#i did this last year for my green ninja icon as well

[star-ocean-peahen]

SHE HAS A SANTA HAT!!!

YEEEE SHE HAS A SANTA HAT!!!!

[skarmoree]

(Rubs hands together) this is about to get long so I’m putting it under a read more

but in short: I made collections of various canon references and designs and cherry picked the best bits, or things that were unique and made them stand out when lined up next to the others

Robin I: dick grayson

the blueprint. The icon.

Dick was easy enough: traffic light colours, lightweight with fairly little in protection, and pixie boots. I know in recent (read, the last thirty or so) years they’ve been giving him actual pants or leggings or whatever but I’m not about that life. also what is up with his n52 design

I’m really fond of the elbow pads they gave him in the dcau TT flashback so he gets those and matching ones for the knees. Belt shape from YJ. the collar on his cape is popped up for two reasons— 1) to give him something different to any others later down the line and 2) did you really think I wouldn’t reference the discowing suit? It’s iconic. to me, Dick’s Robin suit is a leotard under a tunic, and I tried to let my shading show the texture of that. Overall, maybe the least amount of changes from canon to my design

Robin II: jason todd

here’s where things get fun. I knew I wanted to give Jay his own design, but it’s important to note in my mind this isn’t the first iteration he wears, and he does in fact, first debut wearing Dick’s fit. That being said;

He’s Very Red :)

something I learnt in the throes of this project is that Jay actually has a Really Really Nice n52 Robin design. I love how vibrant the colours are, and it introduced the neat little leg design that they carried into his wfa look. That being said, his wfa design has simply too much red and not enough green. Plus they got rid of his yellow cape entirely. I’m of the firm belief that it’s not until timmy comes around that they start doing black capes with yellow lining.

I like his cape length pre death, it feels shorter than dicks, very triangular. Plus, my fav Jason is when he turns into a ⚠️

Also! Important to note! Jason isn’t as athletic as Dick. He can’t dodge all those hits with the same grace. So, the logical answer is to give him more armour so he can tank some blows

overall I pushed his colours a little away from dick and more cool toned. While I adore the crimson it didn’t look as nice with the golden yellow I’d chosen :)

Robin: carrie kelley

first girl robin yaaaay!

Carrie once again has the same issue as early Jason, in which she just has the same look as dick. When you’re making unique looks, this gets in the way lol so she got a near complete rehaul

I really liked the asymmetrical cape so that had to be included— plus, just look at the sheer amount of fabric it’s made of. Oh, and the visor, of course!

I really like the texture of the batwoman look, so I found a way to incorporate that, plus the way it flares. She looks like a betta fish. The lower right panel has her complaining about the bright colours of her robin look, so I toned that down

you can see in the initial mockup I had that there was extra armour on the legs, but it felt too bulky so I dropped it. Overall, the bulkiness actually led to my cousin teasing me and saying she looks like a ninja turtle, and with the colours, yeah I’m not escaping those allegations. Still, happy with how she came out. I’m not well learned on Miller’s interpretation, but I hope she slots in okay

Robin III: tim drake

Tim was the first robin to be “reimagined” and given a “modern look”, but honestly? this boy has the most looks to date

my first must-have was the wings. They’re literally so good DC bring them back. But I pulled them back to robin instead of RR by making them yellow on the inside, and I think it looks super neat :) the holder for his staff comes partially from the rejected designs when they were first making Tim’s new look, and partially from (sighs) matt holt voltron. No reference images here but trust me when I say i riffed directly from that overall I think I just mostly used his current look? I’m really fond of it. I do adore his Gotham knights look, but it’s hard to mix with other aspects because it’s so baggy… but I did nab the texturing for the undersuit from that one!

unlike the two previous ones in the lineup, I went for Bright Primaries, so he’s very red compared to them. He’s a very bright yellow amidst a lot of duller ones

Robin IV: stephanie brown

Steph would’ve been so good as robin if she were written by people who liked women.

First things first, she HAD to have crazy wild hair. Is it practical? Absolutely not. But it’s important to me, same with her little bat-ear headband. also I gave her some fat to 1) vary my lineup more and 2) she deserves it. Also 3) she’s had a kid by this point. Bodies change

someone in the batfam big bang server endowed me with the knowledge of an alt world steph where she was robin instead of tim and the lower face mask?? Omg as soon as I saw it I knew I had to incorporate it. Especially because her current spoiler look has one. Also obsessed with the amount of belts she has as spoiler so those got used, too

steph’s batgirl look is really good, I find. I love the side panelling, so I nabbed that. While I did like her robin tunic being more of a dress than the previous iterations’, I squinted a bit at the manoeuvrability it would have and decided to give her a side split. Plus, it freed up a leg for the belt!

anyways how far can you push green until it’s not really green anymore? I wanted more of a nod to her og spoiler look with the blue, so settled for a nice teal hehe. She’s also very shiny. Idk the idea of her tunic being more reflective wormed its way into my mind and wouldn’t leave me alone

Robin V: damian wayne

damian damian damian…. Let’s seeeeee

he does in fact, have the hood in my design, I just didn’t want to hide features. I also really liked the LoA look they gave him in the dcau with the cape under the armour so used that instead of hiding his shoulders. Overall, I really like his various assassin looks, especially his lazzy tourney one. ADORE the gloves, but alas the pose I chose hides them almost entirely…

I also really do like his grey and black look, especially the shoes. And the green laces are cute, so I carried that green into his pouches too. I did keep him more cohesive with the other robins and leave him in red, however. And grabbed the little bird skull clasp because it’s something entirely unique to him and actually really cool

Also sword. While he does usually have it on his back I have two notes: 1) hard to draw when needed and 2) in way of cape. So I moved it to his hip.

We Are Robin: duke thomas

Everyone hoot and holler for the self-made robin!

I really wanted to include his helmet but I couldn’t make it work, so I settled on the goggles he has on all the covers but never in panels.

the jacket is ICONIC so of course I had to do it justice. Decided for the unzipped look to incorporate more yellow because this boy is the Signal, I had to have it

the shirt being a nod to signal’s armour is also fun. I chose to include the bat-symbol because while robin gear was banned, the didn’t ban Batman! I flipflopped for a while on whether to have it mostly white or black but decided this way. Also yeah his signal boots. While I love his red kicks I wanted more yellow lol

The hairstyle, belt and robin symbol are from another alt world but I couldn’t track down which. I liked how bulky the utility belt was, and it offsets how casual the rest of his look is

Robin of the Future: matt mcginnis

okay so I LOVED watching beyond and when I found out terry’s baby brother got a stint as Robin in the comics I ran over to find. He has so many designs?

The one I chose to mainly focus on felt right for next to terry because it’s sleek and doesn’t have too many details to complicate. I did like the way that one of the other ones (the centre image) lit up, so added that. Mostly I just wanted to lean into the futuristic vibes

Like steph, I once again pushed the colours and ultimately he ended up borderline pink. I added a tiny bit more green to his design on the shoulders and hid the cape so it only comes out when needed like terry’s, which I think is how it goes anyway, so for the most part I didn’t change much.

Bonus Robin: jarro

no notes. Just that giving him a hood is silly so I dropped that, and changed his colours to more pastel tones

No seriously I don’t have notes just that I included jarro to give me ten characters in the lineup

Robin: maps mizoguchi

so maps is brand new to this— like debuted-as-robin-sometime-in-the-past-year kind of new, but she’s fun and I’m enjoying seeing her various appearances as I jump around through the comics

I tried putting a domino mask under her visor for a stronger disguise but didn’t really like the look, plus it hid her freckles.

She’s once again got a very classic look, back to the first Robin tunic design. I decided to play with that and the fact we mostly see her in a school uniform and turned it more into a shirt than a tunic. Messed with the red and pushed it further and further into an orange. This is also partially a nod to how red-breasted robins are usually more orange lol

she’s also had a birds of prey appearance as Meridian! And I am obsessed with the cape you have no idea. I tried my best to give her robin cape the same vibes, so there’s some halftones and chromatic aberration happening to make it feel more holographic. Also took the side paneling and belt design from meridian too

there we go, that’s all of them! I might make this its own post as well at some point nghfjdskfh

thanks for giving me the opportunity to go on this ramble ✨ echo out

a veritable flock of Robins

clap and cheer for me pls this took 75 hours

[artxyra]

Prom Proposal

So @enchantingdefendoreagle requested, “I have a request I am hoping for a Daminette fanfic. Where since Prom is canceled that the Waynes have offered to host Gotham Academy Prom because Gotham Academy is under reconstruction or something. Damian has seen Marinette for a while having a crush on her but never saying anything. “ 

Note: I wanted to try pinning Damian and a lot of things happened... so I hope you enjoy.  

Normally, Damian would never make such a big deal over a school event cancellation. He would shrug it off as if it was beneath him. Well, that was the case until the Joker decided to turn Gotham Academy’s gym into a playground until Batman and Robin removed him from the premise. However, there was an absolute reason as to why this event had affected him so much. For a while now, Damian was actually looking forward to the annual prom dance. He was actually going to participate in said event, but the one person he was trying to ask to be date—they haven’t really spoken to one another outside of class assignments.

“Father I demand that we host prom.” Damian urges barging into his father’s office the second the school email about prom’s cancellation went to the students. What Damian didn’t account for was Grayson being inside the office as well.

“Hold, Little D. Why would you of all people even want to B to host prom? You didn’t go last year so why the sudden change.” Dick wonders at his little brother. So yeah, Damian didn’t go his junior year but once again this year is different.

With Damian being silent for a moment was all it took for Dick to realize something, “Is it for a girl…a boy maybe?”

“Tt. I have my reasons.” Damian counters crossing his arms and turning his attention away from his brother to his father, who appears to be done with everything going on.

“Damian, do you really think that having the manor full of teens is a good idea?” Bruce asks concern about his son’s mental health, but he too was wondering why the sudden change in attitude for one of many iconic moments in a teenager’s life.

“There is no reason father,” Damian says lying through his teeth. There was a reason, but he doesn’t want his family to find out about said reason.

Dick nor Bruce seemed convinced, but a simple quick look to one another, they knew getting an answer out of eighteen-year-old would be a battle they didn’t want to have.

“I’ll consider it.” Bruce states practically agreeing to his son plans to have prom at the Manor just like any other Wayne Gala he has hosted before. The only difference would be teens instead of adults.

It only took Bruce Wayne three days to send an email to the academy, offering to host prom night at Wayne Manor. The headmistress took that offer immediately know that there will be backlash for not accepting such a proposal. Two days after that, the school sends out emails informing the students that prom will be hosted in two months having it right on schedule. Those who order prom tickets will receive further information closer to the date.

After getting his father on board with the thought, Damian was internally excited, now just to put his plan into action. That plan over two months failed at least five different times.  

The first attempt, in the classroom right after class was finished. He knows that she’ll usually stay in the class until everyone is out. Well, that didn’t happen. She was the first person out, running like her depended on it.

The second attempt was at the courtyard, a couple of days after the first attempt. Damian knew (well he asked Jon) that she had a tendency to sketch under the largest tree during the evening. He also knew that they shared the same independent study times due to having worked on projects together. Just as he was about to ask her, another student walked up to her. The bluenette, from afar, seemed to be interested in the conversation. Damian ended up walking away hoping to try again later.

The third attempt was almost a success. He was actually talking to her, but the words would not come out the way he had hoped. This just added to his stoic personality that she was used to. Then right before he finally mustered up the confidence, a girl with pigtails interrupted them implying that she only wanted to talk to Damian. Apparently, pigtail girl wanted to ask Damian to prom and he of course denied the proposal.

“You need, help?” Jon asks on the day before Damian could attempt his fourth go.

“Tt. I rather suffer.”

Jon raises an eyebrow, “Uh-huh. She’s in the art room.” Jon walks away with a smirk on his face. Damian could only glare at his retreating friend.  

Sure enough, Jon was right, she was in the art room. However, it was clear that she was in the zone. A zone that is nearly impossible to get her out of.

“DC, can we talk?” She doesn’t acknowledge him. He tries again a couple more times. Damian should have known better. They barely speak when in class, so why the hell would they speak out of class.

“How it go?” Jon asks as he smiles knowing exactly how the encounter went.

“Kent, you could have told me she was in the zone.” Damian lightly punches Jon in the shoulder. “Do you have any idea what she’s working on?”

Jon chuckles and instead of answering he goes inside the art room. Damian couldn’t help but wonder about what they are doing.

The fifth attempt was really his own attempt. In fact, it was the girl he has been trying to ask out that ended all of his sufferings.

Damian was been avoiding practically everyone in the challenge to ask this one person to prom. Every potential idea was either scrap or too out of character for him—not that he was out of character trying to ask her in the first; he’s blaming it on this unknown emotion that has been haunting him since he had gotten to know DC. What makes matter worse is that prom was only a couple of weeks away.

“You’re going to love this.” Jon states dragging the Wayne heir across the school grounds. Damian put up a fight but Jon inhuman strength kind of won the battle. So, he was trapped in his best friend’s grip being to who knows where.  

The next thing Damian knew was being stopped in his tracks and seeing black with little rays of light coming through Jon’s hand.

“Kent, I swear—”

“Yeah, yeah, just stay with me for a second.”

“A second.” Damian deadpans crossing his arms over his chest.

Damian may have not seen it but Jon was rolling his eyes and whispering some words to someone.

“Okay, in three…two…one!” Jon’s hand immediately uncovers his face. Damian was seconds away from turning to attack his friend, but something red, green, and yellow catches his eyes.

There standing in front of him, is the girl he’s been trying to ask out wearing a female version of the current Robin’s outfit holding a sign that says, “A Robin with a sword would be troubling, but a Robin without a sword wouldn’t be complete. Will you go to PROM WITH ME?” To the side of her is a try of Batfam theme cupcakes.

“Dupain-Cheng, you never cease to surprise me,” Damian states feeling a little stupid that he was worrying for nothing. “Yes, I’ll be your date to prom.”

“I know and do you have any idea how hard it was to pretend that I wasn’t interested.” Marinette awkwardly chuckles

“What?”  Now he was confused. Hold on…pretending? Damian couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You knew?” He accused Jon who simply shrugs and takes a cupcake like it was nothing.

“Seeing you two pinning over one another was the highlights of my day. Mari was always in a panic when she tried to talk to you but there was always someone in the way, and you panicking like it was the end of the world. So yeah, I needed my own fun with all of this.” Jon answers before taking a bite out of the cupcake.

Marinette and Damian eye one another before smirking.

Legend has it that Jon’s screams of terror echoes throughout the school.

Fast forward to prom night, the Wayne family finally understood why Damian wanted to have prom at the Wayne Manor. The moment they saw the girl he was escorting—Damian had taken the car earlier that evening without a word to his family—they were all shook. Dick was squealing saying that the little bird finally found someone. Tim wasn’t sure what was going on aside from the flashing lights. Jason knew that girl and went into overprotective brother mode (that was not for Damian). Bruce wanted to cry but he had to keep up an image. Alfred had taken photos of the couple—those did not see the light of day until the wedding.      

All in all, the family was pleased to see Damian being happy with the girl as they dance the night away.  

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[belpheroo]

home again home again

Pairing: Mammon x MC Rating: T Summary: A follow-up to the last day. MC Adjusts to life back in the human realm, but Devildom just can’t stay away.

As Lucifer had promised, when she returned home, no time had passed. It was as if that year, that time she spent in Devildom, belonged wholly to a time and a place outside of the realm of her human reality.

He had warned her some memories might soften, fading around the edges until she would start to question whether they had happened… but given her celestial heritage, perhaps she would have a different experience. She was no magic user like Solomon, but Lilith’s blood was magic in itself and that blood was in her veins, no matter how small.

She left her bags packed on her floor, venturing out her bedroom door and into the hallway. It was twilight, just like when she left, warm amber sunlight shining just barely over the edges of the window frames.

A clock ticked. Her cat mrrowed curiously from their sleeping spot. Her college texts laid on the small kitchen table, notebooks and pens scattered where she had left them.

Quietly, deliberately, she moved through her small kitchenette, putting on her electric kettle and taking down a familiar mug and a familiar bag of tea. She ripped open the package, set the bag in the mug and waited.

And waited.

And waited for it to feel real.

---

A week went by and then another. Her morning classes came and went. She found herself falling behind her friends, not even listening to their chatter as she focused out on the people passing by on their street and across it.

“Who are you looking for?”

One of them had asked, smiling and cheeky.

“You have a date?”

There was no shock of white among the crowd, no familiar voice.

“... no, I’m just… people watching.”

By the time she got home and set down to study she noted all the doodles in her margins were of tiny lesser demons, with their top-hats and little horns.

She sighed, dropping her pencil in defeat and picking up her phone to check Devilgram. In front of her eyes, the screen displayed one sentence in a grey box:

Out of Service Zone

Mammon had said it would work, that it would still connect… but it seemed he was wrong. Instead, she navigated to her saved chats, flicking through lines of conversations and messages going back the course of the year. It was easy to get lost, to read and to laugh and think of those past conversations and of her boys, somewhere in a realm between worlds.

She knew it wasn’t a good idea to get too caught up, not when there was work still to be done. With a heart, no less heavy, she moved to set the device face down on her desk when she noted the screen had illuminated, the pale blue-green color showing against the table surface.

She held her breath as she turned it over.

Signal Found Reestablishing Connection…

…

…

Connection Reestablished

The access was slow, nothing had changed on the screen, no new notifications or chats. She waited, eager to see the little pink birds that would soon dot her screen. She wondered how they all had been doing, whether they missed her and how things were.

She had expected a few notifications, maybe even none. It had only been a week now. Instead, she opened the message center to a proverbial flood of little bird notifications. It was enough to make her laugh, the joy in her chest bursting forward as she opened the main chat group “House of Lamentation”. There were all the same questions she had for them- how are you? What have you been doing? Do you miss us?

Before responding though, her eyes caught to one of those messages with a little gold eye icon. The messages she was not supposed to be included on but for whatever reason her settings gave her access. She hadn’t seen this title before… the chat subject line simply her name followed by Absence Support Group

She clicked it.

Asmodeus: As discussed! This chat is for the support of all of us who miss our dearly departed exchange student.

Asmodeus: This is a judgement free zone <3

Satan: When you say it like that it sounds like she’s dead… couldn’t we all just text her when we miss her?

Asmodeus: Judgement. Free. Zone. ~<3

Levi: Unless your name is Stupid Mammon.

Mammon: HEY

Mammon: NO

Levi: sTuPiD mAmMoN

Belphie: Great. Another chat for me to mute. Zzz

Beel: Has anyone else texted her? I texted her. It isn’t open.

Asmodeus: Hmm? Yes, she hasn’t opened my pics either.

Mammon: PICS?

Asmodeus: Oh yes <3

Mammon: THE HELL KINDA PICS YOU SENDIN’ MY GIRL, ASSMO?

Asmodeus: Judgement Free Zone <3 <3 <3

Mammon has been muted for One minute.

Levi: You have GOT to show me how to do that!!!

Beel: I text her when I am thinking of her.

Beel: Yesterday, I got up for a snack. I stopped at her room and knocked to see if she wanted any.

Beel:  I had forgotten.

Mammon’s muted minute had been up even, judging by the time stamps, but there was still a prolonged pause before someone else responded.

Satan: I remembered I lent her a book. The Corpus Hermetica. She left it in my room sometime before she left… her bookmark was still in it.

Beel: Are you using it?

Satan: I-- yes.

Belphie: I took a nap in her old bed the other day. The sheets don’t smell like her anymore.

Levi: … I’ve been playing her really crappy low leveled character in Memoirs of the Samurai-Ninja, Warriors of Dynasty 6. So she doesn’t get even MORE behind in events.

Mammon: Oi, back up. Belphie, you did WHAT now?!

Mammon has been muted for Two minutes.

Asmodeus: No judgment zone!!

And it went on like that. Day after day. One of them would post a thought or a feeling or a moment that struck them, that reminded them of her. It shocked her a bit when the dots of something typing began to appear, then disappear, then appear and… then disappear. And this carried on for a long time before finally a new message appeared.

Mammon: So. I’m totally NOT super completely upset but the other day I was doing some a m a z i n g modeling work and the camera lady asked me where my “human friend” was.

Mammon: Threw even me, THE Mammon, off his game.

Asmodeus: Because they called her your “friend” instead of your “girlfriend”? <3

Mammon: No!

Mammon: But she is. 😈

Belphie: What if she gets a human boyfriend?

Mammon: EH?! No way! No human boy can compare to ME.

Satan: Well, you are here. She is there. Do you really expect her to wait for you?

Mammon: …

Belphie: Maybe she’d wait for one of us. But Mammon?

Mammon: H-hey! What happened to the judgment free zone?!

Satan: Would explain why she hasn’t called.

Belphie: Or texted.

Mammon: …

She felt her heart sink. She didn’t have a human boyfriend! She’d just had absolutely no SIGNAL since she had gotten back to the human realm! Panicking, she hurried to the phone section of the D.D.D and pulled Mammon’s contact up.

Hurriedly she pressed the dial, listening to the faint tone as it rang.

And rang.

And rang.

The connection was in and out again, sometimes the ring distorted with feedback. The call dropped and quickly she re-dialed again.

“C’mon… c’mon! Mammon! Pick up!”

Click.

The ringing stopped. The timer flickered on. Call Ongoing 00:03.

“Mammon?! Are you there? Can you hear me?”

There was a voice, but it was choppy and undecipherable.

“My D.D.D. isn’t working right! I can’t understand you, but if you can understand me I-- I wanted to call and say-- um. I wanted to say--!”

The line was quiet.

“I miss you all so much! S-so… please convince Lucifer to let me visit! Or come visit me!”

The phone made a sound, a strangled static burst. The battery flickered even though it had been nearly full just moments ago.

“The connection is draining my stupid phone! Ugh, I’m sorry! Tell everyone I said hello and I miss them!” she paused, words stuck on her tongue as she tried to get them out, “And Mammon… I miss you most! And I love--”

The phone made a ding sound as the battery finally and truly died. She dove to her bag, digging out the charger and desperately trying to plug it in. The first time in weeks she managed to get a call in and the human realm to Devildom signal was that bad?!

“Stupid phone. Stupid stupid stupid…”

There was a faint smell, like sulphur or burning wood. She made a face, looking over the device for any sign of damage and finding none at all. That was odd… but still she could smell an ever growing scent like something had caught fire.

Standing up, she turned half towards the hall and abruptly dropped her phone in sheer shock, the device clattering loudly.

Mammon was breathing heavily, steam coming off his body in waves. He was in his devil-form, all horns and wings.

“Wh...what… was that… last bit?” he panted, leaning against the hallway wall, “I didn’t… hear all of it!”

“You came all the way here just to finish a phone call?” she said teasingly, knowing full well what it was he really came for.

“Please! A… transport like that… is ah- nothing! To the Great Mammon!” he was still out of breath, but catching it quickly, “Now. What did you say?”

There was nothing suave in his question, nothing concealed or charming. There was something more desperate in his eyes, something needy. Her lips curled into a fond smile as she found the words came so much easier the second time.

“Mammon, I love you.”

“... of course ya do.” Mammon said, crossing the space between her both until she was snuggly in his arms. He was warm, warmer than usual after his trip, but that smell would HAVE to go.

“You need a bath.”

“Tch… then give me one.” he grumbled in reply.

Who would possibly say no?

[roguish-gallery]

Did you ever make that joker tier list, I always like seeing what people think of all the different ones. Though if they put Romero last I can no longer respect them.

LMAO I DID! I think I’ve made it kind of obvious in this blog but I... don’t... particularly... care... for... the joker.... unless he’s, y’know, fun to watch. Cause he’s a clown, and clowns are supposed to be entertaining. But since you politely brought it up, and and because I have a deep respect for mutual Romero-lovers, I guess this would be a good time to explain my rankings and just discuss my general thoughts on each clown:

General Thoughts:

For the most part, I don’t really care for the Joker. This is hardly an uncommon opinion here on tumblr, but I definitely fall on the side of the fandom that feels that he gets too much attention from DC. I get WHY they use him so often for films and comics, and I don’t have anything against *most* folks who consider them their favorite Batman villain, but at this point he’s used more for shock value and as a crutch instead of anything interesting. Like, instead of giving attention to the other Rogues, writers (at least for the comics) will try and make up some bullshit story that they can shoehorn the Joker into, ‘cause it sells. It’s tiring, and I feel like the character has lost his meaning; I can only read so many stories about the Joker, I don’t fucking know, wearing a suit made from dead babies and Jason Todd’s flayed corpse before I get sick of it.

I’m at the point where I’ll like any Joker who’s just fun to watch. I genuinely respect those who prefer darker interpretations of the character, but that isn’t me; I vastly prefer the lighthearted takes on him, because... at this point... writers who use the “cleaner” version of him tend to be more creative, since they actually have to write a Joker story that doesn’t rely on gore/torture porn.

TIER ONE:

Joker Baby: Self explanatory. Joker Baby is thematic, thoughtful, and intense. Everytime I watch this video, I shiver with fear and pleasure; something primal in me awakens whenever Joker Baby runs his fingers through his spray-on dyed hair, and ends up smearing green paint on his forehead- it represents the inner turmoil, the chaos, that resides within the disturbed body that is Joker Baby. Nothing can ever hope to top the artistic and cultural impact Joker Baby has had on society.

TIER TWO:

Batman Ninja: I genuinely believe that Batman Ninja is one of the most fun, organic, and creative things to come out from the Batman side of DC comics in like... hmmm... a decade, maybe (I could talk for hours about how much I love this movie but that’s something for a future post). This Joker is easily, and unironically my favorite interpretation of the character, period. I love his energy, his design, everything. This is the most fun I’ve ever had watching a Joker on-screen, and for that I’ve gotta give the film credit where it is due.

Batman ‘66: I looooove Caesar Romero. Batman ‘66 in general is one of my favorite pieces of Batman media, and I absolutely adore this Joker. The show is pure, genuine fun, and it’s nice to turn my brain off and watch a show where the entire cast was allowed to goof around. This Joker is just a cute, goofy little clown-man who likes to commit crimes, go surfing, turn Gotham’s water reserve into gelatin, and have wild orgies with Penguin, Catwoman, and the Riddler. I massively appreciate the hustle. I love his little mustache and his facial expressions. I’d give him a chaste little kiss on the cheek if I could.

The Batman: EXTREMELY CONTROVERSIAL TAKE BUT. I think TB!Joker is better than what people will give him credit for. I can only imagine how stressful it must have been to be the first Batman cartoon to follow BTAS and the writers for this show knew they were gonna be fucked no matter what they did with the Joker, so they just decided to try something completely different with him. Personally, I appreciate the new direction- he has a fun, unhinged energy. I’ve placed him higher than BTAS/BTNA!Joker simply because The Batman was the show that got me into the Rogues in the first place, and I’m just a bit closer to this Joker because of it. Also his vampire form was cool as FUCK in Batman Vs. Dracula and the scene where he gets drenched in blood at a blood bank is fucking awesome.

Batman the Animated Series/The New Adventures: Everyone loves BTAS’s Joker, and I’m no exception. Mark Hamill is fucking great, and the writers clearly knew the character well enough to create a version of him that can be fun and threatening. As an aside, I unironically like his redesign in BTNA- I remember Hamill mentioning somewhere that he thought it was neat that this Joker looked more like a shark (I’ll see if I can find a source on that... I think he said it in an interview with Kevin Smith?) and I kinda agree with him. the redesigns in the final season are hit or miss, but I didn’t get why so many people bitched about the Joker’s new look.

Batman Unlimited: Hear me out... Hear me out... Clown... funny... and cute... He wears a little crown and gives Solomon Grundy a little smooch on the cheek and it is as delightful as it sounds. Yes the Batman Unlimited films literally only exist to sell toys but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy them on some ironic level.

TIER THREE:

Lego Batman: He’s a gay icon. He has the range. Enough said.

White Knight: This is just a genuinely good, original take on the character, and the art in White Knight is absolutely gorgeous. 

Arkham: My friends and I joke that this Joker is basically a more unhinged version of BTAS! Joker and... yeah. I’m glad Hamill and Paul Dini got to fuck around with the character more, but I never really dwelled on the Joker parts of the games like I might have for other characters. I definitely liked him the most in Arkham Asylum, as he was more fun to watch. Arkham City was fiiiiine, but I think I replayed the game so much that I kinda got fatigued with everything about it. Genuinely hated his part in Origins, and I was pissed that he stole the attention from Black Mask and Bane (who’s the best fucking part of Origins IMO). I’ll admit that I... Haven’t... played... Knight yet (I have it on PC but my laptop is too wimpy to run it) but like... He’s dead at that point, so I’d assume he isn’t the main point of that game anyway. I love Mark Hamill and the fact I can personally beat the shit out of this Joker, so he’s ranked up pretty high for those reasons.

TIER FOUR:

Batman ‘89: TBH this Joker should be a rank higher, but I’m too lazy to hop onto PicsArt to change it. NIcholson was an excellent choice, and I apprecaite how this Joker makes use of the playful and unhinged aspects of the character. Also, his outfits are cute, and I love the museum scene.

Brave and the Bold: Technically this Joker SHOULD be ranked higher since he’s literally based on the more lighthearted comics in the 60′s but... ehhh... I haven’t really watched BATB so I don’t have any strong opinions on the show and how it handles the character. he’s ranked this high through beause I appreciate what they were going for.

Golden Age: The quality of comics are always subjective, based on the creative team behind them. Some I’ll like more, others less so, It’s kind of hard to rank the pre-52 comic version of the Joker because of this.

TIER FIVE:

Killing Joke: Read it, didn’t care for it. I acknowledge how massive the impact this comic had on... everything, but just because I recognize how important this graphic novel is, doesn’t mean I have to like it.

The Dark Knight: Ledger did an excellent job with the role, but uhh... I’m kind of sick of the alt-right chuds who are out there sucking this Joker’s dick. The fanbase definitely ruined the character for me.

TIER SIX:

99′: Eh

Endgame: No

Suicide Squad: NO

Death of the Family: Hate him. Despise him. Lame stupid dumb little edgy bitch.

Gotham (Jeremiah): I don’t particulary care for Gotham in general, but the only reason I ranked this Joker over Jerome is beause I thought it was kinda funny to see that they made him a little rat-man, and I liked watching all the fujoshi on here cry and complain that they can’t ship this version of the joker with the pre-pubescent Bruce Wayne in the show bc he’s too ugly.

Gotham (Jerome): stop shippping this freak (who is fucking eighteen years old) with a literal twelve year old child. what the FUCK is wrong with yall.

UNRANKED:

The Joker (2019): I don’t plan on watching this film, nor will I ever. I know this is ironic, coming from someone who runs a Rogue blog, but stuff that focuses primarily on a character’s deteriorating mental health makes me reaaaaallllllyyyyy anxious (it’s kind of a phobia) and considering that I don’t particularly the Joker, I have no reason to watch something I know will only give my dumb ADHD-ass intrusive throughts.

[radramblog]

Some vague concern regarding Modern Horizons 2

We’re getting into the thick of the spoilers for Magic’s next Premier, Big Brains Only set, Modern Horizons 2. Which feels almost too cramped, since the set drops in like two weeks, and presumably the full spoiler will be out by the pre-prerelease, which is..a week away or so? I can’t be arsed looking it up.

(love this art tho)

Considering the absolute flood of releases recently, and how dramatic the impact of the first Horizons set was on just about every format in the game, I’m a little concerned about what this set is going to do to the game. The time since last format-warping card is approximately 6 months- and to be fair, that format was pauper, but the window seems to be shortening every time.

I guess what we need to do is start with an examination of Modern Horizons 1.

Released in 2019, the first Modern Horizons was a set built from the ground up to be relevant in eternal formats, have an excellent draft environment, and add loads of value for casual formats like Commander and Cube. And, for the most part, I think it succeeded. While a few cards (Wrenn & Six, Astrolabe, Hogaak) definitely overshot the mark, a huge number have been generally adopted into various competitive strategies in various formats- Ephemerate is a staple roleplayer in flicker decks, Seasoned Pyromancer has kept Red relevant in tempo, Prismatic Vista is the 11th Fetchland no-one knew we needed. The power in the set is extremely well-spread, with the majority of cards radiating power.

The set also had immense appeal for more casual players, as even the commons and uncommons had unique and spicy effects. Drafting it is like a Masters set draft mixed with time spiral, a high-power environment making high-power decks and all sorts of interesting mechanics mixed together. The set truly does feel like Time Spiral 2. The various cards in the set helped bump up fan-favourite tribes such as Slivers, Ninjas, and Bears, as well as the numerous Changelings making them all sorts of shenanigans more viable.

The set just looks gorgeous as well? It was the first to use the Art cards that would later be used in all the Set Boosters, but this was a great opportunity to try it out, with some of the most divine art collections in any set for the past few years. Adding in all the references to older cards and characters, and non-competitive but enfranchised players like myself are going to be hooked.

What makes me love MH1 so much, I think, is that if you just read the cards, it’s clear that the designers were trying to make every card stand out, by just going “what if” for every single one. What if our typical 3/1 for 1W was a Changeling. What if we did Mother of Runes again, but make her playable without being broken? What if our Convoke creature paid you off for convoking it? What if we made Chained to the Rocks actually good? These are all White cards, but that’s just because they’re what show up first on the list.

So where does that leave us with the sequel? I have some pretty mixed feelings so far- on the one hand, the power is clearly there, the art is on point, but some of this feels like either a mistake or at least a misstep. Where MH1 was Time Spiral, I’m getting the feeling that MH2 is Planar Chaos- and I’m not just saying that because Storm is in Green now apparently.

What we’ve seen so far is pretty clearly (to me, at least) an escalation of what MH1 was- where that set seemed largely to be experimenting with what they could do within the rules of the game, this set appears to be trying to find new ways to bend those rules *just a little bit* while still remaining somewhat inbounds. Carth puts the Loyalty Cost icon somewhere outside a Planeswalker for the first time ever, and the wording on his ability is somewhat confusing. Grist, the Hunger Tide, has one of the most interesting and potentially abusable lines of text I’ve seen in a while, and Garth One-Eye- I mean he speaks for himself. The effects on some of these cards feels reminiscent of the MYB Playtest cards- especially Garth- and while some of those were successfully integrated into the game, there’s a limit to how much of that silliness is healthy for the game.

And if Garth reads like a Playtest card, the new showcase cards look like them. I actually really like how these look, but they come attached to one of the sets biggest problems, and one that’s kind of emblematic of MTG design for the past couple years since MH1- Complexity and Collectability Creep.

Modern Horizons 1 has 254 cards in boosters, that you can get either non-foil or foil if you’re lucky. Each pack has 10 commons (or 9 commons and one foil of any rarity), 3 uncommons, one full-art Snow Basic, one rare or mythic, and either a Token or an Art card. There are two cards with special promos- Flusterstorm, the Buy-A-Box, and Astral Drift, the prerelease promo. You can buy it either in a booster packs or in booster boxes. Relatively simple.

For Modern Horizons 2, WoTC needed two separate articles to explain the various packs and promos, and people are still confused (to be fair fuck reading all that). There are 4 different special frames, and it’s incredibly unclear if they’ll be available in foil, or some even in nonfoil, or how you get each one, and apparently Etched foils are back again? What the actual fuck is going on here? Now, this is arguably not that huge a step up considering Strixhaven and its Mystical Archive, but it feels dwarfing compared to the last MH1. I liked the idea of Project Booster Fun at its outset, but at this point I think it’s clear that it’s gone too far.

(that’s gotta be the most ironic card/art pairing in a while...)

And my biggest concern with MH2 is this. It isn’t that the set will be bad (though based on these current spoilers, if you don’t like Squirrels, you’re SOL), because the set designers know what they’re doing, much as magic players love to complain that they don’t. It’s the precedent the sheer complexity of the collection is setting, I guess. I do think it’s too early to tell whether the set is clearly a mistake or it’s going to be great with some rough patches, but don’t get me wrong- I’m pretty sure this is a polarizer.

Fuck me it does have a Frog Samurai in it though, 10/10

[ironwolf-gone]

Tag game!!

Thank you for tagging me hon! @mylastvow

Why did you choose your url?

Probaly cause I like wolves and robots, the gone part idk

Any side blogs?

I have three other side blogs. One for dogs and nature, one for writing and one for teenage muntant ninja turtles (tho tbh i might get rid of the tmnt one)

How long have you been on tumblr?

Oh god longer than i care to admit... since July 2013

Do you have a queue tag?

I don't, BUT I have do a have a tag for when i rant in tags. it's the letter B (I’ll tag it if any one is curious)

Why did you start your blog in the first place?

One of my old friends told me about tumblr and that was that. I’ve been stuck here since

Why did you choose your icon/pfp?

Idk i just felt like using a picrew icon of me for now

Why did you choose your header?

I assume you mean the header image on my blog, if so right now it's just Yelena from Black Widow which I saw last month and fell in love with her so yeah

What’s your post with the most notes?

It was actually a Red Vs Blue headcannon/meta analysis I did like three years ago

How many mutuals do you have?

Uhhhh 40 ish

How many followers do you have?

500 something

How many people do you follow?

270

Have you ever made a shit post?

More than likely

How often do you use tumblr a day?

More than I care to admit

Did you ever have a fight/argument with another blog?

Nope! I mean unless I know the person and it’s in good fun, I don’t like to legit argue

How do you feel about the ‘you need to reblog’ posts?

Some, unfortunatly it's the ones where they're 'if you don't reblog this you'll have bad luck for three days!' or some shit

Do you like tag games?

Yes I do! I love them!

Do you like ask games?

Absolutely! (Seriously never ever think ‘oh she won’t want to do this/be tagged in this’ yes the fuck I will)

Which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

I'm sure there's a few but I don't really remember blog name all that well. I go off icon's or a shortened version of their url

Do you have a crush on a mutual?

Nope

Tags!

@tobemadeofglass @hopefulstarfire

@callmeshaq @livrere-green @doilooklikeiknoworcare

[the-coconut-asado]

Our Golden Girl’s Kitchen

A couple of years back, my cousin Doro announced she was going to publish a book of our grandmother’s recipes. It set all the cousins off on an odyssey of frenzied WhatsApps swapping memories, and in my case a mad dash to storage to find yet another of mum’s old scrapbooks, stuffed with fragments of recipes typed up on that onion-skin paper of the Mad Men era. 

Slowly but surely, recipes surfaced for Granny’s steak and kidney pudding (to this day, the name of our family WhatsApp group), tallarines (fettuccine by any other name) and more cakes and tarts than a whole series of Masterchef pressure tests.  

But Doro’s job was made much easier by someone else who had kept Granny’s legacy alive all these years. The person who, while Granny was a distant memory for many of us, was the biggest influence on our lives. At the end of the book, Doro wrote a dedication to her: “ Auntie Joan, I remember you, sometime before Christmas, making us stir the plum pudding and saying “don’t forget to make a wish!”; the chicken pie or Irish stew with dumplings you prepared when I used to come for lunch after university classes; the plum ice cream you always had in your “ancient” fridge and the smell of scones and cake on our birthdays.’

Last week, Auntie Joan died. 99 years of love, wisdom and many a raised eyebrow at each of us at one time or another. She had a delicious smile that hinted at secrets she might share with you some day, and even up to her mid-nineties kept a ramrod straight back, figure to die for and effortless elegance that prompted a 28 year old male friend to comment at my wedding that she was the only 68 year old he had ever fancied.Cheeky, but at the same time, kudos. 

If I’ve made her sound  like a warm embrace of a woman, she was. She was also a ninja. For most of her working life, Auntie Joan  - Joan Nolan MBE -  was Vice Consul at the British Embassy in Rosario, and later in Buenos Aires. She started volunteering there during the war, and eventually they started to pay her (nice of them), then promote her. 

This had upsides - her influence to help others (a guiding principle of her life), the opportunity to travel, and the people she met. She once told me of an Embassy cocktail party on board a ship attended by Eva and Juan Peron. She had little time for Peron, but was a little flattered when having started to leave down the gangplank he  abruptly turned back, sought Auntie Joan out, kissed her hand and apologised profusely for not having said goodbye. Manners counted for a lot with her, so the apparently off-hand Eva was barely mentioned in despatches.  

Her job also had downsides: held at gunpoint more than once, and in the constant company of a bodyguard after her boss was kidnapped (the inspiration for Graham Greene’s novel The Honorary Consul). One day a masked gang raided the embassy, rounded up all the staff, tied them up and locked them in the bathroom. But the ringleader treated Joan with weird courtesy, politely requested she enter the bathroom but left her unbound. Joan said afterwards: “ I think that man knew me. And if I ever see those eyes again, I will know who he was.” She kept looking but never did, but she did show us the hail of bullet holes the gang had let off at the outer wall of the embassy before they left. 

30 years on, at 85, clearly feeling she had been down this road before, she wrestled an armed thief trying to steal her friend’s car. ‘ Dear, I knew the gun was a toy’, she said breezily when I had my WTAF! Moment on a phone call with her.

Though all this time she looked after my grandparents and my great aunt until their deaths - pretty thankless and back-breakingly hard as they all survived to their nineties and in my great aunt’s case to 101 - as well as her husband Stanley who died when she was still young. Yet she still made time to feed, nurture and look out for her nieces and nephews as they travelled through her flat en route to school, college and work - and then her grand nieces and nephews as they repeated the cycle. 

Living in London, I didn’t see as much of Joan as my cousins, but felt just as close to her thanks to her copious letters. And it was her trips to London I remember most. Wafting glamorously into Gatwick in her boucle red overcoat, nipping up to Newcastle for the day to have lunch with a friend (when Dad retold the story, he always added, untruthfully,  ‘And the friend wasn’t even at home!”), leaving a cloud of delicate rose scent in her wake, a perfume that always reminded me of her apartment in Rosario. A bit like Buenos Aires itself, Auntie Joan was an evocation of the best bits of 1930’s Europe. 

And despite eating like a mouse in her own home - spreading her morning toast with what looked and tasted like wallpaper paste but was actually zero cholesterol cream cheese - her kitchen with its pots and pans, scoured and gleaming  within an inch of their lives, was in a constant hiatus of puddings, pies and roasts for the family as well as that iconic plum pudding at Christmas. And when we took her out to eat the appetite she kept hidden at home came tumbling out. I once witnessed her demolish a whole sea bass, noodles and a quarter of a peking duck when we took her to a restaurant in Chinatown. Unlike the rest of my family, she was unafraid of spice and heat. 

Serene, always; sassy,  sometimes. After all, Joan’s favourite TV programme when she came to visit us in London was The Golden Girls. In a life where everyone depended on her, she was someone comfortable with not needing to depend on anyone else - until old age meant she had to. I used to smile to myself when, in later years, she would end all of her stories with ‘And they said, “Joan, you are the ONLY one who could have done/ solved/ sorted/ this’’. And yet, if we don’t tell the world how talented, determined and capable we are - who else is going to? #thiswomancould

So here are two dishes that we all eat thanks to Auntie Joan - her plum ice cream (with some added spice from cinnamon) and her Spanish Cake, a delicate and sweet treat that evokes  those high teas that are still a family tradition. And finally, a dish that evokes the memory of lemon chicken, the dish that she and my daughter Lara would love to make together. 

Hasta luego, nuestra querida tia. We were so lucky to have you as long as we did. 

Plum ice cream

I have never eaten plum ice cream other than at Auntie Joan’s house and I have no idea why it isn’t a popular flavour commercially. My version only tweaks her original recipe - two egg whites rather than one, a stick of cinnamon and the seeds of a vanilla pod added to the plums as they poach. The brilliant thing about this ice cream - aside from it’s taste of autumn, log fires and sticky crumble - is that you don’t need an ice cream maker.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

300g red-skinned plums

175g caster sugar

¾ cup water

1 cinnamon stick

Seeds from one vanilla pod

Juice of half a lemon

300g double cream

2 egg whites

How to make

Seed and quarter the plums and pop into a pan with the sugar, cinnamon stick, vanilla seeds and water. Bring to a simmer, cover and continue to simmer on a low heat until the plums are soft and the liquid has become syrupy. Turn off the heat and leave for another 10 minutes - you really want the spices and the red skin of the plums to seep into the syrup. 

Turn the plums into a sieve and extract as much syrup and pulp as you can into a clean bowl, using the back of a spatula. Cover and chill for at least an hour. 

In two separate bowls, whisk the cream until it forms soft peaks (be careful not to overbeat or it will turn into butter) and the egg whites until they form firm peaks. 

Alternate folding the cream, then the egg whites, then cream, then egg whites into the plum pulp. 

Pour into a freezer container - or just use an oblong cake tin, cover and freeze overnight. Remember to take out of the fridge for 15 mins before serving. 

Spanish Cake

This is the perfect cake to eat with a cup of tea or coffee. Light and delicate from texture to flavour. Simple dust of icing sugar on the top and you are good to go. Auntie Joan’s original recipe as typed - which features in Doro’s book - is as spare with detail as one of Bake Off’s technical challenges. Fortunately I featured it in a column I wrote for Choice magazine a few years ago, so  have filled in the gaps. Makes 12-16 squares. 

Ingredients

125g melted unsalted butter

200g caster sugar

2 eggs, separated

125ml milk

600g plain flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp mixed spice

Icing sugar to serve

How to Make

Heat the oven to 180C. Grease a 20cm square cake tin and line with baking parchment.

Whisk the sugar with the butter until thick and pale. Add the egg yolks and continue to beat for a couple of minutes. 

Add the milk and beat again. Finally, sift in the flour, baking powder and spices and mix gently until incorporated.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff, then fold into the cake batter. 

Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. The cake is ready when the top is golden and a toothpick or sate stick inserted into the middle comes out clean. 

Cool in the cake tine for 5 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool. When cool, dust the surface with icing sugar, cut into squares and serve. 

Quick Chicken with kale, haricots and caramelised lemon

Auntie Joan loved chicken, and when we visited Buenos Aires when my daughter Lara was little, she and Auntie Joan would love to make lemon chicken together. Am sure she would have loved this flavour-packed little number, courtesy of Alison Roman in the NY Times. 

Ingredients

1 lemon, thinly sliced, seeds removed

1 shallot, peeled and cut into 8

6-8 chicken thighs

1 400g can of haricot or cannellini beans

1 bunch kale, leaves only (discard ribs)

1tblspn sunflower oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil for dressing

How to make

Toss the lemon slices and shallots in a small bowl and season. 

Heat a large frying pan or skillet, add the sunflower oil, then add the chicken, skin side down. Press the chicken down with a spatula to ensure the maximum surface gets nice and brown. Cook for 5-8 minutes, then cook on the other side for a further 8-10  minutes until cooked through and the chicken skin is nice and crispy. Transfer the chicken to a plate, leaving the fat in the pan. 

Add the lemon and shallot to the hot pan - stand pack as it will probably spit and sizzle. Cook, stirring gently, until the lemon has started to caramelise - about 3-5 minutes. 

Add the drained beans to the pan and season. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans soak up that caramelised chicken fat - about 4 mins. Working in batches, add kale and toss to wilt, seasoning again as you go. 

Return the chicken to the pan, along with the juices that have collected on the plate, and cook for a couple of minutes more. 

Serve, drizzled with a little olive oil, and accompany with some crusty bread. 

[mskinkyafro]

Meet the Watsons (Aubrey x MC) - Part 1

Summary: After Viola & Aubrey take their relationship to the next level their moment is interrupted by unforeseen forces.

A/N: This will be a mini fic series. It takes place after the diamond scene with Aubrey in the finale and where it will end, I have know idea yet lol. The timeline is something I have yet to truly figure out in this book, but since characters kept referring how great MC was this year, I’m assuming it’s been about possibly 6-9 months max. I don’t see a full year this all happen. With that in mind, Aubrey and Viola’s relationship has been an ongoing one for a long time and I don’t know why but not exclusive just yet. (That’s where I come in with the power of fanfic on my side.) 

The focus of the series is Viola and Aubrey’s  growing relationship and her meeting his lovable yet crazy family. After Aubrey mentioned the Watson Odyssey and the fact this book is a standalone, I thought more and more of Viola meeting his family.  And to the Watson luck, how far from normal it would be lol (In my headcannon, the Watsons are just a hilarious hot mess)  After this fic is up, I will make a seperate post with the headcannons/backgrounds I’ve created for Aubrey and his family and my MC Viola.

Rating: Just to be safe this first part of the series is a 18+ NSFW fic. I wasn’t planning on writing a NSFW, however it just happened.  It’s minor smut. Mainly fondling/caressing but no actual sex. However, if your under 18 or uncomfortable with smut don’t read this fic or scroll past the beginning. If you decide to read, you’re agreeing your 18 and okay with the content.

Note: This series for the most part will be rated PG or PG-13 either due to language or innuendos, however the rating will be bolded and listed nsfw if any future parts contain explicit sexual content. So just be aware to check the rating on the parts of this fic series at all times. I will list the accurate rating according to each part. 

(Thoughts are italicized and in parentheses)

After a night full of passionate lovemaking all over Aubrey’s bachelor pad, the two settle themselves in his bed cuddling as the morning light shines through the bedroom. Viola lays her head on Aubrey’s chest with her eyes closed just listening to his heart beat in time with her own. She sighs in content as his fingers comb through her now frizzy, kinky blonde curls. It was quiet in the room except their gentle breathing and the sound of soft whispering, that only Viola could hear.

(“Just perfect...this moment is perfect.”)

She opens her eyes and is met with two bright blue eyes looking back at her.

“Hi.” she says softly.

“Hi.”

“What are you staring at?”

“Just the most beautiful woman in the world. And somehow she’s naked in my arms. I keep thinking I died and gone to heaven.” he whispers as he moves his hand from her hair to travel down to her waist.

Viola lifts her head up slowly and slides her body up so her face is inches from Aubrey’s and her breasts press down on his chest as her hands rest on the sides of his head.

“You’re working really hard for morning sex aren’t you?” she says smirking at him.

He lets his right arm that was secured around her waist under the covers to slink lower. His hand moves to grip Viola’s ass, making her grind against his growing erection. He grins up at her as she moans loud and her eyelids drift shut.

“Was it that obvious?”

“Maybe…” Viola opens her eyes and moves her her right hand from behind his head to drift down his body to between his legs to gently strokes his cock. She watches as his body stiffens and his eyes roll to the back of his head at his touch.

“...but two can play that game.” 

Viola leans down and presses a sensual long kiss on Aubrey’s lips as she continues to stroke him slowly. As she breaks away from his lips and lets her mouth trail down the nape of his neck, his thoughts ring out loud and clear.

(Oh god...we’ve barely started but I feel like I’m on fire. If this is how mornings are going to be like with her, I want to wake up next to her forever.)

Viola continues to trail down from his neck to his chest down his abs and almost past his waist when the distinct growling of stomachs fill  the room. Viola and Aubrey pause and lock eyes with each other before laughter filled the air. Aubrey is the first to speak through the fits of laughter.

“I suppose after last night we’ve both worked up an appetite.”

“That’s true, but what if I worked up an appetite for some else?” she tells him, her eyes full of desire.

(“God she just loves to tease me, doesn’t she?”)

Before he could respond, Viola’s stomach growls even louder than before.

“Okay, so maybe we should get some food then continue…”

Her hands gesture over the two of them.

“...this later.”

“Sounds like a plan.” He presses a chaste kiss to her forehead.

“Why don’t you take a shower and I’ll start on breakfast?”

“Is this another sneaky plan to see me all wet and soapy?” she says seductively as she crawls off him and out the bed toward his bathroom. 

“Viola...you’re killing me.”

She laughs and winks back at him before entering the bathroom and shutting the door. He can hear the turning of the shower head and water running as he lays in his bed, the sheets covering his bottom half , but barely concealing his erection. 

He couldn’t help the stupid grin that grew on his face. He loved how domestic they were, how right it felt. He was so distracted by his thoughts of Viola that he barely caught the sound of his cell phone chiming. He turns his head to the bedside table and unlocks his phone to see thirty text messages from his mother, ten miss calls. Half of which were from his father. Even a message from his sister Liz and his twin brothers, Forrest and Jasper. And lastly a notification from Snapchat from his niece. 

Confused by the barrel of messages from his family he quickly presses the voicemail. Listening in he hears his mother’s concern over what happened at the debate. Sighing loudly and rub his face in exasperation his phone rings loudly as the FaceTime icon pops up. He clicks and the image of an older woman with a round face, blonde wavy hair styled in a layered bob, and soft blue eyes that resembled Aubrey’s hidden behind black frames appears.

“Oh thank god! You’re alive! My baby is okay!!”

“Ma...of course I am. Why wouldn’t I? And why did you and everyone blow up my phone?”

“Oh Aubrey...you weren’t answering and I was worried!  I called your siblings to check on you and when you weren’t responding I had them come over immediately. What else was I supposed to do?! That vile man punched my baby and I have no idea if you were concussed or god forbid dead due to head trauma.”

Aubrey rolls his eyes at his mother’s overreactions and pulls the phone closer. 

“Don’t you roll your eyes at me! I’m still your mother!”

Aubrey flinches at her tone and sheepishly says.

“Sorry Ma, but you have nothing to-“

Aubrey’s was cut off by his bedroom door slamming open with two men attempting to roll on the ground and pop up into ninja stances and an older man standing in the middle swinging nunchucks moderately fast.

“Get ready to get your ass kicked, punks! Watson Style!

“What the hell?!” Aubrey exclaims. He drops his phone beside him as he pulls his bed sheets around himself tighter. And quickly grabs a pillow to cover his lap.

The two men scramble up from the ground as they speak simultaneously. 

“And backup from double trouble!”

“Aubrey! Honey what’s going on?! Should I call the police?!” his mother yells through the phone. 

The chaos of the last thirty seconds forces him to raise his voice.

“Enough!”

The three men that entered the room freezes as they look at Aubrey. His mother stays silent on the phone. He closes his eyes and punches the bridge of his nose.

“Okay…I’m going to start at the top and provide some answers hoping I’ll get some in return.” he quietly states.

The two men who were identical in every way, from the way they stand to the same expression on their face as their green eyes lit up in confusion, and how they ruffled their brown hair as they waited for Aubrey to speak. While the older man who looked like a more seasoned version of the other two with bit of belly slowly lowered his weapon. Aubrey nods and then picks up his phone and looks at his mother.

“Good. Ma I’m okay. Mr. Burdock may of decked me but I survived.”

He then looks away from the screen and fixes an annoyed gaze toward the men in the room.

“Pop, Jasper, Forest...I have two questions. How did you guys get into my apartment and Pop...why do you have a nunchuck?”

“ Well son, we have some questions before we answer yours, right boys.” his father says looking toward his older sons. 

“Right pop!” they both said at the same time.

“Ugh! You two are getting too old for the twins in sync gimmick. It’s just creepy.”

Jasper crosses his arms over his chest and leans against the dresser next to the wall as Forrest leans his arm to prop himself beside his twin.

“Oh yeah? Well you’re definitely too old to have me and Forrest come save you. We ain’t kids anymore, snobrey.” Jasper retorts.

Nodding along, Forrest speaks.

“Yep! Especially, Pop.”

“Hey, I’m not that old boys. I still got enough spring in my step.”

Frustrated by each second, Aubrey runs his hands aggressively through his hair.

“You guys didn’t answer any of my questions.”

“Aubrey, I sent your father and brother’s with your spare key to go check in on you since you weren’t answering your phone.”

He turns back his attention to his mother on his phone screen.

“Ma...that was for emergencies only! Everything is fine. I’m fine!”

“Oh really? Then why do I see bruises forming at your neck? Were you in another scuffle that wasn’t televised?” His mother asks accusingly.

“And son, why was your plates and kitchen sets tossed to the floor with broken glass?” his father adds.

Jasper leans away from the dresser and stands up straight and stares with Forrest joining in.

“Mind you, snobrey. Your shirt was found ripped and it’s pretty obvious that something…” 

He trails off as he takes a more detailed look at his baby brother. His bare chest is revealed and  flushed red, his hair skewed and the way he keeps one arm over his lap while he manages to hold his phone up. At that moment of Jasper not speaking the only sound being heard was the running of the shower.

“Is your shower on?” Forrest asks breaking the silence.

Watching Aubrey’s eyes flash with worry, it clicked for Jasper.

“Oh my god! Looks like little snobrey here wasn’t in any trouble at all. Actually he seems to have enjoyed the trouble he did get into last night.” Jasper said with a leer.

“Shut. Up.” he says through clenched teeth.

“What do you mean?” his parents asked at the same time.

Forrest eyed his twin and his baby brother before he caught on as well and broke out in a smile that rivaled a Cheshire cat.

“Well, well, well! I can’t believe it, but the evidence is right before our eyes.”

“Stop! Stop talking right now Forrest! Everyone, please get out!”

Before anyone else can speak another word, the shower turns off and shuffling is heard behind the bathroom door. Everyone turns their attention to the bathroom as they hear the door open and Viola exits with a short yellow towel that leaves little to the imagination, showing off her smooth long legs and hugs her curves. Her blonde curls clinging to her head as droplets slide down her body.

She walks out slowly with the towel wrapped securely around her figure and her eyes closed as she combs through her hair with her hand.

“Hey what was all that noise? Were you watching a movie without me? Eh, It’s not important.  I had a fabulous idea right now. Why don’t we pick up where we left off and have a repeat of last night, breakfast edition.”

Viola opens her eyes and freezes instantly. She opens her mouth to scream but nothing comes out. No one in the room made a move or sound. The tension in the room was high and shock was evident on three older men’s face while embarrassment adorn Aubrey’s and Viola’s.

In her head she can hear mixture of multiple voices.

(“Oh my god, Viola will never want to see me again after this.”)

(“Damn. Who knew Aubrey could land such a babe.”)

(“When the hell did this happen?”)

(“I managed to avoid this during all my kids teenage years yet the universe decided that I have to go through the rite of passage of catching my kid in the act eventually.”)

“Who’s that? Is that a girl? Does my baby boy have a girl in his room?!”

Jasper shaking himself from his shock saunters towards Aubrey and grabs his phone away from him and fixes it so that their mother has Viola in her view.

“Right on the nose Ma. And not just any girl. Looks like little baby Aubrey seemed to snag Northbridge’s leading anchor.”

“Umm so this is very, very...um, awkward.” Viola says as she avoids eye contact with everyone in the room.

Aubrey leans to pick up a piece of clothing from the ground beside his side of the bed and slips them on underneath the sheets and gets out of bed and walks towards Viola and pulls her close to him.

“So this is the most embarrassing thing to happen to me and I’m so sorry, Viola. But umm this is my older twin brothers Jasper and Forrest. My Pops, Richard and on my phone my Ma, Sadie. Umm meet the Watsons.”

Viola hiding herself in Aubrey’s embrace in order to shield her lightly concealed body gives them all a shy wave.

“Hello. Umm, I’m Viola Porchia. Umm, I’ve heard lovely things about you all. I never thought in a million years we’d meet like this.”

“Ohhhhh! How exciting!” his mother exclaims through the phone.

Richard collects himself and chuckles as he turns away from the young couple and heads out the bedroom.

“I’m too old for this. Son, next time you’re occupied entertaining your lady friend after getting hurt on national tv, remember to check in with your mother that you’re okay so we don’t have a repeat of today.”

“Umm, yes Pop.”

“Good. We can’t be scaring away the poor girl. You’re lucky a woman like her is even with you. Besides, from what we’ve seen in your apartment you two might be the closest hope of your mother having more grandchildren.” he says with a wink that he throws to the two.

“Oh god! Pop! Please, enough.”

“Oh Aubrey, I was young once too! How did you think you’re mother and I got all you kids.”

Jasper and Forrest are trying to hide their laughter as their father continues to tease their little brother.

“I’m begging,”

“Okay, okay. Viola it’s nice to meet you and sorry for interrupting.You two...carry on. Come on boys. Let’s leave the lovers to it.”

Jasper tosses Aubrey’s phone on the bed as himself, his twin, and father make their leave.

“Sadie, honey we’re on our way back now.”

“Okay, Richard. See you boys in a few.”

The three exit the bedroom and a distinct shutting of the main door of his apartment is heard.

Aubrey and Viola breathe out. 

Aubrey picks up his phone and faces the camera towards him.

“Okay, this has been mortifying. I’m gonna go Ma.”

“Fine, but since everyone is here, bring Viola down to dinner. I haven’t had all my children together for a meal in such a long time. And I want to meet her face to face.”

“Jeez, I don’t know Ma-”

“I won’t take no for an answer. See you two tonight at 6:30pm.” she says before disconnecting the call.

Aubrey sets his phone down and turns back around to pull Viola into a comforting hug.

“I have no words. I’m so so so sorry. I was hoping you’d meet them later on.”

“That will definitely be up there for most embarrassing moments, but it's okay. At least they didn’t walk in on us in action.”

“You always see the bright side of it all, don’t you?”

“I try.”

“You can probably tell now why I only introduced Liz and Shiloh.”

“A little but they seem very sweet. I see it runs in the Watson genes.”

He chuckles and walks backward to sit on the edge of his bed and pulls her so she’s sitting on his lap.

“Perhaps. So you don’t mind coming to dinner with me and meeting my mom? I know this is happening very fast and it’s really really weird-”

Viola cuts him off by placing a finger to his lips.

“Well at this point, I’ve met all the Watsons except for the most important one.” she says with a glowing smile.

“Oh yes, Ma is really gonna love you.”

“Really? You think so?”

“I know so. Besides I already do.”

Viola tenses after those words left his mouth and just stares at Aubrey. He looks at her and flinches slightly at what he said.

“You love me?” she asks in a small voice.

“I...umm..” he begins nervously and trails off.  Aubrey takes a deep breath and closes his eyes before opening them and gazes deep into Viola’s hazel-green eyes.

“I do. I know we haven’t official made us exclusive yet in these past months but there’s been no one else who can compare to you. No one else has turned my head but you. Viola, I’m falling in love with you.”

With her eyes glazing softly with light tears she leans and kisses him softly and firmly.

“I’m falling in love with you too.” 

“Really?”

“Really really”

In one swift movement, Aubrey cradles Viola quickly into bridal position in his arms and swings her around in joy. Her squeals of surprise and laughter fill the room before he sets her down.

“I have a question for you. Will you be my girlfriend?”

“In a heartbeat.”

Aubrey kiss her gently on the lips t a few times before she pulls away.

“One question  for you though.”

“Yes?”

“Why did your dad have nunchucks?”

Aubrey stays silent for a moment or two trying to find a way to answer that question but only one thing came to mind.

“Apparently it’s the Watson style.”

Tagged: @hellomynameisdevi  @cora-nova @jlpplays1 @rain18rain @mrsmckenziesworld 

If anyone else wants to be tagged in future fics with this pairing or for this mini series just let me know!

[emeraldnebula]

Thoughts on the comic book industry, Part 5

In my last rant about the state of the comic book industry, I talked about how completely out of touch the Big 2 publishers are with reality, both creatively and politically. And naturally, it's going to beg the question: "Why not support other publishers?"

It's not an invalid question on its face. But it is a very difficult question to answer, because of the way the industry has changed over the last 26 years. Again, the Big 2 are acting like it's still 1992-1993, when the industry was at its peak thanks to the '90s comic book boom. And at that time, the industry had expanded to such a point that smaller publishers were growing in prominence and new publishers were showing up in droves. But over the last two decades, the industry has massively atrophied, with many smaller publishers dying out, distribution channels shrinking to a monopoly benefitting DC and Marvel, entry into the industry perversely becoming harder at a time when digital media should be leveling the playing field, and the remaining other publishers making their living on wares that have a limited shelf life.

Simply put, it's not so easy to ignore DC and Marvel when the current comics market doesn't allow for any true competition to emerge.

Let's go back to the early '90s and see what was going on at the time. DC and Marvel were obviously still the market leaders. But you also had Image, founded by several of Marvel's biggest and most popular artists, launching their own creator-owned properties and making a huge splash based on star power alone. You had Valiant, founded by former Marvel editor Jim Shooter, which relaunched several vintage comic book properties in addition to their own, more modern superhero/vigilante books. You had Dark Horse Comics, which made its name with both high-profile creator-owned material (Hellboy, Sin City, The Mask), classic mnaga books, and high-end licensed comics (The Shadow, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Alien, Predator). You had Topps Comics, which did licensed books like Zorro (and its spinoff Lady Rawhide) and Bram Stoker's Dracula. You had Defiant, another Jim Shooter company. You had Malibu, a superhero-themed outfit that eventually became a Marvel brand. You had special imprints from the major publishers, like DC's Vertigo, Helix, and Paradox Press and Rob Liefeld's Maximum Press. You had Fantagraphics doing everything from classics like Usagi Yojimbo to off-the-cuff indie material. You had Penthouse, of all people, launching their own comics line that included fully-painted adaptations of Bible stories. And tons and tons of indie publishers were available, with long-standing cult books like Zen: Intergalactic Ninja getting new attention (and movie deals, too).

There was a lot to choose from at the time, and much of that was due to their being a big range of distributors. I recall one of my all-time favorite catalogs, Advance Comics, whose parent company used to be my local comic shops' distributor of choice until 1996 or so. Every issue of that catalog was like a comic book adventure in its own right, because there was so much to see, so much that I was unaware of previously. The comic book industry at that time was so much bigger than I could have imagined, and to see it all brought together in one monthly catalog with news articles was always a treat. And because there were still a lot of distributors to work with at the time, the barrier for entry to the comics industry was wide open for anyone who had the talent...and admittedly, for some who probably shouldn't have been let in. One of Wizard Magazine's Top 20 best-selling comics of 1994 was Double Impact, an indie comic ripoff of Andy Sidaris' tits-and-guns flicks. So yeah, there was definitely some drek that slipped thru the cracks. But that aside, the state of the industry was that of a wide playing field where anybody and everybody could be part of it.

But to the surprise of absolutely nobody, the greed of the Big 2 was what brought it all crashing down. Marvel was at a high at the time not just because they were a breeding ground for the hottest artists in the industry, but because they had the #1 comic book franchise in the world: the X-Men books were always Top 10 sellers. So they not only bought their own toy company (Toy Biz), but they also bought their own distributor – Heroes' World – and went exclusive thru them. Not to be outdone, DC went exclusive thru Diamond not long afterward. This obviously impacted the other distributors, who now had to deal with losing a ton of business as a consequence. Gradually, the other larger publishers joined up with Diamond as well, killing off all the other distributors completely. And when Marvel suffered financial problems near the end of the '90s, they too joined up with Diamond.

Thus we ended up with the distribution monopoly we have now, and it was a sad thing to see play out. Not only was it a shame to see things like Advance Comics slowly lose more and more content before finally being snuffed out, but it also led to (a) comic book fans and shops having to deal with a single distributor they had problems with and (b) a greatly increased barrier for entry into the industry. If you don't get into Diamond's Previews catalog, you're screwed. And in an age where digital media dominates, for the comic book industry to be so closed off not only limits your choices for what's available, but it also cuts off any real chance for there to be legitimate challengers to DC and Marvel.

Again, let's look at what's changed between 1992-1993 and 2018. Image, which initially looked to be a real competitor to the Big 2, has splintered and shrunken. Jim Lee sold out his portion of the company to DC (and is currently helping to run DC into the muck), several of its artists have returned to DC and Marvel, Todd McFarlane doesn't draw anymore, and the properties it was hyping so hard died out with the '90s. (Seriously, does anyone even remember Spawn anymore, much less care about it?) Most of Image's output now is small creator-owned projects, with The Walking Dead being known far more for its TV incarnation than for the comic it originally was. Dark Horse lost many of its licensed properites to Disney-Marvel as a result of Disney acquiring Lucasfilm and the 20th Century Fox library, and many of its big creator-owned properties have ended. It's a shadow of what it once was. Valiant got bought out by Acclaim Entertainment and suffered financial issues that shuttered it for years, and has only been making a comeback in recent times. Malibu got shut down after Marvel bought it out. DC shut down all of their imprints besides Vertigo, which went from being one of their crown jewels to being a non-entity. Topps, Warren, Defiant, NOW Comics, Maximum Press, Awesome Entertainment, and countless other publishers have bitten the dust over the years. CrossGen, the Florida-based publisher that tried to take on DC and Marvel in the early 2000s, died a swift death a few years later and got bought out by Disney (and their artists picked up by Marvel). Really, the only publishers of note that have shown any real endurance are three fairly recent ones: Zenoscope, Dynamite and IDW. Beyond that, it's gotten much, much harder for new companies to get any traction or really develop into powerhouses in the current market.

It should also be mentioned that companies like Zenoscope, IDW, and Dynamite are getting by in large part by emulating what made Dark Horse such a force in the '90s. Creator-owned material. Licensed comics. And in Zenoscope's case, reinventions of public domain fairy tales. All of this is well and good in and of itself, but it's not really the stuff of major players in today's market. Don't get me wrong: properties like Star Trek, He-Man (currently split between DC and Dark Horse), Transformers, GI Joe, My Little Pony, Flash Gordon, The Shadow, The Lone Ranger, Zorro, and The Green Hornet are deservedly iconic and long-lived, and I'm all in favor of them being comic book staples. But those properties frequently go into periods of hibernation from version to version, and no one version lasts indefinitely. It's all well and good that IDW's made its fame with My Little Pony, but what happens when it's time for that property to go back to sleep? What happens to Dynamite when their versions of The Shadow and The Green Hornet run their course? You can't build your brand purely on licensed material. It's partly why Dark Horse got hit so hard by Disney buying out Lucasfilm and the Fox library. And in today's smaller, more monopolistic comics landscape, the '90s Dark Horse model isn't enough to make you a powerhouse on par with the Big 2.

(And if current rumors of IDW possibly shuttering its comic book operations and going full Hollywood end up coming true, it'll be yet another publisher going down...and again, more attrition for the comic book industry.)

Now, it can be argued that part of the reason Image and so many other companies fell off when the comic book boom ended is that they'd banked themselves too much on popular trends of the era. Big Titty Bad Girls, Big Gun Pouch-Wearing Vigilantes, trading on flashy art over quality writing, attempting DC/Marvel-style event-gimmicks with characters nobody knew or cared about...all of that's true. I can't and won't make excuses for that. But in an age where digital and social media dominate, there's no excuse for comics to be so closed off, so hard to find, or so hard to break into. The equal parts country-club-and-echo-chamber setup of the current comics industry certainly benefits the major publishers and their major players of choice, but it also curtails any real chance of new blood making a splash and reinventing the game. It's not uncommon for indie or small-press creators to make their living hustling on social media and on the convention circuit. And sometimes it pays off; husband-and-wife team Adam Withers and Comfort Love (The Uniques, Rainbow in the Dark) have been very successful at that, even racking up Harvey Award nominations. But again, it's the artificially high barrier to entry imposed by the Diamond monopoly that's the issue. Not everyone can get in, and unless you can get into Diamond's Previews, you're going to have a hell of a time getting your comics out there. And since the industry is still staunchly brick-and-mortar, that's another added hurdle.

And it's not just small-press or indie creators who face these problems. Established industry talent who've been shed by DC and Marvel often have trouble getting their books published, often turning to crowdfunding instead. Sometimes it pays off handsomely (Tom Grummett's upcoming Section Zero, Steven Butler's John Aman: Amazing Man), sometimes it hits the skids (Kieron Dwyer's proposed West Portal). Unless you're the current flavor of the moment, it's far from a given that long-standing comics creators can see their projects to fruition. Again, that's down to the atrophy of the comics industry and the impact of the distribution monopoly. Because it's shrunken so much, become so biased in favor of the major publishers, and abandoned any notion of being accessible to a wider audience, even industry talent with years – hell, decades – of work to their name have a difficult time getting a green-light for their projects, and have to rely on the crapshoot that is crowdfunding. And even at that, while you might get some really good individual works, it's still not going to be nearly enough to challenge the Diamond monopoly, much less present an alternative to the dominance of the Big 2.

So much of the state of the industry makes little sense when viewed in context of today's digital age. There shouldn't be such a huge barrier to entry for new creators. It shouldn't be so hard for established talent to get their projects green-lit. It shouldn't be so damn hard, especially in the age of digital media, for indie and small-press works to find wide distribution. And it definitely shouldn't be impossible for a new comics company to rise up and take the industry into the future, since DC and Marvel won't. But that's where we're at. Even the distribution model is over two decades out of date, and as a monopoly it's unfairly stacked against anything but entrenched industry players. No real opportunity for growth, no real opportunity for change, just the prolonging of an ever-shrinking echo chamber stuck decades in the past.

[wearetakingthehobbitstogallifrey]

Hi @camsthisky!  thanks for the tag!  

Rules: Answer 30 questions and then tag 20 blogs you would like to get to know better.

Nicknames: Ninja, Gal, and (for a few years, a few years ago) Moni.  Most people just call me my real name though Gender: Female Star Sign: Scorpio Height: 5′2″ I am short and generally love it...though it makes kicking around people’s heads difficult... Time: 10:34 pm DOB: November 12th Favorite Bands:  So many.  But I have special love for Red, Linkin Park, Breaking Benjamin, Starset, Nightwish, Within Temptation, Imagine Dragons, The Birthday Massacre, The Piano Guys, Sleeping at Last, Blackmore’s Night Favorite Solo Artists: Enya, Ludovico Einaudi, Vienna Teng, Loreena McKennitt, Heather Dale, Zayde Wolfe Song Stuck In My Head: “Believer” by Imagine Dragons Last Movie I Watched: The Lego Batman movie!  I finally got to see it and it is just as amazing as I heard it would be! Last TV Show I Watched: The Batman cartoon series on Netflix When Did I Create My Blog?: Sometime in 2011 or 2012 I think...a friend at college told me about tumblr

What Do I Post?: Everything.  A lot of fangirling, a fair amount of memes, some personal things, some faith things occasionally Last Thing I Googled: the spelling of Akatsuki no yona Do I Have Other Blogs?: A Dick Grayson/Batfam fan blog @whelmedbythebatfam.  Ideally it was supposed to help control the level of Batfam content I posted/reblogged here but...I usually just reblog everything twice.  Ah well :D Do I Get Asks?: Occasionally :) Why Did I Choose My URL?: Well I wanted a url that showed my love of LotR...and there is nothing more iconic than the video “They are taking the hobbits to Isengard” so I took that and meshed it with Doctor Who, because at the time I had just plunged into that fandom... Following: 212 Followers: 261 Favorite Colors: Purple, green, silver.  I really like purple and green together, and it ticks me off that the Joker feels the same way >:( Average Hours of Sleep: I guess 6 or 7, but that changes Lucky Number: I don’t really have one...I’ll usually go with 3, 7, or 9 Instruments: I studied violin for ten years but...haven’t had lessons in eight years so I’m really rusty.  I love to sing, and while I know I am not nearly as good as some people, I get compliments from people sometimes in church and that makes me happy What Am I Wearing?: Jean shorts and a Nightwing tshirt How Many Blankets I Sleep With: One.  A nice soft and fluffy thing.  Also a sheet. Dream Job: Author :) Dream Trip: I would love to walk all over Ireland!  And then Scotland.  And Wales.  And England. Favorite Food: Ice cream.  I can never pass up ice cream. Nationality: American Favorite Song As of Now: Probably “Unlost” by The Maine, “Saturn” by Sleeping at Last, “One More Light” by Linkin Park, and “Heroes” by Zayde Wolfe

Hmm I’ll try to tag a few people I do not know as much about... but don’t feel obligated, its only if you feel like it! @illbeoutofthewoods @themoonslayer @madamescarlette @peonymoss @outshinethestars @unfortunatelyimaginary

[dccomicsnews]

Stephen Amell is the star of the international smash hit TV show, Arrow. This is the series that launched the DC TV universe, which is now collectively and lovingly known as the Arrowverse, the Flarrowverse (Flash and Arrow) or the Berlantiverse (After Greg Berlanti – executive producer on Arrow, and on all it’s various spin-off shows: The Flash, Vixen, DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow and Supergirl, as well as the forthcoming Constantine Animated Series and Black Lightning.)

Mr. Amell is also an athlete, fitness guru, philanthropist and co-creator of The Heroes & Villains FanFest.

DC Comics News, and our sister site Dark Knight News, were on location, at the Kensington Olympia in London, reporting on the convention’s first foray overseas. Whilst there we were fortunate enough to secure six exclusive one-on-one interviews with some of the cast of Arrow, Legends, Supergirl and Gotham. We also covered many of the excellent Q&A panels.

DCN is now proud to present to you, our readers, some of the highlights from Stephen Amell’s sold out session. You can catch the whole panel on video too. It’s here in print form for those who can’t stream video on the move, and for our readers who may be deaf, or hard of hearing.

For those who may not have seen any, or all of Arrow season five, please be aware that this article contains some huge spoilers. You have been warned.

American Arrow Warrior

Stephen Amell: My goodness! Good morning! Wow! This is, if not the prettiest crowd, also the prettiest venue that we’re ever gonna be in. It’s fantastic!

Moderator: You guys have been fabulous, by the way. This is an amazing first time event, the energy is just… it’s like nothing else. Thank you, London. That says a lot for you guys.

(Massive round of cheers and applause)

American Ninja Warrior – the Red Nose Day… That’s been a long time coming. Talk about that, and what it was actually like to run that course.

SA: So, running the course for (American) Ninja Warrior… if you haven’t seen it, it aired this past week. We raised some money for Red Nose Day, which I know is something that originated here, in the U.K. which is very cool. Running the course… it’s terrifying! All the lights… when you see it, they put everything over water. Walk across a balance beam that’s two inches off the ground, but it’s solid ground underneath you… you’ll zip across it. You won’t even think about it. Do the exact same thing, exact same width, and do it over water… and you panic! Immediately, because you think you’re gonna fall in.

SA:  Ninja Warrior was great! I got pretty far, but after the second obstacle – if you see it – you’ll see me, before the third obstacle, go (touching his right arm, like in pain) like that to my arm. It’s because I thought that I’d torn my bicep off of the bone, on the second obstacle. I couldn’t feel anything from (my shoulder to my forearm). So, all things being considered, it went pretty well!

(Applause)

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Mod: Did you make it as far as you thought you were going to? As far as you thought you were gonna go?

SA: I made it as far as I thought I could go. I was really worried about those blocks that rotate when you run past them. They say, don’t worry if they’re tilted off to the side, or if they’re level. Just hit the middle, and go as fast as you can. Which, again, is a great idea, except for when they’re tilted in a weird way… and they’re over water!

(Laughter)

So, you’ve just got to get over it. Just… charge ahead.

Fan: Which obstacle did you find the most difficult?

SA: The one that I fell on. I saw a guy do it, and how they do it, and what you have a tendency to do – if you’re inexperienced with climbing, and you’re used to utilizing your upper body – you make everything very tense, and you make it all about your arms. When, in actuality, you’re just supposed to hang there. It’s supposed to be your core that helps you sway… which is much easier, because then you’re just basically hanging.

That was obviously difficult. I think I could learn that one… but the most difficult one is those floating blocks, that you have to run across. It’s just like (he crosses himself, like saying a prayer to keep himself safe from injury, then points forward)… and zoooooom!

(Laughter)

Which is, basically what I did. That was definitely the most challenging.

The Magic Of The Arrowverse

Fan: In season four you became the “Magical” Green Arrow. Do you think that was really the greatest thing? You would have thought that they would’ve brought back Constantine, or maybe Zatanna… or someone like that. But they had you as the magical person, to take out Darhk.

SA: Yeah. We tried magic on the show, and you have to try things… We’re gonna try things in season six that maybe are going to work, or they’re not going to work.

I was reading a review about season four – and there were lots of parts from that season that I loved that people didn’t like – and there are parts that I dislike that people enjoy, from every season. That’s all a part of viewing a television show. The reviewer said something that I really respected, he said that the most Arrow part of season four didn’t even happen on Arrow itself, it happened in an episode of Legends of Tomorrow, where they showed the older Oliver. I read that, and I thought… s#!+, he might be right.

I just loved having Neal McDonough on the show – so I thought I’d have him back in a second – but I thought that going back to what we’d cultivated in the earlier seasons was the way to go.

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Arch(ery) Nemesis

Fan: Who is your favorite villain on Arrow?

SA: (After a very long pause, and looking around him) Is Josh (Segarra: Adrian Chase/Prometheus) right behind me?

(Laughter from the crowd)

By the way, just quickly. If we get a chance to come back to London, and we’re in this venue… next year for my panel, you have to just let me just rappel down from my booth.

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I thought that Manu Bennet in season two did a marvelous job. I don’t think of John (Barrowman: Malcom Merlyn) as a villain so much… maybe because I know him. I didn’t really know about reaction videos, and then I ended up on a big deep dive on them – after I had an email telling me I needed to see some – and every person, to a man and to a woman, while watching the final scenes of this season were all like, “Full circle… OMG, full circle. It’s season one!” That really meant a lot. So, I think that the personal element this year, between Oliver and Adrian… that Josh as Prometheus probably fit the very best into a season.

From an iconic standpoint, then it’s certainly Deathstroke.

A very young fan: When I’m older I want to be an actor. What do you suggest I do to become one?

SA: The awesome thing about acting is that you don’t have to wait ’til you’re older… you can do it right now! Do you own a phone with a video camera? Yes? Do you have internet access? Yeah? YOU can be an actor!

(Huge applause)

What I mean by that, is in this day and age there’s nothing that can keep you from practicing, and creating content, and putting yourself out on platforms that allow you to get real time feedback. As long as you can differentiate the positive feedback from the people that are being mean for no reason, then you can start to move in the right direction.

I would then find classes, find movies and television shows that inspire you. Then try to emulate that, and from that experience you’ll start to find your groove.

Smoak And Mirrors

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(At this moment the crowd goes wild, as Emily Bett Rickards – Felicity Smoak herself – walks onto the stage)

Emily Bett Rickards: How does one crash a panel effectively? (Stephen greets her with a huge hug)

Fan: You’ve both done a lot, when it comes to Arrow, Flash and Legends. What’s been your favorite part, over all three series for the two of you?

EBR: I fondly remember when we introduced to the universe The Flash as its own show. That was a big change in where we were going, or at least where we thought we were going. It gave us a new bookmark, a new chapter… whole new novels! It’s been awesome.

SA: I like the quieter moments. Emily and I had a lot of fun shooting the episode where we’re trapped in the bunker.

(Huge applause)

The only part that wasn’t fun, is that we filmed that episode right around the time that I shot American Ninja Warrior

(Cheers from the audience)

Where I badly injured my bicep. I had to keep picking up Emily…

EBR: And I couldn’t help, because I wasn’t supposed to have full use of my legs, so I was just dead weight! (She laughs) And he was injured.

SA: Yeah… It was good, though! That was fun… climbing ladders.

In general I like when we have the quieter moments. We’ve all done action scenes, and Emily’s coordinated the team in the field, and been in the field a thousand times. It’s when you stumble into an episode and you find a three and a half page scene that’s just between two people talking… that’s really exciting. I like that.

Fan: After seeing the musical crossover episode of Flash, would you be interested in doing one of your own in Arrow?

SA: No, no, noooooo… (to Emily) I recently just found out how good a good singer you are!

EBR: Oh, well…

SA: People need to know these things!

Fan: Will you sing for us, a little bit?

SA: You want the musical episode now? You’re pressing your luck!

(Laughter)

You should just Google us singing at Comicon last year… it was a one off.

EBR: Nooo waaayyy…

SA: (To Emily) If you were asked to appear on one of the other shows to do a musical episode, would you do it?

EBR: Yeah! As long as John Barrowman was there, I would do it.

SA: As long as John was there, I’d do it.

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Arrow, The Movie?

Fan: If you made a feature length, big budget episode… who would you like to team up with, who would you like to go up against, and why?

SA: If we were going to do a feature-length film, what I would like to do is… I would actually use every single important character from the history of the show that people thought were really important, I’d like to put them all in a situation where they’d all have to work together, and I would like to put the entirety of the amount of money that we put into an entire season into, like, 98-minutes of screen time and see what happens.

EBR: And Batman!

(Massive round of cheers and applause)

SA: (Nodding and giggling) And Batman… played by Robbie Amell.

EBR: I’ll take it!

SA: It’ll be great.

Mod: Could I have a big hand for Emily? Thanks for crashing in.

EBR: Thanks for having me!

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Amell v Arrow

Fan: Have you ever wanted to slap Oliver in the face, and ask him “What are you doing?!?”

(Huge chorus of approval from the crowd)

SA: I do like playing a character that has flaws, for sure. Flaws are what make us interesting. I haven’t talked with the producers a lot about season six, but one of the things that I did say is that – based off of everything that has happened this year – everything about the introduction of a team, and relying on other people, not just getting yourself into a predicament, and immediately drilling down and saying I’ll handle it by myself… I said Oliver has to have learned that’s not the right way.

If we’re still doing that, after everything that happened this year… people are gonna be, like, he’s never gonna learn and they’re probably gonna change the channel.

(Applause and a roar of approval from the audience, as Robbie Amell takes to the stage)

Amell v Amell

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SA: Oh, my God… Did you hear Batman, and just come to the stage?

(Laughter)

Robbie Amell: I was wondering where everybody went! I was standing at my table and… (Spins around, as if searching for somebody, anybody!) I was wondering if you’ve told anybody what you’re doing on Thursday?

SA: Yes! At long last, Thursday is the first day of principal photography on Code 8 (A highly anticipated sci-fi project starring Stephen and Robbie).

(Robbie raises his arms and the crowd goes wild)

RA: That’s all I’m here for, have a great panel.

SA: Thanks, buddy.

RA: Bye!

Mod: Back to slapping Oliver in the face…

SA: As I was saying that, and everyone started cheering… I’m like, Oh my God, does everyone agree with me that much? That timing made me feel awful for about four seconds.

(Laughter)

I think it’s very important that next year, he learns those lessons. It would be nice to see someone being irrational, and brickheaded, and have Oliver go, “You know…maybe think about this one a little bit, for the following reasons.” I think that would be a more interesting thing to play, going forward with the show.

The Arrow Of Inspiration

Fan: What was your inspiration to be an actor?

SA: Inspiration comes at different times. My inspiration to really get on the path that I (am) on now came after being in Toronto, and being in the business for a good 8/9 years. I hadn’t really had a lot of success, and I’d had a really awful year.

I just started thinking about the things in my life that made me happy. Family was one of them, friends, my dog – Louie – was in there… I kept coming back to acting, and how happy it made me. It’s when I started doing it for those reasons, that a lot of the elements of my career that you guys have seen, and that have brought me to a spot like this… that’s when they started to happen.

Fan: What’s your favorite thing to do in your free time?

(The crowd erupts as Josh Segarra – Prometheus himself – walks up on stage behind Stephen and puts him in a headlock)

SA: He actually was right behind me!

Josh Segarra: He lets me do that to him right now, but in real life he’d kill me. It would be the fastest death ever!

(The audience laughs, and while the moderator helps find a seat for Josh, Stephen goes on to answer the question he’d been asked, before the latest surprise guest appeared)

SA: What’s my favorite thing to do in my free time? What’s your favorite thing to do in your free time?

Fan: I just play sports.

SA: OK! My favorite thing to do, right now with my free time, is to hang out with my family. There’s lots of times where – my daughter’s a champion sleeper – and there are lots of times where I have to leave in the morning before she gets up, and I’m back at night after she goes to bed. So I wanna make sure that I’m spending as much time as I can with them, when I’m free.

(To Josh) What about you? Free time?

Prometheus Unbound

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JS: The same, bro. I’ve got an 8 month old son at home, and he’s a pretty hilarious cat! So when it’s not with him… I watch a lot of professional wrestling.

(Cheers of approval)

We’ve connected on that… I’m a big WWE mark.

Honestly, I’m a… we talked about it right before we got up here – we’re geeks man – so, I read a lot, I like to watch my TV that I enjoy and, just kinda, hang out. I eat a lot of food, eat a looot of food.

Very young fan, in Green Arrow costume: (Who’s) your favorite superhero?

SA: Who’s my favorite superhero? The Flash!

(Laughter, cheers and applause)

(To Josh) What about you?

JS: The Flash.

(More laughter, cheers and applause)

SA: Dumb question: Who’s your favorite superhero?

Fan: The Green Arrow!

(Applause from all round)

SA: Is it? Or did your mom tell you to say the Green Arrow?

Fan: My mummy didn’t.

SA: She didn’t?

Fan’s sister, who is dressed as Rapunzel: No, (he) really is his favorite superhero.

SA: He is? I appreciate that very much. (To the sister) Who’s your favorite superhero?

Fan: Supergirl.

(Cheers)

SA: OK! A more important question; who’s your favorite Disney Princess?

Fan: Rapunzel.

SA: OK… I like Rapunzel too.

Fan: What’s the hardest stunt you’ve had to do on set?

SA: I was saying last night… I don’t know if it was the hardest, but (gesturing to Josh) our day on the boat was exhausting! It was really… We were out on a boat for an incredibly emotional scene, that was very delicate, very tricky, and had so many moving parts to it; everyone was worried about the weather, and I was really worried that we would be so caught up in getting the “Cool” shots, that we would miss the important ones, which are the ones that are right there (drawing a circle with his hand around Josh’s face), and right here! (Doing the same around his own face) That’s what the scene was about.

The last thing that we shot that day, before we lost the sun, was a drone shot of the boat… so, it didn’t require anything from me and Josh. It just required us to be in our positions. It was just gonna show the size and the scope of everything. In between those takes – where we had to stand up – the two of us would just be sitting there, like (hangs his head low, looking exhausted… Josh does the same). It was a hard day.

JS: Let me tell you about this guy (gesturing over to Stephen). Do you guys remember that episode in the cell, where I got to torture him a little bit? This man was shackled to the ground! Those were not fake shackles, they were real shackles. We were in that cell for 12 hours! He would take them off, and you could see the marks on his wrists. It was a pretty cool day, and my respect for this guy grew a whole lot… because those were the days that we knew were really important. Those were the days where we were starting to get into the guts of these guys, where you’re starting to see what they’re made of. Those were some fun days, for sure.

Wrestling with your conscience

Fan: You’ve touched on this one already, a bit. I know, Stephen, that you appeared in WWE, and it was one of the better celebrity appearances (they) had.

JS: It was the best one, bro. It was the best one! The man hopped the ropes, dude! He hopped the ropes… OK?!?

Fan: Is that something we can expect to see ever again? Maybe bringing in someone else? Maybe a bit of a villain?

(All the while, Josh is doing his best Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan impressions. Flexing, pumping up his muscles  and grimacing, and the crowd are loving it.)

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SA: The worst thing that I had to do to Josh this year, had nothing to do with what happened on screen. It had to with with when he couldn’t join me at Wrestlemania. It was so sad.

JS: So sad, man… we’d been planning this for about a year. He’s, like, next year, April 1st/April 2nd, we’re going. Cool, man. Two months out we’re like, two months, we’re gonna go! A month out, oh my gosh… we’re gonna go! Literally, two weeks before, he texts me… “Have you heard?” Did I hear what? He’s, like, “You gotta work on Monday, bro!” I was, like, Nooooo… Man! So then on (the) Tuesday before I get a text from him, with a giant cardboard cut-out of my head. It said “Don’t worry, homey… you’re coming with me!”

(Huge laughs)

That day, every hour on the hour, I got a text from him smiling… my head smiling, and the wrestling. Just all day, tracking the day. “Me” in the front row, my head… and I was, like, getting to meet guys. I had the best time, I met so many wrestlers that day, bro…

(Lots of laughter)

SA: I would love to do something in wrestling again… but I don’t know what that’s gonna be. I think that being with the WWE would be really cool. Cody (Runnels/Rhodes), who I worked with… is doing such great stuff with Ring Of Honor and New Japan. That would be cool. I need to get back in the ring one more time! The first time I was so… the second that I stepped outside of the curtain, all the moisture zapped from my entire mouth! I was so nervous! I was so nervous that I literally forgot to get in the ring!

(Laughter)

Fan: We couldn’t tell.

JS: You wanna know a funny story? So, like I told you, I’m a big WWE fan. I was at that Summerslam, where he had his match with Neville, as a fan. So, I became a big fan of this guy, no lie – because I’ve watched a couple of celebrities trying to get in there and do their thing – and, all of a sudden I see this guy, who fits perfectly in there, and I’m fangirling, you know? My hands above my head and (in a real fangirl voice) “Oh, he’s doing amazing! I’m so proud of him!” (Stephen is cracking up, along with the crowd).

Fast forward, I get to work – the first day – and I met him, and (in a serious business voice) like… hey, good to meet you, “Good to meet you” (back to fangirl voice) So… I saw your wrestling match, man… Oh, it was awesome!

(Big laughs)

SA: That’s really how that went, too.

JS: Legit, man! (Fangirl Josh) And I saw Ninja Turtles! You were so good in that, bro! (Stephen and the crowd are laughing).

Looking To The Future… And The Past

Fan: Can you tell us what the theme for season six is?

SA: The theme of season five was legacy. From what I understand, the theme of season six is family.

Fan: So we’re gonna see William again?

SA: (After a long pause)… Sure.

(Laughter)

Fan: What’s your favorite Flash crossover?

SA: My favorite Flash crossover, was when I appeared in the very first episode, of Flash… for a variety of reasons. It was really cool to say a line like, “Saving people… in a Flash!” You live, as an actor, for that moment. The cooler part about it was that – this was during the second season of Arrow – it was an opportunity for me to go back to do a pilot. To, basically put together the exact same crew to do the pilot of The Flash, and just to think back to that moment, and to be a small part of it happening all over again, for someone else – someone else being Grant (Gustin: Barry Allen/The Flash) – that was really cool. That will always be very special to me.

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Changing The Script

Fan: Stephen, we know that you and Emily do a lot of improv, and (they) did release the script for (episode 20 of season five). In the salmon-ladder scene, how did it go? Because it’s nothing like (what) you shot. Did Emily and you just come up with something better, and everyone just went with it?

SA: No. I always explain this… if you come by table, you will see this really awful drawing of a tree, which I was trying to use as an analogy. The script is like a tree. You don’t want to poke a hole in the tree, but you can add additional stuff around it that they can take, or they can leave.

A lot of things that happen on the show that are ad-libs, are not me creating lines. A lot of times that stuff is written, it’s written like speeches, and not like conversation. I think this is a commonality through all of television and film. Just occasionally it’s honest and truthful to react to something, and they can take that reaction, or they can leave it.

Emily and I just had fun with that scene, and I’m sure that there was a version that was close to exactly what was on the page, and we leave it up to the director, and the editors, and the producers to pick the moments that they like. Sometimes they do, more often than not they don’t, and it more closely resembles what you see on the page.

I like playing red wine, drunk Oliver.

JS: Yeah, that’s a good Oliver. Hey… I’m outta here, I’ll see you guys later.

(The crowd cheers and applauds, as Josh Segarra makes his way away from the stage.)

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Sneak previews

Fan: Do you get to see the completed episode before it airs, and if not, do you watch it at home?

SA: That’s a great question. I watch the network cut; (this) tends to be somewhere in the area of 45 seconds to a minute longer than what you guys see, so that they’ll take a minute out of that. Generally that’s not by taking out a scene, it’s more you sort of pluck the air out of things, where you condense something.

The network cut is the equivalent of… do you remember that trend of people that were taking selfies of themselves first thing in the morning with no makeup on? That’s what the network cut is like. If you like the network cut, you’re gonna love the episode. It’s not color corrected, the sound mix is not done, it has a temporary score in it, and it has temporary visual effects. So you really have to focus in on the performance, and the story, because all the other bells and whistles aren’t there.

I watch that episode. That episode is the proper litmus test of; are the performances on point? Do I like the story? Also, at that point too, if i have a note or I find a glaring omission… I can pass it on.

Mod: Do you find yourself too critical of your own acting, or are you somebody that can look past it?

SA: Yeah, I feel like if I notice a tic, I’ll try to deal with it. It’s mostly… if I’m ever upset about something, it’s mostly that I know – due to the nature of our filming – that even if (the first) take is terrific, we’re probably gonna do two or three. So, occasionally, they pick a take and, selfishly, I wish they would’ve picked another one.

My Name Is Oliver Queen

Fan: Can you do your little speech? You know, from the beginning of the episodes where you say. “My name is Oliver Queen”?

SA: I totally forgot it, I swear to God! I don’t even remember what it was this year. Again, I never watch the episode that airs. I record it in August and then I never think of it again.

Fan: From season one, maybe?

SA: Oh, I can’t remember that one! I tell you what… when the next one comes out I’ll Tweet it. I’ll Tweet that I’ve just done what they call “The saga sell” and I’ll make sure that the next con that I go to someone will ask me, or I’ll have James (the moderator) remember to ask me, we’ll do it and we’ll put it on the internet.

No Man Is An Island

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Fan: We saw in the season finale how everyone seems to have (been) killed off on the island. If something was to happen to Samantha, how do you think Oliver would cope with being a full time dad, being Green Arrow and the mayor of Star City?

SA: That would be a very interesting story, I’ll tell you that much. I think Oliver is more equipped to be a father than maybe he realizes. I hope that he’d do a really good job. That would certainly create an interesting dynamic. It’s too bad that at the end of the season everybody died.

(Nervous laughter from the audience)

Fan: If you could get rid of any (of Oliver’s traits) what would (they) be?

SA: Eye shadow?

(Laughs)

No… Oliver is a very linear thinker. He’s a very task oriented person, and – based on the nature of our show – he doesn’t take a lot of time to stop and relax. In our penultimate episode this year Felicity says to Oliver, “How’s this going for you? Kinda relaxing”… and he’s “It’s torture, it’s awful, I hate it!” It would be nice if he didn’t need conflict, and strife, and adversarial people in his life in order to feel normal. That would be nice.

Variety Is The Spice Of Life

Fan: If you could play anyone other than Oliver in Arrow, who would you play?

SA: Diggle!

(Huge applause)

Look, I’m not telling you how to live your life, and enjoy the show… but if that’s not your answer you should rethink your position! I get why other people may be picking someone else, but… Diggle!

Fan: I know that you and John (Barrowman) are good friends, but what was your favorite scene to play with him?

SA: That’s tough to say. I didn’t have a favorite scene, per-se, to play with John… but, when we were filming in the first season they didn’t even tell me that he was the dark archer. No one told me! When I found out, it corresponded with our ninth episode, which was his reveal, our first big fight, and our first time spending all night shooting together.

It also corresponded with Friday October 12th, when the show premiered for the first time on October 10th. I had so many thoughts, and so many questions, and the premiere had been a success, and John with all of the knowledge that he’d derived from his career, from Doctor Who and from Torchwood, from all the different shows, and from everything that John does… I was just able to pepper him with questions. Just like Josh Segarra peppering me with wrestling questions.

(Laughter)

That was one of, if not the most, valuable nights and experiences I’ve ever had shooting the show.

Fan: Would you ever do a charity campaign along with Emily, so we can have both your faces on a t-shirt, and not just the one?

SA: The only t-shirt that I own with two faces on it is Jared (Padalecki) and Jensen (Ackles: Sam and Dean Winchester, from the CW’s non-superhero hit show Supernatural).

(Massive cheers and applause from the crowd)

I think that would be fun. Teaming up for a charity campaign would be fun. If we found the right cause, and the right time, and the right design… I think that would be great!

Fan: I recently had the experience of going for a drink with my hero. Who would yours be, if you could go for a drink with someone?

SA: Can they be a fictional person?

Fan: Fictional, alive or dead.

SA: I’m gonna go with John McClane! (Bruce Willis’ legendary hero from the Die Hard franchise)

(Huge round of applause)

Seems like he’d be a good guy to have a drink with… as long as he was super pissed off about something. I’d love to hear late eighties, still rated ‘R’ John McClane just bitch about politics, or something. Or just aaarrrggghhh millennials, stuff like that. That’d be great!

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Ladies’ Night

Fan: I have two questions. Of all the girls that Oliver’s been with, who would you choose?

(The crowd erupts with laughter)

SA: It’s Sunday morning, and what do you mean “Been with?”

(More laughs)

Do you mean been with, been with?

Fan: Love interest been with.

SA: Oh! You mean like, had a meal with.

(Even more laughs)

What’s your next question?

(The crowd is now cracking up)

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Fan: If you could be in any of our British programmes, which one would it be?

SA: You mean other than Loose Women? (The UK chat show similar to The View) I was on Loose Women on Friday with John, and I found out about the British term for… never mind.

(The laughter continues)

I would love to be somebody in the original UK version of The Office, which is one of my favorites of all time!

(Appreciative applause)

I’d be like the stupid copy guy who’s from Toronto, who speaks super Canadian. I dunno… That’d be fun.

Fan: Concerning Earth 2 Oliver. Do you think he would have treated Laurel better than Earth 1 Oliver?

SA: I think that everything is different for Oliver if he doesn’t get on the boat. There’s a version there… there’s an Earth where it’s Oliver and Laurel forever. But I think that the Queen’s Gambit, Sara and a variety of other things – almost all his fault – sorry, no that’s wrong – all his fault – made it so that it wasn’t meant to be.

And that’s it! We hope you’ve enjoyed the coverage from London’s first ever Heroes & Villains event. Please, as always, leave us some feedback.

The show will be back in the UK next year, so hopefully your mild-mannered British DC Comics News correspondent will be on hand, to get the low-down.

Until then… take care y’all!

Right On Target – Live In London With Stephen Amell Stephen Amell is the star of the international smash hit TV show, Arrow. This is the series that launched the DC TV universe, which is now collectively and lovingly known as the Arrowverse, the Flarrowverse (

[benevolenterrancy]

24 genyatta?

24. “You’re the only one I trust to do this.”

-

“...Master...?”

Genji could taste blood his mouth. He must have bit his cheek on his way down; as it was, his entire head was ringing from the force of a metal fist slamming against the side of his head.  Even as resilient as he had become with Doctor Ziegler's intervention, he still had a human brain and much of his own head regardless, and such things did not take kindly to a solid block of metal smashing itself against the side one's face. Especially not an omnic's fist – there were no human muscles or pain responses to give an omnic any inhibition, their synthetic bodies could hit with a crushing force.  Of course, he had spent years with Overwatch, learning how to fight against just such a threat.

He had fallen now because he never could have prepared for that strength to come at him from where it had.

Zenyatta stood, metal feet solid against the ground after he had suddenly slumped and dropped from the air not seconds ago.  His fists were clenched and, rather than their usual stunning blue, the lights lining his brow glowed a strange, sickly purple.  He stared at Genji, and for the first time in many years Genji found himself thinking that Zenyatta's face looked cold and empty.

Dead.

Deadly.

“Why,” he tried to say, pushing himself upright, groping awkwardly for his sword.  He felt off-balanced, baffled, terrified.  Why would Zenyatta of all people attack him?  Why now?  They had been peacefully travelling together for months since Zenyatta left the monastery – Zenyatta had invited him to join him gladly and enthusiasticaly.  What had changed?

Zenyatta took a forceful step forwards, but Genji couldn't bring himself to draw his sword – instead, he took a stumbling step back, nearly tripping when one of Zenyatta's fallen orbs caught under his foot.  Unconcerned about the orbs that had crashed to the ground after he had fallen, Zenyatta simply advanced, kicking them mindlessly aside into the night's dark shadows.

Genji was aware enough this time to drop and roll when Zenyatta suddenly lunged, metal fist glinting in the moonlight.

“Master, please!  Stop!  What are you doing?” Genji wailed, leaping back, and back, and back again until his shoulders bumped against a building's brick wall.  Still his hand remained on his sword and still it remained sheathed.

“Ooh, this is exciting.  Like a little television show, ninja and master in a great showdown!”

Genji's gaze shot up – and he nearly paid the price for his distraction when Zenyatta's fist shattered brick exactly where Genji's head had been a second ago.  Genji scampered away and then up onto the roof of a jeep, trying to keep distance from the omnic, while staring at the newcomer who had emerged from the shadows like sort of oni.

She glowed in the darkness.  Purple.  The girl stepped forward on light feet and waved her fingers at Genji playful as she grinned like a shark; the nails left streaks of light superimposed in the darkness. Under the fingers of her other hand, hexagons floated in the air like some alien keyboard.

She seemed to realize where he was staring, because she gestured to it and grinned at him.  “Like it?  A girl does love her toys.”  In demonstration she let her fingers flick across the floating icons.

In response Zenyatta's body twitched and stiffened, and then pirouetted where he stood.  Like a puppet on strings.

Genji's mouth was dry.  “Who are you?” he whispered into the night, as if any loud noise could break some sort of delicate balance that Zenyatta's life seemed to be hanging in.

“Aw, you don't know?” she said, a playful pout in her voice.  “I'd be hurt except... well, I'm not surprised.  Still, I've heard a lot about you, Sparrow.”

Sparrow. The last person to call him that had been Hanzo.  A nameless dread was crawling up his spine.  “What do you want?” he demanded.

“Ooh, so serious.  Nothing much.  I came to make some new friends, and when I heard you were in town I simply could not resist.  An omnic and a cyborg, all in one place?  Who to play with first!  From what I hear, that body of yours is a lot more than a fancy suit of armour, isn't it?  I wonder what would happen if I dug around in there a little – do you think I could stop your lungs? Your heart?  Now that would be fun to find out.  But omnics are so tricky!  They really don't like people poking around in their brains, and that's what makes it a challenge, and I can never turn down a good challenge!  So I've decided on your little robot pet here; me and you will have to play another time.”

“Let him go,” said Genji, voice low.

The woman tapped her chin in a long, exaggerated motion.  “Hmm, noo, I don't think so.”

Now Genji did draw his sword, letting it cut through the air like a promise, and was already bounding towards her when all of a sudden...

Genji nearly fell over himself trying to stop.  Zenyatta had stepped between him and the woman, arms wide, face blank.  Waiting to be cut down.  The sword hung in the air.

The woman smiled at Genji from under hooded eyes and from behind Zenyatta's metal arms.  “Everything can be hacked... and everyone. And some people... in more than one way.”

“Tell me. What. You. Want.”  It came out as a snarl.  Genji was still searching Zenyatta's blank face, trying to find some glimmer of recognition, of life.

“Nothing much,” she cooed.  “Just a little information.”

“About the Shimadas?  I'll tell you whatever you want.  Just let Zenyatta go.”

“Pfft, please, I don't give a damn about them. The Shimadas have never been anything but local pests, they're hardly a real player. No, I'm interested in Overwatch.”

Genji stared.  The girl grinned all the wider, her teeth an unsettling white in the night's darkness.  “Aw, pobrecito, are you not important enough to be told these things?  Overwatch is back in the business!  Ha, on the down-low, of course, there are a lot of people that won't be happy to see you.  Me though, you can consider me an... interested friend.”

“Even if that were true, I'd never sell them out to the likes of you.”

The woman shrugged and leaned back against the alley's wall.  “That's a shame, we could have had such fun together.  Still, we may as well play for a little longer, yeah?” She twitched her fingers; Zenyatta jerked upright from the strange, stiff resting position  he had been in.  “Who do you think will win?  You or the bot?  Guess we'll see.”

“No...” said Genji, backing away – but where would he go?  He couldn't leave Zenyatta in this woman's clutches.

“If you get tired, I'm sure I could be distracted by some other interesting information.  Access codes, callnames, that sort of thing.”

“I don't know anything,” Genji begged.

“Not yet, but you will.  You'll be my little friend on the inside.  Won't you?  Unless you want me to keep the monk for my friend instead.”

Zenyatta took another step forward, another – slow, measured, because the woman made them so, giving Genji time to stew.  And then, just as Zenyatta's fist rose once more, he stopped.  At first Genji thought it was a part of the purple woman's game, but it quickly became evident that this wasn't the case.  Her brows creased and her mouth pinched as her fingers jumped more aggressively against her holographic device.

“Move, damn you,” she snarled at the omnic.

Instead of moving though, all at once the lights on Zenyatta's forehead died out entirely and he dropped limply to the ground in a clatter of metal.

The fear in Genji's blood was almost tangible – had she... broken him? Killed him?  Omnics were unbelievable complex, they weren't made to be hacked and controlled like a toy car, who knew what sort of damage...  But those thoughts had to be put aside.  For now.  For now, he could not be a monk, or a student, or a friend – all Genji could be was the ruthless, effective assassin he had been trained to be from birth.

In an instance, Genji had his sword whipped upright once more, its green glow cutting the sky in direct opposition to the woman's flourished purple.

“Ryūjin no ken wo kurae!”

Genji had the vindictive pleasure of seeing the woman's eyes widen with brief terror, but then before his blade to hit flesh she was gone.

The street was dark and silent, even as Genji spun on the spot, trying to catch sight of the purple.

There was no one; Genji's sword dropped to drag on the ground, his entire body numb with terror.

“Zenyatta?” he called, taking halting steps towards the... the body.

“Genji.”

Genji could have cried with relief.  In a single motion the sword was sheathed and he was at Zenyatta's side, cradling the omnic's limp body; the lights remained off and the Zenyatta didn't move so much as a finger.

“What's happened?  Are you okay?”

“I... believe so.  I was able to circumvent her control well enough to shut off my physical functions.  I had hoped it would be enough for you to take action. I am proud of you, my student.”

Now Genji was crying, though it was safely hidden behind the faceplate. He bumped his head gently against Zenyatta's.

“She's gone,” he swore.  “Please, we can go now.”

“No.”

Genji swallowed.  “No?”

“You heard her, Genji.  Something serious is afoot, and we do not know who that woman was or where she is now.  She was able to get around my firewalls once, and I fear what might happen if she manages it again.”

“What are you proposing?” demanded Genji, pulling Zenyatta as close to him as he could.

“Nothing as drastic as you seem to suspect,” said Zenyatta, gently.  “If she is right... then it would appear that Overwatch has risen from its ashes, and may soon have a spot for you.  If that is the case... they were said to have had the best scientific teams on the planet working under them.  If anyone can inform us of who that was or the danger she poses – and help fortify us against it – it is them. You must go to them, and I must be deactivated until then.  Until it is safe.”

“Master, no!  You can't–”

“Genji, I must.  I...  Genji, to be trapped in your own body, to see yourself trying to commit an atrocity against someone you care deeply for... that is not something I can risk again.  I can't, Genji.”

“I... understand.  What needs to be done?”

“You must remove my core processor.  It is the only way we can guarantee that my body will remain inactive – as it is, I suspect she could remotely turn my physical functions back on if she wanted, if she'd had the time.  Mercifully, you did not give her any.  Take the processor, store it, and then once we are somewhere safe it can be reuploaded.”

It was only his synthetic muscles that stopped Genji from trembling. Zenyatta's core – it was a chip at the center of his head, his “brain” for all intent and purpose.  It housed his memories, his personality, it was the part of him that was him.

“Let us find a mechanic,” said Genji desperately, “an expert.  Then it can be removed safely, and...”

Zenyatta's hands rose and cupped Genji's; the blue lights had flickered back on and Zenyatta's head turned towards him.

“Genji,” he said, softly.  “We do not know who she is, or who she works for. You are the only one I trust to do this.”

Genji swallowed.  And acquiesced.  He lay Zenyatta's body down, carefully removed the faceplate, and opened the outer casing that made up Zenyatta's head – it was heavy, well protected, as the head housed the bulk of the omnics processes, much like a human.  From there, he very carefully extracted the chip.  It was tiny, all things considered.  So delicate.  One wrong move, and Zenyatta would be gone forever.  He thanked any gods listening for Angela's handiwork and the steadiness it granted him.  Very carefully, he opened a compartment on his own body, a small section for housing additional data chips that may have been needed during old Overwatch missions. Most of the slots were empty now; Genji very carefully slid Zenyatta's core into one of them.  He then put his master back together, gathered Zenyatta's scattered orbs which he shoved into his own bag and hefted both it and Zenyatta up onto his back, as if he were simply giving the omnic a piggyback.  He tried not to think about the black, void lights on Zenyatta's head, or the way he slumped against Genji's back.  A corpse.

It would appear it was time to pay some old friends a visit.

[unintentionalshipping]

Gency Week - Day One - First

I’m late, I know, I’m truly sorry. This has taken a lot longer than expected to finish, and had to go through multiple rewrites, hopefully it still turned out okay! Just some quick things I want to discuss;

1:This is the first fic and the fist time I have posted some of my writing publicly, please be gentle on me :)

2: The fictions posted will flow on from one another, starting here and ending  at Day Seven (Day Two doesn’t count due to it being an AU)

3: That means it should end up as one massive fan fiction split into days.

Anyway, hopefully you enjoy these, its been a pleasure so far! :)

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First

The tranquil gardens surrounding her lay mostly silent, except for the occasional wave of laughter from inside the Watchpoint. Small waves courageously fought against the rocky cliff faces below, sending reflective droplets of water back into the sea. The silent and dormant moon cast its reflection onto the water, illuminating the face of the watchful doctor. A cool breeze began to estrange some of the vibrant blonde hair from Angela’s head, which she reactively brushed behind her ear.  The nights at the old Watchpoint Gibraltar reminded her of the good old times, but this isn’t like the old times. The world has changed, Overwatch is needed again, but is being hunted for their past. Sighing, Angela leaned onto the railing in front of her, taking in the calm of the night.

For Doctor Ziegler, late nights and a clouded mind was nothing short of a normal day, however, with the recent recall of Overwatch and its respective agents, the last few days have been some of the most stressful. The future for not only herself but all of the agents inside who have answered the call has now been thrown into a dark tunnel, and no one knows where the lights at the end of it is. She shivered, buts wasn’t sure if it was the cold or the concerns she had.

More waves crashed against the razor sharp shoreline as another wave of hearty laughter pierced the starry night. She couldn’t help but smile as she heard calls for another round by the group, with cheers following the request. She wasn’t only worried for herself, the others who answered the call where in just as much danger, some maybe more, but all somehow the same when they left.

So many people answered the call, old and new. Reinhardt, Torbjorn, Tracer, McCree and Winston were the only original heroes of Overwatch to return, besides herself of course. Some new blood also found their location, including Lucio and D.va, two iconic stars in the recent world.  All of these people were here before she arrived, having only arrived a few days ago. However, as she had scanned the smiling faces before her, one green helm was missing, sinking her heart to the bottom of her chest.

The cold winds began to pinch at her skin, sending shivers down her spine. The black Overwatch T-Shirt and her jeans weren’t holding up well against the cold, but that was the least of her worries. Rubbing her hands together to keep warm, she couldn’t help but think of Overwatch before its collapse, Images of agents, missions, late nights and hot chocolate ran past her vision, each memory sweeter that then last.

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The night was silent, all except for the young Doctor Ziegler furiously typing away on her keyboard in her office. The office itself was quaint and cosy, small ornaments and plants were delicately placed around the grey office, with a side room leading to a bedroom hardly ever used by its owner. On the desk sat a large computer screen with a tired Angela sat behind it, desperately trying to complete some extra research that she had been experimenting with for a while.  The clock on the computer screen flicked to 11:00 pm, signalling the sixth hour straight that she had been working on this paper for.  She just managed to stifle a yawn, her eyes desperately trying to stay open as the paper seemed to be getting longer and longer each passing minute.

She was snapped awake by a knock on her door. Curious, she made her way to the door, wondering who on earth was knocking on her door at this time. She slowly opened the door to find a cyborg ninja outside her door, holding a steaming cup in one hand and a small block of wood in the other. She couldn’t help but smile at how cute he looked in her doorway, even if it was unexpected.

“Genji! What are you doing here? Weren’t you just on a mission?”

“Yes, but I heard from some of the other agents that you don’t really eat or drink when you are so focused on your work, so I thought that you might….uh… enjoy this.”

His words trailed off as he showed her the contents of the cup. Steaming hot chocolate sent rich aromas through the doorway, filling Angela with warmth and comfort. She gladly took the cup from him and held it between her hands, letting the warmth from the cup slowly fill her up. She looked directly at Genji now, noticing him staring slightly at the floor, occasionally looking up at her, then instantly diverting his gaze when he saw her watching.

“Genji, this is so sweet, you really shouldn’t have. Would you like to come in?” She stepped aside, indicating for him to enter. He nodded his head in thanks as he walked into the room, looking back as Angela closed the door behind him.

While she moved to reclaim her spot behind the computer, Genji made his way to nearby seat, where he sat for a while and studied the office, his facial expression hidden behind his helm.

“Your office is quite lovely, Dr Ziegler. You have a knack for decoration”.

Her face couldn’t help but become bright red as he said this; a small smile crept onto her face as she tried to bury her face into her computer screen to hide the reddening of her cheeks.

“Thank you Genji.” But please, call me Angela.” She spoke more to the computer screen than him, not trusting her cheeks to retain their normal shade.

“Of course…Angela. Please, continue with your work. I can leave if I prove to be annoying or a burden.” He motioned to the door with the block of wood in his other hand; turning to face her, expecting her to ask him to leave.

“No! No of course not Genji, you’re very welcome to stay; I could use the company to be honest.” Her voice trailed away as she thought of how little she speaks to people based on her dedication to her work. She gets so few visitors, and none really want to stay and talk. This was something unusual, but was something she welcomed.

He nodded his head in return and pulled out a small knife from its sheathe fastened onto his back. He then began to slowly carve away at the wood, idly chatting with the doctor, who eagerly responded and asked many questions of her former patient. The hot chocolate sat beside her on the desk, warming her up every time she drank. She had to admit, Genji could make some amazing hot chocolate. It wasn’t long until the hot chocolate was finished, the paper sent out, and a small figure began to appear out of the block of wood that Genji had been carving from.  She stood up and stretched as the light from her screen dimmed, noticing the movement from the armchair on her left. Genji stood up and strode over to Angela’s desk, grabbing the now empty cup from her and was just about to turn around to leave when he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

“Genji, thanks for staying, I really appreciate it.” She spoke softly, wanting Genji to understand how much this small act of friendship meant to her. She let go of his shoulder as he turned to face her, the cup now the least of his concerns.

“It was my pleasure, Angela.  Please, get some rest, you deserve it after your efforts tonight.”

He began to walk towards the door, the cup and block of wood hanging loosely by his waist as he walked. He reached the doorway, his few free fingers clasping the handle to leave.

“Genji, wait!” She crossed the room in an instant, coming close enough to hear the soft hum of the cybernetics keeping him stable. A curious aroma of steel and cherry filled her nostrils, sending a warm feeling to her face.  He stared down at her, trying to work out what she wanted, did he offend her somehow?

“Angela, I’m sor-“

“Could you come back tomorrow night Genji?”

The words shot out of her mouth like a speeding bullet, her hand coming over her mouth as the words travelled through the room, reflecting through Genji’s brain.  She could practically feel the red colouring her cheeks, her heart beating way to fast to be considered healthy. His reply was swift and elevated, his voice slightly higher pitch than normal.

“Of course Angela, same time tomorrow night?”

“Yes, see you then” She ushered him out of the door and closed it shut, her mind racing with the events of tonight and the plans for tomorrow. She made her way to her bed, simply choosing to flop onto her sheets rather than to bother changing and using what little energy she had left to climb into bed. She let out a sigh before drifting off, the scent of hot chocolate filling her with warmth as she slept.

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Days turned into months as the two became close friends. Every night Genji would make his way to Angela’s room, usually carrying his signature cup of steaming hot chocolate and his wooden carving. She would always run to the door and answer it for him, always happy to hear the familiar greeting and smell the rich aroma of hot chocolate coming from the other side of the door. Throughout the visits, Angela and Genji began to see more of each other, often sparking up conversation in hallways and sitting together in meetings with other agents. These conversations would continue long into the night, with papers waiting to be done and hot chocolate already gone.

The mystery of the wooden carving was finally solved when Angela’s birthday finally came around for another year. She returned to her office to find a large present placed neatly on her desk, wrapped in green paper with an adorable red bow on top. A small note accompanied the gift, which was immediately opened by the ecstatic doctor. She wasn’t one to receive many birthday wishes on her birthday, much less presents of any kind, so this was something she was excited to see unfold. She tore open the letter to find a small note accompanied by a sparrow feather, which see gently placed onto the now crowded desk. She quickly poured over the note and couldn’t help but blush.

To Angela:

Happy Birthday! Hopefully you have an amazing day! I wish I could celebrate it with you, but Morrison insisted I joined him on his latest mission. Enjoy the gift!

Regards:

Genji

She quickly cast the note aside and opened the gift, almost dropping it after seeing its contents. A beautifully crafted wooden dragon rested in her arms, its small eyes watching her with a look of comfort and kindness. It was perched atop a small rock, appearing to overlook its surroundings. She gently placed the dragon onto her desk, facing it towards her as she sat behind her computer,  feeling a burn on her cheeks and a tear leave her eye.

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However, all good things must come to an end, and that end came when Genji finally defeated the last remnants of the Shimada Clan. He returned to the base with guilt and confusion plaguing his heart, not knowing who he has become as a person. He slowly made his way into the facility; he had one and only one stop to make before he would leave Overwatch behind.

He found himself standing outside of Angela’s door, his hand seemingly stuck on the handle, unsure of whether he should enter or not. His question was answered for him when he was suddenly right in front of the doctor, her usual lab coat replaced with a casual shirt and shorts. She jumped as she saw him, her face becoming more relaxed as she spoke

“Genji! You’re back! I was just about to go and find you! Would you like to come in?” she gestured to the seat he usually occupied when he joined her in the middle of the night. He silently nodded and followed her inside the office, closing the door behind him with a sigh. She sat atop the desk, waiting for him to take his seat on her left. The dragon carving sat facing the door, deterring anyone from disturbing the meeting between these two people. She brushed some of her wild hair out of her face as she looked at the man before her, a sense of fear washed over her as she saw him fidget in his seat.

“Genji, is everything okay?” She sounded shaky, the fidgeting only continuing from Genji as she spoke. A small sigh escaped him as he replied, his words were slow and quiet, almost as if he was unsure of what he was saying.

“Angela, I must leave. I do not feel at peace here. This place, Overwatch, is not my home anymore. The family I once knew is gone; a piece of me is gone when we finished our mission today. I don’t know who I am anymore. Am I omnic or human? Am I able to feel love or happiness without feeling guilty for having these emotions?”

The words cut deep into Angela’s heart; small scars began to form every time he mentioned how he felt, slowly destroying her on the inside. Tears began to form as she saw his body shake, his gaze facing towards the ground, never looking at her face as he spoke. He lifted himself from his seat and began to move towards Angela, his fingers playing with something in his hand.

“I will leave tonight, it won’t take me long to gather my things and sneak out of the base. No one needs to know that I am leaving, expect you. Angela, you have shown me great friendship and compassion while I have been here, and I want you to know that I appreciate it. You have been one of the greatest things that has happened to me in a long time.”

The tears were running rampant now, spilling from her eyes and running down her cheeks. Her whole body shook with sadness as she watched him edge closer, his hand opening hers. He placed his hand into hers, leaving a small silver necklace in her hand. She brought the necklace close to examine it, marvelling at the craftsmanship and design of the necklace. The necklace was beautiful silver with a small cherry blossom tree depicted in the centre. It was beautiful, but did not take away what was happening in front of Angela.

“I want you to have it. I don’t know when, or if, I will return here, but I wanted you to have something to remember me by. Promise me you will look after yourself, okay?”

She took one final look at the necklace before jumping off the desk and leaping at Genji, wrapping her arms around his middle as she placed her head atop his shoulder. She gripped him tighter as he reactively moved backwards, before he placed his arms around her in turn. They stood there for what seemed like an eternity, Angela silently sobbing into Genji’s shoulder as his usual scent of steel and cherry washed over her like a wave. He eventually pulled away from the doctor and made his way to the door, looking back one final time as he pulled on the handle to open the door.

“Goodbye, Angela”

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Tears began to cloud her eyes as she thought of him, her fingers reactively stroking the small silver necklace she still wore under her shirt. The small cherry blossom acting as memento for the man she felt the closet to, reflecting small silver flashes against the pure light of the moon above. Tears began to cloud her eyes as she thought of him. Where was he? Was he safe? Why isn’t he here? She tugged at the necklace harder as these thoughts crossed her mind, small tears beginning to form from the corners of her sparkling blue eyes.  It’s been so long since she has talked to someone about something besides medicine, so long since she last was treated like an equal and not just a lab coat, so long since she has felt… appreciated. She brushed the tears away from her eyes, leaning further on the railing, focusing on the now calming waves below.

“It’s good to see you getting some fresh air, Angela.”

She spun around to see who spoke to her, and almost shrieked at the sight of them. Without thinking, she ran towards him and brought him close, the once familiar scent of steel and cherry filling her with sweet memories and happiness. She held on tight, not wanting him to slip away from her again, her left cheek resting atop his shoulder. Tears once again began to flood her eyes, spilling freely onto his shoulder as she kept holding on. She felt his hands rest on her back, bringing her closer into a tight embrace. A nervous laugh filled her ears as his cool hands eventually separated them.

“It’s good to see you as well, Angela”

Though the doctor could not see it, a large smile etched itself into Genji’s face, grinning from one red check to the other.

“Shall we meet the others?” Her voice shook with emotion as she stared at the man before her; an unbelievable sense of warmth overcame her as she stood before him.

“Lets” A hand found his as Angela pulled him towards the laughter and singing nearby, both happy to see eachother again after so long.

[recentanimenews]

Defining Moments In Anime: Goku Goes Super Saiyan

  Defining Moments In Anime is a new series from Crunchyroll that looks at various scenes in anime across all genres to showcase why they are special, fondly remembered, have become popular due to memes, or are just fun. We'll break down the moment itself, provide the context leading up to it, discuss the aftermath of what this moment did for the show and its fans, and figure out why exactly its worthy of being a Defining Moment In Anime!

  A terrifying, golden aura has enlightened Planet Namek as Goku's rage has boiled over and he's on the verge of an astonishing transformation. On June 19, 1991, fans of Dragon Ball Z were able to witness a turning point for the series with episode 95, "Transformed At Last!! The Legendary Super Saiyan, Son Goku." At the time, people probably didn’t have a clue as to how this episode would change the course of the Dragon Ball Z series, much less how it would become an iconic part of popular culture for the next three decades. While that moment became one of the first things people think of when it comes to Dragon Ball Z, how did we get to this point in the series? To find out, we need to explore the context of this scene, its generational grip on anime and media with more parodies and references than you can count, the trend of athletes and celebrities themselves becoming Super Saiyans, and why it’s been so fondly remembered.

  So, how do we get to this point? What led up to Frieza pushing Goku to his limits emotionally, which causes the transformation? A significant amount of time has been spent on Planet Namek as Krillin, Gohan, Bulma, Piccolo, Vegeta, and now Goku attempted to track down a new set of Dragon Balls. The Ginyu Squad has been disposed of, and all that stands between Earth’s mightiest warriors and the Namekian Dragon Balls is the one person who destroyed the Saiyan home planet: Frieza. By this point, Frieza has transformed into his final form and wreaked havoc on everyone. Goku has even managed to pull out a Spirit Bomb, but that wasn’t enough to take Frieza out. Instead, Frieza gets really mad and tries to finish off Goku once and for all, only for Piccolo to sacrifice himself to save Goku. In order to really show Goku who’s the boss in this fight, Frieza lifts Krillin, blows him up, and threatens to do the same to Gohan. This is the ultimate catalyst for Goku’s forthcoming transformation.

    The episode makes this moment into a big deal, as it should, although it's unlikely that anyone knew how big of a moment this would end up becoming. The change in demeanor that Goku has, the (literal) electricity in the air, and how emotional everyone is within the episode makes it seem so memorable. None of the other initial Super Saiyan transformations match this in terms of intensity and how they’re remembered. Vegeta’s transformation (which happened thanks to nearly dying from a giant meteor) is almost an afterthought in the Androids Saga. Even when Gohan is able to do it, it’s more of a given that he would be able to pull it off, and it’s not seen as a show-stealing moment that will shock fans.

  Despite the fact that this episode took eight years to come out overseas, the concept of Super Saiyans is something that is still talked about to this day and is a moment that really took Dragon Ball Z on a different trajectory from the original Dragon Ball. The series became, in a sense, an arms race for power as each new villain would be more powerful than the next, which would cause our heroes to find some new way to match that via more elaborate Super Saiyan transformations or through the help of fusions. Essentially, power levels weren’t quantifiable by numbers (but more on that later) and instead were just feelings that people had that made them know if someone was truly dangerous or not. The idea of Super Saiyans has continued to grow exponentially through Dragon Ball Super and will keep going if the series moves forward.

    I don’t know if many of you were around when Dragon Ball Z was huge in the late 90s/early 00s and could have predicted that Super Saiyans would still have this much staying power to this day. There were so many people during that time that had “SSJ_(insert user name here)” instant messenger IDs, emails, message board handles, you name it (myself included). You’d read about these fabled Super Saiyan 5 transformations and a post- Dragon Ball GT story called Dragon Ball AF because people needed more. Years later Super Saiyans would still be parodied in shows such as YuruYuri or the moment itself would just be referenced, such as in NARUTO Spin-Off: Rock Lee & His Ninja Pals. Or, in some cases, you'll just see edited gifs of celebrities going Super Saiyan like Michael Phelps, Miguel Herrera, and John Cena (with subreddits and meme pages archiving and creating even more). Jaden Smith practically had a whole song about it. 

   Source: "Jaden - GOKU"

  When I first watched this episode, there was such a fever pitch of excitement for where the series would go next. It's strange to think that the idea of spoiler culture really wasn't a thing, so my friends and I would try to devour any information we could get for the arcs that hadn't been dubbed into English yet. What would you do with all of that time where you're stuck with re-runs? Find Dragon Ball Z fan sites, of course, read about the Androids, Cell, and Buu sagas and have your mind blown. Plus, you could also find some strange fan-subbed images of Goku cursing up a storm and totally believe that's what the dialogue actually was. I can vividly remember reading up about The Great Saiyaman before it aired in America and rushing to school the next day to tell my cousin about it. Knowing about these new levels of Super Saiyan didn't diminish their magnitude when the series finally got to them. In contrast, when Dragon Ball finally aired in America, seeing Goku change into a Great Ape didn't feel as impressive. On the other hand, you could come up with your own original Dragon Ball characters to placate the downtime. There's certainly something nostalgic about this time period where I wanted to know everything I could about new Super Saiyan levels, new characters, new stories, and anything new that pertained to Dragon Ball Z.

    I can't exactly remember if I saw it when it premiered or caught a reairing of the episode later on. Regardless, the episode really felt like a turning point for the series when watching this moment for the first time. Sure, Super Saiyans were hinted at, but this was still a huge deal to witness. When I reflect back on Dragon Ball Z, this is easily on the shortlist of top/best moments from the entire series and something I will always want to go back and watch. Back then, home video releases were inconsistent and then you'd have to wait an additional couple of months to see them on TV. It was excruciating. But despite that, this moment is probably the catalyst for me wanting to just find out everything about the series as soon as possible, rather than wait another six months for the next set of episodes to come out. If I somehow could travel back to when I first watched this episode, I'm sure 9- or 10-year-old-me is just sitting there in awe with what transpired and mentally saying "holy crap" a lot.

  What makes this moment so fondly remembered by fans and makes it such an iconic moment in anime? One easy answer is that big transformation sequences are, to put it plainly, really cool. It’s one of the reasons why the magical girl genre has thrived for nearly 60 years. It’s also an extension of the power fantasy where you want to believe you have something that’s untapped and hidden within you that can help you out of bad situations.

  The Saiyan's distinct look also stands out from anything else that was happening in Dragon Ball Z as super spikey blonde hair and blue-green eyes makes more of an immediate impact. You might think that was a choice to make these characters truly look different, but in reality, Akira Toriyama just wanted to cut back on coloring Goku's hair black in the manga, so he decided on something that could be represented in an uncolored way. And even though Toriyama would also try to quantify Saiyan power levels with S-Cells almost 21 years after the debut of Goku's transformation in the manga, the feeling and emotion behind turning Super Saiyan is still in the forefront of the cultural memory, as opposed to some other Sci-Fi series.

    There’s also a distinct shift in Goku's demeanor when he first transforms where he takes on an even more serious approach that borders on cockiness at times. Something that might not be as well remembered from this part of Dragon Ball Z is that Goku’s hubris nearly comes back to bite him after not being prepared for Frieza's full power. Goku had to learn quickly that having a higher level of power doesn’t always mean you can take it easy. Goku was serious in big time fights before in both Dragon Ball and Z, but here he was bringing a different level of intensity that fit more in line with an edgier culture that was beginning to take hold during that time. 

  As Goku’s rage begins to envelop him after the death of Krillin, lightning strikes and his power starts to terraform the ground around him. His hair stands up in a way it hasn’t before and begins to flash with a golden radiance. Soon afterward, his power skyrockets as he’s enveloped in a yellow light that transforms him into what many thought was just a legend, a Super Saiyan—a defining moment in anime that won’t soon be forgotten.

  What do you remember most about the first time you saw Goku become a Super Saiyan? Is it something that's stuck with you? Let us know down in the comments below, along with any other moments in anime you'd like to see featured!

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Jared Clemons is a writer and podcaster for Seasonal Anime Checkup where he can be found always wanting to talk about Love Live! Sunshine!! or whatever else he's into at the moment. He can be found on Twitter @ragbag.

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[richmegavideo]

The Grand Finale © N.W.A.

This post is the last one in the life of Poisonous Paragraphs, a blog that represents three years of continuous work. I had left my job in management & quit emceeing between October 2005 & Summer 2006 and I needed a new direction. I used to have no problem getting work in record stores or video stores but they'd been all but phased out by then & they no longer needed to hire knowledgeable staffs anymore due to new advances in technology.

I needed to get into Hip Hop journalism but I had spent the past 10 years working and I had no resume, writing credits or journalism degree so no one would dare hire me. I needed a plan. I ended up running a stickied thread on AllHipHop.com called "School Me On Some Hip Hop" and frequenting Hip Hop blogs but it wasn't until the AHH users began posting blogs by Tara Henley, Sickamore, Billy X. Sunday (who I didn't know was Dallas Penn @ the time) & Byron "Bol" Crawford. Needless to say, I soon became a frequent XXL blog commenter as Poisonous Dart.

Other XXL blog comment regulars of the same time include Meka Soul (Meka @ HipHopDX & 2DopeBoyz) and Khal (Khal @ Rock The Dub) so I was in some distinguished company back then. Most of my comments were venom directed towards Byron Crawford, though. I noticed that of the 100 hateful comments direct towards him he'd often respond to mine. That let me know that I was on to something.

Back in the summer of 2006, XXL blogger, mixtape DJ and Atlantic Records A & R Sickamore started these series of blogs called "80 Reasons You're Not An 80's Baby" . I thought that he had a point to some of the stuff he was saying though I didn't totally agree with his viewpoint.

Most older heads just got pissed off and blindly attacked him and the younger generation for not knowing their Hip Hop history and reveling in their ignorance of it. Every Hip Hop site with a message board seemed to have a flame war going on with older heads on one side and younger heads on the other (usually Dipset fans...why was I not surprised?).

Rather than take part in this "divide and conquer/Willie Lynch" mentality, I decided to stay out of it and try to bring the sides to a middle ground if I could by posting on AllHipHop.com with more regularity. I was already running a stickied thread called "School Me On Some Hip Hop" along with some other regular posters but I wasn't big on posting in "The Reason" because it was wild ass hell on that messageboard (those that used to frequent it before the new version went up can attest to that) and it was hard as hell to get a point across to readers as The Reason wasn't really used to reason, ironically enough.

After Sickamore fanned the flames with the second post of what was to be a four part series I could see that by reading the third part that he really ran out of stuff to write about and began using shortcuts. I knew that he probably didn't feel like doing a fourth part and that he would only do one at his own leisure because it seemed like his heart really wasn't in it. I figured that if I made my own version of his blog series, but for older heads it would help the situation out some. I had to go all out, though. I decided that I had to do "100 Ways To Know If You're A 70's Baby".

My first draft was about Coleco Vision and Atari 2600 and shit only a kid born in the 70's would be able to relate to. I realized pretty quick that my blog would actually help more if it could be relevant to a wider cross section of readers. After all, most heads that old weren't the ones actively frequenting Hip Hop messageboards anymore. I wrote another draft of my blog and began revising it all night until I got it where I wanted it to be.

I posted it up on my MySpace page first (the same place I posted all my early blogs that only about 20 people read) and then I posted it up in The Reason section on AllHipHop.com early in the afternoon. I was surprised to see that people were reading it like crazy. Eventually it got stickied and I began getting PM's and e-mails from all over the place. I thought that would be the end of it...not even close. That night, Sickamore posted up a new blog on XXLmag.com ...mine.

It turns out that he went on to AllHipHop.com that afternoon and read it himself and liked it so much he posted it where even more eyes could see it. Now the e-mails and PM's really started coming in like crazy. It got to the point where I even asked Odeiesel (of AllHipHop.com) for a bigger PM box. He responded by saying yes provided a post a regular blog each week on AllHipHop.com and posting it in The Reason. I said "Hell yeah".

That one blog ended up being posted all over the internet and MySpace. If I Googled it I'd find it all over the place. I was in shock that so many people read it and responded to it. It was then that I decided that as much as I posted on all of these messageboards all over the internet that I might as well write. It's pretty much what I had already been doing anyways if I really thought about it.

After four months of blogging every week on AllHipHop.com, I decided that on January 1st, 2007 I would start my own blog where I could write about whatever the hell I wanted at any time. Blogging was like playing Uno with two people to me...mad fun ("Skip you back to me, skip you back to me, reverse you back to me, reverse you back to me, Wild draw four and the color is green...Uno!" and the one card you have left is a green nine that looks like a six with the line underneath it).

I decided to call it Poisonous Paragraphs after the underlying name of my blog series on AllHipHop which was called "The State Of Hip Hop: Poisonous Paragraphs". I initially started that series to directly combat the ignorant shit posted on Bryon "Bol" Crawford's blog at XXL.mag, he had what I wanted...mad readers. I eventually realized that he's a grown ass man that has to answer for his own ways and actions and going at him was a waste of time when I should be focused on myself and my own writing (though, he still does piss me off with the ig'nant shit he posts from time to time).

To read any of my old ass blogs from the State Of Hip Hop series read 'em here (some have been posted here already). I'd like to thank my boy Rideout from Detroit who first encouraged me to blog by doing his MySpace blogs. I'd like to thank Odiesel and all the heads and moderators from AllHipHop.com for being first to acknowledge me and giving me a forum to address people.

I'd also like to thank all of my old BostonRap.com, RepDaBean.com. Okayplayer.com and Dissensus.com compatriots for trading information with me and putting me on to things I normally wouldn't be into. I'd like to thank all of the bloggers I met when I did those legendary threads on Okayplayer where I'd go around the internet finding links to out of print albums for understanding that I wasn't just jacking their links and not giving them credit..that's how I met a great deal of the bloggers I know now.

I'd also like to thank all of the regular readers of this blog for bearing with me even when I didn't know how to post links to albums until February 2007, post pictures on the blog until May 2007 and imbed YouTube videos until April 2007.

I wish knew when I first started to switch to Firefox from Safari when posting blogs from my Mac so I could use "Compose" and add functionality to Blogger. In September 2007, I went into Newbury Comics and saw the cover of a New Avengers comic book drawn by Lienil Francis Yu that gave me my now iconic avatar/logo.

In the past three years of blogging on Poisonous Paragraphs I've run though about 4 laptops, run afoul of a bunch of bloggers, writers, websites, film studios, television networks, celebrities (both local & international) and record companies. I've also learned how to be a better writer by regularly reading posts by the best bloggers, writers and journalists in the game. I don't understand why so many people use the word "blogger" as a blanket derogatory term.

The print media is dying so many of us bloggers that would be writing professionally for a publication or didn't attend journalism school will never get the chance to become "legitimate"writers. I don't give a fuck what company you draw a check from, you're either good or you're not. Period.

I'd like to thank all of my blogging brethren & sisteren for tolerating me posting up eleventy billion jpegs thereby freezing your Blackberries and writing all the goddamn time like a graphomaniac madman (anyone who follows me on Twitter can attest to that). I'd also like to thank you all for making me step my game up over these past 734 posts over 156 weeks and 1,096 days.

I'd like to thank the collapse of the print media for preventing me from ever getting a job doing this, eMusic for fronting on the dough once they realized I was going to bankrupt them and all the publications & sites I turned down because I refused to write some bullshit about some wack artists I didn't believe in.

In turn, I'd also like to thank all of the producers, emcees & artists that made material that inspired me to get up every day and write. I'd like to apologize for being a damn ninja to all the people in Boston's Hip Hop community since late 2005 as well. All my peoples that knew who I was and didn't say anything get all the props in the world. I'm ending this blog without compromising my integrity and keeping my reputation & principles intact which is more than I can say for some folks. You'll be seeing me soon. Believe it.

Steve "Dart" Adams Poisonous Paragraphs/Bloggerhouse poisonousparagraphs@gmail.com

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