dream dreamer, dream dreamer, sweet dreamer, baby,
Dream dreamer, dream dreamer, sweet dreamer, baby...
You can hear the samples of this album on this page!
You can purchase the album here!
my translation index
first and foremost: congratulations, machuyan! he just announced on his twitter that he got married in 2015 and they just had their first kid! congratulations! also your penmanship is legit goals but that has nothing to do with anything, does it
thanks to @iamsneeze who provided me with the tracks and lyric scans for this!! hopefully this cheers you up, even if just a little!
note to self --- i SAID i was gonna use the scans but jesus christ my eyes? keep??? getting worse and worse??? help me god those were already good quality ones but eyes ended up betraying me and i...practically re-transcribed all of the songs by ear...just like what i did for full volume - so maybe i should just take pity on my eyes and do all TLs by-ear from here on out, sobs into own hands,
like i said in vol.1 (hata and chiba), the duets are meant to be the theme songs of their drama skits - in enokiya and machuyan’s one, machuyan is a delinquent and enokiya is a member of the student council who’s...secretly snuffing out the delinquents? taking them down, or just hurting them?? either way, it’s heavily implied that he wasn’t moving on his own here, so the ‘shared enemy’ they allude to in the last bits is most probably referring to the real mastermind!
...that's actually not how the english phrases were injected into the song, but you know me, so i ended up reworking them into how they most probably were supposed to be in the sentences.
"if you keep on ignoring the bad things, you'll never be an adult/so it's fine to shed some of your naivete sometimes" - somehow sanitized cuz the word-for-word TL was "you'll never be an adult if you don't know what corruption is/so it's fine to shed some of your purity" BUT IT JUST SOUNDS REALLY UNNECESSARILY SPICY IN ENGLISH, which?? it isn't???
basically if you choose to believe that humanity can do you no wrong, you're just being like a kid and will never understand how it is to be an adult, so its fine to think bad of people sometimes too?? uh, wow this was deeper than i thought it was
"the possibilities are endless" - and here is where i end up losing my shit cuz this is exactly how that phrase was said in his song as part of idolmaster sideM unit SEM's song "infinite possibilities"
MACHUYAN WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS SOLO. for reasons yet unknown to yours truly, he seems to be the sexy tantou within 8P? his drink for the karatetsu collab was deadass named "sexual violet"??
ANYWAY...somewhere between the instrumentals that ONE SPECIFIC LINE, YES I AM LOOKING AT YOU, it's obviously seeming to be rather spicy --
but it's not, really, the lyrics taken at face value are sweet on the overall --
BUUUUT OKAY OKAY FINE, let's just say as a wrap-up note that the POV here is that he's in bed with "you", and nope, this isn't harmless soine. i'm out, fam, bye,
hahaha no i still can’t say this I’M JUST HALFWAY THROUGH THIS SERIES AND THERE’S STILL THE ONE THAT MADE ME CRY, SO,
thanks for reading! please do not redistribute these lyrics anywhere without credit and permission!
#seiyuu#8p channel#eight piece#enoki junya#masuyama takeaki#lyrics#my translations#song translations#FINALLY OH GOD#i kept on triple checking myself and not finalizing these drafts for the longest time#but it turned out to be a special day today so i guess it's all for the best???#congrats aniki!!!#machuyan hamanon and peichama can make a sidem parents' club now LMAO
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Yes, yes it was
http://dudeblade.tumblr.com/post/162849826936/im-not-sure-if-this-was-stupid-or-not
How boy, nostalgia. A powerful thing isn’t it. Let’s fight nostalgia with a few facts.
I recently started rewatching shows that I enjoyed as a kid…
Okay...for what reason? Nostalgia? Boredom? Rediscovery? Your reason for watching these could very well affect yoru opinion on them, especially with your bias against RWBY. (As we shall soon see.)
And I realized that the show, Beast Wars, one of the very FIRST 3D Animated shows ever aired, is better than RWBY. The plot is less confusing, and in the span of ONE episode, they managed to make the monstrous Rampage sympathetic; RW/BY is struggling to make Cinder out to be sympathetic in TWELVE episodes.
Well, there are three problems here:
1. The purpose of Cinder was to be hated, not redeemable. For god’s sake, you love the Joker and yet he is irredeemable: Does that mean this Rampage is a better villain than the Joker?
2. Your examples don’t say why Beast Wars is better. You don’t say why Ramapage is more redeemable than Cinder nor how the plot is less confusing. And that’s ALL you say. Nothing about animation, the rest of the characters, the audio, the visuals, the graphics nor action or jokes. Just because it’s better than RWBY in two aspects doesn’t make better overall. Speaking of....
3. Facts contradict you. IMDb lists Beast Wars at an amazing 8.2 (which I think it deserves a round of applause for being rated so highly...but RWBY is rated as 8.3. And unlike Beast Wars which is a part of an existing franchise, complete and had more professional backing: RWBY didn’t and still doesn’t. Again, while this is amazing of Beast Wars, RWBY is still factually rated higher so your opinion doesn’t hold much weight.
The show Adventures of Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius is also 3D animated. And the overall characters are more relatable, and everyone gets a chance to have the spotlight.
Again, you don’t say why they are more relateable. I don’t find Sheen all that relateable, nor Carl really, Jimmy only somewhat ect. The one I find relateable is the professor who could never finish his works, something I have a fear of. And I can remember that Carl didn’t get very much development, Sheen didn’t really develop beyond comedy relief and Jimmy stayed pretty arrogant. Whereas the same cannot be said for most of RWBY’s cast. And again, that’s only one aspect. There is more to animation besides characters.
And again, the facts don’t agree with you. In fact, Jimmy Neutron is rated only 6.7 whereas RWBY again has an 8.3. And this while being completed and backed by a popular network whereas, again, RWBY is NOT. SO even with all those advantages, RWBY still beats it out.
The show Storm Hawks made me remember all the good times I had with the show. I would get up early to watch it when I was younger. The characters were interesting, the overall plot was spectacular, and the action is interesting.
How how and how? Also, music, animation, graphics, color design, character development?
And again, Storm hawks has a rating of 7.3 and RWBy has a whole star above it. And it aired on Cartoon Network and is complete. So your statement fails.
The kicker? - All of these were western shows that aired BEFORE 2010, a full FIVE YEARS BEFORE RW/BY!
And the only one I really fond impressive is Beast Wars. Storm hawks and Jimmy Neutron are both utterly crushed by RWBY in teh ratings, who doesn’t have network backing, isn’t a part of an existing franchise and isn’t complete so it can still go up.
In fact, considering your tags, let’s take three more shows into account: Legend Of Korra, Loud House and Steven Universe.
Korra has a IMDb of 8.6, which seems impressive compared to RWBY...except Korra had network backing, experienced writers, is complete and has full episodes. And speaking of experience, it’s actually a downgrade from The Last Airbender’s staggering 9.2 and guess what, This was rejected from Japan (although I will admit this is partially due to the Japanese stand ins remindingt them of a dark time in their history). So Korra had more advantages than RWBY and still barely surpasses it.
Loud House has an IMDb of 7.8, still lesser than RWBY’s. And again, it has more experience behind it (the writer wrote both the powerpuff girls and Dexter’s Labratory) and network backing.
The only one I am impressed by here is Steven Universe, who has an IMDb Rating of 8.4. However, it’s original so it has less to fall back on and came in during a time that was still pretty iffy for Cartoon Network. Howqever, it has had more money behind it, more exposure, more experience (Adventure Time and MLP: Friendship is magic) which means that RWBY is keeping up with one of the most famous pieces of western animation while basically ahving more disadvantages.
And let’s take a look at RWBy’s stated inspirations from anime? NGE has both an IMDb rating of 8.6 and Hideaki Anno had a reputation with Hayao Miyazaki and one of their most famous works: Nausicaa of the Valley Of The Wind. Ghost in The Shell (/Stand Alone Complex) has an IMDb rating of 8/8.6 and Gurren Lagann, the one RWBY takes the most influence from and was Monty’s favorite anime, has an IMDb rating of 8.4. RWBY is starting to rival her predessors.
And RWBY is pretty groundbreaking as well: First American anime to be exported to Japan, made it into Japanese theaters, has an all star dubbing cast, has a crap ton of merchandise there, got a manga adaptation and, oh yeah, is airing on Japanese TV as we speak! Can’t take that away.
So, was it stupid to do this? I feel as if I just ruined the show for me when I know that there are better ones that have already aired before.
Yes, immensely. Your nostalgia doesn’t change facts nor does it devalue CRWBY’s work. All this did was bring me off my Hiatus again (I gotta work on that), severely questions your critical thinking abilities and your status as a RWBY fan and shows how impressive RWBY really is. So you kind of failed here.
And can I also mention that the Smash bros. Brawl machinima, Smash King is also better as well? - I feel like I should mention that.
barely known, has about the 1/5000th of RWBY’s likes and views and is mostly just using Smash Bros brawl for acting. You probably shouldn’t have.
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