#also don’t know if Amish Boy Wonder should count

[comics-n-stuff]

Everyone who has ever, even slightly, been Robin

*In official, DC-endorsed media 

Total: 98 (i think)

FYI:

my definition of a ‘Robin’ is extremely vague. For example, I’m counting Lois Lane because she went to a costume party as Robin, and I’m also counting ‘Boy’ from Batman: the Return of Bruce Wayne because he had the domino mask paint and was clearly a stand-in for Robin. Et cetera.

They’re organized chronologically by their first appearance as Robin

Also this is heavily dependent on DC Fandom Wiki, so please let me know if I missed anyone or if anything is inaccurate

KEY

Red = actually Robin for a significant portion of time (more than a few in-universe days & more than one issue/episode/movie/etc)

Italics = was never Robin in main continuity (i.e. Earth Two [before Earth One existed], Earth One, New Earth, and Prime Earth)

Bold = I actually acknowledge them as Robin in my heart

Dick Grayson (Apr 1940)

Julie Madison (Mar 1941)

Ricky (Dec 1944) [possible future]

Mary Wills (Apr 1950) [Earth-Two]

Bruce Wayne (Dec 1955)

Vanderveer Wayne (Jun 1962)

Alfred E. Neuman (Sep 1966) [Mad Magazine]

Jimmy Olsen (May 1970)

Jason Todd (Mar 1982)

Boyd, the Robin Wonder (Apr 1983) [Earth-C-Minus]

Carrie Kelly (Jun 1986) [Dark Knight Returns]

Tim Drake (Oct 1989)

Robert Chang (Apr 1990) [Digital Justice]

Redbird (Jan 1993) [The Blue, the Gray, and the Bat]

Thomas Wayne (Jan 1993) [Robin 3000]

Bane (Apr 1993) [rejected elseworlds]

Robin Redblade (Jun 1994) [Earth-494]

Tengu (Sep 1994) [Narrow Path]

Alfred Pennyworth (Feb 1996) [Batman: Dark Alligiances]

Jubilation Lee (Apr 1996) [Amalgam Universe]

Tris Plover (Jun 1996) [Legends of the Dead Earth]

Darkbird (Jul 1996)

Bruce Wayne Jr. (Feb 1997) [Earth-3839]

Lois Lane (Oct 1997)

Rodney the chimpanzee (Nov 1997) [Batman: Dark Knight Dynasty]

Marya (1998) [I, Joker]

Barbara Gordon (Feb 1998) [Earth-37]

Robin the Toy Wonder (Nov 1998) [DC One Million]

Rochelle Wayne (Feb 1999) [Reign of Terror]

Kon-El (Mar 1999) [Hypertension]

Clark Wayne (Mar 1999) [Earth-3839]

Squid Wonder (Aug 1999)

The Robin (Mar 2000) [Earth-40]

Robin Drake (Feb 2002) [Riddle of the Beast]

Stephanie Brown (May 2004)

Koriand’r (Jan 2005) [Teen Titans (2003 show)]

Garfield Logan (Jan 2005) [Teen Titans (2003 show)]

Rachel Roth (Jan 2005) [Teen Titans (2003 show)]

Victor Stone (Jan 2005) [Teen Titans (2003 show)]

Robbie the Robin (Jun 2005) [Krypto the Superdog]

Control Freak (Oct 2005) [Teen Titans (2003 show)]

Damian Wayne (Nov 2006)

Robin Olsen (Oct 2007) [Earth-8]

Bizzaro Robin (Nov 2007)

Unnamed penguin (Jun 2010) [Tiny Titans]

Boy (Jul 2010)

Robin Robin (Jul 2010) [Tiny Titans]

M’gann M’orzz (Nov 2010) [Young Justice (2010 show)]

Jericho (Dec 2010) [Tiny Titans]

Kid Devil (Dec 2010) [Tiny Titans]

Wildebeest (Dec 2010) [Tiny Titans]

Kroc (Dec 2010) [Tiny Titans]

The Joker (Jan 2011)

Lance Heart (Feb 2011)

Fransisco Ramirez (Feb 2011)

Christopher Ward (Feb 2011)

Robin John Blake (Jul 2012) [Dark Knight Trilogy]

Helena Wayne (July 2012) [Earth 2]

Robin’s Egg (Jan 2013) [Farm League]

Super Robin (Jul 2013) [Teen Titans Go!]

Selina Kyle (Mar 2014)

Damien Wayne (Jun 2014) [Infinite Crisis Video Game]

John Thomas Grayson (Dec 2014) [Earth 2]

Nibor (Jan 2015) [Teen Titans Go!]

Daxton Chill (May 2015)

Dre Cipriani (May 2015)

Riko Sheridan (May 2015)

Duke Thomas (Jul 2015)

Troy Walker (Jul 2015)

Kat-R-ina (Aug 2015)

Isabella Ortiz (Aug 2015)

BlackDomino (Oct 2015)

Darkestdawn (Oct 2015)

SideKicker (Oct 2015)

Yellowcape (Oct 2015)

Shug-R (May 2016)

Robinbot (May 2017)

Dinesh Babar (May 2017)

Rabid Robins (Oct 2017) [Earth -22]

Cult Member Robins (Apr 2018)

Rosie (Apr 2018)

Matt McGinnis (May 2018) [Futures End]

Harley Quinn (Apr 2019)

Jarro (Oct 2019)

Billy Batson (Oct 2019)

Six of Hearts (Dec 2019)

Maps Mizoguchi (Dec 2020)

Talia Kane (Feb 2021) [Earth 11]

LeBron James (Jul 2021) [Space Jam: A New Legacy]

Drake Winston (Oct 2021) [Batman ‘89]

Anita Jean (Oct 2021)

Kiki (Nov 2021)

Son of Don Mitchell Jr. (Mar 2022) [The Batman (2022 movie)]

Gan (Mar 2022)

Jon Kent (Jul 2022)

Amish Boy Wonder (Nov 2022) [The Last Harley Story]

Darcy Thomas (Nov 2022)

Elizabeth Prince (Jan 2024) [Possible Future]

@help-i-need-a-cool-username

[avengerscompound]

Running to a Standstill - 15

Running to a Standstill: A Captain America Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Bucky Barnes x Steve Rogers x F!Reader

Word Count:  1610

Rating:  E

Warnings: Nothing for this chapter

Synopsis: While on the run from an unknown organization trying to take your son, you meet two super-soldiers.  While they try to help you get to the bottom of who is hunting you and your son, feelings come out and admissions are made that make your personal life even more tricky.

Chapter 15

It was too easy to fall into a sense of comfortable security while you were navigating your relationship with Bucky and Steve.  Whether it was false or not, you still had moments where it scared you how many defenses you’d let down when you were with them.  Two weeks after the incident at the library and you were heading out to parks again with Geo and Bucky.  A month of nothing popping up on your radar and you were relaxed enough not to keep looking around everywhere while you were out.  It wasn’t a conscious thing, but if you were asked why you’d relaxed so much you might have said that it was just a hope that the people after you had seen you with the Avengers and figured you were too difficult a target to pin down.

It was hard to say if it was exactly that.  The truth was that being that relaxed most of the time made those times you weren’t relaxed worse.  When it all bubbled up that it was quite possible that there were people out there that still wanted to get their hands on Geo you’d have a panic attack and on more than one occasion Steve and Bucky had needed to talk you down from doing something really rash or stupid.

You wished that there would be some kind of break in the case so that whoever the hell it was that had been hunting you could be arrested and your son could get a normal fucking life.  Or at least a happy and stable one.  Steve kept you up-to-date with what was going on, but even after almost two months of having people undercover they’d only managed to get in with a few of the larger dealers on the island and they still didn’t have the supplier.

You figured it had to happen some time though, so even when those panic attacks hit, you didn’t run.  You were falling in love and as much as you were trying to protect Geo from becoming attached to Bucky or Steve you knew he already was.  And not just to Bucky or Steve, but to Tony, Pepper, Natasha, Clint, and FRIDAY too.  You had to commit to this working for his sake and hope it wasn’t the worst decision you’d ever made.

They made it easy to commit to though.  The three of you had been following the plan you and Steve had set out.  Bucky had been sticking to your side for every outing.  He came to parks and museums with you, always making sure to stay alert ever when Geo was babbling away to him or using him as some kind of organic jungle gym.  Even after a month and a half of no signs of being followed he stayed alert in ways you had stopped being.  He noticed everything, and it might have been part of the reason why you had started to relax so much.

The three of you had been taking time to bond with each other individually as well as together. It was working well and even when you did have small flares of jealousy over what might have been perceived as a special bond between Bucky and Steve that you didn't always feel you shared, they were quickly chased away when your own unique bond with each man was pulled into the spotlight.

This was not at all the life you had envisioned for yourself when you’d started college all those years ago, but considering the huge dip the roller coaster that was your life had taken, while this new high was unique, but you were definitely enjoying it.

Bucky had organized a trip to the Math Museum.  He’d had to call ahead because the security at the venue was pretty tight and he didn’t want to have to explain why he was carrying two different handguns and three different knives into a children’s museum.

They let the three of you through the gift shop and as soon as you’d entered the play area Geo had rushed to the square wheeled tricycles and started riding one of them around in circles, occasionally needing Bucky to give him a little push but squealing with excitement anytime he got any kind of speed up.

“We really need to get that kid a bike,” Bucky said.

“Yeah, things like bikes were never really very practical,” you admitted. “I guess if we’re sticking around we can get one.”

Bucky smiled.  It was a smile that made his eyes look soft and content and he wrapped his arm around your waist.  “Next time we go out, we should take him to get one.”

Geo climbed off the bike and toddled over to you.  You crouched down to face him and he flopped down onto the ground, his fingers opening and closing on the ground.  “Down dare,” he said.

“You want to go downstairs?”  You asked.

“They down dare,” he said and patted the floor.

“Okay, come on kiddo,” Bucky said, picking him up so he was upside down, kicking and giggling in delight.  “Let’s go see downstairs.”

Bucky carried Geo down the stairs and it was clear even by halfway down what had been calling to Geo.  The room was filled with interactive screens, battling robots, and floors that lit up with different games.  Geo came alive.  Running from activity to activity with no pattern you could follow but a smile that wouldn’t leave his face.  There was no other kid there, regardless of their age that could keep up with him.  Every machine seemed to want to please Geo and they all performed their roles perfectly for him.

It felt like you were down there for hours.  Geo just jumping from one thing to the next.  Eventually he started to wane and he ended up just lying down in the middle of the mathsquare - much to the annoyance at the kids trying to play on it.

Bucky went and scooped him up.  “Okay, Gee, how about we go and get some hotdogs?”

“Bug-key,” Geo whined, flopping dramatically in his arms.

“Maybe we should just get him home, he looks pretty tired,” you said, as you walked upstairs with Bucky.

“Didn’t you want to head down to the farmer’s market?”  Bucky asked.  “You have the stroller right?”

You nodded.  “Okay, if you’re sure.”

You grabbed the stroller and Bucky put the little boy in it.  Geo immediately shoved his thumb in his mouth and held his hand up.  Bucky dug around in this backpack and pulled out the tablet, giving it to Geo who immediately hugged it and closed his eyes.

Moments like these gave you such mixed feelings.  Bucky had gotten so good with Geo he could read him without Geo using his words.  He was becoming a dad to him more and more each day.  It was wonderful in so many ways.  Both Steve and Bucky seemed to love that role and it was rare to find men like that and here you had two who not only obviously liked Geo and cared about his wellbeing, but cared about you too and accepted that the two of you came as a package.  Yet it was also terrifying.  The more they fit that role the worse it would hurt if it didn’t last.  It was so soon in your romantic relationship and it was so much pressure to love up to that even under normal circumstances things would feel like they were moving too fast and were too fragile to hold onto.  And these were far from normal circumstances.

Bucky offered you his arm and you hooked yours around it and began the walk past Madison Square Park.

It wasn’t a long walk to Union Square Park and it was a nice day out.  Geo was deep asleep by the time you arrived at the bustling markets.

“I consider myself a native and I don’t think I’ve ever been to these markets before,” Bucky said as you passed under the banner welcoming you to the markets.   “There’s so much stuff.”

“What do you want to get?  Purple carrots?  Edible flowers? Little chilies that blow your head off?”  You asked.

“Yes to all of those things,” he agreed.  “But I’m hungry right now, so let's find something we can eat as we walk around.”

You found a place selling pastries and paninis and grabbed a sandwich each to eat as you strolled the markets. Bucky kept getting ideas for meals with every new stall.  Your reusable bags were soon filled with colorful tomatoes and chilies, purple carrots, rainbow chard, edible flowers, crusty bread, pickles bottled in Amish country, fresh herbs, raw honey and milk, and a selection of cured meats and cheeses. 

“I think we might have enough,” you said as Bucky started browsing punnets of fresh berries.

“We don’t have any fruit,” he argued.  Geo likes blueberries and I could make a mixed berry pie.”

“Okay, okay, I won’t argue with pie,” you said.

Bucky had selected a few punnets and his phone rang as he went to pay.  You took over for him as he answered the phone.

“Hey, Steve, what’s up?”  He said, pressing the phone to his ear.  “We’re at Union Square… Five minutes if I can get a cab…  Alright, see you soon.”

He hung up the phone and looked at you.  “Gonna have to go.  Steve said it’s urgent.”

“Good urgent or bad?”  You said, a familiar panic starting to close in around your heart like a snake.

“I don’t know. Come on,” he said, leading you back out of the markets. “We’ll find out soon enough.”

// NEXT

[fanficstookover]

Open Your Eyes - Stiles (part 4)

-(Y/N) is the new student at Beacon Hills High School and she has a secret. Being born blind, she was never able to see a thing, until she was attacked by a wild animal. To this day she has never told anyone about it. So will she do it now? 

word count: 2768

other parts: part 1 - -part 2 - part 3 - part 5

“Are you like Daredevil or something?”

“Who?”

“Nevermind.”

“No, no. Tell me.”

“Oh, you’re Daredevil, he’s Batman. You’re both Ben Affleck.”  Lydia walked up to us. I hadn’t even noticed it, until she had said that and sat down next to me. Stiles looked extremely confused.

“How do you know Daredevil?”

“I’m not an idiot, Stiles. I know about things.” As soon as she said it, she looked a bit nervous at me. “That’s not what I meant. I meant that…”

“It’s okay,” I smiled, “It’s not your fault that my parents raised me like some kind of amish.” Lydia let herself  laugh a bit. I realised how awkward it was for them.

Obviously I had to tell them my secret. It would make everything so much easier for me,but for them too. And then I could at least act like a normal person around them.

But what if they would be angry at me for not telling them immediately. What if they could think I was just using them all this time. They would probably hate me for the rest of my life.

“(Y/N)!” Stiles got me out of my deep and dark thoughts.

“Huh? What?”

“You kind a zoned out there for a second?” Lydia looked concerned.

“Did you have a vision?” Stiles looked at me?

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Oh yeah. Eh, nevermind. It was kind of a stupid joke anyway.” he rubbed the back of his neck. I couldn’t help, but feel extremely sad. I wanted to say something but got interrupted by Lydia:”I think we should get you home. Remember, I promised your dad to bring you home after school.”

“I completely forgot. I guess you’ll have to teach me about Lacrosse some other time.” I said to Stiles. He just smiled weakly/

I said a quick bye to everybody and followed Lydia to her car. I ticked my cane on the ground, aimlessly, but still in the same direction.

“Wait!” a shrill voice stopped us in our footsteps. “You two, get over here!” Coach Finstock waved around. Hesitantly I walked to him, trying to stay a few steps behind Lydia the whole time. To be honest, he did scare me a bit. Not as much as he scared Stiles, but enough not to want to be close to him. Did anyone actually want to stand next to him? From the short time I’ve been here, I don’t think anyone was really eager to have a conversation with the coach.

“Why were you leaving?” He looked at me. I had no idea what to answer.

“We were going to my car. I have to bring her home, coach,” Lydia told the crazy man.

“Aren’t you trying out?”

“Trying out for what?” I asked him puzzled.

“For the team of course! We need someone that can actually shoot and aim.” I couldn’t help but notice that he glanced over to Stiles as he said that.

“I don’t think I-”  

“What? Because you’re a girl? Kira is a girl.”

“It’s not that. I just don’t-”

“Is it you’re grades?  I can give you a better one for the next Econ quiz.”

“No, I just -”

“You’re parents?”

“NO!” I was fed up. I understand that he was trying to be nice and was doing his best to get me on the team. But the coach could at least listen to me for a second. So, I did what had to be done. What was probably the only way to get him quiet. I took of my glasses and tried to hit him with my cane. Obviously I swung a few inches above his head. (As much as I would love to hit him, he is still a teacher and I do not need any of that on my record.)  

Coach duck his head quickly and almost fell on the ground. It was very clear that he was trying his best not to say every curse word he could.

Once he was back on his feet, he looked at me. But that was also only very quick. As soon as he looked at my face, he cringed and turned away from me. I couldn’t help but laugh. When Lydia noticed that I wasn’t mad, she laughed too.

“It’s you.” Coach simply said, “What are you doing here if you can’t see?”

“The fact that I can’t see, does not mean I can not support my friends.” I had put on my glasses back and I couldn’t help, but glance at Stiles as I said that.  

“That was definitely something,” Lydia said as she started her car. I was sitting next to her in the passenger's seat.  We hadn’t said a word to each other until we had reached the vehicle in the parking lot.

“Yeah,” I said. It was silent for a few seconds and then we both burst out in laughter. I haven’t had a laugh like that in a long time. Once we calmed down a bit, Lydia took off. She drove out of the parking lot of the school and we made our way to my house.

“Is Stiles really that bad at Lacrosse as everyone makes it sound like,” I asked as Lydia took a sharp turn to the left.

“He is actually really good,” Lydia sighed, “He’s just really insecure. But once he has the confidence, he can be amazing. Last year he scored the winning points in the finale. But then…” Lydia suddenly stopped talking. As if it wasn’t her place to talk about it. “Then, that summer, he started to train like crazy. He thought he would be co-captain, together with Scott. But then, Liam showed up.”

“Liam?” I laughed, thinking about the little boy I met yesterday at lunch.

“He may look like a shrimp, but that guy is an absolute beast on the field,” she had to pause for a second as there was someone in front of us who didn’t know how to drive, “Anyway, it completely devastated Stiles.”

“That’s…”

“Yeah. but please don’t tell him that you know. It would kill him.”  

“I understand.” but I actually didn’t. Lydia made it sound like it was the worst thing in the world for Stiles to know that I knew about that. What was so special about me? I barely knew him… or anyone in Beacon Hills. And probably I won’t get too know anyone as long as my mother won’t let me make actual friends. When I started to think about my mom, and everything that happened last night and this morning, I suddenly didn’t feel like going home. Not that I ever want to go home.

“This is probably a bit on short notice,” I said to Lydia as we were only a few streets away from my house. “But could I eat at your place tonight? If my parents let me, that is.”

“Of course,” Lydia said happily, “I’m home alone tonight anyway.”

“Thanks.”

Only seconds later, Lydia drove up to my house.

“Here we are.” Lydia unbuckled her seatbelt. I did the same and opened my door. The cold wind suddenly hit me in the face, giving me goosebumps.

“Is it me, or did it get really cold suddenly.”

“Yeah, it did.” I agreed with her. We walked together to my front door and she rang the doorbell. After a few seconds we heard footsteps and my mom opened the door for us. She looked a bit angry, but faked a smile as soon as she saw Lydia.

“Uhm, hello.” she mumbled. Lydia smiled at my mother: “Nice to meet you mrs. (Y/L/N). My name is Lydia Martin.”  she held out her hand and my mom, to my surprise, actually shook it.

“Nice to meet you Lydia. Thank you for bringing (Y/N) home. C’mon inside.”

“Actually…” I stopped my mom, “I was wondering if I could eat at Lydia’s tonight.” my mom stared at me for a few good seconds. She then laughed in relief. “Oh thank god. I thought that Lydia would stay and I would have to cook. I’m so tired from cleaning this place. Of course you can go.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, just make sure you make your homework.”

“Thank you. I’ll just go get my books then.”

“I’ll come with you.” Lydia suggested. I stopped in my footsteps. There was no way that Lydia will see my depressive excuse for a room. “No, that’s okay, I will be back in a minute.”

Once in my room, I walked to the book case. I took the two books that I would need to make my homework and walked back to the living room. My cane ticked on the floor.

“I’m ready.”

“Good.” Lydia put down the glass of water on the counter. “It was nice to meet you mrs. (Y/L/N).” Lydia waved to my mom as we walked out of the house. My mom shouted a quick goodbye too from the couch, before I closed the door.

“You know what, your mom is actually really nice.”

“Believe me, that’s only because you were there. She literally has a split personality when it comes to talking to guests or to me.” We got into the car and drove off.

The drive to Lydia’s house was surprisingly short. Once we had arrived there, I had to take a second to look at the big building.

“Home, sweet home.” she stepped out, so I did the same. The cold air hit us again, and this time the sun had also hidden behind dark clouds, making it almost look like it was night time. It also started to smell like it was about to rain.

“We should get inside quickly,” Lydia suggested. I agreed as she took my arm and guided me to the stairs that lead to the door. Lydia opened the door and it revealed a big corridor that lead to the living room and open kitchen.

“Welcome to my humble home.”

“Thanks.”  

Lydia lead me to the couch where we sat down.

“Okay, as much as I want to tell you that I am a 5 star - chef, I am terrible in the kitchen,

so let’s just order something. How about pizza?”

“Yes please.”

“Anything in particular.”

“Salame.”

“Okay, let me order it quickly.” She took her phone out of her bag and left the room quickly. I took that time to look around. The room was big and filled with, probably, very expensive things. But at the same time it looked very cozy.  

“Alright. The pizza is on it’s way.”

The next hour or so, we spend doing our homework and then later on also eating pizza with it. Meanwhile we were enjoying our greasy dinner inside, it had started to rain cats and dogs. The wind had also started to even harder than before.

Lydia and I talked a lot about ourselves. We were actually much more alike than I thought.

“I think we are going to be great friends.” she said and it made me blush a bit. This was the first thing that I actually had made a friend. But it did made me wonder a bit….

“I’m curious,” I said as I finished my last piece of pizza. “How is it possible that you are all so cool with me looking like… this?”  

“Were we supposed to ignore such a cool girl as you?”

“No, that’s not what I mean.” I laughed. “It’s just that, normally when I show my face to people, it normally ends up like with coach. They just scream or try to run away,” we both giggled at the thought of that, “but not you guys. You all act so casual about it. As if this is normal.” I had pointed to my face.

“I suppose we just saw much more worse things than a few scars,” she said casually.

“You want to tell me, that you sw worse things than this.” I pulled of my glasses. Lydia didn’t even flinch. She just smiled sheepishly.

“Okay, you want to know what it is.” I just nodded. “We met you before you had showed us those scars. Stiles had a whole walk to a classroom before he saw them. I didn’t seem them until this afternoon and I don’t even think that the rest had seen them. If you know a person, it shouldn’t matter how they look like, right? You should know that.”

“Can I hug you?” I felt my eyes sting again. However, I knew very well that these would have been happy tears.

“Of course.” she hugged me tightly and I hugged her back. When she let me go, Lydia looked behind me and her eyes widened.

“O wow, it got late. I should probably get you home.”

“I guess so.” We got up and headed to the door. Lydia opened it and it only took me one step outside to almost fall down on the ground. Fortunately, Lydia had caught me just in time.

“I don’t think it’s the best thing to drive in this weather. We would sooner slip and die than get to your house.”

“You should call my dad.” She did as I suggested and my dad picked up after a couple of seconds.

“Hello. Mr (Y/L/N)? Yes this is Lydia Martin. As you know, (Y/N) was at my home and just wanted to bring her back home, but with this weather, I don’t think it’s possible to drive. Could she maybe… Oh, OK. Thank you. Goodbye,” and she hung up.

“You can stay.” she said a bit confused.

We decided to get back inside. Lydia had given me something to wear as a pyjama and our conversation continued. It was almost midnight, when I decided to do something that I had never done and never thought I would do.

“I have to tell you something.”

“Sure.” she put down her drink.  “What’s wrong?”

“I’m saying this, because I trust you and please don’t be mad.”

“You’re scaring me. Just tell me already.” Lydia started to look a bit worried.

“And swear that you won’t tell anyone else. This has to stay a secret. At some point, I will tell the rest, but I think that you are the best person to start with.”

Lydia didn’t say anything for some time. Then, her eyes almost lit up from excitement. She squealed: “Oh my God. Are you in love with Stiles?!”

“What?”

“C’mon, you are totally falling for him.”

“No,” I shook my head, “that wasn’t even what I wanted to say.”

“So you do like him?”

“Can we please not talk about this now,” I begged her, “I actually wanted to tell you something really important.”

“Yeah, being in love is a pretty big deal. Hahaha, I’m joking. What is it?”

I had to take a deep breath. I was going to do it. There was no going back now. Not anymore.

“You know that I was born blind, not because of the attack that got me these scars.”

“Yeah,” the redhead looked at me with full confusion showing on her face.

“Well, that’s not everything that happened. After the attack, I woke up in the hospital, days after, I could see.”

“What!” I flinched at the loud, high pitched sound she had just made. I slowly pulled of my glasses for what felt like the hundredth time that day. I looked up at Lydia as I folded the glasses up. She was staring at me with wide eyes.

“I don’t know how it is possible, but I can see. I am really sorry if you feel like I have been using you. You have to understand that I’m only doing this, because I don’t want to be a scientific experiment.”

Lydia still didn’t say a word. She brushed her hand through her hair, looking extremely confused.

If I could cry, I would have by that moment. What had I done? I just told her my biggest secret and now she probably hates me.

But I was wrong. Lydia suddenly made another shrieking noise and hugged me. I felt all the air being pressed out of my lungs. WHo would have thought that a petite girl like her had so much power in her.

“That is amazing! Now I can go shopping with you and watch cheesy chick-flicks and…”

“Calm down.” I got her of off me and she apologised for almost choking me.

“I have to call them!” Lydia stood up.

“Wait? Who are you going to call?”

“Stiles, Scott, the rest.”

“No, please don’t.”

“Don’t worry. We also have to tell you something.”

___________________________________ People who asked for tag:  @sarasmismyonlydefence @acc3ssdenied @melanie451 @fetchen People who I assumed wanted to read more (from comments/reblogs...) I see everything :P sorry  @i6sphotography @dylan-trash-tbh @stilinski-jpeg @maya-writing

[petelanemoviereviews-blog1]

Mute (2018) Review

Review Date: 3/20/18

“…………”

While there are some great aspects of the film including an ensemble cast, Duncan Jones’ dream project turns out to be a major downer.

Premise: Set in the future, an Amish boy named Leo is rendered unable to speak due to a boating accident. Years later Leo works as a bartender in Neo-Berlin. When his girlfriend goes missing, the technologically-illiterate man must journey into the bowels of the strange city to search for her.

From Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code, Warcraft) comes something that clearly started out as a great idea that became complicated due to the untimely death of his father, David Bowie. You can clearly see director’s pain over his dad’s passing as he continuously tries to pay homage to his dad. It’s sad to the point where now actually thinking about it brings me to the point of tears. I’m going to discuss many of the film’s faults, but I feel I should let many slide.

First off, I absolutely loved Jones’ directorial debut ‘Moon’, which this film happens to be set in the same universe as. The film blew me away with Sam Rockwell’s pretty much solo performance (it was just him and a robot voiced by Kevin Spacey. Still probably not the right time to mention that guy’s name) and a solid script with a fantastic twist. If you haven’t seen it, you’ll be expecting the twist now. Sorry. In Mute, there are a few quick references to the film. If you have a keen eye, you’ll spot them. I counted two or three, but there are probably more. The problem here is that there’s really no reason for the two films to be connected. They do nothing to strengthen each other, other than to show how strange a world Rockwell’s character comes from. It’s reminiscent of when Paul W.S. Anderson decided to put his 1998 film ‘Soldier’ starring Kurt Russell into the Blade Runner universe. In both cases, it’s kind of like a ‘So what?”. But, getting back to Moon. It showed me that Jones could stand on his own and not be known only as David Bowie’s son. He followed up this film with ‘Source Code’, which also received critical acclaim. At the time of this review, I’d only watched half of it and that was three or four years ago, but from what I saw, I really was impressed. Around that time, it was announced that Jones would be directing the movie adaptation of the hit video game series ‘Warcraft’. The film got huge buzz but was ultimately deemed a failure in critics’ eyes when it was released. I saw it when it hit the home market and somewhat enjoyed it for what it was despite knowing little of the lore behind the games. But it wasn’t the Duncan Jones I knew. And now, nearly two years later, here we are. I honestly thought this movie would hit theaters when I first heard about it. It sounded great…then I heard it was coming to Netflix. As much as I love Netflix, I will agree with what people are saying that it is a dumping ground for movies their studio think won’t do well in theaters. Take this year’s ‘Cloverfield Paradox’ for example; it would have bombed at the theaters and I would have been disappointed walking out of the theater after seeing it. I enjoyed it for a Netflix movie and am one of the few people who understand it and will defend it, yet I totally see why the studio sold it to the streaming media company. The same thing was done with David Ayer’s ‘Bright’ starring Will Smith a month earlier. I wasn’t too impressed with ‘Bright’ even for a Netflix movie. Mute falls right in the middle of that film and Cloverfield Paradox to me personally.

The film started to go downhill for when I realized Neo-Berlin looked eerily reminiscent of Blade Runner. A lot of futuristic movies coming out nowadays use this look to where it’s becoming more of a gimmick than a homage. I don’t necessarily call that a bad thing as I love futurism and the whole Cyberpunk genre. Netflix’s Altered Carbon did the exact same thing and to be honest that show and this film looks VERY similar. In both, you’re gonna see some pretty strange stuff. More so in this and that leads me to my first issue. This is where it seems like Jones’ is paying homage to his father but then it goes way too far and over-the-top. Robot Strippers? You got them. Wacky Japanese-inspired video games. Fine. A whole lot of Androgyny. OK… Seeing Robert Sheehan with breasts was a little jarring. Dominic Monaghan dressed as a geisha strongly implied to be having a threesome with robots. What the actual f**k?! These aren’t your robots that resemble humans like in Alien and Blade Runner. These are your robots that look like they’re straight out of ‘I, Robot’ (without the facial expressions) and Terminator. And we do get a lengthy shot of them really going at it. That’s an image I won’t be getting out of my head for quite some time. That was definitely something I never thought I’d see. The Androgyny thing I get. David Bowie was known for doing that of stuff. Like I’ve said before, Jones is clearly paying homage to him even if at times, it goes overboard. Please don’t get me wrong, I’m judging. The problem is, they don’t do anything to strengthen the story. It’s the ‘oooh hey look how bizarre the future is gonna be’ schtick. Another thing that seems out of place in this movie and before I say this, I love this actor. Prepare for your mind to be blown, because it blew mine when he first appeared on screen. Paul Rudd is in this movie sporting a porn-stache and he’s not a very nice guy nor is he that funny. It’s a serious role for him and he’s actually good, to be honest. Still, I wasn’t prepared to see him in that kind of role and it did throw me off a few times.

Another big issue is that there’s a very disturbing subplot. I honestly didn’t Jones would go that far, and I was surprised and even a little disgusted when it first came up. Jones makes it make some sense in the end, but the movie would have been just the same if not better without it. There were other ways to make this movie more dramatic. Worse, is the story kinda delves into that plotline in the third act, shifting to an almost horror-type tone. You’ll see what I’m talking about and I’m sure you’ll agree with me.

Another issue is the script. I’m serious when I say this is some of the worst dialogue I’ve ever heard come out of these (in my opinion) good actors’ mouths. I refuse to believe Jones wrote any of this dialogue. You’re left to wonder why most of these actors even signed onto this. I’d like to believe there were many pointless rewrites.

My final issue is this: How the heck has this Amish guy been living in the middle of a city so technologically advanced for so long? It’s stated that he ignores all the basic survival utilities but that really doesn’t make sense, because even today, it’s virtually impossible to escape modern technology. Even today’s Amish use some modern technology to a small extent. Maybe if he lived out in the country (if the world isn’t completely covered by vast cityscapes) that might work. A better idea would be to have him live outside the city with his girlfriend coming to visit him. But no, he lives in a soaring high-rise apartment. He’s a bartender at a robot/human strip club. I get that maybe he doesn’t use computers in that field taking money instead of credit cards or whatever they use in that time. Still, kind of a plot hole.

Now to get into the good things. The story and mystery at its core are actually pretty solid. Yeah, the mystery aspect is a bit confusing and feels a bit messy at times, but it comes together OK in the end. Not great but I was sort of satisfied…and kind of happy for this thing to end. I will say one more negative thing. The third act drags on for way too long. I kept checking how many minutes were left. This movie didn’t need to be as long as it is. The only reason for the long run time is that there’s so much unnecessary stuff forcefully crammed into it. But yes, in the end, I was surprised at how everything turned out. I feel kind of dumb for not catching on earlier as I’m usually very good at figuring out that kind of stuff. Another thing I enjoyed was the performances. Alexander Skarsgård, Paul Rudd, and even Justin Theroux are too good for this movie. I also loved and felt sympathy for the main character. For a guy who doesn’t say anything, he’s well written and Skarsgård does fine emoting through his face. A few of the action scenes are pretty cool and well done for the most part.

In final, this movie is a mess, but I feel this is one of the few cases where it’s justified. Jones had just lost his father and it’s clear he was going through a lot of grief, so I’m not gonna rag on him. I think this guy has talent and I believe one day we’ll see this guy on top with other films as great as Moon and Source Code. Score: 4.3/10