#personally my favorite concept is bullet two but that would work best in comic form

[pennylogue]

the only thing that could have made everything’s fine even worse

i can’t stop thinking about steven shapeshifting into classic steven during everything’s fine. god, how painful would that have been? 

picture diamond steven shapeshifting into his younger form at some point in little homeworld, as he ruins thing after thing, in a frantic attempt to make himself feel like a person who can help people again. picture the opposite of his birthday, him distorting his body into something small and soft, squeezing it into a mold that it doesn’t fit because he’s scared of the alternative.

or after, he destroys the baseball field, he’s doing construction work, but he can feel everybody watching him, wondering what he’s going to break next. he doesn’t want to be big and scary. he doesn’t want to have done this. so he shapeshifts to classic. that’s what they want, right? that’s certainly what he wants.

or after that, even during the intervention. it’s way too on the nose, but just imagine big steven trying to insist he’s okay, he has this under control. he’s never been a burden and he’s not going to start being one now--he’s still the same steven they’ve always known! so of course he shifts into his younger self to underline that. 

he’d still be in diamond mode for all of this, obvs. can’t escape that.

alternatively, forget little homeworld entirely. what if the episode had just been steven as his younger self, trying to recreate moments from early su, akin to that stepford smiler promo? i would love a story about steven interacting with the crystal gems in this state--them puzzling out what’s going on, while steven tries to avoid a mental breakdown by pretending really hard that the last four years never happened.

“you gotta go teach? c’mon, how long has it been since we had a together breakfast? amethyst, i thought your whole class was about doing whatever you want?”

“you guys were just talking about how you wanted me home! what happened with jasper? oh, it’s nothing. c’mon, let’s go on a good ol’ fashioned mission! track down some corrupted gems!”

look what i’m getting at is that the final breakdown coming from a steven who looks like (or god forbid sounds like) his younger self is something i can’t stop thinking about. steven’s transformation over the time skip is always going to make it a little difficult to mentally connect the smol boy and his older self, and getting that monologue about thinking about smashing white, or shattering jasper, and everything else he said, from the original steven’s body would be a visceral and horrifying way to hammer in that all of this is steven, and always has been.

i’m gonna try to fic this, but it obviously would work better visually--so if any artist out there wants to take a shot at this concept? you would have my undying gratitude.

[duhragonball]

BEGIN: Battle Tendency Liveblog.   JJBA Ch. 45-47

🇺🇸🗽🧗‍♂️���🪀🌵Part 2, Hell Yeah!🌪️🎈🛩️🌋🚬

I'm pretty friggin' excited for Part 6 anime, and Part 6 is one of my faves, so one could understandably assume that Part 6 is my favorite.  And I post a lot of other JoJo stuff on this blog, so it's probably not obvious, but Part 2 is the best.   

I got into JoJo in 2017, watching Parts 1-4 in anime version, then reading the scanlations of Parts 5-8 while I waited for the anime to catch up.    Then I re-liveblogged the Part 5 manga because there was finally a proper translation available.   And technically the Part 8 liveblog never ended, since the manga is still ongoing.  

As I developed an appreciation for the manga, I started to feel like I should go back and check out the comic versions of Parts 1 through 4.  Where better to start than my personal favorite?   But I never got around to it, until now.

There's a few things I want to explore with Part 2.    First, I want to go through and work out why exactly I like it so much.   It's kind of tough to articulate, but usually I just say that it's fast-paced and something's always happening.   Part 1 takes a while to get going, and Parts 3-8 rely on the Stand concept, which means that each of them occasionally fall into the trap of becoming formulaic.   Part 2 doesn't have the hassle of introducing all the lore, and it doesn't have the luxury of just doing a gauntlet of Stand Battles to pad out the story.   But I think there's more to it than that.  Battle Tendency has a charm all it's own, and that's what I want to talk about.

Second, now that I've become familiar with Parts 1-7 (and most of 8), I want to go back and see how 2 holds up as part of this mythos.   BT sort of gets overlooked, I think, and that's fair, since it doesn't involve Dio, Stands, or the more outlandish costumes of the later installments.  A lot of fans write off Parts 1 and 2 for being "boring", but at least Phantom Blood carries the prestige of starting it all, and providing the origin of Dio.  Something I think a lot about is whether or not Part 2 "connects" with the later entries in the JoJo series.  It forms a trilogy with 1 and 3, and Part 4 features Joseph's legacy in an important way, but what about the later ones?   Parts 5 through 8 owe a huge debt to Stardust Crusaders for introducing Stands, and to Phantom Blood for introducing JoJo's, but what does Part 2 give them, if anything?   

Third, I'm interested in seeing how BT holds up in isolation.    It's a direct sequel to Part 1, and it ends with a prelude to Part 3, so it's clearly designed to function as part of a larger saga.   But Parts 4 and 5 really don't operate that way, and that got me thinking that maybe Part 2 is more self-contained than I give it credit for.  

But enough about that, let's get this started.

There's two plot threads in these opening chapters.  One reintroduces Robert E. O. Speedwagon, now a 70 year old oil tycoon, and Straizo, who has succeeded the late Tonpetti as the Ripple Master.   Speedwagon has been using his oil fortune to fund a research organization called the Speedwagon Foundation, and it discovered something major during an archaeological expedition: an engraving of the stone mask, the same one Dio used to turn himself into a vampire 50 years earlier.   Note that the mummified corpse lying on the slab with the engraving has vampire fangs.   Whoever this guy is, he didn't just know about the masks, he used one personally.

It might get revealed later in the comics, but I'm pretty sure the anime version had Speedwagon explain that he primary purpose of his foundation was to learn more about phenomena like the Stone Mask, which is probably why they were digging up an Aztec temple in Mexico to begin with.   As I recall, the Stone Mask was discovered in that part of the world, and taken back to Europe, where it eventually came into the possession of the Joestar family.   Speedwagon would know this tale, and so if he wanted to find out more about the mask, he would have known where to start.   Fifty years later, he seems to have hit paydirt.

But the mask engraving isn't why he called Straizo all the way in from Tibet.   Deeper in the temple, there's a weird looking area that looks like something from out of an H.R. Giger painting.   In the center stands this column, or pillar, if you will, and mounted on the pillar is...

...This guy, surrounded by more stone masks.   When I first watched this part of the anime, I though the big reveal here was that there were lots and lots of Stone Masks, which would be a big problem, since Part 1 made a big deal out of destroying the one Stone Mask that started all the trouble.   And maybe the guy in the pillar was the one who invented the things, I thought, but the bigger problem is that he made so many of them.   But no, Speedwagon explains that the "Pillar Man" is not an image carved into the stone, but a living being, in some form of suspended animation.  He even has a pulse.   

So who is this guy and why did he create the Stone Masks?   Speedwagon does not care.   He only wants this Pillar Man destroyed before he wakes up, and that's the sole reason he called in Straizo.   The two of them were the only survivors of the battle with Dio 50 years ago, and Straizo's Hamon power, also known as the Ripple, can destroy vampires that were created by the Stone Mask.    So he's desperately hoping Straizo can finish off the Pillar Man the same way.   But Straizo doesn't seem as concerned about it, and he asks about Joseph Joestar instead.    So I guess I ought to circle back to the other plotline... 

Fifty years after Jonathan Joestar sacrificed himself to defeat Dio Brando, his wife Erina and his grandson Joseph have moved to New York City.   Joseph tries to buy a Coke, but this kid swipes his wallet.   Kind of funny how Joesph's first and last appearances in JJBA are him getting robbed. 

But the kid runs afoul of the local corrupt cops, who bludgeon him with their batons and threaten to put him in jail for 20 years unless he agrees to give them a cut of whatever money he makes from pickpocketing.   When Joseph catches up to this scene, the cop even says he's going to keep Joseph's wallet "as evidence".   I gotta say, not everything from Battle Tendency has aged well, but this police brutality stuff has become incredibly relevant.  This could be 2021, except the cop would have had a gun, and he would have shot Smokey, then Joseph because he mistook the Coke bottle for a rocket launcher.  

Joseph tries to defuse the situation by claiming he gave the wallet to the kid as a gift, but the cop doesn't believe that story, and he wouldn't care even if he did.   He even smears boogers in Joseph's face just to prove that he can say and do whatever he pleases.    Up to this point, Joseph looks and seems a lot like Jonathan.  Later artwork tries to downplay that resemblance, probably just so it's easier to tell them apart.   The anime gave Joseph different color hair, and Hirohiko Araki himself started drawing young Joseph with aviator goggles all the time, even though he doesn't wear them that much in this story.  But starting out, the idea was that Joseph is the spitting image of his grandfather, and it almost looks like this is just an clever way to sneak Jonathan back into the story and transport him forward in time, except....

Coming through, coming through, coming through now  

Coming through, coming through, coming through now

Coming through, coming through, coming through 

Shake it like it's heat, Overdrive!

Yeah, so Joseph can do Hamon/Ripple tricks just like his grandfather, and all the others guys who could use Hamon back in Part 1.   The difference is that when Joseph does it, it looks coooooool.  After breaking Officer Hulk Hogan’s trigger finger, Joseph takes a big swig of soda, because it’s awesome.

To Smokey’s surprise, Joseph did all that badass stuff a second ago, but he’s terrified about his grandmother scolding him for it.  So Joseph wants to run for it, and that suits Smokey, so they rush off together, beginning a long tradition of JoJo’s running from things.   Enemies, consequences, you name it. 

Smokey asks Joseph how he learned how to do that trick with the coke bottle, and he says he has no idea, he’s just always been able to do it.    He knows his grandfather had the same power, but he’s dead, and so are his mother and father.  Curiously, Joseph’s father did not have Hamon powers, so it seems to have skipped a generation. 

And that sets up the other side of the plot.   Speedwagon wants Straizo to destroy the Pillar Man immediately, but Straizo first asks about Joseph.   He had heard some time ago that Joseph had innate Hamon abilities, and he had used them once to rescue Speedwagon from a kidnapping attempt in midair.   A flashback shows us this moment, with guys threatening to ransom and kill Speedwagon, but Joseph is just chilling in the back with a Superman comic. 

Okay, time out.   This panel rules and all, but the Superman comic book didn’t start until 1939, a year after Battle Tendency begins.   Superman was featured in the 1938 magazine Action Comics, but this scene on the plane is a flashback to Joseph from his early teens.   Also, the earliest DC bullet logo didn’t appear until 1940, so what is this?  Some kind of magic, time travelling comic book?    I hope someone got fired for this blunder! 

Anyway, Joseph was content to ignore the hijackers until one of them struck him, and even that wouldn’t have upset him except he got his own blood on his clothes, which Erina bought him, so that sends him into a rage.   Speedwagon was worried that Joseph might clobber the hijackers, but instead he knocks out the pilot, then drags him and Speedwagon out of the plane before it crashes.    The main thrust of that story was that Speedwagon was more worried about what Joseph might do than the hijackers who had already threatened to murder him.   Joseph is slow to anger, but once you piss him off he’s going to go to war, and he doesn’t always think things through.

But he’s never been trained to use his powers like Straizo’s order.  Upon hearing this, Straizo kills his own disciples, and all of the Speedwagon Foundation guys, then knocks Speedwagon himself out.   This will anger Joseph when he hears about it, but Straizo is counting on this.    As he explains, Hamon power can slow his aging process down considerably.   He and Speedwagon are both about 70 here, but he looks much younger.   Even so, he’s feeling his age, and he confesses that he always admired Dio for his immortality and power.   So now that there’s Stone Masks available, he’s decided to use one on himself, become a vampire, and become “a being that surpasses all”.  

And that’s a theme that runs through all of Battle Tendency, along with the rest of the JoJo franchise.  The main villains always seek power to position themselves above the rest of humanity.  At first, it seems kind of random for one of the men who opposed Dio to suddenly switch allegiences like this, but in truth, it’s human nature to be tempted by this kind of power.  Dio succumbed to the lure of the Mask, and now we find that Straizo would have done the same.   He just didn’t have the opportunity until now.

But the reason he’s concerned about Joseph is that he’s thinking this through.  Dio was defeated after all, so Straizo wants to eliminate anyone who could potentially defeat him.  Aside from himself and Speedwagon, the only others who know about the battle with Dio and the Stone Mask are Erina and Joseph.   Once he eliminates them, he’ll be free to do as he pleases.

Back to New York, this is a pretty sweet drawing of a car.    I’m not a car guy, but even I can get behind this.  By now, Smokey has met Erina Joestar, and he finds out some of the backstory from Part 1.    Erina’s husband died at sea, and she was pregnant with their son, Joseph’s father, and had a baby girl whom she rescued from the same incident at sea.   The two children grew up, married, had Joseph, and died, the father in World War I, and the mother of some unspecified illness.  Perhaps out of loneliness, Erina is “unflinchingly kind” even to someone like Smokey Brown, who doesn’t seem to think he’s worthy of her favor.

Anyway, Erina wants to take Smokey out to dinner at this nice Italian restaurant, but this racist mafia guy makes a big stink about a Black person being allowed to eat there.    Joseph gets up to kick his ass, but first he has to check with Erina to make sure it’s okay, and she’s like ��Yeah, destroy that guy,” because even though she doesn’t approve of Joseph beating up people, she can’t abide disrespect to her friends.   This leads to the memorable fight scene where Joseph is like eight steps ahead of his opponent.  He goes for his brass knuckles, but can’t find them, and Joseph deduces where they are because of some bloodstains on his shirt.  He even suggests what this guy is about to say next because he’s so predictable.

Then he dodges every blow, moving so quickly that this jerk thinks he was hitting Joseph, when in fact he was punching a hat rack behind Joseph, and somehow he didn’t notice that he impaled his hand on broken wood until Joseph explained it to him.     And honestly, this feels like the prototype for a lot of Stand Battles down the line.  I’ll have more to say on that later.

What puts Battle Tendency over the top is how Joseph not only outwits this big lummox, but the rest of the diners at this restaurant all start applauding him for doing it.    They’re just honored to be present in this insane comic book where literally anything can happen.   “He made that asshole punch a hat rack!   This is awesome!”

Then this dude suddenly speaks up.   He’s not only the mafia guy in charge of the first guy, but he’s also heard a hot tip about Speedwagon getting murdered in Mexico by a Tibetan man.   He knew Erina would be interested in hearing this, but he’d never met her before.  Small world, huh?  

How would this guy already know about it, though?  I guess Straizo deliberately leaked the story, specifically so Joseph would find out about it sooner, but it seems awfully convenient.   But that’s how Battle Tendency rolls.   This thing’s only seven volumes long, and we’ve got a lot of ground to cover...

[supercasey]

So I watched Batman Ninja with my buddy Jason the other night...

Under a readmore because I'm screaming and y'all normal people don't need to see this shitshow.

So, like, to begin with; the animation is gorgeous- I will in no way try to deny that- and does a lot of cool things with the art style. You can tell a lot of work went into this movie, and while I personally find it so bad that it's funny, I'm not gonna shit on anyone who likes this film more seriously. (Also, I'm gonna shit on the outfits a lot, so sorry if that comes off as unintentionally racist. I am white and stupid.)

However, other than that... What the shit??? Was that??? I'm still reeling 48 hours later.

The basic plot of this wild ass movie (that I could figure out): Gorilla Grodd has built a time machine so he can go back in time and rule over Feudal Japan and change history (it never really specifies why he chose Japan of all places but go off, DC). He brings Deathstroke (my fav obviously), The Penguin, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, and The Joker + Harley Quinn (because if you want your plans to work you should absolutely bring in the disaster piece of shit that is The Joker).

Also Catwoman is here but from what I can tell it was accidental on her part/I think she's the one who fucked up the time machine??? Unclear.

So everyone goes to the past, including Batman, Alfred, and all the Robins (Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, and Damian Wayne as Robin) (none of the girls but let's be honest, I think they dodged a fucking bullet).

Batman ends up behind everyone else during the time traveling??? Not really explained, but now everyone has been in Japan for two years and Catwoman has depression.

Okay onto me rambling:

They have this scene where every villain gets a title card/one-liner, and everyone else but Deathstroke gets a line that fits their shtick. I feel like they had no idea what to do for a pun/joke, so there's just a literal pause then "... Yeah :)" from Deathstroke. I straight up scream-laughed so fucking hard.

All the Robins look so fucking stupid except for Tim. Nightwing looks like Goku, Red Hood has the tallest bucket on his head I've ever seen, and Damian's hair... good fucking lord.

Also, Damian is completely out of character. The people making this movie, I think, have never read a comic with Damian, and just made him into "annoyingly happy child character that is annoying as all fuck and talks to animals for no reason except Baby" and let me tell you, I got such whiplash from seeing that. Also Damian and Red Hood are apparently voiced by the same guy and my buddy Jason is freaking out about it lmao.

Joker's fucking UGLY next question.

Harley sounds low-key annoying in this film but that might just be me... feels like a lot of people who try to voice her make their voices as high-pitched as possible and it's very grating after awhile.

There's an amnesia plot??? Where Harley and Joker get amnesia after a boat fire??? Red Hood beats the fuck out of them and while I feel bad for Harley, fuck Joker, he can die. They get their memories back by seeing a plant... that looks like Joker's face... as my boy Deathstroke would say: "... Yeah."

There's a clan of Batman ninjas from the past and, tbh, they look pretty fucking cool and I thought they were a really neat concept. Doesn't excuse the bat ghost thing.

OH GOD THE ENDING FIGHT

Through a series of unfortunate events, Gorilla Grodd and all the other villains start fighting each other in giant mechas in order to decide who will rule Japan because of course they do.

My favorite parts from the villain fights:

Two-Face's robot is the shit of nightmares. At one point Deathstroke and Grodd are going at it, Two-Face gets between them, then FLIPS A COIN FOR WHO HE'LL BEAT ON (very in-character I guess but I was still screeching). Btw, he chooses to attack Grodd, and Slade just stands back like "... Yeah :)"

Can you tell that I'm not over that stupid line yet?

PENGUIN HAS SEMI-SENTIENT PENGUINS WORKING ON THE INSIDE OF HIS ROBOT WTF!?!? WHERE DID HE GET THEM!?

Poison Ivy is beautiful, next question.

Okay, back to everything in general:

Grodd reveals that he has been low-key mind controlling all of the other villains this entire time, and that he's the one who made everyone build giant robots. He attempts to take full control of everyone, but Joker does instead. This is maybe the most sane part of this entire goddamn movie.

ALL OF THE ROBOTS MORE OR LESS FORM VOLTRON, LADS!!!

So now our heroes (Batman, the Batsquad, and the Batclan) need to take on this giant robot... so what's a boy to do? Well, if you're Damian Wayne in this movie, you get a magic flute from Grodd after he nearly dies for you, and with the help of your baby monkey friend, summon an army of millions of monkeys that form a giant monkey.

This is a Batman movie. Just thought I'd remind y'all of that.

At first it doesn't work, but don't worry! Another monkey (wearing a pink bow to remind us that she's a girl and the other monkey's love interest) comes and helps Damian play the flute better so the monkeys are better.

Monkeys still aren't enough, so with the power of bats and probably a lot of weed being smoked, the bats that came out of literally nowhere form a giant Batman to punch Voltron.

(Side note: they destroy the arm that Deathstroke was controlling so I don't know why he isn't dead. Never explained. He isn't even really hurt!!!)

The Robins enter Voltron to fight the villains because Joker loses control of everyone: Nightwing vs Penguin, Red Hood vs Deathstroke, and I forget the other match-ups, but nothing matters except that Red Hood walking up to Deathstroke and saying "Tell you what... I'll let you take the first shot" was badass and the best part of the movie.

Too bad we didn't get full fights scenes between everyone 🙃

Batman nearly died??? But lived??? I was so lost at this point and probably should've been paying better attention, but I was too busy trying to convince myself this wasn't a fever dream.

They got back to the present and everyone lived happily ever after, the end :)

Notes: I'm sure I missed some shit but Jesus fucking Christmas, it was a wild ride from start to finish. It was, like, not that great storytelling wise, but it was so bad it was funny??? It was the "The Room" of Animated Batman films.

Batman is a fucking HIMBO in this movie. I dunno how to exactly explain it, but he makes so many stupid ass decisions throughout the movie, it's so funny. When he's trying to blend in with the townsfolk HE LITERALLY CUTS HIS HAIR TO HAVE THE BATSYMBOL ON THE TOP OF HIS FUCKING HEAD!!! WHO APPROVED THIS MOVIE!?!?

I have decided that Deathstroke didn't die because trans rights. Is he canon trans? Well, he is in my heart.

Jason Todd's voice actor did a great job with him, tbh I wish he had been more prominent in the movie.

I literally forgot Tim and Dick were there most of the time they were so unneeded in the plot.

I hated Damian but whatever.

I honestly did enjoy the movie, but probably not for the reasons the creators wanted me to. Again, nothing against the creators, but this was such an odd movie for 90% of it's run time.

7/10 would watch again, if only because it was so funny and nonsensical.

Ratings all together:

Animation: 10/10

Voice Acting: 7/10

Story (If taken seriously): 2/10

Story (if not serious): 8/10

All together; watch this if you're a Batman fan that feels like having a hilarious time and doesn't mind seeing your favorite characters be OOC or doing weird shit. I feel like this movie is best enjoyed on call/while hanging out with friends.

[thefandomscontrol-blog]

Decisions (Rip Hunter x Reader, Ray Palmer x Reader)

Prompt: stephyra17 said:

I have recently found your blog and I absolutly love it!! I would like to request a one shot, on how both Ray and Rip (legends of tomorrow universe) have a crush on you and try to impress you with history facts, nerd facts since you're a historian\time related powers and a nerd (fangirl). They try to make references ect. It's a competiton between the 2. Could you also included 2 ending, one wehre you choose Ray & the other you choose Rip? Thanks so much, I love you for existing & making me smile

Pairing: Ray Palmer x Reader, Rip Hunter x Reader

Words: 1581

Warnings: Nerdiness, geekiness, possible fangirling. Don’t know if you mean historian and/or time related powers, so she’s going to have both.

Notes: I’m sorry it’s taken so long. I have so much school work I’m drowning in it, but I wanted to write a little anyway to try and relieve some stress (even though I should be writing an essay right now...oh well). I hope you like it! And thank you, you sending me this brightened my day! Since Nate is a historian, she and Nate are going to be best friends. :)

It wasn’t until your best friend Nate pointed it out that you realized why Ray and Rip were always surrounding you and telling you history facts and anything about the Marvel Universe or Supernatural that made you fangirl (and let’s just say you fangirl very hard). They were trying to flirt with you. “Nate, you can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I’m deadly serious,” the historian replied. “They alway come around with more history facts that you either know little about or that you have worked on persistently. Rip shares future history with you. They try and make you laugh with jokes about certain characters that you like in your Marvel Comics. They even have movie nights just for you to watch your favorite movies or binge watch Supernatural. Hell, you’ve seen future seasons of Supernatural that haven’t aired because they come after 2016. They fight for your attention and alway glare at the other who has taken your attention away from them. You still don’t believe they both like you,” Nate smirked.

You opened and closed your mouth a couple of times before just staring at Nate. You immediately wanted to wipe the smirk off his face. “So what? They both like me. That’s their problem. Let them figure it out. Until one of them asks me out, I’m staying off that boat.”

“Care to tell that to them? Here they come.”

“Can I rewind and leave before they show up,” you whispered to Nate.

He laughed, “no.”

“I hate you, you know that,” you whispered back.

“(Y/N)! So I was thinking about how you said one of the things you regretted before leaving 2016 was the fact that you were never able to see Deadpool. I have the movie, we could watch it sometime, whenever you want to. I mean, if you don’t want to watch it, that’s fine. I just thought that you would want to because-”

“Ray,” you interrupted him. Inside, you were jumping up and down like a hyper seven year old, but you knew you needed to keep a calm exterior with this new information in your head. “That is very sweet of you to offer. I would appreciate watching Deadpool, maybe the whole team can watch it. I bet I can even convince Sara to dress in Pajamas,” you laughed.

“I did-”

“(Y/N), did you know that Adolf Hitler’s name would have been Adolf Schicklgruber had his father not changed his name in 1877? Or that a British soldier during World War I spared Hitler’s life as he was wounded? As a child, Hitler wanted to be a Priest. He planned to collect loads of artifacts of Jewish descent to make a museum for an extinct race after the war. Funny concept was he was afraid of cats. Hitler never learned to drive,” Rip smiled as he went behind his desk and sat down, watching your face lightly light up at some of the facts you didn’t know about Hitler. You had done your thesis paper on Adolf Hitler’s rise to Kaiser, starting from his early childhood and following to his death (you had even traveled back in time to get a closer look at Hitler...but your history professor didn’t need to know that).

“Some of that I did know, but others...that’s astonishing. Thank you for adding to my collection of facts on Adolf Hitler. Now, on a more serious note, do we have any aberrations to fix,” you looked at Nate specifically, hoping he would say yes to help take the focus off of you.

As Nate was about to answer, his machine whirled to life, “that would be a yes.” He took a look at the machine and looked up looking shocked, “it’s in 2016,” he replied.

Your eyes widened but a small smile made its way to your face, “I’ll go and look around. What’s the day?”

“May twenty-ninth,” he responded.

“Alright, meet me there,” and with a ripple in the air, you were gone, already in 2016.

“Bloody hell, how many times have I told her not to do that,” Rip mumbled.

“How many times have I told her to stop doing that before she gets hurt,” Ray grumbled as Rip called the team to the bridge to prepare for the time jump.

_______________________________________

Before the Timeship showed up, you had time to think. What would you do? Rip and Ray both liked you and you like them...but it wasn’t anything romantic, was it? Nate said it was obvious but you had a hard time believing that. You just couldn’t wrap your mind around two of the handsome men on board the Waverider were into you.

When you got these powers, the ability to travel through time, you never thought that you would meet people like this. Sure, you knew about The A.T.O.M., Firestorm, Heatwave, et cetera, but you never thought you’d get to meet them, let alone fall for any of them. You never thought that with your powers, you would meet someone as brave and bold as Rip Hunter and you never expected to fall for him either. You didn’t know what to do.

You didn’t want to hurt either of them, but you knew you would have to decide by the time that this aberration was finished...you couldn’t let them continue to fight over you because you knew it was ineffectual and that you didn’t need them preoccupied with the mission.

Maybe it would be best to tell them both you weren’t interested in a relationship...but that would end up hurting them both...and it might distract them both and that would be bad considering they need to fully be in the game. But if you chose one of them, you knew that the other would be out of it afterwards.

Damn it! Why couldn’t the Universe just throw a new person on board that you’re destined to be with and have Rip and Ray as two of your greatest friends? You quite honestly believed that the Universe hated you. What did you do to deserve that? Well, you can travel through time...maybe it’s Time’s way of telling you it doesn’t like you being able to travel at free will without the help of the Waverider.

You groaned slightly as a headache began to form. You shook your head. Aberration first, love life later, you reminded yourself.

______________________________________

After a semi-successive mission, you were back on the Waverider watching as Rip paced. Ray had gotten hurt as well as Sara. You walked away from the bridge and to the infirmary. You walked in, seeing both Sara and Ray resting. They were quietly talking as Gideon fixed them up. “I’m sorry, I should have seen it coming,” you stated after standing in the doorway for a couple of minutes, “I could have stopped Thawne and Merlin. Could have rewound a couple of seconds to stick my foot out in front of Thawne. Something...Then you both wouldn’t have been hurt.”

“It’s not your fault-”

“But it is. I didn’t check everything out when I got here. I stood in one spot thinking about Rip and you, Ray, because I didn’t know how to choose between both of you because you both like me. I see that now and I want to make sure I don’t hurt either one of you. I didn’t check the perimeter because I was so caught up in thought and then Sara tackled me, taking the bullet meant for me. It is my fault, don’t try to say it isn’t because I will always blame myself for not checking sooner and letting both you and Sara get hurt,” the first tear slid down your face and you quickly wiped it away. “I just don’t like seeing the people I care about get hurt because of me...especially not a man I’ve come to care about quite a lot.”

You watched Ray’s face and saw his expression lighten. “I believe there’s a way you can make it up to me.”

“How’s that?”

“Let me take you on a date,” he replied.

You smiled, “I would love to go on a date with you.”

ALTERNATE ENDING

After a semi-successive mission, you were back on the Waverider watching as Rip paced. Ray had gotten hurt as well as Sara. You were sitting in one of the chairs on the Bridge, watching him pace back and forth in his office.

After another second of thought, you got up and walked over to his office and leaned on the frame of the entrance. “You shouldn’t beat yourself up about this mission. It was my fault. I was too preoccupied to check the perimeter.”

“It is not your fault, (Y/N), I should have guessed they would be expecting us.”

“And I should have guessed they would have sensed my arrival before the ship’s.”

“I should have advised the team to be extra cautious.”

“I should have searched the perimeter.”

“I should have-”

“We could do this all day, Rip. Why? We need to move on and figure out our next move against the Legion of Doom...and maybe we could fit in some time to get to know each other better,” you held your breath. This was not the way you wanted to tell him.

“Are you asking me on a date, Ms. (Y/L/N),” he looked at you, smirking.

“Only if you say yes.”

“Well then, I accept.”

[tyrantisterror]

The ATOM Create A Kaiju Contest

All fifty ATOM Kaiju files are now up on Horror Flora for the world to see.  You can now look at the designs, stats, and brief bios of the fifty-some kaiju that will appear in my novel-in-progress, The Atomic Time of Monsters.   But the event that gives the novel its name – the titular atomic time period – has far, far more than that.  In fact, while only fifty or so monsters appear in the novel itself, at least six times that number will be running around just outside the pages – the unseen kaiju of ATOM.  But I’ll level with you – I can draw kaiju for days, and have literally done so since about mid-December 2016, but I’ll never be able to draw up 300+ solid kaiju concepts.  I mean, ok, maybe if I keep at it till I die, but I have a lot of other stuff I want/need to do.  So that’s where this contest comes in.

Like some of the best fiction, I’ve left a tantalizing gap in my story for other writers to fill in.  Like a narcissist, I’m hoping people would want to fill in their gap.  There are literally dozens if not hundreds of monsters left unseen – how would you like to give them a face?

THE RULES:

1.  You may create and submit up to FIVE different kaiju for the contest.  They must be your own creations – no plagiarism will be tolerated.  You can cheekily reference pre-existing monsters though – we all know the 50+ canonical monsters in ATOM do.

2.  The kaiju you create must specifically be created for this contest  - no repurposing characters you made for other, wildly different stories.  It’s more gratifying to my ego of a fun thought experiment that way.

3. The kaiju must fit the design aesthetics, story themes, and overall tone of ATOM's kaiju. They should feel like B movie monsters from 1950's/60's pop culture.  The better they match this aesthetic, more likely you will win the contest.

4. The kaiju must also fit the setting ATOM.  Remember that “kaiju” has a story specific definition beyond being just a big animal, that most dinosaurs didn’t exist in ATOM’s world (i.e. no feathery t.rexes), and that the alien fauna of Mars, Venus, and the various made up planets follow very specific body plans.  The Atomic Time of Monsters starts in 1954 and ends in 1968 – your entry has to take place in that rough time frame.  I plan on posting some ATOM Bonus Files between now and the deadline that explain aspects of the setting in more detail.

5. The kaiju should add something meaningful to the world of ATOM. What would be the point of having another fire-breathing t.rex monster?  The more unique and interesting your kaiju is, the more likely you will win the contest.

6. The kaiju must be independent of the main plot of ATOM - not "Tyrantis's long lost evil brother who's the strongest kaiju in the world". These should be to Tyrantis's story what War of the Gargantuas is to Godzilla's movies – heroes (well, monsters) of another story in the same world.

7. Your kaiju must have some sort of description of its physical appearance and its personality - you can submit a drawing or a written description (or both!) for the physical appearance depending on what you’re most comfortable with.

The Deadline for this contest is MARCH 16, 2017.  You have roughly two months to work on your submission(s).  To enter you just have to make me aware of your submission - tag me in a tumblr post, send me a message, etc.  It can be on tumblr or on another website - so long as it exists and I can access it, it works.  It

But what about the prizes, you ask?  Well, I’ll put that information (along with some other rambling suggestions and tips) after the cut, but the biggest prize will be making a whole shitload of weird retro kaiju.

Ok, so: PRIZES, PRIZES, PRI-ZIZZES!

RUNNER UP PRIZES:  I will sketch every kaiju entered in the contest, and compile them all in a great big post with a few sentences of commentary on each one.  Every person who enters the contest gets this prize.

THE TOP 5 WINNERS: I will fully illustrate my top 5* favorite kaiju entries and publish them – WITH CREDIT – on HorrorFlora.com as ATOM Bonus Files.  This means they will be considered SEMI-CANONICAL in ATOM’s lore – you will retain rights over your creation, of course, but they’ll also be considered part of the ATOM expanded universe. ��*Note: I may increase or decrease this number depending on how many entries the contest gets, or if I just love a crap load more monster than just 5.

THE GOLD MEDAL WINNER: The creator of the winning entry will not only get the prizes from the previous tiers, but will also get to choose one movie for me to liveblog.  It can be any movie – good or bad – so long as 1. I can legally view it in the United States and 2. I don’t have to go into a porno shop to legally view it (thank glarnbodin for bringing up this possibility when I was brainstorming prizes).

TIPS

I’ve got a few tips, but one is so important it needs to be more than a bullet point.  The most important tip for this contest is as follows: I’m looking for Beeruses, not Brolys.

What do I mean by that?  Well, firstly, you need to watch Dragon Ball Z.  Secondly, the hit anime Dragon Ball Z had several non-canonical movies made by people who weren’t the main creator/writer of the manga the anime was based off of.  These movies had to fit in the gaps of the original story, and theoretically hoped to add something new and worthwhile to the story.  Most of them did not succeed.

Broly is the main villain of three of these movies, and basically was defined purely in relation to the main characters: he was like the hero, Goku, except bigger, more powerful than anyone else, and evil.  He didn’t really have a strong motivation, or any personality at all beyond “hates everything and loves destroying stuff”.  He was only defined by his ridiculously immense strength and how violent he was.  Overall, he contributed very little, didn’t fit the tone of the larger story, and yet was deeply connected too/defined by the main plot – the opposite of what my contest rules ask for.

By contrast, Lord Beerus, a villain introduced in a later movie, brought a lot more to the table.  He fit well within the canonical world of the story, both in design and his over the top yet complex personality (unlike Broly, Beerus has many solid motivations and a many dimensions to his character).  While he was somewhat connected to the plot of the overall story, he was also fairly distant – he had never met the main character before, and neither one of them knew much about the other.  The story of their conflict was similar to previous stories in Dragon Ball Z, and yet had several twists that made it feel utterly unique.  Beerus contributed a lot to the world and cast dynamics of the story, fit in with its tone, and was disconnected enough to what came before to feel like he was adding something new.  The only reason he’s not a shining example of what I’m going for (well, other than him not being a kaiju) is that he was made up by the original creator of Dragon Ball Z.

But still, the point stands: I’m looking for Beeruses, not Brolys.

In fact, I had to change my original pitch for this contest because of this rule.  Originally I thought of this as the “Lost Projects of ATOM” – making the ATOM equivalents of weird, cut kaiju from the Godzilla series.  But while I was thinking of oddities like Mogu and Majin Tuol, I realized most people would think of characters like Bagan – the Brolys of the Godzilla world.  This is why one of the rules of the contest is that the kaiju have to be separated from Tyrantis’s story in ATOM – if your monster isn’t a foe of Tyrantis, there’s less of a risk of them taking things to Broly style “I made a monster that’s bigger and meaner version of your monster” antics.

So one final time:  Beeruses, not Brolys.

Now, the other tips:

• ATOM’s aesthetics are mainly drawn from pop culture of the 1950’s and 60’s.  The obvious main inspiration would be the giant monster movies of that time period – the Showa Godzilla movies, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Them!,  The Deadly Mantis, etc. – but other sci-fi and horror stories of that time period apply as well.  This includes movies that were rereleased in this decade – King Kong was made in the 30’s, but was rereleased in theaters in the 50’s to great success – as well as other forms of media published at the time, like comic books, novels, and even some songs.  Silver Age monster comics from Marvel, like Tales to Astonish and other great titles by Jack Kirby, are just as entwined in ATOM’s DNA as Godzilla. • You can also work some modern design sensibilities here and there.  Tyrantis’s overbite is far more common in dinosaur art from the 70’s and 80’s, while creatures like Pathogen and the Writhing Flesh owe a lot to body horror movies of the 80’s and video games like Resident Evil.  These elements shouldn’t be the PRIMARY aesthetic, however – the 50’s/60’s vibe is still more important to capture. • ATOM works on Hollywood Science and, even more than that, child logic.  Scientific accuracy is far from a priority – science is something ATOM uses occasionally for flavor, rather than an essential ingredient.  Feel free to get weird, silly, and stupid to an extent . • Kaiju in ATOM are always characters and need to be expressive in some way.  That’s important to the story’s theme – even the most wicked monsters in the story (with one possible exception) have a sympathetic side to them, and they need to be able to show it. • If you looked closely at the rules, you’ll notice an inherent contradiction: entries will be judged both in how they fit the story, and paradoxically in how they add something new to it.  This might feel like a bit of give and take – a retrosaur would definitely fit, but might feel redundant, while, say, a giant lion might add something new but feel out of place.  Don’t be scared to embrace one of the two at the expense of the other: you can make up to five entries to hedge your bets, and you might actually do a lot better focusing on some of the required elements anyway.

You can also feel free to adapt some monster concepts I failed to make work, including (but not limited to - check my old DA gallery or my thirty day kaiju challenges on my art tumblr for more):

Giant grasshoppers

Giant rabbits

A Sabre Tooth Tiger Monster

Basically any amphibians

Basically any birds

A giant gila monster

Giant shrews

Most mammals really

Finally, here are some links to things that helped inspire ATOM’s aesthetic, so they may inspire you in turn:

[hermanwatts]

SUPERVERSIVE: What makes “Magi” so special anyway?

“Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic” and “Magi: The Kingdom of Magic”, its second season, are strange beasts. On MyAnime List it has over an eight out of ten, which is stellar, and its anime adaptation got over fifty episodes and even a prequel. It was put out by one of the bigger name studios, A-1 Pictures, and had high production values. It even got an excellent dub. Yet for some reason, it’s been all but forgotten.

Why? How did a well-received shonen battle/adventure anime with a decent-length anime adaptation get memory holed a few short years after its prequel aired?

I have no idea, but I’d like to do my part to change that. I am the only person that I know who thinks “Magi” is a legitimately great show. Not good – great.

But there is no question I am in the minority here. So why? What lead me to rate it so highly?

While “Magi” does everything quite well, ultimately my opinion of its greatness really comes down to two things. 1) Alibaba

Alibaba is legitimately one of my all-time favorite characters, really the first time I’ve ever seen a character type like his have such a huge role in a shonen adventure story. Shonen heroes tend to fall into certain categories – Cheerful do-gooder (Aladdin), “I want to be the very best” (by far the most common type, represented by Ash, Luffy, Deku, Naruto, and many others) heroes, and problem-solving heroes (Gon, who needs to find his father, and Edward and Alphonse Elric, who need to get their bodies back). They also, shall we say, tend to not be particularly intellectual (it is no coincidence that the exceptions, Deku and the Elric brothers, happen to be the main characters of two of the best shonen ever) .

Without exception their goals are very clear – Ash wants to be a Pokémon Master, Luffy wants to find One Piece and be King of the Pirates, Deku wants to be the number one hero, Gon wants to find his father, etc. It is also notable that to a man all of these characters are courageous, even fearless heroes.

Alibaba is nothing like that. When we meet him he is working as a constantly disrespected servant to a cruel master. He has a goal – capture a dungeon and become rich – but he’s too cowardly to work for it until he realizes that Aladdin has the power to help him out.

We see the seeds of a good person early on when he risks his life to save Morgiana, but that’s exactly what makes Alibaba so interesting: He is constantly vacillating between cowardice and bravery, and as a result plays exceptionally well in both a lead role and comic relief (contrast with Zenitsu from “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba”, who is presented comedically much more consistently).

Later on Alibaba’s character grows increasingly complex, as we see him attempt to stand up for what he believes is best for his country at great risk to himself while at the same time getting at turns cowed by and carried by stronger personalities than his. He lets people manipulate him by appealing to his guilt, but this only works because Alibaba cares so deeply about his nation and people.

One would think it would ultimately be Aladdin’s faith in his friend that spurs him to action, but in a very interesting narrative choice that isn’t the case: It is his friend Cassim, who reveals his willingness to make a terrible choice in order to get the results he wants, that makes the true stakes real to him and finally spurs him into action.

It is Alibaba’s fascinating mixture of cowardice and bravery, of indecision and decisiveness, of weakness and strength, that makes him such a great character, one with a complexity rarely seen in a shonen anime. Alibaba is one of “Magi’s” biggest achievements.

Not that he’s the ONLY great character. It is unfortunate that the series ended as early as it did, as fan favorites, such as Sinbad, grow in complexity as the story continues, and supposed villains have unexpected depth. To say nothing of Mogammet, who is one of the best “villains”, if you can even call him that, in anime. “Magi” shows a depth to its characters that is very underappreciated.

Speaking of underappreciated, the second thing about “Magi” that particularly impresses me is…

2) Politics, both international and social

“Magi” is probably the best anime I have ever seen at handling both international and social politics with careful nuance and insight. “Brotherhood” was excellent at it as well but it was particularly outstanding in its philosophical complexity and tightly written plot, to say nothing of unforgettable characters. While “Magi” has some great characters its real bread and butter is in its handling of international, social, and domestic issues.

Though “Magi” doesn’t truly hits its stride until the Balbadd arc, signs of its hidden depth appear early on in the character of Morgiana. Morg at the start of the series is a slave. Her chains are broken early in the story by Aladdin, but despite her incredible strength she doesn’t have it in herself mentally to leave her master; the slave mentality is too deeply entrenched in her psyche. Later on she is rescued by Alibaba and Aladdin, but when ordered to kill them in the dungeon she doesn’t hesitate. The wounds of slavery run too deep; she is a broken woman.

Her mentality only starts to change when a fellow slave sacrifices himself for her, and even then it isn’t an instant fix. It takes a now-rich Alibaba to free her from slavery himself to convince her to leave, and the mentality doesn’t disappear until she finds the courage to rescue other slaves on her own. A single act of kindness is not enough to break her bonds, and her transformation does not happen in a moment.

I have seen people complain before that Morgiana, with her strength, should have been able to free herself immediately, but I think this misses the point. Morgiana always had the physical power, but her shackles were mental and even spiritual. The chains she needed to break were far stronger than steel.

It takes several massive life events and months of separation from her former life for her to finally overcome her past trauma, trauma that she will never completely forget: As she says about the shackle marks on her feet, she wishes they would fade. But they don’t. This is a fantastic portrayal of mental and emotional trauma and how difficult it is to overcome.

One reason the Balbadd arc is my favorite is how deftly it handles the social and political situation in Balbadd. Alibaba grew up in the slums with his best friend Cassim, but unlike Cassim he was plucked off the streets one day and raised in the palace of the king. He had a mother who despite being a prostitute loved and doted on him and friends who cared about him.

Contrast this with Cassim, who also grew up in the slums but was abused by his father and had to be taken in by Alibaba’s mother. For years he never knew the sort of love Alibaba did and was never plucked off the streets to live in luxury.

Do you see what’s going on here? “Magi” is exploring the concept of privilege. 99 times out of 100 this is an opportunity for the Mary Sue to write glowing articles and for normal people to roll their eyes and groan, but “Magi” is different. Unlike the modern day victimhood mentality, the “victim” in this case is no white hat.

Cassim’s hatred of Alibaba is understandable but irrational, and his desire for vengeance blinds him to what is best for the country. Instead of taking advantage of Alibaba’s unique position by supporting him in his  quest to take down the corrupt monarchy, he manipulates Alibaba’s guilt at leaving him behind to use his band of thieves in unfocused and self-destructive ways. His goal is not true reform but to cause pain to the royal family and get his vengeance. Alibaba is “one of them”, a member of the royal family himself, and to Cassim the fact that he is willing to ally with him merely makes him a tool to use for his own purposes.

Yet Cassim has a point. Though the burning down of the royal palace is ultimately Cassim’s fault, Alibaba nevertheless runs away, too guilty to act to help Balbadd. Despite having the ability to change things he hides from his responsibilities, confirming to Cassim that Alibaba never truly cared about them. Of course, he can’t make the connection that the very reason he was able to manipulate Alibaba so easily is because Alibaba cared so much.

In a sense though, isn’t Cassim right? Alibaba could run: Cassim was stuck. The Fog Troop was too disorganized to effect real change but at least he made the effort. And now Alibaba needs to pay for his inability to empathize with Cassim’s situation.

This is as nuanced a portrayal of the concept of privilege you will ever find, one that acknowledges the complaints of both sides and refuses to give the victim greater status as a result. Cassim is in the wrong here, but he’s right about the difference between him and Alibaba; his salvation can only come when he finally accepts that a friendship between them can form either way.

It is unfortunate that “Magi” ended after two seasons, because the manga offers more nuance still. Alibaba uses his influence to turn Balbadd into a republic, but it is later revealed that the republic failed: the massive Kou Empire takes over almost immediately, and though it is still called a Republic it is a vassal state of the Empire presided over by Alibaba as its representative in order to keep its culture alive.

This is strikingly realistic, and very brave as well: republics are not magic bullets, and swift and sudden transformations with little time to transition are nearly always doomed to failure, Alibaba attempted an interim government, but is there any surprise that a destabilized Balbadd with a transitioning government would come under the control of the Kou Empire so quickly? Yet who would dare to admit that? “Magi” here shows its honesty when dealing with politics.

Of course, I haven’t even mentioned the Magnostadt, or Kingdom of Magic, arc. Talk about nuanced! This whole arc actually doesn’t even contain Alibaba at all, yet it’s so good it’s hard to fault it. Once again we see a class of victims and oppressors with neither side presented as traditionally correct. The underclass, those without magic, are being shamelessly exploited and kept in squalor, but this is no different than what they used to do with the wizards; indeed, there is a real difference – the wizards are far more capable of keeping control of the country.

Even more fascinatingly, when Aladdin and his friends spot the disparity they struggle to see a way out. Freeing the non-powered humans would remove the protection around the country, leaving them easy pickings for the powerful empires surrounding them. And many of the lower classes have themselves accepted the blame for their fates. One character saves a little girl, but as the leader, Mogammett, points out, this is virtue signaling. No change comes as a result to the masses overall. If anything it is cruel – she’s acknowledged as the pet of a sorcerer while the rest of her loved ones stay stuck in squalor. But what’s the answer? What’s the way out?

There is no easy answer, and while Aladdin is eventually able to convince Mogammett of the need to change like the situation with Balbadd the solution doesn’t present itself overnight. And it is remembered that not all acts of kindness are for appearance’s sake.

(The subtitles aren’t in English, but I think the meanings of the scene transcends language.)

There is also some subtle maneuvering going on in the background with Sinbad – how he keeps arriving to save the day but every time he slowly increases his power and influence. Though the Kou and Ren empires are repeatedly presented as antagonists, Sinbad himself slowly forms his own empire, subtly setting himself up as a threat later on. “Magi” as a story preaches cooperation between nations but is ultimately very anti-globalist.

None of the empires are evil. All of them have good reason to believe that gaining more control will make the world a better place, and many of their princes and princesses seem to sincerely believe that they’re helping to create peace. But “creating peace” comes at the expense of tiny countries like Magnostadt and Balbadd, countries that would rather be left to their own devices. Magnostadt is not a perfect place, but how much death is worth an outside power fixing it?

That “Magi” explores these questions with such intelligence and care is precisely why I admire it so much; its only peer in this regard is the masterpiece “Legend of the Galactic Heroes”, and at the very least “Magi” one-ups it in its much more atypical and interesting setting.

Conclusion

“Magi” is by no means a perfect show. Aladdin is the lead but probably the least interesting character in the cast, much of the humor has creepy sexual overtones (especially involving Aladdin’s, er, lack of boundaries when it comes to female genitalia), and the animation is somewhat hit or miss (though it tends to hit big in its important scenes, especially involving Morgiana). Not every arc hits it out of the park – the first two arcs in particular are, I think, why most people write the show off as generic (though the first arc at least is still entertaining in a more typically shonen way).

Still, the soundtrack is absolutely killer. Every OP and ED is excellent, with my personal favorites being “Yobi Bouenkyou” and “The Bravery” (which has an excellent English cover). And what it does well, it does better than almost everything else – the character of Alibaba is one of the best in all of anime and the way it explores its social and political issues is second only to “Legend of the Galactic Heroes”. In fact, it’s probably better when it comes to social issues.

Ultimately, I’d compare it to “Log Horizon” in one sense. “Log Horizon” is not a perfect show, and has a fair number of issues, but what it does well it does really, REALLY well, and that’s enough to put it in the top tier of anime. So with “Magi” – it definitely isn’t perfect, but when it hits, it hits it out of the park. I can’t recommend it enough.

SUPERVERSIVE: What makes “Magi” so special anyway? published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/