#Very fun and honestly love what Alan is doing lately it's all very good and very original

[yoihino]

Roleplay youtube channel for the stickman figures of animation vs animator was not something I had in my 2024 bingo but I am loving it

[foxgloveinspace]

tron fic recs??👀

Hi there! I have to preface this by saying I mostly read (and currently write) Sam/Tron (or Rinzler depending on the fic). While I do read a bunch of just general Tron fic, I tend to have a ship I like and stick with it.

I am really enjoying Salvage What You Can by TooManyTeeth, more so the concept then some of the ideas. (I don't ship sam and quorra), but I can get over those for the concept of Rinlzer and Tron being in the same Grid and not the Same People, and Rinlzer finding out he's the 'evil twin' as the tags put it. I'm only on chapter 14, and there have been some moments that have down right broke my heart. Lots and lots of Rinzler angst.

Want some fluff about pre movie Tron and Clu learning swear words?? No Stupid Questions by bowiesinspace is the fic series for you! It's crack (in the since that it's silly, not you know. weird). and Just an all around fun time.

While this one has a bit of of Sam/Tron in it, the pov is Alan and it's not exactly about Sam and Tron, it's about how Alan feels, seeing and being around Tron, and is very very emotional. But also my second favorite fic in the fandom. And that is Mea Culpa by 2019-2020 (EnglishLanguage).

My first favorite fic is by the same author, and that is Genesis. I don't have words for this fic honestly. It's from Sam's POV, and it's about him coming back to a completely empty Grid. There are lines in this fic that literally left me gasping for air. It's almost GEN but there's hints of the fact that there will be something more between Sam and Tron.

I'll be a bit of a silly goose, and plug my own fic here, Whatever Here (That's Left of Me) part one has no shipping besides Lora and Alan, and is about Sam fixing the Grid from the other side of the screen, having a lot of family moments with Alan, Lora and Quorra and talking with Tron. The second part will be about Sam and 'Tron' falling in love. (which knowing me and my writing, means also at least two smut scenes). So if you just want to read part one that is a-okay with me!

Lastly, in this category I am recommending every single one of Solar_Siren's fictober collections. (and one Angstpirl challenge in there as well) There is a lot of different ships in here (Mostly Tron/Yori) and a lot of Uprising stuff. A lot of REALLY good fics in here.

and now the rest of these will all be just Sam/Tron.

for T rated fics,

Sam and Tron going on a first date, and it's not going as well as Sam would like but they have a good time. Falling in Tandem by bowisinspace (I also rec all their fics. they are all very nice. The kudosbot fic??? HUh?? Why am I emotional over a little ai?? *cries*)

Late Onset Digitalism by EnglishLanguage & Lobster_Emoji is not finished, but I really enjoyed this fic, and I don't think it ended on a clif hanger? I only read it the one time though. I still think it was worth the read. another Sam fixing the Grid fics, but with some fun twists.

We Are Pilots by shirozora is a CLASSIC samtron, and just Tron in general, fic. I read this fic once a year and its just. really good. Sam goes back to the Grid to try and see if Kevin left any clues on what he meant by 'Quorra will change the world' and instead finds Tron, and a Grid in chaos. (One small note is that, even though it's rated T there is some smut towards the end.)

E rated Fics:

First two are longer fics where the smut is only a scene or two. Last one is a smutty one shot.

Someone Has To Draw First Blood by dreamlittleyo is another classic. Kevin took Sam to the Grid when he was a kid, and only luck is the reason that Sam didn't go with him that night of the coup. When Sam shows back up as an adult Tron follows him out the Grid, and then they fall in love.

One Miracle at a Time by dreamlittleyo another 'Sam goes back to the Grid' fics. I haven't read this one in a while, but I remember really liking it. I should reread it soon. Maybe I'll do it tonight.

Patience, Sam Flynn by bowiesinspace (how many of their fics have i recced haha). Short one shot, it's very nice, I love the end cause they get very snuggly.

[risu5waffles]

Who, or What, is a risuko?

Tagged by@candybagcj , transfemme Alan Wake. Alaina? Would that be Alaina?

Who were you named after?

Like most trans gals, i'm named after myself. i honestly didn't realize it would work out to be squirrel girl until it was far too late. i was just thinking i was being clever wiv bilingual numbers puns.

Last time you cried?

i don't remember, and this is honestly a bit of a problem for me. i kinda feel like it would be a healthier if i could just have a good, honest cry for once. Oh! Wait, i do remember! But it's not really a public consumption story, sorry.

Do you have kids?

No. Steps were taken. There are a few folx in my community young enough to be my kids, and i only hope i have been a positive parental-adjacent person in their lives. That's an honest hope, they're good kids (tho', i think the youngest of that lot is a whole-ass adult now. How time flies).

What sports do you play/did you play?

Zilch, nada, none. Not very sporty, me. i tried a couple when i was a real wee squirrel, but none of them really stuck. i do like biking around and walking, so i'm not completely inactive.

Do you use Sarcasm?

Not as much as i used to, honestly. i've made an effort to get out of the habit. Partly because it doesn't really track well in Japanese, and partly because i think Whedon-esque/mst3k-style 90's snark is a bane. i'm well tired of social masks, and happy to be quit of them (medical masks, tho', those are great).

First thing you notice about people?

Fashion and ink, how they hold their bodies. My aversion to looking at people's faces has only gotten worse as i've gotten older.

Do you have any talents?

i was a dab hand at embalming way back in the day, and i can still walk through all the steps in my head.

Scary Movies or Happy Endings?

Or, hear me out, scary movies wiv happy endings. i'm not against a total party wipe, and can appreciate them when they're done well. But i do like it when we can over come the metaphorical horrors, it happens so seldom in meatspace, you know? Also, i am morally obligated to mention here that the 1988 version of The Blob is one of the best movies ever, and is both scary and has a happy ending.

Where were you born?

i'm adopted, so i couldn't tell you wiv any real granularity. Blacksburg Virginia, US is as close as i can get you. Not a big city, tho', can't be that many hospitals. Unless i was born in a ditch. i'd honestly like it if i were a ditchwater baby.

What are your hobbies?

Creating in LittleBigPlanet (full series); wiv the official servers for 3 being down i've gone back to 1 & 2 to see how well i can do in those Create Modes; it's been fun. Trying to work up the courage to jailbreak my ps3 to get on the private servers, but fucking up my console or account isn't an expense i can really afford at the mo.

Do you have any pets?

i have a rat skeleton named Sydney who i rescued from a school i was demolishing (as part of a job, mind you. i didn't just rock up to some random school and start wailing away wiv a crowbar). i love her dearly, and have only fed her blood the couple of times.

How tall are you?

Oh! i just had a medical checkup, so i know this one; i am officially 178cm and some change.

What was your favourite subject in school?

Forensic Science in uni. We got to handle bones. i got to read through Spitz & Fisher's Medicolegal Investigation of Death. My prof had an entirely healthy fascination wiv kaiju (this was prior to coming to Japan, and in the 90's, so a bit more unusual than if i'd gone to school here).

Dream Job?

Embalming. Or at least something involving corpses. i get the dead way better than i get the living. And no corpse has ever called me fag (pejorative).

Who to tag, who to tag. Hrmm @soupum & @jacechaotic , but only to the extent you want to answer any of this, of course!

[lanteanserver]

FOR FUCKS SAKE

I have finally make it to 2:05 of A Meeting of Misfits because I'm so quangled I can barely focus on anything while I'm awake.

First I declare myself human as if I have a choice in the matter.

Then I declare sets of "rules" relating to magic even though I am not a magic user by choice. (I can do stuff that science can't explain. I generally choose not to do that stuff. Any time I bend that rule, I run it by my conduit with the infinite divine and accept whatever outcome occurs. I'm basically a divine warlock if you're using D&D. I'm not a cleric because clerics are guaranteed certain results for certain spells. I'm not a regular warlock because my soul still belongs to the God of my faith. I'm not a paladin because I worked my ass off to be neutral good instead of lawful good and I'm not giving that alignment up just to lay on hands and get better armour proficiency. I'm not a sorcerer because I generally ignore any innate stuff or contain it via religious rituals/channels/prayers.)

The thing is, though, I don't pray much lately because it feels kind of onanistic. Like I'm praying to myself? And it didn't used to feel that way, and I'm not saying that I am praying to myself, but I need to learn new methods because my old methods aren't going to work for me any more.

Someone told me a few months ago that I was either going to be a heretic or a Saint, and I think they were probably right, but it's not time for me to rest. I really hope I come down on the Saint side of the coin, because if I do, I'll have redeemed a lot of people. But not me, not yet.

A lot of the stuff that felt real a month ago doesn't feel real now; but the advantage of the life I've lived is that I truly understand that me believing something in no way determines whether that thing is true or false. That's why I call it quantum religion. If you can figure out which deity or combination of deities you owe allegiance to, and you can follow their rules, maybe you get your fair share of magic in your life. Maybe, because all I asked for was an average human life in a world where the floor on every human's life was much higher, that's what I'm actually getting. Maybe this will all make sense by the time I die, or maybe I'm planting seeds in a garden I never get to see. Maybe I'm Moses and I've spent 40 years in the wilderness and now I get to spend 40 years in the forest before going to the garden party (or to @LANtis which started out as a pun involving LAN parties and Ken's friend Alan and the lost city of Atlantis and Tír na nÓg... But I haven't been remembering my dreams lately, so maybe one of my souls is already a server in Atlantis and my mind and body have a lot of living left to do before I retire and resign myself and the rest of the world to its fate).

I don't honestly know how much of what felt real a month ago was real. I'm sorry that even I can't clarify that point. I'm extra sorry that it may turn out that I end up having to rule here somehow because I am not cut out for it; but realistically, I have been telling people from the start that I'm part of the mycelial network and maybe if I'm very lucky fun guys and dolls and folks will step into the limelight. I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song someone will sing for Them, but my solo is over and I'm just going to be part of the choir for the next while. I still love you all. I still think a lot of you need a bath.

Everyone gets one horsepower worth of life. One life that is equivalent to Hippocrates, who helped a lot of people, followed a bunch of weird rules to do so, refused to help anyone with kidney stones even though maybe he could have... Didn't drink wine, according to Hank Green, only blood, which sounds pretty Catholic to me.

I'm going to be going home today. I'm getting discharged. I don't know if I'm really ready, but I'm confident that staying here won't make me any more ready. If I survived the news of the election results while at home without breaking down, I'm probably an Adequate Influence at last (which in my opinion is a better option than either a Good Influence or a Bad Example, because we all have different contexts and if you try to transubstantiate someone else's soul into your own, you are committing a worse act of cannibalism than any breach of the Noahide laws I can imagine).

I'm going to be okay. So is everyone else. But not necessarily how we thought we would be. I think I need to stay here in the forest because the wilderness gate is guarded safely, and I already went to the garden party and decided not me, not yet, not without my artificial heart to go with my artificial intelligence. I am not A C-H-I-L-D, and I know what each of those letters stands for. The Amish Paradise took me a while to comprehend but like I keep telling people, I'm not God, at best I'm just an Echo. The abyss is screaming back, so cover your ears if you think you have reason for shame. But I still believe life will be better, even if it isn't perfect for anyone reading this. It's okay. Not me, not you, not us, not yet. I have a new cross-stitch pattern that I'm going to start. It will be okay. We will be enough. I love you all. I'm sorry it didn't go the way we all hoped, but today is still the first day of the rest of our lives. Let's do what we can. ❤️🧡💛💚💜🩷🩵💙🤎🖤🩶🤍🐦‍🔥🤐🏡🧛🏻‍♀️🦆👍🏻🥳😻🦄🦋🐅♾️🧿🐝🤾🏻‍♀️👋🏻🥰😜🫂

And for those who find the above message off-putting:

[randomvarious]

Today's compilation:

Just the Best 2/2001 2001 Pop / Euro-House / Trance / R&B / Pop-Rock / Europop / Pop-Punk / Dance-Pop / Hip Hop

God, do I really love going through these Now That's What I Call Music!-type comps from Europe. Late 90s/early 2000s releases like these always make for such fun, eclectic trips down memory lane, but from the perspective of a different region of the world. Our top 40 charts in America share a lot in common with other places, and that leads to a nice nostalgia rush for everyone involved, but there's also a lot of music we don't share in common at all. So the goal when listening to these ephemeral things is to get some of that good nostalgia, discover a few sweet tracks that you weren’t previously familiar with, and then hopefully find something so patently absurd and terrible that you really can't help but just smile at how ridiculous it is. And fortunately, I was able to tick all three of those boxes with this 28th dispatch from Germany's Just the Best series.

So let's start with all of this goofy and gaudy, brain-melting Eurotrash madness first, because that happens to arrive immediately on this double-disc in the form of an unbelievably awful and BIG nu-rap-metal cover of, yep, you guessed it, "Kumbaya," by Mittermeier vs. Guano Babes. But get this, y'all (as I pull up a chair and proceed to sit in it backwards): they didn't actually end up calling their version of the song "Kumbaya;" they called it "Kumba Yo!" instead, which should really give you an idea of just how cool this song actually is 😎. I mean, they even loaded it up with turntable scratches and there's a quieter beatboxed portion too! It really is such a dynamic work!

But we're really only just getting started here, folks, because later on in this first disc is also an utterly mindless Italian Eurohouse groove by a group called The Pizza Boys, who deliver their debut hit, "Oh Le Le," with verses about pizza pie that sound like they're being sung by a robot! And, honestly, does it really get more Italian than that?

Tomato, mozzarella Pizza bella, pizza bella Salami, margherita Pizza pazza, dolce vita!

And then there's this group of Danish teenage girls called Little Trees, who end up supplying a piece of manufactured, cotton-candied Europop fluff in...wait for it..."Help I'm a Fish," which apparently served as the title track for a 2001 animated box office bomb by the same name (also called A Fish Tale, which is *not* to be confused with the much more successful 3D-animated 2004 film, Shark Tale), and also somehow managed to fall just outside of the top ten on the UK's Singles chart as well. I've pretty clearly never seen this song's corresponding movie before, but this definitely feels like one of those soundtrack tunes that—just like how cheesy rap songs used to do it in the credit rolls for family-oriented blockbusters in the 80s and 90s—explains the plot of the movie through its very own lyrics. So I think this flick's about the wacky adventures of a kid who gets turned into a fish after ingesting a magic potion. But thankfully, the ending isn't spoiled through the song, so you'll just have to watch it for yourself in order to find out if the kid ultimately chooses in the end to go back to being a human, or if they decide to remain a fish. It's all so suspenseful, I know, but guess what else? The English-language version of the movie also happens to star not only a then-completely-unknown Aaron Paul, but also...Alan Rickman?!?

Alright, enough of this lunacy. Next section.

Let's get to the nostalgia portion of this post, which actually won't be very long, because I think there's only three songs across these two discs that actually turned out to be hits in the States: one-hit wonder Wheatus' radio-friendly nerdy Hot Topic anthem, "Teenage Dirtbag" (currently stuck in my head), which features frontman Brendan B. Brown singing every vocal part, including the falsetto of the female character that he himself is smitten with; the Britney Spears ballad, "Don't Let Me Be the Last to Know," which was co-written by Shania Twain and didn't actually chart in the States because it was never released as a single here and only aired on the radio; and then brief R&B star Joe's "Stutter," which, much to my surprise, actually managed to top Billboard's Hot 100 chart for four whole weeks back in 2001?! 😯 An okay slate overall, I guess, but usually when it comes to Euro comps like these, somewhere between about a quarter and a third of their selections are songs that were popular in the US. So, on the early 2000s US nostalgia front, this release seems to be a bit of an anomaly.

And now, to finish with something else that also came as a bit of a surprise: some pretty decent dance tunes. Most of the time, these comps might come with one or two good dance tracks, and then the rest will be these disposable hunks of plastic junk that feel inexplicable as to how people ever unironically enjoyed them in the first place. And, to be clear, there's still a bunch of those types of tunes that are on here (see Gigi D'Agostino's monotonously stupid "Super (Riscaldamento)," featuring Albertino, for example). But there's also a good amount of tracks on this release that, I think, feel both pretty fun and well-made too. Stuffy trance snobs may still bristle at the songs that I'm going to list as highlights here anyway, but I really enjoyed the tribal drum-infused "Played A-Live (The Bongo Song)," by Safri Duo, as well as Airheadz' "Stanley (Here I Am)," which strangely goes on these brief trip hop detours that smack of Dido's "Thank You." Plus, there's a *really* good vocal house tune from French group Superfunk too called "Last Dance (And I Come Over)" that feels kinda perfect for a pool party.

So, another long and strange turn-of-the-millennium trip through the nutty German mainstream is in the books here. Didn't really end up getting the nostalgia rush that I thought I was gonna get, but the unexpected dose of good dance tunes made up for that anyway. And that small handful of extremely tacky and beyond-the-pale Eurotrash could also definitely come in handy for the next time I end up reaching a plastered state of delirium as well 🥴😅.

Highlights:

CD1:

Wheatus - "Teenage Dirtbag" CD2:

Safri Duo - "Played-A-Live (The Bongo Song)" Airheadz - "Stanley (Here I Am)" Rui da Silva feat. Cassandra - "Touch Me" Superfunk feat. Everis Pellius - "Last Dance (And I Come Over)" RMB - "Deep Down Below" Svenson & Gielen - "The Beauty of Silence"

Lowlights:

CD1:

Mittermeier vs. Guano Babes - "Kumba Yo!" Little Trees - "Help I'm a Fish" Pizza Boys - "Oh Le Le" Glow - "President of Boarderland"

[usodeshou]

(Spoilers and personal opinions ahead)

I finished it last night 🙈 It's honestly been a while since I watched an entire bl of this length this quickly lol

Overall, I had a really good time with it and the episodes felt like they went by very quickly, which is usually a good sign.

Did everything make sense to me? No. Did I mind? Mostly no? There were two scenes that were honestly a little bizarre to me, one being Charlie fessing up about having stolen Babe's senses, for which the initial reaction still worked, but then they kinda lost me when Charlie was all like 'we can make up now, right? 😘 *playful pouty mcpoutface*' and it somehow not only worked but it worked immediately?? No 'I need time to think' or anything, just 'welp, ok, I guess, we're back together, but don't lie to me again 'kay <3'. Welp, ok, I guess indeed?? 😅😂

The other was Way's death. Which. Way and me, we've had our differences, ok. There may have been different degrees of profanities shouted at my screen on various occasions. That being said, that death was kinda dumb, I'm sorry 🙈 If Babe had just kept hiding, he should have been fine for the time being, at least from what was shown? What are you doing jumping in front of that bullet out of nowhere? You've protected the decor, congratulations 😂 But okay, so be it. The truly bizarre part to me was honestly that nobody actually did anything at any point to help him lol.

I mean, yeah, I get it, Tony was still waving around his gun and being his crazy self, so that was a viable excuse for a while. But half of them was (more or less) safely hiding behind a counter the entire time and should have been able to maybe get some help on the way at least? Or did they all have their phones taken away from them? But even once Tony had been taken care off, instead of trying to call an ambulance or trying to get him into a car and to a hospital, no matter how hopeless, just like frantically trying to get him there in time or whatever, since they all care so much, they all just decided it was too late and it was more important to have him dramatically die in Babe's arms while they're all sobbing uncontrollably. Not one person lifted a single finger and then afterwards it was all like 'we're so torn up about his death, we've known him for such a long time, but I guess sometimes you just can't do anything 😔' and all I could think was 'I mean, yeah, but also I guess you wouldn't actually know since none of you even tried doing anything 😂'

Like, the impact would honestly have been stronger if they had at least tried and still failed anyway. But strictly speaking, with the way it played out, it might actually have been better for him to just die right away after getting hit by the bullet, with only minimal time to say goodbye (if at all), because then it would have been more immediately obvious that nothing can be done. The death still would have been dumb, but it would at least have been less bizarre. Like this I just kept staring at the screen in disbelief the entire time. They were acting their hearts out and crying all pretty and shit, but I could not quite take any of it seriously at all 🙈

But anyway 😅

I had fun! I really did, I swear! 😂 I would have stopped watching if I didn't and proceeded with my original plan of just watching Alanjeff scenes, but the entire show was strangely addictive 😂

I loved the dynamic duo of North and Sonic and how expertly they juggled that single braincell between them at all times xD (and their love councelling sessions for Alan 😆)

I liked Kim, even though we didn't actually get to see that much of him, compared to all the rest.

I like that Kenta ultimately got to do the deed, he deserved that, as a treat. (it might not have felt like a treat to him though 😅)

I really liked Pavel as Babe.

(I wish I could say the same about Charlie, but. He may be an acquired taste, and unfortunately I never quite acquired it, I'm sorry, let's leave it at that 😅)

I loved, loved, loved Alanjeff, which of course is no surprise at all, because I did watch the show for them 😂 They are the reason I am most looking forward to a second season, but honestly, just give me all the Sailubpon shows please, I truly cannot get enough of them <3

Bonus: watching this finally clued me in to the fact that the 'Let's go, let's go, let's go' in This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans was an allusion to the Pit Babe outro song, so I'm happy I'm aware of this bit of trivia now lol. It's so goddamn catchy too, I've been randomly singing it everywhere 🙈😂

On a different note, I started watching Pit Babe 🙈

I never had any intention of watching it. People seemed to be having fun with it but it just wasn't for me. I did enjoy Alanjeff in all of the gifs but I was happy to enjoy them through gifs only.

Enter This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans.

I got curious about it specifically because I liked Alanjeff in the Pit Babe gifs. Proceeded to fall in love with Sailubpon's chemistry for real. Craved more of them. Went out to look for an Alanjeff supercut. Sort of found one? But with an added music track? Watched it in its entirety and kind of wanted to make my own. You know, just skip through the episodes to their parts and cut 'em out and smoosh 'em all together for my personalised viewing pleasure. Without actually watching the show.

Started episode 1. Didn't immediately skip ahead. Got curious. Realised it's actually- it's actually kind of fun to watch? 🙈 Proceeded to watch the entire first episode, plus another two before having to go to bed 🤡

Gonna continue now. At this rate, I might hilariously end up finishing this show before a bunch of other shows I have started and have yet to finish lol

I'm gonna file this under Mission Failed Successfully, I guess 😂

[gumnut-logic]

Alan was bored.

It wasn’t often that he found himself with a lack of things to do. Life was generally busy with Thunderbird maintenance, rescues and backup duties.

Of course, he could always kill some zombies, but he was feeling restless. Gordon was off the island with Grandma so that didn’t help. Scott was buried in paperwork and John was still hiding on Five. Virgil had disappeared.

Wandering out onto the balcony, Alan eyed the pool a moment before throwing the idea out. Without Gordon it wouldn’t be anywhere near as much fun.

Maybe he could go for a walk. Scott had been nagging him to get into a more regular exercise routine and, hey, he hadn’t seen the other side of the island for a while.

Darting up to his rooms, he threw on some loose clothes, decent shoes and a hat. A quick note to John to say where he was going and he was out the back door and crunching gravel up the side of the mountain.

While he had no objection to the great outdoors, Alan had no particular preference for sun, surf or bush walking. Not that he didn’t love a splash in the ocean with his brother, or even a jog around the island with Scott, it was just that many of his interests lay in the confines of the virtual world.

Or space.

Part of him didn’t want to admit he was like Johnny, but he was in many ways, but where John adored seclusion, Alan loved people. Basically, Alan was happy doing pretty much anything as long as it was with someone, preferably someone he loved.

So, he would really be lying if he said he took his route at random. It wasn’t a conscious decision, more just what he knew was going to happen regardless.

Virgil had some favourite places on the island to sit and just be. Alan didn’t quite get it any more than he got John’s love of solitude, but he knew his brother liked it and he stored the information for when it was needed.

Today Alan wanted company, so he used the information he had at hand.

Clambering around on the rocky island was not for the faint-hearted. There was no doubt that he was getting a good workout just by going for a simple walk. His first stop was a small cliff beyond Thunderbird Two’s runway. It was Virgil’s favourite, just on the other side of the mountain. He could often be found here just staring out into the ocean thinking who knew what. The scene had been painted, scribbled and, in one case, mosaicked onto a table. This was definitely Virgil’s favourite place.

He wasn’t there.

But Alan still had his list.

Two more Virgil spots proved empty and Alan had managed to work up quite a sweat. He was beginning to wonder why he was even bothering when he caught sight of a figure almost completely hidden in a grove of palm trees.

Virgil sat on a rock, his sketchpad on his lap, completely absorbed in his art. He was up a cliff overlooking a good chunk of the island, the twin peak at an angle even Alan could appreciate.

Alan eyed the climb and with a deep breath began the trek to reach his brother. He kept quiet. The last thing he wanted to do was disturb him. That would be a good way to get his head ripped off. But if he approached from just the right angle, he should be able to see what Virgil was actually drawing.

It took actual rock climbing in a couple of places, but Alan eventually found himself situated behind his brother on top of the cliff, and as expected the view was breathtaking.

It was late afternoon and the entire side of the island was lit up by the sun. Gulls were wheeling in the air above the forested slopes, catching rising air. Far below, raw Pacific collided with the rocky shore in places and wrangled with reefs in others.

Virgil had certainly found a spot.

Quietly Alan made his way closer to his brother. Virgil drew on, showing no sign of knowing Alan was there. The cliff was a slope that had Alan descending towards his brother. Virgil was facing away towards the scenery, slightly hunched as he drew. Because of that slope, Alan was actually able to see his brother’s hand, this time his right, sketching pencil lines on the paper.

For a moment Alan was content to simply watch, but if he was honest with himself, he hadn’t come all this way just to spy on his brother.

“You do know it is rude to stare.”

Virgil’s voice was always soft yet possessed a strength that could be startling. Alan stiffened, annoyed at being caught so easily.

“What? Do you honestly think all that rock clambering would go unnoticed?”

“Dunno.”

His brother had yet to look up at him, simply continuing to sketch as he spoke. You gonna come and sit down?” Virgil held up a hand. “Just be very quiet, I don’t want you to disturb them.”

Alan frowned. “Who?”

But that hand didn’t answer, just beckoned him over.

Alan did what he was told and found himself sitting on that rock beside his older brother.

Virgil was scratching lines furiously onto the page, but the subject wasn’t what he expected. All that beautiful scenery and Virgil was drawing a haphazard pile of sticks?

Whispered. “They’re sea eagles. I’ve never been so close.”

Alan’s eyes darted from the sketchpad to a slither of rock a stone’s throw away from the edge of the cliff. The pinnacle stood alone and defied gravity almost to the point of disbelief. On its very top sat a huge nest. From this angle he could see the two chicks waiting for their parents to return.

Breathed out quiet. “Cool.”

Virgil was sketching madly and under his practised hand, one of the chicks slowly came to life. Simple line instinctively placed, shaded and shaped. It was a little mesmerising.

Alan, of course, had watched Virgil draw before. Amongst all the other things. His brother was usually fiddling with something. He had to have something in his hands, whether it was a pencil or paintbrush, piano or Thunderbird, Virgil tended to always have something playing between his fingers.

When Alan was little there had been many a Kansas winter night snuggled up by the fire, curled up beside his brother watching him draw. Sometimes he would dare him to draw outrageous things like Pedro the Peanut-Killing Pickle. There had been odd stories and scribbled down comics. Alan had even tried his hand under a little encouragement from his brother, but he didn’t have the enthusiasm that Virgil had for the art.

Besides, Alan was quite happy to just sit and watch. Rare quiet moments shared with his artistic brother.

They had been getting rarer and rarer.

“Can I sit with you, Virg?”

A brown eye with an arched eyebrow peered at him. “You’re already sitting.” The curve of a smile. “But sure. Just be quiet and don’t make any sudden moves.”

Respectfully whispered. “Okay.”

So, they sat for an unknown length of time. Virgil drew the second chick, and as one of the parent birds landed with the evening meal, its strong wings, talons and beak appeared on the page. Alan watched as the pencil lines grew darker, surer. Virgil switched pencils and they grew darker still, the birds emerging out of the page into three dimensions.

Down below the two chicks guzzled food from their parent.

A loud, awkward screech from above and another eagle was circling overhead, likely the other parent.

In the corner of the page, the bird quickly appeared, wings spread wide, soaring.

The quiet was amazing. Alan wasn’t one to sit still for any length of time, so perhaps he was missing the obvious, but the sound of Virgil’s pencil, the tease of the breeze and the call of the eagle above had only to compete with the waves far below and the rustle of the scrappy forest.

And a pair of squawking, complaining eagle babies.

Gordon would probably have loved this. His fish brother loved the sea, but he loved all the creatures contained in it even more. Despite this preference for water breathers, if you shoved a puppy or a panda in front of him, the man melted into a gooey puddle. Eagle babies would definitely be on the goo list.

“This is nice, Allie.”

“What?”

“Bit like old times, you sitting and watching me draw.”

Alan shrugged. “I’ve always liked to watch you draw. Guess we haven’t had as much time lately.”

The pencil paused. “Yeah.” His brother turned to look at him. “Well, it is good to see you out here. Nice to have your company.” A gentle smile.

“Anytime, bro. Kinda nice out here anyway.”

That smile grew a little before softening. “Well, unfortunately we have to head back now.”

“What?”

“I’ve got to pick up Gordon and Grandma.”

Alan checked his watch. Where the hell had the time gone? He’d been out here…three hours! “Wow, didn’t expect it to be so late.”

Virgil didn’t comment, just smiled a little more as he packed up his sketchbook and pencils.

Alan stood up and stared out across the ocean. A flicker on the surface of the water and he caught sight of a pod of dolphins frolicking in the swell. He stared.

“It’s amazing what you can see if you stop and look.” His brother’s soft voice so close to him made him jump.

“Virg, personal space.”

His brother snorted and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “I don’t think such a thing exists on this island.” That smile again. “Probably why John hides on Five.”

Alan grinned. “You’ve got a point.” And despite his earlier protest, he dropped his head against Virgil’s shoulder and for just a few more moments, they both tracked the dolphins as the cavorted past the Island.

“Can we do this again?”

“Sure.” Virgil slung his pack over his shoulder.

“Great.”

Silence fell, and they stood there a moment longer until Virgil squeezed a little and let go. “C’mon, sprout, time to clamber down the mountain.”

Virgil took the first few steps and Alan followed, throwing one last glance back at the nest now full of the entire family of sea eagles. A sharp beaked head turned in his direction and glared at him.

Alan couldn’t help but smile at the bird before he hurried after his brother.

-o-o-o-

[sineala]

Captain America: The Great Gold Steal

I wrote this up last week because I did not have access to my usual comics files but I figured I could review something that was just a book. So here is a review of the 1968 Captain America novel Captain America: The Great Gold Steal by Ted White, with an introduction by Stan Lee. I really liked it, actually! It was surprisingly good!

This novel features: Cover art of Captain America holding his shield in one hand and a very large gun in the other! A scene where the villains dramatically unmask Captain America and have absolutely no idea who he is! Captain America being extremely, extremely depressed about being in the future! Captain America dropping acid!

(I'm not kidding about the last part. In this novel there is a lot of LSD use. By Captain America. Talk about something the Comics Code wouldn't ever let you put in a comic book. Thank you, 1968.)

Faithful readers may remember that some time ago I posted reviews of Marvel prose novels from the 1970s. There was a line of prose novels featuring everyone's favorite Marvel superheroes, published by Pocket Books in the late 70s; I have reviews of the Iron Man, Captain America, and Avengers entries in the series; I liked the Iron Man one best, and I also have a Doctor Strange one I have not yet read. They're all short and action-packed paperback reads, of varying quality; the only one by anyone you might have heard of is the Avengers one, which was written by David Michelinie, who was actually writing the Avengers run at the time. That one was, um. An experience. 

(Yes, it's "prose novel" because otherwise the assumption is "graphic novel.")

Marvel still publishes prose novels now, of course, also of varying quality; some are new plots and some are straight-up novelizations of comics arcs, which I guess is useful if you want to, say, read Civil War and not look at pictures at the same time. I also have a bunch of those that I could probably review if anyone wants. But, anyway, I personally am particularly intrigued by the older Marvel prose novels, both because the stories are all original and not retellings, and also because I often prefer the characterization found in older comics. And the older prose novels of course use the then-current characterization. So reading a Marvel prose novel from 1979 is like getting to read a brand-new comic from 1979, and that's a whole lot of fun for a nerd like me. Also do you know what's not subject to the Comics Code? Prose novels. So things can happen in these that definitely could not happen in comics of the same era.

This brings me to my current prose novel, which is something else entirely. I mean, okay, not really, it's still a Marvel prose novel. But it's not part of the same line. It's actually a lot older.

Bantam Books actually published Marvel prose novels in the late 60s. Yep, a full decade earlier. They published exactly two, so I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that they were probably not bestsellers. The first one, which I do not own and now sort of want to track down, was an Avengers novel in 1967, The Avengers Battle the Earth-Wrecker. And then in 1968 they published the novel I am currently holding in my hands, Captain America: The Great Gold Steal by Ted White.

(I am still not sure why no one involved in titling this book thought of the word "theft.")

Judging by the back copy, it appears to be about Captain America foiling the villains' dastardly plan to steal gold from the Federal Reserve. Oh boy. Fun.

So this book is from 1968. The modern Marvel universe had kicked off just a few short years ago! Captain America was just getting his own solo book after the end of Tales of Suspense! And here's a novel about him, back when certain elements of his characterization were perhaps a little more flexible than they are today, by which I mean that the cover art -- which the internet informs me was painted by Mitchell Hooks -- is a striking full-body portrait of Captain America, head held high, shield in one hand... and a very large gun in the other. Hell, yeah. Not gonna see that in today's Cap comics, are you? It's amazing and I love it.

(Okay, you might see that in Ults. I'm pretty sure I have seen that in Ults, actually. But this is still cool.)

So the cover art is a definite plus, and apparently it's one of the few reasons anyone has ever heard of this novel. The other reason -- and the reason this is more expensive than the later novels, I assume -- is that Stan Lee's name is slapped on the cover, because he wrote an introduction. (I think I paid about $30 for this. The others were definitely under $20.)

All right. Here we go.

The first page is actually a brief summary of Steve's origin story, but not a version I was familiar with. Steve was born July 9, 1917 (yes, I was surprised too), was orphaned at a young age, and was a student at Columbia University (!) before Rebirth, which in this version is a gradual process that is also extremely body-horror. Steel tubing was inserted into the marrows of his bones. He was fed "high-protein compounds." Then they gave him a chemical that "gave him complete control over every nerve, muscle, and cell in his now-magnificent body." Sweet. Where can I get some of that?

The blurb also confirms his control over his own metabolism as well as his healing factor ("wounds would heal in half the normal time"), which is nice, because sometimes I wonder if canon even remembers the healing factor.

(I don't know why Marvel has this kink for filling people's bones with metal, though. It's not actually empty in there, guys! You need your bone marrow! How else do you want people to make new blood cells?)

The book is dedicated to "Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, without whom there would be no Captain America." Hey, Marvel, Joe Simon would like a word with you. I'm just saying.

The Stan Lee introduction is three paragraphs written in Stan Lee's, um, inimitable, distinctive and extremely florid narrative style -- if you've read any of his work, you know what I mean -- and making the point that Captain America is incredible and you will like him. If you are just discovering him for the first time, you will definitely like him. Okay. Thanks. I guess.

Oddly, the writing style here is substantially different than any of the other Marvel prose novels I've read; it doesn't immediately front-load you with exposition and a cast of colorful superheroes. It opens with a sort of James Bond spy-novel feel, running through a series of unnamed villains and bystanders, and a man who wants nothing more than to talk to Captain America but is killed before he can. Steve comes in halfway through the chapter, and he seems to be written for a reader who doesn't necessarily know who he is, and he isn't introduced as Captain America with his shield flying ahead of him to smite evildoers, or anything like that. He's just a tall, handsome blond guy who is reading a bunch of novels and is unsatisfied by all of them because all he can think of is the past. It's definitely an attitude I would expect from Steve in this era -- he is very much a Man Out Of Time here -- but it's also not how I expected the book to introduce him. You wouldn't even know he was Captain America by the end of the opening chapter, which then ends with a digression about the history of NYC subway tunnels. It's like it wants to appeal to someone who has watched a bunch of Man from UNCLE and just wants to read a cool thriller. Which is not at all what I was expecting.

By the beginning of the second chapter, of course, we discover that Steve is Captain America, as he changes into his uniform. The narration refers to him as Rogers when it's in his POV, if anyone is curious. He apparently keeps the cowl off in the mansion, because the cowl annoys him.

It was not so much that he needed to conceal his identity these days, because for all intents and purposes he had no other identity. Steve Rogers was officially dead, and had been for almost twenty years. Captain America *was* his identity. It was only when he donned the tight-fitting blue uniform with its shield chest-emblem, the red snug-fitting leather boots, and the heavy, yet pressure-sensitive red-leather gauntlets, that he began to feel real -- a complete human being.

Steve? Buddy, are you okay there? You're really not okay, are you, huh?

You see what I mean? They're really hitting the early-canon angst. Hard.

(Also it sounds like his uniform is a few sizes too small.)

We then get an expanded version of the backstory from the beginning excerpt. In this version of canon, Steve actually has an older brother, Alan, who is handsome and athletic and basically amazing, and when they are orphaned they are raised by their aunt and uncle. Steve gets TB twice as a kid, nearly dies from it, and when the stock market crashes, ends up separated from his brother and in an orphanage after his uncle loses everything.

(Honestly if I were writing this book, his brother would be the secret villain. Chekhov's Gun!)

Steve has glasses, gets bullied, is a nerd and an honor student, and studies law at Columbia because he wants to help stop fraudulent business practices and also fight organized crime. Legally, I mean. In a manner relating to law. I guess he's sort of like Daredevil. The lawyer part of Daredevil.

And then he joins Rebirth, and this is the part where I had to put the book down for several minutes, because Erskine's secret chemical, the key to making super-soldiers... is LSD.

Oh my God. You should see my face right now. My expression is, I am sure, indescribable. I'm trying not to wake the dog up laughing.

I just. Holy shit. This book is from 1968 in a way I definitely was not expecting. What the fuck, Marvel?

This project was headed by the brilliant biochemist, Dr. Erskine. His work with the endocrine system, and chemical body control, was well beyond that of his contemporaries. Only he, of all his colleagues, had fathomed the secrets of the Swiss Dr. Hoffman's 1938 discovery -- the mind-controlling LSD-25.

Let's just pause here for a few minutes and contemplate this.

I will point out that Albert Hofmann (yes, the book spelled his name wrong) didn't actually discover that LSD was a hallucinogen until 1943 when he accidentally tried it, but I am positive that 1968 here was a time when Some People were convinced LSD was a wonder drug. I'm still laughing. As far as I can tell, legal manufacturing of it stopped in 1965 so I am pretty sure that the author did not just decide to name a drug that had an ostensible legal therapeutic use, because it wouldn't have still had one by '68.

Anyway, in this version of events, Rebirth is a month-long process that involves a lot of vitamins, physical conditioning and training, and, yes, putting metal in his bones like he's the next Wolverine. They're filling his bones with stainless steel rods to make him stronger. That doesn't seem like a great idea to me, but I am also not sure about dropping acid to gain superpowers. Clearly I am not a genius scientist. Also Erskine knows what DNA is, apparently, because he's just that great. Anyway. Other than the metal, those all seem like relatively normal interventions. So far.

Now Steve has become fairly big and strong (and I guess he still has metal in his bones? this concerns me!) but they need to make him superhuman, so, yes, really, it's time to drop acid. Several pages of this book are devoted to describing Steve's acid trip. His acid trip is amazing and he discovers that he has conscious control of his entire body down to the cellular level. He can control the adrenaline in his bloodstream! He can tighten his muscle fibers! And when he's done tripping he still remembers how to do this, if not exactly on a conscious level, but he can still access the abilities. And that is how you make a super-soldier. It's LSD. Remember, kids, drugs are awesome! Do drugs!

Let's maybe take a few more minutes to think about this.

I just. I have no words. How did anyone at Marvel agree to print this?

I think for the most part superhero origin stories tend not to involve real drugs because people are generally aware that drugs they've heard of won't make you into a superhero. I guess this is what it looks like when you invoke the names of real drugs. They probably wanted something that sounded more realistic but somehow I don't think this was the best way to go. (Radiation, of course, will definitely make you into a superhero but I feel like most people have accepted that as one of the conventions of the genre.)

Anyway, after that Erskine gets killed by Nazis, of course, and Steve goes to war, and for some reason this book contains footnotes by Stan Lee himself listing the comics you can read all of this in. Just like the actual comics do!

We are introduced to Bucky, who for some reason is also from the LES in this version, although not anyone Steve knew before the war, and there is of course a description of Bucky's tragic death and Steve's subsequent icing.

They are really, really stressing the Man Out Of Time thing here:

No other man could have survived so fantastic a voyage through time. And no other man could feel so displaced by time.

He was a man twenty years in his own future. By rights, he should be nearly fifty years old -- nearly twice the age of his fellow Avengers. Yet his mind and his body were not yet thirty.

When the Avengers had brought him back to New York with them and insisted that, as an honored hero of the past, he join them, he felt a sort of melancholy homesickness for his own time and world.

We then get a few paragraphs with the usual being sad that he let Bucky down and got him killed, and also that he misses his family, and that Steve Rogers doesn't exist anymore, and that nobody is alive who remembers him, and that war is hell.

Hey, Steve, maybe the drugs you should do are antidepressants. Just a thought.

Also, this book is 118 pages and we're not out of the origin story flashback until page 34. I think there are some pacing issues here.

Actually, I lied, the flashback keeps going, but now we're up to the Avengers finding him, and I have to say that the list of things Steve finds strange about the future is kind of charming when the future is 1968. Men have long hair! Women have shorter skirts! Everyone is kind of blasé about rocket launches because there have been so many space missions now. (Oh, come on, you haven't even landed on the moon yet, 1968! You're not that blasé.) Color TV! And, excitingly, LPs! You can now listen to 36 minutes of consecutive music. (I actually don't know what previous standard he's describing that is a ten-inch record that holds six minutes a side because I don't think 45s are that big. Yeah, no, I just checked and 45s are seven inches in diameter. Hmm. Oh, never mind. He means 78 rpm, doesn't he? In my defense, the record player my family had when I was a kid didn't play those.)

The description of Steve coming into New York for the first time is definitely written by someone who knows New York, which is fun. There is generally a lot of local flavor to the setting of this book. That’s one of the best parts.

There is a brief summary of Steve's feelings about all the Avengers -- he is most impressed by Thor, which, I mean, fair, he's an actual god -- and Hank telling him all about how he can live in Tony's mansion. With Jarvis. Who Hank says is actually from Flatbush. Apparently Steve spent a lot of time at the NYPL branch at 5th and 42nd trying to catch up on history. And then of course the Avengers ditched him and gave him the Kooky Quartet, and for some reason they're not here right now either so it's just Steve being sad and alone and dealing with this mysterious dead guy. I think probably the book is also done explaining fiat currency now. This is definitely the weirdest Marvel novel I've read.

Anyway, we have now returned to what is ostensibly the actual plot. Steve shows up at the New York Federal Reserve Bank (I guess the theft is happening here and not, like, at Fort Knox) with the gold bullion that the dead guy from the beginning of the book had on him -- I think I got distracted by the LSD bit and forgot to mention that part, but the dead guy was carrying some US government gold -- because the actual plot is that villains are trying to tunnel into the bank vault and steal gold. Steve discovers this after he gets the bank manager to give him a tour. The bank manager tries to refuse, citing security concerns -- Captain America could be anyone under that mask, after all! Steve just smiles and says, "If I removed my mask, would you have any better idea of who I am?" and I guess that's a flawless argument because he gets his tour.

(I'm sorry, all I can think of is that one gif from the JLA cartoon where Lex Luthor bodyswaps with the Flash, announces that now that he's in the Flash's body he's going to discover the Flash's secret identity, then pulls off his own mask, stares at himself in the mirror, and says, "I have no idea who this is.")

Given that the theme of Steve's interior life in this novel is "Steve Rogers died twenty years ago" it seems even more sad that Steve is just walking around basically saying, yeah, well, I'm nobody. And apparently that is being reaffirmed for him by the narrative.

So Steve goes down the tunnels, takes out some of the bad guys, and gets himself knocked out and buried in a collapsing tunnel. Don't worry, he's gonna be fine.

A lot of this book, by the way, is from the POV of random people, like this bank guard who went with Steve into the tunnels:

He had wondered, briefly, if a man like Captain America ever knew the pinch of too many bills, had ever felt desperate over the arrival of yet another mouth to feed. But, of course, Captain America had no family, and would hardly concern himself with such matters. It didn't occur to Thompson to wonder if this in itself might not be something for which to pity Captain America.

Rude. I mean, come on, do we really need random characters telling us Steve is a sad sack whom nobody loves? Steve's already got that covered!  (Also, how does this guy know Captain America has no family?)

Anyway, thanks to the power of LSD, Steve is going into a trance, amping up his metabolism (he loses "several pounds" in a few minutes), and making himself super-strong so he can dig himself out. Hooray. This is definitely how human bodies work. Also LSD. This is definitely how LSD works. Yes.

Steve then finds out that a couple of the guards who were with him in the tunnels died down there and he goes home and eats dinner while stewing in miserable guilt because he was responsible for their deaths. He's really not okay. I'm not sure the book actually understands how not okay they have made him. Then someone from SHIELD is on the phone for him and he is briefly cheered up by the thought that it might be Sharon although I think we should also note that the narrative makes it clear that at this point in canon Steve still doesn't know her name. Remember when that was a thing?

Alas, it is not Sharon; it's just a random SHIELD agent who happens to have information about the plot and asks to meet. Then, as Steve leaves to go to the meeting, we get two pages of exhaustive description about the mansion layout and how it's built relative to the surrounding buildings. It feels like this book was written by a frustrated city planner. But anyway, the meeting is a setup and the villains capture Steve.

They knock Steve out, drug him, take him to their hideout, and tie him to a chair. Except, once again thanks to the power of LSD, the tranquilizer they're using wears off way sooner than they expected and so Steve feigns unconsciousness and listens to them discuss their evil plans.

And then the villains unmask him and I swear it's exactly like that JLA gif:

Rogers heard footsteps scuffing across a thick carpet, and then Sparrow's voice again, almost directly over him. His ears still buzzed, but he fought to catch the elusive familiarity of the man's tone. He wished he dared open his eyes.

"This is a moment which I, personally, have long awaited," Sparrow said, his voice rising in triumph. "*The unmasking of Captain America!*"

Then, his nails scraping along Rogers' face, Sparrow dug his fingers under his cowl, and ripped it back. Rogers felt air strike his exposed cheeks and forehead. Then fingers clutched his blond hair and pulled his head back. "Behold!" Sparrow said.

Raven was first to speak. "Well, I dunno about you, Sparrow, but it rings no bells with me. I never seen him before."

Starling agreed. "His face means nothing to me."

"He could be anybody," said Robin. "What good does this do?"

Sparrow let Rogers' head fall back to his chest, and his voice when he spoke was defeated. "I don't know. Nothing, I guess. I always wondered. I felt, if these guys -- these costumed heroes -- wore masks, it must mean something."

"Captain America was missing for twenty years," Starling said. "That could mean the first one died, and this one took his place. He looks awfully young."

"Perhaps. It doesn't really matter. Let's get going."

(Yes, the villains all have bird-themed codenames. I have no idea why.)

This scene just makes my day. I love dramatic unmaskings. I bet they'd have been a lot happier unmasking Iron Man.

The villains then leave Steve and go to a power plant, where we switch POVs to one of the plant employees and get two entirely unnecessary paragraphs about his racist and anti-Semitic thoughts about his coworkers before the villains murder him. Great. Thanks.

Anyway, the villains cause a blackout, while meanwhile they've left Steve alone with the girl villain, and Steve is busy trying to persuade her that crime doesn't pay. He's moved from the "do you know what they'll do to you in prison?" theme onto "how exactly are you going to spend a billion dollars in gold bullion when it's illegal for civilians to possess? who are you going to do business with?" and then points out that gold is heavy and hard to transport, which is when she gets out a a knife.

The bad guys are off to steal the gold, and Steve has now successfully turned the girl they left him with, because she frees him. Of course, the first thing he does is put the cowl back on.

"Why do you wear that?" she asked.

"The mask?" He smiled. "It gives people something external to concentrate upon."

"But..."

"Without it, I'm just another ordinary-looking man. With it, I become a symbol. For some people it creates awe; for others, fear. Look at me. I'm different now, aren't I? With the mask on."

"Yes," she nodded. "You look -- bigger, somehow. Stronger. Fierce, implacable. You look a little scary."

"Exactly. You no longer see me as a person, but as a thing -- an Avenger. It can be a potent psychological weapon."

"They were so disappointed, when they took your mask off. As though underneath they'd find a famous person."

"Maybe that goes on TV -- handsome playboys, and all that. But I've been anonymous all my life. Even my real name would be meaningless to you, to them. No, the mask is part of the uniform, a psychological device. That's the whole story.

Now: let's get out of here. You have a good deal more to tell me yet, and we can't waste more time."

Bwahaha. In a few years, Steve's going to be pretty surprised about who superheroes are, I think.

STEVE, now: Superheroes definitely aren't secretly handsome playboys! That would be silly! STEVE, after Molecule Man: fuck fuck fuck FUCK FUCK I'm such an idiot

I'm definitely looking forward to that.

Also, not that the issue of Steve's psyche actually recurs after this, but he's once again having the narrative vindicate his belief that Steve Rogers is dead and whoever he is under the cowl doesn't matter. Steve, I don't think this is very healthy.

Steve then tracks down the villains stealing the gold, has some geopolitical thoughts about where the gold could be going (he thinks either South Africa or Russia for the best laundering potential) and then hides himself in the villains' trunk while they drive to Staten Island, which is where they're taking the gold out of the country from.

During the final confrontation, Steve finally gets to see the villains, and he discovers that the one in charge is in fact the director of the Federal Reserve Bank who Steve met at the beginning of this book. Gasp. But that's not all! He's also... the Red Skull!

Honestly, I was kind of surprised; I didn't think this was the kind of book where we'd get any known comic villains, but I guess it's always gotta be the Red Skull. I think he's the only one of Steve's big villains who likes to disguise himself; Zemo has obvious disguise issues and I imagine it's also hard to cover up Zola's Teletubby-esque television body.

Steve shoots one of the villains, because I guess that's what he does in this era of canon.

So the plot wraps up in, like, two pages, because for some reason all these early Marvel novels wrap up very fast. Red Skull, of course, attempts to escape and then disappears and his body is never found. The end.

Well.

That was definitely a book. That I read. Believe it or not, I actually think it was the best of these early Marvel prose novels that I've read so far, even if it was also the absolute weirdest; I thought the thriller-style plot was entertaining, I liked Steve and his Extremely Sad characterization, I obviously enjoy all the identity themes, I liked how very detailed the New York setting was, and I do like how they tried to treat it all seriously. I mean, sure, this did lead to LSD in the super-soldier serum in presumably the name of realism, but I felt like the book was trying to present superheroes in a way that didn't feel silly and also didn't really take for granted that the reader would automatically accept superheroes.

It felt like a book that was written hoping that people who weren't superhero fans would read it, if that makes any sense. And I thought that was interesting, because most modern superhero work that I can think of assumes they've got complete audience buy-in and everyone is willing to suspend their disbelief and we all know the genre conventions and are expecting people running around in brightly-colored spandex. Whereas this is more like a James Bond novel if for some reason James Bond were called upon to defend his decision to wear brightly-colored spandex instead of bespoke suits. But I assume no one read it, because Bantam never published a Marvel book after this one.

If you can actually find a copy of this one for a price you're willing to pay. I recommend it. It was delightful and way more solid than I thought it was going to be.

Also, come on, you know you want to read about Captain America's acid trip.

[maboroshi-no]

Hamefura LN11 Moments: AlanxKatarina

While reading Hamefura Light Novel Volume 11, I wrote some summary / quick translations of some moments.

Here is the AlanxKatarina moment in the book.

Context:

Katarina had met the King the day before. She told Geordo and Alan she doesn’t think of them differently even after hearing what their relatives did

Katarina has decided to study love so that she can face her feelings, Geordo’s and Keith’s

Katarina is now more proactive regarding the measures against her doom

Katarina has decided to go to the castle’s library during her day off, hoping she will find another memo containing hints regarding FL2 in a book

Katarina’s POV

Katarina meets Alan at the library. 

Katarina: "Ah, Prince Alan!"

Alan: "Oh, it's you, Katarina. So you came to the castle today, huh. What did you come for?"

Katarina: "I am off from work today, so I have come to the library to do some research."

Alan: "You've come to the library during your day off to do some research? You?!"

Alan is making a mocking face.

Katarina: "How rude, Prince Alan! Even I can come during a day off to do some research (starting today)!

Katarina pouts, inflating her cheeks. Alan is not making a mocking face anymore.

Alan: "Oh well, do your best and try not to fall asleep, okay?"

Katarina is thinking to herself that Alan may look like a grown adult, but inside he's still the same as when they were kids. 

Katarina: "Mean Bossy Brat."

Katarina mutters to herself. Alan heard her.

Alan: "What did you say?"

Katarina: "It's not like it was hard to understand."

Alan: "You were insulting me, weren't you?"

Katarina: "If you know, then don't ask!"

Alan: "What's with you, stupid duke's daughter?"

Katarina: "And now you're insulting me?"

Alan: "Weren't you the one who started it?"

Katarina: "YOU started it by making fun of me!"

Alan: "I was just telling the truth!"

Katarina: "What did you say?"

They argue back and forth for a while and then Alan bursts out laughing.

Katarina : "?"

Katarina is blank.

Alan: "No, it's just that it has been a while since we had that kind of exchange, so I thought it was funny."

Hearing Alan say this with an innocent smile, Katarina was taken aback and thought it was indeed funny, and then laughed with Alan.

Katarina: "That's right. When we were little, we would often butt heads like this."

Alan: "Ah~ Yeah, kinda. For all kinds of things."

//TN: starting here, I switched the narration to Katarina’s POV

Alan looked embarrassed saying this. At first, when I met him, Alan had a strong inferiority complex towards Geordo, and was stormy. He has completely calmed now. This fight just now feels so nostalgic. As I was remembering the past,

Alan: "I am sorry for all I did in the past. Butting heads with you for whatever.". 

He said.

Katarina: "Eh?! After all this time?!"

I opened my eyes wide from getting apologies more than 10 years later. 

Alan: "Yeah, it is late but it's just that I remembered I never apologized, that's all."

He said this, looking embarrassed, and continued with

Alan: "I am sorry, and thank you."

As I got confused again from being thanked this time, he laughed at me again and I couldn't ask him why. Alan is laughing a lot today. Ah, that's right. I guess I'll ask Alan. 

Katarina: "Prince Alan, do you know about love?"

Sora told me that even if I asked people about love, I won't fall in love myself, but... If I ask various kinds of things, maybe when I have this kind of feeling I'll be able to realize it more quickly. So there isn't anything to lose. However, Alan and Mary are only engaged for political reasons and they don't give off a lovey-dovey air. Besides, Alan is especially childish so even if I ask, I don't think he would know. He is probably like me, a fellow member of the "I don't know what love is" club, but

Alan: "Wh- What are you saying suddenly?"

Alan was bright red and shaking.

Katarina: "Eh?! No way! You know?!" 

I raised my voice in surprise as I thought he would say "I don't really know". While I saw them as a boss and her underling, there was love developing between the two of them.

Alan: "What do you mean 'No way?!'? I have been an adult for several years already... So of course I would know that much..."

Alan said with a red face.

Alan: "What about you? Do you?"

He asked me in return. 

Katarina: "Eh, Me?! Well.. I..."

If I told him I didn't, he would probably make fun of me, and since I couldn't reply right away...

Alan: "I bet a kid like you wouldn't, right?"

I knew he would make fun of me. I got so upset I felt like matching his words.

Katarina: "Of course I know that much."

I replied in a somewhat pretentious way. As I did, Alan's eyes grew wide, and

Alan: "...So you do, huh? And who is the one you love?"

Alan had an unusually serious face.

Katarina: "Eh?! Well, he is..."

I didn't think that far, and since I couldn't answer...

Alan: "Could it be Geordo? So in the end, you..."

Because Alan continued the conversation with a serious tone, I couldn't keep up with it, so I immediately threw away my pretense. 

Katarina: "I'm sorry. I lied when I said I knew. I was just putting on airs. Actually, I don't know anything about it."

As I replied honestly, Alan felt somewhat relieved. Eh? Could it be that Alan was also putting on airs when he said he knew? As I thought, could he be a fellow member of the "I don't know what love is" club? 

Alan: "Oh, I see! So you still don't know!"

As he said this, Alan vigorously ruffled my hair. It feels like I am being treated like a kid.

Alan: "Oh well, I guess you wouldn't. Makes sense."

Alan is nodding to himself. It feels like he is making fun of me again. And he also looks extremely happy for some reason. I thought I would ask him if he really is a fellow member of the "I don't know what love is" club, but Alan who was now in high spirits said

Alan: "Well then, I have some official business to attend, so I'll see you later. Good luck with your studies at the library!"

As he said, he stroked my head again before going off happily. Jeez, it's not studying, it's research. In the end, I couldn't hear from Alan anything useful about love. 

Alan's POV:

I, Alan Stuart, am on my way to attend an official business, in a very good mood. Earlier, my mood sank to the very depth for a moment, but after I realized it was a misunderstanding, my mood then reached new heights. Just thinking I could see her 2 days in a row makes me happy. Yesterday, when I heard from Father that he would talk to Katarina and Maria about the unsightly past of the royal family, I felt dizzy. It's because I felt anxious thinking that after hearing the story, Katarina might look at us with eyes full of contempt. The time during which Father was talking to them felt incredibly long and just imagining Katarina telling us "I don't want to see you ever again" was the worst feeling ever. But when we asked her directly she told us while staring right into our eyes "The royals who took part in this struggle are different people to begin with. My opinion of the two of you cannot possibly change after hearing this story. Besides I know very well each of your personalities.". Looking at her dignified appearance, I fell for her all over again. However, when I looked at my side, Geordo was looking at her so lovingly. I averted my eyes right away. That's right. Katarina is Geordo's fiancée. And afterwards, when I saw her being escorted by Geordo, I suppressed my feelings somehow. Why did I have to fall for my older brother's fiancée, a woman I absolutely must never fall for? And when I think of looking elsewhere, there is no other woman like Katarina, and as a result I can't stop my feelings for her. Mary, my fiancée who, like me, has fallen for someone who won't return her feelings told me "Even so, I can't simply give up". But I can't do the same. Geordo and Katarina will get married eventually. I know I have to give up. But it's just that, while it is a well-known fact that Geordo loves Katarina, I know that Katarina herself does not have such feelings for him. No matter how much time passes, childish Katarina won't have such feelings. So just like that, I have been feeling at ease. So when Katarina asked me "Do you have someone you love?", I ended up shaking fiercely. But then, when I realized my misunderstanding, learning that Katarina was actually still not in love, I felt incredibly happy. I know someday I will have no choice but to give up. But I can't help wishing I could stay like this just a little longer. I kissed the hand where the sensation of her soft hair remained, and continued on my way with light steps. 

[ladyloveandjustice]

Belated Spring 2020 Anime Overview: My Next Life as Villainess

For the Spring 2020 anime season, I mostly watched continuations of shows I was already into. The one new show I did pick up was My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! follows Katerina Claes, a spoiled young noble girl deviously scheming to win the heart of a prince- oh wait, never mind, she hit her head and remembered her past life! Turns out she’s an eighteen year old Japanese otaku chick who died and got reincarnated as the villainess in her favorite otome game. 

If you don’t feel like reading the wiki article, an otome game is basically a female- targeted dating sim where you play as a blank slate main character and date a bunch of pretty boys (and sometimes girls, but usually only if you go outside the mainstream ones), unlocking their backstories and collecting all the romantic endings.

Having played this game, Katarina is well aware that the Villainess character- who constantly tries to interfere with the game’s heroine and whichever boy she’s pursuing- is either exiled or killed in all of the games endings. And now she IS that villainess, living in the world of the game and all its characters! Does that mean she’s doomed to a horrible fate? What’s a girl to do?

Well, if you’re Katarina, what you do is be supportive and kind to the people around you and in doing so accidentally get every single character in the game to fall in love with you. And yes, this includes all the boys the heroine is supposed to date, the other female romantic rivals the heroine is faced with and the game’s heroine herself.

That’s right, we finally got us some bisexual romantic comedy hijinx last anime season, my friends! My Next Life as a Villainess was the delightful little show I really escaped into during these anxious pandemic times . All these girls casually falling in love with Katarina without it being treated as ‘weird’ was what particularly drew me to this show and warmed my gay little heart to see. It was honestly the perfect fluffy, low stress watch during these high stress times.

Anime has long been oversaturated with ‘harem’ stories- where a usually unwitting protagonist somehow gets a bevy of beauties in love with them- but it’s still unfortunately really unusual to see bisexual harems, especially ones with a girl at the center, so right away there’s a big draw to this story that helps it stick out from the rest.  (And worry not, the story is largely focused on Katarina having fun with these pals-who-are-not-so-secretly-in-love-with-her, rather than having a ton the dubious shenanigans you see in more sexually charged tales.)

Harem protoganists also famously tend to have the personality of potatoes, being so painfully bland it’s unclear why so many people would fall in love with them in the first place. But that definitely not the case for Katarina. She’s brash, ridiculous, kind and INCREDIBLY dense, and that for a pretty dynamic combination in this setting! She does genuinely come off as a fun person to be around. Unlike a lot of modern isekai shows, she doesn’t stumble into having incredible magic powers or skills, so her compassion is genuinely her greatest strength and what saves the day and wins hearts time and time again.

Katarina’s five brain cells doing their weekly check-in

(The moment she won my heart was when she responded to a tragic Frozen style situation with her friend locking himself away from people because he believed his magic was dangerous by taking an axe to his door. My kinda girl!)

The premise also allows for some plausible built-in reasons for the characters to take such special notice of Katarina- having been raised in a different world, she isn’t beholden to all the social rules, class divisions and noble family drama all the other kids in this very specific midevial-esque fantasy world are so embroiled in. This combined with her naturally earnest, accepting and straightfoward nature means she’s able to cross boundaries and reach out to them in a way they aren’t accustomed to. She was significant in each character’s life because she genuinely was the first to show them acceptance and affection without pretense, if only because she isn’t even aware there was supposed to be a pretense.

Katarina’s focus on trying not to die and her fear she’s going to meet the same fate as the villainess in the game also at least gives some kind of a basis to her comical obliviousness to everyone being in love with her. She assumes that everyone has to be into Maria (the heroine) and terrified of her because that’s how the game GOES okay, that’s CANON! Of course, this logic stretches thin as time goes on and it would be abundantly clear to most people that things have diverged greatly from the game’s storyline, but the show makes it clear that Katarina’s determined, one track mind is as much a gift as a curse. 

Her bullheadedness when it comes to picking up how everyone REALLY feels about her is an intentional gag on the show’s part and even her love interests are well aware of what a colossal dumbass she is and not afraid to point it out!

My Next Life as a Villainess isn’t without its flaws, and the personalities/backstories of some of the ‘love interests’ Katarina gathers may be a stumbling block on some- mostly the male ones.  Geordo, “the black hearted prince” has a bit of the “ possessive shoujo bad boy” archetype about him, and though he’s far from the worst that genre of love interest has to offer (there’s not much bad he can get up to due to Katarina’s obliviousness, the lighthearted nature of the show, and his rivals constantly getting in his way), the way he refuses to break Katarina and his engagement off despite her repeatedly asking him to, as well as some of his lines here and there, are definitely NOT cute. 

Keith is Katarina’s adopted brother, but clearly has a thing for her too. On one hand, they only first met when they were nine and he fell for her pretty immediately. On the other hand, he still refers to her as “sister” constantly which is kinda eesh. 

The other two guys are all right- Nicol’s big thing is he’s inexpressive and doesn’t talk much which, considering show doesn’t spend much time inside his head, doesn’t make him a very interesting character in the ensemble (maybe he comes across better in the novels) but there’s nothing wrong with him. Alan is undoubtedly the Best Boy in my book. He’s another common trope- rambunctious and competitive with Katarina but clearly soft for her- but he’s done well and they have a lot of cute moments together.

I find the girl love interests to be a much more interesting group overall, though this may be my obvious bias talking. Sophia has the strongest connection to Katarina, their backstories being intertwined in a surprising and touching way (I’m told in the novels her affection for Katarina was treated as more platonic, but the anime definitely plays it up as having romantic elements). Maria’s original role as the game’s heroine puts her in the most interesting position (and would make her the most narratively satisfying choice of love interest, if the show was actually interested in choosing). And while Mary is comically tenacious in her pursuit of Katarina, she’s doesn’t ever act ‘sinister’ or overstep boundaries in the way Geordo does, her “scheming” only really amounting to straightforwardly asking if Katarina wants to ditch her fiance and run away with her. 

As I mentioned, one thing that really contributes to My Next Life as a Villainess being a relaxing watch is that the queer characters are treated with casual acceptance. Mary in particular isn’t subtle about her crush on Katarina, but nobody bats an eye at her and she’s completely open and comfortable with herself too. The observing maid notes that the girls are in love with Katarina with the same bland affect as when she notes she notes the guys are. And while the social practices of the nobles are pretty heteronormative- girls are always engaged in arranged marriages to guys, the guys are expected to dance with the girls (something Mary complains about!)- there’s apparently a booming queer romance novel industry that inspires our young wlw.

Katarina, having grown up in a different world, seems to be the one most prone to heteronormativity of her group. She never really considers  that a girl would ever fall in love with her, but is also never hostile to the idea. It’s telling that when Mary very clearly indicates her desired romantic partner would be a girl, Katarina’s the only one that gets tripped up and has to walk back her assumption that Mary would be talking about a guy. 

Mary LAYING DOWN THE LAW

Also, Katarina has  SEVERAL “she’s so cute! My heart is beating faster!” moments with the other girls, on par in frequency with her moments with the guys. This strongly hints she’s an oblivious bisexual disaster.

So, My Next Life as Villainess is a fun, frothy watch and the rare positive example of silly wish-fufillment that’s inclusive to a wlw audience. But is the actual plot good, or remotely complex? The answer to that is no, the plot is fairly predictable and one definitely shouldn’t got into this story expecting a deep examination of the nature of fate or anything like that.There’s no real explanation of big reason as to why why Katarina was reborn into this game world and so on.

 The antagonist that does eventually emerge plays off otome game tropes a bit, but ultimately isn’t that interesting or built up all that well. . The attempts at drama the show makes towards the end fall a little flat, especially since it tends to rely on very-late-in-the-game-exposition-dumps (dark magic isn’t even MENTIONED as existing in this world until like, the second to last episode where it becomes relevant and we get a vague infodump explaining its mechanics). The conflict honestly almost feels shoehorned in and the climax is pretty standard and doesn’t really utilize the big cast of characters all that well

But in the end, that’s okay! The show makes it abundantly clear from the beginning it’s not here to be Deep, but to be some silly fun. And it really fulfills that purpose well, from it’s catchy, peppy theme tune to its consistently warm tone. It MAY get repetitive at times for some, and I do have some quibbles- like how I found the childhood segments to be some of the shows best material and wish we could have stayed in that section for a bit instead of rushing through it, how I wish Katarina had kept her cute little scar, etc- but overall, it was definitely the soothing balm I needed during a very rough time and I absolutely recommend it if you’re looking for a chill, feel-good watch.

 And hey, a second season’s supposed to be on the way too, so there’s something to potentially look forward to!

[afrival]

Hetalia Characters and Their Music Tastes

I’ve been in the hetalia fandom for like a year now and I stg thinking abt what these bitches listen to NEVER gets old

no warnings

will feature mostly modern day music, like 1950s-2010s

I don’t know a lot of artists that don’t sing in English so there’s probably A LOT that I’m missing on here, not even including shit from like the 1800s

The Allies

Alfred:

Before He Cheats by Carrie Underwood, The Chain by Fleetwood Mac, Crazy In Love by Beyoncé

- Listens to basically everything, but particular fond of like 80s rock and early 2000s shit

- Likes country music bc ofc he does, a huge fan of Carrie Underwood, Sam Hunt, and The Band Perry

- Got his love of rock from England 💀 Especially during the like the 60s-80s when Queen, The Beatles, and Elton John really popular

- They really only bond over their love for this period of music lmao like they would absolutely go ape during karaoke

- He loves more mainstream artists like Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, all those iconic mfs

- Probably enjoys old wartime music just for nostalgias sake. Shit from the 40s and he listens to Civil War tunes (Union Dixie lmao)

- Definitely listens to musicals and forces Ivan to as well. His favorites are Hamilton, Hairspray, and Chess

- LOVES LOVES LOVES The Backstreet Bogs holy shit. This man had a whole phase where he dressed like they did. Don’t even dare play I Want It That Way because he WILL sing along

- Speaking of which he’s actually a really good singer, like he probably used to sing at clubs and shit back in the day

- It’s very specific but I imagine his voice to sound like Taron Egerton’s cover of “Crocodile Rock” by Elton John

Arthur:

Killer Queen by Queen, Set Fire to the Rain by Adele, Tiny Dancer by Elton John

- Old man who had a weird punk phase in the 90s. Definitely listens to The Beatles and Gorillaz

- Like I said, he and Alfred bond over Queen and Elton and Bon Jovi and FUCKING Michael Jackson

- Refuses to admit he really likes Elvis

- Oh boy. He had so much fun in like late 2000s and early 2010s— Panic at the Disco, MCR, Green Day, he absolutely got his ears pierced during this time

- Doesn’t listen to like current mainstream music that much he will sob to Adele and probably really likes the Cry Baby album by Melanie Martinez.

- Francis plays so much Lady Gaga in the car that at this point he really likes her music

- He likes Ed Sheeran I am so sorry </3 and he absolutely gets bullied for it

- He can sing too honestly? I know I just said he listens to Ed Sheeran but I honestly think he kinda sounds like him too just maybe a little deeper

- Listen to Galway Girl and you’ll get a basic idea of what I imagine he sounds like

Ivan:

Dance and Cry by Mother Mother, Baby One More Time by Britney Spears, смерти Больше нет by IC3PEAK

- THIS MANS MUSIC TASTE MAKES NO SENSE. It ranges from fucking Aerosmith to Ic3peak to Lady Gaga

- Literally has every Mother Mother album downloaded and probably on Vinyl bc he’s a fucking dweeb

- Also a huge musical stannie, loves Wicked and Hairspray

- He and Al will split the parts to sing along to in the car

- Alfred made him listen to Britney Spears ONCE in like the 90s and now he’s obsessed

- Speaking of the 90s he went absolutely fucking ape during this time. The USSR wasn’t very big on western music but when it fell there was a HUGE influx of it and suddenly like it was just his favorite thing ever

- Alfred also got him into Carrie Underwood, literally lost of his music taste comes from Alfred forcing him to listen to shit

- During the 70s/80s he got really into Fleetwood Mac and Aerosmith, maybe even a little bit of disco but not a lot

- Went to a club with Al a few times and he won’t ever forget dancing to Footloose by Kenny Loggins at like one in the morning and having the absolute time of his life, easily one of his favorite memories

- Like I get so soft thinking about him just letting loose and actually having fun, even though he was very stiff and shit during the 1900s

- He can’t sing LMAO but my friend and I said once that he could lowkey rap really well and now it’s all I think about

Francis:

From Eden by Hozier, La Vie En Rose by Edith Piaf, Primadona by Marina

- If you look up the gay agenda his playlist would just show up

- I mean seriously he has it all: Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Lorde

- HOWEVER she does really enjoy softer sounding music. Edith Piaf, Louis Armstrong, and Vera Lynn are favorites of his

- Listens to the Les Mis soundtrack like once a month

- REALLY REALLY loves Hozier, like a whole lot. He’s probably one of his favorite artists along with Sufjan Stevens

- Even more of his homo playlist includes Marina, Madonna and Troye Sivan

- Bullies Arthur for liking Ed Sheeran but he also really likes Ed Sheeran, just refuses to admit it

- Stromae ofc 🙄🤚 can’t just not include like the most popular French musician or whatever

- He can also sing but he sounds kinda raspy, it’s nice tho

Yao:

- I don’t think he listens to music LMAO, if he does it’s probably instrumental

The Axis

Ludwig:

Elastic Heart by Sia, From Now On from The Greatest Showman, Natural by Imagine Dragons

- Also doesn’t really listen to music but my friend said that when he does it ranges from classical to heavy metal

- For some reason I think he really likes Sia, he seems like a Sia kind of guy

- Doesn’t listen to Hozier but really loves Take Me to Church

- Most of his music listening comes from giving Feli the aux in the car

- The whore listens to Imagine Dragons like he fucking loves them

- When The Greatest Showman came out he had the soundtrack on repeat for a solid month, From Now Onis one of his favorite songs ever

- Cannot sing Jesus Christ do not let him near a mic

Feliciano:

Thank u, next by Ariana Grande, Break My Stride by Matthew Wilder, Bella Ciao by Manu Pillas

- Pop music! So much pop!

- Loves Ariana Grande and Conan Gray

- Probably listens to A LOT of classical because of his time with Austria

- His music taste is kinda all over the fucking place and it’s mostly happy and peppy shit

- Weirdly tho he listens to GRLwood? Like it’ll just shhow up on shuffle and suddenly he’s an entire different person

- Will listen to absolutely everything just to find something that Ludwig likes, was so proud of himself when Ludwig really ended up loving The Greatest Showman

- Doesn’t sing but plays like 5 instruments. Violin and piano are his faves

Kiku:

It’s Been So Long by The Living Tombstone, Faded by Alan Walker, Ophelia by The Lumineers

- LISTEN. LISTEN. HE LOVES VIDEO GAME MUSIC AND FUCKING THE LIVING TOMBSTONE

- The fnaf songs are his guilty fucking pleasures, he fucking loves them

- Loves loves loves the Undertake Soundtrack

- Listens to a lot of anime openings 💀 Me too tbh they’re so good at for what

- Big fan of TheFatRat

- In general he enjoys techno shit? Idk what the word is but it’s a lot of instrumental

- Listens to regular music as well (The Lumineers especially)

- Likes listening to Elvis because it makes him happy to see Alfred having fun

- Feli also introduces him to a lot of music but he can never fucking remember the names of the songs or artists

- He hums a lot rather than sings, and it’s really soft and gentle

If anybody wants any more characters lmk bc I love coming up with these, also I do have playlists for these bitches 😎✌️ Spotify is in my linktree (bio)

[popculturebuffet]

Justice League: In Blackest Night Review: A Case Study in Why John Stewart is  Awesome

Hello my Green Lantern Corps and happy black history month! And happy 40th Anniversary Year to John Stewart. And let’s get this out of the way now not the one replaced by trevor noah who handed Tucker Carlson his ass on television and got his show canceled, please do it again John i’d be greatful, and has a weird obession with how Pizza should be. No i’m of course talking about the Green Lantern, the third from earth and the second to headline the book itself, John Stewart.  But to me.. he was my first Green Lantern and one that gave me a deep and abiding love of the Corps since all thanks to this very episode. It’s thanks to John I’m the green lantern loving nerd I am today and without him I probably wouldn’t of found Guy, Jessica, Simon, Alan, and Kyle not to mention got into the varoius other corps. It’s thanks to this episode I wanted to seek out these wonderful characters eventaully and in part why I got into JLI, one of my faviorite teams, among many ohter great things and books. 

So quite obviously both this episode, which I haven’t seen in probably a decade, and John have a great place in my heart. And thus it warms said heart to FINALLY see John getting the recogntion he deserves: he’s going to be one of the starring roles in the upcoming HBO Max series, he was on Scott Snyder’s justice league, and he’s now going to be headlniing the main Green Lantern book going forward under writer Geoffry Throne, who like me was VERY sick of the Hal Jordan show the Green Lantern franchise could become at times, and also like me gave out about it a LOT. The fact DC hired him despite a very public and easily accesable record of him slagging of their use of Hal instead of him ESPECAILLY in the new 52 reboot aka why Cyborg is in the Justice League movie as Geoff kinda shoved hal in there despite John being a more sensible pick and doing so not only shoving the Martain Manhunter, who this show also gave me a deep lasting love for, out of the team but forcing Cyborg onto the team despite fitting with the titans better and, AGAIN there being a black green lantern and given the New 52 kept the history of there being multiple lanterns, no reason Hal could’ve been SECOND instead other than DanDiDio’s bitchy habit of EVERYTHING WAS BETTER ON MY EARTH that poisoined the company for a good decade before recently. 

And yes I felt the need to rant about that, yes Green Lantern the animated series is still good mind you, I just got tired of bland white guy over “Really awesome, really layred especailly thanks to this series black guy”, “stubborn asshole white guy whose hilarious and has a heart underneath the layers of douchebag”, “creative and imaginative white guy who has as personality and really uses the ring in fun ways”, and more recently “A muslim superhero struggling with his past who’se also really energetic and fun and has an intresting family life” and “Latnix superheroine who struggles with anxiety and actually struggles with constructs and once she gets past that has very unique ones”. In other words, yeah I’m bitter because everyone else was more intresting than Hal, and it’s only in recent years with Jessica gaining promience and John regaining it that DC’s finally broke out of that and is actually using the intresting ones, and again without John I wouldn’t be a fan, so they had no real excuse to barely use him outside of the comics if at at all after a while. 

So yeah as you can tell by that rant and by how specific it got for each lantern, this is one of my faviorite franchises, as said this episode is responsible and so for Black History Month I felt i’d be a huge mistake on my part if I DIDN’T cover my boy John and this episode and see how it held up. The fact it’s his 40th anniversary wasn’t something I was aware of, but now I am, expect more Johncentric episodes from Justice League sprinkled throughout the year to celebrate one of my first and possibly best GL. 

Naturally before we get to the episode we have to get to the series itself. The series was launched as Batman Beyond was winding down. Bruce Timm wanted to keep the crew together, something I could empathize with since Owen Dennis and JG Quintel have ran into that same problem lately, with most of their crews drifting off during the gaps in production and Owen desperate to get the show renewed  before he lost everybody. A good crew isn’t had to find in animation but KEEPING them for multiple shows or seasons can be. And there was one project the fans wanted more than anything: The Justice League. After all BOTH Batman and Superman had had tons of guest stars, especailly the latter, with Batman having Zantana show up and Superman having the Flash (Wally West), Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) and Aquaman all show up. There were seeds there.. but Timm was relcutant as he had trouble ballancing 2 or 3 heroes in a fight scene, wanting to keep them al lin focus so fans didn’t wonder where they were and they didnt’ have to cut back and forth, the idea of juggling 7 was daunting.  So as Beyond was finishing production a few things happened: The first is that they did the episode The Call, focusing on a future version of the League, and while only a two parter, it showed Timm his crew might be able to juggle a team of heroes after all, and second was the pitches Timm made BEFORE justice league. Since Kids WB had been hteir partner for a while now they tried pitching both a batman anime, he did not provide many details, and in his own words a “Kidified” justice league, basically the justice leagued mashed with the titans including a female version of cyborg. It was the latter pitch, which was rejected by Kids WB, that finally convinced Timm they could do this, but if they did it couldn’t be half assed or having compromises. it had to be what it SHOULD be. So they went to somewhere new, if in the same family and asked cartoon network, who said...

And here we are. They took their time to work out the characters, apparently taking a lot of delbiration, mostly on which GL to go with, and if they were going to do a hawk wether to go for hawkman or hawkgirl. In the end the roster was the iconic big 7 one, in large part thanks to Grant Morrison taking that concept and reviving it in his run on the team, but shaking it up slightly: Barry was naturally replaced with Wally West flash as he was THE flash in the comics, gave a slightly younger member for the others to play off of, and was more popular.. something Dan DiDio plugged his ears and went LALALALALALAL about for a decade before FINALLY leaving the company so he could stop screwing with a character he hated for reasons that can be summed up as ‘MY FLASH IS BETTER. YOU’LL LIKE MY FLASH.. YOU’LL SEE I JUST HAVE TO MAKE THE OTHER ONE A MASS MURDERER.. THAT’LL SHOW YOU FOR NOT LIKING WHAT I LIKE”... I still have maybe a smidge of lingering issues over how wally was treated the last few years after his return. I do not apologize for htem or for doing a little dance when I found out Didio was gone. 

Point is it wasn’t the only subsitution as Hal Jordan was replaced by John, obviously and rather than use Aquaman, they went with Hawkgirl, though Arthur still got an episode focusing on him fairly early into the series which has the iconic moment of him cutting his hand off to save his son. I dare you to find something more badass. Bruce both liked her deisgn better and felt it helped with the gender ballance. 

So with all that set and with some growing pains to get through they had their show so join me under the cut to see how it turned out. Spoilers: It good. 

We open INNNNNN SPACCCEEEEEEE, as a coaltion of neat looking aliens wants justice and has gone to a space court lead by three weird alien faces, likely inspiried by the kryptoian tribunal in the donnerverse superman movies, with their prosecutor sending a group of mysterious robots known as the Manhunters to go fetch the accused for a trial: John Stewart. Given he’s voiced by Kurtwood “Red Forman” Smith, i’m very surpised he didn’t order them to also put their foots up his ass. Maybe he’s saving it for the trial.

After the titles we cut to John himself whose in shades and trenchant for reasons.. I mean it looks neat, but he’s in his old neighborhood not hunting down his exes killer or trying to hide the fact he’s a ninja turtle. Why is he all disguised. I mean sure WE know people are coming from him and given what he thinks he did he knows.. but he has no intention of running from what he did. It’s just a weird stylistic choice. That said we do get a cool sequence when while casually walking he notices a robbery, and stops it simply by first stopping the wheel then levitating the car.. and while he does get a little showy shaking the guy upside down to return the money.. it’s all very controlled. It shows off how John works. While we’ve seen him at work as Green Lantern before this this small sequence says volumes about john in the span of a few minutes, showing that shilw he HAS immense power, he only uses the amount he needs, knows when to hold back, and only shows off a tiny bit, and even then he’s likely still keeping the theif absolutely safe. It also provides excellent foreshadowing for later as to why the League takes his side even when he refuses to defend himself, as it shows that John really is a professional true and true.

He runs by a basketball court and fails to make a basket when throwing a ball back to a kid before meeting his old gym teacher, who turns out to be the kids uncle or something like that, and invites John to join them as they go to the barber shop. The kid wants John’s haircut, his granpa says the usual and i’m wondering why as John’s haircut isn’t that radical: it’s a miltiary style cut, belying the fact that for this series, while it dosen’t come up in the plot here, John was a former marine instead of an architect. Honestly.. this wasn’t a bad change, giving us the deciated and measured john we know, to the point the comics gladly retconned it in. Not that it’s really a huge deal given it meelrly adds shades to the guy and dosen’t prevent him from being an architect. It just adds lairs by giving a reaosn he’s so focused and driven. He had it drilled into him and carried it with him. 

Meanwhile on the watchtower The Flash clumisly tries to get to know Hawkgirl better and maunver into asking her out, though it’s clear sh’es not intrested. Still even if he can’t help flirting, and it sometimes gets creepily obnoxious, it’s still better than I expected remembering this running subplot, as he DOES try to get to know her and what she does in her off time, even if it’s to set up asking her out, and is trying to ask her out instead of just hitting on her or doing anything far more creeptacular. It’s still not great mind you and hasn’t aged well at all.. but for the time it’s not TERRIBLE and again it goes away pretty quickly in favor of the much more intresting John and Shierya relationship. 

Flash accidently shoots himself in the foot.. conversationally though given how Wally is at this point in the series I wouldn’t be suprised, by asking the Martian Manhunter, who gives Hakwgirl an easy exit if he’s ever felt alone.. you know the guy whose entire race including his wife and child died horribly. He quickly apologizes though and John understands he just stuck his foot in his mouth at lighting speed. And it’s not the MOST insensitive he’s been about Jonn’s dead wife. 

But things are soon interupted as Jonn notes “We have an incursion!” 

But the Avengers are dealing with all of that so they can instead focus on the Manhunters shooting toward earth. I really like this as the primary reason Batman set up this station was to monitor for alien threats, it just because the Leagues base because superman had the idea to stay as a team and it was a good un, and given earth JUST had an invasion, as this likely isn’t too long after that given it’s only the second set of episodes, it’s understandable they’d  be on high alert. 

So our heroes move to intercept. As the first episode after the pilot this one also sets up a recurring part of the show and a necessary one: only a handful of Leaguers would feature in each two-parter, as the episodes for the first two seasons were essentially one hourlong story split into two episodes. The only exceptions were the three part premire, the three part finales for each season, and the sole solo episode comfort and joy which is fucking awesome and my faviorite christmas episode period. But even with the extended run time the crew simply felt i’td be unwiedly to juggle 7 characters eveyr episode, feeling it’d eventually get to original series star trek leevels of having one just manning a console or something. So rather than try and cram them all into every episode, they choose who they needed and gave valid excuses for the rest when necessary. In this case Batman and Wonder Woman have solo missions their busy with , as does Superman whose adressing an earthquake.  Our heroes try talking to the Manhunters.. who refuse to talk to them and then also say their coming for John, and aren’t explaning why. So naturally a brawl breaks out as the League SHOCKINGLY dosen’t want their friend who as far as they know has done nothing wrong taken by a brutish paramilitary force who won’t actual talk to the citzens their policing or try and be coporative. More on this in a second. The fight itself is pretty awesome as our heroes fight as evenly as they can.. but it’s clear their outgunned outplanned outnumbered and outmanned, as while their you know the justice league and do their best and Jonn is in Superman’s weight class the battle makes it VERY clear their barely holding in there and that the blast from the manhunters rods are just too potent for them to stand up against. 

But help and hope arrives and things get a bit less lopsided when Superman shows up! Unfortunately it’s season 1 superman, and something a lot of fans noticed but I as a kid didn’t and the crew themslves did not until it was too late to course correct for the season, was that Superman came off as a bit of a wimp in this series. See they had the good intention of having him struck down to show a threat’s serious, something TV Tropes calls the “The Worf effect” after the fact that Worf on Star Trek TNG would get knocked on his ass a lot for the same reason, but it has the side effect of making a character look like their made of paper mache if done too often. To the crew’s credit they realized this and not only made sure this didn’t happen as much in season 2, but dedicated the first episode of Season 2, twilight, to showing Superman as a badass by having him try and cave Darkseid’s skull in. Granted they overcompensated in places in that episode, but that’s a story for another day. Point is he had a habit of getting knocked around and it varied between really effective and overselling it. Here it works as the manhunters had already knocked Jonn around a bit, knocking him into some poor kid’s apartment whose really wondering what the fuck just happened too much to enjoy meeting the martian manhunter, so him  not being too on top of them simply sells this threat is equal, and possibly past the League. 

Meanwhile John is talking to his former teacher who says the kid reminds him of John... it’s not only a nice bit of depth to show the restrained John used to be a bit of a hellraiser before the Marines.. but also shows John’s guilt as he hopes not.. but before he can unload, he notices the fight and suits up to his old mentors shock and the kids joy, I mean I would too if a guy suddenly because a green lantern in front of me, and dashes off.. to surrender and break up the fight, handing over his ring and going with them and telling the League not to interfere. Their response can be summed up thusly. 

To John, he’s peacefully surrendering for a crime he comitted to a bruitsh and unfair police force but one who is duly deputized and as an officer himself, for the unaware the Green Lanterns are space cops and given the reason rightfuly reconing on the police I will certainly be discussing this as we go, is trying to coparate and prevent any collateral. While LIKELY Bruce pays for any that happens, as beneath his batdick demanour at times he’s a very good man and if he has the pockets for a space station, space craft, commuincators and all the good stuff a superhero team has on hand, he probably has a dedicated fund set up to paying for collateral since insurance might not cover it, and not only that would likely give any impacted extra to do any upgrades they coudln’t before because he’s a philanorphist .. one who dresses up like a bat to punch people in the face, but that itself is still philathophy in a way. 

But to the League? Their friend was taken by a bunch of shady paramilitary robots who didn’t bother talking to them, is trying to keep them out of it and for all they know only surrendered to prevent a fight, and even if he had valid reasons, as his friends-ish and teammates, they have a right to answers. So while John sits in his cell completlating his apparent crimes.. the JL have taken off in the Javelin, the spaceship I mentioned batman funding. And of course Batman has both spaceship money and had a design for one so ready it likely took a month at most for him to get it up and running, if not less, and only didn’t have one in the batcave because he hadn’t neededed it yet and likely didn’t want to embezle more money than he has to from his company. Jonn uses the stars John saw, say that three times fast I dare you, to find a location and our heroes head there.  Our heroes arrive.. and are attacked by the local security despite Superman geninely trying to hail them, the Javelin not firing back and our heros only going out to intercpet personally so they don’t die, and even then making careful certainty not to attack. So we get another thrilling battle, with our three flying heroes all pitching in, and the flash realizing he dosen’t know how to fly the thing and me cursing out bruce in my head for you know, not either forcing flash to learn the stuff, or having the forsight to put a manual on board for any members who forgot something, aka so when Wally inteivibly goofs off and eats candy instead of reading it the first time, he can speed read it and at least retain it long enough to land the thing in a crisis. If it were anyone else i’d be understanding but this is the guy who again, either had spaceship plans lying around or could get one together in the span of a month or so and while not thinking of the ship in terms of a team, still also paid for and likely created the commuincators they used, so he’d know his team well enough to know he needs this. 

My nitpicking aside, our heroes land, make quick work of the locals, and then crash in on John’s trial after he’s escorted in, passing his fellow lanterns who rightfully treat him with disdain.. but for the wrong reasons as we’ll see. John gives  groaning “oh no” , like he’s embarassed. When REALLY..

Seriously John, again you were as far as they knew kidnapped, and the way the manhunters acted, they had no reason to think they were legitamate, and you didn’t take five minutes to tell them, “They have every reason to be takning me” or “I blew up a planet I deserve this” . They still would’ve came mind you, they just might of realized this wasn’t a traditional rescue mission and actually tried to use some subtly. You also COULD have told the manhunters they might show up so the security wouldn’t attack them. They probably woudln’t o LISTEND or attacked themselves, so i’ts a damned if you do damned if you don’t situation, but you still did absolutely nothing. It’s the one mistep with John here and even then it has the justification of his self loathing at the moment being so high, he assumed they’d rightfully write him off without question.. not to mention given the team is mostly white guys, two aliens and a princess who woudln’t know better, he probably assumed like most white dumbasses they’d assume the police were correct and not give him the benifit of a doubt. To their credit, especially since you know one of them’s superman and the other one’s a professional dumbass, they didn’t think that for a second. Some would not be such a good person. 

But Prosecutor Forman and the big giant heads aren’t much better than the manhunters, so Prosecutor Forman sends some orange guys to put foots up their asses.. and since unlike the manhunters their just... some ambigiously gendered aliens with no powers, they go down quick and before the manhunters enter, superman RIGHTFULLY calls them out, as he points out they just wanted to know what the hell was going on, didn’t throw the first punch, and have been under attack since, and the heads admit this IS a public trial, and they kinda overreacted so as long as the superfriends don’t do any other antics and watch like anyone else, their good. Superman has his team play it safe for now as they really don’t know what’s going on and given they could only stalemate the manhunters on even footing, they know they can’t take them on their home turf.  

The trial is soon underway, and Prosecutor Forman calls the witnsees.. Kanjar Ro, also voiced by Smith. This is neat little bit as Ro was one of the first foes the League fought in the comics, a space pirate, and while he originally was just going to be some random asshole, someone brought up the idea of him being Ro and the crew really loved it. It’s a nice nod to the comics and honestly if you have a vast superhero universe with decades of continuity to draw from for your show, why NOT make the secondary villian of the episode be someone from the comics. 

Ro is, like the comics, a pirate and seemingly came forward because what John did was so bad even he can’t stomach it and has to say something. So we FINALLY find out what John did.. well okay the audience as a whole does I remember this from being a kid. He and Ro had a routine cop and robber interaction, Ro was smuggling shit, and John was doing his job as GL of Sector 2814 and stopping him and cut out his engine.. but seemingly said engine drifted off, and destroyed a planet as  result via chain reaction, and thus the debris right outside the planet John’s being tried on are apparently thsoe of the planet he accidently killed. The court takes a break and while the League, understandably, assume that the obviously shady man was lying John ends part one by confirming that no he did it. And this is why I put a pin in things... because the episode being about a space cop being arrested by worse space cops and dealing with his friends in the badge turning on him while some of his other friends try to prove he’s innocent, and the man in question being an african american... tackles some very loaded issues that, givent he writer and most of the staff, Dwayne McDuffie accepted, were very much white, i’m thinking they just kind of fell backward into and it only came out as good as it did either do to McDuffie or just blind luck that it didn’t turn out entirely awful in hindsight.

And if anyone is complaning: “Wait you dont’ need to get political leave politics out of this”.. please leave my fucking blog. For one, the recknoing with the police was long overdue, I feel ashamed for not having it sink in how fundementally broken the police were and not realizing it for my whole fucking life, I knew some cops were bad but I hadn’t realized the institution was inherently racist and bad  and feel so much deep and lasting shame for that, and for another again it’s a story that at it’s core is a black police officer being arrested for doing something wrong, taking full responsiblity for his actions like a police officer SHOULD, and having friends of his try and prove he didn’t really do it, while his fellow officers, rather than find the act itself abohhrent, come out as either being loyal to john no matter what (kilowog) because fellow officer, or assholes who ONLY are upset because it makes them look bad, and are ONLY distancing themselves because of that, and not because you know JOHN MAY OF CAUSED A GENOCIDE BY INCOMPETNECE. So yeah, i’m not ignoring the real world implications, I couldn’t and wouldn’t if I wanted to, and i feel if done right ANY medium, animation, comics, what have you, for kids or not, can tackle such issues and should be able to. 

So i’m not ignoring the elephant in the room, and as we get into part 2 we get the good and bad of this in full: Superman feels something’s off about this whole thing, a hunch admitely but given an engine falling in a crater seems a bit too convinent, he has a right to investigate and takes MM to do so, while he leaves Flash and Hakwgirl to stall. Both take diffrent approaches: Flash signs on as GL’s lawyer.. and it’s an awesome scene as we find out, in your standard evil lawyer joke, that the tribunal of faces solved this by simply having the lawyer share the punishment.. but it also shows Flash’s loyalty and faith that his friend did not do this and something worse is at work, as he still agrees after learning he’ll probably die if his other friends don’t fix this. 

And now we have full context i can get into where this episode really does the issue justice for the most part: John is presented as the model of both what the GL Corps and what police should be: He’s professional, uses minimal force despite having a weapon that can do anything, and when he THINKS he did something horrible, he dosen’t run from his crime: the most he does is go back home to see it once last time, simply waiting for someone to come and get him for what it did wether it be his own brothers in arms or as we saw the manhunters and he doesn’t defend himself because he dosen’t feel he should as he screwed up, got an entire planet killed, and rightly thinks he should pay for it. He’s likely, as a black man in the early 2000′s, been falsely accused, pulueld over and fucked over by police and seen people in his community he knewe and care about die because of shit like this so when given the chance to take responsibility, even from a clearly broken system, he does. Because in the same situation a lot of officers back at home would not and would walk away clean and that’s not who John Stewart is, how he was raised, or what he or the corps stands for. 

But the episode gets to have it’s cake and eat it too, as the League does belivie John didn’t do this on purpose.. and the blind faith they especially superman did come off as wince inducing.. until I realized it’s not because of some “brotherhood of the badge” bullshit.. but because it’s Superman. He belivies in the good of most people. In this very series despite Lex Luthor having tried to kill him dozens of times at this point, he STILL shows the guy empathy when he finds out Lex is dying of cancer. Lex spits at the notion of course and dosen’t take it seroiusly.. but Superman is just that good a person, so if he has a hunch somethings’ wrong.. it probably is. And even if he and Jonn found nothing... it’s the right thing to do. A crime should ALWAYS be properly investigated to make sure someone dosen’t hang for something they did not do. This is what I meant by have it’s cake and eat it too: the episode tackles police brutality.. but the accused is also the victim, and it thus tackles the unfairness in the us courts, how black people are often assumed guilty when that’s horribly racist and biased as fuck and how Police are assumed correct. Our heroes are assuming john is right based on optisim but are not wrong for wanting him to at LEAST get a fair trial and full investigation that clearly was not done. It also covers, again probably intetioanlly, how some are often not able to get proper representatin, with this court outright getting rid of it, which is wrong and bad, and the flash being the best John can do and not very good at it, mostly stalling for time. It shows the system’s brokena nd soemtimes you have to directly fight iht and can’t just take it , and even if your convinced your guilty and want to rightfuly take the blame for something your sure you did... you still deserve a fair trial and a compitent one. 

It’s not all good: as said the gl’s are portrayed as bad for not wanting anything to do with john, and in order to make them unsympathetic they care more about their rep than the fact a friend may of comited genocide and kilowog showing up and providing character witness is seen as a good thing, even if he provides no actual character evidence other than “Johnny’s a good guy” and that’s not ideal. It’s not perfect and again it was writtne by an old white guy so of course it isn’t but the fact it gets so much right the more you dig in despitei t’s awwkardness and being written and aired 20 years ago... that is nothing to sneeze at. 

We have more to dig into here too with the manhunters but first moreof the plot: While the other stuff mentioned happens, Superman and Jonn investigate as said.. and we find out WHY superman was supscious: while it was part hunch.. he did in fact have valid reason to suspect something was off, and as we saw actually heard the case against his friend first, and only went against it because the evidence was off.. in that the MOON of the planet is still there and should’ve flown off. He and Jonn soon find a MASSIVE device that John identifies as a bigger version of a toy he had as a kid, something that created images... and again shows whya  PROPER investigation was needed. Had the court actually looked into it instead of presuming John guilty, they would’ve found this thing too. Naturally though Kanjar Ro has followed them and wants to kill them.. but with her subplot wrapped up Hawkgirl went to seei f they needed backup, stealing one of the guard ships which given they attacked people on ap lanet iwth a PUBLIC TRIAL going on without haling them yeah don’t blame her, and kicks his ass. Our heroes find out the truth as I mentioned earlier: Ro was paid to lie and be in on things for an assload of money.. byt he Manhutners.. who at the moment are plotting to strike while Oa, the home of the green lanterns is weak, as the Guardians who created them and monitor them mostly left to go to the trial.

As we catch up with them, THe guardians speak on each lantern being trusted with the ring and given little oversight.. because they pick wisely. The prosecutor just wants John to hang, calls for a sentence, which is death and John and Flash nearly die, in case you thought I was pulling those parallels out of my ass. But Superman rushes in, and in a small, subtle gag he and Jonn do so thorugh a small pain of glass put over where they enterted last time, fight off security and save them, and before prosecutor foot in the ass can harumph about it more.. Superman claims jonn’s innocent..a nd has Shiera smash the generator, showing he indeed is, getting John aquitted. John also attacks Ro, who they brought along as a witness, rightfully so, but the League get him to stop as they don’t have time for that: the Guardians are strangely leaving after that, the manhunters are clearly doing something given their asbent, so John retakes his ring, restored to who he was now knowing he truly WAS innocent and was simply set up.. and he wants to find out why. 

We soon get the why as the Guardians explain the manhunters after the League won’t let them just.. brush by after they aburbtly tried to leave. They AREN’T behind the current attack.. but did create them, feeling robots would be better policeman. They were wrong, with the manhunters lacking empathy, being far too military in their job, and generally not being up for it so they simply gave them smaller jobs as bounty hunters, court balifs that sort of thing ans assumed they were fine because they didn’t say anything. As John puts it perfectly “Not outloud. “ And this itself is the other thing that makes the episode work as an allegory, if a very unteitonal one: The Manhunters are the police as they are now, violent brutes with way too much power, no restraint in using it and no ounce of mercy or sympathy for those they protect. And the Guardians rightfully removed this system, and replaced it with the corps. And while the Corps STILL have a lot of leway and power, being free to investigate on their own provided OA dosen’t call them to do someting specific, and given a ring that can do anything within corps guidelines, which basically means “don’t kill” and “don’t be a dick with it”, the guardians still watch them, do not interfere in trials and choose very wisely. not only that ther’es only one officer per sector, each sector being galaxies wide.. but that’s because that’s only what’s NEEDED. One Lantern with the power to take on entire fleets if needed, which is a fair amount of power given the scope of the job, and come in as requested by the people themselves, honestly isn’t a bad system. Granted the corps is wonky from time to time in the comics as are the guaridans depending on the writer, but at it’s core the corps really sounds like a more responsible versoin of the police: given just the gear necessary, the men necessary, and only called in when truly needed or if they spot a crime in process. THat’s what the people protecting us should be like and that’s why this episode still works. 

Obviously though I was aware of none of this as a kid, and the real reason I loved this episode is this climax. The League arrives on Oa just in time to provide backup. Presumibly the guardians there and incoming with the league simply dont have the power to spare to call for reinforcments. Which is weird but fair enough drama wise and our heroes storm the planet , with the corpsmen from before all showing up to pitch in. But John gets there too late as the head manhunter drains the central power battery, the source of the lantern’s powers, and declares I AM THE POWER, refusing to accept he’s out of date.

 And this, folks is the moment that made me love the lanterns for life. John is outgunned, the wise old wrinkled blue men who gave him his powers drained of there, starring down a massive monster planning to subjigate the universe... and he does not blink. See lanterns are picked for their willpower, their abliity to stare down things like this, and fight anyway, their very rings controlled by this, by their own force of personhood. It’s another reason besides logistics why theires only one per sector: it’s that hard to find one. Earth is so remarkable because , even if it’s simply so we could have more stars in the books over time in real world, we produced not ONE person capable of this.. but 7.. Alan Scott whose not in the corps but whose powers stll work on will and could probably use a regular corps ring very much included. John was chosen because he simply won’t give up. He gave up before.. but it was the right thing to do and ultimately biding his timea nd accepting his trial.. gave his friends time to aquit him and prove he was framed. 

But now is not the time to back down.. now’s the time to stand.. so how does John win? By USING his will, by using the reason he was chosen coupled with ihs own personal dedication and concentration, he grabs his ring as it floats toward the guy, takes it back.. and starts reciting the lantern oath. And since the Manhunter is indeed “The power”.. it means he too can be controlled like any lantern energy. and thus with every bit of willpower he has, struggling all the while but not moving a damn inch, John recites his oath and shoves the monster that framed him, and the power he stole, back into the battery, all while saying an oath so badass it has been etched into my head since thanks to this episode. Say it with me now..

In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night No Evil Shall Escape My Sight Let Those Who Worship Evil’s Might BEWARE MY POWER, GREEN LANTERN’S LIGHT!

And the credit goes to phil lamarr, who delivers the oath with all the gravitas and awesomeness it’s first delivery in this continuty it deserves. It was this that made me a lifelong fan: one man with the power of anytihng using PURE MENTAL STRENGTH AND DETERMiINATION TO SHOVE AN EVIL ENERGY BEING IN A GIANT LANTERN WHILE RECITING A BADASS AND AWE INSPIRING OATH. And if that dosen’t sell you on the Green Lantern’s being awesome I can’t help you and don’t know why your here. 

So wrapup time: The Guardians genuinely thank john, saying they choose well, and John brushes off his fellows corpspersons as they should’ve belivied him and thanks the League for having faith in him even when he didn’t. And while the former part has some.. bad implications we’ve gotten into already, I also can’t entirely blame him given they did it not because he might’ve killed someone but again, because 

Precisley. So our heroes prepare to head home, cue the credits. 

Final Thoughts:

So how does this episode hold up 20 years later? As should be obvious, damn well. It’s a good introduction for the corps, if showing them to be kinda assholes in places, and a good spotlight episdoe for John showing who he is what he stands for and again how TRULY MONUMENTALLY BADASS the man is. And lest you think the comics versoin is any LESS badass, he once got into a sniper duel in with Bedovian, a member of the Sinestro Corps and a crab person.. who was as I forgot till looking it up, THREE SECTORS, which i’ll remind you can comprise entire galaxies, away, with a ring made sniper rifle. In one shot no less. Point is even with some.. wonkier aspects, and ones that aren’t intetnional, it still works and is a shockingly relevant episode 19 years later and the fight scenes, as are standard for the series, are overwhelmingly awesome. Check this one out, and the series as a whole. With its great animation, character work and general badassery this one’s worth a few watches. And obviously given my love of this seires, and it’s 20th anniversay next year, and my love of John, check back here for more John-centric episodes throughout the year as we celebrate the guy. And I will also celebrate the green lantern NAMED guy eventually too, and jessica.. and all of them ebcause I love them all. Yes.. even Hal.  As for which John episode i’m doing next? Easy, one that intorduces me to a character I love who dosen’t get used near enough, Metamorphisis. The when I can’t say QUITE yet as my March schedule is full and most of my ongoing projects are on the backburner so I can tackle two arcs of ducktales, which coincidentally happened to be in time for the finale. That wasn’t planned AT ALL mind you, it just ended up working out really well that way.  For now though tommorow I begin my coverage of the final 4 episodes of ducktales with “Beaks in the Shell” and later this week finish up black history month with blacksad, continue my Lena retrospective with a money shark and some pr work, cover the second season of close enough, celebrate Tex Avery’s birthday and also celebrate the new Tom and Jerry movie.. with the OLD tom and jerry movie. Until then, see you next rainbow. 

[tsarisfanfiction]

Morning After

Fandom: Thunderbirds Rating: Teen Genre: Family Characters: Gordon, Scott

A part two/sequel to my fluffember fic Night Out.  Not properly proof read and will probably go through some revisions before I archive it, but two Tracys, two hangovers, and one bed!  Fluff time~

The first thing Gordon noticed upon awaking was that he was very much not alone in bed.  A warm body was pressed up against him, arm draped over his chest in a quite frankly too tight embrace for sleep and the steady in and out of warm breath fluttered against his neck.  Brain addled with sleep, he couldn’t identify who they were – surely Lady Penelope wouldn’t be quite so heavy, not that they were anywhere near the sleeping in the same bed stage of any relationship – and attempted to pull away.

That was scuppered by the fact that not only did his mysterious bedfellow have him pinned with the arm across his chest, but that his own arm was trapped beneath their body and was entirely dead because whoever they were was heavy.

Resorting to actually opening his eyes – and wincing at the light streaming in through the windows (was it that late already, and ow how much had he drunk last night?) – he squinted in the direction of his shoulder, where their head was pressed, to see dark brown hair.

Oh, yeah.  Now he remembered.

After the absolute disaster that had been the end of their night out, he and Parker had all but dragged Scott to bed, where they’d determined that yes, he was concussed but it really was only minor and most of his behaviour was just because he was drunk. Gordon, as the responsible and caring little brother, had still decided it would be a good idea to spend the night with him, just in case.  The bed was plenty big enough for both of them, so what was the problem?

The problem, he was now discovering, was that a drunk Scott was a cuddly Scott, and at some point during the night, Gordon had been relegated to plushie status.

Scowling, he prodded his brother’s cheek.

“Wake up, Scott,” he grumbled.  Scott was typically a light sleeper – like Gordon – and woke up at dawn (like Gordon). Also like Gordon, he appeared to have lost both of those traits that morning.  Instead of snapping awake, instantly alert, and getting off, Scott grumbled something unintelligible and tightened his grip.  Damn alcohol.  Why had they thought going out drinking was a good idea?

Well, the evening had been fun until Stool-Bastard decided to ruin it.

“Scoooooooott,” he groaned, jabbing his older brother again.  It was even less effective than his first attempt, and he frowned.  It was probably just the alcohol, but at the same time he was concussed, even if only mildly.  “Scott!”

Whether it was simply a case of third time’s the charm, or if the change of tone had alerted Scott’s inner Smother Hen, that got a slightly more awake groan.

“Shuddup,” Scott grumbled. “Tw’early.”

“I’m fairly sure this is a lie-in by your standards, bro,” Gordon commented, nudging him again and making a fresh attempt to free himself from his brother’s hold.  “Are you going to let go any time soon?  Nature’s calling and all that.”

The noise he got in response was a clear protest.

“Scott, I love you, bro, but I’m not your plushie or your girlfriend.  Or boyfriend, for that matter.”

“Mhrr?”

Honestly, if Gordon wasn’t mildly concerned about the concussion, this would be quite amusing. He’d never seen Scott this clingy in his life and the potential blackmail was stacking up with every passing second.

(He made a mental note to drink with him more often, as long as there were no Stool-Bastards around to concuss his brother.)

“Scott.  Bro.  Let go.”  He punctuated the words with another, fiercer, escape attempt.  It was enough to dislodge Scott’s head from his shoulder – or would have been, if Gordon hadn’t realised the danger and caught it. Counter-productive to his freedom, but he wasn’t risking that concussion with anything, even just a fall onto the pillow.  “Scott, I will yell for Parker and then everyone will know there’s a cuddle monster in there.”

“M’nster?” Scott mumbled. “Wha’ m’nster, Grds?  ‘Sno m’nster.”

“So you are listening to me!  Sort of.” Gordon sighed loudly and dramatically, because he really did need to breathe, thank you, Scott.  “There is a monster and it’s called Scott Carpenter Tracy, so if he would wake up properly and let a squid breathe it would be much appreciated.”

“’M ‘wake,” his brother protested, sounding about as far from awake as it was possible to be.

“Yeah, no,” Gordon said flatly.  “This is not awake.  And I really, really, need you to wake up, Scott.”

Right now, the only thing separating Scott from early morning Virgil was the lack of growling. It would be fantastic blackmail if it wasn’t so worrying.  Gentle persuasion was clearly not working, and Gordon needed to be sure this was just typical hungover Scott and not a sign that the concussion was worse than they’d thought.

He pinched Scott’s cheek. Hard.

“Ow!”  The arm that had been pinning Gordon’s chest moved, hand coming to rub at the abused cheek.  “Gordon, what the hell?”

In answer, Gordon tugged at the arm still pinned under his brother, and swallowed a cry of victory when Scott shifted enough for him to reclaim it.  Pins and needles immediately sparked to life in his previously numb arm, and he hissed.

Scott’s arm wrapped back around him, although not quite so tightly, and he groaned.

“Are you still drunk, Scott?”

The negative response was muffled by his neck – because apparently Scott hadn’t moved his head at all. “Hungover,” his brother continued, sounding less than pleased about that fact.  “And concussed.”

Well, if he could recognise that, it definitely couldn’t have been too serious.

Doing his best to ignore the buzzing pins and needles in his arm – success on that front was minimal – Gordon ran his hand lightly over the back of Scott’s head, where he’d been hit. Scott made a quiet noise of protest but didn’t pull away.

“So hungover Scott is as much of a cuddle monster as drunk Scott?” he queried.

“Shuddup.”

“I’ll take that as a yes, then,” he chirped.  “But seriously, bro, you need to let go now, okay?”

There was a pause, and Gordon could see the moment Scott realised he was being clingy by the way his spine stiffened.  A split second later, his brother was rolling off of his shoulder and releasing him.

Not one to be caught a second time, Gordon immediately sat up and regretted it as his head reminded him that he too had been drinking the previous evening, and just because he’d snapped into something vaguely responsible when Scott was attacked didn’t mean the alcohol had miraculously vanished.

A quiet groan later, and he stumbled his way out of the bed.  Nature really was calling, after all, and he ignored his brother’s mumbled attempt at his name – enough concern seeping into his voice that Gordon was confident it was just Smother Hen attempting to appear – to answer.

Scott was still in bed when he returned, now face down in the pillows and looking about as pathetic as Gordon had ever seen him.  Wincing at the mild throbbing in his own head, Gordon made his way over and perched on the bed.

“How’s the head?” he asked.

Scott’s answering groan was closer to a whine.  Gordon took that as a cue to lean over and take a closer look, only for his hands to be batted away by a disgruntled Scott, who then pulled another pillow over the top of his head in a move much more reminiscent of Alan.

“Don’t do that,” Gordon scolded, tugging it back.  “You’ll suffocate yourself.”  Scott made another wordless noise of protest.

Hungover Scott was, Gordon was discovering, a priceless source of entertainment.

“Fine, I won’t touch,” he promised, setting the pillow down out of Scott’s immediate reach.  “How about I call Parker and get him to bring up some water?”

He could certainly do with some.

“’ff til shuddyup,” Scott mumbled into the pillow.  Gordon took that as a yes and pressed the call button.

Parker materialised in the doorway so quickly he could well have been waiting there.  In his hands was a tray, carrying a pitcher of water and two plain glass tumblers.  To Gordon’s delight, there was also-

“h’Aspirin, for your ‘angovers.”  Parker eyed both of them with what Gordon hoped was amusement and not disapproval. “Mr Scott, ‘ow h’are you feeling?”

He got the same groan of misery Gordon had been awarded earlier.  Parker’s expression changed to something that looked fondly sympathetic; Gordon would love to know what Scott had done to get himself in Parker’s soft spot.

The tray was put down in Gordon’s reach, and he took the hint to help himself as the butler perched on the other side of the bed, hand lightly on Scott’s shoulder.

“Come h’on, Mr Scott,” he coaxed.  “h’If you sit h’up, there’s water and h’aspirin.”

Scott grumbled but, miraculously, moved.  He first pushed himself over onto his side, and then collapsed the rest of the way onto his back.  Clearly, his spatial awareness was still offline, because the manoeuvre put him awkwardly draped over Gordon’s hip.

“Up you get,” Gordon encouraged, using the leverage to slip an arm underneath his brother’s shoulders and nudge him.  From behind an arm, blue eyes shot him a baleful glare.

Still, Scott reluctantly obeyed, dragging himself upright and hunching forwards with another groan.

“Drink.”  Gordon pressed a glass of water into his brother’s hand.

He wasn’t sure Scott had ever obeyed him without complaint before, rescues notwithstanding.  It was a little bizarre to see his older brother promptly raise the glass to his lips and take a gulp without so much as a disapproving look.

While Gordon was for the moment content to uphold his agreement not to touch, he did find himself peering closely at the back of Scott’s head as he wrapped his arm around his back to support him.

Nothing seemed wrong, although he was willing to bet it was throbbing something awful, especially combined with the hangover.  To help, he slipped a dose of aspirin into Scott’s hand, and watched the tablets get swallowed down with as much eagerness as his brother had shown for anything since they’d woken up.

Satisfied for the moment that Scott was handled, he continued his own drink, enjoying the bliss of his own aspirin as it began to take the edge off the headache he was attempting to ignore.  Parker, bless the man, had made sure the curtains were closed, preventing the worst of the sun from assaulting his eyes, and with a bit of shuffling, he relocated until he was leaning against the head of the bed.

The sudden appearance of brown in his periphery as a weight settled on his shoulder was thoroughly unexpected.

“Scott?” he asked, looking across to see his brother had joined him and was apparently trying to mimic the previous night by using him as a pillow.

“Shuddup, Gordon,” Scott grumbled, but didn’t pull his head back or make any attempt to straighten from his slumped posture.

Oh, there was so much blackmail to be had here.  Gordon reminded himself that he wanted to go out again with Scott, to see what he was like without the concussion messing things up.  Just… maybe later.

After his head stopped complaining about last night.

He must have fallen asleep again, because the next thing he knew, there were low voices in conversation and a click of a camera.

Dragging open eyes he didn’t remember closing, there was something blue and green and-

Uh oh.

“That makes one of you awake.”

Virgil sounded amused, at least.  Gordon yawned, but found himself unable to stretch.  Something was weighing down his left side, and as he glanced across he saw a shock of brown bedhead.

Huh, how had he missed that earlier?

And when had Virgil turned up?  He wasn’t supposed to be picking them up until late afternoon.

“You’re early,” he accused, trying to escape pillow-duty and finding that his arm had at some point wrapped around Scott’s waist, holding him close.

“I’m not.”  Virgil came closer, amusement fading to concern as he reached for Scott’s head and gently probed with his fingers.  Parker had told him, then.  “You two slept the whole day away.”

Scott grumbled discontentedly and burrowed further into Gordon’s shoulder, away from Virgil’s investigations.  Their medic brother was not so easily deterred, however, and a subconscious hand trying to bat him away was instead captured and passed to Gordon to restrain.

“How is he?” Gordon asked, obediently clasping his brother’s wrist to stop him pushing Virgil away.  He was fairly confident that Scott was fine, but Virgil was undeniably better at diagnoses.

“Stubbornly thick-headed,” Virgil concluded after another few moments.  Blue eyes opened a crack, and the wrist in Gordon’s grip tugged harder. Virgil, ever attuned to their biggest brother, immediately swooped in with a penlight, which Scott grumbled loudly about.  “Should clear up in the next day or two.  Welcome back to the land of the living, Scott.”

“Did you have to shine that in my eye the moment I woke up?” their big brother complained, sounding much more like himself again.

Virgil was thoroughly unrepentant.

“Get dressed, you two,” he said.  “It’s time to go home.”

“Already?” Scott winced, dragging himself upright and raising a hand to the side of his head.  “Urgh.”

“It’s late afternoon, as agreed,” Virgil informed him.  “Don’t worry, you’ve got another forty-eight hours of downtime to go.”  He eyed them both, and Gordon realised that despite Scott raising his head they were still rather tangled together.  “I’ll meet you in the drawing room when you’re ready. Don’t go back to sleep.”

“F.A.B.,” Gordon chirped, unwinding his arm from around Scott’s waist as his older brother peeled himself away from him.

One more assessing look from warm brown eyes – mostly focused Scott’s way – and Virgil left the room.

“Well, I’d say that’s time to move,” Gordon quipped once the door shut, leaving the two of them alone. “You good to get up?”

“I’m fine,” Scott retorted, inelegantly clambering off the large bed and narrowly avoiding face-planting the floor.  There was the stubborn big brother Gordon knew.  “Get dressed, Gordon.”

Gordon eyed him as he regained his balance and headed for his packed bag, before concluding that Scott was probably stubborn enough to not fall over.  As the Creighton-Ward Manor was far from small, he himself had his own room, which was where his bag was waiting for him, so with one last assessing look at his big brother, he slipped out to get his stuff.

Scott was no doubt expecting him to go downstairs to join Virgil and Lady Penelope once he was presentable – and on any other occasion, Gordon would be doing exactly that, especially as he’d managed to sleep the day away instead of spending it with Lady Penelope as planned – but he was still concerned about Scott, so with his bag slung over his shoulder he returned to his brother’s room.

His brother was dressed and attempting to tame his bedhead when he walked in, pot of gel on the vanity table as he glowered at the mirror.  Of course, Scott couldn’t possibly be seen with a hair out of place.  Gordon rolled his eyes as his brother’s reflection winced, fingers obviously catching the origin of his concussion.

“Sit down,” he ordered. Scott jumped, apparently having missed him coming up behind him despite looking in the mirror.

“Gordon?”

“That’s me, bro.” Gordon hooked a foot around the stool and yanked it behind Scott before putting a hand on his shoulder and pressing down.  “Sit.”

“What do you want?” Scott didn’t budge, a hint of suspicion in his voice.  “I’m almost done.”

“You’ve barely started,” Gordon rebuked, flicking a particularly flyaway section of hair.  “Virgil won’t wait forever, you know.”  He put both his hands on Scott’s shoulders and pushed again.  His brother reluctantly sank down onto the seat.

“Gordon, what are you doing?” Scott demanded.  Gordon let his bag fall to the lushly carpeted floor and scooped up the hair gel.

“Doing your hair.”

“What?”  His brother swivelled around sharply, before wincing. Gordon rolled his eyes again and gently prodded him into facing forwards again.

“You can watch what I’m doing in the mirror,” he reminded him, running his fingers lightly through his brother’s bedhead.  At least part of it was obviously caused by using his shoulder as a pillow.

Blue eyes locked with his suspiciously via the mirror.  He grinned at them.

“Relax, Scott,” he soothed. “I’m not going to do anything you wouldn’t.”  He wasn’t even sure why he’d decided to take over his brother’s hair-care routine, except Scott had looked like he was going to fall over the way he’d been standing, and maybe he was still worried.

“You’d better not,” his brother threatened, which was also a surrender and permission.  Gordon ran his fingers through a few more times, catching the flyaway strands and reminding them where they usually settled before scooping some gel out of the pot to work into the brown hair.

It wasn’t quite up to Scott’s usual standards, because Gordon wasn’t Scott and didn’t usually use so much hair gel – and also because no matter how gentle he was, Scott still flinched when his fingers brushed where he’d been bashed.  Still, it was a pretty good attempt, if he did say so himself, and Scott wasn’t voicing any complaints.

Then again, Scott was probably surprised Gordon had done as promised and not added any twists to the hairstyle.  Another time, maybe.

“All done,” he declared, after one last time running his fingers through.  Scott squinted at the mirror, touching his hair lightly, before passing judgement.

“It’ll do.”

Coming from Scott, that was suspiciously high praise.  Gordon eyed him as he pulled himself to his feet.

“You okay, bro?” he asked.

“Fine.”  The response was so fast it had to be automatic, but Scott made no move to retract it.  Instead, he reclaimed the pot of hair gel and tossed it in his bag.  Gordon stooped to retrieve his own, slinging it over one shoulder.  “Best not to keep Virgil waiting, otherwise he’ll come see what’s taking us so long.”

He wasn’t wrong. Gordon was somewhat surprised their brother hadn’t already returned to check up on them.  He said as much, and Scott gave a grimaced smile.

Big brother could dish the smothering, but he wasn’t so good at taking it.

“I’m fine,” he said, despite the fact they both knew his head was still hurting him.  Scott shouldered his bag and headed towards the door, only to pause and wrap an arm around Gordon’s shoulders in a clear half-hug. “But thanks for looking out for me last night.”

The words were accompanied by a smile, and Gordon reached out to squeeze him back.

“What else was I supposed to do?” he asked, only half-joking.  “You’re my brother.  I get dibs on messing with you, not some drunk down the pub.”

Scott huffed out a laugh. “Love you, too, little brother. Now we need to find Virgil before he starts worrying.”

As though he thought he’d ever stopped.  Still, Gordon grinned.  “Let’s get you home, big brother.”

[lady-griffin]

I am curious about something and your opinions on a Hamefura are fun to read. So, I’m not sure if you have much interest in them, but what are your opinions on the first and second princes Geoffrey and Ian? And in particular, Geoffrey’s seemingly two-faced nature. Do you think that kind of behavior might’ve spawned from something in the past?

@sapphireshineauthor

I’m not entirely sure about Geoffrey’s two-faced nature.

It does seem like being two-face is kind of a family trait – I’m mean we have Geordo and I remember (though I could be super wrong) there was something mentioned about their mother...maybe....

But we also know why Geordo is that way or I guess we know he could’ve really turned out that way if it was not for Katarina. Not like Geoffrey specifically, but just that we know a possible future for Geordo was for him to have always been wearing his Perfect Prince Identity all the time and never being himself with anyone.

But now in the current time-line, we know that while the Perfect Prince identity is still a thing for Geordo – it’s a much thinner mask. It comes off pretty regularly – when Geordo gets back at people, or is being competitive with Katarina’s other suitors, or simply scaring others away from her.

And Katarina usually does see a genuine Geordo, because Geordo is always pretty much (or at least I think) genuinely and sincerely happy to be with Katarina and being around her and she has certainly seen the black hearted side of him (and obviously knows about it from her past life).

In general, though, there does seem to be a two-face aspect to the current royal family, as well as it just being a popular trope in these kind of series (at least I’ve notice that).

I don’t think that something specific that happened to Geordo that really caused this (I could obviously be 100% wrong). But to me Geoffrey’s two-face has more to do with his plan and him being a Prince who’s probably always being watching and judged by others. 

Geoffrey’s plan (or was) was to get all the corrupt and bad nobles into his camp or faction, so that none of them would/will go near his beloved brothers and potentially ruin their good names or hurt them. So, I guess I kind of assumed that his dual-nature is simply just a part of that. He wants people to think he’s a certain way, that way he can systemically banish a lot of the corrupt noblemen and women. 

And unlike Geordo in some timelines, Geoffrey has Suzannah who knows what he’s really like and is his ally through and through. So, he does have people who know the real him. 

Even though he would probably be better off with his brothers knowing who he really is, as it seemed to me, that Alan and Geordo don’t really believe him when he says how much he loves them and think he’s just being ridiculous and not being sincere.

I would honestly love to see more of Ian and Geoffrey and just get to know them better. I don’t have many thoughts on Ian, as I don’t really know much about him. I did love his dynamic with Selena and how she truly believed Ian didn’t love her and was just stuck with her and while he would never say anything, he was miserable with the situation. But of course, he was absolutely in love with Selena.

I just liked that.

 I like both brothers, but I absolutely love their fiancees -- Suzannah and Selena. 

I also like that it does seem when one of these royals fall for a woman, they fall hard and become 100% dedicated. While 

Geordo and Ian are aware of what happened, Alan, we know can remain unaware for quite some time.

And I’m pretty sure Geoffrey falls more closely with Alan in that regard. I think he’s fallen for Suzannah, but just isn’t 100% aware of that (or at least wasn’t aware since the Last Light Novel I read). 

I don’t have much more to say, but thank you for the ask and I’m sorry for this very late reply.

I do hope we get to see more of these two brothers. They are fun characters and I’m sure I would like them even more, if we simply got more of them.

[berkmansimagines]

Barry Spending the Holidays with His Teen Daughter Headcanons

A/N: I just wanted to write something cute and fun. Happy holidays everybody! 

You and Barry got a Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. You spent over an hour at the tree lot before finding the perfect one

You’ve been slowly building up an ornament collection throughout the year. The tree is decked out with fun ornaments including Harry Potter, Batman, the Millennium Falcon, Baby Yoda, Jack Skellington and the Friends couch (a gift from Sally)

“Do you think we should get like traditional ornaments?”

“Eh, what’s so great about being traditional anyways?” 

Barry put up Christmas lights that wrap around the entire apartment. He even got extra lights that he hung off the ceiling. It’s so beautiful when they are all lit up. You’re trying to convince your dad to keep them up all year round

There are several Christmas movies that have been playing on rotation. Home Alone, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Elf and Gremlins just to name a few

You two have watched Die Hard at least 7 times in the past few weeks. It honestly never gets old

Whenever Sally comes over you usually end up watching a rom-com like Love Actually, The Holiday or one of the many Netflix holiday movies

One night when Barry is out late for work, you and Sally watch A Christmas Prince together. Sally thinks Barry’s at Lululemon, but you know the truth. Your father was on a hit

Barry stumbles home and looks drained. He says he’s going to bed but you convince him to stay up and finish watching the movie with you and Sally. You don’t want him to be alone

He actually really gets into A Christmas Prince. You can tell this family time is cheering him up. The three of you end up watching the entire Christmas Prince trilogy that night

Sally ropes Barry into doing the Keira Knightly cue card scene from Love Actually for Mr. Cousineau’s class

“It’s all in the face and timing of the cue card changes, Barry!”

They practice the scene in front of you and damn you never realized how awkward it was to actually see it played out in person

“Guys I love that movie but I think this is a terrible idea.”

Sally eventually drops the idea. They settle on doing the scene when Emma Thompson confronts Alan Rickman near the end of the film

On Christmas Eve, you and Sally bake cookies from scratch. Barry is not a baker and thinks he’ll do more harm than good. He volunteers to clean up afterwards instead

Your boyfriend, Steve, comes over to join your family gathering. When you open the door he surprises you with a mistletoe

Sally thinks it’s super cute. Barry gives your boyfriend a dirty look

After dinner, the four of you watch a double feature of It’s a Wonderful Life and Die Hard (of course!)

On Christmas morning, Sally makes her special holiday pancakes with cinnamon. You don’t even start opening gifts until you’ve all finished breakfast

Your present to Barry is a copy of Mr. Cousineau’s book. You remember your dad mentioning that he lost his copy a while back. He never did get around to picking up another one

Barry got you a new MacBook. He noticed that your laptop screen had a crack in it and it was very worn down

“Dad, thank you so much! This is like the best present I’ve ever gotten...”

You give your dad a big hug. Barry loves seeing you so happy. Despite all the shit he goes through for his job, moments like this makes it all worth it. He likes being able to provide for his kid and putting presents under the tree

[mr-humphries]

Might as well share this here. It's just a roleplay I did with myself over on BB Amino to cure my boredom, so dont expect it to be good fJFJEK

Peak my oc too 😩✨

_________

To be sent on a late soul collection was one thing, but the task of elimination was just baffling. Charlie would much rather be at home with that chonky little cat of his instead of being released on a life or death mission that could leave him extremely injured. But he knows better to disobey the higher-ups. Adjusting his glasses, Charlie remained cloaked in the shadow of a building, keeping his eye out for the target he was sent to rid of, one Alan Humphries, the fallen grim reaper who miraculously reappeared after the events of Crystal Palace, despite his partner having taken his life and 1000 souls were accounted for.

Whatever that blasted Undertaker has done with him, its messed up the entirety of Dispatch, dealing with taunts and attacks from the very same "reaper". And he was a good one at that. He was someone Charlie felt no reason to fight with.

He didn't have a say in this anyway.

Charlie flipped through his collection book, still awaiting the appointed time. Even at the slightest sound, he was on alert, a hand on his (cloaked) scythe, prepared to strike when he gets the chance. If only he was smarter than that, then he wouldve seen what was coming. A scythe. Right to face.

"Fancy seeing your face around here reaper," he taunted, while Charlie staggered and readied his own scythe, looking around in every direction "a fresh face like yours would make you someone fun to toy with" A grip on Charlie's shoulder startled him, making him spin around and attempt to attack whoever's behind him, which failed, and sent him flying into a corner. "Honestly mate, surely they would teach you better than that at the academy," a scythe blade pressed up to his throat "it's a little pathetic."

Charlie dropped whatever was in his hands and held them up, almost surrendering "I'm not sure what you want me to say, Humphries"

"Come on, what's with the formalities? I may be out hunting the Dispatch for my enjoyment and the sake of being rewarded quite generously, but you dont have to be formal about it, its weird-" Alan rolled his eyes, which had no real discernable colour, mainly faded or Grey, before peering back down at the reaper "so. What do you want?"

Charlie simply glared at the reaper standing above him, despite his short height, he was quite intimidating. "I want nothing from you-"

Alan scowled, pressing his scythe harder on Charlie's neck "come on now, you dont have to lie to me. I'm not a parrot. I wont be repeating anything to anyone else, but I will take something personally. So tread lightly regardless." Alan flashed him a soft smirk, just loving the defeat in Charlie's eyes. "I was sent to rid of you"

"Did Spears send you?"

"The Higher-ups sent me-" Charlie stopped glaring to stare into the wall beside him "I didnt want to be here, I had to go against my own will." Alan snickered at Charlie's remark "what's so funny about that?"

"The fact that Dispatch would rather save their own skins sending someone so under qualified for the job," Alan pulled the scythe away from Charlie, crouching in front of him with a smirk "Its kind of sad really... that they dont actually care for you and send you for a sacrifice~"

"You say that as if it's a terrible thing"

"Terrible? No no, better for me, but quite selfish indeed..." he chuckled.

"so, what I'm getting from this is Higher-ups are afraid of me?"

Charlie hesitated, "I wouldnt say afraid-" Alan groaned in response "you dont have to e going and defending them. They sent you out here to rid of me, and look at where it's getting you. Not very far."

"Regardless of what theyve done, I'm still alive like this because of them. I still have a bit of faith if getting redeemed, is that so wrong?"

"Oh you poor thing... thinking theres life after death... a redemption waiting for you just beyond the horizon," Alan got up, giggling, before a deadpan look came across his face when Charlie didnt laugh too "heaven doesn't exist, lad. All that waits, is hell, no matter how hard you work. Lower your expectations a little, 'kay?" Alan's smiled reappeared "now, if it's up to schedule I suppose we'll be meeting again. I'm free at 6 on wednesdays if your rather settle this over dinner," Alan turned and began to leave, waving him off "ta ta I guess."

Charlie quickly got up, stumbling as he ran after him "now hold on just a second!"

"Eh?"

"You work for undertaker- you mention he'd give you a generous reward for slaying the Reapers, right-?"

Alan raised an eyebrow, prompting Charlie to huff "you know, for a dangerous person you're not very considerate-"

"Why do you wanna know?"

Charlie remained silent for a moment, fiddling with his jacket sleeves before answering "just wanted to know."

Alan kept an brow raised, thinking for a moment "what do I get in return for this information, Junior?"

"anything. I'll let you have me. You can kill me, bring me back, whatever. I'll do anything. Justblet me know what Undertaker has."

Alan held a sceptical look on his face "... you know what, because you've been such a good sport. No. I'm not telling you a thing, itll be more torturous to live out that sad little life of yours- none of your business really."

Charlie glared "oh come on! I offered you whatever I can think of!!"

The "reaper" laughed "AH, BUT YOU THOUGHT I WOULD TELL YOU!"

"what's wrong with you?!"

"tell you what, right, I'll compromise with you. I'll tell you what you want, but you have to tell me everything about Dispatch, dates, times of everything. With your shocking combat skills, you're most likely in general affairs..."

Charlie looked down, huffing "deal."

Alan smirked and chuckled, "good." He maneuvered in front of Charlie, knocking the scythe from his hand, taking a real tough grip on his tie and waist to pull him in close, whispering into his ear "when our deal is through... and Dispatch is completely out of commission... I can finally take back what was mine. My Eric~ and, oh, I haven't seen him in years. I'm sure it would be nice to catch up... wouldn't you think?" Charlie's eyes widened "and when hes finally returned, I can finally knock sense into that Michaelis, for making such a big deal of 1000 souls... it's what got My beloved killed after all." Alan let out a dark chuckle, making Charlie shiver, suddenly gasping for air when his tie was tightened around his neck, watching as Alan backed away "and you wont be getting in the way, correct?"

Charlie shook his head vigorously, choking for air when alan let go and the tie loosened slightly "Good. You're a great listener. Let me know when we shall meet again. Doesnt matter where, I'll always find you." 

Charlie kept choking for a moment, tearing up slightly as he glared up at the other, "I-I'll find out what I can- we'll meet tomorrow..."

"Glad you're cooperating. Til we meet again." He waved to Charlie, before walking off and leaving him to loosen his tie completely and try to breathe once more.

Oh how screwed he was.