#sees Tim breaking EVERYTHING cause his dad just texted for the first time in 5 weeks

[xpastelsweetsx]

Timothy Jackson Drake has rabies

[ktinastrikesback]

Alright, here it is: The meta post about Eddie Diaz and mother figures and how it all leads to Buddie (I think). Thanks to @yramesoruniverse for your help with this, and @kitkatpancakestack and @evanbucklies for inspiring it! I really have been thinking about this nonstop and had to get it all down. This got quite long, so I'll include a cut in order to spare everyone who doesn't want to continue reading!

We first get an idea of Eddie's complicated thoughts surrounding mother figures throughout his whole storyline with Shannon in season 2 when he romantically reconnects with her for Christopher's benefit. I do want to keep the focus here trained on Eddie in season 4, but I want to point out a season 2 line that is pretty fitting. As much as I don't want to use a Shannon quote as a starting point for a meta, I think this one is actually pretty useful: "...Eddie always knows what's best for everyone...God forbid you stop for a second and actually ask them what they need." While it's harsh and spoken out of spite, Shannon does make a point here which becomes relevant at the end of season 4.

We don't know a whole lot about season 4 Eddie (thanks writers) aside from the fact that he's working on being a single father (he tells Marjan in the crossover that he's "doing the whole single dad thing") and being a support system for Buck and the rest of the 118. Eddie's "arc" this season is moving on from Shannon and beginning to date again (a very small and limited arc, which hopefully season 5 will remedy). Of course, because it's Eddie, the core of this arc is him wanting what is best for Christopher. And it seems pretty clear that what Eddie thinks Chris needs is a complete family with a mother figure (note how he asks Bobby if he's "happy now, with Athena and the kids" and just assumes that Bobby is talking about Ana Flores), but the universe pushes against this idea throughout the whole season. There are a lot of examples in season 4 of unreliable mother figures (for example, the alcoholic mother who causes the wreck in Blindsided), but in order to save some space here, I'll list and discuss those in another post. The main thing I want to point out is that we've seen that mother figures aren't always perfect, and they aren't the end all be all that Eddie thinks. And canonically, the show suggests several times throughout the season that the partner that Eddie needs/wants and who is best for Chris is actually Buck.

In Breaking Point, while Eddie is on his date, it's Buck who is at home taking care of Christopher and getting him through his nighttime routine (which establishes that he knows the routine and has gotten Chris ready for bed before, hence the reference to his "cautionary tale"). On the date, when Ana says that no one has been in his life since Shannon passed away, Eddie noticeably looks uncomfortable (the will reveal makes this scene and that particular comment and Eddie's subsequent reaction so rich. Eddie knows that what Ana is saying is completely untrue, because the person he trusts most with his son is with him at that exact moment). Later, when Eddie tells Christopher about his new 'friend', he says "it's a woman." And...to be honest, what the hell was that? He could have said, "I'm dating someone" or "I have a girlfriend." But he says it like this? And it's weird...right? Christopher is the one who has to say "girlfriend." Also his tone of voice when he says it...it's suspicious to me. Anyways...Eddie talks with Ana about Christopher's reaction and her first instinct is to take a break and wait for Christopher to warm up to the idea so as to not cause him more pain. Meanwhile, Chris is out the door, in an Uber, and on his way to Buck, the person who actually gets Chris to talk about his feelings and who fixes the whole mess. So while Eddie is talking with Ana, Buck is playing a parental role AND promising Chris he isn't going anywhere, completely juxtaposing everything Ana has said and done in this episode (throwback to Fools, anyone?). Just like we see in 4x14, the perfect partner that Eddie is looking for is already putting in the work, no questions asked (and this is all before Buck knows about the will!). Yet Eddie is still trying to force it with Ana.

We see this again very briefly in Parenthood. Eddie and Buck are seen agreeing on parenting ideals on a call, similar to how we saw them work together in Future Tense to talk Chris out of playing video games. At the end of the episode however, when Chris asks to join the movie, Ana just jumps ahead and lets him in, not consulting with Eddie. Of course, this isn't a serious issue and Eddie is happy to have Chris join them, but it still carries on with juxtaposing Ana with Buck. It's also a bit interesting that Chris sits between them, parallel to the video game scene from season 3. But again, it's a very brief scene, so I don't know how much value it has overall.

We see all of this come to a head in 4x13 when Eddie becomes invested in the single mother and her son from the balcony call. Interestingly, this call happens after Eddie's conversation with Carla ("make sure you're following your heart"). On the call, Eddie flirts with the mom. This is interesting because we've seen many times in the past that Eddie...doesn't like flirting, especially on the job. Eddie openly flirting with the mom here may be his way of fighting against what his instincts are telling him Carla's comment was about (him liking Buck/a man). Eddie quickly becomes invested in Charlie (the son) and takes a liking to his mother because he relates to her. You can kind of see the gears working in Eddie's head when he's at their apartment...he's admiring her and perhaps maybe fantasizing about having a partner who gets it. And he sees a mother taking care of her son...reinforcing his love for the mother figure. But of course, we all learn by the end of the episode that this mother figure is extremely warped and not at all what her child needs.

The best part about this plot is the way it plays into the shooting scene at the end of the episode. Just before he gets shot, we see Eddie in an interesting framing choice (I am genuinely serious when I say that I want to sit down with Brenna Malloy and ask her about her directing choices for this whole scene):

The mother and son are placed into separate ambulances, and Eddie stands between the two vehicles. Visually, Eddie is literally placed between the mother figure and the son, and Buck is standing in front of him (at a slight distance). As (thank you to @kitkatpancakestack for pointing this out!) the ambulance with the mother drives away, Eddie says "shoulda gotten here sooner" to Buck (who replies, "That kid is just lucky he met you." He knows how to reassure Eddie and recognizes what is good for the child). Then of course, Eddie gets shot. But let's focus instead on why this framing before the shooting is important: the universe does scream, and it sure as hell was screaming at Eddie this whole episode. Carla calls him out for not following his heart, he idolizes this mother only for her to end up being horrid, then he gets shot with his partner standing right in front of him (you know, the same person who takes care of his son for the entirety of the next episode).

This can be read so plainly: Eddie has been fighting hard for what he thinks is best for his son, and he's stuck in this relationship with Ana because he thinks she is what will make Christopher happy. Meanwhile, Buck is in front of him and has been there the entire time putting in the work with Chris and making him feel heard, loved, and important. This ties right back to that Shannon line: if Eddie had simply asked Christopher what he needs/wants, it's very possible that his answer would be "Buck." Eddie doesn't need to be stuck in the middle of this relationship he doesn't care about because Chris' happiness is not dependent on having a mother figure.

Of course, we didn't see very much of Eddie in 4x14 so we don't really know what is going through his head regarding the shooting or Carla's comment just yet, but I'm hoping we see a lot of him working through all of the events that took place in 4x13/14 throughout next season. Because of the way the mother/son storyline ended up and the way they framed Eddie in the shooting scene, I'm willing to bet that he's going to be reevaluating just what Christopher needs and what he already has (with his Buck).

(Also side note--the welcome home party scene...when Buck is watching Eddie greet Christopher, notice the framing there too. The photo of Chris and Shannon is on the right side of the frame, Eddie and Chris in the middle, and Buck to the left. You already know what I'm going to say, so I'll leave it at that...)

Anyways. Edmundo Diaz is confused about what he and Christopher need, and it's actually a brilliant way to dive into a storyline about his sexuality and his feelings for Buck. Remember that post-finale interview with Tim where he said Eddie is always concerned with what's best for Christopher? That there will be a lot to explore with Eddie? I take everything Tim says with a grain of salt, but looking at all of this, there's quite a bit here pointing in the direction of pining Eddie. It's not wishful thinking, it's in the text.

I'm literally just applying basic film analysis to these scenes...and everything is adding up to a larger picture. I'm really excited to see what Eddie's arc in season 5 will be because there's so much set in place for it to be really great.

[ranger-jedi-knight]

A New Hero Ch 6

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20887313/chapters/53294245 Tag List: @vixen-uchiha

Ok, so here’s the next chap! Sorry bout the wait, most of it was cause I was writin a fic that ended up bein scrapped. Ya, not fun. It was the little mermaid au I talked bout briefly in the fic I posted. Then I sorta got sucked into a few new ships. And then life(or would it be considered mind/brain?) happened once more. Heh, life really enjoys buttin in huh? But no matter, here’s the next chap and Mari is officially Ladybug to Paris! (Ok, so here Adrien is going to be chaotic, he’s seen that his father is actually breaking laws and holds that over him to do what he wants finally. Later on I will explain what will be happening with Lila ok?, k). I hope you enjoy the chap!!

Chat here is based off this: https://unmaskedagain.tumblr.com/post/189337423122/chaotic-chat

Mari had been hoping for a peaceful first day of school. But apparently, fate decided against that. She scowled as she watched the stone beings walk around. Nino and Kim were next to her, they were nervous but ready to help. “Did any of you see what got hit?”

“I...I think it was a piece of paper,” Kim replied and Mari nodded. She looked around and saw they were alone.

“Got it. Tikki, spots on!” Mari shouted and quickly changed into Ladybug. Her suit was looser being all black. She had knee-high red boots that had black spots placed strategically to not overwhelm. A cropped red jacket that was always zipped only went to her elbows also with black spots placed strategically. Finally, she had black gloves with red fingers and a red mask with five black spots. She pulled her yo-yo off her hip and threw it out the window and went to find the first stone being, Stoneheart.

As she swung around trying to find him, she saw a black figure walking on top of the roofs. She lands in front of him, startling the boy. “So, you’re my partner, Ladybug,” she introduced holding a hand out to the boy.

“Uh, Chat Noir at your service M’lady,” Chat said and Ladybug rolls her eyes.

“Uh-huh. You know what to do?” she asked.

“Take down the bad guy and I have the ability to destroy anything I touch,” Chat said and Ladybug nodded.

“You can, but you need to remember you only have one chance to use it and after you have 5 minutes before detransforming,” Ladybug said, having a feeling that Plagg may have not told him everything. “These bad guys, aren’t bad guys, Chat. They’re innocent people being used by the real bad guy. So don’t be reckless or try to permanently hurt them. Got it?”

“Got it,” Chat agreed and they started running trying to find Stoneheart who also had Mylene and Chloe captive. They find Stoneheart on the Eiffel Tower, police had set a perimeter and were trying to get Stoneheart to let the girls go. The mayor was even pleading for Stoneheart to return his daughter.

“You want her? You can have her!” Stoneheart shouted and threw Chloe. Chloe screamed as she flew through the air. She was used to it when with Dick and the others above a net with things to help her. But here, she had nothing to help her. And she didn’t know where Ladybug was.

“Chloe!” Ladybug shouted as she swung to the girl and caught her. She landed on the bridge on one knee, sliding towards the police cars a few feet. “You ok?” Chloe nodded hesitantly.

“Y-yeah. I-I’m going to get a grappling fun or something. Don’t want to be in that again,” Chloe said and Ladybug nodded.

“That would probably be smart. You can text Tim and ask him to make you one,” Ladybug replied and Chloe nodded agreement. There was a choking noise and they watched as Stoneheart shocked and tons of butterflies left him and formed a presumably Hawkmoths head.

“People of Paris, listen carefully. I am Hawk Moth.” the head began.

“Hawkmoth?” Ladybug asked sharing a look with Chat who said it at the same time.

“Ladybug, Chat Noir, give me the ladybug earrings and the black cat ring. You don’t want to make these people suffer more than they have too?” he asked and Ladybug slowly clapped walking forward.

“Nice try, Hawkmoth, but we know who the bad guy is. Let's not reverse the roles here. Without you, none of these innocent victims would be transformed into villains. Hawkmoth, no matter how long it takes, we will find you, and YOU will hand us YOUR Miraculous!” Using her yo-yo, Ladybug jumped up to where the butterfly swarm was. “Time to de-evilize!” She swung her yo-yo and caught every butterfly and turned to look at the people who were watching shocked. “Let me make this promise to you. No matter who wants to harm you, Ladybug and Cat Noir will do everything in our power to keep you safe!” she opened up the yo-yo and held it up. All the butterflies flew out, going in every direction, going into cameras. People cheered but stopped when Stoneheart got up. He yelled before climbing up the Eiffel Tower until he reached the very top, hanging from the tip.

The two swung up after him and Ladybug and Chat landed above him. “Lucky Charm!” She swung her yo-yo up into the air and a parachute landed in her hands. She and Chat shared a look.

“A parachute?” he asked confused and she could only shrug. She looked around and snapped a finger. “Got an idea?”

“Get ready to catch, Ivan,” she said and Chat nodded. Ladybug swung her yo-yo around Stoneheart and onto the first holding both Mylene and the object. She pulled and Mylene’s lips pressed against Stoneheart. Stoneheart gasped out letting go of Mylene and the object. Chat hit the object with his baton over to Ladybug. She grabbed the object and crushed it. She then dived off the tower and caught Mylene and threw her yo-yo up to catch the akuma. She pulled the cord and the parachute opened.

Meanwhile, Chat jumped down and caught Ivan quickly. He then got them down safely after ladybug and Mylene landed. “Bye-bye, little butterfly!” She said opening her yo-yo and the white butterfly flew out.

The people that were there still cheered as everyone changed back to normal shortly after. “What about all the damage?” Chat asked and Ladybug smirked.

“Miraculous Ladybug!” Ladybug shouted as she tossed up the parachute. Millions of ladybugs left the item and swirled all over Paris, fixing all the damage done by Stoneheart and his minions.

“Whoa!” Chat exclaimed watching as they went about fascinated. The people near them shared the same sentiment. Mylene and Ivan nodded thanks to them before turning to each other and talking quietly. “Pound it!” Chat said excitedly and holding a fist out to Ladybug who then hit it with her own. They smiled at each other until beeping happened.

“Bug out!” she called and threw her yo-yo and swung off. Chat followed after her as his ring started beeping as well. “Chat, we can’t know each other’s identities!” Ladybug said when they both landed on the roof of Mari’s home.

“Don’t care,” was all he said before detransforming in front of her. In front of her was Adrien Agreste, the new student that missed the first day of class. She pinched her nose and sighed.

“I’m so proud of you, kit,” Plagg said floating in front of Adrien who had a smug smirk on his face. Ladybug let her transformation fall as well and Tikki flew in front of her.

“I can’t believe you did that,” Tikki said looking disappointed but Plagg just shrugged.

“Ok, fine. What do we do Tikki?” Mari looked over at Tikki who gave a small shrug and hum.

“Well, we will just need to hide it from Master Fu. You were bound to find out about Chat’s identity eventually since you’re training to become a Guardian. It’s only Chat that shouldn’t have known,” Tikki explained.

“But how come? Doesn’t that seem a bit unfair that I can know but he can’t?” she asked and Tikki and Plagg shared a look.

“I don’t know. This hasn’t exactly happened before. Especially since you two cannot be akumatized under any circumstances since it’d be dangerous for your family and friends,” Tikki replied and the two heroes shared a look.

“Well, knowing each others identities will help. We can help keep each other calm, and perhaps help each other with excuses when an Akuma happens,” Mari said and Adrien nodded agreement. “We should get back to class now.”

“Oh, we should,” Adrien agreed.

“Yup, and you can meet three other people who know about me,” Mari said walking them out of her family’s apartment and through the back door. They walked up toward the school when Mari looked over at Adrien curiously. “Aren’t you a model for your father?” she asked and Adrien nodded.

“I was. Then I figured out my dad was breaking child labor laws and whatnot. So, I’m holding that over his head to be able to do what I want finally,” Adrien explained as they entered the school and went to their classroom.

“Ah, ok,” Mari replied as they entered the classroom. Ivan and Mylene hadn’t arrived yet. Alya was grumbling in her seat, she had only managed to get little footage of the villain and heroes before getting stuck behind a car. Chloe looked sorta shaken still. “Nino knows, sit next to him. Chloe needs me,” she said and Adrien nodded and sat next to Nino in the front. Chloe and Mari sat behind them, Mari watched silently as Nino and Adrien fist pumped.

“Hey,” she said softly and pulled Chloe toward her. Chloe hugged her tightly, tensed up, ready to bolt. She gently hummed under her breath and ran a hand up and down Chloe’s arm. Ms. Bustier came in then and shakely began class.

The class was done soon and Mari took her friends, and Adrien, to the bakery. She led them upstairs and into her room where they all sat down. Tikki flew out and Plagg did the same. The others nodded at that. “So Adrien is Chat, figures,” Chloe said rolling her eyes and Adrien just smiled at her.

“Yup. Broke the one rule we had. But no matter, I should tell em what happened,” Mari said and they nodded as she pulled out her phone and started dialing.

“Who?” Adrien asked.

“Friends in Gotham that trained her. They’re friends of the Guardian,” Nino explained and Adrien nodded at that.

“Hey, Damian. Can you get your family gathered? I’d rather only say this once,” Mari said once he picked up the phone. “Hey, ya. I have some news about Paris. The Peacock Miraculous is now active. Do you think you can monitor the situation and make sure any hero that wants to come has permission from me, ok?” she hummed as she heard the response. “Thank you. Ya, don’t worry, I will,” Mari replied with a smile.

“Who were you talking to Marinette?” Adrien asked tilting his head. Mari smirked as she looked at him.

“No one else outside this house, including my parents and the Guardian, know about them and their secret. So do not tell anyone, got it?” she said and Adrien nodded, slightly scared. He could tell that he’d regret it if he crossed Mari. “I was talking to the Wayne’s, aka, batfamily. I’m only telling you this since you would probably join me in my usual weekend visit for training. They typically join me too,” Mari said gesturing to the other three and Adrien nodded.

“Ok, got it,” Adrien replied and Mari smiled.

“Good. Now, we’ll start with the basics then.”

Cracked but Healing @proudgothamite

Proud to say I’m doing better now! Bee here has helped a lot! Alster is proud and says she has a surprise in store. Kinda wary, but I trust her! Thank you everyone helping! #thankyousomuch #stillhealing #butwaybetternow #whatdoesntkillyou #makesyoustronger *pale red head smiling hugging a pale black haired girl with brown eyes, both smiling happily with a college behind them*

Tagged @bibumblebee

Ok, so here’s the next chap finally! Just in case you were confused(cause tbh, i was a little myself before i remembered) rn Mari is 14 almost 15. Like, im going with her bday is in a few months. I’ll do a few more time skip chaps until Mari is 16. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it. Next chap will be a little purely because I’m writin two one-shot fics for a new ship I got(tech two but eh. One is only one time) but I do hope you enjoy em too! -Love Willa<3<3<3

[dibs4ever]

Mixed Feelings

A multi TimSteph fanfic by request from @dc-comics-gal

Stephanie stared at the test in front of her. This is what they wanted right? She felt tears welling in her eyes she quickly whipped them. They weren’t tears of joy, they weren’t tears of disappointment either. Honestly, she didn’t know what they were. Then she got a flashback to when she was a teenager

15-year-old Stephanie Brown sat on the toilet staring at the test. Two pink lines. This couldn’t be happening, she was in high school, her dad was in jail, her mom worked constantly, she had just broken up with her jerk older boyfriend who moved to another town. Worst of all she was just starting to gain Batman’s trust. Now what? Sure she had many options but which one was right for her. She jumped when her phone made a loud noise as it vibrated on the marble countertop, she picked it up looking at the text

Tim: Hey where are you? I’ve been waiting on this rooftop for 15 minutes.

She smiled to herself. Tim- He was so sweet and caring and cute. Not to mention he was smart. He was the complete opposite of any guy she had ever dated. Which is why she was surprised when she realized she had a crush on him. But who wouldn’t with that rocking body. Sometimes she felt like he might like her too, but he was dating Cassie so that kinda put a stop to any romancing, which she respected. Besides Tim wouldn’t want her now anyways. She texted him back

I’m not feeling great, think I’ll skip patrol tonight.

A second later her phone vibrated again

Tim: Okay, feel better. Maybe if I get a chance I’ll stop by and check in

Fast forward 13 years and here she was again with a pregnancy test in hand. Except this one was different. This time it was Tim’s, this time they were married and had been for a year. This time the baby was planned.

Looking at the time she realized Tim would be home from his day job at Wayne Enterprise in 15 minutes. How would she tell him? Should she just come out and say it, or think of a cute Pinterest way?”

Stephanie shook her head “If I did the Pinterest way he’d try to break everything down to a science, I’ll just tell him” she said to herself before standing.

Tim arrived home not much later “Hey Steph I’m home.” He shrugged off his winter coat hanging it in the coat closet.

She stayed in the kitchen where she continued to prepare dinner. If she rushed to the door he’d know something was up

“Hey, it smells great in here.” Tim smiles stepping into the kitchen he wrapped his arms around her waist “What’s cooking good looking?” He kissed her cheek

“Chicken noodle soup” she turned giving him a hot spoonful

“Mmmm Alfred’s recipe” he grinned

Stephanie nodded “Is there any other way?”

Tim chuckled “If there is it's wrong”

Stephanie nodded in agreement “How was your day?” She asked moving the soup off the stove then turning to look at him again

Tim shrugged “It was work, doing accounting work for Wayne enterprises is a lot more fun with you there as my secretary” he pointed

Stephanie nodded “I was bored today”

He smiled “Well you were throwing up quite a bit this morning, I think staying home was a good call.”

Stephanie tapped her nails against the countertop “Yeah about that. I ummm I took a test today.” She said slowly

Tim rose an eyebrow “A test? What kinda test? Like Batwork test. Did you hack a database without me”

Stephanie laughed “Of course not, I took a pregnancy test,” she said softly

Tim’s eyes widened “And?”

Stephanie pulled the test out of her back pocket handing it to him

She watched as he examined it, his eyebrows furrowed

“This is positive” he pointed

Stephenie nodded

“You’re our having a baby? We’re having a baby the smile on his face grew “I’m going to be a dad. This is-“

He stopped when he noticed Stephanie’s emotionless expression “Are you okay- with this? I mean this what you want right? If you don’t I mean you can do what you have to do, I just figured since we’ve been trying the last 3 months and all that-“

Stephanie pressed a finger to his lips “Of course I want this Stud” she grinned

Tim smiled “Good cause I do too.”

They gave each other a quick kiss on the lips “Next thing is telling our family.”

Stephanie nodded “I say we see Lee or Dinah first then from there we will make plans.”

Tim nodded “Well thanksgiving just passed. What if we tell them on Christmas. When we are all together “

A small smile formed on her face “I like that idea”

——————————————————-

A week later Dinah informed her that she was approximately 5 weeks along. She recommended that she stop patrolling at the 8-week mark which was almost perfect timing for telling the family. She said that so far everything looked great. Tim was so happy, she had never seen him so happy. She was happy too, it’s just there was—-something bothering her.

Before they knew it Christmas was only one day away. She and Tim say in the living room as the finished wrapping presents.

“You think Nathan is going to like his new bo staff?” Tim asked as he wrapped the gift

Stephanie smiled “He’s Dick’s son and Robin. I’m sure he’ll love it”

Tim nodded “Yeah well he’s also going to be 13 soon. He’s getting to an age where he’s going to start wanting to be his own person”

Stephanie nodded “Not going to argue with you there. Then again Leah is 9 and we’ve never known what to get her”

Tim smiled “I can’t believe our family is going to know tomorrow “

Stephanie smiled “There hasn’t been a new kid in your family for 9 years.”

Tim nodded “I think everyone will be happy. At least I hope so”

——————————————————-

On Christmas, everyone sat around the 10-foot tree the last present seemingly had been unwrapped

“Well if everyone is finished I shall go grab the extra large trash bags and we can begin clearing the way,” Alfred said pushing himself up. Until Stephanie cut him off

“Actually Alfred Tim and I have a present we forgot to give you.”

Alfred smiled sitting back in his seat “Oh really? But you already gave me the new oven mitt set, which I live by the way”

Tim smiled “I think you’ll love this one even more” he handed the elderly man an envelope

The rest of the family looked on confused. Everyone was there, Cass, Jason, Damian, Bruce, Dick and Barbara along with their kids 12-year-old Nathan and 9-year-old Leah. Word was Selina would probably be by later as well. Alfred opened the card, you could tell he was slightly nervous since all eyes were on him

“Congrats you’re going to be a babysitter.” Alfred red the front of the card confused

Cass’ jaw dropped being the first to figure it out

Alfred smiled knowing what it meant as well but opened the card to read the rest “I mean a Great Grandpa -AGAIN!” Baby Drake due in July!”

“You guys are having a baby!” Barbara smiled reaching up from her chair and embracing Stephanie in a tight hug “Finally someone who will understand what it’s like to raise offspring of the Batboys” she joked

Stephanie laughed “Yeah I think I’m going to need all the advice I can get”

“Timmy! You’re going to be a dad.” Dick hugged his brother “You are going to love it, being a dad is a best especially when they are little and think you are the coolest person on earth” he nudged him

“I’m finally going to have cousins,” Nathan said happily

Leah smiled “You mean WE? I can’t wait”

Nathan looked at Stephanie “Even if this kid is a boy I’ll still be your favorite, right Aunt Steph?”

Stephanie smiled placing a hand on the boy's cheek “Of course, you’ll always be my precious angel” she laughed lightly

Then it was Jason who smacked Tim on the shoulder “Well Timbers I didn't know you had it in ya”

Tim smiled then looked at Bruce who had been observing everyone’s excitement “Well Bruce, what do you think?”

Bruce nodded “This is good news, I look forward to your child’s arrival. Congratulations Tim” he clasped Tim’s shoulder

Damian observed Stephanie

“What is it Dami?” She asked releasing

Leah from a hug

The 21-year-old tilted his head “How far along are you precisely”

Stephanie smiled “I’ll be 9 weeks in 2 days” she ran her hand along her still flat belly

Damian nodded “When will you begin to show?”

Stephanie shrugged “I’m still pretty early so this is relatively normal, considering how physically active I used to be. But everyone is different so who knows”

Damian nodded “But weren’t you pregnant before as a teen”

The room became quiet

“Damian, “ Dick said narrowly

Damian rolled his eyes “I am not a child anymore Grayson, I’m just asking a simple question “

Tim stepped forward putting an arm around Stephanie “Yeah but kinda a subject we’ve been trying to ignore”

Stephanie shook her head “Guys it’s fine he’s right” he was right but it wasn’t fine. Truthfully the whole pregnancy so far was bringing up flashbacks from things that she had hurried long ago. Perhaps that’s what had been wrong with her these past couple weeks. She wanted to be mad at Damian for saying what he said but she couldn’t. She really was excited for this baby, and he didn’t necessarily ask anything wrong. She thought she was over her first child’s adoption, why was she suddenly not?

[antiques-for-geeks]

Game Review : Beach Head

US Gold/Access / 1985 / Originally £5.95 / Commodore 16 & Plus/4

Access were in at the start of the home computing revolution. They’re one of those companies that you probably know the games better than the company that made them; Raid over Moscow was one of theirs, as well as Leaderboard and later, Links. Before any of those arrived though, there was Beach Head.

The game was based on some classic World War II style Pacific Ocean theatre action. Everything about the game suggested it; the cover art bathed in the imagery with it’s fighter planes strafing the beach as the landing craft deposited their human cargo ready for the onslaught. The map that greets you at the start of your campaign could be of any Pacific atoll. You can almost hear Douglas MacArthur shouting “I shall return”.

General Douglas MacArthur, yesterday.

The game was a hit, and was picked up for distribution in Europe by US Gold, conquering this side of the Atlantic. Players who didn’t have a Commodore 64 or Atari home computer soon wanted in on it so US Gold commissioned conversions from other developers, with Ocean notably handling the well received Spectrum version. That sold well too.

So when the Commodore 16 and Plus/4 came along in 1984, US Gold decided to treat owners of those systems to their own version of the game. Beach Head was given to Anirog to convert, who were gaining a bit of a reputation as platform specialists. The game arrived in 1985, two years after Access had released the original.

Firstly, the developers had their work cut out. Anirog had to contend with a target machine with far less resource than the other systems Beach Head had been converted to. Compromise was inevitable.

Just missed ‘im. This happens a lot.

On other systems, Beach Head is made of four stages - you start with a fleet of eight ships and from a map screen you can choose to take them through an underground cavern, threading your boats between mines and torpedoes to make the later levels easier to complete.

This is then followed by the first shooting gallery section; your fleet has been intercepted by enemy ships and you must launch a defence against incoming bombers who will eventually sink your ships if you don’t shoot them down first. Once the enemy is out of fighters (or just bored, it’s never clear which) this then turns into a second shooting gallery round where your attention passes to trying to sink the enemy’s fleet of shops.

Do that and it’s back to the map screen and charging your ships towards the beach and unleashing your tanks over an obstacle course so they get a chance at the fifth level - destroying the big gun at Kuhn Lin in another shooting gallery level. Inexplicably on this level, the enemy gun takes a long time to aim at you and bizarrely, you have to shoot targets at the base of the weapon. This is what causes the gun to blow up - maybe this is what happens when “we’re tired of experts” extends into the military.

Anyway, can you start to see where this is going?

On the Commodore 16, Gone is the map screen and the underground cavern where you thread your way through mines and dodge torpedoes to bring your boats through. Most significantly, the final level is truncated, removing the tank advance, which was a favourite for many players. Anirog focussed on the three which shared the most in common. What remains is still the core of the game however - protect your fleet first from incoming planes, sink the enemy fleet before they sink you, take on the big gun.

Being so significantly cut down was of course necessary for the small memory of the Commodore 16. It could have been done as a multi-load, but then the flow of the game would have been compromised. Plus/4 users, with their 64k of memory get the same thin gruel as everyone else, the size of that market unable to support two separate versions. It could barely support one, but that is for another time.

With the reduced footprint, it is still not enough.The graphics measure up to the C64 original, the sound is serviceable, but there has been a significant compromise in terms of playability.

Your gun turret - your main interface with the game is incredibly difficult to control. You can aim it just fine, adjust the height just fine and a fire just fine. But not all at the same time.

On other versions, combining actions was taken for granted. Sink a ship in the sea-battle level and you’re already moving across the screen changing your weapon’s angle as you go. It’s part of the game. Every fraction of a second counts. However here, try combining things and the turret just stops. Then there is the disappearing turret; when this happens, you really don’t have much idea of what is going on. It’s like conducting a war via seance. Except you’ve not got the plant in the room banging the table leg with their foot when the fake medium wails “is there anybody there”.

This bizarre situation just about works with static targets once you get used to it, but when defending the fleet from incoming fighters and taking on the big gun? It just doesn’t work. You end up just resigning yourself to keeping the gun in one position and elevation and keep firing, hoping that the planes fly into your shots like a blundering toddler into a set of closed patio doors. The element of skill is removed from the game completely and it becomes a weary battle of attrition with you hoping that you don’t lose too many ships to make it to the later levels.

The fighters gone, a ship starts shelling me. God knows what is going on. Press fire and hope for the best.

Why there is a such a glaring hole in the game is inexcusable and smacks of the kind of half-arsed platform exploitation that US Gold were infamous for. Compare this to literally any other game on the Commodore 16 and it really feels like an unfinished budget title rather than something crafted and worthy of your £5.95.

But! Bill Herd who designed the Commodore 16 and Plus/4 said they were never intended to be games machines. They were meant to be more basic machines that extended at the top end into the business market. They were meant for text editing. Give Anirog a break! Oh yeah? Played Trailblazer?

Buying it today

From what we can make out, it does not seem to appear that often so does have a certain uniqueness to it. The C64, Atari and Spectrum copies are ubiquitous but other platforms a lot less so. It was re-released on the Americana label, though this seems to be rarer than the full-price version. Expect to pay anything up to £10.

Commentariat

Tim : Sad to say, but Beach Head has not aged well. While not a bad game, it is very much of its time regardless of the system you play it on. The game is a nice walk down nostalgia lane and in some ways is one game you yearn to return to, but when you do it’s not as good as you remember. This stands in stark contrast to Raid over Moscow...

Liking this version is doubly hard. The cut-down nature of the game I can understand, being fundamentally unable to play I can’t. Don’t waste your time or money unless you are a completist or masochist or both.

Score Lord : How did you get my number? Don’t call again.

Meat : Back during Christmas 1983, my next-door neighbour’s big present was a Commodore 64. He and his brother were given the machine and also had two games, Gorf which came on cartridge and was great for a quick blast and Beach Head which came on cassette which to begin with, they couldn’t play. Their Dad having only seen a Spectrum and thought he’d save a few quid using by a household tape recorder instead of the necessary Datasette. The idiot.

When we finally got to play it, we loved it. So much so that the following Christmas I got the Spectrum version for my poverty-spec gaming experience.  Imagine my surprise when I found out a version of Beach Head existed on the equally poverty-spec Commodore 16.

After eagerly loading it, I was hoping for a smart conversion that played to the strengths of the machine. The reality could not have been further from the truth. Disappointed was not the word. Just for comparison I checked out the Spectrum version again and yeah, the problem wasn’t rose-tinted glasses.

Between them, Anirog and US Gold had managed to take a decent game and make it both uncontrollable and dull. Send for the Inspector, a crime has been committed.

Score card

Presentation 5/10

You get the full-price experience for the time, which is quite nice. At least this is an area where they could be arsed.

Originality 2/10

Coming in 1985, the novelty factor of the original was two years passed. With the compression of the game, it’s lost even more in these stakes. It’s now basically just a shooting gallery game, with the fun sucked out of it.

Graphics 4/10

Not going to win any awards, but tidy enough. Hold on, are those blobs supposed to be ships?

Hookability 1/10

You can’t really play it effectively.

Sound 3/10

There isn’t much, but what there is has been done satisfactorily.

Lastability 1/10

No hook into the game, no point in playing.

Value for Money 1/10

Not worth £5.95 of anyone’s cash in 1985 and certainly not worth that today.

Overall 2/10

A conversion so wretched that at the time you’d have been better off putting the money towards a second-hand C64 and picking the title up on budget. Today, it’s for the collector only.