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semi-imaginary-place · 4 years ago

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rewatching decadence

ep1: so... indoctrinating kids that they life their life in service to an upper class. also like, the way deca dence takes care of giant gadoll is to punch it like no giant sword or laser canon or anything just the power of a giant mountain sized fist. this show actually has some good foreshadowing from seeing Natsume from the perspective of Kaburagi’s hud, to Natsume’s dad (Muno) finding the Solid Quake logo at the beginning of the episode and the logo again being shown in the last shot at the announcement signs off with have a profitable day which is a weird public safety announcement but makes sense as a company slogan. I’m still not sure what the “TIME 1:00 POINT SE,07,G” means. I didn’t write it down last time because I was unsure of myself, but my first thought when the cyborgs showed up was VR chatroom for the upper class.

ep2: yeahs that’s totally an advertisement that plays right after natsume realizes the human costs of war as the tankers pay respects to the fallen. I realized what it was with the cartoony designs, the bright colors and patterns, the funky shapes of all the structures aboard the space ship, it looks like a tv show for toddlers. inoffensive and deliberately cheerful to distract from the horrors of a corporation owning your person. the eng subtitles are confusing here it should be “real death(simulation) awaits” in that the company is advertising being able to experience death but not have any of its permanent consequences as a feature of the game. The cyborgs are corporate wage slaves being compensated for their labor in company credits and the only other things we seen them do outside of work is play the company’s mmo, or recreational drugs. “I should be proud of my function and to be scrapped” as property of the company. aaaa that’s terrible. aaa. what are cyborg cores??? and why are they valuable. Solid Quake has no control over the core, only the cyborg’s housing. Is it that they cannot produce more? Considering the others on the team got executed for sentenced to an eternal forced labor camp with appalling conditions, Minato really did pull some strings for Kaburagi. ooh so “time until scrapping” and “operational limit near are two different warnings. the first is a general reminder of lifespan and the second is because oxyone levels are low. now its “TIME 20:00 POINT SE,05,I”. all those new gadoll events probably wreck havoc on the tanker economy. its 400c now and i think it was 500 for 2 earlier. First time through I wasn’t paying attention and totally thought kaburagi was an assassin, but no he’s just clean up crew. ahh yes, come spend you wages at the company run stores. micro transactions... wait so where were people getting the number 13 from?

ep3: ah yes Solid Quake charges to use the media center, truly a micro transaction hell. Natsume’s character arc is about whether to push herself or not. Here Fei acts as part of a continuing dialectic saying that Tankers have no place outside of Deca-Dence, that sooner of later Natsume will die from it, and once again highlighting Natsume’s right arm. In the other level of this though, tankers shouldn’t go outside because that’s not their role in the solid quake mmo, and those who would disrupt the mmo are killed. I like how you can see Kaburagi switch from videogame logic (oh she’s low level so let’s just stick her in the tutorial zone) to real life (what skills and experiences would help in fighting). So several corporations took advantage of desperate people to sell them a service that would augment them with mechanical parts. I get that pipe in a little outfit is funny, but does no one really realize its a gadoll, i meant natsume recognizes it instantly. like the scene where Natsume talks about her right arm, the anime does a good job of showing how her feeling about it are complicated. She’s lived with that arm for years, but it also hinders her sometimes, and people will comment about it. there’s this specific type of humor that pops up in this show and given how its the same joke, my guess is that its the same person behind it. The “joke” being that Natsume is put in a position that references sexual assault. The first is with fennel where she makes up an excuse of having to go see kaburagi to get away from him. And then there’s this episode. There’s also a few stray lines here and there that alarm me in that they imply Natsume has dealt with the threat of assault before. Since they didn’t do anything meaningful with this, I’d rather it just not be there. Minato is in on the secret of Pipe’s existence and by the way the two talk, they’ve called each other before in the last 7 years. Its good to know that Kaburagi wasn’t JUST brooding for 7 years and that the two of them stayed in contact.

ep4: Natsume after having gained confidence in herself takes down several gadoll and earns her place in The Power. Its a fulfilling payoff after seeing her train for several episodes. Natsume is where she always wanted to be, fighting gadoll in the Power. gahh It really is a patch release trailer. Ohh so I assumed that the other structures on the cartoon earth were other corporations, but in this episode we see one of them (the white and red striped cone thing opposite the deca-dence dome) and the cyborgs there are talking about the game (MMO LARPing lol), so either Solid Quake owns multiple of those structures, or these cyborgs are customers not owned by Solid Quake and playing of their own volition. that would makes the cone cyborgs where solid quake is deriving its profit from since its not like it pays its workers. reading comments online, a lot of people missed that because a ranker was found to be cheating (mikey), the rankings were abolished. In the present time, gears/players are not ranked. Ah so Kaburagi was transferred to the maintenance department from the warrior department. Wow reassignment is so much better than the poop jail. I remember it being said, armor repair, doctor, and weapon shop could be employee(cyborg) run so I wonder if the medics and that one armor shop guy are tankers or not. So this anime already snuck in a sex joke with the when the poop gang swapped kaburagi’s avatar with a sex toy, so i wonder if the safetyprivatemode was made so that the mods wouldn’t have to listen to robot sex. I really wish this show could have had 24 episodes. The trend for the past 20 years has been shorter and shorter shows so I know it would have been likely impossible to get the clearance and funding for 24 eps but oooh in som alternate universe maybe... i brought up fleshing out minor characters and character relationships before but there also stuff like Natsume’s right hand almost clamping on ... Mindy? Which usually would be a narrative flag but is completely dropped because of the episode limit. And the confidence Natsume gained last episode come to work against Kaburagi trying to keep her from the suicide mission. Its only from this point on that Kaburagi starts to really change, as of this point he is still a loyal cog to a machine that does not care about him. Kaburagi and Natsume in the 2nd half of the episode continue the same dialectic that runs through the whole of the show, about giving up and learning to try again, about pushing your limit, about why someone bothers trying. On the collectivist versus individualist spectrum, Deca-Dence is on the individualist side with assertions of the importance for deciding for yourself what you will do with your life. Its an interesting counterpoint to The Twilight Mirage (Friends at the Table) which I am currently listening to in that The Twilight Mirage is a western production and strongly collectivist with one of the antagonist being sort of kind of an embodiment of independence/individualism while japanese works as a whole tend to be more about the whole over the individual than western ones. Kurenai talking about why she fights is very good and very important for 2 reasons, first it help flesh out not only her but offer a very needed other opinion on what its like to live as a Tanker, second it segues nicely into Natsume’s memories of her dad telling her about the outside world and him being the only one to believe she can do it (fight in The Power) as contrasted with flashbacks of all the other characters telling her she can’t. This culminates in Natsume gathering her resolve to fight not because of something grand like changing the world or the fate of humanity, but something very personal scale: changing herself and proving to herself that she can do it. The is also the climax of her character arc, the point of no return.

ep5: If last episode was natsume’s point of no return, then either this episode or episode 7 is Kaburagi’s. Rationally speaking, the optimal scenario would have been for Kaburagi to stall long enough for the Tankers to escape before pulling back himself, but emotionally and narratively, there’s no way he couldn’t. After all the build up of deciding for yourself how to live and pushing your limits. Its appropriate that here in defense of the girl that inspired him to live and choose for himself rather than just continue existing in the default of what Solid Quake demands of him, that Kaburagi chooses to release his operational limiter (literally pushing him limit) and derail the company’s plans. How did no one realize purple dude was breaking imprisonment to play on a hacked avatar. Like he’s still as purple and bloodthirsty as ever. He acts and speaks the same. Someone would have totally seen him and gone “eyyyyy [i forgot this guy’s name] is back” and talked to people about it and someone should have heard. So I remember reading comments from various idiots who were mad because they mistakenly thought the anime took place in a virtual space and that Natsume was made of lines of code. And first off even if that was true there’s a difference between objective reality and the lived experiences of a person and what’s to say her experiences and emotions would be any less real than yours. And second, did everyone forget The Hunger Games? Like its just another game that plays with real lives and doesn’t care who gets killed. Solid Quake is just using humans as a stage prop. Man this episode is jam packed. Its like getting punched in the face 4 times. The pacing of the last 4 minutes was really good. The quiet scene as dawn breaks acts in direct contrast to the high energy of the Stargate takedown that preceded it. After time and against not listening to him, Minato still calls Kabu to check in with him. There’s also his certainly that it was Kaburagi that saved the Deca-Dence mech (i need to be clearer when I’m talking about the physical fortress city mech, the mmorpg game, or the deca-dence system itself). And then when the world state gets reset is just so good because it make it clear that the gadoll were never the true enemy. The tankers could kill as many gadoll as they want and nothing would change. Kaburagi’s at an interesting point here, in that he’s no longer in a state of having given up like he was in episode 1 just waiting to die and following along with Solid Quake’s orders, as of this episode he has deliberately gone against the company’s rules, and yet he’s still believes that nothing will actually change. He’s broken a rule and resigned himself to punishment instead of say for example getting rid of the punishment all together. He’s still a good little employee that hasn’t rebelled against the system. And then the “Take care of Pipe” and Natsume turns around and he’s already gone, is sooo good. The final shot too of his avatar face down in the snow! The “This world needs bugs” is in direct contrast to Hugin/Fugin(?) repeating that this world must be rid of bugs, and the same phrase Kaburagi repeated 7 years ago when he was transferred to the Maintenance Department instead of being killed. I wonder how much the cyborgs feel in their original bodies vs. how much they feel in their Gear avatars. Kaburagi doesn’t seem to care about food and no food stalls were shown in the Gear area so maybe they doesn’t have much sense of taste? The avatars also have a lessened sense of pain. And then the limit release sequence shows connections increasing between the two bodies so does it make the cyborgs more attuned with the avatar’s senses?

ep6: eh so this is another example of what I mean when I say some of the humor in this show is in bad taste. They probably put the oxyone port where the ass would be just to make this joke. But this is better then doing to it Natsume. The animators even had a gleam censor for the over where the capsule was inserted as if it wasn’t obvious enough what it was suppose to look like. Spurned on by the the promise that one day if they work hard and behave (”rehabilitated”), the cyborgs will get let out when in actuality its a forced labor camp so that Solid Quake can squeeze just a little more labor our of the cyborgs for even less compensation. The cartoony style here helps offset just how horrific there working conditions are. And Kaburagi still the good little employee (iiko) tries his hardest to play by the rules and win. Except in this game, there is no “win’ written into the rules. So finally he is forced to move outside of the system Solid Quake has made. I still can’t believe they let Donatello keep the gun... Maybe cyborg cores are brains. In 5.5 Kaburagi’s core is in the top half of his metal case, and Donatello’s is also in his head. I’m still not sure what that sequence where Kaburagi takes the head fin and an image of a cyborg core is overlayed, means.

#deca-dence #deca dence #anime #i think too much #reviews #writing

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stipethom · 4 years ago

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I wrote some Cablepool fics some months ago but proofreading is such a bitch, so they were incomplete for now. I’m just gonna post some parts of it and hopefully there are more Cablepool people who loves mpreg as I do.

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In summary, Mpreg theme uses pregnancy to describe how women and gender/sex minorities are impregnated with the unspeakable powers of patriarchy. Pregnancy is not just a biological phenomenon; it symbolizes embodied experiences, where women’s body is changed and exploited as it bear the burden of child labor. And by forcing such changes upon male body, it declares that any sex and gender that is seen less than a “man” can thus be a “woman”, and that whoever they are their struggles and pains are similar to that of women’s in this world.

In mpreg fics, there’ll be tears, fight, divorce, and broken hearts. It’s fan-favorite melodrama. It’s barnyard humor. It’s self-service to the writer’s own kink.

It is all of these. Or, it’s none of these.

They put all kinds of wires to link Wade with medical equipments. X-rays him, scans him, takes some blood from him. They declares that what’s inside Wade is not a parasite. Not another tumor nor a clog. It is, as the tag suggests, a fetus.

Some other X-students gathers as soon as the word is out: the Deadly mouthy ‘pool’s pregnant. The next session, Wade is unhappy with the amount of audience in the supposed waiting room, looking expectedly at him. From hindsight, it’s better they were there at the time, to spare Wade the horrors of explanation.

Unplanned male pregnancy should have been a comic relief since it’s Deadpool. But when the results indicate that it belongs to a certain Nathan Summers, who recently died, it is no longer a joke.

Cyclops, as his role in any other Cablepool fics, has to be the last one to know it. He learns of the identity of his future grandchild and immediately decides to rushe back to the mansion to confront whatever nightmare awaits him. He briefly talks to Hank, in order to prepare himself before talking to Wade. Eventually, a consultation team that comprises of Cyclops and Beast visits Wade’s at his apartment, who just comes back with discounted pregnancy tests from CVS.

“We must talk about your condition, Wade.” Scott says solemnly.

“Sorry, Grandpaclops, will remember to use protection next time. Guess I should never underestimate dicks from the future.”

Scott clenches his teeth. His expression is hidden under his ruby optics, but Wade can see the tiny creases around his mouth, and he gets the feeling that Scott is anxious. Ans so, so very tired. Hank clears his throat and starts talking about his discoveries. Half of his talk is explaining his daring theory of why life form can be conceived inside a male’s body, which Wade doesn’t listen to. The other half is some warmings on what a pregnant man should not do. Given Wade’s profession and personality, Hank makes 100% sure that Wade listens to him. Scott seems to be holding breath as the other mutant talks with a professional calmness.

The talk ends with “We still don’t know exactly how it happened, but It’s going to be a big responsibility—your responsibility.”

Scott tries again. He keeps his voice strategically even, a little raspy than usual, as if he practiced this conversation in front of a mirror too many times.

“It’s yours, as much as it’s Nathan’s. It’s up to you to ... keep it.”

“Or you can move into the X-mansion—”Hank stops promptly when Wade starts laughing.

“So your guys are what, showing parental support for the guy your son never actually married, and you never even doubt it’s a parasite?”

“We ruled out that possibility.” Hank says, “you know, you don’t have to do this.” He pauses briefly, making sure every sentence is carefully worded. “After what happened, you—in fact, nobody should do this alone. It’s unfair that you have to deal with it on your own.”

Great, now they think of Wade as some mourning ex-lover of Nate’s. He has to find something witty to say, or he’ll just embarrasses himself in front of these two good-intentioned, somewhat guilty-looking X-men. There’s a sorry somewhere that he can reads directly from the thin air, sorry we are so sorry for pushing you away, we are sorry we didn’t accept you—and ignored your feelings— now we are here to make it up for you. No, this ain’t right. They don’t know about him and Nate. All they see is this, which makes them assume all kinds of things about them, about Wade, that Wade doesn’t even want to think about.

He decides to take advantage of their out-of-no-where-guilt because it is better than pity, “OK, wait, is this the part where we hug and cry on each other’s shoulders? I have a feeling there’s always a but. Besides, Hank, you just violated the confidentiality agreement without my consent!”

“I’m truly sorry, it’s an unprecedented situation.” Hank tries not to look shameful. “And, no, no buts. All we’re offering is a place to rest before the, that is, if you want to keep it, It’s very important when it comes to—“

“Nathan’s spawn.” Wade helps him finish the sentence. “That’s why you X-men fucking care. “

Cyclops doesn’t say a word, but he thinks so loud, he is practically radiating sadness and anger, and worst of all, the anger is not even directed at Wade.

Wade snaps.

“Tell you what, I’m gonna fucking keep this little shit till it’s got eyes and fingers and then I’ll fucking abort it! I’ll put it in a filthy jar and sell it to Mister Sinister, and it will be none of your fucking business!”

—

Of course Wade didn’t abort it. And he did move into the X-mansion.

Everyone seems worried. After all, X-men are worried all the time—but they also look slightly relieved. If Wade ignores the eyes they are giving him, the whispers they exchange when they think he is not looking, he almost feels nothing has changed at all.

The big question, after the several years after Nate died, still hangs in the air. Every time someone looks at Wade, there’s a why in their eyes. A mutant like Nate, who is supposed to be a man of proper taste and good integrity, the reasons that he chose to be with Wade is unthinkable.

Any sane human would tell Nate what he did is ridiculous. Like the voice in the back of Wade’s mind. It tells Wade all the time that he cannot possibly believe that him and Nate could last any longer—or long enough to have any consequences.

Being pregnant is not the consequences. It’s the last one of the bad decisions he’s made after all the other ones. He knows the voice is right, and his life sucks mostly because he doesn’t listen to it. This time, he feels a certain remorse satisfaction in disobeying the remaining sense of reason in his head.

Keeping the baby to prove a point is as desperate as it’s poorly intended.

He knows how fucked-up this is.

—

In hindsight, it’s fucking creepy that Wade, Copycat, and Domino all slept with Nate.

Here she is, gonna pop open that can of worms.

Domino has to come to him at his most inconvenience. She knocks three times on the door, each time more curt and determined. She will probably shoot a hole in the wall to make a new door if he doesn’t let her in.

Wade opens the door, grimaces at the way she look at him and meet his eyes. He is a good few inches taller than Dom, but he never feels big in front of her.

She brings in an air of feline elegance and the fresh scent of hair shampoo. It’s endearing for her to allow people to see her like this, yet not entirely unguarded. He catches the innuendo of a more secret, private conversation.

Her eyes touch him lightly, hair flares with the effortless chic style many would be jealous of. There are a hundred things Wade lacks that she owns.

The night is getting dark and the wind is getting wild, he probably should close the window before the storm.

Dom is less of a coward than him, who could barely come up to people and tell them the truth. That he got himself into this long before he understood the true meaning of having someone and then losing them.

She is pretty and deadly as always, not jadded by battles and gunfire. She looks at him with a sadness of someone who think they have the pieces of a puzzle that Wade misses. Or at least they think they know.

“Why do you keep him, the baby—.” She leans against the wall, arms crossed. “He’s not going to be Nate. Nate is not here anymore.“

“Wow, wow, lady, now you’re just projecting too hard.”

“Wade, look. It took me a hell lot of drinking to accept that he’s really gone this time.” She keeps her voice steady and manages to be soft at the same time. “I hear you talk to him like, I don’t know. I don’t think I’m not projecting.”

“Just so you know, I talk to my tummy all the time. Totally healthy habit. Been like this since I’m in my mom’s womb.”

“You’ve been talking to him and you sounded like—never mind.” Now she is just being weird. Wade feels offended that someone dare to outweird him without his royal permission. “The baby—you are drowning him with things he’s not part of.”

“Drowning would be a damn boring way to die.” He comments. “In fact, I’m whispering murder thoughts to him so he can grow up into a killing machine. A cyborg one. Just like his dad.”

“Wade, I’m not trying to take anything from you.”

“Oh sure, you’re here to remind me to invite you for the baby shower, which I am seriously going to reconsider with the guest list.”

A strip of dark hair falls on her cheek as she hesitates.

“You know why I’m here.”

Honestly, Wade’s fed up with this. He didn’t respond, instead, he peels off his mask, challenges her to look directly into his eyes.

She looks flustered, but her thin shoulders are as still as granite. This close, Wade can see how her breast heaves under her loosely-fit shirt. It fucking hurts when he rips through her facade and finds something a lot like the reflection of his own pains. They both had Nate in the past, and now that Nate is the past, they are weirdly equal. They had different Nates, but Wade wants all the Nates.

The voice in his head is so loud that he can barely think his own thoughts. Is that why he came to her after Wade left Providence, for her is smart enough to ask for only what she deserves?

Does she come here to pity Wade, or is she seeking compassion from Wade? He feels an old, dull bitterness creeping up his spine.

Domino backs off a little, “I never liked you.” She says. They both know it, so it’s not really a confess. Something is blown in to the window, making a cracking sound. Both of them shiver. “I couldn’t believe it was you, of all people. “Oh, so she did care. She was not as nonchalant as she pretends to be. “But now you are-you are not just yourself-I don’t want to fight you anymore.”

It stings.

“Does that mean I can finally make your face my new bathroom tiles? Because I love baby poo on black and white.” He quirks a smile. “Oh, And by the way, I reject your nanny application. Bring your broom next time.”

“You hate me for a dead man.” She says dryly, “what does that make you...”

Her voice hitches.

“What does that make us. If we are still loyal to him.”

The wind is loud, and others must be awakened by the noises by now. If wind could talk, it must be full of broken sentences, murmuring and fleeing from the untrimmed trees, circulating in the flying dirt and the waving foliage. Some sleepless mutant girls on the second floor mutters in an annoyed voice.

Dom reaches out to him. Her arms are pale but firm. They are suddenly within the distance of a kiss. He feels his cracked lips nearly brushes hers like a breath.

She jumps back, hitting the nearest surface to her face. The window panes creak from the shockwave, sending the whole room whirls. For a moment they were close enough to dig out each other’s heart. The framed painting falls to the ground in broken pieces behind them. It is relatively intact until Neena steps on it.

��A hard loser, aren’t you.” Wade breathes.

Neena just smiles.

“It’s just you who can’t let go.”

She stubbles on the cracked frame before storming into the bathroom. Wade hears the hot water pours out of the faucet and makes maps of mist on the hanging mirror. Her reflection from the mirror shifts, and from Wade’s angle, he can see her tears.

A small sob sound leaks out of her beautiful mouth. Wade feels envious yet again. He doesn’t understand why it changes how Dom sees him, as if sharing pain with him would be some comfort for both of them. But it doesn’t, he wants to scream, and it shouldn’t. He hears other mutant kids are giggling through the wind, and he is so, so envious of them.

Before he closes his eyes, he feels a light patting on his shoulders, and then all the light runs out with the slapping of the door.

He knows this is fucked-up.

“Nate,“ he murmurs, “If you don’t plan yo come back, I don’t think I can survive this—your too-young-too-be-dad dad, your ex-girlfriend, and your very possessive and angry daughter who refuses to meet me yet—I now understand why you want to elope with me into the future. I’ll forgive you for never asking me to actually run with you, but I know you always wanted to.“

“It’s fucking worse when people try to care. They don’t know you. They don’t know how fucked up you are. All they want is to keep a memoir, and I’m their freaking memoir. What did we have, sweetheart, did we ever agree on anything, huh? Did you even think about what it would be like for us to be together long enough to have consequences?”

“You see, Nate, I’m the one living with the consequences now. Except that you’re not here.”

#mpreg #Cablepool #Nathan Summers #Wade Wilson #Cable #Deadpool

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superman86to99 · 5 years ago

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Superman #83 (November 1993)

Funeral for a Friend: uh, that one Green Lantern supporting character who died when Coast City got blown up (Joe? Gary?). In this issue DC’s superheroes pay tribute to the tragedy of Coast City while also deciding what the hell to do with the giant engine that’s now in its place. Weird early ‘90s Hawkman! Dr. Fate with boobs! Already-slightly-psychotic Hal Jordan! EVERYONE IS HERE.

(Nice one, Guy.)

Meanwhile, Lex Luthor Jr. is also sneaking around Engine City, supposedly to prevent it from falling into the ocean and killing some of Aquaman’s friends, but in reality he just wants to look into the Cyborg Superman’s computer to see if he can find a recipe for making kryptonite. As the heroes argue about what to do with Engine City (Hal says drop it into the water, screw the fish), some leftover Warworld aliens start attacking them, like the holdout Japanese soldiers who never found out WWII was over.

The attack precipitates the city’s fall into the water and the heroes have to think fast to prevent a fish holocaust. Their solution is for all the Green Lantern-related characters (Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, Alan Scott, Alan’s daughter Jade) to “detoxify” the debris with their powers before it falls into the ocean. And it works! These guys should totally open a carpet cleaning business.

As for Lex Jr., he does find the recipe for kryptonite inside the crumbling city, but just as he’s about to write it down (he wasn’t carrying any floppy disks, apparently), Supergirl yanks him out of there to prevent him from burning alive. What an unsupportive girlfriend. Anyway, Superman then takes some of the debris and builds a giant memorial for Coast City’s 6,999,999 anonymous lost souls, and Gary. Sweet Gary. You will be missed.

Creator-Watch:

If the art looks different that’s because this is the first issue inked by Joe Rubinstein, ending Brett Breeding’s classic two and a half year run as Dan Jurgens’ main inker (so classic that it feels a lot longer than that). Breeding will be back for Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey and other stuff, though. As for Rubinstein, Don says: “At the time, I had trouble with the transition, being soused to Brett Breeding’s finishes over Jurgens’ pencils, but looking at it now, the art looks great. It doesn’t look as smooth or blocky as Breeding’s finishes, but Rubinstein’s hatchier style serves Jurgens pretty well, even if it takes some getting used to.”

Plotline-Watch:

At the start of the issue, Superman goes to pick up Batman to take him to Coast City, only to find him wearing a different costume, acting differently, and sounding like a different guy. That’s because that’s not really Bruce Wayne in the suit anymore, but the replacement he got after Bane broke his back. That’s right: freakin’ Psi-Phon and Dreadnaught.

Superman gives a speech about how superheroes must work together to prevent another tragedy like Coast City from happening, but when Guy asks him if that means he’s going back to the Justice League, he’s like “uh, not yet.” Wisely, he’s gonna wait for Grant Morrison to get there first.

Hal Jordan’s characterization in this issue is interesting. In Green Lantern #47 (which came out the same month), he’s bummed about Coast City but still hopeful and serene, while here he’s already going Parallax on us. Wonder if Dan Jurgens knew more about what DC was planning for Hal than the other comic’s writer.

There’s a cute scene where Superman is flying by Kansas on his way to Coast City and quickly drops some flowers for Ma Kent. (That, or Flash picked this moment to hit on a random older woman.)

Former TV exec/crime boss Morgan Edge has released an autobiography where he trashes the Daily Planet’s Cat Grant for using her sexiness (and, you know, sex) to get dirt on him and send him to jail. He also accuses Cat of being a crappy mother to her son Adam. He kind of has a point there, because what kind of mom would let her kid play with an Atari in the early ‘90s?! The SNES and the Genesis were already out!

Believe it or not, Morgan Edge’s pervy dad in that screenshot above isn’t the creepiest thing in that scene. Don: “Very spooky how the guy dangling outside of Cat’s apartment goes without mention. An ominous foreshadow of one of the very few missteps of Jurgens’ run.”

But the most ominous part of the issue is at the end, when Clark Kent accepts Jimmy Olsen’s offer to become roomies, since Clark lost his apartment on account of being dead and all. Don wants you to know that “Jimmy is still in that towel by the way” in the scene below. I hope.

Patreon-Watch:

Shout out to our patrons Aaron, Murray Qualie, Chris “Ace” Hendrix, britneyspearsatemyshorts, Patrick D. Ryall, and a warm welcome to Samuel Doran! Last month our patrons got to read an article about Superman’s bizarre first Elseworlds appearance ever, the Kamandi: At Earth’s End miniseries, and got a veeeeeery early look at this post you’re reading right now (since Don finished his part way before I did mine). Right now I’m preparing this month’s Patreon-only article, which involves Superman wearing pointy ears and Luthor wearing make up. Find out more at https://www.patreon.com/superman86to99

Oh, and in case you missed it, we’ve been posting Don’s new commentary for older issues on the Patreon as free posts (click above and scroll down to see them). EVEN MORE from Don after the jump!

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):

Another classic issue, and such a nice wrap-up to the "Death and Return" storyline (as well as being a much-needed check-In on the DC Universe at large). We start with the cover, and it’s a very good one, letting the reader know right away that it’s a big team-up issue. (It also is a real showcase for 90s costume design, and how weird the JLA lineup was at this point).

The opening splash is a neat image of a rarely seen pairing, Superman and Commissioner Gordon. Jurgens draws James Gordon a little heavier and more Pa-Kent like than I’m used to seeing him, but it’s still neat to see him interacting with Superman. A page later, we get another rare pairing—the returned Superman with the imposter Batman, Jean-Paul Valley. The tension in the interaction between “AzBats” and Superman comes across well in their exchange, as does Superman’s doubts about who he was really speaking to.

It’s a dreamy looking Superman crossing the country from Metropolis to Coast City, and I daresay that they’re trying to channel Dean Cain a little as he approaches Kansas.

The best panel of the issue though is the two page spread of all the heroes gathering at the wreckage of Coast City, and there’s so much to love here. The body language, and facial expressions speak volumes about each of the characters: Superman looking swashbuckling and upbeat, Green Lantern brooding like a man barely holding on, Green Arrow all attitude and shadow. Just a great spread.

Another cool image is Aquaman showing up late, and emerging very royally in protection of his ocean (undercut masterfully by a legitimately funny couple of lines from Guy Gardner). Page 14’s Hal Jordan is a great drawing, and this whole storyline seems like a table setter for the "Emerald Twilight" story coming up.

The sequence of a firelit Luthor at the computer is a good look at his madness, but it does beg the question of just how little Supergirl seems to take in. He was JUST talking aloud about Kryptonite, and she emerges seeming not to hear. The image of Supergirl flying Lex away as he struggles against her psychic grab is a good one, even if her uniform is depicted as a little clingier than I imagine it to really be.

Superman floating above his obelisk with his arm in front of his face like Dracula is a cool look, even if it is a little dramatic.

Lastly, the image of Clark turning up the stereo is a good one, even if his hair length is wildly shorter here than in Coast City (and I usually dislike it when they mention real world bands, as it comes off trying too hard to be hip).

STRAY OBSERVATIONS:

I have to love how meta it is to have Superman outright saying that Batman is dressing more “threatening” these days, on page 2. I guess he couldn’t come right out and say “you have an extreme new look, and it’s totally badass! Batman the next generation!”

Last we saw of Supergirl she was storming out of the party on Lex’s Zeppelin after Lex II was getting all horned up at the sight of Lois Lane, but it appears here they’ve mostly patched things up as they fly to Coast City.

More meta-stuff: Jimmy clunkily complimenting Lois on her new hair by saying she “oughta be on TV or something!”. This whole exchange is very expository, really, “Clark must be pretty mad… though he’s busy worrying about where he’s going to bunk…” Anything else to get in there, Jimmy?

The harshness some of the heroes have for Lex Junior seems a little out of place, especially since he’s still known to most of the heroes as an ally from "Panic in the Sky", and the "Doomsday" storyline. Superman’s comment was borderline, but where is all this anger Flash is showing coming from?

Being as familiar as we are with these writers, there are certain phrases or ideas that a certain writer will go to way, way too often. Byrne had a number of stories where Superman would “ionize” something with his heat vision, and it occurred to me that maybe he just liked that word. I would submit that Dan Jurgens likes the word “atomize”. It was used by the Cyborg Superman when talking about Doomsday, and is used a bunch just in this issue.

I find it hilarious that Hawkman appears so prominently in this issue, but doesn’t get any lines. This issue is an interesting time capsule—I had almost forgotten about the de-aged Starheart powered Alan Scott era.

Speaking of lines, they don’t give Captain Marvel much to do in this issue, but I always like seeing him, even if his only contribution is the odd “Holy Moley!”

Colouring error on page 12, where Hal’s ring has a red centre (maybe the colourist had Alan Scott’s red and green look on the brain?)

A raging Hal standing by Green Arrow is a sad foreshadowing of their confrontation to come in Zero Hour.

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ckret2 · 5 years ago

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And I got so into writing out that Worst Case Scenario last night I forgot to mention my second misgiving with the whole damn prompt, which AS IT HAPPENS covers some headcanons I've been meaning to bring up AND is relevant to a prompt coming up in my list that I am gonna write, so I'm gonna devote a post to this:

The very scenario "x character gets upset over y character CHEATING!!!" is based on the presumption that, like... the characters give a shit.

In the case of Rodorah, it assumes that two giant animals, one of which is an alien, both:

1) are familiar with the concept of monogamy as humans understand it

2) believe in and adhere to the concept of monogamy as humans understand it

3) consider dating or banging anyone outside their relationship a breach of trust in regards to said monogamy

4) would have the exact same emotional reaction as a human to said breach of trust

Which is a lot of assumption to put on a dinosaur and a dragon. And also anyone who dates Ghidorah is automatically in a polyamorous relationship so monogamy is kinda out the window right from the get go, you know?

So I'm gonna dig into why all those assumptions are unnecessary to assume. Half based on canon and half covering fic headcanons.

Gonna go out on a limb and assume that we don't know anything worth discussing about the mating habits of pteranodons; but Monsterverse Rodan's also got a lot of bird in him, so let's go with that. Lots of birds are socially monogamous, but not sexually monogamous. What that means is that once two birds are committed to each other—went down to bird city hall and signed their bird marriage license, exchanged tiny bird rings, whatever birds do—they've committed to sharing a nest and splitting egg-guarding and child-rearing duties in that nest. They HAVEN'T committed to only screwing each other. Depending on the species, 10% to 33% of the eggs in the nest could have a different genetic father than the male bird in that couple. (And some even have a different genetic mother, which boggles my mind. Like did she fly all the way over to someone else's nest just to lay the egg like "I don't wanna deal with this one thanks" and they're like "that's fine have a nice day"? I'm sure that's not how it works but the thought amuses me.)

Operating by that definition, Rodan's image of "totally committed and faithful" would be "there's only one person whom I split daily chores with, and I can have kids with anyone."

(Some bird species are both sexually and socially monogamous... but then, some bird species also are only committed to one partner for one breeding season, then break up and commit to a new partner next year. There's variation, is the point—and more than that, "you can't logically assume that a species like this is going to be sexually/socially monogamous for life the way humans idealize" is the bigger point.)

The fact that Rodan's species, like all titan species, seems to be in a perpetual state of "less than two dozen deaths away from total extinction" would actually select against sexual monogamy, because a species that goes "I'm not having kids with anyone except my one true love. Who died a century ago," is gonna go extinct a lot faster than a species that goes "boy won't my one true love be excited when she hears about the prime real estate me and Ms. Krakatoa found to lay our eggs in."

And I've established in prior headcanons that because parents might die long before their kids are born and because volcanoes act as natural fortresses/incubators for eggs, Rodan's species doesn't share nests, doesn't need to protect or incubate eggs, and doesn't rear their young—so what would social monogamy even entail for them? It doesn't need to entail much of anything, if they even subscribe to it at all.

Ghidorah's species is alien so there's no need to try to compare them to their "nearest related species on Earth" because they aren't related to any species on Earth. But, if we're gonna use Earth species as a framework off of which to base their headcanons anyway: dorats/Ghidorahs, when taken all together, are like 50% snake, 30% cat, and 20% bat.

Snakes are the least monogamous bunch of animals you could ask for. During mating season, males and females both have multiple partners, females can lay eggs from multiple fathers in one clutch, and most species don't even bother incubating their eggs. (In the few that do, the mother does that without a partner.)

Domestic cats are into gang bangs. When a female cat is in heat, she will yowl to attract as many male cats in the area as possible. When a male cat wants some, he'll yowl in hopes a female cat in heat will zip over. They'll mate with multiple cats in a row, loitering around watching while they wait for their turn. They'll mate with whoever shows up. They'll mate with their own relatives. Cats don't care. Cats are gross. Get your cats fixed.

Most bats will have multiple partners. Some bats are polygamous—one or two dudes with a collection of multiple female partners. In both of these cases, males don't help rear the young. A few bats are monogamous and share parenting duties—but these are the minority.

So Ghidorah's most closely related species are three counts of "I don't care who you screw, I don't care who I screw, once a year there's like a month where anyone could screw anyone else at any time and nobody is safe. I'll screw you and then I'll screw a space chicken cyborg and then I'll screw myself, watch, I'm flexible."

One hopes they're a bit more selective than that, but those are the nearest Earth analogues we're starting with as our basis for their species.

Based just on that, between Ghidorah and Rodan, if one of them is gonna be fussed about the other having additional partners—sexual, romantic, or otherwise—odds are it ain't gonna be Ghidorah. Ghidorah's gonna be the clueless alien trying to figure out what weird Earth etiquette rule he broke while Rodan's upset—assuming Rodan cares either.

So beyond Earth animals: what's been established about dorats so far is that they live in big groups with multiple aeries. The basic dorat social unit is a flock (30-200 adults), not a nest (1-2 adults). Since they communally share nests, eggs from multiple parents will end up in the same pile, and so it's likely no one gives a damn about who's had kids with who. (And—although I haven't gotten into dorat reproduction yet—eggs are laid immediately after mating, so it's impossible to have dubious paternity in a dorat mating—which IRL, aside from "doubling the amount of parents looking after these kids," is one of the driving factors of monogamy in the wild.)

The Xilien military HAS witnessed aggression based on sexual jealousy between adolescent dorats, enough so that they think it's a threat to their experiments. The Xilien military is locking up dorats in cages and experimentally fusing them together. The Xilien military is not observing dorats in their natural habitat. The actual dorat breeder is absolutely horrified to hear of dorats behaving like that, because it's a sign of extreme stress and trauma. Viciously competing for mates and chasing off other potential sexual partners, therefore, is abnormal for dorats.

Using Ghidorah as they are now as an example of what dorats are like is dicey, since they've lived such a strange life and so much of their psychology is shaped by trauma—buuut, it's evident from them that dorats can feel romantic love, but we don't know what function it would've had among normal dorats. Maybe it's supposed to be a temporary thing that fades after a mating season, maybe it's supposed to encourage a few members of one flock to latch on to members of another flock and move as a means to discourage stagnation in the genetic pool of a single flock, maybe its primary purpose has nothing to do with driving reproduction but rather is supposed to strengthen social bonds between members of this naturally empathic species...

So the presence of romantic feelings doesn't inherently correlate with monogamy, or a desire for monogamy, or sexual/romantic exclusivity, or sexual/romantic jealousy...

So add all that together and what do you get. Of the two of them, Rodan is more likely to have a natural and/or cultural inclination toward any sort of monogamy than Ghidorah is, and even at that it's most likely to be romantic monogamy than sexual monogamy. Ghidorah's the one more likely to assume against exclusivity from the outside. However: to the original premise, if Ghidorah DID find out Rodan had taken another sexual partner (and let's be frank, it would be sexual because nobody in this fandom is writing a damn thing about infidelity plots that don't eventually fall back on "o noez Rodan screwed someone he shouldn't have," even when romance IS involved it boils down to sex, and yeah it's always Rodan—)

That parenthetical went on a bit of a tangent. Anyway if Ghidorah found out Rodan had taken another sexual partner, there'd be three possible reactions:

1) The LEAST likely: as in the potential scenario yesterday written on the "okay, let's assume that cheating is a thing for them" assumption: an apocalypse with a potential side of murder/suicide. In order for something like that to happen, Ghidorah's experiences on Earth would have to have pushed them into full Despite All My Rage I Am Still Just A Dorat In A Cage mode. Their baseline mental state is at about 45% on the "stressed caged dorat" meter. Right now they're hovering around 30% and gradually dropping. Being an enslaved war machine kept them at a steady 75%. They'd need to be at like 90% before they started flipping their shit over romantic jealousy. To get them to that level of stress, they'd need to be getting constantly harassed by Godzilla and human military units, psychically bombarded by Mothra, and on top of that probably getting gaslit to hell and back by Rodan re: their relationship status so they couldn't be confident of where they stood with him—and that leads into the other factor that's necessary for this scenario to happen. Rodan would need to 1) insist to Ghidorah that he's the only one Rodan's got any sort of sexual/romantic involvement with, and 2) convince him that the stability and continued existence of their relationship is predicated upon Rodan being interested in only Ghidorah. They'd need to be specifically convinced of these things first in order to feel lied to/betrayed if Rodan had a relationship of any kind with someone else, because they wouldn't naturally assume either of them.

Since we've got no evidence Rodan is a raging abusive asshole who would go out of his way to convince an ignorant alien that their happiness is dependent upon Rodan being exclusive and then go off and not be exclusive, this scenario isn't happening.

2) Actually likely scenario, bad outcome: Rodan comes home and Ghidorah asks where he's been all day and he goes, oh yeah, he found another member of his species today, they're gonna try to make eggs, it's great—because to Rodan that's no big deal, that's normal, he's got absolutely no reason not to tell his mate that he's banging another bird. Ghidorah gets nervous solely because they DON'T know what's normal here. They don't know whether monogamy or polyamory is the norm for Earth in general or Rodan in particular. Are they still a thing or is this Rodan's way of saying the relationship's run its course and he's moved on? Was he always planning to move on once someone of his own species became available? Was he expecting Ghidorah to expect that? Because they did expect that, they've always feared they were just a temporary substitute for a more desirable partner, they just didn't know if they were supposed to expect that. At which point they go "oh" and Rodan goes "'oh' what?" and they go "so is that it then?" and he goes "is what it?" and they actually communicate for thirty seconds and everything's fine. So hey the bad outcome isn't even bad. It probably just takes them a month to have that conversation while Ghidorah invents mental worst case scenarios.

3) Actually likely scenario, good outcome: Rodan comes home and Ghidorah asks where he's been all day and he goes, oh yeah, he found another member of his species today, they're gonna try to make eggs— And Ghidorah goes EXCUSE US if they're in a relationship with him and he's in a relationship with her then that means they and he and she are all part of the same flock and they are DEEPLY offended that he hasn't brought her by to meet them yet, come on, go get her, they need to know what she looks like so they don't accidentally get in a fight with her if they see her in Rodan's territory. Also they need to know where her volcano is so they can get their scent all over it.

#(using a wtf prompt as an excuse to write a longass headcanon post I already wanted to write)#(Like A Boss)#headcanons #meta #about my writing #rodorah #godzilla

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otakween · 5 years ago

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009-1 (2006) - Episode 3

This episode was great! Mylene meets a worthy opponent and the two become insta-rivals for the episode. That vibe where two characters are trying to kill each other but maintain mutual respect is really fun. They also nailed the “hardboiled” tone, with Mylene as the femme fatale. I think this is the second time I’ve seen the term “hardboiled” directly referenced in Japanese media. The other time was when I read Haruki Murakami’s Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. You barely hear it at all these days in American stuff...

Notes:

-”Egg” looks like 007 and 004 had a baby lol. His weird nose was kinda distracting, especially in profile. Not Mylene’s most attractive lover...

-The opening was pretty sleazy with Mylene’s boss getting an eye-full of her legs, butt, etc. I kinda got the impression in the manga that he was not interested in sex so that’s disappointing...

-Egg appears to eat soup with a fork in one scene? Has anyone else noticed that the anime industry has really upped it’s food animation in the past decade? It seems like all the new shows have Ghibli/Food Wars-tier food design. These mid-2000s shows look like trash in comparison.

-Mylene reveals she has bullet-detecting sensors built into her body which was news to me. I really don’t get the sense that Mylene is a cyborg as much as the Cyborg 009 characters, they seem to hide it more here. Maybe they thought it wouldn’t be sexy?

-Cringed a bit when I saw a certain voice actor in the credits. At least Mylene got to kill him!

#009-1

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bluboothalassophile · 6 years ago

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Could you do any Raven/Kory and Raven/Cy friendship cuteness. I adore their frienships!

Hello,

I Thank You A Thousand Times Over For This Prompt! Mostly because I will never get tired of Rae’s friendships with Victor and Kori, so I hope you enjoy the one shot as much as I did writing it! =)

A True Sister…

Victor Stone was a serious big brother, from the moment he’dmet that weird little grey demoness that was his baby sister and not even GodHimself could tell Victor differently. He adored Raven, she was a certifiedbadass, genuine artifact, old time classy, and conservatively educated woman.She was also hell on wheels and the ice queen of Hell. He loved her.

Getting two moms was an unexpected twist but he could admitHarley and Ivy were growing on him. Though he had to admit having Ivy call him ‘fungus’was getting old, but they were far more interested in him than his dad had been.Maybe if they’d been his moms when he’d needed a mom then he’d have neverbecome Cyborg. Harley and Ivy would probably be the shameless moms showing upat football games in extreme team spirit and threaten to beat up the refs, hecould totally see that.

But that brought him to the weirdness of a domestic momentas he hung out in Gotham with Rae, Ivy and Harley, and he was playing videogames as he vainly tried to talk Raven through the controller. Harley and Ivywere out doing… stuff; he wasn’t going to think about, and he had Raven here.Raven, PizzaFish za, and Big Belly Burger, also video games.

“Come on Rae!” Victor balked.

“I thought I was shooting the bad guy, not you!” sheprotested.

“You suck at this,” Vic snickered.

“Shut up and shoot the bad guy, and can we stop having familynights be with video games, what’s wrong with movies!?” she demanded.

“You read through movies.”

“Deadpool.” She deadpanned.

“Point of family night is to enjoy each other’s company, andyes!” he grinned as he came to the newest level of Assassins Creed.

“This is dull.”

“It teaches history!”

“Wrong history!”

“Shut up and shoot,” he ordered.

“You’re a pain in the ass, oh! That’s mine!” she grinned.

“Not if I get it first!”

“I saw it first!” she protested.

“Na-uh!” he sang.

“No! I’m gonna win!” she shoved at his shoulder, grunting atconnecting with steel. “Great Azar!”

Some thing shattered from her stubbed toe.

“What’s the matter sis?” he teased.

She glared four red eyes at him. “Issue the challenge againbrother!” she hissed.

“I do, and I raise you a slice of PizzaFish’s finest za andBig Belly Burger fries!” he grinned maliciously back.

“You’re on!” she snapped, he laughed. His pink clad littlesister hunched over in extreme concentration as her four eyes glowed. He shovedher off the arm of the couch, she yelped as she crashed into the floor and hefeigned innocence when she peered over the arm of the couch. “This. Is. War.”

“All’s fair in love and war sis! And Oh That’s Mine!” he grinnedas he pursued his prize then glared when shadows blocked out his eyes.

“Not if I get it first!”

“Rae!” he growled.

“All’s fair in love and war brother!” she sang back.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Raven shoved her glasses up the bridge of her nose,grumbling as she blew a stray strand of hair from her eyes and jotted down afew notes for her math class.

“Friend Rachel!” Kori gasped and Raven’s head snapped upseeing Kori running towards her in her human look of dark glory and skiddedonto the seat. Squeaking when it rolled and she crashed into a shelf in thelibrary. Raven winced at the crashing of her friend, there was a hiss of shushingto be heard as Kori apologetically and noisily scooted over to her.

“Kori,” Raven said softly; whispering was louder thanspeaking softer.

“Look!” Kori smiled holding out her left hand and Ravenblinked at the ring there.

“Oh my… Great Azar!” Raven caught Kori’s hand and examinedit carefully. “When!?”

“While you were off with Jay, Roy and Donna saving the world,”Kori sighed, the look of bliss crossing over her face.

“Come on,” Raven shoved her friend up and grabbed her bagsand books as they hurried out of the library, the damp autumn of Gotham wasweighing heavily on them now. Raven tossed her scarf around her neck and pushedher glasses up on her nose.

“No sex, but details Kori,” Raven said.

“Well, it was a night, on the balcony, he had a romanticwhite table cloth, candles everywhere…”

“Please tell me he didn’t cook, or serve cereal,” Ravenpleaded.

“No, gourmet dinner,” she giggled.

“Thank Azar,” Raven breathed.

“There were so many candles, and roses, he was dressed upand we had wine! Dinner was wonderful, it was beautiful! The sky was bright,and we danced, after dinner, then there was desert, and he had the ring preppedand he got down on one knee…” Kori’s face grew dreamy.

“I’m happy for you,” Raven grinned.

“You’re to be my Maid of Honor, I am informed that it isimportant,” Kori declared.

“What!?”

“On my planet it is customary for the sister to give thebride to the groom and threaten to disembowel him, Komand’r cannot do the dutyso I plead with you sister, to do this for me!” Kori smiled as she pretended tobeg.

“I… I’d be honored,” Raven admitted. It was rather like whenKori had named her godmother to Mar'i, it was huge, and overwhelming to feelthis important to another being. Raven smiled with Kori as Kori bounced in glee.

“Yes! We must do the dress, the shopping, the partaking inorganizing a traditional wedding, and…” Kori stopped.

“I’m sure B knows someone who could help us,” Rave offeredwhen her friend suddenly looked overwhelmed.

“Will he be pleased!?” she demanded.

“B adores Mar'i, I know he likes you, though he doesn’t showit, so I think this is good, Kori. Very good. And we all know how much you andDick love each other thought you both have complicated it to the extremes,”Raven mused.

“This is good, right?”

“You love him, he loves you, you both make each other happy,so I’d say yes, this is good.”

#bluboothalassophile #fanfic #one shot #raven #victor stone #koriand'r #hopes for a bastard #hopes for a bastard universe

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tessatechaitea · 6 years ago

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New Titans #103

Tumblr is definitely going to flag this as adult content.

Marv Wolfman predicted Twitter

Just when you thought the Teen Titans had run out of relatives to attack them, Rita Farr shows up with the Brotherhood of Evil to disrupt the Titans' mind probe of Cyborg. During the fight, Terra finds time to remind Gar that she loves him because this comic book is ultimately a teen drama. It definitely isn't a super-hero comic book because the Titans never save anybody. It's simply a metaphor for being a teenager in nowhere near the same way Buffy the Vampire Slayer was. I mean, Buffy was as well but it was done competently which is why this is nothing like Buffy. Wolfman only knew that to be a successful teen drama, you need young people crippled by crushes, engaging in sex, and fighting with their parents. That's this entire series in a nutshell. I once wrote a teen drama and here it is:

Canada Junior High

The fat kid ran up to the hot girl on his first day of Canadian School but not because he was hoping to become a man but because it was his sister. "Hey sis! We're going to Canada School together now!" bothered the fat kid. His name was Fatkid. "Don't talk to me, you mopface!" screamed his sister completely irrationally just like a junior high school girl would act. Even in Canadia which just goes to show that communism isn't any better than whatever America has because teenage girls are mean and nasty everywhere. Especially to their mothers and fat brothers. "But Sis! We need to stick together because our parents don't live in the same house and neither do we for some reason that isn't because our dad is a fish but some other reason. I think it is because he likes jokes and whoopee cushions. And chicks old enough to get married and do it don't like those things," expostulated Fatkid to Sis (that was her name in case you didn't catch that). "I don't care! You're making me unpopular! Go bug someone who isn't me, you mopface!" re-emphasized Sis who immediately went into the bathroom to change into her popular clothes. That means she made herself look like a whore. While she did that, Fatkid went and got himself locked in a broom closet by Jacob Jacoby, the shortest kid ever to go to Canada School. "Ha ha! That mopface sure fell for the old get yourself locked in the closet routine!" high-fived Jacob to Lizard and Spokes who were off to write one song for their band and play it every episode for the next five years. "I think I'm a lesbian!" dreamed Spacelin during the big slumber party. Unless she had a medickal seizure instead. Either way it doesn't matter since both things probably make for good character development. After that, Lucky did some shoplifting with that one girl who never returns after Christmas Break (unless it is called Boxing Day Break in Canada School). And then the cool girl got pregnant at a party just like all the cool girls do. You can tell she's the cool girl because she has hair that can put ten people's eyes out all at once. Then some foreign exchange student named Doctor Somebody saved the world from inside a phone booth and some people asked for money while other people answered phones. That was weird but it's probably important to the story so if you're an editor, don't even think about taking it out. I think there were some really scary puppets who only ate vegetable soup looking for treasure while riding in a hot air balloon too but I don't like to think about that because it gives me the creeps and this isn't a scary story; it's a coming of age story! Oh yeah! I forgot to mention that Fatkid was rescued from the broom closet by the Asian kid, Bob. Bob and Fatkid become really good friends and enjoy a good flashback in the cafeteria to get everyone caught up on all of their shenanigans like the time they cheated on the male enhancement test and the time they had to do oral reports on cheap pottery. Then the twins ran around pretending to be each other but you could always tell which was which by the gross plaque that Prude had on her teeth and Skank didn't. It's really disgusting and I think that paints a pretty good portrait of them so I'll move on to the big dance finale! At the big graduation dance, the school caught fire and burned down. Unless it was destroyed by a giant snake instead. It was very exciting and initiated a new phase in all of their lives.

The End!

Rita and the Brotherhood of Evil wind up being blobby light creatures from a technological world creatively called Technis. They kidnap Cyborg because he's some kind of human/machine interface and they need him to wipe out a virus infecting their sister Zavior. One of the Technites has second thoughts about the kidnapping and remains behind to help the Titans travel to Technis for a four issue story arc that is going to completely suck. Meanwhile, Pantha continues to suffer the worst existential crisis in the history of sentient beings: is she a cat that became human or a human that became a cat?! My guess is she's a cat that became a human because she's too stupid to realize that, being created by Project Hybrid, her issue should be "Am I the offspring of a cat that fucked a human or a human that fucked a cat?!" Oh wait. That's the same thing. Anyway, Pantha should buy a dictionary. New Titans #103 Rating: Boring. It was a Cyborg issue! And the only thing more boring than a Cyborg story is a Cyborg story where he isn't brain dead. So this Cyborg story was actually a bit better than the usual ones. Plus Pantha freaking out about not knowing if she's a cat or a human was lamer drama than that found in any episode of CW's Arrow. P.S. The Letters Page! Ingrid Nuernberg substantiates my claim that Titans is nothing but a melodrama when she writes, "The current story arc is better than any soap opera." But she isn't criticizing the comic book! She's actually praising it! Weirdo. All of the letters were in regard to Issue #100 and not one of them mentioned the rape of Starfire by Raven. Although Johnathan Mark Campa of Glendale, California, had this to say, "...the lip-lock between Raven and Kory (HOT STUFF)...". I feel you, Johnathan! I hate when comic book artists draw the women so hot that you don't realize something terrible is happening in the story! How am I supposed to know I should feel shocked and horrified when I have a boner stirring in my pants?! You know how many dead heroes I've jerked off to?! Stupid artists! Make terrible things look terrible so I stop acting terribly!

#New Titans #Teen Titans #Comic Book Reviews #DC Comics #DC

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ayahne · 7 years ago

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i can’t write, i say as i write 8 pages on Word

I discussed this simple little idea i had with @adelmortescryche from 2AM to 5AM and now it’s not a little idea. A lot of ideas thrown mostly randomly together on the same fic idea i will never write cause i write baaaad.

I call it : EdRi!!! On Para-Ice

- When Yuuri arrives at Wayne State to major in buisness and become a pro skater, he meets the four people with who he's going to share lodging.

- Ling is his age, he's a Xingian diplomat son that want to keep it low-key, and he's majoring in political science. He's a funny, eccentric kind of guy, and he makes Lan Fan mad.

- Lan Fan is « totally not » his body guard, and she's majoring in chemistry. She's a strange blend of calm and hot-temper. He likes her.

- There's also Phichit, ; he's younger, but so nice and enthusiastic ; he wants to do photography. (he's Thai and doesn't speaks much english, but everyone helps him and stick colored notes cards to everything and he learns quickly).

- And there's Edward Curtis, who is half cyborg, hot tempered, foul mouthed and full of shit and loyalty. He's younger than him, but more advanced than him in his studies. (« He's a genius », explains Lan Fan.) They got on like a house on fire.

- Strangely, even if they're so different from each other, they share the apartment fine. Lan Fan and Ed go run in the mornings, Ling cooks, Yuuri and Phichit go to the ice ring... They fit.

- Ed is a bit hyperactive, and when Lan Fan is too occupied to spar with him, he gotta finds something to do. (« No Ed, you can't punch people in the face. ») He visits Yuuri and Phichit at the ice ring, and he tries a bit of skating ; it's challenging, he likes it.

- Yuuri starts to teach him simple figures : a single-toe-loop, a sit-spin... Ed spend his time falling on his face because the automails are destabilizing him, but he's tired and happy when he masters a new move. From there, you can't stop him. Skating becomes the escape to his problems, and the guilt he feels.

- He comes to every of Yuuri's event to cheer him on ; he manage the panic attacks like it's nobody's buisness, and Yuuri starts to feel more confident. It's great time, they have fun.

- But one day, there's an accident ; the huge score board fall on Yuuri that just finished his routine. They have to amputate his arm.

- Ed has lived this before, and acts quick. He's there through everything, the hospital ride, the hospital stay, the therapy. With the others, he persuades Yuuri to get an automail (« Hey, we match now. ») He never let him wallow in his depression, and he puts him back on his skates with his therapist acceptance.

- They fight, with all the others, through Yuuri's terror of the ice, and slowly, slowly, he finds back his love for the ice ; he starts to skate again, to being confident. Ed does it all with him, he's his crutch. (« I miss two limbs. If i can do it, you can do it better. » And Yuuri does.)

(beware of the cut)

- "dude you can fucking make a quint and fly on the ice " says Yuuri "dont care still jealous" answer Ed, and they laugh and Phichit posts it on instagram

- Yuuri's like, welp, if you can do it, I should at least try and everyone screams NO because he's older than Ed. Except Ed, who's rolling his eyes being like, he could totally do it, he's older than me and just as flexible.

- They're both ULTRA flexible

- Cue Ed teaching Yuuri how to make some of his fighting moves on ice

- Cue Yuuri teaching Ed more quads

- All those EdRi comments. The first few are just fujoshi slobbering over them and their bromance, then someone who actually knows something about skating figures out what they're seeing and they sCREAM.

- And the skating fandom has a meltdown.

- Phichit posting out of context photos, like warming up when they're in weird yoga poses, and it seems a bit more intimate than it is.

- With tags like '#MySmolSonsBeFlexi' '#MustNotLetEdSeeTagsHeWillSlayMe'

- Phichit and all the others being DEADLY TIRED than his frighteningly prodigious friends not getting recognition just because they've got automail.

- Doesn't people realise that automail makes it harder ?

- “It's easier with automail ?” * Ed proceeds to detach his own arm and dump it on the stupid fuck's lap who crumble under the weight. * “Try lifting something that weight more than yourself higher than your head, and even spin with something ressembling grace when you have a brick instead of an arm”.

- Pole dancing class as part of the automail recovery therapy. Yuuri smiles, and he's like, this was totally for medical reasons.

- The ports gets cold and hurt when they're too long in the ice ring, so for when they train Phichit knitted them horrible arm socks (and leg sock for Ed). Knitting is not Phichit forte, and the mitts are ridiculous at best.

- Yuuri's favorite is a kaki monstruosity with purple polka dots, orange stripes, and some brown squiggles that are supposed to be flowers.

- Ed's are one atomic pink with red hearts on it, and a blue one with barely recognisable hamsters.

- The photos of them with it become viral.

- He decides to go back to competing, and he slays the handisport section. He wins all of the gold medals in the juniors, and then in the seniors.

- He's got a new coach ; she's pretty, kind and maternal, attentive to his anxieties and the fact that Ed is basically is contra-phobic object ; she's perfect, and exactly what he needs. Her name is Gracia Hugues.

- For his galas, he always do something with Ed (and either they do funny shit things, either they some mind-numbing show of skills mixing Ed's talents in flying martial arts and Yuuri's adaptability- anyways they're breathtaking)

- There's a fanbase dedied to their bromance, and some people do RPF with them.

- Ed browsing deviantart and diying a little bit (but save the nice, bro, safe ones on his phone.)

- Yuuri reading fanfictions, selecting the crack fics and the AUs to laugh with Ed, Phichit and Lin. (and Lan Fan. She's there, silently laughing)

- They're so much more low key about the bromance than Phichit and Yuuri that people have a lot more opinions about their bromance. And are sure it's a romance.

- Yuuri obviously finds it hilarious.

- Ed and Yuuri doing shit like this on purpose.

- One day on tv, some jackass ask if he doesn't miss his limbs, and Ed answers "thats equivalent exchange" while looking at Yuuri. The shippers goes mad, Yuuri goes awww cause he knows Ed meant it very innocently

- They only pop up in Phichit, Ling, and Yuri social medias because they dont take vids themselves or photos and even less post them

- One day, there's an hORRIBLE rant made by a dude that says that Ed and Yuuri are lucky to have found the other because who would want any of those disgusting cripples

- and they're a bit hurt but not much because they told themselves the same thing since they got their accidents

- But Phichit sees red. He takes THE photo.

- the one after the showers after practice, where you can see skin, soft scars, glinting metal, muscles and cloth making it SFW, and no comment under it like he use to.

- It broke twitter

- (Yuri totally roasted the guy that DARED insult his idol.)

- Roy Mustang is an ex-man-single prodigy. He was adored by the public. When he retired, he decided he wanted to go into Amestrian politics (ie, the Army).

- He's the one that presented his old buddy from the army, Maes, to Gracia. (people all around the world whined when they announced that it was Maes marrying Gracia and not him.)

- Roy isn't sure if he's happy for both his friends because Maes became 1000% more annoying after meeting Gracia. (That's a lie, he loves them both and is more than happy.)

- When he became a state alchemist, his fans where like “fire alchemy ??? U SURE ?”

- Yuri Plisetesky is a die-hard Yuuri Katsuki fan, and he finds it unfair that

1. no same sex couple on the ice, and it sucks because those two could do some pretty awesome shit

2. Ed doesn't compete because not enough money and he don't care much for the competition ; he's there for the fun and for Yuuri

3. he'd love to skate on the same ice as Yuuri but, eh, handi sections and mainstream ones doesn't mix. He hates the federation so much.

4. no one knows about the handi athletes apart of Yuri and Otabek (because he whines at him) and he finds it the most irritating thing in the world, it's a TRAVESTY.

- And just, one day, he goes to Yuuri's ice ring, and he watches him, film him for future reference and manage to catch on film a *quad axel*.

- And the regular skaters, they're like "wait what" when they see the video of the first quad axel in history

- "but we don't know that guy"

- and Yuri goes in a screaming rant about how they're all stupid, it's “FUCKING YUURI KATSUKI YOU HEATHENS HOW DARE YOU FORGET HIM HE COULD HAVE BEEN THE BEST RIVAL FOR GOLD IF NOT FOR THAT ACCIDENT HE HAD TO LEAVE MAINSTREAM SKATING AND NOW YOU DON'T EVEN REMEMBER HIM?!”

- And one day, Viktor, dense fridge that he is, find irl EdRi doing some figures in a public ice ring. He goes to Yuuri, says something like you skate nice, have you considered going pro, and ed punches him because the dunce doesn’t remember sharing the ice with Yuuri

- "I was too fucking kind i should have decked him with the metal one"

- Yuuri is nrgh between "he punched Viktor" and "am i that forgettable"

- Yuuri's also like Ed No Ed Stahp. While smiling happily because spiteful savage Yuuri. Who doesn't want Victor to get hurt, but he forgot.

- "We said no punching, Ed"

- ”Ed we talked about this.”

- ZE discussion they have all the time ; "Can i punch that dick in the dick" "No u cant"

- And he can only punch people if Yuuri is okay with it because everyone deem that if Yuuri thinks a dude deserve to be punched then he deserves it.

- If Yuuri thinks it's time to punch someone then it's time. Yuuri's everyone's moral compass. Except he isn't a good moral compass, because sometimes he's sassy and spiteful.

- Yuuri with really long hair after he stopped mainstream mens singles.

- First he was too depressed to cut it, then he realized it's easier for the automail. The hair gets stuck less in the joints and if they're long you can take them out easier.

- Phichit doing artistic© photos of tanned light hair Ed and pale dark hair Yuuri and destroying Instagram

- Al and Ed have been apart since they were 8 and 10 and they had the failed transmutation that left Al in a coma for 3 years with nearly no memories of his brother, and Ed without limbs.

- They went to different foster families ; Ed with Izumi and Sig, Al with the Rockbell. And Al doesn't remember Ed much, only what Pinako told him (he loved you more than anything, he was persuaded the accident is his fault)

- Olivia Armstrong is Ed social worker. The whole Briggs team work in social services.

- Ed refusing to search for his bro cause he's sure Al hates him, and, sure, Ed hates himself but not to the point of subjecting himself to that.

- Yuuri comforting him when he has nightmares about it, not saying a thing when Ed cries at night cause he misses Al.

- Phichit stalking the whole internet to update Ed on how Al is doing.

- Al being so admirative of E.Curtis works in "Alchemy Actual". Pinako wince in the background.

- Al finds it hard to connect E. Curtis to his brother because E. Curtis is notoriously secretive. No one knows anything about him.

- Al doesn't watch ice-skating, and isn't much a fan of phichit-chu. And no matter how many times he falls on a video of Edward C. he can't connect either of them to his brother. Pinako's starting to wonder if he's ever going to realise Ed-on-screen and Ed-the-alchemist is Ed his brother. She shighs in exasperation and wonder why he's so dense.

- May being Ling's pint sized badass little sister (one of many but his favorite even if loves giving her shit)

- May is irritating and wonderful and god he wishes he could introduce her to Al.

- May find Al by herself and is like “... most beautiful boy i've ever seen in my entire life omg”

- She posts photo of her and him on insta, and Phichit send them to Ed, he becomes crazy.

- Al being in a perpetual state of “Wait what” concerning her.

- “Beautiful girl came out of no where to talk to me and flirt with me and take pictures with me what'

- She starts talking alkahestry and suddenly he doesn't register her pretty face anymore she's clever who cares about pretty I can talk about alchemy with her !!!

- May finds him adorable

- Cue budding romance while their big brothers are having aneurisms on the side. Yuuri, Phichit and Lan Fan finds it hilarious.

- And at LEAST Ling can interact with his sister and NOW AL but ED REFUSES and he is sad and frustrated so he goes skating cause he has too much energy and "you can't punch people for the lolz Ed"

- Yuuri just sighs and pats him on the back while Ed screams at the sky and goes throwing quads all over the place.

- So frustrated he tries a quint toe loop, but "not a quad axel, i'm stupid but not dumb, only quadsuki can do that"

- Ed having super nice automail that Yuuri offered him with the skating money ("look, we match !", he says, a twinkle in his eyes, echoeing what Ed told him a few years ago.)

- Since Ed doesn't want to see the Rockbell and has a « 0 interaction » policy, Yuuri found that guy that lives in a remote part of Australia that does incredible machinery. They go once a year with the gang.

- Ed considering himself « toxic » to those he loves. Lan Fan decked him in the gut, Ling rolled his eyes so hard it had to be inscribed in a book of records, and Phichit insulted him in Thai. He tried this bullshit with Yuuri exactly once and never did it again.

- Mari straight up hit him with a pan. She reminds Ed of Izumi.("My foster mom hits me with her pan, too.")

- Following that sentence, people start to be suspicious about his foster mom, until they figure out Izumi and Ed love each other. Their love is just... violently displayed. And filled with martial art montages.

- Izumi and Sig already have a biological son when they adopt Ed. Aoi is totaly enamored with his « big brother »

- They adopted another child, a little girl named Nina. Her dad tried to kill her, and as of such she's sick. Her and Al are the reason he started studying organic alchemy in more depth.

- Envy is Ed biological punk rock but so nice older half-brother. He's androgynous and loves confusing people. ("Are you a girl or a boy ?" "no.")

- Envy avoids Al cause he feels guilty too. He felt he shoud have been there for his two lil bro, no matter how angry with their dad he was.

- When Ed and Envy gloom together, Lin/Phichit/Yuuri/Lan Fan comes to hit them and like "no we love you yes we said love shut up, up, we going petting rabbits"

- Hiroko, Izumi and Minako being BFFs and drinking together. It terrifies everyone. They comiserate about their spawns.

- Izumi's kid is in awe of Mari (as he should)

- EdxAngst + Yuuri/coming-to-terms-with-his-anxiety

- "Where did your... special style of skating came from, Mister Curtis ? *behind, a video extract where Ed is doing a double backflip on the ice, before launching into some capoara moves while Yuuri smiles and just cartwheels for the lolz*"

- Roy calling Ed “a backflipping maniac”

- Cuts to Ed doing a triple back flip and a single hand cartwheel or something right after. Just to see the expression on Roy's face.

- Roy having ten cardiac arrest a day. Riza laugh in the distance. (She laughs at his pain all the time)

- "Curtis, when your in an ice ring you spend more time in the air than on the ice, it's not natural"

- One of Phichit most liked photos is one of Yuuri and Ed twirling Elicia around

- Even if Ed isn't an official competitor, he has die hard fans, that calls themselves « Ed's Homunculi », and they're led by 5 people that nicknamed themselves with the primary sins.

- Yuuri snickers at just their mention. Ed complains all the time. (« NO FUCK LET ME GO IM NOT EVEN A PRO DONT PuT YOUR BOOBS IN MY FACE DONT EAT MY HAIR WTF. Why are you all so DISTURBING »)

- Envy founded the fanclub because he finds this deadly funny, now he’s mostly in charge of the social medias. Ed is horrified.

- Scar is married to Lust and follows her everywhere, to every competition sighing all the time.

- THE PRESIDENT OF HIS FANCLUB IS THE FUCKING FURHER OF AMESTRIS

- The idea of Amestris’s Furher being enamored enough with Ed's skating to give himself a stupid nickname kills all of his friends of laughter inside

- Aerugo is near greece

- Xing is in east asia

- Creta is near italia

- Drachma is between finland and sweden

- Amestris between germany and poland, and Ishval between poland and Austria

- Father couldn't arrange another full country array, and eventually decided to let it go.

- Envy's real name is Nichola Elric

- Lust is Veda Campos

- Wrath is King Bradley

- Pride is still Selim Bradley

- Gluttony is named Emilio Abatucci

- Scar is Luca Campos

- Izumi’s kid is named Aoi Curtis

#yoi #fma #edward elric #yuuri katsuki #headcanon #crossover fic #fic #fanfic #sort of ????#my writing #even if i'm not good at english BUT WATHEV'

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reginasrandomthoughts · 7 years ago

Text

First reaction after watching Justice League

Incoherent ramblings about how great the film was. It is long and it includes spoilers.

So I just came out of Justice League and HOLY FUCKING COW! It was everything I hoped and dreamed of. I went in there to see Superman come back, be Superman and kick ass and I got that and so much more.

There were just so many cool moments! Like the horseback stunts of the Amazons at the beginning (and yes, the bikini armor is horrendous, idk whose idea was it but that costume designer should be BANNED from future female superhero projects).

Everything with Aquaman that happened in that village was cool especially the whole drink and look pretty strut into the spray of water. His relationship to the ocean (and all water in general) is awesome and I wanna see more of that in Aquaman. I feel really good about that movie now. I also adored the scene where he takes down the parademon through the building? Yea it was in the trailer but it was so much cooler in context. Also I adored the first time he saw Bruce in costume. I also thought that the lasso of truth scene was funny? Yea it is a bit problematic but I see it as a character study of the person Arthur is now, at the beginning of his hero's journey.

I liked the scene with Mera? Yea it was not the best, but I like the potential it has and I trust James Wan to take it to an interesting place.

I adored Diana. I liked how she saved everyone, I loved how she fought Steppenwolf, I loved her fist fight sequence and how she was just fast enough to dodge all those bullets, adored how she could relate to Cyborg, and also all of her badass moments. Like when she sliced through Steppenwolf's axe? It was a great callback to him taunting her with his axe being soaked in the blood of her sisters. I loved how she stepped up to lead when Batman decided to be a bloody idiot and I especially adored it when she smashed her shield with her bracelets instead of merely smashing them together. And how she, unlike Bruce actually noticed that Cyborg was spying on them. I loved how she downplayed how dangerous she can be simply because she did not want to hurt anyone (yet) so there was no need to show it off? At the same time I also liked that since she went into that self-prescribed exile she was still unsure of the full extent of her powers so she relied more on her Amazon training then on those (this is also an explanation to why her fight with Supes was so unbalanced, well, in addition to how she didn’t actually want to hurt him (like she could as she was at the moment)). I am sorry Diana, you are my second favourite, but Superman is first. Also, every time she uses her lasso is so cool? My fav of that has to be the one during the ending when she ties up robbers with it to make them confess everything. And she went up to talk with the children! She is awesome and I will probably rave about her some more later on.

Also the bit about her getting so angry about Bruce’s taunts about Steve that she just shoved him was great. I am so happy that Diana was allowed to get angry in this film and was not just there to smile prettily. But it was nice to see that too of course. To see her come back after her self imposed isolation while she mourned Steve.

Next is, because yes he is the main attraction and I just can't hold it in any more, SUPERMAN! Yes! This and some more please! I loved how he just smacked the JL around, his comment to Bruce about Bruce not letting him neither live nor die, I loved his scene with Lois when she ran ap to him (whoever put in the line about Supes smelling ood should be crucified by the way) and I loved how he saved the JL's asses during the big finale. I loved how he just carried the whole house??? And how he froze the axe? And that he had a race with Barry?? And his smile when the children interviewed him? The only thing that bothered me was how he came back in with the line to WW "is he still bothering you?" bc it was such a jock boyfriend line?? (Yea, there are some questionable line choices in this film). Also, how he helped Cyborg pull the motherbox apart and they shared a laugh after it? Superman laughs in this one and it looks so good in him like it was just meant to be (because it was). Loved it.

And now onto Bruce. He has such a crush on both Diana and Clark??? I love it but I am not quite sure if that is what they were going for here. But that look on his face when Superman joins in on the final showdown? Also he is like a really decent mentor for Barry, like he makes sure to get him out of trouble and he has faith in him being able to step up to being a hero? Never knocks him for being inexperienced and not knowing how to fight. And you can bet your ass that the recommendation came from him. He also seems to have found his dormant sense of humour? His repeat joke about Aquaman being able to talk with fish is great. Like at first I thought that he was trying to insult him but he really believed that he can? But he also still has his asshollery on esp. in that scene with Diana where he talks about Steve (he compares Diana loosing Steve to him loosing Superman, this ship sails itself, at least from his side). His suicide plan was... Meh. It really feels like he is just tired and just started believing again and feels like the only thing he has left to give is creating the League and giving his life??

And on that note, he was ready to die in the fight against Superman as well. Which is wow. I liked how they brought back the "do you bleed" line and put a twist on it. I liked how after the battle Bruce was like, yea something is definitely bleeding. I know that some people don't think that Batman should be jokey, but I think that you kinda need to be able to joke to be able to cope with this shit for as long as he did. 20 fucking years! Holy cow.)

And now that I circled back to that fight for a bit, let me just say how cool I think it was that the whole thing started bc the power of the motherbox that created Cyborg recognized the threat that Superman posed? Loved it. The coolest part definitely was when Superman fought Barry in the .... speedforce-y thingy? (I know it was not INSIDE the speedforce, but how the hell do I describe that slow-mo-y, time stoppy thingy that illustrate Barry’s powers? Speedforce-y thingy it is)

Now back to Bruce. I love how he apologized (or at least tried to) to Diana for what he said about Steve and for poking at that wound. I love how he offered Diana that after that she can .... pretty much be Batwoman if she wants to be. Me thinks someone is rushing a bit ahead.

I also adored Bruce’s comment of “now she’s glad” when Diana said that she too is happy that Superman could be there for the fight. Yea, those two had a really good argument about whether they should bring him back or not.

Also, Lois being the “big guns” when it came to stopping Superman was just great. IDK how much time passed between Supes dying and coming back but I totally believe that Lois just didn’t care about reporting while she was mourning. To me their relationship is just... Like two people who are destined to be together and love each other a LOT but are still so new that they don’t have this “old married couple” level of comfort near each other. It is equal parts fascinating and awkward to watch mostly because I cannot decide if it is intentional or not. I felt that the writing was at its most awkward there.

Also, let’s just talk a bit about that Lois being “thirsty” joke at the beginning. What the fuck is even up with that??? Clark, were you telling your Mum about your sex life or what??? I honestly don’t know how I feel about that even though I know that I should definitely swing towards “it’s bad and degrading”. Like there are only two possible explanations for that: Martha Kent is only pretending to like Lois or Clark was talking about stuff he was not supposed to with his Mum. Also maybe the “you smell good” line was meant to be a call back for that??? IDK, it did not fit. But the most awkward thing was how Lois switched from Clark trying to describe his death to how she has let him down. I am kinda inbetween, oh she just doesn’t want to remember that he ever died and oh, she wants to make it about her??? But to be honest, how do you talk with someone who just came back from the dead??? I would probably end up apologizing for “letting them down” with how I lived while they were gone as well. As I mentioned, this relationship has some growing pains. It will get there (or at least I hope so)

And now before I move onto the last two members of the League let me just say this last (hopefully) bit about Superman: I LOVED his red cape. It popped so well, and it looked so good?? I also adored the part where he changed into his Superman outfit at the end like with the iconic pulling the shirt open? I was kinda hoping that he was walking towards a phone booth but I guess not. Still was great. He is great. Also also, it was great to see how when he returned to being him how different he was with Barry and how he joked calling him slowpoke and all (which, let’s be honest, he probably was bc for Superman to be able to catch up to the Flash when they went for the civilians, yea Barry is definitely still not used to his speed and therefore cannot reach max speeds yet). I loved how he teased him in their mid-credits race. Well, before it really, we didn’t get to see the race itself. Shame.

Now onto Barry. He was really played as socially awkward kid who dedicated so much of his time to trying to get his dad out of prison that he just forgot to live and never really was socialized well? I liked it. I saw some people comment on the weird way he runs, and yea it is weird, but I think it is part of the fact that he is still inexperienced with his powers. I felt like he was trying to mimic at parts how athletes run but failed miserably? I am sure it will get better now that his life will include some actual running (I don’t think he was doing much of that before)

He was getting a really nice mini-hero’s journey in the film, like the first person he ever saved was shown here, how he realized that now he can actually save people and just got the hang of it instantly. He got into his first fight here, which I would count as Superman, because with the parademons he wasn’t really in the fight, he just helped WW reach her sword. (but correct me if I am wrong). And that showed bc he just kept dodging and side stepping when he fought Superman and even with the parademons he tripped? So yea, definitely inexperienced but on the right track.

And his powers look so cool? I just love how the blue lightning just lit up everything when he was using it? And when he triggered the motherbox it was so cool. I also feel like that all these super fast people just gave Snyder a really good excuse to use his slow-mo effects. It didn’t bother me, as a matter of fact I loved it whenever they just twirled the camera around these mostly frozen images.

Now, the last member of the league I haven’t talked about yet is Cyborg and I was a bit worried. The design didn’t win me over in the first place, he looked really serious, unlike in the Teen Titans cartoon, and I was not sure if I will like it. But I did because he faced with the dilemma of becoming more and more robotic and not really knowing at first how to retain his humanity and I am really happy that Diana helped him come out of that bubble he put up around himself bc that might have just saved him. Also, how he and Barry kinda became buds by the end? I really liked the graverobbing scene as well.

Now as for the other awesome stuff with Cyborg... I loved how he evolved at this rapid pace where new and new abilities manifested each day as he was being transformed. I liked how he got surprised by them when something new popped up. But the best part definitely was the hacking. Still, I think his best scene was with his father when he said something alongside the lines of how funny it is that his father thought that when he said that the people in the lab are not yet ready to see the monster his father thought he was referring to himself. That was a powerful scene.

What awesomeness I still need to throw in here is Alfred. He is so sassy and so done with Bruce being single. I loved how he told Bruce when B said maybe Alfred could have called up Diana to ask if she wants to join the team that “ yea, I could have flown to Paris with a piece of paper saying ‘do you want to be my teammate? check yes or no’” savage. He is so bitter over B being single, like how usually mothers are portrayed when they really want to have grandchildren already?? I loved it.

What else I also loved was how finally there were colours that popped? I already mentioned Superman’s cape, but his costume was brighter and bluer as well, Flash’s red costume really popped as well, Diana got a red cape as well in one scene and the lasso really emitted a bright light as well. Also, some scenes like the final battle where Diana cuts the axe and the air is full with these snowflake like particles are breathtakingly beautiful. Some others... yea, those flowers were really obviously CG.

There was also this small cameo of a Green Lantern which got me excited that maybe we will have a Green Lantern (I am hoping for either John Stewart or Jessica Cruz, pretty please) And in the end credits we see that Jesse Eisenberg’s Luthor is on the loose again, which I love bc I liked his Luthor in BvS (yes I know that it is not accurate to comic books but screw it, it worked for me.

Now as for the stuff that might have bothered other people but barely if even registered with me: the jokes. yea, some were weak or I am not even sure if they were jokes (like Flash falling on Diana is like... was that a joke or just a portrayal of how clumsy Flash is still with his powers, his social awkwardness and his hero-crush all mashed together??? IDK). But overall, I liked them. I liked that I had moments of levity where I could laugh and have FUN. Because we still had the dramatic moments as well (and yes, they were better dramatic moments than anything Thor Ragnarök had. You wanna see too many jokes killing the drama? watch that.)

The digitally removed mustache. I did not notice it all that much?? Like there were some moments where I was like... are you sure your face is supposed to look like that? But none of those moments pulled me out of the film. Diana’s clothing was like that as well. I heard some people say that she was wearing more revealing clothing now as Diana but I was not really watching for that so I really can’t tell if it is true. What I can tell, and what bothered me is that there is a scene where her skirt as WW flies up and you can see the bottom curve of her ass really clearly and.... That bit should have been taken out and they should have done a retake. There is something like good taste people.

Steppenwolf being a kinda weak villain was like that as well. Him talking to the motherbox and calling it Mother was weird but in the good way. Made me just say, okay so this guy really is crazy. Also, he was kinda a two dimensional villain whose main goal was: amass power to become a new god (I guess) and really I was happy that we spent the time on the heroes instead of him. Evil guy tries to destroy the whole world. Got it. I don’t need more. Not from this film yet. (though now that I think about it... evil alien invasion lead buy a guy with a horned helmet that wants everyone to bow before him and has a cube... I think I saw this one before. Still works though).

I LOVED the implication that he won’t be able to fight how his parademons in the end and that they will eat him alive. See, if I would have cared for him I would have felt bad about him or at least him being kinda permanently written out but this way? Bone appetite, parademons.

I bet I could say even more, though this post is already definitely long and incoherent enough, so i will just leave with this: I ADORED this film, it will probably will be the first film I will pay to see in theatre twice. IDK what repeat viewing will do to the film but so long as I have Superman to look forward to I will be fine. Overall, IDK if it is a better film than Thor:Ragnarök or not, but I definitely enjoyed and maybe even liked it better. I left the theathre feeling better after this film than I did after Thor Ragnarök, a film I will talk about as well.

#unfiltered jibberish #Regina thinks out typed #justice league hype #justice league spoilers #justice league positivity

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freezing-kaiju · 7 years ago

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Stardate: 2689

Chapter 7: I Think I’m A Clone Now

part of me and @pupmon1‘s Fire EMblem Heroes fic

Captain’s Log, XX/XX/2689. Lyndis. A regular day has been interrupted by a transmission from an Askrian flagship, who are hailing for...unknown reasons. As Askr is a powerful ally, we need to make sure that this visit, while... unexpected, is diplomatic.

An Anna greeted the captain in the shuttle bay with a smile. “Hello Captain Lyndis!” she said grin.

“Hello, Anna…” Lyndis said carefully. “To...to what do we owe this visit?”

“Oh, you know!” she said with a smile. “Your annual checkup!”

Lyn flinched and squirmed. “Oh, right. The annual checkup for the clones to make sure there’s no genetic deterioration. C-come this way, I’ll take you to the medbay.”

Another Anna popped out behind her. “Hey, Smiles? I checked their ship’s roster, and there’s some people that our crew would wanna meet.”

The smiling Anna turned around. “Ooo, that could be so fun! Sure, grant them leave.”

“...yay...more Annas…” Lyn grumbled. “Come on smiley, let’s go.”

Lyn gestured for the captain to follow her to the medbay. “Maria, call anyone this woman requests. I will be in my office, call me when the Askrians are gone.” And so Lyndis turned and walked away, not glancing at the Anna.

The Anna continued to smile but called out, “Hey, wait! You need your checkup too!”

Lyn froze and squirmed. “I-...”

Maria frowned. “Is something wrong, captain?”

“...no. Alright, we might as well get this over with.”

The Anna pulled out a gold-and-white scanner and started moving it around Lyn’s general direction, staring at the tiny screen on it. “...yup, you’re all good. Need a bit of a booster though.” She pulled out a spray bottle and sprayed some orange mist into Lyn’s mouth, then put it away and pulled back Lyn’s glove. “Checkup complete!” she said, running the scanner along the inside of Lyn’s wrist...where there was the symbol of Askr and a barcode, being revealed under the scanner.

“You can go now,” Anna said with a smile.

“...thanks…” Lyn muttered, rubbing her wrist nervously.

“...is something wrong, captain?” Maria asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“AH! No, no, nothing’s wrong...” Lyn said nervously. “J-just...uh...i left an excuse in my office,” she said quickly, darting off.

“Okay...hey, wait!” Maria said, but Lyn was already gone.

Lyn retreated to her office and sat at her desk. “...stupid Annas…” she muttered. “...didn’t need this now…”

------------

Anna wandered around the ship until she found her way to the shooting range. “Commander Camilla? Deputy Hinoka?”

“Yes, what is it?” Camilla said, putting down her grenazer.

Anna stepped forward, carrying a briefcase. “I’m here as a representative of Askr. We would like to take a sample of DNA from you both.”

Hinoka sighed and shrugged. “Sure, I guess.”

“Are you going to take some blood?” Camilla wondered. “Or...are we gonna do this a little more...fun~”

“Blood,” the Anna said immediately. “Blood is more ethical.”

“Yeah but sex is more fun,” Camilla said simply, getting smacked by Hinoka in response.

The Anna pulled out a DNA extractor. “So...was that a yes or a no, Camilla?”

Camilla nodded and held out her arm. “Sure, here you go.”

The Anna nodded and pressed the extractor against her wrist. Camilla flinched as a needle peirced her skin and extracted a vial of dark blood.

Camilla recoiled the moment she was allowed to and nervously rubbed her wrist. “...ow...well, have fun with that.” She paused for a moment then smiled. “So, should I go fetch the other two captians?”

“No,” Anna responded as she started extracting blood from Hinoka. “We already have enough samples from Lucina...and genetic material from a clone is too unstable for ethical cloning.”

“Wait...clone?” Hinoka wondered. “Is...is Lyn a clone?”

“Yes, I thought she would’ve told someone that…” the Anna paused. “...that would explain why she was nervous about her checkup...sorry she didn’t tell you. I’m not sure where the original is...she split off around 14 years ago.”

The two glanced at each other. “...we’ve only known this Lyn then…”

“...yeah...why didn’t she tell us?”

Camilla’s scales faded to blue. “...I dunno...did she not trust us…?”

The Anna shrugged, inspecting the side of the extractor. “Personal issues isn’t our business.”

“Except apparently when you can make money off it…” Hinoka grumbled.

“That...is a product of the original. We can’t really help that.” The Anna stared at her. “Do you think we would give clones mental instabilities on purpose? That all comes from the experiences of the original, and the experiences the clone has throughout the rest of their life. Y’know. Cause that’s how people work.”

“...rude.” Camilla said.

“We should go talk to Lyn,” Hinoka said simply.

----

Meanwhile, an unusually tall Anna (by two inches sure, but all the Annas are identical so slight differences are noticeable) led a group of clones through the ship. The clones in particular were ones of Corrin, Robin, and Tiki, all wearing flower leis, for some reason.

“Alright, girls,” the Anna said. “The three of you can visit this ship for a time. If you like it, you can stay here on base detail.”

Robin shrugged. “Beats sitting around the ship and doing nothing, I guess.”

The Anna stopped. “One of their captains is coming.”

Captain Lucina rounded the corner. “Hello, Anna. Who are these people?”

“New crew,” Anna responded. “As per our Union deal.”

“Union what?” Lucina said, looking at the clones. She paused. “...why did you clone my surrogate mom?”

“Because we can?” Anna answered with a shrug. “She let us, what does it matter to you?”

“...I dunno...it’s weird...” Lucina shrugged.

“Lucina, there are four of you,” the Anna pointed out simply. “I don’t think you should be saying any clones are ‘weird’.”

“...fair point.” Lucina shrugged. “I’m just used to her being...older and more a cyborg. Sorry, other Robin.”

“No offense taken.” She shrugged.

The Corrin leaned forward and blurted out “Hey I’m sorry for interrupting but Felicia’s here right? I need to see her.”

Lucina frowned for a moment. “...are you sure? Most clones don’t want to interact with those from their past…”

“No, I...I really want to see her. Please.”

Lucina hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Alright, alright. Come with me.”

Corrin nodded nervously and smiled gratefully. “Thank you.”

Corrin waved at her friends before following behind Lucina with her head. Lucina lead her to Felicia’s room and knocked on the door. “Felicia? Are you in there?”

“Um...yes, Captain!”

“Well...someone wants to talk to you.”

“Felicia?” the Corrin clone asked.

Felicia gasped and flung open the door. “...C-C-Corrin? Is...is that really you?”

Corrin paused and nervously rubbed her arm, scratching at the silvery-white scale patches that cover her arms. “...not really. Well..sorta...I mean…” Corrin trailed off and looked away. “I’m...I’m a clone...I just wanted to see you, I assume the...the real me is somewhere around...”

“She’s back on Valla.” Felicia said simply. “So...you are the...backup clone?”

Corrin flinched away. “...yeah...I...didn’t come out perfect though.”

“I think you look fine.”

“...really?”

Felicia reached out and gently touched the scales on Corrin’s cheek. “Yeah...your scales are very beautiful. Would you like to come inside?”

Corrin’s scales tinted pink and she nodded. “Y-yeah...okay…”

Corrin waved at Lucina before slipping into the room. Once the door was closed, Corrin suddenly hugged Felicia. “I...missed you…” she muttered. “I...I had to see you Felicia…”

“I...I missed you so much too...” Felicia tried to keep herself from crying. “The...the other you just...disappeared...hasn’t so much as answered my messages in a year.”

Corrin ran her fingers through Felicia’s hair. “It’s okay...I’m here now...don’t cry.”

“...it’s not entirely sad tears...”

“I’m sorry that other me left you alone…”

“She wasn’t exactly alone,” someone interrupted.

Corrin pulled away and looked back at the bed, where a blonde haired woman was sitting. “Oh....I’m...I’m sorry...” Corrin nervously backed towards the door. “I...I didn’t meant t-to interrupt anything…”

The woman smiled and shook her head. “No no, it’s okay. You didn’t interrupt. So you’re Corrin? I’ve heard a lot about you from Felicia. My name is Scarlet.”

Corrin’s scales started to turn white as she nodded towards the other nohrian. “Hello. I am...a clone of Corrin.”

“No no, don’t do that,” Scarlet stood and put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay to feel here. See?” Scarlet pulled up her sleeves to show her crimson color scales.

“...oh...o-okay...” Her scales shifted back to an afectionate pink. “...that’s...that’s good...”

Scarlet looked Corrin over and smiled. “You’re as cute as Felicia said.”

Corrin’s scales started to turn bright pink as she looked down. “...th-thank you…”

Felicia smiled and suddenly hugged both of them. “You’re both cute. And Corrin...you can stay...i-if you want to...”

“I...I wouldn’t want to get in the way of...anyone…” Corrin responded. “Or...anything.”

Felicia shook her head. “No no, you wouldn’t be in the way I-...I want you to stay…”

“But...S-Scarlet?”

Felicia looked over at her girlfriend. “You’re...you’re okay with her staying...right?”

“Yeah, definitely. If it makes you happy.” Scarlet grinned. “Plus, she seems cool.”

“I’ll...I’ll go ask captian 842,” Corrin said softly before inching away and leaving the room.

Sevaral minutes later, she came back, smiling. “She said yes!”

“That’s great, Corrin!” Felicia said happily, hugging Corrin.

“Wait, we’ll have to ask Camilla if she can transfer.”

“.....Camilla?” Corrin raised an eyebrow. “My...my sister is here too?”

“Yeah. She should be on the bridge right now. Go request and transfer.”

“...oh...I’ll go do that then.” Corrin got up and dashed off. She had to stop a few times to ask for directions, but she still managed to get to the bridge...and found her sister sitting in the captain’s chair.

“...Hey, sis...” Corrin said nervously.

Camilla looked up and smiled. “Hello Summer,” she said gently as she stood. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”

Corrin twitched at the nickname and looked down. “...yeah...hey…I’m...I’m here about getting transferred to your ship…”

Camilla hesitated. “The Valm section could still arrive…” she muttered to herself. Then, noticing Corrin’s scales turn a silvery blue, she sighed. “Alright, alright. I can find a place for you, we have the space at the moment. Would you like to go by Corrin, or something else?”

“Corrin’s fine...or Summer.”

Camilla put a hand on her head. “Which would you prefer?” she asked gently.

“...Summer…” Corrin decided. “So people aren’t confused.”

“Alright then. Science Officer Ophelia Dusk, note this down. We have a new crew member.”

“Yes ma’am!”

Summer smiled and darted back towards Felicia’s room, Camilla watching her with a smile before sitting back down.

“Captian, the Askrian ship is asking for permission to leave,” Florina spoke up.

“Granted. Once they are clear, I want you, Hinoka, and Setsuna to meet me in the captain's office.” With that, Camilla stood and walked away.

------

The captain’s office was still locked when they all came to the room. Camilla knocked on the door. “Lyn? Are you in there?”

“...are the Askrians gone…?”

“Yes...well...one is staying, but otherwise...yes”

“...oh joy...one stayed…” Lyn grumbled.

“She isn’t an Anna if you’re wondering.” Camilla said. “She’s a clone of my sister...she doesn’t know.”

“D-Doesn’t know what?” Lyn asked softly.

“Unlock the door so we can talk,” Hinoka practically demanded.

“No...g-g-go away…”

Florina and Setsuna looked between each other. “Um...wh-what’s...going on?”

Camilla and Hinoka hesitated...glancing at the door. Hinoka looked away, and Camilla leaned on the wall.

“...Lyn is one of them…” Hinoka grumbled. “...she didn’t tell us...but she’s one of them…”

“Oh.” Setsuna said. “Is that bad?”

“No, of course not,” Camilla said plainly. “But...she didn’t tell us...she-...she should’ve told us…”

Hinoka growled softly and spun on Florina. “Did you know about this?”

“N-no,” Florina stuttered, stepping back. “I-I...I didn’t know… Lyn! Let us in.”

The door still didn’t open.

Camilla sighed and grabbed her communicator. “Beruka, open the door.”

After a few seconds, the door slid open, revealing Lyn sitting at the desk, her head down in shame.

“...go away...just...leave…” Lyn muttered. “...just break up with me already and...go away…I’m...just a clone…”

Camilla rushed forward and knelt down beside Lyn. “No, that’s not going to happen.”

“I don’t even see why it’s an issue,” Setsuna said.

“Ask Florina…” Lyn gestured at the woman who hadn’t entered the room yet.

Florina sighed softly and looked down. “On our planet...clones aren’t seen as people. Just...fakes...or replacements when people want to escape.”

“That’s what I was supposed to be,” Lyn said simply. “Do you remember when Lyn went on that trip with her dad and came back ill? Well...she didn’t exactly get better before it was time to start the academy...so...I was sent in her place.” Lyn looked down and sniffled. “I-...I didn’t mean...to trick anyone...I’m...I’m sorry…”

“....it’s...it’s ok,” Florina said. “You’re the Lyn I know and love.” Florina smiled gently and walked inside, reaching out to take Lyn’s hand.

“...you all don’t...don’t hate me...for tricking you…?”

“You didn’t trick us,” Camilla and Setsuna said simply.

Hinoka shifted positions awkwardly and closed her eyes. “I wish you had told us...but I don’t hate you.”

“...really?”

Camilla suddenly lifted Lyn into the air. “Of course not! We love you, Lyn. Come on, let’s go cuddle.”

“Cuddle sounds good,” Setsuna muttered.

Lyn smiled. “...yeah...Thank you so much for...accepting me...I love all of you so much.”

#lyndis #lyn #brave lyn #anna #camilla #hinoka #setsuna #florina #summer corrin #felicia #scarlet #useless lesbian ot5 #glitterati ot3 #stardate: 2689 #my fics #fire emblem heroes #feh

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psychicdan · 7 years ago

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A Cyber Trooper, Corporal Blair Rayner, reflects on his time in Magnus's military and his comradery with his friends in Squad Zeta. But, Blair and his friends find themselves in peril as they have been ordered by the Magnus Protectorate to stop their greatest foe: Samurai Jack.

Samurai Jack: Renegade Samurai

Rating M for graphic depictions, language, violence and suggestive themes.

Warning:

The following is a work of fanfiction and is not intentionally connected to real world places, events, or people, nor intended to copy others’ work. Samurai Jack is the work of Genndy Tartakovsky, his team and affiliated studios and companies. This is solely fanfiction for fun and not profit.

Note: I was going to do the first chapter of the Arc 1 finale, but then this idea came to mind, and I had to this before then for maximum effect. Enjoy!

Chapter X: A Soldier’s Cause

Corporal Blair Rayner woke up to the sounds of the early morning wake-up call. “Come on, move it you wimps! Unless you want to triple morning routine, get your asses out of bed!” shouted the sergeant. Groans could be heard all around. “Ugh, el cabrón… can’t he find something else to be pissed about?” said Conrado.

“Aw, come on Conrad. You know it’s just the Sarge’s way of saying he loves us, right?” Gil joked nearby. “Well, each to their own, but if this is how he reciprocates, the sergeant can kindly kiss my arse.” Sam remarked. “Careful, if he heard that, he’d flail you alive.” Gil warned. “You brought it up.” Sam retorted.

Blair chuckled a bit at his team’s chagrin. “Come on, let’s get ready and in uniform before he pops another vein or circuit.” brought up the Corporal. They all hit the showers. Though Blair was of a slightly higher rank, he got on well with the privates in his squad. The only mood killer was the sergeant.

“So, how do those new muscle weave implants feel, Conrad?” Sam asked. “Mm, felt a bit numb for a while, but I’m used to them. Still think a little workout wouldn’t hurt the llorón (crybaby). Ah well, better give up on a lost cause.” Conrad said about a certain private. “Hey, I don’t need to be jacked up to kick ass, okay?” Gil retorted. “Maybe not, but at least we’ll survive the sergeant’s tirade. It was nice knowing you Gil.” Sam sarcastically lamented.

“Yeah whatever Sam. Speaking of which, are the new optic enhancements alright?” Gil asked. “Oh yes, my sight is practically 20-20 now, and includes all the visual interface tech. If these weren’t exclusively military issue, glasses would be a thing of the past.” Sam remarked. “Oh Dios Mio, Sam with specs. Would have killed to see him like that.”. The two white and one Hispanic Latino men laughed to themselves.

The corporal gave a wry smile before looking down at his own black skin. Interlaced into it, no, interlaced into his flesh were circuit linings with several plugins and nodes. If he saw his face in the mirror, he would see the same linings on his face and ocular artificial lenses in his eyes, the same ones Sam was boasting about.

The most concentrated area of technology was in his back, and in his neck was a particular node and plug. Gil kept joking for a week that they should have taken the blue pill. That movie joke got old fast. It was where all the processing and sensory information for his cybernetic implants were done, and allows for link ups to Cyber Armor and other military interface technology.

Corporal Blair Rayner was a Cyber Trooper serving in the Magnus Protectorate’s army. He and the three privates were part of Zeta Squad in the 3rd platoon of a company in the army. Right now, it was just morning routine before they geared up for patrol. The platoon was just spread out to keep the area safe.

They finished drying and began putting on their uniforms and Cyber Armor. Blair felt his senses stimulated as usual when he connected the armor to his interface. It was complete when he put the helmet on. Magnus Protectorate Cybernetic Infantry Interface Online. Servite Magnus et Pax(Serve Magnus and the Peace), Trooper.

At this point, Blair found the heads up notice as noteworthy as the sky being blue. He just unconsciously accepted it, easy that way. He liked seeing the new recruits freak out every time they put on the armor though. Reminded him of how unfamiliar with being a cyborg soldier he used to be.

“About time you finished getting your soft asses in uniform. Look alive people, especially you Gil.” remarked Sergeant Calisle. “(Yawns) Yeah yeah, whatever Sarge.” Gil dismissed. The yawn sounded weird considering the mechanized effect his helmet’s voice filter had.

The Sergeant looked down at Gil. Somehow, his anger beamed through the eye lenses. “Gil, I think we had this conversation before. If I like you, you can call me Sarge, but guess what? I DON’T LIKE YOU, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!”. “Y-yes sir!” Gil said, standing at attention. “Sorry, what did you say, clown? I thought I told you not to whimper, and you’re whimpering!” the sergeant screamed. “SIR YES SIR!” Gil screamed out in the expected affirmation. “Alright then, Corporal, take the two APCs and the privates on patrol, and report by 1200. Understood?” the sergeant said to Blair. “Understood sir.”.

…

A few years back.

Blair was a private back then, working law enforcement detail in one of the commercial cities. Though there was some action in the cities, it was typical crime such as robbery. Sometimes maintaining the military police felt like a waste. It was even more dull as this city was not only deep in Protectorate territory, but was one of the cities near Nova Sanctum, so safety was kind of perpetual.

As a new private, Blair caught on that he was just a body with a gun and some armor to make people feel safe, a decoration. Well, it pays, he thought. He had been born to intellectuals, his mother a writer and his father a doctor. His mother had suffered a terminal illness when Blair was in the middle of college studies, and no matter what Blairs father did, even conceding the case to doctors better than him, his mother still died.

His mother was actually a talented best-selling writer, and so took to paying Blair’s tuition while his father tended to other financial needs. Without her, Blair’s father had his hands tied, and Blair now needed to fund his academic ventures by himself.

That’s when he noticed that the Magnus Protectorate was offering tuition payments, and he accepted. He understood there were risks, so he took the training seriously. He imagined doing dangerous assignments, like putting down Abominable breakouts and other mutants, putting a stop to mercenaries and terrorists, or even joining the space fleet to secure the interplanetary borders.

Instead, the daily action he saw was giving directions and helping those in need cross the street. Though he wouldn’t normally demean kind gestures, he was worried the hazard here was utter boredom. Well, aside from that, no death and dismemberment at least.

“Hello, officer? Are you still alive in there?” said a voice. Blair stuttered awake, embarrassed he was caught half-asleep on the job. “Sorry, sergeant! I’ll get back to it and…oh, uh, sorry about that. What can I do for you, civilian?” Blair inquired.

As his senses focused from his earlier stupor, Blair looked at the person who woke him. She was a young woman with bright skin, long amber hair, and tender complexion. For a second, her appearance made Blair look flustered. Good thing he was wearing the helmet.

The young woman put her hands to her sides in frustration. “Hmph, good to know the military police have the right initiative. Sleeping soldiers are a great deterrent for crime rates.” she said in critical sarcasm. Great, first the sergeant, then the other privates, and now civilians. I’m not cut out for the military.

“Ahem, sorry you had to see that ma’am. Rest assured, the Magnus Protectorate stands ready to defend you.” Blair said in prompt. The woman just laughed at that. “What was that? Is that what they tell you to tell us?”. Blair sighed. “Yes ma’am.”. They even put the strict guidelines manual into his armor’s computer system. What he just said was a direct quote for how to respond to citizens, as he was still memorizing everything.

“Hey, enough with the “ma’am” crap. We’re both people, aren’t we? My name’s Elena, what’s yours?” she asked. “Private Blair Rayner, ma’…Miss, uh, Elena.”.

She smiled at that. “Well, it’s a start. Alright, “Mister Blair”, let me know when your off duty so we can sit down and eat.”.

…

Why did I agree to this?! Blair was sitting down with the woman from earlier, Elena Harking. Right now, his face was cramped, as he had not much experience dealing with the opposite sex, or even other people in general, because he had involved himself in either academics or, more recently, military work.

“You gonna take that bucket off your head or what?” she said. “It’s not a…! Oh, fine.” he agreed reluctantly. He hated being called a “bucket head”, and hated the armor designers even more.

“Don’t sound so upset, I actually want to see your face when we talk. Besides, can you actually eat through that?” she inquired. “No, but one of the other privates tried. Sergeant was yelling at him for messing up military property.” Blair responded.

Elena chuckled. “Seriously? Oh God, how nuts was he to…whoa.”. By now, Blair finished disengaging the link up and removed his helmet. His face, altered by the circuitry and implants left from the standard surgery, was now exposed. Elena stared inquisitively for a bit.

Blair sighed. Back at the campus, his college peers gave him similar looks. He could hear the nasty comments behind his back. “Cyborg bastard”, “techno freak”, “damn bucket head”, and several other derogatory terms. For all the respect garnered by the Magnus Protectorate, the people would rather have the faces of its soldiers confined in helmets.

“Alright, go ahead, say it.” Blair said, prepared to hear the worst. Elena blinked in surprise. “Say what? Am I supposed to be astounded or something?”. she said bewildered. Blair was caught off guard by that comment, usually expecting some form of aversion. “Huh?” he asked.

“Oh, come on, I’m not gonna praise you just for showing me your face.” she said. “Praise…wait, you don’t think I’m a hideous freak?” he asked. She was caught off guard by how unusual that was. “Where did that come from?! I’d say your face is pretty solid, I just thought it looked interesting. Don’t get to see the face of a Cyber Trooper often, I mean.”.

“Most people who do call us freaks and want to spit at us.” Blair said in dejection. “Yikes, that’s, uh, kind of extreme. Well, you look like a good person to me. Maybe a few extra fancy pieces, but a good person. So, what’s your story?”.

They talked over for the next two hours. Blair explained that he was using the tuition he was earning in the military to help get through his academics, and had taken to engineering. Coincidentally, they both went to the same college, but Elena was a legal major.

She envied Blair, as her father served in the army and she wanted to follow. Problem was, most women weren’t compatible with the cyber implants, and no one made custom versions that could be standard issue like what the men use. Some were compatible, but the success ratio was practically 1 to 10. Women who enlisted were accepted, but most who weren’t compatible for a cyber format were sent to a secret military project. They never come back.

Unfortunately, Elena was not compatible for the operation. She thought to enlist anyway, but her father got desperate and stopped her. He never explained why, but she said he seemed…afraid. Disappointed, she decided to serve and protect law and order by taking legal classes to be an attorney or prosecutor. She was still undecided on the specifics, but she was liking things so far.

“So…want to meet up gain at campus?” she asked. “Um, sure, that sounds great.” then private Blair Rayner said. “Cool, see ya.” she said as she waved goodbye.

…

Blair was a bit tense. He would feel much better if he was in Cyber Armor, or at least regular military fatigues. Instead, he was in casual clothing, no different from civilians aside from his apparent implants, holding hands with a young woman his age.

A date. 20th one, to be exact, but this one was more public than the rest. Blair enjoyed each one, but his training did not prepare him for the unknowns of romantic relationships. It just happened, as he and Elena became less formal, mostly on her part. If left on his own, Blair would have likely still talked in procedure.

It was always hardest in the beginning, but Blair could later loosen up somehow and enjoy it for what it was. But there was a problem. 20th date. 20th date and Blair didn’t know what to do. Was he meant to advance? Was he meant to do something special? Is there some hidden context? Damn it, he thought, picking up encoded messages was easier than this.

There was also how he was so casual in public, which exposed his “modifications”. The people looked either uncomfortable or disgusted. “Hey.” said a voice next to him. Elena grabbed his face and directed his sight at her. “Forget them. This is just us, okay? Besides, they don’t have a damn clue what’s going on, so anything they say is crap. So, don’t let it ruin our date, that’s an order. Understood?”.

“Understood, ma’am.” he joked. “Hey.” she said back. They chuckled as they were heading to a local fair in an amusement park. They began enjoying the various festivities. Minigames, food stands, amusement rides. Blair didn’t like the roller coaster, but he felt just a bit braver with Elena. The hardened soldier encouraged by the civilian, he would kick himself if it wasn’t for the fact that he knew Elena was special.

They continued meandering through the crowd. “Um, Elena, listen, I’ve been thinking.” Blair said. “Yeah?” she turned back. “I was wondering…if, after this, well…” he stuttered. He thought, but it wasn’t so much a plan so much as a runaway train of flustered thoughts. Unfortunately, the train came to a crash due to bad circumstance.

“Alright, Magnus lovers, get down on your knees or die!”. Shots rang though the fair as civilians scattered here and there brought out weapons. They shot down innocents to make a point, and already began herding others. “Quick, get down and follow me!” Blair said to Elena. They began making their way to one of the exit corners before one of the terrorist tried stopping him.

“Hey, back off bastard, or you lady friend gets, what the hel-GAHH!”. Blair rushed up to the terrorist, grabbed his firing arm before he could react, slugged him in the face, then shot him down as he grabbed the rifle. Even without Cyber Armor, Cyber Troopers had cybernetic implants and inner weaves that made them stronger, faster, and could even process faster than regular humans. It was only slightly better, and would do little against more experienced opponents, but it was enough.

Guy’s reaction time was sloppy. He should have been prepared to fire on sight, not that I’m complaining. “Alright, Elena, I need you to listen carefully. I want you to stay here and call the city’s Civil Enforcement emergency line. Get a person immediately and tell them we have a D-22. That’s for terrorists assaulting civilians in a public area and holding them hostage. 10 targets, dozens of hostages. Tell them where we are and they’ll send a strike team. Just stay low until then.”.

“Okay, but what are you going to do?” she asked, fearing the worst. Blair looked back at her with reassurance. “My job, and my job doesn’t tolerate terrorism.”. Blair finished grabbing ammunition and a knife off the fallen terrorist and went off.

He looked around. Seemed the terrorists were still herding the civilians. He spotted their handiwork, several civilians gunned down for effect, including a father and his son and daughter. This fair was a civilian function, purely recreational, unguarded and held no strategic value. These were definitely terrorists, just looking to make a fanatical showing and make hell for hell’s sake.

He spotted the herded citizens ahead. “You damn Magnus worshippers. You parade in this city of filth, of glorified vanity to a false god, a sinful man you have deified. You will all be our message to the Damned Protector, that his protection is all lies, that he can safeguard no one! Through your deaths, we will be free from his grasp!” shouted the ringleader.

While the ringleader was spouting his fanaticism, Rayner had stabbed two of the terrorists overlooking the crowd without drawing attention. He made his way to a third, then a fourth. Good, six left. Now where the hell is that strike force?!

The ringleader pointed to a small girl. One of the terrorists went and grabbed her, bringing her to center as she screamed. Her parents tried to rescue her, but the terrorists sent warning shots and the other civilians stopped them.

“What about you, little girl? Why don’t we make you the first of many bloodied lives on Magnus’s hands? A message for all that he can’t even save one little girl.” the ringleader said as he smiled sickeningly, the girl crying for her life.

“Don’t shoot her! If you’re going to kill anyone, then kill me damn it!”. Blair didn’t even think it through. He just knew he couldn’t stand that. His blood was boiling now, wanting to gun down the terrorist. But if he did that, the girl and several other civilians would be shot. He was at a disadvantage, his only hope to distract them long enough for the strike team to arrive and make a move.

The ringleader stopped and eyed Blair. “Ah, what have we here? One of Magnus’s cyborg monsters, a soulless tool that only knows to kill for its master. And without armor, showing all how disgusting it is. Come over here, abomination, and toss that aside.”.

Blair held a look of contempt, but did as he was told, throwing the weapon to the ringleader as he walked. He made it to the ringleader. “On your knees, filth.”. Blair gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, wanting to kill the man with one punch. He felt like he could do that now, with all his anger. But knowing the civilians were still at gunpoint, his body buckled down in resistance and knelt down.

POW! Blair was punched right across the face, followed by three more punches of the same variety. Despite the blood that came, Blair looked at the ringleader defiantly. He didn’t like that, and punched down to the head and sending Blair face first into the ground.

Blair was repeatedly kicked again and again, trying to stifle his pained cries to limit the civilians’ panic and to not give the ringleader the satisfaction. The ringleader placed his foot on the side of Blair’s face.

“Do you see this?! These are Magnus’s swords and guns, sworn to protect you! But what good are they?! Look at it, beaten and bloody, though I am surprised there’s any blood at all. It’s pathetic. It cannot save you, it cannot even save itself.” the ringleader proclaimed as he held the gun to Blair’s head ready to pull the trigger.

“Gugh…” gurgled one of the terrorists as they fell dead. No, not one, five terrorists fell dead, bullet wounds in their heads. About damn time. “Wh-what the hell is going on?!” shouted the ringleader as he looked on. Big mistake.

Blair got up and wrestled the gun away from the ringleader. The ringleader resisted, Blair headbutted his as the terrorist got knocked. BANG! Blair shot the terrorist right through the heart…if he had one, anyway. The terrorist gave one last look of wicked contempt before falling dead.

“Secure area, move, move!”. Cyber Troopers stormed in, setting up perimeter and tending to the civilians. “It’s okay, you’re all safe now.” a soldier said to the girl and family from earlier.

“Blair!” Elena screamed. “Elena…” he said in relief. He was glad she was safe. He wasn’t out of harm’s way though, as he got slapped in the face. “Ugh, easy Elena, I…mm.” Blair was interrupted by a tearful kiss from Elena.

Their lips parted as Elena looked at Blair with tears and anger. “Damn it, Blair, do you know how scarred I was?! I was about to charge in myself to save you, you dumbass!”. Blair felt all the fear and pain he must have put Elena through, and now felt remorse.

“Sorry, Elena. I’m glad you didn’t do that though, so I won’t do that again, I promise.”.

…

The Present.

Blair looked up from the photo of him and Elena as Sam was driving the APC. It had been a few years since that day, when he was given commendations and a medal for his service. He had completed a round of service and his academic career, but continued to serve for various reasons, mainly because that day made him realize how important his job was.

But there was another reason. “Ooh, Corporal, you thinking of your special someone?” teased Gil. “Hey, cut it out payaso(clown). Unlike you, the guy is serious.” Conrado retaliated. “Not to pry, but how are things between you and her? It can be tough for people to carry a relationship in this line of work is all.” Sam inquired.

Blair gave a wry smile. “Well, I’m still trying to think of the delivery but…” with that Blair pulled out of his pocket a small container. He flipped it open, revealing a modest yet delicate ring.

“No way!”, “¡Felicidades(Congratulations)!”, “Good man!” they all cheered. “Okay, okay, easy now. Still have to give it to her, alright? I’m thinking when I get next leave, I’ll take her on a trip to Nova Sanctum, and give it to her when we’re either touring the Citadel or the Grand Gardens. Lots of venues and opportunities, so it’s hard to decide. Besides, I need to make money for the wedding and stuff.” said Blair.

“Oh, so that’s why you’re still here playing soldier? Easier ways to pay the bills man. Seriously though, I thought we all had a tight bond.” Gil lamented sarcastically. “Eh, I could have just gone and done engineering, but I would have felt bad. Someone has to stop you yahoos from getting your asses killed. I’m looking at you, Gil.” Blair joked.

“Yes, the sergeant alone would chew up and spit out Gil, wouldn’t he?” Sam joined in, with Conrado nodding. Gil sulked at that. “Well, it may be a bit soon, but why don’t we get drinks to celebrate?” Conrado suggested. “Sure, I could go for that. Gotta wait until these patrols are done though.” Blair agreed.

“Why are they even having us do patrol here though? I mean, this is like nowhere.” said Gil. He wasn’t the only one to complain about that. Normally, the platoon patrolled near Outlands areas, putting down mutants and bandits. But this was just wilderness and roads deep in Protectorate territory. The only buildings around was their encampment and a few old war ruins. At best, the most lethal thing they would run into was a bear.

Despite that, the first lieutenant had been ordered to station the platoon here. It would be easy to think it was punishment, but nothing had been done to deserve it, and they had been scattered and doing patrols for the past week. It was like they were on lookout, but for what?

Suddenly, static came through on their internal comms. “Heads up everyone. This is Zeta Squad, can you repeat?” Blair asked. The signal clarified, and they recognized it was Sergeant Calisle. “Zeta Squad, return to base immediately. This goes for all other squads, the lieutenant has called an emergency meeting. I repeat, return to base for meeting. Over.” said the sergeant. “Copy that, over.” Blair affirmed.

“Guess we’ll have to save the drinks for later.” Blair said as he signaled Sam to turn the APCs around, the other team of privates following behind them.

…

“So, what do think all the fuss is about?” Gil asked. “Stuff it Gil, Lieutenant Gregor is about to speak.” Sam told him. Indeed, the Lieutenant came out unmasked. Everyone in the platoon wasn’t wearing their helmets currently, as they were only worn really for active duty like patrol.

“Troopers, listen up. You’ve all been wondering why we’ve been stationed in an area of little note. It’s been necessary to simply call this a routine patrol, but in actuality, this has been a lookout assignment, and scouts have determined our target is heading through this area. The target is Samurai Jack.”.

That got a few murmurs going. “Whoa, the Renegade Samurai, huh?” Conrado spoke. “I heard he took down three Inquisitors and a platoon. Scary stuff.” Gil joined in. “Well, for our sakes, let’s hope the rumors are exaggerated. We’re a platoon, you know.” remarked Sam.

“Focus men!” commanded the first lieutenant. The Cyber Troopers quieted down and assumed attention. “Disregard all exaggerated rumors about the target, but do not underestimate him either. He is a dangerous insurgent, but still only one man, and can and will be terminated with lethal force.”.

“The target is accompanied by three other accomplices, all armed and dangerous. You are to shoot on sight. I won’t lie, this will be dangerous. The Samurai’s list of confirmed kills is now in the hundreds. However, combat data from these fallen troops have suggested he may be disadvantaged by tactic and superior numbers. Review such data after the meeting. Now, here is the plan.”.

“The road the Samurai is travelling will be rigged with explosives. He will likely survive through. Gamma squad will make the first move, attempting to assassinate the target through long range. Should that fail, then Gamma, Epsilon, and Delta will team up to form a joint strike force and overwhelm the enemy.”.

“Should target be able to resist, we will drive him towards this area.” The area displayed on the holographic area map was a decaying military training base, defunct after the war. “Once we have him there, Theta and Zeta will take positions with the rest of the squads and we will flush him out. If necessary, we will bring down the whole structure. By bullet or rubble, this renegade dies tonight.”.

“The target arrives at this area in approximately three hours. Move out and head to position. Review data until we confirm target presence and begin operation. Understood?” asked the first lieutenant.

“Sir yes sir!” announced the whole platoon.

…

Blair was observing the data, watching the recordings of fallen Cyber Troopers. Common to them all was the vain shooting at a white robed Samurai before the recording ended with a slash from a katana.

“GAHH! Seriously, what’s with this guy? It’s like guns are useless against a sword, what messed up reality is that?” Gil asked. “I’m more perplexed as to how that sword deflects fire. Even if it’s a well-toned steel alloy, we’re using BX-90 riffles. At this point, the charged bullets should have shattered it by now.” Sam remarked.

Somewhere between regular ballistic ammo and energy-based weaponry, the Cyber Trooper standard issue BX-90 riffle charged bullets as they accelerated with a destructive energy to increase their damage. With all safety parameters off, it could well punch through regular armor, so a katana really should be in pieces from that.

“It’s more his martial arts that concern me. That sword’s just an application for his combat style. Otherwise, all the other soldiers would have shot him dead by now. He moves with tenacity and no hesitation, and all his movements seem professional. Could this guy have been special forces?” Blair asked.

“Nah, this one fight with the platoon shows no cybernetics on him. He’s a regular human, but he is a badass.” Conrado remarked.

This was getting a bit tense. Everyone heard of all the crime reports, but common to them all was that no Cyber Trooper that faced Samurai Jack lived to tell the tale. It seemed like an abstract thing before, just an urban rumor. But now that they were about to face him themselves, everyone in the squad felt grim.

“Hey, common, the lieutenant has a plan, remember. Hell, we don’t have to do a thing, since the other squads are throwing explosives and snipers at the guy. So chill, okay?” Gil reassured. “That’s a nice attitude to have, before fighting a mass murderer.” Sam remarked.

“Enough. We don’t know exactly what will happen. What we do know is that this renegade is dangerous, he is not alone, and he likely won’t go down quietly. Just follow the plan seriously, and hopefully we make it out alive. Got it guys?” asked Blair.

“Got it.” they all affirmed.

“Well, glad you know how to get those jackasses in order, corporal. I’ll stick to the new bloods here and- wait, what? Eyes front, enemy sighted!” Sergeant Calisle ordered, receiving note from the other squads.

Squatting down from a hillside, all the troopers in Squad Zeta looked from their vantage point to the road. The could see a rough four-wheeled car running though the road bellow. Just a few dozen meters more and…

BOOM! For a minute, the soldiers just sat and stared at the flaming desolation. They weren’t about to celebrate, no, they were waiting, prepared for a sign from the enemy.

The enemy vehicle drove though the smoke and fire, hardly scratched. Somehow, the drivers seemed to detect the explosive and drove skillfully enough to stay out of the force of the blast.

But the plan didn’t seem dashed yet. People came out, four of them, looking to inspect the explosion. Seemed they wanted to see who was behind the attack. Wait, is that…? Blair thought. Yes, it was. Gamma Squad confirmed it through their sniper scopes. Standing in their sights, out in the open in white garb, was Samurai Jack.

The snipers kept cool, not wanting to mess up the shot. One had a clear shot, a bullseye right on the Samurai’s forehead. “Firing!” the snipers said as they let loose. The bullets raced towards their targets, meters away.

But, somehow, one of the secondary targets, the traitor designated “Ashi”, became alarmed and screamed something. All the targets ducked and covered at the last minute, evading the precise strike. The assassination attempt failed.

Worse, the main target looked in their direction, and Blair somehow felt he was looking directly at them. “Main target is still alive, our positions are compromised! Switch to next phase! Gamma, Epsilon, and Delta, move in before target escapes!” commanded the First Lieutenant.

The other squads affirmed, moving into positions and preparing to charge. Blair knew what would happen. Epsilon and Delta would block the vehicle’s approach and Gamma would reconnect to attack from the other side. Fire would be focused on the main target, the secondary targets eliminated once he was. A simple but effective plan, yet…

“This is Lieutanant Gregor, myself and Theta are standing by with Zeta, all other squads engage.” said the lieutenant on the comm radio. “Copy that Lieutenant, Delta is moving in from other side and engaging target now, over.” said the Delta sergeant. “Copy, Gamma. Epsilon is arriving to assist, over.” said the Epsilon sergeant. “Gamma arriving from previous position, ready to cut off target, over.” said the Gamma sergeant.

Shortly after that, gunfire and explosions could be heard from no too far away. That was expected, but then they could hear all kinds of comm chatter, most of it distressed. “GAHH!”, “Bastards, take this!”, “They know how to put up a fight!”, “Oh God!”, “AHHH!”.

Lieutenant Gregor got concerned, and tried rising the sergeants. “Epsilon, Delta, Gamma, give me updates, do you copy?!”. After a few tense seconds of static, an answer came in. “L-lieutenant, this is Private Bryson from Gamma, we’re taking serious losses by the enemy and need support now!”.

“Private, where is your lieutenant, over?” asked First Lieutenant Gregor. “He-He’s dead, sir! The target left the vehicle that took on Epsilon and Delta and engaged my squad! All squads are at less than 50% now! We’re not gonna make it, we need…oh shit, he’s coming right at me, please send…!” ZZZT.

Everyone fell silent as the private’s dying plea turned to static. “Damn it! Theta, you’re coming with me. We’re going to jump that son of a bitch before he gets the rest. Zeta, follow behind at a distance. If we can’t put him down or force him into the trap point, you be the ones to catch him off guard.” commanded the First Lieutenant.

“Yes sir!” affirmed both squads. Theta and the First Lieutenant down in an APC. Blair and the rest of Zeta made preparations to follow. Despite how quickly the Lieutenant adapted though, Blair couldn’t help the ominous feelings dredging up within him. Only a few minutes, and it already sounded like the joint attack failed. Resistance was expected, but such casualties so soon? Just who, or rather what, was this Samurai Jack?

He decided to not dwell on the matter as Sergeant Calisle drove them down from the lookout point and on to the road where the action was. It was then they heard more comm static. “This is Zeta, come in, over.” inquired the sergeant. “Zeta, get over here quick! Situation’s gone to shit! Gamma got shredded by that bastard and it looks like we lost Epsilon too! Delta got in the APC and drove off the enemy’s vehicle support, and we managed make that Samurai bastard run for it. Pursuing target to trap point, but I don’t think we can take him ourselves. Move in to provide support, over!” said Lieutenant Gregor.

“Copy that, over.” replied Sergeant Calisle. “Alright boys, let’s get over there and…”, “Whoa, stop the APC for a sec, sarge!” replied Gil. “Only because I’m gonna kick your ass for…” the sergeant stopped reprimanding as he saw what Gil was talking about.

Everyone got out to see the devastation. It was a real fight, one that ended badly for the Cyber Troopers. From one end was the remains of Epsilon and Delta. Epsilon’s APC was just flaming scrap, blown to pieces by a missile or rocket. They didn’t even know the enemy had that. They could see that the bodies lying there either had gunshot wounds or cuts, lethal from a glance.

Even if they thought some lived, a quick link up to their Cyber Armor and scanners had shown the results. “Vital scans show…no survivors.” Blair responded after his helmet’s optics did their work. They turned to the other side, which was somehow worse.

Sure, a Cyber Trooper’s most common cause of death in battle was by gunshot or explosive, except when fighting things like Abominables. But it would take fighting those monsters to make it worse than this. Cyber Troopers, cut, slashed, butchered, all with such clear and lethal wounds, as though a single stroke was sufficient to do the damage.

The human cyborgs all had such open and ghastly wounds, exposing their internal circuitry in their flesh as blood began to pool. One of the young privates from the other half of the squad, all rookies, took as helmet in a hurry to vomit on the spot. “S-sorry…” he said exasperated.

“H-help me…” cried a weak voice. “Over there!” cried out Blair as he ran to the voice. He saw it was a private down on the ground, clutching desperately at his shoulder. No, he was clutching where his arm used to be. But it was no good, his Cyber Armor’s gray and black was stained with streaks of his red blood, lying in a puddle of it. It was amazing he was still alive now.

“What’s your name, Private?” asked the Corporal. “St…Stan Bryson, sir.” replied the Private who warned the Lieutenant earlier. Blair nodded, needing the Private to collect himself so he could relay what occurred. “What happened here, Bryson?” Blair asked.

“We…we thought we had him. At first that car was pinned, couldn’t fight back. But then it fired a damn missile and took out most of Epsilon! Then that bastard jumped out. I swear I though he was flying, didn’t even fire till it was too late. The Samurai got in close and cut us like butter.”.

“I tried contacting the Lieutenant, but then the renegade butchered my arm, and left me to die! He just tried walking away, then the Lieutenant and Theta Squad got the drop on him. I…I think the other renegades got chased by Delta, and the Samurai was being pushed by Theta towards the trap point, but…” the Private trailed off.

“But…I think it was a trap. That Samurai bastard ran away too soon, same for that car. I think he wants to turn the ambush against us, I, ugh…” Bryson groaned as his strength bled on the ground. “P-please, you gotta help the Lieutenant, just tell him to-to, get the hell away. That Samurai, he’ll kill him, he’ll…”.

With that, Bryson fully collapsed on the ground, unmoving. Blair’s scanner read “Deceased”. It was then they all heard an explosion in the direction of the other APC. “Delta Squad, do you copy? Come in Delta, over!” Blair asked over the comm, only to get static. Seems as though they lost Delta Squad too.

“Sh-shit, we gotta get out of here!” cried out one of the young privates. He looked like he was going to make a run for it, before being backhanded by Sergeant Calisle. “Listen to me, you goddamn son of a bitch. We are not running and we are not hiding. We’re gonna find Lieutenant Gregor and help him out of this shitstorm, understand?!”.

“Screw that! Look around, Theta is as good as dead! I thought this would be basic Protectorate patrol, just marginal danger! I never signed up to take on… whatever the hell this is!” retorted another young private. That earned him a punch right to the side of his head. Even though he wore a helmet, the private was dazed by that.

“Listen up, you pansy-assed school boys! This kind of shit is why we are here, why the whole Magnus Protectorate exists in the first place! What do you think keeps people, like you, your family and friends, your whole damn community safe from this?” the sergeant asked. He then pointed to the fallen Bryson.

“Soldiers like him. Bryson risked his life for a cause, the cause. He could have run away, abandoned his whole squad to save his own ass. Instead, he stayed here and radioed for help. It cost him his life, damn it.”.

“You think our Lord Protector stopped the war by crying in the corner? No, he had enough of that shit and got it done! Better yet, he led a whole damn army! Every single one of them risked their lives like Bryson, dying for the cause. Do you know what the hell that bloody cause is?”.

“To serve Magnus and the Peace, sir.” Blair spoke up. “I’m glad you understand, Corporal. These crybabies should follow you for a day.” the sergeant said proudly.

“That’s more than a popup or a salute. It’s a principle, a virtue. Magnus stands for the preservation of this world, it’s first and last line of defense. By definition, so do we. What kind of defender of peace are you if you leave behind your own comrades when you can do something? Soldiers like Bryson die so that the peace so many died for continues.”.

“If we let bastards like that Samurai Jack loose, nobody’s safe. You know what’s worse? Bryson will have died for nothing. Gamma, Epsilon, and Delta will have died for nothing. Every soldier who was killed by that Samurai will have died for nothing. Your job, your duty, is to make it all worth something.”.

“So then, what is our cause?” asked the sergeant. “To serve Magnus and the Peace, sir!” shouted the whole squad, not just the young privates. “And how are we going to do that tonight?” asked the sergeant. “By stopping the Samurai and saving the Lieutenant, sir!” shouted the squad. “God damn right. Now get back in the APC and let’s double time it!”.

…

Zeta Squad finally arrived at the old military base. Whatever Near End War faction owned this place in the past, they had been long gone, the base stripped and demilitarized long ago. It was a skeleton of whatever powerhouse it once was.

“No sign of Theta or the Samurai. We split in two. Corporal, take your crew and head that way. I’ll stick with these guys so they don’t wet themselves. If you spot the Lieutenant or the enemy, contact us immediately.” Sergeant Calisle ordered.

“Got it. Stay safe, Sergeant.” Blair warned. “Watch you own ass too, Corporal.” the sergeant said back. Blair’s team engaged their night vision as well as turning on their rifle’s search lights. They even had thermal imaging, so if anything sizeable came into range, they would see it. It was not seeing any sign of the Lieutenant’s team or the Samurai that was making them all tense though.

“Hold it, I’m picking up some signals. About half a dozen.” Blair said. It didn’t look good though. They were all huddled together, but they were collapsed, and some of the signals’ temperatures were dropping. “Let’s move!” shouted the Corporal.

They rushed towards the area of thermal imaging, and when they got their and turned it off, their fears were realized. “Damn, Theta didn’t make it.” lamented the Corporal. All around were the bodies of the Cyber Troopers of Theta Squad. Some had taken gunshot wounds, but most had been cut apart.

Lying at the center was First Lieutenant Gregor, cause of death was a clear slash through the chest. “I’m sorry, Lieutenant Gregor. We weren’t fast enough.” Blair mourned. “Sergeant, this is Corporal Rayner. I’m sorry sir, but we didn’t arrive in time, all of Theta Squad, including the Lieutenant, is dead, over.”.

“What?! I…I see. Then try to get back to the entrance, we’ll, huh?!”. The communication turned to static, causing Blair and the others alarm. “Quick, we have to get to his direction and find his location!” Blair ordered. They all began running while searching for their sergeant’s location signal, Blair trying to raise up comms again.

“Sergeant, what is your status, answer!” Blair shouted. “The Samurai just appeared, just stood there till we fired! Just like that, he went at us! I’m trying to keep him off the boys but, UGH! Damn it, just die you mother-”. With that, the comm went static. “Sergeant, sergeant?! Sergeant Calisle?!” shouted Blair.

Blair couldn’t get an answer, only try to maintain course as they zeroed in on the battle. They could only hear the sound of gunfire and a sword slashing before it all went silent.

Blair and his team arrived at a terrible scene. Gripping a smoking BX-90 rifle was the slumped corpse of Sergeant Calisle. Surrounding him were the bodies of the young privates. They were all barely of age to enlist, had hardly seen action. Even so, it seemed they made a valiant attempt to defend the sergeant when he was defending them, as their forms indicated brave resistance to the end. Seems the sergeant got the principle through to them.

“D-damn it. He was the meanest hardass I knew. Sometimes I really thought someone pissed in his orange juice to make him so mad. But you know, he always got this squad going and looked out for everyone, you know? Thanks, Sergeant.” said Gil.

Their moment of solace was interrupted by a rustle from behind. Blair was the only one who picked it up. He fired behind, catching the startled silhouette of a robed figure who dodged the fire and into the dark.

“Damn it! Everyone, cover all corners!” Blair ordered. The four of them formed a tight square, covering all directions as they watched for the Samurai. Having to trn off thermal imaging because of all the bodies, Blair noticed movement from the corner in his enhance vion.

He fired, the dark being lit as the energized bullets turned to sparks against the movements of a sword. The figure got in close, and Blair barely pulled out his combat blade in time to prevent the sword from reaching his neck. Conrado screamed as he punched right at the figure, not wanting to fire and hit Blair by accident.

But the shadow cloaked figure managed to block it with a single hand, before jabbing Conrado multiple times in the gut, bringing the Cyber Trooper to his knees. Before the figure went any farther, Sam went in with a side arm and combat blade, blocking the shadowy Samurai’s sword before trying to shoot him down.

But the enemy anticipated this, twisting Gil’s arm to make him drop his pistol. He was kicked down as their assailant tried to run from the scene, but Gil wasn’t having that. Gil fired his rifle at the figure, who jumped back to avoid the fire. The assailant had enough of this. He took out his own sidearm, a pistol, firing multiple shots at the Cyber Troopers.

“MOVE! Blair shouted. He barely dodged the energy laced bullets, but Gil wasn’t so fortunate. A bullet came right to his head, one the helmet couldn’t block. But it wasn’t him who would die from that.

“SAM!” Gil shouted. Sam noticed the bullet’s trajectory and pushed Gil out of the way, but by sheer misfortune, it hit him in the throat. “(Coughs violently), y-you damn bloke. Always figure you’d have been the death of me. (Coughs violently) Don’t…take it so personally though. But… if you happen to see the Samurai, get in a few shots for me before you leave, alright? Wake me up when we’re all at Blair’s…”.

With that, Sam went limp, and his helmet’s optics went dark. Gil just knelt there, wordless, no bad jokes or anything, like the humor died with Sam. The figure in the corridor had stopped, as though troubled.

Gil looked up at it, and beneath his helmet, his eyes held desperation and bloodlust. “Gil, amigo, don’t.”. But before Conrado could even restrain him, Gil picked up both his own and Sam’s BX-90 rifles and charges. No plan, no coordination, just rage and poorly controlled bullets.

The figure became on guard as Gil screamed while firing the hail of bullets. He wasn’t thinking at all really, he just wanted the renegade dead. The figure did as he had to, running and dodging the chaotic bullets with ease before slicing through Gil’s throat. Gil stopped there, vengeance unfulfilled, before coming to his knees and then collapsing.

The shadowed, robed figure stared at them, as though waiting for a move. Neither Blair nor Conrado knew what it meant, but they had to assume the worst: they would die when they made their move.

Conrado sighed. “Sorry, hombre(man), but I don’t think I’m making it to your boda(wedding). Make it there for the rest of us, okay?” requested Conrado. “Wait, what are you…?” Blair asked, before Conrado sent a volley of gunfire at the enemy. For extra assurance, Conrado took out a grenade and pressed a button.

“Move it, now!” Conrado shouted as he charged at the robed figure. Blair didn’t have time to argue, just ran the opposite way, towards the exit. But he realized that Conrado was not going to make it. Conrado even made sure of that, as when Blair made it out, an explosion went off behind him, collapsing the building and sending Blair helmet first into the ground.

Blair got up and looked behind. He knew that wasn’t just an attempt to take out the Samurai with him. Conrado knew that Blair could never choose to abandon his friends, to leave what they died for. That’s why he made that choice for him. Conrado died so Blair could live up to what Conrado asked, what they all wanted for Blair.

He knew what Sam was going to say, and he knew what Conrado asked, but this was too much. He collapsed to his knees, his hands gripping the ground in emotional pain. In that old base for a war long over, all his friends, his whole squad, just died.

“What the hell do you want?” Blair asked in venomous anger. Behind him, he somehow felt that presence. It wasn’t cybernetic sensors or regular hearing, he just somehow knew, in that moment of anguish. He turned, facing the being he hated most, the one responsible for killing his whole platoon in one night. There stood Samurai Jack.

Blair was only mildly surprised as he got a closer look. He didn’t get such good details from the record data, the vantage point, or the dark corridor, but this current meeting contrasted with today’s impression.

After a night of seeing all his friends slaughtered, Blair thought he might as well have been fighting a demon, a being of pure malice. Instead, he saw a man. He was indeed a Samurai, traditional gi, katana, some light armor, and fair skinned eastern features.

The man somehow exerted both an aura that was stern yet gentle at the same time, as well as simple yet refined. He could tell the man could be extremely dangerous if needed, but was not exerting any hostility. That did not help Blair’s though. After tonight and that experience with the terrorist, Blair knew humans could be real demons, the worst kind.

“I would just like to take a moment to talk.” said Jack. “Hmph, a little late for that. Or is it easy to make your point when everyone else is dead?” Blair retorted. Jack kept calm in the face of that hostility and proceeded.

“Your forces have been relentless. Your people take hostility as their first path without warning, never giving me a chance. What you saw was the actions that followed their decisions.” Jack stated.

“Oh, so suddenly we’re in the wrong? It’s my fault everyone died? Everyone deserved to die because they wanted to stop a renegade from committing more violence?” Blair voiced.

“That’s not what I-” Jack said, “So you think we should have just given up? What we’ve sworn to do, give up something bigger than ourselves.” Blair questioned.

“You do not understand, Magnus has blinded-” said Jack . “Oh, so Magnus is to blame, and I don’t know what I’m doing? Unbelievable.” Blair said. He decided he needed to prove a point to this ignorant enemy.

Blair undid his helmet’s hookup and took it off. Jack became surprised at what he saw. Right now, he wasn’t really shocked by the circuitry in Blair’s face, but rather by how human his face was. Jack had known all this time the Cyber Troopers were humans turned into cyborgs, but their armor and helmets seemed to limit their perceivable humanity.

But now that he looked into the face of the enemy, Jack saw past the militarized regime and could perceive full humanity in Blair. The anger in Blair’s modified eyes was not malicious, but rather a desire for justice, the same Jack experienced numerous times. He could tell from Blair’s face and expression that he not a mindless drone, a fooled follower, or a villain.

No, Blair was a good person, fighting for his own beliefs and doing what he saw was right. In many ways, he was the same as Jack. When Jack realized that, it shocked and pained him.

“What, you think I’m some abomination? Or are you surprised to see a person under all this armor?” Blair asked, sensing Jack’s turmoil. “I…” Jack tried to speak, but couldn’t find the words.

“Just so you know, they were all people, people you killed. They had names too. Private Stan Bryson, Lieutenant Gregor, Sergeant Calisle. The last three you killed were Sam, Gil, and Conrado. They were…they were my friends.” Blair said with sorrow.

Jack realized the awful thing he had done to this man, making him witness his friends being slaughtered. He wanted badly to apologize, but the words got stuck in his throat. He knew that just saying “sorry” would be a terrible insult.

“You want to know what they all died for, Samurai? Blind devotion to the Lord Protector? Hatred for his enemies? It’s nothing like that.” Blair made clear.

“Before you killed him, my sergeant made our salute clear, “Serve Magnus and the Peace”. You probably think that’s doctrine. It’s not, it’s a cause. Magnus led and sacrificed a lot to end the war for a principle, one we fight for now. When we fight to protect, we do it to safeguard and serve those around us.”.

“It’s different for everyone, but we all fight to protect what we all hold dear, including each other. When you kill one of us, that hurts the rest of us, but doesn’t stop us. Do you know why? Because we have to make those deaths mean something. Why did we keep chasing you? Because we couldn’t let everyone else’s sacrifices go to waste, that’s why!” Blair shouted.

Jack had always assumed that when the Cyber Troopers came after him again and again, they were misled, or had malice moving them. Instead, this man was showing him the Cyber Troopers did have honor. If that was so though, what about him?

“You know why I’m speaking to you know instead of trying to shoot you? It’s not because I’m abandoning the cause. Before this whole thing, I…I told my friends I was going to propose… to the person I love most. They all wanted to come, but that changed when you showed up.”.

“They all died in there, but they gave me a chance. I took it, not for myself, not even for her. It was for them. I want to make their deaths mean something, I want to tell them that I did it. If it wasn’t for that…”.

“I’d try to kill you right now. So then, are you here to kill me?” Blair asked.

Jack felt shocked by that, wondering why Blair would think he was here for that. But as he was the man to kill almost everyone Blair came to care about, he realized how easy it was to seem the monster.

“No. There has been…more, far more than enough bloodshed tonight.” Jack concluded. “Knowing you, there will be a lot more before you’re done.” Blair said with condescension. Jack couldn’t deny the reality of that statement.

“One more thing. You spoke of the names of your comrades, and you know mine, but I do not know yours. What is your name, warrior?” Jack asked.

“Corporal Blair Rayner.” Blair responded. “Very well then, Corporal. When you have made you friends’ sacrifice meant something, I will face you again, if you wish..” Jack stated as he began walking away. “Yeah, we’ll see.”.

Author Notes: Ha! You all thought I gave up or died, didn’t you, admit it! No, it’s just that with summer ending and work piling up again, I got a bit busy and had less time for writing. You were expecting the beginning of that Arc finale, huh? You know, seeing a certain Scot again? Funny thing, I was halfway through writing that chapter when this one came to mind. And for the tone of this arc, this chapter had to go here, so I just had to write it.

References were Fallout 2 and The Matrix, if you spotted them.

The main thing I wanted to clarify is that even though they’re cybernetic, Jack’s enemies in this story are human, they’re people. I remember from one of Genndy’s interviews about Season 5 that the Daughters of Aku were supposed to represent how people could be programmed like robots. Hell, Jack even comments on it in Episode 4.

The Cyber Troopers are a more literal take on that, cyborg soldiers that, for aesthetic, have that futuristic feel from Jack fighting robots while making them more lifelike. In deeper context, they show how a person can be literally transformed into part of a machine, all the Troopers formatted and mechanized for the autocracy they serve.

But, in this part anyway, the Cyber Troopers are still mostly human, and the metaphorical “programming” is not as strong as for the Daughters of Aku. They’re each a person, just doing their duty and following what they believe. To them, the Magnus Protectorate is their society and affects their social and personal lives like any society.

They all have friends, family, and loved ones. When I wrote Jack killing off the platoon in this chapter, I had to write it in a way where it was self-defense, but the soldiers are not exactly in the wrong either, something that was not easy and a bit vague.

Why I did this was to convey all the difficult emotions Blair and his friends go through when they see Jack doing this. They can’t just mindlessly charge in like beetle drones, of course they don’t want to die. But it’s Jack’s choice to resist and strike down the Cyber Troopers that moves them to keep trying to stop him. Comradery is a real and powerful thing.

I’m glad I came up with that dialogue about “the cause”, because this whole chapter is basically saying “Hey, we’re not exactly the bad guys”, and this really gives justification and humanity to the Cyber Troopers. They’re still the enemy, but it kind of gives purpose to both the soldiers and the Magnus Protectorate, something I’ve been struggling to establish. I think this laid some real groundwork for that.

Now then, Blair. This chapter drew inspiration from SJ favorite “ The Tale of X9”. So yeah, this story was going to have a sad ending. All of Blair’s friends were personalized only to die in the end. Cold, I know, but then it wouldn’t have such impact.

Explaining his background and love interest was to help really give Blair ground as this chapter’s protagonist and give him something worth fighting for. I was rather uncomfortable with the whole “domestic terrorist” situation, we do live in tumultuous times. So, I’m sorry if that bit was a bit too personal for some of you, just want to get that out there.

Blair was designed to be an understood and willing protagonist in this chapter. He’s not Samurai Jack, but that’s what helped make him worthwhile. He knows the Samurai is more dangerous than him, of course he’s scared. But he’s willing to fight for his friends and beliefs, even if that means facing bad situations. I didn’t intend him to be similar to Jack in this way, but I’m glad it turned out that way. He’s not exactly the same as Jack, but he’s definitely his own person.

If you were suspecting after the wedding ring thing that Blair would die, then I have to confess. In the end, Blair was going to be the last person to die. In my head, I kept seeing Blair engage in a fight with Jack, firing off bullets and taking cover to keep Jack at bay. It was going to be similar to X-9’s fight.

It would end with Blair collapsing from a stab wound, his helmet broken and Jack looking down to see his enemy was a person. Blair would hold his picture of Elena and himself and apologize to her, before he collapsed dead. And Jack would know what that meant.

But, I couldn’t do it. Not because I “chickened out”, exactly. I changed it not for Blair or Elena, but for Blair’s friends. These chapters take their own direction after they get going, and I’m cool with that. Where this one went was Blair’s friends trying to hold off Jack so Blair could escape and make it back to Elena.

After all that talk of making sacrifices worth something, anything, this chapter wasn’t going to let me kill off Blair. He had to live, he had to make it. Not for himself, or Elena, but to make their deaths mean something. In a way, keeping that promise and being the sole survivor is more of an emotional gut punch than the original ending, huh?

I know, I like to ramble. Just saying Chapter XI, the beginning of the Arc finale, is on the way, look forward to it!

#samurai jack #renegade samurai #fanfic #chapter

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