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neoarchipelago · 2 years

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And they were roommates part 2

A/N: well well well... If it isn't the latest manic episode from my brain. Anyways enjoy...

TW: none..? Angst, cuz bwahahah I'm mean.

here's part one

____

You sat hugging tightly your fluffy pillow against your chest. The living room was plunged into darkness, the tv being the only thing shining through the room. It was a little after midnight, and you were completely alone. Ghost had warned you that he'd be home late so you wouldn't make dinner for him. You still did though.

First you had wanted to go sleep or maybe play a bit on your consoles but you were quickly bored. You weren't exactly waiting for him… no. You just… wanted to make sure he had eaten. Yes. That was it.

So here you were. Sitting on the couch, in front of a horror movie. Not the best idea, but nothing was interesting enough at this hour.

You had mixed feelings about horror movies. But one thing was for sure. Right now, you hated them. Your morbid curiosity made you unable to change channels though.

Your eyes were glued to the screen. You watched as the woman was hiding. You felt your skin crawl at the idea. Perhaps was it even exciting? No. You brushed that thought away. The silence from the movie and the house was almost suffocating. Time seemed to stretch, the seconds feeling like minutes.

Something in the corner of your eyes caught your attention. Just as the movie's music suddenly rang to break the suspense you glance to your left, the tall silhouette standing next to the couch clearly visible.

The scream escaping your lips was expected. The pillow thrown? Maybe not so much.

The silhouette launched itself on top of you, a strong body keeping you from escaping as a gloved hand draped over your mouth, keeping you from screaming.

"Sparrow!"

You stopped squirming at the voice. Your racing heart and quickened breath was the only thing heard. The tv remote had fallen and muted the film when you had started fighting the intruder. But there was no intruder.

"It's me. Breathe." He said in a soothing voice.

Tears burned your eyes. As he lifted his hand from your mouth, a whine escaped your lips.

"Ghost…" you whispered.

"Yes.. I'm sorry. I.. I didn't mean to scare you." He tried, his voice still low.

The situation was now clearer. His body trapped yours as you both laid on the couch. Your hands were fisted in his hoodie, hanging on for dear life. He was wearing a simple balaclava with a skull print, he sometimes wore it around the house. His eyes had a mixture of concern and determination.

"Sparrow." He called, trying to keep your focus on him.

"I would never hurt you." His voice sounded calm. Normal. Thinking that you could hear a little fear in it was just your imagination. What could he be scared of? That you wouldn't believe him? That you'd actually be scared of… no.

"I know" you threw back at him. For some reason, even though it had only been a little over a month since you shared the appartement, you were absolutely sure without a single doubt that he wouldn't hurt you.

He softly sat back, making you let go of his hoodie. He pulled you up with him, making you sit next to him.

You took a deep breath.

"Are you ok?" He asked.

"Yeah… I hate horror movies."

"Why are you watching one then?"

"Because I'm obviously an idiot who loves to wake up the whole base by screaming bloody murder at 1 am."

He chuckled.

He chuckled. He rarely did. Had you even heard him chuckle before?

He eyed you.

"I didn't know what time you'd be home. You surprised me." You said matter of factly.

"Yes. I think the whole base figured that out." He teased.

You rolled your eyes at him. You glanced back to notice him staring at you.

"What..?"

No answer.

"Ghost? You really do have a staring problem, you know you-"

His gloved hand rose to your face, his thumb softly brushing a tear that had rolled down your cheek. You didn't even feel it fall. You blinked. He didn't let anything show but somehow, just a little bit, you could feel he felt guilty.

"I'm a crybaby… sorry" you joked. Trying to lighten the mood.

"Next time I'll call the base, I'll know when to expect you" you laughed.

He still didn't react. He simply glanced down at the coffee table. He grabbed something from it.

"Unlock it." He ordered. God was he bossy sometimes.

You looked down at your phone in his hand. You frowned but did as he asked. You watched him type something before handing it back to you. You looked at the screen, reading the contact infos on it.

Lieutenant Ghost Riley.

Riley… your heart jumped in your chest. Riley. He was giving you his last name.

"Call me next time. Or text me. If I don't text you." he said.

You looked up at him, smiling softly.

"Yes lieutenant."

He cleared his throat.

"By the way. A pillow is not a good weapon. Next time throw the popcorn bowl at least."

Your cheeks turned to a light shade of red, remembering your reflex as you were scared.

"Sorry.."

"Please ! I'm really bored!" You whined following the masked man. He sighed.

"Sparrow. Stop." He warned.

You groaned exaggeratedly. It had been a week after he made you scream at the top of your lungs at 1 am. You had received a little visit from two soldiers, no less than 20 minutes later, ready to berate you for waking up the apartment complex. Fortunately for you, they quickly retracted once the lieutenant had shown up behind you, admitting it was his fault. They both apologized, looking shocked, immediately recognizing him by his mask. Funny. Wonder what they were thinking, I mean, he did make you scream.

"I promise, it'll be great. I'll show you how to do it… we can have some fun!" You tried, batting your lashes at him.

He glanced at you. His eyes showed annoyance yet no anger.

"If I accept, are you going to stop whining?" He asked.

You nodded frantically.

You had noticed his slight behavior change since the movie night. He was a little more gentle. A little more… clingy? He spent a bit more time around you, even if no words were exchanged. Sometimes he'd even do push-ups in the living room while you read a book.

He groaned. You smiled widely. You won! He accepted it! No… you were not using this new change of behavior to befriend him at all. Who would think that?

You jumped on the couch, patting the space next to you. He walked around it and sat next to you. Grabbing the vibrating object on the coffee table he gazed at you darkly.

"You're gonna owe me for this."

You bit your lip. Turning to the tv you started to explain the controls of the game.

Yes. He accepted. He was playing Mario kart with you. You kept jumping in place.

After a good 40 minutes, ghost leaned forward. You had lost your gigglyness. You both were fighting for first place. You didn't even notice how serious ghost had gotten about this game. It didn't even hit you that he was actually enjoying himself.

"Fuckin hell…" he cursed.

You had your bottom lip into a torturing bite. It had turned a deep reddish color from all the times your adrenaline caused you to bite it. You were kneeling on the couch next to him, too excited to even sit still.

Finally reaching the finish line you jumped happily. Ghost groaned, letting himself fall back into the couch. You leaned forward to him on all fours. He stared at your frame, eyes resting on your lips.

"I win lieutenant! You're gonna have to be better than that…" you teased a smirk on said lips.

Silence fell for a second. You saw the gaze he had on your lips. Did you hurt yourself? You let your tongue pass on it, not tasting any blood on it. The move made him frown.

"Ghost..?" You asked, unsure if he was mad.

He glanced up. His gaze had darkened and it sent a delicious shiver down your spine. But as quickly as you noticed it, it was gone. Perhaps you had imagined it.

"Revenge?" He asked.

You smiled. Shaking the thought off your mind.

"You bet!"

___

You stared at the screen in front of you. You wanted to finish the stupid report on your latest task. Unfortunately your mind kept running over the latest events.

Things had remained pretty friendly with Ghost. The teasing, the gaming and sharing food. But for the past week something had changed.

You clung to the blanket covering your shoulders as you sat on the couch. The file opened on your lap. The cold had settled slowly, December finally rolling in. You wondered if it would snow this year.

Ghost had been distant. Cold. You tried not to take it personally because he probably had his own problems. But he hadn't eaten dinner with you for the past two days. He had brought breakfast and left for base without even sitting next to you.

You were worried… deep down, you were hurt. You missed the small bits of attention, his presence… you missed him. You sighed. Trying to focus back on the report.

A soft knock on the door made you frown, looking up. You sat there for a few seconds before another knock was heard. Dropping the file on the coffee table, you walked up to the door, unlocking it and opening it.

A man stood there, clearly a soldier from the base. His beard and funny hat made you smile.

"Oh… hi, I think I got the wrong apartment…" he said with the most adorable smile you saw on a man.

"Hi, who are you looking for? Maybe I can help." You answered.

"Hmm, I'm looking for Lieutenant Riley."

You nodded.

"You are in the right place actually. But he's not home at the moment."

The man stared at you for a moment.

"You… you are the roommate?"

You chuckled.

"You make it sound like I'm the Boogeyman… yes, I am the roommate." You smiled.

He chuckled.

"Well. It's a surprise and a pleasure to meet you. I'm captain John price" He presented his hand to you.

You extended yours to shake it.

"I'm… hum… sparrow…" you answered awkwardly with a sorry look.

He nodded, understanding the situation.

"Would you like to come in? He should be home soon." You invited.

"Oh, thank you, unfortunately I have somewhere else to be. He asked me to drop this file."

You looked down at the file, a big red 'confidential' stamped on it.

"Could you give it to him when he gets home? "

"Sure! No problem." You smiled, grabbing the file he was giving you.

"But… I have to ask. Don't open it. I trust that you'll do what's best. " He eyed you maliciously, without any hint of threat or negativity.

"Yes sir." You smiled.

He nodded one last time before bidding his goodbye.

Stepping back inside, you closed the door behind you. You slightly jumped as your phone rang. You cursed internally, this day was just stretching itself to no end.

Half an hour later you were dressed and ready to go to the base. There was an immediate need for your presence because of a potential security breach. You had dressed quickly, grabbing laptop, tablets and other electronics that might help you. Running around the living room, desperately trying to hurry up without forgetting anything. Throwing your coat on the counter, the sound of paper falling to the ground made you halt.

"God I hate this fucking report!"

Spinning around and dropping to the floor you started grabbing each sheet of paper, desperately trying to make them slip back into the file.

Suddenly you froze. The big red confidential staring at you. Oh no… no no no…

It wasn't your file. It wasn't your damn report.

"Fuck…"

"What the fuck are you doing?!"

You jumped, eyes flashing with shock as you noticed ghost standing at the entrance of the hallway.

"I-its not what you think! I made it fall! I swear I-"

"Shut up!"

You froze. The sting of the anger in his voice hurt a lot more than you expected.

He rushed to the ground next to you, grabbing every piece of paper, snatching the ones in your hand before standing up.

"Wait ! Please I-" you tried.

"I told you to shut up." He barked.

"Just let me explain!" You insisted.

"Explain what?!"

"I wouldn't do that to you ghost! We're …" you looked up at him from the ground, pleading eyes.

"What? Friends? You think we're friends?"

You bit your lip.

"We're not. Fucking wake up. And stay away from my shit." He snapped.

You sat there in shock as he walked past you. The sound of his bedroom slamming marking the start of the waterfalls. The silent tears burnt your cheeks.

Your phone rang once again, reminding you of your little emergency. You stood up in a hurry, grabbing all your things, slamming the front door on your way out.

You glanced at your watch. 2 am. You had been programming and coding for the past 6 hours, with very little breaks. You were exhausted. But the security breach had been fully secured and you had found a few clues on what or who was behind it.

It was time to head back home and let the rest of the team work on it.

Somehow you were anxious. You hoped he was asleep. That you could get in without facing him. You wanted to apologize again. You were mixed between fury and pain.

If you were honest you had been getting attached to him… you were enjoying spending time with him… how could you possibly think that he… would feel the same.

You bit your lip once more, trying to keep the tears at bay.

Turning the key in the lock you stepped inside the quiet house. Not a sound or a light. You sighed. Walking in the living room, flipping the switch, you looked around the now bright room. Everything was as you left it. Had he dinned?

You stepped in further into the room, dropping your coat on the couch. You let the silence drown you. Your eyes felt heavy.

You walked toward the fridge to grab a glass of water, noticing the file on the counter.

No red letters on top, and no report. It was a different file. This time you purposely opened it.

"Mission informations… south.. america?"

You blinked. He was gone. He went on a mission. He had left. Without a word. Or a text.

The first tears felt bitter. Rage first. And then sadness. He didn't care�� he never did…

Worry settled in now… what if he never came back? No. No!

You sat on the stool, now fully crying. He was gone. Eyes glancing at the little wrapped gift next to your bag.

"Riley you stupid idiot…"

___

Tags:

@lemontails-blog @cabreezer0117 @tomhardy41 @brxghtixghtz @shuttlelauncher81 @pinkdazelight @sirenbunnylol @snortangeldust

#fanfics #ghost cod #cod mw2 #ghost mw2 #simon ghost riley smut #simon ghost riley #simon riley #captain price #price cod #simon riley x reader #ghost x y/n #ghost x reader #simon riley x y/n

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1000sunnygo · 7 months

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One Piece 1093

//long post, manga spoilers ahead

Congratulations to Law for his second time trending as "Law's female form" and congrats to Kamiya Hiroshi too for trending alongside him!! (her?)

I have no doubt that Law's role would always be special to Kamiya. The way he strained his voice to raise his pitch to a new high made my throat sore on his behalf..... But I liked it more than I expected! I could feel in my bones that it was an uncomfortable transformation Law wanted to free himself from as soon as possible bwahahah

I like the anime original dialogue とにかく、ヤベぇ！(tonikaku, yabee!) Even with my crap japanese it was as hilarious as hearing him say "Anyway, I'm cooked!" I don't think Law uses the term "Yabee" a lot so that felt refreshing lol

It seems the more controversial quote was this one, the speech in Japanese would be literally translated to "my strength isn't coming out as usual". Personally, I didn't immediately associate it to weakness due to being woman but moreso as an additional side affect that came with it, after all, it's dubbed as a disease. I like to think Doc Q didn't only come up with it as a deranged fantasy but to impose a real handicap for the victim to have their body modified in a way that limits their ability to fight and use their usual powers, either due to magic or just out of discomfort. Unlike Ivankov's fruit that alters hormones, it's just a physical change, it makes sense why it's more unnatural and uncomfortable.

The female Law scene was animated by Yuu Yoshiyama, he also did Hancock's scene from Amazon Lilly invasion episode. The scene was fanservicey but thankfully not as over the top as the Bonney scene from few episode prior to this one. The episode didn't drag on even during the slower parts, the screentime was well spent. The obnoxious, repetitive closed up reaction shots weren't there.

Moving on to B part, nothing much to speak of Ishizuka's brilliant storyboard that hasn't been said. My favorite observation was this:

Some parts where characters didn't immediately follow up with a second attack was frustrating until I remembered Blackbeard and Law both put their lives on line when they use their fruit and so can't take risks. Cheaper trick shots and silly gimmicks that people blame Law for not using more frequently were probably never the best option. That said, unfortunately, Law lost the moment he used both his strongest attacks onscreen and failed. I don't think the fight was longer than what we saw here. The anime just made it more obvious.

Another anime original dialogue I liked is Blackbeard saying "what a handy ability you've got!" right before their final clash. He was using Tremor fruit until that point and then he switched to his OG attacks, it was unsettling how he's not only fighting but looking at Law's abilities as something that he'll soon take away from him. Unlike Doflamingo, Teach had no pre-decided plan involving Law's fruit and considered selling the fruit as appealing alternate as using it for its abilities. Honestly, we can't underestimate Doflamingo's knowledge. There's no way he stays in prison during the final arc.

And finally the Kuzan scene,,

rightfully the most praised section and probably my favorite part of the episode too. According to his tweet, Henry Thurlow animated the Kuzan scene traditionally on paper. Let's give Toei credit where it's due; they let their animators take time, be creative and love their work. Otherwise we wouldn't get scenes like this.

And that's it! The first (and the last?) time we see Heart pirates in proper action. Ch. 1081 is only ~17 chapters away. Hopefully we'll see it animated around the middle of this year. Hopefully Law's current condition in the manga is updated by then, otherwise it'll be very painful.

Twice already. Petition to let Pandaman become an official member of heart pirates.

#one piece #trafalgar law #trafalgar d. water law #marshall d. teach #one piece blackbeard #fem law #one piece meta #one piece anime #one piece manga spoiler #one piece episode 1093 #kamiya hiroshi #mine #heart pirates #blackbeard pirates #pandaman #kuzan

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itzsana-kiddingmenow · 3 months

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𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮:

𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨: 1.7k

𝙖/𝙣: BWAHAHAH IM BACKKKK 😈😈😈 hope you guys like this one

𝙩/𝙬: pirate!au, mentioned minsung ehhe

𝒍𝒆𝒆: jisung

𝙡𝙚𝙧: minho

𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕: @someone-who-loves-kpop-saranghae @jeonginsdiary @leeknowstan33 @v--143 @wereallgonnadieonedaybutnottoday @inkytornpagess @lajanaa @a-wild-seungberry @channieissocute125 @soap143 @seungsluvv @skznccmlee @moony-9 @sunny-117

𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠! 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞? 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐛s 🐾

Jisung groaned quietly. His back was killing him, who knew hiding in a barrel was so bone-snappingly painful?

He needed to execute this correctly. One wrong move and it’s all over.

Earlier, Jisung had noticed a group of pirates near the dock, and watching greedily at the amount of gold and food they were stocking up on, he had the golden idea of sneaking onto their ship.

With his luck, he’d be able to convince them he was a member of the crew already, and manage to make away with said gold and food. Pirates were supposed to be ugly, dumb brutes, weren’t they?

Jisung felt his barrel hit the ground with a rather painful thud, and after assuring that there was no one around, he popped out the top and crawled out, wincing when his back cracked from the movement.

He just had to mingle with the crew. Shouldn’t be too hard, right?

Hannie gasped as he heard two voices behind him.

“Oh, and then he—” A boy with pretty puppy-like visuals paused right in the middle of his sentence, and Jisung had to bite his tongue before he dropped to his knees in front of the man.

He immediately snatched back the comment he had thought about pirates being ugly and dumb.

The boy next to the first one had a sharp jawline and narrowed eyes, which were currently looking him up and down.

“Are you…the new crew member?” The first boy asked.

“Um…yes.” Jisung replied, eyes widening.

“Well, then come with us. We’re gonna go eat.” The second boy caught him around the wrist and dragged him down the stairs to a room.

Instead of a bunch of smelly, unhygienic pirates Jisung had expected, he was suddenly face to face with a bunch of frankly, really handsome men. Well, that beats that stereotype at least.

The man who Jisung assumed to be the captain stood up, smiling gently at him. “Ah, you must be the new member.” He walked over and took Jisung’s hand in his. The stowaway noticed how small the man's hand was. “I’m Minho, the captain of this ship.”

“I’m Jisung.” Jisung finally looked at the man’s face, and his breath was almost literally taken away from him. “Wow…you’re pretty.” He mumbled aloud.

Minho grinned at him. “I can hear you, sweet thing.”

Jisung felt blood rush to his face in astonishing quickness. “O-Oh, I'm sorry...It’s just—”

“No, no, don't apologize, it's okay. But I do have to give you the proper welcome, so follow me, please.”

“Ooof, new guy? Good luck, dude.” A boy with long, blonde hair shouted.

Jisung felt his blood go cold. ‘What welcome? I don’t know how to do anything…’

After some walking, they entered a room in the underside of the deck.

Minho sat him at the edge of an extravagant bed Jisung could only assume was his. His eyes widened in fright.

Minho suddenly darted his arms towards the boy, and he flinched, throwing his hands over his face and breathing in heavily.

Until he felt hands cup his cheeks. “Hey, hey, I’m not gonna hurt you, sweet thing.” Minho reasssured in a low voice. “Don’t be scared.”

Jisung felt bad. So bad. He had practically fallen in love with the captain of a ship he was never supposed to be on, just cause he couldn’t handle his greed. He had to fix this.

“Um…Captain?” Jisung looked up at him.

“Call me Minho. You’re cute, so you get special privileges.” Minho smiled his cute smile and booped Jisung’s nose.

“Minho…uh—Can I be honest? You won’t…hurt me?” Jisung stuttered. When the older nodded, he continued. “Um…I….snuck on here. Onto this ship…I never wanted to hurt you or anything, I swear!!” Jisung babbled on in a panic, frantically squeezing his own shirt hem.

He felt a lump in his throat and everything felt overwhelming. Jisung didn’t know why he felt the need to please this man, he just needed to.

Jisung heard the older tsk, and he suddenly began to sob, feeling as though he had disappointed him.

Minho’s eyebrows furrowed, and he mentally slapped himself for being so stupid. “Hey…hey, please don’t cry, darling. I’m not mad.” He cupped the younger’s cheeks again.

“You…y-you aren’t?” Jisung looked up at him with watery eyes, pink lips in a small pout. Minho was startled at the sudden and frankly, very strong urge to kiss them until they were red and swollen.

“No…no, but I still have to give you a proper welcome into our crew.” Minho decided his little welcome would be the best way to cheer the younger up.

After instructing the boy to lay on his bed, Minho reassured Jisung that nothing would hurt before suddenly flopping on top of the boy and grabbing his arms, to which Jisung screamed and thrashed underneath the older.

Minho rolled his eyes. Jisung was still convinced he was gonna hurt him. Luckily, Jisung was small, small enough that he was easily able to overpower him and slip his hands through the metal fastening on top of his headboard and tighten it.

Jisung yelled when Minho managed to stick one foot into bottom strap, and he gave up when the other went in on the other side, knowing he couldn’t escape.

Jisung whimpered when the older slid a leg around his hip, sitting comfortably on his lower belly. The weight was comfortable.

Min reached down and suddenly…pulled Jisung’s shirt up?

“H-Hey, what are you gonna—AH!!” He squealed when a finger dipped in his belly button for a second.

“You’ll see.” Minho smirked, scribbling a hand up Jisung’s very stretched out side.

Jisung squeaked and tried to angle away from the hand, even though he knew he was completely immobile. His eyes widened in horror. ‘No, he wouldn’t.’

‘Would he?’

Minho, meanwhile popped a bottle of baby oil, pouring some right into Jisung’s belly button and watching him flinch, and spreading more along the boy’s sides.

Fingers gently traced along his sides, and Jisung threw his head back, a high-pitched whimper escaping him before he sealed his lips.

“Hmmm…you’re trying so hard, aren’t you?” Minho mused, moving towards the center of Jisung’s belly and watching the corner of his lips upturn slightly.

“Mmmhmhm…” Was the response the older recieved.

“Oh?” Minho noticed a tiny smile on the Jisung’s face, eyes squeezed shut. He looked adorable. “Is the tickling too much? Is the lil baby about to break?~” He teased in a baby voice, clawing up and down Hannie’s sides in the most gentle movements.

Jisung let out a strangled noise at the change in ministrations, twisting side to side and kicking his legs frantically behind Minho.

“I know you’re ticklish, just break already and let’s make it enjoyable for the both of us.” Minho groaned.

Jisung stubbornly shook his head, impressed with himself at how long he was holding out.

“Let’s try and get some laughter, yeah?” And a finger was swirling on the outer rim of his belly button.

Jisung snapped his eyes open with a loud squeal just as it went into the sensitive button, twisting as loud cackles rang around the room. “NOOHOHOHOO!!” He shrieked.

“Awe, finally! Your laugh is adorable~” Minho smiled fondly at the squirming boy.

Jisung tensed and pulled at his restraints, desperately bucking away from the finger but failing. “YOUHU CAHAHAHANT!! Please please—CAPTAIN!!” Jisung screamed, the fingers slipping up his shirt and finding the skin of his underarms.

“Nonono…I said you can call me Minho. Didn’t you listen?”

Jisung shook his head desperately, kicking out behind the older.

“No?” Minho frowned, moving his hands back to Hannie’s lower belly.

“AGH!!” Minho flinched.

“StahahaaaHAHAAAHAHAAA!!” Jisung dissolved into more messy laughter.

“Awhhh, the little baby can’t handle it?” Minho cooed, and Jisung hated the way his face burned a bright red.

“Shuhuhut AHAAHAHAHAP!!” He screamed, tugging at Minho’s restraints.

“How informal, don’t you think?” Minho mused, grinning evilly as he undid the rest of Jisung’s cloak buttons.

“Noho…no….please—CAPTAIN!!” Jisung cried when more oil was spread along his armpits.

Minho tsked. “I said, call. Me. Minho.”

Fingers scribbled everywhere, over Jisung’s armpits, along his rib cage, his belly and sides.

The room exploded into sound, boisterous squeals and cute squeaks, along with the loudest begging in between laughter that Minho had ever heard.

“PLEASE PLEHEHEHEHAHAHAHA!! MIHINHO PLEASE NOHO—!!” Jisung arched his back. It was unbearable, too much.

“You’re so ticklish, it’s actually insane.” Minho hummed. “So, you wondered onto here, but now I’m gonna ask you something.” He casually asked, fingers only continuing their torturous movements that seemed to have Han in stitches.

“OKAAAHAHAHAY!!”

“Will you stay with me? With us?” Minho paused.

Jisung caught his breath, eyes sparkling with tears. “Wha…Whahat??”

“Please?”

Jisung shook his head. “wahait…I cahahant—STAHAHAHAAAAHAHA!!” He tensed with a scream when the cruel tickling only continued.

“Hmmm…I’m gonna have to break you some other way…” Minho reached his hand back and squeezed around Han’s thigh with one hand, reveling in the howl of laughter poor Jisung let out. “Bad spot?”

He continued tickling with one hand, reaching into his bedside drawer with the other and pulling a hook out.

Jisung’s eyes widened at the sight. The end was…dull.

“Everyone I’ve tried this on have broken immediately, and I’m sure you’ll break too.” Minho slipped it onto his hand. “Every pirate needs their hook, hm?”

He dangled it righttt over Jisung’s belly button, and the younger’s eyes widened when he realized what the captain had in mind.

“Wait-wait-wait…Minho please…please don’t. I really can’t take anything in there!” Jisung sucked his tummy away from the tool, anticipation welling up in his stomach. “I’ll seriously die! Nono—NO!!”

Minho dipped it into the button, scratching around with the blunt tip as poor Jisung fell apart completely, emitting a high pitched wail before descending into loud, screechy cackles, tears spilled down his cheeks, and Minho smiled fondly at him.

“All it took was a little tiny tip to make you lose~”

“PLEHEHEHEHEHEASSEEE!! MIHIHIHINHOOOO!! I CAHAHAAHANT TAKE ITT!! AGH—STOP MOHOHOVING!!” Jisung pleaded, muscles tending rapidly as he frantically screamed.

“Nowww…will you stay or do I have to use this on your ribs too?”

“PLEHEHEHEHEASE!! IHIHIHILL STAHAHAHAY!! I PROHOHOMISEE!!” Jisung was plunged into silent laughter. Minho slowly let up.

“Fine, fine. Poor baby.” Minho cooed, unbuckling the restraints and wiping the boy’s hot tears.

Jisung preened at the attention, sighing contentedly when a small kiss was placed to his nose.

“We’ll set up your room and stuff later, right now, just…stay with me?” Minho gave him a hopeful expression.

“Okay…Will I be safe here?” Jisung asked with a small worried expression.

“I’ll protect you with my life. After all, that’s my duty as your captain.“

#kpop tickle #midzywannabeitzy #stray kids #skz tickle #skz #ler minho #lee han #lee jisung #FINALLY IM BACK #not posting for more than a week is crazyyy #i LOVE THIS AHHH #its been a while since i was so proud of one of these sjajsd #i hope you guys liked it jewkeifv

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popculturebuffet · 8 months

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Wanna Make Something Of It?: A Justice League International Retrospective: Justice League #1 Review

Keith Ian Giffen 1952-2023 "I"m sick of Darkseid, Darkseid has been passed around the DC Offices like a Bong"

Hello all you happy people and happy birthday to me. Each year either on or around my birthday, or in this case a month later because the end of 2023 was a cold and carpal tunnel hellscape and 2024 opened with bronchitis, I take a look at something special to me, something that means something: From the first apperance of the Legion of Substitute Heroes, to the first volume of Scott Pilgrim, to Scott Pilgrim Vs the World , to last years look at the uncanny x-men's rebirth with Giant Sized X-Men #1, i've always set aside my birthday to reflect on my past and celebrate it with something I truly love.

This year I decided on that.. for reasons that still break my heart. On October 9th at the ripe age of 70 Comics Legend and personal inspiration of mine Keith Giffen.. passed away. He had a long, good life and created countless amazing stories and characters.. but his loss will be a void that can never quite be filled.

For those who hadn't heard of him, Keith was a comic book writer who's best known for his work at DC, having helped redefine the Legion of Super Heroes and Darkseid with the legendary Great Darkness Saga alongside Paul Levitz, created the main man Lobo, the fourth wall breaking before it was cool Ambush bug, the incomprable Jamie Reyes whose first arc I covered this year, and of course, the one punch, the only, the bwahahah-ey Justice League international.

If your asking why it took this long to eulogize him if I respected him so much, the answer is simple: I didn't know. In an age where if someone dies it's usually blasted onto my news feed, even if I don't exactly google that person every day, I had NO idea Keith was dead till reading an amazon review.. which is the kind of sick irony he'd find hilarous, so I have that, but not exactly the way to find out one of your personal heroes died. So I scrapped my original birthday review plan (Letterkenny's Three Wise Men For the Curious) and decided to start a project i've been mulling over for a while now. So welcome folks to Wanna Make Something Of It: A Justice League International Retrospective, an ocasoinal look at this long run.

JLI has an intresting history to it so if you'll sit down i'll tell you

The Not Really Secret Origin of the Justice League International

It was the late 80's and DC Comics had just undergone a massive reboot with Crisis on Infinite Earths, the first true big event comic as we know them with tie ins and a massive reboot in the end as Editorial had felt the various alternate earths had made things too complicated. So a big blue murder man named the Anti Monitor tried to wipe out all of creation, leaving only five earths: Earth 1, where most of the action took place, Earth 2 where the heroes of the Golden Age, the Justice Society of america and their various successors lived, Earth 4, where the recently aquiried heroes of Charlton Comics like Blue Beetle, Peacemaker and Captain Atom resided, an earth not concidentally introduced for this crossover, Earth S, home of the Shazam/Captain Marvel Family, and Earth X, a world where the nazi's won WWII and only the freedom fighters stood in opposition. Basically any heroes DC felt like keeping and their shiny new toys.

The result was a new one world earth with a fresh coat of paint to let in new readers. It wasn't without issues: several corners of the DCU got torn up with my beloved Legion of Super Heroes getting some of the worst of it, with every resonable attempt to fix the retcons or bring characters back.. being shot down AFTER the story had already been started or happened, eventually leaving such a giant mess they rebooted in the 90's, while many a hero was left without an origin or clear history, Donna Troy having to have her origin redone again now her connection to wonder woman was gone, Hawkman became a hawk mess in part thanks to this very book, story for another time, and much more I don't have the time or patience to get into right now.

There was a lot of good in it though, as the reboot left room for new heroes like self promotional himbo with a heart of gold, Booster Gold, the now DC flavored Blue Beetle, and more, and for some the fresh start was badly needed, revitalizing Superman, and giving Wonder Woman and out and out reboot that, while taking her history away, exchanged it for one of the best runs on the character ever via George Perez. And eventually, after some growing pains, it gave us room for an all new flash after a lengthy murder storyline left Barry running out of steam. For all the damage it did i've learned over the years, the crisis still did a LOT of good and helped a lot of characters find their place in this brave new world.

One property vital to DC that needed this was the Justice League of America. A few years before the crisis, DC had noticed the sales of the League were down, and tried to revitalize it: the result was a book I hope to read and cover one day.. still called Justice League of America bu tknown to most as Justice League Detroit. The IDEA was good: feeling the league was a bit scattered after a martian invasion destroyed their iconic satalite headquarters, Aquaman called for them to disband and only those who could commit full time rejoin, leaving it with just him, Martain Manhunter, Zantanna and The Elongated Man. They soon added some fresh recurits in the cyborg steel, the horribly named in hindsight but loveable for her father daughter relationship with the Martain Manhunter, Gypsy and the sterotype tastic Vibe, who'd later be heavily reworked for the better by the flash tv series.

The idea was good but even from what defenders I could find after googling the team, the book had the good IDEA of making the team more of a surrogate family like the Titans or X-Men, but simply didn't seem to pull it off. It's part of why i'd love to look at it some day: the roster is good, with even the rookies being intresting Even Vibe at least had intresting power, a low income background not really see in the Justice League at that point, and cool shades.. even if him break dancing was very much

So I do really want to read this run and possibly cover it and if you'd like me to, let me know. It intrests me.

But while it intrests me now, no one at the time was really biting so DC decided to pull the plut. It really didn't help that , thanks to the crisis.. DC now had a wide buffet of characters they could suddenly ad to the league like Captain Marvel, the Charlton gang, and Dr. Fate.

So the team got the axe in the ties ins for Legends, DC's next big event that was also designed to bring the new team together. Legends has another really cool concept: Darkseid, god of evil and dc office bong , wanted to break earth's heroes for defying him so he could finally claim it and thus came up with Operation: Humilation. He sent his lackey Glorious Godfrey to earth , becoming tele-evanglist and far right loon G Gordon Godfrey, inspired by the times and sadly still relevant. Godfrey lit up an anti superhero fervor, causing Ronald Regan to ban superheroes while Godfrey spread the message of hate, helped by Godfrey setting up Captain Marvel to seemingly kill one of Darkseid's minons who was in fact a robot designed to die and scar a 12 year old for life.

The problem is the series is a bit too fast paced for it's own good, taking a message on how hate movements like this spread oh so easily with the power of tv, and speed running it so we go from Godfrey using real life hate tactics that are chillingly relevant, to the point we get scenes with a crowd nearly killing a 12 year old jason todd or a cop killing his partner after said partner lets Black Canary go then blaming her for making him do it, to ... him making people into murder dogs and storming the captial. In three issues. You have to nearly burn the country down to get people to do a insurrection everyone knows that.

On top of that like many an event after.. a lot of it's about setting up tie ins instead of it's core story so we get stuff like Jason being saved happening off panel or Darkseid deciding to take superman off the board.. and then doing it in a tie in.

That brings us to Justice League where one of the biggest fallouts of this event.. happens entirely in it's own book. I'm split on this as on the one hand, the end of the Justice League of America should happen in it's own book.. but on the other given they brought in another writer to end the book, I don't see why they didn't just cancel it early and say "To be continued in legends" and have Godfrey tied into the league's ultimate end instead of Amazo.

Alas instead Amazo and Despero clean house leaving the league battered, demoralized and in the cases of Vibe and Steel dead. Everyone whose left leaves.. .everyone except the person it means the most to, the person who almost never left and whose the heart and soul of the league for the Martain Manhunter vows it'll live on.

Cue the finale of Legends: With things escalating quickly, Dr. Fate, DC's Resident Mysterious Magic Man, gathers a bunch of heroes together to put an end to this: Batman, Martian Manhunter, Blue Beetle (Ted Kord), Black Canary, Green Lantern (Guy Gardner), The Flash (Wally West), Beast Boy (Going by Changeling back then), Mister Miracle (Scott Free), Superman and Captain Marvel (The future Shazam) to put an end to this, with Jonn clinching the heroes return to legality by coming in the save and Wonder Woman making her debut to the superhero community post-crisis by jumping in to help. The day is saved , and a new justice league is formed from the ashes of the old.

So you may be asking: Why this roster and why aren't Wonder Woman, Superman, the Flash and BB on the cover? Let's explore that under the cut as we delve into why this roster, the creative team for the actual book, and the first issue itself shall we?

Roll Call:

So you'd probably think given how team books work nowadays that future writers Keith Giffen and JM Demattis picked this team themselves, with maybe a member or two picked by dc editorial. It's what I assumed.. but nope, DC picked the team themselves, which .. does kinda bother me. A creator should really pick their own roster as chemistry is VERY important to a team book. It speaks to Giffen, DeMattis and Macguire's talents that, even dropping a few members in issue 7, the book comes off as natural as it does and said drops come off less as "this person we were saddled with isn't working" and more "they simply didn't fit into the group so we used the big rebrand to shuffle them out". DC may of picked the roster, but to their credit they choose well. As giffen himself put in the introduction of a collection of the first few issues back in 2008 "That call was DC's to make and as it turned out.. not too shabby"

So before we got into the actual book and who made it, I wanted to take a second to explore this roster as I wanted to show WHY DC might have choose them as I couldn't find any info on why this roster was picked, and simply have my edcuated guesses to go on

First who WASN'T added despite being front and center in legends: Each of the four members cut from the roster so to speak have good reasons for not being in the team. Beast Boy is the most obvious: he was never going to be in the League to begin with, they most likely wanted a titan to represent their flagship book for the crossover and choose one of the most popular.

For the Flash, Wally's a bit more of an actual misdirect as given he hadn't shown up since his decision not to take up the mantle, this was his big coming out party as the flash, with Wally deciding to embrace his mentors roll. It's also why he didn't take it up in story and likely out: he just put on the tights and didn't feel ready for the league just yet and the character would need some time in his own solo before it made since to plop him in a team book.

For Superman and Wondy it's also simple: Superman was being rebooted: He still had a LOT of his history, but major parts of it like his time in the Legion as Superboy or his cousin Kara were cut out, major villians were revamped, and his world was reshaped for the 80's while Diana was flat out rebooted by George Perez after sales had pretty much died pre-crisis, with said run now being one of my favorite comics and one I can't wait to complete some day and share with you all.

So that left the All New, All Diffrent Justice League with a roster consisting of Batman, The Martian Manhunter, Blue Beetle, Captain Marvel (Now known as the Captain or Shazam), Dr. Fate, Black Canary, Mister Miracle and Green Lantern (Guy Gardner). So for those of you less familiar with some of these guys, let's get aquanited, as well as figure out why DC choose them.

Batman: Batman is here because he's batman.. I could end it there but that'd leave the question of why Bats was okay to go but SUperman and Wonder WOman weren't. The answer is simple: Batman.. didn't get rebooted by Crisis. Things were changed like Jason Todd's backstory, some villians erased, some bits of history tinkered with, but that was standard for most post crisis heroes. He'd have a new defentiive origin with Frank Miller's year one, but Denny O'Neil had already soft rebooted batman back in the 70's, so he wasn't in as big of a rut. Crisis took out weird shit from the silver age that I love but understand why maybe it's best reinstated as a drug hallucination, thank you Grant Morrison, and Earth 2 batman, but it really didn't change who Bruce was, his status quo etc. Batman was selling well, Dick Grayson was super popular over in New Teen Titans, it was something DC knew wisely not to fuck with. Granted I haven't gotten as hands on with just after the crisis batman as I have Superman or Wonder WOman, so I could be wrong, but most of the changes were to villian backstories, stuff that was necessary and handy, but not things that really shook up who Batman was or what stories were going on with him like Superman and Wonder Woman. And since Batman is a lisense to print money, for better or worse, they stuck him on this team.

Martain Manhunter: The Martain Manhunter is Jonn Jonzz, a cop from mars who got accidently kidnapped by an old man to earth and took up resdiense as a detective. Jonn would get a full mini establishing who he was post crisis I have not read by Giffen and Dematties but i'm now dying to now I know it exists. Jonn was a founding member of the justice league and a big hero during the silver age, and comes off as the JLA equilvent to the Avengers Wasp, not in terms of character, Janet and Jonn aren't like each other in the slightest but I do think they'd hang, but in being a hero who has a storied career almost entirely tied to one of their unvierses big super teams, but not much solo wise. The former has meant he's been bounced around a bit and even left out of the team in the new 52 for cyborg, but also means he's a treasured part of it, an elder statesman who gives the team a sense of a heart among a floating lineup. He also gives the team a power house, having most of superman's powers PLUS telepathy and shapeshifting. Jonn is one of my faviorite DC heroes owing to the justice league cartoon

Guy Gardner: Guy is an odd duck in that both John Stewart and Hal Jordan were wearing the ring, this being the first time all three earth lantern's wore it, so WHY Guy was chosen out of the three was a mystery given JOhn was, as far as I know, popular even then and Hal was the old reliable, back before everyone was sick of that and wanted them to remember they had 7 or so people more intresting. Guy was Hal's understudy. He literally didn't get the ring.. because Hal Jordan was closer, and thus was picked to become a space cop later. He was depicted intially as a school teacher before being resculpted into a jingoisitc asshole by Steve Engleheart, something that was cemented and fleshed out here. He also has a three stooges haircut, something I feel adds to his asshole charm and feel had to be brought up at some point.

Dr. Fate: Dr Fate is kent nelson, a vetran of the JLA's predecessor, the Justice Society of America. Originally the JSA was part of Earth 2, but was merged with Earth 1 so now they simply.. existed before our heroes, retired due to Mcarthyism, then came back into action when the new age of heroes launched, with deaging and such used to explain how their still around. Fate was chosen likely because he looks neat, they needed a magic guy, and they wanted a JSA rep on the team. He.. didn't really quite fit as it was clear DC didn't know quite what they were doing with him yet.

Blue Beetle: My boy ted, who I've already covered on this blog before, but this is his shining moment. For those less familiar or who missed the underated blue beetle film, Ted is an inventor who found out his uncle was planning to take over the world with an army of robots, and enlisted his close friend Dan Garret, who turned out to be the OG blue beetle and sacrificed his life to stop Ted's Uncle, passing on the mantle but not the magical alien beetle. Ted compensated by building a ton of gadgets, having plnety of quips and generally being plesant. Ted was part of Charlton Comics, a company DC had bought recently, and having his own series at the time, being fairly popular, and having an outfit created by Steve Ditko himself, he was a shoe in and a nice pick from the b-list. Grante di'm biased and this series is entirely WHY, but Ted's a fresh face in the dcu who comes in hot with plenty of experince and a cool ship for the group to fly around.

Black Canary: Dinah Lance was changed by the crisis, going from an immigrant from earth 2 to the daughter of the original. She was also made a founding member of the justice league to replace Wonder Woman because she as the only prominent dc heroine who who would've been active at the time. And yes she's wearing THIS for her time in the JLI

And honestly it's.. meh. I think they were trying to give her a less casual look, but the fishnets and black leather jacket just fit. Sometimes a superhero just needs something anyone could wear in the right order to have a super outfit. I'm not against civlian style costumes if it fits the hero and dinah's just.. fits. This one just dosen't suit her as it's a bit too bombastic.

Dinah's likely here both for her new jsa connection and new jla founder status. She's also here because the team needed a female member, alongside dr. light, who we'll get to later.

Captain Marvel: Billy is easy. While DC had aquiried their former rival Fawcett back in the 70's, and thus one of the best superman immitators there ever was and ever will be, Billy had been on earth S since they bought him, and like Dr. Fate is there to show off how the earths are all merged now. He's also another power house, and was someone dc was trying to push. DC.. never really knows HOW to push captain marvel and i'm hoping his current series by Mark Waid helps. If you haven't read it check it out, it's possibly the characters best that i've been able to have acess to (Since DC hasn't reprinted the golden age stuff quite yet). For those who haven't heard of him, Billy Batson is a ten year old who was chosen by a wizard to become his champion and thus can act out the movie big but with superman powers whenever he wants. I love him dearly and wish DC knew how to market him.

Mr. MIracle: Last but not least Mr Miracle is Scott Free. Scott is part of the new gods, Jack Kirby's big contribution to DC that also included bong of evil Darkseid. To keep the peace Darkseid and his counterpart Highfather did a son swap, HIghfather getting Darkseid's angsty son Orion and Darkseid getting Scott, who he gave to Granny Goodness, the God of Child Abuse, who gave him othe name to mock how he'd never be free. Naturally this strategy backfired as it only fired up young Scott to escape, becoming the escape artist, hero and wife guy mr miracle. The last part came courtsey of big barda, another one of Granny's charges who came to take Scott back, but was convinced that maybe hellpits weren't the best place to live, and married him in Kirby's last issue on the two. Scott is here to emphasis the new gods,s something DC was playing with more post crisis. His manager Oberon, a cheery fella with Dwarfism, is also here because Demattis and Giffen had a lot of material for the guy it turned out and Oberon is essentially the team's guy in the chair.

So with this motely crew assembled let's see what this dynamite creative team did with them as we begin the storied history of the justice league international... the international part comes later.

Starting with the cover. While usually i'll skip these in an analysis, it's both a habit I need to break and would be a criminal act here as the cover for Justice League #1 is my faviorite comic book cover of all time and my faviorite to see an homage of.

It's simple, but it's perfect. The group shot is well deisgned, showing everyone off, but in a way that's diffrent from the usual action poses we get. Their clearly ready to kick your ass then their gonna fuckin kick your ass, but it's in a way that's unique, shows the team's unity. It also is taken so seriously here.. that it makes it ripe for jokes later in the series. The wanna make something of it ffrom guy both echoes the tough image their going for.. but fits the goofy tone the series is really going to have as it settles in. This comic has been homaged to oblivion and rightly so. Even Keith's memorial image dc put out is this but with Keith and all his creations.

We open the issue proper with a declaration.

It's one of my faviorite opening pages in a comic: It's beautifully drawn by artist Kevin Maguire, sets up the setting well and sets up guy as having his head firmly up his own ass.. it's why he has the bowl cut you see, helps him get it up there nice and tight.

The issue smartly introduces the cast one or two at a time, letting each character get a proper introduction and seeing how they bounce off each other as they file in.

So first in is Black Canary, who marvels at their old headquarters recent reneovations. Our heroes start the run in the Secret Sanctuary, the Justice League's first headquarters built into a mountain in Happy Harbor Road Island. And if it seems familiar to some of you, it should as after the JLI were done with it the Doom Patrol moved in for a bit during Grant MOrrison's Run. Most famously and lastingly, Young Justice, another team I have to cover at some point, made this their main hq, the only team to really make it a home that wasn't a justice league. And to prove that point the JSA also stayed here briefly. It's this weird go to for teams who need a headquarters for five minutes.

Anyways Dinah remembers the good times and all the ghosts, guy's a dick about it humming the twilight zone theme, and assumes he and Dinah will have a sam and diane thing and not a "Stay 50 feet away at all times thing".

Next up is Mister MIracle, whose nervous about the gig, not sure if he belongs there. Out of the leaguers Scott tends to stick to the back, not shy or afraid to speak up when needed, but not as outspoken as his team mates. This nicely contrasts oberon whose all too happy for the box office as even if this lasts a cup of coffee. He's less happy when Guy makes a shot at his dwarfisim and Oberon's grumbling is hilarious.. as would've been him decking guy but we still got a few issues till someone finally does that.

Billy zooms in, shocked by all the press, showing his naivitie: even after all he just went through... Billy is still a bit shocked by just how profile this is and happy to be there. Enter the boys, Martain Mahunter and Blue Beetle, with Jonn not forgetting the whole LEgends fiasco so soon, and having a bit of a mope... though he soon makes a valid point to ted as he turns on the computer.. and shows the Detroit League. It's a nice reminder that even if the team wasn't like.. they were still close and still Jonn's proteges.. and most most of them are dead and those that arent quit due to the trauma. So doing this, while something he feels is necessary. Cue Guy banging a gavel and declaring the meeting started

We then cut to the offices of innovative concepts where we meet the heart and galbladder of this run, Maxwell Lord, a mysterious man in a suit whose watching a row of tv's. Max isn't evil like he'd later be retconned into being.. but he is VERY shady at this point, watching all the coverage on the league and in one of my faviorite subtle little things scratching the "of america' part out of the legue's name on a pad of paper.

I want to take a minute to point out macguire's facial work.. i'ts incredible, nicely detailed, realistic, but still cartoony enough to have tons of personality. Just looking at max you get his smugness, ego and sense of control all at once with him having barely said or done anything. There's been plenty of masterminds sitting behind a row of tv's, but you get Max's vibe immedietly while still wondering what his deal is and what he wants with the team, the latter being the main mystery of the books first year. Back at the Sanctuary, Dinah and Guy argue as SHOCKINGLY the experinced vetran with an eye for the teams legacy dosen't want sylvester calzone here running things. Oberon TRIES to intervene on Dinah's beahlf but get's literally brushed off and Jonn trying to be an adult in teh room.. gets Guy picking him up and making a green giant joke, both funny, both well done.. and enough to get even JONN pissed enough to enter a brawl.

Cue the goddamn batman.. and dr. fate whose here too. That's.. really fate's roll for their time on the team, their just.. here. While Giffen and Demattis did really try to work with most of the roster they were given, seeing who worked and who didn't, Dr. Fate just didn't fit this team. As you can see already.. a key part of this team is disfunction. Some become true companions eventually, but it's mostly a bunch of personalities that barely function together, fairly normal people who put on tights. It's the charm of the series: instead of just getting along or having the usual angst, these guys just make digs at each other and amble along, but DO get the job done and do deserve to be called the justice league. It's just a version of said league that dosen't take itself seriously and has fun with it, and that treats this group like people. Normally the Guy Gardner in the group would just be ingorned but because he actually DOES have the power to toss people around (and props to the creative ways he does), it leads to an actaul brawl.

Fate... doen't fit into this. Fate is an enigma, mysterious and distant. So they simply.. don't work well in a jokey sitcom. It's clear the duo LIKE the character, they'd reinvent him soon enough, but he just didn't fit what they were going for.

So that begs the question how BATMAN does.. and he answers it, cowing everyone else into stopping it and getting guy to sit down before dryly reading out the charter. Bats is the boss in this workplace sitcom, and he's a mean one, being an utter dick to dinah at one point.

This moment horks me off.. but it's also a perfect encapulation of batman's leading style: shut up do what I say. Even someone whose his EQUAL , and who founded the team before him and thus has senority, he just tells them to shut up when she's making a valid point: their fidgity because this meeting is nervous nad because they just went through some crap. What I like is that despite having BATMAN.. the dream team dosen't glorify him. He's still batman, he shuts down the room with a glare, is a tactical genius and thus great at leading in the battlefield.. but it's very clear even this early on he simply.. can't lead this team well. He has a barking "do what I tell you style" and expects them to be good soldiers, treating them like a group of sidekicks instead of experinced heroes.

It's not something the group pull out of thin air either: Batman used to have a team of his own, the Outsiders, formed after Batman walked out on the league for refusing to let him rescue Lucius Fox and turned in his badge when Clark wanted him to sit this one out as a league member. He found a bunch of other heroes along the way, and choose to make them into a team, but it was very clear that the outsiders were partners, and weren't treated as full equals, with the exception of Black Lightning who Bruce felt was on his level. He wasn't bad to the team, helping find the younger amnesaic Halo a home, setting them up with day jobs, but his style is very much "listen to me or there's the door. "

The problem is while the outsiders were mostly fresh faces to being heroes or out of practice like metamorpho or black lightning, Bruce can't let that guard down even whent he heroes have more than proven themselves. It popped up in a crossover with the New Teen Titans where he started ordering that team around, with Dick eventually having to tell him to shut the hell up and let Dick lead his own damn team.

So while it's midly grating here it fits: Batman is so determined to keep this league together he's treating them like his backup i nstead of experinced heroes, two of whom HE'S BEEN ON THE LEAGUE WITH BEFORE.

Anyways Bats does have ONE good point in his leadership so far: he wants the team to keep a low profile. While it's hard given the army of camera's outside, the team dosen't know each other, hasn't trained together yet, and needs time to be in full shape. After all they just barely got superheroes back in the popular opinon: while Godfrey DID juice up people's emotoins, it dosen't mean it won't swing back to negative easily if they fuck up.

Unfortuantely for them... someone else has other ideas.. and i'ts not fate because their in the room. At the UN Kimyo Hoshi is in the bathroom puzzled by receving a JL signal device from Max and not sure if she'll accept. Kimyo is the second Dr. Light, a hero unlike her predecessor and a scientest from Japan who got her powers during the crisis. She.. wont' be here long as while the issue plays her up as a member on the cover, she never fully joins the league. More on that in the future. For now she exits the bathroom.. to find herself a hostage. Terroists have taken the UN. THankfully she activates the device and while Batman's very confused dr. light has one, rallies the team to go anyway.

Naturally Brucey Boy is cautious, having most of the team get in the bug, while he sends Fate and Billy to scout ahead. Guy WANTS to but Batman's response to the idea of sending a human bulldozer who barely listens to him into a tense hostage situation?

The team enters and despite the disfunction so far... it goes easily: Guy seals the premiters and probably invents some new swears, beetle does his best as the guy in the chair in the bug

And Fate.. well fate left and told Billy batman would understand and left the ten year old to explain this.

The league clean house.. but Batman notices a problem: these guys are ameture, clumsy and their equipment is oudated. Something else is going on here.

Time for that is passed soon though as Guy dive sin and finishes the job quickly. It's a nice sequence overall that shows the team REALLY is this good: this is a setup sure, but they don't know that. The lead terroists plans to detonate himself and batman... tells them to clear the room and let him, knowing somethign we don't as the man prepares to fir eon him and after they exit we get a wrapup via news as Max once again watches

So yeah SOMETHING made the leader kill himself, and max is behind anything. not a MASSIVE twist as the batman conversation set it up, but still a neat one: Max has plans for the league. I also like the focus on optics here: it's something I don't THINK the league had done before, the idea of how the media views a superhero team. This verison of the league isn't bad.. but Batman's refusal to talk to the press allows them to paint the narrative they want instead of the league controlling it. It's what gives Max a leg up on slowly wrestling control of it and makes him a compelling character from the word jump: Unlike Batman, he clearly gets optics, having set this up to force the league into the spotlight bright and early and removing the of america part to give the team a bigger calling. His tactics for doing this are also brilliant but we'll get more on them as we go.

For now this issue.. is as good as ever. Amazingly drawn, sharply written and nicely snappy, setting up the team, the myth arc with max and the situation their in all in one issue while modernizing thigns a bit: instead of space monsters our heroes are now fighting terrorists. Not that I mind fighting a godo space monster, but I get trying to give the leauge something diffrent and more part of the world. And part of the world is a major part of this series: putting the League more into our world an dhaving to deal with things like the media, other nations, etc. It's a brilliant start

Next Time: The last heroes of a dead world try to save ours while a greedy bearded man wonders who he can exploit this and the team gets some gold.

#dc comics #blue beetle #batman #justice league international #maxwell lord #keith giffen #black canary #mister miracle #scott free #dinah lance #martian manhunter #shazam #captain marvel #billy batson #the 80s #comics

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