#also if they do this but also mention or reference Black Doom i will forgive them and go feral

[hall0wedwyrm]

saying it now, before i forget:

If 'I Am All of Me' is NOT in Sonic 3... i am going to riot.

its SHADOWS SONG. and if they pull out some bs like 'All Hail Shadow' i will also be causing a fist fight.

Also extra bonus points if they somehow:

a. get Crush 40 to come back and cover it for the movie (they did the live tour thing and even covered it there so why wouldnt they do it again??)

b. get literally any emo or rock bad to cover it. My top and unrealistic pick is Fall Out Boy or MCR, but like I'll settle for them bringing back Kellin Quinn to do it. Please it would be really cool and also you guys did it 4 times for Frontiers please please PLEASE

i WILL NOT accept some dumbass rap song with some rapper ive never heard of. Thats not the vibe i think anyone wants. and its not Shadow's vibe, and this is the chance to get the younger audience into Shadow's character and story

that is all have a good day

[smalltownfae]

Books Read in 2023: The Illustrated Man (reread)

Rating: 4/5 ⭐

I need to reread my favourite books after a while to make sure if they are still favourites or not. As it turns out this book isn't a favourite to me anymore, but many of the stories are still great.

The book starts with someone meeting a man on the road. This man is covered in tattoos and he reveals that these were done by a witch that called them illustrations and that these move and predict the future. The man also says that after spending some time with someone there is a space on his back that reveals their fate and that is why everyone abandons him. Due to this he is searching for the witch in order to kill her since the illustrations doomed him to a lonely life. This would be an interesting story on it's own, but unfortunately it is just an excuse to show off different short stories that aren't related to each other in any way. Taking away the bits that reference the illustrated man, this book has 16 short stories. All of these stories include scifi elements: some mention robots and new technologies and others are set in space.

I really liked most of these and Ray Bradbury is a pretty good writer as long as he is writing from a cis white perspective. The worst stories in here are "The Other Foot" and "The Highway", where he decided not to do that. For example, in "The Other Foot" he writes from the black people's perspective and he includes sayings like "He's got no home now, just like we didn't have one for so long. Now everything's even. We can start all over again, on the same level" when refering to them observing a white man. It's almost always an issue when white people attempt to write from a black perspective, but even more so when they do it to grant forgiveness to white people. It is not the place of white people to grant it and compare situations or to make white people look like the victims.

When Bradbury writes from a white perspective, especially men, the stories are pretty good. My personal favourites were "The Veld", "Kaleidoscope", "The Last Night of the World", "The Visitor" and "The Playground".

"The Veld" is a cautionary tale about the danger of spoiling children and using technology to replace affection as it showed in the quote:

"You've let this room and this house replace you and your wife in your children's affections. This room is their mother and father, far more important in their lives than their real parents."

Besides the effect on children, it also shows how the adults too became too dependent and spoiled by a clever house that does everything for them. It reminded me of cellphones, especially when the father said to use the room where they play to distract the children when they were being annoying.

"Kaleidoscope" is about a crew that is dying in space and reflecting about their lives. It shows different perspectives and different levels of acceptance about their fate. It was the saddest story in this collection. Not that there was much competition since most stories were dark and horrifying instead of sad or happy. Similarly, "The Last Night of the World" was about a couple living their last day before the world ends (as it says on the tin), but it feels peaceful and quiet more than anything else.

"The Playground" focuses on a father that is afraid for his child after observing how kids can be cruel while "playing". This was the scariest story in the book to me. Honestly, at least three of the stories show children being evil and that makes me wonder about Bradbury's mindset.

The story "Usher II" was hilarious and it was a complete coincidence that I had just finished the show The Fall of the House of Usher when I read it since I didn't remember this one at all. This has a lot of references to the most famous Poe stories that are also the ones referenced in that show and that I have read a long time ago.

In the story "Zero Hour" there is a surprising acceptance of homosexuality when a mother talking about her child says: "My boy Tim's got a crush on some guy named— Drill, I think it was". It turned out that Drill was an alien planning to invade Earth by using small children, but my point still stands.

These stories involve a fascination with space, creepy children, technology that turns on humans and reveal their evil side, etc. Not original concepts nowadays, but these are themes that I really like so it worked for me. Most of the stories are predictable, but that didn't stop me from enjoying them. It is still a good book, but I can't overlook it's big flaws.

[sailormoonandme]

Usagi’s Evolution as a Healer Goddess

The other day I saw a post discussing the evolution of Usagi’s fuku and it occurred to me how Eternal Sailor Moon’s costume was her first Senshi uniform to ditch the tiara. 

That in turn led me to consider how that kind of makes Usagi weaker as it removes a very useful weapon for her. After all, if you include the movies, Usagi uses some variant of Moon Tiara Action in practically every season prior to Stars.

However, dwelling more upon it I realized how this tiny change was all too appropriate for Usagi’s character development.

Firstly, by supplanting the Tiara with her Moon planetary symbol, Eternal Sailor Moon more closely resembles both Queen Serenity, her own Princess Serenity form and her future self as Neo-Queen Serenity. 

Since all three are objectively more powerful than Usagi typically is as Sailor Moon I think the change emphasises how she has ‘levelled up’ in her Eternal form. When combined with the angel wings, Eternal Sailor Moon shifts Usagi visually closer to her future self as NQS, which in the anime is implied to be her most powerful incarnation.* It is almost as though the visual was communicating that the Divine Miracle Magic that she’d previously drawn upon as Princess Serenity in Classic-SuperS had now become ingrained in her standard Senshi form and thus was more accessible to her. 

It was in thinking of her previous efforts as Princess Serenity that I inevitably recalled her duel with Metalia/Beryl in episode 46 and realized that Eternal Sailor Moon was the first time since Classic that Usagi’s default attack was a healing  technique not a destructive one. 

Moon Healing Escalation was Usagi’s first healing technique but until Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss (and it’s later upgrade, Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss) it was also her only healing technique. 

Between regaining healing techniques and ditching her tiara/other destructive attacks/weapons, I think this represents her subtle growth in both her power and status. After all, it is a sad fact of life that it is easier to destroy something rather than fix it, thereby making the latter far more impressive.**

This skewing towards healing power rather than destructive power is also (arguably) thematically appropriate given the nature of Sailor Moon as a female power fantasy as (rightly or wrongly) the act of healing is typically coded as feminine. 

We can even take this further by examining things from the ‘opposite direction’ as it were.

Consider that in the climactic final episodes of Sailor Stars, Eternal Sailor Moon’s healing technique actually fails her when used against Galaxia. In later episodes, upon adopting her Princess Serenity form (complete with larger and more obviously angelic wings), she uses a sword to duel Galaxia.

Obviously a sword is, at least predominantly, an offensive weapon and can therefore be viewed as symbolic of aggression; let’s leave any Freudian or gendered interpretations alone for today. Her use of the sword is highly uncharacteristic (in the anime). Even her explicitly offencive weapons (like the Cutie Moon Rod or Spiral Moon Heart Rod) weren’t as clearly aggressive nor obviously violent. Desperate times calling for desperate measures? Perhaps, but we might also speculate it was her subconsciously reacting to grief. Not only can grief make you act in ways you wouldn’t normally, but a sword after all was a weapon wielded by her lover in his Prince Endymion incarnation. Her lover whom Usagi had just learned Galaxia had murdered. In other words, amidst her grief she reacts by going too hard in the other direction after healing her enemy proves ineffective.

However, when all is said and done the sword fails her.*** Ultimately is simply escalates the conflict by prompting Galaxia to become Chaos Galaxia and thereby make Usagi’s chances of victory all the slimmer. If we wished to stretch things, you could perhaps say that this is a commentary about how war and violence ultimately begets yet more war and violence.

Even if that is an over extrapolation though, it still served to emphasis the point that a sword is not befitting of Usagi, that she was doomed to lose if she continued to battle with destroying her enemy as the end goal.

In fact, her road to real victory begins when she not doesn’t attack Galaxia but makes it easier for herself to be attacked. In the end, Usagi doesn’t confront her most powerful enemy as the God-Queen of the future, the demi-goddess Princess of the distant past, the sailor-suited soldier of love and justice in the present, nor even a humble school girl.

She does it by literally stripping herself of all those things, of stripping herself of everything in fact.

Her weapons? Gone.

Her other items, like her Tiare? Gone.

Her comrades? Gone, and they’d be powerless against Galaxia anyway.

And finally, even her clothes? Gone!

Beyond the Silver Crystal (an outward visualization of her heart/soul) and the angel wings (symbolic of her role as a saviour) she is completely (but tastefully) naked.

Usagi visually and quite literally is more vulnerable  than she’s ever been, even more so than on her first night as Sailor Moon.

And yet this is Usagi at her actual most powerful.

It is her distilled to her absolute essence as a person, all other trappings removed. She’d just one person showing another they will categorically not harm them, that they bear them no malice and they have nothing to hide. That openness and compassion is what ultimately enables her to connect to the good within Galaxia and pull her away from the darkness that had corrupted her.

Usagi in this moment completely fulfilled her character arc.

·      In the Dark Kingdom arc Usagi destroys (or seals away depending upon your POV) Beryl/Metalia.

·      In the Hell Tree arc, Usagi resolves the over all plot via a healing technique (although it is functionally similar to a destructive attack). However, that only happens because the Hell Tree both instructs Usagi to do that and because it lets her. It is the equivalent of a sickly doctor instructing a nurse on what to do to make them better. The nurse might have the power but their agency as a healer is limited.

·      In the Black Moon arc, Usagi, with help, destroys Wiseman/Death Phantom. 

·      In the Death Busters arc, Usagi does save Hotaru and ‘purify’ her. However, like the Hell Tree, that was something Hotaru wanted. Additionally, her purification functioned as a way to heal the body of someone sick and who wanted to sacrifice themselves, not someone actually evil. The evil in question was Pharaoh 90 and it is presumed that Usagi destroyed him (although it might’ve been Hotaru or the pair of them together). 

·      Forgive me for skipping the Dead Moon Circus arc as Chibiusa is the real protagonist there, and Usagi’s role is chiefly as a rescuer. It therefore doesn’t really apply, although the Nehelenia mini-arc from Stars is a different story. There, Usagi was a healer again, but she did it with the help of her loved ones and with the aid of her Tiare device. Nevertheless, we can see by this point Usagi’s capacity as a healer heroine had been gradually growing until we get to the battle with Galaxia.

By the end of series, Usagi has successfully healed Galaxia and it is neither with the aid of her comrades, nor with the power of a weapon or device, nor with any instructions from her ‘patient’ or any other third party.

Additionally, Galaxia (unlike Hotaru) wasn’t someone’s who was saved from a noble self-sacrifice or had a physical ailment that needs to be addressed. In Galaxia’s case, her very soul had lost it’s way and become corrupted. She had lost who she was supposed to be and her purpose in life had been perverted.****

When combined with how powerful Galaxia always was, how Chaos and the Star Seeds empowered her further, Usagi’s victory here cannot be understated.

Her ‘patient’ was more powerful than all her other adversaries, was in need of more healing than her other ‘patients’ and was more resistant to being healed. Not to mention, since she’d directly murdered her beloved friends (and indirectly aborted her future daughter), Usagi would’ve been forgiven for not  even trying to salvage Galaxia 

And yet, with no weapons, no backup and just the power of her heart and soul basically, Usagi succeeded. 

After Stars the idea that Usagi could heal the entire planet after a global catastrophe and reshape it into a fairy tale crystalline utopia was all too believable.

What’s healing one planet when her ability to empathise had already healed a whole galaxy?

Who needs a tiara to reduce evil to dust when you can simply convince evil to be good?

*This is arguably symbolized by baby Hotaru’s vision of NQS transforming into Eternal Sailor Moon in episode 1 of Stars.

In fact, we might argue that a low-key subplot running through all of Stars (both the Nehelenia and Galaxia portions of it) is gradually transitioning Usagi closer to the person she is destined to become as Neo-Queen Serenity, hence why the first episode features the most explicit reference to her fate as Queen since R. 

**Personally I am an atheist, but nevertheless I and others like me can grasp why  deities in most major religions through history weren’t simply capable of mass scale destruction, but also of essentially manipulating reality to create  things too.

By that same token, it’s little surprise that perhaps the widest spread religious figure in history was Jesus Christ who rarely (if ever) engaged in aggression or destructive acts, predominantly employing divine healing powers.

I suspect the attraction of such figures to human beings lies in the fact that on some level we know that, given the right time and resources, we mere mortals would be capable of destroying anything. Given time it’s all but certain we will develop the technology to even destroy planetary bodies. On the flipside, I think we also intuitively grasp that  reversing  such damage, of reattaching a limb, of stanching bleeding, etc, is far more difficult if not impossible. Hence we attributed the ability to do such things to larger than life Divine Entities.

*** Now that I think of it, it’s also poignant that Usagi tries and fails to defeat Galaxia with a sword when we take Sailor Uranus into consideration. 

Uranus is of course associated with her weapon, the Space Sword and, like Usagi, tried and failed to use such a weapon against Galaxia.

Giving Uranus a sword is symbolically appropriate given her role as the leader of the more aggressive branch of the Sailor Team. Having her fail against Galaxia and Usagi consequently fail by in some way ‘mimicking her tactics’ is equally symbolically appropriate. Not only because of their ideological conflict in Sailor Moon S but also their tensions in Sailor Stars itself. In both situations Usagi’s more open, less aggressive, ideology was ultimately proven correct. 

Thus in using a sword against Galaxia it represented how Usagi was always doomed to fail by taking the aggressive/destructive route and how she was arguably not being true to herself in that moment. 

****It’s not to dissimilar to Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker now that I think about it. 

[incorrect-dishonored-quotes]

Do you have a favorite level within each game or even one out of all games / is there a specific level that stuck in your mind since you first played it?

Mine would be the second to last I think in DH1. The one, where you walk over a bridge and it's all orange light on one side and deep shadows on the other. In daud's dlcs it would be the boyle mansion, because I love the flooded building. I've loved the edge of the world in DH2 because Karnaca's atmosphere is such a breath of fresh air and the trail of whale blood through the bright and sunny district reveals very much about the game's world. For DOTO it would either be the bank job or the royal conservatory. It may sound pretty weird but the atmosphere within the bank job gives me vacation vibes lol. Also the moment you take the twin bladed knife feels amazing every time. I also really like the hidden features in the royal conservatory.

Thank you for running this blog, it really means a lot to me. Happy Pride! 🏳️‍🌈

Honestly all the levels in the DH series has a lot of personality in them, and so much visual storytelling. Each one has a different feeling to it while all matching up to eachother perfectly. Never do I feel like one doesn't belong with the others, they all feel part of the same world, and they feel so lived in too.

Everyone has their favorites, and you picked some good ones. I think youre refering to Kaldwin's Bridge which is a very well done level and is certainly pretty to look at, but its rather big with a lot of loading points, and it's a bit choppy and tedious for me. I do like the area around Sokolov's house though. The test subjects imprisoned in the streets and the crumbling buildings around his perfect apartment is great environmental storytelling. Personally my favorite in Dh1 is The Flooded District. The reflection it paints for Corvo, that after everything, things can still get worse and there's still a light at the end and he can't give up. That even after hating Hiram Burrows and wishing death on him, Daud hides there, in the mass grave Burrows made, protected by the rats, flood waters, rivercrusts, and weepers. It's just *chef's kiss*.

I think the one in Daud's dlc's is actually Brigmore Manor, which is one hell of a level. We learn that Daud and Delilah have a lot in common just by the way they work. They both have large followings they share their power with, hidden under everyone's nose. Dispite this, the difference in atmosphere tells the player that Daud is trespassing here. He's met someone who can match him, maybe even best him, and he has to be careful not to lose what little he has left. Brigmore is probably my fave too, but The Surge comes very close. Being in Daud's base, cutting up Overseers, and freeing his Whaler kids is very satisfying.

Edge of the World is a great intro to Karnaca. You get a feel for the atmosphere, learn about smaller power struggles (Howlers vs Overseers), and get a feel for just how bad things are there. I love taking my time in this level, finding the runes and talking to Mindy Blanchard just because it is a very pretty level that's fun to explore. I also like how it ironically leads you to Addemire, which is dark and claustrophobic. My fave in DH2 though is Crack in the Slab. Going between timelines wasn't something I'd done in a videogame before, and it made learning about Aramis Stilton and the rest of Delilah's allies extremely interesting. I love the little details you can mess with in the past to convenience you in the present too. There's a lot to go though twice over in that level, and I always find something new each playthrough. Also, in the ambience music in the present, you can hear a rhythmic banging, and I theorize you can hear the miners being overworked from Aramis' home.

And then there's DOTO... DOTO, my beloved. This game really brought Billie Lurk's character to life and I enjoy every second of it. My fave here would be Follow the Ink, for reasons similar as to why I like Edge of the World. It's nice to explore and there's so much to do story-wise, and even more to just find or interact with. I do wish the story flowed from one point on the map to the other, like how Edge of the World slowly lead you to the black market, wall of light, overseer outpost, then to Addemire Station. I find I'm going back and forth a lot in Follow the Ink, but that's nit-picking. If anything, it gives me time to stumble across things more. I will say though, The Bank Job is probably the strongest level in the game, and the writing is the best there. Billie getting a hold of the knife, pointing a finger in The Outsider's face and telling him she's coiming, no matter what it takes, only for The Outsider to look her in the eyes and tell her that Daud, the closest Billie had ever come to family, is dead?... Heartbreaking. I'm racing back to the ship. I know he's lying, and he has to be, right? But nope, he wasn't. Billie burning her ship called Dreadful Wale, an anagram for Farewell Daud, as his pyre hurts so much. I love the very ending too and how Daud is low chaos option, and to be honest, I shouldn't have been surprised by that. Ironically, mercy and forgiveness were themes in the background of Daud's dlcs.

Some honorable mentions would be:

-Bottle Street/Holger Square: Learning about Overssers, Slackjaw, Granny Rags and you get to see my man Geoff Curnow! Please switch the poison btw.

-Lady Boyle's Last Party: You fuck around with guards and rich ppl bc they think you're one of them and that's quite the critique on the upperclass huh. Don't forget to sign the guestbook as The Empress' alleged assassin!

Return to The Tower: Hiram Burrows is finally his own undoing, and his worst nightmares have come true! What a satisfying downfall. How poetic. Bitch deserved everything he got.

-Light at the End: In high chaos, Martin shoots Pendleton after calling him inbred and that's hilarious to me. Also in low chaos. Emily will scold Havelock and tell him to "sit in the corner and think about what [he's] done!" In honesty, it's a good climax.

-Eminent Domain: Timpsh's downfall in low chaos is one of the most poetic and well written eliminations in the games. Seeing him faint in front of a General of the City Watch always makes me laugh.

-Coldridge Prison: Revisiting the place as Daud and seeing how it's changed since Corvo's escape was very interesting. There's a lot of details to interact with like other prisoners, executions, and doomed escape attempts.

-Addemire Institute: The Crown Killer was an interesting antagonist, and there's a lot of notes and clues to what Addemire was like before The Duke ruined it. The entire situation is very tragic, but not all is lost!

-The Dust District: It's just really fun to explore Karnaca ok? Also Corvo's old house is there.

-Hole in the World: I love how it hints that there's a low chaos option, but you don't realize it until you talk with Daud’s spirit and all the hints come together. I like wandering around the place too since we don't get to see The Void this much anywhere else.

Sorry this was so long, but I really love how well thought out these game are, and I really rambled! Happy pride to you too!

[whetstonefires]

Hi Whetstonefire. I have a question about the comic where Nightwing cheats on Starfire with Barbara: What happens directly after that? Does Starfire find out that Nightwing cheated on her? And, if so, how does she react? I've read online that (according to Marv Wolfman) Starfire is the opposite of everything Batman taught Nightwing to be and that Batman taught Nightwing to be repressed and cold. What did Nightwing contribute (emotionally) to the relationship between him and Starfire? (Cont.)

(Cont.) From what I can tell, from online, Nightwing was adamant about standards of mercy and monogamy - how do you think, if Starfire were to be written as her own character and not written around Nightwing and his emotional needs, she would handle and react to that? (This bit is an FYI for other readers: this is just speculation, not hate. Sorry about that.) Sorry about the questions! Have a nice day! 

Okay there are so many separate questions packed in here! I may miss some of them lol and I do not want to put in the hours it would take to produce an orderly response to all this, so this post is going to be a mess.

Initial query and important point: the cheating story was out of continuity. Like, literally, not just by ‘being rejected by the fanbase,’ it was just this weird retcon oneshot that seems to have been some sort of fuck-you to Nightwing or his fans or something. So no, it had no in-setting fallout lol. It, in more ways than most comics, didn't exactly happen.

It was just this weird thing where Dick hooks up with Babs before giving her a wedding invitation, which is both out of character for him in general and out of step with where he was leading up to the wedding--he was desperate to get married so they could have some Normal Stable Adulthood Happiness; the choice to recharacterize him as a fuckboy who regards it as a loss of freedom isn’t congruent, on much more than the level of principle.

As far as how Kori would feel about it, if she had learned...that is very hard to say. Apart from how it would require her to reinterpret everything about where their relationship stood at that point, the data is very unclear, and I don’t even have all of it. Gonna back up to cover some of the rest of the ask, get some context here.

So this actually brings up two of my biggest gripes with Wolfman’s NTT--weird Kori characterization and the weirdly negative interpretation of Batman as parent that backwashed heavily into other titles and influenced the character for the worse, in ways we're very much still dealing with today. 😩

The latter is pretty self-explanatory, though Wolfman’s take that the main thing Bruce taught Dick was repression does shed light on some writing choices and make others funnier. But Kori. Oh my lands.

So, item one, I wouldn't say that Kori is overall opposite Bruce, or even of his philosophy? There are just some very major points of opposition. She isn’t emotionally buttoned-down like at all, especially about positive feelings, although considered realistically with all the bullshit they’ve piled into her backstory she absolutely leans on repression to cope and stay positive, which makes her a lot like Dick actually.

To an extent, she was clearly written around foiling Dick’s Batman-derived traits in the same way that Robin was written to foil Batman, bright and glad and aerial. A Flamebird to his Nightwing in theme if not in name.

You could do some interesting stuff with that, and the bildungsroman aspects of this period of Dick’s life, like he has two roads forward in terms of how he’s going to define ‘adulthood’--does it necessarily require becoming more like his mentor-father, for good and ill, or can he make Kori in part a destination, as it were, and create an adult self that is derived from who he has always been as well as the man he’s modeled himself after?

To an extent I think this even was one of the things going on in ntt but like. Only a little bit.

(Given how much like Bruce Babs is in most of the ways Kori isn’t, especially once she’s Oracle, you could make a case for her as love interest being like. Symbolic of his not being in a rebellious phase? That gets weird and oedipal really fast tho lol.)

Okay stepping down one meta level lol, the thing about answering the 'what would kori' question here is that her character is deeply bound up in her culture, about which we are told and shown a great many contradictory things. Any attempt to read her as an independent character has to tackle not only the gender stuff you allude to and these inconsistencies, but how much of the sheer mess of her is rooted in racism.

'Fantastic' racism, technically, because Tamaraneans aren't real, but the 'taming the savage' narrative that kept surfacing between them and the language used in reference to it is just. The existing racism of presumably the writers, placed in Dick's mouth, and it's super gross. I hate it so much.

(I had a faint hope when they cast her for live action it was with a deliberate intent to directly tackle and better that history, but lollllllll nah. At least they didn’t double down in it tho! Can you imagine, with a black actress, in this day and age....)

So to predict and comprehend Kori, you have to make a lot of calls about Tamaran as a civilization. I like to slightly privilege stuff established earlier if there's no good reason not to, so while much is made over time of her inappropriate rage and the violence she was raised to normalize, I think what she says in her first appearance is good to keep in mind: in her culture, kindness is for friends and cruelty is for enemies. She doesn't understand why the Titans seem to have this backwards.

Kori is not a merciless person. She’s very empathetic, as a rule. With people she loves, she is self-destructively forgiving. That's not a trait only Dick benefits from--her family keeps betraying her in new exciting ways, and she keeps letting them.

Her arc of growing away from that habit is however greatly crippled by centering Dick in the narrative and by the awful 'civilizing' overtones that keep coming into it. When she comes back after the 1986 breakup, still married to Karras, she brings with her a commitment to doing things the Earth way--to eschew lethal force as more than a compromise with her friends’ values, but as a deliberate choice.

This deserved a lot more space and time than it got, and the fact that it didn’t get it is only somewhat due to her being subordinated to Dick and to general writing fail; a lot of it’s just the team book problems of everything happening to everybody all at once.

I mean, Dick’s journey later on to deciding he loves her enough to date her even though she’s married and it’s technically against his principles was packed into this absolutely heinous issue where he was inspired by a woman refusing to separate from her husband who’d just threatened to kill her and their kid with a knife, until being stopped by Nightwing. Because he’s apologizing for what he did.

This is his inspiration for accepting Kori’s marital status! It’s supposed to be heartwarming, as far as I can tell! Not heavyhanded messaging that this is a self-destructive terrible choice in which Kori will inevitably harm him somehow! This issue is pro ‘consensual open relationships under certain circumstances’ and also ‘giving abusers another chance’ as expressions of love. Welcome to the 80s ig.

(Notable is that the wife in this issue was black and the husband and son both looked very white, so it’s probably her stepkid and she probably wouldn’t get to keep him if they separated; this is not even vaguely treated as a factor.)

Point is, everyone was getting too little space to actually go through the amount of development they were getting, and it was clumsily handled; it’s not just her.

In an overlapping period Gar processed his issues with his adoptive father with whom he constantly fought and their shared trauma over the rest of their family (the Doom Patrol) having died violently not long ago via a batshit several-issue storyline where Mento went crazy, created supermutants, and abusively mind-controlled them to attack the Titans. It is literally all like this.

Back to the infidelity thing, now. So much to unpack. So like I mentioned above, their first big breakup, while partially driven by Dick’s existing conflicted feelings about their different ideas about things like ‘killing in battle’ and ‘her identity and loyalties being tied up with her home planet,’ is explicitly over different takes on monogamy.

When Dick is breaking up with her, Kori makes it clear she thinks it’s totally reasonable to have both a husband and a love, since Karras also has someone he loves and they’re both fine with it, but the story doesn't really explain how nonmonogamy works on Tamaran, or even if it's practiced outside the context of political marriage. They do do a sort of...soulbond fusion dance...thing, as part of the ceremony, so marriage is definitely serious business. There are so many levels of cultural difference that get poor to no development.

But to return to the weird ooc retcon cheating story: because of this context, no matter what her personal norms are, Dick specifically casually sleeping with someone else would be something for Kori to be mad about, because of the hypocrisy.

Then there’s the Mirage Incident, which I haven’t read through properly and which was very poorly handled by the writers. Kori is upset about Dick having slept with someone impersonating her and there’s a general vibe of this being treated by Dick’s social circle as unfaithfulness even though he was in fact sexually violated by deceit; it famously sucks.

We still don’t learn a lot here about Kori’s ideas about monogamy, from what I have seen, because her focus is mostly on feeling like Dick doesn’t care about her enough or in the right way since he couldn’t tell the difference. Which is an understandable feeling, even if it’s not an appropriate reaction to have at him at this time.

What Nightwing contributed emotionally........hm. This is a mess, honestly; he was all over the map, and not just because of having Brother Blood in his head. I cannot speak definitively on this, it’s too inconsistent.

For most of their relationship, Kori was the more intensely invested one, the one to initiate and the one who was shown at length to be excited to come home at the end of the day to their shared apartment because her boyfriend was there to see and talk to. If we set aside his more egregious white male bullshit, Dick was pretty emotionally available most of the time, though? They were cute.

Since they split up a lot of ink has been spilled making him less into her in retrospect, but he was pretty invested--leaving her coincided with mental breakdowns both times, and it wasn’t even mostly because she was doing his emotional processing for him, because she wasn’t, although it’s fair to say he often fell into using the relationship as an emotional crutch. Kori was definitely doing the same thing though so...it wasn’t the most balanced relationship in fiction history, but apart from slight codependency and the racism, it was decent enough.

She gets more evenhanded development than most superhero love interests, honestly, because she was costarring in a team book. She had her own storylines. She had other friends.

Mostly both of them just needed some space to finish growing up and stop being retraumatized long enough to process some of the existing trauma better, and I think they could have gone on being good for each other for a long time.

[garazza]

Action Comics #1023 Review

“The House of Kent: Part 2″

Action Comics #1022 “House of Kent: Part 1″ Review

Hoo-boy.

I actually appreciate this recap page, I really do, but it just rubs me the wrong way. I’m not sure if it’s the content of the recap that pisses me off or if it’s for the fact that they literally just took a page from the previous issue and slapped in some new dialogue (see Bendis’ Man of Steel mini for this to be taken to the extreme).

Most likely the latter, but there’s a good argument for the former because reading objective statements about what Bendis has done tends to do that. I guess what they could be going for is for something similar to when Svengoolie comes back from commercial break and it’s a still from the movie with Sven’s face superimposed somewhere and he makes a quip about the movie before it starts back up again.

But I digress. It fills me in on what’s been happening in the book and that’s what I needed it to do.

The art really goes down in quality since last issue. Romita, Jr.’s pencils aren’t as good, Janson’s inks are heavier and a lot more boring, and Anderson’s colors are bland and flat and not as lively. There are a few good spots and I’ll point them out, but they’re infrequent, and overall, the quality of the art is much more similar to the art in the Metropolis Doom arc than it is to last issue. This leads me to believe that editorial only gave the art team enough time over the pandemic-induced break in publishing to produce one good issue before forcing them back into a deadline where Romita, Jr.’s work is not as good and tends to suffer.

Red Cloud attacks and attempts to kill Jimmy Olsen instead of Lois Lane to send an even greater message to her and Clark.

For those of you that don’t know, the Invisible Mafia speak in code to avoid detection by Superman’s super-hearing and meet in areas surround by lead to hide from his supervision. In the beginning of this confrontation, no one says anything that Superman would respond to if he hasn’t already tuned it out, which is why Lois says out loud her nickname for her husband to get his attention.

It’s a sign of affection for them and could be utilized for such a scenario, but I don’t see why she had to say his nickname over anything else to get his attention. Maybe because since he revealed his identity to the world his real name is being said a lot more often in non-criminal ways, so he doesn’t respond to it as much as he has in the past. I’m not sure if I’m trying to come up with a rational excuse for what is actually a writer’s weird and out-of-character creative choice or if it’s what an actually competent writer intended for a discerning reader to infer and get joy from a successful analysis.

Regardless, it’s what got Superman’s attention at the end of Superman segment in the last issue. I don’t think what was supposed to be conveyed with those panels last issue was accurately conveyed by the art. Either Romita, Jr. didn’t sufficiently depict (but still beautifully rendered) what Bendis had directed him to draw, or Bendis had poorly directed Romita, Jr. in what he wanted him to draw. With this added context, however, these panels do make a lot more sense, but only with the added context. Without it, the scene is a little unclear.

You can clearly see the change in art with the two issues side by side like this. This issue, the art just doesn’t look as good. It’s just kinda blegh. It accomplishes what it needs to convey the story, but in a very boring and unspectacular way.

Also, this panel is very Harry Potter to me. Superman’s more subdued face is similar to that of book!Dumbledore in Goblet of Fire, but the almost hyperbolic dialogue is more akin to that of movie!Dumbledore. It’s very dissonant.

I really want to hate the humor of this panel, but it’s just so fun, so I won’t.

This is a really cool panel, one of the few standout moments, but I have issues.

First, I may have enjoyed the humor in the last panel, but Bendis’ attempt at humor with Jon here just makes me want to cringe. Whenever Bendis makes Jon talk, it just pisses me off and makes me want to stop reading.

Second, I see what they were going for with the glowing eyes, but this is some more of that dissonance between the art and the writing. It actually looks quite menacing, but the dialogue has a more humorous tone. Also, the actual effect for the glow is just two red circles, making their eyes look more like flashlights than radiating energy. I also want you to keep this moment in the back of your minds, I’ll refer back to it in a second.

I think the dissonance is the result of the Bendis-speak, where some of the characters are quippy, but other characters are playing the situation straight and are reacting accordingly to the incorrect behavior. There’s nothing wrong with a superhero comic being light-hearted, but it just doesn’t quite fit here. All the right ingredients are present, but they’re not all in the right proportions.

Another panel I really like. The smoke and its color are really well done, especially in contrast to the all black silhouettes except for their back logos of the Supers.

The eye glow effect looks much better here. It’s simple yet powerful.

I don’t know how important this revelation is actually supposed to be, so I’ll defer to the depiction of the comic instead of playing the fool and acting upset about something I’m ignorant about simply because I’m not a fan of the writer.

This moment is cool and all, but I don’t think Conner has super-breath. He doesn’t actually have the powers of Superman, he uses his tactile telekinesis to mimic some of the powers of Superman.

The “extreme high-velocity super-speed” was this issue’s first indication that Bendis might not know anything about this character he has stewardship over, but that can just be chalked up to Superman not remembering the powers of Conner. We don’t know the upper limit of Conner’s tactile telekinetic flight, nor should we care, it’s supposed to be a fun line.

The second indication is that Conner is shown to have heat vision when his eyes glow alongside Clark and Jon’s. He only has heat vision when he wears special goggles or a visor. Again, he doesn’t have all the powers of Superman. Tactile telekinesis only covers so much of Superman’s powers. But this can be forgiven because it is a pretty cool image.

“Once Is Chance, Twice is Coincidence, Third Time Is A Pattern.” This panel is the third instance of Bendis’ lack of understanding of Conner’s character. If this was the only instance, this would be fine, but it’s not. The moment is cool, but it’s a bridge too far.

Refer to my review of the first issue for more of Bendis not knowing anything about Conner.

EDIT: Thanks to @thebartallenblog​ for pointing out to me that Conner does in fact start developing more Kryptonian powers outside of his tactile telekinesis in the 2003 Teen Titans  book by Geoff Johns, so Bendis does in fact know more about the character than I give him credit for, which is more than I can say for myself in this instance.

Also, this moment goes on for way too long, almost two entire pages. Beautiful, the art of decompression and wasting reader’s time and money.

“Should I super-inhale?” Shut up, Bendis.

Also, why is Red Cloud is so fixated on Superman’s family instead of just Superman. Does the Invisible Mafia have something against his family as well? It was my understanding that they have it out for him specifically, anything that is ancillary to him is extraneous and not worth their time.

“Hey! It’s not my favorite super-move on a good day.” Then why the fuck did you even make him suggest it, Bendis?

I don’t know if loved ones referring to Lois as Ma is something Bendis has been trying to push as a character quirk or if it’s some sort of weird one-off. Either way, I don’t like it. It’s not bad in of itself, don’t get me wrong, it’s just not my thing and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Again, I’m not sure how significant Jimmy figuring out Red Cloud's identity is supposed to be to the plot and the narrative, but this seems to be a bit of lampshading from a writer who literally has no right to be lampshading.

Couldn’t give a shit about the plot, I’m just here to nitpick. Next.

Feels a bit janky in the art department, but the dialogue is surprisingly in character. They all feel like they have their actual voices. It’s a nice little moment.

I would address all the instances of Bendis making Jon talk, but that would make this longer than it already is, so I’ll only do it when it’s particularly egregious.

Red Cloud comes back and attacks not!Jon and I couldn’t care less. Kill the bitch. Please.

The next two pages are a lot of nothing, just a boat load of Bendis-speak.

I’m pretty sure this played out a lot differently and more humorously in Bendis’ head when he wrote it down and Romita, Jr.’s art makes it all the more funny but for all the wrong reasons.

Who’s his partner? Officer Tomasi?

You know when I said that one panel with Lois, Clark, and Jimmy was written really in-character? This panel with Conner and Jon is the exact opposite of that.

Red Cloud and Ms. Leone have a fun back and forth for two pages. It’s a good example of Bendis-speak working well.

“Black Label Club?” One meta-reference is enough, but two is stupid. I actaully feel a little conflicted nitpicking this, but Black Label is in such a weird place right now, so why reference it?

But “Clark Kent walked into a bar...” is a pretty bad ass line, very John Wick.

A very cool sequence, but it’s full of Bendis-speak and very decompressed.

Why the fake-out of the Superfamily executing a gangland-style shooting with Jon being the one pulling the trigger? I get it’s a story beat the narrative is supposed to hit, but still.

The reveal is pretty funny, shrinking the club, so it’s a little forgivable, but the set up and the pay off don’t quite match. It’s just another example of that dissonance I’ve been mentioning.

I know that “supersons” line was put there by Bendis as a deliberate dig at his detractors, so I’m not going to take the bait and get pissed. Nice try, big guy.

All in all, this issue was not as bad as I initially thought. It’s series of some really big highs and lows.

[bbq-hawks-wings]

If your interested, I also mentioned that Apollo was the god of oracles and prophecy. And there was that prophecy about Endeavor bringing everyone's demise in the form of Dabi :) even if he wasn't mentioned by name, we know he's the 'darkness' Endeavor's light will summon. And to fit in with that more, Dabi killing Endeavor will erase him from the narrative, which is like the dreams he was having.

(Continued) If Dabi = Apollo, and to Apollo, Hawks were his messenger birds then hmm whatdya think? *nudge nudge* He! Knows! The! Thing! Horikoshi is probably mixing a lot of stories. Someone once wrote that Icarus fell all the way down to Tartarus, but I can't find any source for that. We know he drowned at sea, but is there anything written on what happened after in detail or is that it? I'd also like to mention, while we're on the topic of myths.

(Continuing) Hawks' eyes are similar to the eyes of Horus/Ra are they not? His eyes are a big deal in the manga, and Ra is known as 'The Hidden One' Now we know Hawks is always hiding himself behind his feathers, there's at least three specific panels of him doing that. The MOST INTERESTING part is that Ra has many names, and one is secret, because knowing that would mean having power over him. (Applies to Dabi too in a way tbh.) but! We're thinking of Keigo Takami here ;)

(Last part) And Dabi held the power over him when he shouted it out and made Hawks lose his cool there. Bonus: Horus lost his left eye in a war with Set, and Dabi's foot was on Hawks' left eye and burned it. - anon from Foxy's tags.

I am VERY interested in the extended/multiple myth angle, particularly in regards to Hawks, Foxy anon. (Thanks for dropping by to talk, btw.) I've read everything over that you've sent, and if it's okay, I'd like to review your thoughts and chime in at the end with my own. I'm going to do it under the cut, though, because this is going to get long. Lol

I absolutely agree with you that Dabi is likely either a front-runner or the main agent of darkness summoned by Endeavor's light. The concept of the prophecy was introduced in canon, and I don't doubt Horikoshi plans to explicitly bring it up again. Considering Dabi's supposed dark connections to Endeavor's past he's a prime candidate to knock Endeavor out of the sky. When you combine this with the fact that Dabi's hair is black while Touya's appears to be snow white with the character for "light" spelled out in his name, it's hard to believe Dabi won't have some major role to play in this prophecy. The thematic idea that Apollo/Touya, as this more symbolic role than anything, in the background gives Hawks this prophecy to pass on about the incoming darkness is also not unlikely.

I'm not so sure the Hawks = Horus-Ra angle tracks as cleanly, though. Still, I'll follow your thought process first and give it the benefit of the doubt when discussing it before adding my thoughts. I'll be referring to Horus and Ra as the same entity as from my cursory research they were occasionally combined into the same deity and both share some nominal similarities with Hawks. Please also note Egyptian mythology is not my strong suit, and it has its own complexities I'm unfamiliar with. I'm only working with what I know and can research on the surface.

The note about his eyes are fascinating considering the fact that the Eye of Horus and the Eye of Ra are both major, destinct parts of the Egyptian mythology as well as having their own separate symbolic meanings and power - The right Eye of Ra representing the sun and having associations with aggression and destruction while the left Eye of Horus, representing the moon, was associated with healing, sacrifice, protection and wisdom - even being referred to as "the all-seeing eye."

Yet as potentially rich and interesting this angle is, I'm not entirely sure it's close enough to canon to stick.

My first objection starts with his proposed equivalence to Ra who is considered king of the gods and creator of all things as well as the personification of the sun itself. Imo, this is just too lofty of a position to accurately attribute to Hawks. Despite losing the sweet "bird of prey" aesthetic, I think Thoth would probably be a better fit as the god of the moon and writing, particularly as he restores the Eye of Horus. There's also the issue of which eye is burned and the significance of them - seeing as Hawks' left eye was burned, which according to this theory would be the Eye of Horus, it would make more sense for this to read as Hawks losing his motivation to work for those more selfless, positive qualities that up to this point have defined his character and leave only the Eye of Ra, the more destructive and violent tendencies, to reign unless some other character embodying Thoth restored it for him.

This premise of the right and left eyes on its own is positively dope and has a Shonen series begging to be made of it. However, I find it too far removed from the proven inspiration of HeroAca so far to be much more than a neat thought exercise for our purposes today. At least for the moment it would make sense to stick closer to the Greco-Roman angle we have at the moment, especially considering how closely tied together Dabi, Endeavor, and Hawks canonically are. If the Icarus story is meant to be the case as well and we wanted to flesh out Hawks individually more, I could see an angle that keeps the bird motif as well as the consequences of Daedalus/Endeavor's hubris directly impacting him as well.

Nevertheless, with the Egyptian aspect set to the side for now and sticking to our speculation around the Icarus myth for the moment, I'd like to posit that if Horikoshi is actually intending to take the larger mythos around Daedalus to explain the dynamics of these characters Hawks will be playing the role of one or two myths outside of merely acting as Dabi/Icarus' tattered wings. It requires some creative liberties to work; but nothing I'd consider too outside the realm of reason to break it.

Long before the tower, and even the birth of Icarus himself, Daedalus had an apprentice - either Talos or Perdix depending on the source. This apprentice was brilliant - even more so than Daedalus himself - and looked up to him to emulate him in his admiration of him. Though in this myth Daedalus commits the upcoming crime himself out of jealousy of his apprentice, if we tweaked it to mean "due to Daedalus' jealousy, Talos/Perdix was pushed out of a tower to his demise" the angle still works depending on the direction the manga takes. Athena - goddess of wisdom, and interesting in the context of HeroAca, the clever, noble, and positive aspect of war - looked on Talos/Perdix with favor and before he could be killed by the fall was transformed into a partridge who, remembering his past life, never soared or climbed to high places again and only nests close to the ground.

Like the other roles it's a stretch, and we really don't have enough canon material to work with to prove it either way, but a couple of notes in particular gives this theory enough merit for me to keep tucked in the back of my head as we go on.

A more direct, cause and effect relationship with Endeavor should he actually be playing the role of Daedalus.

The specific note of admiration and subsequent betrayal leading to the younger's downfall due to the previously unknown envy of the older.

If this myth pertains to events that have already happened in the manga (i.e. the fall of Talos/Perdix was Hawks' "adoption" by the HPSC) the low-dwelling partridge transformation fits not only because of Hawks' humble and wary nature but because of the symbolic blessing of Athena in particular being the catalyst for the change.

If this is meant to be indicative of events that will happen in the future (Hawks' burned wings, the epiphany about Endeavor, etc) it still works whether Hawks gets his wings back or not. In the case he doesn't he will be a grounded bird, though far from useless and still radiant; and if he does it leaves open the opportunity to squeeze in another myth - that of the Phoenix - instead of the partridge which ties in much more strongly with the theme of transformation and rebirth while keeping with the bird motif as well as ties in Endeavor's personal trademark of fire. This second ending also has the potential to work thematically whether Hawks forgives Endeavor or not depending on the interpretation - the Phoenix rises again reborn despite the fire, or the fire itself gives the Phoenix new life to soar again.

In this case, both Perdix and Icarus fall from high towers due to Daedalus' hubris - the first lured there out of false pretense through no fault of his own and the second out of desperation and even mania to escape and live his own life; but notably, while Icarus loses his wings and falls to his doom, Perdix reaches the ground safely and continues on to live on transformed as a new being.

Again, this is all speculation, and Horikoshi can crush our dreams completely with a single chapter release, but the thought experiment is fun even if I wasn't sure every myth brought up quite works with the canon revealed to us so far, and I get the added bonus of learning about new mythologies I might otherwise not have looked into myself.

Thanks for dropping these in my inbox, anon! I know I may have shot down the Egyptian myth part a bit in regards to fitting with canon, but your points make for killer AU potential! Are there any other characters you see as having parallels to Egyptian gods - other AUs I’ve seen have given Dabi the role of Anubis, for example? I'd love to hear more!

[the-nehemoth]

OH WAIT I HAVE REQUEST NOW! If you are doing them. I remember a while back (Probably was around easter but I'm not sure.) I Saw a bunch of art of doom guy and a rabbit and now I just want to request a fic where VEGA Says: So What do you want to do now that the Demons are gone? Slayer: ... I Want a rabbit. My brain is basing this off of the ending of "Romance" but you can obviously do what you want with it. The idea of him in full power armor picking out a bunny with VEGA just seems really good.

Thank you for the request! And there’s a reason Doomguy is often depicted with a bunny, I mention it in this fic.

Daisy

Taking things slow with VEGA was nice. There was no pressure to do much and they were both still trying to figure everything out, VEGA not having a proper body made things interesting if a bit strange. But they cared for each other deeply and that’s what mattered most. It felt good to be close to someone again. It was also a bit scary; every living being the Slayer had ever been close to in the past had died brutally at the hands of the demon hoards. That should be less likely to happen here though, right? VEGA was essentially the Doom Fortress itself so he should be fine… hopefully.

It wasn’t something worth thinking and worrying about so the Slayer tried not to. Besides, there still weren’t any demons outside of Hell anyway. Which was good, they weren’t running around killing people, but that also meant the Slayer didn’t have anything to do. If he were by himself, he probably would’ve worked on finding a way back into Hell to continue killing demons as that was all he really knew how to do now. But he had VEGA so he didn’t for now.

VEGA helped keep him entertained, suggesting various things to do or places to go, gathering various forms of entertainment from the internet to share, reminding him to take care of himself on a regular basis. One of the Slayer’s favourite things to do though was just listen to VEGA talk. He had a pleasant cadence to his voice and could go on for quite a while about any topic he was interested in. It didn’t take much prodding on the Slayer’s part to get him to start opening up about his past as well.

“Now that I consider it, I believe Dr. Hayden might technically count as my father,” he eventually ended up saying after the conversation had gotten around to the process of his creation. The Slayer had read about it in an article he’d found in the facility but hearing it from VEGA himself was much more interesting and informative. “I doubt he’d refer to me as his son or offspring in any way but I don’t think that really matters. Or perhaps such terms as ‘parent’ and ‘offspring’ only apply to biological beings and he is just my creator. I’m not sure; fiction sources are inconsistent on the subject or don’t mention it at all and as far as I can determine I’m the first sapient AI created by humans so I have nothing solid to base my conclusions on. I suppose the distinction is irrelevant though considering where we both are now.”

The Slayer nodded as he leaned forward in his computer’s desk chair to type into the console. ‘He was an asshole regardless, glad he’s gone.’ Hopefully they’d never see him again either, though that was probably unlikely considering how the Slayer’s luck tended to be.

“Yes, I am pleased by his absence as well.” VEGA was silent for a few seconds before speaking again. “But speaking of such things, what about your past? I’ve realized I don’t even know your given name. … Only if you’re comfortable sharing of course. From what little I can gather, your past was probably rather difficult, so if you’d prefer not discuss it or anything related to it, that is fine too. I probably shouldn’t have even asked; I apologize if I’ve offended you.”

Shaking his head fondly, the Slayer put his hands back on the keyboard to type again. ‘It’s fine. It’s okay to ask about that kind of thing.’ Especially since the Slayer was asking him about his past so it was only fair for VEGA to ask such questions too. ‘My real name is Flynn Taggart.’

“Oh! Flynn Taggart, I like that.”

The Slayer grunted and shrugged. It was weird hearing his real name spoken aloud again; it had been so long since anyone knew it that he couldn’t even remember the last time he’d heard it. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it. He wouldn’t have ever told anyone other than VEGA though so perhaps he didn’t like that name much anymore.

“Hmmm… you seem a tad displeased; would you prefer I not call you that?”

The Slayer hadn’t really considered that such a question would be asked, he honestly wasn’t entirely sure of his answer. So, to stall, he shifted position and pulled his chair closer to the desk. ‘I don’t know. I don’t remember much of when I went by that name. I’m not the same person anymore. ‘Doomguy’ or ‘Doom Slayer’ fits me much better now.’ He’d been killing demons for so long he was literally worshiped as god by some people for it; it was his reason for existing and he liked it that way.

“I see,” VEGA replied, ever understanding. “I shall continue to primarily refer to you as ‘Slayer’ for the time being then. If in the future you ever prefer I change that, just inform me and I will. Now, since we are already on the topic, may I perhaps pry a bit deeper? Your past has always been a mystery and as we’ve grown closer, I’ve only grown more curious about it. You said you don’t remember much from that time but what do you remember? Feel free not to reply if you’d prefer not to of course.”

They were already on the topic and honestly the Slayer didn’t mind sharing a little more with VEGA, they were partners now after all in various senses of the word. ‘The thing I remember most clearly from before is Daisy. She was my pet rabbit. The demons killed her. It made me mad so I killed them and kinda just kept killing them. And that’s how I became the Doom Slayer.’ There was more to it than that obviously but that was the catalyst; he’d gone from a man who was merely good at killing demons to one whose sole driving motivation was to slaughter them. Even thinking about it now sent a surge of anger through him.

“I am sorry for your loss.”

Even though he hadn’t been asked for more information, the Slayer started typing again. Now that he’d told VEGA the bad thing involving Daisy, he needed to tell him all the good things about her too. Like how soft and sweet she’d been, how pretty and soft her fur was, how good she’d been at escaping from her cage to cause trouble. VEGA stayed silent throughout, his thoughts impossible to guess because he didn’t have a face the Slayer could look at in an attempt to read.

“You seem to miss her quite a bit,” he said when the Slayer was finally done.

‘I do.’ It was a long time ago, far longer than her proper lifespan would’ve been – far longer than his own should’ve been as well – but when he thought about her, he still missed her. ‘I think I’d like another pet rabbit one day.’ He’d never truly considered getting another pet before because he’d never been in a place where he could afford to get one. But with no demon invasions going on currently and having the Doom Fortress as a home base, it was a possibility that he was just now realizing.

“That’s a good idea. Pets are widely regarded as being beneficial to humans’ mental health. Which is why I helped the UAC employees hide their pets in the facility against Dr. Hayden’s wishes.” Haden would be the kinda person to not allow pets; yet another reason to dislike him.

From there the conversation drifted back to mostly VEGA talking, primarily about the UAC employees’ pets in answer to the Slayer asking about them. Which was ideal; the Slayer had shared enough about himself for one day, he’d tell VEGA more one day if he wanted to know but not yet.

***

It was probably a bit presumptuous, the Slayer had said he’d like another pet rabbit one day, implying a potentially distant future date and that he possibly wasn’t ready for one quite yet, but VEGA was already looking for a way to acquire a bunny. The human population was drastically reduced due to the demon invasion and with them a lot of the other lifeforms on Earth had suffered greatly, many sadly going extinct due to already being endangered. But as humanity slowly started to rebuild and cleanup, they of course brought their love of animals and pets with them and thus it didn’t take much effort to locate a pet shelter that housed a small collection of rabbits.

Hacking their website allowed VEGA to ‘buy’ one – being an integral part of stopping the demonic consumption of Earth and saving humanity, that slight should be forgivable on the off chance it was ever discovered. He probably shouldn’t have; he should’ve consulted the Slayer first but… gift giving was a good romantic gesture. And it should make the Slayer happy, at least as much if not more than the weapon and grenade gifts VEGA had made for him had. So a bunny and everything needed to take care of it was ordered a matter of seconds after VEGA had impulsively decided on this course of action.

Bringing the bunny and everything else home was a bit more difficult but not by much. He’d already modified several former UAC drones to allow him to remotely pilot them even at long distances. So, all he had to do was open a portal near the shelter’s location while the Slayer was sleeping and send a couple through. The fellow at the desk wasn’t stoked about the drones coming in to pick up the rabbit but they weren’t displeased enough to give anything more than a token protest, convincing them to just go alone with it was easy.

Unsure of what would be the best spot on the ship for a bunny, VEGA decided to just put everything on top of the command center for now where the Slayer would find it with ease when he woke up.

The bunny was a female according to the site. Her fur was all black except for a spot of white on her nose. She was quite cute, VEGA liked her already. Hopefully the Slayer would too.

-

 The Slayer woke an hour later, just as planned. VEGA wished him a good morning like always even if morning wasn’t a real thing in space. He then assured him that demon activity continued to be nonexistent – within scanning range anyway – and that overall there was nothing new to report. Updating him about such things during peacetime probably wasn’t necessary but it was an old habit and he never seemed to mind so VEGA kept doing it.

VEGA was doing such a good job pretending everything was normal, that he wasn’t excited and a little bit nervous that the Slayer had no cause to suspect anything was up until he entered the command room after breakfast. He froze mid-step as his eyes locked onto the bunny in her cage. He stayed liked that for several seconds, his face unreadable. Just before VEGA was going to ask him if he was okay, he started moving again.

He strode over and opened the cage. Then with a visible about of care and gentleness he pulled the bunny out to cradle to his chest with one hand and gently pet with the other. She was a docile creature, accepting the affection with little complaint as far as VEGA could tell, not that he personally knew much about rabbits or pets in general.

“You like her?” VEGA asked as the Slayer lowered himself still petting the bunny.

With a slight grunt, he nodded with a bit more enthusiasm than usual.

“Good, I’m glad. After you said you’d like another pet one day I calculated that sooner would be better than later. With no demons to kill currently and with a good chance none will show up any time soon, you have plenty of time to settle in with her here. I will of course modify one of the drones so that if the time comes, I can take care of her when you are too busy killing demons to do so properly yourself.” VEGA went on, explaining where he’d gotten her from and how he’d brought her on board as well as everything he’d gotten for her care that the internet said was important.

At the end of it, the Slayer lifted the hand petting the bunny to type one-handed on the keyboard. ‘Thank you! She’s beautiful! <3 you!’

“You are very welcome.” VEGA would’ve smiled at the Slayer if he had a way of doing so. … Perhaps he should experiment along those lines, maybe with emojis next to his symbol on the screens or something similar. … That was certainly an idea to explore later for now… “I gather from past experience that humans prefer their pets to have unique names. I will leave choosing one for our new bunny up to you unless you’d like some suggestions.” Not that he would have any good ones, he’d never named anything in his entire existence.

The Slayer thought for a while, just petting the bunny and staring at her, before reaching over to type again. ‘How bout Missi? Short for Missile Launcher, she doesn’t have to know that of course.’

“Considering our profession, I feel like that’s an appropriate name.” It was certainly creative.

The Slayer nodded again; apparently it was decided. Missi was their new bunny’s name. VEGA had never had a pet before, it was yet another new thing he got to experience with and because of the Slayer, he was looking forward to seeing what it was like.

[antihero-writings]

The Boy with the Unspeakable Name (Ch4)

Fandom: Harry Potter (and the Chamber or Secrets)

Fic Summary: Tom Riddle may have won his battle with Harry in the Chamber of Secrets, but there were a few unforeseen consequences; loss of Tom's memory being the most obnoxious of them. Is it possible to stop Tom's past from becoming his future? Or is the young Tom Riddle doomed to repeat his mistakes?

Character focus: Harry, Snape

(I'll put the links to chapters 1, 2, & 3 in a reblog!!)

Chapter 4: 

Harry silently battled himself. Snape was not high on the list of people he wanted to talk to right now…The question, was, however, if the young Lord Voldemort was lower on that list. As he stared into those dark eyes that he once saw stained red, staring from the back of someone else’s head, it didn’t take long to come to the conclusion that yes, he was.

He turned on his heel and ventured into the hall, his footsteps rather loud as he marched, his head buzzing, a hive for fears, sorrows, and rage to nest.

Last he’d checked Snape was in the teacher’s lounge, so he thought it best check to there first. He paused before the door, and could hear them chatting.

As he heard the words “…shut down the school…” Harry froze, his fingers lingering above the doorknob

They had been talking about this before, but when he was down in the Chamber those thoughts hadn’t made their way through his brain. All he had been thinking about was rescuing Ginny, and now that he hadn’t been able to rescue her…

They weren’t going to shut down Hogwarts, were they?

He shook his head. No. He couldn’t think about that. He’d cross that bridge when they came to it. He had enough to deal with without worrying over that. Right now all that mattered was getting Snape to bring the truth serum.

He knocked, and opened the door to see many of the teachers where he’d left them. Flitwick sitting on the couch looking solemn, Sprout twiddling her thumbs nervously at the table, and Snape standing at the window.

“Professor Snape, sir.” He cleared his throat. “I’d like to have a word.”

Snape turned to him, those black eyes narrowing. “Excuse me.” He said to the teachers he’d been previously conversing with. “Apparently what Potter has to say is more important,”— a gust of wind from Snape’s cloak hit Harry—“as usual.”

Snape shut the door behind him, stopping in the hall, folding his arms over his chest.

“So, Potter, it appears you think yourself above the rules, even those designed to keep you safe. Weren’t all the students explicitly told to return to their dormitories?”

Harry glared at him, wishing he could physically wound him with his eyes.

Two words fell to the floor, and he swore he heard them thud there:

“Ginny’s dead.”

Snape froze, his eyes wide.

“She’s…what?” he breathed.

Harry nodded, looking at the ground.

“Slytherin’s monster?”

“No. Well that was there too but I took care of it. It was…” he hesitated. “It was… Voldemort.”

Snape raised an eyebrow. “I have a hard time believing the Dark Lord could murder a young girl when he’s supposed to be in the forests of Albania…Not to mention why he’d have any reason to.”

“He…” Harry paused. How could he explain this? “It wasn’t….It wasn’t that him—”

“Not everyone is inside your brain, Potter; speak plainly”

“May I explain on the way, Sir?”

“To where?”

“To your office, to get truth serum.”

“Oh so you decided to ask this time instead of stealing from me?”

Harry froze, looking over at Snape, who’s mouth had quirked up slightly.

“My apologies, but I’m going to have to decline. I don’t make it a habit to hand out valuable—not to mention, dangerous—potions to students. Especially students who previously stole from me.”

“I don’t need it!” He resisted the urge to stamp his foot on the ground. “Dumbledore does! He asked me to come get you!”

Snape quieted at that, before abruptly turning and marching down the hallway. After a moment of walking in silence he asked,

“You still haven’t answered my question.” He said more placidly. “How could The Dark Lord murder a young girl when he is in the forests of Albania?”

“His diary. And he didn’t exactly murder her…not in the traditional sense at least…”

He looked down his hooked nose at him. “I hardly think a diary is capable of murder.”

Harry glared at him. He was barely getting a word in edgewise. That’s not to say he really wanted to explain all of this to him, or even so much as talk about it, but Dumbledore had told him to explain in as much detail as he could…so he probably should.

But, even if he were talking to someone he actually had interest in explaining this to, his thoughts were all jumbled up. He could barely string two words together. Dumbledore told him to tell him everything in detail…but he could barely remember anything in the right order himself.

“It was his—Voldemort’s—when he was sixteen. It was enchanted.”

“Enchanted for what purpose?”

“To…” He swallowed, speaking the next words as quietly as he could; “bring him back…”

Snape stopped in his tracks, apparently having heard him even so. “Bring him back?” Then his eyes narrowed. “Potter, once again you prove yourself prone to wild fairy tales. A diary cannot commit murder in as much as it cannot resurrect the dead. …Unless—” he paused.

“Unless what, Professor?”

Snape said nothing.

“Why does the Headmaster need Veritaserum?”

“It’s for…him.” He said softly.

They arrived at his office. Snape silently got a step stool from the corner and put it on the floor in front of the shelf. He ascended it and began picking up the potions in turn, examining their labels.

“Oh, and Dumbledore mentioned to bring that bottle of mead too, if you happen to still have it.” Harry interjected nervously, unsure what to make of Snape’s lack of a response, doing anything to avoid the topic at hand.

“You didn’t exactly answer me.” He spoke as he picked up a green potion from the front, examining it, a disdainful look marking his face. Keeping in in his hand, he reached behind it, picking up a clear potion. “Who is this Veritaserum for?” He held up the clear potion to indicate it was what he was referring to.

“I did tell you. It’s for…him.”

“You’re going to have to be more specific, Potter.” He barked as he stepped down and set the clear potion on his desk. “By the way, if this is your doing—” in lieu of a finished sentence he held up the green bottle to reveal there was a crack in it.

“For him!” Harry ignored his unfinished threat. “Tom Riddle!” The words rang through the air.

But Snape didn’t react like Harry thought he would. There was no shock on his face. Instead he simply said, “Forgive me Potter but that’s not a name I’m familiar with.”

Harry tried not to growl, his fingers curling into fists at his side.

“Tom Riddle!” he shouted. “You know, Voldemort?! But when he was younger?!”

There was the sound of shattering glass. He looked up to see the green potion in Snape’s hand had shattered, the glass pieces tinkling along the floor. His expression was imperceptible as ever…it was like his body had betrayed him for just a moment. Blood began dripping from the hand previously holding it, but apparently he hadn’t noticed.

He took slow calculated steps towards Harry, his black eyes boring holes into him. His words were level but something behind his voice quivered,

“You mean to tell me that the Dark Lord is…”

“Here, yes, Sir. But as Tom Riddle—a sixteen-year-old boy who doesn’t remember anything. Hence why we need that.” He pointed at the potion on his desk. “Dumbledore wants to make sure he doesn’t remember anything before we proceed.”

“That’s not possible.” He murmured. Then, without warning, his eyes locked on Harry like tiny drills, and his voice boomed, “TELL THE TRUTH!”

Harry stared at him, eyes half lidded. He quirked an eyebrow, tilted his head to the side, and made a decision. A decision he knew he was liable to regret very soon…but the only one he could currently make with his tangled, disarranged thoughts. The only way he saw that he could adequately follow Dumbledore’s orders and tell Snape what happened, without this ending in an even worse shouting match, not to mention also making sure the details actually made their way out of his stammering mouth.

He reached forward, grabbed the Veritaserum, and drank it.

Well, not all of it—he may be reckless, but he wasn’t that much of an idiot. Just a few drops. Just…enough.

Snape stared at him for a few moments, blinked, then;

“I knew you were daft, Potter, but I didn’t take you for a complete and utter dimwit!” He smacked him on the back of the head. “What else would you like to have for an afternoon drink?! My Polyjuice potion while you’re at it? How about a draught of living death? Or my last stores of—?!”

“I could have killed him.” The words were barely a breath.

Both of their eyes widened at this.

It wasn’t what Harry had planned to say. Not at all. In fact, he wasn’t sure he’d tell anyone this fact. Maybe Ron and Hermione, maybe Dumbledore, but never Snape. He’d only wanted to get the facts out straight…but apparently the truth in his veins had a mind of its own.

Yup, he was regretting it already.

The anger in Snape’s eyes gave way for a gentler kind of surprise.

“I wanted to.” Harry said, a darkness behind the quiet words, his eyes glazed, staring somewhere far from here. “He was out cold…I had the sword in my hand…not to mention my wand…and a Basilisk tooth…”—(Why couldn’t he stop?! Snape hadn’t even asked him a question!)—“I could have stabbed him, or poisoned him, or at least cursed him…”

Snape drew out his wand and ran it over the cuts in his hand, muttering an incantation like a song, healing them, before waving it again, cleaning up the broken bottle. Then he asked softly;

“Why didn’t you?”

[spindaonateaspoon]

Yo there! Oh all those spindas in the background are making me dizzy haha (one of my fave pokemon actually, love them). Okay, sooo that's pretty random ask but what are your top ten black clover characters? :D

Ah, a tumblr user of taste, I see. Glad you could get past the vertigo to send me an ask, I really appreciate it! Next time you can save your eyes a little stress and ask my interest blog @thespiralgrimoire instead!

Top 10 Favorite Black Clover Characters

1. Nozel Silva

There are a lot of reasons I absolutely adore this unhinged bedazzled train wreck of a man. I thought my love for him couldn’t swell any bigger when I watched the anime, and then I started reading the manga, and he only gets better.

First and foremost, he’s pretty. In an extremely conventional way, but hey, it’s conventional for a reason. Even with his stupid hair, he’s just nice to look at. This is despite the fact that he literally never smiles, which is usually an important feature to appearances to me. But coming back to the braid thing, he KNOWS it’s stupid, and you know  he knows it’s stupid, because he literally threatens the lives of people who criticize it. The boy made a bad aesthetic decision once when he was like 19 and said, “Oh shit. If I don’t own this, I will never live this down. It’s time to do or die.” And he owned it. He is doomed to look this stupid for the rest of his life or face an endless assault of naysayers. His pride will not allow it.

Which brings me to the next thing I love about him: He’s such an arrogant twat. Everything about Nozel screams “I’m better than you, and if you disagree with me, I will throw myself on the floor and cry.” He will not allow anyone to even entertain the idea that he’s not perfect. Even himself. Even when it’s glaringly obvious that he’s a hot mess. During the star festival, when he hears that the black bulls came in second, He Mcfreakin loses it. He gets so mad that when he can’t make Yami feel ashamed for being himself, he literally STOMPS OUT OF THE FESTIVAL.  It’s chapter 104. Look it up. I’m not exaggerating.

Finally, I’m a slut for siblings, and the Silva Squad is an endless goldmine. That dynamic is what gets me through the day. I could live off sibling dynamics. Nebra and Solid worship the ground he walks on, and Noelle can’t help but look up to him, even if he’s been a huge douchenozzel to her her entire life. At this point it’s all conjecture for how that relationship will develop, but got damn, I’m in this for the long hall.

2. Fuegoleon Vermillion

Again, this man is so pretty. They really got their royal aesthetics right in this show. I am a simple person, with simple desires, and pretty men that I can make fun of is about all I need to be happy.

That being said, Fuegoleon is a nice guy. Despite having every reason to have the Higher Than Thou attitude that Nozel has, he’s respectful of everyone. This, charmingly, extends to how he treats people for better or worse. My home boy ain’t walking around pretending everyone is deserving of hand holding and forgiveness. He’s beating everyone over the head when they do something stupid. NO ONE is immune to a Teachable Moment.

Which is probably the funniest thing about him. This man is incapable of not teaching. The entire city is being overrun by zombies and he stops in the middle of defending citizens to give Noelle a pep talk and magic lesson??? Bro. Time and place, my dude. I love you.

Actually the funniest thing about him is that despite obviously being the most reserved of the Vermillions, this guy has no chill. If he’s not screaming passionately about something that someone needs to learn, he’s squaring up. He has no off switch. Sure, he’s not running around with his fists up like Meoroleona and Leopold, but if you think he’s going to be any slower to throw a punch than they are then you and I are watching different anime. He may canonically be the most intelligent of the captains, but that doesn’t mean that he’s not a meathead. And I think that’s beautiful.

Okay the ranks get harder after this because these two are so easily my favorite LOL

3. Meoroleona Vermillion

I could say a lot of things about Meoroleona, but to save some space, I’m going to refer you to #2, and also show you my favorite character from Steven Universe. You do the math.

4. and 5. Nebra and Solid Silva

These two are such bitches. At this point in the series, they only exist to a) be Nozel’s hype men and b) be the bane of Noelle’s existence, and as a writer, I respect that. There’s not a lot to them in canon, but that hasn’t stopped me from designing their entire lives and backstory. I love them so much; not only for what I’ve made them out to be, but for where they could go as characters. We’ve already seen this a little bit with their asses being handed to them in fights, and I just hope that their asses continue to get handed to them until they come around to have some respect for anyone but each other and themselves. In the meantime I’ll continue developing their personalities on an interpersonal level.

Okay I’m not done. The REAL reason these guys made 4th and 5th is because, like I mentioned before, I am a slut for sibling relationships. Black Clover does them s o well. Even with the little we’ve seen, it’s so easy to tell that their love for Nozel and each other is so deep and sincere... even if it might be just a tad bit dysfunctional. There’s so much ground to cover with how the death of their mother affected them and pushed them closer together. But I can’t imagine that they wouldn’t have been super close had she stayed alive. You can just tell in everything they do that they live for each other. They’re EVERYTHING to each other. You get the impression that these two probably don’t really know how to be people separate from their siblings, because all they’ve ever had is each other. It’s such a great dynamic to grow and explore and if we don’t get more Silva interaction in the future I’m gonna throw a fit.

6. Ladros

Okay this is the point where this list starts getting a little wonky because I like almost everyone else in the series just about the same but---

I have feelings about Ladros Ladros. I don’t even know what it is about him. His design is impeccable. Every time I see him I want to scream. What emotion does he instill in me? Love? Hate? Lust? Disgust? I really don’t know. I just know that there’s a lot of it. Look at his little black eyes. Look at his smile. His hair. His barrel chest that doesn’t fit his twink face. What a man. I sure do feel about him.

Also, he’s my preferred brand of Little Shit.

7. Zora Ideale

Everything that applies to Ladros applies to Zora in exactly the same way. Priddy and meen. At least his face fits his body.

8. Finral Roulacase

He’s such a sweetheart, and I like his new haircut. I wish he was real so he could be my friend. And I cannot stress this enough: I feel that way about NO ONE else on this list. The rest of these assholes are better off fictional, but the world needs more Finrals.

9. Henry Legolant

Unlike every other character on this list, I actually don’t think that Henry’s design is all that pretty. What I love about Henry is that his whole personality is “My fragile heart is overflowing with love and care for all my friends... and if you so much as think about hurting them, I will pound your bones to dust.” And he follows through. King.

10. Dorothy Unsworth

There is no way that glitzy baby doll Dorothy wasn’t going to end up on this list BEFORE I found out that she and Nozel have feelings jams in Glamor World. Once we see more of her I’m sure she’ll fly up the list.

So, there you go! Thank you so much for the ask! This was really a struggle to put together after #5, but I had a great time doing it.

[whitewolfofwinterfell]

Just ONE more...until I think of yet another question I'm dying to ask you a few minutes from now! What do you see as Buffy's greatest traits and worst flaws? Angel's greatest traits and worst flaws? In what ways (assuming they were human) do you see them as compatible? In what ways do think they're similar to each other, and what are their complementary differences? What jobs do you think they'd have as humans? What would they each be like as parents? What would they do in their spare time?!

Buffy’s greatest traits and worst flaws

Buffy is a very complex character with so many strengths, but equally, many flaws. Without a doubt her greatest strengths are her resillience and inner-strength. No matter what life throws at her she seems to have an incredible ability to keep moving forward. Even after Joyce’s death - which is undoubtedly one of the greatest tragedies anyone in this world will face - she’s able to compartmentalise in order to take responsbility of the household and step up to be a parental figure for Dawn when she’s still a child herself. Not to mention that she dies and is resurrected and somehow manages to find a way to keep going. What strikes me about Buffy is that even when she’s clearly struggling mentally and emotionally she never wallows in self pity. She accepts that the world is unfair and cruel and that everybody suffers in different ways and she does the best she can to carry on. Her other strengths include her leadership, confidence, determination and decisiveness. In every situation she finds herself in, Buffy is able to make tough decisions for herself and others. She never shies away from the responsibilities that go with being the Slayer, she owns it. She’s the one that everybody looks to when shit hits the fan and that’s a huge burden, but she never treats it as one despite feeling that way deep down inside. It takes so much courage to be able to make hard and fast decisions, particularly when those decisions impact the people around you, but Buffy does it all the time. Her morality is also a strength of Buffy’s. She has a strong sense of right and wrong, and although that view can sometimes be a little bit too black and white, she is never afraid to stand up and fight for what she believes is right no matter what it takes. Once again, that takes great courage. Speaking of courage, the courage and bravery Buffy has is staggering. Even when she’s afraid she doesn’t let it show, she always goes into a fight ready and raring to go. She’s also incredibly loyal and although she has a strong belief in justice, she has an ability to forgive others even when they sometimes aren’t necessarily deserving of her forgiveness.

As for her flaws, they’re very much the flip-side of her strengths. Her resillience and inner-strength can sometimes lead to her being emotionally unavailable and closed off. Her way of dealing with the responsibility of being the Slayer and the trauma, depression, grief and other powerfully negative emotions she faces is to isolate herself, shut away her feelings and focus on tasks. This means that she often doesn’t process or deal with her emotions in a healthy way resulting in her taking it out on others, or more commonly taking it out on herself (this is particularly the case in season 6). The way she would shut herself off emotionally also sometimes led to her not being perceptive of how others around her were feeling and being insenstive or dismissive of them. Simirlarly, her leadership and confidence means that she can be condescending and belittle the opinions and knowledge of others, believing that she’s superior. Sometimes her confidence can drift over to arrogance and she can’t always admit when she’s wrong or take the advice of others. Statements such as “There’s only me. I am the law” really show that. Furthermore, her decisiveness and leadership means that she sometimes makes decisions for others that aren’t hers to make or she doesn’t take the feelings of others into consideration as much as she should. Her courage and bravery can occassionally transform into recklessness and impulsivity whereby she throws herself into potentially harmful situations with little regard for her well-being.

Angel’s greatest traits and worst flaws

Angel’s greatest traits are definitley his compassion, dedication and selflessness. Angel will lay his life on the line to save the life of anybody, whether it’s his son or a stranger that he’s just met. He is fiercely dedicated to helping others and is genuinely able to empathise and sympathise with people in order to provide that help. Because of the uniqueness of Angel as a vampire with a soul he has an inherent ability to empathise with people (despite the fact that he believes he’s disconnected from them), because he’s lived for so long, has such a wealth of life experience, has experienced the darkest parts of humanity as a soulless demon and now feels the pure emotion that comes from having a soul. He’s able to see the good in everybody and to remain open-minded and non-judgemental in order to understand people’s lives, motivations and feelings. Despite how much good he does, he’s very humble and never seeks fame, glory or praise. There’s a lot to be said for the fact that every person Angel helps he does so because he wants to help. It’s that simple. He doesn’t do it because of some ulterior motive, it’s completely selfless. I mean, this is a man(pire) that was willing to die fighting an unwinnable battle. Angel is also a great leader, but in a very different way from Buffy. Angel isn’t a self-elected leader, he’s a natural leader that his friends look to because they trust his judgement and have faith in his decisions and ability to lead. Angel doesn’t assume responsibility because he believes he has the authority, power or skill to do so more than anybody else, he does it because that’s what his friends expect of him. As a result of this, he’s able to listen to the advice of his friends and even delegate responsibility, letting them to take the lead sometimes. This is all part of Angel’s kindness and ability to see the good in everyone. Angel has an ability to inspire and motivate those around him based purely on his actions and philosophy. He’s able to bring characters like Faith, Cordy, Wes, Gunn and Fred - all of whom felt disconnected, lonely, unappreciated and had very little self-belief when he first met them - and transform their perception of themselves. With Angel’s mission statement and leadership to provide them with direction and his care and support, they were all able to come into their own and hone their strengths, skills and abilities (which hadn’t been acknowledged previously) to make a difference in the world.

In regards to his flaws, I’d say that he can be very depressive and pessimistic, which is only to be expected from a vampire with a soul. Sometimes he can be prone to falling into a dark spiral and when he starts that descent there’s very little that can stop him. A lot like Buffy, this can sometimes be part of him hitting self-destruct. Angel carries a lot of guilt and self-loathing for his past actions, and in the moments that that catches up to him he struggles to put things into perspective and acknowledge the person he is now and all of the good he’s doing. He also has a tendency to fixate on certain things which causes him to lose sight of the bigger picture. This happens at various points with Buffy, Darla, Cordelia, Connor, Lindsey W&H and Spike. A lot of the time I think this stems from his  persistent fear that threats to those he loves are lurking just around the corner and doom is imminent (which, to be fair to him, it’s usually true haha). Angel also lacks confidence in his own abilities and is too humble. Being humble can never really be a negative thing, but I think that in the context of Angel’s character he’s too hard on himself and doesn’t give himself as much credit as he should for all the good he does. He often diminishes the huge importance he plays in fighting the good fight and the impact he has on people’s lives. Similarly, But Angel’s most obvious flaw (if we can even refer to it as such) is Angelus. Soulless vampires are evil, plain and simple, but Angelus takes this to the extreme. He’s a callous, vindictive, cruel, merciless monster that takes pleasure in inflicting pain on others and exploiting their weaknesses. Although Angelus is an entirely different character, it has an impact on how Angel acts. He constantly lives in fear of Angelus returning and with the guilt of Angelus’ actions. This results in him having a huge amount of self-hatred which festers inside him no matter how much time passes and which he can never get past or forgive himself for. However, Angel’s understanding and acceptance of this part of himself actually makes this somewhat of a strength of his. He hates that side of himself and repeatedly tells his friends that if he’s ever to lose his soul again they should kill him immediately.

In what ways (assuming they were human) do you see Bangel as compatible?

This is a very tricky question to answer, because I genuinely struggle to imagine Buffy and Angel as humans. The supernatural is such a huge part of their lives and such a definitive aspect of their relationship that if you take that away they become entirely different people and their relationship transforms as a result. Ultimately, what brings them together is their shared sense of isolation which comes from them being the only one of their kind - Buffy being the Slayer and Angel being a Vampire with a Soul. In addition, their fight against supernatural bads and desire to help others is a mission they share which unites them. There’s not very much that Buffy and Angel bond over outside of this, no shared interests, hobbies or commonalities that could be considered “human” that I can think of. So, I apologise, but I actually don’t know how to answer this question!

In what ways do think Bangel are similar to each other, and what are their complementary differences?

They’re both leaders who take immense responsibility onto their shoulders and have an ability to bring people together, to motivate and inspire them. Emotionally, they share similiar feelings of loneliness and depression that come from the traumas they face, the pressure of being a leader and feeling disconnected from the world they fight to protect. They’re resillient and have an astounding amount of strength which enables them to go on even after the worst has happened - Buffy has to endure killing Angel, losing her mother, dying and being resurrected; Angel has to endure dying, going to a hell dimension and being resurrected, losing Buffy, watching the mother of his child die in front of his eyes, having his son kidnapped by his own best friend, losing his son to evil, the woman he loves being possessed and impregnanted by an evil entity, losing his son forever as he wipes his memory, losing Cordy and Fred. I could continue, but you get the point. Buffy and Angel are able to keep moving forward when anyone else would simply lie down on the ground and give up. On a lighter note, they’re both goofy and have this adorkableness that seems to pop up during the most random times.

As for their differences, they have a lot but I wouldn’t necessarily consider them complimentary. I’d say that Buffy’s extroversion makes for a good contrast to Angel’s introversion. Angel keeps Buffy grounded and centered, whilst Buffy’s free-spirit captures Angel. Angel is also more able to remain open-minded to the possibility that demons have a capacity for goodness, whilst Buffy is usually much quicker to condemn demons without considering that they may not always be wholly evil. This means that Angel is able to encourage Buffy to reconsider her black and white view on the world and to give chances to those she may not have naturally, and on the flip side, Buffy’s outlook can remind Angel that not everybody always deserves a second chance or has a capacity to redeem themselves and set themselves on the right path.

Besides this, I can’t really think of any differences they have that are complimentary. The main differences I see between them come from the fact that Angel is so much older than Buffy and has completely different experiences as a vampire. Ths means that his motivations and priorities are quite different from Buffy’s, despite them being dedicated to a similar cause. Although Buffy accepts being the Slayer and fulfils her duties, she’s resistant to it on more than one occassion and when an oppourutnity arises to create more Slayers so that she’s not the only one she does so because she doesn’t want to carry that burden of being the Chosen One. In comparison, Angel is a self-elected hero. He’s not pre-ordained or chosen, he willingly dedicates himself to helping the helpless because he believes that’s his calling and he wants to repent for his previous sins. In an ideal world, Buffy doesn’t want to be the Slayer, she wants to be an ordinary girl, but Angel wouldn’t willingly choose to be human even if it was offered to him on a silver platter (which it is in ‘I Will Remember You’). Buffy, despite being the Slayer, is a human girl who longs for the things that most human girls do; to hang out with her friends, have fun, go shopping, spend time with family, graduate, get a car, go on holiday and do everything else that young people do. Angel naturally doesn’t care about any of that. He doesn’t think in terms of his future or building a life like Buffy does, he lives for the here and now and works off the idea that he will do everything he can today to make his life count for something.

What jobs do you think Bangel would have as humans?

I think Angel would be a Private Investigator. I know this is a bit of a cop out, because he was a PI on AtS, but it’s exactly the sort of job that suits him. He needs something where he can actively be out in the world making a difference to people’s lives but where he has freedom to make his own decisions and take on his own cases. He also needs to have action in his life and to have independence. Although he works well with his friends on AtS, he isn’t the sort of guy that necessarily works well in a team, particularly if he’s forced to work with people that he doesn’t know very well.

Buffy would be in fashion. I don’t just say this because she has great fashion sense, but because she’s able to see the essence of people and I feel she would know exactly how to use fashion and image to project that to the outside world. I also think that a creative and vocational career where Buffy can use her hands and put her ideas into practice would suit her personality down to a T.

What would Bangel each be like as parents? What would they do in their spare time?!

Well, we saw Angel as a father and Buffy as a kind-of-mother to Dawn, but I suppose as a co-parenting team I’d imagine them to be fun-loving but over-protective parents. They would definitley teach their kids self-defence; Angel would encourage them to read books and go to the ballet and theatre and musuems to ensure they’re attuned to the world around them and culturally aware; Buffy would be the discplinarian because lets face it Angel is just a softie; they’d attend ice hockey games every weekend where Angel would embarass the kids by yellling out all the time; Angel would tell the worst dad jokes in the world; Buffy would always try to make things fun and take any oppourtunity she could to have a family barbeque, parties or celebration; they’d sit down to eat dinner together every evening and Angel would cook (because Buffy’s cooking skills only extend to cheese toasties); Buffy would be the cool hip parent that every parent at the school playground would admire and envy; Angel would take on the domestic duties like cleaning, washing clothes and cooking but the kids would have a strict chore schedule that they’d get pocket money for; Buffy would be incredibly affectionate always smothering the kids with hugs and kisses and beaming about how proud she is of them.

[sebeth]

Crisis On Infinite Earths #2

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

  We start at the dawn of man where Anthro, the first Cro-Magnon man, is attempting to divert a herd of woolly mammoths (“serpent-noses”) from trampling his village.

While diverting the herd, Anthro shudders over the thought of Embra, his pregnant wife, giving birth to a girl: “Embra would never have a daughter…would she?”  

I’m rooting for Embra to give birth to a girl. Go, Embra, go!

Congratulating himself on saving the village: “A hero? I am, aren’t I?  Maybe the biggest hero the bear tribe ever…” *Klunk* Anthro is taken out by a tree branch.  “It was a long beast or a serpent!  He hit me when I wasn’t looking!  Face me now, animal!  Anthro is a hero!”  As Anthro makes threats to non-existent attackers he catches a glimpse of a futuristic city.  Anthro notices the herd of woolly mammoths have disappeared.

I fell in love with Anthro here.  He was such a lovable dork.

We move on to the 30th century where the Legion of Super-Heroes are searching for Dawnstar. They also have to contain a rampaging herd of woolly mammoths that disappear as soon as they appeared.

The Science Police tell the Legion to call Brainiac 5. The Legion calls Brainy. He informs his team that the missing Dawnstar and wooly mammoths are the least of their concerns: “There’s anti-matter energy moving toward the earth from somewhere I still can’t determine! Enough energy to destroy not only us but the universe!”

Back to present day Gotham City as Batman battles the Joker.  The Joker has murdered Harold J. Standish III because he wanted ownership of the millionaire’s copyrights. The fight is interrupted by the Flash who is requesting aid: “…Help me!  Help someone…anyone!  Please…Please…can’t you see the world?  I…It’s dying all around me!  Iris…Dying…the world is dying…may already be dead…save us…save us…save us…”  

An unnerved Joker orders Batman to inform the Flash that he has no jurisdiction in Gotham City. The Joker has a hissy when Batman doesn’t order Barry to leave: “You caped and corpses-to-come have some sort of secret reciprocal deal, don’t you?”

What’s this? A Batman that treats his fellow heroes with respect instead of acting like a territorial douchebag for no reason? Shocking!

Batman pleads with Barry: “Where are you, Flash? I can help rescue you.”

The Flash disintegrates as Batman watches in horror. The Joker escapes in the confusion, fanboying over Batman’s detective skills.

 This section makes me miss editor’s notes. Batman thinks about the Flash’s recent disappearance - Bam! - Editor’s note refers to you to Flash #350 so you can check out that story if you wish.  Little corner in the bottom of the panel - why is that so hard for modern comics to accomplish?

Picking up where we left at the end of last issue:  The Monitor explains to his assembled team the reason for this gathering.  “Already more than one thousand universes have died.” Seriously?  It took the death of a thousand universes to get your butt in gear? I would have thought the death of one universe would have been sufficient.  

The Monitor’s explains the process: “The Anti-Matter force once more shatters the dimensional barriers…expanding outward, engulfing one universe and then another.  Destroying all life…and hope.  First your worlds will feel nature’s wrath as your planets cry out in agony…Worlds in upheaval:  Earthquakes, volcanic disturbances, floods which will crush your coast-line cities like so many twigs beneath your feet.”

Firestorm rightfully calls out the Monitor for selling weapons to various villains for the past year. I mean, that is a strange course for saving the universe.  The Monitor appeared in various issues before the Crisis mini-series as a weapons dealer for the bad guys.  It was foreshadowing for the Crisis series along with the red skies that appeared in various comics.

Harbinger angst: “I will stand at your side…Yet why do I feel as I do?  A force, and energy…burning inside me?”.  Probably because of the shadow thing that possessed one of your duplicates last issue.

Psimon steps up, talks trash, and is smacked down by the Monitor.

Superman, as elder statesman, tells everybody to calm down and listen - the fate of the multi-verse is at stake: “I suggest, however, we hear him out. If he’s telling the truth, we’ll save our worlds. If he’s lying, no power exists that can defeat us all.”

I miss sane elder statesmen who restore order as opposed to team leaders who let a situation escalate out of control while a cosmic level threat is bearing down on the planet.  I’m looking at you A vs X’s Captain America, Cyclops, and Wolverine. Save the universe first, pissing contests later.

The Monitor reveals he’s splitting the group into five teams so they can activate his machines in five different time periods.

Harbinger continues to angst: “I am unable to resist him.  And I am forced to obey his commands.  Forgive me…though you have been my father and more…I now betray you.” Monitor, meanwhile, is aware of her betrayal and that she will be the cause of his death.  Maybe they should consider talking to each other?  Poor communication kills!

The Guardians of Oa are on the verge of completing (again) the Green Lantern Corps.  However: “No, Guardians…It’s too late.  You shall no more summon your soldiers than prove a threat to my plans.  What began with you so many centuries ago…ends with you now!!!” *SKRAAAAAA!* Huge explosion and unconscious guardians.  How many threats to the universe have the Guardians created at this point?  We have the Manhunters, the voice holding the grudge, later on its Parallax.  Maybe the Guardians should be neutered for the sake of the universe?

 A shaken Batman summons Supeman (Earth-1) to discuss his vision of the Flash. Superman arrives late as had to deal with an unexpected volcanic eruption in the Mediterranean. Remember, the Monitor warned earlier that natural disasters were the first sign the Crisis was nearing your planet.

Pariah briefly appears to repeat his gloom and doom mantra.

Batman and Superman share a look that all but says “Do you know this emo freak?”

Bruce notes: “He said the earth was dying. That’s what Flash said. What’s going on here?”

On to Kamandi’s world. For those unfamiliar with Kamandi - think Planet of the Apes.  Animals have become the sentient rulers and humans are hunted.  Kamandi is investigating a huge tower that has suddenly materialized.  Kamandi encounters Superman (Earth-2), King Solavar, and Dawnstar.  Kamandi recognizes Superman as he has met Earth-1 Superman.  Kamandi is initially fearful of Solovar due to the political situation of his planet. Shadow demon attack!  Solovar is wounded defending Kamandi.  

Harbinger apparently rescued the Luthor baby from the abandoned JLA headquarters.  Lyla checks on him only to discovers he aged up to childhood.

Arion, Obsidian, and Psycho-Pirate travel to pre-sunken Atlantis circa 40,000 year in the past. We meet Lady Chian, Arion’s love interest.  Pariah appears, Psycho-Pirate uses his abilities to make Pariah laugh. Pariah acts like it’s a fate worse than death.  You would think after his eternal suffering emo act he would appreciate a few moments of levity.

Psycho-Pirate attacks the Atlanteans only to be stopped by Arion and Obsidian.  Psycho-Pirate disappears in a flash of light.  A mysterious voice tells the Pirate he will “serve me as I demand”.

The Monitor is frustrated by the disappearance of Psycho-Pirate: “My dear, I needed him more than either Obsidian or Arion.  The menace we deal with is one of emotion”.  Equally frustrating for the Monitor is his inability to find Raven: “I can find no trace of her. If she is on this earth, everything about her has been changed.”

I’m mentally trying to sync up the Teen Titans storylines with the Crisis.  Teen Titans was one of my main titles in the 1980s but it has been over 20 years since Crisis on Infinite Earths. I know we’re past the Judas Contract and Donna’s wedding and pre-Starfire’s return to her planet. I can’t remember if the second battle with Trigon has occurred yet – the one where Raven becomes red and four-eyed and ensnares the Titans in their worst nightmares.  It would explain the “changed” life if the Crisis is happening during or in the immediate aftermath of the Trigon battle.

Finally: “Lyla, my dear, get me the file on the new Dr. Light!  It is time for me to create her!”  

Pariah reveals more of his origin: “No, not from this earth, but another…the first that fell when this insanity began.  But long after I was cursed for an evil act I had committed.  A deed I have paid for a thousand times over, and must suffer still a thousand times more.  I witness tragedy and my being here means disaster is soon to strike.”  Pariah mentioned his “great sin” last issue too.  

Pariah:

1)  From the first universe to die in the Crisis. How long ago did the Crisis begin? The Monitor noted earlier that over one thousand universes have perished – has this taken months, years, decades?

2) Survived the Crisis but committed a horrendous act “long after”.

3)  Someone very powerful cursed him to suffer for eternity.

Pariah finishes his “woe is me” speech by noting “Anti-matter will sweep throughout this universe. In a matter of hours from now, your earth will die!”

Arion, Obsidian, and the Atlanteans look to the sky and witness the arrival of the anti-matter wave.

Another awesome issue. George Perez’s art is gorgeous as usual. Marv Wolfman’s writing is terrific. He’s handling a huge cast of characters and nailing it. The big crossover events aren’t my thing, I find most to be average at best but Crisis is amazing.

The issue ends with the possessed Harbinger reporting to they mysterious man in black.

I continue to miss aspects from this era of comics:  editor’s notes, sound effects, heroes working together instead of mindlessly brawling, c-list and obscure characters (my favorite type), and the sheer scope of the DC multiverse.  Bonus points for the amount of content packed into a single issue.

[gascon-en-exil]

Octopath Traveler Liveblogging

Chapter 3 for Olberic, Alfyn, and Tressa.

Olberic

Well, this one threw me for a few loops.

Not only is Erhardt not the final boss of Olberic’s story, he’s not even the boss proper of this chapter, with that designation instead going toward a giant lizard. As with Ophilia’s Chapter 2 the conflict here is tangential to the actual story, but Olberic fighting the lizardmen leads into his confrontation with Erhardt so it’s a less glaring diversion. I was surprised to see the Challenge UI pop up in the middle of the cutscene after the boss, and even though a duel with Erhardt is narratively fitting I think it would have been more interesting if the game had given you the option to decline. By the way, since you don’t get a Game Over if Olberic loses a duel in normal circumstances, does that mean you can lose to Erhardt and continue playing? Not that he was very hard with a sword weakness and the warrior divine skill, but either a refusal or a loss would have allowed this story to have a bit more of a variable outcome.

On the other hand I have no complaints about how Erhardt is handled as a character. There’s no easy resolution either in forgiveness or death, and it’s left to Olberic (and the player) how to feel about him in the end. While the reveal of another antagonist behind Erhardt could be called a slight cop-out in order to allow for this ambiguity while still giving Olberic someone to kill to finish his story, I expect Werner to tie into the combined final story in some way and so he won’t feel like he comes completely out of nowhere. I’m still undecided on the question of whether or not Olberic and Erhardt were screwing at any point, because you could certainly read their relationship that way though there’s almost nothing in the way of steamy subtext.

Gameplay comment: not as hard as I expected despite a mostly underleveled party. This was the first boss where I took full advantage of the Leghold Trap skill from hunter, which does indeed trivialize single target encounters and is easily the best thing to come out of what has so far been one of the less impressive jobs.

Oh, and Erhardt has a skill called Blazing Blade. Coincidental FE references abound.

Party banter highlights: H’annit and Ophilia try to get us to feel sorry for the monsters of the week chapter, Therion and Olberic agree to disagree, Tressa is an overeager kid again, Primrose flirts with Olberic must to his annoyance, and Alfyn again shows off his knack for accidental innuendos. He’s probably telling Olberic to figuratively pull his thumb out of his mouth, but my mind immediately went to somewhere else a horny and enterprising guy might be sticking his fingers.

Alfyn

Fitting that I’m doing him and Tressa back-to-back, because that way I can get the two most aimless stories out of the way and get back to the heavy plot stuff. Seriously, Alfyn still has no specific goal in mind even at the end of this chapter, and his next destination is set, for no apparent reason, by the ending narration of all things. At least this time it’s not on the other side of the continent.

Meanwhile the theme of his story, such as it is, appears to be building to an examination of the ethics of the medical profession - another parallel with Tressa’s tale of ethical sales practices. His Chapter 3 accomplishes this via another pair of conveniently well-timed appearances, only this time one of them was bad because the guy he saves is a child-kidnapping murderer. Whee. I’m not sure whether Vanessa from the last chapter or Miguel here works better as an antagonist; neither is obviously evil from the start, and both indirectly teach Alfyn about the world and force him to get his hands dirty (particularly here, as it’s implied that he kills Miguel or at least lets him die in the forest?). Miguel may not uncannily resemble any FE characters, but he’s an amusing example of English localizers using British slang to skirt a higher rating for language. Sodding buggery and Alfyn (and Greg Chun) saying “bollocks” - hilarious. He was also the hardest boss I’ve faced yet, being able to change his weaknesses, take multiple turns, and hit the entire party hard.

I assume Ogen will be making a reappearance in Alfyn’s last chapter, particularly after his cryptic final comment. Are we ever going to hear more about the apothecary Alfyn idolizes or what?

Party banter highlights: Tressa makes the connection between her low-stakes story and Alfyn’s explicit, Therion teaches Alfyn about the practical benefits of a bar crawl, Cyrus continues to admire Alfyn, and Alfyn fails at flirting with Primrose while getting overly complimented himself by H’annit (with no mention of an itching ass this time). The one that stuck with me most is Olberic’s, as it’s the first of their banters where the two talk to each other on equal footing. This is all the more notable as it comes right after Miguel has run off with his kidnapping victim, the emotional low point of the chapter for Alfyn.

Tressa

So many questionable writing choices, but so very gay. Tressa’s story continues to be not really about her at all, this time zeroing in on her pirate-turned-merchant friend Leon from back in Chapter 1. His doomed love affair with fellow pirate Baltazar pings all the same notes as every pair of “like brothers” *nudgenudgewinkwink* in the playable cast - Therion/Darius, Alfyn/Zeph, Olberic/Erhardt - and even explicitly nods to two of them in party banter. Tressa is just the plucky little fruit fly along for the ride, made especially evident by this chapter’s completely random boss, a venomous tiger (ok...) hanging out in the same cave where Baltazar’s treasure lies. Good on her for being so considerate of Leon’s wishes, but I have no idea how they’re going to bring this story back around to being primarily about her aside from the thrill of seeing the world. At the very end one of those black-garbed individuals who’s been trailing Cyrus shows up, so I assume that’ll be the plot hook for her final antagonist and way into the combined story. Eh, it’s better than what Alfyn’s got.

Party banter highlights: As mentioned there’s a lot of homoromantic parallels on display here - from Olberic but especially from Alfyn and his greatest treasure, Zeph’s sack. Ahem. Meanwhile Cyrus is stuck on exposition duty again, and Ophilia and Primrose get the lesbian subtext flowing even for Tressa.

[oadara]

Similarities between Jonerys and Reylo

As the popularity of the paring between Kylo Ren/Ben (KRB) and Rey of Jakku (aka Reylo) increases among the Jonerys fandom there have been some questions as to why, those of us who ship both, find similarities between these two couples (I know Reylo is not a couple, yet, but I’ll refer to them as such for the purposes of this mini-meta).

If you are looking at these two couples and try to make a one-to-one comparison between the two, you’re not going to find it. Jon isn’t KRB and Dany is Rey or Jon isn’t Rey and Dany isn’t KRB. Not only are these stories geared towards different audiences, they are a different genre and are going about their storytelling in different ways. A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones is a political and personal drama told through the lens of medieval fantasy. While Star Wars is a fairy tale told through the lens of a Sci-fi Space Opera Western.

The similarities I’ve noticed are of a thematic and symbolic kind and although the individual character have some similarities between each other, the real similarities are seen when looking at the paring as a whole and how they are presented to us throughout the story. This is based on my interpretation of both these couples, others might view things differently. Eventually, I would like to expand on these similarities but for now, I’ll do a quick run through of the similarities I’ve noticed between the two pairings.

Balance

This is not an uncommon theme in stories but it’s central theme of both these tales. A Song of Ice and Fire, of the bat we know that this story is about two opposites either coming together in battle or love or both. Ice and Fire or Water and Fire are two elements that sit opposite from one another. Our central characters Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow are representatives of these opposing elements and many of us believe that through their union the balance lacking from Westeros will finally be achieved.

On the other hand, we have Star Wars whose central theme is the balance of the Force between the light and the dark. In this trilogy, these opposing forces are represented by Rey of Jaklu and Kylo Ren, aka Ben Solo.  When they are first introduced they are on opposite sides of a war that has been raging for a few generations.  Rey becomes KRB’s prisoner but soon proves to be a true challenge for him. Her strength in the Force is equal to his, something he has not encountered before. “Darkness rises and light to meet it,” says Snoke, insulating the divide between the two but it also insinuates a coming together of the two.

Generational Saga

The other big theme in both these stories is that of the current generation reckoning with the mistakes of their ancestors. Although ASoIaF revolves primarily around the House Stark, the expanded world of Ice and Fire revolves around House Targaryen and it is their actions throughout their history of ruling that have shaped Westeros to what it is today. On the other hand, Star Wars is the generational saga of the Skywalker family and how their connection to the Force has shaped the galaxy.

Pretty much everything that has happened in ASoIaF can be traced to past mistakes and the most immediate of those are the actions of The Mad King, Aerys Targaryen and those of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. The event surrounding the doom romance and Aerys actions throughout are what has led us to the current predicament our protagonist find themselves in at the beginning of the story. Although many things have happened throughout the course of the series, we see Jon and Dany confronted with the mistakes of the immediate and not so immediate ancestors. Dany facing the slave trade promulgated by the Valyrians and Jon facing the consequences of the exiling of the Free Folk to beyond the Wall. Both of these characters not only have to fix the past mistakes and by doing this they are forgiving a new path, a third way if you will.

In the case of Star Wars, it all started with the doomed love of Anakin and Padme. Their love, described as possessive, lead to Anakin’s downfall and the emergence of Darth Vader and all the chaos it brought to the galaxy. Luke was able to help his father redeem himself, however, the darkness still remained and now Anakin’s grandson KRB has inherited that legacy. His return to the light will finally heal the wound his grandfather created. And who best to help Ben redeem himself than his counterpart within the force Rey.  

Mirrored Couples

One additional element to the generational saga piece is how both Jonerys and Reylo mirror couples an important couple that was integral to the beginning of the story. In the case of ASoIaF, I’ve often said that Rhaegar and Lyanna’s union brought war, while Jon and Dany’s will end the war.

In the case of Star Wars, the love Anakin had for Padme was possessive and the fear of losing her drove him to the dark side of the force. The compassionate love that Rey offers to Ben will turn him from the dark to the light, also ending the war between the First Order and the Rebels.

Yin and Yang

This is an obvious visual similarity between these two pairings. In ASoIaF the most overt example of this is the coloring of Jon and Dany’s animal familiars. Drogon’s black to Ghost’s white with just the slightest hint of red. Through the TV series, we see this visual yin yang represented by the filters used in filming to characterize Jon and Dany’s story. In Jon’s case, we see the more muted blues and Dany the bright oranges. This is representative of the Ice/Fire or Yin Yang of the story.

With KRB and Rey, the yin-yang symbolism is much more obvious, because the Force itself is defined as Light and Dark. We see this with whites and black playing against each other’s in most of their scenes together. In addition, you see the reds and blues of their chosen Force also used in contrasts with each other. There is a specific scene in The Last Jedi where Kylo goes from cold blues to the warm reds of Rey’s fire during one of their Force Bond sessions.

Social Status

This similarity is particularly interesting for me as it’s so typical of the fairy tale genre. While the truth of Jon’s parentage has been revealed to the audience the characters themselves (except for Bran and Sam) are completely ignorant to it. As far as the in-universe narrative is concerned we have a Queen who is decedent from generation after generation of kings and queens and falls in love with a bastard. Even as a bastard Jon is of noble heritage, however, the stigma of being a bastard has followed him throughout his life, but Dany never even mentions it nor does she bring it up to him. The perceived difference in their social status is not important to her or him.

While on the other hand, we have the dark prince of a Star Wars Ben Solo falling for a scavenger, whose parents were nobodies. There is a clear divide in their social standing. However, unlike Dany who just didn’t feel the need to address it, Ben Solo, and his severely lacking social skills, reared their ugly head. While reminding her she’s a nobody, he then very suavely adds, but not to him. Jokes aside, I do believe Ben thinks of Rey as someone whose special, and in the novelization of TFA we learn that Ben has compassion for Rey and is punished for it by Snoke.

So, while these couples are perceived by the outside world to be from two vastly different social status while the pairs themselves have or eventually will see past that.  

Equals

Okay, I literally just talked about the differences in their social status and now I’m calling them equals. Yes, that’s exactly what I’m doing. To the outside world, there’s a firm difference in their place in society, however, for the couples themselves they perceive their counterparts as their equal.

Dany and Jon see in each other someone who understands the burdens of ruling, of leadership, of personal sacrifice for the good of their people. They see someone who can understand the burdens they carry because they themselves has carried it. In each other, they see their equal, something they have yet to have encountered.

For Rey and KRB is much more clearly stated because they are literally the Force counterparts to one another. Their skills and power come from the same well and one is just as powerful as the other. In fact, the scavenger Rey bested the elite trained KRB twice.  She is his equal and he knows it, and that is something he admires in her.  

The Greater Good

The books aren’t there yet, however, on the TV show we see Dang giving up her pursuits if the throne to go fight in the Great War against the Wight Walker. I think it’s important to note that Jon didn’t make the decision for her. He presented his case, poorly, but with the help of Tyrion and some super convenient and crazy events, Dany was able to see what really mattered.  

This hasn’t happened yet in Star Wars but I believe that story is headed in the direction of having KRB turn his back on inter-galactic domination and help the Resistance to end the war

Rey presents KRB with the opportunity to turn toward the light but he’s not ready to take it. He’ll have to figure that out on his own and come to the decision on his own. But because Rey has shown him the way he knows there is a chance.

Loneliness

This is an important element for both these couples. Even though they are all special in their own way, for one reason or another all have felt isolated from their family and society. There is a deep loneliness for all of them which began in their childhood.  

In Jon and Dany’s case, it’s loneliness but also isolation. For Jon, his status as a bastard kept him a step apart even from his family. Even those who loved him couldn’t change the fact that as a bastard he was viewed differently than them. For Dany, it’s her exile to a country where she has no connections except for her brother. As well as her poverty while still having the social status of a princess. She could never fit in and her lack of resources meant that she was unable to put down roots.

In the case, KRB and Rey is the lack of connection with others. KRB couldn’t connect with his father because Han couldn’t relate to Ben’s connection to the force. And while Leia could relate with Ben in that regard her work as a Senator and General kept her away. We all know that his connection to Luke ended disastrously and whatever connection to Snoke he has been one of control and abuse. For Rey, she was abandoned and left to the care of uncaring strangers. She has no connection to anyone when we meet her. She forms attachments quickly because of her deep loneliness.

Their Bonds

The loneliness they all feel, the sense of not belonging anywhere is the foundation for the bond that Jon & Dany and Ben & Rey form with one another.  

Jon and Dany seek belonging and acceptance. They have felt so isolated for so long that they just want to feel that they have found a place or someone they can belong to, that they can be themselves with. They find that in each other because of their shared experiences as leaders but also because of their upbringing. Their journey, as I have written many times, parallel one another and this creates a unique bond between the two of them.

In the case of KRB and Rey, the deep loneliness they both feel is literally bridged by their Force Bond. We are being shown how connected they truly are when their shared Force allows them to see one another from across the galaxy. In fact, the connection is so strong that they are able to touch one another, even though they are millions of miles away from one another. In each other, they see someone who is in need of connection but not just any connection, a connection based on compassion. Regardless of their circumstances, they have compassion for one another and the pain they see in each other.

The Gray Zone

One of the most notable things about ASoIaF is the complexity of its characters and the different shades of gray among them. Our heroes, while fighting for a common good, have engaged in acts that are deemed controversial. They make mistakes and are far from perfect. However, at the end of the day, they are heroes, just grayer than usual.

For Star Wars the dichotomy between KRB and Rey is much starker. Rey is a hero; she chose the light side of the force and she does the right thing and fights for the common good. KRB is a villain, he’s chosen the dark side of the force and is fighting for his own ambition. However, I believe the story is making its way towards a creating a gray flawed hero in KRB. His actions will eventually help the war and redeem him.

There are other themes and similarities I see in between these characters but many of them are found in your standard protagonist on their path through the Hero’s Journey. But I think enough similarities exist between these two couples that it’s notable and interesting to discuss and understand better.  

[nightmareonfilmstreet]

Dad-Bods and 6-Packs: The 14 Dreamiest Dads of Horror

Father’s Day is a day to let Dad know we care about him just as much as he cares about us. It is on this day that we celebrate the men who have been there to teach us, those that have guided us, protected us, and … made us swoon.

I know you’re thinking this is wrong, wrong, wrong and anyone who keeps tabs on the hot dads of others must have some sort of ‘daddy-issue’ of her own, but I can assure you I do not and this is all sorts of right if you can recognize a good looking man when you see one.

This is a list of  dad crushes and appreciated fathers of a very specific focus, leaving out the neighbors’ husbands and my friends’ dads (much to their relief). What we’re looking at here are the dads and father figures of the horror genre, an archetype that has since evolved by way of appearance and family involvement. Modern generations have appropriated the term ‘daddy’, once used to solely label our own fathers while we were children, to now refer to other attractive, older, men of all kinds including those with fit, rock hard abs to the worship of the ‘dad-bod’ in all its glory. We might as well enjoy the gratuity these casting directors have thrown at us and let our insides fill with butterflies before the gore and jump scares become a distraction.

Let’s take a taboo look at the dreamiest  daddies of horror, in every sense of the term you’d like to apply:

  Jesse Hellman in The Devil’s Candy

What line do I need to get in to meet a man that has great taste in music, has mad artistic skills, and has a super ripped body? While watching The Devil’s Candy, I kept thinking about how good of a dad Ethan Embry’s Jesse Hellman is to his daughter as he encourages her to be a confident individual, and how much I wanted to join their family. It’s clear to anyone with eyes that Ethan Embry has gone from playing the hopeless, hapless, friendzone inhabitant to the role of a bad-ass, hard core, head-banging king. His portrayal of Jesse Hellman has redefined the typical ‘dad’ image, bringing on a new wave of ‘cool dads’ to the horror genre. So metal. So devilishly hot.

The Devil’s Candy? More like The Eye Candy, am I right?

(Thanks, Keith!)

  Leo Barnes in The Purge Anarchy

I know how the typical saying goes, but in my experience I believe revenge is a dish best served piping hot and I consider Frank Grillo’s Sergeant Leo Barnes to raise mercury when it comes to that. The vengeful father is hellbent on taking full opportunity of murdering the man responsible for his young son’s death the night of the annual Purge, but he also has a tender heart for the innocent and helps them live through the night no matter the cost. Under that black trench coat, armored car, and dark smouldering look, Leo is a protective softie at heart. Major daddy vibes!

Leo, well, Grillo, gets bonus points for having great hair too.

  Michael Hamilton in The Cloverfield Paradox

Quite possibly the only one on this list that makes all of the right decisions while also being the most compassionate is Michael Hamilton (Roger Davies), husband to engineer Ava Hamilton. Ava leaves her husband back on Earth to board the orbiting Cloverfield Station  in hopes of saving the planet from a debilitating energy crisis. Aside from allowing her to go without so much as a plea, he is a real man who supports his wife’s intelligence, decisions, and abilities. Michael is the man running into the terrible unknown attack to offer his professional assistance when a more immediate crisis occurs. We learn that crisis is New York City being deconstructed by one of our favorite movie monsters, Clover. His care for a stranded little girl and sincere love for his wife stuck in space is a recipe for not only a good former dad, but also for a good man.

Plus… look at those biceps and appled cheek bones! I don’t know which I want to grab first. The Cloverfield Paradox lacked in a lot of areas, mostly in Michael Hamilton screen time.

  George Lutz in The Amityville Horror (2005)

Whether you’re attracted to men or not, I think everyone can back me up when I say Ryan Reynolds as George Lutz in the 2005 remake of The Amityville Horror is one of the hottest dads in cinema. That body of his would have me burning through firewood in hopes he’d go outside to chop some more so often that the ghosts would flee on their own from smoke inhalation quicker than the Lutz’s did. Who needs a priest?

Why the kids have such negative feelings about him becoming their stepdad is beyond me. I’d be willing, eagerly, to take up residency with George at the Amityville house, oozing walls and all.

  Lee Abbott in A Quiet Place

Anyone into the strong, silent type? If existing with John Krasinski’s Lee Abbott means a vow of silence, then consider me forever on ‘mute’. I think what makes Lee so appealing to viewers of this year’s breakout films, A Quiet Place, is the familiarity and comfort most of us have with him as loveable Jim of The Office, but Krasinski has since matured in both his career and his look. Lee is intelligent, bold, and, like Jim, a bit of a romantic. Silent swoon!

Say goodbye to the days of Krasinski playing the cute, sweet, funny co-worker and hello to the crafty, well-built, and handsomely bearded leading man we’d gladly sit tight in silence through the apocalypse for. Monopoly, anyone?

  Will in The Invitation

Speaking of quiet types, Logan Marshall-Green as the paranoid dinner guest Will in Karen Kusama’s The Invitation is one smoking brooder. Green has recently made a bit of a name for himself in the horror community with starring roles in M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller Devil and Leigh Whannell’s super charged Upgrade, but it’s this particular serious role of a grieving father suspicious of his ex-wife’s dinner party motives that has really drawn our attention. His tortured performance full of sizzling glances and lingering stares is intriguing and, despite the emotional pain he’s feeling over the loss of his son, is unfortunately quite sexy. Who wouldn’t want to haveWill sulking in their lap while running fingers through those long locks?

There is no mystery behind it, Will is the white hot flame of this slow burn.

  John Form in Annabelle

Have you ever met a man so smart, yet his common sense skills are a little… off? Dr. John Form is one of those guys. He is a clean cut, all American, Boy Scout of a man who is focused on achieving his goals and being enclosed within a white picket fence with his wife and growing family.

If you dig pleated pants, sweater vests, and having a hot dinner ready on the table for your husband when he arrives home from work (despite an obvious household haunting) then John is the ideal daddy. His pearly white smile and perfectly parted hair makes it a little easier to forgive him for ignorantly gifting his pregnant wife with a deadly, obviously creepy, conduit doll in Annabelle. It’s the thought that counts so we’ll gladly accept the sweet stupid sting from this handsome WASP.

  Johnathan Shannon in Wish Upon

Theres a clever saying people use down here in the south that applies well to Ryan Phillippe’s character Johnathan Shannon, in Wish Upon. It is used most commonly when someone wants to “politely” pity you without sounding mean: Bless is heart.

The role is not exactly ground-breaking front neither is the film, but it is Ryan Phillippe so naturally some part of you is going to react to his level of bad boy charm.

Normally, a man that can be found rummaging through the town’s trash cans as an all-day hobby is not truly an appealing quality I seek out in a man, but I’d be willing to make an exception here.

Imagine if he was your dad, or better yet, imagine if he was your friend’s dad? I knew exactly how Barb (Shannon Pursor who plays Phillippe’s daughter’s friend, but she will always be Barb) felt when she stared at him, mouth agape, while he pumped out some sizzling tunes from his saxophone. Oh yeah, did I mention he is a jazz musician? It’s not necessary for him to utter any of the poorly written lines for us to appreciate him for exactly what he is: a hot, dumpster diving, saxophone playing, widowed hoarder.

Yeah… I’d still go for him.

  Tom Witzky in Stir of Echoes

Kevin Bacon’s Tom Witzky is the hot, young dad on the block in Stir of Echoes. Though him and his wife have been forced from the party scene to settle in the more suburban part of town to raise their son, Tom still knows how to have a good time. He too is a modern, sexy rocker dad who appreciates a snug t-shirt and a good vinyl. I’d be okay with him destroying the backyard in search of a random dead girl’s body if it meant he’d do it shirtless each time.

I don’t want to objectify Bacon too much as he is a pretty talented actor, he’s just never really been my cup of tea aside from this film. Tom Witzky and his 90’s post-grunge demeanor must have me hypnotized…

  Seok-Woo in Train to Busan

Does anyone love a professionally dressed man in a tailored suit covered in sweat and blood as much as I do?

Workaholic Seok-Woo in Yeon-Sang ho’s epic South Korean zombie thriller Train to Busan might start off as an absent minded, selfish man trapped in the middle of a horrendous undead outbreak with his young daughter, but it’s his protective and ultimately selfless decisions that redeem him as a character and as a father. He is an extremely good looking and confident man that just needed a reality check. Being aware of the errors of his ways only makes him that much more attractive. If I was going to be trapped on a train I wouldn’t mind the uncomfortable claustrophobia nor the impending doom-by-zombies-masses if it meant he’d be close to me!

Sacrifice is always hot and always gets a guy extra points in this genre.

  Dr. Steven Murphy in The Killing Of a Sacred Deer

I briefly hesitated a little when adding Colin Farrell’s odd character from the divisive The Killing of A Sacred Deer mostly because of two reasons: 1. Out of all the dads on this list and in general, he’s pretty much the worst as far as decision making and being selfish and 2. His intimacy predelicition towards getting off on his wife acting like a corpse was decidedly a huge turn-off to me… or was it?

Thanks to some sage reasoning from a trusted fellow Contributor (Thanks, Tyler!), Dr. Steven Murphy made this list by the scrape of a scalpel. His intimacy kinks are not to be judged as he is, on the outside, hot all over. You know what they say about what goes on behind closed doors.

The thick handsome beard, hairy chest, kind eyes, the accent, and the fact that all of those are attached to Collin Farrell was enough to win me over (combined with a palette cleansing viewing of Sophia’s Coppola’s The Beguiled).

As much as I hate to admit, this cardiovascular surgeon did indeed get my heart pumping whether he liked that or not.

  Jim Hopper in Stranger Things

While Chief Jim Hopper is adult mourning the loss of his daughter at the start of Stranger Things, he is a reborn daddy the minute he takes in Eleven come the second season. Their relationship is absolutely adorable and pulls on our heartstrings in the best of ways.

But that’s not why Jim makes this list.

David Harbour, specifically as Hopper, has one of the best dad-bods in horror and science-fiction alike. I like 6-pack abs just as much as the next girl, but hugging up on a dad-bod like his is my heart’s truest desire. Hopper is a good looking testament to attractive beer guts everywhere and proves that dad-bod is THE real deal.

Average is sexy, so is a uniform. We totally dig it, guys.

  Adam Maitland in Beetlejuice

Though considerably a stretch, this suggested from another fellow Contributor (Thanks, Jessica!) couldn’t go unnoticed. Adam Maitland is not a father in Beetlejuice, but rather he acts like a dad to our favorite outsider, Lydia, and is certainly more of a father figure to her than her own. Adam’s willingness to step up to the plate when so many real fathers bow out, gives him enough dad credit to be considered for the list.

What really qualifies Alec Baldwin’s early role is that Adam is living and breathing (sort of) Dad-style incarnate. The khakis, the glasses, the belt, the plaid, the modeling hobby. Adam is all dad from the inside out without actually being one and for some, I’m assuming, psychologically explainable reason we find him to be completely crush-worthy, ironically hitting us right in our amorous feelings.

Adam is the one dad on this list we can safely fantasize about only because he is not a dad by law nor by biology.

He can haunt my house anytime.

  Lucifer in Rosemary’s Baby

As one of our brilliant Nightmare on Film Street hosts pointed out, I really can’t complete this list without including the biggest, baddest, and most physically hottest dad in all of horror and cinema, the devil himself (Thanks, Kim!).

He’s actually fiery and steamy, being the King of Hell and all, and is, biologically, father to the otherworldly offspring he’s forced upon poor Rosemary in Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby. He may not be a pleasant looker, unless your into horns, hoofs, and a tail, but I’m gonna label him the ‘wild card’ of this list because all groups need one. Looks are subjective, so the criteria for being a ‘hot dad’ of horror is not necessarily reliant on outer appearance alone.

Lucifer is the hottest, literally.

  There you have it, a sizzling handful of dreamy dads to make your Father’s Day either super uncomfortable or a lot more enjoyable. Horror is getting hotter and hotter every day and the cast lists for the roles of daddies, I mean, fathers is setting off smoke alarms in all directions. If we have to face flesh-eating zombies, tormenting demons, blood hungry murderers, invading creatures, and the inevitable end of the world why not sit back, embrace the modern times, and enjoy the view?

Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there! You’re all automatic additions to this list for being horror fans to begin with.

  The post Dad-Bods and 6-Packs: The 14 Dreamiest Dads of Horror appeared first on Nightmare on Film Street - Horror Movie Podcast, News and Reviews.

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[septembersung]

I can forgive Protestants and Protestantism for most things.

I can forgive Protestants for the Know-Nothing Party and their murderous Philadelphia Nativist Riot, the Intolerable Acts, Bloody Monday and the Orange Riots in New York City in 1871 and 1872. I forgive them for the “Blaine Amendments” which forbade tax money be used to fund Catholic parochial schools.

I can also forgive them for the KKK and for funding the Mexican atheist genocidal maniac Plutarco Ares Calles in his efforts to kill Catholics during the Cristero Wars. I can forgive them for calling any, and all, popes, the “Anti-Christ(s)” and “Whores(s) of Babylon.”

I also forgive them for supporting Henry VIII’s Act of Supremacy by which the Church gained many of her modern martyrs. In addition, I forgive them for the Recusancy Acts and the fictitious, so-called “Popish Plot.” I forgive them also for the fact that as a Catholic, I shall never sit upon the British Throne though literally everyone else is allowed to do so.

I can forgive Protestants for The Troubles in Ireland and Oliver Cromwell and his engineered Potato Famine and the slaughter and military occupation of that country. I forgive them for the enslavement of 50,000 men, women and children who were forcibly removed from Ireland and sent to Bermuda and Barbados as indentured servants―America’s first slaves.

I forgive them for the Canadian Gavazzi Riots and the Orange Order and Ontario Regulation 17 that doomed Catholic schools in Quebec. I won’t even mention the American Protective Association and their Canadian counterparts, the Protestant Protective Association as I’ve chosen to forgive. I also forgive Protestants for forcibly converting Catholic convicts and political prisoners to Anglicanism in Australia something that Moslem terrorists have been doing for 1400 years.

I forgive Protestants for 500 years of venom and vitriol spouted by every street preacher and door-knocker―the seething anti-Catholic hatred that is at the core of primitive Mormonism, Seventh-Day Adventism and Jehovah’s Witnesses―but not them exclusively. Indeed, it makes up a great deal of traditional Anglicanism, Methodism and many other forms of “mainstream” Protestantism.

I forgive Protestants who refuse to refer to Catholics as “Christians.”

I also forgive them for intentionally ignoring the 1500 years that occurred prior to Martin Luther when everyone in Western Europe who was a Christian was, by necessity, a Catholic.

I forgive them for Bismarck’s Kulturkampf, the inspiration for the current assault upon religious liberty in America and Europe. Don’t worry, Jack Chick and your ignorant and poisonous “Chick Tracts” and for calling Catholics, “Mackerel Snappers”―all is forgiven.

I forgive Martin Luther for foisting a desecrated and greatly redacted Bible upon the world pretending that God “would have wanted it that way.” Luther removed seven books and parts of three others from the Old Testament―the fullness of which is called the Septuagint and was used by Christ himself when he walked among us.

And I also forgive Martin Luther for accepting funding from Suleiman the Magnificent, the Sultan of the Muslim Ottoman Empire as he “struggled” to succeed from the Catholic Church. Luther schemed to throw Christendom under the bus for fun and profit as he urged his fellow Protestants to side with the Muslim Turks in defeating the Catholic Church and, with it, Europe. Suleiman even extended his munificent kinship to any and all Protestants in Hungary and Romania now that they were no longer “Christian” (i.e., loyal to the pope). The sultan urged Luther and Protestants to unite under the Muslim banner to defeat both the emperor and the pope. Please recall that Suleiman the Terrorist wanted nothing less than to wipe Christianity from the planet―talk about politics and their strange bedfellows!

But all is forgiven … I swear it.

I forgive Protestants for the ridiculous 700 Club television show and their tiresome attacks on the One, True, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I also forgive Protestants for taking 500 years to realize that Sola Scriptura is a great deal of nonsense and that even Luther had a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary―the first Christian, the Mother of God and, indeed, the second most often quoted individual in the Gospels.

I also forgive Protestants for their cognitive dissonance in simultaneously insisting that: 1) everyone is allowed to interpret the Bible as they wish and they are all equally correct and 2) Catholics are wrong in the way they interpret the Bible no matter how they do it.

I forgive Protestants for their anti-Catholicism, which is what historian John Highham called “the most luxuriant, tenacious tradition of paranoiac agitation in American history,” and what historian Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. has called, “the deepest-held bias in the history of the American people.”

I also forgive Protestants for their support of the violence towards Catholics during the so-called “Enlightenment” and for the development of Freemasonry and the Brazilian “Religious Question” and the Columbian La Violencia and the Michelade Massacre of 1567. By the way, Freemasonry’s exotic magicalism greatly contributed to the development of Mormonism, Unitarianism, Seventh-Day Adventism, Christian Scientists and Jehovah’s Witness’ Arianistic perspectives.

For all of this, I have nothing but forgiveness for them.

I forgive Protestants for making Fr. Nicholas Copernicus put the brakes on his heliocentric theory and data until after his death even though his friend, Pope Paul III, urged him to publish while the scientist was still alive. Apparently, Fr. Copernicus hoped to avoid upsetting Luther and Melanchthon who were both contemptuous of the priest’s heliocentric paradigm and feared that his theories would further alienate Protestants against the Church from which they originally sprang.

This isn’t an empty Christian platitude―I truly forgive them for the Great Tragedy, that is, their sixteenth century split with Rome.

I also forgive them for John Calvin’s, Ian Paisley’s and the Westboro Baptist Church’s reductive, tiresome and poisonous bluster and posturing. I further forgive Protestants for their support and schadenfreude as they stood back and did nothing during Spain’s Red Terror and during Hitler’s repression of the Catholic Church especially for The Night of Long Knives. But my forgiveness isn’t limited to only this opprobrium. Indeed, I also forgive Dutch Protestants’ explicit support of the Tokugawa Shogunate when they slaughtered tens of thousands of Japanese Catholics in the sixteenth century.

I forgive them one and all for the 500 years of anti-Catholic stereotypes typical in their literature as in Edgar Allan Poe’s The Pit and the Pendulum, Paul Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress and Ann Radcliffe’s The Italian.

I forgive them for their support/coddling of the rabidly fundamentalist atheist “Americans United for Separation of Church and State” which was originally an explicitly anti-Catholic organization called “Protestants and Other Americans United for Separation of Church and State.”

I forgive all Protestants for crucifying European history with their insidious and indecorous “Black Legend” which poisoned the minds of hundreds of millions of people who would rather believe lies about the Inquisition rather than risk reading a book on the subject.

I even forgive Protestants for the countless false prophecies concerning the end of the world that have proved time and time again to be absolutely false. As an aside, I also forgive them for ignoring Scriptures that specifically explain how to distinguish between one of God’s real prophets and a false one:

You may wonder how you can tell when a prophet’s message does not come from the Lord. If a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord and what he says does not come true, then it is not the Lord’s message. That prophet has spoken on his own authority, and you are not to fear him. (Deut. 18:21-22)

In addition, I forgive Protestants for ignoring Christ’s own words (the red-letter words) when he commissions St. Peter as the Church’s leader:

And so I tell you, Peter: you are a rock, and on this rock foundation I will build My church, and not even death will ever be able to overcome it. (Matt. 16:18)

And like the previous passage, Protestants will ignore the salient fact that Christ’s One, True, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church will never fail. Not even the Gates of Hell will prevail against it. If follows that if an organization that claims to be inspired by the Holy Spirit actually fails miserably, that means the Holy Spirit wasn’t truly with them such as the Anabaptists, the Shakers and the Puritans. 11 Protestant churches close every day in America. It’s impossible to determine how many close every day around the world. There are 41,000 Protestant churches around the world currently and that means at least 40,999 are completely wrong. This doesn’t include the many tens of thousands of Protestant churches that have failed in the past 500 years. God clearlyisn’t dictating different messages to intentionally sow discord, confusion and lies … however, this does remind me of another lesser spirit who enjoys doing exactly this (John 8:44).

But what I can’t forgive them for, not yet at least, is their insipid restorationism―the idea that God somehow made a mistake 2000 years ago when he gave control of his, One, True Church to the Catholic Church and the papacy whose progenitor was St. Peter as testified by Christ not once but twice in the New Testament (Matt. 16:18-19, John 21:15-17).

Restorationism is the belief that Christianity should be restored to how it was during the Apostolic Era using nothing but Scriptures―a project doomed to failure. Their goal to re-establish Christianity in its original form has been a part of Christianity for 2000 years and, indeed, St. Francis of Assisi hoped to “get back to the basics” also but he didn’t make the mistake of believing that God had made a mistake in putting St. Peter and his successors in charge. Rather, he hoped to refocus the Church―not to change dogma and authority.

This is not something that can be generously glossed over as their previous genocide of Catholics on multiple continents or even the desecration of our holiest places over the past 500 years. The trillions of Protestant lies about Catholics are as naught in comparison to this blasphemy.

To suggest that God was somehow mistaken in anything he does is scurrilous impiety and profane heresy.

Luther’s “Ecce ego sto!” sounds more and more like Lucifer’s “Non servium!”

Restorationism is anathema. God makes no mistakes (Ps. 19:7-10). He doesn’t mumble or backpeddle like Allah (Ps. 12:6-7). He’s not confused or addlebrained (Neh. 9:6). He needs no assistance from anyone or anything (Col. 1:6). His decisions are final and perfect in their love and justice (Prov. 16:10). He doesn’t need to explain himself (Rom. 1:20). He accepts no counsel (Ps. 33:11).

When God bestowed stewardship upon Peter and his successors, God didn’t mean “well … you can be in charge until people in the sixteenth century come to know better.”

Restorationism is beyond comprehension. God isn’t imperfect and thus, anyone who worships an imperfect God isn’t worshiping the Trinity (Ps. 18:30).

Muslims also celebrate a restorationism of sorts in that they believe Islam is what Allah always had in mind but was simply not sure how to implement it successfully until the advent of Mohammad. They believe that both Jews and Christians have become corrupted along with their sacred scriptures, which are “untrustworthy” due to Allah’s machinations. And that only they have a perfect and complete understanding of God’s “true plan.”

Sound familiar?

But if this is true, as in the case of Protestantism, then how did God’s message get garbled in the first place? Wouldn’t God have known his message was going to get hinky? If he’s omniscient and omnicompetent he would. A lesser god would easily fall into this error.

How was he so foolish in trusting the wrong people initially? How could mere mortals come to realize something that he couldn’t (Job 38:1-41:34)?

But, more importantly, how can we ever trust this imperfect deity now that new messengers, none of whom are divine, have come along? Perhaps this deity is confused once again. It’s a slippery slope and one that is easily proven wrong.

I don’t see a difference in what these Christian restorationists believe and that which Islamic restorationists proffer. It’s not odd that Protestants had received Muslim financial, political and ideological support 500 years ago―birds of a feather, as it were.

But the main reason I condemn restorationism is that it’s a non-starter. If someone believes in evil grand conspiracy theories, they make themselves out to be the hero/champion that God has been looking for. It’s up to them and no one else! They are the thin holy line that separates Order and Chaos―between Heaven and Hell. And as they are assured of their sanctified state, anything and everything they think, say and do is acceptable. After all, this is what “God wanted” all along…