#who the quantum tech lord now???

[harrelltut]

everything hidden in plain sight...

WELCOME BACK HOME IMMORTAL [HIM] U.S. MILITARY KING SOLOMON-MICHAEL HARRELL, JR.™

i.b.monk [ibm] mode [i’m] tech [IT] steelecartel.com @ quantumharrelltech.ca.gov

i.b. 1698 quintillionharrell.tech sky elite 2wealthy4forbes.com @ 1921 QUANTUM 2023 HARRELL 2024 TECH 2025 Apple & IBM [A.i.] LLC of ATLANTIS [L.A.] 5000

eye expose artificial 2023 america, inc. [a.i.] @ My Biblically Ancient [BABYLONIAN] 9 Ether Subterranean [BES] Pacific SUN Ocean Queen CALAFIA.gov [CA.gov] Island MONARCHICAL MILITARY EMPIRE [ME] of quantumharrelltech.ca.gov's SIRIUS BLACKANUNNAQI.tech WEALTH KINGDOMS 

My Biblically Ancient [BABYLONIAN] 9 Ether Subterranean [BES] Pacific SUN Ocean Queen CALAFIA.gov [CA.gov] Island STATE MONARCHICAL MILITARY EMPIRE [ME] of quantumharrelltech.ca.gov... SEE ALL

in 2023 from 2024... eye 2020 see 19... #fallofamerica

2024

© 1698-2223 QUANTUM HARRELL TECH LLC All LOST ANCIENT [L.A.] ATLANTEAN DNA [A.D.] DotCom [A.D.] + DotTech [A.D.] + Pre 1698quantumharrellgov.tech Domain Name Rights Reserved... since WE ANU GOLDEN ERA [AGE]!!!

[conceptofjoy]

17776 Au idea below

Immortal Dirk would be a miserable man. It’s like he just kept waiting and waiting for SOMETHING his whole life, and it just never got to him. He can’t die respected or acknowledged like he thought he would get to be so he keeps living as nothing.

He was happy to work at NASA, he worked hard for his career. When the immortal thing happened, he was part of the lucrative team of scientists that did everything they could to research the reasoning of it and then after, he worked on making everything run smoothly for humanity. Then it just. Teetered off.

He and Roxy made a pact to check up on each other every other year. Then five years, then ten. They would drag each other out of their respective spirals, but Roxy broke out of the pattern. Dirk did not. He refused to reach out to her every time it happened. Roxy doesn’t want to be caught in the past by Dirk who is unwilling to get better. Lord knows she tried everything, but he has to wake the fuck up. If Dirk gave her a call ONCE, she would welcome him with open arms.

Once upon a time, he strictly followed an image of masculinity. He carried Cal around, worked his 9-5 (and more) without fuss, and he was PROUD of it. When the evolution of societal norms left him in the dust, he was shaken. He calls himself a man but he doesn’t know what that means. His self doubt runs deep, and the doubt is the reason why he ends up deeming himself not worthy of self care. He lets his hair grow exceedingly long, doesn’t shower as much as he’d like to, doesn’t eat beyond what the nanobots give him, he does the bare minimum to survive. He hasn’t left his apartment in decades, and frankly, he's afraid to leave.

==> Enter Hal. He’s New Horizons. I was going to choose Mars Odyssey, but the Hal thing would then not be something he chose. There’s a probe called MUSE and Roman which could be the cherubs, but I think they could also be non-probe tech that gained sentience. 

It’s something Dirk had done, he had developed a special interest for New Horizons. Roxy shared with him different files that NH had made, since it had become somewhat of a special interest. As the years went by and NASA tech wasnt so heavily guarded, she had given him access to the probe as like, a semi live feed. There wasn’t a ton to watch obviously, but he enjoyed scrolling through the data that it sent back. He became overzealous though, poking around in the software, he developed a rudimentary AI like it was one of his bots. Now instead of just inputting a command to receive data, he was able to actually converse with NH to get them as well as have conversations about the findings. He was eventually caught and reprimanded, but in the greater scale of things happening in the world, it wasn’t too bad, I guess? He became part of a team to develop other AI for the public to talk to because it’s VERY important to encourage hobbies or new careers in an environment like this. He helped draw out some plans, but didn’t actually work on other AIs because, creating varied ‘fake’ personalities didn’t appeal to him.

That AI became the basis of the ego that NH formed. Thus Hal came to be. It’s also the reason why he immediately seeked out Dirk to shake all the answers he could from him. He absolutely caught Dirk’s attention, his speech patterns being familiar to him, he set up the quantum messaging immediately. Hal here doesn’t aaaactually have his memories, but his “inimitably rad typing style, tone, cadence, and personality are pretty damn indistinguishable from DS's native neurological responses”.

They talk for a while, and then Dirk literally fucking passes out because that’s like the most his body has done for years. Hal is like oh shit did I do that??? And feels guilty so he texts Roxy. She’s HYPED that he’s a sentient probe too like another one she chats with, but becomes wistful because of how much Hal reminds her of Dirk. Hal is surprised that they don’t talk until he isn’t. Hal is two seconds into awareness and is already plotting shit. He doesn’t want Roxy to deal with his issues again, so elects to help him by hacking into one of the bots he’s made. They’re like all mirrors of his younger bro-ish self but in various levels of damage because he’s just a fucked up dude. It’s also the reason why none of his bots gained sentience, all too broken internally to do so. He couldn’t touch NH because it technically didn’t belong to him.

Hal is pre-disillusioned Dirk. He gets that he has a fuck ton of illnesses and neurosis unchecked, but like he could have never guessed as to why he fell THIS hard. Why he stopped taking his fucking testosterone too? Bc he’s like always strived to atain this ‘peak��� level of masculinity. It takes a while for Hal to mentally be on the same page as him bc of that dissonance. It’s what Hal does in the au, he takes it upon himself to be his therapist (bro doe NOT know what he’s doing) and helps him recover as well as reaches out to his old friends to see if they’d like to talk to him again. Dirk’s fuckin terrified by the idea, but it goes slowly. Jane’s up first, then Jake and Roxy.

Dirk also confronts Hal about his own anxieties about being alone. He’s one of the pinnacles for pre-immortal earth, but does he feel obsolete? He is also unable to die a hero, immortal until… Well I guess forever. Earth will move on without him, and he’ll stay frozen like a prehistoric bug trapped in amber. Both of them are dissociated from greater society.

[jacethebeltsculptor]

Outer Wilds Exploration Log #3 #2

OK, picking up directly where we left off- after making sweet, sensual love to a wall of cacti at 20 meters per second, I blasted back off go explore the twins again only to meet possibly the only astronaut who both has a job and actually does it anywhere in this galaxy, Chert. Lord knows I'm not.

Chert was such a breath of fresh air. Didn't even need the trees, could've filled up my tanks on their delightful attitude. They had tons of helpful information about how the Twins worked, advice for what to check out, and even clued me in that whatever is happening to our sun may be happening to other systems as well. They even let me borrow their jetpack fuel. 10/10 coworker, would visit again.

Early on in my exploration, I encountered a chunk of Quantum Rock and a puzzle about a guy who went missing. I wasn't able to figure out the puzzle, so I moved on down into the Sunless City. Hope to God cousin Oskaar doesn't see all these guys living here when there's a sun outside or he would flip his shit.

Now, we found some cool stuff here, but the headliner is that I found some old writings debating whether or not to proceed with the Sun Station project. The Nomai were split, because it could either produce the infinite energy they need to find the Eye, or just explodify the solar system. Pretty damn inconsiderate if you ask me. Suddenly starting to get a better idea of why all of these suns are blowing up, and what that thing I definitely didn't kill myself trying to land on was. The Nomai are really shaping up to be a parable about how the relentless pursuit of knowledge can be dangerous unless tempered by a strong foundation of ethics and responsibility- which is great, but it'd be nice if they didn't have to learn their lesson by exploding my home, my coworkers, and all of my stuff.

I used the last of my time in that cycle to check out the Quantum Moon locator- a disappearing moon just has to be plot-relevant, so that'll be handy later.

Turns out, I didn't need it, because I ended up catching a pretty lucky break- I was going back to Giant's Deep for another series of inconveniently-timed blowjobs when I happened to catch the Quantum Moon in orbit. Managed to snag a photo of that fucker to pin it in place and land- solving mysteries is for chumps! I mean, for different chumps, who aren't me. With the solution to all my problems handed to me on a silver platter, I proceeded to try to gravity-sling my way around the planet to explore quickly, and instead blasted my reckless ass into space at Mach Dumbass. This led to me letting the moon out of my sight, and it teleported off into the ether and took my ship with it. I got carjacked by the fucking moon.

Now, earlier in my playthrough, this would've been another stupid way I died- suffocate in space, or splat against the next thing I hit, or meditate serenely while I float slowly towards the sun. I've climbed several rungs up the echeladder since then, though, and I instead managed to get to Giant's Deep and land in the drink. I took the opportunity to sneak into the Statue Lab where I heard about the Ash Twin project and how the statues store memories. I'm not sure how they're getting sent back in time, but I guess when you have a supernova powering your tech, anything is possible. Looks like I'll be visiting Ash Twin in the next loop. Overall, I'm enjoying the hell out of the Outer Wilds. I've struggled to finish similar games, such as Subnautica, in the past, as I eventually found a point where the game slowed down and I stopped feeling like I was discovering new things. The much smaller map, computer system which marks what locations still have more to find and how the information is connected, goes a long way towards preventing the downfall into aimless wandering that results in me dropping the game. I adore the cozy atmosphere of this game- it feels at once cozy and familiar and like a grand cosmic adventure. I'm pretty sure I'm about 60% through the "What's going on?" phase and steadily working towards the "How do I fix it?" phase, with a few more planets to visit to fill out the rest of the picture. To-do list for next time: Check out Dark Bramble / find Feldspar. Return to Ember Twin and Brittle Hollow to figure out the Quantum Puzzles there. Check out Ash Twin. Kidnap Chert and take him to the Statue Workshop so he can start looping with me.

[mark-matos]

🎥🎇🤖 "The AI Strikes Back": A Space Oddity in Screenplay Competitions! 🚀🎆🌌

In the far, far away galaxy of Hollywood, screenplay competitions were the Jedi writer's ticket to the Death Star of stardom. But alas, one contest found itself sucked into the black hole of the AI argument! 🌠💫⚔️

🌐🚁 Scriptapalooza's AI-venture: A Warp Speed Journey into Oblivion! 🌪️💻📉

Let me introduce you to Scriptapalooza, a screenplay competition enterprise that had a close encounter of the third kind—an unexpected rendezvous with AI! They ignited their Artificial Intelligence Screenplay Competition but hit the emergency brakes faster than the Millennium Falcon on hyperdrive, following a supernova explosion of dissent from the writer Ewoks. 🦉🔥🚀

Amidst this interstellar drama, it's important to remember that our writing Jedi are on strike, with AI protections being a pivotal part of their manifesto against the Sith lords of the studios. Also, SAG-AFTRA is locked in a lightsaber clash with the AMPTP, with AI making yet another cameo. 🎭⚔️⏳

🖋️📖 The AI Starship: A Star-crossed Voyage to the Future of Storytelling! ⭐🔭🛸

Scriptapalooza set sail with a futuristic vision: to merge the uncharted territories of AI with the magic of human creativity. Like Stark tech in Iron Man's lab, they motivated writers to pioneer the future of storytelling. "AI will be the game-changer, pushing creative boundaries to new horizons," they broadcasted. 🗺️🚀👨‍🚀

The blueprint was pretty simple: our Jedi writers were to submit the first 25 pages of their script and then receive feedback from the AI oracle. "Once the AI chooses a winner, the writer will be invited to share the entire script. The winning script will then get a once-over by a human—a real-life Earthling!" they pledged, with a buzz that could light up a lightsaber. 📝💡🏆

😱🔙 When AI Turns from Hero to Villain! 🦸‍♂️➡️🦹‍♂️

Unfortunately, their Starship Enterprise hit an asteroid field. It seems they underestimated the power of the writer's force, who expressed their concerns louder than a Wookiee roar. Swiftly changing course, they backpedaled and issued a public apology via the intergalactic network of social media. "We stand with writers and the WGA," they broadcasted, echoing through the galaxy like a signal from a distant star. 🌟📡🔄

So here you have it, space cadets—the tale of Scriptapalooza's AI rollercoaster ride that ended quicker than a quantum leap. Let this be a guiding star: in our quest for innovation, let's always remember the heart and soul of storytelling—the human touch. Now, let's look forward to a universe where man and machine collaborate, creating a galaxy of stories without losing our essence. 🌌💖🤝

[writer59january13]

Some pro's and con's of being connected to virtual reality

Dune not be bashful, grumpy, leery

or any other contemporary dwarf man

regarding countless less well known dwarves

(that never got a chance

to play a bit part) such as wham

bam thank you ma'am linkedin with emergence

of Internet and poetry slam opportunities availed by Nast tee Uncle Sam, which characters (albeit fiction), nevertheless, helped spawn a quiet yet free global, radically riotous,

totally tubular snow white transformation affecting a societal and human specie but also augmented, credited,

engineered, et cetera contributing

to paradigm seismic shift that garnered tree mend us plentifully birthed schema,

impacted and transformed how wii (more particularly many gifted minds)

bridged geographical distance (encompassing all four corners

of the Earth) to enhance

what came to be called the world wide web, courtesy Sir Tim Berners-Lee

hewing digital strong armed lance information super high, "Cyber Revolution,"

etc allowing one to prance and essentially transcend reality to brook cyber sea ghosting, fostering, embezzling crook

commanding, commingling, communicating, hook line and sinker, et cetera courtesy nerdy kook

with an excellent access and outlook reaching the most distant cranny and nook.

This (bit a bing chitty chitty bang bang)

democratization of information,

manifestation toward exponentially faster processing capacities

(latest technological trend heralds Quantum computing – promising to transform the world into twenty first century space race) more powerful than pen or sword (based on principles of Moore’s Law), reward

witnessing atheists to thank good lord

electronically solidifying

binary unification swiftly tail lord

engendering greater dependence and reliance

figuratively shrinking the drinking gourd allowing far flung aliens, family,

friends, et cetera to ford great distances via sophisticated electronics

courtesy of super smart motherboard enabling ever more complex

futuristic electronic contrivances, the generic Homo Sapien gibbon could afford.

Analogous to Medieval Age

this quiet pussy riot creation (ushering on thee global stage equally as controversial when la cage aux folles aired)

vis a vis Internet did un cage actual overcoming physical barriers

ushered Hallmark gauge marked by Computer/Digital Age odyssey),

especially sharing pixelated page

at light speed, where the ordinary individual could keep in contact ) albeit with every now and again

a bit torrent rage

and in some instances tapping

smarts of a preschooler considered a sage, which kindergarten lad/lass

commandeered a handsome wage

whereat the parental figure

did gently cajole, wheedle or beg

their wealthy progeny promising

son/ daughter of a healthy nest egg

framing almighty dollar

as theatrical masterpiece jpeg

storing money in Swiss

bank accounts or hollow leg

perhaps christened Meg or if an avid weekly reader

of Moby Dick's Queequeg,

who felt incorporeal storied power

of Herman Melville as zen unseen aid instructing hypothetical rich kid

to drop out of school

before his/her first grade

cuz of all the money he/she made,

which affected modus operandi rendered obsolete child worker laws

and no sweat of brow getting paid

people used bitcoin (protocol

which implements a highly available,

public, and decentralized ledger) additionally making purchases with scant keystrokes to complete a trade.

As with any major dramatically novel scheme

light bulb idea scribbled on napkin

or other scrap of paper

via modeling brainstorm viz cutting up cheese or spraying whipped cream

originating as a flash in the pan

aha eureka moment, or dream

as rough blueprint subsequently

underwent beta testing, before declaring pc innovation supreme, whereby outstanding persons

in the tech industry clamored to join Kidde team.

Whether seventh day add vent

hissed or other religious creed powerful binary processing rooted and impacted particularly

after tooth house sand years after common era (re: anno domini)

earth shaking incarnation indeed and ramifications in all walks

and talks of life sought expert need.

Coven chanting children murmured Luddites be damned!

Thus spake Zarathustra

(cue the opening scene from Planet of the Apes)

upon witnessing as if king or queen (in reality father or mother) didst get immediately

dethroned thus, increasing mean average positive netzero

effects on society, especially lean

microchip i.e. integrated circuitry

miniaturization "green" technology (and eventual

attendant affordable price), viz said trappings

upon global market invited absolute zero dust, a must clean

as a whistle work space,

and manufacturers laboratory be microbe free

hermetically sealed vacuumed "clean.”

Countless portable computers

unbeknownst soon invited

florid colorful expletives

upon heads that did wantonly hack

impromptu malfeasance called cyber crime,

especially as majority proportion of population

didst purchase these dime a dozen,

countless electronically sophisticated contrivances every Tom, Dick and Harry

snapped up these smart machines excitedly keyed away

ofttimes indifferent to gunk on unwashed hands

plus bits of food particles

eventually caking hardware with grime subsequently necessitating technician

charging gobs of moolah

sans to unstitch in time.

Gooey glop getting suctioned out

vaunted vips venting vitriolic vocalizations

emphasized obvious

NO FOOD OR DRINK rule to abide

cuz suctioning tower computer

or laptop presented vulnerability

plus unforeseen downfall against fried food and greasy hands ended up hide ding hardest to reach locale

on circuit board no matter

how expert technician pried “end user” yelling out gratitude

to geek squad member helping before he/she went side

dulling out front door

eagerly awaiting remotely controlled self driving vehicle transporting self taught techie guru home

to an obscure gated destination,

an uninterrupted distant, yet pleasant ride

eventually amateurs encouraged

to tinker like an apprenticed tailor

akin as raw troubleshooting recruit

oft playfully feigned to be soldier spy pretending to repair bowel of computer

when in truth visiting

supposed outer limits of functionality

legality, and radicality shadowing dark side

which lined illegal benefits

of labor saving devices.

The sound of silence

written on the subway walls

though heretics opposing

latest technology and felt sinister chill (just ask Punxsutawney Phil),

the Internet ranks as greatest dog sent rill

lee where wiz kids ranked

chatting killer apps with grateful dead

information superhighway as heavenly manna

with artificial intelligence street cred

since introduction of white bread and powdered milk biscuits

baked by Ahmed.

[intuitive-revelations]

Ok, party ended early so a bunch of immediate thoughts on The Halloween Apocalypse, before I rewatch it:

I noticed that a LOT of what we saw in the trailer comes from just this episode, which means we have very little idea of what's coming up.

I'm also sure there's a lot of interesting details in the snippets we did see, hence why I want to comb through it later.

Immediately noticed that those Division agents had the same gun as Ruth!Doctor. I think the holograms might have shown circular gallifreyan, but it was hard to tell as the writing was quite pixelated.

Swarm described his transformation as 'renewal' which immediately sets off early-Who / Morbius continuity vibes.

He also spoke about the agents' work towards 'division' not 'the Division', which makes me wonder just what the word means. Something related to the Anchoring of the Thread and its effect on spacetime maybe, dividing the 'Dark Times' universe from the new? Makes sense with him supposedly having been imprisoned since the beginning of the universe, but that also likely being hyperbole, that we may well dig into some more ancient Gallifrey lore.

Actually the fact that a crystalline creature experienced its own version of regeneration kinda makes me think of Eldrad?

@doctornolonger said it already, but yeah, Karvanista being a Division agent feels VERY Wardog-y. Makes me wonder if its a bit of a reinvention of that bit of lore to avoid stepping on Marvel's toes.

(Side note: I love Karvanista)

On the other hand his line at the beginning about the 'final hours of planet Earth' while technically true, feels like a bit of lazy writing making him seem menacing to start with, given the reveal that his species are trying to rescue humanity.

Outpost 'Rose' is interesting. Not sure what to make of it yet.

The TARDIS spawning new doors. Could that be related to how it's failing to track the multiple incursions? Like it's literally trying to materialise in multiple places at once.

Actually, the TARDIS seems kinda sick in general, especially with regards to that leakage (which now that I think about it, reminds me of the timeship leak in The Pilot that took over Heather).

When the Doctor checked under the TARDIS console, was she using the chameleon arch headset in some way? I guess it could just be a reused prop, but with what she said about a 'glitch' I'm not sure...

CORRECTION: just checked it, I didn't catch that she said it was an MOT on her mind, implying the glitch was her connection to Swarm. She's DEFINITELY using the chameleon arch for it, though hopefully it's just jury-rigged for another purpose?

"Thirty Trillion Light Years Away" is actually surprisingly far for the Sontarans to be. It's not too surprising they'd get so far away given their tech level, but usually they're a very Mutter's Spiral/Milky Way and the rest of the Twelve Galaxies centric species. Makes me believe that these ones, at least, must have little connection to the Sontaran-Rutan War.

OK, the 'Flux'. The description of it actually makes me think about the theoretical idea of 'vacuum decay' where a quantum field is able to decay to a lower energy, effectively creating an expanding bubble of spacetime where the laws of physics are different to what we're used to, most likely tearing apart atoms. It's pretty much the closest thing to a universal weapon in real life physics we have.

This is also quite similar to Davros's reality bomb.

Now that I think about it, the effects on molecular structure also kinda remind me of the effect of the Eye of Harmony being left open in the TV Movie. Maybe something similar connects the flux to the TARDIS's ill health?

The idea of the laws of physics changing also, again, kinda ties back to the early Time Lords?

It seems either to be intelligent, given how it seems to have very specific targets, however, rather than being an expanding sphere. Alternatively, there's something attracting it to its targets, including the TARDIS. Maybe something to do with importance to the Web of Time? Or Artron energy?

Small detail I found amusing: when the Doctor takes evasive action we see the Flux destroy a blue gas giant, not resembling any in our Solar system, despite just having been on the edge of it. Was that the real life hypothetical 'planet nine', or another one of the extraneous planets (think Vulcan, Marinus, Mondas, Planet Five etc.) from Doctor Who lore sometimes said to be in the Solar System?

Alternatively, maybe the evasive action briefly took the TARDIS to Alpha Centauri?

[thanksjro]

More Than Meets the Eye #33: In Which I Write the Word ‘Quantum‘ 19 Times

Dang, I forgot what happened at the end of the last issue. It was pretty important, too, but I don’t have time to reread. Maybe the establishing shot can help me out?

Oh, that’s right, Rewind happened!

Everyone’s pretty jazzed that Rewind is here, non-exploded, and supposedly alive. Megatron carries this ridiculously small man over to a table, while Skids is busy admonishing Nightbeat for trying to put the pieces of this mystery together.

That’s one of the two first canonically, openly gay Transformers, Megatron. You bet your ass he’s important.

Nightbeat’s dragged Nautica over to look at that poster for Crosscut’s play they saw last issue. Together, they discover something interesting, and it’s not that Nightbeat’s chin has elongated to the point of absurdity. On this future ship, the play was completed and produced a mere few weeks after the initial launch of the Lost Light.

While this is going on, Rewind wakes up and asks Skids what the hell is going on. Skids, likely not wanting to poke at farm-fresh trauma, glosses over the fact that everyone on this ship was violently murdered, and that they found Rewind blacked out inside the hollowed torso of his brother-in-law.

…This is a dark story line.

You see, the joke here is that “Dark Cybertron” sucked major chrome.

Megatron reminds everyone that they’re still in grave danger every moment they stay aboard this ship, but Skids is more concerned with Rewind’s mental health. Which is sweet, but maybe not the thing to prioritize in such a precarious situation.

Rewind takes the fact that Megatron is an Autobot now pretty friggin’ well, as well as the introduction of gender into his species. That is, until Nightbeat, the king of social graces, saunters up to the scene to ask Rewind what the hell happened to the ship. He does get his answers, despite Rewind being horrified to the point of speechlessness.

Over at the hole in the wall, Nautica and Riptide are taking a gander at the quantum drums, which house the quantum foam for the quantum engines so quantum jumps can happen.

As Nautica explains the process by which quantum travel works, she realizes that the answer to what happened to everyone who disappeared was right in front of them this whole time.

Quantum, quantum, quantum- doesn’t even sound like a word anymore, does it?

The data slug Rewind made corroborates this theory, showing a series of events that definitely didn’t happen to the Lost Light we’ve been following throughout this story so far. The data slug contains this Rewind’s version of dead Rewind’s “Little Victories”, the travelogue that was never completed, where the question “are you happy?” revealed just how emotionally unhealthy most of the crew is. I’d like to imagine this Rewind’s film is called “Small Achievements”, or perhaps “Dear Fucking Lord, We’ve Been on this Trip for Three Hours and the Captain Has Been Killed by a Goddamned Soul-Vampire”, or maybe even “Where the FUCK is Our Therapist”.

The DJD came into the equation by way of someone having led them to the Lost Light. We get a flashback panel of the gorefest, in which Tarn appears to have learned how to fly, given the angle he’s coming from.

Because Rewind’s big thing in this series is being the guy who records stuff, the DJD take the opportunity to make some movies of their visit to the space yacht.

James, why do you keep getting Rewind involved with snuff films? I’m starting to get concerned.

Now, the thing about Rewind is that he’s almost always accompanied by his other half. Where is Chromedome, anyway?

He’s dead, that’s where.

Turns out, when you tell the DJD that you won’t do the thing they want you to do, they have a habit of doing nasty things in retaliation. Chromedome got stabbed in the friggin’ visor with his own finger needles, because Vos enjoys ironic deaths, I suppose. There’s some other stuff that’s implied to have happened, but we’ll get to that once we learn a little more about the DJD themselves.

While Rewind recounts the grisly tale of his husband’s demise, Riptide notes that the quantum foam has begun to spread at a remarkable rate. This is a bad thing, because that shit can and will explode, given half the chance, and this wreck is floating right above a potentially-inhabited planet.

Though I could have sworn we established that this planet was a Smartplanet, and therefore very much populated by students and staff. I don’t know. Maybe we conveniently forgot that, so we could make this a learning moment for Megatron.

Jiminy Christmas, Megs, do you even listen to yourself?

Skids, who has had a very long day of finding corpses and learning about quantum theory, snaps at Megatron, telling him that in order to actually be an Autobot, you have to have a little frickin’ compassion for those outside of your peer group.

Which is sort of contradictory to the Aequitas trials, the Killswitch debacle, the POW situation back on Cybertron, and whatever the fuck Prowl’s whole deal is, but maybe Skids is speaking about his own, personal relationship with being an Autobot. Hopefully so, otherwise he needs a class on critical thinking, STAT.

Never mind all of that though, because the problem just got a lot worse- the quantum foam has expanded to a point where any holes in the stuff are too small for the Rod Pod to get through. We’re going to have to get creative if we want to save the day.

Luckily, we’ve got a quantum duplicate of just about the tiniest little dude in the franchise here to do the job. Now we just need another, equally tiny little man, so the quantum drums can be shut off at the same time. Nautica commits more microaggressions, and this gives Getaway inspiration for a witty quip, which in turn gives Skids a brilliant idea.

The gang heads down to Brainstorm’s lab, to look for the mass displacement gun that was used for treating Ultra Magnus’s nanocon infestation back in the 2012 Annual. While they search, Nautica explains just why the hell the Lost Light disappeared in the first place. You see, quantum duplication acts on the Cain Instinct— it’s fine, as long as the duplicates don’t perceive each other. However, the moment contact is made, it says “oh man, guess I’m gonna have to end you” to one of the duplicates. The contact in this case happened when the Coffin Rodimus was brought aboard the ship.

Anything that wasn’t aboard the Lost Light at the point of the takeoff/explosion was never duplicated, and thus wasn’t erased from reality once shit started going to hell. This is why the Rod Pod is still around, and why the remaining cast are— well, the remaining cast.

While this conversation is going on, Nautica and Nightbeat uncover yet another dead body; it’s Brainstorm, and he’s a little underdressed.

…Someone run a paternity test, I think Cyclonus might be the father.

Also, Brainstorm’s a double agent.

Fucked up.

Getaway is furious that a Decepticon has been living on the same ship as him for the last six months, right under his proverbial nose. Even Megatron’s surprised, stating that Brainstorm isn’t usually who the recruiters aim for.

So, no mass displacement gun, and now they’re aware of the fact that there’s a traitor on the ship who’s had access to a LOT of weapon tech. It’s at this point that Megatron decides to stop lying by omission and tells everyone that he can mass-displace, since he used to turn into a handgun.

Smashcut to Megatron and Rewind floating out in space, the former now not much taller than the latter, as they traverse the web of quantum foam to get to the drums. Nautica instructs them from the Rod Pod. If this works, anything produced or connected to the quantum engine will be neutralized, and maybe we’ll even get the other Lost Light back! YAAAAAY!!!

Y’all really let this man go out there to fuckin’ kill himself for the greater good, didn’t you?

Rewind is honestly pretty chill with ceasing to be, seeing as he watched 200/+ people die today, including his long-time spouse.

Jesus. I’d say get him a therapist, but in order to do that, we’re going to have to wipe him off the map anyway.

Rewind asks Megatron if the Chromedome that isn’t his and his duplicate are still together. And I mean…

Luckily, Megatron has the good sense to lie.

With that, they flip the switches, and deactivate the drums.

And that’s a series wrap on Rewind! Congrats to Mr. James Roberts for the esteemed honor of burying the same gay twice!

Later on, everyone is back inside the Rod Pod, as their disappeared shipmates return from being nonexistent. Chromedome pops back in, and Skids is on him like a shark, telling him to go on the roof. Skids doesn’t even try to explain why. Which, fair. How the hell do you explain to someone that their dead husband’s quantum duplicate survived both a terrorist splinter cell attack, and the laws of quantum sci-fi bullshit crashing down on his tiny, tiny body, and that he’s right there on the roof waiting for them?

Welp, there goes the Chromedome/Dominus endgame. Shame, that.

Looks like Chromedome finally hit the threshold for having earned Roberts’ pity, and won’t be directly targeted by the plot for a little while. This isn’t something you see very often, so let’s really soak this in.

…Someone had to have told Rewind what happened to the other Rewind, right? I wonder what that conversation was like.

Back inside the ship, Blaster gets word that the Lost Light has reappeared. As they navigate towards it, Megatron requests that an encrypted call be made to Rodimus, to discuss the Brainstorm problem.

In the interim, Ravage is offered the opportunity to be a part of the crew, so he doesn’t have to keep skulking around in the shadows. We don’t get an answer from him, as our focus shifts over to Nightbeat and Nautica.

Nightbeaaaaaaaaaat, stop stating the themes of the comic verbatim! People are going to start thinking you’re a shonen anime protagonist!

Nightbeat’s somehow managed to keep ahold of the briefcase that they found on the other Lost Light. Unless Brainstorm’s boyfriend is in there, I don’t think this one was the work of Huey Lewis and the News’ hit single from the Back to the Future soundtrack.

Over on the Lost Light, specifically in Swerve’s, Brainstorm’s making his way through the crowd, briefcase held gentle like hamburger as he goes. He makes it to the bar, where Atomizer tells him he can’t have his briefcase in here. Brainstorm has what most would accept to be a healthy response to being told “no.”

It’s what I would do.

[ygocollablove]

@augustwritingchallenge‘s 2020 monthly prompts have come to a conclusion, and YGO Collab Love would like to present all its members who participated this year!

Before that, I would like to give thanks/applause to @cieryuu for creating the banner above (and another round to @darkmagiattack/@crshrs for making the template). Look how adorable it is! <3

There are many pieces still in progress even after the challenge’s end day, and we are excited for the day that the fics will all come to completion. Otherwise, please give love and comments and feedback to the pieces listed below!

For Art submissions...

scemo vampire yami Bakura by @crshrs Vampire AU Rating: Teens and Up Blood warning

For General Audiences...

Step One College, Step Two Take Over the World by Souless_Robot ( @soulessrobot ) Status: COMPLETE College AU Characters: Chazz Princeton & Ojama Brothers Summary: “Step one: get into Neo Domino University,” Chazz lifted one finger and waved it in his spirit partners’ faces. “Step two: get a Ph.D. in dueling. Step three: get hired to teach at Duel Academy. Step four: take over the school.”

Dueling Royalty by Elexica Status: COMPLETE Modern AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: Kaiba will block you on Twitter.

Diagnostic Don’ts by Souless_Robot Status: COMPLETE Hospital AU Characters: Jack Atlas, Seto Kaiba, Alexis Rhodes, Duke Devlin, Atem Summary: Dr. Seto Kaiba very much does not want any fellows in his diagnostic department. Unfortunately the hospital administrator Atem has different ideas. That's how Kaiba ends up with three fellows in his office. It's a good thing Kaiba doesn't plan to keep them for very long. He'll bet Wheeler he can get them to quit by the end of the week.

Mr. Jounouchi Will See You Now by Elexica Status: COMPLETE Role Reversal AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: The CEO of Jounouchi Corp. is known for being charming and lucky—not just a shrewd businessman who bravely took over the company for his alcoholic dad. Seto Kaiba is a bright kid who really needs to pay for his brother’s eye surgery.

Succ's to be You. by Elexica Status: COMPLETE Flower Shop AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: Kaiba is the worst at office plants.

For Teens and Up...

Cafe Nervosa by Elexica ( @elexica ) Status: COMPLETE Coffee Shop AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: Good morning, Domino! Dr. Seto Kaiba runs a call-in psychiatry radio show, and whether he wants to or not, he's listening. His sound engineer, Joey Wheeler, unfortunately has to listen too.

All the King's Men by Souless_Robot Status: COMPLETE Soulmate AU Pairing: Rivalshipping (Chazz Princeton x Jaden Yuki), Spiritshipping (Jesse Anderson x Jaden Yuki), Supreme King x Chazz Princeton Summary: Or Chazz is the Supreme King's soulmate but not Jaden's.

Wasted by Elexica Status: COMPLETE College AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: Kaiba gets drunk at Mokuba's fraternity initiation party and does the cute orientation leader's calculus homework. He's bad at flirting, but he's good at math.

Blank Slate by KitsunePhantom09 ( @kitsunephantom09 ) Status: COMPLETE Soulmates AU Pairing: Kingcrabshipping (Jack Atlas x Yusei Fudo) Summary: Everyone has a mark signifying their soulmate. Yusei doesn't.

The Voice in My Head by Elexica Status: COMPLETE Soulmates AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: The month leading up to when you meet your soulmate is the only period in your life where you will hear another voice in your head, their thoughts streaming through your mind. For Jounouchi, it's hell.

Demon Days by Souless_Robot Status: COMPLETE Angels & Demons AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: Joey never meant to be permanently assigned to earth after the events that take place in the Garden of Eden. Still, now that he is he really wishes he would stop running into his least favorite demon. Unfortunately, it seems the creator has other plans.

Cancelling the Apocalypse by Elexica Status: ONGOING Chapters 1/3 Post-Apocalyptic AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: Are Joey and Kaiba drift compatible?

Straight to the Top by Souless_Robot Status: COMPLETE Band AU Characters: Joey Wheeler, Seto Kaiba, Yuugi Mutou, Chazz Princeton, Jaden Yuki Summary: Joey is a folk singer trying to break into the mainstream with her childhood friend Yugi. Too bad she gets nothing but problems most from the Kaiba corp record label run by the young CEO and music prodigy Seto Kaiba.

A Good Match by Elexica Status: COMPLETE Superheroes/Superpowers AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: Or, Kaiba and Jounouchi can't wait for the whistle to start fighting.

Good Eggs by Elexica Status: COMPLETE Farm/Ranch AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: Kaiba is forced to work as a farmhand the summer before college. Joey doesn't mind the company.

Mercy by Elexica Status: COMPLETE Crime AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: Kaiba's a bit tied up at the moment.

Who You Gonna Call by Elexica Status: COMPLETE Treasure Hunters AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: Ghost hunter Joey and skeptic Kaiba enlist Yugi's help in answering the question: Are ghosts real?

For Mature audiences...

And Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.” by KitsunePhantom09 Status: COMPLETE Vampire AU Characters: Yusei Fudo Summary: Rule #1: Never answer when you hear them knocking.

Dark Web by Elexica Status: COMPLETE Pirates AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: You wouldn't download a car. Kaiba would.

The line that stands between us is 100 lives worth living by SwordsAndSwongs ( @blue-eyed-priest ) Status: ONGOING Chapters 8/32 Pairing: Prideshipping (Seto Kaiba x Atem), Rivalshipping (Kaiba x Yuugi Mutou), Stoicshipping (Kaiba x Priest Set), and Puppyshipping (Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: In a world full of multiverses, who will Kaiba meet? Is it his Pharaoh, his enemies, his few friends? Or is it himself, waiting at the end of every step taken?

Demon in a Bottle by Elexica Status: COMPLETE Angels & Demons AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: Kaiba overdoses.

Addicted (You’re My Favorite High) by KitsunePhantom09 Status: COMPLETE Crime AU Pairing: Kingcrabshipping (Jack Atlas x Yusei Fudo) Summary: Yusei has never felt like this before, and he desperately doesn't want it to end.

Netflix and Chill by auroraXborealis ( @xauroraxborealisx ) Status: ONGOING Chapters 11/? Pairing: Puzzleshipping (Yuugi Mutou x Atem) Summary: When the department of Human Resources from Kaiba Corp decides it is in the company’s best interest to send some of its employees on a team-building seminar for a whole weekend, Atem does not think his bonding experience with his colleagues will turn out to be this intense. Especially when he is thrown into a downward spiral of strange events with the one coworker he dislikes the most: Yugi. Now, they must work together to survive and figure out all the clues to make it back home.

Enemy Fire by KitsunePhantom09 Status: ONGOING Chapter 5/? Pairing: Kingcrabshipping (Jack Atlas x Yusei Fudo) Summary: Jack has just escaped a horrible alpha, but is in dire straits – heavily pregnant and out on the streets in the middle of winter does not bode well. But as his darkest hour arrives, so too does his savior.

Catalysts for Kindling by bewdofchaos ( @atems-leather-pants ) Status: ONGOING Chapters 11/? Pairing: Puzzleshipping (Yuugi Mutou x Atem), Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: In the eight months that Yugi and Atem have been roommates, they have formed a fast friendship over their fondness for coffee, late-night study sessions and video games. But recently, something has not been quite right. When Yugi receives a mysterious parcel, he is sent on an unexpected journey where each new step makes him reconsider everything he ever knew to be true… but mostly his relationship with his roommate.

The Dark Woods Circus’ Monster by KitsunePhantom09 Status: COMPLETE Circus AU Pairing: Kingcrabshipping (Jack Atlas x Yusei Fudo) Summary: Once, the circus was meant to wow and inspire its audience with feats of grandeur. Now it horrifies and terrifies them with unholy creatures of man's own design.

Time to fight fears, for once and for AUll by Seiyofira ( @seiyofira-doesntknowshiet ) Status: COMPLETE Chapters 11/11 Summary: These will be some scattered works for AU-gust 2020, which will either revolve around Yu-Gi-Oh! DM or JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, I will put the used AU prompt as well as either YGO or JJBA at the beginning of each chapter. They do not build a consistent story!

For Explicit audiences...

Forgiveness by KitsunePhantom09 Status: COMPLETE Angels & Demons AU Pairing: Kingcrabshipping (Jack Atlas x Yusei Fudo) Summary: An angel is offered as a sacrifice by a cult to appease their lord.

Scrubs by Elexica Status: COMPLETE Hospital AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: The door to the supply closet doesn't lock, but that doesn't stop Drs. Kaiba and Jounochi from having an intimate moment.

Embrace me, Love. It's been a long day. by Cleopatra ( @writelovetomeempress ) Status: ONGOING Chapters 20/33 Pairing: Flareshipping (Seto Kaiba x Atem x Yuugi Mutou) Summary: Atem is gone, back to the Afterlife when the Ceremonial Duel was complete. A piece of Yuugi's heart went with him. Kaiba, with all his genius and all his tech, has found a way to use the Quantum Cube to claim the victory he was denied. Per a reluctant deal, Kaiba brings Yuugi along. All the bravado in the world couldn't prepare Yuugi for that final goodbye, and with shaky hands, he broke their world completely.

Porcelain Wings and Shattered Dreams by Life_0r_Death ( @life-0r-death ) Status: ONGOING Chapters 11/17 Pairing: Kingcrabshipping (Jack Atlas x Yusei Fudo) Summary: Paradox has come to take his revenge against Yusei Fudo, but a former king will sacrifice himself for the love of the greater good. Too bad sacrificing doesn't mean death, but a perpetual prison of different worlds, different dimensions where Jack gets to witness what could have been.

For fics Not Rated...

Doin’ Time by Elexica Status: COMPLETE Childhood Friends AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: Joey is trying to get a contraband cell phone in Juvie Hall. Kaiba is a little more ambitious.

A huge round of applause for everyone who participated and who are still fighting the good fight of completing their fics! We hope to join again next year and provide a plethora of amazing YGO-related fics for you all to read! Congratulations everyone!!

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #474

Top Ten Characters Who Came Back from the Dead

I am stunned – stunned! – that I’ve not done this one before. I mean, come on! It’s right there.

So there’s obviously a thematic resonance going on here. This weekend – the weekend you’re meant to be reading this – is famous where I come from because of a story where someone came back from the dead. Unlike other holidays – Christmas, Halloween, the release of a Star War – I’ve actually been a little slow off the mark in making lists that celebrate Easter. I’ve done eggs and bunnies, but incredibly I’ve never done resurrections, which really is the day’s whole deal. I mean, if you get down to brass tacks, it’s kinda the big selling point of the entire religion really. I hesitate to say “USP” because, well, it’s been done elsewhere, but it’s still supposed to be one of the big Christian takeaways (there’s definitely a chain of Christian takeaways in the States, isn’t there?).

Anyway, resurrection. It’s actually more common than you might think. Certainly in terms of comics there are probably more characters who’ve “died and come back” than have never “died” at all. But! And this is where I get pernickety. Most characters who “die” don’t actually die. Take Batman for instance: he’s shot in the face by Darkseid, and then Superman ups and finds his charred corpse, but – shocker! – he’s not actually dead, he was just sent back in time, where he Quantum Leaps his way back to the present day, accumulating enough Omega Energy with each leap that by the time he reaches the present day he’s blow a hole in reality. Or something, I’ve not read that story for quite a few years. Anyway: he wasn’t dead. Neither was Sherlock Holmes, or for that matter Dirty Den. Generally speaking, if someone dies in a story and then reappears, they’re not dead. Not really.

So this list here is supposed to be people who actually died. Now, even here, it’s debatable; I mean, is E.T. dead, or does his body just go into some kind of hibernation? If Optimus Prime’s brainwaves survive, does he ever really die? Is a clone someone coming back to life or not? It’s all a bit wishy-washy really, which kind of makes sense when you’re talking about resurrection. And let’s not get onto the chief resurrector, the Doctor; do they die every time they regenerate? Or is the regeneration itself a way of staving off death? When David Tennant turned into Matt Smith, did the Tennant-Doctor die? “I don’t want to go,” and all that; there’s always a subtle (or not-so-subtle) change in personality. Does that count? Well, for the purposes of this list, I’ve kinda decided it doesn’t. But it’s an interesting discussion to have, if you’re a big old nerd like me.

So yeah: people who have died – properly, I suppose – and then come back to life. That’s the list. No fakery, to mistaken identity, no alternate universe shenanigans; they were dead but they got better (no Chev Chelios either; sorry, Stath stans). No zombies either! Or vampires! They’re not undead; they were dead, and now they’re alive again. That’s the rule. Also I’ve seriously tried to limit comic book characters. And I’m sure there are some big omissions (like, I know there’s one from Game of Thrones that’s not on here, but that’s because I’ve not seen that far into the show yet; I know, I know). But I reckon these are the best at being back.

Optimus Prime (Transformers franchise, from about 1987): OP is the OG when it comes to coming back to life. Dying and then stopping being dead is pretty much his thing. Technically the first time he came back from the dead was in the original animation; famously being offed by Megatron in The Transformers: The Movie (1986), he came back to life a year later. Subsequent media have frequently killed him and brought him back, even in the live-action movies, but I want to talk about the comics. Because the original Marvel run killed off Optimus at a similar time as the cartoon; he’s blown up in slightly contrived circumstances, but his brain is saved on a floppy disk. Two years later he has his body rebuilt and his brain restored and he’s off to the races once more. Then in 1991, when facing down planet-eating mega-bastard Unicron, he sacrifices himself again, but this time his personality has begun to merge with that of his ostensibly-human companion Hi-Q. Hi-Q/Prime is converted/rebuilt into a new body, and he wins the war. So there you go: even in this one sliver of continued continuity – not including off-shoots or spin-offs, let alone other iterations of the overall franchise – Optimus Prime died and came back to life twice. Beat that, Easter.

E.T. (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982): not much to say here that we don’t already know from the Book of Spielberg. E.T., doddery little alien magic-man, grows sicker and sicker as he’s stuck on Earth, until in a thrillingly-edited set-piece he seems to expire, human doctors unable to help him. “I know you’re gone,” says best bud Elliot, “because I don’t know what to feel.” But then! His heart glows! His colour returns! And he positively yells, “E.T. phone hooooooome!” – and Elliot’s euphoric laugh is just devastating. The whole sequence – what is it, ten minutes? Fifteen? – is masterful in every way, from the technical to the performative to the emotional. Bloody magic is what it is.

Gandalf (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, 1954): Gandalf the Grey famously leads the Fellowship of the Ring across the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, where he faces off against a Balrog. After a bit of “you shall not pass” and all that, they both fall from the bridge, battling each other on the way down, before both perishing at the bottom. Gandalf, though, is not really Gandalf, but Olórin, one of the Maiar – basically a kind of angel, I guess. He is returned to Earth by the powers-that-be to complete his mission, and is promoted to Gandalf the White, supplanting the corrupt wizard Saruman. This new iteration of Gandalf is a bit more serious and steadfast, although he does retain his fascination with hobbits. Regardless, he gets a terrific death scene and a triumphant resurrection, and how it ties into Tolkien’s wider mythology is interesting.

Superman (DC Comics, 1993): comic book characters die and come back all the time; it’s pretty much a staple of the medium. I guess Jean Grey/Phoenix is probably the most famous, but they’ve all done at some point (even if, like in my Batman example earlier, sometimes they don’t actually die). Anyway, Superman died, very famously, after getting into a tremendous barney with genetically-engineered super-git Doomsday (as famously, and atrociously, depicted in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice). The whole “Death of Superman” arc is interesting and entertaining as an example of mid-nineties big-panel EXTREME storytelling: as the issues tick down to the fateful scrap in Metropolis, the number of panels-per-page is reduced until the final issue is basically just full of splash pages. It’s a terrific, exhilarating rumble, really selling the heft of the confrontation. Interestingly, the comic spends a lot of time afterwards dealing with life without Superman, as a raft of imitators/wannabe successors emerge from the woodwork; these include the best-ever Superboy, Conner Kent, and Steel, who’s basically Superman meets Iron Man. Eventually, of course, Superman comes back, his body essentially having been sent to a Kryptonian day spa to recuperate; he emerges clad in black and with a mullet, so death obviously has some lasting repercussions. Overall, it’s a whopping arc with long-term consequences, and whilst it’s easy to make Christ parallels when discussing Superman, this story doesn’t really hew that way (unlike the Snyder-verse which really goes all-in on that plot point, much to the films’ detriment). One of the better aspects is how, even in death, Superman is an inspiration, which in itself has a long trail; leading, eventually, to Batman’s famous withering diss, “the last time you inspired someone was when you where dead.” Anyway, I’ve gone on about this far too long.

Spock (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, 1984): let’s start by acknowledging just how great Spock’s death is in Wrath of Khan. As a plot point within the film, as a piece of staging and performance, and as a landmark moment in this franchise, it was seminal; a death for the ages (as an aside, it’s crazy to think Star Trek as a whole was only sixteen years old when Spock died; the MCU was eleven when Tony Stark clicked the bucket). Anyway, they built an entire film around how to bring him back, and Spock as we know him is absent for much of it; a presence looming over everything as he rapidly ages, going through his Vulcan super-puberty and everything. It’s actually a rather sombre film as Kirk’s son is killed and the Enterprise blows up; bringing back Spock comes with a very real cost. Trek III is not one of the top-tier films – in the loose trilogy that comprises Khan, Spock, and The Voyage Home it’s certainly the weakest – but it’s still pretty good, often underrated. And, of course, it brings back Spock, which is nice.

Agent Coulson (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., 2013): Coulson’s death in Avengers comes as a huge shock, one of the fan-favourite characters being brutally offed in surprising fashion. In a film chock full of super-people, it’s the ordinary guy who buys it tragically. However, did any of us really think he was dead-dead? And so barely a year later he pops back up in the TV series Agents of SHIELD. However, his reincarnation became a recurring plot point; his references to spending time in Tahiti (“It’s a magical place”) becoming increasingly sinister as we come to understand even he doesn’t know how he’s back up and running. The eventual truth – Nick Fury using painful and transformative alien tech to basically bring Coulson back to life �� may be a bit underwhelming, but it gave Clark Gregg a lot of meat to chew on dramatically speaking, and it underscored a lot of his character development going forward (especially when he, yes, died again, and then sort-of came back, twice).

Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 2001): full disclosure: I never watched Buffy religiously. I think I just missed it at the start and it was only when all my friends were talking about how great it was that I started tuning in more regularly. Weirdly, I think the most I watched it was around the time Buffy died and came back. It’s fascinating, really, and full credit to the show for the way they explored it; in a series full of magic, the afterlife, and the undead, bringing a character back to life isn’t too shocking. Willow, Buffy’s witchy mate, resurrects her with magic; but in an excellent twist, it turns out that she was in Heaven, and is super pissed off to be pulled out of paradise and stuck back on Earth, leading to her feeling depressed and alienated all season. That’s a great hook for bringing a character back, and leads to some meaty stuff for Sarah Michelle Geller to do.

Agent Smith (The Matrix Reloaded, 2003): do you ever feel that The Matrix has slipped from popular culture a little bit? Twenty years ago it was ascendent, rivalling Lord of the Rings for the title of “the new Star Wars”. Everyone was copying it. but now hardly anyone talks about it. probably because it hasn’t had a multimedia shelf-life comprising dozens of games and spin-off shows. Maybe the new film will change that. But I digress; Hugo Weaving is tremendous as Agent Smith in the first film, and is exploded at the end (spoilers) by Keanu Reeves’ Neo. Unsurprisingly – especially as he’s, well, just bits of code – he’s back in the sequel. However, he’s now been corrupted; he becomes, basically, a virus, self-replicating and threatening not just our heroes but the Matrix itself. This builds across two films, as Neo has to fight dozens of Smiths in the famous “Burly Brawl”, before the final conflict in The Matrix Revolutions when it seems everyone in the program has been Smithed. It offers Weaving a lot of scenery to chew on and makes for some great set-piece battles, even if the films themselves are a little disappointing.

Olaf (Frozen II, 2019): let’s not beat around the bush here – Olaf carks it in Frozen II. Okay, maybe Elsa dies; maybe Anna dies in the first film. They’re frozen, right, but I feel like it’s “magic ice” and there’s something going on there. Do they come back to life or were they ever really dead? Anyway, Elsa is effectively “gone” but we get a protracted death scene for the comic relief talking snowman. He literally fades away, slowly dying in Anna’s arms, and melts into a flurry of snow that blows away. People talk about Bambi’s mum all the time, but mark my words; “Olaf’s death” is going to be cited as a major traumatic incident for twenty-year-olds in 2030. His resurrection, truth be told, is slightly less great, Elsa just straight-up bringing him back to life, reminding us that “water has memory” to let us know that it’s the same Olaf and he remembers everything (including, presumably, dying? That’s creepy). And that, to be honest, is where I draw the line; sentient wind and rock monsters I can handle, but we all know homeopathy is bollocks.

Emperor Palpatine (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, 2019): look, I hate this. But let’s deal with it anyway, because I have a funny feeling it’s going to lead to some quite interesting stories being told in spin-off Star Wars fiction. I personally feel quite strongly that Palpatine should have stayed dead. And maybe he did? We are led to believe that the Palpatine we see in Rise is a clone; there are jars of stilted Snokes floating in the background. He’s all knackered and broken, eyes blackened and fingers dropping off; clearly he’s not well. So is he really the same character at all? Is his Sith essence somehow fed into this new body, the way Prime’s mind is downloaded from a floppy disk (“run prime.exe”)? Let’s say it counts, let’s say he’s the same slimy Palps we know and love. He is, at least, a sinister presence, and like I say, the whys and wherefores of how he came to be back is quite interesting. There’s a fascinating story to be told about the rise of Snoke and the seduction of Ben Solo – a more interesting story than anything told in The Rise of Skywalker, for starters. Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian seems to be researching cloning and seeks to extract midichlorians from a Force-sensitive being; are we to conclude that this in service of making a new body for the Emperor? All this – stuff hinted at but not explored in the film itself – is, like I say, interesting if not outright fascinating. And I agree, there is a certain degree of circularity in bringing back the series’ Big Bad for the final instalment. But I still feel, hand on heart, that it undoes a lot of the victory of Return of the Jedi (as did The Force Awakens, if I’m honest), as well as throwing away all the development of Rey and Kylo in The Last Jedi. So: Palpatine is cool, his presence and backstory in Rise of Skywalker is suitably creepy and interesting, but on the whole it’s crap and they shouldn’t have brought him back. The end.

Ten people who definitely died and definitely un-died! What could be more Easter-y? Honourable mention goes to the episode of Red Dwarf where Rimmer changes history and ends up not being a hologram, only to accidentally blow himself up in the final seconds.

[sinnamonn]

Now and Then, Here and There

The Secret Society free a former member of the Justice League, one who has seen multiple worlds and have lost just as many.

Warnings: Uhhh suicidal ideation towards the end

“...If I could do that for her,” Grodd gestured to Giganta, “Imagine what I can do for you.” The ape set down the picture frame. Clay face wondered if it was worth it for a minute, sure he wanted to be normal again, but the idea of keeping his powers plus being normal was too good of an offer. it’s not like Sinsetro, Killer Frost, Shade, and Parasite would just follow any villain blindly. He had to have been offering them something just as good.

“I’m in.” He replied, normalcy, sweet normalcy, Clayface could almost taste i

“Perfect. But to do that, we need to pick up one last friend.” He said.

“Wait a minute! You never said anything about another member.” Parasite exclaimed,

“I’m getting impatient, Grodd.” Sinestro added, “Just how long until we take down the league?!”

The group began to become restless, but Grodd remained calm. He was smarter than this whole group combined, after all, he could control them.

“Now, now, If we want to bring down the league she is integral to that.” Grodd said.

“She?” Killer Frost repeated.

“I can see you’re curious. Standing here arguing won’t get her here faster, now, let's take a little field trip to CADMUS.” Grodd started towards the exit. The others held back, exchanging looks.

But Grodd hadn’t lied to them.

So they followed.

“So how are we getting in exactly? CADMUS Labs aren’t exactly a cakewalk.” Shade asked, squeezed into the back seat with the others. Giganta’s car was spacious enough, but it was no minivan. Shade had been sandwiched between Parasite and Sinestro with Clayface and Frost at either windows.

“I’ve been sending out waves to a security guard there, he’ll let us in easy.” Grodd replied

“You really thought of everything, huh?” Giganta smiled at him.

“Of course.”

The lower levels of Cadmus were creepy. Lit by red LEDs and metal walls, the group’s footsteps echoed within the hallways. The red also illuminated...things, dead things preserved in formaldehyde. Aliens maybe? Failed experiments?

“Creepy…”

“The one we’re getting is alive right?” Shade asked, “ I’m good with a lot of things but carrying around a corpse isn’t one of them.”

“Not to worry, our new friend is very much alive, she’s just sleeping.” Grodd answered.

“That’s what my folks told me when my dog died when I was a kid, you sure about that Grodd?” Clayface questioned him.

“I’m absolutely positive, why would CADMUS keep a dead body under lock and key?”

“Touché.”

A door with a passcode lock, reinforced with steel.

“Frost?” Grodd said, not taking his eyes off the door.

“On it.” She placed her hand on the lock ,freezing and then destroying the keypad. With the security system broken, the inner locks released, revealing a small room. It was barren save for a few small tables towards the back surrounding a single cryogenic sleep container.

“Is that a kid in there!?” Clayface asked, squinting into the chamber’s small window. He was correct, floating inside the chamber was a small girl with an oxygen mask attached to her face. What had to be the most eye-catching thing about this girl was her hair, vibrant orange floated around her face, but the roots and bangs were a stark white in comparison.

“They just locked her up and left her here?” Giganta turned to Grodd, he nodded, a grim look on his face.

“Unfortunately yes, probably for years, the extent to which CADMUS is willing to go is horrifying.” He explained, “But before we free our new friend, it’s imperative that from now on we call the Justice League the Justice Lords.”

“Justice Lords?” Shade repeated, “Why the change?”

“You’ll see.” Grodd simply replied, inputting the code to the container's keypad. The sound of air letting out of the container filled the room, opening and fully revealing the girl. She looked so fragile and pale, her skin nearly pure white from the lack of sun .

Giganta was the one to catch the girl before she hit the ground, gently removing the oxygen mask from her face.

Oh, she had freckles.

Still, the redhead didn’t move and for a moment Grodd though that she was actually dead. Maybe CADMUS really did keep a dead body under lock and key?

The girl’s sleep-filled groan proved otherwise, and once again Grodd was right.

“Wha…?” Bleary, half lidded eyes scanned their surroundings. Seemingly upon realizing the company, the girl yelled and scrambled out of Giganta’s hold, shakily getting to her feet. “Who are you!? What world is this!?” Her eyes shot manically around the room, “Where am I!?”.

“Hey, calm down! What are you talking about?” Parasite said.

“ What’s happening in this world!?” She reiterated, only to be met with silent confusion. She sighed, “Are Themyscira and Atlantis at war?”

“Uh, no?” Clayface answered.

“Is Darkseid on earth?”

“Nope.” Shade replied

“Is Superman a communist?”

“Wha-? I don’t think he’s a communist?” Parasite answered confusedly.

“I’ll take that as a no, what about the Justice League? Are they still the league or are they a crime syndicate?” The redhead pressed.

“No, they don’t call themself that.” Grodd replied before anyone else had a chance to, the girl let out a sigh of relief.

“Ok, good, The Flash in that world was a major creep.” She replied, the soft smile she held faded when she saw Grodd’s expression.

“They don’t call themselves the Justice League either…” He trailed off. A manipulation tactic meant for the girl to fill in the blanks herself, and it worked.

“No...they’re calling themselves the Justice Lords, aren’t they?” She raked a hand through her hair, “ Damn it! I was so close this time…”

Grodd nodded, “I’m afraid so, they’re also the reason you were held by CADMUS.”

“Checks out. So I take it you guys are a resistance group now?” She questioned, turning her attention back to the others. The gorilla smiled down at her,

“You catch on fast. We call ourselves the Secret Society, I am—“

“Gorilla Grodd,” She interrupted and turned to the others, “and you’re Giganta, Shade, Parasite, Clayface, don’t know you but judging by the uniform you’re a red lantern, and Killer Frost. Some of us have met in other worlds.”

Awkward silence, the society looked between themselves, not knowing how to react to that.

Shade cleared his throat, “well, you seem to already know us, that just leaves you then.”

The girl chuckled dryly, “The only thing that truly stays consistent...Call me Illusium. Now let's get out of here before those fascists realize I’m out. ”

As if on cue, an alarm went off.

“Little late for that.” Giganta stated, looking from the door to the girl. Illusium merely smirked.

“CADMUS’s foot soldiers are no problem.” Illusium’ s hospital gown rustled as she walked out, facing the coming security officers, “Thought you could keep me locked up?” She glared at them, pupil’s beginning to glow red, “Idiots.” A simple wave of her hand, the guards stopped, looking wide-eyed at nothing. At least, that’s what the rest of the society thought. To Illusium and the guards, in front of them was one of Darkseid’s paradooms. Of course, only Illusium knew it was an illusion, what kind of League member would she be if she didn’t have control of her powers?

Besides, paradooms didn’t scare her anymore.

Yelling, blind shooting, bullets flying in the opposite direction; the guards were distracted, giving the others ample time to escape.

“Let’s go before they realize it’s a fake!” The redhead called back to the others before taking off.

“What did ya do to em’!?” Clayface asked, Illusium laughed.

“Made ‘em see something scary!”

They burned rubber speeding out of CADMUS, the first phase in Grodd’s plan going smoothly and with no interference from the League. This time around, in this world, the Secret Society was practically guaranteed to win.

“This is familiar.” Illusium stated, walking around the Society’s base; taking in all the computers and tech they had managed to compile. She had changed out of the hospital gown, now wearing a comically oversized sweater originally belonging to Giganta.

“So you’ve been here before?” Killer frost asked, Illusuim only shook her head.

“Not here exactly, but similar.”

Shade chimed in, “I gotta know what you did back there, you made those guards look terrified of thin air.”

“It’s a part of my power, I can project pieces of my memories onto whoever I choose to,” She explained, “the other part of it is immortality through quantum death. You guys know what that is, right?”

“Familiar with the concept, but who am I to explain your power?” Grodd replied.

“‘Kay...So it’s like this: you’re sitting on the ledge of a cliff, you decide whether or not to jump, but in the end you jump. The very moment that decision is made, a parallel universe where you didn’t jump is created, and here’s where my ability comes in,” Illusium swallowed, “Everytime I die I’m transported to a different world, all my memories of the previous one stay intact.”

“So that’s why you were freaking out about what world this was?” Parasite asked, she nodded.

“Yep, I call it the Death Loop.” Illusium.

“That sounds...intense.” Gigianta said, “How did you even figure that out?”

“Well, At first I thought I could temporarily shift to parallel realities. In that first world, myself and the League went to fight Darkseid, but little did we know he had planted spyware on one of us and...he...he killed everyone.” She scratched at her wrist, laughing nervously, “Including me. One minute I’m being torn apart by paradooms and the next thing I know. Amazons and Altlantians are killing each other and Wonder Woman is running a sword through me!”

“It was so weird. Sometimes it was minor changes, the league was fully intact except for a different Green Lantern or different Flash, and other times it was completely haywire, like they weren’t the Justice League at all but instead they were a crime syndicate and everyone looked and acted so different. The worst part was constantly seeing people you’ve known most of your life look at you like an enemy, or even worse a stranger.”

Killer Frost put a hand on her shoulder, snapping her out of her manic talk. “Don’t worry, this world’s gonna be different , for everyone.”

“Yeah, we’ll make it right!” Gigianta added.

Grodd and Shade stood away from the group, both of them watching as Illusium chatted away with the rest of the group.

“What’re you planning?” Shade asked, looking to the Gorilla

“Oh, it’s nothing elaborate. Illusium is a former league member, she knows how they think, how they fight. With her thinking they’re the bad guys our victory will be as easy as taking candy from a baby.”

“True, someone from the inside gives us an advantage, but what if she realizes that you’re lying.”

“She won’t. She’s lost so many worlds that she’ll cling to the first semblance of allyship offered to her.” He turned to rejoin the rest of the group, “So make sure all of you play nice.”

That night, Illusium lay on top of the Society’s hideout. They couldn’t sleep, probably because they’d been in cryogenic sleep for god knows how long. The stars were different here, they were always different depending on the world.

She wondered what the stars would look like in the world after this one?

Illusium could find out if they were to jump. It would be easy, they’d die from shock before hitting the ground and—

She shook her head, no, no suicide. Illusium needed to stay here, she needed to help the Society , she needed to find a world without losers and this one had barely even started. She needed to fight.

“Hey there.” Without noticing Killer Frost had taken a seat next to her, “Couldn’t sleep?”

“I’ve been asleep for god knows how long,” Illusium replied, not taking her eyes off the sky, “what about you?”

“Curious, I wanna know the dirt you have on the others. You know, from the other worlds?” Frost elaborated.

Despite looking different, Frost still acted the same as she did back in Arkham. Illusium gave them a half smile,

“Looking for dirt on the rest of the Society or just other villains in general, ‘cause I’ve seen so many versions of everyone.”

Killer frost shrugged and Illusium took that as the latter.

“Well, for starters, the two of us met back in Arkham.” Illusium started, “We were on Task Force X with Quinn, Copperhead, Deadshot, and some other guys.”

“Task Force X?” Killer Frost repeated.

“A suicide squad.”

“Oh. So we…”

“Yeah, we died.”

“Lame.”

“I know right?” Illusium chuckled, “ but that world was fun. You and Harley made it fun.”

The two stayed up for hours, talking about the past worlds Illusium had been, how in one Harley Quinn had her own villain league, the “superman is a commie” world, and one where there was a new Batman, one that was much more spry than the original.

Illusium had to stay here. Stay and fix this world, maybe once they had taken out the Justice Lords she could find a way to prevent Darkseid from coming here.

She wouldn’t let this world end in tragedy like the others.

[harrelltut]

eye said... back then… them gen X robots didn't want michaelharrelljr.com... now Eye ANU GOLDEN 9 Ether [iAGE] Gen X Cyberspace Hot… since these gen Z bots all over 1968-michaelharrelljr.com domain creator [d.c.] of kingtutdna.com’s Pharaonic MENES Intergovernmental [MI = MICHAEL] EMPIRE [ME] of 1968-michaelharrelljr.com’s quantumharrelltelecom.tech SKY MILITARY ROBOT KINGDOM of BLACKATLANTIS5000.com GOLD

WELCOME BACK HOME IMMORTAL [HIM] U.S. MILITARY KING SOLOMON-MICHAEL HARRELL, JR.™

i.b.monk [ibm.com] mode [i’m] tech [IT] steelecartel.com @ quantumharrelltech.ca.gov

quantumharrelltech.ca.gov Outside Our 1921steelecartel.tech MACHINE SKY Firmament Domain DOME… OVER Earth [Qi]

who?!?!?!... 1968-michaelharrelljr.com!!!... who?!?!?!... 1968-michaelharrelljr.com!!!

who?!?!?!... kingtutdna.com domain creator [d.c.] of harrelltut.com!!!... who?!?!?!... kingtutdna.com domain creator [d.c.] of harrelltut.com!!!

you can't virtual 6g robot clone ancient [ca] kingtutdna.com domain creator [d.c.] of harrelltut.com!!!

eye ancient interplanetary virtual world tech lord @ QUANTUM HARRELL TECH LLC

eye ancient interplanetary 9 [i9] ether virtual tech world @ QUANTUM HARRELL TECH LLC's The_Octagon_(Egypt) 

1968-michaelharrelljr.com @ The_Octagon_(Egypt) of ITU Telecommunications [iTUTonline.com] Standardization Sector of kingtutdna.com’s Pharaonic MENES Intergovernmental [MI = MICHAEL] EMPIRE [ME] of 1968-michaelharrelljr.com’s quantumharrelltelecom.tech SKY MILITARY ROBOT KINGDOM of ANU [KA] GOLDEN 9 Ether [G.E. = ge.com] BLACKATLANTIS5000.com ECONOMY

GOLDEN 1968-michaelharrelljr.com Domain Creator [D.C.] Pyramid Architect [PA] @ QUANTUM HARRELL TECH LLC

© 1698-2223 QUANTUM HARRELL TECH LLC All LOST ANCIENT [L.A.] ATLANTEAN DNA [A.D.] DotCom [A.D.] + DotTech [A.D.] + Pre 1698quantumharrellgov.tech Military Domain Name Rights Reserved @ quantumharrelltech.ca.gov

[dukereviewsmovies]

Duke Reviews: Avengers Endgame

Hello, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews Where Today We Are Continuing Our Look At The Marvel Cinematic Universe...

And Today We Are Looking At The Big One...Yep, We're Finally Here...Avengers Endgame...

This Film Sees The Grave Course Of Events Set In Motion By Thanos That Wiped Out Half Of The World And Fractured The Avengers And Guardians Of The Galaxy's Ranks Compels The Remaining Members To Take One Final Stand...

Will They Succeed?

Let's Find Out As We Watch Avengers Endgame...

The Film Starts On The Barton Family Farm As We See Clint Barton Still Under House Arrest, Training His Daughter, Lila To Maybe Become The Next Hawkeye...

Yeah Right, We Know That Kate Bishop Is Most Likely Going To Be In The Disney + Series...

While His 2 Sons Play A Game Of Catch And His Wife Velma Dinkley Prepares A Picnic But As He Talks To His Wife For A Second Barton Turns Back To Not Only Find His Daughter Gone But His Wife And Some Too As They're Now Casualties Of The Snap Heard Around The World...

3 Weeks Later On Board The Benatar, Tony And Nebula Start To Run Out Of Supplies On The Ship, So He Uses His Iron Man Helmet To Chronicle Their Final Days With The Hope It'll Be Found By Pepper...

However As Tony Goes To Sleep, They Are Saved By Captain Marvel Who Takes Them Back To Earth...

Reunited With Pepper And The Other Avengers, Steve Asks If He Knows Where Thanos Is Only To Erupt Into A Furious Rant Where He Mentions Thanos And Their Civil War Fight Before He Faints...

And Thank God For That, As Anymore Out Of Tony's Mouth And I Would Have Punched Him...

Locating Thanos On An Uninhabited Planet With Help From Nebula, They Discover That While He Has The Gauntlet The Stones Are Missing, Which Leads Him To Explain That They Would Have Been Nothing But A Temptation If He Had Kept Them So, After Serving Their Purpose He Had Them Destroyed...

They Believe Him To Be Lying At First But If There's One Thing Nebula Knows Her Father To Be It's Not A Liar, So Thor Decapitates Him...

Five Years Later, Earth's Remaining Population Attempts To Persevere Against Such Catastrophic Losses But Things Start To Change When Scott Lang Is Released From The Quantum Realm, Disoriented And Confused About What Has Happened...

Visiting A Wall With All The Names Of The People Who Vanished To See If His Daughter's Name Is Among It, Thankfully It Isn't, So Racing To His Ex's House, Scott Discovers That Cassie Has Aged From A Child To A Teenager...

Trying To Make Cassie Stinger A Little Fast There, Marvel?...

Arriving At The Avengers Facility Where He Talks With Cap And Widow, He Explains That He Experienced Five Hours And Not Five Years While Also Talking To Them About The Quantum Realm And How It Could Allow Time Travel...

The Three Visit Tony At His Lakeside Home Where He Lives Now With His Wife Pepper And His Daughter, Morgan Where They Ask Him To Help Them Retrieve The Stones From The Past In An Attempt To Reverse What Thanos Did, But Tony Refuses, Worrying About What Will Happen With His New Life If He Does...

So They Turn To Banner Who During Those Five Years Has Restarted His Research Into Gamma Radiation And Used It To Morph His Body To Have The Appearance And Strength Of The Hulk While Retaining The Intelligence And Control Of Banner Digivolving Into Professor Hulk!

But As For The Quantum Realm, Banner Says That Quantum Physics Is Outside Of His Area Of Expertise But He Agrees To Help Them Try..

Meanwhile At His Lakeside Home, Tony Does Dishes Only To Discover A Photo Of Peter Parker Which Makes Him Change His Mind And Look Into Time Travel And It Turns Out It Is Possible...

Returning To The Avengers Facility The Next Day, Tony Tells Steve That He's Agreeing On The Condition That In Trying To Reverse What Thanos Did It Won't Reset What Has Happened Since Then As He Doesn't Want To Lose His Daughter With Cap Agreeing The 2 Men Set Their Differences Aside And Get To Work...

Banner And Rocket Fly To New Asgard In Norway Which Is Home To The Asgardians That Are Left Including Valkyrie And Korg And Miek Who Survived...

But As For Thor (Who Has Put On A Considerable Amount Of Weight, Become An Alcoholic And Spending Most Of His Time Playing Fortnite)...

I Always Saw Thor As An Overwatch Guy But If That's His Game, Hey I'm For It!...

He Gets Upset At The Mention Of Thanos' Name To The Point That He Wont Go With Banner But When Rocket Mentions Beer, He's In...

Meanwhile In Tokyo...

Barton Who Now Goes By Ronin, Attacks A Group Of Yakuza Only To Be Confronted By Widow Who Wants To Bring Him In, But Wanting Nothing To Do With The Plan At First Barton Eventually Changes His Mind And Goes With Her...

Back At The Avengers Facility, Banner And Stark Complete Construction Of Their Own Quantum Tunnel And Advanced Tech Suits As The Team Prepares For Test Runs With Barton As The Test Subject...

And It Works, Barton Is Sent Back To A Time On His Farm Before The Snap Which Leads Them Into The Next Phase: Determining The Location Of Each Infinity Stone In The Past Which Proves To Be A Problem As They Only Have A Small Supply Of Pym Particles To Do So...

Deciding To Go After The Time, Mind And Space Stones During The Battle Of New York, The Reality Stone On Asgard With Jane Foster, The Power Stone On Morag With Star Lord And The Soul Stone On Vormir...

Their Destinations And Teams Are Set With Tony, Cap, Banner And Scott Going To The Battle Of New York, Nebula And Rhodey Going To Morag, Barton And Widow Going To Vormir And Thor And Rocket Going To Asgard...

Starting With Team 1 With Stark, Cap, Banner And Scott, Banner Visits The Sanctum Sanctorum Where He Meets The Ancient One Who Doesn't Want To Give Him The Stone At First But After Hearing That Strange Gave Thanos The Stone, She Gives It To Banner Realizing That It Must Have Been For A Reason...

Infiltrating Stark Tower In The Aftermath Of The Battle Of New York, Lang Plants Himself Onto The 2012 Tony Stark As Him And The Other 2012 Avengers Head Downstairs Only To Be Confronted By Alexander Pierce Who Wants The Tesseract And Loki...

But Scott Causes A Distraction By Sending 2012 Tony Into Cardiac Arrest Which Leads Our Tony Stark To Get The Tesseract But When 2012 Hulk Bursts In, Past Loki Manages To Get The Tesseract Which He Uses To Escape To His Disney + Series...

But As All That Happens, Cap Manages To Get The Loki's Scepter From Brock Rumlow And Jasper Sitwell Only To Be Confronted By 2012 Cap Who Believes He's Loki...

(Start At 0:16, End At 1:48)

Regrouping With Cap, Tony And Lang Tell Him That They Screwed Up But Tony Realizes That He Knows A Place Where He Can Not Only Get The Tesseract But Pym Particles Too, So Giving Scott The Scepter, Tony And Cap Travel To Camp Lehigh In 1970...

Arriving In 1970, We Get Our Last...Stan Lee Cameo..

Stan Lee Cameo!

A Moment Of Silence For A Great Man...

Splitting Up, Tony Gets The Tesseract In The Place Where Cap And Widow Found Arnim Zola In Winter Solider But While Down There He Runs Into His Father, Howard Who Is Looking For Arnim While Also Talking About The Birth Of His Son Which Is Expected Next Month...

While Talking With Howard, Tony Sees His Father In A Whole New Light And Now Understands What He Went Through Being A Father Himself Now But As Tony Makes Up With His Father, Cap Distracts A Young Hank Pym So He Can Get The Pym Particles Necessary To Return...

So With Everything In Hand Tony And Cap Leave 1970, Which Takes Us To Asgard With Thor And Rocket But As Rocket Gets The Reality Stone, Thor Runs Into His Mom, Frigga, Who Realizes That He's From The Future...

Attempting To Tell Her About Her Soon To Be Coming Death At The Hands Of Malekith, Frigga Doesn't Want To Listen Insisting That Thor Fix His Future Rather Than Hers, So With Rocket Having The Reality Stone In Hand, Thor Reclaims Mijolnir Before Saying Goodbye To His Mom And Leaving...

Now On Morag, Romanoff And Clint Use The Benatar To Fly To Vormir To Get The Soul Stone While Nebula And Rhodey Knock Out Star Lord In A Scene That Ruins One Of The Best Scenes In The Original Guardians Movie...

Thanks Alot Russo Brothers...

And They Get The Power Stone And Rhodey Returns To The Present However, Nebula Becomes Incapacitated When Her Cybernetic Implants Link With Her 2014 Self, Allowing The Thanos Of That Time To Learn About His Future Successes And The Avengers Attempt To Thwart It...

Determined To Rebuild The Universe So No One Will Remember What He Has Done, Thanos Replaces Present Day Nebula With 2014 Nebula As Barton And Widow Arrive On Vormir And Learn The Price That Must Be Paid Which Leads Them To Fight Over Who Will Make The Sacrifice...

Eventually It's Widow That Sacrifices Her Life For The Soul Stone...

Well, I Guess That Black Widow Movie's Not Happening...

O.....Kay...

With Everyone Reuniting In The Present They Are All Saddened At The Loss Of Black Widow But They Realize That They Must Not Let Her Sacrifice Be In Vain And Continue Their Plan...

Creating A Nano Gauntlet To Harness The Stones They All Have A Debate Over Who Will Unsnap Everything But Eventually It's Banner That Does It Because Of His Physical Form And His Relationship With Gamma Radiation...

But Despite Unsnapping Everything, 2014 Nebula Activities The Quantum Tunnel And Brings 2014 Thanos' Ship Into The Future Where It Blows Everything To Kingdom Come...

Yeah, They May As Well Have Done That...

Convincing 2014 Gamora To Help Her, Present Nebula And Her Kill 2014 Nebula After She Refuses To Help Them...

Ok, I Know They Made Their Own Time Travel Rules Here But Seriously, With 2014 Nebula Dead, Future Nebula Should Be Dead As Well...

With The Avengers Separated, With Thor, Tony And Cap Being Up Top So They Decide To Attack Thanos On Their Own But Thanos Outmatches Them And Summons His Army From His Warship, But Luckily They Have An Army Too...

Shortly After That, Captain Marvel Arrives On The Scene And Destroys Thanos' Warship, But Thanos Overpowers Her And Gets The Gauntlet...

And So, With Thanos Defeated, Tony Is Weakened By The Raw Power Of The Stones Before Succumbing To His Injuries After Being Comforted By Pepper...

After Tony's Funeral, Thor Appoints Valkyrie As The New Ruler Of New Asgard As He Joins The Guardians Of The Galaxy...

Only To Not Appear In Guardians Vol.3 But His Only Movie Which Chris Hemsworth Is Only Doing To Wrap Up The Character...

And Cap Returns The Infinity Stones And Mijolnir Back To Their Original Timelines Only To Decide To Stay In The Past With Peggy Carter While Back In The Present An Old Cap Passes On His Shield To Sam Wilson To Tie Into That Disney + Series As Our Film Ends...

While There's No Mid Credits Or End Credits Scene, That Was Avengers Endgame And What Can I Say About It?..

Despite Everyone Being Divided On It, I Absolutely Enjoyed It, The Story Was Interesting, The Characters Were Well Written, I Thought Thanos Was Equally Good Here As He Was In Infinity War. However, Some Of The Time Travel Logistics Kinda Had Me Questioning Things Still Though I Say See It...

Next Week We Finish Our Look At The Marvel Cinematic Universe By Looking At Spider-Man Far From Home, Till Then, This Is Duke, Signing Off...

[strangehoot]

New Post has been published on Strange Hoot - How To’s, Reviews, Comparisons, Top 10s, & Tech Guide

New Post has been published on https://strangehoot.com/how-to-watch-marvels-movies-in-order/

How to Watch Marvel's Movies in Order

Marvel Studio is a famous American film producing company specialized in directing and producing movies of superheros. It’s parent company, Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) produces web and TV series, comic books and short films. All over the world, people are Marvel fans and crazy to watch each production of Marvel.

Marvel has copyrights of the main superhero characters and every movie the character remains with unique characteristics in terms of their power and weapons. Marvel’s Universe is out of imagination.

Marvel studio movies receive an average of 64 nominations and awards per movie.

Most of the climatic battles that are seen in the Marvel studio movies among superheroes and villains rely heavily on computer generated effects. As we all know, each movie that Marvel studio makes has a signature shot of a cameo appearance of the late Stan Lee (the writer of many original comics). The first movie released by them was in 2008 but it all began in 1941. Most of the Marvel studio movies can be found online on streaming services like Amazon, iTunes and Disney+.

Characters of Marvel Movies

The following table gives you an overview of some characters of Marvel, their powers and weapons. 

CharacterHow they got powersWeaponsCaptain AmericaThe Super Soldier Serum was injectedVibranium shieldMoon KnightThe ancient Egyptian Moon God, Khonshu and got the Werewolf scratchCrescent darts, truncheon, ankhLoki He got the power from his mother’s teachings and learnt wizardry.His magic sword, LaevateinHulk Gamma radiationHis Huge Body is enoughSpider Man Radioactive spider bite himWeb-shootersDaredevil Radioactive isotopeManrikigusariBlack PantherHad the juices of the heart-shaped herb and Wakandan God blessed him with strengthEnergy dagger, anti-metal clawsCaptain Marvel Accidental Photon Energy bestowed upon herNega BandsUltron Dr. Henry Pym created himRepulsor, plasma weaponsGhost RiderZarathos His Hellfire ChainJessica JonesRadioactive chemicals after she caught with car accident and went in comaHer talentWolverineMutant-bornAdamantium claws, daggers, katana, gunsBlack BoltInhuman-bornHis speech and strengthSpider WomanMother hit by a radiation beam during pregnancyHer powersSilver SurferCosmic Power by Galactus.His boardDoctor StrangeStudied and trained with the Ancient One.Cloak of Levitation, Eye of Agamotto, Orb of Agamotto etc.Beast Mutant-bornRazor-sharp clawsNick Fury ArmyUSP pistol, SHIELD weaponsVenom Sensory perception and talent to reproduce itselfWeb ShootersDeadpoolMysterious serum to cure his cancerGuns, grenades, knives, katanasStorm Earth’s electromagnetic fieldHandguns, firearms, knivesIron Man Armour suite and technologyRepulsor rays, uni-beam projector, lasersThanosDeath, an abstract entityStasis Rifle, Infinity GauntletThor Technological PowerWarhammer MjolnirAnt ManThe Pym Particles created by himself and experimentation on himselfStinger firearmMagnetoMutant-bornHelmet, powersDoctor DoomMagical power blessed by his mother, Roma His powersThe MandarinReceived 10 Rings from alien technology10 Rings of PowerThe Winter SoldierSuper soldier serum as a sourceSnipers, riflesStar-Lord Planet Ego’s EnergyElement Gun

Marvel Movies Release Order

The table below lists the movies already released. Phase 3 is completed. A list of movies for Phase 4 is ready. Please visit https://www.cinemablend.com/new/upcoming-marvel-movies-release-dates-for-phase-4-and-5-67944.html

Phase IIron Man (2008)The Incredible Hulk (2008)Iron Man 2 (2010)Thor (2011)Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)The Avengers (2012)Thor 2 (2013)Phase IIIron Man 3 (2013)Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)Ant-Man (2015)Phase IIICaptain America: Civil War (2016)Doctor Strange (2016)Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. II (2017)Spiderman: Homecoming (2017)Thor: Ragnarok (2017)Black Panther (2018)Avengers: Infinity War (2018)Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)Captain Marvel (2019)Avengers: Endgame (2019)Spiderman: Far From Home (2019)

Watch Marvel Movies in Sequence to Get All of it 

Below is the sequence in which you need to watch the moveis if you are new to the Marvel world and get the understanding of the superheroes and their role in each movie.

1. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

In the first avenger which is most logical to watch first, Captain America is introduced through flashback as well as connecting the film to the major antagonist threat. 

2. Captain Marvel (2019)

Captain Marvel can be viewed in various aspects but if we are striving to timeline continuity it makes sense to watch next where we are introduced to the most powerful superhero in the MCU and this film could exist entirely on its own outside the marvel timeline also a way to introduce important characters for later. It has been taken from endgame so it expects you to know who all the characters are. 

3. Iron Man (2008)

Iron man introduces us to Tony Stark, his origin and idea of avengers initiative. This film has as well begun post credit scenes tradition. 

4. Iron Man 2 (2010)

Iron man 2 introduction to another important character. This movie lays the groundwork for events and also introduces us to Black Widow. 

5. The Incredible Hulk (2008)

The Incredible Hulk can be skipped. 

6. Thor (2011)

Thor, first foray into cosmic elements of marvel introduces us to one of the original six The Norse God of Thunder, Thor and Norse God of Mischief, Loki. 

7. The Avengers (2012)

Assembling this movie brought all the MCU heroes together and united them against a common threat. Now, the  movie takes elements from the Ultimates comic and introduced both mid credit and end credit scenes and was the first step towards infinity war. 

8. Iron Man 3 (2013)

We see Toney dealing with the personal aftermath of events in Avengers and introduces us to his greatest enemy. 

9. Thor: The Dark World (2013)

This movie also is dealing with the aftermath.This film is important because it has a direct connection with Thor: Ragnarok. 

10. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

In this movie, we see Captain America and Black Widow team up for a mission. 

11. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

This movie has a first hand introduction of the cosmic side of marvel introducing Star Lord, Gamora, Nebula, Groot, Drax and Rocket and finally introducing to an alien, Thanos. 

12. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

Not much has changed in this movie. The details about all the characters are extended.

13. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

In this movie, Avengers is an already established team where they team up again to take down a big threat and also sets up a lot of things heading into Phase III. 

14. Ant-Man (2015)

Ant Man is the conclusion of phase 2 and also setting up the groundwork for the endgame. 

15. Captain America: Civil War (2016)

This movie brings together the whole team, deals with the fall out events in Age of Ultron and also deals with the introduction of winter soldiers from the previous film.  

16. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

In this movie,  the spiderman is adjusting to life and it gives us a spider man origin story.  

17. Doctor Strange (2016)

This is the first film to introduce Mystic Arts into the MCU as well as alternative dimensions. 

18. Black Panther (2018)

Black panther doesn’t tie much into the rest of the MCU but shows the story of an original hero. 

19. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

It is an adorable comics adventure. The post credits scene leads directly into the events of Avengers: Infinity war. 

20. Ant-Man and The Wasp (2018)

Ant man and The Wasp introduces Quantum Realm and also the post credit scene shows a lot of characters get dusted. 

21. Black Widow (2020)

One of the strongest female superheroes playing an important role in the following movies. Must watch to understand her skills.

22. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

It is largely a showdown between Avengers and Thanos. Avengers: Endgame final chapter of phase 3.

23. Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Going back to the time machine and getting all the power stones back and getting to the end of Thanos.

24. Spiderman: Far From Home (2019)

Spiderman facing monsters behind his life and fellow superhero Mysterio helps in saving him from these monsters.

Marvel has set a standard and gained popularity over the years

Marvel movie’s success is has four core principles: 

(1) Select for experienced inexperience.

(2) Grasp a stable core.

(3) Need for challenging the formula.

(4) Foster customers’ curiosity. 

Marvel Studios believes in granting directors majority of control in areas where they have the most experience. In order to balance the ideas, new talents and voices which are brought into each movie, the Marvel studio holds on to a tiny percentage of people from one to the next. The support and footing provided by them allows Marvel to maintain continuity among products and to give birth to an attractive community for fresh talent.

It has been noticed that Marvel movies portray differing emotional tones, that is the steadiness between positive and negative emotions conveyed verbally by its characters. Analysing the experience of Marvel shows us that franchises gain from continual experimentation.

Creativity, Animation, Character Building, and the Story Line are the main attributes of each Marvel movie and the fan followers just love to watch each of them over and over again!

Read: How to Backup WhatsApp Data [Images, Chats & documents] to PC

[af-answers]

All Hallow’s Eve

(DISCLAIMER: We’re going way off the canon path here, kiddos.)

Orion hadn’t heard from Artemis in weeks. He wanted to be thrilled, but he knew better than to trust himself. He wondered if he’d ever be fully at ease in his own head, or how long it would be before the little worm of guilt allowed him to call the head his own. He sat on a window ledge outside the Great Hall at early morning, waiting for his friends and thinking. He found it less and less pleasant to have time to himself lately: the longer he was alone and the longer he thought, the more he found gaps in his memory, gaps only his Other Half had access to. The day before he’d needed the colors of the rainbow for a spell and found he couldn’t remember them. His classmates had a jolly laugh at his expense when Snape made him memorize a song of colors, then sing it aloud for the class.

“Oi, Orion!” Ron called, pulling the Slytherin from the sill and out of his thoughts. “We thought we’d get here before you for a change.”

“Have you been sleeping well?” Harry asked, clapping a hand on Orion’s shoulder as they strode toward the monumental double doors.

Orion pursed his lips. “I’ve been sleeping, but not resting, you know?”

“Yeah, I can relate,” Harry said with a sad smile.

Orion had learned a lot about Harry in the last weeks, specifically the three Gryffindors’ annual exploits and the possible return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

He’s a regular King Arthur, Orion thought. A boy with a great destiny. He wished he could tell his friends about his own adventures, but even he knew raving about other dimensions and fairies with time-stop technology and demons living on the moon would result in a one-way ticket to the loony bin.

The four children walked towards the closed doors of the Hall without breaking stride and the doors swung open on their hinges without being touched: though today, they did so with an unearthly groan. Orion jumped, and his friends grinned.

“I love Halloween,” Hermione said, stretching her arms over her head.

Black candles floated in clusters above the tables in the Great Hall, their wax surprisingly not dripping on the bright orange tablecloths below. The rafters were swathed in giant, real cobwebs, and a giant jack-o-lantern loomed in the middle of the ceiling, leering at the students as they entered.

Orion grinned back, his initial skittishness forgotten. He’d never had a real Halloween. Artemis wasn’t one for the season.

The children were feasting on caramel apples, spiced oatmeal, and pumpkin milk when the ghosts came into the hall, descending through the ceiling and phasing through walls.

“Do they not have ghosts at Ilvermorny School?” Hermione asked, noticing Orion’s open fascination.

“Erm, no,” he recovered. “Haven’t been around long enough, I suppose. Do they have to die in the school to be ghosts here?”

“I sure hope not!” Ron said through a mouth full of pumpkin muffin. Hermione glared at him, and he shrugged. “If so, where do the ghosts get their mounts for the Headless Hunt? Did the horses all die with their masters?”

“Or do they have to wait around for the horses to die?” Harry cut in.

“How many headless men couldn’t be in the hunt for lack of steed?” Ron asked, pointing at Harry with a fork.

Harry laughed. “Maybe it started off as a Headless Jog.”

“The two of you, really,” Hermione chastised. “A lot of them do,” she told Orion. “Or at least, they all have a strong connection to Hogwarts.”

“And unfinished business,” Ron added, wiggling his fingers under his chin and baring his teeth.

“What’s the Headless Hunt?” Orion laughed.

“A gaggle of really old men on their high horses boasting about not having a good head on their shoulders.” Nearly Headless Nick sulked. He phased between Ron and Harry, and the chill he brought on prompted them to make room for him on the table bench. “Now me, I may not be completely headless, but at least I have a head!” He said the last part loudly, so a group of men a good deal shorter than they should be, heads tucked under their arms, could hear.

“He’s talking about Lord Valeron,” Ron whispered behind his hand. “He lost his head, literally. His head was misplaced before his burial. But he’s still able to take part in the Hunt. No one knows how.”

“I know how! It’s prejudice!” Nick bewailed. “He can’t use his head for Nogglin’ Rolling, or Cranium Volleyball! They only like him because he’s mysterious.”

“He is pretty mysterious,” Hermione said, resting her chin on her fist as she watched the only truly headless man on the outskirts of the group, fixing cufflinks he couldn’t have known had come askew.

Orion felt a stirring in his mind, a cold, familiar itch that made his stomach turn.

“It’s rumored that his head knows such terrible secrets it’s been buried separate from his body somewhere on the Hogwarts estate,” Ron said in hushed tones, “and that he searches for it still.”

“Ahh! He’s bewitched you as well!” Nick wailed. He swung an arm to bang the table, but his arm fell right through. “But I’ll have the last laugh,” he told them, leaning in conspiratorially. “Because I know where Lord Valeron’s head lies.”

Ron and Hermione made faces of awe, though it was evident they didn’t believe him, while Harry shook his head. But someone did believe the beleaguered specter.

‘Ask him if he wants his head completely removed.’

Orion started so violently that he dumped a goblet of pumpkin milk into his lap. He performed an anti-stain spell before Hermione could, but the wand shook in his hand and the spell transferred the stain to the tablecloth.

“Orion?” Hermione asked, her heavy brows furrowed.

He turned his attention to Nick on the other side of the table. “I can remove your head for you.”

“What?” Nick, Ron, and Harry said in unison.

“I can remove your head for you,” Orion said, the color returning to his cheeks, “and you can finally take part in the Headless Hunt. But in return, you tell me where Lord Valeron’s head is.”

The three Gryffindors and the ghost stared at the pale boy for a long moment.

The ghost finally spoke. “If you can get me into the Hunt,” he said slowly, “I will do whatever you want.”

“How in the seven layers of the underworld are we supposed to remove a dead man’s head?” Orion hissed, trying not to sound excited. He’d ducked into a dark gap between columns for privacy while he talked to himself.

‘Oh, you’re acknowledging me now?’ Artemis said snidely.

“You haven’t talked to me for weeks!” Orion sputtered. “But never mind that, you must have a plan if you’ve promised the poor soul his deepest wish.”

‘The simplest solution would be to exhume the body and finish the job.’ Artemis smiled at Orion’s squeamishness. ‘But as I’m doubting there’s any flesh left, that avenue is out. Thankfully, while you’ve been traipsing around wizard academy, I’ve been doing some theorizing with quantum and particle physics.’

“Yeah?” Orion asked, pretending to understand.

He could almost see Artemis’s vampiric grin, quite fitting for the holiday. ‘Yeah.’

That night, the four friends gathered under Harry’s Cloak of Invisibility and snuck into the Transfiguration classroom, chose because it was the only class with windows big enough to be lit by the full moon.

Orion had gathered supplies per Artemis’s instructions and hid them in the room before light’s out: a coil of copper wire, the interdimensional device that brought them there, the damaged tazer pen, some protection equipment, and a knife.

‘Or any sharp blade,’ Artemis had specified.

Orion had never distrusted himself more.

“What do we do now?” Hermione whispered. “We told Nick to meet us at midnight, that’s two hours away.”

“We— I need the time to set this up,” he explained. “It’s very precise, but I’ll let you know if I need help.”

The three friends gathered around a table a few meters away to play some game they’d invented with the Chocolate Frog cards. Orion wished he were playing with them.

‘Focus,’ Artemis reprimanded. ‘You have the steady hands for this job, but not the knowledge. Now listen to me very carefully—‘

It was about fifteen minutes till midnight, and the Gryffindors had long since become bored of their game and infatuated with Orion’s mysterious assignment. He’d set up a small workstation at McGonagall’s desk. Odd sparks flew in every direction as he used his wand as a welding torch to rewire something in the tech-watch he’d snuck in from home.

“Electronics don’t work here,” Hermione reminded him, her face flickering in the blue light of the flame. “That’s why your watch broke in the first place.”

“It’s a good thing I’m not trying to fix it then,” Orion said through the bandana covering his mouth.

“What are you trying to do?” Ron asked.

“Supe it up,” he replied, using tweezers to lift a tiny coil on the circuit board and bend it where he wanted it. “If my theory is correct, ghosts are a mix between the magical and the physical: real, organic beings who left an imprint on the world. I’m not the first to wonder if those who died didn’t really pass on to a higher plane, but are in fact dimension-adjacent, and the sad creatures we call ghosts are caught between our world and the beyond.” He wound two lengths of wire to the sides of the circuit board, twisted those wires together, and snipped it with the knife half a meter from the watch. “However, the human brain essentially runs on electricity, a current,” he activated the tazer pen, which he’d reworked to create a steadier charge. “It’s no coincidence that electronics go haywire when specters draw near. They’re an ectoplasmic container for the neurons that contain the brain, the spirit! So hence, my little experiment.”

He twisted the wire around the fountain pen’s split tip, then switched it on. The watch’s display screen flickered, then lit up and beeped a digital greeting.

“Voila,” he said, folding his arms over his chest.

“You just fixed a watch,” Harry said, raising an eyebrow.

“You sounded just like Arthur,” Hermione added, her eyes wide and admiring.

“I’ve done more than fix it,” Orion said, coughing once into his fist. He took up the knife, a switchblade he’d knicked from one of the other Slytherin boys. He wrapped the watch’s band around the knife and tapped a few buttons on its interface.

“Are you ready for me?” Nearly Headless Nick phased through a window, the moonlight refracting through his hair and ruffled collar.

“Are you ready to be headless?” Ron asked as the ghost descended to their level.

“I’ve been ready for one hundred seventeen years,” Nick said. He rubbed his hands together. “So what do I do?”

“Come closer,” Orion pressed a final button on the watch and leaned over it, his palms planted on the desktop. “And trust me.”

A red web emanated from the watch, causing the three other humans to jump back. The laser lattice scanned Nick, then whirred as the frankensteined contraption hummed and vibrated so hard the knife rattled on the table.

“Is it supposed to be doing that?” Hermione whispered, eyeing the door warily. The machine was making quite a racket now.

“Someone’s going to hear!” Agreed Harry.

As he said this, the Hogwarts clocktower began to ring, the bells’ resonance drowning out the droning of the machine.

“Look!” Hermione said, pointing at the experiment. The base of the hilt glowed blue. The blue virus spread up the knife, and when it encased the tip of the blade, Orion turned off the tazer and cut the power to the watch. 

“Wizard,” Ron said.

Orion touched the hilt with a finger experimentally, and when it didn’t hurt him, he slipped it from the watch band and held it aloft. It was still opaque, but had the eery aura of the haunting dead.

“An entrancing display,” Nick said, “but how’s that—“

With a quick, practiced strike, Orion slid the knife through the preexisting cut bisecting his throat, exerting a bit more pressure when he felt the resistance of skin.

All four students and the ghost watched in awe as his head tipped comically to one side, then fell to the floor.

[drfxster]

Fosterson Week, Day 2: Canon Divergence

Jane thought punching Loki the first time felt good. Getting to punch him four times before Topaz pulled her off him felt even better. “You should have stayed dead!” she shouted, trying to wriggle free. Loki just stared at her in disbelief.

“Janey, Janey, Janey,” the Grandmaster laughed as he watched the spectacle. “What about my new guest has got you so, uh, worked up?”

“Remember the boyfriend’s brother I mentioned?” she asked, finally breaking out of Topaz’s grip.

“This is the invade-y one that died?" The Grandmaster’s eyes moved up and down Loki.

“We thought he died,” Jane muttered.

“Well, that’s a story I have to hear.”

“I hope you’ll excuse me, then, sir. I still have a lot of work to do.” Jane shot Loki another glare before looking at the Grandmaster again.

“Alright, Janey, just give be sure to me an update on your gizmos and doodads tomorrow,” he said breezily. Jane clenched her teeth in a smile and resisted the urge to punch him too.

Living in a high-tech alien civilization where she got to work with their tech had been a lot cooler in her head. Asgard had been closer, and that had included an evil alien parasite using her as a host and sapping her energy, Odin insulting her and demeaning her, invasion by evil elves who killed Frigga, getting put under house arrest, and a really exhausting escape. 

Here on Sakaar, she had basically become the Grandmaster’s pet for a year and a half, and she was pretty sure he kept sending his minions to mess with her stuff when she went to sleep or left her lab, just to keep her around.

And now Loki was around. Joy.

After that little run-in, the mandatory parties became even more intolerable, one giant game of keep-away-from-Loki-and-the-Grandmaster. If she’d had any kind of political savvy, she’d have tried to get Loki an appointment with the pardoning stick, but she knew how to pick her battles, and the god of mischief was the last person to have a political vendetta with.

So she kept her head down. Pilfered what she could to keep building her portal back home. She would finish it eventually, the Grandmaster was only delaying the inevitable.

Then came the day when there was actually a reason to be at the party. She was hiding in the corner, making a few adjustments to the quantum screwdriver she’d cobbled together when she smelled electrical discharge and heard a very familiar, deep voice. Thor, shouting Loki’s name.

“Hey!” She crammed the screwdriver back into her pocket as she tried to charge after the guards wheeling him away, only for her skirt to get pinned down by someone’s foot. Whirling around, she saw the Grandmaster smiling at her, looking higher than usual.

“What’s the hurry, Janey?”

“Please tell me you are not sending my boyfriend into the arena,” she implored.

“Ohhh, right, Lord of Thunder would be your boyfriend, wouldn’t he?” The Grandmaster chuckled. “Maybe we should play that up in the promotions beforehand. You’re coming to the match, no arguments.”

“Are you kidding me? No, I’m not going to be part...how the hell did this even happen?”

“142 found him. Said he’s a contender.”

“142 is a nihilistic alcoholic mess who doesn’t care about anyone but herself!” Jane fumed. “Call it off. He’s not a slave.”

“Janey.”

“I am not calling them prisoners with jobs!”

“Shh, shh, save some of that spitfire for the main event.”

Oh, she really wanted to punch him.

Thor opened his eyes to find Jane sitting over him. “I don’t suppose this is Valhalla,” he croaked.

“Not exactly.” She bent down and kissed him very softly before dabbing at one of the cuts on his arms. “I’m so sorry this all happened to you.”

“How are you here?” He tried to sit up, but she placed a hand on his chest.

“Stay down, I’m still working. And to answer your question, Imploded wormhole generator in my lab. I don’t know how long it’s been on Earth, but it’s been a year and a half here,” she admitted.

“Oh, Jane.” He stopped as he realized there was someone else in the room, breathing heavily. Despite Jane’s best efforts, he sat up, making out the form of the Hulk sitting in what looked like a hot tub. For a moment, the two of them stared at each other. “Are we good?” Thor prompted, receiving only a huff in reply.

“Look, I need to get back to my lab before it gets trashed too much,” Jane interjected. “The Grandmaster keeps trying to curb my progress. But I promise, I’ll be back as soon as I can. But first,” she paused to produce an odd looking wand-like instrument from the pocket of her dress. “Let’s see if I can’t get this off.” She held it up to the disk on his neck and Thor winced as it sparked against his skin. “I’m sorry, hold on, almost...got it.” She pulled the disk off. “Hang on to this, you might need it.”

“Clever as always, Jane Foster.” He smiled, and she kissed him again, a little more aggressively this time. “You swear to return?”

“I give you my word.” She deepened her voice to intimidate him, and he managed to laugh.

“Puny science girl,” Hulk muttered.

“Banner likes Jane,” retorted Thor. “And we need to talk.”

Jane was in the middle of working on the spectrometer when the guards came and dragged her into the throne room where the Grandmaster was dismissing Scrapper 142 and Loki.

“Janey, I’m really sorry to do this, but your boyfriend’s gonna have to die. It’s sad, you two must’ve been cute, but this is business.”

Then it clicked, just as the guards released their grips on her arms. “You’re about to try and make me into a hostage, aren’t you?”

The Grandmaster chuckled. “Sorry, but it’s poetic, you know? ”

“Please, don’t.”

“Janey—”

“Right, looks like I have to do this.” She pulled out her screwdriver and hit the detonator switch she’d hidden on the end, throwing it on the ground before she started running. “Bye!” The blast went off just as the mooks started chasing her, giving her the chance to swerve in the same direction she’d seen Loki and 142 go. And 142 had Loki knocked out flat on his back. “I wanna know how you did that.”

“You’re with the blond idiot?”

“Thor?”

“Yeah, him.”

“We’re a thing, yeah.”

“Then come on.”

“Surprise.”

Thor immediately flung the nearest bottle at Loki’s head, just to make sure he was real, then noticed Jane scribbling on the walls. “Hjarta, what are you doing?”

“Well, thing is, all my research is back in my lab at the Grandmaster’s palace, so I can’t go back and get it, which means we don’t have my wormhole generator to get out of here. Which means we’re gonna need to go through one of the wormholes, and our best shot is probably the big one, which is also dealing with a a collapsing neutron star—”

“I tried to tell her that we should find a clean one, but apparently, she’s insisting on the Devil’s Anus,” Valkyrie complained.

“Hey, after what you told me about Hela, we’re on a time crunch, right, Brynnhilde?” Jane shot back. “So, anyway, I’m trying to get the coordinates down right, because we’re only going to have one shot.”

“And we’re going to need a ship,” Valkyrie interjected. “Mine would get torn to pieces in that thing.

“The Grandmaster has a great many ships. And I may have the access codes,” Loki spoke up, only to get another bottle launched in his direction by Valkyrie.

“He’s not serious, is he?” Banner asked. “We’re not actually going to trust him?”

“He’s Loki,” Thor said with a groan. “We can trust him to what’s in his best interests, which currently align with ours.”

“Thor,” Jane said warningly. “Remember what happened last time.” Thor turns his palm to her briefly, showing the obedience disc she pulled off him.

“We will work with what we have. But first, we need to start a revolution.”

[smilelikeanhyde]

League of Legends “real life” edition, ep.1

Amumu - Wanders in Il Cairo, tries to befriend every stray dogs, never succeeds, he’s a cinnamon roll, usually makes a mess of everything; cries most of the time

Annie -Daughter of rich French people, had a pony at age 6. Her room is full of stuffed toys and has a house on the tree made of  candies; burned down her home once

Ashe -Norway’s Queen, albinism syndrome, loves hunting and her husband. Cries watching Frozen, eats a lot of ice-cream but is always fit; believes in the old gods

Braum -Nicer version of Heidi’ grandpa, looks like could break you is made of cinnamon rolls. Has a farm, calls all his animals by name; kids love him because he always agrees to spin them around

Camille -Used to be MI5 analyst, is now top agent on field. No mercy for criminals, tech nerd, has 3 cats name 007, M and Q; always destroys her equipment during a mission

Ekko -Quantum physics nerd, speaks through Albert Einstein’s quotes. Dyes his hair, is part of the Anonymous movement, loves his mum and da, Doctor Who fan; wanna be a Time Lord

Elise -Older then she looks, widow with a dark reptile shop, full of tarantulas as well. Fallen noble, could use a woodoo doll on you; suspected MILF

Gragas -Perpettualy drunk, doesn’t miss an Octoberfest, eats a lot of strudel. You don’t want to make him angry, sits on his enemies; favorite TV-show "My 600-lb Life”

Jinx -Punk British girl, favorite place in the world Camden Town, spent some nights in cell because of vandalism acts. Hates her big sistah and the law, she’s good with graffiti and firecrackers; usually high.

Lucian -Used to be a LA cop, lost his wife, now is a bounty hunter. Good with guns, goes to shooting ranges to release stress, is afraid of ghosts, always dressed in a fashionable way; watches a lot of western movies