#sorta based off dc titans

[stararch4ngelqueen]

Date Night Blues

—

Time written- 7:48 p.m.

Dick Grayson/fem!reader fluff

—

The sun slowly dies behind dreary, shadowy clouds before you pull your bedroom curtains closed, returning to your task at hand at folding your still warm laundry, munching on crunchy green grapes in between your work, mainly consisting of passive aggressively folding laundry.

To say you were mildly annoyed with a most gracious understatement.

Irritated. Aggravated. Distressed.

Fed up.

Majorly annoyed sounded much better than the very first option.

You would say you were mentally exhausted from the unfortunate routines of planning dates with vigilantes who always got called in at the worst moments. Talk about a crazy schedule.

Your days off remained rather dull without him, leaving you to do your daily chores or run errands on your own on some days. You thought vigilantes usually do their crime fighting at night. Sometimes, that just wasn’t the case in Blüdhaven.

Whilst debating on folding a particular shirt to slip into your drawer, or adjust on a hangar to put in your closet, you ponder over what was left for you to do for the rest of tonight.

Finish up my laundry, recheck my work schedule, make sure laptop’s charged, then debate on what to have for dinner.

Don’t have much, what should I order in then? Eh, don’t feel like going out tonight. It’s Sunday, maybe I’ll google to see if that one place on the corner is still open, see if they deliver—

“Boo."

You jump, turning around with a loud yelp. The culprit, while he wasn’t an intruding thief, smirked like a villain at your amusing outburst, your hand clutching onto that very shirt as if it would service to protect you.

“I- Dick! Oh my God, don’t do that!!”

The man chuckles, not caring if you meant to call him an insult or not, too amused to even care.

"Okay, that was the cutest sound ever." He points out as he steps closer, black gloved hands slowly settling along your shoulders.

He was still in uniform, off on a mission of sorts you cared little to bother about. The bitterness of his line of work came rushing back to you, making you scoff and toss the article of unfolded clothing onto your bed.

“How did you get in here?”

“Uh, the usual way?” Dick replies, the curtains billowing in the late evening breeze making an appearance behind his broad back. Of course he did.

“Jesus,” you mutter, glancing up at Dick in question.

“I literally could’ve strangled you with a pair of socks if I thought you were some thug breaking into my room. You’re aware of that, right?”

"But I wasn't a thug,” Dick smiles as he slightly leans down, his voice lowering the closer he approached your face. “So you don't get to strangle me tonight, babycake.”

He usually leers down closer to your level before giving you a kiss, which is what a part of you so desperately desired.

However, the more stubborn devil on your shoulder grimaced at his approach, controlling your thoughts to lean your head back just enough before his nose bumped against yours.

“Ah-ah. I didn’t hear you say sorry yet, Mister,” You tell the tall man, but you didn’t lean back from him any further than that.

He pouts with furrowed brows, face contorted in feigned shock and distress. He takes his chance to lean close one more, taking your chin with two gentle fingers.

“Sorry," he whispers before moving their faces close together. "Now can I kiss you?"

“Say it like you mean it,” Came his girl’s soft response. “And I just might let you.”

Dick looks at you for a moment as the gears quickly work inside his mind. Then, with a smirk, he answers.

"I apologize with my entire soul,” He begins, his hands working down to caress along your plush hips. “Please, my Goddess, forgive me for all of the mistakes I made by scaring you instead of kissing you the moment I broke into your room."

Nearly deadpanning by his choice of words, you scoff once more before snorting in full amusement, unsure whether to blush or cringe. You always blushed so damn easily with him anyway.

“Wow,” You couldn’t help but giggle. “Fiiine, I guess that deserves a kiss.”

Dick smiles widely, laughing a little at the success of his little trick.

Wasting no further time, his nose brushes against yours as he takes your lips, finally fulfilling the strong need he's had since the moment he left your apartment this morning after answering one of Batman’s calls.

“M’sorry, babycakes,” he mutters against your lips, nearly humming at the soft weight of your forearms resting up on his shoulders.

“I know you don’t— don’t like when I leave.” Talking full sentences in between a gentle, passionate make-out was a bit of a challenge. “Believe me, if I had it my way—“

“We would’ve finished what you started?”

Your interruption made a handsome smile stretch across his face, his head nodding. “We would’ve finish what I started. Exactly.”

What he had started bloomed from you waking up to him absentmindedly massaging your soft tits through your sleep shirt, an ���absentminded’ habit he obtained over many nights of sleeping in your apartment.

Fortunately for you, you had stirred with a deep, hungry ache in your tummy, desperate for him in all ways he was more than willing to provide. He answered your silent pleas after reading your desires in your sleepy eyes, both hands working on simultaneously slipping under your shirt and underwear, lips trapped against one another in variously passionate, heavy kisses.

Ever so unfortunately, his phone begins to vibrate on the nightstand.

You both learn that not even scam callers were annoying enough to call so early in the morning, unless they were that desperate to steal your credit card info or identity.

You insisted within heavy gasps to not answer it, your fingers firmly grazing along the waistband of his sweats to convince him. His raspy groan echoing against the crook of your neck signified his inner turmoil between wanting to make you scream, and screaming at the person responsible displayed on the Caller ID.

Dick couldn’t scream at Bruce, but he did have an attitude after getting blue balled by the Dark Knight.

Even worse, it was nearly a common occurrence.

“You sound like you read Pride and Prejudice, by the way.” You snicker as you gently peel of his domino mask, peering into his pretty eyes free of their sheer, milky covering.

“Or watched Phantom of the Opera. Have you seen that movie?” You question after setting his mask alongside your folded clothes, especially curious since you may have it available on your current streaming service.

Dick gives a weak shrug and responds with a semi-truth. "No, I haven't. Always heard it's pretty good though."

What he meant by that was Jason invited him to watch it before, but what he could nearly recall was falling asleep after the opening credits. Jason “teased” him about it for weeks after, but he was sort of glad you hadn’t brought it up. Maybe you weren’t even aware of it, thankfully.

What could you say, really? You were dying for a movie night for the past week, pleading to whichever God that listened that Dick had the time to stay a while, without interruptions. Only, you weren’t sure if Dick merely broke into your apartment to stop by for a short spell.

“Maybe, you’d want to watch it with me?" You began to question with hints of hesitation. “Unless Mr. Nightwing has any secret crime fighting missions he’s not telling me about.”

“I mean..” Dick laughs at that, shaking his head a bit.

“What?” Your heart was nearly moments away from dropping into your stomach.

He pulls you closer to himself, warm material smooth against your cotton clothes, peering down at you with pretty eyes and a small, innocent smile.

"I'm not sure how much longer I can last without kissing you again." Dick leans towards your lips, smiling. “I’d much rather be doing this than any secret crime fighting—“

“You can kiss me all you want in a bit,” You insist, keeping your palms braced along his chest for fair measure, dying for your question to be answered.

“You wanna stay? Yes, or no? I want a full movie night this time, Dick. The kind where one of us falls asleep on top of the other, and it becomes an inconvenience.”

Dick, completely enamored by your sweet voice asking such an even sweeter request, nods his head twice without little time to ponder over it all.

Dick wants exactly what you desire, a deal that can be easily struck; to make tonight like every Hollywood romance movie. It deserves to be that special, you deserve to have that memory become born.

“Yeah, I can do that."

“Great,” your lips broaden into a smile, one he wanted to see plastered onto your face nearly every minute of the day.

“You hungry?” You suddenly question. “I need your help deciding what we should order out. Oh, and I’m thinking of making that chocolate, rainbow sprinkle popcorn for the movie.”

There you go again, getting your hopes up in planning ahead for a potentially successful date night. Dick could only stare at you with a content gaze, amused by the giddiness in your eyes, the glimmer brighter than any star.

You dropped your chores to spend time with him, he’s convinced you to skip a day or two of work to remain in bed with him for a few extra hours. It was unfair for him to always leave, putting the wrong person on the top of his priority list, when you should’ve remained the first.

He knew you were annoyed with him and Batman all day, he wasn’t an idiot on that account. Now?

All you wanted was for you both to hold one another underneath a fuzzy blanket, cuddling one another like two multicolored cats napping under the sun, tails and limbs intertwined.

His own tired smile revealed he wanted the very same thing. You were his girl, his babycakes, his short stack with a cute pout and firecracker temper.

Their was a firm chance he would fall asleep after the opening scene like before, but at least it would be in the warm safety of your arms and a large, cream knit blanket.

He’d do anything to keep that smile on your face just a while longer, even ignoring the subtle vibrating of his phone on his person. No doubt another ‘un-likely scammer.’

“Which one will it be, Richy?” You question which of the two movies you listed for him to choose, leading him by the hand down the short hallway towards your cozy living room.

Maybe if neither of you fell asleep, he’d lead you both to make use of your futon. To finish what he started.

“What was the name of the masquerade musical again?”

[rmbunnie]

Another little inconsequential red hood thing and I'll admit that I'm decently biased but it irks me to see the whole "Jason can't shut up about his death/he makes his death everyone else's problem" take really frequently because he simply does not do that enough for it to be a thing in like any actual Red Hood story.

It's a thing you see sometimes in modern annuals/comics with large casts, particularly if a writer doesn't seem super confident with writing all of the characters that they're working with or if he's just a background character in this one, because with comics it's quicker to reduce a character to recognizable landmarks than to try and work out a whole new complex voice if you don't really need to, so it's tire iron, Jane Austen, Joker, and death, and it's all written out in dialogue because every character in a group event can't have their own internal monologue, but like. That's pretty much it. UTRH is the establishing event for Jason Todd post death so of course a lot of it is about his death, although it's arguably about the lack of response to his death more than his death itself, and he certainly makes it Bruce's issue but one beef doesn't make a trend. Plus if his death is anyone's issue beyond his own Bruce and Joker are like the number one guys whose issue it is. He THINKS about his death a ton in Lost Days, but it doesn't really reflect externally on any of his interactions besides with Joker, which again, that's justified and relevant beef. Teen Titans 29 is more about his place in the hero community/feeling like he was an outsider even before the bomb/Tim being the new robin than about his death, and side note, that being counted as an attempt on Tim's life also bugs me. He beat him up and then left of his own volition. That's not an assassination attempt its called a fight, albeit a sneaky and unfair one. But anyways. I can't speak on Battle for the Cowl because i haven't read it, both that and Batman and Robin 2009 don't really compel me, but it's entirely possible that's an outlier to my point seeing as I kinda sorta haven't read it and don't care to lmao. Even New 52 (although HIGHLY unpopular) and Rebirth/Dawn of DC/Whatever we're doing now Red Hood content don't really have him talking to people about it besides the occasional little quips. He might make stances that were developed because of his death other people's problem, like in the Mia Dearden Green Arrow situation with the "getting involved in other people's business" issue, but acting like he makes specifically his death everyone else's problem is ignoring all of the perfectly valid actually canon things he makes other people's problem. Most of the unpleasant traits he brings to the table are a result of his death and the sense of abandonment and betrayal that came with it, but that doesn't mean he's bringing his death into it when he acts unpleasantly any more than he's bringing his birth into it when he shows up in the first place. The consequences do not equal the event. All this to say it's irritating when people say the character is grating because he doesn't stop whining about his death when that kinda just indicates to me that they're working off fanon based on fanon based on kinda mid batman annual.

[thedivinedemom]

An AU of DC with a mass crossover of PS4 properties.

Provisional name: Players Searching for Detectable Changes (Get the pun?)

The setup:

This is the future of DC, a world where the old guard has slowly withdrawn and the newer generations have risen to the occasion. The original Titans in particular, most of which have formed the new Justice League while many other, very similar teams had started to form across the world. One of which was a resurgence of the Teen Titans, led by an older and purified Raven. She wanted to make the Teen Titans something akin as it was for her, a place to belong and learn to use one's powers.

The first 'class' of such individuals include:

Stargirl (of the now-disbanded JSA and still getting used to the Starrod)

Blue Beetle III (Freshly attached to his alien symbiote and freaking out a bit)

Robin V (to work on his anger issues, mostly at the new Batman's request)

Kaldur (a half Atlantean half metahuman who is struggling with his identity and the surface world, Aquaman feels a kinship for the boy seeing their similarities)

Static Shock (a promising new hero but little experience working outside his city or in groups)

Mary Marvel (she's... she's going through alot. Fresh from a coma, her brother is distant as he acts as the new Wizard, and she may be, sorta kinda, being corrupted by Black Adam's gifted power)

The team was rough and there was plenty of head butting (Mostly between Stargirl and Robin/Damian as one is almost the unanimous leader while the other thinks he should be) but they were getting there. They were more of a clean up crew for the Justice League, they did more than the "kiddie missions" that the Outsiders didn't do, and they meant more than the PR grab that was the International team. Though they didn't seem to amount to more than that. They still did their best, pushing past the silent ridicule, as they went about their missions.

This may be why tempers were so high that day.

One day, outside a little city by the name of Weller's Point, the prisoner transport for the villain Plasmus had an "accident". Released and awakened the creature went on a rampage, heading ever closer to the populated area. Luckily, the mentor of the New Teen Titans could teleport. The new team did fairly well in the fight, though they did struggle a bit as Plasmus was not a being where simple brute force would work. It made the fight tricky and more than a bit... messy.

Messy enough that juvenile and emotionally compromised Mary Marvel lashed out against the downed villain but was stopped by her teammates... things escalated from there. Restraint turned blows and the whole team struggled to stop their powerhouse without hurting her. The ones who do the best are Raven, Stargirl, Blue Beetle, and oddly Static.

While both of the former could use their abilities to restrain her to a very effective degree Static was actively draining her of strength, or at least of the electic aura she was radiating and blasting with. Frustrated, done with the situation, and a bit petty Mary launched her largest attack yet by saying her magical word.

SHAZAM.

Virgil did what he did best, he handled that lightning as it came crashing down towards Mary and the Titans restraining her. Well, he tried. The bolt was just too powerful, too unlike anything he had ever encountered. He could not handle it and it was dissipating, if anything it clung to him or tried to jump towards the girl. He had to get rid of it and he had to get rid of it quickly, safely too if he could help it.

He shoved it into the ground, into the power lines. He did it as carefully as he could, trying to prevent overload or flashover as guided the charge into the power grid.

What happened next was a combination of a few things. 1. The Mystic and transformative properties of the Lightning, 2. It is effectively being filtered through a bang baby, 3. The kryptonite power plant owned by, provided by, and operated by Lexcorp.

This interaction, this new charge, cycling through the power grid interacted strangely with a number of devices but none more so than PlayStation 4s and the devices connected to them. This new electricity changed things, literally. It brought fantasy into reality.

Whatever game was loaded into became a part of our reality in a small way. Sometimes TVs, Controllers, and even the system changed to reflect items from the game but the bigger change came with the Players. If a person was playing their console during the surge then they would become a metahuman with abilities based on the playable character they were playing.

The city, the county even, was now flooded by an abundance of metahumans and items of varying power of devastation. Static felt horrible.

He couldn't help but compare what has happened here to what happened in Dakota City but on a wider scale. And this time it was his fault. His sense of responsibility wouldn't, couldn't, let that stand. He had to fix his mistake and his team was dragged along for the ride.

The story to follow is a mix of Final Crisis and Kingdom Come with a bit of the Young Justice cartoon in events and themes, a few twists and likely a bit lighter in tone but to the DC geeks this should give a rough idea… Maybe a bit of Marvel's Civil War but hopefully not the rushed knee-jerk mess that that ended up being.

But it's here that I start having issues with my planning. One part in worry as outside the set up we start to follow the perspective of OCs (something rarely smiled upon) and another part in wondering which OC to focus on.

Now, one thing I love in fiction is progressive powers and the conflict escalating from the different paths people take in said progression. In that vein, I have a pair of protags in mind as well.

The main two/co-protagonists:

The Lawkeeper- a cop before the change and now a member of a task force made up largely of those affected by the surge. A gamer, a man of color, and a believer of the spirit of the law. He doesn't always get along with his fellow officers but he believes in what the blue does. He believes that an organized response is what is best.

His abilities are based on those of Jesse Fades of Control. Meaning he has tremendous psychic potential but he needs 3 things to reach his full potential.

1.Items to bond to so he can generate these psychic abilities. Jesse's used altered items of her universe to get thematic abilities from them (ex: a safe to generate a shield, a carousel horse for a dash ability, ect). Here he can use items generated by the surge.

2. A patron/partner entity to help guide, give insights, and empower. It also let's the user enforce reality, basically becoming an anti reality warper.

3. A bonded morph weapon or a weapon to come to his hand when called.

The knight- a recent college graduate who instantly decided to go the route of the caped hero. She, after figuring out how to get her powers to work, instantly went the route of a caped crusader. Going out to the streets, saving lives, stopping instances of surge item abuse, and (in the humble opinion of the local Police Department) getting in the way of operations. In her opinion they were taking too long to get things done.

Her abilities are based on those of Prince Noctis of Final Fantasy XV. This means she has tremendous physical and magical potential but like the above she has a number of check marks needed to gain access to the character's full power.

1. A gem/crystal to draw power from.

2. 13 magical weapons to boost strength. The generated game weapons will do and I have most picked out in a way that likely would help the plot progress.

3. The blessing of 5-6 gods.

4. A power ring of some king to channel all this power.

I keep debating the two above as I do like the idea of both of them climbing in power and clashing over conflicting ideals of what to do with their power. At the same time, I think that just smooshing aspects of both into one (which is actually where they started, a single character) and play off the different ideologies of how best to help people from within her friend group and precinct along with internal conflict. Maybe have the one be a fellow officer they butt heads with because of the... precarious nature

Another OC I was thinking on, keeping with the theme of what to do when you have power, is a thief who played Persona 5. Like both of the above they would be crippled in their ability to use their abilities without a way to fake the connection to. In this case, without the Mementos App, they would need an item that could affect or enter the hearts of others. Luckily, more unlucky really, there are plenty of items floating around that can do just that. Namely Keyblades.

Most other Players are an odd mix but most are variations of the Shooter build. Peak physical humans who heal quickly and often have bullet time. But there are enough other variations to cause trouble. Demigods of unreal strength, men and women who can easily tap into a patron for powers from the outside, 2 variations of spider powers, cat eyed men and women who can cast magic with simple gestures, and so much more. But the real issue was the first two, the demigods without a parent to protect them and those easily connected to a divine source.

The disembodied New Gods of Apocalypse were very happy with those groups. For how bad this can be please look at what happened to Mary Marvel in canon Final Crisis.

Thoughts and opinions would be appreciated.

[gillytweed]

Y’all wanna hear about the baby superhero team my brain decided needed to exist?

Yeah you do!

So, I’ve been on a superhero kick lately, specifically DC characters cause I’m kinda tired of Marvel, and my brain decided “what’s the harm in making a superhero OC?” Turns out the answer to that is making an entire team, side characters, a whole world, and lore. 

So far, I have the team solidly figured out. Said team lives in a world where superheroes have been around for while (think Young Justice cartoon timeframe in the grand scheme of superhero timelines). People with superpowers aren’t uncommon, so of course a superhero profession surfaced. 

On the team, we have Witchboy, a “magic” user, Nightbolt, an unpowered archer/tech hero, Karma, Damage Enhancement ability, aka can take damage and send it back at their opponent even stronger, Ibis, presumably a teleporter, Frost, Iceman but spikier, and Saber, an unpowered sword user. 

Nightbolt, Frost and Saber are Legacy Heroes. Aka, they got into heroing through family or personal connections. Meanwhile, Witchboy, Karma and Ibis all have their own reasons for joining a superhero team. 

Putting stuff below the cut so I don’t get people shakin’ their canes at me. 

General Character profiles

Witchboy  Civilian name: Howl Melas (Not their birthname. They chose to have go by a different name for reasons) Ethnicity: Very White, with ancestry all over Europe. Basically a European smoothie Pronouns: They/Them Mentor: Mystic (Sometimes Nightwatcher)

Powers: If I have to choose an already existing hero, I’d say their powers are the most like Raven’s from Teen Titans at a glance. Their powers are based on something I call Kinetic Algorithms, which is basically intense mental visualization paired with specific movements/muscle memory to channel energy into different effects. A list of their basic abilities at their introduction would be short distance teleportation, force fields, levitation, and a basic force blast. 

Description: Civilian attire usually consists of a hoodie and workout pants, or dark jeans, T-shirt, light jacket and a beanie to hide their silver hair (it was originally brown, but turned silver as their abilities surfaced). Their Hero suit is black/dark indigo with silver trim, and resembles a sleeveless hoodie (with the hood having a bit more structure so it doesn’t flap everywhere and get in the way) and fitted pants. Both padded for basic protection. They also have fingerless glove/gauntlet sort of things that contain a small communicator and basic GPS system.

Personality: Comes off as dark and brooding, but in reality is having an internal anxiety attack. They want to do their best to help, but often gets tripped up by overthinking, thus they default to not doing anything so they don’t make things worse. 

Nightbolt Civilian Name: Edana “Eddie” Cochran Ethnicity: Scottish Pronouns: She/Her Mentor: Broadhead

Powers: Got none but kicks ass anyway. Her primary weapon is the bow and arrow, but she’s also proficient in hand to hand and a few other melee weapons. She’s also the tech wiz of the group, and the only one who’s passed the simulator to be allowed to pilot the dropship. A decent acrobat as well.

Description: Civilian attire is usually jeans, and one of those leather jackets that are also a hoodie sort of deal. Her hair is red, and cut short into an undercut. Her Hero suit is black with red accents. It’s similar to Witchboy’s in that it’s also sleeveless, but it’s more of an armoured vest. No hood, as she prefers a domino mask. 

Personality: Easily the leader of the team, as she’s the most mature, despite not being the oldest. Being a Legacy Hero, she’s very aware of how her performance reflects on her mentor, so she does her best at all times, even when it’s clearly leading to burn out. 

Karma Civilian Name: Ethnicity: Not sure yet, but def white passing Pronouns: She/Her Mentor: Peacebringer (sorta)

Powers: Damage Empowerment. She takes damage then amplifies it and sends it back several times stronger. 

Description: Loves muscle T’s and booty shorts, cause when you worked for the muscles she’s got, you deserve to show them off. Has long blond hair that’s usually pulled up into a ponytail. Hero suit is basically full body armour, as she needs to get hit to hit back. Colours are blue and a yellowish gold. 

Personality: A Himbo, but with Street Smarts. At first comes off as cocky, flirtatious, and extremely self confident almost to the point of arrogance, she’s actually quiet sweet and thoughtful when it comes to her friends. She will also drop kick you into the sun if you’re a dick. Shares a braincell with Saber. 

Ibis Civilian Name: Kymani “Ky” Lukman Ethnicity: African Egyptian Pronouns: He/Him Mentor: Phase

Powers: Supposedly a teleporter :p

Description: The most handsome black man y’all have ever seen. Too bad for y’all he’s an aroace king and loves it. Civilian attire is nice Henley's and jeans. His Hero suit is black with gold accents that resemble ancient Egyptian jewelry, like the Usekh collar and the gold cuff like bracelets. 

Personality: This dudes just vibing. Probably the only one of the group who can process his emotions in a healthy manner. He’s calm, relaxed, and usually unbothered with what’s happening around him. This can turn into apathy in some cases, however. 

Frost Civilian Name: Andri Bylur Ethnicity: Nordic descent, primarily Sweden and Norway Pronouns: He/They Mentor: Cryon

Powers: Is basically Iceman but spikier. Can create, manipulate and cover himself in ice. Has the ability to consciously regulate his temperature as well.

Description: Looks like an extremely average dude with brown hair. Usually wears tshirts and plaid with jeans. His Hero suit is rarely seen, as it’s basically a thermal suit to aid in temperature regulation when he covers himself in ice. When covered in ice, they appear to be wearing spikey armour of some kind. In time the design becomes smoother and more streamlined as they get a better handle on their abilites. 

Personality: Probably the most empathetic of the group, they took on the responsibility of getting more in depth medical training, so they’re the team medic that never runs out of icepacks. Best friends with Ibis, they’re usually decently calm, but their overwhelming ability to care can bite them in the ass sometimes. 

Saber Civilian name: Chenzi “Shenzi” Young Ethnicity: Chinese  Pronouns: She/They Mentor: Dynasty

Powers: Got none but is very good with anything sharp. Primary weapon is a sword, but also proficient in hand to hand, and essentially any bladed weapon. Like Nightbolt, is also a decent acrobat. 

Description: Gets cold easily, so often wears oversized hoodies and sweatpants (is often told to put on “real” pants when going out in public). Hero suit resembles a lighter, more fitted, and streamlined interpretation of heavy Tang Dynasty era armour. Colours are primarily red and white. 

Personality: A gremlin but in a lovable way. She’s convinced she and Karma are the only ones with a sense of humour. Would be a prankster if it didn’t take so much work, so instead goofs off with Karma. Is actually very intelligent and good at what they do, they just manage their stress through shenanigans and can’t focus to save their life (ADHD for the win folks). Shares a braincell with Karma.

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #239: Late Night of the Super-Stars!

January, 1984

1984! Can’t wait to make a bunch of Orwell jokes that are poorly thought out and land poorly!

But I guess it’ll have to wait since we’re on Late Night with David Letterman in this issue.

This sure is an interesting turn of events. Although the team we see on the cover doesn’t seem to be the actually active roster. They’re over in the corner box turned away - either from shame or because they’re off doing their own thing.

Because its Assistant Editors’ Month!

A fun-sounding non-event. Although, looking it up, very few books that were considered part of the event actually did anything with it beyond a slightly goofy issue box on the cover.

So we’re going to see some Avengers go on a talk show today.

Superheroes as celebrities! What a novel idea.

Anyway, I learned an interesting detail about the cover that would have totally missed me. The checkerboard strip at the top was a hallmark of DC comics around this time. And the round MC logo in the top right is an obvious spoof of the DC logo from this time.

It’s not much more than a goof for this book but the Captain America book released for Assistant Editors’ Month also had the checkerboard and logo and was a style parody of DC comics.

Last times: Vision went into a robo-coma from walking into an invisible dome created by Annihilus and only recently recovered the ability to talk. New Avenger Starfox hooked Vision up to ISAAC the Titan computer and overclocked Vision’s robot brain so now he can project himself as a hologram and has an even faster computer brain. At the end of Avengers #238, the Avengers got a call from Tigra about some nonsense going on in San Francisco involving Spider-Woman.

Meanwhile, Hawkeye got a whole miniseries all to himself where he met Mockingbird, lost his job at Cross Technological, his girlfriend revealed that she was paid to date him and also hated him, he teamed up with Mockingbird to uncover an evil scheme by Crossfire to kill all superheroes, Hawkeye lost his hearing by putting an ultrasonic arrowhead in his mouth but foiled the scheme plot, and married Mockingbird. He’s had a very busy week or so!

This time: Hawkeye comes back to the Avengers Mansion to show off his cool new wife.

Hawkeye: “Hey, everybody -- your wanderin’ boy Hawkeye has come home... And you’ll never guess what I’ve gone and done!”

I can just imagine Mockingbird replying “Me” with the biggest shit-eating grin. She feels the sort to do that.

When Hawkeye and Mockingbird arrive there’s no one to greet them except the floating disembodied hologram head of the Wizard of Vizh.

Hawkeye has also made the decision, for some reason, to not wear the hearing aid that Mockingbird got him so he can’t hear what Vision is saying when he compliments his new costume.

Mockingbird introduces herself for Hawkeye and Vision tells the two to join him in the medical labs so they can catch up.

When they arrive, Vision raises his volume so Hawkeye can hear and recaps everything that’s happened to lead up to him becoming a robot in a tube who can hologram around.

Vision: “[Starfox] set up a direct link between ISAAC, the world-computer of Titan, to better diagnose my condition. But, instead, my brain became overloaded with ISAAC’s energy-information matrix --!”

Hawkeye: “And you became several with the universe, right?”

Vision: “‘Several with the’ --? Oh -- hah-ha! Very witty!”

Overclocking his brain seems to have done wonders for Vision’s sense of humor.

He even finds Hawkeye funny now.

Vision also explains where the dickens everyone else is (because Hawkeye asks him where the dickens they are. Its so weird for Hawkeye to say dickens).

Jarvis was given the day off to visit his mother, Captain America and Thor are both busy with nonsense in their own books, and the rest of the Avengers are off to San Francisco because of that call from Tigra.

Hawkeye offers to fly out and give them a hand, which Vision declines since they’ll call if they need help.

Instead he asks Hawkeye how he met Mockingbird and Hawkeye recaps the miniseries in only five panels.

He’s better at this than I am...

Hawkeye: “Anyway, Mockingbird and I had made a pretty good team -- so when it was all over, we ran off and got married!”

Mockingbird: “What can I say? The big lug needed somebody to keep him out of trouble!”

That’s the task of a lifetime, Bobbi. But good for you two! Cute couple is what I say.

Vision: “Marvelous! I hope you two will be as happy together as Wanda and I have been!"

Vision and Scarlet Witch probably are the healthiest superhero marriage of this time.

Vision asks if Hawkeye and Mockingbird intend to stay in the mansion, which they do. But it’s cool because Mockingbird has security clearance from working with SHIELD so they won’t need to bother Mr. Sikorsky and agitate his hatred of living in the superhero genre.

After Hawkeye takes Mockingbird off on a tour of the mansion, Vision receives a call from his brain brother, Wonder Man.

Who, very reluctantly, is coming to the Avengers with hat in hand. So to speak.

Wonder Man: “Okay. Here’s the situation -- my acting career hasn’t been going anywhere lately! So my agent, without my approval -- used the fact that I’m a reserve Avenger to get me a booking on David Letterman’s show, and now, they want me to bring other Avengers along with me! My agent really put me in a tight spot on this one. I hate to impose, but -- !”

Vision: “It’s no imposition at all, Simon! I’ll personally call the network and confirm the Avengers’ appearance!”

Wonder Man: “You’re sure it’s no trouble?”

Vision: “None whatsoever! After all, we have many Avengers -- !”

You sure do! Not as many as you’ll have by the No Surrender days. But still.

Also, I love this can-do attitude from you, Vision!

This is a pretty low priority in terms of fighting crime and whatnot but Vision is like THIS IS EXTREMELY DOABLE, I AM THE INTERNET.

Although imagine how sad it is from Wonder Man’s perspective. His agent put him on the spot pulling sorta-rank to get Simon some media attention but the media is like ‘ok but do you have something better?’

This man is trying to improve his career and the David Letterman show looked at him and said ‘ok but what else have you got?’

Oof!

Anyway, Vision uses the superpower of being wired into the phone system to call up some extra Avengers who aren’t very busy right now.

He calls Black Panther, Beast, and Black Widow.

Their varied responses are pretty funny.

But Black Panther’s is probably the best. He interrupts a meeting with his advisers to take the call and then he’s like ‘yeah sure I can drop everything I’m doing to appear on David Letterman!’

T’Challa really would rather be doing anything but kinging.

Beast initially protests that he’s too busy with the Defenders to just jump on some Avengers business but...

Beast: “The Letterman show? Hey, why didn’t you say so?”

And Black Widow is unbusy sunbathing at the Waldorf Towers while between missions. She doesn’t really want to make a television appearance (it’s kinda counterproductive for a spy, I would guess) but Vision mentions something that has Natasha agree to be there.

Based on what happens later, I guess Vision mentions that Hawkeye will be there.

A couple hours later, ELSEWHERE, well if it isn’t our ol’ friend and punchline Fabian Stankowicz!

Remember this goofus? He attacked the Avengers right when everyone was feeling bad about Hank Pym? Iron Man easily beat him up while the rest of the Avengers breezed on by. Or when he attacked Wasp’s cool superheroine brunch? Which was a hilariously terrible idea because he got between She-Hulk and breakfast foods. Also, nobody took him very seriously there either.

I guess the Avengers didn’t bother to press charges either time because he’s not in jail. He’s at his home working on some machines while his dad criticizes how he spends his time.

Dads, amirite?

Granted, what he’s criticizing is Fabian’s tendency to pick fights with superheroes. And... granted. Not a great use of his time.

But apparently Fabian can afford all the robot suits he keeps attacking the Avengers with because he won the lottery.

So he has a pretty good position to shoot down his dad’s protests, really.

Dad Stankowicz: “Fabian, I’m glad your poor mother didn’t live to see what’s become of you... It would’ve broken her heart!”

Fabian Stankowicz: “Aw, gimme a break, old man!”

Dad Stankowicz: “‘Old man’? This is the way you talk to your father?”

Fabian Stankowicz: “What do you want, egg in your beer? Was it you who won the state lottery and got us out of the Bronx? No, it was me! I won the money, and I’ll say how it’s spent! And I’m gonna use it to make a name for myself! Me... Fabian Stankowicz!”

And when Fabian sees an ad saying that the Avengers will be on Late Night with David Letterman, he has an idea. A wonderful, awful idea.

Also, who the heck puts egg in beer?

I’ve looked it up and I get that it’s a saying but apparently the saying is based on people actually doing that! Why??

The next afternoon, at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, where the show 30 Rock and this issue of Avengers both happen, this issue of Avengers is happening.

A CBS page shows Black Widow to the green room where the other Avengers are already waiting.

Also: I know that it’s all the Avengers who weren’t busy (even though T’Challa really should have been?) but this is a fun roster.

Hawkeye, Wonder Man, Beast, Black Widow and Panther?

Heck, I could imagine this being the Marvel equivalent of the Justice League International team, one more geared for some light-hearted comedy?

Except we’re in 1984 so this predates that.

But you have Beast and Wonder Man, your comedy duo best buds. You have Black Panther and Widow being varying levels of straight man to the nonsense. And you have Hawkeye who can be very serious or very ridiculous depending on how hot-headed he’s being at the time.

This team could be hilarious!

(Avengers International. Think about it, Marvel.)

Outside the green room, our ol’ buddy ol’ punching bag, Fabian Stankowicz is in disguise as a repairman with a mustache as cover for installing some devices in the studio. Then he puts on a beard to disguise himself as Perfectly Normal Bearded Audience Member.

I appreciate his intiative although I doubt any of the present Avengers are gonna recognize this guy on sight even if he wore a t-shirt that said “I’m Fabian Stankowicz.”

Fabian Stankowicz: Boy, this is gonna be so sweet, especially after the way the Avengers made me look like a chump those last two times! This time, it’s gonna be different! This time, I’m going to have a ringside seat for the defeat of the Avengers!

Or at least the Avengers that were available to show up on the Tonight Show with David Letterman.

Y’know, I like Fabian Stankowicz. He’s just smart enough to be dangerous and dumb enough to be entertaining. I think there’s a place for an ineffectual doofus with delusions of grandeur in the foe Rolodex of any superhero team.

Meanwhile, back with said Whoever Was Availables, Black Widow and Mockingbird are meeting for the first time.

And luckily, they’re both mature adults who don’t act like you’d usually see in media when the missus meets the ex.

So with a fight to the death NOT happening in the green room, Hawkeye gets to asking Mockingbird about the errand he sent her on which was why she wasn’t in the room when Black Widow first showed up.

Presumably using every bit of skill in espionage at her disposal, Mockingbird got a copy of the questions Letterman will be asking during the show.

Because Hawkeye will be fielding the questions and he has made the decision not to wear his hearing aid. And has also made the follow-up decision that not only will he not be hearing anything tonight, he’s also definitely going to be fielding all the questions.

Mockingbird: “Why won’t you wear a hearing aid?”

Hawkeye: “No can do, sweetheart! The fewer people who know I’m half-deaf, the safer it’ll be for all of us!”

(I don’t really get this reasoning but okay, man)

Mockingbird: “Then why not let someone else be spokesman? This is supposed to be Wonder Man’s big night!”

Hawkeye: “Sure... but I’m the only active Avenger here! Give me a kiss for luck!”

Not for nothing does Mockingbird think that he can be impossible sometimes. And she’s only known him a couple weeks! She’s already come to the correct read on him in that short a time.

David Letterman starts the show with an opening monologue.

David Letterman: “Tonight... What can I say? Tonight is something really special! In fact, it’s probably the most special show we’ve had since our 'camping with Barry White’ program! Yes... hard to believe, isn’t it? But with all due respect to Mr. White -- I think that this show may be our greatest ever. But, as they say, ‘that’s for history to decide!’”

Imagine being a talk show host and getting to introduce the Avengers. Pretty neat.

I like that bandleader Paul Shaffer is wearing a Captain America jersey. Although that makes me wonder once again what merchandising is like for Marvel superheroes. 

Clearly it exists but did Cap sign off on a jersey mimicking his costume? Does he see any money from that? Or at least did he get to say that all profit goes to such and such charity?

Letterman introduces the Avengers for the audience.

(Fun how you can get a sense of their personality just by how they’re sitting. It’s the little touches that make a comic fun.)

Hm, I wonder how well the marvel public follows superhero roster changes.

I know that sometimes new Avengers rosters have gotten attention with press conferences and everything. And sometimes they just swap in and out members as personal business comes up.

Some of the people in the audience may not even recognize Black Widow as an Avenger. Becaaaaause, wait I don’t think she ever was one. She’s assisted on some missions and they were ready to vote her in when she vanished to go do a SHIELD mission.

Okay, better example, does anyone remember that Wonder Man- oh wait, he very publicly burst out of a crate in front of Avengers Mansion during press furor over a roster change. Also, he’s a pre-successful actor.

Black Pan- no, no. He was framed for killing the Avengers his very first day on the team. There was a manhunt.

And of course, everyone knows Beast was on the Avengers. He got around. Romantically.

David Letterman mentions that this group isn’t even all the Avengers because some couldn’t make it (read: were busy with more important things).

Which leads to a funny cut to audience where Beard Fabian is annoyed that this group is who got caught in his revenge scheme.

Fabian Stankowicz: Blast it, where’s Captain America? Where’s that &#%$ She-Hulk?

You better wash your brain out with soap before She-Hulk finds out you thought  that about her. She’s dunked people into the garbage for lesser offenses.

Beast decides that this Late Night interview is the best time to reveal that he’s quitting as a reservist Avenger to focus on his version of the Defenders.

Letterman: “Wow, that was some bombshell the Beast just dropped, Hawkeye! You’re group spokesman... What do you think of that?”

Hawkeye: First question -- ! “Well, David, the Avengers is a non-profit organization, fully sanctioned as a peace-keeping force by just about ever international organization you could think of!”

Letterman: “Eh-heh-heh! You don’t say!”

Oh god, Beast’s bombshell messed up the order of questions and Hawkeye is firmly sticking to script because he can’t hear.

My god, Hawkeye.

Letterman: “You know, I was just about to ask you something along those lines. You wouldn’t be psychic by any chance -- ?”

Hawkeye: “No, of the founding members, only the Wasp and Thor remain as active Avengers.”

Letterman: “You little dickens! You’ve been peeking at my question sheet, haven’t you? All right, I might as well as my next question which is... ‘I hear you were recently married! Is that true?’”

Hawkeye: “Yes, Dave... just a few weeks ago!”

Letterman: “How about that!”

Did Hawkeye just think they were going to blaze through the questions? Even if Beast hadn’t preempted the first question, did Hawkeye think that there would be no follow-up questions? No discussion?

I’ve been on the fence on whether the jokes about Hawkeye not hearing the questions are poking fun at deaf people or at Hawkeye and yeah, Hawkeye is definitely the butt of this joke.

Fabian Stankowicz loses patience for this very dry question and answer session and decides to start his attack nnnnow.

One of the studio cameras is secretly A GIANT LASER. Because. And it blasts the stage.

Mockingbird is watching this on a tiny screen in the Green Room and goes out to help only to run afoul of some kind of mechanized steamrolling dumpster.

Back in the studio, Wonder Man has found his new nemesis.

Move over, Grim Reaper. You’re one-dimensional and everyone especially me hates you. Hello, laser blasting camera.

Wonder Man: “Let me at that thing, Beast! It’s ruining my guest-shot!”

Beast: “You’ll have to wait your turn, Wondy! It just shredded my favorite shirt!”

Priorities!

You know, this was supposed to be about Wonder Man and he only got to say two words during the interview portion.

Dangit, Hawkeye.

Apppppparently, the audience is just assuming that this is all part of the show. A cliche, sure. But it makes sense.

Would you really have the Avengers on a talk show and just have them talk? That’s a waste of perfectly good superheroes.

Also.... apparently? David Letterman used to run things over with a steamroller a lot? So a steamroller looking contraption crashing through the wall to attack the Avengers does seem like something that might happen?

Also, Paul Shaffer decides to just roll with it so as not to panic the audience.

The show must go on, after all.

The steamroller also starts firing missiles at Beast, as ya do.

Beast: “Hunter missiles? I don’t believe this is happening on network tv!”

Wonder Man tries punching the steamroller to no avail but which does give Black Panther a chance to pull out the tried and true “Wonder Man’s fists carry as much bludgeoning power as Thor’s hammer!”

Y’know, originally, that was a flex that set Wonder Man as a threat to the team but after he joined, that never really seemed to actually be the case.

Imagine if Wonder Man always hit as hard as Thor’s hammer? Like, he’s minding his own business and then the Gorr the God Butcher arc happens and Wonder Man is like ‘huh, why do I suddenly feel like my punches could destroy planets light years away? That’s a very specific feeling!’

Fabian Stankowicz takes advantage of the spectacle chaos to walk out of the audience, plunk himself down into one of the interview chairs, remove his entirely convincing beard, and introduce himself to David Letterman as the guy who is definitely to blame for all the action setpieces going on.

Letterman, like Paul Shaffer, just decides to roll with it. Humor the guy. Ask him why he’s doing this.

Fabian Stankowicz: “Why? To prove it could be done! To show what one incredibly gifted individual can accomplish...”

Letterman: “... To get your name in the papers?”

Fabian Stankowicz: “That too! After all, the Avengers have battled Zodiac... the Masters of Evil... Doctor Doom! I want to make as big a name for myself as those guys!”

Letterman: “Seems to me that ‘Stankowicz’ is already a pretty big name!”

Badum pish?

He asks Fabian to explain all of his devices and Fabian is happy too.

I mean, he’s being a supervillain for the notoriety and supervillains already love to hear themselves talk so he’s double dipping into the ‘I will exposit everything at the drop of a hat’ well.

And imagine, Fabian built all this stuff in his garage with lottery winnings.

The steamroller thing isn’t just a steamroller, it’s also got a gravity generator. Which, I guess, makes sense if you’re expecting to go against a She-Hulk or a Thor. A regular steamroller isn’t going to do more than annoy.

Wonder Man fighting so hard against the roller makes it increase gravity so much that Simon and steamroller just fall through the floor.

Hm. I wonder what’s filmed in the studios the floor down. They’re about to have an exciting guest star in that steamroller.

Black Widow (still tangling with the laser camera) points Hawkeye towards Fabian. Although she has to shout and Hawkeye still doesn’t really get it but is happy to shoot an arrow at someone that Black Widow is vigorously gesturing at.

Alas, Fabian is one of those prepared villains we’ve been hearing so much about.

He built a force field too, and the arrow just bounces right off.

(Hey, uh, Hawkeye? What kind of arrow was that? Because it looks technological and you just shot it at this guy’s head)

Truly, can nothing stop this insidious yet not very menacing criminal genius?

Oh, I guess David Letterman can.

Knocks him out with a big knob.

It’s just plain big.

Prop comedy, amirite?

The audience seems to love it anyway. I looked up a clip of the big doorknob and it didn’t meet with this much applause. Maybe its because it was used to do violence this time?

Was the giant door knob a beloved part of Late Show lore?

David Letterman: “I guess that’ll teach you not to mess with David Letterman!”

That’s a line with weird energy to it.

Anyway, it would be a sad day for this random assemblage of backup Avengers if they were upstaged completely by David Letterman and his big knob.

Black Widow and Hawkeye finally manage to blow up the laser camera.

I’m not sure why it took them this long. Sure, the camera could apparently move, based on motion lines in previous panels. But the world’s best marksman couldn’t nail it sooner?

But the important thing is that eventually, they did do it.

The floor starts rumbling as well as Wonder Man flies back up with his belt-jets with the trashed roller and a shit-eating grin.

Wonder Man: “Sorry this took so long -- But I guess I’m a little rusty at tackling big hunks of tin like this!”

Fabian Stankowicz: Rusty? It took me a month to design that, and he totaled it in less than five minutes!

But since everyone’s focus is on Wonder Man (for once), Fabian tries to sneak away.

And runs smack dab into Mockingbird who has a lot of justified anger over almost getting run over by the roller earlier. But she just throws him over to some police that have finally shown up.

Letterman tells the audience not to try any of this at home, just in case any of them have gravity-generator osmium steel steamrollers lying around? And cuts to commercial, presumably so that some basic tidying can happen.

Hours after the filming of the show concludes, the Avengers TV Squad have returned to the mansion, with Vision wishing he could have taken part of this assistant editors month special issue.

Vision: “What became of Stankowicz?”

Black Panther: “Well, with all the charges NBC is leveling against him, the only machinery he’ll be dealing with for some time will be in the New York State Prison library!”

So, he attacked Avengers Mansion. He attacked Wasp’s superheroine brunch at the Van Dyne residence. That’s all well and good. He attacks the Avengers again in the NBC studio and the man is going to jail forever.

I guess the Avengers really haven’t been bothering to press charges on Fabian. But a massive media corporation isn’t so kind.

Since Hawkeye is technically the active Avenger (even though Vision’s hologram head is RIGHT there) he has to follow up on the thing Beast said about quitting the Avengers reservists.

Beast says its not right for him to be an Avengers reservist if he’s also trying to turn “the Defenders into a for-real group!”

Uh, Defenders fans? Wasn’t the appeal of the Defenders them being the not-team team? How did people feel about Beast going ‘ok but what if they were more like other teams instead?’

Meanwhile, Wonder Man is pacing, waiting for the Late Show to come on so he can see how he did when WOMP WOMP the show is interrupted by a special news bulletin.

Wonder Man is aghast that his big break isn’t even airing but when the special news bulletin is about a burning chemical barge, his hero instincts that he has suddenly swell up.

Wonder Man: “This... This is awful! What’re we standing around for? Let’s do something! We’re Avengers, aren’t we?”

Black Panther: “That we are, Simon! Let’s go!”

Beast also decides, hey, one more time won’t hurt and accepts his Avengers ID card back from Hawkeye.

And as they’re headed off to the Quinjet, Beast has a hopeful note for Wonder Man.

Beast: “Hey, Wondy -- remember, there’s a three-hour time difference between the coasts! If we can get this mess cleaned up in time, maybe some folks in California will still see you get your big break!”

Wonder Man: “And if we don’t -- ?”

Beast: “Well, that’s show biz!”

Pretty enjoyable issue! Like, sure, its a good for Assistant Editor’s Month. But if you’re going to do a goof, then you can do worse than bringing back Fabian Stankowicz for a third time’s not the charm.

Speaking of charm, having the Avengers appear on a talk show is a charming concept. Not a whole lot was done with it except the joke about Hawkeye answering the wrong questions but its still a fun idea.

And having the Avengers off busy lets us brush off some Also Avengers that haven’t been in play for a bit. That’s a fun idea that I wouldn’t mind seeing some more.

Have the reservists called in because of a situation happening when the Avengers are already busy.

Heck, I’d like to see a situation where the silliest and least regarded Avengers are the only ones available to respond to an emergency. Have them bounce off each other as a group. Maybe they’re mutually aware of their bad reputations.

Anyway, I expected this issue would be ridiculous but it was also enjoyable. Didn’t mind it at all. And (though by a different writer) the Hawkeye miniseries was very enjoyable too.

This is just feeling like a good era for the Avengers team.

Next time, apparently The Ghost of Jessica Drew. So she’s some kind of ghost spider? Nobody tell Carol Danvers.

Follow @essential-avengers​ because I typed this post partially while a cat was lying on my wrist. That’s dedication. Which you can’t spell without cat. Also, like and reblog if you think its likeable and rebloggable.

[youremyonlyhope]

Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror

BBC-America isn’t working on my tv for whatever reason, so I guess I’m watching this on my computer instead.

Wow, at 7:55pm Spectrum logged me out of BBC America’s website because my brother logged on in Jersey, and my mom has her phone playing the news. I had to get my mom to log off of her phone. Could have avoided this if my TV would just let me watch BBC America.

Also that’s just plain rude that I had Underworld playing in the background of my computer for 30 minutes since that’s what was on before Doctor Who, and then once my brother logs in it decides to log me out rather than just not let my brother log in.

NOW LET’S FINALLY START THIS EPISODE. And pray that no one in my family logs back on before 9:15.

NIAGARA FALLS. Someone remind me to find that old skit. Found it! Slowly I turned... Step by step... Literally goes through my head if someone says Niagara Falls. I love the period dress on the companions. And then Doctor’s just normal. The Doctor fangirling over Tesla is me too. Aww Yaz convincing Ryan to jump. Silurian!? Like. Madame Vastra Silurian? See, I thought the Doctor was calling Tesla a liar because she knows something about the Tesla/Edison rivalry that we don’t or something. I’m glad it’s about something happening currently. I might end up typing less since I want to watch the episode in full screen, so I’m adding most of this during commercials. Normally I just watch my tv and type without looking at the keyboard. Also, I have taken the train from Niagra Falls back to New York, so I love this. “Central Park?” “Yes! Now that has been around for ages.” Um. Has it? What about the black villages that were displaced to create the park? “You don’t belong in America” Things never change. Just the target does. Oh the Doctor’s shirt is red this time. Has that happened before? Did I just not notice? I normally notice costume stuff... “I made it, mainly out of spoons.” Love it. I love Tesla and the Doctor bonding.... Oh no. Ohhh noooo I’m getting Van Gogh vibes. Am I gonna be sad? I’m already sad about Tesla’s story in general. Am I gonna be sadder? Oh Edison sucks. “Who has the patent?” Oh wow he really sucks. Oh god Edison REALLY sucks. Wardenclyffe. I gotta look that up later. Well.... OK. He killed everyone. Great. Her face when she said “...This is your chemical lab... PERFECT!” was amazing. ...It’s a scorpion?... Oh of course they came for Tesla. Oh fantastic. Scorpions everywhere. IS THE COUSIN OF THE RACNOSS?! Well. The Doctor did say ancient people used those orbs... if they’re related then yeah makes sense. I forgot Edison was here... GET YOUR HANDS OFF THE TARDIS. It’s so interesting that aliens would pick a man from the early 20th century over anyone from further in a (hopefully) more advanced future. I liked Graham calling out Edison. Queen of the Skithra this time, Empress of the Racnoss before. The Doctor says she’s messy... didn’t she insult the Master a few episodes ago for being messy too? “The external dimensions transcends the internal.” “Spot on!” Awwwwwwww. I’m suddenly remembering that I can’t remember how Tesla died or if he’s one of the people who history just sort of... lost. Hmm...

Also, I literally did not sleep last night and worked for a full day and just ate a bunch of fried food and it is a wonder that I’m still awake after like 32 hours straight... But even though I am loving this episode I can feel the exhaustion kicking in.

“You do realize that it’s killing Edison that they want you and not him.” LOL “Tesla came up with WiFi?” Oh shut up Edison. “Oi! AC/DC.” Wait. No. AC/DC can’t stand Alternating Current Direct Current can it... no... Ok I gotta google that later. [Update: Yes. That is exactly what the band is named after. AC/DC written on a sewing machine. And I am stupid because there is literally a lightning bolt in their logo.] I guess i’m glad Edison’s helping... but he’s still insulting Tesla while doing it... Oh I really love Tesla. Oooooh it’s blue on the inside of the TARDIS again. “The present is theirs. I work for the future. And the future is mine.” Awwwwwwwwwww. That was sweet. Tesla still deserves better.

JUDOON. CYBERMAN. AND THE MASTER’S BACK?! HEY THAT WAS DEKKER FROM CHILDREN OF EARTH AKA UNCLE KEVAN IN GAME OF THRONES. And... did I maybe see a chameleon arch or did I imagine it... I feel like that was in the series trailer...

I’m scrolling through Tesla’s wiki page, and shoutout to Doctor Who’s set designer. I’d noticed the giant circular thing in the background and thought it was a giant clock or something, but it’s a spiral coil that Tesla really had in his laboratory.

I like that this episode was another historical episode that makes you want to look up the things afterwards. I got a little lost in Tesla’s wiki page there. And then I started dozing off. But I woke myself up enough to proofread this and press send.

I’m glad they didn’t try to pull a Vincent and the Doctor and have the Doctor be like “Tesla, don’t worry, people love you, we all use your inventions” because they don’t love him and we use his inventions without knowing he helped create them. People barely know who Tesla is. I only know who is because of a book I read in probably middle school that was like... historical fiction that was supposed to be sorta based on fact and he was a character in it. What was that book... it took place on the Titanic I think... which I am 99% sure Tesla was not on. But anyway, if it wasn’t for that book I’d have no idea who Tesla was at all. I’d definitely never heard of Wardenclyffe.

Update: Like 4 hours later I realized that I spelled Nikola wrong in the title. Also I still have not gone to bed yet. Well that’s a lie, I’m lying in bed now. But I’m not asleep yet. 37 hours and counting.

[lazyyyart]

The Robins fighting style (part 2)

Remember, this is my analysis based on what I see in Titans episode 6. Not from the comics. Even though I found similarities that I would discuss later.

So, first and foremost. Jason.

Damn, he’s quick. I can’t really tell which style he used, but it’s a mix for sure. He continued to display effectiveness, make no time wasted. All of his fight scenes put him againts ordinary people. Well, not so ordinary, since he’s going for the cops and that sorta swat assassin in the last episode, but again his opponent is not as skilled as the Nuclear Family which Dick fought to a standstill in that awesome motel room fight. That was before Nuclear Dad resorts to his advantage in power and push Dick out of the window. I’d say, Jason got so much potential, but so far his fight scenes vs Dick’s fight scene in the motel room? Dick wins hands down.

Remember, this is my analysis. You could think differently.

Jason’s fighting style is brutal. Not even Dick in that warehouse scene in ep. 2 can top that. He’s maiming with the intention to hurt. He picked the most convenient attack to end everything quickly but also the one that would hurt the opponent badly. If he goes against Dick in the fight, with his current capabilities, he’s still going to lose because he’s still not as experienced as Dick. And also once you got into the territory of hand to hand combat which is Dick’s specialty , it could go bad for Jason. But he’s a wild card, even though he’s still not on Dick’s level yet. If he comes back a few years later and still has this ferocious appetite for hurting people plus the stabile mentality, Dick would got some serious threat. Red Hood, everyone?

And Dick, he’s got no cool fight scenes in this episodes except the last one with Nic Zucco which not really showcasing his abilities. Nic seems powerful enough, because he can stand after getting kicked by that awesome kick by Jason on his chest. I say his chest, not his neck or the tip of the chin, because if you got kicked in that area, you’ll get knock out, immediately. I don’t know if Jason intentionally missed the kick to that area or that he’s just being cocky that he can take him down easily. But, boy Dick’s so worried about Jason getting shot that he goes full on rage. It’s not quite seem that way, but that what’s happen in my eyes. Dick still displaying continuous streak of effective attacks constantly in all episodes so far.

And, I am kinda disappointed that we might not get awesome fight scenes next week, because then l have nothing to analyse 😭 But I hope we’ll still get it.

Anyway, cool episode. And the fact that Jason keep using his knee as his signature moves makes me happy. Well, he’s famous for his thighs, right? So that’s how he gets that. 🤔😁 That’s another one from the comics that I notice. I don’t know if the creator intentionally put little easter egg like that, but if they do, wow 😮 I am impressed.

So, knee attack. Muay Thai? 🤔 impressive streak Batfam. Silat, muai thai, escrima, they all tied together by history of the great Srivijayan Empire. South East Asian martial arts is really the most effective style in my opinion, so it’s no wonder the Batfam use it. Wing Chun is also superior in hand to hand, but I really think it’s more softer than South East Asian martial arts. The one generating the hardest hit, in technicality will be Baji quan. For that, I hope, if we got Cassandra Cain later, it will be her style. And i can see Tim using both style as he was trained by shiva too. And if we see Damian, I want to see him using Arabian wrestling and expertise in talwal. So even though he’s using Katana, his swords stances will be different. Oh it’s gonna be so awesome if DC could really pull it out. And, Bruce. Uuh the man himself. It’s hard to picture a perfect fighting style for him. Because he’s Batman, he’s awesome like that. But i’d say his basic fighting style will be from Japan. Because it’s canon and also fits his personality (discipline mentality). But later in his life he was trained by various people and he absorbs multiple style along his journey. In my head, as a martial artist enthusiast, no matter how many style you learned, you will only use several of them, and the one you used is definitely your favourite. This related to: a) physicality, b) mental state, c) personality. That way, martial art does not make you great, if you’re awesome it’s because you’re awesome. No other reason. No martial art is greater and better than the other. It’s about you, and always about you. Your chosen moves will show your true colours. Like a mirror.

It’s weird tho, I have head canon for years in my head about their respective fighting style and to see them actually happen on screen is mind blowing. It’s like someone read my analysis somewhere in the internet and use it. It’s surreal when your dream comes true like this.

In the pages of comic books it’s impossible to draw fight scenes with the same fluidity as live action. The artist can only draw impact not movements. This has always been my problem with American comic. Especially the eara of 2006-2010 where everything looks like photo tracing. But, even among japanese manga world, which, in my eyes, is better with action scenes in comic, only a few mangaka can draw good action scenes, and some, not all, is aided with the use of stylised panelling, which helps tremendously to illustrate movements. American comics are pretty dull in panelling sometimes, but it has improved over the years. When they start hiring someone from asia, that is 😁 And only selected artist can draw fighting style plus it’s signature moves on paper. They must have been a martial artist themselves, or having a deep understanding of martial arts. As you know, it’s almost impossible to found such perfection in an artist, so if they’re exist, they are truly gems.

Oof I go off topic again. But here are my analysis, thoughts and opinion.

So, Titans. I hope you keep being awesome. See you next week.

[drjdorr]

A character trope I sorta enjoy is The Living Weapon because that is such an interesting premise with so many variants. Like here are some examples

Gertiag Crookedhorn, evolved living weapon. Technically any Daggett could fill this role but in the end only Gertiag remained. Evolved living weapons usually are from some hellish apocalyptic world where it is eat or be eaten and eventually these unkillable murder machines come out victorious as the last creature standing, and then usually further "refinement" of their weapon-ness happens because it is still eat or be eaten but now all the food is gone except each other. Usually such predatory creatures will be given the role of villain though they also can work as angst filled protagonists. The teranids and zurg swarm are good examples

Skullgore, trained living weapon. Honestly many living weapons fall under trained living weapons as well as their main designation. Trained living weapons have honed their skills till their bodies are lethal weapons in and of themselves. If they are in a world with inhanced beings usually they have a pretty straight forward pure combat inhancment(often to do with strength) or are miraculously skilled enough to overcome inhanced beings. They can easily be villains or heroes, stable or unstable. Cassandra Cane, Batman, honestly most of the batfam if we are being honest, Daredevil, Taskmaster, and Slade are good examples

Experiment living weapons can be split into several smaller categories to do with the circumstances of said experiment.

Titan/Majesty, the willing test subject living weapon. Living test subject living weapons almost always have overlap with trained but not necessarily always. They were experimented on but volunteered for it. Usually they tend to be the most stable when they are heroes and least stable when villains. Captain America and Red Skull are great examples.

[Working name Contingency], the geneticly engineered living weapon, also the escaped living weapon. Genetically engineered living weapons are almost always born to be weapons. They also are often clones in some capacity, though sometimes amalgamation clones. Due to being produced they make great enemy super armies or if they are the hero they can have alot of exploration with the inherent trauma that would come with being created as a living weapon. By virtue of being born weapons, they are almost always trained living weapons. Some examples include super boy and the clone army of the republic.

Escaped living weapons are kinda interesting in that no matter which side of the moral battlefield they end up on they are almost always empathisable. Either they are heroes who fight against the trauma that made them living weapons or their villains motivated by it. Often they will have atleast a story dedicated to whoever they escaped from trying to recapture them. Weapon X aka Wolverine is absolutely perfect for this

RE-57, the machine living weapon. These individuals push the limits of "living" weapons. Usually they have something about them that blurs the line between simple machine and living being. He isn't a pure example (we don't get alot of them for some reason) but Cyborg is a good example

Leaving the experiment living weapons, we arrived at the conditional living weapon. I don't have any of my own examples off the top of my head. Conditional living weapons are generally insanely powerful in the primary setting of their story, but put them somewhere else and they aren't that extraordinary. Usually these individuals are aliens. Whether they seem ordinary on their homeworld because base line is that high or because the particular environment of the setting makes them powerful, they are a force to be reckoned with. If their is an evil member there is almost always atleast one hero version to counter them. Some species that fall into this are asgardians, kryptonians, and dc comics Martians.

I'm sure there are more but those are the ones I can think of now, feel free to tell me any neat ones I missed

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #384

Top Ten SDCC 2019 Predictions

Every year when I do this sort of thing, it gets harder. Like I said before with E3, it feels a bit like my nerd tastes have narrowed, and I have a lot less free time to enjoy the plethora of nerdy things out there. Plus, it feels like these big multimedia showcases have expanded to the point where announcements are made over a period of a fortnight or so as companies hold their own side-conferences, or smaller players wait until there’s more oxygen in the room once the big guns have had their say. Add to this the fact that Sony skipped E3 entirely this year, and DC is more or less doing the same with SDCC (at least as far as movies are concerned), and you have a recipe for me just making stuff up. I could have done an E3 Top Ten just about Xbox rumours, and I could have done this about the MCU (when do we think we’ll see the X-Men in an Avengers movie?!). Maybe I will!

Regardless, we amble once again towards a San Diego Comic Con. This year is probably going to be most notable for Marvel’s contributions; sadly with no comparable DCEU panel we won’t get any more info out of Batman, Wonder Woman, or Harley Quinn. I’m a little bit out of the loop with what the Big Two are planning comics-wise, and anyway, SDCC isn’t quite the hotbed of comics news it once was. But with a few exciting-looking panels, I’m sure there’ll be lots to talk about.

Usual caveats apply: I’m not insider, I know nothing, these are all guesses, some more educated than others. Sometimes this turns out to be a wishlist. Let’s see how wrong I was, eh?

MCU Overload: now Endgame is out of the way, I think Marvel will be a lot less cagey about their future. I predict release dates and official announcements for most of Phase Four (Black Widow, Eternals, Shang-Chi, a few sequels); the surprise tease of some Black Widow footage; something we really weren’t expecting (Squirrel Girl, perhaps, or a Captain Marvel sequel featuring Kamala Khan). In short, I think Marvel will seriously dominate all the headlines and get us thinking eagerly about what we’ll be watching this time in 2024.

Avengers Re-Assemble: there’s going to be a couple of Avengers retrospectives, and I predict we’ll see a repeat of the 2011 SDCC when the cast of The Avengers/Avengers Assemble (delete as regionally appropriate) appeared on-stage together for the first time. This may very well turn out to be Robert Downey Jr’s last panel appearance to discuss Tony Stark (funnily enough, however, I don’t think it’s the last we’ve seen of Chris Evans as Steve Rogers…). This will be a big event, and rather melancholic, too.

Disney Plussed: as well as all the Marvel film shenanigans – most of which are still too deep in pre-production to offer juicy morsels to the faithful – I think we’ll see loads of stuff about the MCU Disney+ shows. A proper, full trailer for Loki (which I think is the first to film), as well as oodles and oodles of info and maybe even footage from whatever’s lining up next. I think we’ll see Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, and Jeremy Renner all on stage. We’ll get proper synopses for all of these shows. And, yes, I think Falcon and Winter Soldier will still be called Falcon and Winter Soldier, and it will sort of be about Sam Wilson’s journey into becoming Captain America.

Making it So: okay, moving reluctantly away from Marvel, I think the Star Trek: Picard panel will be another highlight. Jean-Luc himself, I believe, will be on stage, alongside some of the cast, and one of the show’s directors: Jonathan Frakes. They will release another, fuller, trailer for the show, and a release date too. And maybe – just maybe – we’ll even get a tease for the next season of Discovery. Engaging!

Top TV Trailers: keeping things on the small screen for the moment, there are a few panels dedicated to upcoming genre TV. TV shows which, to be honest, I probably won’t find the time to watch. But even though production has only just started on some of these shows, I still think we’ll see some footage. The Witcher, the Netflix book/game adaptation starring latter-day Superman and best-case-scenario moustache model, will have a full trailer; meanwhile, the as-far-as-I-know-still-untitled Game of Thrones spin-off will have some kind of Con-exclusive sizzle reel or teaser. I’m way, way behind on Thrones anyway so the spin-off doesn’t really interest me, but I do hope I can find space in my busy schedule for The Witcher.

Continued Transformations: the new Transformers comic feels like it’s taking a while to build, and moves a mite slowly at times, but it is building a new and compelling world, amazingly finding a unique spin on the 35-year-old franchise. A spin-off mini-series focussing on the Constructicons has already been announced, but I think SDCC will see the unveiling of another mini; maybe a prequel detailing the war with the Threefold Spark? Alternatively – if the core series is not expanded – maybe we’ll get another crossover. My personal preference would be Rodimus and Megatron’s Lost Light crew winding up in Equestria. What? A guy can dream!

Teen Titans Go! Straight to Video: after the My Little Pony movie a couple of years ago, I thought a sequel would make its way to our screens before the series wrapped up; I was sort-of right, but the second MLP movie is going straight to Netflix. I wonder if something similar will happen with my kids’ other favourite movie based on one of their favourite shows, Teen Titans Go! Maybe it’s early doors, but I think a sequel movie to the utterly fantastic Teen Titans Go! To the Movies will indeed happen, but it’ll wind up on the DC Universe streaming platform rather than go cinematic.  

OG Titans FTW: sticking with superheroes too young to drink, and again following on sorta-kinda from Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, I think as a SHOCKING TWIST we’ll get official confirmation – but no other information – about a revival of the original Teen Titans cartoon. Just a teaser trailer, and a “COMING SOON”… but this would really, really make my SDCC.

She-Ra’s Sibling, Take a Bow: so the new season of the excellent She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is coming next month; this we know. There’ll be a panel about the show, and given that it must be essentially completed, we’ll get a nice full-fat trailer. But. Here’s the thing. I think we’ll get the barest – barest – tease of a wider universe beyond Etheria, perhaps by the merest suggestion of She-Ra’s brother. I don’t actually think we’ll see He-Man in season three, but I think She-Ra will perhaps learn the word “Eternia” and discover that she may, indeed, have family out there. I imagine – and hope – that they want to keep the focus on Adora and her friends, and not drag the show’s centre of gravity off in the direction of a big, strong, and more famous male character.

Yesterday’s Agents: finally, we go full circle, back to the MCU… sorta. Because at this point, can’t we all agree that any Marvel TV show – apart from, presumably, Agent Carter – takes place in an alternate but very similar universe? I mean, there’s no way the characters from Agents of SHIELD or the Netflix Defenders series exist in the mainstream MCU without their being called up during the whole “On your left…” bit in Endgame. But regardless: Agents of SHIELD. A show that has had mixed fortunes but which, on the whole, has been really compelling and entertaining. I’ve just started on season six but so far it’s been great. But like many great things, I think it must end. Season seven is coming, but – unless they do eight at more or less the same time – I think that’s it. You had a great run, with some cracking stories and wonderful characters that I’m going to miss. But with the whole Disney+ thing, I feel we’ve seen the end of, well, all other Marvel shows. And this is what they’ll announce at SDCC.

So there you go. Not necessarily a vintage year but enough to get excited about. For me, really, it’s all about the MCU! Let’s, shall we?

[ruhigknight]

"The writers of the show have stated that they CAN use Slade, and they WANT to use Slade for the series, but are not sure HOW to use him (a dark, serious villain) in the show's silly format." (From a wiki so grain of salt yet thought I heard about this before. It's just hard to find another source as people are mostly complaining about the Return of Slade ep)

REALLY? I've been imagining TTG Slade scenarios since the show was announced (&even when it became less promising) and for someone with little writing experience it was pretty easy just acknowledge his kids (ie others that aren't Rose. Like the mute son who was originally part of the era the show is based off and the show's sight gags be neat for a mute character) and play up the "not a good dad but still loves his kids" aspect of his character that he's had since his creation and focus on his relationships with said kids and Titans specially since two of his kids were Titans. Kinda sorta like a slightly scarier Dr. Doofenshmirtz just a play on ~mysterious~ assassin villains rather than mad scientists. 

 Other silly DC media has handled Slade fine like Tiny Titans, LEGO DC Superheroes,  and hell the New Teen Titans shorts that lead to TTG being a thing. You guys made a silly version of an interdimensional, world conquering/destroying, rapist demon you can do it with a ( admittedly really messed-up) man who to this day cracks some jokes and has a messed-up but still caring relationship with his kids if you realized there's more outside the same 5 Titans and pandering to a certain ship to alienating degrees.