#Multiple Gifs: Astral Plane

[taliawinters]

Boundless, timeless. Like every dream that ever was, stitched together.

[legionfxweek]

Peachie5000′s Favourite Submissions for LegionFxWeek!

Day 1: Favourite Character

Versaphile

https://legionfxweek.tumblr.com/post/186819860152/defying-gravity-versaphile-legion-tv

The title “Defying Gravity” makes it seem as though this submission would be a lighthearted fun romance fic to start off the week. What it actually was was something unexpected, but even better. Defying Gravity has cutesy dialogue sprinkled into several parts that keeps the relationship between Lenny and Fem!David believable, but it truly shines when it delves deep into the workings of Clockworks’ abusive workings. The emotions are conveyed strong and heavy, and rarely does this fic pull punches. Both focuses of romance and desperation blend together to create a really investing fic, even if you’d usually be more into one part of it than the other.

Day 2: Shock!

Mutants-against-humans

https://legionfxweek.tumblr.com/post/186850527301/legionfx-week-day-two-shock-legionfxweek-the

Behind blue eyes is so iconic for its use of 2D animation to portray the battle of David and Farouk on the astral plane and I love that this picture still keeps the style of that fight similar to the original! The shot itself is very memorable; so the more simplistic areas used in this picture make it feel as though the entire thing was originally animated, not just the figures. Overall this picture is a great callback, and fits the prompt very well.

Day 3: Favourite Song Used

Trifargo

https://legionfxweek.tumblr.com/post/186935771299/trifargo-legionfxweek-day-3-favorite-song

There’s just something about the aesthetic of this gif that I love so much? It gives off a very worn, deserted feeling that fits right in with the original song. The colour palette is beautiful, the composition is interesting, and all of the graphics paint a very clear picture of David. It excels at showing how well David’s character fits into “Burning Down the House”.

Day 4: Delusion/Mental Health

Hexiva

https://legionfxweek.tumblr.com/post/186916897012/hexiva-title-i-watch-you-watch-rating-pg-13

“I Watch, You Watch“ is an amazing fic that understands Syd’s and Farouk’s problems and perspectives arguably better than the show does itself. It shows the reader a dynamic that wasn’t touched nearly enough upon in the main canon and it does so with delicate writing and emotional recounts of backstory.

Hexiva’s Day 6 submission, which is part 2 of this great fic, is equally as great as the first. While I enjoyed the second part a bit more, this first part is the backbone of their dynamic, which is why I chose this one rather than the latter.

Day 5: David/Divad/Dvd Dichotomy

Damstevens

https://legionfxweek.tumblr.com/post/186915155184/damstevens-legion-fx-week-day-5

There are multiple elements to why I love this gifset so much. I love the clips Damstevens used to showcase the differences between David, Divad, and Dvd, how David’s is fully in colour as the host. I love the font that was chosen, as well as how the gifset is laid out; it is aesthetically appealing to look at. What really put this gifset into this spot however, is the way in which Damsteven’s uses colour to highlight the God complex they each experience, relate them to eachother, and still make the gifset feel unique from gif to gif.

Day 6: Identity/Relationship Between Body/Mind

Hamsalo

https://legionfxweek.tumblr.com/post/186942479517/legion-fx-week-day-6-identityrelationship

Syd is a very interesting, complicated character, who happens to have a very interesting, complicated relationship with her physical body. I adore how this picture shows just how different her body and her mind is, with her mind being highlighted in a cool calm green, while her body is in a heavier red, almost walled off from the viewer. The shading, style, anatomy, and colours are well thought out and executed in general as well, which is an added bonus!

Day 7: Time Travel

Lilmissrandom

https://legionfxweek.tumblr.com/post/186980522258/legionfxweek-legionfxweek-day-7-time

I gotta agree with Rachelkellcr on this one, I love this submission. The giddiness shown in the animation with how the time eater jumps around is simultaneously adorable and maniacal at the same time. The idea is super unique too; overall it just puts a huge smile on my face when I see it. You wouldn’t usually think a cutesy style would work so well with a creepy monster, but it does here.

[kennysamathedeviant]

Superman's Resurrection: A Theory

I’m excited for JL and the many possibilities it affords so i’m taking this opportunity to put some theories about Justice League out there and for this post, like the header above already spoils, is my theory about Superman’s resurrection. I wanna see if i can predict even a little bit, how Zack Snyder will go about it, based on information we already have from Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. So, here i go:

In the comics, Superman comes back to life when Cyborg Superman attacks Metropolis and we’re expecting him to make his grand return in the JL movie, so it goes without saying that any adaptation of his resurrection is usually in times of heavy crisis. Peculiarly, i’m suspecting a few plot points from the comics/animated series to carry over into the big screen for instance, in the comics, he meets Jonathan in the astral plane. Also, before he comes back, his body is stolen by Cadmus, the Eradicator and then by his fortress robot. In BvS, we get a glimpse into a dream sequence of a future Superman that has subjugated the world in Darkseid’s name and then there’s also the warning from Future!Barry about Lois being the "key". But in the present, the death of Superman has happened and now, Apokolips has found Earth, thanks to Lex Luthor and is on it’s way. So this is where one of my theories about the corpse stealing from the comics comes in, because I'm suspecting 2 resurrections in JL, one actual resurrection and a pseudo resurrection. I suspect that the first resurrection that can be powerful enough to clog that hole in his chest would be by Darkseid.

Darkseid Resurrection

There's a number of ways the movie could go about making Darkseid instrumental to Kal's resurrection, thanks to decades of canon. Darkseid has access to the Omega Effect, and his Omega Beams have the power to bring the dead to life and regenerate them. It'll be a simple matter of acquiring Superman's body and then he could bring it back in the way he pleases. In Smallville, Darkseid does exhibit this power over life and death and is the reason Lex finally comes back to life after Oliver kills him, by making a pact to take alternate Lionel Luthor's body on exchange for reviving Lex. The purposes of acquiring Kal's body is also another seed already foreshadowed in the DCEU because a common trait of Darkseid's is he’s always on the lookout for champions that can be brainwashed to serve him, powerful people who’ll betray their race, subjugate their world and act as his enforcers and in that Knightmare future, Superman is already one so here’s how i think everything plays out. I’ve said before that i’ve already made my peace with that dream sequence being real and something that’s meant to be changed ala Flash point, in order for the world to stand a chance against Apokolips’ forces, so i’ll be factoring that possibility into this theory.

Possible Brainwashing and Manipulation

Darkseid has a number of methods to invoke to break someone like Superman, the DCEU can introduce Glorious Godfrey, who in some incarnations, has the power to brainwash people. Alternatively, it could rely on Darkseid's power of mental manipulations but if they're not going with that, they could go for the next best thing, build up Granny Goodness and the Female Furies for a future appearance by having them be the instruments of the brainwashing. So to acquire Supes and make the brainwashing possible, the JL plot synopsis says Parademons are already kidnapping Earth scientists, which is a perfect distraction for the proto-Justice League, who have to also fend off an initial small scale invasion from the site of Superman’s public burial as seen by what may be happening in this gif.

However, i’m suspecting a little covert force of Parademons will sneak off with his corpse, all the way back in Smallville like multiple people did in the comics. Now, some people will say using evil Supes in JL goes in the opposite or against everything they’ve been doing or it invalidates all of Superman’s struggles but not necessarily, after all, tropes are not bad, only executions can be (I think). Doing something so cruel as to crush people’s hard work, and using someone like Supes to conquer Earth is something Darkseid would do, if he’s not using people as pawns and champions, then he’s not yet being Darkseid. And he has a particularly well documented fixation with Kryptonians. In Superman: The Animated Series, he repeatedly aims for Superman and Earth, he brainwashed Superman in the last episodes and set him loose on Earth. In the story reintroducing Kara Zor-el into the DC Universe after Crisis on Infinite Earths, he tries to capture and brainwash Kara. In the New 52, he captures and brainwashed Superman. So it’s perfectly in character for him to attempt something like this and the buildup to that has already been set through the Knightmare. Plus, Lex made a huge deal about this, the creatures among the stars learning "the god is dead", so Superman factors very much into why they’re coming and in so doing, the possible evil Supes arc already set up can be dealt with. Besides, i don’t think the world will be aware it happened (which i'm guessing is where a lot of concerns will lie), since the initial invasion may be subtle, Supes role could be as secretive as possible and this will most likely be something only the League and Lex know, and could play into a future story line where he’d want to turn public opinion against the League like in he did in the DCAU. So Supes reputation will most likely be safe.

So Superman is trained in Apokoliptian combat (I remember Henry went for martial arts training in preparation for JL and people don’t come back to life experienced in different forms of combat) and is sent to get the invasion underway. But since the proto League is already assembled, things are already happening differently from the events that could have lead to the Knightmare, Bruce isn’t going it alone, he’s upgraded the BvS Batsuit, created the tactical suit, the flying fox and other gadgets we’ll get to know, come November. In his corner, he’s also got Diana, Barry and Victor and would eventually get Arthur, so whatever events that could pose a danger to Lois’ life already has lesser chances of happening. And that way, Lois could live long enough to reach out to Superman when (or should I say "if" seeing as all this is just my crack theory) he inevitably comes back wrong and in so doing would be able to bring him back to his senses and that way, we get the “Lois is the key” arc plot point. If Kal does come back to his senses thanks to the love he and Lois have for each other now that she's survived and Knightmare future's been averted, Darkseid may have no choice but to take back the life he gave him, and that may put him in that near death state he had in the comics.

The Regeneration Matrix

The pseudo resurrection itself i suspect, will be using things we’ve already seen in MoS and BvS, namely the Genesis Chamber and the Kryptonian Codex. Like Jax-ur tells Zod, it’s still viable even if Kal is dead, and the codex itself is a fossilized ancient Kryptonian skull containing DNA. I believe we’ve already seen the DCEU's version of the regeneration matrix in action in BvS, while the methods of resurrecting Doomsday are vague, it’s clearly something that Kryptonian tech makes possible as seen by the scoutship teaching Lex what to do. It’s very possible that the mutations Doomsday underwent were all deliberate modifications made by Lex, since the Genesis Chamber allows for the manual choosing of desirable Kryptonian traits. The point of using his blood may merely have been an attempt to substitute for the DNA the codex would have provided, which possibly would have caused some of the devolved intelligence and skin discolorations but the other features may have well been part of the intended package.

So resurrections may possibly be a technology feat Krypton had perfected but outlawed in order to discourage other incidences like "Bertron’s Curse". So with Superman back in a state of near death, it’s a perfect opportunity for the robot in the scoutship to take his body and try to resuscitate it.

I meant this robot, suspiciously hiding in the Genesis Chamber room and which curiously enough, did not get destroyed or do anything important in BvS, so why was it in so many background scenes? Perhaps foreshadowing for the role it plays in JL like the comics? If questions arise about why it didn’t try to resurrect Supes earlier, it could simply be stated to be due to some secret, hidden prime directive inserted by the Jor-el A.I in MoS before getting deleted, that should Kal die, he should only be resurrected at a time when the world absolutely needed a Superman and with an invasion underway, JL’s the time for the world to need a Superman. This also allows Clark to have that conversation he has with his father’s ghost in the comics before coming back to life, but I hope if this happens, the movie possibly throws some Jor and Lara in there too, they deserve it. And with him placed in the Genesis waters and the codex in him still being viable and providing the genetic jolt or bang to his cells, he’ll be cocooned and regenerated to full health and full life in a way Zod’s corpse wasn’t as Doomsday.

Also, this arc about dying, being brainwashed and breaking free from Darkseid’s control before coming fully back to life, allows Superman to become a special target in Darkseid’s eyes and this can create the enmity they have in the comics in the same way BvS created the enmity that Clark and Lex canonically have between each other. Superman will be that valuable pawn that got away and broke free of his control, something Darkseid hates considering Scott Free did too and Darkseid’s ultimate goal is to purge free will from the universe.