#i already know the guardian kid lineup though

[aquared]

important Question. are the guardians (mom lalonde and grandpa harley) in the aquared au .please. i’m so hungry for guardian conten t

the main guardians dont stay the same characters despite the apparent last name sharing if thats what ur asking

[bitimdrake]

hi! i read your dc timeline (fantastic job btw) and had trouble following all the titans/teen titans/young justice/outsiders stuff. so i was wondering what's the difference between those four groups/how many iterations of each group there were/who were their members?

Thanks! The differences between these groups is fairly easy to answer. The membership and iterations...not so much. I will first link to my (Teen) Titans reading order, which gives the gist of each era, and my Young Justice reading order (both preboot only).

Like any teams that last more than a few years, all four of those teams have had various iterations with various lineups. At the most basic level:

"Teen Titans" was initially a team of the original sidekicks (think Dick, Donna, Wally, etc), but has since become the default name for DC's current team of young heroes, whoever they may be.

"Titans" is specifically used for teams with that original generation of sidekicks, but now grown up as adults.

"Young Justice" is for the 90s generation of kid heroes (okay, some introduced in the 80s; think Tim, Bart, Cassie, etc), and has really only been used as a name for that group/generation.

And "Outsiders" is actually typically a Batman-led team of fully adult heroes that has the least overlap here--except for one particular iteration of the team in 2003 with young adult heroes, including Dick, Roy, and Kory.

tl;dr: The Titans and Young Justice are based on specific groups, the Teen Titans are any kid heroes, and the Outsiders are mostly irrelevant just with one major exception.

This means that:

Young Justice and the Titans have existed at the same time, one as the teen generation of Tim/Bart/etc, one as the young adult generation of Dick/Donna etc.

The Teen Titans and the Titans have existed at the same time. Though the naming is more confusing here, the idea is the same: the Teen Titans are the teen heroes (typically Tim-generation for this, maybe even younger), and the Titans are the Dick-generation young adults.

In recent years, the Teen Titans and Young Justice have existed at the same time. Young Justice remains the Tim-generation, and the Teen Titans are either an even newer, younger team (think Damian, Crush), or just DC's latest attempt at capitalizing on the famous name (typically with the characters known from the animated show: Raven, Cyborg, etc).

The Outsiders may or may not have existed in conjunction with any number of these, because they usually draw from a whole different set of potential characters.

As for the number of iterations and list of members...Yeah. Putting that under a cut.

A Pre-Flashpoint History

I’m going to thoroughly cover Titans/Teen Titans/Young Justice here, but I will be a lot less detailed on the Outsiders because I don’t know them as well.

The Teen Titans I (60s, 70s) sprang out of a team up between Dick Grayson/Robin, Wally West/Kid Flash, and Garth/Aqualad. The team was officially founded and formed by the fab five: those three, plus Donna Troy/Wonder Girl and Roy Harper/Speedy.

This team would have like a dozen other members at various points over the years, including Lilith Clay, Mal Duncan/Guardian/Herald, and Hank and Don Hall/Hawk and Dove.

They also briefly had a mostly-offscreen spinoff, the Titans West, which included such members as Gar Logan/Beast Boy, Bette Kane/Flamebird, and Hawk and Dove.

The Teen Titan got together in mid adolescence, and had a lot of cheesy adventures against such foes as Mad Mod and Ding Dong Daddy. They broke up when many members starting going off to college or otherwise moving on in life.

The New (Teen) Titans (80s), reassembled by Raven to fight her father, were half a reformation of old members (Dick, Donna, Wally, plus Gar now going by Changeling) and half new members (Raven, Koriand'r/Starfire, Vic Stone/Cyborg). As they were already all 18-19 when the team started--minus youngster Gar--the "Teen" was soon dropped from the name. Wally would end up leaving this team, and others like Joey Wilson/Jericho, Kole, and Danny Chase would join. Former Titans and allies, like Roy and Garth, would periodically show up to help out as well.

This run took a more serious tone and had a lot of character progression. It's when many of the first generation of sidekicks changed identities: Robin to Nightwing, Wonder Girl to Troia and later no codename, Speedy to Arsenal, etc. It also introduced such villains as Slade Wilson/Deathstroke (including the famous Judas Contract story with Terra), HIVE, Brother Blood, and Komand'r/Blackfire.

The original Outsiders I were also formed in the 80s, led by Batman and including iconic members like Black Lightning and Katana.

In the early 90s, the New Titans fell apart for a variety of terrible reasons and had massive shifts in membership. Half of them left or died or were completely changed; others like Leonid Kovar/Red Star, Pantha, and Miriam Delgado/Mirage joined, and the whole thing was a mess.

After a lot of spiraling, the team was almost entirely swapped to a largely new group funded by the government and led by Roy/Arsenal, including Gar, Miriam, Grant Emerson/Damage, Kyle Rayner/Green Lantern, Bart Allen/Impulse, Rose Wilson, Martix Supergirl, a maybe-new-maybe-not version of Terra, and more. This group was still under the New Titans name and in the same run, despite little member overlap. They split up when the government pulled funding.

Apparently there was another iteration of the Outsiders II briefly in the mid-90s, but I truly cannot tell you much about it. Still unrelated to the younger generations.

The Teen Titans II (mid 90s) were the first group to use the name with zero tie to the founders. Led by a de-aged Ray Palmer/Atom, this group consisted of teens kidnapped by aliens and genetically modified--Toni Monetti/Argent, Isiah Crockett/Joto, Audrey Spears/Prysm, and Cody Discoll/Risk. This run only lasted a couple years.

Young Justice I (late 90s/early 00s) sprang out of a team up between Tim Drake/Robin, Superboy (later named Kon-el), Bart Allen/Impulse, and Secret. The team shortly added Cassie Sandsmark/Wonder Girl and Cissie King-Jones/Arrowette, and later Anita Fite/Empress, Slobo, and Ray Terril/Ray. Under the vague mentorship of Red Tornado, this group had wacky coming of age adventures.

This is also when teams start to overlap:

The Titans I (late 90s/early 00s) formed out of the original (teen) Titans just really missing each other, okay? This team melded together the original fab five (Wally now the Flash; Garth now Tempest), Cyborg and Starfire of the original New Titans, Grant/Damage of Arsenal's New Titans, Toni/Argent of the second Teen Titans, and new-to-the-titans Jesse Quick. Other old Titans appeared here and there (Rose Wilson as Lian's babysitter <3), and a number of the starting group left along the way.

Events in 2003 broke up both Young Justice and the Titans simultaneously, and members shuffled around.

A few of the now-former Titans joined the Outsiders III (mid 00s), the one version of that team relevant here. The team was formed by Roy and initially led by Dick, and included members like Grace Choi, Anissa Pierce/Thunder, Metamorpho/Shift, and later Jennifer-Lynn Hayden/Jade and Kory/Starfire. This team was kind of a disaster (compliment) and the series took an adult tone with mature themes.

(Note: I dig the 2003 Outsiders, but there was no reason for them to be called the Outsiders. It’s just hollow name reuse for no reason.)

Meanwhile, the Teen Titans III (mid 00s-early 10s) formed with a combination of older members from the New Titans--like Kory, Vic, and Gar (Beast Boy again)--and younger members from Young Justice--Tim, Cassie, Kon-El Conner Kent, and Bart. Others like Raven and Mia Dearden/Speedy joined later.

Honestly I’m having a hard time cleanly describing the tone/identity of this series. It was a superheroes series about a team of young heroes/sidekicks. Idk. It exists and ran for a long time.

After the Infinite Crisis in 2006, everything in DC jumped One Year Later. Over the course of that missing year, the Teen Titans had a variety of rotating, mostly second-string members. But that’s really just briefly seen in 52 and never had any real appearances, so whatever.

After One Year Later, the team did have a major shake up. All the young adult members left, leaving just the teens, and many new members joined. And left. And joined. And left. I think Cassie is the only consistent member. There is a lot of turnover in the back half of this series, but some Teen Titans here include: Rose Wilson/Ravager, M’gann Morzz/Miss Martian, Eddie Bloomberg/Kid Devil/Red Devil, Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle, and Amy Allen/Bombshell.

This constantly-rotating team would last all the way until the New 52.

Meanwhile the older generation kept switching:

The Outsiders also had a shake up after One Year Later, when it turned out they were all now fugitives for accidentally maybe doing some bad stuff. (Most important to me, Roy left so what is even the point now. “Dick is still there,” yeah but he’s not being a bitch (entertaining) anymore; he’s just grumpy.) Much of the team was gone by now, but they added Owen Mercer/Captain Boomerang Jr and Katana.

Only like a year (irl) later, Batman decided he wanted this to be his team again, and almost the entirety of the team swapped out for the Outsiders IV, which was more like the original/standard line-up, with only a few from the unusual 2003 iteration.

With the Outsiders a team of real adults again, many of the young adults were freed up. And you know what that means! Titans II (late 00s): these friends truly cannot stay away from each other. It’s a combination of the original team and the NTT: Dick, Roy (now Red Arrow), Donna, Wally, Kory, and Vic.

And also Gar and Raven kept moving between the Titans and the Teen Titans, because DC couldn’t decide how old they were supposed to be after Raven’s de-aging.

Despite the great line-up, these Titans were not to last, as DC was making a lot of changes and half the characters had other things to do. Dick had to replace a missing Bruce as Batman. Wally was always over-taxed as the Flash on the JLA and the Titans. Roy’s daughter was killed, leading him to relapse, in what everyone naively thought was the worst writing Roy would ever have before the New 52 proved just how much worse it could get. The team fell apart.

Slade Wilson/Deathstroke swooped in to form the Titans: Villains for Hire (early 10s) a team of villains and morally grey characters like Cheshire, Osiris, and [deep sigh] downward spiral Roy (now Arsenal once again), all with their own agendas.

(Note: it’s dumb as hell that this team was called the Titans. It was even more hollow name re-use. Come on, DC, just make up a new name for once.)

In the very end, the villain part split and there was a glimmer that a healing Roy and a resurrected/not evil (long story) Joey Wilson might make a new Titans team, an abandoned idea that lingers in my mind to this day...

But t’was not to be because--

A Prime Earth History

Flashpoint blew up and rebooted the entire universe.

This recap will be shakier, as I have not read anything from the latter part of it. (Still trapped in the New 52 over here.) Also I’m going to stop recapping the Outsiders entirely, sorry.

In the New 52, all history and most of what made DC good was erased. The Titans had never existed.

The (New 52) Teen Titans IV (early/mid 10s) were, in their continuity, the first team of that name. This team included rebooted, in-name only versions of Tim Drake [redacted]/Red Robin, Cassie Sandsmark/Wonder Girl, Kon-El/Superboy, Bart Allen Bar Torr/Kid Flash, Kiran Singh/Solstice, Miguel Barragan/Bunker, etc.

The theme of this run was “bad writing” and the tone was “awful”. Somehow it lasted the entire New 52 and into Rebirth.

My knowledge is really, really shaky after this:

The (Rebirth) Titans III (late 10s) formed with the original generation finally reunited, after fans revolted in the face of DC trying to erase Wally West from existence. This team had the fab five and fellow original (Teen) Titan, Lilith/Omen.

Then the (Rebirth) Teen Titans V (late 10s) formed, with a bunch of iconic young adult characters like Kory, Vic, and Gar, plus teenager Wallace West/Kid Flash (not that one; there are two Wally Wests now) and Damian Wayne/Robin. Apparently Damian is the leader of this team despite being the only child on it and. why. I don’t understand.

At some point that team revamped and became entirely a team of youngsters like Damian, Wallace, the new Red Arrow/Emiko Queen, and Xiomara Rojas/Crush.

Young Justice II (late 10s/early 20s) reformed after a while, with the universe slowly restoring bits from New Earth. This team was Kon, Bart, Tim, Cassie, and a few new peers like Jinny Hex and Teen Lantern.

The (Teen?) Titans Academy (early 20s) I believed formed with the idea of older, established Titans like Vic, Donna, Kory, etc mentoring a whole bunch of very new young heroes who I’m looking at the wiki list for and boy that’s a lot of names. Huh. I think this one is still ongoing?

Which means we have reached the present, and my list now ends.

I wonder if this makes the top 5 for my longest posts.

[romancomicsblog]

How Blue Beetle is the Hero James Gunn's DCU Needs

It is no secret the DC Universe has had its fair share of setbacks when it has come to live action films.

From trying to start a universe with Green Lantern, to Man of Steel starting the inconsistent DCEU, it has been hard to watch so many heroes wasted by studio interference, failed universe building, and let's just say, unorthodoxed takes on famous characters (I'm looking at you Joker and Lex).

Now we have an opportunity for a fresh start.

Director James Gunn has a new lineup of films consisting of big swings and fan favorite characters, hoping to build up the DCU we know and love.

In this new marriage between Warner Bros and Gunn, he has inherited 4 children from the previous marriage. The previous box office bomb Shazam! Fury of the Gods, the current box office bomb The Flash, the sequel to one of the biggest DCEU movies Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and Blue Beetle, the attempt at a new hero for the DCEU franchise who is somewhat left up in the air between DCEU and DCU.

While some have already chalked this up as another potential bomb, of the 4 movies, this has been my most anticipated.

Unlike the others, Blue Beetle I believe is in a prime slot as the right character, right time, not only to the general public, but to the DCU. Here's why:

1. The Flexibility of Blue Beetle

Unlike the characters Shazam, Flash, and Aquaman, Blue Beetle is not directly attached the DCEU.

Besides a mention of Batman, and the gear of (the probably late) Ted Kord, Blue Beetle doesn't have many connections to a wider DC Universe. He can exist in either, if they wish to continue one or both.

2. The World Building Potential

Blue Beetle opens up another part of the DC Universe in multiple different ways EARLY.

As the Scarab is a part of The Reach, this opens up a whole other side of DCU we have never seen, and potentially sets up an invasion storyline.

The Reach also have a deal with The Guardians of the Universe of Oa, setting him up for a potential Green Lantern crossover nicely.

But unlike many other heroes, Jaime Reyes isn't just a member of the Justice League...

He's a TEEN TITAN!

Jaime opens the door to young heroes existing already! The Teen Titans are a fan favorite, but he is also a member of Young Justice, who are equally as fun.

This is currently an untapped market for both DC and Marvel (though I'm sure the Young Avengers are coming). Jaime can act as a door between both, offering a perspective as the youngest member of the Justice League, and the senior member of the Titans.

3. Legacy Characters are IN

A particular kind at least.

If I had a nickel for every legacy character who is (vaguely) attached to a hero they admire, who take on that hero's name, with a similar but different set of powers, who then makes their old costume better, and who happen to be a person of color, I'd have three nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it has happened thrice.

The most famous of course is Miles Morales AKA Spider-Man, who has headed two incredible movies and a pretty sweet video game, along with several appearances in animation.

The second is fan favorite Kamala Khan AKA Ms. Marvel, who had a pretty solid show and also headed up a video game. While these are not as good as Mile's, they are both in the zeitgeist, and with her big film debut coming up in The Marvels, Iman Vellani has a bright future ahead of herself in and out of the MCU.

And finally, we have Blue Beetle! While he is a legacy character by name, he becomes Blue Beetle AFTER Ted Kord dies in comics, similar to Miles and Peter Parker. He carries the weight and legacy of a hero he never knew, and tries to do it his own way.

That is something audiences are loving right now, and Blue Beetle can tell a similar story.

and finally...

4. Xolo Maridueña is Perfect

You think I'm overselling him, but I'm not.

If you don't know his name yet, you will soon. As the star of Cobra Kai, Xolo plays Miguel, a kid from nowhere trying to live up to the legacy of man he deems great. If that isn't Jaime, I don't know what is.

Xolo plays every role he has with heart, charm, and has comedic timing to beat. As one of its leads, Xolo helped take Cobra Kai from a YouTube Red Series to one of Netflix's BIGGEST Shows.

And at only 22, he is young enough to play a late teen, and to be in this role for years to come.

In Marvel talk, we can very much be looking at DC's Tom Holland, and Blue Beetle could be Spider-Man Homecoming.

The bottomline is, I am beyond stoked for Blue Beetle, and as a Latinx fan, I know I'm gonna be there day 1, rooting for its success.

I hope to look back on this 10 years later, as the Justice League unite with Jaime up there with em, three movies under Xolo's belt, a fan favorite, with more to come.

Thank you for reading! If you'd like to support me you can follow me on socials here!

[spellbook-gayboy]

Just An Old Man With An Shield: Exclusive Interview With The First American Superhero by Christina Cabello

If you were to ask a person on the street to name a famous superhero, they’d likely answer with a member of the Guardians or Capes Incorporated, or perhaps a solo hero like Pangaea, Shrapnel or Demigod. But it’s also likely that a good chunk of them would answer with one man in particular: Frontline.

And for good reason, too. The man is often referred to as ‘the Tom Hanks of the superhero community’, in terms of both glowing reputation and paternal charm. Time Magazine chose him as Super Person Of The Year not once, not twice, but three times (1945, 1972 and 1990). His statue stands tall to greet visitors to the Museum Of American Superheroes, sculpted from pure copper and draped in the American flag. His career is only second in length to the Immortal, starting on the blasted fields of The Second World War and ending with his apparent death in 1994. However, he was recently discovered to be alive, undergoing months of physical and psychological rehabilitation before making his grand return against members of the Order. Needless to say, he’s quite the public figure. 

Which is why we were surprised to have him reach out to us at the Cape-Watch headquarters in Seattle, asking for me in particular due to a ‘glowing reference from the kid’, who he later identified as Invincible, who the more avid readers might remember from my opinion piece made last month. So, as any reporter with a nose for good stories would, I caught a plane over to the Pentagon, got directed to a clean and well-lit interview room, and met with him. What follows below is the recorded contents of my interview with him, minus questions not authorised for public release by government officials overseeing the interview:

---

Well, sir, before we get into the questions, is there you’d like to tell the audience?: Well, I guess I’d say it’s good to be back! I’ve been away for a long time, and I’m keen to get back into the old heroism business!

Okay, first question! Now this one is pretty loaded, but how would describe your first few months in the modern world?: I actually spent the first couple of weeks in a coma. Once I was up, it was non-stop physiotherapy and psych evaluations and just making sure my body wouldn’t fall apart outside of the infirmary. Hell, by the time the news broke that I was alive, I was already cleared for field duty!

Speaking of field duty, I hear you’ve been recently rooming with the Guardians Of The Globe. What are you thoughts on the new lineup?: Oh, they’re great! Of course, I’ve known Immortal since ‘42 and Samson since he was about 14, but the new ones are just as great! That Rex kid’s got a real firecracker personality but he’s also really mellow when he needs to be, Kate really helped me with getting used to all the modern things, and Rae apparently has a collection of these old superhero shows that I never got the chance to watch the first time around. And of course, Monster Girl holds her own in the sparring matches, and Robot’s got a brain on him I haven’t seen before!

What would you consider to be the strangest thing you’ve encountered thus far in the modern world?: Definitely Bluetooth! Still bugs me how you can wear headphones with no wires and play music like they’re still there!

Moving on, have you met many of the hero teams that popped up since you disappeared? Any thoughts on them?: I’ve met Capes Incorporated! My issues with the idea of corporate superheroes aside, they’re an alright bunch. Apparently, the lady with the boxing gloves was a big fan of mine growing up! Aside from them, I did have the misfortune of meeting Fight Force. Whoever trained them needs to hang up the cape!

Any plans now that you’re back?: You know what? I’m gonna get a burger. Seems basic, I know, but what can I say? Oh, with a hotdog and soda, too! If we’re being serious, though, I would like to see a movie or go to a carnival, if those still exist. Do we- do we still have carnivals?

Is there anything, or anyone, you miss from before you disappeared?: Well, I lost my Sony Walkman when I went, so there’s that! As for people... I miss a lot of people: my pals from the Army, Soprano, Pa- I mean the original Red Rush, umm... (AN: at this point, Frontline goes quiet for a few moments while staring at the floor and quietly sniffling), and the kids in the Teen Team, my Teen Team. You can- you can include that in the article, don’t mind me. Just an... old man missing what he had, is all.

Alright. Moving on, how would you describe your experience as a member of superhero teams?: Uh, mostly positive, in my experience! As you know, I was on the Defenders Of The Free World during the war, which was basically just like my old unit. There was a year, year and a half break after that, then we formed the Guardians in ‘47. I was on-and-off with them ‘til I made Breakthrough in the 80s. After that broke up, I got saddled with the Teen Team, and that lasted pretty much up until I disappeared. 

Now, I understand if this question’s too difficult, but...: Ah. I won’t... insult you by pretending that it didn’t hurt. Fact is, I knew most of them. Hell, I trained two of them! It hurt like hell, but... guess I’m also glad that Samson and Immortal were still there to help me through it. They really were my rock through that. 

And final question, do you have any plans re your hero career? Are you planning to go solo for now, or maybe join a team?: Well, I might do a bit of solo work, but I’m definitely gonna join a team. Maybe the Guardians, maybe something else. If I’m being honest, part of me’s been wanting to make my own team. I’ll get back to you on that when I clear it with the higher-ups!

And that’s all the questions I have for today! Any last comments for the readers?: Uh, mostly that you’ll hopefully be seeing more of me very soon. And, God willing, I might have a team of my own, or at least a spot on one!

---

Sifting through previous interviews dated before his disappearance, I saw that he still had the same calm charisma from decades before. Only a couple of times did his composure even begin to waver, and that was due to the emotional distress of events completely outside of his control. Apart from those moments, he always kept up a veneer of warmth and kindness, always making me feel at ease over the course of my questioning. What wasn’t described in the transcript was the look he gave me: a half-smile, like the kind your favourite elderly relative would give you, accentuated by the subtle crow’s feet around his cool brown eyes. He seemed proud of me, and yet had only known me for a few minutes. 

What didn’t match the earlier interviews, however, was one element in particular: despite the aura of kindness surrounding him, underneath it lay a sort of quiet sadness, only noticeable in the few moments he showed vulnerability. Perhaps his absence has begun to weigh on him, or maybe the revelation of how many were lost in that time has only just begun to hit him with full force. 

But whatever side of himself Frontline chose to show in that interview, the truth remains the same: he’s back, and hopefully here to stay this time around.

[bigskydreaming]

You're asked to choose one and only one or DC's future stops existing immediately. your choices:

1. Jason Todd the anti-hero who seldom works with only a couple of the bats he doesn't hate, for example Dick and Cass VS. Jason Todd who came back with healed body but broken spirit, folded back into the Gotham gang and learns to be part of the society again.

2. Tim Drake who makes all of his mistakes as canon but realizes he's been wrong and apologizes to people VS. Tim Drake back in his first iteration, a cute little brother character who is a reader insert and a fun teenager.

3. JayKyle VS DickKyle.

4. Jason Todd with a sword VS. Damian Wayne with a sword.

5. Chris Kent VS. Jon kent.

Okay but which DC future? Its omniversal future? Its hypertime future? Its multiversal future? Its Elseworlds future? Its dark multiverse future? Mwahahaha your threat is useless because the sheer wtf of DC's continuities, timelines and conflicting declarations of what to even call their multiomnihyperverse makes it impossible to target simply A future! DC's overly unnecessarily complicated nature renders it functionally immortal and impossible to ever truly destroy, take that Darkseid.

I mean. But anyway. Whatevs:

1) I honestly do prefer the idea of Jason someday fully reuniting/reintigrating into the Batfam as a whole, because fuck it, the found family I'm here for is the one where they actually act like a family....I just think it takes actual work to get to that point and I get irey when people are like we're here! We found it! And its like meanwhile, abusive dynamics still abound. Mmm. No thank you. But even though I've been on a huge Jason and Dick and Cass kick for like, forever, I do still aim for him having a dynamic of his own with the rest of the family.

Like the thing is, I hate playing the favorites card in families, and I think the emphasis on so and so being Bruce's favorite child or so and so being this kid's favorite sibling, etc, like it really does feel like to the detriment of the whole family, because once you start validating the idea of favorites, ESPECIALLY in a found family that is CONTINUOUSLY growing....I think you're kinda shooting yourself in the foot because you're kinda creating a situation where either no future new additions to the family can EVER be Bruce or one of the kids' 'favorite' or else you're innately positing that said fave status is conditional and even a current fave of Bruce or a sibling can be bumped down the ladder by the addition of a later arrival....

Which is LITERALLY the entire essence of the eternal conflict between Dick and Damian and Tim fans. Its not even that Damian is Dick's favorite, allegedly, its that prior to Damian's very EXISTENCE, fans felt comfortable declaring Tim unilaterally to be Dick's 'favorite'.....and then all it took was the addition of a single family member who had specific NEEDS in regards to Dick's attention and focus, largely because of his age and needing a legal guardian while Tim was old enough to literally jet set around the world on his own.....and like, everything went up in flames in large corners of fandom.

So I'm just like, death to the fave family member myth, its just incredibly counter productive to the idea of found family as a whole especially when it usually only exists to prop up a preferred character as better than others via the proof of see, these other characters say he's their fave or whatever...but also like, its not even necessary?

Because the thing is, you can have Jason reintegrated into the whole family overall, and still prioritize your personal narrative FOCUS on characters you like more than others, like say Dick and Cass.....because of course its natural for even people in the same family to have entirely different DYNAMICS with different family members....and these dynamics don't have to come with a ranking system in order to prioritize which ones you just focus on more in a story. Because its not necessarily that Dick has to be Jason's fave brother, y'know, just for Jason to prefer spending time with Dick simply because he's more comfortable with him due to knowing him longer or being more secure in the idea that Dick doesn't judge him based on their greater shared history.

This doesn't mean that Jason doesn't care for his other siblings, that he can't have strong dynamics with them as well, its just about finding a reason for why these two specifically might be in a story without the others that doesn't demand putting a definitive ranking on which one Jason considers his FAVE. Just like Damian doesn't have to be Dick's FAVE just for them to have the super close canon relationship they have, even relative to the other siblings, because there's everything needed in canon already to establish that the mere fact of Dick essentially RAISING Damian for a year, and being the first one in the family to really take a chance on Damian, like, this lends itself naturally to them maybe more naturally gravitating towards each other than other siblings due to comfort level and familiarity, etc, but it doesn't have to be like....oh but yeah, I just like Damian more than you, Tim, y'know?

So my answer on this one is a total cop out of both, both is good. Jason totally reintegrated back into the family, but with dynamics that still lend themselves fairly easily towards story lineups where its just him running missions with Dick or Duke or any other one or two specific family members even if for no other reason than they gel together best in the field, y'know?

2) Hmm. I honestly really do love and miss 90s Tim Drake and just....don't see him in a lot of what I read these days. I'm like no, why did he have to go, he was doing so well! BUT I'm also on a big accountability kick, and like, I'm so steeped in fics where Dick GROVELS for forgiveness for every little slight he's ever done real or imagined, with every character but Tim in particular, so its like.....I'm not gonna lie, I really have a preference these days for seeing stuff where its literally anyone actually owning up to shit they've done to Dick and apologizing or groveling or making it to HIM, like, completely unconditionally. In the same manner we usually see Dick apologizing, glossing over any reasons he might have had for doing what he did or feeling the way he did, and saying oh it doesn't matter, putting the entirety of his focus on what HE did and why it was wrong no matter what and he's sorry.....that's what I would kill to see from more fics, just in reverse.

Because so often even in the all too rare fics where we DO see other characters apologizing to Dick for shit, its watered down with Dick volunteering that oh he messed up too, it was a two way street, and its like no! This is Pettiness Hours! I want the unconditional apologies! Give me the groveling! From anyone, I don't care at this point, lol, just show me characters actually PUTTING IN THE WORK to make it up to Dick for harm they've caused him, even if completely unintentionally or via neglecting his feelings or considering the repercussions their actions or words would have on him. Aaaaaaand, frankly, Tim's a good place to start there, because of how one sided all the takes on their conflicts have been for so many years. I mean, if people need a place to start, Batman and Robin Eternal gets enough praise it can't be pretended that people in fandom don't know that story exists, so how about some stories where Tim says he's fucking sorry for punching Dick in issue #4 or #5 of that one, and it was uncalled for and he was clearly just looking for an excuse to unleash some more of his resentment and upset for the Spyral/Forever Evil stuff, and family deciding that its totally okay to punch Dick whenever they're mad at him and need to work off some aggression so they can then finally forgive him (for now) is a trend that needs to die in a fire post-haste? I mean just as an example.

But the thing that kills me about fanfic trends is like....the sameness of so much of it. There's SO much room for variety and diverse takes, and like....I don't actually hate Tim! I'm just cranky because of the imbalanced nature of most content out there for literal years at this point. Push the pendulum BACK in the other direction, create some balance by showing the flip side of things.....and that leaves a lot more room for me and others of like minds to then be more amenable to - and even interested in - other stories that don't scratch this particular itch, but don't need to, because other stories are doing the scratching by then, y'know?

And THEN like, at that point, I would be ALL FOR more stories that are just callbacks to classic 90s Tim who I adore, with his skateboarding and his EARNESTNESS and his go-get-em spirit and also the gumption. All the gumption. I like that Tim. I do miss that Tim. But like, for the moment, like, I want accountable Tim because I am tiiiiiiiired of groveling Dick and tbh at this point its not enough for me to just see people move past putting Dick in that position and just have mutually respective and doting brothers Dick and Tim having adventures together......nah, first I want some reciprocation. Ngl. Gimme the apologies for actual mistakes actually made.

3) DickKyle. Easy question, c'mon, you gotta know that. LOL. ;)

But yeah, I've been shipping these two off their like, two shared pages from way back in the Obsidian Age story years before Jason even returned, let alone was in Countdown together with Kyle, so like, its no contest. I don't mind JayKyle, I certainly prefer it to JayRoy tbh, but there's not a ton of appeal in it for me, particularly in how its usually depicted, because like....the entire basis of JayKyle is that they DO have stories together and spent a whole year worth of weekly issues traveling the multiverse together in Countdown.....but there's like, practically no trace of their actual dynamics from that series or any specifics of literally any issue from that entire comic in most fics I’ve read, so its like.....idk, it tends to come across as more generic, not in the sense that it cant still be interesting, but more in the sense that it feels like just someone paired with Jason just because history between them EXISTS without any interest in exploring what that history actually IS....and at that point, its like, well there's no reason TO prioritize that ship over DickKyle for me personally, when like, I have a shit ton of headcanon reasons for why those two in a pairing specifically. *Shrugs* My logic. Its not for everyone, but it works for me.

4) Jason with a sword or Damian with a sword? I don't understand the question. Both. Both is good. All the characters should have swords. Swords are awesome.

5) Chris Kent vs Jon Kent - oof. I adore Jon, I really do. I love his dynamic with Damian, I love a lot of their specific stories, the parallels between them as friends and Bruce and Clark as friends....its all very bien. But I gotta give this one to Chris, because I'm always gonna have a soft spot for him because I'm a sucker for all abused kid heroes, and I just miss that funky little dude so much. There's so many stories we didn't get with him and were just ripe for the picking, but nooooo, DC's like lol you can't have nice things, here we just rebooted the entire multiverse and now Clark and Lois never adopted the son of Clark's worst Kryptonian rival and raised him with tender love and care awww does that make you sad, were you invested in him, WELL TOO BAD, HE'S GONE NOW AND BASICALLY NEVER EXISTED, NOW GIVE US YOUR MONEY ANYWAY MWAHAHAHAHAH.

Yeah. I'm still not over that. Probably will never be tbh, so I with great grudge-bearing do affirm that I'm gonna go with Chris on this one and like, he is a Priority for me and I'm still very keen on the idea of him and Duke being besties for random reasons that might not make sense to anyone but me, but eh, whatever.

[gingermintpepper]

The Elite Four and the 8th Gym Leader

Something I only really noticed now despite it really being a running theme in Pokemon is the strength of the eight Gym Leader in relation to the League. 

We see in Pokemon Origins that Gym Challengers are encouraged to challenge the Gyms in any order and that Gym Leaders have teams of varying strength to cater to the badges and approximate strength of their challengers but the one thing’s that’s been consistent across almost every region is the fact that the eighth Gym Leader is someone of Champion Trainer Caliber--often times proven to be stronger than multiple Elite Four members. And I honestly don’t know why? 

Don’t believe me? In Kanto, the eighth Gym Leader is Giovanni--a man who has the entire region in his pocket what with Team Rocket’s mafia-like hold on things like Silph and the Game Corner and someone who was undeniably powerful; brazen enough to head the creation of the ultimate battle oriented Pokemon and strong-willed enough to actually control Mewtwo for a while. When you bring him down, Green takes his spot at Viridian even though we know Green’s strong enough to be the new Champion. He beat Lance and the League before Red and he’s still a Champion Class trainer now. But he doesn’t take up a spot at the League like he wanted all that time ago. Is it because he’s grown past his petty one-up complex with Red? We never find out, but it doesn’t change the fact that a Champion class trainer is sitting in eighth Gym Leader’s seat when he could’ve easily snagged a League chair. Alright, one time’s not to bad. 

In Johto, Claire’s the eighth Gym Leader and, not only is she second only to Lance in their family of Dragon Tamers, the elder says that she could surpass him if she just had a better attitude. If that doesn’t make her at least League class then I don’t know what does. 

Hoenn’s the first region where the eighth Gym Leader outright becomes Champion eventually, though it’s not through usurping but rather through request. Wallace and Steven have a great relationship all throughout R/S/E and it’s even better fleshed out in ORAS but when Steven grows tired of being stuck up on Ever Grande, he doesn’t ask any of the E4 to cover for him. Drake’s right there and he’s bound to have tons of experience and strength, not to mention the respect of the other League trainers but, nope, he asks that Wallace hold on to his title and take up his seat on Ever Grande for him while he does some rock finding. Wallace is already widely established as a powerful Water type Pokemon Master but this more or less means that Wallace was always a Champion class trainer and had simply inherited the Gym from Juan because “well, I can still do contests as a Gym Leader”. Not to mention, in ORAS Wallace is revealed to be a guardian and gatekeeper for the Cave of Origin and Sky Pillar. This guy’s got mad power and skill, but he’s most often found chilling in Sootopolis when he’s more than powerful enough to rival--if not outright surpass--Steven in strength. 

Sinnoh is wild. Volkner challenges the Elite Four out of sheer boredom as the eighth Gym Leader. I don’t know if he’s on Cynthia’s level (and let’s be honest, that’s a bit ludicrous to think about) but, like Claire, he’s definitely more than powerful enough to be in the Elite Four. Like Wallace and Steven, Volkner has an excellent relationship with his best friend Flint who’s third in the lineup of the Sinnoh Elite Four and it’s highly implicated that Flint and Volkner are, not only of equivalent strength, but very used to working and training together as seen by their Double Battle techniques and the fact that Volkner turns down battles with Flint when he’s bored because he knows Flints techniques too well. 

Again in Unova, Iris is your eighth Gym Leader in White but is outright the Champion in both Black 2 and White 2. I have no idea if she was always comparable in strength to Alder, we don’t get to see Alder battle at all really in the main stories but in both B/W and B2/W2 Iris is active in the region and she takes care of people. 

And that’s another thing actually! All of these trainers? These eighth Gym Leaders? Not only have they all been super powerful and respected as trainers, they’re also incredibly important people to their regions and communities as a whole. Green keeps an eye on things from Viridian, takes the time to train up new trainers so another Rocket fiasco doesn’t happen and in HGSS he’s investigating things on Cinnabar after the eruption. People speak highly of him and of course they would--this is the kid that helped Red save Kanto from Team Rocket. Claire’s the next head of her clan--Lance is busy with League stuff so it falls to her which is why the Elder pushes her so hard. I’ve already talked ad nauseum at how Wallace is more or less Hoenn’s poster boy--a master of contests, of battles, gatekeeper and lorekeeper of important places to the Continental Trio and of water type Pokemon, something that couldn’t represent Hoenn better what with them being like 70% water. Volkner’s in charge of the lighthouse, an architect, technician and skilled craftsman all in one. This bastard took out the streets of Sunyshore and replaced them with solar panels. Who the fuck?? He’s easily a certifiable genius with energy and that sort of proficiency just sorta naturally bleeds into his battling. It’s why he gets bored so easily. 

Kalos is iffy--we don’t know anything about Wulfric and Alola doesn’t really have a League, but Hapu is chosen by the Tapus which I suppose counts for something. 

In Galar things are back to form with Raihan and Leon’s legendary one-sided rivalry and the fact that it’s outright stated that  Raihan is more than Champion class--all he’d need to do is fight a Champion that’s not Leon-- but he won’t out of sheer stubbornness. So like, what’s the point? Why are the Eighth Gym Leaders some of the strongest in the region without having actual seats on the League proper? 

Is it a bureaucracy thing? Is it a security thing? The strongest trainers can’t all be in the League because generally speaking the Pokemon  League is usually pretty far removed from the action on the ground and that way there’s always a powerful Champion or thereabout-class trainer ready to respond when the Elite Four can’t come and intervene? Pokemon is confirmed to be a universe in which many, many wars have taken place; maybe it’s a left over from that era where first responders meant the difference between life and death.  

I have no idea what the connection is and I’ve been agonizing over it for ages heLP--

[kamino-ink]

Romeo | Lee Felix

genre ⌁ friends-to-lovers, [ sort of,,, not exactly lover status but it is implied ] minor angst but also fluff uwu

summary ⌁ Ever since the boy you called your best friend left on the day of his sixteenth birthday with no goodbye or warning, you’ve been determined to grow past the pain he left with you; but of course, not everything works out that way - especially when two years later you end up in South Korea as an up and coming variety show host.

word count ⌁ 2.8k

warning ⌁ this is bad and technically just a long drabble tbh,,, sorry

Check out my masterlist!

 Lee Felix was born on September fifteenth of the year 2000, and you were born just three months later on Christmas day; call it fate or anything of that matter, but on the very day you were born, your dad had run into Felix’s - probably because your dad was having a mild panic attack and the other nurses around were busy, you know, helping you be born. Simple enough, really - both of your dads bonded over the fact that yours was about to be a dad and his was, well, still struggling to being a new dad. Boom, instant friendship.

 Along with that came the fact that you and Felix instantly were destined to be childhood friends. Turns out that his family also lived just down the street from your house, too, which made it even easier to stay close with the slightly older boy after all those years. Not that... you were complaining.

 See, here’s the thing; Lee Felix was a ray of sunshine to not just the people around him, but you as well. His warm smile was enough to make your heart pound in your chest, and his charismatic attitude certainly helped your lesser days become just a bit, or a lot, brighter. It was as if he was, for lack of a better term, your own guardian angel. On your darkest days he would be there to cheer you up with homemade cookies and milk, and on his darkest days you would do the same for him.

 You and Felix were practically made for each other, as everyone put it. Whether they meant it as something more than platonic care or something more, it was up for the two of you to decide. Except... you never got to figure that part of the whole mystery between the two of you out. All because he left before you could tell him how you truly felt.

 Being able to vividly recall every individual detail of the day you lost Felix wasn’t exactly something you cared for. And the fact that this haunting nightmare kept coming out of nowhere to attack your thoughts out of thin air wasn’t the most pleasant of reminders.

 It had been Felix’s sixteenth birthday when he left so suddenly, and it had also been an otherwise normal day; except, whenever his birthday came around, you would always wake up a couple hours early to bake him chocolate chip cookies. He never asked for anything else from you, always stating that having you as his other half was enough to last a lifetime of birthdays. So you obliged each passing year, handing him the platter of cookies at lunch during school with pink tinted cheeks and a wildly beating heart.

 But that particular day, something felt... off. Felix hadn’t shown up to any of his classes or even lunch, plus he didn’t answer any of your texts throughout the day. To say you were worried was quite the understatement.

 So naturally you booked it to his house after classes had ended, anxiously chewing on your nails during the bus ride to your house and the short walk to his down the street. When you arrived at the front door, it was like everything else was a blur to you.

 “Oh Y/N, we thought that he told you,”

 “Sweetheart... Felix had his party last night and flew out to South Korea this morning. He’s going to be a trainee-”

 No goodbye, no note, nothing - all Felix had taken with him was his luggage and your heart.

 Even now, almost two full years later, you found yourself reminiscing on the older boy; of course you knew he was doing well, growing into quite the young charmer as a member of a Korean pop group called Stray Kids. In fact, you had watched their survival show after getting a message about it from his mom back in Australia. You could also vividly remember nearly throwing your phone across the small bedroom of your apartment when he initially was eliminated - and when he was included in the final lineup you just about cried; oh who are you kidding, you did cry. Like a baby.

 He’d always been cute, even as a kid and growing teenager, but god almighty he had become so handsome and utterly stunning at the ripe age of eighteen; it was as if he’d stolen all the good genes of your generation and used them himself, in all honesty. But it was so much more than just that - he grew up as a person, too. Seeing the boy you were so proud to once call your best friend so happy and well... kind of hurt, at times.

 You’d always grown up making silly promises of moving in together after school, going to the same university, and being together forever; in what context it was never specified, but it was pure all the same. Yet here you were, just having turned eighteen not even four months ago. You live a solitary life in a small yet cozy apartment in the heart of Jeju, having been brought in by a decent internship at a radio station a few months back.

 Then when you had to host the show for the regular broadcaster when she called in sick for a solid week and a half, you found a new love in the entertainment industry. Since then you’ve been doing small gigs, like guest hosting other radio shows or acting as a temporary host for variety shows; and then one day, you got a call from the producers of Idol Room - it was still somewhat fresh since Doni and Coni had left Weekly Idol, and they were on the hunt for occasional guest hosts and the like.

 To put it in lighter terms, you got a temporary opportunity to help host Idol Room. You were kind of already making a name for yourself in the variety business, being able to make guests comfortable with light humor and adapting to their personalities with ease; with such a big opportunity like this, you were simply ecstatic to see what the outcome would be.

 And then came the day you were going to be on Idol Room.

 Most of the staff were pretty relaxed, helping you rehearse the lines you needed help with (as Korean was not your native language) and encouraging you to do well on the show. What didn’t help calm your bundling nerves, however, was the knowledge in knowing that Stray Kids would be today’s guests. Of all the idol groups out there, you just had to host the popular show on the day your once best friend was going to be there.

 “Remember, you come in and introduce yourself when Coni calls for you,” one of the female staff reminds you calmly, noticing how you’ve started to chew on the tips of your nails with growing anxiety, “you will do wonderful, Y/N, and I’m sure the boys will adore you as well.”

 You were so not ready for this.

 “- today the rookie monsters, Stray Kids, will be joining us!”

 Was it too late to back out?

 “Ah, but that’s not all - we have an intern with us today too! Welcome, Intern Y/N!”

 That was your cue.

 “H-hello,” shit, “I’m Intern Y/N, it’s nice to meet you!” You quickly introduced yourself after having stepped out from the crowd behind the cameras, feeling the curious stares of the idol group burning holes into the back of your head. Doni and Coni supportively pat your shoulders, making some oddball joke before telling you to get on with your ‘job.’

 That was how most of the show went; you’d be smiling in the corner of the shot at their silly antics and games, occasionally sending the two main hosts glares whenever they said something a bit too harsh, and introducing small segments. Until, that is, they’d started poking a bit of fun at Felix for having done theater in school - particularly bringing up old recordings of him playing as Romeo during freshman year.

 It was silly at first, just a quick joke about how he was a theater nerd, but then Doni started to take it a bit too far for your liking.

 “Oh, I think that your Juliet was hesitant to kiss you! Even her lines are shaky!” The older man insisted with a chuckle, though you could just tell from Felix’s awkward laugh that it wasn’t all too appreciated. You also just knew that it had to hurt the boy, especially since theater had been his life in school - he’d even dragged you into it.

 You would know, because you had been playing his Juliet.

 “Actually, my lines were really shaky because we were performing in front of the entire student body.” You utter quietly, only to feel your cheeks heat up to a degree you didn’t even know was possible because your mic had increased the volume - meaning everyone heard your words. Not one ear fell short of perking up at your words; especially not Doni and Coni’s.

 “Your - your lines?” Coni said in awe, quickly coming over to your little spot at the side of the room and pulling you closer to the center just a few inches in front of the boys. “So... that little girl is you, Intern Y/N?”

 With a nervous laugh escaping your lips, you rub the back of your neck - a sort of nervous habit you’d picked up over the years. “Erm, yeah. Lix - I mean, Felix and I went to the same school.” You admit, knowing full well when the episode aired that the information would easily be found by fans anyway. The two men hum in understanding, but wicked smiles slowly find their way onto their lips.

 Doni gently pushes you closer to where Felix is standing, teasingly patting the top of your head while Coni does the same for a baffled Felix. “Say some of your lines, they don’t have to be in order! Let’s see if it was really the stage fright that made Intern Y/N so nervous.” One of them cooed, though you were too focused on catching your breath after meeting the taller boy’s nervous gaze.

 No - he had no right to be nervous. He left you hanging, not the other way around.

 “But, soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.” The freckled boy utters without a single stutter or break of his words, reciting the line perfectly with no hesitation whatsoever. Your lips part in surprise, to which you swear he chuckles softly at.

 You weren’t too sure of what the following line was, in all honesty, so you quoted the first one that you could think of. “O Romeo, R - Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy... thy father and refuse thy name; or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love and I’ll no longer be a C - Capulet.” Curse your stupid nervous heart for having you stutter in front of Felix, curse his intoxicating smile for making your heart feel as if it was beating out of your chest.

 You faintly hear Doni and Coni giggling like little school girls in the back, clearly milking the scene to garner to their viewers watching at home. But you were entirely focused on the freckled idol in front of you, his gaze flickering all over your flushed face even though he knew that there were a dozen cameras filming his every move - his every reaction.

 “... It’s been a while, Y/N.” He speaks up softly, finding solace in staring at your eyes after he’s analyzed the rest of your heated expression.

 “Since you left without even saying goodbye?” The sharp jab spills from your lips almost inaudibly, but by the falling features of his speckled face you can tell he’s heard you loud and clear. “Yeah, it’s been two years. Two years of not having my best friend with me.”

 He winces, but doesn’t make an effort to argue against it. For a moment it looks as if he wants to say more, to keep talking to you, but by then Doni and Coni are moving the show onto another segment; meaning you had to walk away first. Of course, you could feel Felix’s sad gaze following your back as you turned away from him to face the cameras, and as much as you hated it; you felt a twinge of longing tugging at your heartstrings.

“Good job today, intern!” Coni praises you lightheartedly after the shoot is finally over, playfully ruffling your hair much to your slight distaste. “You’re a natural at this sort of thing, so don’t be surprised if we give you another call soon.”

 “Ah, thank you - that means so much coming from someone like you-”

 You’re suddenly interrupted by a hand going to hover over your shoulder, as if the person behind you was too scared to touch you with no warning. “Y/N, can I talk to you?”

 Oh no, it was Felix - you could recognize that deep yet soothing voice from just about anywhere. You stiffen up slightly, pouting when Coni immediately obliges and heads off to wander somewhere else in the aftermath of the shooting.

 “Y-yeah, sure thing.” You give in easily with a small sigh, knowing you couldn’t exactly escape the situation at hand. Felix lets out a cute noise of relief, akin to a sigh but a bit too high pitched.

 Said idol leads you to an empty corner of the otherwise crowded studio, letting his hand fall off of your shoulder and down in front of him to wring with his other free hand. “Okay I don’t - really know how to go about this,” he breathes out quietly, playing with the hems of his sleeves as he tried to get the words he wanted to say out, “I just... wanted to say that I’m so unbelievably sorry for leaving you behind like that, back home. It’s a shit excuse, but - I didn’t want to say goodbye because saying goodbye means that we weren’t going to see each other again.”

 “You’re kind of right - it is a pretty bad excuse,” you utter after an awkward moment of silence, quick to cover up your tracks when his lips purse into a sad pout, “but - I’m over it, freckles. Seriously, it was in the past.”

 You weren’t lying, truly; for almost two years you’d been moving on not from Felix himself, as that was a task you deemed quite impossible, but from the day he left home. Erasing that single day simply brightened the memories you held dear to your heart, which was practically every waking moment you had spent with the boy.

 Sure, it hurt how he left you so suddenly - how he hadn’t bothered to at least fight for you two to remain in communication. That’s just how life worked out, and you were strangely alright with it; especially since you were here, right now, seeing the boy who’d been by your side your entire life after two years of watching his blossoming success on a screen.

 “No, you shouldn’t forgive me so easily,” he insisted, much to your surprise, “I want to make it all up to you, even if it takes me months or years. I just... I just want to be able to call you my best friend again, my other half, my - my soulmate.”

 “Felix, you don’t have to do all that... though if it might make you feel better, I won’t stop you.”

 The boy with little constellations dotting his dark cheeks blinks; once, twice, and a third time before his lips crack open to reveal a tiny, hopeful smile. “Great! I mean - good, yeah! Can I um... have your number, then?” He asks you almost timidly, making you giggle softly under your breath as you nod slowly at him. “I don’t have my phone on me, can I just put my number into yours for now?”

 When you nod again and hand him your phone, the smile on his face seems to brighten even more - if it was possible to be blinded by a smile, you were sure that Felix’s would’ve made you unable to see long ago.

 “Okay, here-”

 “Felix, we gotta go!” One of the other boys calls out to the younger, waving for him to join the waiting group. Frantically, he hands you your phone back, neglecting to lock it before he starts to head off.

 “Just text me whenever you can, Y/N! I’ll be waiting for you!” He states in a rush, catching up with his friends soon after. With a slight shake of your head in quiet amusement, your gaze flickers down to the screen of your phone where Felix had put his contact name in. A warm, bubbly smile twitches onto your lips from the name, and you’re sure it’ll only continue to appear in the near future whenever you get to texting the boy back.

 Contacts:

 …

 …

 Romeo <3

[jayfromriverside-blog]

Comics I read this week (8/26 - 8/30)

Hey anyone and... anyone I guess. For all those looking to get into comics or who are already comics readers but don’t know which books are good, here’s an opinion on just that! 

Give it a read, let me know what you think, light some pitchforks, whatever you like:

Justice League #30

I was conflicted reading this week’s issue of Justice League: while I’m really liking the direction that Scott Snyder is taking the story, I’m really getting sick of Jorge Jimenez’s art on the series. 

While Jimenez was a breath of fresh air on the “Superman: Rebirth” series with his CG texturized drawing and smooth surfaces, his ultra-stylized and cartoony figures are starting to look more plastic and stretchy as this series goes on. He’s got a bad habit of smoothing over his character’s proportions, which make these heroes that are supposed to be cut and strong look flat and almost doughy. It’s starting to grind on me more as each new issue comes out, and maybe it’s time for an artistic switch-up on this title.

In terms of the story though, this was a good set-up issue for the Justice/Doom war that Snyder and co. have been building up to on this run. We’ve got all the pieces in place: a gathering of forces by both sides; a romp through time which sees the League meeting with both Kamandi and the classic JSA; and everything going awry right from the get-go! 

The only thing I’m slightly concerned about storywise is that Catwoman was in the Doom lineup, and with the rekindling of Bat-Cat in the latest Batman issues, I’m hoping this isn’t a portend for another breakup in King’s run. My heart couldn’t take another.

Superman #14

Let me be clear on one thing before I start in: I’m a fan of Brian Michael Bendis. His work on “Ultimate Spider-Man,” “Daredevil,” and “Alias” are some of my favorite comics, and his more recent work with “Naomi,” and “Event Leviathan” has been really good. With all that being said... man, this Superman comic has sucked hard since he took over.

Let’s just start at the story: 

It’s felt like Bendis has been really looking forward to getting started on his upcoming run with the new “Legion of Superheros,” which is something to potentially get excited about for the near future. What’s not exciting at all is the realization that this whole Rogol Zar arc has been a poorly thought out lead-in to the Legion’s return. SPOILER WARNING FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO READ THIS GARBAGE FIRE: the Legion show up at the end of the issue to invite Jon to join, as a commemoration of the day the United Planets was formed. This is fine, and could be an exciting new direction for Jon that harkens back to the classic comics. BUT did we really have to suffer through weeks of nonsensical story just to get this? 

Just to recap this arc: Rogol Zar appears out of nowhere, looking like Lobo, Doomsday and a garbage disposal with a bland imagination all had an orgy and he was the deformed kid that came out of it. This beefed-up piece of blandness comes out of the sky to fuck up Superman cause he heard there were some Kryptonians still alive in the Universe and apparently he’s a space-racist. 

Superman struggles against this remnant from the 90s while the worlds shittiest not-dead Grandpa, Jor El, is off in space traumatizing Jon and stressing him out so much he ages up to a teenager. 

But it’s ok guys! Jor El knows who Rogol Zar is, they have a connection of sorts! And Rogol Zar caused the destruction of Krypton! But now he’s allied with Jax Ur, and also now Zod maybe? And the Thanagarians are involved? So are the Guardians? Wait, now Rogol Zar is also effected by Kryptonite because he’s a Kryptonian? And now he’s just captured like that, but Thanagar’s under attack, oh wait just kidding it’s not? 

Those last 2 plot points literally happened in 3 pages this issue, right after each other. So this story is confusing and non-sensical and ultimately doesn’t mean anything, because the whole point turned out to be that Bendis needed something, some plot device to make it so Superman could say “we can’t have secrets like this tearing apart worlds like Krypton, we need a United Planets.”

None of this crap story is helped by Ivan Reis’ art, which I know some people love, but to me it looks like everything bad with the 90s except with better backgrounds and textures. But even if I didn’t hate his art, his page and panel composition is often confusing, especially during fight sequences, which doesn’t help when the story is confusing to begin with.

After reading this week’s issue, I want nothing more than to die in the garbage fire Bendis has lit and take this whole comic with me. 

The Terrifics #19

Shouts out to DC for finally figuring out how to write a Fantastic 4 comic, maybe they can show Dan Slott how it’s done. But seriously, “The Terrifics” has been the exact kind of science-adventure story that needs to be around in comics, as the landscape needs it’s fare share of science-criminals and heroes to balance things out.

First thing to note for this week, the art is great. Max Raynor (first time I’ve seen their work) has a great kind of cartoony playfulness to his characters and line-work, while at the same time keeping the models tight and well detailed. 

I’m glad that the writers of the story realized that the Terrifics function best when they’re dealing with light-hearted cross-dimensional adventures, and this new one seems like it’ll be great from the start. In keeping with the “Year of the Villain,” Lex Luthor has made an offer to Bizarro (the one for the HTREA, not the one from the Outlaws), giving him a time-machine device to reek some havoc with. 

I don’t want to spoil the issue too much, as if you haven’t read the Terrifics you really should give it a go, but let’s just say that it involves Bizarro at one point destroying Algebra, and a Bizarro Terrifics team known as “The Terribles” breaking through to the main DC dimension to challenge their Terrific rivals.

If you’re looking for something fun, cheesy, but heartwarming and action packed, definitely give the Terrifics a try.

The Flash #77

Look, I’m still not digging this whole “Force War,” or “War of the Forces,” or whatever the Flash team is trying to build up with these new force users. It felt like the DC Creative team was trying to retcon Flash to be more mythical with “Flash: Year One,” pitting the Flash against the Turtle and creating this whole mythology around the Forces of the Universe to make it seem like this clash was inevitable. 

But what this has done for me is just make the Flash feel smaller and less special. These forces and the grander narrative behind them have just diminished the Speed force, which was still shrouded in some mystery after all these years in the DC Universe, to just one force, just A force. 

There are two silver linings from this week’s issue, one more bittersweet than the other. First off, the art has gotten ten times better than it’s been in weeks. Rafa Sandoval’s pencils are crisp and clean, and though his action feels static sometimes, he’s miles better than what we’ve been seeing for a few months now.

Second, though this Force War already feels like a dud, a cool concept was introduced in a throwaway line. Flash fans, feel free to crucify me, but with the Black Flash’s appearance this week, Commander Cold talked about how he was acting like an anti-body for the Speed Force in trying to eliminate these new force users. If that’s true, it makes the Speed Force almost like a living creature that feel’s like it is under attack. But this also makes me think that, wouldn’t it have been cooler if you had the same motivation for the appearance of the Black Flash, but instead of the Force users, it was Speedsters it was targeting? 

What if all of the new Speedsters were putting a strain on the Speed Force, hurting it in some way that awoke the Black Flash? It’d still give Barry a reason to reconcile with Wallace and Avery, but would also replace this Force War with a Speed War? Spitballing here, but that sounds cooler to me.

Ice Cream Man #14

And now we break up the superheroes for something a little more horrific. For anyone who doesn’t know what “Ice Cream Man” is, the best way I can categorize it is a horror anthology series. 

The story, setting and characters change from week-to-week, except for one presence: the Ice Cream Man. Even when he’s not in whatever nightmare is being doled out that week, his fingers can be felt all over the story, and they dig into the fears you try to hide and pry them open.

The theme of this week’s story was communication, and maaaaaaaaan does this comic have a way of making you feel depressed and scared all at the same time. 

The two main characters are a husband and wife, the former who is deeply dissatisfied and finds escape in crosswords, the latter who is so starved for communication and intimacy that she makes problems out of nothing just to have something to talk with her husband about. 

I don’t want to spoil too much, as I think everyone should be reading this book, but things take a turn for the hellish when the husband goes out to buy more crosswords and finds himself trapped in one, while his wife finds out that her delusions may have been true, and worse than she thought. 

For long-time readers, the biggest thing from to take away from this issue is that perhaps the Ice Cream Man’s influence is spilling out into the world more and more, and things will only get worse from here. 

Spider-Man: Life Story #6

For any fans of Spider-Man, go out and buy this book. Doesn’t matter if you’re a new fan or a hardcore fan, this is a story for anyone who has any love for Spider-Man in any shape. This story isn’t perfect all the way through, but man is it an incredible ride.

For anyone who hasn’t heard of this comic, writer Chip Zdarsky took the gargantuan task of creating one long-form story out of the entire continuity of Spider-Man, from the 1962 till 2019, and showing how this life that we’ve seen Spider-Man live would actually play out in real-time. 

This comic took some of the best and worst arcs, from “Kraven’s Last Hunt,” the birth of Venom and “The Superior Spider-Man,” to “The Clone Saga” and the Inheritors (god those pseudo vampires were dumb), and not only makes them work within this different world that Zdarsky has made, but makes them work as a part of the larger narrative. 

While it’s not perfect all the way through, seeing the characters we know and love, especially Peter and MJ, live their lives with wrinkles and all feels like something special, and I encourage anyone who is curious to go out and cop this 6 issue series and join the ride.

Runaways #24

For all manga fans out there, I’m a huge fan of the “slice-of-life” genre. For any non-manga fans, slice-of-life stories are ones that celebrate the everyday little moments that make up most of our lives. Riding bikes with friends, going to the movies, starting a new hobby, or even just going to the store and deciding what to get for dinner, these are all the kind of topics that a slice-of-life narrative covers. With her run on “Runaways,” Rainbow Rowell has essentially made a superhero slice-of-life comic, and I’m really liking every moment of it. 

This week’s issue focuses almost entirely on Karolina and Nico spending a night out “superheroing.” Except it becomes apparent pretty early on that neither really knows what they’re doing, and whatever little problems they run into (fender bender on the 405, potentially lost children, etc.) are better left to themselves, as they either wouldn’t be able to help or would actually get in the way. It’s weird to say that watching superheroes be ineffective is really entertaining, but that’s exactly what I’m saying, and I think that is in large part to the good character writing that Rowell has done on her run, and the warm art of this series that helps you feel safe and cozy.

My favorite part of the issue is when Karolina and Nico stop for a bite to eat, and Karolina feels like she has to apologize for wasting Nico’s time. Nico just laughs it off and tells her that she was just looking to spend time with her partner, so in her eyes tonight’s mission was a success. It’s cute, it fits with the characters and how we’ve seen them grow over the run, and I like it a lot. 

That’s not to say there isn’t any action in this issue. By the time the story is done there’s a super-powered dance fight and a mysterious new superhero debuting on the scene. I’m excited to see where both of those threads go heading into the next issue.

Justice League Dark #14

Since the Rebirth of this team this has been one of the comics that I look forward to the most each new issue, and this is quickly becoming one of my favorite iterations of the team. While Batman’s gothic-detective aesthetic fit well with the team, he always felt too based in technology and the modern world to really embrace magic. On the other hand, Wonder Woman is a walking myth, a demi-god on earth, someone who is made of magic. Her role as the leader of this team alongside heavy hitters like Zatanna and Swamp Thing, along with smaller characters like Detective Chimp and Man-Bat, has felt natural and authentic.

Another great part of having Diana on the team rather than Batman is that her personality stands out. Whereas Batman and most of the magical characters in DC are generally tragic, Wonder Woman is a symbol of hope and optimism, someone who fights to see the best in people and bring that best version out of them. This works especially well with her band of misfits, who despite having much more experience than Wonder Woman in the world of magic, have far less experience in being part of a team, let alone in being “superheroes” in the traditional sense of the word. 

As for this issue, it’s a set-up chapter that ticks all the right boxes. We’ve essentially got the “Dark” Justice League Dark coming together, led by a newly powered up Circe, who are raring up to wage a Witching War against their good counterparts. While their final players are coming into the fold, the villains have already managed to plant a couple of seeds of doubt into the team which will certainly bloom into dissension. Can’t wait to see where this goes next.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #11

Tom Taylor gets Spider-Man. 

It’s a simple statement, but as we’ve seen over all of the years with Spidey, not a whole lot of writers have really understood what makes Spider-Man so spectacular, amazing, superior, etc. It’s a testament to how well Tom Taylor is writing Spider-Man in this series that he’s telling small scale stories without a whole lot of action, death-defying adventure or real conflict, and yet this is some of the best Spider-Man I’ve read in years. 

The opening pages set the tone for the story right away, with one of the simpler but most honest statements I’ve seen in a Spider-Man book:

“See, Captain America is Captain America. Thor is Thor. But Spider-Man...

Spider-Man is Peter Parker...

And Peter Parker is my responsibility.”

That’s the thesis statement for this story, detailing a day in the life of Mary-Jane Watson, the often under appreciated girlfriend of our titular web-head. 

The story from then on is pretty much in her hands, with occasional monologuing from a sleeping Peter, as Mary-Jane goes about what we can only assume is a pretty typical day in the life of the girlfriend of one of NYC’s premier heroes.

Small scale stories are essential in superhero comics in order to break up long events and arcs. They’re breathing room, time for the readers to catch their breath and assess the new status quo before things get wild again. But they’re also often the stories which show us the foundations of who these heroes really are. It’s been said that power doesn’t corrupt, it reveals, and when characters with as much power as Spider-Man aren’t up against the wall and forced to make a decision, the decisions they do make show us that much more about the person beneath the mask. 

Tom Taylor has managed to show us just who Spider-Man and the people in his life really are underneath their masks by lowering the stakes. The stories are small and simple, the consequences often equally so, but what’s been created is true to the characters more than almost any stories I’ve seen before, and it’s lovely. This is one of the best books being written right now, and if you’re not reading it yet, you need to go out and fix that right now.

Detective Comics #1010

It feels like there isn’t much to say about this week’s issue. We’ve still got the stranded billionares on the island, who are now clearly being held hostage by Deadshot. Meanwhile Bruce is rescued and patched up by two WWII fighter pilots who have been stranded on this island since the war, neither knowing which side won.

I’m a big fan of Deadshot when he leans into his nihilistic killer persona, and this “The Most Dangerous Game” setup with a tech-deprived Bruce and Deadshot duking it out on an island seems interesting. Tomasi has been generally pretty good with his run on Detective Comics, so I’m excited to see how long he runs with this arc of Bruce and Deadshot trying to outsmart each other in this deadly game of cat and mouse.

[vaingloriosa]

To Be A Hero

Bucky Barnes x Reader

Words: 2,524

Summary: Bucky adores the oldest toy shop in New York City. Walking into the vast building brought back slivers of memories from when he was a kid. When Tony decides to create a toy line of the Avengers, he thinks kids only know him as a monster. You help remind him that he is indeed a hero. 

Requested by: anonymous

Author’s note: now this! is what i call ignoring iw canon! au where infinity war happened but no one died, we won, and all is Good. no spoilers here, really. just giving bucky the warmth and reassurance he DESERVES!

You surprise yourself every time you turn the sign from “closed” to “open” every day at exactly 10 AM.

For decades your family has ran one of the longest running toy shops in New York City. Sure, there has been competition left and right with better facilities and enticing advertising but the shop was still here. There is just something about the market of nostalgia that keeps a business afloat.

Even if the building’s architecture had an aged look, your shop still carried the latest in toys; sometimes companies would hold events here because of the shop’s notoriety. Either way, no matter how many people walk in through your shop and admire at the majestic items inside along with the priceless looks of awe in children’s eyes, you are still surprised to still be here.

And Bucky is still surprised to see your shop still open.

He remembers walking past the exact shop’s display window to check out the latest toys. His mother would shoo him away, talking about saving up money to get what he wanted. It never hurt to look but Bucky remembers the longing he felt to get his hands on a miniature car. The toy shop also served as another reminder of his father’s own shop that was down the street where he lived in Brooklyn. Sadly, though, unlike your toy shop, Bucky’s father’s shop closed to become what he found out to be apartment complexes.

The cheerful ring of the doorbells above welcomes his arrival. The wooden floor creaks slightly but is already masked by the chatter of several people in the shop. Like a quiet shadow, Bucky slips over through each aisle until he reaches the shelves that displayed the action figures. Not long ago did Bucky hear that Tony decided to get a toy company to produce a line of action figures of all the Avengers. He didn’t see himself in that title but when Steve showed him the centerfold of a toy catalog with a massive banner at the center that said, “Avengers Toys: Out Now!”, Bucky couldn’t believe it. He was also surprised to learn the Guardians and the Norse gods were to be turned into figurines.

But he then remembers who he was before getting help in Wakanda. How the Winter Soldier made his life a living hell to the point of near destruction. Though many reassured him that the Winter Solider wasn’t him, Bucky still felt every single action he committed. That’s why he didn’t understand why any kid would want to purchase his action figure knowing that almost everyone knows what Bucky has done. His hand takes a firm grasp around the package of his very own action figure. With his flesh hand, his fingers run through the words towards the bottom: “Bucky Barnes (The Winter Soldier)”.

“I just got those in and he’s already my favorite.” A sweet voice from behind gets Bucky out of his own thoughts. He turns to face you and you automatically recognize him from before. You’ve noticed Bucky for quite some time but you always gave him enough space to explore and never once wanted to intrude. Bucky always appeared to be obvious with his dark baseball cap and sweaters despite the rising temperatures. However, this time you wanted to share the excitement of the new Avengers toy line.

A small smile forms at the corner of his mouth but stops midway. Bucky shakes his head, allowing a few pieces of hair to fall on his face.

“I can’t imagine any kid wanting to play with this.” His voice is almost a whisper while he continues to look at the toy version of him in his hands. You shove your hands into your apron and walk a little closer to his side.

“Why do you feel that way?” You don’t want to press anything further so you stick with that question. You watch as Bucky puts the toy back onto the shelf with the rest of the Avengers. He observes the rest of the lineup before him and bites his tongue.

“Because of what I was before. They probably view me as a scary monster that’s done nothing but terrorize people. The name ‘Winter Soldier’...I just feel like no kid ever associates him with the term ‘hero’.” His eyes drop to the floor to avoid eye contact with you. Bucky can feel a prickle of tears forming in his eyes but he bats his eyelashes for them to stop and disappear.

Your heart sinks as he talks negatively about himself. You wish you could reach out to him and tell him that the public view of Bucky Barnes has changed drastically. He fought alongside Captain America and the Black Panther along with the Hulk, Black Widow, the two gods, and the Guardians to defend life on Earth yet Bucky held a negative perception of himself. He was more than the mechanical arm; he is Bucky Barnes.

And you knew you had to help him change that mindset.

Before you can speak up, both of you observe these two kids around the age of nine audibly gasp at the Avengers toys. Bucky steps aside to where you are at and you can’t help but get goosebumps at how close you are to him. The kids, two boys, try to grab something a little over their arms reach so you intervene with a cheery smile.

“Hey! Which one do you want?” You squat down to get to their level. At the same time, their little arms point upwards.

“The Winter Soldier one!” they both say in unison. You give them a warm smile as you get up and grab two Bucky figurines from the shelf and hand each of them one.

“What a great choice!” You smile as you squat back down, careful that you don’t step on your flow-y skirt.

The boys begin the ramble about the toy in their hands.

“He’s got such a cool arm!”

“I wonder if mom would let me get an arm like that.”

Before they can say anything else, they run off with their Winter Soldier toys. You wrap your arms across your chest and slowly turn on your heels to see a bemused Bucky.

Did he just witness that? Did he hear everything correctly? He can feel his metal arm whirling slightly as Bucky relaxes his fingers. You step forward and plant yourself right in front of him.

A big grin dances on your lips with a plan up your sleeve. “How about you come into my shop this weekend as the Winter Soldier and show the whole world that you aren’t the monster some believe you to be?”

It’s a kind offer and even after seeing those kids get excited about the metal arm, Bucky still felt hesitant to have it out on display. Even if he was fitted with a new arm with vibranium and Shuri’s mind reprogramming worked like a charm, it felt like a huge leap out of his comfort zone. Bucky sees your glimmering smile and he can’t help but feel the warmth that emanates from it.

He knows he can no longer hurt people.

Bucky nods lightly and you raise your hands up slightly then let out a tiny “yay!” The celebration isn’t for yourself but rather for him to finally feel comfortable in stepping forward into his new role as an Avenger.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let you do anything you’re not comfortable in doing, okay?” There is sincerity in your eyes and Bucky knows that he can trust you. You both exchange contact information to figure out a good time and you assure him that you will do all the setup. When he steps out of the shop, he can’t help but look back at the toy shop. Bucky observes the display window where in big colorful letters says “Avengers Assemble! Available Today!” There he spots his figurine next to a stuffed animal in the shape of Rocket. He smirks and continues his trek down to the subways.

Bucky felt odd to be back into his Winter Soldier outfit after Wakanda.

He doesn’t bother to tell the others in the compound about his whereabouts. As usual, Bucky takes a sweater as both to conceal his outfit and as a comfort item. It already feels odd enough to not wear a baseball cap so he said why the hell not to the sweater?

The subway ride into the city goes smoothly and without problem. Once Bucky jumps off the platform and up the stairs, he can feel his nerves kicking in. Near the distance, your shop illuminates like the treasure at the end of a rainbow. He drops his head a little low and walks at a slight pace to get there in time. 

Since this was an event, you wouldn’t open the store doors until 12 in the afternoon. You had rearranged some of the shelving with the aid of your other employees and put tables out to place the catering you had ordered. All, of course, Winter Solider themed. You were determined for this to be a success. You sent out several social media posts, an event page, and put up flyers around the neighborhood. Bucky had done so much to protect the entire universe, this is the least anyone could do.

You head over into the back where you told Bucky to go through. The backdoor pushes open and reveals the shaggy haired man you’ve come to admire. Bucky scrunches up his nose and lets out a laugh as he realizes your outfit.

“Very clever,” he says and walks over to where you stand. Your face gets flustered as you forgot for a moment that you were dressed up as the Winter Soldier himself. You had some help with the vested jacket, wearing a simple pair of slim black pants, dark boots, and created a black sleeve with gold accents to mimic Bucky’s new vibranium arm. You do a small twirl and beam at him.

“I just had this laying around, you know, just in case I had to replace you or something,” you begin to ramble but stop yourself short by biting your tongue. Bucky’s eyes crinkle at the edges and you can’t help but match his enthusiasm and forgo how much you were making a fool out of yourself.

You step closer to close the gap between you two a little. “And the sweater?”

Bucky tugs at the hem. He had gotten so used to wearing the sweater that it felt like a second skin to him. Something kept holding him back from fully embracing who he is, who Bucky Barnes really is.

Now he is willing to be vulnerable for a purpose. Maybe this will help him gain the confidence he needs without the reassurance from anyone else. This is for himself.

Slowly, Bucky unzips the dark sweater and removes it from his body. He drapes it over an empty chair and finally feels the liberation.

You clasp your hands together then drop them to your sides. “You look great, Bucky!”

For the first time, Bucky got complimented on his outfit. It felt foreign to him but he welcomed the nice words. Though it sounds like a mere whisper, Bucky tells you “thank you”.

You stretch your hand out for him to take. “Come on, the show’s about to begin.”

Bucky wants to hesitate but he knows he can do this. With a second first time that day, he takes your hand into his vibranium one and you lead the way.

“Can I touch your arm, Mister Bucky Winter Soldier Sir?”

Bucky’s heart melts at the request of the little girl before him. He nods with a smile, pushing his arm out for her to touch. The other kids soon circle around her as they let out audible gasps of wonderment. There are several camera flashes coming from all directions but Bucky keeps his cool under the slight pressure.

One kid decides to knock on his arm. “What’s this stuff made out of?”

Bucky begins to tell the story about being in Wakanda, soon talking about the brilliant teenager Shuri whose home country’s vibranium technology and smarts fixed him. Then he speaks about the wonderful king, T’Challa, and how he is the famed hero Black Panther, who he fought alongside with when Earth needed them the most. The kids listen in awe, some with open mouths, all captured by his story. You give his shoulder a tiny squeeze as you kneel beside him.

“You’re my new hero, Bucky!” another kid blurts out then stretches his arms to wrap around Bucky’s neck. You mumble a small “careful” but Bucky reassures you that it’s fine. All the kids around him start to do the same, sending him into a massive group hug and pits of giggles. The adults in the room make a collective “aww!”, including you as you put your hands on your mouth and rest a hand over your heart.

After a few seconds, you gently usher the kids away from Bucky and remind them about the assortment of goodies on the table. As the crowd dissipates, one kid sticks around and glances up at Bucky. You two look down to see her. She opens her mouth to say something but no words seem to come out. Her mother soon comes to her rescue and smiles at the two of you.

“My daughter wanted to ask you if you would sign her prosthetic arm.” Before anyone could say if it was alright, the mother lets out an airy laugh. “I’m totally okay with it. It’s her arm after all.”

Bucky gets down to the girl’s level and she hands him a Sharpie marker. He gladly takes it and uncaps it to sign.

“Ever since you were introduced as an Avenger, Aaliyah couldn’t believe someone with a prosthetic could fight and save the Earth. You helped her a lot with her self-esteem.” The mother places a hand on her daughter’s hair and brushes some loose strands. You wipe a few tears away from your eyes and continue to observe the interaction between Aaliyah and Bucky.

He puts the cap back on the Sharpie and gives it back to her. She looks down at her arm and reads the message Bucky wrote: 

Be proud of who you are, Aaliyah. -Bucky

She envelops him into a tiny hug and Bucky returns it. Aaliyah tells him thank you then rushes back to her mother’s side. They wave goodbye and walk past you two. Bucky can feel his eyes tearing up and his heart warming up from this entire event.

You wipe the final tear that managed to drop. “How does it feel to be a hero?”

Bucky takes a moment to reflect on your question. Everything in his life has come down to this very time in space. He no longer believed to be the monster Hydra had made him to be, no longer the lies that were spread to tarnish his image. Though he may never be James Buchanan Barnes, he certainly is Bucky Barnes.

“To be honest? Quite unbelievable.”

Tagging: @kwaiky, @ly--canthrope, @attentionseekingprincess

[thedaddycomplex]

The problem with having talented friends and acquaintances is you want to plug everyone’s movie or book or startup or fundraiser. But if I did that my Tumblr would literally just be a slew of posts about other projects. (Hey, @dougmoe, I’m still reading your book @manvchild and will post about it soon… though you’re a bestseller now, so I don’t know how much more help I could be.) Plus, I have my own new book out and, well, I really want you to buy it. Like, really.

Anyway, this post is not about my book. It’s about Jeffrey Sass’ book, which you should also buy… maybe after you buy mine. First, some backstory.

Let me set the way-back machine for, oh, let’s say the late-80s. I was an awkward kid and not into things like “going outdoors” or “maintaining friendships.” So I spent literally ever day watching movies—either rented from the local video store or whatever was on late-night TV. I was into cult films and low budget stuff, so one of my favorite movie studios was Troma. For the unfamiliar, Troma made goofy gory flicks like Class of Nuke ‘Em High, The Toxic Avenger, and Troma’s War, plus later classics like Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. and Toxic Avenger Parts II and III.

Fans of cult cinema know Troma. They know the company is a wild mix of insane projects, young talent, and more gross-out gags than every Rob Zombie and Eli Roth film put together. Troma took what Herschel Gordon Lewis started and paved the way for every schlock cinema auteur to come. Think Roger Corman, but with a more prominent sense of humor.

Cut to… 2014… maybe 2015-ish? I was already and handful of years into my career as a social media marketer. I met Jeffrey Sass at a dad blogger conference. I’m not sure how it came up, but he revealed that he used to work at Troma. Though the studio had a reputation for burning out employees fairly quickly, Jeffrey stayed with the company for nearly a decade doing everything from marketing to screenwriting to distribution deals to convincing a posh neighborhood to let Troma blow up a house. (More on that in a sec.) Listen, I’m not one to get selfies with celebrities, but I got one with Jeffrey.

Jeffrey took all of his absolutely batshit crazy experiences at Troma and turned them into a marketing how-to book with the best title ever: Everything I Know about Business and Marketing I Learned from the Toxic Avenger.

What’s great about the book is it actually serves a duel purpose. One part memoir, one part marketing guide—Everything I Know offers short digestible stories of the madness Jeffrey experienced while at Troma and pulls simple marketing lesson from the somewhat organized chaos.

One great example is how Jeffrey convinced an upscale neighborhood to let a production team use explosives to literally blow up a goddamn house on one of their streets for a film. Jeffrey presents this amazing anecdote as a lesson for businesses in using often untapped resources. For him, those resources were the local film commission, the fire department, and other organizations. They were the leverage he used to get the locals to sign off on the stunt.

Plus, the book includes a forward by Troma honcho Lloyd Kaufman. For cult film fans like me, he was the first studio exec I ever knew by name and face. (I mean, I know Darryl Zanuck’s name, but I couldn’t pick him out of a lineup.) And look, if you’re not into cult films or whatever there’s another reason to learn everything you can from the Troma team. LOTS of successful people got their start there, including Marisa Tomei, Samuel L. Jackson, and Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn. Rad, I know.

Everything I Know about Business and Marketing I Learned from the Toxic Avenger is available at Amazon. Get it. Seriously.

[r-o-se]

A bit less than 101 comment summary abt produce 101 season 2 ep 6  [watch it here]

Noone even reads those anymore but I like doing them so you know what fuck it lol 

1.      Omg this subber adds full names and ent companies I’m in love theyre just showing the rankings rn

2.      The benefit is now 10k for the team that gets 1st place by individual points but the 1st place trainees for each category is 100 fucking 000

3.      The position songs are

a.      RAP- Zico – Boys and Girls // iKON – Rhythm Ta // SMTM – I’m not the person you used to know // Mino – Fear

b.      VOCAL – BoA – Amazing Kiss // SJung Seunghwan – If it was you // Blackpink – Playing with Fire // BTS – Spring day // I.O.I – Downpour

c.      DANCE – Ed Sheeran – Shape of You // Flo Rida – Right Round // Jason Derulo – Get Ugly // NSync – POP

4.      Good luck kiddos the choosing is hidden so they won’t see who chose what before they’ve chosen themselves

5.      Seungwoo just dragged my baby Hyunbin through mud and said he doesn’t wanna be in a dance team with him again lol I understand him fully though aahahahahha

6.      Samuel just said he’s a bit afraid of Jihoon so he wants to avoid him but they’re in the same team again aaaaaaahahahhahaha  THIS IS SO CUTEE

7.      Hyungseob didn’t want eigher but GET FUCKED AAHAHAH ALL HIGH RANKED DANCERS ARE IN GET UGLY SEUNGWOO AND DANIEL AND HYUNGSEOB AND JIHOON AND SAMUEL

8.      PLAYING WITH FIRE TEAM AKA REN DAEHWI SEWOON ANDDDDDDDD BAEKHO

9.      FUCKING GOD DAEHWIS FACE WHEN BAEKHO WENT INTO THE PLAYING WITH FIRE TEAM AHAHA LIL KID SO SCARED

10.   Hyunbin is up and BoA is like…. Bro u alright?? U sure about this?

11.   BOI IS GONNA SING AAHAHAH FUCK DUMBO ITS IOI DOWNPOUR

12.   Big Woojin was the last to choose Get Ugly and closes it goddamn

13.   Gunhees mouth opens so wide holy shit

14.   ALL VOCAL POSITIONS GOT TAKEN BEFORE WOODAM COULD CHOOSE IM SO FUCKING DEPRESSED THIS IS SO SAD IM SO SORRY BABY BABY HES CRYING THIS IS SO DEPRESSING

15.   Fuck this show I’m so so sad how could they do this to Woodam

16.   Everyone are looking forward to Playing with Fire Team bc they all know how arranging music works

17.   Baekho: Disagrees w Sewoon

Mnet: *tense aggressive music* *montage of angry eyed Baekho* *red filter*

18.   This team has troubles with agreeing on the style of the stage

19.   IM A BOY YOU ARE A GIRL IM A BOY BUT YOU ARE A GIRL

20.   This stage has Alpaca Youngmin, BNM Donghyun and Dongbin the crybaby

21.   But it looks like theyre having disagreements too RIP

22.   Dongbin doesn’t even know how to rap baby why did you go there someone save Youngmin

23.   JINWOOS TEAM YE BOIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

24.   Mnet is tryna pit Jinwoo and Seongri againste eachother aahahah fuck off anyways Seongri is the center

25.   Kim Yehyeon just gave everyone a full course in music theory and composition WELL FUCKING DONE DUDE YOU GOT MY RESPECT

26.   Save Yongguk who others haven’t even noticed before I NOTICED U I STILL LOVE U IM A PESSIMIST TOO WE CAN BE NEGATIVE TOGETHER

27.    This team works so well and sweet together I love it

28.   Shape of you team now with Noh Taehyun and oldie tiptoes Seongwoo and Namhyung and Justin and others

29.   Taehyun doesn’t wanna teach anyone because he hates teaching but good fucking luck with thet aahahah

30.   They’re doing expressions to figure out the leader its so EMBARRASSING AAHAH AWWW

31.   JUSTIN YOURE 15 FUCCKING STOP WHAT THE HELLL IS THAT FACE

32.   TAEHYUN IS CENTER AND LEADER U DESERVE IT BOYO HE STARTS CHOREOGRAPHING RIGHT AWAY AND HES SO FASTTT DANCE GOD

33.   JR TEAM

34.   Baby was right away like ‘I don’t think I can be center so forget me’ but Guanlin and Moonbok want the position so that’s a thing

35.   Jr thinks Guanlin fits the center and eventho Moonbok wanted the position too he didn’t say anything because he wants to ggive others a chance ngl I really have started to like Moonbok hes friendly and not as annoying as I thought before

36.   ITS JINWOOS TEAMMMMM MY BOY LOOKIN FINE AS HELLLL DOIN DUMB POSES

37.   Everyone are shook while practicing cause their harmonies are so gooddd

38.   Kim Yongguk is a baby with low self esteem but he improved a loootttt I’m PROUD HE GOT PRAISED BY SEOKHOON

39.   During the actual concert BoA is in Japan doing a concert so she’s gonna oversee everyone rn which is really nice of her

40.   EVEN BOA PRAISED YONGGUK IM SO PROUD

41.   Ok but they aren’t giving the others screentime at all which is a bit sad IDK I WANNA SEE OTHERS TOO

42.   THE OTHER TEAM BOYS ARE CHEERING FOR EACHOTHER THIS IS SO CUTEEEE

43.   Jinwoo just sitting there being pretty is enough to make my day ngl AND HIS VOICEEEE

44.   ‘your body will react now’ my what anyways its right round time

45.   Cheetah is so adorable this season anyways this stage is LIT AND DAEHWI IMMITATING THEM IS CUTE AS FUCK AND THEYRE SYNCED AS HELLLLL

46.   They keep filming one girl in the audience I stg she gets more screentime than most trainees

47.   If Hwiseung and Byunmin get eliminated I’m gonna be Real Fuckin Sad

48.   Eunki is the leader and wants to be the new Bang Bang team

49.   Besides him, the team has Haknyeon plus Hwiseung and Hwanoong and K-Tiger Hyunmin and some others as well, Hwanoong is the center which makes Haknyeon salty ripppp

50.   Eunki has a death wish I stg he picks on Haknyeon and obvi Mnet grasped onto it and bam evil edit eventho Eunki has a reason to pick, Haknyeon is kind of behind on the choreo eventho he has a point since he doesn’t have a big part

51.   Eunki and Haknyeon talked it out I’m glad and everything goes really well and smoothly on the practice stage IM SO HAPPY

52.   THE PERFORMANCE HAS SUCH GOOD ENERGYYYY also they did scorption dance but didn’t fully show it?? Mnet the fuck

53.   HYUNMIN IS SO LIT I LOVE HIM AND HAKNYEON GOT TO DO KISSY FACES AT THE CAMERAAAAA

54.   Boys and girls Donnghyunnnnnnn is a CUTIE CUTIE but bnm kids are worried about the high standards everyone have for them goddamnit Dongbin poor baby

55.   BIG WOOJIN WENT AND HELPED THEIR TEAM WITH DONGBIN TOO BABYYYYYY I LOVE HIM SO MUCH

56.   DAEHWI IS SO CUTE JAMMING ALONGGGG THEIR STAGE IS SO GOOD I LOVE ITTTTT

57.   Kinda sad that they don’t have the iconic IM A BOY YOU ARE A GIRL IM A BOY BUT YOU ARE A GIRL chorus but it’s the stage itself is good and DONGBIN IS STILL ALIVE AND SMILING AND DONGHYUN IS SO GORGEOUSSSSS FUCKKKKKK AND YOUNGMIN IS FUCKING OWNING IT I LOVE HIM

58.   A trend that needs to stop: Leaders blaming themselves for everything and apologizing for first place

59.   SHAPE OF YOU TEAM YOOO BOYYYYYYYYYY IM LOOKING FOWARD TO THIS HARD eventho I already saw the vid of how they got evil edited and screentime cut and whatnot

60.   Oh nooooooo it’s a dance battle obvi Taehyun is out there fuckin KILLIN it best dancer in broduce I stg I LOVE HIMMMM everyone are thinking he will win first dance position

61.   EUNKI AND PARK WOOJIN AND ONG KILLED IT TOOOO HOLY FUCKING SHIT

62.   Their team has a loooot of small mistakes which makes me sad and yeah exactly as the vid said, they didn’t give them screentime and fucking cut out the killing part I’m so angry

63.   THE CHOREO IS SO GOOD I LOVE NOH TAEHYUN SO MUCH THEY FILMED THE SYNCCED LINEUP STUFF FROM THE SIDE WHY ON EARTH WHY DOES MNET HATE THEIR GROUP

64.   The crowd is shouting encore…. Is this why Mnet evil edited them…. Jesus fucking Christ I’m so angry

65.   THE KIDS ARE SO HYPE ABOUT BEING CALLED FOR ENCORE THIS IS SO CUTEEEE TAEHYUN GOT FIRST HES SO SO WORTHY I LOVE HIM SO MUCH HE REALLY DESERVES IT

66.   The others are still so happy for Taehyun this team has such good teamwork I’m cryin Mnet fuckin rudeeeee

67.   MINO FEAR UP W MY BOYSSSSS JR MOONBOK GUANLIN KIM TAEMIN

68.    Save Guanlin who can’t perform well in front of teachers I UNDERSTAND U BOO I GET IT AND HE GOT EVEN PRAISED BABYYY

69.   Their entire team got pencils in their mouths CUTIESSS

70.   Can’t believe Guanlin has two NU’EST guardians now god bless JR and Baekho BOA PRAISED HIS PRONOUNCIATION IM SO HAPPY I LOVE JR GOD BLESS NATIONS LEADER

71.   Taemin has been a trainee for 5 years????? Holy shit SAVE THIS BOY I’M SAD

72.   Moonbok made his rap for Hyunwoo bc he’s sad IM SAD TOO AAA

73.   ALL OF THEIR RAPS ARE SO EMOTIONAL WHAT THE FUCK THIS IS SO GOOD IM SAD

74.   NUEST  ARE ALL LOOKIN SAD KAHI IS BORDERLINE CRYING BAEKHOS LIPS TREMBLING IM EMOOOOO AS FUUUCKKKKK

75.   FUCKING DOGBIN BEING HOPELESS ABOUT NOT DEBUTING HYUNWOO IS IN THE CROWD CRYING AND MOONBOK IS BEING SAD THIS IS SO GOOD I LOVE THIS STAGE AAAAAAAAA

76.   ITS JINWOOS TEAMMMMM MY BOY LOOKIN FINE AS HELLLL DOIN DUMB POSES

77.   Everyone are shook while practicing cause their harmonies are so gooddd

78.   Kim Yongguk is a baby with low self esteem but he improved a loootttt I’m PROUD HE GOT PRAISED BY SEOKHOON

79.   During the actual concert BoA is in Japan doing a concert so she’s gonna oversee everyone rn which is really nice of her

80.   EVEN BOA PRAISED YONGGUK IM SO PROUD

81.   Ok but they aren’t giving the others screentime at all which is a bit sad IDK I WANNA SEE OTHERS TOO

82.   THE OTHER TEAM BOYS ARE CHEERING FOR EACHOTHER THIS IS SO CUTEEEE

83.   Jinwoo just sitting there being pretty is enough to make my day ngl AND HIS VOICEEEE

84.   ‘your body will react now’ my what anyways its right round time

85.   Its basically the exact same footage as before Haknyeon vs Eunki

86.   Cheetah is so adorable this season anyways this stage is LIT AND DAEHWI IMMITATING THEM IS CUTE AS FUCK AND THEYRE SYNCED AS HELLLLL

87.   They keep filming one girl in the audience I stg she gets more screentime than most trainees

88.   If Hwiseung and Byunmin get eliminated I’m gonna be Real Fuckin Sad

89.   ITS BLACKPINK STAGE TIME YE BOIIIIIIIIIIII It’s Baekho, Ren, Daehwi and Sewoon

90.   They got some problems with Sewoon playing guitar but it all GOOD they got em solved

91.   Ren got shades on lookin like the love child of Zion.T and Lady gaga

92.   Daehwi just blowed some red god damn CONFETTI it looks GOOD AS HELL YOOO THAT BOY LOOKS FUCKING FINE HERE

93.   Ren was last, Sewoon third, Baekho second and Daehwi first

94.   Cant believe Sewoon and Daehwi got over their Baekhophobia tru character development

95.   GET UGLY STAGE HOLY SHITTTT ALL THE POPULAR KIDS THERE

96.   Danik my dude doin all sorts of handstand bboy things bruh I bet his arms look hella nice

97.   THEY JUST CUT IT!! JUST LIKE THAT! NO FUCK

[miraculously-fangirling]

Springtime Connection - Chapter 6

To say that Adrien was surprised when his father picked him up from school for lunch would be an understatement. He had to stop at the school’s steps as he saw his father’s figure behind the steering wheel.  Gabriel’s rare smile pulled Adrien out of his thoughts and into the passenger seat with Nino still gawking from the sidewalk. Neither of the boys could figure out the designers new found compassion, but Adrien wasn’t minding it.

“How’s your day been so far?” Adrien said, sparing a glance from the road to flash his son a new smile.

“G-great.” Adrien said with an unrestrained grin.

“Glad to hear it.”

Adrien sank into his seat. His father was so, well, fatherly today. He glanced out the window and saw the mansion pass by. Wait, where were they going? Adrien swung his head around to his father, but his father just kept watching the road with a fresh sparkle in his eye. A violet sparkle to be precise. “Where are we going?” Adrien said as the mansion flew out of view from the window.

“Lunch.”

“Lunch?”

Adrien’s question barely left him as they rolled up to a quaint cafe a few blocks away from the mansion. Adrien had always wanted to check out this place, it served comfort food from the world. He frankly didn’t think he would be able to eat here until after his modeling days or graduation as a treat. He never ate out. Too much fat, sugar, and salt. It wasn’t good for the physique or complexion. But here’s his designer father, fully aware of all of this, taking him into the little eatery.

Gabriel parked and smiled over to Adrien as they went into the homey restaurant. Decadent scents bombarded Adrien. Buttery pastries and hearty stews swam through the eatery atop of waiters’ platters. He couldn’t help but drool a bit at the thought of tasting even just one of the dishes. How was he going to choose?

Numerous families occupied the tables and booths. Small children ate huge stacks of pancakes and bursting tarts while their parents laughed and followed along with their childish stories from elementary school. Adrien noted the number of children out of school but a waitress took him and his father to a window side table before he could think about it too much. Should he really be caring? His father, the tower of ice named Gabriel Agreste, was eating lunch with him and smiling. It was something straight out of Adrien’s vision of a normal family. Well, as normal as it would ever get for him.

Adrien stared at the menu for a solid ten minutes while Gabriel simply asked for a coffee. The teen sincerely didn’t know where to start. Should he start with something sweet? Maybe salty? Or should he stick to something healthier? He did have a shoot coming up in a few weeks. He couldn’t risk a break out, so no greasy food. But that still left about half the menu to choose from.

Gabriel gave his son a knowing smile. “Order whatever you want,” he says with a voice that Adrien hadn’t heard since last year, since before his mother disappeared. Adrien decided to be modest by ordering a meal of duck breast and vegetables. This wasn’t too bad, right? The salad course came soon after his order while his father just sipped on his coffee.

The meal continued. Any and all conversation was focused on Adrien, not fashion, or work, or grades, or the antics of his friends, just on him and his life. Adrien almost didn’t know what to do with all of this paternal attention. The hour passed, many families came in and out, ordering the most grand meals for their little ones. Adrien found it suspicious but he was paying much more attention to his abnormally cheery father.

Sooner than Adrien had liked, the lunch hour ended. He finished his last macaron and wiped his mouth clean with a napkin. It was fun while it lasted but the restaurant’s lunch time was nearly up and his classes were going to start soon. He couldn’t possibly eat another bite anyways.

Adrien gathered up his bag and stood from the table. “Thank you so much for the meal, fa- I mean Dad,” he says with the foreign title still leaving him tongue tied. How long has it been since he called Gabriel ‘Dad’ on a daily basis?

“You’re welcome,” Gabriel said before finishing off his second cup of black coffee. The father and son duo piled back into the luxury car. Adrien was completely prepared to return to school and hear Nino freak out about Adrien’s surprise visit from father dearest, but his plans were dashed when they drove past the school.

Adrien turned to his father with heat creeping into his cheeks. What the hell was his father thinking? “Where are we going?” He sputtered as the school fell into the distance.

Gabriel smiled down to his son. “I feel like we haven’t been spending enough time with each other lately,” he said, sparing his son a gleeful glance before refocusing on the road. “So I thought you could come over to the studio.”

The studio? Sure, Adrien never really went there anymore because he wasn’t not very interested in the creative process (well, except with Marinette, her drawings always felt a lot more alive than his father’s illustrations). Now Adrien’s radar was on full force. His father was acting too strangely. Was it an akuma? Shit, of all the people to be affected, why did it have to be his father? He couldn’t possibly get away to transform with his father like this, and he couldn’t contact Ladybug either. Shit, if only he had some way to contact her out of costume, but that would impede on their civilian lives. But what if Gabriel wasn’t akumatized? What if Adrien was wrong and his father was just turning over a new leaf?

He gritted his teeth in frustration. Gabriel failed to notice Adrien’s growing irritation and anxiety as they drove into the business side of Paris. Gabriel leisurely led Adrien into a square, almost sterile building. The teen hero frankly couldn’t remember how it used to look. Was it always so white and tasteless? Surely, such fun designs could not come from such an anal man and blank space. He used to be warmer and fun, like his clothes, but, since Adrien’s mother left, Gabriel had been cold. Colder than cold, more like subzero and devoid of human kindness. Adrien liked to think that his father was replaced by an android, but the designs were still his style. Adrien knew it was Gabriel underneath the icy facade.

The duo bypassed the security lock and entered a vast space filled with neatly organized rolls of fabric, mannequins, and shelves filled with paper. A large desk, with neat stacks of paper and lines of pencils arranged on it, resided at the far side of the room.

Gabriel slowly walked over to his desk and Adrien took a seat in one of the few, simple chairs strewn throughout the space. He didn’t know what he should do as his father showed him design after design. Adrien recognized many of the designs as this current season’s lineup. He had just a done a shoot with many of the teen pieces.

Sure, seeing the behind the scenes work of modern fashion was interesting, but Adrien’s mind was preoccupied with the emergence of a possible new akuma.

_______________________________

After some more freaking out to poor Tikki, it was time for Marinette to head back to school. She was no closer to coming up with a solution to her little predicament though. How was she supposed to talk to Adrien now? Like should she be normal even though she knows that that innocent face can spout out such horrible puns, or should she tell him? No, telling him would make everything at least twenty times more complicated. But Marinette couldn’t just do nothing, could she? Tikki said to just let things play out and settle down, but ‘settle down’ wasn’t in Marinette’s vocabulary.

Marinette walked down to the bakery with her head still stuck in the clouds. Crowds were still bombarding the storefront. Screaming children and irritated parents took Marinette out of her thoughts. What the hell was even going on? Why were they all still here? Her parents frantically tried to tell the customers that they were out of chocolate which only made the situation worse. Something was amiss. Things never got this bad around the bakery, not even during Valentine’s or Christmas. Marinette slipped through the agitated crowd and ran into the street where she retreated into a nearby alleyway.

She opened her purse to let Tikki roam free. “Oh, Tikki,” Marinette said, “what’s going on?”

Tikki shrugged. “I don’t know, Marinette.”

“It’s as if kids run the town now.” Marinette took a peek out of the alley and saw a number of children with sweets and new toys from their beaming guardians. She looked closely at the adults and noticed the faint violet ring around their eyes. Great, a controlling akuma. It was just her luck. She frankly found these kind of akuma the most annoying since the victim wasn’t always in plain sight. Marinette scanned the street again for any flashy outfits or suspicious characters, but she found nothing more than children dominated families. The victim probably wasn't here.

“We need to find the akuma,” Tikki said, waving her stubby arms in the air.

“Yes but the school will get suspicious if I go missing.” Marinette’s parents and teachers were already wary of her constant tardiness, and she couldn’t risk missing more school unless it was absolutely necessary. There was no real danger and she didn’t know where the akuma was anyways so it made no difference if she left now or after school, right?  

Tikki sighed. Secret identities were hard to maintain when your attendance was constantly monitored. “You’re right. Right after class we have to go out searching though.” Marinette agreed, and Tikki zipped back into the purse.

Marinette had to run back to class in order to be in her seat just as the bell rang. Alya shoved Marinette’s shoulder as the disguised superhero caught her breath. Marinette gave her friend a side glance, and Alya simply motioned to Adrien’s seat. It was empty. Marinette didn’t know what to say so she just looked at Alya wide eyed.

‘Where is he?’ Marinette mouthed.

Alya shrugged before tapping Nino on the shoulder. He had no clue where Adrien was either.

“Yeah dudes, last time I saw him, he was getting picked up by his dad,” Nino whispered before Ms. Mendeleiev called for the class’ attention.

Marinette had a bad feeling about Adrien’s disappearance. She knew that Gabriel Agreste wasn’t exactly father of the year. Was he trying to keep Adrien out of school again? No, he wouldn’t drag him out midday like this unless it was for work. He wasn’t excused so this wasn’t planned. So where was he then? Marinette struggled to keep up with algebra and physics as speculations swam through her thoughts.

The final bell couldn’t ring soon enough, and Marinette was soon out the door. She didn’t stop to fix the team’s problems or hang out with Alya. She had a job to do: capture the akuma and save Adrien. Ok, the first was her job, the second was a bonus. Nothing stopped her as she practically ran back to the bakery and up to her room. She threw a half white lie of needing to work on festival stuff and wouldn’t be down for dinner. That gave her time. Hopefully enough.

Tikki zipped out as Marinette closed the door behind her.

“Alright Tikki, spots on!”

________________________________________

Adrien aimlessly walked around the studio as his father attempted to work, but Gabriel’s adoring gaze never left Adrien for long. Adrien found it weird after the first hour. His father worked periodically, while Adrien flipped through the designs. He didn’t how to talk to him. Gabriel wasn’t exactly known for small talk or heart to hearts. They could talk about work but Gabriel’s newfound sense of fatherhood wouldn’t allow it. Gabriel wanted to nurture his son and show his love for him. He had been cold, but the fluttering feeling in his chest made him want to hold Adrien close and see the boy’s smile.  

The hours passed, and Gabriel enjoyed every second of it. He enjoyed just being in his son’s space and to spend time with him, but Adrien was wound up the entire time. He couldn’t wait to get out of the stuffy studio. Something was wrong. He knew it and he needed to investigate.

Four o’clock finally came around and Gabriel gathered his notebooks. Finally it was time to go. Adrien practically ran to the car as he and Gabriel exited the studio.

“Did you have fun?” Gabriel asked, again sparing a glance from the road. Adrien slowly nodded. He knew something was up with his father, but he wasn’t about to be rude. He didn’t know if Gabriel would remember any of this, but Adrien wanted to enjoy it just a little. Gabriel’s smile grew slightly. “Good, I know that design isn’t your passion, but I’m glad that you like the studio.”

“Yeah, it was interesting,” Adrien said, staring at his hands in his lap. It was interesting, to an extent, but physics would’ve been more fascinating. His friends would’ve found the studio far more interesting.

The mansion couldn’t have come into view soon enough for Adrien. Gabriel and Adrien exited the car soon after pulling into the driveway. Gabriel tried to follow his son to his room but Adrien needed to do homework. That’s what he said at least. Gabriel reluctantly complied.

With a heavy heart, Gabriel went to his office to shuffle papers around while Adrien locked his bedroom door. Adrien sighed as Plagg zipped out.

“Hey, where’s my cheese and what’s with your dad?” Plagg whined as Adrien slumped onto his bed.

Adrien opened a nearby tupperware and pulled out a piece of the stinky cheese. “I don’t know,” Adrien mumbled as Plagg swooped in and snatched the cheese wedge.

“He seems awfully fatherly lately,” he said between mouthfuls.

Adrien nodded. “Yeah, almost too fatherly.” Adrien stood and said, “Come on Plagg, something isn’t right. Claws out!”

[wbwest]

New Post has been published on WilliamBruceWest.com

New Post has been published on http://www.williambrucewest.com/2017/04/21/west-week-ever-pop-culture-review-42117/

West Week Ever: Pop Culture In Review - 4/21/17

Star Wars Celebration (I can’t say that without thinking of Dave Chappelle’s Rick James yelling “It’s a celebration, bitches!”) happened in Florida last weekend, and we got our first teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Folks seemed to like it alright. I’ve never claimed to be the biggest Star Wars fan, but nothing about this really gave me a Force Boner or anything. That’s probably because Rogue One left such a bad taste in my mouth. Anyway, I’m sure I’ll see it, but it’s not really on my radar.

In other movie “news”, we got the track listing for Awesome Mix Vol 2 from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2., which comes out today. Is it just me, or is it weird that Mama Quill gave Peter mixtapes of all the songs that played while she was banging dudes in Camaros? Come on – she was totally that chick! Anyway, there are no real surprises here, as it seems to be in-line thematically with the first volume. Personally, I’m ecstatic that “Come A Little Bit Closer” will be introduced to a new generation, as I’m a huge fan of Jay and the Americans (check out “Cara Mia” if you’ve never heard it).

This rumor came out a few weeks ago, but it kinda floated under my radar: apparently Warner Bros wants to release 4 Batman-centered films in 2019 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Detective Comics. This slate would include Nightwing, Gotham City Sirens, the Joss Whedon Batgirl, and the oft-delayed The Batman. Nice idea, but there’s no way this happens. DC just doesn’t have its shit together enough to pull this off. Marvel could do it, but they would’ve been planning it since 2012. It’s already 2017 and they expect to crank out 4 movies in 2 years? Shit ain’t happening.

Bring on the teen angst train, as we’ve got two more comic-based series just dripping with it! First up is Cloak and Dagger on Freeform, which looks like the Freeformiest show that ever Freeformed. It’ll be right at home between the show about the deaf girl and the show about the foster kids. I’ve never been a huge Cloak and Dagger fan, but the series follows teen runaways Tandy Bowen and Tyrone Johnson, who were kidnapped and injected with an experimental drug. The drug left Tandy (Dagger) with “light daggers”, while Tyrone (Cloak) has a mystical cloak that transports people and things to a dark dimension. Oh, and there’s that sweet, sweet interracial love/Jungle Fever aspect to things. Based on the trailer, it’s gonna focus more on the love thing than the power thing, which is understandable since powers are expensive on a weekly TV budget. I haven’t heard if this is actually considered part of the MCU, but it’s nice to see the Roxxon sign at the end, so there are clear ties to the universe itself.

The angst doesn’t end there, though, kids! We also got a trailer for Syfy’s Krypton series (which has since been yanked down) – ya know, the one that nobody asked for. It’s hard for me to get excited about Krypton when very little about that planet has ever seemed appealing. It’s most recently been painted as a cold, stoic, science-based society. And since they don’t have our sun, it means they’re powerless. Here’s what I don’t get about the trailer: the show takes place approximately 200 years prior to Man of Steel (I guess making it the first series to be an official part of the DCEU), but the monologue is of Kal El’s grandfather leaving a message for him. Um, how does he KNOW his grandson’s name is Kal El if he hasn’t been born yet? Anyway, it’s about Grandpa El, who happens to be a sexy, CW-ish twenty something, trying to restore honor to the disgraced House of El. The effects look nice (AKA expensive), but nothing about this show makes me want to see it.

There’s some laughter coming from a different comic-based series, however, in the form of Freeform’s New Warriors. I mentioned it a few weeks ago, but it’s been confirmed that Kevin Biegel of Enlisted/Cougar Town will be the showrunner, and we got a confirmation of the roster. Led by Squirrel Girl (who has never been a New Warrior in the comics, but I won’t harp on that), the team is comprised of Speedball, Night Thrasher, Microbe, Mister Immortal, and Debrii. I’m familiar with career Warriors Speedball and Night Thrasher, but I don’t know anything about the others. Considering Mr. Immortal and Squirrel Girl are Great Lakes Avengers characters, this is something of a hybrid team.

I’m the furthest thing from a foodie, but I love a good dairy-based gimmick drink, and this week featured TWO of them! First up, I’d read online that Burger King had been testing a Froot Loops Shake at certain East Coast locations, with plans to roll it out nationally today. Well, I traveled around until I found one that had it early (well, I didn’t travel too far – it was down the street from my apartment), as I had to see what the fuss was all about. I had heard it described as made from vanilla soft serve, with Froot Loops pieces, topped off with a sweet, syrupy drizzle. Sounds exotic, right? WRONG. Whoever thought of this probably got a bonus for the idea, but it lacks in the execution. It’s basically a vanilla shake with edible confetti in it. From Loops don’t really have a strong fruity flavor to them, so it’s not like it’s rubbing off into the soft serve. And when you do get some Froot Loop chunks through the straw, they just taste like flavorless corn cereal. I didn’t taste any kind of drizzle, and I kept waiting for the WOW to kick in. It never did. I drank this so that you don’t have to and, trust me, you really don’t have to.

Next up was the Starbucks Unicorn Frappuccino. I hadn’t even heard of the thing until Wednesday morning, when everyone and their mom was talking about it. Looking at it, I was reminded of the Birthday Cake Frappuccino that comes out in March (I remember this because it was out at the time Evie was born). I LIVED on those things for the two weeks or so that they were in stores, so I was expecting this to be more of the same. I wasn’t sure what flavor this one was supposed to be, but there were certainly visual similarities. Anyway, after dinner Wednesday night, I snuck off to the corner Starbucks to try it out. You’ve heard of a Butterface, right? Well, this is a Buttertaste. It looks cool and everything, but the taste…THE TASTE! Its marketing emphasizes that it magically changes flavors while you drink it, but I could never really nail down what those flavors were supposed to be. There was a pervasive muskiness to it, making me feel like I’d basically sucked off a real unicorn. Of course, that would be silly – everyone knows you’ve got to buy a unicorn dinner before it lets you do that! Then, near the end, the muskiness gives way to a hyper berry taste, reminiscent of the Blue Raspberry that candy scientists seemed to have discovered in 1992. At no point in the drink was it what I would call “enjoyable”, and even the whipped cream on top was disappointing. As far as I’m concerned, this drink can fuck off back to Narnia where it came from.

Things You Might Have Missed This Week

Bill O’Reilly was fired from Fox News following sexual harassment allegations. See, if he’d told Billy Bush he only grabbed ‘em by the pussy, he’d be President by now!

Nintendo officially ended production on the NES Classic, followed by rumors that an SNES Classic is coming later this year

Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck were announced as the directors for Captain Marvel. I’ve never seen anything they’ve done (Half Nelson, episodes of Billions, and The Affair), so I’ve got no real opinion right now

Speaking of Marvel films, Black Panther wrapped production this week, as Hollywood braces for the return of every living Black actor

Will Smith is in talks to take on the classic Robin Williams role of The Genie in Guy Ritchie’s live action Aladdin adaptation. Obviously, Jaden Smith will probably get the role of Aladdin.

Stranger Things co-star Shannon Purser came out as bisexual on Twitter. Well, she’s bisexual in real life. She just used Twitter to announce it.

Director James Gunn announced that Guardians of the Galaxy 3 would be the final iteration of this lineup of the team

Black-ish was sold into off-network syndication, launching in Fall 2018

Jane The Virgin’s Gina Rodriguez will voice Carmen Sandiego in a new animated series coming to Netflix

Steve Harvey will host a revival of Showtime At the Apollo for Fox

Fate of the Furious debuted to $532 million internationally, beating the record-setting $529 million earned by Star Wars: The Force Awakens

With its original pilot rejected by Fox a few years ago, Joe Hill’s comic Locke & Key will have a new pilot filmed for Hulu

The X-Files has been renewed for a 10-episode 11th season. I couldn’t even make it through the last 6-episode batch they gave us, so I think this is a pass for me.

For the past 6 seasons, I have pretty much hate-watched HBO’s Girls. I hated Lena Dunham’s dumpy, Play-Doh body which was constantly on nude display. I hated all of her character Hannah’s “problems”. I hated her boyfriend Adam. I had convinced myself that I was really just watching, hoping that the characters would eventually be hit by a truck or something. Then, this season came along. Even through all my hate, I had to admit that this was a pretty strong season. From Hannah’s odd interaction with a bestselling author to Marnie finally realizing she sucks at life, there were some great episodes of television to be found in this season of the show. I was also forced to admit things about myself.

First off, I always knew I liked Shoshana because she had enough sense to know that she deserved better than the friends with which she’d found herself. And I definitely missed her once she decided to finally distance herself from them.  I also realized there was much more to the Ray character and, while they didn’t exactly put a bow on it, I’m glad they led us to believe that he had found a happy ending. Even a character as originally unlikable as Elijah had some strong development this season, and he was truly missed in the finale, even though this chapter of his story had come to a close. As I already admitted in my Get Out review, I had to come to terms with my crush on Allison Williams and, by extension, Marnie Michaels. Yeah, she sucked at life, but she seemed like the one out of the four who had Tony Starked her way into that situation; she was the cause of her own problems. Once she began to realize that, the character held more promise. And I realized I hated Jessa because she reminded me too much of girls I’d hooked up with in college: damaged, tattooed, pseudo-junkies who are lucky to still be alive. And I guess Hannah reminded me of girls I’d hooked up with post college. Yeah, I hated a lot about Girls because, I guess, I hated a lot about myself.

This Sunday saw the series finale of the show, and I wasn’t quite sure I was ready for it. After a season that had given us a pregnant Hannah, but also showcased the dissolution of the group’s friendship, I didn’t really know how they could “end” the story. I was further distraught when I read an article last week saying that Jessa and Shosh’s final appearances had been in the penultimate episode that had just aired. While I would miss them in the final half hour, I had to admit that their chapters had also come to a close.

When we get to the finale, there’s a five-month time jump, where Marnie and Hannah are living in a remote house upstate, raising Hannah’s baby, Grover. Yes, that’s what she named him. Anyway, it was 30 minutes about what it means to be happy, but also what it means to be an adult and a parent. I like to think that Hannah finally grew up once she realized that Grover wasn’t another problem that she could simply run away from. The entire episode, she’s freaking out because Grover won’t breastfeed, but in the final seconds he finally takes to her breast. The look on her face is a mix of relief and maturity. It was then that I realized the show had to end at that point, as Hannah was no longer a girl. The entire series had been about millennial drama, as they skirted adulthood, but those times were over. The title Girls no longer applied to Hannah because she was now a Woman, with all the responsibilities that entailed. I used to worry about Hannah, and I sure as Hell worried about Grover when we learned she was pregnant. After Sunday’s finale, though, I think they’re gonna be OK. It was a finale that I had to give some thought to, but it didn’t leave me unfulfilled like Don Draper creating a Coke jingle only to end up hocking tax prep software six months later. For this reason, Girls had the West Week Ever.

[izthecannibal]

We’re Not Too Far Gone - Carl Grimes Imagine

Part 2

Part 3

requests: could you do a multi chapter fic where like the reader is like 14?? and like negan takes her from hilltop to raise her as his own but she doesnt like him so she runs away and she gets captured by like dwight and thats the part where glenn and michonne are also captured aswell and they get to the lineup and thats where negan notices her and ricks group are " shookt " and when carl tries to hunt down negan and fails he ends up meeting reader during the tour and they form a great friendship??

and about the " negans daughter" thing can you make the reader really close w jesus and he gets really upset when negan takes her away?? thanks aha

pairings: father figure negan x reader, best friend/ guardian jesus x reader

a/n: i’ve written this about four times now so i hope my laptop doesn’t delete this one lol

word count: 1,575

tagged users: @deeindarkwonderland 

"You like it?” Negan asked, placing his hands on your shoulders. He stood behind you, leaning his head to whisper in your ear. You ignored him, finding that silence was your best defense mechanism against him. You were a mix of disgusted with how the women he lived with pranced around like sex dolls and in awe of how beautiful the room was. You hadn’t seen furniture like that in person ever, even before walkers roamed the earth. 

Negan took you from the Hilltop while he was on one of his weekly visits to take your supplies. One of his wives had been bugging him about wanting a kid, and you seemed to be perfect to him. “Take a seat, and I’ll bring out your new mother,” he ordered. You sat down on the nice couch, huffing at his mention of a ‘mother.’ 

Negan was full of shit if he actually thought you were ever going to call her that. The closest thing you had to a parent was Jesus, who took you in under his wing when your family died. He and you were both lone wolves before you met each other. He became your best friend and guardian. 

A woman followed Negan towards you, where her facial expression resembled anything but happiness. Negan smiled at her hopefully, begging for a response. The woman looked at you with disgust. “This is (Y/N),” Negan said gesturing for you to stand up. You crossed your arms leaning back into your seat. 

“She’s older than I thought she was going to be,” the woman complained. She acted as if you weren’t a few feet in front of her. 

“Same here,” you replied wittily, glaring at the woman. Her eyes widened with rage, and she looked back at Negan like she was waiting for him to do something. 

“I asked for a kid, not a bitchy teenager,” she blurted out, balling her hands into fists at her sides. 

“(Y/N),” Negan sighed, “Why don’t you go ahead and wait outside.” You scoffed, rolling your eyes dramatically to assure that she noticed, and walked out the doors. 

For the first time since you arrived at the sanctuary, you were alone. Negan always made sure either he, himself, or one of his Saviors was by your side at all times. You felt a rush of relief roll over you as you recognized your new freedom. You looked in each direction before quickly walking down the hall, trying your hardest to act like you had a purpose. 

You found a large steel staircase that you recognized and flew down it without a second thought, gripping the handrail for stability. On the ground floor, there were way too many people to count. Some were eating, others were talking, and a group of about twenty men sat around a table, discussing something seemingly important. 

You noticed a group of people leaving the Sanctuary, and began walking with them, trying your hardest to blend in. There didn’t seem to be a leader of the small crowd, and the conversations were only between two or three people, so you weren’t able to hear where they were going. You didn’t care, though. They were leaving, and that was all that was on your mind at the moment. 

You were walking down a road that you recognized from when Negan drove you to the Sanctuary in his truck when a small group of walkers--maybe three or four--caught your attention. A woman with red hair reached into her belt, but you stopped her. 

“Don’t worry about it,” you offered. “I got this. I’ll catch up with you guys.” She didn’t argue, and the group continued down the road. You pulled out your small knife from your belt and efficiently killed all the walkers, then ran a bit deeper into the forest to hide yourself. You ran as quickly as you could in the direction of the Hilltop. 

Your run slowed down to a quiet walk as you heard voices ahead of you. You had no idea how long you had been running, but you were almost positive you weren’t close enough to be home already. Maybe Jesus sent a group out? Or maybe Negan’s group caught up to you? Amidst the trees, you could see two people. An Asian man with floppy, black hair stood across from a slim, dark skinned woman with long, thick hair that fell down her back. 

“We just got stuck with each other,” he said. The woman looked at him sadly, and he looked away from her. “We were lucky.” He paused, shaking his head slightly and breathing in deeply. “We’d figure it all out together. I felt like we did... After everything, we did.” He shook his head again, staring at the fallen leaves on the ground. “The world’s not what we thought it is.” 

You wondered what this man was talking about--who he was talking about. 

“Hilltop, the Saviors... It’s bigger.” Your eyes widened, and you gasped a little. A whistle sounded from among the trees, and you ducked down, drawing your knife. The man positioned his gun in front of him, and the woman grabbed the handle of a long sword out of its sheath on her back. 

Within your immediate line of sight, you could see five men, all with their weapons aimed at the two people. As far as you were aware, they didn’t notice you. You recognized one of the men by the scar on his face, which you assumed was from being burned. These men were Saviors, and they weren’t gathered here coincidentally. They had probably been following you since you left the group on the main road. 

“Hi,” the man with the scarred face said monotonously, aiming his gun at the Asian man. He seemed to bite the inside of his lip as he readjusted his gun beneath his shoulder, lowering the weapon. They held their hands down at their sides in surrender, and they were easily taken to the ground by Negan’s men. 

The man’s and woman’s hands were tied behind their backs, and their mouths were tied shut with gags. They were forced onto the ground as the Saviors began to start a fire. You hadn’t even noticed how dark it was getting until your eyes ached in the presence of light. 

You hadn’t moved since you heard the first whistle. Your feet were planted still, for you were more scared than you had been in a while. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see a man in a black leather vest with a crossbow and a woman with a cap and a large gun creeping up behind the Saviors. You wondered if these people were with the two hostages, or if they were more of Negan’s men. 

Before you could stop yourself, you were creeping towards them. The woman noticed you first, aiming her gun at you. You shook your head frantically, holding your hands up. She nudged the man in the vest, nodding at you. You shook your head once again, trying to inaudibly tell them that you weren’t one of the Saviors. The man and woman creeped towards you, and away from the group. 

“Where are you from?” he asked bluntly. The woman still had her gun aimed at you, but you couldn’t blame her. You could never be too certain that someone wasn’t out to get you. 

“Hilltop,” you whispered, trying not to draw attention to the three of you. “Negan took me, and I got out.” They looked at each other with their eyebrows raised. “Where are you from?” 

“Alexandria,” the woman said. Your eyes lit up at the mention of the town they came from. Jesus always told you how amazing Alexandria was, and how he was going to take you there sometime. 

“Oh!” you said excitedly. “Do you know Jesus?” They looked at each other once more. They seemed to be gaining trust in you. 

“Yeah,” he said. “We know Jesus.” He dropped his weapon and stuck his hand out. “Daryl.”

You tossed your knife into your other hand and shook his. “(Y/N).” 

“I’m Rosita,” the woman said, still aiming her gun at you. You smiled uncomfortably at her. “How old are you, kid?”

“Does anyone really know anymore?” you asked smartly. “I’m probably fourteen or fifteen. I was little when all this started.” Daryl and Rosita nodded. “You know them?” you asked, gesturing at the two hostages. 

“Yeah,” Daryl replied. “Glenn and Michonne. You help us get them, and we’ll get you back to the Hilltop. Yeah?” You nodded in agreement. Even if these people were bad, you had nothing to lose. The three of you crept towards the glowing fire. 

The man who was tied down, Glenn, noticed you three, and your eyes darted back to Daryl. He held up his finger to his lips, telling him to stay quiet. Glenn, though, began to groan, gaining the attention of the Saviors.

“Hi, Daryl,” a man said. You turned your head slowly to see the man with the scarred face holding a gun to the back of Daryl’s head. Rosita put one of her hands up, holding onto her gun with her other hand. You quickly tucked your knife into your belt before raising both your hands up slowly. There was a man behind each of you. 

The sound of a gun firing echoed through the woods, and you dropped to your knees. 

[danielphowley]

Breath of the wild review

‘The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’ is an audacious reimagining of a classic franchise.

‘The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’ review: A new classic for a new generation

“The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” is one of those rare games you fall in love with the moment you begin playing. Heck, you probably wouldn’t put down if it weren’t for pesky things like food, sleep and basic hygiene. That’s certainly an impressive feat for any game series, let alone one that’s three decades old. And yet here we are.

From the characters and soundtrack to the quirky humor and slick controls, “Breath of the Wild” is a “Zelda” game through and through. But it’s also an ambitious reinvention of the decades-old franchise; an outrageously huge, exceedingly gorgeous example of what Nintendo (NTDOY) can do when it brings all of its creative power to bear.

“Breath of the Wild” is one of just 10 launch games for Nintendo’s Switch, a paltry lineup for a new system. But “Breath of the Wild” is so frustratingly good, so engrossing, it’s almost worth the $360 investment ($300 for the Switch, $60 for the game). If you’re already set on getting a Switch, have a Wii U or are just a fan of the series, you need to play this game. Here’s why.

Welcome to a whole new Hyrule

Over the last 30 years, gamers have crisscrossed the kingdom of Hyrule innumerable times as the sword-swinging (and tragically mute) hero, Link. If you’ve played the biggest titles in the series — “Ocarina of Time,” “Twilight Princess,” “A Link to the Past” or the original “The Legend of Zelda” — you know your way across Hyrule Field.

Fire up “Breath of the Wild,” however, and you’ll see all of your favorite locales from the series’ past spread across a world so dauntingly large it makes “Twilight Princess’s” massive map look absolutely minuscule by comparison.

‘Breath of the Wild’s’ world is immense and teaming with life.

Your first look at “Breath of the Wild’s” take on Hyrule comes after Link awakens from a deep sleep in a large recuperation pod. Calamity Gannon has destroyed Hyrule and has been locked in a century-old struggle with Zelda, who is keeping the massive, serpentine beast from consuming the world in fire. But Link? He’s got no clue as to what’s going on. He’s been out for 100 years. I can barely remember what I did an hour ago after a 20-minute nap. So I can’t blame his amnesia.

After walking out into the daylight, you get a view of the world at your feet, and it’s stunning. Every mountain, cave and river you see can be climbed and explored as you work to recover your memories and help Zelda defeat Gannon.

“Breath of the Wild’s” landscapes span a number of regions. There are icy mountain peaks, scorched deserts, lush forests and windswept grasslands. Every stretch of land is teeming with life. Elk and wild boar occupy the forests, grasshoppers and lizards hide among the grasslands, and mountain goats climb Hyrule’s steep slopes. It’s the most lived-in, vibrant Hyrule we’ve ever seen.

Things did not go well for Hyrule 100 years ago.

Living off the land

If you’re going to survive in the world of “Breath of the Wild,” you’re going to have to live off the land. Nintendo and director Hidemaro Fujibayashi have incorporated Western-style role-playing game (RPG) sensibilities into “Breath of the Wild.” You’ll need to collect fruit and grains from the world’s vast fields and hunt your own meat to sustain yourself during your journey.

My first of many OMG moments while playing “Breath of the Wild” came when I climbed a tree shortly after Link awakened, grabbed an apple and realized that I had to cook it to ensure it provided me with a larger health boost. My second such moment came two minutes later when I chopped down that same tree with an axe and turned it into firewood.

You’ll also need to become rather proficient in cooking, as throwing together different food combinations can provide you with not only a health boost, but temporary increases to your strength, speed and defense stats, as well.

That little snow fox might look cute, but you’re going to have to make him dinner if you want to survive.

You have to scour the land for more than just food, though. Swords and shields, arrows, bows and clubs are found strewn about long-quiet battlefields or lifted from fallen enemies.

Don’t get too attached to your weapons, though. Like many modern RPGs, your items degrade the more you use them. Smash a few too many bokoblins with your favorite club, and it’ll shatter like a baseball bat snapping against a 100-mph fastball.

Once your weapon is broken, sadly, there’s no fixing it. It’s gone. That’s a bit of a bummer, as I often found myself using underpowered weapons for fear of breaking my sharpest blades. A simple repair mechanic would have fixed fix both my broken Guardian sword and my gripe with this particular issue.

The good fight

And you’ll break a LOT of weapons, because “Breath of the Wild’s” combat is as fierce and slick as it gets. Controls are tight and the camera never feels out of place.

The majority of the enemies in “Breath of the Wild’s” starting areas consist of Bokoblins, skeletons, winged-eye Keeses, the machine-like Guardians, Moblins and Lizaflos. You’ll run into a few larger boss-like enemies scattered throughout the world that will likely kill you over and over again, but they aren’t the norm.

‘Breath of the Wild’ is full of enemies with different fighting styles.

Each enemy type has a different fighting style that you’ll have to adapt to on the fly. But the beautiful thing about “Breath of the Wild” is that, like the best RPGs, there is no fixed way to beat a bad guy. “Zelda” teaches you this from the get go; should you engage the two Bokoblins standing below a cliff, or simply squish them with a boulder?

There is a wide variety of ways to take down your foes in “Breath of the Wild.” Detonate explosive barrels, catch them off guard as they sleep with a few well-placed ice arrows or – I I kid you not – throw your metal shield at them during a thunderstorm and wait for lightning to strike it and kill them. Yeah, that can happen.

The loneliness of the road

One of the more striking things about “Breath of the Wild” is how alone you feel as you explore the world’s forests and fields. Gannon’s destruction of Hyrule left only a handful of settlements unscathed. That sense of loneliness makes running into a bustling village for the first time feel like you’ve discovered a new civilization.

“Breath of the Wild” does an amazing job making its vast expanses feel consistently new, too. The landscape is littered with Trial Shrines where you can collect Spirit Orbs to expand your health or stamina (used for running, climbing and swimming). Finding these shrines becomes a kind of side quest of their own, as each contains its own unique puzzle to solve using Link’s various Runes, special abilities granted to the hero via his high-tech Sheikah Slate, which looks like a Switch without its Joy-Cons attached.

The journey can get lonely in ‘Breath of the Wild,’ making it all the more exciting when you run into a new town.

I’ve spent many, many hours running across the world of “Breath of the Wild” and still haven’t covered the entire map. Between the Trial Shrines, your main quest and the seemingly endless side quests, you can get caught up in a single quadrant of the game’s map for days at a time.

A painting come to life

To say “Breath of the Wild” is beautiful is an understatement. The game’s stylized, painted look combined with top-notch character animations and stellar real-time weather and time effects bring the world to life.

Things will get hot in ‘Breath of the Wild.’

Performance is silky smooth while playing the “Breath of the Wild” with the Switch in tablet mode. Unfortunately, I did notice some significant slowdown when running through grass-covered fields while playing in TV mode. The issue was infrequent enough to never interfere with the gameplay experience, though in the moment, it was a bit jarring. That’s a pretty minor gripe, though, ad does little to derail “Breath of the Wild’s” spectacular vision.

A classic reborn

Few video game franchises are as beloved as “The Legend of Zelda.” From the spectacular “Ocarina of Time” and “A Link to the Past” to the original “The Legend of Zelda” and “A Link Between Worlds,” there’s frankly never been a bad “Zelda” game.

That, of course, makes it hard to rank the series’ titles. Many people have emotional connections to different entries that they’ll hold onto forever. So I don’t take it lightly when I saying that “Breath of the Wild” isn’t just an all-time great console launch title, but one of the best “Zelda” games ever made.

With “Breath of the Wild,” Nintendo has built a living, breathing world that you never want to leave. If you’re a newcomer to the series, a longtime fan or just want to see what all the hype is about, you won’t be disappointed. Because “Breath of the Wild” delivers in every way you can imagine.

What’s hot: Beautifully-realized game world; tight combat controls; massive scope; innumerable ways to approach every situation

What’s not: Could use a weapons repair system; too few hours in the day to play

More games news:

‘For Honor’ review: You’ll need skill to survive this online fighter

‘Horizon: Zero Dawn’ Review: Combat and storytelling shine in spectacular sci-fi epic

The $450 Analogue Nt mini brings new life to old-school NES games

‘Resident Evil 7’ review: It’s a screaming good time

Email Daniel at dhowley@yahoo-inc.com; follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.

[jb-blaq]

Ideal Teams: Titans Show

So San Diego Comic-con has passed. There was lots of exciting news and even more exciting trailers, particularly with dc for once. It seems like everyone is a lot more excited than Aquaman and Shazam when they were just the week before. But with all good must come bad and even though DC had a lot of good looking things this SDCC they also had what must have been the biggest blunder. I think it's safe to say that almost nobody is seriously looking forward to they are Titans show anymore. There's a lot of reasons why from being yet another gritty reboot in an era where people are sick of them, to the clunky writing that was presented and from a visual perspective, the show looks awful. It's clear that they're not working with a very high budget and that should be fine Titans shouldn’t require that big a budget depending on which members they choose to use so let's take a look at the lineup.

... Oh. It's the cartoon. Again. Don't get me wrong I love to Teen Titans cartoon and these characters and I understand why they did it the cartoon lineup has become the most recognizable version of this team. Even though the show is technically called The Titans, who do have their own separate identity from the Teen Titans, you do want to peak the interest of people who grew up with the cartoon. My problem is not only are these characters more associated with Teen Titans than just Titans but all these characters require a higher budget than a tv shows going to get especially one that's on an untested streaming platform like this one is. So for this ideal teams, we're going to be making a more faithful and budget-friendly Titans team.

Robin (Dick Grayson) Now fuck  Batmans aside Dick Grayson is a no-brainer. He's the team's original leader the most iconic Robin even though most of the Robin attributes the people associate with him come from other Robins. Having him struggle to form his own identity separate from Batman with it coalescing at the end of the season with him becoming Nightwing is a storyline that everybody's wanted to seeing live action for a long time.

Speedy (Roy Harper) Roy is my pick to be the second-in-command at least at the start of the season. He and Dick Grayson of always had a really fun rivalry very similar to Bruce and Ollie's or what I feel is a more apt comparison Hawkeye and Captain America's. Seems like archers have a knack for bumping heads against leaders. Besides the rivalry, Roy has tons of story potential as you can tackle his infamous battle with heroin, his long unrequited crush for another character on this list, and in later seasons you could adapt his unusual relationship with Cheshire. A note from me I would make a change to Roy's backstory instead of making him the son of a rich white family who was adopted by a Native American tribe I would just make him native American. Roy’s backstory doesn't matter too much any way it would be a good chance to give a young native American actor work, and it allows you to get rid of the bizarre cultural appropriation aspect of the character that Iron Fist had to deal with when it came out.

(Side Note: Yes I know iron fist was originally white in the comics. That's not particularly relevant to the people who are criticizing the choice to make him white in the show. I'm not going to state where I stand on that here, I'm just trying to avoid a bunch of replies trying to fact-check me on something I already know.)

Aqualad (Garth) Now a lot of people would suggest we just replace Garth with Kaldur as he's become the far more popular character but I would argue against that for a couple of reasons. One reason is this hypothetical version of the Titan show would be being released on dc streaming service which when it comes to original programming is airing with The Titans and the third season of Young Justice. The Kaldur version of Aqualad is a main character on that show and well Dick Grayson also is there's a lot of different ways to tackle Dick as a character since he's been around so long. The Kaldur version of Aqualad is pretty much only defined by his appearance on young justice so having him on another team show running on the same platform where one is directly taking inspiration for a character from another would be kind of a mess. Another reason is as you have probably picked up on by now I am going for the original Titans lineup from the 60s which Garth was a founding member of. And another is Garth is a really underrated character often made the butt of jokes for his connection with Aquaman in his admittedly silly name. But the character has a fun and not too expensive power set basically being a Waterbender and you can do a really sweet romance with him and his future wife to be Dolphin. I think it's time for Garth to have his moment in the sun.

Troia (Donna Troy) It's a shame most people don't know about Donna Troy, the original wonder girl has been an absolutely vital member of The Titans over the years. One of the reasons you might not have heard of her is that Donna has a famously confusing origin story with it being retconned numerous times. In my hypothetical version of the show figuring out her origin story would be the main plot of the first season. Not only because that would allow for a lot of great character work to be done but her trying to learn her true origins could contribute to an overall theme of self-discovery that you could play up throughout the whole season. Her powers are very low budget with her basically having the same moveset as Diana. Her aloof nature could lead to comedy when it comes to Roy’s crush on her which is always been cute. She's a fun and confident character who also lens herself too dark and brooding storylines which lead to well-rounded characters. Also, it would be very refreshing to have your team powerhouse be the female.

Kid Flash (Wally West) And finishing the original fab five is wally west. I'd also go with the original version of wally west for similar reasons to why I chose Garth to be our Aqualad. The Flash CW show is already doing the black Wally West and like Kaldur this version of Wally West is so new that the show is really defining just as much of the character as the comics are, so it's best to just let that version of Wally West develop in that show separately and not trying copy of character that's already being worked on elsewhere. And the original version of Wally West is not only one of the most important Titans but one of the most important characters in dc is whole continuity. But for being such an important character he has made shockingly little appearances outside of the comics and even when he has it's either him already as the Flash like in the justice league animated show or he's so minor that it's hard to even remember that he was there like in the Teen Titans cartoon. But to see the full journey from Flash fanboy turns sidekick, too confident superhero in his own right, to having to take the mantle of Flash and balances time between The Titans and the justice league it would be amazing to see the full journey. And like Dick Grayson I don't think it's too much of a problem that Young Justice and the show would be using the same version of Wally cuz there are so many different ways to you handle Wally story.

Okay so we covered the original 5 and that's what I would make the team for the start of the show. Though besides the original team and the cartoon, Titans are actually known for having larger than average team sizes. So I would have members join over the course of the season who would those be? Well, I've come up with a few candidates.

Bumblebee (Karen Beecher) Now while Bumblebee is not an original member she has been with the team since their original run. She was their first tech genius. She has a sharp tongue in a sharper mind. A generally fun character and very progressive for the time that she was created in. I could see her becoming a huge fan favorite if more people were made aware of her. She's also been in a very long-standing relationship with…

Vox/Guardian/Herald (Malcom Duncan) Mal Duncan another long-standing Titans character. Mel's just your average guys smart but not a genius, powerful but not god like I think if he were put on this show it would be a great opportunity to expand his character more. What Mal is most known for is identity swapping he's most commonly remembered as Guardian his original one, but he's had the identities Herald, Hornblower, and my personal favorite Vox. He's had many different powers but in my mind, the one that gives him the most purpose is as a teleporter. Mal certainly isn't the most exciting character to add but I think having a solid normal person who doesn't have that much baggage on the team would provide a nice center for the team.

Flamebird (Bette Kane) Bettie Kane has always been a fun character who hasn't gotten nearly enough love and I think it would be a good opportunity to give it to her here. She was the first Batgirl sidekick to both Batwomen at one point in time cousin to one niece to another, it's slightly confusing. I would forget about her ever being Batgirl in this show and just make her the former sidekick of Kate Kane her cousin. Her biggest inspiration for being a superhero was Robin who she has a crush on even after she becomes a hero. I think adding another non-powered member of the team is a good idea. She can provide a good will they won't they romance element with Robin. Also, her connection to Bruce's family could further influence Dick in his choice to step away from Being Robin. This is just a fun character that I would need to add to a show like this.

Well, that was my pitch for Titans. I hope you enjoyed some of the ideas I threw around. And even though I made fun of it I do sincerely hope that the actual Titans show that they are making is good, I guess we'll find out soon enough. Please favorite and reblog.

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