#i do not blame john for completely losing it over bruce

[jasonsbruce]

original text post

[arcadiabaytornado]

Some Different Fandom Topics I Could Talk About Forever:

Life Is Strange

1: How Max wants to save Chloe over Arcadia Bay, and how the final choice isn't actually about what Max wants to do. It's about what she feels like she needs to do.

2: How Nathan was developing his own victim MO that was different from Jefferson's.

3: How the storm is coming in the alternative timeline, and how Rachel's parents look for her if she doesn't know Chloe.

4: How William's death is the first butterfly effect that really kicks off the plot of Life Is Strange, and how William's changed not just Chloe, but Max too.

5: How Rachel noticed Chloe before the events of Before The Storm, and how Chloe noticed Rachel.

The Walking Dead Game

1: How Sarah was both neurodivergent and a victim of her Father's overprotective nature, and how she could have had fantastic character growth if the writers weren't so weird about her character being "weak."

2: How David is not actually a (metaphorical) solider, he is a wanderer who can't find peace no matter where he goes.

3: How important it was to the narrative to have Clem lose her leg and have Louis/Violet lose their speech/sight. And how neat it is to see disabilities symbolized as a good thing that represents having a home and a good community.

4: How Lily was completely lost the second she killed Doug/Carly, and how that moment foraged who'd she become in Season 4.

5: How Jane and Kenny are both negative examples of how Clem could have ended up if her trauma consumed her. And how she almost turned into both of them in Season 3 when she lost AJ. (She had the rash explosive temper of Kenny, and the cold survivalist mindset of Jane.)

Telltale's Batman

1: How Bruce and Selina have a fundamental understanding of each other that they may never get with anyone else, yet that's exactly why their relationship never works out.

2: How John stains Bruce's shirt with blood when he hugs him the vigilante route, and how symbolic it is.

3: How John is turned into Joker by Batman in the vigilante route, and turned into Joker by Bruce in the villain route.

4: How if you tell John you weren't his friend then the tragedy of the game is that Bruce never cared, but if you tell John that you were his friend then the tragedy of the game is that Bruce did care.

5: How well Harley Quinn is written in the second game, and how much I loved this interpretation of her.

Arcane

1: How Vi chooses Caitlyn over Jinx at the tea party by trying not to make a choice, and how Jinx chooses Vi over Silco by actively shooting him. (The thing Vi refused to do to Caitlyn.)

2: How Jinx tied everyone down at the tea party so the literally couldn't leave her.

3: How Vi was going to turn herself over to enforcer's to protect her family, and how Vander changed the course of her character development by taking the blame instead.

4: How Silco likely wasn't trying to manipulate Jinx. The way he likely fully believed the things he was saying. The way he fucked Jinx up because, despite doing it unintentionally, he fed into all her worst thoughts about herself by projecting his trauma onto a child.

5: How the weapons each character fights with (Gauntlets for Vi, A hammer for Jayce, a gun for Caitlyn, guns and bombs for Jinx.) represents their personality.

BG3

1: How Astarion's disapproval for a lot of Tav's good actions comes from a place of "Well, a hero never helped me. Why do they get a knight in shining armor when I didn't?" Instead of a place of pure evil. (And how little your approval with him actually goes down when you do something good.)

2: How Lae'zel is actually incredibly kind and open-minded when you meet her, as she takes it on herself to get the party cleansed of the tadpoles even though normally the solution in Gith culture would be to "kill the istiks to stop them from becoming mind flayers."

3: How badly Wyll was robbed in terms of content and autonomy in his story.

4: How thematically fitting it is for a Tav to be a Seldarine Drow.

5: How much happier Shadowheart seems if you save her parents, even if it means her soul will be the victim of a tug of war between two God's in the afterlife.

Supernatural (Full disclosure, I've only watched to Season 7 Episode 10 so far.)

1: The way neither brother could have ever fully left the hunting life if the other one was in. They both had to be all the way out to have a chance of an "apple pie" life. (I'm a full believer that Stanford! Sam would have gotten drug back into the life eventually, even if John had never gone missing and fate hadn't intervened.)

2: How much wasted potential Bela and Agent Henriksen had.

3: How Sam was always going to forgive John, and Dean was always going to resent him. (Sam's heart is often torturously kind even when it bleeds him dry, and Dean always wanted to be so much more than the weapon John tried to forge.)

4: How Madison was the first love interest who truly had a chance of understanding Sam, and how Cas was the first love interest to fully understand Dean.

5: How Bobby didn't try to have Karen go with him to find the door to his worst memory, he had Rufus go with him instead.

[broz0neglitters]

I gotta escape the void.

-We all know Clay was the Fun boy for Brozone; John Dory would do anything to keep Clay being the fun boy most of the time, but Clay didn't like to be the fun boy. He wants to be taken seriously by John Dory, but it never comes true. John Dory puts so much pressure on him, which leads Clay to have anxiety, and sometimes he develops a panic attack because of the amount of pressure John Dory puts him through even when the band had broken up clay still have panic attacks from time to time-

Warning: Panic attacks/Anxiety mention

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

-Putt Putt Golf course-

As Clay just had a panic attack, Viva saw that she had calmed him down, sat him down, and patted his back. "Mr. Clay, you really scared me. Is something wrong? You can tell me we're friends." Viva said, comforting him

Clay looked at Viva. He was scared to tell Viva, but he let out a big sigh. "I was in a boy band in the day, and my older brother John Dory kept pressuring me to be the fun boy. I liked it at first, but then it stopped being fun. He would not take me seriously and didn't allow me to do serious stuff." Clay said. Just by him taking about again, just send Clay to have another one of his panic attacks as Viva calms him down slowly

Clay was grateful to have Viva. She helped him through his panic attacks, and he wished John Dory would understand. Even back in their band, days before their performance, Clay would start to break down into a panic attack; only floyd was the one who helped Clay calm down, but John Dory screamed at Clay for being nervous john dory wouldn't even let Baby branch be nervous let alone have a panic attack.

Clay finally calmed down as he looked at Viva, who looked worried for him. "I hate who I was before. I fear I won't live to see the day tomorrow." Clay said as Viva held his hands in comfort. "I understand," she said softly

Clay was glad he was no longer in a band with John Dory because Clay hated being the fun boy. All he just wants is to be taken seriously and read books. Still, John Dory throws all his books away and forces Clay to be the fun boy who gives him significant anxiety because he worries he isn't fun enough not for the fans but for John Dory all clay ever cares about is being the fun boy for his significant brother approval it matters to him the most. Still, his panic attacks started all because of his big brother...

-Backs in his boy bands days-

It was Branch's frist show, and all of them were nervous, but they weren't allowed to show it. John Dory would scold them if any of them were anxious, even Baby Branch, as Clay was shaking and felt lightheaded, floyd noticed it

"I gotta escape this Void. There is no other choice." Clay said to himself. Clay flopped to the floor in complete panic mode to calm himself down. Floyd rushed over with water. "It's okay, bro. Take it easy," floyd said softly, claiming his big brother down. Clay got back up again with floyd still comforting him as he drank some water.

"I'm Tryna turn off the voices, But the void ate me." Clay told floyd, "I understand John Dory always puts pressure on all of us, even Baby Branch is his first show. I wish John Dory was a bit more sensitive about our feelings." Floyd said

Clay's panic attack started to get worse as Clay was breathing heavily and his head was spinning he was losing balance as floyd held both of his hands.

"Look at the mess I've done; there is nowhere to run." Clay said, "You didn't do anything wrong, Clay. Trust me, let's just go out there and have fun, deep breath in and out. Trust me, if anything happens, we'll all blame John Dory." floyd said

After the concert ended severely, the perfect family harmony failed. Clay still felt terrible that he wasn't pulling his weight. John Dory was mostly blaming Clay and Bruce for their mistake; the three brothers were fighting, which made Branch upset. As Clay and Bruce walked out together, it felt like Clay's body had died, and now he could leave the whole Fun Boy clay behind and become Serious Boy Clay...

-Back in the Present day-

Clay was still managing his panic attacks. Viva always knew when Clay would break down in his panic attacks, but it was usually when he mentioned his brother John Dory. Still, Viva always kept an eye out for signs of potential panic attacks

Clay felt like a priest behind confession walls, constantly judging himself. It was like a body that had died, and it was Fun Boy Clay, who had died ever since the band broke up

Clay still feels like he is Tangled up in his own intestines even if brozone had broken up cause Clay gotta escape the void. There's no other choice for him...

---------------- I'm sorry if the story didn't come out well; I tried my best. I know I was rushing because I had stuff to do, but I hope you liked it anyway. I won't be opening requests due to time conflicts with my real life. I also have to tackle two jobs, and they do take time to write, but if you want to ask me any questions, feel free to private message me. I will respond to them :).

Like + Follow are very much appreciated!

[hintofelation99]

Justice League Hangs out with Steph

Superman: Hi Stephanie, it's wonderful to finally meet you.

Steph: Yes, wonderful... so like, technically you're babysitting me right?

Aquaman: Uh, not really? We're just checking in on you while Batman is off planet. Think of this as... friends hanging out.

Steph: Yeah, sure, so babysitting?

Flash: I mean, if we're being real you're not wrong. You know Bats, he's like ultra paranoid.

Wonder Woman, elbows Flash: That being said, we still wish for you to think of us as equals.

Steph, with an evil grin: Hold up, does this mean I've officially entered the "Robins trying to break the Justice League" competition?

Green Lantern: The what now?

Steph, pulls out a box of matches: Oh, nothing.

Martian Manhunter, looks around nervously: I- I must help M'gann with homework.

Martian Manhunter leaves.

Black Canary: That goddamn coward.

------

Steph: So, Supes, Supey, SM, the great Man of Super, the true blue flyin dude, bo-

Superman: How can I help you Stephanie.

Steph: You're like, a writer and shit right?

Superman: ...Yes Stephanie, I am a journalist.

Steph: Great! Could you edit enemies to lovers Superman/Lex Luthor/Batman/Hal fic? I will warn you, there is a lot of smut. Like a lot.

Superman: ...

Steph: Let's just say Krytonite and peanut butter should not be used that way.

------

Steph: Hey Flasharoni and cheese?

Flash: No Steph I am not editing your fanfic.

Steph: Nah, don't worry about that. I emailed it to Clark after he left, I figured he'd want to review my masterpiece from the comfort of home.

Flash: ...

Steph, smiles evilly: So, Speedy, Speedster, Flashy McFlasherton, the Flasher!

Flash: Stop, just tell me what you want.

Steph: Don't be so tense Flashmister! You and Timbo are close, and I'm Timmy's ex. We're practically family.

Flash: That- that really is not how that works. Like at all.

Steph: Just go with it Flashy. Any who! Just wanted to let you know that I signed you and Bruce up for couples pole dancing. And don't worry! The reservations are under your name and on your credit card so Bats knows this is a gift from you to him.

Flash's phone rings

Steph: Oh that must be him now, have fun!

------

Wonder Woman: Stephanie Brown, you are a formidable enemy but I do not wish to fight you.

Steph, laying upside down on the couch eating peanut butter straight from the jar: Oh, yeah no same.

Wonder Woman, narrows her eyes: Really?

Steph: Really really, I'm not taking down the Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman: Oh? So what do you have planned for me instead?

Steph: Well. The way I see it I need to piss of another league member in your place, so... here's a video of Bruce, full cowl, singing "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" in the batmobile. Use it wisely.

------

Steph: So did you know this one?

Aquaman: No.

Steph: What about this one?

Aquaman: No.

Steph: This one?

Aquaman: No Stephanie!

Steph: How about- oh shit, I'm out of sushi. Have any friends who'd be, uh, willing to help a girl out?

------

Steph: Hey Green Flashlight.

Green Lantern: Stephanie.

Steph: ...

Green Lantern: Whatever you're planning just get it over with!

Steph: Uh, what?

Green Lantern: I know that you're trying to take each Leaguer down. I've seen the damage, you've done.

Steph: ME?! Damage?!

Green Lantern: Yeah, you! Clark is scarred for life, Barry has barricaded himself in his room, Arthur won't stop ranting about sushi and the logistics of fish networking, and Diana is in complete hysterics! I know that you have something planned for me and I'm done waiting. Just get it over with.

Steph: GL?! My sweet sweet child. My lean green ring machine. Hal, or is it John? Guy? Kyle?

Green Lantern: You don't even know my name?!

Steph: I mean it's one alias for a lot of dudes, can't blame me for losing track. But seriously bud, I would never hurt you. You're my favorite league member.

Green Lantern narrows his eyes.

Steph: No, no! I'm serious, you're my favorite. I mean you're green and you're... just so cool.

Green Lantern: You're serious?

Steph: Yes, completely! Look every robin has their favorite Leaguer and it just so happens that you're my favorite!

Green Lantern: Oh, well, uh, cool. I guess that works.

Steph, pats him on the back and leaves.

------

Black Canary: Hey Steph, I heard that you found your favorite league member.

Steph, laying over the back of a chair eating Nutella from the jar: What?

Black Canary: Green Lantern? I heard he's your favorite.

Steph, smiles: Oh that! Haha, no, I just told him that to annoy Bruce. But don't worry! I put itching powder in his clothes and sheets, so he's also getting some patent pending Robin Revenge.

Black Canary, laughs: But won't that interfere with Batman thinking he's your favorite?

Steph: Nah, I'm framing it on Jason.

Black Canary: So, then who's your favorite?

Steph: You, obviously.

Black Canary: Really?

Steph, sits up: Duh! You're a loud, blond, badass in fishnets! Dude you're my idol.

Black Canary: So, you like me because of my aesthetic?

Steph, shrugs: Hey, Every Robin has a weakness.

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

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[bubblyani]

Bail Out: 03

(Bruce Wayne x Reader)

A Bruce Wayne Multi-Chapter Series

Chapter 03: The Dark Knight

Summary: One fateful, drunken night gets you arrested for assault.  However, once you get bailed out by Billionaire Socialite Bruce Wayne,  surprising obstacles get in the way, forcing you to question all your  choices in life, career, and in love.

Word Count: 5000+

Rating: Mature

Author’s Note: The more I write and delve into this story, the more feels I am drowning in. Can you blame me? Anyways, Enjoy! And would love to hear from you guys.

Chapter 1 , Chapter 2

The buzz in the police station did not seem to influence Officer John Blake’s concerned expression, while he stood silently. With his hands on his hips, he stared at his neatly arranged desk, for he sensed an irregularity the moment his night shift commenced. 


“Did uh…” he began, "Did anyone see the-”

“Felton Center Robbery File? Here you go!” Officer Langdon replied, handing him a thick folder.

“Thanks…” Taking it from her hands, John nodded with a soft smile of acknowledgement while maintaining subtle, yet unbroken eye contact. Responding with her lips curved upwards, she passed by his desk. And suddenly, the chaos in John’s face was no more. He sat down, at peace to work once again.

Langdon’s eyes widened with relief as she caught the sight of her colleague Officer Ramirez, enter the station.

“Dave! Finally see him yet?” She inquired. Dave Ramirez, shook his head with a dejected sigh. “Nah! He…” he began, “…had left already when I got to the scene..” “Typical…” “But he did leave these three…” Dave added, pointing behind him, “…gift wrapped for us…”, he said, tempting most in the precinct to look. Three Officers brought in three men, wearing ragged, dull clothes and disgruntled expressions.

“The person who got attacked…she looked so familiar…” Dave muttered in mid thought, attempting to regain his memory with the snap of his fingers, “Ah! The Bruiser! That’s the one…” “The who?” John asked, with his eyebrows raised. Pointing at him, Dave continued: “You know…” he began, “….the woman you brought in two week ago…for punching that Henderson guy?” he said, “The one who recommended the coffee? Which was actually good?” He exaggerated, motioning towards the coffee Langdon poured from the coffee pot, “That chick was rig-”

“Wait!” John interrupted him, standing up, “So you’re telling me she was attacked…tonight?” “Almost attacked…” Dave corrected him, leaning against his own desk, “…but Batman showed up right on time…” he said with admiration quite similar to a fanatic, “And I missed it…like an ass!” He said sadly. Sighing, he looked up dramatically, “Guess The Bruiser must be quite popular now…”

Shaking her head slowly, Langdon proceeded to drink her coffee, amused by the whole situation. However, John was far from amused. Suddenly trapped in ponder, John sank back to his seat.

“Guess so…” He muttered to himself. A question mark will definitely will remain in his mind over the woman known as “The Bruiser”, and the trouble that had seemed to follow her.

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Bold of Lillian Foster to arrive into work the next morning, right after the Annual Charity Dinner the night before, no less. But fortunately for the good health of her and her unborn child, she worked with much enthusiasm. Any Head would. If it was the last day before their maternity leave. While she thrived on energy, you were certainly hung on the low end of it.

Close colleagues paid kind visits to her office, offering her last minute baby gifts, and well wishes in the form of cards and verbal statements. All the while you stood beside Lillian’s desk, with your arms folded. And you obliged to do so, to her special request. Ever since her pregnancy, you involuntarily had been nothing but accommodating to your mentor. If it were any other day, the sight of Baby Gifts and cards would send you to the edge of over excitement, clapping hard and jumping up and down, filling the room with coos and aww’s. But this morning, you showed much contrast with an unusually quiet self. For only you knew of the more pressing matters that were at hand. Namely, dealing with a terrible hangover, losing your wallet, and almost getting killed by complete strangers.

“So…What did the hotel say about your wallet?” Lillian’s question made you turn to her. Hiding in your own thoughts for so long, little did you realize it was finally just the two of you at her office now. Unwilling to make her worry, you only mentioned about the lost wallet to your boss, and nothing more.

“They are still looking for it…” You answered, moving over to sit on a chair,  “Clearly they don’t seem to be a ‘fan' of me ever since the Henderson incident.” You said, using air quotes. Sighing, you continued “…wonder if they’re just being difficult…”


“I can call again for you, if it makes you feel better…”


“You’re really sweet, but it’s okay…” you said, sad eyes overpowering your smile, “I already froze my credit cards, just in case…” you assured, looking back to find Paula entering the room, “They said they will call me back once they find it” you whispered, looking back at your mentor. Paula Yang handed over a file to Lillian with a sincere expression of sadness.

“Lillian, we’re really gonna miss you…” She mumbled, possibly for the third time that day. And just like you, Lillian admired her sincerity. “Thank you Paula…” she replied, keeping her elbows on the table, “But she’s gonna be here…” she pointed at you, “….and it will be like I never took maternity off-You’re alright?” Lillian’s inquiry made you flinch. Blinking hard, you realized to have dozed off for a few seconds with your own elbow on the table. With your boss and Paula staring at you with concern, you sat up straight. “Yeah I just…” you paused, stifling a yawn, “ I need some coffee…” you said, silently receiving Lillian’s approval as you slowly got up to leave.

The smell of coffee seemed to hold your brain and consciousness in place as you took in a sip. The massive hangover certainly did some damage to your system that morning. With an empty stomach, it seemed quite obvious. After a large sip, you stretched your back, trying to relax. Safely hidden in the confines on your own office, you slowly took off your heels. Finally liberated from the tight shoes, your toes managed to move about and breath in fresh air under the table. Heels were never an issue for you, especially being a member of the corporate world for a decade, yet taking them off, there always had been something pleasurable about that.

A knock on the closed door made you jerk. When it slowly opened, you sighed heavily. “Paula…” you began “…not now-” “Am I interrupting?”

Except it was not Paula, but Bruce Wayne instead.

You stood up in lightning speed, to see him standing by the door with a smile on his face. A bright reciprocation smile appeared on your own, for you felt nothing but a thousand sunflowers bloom inside you at once. “Mr. Wayne!” You blurted,  “What-” you paused, “Are you-? Can I-?” “Did you by chance lose…this?” Bruce inquired, putting you out of your misery as he drew out an object from the inside of his jacket. Your eyes widened. “Oh my god!” You clutched your chest, For it was indeed your wallet. “Yes I did! Thank you…” you piped, quickly leaving your desk when he walked towards you, “Wait!” You paused, “When did you find it? And Where?” “Late last night…at the Hotel” he stated, extending it to you,”… but you weren’t there…”

“Late last night…” you repeated, suddenly silent. Silence was essential for you just recalled everything, “…right…” you murmured flatly. The moment you took your wallet, you caught Bruce looking down, giving you a playful smile. Looking down yourself, you gasped. As your exhaustion had forced you to walk over to him barefooted.

“Oh! I’m so sorry…” you cried out in a hushed tone, quickly turning as you rushed to your desk in your tipped toes.

“No… it’s alright” Bruce chuckled, to which you shook your head frantically. “No!” You exaggerated, “…it’s not right”

Putting your wallet right next to your handbag that was on the table, you proceeded to put your shoes on. You were embarrassed to the riches. And you were also suddenly very stressed. How could a task as simple as putting one’s shoes on take such time? You did not dare look at him during, for you knew you would blush.

Finally, with your feet secured by the shoes, you stood straight once again. Looking at him you realized how he had been staring at your bag for quite a while.

“Thank you for coming all this way…” you began, “… for this…” pointing at your wallet, you added sincerely with a smile. Funny how he managed to save you in some way or another. Bruce shook his head.

“I was just in the neighborhood” He replied, standing in front of your desk, “…couldn’t help but be a good Samaritan…” he smirked.

You could not help smiling. Yet at the same time, a strong urge grew inside of you. An urge you had to act upon. Or else you would regret it forever. Especially when Bruce Wayne was standing there right before you.

“Mr.Wayne…” you began shyly, causing his smirk to disappear. Taking a deep breath, you felt your fists clench, “Do you have a minute…to talk?”

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Thanks to your heels, your hips involuntarily swayed while you walked towards the office door. Opening it wide, you were greeted with the sight of many of your junior female staff straightening themselves up before you, from what possibly could be an eavesdropping position.

“Can I help all of you?” You inquired with authority, and a raised eyebrow. They all shook their heads frantically, walking back to their booths with giggles and whispers.

“Did you see him?” “He’s just as gorgeous as I imagined…” “What’s he doing here?” “Are they friends now?”

Watching them, you suppressed a smile. Having the great Bruce Wayne in the HR floor, was a surprise in itself. Truthfully, it was an honor for the Department. Never did you care to witness the sight of him on your floor ever since he returned to Gotham City. Shaking your head slowly, you left the door open wide before returned to your seat. However, Bruce Wayne seemed quite confused as he remained seated across you.

“Shouldn’t it be the other way around?” He asked, pointing at the open door. You smiled.

“I understand your confusion…” You empathized, getting your hands together in a professional manner, “But uh…you see…” you pressed your lips together, “Ever since the ‘Bruiser’ incident…” you used air quotes before continuing, “…the staff is being told to be careful about me…” you added with a sarcastic smile.

It seemed that the Billionaire Socialite could not help but chuckle at that. But that meant more embarrassment for you.

“It’s not funny at all, Mr. Wayne...” You said, with an unexpected playfulness springing out , to your dismay, “I’ve never been the type to do any of that…so… it really hurts when everyone assumes that I am…” you bleated. The more amused he appeared to look, you weaker your defenses became, forcing you to chuckle back in return.

“Ahem!..” Clearing your throat, you stopped the chuckle, “Anyways…” you took a deep breath, “I just wanted to apologize for my behavior last night…” your words echoed well through the somber expression on your face, “It was…very insensitive..and highly inappropriate” It was true. You admitted it. Recalling the entire scenario, you were cringing to the core. That drunken attitude, leading to the dance of liberation, thus followed by your sassy one-sided banter that hinted insults. You were an absolute disappointment. Oddly enough, you could not help but avert your eyes and chuckle. “What?” Bruce asked, crossing his legs while he sat. “Come to think of it” chuckles continued as you looked up, “I’ve always been nothing but unprofessional in front of you”. You shook your head at your own shame, “So I guess this is me…” you said, sitting back on your chair, “…redeeming myself” you added, shrugging your shoulders,  “…and me realizing that whiskey is not the drink for me…” Bruce smiled.

“I can agree on that” he confirmed, making your eyes widen. “Oh no! Was it that noticeable?” “Well, did you punch Henderson after some Whiskey?” “….yes?….”

Bursts of laughter erupted as intense as a volcano out of both of you. And it was certainly unexpected manner. But in all honesty, was it really unexpected? It was so difficult for you to fathom how comfortable you seemed to be with him. Perhaps it was the aura he presented to you. No wonder you fancied him.

“Please…” Bruce said, his laughter dying down, “…there’s nothing for you to apologize…”.

“No! you don’t understand” you objected, “Last night…it made me reflect on a lot of things. It gave me clarity…and I know…I don’t want you to have a bad impression of me…not anymore…not ever…”

You were surprised by your bravery to express yourself this deeply in front of him. Bruce nodded, warmth soaking his eyes. “I understand…”

He said. Pausing his nod, his eyebrows were raised, “I’m guessing you’re not finished talking…” he observed. Your jaw dropped with shock. As if he just read your mind. Or perhaps he was observant enough to notice your tensed jaw and your tightened temples. Relaxing them, you exhaled deeply. 

“I’m sorry to even ask but…” you paused, looking around before lowering your voice, “…was everything okay with all of you last night?”

“Yes we were…” Bruce nodded providing a nonchalant answer, “….why?”

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For some reason, You had remained tight lipped about the entire incident. Though many would jump at the chance of sharing the story of how they were almost mugged, and close to being killed, you had decided to pretend like nothing of the sort had happened. Until Bruce Wayne was in your sights once again.

With the enthusiasm of an excited child, you found yourself babbling on about the thrilling events of the night before, which ended with the unexpected visit from a crime-fighting vigilante.

“…And he so close to stabbing me. But suddenly…baam!” You cried out, with your hands extending wide, “There was batman, just… showing out of nowhere…”. Though Bruce stared at you with furrowed brows, you chose to continue, “…and just…kicks ass like no ones busines-”

“Why-Why are you talking so quietly ?”

Bruce interjected, seemingly unable to accept this confusion any longer. The moment you sensed how he had sat on the edge of his seat just to listen to you, the realization dawned on you.The volume of your voice had dove down to incredibly soft, you were almost whispering, even in the comfort of your own office. Chuckling shyly, you leaned forward:

“I suppose with the door open, I figured everyone was gonna wanna eavesdrop on what I’m telling you right now…” you explained, “I’m sorry to be the one to tell you Mr. Wayne but, your employees are…” pausing,  you looked around once again, “…gossip mongers” you whispered, sending him to a streak of chuckles.

His laughter was soft yet distinctively sharp, and his smile was a sight to indulge. You could identify every line on his face, all contributing to that smile. There you both were, leaning forward from both chairs, with just a table in between. Even so, the proximity seemed dangerously close, for a corporate meeting. Not professional in the least. With your face heating up, you moved back to your chair, clearing your throat. Bruce managed to do the same, except in the most subtle manner.

“Anyways…” you began, “…then they start firing shots and he just avoids them so effortlessly… breaking their defenses and ties them up faster than I could wrap a present…and just disappears…” you added, leaning back on your chair with a deep exhale, “I never thought I’d see him in person… and there he was…swift and incredible, so brave”

Staring at the man before you, you realized how long you’ve been keeping the owner of Wayne Enterprises in your office for so long. Was this a form of punishment for him? You could never know, for he never showed. He may be the man deemed most powerful in your company, yet he acted far from such in your presence. It was proved, it was confirmed by the level of relaxation he had indirectly offered to you. Beaming, you clasped your hands together. 

“This was the first time I had told someone about this in such detail…I hope you understand” you said, embarrassingly. Bruce however, responded with a mischievous smile:

“Looks like someone’s got a crush”

“What?” You were stunned, “Who? About Batman? NO no no no…” Incessantly waving your hand, you refused, which amused Bruce even more.

“Honestly I have nothing but respect for the guy…” you added defensively, taking a huge sip of your coffee with evident nervousness, “and frankly I feel…I feel quite sorry for him.”

The amusing expression left Bruce’s face, replacing with an expression of curiosity. Though no words sprung out, you knew his eyes begged the question: Why?

“I mean…” you scoffed, extending your hand, “…putting his life out there like that, all for the sake of this city. And…possible having no one to be responsible for his life…” you sighed, “It just breaks my heart…” bowing your head down, you sensed sadness in your own tone, “…I sincerely  hope he’s okay, wherever he is… and his loved ones too, of course”

“So…” Bruce began, breaking your trail of profound pondering, “…you’re not in love with him?” He inquired with a smirk.

Nervous laughter was all that exited you. For you the truth was all you could disclose, just with a few details hidden.

“I’m not…” you said as soon as the laughter died down, “…Besides…” looking up, your eyes caught his, “… my heart’s dying to get in somewhere else..” You admitted, “….somewhere impossible, unfortunately…”

Amazing. This possibly could have been one of the bravest feats you ever performed. If only Bruce Wayne knew. If only he was aware of how much you had begun to care for him. But then again, if he knew, what would his reaction be? You felt your fists clench and loosen soon after, forcing him to look at your right hand. The mere sight of his eyes washing over the dried scabby lines of your scars embarrassed you.

“How did you even learn to throw a punch like that, anyways?” You heard him ask. Guffawing, you finally loosened up. And all the sudden, you were in good spirits once again. He was good at that. But before you could answer, a young man knocked on your door.

“Mr.Wayne…Mr.Fox is ready to see you now” He said, as you both looked over to him.

Nodding, You and Bruce slowly got up. Except the manner in which he stood up, it was evident he was waiting for your answer. Suppressing a grin, you folded your arms to look at him.

“Took boxing for a month…got busy so I stopped” You replied coolly,  “No big story there…”

Bruce smirked, birthing baby butterflies in your stomach. 

“Too bad…you should have continued…” he said, “That was a good punch”

Smiling eventually, you watched him walk away. You watched him in his swagger, making his way through the office, causing everyone’s heads to turn once more. Suffice to say, you were on his good side, apologies made and resolved. All seemed fine once again.

But that did not mean you were not disrupted by the irresistible feeling of warmth. The warmth that attempted to glaze your heart. Getting over him seemed to be difficult than expected. You sighed to yourself.

Why must he be so wonderful?

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

The Gotham skyline at night was simply a wide opened jewel box. Glancing upon it was simply a blessing to the eyes. And the blessed view was especially superb from the Wayne Tower. Admiring the view, you slung your handbag over your shoulder, making your way out of your office. No one worked on your floor at this late hour tonight, except one. Catching the lights of that one office, you could not help but smile, as well as feel a strain in your heart.

“Why are you still here?”

Lillian Foster inquired, when her senses caught your staring at her from the door. Leaning against it, you grinned widely.

“I was studying the stuff you handed over and time just…flew by…” you replied with honesty, “..What about you?” You folded your arms questioningly, “Shouldn’t you be taking leave by now? To have a baby? Isn’t your due date tomorrow?”

Chuckling maniacally with a comedic element, Lillian leaned back on her chair, “Not before I leave you more homework …”

“Yay for me!…” you chuckled nervously, compelled to sit down. With her eyes focused on you for a few seconds, Lillian’s expression turned soft and quite concerned.

“I need to tell you something…” she said. Her tone forced you to lean forward, “I found out that…” she paused, “…the management is gonna hire a consultant to oversee operations in HR…”

Your eyes widened. The body began to grow hot with panic. “Wait! They think I need babysitting?” You scoffed. When Lillian nodded in acknowledgment, you knew it was no joke. You shook your head, “Unbelievable…” you muttered, trapped in thought for a few seconds, “Do you think it’s cause of the fight?” You asked, looking at her.

“Honestly…”shrugging her shoulders, Lillian began desperately,“I don’t know…This never happens. But please ! This is not the time to make any drama. Just…” extending her hand, her fingers collectively imitated a water stream, “….go with the flow, okay?”

You nodded begrudgingly.

“I don’t want you to lose your job” she continued, “…especially because of this stupid assault case. You can be tough. But fists don’t exactly need to be in the picture, you know?”

By the sheer desperation and the conviction in her tone, it was quite evident how Lillian was fighting your battles for you even before leaving. As if she was trying to leave remnants of her courage with you to weather all the coming storms. Moved, you pressed your lips together.

“Okay…”

You agreed, not looking away, “Shit!” You chuckled, “…Now I’m finally getting nervous…” rubbing your hands together, those pressed lips formed a tight smile,  “I’m really gonna miss you…”

You would for certain. When opportunity arose for you to prove yourself and your experience to the Management, a sudden surveillance would be deciding the course of your career path at Wayne Enterprises. And that made your heart patter with fear.

But Lillian’s smile made that patter slow down.

“Only a few months…” she said, “…be strong”

You nodded. Cause that was all you could do. That was all you should do.

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

When a yellow taxi halted in front of Wayne Tower, it felt like salvation had finally arrived.  Similar to an angel in disguise.

“Go on! Take it!”

You cried out, looking at your boss. Reluctantly, Lillian got into the vehicle slowly  while you held the door for her. As you closed the car door, you caught her guilty eyes quiver.

“Are you sure?” She inquired.Looking around, she bit her lip, “It’s late…” she said, throwing hints of concern at you. Relieved you were to not tell her about your mugging incident. If not, she would have never left your side.

“It’s okay…just take it. I’ll get another one…I promise! ” you assured her, “Go home safe. uh! Sir? ” you addressed the driver, whilst tapping on the roof of the car, “Please be careful, okay? This woman might give birth any minute”

“HEY!” Amidst Lillian’s yelling, You giggled.


“You gotta use your pregnant perks, Boss!”  You said coolly, smiling with a wave as the taxi departed. The further the taxi was from you, the curious thought was planted in you. What if tonight’s the night? Hopefully she will not give birth in the car like you actually joked about. Your lips formed a silent prayer for her while you waited for another cab.

But the waiting did not work out that well tonight either. Not even after waiting for half and hour.

“You gotta be kidding me?” You muttered to yourself with disbelief, looking at both sides of the road. “Better take the subway before it’s too late, Ma’am” Bill the doorman suggested.

Sighing, you began to walk in the direction of the nearest subway station. Thanks to muscle memory, your feet guided you through a small alley road. There you were, walking down the streets of Gotham on a late night once again. With fair reasons, your mind could not help but wander over to the horrid memory one night before. Your heart could not help but increase its heartbeat with concern by the thought of it. Indeed, this was your paranoia taking over your conscious. Why must you be worried when you practically grew up in this city?

Lightning never strikes twice, doesn’t it?

Besides, you were far from alone tonight. With this being a usual shortcut to get to the subway station, a few people would always linger in this alley road, making their way home. You even walked watching an affectionate couple far ahead of you, holding hands and grabbing each other for a kiss every once in a while, and with another pair of footsteps following a few feet behind you.

The couple disappeared from your sight as they turned a corner, leaving you walking alone with the other stranger behind you. Gotham city folk were normally always in a rush,  shoving people past just to walk ahead would not be a surprise. Yet with all this space, the stranger kept walking behind you, even when your pace was relatively slow.

“Damnit!”

A greasy, burger wrapping paper got stuck under your shoe, forcing you to stop in your tracks. Whilst you were on a dire attempt to wipe it off, you realized the stranger did not pass you by, even if it was already one minute past. You looked behind you. There he was, a few feet away, also halted and looking at his phone. A surge of suspicion came over you. Were you being paranoid now?

Turning back, you resumed walking, only to realize his steps were loud once again. Pulse quickening, you prayed for safety. Only to be answered with a sudden ring of your phone. You looked at the screen anxiously. Your eyes widened:

Unknown Number

With your feet involuntarily planting you to the ground, you had no choice but to answer. “H-Hello?” You stuttered. “DUCK!” It was a voice, hoarse, yet familiar. “Wha?” Before you knew it, your body responded by lowering itself to the ground in a flash.Only to find Batman landing on to the ground in front of you, covering you like a shield as he threw a throwing star to the building in front. You gasped as the small object spun over to a sniper, who had positioned himself in one balcony. Electrocuted, the man let cries of pain, before losing consciousness within seconds. Batman turned to you swiftly:

“It’s you again!” He growled. His tone was in-distinctive, but you wished he was not angry with you.Getting up, you panted.

“I guess you remember from last time…” you breathed, “Wait! How did you get my-WATCH OUT!”

Your warnings were too late, as Batman fell on to the ground by a sheer force. It was indeed the stranger that had followed you. Paranoia had truly made sense. Pushing the man away with strength, Batman got up. And so did the man.

Dressed in a trench coat and a fedora, his features were hard to identify amidst the shadows. You lost all form of breath when you saw him draw out an exotic shaped sword from his jacket. And like the man from the night before, he did not waste time with the use of words. Backing against the brick wall, you clutched your chest when he jumped at Batman.

Blocking the sword with his hands, Batman kicked him in the stomach, sending the slender man flying back.

“What the hell is going on?” You cried out, almost on the verge of a nervous breakdown, “First last night…now this! Why?”

“Better figure this out another time” Batman grunted, motioning towards the man.

The caped crusader made perfect sense. For it seemed that Mr.Slender, as you called him in your head, seemed to was adept in martial arts. Jumping back up in an instant, his expression remained unchanged, proceeding to pick up his sword once again.

“Just go!”

You heard Batman yell. You looked at him with alarm. “But…But-” “GO!!!!!”

His roars were the last straw, urging your feet to drag you out of there as fast as possible. He was right. It made sense. Just when he was trying his hardest to save your life, it would be selfish to risk everything and waste the efforts taken. You ran fast, yet simultaneously you did not want to be the mere damsel in distress.

Taking the phone out, your fingers shook as you dialed for emergency services.

“911…what’s your Emergency?”

“Hello! Yes I’m calling to report an attack…” you spoke breathlessly, “uh….about half a mile away from the Gotham East Subway Station I think…” you continued, looking at the two figures who fought from afar. Given the intensity of the attack, you felt your legs turn wobbly, “Who? Well there’s me and-oh my god!”

You exclaimed, the moment Mr.Slender managed to attack Batman with a mini smoke bomb, bringing his defenses down, kicking him hard in the face. Your heart clenched, dropping your phone in response when you saw Batman crouch down in pain.

However, to Mr.Slender’s dismay, Batman took the advantage, kicking him in the knees while he crouched, bringing the man to the ground, finally punching him unconscious.

It was over, finally.

Relief washed over you. With your breathing slowing down, you wanted to run over to Batman. You wanted to show your concern. More importantly, you wanted to thank you with all your heart.

Except you could not. Especially when you froze.

Especially when you stood from afar, hidden from sight, only to witness his cowl shatter into several pieces. Only to reveal a face underneath, a face you never expected to see.

Bruce Wayne’s.

——————————————————

Chapter 4 HERE

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[olicitybishop-clairmont]

BATWOMAN 1x05

Aw man! No Vesper radio voice over this time.

This episode in a word? CREEPY.

Really enjoyed the quick comic callback with the white mask lenses!

So. Alice’s backstory. I don’t know why I thought it would have been even creepier than it was, because it was plenty creepy enough with the eventual Stockholm Syndrome. I guess there were just too many unanswered questions. When did she really get out of that house? What happened to the father? How did she learn to throw knives? Hmmm... Anyway...

So Johnny, or “Mouse” as he is known to become, apparently had facial scarring and his creepy crazy cruel father was conducting experiments to see whether or not he could make his son look “normal”. Then he wouldn’t get picked on anymore. But in the process he finds Beth and kidnaps her to make her be Johnny’s friend? And of course he keeps her in the room with the gross face skin because why not? And then the father making his son take the blame for Beth’s phone call? That is so cold. Did they mention his name? I thought Luke had said something about a John Cartwright escaping from Arkham but I’m not sure if that was the father or if it was Mouse. The heart wrenching scene that did get to me was when Kate was on the other side of the door to the room that Beth was in and you could see Beth mouthing “Please, please please. I love you.” She was begging her sister to feel that she was in there. That hurt.

Mary. Sweet cinnamon roll Mary Hamilton was dealt quite a few blows this episode, wasn’t she? What part of SHE MUST BE PROTECTED AT ALL COSTS was not getting across? First she finds out that her mom committed an absolute egregious act against her stepsister and stepdad, which completely breaks the trust there. Her mom was her idol. Then she shows up to Wayne Enterprises drunk and crying because she’s worried she’ll lose Kate as a sister and meets Luke, who is not very accommodating.

*Side note: I did enjoy the Luke and Mary scenes. They were funny and the two characters play off each other well. With that said, the two of them have a lot of potential to go many different ways. I don’t know which one I would like the most yet....

Then Mary finds out that in her time of turmoil, the one person she thought she could talk to has gone off and chosen to be with her psycho serial killer twin sister. And Mary thinks she needs to be the one apologizing for her mother?! NO! Everyone needs to be apologizing to you, Mary! You are the good sister! You haven’t killed or skinned anybody! I so hate how she keeps trying to see the best in the people closest to her and they keep letting her down.

Kate needs to say this to Mary again. And then give her a hug. And then share a pizza and watch reality tv with her for an evening. Or maybe get two pizzas because apparently Mary will take a whole one for herself like she did with Luke. But I don’t judge. I would do the same thing.

And now Jacob finally knows that Alice is Beth. And she stabbed him.

Sophie is still just not doing it for me. There was nothing really that she did in this episode that I disliked, but I just kept feeling like shrugging and saying, “what’s the point?” Every time she’s on the screen. I just don’t get her as a character right now. But come on, Kate. Pulling the exact same move with Sophie while you were Batwoman with the shushing thing on her lips? What other conclusion could she have come to? You wanted her to know, deep down.

I actually enjoyed the journal entry to Bruce this episode, mostly because they kept it until the end so I could focus a little more on what was actually happening.

I STILL do NOT believe that Catherine faked Beth’s death just so she could give Jacob and Beth closure. Something else is going on with her. I mean, she was responsible for the bridge bomb! Catherine did something bad and Alice must know about it, because there’s no point in trying to blow someone up for just that little bit of information, and then go and tell everyone the very same piece of information.

Also, I found it funny that as a captive Alice got to keep her sunglasses.

[douxreviews]

Gotham - ‘They Did What?’ Review

Gordon: "For Gotham!"

When FOX kicks the support beams out from under you and says that the narrative you had planned to normally span across a twenty-two episode season now has to be condensed down to ten episodes, I guess it makes sense that your last few episodes are going to feel more like a paint-by-numbers project as you struggle to quickly wrap up character arcs so that those characters in question can resemble their comic counterparts.

Any remaining characteristic that Gotham hasn't shown the genesis for is abruptly wrapped up here in 'They Did What?' - Oswald loses an eye and gets his monocle, Bruce summons a colony of bats, Gordon's daughter is named 'Barbara,' and Gordon gets his promotion to Commissioner. And there's really no weight behind any of these developments, they just sort of happen because... they need to happen. Last year, in Thomas Ijon Tichy's review of 'The Sinking Ship, The Grand Applause,' he mentioned how there wasn't much of a thread that connected the plot points or character moments of that episode, "Things Just Happen." And that's mostly how I feel about this sudden conclusion to 'They Did What?', things just happen and there's no rhythm or flow to a lot of them.

Nyssa abducts Barbara instead of just killing her like she said she was going to do, and wants to raise Barbara's child as her own. Barbara manages to stab her in the gut but she still walks it off. Nyssa locks Gordon and Barbara in a room so she can make her escape. Gordon is able to kick the door down anyway. Bane's invasion overpowers and takes over the GCPD but instead of killing Gordon and Bruce like he said he was going to do, he takes a detour just so he can ambush Bruce and Selina in an alleyway. Bruce saves Selina by summoning a colony of bats because of course he just happens to acquire at the last-minute sonar equipment. The terrified refugees of Gotham City attempting to flee underground return to the surface anyway so they can stare down Bane and a firing squad. Nyssa escapes in Oswald's submarine alone even though it was stated two people are needed to pilot that thing.

For once, I don't know if the cobbled-together writing here can be blamed solely on the showrunners though because simply we just don't know if their intended 'vision' for Season 5 was meant to last an entire year before FOX cut their air time down to size.

If there is a highlight though for this episode (and there are several, mind you), it begins with where we began this year. The sequence of Gordon, Bullock, Oswald and Nygma suiting up and taking the stand against Bane's army in a dire effort to protect the GCPD I confess had me energized and eyes glued to the screen, and even if it's incredibly jarring that for some reason this sequence occurs in daylight while the standoff shown in 'Year Zero' was happening at nightfall, it's an absolutely energizing scene. Never mind the fact that Bane's army, which supposedly outnumbered the GCPD six-hundred to thirty-one, has the firing accuracy of an Imperial Stormtrooper, this scene had wit, it had rapport, it even had a little bit of heart (turns out Oswald loses his eye while defending Nygma), and it's oddly enough a nice depiction too of an incredibly dysfunctional group willing to set aside past grudges to defend in any way they can the city that is a part of them, that has had a hand in each of their upbringings.

I was a little skeptical at first of why Oswald would be wiling to come back and put his life on the line for Gotham City after going through so much trouble to leave it behind and start life anew elsewhere. But of course, Robin Lord Taylor's performance in the office-sequence across from Gordon completely convinced me, and as much as I love his chemistry with Cory Michael Smith, Taylor and Ben McKenzie are also a phenomenal pair when they get scenes like this one. In many ways, their portrayals of Penguin and Gordon have shown they can at times be inverted versions of the same individual, and by now have established this nice ebb-and-flow of knowing when to work together, and when they can be at each other's throats.

It's unfortunate that so late in the game Gotham is somewhat hinting at a redemption arc for Barbara because she's so endearing and likable when she's anything but a psychotic mob boss. I liked her character just fine enough for the first half of Season 1, and even though as a character, she's been through the grinder time and time again, but Erin Richards, like Taylor and Smith, just has that charm to her that makes her enjoyable to watch when she's spirited and vibrant as opposed to being so full of anger, venom and angst.

Shippers of Oswald and Nygma will probably seethe at the resolution to their arc until they're blue in the face, but I personally enjoyed it nonetheless. At the end of it all, Nygma's decided that he felt nothing, no hint of triumph, joy or euphoria, even when Gotham City is rejoicing for their salvation. The very city he put his life on the line to defend. Because it sickens him just knowing he had to associate himself with the civilian population that he considers intellectually inferior to him. Nygma relapsing into his megalomaniac egotistical persona is such a 'Riddler' thing of him to do, and it inspires Oswald to agree with his notion that they shouldn't have to ever think about changing who they are to please everyone else - they're criminal masterminds and if that's what fate has planned for them, then so be it. And as amusing as an on-screen visual it was, I don't think Nygma and Oswald secretly pulling blades on each other with the intention of double-crossing the other adds anything to this ending, simply because the scene succeeds in getting across anyway the notion that they're brothers-in-arms, and will be for the time being - blades or no blades.

Something I've been dreading for a while has finally reared its ugly head in this episode, and because we now know the series finale is actually a time-jump, there's no room at all left for Gotham to resolve it: the very reason Batman even exists in the first place. In the five years we have journeyed with Bruce Wayne on his quest to rise one day as Gotham's caped crusader, Gotham has forgotten to address two core aspects to what makes Batman... well, Batman. And those are why does Bruce Wayne/Batman need to work outside the law and why is Bruce's motif bats?

Rather than deliver on the indication that Bruce was going to be infiltrating and dissolving gang factions throughout the city this year, Bruce instead spends much of this season assisting the GCPD, and by the end of this season, not only is Gordon's lineup of cops shown to be capable of holding off Bane's army of grunts, but it is a mob of ordinary civilians that is able to coerce Bane's army into standing down and turning on Bane himself. In the end, we can't help but wonder then 'why would this city even need a lawless vigilante?' What has shown Bruce that the municipal government of the city is incapable of enforcing proper law and order?

And then there's the bat motif. "But Aaron, Bruce had a vision of bats and Batman back in Season 4!" I understand that, but that isn't enough. That silhouette with the signature bat ears poking up in Bruce's vision still needs a point of origin. In response to that argument, Batman cannot create himself. Otherwise, what is stopping Bruce from fashioning his cowl and armor to resemble just about anything he wants? The design and appearance of Batman is tied in many renditions of the character to Bruce's fear of bats themselves. Several times in the past it has been hinted by David Mazouz among others that Bruce's fear of bats would be a plot point explored in this series, but ultimately, that never came to pass. Yes, Lucius gives Bruce some tech that utilizes sonar which just happens to have a side effect of attracting certain animals, but at this point in the series, when we're so close to the finish line, this feels more than anything else like an afterthought as opposed to a development that will leave an impact on Bruce and something he feels is necessary to incorporate into his campaign of vigilantism.

I almost feel like my energy could be best utilized in other departments then commenting on what a trainwreck Gotham's interpretation of Nyssa Al Ghul is. Almost. For goodness' sake, the series itself seems to even have no concept of this character's identity because literally any quote delivered by a character concerning Nyssa contains what we already know - that she wants Bruce and Barbara dead, and she wants to destroy Gotham. Over and over again, that's spoon-fed to the viewer, like they're fussy children and Gotham is the mother trying to get them to eat their peas. For all her bluster that she is an 'Al Ghul' and that stronger people than Gordon and Barbara have tried and failed to kill her, in the end, she scampers off with her tail between her legs (unknowingly dog-napping Edward the bulldog in the process. That absolutely hurt me.), marking her as the final of many quite forgettable antagonists Gotham has had to offer. Do I even need to comment on the low blow that is this character threatening a defenseless infant with a dagger?

So in the end, Gotham City earns its salvation, Gordon gets his promotion, and Bruce pulls the "Dear John" letter trope from Season 3's finale and uses it to tell Selina that he's leaving Gotham City for...reasons. The real kicker here was knowing though that Camren Bicondova has evidently been recast as an older Selina Kyle for Gotham's series finale, which genuinely saddens me now knowing that a scene containing her realizing Bruce has also essentially walked out on her life is the last moment we have with this actress.

Aaron Studer loves spending his time reading, writing and defending the existence of cryptids because they can’t do it themselves.

[ataaaaashi]

if you ever loved me (batjokes)

John/Bruce. Villain Route. AU where Bruce tells John he loves him.

Bruce finds John hunched over, his hands on his knees and wheezing with laughter. He doesn't like how strained and airy the giggles sound, nowhere near like the joyful cackles he was used to hearing. John lifts his head to level his gaze at him and the look in his eyes makes Bruce pause, despite how much he just wants to walk over and take John's hand and tell him that it'll be okay. He doesn't though because Bruce knows that's a lie, it'll probably never be okay, and John deserves better than any more lies. 

"You can't beat me, Bruce. You need me. I'm the villain of your dreams."

The grief Bruce feels hurts far more than any of his physical wounds. The man in front of him is so different from the happy and excitable John Doe. He wants to believe that underneath all that rage and hate, John is still there, John with his easy grin and his cheerful laughter that never failed to make Bruce laugh with him. 

"You broke my heart, John. I did need you. I cared about you. But you took what I gave you and twisted it into something ugly and wrong!"

John looks hurt for a split second before his face twists into an angry scowl.

"Ugly? Wrong? If you ever loved me, you'd see..."

I did love you, John. I still love you. Why can't you see that?

"What we have now, it's beautiful!"

John comes at him and Bruce wearily readies himself. He wishes that they didn't have to do this, wishes that they didn't have to fight. Bruce is tired of fighting with John. He cries out when the knife is buried in his arm, teeth sinking into his skin a second later, and holds John's head away as he tries to headbutt him.

"Why so shy, Brucie? Come on, pucker up!"

God, Bruce wishes he wouldn't say things that. It hurts so much. Bruce pushes him away and more punches are exchanged, John thrown across the floor, the knife from Bruce's arm buried in John's thigh. He manages to slam John to the ground and hauls himself on top of him, fist raised, but as Bruce stares down at him, he knows he can't do it, he doesn't want to hurt John anymore. John scowls up at him as he hesitates and scoffs.

"Mercy? What a joke."

As quickly as it left, the smile is back and he laughs at Bruce.

"You should see your face!"

John giggles then makes a sound like he's choking as his eyes suddenly roll back and he slumps back to the floor, completely motionless. Bruce stares, shocked, for a split second before leaning forward and gently shaking him.

"John?"

No answer. He shakes a bit more vigorously, nervousness quickly setting in.

"John!"

John lies there, still and silent, and Bruce feels that nervousness turn to pure panic as he leans down and presses his ear to John's chest, hearing an erratic, inconsistent beat in place of steady thumps. Bruce quickly digs into his pocket and finds the stunner, holding it against John's chest as he shocks him. 

"Come on."

He shocks him again. No, not now. Please, no.

"Come on!"

Another shock. Please, John, don’t do this!

"Please!"

There's no still response. No! No, no, no!

"No..."

Bruce feels his eyes sting with tears, his heart stuck in his throat. He can still save him, he’s sure of it. He won't lose John, he won't. John can't die like this, he can't die without knowing how much Bruce loves him. Maybe he just needs to up the voltage a little-

John gasps and coughs as he regains consciousness and Bruce almost passes out from the relief that washes through him. John gazes up at him with an incredulous yet slightly awed expression.

"You saved me?"

Bruce hates that he sounds so surprised. 

"Why? Y--You could've let me die...No one would've blamed you..."

Bruce tries to tell him why he couldn't do that, why he couldn't let John die but it's like the words are just stuck at the tip of his tongue and won't go any further. John takes his silence as an answer and grins nastily.

"Guess that would go against your code, huh?"

It's not just about the code. It's about you. It's always about you.

"And if you did that...maybe you'd finally give into the darkness we both know is there."

John laughs and stares up at Bruce, his smile turning wistful.

"Remember that night? Drinking frappes under the stars. You dishing out advice about the ladies. Me finding out you were the Bat. It was perfect!"

His laugh sounds sad this time. Bruce doesn't like it.

"You know, some part of me always knew. Someone like you? You'd never really be friends with someone like me. But I wanted to believe it so badly..."

John makes a noise that sounds like a sob caught in the back of throat and Bruce hates it so much. He hates that he's reduced John to this, hates that he's changed the man he knew and loved in such a way that he really believes that Bruce never saw him as anything but a tool to be used.

"We had some good times, didn't we, Bruce? It wasn't all bad?"

John looks so vulnerable in that moment, his eyes almost pleading, with his lips turned down into a sad little frown. Bruce's heart aches at that look.

"You made me so happy, John. Before I met you, I don't think I'd ever had as much fun in my life. I wish we could've stayed that way."

Bruce meets John's eyes and smiles sadly.

"I lo-"

He's cut off by the abrupt sharp agony of a knife being buried into his side. John has a cruel grin on his face and Bruce grunts as he digs the knife in a little deeper. His vision starts to waver and Bruce panics. He can't end it like this, he needs to tell John, he needs John to know how he feels.

Bruce covers John's hand with one of his own and touches his cheek with the other. The grin slips from John's face and confusion rises in its stead, uncertainty making his grip on the knife slack. Bruce leans down and presses their lips together in a bruising kiss, desperately moving his mouth against John's as pain lances up his side. John stills beneath him and Bruce starts to panic again, he should have known better, he's really messed it up now, and he's about to pull away when suddenly a hand twists through the strands of his hair and John is kissing him back.

It’s not exactly a nice kiss but Bruce wouldn't change it for the world. John’s pretty filthy and Bruce is certain he’s going to have bright red lipstick and a little blood smeared across his mouth but he doesn’t care. He makes a high-pitched keen in the back of throat and pushes himself closer to John, his hands moving up to slide into messy green hair. Bruce feels John’s fingers tugging at his hair, feels his teeth digging into his bottom lip, and he relishes it, craves the passion that John is giving him and taking from him in turn.

The kiss gets sloppier, wet noises escaping from both their mouths, tongues twisting and twining together, and Bruce gasps against John's lips when he feels a hand slide down his back and take an unrelenting hold on his ass. It's harsh and not at all what he expected from John but he makes an enthusiastic noise and arches his back to push his ass out into that tight grip. Which is a mistake because the second he does that, the knife in his side digs even deeper and Bruce sees white stars burst behind his eyelids as the pain returns twofold.

Bruce starts to feel himself slow, his responses growing sluggish, and he pulls back, touching John's cheek again, before letting himself slide off him to the side. He lies there, the knife still in his side, and breathes shallowly as he stares up at the stars. Bruce feels gloved fingers slip in between his own and he turns his head slightly to see John gazing up at the sky too. 

“I love you, John. I’ve always loved you. And that’ll never change.”

John doesn’t answer but Bruce feels his fingers tighten their hold on his hand and he sees John bite his lip, almost as if he was holding back a sob.

"Don't abandon me after this, Bruce. Please."

John's voice is soft and when he turns to look at Bruce, his eyes are watery. Bruce nods and squeezes John's hand.

"Never."

They both look back to the stars, hands clutching tight at one anothers, and Bruce lets his eyes slip shut. John's quiet giggle is the last thing he hears as he finally passes out.

Bruce wouldn't have it any other way.

[weecb1983]

Such a parcel of rogues in a nation…

Such a parcel of rogues in a nation…

 O would, or I had seen the day

That treason thus could sell us,

My auld gray head had lien in clay,

Wi' Bruce and loyal Wallace!

But pith and power, till my last hour,

I'll mak' this declaration;

We're bought and sold for English gold -

Such a parcel of rogues in a nation.

 Interpretation of poetry has never been my strong point, but I’d hazard a guess that The Bard was pretty pissed off when he wrote these words.  More than 200 years later, I have to wonder – are we still a “parcel of rogues in a nation”?

 I started off 2019 with two resolutions:

1.     Don’t worry about things until they happen

2.    Stop tweeting

 I lasted until the 2nd of January before I came across a tweet from the Scotsman…”End indyref2 talk in 2019, campaigners TELL @NicolaSturgeon” and felt compelled to retweet with a sarcastic comment and a bemused emoji. Fast forward a few hours and I’m awake at 3am, anxious about the state of the country and a Brexit that hasn’t happened yet.

Earlier in the year, to relieve my anxiety, the “other half” begrudgingly agreed to me stockpiling food.  So I set about compiling a “Brexit Cupboard” filled with pasta, rice and other staples from the continent such as olive oil and sundried tomatoes that may be hard to come by in the even a no-deal Brexit scenario.  I received a lot of stick for this from friends and family, who suggested that I was catastrophising and perhaps I had too much time on my hands, being on maternity leave at the time.  It was time I went back to work.

 Brexit cupboard ready to go, I still find myself awake at stupid o’clock in the morning, so in another attempt to get a decent night’s sleep I thought I’d try to take the thoughts that are troubling me and put them down on paper….

 Back in 2014 when Scotland voted No, I was heartbroken but I understood and accepted the result.  I don’t blame my friends and family who voted No (openly).  Initially, my gut reaction was No.  It was a risk, but I decided that since it was such a serious decision, I should partake in some research.  I had never been interested in politics before and, prior to 2013, wasn’t even registered to vote.  Coming from a predominantly socialist family, I was conscious that my vote should be an informed decision and not based on what those around me thought.  The more I read, the more convinced I was that Scotland should be independent, and the more incensed I became that we weren’t already.

 I joined Twitter, entered into discussion with “Unionists”, asking questions and looking for a reason as to why Scotland should remain as part of the UK. I am still looking.  For one single reason.  Instead I have received nothing but condescending replies, questioning my intelligence and level of education, or lack thereof.  One lovely chap asking, “not very bright are you?”. Regarding the ever divisive topic of Scottish Independence, polite discourse quickly descends into “sharing and pooling” and “fiscal transfer” and “go away, you don’t understand”.  I’ve tried with GERS.  I really have, and I don’t think it’s that GERS figures are beyond the comprehension of the average “cybernat”.  Just that they are far too dull to hold the attention of all but the most dogged “Britnat”, who would rather see Scotland burn to the ground than be independent (they might get their wish come April).  They wait eagerly for “GERS-figures day” every year and, like a dog with a bone, rip them to shreds and shout “See!  They are your own government’s figures and they show that Scotland is too wee, too poor!  Get back in your box”.  From what I can understand, these figures are based on Scotland being part of the so-called “United” Kingdom and can’t be used to predict what an independent Scotland would look like so I really don’t see what all the hoo-hah is about to be honest.

 Sometimes I think, in an alternative universe, where Scotland voted Yes four years ago, what would my unionist friends and family think if the country was in the state that it is now?  I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t be biting their tongue, going by the continuous loop of “SNP-bad” rhetoric that still prevails, despite none of this current shit-show being of their doing.

 Looking at the state of affairs, it is extremely disturbing to see what people will accept nowadays.  If you had told me four years ago that the UK would be stockpiling food and medicine, preparing the army for civil unrest and that Schrödinger’s drones would cause Gatwick airport to grind to a halt, I would have said, no one in their right mind would vote for that….but then again, they didn’t put that on the big red bus.

 Credit where it’s due to the Westminster establishment, they have been extremely clever in this respect.  Of course it would never have worked to put “Vote for martial law” on the bus!  Instead, over two years they have, little by little, gone from “£350 million for the NHS!” to “a no-deal scenario wouldn’t be the end of the world” with Westminster’s very own resident hobbit Michael Gove kindly suggesting that we allow people to scavenge on rubbish heaps.  Even better, it will give us a chance to go back to the good old days of the Blitz when everyone pulled together.  To anyone who says that, I say, get yourself down a trench during the Battle of the Somme in 1916.  I visited the WW1 battlefields in 2015 after 97 years of peace, and it was traumatising enough.

 To anyone who is (even now!) unsure about whether Brexit is all bad, I simply say, look at who supports it…for the love of God!  Imagine, stumbling across a party and looking around to see Boris Johnson, Hobbit Gove, Nigel Farage, Andrea Leadsom, Dominic Raab, Priti Patel, John Redwood, Vladimir Putin and last but by no means least, the smiling assassin, Jacob Rees-Mogg and his fellow Dickensian panto-villain Julia Hartley-Brewer (never trust anyone with a double-barrelled surname).  I would be turning on my heel and getting out of that place before they started burning £50 notes (or as it will be known post-brexit…$5,000,000).

 I happen to think Theresa May herself would also be at that party.  I am not for a minute buying that she was ever a Remainer.  I reckon her husband (senior executive at an investment fund that profits from tax-avoiding companies) would stand to lose a pretty penny from the EU’s Anti Tax Avoidance Directive which was presented on 28th January 2016 (!) and requires its member states to apply these measures as of 1st January 2019…3 months before the Brexit deadline.  Coincidence?  No deal has always been the end goal and who better to run down the clock than the cringe-worthy curtseying Theresa May who campaigned so emphatically for Remain? Theresa May, who is trying to broker a deal that is best for the WHOLE country and one that supports the democratic vote…the last democratic vote you’ll ever have, by the way.  Because now democracy means that when you voted once, based on an illegal campaign that no-one has been held accountable for, you are no longer entitled to change your mind because that is what democracy means now. Is Theresa May the Keyser Söze of Westminster?  Albeit her daft walk at the end is to the tune of Abba?  Is she that clever and forward-thinking to have orchestrated this whole clusterbourach?

 No, she is merely a puppet and her strings are being pulled by disaster capitalists who know exactly what they are doing.  They will have prepared for every eventuality.

 Panto villain Mogg has been popping his polite, well-spoken, over-privileged and under-achieving head up recently to air his views whenever he can on the main-stream media.  I noted that he voiced his support of the late Margaret Thatcher featuring on the new £50 note.  Margaret Thatcher, who was a known admirer of General Pinochet.

 This is a quote from Naomi Klein’s book, The Shock Doctrine:

 “The British prime minister was well acquainted with what she called “the remarkable success of the Chilean economy”, describing it as a “striking example of economic reform from which we can learn many lessons”.  Yet despite her admiration for Pinochet, when Hayek first suggested that she emulate his shock therapy policies, Thatcher was far from convinced.  In February 1982, the prime minister bluntly explained the problem in a private letter to her intellectual guru.  “I am sure you will agree that, in Britain with our democratic institutions and the need for a high degree of consent, some of the measures adopted in Chile are quite unacceptable.  Our reform must be in line with our traditions and our Constitution.  At times the process may seem painfully slow.”

 I wonder if 30 odd years is slow enough and I think by “quite unacceptable”, she means this…

 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/the-pinochet-affair-i-saw-them-herded-to-their-death-i-heard-the-gunfire-as-they-died-1179543.html

Make no mistake, this is a right-wing coup.  It’s just that it’s being carried out in an orderly fashion – the British way.

 No one wants to talk about Brexit anymore.  The majority of the people in my life are completely ignorant about the consequences of a no-deal scenario, blissfully so, and encourage me to join them. The apathy shown towards the biggest political disaster to happen to this country in living memory is beyond my comprehension.  So half the country is sleepwalking and half have just about reached Brexit saturation point and all the time we are being nudged, slowly towards the edge of the cliff. ….and when we’re pushed over the edge, there will be Sajid Javid waiting on an armed boat shouting “CRISIS! - NO MIGRANTS ALLOWED!”.  The neoliberals stand to make a tidy profit while the country is reeling from the chaos that would inevitably ensue from a No-deal. We can look forward to the swift privatisation of our Health Service, abolition of the welfare state, chlorinated chicken, etc.

 In 2014, Scottish independence was about hope and the ability to control our own affairs.  Now, it’s about the survival of our democracy.  If Scotland is not independent come March 29th 2019, I predict that, freed from the burden of EU laws, Westminster will adopt Henry VIII powers to abolish the devolved parliaments.  It has already shown what it is capable of, and its contempt of the Scottish parliament, by taking them to court over the Continuity Bill.  Scotland has barely been mentioned throughout the Brexit “negotiations” and has been disregarded and disrespected at every turn.  We are absolutely not, as was promised, “Better Together”. Independence is the only option now and I, for one, hope to begin 2020 as part of an independent Scotland with my human rights still intact.

 However, if anyone is reading this in a post-Brexit version of “The Handmaid’s Tale”….nothing to see here!  All left-wing views out the window.  God save the Queen.

[batfam-imagines]

Age Reversal AU

Prompt: For the age reversal one can you just do headcannnons for what it's like around the manor and on patrol?

Prompt: Can you write how everything would have turned out in an Age reversal AU?

I love these Age Reversal AU’s!!! They are awesome! I NEED some more people to request these!!

You and Damian arrive at the Manor when you’re 10 years old. Both of you are League of Assassin trained and fully expect your father to make you fight to the death to decide who will be his successor. Instead Bruce teaches the two of you that killing is wrong and offers you and your brother a chance to help him in his crusade.

You decide on the name Sparrow, and Damian chooses Robin. So, two birds and bat set out to protect Gotham. It’s good for a while.

Timothy Drake is an anomaly, not someone you ever expected to find out your secret identity. But one day when you’re sitting and drinking tea in a local coffee shop, a scrawny kid climbs into the seat opposite of you and starts showing you pictures. You decide right then and there that you will be keeping this child, so you bring him back to the Manor. Timothy tells you that his parents are gone most of the time and that he is usually left by himself. If Bruce doesn’t take him in, you’ll make him your own partner. No way in hell will you let this delicate baby bird fly alone anymore.

Damian is not happy when you bring the kid home. In fact, your brother refuses to speak to you for a week, and Bruce refuses to take part in his training. You see how much Batman’s rejection hurts your baby bird, so you take him under your wing. You help him design his own costume, and when Damian refuses to give up Robin, you decide that Tim’s name will be Red Robin. Eventually Bruce decides to take Timothy out on Patrol, mainly because the kid threatened to sneak out on his own if Bruce didn’t take Tim with him. Timothy even manages to wedge his way into Damian’s heart. So when his parents are killed while they are traveling, it’s only natural to adopt Tim officially. Unfortunately, your baby bird’s flight is cut short by a madman with a crowbar. When you try and go after the Joker both Damian and Bruce lock you in a cell in the Batcave and refuse to let you out until you’ve calmed down. You go and visit Timothy’s grave every day.

Jason is the complete opposite of Timothy. Jason is a little ball of rage, and he immediately takes to Damian. You fight against your father and brother when they want to bring Jason into the mission. You don’t want another one of your brothers to die for this. Unfortunately, you don’t really get a say in the matter when Jason steals the Red Robin suit in order to rescue you, Batman, and Robin. Jason doesn’t want to be Red Robin, though. He doesn’t want to parade around in a dead boys costume, and decides to make up his own persona. He becomes the Red Hood, and even though Bruce hates guns you manage to convince your father to let Jason use rubber bullets. Marksmanship had been Jason’s strong point, and you refused to lose another family member just because they aren’t using their strongest skillset.

Despite your best efforts Jason is almost killed. The Joker escapes Arkham again, but this time you and Damian are more wary. You two keep a closer eye on your youngest family member. Damian manages to save Jason, and you finally put an end to the Joker. Your father is angry at you, he strips you of your title as a vigilante, and bans you from the Justice League. So, you return home, to the League of Assassins, where you find your mother tending to a boy that looks much too familiar.

Timothy is alive, was brought back by the Lazarus Pit. No one knows how Talia found him, or how managed to come back from the dead after being buried for six months. But the only thing that matters is that he’s alive. He’s more volatile, angrier, he’s also grown, but he’s still your little brother, your baby bird. You travel around the world with him, going to the various Masters, helping Tim learn every skill they offer and improving your own along the way. Once you’ve learned all you can, you and Tim decide to go back to Gotham. Tim doesn’t blame Bruce for what happened, he understands why Bruce couldn’t kill the Joker, but that doesn’t make him any less angry at Bruce for bringing another kid in to join his crusade.

Tim moves back into the Manor, mainly to keep an eye on Jason and make sure that nothing happens to the kid. You also manage to help your little brother mend his relationship with Damian, help them finally accept each other as brothers. Tim starts calling Jason Little Wing, and the nickname sticks. Eventually Bruce lets you patrol as Sparrow again.

To celebrate yours and Tim’s return, Bruce decides to take everyone to the circus. Everything is going perfectly, you even meet the acrobats that will be performing later. You’re actually quite enjoying yourself, that is until Mary and John Grayson fall to their death, leaving their eight-year-old son standing over their crumbled and bloody bodies. It’s second nature to push your way through the crowd and scoop up the child. Richard Grayson clings to you, sobbing heavily into your collar. Of course, the police take the child at first, but it isn’t even a full day before you go with your father to bring him back to Wayne Manor.

Dick is a surprisingly smart kid. Tim offers to help Dick learn English, and help him get caught up with his education. Dick takes to learning quickly, he’s always eager for his lessons. Unfortunately, the kid’s a little too smart, he finds his way to the Batcave within the first week that he’s lived in the Manor. And of course, it’s Damian who gives up the secret. Somehow the broken little boy had managed to wriggle his way into your twin’s heart, and so Damian gives him whatever he wants.

When Damian takes over as Batman when Bruce goes missing, he makes Dick his Robin. The two work surprisingly well together, Robins new bright demeaner helping to curb the new Batman’s temper. Even when Bruce comes back Dick remains Robin and Damian becomes Nightwing.

Being the only girl in a Manor with your father, four brothers, and Alfred, is interesting. Your brothers all come to you to bitch about each other. And somehow, at least three times a week, all of your brothers end up climbing into your bed at night for a big cuddle-fest. They claim that it is easier to sleep in your large nest-like bed when they have other people around. You just shake your head and start leaving your door unlocked.

Patrol also changes with all of the new vigilantes. It starts to become a rare occurrence to patrol alone, at least one of your brothers will join you about halfway through the night. Jason is usually the one who finds you, or sometimes Damian if he’s feeling lonely. Tim typically patrols with Kon when he’s in Gotham, or with the Titans when he’s in San Francisco. Robin usually stays with Batman, or sometimes Nightwing when he and Batman get into an argument.

All in all, you love all of your brothers. You’d do anything for any one of your brothers, had killed for them before and would gladly do it again. No matter how stoic Damian was, how sarcastic Tim was, how angry Jason could be, or how grating Dicks optimism could be, you would always be there for them. You’d always be the glue that held this crazy ass family together.

[thedancingwalrus-blog]

I am attempting this meme thing. I hope I’ve got it right.

Rules are:

·         Post the rules

·         Answer the questions given to you by the tagger

·         Write 11 questions of your own

·         And tag 11 people

 1. if you were Not A Mammal, what (other) animal would you be?

Could I be the kea-bird? I very much like the kea bird. You see I have a lot of admiration for any animal that has figured out a way to snowboard, have snow ball fights and also kill things several dozen times its size so it can eat their kidneys. :)

New Zealand is insane and I love it.

2. what AU would you kill to see someone write about your OTP?

Hmmmmm well first I need to decide what my OTP is.

I write a lot of different ships. Like I checked my AO3 tags just now and the biggest number I have for one ship is 3 fics. The vast majority of those fics are AUs so there’s a certain amount that if I want a pairing and AU I write it myself because I don’t expect other people to be interested in what I am.

I’m honestly struggling to think of one pairing to put down let alone an AU for them.

I would be like Golem and want them ALL. MINE! MY PRECIOUS!

*ahem*

I love Lena Luthor/Supergirl to a ridiculous degree but don’t have any particular AU urges with them.

I think I’d really love to see an AU where Alex Danvers and M’gann Morzz were a couple, a long, emotionally intense slow burn, dealing with M’gann’s PTSD and Alex’s desire for a family and everything happening on Mars.

Having just watched the latest Star Wars and the Doctor Who Christmas Special I’d also really love to see the AU where the Doctor and Bill show up right at the end of The Last Jedi and Bill’s incredible whirlwind romance with Rose.  

3. do you like crossover fics/stories? (e.g., blending marvel and dc?) why or why not?

Considering how many of them I write I don’t actually read a lot of them.

I like writing them because doing them well requires that extra level of thought: how do the worlds overlap? How do the characters interact? Is there anything from either world that doesn’t fit and can it be reconciled?

As much as it’s slow going I’m loving writing the Batman/Iron man crossover with my partner. For me fiction should be talking about something, no matter how light the story and no matter whether it’s publishable or not. I really like the way we’ve used Bruce and Tony to talk about different approaches to social problems, a sort of ground-up personal approach versus a top-down at a remove approach. I don’t think we could have done so well outside of a crossover.

But that extra complexity is probably why I don’t read a lot of them. With my health problems over the past year-and-change I’ve found it difficult to dedicate time and focus to reading other people’s fiction. And given the choice between reading and writing I’ll always go for writing.

4. what’s the last piece of fiction you read that you would recommend?

Heh, yeah I’m not sure what the last book I finished and enjoyed was. My difficulty focusing over the year has meant a lot of books were started and put down again, no matter how good they were.

I also read a lot of non-fiction rather than fiction.

Generally though here are some I managed through mental health problems and probably give an idea of how eclectic my reading is-

The Lord Peter Wimsey Series by Dorothy L Sayers.

·         These were written in the 1920s and there are some issues with racist language as a result. But by Gods they’re brilliant. Startlingly original mysteries that don’t always turn out to be murders, excellent, varied female characters, a mentally ill protagonist, a wealth of disabled characters, memorable descriptions. They’re worth a read.

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

·         Best sci fi book I’ve read in a very very long time. Excellent plot. Wonderful lightness of touch when it comes to world building. And an intensely personal, emotional focus. It’s essentially the story of a loyal soldier plotting to kill the head of their nation, not out of any moral compulsion or difference of opinion but because she killed someone the soldier loved. Powerful stuff.

5. your thoughts about poetry? Do you write it?

Poetry is excellent but I never write it myself.

I find it’s a wonderful way to summarise intense emotion. I memorise a lot of it (for which we broadly blame Saudi) and quote it fairly often. My favourites are Sassoon, Sappho and Rumi. I dip into Byron occasionally and I have a compass engraved with The Road Less Travelled By.

I’m also a big fan of the Sagas but obviously they lose a lot of the meter in translation. I’m thinking of trying to learn Lokasenna in the original because I think it would be satisfying to growl at people. I’ve got a copy of Beowulf in Old English that I go back to every so often to look at the language. One day I shall have the courage to read it aloud as it was supposed to be.

6. what’s one period of history (from any place) you find interesting and want to either learn more about or teach others about?

I have to choose ONE?!

I mean it’s sort of obvious but also I think the only reason this is counted as ‘one’ thing by a lot of people is bloody Western bias not taking the entire African continent seriously.

West African pre-colonial history.

For godssakes if you’re making the slightest pretence at understanding the New World you should know the basics. It feeds into so much Caribbean, Brazilian and US history. It shaped wars in Brazil and Cuba and Haiti.

It's also a wonderful contrast to Western philosophical schools. There are completely different concepts about deities, kingship, gender and souls.

And honestly? I just think it's really interesting and really under appreciated. I really love learning more about it and I wish more people learnt about it.

 7. salty or sweet?

Sweet. No sweeter. Sweeter than that. Look just pass me the fucking sugar already I’ll handle this.

Wait- This is about food right? This isn’t that weird American thing of assigning flavours to emotions and behaviours?

Are you trying to confuse me so you can take the coffee? I see through your cunning ruse and the caffeine is mine. Yes.

8. feelings about gift-giving? Enjoy it? Find it burdensome? Think it’s too commercial? Ritualized? Etc?

Well…of course it’s ritualised but that doesn’t make it wrong. Rituals are a large part of what holds us together.

I like gift giving. It appeals to the old fashioned part of me and I think it’s a good way of reinforcing social ties and showing appreciate of others. Sure it can be difficult, but I enjoy the exchange.

At least when it is actually focused on the person getting the gift rather than just some generic expensive thing for the sake of it.

9. vampires: yay or nay?

-the Queen of air and darkness

begins to shrill and cry,

Oh young man oh my slayer,

Tomorrow you shall die.

Oh Queen of air and darkness

I think it’s true you say,

And I shall die tomorrow

But you will die today.

10. what’s one trope you love and can’t get enough of, no matter the medium in which it arises (tv, film, fic, etc)?

Hmmm difficult.

I really like seeing characters who are genuinely very different, with different backgrounds and beliefs coming together to do the right thing. That's part of why I liked the Justice League, seeing very different people working together and becoming friends.

I also like complex villains. I have a serious weak spot for them. My favourite characters are often villains, Lex Luthor, the Joker, Catwoman- But I sort of have mixed emotions about that. Because it comes from....poorly written heroes essentially. I often focus on complex villains when the heroes are bland and uninteresting. I think a lot of the time that comes from people assuming that the audience will empathise with the hero and that they need to take more effort over the villain.

So when I write I try to make a concerted effort to make the heroes interesting and flawed and complex. Because otherwise why aren't we reading a story about the villain?

 11. are you a morning shower person or a night shower person? or the elusive bubble baths person?

I am an ‘ARGH NO WATER!!!! WHY IS IT SO COLD?! WHY IS IT FALLING FROM THE CELING?! THIS IS UNNATURAL AND WRONG!!! THE PAIN!!! THE INDIGINITY!!!!!’ person.

 1) John Boyega or Idris Elba?

2) Murder Mysteries, good family fun, awful and disturbing, dull- Thoughts?

3) Favourite mythology and why?

4) Is there a type of story you wish you could write but don’t want to attempt?

5) Never-fail feel good book?

6) Last film that made you cry?

7) Do you get carsick?

8) What’s the best plant in the world? Have you grown one?

9) Dosas. Breakfast food or lunch food?

10) If you were dividing things up into seasons from scratch what would they be based on and what would you call them?

11) What and where is the best time of year?

 @akindoodle, @phynali @thehungryvortigaunt @warclad (sorry mate I couldn’t remember what your personal blog was called) @bysamanthakeel, 

[88y53]

Batman v. Superman: World’s Finest — What I Would’ve Done

It’s safe to say whatever plan Z*ck S*yder had in mind for the DCEU isn’t going to happen. How we got to this point is really a matter of opinion, but if you ask me, it all comes down to Batman v Superman. 

I really don’t care what people have to say in defense of it because I’ve read the essays, I’ve listened to the podcasts, I’ve talked to fans — I’ve heard it all. None of that changes the fact that general audiences rejected this movie. Flatly rejected it. You can argue that this rejection was indicative of the audience being too stupid, spoiled, obstinate, brainwashed by Marvel, whatever — that doesn’t change anything.

So, how could this reaction have been avoided? I’m glad you asked, Nobody.

Before Chris Terrio was brought on board, David S. Goyer wrote a script for what seemed to be a pretty by-the-numbers World’s Finest movie — Superman and Batman teaming up and parting on good terms. 

Basically. I took that outline, cut out a lot of bits that made the film an Idiot Plot (see here: “https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/IdiotPlot/DCExtendedUniverse”), and came up with this:

[If you read to the end I try to give a fair and balanced view on the original film and I why I felt the way I did, if that’s any incentive]

-----------

The film opens with Batman chasing down the Joker, accompanied by a solemn narration from the hero. Finally catching up, Batman just starts pummeling Joker without holding anything back, and wrapping his hands around the clown’s throat. The scene ends before anything definitive happens.

The next scene starts with a little girl trapped under rubble and rebar, weeping and choking out a cry for help through the dust and darkness, but no one can hear her. Suddenly the rubble starts shifting, and she braces herself to be crushed and entombed where no one will ever find her, only for the concrete to lift away as Superman reaches for her. Haloed by a beam of light, he smiles and simply says, “it’s okay. I’ve got you.” Handing her off to the firefighters, we see that this is still in the aftermath of the Black Zero event, and Superman is using his x-ray vision and super-hearing to find any survivors in the ruins of Metropolis.

One of these survivors is a man who was horribly mangled by debris. His name is John Corben, ex-special forces turned private security officer. [I’m eliminating the Nirobe scene because it makes the plot over-complicated and is just kind of dumb: so, the CIA sends in a secret agent but can’t invest in better tracking equipment, like phones? Specially designed bullets (that can easily be traced back to the owners because they were part of a government contract) can punch through meat and bone but gets stuck in a reporter’s journal? The bodies are burned in such a way that it gets rid of bullet holes in autopsies? Superman can push a man through a wall at the speed of a bullet without the man being obliterated by the violently sudden inertia? The aerial footage from government drones weren’t consulted to prove if Superman did indeed kill those people? And when the single witness that badmouths Sups changes her heart, the senator doesn’t put her into protective custody?]

Jumping forward, we see an older Bruce Wayne attending a retirement party for Commissioner Gordon. They chat for a bit, making veiled references to Batman and the Joker "still" being in a coma. Bruce, however, is fixated on "the alien," arguing that he has trouble trusting someone so powerful who nonetheless had to resort to murder to beat his opponent. [If I’m going to be completely honest, I don’t really have a problem with how Batman was presented in the film, so that doesn’t really need to change. My main problem is his callous indifference to the wanton slaughter of the random criminals in his way: Batman is allowed to play fast and loose with his One Rule (the branding I don’t mind, for example), but his arc relies on him coming that close to becoming no different from the evil he fights, but if he kills people before that moment, then the arc is ruined. There’s a big difference between callous indifference to someone’s survival and safety, and machine-gunning an SUV full of people and bulldozing the wreckage. He’s just a deluded murderer that literally brands criminals so they can potentially get stabbed in jail (it’s a good thing they showed him branding white thugs; it would be pretty hard for people to claim he has some kind of moral high-ground if he was branding people of color).]

At the Daily Planet, Perry White addresses his writing staff - consisting of Ron Troupe (political editor), Lois Lane (field reporter), Cat Grant (fashion columnist), Steve Lombard (sports editor), trainee Jenny Jurwich, and new photographer, Jimmy Olsen (played by Jesse Eisenberg) — he’s handing out jobs, when he notices that Clark Kent isn’t here . . . until Lois reminds him that he’s busy doing a fluff-piece.

That “fluff-piece" is actually delivering giant shipping containers of food and water to an African country (ala Peace on Earth). During this, talk-show host Jack Ryder (played by Stephen Colbert), is doing a point-counterpoint with G. Gordon Godfrey (who is basically Alex Jones meets Tucker Carlson) where they argue about Superman’s agenda and his presence in the world (and maybe taking a few calls from regular people, like Bibbo Bibbowski). It’s here we are treated to a montage of the various heroic acts Superman’s performed over the past two years, and we see a 99% formed Superman: he’s saving people as often as he can and he does it with a smile (even his harshest critics don’t have much of a leg to stand on). He already resolved his issues over being a public figure in the previous movie, so continuing the arc is just redundant. As we shall see later, there is, however, one thing still holding him back.)

Weighing in on the talk-show discussion is tech entrepreneur, Lex Luthor of LuthorCorp (Elon Musk meets young Donald Trump played by, lets say, Mark Strong) who actually supports Superman. 

However, after the interview is over, Lex is confronted by his father, Lionel (played by Bryan Cranston), who viciously ridicules him for being such a “media-whore.” As the two talk, we get more information on Lex’s situation — years before the Black Zero event, Metropolis was in a state of bankruptcy; it was a slowly crumbling hellhole, no better than Gotham . . . until Lex was sent to the Metropolis branch of the company as a punishment from his father. Lex retaliated by using his business acumen to create jobs and new industries, which single handedly revived the city. So, after Zod’s failed invasion, LuthorCorp started shifting funds towards Metropolis’ reconstruction. But because Superman personally stopped the invasion and helped rebuild the city (including taking the kryptonian spaceship and hiding it on the moon [because it never made sense to me why Superman would just allow an alien ship — which, by all rights, belongs to him — to be studied by the government in the middle of a major American city. He also took Zod’s body, so no one could dissect him]), he received pretty much all the credit and became “Metropolis’ favorite (if controversial) son." So Lex hates him for stealing his thunder, even if he publicly supports him.

Meanwhile, John Corben has Wallace Keefe’s arc from the original movie and graffitis the Superman statue, because he blames him for his disfigurement.

Clark has dinner with Lois, and the topic of Superman’s reputation comes up; the general public may have largely embraced him, but he still has very loud detractors (like Godfrey), and she’s worried how this negativity is affecting him. Clark reassures her that he isn’t bothered by the controversy, because it was more-or-less his fault that Zod invaded in the first place, “I understand why they're angry with me,” he says. “But they don't who I am and their anger doesn't change my opinion about myself. I know who I am.”

Later that night, Clark has a nightmare about Zod and we now see the only thing still holding him back from being the archetypal Superman is his guilt and PTSD over having to take a life to save the day — a violent act he considers to be his greatest failure, a brutality he can’t cleanse from his mind. [I think it’s best if the “isolation arc” wasn’t included in this movie, because it was pretty much resolved by the end of MoS. We have a more pressing issue for Sups to worry about — He literally murdered someone. You can argue if he was justified or not, but that doesn’t change the fact that the only way Superman could defeat Zod was by stooping to his level and losing where it counted. And Superman knows this. That’s gotta leave some lingering trauma.] 

Corben is bailed out of jail and given a ride in a limo driven by Mercy Graves, and delivered (not to the villain we are expecting — Lex, but — ) to Lionel who tells him that he want to help Corben “stand for something."

Elsewhere, Bruce is on his “White Portuguese" hunt [which includes a Batmobile chase, but no one dies, or if they do, it’s not Batman’s fault], and he has his confrontation with Superman, but it plays out differently: rather than threatening Batman, Superman tries to appeal to his humanity, pointing out that he used to be the "caped crusader" before he became the "dark knight." Batman, however, doesn’t care what he has to say, and asks Superman if he "bleeds."

Later that night, Bruce has a dream about his last run-in with the Joker; his hands still wrapped around his neck, pressing harder and harder, while a small voice tells him, "You’re letting him win." Bruce wakes from his dream before anything more definitive happens.

The next day, Lois and Jimmy attend a charity gala hosted by the Luthors (who appear with Lionel’s assistant, Mercy Graves, and Lex’s bodyguard, Otis Graves), where they celebrate the recent joint venture between LuthorCorp and Wayne Enterprises on cybernetic prosthetics. Here we see that Lex has a brilliant way with people that his father sorely lacks, and the latter is clearly envious of.

Lex actually starts hitting on Lois until Clark appears, and we get to witness the first interaction between Lex Luthor and Clark Kent. Lois continues with her questioning, asking what compelled Luthor to pour so much funding into this program; Lex explains that many people lost limbs during Black Zero, and the program is meant to address that.  While there, Clark has a run-in with Bruce, and the interaction basically breaks down as it does in the movie.

Thoroughly rattled, Superman then flies over Metropolis to clear his head and lands on an inconsequential building, where he actually meets Bibbo Bibbobowski — a big fan of Sups. Superman expresses lingering guilt over Zod’s death leading up to a “Hitman” monologue about his inability to save everyone. [https://m.imgur.com/gallery/w7BCA] Bibbo tries to change his mind, but Superman remains conflicted on the subject.

From Batman’s hunt for the White Portuguese, Alfred learns the truth about Bruce’s plans for the Kryptonite. He gives Bruce an ultimatum: either Bruce destroys the Kryptonite, or Alfred will quit. Bruce is committed to this crusade, so Alfred leaves in disappointment. After the fight, Bruce looks longingly at a Robin suit, and we get closure on the Joker flashback — Joker beat Jason Todd to death and crippled Barbara Gordon (Death in the Family meets The Killing Joke), Batman caught him and nearly strangled him to death, only stopping when Alfred yelled at him through the radio that he was "letting [Joker] win." 

Cut to Lionel talking to Corben privately; we get a little more insight into why he is so disdainful towards his son. When Lex was born, Lionel expected nothing but perfection from him, and for the most part, Lex delivered. In his youth, Lex excelled at everything, and was constantly held up as the pinnacle of human excellence. However, everything changed the day his mother died in a car accident Lex inadvertently caused, and the stress of it made his hair fall out. From that point on, Lionel saw Lex as less than dirt and “failure.” So, Lionel has begun looking for other avenues to achieve “perfection.” With his story over, we find out that Corban is being prepped for an operation involving something called “Metal-10.”

Now completely alone, Bruce throws himself into stealing and building a battle suit using the Wayne/LuthorCorp designed cybernetic prosthetics, a sonic gun, and a single bullet made out of Kryptonite.

Now in the third act, Lois is kidnapped by Jimmy who is then revealed to be Sebastian Mallory, and has been spying on Lois and Clark this whole time and figured out the latter’s secret identity. Clark then receives a high-frequency message to meet Lionel at the top of LuthorCorp tower. 

The plot then plays out basically how it did in the real movie, with Lionel threatening to kill Lois if Clark doesn't kill Batman first, and Luthor’s high-frequency howl will keep Sups from finding her if he tries to use his super-hearing. 

Superman goes and basically begs Batman to help him, but there’s one problem; Batman’s helmet is fully covered and completely soundproof, to protect his ears from the sonic gun. [See? Superman has been trying to offer the olive branch to Bats this whole time and is constantly shot down. So when his multiple attempts at appealing to Batman’s better nature fail, that’s when Clark snaps.]

Meanwhile, Luthor is watching the whole fight through small drones. Also watching are Luthor’s goons, who are taking bets on who’ll win. Lois, seeing the fight, manages to break free and escape on her own using the skills she picked up as a military-brat. [If there’s one thing I resent most about the S*yder films, it’s how much they neutered Lois Lane. She’s the daughter of a military general for crying out loud and yet she acts so passive and demure it makes me want to spit. It’s tantamount to making Scout Finch act like Sansa Stark. It’s against everything about her character. So I decided to change that and give a variation on the “warehouse scene” to Lois.]

The fight continues until Superman manages to get Batman into a head-lock, which then triggers a flashback to Zod’s death. This moment of hesitation allows Bats to get the upper-hand, but in the struggle, Batman’s helmet is cracked open. He makes the same grand speech as he does in the film as he loads the kryptonite bullet into the gun and aims it at Superman’s heart … only for the latter to say:

“You’re … letting … him … win.” 

[The death of Batman’s parents was a seminal moment in Bruce Wayne’s life, but it would realistically be a well-healed wound at this point. However the death of Jason and the crippling of Barbara are more recent and fresh traumas that (even in the books) actually did drive him to be an even darker vigilante.]

So we get a slight variation on “why’d you say that name!” to just “why’d you say that!” Only for Lois to chime in by commandeering one of Luthor’s drones and using the built-in speaker to talk through it and explain the situation. Then Batman has his moment of horror as he realizes how close he came to becoming what he hates, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Then…

Metallo bursts in. 

Luthor’s Plan B in case something like this happened, complete with a solid kryptonite power-core and a body made of Metal-10 -- an alloy made from titanium and recovered kryptonian metal.

They fight, Superman tries to reason with Corban but he doesn’t listen, and Batman’s armor allows him to stay in the game for as long as he can (but he’ll eventually have to abandon it and rely on Alfred - whom Bruce calls - for help)

Eventually the two heroes work together and immobilize him. 

With Corban at their mercy, the heroes begin to work out a deal with him that will ensure he help them trace all of this back to Lionel … only for Corban’s robot body to self-destruct, which they both conclude was Luthor’s doing.

At dawn, Superman and Batman exchange pleasantries, and Clark offers one final olive branch -- the kryptonite bullet, which he entrusts to Bruce. This gesture rocks Batman to his core and he admits he was wrong about Superman, and that he is a “good man,” which gives Clark the reassurance he needed to move on from Zod’s death.

Cut to a few months later, and we see Lex being remote-interviewed by Jack Ryder, and we learn that during the time-skip, Lionel died of a heart attack. Lex makes some token soundbytes about his “loss,” and - in light of the scandalous rumors surrounding his father and his connection to Lois Lane (even though nothing could be conclusively proven) - has taken the opportunity to “rebrand” the company from LuthorCorp to LexCorp, as a sign of “good faith” and “change.” Ryder also makes an off-handed reference to Lex taking an interest in politics.

After the interview, Lex watches a video on his computer which shows security footage of his last conversation with his father: Lionel is unconcerned with the charges Lois is throwing at him, because he now has something that literally everybody in the world will pay through the nose to get … Superman’s genetic code. SInce Zod’s body was gone, Lionel set up the whole fight just so Superman would spill some blood, which Luthor picked up using one of his drones (he was hoping Superman would die so he could be dissected). Lionel then goes on and on about the potential applications of kryptonian genetics (including something called “Project: B2-R-0”) and how they’ll someday be able to splice them into the human genome, so that “everyone can be Superman.”

Lex chews on those words for a moment … and then offers his father a celebratory glass of brandy, which Lionel - too excited by his own prospects - readily drinks, but Lex doesn’t.

As Lionel starts coughing and keeling over, Lex apologizes and wished it “wouldn’t come to this,” but that “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.”

And the recording ends… and Lex sees Superman in the reflection on his computer monitor, floating outside his window.

Confidently, Lex delete the footage and speaks to Superman directly. Going off on this big monologue about he’s the best, he’s “figured out” Superman’s little scheme, how when the “war is over,” the people of the world will finally acknowledge that “Lex Luthor was right.”

Superman wordlessly flies down to Luthor’s level, and simply says, “I’ll pray for you, Lex. Every day.” And flies off. Lex is left with an intense anger at his enemy’s nobility, he has now fully embraced his narcissism and even if he has to prove it to the whole world, he won’t stop until everyone recognizes that he alone is the best.

The final scene is Clark traveling to the arctic, and digging up Zod’s corpse. Finally, after this whole time, Superman has the strength to face his worst mistake and put it to rest. Clark takes Zod’s body, builds him a coffin, and gives the old soldier a proper “burial at space” into the sun.

He’s come to terms with who he is and what he is, and the film closes on him orbiting Earth - using his super-senses to see and hear millions of experiences that we could only dream of (babies being born, people celebrating, animals frolicking, monks peacefully meditating, etc.) - in full grip of the Overview Effect, smiling a perfectly contented smile at this strange little blue rock that he loves, with all his heart. (kind of like here: https://comicsalliance.com/originals-garth-ennis-dialogue-hitman-303-war-comics-creator-owned)

He’s finally the super-man.

-----------

So, if you managed to make it this far, it’s worth noting that a movie like this was never in the cards.  

When Man of Steel was being made, it came off the heels of the very underwhelming Superman Returns and the epic Dark Knight Trilogy (so a more action-packed remake was a no-brainer from a marketing perspective) and the abject failure that was Green Lantern (which was supposed to be DC’s platform for a cinematic universe). So, when WB gave Z*ck S*yder the reins they weren’t interested in making a cinematic universe. It’s only natural that they’d fall back on their strong suits and try to recreate the Dark Knight Trilogy, only with Superman this time. They wanted Chris Nolan to helm it, but he never wanted to be known as the “Superhero Director,” so he hand-picked S*yder for the job (WB agreed because they trusted Nolan and they wanted that sweet, sweet, auteur creativity that worked so well before, despite the fact that the DK series was more or less a fluke). However, when MoS proved to be a moderate success (and because there’s no such thing as bad publicity) the executives got ambitious and pushed for a franchise, but Snyder was always more interested in telling his own story, with a beginning, a middle, and an end, and that just couldn’t happen in a cinematic universe designed to go on for as long as it keeps making money. So they naively tried to have their cake and eat it too. Whereas in the real world, one doesn’t try to mix chocolate-chip ice-cream, lasagna, and chimichangas into one dish, unless you’re aiming for a disappointing afternoon and a lot of wasted effort (even then, there will always be that one person who’ll love it for reasons completely unique to them).

This is all to say that I think the “Snyderverse” was more or less destined to fail, because it tried to be too many things and wasn’t any of them. 

I once read something on a Reddit post that I think is applicable to this whole situation: “Unfortunately, some writers try to shoot for crafting a Memento before they’ve mastered St. Peter and the Dragon.”

But more importantly, I’ve recently had a breakthrough in my ponderings about it that I think finally, finally, finally explains why people like me couldn’t like it …

The film wasn’t meant for people like me.

Anticlimactic, I know.

You can argue movie critic payoffs, stubborn audiences that demanded different things, the fact that the studio didn’t release the full film (I don’t think that would’ve helped), the over saturation of Marvel-style films, but in the end Z*ck Sn*der is a cult filmmaker, best suited for more low-risk niche properties. The only film he made that ever received mainstream success was 300, arguably for the wrong reasons.

The only crime you can really hold against this movie was that it failed to connect with enough people. It’s kind of sad in a way.

Without him, the DCEU seems to be moving in the direction of Adaptation Distillation, and I think that’s for the best.

[berwicktimelines]

The Outlaw King Comes To Berwick

And so the Hollywood/Netflix circus has been in town to film The Outlaw King, starring Chris Pine, Florence Pugh, and James Cosmo among others. One star that sadly may not, for many, shine as brightly is Berwick-upon-Tweed. Yes, its great fun watching the filming this week and we hope that it will bring some much needed extra income to the town, but the filming locations—the Quayside and the Old Bridge—are the stunt doubles for Glasgow and London Bridge. This is a great shame as Bruce had an important part in Berwick’s medieval past. Let us examine his role.

Early Days

One of many misconceptions is that the Bruce family were Scottish. They started off, like so many of the nobility in Britain as Norman; the name comes from Brix in Normandy. They acquired, and fortified, Hartlepool after the Norman Conquest but were later grated Annandale (in modern Dumfries and Galloway) by King David I of Scotland in 1124.

The story starts in 1286 with the death of King Alexander III and the ensuing Great Cause of 1291. Of the noblemen claiming the Scottish throne there were only two real contenders, John Balliol and Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale. (As with so many families, the first names are handed down through the generations which can be confusing. This Robert Bruce was the grandfather of our Robert the Bruce and future King Robert I, who was born in 1274.) The Balliols, who were allied to the Comyns, and Bruces had been spoiling for a fight for some time; John II “Black” Comyn had been a third possible contender for the Scottish throne. In 1295 after members of the Scottish nobility refused to pay homage to Edward I, among them, the Bruces. Following Edward’s demands of the Scots for military assistance, the Scots formed what became known as the Auld Alliance with France. The burgesses of Berwick, the principal Scottish Royal Burgh, latterly signed up to this alliance.

Watch Out Bruce—He’s Comyn For You!

Meanwhile, Edward was attending to “diplomatic discussions” in France which were proving awkward to say the least. While away, the Scots kept their side of the Alliance and made incursions into the north of England. Annandale was attacked by King John (Balliol) and given to John Comyn, Earl of Buchan; the Bruces, evicted from their estates in south-west Scotland sought the safety of England and sided with Edward I. Sensing trouble ahead, Edward I appointed Robert the Bruce’s father, another Robert de Brus, 6th Lord of Annandale, as governor of Carlisle Castle. On 26 March 1296, Easter Monday, seven Scottish earls led by Comyn attacked Carlisle. This was to be the first act of aggression in the first Wars of Scottish Independence. However, it was not so much an attack on the English than the Comyn family taking on the Bruces. It was the last straw however and led to Edward returning to England and commanding his army muster in Newcastle and march north. Edward laid waste to Berwick on Good Friday 30th March. Balliol was deposed as King of Scotland.

And so to William Wallace. After his Battle of Stirling Bridge on the 11th September 1297, Wallace was appointed Guardian of Scotland, the first to hold the post during the second interregnum. His men harried the north of England down to Hexham. The English basically abandoned Berwick and one of Wallace’s men, Haliburton, took Berwick and kept it until Wallace returned north in early 1298 after trashing Northumberland. In turn, the Scots abandoned the town by the next Spring pre-empting Edward’s wrath. Wallace was defeated at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298 and resigned as Guardian. Bruce and John III “Red” Comyn were appointed joint Guardians of Scotland in his place but Bruce resigned in 1300. He, in turn was replaced by Sir Ingram de Umfraville and William de Lamberton. 

In 1301, Edward launched his sixth invasion of Scotland after which in 1302 many of the Scottish nobility, including Bruce, swore fealty to him. In 1303, Edward launched yet another attack north of the border reaching as far north as Aberdeen. Now, all of Scottish nobility surrendered to Edward, save Wallace, who was eventually captured near Glasgow in 1305 and met a very sticky end. Both Comyn and Bruce still held dearly their claims to the Scottish throne and it was at a meeting between them on 10 February 1306 at the Chapel of the Greyfriars Monastery in Dumfries that Bruce accused the Red Comyn of treachery and murdered him. Bruce then began his claim to the throne through aggression with a successful attack on the English garrison at Dumfries Castle, after which his long time ally Robert Wishart, the Bishop of Glasgow granted him absolution. Nevertheless, he was excommunicated. Some English records suggest that the murder was premeditated and that Edward wrote to the Pope asking for Bruce’s excommunication.

The killing of Comyn in the Greyfriars church in Dumfries, as imagined by Felix Philippoteaux, a 19th-century illustrator.

Six weeks later, Bruce was crowned at Scone near Perth by Bishop Lamberton. Bishop Wishart who had hidden the Scottish regalia was amongst those in attendance. It was traditional that MacDuff, the Earl of Fife performed the ceremony. In the absence of any of the male MacDuffs, Isabella MacDuff claimed the right to perform the ceremony. She arrived at Scone a day late and so a second ceremony was performed.

Edward moved north yet again. He defeated Bruce on 19th June 1306 at the Battle of Methven. Bruce’s wife and other ladies of the court were sent to his brother’s castle at Kildrummy for protection. Bruce and his few followers fled. Alas, there was no safety to be had at Kildrummy. Bruce’s wife Elizabeth, his sisters Christina and Mary, and Isabella MacDuff were captured; his brother, like Wallace before, hanged, drawn and quartered. It was for her part in the crowning of Bruce that Isabella was held prisoner at Berwick Castle. Bruce was declared an outlaw.

The Bruce Comes To Berwick 

Edward I died in 1307. His heir, Edward II was a weak ruler, from whom Bruce allegedly said it was easier to gain a kingdom than a foot of land from his father. On 6th December 1313, Bruce made his first attempt to take Berwick. It is described in the Lanercost Chronicle:

“In the night, coming unexpectedly to the castle, he placed ladders against the wall and began to ascend. Unless the loud barking of a dog had made known the arrival of the Scots, he would quickly have taken the castle as well as the town. The ladders, curiously made for the purpose of scaling, were left here, and our men have hung them over the pillory as a public show. So this dog saved Berwick as formerly the cackling of the geese saved Rome.”

By this time Bruce had recaptured most castles from the English. Edward II’s response was to assemble a vast army, complete with provisions for the campaign, at Berwick. This army is said to have consisted of 60,000 foot and 40,000 horse; 3,000 of the latter are said to have been horsemen in complete armour. The King met the army here. Never had such a vast number been mustered in Berwick before of since, but numbers alone do not always bring victory; rather, it ended in a crushing defeat at Bannockburn from whence Edward returned to Berwick alone.

Emboldened, by his success, Bruce attempted another assault on Berwick. The Lanercost Chronicle again:

“Within the octaves of the Epiphany, 15th January, 1316, the King of Scotland, with a great army, came secretly to Berwick, and under brilliant moonlight made an attack by land and by sea in skiffs, hoping to have entered the town on the river side between the Bridge House and the Castle, where the walls were not yet built. But by means of watchmen and others through the noise of those attacking they were repulsed, and a certain Scotch soldier, Sir J. de Landels, was killed, and Sir James Douglas with difficulty escaped in a small skiff. And thus the whole army was put to confusion…”

Skiffs battle against the flow of the Tweed

The victory against the Scots was a Pyrrhic one. The town was in dire straits, as was all of Northern Europe, gripped by the Great Famine. Poor harvests due to cold, rainy summers were taking their toll. Letters of the day from the Warden, Maurice de Berkeley give a vivid impression of life in the town for the English garrison:

“Tells [Sir William Ingge] no town was ever in such distress as Berwick short of being taken or surrendered. The garrison are deserting daily, and there are none left in the town, save only such of the garrison of the castle as are not slain or dead of hunger. If the town is lost, the blame will rest on him as one of the King’s chief councillors. Whenever a horse dies in the town the men-at-arms carry off the flesh and boil and eat it, not letting the foot touch it till they have had what they will. Pity to see Christians leading such a life. If he would save the town, prays him to send assistance quickly.”

18 February 1316.

To the king:

“The burghers are deep in debt, and his men are dying of hunger on the walls. He has supplied them out of his own means while he had any. The town was never in such a state, as he has often told the King; but he sees clearly that no order of the latter is obeyed. Whatever his ministers may say to the contrary, there has not come to Berwick, either in money or provisions, since he arrived there, more than £4000, and there are ten weeks short of the year. Of the 300 men-at-arms enrolled, only 50 can be mustered mounted and armed, the rest of the horses being dead, and the arms at pledge for the owners sustenance. He has not had a penny of his own pay since Michaelmas. Begs him to take thought for them and the town, for if he loses it, he will lose all the north, and they their lives. Begs another warden may be appointed, as his term expires a month after Easter, and he will remain no longer. Thinks no attention has been paid to his former letters.”

2 March 1316

The mayor, bailiffs and community of Berwick to the King. Tell him that the town is in great danger, as there are only provisions for one month… Sir Robert de Bruys will be at Melrose before Ascension Day with all his force, and do his utmost, they fear, to annoy them by treason or otherwise…”

10 May 1316

The town was in disarray with a power struggle between the burgesses and the garrison. The Mayor, Walter de Goswik, had “been very much harassed by the keepers of the town appointed by the King”. James Douglas, one of Bruce’s new allies and whom had been part of the unsuccessful 1316 raid, gained intelligence of this confusion. He and Bruce amassed a new army. 

Contemporary records tell us that Douglas believed he could gain the trust of one of the garrison and bribe him to assist the Scottish cause. That man was Peter de Spalding. The Scottish poet Barbour records that Spalding:

“…was annoyed at the Governor’s ill-will to the Scotch in the town, and covenanted with Bruce through Marshal Keith to deliver up the town to him if he drew to it during night, and at the Cowgate when it was his turn to watch.”

This he did. Douglas and his men scaled the walls and hid overnight; remember, at this time the Parade/Ravensdowne area had no buildings on it, save for some stores—the King’s Garners—and the old Parish Church. In the morning, all hell broke loose as the Scots plundered the town. After a siege of six days, the castle too capitulated and King Robert strolled into the town. As for Peter de Spalding? His reward for assisting the Scots was not the promised £800 (something in the order of £300K–£400K today) but execution. The following year, Edward attempted to retake the castle but was thwarted by the efforts of the Flemish pirate-cum-siege engineer, John Crabbe. In retrospect, this was a last hurrah for the Scots. The town finally fell after the Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333 bringing to an end the last time the Scots held Berwick for any great length of time.However, the one last thing that Bruce gave to Berwick before his death in 1329 was the completion of the medieval walls begun by Edward I in 1296. 

Braveheart

Since the filming began, I have been asked one or two questions regarding the mythology that surrounds The Bruce. One story in particular that I was asked about was one that the correspondent’s teacher had passed on years ago; that Bruce’s heart had been buried in Berwick. 

Bruce died in 1329 near Dumbarton, possibly of leprosy. Robert’s final wish reflected conventional piety, and was perhaps intended to perpetuate his memory. His last regret was not partaking in any crusade. After his death his heart was removed, placed in a silver casket, and taken by Sir James Douglas on a crusade to help Spain regain Granada from the Moors. Sir James and most of the Scottish contingent were killed but his body and the casket were recovered and returned to Scotland. The casket was buried at Melrose Abbey. It was discovered in 1920 and then rediscovered in 1996 when it was forensically examined and deemed to have held human tissue of the correct age. It was reinterred in 1998. Nothing to do with Berwick.

However, Robert did arrange for perpetual soul masses to be funded at the chapel of Saint Serf, at Ayr and at the Dominican friary in Berwick (near the Bell Tower), as well as at Dunfermline Abbey.

It is ironic that arguably the one accurate thing the 1995 Mel Gibson film Braveheart portrayed (the “Braveheart” in question being Bruce’s and has nothing to do with Wallace) was Bruce’s ambivalence, siding with the English against Wallace.

Glasgow Goofs

Now, I’m no historian of Glasgow and I stand to be corrected, but some quick research reinforces my original thoughts regarding Berwick Quayside portraying the Port of Glasgow: would there have been a port in Glasgow in the early 14th century? 

The Port of Glasgow as imagined by the film makers. (Courtesy Richard Robinson)

It was (and remains) my understanding that no port on the west coast of Britain became particularly important until the “discovery” of, and eventual trade with, the Americas. Looking at an academic paper which gives tables of economic activity in all the British nations, Glasgow is very important regarding the activity of ecclesiastic houses, but the only port on that coast that gets any mention is Ayr; and the tax returns are minuscule compared to the 30% of all Scottish port customs which is from Berwick. Glasgow became a (non-Royal) Burgh in 1214, 90 years after Berwick became King David’s first Royal Burgh. Glasgow itself wasn’t easily navigable till much later. The original port may have been at Newark which became Port Glasgow. But prior to 1668, Newark was a herring fishing village, centred around Newark Castle which was built in 1478 by George Maxwell of Pollok when he inherited the Barony of Finlanstone. So how the film makers justify this eminence, I have no idea. Let us be charitable and say that its a good looking bit of artistic license for Bruce to meet up with Bishop Wishart. It is an irony that the most important port in Scotland is playing the part of a non-entity! *sighs*

Where’s Wallace?

Another old chestnut reflected in The Outlaw King is the story of what happened to the body parts of the quartered William Wallace which leads me to a criticism of the film. This is a really silly thing about the whole saga. Popular tradition says it was Wallace’s left upper quarter displayed at Berwick, probably on the bridge. The film shows the left arm of Wallace on a merket cross (improbably located on the Quayside. So 9/10 for accuracy if the port is Berwick, but it’s -10/10 if it’s meant to be Glasgow: no body part was displayed there. The other quarters were displayed at Newcastle, Stirling and Perth. 

Technicians put the final touches to the remains of Wallace

Finally, let me just reassert for the 94th time that Wallace Green has nothing to do with William Wallace—it’s a corruption of the name given to the area which James Douglas and his men would have, in 1318, been hiding out in—the Walls Green!

Anyway, I join everyone’s pleasure in the entertainment (and money) we have been given by the cast and crew and look forward to seeing the film before posting why comments on the “goofs” section of the IMDb!

Chris Pine looking suitably heroic!

[ask-the-phan-site]

Phan Cam: Return of Distortion

DISCLAIMER: Some of the people who will appear here are based off of real people. So I would like to apologize in advance to the Booth family for their portrayal in this post. Also, I like to warn you that this post might be long.

>Cafe Leblanc in Yongen-Jaya. Me and the others (except for Queen, Panther, and Crow) were already there with Skull’s mother. When she found her son wasn’t home, she demanded an explanation. So... We told her the truth.

Mrs. Sakamoto: (no other picture of her other than her smiling available) My... That’s... That’s a lot to absorb.

I know how you feel. My heart almost stopped when I learned the truth.

I’m sorry you had to learn about it like this.

Believe us, if Ryuji did wanted you to know, he would tell you the best way he could.

Mrs. Sakamoto: It’s not your fault, Futaba chan... But to be honest, I had a feeling my son was a Phantom Thief for some time now. I just wasn’t sure about it until now.

Again, we’re sorry about this. Especially after what just happened.

Mrs. Sakamoto: What did happen to Ryu kun?

>Suddenly, we hear a car pull up.

That must be them now.

Ren: I should warn you, you may wish to brace yourself for what your about to see.

>Mrs. Sakamoto nods her head. Then the door opens.

This is going to be a tight fit.

Ryuji, can't you just suck it up?

Ryuji’s voice: It doesn't work like that. This armor may be my body, but it ain’t flexible like one.

Akechi’s voice: Could someone help on the other side? I can push, but we need someone to pull.

Ren: I’ll do it.

Yusuke: I’ll help as well.

?????: I suppose I’ll help as well.

I know that voice... Toshi? Is that you on the other side?

Man’s voice: Who else? Kuchisake-onna? (laughs a bit) Now are you helping or what?

>Me and Yusuke take Ryuji’s “hand” and we pull. We pulled and pulled until finally, he got through.

Finally. I thought I was never gettin’ through. Thanks.

Ren: No problem.

>Mrs. Sakamoto walks up to her son, still unable to believe her eyes.

Mrs. Sakamoto: ... Ryu kun?

Ryuji: Hi, Mom. I’m sorry I didn’t show up at the apartment... So, how are you?

>With that, Mrs. Sakamoto nearly faints. Luckily, the stranger who helped us catches her.

Nice catch, Mr... Toshi, wasn’t it?

Mister Toshi was my father. It’s just Toshi. And thank you, Detective Prince.

Ryuji: Will my mom be okay?

Boss: Just in case, I keep smelling salts in the back.

Haru: I’ll get them.

>Haru goes to get the smelling salts.

I guess she’s still reeling. I know I am.

Y- You’re...

Ann: I’m sorry, you guys... But my mom sort of came with me.

Your mom? Oh boy, this is going to be some day.

Ann’s mother: Katherine McBride. Don’t worry, I have no intention of revealing that you’re the Phantom Thieves. Ann trusts you too much.

Toshi: I knew who you guys are for a while, and I also don’t have a reason to turn you in, either.

Ann: How did you know?

Futaba: That’s easy... Because he’s Toshi. One of Japan's most famous enigmas.

Toshi: I wouldn't say famous... More like well known.

Same difference.

Mrs. Sakamoto: (just getting up) How- How did this happen?

Ryuji: That what I would like to know. How did I become... Become...

Futaba: Overflow.

Ryuji: Huh?

Futaba: That’s the name of the alien you’ve turned into. Overflow. Well, I’m guessing it has something to do with that.

>She was pointing at the symbol on Ryuji’s chest.

Makoto: The Omnitrix? Of course, Ben Tennyson uses the Omnitrix to turn into different aliens.

Katherine: So, we just have to remove it and he should change back, right?

???????: That would be ill advised.

Toshi: Are they here already?

Sorry. We’re not the chap you were thinking.

Can’t blame you, though. We have that kind of effect on people.

That’s one way of putting it.

Everyone (except Katherine, Toshi, and Mrs. Sakamoto): Professor Paradox!? Bruce Sato!?

And... Aren’t you the Hellblazer?

Smooth hobo: I prefer John Constantine.

Ren: What are you doing here?

Paradox: I was touring a bit of the future when I saw this happening. Your friend becoming one of the former aliens of the newest incarnation of our Benjamin Tennyson.

Constantine: I learned about your predicament while I was at that apartment of yours.

Bruce: And Chihaya called me to come here.

Mrs. Sakamoto: Do you... Think you can help my son?

Constantine: Hard to say. This was done with both magic and science. But one thing’s for certain though, removing that symbol won’t help him.

Paradox: Indeed. I’ve spoken to Azmuth who spoke to another Azmuth. That Omnitrix badge is now completely embedded in his heart, sending pulses to keep it going. If we remove it, the effects could be lethal to your son.

Makoto: So you’re saying that badge is the only thing keeping Ryuji alive right now?

Bruce: That seems to be the case.

Ryuji: (shocked) You mean I could be stuck like this forever!?

Constantine: Now, now. There’s no need to be a wet blanket... Heh! See what I did there?

Ryuji: YOU THINK THIS IS AN EFFIN’ JOKE!?

>Ryuji shoots a blast of water from his forearm at Constantine.

Hey! I just cleaned that spot!

Ryuji, stop it!

>Just like that, Ryuji stops shooting water.

Ryuji: I’m... I’m sorry. I just lost it there... More than usual. I’m... I’m just scared. I can’t live like this. I have a life. I have school. I finally became an idol. To become Overflow... I think I lost all of it.

Paradox: I under stand your feelings, Ryuji Sakamoto... But I don’t think that’s why you lost control.

Ren: What do you mean?

Constantine: We’ll tell you... Upstairs. Right now... My fellow Brits are almost here.

Boss: What do you mean?

Toshi: Oh right, I almost forgot why I’m here. You remember Michael Booth and his family?

Boss: Yes...

And I should pat myself on the back for being able to hide this place from them. It would have caused a scene.

Toshi: Well... They found it.

Wait. You mean... They’re coming here?

Toshi: That’s right. Michael wants to study curry’s history in Japan. And who better to help than the guy who serves the best in Yongen-Jaya?

Boss: That’s only because Wakaba helped with her formula.

Toshi: Either way, they’re coming now.

Boss: (groans) Fine. All of you better go upstairs. I need to clean this mess first.

Constantine: No, please... Allow me.

>Constantine snaps his fingers and everything in the cafe is cleaned up and dry.

Constantine: I’ll send you my bill later... Here they come.

>We quickly go up the stairs to my room. I stop for a bit to see who Toshi was talking about... They come in through the door.

Here we are. Cafe Leblanc.

I’m not sure why a cafe in Japan would have a French name.

They probably chose it to make it sound a little more fancy.

It like it.

Boss: Well...

Thanks for that.

(whisper) Good luck, Sojiro.

>Upstairs in my room, we were examining Ryuji to find a way to change him back into a human.

Futaba: So the big question is: How do we undo something made with science and sorcery?

Diego: Joker, got any ideas?

Ren: I’ll need to think about that. Right now, Professor Paradox, what do you mean by Ryuji losing control?

Paradox: Inside all versions of the Omnitrix, including the Ultimatrix, lies a pocket dimension where the DNA of the aliens it scans have lives of their own. That includes consciousness. Overflow is no different. But somehow, his DNA was copied and was used to alter your friend’s.

Ryuji: How did that happen?

Paradox: I am afraid that is beyond even my vision. But according to Azmuth, this “crude” copy of the Omnitrix’s DNA alteration is without a time limit. And without a time limit to change you back into your human form... The consciousness of that alien would take over entirely.

Ryuji: You mean, if I don’t change back soon...

Ryuji could lose his own consciousness, leaving only Overflow’s.

Paradox: It gets even worse. The minds of the scanned aliens are incomplete. Right now, Ryuji’s mind is keeping Overflow’s mind in check, but not for long. Once his mind is gone, all that will be left is a Cascan without a proper mind to guide him and, instead, only instincts and impulses.

Ryuji: And what’s going to happen to me? To my mind?

Constantine: My guess is... It would go to that Sea of Souls you learned about in the Velvet Room.

Ryuji: Yeah, Ren told me. He said that’s where all souls come from... But it’s also where they go after the person who has it dies... You mean I could die!?

Ann: Ryuji, shush! Boss’s guests are still here.

Ryuji: Sorry.

Constantine: Don’t worry there. That’s why we’re here.

Bruce: I’m sure we’ll find a way. After all... What is lost, can never truly be gone.

>We don’t know what that means.

Paradox: There is still hope. That is what he said. But I suggest we find it as quickly as we can.

Diego: How come?

Paradox: ... Your friend and Overflow are not the only ones effected.

>I was starting to get worried.

Ren: What do you mean?

>Professor Paradox was silent for a moment.

Paradox: I think it is time for that idea Diego asked for. Ask yourself this, you may know who might help in the magic department... But what about science?

Ren: Well, I know a lot of people. But I guess the only person who can help with Ryuji would have to be...

>I froze. The only scientist who can help Ryuji would be... The one who is connected to him.

HARRY!?

Futaba: Hold on, I’ll see if I can contact him.

Hurry, Futaba chan!

>She opens her computer and access the video chat. After a few second, it’s answered.

Hello? Futaba?

Futaba: Peter, how’s Harry? Is he okay?

Peter: How did you... Did Gwen tell you?

Ren: No, we knew.

Peter: How?

Ryuji: Hey, Pete. Long time, no see.

Peter: (shocked) Ryuji!? What happened to you?

Akechi: That’s how we know. Now tell me... Did Harry fall into a coma?

Peter: ... He did at first. But woke up in the hospital. But he was very weak. Well, not so weak that he can’t do anything, thank goodness. He can still use his spider powers and stuff.

Harry’s voice: Pete, is that Akechi and Ryuji and the others?

Peter: Yeah, it’s them.

Hi, guys. Hey, Ryuji, I see the Overflow look was no joke.

Ryuji: You... You knew about it?

Harry: I thought it was a dream at first. But after seeing you now...

Ryuji: Wait. Did you say dream?

Harry: Yes. It was just after I collapsed.. Did you have it, too?

Ryuji: Yes. What happened?

Harry: Well, in the dream, I was hovering over the ocean on a stormy night with a red skull painted on my face.

Ryuji: With Tokyo right behind you?

Harry: Yes.

Ryuji: And an island in front of you?

Harry: Griffin Rock.

Ryuji: What?

Harry: That’s the name of the island. Griffin Rock, Maine.

Wait. Griffin Rock?

Makoto: That’s where Ryuji’s father was.

Ryuji: (angry) I knew! He has to be the one behind all this. I just know it.

Akechi: That’s one possibility. We still have no concrete evidence Alexander Paine is the one responsible. Besides, this seems more like something Raymond Warren would do. But I think this might be too much even for him.

Peter: He’s right. I don’t think even Gwen’s uncle would go as far as trying to duplicate alien technology. At least that’s what I think.

Makoto: So that’s two suspects. But I think the real question is... Why?

Yusuke: That’s true. Most of our enemies either had a change of heart by us or is in prison.

Harry: And my dad- Norman Osborn, made it clear that he’s given up.

Akechi: Still, we shouldn’t rule him out as a suspect.

Constantine: Actually we might. Ryuji’s transformation is the work of science and sorcery. And neither Osborn or Jackal like magic. And I’m pretty sure the same is for Paine.

Ryuji: I dunno, I wouldn’t put it past him. The guy lives for complete and utter chaos.

Constantine: Well, only one way to find out.

>Constantine takes out a piece of chalk and traces a circle with it.

Constantine: Ryuji kun, if you will.

Mrs. Sakamoto: This isn’t going to hurt him, is it?

Constantine: It’s just a detection spell, ma’am. We’re going to find out how it was done.

Ryuji: Whatever gets the job done.

>Ryuji goes into the circle.

Constantine: Here goes. Ecived edam ot kool dna krow ekil eht lanigiro ecived, woh od uoy krow? Erehw od uoy emoc morf? Ohw edam uoy?

>The circle glows and light comes from it and surrounds Ryuji. The Omnitrix symbol glows and light particles glow out of it. Then, they gather together and form something. I take what it formed... I was a bit surprised.

This is... That new card.

Makoto: That must have what caused it.

Ryuji: The Dream FES System?

Futaba: How is that possible? No one knows how the Dream FES System works. No one even knows where it came from. Not even the head of D-Four Productions or the heads of the Brands who make the Dorika.

Constantine: Either way, they some how managed to use it to implant the Omnitrix containing Overflow’s DNA on Ryuji’s chest. And they used the concert to do so.

Makoto: But we still don’t know who did it, why they did it, and how to undo it.

Peter: Guess magic is not as helpful as science.

Constantine: (not happy) You didn’t have to rub it in, mate?

Katherine: Don’t you have any ideas? You’re a time traveler.

Paradox: I’m afraid it is not that simple. I cannot tell you without causing great harm to the timeline.... However, I do have some advice.

Ren: What’s that?

Paradox: ... Look out the window.

>We were puzzled... But I decided to look anyway. Me and Futaba look out.

?????: Shit! They can see us?

?????: Let’s beat it!

>The two young men on the roof across from us quickly duck away.

I know those two! Back during the LilyMu heist.

Ren: Jared and Jesse Deucey. I still don’t know about them. They some how have the power to restore a target’s Palace.

Futaba: But apparently not forever. I checked with Lily dozens of time and she’s back to the way we made her.

Diego: But why were they here?

Bruce: ... Sometimes the culprit returns to the scene of the crime.

Mrs. Sakamoto: You mean they were the ones responsible for what happened to Ryu kun?

Futaba: I doubt it. I looked these guys up. Even together, they barely have half a brain...

But I think they might know some things.

Ryuji: So we just gotta follow ‘em, right? Let’s do it?

Are you sure? Someone could see you.

Futaba: Actually, how did you get Ryuji over here? Even if you used the van, someone could have seen him.

Katherine: We just told everyone that he was in cosplay. Thankfully, they believed it.

Ryuji: But I can’t just sit up here. I may not know much about my new body, but I can still run... I’m still a Phantom Thief.

Alright. You’re still you, brother.

Ryuji: Thanks... Aibo (Partner)... Yosuke Hanamura, eat your heart out.

Futaba: Okay. But we still need to get him downstairs. I think the lovely British couple and their bespectacled son might buy the whole cosplay story, but the younger kid? ... I don’t think so.

Katherine: I could design something. But it may take time.

Ann: ... Constantine san?

Constantine: What can I do for you, fair lady?

Can you cast a Glamour?

Constantine: (smiling) I’ll see what I can do. To ensure a future preserved, mask our friend, see justice served.

>In a swirl of light, Ryuji was engulfed. Then, as fast as it came, it was gone.

Did... Did it work?

Peter: I don’t know. You still look like Overflow.

Constantine: Because your camera is like a mirror. It will show the truth behind the illusion. For something more powerful, you’ll need to speak to someone a little more experienced than me. Like Zatanna or Dr. Fate or even that Dr. Strange in New York.

Peter: Fine. I’ll see what he can do. See you guys soon.

Harry: We’ll be rooting for you.

>With that, they hang up.

Futaba: It’s a good thing no all reflected services reveal what Ryuji looks like. I’m wearing glasses and I’m still seeing the illusion.

Katherine: Same here.

Ren: Me, too. So i guess we won’t have to worry about Asger Booth.

Constantine: Also, remember that this is an illusion. Your actual size will still let itself known such as knocking things down and getting stuck. Also, because my Glamour spells are not that powerful, it won’t last. This should last for I should say about 1 hour.

>I suddenly notice Ann speaking to herself.

(whisper) Stronger Glamour spells have longer effects.

Ren: What was that?

It’s nothing. Let’s go.

Katherine: I’ll be heading home. There’s a wedding dress waiting to be finished. For a wedding in America.

Bruce: And I’ll go speak to Chihiya. Since Professor Paradox won’t tell us what may happen in the future, we have another reliable source.

Paradox: True. Better you learn from a true psychic than me. Especially since she know that, and I quote, “The future is not absolute.”

Bruce: Thank you. But we might still need your help.

Paradox: Very well. I shall see what I can do.

>With that, he vanishes.

>We managed to get past the Booths and out the front door (which was not easy since Constantine was right about Ryuji still getting stuck). We got on the van, except for Bruce and Kathrine. Bruce was going to Shinjuku to speak with Chihiya and Katherine was going home to work. Constantine used a spell to help us track the twins.

Constantine: It looks like they’re headed for Shibuya. Right, shall we?

>With that, we drive off.

>One of the best things about Big Bang Burger these days... is how empty it has become since the Okumura heist. So people can pretty much do whatever they want without getting much trouble with the staff... Just perfect for a wanted criminal who came back from the dead to just sit and relax. Typing away on his computer and maybe even enjoying lunch... But that all ends when Jared and Jesse burst in.

Hey, you!

(sighs) What is it now?

Jesse: We went to check on those guys like you told us to. I thought we were just gonna scared them, not turn one of them into a monster!

Yeah, this is not what we signed on for!

Jin: Tch! That’s because you have the IQ of a chicken. Of course you would think this was to be some simple prank... But it’s way more than that.

Jesse: Okay, we get it! We may not be Albert... Edison, but even we know our limits.

Jin: Oh please, you don’t even know the meaning of the word limit.

Jesse: (not getting angry) Listen here you little shit, we didn’t drop out of school to hurt people. We came because we thought we were the same.

Jared: But I guess having Personas isn’t enough.

Jin: True... My head isn’t hallow.

>For the Deucey Twins, it was the last straw. Jared, despite being the youngest here, grabs Jin by the shirt and lifts him up.

Jin: What are you going to do? Kill me? I’m already dead.

Jared: No... We’re going to settle this... Persona Style.

Jin: ... Very well.

>Station Square. We just arrived here. Unfortunately, due to traffic, an hour had almost passed and the Glamour spell Constantine used is about to wear off.

Ryuji: Aw man, the spell’s gonna wear off. Can’t you make it last longer?

Constantine: Sorry, mate, my hands are full.

Futaba: Wait... Look.

>We look out and was saw, the twins and someone headed for the subway.

There they are!

!

Makoto: What is it, Futaba?

Futaba: I know that guy who’s with them...

Isn’t he suppose to be dead?

>The Underground.

Jin: Are you sure you want to do this? I’ve had my Persona for a long time. You’ve only had your Personas for two years.

Jared: True... But we took the time to practice.

Jin: Very well... Open it.

>Jared takes out his phone... And opens the Metaverse Navigator.

>Five... Four... Three... 2... 1... Glamour spell: Over.

Nav: Beginning navigation.

>A red wave passes over them. When it was over...

Jin: Prepare yourself!

>Jin takes something out.

Jesse: Right! Slice!

Jared: And dice!

>The twins take out their own Evokes.

Jin: Persona!

Jared and Jesse: Persona!

>In a large burst, they summon their Personas. The twins’ Personas look a bit identical. Both wore green and white outfit-like armor with green helmets. They also had swords and green capes. The capes also have white letters on them. On Jared’s had “DUM” and Jesse’s had “DEE”.

(Insert song: Every Second Matters from OK K.O.!)

Tutorial

Even though they are two people, Jared and Jesse work together as one.

When not using their Personas, Jared is good with Melee attacks (using a claymore) and Jesse does Ranged attack (using a triple barreled pistol).

Jared’s and Jesse’s Personas, Tweedledum & Tweedledee, also act as one. Tweedledum uses Physical and Support Skills while Tweedledee uses Wind and Healing Skills. They are weak to Psychokinesis and Curse.

Jin: You’re still much too new at this. Moros, deal with them.

>Moros uses Stagnant Air. Tweedledum uses Charge. Moros uses Taunt. Jared and Jesse are enraged. Jared attacks with blind Rage and his claymore. However, Jin dodges it. Moros uses Snap. Jesse attack with his pistol. It was a critical hit. Jesse shoots his pistol again. Jin gets back up and Moros uses Agidyne. Jared attacks again. Moros uses Bufudyne. The twins became Frozen. Although the Rage wore off, they were still under the Freeze effect. Jin throws a hand grenade. It shatters the twins. Tweedledee uses Diarama. Moros uses Megido. The twins dodge it. Tweedledum use Charge again. Moros uses Eigaon. It knocks both twins down. Jin throws another grenade. They get back up again and Tweedledum uses Assault Dive. It was a critical hit. Tweedledum uses Assault Dive again. Jin gets back up and Moros uses Brain Jack. Luckily, it missed. Tweedledee uses Garudyne. Moros uses Ziodyne. The twins get Shocked. They couldn’t move. Jin runs in and attack with his briefcase. However, he gets Shocked. Jared and Jesse are now free and Tweedledee uses Garudyne again. It was a technical hit due to the Shock. Jin still couldn’t move. Jesse shoots his gun. Another technical hit. Jin recovers and Moros uses Giant Slice. Tweedledee uses Diarama. Moros uses Agidyne. It Burns the twins. Tweedledum uses Tempest Slash. The Burn eats away at their health. Moros uses Garudyne. It was a technical hit due to the Burn, despite that they can resist Wind attacks. Tweedledum uses Charge. The burn eats away their health again. Moros uses Garudyne again. Luckily, they dodge it. Tweedledum uses Brave Blade. It was a critical hit. Tweedledum uses Brave Blade again. Now Jin was at his lowest health. Though, the Burn still eats away at their own health.

Jin: I see... You have been training.

Jared: Are you gonna quit now?

Jesse: And change that guy back?

Jin: Sorry, but what I just did to him... Is completely new to me... And your training was in vain.

>Jin gets back up and Moros uses Mamudo. It causes the twins’ health to drop to 1.

Jared: This could be bad. Jesse?

Jesse: No good. I already used up most of my energy with those Wind spells. I can’t heal and I forgot to get items before coming here.

Jared: Well, it was fun while it lasted.

Jesse: It’s been nice knowing ya, little brother.

Jared: Same here, big brother.

>The two of them held each other in defense. Jin uses Soma on himself. Jared and Jesse still defended themselves.

Jin: And now, to end this.

>Moros uses Mamudo...

Jared and Jesse: Mother.

?????: Persona!

>The new Persona takes the hit for the twins.

Jared and Jesse: Huh!?

Jin: Tch! I knew you would get here sooner or later.

>We emerge from the shadow to show ourselves.

Sorry for the wait. Here.

>I use Soma on the twins.

Jared: Thank?

Joker: You better be. That was my last Soma and I don’t know when my next shipment will come in.

Jesse: But why? We helped that jerk turn your friend into an alien.

After seeing you fight Jin Shirato to have him change Skull back, we can see that neither of necessarily bad.

Just misguided.

Skull: (back in his Overflow form) Hey, you! You did this to me! You better change me back right now!

Jin: I already said I don’t know how. I used this place to do it.

I’m still reeling how Mementos is back.

Jin: Heh! Guess you Phantom Thieves aren’t as great as you think after all. There’s always going to be that one group of people who still wish to be ruled over. Though I doubt Yaldabaoth will come back just like that, but it was enough to bring Mementos back.

Constantine: He’s got a point, love.

Either way, we won’t let you get away with this.

You hurt our friend, now you have to pay.

Though, I wish I knew how you used Mementos to change Skull into Overflow or even who we are.

Jin: Very well. They call it the Dream Festival System for a reason... It was created from people’s dreams.

You mean... That’s where it came from? People’s dreams.

Jin: Yes. The dreams of the audience and the idols. I won’t bother you how it’s done... But I suppose you could ask... The Velvet Room. But I can tell you this. Dreams are the same as human thoughts and thought are part of people’s cognition. So I used the cognitive world to create a trap Dorika meant to mutate whoever took a hold of it. And Ryuji Sakamoto was the best target. As for how I determined who your real identities are... Putting strikethroughs is not exactly going to make you anonymous.

But you have to admit, it’s been working for us so far.

Jin: Umm, why do have four ears? When did you add cat ears.

Mona: Thought I’d make a little more like me.

Jin: (sarcastic) Right.

Focus here! We still can’t let this guys just do what he wants.

Jin: Heh! I like to see you try.

So be it then.

Then it’s time to work! Persona!

>Necronomicon scans Jin and Moros.

Oracle: I’m not getting any weaknesses. But avoid using Fire, Bless, or Curse Skills.

Fox: If he uses Fire Skills a lot, perhaps Ice might help. Persona!

Skull: I’m goin’ in, too. He ruined my life. It’s only fair. Persona!

Oracle: Hold up, Skull. I’m detecting something off. It looks like your new form might help...

But be careful when you use Electricity or if he uses it.

Skull: (a bit worried) I see. (regains confidence) But don’t worry. We’ll be finished with this guy before you know it.

Jesse: We wanna fight, too.

Joker: I don’t see why not. It looks like you’re ready for Round 2.

Jared: Yup! Tweedledum and Tweedledee are just raring to go.

Joker: Tweedledum and Tweedledee? That’s what your Personas are called?

>This got me thinking...

Actually, I think I know just the Persona that can help.

>I change Personas.

Joker: PERSONA!

Jesse: That’s going to help us? That scrawny thing?

Joker: Alice may not look much, but she’s very powerful. You’ll see.

Jesse: (still not sure) Okay.

Jin: Come at me.

(Insert song: Unavoidable Battle)

Tutorial

Skull’s battle functions are different in his Overflow form.

As Overflow, Skull’s Ranged attacks have been altered. He no longer can use a shotgun. However, in its place, he can use a water gun. When he uses water gun on an enemy who is weak to Ice, it will be treated as an Ice attack. It can even be effective against Fire and Electric based enemies with a chance of a critical hit. But be cautious. If he uses it on an Electric based enemy, there’s a chance that he could get Shocked. Like all guns, Skull’s water gun runs out of ammo. However, each bullet is replaced by a gallon of water with a gauge on it. Each time the water gun is used, the gauge drops. When the gauge runs out, Skull will move on to the next gallon. Right now, Skull has 5 gallons of water. He will receive more as he levels up.

As Overflow, be careful. Whenever Skull attacks with his Persona’s Electric Skills, there’s a chance it will recoil and hit him. Don’t worry, he won’t be Shocked.

As Overflow, Skull’s resistance to Electric attack is no longer available. He won’t be weak to it (he’ll still be weak to Wind), but the chances of him being Shocked has increased. However, if Skull uses his Ultimate Persona, Seiten Taisei, his Electric Block will still be in effect.

>Alice uses Concentrate. Goemon uses Masukukaja. Captain Kidd uses Matarukaja. Tweedledum uses Marakukaja. Moros uses Triple Down. Luckily, our increased agility allowed us all to dodge it. Alice uses Megidolaon. Goemon uses Raising Slash. Captain Kidd uses Charge. Tweedledum also uses Charge.

Jin: You won’t win this time... There’s no cure for stupidity.

>Moros uses Ziodyne on Skull. Just like the tutorial predicted, Skull was Shocked. Luckily, I used Non-Static Gum and I have plenty to spare.

Oracle: We’ll see about that. Let the duel of the hackers begin!

>Goemon uses Bufudyne. It was enough to Freeze him. Captain Kidd uses Assault Dive. It shatters him. Tweedledum uses Myriad Slashes. Moros uses Agidyne on Fox. It knocks him down. Moros uses Garudyne on Skull. It knocks him down. Jin then tries to attack me with his briefcase. Luckily, I dodged it. Alice uses Concentrate. Fox gets back up and Goemon uses Bufudyne. Skull gets back up and Captain Kidd uses Ziodyne. It recoils. Tweedledee uses Garudyne. Moros uses Maragion. It knocks Fox down and Burns me. Jin throws a grenade at the twins. Alice uses Megidolaon. The Burn eats away at my health. Fox gets back up and uses a Coolifier Pad to cure me of the Burn. Skull uses his water gun. It was a critical hit.

Skull: All right! Time for some pain!

>After the attack, Jin was still up, but now a little more weaker.

Oracle: Support’s on the way!

>Necronomicon uses Mediarama. Tweedledum uses Assault Dive. Moros uses Maziodyne. Skull was Shocked. I use Non-Static Gum on him. Goemon uses Masukukaja. Captain Kidd uses Matarukaja. Tweedledum uses Marakukaja.

Jin: Playtime is over, kids. It’s time for the real deal!

>Moros uses Mahama.

Oracle: Look out!

>Necronomicon uses Final Guard.

Joker: Thanks, Oracle. Damn! If only Curse attacks worked on this guy, I could use Alice’s full power.

Skull: I could do it. But this time may not work.

Jared: Leave that to us.

Jesse: Just buy us some time.

Joker: Right. We’ll leave it to you.

>I defend myself. Fox uses Master Coffee on me. Skull also defends himself.

Jared: Here goes!

>Tweedledum uses Rebellion on Skull.

Jin: There is nothing you can do now. Quit wasting my time.

>Moros uses Agidyne Fox. It knocks him down. Moros then uses Ziodyne on Skull. Luckily, he dodged it. Alice uses Concentrate. Fox gets back up and Goemon uses Deadly Fury.

Skull: All right! Here we go!

>Skull uses his water gun. It was a critical hit.

Skull: Okay, Joker, the rest is up to you!

Baton Pass!

Joker: I won’t disappoint. Now raise, Alice!

DISCLAIMER 2: This may not actually work in game on a Curse resistant enemy.

>Jin was finally defeated.

Jin: Guess you... Really are as smart as you look.

Hells yeah!

Crow: But we just want to know one thing...

Why? Why did you do this to Ryuji?

Jin: I could tell you... But that would spoil the surprise.

Are you fucking series!?

Jin: Tch! Whatever. You’re going to find out soon enough... But if you really want to know... Try asking the Kirijo bitch.

>Jin quickly gets back up.

Queen: Stop him!

Jin: We’ll meet again soon.

>We try to grab him, but Jin uses a Smokescreen and vanishes.

Skull: Dammit! He got away!

Don’t worry. We’ll get him soon.

Jared and Jesse: We’re so sorry about this.

Oracle: Don’t worry. Like I said, you just went down the wrong road...

But you still have a lot of explaining to do.

Jesse: Believe us, we do.

Noir: But not here. We better go.

>With that, we leave Mementos.

>The maid cafe in Akihabara. We came here so Jared and Jesse can tell us everything.

Jared: Won’t people think it weird to see an alien here?

Futaba: I’m sure they’ll just think he’s in cosplay like they did last time.

Clara: (coming up to us) Welcome home, master. Say, that’s some nice cosplay you have on. You look just like Overflow.

Ryuji: Uh, thanks.

Clara: So what can I get you, this splendid evening?

Ren: We’ll have some Sincere Omelettes and Relaxing Coffee, please.

Akechi: Make my omelette Love★Pancakes.

Jesse: And make mine and my brother’s coffee Oo-hot Tea.

Ryuji: I’ll just have some water.

Clara: Coming right up.

>She leaves to get our order.

Jesse: I guess we better start explainin’.

Jared What would you like to know?

Ren: Well for starters, how do you guys have Personas?

Jesse: Me and Jared were candidates for some kinda test here in Japan... Mostly someplace called... Tatsumi Pot Island.

You mean Tatsumi Port Island.

Jesse: Right. Sorry, I’m not good with Japanese.

Makoto: I think I know which test you’re talking about. Mitsuru san told Sis and she told me.

Akechi: She told me, too. She said the the Kirijo Group were looking for people have the potential to wield a Persona. Especially orphan children.

Haru: You mean the two of you are orphans?

Jesse: We might as well be.

Jared: Our mom died when we were very young. And our dad’s in prison.

Futaba: You mean Ace Deucey? I can see that.

Makoto: What happened when the Kirijo Group took you in?

Jared: Nothing, really. We never actually went to Japan.

Makoto: How come?

Jesse: Headmaster Spritle. He took us in. He seemed happy enough with it since he never married. He’s been a bit like a father to us. We even became friends with his nephew, X. But after awhile, we became a bit of a handful and when we were old enough, we started living on our own. But Spritle let us stay at Racer Academy as students.

Jared: But then, Jin showed up. He said he hacked into the Kirijo Group and found us. He took us to that Mementos place. Not the one here, the one at the school.

Ann: Racer Academy has a Mementos? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. That place is like a town in itself. So of course there are a lot of people with distorted hearts there.

Makoto: What happened there?

Jesse: He gave us our Evokers and told us to shoot ourselves. We were scared at first, but we did it. And that’s how we got our Personas.

Makoto: Does your Personas have anything to do with Lily’s Palace coming back and disappearing again?

Jared: It’s our Personas’ unique ability. We can rebuild a person’s Palace. But it only works on a Palace once and not forever. After we leave the Palace, it goes back to being gone, and this time, for good.

Makoto: Is that how Mementos in our city came back?

Jesse: Yeah. But it’s way different than a normal Palace. After we leave, it’s still there.

Diego: Mementos is the Palace of the general public. If there are enough people with warped desires, that’s enough to solidify the foundation of it.

Yusuke: So we may have to travel down the the deepest depths to remove it again.

Diego: Who knows.

>Diego reaches into his jacket and pulls something out.

You still have that?

You’re not seriously going to drink out of it, are you?

Constantine: She’s right, bloke. If that’s anything like the real Holy Grail, you know what will happen if you drink out of it.

Diego: Of course I won’t drink from it.

Ryuji: I don’t understand. What’s this Holy Grail thing again?

Constantine: According to Etri- Jason Blood, the Holy Grail was used by Jesus Christ in the Last Supper. When he drank from it, some of his essence merged with the cup, granting it great power. If you were to drink from it, you would gain immortality... Maybe even bring someone back to life. That’s why Arty’s Knights went looking for it.

Ryuji: Arty’s Knight?

Diego: You mean King Arthur and his Knight of the Round Table. I know that. They went on a quest to find it so Arthur can make himself immortal and not lose to his son and nephew, Mordred.

Constantine: (a bit impressed) I see. You know the story, too.

Diego: My real name, Morgana, comes from Morgan le Fay. She was Arthur’s half-sister. Even though she was consider the villain, she was also a great trickster who seduced Arthur which lead to the birth of Mordred.

Constantine: Indeed.

Haru: What happened to the Holy Grail after that?

Constantine: Who knows. Some say it was found and lost by some archaeologist named after a state... But they watch too many movies. Me? I don’t really care... What use do I have for immortality?

Diego: (putting the Grail away) I guess that’s true.

Clara: (coming up) Thank you for waiting! Here are your omelettes, pancakes, and... The incredibly bitter vegetable juice.

Ren: We didn’t order vegetable juice. Please remake it.

Clara: (blushing) Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll get your real order.

Constantine: No need.

>Constantine waves his hand and the vegetable juice changes into the drinks we ordered.

Clara: (surprised) Oh my... Is there... Anything else you’d like?

Constantine: (acting smug) How ‘bout... The time you get off?

Clara: (blushing again) Wow. I guess it’s true about what they say about you British men: You’re real charmers.

>She leaves... A little wobbly.

And here I thought Ren was the ladies’ man.

You’re still not gonna get over Valentine’s, are you?

Jared: What happened?

The girls: Don’t ask.

Ryuji: Back on subject. What about me? How do we change me back to myself?

Futaba: Me and Akechi spoke with Harry and Peter on the way here. If Griffin Rock was in your dream, then it must be the key to changing you back. If we go there, we might find our answer. And we better find it soon.

Akechi: She’s right. I told them about the time I fell into a coma. It was around the same time Peter bonded with the V-252. He told me he bonded with it a second time and I passed out at the same time. He told me he bonded with it again a third time to stop a villain called Thanos. That was while we were doing Dancing in Starlight. But I didn’t go into a coma that time. I just felt weak.

Diego: And the same thing’s happening with Harry because Ryuji became Overflow. But instead of going into a coma, Harry simply became weak. How could that be?

???????: I can answer that.

>We quickly turn to see Lavenza with Professor Paradox.

Ren: What do you mean?

When Peter Parker fused with the Symbiote known as Venom, you didn’t form a connection with him. But then you came to New York and formed one with him and Harry Lyman. It was that bond that shielded Goro Akechi when Peter Parker fused with the Symbiote a third time.

Ren: So my bond with Peter... Saved Akechi?

Lavenza: That is the case. However, it would only be a temporary protection. Akechi would remain awake yet weak as long as Peter’s consciousness remained intact and active. However, if it were to be locked away, Akechi would fall into a coma. But if Peter Parker’s consciousness was completely gone and sent to the Sea of Souls leaving only the Symbiote’s...

I would have gone with it.

Ryuji: (worried) You mean, if I don’t change back soon, Harry could fall into a coma? And I my consciousness goes... He’ll die!?

We won’t let that happen, brother, I promise.

Ryuji: ... Thanks.

>Ryuji takes a scoop of his omelette. But he stops.

Ryuji: I just remembered... I don’t have a mouth. How am I suppose to eat?

Ann: Yeah, what does Overflow’s kind eat? I don’t think omelettes.

Paradox: Cascans mostly eat algae and plankton.

Ryuji: For real!? Gross!

Paradox: Of course, their most favorite delicacy are clams. Probably lucky that you are going to a place where you will most likely find New England Clam Chowder.

Ryuji: That’s something I guess.

Constantine: Right. Now I believe we’re in need of that team Futaba and Diego were talking about.

Ren: I thought it out. I know Harry would be a good choice since he and Ryuji are connected. But I'm afraid he might be too weak to come with us. But we’ll still contact him on the computer.

Akechi: And Peter will be busy helping his aunt with F.E.A.S.T.

Futaba: Luck for you guys, I’ve compiled a list of people who might help in the science department. You might want to choose four. I didn’t add Paradox since he clearly has other things to deal with.

Paradox: Now that’s a little harsh. But yes, I do not think it would be wise for me to stick around for too long. And that goes double for Azmuth. But I’ll leave the decisions in your capable hands, Ren Amamiya.

I’ll see what I can do.

>I look at the list. I better choose wisely.

>>Miles Morales >Gwen Stacy >Anya Corazon >Alistaire Smythe >>Curt Connors >Tony Stark >Max Modell >>Ryan Choi >>Conor

Diego: I had a feeling you would choose Miles. He’s just as smart as Peter and the others at Horizon.

Ryuji: Same for Dr. Connors. He was the best teacher I had at Oz Academy.

Constantine: Ryan Choi? I know a Ryan Choi. But guess this is a much different Ryan Choi.

Futaba: Pretty much.

Constantine: ... Well, as long as the Deathstroke of that world hasn’t killed him yet, I’ll see what I can do.

Jesse: And Conor? Our Conor?

Futaba: Well, from what I’ve learned, he’s a really great mechanic. That’s a bit like a scientist.

Besides, he might explode with happiness over something like this.

Jesse: That seem like it.

Jared: His pen pal leaves just around here. We’ll see if he can contact him since, well, we’re... Not ready to face Headmaster Spritle.

Ren: Then, why not come come with us? If we work together, we’ll be able to undo the damage Jin did.

Jared: You’d... You’d really do that for us?

Why not? We could always use more phantom thieves on our side.

Jesse: Us? Phantom thieves? That... That would be kinda a good. We only joined up with Jin because we thought it would be a good time. But I guess we got more than we bargained for.

Jared: We won’t let you down.

>We all agreed. Looks like the Phantom Thieves just got two more members.

Futaba: That deals with Team Science. Now for Team Sorcery.

Constatnine: No need to add me to that list. I’m already on this.

>I take another look at the list. Who should I choose to help with the magic part of our problem?

>>Zatanna >>Dr. Strange >Dr. Fate >>Robin Sena >Tanpopo Kuraishi >Yukiko Amagi >>Headmistress Faragonda >Headmistress Griffin >Headmaster Saladin

Constantine: Good choice, mate. Then again, you’re thinking of another Zatanna. Unfortunately, she has her gloves tied. You’ll have to settle for the one I know.

Diego: I suppose Dr. Strange will work,too. We do kind of owe him for trying to rob him.

Ann: Robin Sena? That’s that witch we met at the witch’s diner. I guess she could help. We owe her for the Kappa Tea. And Headmistress Faragonda is a good choice, too. Since Summer has begun, she has some time now. (whisper) And we can continue.

>I still wonder why Ann is suddenly interested in magic.

Paradox: Looks like this team is coming together quite nicely. Then, I’ll leave you to it.

Lavenza: And remember, I will be the in the Velvet Room to assist you.

Paradox: And one more thing. I picked up this for you.

Paradox: This ID Mask should be much more long lasting than a Glamour spell. But you may wish to avoid lightning flashes.

>Ryuji takes the mask and puts it on. He changes to human form.

Ryuji: Thanks. But I still wish I can be human again.

Paradox: And you will.

>With that, Paradox and Lavenza leave.

>Now we have our team. Let us hope we will succeed.

>On the coast of Maine, just a little ways from Griffin Rock, is what is known as the Rescue Bot Training Center. Inside, a young Autobot had just finished his laps for the day. Suddenly, another Autobot came in.

Hey, Blurr, another package came for you.

All right! About time. They really need to speed up their delivery.

Salvage: Maybe because they don’t know where you live and you’re using Kade’s credit card, so asking for a speedy delivery cost too much and you know how cheap Kade can be.

>Blurr takes his package.

Salvage: Is it another one of those... I know it’s normal to be a fan, but... To have dreams of them.

Blurr: I know it’s odd since Autobots don’t normally dream... But there it is... Just promise no one else will know. Quickshadow already knows, but she’s not interested in telling anyone. But the others, especially Heatwave...

Salvage: I promise that this will be our secret. Just try to keep it in moderation.

Blurr: Will do.

>Blurr takes his package to a secret park of the Training Center. He opens it.

Blurr: Finally, my collection is complete.

>Blurr places the Skull figurine with the other Phantom Thieves figurines and the rest of the merchandise.

Blurr: Oh Primus, I wish I could meet these guys... Especially Skull.

>The story continues. Wish us luck.

[housingandhomelessnessla-blog]

Mental Health and Homelessness

By Nadia Contreras & Moanni Leos

One’s mental well being is vital to their way of life as this affects how they carry out daily activities- such as handling work, maintaining social and personal relationships, but even endangering their own physical health as well. Previously in the early 20th century, the institutionalization of the mentally ill was the norm; but as the development of psychiatric medications increased, so did the advocacy for the abolishment of psychiatric hospitals. These prescription drugs were meant to ease and moderate the symptoms, and with Federal Medicaid and Medicare coming into play, access to these medications became increasingly easier to obtain. In the 1950s, the phenomenon known as deinstitutionalization began, pushing for further rights and better care for patients. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed the Community Health Act; this caused state mental hospitals to soon cease its practices, and have have patients treated locally in their own communities. But as he was assassinated one month after signing this law, it was never fully funded, ultimately having those who are mentally ill become a societal issue. The New York State Office of Manhattan indicated in 1981 that 75 percent of their homeless population suffered from mental illnesses- 37 percent were alcoholics and 19 percent were schizophrenics.  In 1985, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) estimates that from the 12,000 homeless population of the District of Columbia, 50 percent struggle with “severe mental disorders” (Taylor 1987:207).  Although these numbers may vary, what it tells us that a large quantity of any homeless population suffers from a mental issue. The House of Representatives states that “the vary state of homelessness can cause varying degrees of mental illness in relatively short periods, there may be even larger percentages of the homeless” (Taylor 1987:207). Just the idea of being homeless, can stress anyone out.

Tying this back to our present day, the large number of people visibly on the street has yet to extinguish, but we can clearly see the link between the increasing numbers of homeless along with the number those suffering with a mental illness. In Los Angeles downtown area lies a 50 block of the highest concentration of the homeless population known as Skid Row. According to the Los Angeles Chamber’s Homeless Brochure, 42 percent of the Los Angeles’ homeless resides in Skid Row. Many flock to Skid Row in search of cheap housing and needed resources. Some programs that specifically help the ill include LAMP and the Skid Row Housing Trust. Services include: free meals, laundry and shower services, support groups, individual and group counseling, assistance in obtaining disability, Social Security and other government entitlements, recovery support (including substance abuse counseling and treatment), physical and mental care, chronic disease detection and management, case managers, and job trainings and educational programs. The downside to these programs is that they do not cover all the residents of Skid Row as they are only able to take in several in at a time. As described in the film,  Lost Angels,  Skid Row is seen as an “open asylum”, due to the large quantity of mentally ill taking refuge in its streets. According to LAHSA’s Homeless Count 2018 Report, from the total homeless population of 52,765, 26 percent report a serious mental illness, 15 percent report substance use disorder, and 10 percent report suffering from both. This is only the number that is reported, not everyone is completely honest with themselves nor with surveyors, resulting the exact percentage to be a potentially higher variable.

How LAPD deals mental health with on Skid Row (and other parts of L.A. and the nation), is unjust. Rather than providing resources or sending them to new homes, these homeless are victimized and most often incarcerated in prisons and jails. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, over 50 percent of state incarcerated males and 70 percent females deal with mental health issues.  This has vastly increased the number of people placed into prisons, making the U.S. number one in the world in prison populations. This is linked to the idea that Forrest Stuart defines as “therapeutic policing”-  when police attempt to outreach  residents back onto their feet and into society, similarly to a social worker. Rather than aiding them, this puts the homeless at a disadvantage, giving them criminal backgrounds that many did not have prior. These homeless sweeps do not solve any issues, simply displacing them. These sweeps increased in Skid Row due to the 2006 Safer Cities Initiative, which prompted to reduce crime. Inversely, this caused the relationship between Skid Row residents and police to negatively intensify as fear was spread throughout the community. In 2018, a similar program comprised of LAPD police had assembled, forming the group known as “HOPE”, funded by LAHSA’s Homeless Count Statement. They work to disassemble homeless who live in other areas of Los Angeles, such as Hollywood, Echo Park, Venice, and Koreatown. These “sweeps” destroy people’s “homes”, causing them to lose the few possessions they had and even their personal documentations. The police will publicly blame and shame these citizens. On one account, an anonymous unhoused Angeleno said, “I tried to commit suicide the other  night because (sanitation) took my stuff. I was freezing outside. I was freezing. I thought the only way I could stop this was to cut myself. . . they left me with no money in my pocket and all my stuff gone.” The ones who should be present in these situations, social and mental health workers, are never there during these aggressive sweeps. These sweeps can be seen as people “sweeping the homeless under the rug”. This hides the real issues occuring, rather than solving them simply because those in more affluent communities aren’t too keen on the idea of seeing the homeless in “their backyard”. Police are not social workers, Stuart said during our Skype call, “We have people, social workers, who are trained for stuff like this, happily looking for jobs.” Hiring those who are certified not only benefits the homeless, but it is ultimately also cheaper to hire them rather than using police who are suppose to be protecting us.

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Hope-Team-Seeks-Out-Services-for-LAs-Homeless-497628651.html

(Clearly doesn’t know what’s actually happening)

In order to resolve the homeless crisis, those in politics must also do their part to create policies that effectively aid those who are suffering. Many of the problems that the homeless face are due to the lack of affordable housing, jobs, and the right people handling and “helping” them. We need more places like LAMP and Project 50 to take action and aid more of those lost in the streets with insanity.

Bibliography

Bassuk, Rubin, Lauriat. 1984. “Is Homelessness a Mental Health Problem?”. 1-5.

(http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.477.3953&rep=rep1&type=pdf)

Center For Health Justice. “Lamp Village”. Los Angeles, California. Retrieved January 20, 2019.

(http://www.healthjustice.net/homepage/resources/all-resources/item/22-lamp-village)

Greenberg, Rosenheck. 2008. “ Jail Incarceration, Homelessness, Mental Health: A National

Study”. (https://ps.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/ps.2008.59.2.170)

James, Doris and Glaze, Lauren. September 6, 2006. “Mental Health Problems of Prison and Jail

Inmates”. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Retrieved January 20, 2019.

(https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=789)

LAHSA. 2018. “Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count” 2018 Results”. Retrieved January 10,

2019.

LA Chamber. “Homeless Brochure”. Los Angeles, California. LA Chamber. Retrieved January 20, 2019. (http://www.lachamber.com/clientuploads/LUCH_committee/102208_Homeless_brochure.pdf0).

Link, Bruce, Jo Phelan, et al. 1996. “Public Attitudes and Beliefs About Homeless people” in

Homelessness in America ed. Jim Baumohl, Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press. Retrieved January 14, 2019.

Lost Angels 2010. 2015. Youtube. Retrieved January 21, 2019

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB_P3eljq1Y).

Napper, Thomas. 2010. Lost Angels: Skid Row Is My Home. [Documentary]. USA. Retrieved January 14, 2019.

National Public Radio 2009. “'The Soloist': Living With Mental Illness On Skid Row” Retrieved

January 21, 2019 (https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103198515).

Skid Row Housing Trust. “Current Programs and Services.”  Retrieved January 22, 2019

(http://skidrow.org/work/services/current-programs-services/ )

Taylor, Gregory. 1987. “Bitter Freedom:Deinstitutionalization and the Homeless.” Journal of

Contemporary Health Law & Policy 3(1)

Retrieved January 22, 2019 (https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/75ea/5dec7ad18fae84a3648c6aa799af6d03093f.pdf )

The People Concern.” Mental Health Care.” Retrieved January 22, 2019  

[djrelentless]

“The New Hitler, Uncle Tom and The Racist Reich”

As the reports keep coming in every day of the continued violence and hateful rhetoric at Trump rallies dominate the news, I have started this blog several times but continue to be distracted at how unbelievable the presidential election is this year. Never would I have believed that we would be talking dick size and Hitler style speeches to get to the Oval Office. This is probably the all time low in U.S. politics.

It seems unfathomable that in 2016 there would be people making pledges to a business con-artist and legions chanting and cheering for violence against people of color. But that's exactly where we are. All because the belief that white supremacy was still alive and well in 2008. Unfortunately for them, Barrack Obama proved that the United States was ready to elect its first African-American President. The good ol' boys in Washington did not even bat an eye of concern when he announced his candidacy. Instead…they were really worried about Hillary Clinton (or more likely the concept of Bill Clinton being anywhere near the White House again).

And although this would open the door to the many possibilities of what the next President of the United States could look like, it also opened a pandora's box of hate. The resentment and anger of white privilege would fester into the Tea Party and now the new racist reich that rally around Donald Trump. But Trump supporters are not the only scary people out there. The other racists who are following Ted Cruz are pretty damn unsettling too. Cruz is a complete throwback to Jim Crow as a candidate can be.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/01/polit...

I'm watching one of Trump's mouth pieces, Jeffrey Lord defending him on CNN and distorting U.S. history to justify why there is violence at Trump's rallies. His claims that because originally the Ku Klux Klan started in the Democrat Party is that these protesters are to blame because it is in their nature to be violent. Meanwhile there are tons of footage of Trump telling crowds to "Punch 'em in the head", "Take me out on a stretcher" and "I'll pay your legal fees". Sounds like inciting a riot to me. So, when I saw the footage of what happened in Chicago and heard that they had to cancel Trump's rally I wasn't surprised. And I imagine there's going to be a lot more of those incidents to come.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politic...

But the one thing that I just can't figure out is why no one has figured out that Trump has no idea what he's talking about when it comes to the issues in the campaign. The reason he has resorted to all these theatrics has been to stir clear of having to actually say anything of substance. And when he does speak on an issue he sticks his foot in his mouth. He likes to tote that he is so smart, but his vocabulary does not go any further than words like "huge", "best" and "win". It's like he read an affirmation book and has literally stood in front of a mirror (basically the hateful racists who are angry about Obama) and practiced affirming what he would like to happen. I always say that we must change our vocabulary in order to tell the universe what we want. Say what you want….not what you don't want. And Trump has taken that to the tenth degree. He stands on those stages and says what he wants to happen and people follow and believe him. He has no idea how to run a country. Hell…he has shown over and over again that he does not know how to be a good business man.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/...

For the protesters….don't go into a Trump rally with attire that says you are not a Trump supporter. Go in looking exactly like what they are expecting. Don't disrupt what is being said or done. Take your phone out and record it! Then start posting it. Get it to your local news stations. Let America see the ugly truth of what this man is doing and saying (as well as his followers). Yes…there are news organizations at most of his rallies, but for some reason they all stop short of showing the horror of what he stands for. CNN has showed brief seconds of protesters of color being pushed and shoved by not only by the local police and secret service but also people in the crowd. And most of those being thrown out were not resisting or fighting back. But if we could catch the rhetoric and hate speech that Trump is saying and compile it I think we can drive the message home of what Middle America thinks of the rest of the country.

The only thing that has worked in his favor has been that there has never been a political animal like him before. He is not a politician so he had no rules of engagement when it comes to campaigning. And quite frankly….everyone thought that he would just burn himself out early on the trail and the Republicans could continue on business as usual. And by the time they had figured out that he wasn't going anywhere it was too late. He had bullied his way to the front of the pack and was dominating the other candidates because they were all trying to be gentlemen. And poor Marco Rubio fell right into Trump's trap. Reality TV tactics brought Rubio right down to Trump's level and Ted Cruz profited by Rubio's mistake. Cruz instigated Rubio to go fight the big bully while knowing all along that it would open the door for him. I applaud John Kasich for staying out of the mud slinging, but do not discount his ugly agenda behind the kind, soft spoken Republican. If you dig into his dirty deeds he is the candidate who really has delivered the conservative goods when it comes to abortion and other hot topics. So you see….anyone from the Republican side would be toxic to the progress that the United States has made in acceptance and equal rights. They all want to turn back time to when they had more control over the country.

Besides all the candidates I think another thing that is bothering me during this Republican primary is the blatant propaganda machine that keeps trying to play Jedi mind tricks when defending the wrong side of history. Folks like Jeffrey Lord and Katrina Pierson make me cringe every time I see them on television. They know that what they are saying is a script and complete lies, but they sit on air and spew these twisted accounts of the daily events without a conscience.

But even worst are the new Uncle Toms that betray their race for a paycheck or some false sense of security that Trump is going to reward them when he gets what he wants. I'm talking about folks like Omarosa and Stacey Dash (I don't know Raven-Symone's political affiliation but she's a little cray-cray as well). And don't get me started on celebrities like Mike Tyson and Dennis Rodman. But I guess the all time ridiculous endorsement has to be Dr. Ben Carson. What on earth could have made you get behind the man who compared you to a child molester? What do all of these people have in common? Money! Money has blinded all of these people into forgetting who they really are and where they came from. But the truth of the matter is that if any of them got into any kind of legal trouble, they would find out how O.J. Simpson feels right about now. You're fabulous and great for ratings and photo opts but in the end you are still black in America. And most of their comments are such a slap in the face of civil rights that it makes you wonder how they sleep at night. When Omarosa said that the protesters at Trump rallies get what they deserve for showing up, I wanted to jump through the television and drag her into the average African-American neighborhood so she could see how real black people live and what they face on a daily basis. No one on the Republican side has spoken a word about the Black Lives Matters Movement. The amnesia that these folks get when they get a little paper is astounding! And Carson should take a good look at the coverage of his speech at his Trump endorsement….Trump wouldn't even stand on the stage with him at the same time (unlike when Chris Christie and Sarah Palin endorsed him).

http://theslot.jezebel.com/all-the-...

But I guess another delusional public figure is the big bag of con-fuse-ment is Caitlyn Jenner. I think she is about to find out what the Uncle Toms are going to find out as well. She actually believes that by throwing her support behind Ted Cruz that she will not only be helping the Trans Movement but she is going to be welcomed in the Republican fold by such a strict conservative. What an idiot! I actually defended Caitlyn when she came out and started her reality TV show. But like anything that is associated with the Kardashians, the longer is goes on the more you realize that it is just another media whore stunt…..rich people trying to make money off poor people watching them on TV. And I guess the sisterhood has ended between Cait & Candys Cane since she recently endorsed Hillary Clinton. And reports say that Cait's reality TV show is endangered of being cancelled because of poor ratings. As if she thought that her success was going to happen even though she insulted the LGBT community when she sat on Ellen and said she didn't really believe in gay marriage equality. I'm sure many will be upset with me for saying so, but Caitlyn's downfall is going to be Bruce's mentality.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/201...

News pundits are looking around like they are so surprised that Trump has garnered so much support of the past year. But I'm not. After Obama interrupted Trump's season finale to announce Bin Laden's Death, I'm sure that was a declaration of war to Mr. Drumpf (his real last name). Thus came Trump's lead in the "Birther" charge. And I'm sure all of Obama's jokes during that Correspondents Dinner also was the final slap in the face as well.

This is the scariest time in U.S. politics. The new Racist Reich believes that they are really taking their country. Like White America is losing control and needs to take a stand. The brown people are getting a little too up-iddy since one of them made it into the White House. Republicans have yelled over and over again that Obama has ruined the office. He's weak on defense (instead of being strong on offense). He went on an "Apology Tour". When in my opinion, he fixed the U.S.'s image. Many world leaders breathed a sigh of relief when Obama became president. After dealing with Bush & Cheney and their foolishness it must have been a welcomed change to deal with someone who was articulate and willing to talk civilized. image what will happen if Trump or Cruz get into office. There is already talk of banning both from some countries.

I have been watching the facebook feeds and it is interesting to see everyone fighting for their candidates. I have not said publicly who I am voting for. Mainly because I don't want the campaigning to come to my page. I have a few friends who are very vocal about their beliefs and can't remember that they are not on their page. There's nothing like having a post being high-jacked for someone else's agenda. All I will say is that I am definitely a registered Democrat and I will definitely fight to see that Trump does not make it into the White House.