#not the crossover event of the century because that was a couple years ago when Easter Passover and Ramadan were all at the same time.
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Hope everyone celebrating has a great Christmas and/or Hanukkah!
#oc#crossover event đĽ#not the crossover event of the century because that was a couple years ago when Easter Passover and Ramadan were all at the same time.
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So, this is that big post about my Faust/M&M/Fight Club/Hannibal universe I mentioned. I still hesitate on what I should call it (Faustverse? Devil club?)
Brainworms include:
1) My interpretation of Woland
2) Fight Club M&M AU
3) My interpretation of the master
4) Hannibal crossover

Woland is a character from a novel by Michail Bulgakov called âThe master and Margaritaâ. He is heavily implied to be Goetheâs Mephistopheles and the novel itself is inspired by âFaustâ. So these two books are on the same timeline (according to my headcannons).
My interpretation of Woland/Mephistopheles is that he is not a fallen angel, but is instead a part of Primordial Chaos from which God and his order were born. He disconnected from the main body some time ago and now exists in the material world as a force of entropy. He is neither good nor evil, but he is categorized as a demon because of his constant need to ensue chaos. He is not a part of Hellâs hierarchy and has a friendly relationship with God, because I donât like when these type of characters lose their autonomy.
When he existed in the Primordial Chaos he was subjected to constantly changing powerful emotions and other extreme experiences and got used to them (iPad kid moment). So now, trapped in the more calm and organized environment, he is constantly bored and tries to replicate those experiences to feel something. He can feel all human emotions, but they are so mild for him, that he views them more like an annoying distraction, than actual feelings.
Woland doesnât consider himself as a whole identity, but he looks and acts like one because he contrasts the environment opposite to his nature. So, technically, he wasnât born so he isnât afraid of death (heâll disappear in a billion years or so)
In his free time he likes to find sad philosophers who are unsatisfied with their lives and manipulate them into something more entertaining. But it is pretty hard to find educated and ambitious people who are not attached to anybody and are willing to leave their previous lives behind (Faust was the last one and he got to heaven, so now heâs sitting there in a constant state of euphoria, lost his ambition and pride, essentially becoming a shell of himself)
Woland thought that having a couple legions of hell to help with his chaotic shenanigans would be good for his professional development, so in the beginning of the XVIth century he makes a deal with Lucifer to be in charge of hell for a couple of centuries and Lucifer agreed because he was drunk.
Elements of Fight Club in my M&M AU:
Margarita is not a part of the main plot. I have plans for her storyline, which would be pretty similar to the original with her becoming a witch, but with different motivations and more character development.
Woland interacts with the master without his servants. I have a 9000 word fanfic written in russian about their first encounter.
Hereâs the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57835000/chapters/147206677
For those who donât speak russian hereâs a short summary. It is important, because most of my M&M fanart depicting the master is based on the Fight Club AU, rather than on the actual events (boring straight romance with him being a depressed self insert without any depth).
In a nutshell the master is an apathetic historian/archivist whose whole life is based on his work in the Moscow Planetarium, which isnât enjoyable anymore, but the rest of the world is even more undesirable. He exists in a sort of coma, feeling nothing, reading and writing instinctively with professionalism but without any interest.
Then he meets Woland, gets in an existential crisis, gets fired, attempts to jump off a bridge, gets interrupted by Woland, attacks him in resentment and they fight. Master experiences true anger for the first time. They end up lying on the ground, covered in dust and blood, laughing at each other. Later they agree to meet again and to repeat the fight. Sergei Berdyaev (the master) rejects his name and Woland suggests that he could go by the name Steingut (a kind of clay, the symbol of an ongoing rebirth).
After that Steingut wins a lot of money in a lottery (very very coincidentally totally not demonic help), so he stops worrying about working and just waits for Wolandâs return, admiring his bruises and blood stains on his clothes.
But Woland doesnât appear for weeks. Steingut's body is almost recovered and he is starting to forget the memories connected to those injuries, which deeply terrifies him. He feels incomplete, feels like he is going insane sitting in a room alone with nobody to talk to and nothing to do.
He decides to write down the events that shaped him, but realizes that he is unworthy of mentioning someone of that significance directly. By doing that he would defile the truth and its importance with his subjective judgment. So he switches up the names and writes about the director of Variety theater and his administrator fighting because of a misunderstanding, later organizing âThe Fighting citizens clubâ together.
Only after he finishes writing, he hears a whisper in his ear asking him what he wanted to achieve with this story. âI wanted to surviveâ the master finishes his rebirth exhausted and sleep deprived. Woland treats him to dinner. As a reward Woland offers the master to make a wish. He wishes for Woland to visit him more often. They make plans to plant a copy of the masterâs book on the table of the real administrator of Variety theater to see what would happen.
So, letâs talk about the master (Sergei Berdyaev -> Steingut -> the master):
After the rebirth the masterâs main goal is to survive. But his meaning of âsurvivingâ was warped into âconstantly moving and changingâ, so in that sense being around Woland is the perfect way to survive. But if Woland decides to spend time with someone, they need to be intelligent and entertaining. Because of that the master is always scared of not being enough, so he has to constantly educate himself to come up with interesting ways to ensue chaos. This time Woland stumbled not on a sad philosopher, but on an intelligent animal desperately trying to adapt.
He doesnât strive for much, but he is willing to go to great lengths to achieve his survival.
The master is terrified of Woland just as much as he dreads Wolandâs absence. He is very careful with his words around him, which Woland is annoyed by. To get rid of the masterâs cowardice Woland angers him. Then the master becomes petty and forgets that he is speaking with someone so powerful and dangerous, which in turn leads to more meaningful and truthful interactions.
Fun fact: the master is unaware that his main goal is to survive. He thinks he is constantly moving and changing because he is looking for a purpose (because it is a more normal thing to do). There would be a separate fic about him realizing that through extreme chaos exposure. He goes through literal torture willingly just to prove Woland wrong (with Woland still being right in the end).
Woland plans to destroy the masterâs desire for purpose, leaving with just a strong desire to live while believing that there is nothing worth living for.
And then get him into heaven. Like, if heaven is all about unchanging bliss, than the master who technically fought the Devil and lived without that much sin could get there and be immune to this pleasant hipnosis. He could be the only one awake and cause all sorts of trouble (even unwillingly).
The master isnât aware of this scheme and doesnât even want to go to heaven because of his incompatibility with peace and absence of change.
Hannibal crossover stuff:
Use of technology is not crucial to the plot of Hannibal so 1930s AU is pretty reasonable. It happens after the end of the series, everyone is alive and well, just in hiding. Hannibal would try to kill the master for ruining an opera performance as part of their own show with Woland, but he doesnât know about Wolandâs existence yet.
Another fun fact: Hannibal canonically admires Mephistopheles and despises Faust.
So Hannibal stalks the master and attacks him in his living room, the master fights back with Woland sitting behind the dining table unnoticed. He telepathically warns the master about surprise attacks but doesnât intervene because he knows that the master likes the adrenaline.
When both opponents are tired and canât fight anymore he stands up and politely apologizes for the inconvenience they caused in the opera, inviting Hannibal and Will for dinner.
All of them meet each other soon enough. Hannibal canât stop fangirling over Woland (Meph) and both the master and Will are jealous. The master and Will bond over their attachment to their literal and metaphorical devil and the stress involved in caring so much about him. The master still dislikes Hannibal for trying to kill him over a prank, but Hannibal noticed enough similarities with Will to change his mind. Woland is intrigued with all of them equally, planning to turn their relationship into endless entertainment.

I hope you enjoyed reading this abomination! Iâll post my Woland/ the master fanart soon. Feel free to leave your opinions and suggestions in the comments!
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I'm so weird, I fill out three-year-old Cobra Kai surveys on tumblr.
Karate Kid/Cobra Kai survey
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Itâs the year 2021 and youâre obsessed with The Karate Kid. How are you feeling?
Well, it's now the year 2024 and...fine? I was never really "obsessed" with the Miyagi universe until October 2022 when I started going through all the episodes for my so-called "fan fixion". it's not really fanfic; intentionally bad recaps with fictionalized elements are just something my sister and I used to do ages ago for the lulz. We actually did them for Beverly Hills, 90210 and The Shield. The Cobra Kai ones are done by me; but my sister remains my one consistent reader. She's also the one who challenged me to incorporate the phrases "practice dumby" (yes, spelled that way), "Why is this happening to me?!", and "Ouch, ouch, oh, ouch!" (a line from one of my old childhood stories) into all of my recaps -- or whatever you want to call them. (In case anybody ever looks at those and thinks wtf?.) Despite not being "obsessed" until a year and a half ago, I still really liked CK and re-watched many episodes even before October 2022!
Did you grow up with TKK or are you new to the series?
Kind of both? I was born...uh, long enough ago that I was alive when TKK was released, although I don't remember its release because I was a very young child. I did see parts of all three first movies here and there over the years growing up -- and I watched that masterpiece The Next Karate Kid in the late 90's or early 00's while going on a Walton Goggins movie binge -- but I never appreciated them until my ex-on-good-terms recommended Cobra Kai. (I'm pretty new to the "fandom" but have been watching CK since May 2018.)
We gotta do the basics. Favorite character:
Johnny, for sure. Second favorite is Terry Silver.
Favorite ship:
Johnny and Daniel when they're bickering and squabbling like an old married couple.
Underrated character:
Stiven. Too bad he left, or he and Hawk could've become pals. I like how Stiven bravely tried to start a fight with Tory during the LaRusso house brawl, and she punched him away like she was batting away a pesky fly.
Underrated ship (donât say therapy, lol):
Johnny and Ali? I (gasp) prefer them to Johnny and Carmen.
Wax On, Wax Off or Sweep the Leg?
Sweep the leg!
Which of Danielâs dumb little outfits is your favorite?
Any where he incorporates the color blue. Bonus points if it includes his special blue-and-white karate headband.
Character from the films you most want to return, whoâs not Terry Silver:
Charlie -- that minion of Ned, or whatever the main bully's name was in TNKK. (Charlie, played by Walton Goggins, was Ned's Rickenberger.)
Scene that lives in your head rent-free:
Oh, there are so many. Way too many to name in a three-year-old survey.
Will Anthony LaRusso ever be relevant?
Technically, he was one of the most relevant characters in 5x10. Without him, Kenny Payne might still be Terry Silver's prize pupil. (And Silver might not have been arrested. Stupid Anthony!)
You live in The Valley and are forced to join the karate gang war. Which dojo do you join?
Eagle Fang, but I'm not leaping from one building to another. (Sensei Lawrence is more than welcome to call me pathetic, though.)
Whatâs your training montage song?
"Gonna Fly Now"?
Itâs the crossover event of the century! Which TV show are you combining with Cobra Kai for an hour-long Saturday night special?
Beverly Hills, 9010. Mel Silver can be Terry's cousin.
Tagging:
Nobody, because this is three years old.
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Original Female Characters
These are all the Original Characters I have made for past, current, and coming soon stories.
Story: Timeless Warrior (Fandom: Lord of The Rings)
Name: Phoenix Garcia (formerly Phoenix Nowak)
Alias: Khaleesi, Dragon Rider
Age: 40 (shortly after the story begins she turns this age)
Race/Ethnicity/Home Country: White. Mexican on her motherâs side, Polish on her fatherâs. Born and raised in Arizona, USA.
Hair: Dark brown before the war; silver due to stress of the war
Eyes: Blue-grey
Height: 5â˛5âł
Species: human
Any Markings: A few tattoos: Valar Morghulis on the inside of her right wrist, Valar Dohaeris on the inside of her left wrist, the three-moon symbol for her pagan religion on her left shoulder, a skull with a chefâs hat and crossbones of a chef knife and whisk on the right shoulder, a red rose with one black pedal on the inside of her left bicep (a tribute to Rosa). Crisscross scars over her left eye from when she tried to save her wifeâs life.
Powers: No known supernatural ones. Controls a mechanical dragon.
Relationship status: Widowed. Wife died saving her life
Spouse: Rosa Garcia. High school sweethearts. Built Meraxes to help win the war. Sacrificed herself to save Phoenixâs life.
Love Interest: Lord Elrond of Rivendell
Bio: Phoenix was born and raised in Phoenix, AZ as the oldest of two kids. Her mother was abusive and her father stayed married to keep the kids safe. Phoenix met Rosa in high school and the two became instant friends, starting a relationship their senior year. Rosa went off to get her degree and a job at NASA while Phoenix went to culinary school and opened a restaurant in Downtown Phoenix. The pair got married once it became legal in their country. They then sold the restaurant so the couple could move to Houston for Rosaâs job. Phoenix began teaching cooking classes that went virtual once a pandemic hit their country. Not even a year later, a war broke out and they found themselves leading a small group of survivors. With Rosaâs intelligence and connections, she got a group together to turn an old plane into a mechanical dragon. Unfortunately, Rosa was killed two years before the war ended and Phoenix blamed herself.
After the war, Phoenix accidentally flies through a portal into Middle Earth where more problems require her help.
Story: Let Nature Take Her Course (Fandom: Marvel/MCU)
Name: Juna, Last name Everhart created during the advent of last names.
Alias: Mother Nature, Mother of Mutants
Age: 20,000 years, give or take a century
Race/Ethnicity/Home Country: Unknown
Hair: Black when undercover, green naturally
Eyes: Brown undercover, gold normally
Height: 5â˛4âł
Species: First Man, First Mutant, External/Omega Mutant
Any Markings: None
Powers: Control of elements, weather, gravity, animals, use of lightning for teleportation, resistance to extreme heat and cold, faint connection to humans.
Relationship status: None. Finds it pointless as she never dies.
Spouse: None
Love Interest: Everett Ross, much to her annoyance.
Bio: Juna was one of the first species of humans to grace the earth. Born with a connection to the planet and humans, when they evolved, so did she so she would be able to blend in. She is responsible for the catastrophic events from the ice age ending to Pompeii, all in an effort to maintain the balance of earth and nature. She is not fond of humans and grows more and more annoyed with them as the years go by and the planet becomes more trashed. Sheâs not a villain, she just wants to save her home.
She doesnât remember her parents, her family if she had one, or really anything of her past after the first one thousand years.
Story: Mirror (Fandom: Marvel/MCU)
Name: Sonya, No Last Name
Alias: Mirror
Age: 50, though the project to begin her cloning was in the 1940s
Race/Ethnicity/Home Country: None - clone of Steve Rogers
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Blue
Height: 6â˛2âł
Species: Human clone
Any Markings: None
Powers: Super strength, speed, healing that comes with the super-soldier project.
Relationship status: Casually dating Bucky Barnes
Spouse: None
Love Interest: Bucky Barnes
Bio: Created as a clone of Steve Rogers by Hydra, leading to the sharing of physical features. Trained by the best team Hydra has, she is very deadly.
Feared by Hydra, she was locked away until they felt they could have more control over her. But then she discovered her origins and snaps, breaking free and going on a rampage to destroy any and all Hydra facilities before focusing on her last target: Steve Rogers.
Story: The Hidden Realm (Upcoming. Fandom: Lord of The Rings/The Hobbit)
Name: Rhyannon
Alias: Queen of Tir Na Nog, Fae Queen
Age: 34,000 years old (Born at the end of Years of the Lamps)
Race/Ethnicity/Home Country: Fae, Home: Tir Na Nog
Hair: Midnight Blue
Eyes: Midnight Blue
Height: 7â˛
Species: Fae
Any Markings: Has wings she keeps hidden until she uses her powers.
Powers: Spells, magic, flight, super strength, communication with animals, control the elements.
Relationship status: Single
Spouse: None
Love Interest: Lord Elrond
Bio: Rhyannon is the Queen of the Fae and one of the first of her kind. Tir Na Nog is her kingdom and was one of the first realms established in Middle Earth. Contrary to what the Elves know, the Fae were actually the first beings of Arda. This realm borders both Mirkwood and Dol Guldur, causing tension between all three realms.
Thranduil has been engaged in a petty battle with Rhyannon since his father passed (who started the battle). The problem is, the realm is hidden so no other Elves believe it exists. Until Rhyannon decides to crash the Midsummer Festival in Mirkwood.
Story: The Queenâs Guard (Upcoming. Fandom: Game of Thrones)
Name: Myria Storm
Alias: Storm Breaker
Age: 30
Race/Ethnicity/Home Country: Bastard child of Stormâs End
Hair: Ebony
Eyes: Black
Height: 5â˛6âł
Species: Human
Any Markings: A tattoo of a black rose, to show her loyalty to Olenna Tyrell.
Powers: None
Relationship status: None
Spouse: None
Love Interest: Jorah Mormont
Bio: Myria Storm is a bastard child of Stormâs End. When she hears of the killing of Robert Baratheonâs bastard children and what they look like, she suspects she is one and flees her home. Myria had learned to fight from her older brother and soon becomes a sellsword. By the time she reaches High Garden, her reputation precedes her and Olenna requests an audience with the young woman. She is offered a job as Olennaâs personal guard.
When Varys brings word of Daenerys Targaryenâs return, Olenna sends Myria to have Dragonstone prepared for the future queen. And when all parties officially meet, Myria is noticed by the Dragon Queenâs right-hand man, Jorah Mormont.
Story: Kings & Queens (Upcoming. Fandom: The Hobbit)
Name: Ladien Peredhel
Alias: Ladi
Age: 3,041
Race/Ethnicity/Home Country: Half-Elf, Noldor, The Grey Havens
Hair: Red
Eyes: Dark Grey
Height: 6â˛6âł
Species: Half-Elf, Half-Human
Any Markings: Tattoos on the top half of her body. Flames that wrap around her shoulders like a shawl
Powers: None
Relationship status: Single
Spouse: None
Love Interest: Thorin & Thranduil (Love Triangle)
Bio: Laddi was born in the Grey Havens to an Elf mother who sailed West shortly after Laddi reached maturity. Her father was a human who died of an illness. Because she is a Peredhel, she never felt she truly fit in with the other Elves in the Havens and left to travel Middle Earth.
She is resting in Rivendell when Thorinâs company arrives. Gandalf persuades her to join the cause in re-taking Erebor. Thorin begins to warm to her as they make their difficult journey north. When they get caught in Mirkwood, Legolas reports to his father, Thranduil, that there is an Elleth amongst the Dwarves. Confused and intrigued, he commands she be brought before him. And is shocked to see someone almost identical to the wife he lost long ago.
Story: Battle of the Billionaires (TBW, maybe. Fandoms: Marvel/DC)
Name: Mya, No Last Name
Alias: Elemental
Age: 1,500 years old
Race/Ethnicity/Home Country: Mexican & Mexico
Hair: Black
Eyes: Grey
Height: 5â˛6âł
Species: Mutant
Any Markings: None
Powers: Can control the four main elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water (hence her name), super strength & speed, super healing.
Relationship status: Currently single. Briefly dated Diana Prince back on Themyscira and Alfred back in the 1970s
Spouse: None
Love Interest: Bruce Wayne & Tony Stark are making their bids known.
Bio: Born a mutant with the ability to heal from any wound and control the elements, Mya goes around helping humanity when she can. She mostly lends a hand to the X-Men or the Avengers when asked, until two friends of hers, Alfred Pennyworth & Diana Prince, ask for her help against Dark Side. Bruce Wayne takes an interest in her, but to his dismay, she is close friends with Tony Stark.
Story: If You Could Live Forever (Series. Fandom: MCU)
Name: Rose Fauna
Alias: Mother Nature
Age: Over 450 years (exact age unknown)
Race/Ethnicity/Home Country: White/Germany
Hair: Silver (Changes colors when powers are used)
Eyes: Grey (Changes colors when powers are used)
Height: 5'5"
Species: Mutant
Any Markings: An old scar on the front of her body from when she was tortured as a child.
Powers: Controls the elements, controls animals, minimum flight ability, control of weather, uses the earth to heal, immortal.
Relationship status: On and off relationships with both Wolverine and Everett Ross, eventually married Everett
Spouse: Everett Ross
Love Interest: Wolverine & Everett Ross
Bio: Born during the time of the witch trials in Europe, Rose was proclaimed a witch when her mutant powers manifested. She was tortured and barely escaped with her life thanks to Loki and Thor. The Earth healed her and it was then she was given the gift of immortality. Ever since the trials, she has tried to stay hidden to stay safe.
Story: Against the Odds (Fandom: MCU/Olympus Has Fallen Crossover)
Name: Charlie Jones
Alias: Turbo
Age: 35
Race/Ethnicity/Home Country: White, United States
Hair: Silver normally, Blue when using her powers
Eyes: Grey normally, Blue when using her powers
Height: 5'2"
Species: Mutant, Omega Mutant
Any Markings: None
Powers: Telekinesis, Telepathy, ability to make force fields, Omega Level Mutant
Relationship status: Single
Spouse: None
Love Interest: Mike Banning
Bio: Charolette (Charlie) is the youngest in her family. Her sister, Margaret, marries Ben Asher who eventually becomes the President of the United States. A family tragedy forces Charlie to go into hiding and for Margaret to lie and say sheâs an only child to help Benâs election. The return of Apocalypse brings everyone back together.
Story: Peredhel (Upcoming. Fandom: LoTR)
Name: Samantha Johnson
Alias: Sam
Age: 30
Race/Ethnicity/Home Country: White/Biracial/United States
Hair: Black
Eyes: Black
Height: 5'7"
Species: Human
Any Markings: None
Powers: None
Relationship status: Single
Spouse: None
Love Interest: Erestor Peredhel
Bio: Sam was a full-time chef and a part-time bartender when she accidentally finds herself in Middle Earth. Gandalf determines there is no way to send her home and so the Rohan take her in since it was their lands she appeared. After serving King Theoden for a few years, she travels all over Middle Earth learning different cooking techniques and even works at the Prancing Pony for a couple of years, where she meets and befriends Strider. Sam returns to Edoras just as a farewell party is being held for Elrond and Galadriel, where she meets Erestor.
#original female character#lord of the rings#lotr#the hobbit#dcue#marvel#marvel cinematic universe#game of thrones#got#olympus has fallen
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The Unofficial Symbiote Fan Club
Written for @symbruary Day 21: "team". Before this event started I was like, one day, one day, I need to write a team up between a bunch of hosts who actually love their Venom symbiotes.
So here it is. A pack of symbiote-loving Venoms: Eddie, Alea, Ngozi, and Gwen. Plus a token Peter Parker who has never met a Venom, just to make things awkward.
Because this is what big crossover events should be used for: loving symby.
###
Venom stumbled out of a portal.
Four humans, three of whom were clearly wearing symbiotes, looked at them.
"Whatâ?"
One of the symbiote-human combos started at the sight of them. "Eddie?!" She stepped forward, reached out, stopped, drew back slightly. "You died years ago! How...?"
Eddie reached back toward her; their symbiotes bridged the distance between their hands, connecting in the middle. Their symbiote, rather. The same symbiote, separated by decades. A single symbiote and two hosts, Eddie andâ
"Alea," said Venomâwhich Venom? their minds were briefly tangled togetherâ2020 Venom. "You're taking care of my other now?"
"You're the famous Eddie Brock I've heard so much about." Alea's face and legs were revealed as the majority of her symbiote oozed off her and over to Eddie, stirring through its past self like colors roiling in an oil slick and nuzzling over its past host.
"So, what is this," Eddie asked, "a time travel thing?"
"Or a parallel universe thing," said another one of the symbiote-bearers, a woman wearing her symbiote like a hooded jacket. "I've got some experience with these cross universe duplicate things. I was just catching everyone else up to speed on how this works, I can give you the abridged version."
"We're good, we've done some universe hopping too," Eddie said. "How do you know we're all from separate universes, though? Are all of us...?"
"Venom." Jacket-symbiote raised her hand. "Briefly. Going by Ghost-Spider now."
"Black Panther," said the one with wings. Her dreads were stretching out toward Eddie, as if trying to reach him the way Alea's other had; she calmly brushed them back behind her shoulders. "But my other was once Venom before coming to me. Ngozi."
Ghost-Spider shrugged. "No secret identities today, huh? FineâI'm Gwen."
"I'm not Venom," grumbled the final member of the party, a black trench coat-wearing man lurking near Gwen.
"Yeah, outlier. He's my plus one, I think," Gwen said. "I've run into him in a couple of these universe-hopping gigs, guess that's how he got sucked in. Some kinda quantum entangled nonsense or something. This is Spider-Man, I call him Noir to tell him apart from the others."
The other three Venoms immediately tensed. "Spider-Man of the Peter variety?" Eddie asked cooly.
He nodded.
"Oh," Alea said.
"Great," Ngozi said.
Gwen winced. "Ooh, is there a history?"
The other three vaguely muttered about their others' bad breakups.
Gwen glanced at Peter questioningly.
He shrugged. "Never met a Venom. No bad blood here."
"Right," Gwen said. "Well. Sorry, looks like you're all stuck with him. We can all be mature and professional in front of an ex, right?"
Ngozi nodded, but with some effort that made it obvious she was fighting her symbiote to do it. Alea hesitated, but nodded more willingly. Eddie just crossed his arms and grumbled.
"Cool," Gwen said.
Eager to move on from the subject of Spider-Man, Eddie said, "We should probably figure out what we're all doing here. Any of you aware of any inter-dimensional experiments or reality-blurring mystical rituals that might've caused something like this?"
The others all shook their heads. Gwen said, "Maybe if we look at our similarities. There's usually some parallels between the people that are pulled in these things."
"Obviously, we're all some variety of Venom," Ngozi said. "Except Gwen's friend." She only gave Peter a sideways glance, clearly trying to remain neutral despite her other's antipathy. Eddie glared at Peter on her behalf.
Peter shrugged.
Alea said, "But there should be billions of Venoms across the multiverse, right? Why are we the ones that are here? What's the common thread?"
"You and I are both close to our others," Eddie said. "I felt that when we touched. You care for it in itself, not just for what it can do for you. That's rare enough it might mean somethingâmaybe we've been hauled in on some kind of symbiote rescue mission." He looked at the other two Venoms. "What about you? Would you fight to protect symbiotes?"
"Absolutely!" Gwen said. "If they're anything like mine? Mine's basically a big gooey baby made out of gummy spiders. If I'm not looking out for it, who knows what could happen to it?" (Eddie and his other briefly pondered over the "gummy spider" description.)
"I've never had to protect mine before," Ngozi said. "But when I met it, it was a captive. If I met another in a position like that, I'd fight to save it. How could I not?"
Eddie felt his other's mood bubble up in the face of not one, not two, but three alternate hosts that considered it and its kind worthy of protection simply for its own sake. "So we're all pro-symbiote. Looks like we have a solid starting point for a theory."
Peter raised a hand. "Question. Why is being pro-symbiote noteworthy?" he asked. "Isn't it like being pro-stomach?"
All four Venoms looked at him in bafflement. Ngozi was the one to ask first, "How do you mean?"
"Everyone's got one inside 'em and you'd be pretty screwed without it. Like a stomach," Peter said, as if this was a perfectly obvious thing to say.
There was a pause, and then the Venoms exploded into questions. Alea's voice managed to carry above the others, "What do you mean, 'everyone's got one'?!"
"What do you mean, what do I mean? Egeryone's got one!" Peter declared. "You're born with one! It splits off your mother's in the womb! What, are you saying not everyone keeps 'em on your worlds? Is it some kinda cross-universe circumcision? Did your twenty-first century rock concerts scare them all off?" He addressed the latter question directly to Gwen.
She crossed her arms. "Hey, mine loves rock. And, no, none of us are born with symbiotes!"
"Then when do you get them?"
"Mine came to me from heaven," Eddie said, and at his other's prompting, clarified, "Space."
Ngozi said, "A jar."
Gwen said, "A lab."
Alea said, "Space by way of jars in a lab."
Aghast, Eddie asked, "Were all your symbiotes jarred when you met?" Poor things.
Gwen asked, "You guys have aliens?"
"Wait," Peter said. "The rest of youâis your Earth not covered in symbiotes?"
"No! It's just my other and its offspring," Eddie said.
Ngozi nodded, and Alea added, "A few more have come and gone, but that's it."
"Only one's been made in my universe," Gwen said.
Ngozi asked, "Made? Yours was invented? On Earth?"
"By Dr. Elsa Brock."
Eddie warred over what questions to start with âwhether this Elsa was his sister or his genderbent alternate was high on the listâbut settled on, "So when you called it a gooey baby, you meant that literally?" She nodded. "Once we've resolved whatever crisis brought us here, want to trade symbiote parenting tips?"
Gwen laced her hands together in faux prayer. "Please."
"And you!" Eddie pointed at Peter. "Are you saying your Earth is covered in symbiotes?"
Peter pointed back. "Is this why you've got colors and we don't?"
"Hold on, hold on, everyone hold on." Gwen turned to Peter. "You have a symbiote."
He nodded.
"With you?"
He gestured at himself, indicating his clothes, as if it should have been self-evident that his black trench coat had been a symbiote all along. "Man's best friend. Wouldn't leave home without it." He paused. "What do people in your universes wear?"
Gwen went on excitedly, "What do you call it? Do you call it anything, does it have a name?"
Peter hesitated. "I've always called it Vinny."
"Vinny! You're a Venom too!" Gwen laughed in delight.
Eddie's, Ngozi's, and Alea's symbiotes stretched longingly toward the mythical symbiote-sympathetic Spider-Man.
###
Until and unless canon specifically says otherwise, we don't know Spider-Man Noir doesn't have a symbiote.
Fic crossposted to AO3, link in my description. If you enjoyed, I'd appreciate a comment or reblog!
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X of Swords continues to at least be a lot more interesting than most crossover events Marvelâs done in the last twenty years, but weâll see if that holds up, lol. Though I gotta admit a lot of the worldbuilding theyâve done is intriguing as hell, and theyâve breathed more life into Apocalypseâs character in less than a year than heâs had pretty much since his inception. And tbh, the X book I really want to read now is just like, a book set in Arakko at any point over these last five thousand years....or in particular, the twenty year war at some point in the last couple centuries, when Genesis raised a new army to take the war directly to Amenth.Â
Like the parallels to Krakoa with what looks to be like the Arakkoan version of the Quiet Council really make it seem like Apocalypse hasnât just been scheming to create the External Gate to transport all of Krakoa and everyone on it to Otherworld to join the war against Amenth.....but it also makes it seem like heâs been subtly shaping Krakoan society itself into a mirror image of what Okkaran society - and thus Arakkoan society - use to look and function like. And given that we know that Krakoa itself also wants to be reunited with its missing half and thus seems to be kinda allied with Apocalypse or at least steering things in the same direction itself.....and given the ways that Krakoa has been shown to be able to psychically influence mutants that live on it, like Kwannon found out in Fallen Angels.....this could go a looooooong way to explaining the more disturbing elements of Krakoan society weâve seen thus far, like the Crucible. Weâve all been assuming that the darker aspects of it have something to do with Xavierâs manipulations.....but its possible and even likely that it really is Krakoa itself, working towards Apocalypseâs end goal of forging the Krakoan nation into an army to join with the Arakkoans.
I have a feeling that ultimately X of Swords is going to end with Krakoa and Akkaro united against Amenth, and in the aftermath, most or at least some of the survivors of Akkaro are going to return to the main Marvel plane, meaning Krakoan society moving forward will be some kind of blend between the two societies with a lot of stories about or defined by their attempts to find some balance between the two that works for everyone. With Krakoans, thanks to resurrection, likely vastly outnumbering the survivors of Arrako....but the latter having five thousand years of history as a society themselves, compared to the newness of Krakoa.
But anyway, the idea of Apocalypse as the lone survivor of a lost mutant nation that includes his wife and children, and that everything heâs done over the millennia since then has been to forge a new mutant army strong enough to descend into Otherworld and rescue and reunite with his original family and people, is like...vastly more interesting than âonly the strongest should survive for no other reason than I predicted social Darwinism and decided to be obsessed with it just cuz Iâm immortal and needed a hobby.â
And its not just Genesis and the original Horsemen that Iâm intrigued by....one of the characters I most want to learn more about is Isca the Unbeaten, who apparently was his wifeâs sister, as well as the person who forged his sword, Scarab. And the info page about that sword says that it was imbued with âExternal Sadnessâ....and since the Externals have always been said to embody a specific concept or emotion, Iâm wondering if Isca is actually an External herself, the External of Sadness, and thatâs why the blade she forged is said to be imbued with it.Â
And if her mutant power is somehow to never lose, even if that means sometimes she just ends up switching sides at just the right time....with it being suggested that her power somehow even compels this of her in some way, like sheâs for some reason incapable of fighting what seems to be a losing fight and has to thus switch to the winning team whether she wants to or not....like, I have no idea how that works and thus canât say how I really feel about it yet, but I can definitely see how it would go with the idea of her embodying Sadness.
Its also been explicitly stated that at least one of the other Swordbearers, the White Sword, is an External himself, with some kind of healing ability and the ability to resurrect his One Hundred Champions every single time they die so they keep battling endlessly.......so Iâm wondering what concept heâs supposed to embody himself....is it just Resurrection or is it something else? His sword is apparently called Purity, but is that a reference to his External nature or more just his name for it?
And also, I really want to know how many of the other Externals weâre familiar with are aware of this secret history of mutantkind. Seleneâs older than Apocalypse so she has to be aware of this, thereâs no way sheâd have missed an entire mutant nation thousands of years ago, lol.....so it absolutely makes sense that she was one of the Externals Apocalypse picked to be his allies when they turned on the other Externals and killed them to make the Gate. (Though Iâm definitely curious about whether or not this means Selene was ever actually an Okkaran herself....we didnât see her in any of the flashbacks to that war, but that doesnât mean she wasnât there, since the focus was kept on Apocalypse, Genesis and their family).Â
But Iâm trying to remember how old Gideon is though, because I didnât think he was old enough to have been alive at the time or to have any kind of stake in Akkaroâs return, as Iâm almost positive both Saul and Nicodemus were older than him.....but it could just be that Marvel wanted him kept around since heâs the next most popular/most used External of them, after Selene and Apocalypse themselves. Well, other than Candra. Iâm still bummed about her, she was always a way under-utilized villain and I would love to see her mixing it up in all of this. Maybe though since Saturnyne shut the External Gate and all of this is coming to a head without Apocalypse needing to use it after all, there will be no need to keep the dead Externals in crystal form to power it, and so theyâll end up coming back the way they always normally do anyway. Hmm, food for thought.
Anyway, also, cuz the Externals as a concept have always had a big focus on numbers, with it being a thing that there were eight of them (at least in the main Marvel plane), Iâm wondering if any of the other Swordbearers, or any of the Horsemen, are also Externals aside from Isca and the White Sword. I feel like Genesis is definitely one herself, and maybe Redroot, since she seemed to be present in those flashbacks, unlike Solem and some of the others? (And what the hell is the deal with that crocodile guy.....they seem to be pretty heavily alluding that his sword is actually sentient and the Swordbearer itself, with the giant crocodile just being an extension of it or something it manipulates into wielding it? Idk).
Lastly.....its not just me, right, and everyone else thinks Genesis is definitely Annihilation at this point? Like, Summoner said she died facing Annihilation in a duel, but Summoner is a lying liar who lies and orchestrated everything to betray Apocalypse and Krakoa to Amenth......and since we know the golden helm of Annihilation or whatever actually IS Annihilation, and is just a spirit that possesses whomever puts it on, and given that Annihilation in all the flashbacks has been talking about testing Genesis specifically, in order to see if sheâs âstrong enoughâ.....I mean, Iâd honestly be pretty shocked at this point if its NOT actually Genesis wearing the helm, with the duel not resulting in her death but rather just Annihilation deciding she was strong enough to host her, and thatâs why Arrako seemed to join forces with Amenth....because the leaders of both societies, Genesis and Annihilation, are now one and the same.
.....Saturnyne still sucks though.
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Ok Marvel we need to talk... (diversity isnât the problem)
Marvel has already stepped back from David Gabrielâs recent comments blaming diversity and a push for female characters for slumping sales, but that doesnât change the fact that Marvel Comics has some SERIOUS problems that have to be addressed. There was a time not that long ago when Marvel was kicking ass: Secret War was possibly the best crossover ever, The X-Men were in the most interesting place since Morrisonâs run. Â But it didnât last and clearly something has gone awry in the past couple of years.
Marvelâs books cost a dollar more than DCâs. Â Thatâs like if Coke decided it needed to cost a dollar more than coke. The justification for this for the longest time is that Marvel included digital copy codes in their physical books thus adding extra value but that only screws over customers who donât live near a brick and mortar store.
Speaking of brick and mortar stores there simply HAS to be a better way to offer customers intensives to buy physical copies than resorting to the variant-cover gimmickry which helped crash the market in the 90s. Â The selling point for U.S. Avengers #1 shouldnât have been âcheck out our 50 variant covers, buy them all!â it should be âAl Ewing is the best team-book writer in comics and this is awesome!â
End the frickenâ pissing contest with 20th Century Fox already. Have you seen the box-office for Deadpool and Logan? Â They ainât giving you those rights back. Â Oh and guess what despite all of your attempts at making Inhumans the New X-Men, people still wanted the X-Men. Â Oh and having the Inhumans responsible for a bunch of X-Men dying or losing their powers did NOT endear us to them. Â The whole Death of X/IvX storyline basically made the Inhumans look like oblivious idiots at best and genocidal zealots at worst. Oh and while the Fantastic Four havenât been an A-list book since hell Marc Waidâs early 2000s run, a lot of people miss them.
Marvel had such confidence in âDeadpool & the Mercs for Moneyâ that they gave it not one, not two, but THREE spin-offs. Â Then they changed the team line-up of the group in issue 4. Â So the anchor book that was supposed to sell the spin-offs no longer featured the characters in the spin-offs. Â It was like you were intentionally setting three books up to fail!
Speaking of Deadpool spin-offs you know the super obscure Marvel character from the film that everyone loved: Negasonic Teenage Warhead? Â All she gets is a spot in the Mercs for Money ongoing. Almost zero is done to cash in on her newfound popularity.
Lets talk Big Hero 6. Â An super obscure Marvel property gets turned into a $300 million dollar movie and the only new comics are a manga adaptation from Yen Press and a adaptation from Joe Books a publisher thatâs not even on Comixology. Â How the hell can you not cut a deal to do a Big Hero Six series when YOU ARE PART OF DISNEY?!Â
Speaking of Disney, why are the only Disney comics being published right now outsourced to IDW and Joe Books a canadian publisher that isnât on Comixology and whose website doesnât even work?! I repeat YOU ARE PART OF DISNEY!  Why are they outsourcing this?!
Anyone who reads my tumblr regularly knows how much I hate Avengers Arena. Â I hate to be a broken record but how can I become attached to your next young group of Avengers when the last time I got attached to some young superheroes you butched a lot of them for a cheap hunger games cash-in?! Â Why should I care about your next group of X-Men when the last time I fell in love with a group of new X-Men you slaughtered so many of them in Decimation?! These kind of kill-fests only discourage people from becoming attached to new characters.
You announced Civil War II before Secret Wars was over. Â You announced Monsters Unleashed before Civil War II was over. Â You announced Secret Empire before Monsters Unleashed was over! Â Your jumping on points between crossovers actually became buffers between events. You basically told readers to take time off because these MAJOR WORLD CHANGING EVENTS are all that maters.
Ok letâs talk about the elephant room... HYDRA CAP. Â Now as a comics fan I could explain that Hydra was originally created as a Spectre-esc organization for Nick Fury to fight. Â Or that itâs canonical that Hydra is actually a secret society that predates the Nazis by hundreds of years. Â But guess what?! I shouldnât have to explain that and it still looks to the causal reader that Cap is a fascist. Â Even defenders of this story have to admit this is a bad look particular at a time when people are worrying about genuine fascists! I mean I get it, Hydra Cap kind of works if you want a totally blunt metaphor for America being a lot more messed up than anyone ever thought but... thatâs not what a lot of readers want.
Also get Nick Spencer off of twitter for awhile. Â I genuinely enjoy most of the dudeâs work but he seems to come across as thin-skinned, prone to lecturing, and immune to even the slightest bit of criticism.
Between Image, Darkhorse, IDW, BOOM, Dynamite and that weird Canadian company that isnât on Comixology the market for talent is the most competitive itâs been since the early 1990s. You have to work harder to retain talent because being not working for the Big Two isnât the threat it used to be.  Iâm sure Robert Kirkman isnât regretting an opportunity to write âMarvel Zombies On Iceâ while heâs sleeping on a giant pile of Walking Dead Money.
Speaking of competition... lets talk about DC.  Not that long ago DC was screwing up every week.  It became enough of a running gag for news site âThe Outhousersâ to create âHas DC Something Stupid Today?â Well guess what. In 2016 DC got their act together, launched a ton of books that people genuinely like, brought back characters that people genuinely like, held off on the crossovers almost entirely and launched a bunch of books that were cheaper than yours.
Marvel Unlimited needs reexamination. Â People used to wait for the trades if they were uncertain on a series. Â Now they wait for Marvel Unlimited where for less than the price of one trade you can read until the cows come home. Â Itâs an awesome service but itâs probably cannibalizing your sales. Â Oh and it still has no unofficial support for the Kindle Fire one of the most popular tablets on the market. Â WHY?!
The name âAll New, All Different Marvel Nowâ kind of says it all.  Marvel got complacent and decided to offer more of what was super-successful in 2013 and gave us more 4 years later without adjusting to a changing market.
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MEET THE PROFESSIONALS -Â Brian Dunnigan (Head of Screenwriting)

Photo Credit: Chi Yu
In the final of our MEET THE PROFESSIONALS series, interviewing LFS staff, lecturers and tutors for an insight into the working professionals that are the heartbeat of The London Film School, the spotlight falls on Brian Dunnigan, Head of Screenwriting.
Younger than its Filmmaking sibling, the MA Screenwriting programme has been under the careful watch of Dunnigan for 12 years as he built it up from scratch. Â As it continues to grow, branching out into areas such as writing for TV, animation and video games, Dunnigan took a moment to reflect on how his passion for film and writing developed while travelling the world and how a background in Sociology gradually brought him into the role of teacher.
Sophie McVeigh (S.M): Could you describe your role at LFS and your involvement in the teaching of the different courses? Brian Dunnigan (B.D): My title is Head of Screenwriting, which means Iâm responsible for supporting the development of writing and scripts across the school, although as course leader of the MA in Screenwriting, my main responsibility and most of my time is taken up with managing and teaching on the MA Screenwriting course.Â
I think one of the developments that Iâll be exploring with Gisli [Snaer] now that we have a new Head of Academic Studies is looking at ways in which we can increase the relationship between the two courses, but currently thereâs a number of things I do on the Filmmaking program. One is I have a team of tutors, some of whom also teach on Screenwriting, and they run a series of script workshops for the film makers. They get four in terms 2, 3 and 4.Â
Iâm also available on a one-to-one basis to talk to filmmakers about their scripts as they develop them. I run two or three classes every term â an introduction to scriptwriting for [the] first term, and I do a script to screen, where we look at an early and a later draft and then the actual film for a term 4 project. Beyond that I attend the end of term screenings, which is pretty much a whole week of comments on the films that have been made during the term. Thereâs often anywhere between 50 and 60 films. Â My responsibilities, though, are principally as course leader of the MA Screenwriting, which has a whole set of tasks and responsibilities attached to it.Â
S.M: You set up the MA in Screenwriting 12 years ago. Could you talk about the process behind it and the decision to do that?Â
B.D: I had been practising as a freelance writer and supporting myself in different ways in order to continue to write for a good number of years before I came to The London Film School. I started running workshops before I came here at a number of universities around the south of England and some in international workshops. I first developed a program up in Leeds at The Northern Film School, and when I came back to London I was very much part time at the LFS for two or three years, really from about 2000. Alan Bernstein, the previous Head of Studies, brought me in. So I was running script workshops just for the filmmakers, because that was the only program. And historically that has been pretty much the only program that the London Film School has had. I happened to be on site when the school decided it needed to reimagine itself for the 21st Century. They brought in a new director â a producer called Ben Gibson â and it was decided that one of the changes that we ought to introduce to the school would be to have a writing program that insinuated its way into the Filmmaking course. I happened to be on site at that point as someone who had, not only experience of teaching, but also as a practitioner and had designed and redesigned the course up in Leeds. So I was asked if I would take that on and design that course, which I duly did. I had a template from Skillset, which included certain things that had to be included in the course, touching on the craft skills, the personal voice, the career context and so on. I also researched other courses in the UK, in the States and Europe. I talked to a number of script people and on that basis I began to design the program. It was based on my own experience, on research into other programs, along with input from Alan Bernstein and Ben Gibson at the time. We arrived at a design for the course which was then validated by the university that we had set up a relationship with at the time, which was London Metropolitan University.  Â
S.M: How has the course changed over the last 12 years?Â
B.D: Itâs just got better, of course! Itâs the twelfth draft. Some changes are incremental. Weâve built the team that delivers the course. The core of that team has been around a while and they have a lot of experience. The management of the course has obviously also got better at responding to feedback from students over the years and refining what weâve been doing. Since the course was set up, TV series writing has become a very exciting place for writers and directors to work in, and so weâve introduced a strand into the Screenwriting program on that. Weâve also addressed the reality that when people go out there to try and write for the screen there are many more screens to write for. So we do run classes on writing for animation, video games, web series ⌠We donât go deeply into these but we give people a set of references and an idea about how they can take the story telling skills theyâre learning on the program into other arenas.  Â
Also, over the years, the relationship between the Screenwriting program and the Film Making program has been built up so that there are a number of formal points where thereâs a crossover, particularly the script editing of the Filmmaking scripts, which often then leads on to relationships where the writers are working with the film makers on graduation films.Â
S.M: Youâve brought in some really interesting people to talk this term. How do you go about choosing and finding them?
B.D: By being charming. These are transferrable skills that youâll be practising on the course! Networking is one way. If youâve been around as long as I have youâve got friends and contemporaries that you were at film school with or that youâve met in the process of working who have become quite established and successful. So thatâs one way. Another way is that you keep your eyes and ears open for the right kinds of people. Not every writer or director is good at communicating what they do, either. So I attend conferences and film festivals, I go to industry events, Iâve got a social life where I meet people from the industry. So I will encounter people and invite them in through that networking. It is absolutely a skill that you would hope a good course leader would have â attracting people onto the course â and that does require being interested and passionate and being able to communicate that and be able to know where to go and where to meet people.Â
S.M: You mentioned that you also do some work internationally.Â
B.D: Over the years Iâve run workshops in Ghana, Cuba and Norway. Iâve been invited out to Taiwan, currently, for a month to run a workshop. Theyâre all different depending on their requirements. I design something that is appropriate to their needs, the stage that theyâre at, the kinds of writers they are, the culture and so on. That is very good for my teaching, and it also extends my set of experiences and references by exposing me to different cultures and different ways that people approach making films and telling stories. And sometimes story is not the most important thing.  Â
S.M: What was your background before teaching and what led you into education?Â
B.D: I was at university in the 60s that tips into the 70s, so I was very much a child of that generation. I did Sociology and that gave me a real intellectual grasp of theory, and so one of my abiding interests is the relationship between theory and practice, the way in which I think you can be a better writer if youâre an intelligent one. Thatâs one of the qualities that we try and insinuate into the way we teach. We draw on a range of the Humanities and we believe that having a deeper understanding of who we are and where we are will inform your writing.  Â
So, coming from a sociological background, it really opened my eyes and got me very excited intellectually. When I was at university I edited the student newspaper. I wrote poems, Iâve always written over the years. After that I went travelling for a couple of years in North America with my guitar, and I was doing all the usual On the Road type of jobs â I was picking tobacco and I was a roofer. Before that, I made money by emptying garbage, I was a road sweeper and I was a department store Santa Claus. I was in America for two years, wandering around and travelling and having adventures and writing a bit about that. Then I came back to Edinburgh, where I was from, and I set myself up as a freelance writer. I had an idea for a history book, which became a book for school kids. I still get returns on it from Germany, actually! And then I used that material to set up a publishing company; I published maps and broadsheets out of copyright. Then I turned it into a dramatized life in the 17th century for educational radio, and that got me into radio. Radioâs a great medium for a writer. One minute youâd be talking in the pub about an idea, the next youâd be in the studio with a couple of coconuts and Robbie Coltrane back in 18th century Edinburgh. The idea for the book, which took me two years to research and was published, opened up an avenue into radio. My writing in radio was right across the range, to a point where I had a short story on Radio 3, my book had just been published and I was working with a filmmaker in Scotland who told me about film school.  Â
So, my life changed dramatically. I came down to London and I was at the National Film School, I wrote and directed a number of award-winning short films. Then I went out into the world and I was paid to develop and write feature scripts. Often they donât get made, but I was in the swim and I was learning a lot, making contacts and building relationships. I started, as one way of supporting and contributing to the writing, doing workshops and maybe teaching one day a week. I suppose storytelling and writing and teaching all share a kind of urge to communicate. So that was always there, and of course on the teaching side you need to have performance skills. Not unlike a director, as well. These skills are all related and they all feed back into each other. If you talk to any of the tutors on the programme who are continuing to practice, they say that they just love coming in for a day or a half-day because it really reminds them how much they know, and they take it all back to their own work, refreshed somehow. So teachingâs always attracted me. Itâs a two-way communication as well. âI teach, I learnâ, says Pablo Casals. You learn a lot from encounters with other humans, who challenge what you are saying and offer a different angle on how you see things. And ultimately, what all this about, is an interest in who we are and where we are. Itâs a portal into exploring our reality, and itâs exciting. Iâve always been curious, Iâve always read across the range of philosophy and psychology and art history and I find that all of that broad learning, which is very much a Scottish kind of approach to education. Â I find film and storytelling is a perfect arena in which to bring these things all to bear because what else are we doing but trying to create humans in action, and to understand what they might be doing and why they might be pursuing what theyâre pursuing? Itâs a never ending study. So teaching was always there for me. It was in that direct line that fed my curiosity about life.Â

Photo Credit: Chi Yu
S.M: Had an interest in film always been a constant in your life?Â
B.D: It had been but I hadnât always been fully aware of it. Remember, this is an era before TV. I grew up in a family without television until I was about ten, and then there was only one channel. Famously, people will tell you from my generation about the encounter with foreign film on tiny little black and white sets, extraordinary other worlds opening up. So they were always around for me, but growing up in a small country like Scotland where there was no film school, there was no particular film course, it wasnât something you did. It was something they did in America, in Hollywood.  Â
So my encounter with the film maker, over a major exhibition that we devised which ended up being an official exhibition at the Edinburgh Festival called Scotch Myths, this man Murray Grigor, he told me about this film school in London. And Iâd always fancied coming to London but I didnât want to come unless I had something specific to do. And I thought, yes. I could take my skills in storytelling, my ability to work with people, and take it into writing and directing. So, thatâs what took me to London and film making. Film had always been an interest but once I went to film school it really opened my mind. Film became a passion and I got interested in a deep way.Â
S.M: What would you say is unique about the program at LFS? B.D: Clearly, what makes it distinctive compared to many courses is that it takes place in the context of a film school, not a university. Our strap line that we steal from Jean-Claude Carrière is that Screenwriting is Filmmaking. That is something that we put into practice here, because we are a film school where we make about 60 films every 12 weeks and the writers canât help but be touched by that reality, that screenwriting is just a step towards making a film. Itâs a process. So thatâs one thing.  Â
I think the intensity of the course is another â itâs only really 10 months and we pack a lot into that time. A lot of writing, a lot of transferrable skills. I think the sense of community that we establish amongst the writers is certainly one of the things that I thinkâs important and that we achieve. The mentoring program is not something you find everywhere, and in fact you get a lot of one to one, small group feedback. And I think the responsiveness and the quality of the team of tutors that we have also adds to its quality. We believe that youâll be a better writer if youâre an intelligent one, so whilst the emphasis is on the practice of writing, there is also a critical journal that we ask you to write, that is an account of what youâre learning. We do this in the belief that thinking about what youâre learning makes you someone who not only knows what the right choice is when youâre writing, but why. It makes you much more able to defend your work and your writing as you move out into the world.  Â
Another thing that is certainly singular on this course is the quality of written feedback that you get on all the work that you submit, sometimes 3 or 4 pages of detailed notes at every major stage of your development. This, both the work and research journal and the critical feedback from the assessors, is much admired and often talked about by the external examiners.Â
S.M: Thereâs a huge variety of backgrounds amongst the students on the course. Is there anything in particular that youâre looking for when you interview potential students? B.D: Youâre looking for people who have got a body of work related to screenwriting or filmmaking â thatâs the entry level. But youâre looking for people who are open and curious as well, and who are ready to learn. Thatâs what itâs about. The course is very much about creating a space where people figure out what it is they need to learn to do what they want to do, rather than telling people so much. So itâs very much about questions rather than answers. Of course, there are a few answers â itâs great when you discover three act structure, but then itâs also a nightmare because it suddenly constrains your imagination. How do you play with that? Thatâs what you have to figure out through your practice. So weâre looking for people who are curious and open, and who have a passion for, and some knowledge of, film. People who can work with other people. Their ability to communicate. Weâre looking for people whoâve got a kind of storytelling gene or some sense of the dramatic. Itâs not something that you can necessarily teach, as such. People who are able to listen and pay attention. Having responsive, thoughtful people in the room is what builds the community and the trust and what accelerates everybodyâs development. Â Not everyoneâs got all of these in the moment but these are some of the boxes youâve got to tick, thatâs what weâre looking for.Â
S.M: Once someone has been accepted, what advice would you give them to best prepare themselves for their experience here.Â
B.D: Enjoy the moment. There are a few moments in life that are really joyful and that are resonant with possibility and change, and getting into a post-graduate programme like this is very exciting. Then, follow up on the homework that I send. Have a look at the screenwriting books, but also at the other references that have nothing to do with screenwriting as such, to deepen and widen their film references. Go to websites and start reading feature screenplays so you get a sense of it, because itâs a very particular form. Itâs not unlike a sonnet, or a haiku, or twelve-bar blues. Itâs something that can be studied and it has a set of rules and certain principles that you can play off against once you understand what they are. And, of course, continue to write as a daily practice.
To read the complete MEET THE PROFESSIONALS series, visit our Tumblr website.
#meet the professionals#screenwriting is filmmaking#sociology#structure#intensity#networking#Brian dunnigan#animation#video games#TV series#filmschool#filmstudies#pablo casals
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Inhumansâ Black Bolt Is Sent to Cosmic Prison â with the Absorbing Man
Not only is Blackagar Boltagon part of the Inhumansâ Royal Family, he has a voice that can level mountains, so heâs used to being one of the most influential figures in the Marvel Universe. That all changes this May with the launch of âBlack Bolt,â a new ongoing series by sci-fi and fantasy novelist Saladin Ahmed and artist Christian Ward which finds the titular character locked down in a mysterious cosmic prison.
PREVIEW: Inhumans Prime #1
What turn of events led him there? Who is serving time alongside him? And how will he communicate with his captors and inmates? For the answers to these questions and more, CBR spoke with first time comic writer Ahmed about penning a series thatâs both new reader friendly and offers some payout to longtime fans of the title character. And then thereâs perhaps the biggest question of all: how did the Absorbing Man come to have a large supporting role in the series?
CBR: Youâre picking up Black Bolt after whatâs been a pretty eventful couple of years for the character. So whatâs your sense of your protagonist? Which aspects of his personality are you especially interested in exploring?
Saladin Ahmed: Despite the fact that heâs been around 50 years weâve really almost always seen Black Bolt reflected in others. Heâs sort of this blank slate to a degree because he doesnât talk and because he has this kind of imperious distance as a king. So part of the challenge is getting in his head at all and starting to think about how with this being a solo title heâs always been defined by his place in the Inhuman Royal Family.
EXCLUSIVE: Art from âBlack Boltâ #1 by Christian Ward
This book is a chance to think about his personality and ask what is Black Bolt like on his own? Just even beginning to ask that question has been both fun and a challenge.
As far as the past few years go, Iâve been walking a tight rope with this book. Marvel came to me as a science fiction/fantasy writer. This is my first comics project. Iâm interested in bringing in some new readers; ones who donât necessarily know who Black Bolt is or know a ton about the amazing past few years of the Inhumans comics. Iâve really loved reading those issues, but the mythology is thick. Thereâs a lot of material there with the history and the crossover events.
On the one hand, I wanted to take Black Bolt away from all of that and just strip him down to some essential questions about his character and this unique thing of his power being something thatâs always in check. Itâs kind of this curse and blessing, but mostly a curse. So thereâs these thematic threads that Iâd be weaving through a novel and now Iâm doing the same thing with a comic. Weâre dealing with this question of being silenced, not being able to talk, and silencing yourself.
Thereâs all these kind of abstract things that this character brings out and Iâm trying to make those accessible and interesting to both to long time readers and readers who are new to Marvel Comics. I want to take a look at this almost god like figure whoâs been humbled and examine what that means.
I also wanted to say that those who have had questions about or outrage over Black Boltâs machinations from the past few years should find this to be a satisfying series. Lingering questions about his unleashing the Terrigen Cloud and [his relationship with] his son definitely do get answered. So I think thereâs going to be some satisfying examination of some of the decisions that Black Bolt has had to make, especially for people who have been reading Inhumans comics over the past few years. Ultimately though I want this to be a book thatâs open to new readers.
Whatâs it like writing a character like Black Bolt, where you canât really have him communicate with dialogue? Will you use other techniques for the character, like an internal monologue?
EXCLUSIVE: Art from âBlack Boltâ #1 by Christian Ward
I donât want to say too much about the exact technique because both myself as a writer and Christian Ward as an artist are going to employ some neat tricks to get in there. Giving readers a chance to discover those things on their own will be part of the fun of the book, but there will be a cerebral edge to the series. So we will occasionally get into Black Boltâs head via captions the same way that Stan Lee did some 50 years ago.
Part of what Iâm trying to do, stylistically, is to do an updated version of that. The Inhumans are these epic sets of characters like the Asgardians. Theyâre one of the places where Lee and Kirby came closest to almost doing illustrated books. Thereâs this real kind of mythical sense to them. I havenât looked at things like word count, but if you looked at an issue of the âFantastic Fourâ where the Inhumans appeared versus say an issue of âSpider-Man,â Iâd guess that the word counts would be higher.
So thereâs this prose quality about the Inhumans as opposed to some of the other characters. Iâm trying to take that into the 21st century with âBlack Bolt.â
In âBlack Boltâ youâre taking your character to a location that I donât believe heâs spent much time in: prison. And whatâs it like for a former monarch to suddenly find himself behind bars?
Thatâs the thematic core of the first arc of the book. Black Bolt is kind of a mysterious guy, but heâs also kind of arrogant. Weâll see him humbled â but itâs not a story about humiliation so much as becoming less sure of the pecking order of things as he interacts with his fellow prisoners.
The comic book takes place in a space jail with aliens and super villains, but I think the story of what happens when we lock people up, having had family locked up myself, is an important set of questions. So this is very much a cosmic sci-fi comic, but the chance to occasionally examine some of those questions is why we started here.
Will readers immediately know why Black Bolt is behind bars?
Youâll get an immediate answer, but there is a much deeper answer that will be revealed over the course of the arc.
What can you tell us about the prison that Black Bolt is incarcerated in? Is this an established Marvel facility? Or something you created for this story?
Itâs something new, and thatâs all I can say about it right now.
EXCLUSIVE: Art from âBlack Boltâ #1 by Christian Ward
Fair Enough. Letâs talk a little bit about some of the other inmates then. We know this is a cosmic story which suggests the jail would be populated with alien inmates. I was surprised and intrigued, then, to learn that Carl âCrusherâ Creel, aka the Absorbing Man, would be one of the convicts incarcerated there.
Yes! He is going to be the only other Earthling in the prison, so he and Black Bolt immediately have a kind of weird connection. Crusher is very much the co-star of at least this first arc of the book. Thereâs almost a buddy picture feel to it. Itâs been a lot of fun playing this king off of a lifelong con.
The Absorbing Man and Black Bolt are a very unlikely pairing. What made you want to bring Creel into the book?
The fun part of this book was that I originally had developed some of the pitch as a mini-series around Crusher. Just around the time I was getting ready to pitch it to Marvel, editor Wil Moss came to me and said that since I have a background in science fiction and fantasy he was thinking about me for âBlack Bolt.â I said, âItâs funny, because I have this back pocket pitch that I was going to send you.â
Then when we bounced these things off of each other they just immediately meshed. Thatâs where this story came from. So Crusher predates Black Bolt as far as Marvel characters Iâve wanted to write about. Heâs a hero to me, even if heâs a villain. [Laughs]
Who are some of the new supporting characters youâre introducing in âBlack Bolt?â
One inmate is a teenage kid named Blinky. She is an alien psychic and an ex-pickpocket. She ended up in this story because the aspect of the incarceration question where we lock up kids kept coming up in my mind. She then became this really important character.
Another cellmate is a woman named Raava. Sheâs a Skrull, but not like the Skrulls weâve seen. Sheâs a kind of anarchist pirate.
There are some more supporting characters that will be revealed. Some are ones Iâve created and there are also a number of obscure Marvel characters in the book. Iâll leave those cameos for readers to discover.
What else can you tell us about the action and tone of âBlack Bolt?â
EXCLUSIVE: Art from âBlack Boltâ #1 by Christian Ward
I like good fight scenes, and Christian is amazing at drawing fight scenes. That may not have been one of my strengths in scripting, but thatâs one of the wonders of collaboration. People can strengthen your weaknesses. So Christianâs fights have an almost French style manga edge to them. Characters are flying off the page.
âBlack Boltâ is not a slugfest book, but there are absolutely some big action scenes. Thereâs a meditative tone to the book as well though. It is about incarceration in a social sense and in an existential almost Kafka sense. Some times the art will reflect that.
So Christian can do these amazing fights, but there will also be this dark, bleak tone from time to time that people wonât be used to seeing from him. He mostly does really psychedelic, colorful, cosmic stuff and heâs perfect for the book because of that. Heâs quite good though too when things get grungy.
Besides the action and social commentary I always try and put jokes in my books. Readers have to laugh sometimes. So weâll try and include a laugh at least once per issue. [Laughs] Plus, Crusher is a great source for that kind of stuff. Heâs really good at deflating Black Boltâs serious balloon with some Bronx-style snark.
I understand you want your books to stand on their own, but âBlack Boltâ launches one month after Al Ewingâs âThe Royals,â where your title character heads into space on a mission with his family. Will there be some connective tissue between your two books for people who read both?
I believe that over the next year or so there will be some light connective tissue between all of the Inhumans books. It may look like thereâs a paradox happening in the first issue of âRoyalsâ and âBlack Bolt.â We will provide an explanation, though, of how he can be in both books.
Finally, your work on âBlack Boltâ is bound to make some readers curious about your work as a novelist. What would you like curious readers to know about your prose work?
The best thing they can do is check out first my novel âThrone of the Crescent Moon,â which is an epic fantasy with a sort of Middle Eastern flair. People like George R.R. Martin have said nice things about it. [Laughs] So if they enjoy the epic scope and weirdness of the Inhumans. I think theyâll enjoy the book.
Christian Wardâs character sketches for Black Bolt
The post Inhumansâ Black Bolt Is Sent to Cosmic Prison â with the Absorbing Man appeared first on CBR.
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Where to Watch the Watchmen: A Rebirth Guide
WARNING: This post contains spoilers for various DC Comics Rebirth titles.
The final issue of âWatchmenâ may have debuted nearly 30 years ago, but as Doctor Manhattan observed so famously, ânothing ever ends.â Indeed, Doctor M himself looks to be making a comeback as part of DC Comicsâ Rebirth initiative.
RELATED: âBatmanâ/âFlashâ Crossover Set to Explore DCâs âWatchmenâ/Rebirth Mystery
It started with Mayâs âDC Universe: Rebirthâ special and continues to roll out in bits and pieces as part of the publisherâs superhero line. Because Co-Publisher Dan DiDio and President and Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns have each teased more âWatchmenâ involvement in 2017, weâre taking stock of where the landmark miniseriesâ characters might already have appeared, and what it all could mean going forward.
Down Time
Doctor Manhattanâs departure, from âWatchmenâ #12 by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Of course, mixing âWatchmenâ characters with the main-line DC super-folk is a bit like Garth Brooks adding tortellini to all his recipes:Â It sounds preposterous, it shouldnât really work, and you donât want to try it because either youâll get sick or youâll hate yourself for liking it. Indeed, both âWatchmenâsâ in-story and real-world timing suggested very strongly that it wasnât to be considered part of the DC superhero cosmos.
Nevertheless, here we are; so letâs see where the end of âWatchmenâ left its players. On the most basic level, âWatchmenâ â written by Alan Moore, drawn by Dave Gibbons and colored by John Higgins â is the story of Adrian âOzymandiasâ Veidtâs plot to save the world from nuclear holocaust in 1985 by teleporting a giant telepathic squid-bomb into the middle of New York City. Because that involves killing an awful lot of people, it produces a giant conspiracy, an attendant cover-up, and a lot of death along the way.
RELATED: Geoff Johns Hints Heâll Write âWatchmenâ-Focused Comic
Among the dead is The Comedian, aka Eddie Blake, whoâs been a masked vigilante (and, later, government-sponsored assassin) since the late 1930s. Blake knew too much, so Veidt killed him. The vigilante who investigated Blakeâs murder, Walter âRorschachâ Kovacs, also ended up knowing too much and wanting to die because of it. At the end of âWatchmenâ he asked Doctor Manhattan to kill him, and the latter obliged.
Veidtâs plan succeeded despite the efforts of two other vigilantes, Nite Owl (Dan Dreiberg) and Silk Spectre (Laurie Juspeczyk). Both are still around at the end of âWatchmen,â having assumed the new identities of Sam and Sandra Hollis. Although theyâre apparently on the run from the law (thanks to breaking Rorschach out of jail in Issue 7), both are also apparently interested in continuing their costumed careers, with Silk Spectre hinting at a more Comedian-like approach.
Finally, thereâs Doctor Manhattan, once a scientist named Jon Osterman, whose omnipotence was held in check only by his indifference, and ultimately his logic. He leaves Earth at the end of âWatchmen,â thereby depriving the planet of the single greatest influence on its late 20th-century development. (Speaking of planets, he also leaves behind a smashed crystalline castle on Mars.) Weâve speculated previously that while Doctor M talks about creating some new lifeforms, perhaps the âWatchmenâ universe itself is Earth-Q, created artificially by the Superman of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitelyâs âAll Star Superman.â
As for the Earth itself, the final pages of âWatchmenâ indicate that Veidtâs plan worked. The Cold War is over, the Soviet Union and the United States are working together in the wake of the apparent extraterrestrial attack, and Robert Redford may even run for president in 1988. The one thing that might upset the optimistic mood is Rorschachâs journal, delivered to a right-wing newspaper just before his death.
Watchmaker, Wizard and Watcher
Abra Kadabraâs âWatchmenâ allusions from âTitansâ #3, by Dan Abnett and Brett Booth
Accordingly, if the Rebirthed comics pick up after the events of âWatchmen,â four of its main cast are still âat largeâ: Doctor Manhattan, Ozymandias, Nite Owl and Silk Spectre. The âDCU: Rebirthâ special, written by Geoff Johns and drawn by various artists, also connected to âWatchmenâ through a couple of artifacts, Wally Westâs watch (repaired telekinetically on Mars) and the Comedianâs blood-stained button.
In 2011, in the main DC Universe, the âFlashpointâ event ended with the Barry Allen Flash â guided by the mysterious immortal Pandora â reordering the timeline to facilitate the New 52 reboot/relaunch. The New 52 eliminated Barryâs successor Wally West, but the âDC Universe: Rebirthâ special brought him back, with the awareness that a new and powerful force had taken away 10 yearsâ worth of history. The Rebirth process also switched out the late New 52 Superman for his pre-âFlashpointâ predecessor.
A number of âRebirthâ events seem to indicate Doctor Manhattanâs work within the DC Universe. Perhaps the most obvious is Pandoraâs murder, portrayed in the âRebirthâ one-shot as a fairly close parallel to Rorschachâs death. Johns and penciler Gary Frankâs combined efforts made that explicit, with Pandoraâs anger and atomization matching Rorschachâs. In hindsight, we can also suppose that whoever killed Pandora had previously dispatched Owlman and Metron (who were fighting over the Mobius Chair at the end of âJustice Leagueâ vol. 2 #50), because they died in much the same way.
Pandoraâs âDC Universe: Rebirthâ death mirrors Rorschachâs in âWatchmenâ #12
Doctor Manhattan also appears to be behind Wallyâs allegations about the timestream, although âWatchmenâ itself never depicted him changing the past. Indeed, Doctor Manhattan regarded time as immutable, asking in Issue 4, âWho makes the world? Perhaps the world is not made. Perhaps nothing is made. Perhaps it simply is, has been, will always be there ⌠a clock without a craftsman.â At the end of Issue 9, Manhattan tells Laurie he values life â ârarer than a quark and unpredictable beyond the dreams of Heisenbergâ â but thatâs not necessarily an opening to mess around with time itself. Just before his departure in Issue 12 he tells Ozymandias â[h]uman affairs cannot be my concern,â which suggests he would need at least a compelling reason to do anything so drastic.
For that matter, âWatchmenâ doesnât say whether Doctor Manhattan can even affect the timestream. He may have a unique perspective on time, but he travels through it at the same rate everyone else does. Granted, itâs not something we would have seen, because his philosophy probably wouldnât have allowed him to try and change the past. After all, someone who experiences past and present as he does would probably go insane if any of it were altered.
RELATED: DiDio & Lee Say DC Will Take the Time to Do âWatchmenâ/Rebirth Story âRightâ
Additionally, Doctor Manhattan does have trouble seeing the future when faster-than-light tachyon particles are involved. As part of his plan, Ozymandias generated tachyons artificially to confuse Manhattan so he wouldnât be able to stop the squid-creature. Literally in the midst of the destruction, Doctor M finds this appealing: âIâd almost forgotten the excitement of not knowing, the delights of uncertainty âŚâ
Therefore, when Doctor M leaves Earth he doesnât know where heâll end up, maybe because there are a lot of exotic tachyon-style particles. Naturally this reminds us of the Speed Force, where everything goes faster than light, and where he could have encountered the lost Wally West. However, Doctor Mâs âuncertaintyâ about his future could also be merely an act, and he knows what heâll be doing but wants to pretend itâs all a surprise.
Abra Kadabra erases Kid Flash and himself from history, from âTitansâ #6 by Dan Abnett and Brett Booth
Speaking of the future, though, the first arc of the Rebirthed âTitansâ involved the classic Flash foe Abra Kadabra. A magician from the 64th century, the applause-craving Abra used advanced technology to perform âmagicalâ feats. At the end of 1999-2000âs âDark Flashâ storyline by Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn and Paul Pelletier (âFlashâ vol. 2 issues 156-58, January-March 2000), Abra kidnapped Wallyâs wife Linda Park with the aim of erasing her from history; and in the recInt âTitansâ arc he hatched a similar scheme. This time, however, Abra claimed to have removed Wally from history (and, as revealed in Issue 5, himself too).
In âTitansâ #3, Kadabra also talked about wanting to avoid a âsoulless, clockwork future.â That could either be a reference to Doctor Manhattan conquering Earth for all time, or a more âWatchmenâ-esque way of talking about the 64th centuryâs various monotonies and repressions. Wally had visited Abraâs future in August-September 1992âs âFlashâ #67-68, and found it to be oppressive for everyone, not just for Abra. Omen confirmed this when she tapped into Abraâs mind in âTitansâ #6, describing his future not just as âclockwork,â but as âcold and joyless. Like a laboratory experiment.â
Abra also expressed a more personal vision of the future in âTitansâ #4: âI know that one day, Wally West will stop me for good. He will finally beat me so comprehensively, I will be destroyed. Thatâs unacceptable. But the lovely thing about the future is itâs so bendy. Iâve come back to change it ⌠and stop Wally West before he stops me.â Thus, a blood-splattered pocket watch in âTitansâ #3 may keep readers in a âWatchmenâ-minded mood, but Abra sees himself acting alone. To be sure, Abra is aware of someone else with the power to alter time. In Issue 3, he notes that âtime has been knocked askew. History is muddled. This is not Westâs doing. Itâs ⌠his handiwork. It can only be.â Put together with Lilithâs finding the word âManhattanâ in Abraâs memories, and it points directly to âWatchmen.â
Mr. Oz visits the pre-âFlashpointâ Superman, from the âDC Universe: Rebirthâ special
Still, it may not point to Doctor Manhattan himself. So far, readers have yet to see âWatchmenâsâ only superhuman in the blue flesh. Instead, theyâve been getting a lot of Mr. Oz, a character who first appeared in Issue 32 (August 2014) of the New 52 âSupermanâ series. Created by Geoff Johns and John Romita Jr., Mr. Oz spent a lot of time observing both the New 52 and pre-âFlashpointâ Supermen, and indicated that he helped train the New 52 version when the latter was younger. Following the New 52 Supermanâs death, Mr. Oz then tells the pre-âFlashpointâ Man of Steel that âyou and your family are not what you believe you are[,] and neither was the fallen Superman.â Mr. Oz also talks to unseen guests, who may be the prisoners heâs collected for some as-yet-unknown purpose. We know these prisoners include a pre-âFlashpointâ version of Doomsday and Red Robin (Tim Drake), teleported away from (respectively) the Phantom Zone in October 2016âs âAction Comicsâ #962 and from certain death in November 2016âs âDetective Comicsâ #940.
Mr. Oz and assistant Janet send the New 52 Superman a present, from âSupermanâ #39 by Geoff Johns and John Romita Jr.
Mr. Oz wears a green hooded robe, carries a crescent-topped staff, and employs an assistant named Janet whose tattoo looks a bit like the logo for the Veidt companyâs perfume Nostalgia. (She delivers to the New 52 Clark Kent a blank S-shield notebook â shades of Rorschachâs journal? â and Mr. Oz observes âThe future is unwritten, Clark. But you and your friends will see it soon enough.â) His bank of monitors is further reminiscent of the dozens of TV screens in Ozymandiasâ Antarctic home. While these details tend to suggest âWatchmenâsâ Ozymandias collectively, theyâre not conclusive and could simply be coincidental.
In fact, âOzâ arguably makes just as much sense as a nickname for âOsterman.â Doctor Manhattan was susceptible to emotional outbursts but (for lack of a better term) prided himself on his restraint; and as discussed above doesnât seem like the kind of being to interfere in the timeline on a whim. By contrast, Adrian Veidt didnât get overly emotional and dealt heavily in large-scale manipulation, using whatever methods were available to him. We would not be surprised if Veidt found a way to duplicate the accident which led to Doctor Manhattan â he did take Doctor M apart in âWatchmenâ #12, albeit temporarily â and gave himself time- and space-spanning powers. Alternatively, if somehow that made Doctor Manhattan human again, the identity of âMr. Ozâ wouldnât be much of a stretch. (Of course, âDr. Ozâ would be too confusing.) Weâre still at a loss about the robe and staff, though.
Worth a Second Glance
Quoting William Blake and mentioning âwatchmenâ in âThe Hellblazerâ #2
Janetâs âNostalgiaâ tattoo is just one of several elements in DCâs superhero line that remind us, intentionally or otherwise, of âWatchmen.â In âThe Hellblazerâ #2, John Constantine finishes a quote: âThe morning comes, the night decays, the watchmen leave their stations.â Itâs from William Blakeâs âAmerica: A Prophecy,â spoken by a libertine character during the Apocalypse. Blake also wrote âTyger, Tyger,â quoted in âWatchmenâ #5. The âHellblazerâ quote (courtesy of writer Simon Oliver and artist Moritat) is probably just a gentle jab at âRebirthâ; but we feel compelled to note it regardless.
The same goes for Tweedledum and Tweedledee quoting their signature nursery rhyme in âBatmanâ vol. 3 #9: âJust then flew down a monstrous crow, as black as a tar barrel; which frightened both the heroes so they quite forgot their quarrel.â Naturally, in the context of âWatchmen,â the quote recalls Ozymandiasâ hope that an external threat would force the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. to be âso frightenedâ that theyâd âforget their quarrel.â
Also in recent issues of âBatmanâ is the Psycho-Pirate, famously one of the few characters to remember the infinite Multiverse which existed prior to âCrisis on Infinite Earths.â It doesnât connect him directly to âWatchmenâ â which, remember, is decidedly post-âCrisisâ â but if anyone knows anything about the Multiverse, he would.
Of course, Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) and Captain Atom are themselves the inspirations, however distant, for Nite Owl and Doctor Manhattan. (Others included Nightshade/Silk Spectre, Peter Cannon/Ozymandias, and Peacemaker/Comedian.) That connects them to âWatchmenâ on a metatextual level, and each has returned to DCâs superhero lineup after an extended absence, although so far neither has been involved in the current cosmic mystery. As it happens, during âForever Evilâ a few years ago DC seemed to have big things in store for The Question, who of course was Rorschachâs inspiration. The Question was also part of the Trinity of Sin alongside the Phantom Stranger and the late Pandora, which may make Pandoraâs Rorschach-mirroring death just a little more noteworthy.
âWatchmenâsâ electric-car recharger and Wally Westâs Flash symbol
Perhaps one of the biggest coincidences is the similarity between two unrelated symbols. Both the electric-car recharge stations in âWatchmenâ and the Wally West Flash share a stylized lightning-bolt symbol that is more streamlined than the other Flash emblems. Wallyâs symbol came to the comics from a slight redesign done for the âSupermanâ animated series (and seen later in âJustice Leagueâ); and the electric-car recharge is such a minor detail that it has to be a coincidence. Nevertheless, an enterprising writer could probably make it into a bit more.
The name âWally Westâ is also superficially similar to âWally Weaver,â the Jimmy Olsen-like character who was Doctor Manhattanâs buddy in the early days. Weaver was diagnosed years later with cancer, allegedly (and falsely) attributed to his association with Doctor Manhattan. Itâs a stretch as well, but if Doctor M became lost in the Speed Force and heard the name âWally,â it probably would have caught his attention.
As for the Comedianâs button, Nite Owl had it cleaned up by the end of Issue 1. (Heâs got it on the last page during his and Laurieâs after-dinner chat.) Therefore, it must come from some other place along the âWatchmenâ timeline â which doesnât have to be the beginning of the miniseries, because it also got blood-splattered when Blake received his scar in Vietnam. The point is that it seems mostly symbolic of the new connection between the two universes, and not a major plot element. It will, however, be the subject of an April crossover, as described below.
Finally, we expect Wally West to get his uncleâs watch back (and in good working order) sometime before âRebirthâsâ resolution plays out. That does seem like it could be a plot point.
Minute Details
Superman and son fight a tentacled creature, from âSupermanâ #2 by Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason
Certain other elements of current series may have further resonance with the âWatchmenâ portions of âRebirth.â For example, the villain of âJustice League Vs. Suicide Squadâ is Maxwell Lord, who completed his turn to the dark side by killing Blue Beetle. Like Ozymandias, Max started out as a wealthy do-gooder who eventually orchestrated a vast conspiracy and (in 2005âs âCountdown to Infinite Crisisâ special, co-written by Geoff Johns) murdered one of his old associates who had discovered it. That plot didnât originate with âWatchmen,â but these days the similarities are hard to ignore.
Supermanâs Rebirth experiences also include some âWatchmenâ-esque elements. He fights giant tentacled monsters in both the âJustice League: Rebirthâ special and in âSupermanâ #2; and in âSupermanâ #1 and âSuperman Annualâ #1, he leaves glowing-blue handprints in the ground. Admittedly, not every tentacled monster comes from Adrian Veidt. However, the âAnnualâ seemed to explain that these handprints â one of which turned Swamp Thing temporarily into a glowing-blue, Kryptonese-speaking creature â were a byproduct of Superman not being attuned correctly to this Earthâs natural frequencies. Swamp Thing seems to have helped âre-tuneâ Superman, so the handprints might not reappear. Still, until further notice it seems that anything blue which glows needs a bit more scrutiny.
Finally, Ray âAtomâ Palmerâs visit to the Microverse (discussed both in the âDC Universe: Rebirthâ and âJustice League of America: Atom Rebirthâ specials) could be connected to Mr. Ozâs prison, but all we know so far is that heâs there and its gatekeeper canât be trusted.
The Clock is Ticking
The New 52âs Clark gets a blank notebook from Mr. Oz, in âSupermanâ #39 by Geoff Johns and John Romita Jr.
The expanding intersection between the world of âWatchmenâ and the DC Universe has given readers a lot to examine. While there are a number of direct connections, there are probably even more red herrings and blind alleys. (No doubt some of those blind alleys will have âWho WatchesâŚâ graffiti.) We havenât even brought up the âThree Jokersâ subplot, mentioned in Mayâs âJustice Leagueâ #50 and the âDC Universe: Rebirthâ special and then pushed onto a back burner, because it doesnât seem to have much âWatchmenâ relevance. Granted, Doctor Manhattan could duplicate himself without any apparent limit, but that doesnât make him the Joker.
As the âWatchmenâ characters donât have home-field advantage, this will probably play out according to standard superhero-serial tropes; and that most likely means a Big Event miniseries in the not-too-distant future. Until then, expect more teases, surprises, and perhaps even a cameo or two. Mr. Oz will be in the spotlight fairly soon, specifically when one of his prisoners escapes as part of Marchâs âSuperman Rebornâ event; and in April Batman and the Flash will tackle the mystery behind âthe button.â If itâs not resolved until May 2018, thatâs a lot of anticipation and buildup. With everything the two universes have to reconcile, hereâs hoping all of âWatchmenâ and âRebirthâsâ gears end up meshing together smoothly. Weâll be watching for more hints, and weâll keep you posted as they come in.
Which âWatchmenâ elements have you seen in DCâs superhero comics? Let us know in the comments!
The post Where to Watch the Watchmen: A Rebirth Guide appeared first on CBR.com.
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