#i know he's playing an over the top german kid's movie villain but i have to believe

[girl-drink-drunk]

watching beethoven's treasure trail because i am such a slut for jeffrey combs but honestly this might the best decision i've ever made

[return-to-twisted-wonderland]

🔆anon

Fun fact, if Kit didn’t disappear, she probably would have been very close to Kalim in personality. If less extroverted.

Intentional ignorance and all.

— —

Disappearing Children: Kit

—

Vil doesn’t know if he is truly unlucky anymore. It is certainly what he thought when he first had the responsibility of a young child dumped on him, but actually spending time with Kit is not so bad.

The Kit he’s used to has always been snarky. Hiding a sharp mind and a sharp tongue under a saccharine mask. Yet, if this is not some elaborate prank, apparently Kit was the exact opposite as a child.

She is still a child with energy and impulsivity, sure, but she is just the sweetest thing. She loves to spend time quietly watching Vil, or anyone in the dorm, even if she does interrupt every now and then. She also loves having Vil style her hair, and she seems to love him doing small amounts of makeup on her so she can look exactly like him.

And she actually listens to him for once. Vil is finally free of the teaming freshman undermining his every order.

One thing does feel shocking though, is Kit admiting to her creative mind. Vil was always aware she had one. No one does as much scheming as her without one. No one gets into Pomeifore without one. But she seems to revel in doing anything creative. From simple drawing to Vil allowing her to play with some cheap makeup. It seems to be the most fun she’s had in forever.

She also mentions having a favorite movie that Vil remembers being in all too well. A simple holiday movie Vil worked in with Neige when they were kids. Her not recognizing him as the villain is another thing Vil isn’t sure if he’s lucky to have or not.

He at least wishes Rook could have seen more. But alas, Rook was the only one Vil could have sent to grab Fellow and Gidel with certainty the job would be done in a timely manner.

For as much as Vil wants to deal with a Kit that won’t try to undermine him at every opportunity, he knows it’s not only important for them to be updated on the situation, but also be involved if they can be. It does deal with her well being after all.

—

Vil: *standing at the gates to NRC wih Kit around midday*

Kit: *looking around while Vil holds her hand to make sure she doesn’t wonder off* Those place looks so pretty!

Vil: It definitely does.

Kit: Can I come here again?!

Vil: I don’t think you have to worry about that. You’ll definitely see this place again.

Fellow: *quickly walking up to the gate with Gidel and Rook with him* Kit?

Kit: *turns her head to Fellows voice and feels Vil let go of her hand* Fellow?

Fellow: Kit! *runs up to her, giving her a big hug* Are you ok? How do feel?

Kit: *trying to squirm free* I’m fine! And you look weird.

Fellow: I probably do don’t I?

Gidel: *puts a hand on top of his head before dragging outwards and over Kit’s head, comparing their heights*

Fellow: Yes, yes. You’re taller now. That’s what four years does.

Kit: Who is he?

Gidel: *looks sad*

Fellow: *pats Gidel’s head* Don’t worry, she probably won’t remember a lot of things. We can help her. *turns to Kit* This is Gidel. He’s part of our family now too.

Gidel: *nods before hugging Kit*

Kit: *happily hugs back*

Gidel: *breaks the hug and tries to give her the hammer*

Fellow: Don’t.

— —

Screw Crowley, Kit will get her family time! And I do this, so I can actually write the Fellow angst.

He’s not free from the pain.

(Practically wholly unrelated side note that for some reason this snippet made me think of. Snow White takes place in Germany, and that’s why Vil has German roots, right? So why is Rook French? Neige means snow in French too, why is he French? Is it just because of ‘romance’?)

Gidel, please do not give Kit your hammer

(one of the jokes is that Rook just likes the french culture and only knows a few words in French)

[empressxmachina]

Is THIS what will push me to make an AO3 account? (not clickbait) (surprising)

[See this journal in a better layout on my blog site or on DeviantArt.]

I’ve fallen so down abysmal for the Help, I Shrunk My… series – “…Teacher“, then “…Parents”, and finally (?) “…Friends” – especially the last movie and its scenes between peers, that I have such an uncharacteristic urge to write a fanfic.

Yep, fanfic. I did say uncharacteristic. But with the cuteness and quality, especially at certain scenes in “…Friends” like below, I don’t think you can blame me.

“Holy shit, I’m going to pass out/die/shit myself/etc.” -me, at nearly everything in this series

(Post?) Pubescent Pairings

A. The Classic Couple.

I’m already, because I’m a serial romantic that loves a good self-insert, thinking to name the whole story “Help, I Shrunk My Lover/Girlfriend” or something cheesy like that (maybe even in German?) for Felix and Ella to be stuck together and have to deal with (post?-) pubescent awkwardness. I mean, I feel so honey-dicked that we got cute shit like this and its amazing scene…

God, look at that FOV, the (lack of) focus, the size difference, the subtitle, that face… Fuck.

…but it had to be ruined because – SPOILER – the dumb, lusting teen boy couldn’t see what was literally right in front of him for years until the end of the third movie! Plus, being steps away from a married couple of hotheads, who knows what kind of fights or arguments they’d get into? Are you telling me you wouldn’t want a scene like this again?

That stick is actually way too big to really be a toothpick (or is it?), but I’m not mad. We stan a brave queen.

B. The Will-They/Won’t-They Duo

I’m thinking of making Mario and Melanie into each other, too, as irony based on how much they hated each other for most of the last movie. She stole his phone (and everything else) and then his heart. (lol, I’m so sorry.) Maybe she’d still have some fancies for Felix but then sees that Mario has redeeming qualities of his own, on top of a rich background (not that it matters, but money is cool). My main focus in mind was just for Ella to be shrunken, with Melanie being the supportive gal pal, but given she’s new and hasn’t yet been small herself, maybe this would be the time.

I think Mario would’ve totally gotten over the prepubescent power drive from the first movie by now and certainly no longer has even the slightest grudge over Melanie causing and/or catalyzing chaos that could be played with if he had to deal with a small her. Surely.

C. The Bros in the Back

Would it be too presumptive to make Chris and Robert maybe gay for each other… or even absolutely the opposite? I respect a strong friendship and/or bromance, and LGBTQ+ representation is always a win, too. But for either, I don’t want to do anything “just because” or because it’s “(not) woke;” it should add to the story and have meaning. After all, a situation like “Dude, I love you, and I’ll love you forever, but not like that” could be just as cute. We stan supportive introspection between men. Bros before hoes, you know?

Though, maybe they’re likely the great masterminds to figure out what/why the plot thickens. They seem like the most intelligent of the squad, even if they were only henchmen at the beginning.

D. The Elders

I guess it would only make sense for Schmitty or Felix’s parents to get shrunk again, as is tradition. Maybe the former would be due to considering retirement from teaching/being principal.

I’d do anything to get Hausmeister Michalsky protecting her with his hat again.

As for the parents, it’d likely be a wrong place, wrong time situation. I don’t know.

Unless Sandra and Peter were snooping again, I doubt Felix would willingly do this to them.

Overarching Themes

Aging for Innuendo

Regarding all this, I do know that I’d like to make the story time-skipped a bit, making the kids at least U.S.-adult-aged for my own sake. I am a fan of double entendre, cheekiness, and raw emotion, so I’d love to spill them all over a story or characterization if fitting. However, I couldn’t bear to see or write any kiddos explicitly going through with any entailed implications – that shit’s illegal, lmao. Plus, why even risk something like that when an age-up takes away all the trouble, thus not make any innuendos or ideas awkward?

In a fun way, small or not, wouldn’t seeing the gang party together with real man’s drinks or whatever be cool? What about someone getting turnt on a thimble’s worth or a gummy bear’s paw?

The cups have been used. That’s adorable. +10 points for realism.

In a trash way, if a greater trust was built between Felix and Ella to wear one would suggest taking a bath with the other, and a small Ella floating in the soap ocean bumps into something on her back, only to realize all of Felix’s (normal) limbs are out of distance, in view, and/or just not able to touch her yet he’s blushing, then what would that imply? (It could be nothing, but it could be something.)

Why, Though?

I just can’t figure out a supposedly new catalyst for the ultimate shrinking plot point, mostly due to the main chaos causers, aka the ancient magic users that tackled the school, being sent to the Shadow Realm in the last movie. I do have some ideas, but I’d always love to hear more.

*Oh, Hulda Stechbarth… Bless this crazy bitch, lol.

Throughout the series, people going to our wanting to go to America was frequently brought up. Maybe, like Ilvermorny is to Hogwarts, maybe there’s a (maybe American) (college?) counterpart to the Leonhard school that is interested in the kids. Could the sudden shrinking be a part of the admissions or entrance exam process, such as figuring out how to reverse it? I can’t imagine someone still wanting to go to a school that risked its prospective students’ lives, but who knows? Still, I’m sure the friends would debate whether going overseas for any school is the best idea, especially with the ridiculous costs. Could differing views cause tension?

What if one between Felix and Ella considered it, but the other didn’t, and a coincidentally timed dream for them to stay together – not unlike Minami-kun no Koibito, if you know it – made one of them small with no way for Felix to turn the affected back to normal (due to the tests)? What if people start believing that Felix is intentionally not transforming people back, despite not being at fault but trying his best the whole time?

I suppose another villain is cool, too, but what would be their spite? Would Felix getting all of Leonhard’s power be enough to spark something?

***

I want to do this, but I rarely finish anything now. I can’t even think of a proper plot! Maybe putting this out into the world will inspire myself or even someone else to give a fanfic a shot or at least expose this series to our fandom more (like when I found Dwarfina and blushed at every scene, despite not knowing a lick of Tagalog)!

The third movie pretty much just released, so I only see it (legally) able for streaming (via renting or buying) via Vudu and Amazon Prime Video (in the U.S.). It maybe more widespread in Germany where it was made. (Though, VPNs do exist…) But the first and second movies can be bought or rented from multiple sources, surely.

In any case, let me know what y’all think, and feel free to share your thoughts!

[ashleyfableblack]

Just picked this up on XBL on sale and yes, I do recommend it. As to why...

For starters, it's more of a story-telling experience, what some of y'all might call a "walking simulator". The game has a fairly linear progression as you move Koala P.I. protagonist Stone through the events. Not so much "laser-whoosh kapow" as what many traditionally think of as a "game". So your enjoyment is going to be mostly based on how much you enjoy the story and characters.

Now- on THAT point- to be transparent here, they HAD me at "gay koala".

Gay males get next to no representation in movies and less in gaming. What little exists is mostly archetypal and either over-the-top or degrading, the mincing comic relief, the preening, prissy villain or some anime-teen-twink. The titular Stone is a believable, relatable, flawed character as are the supporting cast. Their interactions are realistic and not The usual cartoonish caricatures LGBTQ characters are boxed as. The tension at the center of the story is a relationship I've seen firsthand as I know many of y'all have as well, for better or worse.

The Australian setting added an interesting feel to the world. As I enjoy other cultures, hearing the different cadence of speech and vernacular was refreshing and fun, even with the emotional and occasionally bizarre tone.

The humour was chuckle-worthy, dipping into the crude or abstract wells a few times.

The art style is simple. A few character models are noticeably 're-used to fill in here and there. Still, the use of animal-characters ironically is very humanizing. Alex being a bird, for example, communicates so much about him. He's aloof, mobile, has a detached view you might expect from an artist. Stone, the bear is more sedentary, gruff, coarse.

If you're a horror-hound like me you might enjoy a special in-game extra. One location Stone can visit as he explores the town is a cinema featuring several full-length movies you can watch. Among these are the original "Night of The Living Dead", The German impressionist silent great "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" and the SUPER-classic "Häxän: Witchcraft Throughout The Ages".

Should you play through the game(and it is fairly short)don't rush off at the ending. There is a post credit epilogue level which really brings things home.

Though I know it's not for everyone, if the genre is one you like, I say give it a go. It's on sale right Now for cheap and is a pretty quick play-through that'll probably hit you right in the feels, as the kids say.

Qhttps://news.xbox.com/en-us/2020/01/27/stone-now-on-xbox-one/

[nimblermortal]

Some Further Old Guard Liveblogging

#OH MAN BOOKER'S SMIRK WHEN MERRICK REFUSES TO COME CLOSER TO ANDROMACHE#THAT IS THE SMIRK OF 'I see Yusuf headbutted you already'

#also also I cannot deal with Merrick's suits with hoodies on them#they're so terrible#what a fantastic piece of villain costuming I hate him for that alone

#OH MAN THAT POOR DOCTOR#STUCK IN A ROOM WITH FOUR BICKERING IMMORTALS#FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE#man if Nile hadn't come along her life woulda suuuuuuuucked#Nicoló was trying his best at that anyway#apparently Merrick Pharmaceuticals comes equipped with semi-automatic rifles but not gags

man their card readers work really well and fast. I am impressed. I have... not had this luck with card readers. They usually blink a few times and take a few tries. (Also, nobody uses card readers anymore? I’m not even in that critical of an industry and we have the beepy key fob things. That respond to badges.)

As Nile enters the lab... Yusuf: what the heck where did this come from Nicoló: eh? I do not know that this is a good turn of events Andy: breathlessly happy to see her Booker: oh how my sins have revisited me

It continues to bother me how Nile breaks into the lab and goes straight for the one who’s not immortal and who has the least ability to cope with the situation, given that she’s already injured; and then stands there and talks to her when she could be letting someone else loose to deal with the four shooters at the door that she just mentioned. Just. Free one hand on each of them and then get on to releasing all the bonds on your favorite!

Yeah, keep standing there with your motivational speeches and your NOT RELEASING PEOPLE WHO WILL ACTUALLY HELP YOU, I TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN

Andy, who is not an absolute idiot, releases one of Nicoló’s arms as her first action and then moves on. Nicoló, who is also not an idiot, immediately rolls over and begins releasing the rest of himself, which is the SANE THING TO DO, NILE, YOU’RE AN IDIOT

Booker: No, you should just leave me here Andy: This is an intervention.

Andy, heading for the door: Let’s get this motherfucker Everyone else, aware she is now mortal: <suddenly falls in ahead of her and does not let her take point as she is prone to doing>

Andy’s labrys is such a prop weapon, it looks weirdly light and also fiberglass. I could be wrong! I don’t know about these things! but I think it’s a functional reproduction, not something she’s had for a while.

Andy is Mom Friend, looking after her little gang. Yusuf is Dad Friend, worrying too much.

Nile: Andy! It is I, meat shield! Nicoló: Oh, that’s a good idea.

You know, they really oughtn’t be speaking English in combat situations. This would be a great time to be using a dead language, effectively enabling you to say exactly where you’re going without your enemy understanding it. (Or Nile. But they’ve got Nile.)

“Shit! Jammed!” is where Nicoló needs to be there to mutter in baleful Ligurian about combat teams and palises.

They really shoulda killed that guy on the ground... nobody needs to know they  exist, or what they can do.

I should tell Hyacinth about the throw at 1:44.

Nile has such a nice face.

“I think you showed up when I lost my immortality” well you’re wrong. You been stabbed and healed since then. Also puts paid to my theory that it gave out when you said you were done and not interested in trying to help people anymore. It just is what it is; humans try to assign meaning and stories to thinks, but at the end of the day, it’s all quantum.

NILE IS SO SHORT BUT NICOLÓ IS THE ONE SITTING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BACK SEAT (if anyone cares for fic: Yusuf has shotgun, Nicoló in the back seat middle, Andy is driving, Nile behind Yusuf and Booker behind Andy. Is there any advantage to this? None that I see. Except that Yusuf was in front so he had the opportunity to claim shotgun, and Booker is a filthy traitor who doesn’t deserve the front seat. Nile is new and I don’t know what Nicoló’s excuse is except that it’s easiest to reach the front seat from the middle of the back seat, and everyone assumes Andy will get to sit in the front, so this puts Nicoló in position to get hands on either of them as needed.)

I have no idea why we are expected to care about the pewter-topped bars at the pub they choose to go to.

“There’s not much to decide, it’s not like they can kill me.” Yusuf stares through the window as if he is contemplating exactly that; Booker can’t find an acceptable face to make back at him.

“You’re a good kid” is such a patronizing thing to say to someone, it really emphasizes both how young Nile is and how much younger she is than the rest of them. Also, I will never understand how Booker’s being a bad parent means no one should go see their family while they’re still alive.

Yeah, Yusuf is not satisfied with this arrangement, Nicoló considers it the right thing to do whether it is satisfying or not, and Nile hates hurting people.

Also, given that I headcanon that Andy is cursed to be an atheist surrounded by stubbornly faithful people, “Have a little faith, Book” is a great line. Like. Andy has made her position on religion clear, but at least Nicoló has at one point in his life been committed to religious ideals. The other two - well, I have my own thoughts about how Yusuf interacts with his faith, but it’s just hilarious if Booker is also stubbornly Catholic, for his own journey and so that Andy can be all, “Every time we get a new immortal I explain to them how we are cursed, there is no god, our existence is proof of the whims of the world triumphing over any sort of divine plan, and every time they just hold out! Nicoló is laughing at me!” and she tries doing this to Nile and none of the others are quite laughing out loud, but Nicoló has very expressive smirks, okay? And then you take that background and apply it to Booker saying he’ll never see her again and Andy choosing the last thing she says to him to be, “Have a little faith“ - this thing she has been denying, giving him this as a recognition, he’s spent all movie starving for her recognition as she just gives him tasks, so she recognizes him and this thing they don’t share but that she’s now offering value to, and hey, as long as he’s believing in illogic, he might as well have some in her, right? or in technology and medicine? it’s not all that important how it plays out, but for her to grant this concession to him is... magnanimous in a satisfying way, if you headcanon all of the aforesaid.

Aww, Yusuf is the unsatisfied one but he’s also the one who stays watching Booker for the longest. And he’s the only one who looks back.

:( the German is too blurred for me to read this passport, but I really want to see if there’s any justifying Yusuf being named Joseph Jones and nationality (?) Deutsch. But even if that’s so - which is conceivable - I want to know why both Hamburg and Frankfurt are on his passport. Mine doesn’t have any cities on it at all - but then again, I’ve had friends ask me to get my passport out just to demonstrate how funny American passports are. (Most countries are like “ah yes, we need blank pages to stamp visas and entries/exits on. The US of A goes, “what if our blank pages had dramatic pictures of the biomes of the continental US and inspirational quotes across the tops?” Make your own arguments about American exceptionalism, patriotism, conspicuous consumption...)

THEY WERE AT THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL GOOD FOR THEM also just a weird place for them to be, that incident was. So much a mistake. So much spontaneous. And it’s a weird time to be smuggling people across the wall (and very difficult to do, and. There are better things for immortal soldiers to do with their time at this point). So like. Good for them, I bet that was an endorphin surge, but weird that they were there.

Awwww, Nicoló’s little “I knew we were trying to do good, it is nice to have confirmation that it works sometimes” smirk

It’s a nice speech, Andy, but what you’re actually saying to Copley is, “Booker was our computer/intel guy and we kicked him out, so we need you to do his job and possibly train Nile in it”

I know by “ether” she means like. Internets. But. I love imagining them as just old sometimes, and not always keeping up with all the right things. And having her mean, “When we leave a footprint in the luminiferous aether” because she honestly still believes that light needs a medium to travel in and it’s just never come up as relevant to correct that assumption, she’s proud of being well-read in science a hundred years ago - well, that’s wonderful.

Aww, Copley got a Nicoló smirk. And I think Yusuf sensed it, though he could not possibly have seen it.

Aaaaand scene with Booker drunk and unhappy in Paris, so what else is new to Paris. Spray your glass all over public spaces, it’ll improve the general cleanliness of the surfaces. And Quynh is probably going to show up in Nile’s room shortly, I bet she’s just tired of dreaming of them. I... honestly don’t know that I like the idea of a sequel. Franchises leave a lot of room for making things worse. There’s a lot of open space in this movie, but that’s where I like to put my fanfiction.

[melyaliz]

Chapter 3 The Frayed Ends of Sanity

Thief and the Outlaw Masterlist 

Fandom: Marvel / X-men 

Summary: 

Pairing: Peter x OC 

Notes: The mystery continues. I’m not very good at suspenseful stories 

All Masterlists @melyalizarchive

Connect with me! AO3 / Instagram / Pinterest

DONATE or REQUEST

--------

Do not grieve, O King and Queen. Your daughter shall not die. I cannot undo what my elder sister has done; the princess shall indeed prick her finger with the spindle, but she shall not die. She shall fall into sleep that will last a hundred years. At the end of that time, a king’s son will find her and awaken her. - Sleeping Beauty 

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Gemma had always loved fairytales as a kid. Not your classic Disney movies (although those were great too) but the weird stuff, the originals. Her mother had given her a book of old fables which the young girl had devoured. She adored how the heroes would fight for their fates while the villains would make some weird mistake, would slip up and meet their demise so that the heroes could win.

Gemma also loved how in those stories the ideas were so outlandish. A girl out in a glass cage because she was too beautiful her parents were worried someone would try and take her away. 

A stepmother cutting off her daughter’s own toe just so it would fit in a shoe. Just to catch the eye of a prince.

Or a girl sleeping for a million years only to have a man come and kiss her. Wake her from the spell she had been put under. 

Normally the princesses never asked for their lots in life, just becoming a tool for some vindictive evil to reach their revenge. 

Although Gemma was jealous of one thing. 

At least the princesses got some rest. 

-----

It was cold. 

That was Gemma’s first thought as she stirred from her slumber. The night air giving her goosebumps. Had she left a window open?  Shivering she tried to reach for her blanket only to realize she wasn’t in her bed. Had she fallen again?

Slowly she opened her eyes her world coming into view. 

Large trees looked back shading her from an early morning sky. The sun just slowly starting to turn the dark blue into shades of pink and gold. The ground crunching under her as she moved, something poked her in the rib. 

This wasn’t her bedroom.

Sitting up she gasped looking around. Why was she outside? Where was she? What was going on? 

Her head was pounding as if her heart had decided to reside there hammering against her skull. Her whole body ached as if she had spent the at a metal concert in the mosh pit. 

Rubbing her arm trying to get the blood flowing to warm herself up she looked around trying to get her bearings. She was in a forest but there were a lot of forests around her home in New Jersey. Most not very expansive, but this cleaning of nature could be anywhere.  

Letting out a sigh she tried to calm her brain. Tried to remember how she had gotten her. Had she been drugged? 

The last thing she remembered was sitting on the bus with that weird boy listening to music. 

The boy.

There was no way. She hadn’t eaten anything and they sat far enough apart she would have felt something. 

Looking down she realized something else. 

She wasn’t in her work clothes. 

Instead, she was in a black long sleeve shirt and jeans. The jeans looked pretty beat up and the shirt was missing a sleeve. 

“What the actual…” 

“Gemma?” 

At the sound of her name, she looked up. 

And there he was. 

The boy. 

Ok man but…

“What are you… Where am I?” 

“Are you ok? I called the police…”

“What… How?” 

He knelt down next to her a few feet away. His large brown eyes looking her over as if looking over a wounded animal. His voice gentle, “You’ve been missing for a week.”

“I’ve WHAT!?!” her voice felt horse as if she had been screaming -maybe the concert idea wasn’t too far fetched-. A hand flew up to her chest. Was she going crazy? She had just lost a week and work up in totally different clothes feeling like she had been run over by a bus. 

“Shhh shhh” he said scooting closer, “You’re going to be ok.” 

 She turned to him her blue eyes wide and accusingly. Why was he here? How had he found her? How did he know it had been a week?  

“GEMMA!” This voice she instantly recognized. Her father. Her mother’s sobs could be heard as well as the barking of a dog. Looking past the silver-haired boy she saw her parents and a few policemen, one tugging on the leash of a german shepherd- coming toward her. 

Her father reached her first rushing to her taking her in his arms hugging, “Where have you been?” he pulled away running his hands over her face studying her, “What happened?” 

“I… I don’t know dad. I was going to work and then… I was here.” 

“Did someone drug you? Is it that one guy from your work? Paul? Did he touch you?” 

“No, dad… I… Honestly” she looked up at her mother who was sobbing, the relief they had found her daughter causing her to cry uncontrollably, “I don’t remember anything.” 

 “Maybe this had someone to do with...” Her mother started but Gemma’s father cut her off turning shaking his head. The man turned toward their audience. The two policemen and the scruffy haired bus rider. 

Gemma met her finder’s eyes for a moment. He shifted slightly looking awkwardly between her and her parents as if he wasn’t sure if he should leave or not. 

“Thank you for finding our daughter...” Gemma’s father stood holding out his hand. 

“Peter” 

“Thanks, kid” taking Peter’s hand he shook it before turning to the cops. “We’re going to take her home,” 

The cops nodded one of them handing Gemma a blanket to wrap her body around. She didn’t realize she was shaking until her mother wrapped her arms around her kissing her forehead mumbling “my baby girl” 

Gemma turned studying the boy, Peter. Hand’s shoved in his pockets he met her gaze through shaggy hair his expression unreadable. So different from the silly energetic weird boy on the bus. He seemed so serious now. Not in a scary way but almost like he was confused maybe? 

Then again he had just found a girl who had been apparently missing a week and couldn’t remember any of it. 

“How did you find me?” she finally asked looking up at her parents as she buckled herself into the back seat of the car. Her mother scooting up next to her as if not wanting to leave her side.

“We knew you were missing when your work called.” her mother let out a strangled sob at the memory. “You never showed up” 

“Nancy…” 

“I’m sorry I was just so scared. Sweetie, is it your powers? Are they evolving further? Maybe we should go back to that doctor?” 

Her parents lapsed into silence waiting for her answer. Gemma looked out the window unsure how to respond. “I don’t think it’s my powers, I don’t know what it is,” she muttered looking down at her hands. 

“That boy, I think he’s the one who called us. Saying he found our lost daughter and where to be. Do you know him?”

Gemma bit her lip, should she tell them? It would only worry them more. No, she needed to figure this out for herself first. She needed more facts before she dragged them into this. 

“No. Guess he just found me in the forest.” 

“How did he know to call us?” 

The question sent a chill down her spine. 

How did he?

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

Drew greeted her with a hug and a plate of pizza. 

“I even ordered gross mushrooms just for you,” he mumbled shifting from foot to foot as if unsure what to do with himself. Something about it reminded Gemma of the boy in the forest. 

Peter. 

After dinner she told her parents she was going to bed, tired and sore she just wanted to sleep this whole experience away. A small part of her hoped maybe she would just wake up and it would all be a bad dream 

Unfortunately sleep didn’t come as easy as she hoped. Instead, she just laid there looking up at her ceiling trying to piece together that had happened.  

What was wrong with her? 

Finally, the clock ticked 1am and she gave up. Sleep wasn’t coming. 

Sitting up she shuffled across the room pulling a book off the shelf. Fairytales and folktales. Slowly she walked back to her bed and that was when she saw him.

Standing outside her window, leaning against the large oak in her backyard. 

Their eyes locked, his brown ones growing wide and he turned about to bolt. 

But he couldn’t. 

A bright blue wall blocked his way. 

“You STAY!” she hissed from her window before scrambling through the window climbing down from the second floor. Something she used to do all the time in her teen years. Sneaking out to meet friends on school nights. 

Peter turned watching her as she stormed up to him. Hands glowing eyes bright, angry. 

“Who are you and what do you want with me?” The girl stood there in her sweat pants and tank top eyes flashing with sparks of energy. Something he had only seen when she wasn’t Gemma. When she was that other girl.

“I’m just checking in” he shrugged looking down at her a soft smile playing on his lips. Now that she wasn’t trying to take him or his team down he realized how much smaller she was than him. Her head coming to about his chin, her frame looking even smaller in a tight tank top and baggy sweats. 

“Oh really? Seems kind of creepy, you standing outside my window, showing up on my bus ride to work, the first to find me in the woods...” her arms crossed over her chest trying to look scary. He wasn’t sure why she didn’t scar him. She had kicked his butt more times than he could count at this point. Maybe it had something to do with the fluffy cloud pattered sweats she was wearing. 

“I wasn’t the one who put you there if that’s what you’re asking” 

“Then why are you always around?” Gemma asked studying the boy trying to find the answers. 

“Why do you think? Do you really not remember?” his voice was low as if he was telling her a secret.  

She took a step back sizing him up. Studying him as if he had the answers for her lost week. He waited for the realization. He really didn’t look all THAT different without the suit. 

“Did we go to school together?” 

“What!?! NO.” how could she not… “The power plant? You and your three friends… there was a bunch of wiz bang.” Peter made a few motions like explosions and lasers. This earned him nothing but a blank stare. There was no way. “Look come on, there is no way…” he reached out for her hand and that’s when it happened. 

Their hands touched and it was like lighting. Cracking between them as their hands touched. Peter felt it pulled from him exploding into her. Bright blue and sparking with an energy that lit up the whole neighborhood for just an instant. 

The force of it threw them both backward laying in the grassy lawn just blinking at each other. 

“What just happened?” Gemma asked her eyes sparkling with the energy that flicked around her before slowly dying like sapphire embers. 

Peter shrugged getting up feeling his body quickly regenerating itself, “What can I say? I have an explosive personality” darting over he stood above her. Showing his speed to her for the first time that night. 

Gemma looked up at him from her seat, her mind racing hands still warm from the surge of energy. Peter held out his hand to help her up “let’s try this again?” he said a large smile on his face. 

Warry she studied it for a moment before slowly slipping her fingers around his open hand.  “You’re a mutant like me.” 

Peter nodded, “I’m pretty fast yeah” he winked as her which earned him a small smile.

“I knew there were others I just never met one.” she told him her hand still clasping his “Hey what” her hand went up to her neck pulling away as he had leaned forward trying to get closer to her. His eyes went from her shoulder to her eyes face so close she could see the stubble on his cheeks and the flecks of gold in his brown eyes. 

“Huh.” and like that he was standing a much more normal distance from her. 

“What?” 

“You really don’t remember me at all? Honest.” 

“Besides the bus and today, no. Why?” she wracked her brain trying to think of where she had seen this boy before. She couldn’t very well say her dreams. That was weird, creepy and also made no sense. 

“Ok well, see you around then.” he gave her a mock salute before disappearing into the dark night leaving only a gust of wind in his wake. Gemma frowned biting her lip as she wrang her hands feeling even more confused than before. 

As Peter raced toward the Xsavior Mansion his mind was racing as well. Everything clicking together. If they hadn’t touched. If her long blonde hair hadn’t flown forward while she had turned to see the ground before she hit it.

He wouldn’t have glimpsed it. At the base of her neck. Siting there snugly like a tick embedded in her skin. 

And it all made sense now.

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[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #471

(from yesterday)

Is there an ice-cream flavor that you strongly dislike? Which one? Strawberry, for one. Have you met somebody that you want to spend the rest of your life with? I could see it happening, but it's way too early to determine something like that. Who was the last male you talked to? Does he have facial hair? My boyfriend, and a very little bit. Name a band you like, that starts with the 2nd letter of your name. Rammstein. Have you ever dressed up as a Disney character? Which one? Not to my recollection. Have you ever played chess? If so, are you good at it? No. Name an alcoholic beverage that you dislike. Wine. Is there anyone who sends you messages to say good morning/night? Girt does most days. :') Is there anyone you interact with often on social media but not in person? Yeah. Do you own any adult coloring books? What kind(s) do you like? Yeah. Ones with animals. Which of your friends do you confide in the most? Sara. Is there anything you haven’t done lately, that you’d like to do soon? Draw, especially a larger project. How long is your driveway? Not long at all. Are there any TV shows you keep up with religiously? No. Would you ever meet someone in person that you met online? I've already done that and would again. Not just anyone, of course, but there are a good number of friends I would absolutely take up the opportunity to meet irl. What are your neighbours like? I don't know either of them. What accent is your favorite? British. If your Facebook status doesn’t get any likes/comments, does it bother you? Nah. What was your most recent reason for smiling? :) Girt called me a cutiepie. ;;____;; <3 Name one person you’d take a bullet for: The first person to come to mind is my mom. Do you get the feeling something good will happen in your life soon? I don't know, man. What’s your crush’s/boyfriend's/husband’s name? Donald Jr. is his real name, but I don't call him that. Also, not everyone dates boys, shocking as that may be. And their occupation? He works at a tire company that I won't name. Are your teeth naturally straight? I had braces, so obviously not. Did you go to the beach this year? No, which I'm content with. Have you been to McDonald’s in the past month? Yeah. Have you ever slept over at your best friend’s house? Yep. Ever sang someone to sleep? No. If you had to study something for the next year, what would you study? My initial reaction was to think "photography," which I guess I realistically would go for, but I'm still unsure. I don't know how much longer I can cling to the photography dream, so, y'know. If you were a fantasy character, would you be a warrior, a mage, or a rogue? Mage, I guess. Who is your favourite movie villain? Red Pyramid Thing/Pyramid Head. He has different names in the games and movie universe, so take your pick. Have you ever calculated whether you get enough minerals and vitamins in your diet? No. When you buy/receive new clothes, do you instantly wear them or wash first? I wash them first. Do you hate using public restrooms? Does ANYBODY like using them? I avoid them as best I possibly can. Did any characters from TV shows scare you as a kid? Which one(s)? Motherfuckin' King Ramses from Courage the Cowardly Dog aklsdfkaljdsfka like I had nightmares y'all What’s the saddest thing you’ve heard on the news recently? The drone strike on Afghanistan killing citizens (children included) versus terrorists. I could write ten pages worth of why this whole thing pisses me the fuck off, but I'll avoid getting that political. Do you believe that acupuncture works? No. How long does it take before you trust a person? It varies person to person. Do you know anyone with a lisp? Not off the top of my head, anyway. If you were to break a Guinness Record, which one would you try and beat? I dunno. Are you scared of clowns? No. Are you listening to music currently? "Scum of the Earth" by Rob Zombie is on currently. Did your last kiss mean anything? It meant a lot. Have you ever been sung to personally? Some of the song, yes. If so, what song did they sing? "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin. Do you think you’re brave? Eh, it depends on what I'm facing. Do you like Paramore? Yeah. Were you afraid of heights as a child? No, but I am as an adult. What’s your favorite movie battle scene? I dunno. I guess the very brief one between Nala and Simba because T E E T H. Have you ever been to a same-sex wedding? No. What’s the most difficult experience you and a significant other have gone through together? Distance when we really needed each other's company was definitely difficult. What’s your favorite recipe you’ve come up with? I don’t have any. Have you ever attempted to pick a lock? Did you succeed? No. How many times have you donated blood? Once. How many times have you had surgery? Twice. When was the last time you were at the beach? What did you do there? Years ago when Colleen and I were still friends. I swam a lot because the water felt FANTASTIC, then I also just chilled with Colleen, her husband, and their young son with snacks and stuff under their tent. It was fun, save for getting horrible sun poisoning... Who was the last person you spoke to online? How do you know this person? Girt and I have been using Discord to message each other. We met in high school. Who was the last person to visit your house? What were they there for? Also Girt. We were just hangin'. If you could change one thing about your appearance, what would it be and why? I wish I had a fit stomach because I feel hideous with mine. How do you feel about dreads on women? I don't care. Do whatever you want with your own hair. Do you feel like your life is moving forward? Very, very, VERY slowly, and only in certain contexts. Would you let your kid smoke weed? Seeing as it's illegal in my state, there's no way because I'd be terrified of them facing jail. If it was legal though and it was for medical purposes, I would be okay with it. I'd be nervous about my kid smoking anything with the risk of lung cancer, but. If they were at least 18 I'd say, I wouldn't force them to do as I say in regards to this topic. Do you feel like you connect more with animals or other people? Animals, for sure. Can you swear in a different language? Of course I would know "shit" and "fuck" in German lmaoooo Have you ever been banned from anywhere? No. Have you ever had a UTI? Many times, actually, because I don't and never have drank enough water. Have you ever intentionally trolled? No. Do you know anyone with a serious anger management problem? No. Who last held your hand? Girt. Do you know anyone who plays heaps of sports? Possibly? When was the last time you had chocolate? Yesterday. Girt, Mom, and I made s'mores together. Do you have any pets other than dogs or cats? Yeah, I have a snake. What is your favorite type of seashell? Idk the names of different kinds of seashells. Do you love 3-D movies? Yeah. When’s the last time you had a hamburger? Last night, actually. That was dinner. Are there any fake tattoos on you? No. Do you own a fish tank? No. Do you own a feather boa? No. What do you usually drink at meals? It varies. Did you pull any pranks on April Fool’s day, or vice versa? I never do. I don't really like the idea of the "holiday." Have you ever seen the last person you hugged naked? No. Where did you get your favorite shirt? Cloak is an online business. How would you react if your mom got a lip piercing? I'd find it metal af tbh, ha ha. Have you ever suspected that your last ex was cheating? Why? Not at all. When’s the last time you used the microwave? Yesterday, to make a dinner bowl from the freezer. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done? Oh GOD, I don't want to even try to imagine. I'll save myself the embarrassment. What do you do when you’re sad? It's pretty common I'll sleep if I'm extremely sad, sometimes I'll cry it out, or listen to music... Are you excited for anything? What? I'm REALLY hype for Halloween. I mentioned in another survey that I wanna make some awesome plans with Girt, and I realized Halloween is on a Sunday this year, which he should have off from work, so I'd say it's likely!!! Do you have playlists on your iPod? I do, for varying moods. I pretty much never ever use them, though.

[horror-movie-blog]

HMB: The Night of the Hunter

Original Publishing Date: February 6th, 2018 

So apparently this is considered to be the 2nd best movie of all time (let's hope the director's mom wasn't a tiger mom). That's right, right next to Citizen Kane. Strange thing about Citizen Kane, despite being labeled the best movie of all time, not that many people I know like it. Which, you know, is to be expected in this time and age, but the strange thing is these people aren't the type of people who would discriminate against a movie for being "old" or "black and white". And yet, they don't like Citizen Kane. To me, it's the Overrated Effect, and when you're labeled as the best movie of all time, of coarse there's only one direction you're movie will go, and that's down. As for Night of the Hunter, yeah, kind of the same thing. Now, before I dive into this film, it's important to state that this really isn't a horror film, despite it appearing on the Top Ten Rotten Tomatoes Horror movie list. Yes, there are suspenseful, creepy scenes in this film, and it takes a lot of inspiration from German expressionist horror, but this is the type of movie that best be called a thriller, not a horror film. But I already sunk an hour and forty minutes into this film, so what the hell, I'll review it. The movie is about a young boy, named Paul, who has to keep the where about's of his father's stolen money a secret. One man, a creepy preacher named Harry, bunked with Paul's father in prison, and over heard him sleep talking about the money (though he never said where it was). Harry's plan is then to get closer to Paul's family and find out where the money is hidden. Everyone falls for his preacher like charm, except for Paul, who could see past the man's facade. As the story develops, tragedy strikes, adventure ensues, and Paul and his sister Pearl must escape the mad man Harry. Let's talk about what I liked about the film. The best thing by far is Harry, played by Robert Mitchum. He's so disgustingly charming it's hard to not fall for him. Although, as much as I liked his performance when he was playing it straight, whenever he had to be "insane", it kind of came off as goofy. Like, really goofy, his screams sound like cartoon character sound effects. But like I said, whenever he had to play the sane man, good God, did he suck you in. And the second thing I liked about the movie was the direction and cinematography. I like German expressionist films for it's harsh shadows, creepy composition and bizarre sets. Granted, this film wasn't that extreme, you can tell it was deeply influenced by these themes. If the praise came solely based on the visuals, then it's praised earned. My favorite scene is when we see Harry on horse back in silhouette. Want to win me over? Have a silhouette in your film. And boy... Was that a tasty silhouette. Okay, not let's talk about the things in the movie that sucked. When it comes to child actors, you what the main problem will be; their acting. Yes, there are really good child actors and their performances should be praised if they get the job done. The kids in this film, did not. And here's the thing, I can forgive bad acting if it doesn't distract from the story. But since so much of the film is emotional, we rely heavily on a good performance to convey these emotions. The kids did not do that. Without getting into spoilers, there's a part at the end where Paul had to deliver a powerful "no". And I swear to God, it was so painfully script read it was almost funny. And that was suppose to be the peak of the drama. I hate to say this, but their acting kind of did ruin the movie for me. Also, there's the huge plot hole in the film. So I'm going to have to spoil the film, so skip this paragraph if you still want to see the film. Ready? Okay, don't say I didn't warn you. So here's the thing; Harry kills the children's mother and goes after them because the money was stuffed away in Pearl's doll. They escaped him by canoeing down the river. They stop by on land twice for food and stuff. On the second landing, they meet a nice old lady and stayed with her. Seems okay, right? Except... Let me put it this way, if someone was trying to kill you, and you're trying to escape that person, what would be your first thing you do if you meet another person? Would you just ask for food and leave? Or, and I'm just spitballing here, but would you tell this person "Help! Og God Help! Someone's trying to kill me! Here's his name! Get the police!". There's no wrong answers to this; actually yes there is and the movie got this question wrong. And here's the thing, it's not like doing this would detour the story; the story goes down this lane, it's just that all common sense if absent in these children's minds. This is a movie that thinks children are dumb. When Harry meets up with the kids a second time, when they are living with their new foster mother, Pearl just runs up and hugs his leg. This was after he tried to kill her, twice! And remember when I talked about Paul delivering a phone in "no" at the end of the movie? Yeah, that was when Harry got arrested. For whatever reason, Paul didn't want his attempted murderer to go to prison. Why? This makes no sense! I'm sure the movie had a "thematic" reason behind it, but even when there's a theme behind stuff it still needs to make sense! But I'll tell you want my biggest peeve with this movie is. After all the horrible stuff these kids been through, what is their reward at the end of the film? Nothing. That's right, nothing. Oh, I'm sorry, some stupid religious mumbo-jumbo about not having sin. Which is fine, if that's the focus of the film, but it isn't. The film wasn't about the guilt of the children holding onto their father's stolen money, it's about escaping Harry. If they just spent more time focusing on that element, then maybe the ending would have felt complete. But it didn't, they didn't even get to hold onto the money. What a load of piss. So here's what I'll say about The Night of the Hunter. It's a good film, just by visuals alone. The story has holes, but not enough to sink the ship. The kid's acting is terrible, and at times distracting, but Mitchum's performance counters that. And I will say, for the time this movie came out, this was pretty ballsy. The villain is a preacher who thinks everything he does is justified because of his dedication to the lord. This came out in 1958, granted it wasn't the height of American religiousness, but damn close to it. So the film is admirable, it should be studied, but Top Ten horror? Second best film of all time? Hell no. Not even close. 

[junker-town]

20 sports movies we love that will ease your boredom

WireImage

It may be hard to find real sports to watch right now, but there is an ABUNDANCE of great fictional sports at your fingertips.

Televised sports are on hiatus for the foreseeable future. It’s a tough (but obviously necessary) blow, considering we’re all stuck inside with little to do, and sports would be the perfect diversion right about now.

Thankfully, there are hundreds, or possibly thousands, of sports-centric movies available to wile away the hours. Some might even be convincing enough to get you to yell at your screen, or feel the inimitable catharsis that comes from watching your team (the good team, obviously) win.

Below are some of the SB Nation staff’s go-to sports flicks, with information about where to stream them included. The majority are also available to rent via Amazon, YouTube, Google Play and the like.

Hot Rod (2007)

Available on Netflix, Prime and Pluto.

Insofar as failing to jump over things with a moped is a sport, Hot Rod is about sports. It’s an extremely dumb, pleasant movie with no stakes whatsoever, and it is my number one.

— Seth Rosenthal

Yes, it’s hilarious — but even more importantly, it has the ability to absorb you before you realize it and not let your mind wander out of its grasp. Distraction grade: 10 out of 10

— Will Buikema

Creed (2015)

Available to rent

Too many Rocky sequels to count, but this one really engages with the mythos around the character and who gets to take part in that myth. Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson are two of Hollywood’s brightest stars, and while it’s frustrating they were not awarded like Sylvester Stallone for their performances, all three are terrific here. Also: unlike the original Rocky, this movie recognizes that boxing includes dodging and blocking as well as punching!

— Pete Volk

Goon (2011)

Available on Netflix.

You could probably analyze Goon for commentary about how we glorify violence in hockey, or you could sit back and enjoy a genuinely hilarious movie. It has everything you want in a hockey film. There’s a dim-witted but lovable bouncer who gets a chance at a hockey career in the minors, and a grumpy Quebecois prodigy with a physicality issue. There’s gratuitous blood and gore, and Liev Schreiber getting into fights, and a hint of bromance. There are even cameos from former NHL players, and one from current Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin in the film’s 2017 sequel, Goon: Last of the Enforcers, which is also on Netflix.

If you don’t mind some exaggerated violence and slapstick comedy (and particularly if that’s what you’re into), I highly recommend it. Plus, the soundtrack slaps.

— Sydney Kuntz

Bend it Like Beckham (2002)

Available on demand with Starz and DirecTV

It’s funny, it’s sweet, and the fact that you’ve definitely seen it before doesn’t mean you shouldn’t watch it again. It made Keira Knightley an international star, and Parminder Nagra picked up the FIFA presidential award. Beyond the film, it represented a crucial moment in David Beckham’s relationship with his country. He’d gone from villain in 1998 after that red card against Argentina, to hero in 2001 after that free kick against Greece. Eight months later this came out, and canonized him as a national treasure.

— Andi Thomas

High Flying Bird (2019)

Available on Netflix

What better to watch during a period without basketball than a movie about basketball personnel that takes place during a time of no basketball? High Flying Bird, shot entirely on iPhone by Steven Soderbergh, follows a top rookie and his ambitious agent during an NBA lockout, as they try and change the owner-heavy economic structure of the NBA.

— Pete Volk

Escape to Victory (1981, also just known as Victory)

Available on demand with Cinemax and DirecTV

Sylvester Stallone is an Allied solider in a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp. So is Michael Caine. In there with them, for some reason, is Pele, Bobby Moore, Ozzy Ardiles, and half of Ipswich Town’s 1981 UEFA Cup winning squad. And wouldn’t you just know it, they have to play an exhibition against a handpicked German side, for reasons of propaganda. Will they escape … to victory?

— Andi Thomas

Goal of the Dead (2014)

Available on Shudder

”Some kind of a riot. They are burning cars.”

”Given the refereeing, no wonder.”

French football superstar Samuel Lorit faces off against his hometown team in a cup game. His formerly adoring fans now all despise him. And then a tainted steroid injection turns pretty much everybody into zombies, straight from the 28 Days Later school of hard-running mouth-frothers. Good blood-soaked fun, if probably a bit too long. But then all films are too long these days. Return of the King won a million Oscars, and that didn’t have a ‘roid-raging zombie kicking a man’s head off his neck and into the goal.

— Andi Thomas

Fighting with My Family (2019)

Available on Prime and Hulu

Maybe the only worthwhile WWE Studios release ever? I’ll await the flame from fans of The Marine 5: Battleground in the comments. What would have otherwise been yet another vanilla sports inspiration story is elevated by a terrific cast, led by newly Oscar-nominated Florence Pugh.

— Pete Volk

The Damned United (2009)

Available to rent

An adaptation of a brilliant but bleak novel about Brian Clough’s doomed spell at Leeds United, the film dispenses with most of the book’s harrowing existential loneliness and discovers a surprisingly soft-hearted buddy story underneath. Michael Sheen disappears uncannily into his role, absolutely nailing Clough’s astringent self-possession, but Colm Meaney almost steals the film as Clough’s nemesis, Don Revie. A reminder that English football, back in the ‘70s, was a strange, drizzly place full of strange, compelling people.

— Andi Thomas

Hoop Dreams (1994)

Available on HBO, Kanopy and DirecTV

One of the best American documentaries. Also one of the best movies about dreams, who crushes them and how they evolve. It is also one of the best movies about race and poverty in America. All in all, this is one of the best movies about the allure and grace of basketball. A phenomenal film!

— Pete Volk

Horse Feathers (1932)

Available via the Internet Archive

I grew up watching the Marx Brothers with my dad, and I would be remiss not to mention this college football-centric classic. Turns out the “amateur” status of college football players was a joke in the 1930s, too!

— Pete Volk

Minding the Gap (2019)

Available on Hulu

Only tangentially about sports, since the group of kids at this documentary’s focus are skateboarders, but this is one of the great modern American documentaries about growing up, difficult friendships and toxic masculinity. Highly, highly recommend.

— Pete Volk

Starship Troopers (1997)

Available on Showtime, CBS All Access, DirecTV and Vudu

There are several reasons Starship Troopers is memorable — the broadly written anti-nationalist commentary! The exploding bugs! The co-ed showers! That one fight scene soundtracked to Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You,” for some reason! — but space football is the only one that fits with our theme. In the future, America’s favorite sport is played in high school gymnasiums on old wrestling mats. There are no special teams or roughness penalties. The ball is Nerf’s rough approximation of a baked potato wrapped in foil.

Johnny Rico, our protagonist, wins and is escorted off the field a hero. Roughly 20 minutes of film later, he’s left to die on an alien planet. Shit’s real, yo.

— Christian D’Andrea

Rush (2013)

Available on HBO

If you liked Ford V. Ferrari, you’ll probably love this. Retelling the true story of James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda’s intense Formula 1 rivalry, Rush has fantastic racing scenes and benefits from focusing on the wildly different personalities and approaches of the two rivals.

— Pete Volk

A League of Their Own (1992)

Available on Showtime, and very often randomly on cable

It almost feels redundant to list this classic, which you’ve probably already seen once or dozens of times. But if you have seen it, you know it holds up better than most of the feel-good, strings-swelling-styled sports hagiographies of the 1990s. A more-or-less accurate retelling of a vital and often ignored part of American sports history, conveyed via an all-star cast and too many quotable lines to count. The “hard” may be what makes it great, but there’s nothing hard about watching this iconic and genuinely uplifting movie. (I also wrote more about it here.)

—Natalie Weiner

Speed Racer (2008)

Available to rent

One of my favorite movies of all-time, taking many aesthetic cues from anime and seamlessly bringing them into the live-action world with breathtaking visual effects. Speed Racer is visually explosive and a delight for the senses, with a grounded conflict at its core (a family business getting bought out by a heartless corporation). In my opinion, this is sports + movies in their best balance with each other.

— Pete Volk

The Heart of the Game (2005)

Available to rent

A hardscrabble team works diligently to overcome the odds, with a few twists. The movie centers on a girls basketball team from Roosevelt High School, 10 minutes from where I grew up in Seattle, and the star of the team gets pregnant. Bring tissues.

— Natalie Weiner

Uncut Gems (2019)

Available to rent

No movie better captures the anxiety of being a sports fan, or the bad decisions you make because of your fandom. Also sports luminaries Kevin Garnett and Mike Francesa deliver excellent performances. My favorite 2019 release! Louis wrote more about it here.

— Pete Volk

Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006)

Available on Starz and DirecTV

This is the height of me on-my-bullshit, but please allow it: Scott Adkins and Michael Jai White are generational action stars, and this entry in the excellent Undisputed series shows their singular talents at their best. White plays an ex-boxer framed for a crime and sent to prison, where he fights for his freedom in an underground MMA ring. Adkins plays the terrifying Yuri Boyka, the reigning prison champ. This is so up my alley it’s not even funny, and hopefully it’s up yours, too!

— Pete Volk

More Than a Game (2008)

Available on Starz

It’s very easy to take LeBron James for granted. After all, he’s been doing otherworldly things in the NBA for almost two decades now. Sometimes it just seems like he’s always existed, like he’ll just be inevitable forever. At a time when we’re (hopefully temporarily) deprived of watching him play basketball, it’s worth revisiting this great documentary about his origin story. Yes, he overcame seemingly insurmountable odds, but the part that sticks with you is the people around him — those who believed in him completely, and who he has been just as loyal to in return.

— Natalie Weiner

[chiseler]

“A Tough Guy, Eh?”

We tolerate Chester Morris. I don’t know that we love him.

Part of the problem is that the golden age of pre-code cinema for Morris is also the golden age for Jimmy Cagney, William Powell, Warren William, actors who sparkle with wit, agility, charm, energy, qualities poor Chester can approximate but never truly own. At this time, Clark Gable is not yet King of Hollywood, but he’s got something: a kind of gangling, lupine, on-the-make gusto. Bogart’s glory days are still ahead of him too, but at least they arrived: Morris sank further into B-movie territory, and not even good B’s, mostly. Have you ever tried to watch one of those Boston Blackie films? They had Robert Florey, Edward Dmytryk, and Budd Boetticher as directors, but any charm or personality those luminaries channelled towards the films got sucked down the Morris charisma funnel. Latterly, Boston Blackie was all that Morris did, and he wasn’t even very good at it.

Studio boss Jack Warner coveted Gable’s macho suavity and thought maybe C.M. could achieve it: maybe with the right moustache. But the material just wasn’t there, and maybe that was the problem: as rats and shitheels, which he played frequently, Morris had some conviction and suited the part. As leading man, he looked like he would lead you somewhere you didn’t particularly want to go. A moustache would’ve presented the real possibility of Morris being upstaged by his own upper lip.

Should we blame the physiognomy? Morris has a big beachball face, a couple sizes too big for his head, so it seems like roundness is the platonic ideal it’s aiming for, but he also has a little sharp hooked beak of a nose, and a jutting chin. Like somebody tried to make a noble, heroic Mr Potato Head by substituting those two features. His narrow eyes should convey steely determination, but in fact it’s much more credible seeing him twirled around Jean Harlow’s pinky in Red Headed Woman than as ex-crook turned detective Boston Blackie. More interesting, anyway. Maybe the role of a real leading man is to make us forget that the role he’s playing isn’t as interesting as the character parts and villains. Whereas Morris needed something interesting to do, preferably something appalling.

He makes a decent neurotic gangster in Blind Alley (1939), a Freudian hostage drama where he can stagger about in German expressionist nightmare sequences, but it’s still tempting to run the movie in your head with Bogart subbed in. Morris only has one role, or one scene, really, where he stamps a unique and indispensable impression on screen history.

In The Bat Whispers (1930) – spoiler alert! but really, the plot isn’t the point of this one, and anyway, it’s eighty-two years old, how come you haven’t seen it yet? – Morris is unmasked as the titular caped criminal, and delivers a defiant piece to camera before being led away in chains. Lit from below like a kid with a flashlight telling a ghost story at camp, Morris musters a performance style so far over the top it pierces the stratosphere and finds itself suspended in a zero-gravity realm of Total Possibility. “The Bat ALWAYS flies at NIGHT – and always in a Straight Line!” he insists, stressing every syllable as if it were his last. In terms of making an impression, this really was his last shot, though why he never went for broke like that again is a mystery. Maybe he hated what that performance looked like onscreen. It’s easier to hate something interesting than something dull.

We tolerate Chester Morris: we don’t hate him.

by David Cairns

[musingsofmaniacs]

The Wachowskis - Reloaded

“The real violence, the violence I realized was unforgivable, is the violence that we do to ourselves, when we’re too afraid to be who we really are.” 

                                                                              —Nomi, from Sense8

Imagine if, 10 years ago, a transgender director with 2 back-to-back flops that costed $100 million each, whose last hit happened 13 years ago pitches an idea for a science-fiction series centered around 8 people who somehow are psychically connected to each other, dealing with complex issues including LGBT rights , shot in 8 different parts of world including places as far as India, strewn with little known faces. Now she wants you, an executive from The Studio, to throw your money at it. Of course you will turn it down.

That’s why Netflix has been a gift to the world of television. A platform where you could experiment with bold ideas with corporate backing and without tight budgetary constraints and reach the right audiences. One half of the credit goes to Netflix for agreeing to Sense 8, which had its first season coming out in 2015.

The other half of course goes to the visionary duo of Lilly and Lana Wachowski, the Wachowski sisters. Wachowskis are known to be reclusive as they rarely give out interviews, preferring to let their work do the talking. They started as Wachowski Brothers with a little known indie-thriller about a lesbian couple scamming off millions of dollars. But their watershed moment of course came in 1999 with Matrix. The thinking man finally got an action film, and suddenly the whole world started questioning the nature of their reality, while trying to stop imaginary bullets with their hands.

The film is now an undisputed classic changing the landscape of sci-fi films with slo-mo action sequences, slick trench coats, slicker shades and spartan, monochromatic, and polished backgrounds for depicting dystopia. Blending Buddhism, Advaita Hinduism, Christianity, Messianism, existentialism, and nihilism with green tone, smooth action sequence and eclectic music, The Matrix cemented its position as one of the greatest films ever.

There is No Spoon

The sequels were as bad as the part I was good, and the good times made themselves scarce for the duo for considerable part of the next 10 years. Animatrix got a lukewarm response, though it is a recommended watch. The only hit they saw was V for Vendetta, in which they had screenwriting credit. Amidst this, Larry transitioned to Lana and took a break. Speed Racer went kaput, few short movies went unnoticed, a few more Matrix video-games here and there and we arrive at Cloud Atlas.

Cloud Atlas proved to be the most divisive movie of the year. You either loved it or you hated it. It was one of the most difficult-to-film novels, and the story was too risky for big shots like Warner Bros. to back. Cloud Atlas remains the costliest Indie movie ever made, with a budget of 100 Million Dollars which it unfortunately failed to recover.

I happen to belong to the former category, and Cloud Atlas was the film that truly cemented my respect for the duo, making them one of my favorite directors. It only got better with Sense8. So what gives? Why are they brilliant? Are their movies that good? Eh… not really. Many a times, plot feels not-too-fleshed out. Dialog feels too contrived, and this is especially my complaint with Sense8. Acting can get ham-handed to the point that it makes you cringe. Look no further than the Indians in Sense8, Tina Desai and Purab Kohli for proof. Yikes.

But I am eagerly waiting for the second season. And I was bowled over by Cloud Atlas, as I was when I experienced The Matrix. That siblings to bring to us such brave, bold and risky ventures in the face of a possibility abject failure hanging on their heads like a sword is absolutely worth cherishing. It boggles one’s mind to realise that there are multitudes of stories, events and lives that deserve to but will never see the silver screen, because the executives up there are too afraid to lose money or audiences over it, thinking the masses will not accept it. Or the directors feel discomfited stepping even an inch out of their comfort zone, preferring to stay within the neat little boxes that guarantee profits. How many pointless Marvel, DC, X-Men, Fast and Furious sequels have we had to endure that add no value to their respective universes but are sure shot cash cows because the fanboys will gobble it up like an over-sweetened cotton candy? The permutations and combinations of concepts, arcs, elements, and characters that will make for a cinema experience worth remembering but won’t get made, because they may not get the cash registers ringing or they may not pass the censors, is too damn high.

I know, I know, we live in a real world where real money by real people with real stakes are involved and there is nothing wrong in making honest money by making people forget their blues for an hour and half. But are the directors not doing a disservice to their mind-blowing talent by not taking risks and making the movies they really want to make? Joss Whedon, the man who concocted Firefly, is now stuck with making formulaic Avengers films with Tony Stark’s tired smart-ass lines. Steven Spielberg made the god awful Indiana Jones part IV that brought in the dough anyway. James Cameron will resurrect Avatar, a studio requirement that has him tied up and committed to things he would otherwise dread.

Kids, don’t try this at home. Or during a Nuclear Armageddon.

And that is why, when the duo were free from the clutches of The Studio, Cloud Atlas happened. The ambitiousness of the story, the boldness of the concept, and idea and the audacity to spend big money on it and bring it to life is enthralling to see, filling one with hope that the idea of taking risks and walking along the road not taken is not dead. The film, with its scale, depth, and compassion imprints onto the patron, so that they can take the film with them home. More importantly, if one feels that a homage to Wachowskis for their intentions is like a Nobel Prize to Obama for the same, the film is highly enjoyable and entertaining. Hugh Grant, the crown prince of chocolate boys, plays variety of villains, including a barbaric tribal, and that’s another reason why this is a recommended watch. Better still, Hugo Weaving, ‘Mr Anderson’ and a Wachowski favorite, plays an old mean lady, a Nurse Ratched of old age home if you will.

Which makes their push to Sense8, after Cloud Atlas spectacular debacle, all the more laudable. Sense8 has a gay actor hiding his identity, a transgender woman as a part of lesbian couple, a woman fighting misogyny at the highest level, a policeman who inherited a haunting unsolved case,  and a myriad mix of other sensates, struggling with finding their places in the worlds, that are connected mentally, can communicate with each other mentally, can experience things other sensate is experiencing, can possess a fellow sensate’s body and can make love to a fellow sensate! To top it all, an evil organisation is trying to track down these sensates, like a witch hunt.

The opening quote about violence we do unto ourselves, by the transgender character in the series, becomes all the more relevant when you consider the struggle the directors had with their transition. The character who is hiding his sexuality from the world perhaps resonates with Andy hiding the Lilly in her from the world, until it was forced out of her by an evil brand of journalism that the likes of Daily Mail relish in. A great work of art is, after all an artist baring himself onto the celluloid and audience’s gate pass to the the artist’s mind palace. Lilly’s and Lana’s is a dazzling, formidable, brave, fresh, creative and interesting. Netflix is the gatekeeper in shining armor. Buy that ticket.

PS: Tom Tykwer and J Michael Straczynski also share credits for Cloud Atlas and Sense8 respectively. Tykwer is of course the brilliant German director of Run Lola Run fame and latter is the creator of Babylon 5.

PPS: If you are wondering how I conveniently missed Jupiter Ascending, well, while it does nothing to improve the tonality of this article from that of a fanboy ramble to that of an objective piece, I believe the duo do get a few strikes. Besides, 5 minutes into the movie, I couldn’t stand it. Lilly and Lana still have a bit to go to achieve greatness.

[diversegaminglists]

Games with Nazis, Nazi and Fascist Imagery

This list is intended primarily as a content/trigger warning resource. I’m including fascism in general as well as the more obviously named Nazis.

Content Warnings: Mentions of concentration camps, prisoner of war camps, ethnic cleansing, the holocaust, anti-Semitism, eugenics, rape, abortion, and general fascist horrible things.

As with all lists, suggestions and corrections are encouraged,

Fantasy/Fictional Games Featuring Nazis:

'Allo 'Allo! Cartoon Fun! - Licensed game from the 1980s British TV comedy series, set in occupied France.

Another War - Polish made RPG set during WW2 in the style of Baldur’s Gate.

Bionic Commando - The Japanese NES game originally had Hitler as the final boss, but the International versions changed his name without changing his appearance.

Bloodrayne - Set in 1933 and 1935, deals almost entirely with killing Nazis and Nazi vampires. The PC and Xbox versions have had the swastikas removed and replaced with a triskelion style symbol, which is also used by other real world white suprematist groups.

Bugs vs. Tanks - The player is a tank crew of Nazi tanks who have been miniaturised.

CannonCrotch - About killing Nazis with a dick cannon, yeah.

Call of Cthulhu: Prisoner of Ice - Something about Nazi scientists trying to harness the power of eldrich abominations.

Call of Duty: Zombies - Nazi zombies

Captain America: Super Soldier - Features the Iron Cross (the Marvel super soldier, not the medal) and Agents of Hydra, who are both Nazis.

City of Heroes - This defunct MMO had a villain faction who were Nazis.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert - Time travel led to Russia becoming the aggressor in WW2.

Death to Spies Franchise - Hitman style games about killing German spies in the Soviet Union.

Deus Ex - Brief mentions of Nazi gold.

Dino D-Day - As you’d expect from the title, D-Day with dinosaurs.

Double Hitler - A QWOP game where Hitler is two small kids in a trench-coat.

Download 2 - The plot involves terrorist trying to bring back Hitler with digital technology.

Enemy Front - FPS about an American War Correspondent fighting with the Resistance

Epic Fantasy Battle Series - The second game features a Nazi as the final boss. He joins the party in the 3rd and 4th games. Both the Swastika and the Iron Cross symbolism show up in his outfits, though the Swastikas point in the wrong direction.

Ethnic Cleansing - I don’t think I need to explain this one.

Flight of the Amazon Queen - Features a company which is a front for a Nazi group with the names filed off.

Fists of Resistance - Game about punching Nazis

Freedom Fighters - Alternative history where Russia won WW2.

Freedom Force vs The Third Reich - It’s in the title so I’m being redundant for sake of completeness, it features alternative history and time travel but no actual swastikas.

Golgo 13: Wolf's Lair - Infiltrating a Neo-Nazi lair and killing them.

Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode - The Japanese original features a cyborg Hitler and obvious Nazis. These were apparently changed in the English language localisation, but the imagery and use of the swastika remains

The Great Escape (1986) - Based on the movie, not the real events which inspired it.

The Great Escape (2003) - Based on the movie, not the real events which inspired it.

Gran Turismo - Something about Nazi cars??!

GROM: Terror in Tibet - RPG about fighting Nazis with mystical Tibetan magical relics.

Guntu Western Front June, 1944 - FPS set in occupied France

Hans Kloss - A platforming game based on a Polish TV show about a spy stealing German plans.

Hellboy: The Science of Evil - Story involves Nazi scientists, Nazi robots and Nazi gorillas or something.

Hour of Victory - A FPS set in Europe and North Africa

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream - One of the playable characters is a former Nazi scientist.

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis - It’s Indiana Jones.

Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb - It’s Indiana Jones.

Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures - It’s Indiana Jones.

Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade - It’s Indiana Jones.

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings - It’s Indiana Jones.

The Intercept - Text Adventure about the Enigma decoders.

Into the Eagle’s Nest aka Eagle’s Nest - Gauntlet style game set during WW2

Iron Sky Invasion - NMR

Jang Pung 3 - Something about punching a Nazi Cyborg Dinosaur.

KZ Manager - A series of Concentration Camp simulators.

Kronolog: The Nazi Paradox - Alternative history where the Axis won.

La Croix Pan - Adventure game about an Allied solider.

The Last Resurrection - Some edge-lord nonsense pretending to be satire where Jesus is an anti-Semitic (yes, really) supervillain rapist and Hitler is his right-hand man or something.

Laura Bow: The Dagger Of Amon Ra - Set in 1926 but features a Germany security guard who goosesteps.

Lost Horizon - Point and click adventure game in the style of Indiana Jones with Thule Nazis, though all swastikas are replaced with the Iron Cross because it was made by a German company.

Len Deighton's Blitzkrieg: The Game - From the Rise of Hitler to the Fall of England - RTS where you play as Germany in a fictional scenario where they win the war.

Marine Raider - Text adventure about Allied forces in Japan.

Metal Gear Solid 1 - Hitler is briefly mentioned in dialogue.

Mortyr: 2093-1944 & Mortyr 2 - Alternative History FPS about time travelling to stop Hitler winning WW2.

Mr. T - Something about Mr. T and Will Wright teaming up to fight Nazis,I don’t know either.

Operation Darkness - Fire Emblem style JRPG with vampires and werewolves as well as Nazis and Vampire Nazis.

Opération Teddy Bear - French Edutainment title to teach kids about WW2 history and the French Resistance.

Operation Wolfsburg - FPS about stopping Nazis from doing... something.

Outlast - Nazi scientist research is part of the game’s backstory.

Partisan - Action RPG set during WW2.

Pathways into Darkness - FPS featuring Nazi ghosts.

Pearl Harbor: Attack! Attack! - Alternative history where you shoot down the Japanese planes and prevent the Pearl Harbor bombing.

Persona 2: Innocent Sin - Features Hitler as an antagonist who is actually an eldritch horror in disguise.

Pilot Down: Behind Enemy Lines - Stealth game about a pilot trying to escape to Switzerland

Police Quest IV: Open Season - Something about interrogating a very old Nazi.

Project: Weltuntergang - Mod for Wolfenstein 3D

Raiders of the Lost Ark - It’s Indiana Jones.

The Reckoning - Mod for Mount and Blade: Warband which features a Neo-Nazi faction.

Redcon - You play as an officer in an alternative history fascist future.

Red Shark Franchise - Flight sim involving a time travelling helicopter.

Relic Of War - Strategy game where WW2 didn’t end.

Ring of Red - Alternative history with mecha in WW2.

Rescue Raiders - Helicopter game involving time travel.

Rocket Ranger - Game involving time travel and a Nazi moon base.

The Saboteur - GTA clone set in occupied France.

Secrets of the Vatican: The Holy Lance - Hidden Object Game about trying to get the Lance of Longin (the spear which pierced Jesus’ side during the crucifixion) before the Nazis find it.

Signatory: Chouinsha - I can’t find anything about this old Japanese game but it has Hitler on the front cover.

Spear Resurrection & Spear End of Destiny - Fan made sequels to a Wolfenstein game

A Stroke of Fate: Operation Valkyrie - Adventure game with a German protagonist in the SS and Gestapo who sets out to assassinate Hitler.

The Simpsons Game - Features a level set inside a WW2 shooter.

Soldier of Fortune - FPS where the enemy is a Neo-Nazi Group who have stolen nuclear weapons.,

Southpark: The Stick of Truth - Features Zombie Nazi aborted foetuses, because of course it does.

Super Mario World Dark Horizon - A Super Mario fan game featuring a Super Saiyan Hitler.

Stalag 1 - POW Camp simulator

Stuart Smith's Adventure Construction Set - This early RPG creation kit features a Nazi castle as part of its included settings.

Time Gentlemen, Please! - Involves time travel and alternative history with Hitler and robot dinosaurs.

Titanic: Adventure Out of Time - Point and Click about a retired spy dying in the Blitz travelling back in time to redo a failed mission on the Titanic which will stop WW2 from happening, or something.

The Train: Escape to Normandy - Train simulator about trying to prevent Nazis from getting French paintings.

Turning Point: Fall of Liberty - Alternative History where Nazis invade New York.

ÜberSoldier Franchise aka Crimes of War - About a German soldier who gets super powers and then recruited by the Resistance to fight against Nazis.

Uncharted 1 - Features a U-Boat full of dead Nazis.

Uncharted 2 - Brief references to Hitler.

Undercover: Operation Wintersun - Point and Click adventure set during WW2.

Velvet Assassin - Loosely based on a real British spy. No swastikas because it was made by a German company.

Vogelstein 2D - Top down shooter inspired by Wolfenstein

Walker - Side scrolling WW2 shooter with a walking tank.

War Front: Turning Point - Alternative history RTS where Hitler was assassinated and the Germany and Allied power joined forces to fight against Russia.

Weird Wars: The Unknown Episode of World War II aka Weird Wars: Operation Pantherauge - Polish Isometric RPG involving Nazis and a mystical weapon.

Wolfenstein Franchise -Various reboots turned the series into Alternate History, Jewish-American Protagonist.

Wolfram - Remake of Wolfenstein 3D

Wolfschanze 1 & 2 - FPS inspired by the real life attempted assassination of Hitler by Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg.

World War II: Prisoner of War - Stealth game about escaping a POW camp.

Zombie Army Trilogy aka Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army Franchise

Nazi/Fascist Imagery/Fascist Empires:

Absolute Obedience - This yaoi game is set in Germany and uses a lot of fascist militaristic imagery (also rape) but the exact historical period is unclear (it has the Berlin wall in it, for example,) and is visually all over the place.

Akatsuki Blitzkampf - Japanese Dōjin fighter which uses a lot of fascist militaristic imagery and is clearly inspired by the Axis and Allies of WW2.

Battalion Wars - The Xylvanians are based on the WW1 era German Empire rather than Nazi Germany.

Bioshock Infinite - Despite being set in 1912 Columbia is influenced directly by Nazi Germany in-game because of the time tears. Massively fascist racist society.

Bloodrayne 2 - Set in “modern times” but features a flashback with Nazi imagery and occasional triskelion imagery.

Borderlands Franchise - Handsome Jack is often referred to as a fascist in game, he kills people for no reason, has a massive ego, has huge statues build glorifying him, and wants to kill everyone on Pandora who doesn’t work for him because he has decided they are “savages”.

Bully aka Canis Canem Edit - During the Halloween section Gary’s costume is clearly a Nazi Officer uniform, but without any insignia

Civilization: Beyond Earth - The purity affinity is about glorifying humanity and destroying anything that doesn’t conform.

The Darkness - Apparently features Nazi imagery in a bonus comic which came with the game.

Einhänder - What’s left of the world is run by a German-speaking evil Empire.

Fallout 2 - The Enclave wanted to exterminate everyone who wasn’t part of them, though the later games made them a bit less extreme.

Fallout: New Vegas - Caesar’s Legion attempts to emulate the Roman Empire, complete with hating women, and crucifying all their enemies.

Fallout 4 - The Brotherhood of Steel in this instalment is obsessed with “purity” associated with not being irradiated.

Final Fantasy 2/II - The Empire of Palamecia.

Final Fantasy 6/VI - The Gestahlian Empire is definitely a fascist regime and the Emperor even uses a Nazi salute in game.

Final Fantasy 12/XII - The Archadian Empire.

Final Fantasy 15/XV - The Empire of Niflheim

Final Fantasy Type-0 - The Milites.

The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim - Both the Thalmor and the Stormcloak factions are really into the “racial superiority” of the Altemer and Nords respectively.

Half-Life 2 - The Combine.

Killzone Fracnhise - The Hellghast are obviously based on a mixture of Nazi and Stalinist sources.

Lusternia - This MUD has a fascist empire called the Empire of Magnagora.

Maken X - Apparently the Japanese features Nazi imagery but was censored for American release (not sure if this was deliberate or not in context, given the use of the manji symbol in Japanese culture and religion, but the game also apparently features a boss fight against the Pope, so maybe it was).

Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy - The Movement brainwashes people and has a uniform with red arm bands and jackboots.

Resident Evil Franchise - Almost every antagonist movement in the series has some element of fascism to it, from wanting to “improve” humanity through genetic therapy, to killing off everyone who is not “worthy”, to experimenting bioweapons on African villagers.

Starcraft Franchise - The UPL & UED are into genetic “purity”and purging humanity of “undesirables”.

Star Wars - Any game which features the Sith Empire, but especially The Old Republic MMO.

Tales of Symphonia - The half-elven Desians round up humans and put them in camps for being “inferior”.

Team Fortress - The design of the Medic evokes a Nazi doctor, especially since he has a German accent and refers to himself as “ze ubermensch”.

Tropico Franchise - The Nationalist faction hates foreigners, and in Tropico 4 their leader is depicted as a skinhead.

Under Defeat - Nazi inspired uniforms.

Valkyria Chronicles - Has an evil empire which is a mashup of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

Special Mentions and Exceptions:

Assassin’s Creed Franchise - In the lore Hitler was apparently a Templar with a piece of the Apple of Eden, but I’m not sure which game(s) contain Nazi imagery, if any, so needs more research.

Bazooka Bill - Is set during WW2 but all the enemies appear to be ninjas instead of German officers.

LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures - Unlike the films it’s based on, and most of the licensed games, the LEGO game contains no references to Nazis or Nazi imagery. Characters who were Nazis in the originals are referred to as “Enemies” in game instead.

Mass Effect - The Cerberus group is a “humans first” organisation in their first appearance but their portrayal over the three games is inconsistent.

The Secrets of Atlantis: The Sacred Legacy - Set in 1937 but omits direct references to Nazis and swastikas even though the Hindenburg is a location.

[aion-rsa]

The Many Deaths of Injustice: Gods Among Us

https://ift.tt/2zspJfq

With two games and hundreds of comic issues, the alternate universe of Injustice has given us many casualties. Here are the victims.

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Feature

Games

Gavin Jasper

Injustice: Gods Among Us

Jul 10, 2018

Injustice 2

tom taylor

Brian Buccellato

Superman

Batman

Lex Luthor

Evo 2016

Injustice: Gods Among Us and Injustice 2 are old news by this point. Even for the latter game, the DLC well has dried up and we're simply waiting for NetherRealm Studios' next Mortal Kombat game to pop up. Even though interest in the game has moved on, the comic prequel is still being released on a weekly basis and is still making the top ten in digital sales.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. When the first game came out, writer Tom Taylor and a group of artists (mainly Bruno Redondo, Tom Derenick, and Mike S. Miller) launched a digital prequel comic based on the Injustice universe. The comic became a surprise hit and the first volume was followed with an annual issue as well as a Year Two continuation of the series. The digital issues would eventually be released as print issues and later turned into trades. After hitting the end of Year Five, it moved on to a retelling of the game's story from Harley Quinn's perspective, and that was followed with a comic prequel for Injustice 2. There's even a He-Man crossover comic on the way.

That’s kind of nuts.

Sometimes comics based on trademarked properties get screwed over by sequels. For instance, there were comic follow-ups to Aliens that were completely negated by the events of Alien 3. Considering the vast amount of deaths in the Injustice comic, surely the sequel would screw with the timeline.

Shockingly, that’s not the case. With one early exception, all the new characters in Injustice 2 are either ignored completely or simply not killed in the comic. It goes to show some high-quality communication between the writers and developer NetherRealm Studios. Together, the creators traversed the vast and violent landscape of the Injustice universe to carve out stories for most of the popular DC roster. The characters you meet in Injustice 2 have survived the vicious comic book series and are ready to enter the ring.

But what of those who didn’t make it out of that alternate universe alive? There are many heroes and villains who have fallen in order to make way for Superman’s Regime. Here are the victims of Superman and Batman’s great war.

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STEVE TREVOR

Injustice 2 Annual #1

Going in chronological order instead of issue order, this one supersedes the rest due to taking part in World War II. In the Injustice universe, there were more differences than the big Superman/Joker catalyst. After all, Lex Luthor was Superman’s best friend. While Superman’s downfall and behavior were well-explained, they rarely got into why Wonder Woman was constantly vindicating his actions and acted so loyal in his quest for tyranny.

In this universe, Diana discovers Steve Trevor on her island, as expected. The situation plays out an awful lot like the Wonder Woman movie, except for two major differences. One, it's World War II instead of World War I. Two, Steve eventually betrays her and tries to steal the Lasso of Truth to help the Nazis because, oh yeah, he was also a German spy all along. Although he admits that he has feelings for her, Steve loves his homeland more and Wonder Woman responds by decapitating him with the lasso.

Kind of sheds some light on her behavior through the series, even down to holding a candle for an evil fascist boyfriend.

JIMMY OLSEN

Year One #1

The comic series opens with pure optimism. Superman finds out that Lois is pregnant. He calls Batman over and asks him to be the godfather. Batman even musters up a smile. Then things immediately go to Hell.

Lois and Jimmy are given an anonymous tip about a corrupt senator doing corrupt things at the docks. Jimmy’s there to take photos, but it’s all a setup. The Joker steps out and shoots him through the camera. He then takes Lois hostage.

Buy the Injustice games and comics here!

SCARECROW

Year One #2

The search for Lois becomes immediate and frantic. Batman demands all the Justice League members stop what they’re doing and find her, even though many aren’t aware of her relationship with Superman. Flash discovers the dead body of the Scarecrow at STAR Labs. With the sack removed from his head, it’s apparent that he’s been killed by Joker gas.

Even though Batman identifies him as Jonathan Crane, the Scarecrow shows up again in Year Five. Now he's in Injustice 2. Whoops! We never do get any real explanation for that.

LOIS LANE

Year One #3

And here’s the lynchpin of this universe.

Superman’s search leads to a submarine. He finds Joker and Harley there, but he also finds Doomsday out of nowhere. Quick to act, Superman grabs Doomsday and sends him into space. What Superman is slow to realize is that he’s been poisoned. The Joker mixed kryptonite with Scarecrow’s fear gas and made Superman hallucinate Doomsday. Superman has, in fact, killed Lois Lane and their unborn child.

Tom Taylor had no choice but to write this sequence because the game made it specific. The fact that he had to do it didn’t sit well with him and he tried to redeem himself when writing the comic Earth 2. In it, that world’s version of Lois Lane is resurrected by having her mind put into a robot body. He jokingly refers to introducing her via her robot body being thawed out as "unfridging."

JESSE QUICK

Year One #20

For the sake of chronology, I’m going to skip around for the next couple entries for the sake of issues with flashbacks.

Heh. Flashbacks.

Joker rigged Lois’ heart to a nuclear device, so when Superman inadvertently kills her, he does the same to his home. It’s later shown that Lex Luthor (a good man in this world) survives the ordeal because he thinks ahead. He has a speedster on his payroll who is hired to throw him into his bunker in case of such a disaster. Unfortunately, the speedster tries to save others and is wiped out by the blast.

Although she’s never identified, she mostly resembles Jesse Quick.

KID FLASH AND BEAST BOY

Year Three Annual

The Year Three Annual explains why all the other major Teen Titans characters are missing outside of simply saying that the explosion killed them all. When the explosion goes off, only Superboy, Beast Boy, and Kid Flash (identified as Bart Allen) are in Metropolis. Kid Flash is taken out immediately due to running into the blast’s direction. Superboy attempts to shield Beast Boy at the last second, but fails to save his life.

STEEL (JOHN HENRY IRONS)

Injustice 2 #21

During the Metropolis explosion, Natasha Irons is enjoying a romantic vacation in France. She receives a panicked and scrambled call from her uncle, explaining that something terrible has happened. In response to the explosion, he is putting all of their research in a safe place, protected from the radiation. Although he succeeds on that front, the building begins to collapse and the falling wreckage crushes him.

Years later, Natasha would be able to uncover the hidden files and take up the Steel mantle.

JOKER

Year One #4/Story Mode

The Joker is immediately apprehended. Batman visits him in prison to demand to know why he did all this. Joker admits that he’s grown tired of messing with Batman, so he moved on to Superman, deciding he wanted to see if he could break him. Batman’s all, “You’ll never break Superman because he’s freaking Superman!” but then Superman breaks through the wall and angrily impales Joker with his arm.

Joker’s last breath is his last laugh.

Although the playable Joker in the Injustice game is the Joker from the mainstream DC Universe, his appearance in Injustice 2 is explained as a fear gas hallucination.

NIGHTWING

Year One #16

Although a Nightwing is on Superman’s side in the game, it’s actually an older Damian Wayne. Batman is sure to point out that Damian murdered the original Nightwing, Dick Grayson.

That puts Taylor in a tough spot because you have to sort of balance the act. He has to kill Dick but not in a way that’s too evil because even the super serious Justice League has to have boundaries at this point.

As the story goes, Superman chooses to remove all the inmates at Arkham and place them in his own secret prison. Batman and Nightwing go to prevent this, but Robin sells them out to Superman. A gigantic brawl breaks out between Superman’s team, the Gotham heroes, and a bunch of Arkham inmates. In the midst of it, Nightwing and Robin have a bit of an argument and Robin responds by lashing out and angrily throwing his escrima stick at Nightwing’s head (something he’s apparently wont to do as he tried it earlier).

Nightwing doesn’t see it coming because he’s busy fighting deranged murderers and gets nailed upside the head. It knocks him out, he lands neck-first onto a piece of rubble and he’s dead in a snap. Robin’s freaking out, Batman’s horrified, and everyone figures maybe it’s for the best to just back off on the fighting and not poke the bear for the time being.

KALIBAK

Year One #24

Without the context of what’s been going on, Kalibak hears that Superman’s declaring a war-free Earth and figures it’s some hippy bullshit ripe for the picking. Under Darkseid’s permission, he and a bunch of Parademons invade Earth during a big Superman press conference. When Kalibak sees the anger in Superman’s eyes, he realizes that maybe he made a big mistake.

Superman fries a bunch of Parademons and beats Kalibak enough to make him surrender. Superman won’t have it and smacks him around, demanding he fight back just as an excuse to kill him and make him pay for his crimes. Kalibak strikes against him, but gets put down.

CAPTAIN ATOM

Year One #32

Batman’s team of rebels is mostly made up of low-level folks. The powerless vigilantes like Huntress, Batwoman, Green Arrow, and so on. Since Batman is on the same side as the President, it makes sense that he’d also have super-duper-soldier Captain Atom on his side.

Near the Fortress of Solitude, Captain Atom proceeds to outfight Superman and lets him know that he’s under orders of the United States government to take him down. He wants to bring him in alive, but then Wonder Woman arrives and chops open his neck. Annoyed, Captain Atom points out that he’s about to explode, taking the North Pole with him.

While mocking Superman for no longer being selfless, Captain Atom makes sure to fly to space and drags Superman with him. Wonder Woman follows but the explosion blasts her back to Earth and puts her in a coma for over a year.

Superman survives.

GREEN ARROW

Year One #33

This is another bit that’s mentioned in-game and we get to see it play out in comic form.

The whole first volume leads up to this moment. Driven by grief and frustration, Superman’s tried to do what he feels is right. The government betrays him. Batman betrays him. Wonder Woman is gravely injured. Then he discovers Green Arrow in the Fortress of Solitude, trying to pocket some of the “super pills” that Lex Luthor and Superman created (they give people Kryptonian-level strength). More importantly, Green Arrow is in the same room where Superman’s been keeping Jonathan and Martha Kent for their protection and that just comes off as a threat at first glance.

Green Arrow shoots an arrow at Superman and it deflects. It ends up finding its way into Jonathan’s shoulder. It’s that screw-up that finally sets Superman off and he angrily beats Green Arrow to death in front of the Kents.

Although Ollie dies, he does at least fire an arrow with a super pill tacked onto it. It reaches Batman and the others, but Black Canary knows he isn’t coming back.

When Superman comes down from his rage, he refuses to take responsibility and blames Batman for this death as well. The AI ghost of Jor-El apologizes to the Kents for unleashing this upon their world.

As for Green Arrow, the end of Year Two has Black Canary brought to an alternate reality where she died and Ollie survived. The two end up together and return for Injustice 2.

KYLE RAYNER

Year Two #2

Green Lantern Kyle Rayner missed out on the whole Superman situation because he was off Earth for an entire year. As he goes back to check up on everything, including his girlfriend (who may or may not be pieces of broken meat in his fridge. We’ll never know), he’s ambushed by the Sinestro Corps.

As he’s captured, Sinestro pops in to say that he’s been paying attention to Earth and is really interested in playing a role. He can’t have Kyle around to interfere, so Sinestro pulls off his ring finger and allows him to suffocate in space. He also has Kyle’s limbs torn off because that’s scarier, I guess.

Sinestro then goes to Earth and allows himself to be Superman’s prisoner, swearing that he’s there to warn him about the coming of the Green Lantern Corps.

CH’P

Year Two #10

As expected, the Green Lantern Corps are sent to deal with this whole “Earth taken over by an overpowered tyrant” situation. Normally, Superman, Shazam, and Hawkgirl would be able to take on an army of those guys themselves, but the Corps has an ace in their sleeve that nobody expected.

Ch’p the space squirrel may be tiny, but he’s also able to control light on a much tinier scale than anyone else. This includes preventing the synapses in Superman’s brain from working, meaning Superman is completely paralyzed.

Sinestro convinces Luthor to let him free and he saves Superman by blasting a hole through Ch’p’s head. With Superman back in action, the Green Lanterns have no choice but to surrender.

DESPERO

Year Two #15

This one’s morbidly hilarious. To get in the good graces of Earth’s heroes, Sinestro has the Sinestro Corps put the boots to Despero and blast him to Earth. Disheveled and annoyed, Despero finds Sinestro loudly ranting and raving about how Despero won’t hurt the innocents of this planet. Sinestro then uses his ring to force Despero’s hands around Sinestro’s throat.

As Hal Jordan and John Stewart come to help, Sinestro snaps Despero’s neck and sadly tells his allies that it was the only way. Naturally, they don’t question it and think about how much Sinestro’s changed.

JAMES GORDON

Year Two #20

According to Batgirl’s in-game ending, Superman killed Commissioner Gordon at some point, inspiring Barbara to don the Batgirl cowl once again. In the comic, Superman tries to intimidate Barbara into telling him where Batman is, then regretfully gives Gordon the news that according to his x-ray vision, Gordon’s suffering from lung cancer.

Gordon decides there’s no longer a need to lie and lets Barbara know that he’s always been keen to her double lives as Batgirl and Oracle. Using the super pills, Gordon leads Gotham’s Finest to siege the Hall of Justice, all while knowing that the super pill is actually making the cancer stronger and killing him quicker.

Although on his last legs, Gordon is able to stop Cyborg from tracking down Oracle’s whereabouts. He tears out the metal from Cyborg’s face, knocking him out of commission. Then, from the Justice League satellite, he looks at the beauty of Earth and says his goodbyes to Barbara and Batman.

JOHN STEWART

Year Two #23

Batman’s resistance wages war on Superman’s Regime and the Green Lantern Corps is on Batman’s side, albeit against the wishes of all the Guardians except Ganthet. Superman, on the other hand, has the Sinestro Corps at his disposal. There are many casualties on both sides.

John Stewart is in the middle of it all. He’s on Superman’s side, but he’s also a Green Lantern. He doesn’t want anyone to fight. Sinestro tries to coax him into helping out and as John admits how torn he is, Sinestro literally tears a hole through John’s chest.

Sinestro then flies John’s dying body to Hal (who has become a Yellow Lantern by this point), telling him to get John to safety. John dies in Hal’s arms, making Hal a little too emotional to think clearly.

GUY GARDNER

Year Two #23

When a distraught and angry Hal demands to know who is responsible for John’s death, Sinestro says that Guy Gardner did it by accident. Since Guy is the big mouthpiece in the whole “Let’s go get some Green Lanterns to beat up Superman!” concept, Hal freaks the hell out and it doesn’t help that Sinestro’s egging him on.

Guy is overwhelmed and begs Hal to get a hold of himself. Instead, Hal gets a hold on Guy’s arm and tears it off, causing a powerless Guy to fall to his death.

During the Injustice 2 comic, Hal constantly sees Guy standing nearby, cracking wise, as a manifestation of Hal's guilt.

MOGO AND GANTHET

Year Two #24

As mentioned, Ganthet is in charge of the siege to stop Superman, and considering he’s an Oan, he’s tough enough to smack Superman around. Not only that, but he brought Mogo the Living Planet with him and he’s, you know, a living planet.

The death of a random Sinestro Corps member causes the loose ring to find a replacement in Superman. A pissed off Injustice Superman and a yellow wishing ring are the makings for a pretty bad day and he proves his power by slamming Ganthet into Mogo and pushing them both into the sun.

Yeah, that’ll do it.

DR. OCCULT AND ROSE PSYCHIC

Year Three Annual

The annual issue came out after the entirety of Year Three, but it takes place before it, filling in some of the blanks. Batman hires the two-in-one duo of Dr. Occult and Rose as his agents with the mission of neutralizing Raven and Wonder Woman. Dr. Occult finds and assaults Raven, but she is quick to burn him to death with Hellfire. Rose is separated from the charred body. John Constantine – who had been stalking the mystics – appears and helps take Raven down.

With Occult dead, Rose can’t survive. She fulfills her final mission by using magic powder to keep Wonder Woman’s coma going, but collapses. Her final words are a failed attempt to tell Batman not to trust Constantine. Immediately after, Constantine appears and robs her body of magic trinkets.

JASON BLOOD AND HARVEY BULLOCK

Year Three #3

Batman recruits a handful of magic users to help his cause. The rebels hang out in Jason Blood’s house and start planning, but dumpy detective Harvey Bullock realizes that he’s completely out of his element and tries to leave. Detective Chimp, who mentions having worked with Gordon in the past, gets through to him and convinces him to stay.

All of a sudden, there’s some kind of horrible force trying to get in through the door. Bullock attempts to close it, but can’t. Jason Blood steps in to do the same and begins to summon Etrigan to take his place. Before he can, the Spectre’s energies blast the door back, killing both men in one go.

RAGMAN

Year Three #8

Constantine briefly captures Superman with the help of Ragman. The idea is to absorb Superman into Ragman’s magical attire, meaning Superman’s soul will have to spend years helping Ragman fight evil in order to atone. As Constantine points out, Superman’s literally killed a planet, so that might take some time.

Speaking of taking time, the absorbing process takes too long due to Superman’s strength. He’s able to get help from Shazam, who defeats Ragman. Then the Spectre – on the side of Superman in all of this – appears and tears Ragman to pieces while Constantine knows there’s nothing he can do to save him.

DEADMAN

Year Three #10

Deadman possesses the body of Shazam in order to save Constantine and talk some sense into the Spectre. He’s confused and horrified when he discovers that Spectre isn’t Jim Corrigan anymore, and instead sees a creepy smile (one of several red herring hints that Spectre is actually the Joker). Spectre pulls out his giant sword and cuts through Deadman, wounding his soul.

Deadman goes to his boss Rama Kushna, who cannot save him. Deadman chooses someone to take his place. In his final moments, Boston Brand transfers his power into the soul of Dick Grayson, who gladly takes on the Deadman mantle.

PHANTOM STRANGER

Year Three #11

Phantom Stranger feels that Spectre’s being a little weird and is interfering with man a bit too much, so he teleports him to space for a heart-to-heart. It doesn’t take long for Phantom Stranger to realize that something’s up with Spectre on a physical level. Spectre strikes against him, strangling Stranger while shoving him through the entirety of Saturn. Stranger sees the force within that’s making Spectre act like this and widens his eyes in horror.

By the way, if you’re wondering, the Spectre is Mr. Mxyzptlk. Hence all the smiling and Joker-like gestures.

KLARION

Year Three #17

A big battle breaks out between Superman and Batman’s groups, and Constantine points out that this isn’t going to end well. He calls to teammate Klarion the Witch Boy to teleport them out of there, but before anything can be done, Sinestro blasts Klarion to death with his yellow ring. Superman and Wonder Woman yell at Sinestro, which gives Batman and Constantine a moment to discuss their next contingency.

Showing that you either go big or go home, Constantine summons Trigon to distract Superman and friends.

DETECTIVE CHIMP

Year Three #18

As the heroes escape, Detective Chimp refuses to follow. As he tells Harley, he was conjured by Klarion in the first place. With Klarion gone, Chimp will soon cease to exist. Harley, who has become attached to the little guy, hugs him until he vanishes.

Man, this story’s been kind of rough on Harley. Everyone she cares for dies on her.

HUNTRESS

Year Three #21

The rest of Year Three sort of spins its wheels until it gets to the final issue. Once again, Superman’s side fights Batman’s side, only with Trigon fighting Mr. Mxyzptlk in the background. Huntress and Batwoman – both powered up with super pills – team up on Superman until Wonder Woman steps in. During the fight, she wraps her lasso around Huntress’ neck and accidentally tugs on it hard enough to snap it.

Normally, this would just be an instance of killing off a random character because they aren’t in the game and, well, it’s the Injustice comic. What do you expect? Instead, this kill ends up being a bizarre editorial mystery, best explained with the next entry.

RENEE MONTOYA

Year Four #4

A few years ago, there was a pretty big news story regarding DC editorial. The creative team on Batwoman left in a huff because they planned to have Kate Kane, a lesbian character, get married, or at least engaged, and DC wouldn’t allow it. When it became a big thing, DC doubled down by claiming that they don’t hate GAY marriage. They just hate ALL marriage! Which is stupid for other reasons, but whatever.

Tom Taylor, writer of Injustice at the time, had a one-panel scene showing that in this universe, Batwoman and Renee Montoya (who at the very least were an item in main continuity) are married back as of Year Two. It was rather nice and shouldn’t have been a big enough deal to affect anything in the story.

Brian Buccellato took over during Year Three and, as mentioned, killed off Huntress. Huntress’ death has huge ramifications in regards to Montoya, who goes completely off the deep end. She starts drinking heavily. She calls up an ex to give a tearful goodbye, and goes on a suicide run to kill the ones responsible.

In other words, she’s acting distraught in a way you’d expect from someone who lost their spouse. Over Huntress. Not that they aren’t friends and teammates, but Montoya is far more hurt and broken than when Gordon and Bullock are taken out. She has zero interaction with Batwoman (her wife), and even when Montoya dies, Batwoman barely has any reaction.

In other words, one of three things happened:

1) Buccellato seriously cannot tell Batwoman and Huntress apart, and the editor didn’t catch it.

2) DC were really mad about the insinuation of two supporting characters being (gay) married and told him to switch Batwoman and Huntress’ roles as a way to sweep it under the rug.

3) DC let him know that Batwoman’s planned to be in an Injustice sequel in some form, so no-go on killing her.

Regardless, it’s suspect as hell.

Oh, right. The actual death. Renee Montoya overdoses on super pills and calls out Superman for a public fight, beating on him until her heart gives out.

HERCULES

Year Four #13

Year Four is about the Greek Gods stepping in to clown Superman and take over. This leads to a battle between the gods and Superman's regime. The heavy hitter is Hercules, who easily defeats Hal Jordan and then fights off both Wonder Woman and Superman, batting the latter into space. Shazam shows up and finally brings the demigod down. Hercules awaits his death, but Shazam refuses to commit murder.

Instead, Superman zooms down from space and does Hercules in win one swift blow.

ARTEMIS

Year Four #23

Wow, an entire ten issues before the next death?! Damn.

In the end of this volume, both sides of the Injustice conflict join forces to fight the gods. During the battle, Hera decides she’s finally going to take out Wonder Woman's mother, Queen Hippolyta. Artemis shoves her queen out of the way and takes the blast herself.

Hera shows no regret for the kill and promptly gets taken down by Harley, Batwoman, and others.

KILOWOG

Year Four Annual

The annual is a delightful prison break story starring Plastic Man as he tries to rescue his activist son, Offspring. Turns out the Justice League has placed all of the super criminals in an underwater prison with Metamorpho as the warden. Plas sneaks around and gets help from inmate Kilowog, who starts a riot by headbutting Bane.

Superman and his heavy hitters appear outside the glass bubble protecting the prison, and it looks like all is lost. Plas reveals that he’s smuggled all the Green Lantern rings and throws them all out to their users. Outside the bubble, Sinestro freaks out and, despite the warnings of Jordan, blasts through the bubble and shoots through Kilowog before he can be a threat.

That act works against Superman’s side and helps Plastic Man and Offspring free everyone, setting up the big Year Five story that a whole bunch of supervillains are on the loose.

PARASITE

Year Five #3

The Regime’s quest to round up all the escaped villains gets a bit more complicated when Doomsday shows up on Earth yet again. Superman’s too busy trading blows with him, while Yellow Lantern and Cyborg aren’t having any luck fighting Parasite.

Superman gets some unlikely help from Bane, who...puts...Doomsday...in a full-nelson...? Man, I don’t get how that works either, but let’s go with it. This frees Superman up to go bail out his buddies by grabbing Parasite and flinging him into the sun. When the others ask about why Parasite isn’t locked up with the rest, Superman just says he’s a special case and he’s been taken care of.

HEATWAVE AND WEATHER WIZARD

Year Five #10

Two subplots in the first half of Year Five are about the Flash Rogues and Bizarro Superman. Batman recruits the Rogues (specifically Golden Glider, Heatwave, Mirror Master, and Weather Wizard) to help him because they’re honorable enough despite being bad guys. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor’s secretly trying to create a perfect Superman clone to combat the real deal, but the unfinished clone escapes and now believes himself to be the actual Superman.

The two plotlines clash when Bizarro goes after the Rogues, because that’s what Superman would do. During the battle, he begins to realize his own lack of limits, such as initially being afraid of Heatwave’s fire, but then realizing it doesn’t hurt him.

Things get messy when Weather Wizard offhandedly calls Bizarro “Fake Superman.” Bizarro fries Wizard and Heatwave with his vision, and the other two are only saved because Trickster (Alex Walker), who has secretly tagged along, convinces Bizarro that he’s his friend. Bizarro, not really understanding who or what he is, grabs Trickster and flies away to get answers.

JASON BARD

Year Five #16

The Gotham detective starts his own anti-Regime group called the Joker Underground to rally against Superman and maybe do some terrorist stuff. Harley and Batwoman show up to tell them not to go about it this way, especially the part where he invokes the Joker’s name as a good thing. They try to talk Bard into altering the group and maybe connecting them to Batman’s Insurgency.

As Harley and Batwoman ride off, Superman arrives, having heard about the Joker Underground. Hearing all these citizens chant the Joker’s name in defiance of Superman and his order, Superman gets downright pissed and mashes on the heat vision, taking out everyone in the building.

TRICKSTER

Year Five #18

The Trickster tries to help Bizarro figure things out and makes an attempt to teach him how to keep his powers in check. For instance, when Bizarro sneezes, he definitely needs to cover his face, as the alternative almost kills Trickster.

Bizarro takes to the Trickster as his little buddy, but his Frankenstein’s Monster mentality (the movie version and not the awesome DC Comics version) causes him to kill various civilians due to a misunderstanding. Trickster is mad at first, blaming himself for not being able to convey his thoughts better to the big lug, but is able to get over it. He and Bizarro are family. They only have each other, and they’re going to have a great future working together. As Bizarro flies with Trickster in his arms, Trickster tells him that they’ll be best friends forever. 

That's the most blatant death flag you’ll ever see, which is what makes this scene so goddamn funny. A beat later, Bizarro sneezes. This time he remembers to put his hands over his face. It just takes him a moment to realize that he dropped Trickster onto the side of a mountain. Whoops.

BIZARRO

Year Five #20

Bizarro brings the Trickster’s carcass to Lex Luthor, begging him to fix his friend. Luthor’s in a tight spot because on one hand, Bizarro will likely kill him once he realizes he can’t resurrect the dead and on the other hand, Superman will figure out that he created Bizarro. Luthor gets Bizarro to enter the Fortress of Solitude, where he has Doomsday waiting. By this point, Doomsday has been mind-controlled to do the Regime’s bidding as the ultimate weapon.

Then Superman shows up, making it a three-way battle between Superman, Bizarro, and Doomsday with Luthor in control. Luthor realizes that he can put an end to Superman right there and now, but decides that he simply can’t murder him like this.

Which...kind of lacks any gravitas when Luthor then has Doomsday snap Bizarro’s neck as a way to cover his tracks. Superman delivers Bizarro’s corpse to Luthor and tells him to do as many tests as he needs to do to figure out just where this thing came from.

ALFRED PENNYWORTH

Year Five #23

Here’s the thing about Injustice: Gods Among Us: Alfred Pennyworth is the best. He exists to either be Bruce’s awesome paternal figure or to sass Superman. He even does both at the end of Year One, when he takes a super pill and kicks the shit out of Superman for destroying his family. By Year Five, he remains at Stately Wayne Manor, occasionally Skyping with Batman.

Superman visits Alfred to strong-arm him into admitting where Bruce is, but Alfred claims that he doesn’t know, wouldn’t tell him regardless, and proceeds to show off his supreme inability to give a single fuck in the presence of the Man of Steel by casually insulting him and telling him to see himself out.

Rather than just laser him on the spot, Superman gets prisoner Mr. Zsasz to escape and take care of Alfred. Zsasz kills Alfred in a knife fight, leaving Damian to discover the body. Superman figures that Alfred’s death will draw Batman out of hiding in the name of revenge.

Luckily, Alfred's death is only temporary. In the Injustice 2 comic, Damian gets access to a Lazarus Pit and chooses to cross the other line Batman refuses.

KING SHARK

Year Five #28

Flash is having a hard time figuring out his place in the world, what with Superman being a total dick, but also making the world safer. He goes to find Iris, who cut ties with Barry years earlier after his refusal to stand up to Superman. Flash then discovers that she's part of the rebellion as she and her allies are confronted by Regime soldiers Girder and King Shark. Flash has a crisis of conscience and tries to save Iris and the others, though he accidentally kills King Shark by impaling him through the mouth with a broom. Iris is disgusted by Flash's actions and the others refuse to trust him. Iris makes her own stand by surrendering to the Regime.

HAWKMAN

Year Five #32

Hawkman visits Earth at one point because he feels Hawkgirl isn't fulfilling her hawk alien cop duties by hanging around Superman. Hawkman is sent packing and then gets sent on a mission by Batman to pick up some kryptonite in space. Hawkman earns it by offering Mongul thirty seconds of battle. Rather than bring it to Batman so that Superman could be imprisoned, Hawkman decides to fashion a kryptonite mace, which he uses to punk out Superman until the Man of Steel is a bloody and sickly mess.

The Justice League pops in to disarm Hawkman, but the weakened Superman tells them to back off. Despite being ill from kryptonite poisoning, Superman offers to fight Hawkman one-on-one. Hawkman never stood a chance.

MR. ZSASZ

Year Five #36

Mr. Zsasz killed Alfred and much to Damian's dismay, Batman refused to take his life out of revenge. With Zsasz incarcerated, it doesn't take long for the prince of assassins to sneak into his cell unnoticed and torture the criminal. He demands to know which of Zsasz's many scars represents Alfred. Damian finally finishes his work and we discover that Sinestro allowed this to transpire.

For the first time, Hal Jordan starts to have second thoughts.

METAMORPHO

Year Five #36

I'm not 100% on this one, but I'm going to call this one out as a death. The Wikipedia page for Metamorpho at least agrees with me (I know, I know...), he never shows up ever again, and he's got two gross, red wounds sticking out the back of his head there. He's PROBABLY dead.

Batman and Lex Luthor need some schematics on a Mother Box. Deathstroke takes the contract because he's bored out of his mind in a Superman-ruled society. After taking out dozens of drones, he gets a real main event fight out of Metamorpho. Deathstroke fires a couple metal balls at Metamorpho's head, but he turns gaseous and they fly through. When it looks like Metamorpho has things well in hand and he's about to burn Deathstroke to death, the metal balls are remote controlled to bury themselves into the back of Rex's skull.

Deathstroke is promptly taken down by Raven and Cyborg, setting up his first appearance in the game's story mode.

BATWOMAN

Year Five #40

In the final issue of the original prequel story, Batman, Batgirl, and Batwoman are trying to open a portal into another world so that they can bring in some non-Regime versions of the Justice League to help out. While Batman is off dealing with Superman, the two bat ladies are dealing with faulty technology. It's the usual trope where some world-saving device isn't working the way it's supposed to and the only way it can is for someone to sacrifice themselves. Batwoman volunteers.

By the time Superman realizes that Batman is merely distracting him, he flies over and sees the alternate reality portal working. He fires his heat vision at a screaming Batwoman and...that's all we see. After the fact, everyone involved is teleported to a different setting. Batwoman isn't stated to be outright dead, but there is some red coloring on the wall behind where she was. It's not explicitly blood, but...yeah. So much like Metamorpho, she's probably dead, but it isn't 100% certain.

GOLDEN GLIDER

Mentioned in Injustice 2

Although Golden Glider survives the comic prequel, she's still taken down at some point before the crumbling of the Regime. The only confirmed name, Golden Glider is one of various Flash Rogues who are publicly executed by Wonder Woman. This is never outright shown, but it's explained to be the reason why her brother, Captain Cold, goes from retirement/bartending to joining up with Gorilla Grodd's Secret Society.

LEX LUTHOR

Story Mode/Ground Zero #19

We move on to the actual game’s story and its comic adaptation, where Injustice Batman pulls superheroes from the mainstream DC Universe to help liberate their world. They meet up with Lex Luthor, their man on the inside. As I've brought up earlier, Injustice Lex is a good man who has grown horrified at Superman’s actions. At the end of Act II, Lex enacts a plan that should stop Superman once and for all.

Lex defeats Shazam in battle and blows up the Watchtower, which has Superman inside. Lex calls out Superman and aims his arm-mounted kryptonite gun. Right as Lex is about to make the shot, a hurt Shazam electrocutes him from behind, nixing the plan.

Superman tears Lex from the battle armor and is furious that his own best friend betrayed him. Lex spends his final moments telling him that his “peace” is a joke. Superman crushes Lex’s neck and hears the words of onlookers all over as they whisper about seeing Superman kill his buddy Lex Luthor in front of the Hall of Justice. Superman flies off.

SHAZAM

Story Mode/Ground Zero #20

The endless betrayals and ungratefulness of the public has finally taken its toll. Superman has snapped, falling farther than ever. He wants to raze Metropolis and Gotham to the ground to prove a point. Shazam – who just saved his life, mind you – calls him out on this and labels it insane, claiming the gesture spits on the memory of Lois.

Superman blows ice over Shazam’s mouth to keep him from using his magic lightning. He then stares at him with his heat vision until two holes burn through Shazam’s hood and he collapses. As Solomon Grundy walks off to dispose of the body, the Flash finally comes to realize that the ends don't justify the means and defects.

HARLEY’S HORDE (GARY, TERRY, PERRY, JERRY, BARRY, AND LARRY)

Injustice: Ground Zero #18, Injustice 2 Annual #1

These guys aren’t preexisting characters, but they’re important enough that they should probably get a mention. With Ground Zero being a retelling of the first game’s events from Harley’s perspective, it shows that her Joker-based gang of freedom fighters had more going on than what the game’s story mode showed us. Harley has an inner-circle of henchmen with generic names and although she can't tell them apart very well, she's basically an inverse Joker by treating them with respect and friendship. After all, she knows what it’s like to be a flunky.

Gary gets killed by the mainstream universe’s Joker during Ground Zero via stabbing. The others go on to shed their Joker threads and instead base their appearances on Harley. They become Harley’s Horde in honor of their boss and help fight the Regime.

Unfortunately, Harley doesn’t keep in touch too much after the adventure. The group still trains just in case, but then get attacked by Suicide Squad members Clock King, Magpie, Killer Moth, and Polka Dot Man, who are looking for Harley. The Horde fights them off, then goes to search for Harley themselves to warn her that people are after her. Before they make it to her secret headquarters, Deadshot snipes them all dead from a nearby rooftop.

Basically, an after-the-fact explanation for why these guys aren’t involved in the Injustice 2 prequel storyline. Boo.

AMANDA WALLER AND RICK FLAG

Injustice 2 #2

With things calming down in a post-Superman landscape, Amanda Waller tries to take advantage by creating the Suicide Squad. Her crew hunts down and captures Harley Quinn before putting a bomb in her skull. Harley laughs the whole thing off because she's friends with Batman now and solving missing person mysteries is Batman's deal. When Waller points out that they're very thorough about cleaning up their clues, Harley just laughs harder because, again, Batman.

As predicted, Batman shows up. Well, not THE Batman. A Batman. A red-eyed Batman imposter shows up to announce that he's taking over the Suicide Squad operation and opens fire on both Waller and her right-hand man Rick Flag. The silhouettes show two headshots.

Fake Batman turns out to be Jason Todd because Jason Todd is the freaking king of obvious Batman identity mysteries. It's Arkham Knight all over again.

CLOCK KING, MAGPIE, KILLER MOTH, AND POLKA DOT MAN

Injustice 2 #3

Fake Batman is interested in taking over the Suicide Squad and all, but unlike Waller, there are some members that he doesn't feel jibe with his unseen master's vision. Despite Calendar Man (who is treated as a pathetic running gag through the Injustice comics) pleading for his life, Fake Batman taps the detonators on his bomb as well as the bombs for Clock King, Magpie, Killer Moth, and Polka Dot Man. Those four all suffer from immediate head explosions. To Fake Batman's disgust, Calendar Man's bomb is faulty and he survives.

DAN TURPIN

Injustice 2 #6

With Superman imprisoned, Bruce Wayne handpicked Dan Turpin as the warden in the world’s most critical supervillain prison. Said prison also has Damian pinned down, until his mother Talia comes to save him. Talia also brings along Damian’s never-before-mentioned sister Athanasia al Ghul, an original character that Talia chose to raise herself.

Turpin shows up during the family reunion and Damian tells him to just walk away. Instead, Turpin tries to call for Batman. Without remorse, Athanasia shoots him dead and they move on.

BLUE BEETLE (TED KORD)

Injustice 2 #10

After a day of training with the new Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes), Ted Kord is slightly confused when Skeets, the robot from the future, tells him how much he enjoyed their time together. That night, Batman stops by Ted’s office to offer him a spot on his team of world-helping billionaires to clean up Superman’s mess.

Once Batman is gone, Booster Gold appears, albeit slightly drunk and nervous. He makes it clear that Ted’s time is up and there is nothing either can do about it. Booster tried to stop it himself and spent several years imprisoned in some kind of time jail. Ted puts on his old tights and attempts to fight off the invading Suicide Squad, but it's no use. Katana chops his hand off and he's captured.

Ra’s Al Ghul makes an example out of Ted, as well as some other wealthy victims, by having Orca and Killer Croc tear them apart. As promised, Booster appears before Ted in his final moments to comfort him, accept his new role as Jaime’s mentor, and share one last laugh.

DIABLO

Injustice 2 #23

Ra’s Al Ghul has quite the army of soldiers to help him save the world by destroying chunks of it. Not only the League of Assassins and the blackmailed Suicide Squad, but also nature-based characters like Poison Ivy, Vixen, and Animal Man...and a couple surprises yet to be revealed. Their secret lair is also a sanctuary for certain endangered species.

Batman puts together a team to infiltrate the sanctuary to rescue some kidnapped children of heroes. Blue Beetle is supposed to hang back, but he just has to play cowboy and burst into the stronghold during a critical moment where Batman and Ra’s could have presumably talked out their issues. The act kills one endangered animal with a falling shard of glass, which sets off Vixen. Then a big brawl kicks into gear with Ra’s helpless to stop it.

Blue Beetle takes on Diablo and blasts him a little too hard. Diablo can’t control his flames and explodes to the point of wiping out all the animals. Everyone else survives, but it leads to escalation as Ra’s commands the assassination of nearly every politician in Washington DC, including all living Presidents.

Batman is NOT happy with Beetle, to say the least.

RED ROBIN

Injustice 2 #37

During the prequel run for the first game, it was explained that while some Teen Titans were killed, the others were written off in a different way. Superboy, Wonder Girl, Red Robin, and Starfire attacked Superman early on in his madness. Superman won by puncturing Superboy’s heart in such a way that it was fatal, but not immediately. His ultimatum was to send Superboy and the others to the Phantom Zone, where Superboy wouldn’t succumb to his injuries.

Six years later, Catwoman tells Batman about the incident, so Batman and his crew go to the Fortress of Solitude to release them. Plastic Man ventures in and brings out Red Robin, Wonder Girl, and Starfire, but has to leave Superboy. As Batman and Red Robin are reunited and discuss the need for a new Batman and Robin team, something keeps Plastic Man from leaving the Phantom Zone.

It turns out to be General Zod, who makes himself known by eye-lasering a hole through Red Robin’s chest. Tim dies in Batman’s arms.

ZOD

Injustice 2 #39

So. Batman is PISSED. Dressed in special mech armor, Batman hunts down Zod and sprays him with the same kryptonite fear gas that started this whole mess.

“I could never use it on Clark. Not after...what it made him do. But you… You killed one of my boys. You should be afraid of me. BECAUSE I’M GOING TO **** YOU UP.”

Batman lays into him for a bit while Zod imagines being beaten up by a judgmental Superman. When he starts to clear his head, the android Amazo appears, under the control of Ra’s Al Ghul. Ra’s knows the threat of a loose Zod and takes care of it by having Amazo catch his fist and then snap his neck so hard that Zod’s head tears off. Amazo flies off with Zod’s head in hand while Batman is left in wonder.

It isn’t all death and dread, at least. Using Zod’s headless body, Batman gets Dr. Midnight to perform heart surgery and give Superboy a replacement.

PROFESSOR IVO

Injustice 2 #48

Ra’s uses Amazo as a way to wipe out towns and cities worth of people while leaving the animals and plants mostly untouched. Amazo is unleashed on Delhi, which leads to a big team-up where Batman and his allies are joined by Wonder Woman and Black Adam (with Flash secretly running around saving people, going against his probation). Of Ra’s Al Ghul’s faction, the group of Damian, Jason Todd, Vixen, and Animal Man decide that Amazo’s rampage was going too far. They find Professor Ivo and demand he stop his unbeatable robot.

Ivo desperately tells them to leave him be, as Ra’s has his family captive and will kill them if he steps out of line. Jason explains the rough truth that his family had already been killed in a failed escape attempt. Horrified, Ivo agrees to help exploit a bug in Amazo’s system that will slow him down.

Athanasia gets wind of what is going on and threatens to shoot Ivo if he complies with the rebels. Ivo remarks that he has nothing left to live for and presses enter to finish his hacking. Athanasia shoots him dead in response.

AMAZO

Injustice 2 #48

During the great battle, Damian calls in Supergirl for help, even though her existence is only known to few. Supergirl grabs Amazo and brings him to the moon. Amazo overpowers her at first, but between Ivo’s tampering, a surprise assist from Blue Beetle, and Damian broadcasting directions, Supergirl is able to turn the tide. She pours on intense heat-vision followed by intense ice-breath to weaken him before punching his head into scrap.

She asks Blue Beetle to keep her actions a secret and allows him to take credit.

ANIMAL MAN

Injustice 2 #49

Anthanasia is not very happy about the betrayal, so she calls upon the Suicide Squad to catch the traitors before they can escape. Jason and Vixen get out of there and Damian gets captured. As for Animal Man, his eagle form struggles against Man-Bat, gets tangled in a Poison Ivy vine, and then a Deadshot bullet to the head finishes him off.

Tom Taylor really should have personally told him that that was going to happen.

TOMAR-RE

Injustice 2 #53

Ah, Tomar-Re. The most plug-and-play throwaway Lantern there ever was. I’m sure he’s done something important at some point in his existence, but all I’ve ever seen is him being used as a stock Green Lantern when you want to use an alien but you don’t want it to be someone too major.

Anyway, he's investigating some kind of disturbance on the Green Lanterns’ prison planet and comes across Red Lantern kitty cat Dex-Star, who quickly slices his throat open.

VANDOR AND B’DG

Injustice 2 #61

Not only do the Red Lanterns wreck shit, but Atrocitus adds Starro the Conqueror to their ranks. The cosmic starfish then goes on to infect various Green Lanterns with rage starfish that puts them under its spell. This includes the Guardian Sayd, making a bad situation much worse.

Despite the pleas of Green Lantern B’dg, Sayd does not give in to the “remember who you are” trope and straight up vaporizes B’dg and Vandor.

SINESTRO

Injustice 2 #64

After the events of the first Injustice game, Sinestro isn’t doing so great. Hal Jordan hates his guts and not only are they in space prison, but his warden is his own daughter Soranik. At one point, Soranik wants to discuss her mother’s death, but Sinestro chooses not to delve into it other than expressing that he didn’t kill her. Soranik figures that her mother chose suicide over a life with Sinestro and Sinestro responds with silence.

When the Red Lanterns attack, Soranik is taken over by Starro. Sinestro insists on getting a green ring and is granted one due to how desperate the situation is. He shows his worth by saving Hal’s life and inspiring him to unite the Corps against their foes. He also tears the starfish off Soranik’s face...at the cost of taking an impaling through the torso.

Dying in front of his daughter, Sinestro admits that he was the reason her mother killed herself and wished he could have been a better man. As he dies, his ring goes to go find a replacement, finds its way into Soranik’s hand, and repeatedly announces that the replacement is already active.

VEON

Injustice 2 #64

Don’t know who Veon is? Don’t worry about it. Throwaway Red Lantern, basically. Here, he blasts Starfire, which leads to Superboy and Wonder Girl giving chase. Before the fight can happen, Brainiac and his gross muscular system skull borg goons show up out of nowhere. Veon ignores his Teen Titan foes and instead picks a fight with Brainiac’s crew. He immediately pays for it with a fist through the side of the head.

GORILLA GRODD

Injustice 2 Story Mode

Getting into the actual game’s storyline, Grodd leads the Secret Society of Supervillains, though he is secretly working under Brainiac. Late into the story, he takes on fellow kings Aquaman and Black Adam. While the player gets to choose which one beats him down, the aftermath is always the same. Aquaman jams his trident right into Grodd’s gut. Grodd weakly warns them about Brainiac’s power and merely receives another trident stab for his troubles.

DOCTOR FATE

Injustice 2 Story Mode

Dr. Fate doesn’t have much to do with story mode for Injustice 2. He warns Black Canary and Green Arrow that shit is going to go down, but then he vanishes until Act III. There, with Superman and Batman teaming up and searching through Brainiac’s ship, Dr. Fate appeares before them and warns them that their war has brought chaos across the universe. The Lords of Order are in support of Brainiac, as he’ll bring order across reality.

After losing a fight to Superman or Batman, Fate’s helmet falls off. Superman crushes it, cutting off Kent Nelson’s connection to the Lords of Order. He starts rambling about how the reunited World’s Finest could bring order to the world, but then Brainiac has him impaled with a giant metal wire. The wire retracts into the wall and Fate’s body melts into it.

So with all that carnage going on, what can we take away from this? Simply, put: there’s nothing stopping NetherRealm Studios from bringing in Larfleeze.

High-five!

Gavin Jasper still thinks the lack of Booster Gold as a playable character is a travesty. Follow Gavin on Twitter!

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