#while Jonah piloted his body?

[helpimstuckposting]

Everyone’s going on and on about how “I AM WE, WE ARE I ALONE, ALONE TOGETHER” is jmart, but did we forget it was Augustus reading the statement? Augustus who we all speculate is Jonah. Jonah Magnus who, for centuries, literally crammed his own consciousness into someone else’s body

[rosemaryrockor]

while i know that og elias was dead the very moment jonah stole into his body, i do wonder at the specific horror and terror and fear in being forced to sit and Watch as Someone Else pilots your body. as Someone Else uses your body to string together what you slowly realize will be the end of the world as you know it. it seems like something the beholding would gorge itself on; im surprised no ones mentioned that.

[metasquire1]

How I would introduce these 4 Godzilla kaijus into the Monsterverse (Part 1):

(I already uploaded this on a YouTube video, but I wanted to share it here as well)

Almost everyone is saying that the possessed Ren Serizawa is a great way to introduce Destoroyah or Mecha King Ghidorah into the Monsterverse. But for me, this can be a great way to introduce these two kaijus from the Godzilla franchise, those two being: Monster X/Keizer Ghidorah and Kiryu.

Let us start with Monster X. His origin would be different, instead of being another Ghidorah from outer space, he would be King Ghidorah with a new body. Made by Alan Jonah's terrorist group and the possessed Ren Serizawa. Here Ghidorah and Jonah decide to team up because they essentially have the same plan and hatred towards humanity, Ghidorah would be reluctant to team up with him, but he would agree so he can get a new body and finish his plan. It would also be stated that the terrorists tried to create their new titan with what they got from Kevin's head, but were unsuccessful in creating one. But with Ghidorah on their side, they would be able to create a titan that could take down the alphas. They would use Ren's body and the experimented Ghidorah DNA to create Monster X who after some time would turn into Keizer Ghidorah.

With Kiryu it would go like this. Monarch had rebuilt Mechagodzilla, now dubbed Kiryu, so that it can help the titans and protect humanity alongside their second mecha Moguera (This was the mecha that Monarch was working on in Skull Island in this story idea). After making sure that there were no connections to Ghidorah in Kiryu, they would apply the now researched Hollow Earth Energy into Kiryu and Moguera, hoping that this time does not go horribly wrong. It works and both mechas are fully operational, Monarch celebrates this accomplishment. But then they realize that Kiryu is moving on its own, so they immediately shutdown Kiryu. They check to see what happened and they realized that it was not Ghidorah this time, it was all that was left of the real Ren Serizawa. Ren now possesses Kiryu. From here on Ren would get a redemption arc, get use to his new body and new life, he would also have a pilot that is his cousin Akane Serizawa. It would also be interesting to see how he interacts with Godzilla now that he is on his level. Ren of course would not want to help Monarch, especially the titans. But after some character development and a note that his father wrote for him before he sacrificed himself to bring back Godzilla, he decides to heal his wounds by making peace with the demons who created them. So, he helps Godzilla, and the others defeat the new threat.

It sounds like these two characters meet in the same story, but they do not. Kiryu would be introduced first, then Monster X would be introduced in another story. And if you are wondering what is the threat that Ren helps Godzilla and the others defeat, well it is none other than Destoroyah!

I know a lot of people want him to be the final boss of the Monsterverse but this time I wanted to do something different with him, and do not worry, he will still be powerful. The story that he appears in will basically be a team up movie like The Avengers or The Justice League. I know it might be very cheesy to do that with the titans, but let’s be honest, a lot of us would love to see that with the famous kaijus.

And if you are wondering who I would put as the team members are, they would be: Godzilla, Kong (who at this point in time met Lady Kong and had a son), Mothra, Gamera, Zilla, Ultraman, Gomora and Kiryu.

Back with Destoroyah. In the story, he and his fellow infected crustaceans would represent man’s attempts at staying at the top of the food chain and showing how those attempts not only hurt the planet, but also themselves. First, they attack Isla De Mara and some environments filled with animals (basically showing that they are the apex predator of all living creatures) where they would be stopped by our main titans, Monarch, and the military. Then they would attack major cities and the Hollow Earth. Kong, Gamera, Zilla, Ultraman, Gomora and the military would deal with the crustaceans on the surface, while Godzilla, Mothra and Monarch would deal with Destoroyah in the Hollow Earth.

Just as they were about to defeat Destroyah, he ends up reaching his final form. He then leaves Mothra knocked out, Monarch weakened and Godzilla heavily wounded. He was about to kill Godzilla but was interrupted by Godzilla Jr. (Godzilla's adopted son), Leo and Lea (Mothra's asexually reproduced children). Destoroyah taunts them by nearly landing killing blows on them, and just as he is about to kill them in front of Godzilla and Mothra, Ren arrives and stops him from killing them. After a battle between them, Destoroyah gets the upper hand but Ren's plan was not trying to defeat him, his plan was to distract him so that Mothra and Godzilla could heal.

As they recover from their injuries and get their kids to safety, the other members of the team arrive and they all team up to take down Destoroyah. As they all battle him, Destoroyah calls his fellow crustaceans to come and help him, but since they are all dead, he realizes he is all alone and gets defeated by the team.

As team roars in victory and show that they respect each other, Destoroyah awakens and tries to attack them once again, but is immediately attacked by Godzilla's atomic breath and Kiryu's Proton scream leaving him close to death. But he gets back up once again, still trying to be at the top of the food chain. As he limps towards Godzilla, some of the humans and titans start to feel sorry for him. He tries to land a hit on Godzilla, but instead falls face first to the ground gasping for air. Eventually, he takes his last breath, and his bright yellow eyes go out. 

At the end of this story, not only would the government be convinced to stop working on the oxygen destroyer and destroy all blueprints of it, so that no one else can create another Destoroyah and destroy another species. But would also give more hope to the humans and titans that co-existence between them will be more possible. 

In an after-credit scene, we see Alan Jonah and his terrorist group monitoring the newly formed team. In the background, we see Ren's body now being turned into Monster X with some monitors right next to him that are checking on other evil titans that they have captive (which are new kaijus and old kaijus like Gigan and Megalon). Jonah is waiting for his perfect time to strike.

This first part is basically how I would do Phase 2 of the Monsterverse with these three. And in part two, I will explain my story ideas for the last 3 Monsterverse movies in phase 3 and show who the fourth Godzilla kaiju is that I plan to introduce and who will also be the Thanos/Darkseid of this universe.

I know a lot of people will not like the idea of feeling bad for Destoroyah, I understand that. But since we had other stories where they make us feel sorry for the villain, I wanted to try it out with him. And just like with the previous MV titan villains showing the arrogance of man, I wanted Destoroyah to show that as well and teach the humans that while they are no longer at the top of the food chain, they can still help the titans in protecting the planet they all call home. (On a side note, I would love for Destoroyah's death theme to sound like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGoo5-jfzsw)

[dathen]

it’s weird seeing how even more distant from the show the tma shitposts get as time goes on. just saw one talking about how jonah named himself elias as an inside joke/play on words instead of straight-up stealing the body of someone named elias. like. that’s not a very hard plot point to miss; if you know he’s jonah you know he’s piloting a completely separate stolen body while his own rots away in the panopticon. how did “jonah just changed his name to elias for a joke” get to be widely accepted fanon

[archeolgstarch]

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐄 ( not accepting ) :   “you could’ve asked me, you know.” for @afraidofchange​ ( alice shepard )

             𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐀'𝐒 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐄, at her words - such a simple words, almost beautiful in their simplicity, and lara had not thought of it once. she runs the tip over her tongue over her teeth as she bows her head, shoulders hunching while remaining still as alice cleaned the cut on her arm. deep in the jungle of peru, they had somehow come out of the plane crash unscathed. lara had found both alice and jonah relatively in tact - their pilot had not been so lucky. lara didn’t want to worry either of them at first. she didn’t want to share how close a call it had been with the jaguars; she’d hoped that once she killed one of them the empress would disappear into the greenery and they’d find kuwaq yaku. 

            lara hadn’t even seen the cut so awkwardly placed in the back of her arm, just felt it as the open wound was caressed by harsh textures of the jungle. that’s when alice had found her, angled awkwardly, trying to clean it up. the last thing she needed was a tropical infection invading her system, not when they were hot on trinity’s trail. 

            this wasn’t easy for lara. reaching out, asking for help. the past year had been trying. she’d isolated herself, cut off any attempts at contact from both alice and jonah. she let her hunt for trinity come before everything else, so much that she had lost sight of why she was doing this. as she held her father’s notes in her hands, while visiting the old monastery in tibet, the last place both her parents had been alive, if not at the same time, she felt the depth of desecration she’d done to their memories, and watched the site crumble and fall as trinity took away the last hope she had. hope for what? was she really going to be altering reality? upsetting the balance of life and death? it was not her place to be judge, jury, and executioner. she’d thought for the longest time that she realized that too late. she had a life and purpose and people she lived for. she wanted them to take her back, and they did. 

            and now she was ruining everything all over again. but this was not about her. this was about the people who lost their lives in cozumel. two past days spent in her hell as they plucked bodies, both dead and dying from debris of the once vivacious village left in destruction after the tsunami. the cleansing that she brought upon. now the storm grounded their plane, killed someone else. 

            lara hissed, bracing against flinching out of place as alice wrapped her arm, but still kept her eyes facing forward, averted from alice’s sure to be kind yet stern gaze. look at me, lar. she could hear alice shuffle, moving to sit against the rock next to her. what’s on your mind? 

            lara finally lifted her head,  ❝ i’m thinking about what jonah said. back in mexico. ❞ lara whispers quietly - she didn’t want jonah to think she’d blamed him, or even felt anything but deserving of his anguish, of his frustration.  ❝ he’s right. this is not about me. but i’m the only one who can make it right. ❞

            alice listened, head dipping in a deep nod. that still doesn’t explain why you didn’t ask me to help you clean that. you were hurt.              lara blinked owlishly at that, heart jumping to the base of her throat, as she rubbed her palms together, her head beginning to shake as she struggled to find her words. ❝ i don’t know. i guess i thought i couldn’t possibly ask more of you. i’ve already asked for so much, and you’ve given me so much...❞ 

            her nervous hands stilled when alice’s slipped between them, taking lara’s in her own calloused, tight grip. hey. that’s not the deal. you need me, i’m here. that’s not going to change. lara looked up from the dirt and stone to find her solace in alice’s endless bright blues, her fingers squeezing tightly around alice’s. lara had her. she had her. she was not alone. she could reach for her, when she needed her, and that was okay. lara’s head moved in a slow nod that gained assurance and speed with the passing moment as she breathed out. the jungle stilled around them, the breeze cooling if for just a moment, a songbird alleviating the heaviness on lara’s heart as her lips twitched into a fleeting smile. she’s not alone.

[valeriethepussycats]

Assemble

Chapter 14

Pairing- Loki x Reader x Steve (one side)

Warning- cursing

Your thoughts and other characters are in italics.

Your Alter ego name- Red Wing

Several humvees  aim their mounted .50 Cal guns into the sky, firing and hitting  Chitauri Riders. Captain America fights off a soldier who is pinning him down with its energy rifle. Cap breaks it’s leg. He stands up, pickingup his shield.

“Captain, the bank on 42nd past Madison, they caught a lot of civilians there.”  Clint told Steve.

“I'm on it.” Steve answered.

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Dozens of civilians are gathered in bank. Tension and uncertainty surround them. Three Chitauri  Soldiers oversee them, pointing their weapons at them. One of them charges a bomb.

Captain America jumps through the window and throws his shield at the Chitauri bomber. The two Chitauri Soldiers aim their rifles, but Cap heads for cover under a desk, which he kicks at them. Captain America jumps over the desk, headlocks a soldier, while backhanding another one over the railing. The crowd moves away. A Chitauri Soldiers attacks him from behind and rips off his helmet. The bomb is beeping faster.

“Everyone! Clear out!” Steve shouted.

Captain America flips over the soldier, grabs his shield and just as the bomb is about to go off, Chitauri bomber. dives for, trying to stop it, but it goes off, sending Captain America through the window, landing very hard on a car. The civilians look up from below.

They're okay.

Cap gets off the car, looks around the city. Destroyed. The police and firemen arrive, pulling out those civilians he saved. A waitress looks back, thankful.

“Well every thing here gone shit.” A voice announced.

Steve turns around and see Logan leaning down on the Hood of a burning car, lighting his cigar.

“Who are you?” Steve questioned.

“I’m Wolverine and I’m here to help.” Logan said breathing out the smoke.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Back in the bridge, Fury sees on his viewsscreen the World Security Council.

“Director Fury, the council has made a decision.” World Security Council #2 announced.

“I recognize the council has made a  decision, but given that it's a stupid

ass decision, I've elected to ignore it.” Nick snapped.

“Director, you're closer than any of  oursubs, you scramble that jet...” World Security Council #1 started.

“That is the island of Manhattan, Councilman. Until I'm certain my team can't hold it, I will not order a nuclear strike against a civilian population.” Nick explained.

“If we don't hold them in the air, we lose everything.”  

“I send that bird out, we already have.” Nick shuts off his viewscreen.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Black Widow, still driving the chariot with the rider, is hit at  her side. She looks about, wondering whose Energy fire it was she looks behind.

“Oh. You.” Loki follows in hot pursuit. They race downward, trailing between buildings. They race madly, driving and dodging.

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Hawkeye looks at Black Widow, astonished. “Nat, what are you doing?”

“Uh... a little help!” Natasha voiced.

Hawkeye pulls the trigger twice, nocks an arrow, and points it at Loki, smiling.

“I've got him.” Hawkeye find the arrow streaks down the city, straight at Loki’s head...Snatch! Like a cat, Loki grabs the arrow straight out of the air...looks straight at Hawkeye, smiling...BBoooommm!! The arrow explodes in Loki’s face, crashing into the Stark penthouse pad.

Black Widow looks down and building her momentum, she jumps of the chariot, lands on top of Stark Towers, rolling herself to the edge.

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As Loki looks up, shocked at what just happened, The Hulk is leaping and kicking Loki hurtling towards the glass window.  He collapse as he hits the wall. The Hulk jumps in, ready to attack. Loki rolls  himself up in a flurry of broken glass, standing up to the Hulk.

“ENOUGH! YOU ARE, ALL OF YOU ARE BENEATH ME! I AM A GOD, YOU DULL CREATURE, AND   I WILL NOT BE BULLIED...”

Hulk grabs Loki by the legs and smashes him against the floor repeatedly and finally throwing him against the ground flattening Loki.

“Puny God.” Hulk mocked.

Loki whimpers in pain.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Black Widow walks up the CMS machine. Erik, slumped down, weakened, looks at her desperately. The Tesseract's energy is firing towards the portal, gaining in strength, at the surge of energy moving through the sky.

“Doctor.” Natasha called out.

“Loki's scepter, the energy...the Tesseract can't fight. You can't protect against yourself.” Erik started.

“It's not your fault. You didn't know what you were doing.” Natasha said tried to reassure Erik.

“Well, actually I think I did. I built in a safety to cut the power source.” Erik answered.

“Loki's scepter.”

“It might be able to close the portal.” Erik looks down. He sees a gold gleam. “And I'm looking right at it.”

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Thor rides on top of chariot, Smacking several soldiers with the hammer. As Thor takes the reins, a Chitauri Leviathan crashes   through a building, knocking him down to where Cap and Wolverine  is, fighting off soldiers. Red Wing and Iron Man flies right next to the Chitauri Leviathan. Red Wing holds out her hand to slow down the The Leviathan while Tony aims his laser Booster at it. Nothing.

“Sir, we will lose power before you cut through that shell.” Jarvis Informed.

Iron Man flies up ahead, facing the oncoming monster.

“I would freeze it and then you could shot one of your....” Y/n looks to her left and  doesn’t see Tony. “Tony??”

“Jarvis. You ever hear the tale of Jonah?” Tony wondered.

“I wouldn't consider him a role model.” Jarvis answered.

“No don’t Tony.” Y/n shouted

Iron Man flies towards The Chitauri Leviathan, unleashing every arsenal on the suit. The Chitauri Leviathan opens its mouth. Iron Man flies in and bursts out the other end, making the Chitauri Leviathan collapse. Iron Man rolls down the street. The wind is knocked out of him. He looks up with an overwhelming sigh as a small band of Chitauri soldiers rush towards him,holding out their rifles they all fired at him busting one of his thrusters. Red Wing uses her powers to make it very cold on the Chitauri soldiers to the point of freezing and then shattering them into pieces. Y/n  rushes to Tony holding her hands out to warm him up.

“I’m sorry. Are you ok.”

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Hawkeye turns to fire his last arrow. Using his bow as a staff, he knocks some Chitauri soldiers, before yanking his last arrow off the dead body a Chitauri soldiers. Hawkeye nocks his arrow, dives down the building fires his grappling arrow up into the side of building. Falling down, Hawkeye finds the momentum and SWINGS himself into a building and cannonballs in.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

The Hulk  holds Chitauri soldiers by the face and slams  them down. More keep coming. Hulk looks up. Hundreds of riders hover over him. Then... they begin to fire energy blasts. Hulk takes them like he’s running though a light rain. Blocking the stream of streaking blasts, as though swatting at bees.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

A lone pilot sits in his cockpit, listening.

“Director Fury is no longer in command. Override order, 7 ALPHA 11.”

World Security Council #2  told the pilot.

“7 ALPHA 11, confirmed. Prepare to takeoff.” He ignites his engine.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Back in the bridge, Agent Hill sees on her screen 7 ALPHA 11 preparing to leave. “Sir, we have a bird in motion! Anyone  on the deck, we have a rogue bird! We need to shut it down! Repeat! Take off is not authorized!”

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Nick Fury runs out to the deck, holding a Airtronic RPG-7. He takes aim and fires, hitting the tail end of the jet. The  jet skids off towards the edge. Pilot unharmed. Suddenly, another 7 ALPHA 11 jet flies  off. Fury stands there,knowing he can't do anything about it.

“Stark, you hearing me? We have a missile headed straight for the city.” Nick told Tony through the earpiece.

“How long?” Tony asked.

“Three minutes, at best. Stay low and wipe out the missile.”

Y/n  looks over at Tony him not needing to say anything. “A missile and it’s Three minutes out.....you can’t take it they shot your thrusters.

Without a second thought Red Wing leaves the streets and flies up into the sky. 7 ALPHA 11 arrives outside the city. He flips the switch to press the button. He presses it. The missile is flying out to Manhattan. “Destination is in 2 minutes, 30 seconds mark.”

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Captain America and Thor Battle, Side by side while Wolverine is slicing and dicing some soldiers with his claws on the outer side. Cap and Thor both throw their respected weapons. Thor catches Mjölnir, but as Cap turns, an Energy blast strikes him down hard. Thor runs over to a broken car, swings the hammer and flips the car over and over on its side, crushing a few Chitauri soldiers. Cap tries to get up. Thor helps him back to his feet. Cap raises his shield back up.

“You ready for another bout?” Thor asked.

“What? You gettin' sleepy?” Replied.

Wolverine plunges his clawed hand into gut of one of the soldiers. And Steve and Thor looks at him. “What?”

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Erik, back in scientist mode, clacks  away at his laptop. Henods. Black Widow grabs Loki's scepter, slowly breaks into the Force field, almost touching the Tesseract. “I can close it! Can anybody hear me? I can shut the portal down!”

“Do it!” Steve exclaimed.

“No, wait!” Y/n blurted.

“Y/n, these things are still coming!” Steve disclosed.

“I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute. One of Tony’s thrusters are Busted and I’m the only who can get to it the fastest....And I know just where to put it.” Y/n explained.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Y/n catchers up, now comes at the missile from behind. The missile speeds on.

“Maximum effor.” Y/n proclaimed.

With the uttermost amount of effort, Red Wing touches the missile then use her powers to wrenches the rocket off its course. Steering it from behind, she accelerates quickly, flying straight up into sky, towards the portal.

“Y/n, you know that's a one-way trip?” Steve stated.

“Hey if I die build me a statue.” Y/n answered.

“What’s going on?” Logan asked.

“There’s a missile and Y/n going to put it in the portal.” Steve answered.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Back in the bridge, every single agent holds their breath as they watch Y/n  fly up into the portal. But Nick is concern by 1000 Y/n  is going into outer space without any protection. Y/n limbs higher and higher over the city, gaining speed, suddenly flings herself through the portal.

“Y/n!! Y/n!! Can you hear me.” Nick called out.

But it’s to late communications has die. Y/n begins to feel cold. She looks looks in horror. She about to die.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Every single agent cheers. Fury smiles. He tries to communicate with Y/n. Nothing.

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The black sky is filled with what must be ninety ships in a vague cluster. Most of them hang still in the air. Some move swimmingly about. Y/n let’s go of the missile. All of a sudden Y/n begins to feel warm and then a burst of the fire comes out form within Her.  Blasting her back out of the portal and blowing the missile up. Y/n being to free fall back down the portal's opening. The explosion from Y/n  and a missile reaches the main ship. The main ship implodes, causing the entire Armada  to burst into a supernova, creating a spectacular heavenly display.

Final

@aesthethickks​

[thegayagenda-forkids]

Why Cami is important, and why we need more of her types of characters.

While everyone is watching the Cartero/Tennis Boyfriends storyline, as well as Elena’s story and Gabi’s story, I want to talk about the only openly gay character at the moment (Episode 7/8), Camilla, but to really get to talk about her, I have to dive a little bit into the history of gay characters in comedies.*

**I’m only including gay characters in comedies because otherwise my list would be too long to be able to dive into, and this post is going to be mostly about Cami.

So, the first openly gay character to appear on American TV is Steve, played by Phillip Carey in 1971 on “All in the Family.” He appeared for only one episode, but he opened the door back when being gay was taboo, and wrong, and he wasn’t killed onscreen or beaten up. In fact, he was played straight, in a way. Throughout the episode, the main character is speculating about several other men being gay, while Steve was described by that character to be “a real man’s man.” It’s at the end of the episode where Steve comes out to him, dismisses the rumors about the other men the main character suspected, and then he was never seen on TV again. And his appearance is so important because it challenged stereotypes of what gay men on TV were, and where it was appropriate to see these topics. He opened the door for more gay characters to show up.

However, it was a bit of a double-edged sword because for the next several years, the gay characters we saw were “very special episode” characters, approached the same way these characters would approach cancer, or drugs, or addiction. They were a sensitive topic people need to know about, the episode will be less funny to show the full gravity of the situation. But, gay people were seen on TV.

Slowly, people start accepting that gay people exist, and while they might not wish direct harm on them, the general attitude was still very anti-LGBT rights. So gay characters shifted on tv and they were no longer sensitive topics to approach, but a minor/recurring character who was overwhelmingly male, flamboyant, stereotyped to hell, and typically, the “Gay Best Friend.”

The true turning point, in my opinion, was Ellen DeGeneres on “Ellen.” She was the main character of her show, personally in the process of finding herself and coming out, and then deciding to have the character she played come out in a serious, but relatively humorous way. There was backlash, her show didn’t last much longer after that, and overall, she took a huge risk. But she started the first step of the process: character first, sexuality second. She wasn’t defined for being gay like every other person, with potentially the exception of Steve, was up to this point.

But Steve and Ellen served different purposes. Steve de-stigmatized the idea of gay people appearing on TV by only revealing he was gay at the end. He only appeared for one episode, let everyone see how throughout the episode, he was the opposite of gay men they built up in their mind, and then only let the hammer drop right before vanishing forever. Ellen went through four years of people getting to know her, she was the principal main character, and then she came out after. Steve allowed gay people to be shown more on TV, Ellen allowed us to get to know them.

Then around that time, let me just say this: “Friends” was pretty problematic with several issues like the character of Ross and how Chandler’s birth parent transitioning, but there was one thing that was pretty well handled and relatively holds up, and that’s Carol and Susan. Now, by no means was their portrayal and representation perfect, and Ross frequently made jokes revolving around the fact that his ex-wife was a lesbian, but they were never jokes about Carol being wrong or weird, but rather self-deprecating ones, and then the show went on to show them raising and co-parenting a young boy with Ross and they even had the first lesbian wedding on TV, and, at least in my memory, they were never sexualized, meaning that they weren’t created to be objects of mens’ desires, they were simply in love and trying to lead fulfilling lives with each other.

And now we go from the sidelines all the way front and center with the original airing (not the reboot) of “Will and Grace.” The main character was an openly gay man living with a straight woman, who had a gay and an ambiguous, but potentially, bisexual best friends (Jack and Karen). And boy, was this show the first of it’s kind. Will wasn’t portrayed as flamboyant and taking on a stereotypical job, but rather the respected position as a lawyer, owning a nice apartment, and him being gay was only used as a fact while he dated men throughout the show. People at the time earnestly believed Will and Grace would get together in the end by how un-stereotypical and “not gay” Will acted.

But acting as his foil was Jack, perhaps the most flamboyant character to ever grace TV screens. He was loud, overly dramatic, cared too much about his appearance, and his goal was to be an actor. And he wasn’t automatically Will’s boyfriend because he was also gay. He was Will’s closest friend, a confidant, and though he could be an asshole, Jack was true to himself, even if his true self was every gay stereotype shoved into one body while Will got to break those stereotypes by being a well developed and well rounded character.

From there, Gay characters are a mixed bag. Normally in tv shows marketed for people 16 and up, not for children, and typically as side characters. We get our Kurt Hummels, our Mitch and Cams, our Oscar Martinezes, and all these others. They’re occasionally the main character in a cast, most of the time the side characters, and they’re varied. They’re also more visible, and they’re popping up more and more. Now, I’m not even going to get into Brooklyn Nine-Nine in terms of Queer representation because I could go on for days about how they’ve got it, and go into the similar media and target audience.

I’m, of course, talking about “Good Luck Charlie.”

Now I know, I KNOW! It was one episode where there were two moms that showed up for a play date. But it was one of the first kids’ shows to show a gay couple, and by kids, I mean that it’s marketed for people under 16 as well. And it was also pretty well addressed. The parents are wondering how to separate the couple in order to hang out while their toddlers played at the same time as arguing over who was the child’s mother since they each only met one. And when they open the door to Cheryl and Susan, they greet them normally and the only acknowledgment that comes is the father hitting his head like he had forgotten a word and saying “Taylor has two moms,” simply settling the argument about who was Taylor’s mom. And the rest of the episode was just about the parents trying to make friends but being annoying people until Susan and Cheryl fake headaches to leave. The episode treated them not as a “Gay Couple,” but rather a couple who happened to be gay. Not even Modern Family 10 years after the pilot can act like that.

And I KNOW you guys are waiting for it: Cyrus Goodman and Thelonious Jagger Kippen. I bet if I were to take a poll right now of who’s Disney’s first openly gay character, at least 90% of people would say it’s Cyrus Goodman. He was developed as his own person first; this adorable, quirky boy who loved his two best friends more than anything and would get over-enthusiastic for anything they did or he decided to pursue, and he went through panic, then he came out to Buffy. It’s also impressive that for Disney’s first gay main character, they didn’t have him already self-assured that he’s gay, but rather figuring it out and terrified when he came out to Buffy. He was afraid of what she’d think of him, what she’d say, and how their friendship would continue, which I touch more on *here.* At the same time, T.J. is also developed from a bully and antagonist to one of Cyrus’s newest, closest friends. He faces homophobic microaggresions while developing feelings towards Cyrus until he finally finds the courage to confess and start something new at the last episode. The fact that T.J. didn’t come out as gay until the last episode does not diminish his worth as a gay character. He was groundbreaking too because he is the first gay love interest in a Disney Show (and I mean mutual, because otherwise, that title would go to Jonah Beck and I’m not sure he can be counted as canon anything).

And now everyone is focusing on Bobby and Liam on “Diary of a Future President,” which is what the writers are shooting for, but we cannot forget about Cami! She is a form of casual representation that we need more of in writing. There was no marketing for her by Disney as a gay character, and she portrays a realistic representation. She mentions her girlfriend, makes small comments like “you two are hetero goals,” and lets us glimpse into her life. And she doesn’t take over a room like Jack does, she’s there for Cami, and has a good relationship with her kids, as proven by Gabi trusting her to pick up Bobby and Liam from Jupiter. And then the significance of Cami freeing Bobby and Liam from a storage closet is something I touched on earlier *here*.

So why is Cami important? Because she is the casual representation we want and deserve! She’s not a big deal on the show, but she also not diminished. She doesn’t need to make headlines to be important. She’s real, and believable, and I’m hoping there’s more of her as well as characters like her. Casual representation is important too, and it’s important because she’s not the only queer character on the show, and the other queer person isn’t her love interest.

Hopefully I got my message across that Cami is the next step of queer characters in shows.

[kalinara]

So today’s RipWeek topic is “romance”.

I’ve certainly blogged a lot about Rip and romance in the past.  I’m a TimeHex shipper from way back, I like TimeShip, Hunterburn, Time Canary, and pretty much any other version you can think of.  I genuinely think that Rip was lowkey romantically in love with his entire team, happy to pine for each one of them and write terrible sonnets that will never see the light of day.

But I really find Rip’s relationship with romance  or romantic love to be interesting in its own right, because I think we underestimate how truly different his (and Miranda’s) perspective of love and romance must be from our own.

Rip was a Time Master from the age of ten-ish.  Before that, it’s hard to say.  He was living on the streets at age five, and living a life harsh enough that even when living in a safe place with a maternal figure he clearly adores, he’s still inclined to stab the nearest threat.

The Time Masters are a cold organization.  Even Mary Xavier, while maternal and supportive, is brisk and efficient in manner.  Casual expressions of affection doesn’t seem to be a thing for them.

Teamwork is definitely not a thing for them.  In the flashbacks in Marooned, we saw Miranda Coburn ace her Captain’s exam by pulling a maneuver that endangered herself and her teammate, without any kind of warning.  It got results though.

“Attachment” is discouraged, and we can see why, when Rip talks about how his infatuation with life in the Wild West (...if that’s what we’re calling Jonah Hex), almost led him to stay behind and give it all up.  We know Rip’s seen some awful stuff.

And we saw how an illicit love affair, between equals, led to public humiliation, and one of them forced to resign her position completely.  Later, they sacrifice her as though she meant nothing.

One thing that stands to me, when I think about the beginning of season one, is how quietly supportive Rip is when it comes to romance for and between the crew.  It doesn’t really fit his initial demeanor of course, but it’s definitely there.

In the Pilot episodes, the moment that I would consider to be Rip’s defining moment, is when he saves Martin’s marriage.  He didn’t have to do that.  He could have left Martin’s fuck up alone, a harsh, painful lesson.  If he were as much of a cold, selfish asshole as a lot of fans liked to complain, he would have left it alone.  But it was important to Martin, and it was important to him.

After Carter died, Rip immediately gave up the closest thing he had to a workable plan against Savage to get his body back for Kendra.  Even though Kendra may have been dying.  It was important to him that she have that comfort and that closure.  When Scythian Torvill appeared, and Kendra couldn’t kill Savage, Rip protested and then agreed: he understood that Kendra couldn’t sacrifice someone she loved.

Rip kind of slyly supported Ray and Kendra, as evidenced when he left Ray in charge of the Waverider in Marooned, and left Kendra “in charge” of Ray.  He was cautiously encouraging to Jax in Night of the Hawks, only solemnly advising him to be careful, because a young black man dating a young white woman in the 1950s is taking a very big risk.  

Rip never makes a big show of it, and never makes speeches about it, but it’s clear that love is something that Rip wants to support.  Even in season 3, when everything starts going off the rails, Rip recognizes what’s going on with Sara and Ava, and doesn’t want to jeopardize that.

Romance for Rip himself though is complicated.  His love for Miranda came paired with humiliation and death.  Whatever went on with Jonah Hex was illicit and rule-breaking, forcing Rip into a choice between Calvary and the Time Masters.  His thing with Gideon is almost completely unacknowledged, except for a single kiss in a disintegrating mindscape.  Even afterward, when it’s just the two of them, with no potential negative consequences, Rip has no intention of talking about it until Gideon brings it up.

I think that, for Rip, romantic love will always be on the edge of taboo.  It’s tantalizing and secret, shameful and delightful at the same time.  It’s not something that he’s willing to acknowledge in words, unless forced, but it’s something he will support in all forms when he can.  

[riphuntertimemasterlegend]

Rip Hunter Bingo Challenge

I participated in the Rip Hunter Bingo Challenge and here’s my card:

Here’s my bingo blackout:

Gideon

"And this is Gideon, she's the A.I. of the Waverider." Time Master Druce waved at the blue, bald floating head which provided a visual representation for any captain.

"Gideon, I'm your new Captain, Rip Hunter."

"Captain." He couldn't quite tell if that was sincere or mocking. No matter, he had all the time in the world to build a strong working relationship with her. He turned to his mentor. "Permission to take the Waverider on a test run."

"Permission granted. Gideon will be sent the details of your first mission."

Rip was already halfway to the pilot's chair but turned and said, "Thank you, Sir."

Druce nodded then strode off the bridge.

Rip's attention was fully back on the pilot's chair as he sat down and pulled the restraint over his shoulders. "Let's see what we can do."

Hidden knife or knives

Rip's hand slid under his pillow, clutching the knife underneath it. This might or might not be a safe haven but he wasn't about to take any chances. All he knew was that he was far from the rat and bully infested streets he had existed on. This was his way of protecting himself if the man had lied to him.

1970s

Rip Hunter stalked angrily back onto the Waverider. Mission accomplished, but at what price? He had resisted the urge to button up his shirt after he had left the disco, he needed to blend in, not stand out. "Tony Manero is well on his way to winning the dancing competition. The time line has been righted. Tell me this hair dye washes out, Gideon."

He almost screamed as "Staying Alive" remained an earworm as he ran to the bathroom.

Body swap

Rip massaged his temples as Doctor Palmer, no, Mr. Jackson in the former's body began to explain the latest mishap the Legends had suffered and to demand an immediate cure.

And for bingo blackout:

Memory Loss

When Rip drinks to excess, Gideon records him. If he forgets what he had done, Gideon will remind him by playing the footage if she thought it was funny. If she didn't, then she claims he had a boring night drinking and went to bed, no matter what he really did.

It inspires him to make backups of his memories and store them securely.

Drinking alcohol

He first drank alcohol when he was in the Wild West for the first time, and ordered a shot of rot gut for an authentic experience of the time. Jonah Hex met Rip, when Rip was choking on it, claimed it went down the wrong way.

Mary Xavier

When Miranda gave birth to Jonas, Rip 'kidnapped' Mary to meet her grandson. Gideon kept her updated on the family until it all went to hell where they were living.

Aliens

Rip has always wanted to meet an alien.

Something is wrong with Gideon

Early on, after a mission is successfully completed, Rip realizes something is wrong with Gideon and works feverishly on her for a week, fixing her. He then adds a ton of command codes, partly to keep her safe, partly to get his way if he gives a command and she doesn't want to obey it, she has to anyway.

1980s

Rip is there when the Berlin Wall comes down and celebrates with everyone else.

Time changes, people don't

Rip can only shake his head as he watched the 1918 pandemic play out, and the stupidity of people as another pandemic hits the world in 2020 and still don't listen to the medical advice of professionals as evil people take advantage to gather ever more money.

1880s

Rip was in the Wild West when he first learned to ride a horse.

Someone pretends to be a historical figure

While Ray pretends to be Edwin Adams to distract prominent members of a town, Rip goes off to burgle a scroll that should not be there.

There was only one bed

Newly human Gideon is somehow ejected from the Waverider and tossed about in time. Rip finds her and brings her to safety, he has a small house with one bed. Happy reunion when Gideon wakes up and Rip cuddles her later so she can sleep.

Unlikely friends

Rip saved Nikola Tesla from a suicide attempt and felt obligated to check in on him from time to time. They became friends and Tesla inspired Rip to start inventing.

Bad science

After a small village in England was poisoned by bad science, Rip had to save them.

The Legends make something worse

After the Legends killed a Japanese warlord ten years early, one of the first things Rip had to do after inventing Time Couriers was to go back and revive the warlord so history would play out properly.

Rip fights with a sword

As a newly graduated Time Master, Rip went to France and quickly learned how to use a sword properly when he faced d'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers. After surviving that lesson they all went drinking together.

The pied piper's flute

Only Gideon knew that in a locked drawer of his desk, Rip kept the legendary pied piper's flute. Whenever she tried to find out more, he would say wearily, "Don't ask."

George Lucas

When time was fixed, Rip used his Time Courier for one personal trip, to see "Star Wars" on its very first showing and to congratulate George Lucas.

Wanted poster

When Rip finally left the Wild West after almost staying there, he stopped his horse and carefully removed the wanted poster of Jonah Hex as a reminder, he wasn't quite sure if it was to remember some good times or to remember not to hyper fixate and almost lose himself. A bit of both, probably.

Rip hides something

Until he was trapped in his own mind, Rip had susccessfully hidden most of his feelings about Gideon.

One day, he plans to claim the ship and have a discussion with her, after his new base is established.

Rip is a crack marksman

Only Gideon is aware that Rip is a crack marksman, the Legends put down a few near misses as miracles when, unseen, Rip had shot their adversaries.

Young Rip

During his first year with Mary Xavier, Michael would make midnight raids of the kitchen and kept small stashes of food in his room and outside the house. Mary indulged him and as Michael grew to trust her, the raids grew less and less.

[nemossubmarine]

Warhammer 40k: Wrath & Glory RP #8

We pick right back up with the party on its way to Jonah’s World. The trip takes several hours, so they have time to eat and take naps if needed. Finally the planet comes to view, covered in a thick layer of clouds, with no space ship in orbit. They duck beneath the clouds, into an empty world, filled with giant statues of a man holding his own head (saint Jonah). After some flying they find a Space Wolves troop-carrier ship on one of the squares. They land. A question of who’s going out comes up, and Brakes McGee de-volunteers (they’re a pilot, lover and drinker, not a fighter). Alice is still in a bad shape, so she stays in sleeping. In the end, Larry, Coco and Izarak head off just the three of them.

They approach the ship, but it appears quite empty and knocking on the door makes no difference. Luckily there are footsteps on the dust covering the plaza, and the party follows it to a large church, with big angel statues. There is also some blood in front of the altar at the back. Larry and Coco go investigate, but Izarak stays back, telling the two that he’ll look around elsewhere. The blood appears several years old, but there is a lot of it, so clearly someone has died here. Behind the altar there is a staircase going down. Larry and Coco call Izarak over, who, after a brief hesitation, joins them.

They go down the stairs and enter a crypt which looks pretty similar to the one they saw back in Asphodel, though clearly people buried here were of quite high ranking. Following the Wolves’ footsteps leads them to a body-preparation room, where there are several bodies in the process of mummification, and noticeably their heads have been cut off. There’s jewelry on the bodies, and as Larry notes they’re clearly not using any of it anymore. So Larry snags a Rosarius from one of the corpse’s mouth. Unfortunately one teeth has been lodged between the beads, so that comes along as well. Coco and Izarak are properly grossed out.

The footprints (or should I say pawprints???) of the Wolves get a bit confusing after this, but looking around Coco finds a hidden door behind a mural depicting saint Jonah in battle against Chaos without his head. Larry manages to get the door to open, which leads down to a tunnel carved right into the bed rock. They follow it down, and Coco spots a strange star symbol on the wall, which Izarak knows to tell is the symbol of Chaos, which is not great. The tunnel leads to a room with a big bloody altar on it. Double not great. The party hears someone laughing in the distance, but not like a clearly evil laugh. The party sneaks by the bloodied altar, trying to avoid it best they can, and start hearing men talking with each other in the tunnel beyond in a strange foreign language.

Izarak calls out to them, telling that they’ve been looking for them. Pretty soon a man clad in the power armour appears, clearly a Space Wolf based on the furs and teeth adorning him. Izarak explains the situation, that there’s an ork invasion on Dimmamar, and now Mechanicus have turned against the people. The Space Wolf says that that sounds more fun than Jonah’s World, and calls back his pack. He voxes someone while they make their way back out of the tunnels. Outside the church they are met up with other Wolves, led by a man in a metal wolf skull. The pack leader notices the ship with the Dark Angels’ logo on it, and says to Izarak that he assumed the Ministorum had called for them, not the Angels. Izarak apologizes for not being very clear. The pack leader growls about the Angels wanting for the Wolves to spill their blood for the Angels’ mistake, and then asks if they’re serfs of the Angels, which everyone disagrees with. The metal-wolf-headed man disappears inside the church and there’s an explosion soon. The pack leader invites the trio to their ship, as he thinks the Iron Priest (the metal-wolf-head guy) might have some questions.

Inside the Wolves take off their helmets and the pack leader and the Iron Priest introduce themselves. The pack leader is a man named Rødorn, a pale man with a huge scar forcing his mouth into a permanent growl. The Iron Priest is Skarde Kårevald a jovial looking man with a lot of cybernetic enhancements and even more piercings. Skarde questions the party about the armies on the planet, sounding a bit worried about the Imperial Knights, though Izarak at least isn’t aware that they would have fallen. He brings the party to a 3d map with several near-by planets lit up, and then focuses on Dimmamar, and Asphodel, asking for the party show where the Dark Angels are. He questions them about the Mechanicus they have spotted. Skarde and Rødorn have a chat in their own languages and people can pick up their mention of Mechanicus, and noticeably Mars. Larry mentions seeing a strange Mechanicus with a Fenrisian rune. Skarde looks nervous and says it’s a common housewarming gift. Larry mentions Vivek by name, and Skarde looks even more nervous but doesn’t take the bait.

As the Wolves are conversing among themselves, Coco pipes up and asks about the map with the planets. They’re apparently maps with current Wolf-presence. There’s one planet, by the name of Dysmonia that really caught Coco’s eye, and she asks what the Wolves are doing there, but neither Skarde or Rødorn know. She asks if they would have been there two years ago, and Rødorn says they’ve only been in the Imperium Nihilus for few months, called here by Lord Commander Dante of the Blood Angels, to help with stuff.

Skarde asks about the party’s and their crew’s technical acumen, and then says that anyone who’s even average is probably better than his brothers, so he asks them to join him when they got aboard the Wolves’ bigger ship. The trio returns to their own ship, explaining the situation and, in the case of Larry, complaining about the wet dog smell clinging to the Wolves. 

Larry pulls Izarak aside at the ship, and they have a small discussion about the data-chip. It’s obvious that many people are after it, and it might be best to hand it over to the Wolves for safe-keeping. Izarak tends to agree, so Larry, after getting an okay from Alice, gets the data-chip and hands it to Izarak.

They get into the Wolves’ ship and Skarde takes them to his workshop, where Wolves are piling ammunition. Skarde explains quickly what they’re supposed to do, and Izarak gets that they’re putting some signal blocking stuff into the ammunition. Skarde makes an offhanded comment about last time this happening it taking a year, and hoping to do it faster right now.

Izarak takes Skarde aside and explains that he received an item the Dark Angels and the Adeptus Mechanicus covet for during a confession, and he believes it has something to do with all this as the seal on it has been broken, and he thinks it would be safer with the Wolves. Skarde mentions about having a headache, and asks Izarak to place the data-chip in a metal box, which he does. Skarde says he’ll give the data-chip to the Mechanicus once it’s safe. Izarak points out the Dark Angel seal on it, and Skarde says that since Izarak knows how to keep secrets, what with taking confessions and all, maybe Izarak could keep this a secret as well.

Meanwhile, a Space Wolf appears into the doorway of the room, a blonde big man, clearly looking for Skarde. Skarde quickly joins him and the two have a worried conversation, Skarde explaining what has happened. Izarak notes the strange coloring of his shoulder pad, recognizing him to be a Lone Wolf. Larry does one better, despite not having seen him in 18 years, he recognizes the man to be none other than Uffe, brother of Gorm.

[kalinara]

Rip Week #1  The Many Faces of Rip

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything positive about Legends of Tomorrow.  However, it’s Rip Hunter Appreciation Week, which is a time meant for positivity!   At one point this show, and this character, had me blogging meta on a daily basis for almost two and a half years and introduced me to some great people! And I will always be grateful for that.

So the topic for Day 1 of Rip Hunter Appreciation Week: The Many Faces of Rip Hunter.

One thing that still fascinates me about Rip as a character is that, even though he’d only been a central character on the show for 1.5 seasons, we’ve gotten to see so many different sides of the character.  He’s been deconstructed so thoroughly and so fascinatingly, allowing us to really appreciate what makes the character tick.

Let’s start with Rip himself, the baseline number.  The guy who kidnapped a bunch of assholes, brought them to the roof of a tall building (and I still wonder how the stringy little bastard actually managed that) and gave them a sales pitch of a lifetime.

From the opening scene of the pilot, to Rip’s almost goodbye into the sun in Legendary, season one was first and foremost the story of a man broken by grief and betrayal, who slowly, and reluctantly found a reason to go on, and people to share it with.  Rip spent season one a raw, open wound, ugly in his pain and rage.  He tried very hard not to stay focused on his goal. He tried very hard not to care about his team.

He failed pretty much on day one, when he saved Martin Stein’s marriage.  He failed again not too long after that when he abandoned the closest thing he had to a working plan to get Carter’s body back for Kendra.  And he kept failing over and over again.

And they saved him.  They challenged him.  They forced him to look outside of his single-focused obsession and look at the people that they could save around them.  They forced him to take a long hard look at what he was doing when he started to go too far.  And he very clearly and very obviously loved them for it.

I still can’t believe that fandom still tries to claim that Rip didn’t care about his team, when we saw how broken he was after each major loss: Carter, Leonard, even Jax (almost).  That’s not a man who is unfeeling.

We saw Rip as a child: a tiny savage creature who, even when warm and fed, was still ready to stab the nearest adult who threatened him.  It gave a new, fascinating insight to the tension Rip had with both Leonard Snart and Mick Rory.  As well as possibly another reason that he’d bonded with Sara so strongly.  Rip is someone who understands what it means to become a monster in order to survive, and what it means to have to live with that afterward.  It likely does make it difficult when face to face with people who represented the worst of that time (and that’s not even touching on how child Rip probably met a number of people who looked and acted similar to our lovable Rogues, and it likely would not have ended well.)

We’ve never really seen the man Rip was before he was broken.  Except perhaps for a giddy romantic moment with Miranda and that horrible humiliation when they were caught.  We’ve heard a bit more: from that pirate in Marooned, from Magister Druce and Jonah Hex.   We can draw inferences: a man who was capable and skilled (though perhaps not as skilled as his wife :-)), who never the less was a rulebreaker at heart.  Someone who fell in love with the idea of heroism to the point where he almost left the Time Masters entirely.  Someone who, while loyal, wasn’t quite willing to trust his masters with the tool to unmake reality.  But at the same time, someone whose fundamental trust in INDIVIDUALS like Mary Xavier and Magister Druce, survived even when his world fell apart.

At the end of season 1, we got a Rip Hunter who was ready to finally move past his grief, and it will forever be something of a disappointment to me that the series decided to give us a time jump instead of actually showing us Rip learning to be part of a real team.

But season 2 did give us a truly fascinating deconstruction of Rip Hunter as an individual.

One very common plot in almost every superhero’s story is the depowerment story arc.  Who is our hero when he doesn’t have what makes him a hero?  It’s most common for men like Superman of course, but we even get it for folks like Batman or Green Arrow.  What are these men without their money, or their physicality?

What is Rip Hunter without his knowledge, his memories, or his time machine?

Well, we saw him.  And he was adorable!  Phil Gasmer was a hilarious story beat, but unlike maybe certain other storyline elements that we see in later seasons, there was also a point to Phil Gasmer.  Phil Gasmer showed us the kind of man that Rip Hunter is deep down.

He’s creative.  He’s clever.  He’s determined.  He’s a little whiny.  And definitely high.  Rip is a man who would benefit from a little unofficial pharmaceutical help.  He’s a man who, when the world suddenly goes sideways, will first attempt to protect his friend.  He’s a man who, when face to face with a stranger with scary abilities, will try to hit him with a script.  He’s a man who loves his team so much that even when he has no conscious recollection of them, he made them the basis of his movie.  And he’s a man who walked out to face the Legion to save a bunch of strangers who kidnapped him, because it was the right thing to do.

I’d like to think in another universe, Phil didn’t get kidnapped by Eobard Thawne there, but instead made it back on the ship, where the crew actually got the chance to get to know Rip without all the baggage.  I think they’d have gotten along.

And then there’s evil Rip.

“Teammate goes evil” storylines are a dime a dozen, in superhero lore, but there’s a reason for that.  When done well, they can be amazing.  And ultimately, I think the evil Rip storyline was done very well.

One of the things that I always liked about the evil Rip storyline is how it utterly destroyed that pervasive (and wrong!) fan idea that Rip never cared about his team.  Because they showed us a Rip who didn’t care about his team, and he was a fucking scary son of a bitch.

He also showed us how Rip’s best worst enemy was always going to be himself.  Because holy shit, Rip is competent when he’s not tripping himself up.  Turncoat was terrifying in all the best ways, and even that opening of Land of the Lost was amazing.  It’s still very amusing to me that the most effective member of the Legion of Doom was the one Eobard brainwashed into it.

One thing I always found fascinating about evil Rip is that, for all that he lacks Rip’s compassion, empathy and love, he didn’t go the usual scenery chewing sadist route.  He’s a monster, of course.  He was perfectly happy to murder Sara, to carve the spear piece out of McNider, and brainwash the entire knights of Camelot.  But it was always a measured sort of evil.

Evil Rip had a goal, and evil Rip pursued his goal.  And if he could get what he wanted in a relatively non-disruptive and non-violent way, he was willing to try it.  He had no interest in terrorizing the Waverider crew once he had the spear piece from them, even when he saw that Sara had survived her murder.  He tried to trick McNider, only resorting to violence when McNider saw through it.  When he had control of the knights, he just had them stand there, much to Darhk’s boredom, rather than playacting some farce for his amusement as some of the others might have done.

Evil Rip was our chance to appreciate how truly formidable Rip could actually be, and also appreciate those qualities that kept him from turning into that monster again.

My biggest disappointment in this story arc was how little we got to see Rip interact with the other members of the Legion.  His interactions with Eobard and Darhk, in what little we had, were very entertaining.  But we never saw him interact with Malcolm at all (I admit to being intrigued by this, because I thought Malcolm had actually had the most interesting dynamic with Phil in Legion of Doom), and we never saw Eobard react to his capture.  Missed opportunities or food for fanfic?

I don’t know if Doomworld Rip really counts, but I have to admit that, compared to some of Rip’s other coping mechanisms, baking cakes to deal with a year of solitary confinement (Gideon sort of counts, but she’s just a voice at this point), is pretty good for him.  I hope he actually got a chance to eat them.

The idea behind Rip at the Time Bureau really was a good one.  The idea that Rip would have created this organization, but specifically designed it to be the antithesis of the Time Masters: open, transparent, and accountable, is a good one.  But unfortunately, season 3 never really explored that to the extent I would have liked.  

It’s hard to imagine the Rip who recruited Sara before she could die with her sister to Damien Darhk would be okay with leaving Zari in a prison without a very good reason.  But we never got that reason.  Of course, maybe he wasn’t.  He wasn’t in that episode.  We know from Ava that he didn’t want her chasing the Legends, and wanted them given “lenience”.  But if he’s not on board with that, how much of the Time Bureau is actually under his control?

Considering that Return of the Mack told us that Rip allowing Darhk to be resurrected in order to confront him with agents was a “sanctioned” plan (that Rip still ends up in prison for, because Rip is just that good with people), that implies a certain level of oversight.  His and Bennett’s dynamic seemed just shy of outright antagonistic.  And certainly Rip seemed a lot more blase about seeing Bennett meet a grisly end than seems warranted.  This is a man who dismantled the team after Leonard Snart died.

I mean, trying to work out coherent characterization for ANYONE in season 3 is a bit of a problem, but I feel like if the Time Bureau had gotten the same level of focus that it gets much later, perhaps some of these things could actually work.  If, for example, there are multiple factions within the Bureau with their own ideas on what the Bureau is supposed to do, (perhaps tied with the oversight that Rip specifically put in place, because there’s nothing more Rip Hunter than getting hoisted up by his own petard), then a lot of the more confused behavior by the organization could make more sense.

In the end though, Rip is still a secretive, scheming bastard who cares very deeply for his team, and I wouldn't give up that wonderful, almost baggage free friendship with Wally for anything. So it does have its good points.

Ultimately, I think that all of these facets make Rip one of the most well-developed and defined characters in the CW-verse, even when compared with others who have had years and years of screentime.  It’s fun to poke around and explore all of these layers and see how they fit.  And it definitely is food for some great fanfic.  I’m told some other Rip fans will be writing some great fic for #RipWeek.  You should go check them out!

[ransomedbard]

A Good Day

This is dialogue I cut from a WIP; it got too dark for the story it was intended for.

As a young adult, Duo begins to unpack difficult memories from his time with Professor G’s rebel group, and confides in a trusted friend...

“I was 12, maybe 13 at the time, and I was getting by on my own - odd jobs sometimes, but more often fencing what I stole. My luck had been off for a while and I made a bad hop - that’s stowing away on a ship - and they caught me. Well it was out of the frying pan and into the fire, there. They were so paranoid and asked me so many questions it was clear this was no ordinary transport; they were up to something and deathly afraid of being caught. So when the Professor offered to bring me in to their group I said yes with a quickness, ‘cause I was afraid it was that or the airlock. That’s how it started.”

“After we docked they blindfolded me and put me in a crate or trunk or something - my heart was beating like a rabbit - but when they let me out at their hideout it was an ok place, like an old factory with a warren of rooms to work and live in. And the Professor took me into the mess hall and introduced me to the rest of their group. A couple dozen of them, all adults. It was a real cold welcome, and the way they looked at me I thought it might turn ugly, but it didn’t because he was in charge - or rather, as I learned later, they needed him too much to piss him off.”

“So he leaves me there with them and it’s round two of questioning, and they seemed pleased when I repeated what I’d said when they caught me - ‘bount what the Alliance had taken from me - no lie, that. When they talked about themselves they were pretty vague, but I picked up little bits and pieces of what it was all about. I knew they were militants, and wanted to take down the Earth occupiers, hit them so hard the Colonies would be free. But how? No, that they wouldn’t tell me. I wasn’t allowed to see what they were working on or be present at their meetings. I didn’t dare try to see what was behind those giant doors. Looking back, I was sure they were back there making bombs, or missiles, or something - I never would have guessed what it really was.”

“I was in limbo there for a while. I had expected the Professor would give me something to do, but I barely ever saw him. Since I wasn’t allowed in their factory or lab, or even to touch a computer, I thought maybe they would want me to go out and steal for them. But they just laughed at me when I offered, which hurt my pride a bit. I mean, they had caught me so I could understand their scepticism, but on the whole I was pretty good at it. But I think they couldn’t see anything but my age. In any case, I wasn’t allowed to leave because they didn’t trust me. And I didn’t want them to think I was useless. So I just tried to earn my keep doing cleaning and stuff like that, but it was tense.”

“I wasn’t there long before I realized things weren’t going well for them; there was a lot of anger, and sometimes people went missing. I overheard whispers they had a mole - a sellout, someone feeding the government information. I was terrified they would think it was me somehow, even though they were still keeping me in the dark. I thought about trying to run but that would just make me look guilty, and these weren’t the kind of people you could cross. I was deep in a bad situation.”

“I think...that experience reinforced my fear of stability, of ‘staticness’. I had as much to eat as I wanted, I was clean, had a bed of my own, no one was stealing from me - in a physical sense it was a relief from struggle; comfortable. But my mind was a mess of restless fear. I was more afraid for my life than I’d been when I was homeless.”

“Then there was that day. I was cleaning the kitchen, and Jonah and Carrillo came in and told me they had caught the mole. It was one of the engineers that worked with the Professor, a guy named Mitya. They took me alone to one of the storage rooms to see him. I had a bad feeling…”

“Mitya was lying on the floor, hands tied behind his back. He didn’t look too roughed up, but he wasn’t moving and didn’t speak, so I knew they had already done something to him. Drugs, maybe.”

“Carrillo - she was sort of their enforcer, scary as hell, but she talked to me more than most so she knew my background, that I’d been in gangs before - turned to me and asked me what they did on the street to traitors. The way she asked the question, I knew she wanted a certain answer but I didn’t know what. I said we would take back what they stole if we could, and kick them out and make them leave our turf. She said ‘Did you hurt them’, and I said yeah, we would hit them sometimes in anger for what they did, but getting thrown out was the real punishment because now they were marked and no one else would trust them. She didn’t care for that, just kept asking ‘What did the other gangs do, Duo? What did the adults do to traitors? You’re going to be an adult soon.’ I knew what she wanted me to say, but I was scared.”

“Then she told me that Walsh and Zoe - those were two of the people that had gone missing - were caught by the Alliance and were in prison now, and Mitya was responsible. You have to understand, I hated being locked up back then more than anything. Other kids said it wasn’t so bad, at least they fed you, but I had been in ‘juvie’ jail a few times when I was younger and I loathed every second of it. They took everything from me and threw it away - my tools, my mementos, the weapons that I needed to defend myself, even the clothes they picked me up in. They asked me all these questions and twisted my words to make me sound guilty or crazy. They wouldn’t let me sleep when I wanted or save food for later. They had complete control over me and I couldn't stand it. She knew all that, that’s why she told me, to make me hate Mitya for doing that to them for his own gain. She said they might never get out of prison and there needed to be a price.”

“She gave me the knife then. I knew it was an initiation - it felt like that. That was the only time Jonah spoke at all, he told me how to grab his shoulder and stab him from behind, in and up. I don’t think I could have done it if I could have seen Mitya’s face. It was over pretty quick. And then after, they told me I did well, and they took away his body.”

“I remember getting a mop to clean the blood off the floor, and being so relieved knowing that I wouldn’t be suspected any more. And hopeful that I would be more accepted now that I had done what they wanted, which turned out to be true; that started me on the path that led to me being chosen as the pilot. So that was a really good day; that’s how I remember it.”

“But when I look at it now, that’s pretty screwed up, right? I just used Mitya to get what I wanted, to raise my status in the group. I didn’t know or even care if he was the mole, or even if there was one to begin with. Maybe he was just a scapegoat. He was decent enough to me - he stood up for me once or twice when I was getting yelled at, and he had promised to teach me to weld, and he gave me his dessert a couple of times when he didn’t want it. He could be kinda irritable and short with everyone, but when he was happy he had a big laugh, and he had a wife and child he hadn’t seen in years but wanted to go back to someday.”

“What kind of person am I, that none of that mattered to me? What kind of person remembers the first time they killed someone as a good day?”

[iolrachs]

1989, 11th July - Alex is born to Tom and Anna Weiss in Lakeville, Minnesota.

1998 - A nine year old Alex learns to hack, inspired by his older sister, Kaz.

2003 - Tom begins to teach a fourteen year old Alex how to shoot a pistol, taking him to a shooting gallery most weekends.

2007, September - Tom suffers a heart attack and dies, leaving behind Anna, Kaz, and an eighteen year old Alex.

2007, September - Alex begins a four year course at the University of Minnesota, majoring in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Computer Engineering. During this time, he joined the Minnesota Running Club.

2010 - Kaz marries Lucya. Alex is the best man at her wedding.

2011, June - Alex graduates from the University of Minnesota with full honours.

                 - Alex remains unemployed, albeit with a sideline in computer repair. The majority of his income, however, comes from hacking gambling sites to increase the odds of him winning.

2013 - After hacking into several government databases and being hunted by the governments in question, Alex came to Conrad Roth for sanctuary on his research vessel. Though he initially offered to work for free, Roth allowed him to stay aboard and welcomed him into his crew as a technician.

- Alex meets Lara Croft and Sam Nishimura, as well as the rest of the Endurance crew, finding his old friend Jonah a member. Alex immediately develops a crush on Lara, nurturing it in secret, though his over-awkwardness annoys Lara to some degree, and becomes fast friends with Sam.

- Alex meets Dr Whitman after the Endurance is hired to help in filming Whitman’s World. Alex does not take kindly to him, having hacked into files about his private life and discovered his messy divorce and financial strife.

- Roth charges Alex with forging the necessary permits for the ship and the expedition, including the crew.

- While setting up a Wi-Fi range extender for the Endurance, Alex fell overboard. He was saved by Lara, though pushed back into the water by Sam in mischief.

- With the expedition to find Yamatai on hold due to funding issues, Alex presents a solution in the form of a self-made 99.9% hacking program. He uses it on gambling sites to increase their chances of winning and accrue the necessary funds – however, the 0.1% chance of detection occurs and Alex is forced to throw his computer overboard to avoid being traced.

- While at sea, the Endurance needed an intermediate repair in the engine room. While Alex insisted it was a mechanical fault, Reyes correctly informed him it was an electrical fault. In attempting to make a joke, Alex made a flirtatious remark about a girl in Reyes’ photo – a girl he soon learned, around the foot in his mouth and disbelief at his own idiocy, was Reyes’ 14 year old daughter.

March - The crew came to a crossroads midway into their journey. Lara suggested venturing into the Dragon’s Triangle, where Whitman rebuked the idea. Alex hacked into a satellite to show the weather conditions over the triangle – with the storms there and Lara citing Himiko’s apparent myth for controlling the weather, a myth that could have some element of truth, Roth decided to make for the Triangle.

- At 11pm, in the vicinity of Yamatai, a storm strikes the Endurance and cleaves her in two. Alex manages to escape the shipwreck and makes it to the beach with Reyes, Jonah, Grim, Sam, Whitman, and another crew member. Although Alex tried to save him with CPR, the crew member died on the beach.

- The crew reunites with Lara while she is caught in a bear trap, having been searching for the kidnapped Sam and Mathias. The crew free Lara and split up – one to go with Lara and head for Roth, who is communicating via radio and attempting to gather all crew at his location, and the rest to fan out and find Sam. Alex offers to go with Lara, but is denied by Whitman, and joins the party searching for Sam.

- When Lara attempts to use an abandoned radio tower to boost the rescue beacon from the Endurance to call for help, it is Alex who talks her through both finding the control bank and the method of patching the signal manually through the tower’s maintenance box.

- While searching for Sam near Himiko’s palace, Reyes, Alex, and Jonah are taken captive by the Solarii Brotherhood and imprisoned in an old airplane wreck suspended in the underground geothermal caverns. The three are rescued by Lara, though are separated from her again while she returns to the caves to hunt for Sam and Whitman.

- The three manage to escape and reunite with Sam, but are cornered by the Solarii and begin a gun battle to fend them off. With Roth and Lara on a helicopter Roth had called, it seems the four will be left to the islanders, until Lara forces the pilot to land for their friends.

- Roth dies protecting Lara, and Alex attends his funeral pyre burial. He suggests to Lara that they only need to regroup, though he agrees there is something strange about the island. He leaves with Reyes, Jonah, and Sam to go to the old PT boat on the beach, with Reyes believing she can repair it sufficiently to allow them to escape.

- With the boat in bad condition, it becomes apparent Reyes needs her tools from the Endurance to properly repair the boat. Taking inspiration from Lara’s “See what you can do.”, Alex volunteers to fetch the tools from the wreck.

- He manages to successfully evade the Solarii raiding the wreck for scrap, as well as climb and travel over dangerous terrain to reach the wreck. On reaching the engine room, however, Alex was surprised by a Solarii gunman. Their brief gunfight saw Alex come out victorious, however a steel girder and several other pieces of the Endurance’s ceiling were loosened in the battle. They came crashing down on Alex, severely injuring his leg and pinning it beneath the metal beams, trapping him there until Lara came.

- Though she attempted to remove the debris, it caused Alex too much pain. The Solarii, aware of Lara’s presence and previously alerted by the sound of Alex’s gunshots, stormed the engine room, engaging in a brief exchange of bullets. After convincing Lara to leave him and return to Reyes with the tools, Alex shot at the ruptured gas pipe, causing an explosion that rocked the ship and ultimately had Lara presume he was dead. Instead, Alex was severely burned along his left side and right arm, thrown from the debris into a lower room by the blast. He was knocked unconscious and sealed within the room as the Endurance sank, with only a limited supply of air.

- Waking up on the seafloor some unknown period of time later, Alex knew he had to act. If his air supply did not run out, it would be the mounting pressure that killed him, his saving prison already groaning under the weight. Eventually forcing himself to stand, though he could not put his weight on the injured leg, Alex dragged himself to the room door, where he forced it open and attempted to swim to the surface before the pressure killed him through knocking all air for his lungs and drowning him, or by giving him brain damage in the process. Successfully making it to the surface, Alex makes for the remaining half of the Endurance, seeking to raid what medical supplies may be left in order to treat his wounds.

- A tourniquet tied around his leg and what bandages he could find binding his leg in a makeshift splint, Alex retreats to rest for the night, resolving to return to the crew in the morning. By the time he awakens, however, Lara and the crew have already journeyed inland to rescue Sam.

- Alex slowly drags himself to the beach, forced to take frequent breaks and rely almost entirely on a crutch (his leg is useless, he knows this, he knows this, but still he forces himself to go on). It is there he sees the PT boat leaving off in the distance, Lara having rescued Sam from Himiko. Though he tries to hail them, his voice is too hoarse, his body too weak, and so they leave without hearing him.

- Three months pass, and Alex is still on the island. His leg is barely healed, broken and twisted beyond all compare. Though he refuses to look, gangrene has begun to set in to the wound by the second month, despite his attempts to keep the wound clean. He searches for any other possible way off the island, evading the stragglers of the Solarii and killing them where he must.

- By the sixth month, Alex resolves that the only possible way to escape is to hail for rescue from the radio tower as Lara did. It takes him several weeks to cross the island, slowed as he is by injury and his leg, and several days to climb the tower. On his descent from the tower, his leg gives out and he falls from the last ladder, breaking his right arm.

early September: Lara travels to Pripyat at the behest of her hallucinations of Alex. There, she meets his sister, Kaz, and her family-in-law, and defends them from Trinity. Although Viktor and Kirill are killed by Mr Cruz, it is revealed that Lucya is still alive, having faked her death to escape Trinity. Lucya, Kaz, Varvara, and Pavel are all taken into Witness Protection, where Lara gives them burner phones that they may remain in contact with her should they need her.

late October - Alex is rescued by plane and flown to Bokutoh Hospital for emergency treatment. He is treated for sepsis and found to be suffering from septic shock; his arm is set and his leg, too far ravaged by gangrene and infection, is amputated above the knee. He remains in a medically induced comatose state for several weeks, half-dead and kept alive by IV lines and antibiotics.

2014, January - Alex begins to stir. Although still disorientated and incredibly weak, hospital staff manage to get two sentences from him – Lara Croft and Yamatai.

- Although not enough to identify him, as his identification was left in the Endurance, Alex’s repeated murmurs of ‘Lara Croft’ drive hospital staff to find her in the hopes she might know their mystery patient. She is located on account of her publishing her testimony of what happened on Yamatai.

10th February - Lara Croft is contacted. She does not remain convinced the hospital have the right person, until Yamatai is mentioned. She immediately packs and fly for Japan.

11th February - Lara reunites with Alex. At first she does not believe it is him, believing instead that it is a hallucination or a cruel joke. Though Alex manages to convince her, through tears on both parts, he is still not strong enough and falls asleep again.

12th February - Lara contacts Jonah, Reyes, and Sam to inform them of Alex’s survival. They all fly to the hospital to see Alex with their own eyes and reunite with one they thought dead.

15th February - With Alex’s permission, Lara has him transferred to Royal Surrey County Hospital, so that she and Sam may keep watch over him.

17th March - With doctors finally satisfied he is recovered enough to be released, Alex is discharged. He is offered a place to live by Lara, in her London apartment with her and Sam.

1st April - Alex begins the process of being fitted for a prosthetic leg. Although he tries to argue, Lara insists on paying for the whole process, as well as his rehabilitation and learning to walk.

November - Atlas DeMornay forces Lara to attend therapy and prove she is of sound mind before he allows her access to her fortune. It is revealed to Alex and Sam by Atlas that Lara is in fact a Lady.

- Obsessed with proving her legitimacy, Lara begins a search for the Divine Source. Although forbidden to accompany her physically, Alex remains in London as technological backup, ready to hack and find information and funding as Lara needs it.

- Following her return from Syria, Lara returns to Croft Manor, bringing Alex and Sam with her. Though it is Lara who does all the work, Alex still attempts to help her find evidence she is the rightful owner of the estate and her inheritance.

- Lara and Jonah fly out to Siberia to find the lost city of Kitezh. Alex remains in Croft Manor with Sam, helping out in the restoration where he can and waiting for Lara to return.

[amandajoyce118]

Runaways Season 2 Easter Eggs And Comic Book References

No Friday Five this week. Instead, have this!

It took me a bit longer than I would have liked to get through season two of Runaways, but I’ve finally got an Easter egg list for you. This time of year was very busy at both my day job and in the writing world, so to have Aquaman, Runaways, and Bumblebee (do you guys want an Easter egg list for this? I haven’t started typing that up.) release at the same time made things a little difficult for me to get them up in a timely fashion.

As usual, if you haven’t yet watched Runaways, there are spoilers below, but I tried to go episode by episode without spoiling things for future episodes. There are times where I watched a few hours at a time before writing up the details, so I’m sorry if you’re reading as you go along and there are minor spoilers. Enjoy!

If I missed something, tell me what you found!

S2E01 “Gimme Shelter”

The Episode Title

Not only was the title of this episode a movie starring Vanessa Hudgens a few years ago, but it was also the title of a Rolling Stones song. The stories for both feature Runaways, so I think the title was more than just an on-the-nose reference to them needing a house. The movie features a pregnant teen who runs away from home and makes a family for herself at the shelter where she stays. The music video for the song featured two teen boys running away from an abusive home as well, though the song is from an album known for tackling issues related to the Vietnam War.

Detective Flores

If you didn’t obsessively research characters you weren’t familiar with in season one, you might not know that Flores is from the comics. He’s actually the detective in PRIDE’s pocket there as well. In fact, he’s probably the closest to their comic book character.

Their Clothes

This season begins with the kids in the same clothes they ended the first season in. Not only does this tell us it’s taking place pretty soon after, but also how hard up they are since they haven’t been able to find/buy/steal anything else. (Also, yes, these outfits are recreations of some of their iconic comic book looks.)

“You think I’m a mole?”

Ah, Alex. Of course we think you’re a mole. But because we think that, you won’t be. In the comics, Alex was the mole. He spied on his friends and reported back to his parents so that PRIDE was always right behind their kids.

WHiH

This is the biggest news network in the MCU. It’s appeared in just about every MCU property lately. This time around, it’s even more significant, because the reporter for WHiH that appears in this episode also appeared as a news reporter for another network on Agents of SHIELD. Looks like she got a new gig.

Kirk Skadden

This name appears in an obituary next to Graciela’s. (I would have checked all the names, but that’s the only one I can make out on my TV, and I can’t even make out the actually obit.) Agents of SHIELD fans might (or might not, it’s pretty obscure) remember this name from the pilot episode. He’s the agent Maria Hill hands off Ward’s piece of alien tech too. Now, further research tells me this isn’t a comic book character, but instead, the name of a graphic designer who works for Studio Graphics, who does VFX work for Agents of SHIELD. It’s likely a nod to the actual guy doing work behind the scenes, and not meant to be a crossover, but it’s still fun to think about.

Odyssey Diner

At first I thought this was a comic book location, but it’s not. Instead, I like to think that it’s a nod to the Greek epic. You know, the story of Odysseus as he tries to get home after the fall of Troy, but he finds so many obstacles in his way that his journey takes forever? Victor Stein just wants to get home and back to life, and things don’t go as planned.

The House

In the comics, the kids do eventually find themselves an abandoned house to squat in. While it doesn’t look the same on the outside here, it’s definitely pretty much exactly the same on the inside. The props/set dressers did an excellent job.

S2E02 “Radio On”

The Last Supper

The image of the five kids sitting at the table and eating reminds me of the painting The Last Supper. It’s not an exact recreation of it, but I can’t help but feel the imagery is intentional. Someone tell me who corresponds to whom as my religious imagery recollection is a litter rusty.

Molly And Her “Mask”

I love that Molly folds her hat down to create a makeshift superhero mask. She’s also (if I remember right) the only character who actually grew up in a future timeline to become an Avenger, so it feels like a nice nod.

S2E03 “Double Zeros”

The Episode Title

Not only is “doublezero” a particular strain of marijuana, but it’s also a math term. I’m sure the math term is what’s actually being referenced here considering we get a lot of calculations from Janet uncoding the Abstract.

The Abstract

In the comics, the Abstract is actually a copy of the book the Gibborim (who are not the subject of the church, but instead, the giant race that gives PRIDE their power) gives to all of the couples. Each of the couples who go on to have a Runaway has a copy of the book. It contains magic spells rather than the secrets of an alien races technology. The show adapts the idea pretty well for their version of the story.

The Staff Doesn’t Work

Noting that the staff didn’t work after the same “spell” was tried more than once has become a thing. Eventually, the gang will have to figure out that it’s called the Staff of One in the comics for a reason. It can only use each “spell” once while the same person owns it. Eventually, Nico will run out of synonyms for the same actions.

Chun Li

Okay, yeah, Nico playing this character in a video game is a nod to her getting to be a superhero and being an Asian woman, sure. But, I can’t help but think that it’s also a shoutout to another Asian-American in the MCU. Ming-Na Wen, who plays May on Agents of SHIELD, played Chun Li in a Street Fighter movie back in the day. (And yes, she was great.)

Topher

Topher is a comic book character, or at least inspired by one. He joins up with the Runaways in the comics, though it turns out he’s not everything he says he is. I’ll hold that story until we know more about him.

S2E04 “Old School”

Cone of Silence

You know where the idea of Cone of Silence came from? These days, it’s just an everyday phrase, but once upon a time, it was a pretty cool trick on the tv series Get Smart.

Topher’s Rock Dust

So it’s clear that Topher doesn’t come by his powers naturally (as in, they aren’t just embedded in him), like Molly. Instead, it’s coming to him, along with a high, from special rock dust. This kind of reminds me of how Wakanda gets all of its energy/derives its tech/creates its medicine from their place on top of a Vibranium mine, which came from outer space. Apparently, rocks from outerspace contain a whole lot of supernatural power.

This also reminds me of a comic book storyline that saw people harvesting mutants for the “mutant growth hormone” their bodies produced. It was like a chemical produced as a result of them being a mutant. Scientists created drugs from it that junkies had a field day with. It was an arc in the Jessica Jones stories, and I think the Spider-Woman stories, if I remember right.

“Our Uninvited Guest”

Okay, so this little dig at Topher means I can tell you that, in the comics, he was a vampire. The MCU hasn’t gone as far as revealing that vampires exist just yet, so I’m pretty sure that’s not part of his story here. But I like the nod to the idea that vampires have to be invited in.

Atlas Academy

In case you forgot about the school the kids originally attended, it pops back up again. Atlas Academy gets its name from Atlas Comics, the precursor to Marvel Comics. The early days of Marvel also saw writers naming fictional companies Atlas “Insert Business Here” as a nod to the change in publisher name.

S2E05 “Rock Bottom”

Topher Doesn’t Age

So, he didn’t get Molly’s super strength full time, but he did get the ability to siphon energy from the rock dust and not age? Sounds like a new age vampire to me.

S2E06 “Bury Another”

The Episode Title

This might be a coincidence, but I think this is referencing the Rilo Kiley song “Bury, Bury, Bury Another.” It’s about looking back on the way things used to be.

Gravitational Wave Space Drive

On the one hand, this series of words just sounds like scientific nonsense put together to sound like something that might power a ship. On the other hand… it sounds an awful lot like the same idea for converting the quinjet into a spaceship on Agents of SHIELD. Making it run with the help of gravitonium can’t be too far off.

S2E07 “Last Rites”

The Magic Memorabilia

Okay, so it might seem like the rooms at the house are just themed for some cool old Hollywood fun, but I think it’s more purposeful. The room where Alex holds his dad captive has a lot of magic show memorabilia in the background. There are signs and pieces from old school magic tricks lying around. This seems like a nod to Alex’s role in the comics.

When he’s initially introduced, he’s just a really smart human. Alex betrays his friends to PRIDE, ends up dead, and sits in Hell, trying to find a way out. He eventually makes a deal to not only “guide” Nico on a magical journey, but also to become the host of a demon. It’s then that he learns how to use all kinds of magic - more than just pulling rabbits out of hats.

Xavin

This name belongs to a comic book character, and it’s interesting that this person appears to be trapped on Jonah’s spaceship with the rest of Karolina’s family. Why? Because this person wasn’t the same race as Karolina’s family in the comics. Instead, Xavin was a Skrull prince. Raised to become a “Super Skrull,” a marriage was brokered between Xavin and Karolina by their parents as a way to put an end to the war between their species. Though Karolina’s alien species appears to be the Gibborim in the show and not the Majesdanians, the story idea might play out similarly? We’ll see.

Marine Vivarium

This particular comic book location didn’t appear in the show, but its likeness did. You now when the spaceship starts to rise from the ground and there are slight cracks in the surface, its got a dome, all that? That imagery looks a lot like the Marine Vivarium sitting on the bottom of a sea bed in the comics that provides a meeting place for PRIDE.

S2E08 “Past Life”

1957

Not a whole lot in this episode in the way of Easter eggs. I mean, Julian McMahon gets to use his real accent and you find out the body he inhabits was from Australia. Curious that “Jonah” decided not to keep the accent. I can tell you that in 1957 Atlas Comics (later Marvel) cancelled a ton of their Western comics. Westerns were on the way out. A lot of their anthology comics that year featured, instead, aliens and flying saucers. Seems appropriate for a reference in this show.

S2E09 “Big Shot”

Roxxon

A banner on the outside of the big hotel advertises Roxxon. You’ll remember this energy company from just about every other MCU property that takes place on Earth: Iron Man, Agent Carter, Agents of SHIELD, Cloak and Dagger, etc. It plays its biggest role in Cloak And Dagger these days.

Wakanda

Do I have to explain Wakanada? Probably not. Unless you completely tuned out from pop culture last year, you know that’s where Black Panther, and the big Infinity War battle, takes place. It does provide us with a bit of a timeline though. We know this likely takes place after the events of Black Panther in the MCU. Maybe even after Shuri already started work on the outreach center in California? It’s likely still set before the events of Infinity War though.

S2E10 “Hostile Takeover”

Nico’s Eyes

When Nico pops back up from her exhaustion and uses the staff, screaming “get out” at the corrupt cops in the house, her eyes do something a little crazy. The get this black, pebbled, gradient around them. Now, if you’ve seen Doctor Strange, you’ve seen that before from Kaecilius and his followers. In the movie, Tina Minoru, though she’s never named and is played by a different actress, appears wielding the staff. (I’m not going to lie, it makes me wonder if Tina got sucked into the power at one point and left her family for a few days to answer the magical call or something.) Presumably, the markings indicate giving over to the pull of the “dark magic” in the staff.

Nico’s Power

Considering Nico manages to make so many people disappear, I feel like it’s important to make a note about just where Nico’s power is coming from. In the comics, she accidentally banishes people (and Old Lace) to another dimension because the staff can access then. Specifically, it has ties to the Dark Dimension. If that sounds familiar, you’ve likely read up on your Agents of SHIELD or Cloak and Dagger Easter eggs, because it’s been referenced there. Ghost Rider has access to the Dark Dimension. Darkforce, an ability we’ve seen manipulated and used on Agents of SHIELD and Agent Carter, originates in the Dark Dimension. When Cloak of Cloak and Dagger teleports, he actually moves through the Dark Dimension to do it in the comics. The show hasn’t clarified if it’s the same there. Suffice to say the Dark Dimension provides a lot of power in many different forms.

S2E11 “The Last Waltz”

The Episode Title

Yes, this title is literal since Chase waltzes with Molly, but the term is best known now as a farewell concert by The Band in San Francisco in 1978.

The President

When the Yorkes interrogate Chase, they ask him if he knows who the President is. Though Chase says he does, he never says who it is. I think that’s purposeful to keep the timeline ambiguous. Is it Ellis? Has someone else got the job? We don’t know.

Staff Of One

Nico’s Wiccan ceremony here might be the first time the Staff of One is acknowledged by its comic book name. It’s what she writers on the slip of paper she burns. You can imagine that her trying to cut ties with the staff isn’t going to work out well. At least her “tie” to it isn’t the same as in the comics. On the page, she had to release her own blood every time she wanted to use the staff as it sealed itself away inside her body until she needed it every time. (This is likely the reason we get the “it’s clawing at my skin” line in an earlier episode.)

Molly Hayes Hernandez

We get to hear Molly’s full name, or at least what Gert knows her full name to be. It’s significant because Molly in the comics is Molly Hayes. In an effort to bring even more diversity into the group, the producers decided to cast Molly as any ethnicity, and ended up making her Latina. Molly Hayes Hernandez is a nod to the original comic book character.

S2E12 “Earth Angel”

The Episode Title

Aside from Karolina being literally called an angel at one point, this title is a reference to the (very old) classic song. Originally recorded by the Penguins in the 50s, it’s been covered by a ton of doo-wop, pop, and R&B groups over the years. It was a surprise hit, much like Karolina taking back the church for her grandmother. The song was the B side of their first record, and what was released was the demo version instead of a more polished sound. People loved it, even without any kind of “classier” instrumentation.

“We’re not Cylons from Alex’s Doctor Who show.”

A for effort, Molly. I don’t usually call out random pop culture references, but I like that Alex is both a Battlestar Galactica and Doctor Who fan, and that Molly at least attempted to speak his language.

The Hostel

Is this the first time the house is called this? Or did I miss it earlier in the season? Either way, the Hostel is what the group calls their house in the comics as well, so it’s a nice nod.

“...your darkness is you…”

Maybe I should have waited to explain Nico’s power coming from the Dark Dimension? Again, this is another nod to where her power might come from.

Chase Becoming Part of PRIDE

This isn’t something Chase does in the comics. Instead, it’s Alex (though these days, Alex is a full on villain). In the comics, it’s Alex who actually knows about PRIDE’s activities a full year before his “friends.” He purposely leads them to discover what’s going on when he realizes that the Deans and the Hayes plan on killing the human members of the group so that their families can become the full six members of the inner circle. Alex’s whole thing in the comics is about protecting his parents (and Nico). There, his parents are crime bosses, and he eventually becomes one as well after he gets out of Hell. The point is, he turns his back on his friends to become part of PRIDE, but it goes badly for him. Here, it’s Chase who has that role. Because the show did it with Gert calling for help and Karolina hanging out with Jonah as well. They want to show that Alex isn’t the only one who can betray the group for selfish reasons.

S2E13 “Split Up”

Xartan

While Xavin is a Skrull in the comics, that looks like it’s not the case here. It’s possible the show wasn’t allowed to introduce a Skrull with Captain Marvel looming on the horizon, so they went with Xartans. Named for their home planet, the Xartans actually existed in two groups: the base and the deviations. The deviations were those who had been experimented on and granted abilities (oh, hey, sounds like Inhumans on Earth, no?), and they essentially eliminated the “base” Xartans. They also once attempted to invade Earth in ancient times. They didn’t succeed because Thor, of all people, stopped them. The ones that stayed on Earth actually shapeshifted into trees, becoming one with the environment. Somehow, I don’t think that’s where Xavin’s arc is headed.

The Exiled Royals

The story Xavin projects into Karolina’s head about the exiled royal family (first of all, reminds me of the way the Deathly Hallows were presented in the Harry Potter films, so nice visual, and) is pretty much the story of the Majesdanians in the comics. The two that become the Deans (both actors in the comics) make a home on Earth after being exiled. Maybe the writers thought Gibborum was an easier word for fans to learn? Also, can we point out that Majesdanians sounds very much like majestic, or magistrate, so there is still another nod in how the alien race is presented in the show?

Leapfrog

When Chase and Janet talk outside the house, Chase is busy sketching out a design. That design is for the Leapfrog. In the comics, Victor and his wife actually create the vehicle. It’s submersible, so they use it to travel to and from the underwater base where PRIDE meets. I imagine the VFX needed for something like that is why PRIDE performs their sacrifices in the Wilder’s basement in the first season. When Chase and company discover what their parents are up to, they steal the Leapfrog and use it to escape. They also use it to fight crime, live in, and travel through time. Considering Victor has the video from the future already, something tells me Chase might just invent a time machine if the show gets more seasons.

The Minoru Fight

I have to point out that I’m fairly certain all of the Minoru family does their own stunts in that big family confrontation. Also, if you think it’s a stereotype for this Asian family to know martial arts, in this case, not so much. Instead, it’s playing to the strength of the actors. All three of them are experienced martial artists. They all have black belts, according to Lyrica Okano, though I’m not sure specifically which fighting form their belts are in since several award belts as you master different skills. Lyrica is also a trained gymnast. So, yeah, that fight scene probably could have gone on for a whole episode if they writers wanted it to.

“I’ve seen this before.”

When Nico’s eyes change during the fight and Robert gets a little concerned, Tina says this line. So, I’d wager (again) that we can say that was this Tina during the events of Doctor Strange and not just someone who had the same weapon, and though she doesn’t understand all of the advantages and limitations of the staff just yet, she does know those markings mean dark magic.

Some General Talk

Things that pop up across multiple episodes I thought I’d just throw down here. That way I’m not repeating myself in every episode.

Rainbows

Karolina is a lesbian basically made of rainbows, but this season, the costume department decide to reflect that as well. Nearly every piece of clothing she wears has some sort of rainbow imagery or color pattern going on. Her wardrobe is also very in tune with the 60s and 70s when the sexual revolution was in full swing, which seems pretty apt for a recently out Karolina. The only time she’s not in colorful clothing is when the Church of Gibborum storyline comes back into play for her at the end of the season. Even before she changes into the muted clothes to rescue her mom she’s in pastels.

The Church

The Church of Gibborum is not a thing in the comics, but it does have a real world counterpart. Much of what’s done with the church this season - the focus on an actor playing the part of a church leader, the reconditioning, the cutting people off from their families and their names at secret facilities, the strict rules and cult-like behavior - seems to be inspired by a “church” that’s prevalent in Hollywood. You can read Leah Remini’s book or watch her show for more details.

Gert’s Health

There’s a huge focus, at least on Gert’s part, on Gert’s mental health. It’s not until she’s physically ill that anyone else starts paying attention to her. While I get the feeling this is a bit of social commentary, it’s also a nice nod to the comics. Gert actually died so that her friends could live. We almost get to that point, but the show saves her, and that’s something of a relief because killing Gert off was a huge mistake. The newer series brought her back to life with good reason.

Leaving And Returning

I found the repeated references to people leaving the group interesting. The comic group definitely starts with the members we see on the show, but over the years, a lot of people join up or leave. It’s actually surprising that two seasons in the group is mainly in tact. Topher and Livvie didn’t stick it out, and yeah, they’re separated at the end of the season, but the core group is alive and working toward a common goal. I’m curious to see if other iconic characters get added if the show continues for a while. For example, Cloak and Dagger joined up for a while, the group brought Kara Plast back to the present with them from the past, a cyborg joined them, and Xavin lives with them until they have to leave the planet. I’d like to see someone new introduced and shake up the dynamic a bit.

The Feminism

It’s refreshing that this team of superpowered people is mostly teenage girls. I know, for the most part, this is the original line up from the comics, but there have been a few more additions to the group over the years to up the male quotient. I love that Chase going home means that Alex is outnumbered by Karolina, Nico, Molly, Gert, and later, Leslie Dean. There’s also Xavin, but I’m not sure how we’re supposed to view Xavin. A lot of comics fans classify the character as nonbinary because they originally present as a male Skrull before deciding to become a woman because Karolina is a lesbian. They seem to default to female forms more often than not, but also become large males in a fight to be more intimidating, so there’s that. Regardless, I like the focus on the women getting things done. Neither Chase nor Alex are members of the group with superpowers, though they are super smart. The members of the group with raw power are Nico (magic), Karolina (alien-light), Gert (dinosaur telepathy), and Molly (super strength), and I just love that lineup.

That’s it! That’s all I’ve got this time around. I couldn’t catch every street sign, newspaper article, or building plaque, so it’s entirely possible that there are other fun Easter eggs in the show that I missed this season.

[ao3feed-themagnusarchives]

Keep Your Eyes to Yourself

by Zykaben

A series of snapshots where Elias’ consciousness is still kicking around while Jonah Magnus pilots his body. Elias does everything he can to annoy the hell out of Jonah.

Words: 2137, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: Gen

Characters: Elias Bouchard, Jonah Magnus, Peter Lukas (briefly)

Additional Tags: Possession, Basically Elias is still kicking around and hates Jonah so fucking much, Crack, Kinda?, It's a little silly, spoilers for episode 160

source http://archiveofourown.org/works/21459052

[stories-me]

Possible Character for Mrs. Kelsey 8/3/2021:

 Liz Lemon; Overworked, Underappreciated Television Sketch Comedy Showrunner:

 Appearance: (see above).

What she’s from: 30 Rock.

What she’d be in: Modern League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (cameo).

Background:

Liz Lemon was born in November, 1970.

Liz was inspired to become a writer by Rosemary Howard, the first female head writer of Laugh-In. She mentioned that she used to teach improv to senior citizens. In high school, Liz believed that she was an unpopular “nerd” that all of her classmates picked on, only to learn two decades later at her 20-year high school reunion that she was, in fact, the universally disliked class bully. 

In the pilot, it is announced that Liz’s former boss Gary has died and Jack Donaghy takes his place. Neither Jack nor Liz recognizes the other from their brief conversation twenty years earlier. Jack immediately decides to retool the show to make it appeal to a larger demographic, starting by firing Liz’s trusted producer Pete Hornberger in order to make room in the budget to hire unpredictable actor Tracy Jordan as the show’s new star. Liz manages to convince Jack to re-hire Pete, but Jack is insistent on making the show center around Tracy and, much to her chagrin, he renames the show TGS with Tracy Jordan.

Since 2005, Liz has lived in an apartment at 160 Riverside Drive (which changes to 168 Riverside Drive in later seasons; the building is fictional, but the address corresponds to the block between 88th and 89th Streets); her apartment number is 3B. When the building is converted to condominiums, Liz purchases both 3B and 4B with her earnings from Dealbreakers, with the encouragement of both Jack and Jenna. (“Sun Tea”)

Liz has also evidently won at least one Emmy Award. In addition to her responsibilities behind the camera, Liz occasionally acts in TGS sketches.

Now, during Nyarlathotep and his allies attempting to bring about the apocalypse, she discovers that, apparently, zombies (and other such creatures) “mostly” hate improv. Go figure.

Personality:

After a mere glance at her in the pilot, Jack sums up Liz as a “New York third-wave feminist, college-educated, single-and-pretending-to-be-happy-about-it, over-scheduled, undersexed, you buy any magazine that says ‘healthy body image’ on the cover and every two years you take up knitting for… a week”. This is confirmed by Pete to be accurate, commenting that the “knitting” part, in particular, was uncanny.

Liz is generally portrayed as something of a “geek”. So, while she is an apparently skilled writer, she seems to have very few social skills (in “Rosemary’s Baby”, Jack describes her as “socially retarded”). For example, while she was trying to pick up men at a karaoke bar, a man asked her if the seat next to her was taken, leading her to ask him why she should have to move her coat just so he could sit there. Liz is often shown to be generally insecure and holds a strong concern for how she is perceived by others. Liz is sometimes dismissive of others, a personality flaw that can be connected to her lack of social skills. Assessing Liz’s personality up to near the end of season 3, Jonah Weinerslav described her as “an eternal 13-year-old tomboy — scared of sex, obsessed with Star Wars and meatball subs” and as “cling[ing] to a fantasy of presexual, junk-food-munching adolescence”.

Liz has a rather satirical sense of humor. She has frequently been shown to be a stress eater, a trait she shares with Jack. Despite the fact that she often ingests high-amounts of junk food on a daily basis, she seems to keep her weight under control, perhaps because she does not seem to have proper meals. According to Fey, the character is not bulimic; “she just likes to eat”. Liz does have some knowledge of cooking, though she admits to only using her oven to warm her jeans in the morning. She is allergic to both dogs and cats, as well as “anything warm and adorable”. However, she does believe her allergy to dogs is psychosomatic, as she mentions that a dog bit her during the time of her first period.

Liz also has a tendency to say “blërg!” (the name of her home office furniture from IKEA), “nerds”, “what the what?”, “nertz”, “nerf herder” (quoting Princess Leia in The Empire Strikes Back), “whuck?” and “son of a mother” as replacements for curse words; she has also notably used the phrases “shut it down”, “I want to go to there”, “deal-breaker”, “pwomp”, and “by the hammer of Thor!”.

How she is like me:

We both have to deal with frustrating individuals and situations on a regular basis. I’m working on tolerating frustrating people and situations with the aid of my calming strategies. Still, I do have problems, especially with unexpected frustrating incidents.