#he did it to save his childhood hero because batman the symbol and the person mattered more than standing by and trusting anyone else | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

themandylion · 3 years

Note

97 & 41 jaytim

Oh wow, this ended up long. /o\

97 (Time Travel) + 41 (First Kiss) + JayTim

He's boosting tires in the Bowery when the thugs find him. Crowd him up against a wall and threaten him with bodily harm for horning in on their territory, even though this part of the city is a free-for-all, with no one reigning supreme. There's three of them to his one, all of them full-grown men with bulging muscles and nasty tempers and Jason knows he's in his final moments, that there's no way he's escaping this. Still, that doesn't mean he's going to go down without a fight. He squares his shoulders, plants his feet, raises the tire iron in his hand, and—

Between one blink and the next, the back-most thug is on the ground, groaning and clutching his crotch. There's a blur of red, and then the next one's down on his knees, the crowbar he was gripping half a block away and the hand that was holding it pinned to the wall by a slim, sharp-edged disk.

Silver flashes through the night, and the final guy collapses in a heap, just sprawled out on the pavement like he's not even human anymore, just a pile of discard clothes over something lumpy and unmoving. Someone lands on his back, light and nimble and impossibly tall. "You okay there, kid?" the new person asks, crouching down so he's at Jason's level and smiling.

"…Batman?" He's only ever seen the Bat from a distance before, but he's heard about the cape and cowl, and this guy has both.

The guy shakes his head. "Nope, not him. I'm his partner, though."

"Robin wears green," Jason feels compelled to point out, because he's definitely seen Robin before, though always on the TV, when the Teen Titans are fighting really scary bad guys elsewhere in the world.

This time, a shadow seems to pass over the man's face, sad and unhappy. "I'm a different kind of Robin. Red Robin. I'm pretty new, it's not surprising you haven't heard of me." He leans back on his heels and glances around at the thugs, frowning. "I've got to tie these guys up and leave them somewhere the GCPD will find them. Do you think you can get home on your own?"

Jason gulps, staring up at him, at the way all that tight leather and spandex hugs his body. Gee whiz. "Yeah, I. I can take care of myself. Thanks!" He surges forward, practically smacking his mouth against Red Robin's cheek, before running off into the night. Maybe not headed home, but to as close as anything gets, these days.

---

Two weeks later, Batman catches him boosting tires on Crime Alley. A week later, he's going home with the man. Jason asks about Red Robin and gets a confused, clueless look, which is strange. With everything else happening, he forgets about the man in the black cowl with the silver staff, but he still finds himself drawn to that one particular shade of red.

---

He forgets until the memory is jarred out of the deepest depths years later on the other side of the multiverse, when he's bound to a chair and staring down the barrel of gun. A gun held by another Batman, a different Bruce. One who did all the things he thought he wanted his Bruce to do, only to end up a broken man as a result. Jason tries to explain himself and his presence, but it's hard to when he keeps seeing that suit in the case over this Batman's shoulder.

They reach an understanding, a kind of peace. Both of them, finally, for the first time in ages. This other Bruce offers him the suit, and Jason doesn't think twice before putting it on. He's traveled across the multiverse, seen places where dead people live again, where evil people are good and vice versa. It's not too far a stretch to believe that somehow, he's going become his own childhood hero.

When he finishes pulling on the last piece, Bruce looks on him with pride and announces, "Red Robin lives!"

"Red…?" Jason murmurs, more than a little startled. It's been so long, he'd nearly forgotten the name, but it fits, it makes sense. Finally, he's back on the right path, back to being someone the boy he once was could be proud of. Will be proud of, when their paths cross again, which he's sure they will.

---

The other Batman dies.

---

They get back, finally done traveling across the multiverse, fleeing across Apokolips, running from plagues and maybes and might-have-beens. Donna and Rayner return to wherever they call home, and Jason... He thought he finally found himself when he put on the cowl and became Red Robin, but with everything that happened after that moment, all the contrition he gained has been too long stewing in a half-broken heart. He isn't sure who rescued him when he was a kid, but it wasn't him, and it wasn't the long-dead Jason of another world. Maybe it was no one at all, and he made it all up and convinced himself it was real.

He runs back to Gotham, strips off the cape and cowl, the bandoliers and leather. Throws it all in the trash and goes to knock some heads and blow off some steam, anything to escape from what the rest of the Justice League brought with them—a sob story and a broken, days-old body.

---

The suit disappears from the can where he threw it, and he thinks good riddance to bad rubbish, but the person who's wearing it now doesn't understand the significance, the legacy. Doesn't know what it symbolizes, a last chance at redemption, a final loss of innocence.

The new kid distracts him, muddies the water and still Jason doesn't see it, doesn't realize what's happening. Even when the kid takes the cowl, adds it to his green-free suit, he doesn't see it.

Jason's too busy fighting, too busy screaming, raging, being angry at himself and the world to realize how things are swirling tighter and tighter, closing in, twining together, weaving themselves in an intricate, impossible mesh that's new and old and always existing all at the same time. The three of them—him and Dick and the new kid—push and shove and fight and scream and grieve in their own ways, trying to figure out who they're going to be now, what the world is without Bruce.

He ignores overtures of friendship, leaves the kid broken and bleeding out and thinks nothing of it, still too busy hurting and too busy denying he hurts.

Thinks nothing of Robin back on the streets in red and green and black and yellow, a different boy, an actual child.

---

Bruce comes back, but he's just as stubborn as always, and Jason burned the last of his bridges while the old man was playing possum. There's nothing left for him to do but lurk in the shadows and grit his teeth and watch Drake bounce around the city in a costume that isn't his, telling himself he doesn't care, that it doesn't rub him the wrong way.

Doesn't actually realize what's happening until one day he's watching as Drake races across the city, ready to step in and stop him if he dares to cross into Red Hood's territory when suddenly—

There's no one. The roof's empty, not a soul in sight.

He swings over, investigates. There's a strange acrid smell in the air along with the faintest traces of sweat and exhaustion, but there's no clue to where he's gone, no hint. Minutes pass and the sky is getting darker as evening turns into night. Just when he's given up, Drake reappears, but still, unmoving. One hand grasping his staff while the other touches his cheek and he stares into nothing, dazed and unfocused.

His attention snaps up, and Jason is too startled to move, still standing there in the middle of the roof, the two of them locked in place.

"Holy fuck." He can't. This isn't—

He's tried to kill Drake multiple times over the years. They've barely had a conversation that hasn't ended with Jason drawing a knife or a gun, and more often than not he comes out on top. Leaves the guy knowing that he's alive at Jason's mercy.

But now he's standing there, finally grown into the Red Robin suit and name, filling it in all the right places, all the right ways, grasping a staff that Jason somehow failed to recognize until this exact moment.

"I never—" He never thought to make the connection, always assumed it had to be someone else, some one huge. Big enough to match the larger-than-life figure that dominated a half-forgotten memory.

"Huh." Red Robin collapses his staff, clips it his belt. "Random time blip? I didn't even realize."

Which would explain it. Of course he didn't realize—no way would he have helped that other, younger Jason if he'd known who it was. Why save a boy who's going to grow up to become a monster bent on destroying him over and over again. "Sorry," Jason says, startled, confused, unable to wrap his head around it all as he stumbles backwards, tries to do what he always does when he's confronted with too much, too fast—run.

Red Robin—Drake—tilts his head to the side and then does something completely unexpected. He shoves back the cowl and studies Jason with cool, clear eyes. "I have a feeling this has been a weird night for both of us. You could stick around. We could figure this out together."

So help him, Jason hesitates. "Time travel is pretty weird."

"I was thinking more being kissed by my childhood crush. But yeah, that too."

"Your… what?"

"Come on," he says, holding out a hand. "I think it's time we finally talked. Maybe without the death threats this time?"

Gulping, Jason takes that hand in his.

It's not much, but. It's a start.

(The Fanfic Trope MASH-UP is still open for asks!)

#JayTim #time travel #Red Robin #ask meme #anonymous #themandylion writes #my fic #weirdly canon compliant in its own special way 🤔#trope mash up

74 notes · View notes

cannotgiveafuck · 5 years

Text

Billy Batson & Captain Marvel identity analysis (long post ahead)

Alrighty then! So I contemplated posting this bc it's so closely tied to the wip fic, buuuut here it is. Ive never been really satisfied with how some media portray this character bc they either lean too far towards childish or angry, or divide the identities too much. And whilst writing the fic I thought about how I wanted to portray him and what that entailed. A long semi comprehensive ramble of headcanons and character analysis based on the individual and combined identities of Billy and Marvel!

First, we have Billy. This kid who's parents died on a work trip, was left in the care of a greedy/selfish old man that did not care for him at all, has bounced through foster homes for a plethora of reasons (some of which are behavioral or abusive), and ultimately decided trying to make it on the streets was his best option (before being picked up by Dudley).

Now, backstory wise, it's all very obvious that Billy would have trust issues, especially towards adults (and double towards adults who try to control him). His learned attitude towards those that set their eyes on him (both before and especially after becoming Marvel) is guarded and aggressively defensive, he's snarky and sarcastic, ready to flee at a moments notice, and scared of being once again used, abused, and tossed aside if he were to trust someone. But at his soft core he desperately wants to be cared for, he wants affection and love and family, he wants a safe and secure home, he wants to believe in good.

All of this bleeds into his attitude towards his peers, too. Before becoming Marvel, he's a bit jaded and lost - his wrecked home life creating the chasm that keeps him from opening up and relating to others, from making real friends (the few exceptions being friends he considers family, and whom he is very loyal and protective of). After Marvel, Billy doesn't even try to associate with kids his own age. He stops going to school and is so focused on trying to be a good hero, he has distanced himself even more. But also, all the situations that he is exposed to really matures him. He still enjoys video games and sports, but he's also worrying about keeping Fawcett City and the world safe and working with JL - he doesn't have time nor patience for naive and clueless kids. But since he still is a kid and wants to have fun, those he let's in he holds onto and divulges everything to.

However, despite his hard outer shell, I do believe Billy is good and tries to be good and wants to see the good in those around him. A prominent and reoccurring memory of his parents is them telling him to be a good kid. That very much shapes Billy's views and ideologies. He wants to be a good person, which means he needs to help others (however he sees fit, from stopping bullies to carrying an old ladys groceries), but also realize that there is good all around him in everyone else, too. He has kind neighbors, and a community that helps each other, he knows everyone has their own struggles and they may direct negative emotions outward but may just need a helping hand in return. Billy knows suffering and cruelty and does not want to cause that, he wants to end it. So, theres this conflict inside him that he views as being smart vs being good. His true sunshine and trusting demeanor is boosted when he is chosen by Shazam, because now he has this divine and worldly responsibility to do and be good. And while he does not hold value in himself (abandoned and abused orphan does not hold a high confidence or self esteem level), he also wants to prove that he is worthy of inheriting this power, that there is good in this world and in him.

Now, second we have Captain Marvel. This is where identities become...complicated. The way I see it, Marvel is a mesh of 'Billy Batson', 'The Potential Adult Billy Could Be', and 'The Vessel of The Greek Gods Powers'. Since I've gone over Billy's identity, it transfers onto Marvel pretty seamlessly. So as The Adult Billy, he is still Billy Batson, but the grown up version, comfortable in his skin and in social standings with others, he is without the limiting physiological responses and capabilities of being a child. Despite all his experiences, Billy is still a kid - a bit awkward in his growing body, he's impulsive with his emotional responses, he jumps to conclusions and is very one track minded, has a hard time putting words to thoughts or instincts and understanding certain things and intentions (situations being very black and white). But as Adult Billy who is Marvel, he still sees through the same eyes, but he can filter distractions and pause to think through reflexive emotions, and he has a better understanding on just how morally grey the world can be, a gained clarity on other intentions and livelihoods, and he can empathize and read other's emotions in more detail than just the basic happy/mad/sad. Basically, Billy's brain has physically grown to that of an adult.

On the other hand, there is also what I like to believe is a...sort of third will in what makes Captain Marvel. He is, for all intents and purposes, a vessel or an avatar of sorts. He is a Chosen Champion by the Wizard Shazam to wield the powers of the Greek Gods (specifically the Greek gods, bc...well, that's a whole other post to ramble on), hes the mortal connection between them and the human world, their gift to the humans as a protector, as the guiding light of good. He is a symbol and title beyond one person. It is much like the mantle of Batman being passed on, except instead of all the gadgets and tech and databases...it's experiences and memories and wisdom gained by the previous Marvels, and available when properly called upon. Captain Marvel is like a reincarnation every time there is a new chosen champion. Billy is himself, but there were also others before him, other Marvels that existed and lived that can be remembered.

There is, however, a weird side effect to this being that the more in touch and immersed with these previous Marvel's he becomes, the more he slips away from himself - less Billy and human, more ancient and disconnected. He loses Billy's mannerisms and speech pattern and warm empathy, he still follows the ideology of good, but the charisma is gone, he's distant and cold.

All of this makes for a very interesting and fun way of writing Marvel and Billy - in how they each think through situations, how they each interact with the same people, how they each react to everything. And that's including how the same people react and treat each of them differently. Someone may see and treat Billy as a kid, but with Marvel they interact with and see an adult, a peer. When someone knows who Marvel really is, they need to consciously remind themselves that Marvel is Billy is a kid, because literally everything about Marvel screams at their senses that he's an adult (sunshine naivety aside). He still walks and talks and looks and is capable of thinking like an adult. It's not a situation of a couple of kids standing on top of each other in a trenchcoat or a kid dressing and doing their makeup like an adult. Magic has made him an adult, sort of.

At the core of it, the one experiencing and remembering and feeling everything is a child. There is no separating that, he is a different face of the same coin. So while Marvel can handle the emotional and mental exhaustion and stress of the situations he is put in, Billy Batson is going to suffer through the replays when everything is done. Because superheroing is not all saving lives and being praised, it's seeing people be hurt and bleed, interacting with the worst of humanity and others, witnessing tragedies and death in small intimate encounters and in large numbers. He is the one that will have nightmares and trouble sleeping, he is the one that will bear the brunt of the trauma and remorse, navigating detailed memories of violence and how it felt to hurt, wondering why there are phantom pains and aches when his body is not damaged, all with no trusted support system to turn to (because if he does, will the JL just see him as a child who cannot handle being a hero? will they turn him away?). Billy is the one having his childhood and innocence ripped away from him for the sake of the world. There are consequences of being the chosen champion, and while Billy is willing to accept them, will continue to fight and uphold his divine duties, will put others before himself every time, it wont make be easy.

The potential of how complicated Billy and Marvel can be, and how other heroes cannot fully comprehend it without a trusted in depth discussion (only Black Adam can understand and lemme tell you, that's a hot mess) - that's what makes him and his situation so interesting and fun to write.

#billy Batson #captain marvel #shazam #long post #character analysis rambling #i just have lots of ideas and feelings for his lightning boy #and this is just billy as a kid #as a teenager it gets even more complicated

372 notes · View notes

explodingcrenelation · 5 years

Text

Tony Stark and the Messianic Archetype in Avengers: Endgame

* * * * * S P O I L E R S ahead for Avengers: Endgame * * * * *

From a purely analytical standpoint, I don’t have anything against Tony’s character arc in Endgame culminating with his death. His last moments in the heat of battle weren’t rushed, poorly written, or unearned. If Tony Stark was going to die on screen, of course he’d do it like a goddamn badass—and he did.

At this point Marvel is telling a single story to millions upon millions of people and there’s no way they can craft a narrative to suit every single person. When I say Tony's death didn’t work for me, I do so knowing that Marvel wasn’t writing the story for me anyway. And I'm not trying to disparage the creative team's efforts and storytelling choices. They made a call. I don’t agree it was the right one.

For me, Tony’s death traps him inside a Messianic Archetype that doesn’t elevate his character in a wholly satisfying way and doesn’t fit the themes of the established, team-centric universe. In this essay I will…

…actually write a fucking 4000-word essay, so buckle up and read on if you’re in for the ride.

What Is the Messianic Archetype?

The Messianic Archetype is a messiah trope. It’s exactly what it sounds like—one person (usually (but not always) white, usually (but not always) male) who sacrifices themselves for the greater good.

Here’s how TV Tropes puts it:

In media, the Messianic Archetype is a character whose role in the story (but not necessarily personality) echoes that of Christ. They are portrayed as a savior, whether the thing they are saving is a person, a lot of people or the whole of humanity. They endure a sizable sacrifice as the means of bringing that salvation about for others, a fate they do not deserve up to and including death or a Fate Worse than Death. Other elements may be mixed and matched as required but the Messianic Archetype will include one or more of the following:

- The Chosen One. - True Companions who follow him. - Betrayal by one of those followers. - Persecution by nonbelievers. - Crucified Hero Shot (or other parallels to the Passion Play). - Figurative or literal resurrection. - A Second Coming. - The initials JC.

Some examples of Messianic Archetypes in popular narratives are: Gandalf in Lord of the Rings, Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (or Kirk in Star Trek: Into Darkness), Harry Potter in The Deathly Hallows, Superman in Batman vs Superman, or Neo in the Matrix trilogy. The Doctor in Doctor Who is frequently and repeatedly presented as a messiah figure. Multiple incarnations of Sherlock also follow suit in multiple imaginings of the the Reichenbach Falls scenario. (I won’t go into details with any of these characters. I trust the Messianic Archetypes here are obvious to anyone familiar with these stories.)

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe itself, we see Messianic Archetypes popping up all over the place—like daisies! Steve plays this part when he sacrifices himself in The First Avenger to stop Red Skull's plan to bomb several major American cities. His time in the ice is a kind of death from which he is subsequently “resurrected” in modern day New York. To a lesser extent, he also offers himself up as a sacrifice to save Bucky in The Winter Soldier.

T’Challa follows this pattern in Black Panther when he’s betrayed by W’Kabi, defeated by Killmonger, and subsequently resurrected within the safety of M’Baku’s tribe.

In the first Thor movie, Thor is betrayed by Loki, sacrifices himself to the Destroyer to protect his human friends, and he comes back from near-death with the return of Mjölnir, having proven himself worthy of the hammer.

Carol Danvers destroys Mar-Vell’s engine in Captain Marvel to keep enemies from getting their hands on tech that could harm millions of innocent people. Her human life symbolically ends in the subsequent explosion, and she’s effectively reborn with superpowers.

Pepper Potts is betrayed by her former colleague Killian in Iron Man 3, selected as his “chosen one” for the Extremis injection, and she dies and is reborn from fire.

Yondu in Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2—

Well, I could go on for a long time, but... you get the idea.

The Messianic Archetype isn’t particularly new to popular media, let alone the MCU.

This trope is deeply, almost subconsciously, woven into the fabric of popular western storytelling. There's nothing inherently wrong with that. Tropes are tropes for a reason—they speak to us on a cultural and instinctual level. We want to hear these stories over and over, replay them in new ways and look at them from different angles precisely because there is something meaningful in the narrative.

And Tony Stark's narrative is no exception. His repeated acts of self-sacrifice fit into the Messianic Archetype very, very well.

Proof That Tony Stark Has a Heart

The MCU kicked off in 2008 with the first Iron Man movie and Tony Stark has ostensibly been the main character of the franchise from the beginning.

The Iron Man movies establish early on that Tony has a savior complex to match the size of his ego. Our genius playboy billionaire philanthropist is a deeply flawed hero who started out his career as a maker of WMDs. He was widely known as “The Merchant of Death” before he saw the error of his ways. Tony understands he has done many Bad Things and he must atone for those Bad Things—with his life, if necessary.

“I shouldn’t be alive, unless it was for a reason. ... I finally know what I have to do and I know in my heart that it’s right.” —Tony Stark, Iron Man

The first Iron Man movie climaxes with Tony ordering Pepper to blow the Arc Reactor to stop Stane’s rampage, even though Tony might perish in the process. In Iron Man 2, Tony is actively dying from palladium poisoning, but he faces down Vanko (sans Iron Man suit) on the speedway of the Monaco Historic Grand Prix. In the first Avengers movie, we see Tony put his life on the line to get a nuclear weapon out of New York.

This is a repeated pattern for Tony, and like an addict, it’s one he struggles to break. Over and over Tony flings himself into the fray, believing he’s the one who makes the difference—he’s the willing sacrifice whose blood saves the world.

Tony selects himself to be “the chosen one” because he sees himself as the one at fault for bringing evil into the world.

“We create our own demons. Who said that? What does that even mean? Doesn’t matter, I said it cause he said it. ...So why am I telling you this? Because I had just created demons, and I didn’t even know it.” —Tony Stark, Iron Man 3

Iron Man 3 shows us just how deeply responsible Tony feels for the wrongs of the world. Because he made naive (and selfish) mistakes when he was young, Tony blames himself for creating villains that plague the earth now.

We see this best in the aftermath of the destruction of Tony’s mansion in Malibu.

“Pepper, it’s me. I’ve got a lot of apologies to make and not a lot of time. So first off, I’m so sorry I put you in harm’s way. That was selfish and stupid and it won’t happen again. ...And I’m sorry in advance because I can’t come home yet. I need to find this guy. You got to stay safe. That’s all I know.” —Tony Stark, Iron Man 3

Yes, Tony absolutely provoked the Mandarin, a known terrorist, and the result is the complete annihilation of Tony’s home. Tony accepts responsibility for the destruction as though he was the one who shot the missiles himself. He goes so far as to volunteer himself for a solo mission to find the Mandarin without even bothering to contact SHIELD or the Avengers for help. He made this mess, he’s going to clean it up. All the while he suffers through crippling anxiety and panic attacks, demonstrating that the burden he’s put on his own shoulders is, in fact, too much for him to handle by himself. Still, Tony denies himself the comforts of home and family until he can atone for his wrongdoings.

Miraculously, Iron Man 3 gives Tony a respite when the tables are turned and, for once, Tony is the one ultimately saved by Pepper. After her rescue (pun intended), Tony gives up the armor, commits to having the shrapnel taken out of his chest, and he starts rebuilding the literal ruins of his life—both physical and metaphorical.

The respite doesn’t last, of course, because recovery doesn’t go in a straight line—oh, and also the franchise isn’t over and the MCU kinda needs Iron Man. And so Tony slides back into familiar, self-destructive patterns.

"Few years ago, I almost lost [Pepper], so I trashed all my suits. Then, we had to muck up Hydra. And then Ultron. My fault. And then, and then, and then. I never stopped. 'Cause the truth is, I don't wanna stop.” —Tony Stark, Civil War

Tony taking on the mantle of the Messianic Archetype once more in Endgame falls perfectly in line with his established need to compulsively and perpetually atone for his sins. As a perfectionist who needs to assuage his guilt for his ongoing (and perceived) failures, Tony simply can’t stop himself from offering up his life in penance. Statistically it was bound to catch up with him, and in Endgame it does.

And not only does Tony give his life in true Messianic fashion, we are “treated” to a hyper-realistic and painfully extended sequence where his life drains out of him as his loved ones gather to witness him gasping out his last breath. (Thanks for that, by the way, Marvel. I’ll put this scene with the dead baby bunnies my childhood cat used to bring home as gifts. How thoughtful.)

Maybe the reason for the intensity of Tony’s death scene is to make the audience believe his death is the Real Thing, not some comic-book-superhero-movie trickery that he’ll be back from in a few minutes’ time. Perhaps it’s the only way to ensure we commit to the emotional depth of the moment. Perhaps the filmmakers see it as an homage to RDJ’s acting talent and commitment to the role. Regardless of the rationale behind the camera’s unflinching gaze, Tony’s excruciating death hammers home the brutal and lonely reality of the Messianic Archetype: it’s cruel to put the fate of the world on one person’s shoulders.

But Tony embraces that end. He throws himself into the machinery of fate, convinced he’s the cog that will make it all work.

And he does make it work.

So why is that a problem?

The Team-Oriented Universe

The problem with Tony doubling (tripling? quadrupling?) down on the Messianic Archetype at the apex of the franchise is that the MCU is an ensemble, team-oriented universe.

“You think you're the only superhero in the world? Mr. Stark, you've become part of a bigger universe, you just don't know it yet." —Nick Fury, Iron Man

Fury tells us from the get-go that Tony isn’t the be-all-end-all of the MCU. It’s possible for Tony—for them all—to become something greater than the sum of their parts.

“There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more.” —Nick Fury, Avengers

The entire first Avengers movie is dedicated to establishing this premise, to getting these knuckleheads to work together because, alone, they’re too wrapped up in their own bullshit to adequately deal with the forces that threaten the planet. Things don’t start to go right for them until they set aside their personal issues and act as a unit.

As we all know, our team passes the test and they establish an important principle of the MCU: teamwork is powerful and it’s more effective than working solo.

True, Tony’s self-sacrifice in the context of the Battle of New York helps save the day; but it’s only one part of a coordinated effort. Tony chucking the nuke into space would have been pointless without the added efforts of Steve to coordinate civilian safety, Hawkeye to relay enemy movements, Thor to separate Loki from the scepter, Natasha to close the portal, and Hulk to subdue Loki and ultimately catch Tony as he fell from the wormhole. The team achieved a better outcome together than they each could have achieved separately.

But even in the shared afterglow of winning the Battle of New York, the individual members of the team struggle to perfect their dynamic. New challenges present themselves. There’s always room for the team to grow and become stronger together as the franchise progresses. That’s the whole point.

Tony, for his part, waffles back and forth between his desire to be the savior mechanic (to fix everything by himself) and his desire to work cooperatively with his found-family of superheroes for the common good. This internal conflict plays out over the course of the franchise as Tony takes on the Mandarin by himself in Iron Man 3. The issue then escalates in Age of Ultron when Tony convinces Bruce to help him create Ultron, unbeknownst to the rest of the team. Murder-bot problems and team drama ensue. Tony’s cycle of guilt perpetuates itself in the wake of the disaster in Sokovia, which prompts Tony to adopt the Sokovia Accords. He submits himself and the team to UN governance in Civil War. More team drama ensues.

The logical progression of this escalating team conflict should have involved Tony confronting his deep-seated compulsion to destroy himself for the sake of others. This is exactly the problem Pepper keeps trying to point out to him—his Messianic tendencies have started to cause more problems than they solve.

“There is nothing except this. ... There's the next mission, and nothing else.” —Tony Stark, Iron Man

Tony has struggled from the beginning to find the right balance between personal sacrifice and sharing team effort.

Pepper frequently tries to remind Tony that he doesn’t live alone in the world, he can’t do it all by himself. And there are people who want him to live.

“You’re all I have, too, you know.” —Pepper Potts, Iron Man

Imagine how emotionally satisfying it would have been to see Tony outgrow his need for sacrificial penance and internalize a better lesson: that the savior can be saved, the burden can be shared, and life can go on.

A Better Ending for Tony

The MCU had the perfect opportunity to give us an ending that would be happier for Tony and a better fit for a team-centric universe.

In Guardians of the Galaxy we see Peter Quill and his team survive the power of an Infinity Stone by working together to share the burden of its energy.

Peter Quill is the son of a Celestial—he’s basically immortal up until the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2. That’s why he and his team could hold the stone without any ill effects.

Also, they only had to channel the power of one stone. Not six.

That’s a fair point.

But by the time Tony had all of the Infinity Stones in Endgame, the battlefield was chock full of all kinds of superheroes. Wanda and Carol by themselves are embodiments of two of the Infinity Stones. Hulk had managed to bear all of the stones by himself earlier in the movie. Steve, T’challa, and Bucky are enhanced super soldiers. Thor, Valkyrie, and the other Asgardians might not be Celestials, but they are gods—and there were a lot of them on that field.

And we’re supposed to believe none of these characters could offer any help to Tony whatsoever? None of them could hold Tony’s hand for a single minute to save his life?

There are plenty of arguments that could be made: Tony was too fast, no one knew what was happening, or everyone else was occupied in battle. But at the end of the day, it’s a choice the creative team made. Tony died because they wanted him to die.

And not much would have to change to save his life.

Imagine this: Tony gets the stones from Thanos and, in true Messianic Archetype fashion, he commits to making the snap, fully expecting it means his death—but then Pepper is there and Pepper has always been the one asking Tony to stop offering up his life to pay for some imaginary debt he thinks he owes. He hesitates, and it’s just long enough for Carol and Wanda swoop in, putting their hands on him and taking the brunt of the energy. Thor and Steve and Bruce and Clint pile on. Peter Parker links up, too, and on and on until the entire rest of the team, all across the battlefield, are in contact with each other and alight with power, channeling the energy of the six stones, keeping Thanos and his monsters at bay.

Tony can still have his ultra-badass “I am Iron Man” moment as he stands at the center of this surging and fluxing cosmic energy—but this time he does it with support. There are people who care about him (and each other) on all sides. And there are so many of them. Tony isn’t the only one who matters, he’s just the lynch pin that holds it all together.

Tony is Iron Man.

More importantly? Together they’re all the Avengers.

*SNAP*

The universe is set right.

Maybe Tony doesn’t escape entirely unscathed. Maybe he loses his arm as suggested by this post. Maybe the others all leave with their own scars, too. But Tony’s alive and he’s finally, deeply aware of what it means to transcend the limits of personal sacrifice and share the hero’s burden with others.

He knows now exactly what the Avengers are capable of. Oh, and by the way? That protective shield he wanted around the world in Age of Ultron? Here they all are. All these wonderful, powerful people are going to protect the Earth. And you know what? They don’t need Tony Stark’s myopic self-sacrifice to do it.

Tony finally feels like he’s done enough—and maybe now he believes there are other heroes out there who can do better than he can. Anyway, he gets to go home to Morgan and Pepper and he finds that it’s not so hard for him to let the new kids do the tough jobs now. He happily goes back to his role as “consultant” for the Avengers, he’s a mad inventor helping change the world for the better, and he also gets to have the long adventure of being a husband and a dad. He doesn’t have to choose one identity over the other—he’s Iron Man. He can redefine what the job means whenever he wants to.

(Also, he finds a way to rescue Nat because she didn’t deserve to be fridged like that. Just saying.)

This ending, or any number of variations like it, would have allowed Tony to finally show real growth at the end of his character arc, instead of succumbing to the same old self-destructive pattern we've seen from him time and time again. And it would have reinforced the theme of teamwork and its power to elevate all those who participate.

Maybe it’s cheesy, but you know what? It’s the ending I wanted. I know I’m not alone.

Tony’s Not Really Dead, You Say?

“There’s no need to be upset about Tony’s death,” some might say. “Tony’s gonna come back!”

Resurrection is a huge part of the Messianic Archetype—and it might be that the filmmakers do intend to bring Tony back in some later movie. It might be they simply want Tony’s death in Endgame to sit a little while longer so it has a greater impact. (Gotta push for that best picture Oscar, right? The Oscars hate superhero movies, but they do love a sad ending.)

While I’m wishing for things, maybe Marvel will also release the multiple alternate endings they filmed for Endgame, essentially creating a “choose your own adventure.” Maybe we’ll all be able to pick the ending we like best and forget the rest exist.

But I can’t make a judgement based on what might be, I can only say how I feel based on what we were given in the theater—for all intents and purposes, that’s the official story Marvel wants to share.

The Endgame narrative insists there’s only one possible path to victory against Thanos. The “one possible path” is basically the equivalent of the creative team saying, “Don’t @ me.” There certainly must have been an impossible number of endings they could have put on film. Tony’s death is the one they picked.

So, sorry for @ing you, Marvel, I guess, but there’s just one more point I want to make...

A Personal Note

RDJ acted the hell out of Tony's final scene. He acted the hell out of the whole franchise. Tony's death was powerful and intensely moving. I wanted to ugly cry in the lobby after the movie was over, and I was upset for days after.

So. Good job, Marvel. You got in some surprises and you wrung out some feelings from viewers like me. Now that the movie’s taken the world by storm, the surprises will play themselves out. So, I guess the big question is: Will audiences want to revisit this adventure and the feelings you ultimately left them with?

For me? My reluctant answer is: no. I don’t want to see Infinity War or Endgame again. Not really. Not in their entirety. I didn’t mind the slog through Infinity War in 2018 because I thought, Hey, maybe this is leading to an ultimately happy and satisfying conclusion for these characters I care about so much. And, to be fair—right up until the last 15 minutes of Endgame, I was ready to say, “All’s forgiven.”

There’s this thing in storytelling called “payoff.” It’s when you deliver a satisfying resolution or fulfillment to your audience after they commit to your narrative journey. Payoff can be extraordinarily subjective, so, again, I acknowledge that there’s no way to please everyone.

For me, there’s no reward in the resolution of Endgame that makes the slog to its conclusion worth it. Tony’s ending is so needlessly sacrificial, so unnecessarily brutal, that it erases much of the enjoyment I otherwise had in watching the entire rest of the film.

Don’t get me wrong. I like sad movies and scary movies in their own context. I like them when I can choose them and know that’s what I'm getting myself into. Sometimes I want the catharsis of being utterly terrified or brought to tears. Sometimes we need stories to give us the chance to feel deep and scary emotions in a safe environment. That’s an important function of creative work.

And, I mean, truly, Endgame gave us some great acting, great effects. Amazing talent. Really fun and creative moments. I’m not trying to disparage all the work that went into its making.

But I feel like someone took me in a limo to a high-class restaurant to eat caviar and watch sad arthouse theater when all I really wanted was to go into town with my friends for some ice cream and a fun movie.

I didn’t need rainbow-colored sprinkles on my ending, but something a bit sweeter would have been nice. So, well done, Marvel. But also—no, thank you.

As it stands, Endgame was too bitter for my taste.

#avengers #endgame #spoilers #negativity #long post #meta #my rambling #tony stark #iron man

68 notes · View notes

panelun · 5 years

Text

Batman and mental illness

(Not english speaker. Beware the gibberish.)

It’s time for me to say how much I love batman’s comics as : a reader, a pretentious literature student and a naratologist nerd.

Contrary to others writers, super heroes comics’ writers “borrow” a character and have to write a story. It can be an hard job and they’re not always good at it, but they nearly always manage to keep a consistant thematic in Batman’s comics and that’s impressive. People says batman is liked because he has no superpower, but I don’t think it’s true. There is superheroes without superpower and they’re not as famous as him.

Batman is a great hero because the universes, characters and stories graviting around him kept a global coherence on a rare but well developped subject : mental illness.

The “first” writers did a good job at build the basis of the universe and Batman, the animated serie kinda give to Batman this gloomy and gothic style we know and appreciate and put a lot of basis about all of this. Next writers goes on and it was a really good job in the globality. It’s even more impressive when you think some of theses writers probably never thought about the symbols of their stories. Of course, it’s only one interpretation possible, but it still find it very strong.

The vast majority of Batman’s characters are mentally ill. Of course, Joker, Twofaces, Poison Ivy or other vilains came to your mind, but Bruce never get over his childhood trauma he’s probably very depressed too.

People already noticed Bruce’s vilains represent dark sides of himself : Twofaces is his need of justice, Clayface, his troubled identity, Pinguin, a rich man, as Bruce, who used is money for doing bad things ect. All theses vilains are, symbolically, what Bruce Wayne could become. When he fight against them, he fight against himself, fight to be a better person. He wouldn’t be able to be Bruce Wayne if he couldn’t be Batman.

The most interesting point, I think, is the Joker, who represent pure madness and cruelty. It’s an interesting contrast to made the Joker a monster (before clown monsters were cool) when Batman is the one who actually looks as a scary vilain. I think Batman is unconsiously tempted by the Joker madness.

The colors of batman’s characters represent their mind. Batman’s vilains are happy. Bruce aren’t. They see the world with joy when the reality Batman is facing is violent and dark (as dark as his costume in fact).

The last book I read when I was still a student was “The bluest eyes” by Toni Morrison and I was surprise to discover comics writers came, maybe unconsiously, to the same conclusion than a nobel prize.

Madness saves people from their sorrow and misery. Joker is happy to be mad ( So happy his job is to made people laugh) while Bruce is full of anxiety and sorrow because he sees the world as it is. He’s sad for his vilains, for the victims, for himself, always worried to save everyone in time… Sadness made him a good person because it made him empathic.

And Batman can’t heal, but he can break the circle. Robin prove it.

The different incarnation of Robin (his children) are also traumatized, but Bruce never had a mentor/father. The Robins had, because Bruce adopted them. He saves Robin and Robins will save him. Robin is always represent as a child, symbol of innocence, and wear bright colors, showing the trauma is less and less visible and will desapear one day. They represent Bruce’s children, but also his inner child who surpass his trauma. They’re also, with Alfred, the good side of the reality who stop Bruce to fall in madness.

Robin is the part of us who want to be optimistic and happy despite everything goes wrong. Batman is the one able to save this optimistic side because he’s already very pessimistic and prepared to the worse. People need both, depending on the situation. They’re the two side of a same coin. They represent what makes people able to surpass their difficulties in life.

I think Batman is a hughe success because people are really scared of madness, sometimes even more than death. Loosing yourself, loosing your own identity, is a big deal. People are more and more aware about the importance of mental illness and we feel more and more exposed to it. Very few people will spent their life without being depressed and mentally ill. That’s why Batman is a very cathartic story. It’s about a man who always manage to surpass his psychological problems.

The comics show how awful mental illness can be, how it affect the world around us (vilains’ victimes) and represent it very harsly, but it’s also full of hope. Bruce is the reader’s alter-ego who have all he need to constantly fight against his mental illness to stay himself, and he always manage to win against his demon.

Because madness isn’t a fatality and hapiness can still touch a broken person.

#batman meta #batman #bruce wayne #joker #robin #fiction

30 notes · View notes

thedcdunce · 5 years

Text

Saturn Girl

“ I read the mind of a robot? That's disgusting and impossible!” - Saturn Girl

Real Name: Imra Ardeen-Ranzz

Aliases:

Saturn Woman

Gender: Female

Height: 5′ 7″

Weight: 130 lbs (59 kg)

Eyes: Blue

Hair: Blonde

Race: Titanian

Powers:

Telepathy

Abilities:

Leadership

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic)

Equipment:

Legion Flight Ring

Laser Handgun

Universe: Pre-Zero Hour

Base of Operations: Legion Headquarters

Citizenship: United Planets Citizen

Marital Status: Married (Garth Ranzz; husband)

Occupation: Legionnaire

First Appearance: Adventure Comics #247 (April, 1958)

Powers

Telepathy: Saturn Girl is a capable telepath and is considered a prodigy, even among a race of telepathic people. She has an incredible working knowledge of the average humanoid brain and the specific functions of each part.

Telepathic Communication: Saturn Girl can read peoples' minds in detail, either by consciously willing it or by mentally picking up their stray thoughts. Via her telepathy, she can also send messages into the minds of others, sounding like her own voice inside their heads, or place knowledge of certain things into people's minds. Using a combination of these methods, she can interpret unknown alien languages. She can send or receive telepathic messages to or from the Phantom Zone.

Telepathic Cloak: She can mask her presence and the use of her abilities from being detected by other telepaths and psychic entities. Se can extend these defenses to others around him as well. Cloaking via telepathy is not perfect and powerful psis may notice and "see" through this ability.

Telepathic Illusions

Mind Control

Psionic Blast

Mental Senses

Abilities

Leadership: On more than one occasion Imra has lead the Legion of Super-Heroes as both their leader and a field operative.

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic): Imra has been a part of the Legion of Super-Heroes for quite some time, as such she has had basic combat training as part of the package.

Equipment

Legion Flight Ring

Laser Handgun

History

Imra Ardeen aka Saturn Girl is one of the most talented telepaths among a race of powerful mentalists, and founding member of the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Foundation of the Legion

Imra left her homeworld of Titan to join the Science Police as a teenager. However, upon her arrival on Earth, an assassination attempt was made on the life of fellow passenger and billionaire R.J. Brande. Using her powers of telepathy, Imra discovered the plot, and, with the help of two other teenagers on board, Lightning Lad and Cosmic Boy, caught the assassin and saves Brande's life.

At Brande's urging, she adopted the persona of Saturn Girl, and joined Lightning Lad and Cosmic Boy in founding the Legion of Super-Heroes - an organization of teenaged heroes formed to honor the legacy of Superboy and Supergirl. They traveled back to the 20th century several times and offered Superboy and Supergirl a place on the team after they passed their tests.

Early Adventures

When Alexis Luthor and the Legion of Super-Villains were about to kill Superman, Saturn Girl offered to die in his place, although a trick by Superman made Saturn Queen save her.

As a Legionnaire, Imra gained a reputation for self-sacrifice; just prior to the leadership elections of 2975, she learned that a Legionnaire would die during an attack on Earth and decided to take on that responsibility herself. Using her telepathy, Imra forced the other Legionnaires to vote her leader and then ordered them not to use their powers during the attack. However, Lightning Lad defied her orders and took her place in death. Distraught over his selfless act of devotion, Imra vowed to do all in her power to bring him back.

A method was soon developed which could revive Lightning Lad, but only at the cost of another member's life. Imra again interfered in the process to ensure hers was the life taken, but her plan was foiled by Proty, the telepathic pet of Chameleon Boy. Proty admired Imra and tricked her so that it could take her place. Upon Proty's death, Lightning Lad was restored. Despite this series of events, Imra's leadership was highly valued in the Legion, and her position as leader, despite its means of acquisition, was allowed to stand. She earned a second term the following year.

Marriage to Lightning Lad

Romantically, Lightning Lad had pursued Imra for some time, but she had repeatedly rebuffed his advances. However, after he sacrificed his life for her own, she understood the depth of his feelings and came to realize that she returned them . After dating for almost ten years, Garth proposed marriage but Imra initially rejected his offer due to a Legion rule which forced married members to retire.

After consulting with her mentors on Titan, however, Imra relented. However, the couple's retirement was short-lived; a few months after their marriage, war broke out in which all active Legionnaires were captured and the reserves were forced into action. Imra's telepathic skills were instrumental in the Legion's eventual victory, and as a result the rule barring married members was repealed. The Ranzzes returned to active duty until Imra gave birth to their son, Graym Ranzz, after which they both retired in order to devote their energy to him.

Unbeknownst to the couple, however, Graym had a twin who was stolen at birth by Darkseid and transported into the past, where he was transformed into the monster Validus. Validus fought the Legion on numerous occasions, but was eventually returned as a normal infant to his parents by Darkseid at Imra's insistence.

Imra briefly rejoined the Legion again in 2987 when Universo took control of the Earth and hypnotized and imprisoned many heroes, including her. Imra's powerful mind broke free and eventually broke Universo's hold over Earth and forced him unconscious. It was then that she realized how much the Legion was in her blood, and she rejoined, this time without Garth, who was enjoying life as a father and househusband.

Crisis on Infinite Earths

Although the Legion survived the Crisis mostly unscathed, the Time Trapper took advantage of the chaos to isolate and weaken the Legion, making them believe her fellow Superboy wasn't the the real one and forget about her recently fallen member Supergirl. Even so, the Legion endured.

Five Year Gap

However, during the "Five Year Gap", Earth's government became hostile to the Legion, and Garth became incapacitated from the Validus plague which ravaged his native Winath. Disillusioned by the government and feeling needed more at home, Imra resigned from the Legion for the last time in 2990. Returning to Winath, she and Garth took over running a Winathian Lightning Ring plantation, which became quite prosperous. Using their new-found wealth, Imra and Garth replaced their super-heroism with simple but necessary helping of others, feeding a galaxy suffering more from hunger than from super-villains. When the Legion re-formed in 2994, the Ranzzes helped them out, but did not rejoin. Instead, they enlarged their family with the birth of daughters Dacey and Dorritt, who inherited Imra's telepathic abilities.

Post-Infinite Crisis

A cosmic crisis brought back by a Hal Jordan mind-controlled by Parallax appeared to erase Imra and her fellow Legionnaires from existence.

Nevertheless, the events other Crisis unleashed by Superboy Prime and Alex Luthor restored the Legion with a slightly altered history as evidenced by the trip of six Legionnaires to the time present. Once again, Imra, Garth and Rokk traveled back to the past to induct Superboy, who Imra had a bit of a hero-worshiping childhood crush on. They also recruited the next Superboy and she personally welcomed Supergirl in the team when the Kryptonian girl landed in the 30th century.

Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes

Unfortunately, xenophobia started spreading through the galaxy because of manipulations of the Time Traper and the efforts of Earth-Man. The Legion agreed the future was becoming too dangerous for Superboy and they would not visit him again after the war against the Anti-Monitor.

The witch hunt led by Earth-Man and sponsored by the Earth Government forced Imra and her closest friends to go underground. Imra and Garth's children also went missing during that period. As a result of it, Imra became more passive while Garth got more short-tempered and emotional for a while. It was when Superman returned and rejoined the Legion that their situation started to look up.

Legion of 3 Worlds

Earth-Man had been exposed and defeated, but tension between the Legion and the United Planets was still high, and Saturn Girl often had to mediate between her husband and their beleaguered friend and team leader Cosmic Boy.

Superboy-Prime ending up in the 30th century and freeing the Legion of Super-Villains forced the Legion to recall Superman and bring two Legions of different timelines to her own universe. Imra found herself teaming up with two different Saturn Girls.

During the final battle in Vanishing Point, Saturn Girl used her telepathy to call Legionnaires of every time and universe and with their assistance defeating the Time Trapper for good.

DC Rebirth

Imra appears locked in Arkham Asylum, now changed after the next reality-altering debacle, with Maggie Sawyer stating she was arrested for stealing a sandwich, claiming where she comes from, food is free. Imra tells the interrogator she came here to speak with Superman, and even when the interrogator states the Justice League says he could be dead, she stays calm, and says that everything will be fine. When the interrogator asks why, she says because she has seen the future. As the interrogator talks to Maggie, she says she needs mental help, and only came with what is seemingly just a ring, but is actually the Legion Flight Ring.

Later, when Batman and Punch, disguised as Commissioner Gordon pass by Imra's cell, and she breaths on the cell glass, drawing a Legion Flight Ring symbol on the glass. She is seen later watching a hockey game in Arkham, and states this is the game, where one of the teams kills a player on the other team. She states everyone is doomed to die, including the Legion and Superman.

Later, Emerald Empress broke into the Asyulum to kill Saturn Girl, claiming her Eye had shown her defeat at Imra's hands. However, upon establishing telepathic contact with Imra, Sarya discovered her vision to be false -it was Supergirl the one would defeat her- and someone had tried to mislead her into kill Saturn Girl.

Fun Facts

Saturn Girl is the first female comic character to ever lead a super-hero team.

Imra lost her virginity with Cosmic Boy

Imra's aunt is also named Imra.

#legion of super heroes #Legion of Superheroes #Legion of Super-Heroes #dc #DC comics #thedcdunce #imra ardeen-ranzz #imra ardeen ranzz #imra ardeenranzz #imra ranzz #imra ardeen #saturn girl #saturn woman

8 notes · View notes

goldstonegolem64 · 5 years

Text

Book 1 Chapter 27 Out on the town

Jay starred at Isara his head still resting on his shoulder. “ Ok” He said going back to sleep

Isara looked at the sleeping man walked over to him and grabbed the collar of his armor “ Come on hero we have work to do”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FmKdjRhoy4

Jay was tired as he was pulled out of his resting place. He stretched and hearing his joints popping. He looked toward the bed where the brothers were sleeping with the covers half off of them . he walked over to them and pulled the blanket over them. Then he took his pain meds before leaving the room leaving his helmet behind on the bed. An walked with Isara out of the hospital he was staying at into the early morning sunrise

“ welcome to haven. How do you like it ?” Isara asked as she was walked toward her jeep opened the driver seat door and unlocked the rest of the car

“ Well it’s a pretty cool place and thanks for letting us in” Jay said following behind her entering the passenger seat

“ No problem kid. It’s was an easy choice to make . it’s my job to keep people safe from the queen and her court and thanks for bring those kids here we’ve trying to get then here for the past month. they kept running from my men any time they so them. i think it’s because my husbanded is a ten foot tall batman with a gruff voice an could rip a man in two or the fact that Me and most of my are galra” She said as she started up the engine

“ yeah this is the first time scent I lifted home that I’ve meet a friendly galra “ Jay said as he looked at her and notice her ear was missing some parts and she had serval scars across her face

“ So what your story kid “She asked

“Well I’m from a mining town call gale wind in the north east sector of the city of iron oath, Which is a mostly galra community so I spent most of my childhood getting into fights. My mom is human an she was a boxer which really helped me when I got into fight. My dad is Altean an is a florist .I’m the youngest of five.I have three and one sister. At the age of ten my mom die in a car crash .it lost my left arm in the same crash. I bought a cargo ship at twenty one. An about two weeks ago I found a giant metal dragon after I helped my friend Adam. Then I met Adam’s husband Shiro his little brother Keith, three random kids named Lance McClain, Hunk Garnet and Pidge holt. Found The missing niece to the crowed queen of atlea and a ancient super weapon .Fought a giant robeast . Then we freed a balmare. Fought another robeast. I adopted a kid named Fitz. The castle I now called home tried to kill me. Then me and my crew had to save the Princess from Galra central commanded and now I’m here. An I think the meds are kicking in “ He said as he pulled out the bottle the nurse gave to him lasted night because in no other circumstance would he have told a random person his life story.

“ Can’t handle your pain killers kid” Isara said with a smile as she watched the young man tell hid tail

“ No I can’t. Pain meds tend to Enhance my already bad habit of rambling when I’m either stressed , excited or tired” He said as he tossed the bottle in to the back of the car” Please don’t tell anyone what I told you please”

“Don’t worry kid I won’t . So your a hybrid Altean huh. I thought the empire wiped your kind out ten thousand years ago” She said

“ yeah they tried but failed So enough about me how about you what lead you down the path of queen slaying in the first place?”

“ Well my story being on ravies nine my home world . I was about twelve to thirteen when the bugs showed up. My family left the planet before it got bad because my mom was a fleet commander. But I hated that fact we left hundred of thousands of people to die.So when I was old enough me and my boyfriend now husband Boleslaw joined the Queen slayers and after fifty years of working my ass off and killing some Red queens I was voted leader and now were here.” She said as she parked next to another district door. She got out an walked to a member of her team that was guarding the door control.

Jay got out of the car an looked toward the man and saw him wearing light Weight armor with a old tattered cloak with a color scheme of green and brown. welding a heavy duty plasma rifle. Then he turned to see a women wear the same thing but instead of a cloak it was duster and was wielding what looked like a shot gun He would ask about that later. There was one thing that he notice between the two guards they were both Galra he tell by their height, eye color and their ears were similar to Sendak’s .But more specifically they were hybrids. The one Isara was taking to had some avian features like the crest on his head, His arms had feathers going up to his shoulder and his eyes did that weird bird of prey thing where the iris shrank with it focused onto something.an the girl was Snake like .He could tell because her upper body was humanoid and her lower both was just a tail. She turned her head to look at him and she stuck out her fork tongue out a him and wave to him. He waved back as the door to an airfield.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7TPvJjwhFI

”Ok Isara when we were being let in I saw that the snake girl was holding something that didn’t look like a blaster at all what is it?”

“ First the snake girl as a name it’s Helbrum and what she had was a slug thrower” She replied

“ A slug thrower?” Jay took a few seconds before pulling out his revolver “ is it something like this?” he asked just hold in his hand

“Dose it shoot high speed metal projectiles caused by super heating a highly explosion black powder ?” She asked he wanting to see his responds

“Yes “ he replied

“Then you have yourself a slug thrower kid. “ She said walking towards a parked ship

Jay looked around the area. He saw people walking from hanger to hanger carrying box of supplies. others were Doing drills or shooting at target. Some were just sitting on the ground or on crates resting before a what he guessed was Isara’s plan . He also watched as troop transports moving out of the airfield through the door he had entered in from.

“ Hey Isara where are those troops going?” HE asked curiously as the door closed

“ They’re going out to find some of those bugs while there a sleeping so don’t have to worry about being invaded during the night.” she said as she entered the build that was the current hq of the slayers. Jay followed behind her. the two walked in silence for a few minutes toward a room . the two enter a meeting room with several people already there sitting around a table.

“. Sorry I’m late I had to find this guy” She said pointing towards jay

“Hi I’m Jay by the way” He stood there just waving extremely unnerved by the three of the four people sitting there. they all were wearing very similar armor as Isara but with different symbols on them. He guessed were their ranks and one of the was just were a lab coat. Two of them he had seen their races before. The first ne was one of Ace’s people. But unlike Ace who was about the same size of a normal person and looked like a domestic breed of dog which breed Jay couldn’t tell because he had nothing but pet fish of lizards his whole life. But this guy was a straight up a wolf with the body structure of bane with bright yellow eyes and with half of his jaw made of metal. The other was a lanky ferret like man with a wield beck like mouth his hair color was olive and green. he had multiple arms .But some of his arms were gone and he was blinded in one eye. He had seen one of his people before when he had first joined Shiro and the others but that one was a bright orange. Another person was basically a huge turtle women. Her arms and face covered in scars She looked at him with the most cold dead eye Starr that sent chill up his spine

“ Hello kid my name is Grieve head of scouting division .Good to see you made it here safely” the wolf man said in a calm voice.

“ I’m Rippley. Nice to meet you kid I’m the head of the air squad” the ferret man said

“I am Shell razor the bold head of the mech unit” the women said

“ Really?’ Jay asked not wanting to sound rude but was just a little suspect of the name

“ Yes that is my really name. I worked really hard to gain the title of the bold.So please show some respect ” She said

“ Ok Shell razor the bold I’m sorry“ Jay said as he bowed to her .His marks glowing a bright red in embarrassment

the room erupted in laughter

“Come on Shell stop messing with the kid he looks like he’s going to explode from embarrassment” Isara said laughing still “ come on Jay take a seat”

“Alright come Sit here kid” Shell said pointing to the chair between her and the last person in the room

Jay sat down next to Shell and the last person who was not paying any attraction toward him or any thing that just accord rounded them.they were just writing down something onto their data pad. They had teal skin, with Green hair and weirdly yellow colored horns. they were wearing very thick goggles that covering their eyes and a jump suit being covered by the lab coat.Jay couldn't’ tell if this person was a guy or a girl . But that didn’t matter to him at the moment because he was reading what was on the data pad and saw plans for new cybernetic for Ripley an other crew mates and the biology of the bugs .

“ If your trying to read my work please ask and don’t hover over my shoulder like you alway do please shell? “ They asked in a tone of voice that reminded him of Pidge as they turned towards him and raised their goggles to reveal pitch black eyes with bright orange irises. a look of surprise came across their face” Oh your not Shell” they said as a slight blush of embarrassment can across their face at the mistake

Jay’s marks started to glow ever so slightly do to this persons beautiful eye and cute face.

“Welcome back to the real world kid” Ripley said

“ Yeah this is Jay” Shell said laughing a bit and sapping jay on the back

“Oh Your her pilot” they said as they grabbed his Face and turned it from side to looking at his marks.” What are you I’ve never seen a being like you before?” She asked as she opened Jay’s mouth and looked at his razor sharp teeth “ then they started to pull on his checks and stretched them to there limit.” What are you boy and how can your skin do this tell me your secrets. Tell me what do you eat you beautifully weird piece of nature” They asked as a look of wonder and excitement on their face.

“Well first please ask next time you want to grab my face. Secondly my diet is made up of mostly made up of fish, crustaceans ,fruits and food goo . Seeing as cows , pigs and chicks are hard to raise on a planet with no nature organic life on it that isn’t trapped in a dome. Third off I’m human altean hybrid. Forth being Altean means I can stretch and change my body to blend in with people of other races making us great spies, Assassins, explores and diplomats. Also Came I please have your name “ He asked with his face marks were glowing a bright red

Isara an the others know what was going to happen next and they were all trying to hold back there laugher

“ Oh Sorry I’m Ezra. commander of the science division. Also aren’t Alteans supposed to be extinction. Wait are you the last of your kind is that why your a hybrid. I could start up that cloning project I have been working. Wait do you already have a mate Because if you don’t I could help as I work on the cloning ” Ezra said as their face and body became more feminine as a blush creeped across her face. “or do you prefer a male partner” They asked as their body became more maculate

Jay’s skin changed from his normal light tan to a deep beat red as he starred at the person in front of him. it didn’t help that the others were laughing their asses off. As Ezra’ s face was a deep shad of blue . Also what didn’t help was the fact Ezra was clearly shorter then him and was a bit rounded in the stomach which made them more attractive the longer he starred at them. Lucky for him the door to the room opened and a ten foot tall man who looked like a mixture between goliath from gargoyles and manbat from bat batman walked into the room wear the same armor as everyone in here with something on his shoulder.

“ Hello honey you just missed it” Isara said as she wiped a tear from her eyes

The big man had a look of confusion appeared on his face as he looked to the two then he realized what he had missed an then laugher erupted from him” Ha ha ha Ezra Scared this poor boy” He said as he slammed the body on his shoulder onto the table. then he walked over to Jay and place a massive hand on his shoulder “ I am Boleslaw second in command of the slayers and the husband of the lovely Isara. It is nice to meet you pilot of giant metal dragon lady. an do not worry about what erza had done. the face grabbing ,the mouth opening and the question about your people’s life style is just their way of saying hello to ever new person and race they meet” he said in a very thick Russian accent

“ Do they also ask them to mate ?” Jay asked as he starred at the monster of a man then to Isara who was about the same size as him and wonder how she was alive and he wonder how this to meet

Boleslaw looked at Ezra then to jay then back Ezra who had their head down on the table in an embarrassment. ”Ezra my friend you can do better then this boy”

“ I know but this one is altean an the pilot of Valkyrie and I want to see what he can do. An yes I might have jumped the gun on the whole lets have kids to save your race with out even asking if there were other and then I brought up the cloning project.An he’s kinda cute.” Ezra began to ramble

Jay didn’t know if he should be insulted by Boleslaw or to be happy with the fact someone found him cute. But he was more interested in the body on the table. it was the bug that tried to kill him yesterday but it had a hole in it’s chest and it’s horns were missing “ I would hate to be that guy but why did you bring that thing here?” he asked

“ Yes love why did you bring a king here” Isara asked just starring at the body

“ Oh yes I found this one by the entrains that you gave to this one “ he point to jay “ And found it along with dozen of dead bugs all of them had died of asphyxiation. My I ask boy did you do this “ Boleslaw asked as everyone looked toward him . Isara ,grieve, Ripley,Boleslaw and Shell were just looking at him like this was a normal day while Ezra was just looking a the bug on the table with a look of pure joy has they were just cutting into this bug.

Jay thought for a few seconds thinking about saying he was the one who had kill all the bug but that was a lie he couldn’t keep up.” No that wasn’t me .The one who kill all those bugs was one of the two boys I brought in with me. His name is Usamu he has extremely powerful psychic abilities that almost killed me along with the big guy here” He said a little unsure that anyone would believe him

“So a child killed hundreds of bug with just his mind .Why don’t we just use him to wipe out the hive” Grieve said a little sarcastically not entirely believing a kid was that powerful

“ Because a kid of his age and body weight would most likely die if they using his full power.” Ezra said as they removed an eye from the king

“Also I refuse to use a child as a weapon no matter how strong their powers may or may not be.besides We have a giant metal dragon, over six hundred well armed Slayers, Several dozen gunship, twenty mechs equipped with heavy plasma cannons and a purge bomb. So we do to need a super power kill to do are job anyway were the queen slayer.but when that kid is older and has been control of his power I might give him a job offer . For right now let the kid have a childhood for now ” Isara said as she was setting up a map of the city and pushed the body off the table .”Ripley you can start when you want”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7TPvJjwhFI

“ Ok boys, girl and Ezra. We have a three or four days till the queen wake up and we have about eighty miles of bug between us and the hive.” ripley pointed to a massive mountain covered in a red webbing and is surround by bugs standing guard on the south side of the city. “ an we have to find away to get the ion bomb “

“the purge bomb” Shell said cutting Ripley off

“THE ION BOMB!!! We need to get this to the hive before the queen wakes up fully And we need to get the civilians off world before we do it .But here’s the problem there are over two thousand and the hail Mary can only hold about a third of them even if we leave all are equipment here. And with the master of none and the valiant war lord off handling other red queens on E.R -6 and Amon we need another ship to help evacuation . So jay that is where you and your friend val come in. since late night she as been using are long range comms trying to connoted your friend. Also we need you to carry the ION bomb to the hive see as we need to make it bigger to kill this queens see as it’s bigger then anyone we have face before.” ripley said he then spent the next hour explaining to jay the mission and how they need to destroy the city to make sure none of the bugs escaped the blast

“ Ok but what was stopping you from making multiply trips to the close colonized system .what was your original plan before I got here and why didn’t you just bomb it from orbit?” He asked

“First the hail Mary’s warp engines are down so it would take us six mouths to get anywhere . Two are original plan was to collapse it’s own hive on it then fire enough heavy plasma round into it till we feel like it’s enough which is still are best plan but it will level the colony. three it’s shell is made out of osmium which is one of the dentists metals in the universe and this planet has a high level of gases though not fatal to people it is highly explosive when exposed to high levels of ions” Grieve said

“ Well with everything said and done and the plan is set .Jay Ezra will take you to Val if you want or you can go to the hospital it’s your choice “ Isara said

“I want to see Val then I will head back to the hospital. So Ezra please lead the way.” He said as he walked toward the door

“ oh yeah later tonight the people here are has a festival to just keep up there morale. Bring those two kid with you they might like it and there will be a feast while it’s going on ” Ripley said as he was leaving the room as well

“ok i’ll be there “ Jay said as they left the room

“Hey while up “ Ezra said running after him. the door opened to reveal jay leaning against a wall. Ok now follow me”

The two walk out of the ship and toward the hangers .as they walked Jay notice that most of the people here as Isara said earlier were mostly galra.Some were pure blood others were hybrids and there were other races mixed in. it was nice to see there are other places in the universe like Mar out there. then he looked towards Ezra “ So are we going to take about what happened back there”

Ezra sighed deeply and turned back to their neutral form” Sorry about jumping the gun back there. I just got real excited when I heard that your altean an then I asked if you were the last of your kind and before you could give me an answer I asked if you wanted to be cloned or if you wanted to mate with me. Then I pried into your sex life and made you really uncomfortable. An then” they started to ramble but jay cut them off

“It’s alright to be honest I found it to be funny mostly in embarrassing .But funny none the less.“ Jay said as his marks started to glow a faint red

A faint smile appeared on their face“ So what do you when your not being a paladin any hoboes an inters then.?”

“ Well I’m into robotic an cybernetic . The hoboes are tinkering, Gardening mainly do to my dad owning a flower shop and I started to learn how to cook from my friend hunk . An I have a kid back on the castle that I’m taking care of and i’m thinking about take both Bastion and Usamu with me when this is all said an done but I don’t think princess Allura will approve. So what do you do as head of the science division? “He asked

“well beside making better weapons for the troops. I also work on ways to kill the bug fast while learning how different environments change the hive and the Queen and her court. as well as learning about ancient tech and races that’s why I got excited when I hear you were Altean and saw the Valkyrie. But to answer my question from before Are you the last of your kind. Do you have a mate and do you prefer guys or girl as a partner just in case you don’t have ammate?” ezra asked

” Here are my answers No, No and I really don’t care about what my partner is gender wise because I just want some one to love.” He replied as his mark started to glow a little brighter.

As they walked toward a hanger Val’s voice came out of it “ I though you had a thing for that Nyma girl or was I just seeing things?”. She asked

“Well She and rolo Are a couple now and I found that out before the recuse mission. they started date after the alfor incident.” Jay said as he walkng to the hanger

“good for them. They deserve each other ” She said

He saw Val with a couple of people on her removing mud and repairing her wings an buffering out dents. She also had cable plugged into her head leading towards a computer set up. “So have you found the others yet my metal friend?” He asked as he walked toward the computer

“Sadly no but were are on the other end of the universe so it will take a little more time for me to find them. So go and explore this city and have fun you need it after everything that has appeared the passed two days” She said as her chest opened and Jay’s speeder

“ Ok then just tell me when you find them” Jay said as he got on the speeder

“ I will my pilot.”

“Alright Hey Ezra do you want to tag along?”

“ Sorry I still have a lot of work to do. But I will see you at the festival tonight right ?” they asked as a blush appeared on their face.

“ Yeah I will but I will have two kids with me “ he replied

“ that’s ok I just want to keep taking to you about stuff I also want to take about cybernetics and Altean biology and this is the first time someone didn’t just run away when I jumped the gun so it’s new.” their said with a smile

“Ok it’s a date then see later to night “ He said as he drove the speeder out of the hanger

“ yeah it’s a date” Ezra said with a grim on their face.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aat2hwglybs

Jay had a smile on his face as he drove out of the airfield and towards the hospital.He had just got a date, A date with some he just met But hey that how his parents met maybe it would work for him. He had rolled up to the hospital which was actually just a apartment build repurposed .As he walk through the front door one of the nurses stopped him

“Oh mister Sorin the two boy you brought in are doing well and the room you are staying in you can return to after tonights festival and any night you remain here as requested by Lady Isara. “ the nurse said

“ thank you for the info and have a nice day” He said as he walked to his room and opened the door and found the brother just sit on the bed watching a movie he guess the nurses had put on to keep them happy “Hey you two how are you holding up?” He asked

“ were fine it’s just boring here” Bastions said with his arm in a sling

“ Yeah where did you go Jay?’ Usamu asked with jay’s helmet on.

“ Well I was taking to Isara and the other who are in charge of this place and I found out there is a festival tonight along with other things. But do you two want to go to it?” He asked

“ Yes “the two boys said in unisons

“ ok let’s go get some breakfast and some new clothes for all. Because we all look like hell “ He said looking at all three of them He had blueish yellow blue blood covering his armor . Bastion’s clothes was cover in dried blood and Usman’s clothes just looked dirty

“ ok Mr. Jay come on Usamu” Bastion said pausing the movie and hoped of the bed

“Ok Brother” Usamu follow his brother then he walked up to jay “ Uh Mr.Jay can I ride on your shoulder while we go shopping?” He asked

“Alright hop on little bubby “ Jay said as he crotched down so Usamu could get on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5xjXxEsLxY

The three walked out of the apartment hospital and into the busy streets of haven. Luckily for them The card He and beau Been using to steal Gac from the empire worked her and had tripled the funds they had after the balmera. they bought New clothes toys junk food and a Game console.They then walked from district to district each one being set up for the festival that was in haven’s safe zone. one was another residential district full of people. Another was a farming district and the last was a entertainment district by a what Jay guessed was a huge salt water river full of Parks, play grounds, arcades and a indoor amusement park. The three spent the next few hours have fun. Jay wished the other were here to enjoy this with him. But there was no point in worrying about them now. Right now he need to worry about the two Boys he had save but He still worried about the other.

Later the three had founded a belt restaurant

“Hey Mr. jay what can we eat here ?” Usamu asked

“I don’t Care eat what you want I have the money so go wild” Jay replied

“Awesome thank” Usamu said as he started grabbing random plates and eating

“ Hey Jay when this is all said and done what’s going to happen to us” Bastions asked. Worried that all this Happiness was going to disappear the moment the bugs were gone

“Well I’m going to take both of you with me When this is all over” jay said as he grabbed a plate of fish and started eating it

Bastion’s eyes widened as he hear that and his eye started to water and he hugged Jay” Thank you” He said

“No problem kid” Jay said as he started to eat another piece of fish

“Hey what’ s going on with you two?’ Usamu said

“ Nothing Kid your brother is just Hugging me “

“Yeah I’m Just thanking Jay for all the kind things he has done.” Bastion said

“ Ok “ Usamu said as he continued to stuff his face with food

After they were done eating they doubled back to their apartment to just watch movies and played the console jay also told the boys about Fitz . a few hour later the three boys started to get dress for the festival they were wearing a rode that looked like A monsuke. Each one was a different color. Jay’s was a light green, Bastion’s was a dark blue and Usamu’s was a violet

“So Mr.Jay that are we going to do at the festival” Usamu’s said

“Well were just going to walk around play more games and enjoy life “ Jay said as a knocking on the door appeared. Jay walked over to the door” Oh yeah were going to have someone else with us their name is” Jay opened the door To See Ezra Wearing a dark orange kimono , A pair of glasses their hair was tied into a bun and with out all the grease and blood on their face he saw that Ezra had yellow freckles across their face.

“Hi Jay You look great “ Ezra said with a bright smile on their face

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o51oqNteWSo

Jay took a few more seconds to just look at the beautiful being in front of him then he spoke” Yeah you too” Jay said with a sharp tooth half smile

The two starred at each other for a few second before jay felt a weight climbing up his back and Usamu appeared piggy backing on Jay” Hi i’m Usamu. Who are you”

“Oh I’m Ezra head of the science division of the slayers and I guess the other boy just standing there behind you two is bastion “ Ezra said waving to him

“Yeah i’m bastion are we going now” He asked

“Yes bastion lets go ” Jay said

The four walked toward the festival. The street were alive with life there were lanterns in the air, people were Singing and dance throughout the streets. music was blasting and fireworks were exploding in the air Jay then notice that there was a particle barrier that cover the whole of Haven. As Jay was looking around he saw Slayers and civilians have the time of their live like nothing bad was about to happen. This was the one time in the passed two weeks he had felt a complete calmness it was nice.

Jay an Ezra talked about robotic as they watched Bastion and Usamu were just running from stal to stall playing games and buying food. there was one stall jay saw that caught his eye. it was a shooting game with a giant stuffed turtle as a prize he want that turtle. Ezra took notice of Jay starring at the turtle

“Hey Jay do you want that stuffed animal?’ their asked smiling

“ Yeah but I don’t to ruin the date by carrying huge stuffed turtle “ He said a little sheepishly

“ it won’ t” they said as they walked to the stall “ how much dose it costed to play” they asked the stall runner

“Ten Gac” He said as Ezra slammed ten Gac on the table “the rules are simple shot ten targets and win a prize”

“ Easy enough “ they said as they picked up one of the toy guns on the table

“Yeah but this is a carnival game so it’ s not going to be-” Jay was cut off by the sounds of the stall winning chime went off a few second after it started. Jay starred at Ezra who was just hold the turtle in there hand

“yeah but I’ve been doing these games for the last mouth so I know what I’m doing” Ezra said handing Jay the stuffed animal

Jay had the biggest smile on his face. As he hugged the stuffed turtle

So time later Jay and Ezra were back in the airfield to watch a fireworks show. While Bastion ,Usamu and some other kid that were there. Jay turned to look at Ezra and notice that they were resting on his shoulder and holding on to his arm his heart shipped when he saw this. Jay wished that this moment could last for ever and he wished Fitz was here to enjoy this show

“Your starring” Ezra said as they were still watch the fireworks then they turned to face him

“Sorry Your just more interesting to watch right now “ He said

“ that was cheese ”Ezra replied laughing a little

“ I know My dad said that when he met my mom so I wanted to see how it work. Did it work” He laughed as well

“ No but it was a cute line. But that line dose deserve a reward just for trying” They leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek

“ Jay marks explode with light illuminating the area the two were sitting in. Jay was going to lean down to return the favor. Only to be intruded By val calling him on his phone

“ Yes Val “ Jay said annoy as he answered his phone

“ Sorry to interrupted your date but I have connotated the other they will be here soon Val said

“ oh that’s good to know just tell when they get here. I’m in the middle of something important “ He said as he hung up the phone before she could answer. He felt a little rude but he was on a date and his friend are alive ,”So where were we?” He asked Ezra with a sly smile on his face

“ You were about to kiss me before your partner called telling you your friend were on there way”Ezra said

“ Ah yes let me get back to that “ Jay leaned down to finish what he start only to be interrupted again by a loud Alarm and by a even louder crashing sound the world shacking. Then a huge booming roar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnDZeAYKXxo&t=164s

“What the hell is going on?” Jay asked as he watch as people were running into other districts as slayer were running in different directions and gun ships were taking to the sky

“ the queen Is up “ Ezra said as they got up and started running toward the hail Mary

“I though we had a few day before that ?” Jay yell as he ran toward the hanger that house as val ran out toward him

“ I guess we were wrong” Ezra yelled

“ Great Just great Bastion Usamu stay with Ezra”

“ Ok Mr. Jay “ Bastion yelled as he grabbed his little brothers hand and followed Ezra

Jay hopped in to Val’ s mouth and ran into the cock pit .He heard Isara’s voice over the comm “Alright boy and girl we were wrong on the time She was waking up So we need to hold out. Jay when are your friend getting here?” Isara asked

“A few minutes from now” Jay replied as The Valkyrie took to the sky and followed behind the gunships. the particle barrier dropped to let Her out and what he saw was terrifying When it came to height The Valkyrie was One hundred an fifty feet tall Voltron was Three hundred and seventy feet tall. This thing was About fifty feet taller then Valkyrie. The queen walked on four massive spider like legs it’ s tail was a mile long with a set of pincers at the end of it .It’s upper body was humanoid like most of it’s court it had six Thick arms covered in bright red shimmering stone like material just like the rest of it’s body it’s head remined him of a xenomorph with a huge crested on the back of it’s head with four horns in the front that curved upward to look just like a crown\

“ Alright hold this thing off until Jay’s friend get here Now GIVE IT HELL” Isara yell

10 notes · View notes

bucky-is-a-hero-fightme · 6 years

Text

The Naked Interview

Pairing: Sebastian Stan/Latina!Reader(f)

Summary: Sebastian and Y/N are introduced to a new format of interviewing as they go on the press tour of their incoming movie. The interview will bring out old feelings and ask the questions they didn’t dare ask themselves.

(My summaries suck.)

Word Count: 4100 approx.

Warnings: none, I think. Though if you don’t wanna be spoiled about Manuela Sáenz life, you should read Pamela S. Murray’s Biography of her (personal recommendation, there’s thousands out there hehe)

Guide: Italics is for flashbacks or Spanish/Romanian. If you know my work from AO3, you know I’m a sucker for flashbacks and languages, so...heyy :)

A/N: This is my first RPF work, and I feel weird about it. Idk. I like it, I really do, and the idea has been going around in my head for weeks now. I just feel weird writing about real people. Welp, here I go hehe.

Also: Tere’s social media posts made for this fic, to set the background and a little bit of fluffy history btw the characters. CHECK IT OUT HERE

Big thanks to @marvelousfakesocialmedia for doing the posts for this fic!! Check out their work, is great!

You are shown into the private room by a girl from the staff, opening the door to reveal a pretty simple set-up, looking more like a living room than an interview set. You shake away the imbalance that gives you, walking inside with a big smile. The 'stage' smile.

“Well, well,” You muse as you walk towards Sebastian and the interviewer, “When my agent called and told me I had to do a Naked Interview with Sebastian Stan this was definitely not what I had in mind.”

The blonde that was seconds ago looking through her papers and notes before starting to interview you rose her gaze to you with a sly smile. Reporter through and through.

You knew the cameras would be on, your publicist had warned you about it. This paper was going for 'authenticity' and apparently this interview was all about that, including every dirty trick in the book.

“Disappointed?” She asked, to which you answered by simply waving your hand and pointing at Sebastian's whole body.

“Yes.” You dramatically intoned, prompting them both to laugh.

They start the interview with the usual greetings, no mentions of your past relationship, for which you thank whoever is ready to listen.

The questions are simple enough, what you are used to by now, having been promoting this movie for two weeks by now. She goes back and forth between you and Sebastian, asking very superficial questions.

The interviewer turns your way, asking about your experience as this is your first time being cast as the main role in a big movie, to which you smile and nod, quipping in about how weird it was to see your face looking so big in the posters. She laughs a little in response, before congratulating you and Sebastian for the movie and wishing you success. The cameras are turned off, as you smile in thanks, still feeling this was too short and you did not feel at all the 'authenticity' they were looking for.

But then the blonde gets up, and is handled a small wooden box that you are quite familiar with.

“Oh, is that a prop?” You ask excitedly, before turning to Sebastian with a big smile on your face, “Seba, is the letter box!”

You try not to notice the way your heart skips a bit when he returns your smile with one of his own, his eyes shining a bit more under the light as the creases around them get deeper.

The interviewer clears his throat, effectively calling back your attention, and giving the box to you.

“Yes. Considering how sentimental and authentic were the letters that were kept in Manuela's original box, and how it was replicated by your team so it could mean just as much in the big screen, we decided to add a little symbolism to the second part of our interview.”

“Second part?” Sebastian asks, still watching you from the corner of his eye as you trace your fingers over the ridges and markings on the letter box.

The producer steps ahead, “Yes. We told you we are aiming for authenticity here, so we have saved a bunch of fan's usernames in the box, that you will take out. A video of their question will play on the monitor, and you have to answer. You will be left alone in the room with the cameramen, no mediator this time.”

“Oh,” You mumble, habit winning over logic as you meet your eyes with that of your ex-boyfriend. You can sense his apprehension, and you feel quite insecure about this yourself. But you still smile, turning to the producer, “Does the 'naked' mean I have to take something off if I don't want to answer? 'Cause I'm down for that. Don't know about my agent though.”

You were arranged in front of one another on the couches, two wooden boxes between you, one for your questions and another for his, and the set almost empty. It felt strange, it felt like an intervention or a forced therapy session. It felt strange, all in all.

“Should I start?” Sebastian asked, crinkling his nose a little, visibly uncomfortable.

You smiled, and nodded, “Please.”

Why does this feel so formal? It feels like I'm talking to my cousin's childhood-friend's doctor, and not the man I dated for almost two years.

You watched as he rummaged through the little papers inside his box, taking one and reading aloud the name.

A young boy, around his late teens, smiled at the camera as a Mexican flag decorated his background. You immediately smiled widely, even though he would not see until the interview was released.

He cleared his throat and asked, “Y/N, how did it feel portraying a character of Latin American independence when you are Hispanic but left Latin America?”

You blinked, trying to keep up the smile,

“Woah, the surely don't start soft, do they?”

Sebastian smiled at you softly, and you would've sworn you saw his arm stretched towards you from the corner of your eye, before he pulled it back, “You don't have to answer.”

“Seba, you don't have any say in it,” You laughed, and took a deep breath before starting to explain how incredibly humbling it was to take on her mantle and play such a strong woman and someone who was such a symbol to the independence of not only your country and so many others, but also women in general. You went on a little about how you felt a lot closer to home while filming, considering the Latino cast and the closeness you felt to your character as a Latina away from home yourself.

It felt odd, doing an interview like this. As you were seated one in front of the other, and aside from the fans popping in and out of the monitor screen, you were all alone. It felt as if you were confessing all these personal feelings about your past and your character to him and not an audience.

Oh...good tactic, Naked Interview people.

Drinking a bit of water to dissolve the knot in your throat, you rose your eyebrows in Seb's direction.

“Your turn,” You teased, hand already inside your box, “And it better make you cry or I'm out.”

He laughed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he crossed his fingers together. When you stopped what you were doing to ogle at him, you don't remember.

“Just read the name, Y/N.”

“Okay, okay. Don't rush perfection,” You mumbled, taking out the piece of paper, “Sebastian, here is your user.”

A dark-haired woman around her mid-thirties smiled at the camera and asked, “Sebastian, do you feel James Thorne was a redeemable man?”

You saw him frown slightly as the air left his lungs in a huff, and he rubbed his hands together before answering.

You had been pretending for months now that everything was alright, that there was no awkwardness,no lingering feelings. It was more tiring than you thought it would be.

But there's this little whisper of what used to be, stuck in your head every time you film a scene together, everytime you wrap up filming for the day or the week and a sudden part of you forgets that your routine no longer includes him.

This little voice whispers, everytime you discuss a portion of the script with one of your castmates or anyone on the staff or production; about the long nights spent going over the initial script, stretched out on the couch of your apartment, your legs set over your lap as his hand runs absently over your calf; or his back to your chest, chestnut locks running like water between your fingers as you tell him about what you remember of Independence celebrations in your country.

That little voice reminds you of the hours spent talking about James' and Manuela's relationship as you readied yourselves to sign the contract for the biopic, of the day you decided to read what was left of all her letters to him and to Simon and from them to her, and cried about how someone with such a good heart could lose everything because of people sitting in thrones on the other side of the ocean; and then Seba's teasing

about how you said in your half-asleep state that Manuela was your Batman, not the hero you deserved but the one you needed.

You ignore that voice, that faded image of something that slipped from your fingers. You ignore it, you focus on work. You pretend not to feel anything else.

Because that voice also reminds you of how you decided not to fight for him anymore. About how you were the one to ask for some time away from each other, about how you were the one to say goodbye finally and definitely once the world decided to start telling you what your relationship was all about.

“He...he fell in love with her, I think. It was an arranged marriage, and he was so much older than her, but there had to be some semblance of love in him to turn a blind eye to the fact that she was smuggling secrets with her lover. There's even several letters, some of them made it to the film, that reveal how he begged her to come back to him, and her insistence that what she wanted of him was a friend, that she loved Simón and the revolution more than...” He trailed off, thinking of the words in Spanish, and a proud smile curved your lips.

“Su querido inglés,” You provided, and nodded at Sebastian when he pointed at his own box, ready to ask you your next question.

A few more questions were asked about the film, touching on Manuela and James' relationship, Manuela's work as a women's rights activist, and your feelings towards your characters.

You had been assured by your agent that the interview was known to be quite long, and that maybe some questions would be edited out, so you weren't worried about the time at all. You reached for Sebastian's user to question him, and before reading it out loud, you leaned back on the couch, musing out loud,

“You know, it's weird no questions about our relationship have come up.”

You laughed a little under your breath when he choked up and coughed a couple of times, eyeing you with a smirk that told him how he knew you were messing with him.

A girl popped up on the screen, big smile on her face.

“Hey guys. Personal question,” She started, and Sebastian pointed at you with a smile that made the lines around his eyes more prominent.

“You jinxed it.” He accused, to which you replied by scrunching your nose and sticking out your tongue in defiance.

The girl continued, “How did it feel, working together as close as you did, after you broke up?”

“Well, that isn't intrusive at all.” You mumbled, taking a sip of your water.

The actor before you ran a hand through his hair and looked up at you with an uncomfortable smile on his face.

“Weird. Once we started playing the character of course none of whatever happened between us matters. But, it was strange at the beginning. Like, I don't either of us knew where to stand,”

He thought the next part of his answer for a couple of seconds before blurting out, surprising you, and, you assume, giving both of your agents a heart attack.

“We didn't actually break up,” He confessed, grimacing after hearing his own words. “I mean, we are not together, but...we never said the words, did we?,” He looked at you, expecting a response, you nodded slowly. Sebastian sighed, before continuing, “It's...complicated.”

You dropped your bag by the floor next to the hotter room door, rubbing a hand over your eyes before cursing at yourself for smearing makeup all over your eyes.

With a sigh, you walked towards the bathroom, taking the clothes you readied before going out to film, and grabbing your cell-phone on the way there.

It felt odd, unbalancing, to put an end to your day without talking to Seba, but you two had agreed to take some time off to keep the strain of your busy work lives away from your relationship. Still going from talking each night, for at least a few seconds and rushed 'I-love-you's; to not being able to talk at all, it was taking a toll on you.

You only hoped to come out stronger from all of this.

It was only less than two months when the news started appearing, everywhere. Rumors about the break-up, opinions thrown left and right about why 'Marvel's golden couple' would break it off.

And the person you talked about your relationship with at the end, was not him, but your agent. You explained her the whole thing, and though as a friend she told you to reach out to Sebastian and talk to him, to work out together what your relationship had come to; as a publicist she told you waiting for everything to cool down was the best way to go.

And a couple of months of no talking became two more, and when a small and simple message from him, asking to meet up to talk about...everything; you swallowed past the part of you that told you to fight for it, and the instinct to get away before you got hurt won.

You still remembered the last argument. The tears, the resentment and the will to keep fighting but the need to give up. You knew you weren't strong enough to go through it again.

I think we both made our choice a while ago, Seba.

The reply was instantaneous. A call you rejected and a single message after it.

Do you really mean that?

You never answered. PR handled the rest, and when you got asked about your relationship by a passer-by reporter on one of your outings with Lizzie, you smiled and said breaking up was for the best.

“Yeah...complicated.” You repeated, thrumming your fingers on your dress-covered legs, before signaling for Sebastian to ask you your question.

A heartfelt question about the reaction of your country and the film community in it to have you represent such an important Latina all the way in Hollywood, that you answered with a big smile, but pausing to drink water a couple of times to swallow past the know on your throat. Again.

The pixie-looking person that asked Sebastian the next question smiled widely as they waved at the camera, and told you they had been a fan of both you and Seb since you performed together in Civil War.

Placing a strand of short hair behind their ear, they asked, “So how different is the cast from the Marvel family? Are you all close or is it more like everyone goes their way?”

Sebastian laughed and shook his head,

“It can't be each on their own. If I'm left alone in any country we are filming in, I get lost in the first five seconds.”

You leaned forward with an expressive,

“Yes! You have no idea how many times I have thought I had to call your mom to tell her I lost her impressionable son because he wouldn't stay still and can't talk Spanish to save his life.”

“And despite the possibility of losing me in the middle of Guadalajara or somewhere else, it's still a great group of people to work with,” He continued, “It became a really close group as the months went by.”

You had been doing great. Manuela's story had drawn you in completely, and considering most days the shooting was wrapped up pretty late, time to consider your situation was not really available. Which you thanked the heavens for.

But then the first day filming Manuela's fight scene against the assassins comes, and yes, the nerves are again curling at your stomach, because jumping from a balcony, no matter how many stunts you pulled in your time with Marvel, never gets less terrifying.

But then you saw Sebastian along with who is supposed to play Simón and his stunt double, smiling in his normal clothes like he was supposed to be there.

“Hey,” You approached, easy smile on your face. “I thought James' scenes were done for?”

Sebastian loweeds his gaze to the floor for a second, strained smile on his lips, and you felt a spark of...doesn't matter what.

“Yeah, they are. But I heard you were doing the fight scene today and I thought...maybe I could come here and offer support?”

The young man in the Libertador outfit smiled at your ex-boyfriend, clapping a hand on his shoulder,

“You mean another one to worry about our girl busting her ass on the fall?” He teased, and if it weren't for how the hopeful part of you, the eternal romantic still somewhere inside you replaying Sebastian's words, you would have risen to the bait.

Because you remembered the long days at the studio, Domino's costume on and muscles aching. You remembered Seba's easy smile, your complaints about how he was only there to see you get your ass beat by Chadwick. You remembered his reassurance that he only wanted to see you were safe, and the soft press of lips against your own.

You remembered your first date being on his trailer in between shots, a bag of ice on your knee and a busted lip smiling his way when he told you he couldn't wait another day to take you out, even if it was the day you miscalculated the force of Black Panther's double's hits.

You heard him laugh, but you were still trying to quieten your heart and tell it to stop hoping.

“Well, she has always been prone to accidents.”

A couple more about how you got along on set with everyone else, one or two about the reality behind the letters and documents shown in the movie, when the cameramen told you that you could wrap up after one or two more.

Another fan with a question for you, this time a young girl with blonde air smiling shyly at the camera.

“So...hi, didn't think I was gonna win actually,” She giggled, and you smiled in understanding. Again, even though they could not see it. “So here's my question. Sorry. How different was it going from filming for Marvel for so long while you were together and then filming this? Sorry.”

Memories clouded your mind, of the days before work became too much, before life became too much and hanging onto one another was more of an obligation than a decision.

Those memories took over you, making your heart race and too many pieces of advice, from friends, colleagues, the people handling this movie and even the people handling your fucking relationship repeat themselves in your head. About smiling politely when asked a rude question about the breakup, about keeping calm when receiving horrible backlash from your own fans because your life can't be only your own, about telling everyone, even yourself, that it was the best for the both of you.

But you were tired of that. You were tired of the 'stage smile', of having lost one of the best people you have met since leaving home chasing a dream, of pretending the only emotions you are in touch with are fictional characters'.

So you took a deep breath, and started.

“It was different, no use in lying. The first and only movie I filmed with Seba as while we just started to fall in love, and we decided when we were already living together to take on this movie. The fact that life fell apart around us in between was a...casualty we didn't account for.

You cleared your throat, and lowered your eyes to your hands. For an instant, you waited for Sebastian to chip in, say something agreeing with you and giving you the out of ending the answer. He didn't, so you went on.

“It was jarring at first, wrapping up, getting ready to go home or to the hotel or whatever and not having him next to me, having him to talk to about our day and what we thought about everything and nothing. I mean...there was a lot, I think, that I took for granted, or didn't account for, and only realized it was gone when...well when it was gone.”

You sniffed a little, running your hands gently under your eyes to get rid of the tears before they kept falling down your cheeks.

You breathed a laugh at yourself as you pat with your fingers against your skin, trying to even out the make up the tears erased. Rolling your eyes at yourself, you mumbled, “And now I'm crying on the internet. Great day, Y/N.

You turned your eyes to Seb, smiling a little his way.

“Most people don't have to spend every day with the person they broke up with for months so shortly after they split up, not even in our industry I think. And I guess it hurt more than I let on. But I wouldn't trade working alongside you for the world, Seba.” You assured him your smile turning surer, more even, as your heart settled back into your chest.

He smiled back your way and extends his hand. Without hesitation, you took it, squeezing once and ready to let go after that, but he seemed to hold on to it.

“I know. I also want you, and whoever is going to watch this mess, to know that you are one of the best people I've met. You are amazingly talented, and I am lucky to be working with you. I am even more lucky to one day have been someone you decided to love, and I want you to remember that.

When he choked up a little, stopping whatever he had started to say, you squeezed his hand and let your eyes find his through the mist of your own tears.

He continued, “You...whatever didn't work between us doesn't matter. We were happy once, and I think we should remember that. I loved you and I think I always will, and I want nothing more than you being happy, because you deserve it.

You paid attention to the slight movement of his jaw, and almost two years together told you he was about to cry too. You squeezed his hand again.

“And I know I can be a lot to handle most of the time, and I want you to kn...” You couldn't handle it anymore, you were seeing every insecurity he had about your relationship, his job and your life together resurface and you couldn't believe you thought for all those months hthat e was okay with all that happened between you and how things ended.

“Seba, no...”

You reached to stand up when you felt the wire of the microphone on your back, and you remembered where you were. Turning to the cameraman, you said, “Excuse me, can you cu-...”

But they weren't there. They had been the only thing left of the team for the interview, but they were long gone from the set. Frowning, you turned to Sebastian, only to see him still sitting on his side of the couch, heel of his hand pressing against his eye, the other one still holding on tightly to yours.

At your confused expression, he shrugged and explained, “I asked them to go when you started tearing up. I know you don't like people seeing you cry.

You huffed something between a laugh and a sob, and started shaking your head. This only seemed to set him on edge, instead of letting him know you were thankful for his thoughtfulness. Sebastian wrapped his other hand over the one he was already holding, tugging you a little closer.

With you standing up, he had to look up to have his eyes meet yours.

“Listen, I'm sorry I'm telling you all of this now, but the tour is almost over, and I know I should've said something before but I don't wanna lose-...mfph.”

You stopped his rant by throwing your arms around his shoulders, hiding your wet face in the crook of his neck,

“I know, Seba, I know.”

His arms wrapped around your waist and back, holding you close, and you felt as if you were taking the first unobstructed breaths oi months.

After a few minutes, you broke apart and you reached up to straighten the collar of his shirt with a smile as one of his hands still lingered on your waist.

“So...” You mused, eyes glued to the piece of clothing you pretended you want to fix, “What do you say about coffee?”

I’m sorry. I know it is kinda long and not at all that good, hehe. But thank you for reading! And please let me know what you think, even if it is to tell me you didn’t like it/why. Thank you! Love, Luce.

If you liked it please leave any sort of review, even if it is just a comment on anon or smth. I wanna know if I should write more of these, how to improve, anything. Thank you.

#sebastian stan #sebastian stan x reader #sebastian stan imagine #sebastian stan fanfiction #rpf fanfiction #mcu rpf #fanfiction

82 notes · View notes

writingthingsisdifficult · 6 years

Text

The man in my dreams

This is a story of dreams, of heartbreak, and soulmates. Some fluff, some angst, a little bit of blood, a little bit language...

I worked hard on this, so please let me know what you think. I also have a tag list; so let me know if you want on it. Or if you want off it, I guess. There’s a few people I can’t tag anymore. Let me know if you’ve changed your url or something, yeah?

Edit: I don’t know what the weird symbols are, but they disappear when you click the read more. Also: yes there is a read more - but for some reason it doesn’t show up on mobile. Sorry.

Word count: 7107

He grips my foot tighter as he bandages the wound. It is just a small nick, but he seems uneasy, and I don’t want to upset him further, so I don’t move. “Tell me,” he says, and there’s an emotion I can’t interpret laced in his voice.

“W-what?”

“Your story. Tell me.” He waves his free hand, indicating for me to get on with it. “From the beginning.”

“Uh…” I clear my throat, and try to ignore the burn from the screaming. “M-my first memory is…” This is harder than I thought it would be. I’ve always had dreams and aspirations, but it’s not to die by the hands of some nutter who gets off on people’s sob stories. Of course I’m not my usual top self.

Growling, he gathers a fistful of my hair and yanks, pulling my head backwards. The pain brings tears to my eyes. “Now!”

I let out a long breath, and a plan of sorts forms in my head. Maybe I can distract him long enough to work my hands free of the rope. And then? Let’s worry about that later. “Y-yeah… hhhhso. First mem-memory. Uhhh… I remember waking up, screaming from a nightmare where I was covered in flames. If I close my eyes I can still feel the heat on my face… I screamed so hard my throat ripped and I could taste blood on my tongue, and… and Dad spent hours trying to calm me down. Heh… it wasn’t until he started humming along to the soft rock radio station I finally closed my eyes and drifted off into an uneasy sleep. I guess I must have been around three or something.”

He nods, and his apparent calm encourages me to continue. I brace myself and bring forth the story I intend to tell him.

“I had a very happy childhood. I did. My parents loved me, and I never wanted for anything. Yet I always felt something was missing. Like I wasn’t whole. I tried not to think about it too much, because like everyone else, I just wanted to be normal and accepted.

But sometimes this longing crept out; when I was sleeping and had no control over myself. When I turned five the dreams became more frequent, and I started to recognise a pattern.” There’s always a pattern, if you know where to look, and it didn’t take me long to see it.

“’Momma! Momma!’ My cries were followed by frantic footsteps on the soft carpet. I think there was a sharp crack, then a low curse being thrown into the room, but I’m not entirely sure. I was too scared to care that Mom had trodden on one of my favourite Barbies.

‘What is it, pumpkin? Another nightmare?’ Mom’s voice was like a soothing blanket over my frayed nerves as she picked me up and held me close. Yes, it was another nightmare, but it wasn’t an ordinary nightmare. My six-year-old brain recognised that much.

Wiping my nose on Mom’s shirt, I sniffed and blinked away the tears that stuck to my eyelashes. ‘Uh-huh. The same… A dark, um, monster was coming in through the window, and he was so scared, and… and then someone was shooting…’ The flash of flames from the gun was what woke me up. To this day, I’m still terrified of… of fire.”

I sigh, and try not to think about my current predicament. Right now a little fire almost seem like a good thing. “Anyway. So Mom stroked my hair and smiled softly. ‘Oh,’ she said, as if she was holding back. ‘You were dreaming about, about S… Sander? again?’ She always struggled to remember the dreams I’d told her about before, and for some reason that annoyed me exceedingly.

But I didn’t know how to tell her that, of course. I was only six, so I banged my fist weakly against her chest. ‘Sam, Momma. His name is Sam.’

Mom gave me a sad smile, and kissed the top of my head. ‘Sorry, honey. It was just a dream. There’s no such thing as monsters –“ I’m interrupted by a low chuckle, and I frown at my captor, who has seated himself at the bottom of my chair, with his feet crossed, and his head in his hands as if I’m reading him a fairytale.

“Nothing,” he smirks, and nods for me to continue again.

“Uh-huh. Well, Mom told me to go back to sleep. She said that nothing could hurt me in my bed. Then she tucked my blanket tight, but there was something about her face that made me suspicious. Like she wasn’t telling me the truth. But then again, Mom always said I wasn’t a very trusting child, so I archived the feeling in the back of my mind where all the other weird ideas I had would eventually end up; like ghosts were real and that werewolves really looked like ordinary people. Oh, the look on Mom and Dad’s faces when I told them. Of course they knew better. There’s no such thing as ghosts – the only monsters out there are…” You, I want to say, but I’m not sure how he’ll react to that, so I sniff, and cough.

“May I please have a glass of water?” I ask, my mouth so dry it hurts to smack my tongue.

“No,” he simply replies, and straightens his back.

Right. My story. Pri one, obviously. “Some dreams are vague like feelings or memories of colours swirling over a blank canvas, or emotions etched into my mind for forever, but without context or a story.

Others, uh, others I remember as if… as if they happened just minutes ago, like those piercing, yellow eyes. So cold, so… evil. I never really saw who they belonged to, but they frightened me so much Mom and Dad thought about sending me to a professional. I wonder what would’ve happened if they did. Those eyes still haunt me sometimes. Sometimes I even feel I can see them when I’m awake… But in the middle of them all stands Sam, like a pulsing beacon of light and safety. Even though his face is blank in my dreams, I always knew it was him, you know?”

He fidgets and shifts on the floor, looking uneasy, but he quickly hides his emotions behind a stern façade. “Tell me about the dreams about Sam.”

“Hum, okay. In those dreams he was there, sometimes almost as we were the same person, or sometimes we would meet and do stuff together. It never, uh, never struck me as weird when I was little, that I never saw his face. It felt natural, and those times I saw others, it was like watching them through a filter, or maybe through his eyes even.

Dean appeared often. His brother. Sometimes like a knight or a caped hero,” I smile from the memory of the tough looking kid in a Batman cowl and the cape flowing behind him as he ran through the streets. “He… uh, would swoop in to save us when we’d gotten lost. Flowers sprouted and blossomed where he walked, and wherever he went darkness cowered. I always liked Dean. He made Sam happy.

Sometimes older people appeared too. At least when I was younger. A man named Dad felt strong and safe, but sometimes he felt distant and sad. Those dreams always made me cry with the heartache Sam tried to hide away.

There was another man too. A gruff, but kind looking old man. Sam called him Uncle Bobby.” There comes a low growl from the floor, but I ignore it. “His hugs scratched my chin, but they were bigger and better than I’d ever known before. Sometimes Uncle Bobby was Uncle Dad. Those were not happy dreams. Well, the dreams were. Usually filled with fun stuff like soccer or baseball and ice cream, but they were almost always immediately followed by a pang of inexplicable guilt and embarrassment before I was rudely ejected from the dream.

Those nights I used to gather all my stuffed toys in my bed with me and place them meticulously around me so they’d know I loved them all equally. That wasn’t entirely true, though. My stuffed gorilla, Hannibal, was my favourite, but I would never admit it out loud so my toys could hear it. But Hannibal always slept in my arms. He knew all my secrets. Like when Dad left with another man when I was seven, and uh…” I let out an uncertain laugh. I hadn’t meant to tell him that. But it’s like I can’t stop myself from it.

“Anyway. When I was nine, I remember the dream so vividly… I was in this, this meadow, I think. So unfamiliar, I’d never been there before, but at the same time I knew exactly where I was, and that there was something important there. Everything was so distracting. The colours were so vibrant I was pretty sure I could touch them if I tried; the air buzzed with excitement, and all around me birds chirped and danced over the tree tops.

Next to me flowed a small brook, and the bubbling reminded me of laughing babies. I followed it. Nothing bad could happen if I just followed the brook, right? Just as I skipped over a rock to cross the water, a shadow flitted across the corner of my eyes, but when I turned, all I could see was a bright green fern stretching to lick the sun.

The water ran upstream, it seemed, but I didn’t think much of it. It was as it should. Eventually I got to a waterfall that flowed upwards, but I was too preoccupied with the table laid out with every candy I could possibly imagine – and quite a bit more, I believe. Sam was there too, and another man I couldn’t really see. They were laughing. I’d never seen him that happy before.

When I approached, Sam got up and hugged me. I was so surprised I totally lost the ability to speak. He introduced me to his friend, I-I’ve forgotten his name, but he was so proud of Sam, and he told me that I was good for looking out for him. Then we gorged ourselves on candy and marshmallows and junk food, and watched cartoons and played Twister.

When I told Mom about the dream, she ruffled my hair and smiled, but under her breath she muttered: ‘That poor boy. He must be feverish –‘ But to me she said: ‘It was only a dream, honey.’

You know… I nodded, pretending I hadn’t heard her, but that’s when I understood: she believed me, even though she didn’t tell me the whole truth. I decided to ask the wisest person I knew the next day: my best friend at school, Lou. He was a year older than me, and he knew everything there was to know about everything worth knowing.” I exhale through my nose and shake my head. The picture of Lou in the schoolyard is almost absurd. And it was so long ago. How young we were.

“Lou folded his hands in his lap and looked at me with the air of a benevolent ruler who’s just about to educate his favourite subject on a very serious matter.

‘You have a soulmate,’ he said matter-of-factly. Several of the onlookers gasped. Some sniggered.

‘Nuh-huh!’ Tilly from science protested. ‘My Mom says there’s no such thing.’ We could practically hear her roll her eyes.

‘Then your Mom is wrong,’ Lou countered, and I huffed in agreement. He’d clearly won the point, even though I didn’t really know what he was talking about. ‘Just because she hasn’t got one, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist!’

‘You know those are just stories, right?’ Maggie chimed in. She was in Lou’s year, and pretty much ruled the school. She cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms.

“Yeah, no, I’m telling you it’s real.” I was desperate for Lou to be right; I never liked Maggie, and besides nothing would ever convince me that my dreams were just dreams.

“Well, my mom says that it’s just a fairy-tale Nana used to tell to make us go to bed without arguing.”

Lou got to his feet and crossed his arms too. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Maggie shrank back a bit, because he was like a head taller than her, and probably weighed twice as much, but it only took a second or two for her to bounce back, with Tilly in tow.

I don’t remember what Tilly said, but I do remember throwing a few punches. It’s a miracle we didn’t all get suspended. Got detention, though. And it felt so unfair. Because Tilly deserved everything she got. She was a despicable… Anyway. I went home and asked Mom. Mostly because I was sure the teacher was going to tell her what the fight was about anyway, so I figured I’d beat her to it.

The answer I got wasn’t what I expected. I think I thought she was going to deny it and tell me my mind was running away with me again, and that Lou shouldn’t have lied like that. But she sat me down and ran a hand through her hair. ‘It’s a controversial topic,’ she began, ‘and many believe it’s untrue, or that it’s a threat to free will. It’s a rare condition. That’s why we don’t talk about it. But wouldn’t it be wonderful to know someone out there is made for you?’

‘Like you and Dad?’ I asked, rubbing the bruise on my forehead.

She looked at me with tears in her eyes. ‘Honey, I… your father and I kept it quiet because… well, you see, your father and I weren’t – I never had the dreams, though he did. We worked hard to make it… work, and we never thought that… because we, uh, sorta thought it would… uh, that it would…’ She obviously struggled to speak about it. In hindsight I realise that it hurt her greatly, but back then I was just a stubborn brat with insensitive questions.

Trying her best to swallow the lump in her throat so that I didn’t see, she coughed, and moved the cushion half an inch to the right, then back again. ‘It seems silly now,’ she continued after a while. ‘Thinking his soulmate would appear just from us talking about it… As if we could keep him away just by keeping quiet,’ she added with a huff, more to herself than me. “Anyway… those dreams… yes. Sam’s your soulmate, but I can’t tell you when – if – you’ll meet him. Nature is, I wouldn’t exactly call it evil, maybe more tricky. And there hasn’t been much research on the subject, since it’s pretty rare to begin with, and… well, since it’s about love and all. But I think I read somewhere that it’s most likely hereditary. There was a research paper published, I think about twenty years ago, that claimed that only males carry the gene, but I’m not sure. I don’t know.’ Her voice was soft and airy, more vulnerable than I expected a Mother to be.

Mom always did that when she was sad: spoke to me like I was a grown-up, and I always nodded and practised my “understanding” face, but truth be told I didn’t understand half of what she said.

What I did understand, though, was that Sam, the boy I’d been dreaming about my whole life was real, and that one day I might meet him. That thought made me giddy and warm inside, and I couldn’t wait for us to play together. I was only nine, mind you. Uh… May I please have a glass of water?” My voice crack, and he slowly gets to his feet. I use the few seconds alone to wiggle the rope a little further.

When he gets back he watches me with… almost fearful eyes, and he gently helps me to drink. The water is cold and refreshing, and I gulp it down greedily. He wipes my chin, and then sits back down. “Now continue.”

“Right.” I want to ask him why, but I don’t think it’ll do me any good. “The years passed, and I no longer wanted to play with Sam. Somewhere deep in my brain the seed that had been planted when I was born began to grow and bloom.

Mom never mentioned anything about soulmates again, and I quickly learned not to bring it up at school unless I wanted to be ridiculed and laughed at. But the dreams continued.

When I was thirteen, and just starting to figure out my feelings and getting confused with more of them, I had this dream that really stuck with me for a long time. I think it was in September, and I remember I struggled with school a bit at that time. Anyway. In this dream, Sam and me, we were at a museum.

I wasn’t entirely sure how we got there, nor did I know exactly where we were, but I also did know that we were in San Francisco, and this was the gigantic Prehistory Museum that obviously had to be there, since that was where we were. Which is funny, because I’ve never been to San Francisco. Incidentally this was when I learned how to pronounce pterodactyl, heh…”

He gives me a dark look, and I hurry to continue my story.

“This museum, it was, I don’t know, round-ish… the huge cylindrical core was made up of glass, the hundreds of windows gave us glimpses of the exhibitions inside, and we strolled down along the walkway that wound itself around it like a giant vine. It felt like walking through a rainforest – everything was so green and lush.

Each floor was home to a new exhibition, and even though quite a few of them looked interesting – I never really got over my dinosaur phase – we didn’t feel like leaving our jungle path. The rooms were too crowded, or too loud, or both, and we just wanted to be together.

Once we stopped by a souvenir cart, and Sam bought me a miniature model of an ichthyosaur skeleton, and I bought him a lollipop in all the colours of the rainbow, because that was what he wanted more than anything.

We didn’t say much, for what felt like forever. Occasionally Sam would stop and point at something new or unusual, and sometimes we’d get distracted by a sound or the sight of traffic outside, but it only took seconds and then we were back together again on the neverending carpeted spiral.

At one point, Sam’s hand brushed mine, and we both jumped. He coughed and hummed, I blushed like I’d never touched another human being before, and then we both looked away. It was the best feeling in the world: my heart hammered, I was on the verge of throwing up, yet I was floating just a couple of inches above the ground, because I knew what was coming.

A wave of courage hit me, and I reached for Sam’s hand just as he reached for mine. The moment we touched the world went darker, as if the sun suddenly went down, but then thousands of tiny lights blinked all around us. One of the lights landed on my nose, and I squinted to look at the firefly. When I looked up again, Sam was closer than he was before. I’m pretty sure there were fireworks too. Wind lifted my hair, and I closed my eyes and leaned in – only to be interrupted by a loud screech from the velociraptor exhibit. We turned our backs to it, but the sound continued, so I opened my eyes and cursed loudly. I was back in my bed, the alarm clock shrieked at me, and I had two hours of history and maths waiting for me.

I think that dream lingers because most of the others were so dark and scary. I can’t tell whose dream is who’s anymore, but I remember dreaming a lot about those yellow eyes. Especially in combination with black smoke and a smell that stung my nose. And sometimes I would comfort Sam, or he would comfort me, and I would wake up with tears in my eyes. I guess it was because our minds were getting used to each other. I dunno.

There were a lot of monsters. But sometimes, sometimes… I recognise the dream as fully mine.” I close my eyes and dip further into the memory. “I don’t know why I was crying. Maybe it was just that time of the month, maybe something horrible had happened that I couldn’t remember, or maybe I was just exhausted from Mom’s constant talk about college. The applications were written, but I didn’t know where I wanted to go – or even what I wanted to do. At any rate the tears wouldn’t stop falling, and soon I sat in a big puddle of water that rose higher with every plop. Kinda like Alice in Wonderland. Heh… that was one of my favourite books when I was little.” I open my eyes and sigh. I feel like crying now. But I guess it won’t do me any good.

With another sigh, I continue; “Suddenly an arm snaked around my shoulder, and Sam’s head leaned against mine. ‘I’m here.’ No questions, no fussing. He knew what I needed: company and silence. I didn’t even have to say thank you, but I tried anyway.

My voice was too raw, no sound would come, but Sam nodded and pulled me closer. ‘Any time,’ he said, and that was it.

We sat for a while, watching the world scuttle past. Piles of baked goods appeared and disappeared again. A small monkey walked on ropes between two dumpsters. In the shadows I’m pretty sure I saw Ross Geller hunt for rats, but I didn’t say anything because it looked like he didn’t want to be disturbed.

Breathing out, I noticed my cheeks were dry: all that was left of my tears was a dull aching in my temples.

The clouds shifted, and we sat inside a rainbow, floating high above the grassy fields I recognised from that school trip in fourth grade when André and Lionel scared half the class by finding a huge slug and running after all the girls with the poor creature dangling from their hands.

‘It’s a nice memory,’ Sam said after a while.

‘Yes. It is,’ I replied, not knowing what else to say. I turned towards him to ask about his school trips, but he was gone. His warmth and scent lingered, but the place he’d been sitting in was empty. I missed him.

That was the last time I saw him for a long while. I guess I was busy with school, and I don’t remember dreaming much at all. Got a boyfriend, though it didn’t last long, because he found out about Sam. Read it in my diary, I guess. Wasn’t too upset to see him leave. He wasn’t too interesting anyway.

But when I was… around twenty, I had another dream. As I drifted off to sleep I felt the fabric of reality stretch around me, and I let it, knowing it would soon settle again. I wasn’t afraid.” Not like now, I almost add, but I bite my tongue. I don’t want to show that… that creep… that I’m scared of him.

“The darkness faded and revealed a rolling meadow filled with all the flowers I’d ever heard of. And probably a few I hadn’t. I immediately recognised the place: it was my safe space. My Ghibli meadow. I’d watched “Spirited Away” with a reverence bordering a religious experience not long before. Nothing could hurt me here.

The sound of the summer breeze harmonised with the birds as the familiar sounds and smells brought me home. Finally I could breathe.

Soon it became clear to me that I wasn’t alone as I expected, and I looked around with my heart pounding in my chest. The colours paled and the shadows lengthened – and then I spotted him: standing a little way away, looking curious and almost shy for intruding.

My heart slowed as I realised who it was, and I smiled and beckoned him over. ‘Hey, Sam,’ I whispered as he came closer, knowing he could hear me. Around us the colours grew stronger again, and warmer, and the sun rose higher in the sky.

Now, I didn’t know much about Sam, I still don’t, but I knew he had a troubled soul. It wasn’t hard to see. Hell, I didn’t even know his face, but I knew he was tall, and I knew that he was beautiful, both inside and out. Even here I had to bend my neck back to look up at him.

‘Hey,’ he said, giving me chills from the big grin in his voice.

‘Haven’t seen you around in a while,’ I replied, hoping he’d detect the longing in my voice.

He looked away into the distance. ‘I know. Things have been… busy. So this is… this is you, huh?’ I thought I could detect guilt in his voice, but I was never good with people, so I didn’t say anything. Instead I focused on the curiosity in his mind, and how warm it made me feel. The flowers around us rustled proudly.

‘This is me.’ I let out my arms and spun around on the spot, almost stumbling over an overgrown bush of berries.

Sam smiled. I could feel it in the sunshine. ‘This is…’ He paused. ‘Nice. It’s nice.’

It was so good to see him again, to be with him. We walked for a while, talking about nothing and everything. He picked a flower and placed it behind my ear, and I blushed furiously.

I desperately wanted to kiss him, but he held back on me. I didn’t understand why, because I saw the same connection we’d always had, but I figured he had his reasons, so…

Well, after we passed the small cabin where I used to go to sort my thoughts, another woman joined us. Um, not joined as such. She wasn’t really there, more of a fleeting ghost or projection of a thought. I’d never seen her before, but her name was clear in Sam’s mind. Jessica. He called her Jess. And she called to him, and… Sam just… he faded. I…” The memory still stings in my chest. I don’t know if it’ll ever go away. I swallow and blink to stop my tears. He dabs my eyes with the sleeve of his sweater, and stretches. He yawns, and then his stomach growls.

“Go on,” he murmurs. “I wanna hear the rest of it, before…” he trails off, leaving me confused. What has he planned?

“I hated that woman for ages. She appeared in almost every dream we shared. She stole my Sam. But… I knew she made him happy, so somewhere, deep inside – I would never have admitted it then – I was grateful. Dean had… Dean had all but disappeared from Sam’s dreams, and when he did pop up it was usually to argue. At least Jess kept him company. And his dreams were… nice. No monsters, no darkness. But my dreams changed too. They lost their colours. They felt colder too. Once, Sam asked me about it. He said he’d noticed, but I turned away and didn’t answer him.

For a while I dreaded going to sleep. I didn’t want to see her again. Didn’t want to carry that feeling of, of betrayal. I wasn’t… angry… at Sam. I was disappointed, sure, but I didn’t own him. No, I was pissed at the universe for punching me in the gut like that.

Then suddenly, the dark dreams returned. The fire too. It was stronger, burned hotter. I could see the outline of a woman in the flames. Her face was contorted in pain, and her blood trickled down the walls.” I shudder. It had dawned on me one morning, after watching her maimed, burning body, that the woman was Jessica, and that she probably was dead in a fire. My heart had bled for Sam that day. Still does.

“I can barely talk about this. Please. I gotta… I gotta…” I lean back and rest my head on the back of the chair. “It was bad, okay? I don’t know what happened to Sam. He was so happy, and then almost nothing but demons and blood and monsters under the bed. And the torture. Oh god, the torture. I could almost feel how Sam’s limbs were ripped apart and put together again. They plucked out his eyeballs over and over. Cut him, bled him dry… I feel like throwing up just by thinking about it. The images are seared into my brain, and I wish to god they weren’t!

In the beginning, I tried to reach out to him, and occasionally he’d welcome my light, as he put it. He said I made the suffering bearable, but as time went on, he stopped responding to me. And then… nothing. Nothing at all, for a whole year!” My voice breaks and my heart with it.

“It was nothing like before when I didn’t dream about him. Then I’d sorta sense him; know he was there, doing his thing, you know? But now? It was as if he didn’t exist. That was the longest year of my life. What if something happened to him? What if he died?”

He laughs as if the thought amuses him, and I suppress the urge to spit in his face. Yeah, there’s no such thing as monsters, but he’s one alright! Twisted and vile. And there’s no one here to stop him. And if I get my hands free? What can I hope to do?

“My heart longed for Sam, but after so long without anything, I started thinking I’d made it all up. Yeah. I’m an idiot. I should’ve -- But I… I started to come to terms with the thought that maybe he was… The whole romance thing, the idea of soulmates – what kind of nonsense… I mean, not everybody has one, right? But I started questioning it: like what made a soulmate a soulmate and not just two people that were so very in love?

Sure, you have the dream thing, but they say we only dream about people we already know or have seen, so it might as well be a dream about that plumber you saw that one time you went with your mom to work. But then there were the thing with the faces… yeah… I didn’t really believe my own doubts, but I worked so hard on pretending I did, that I forgot. So when the dreams returned, I almost spooked myself awake.

Yeah, the dreams came back. Just as suddenly as they’d stopped. And it was worse than any horror film. They hurt, physically and mentally. Like someone pressed a hot nail into my brain. There was light flashing in front of my eyes, and sometimes it was pitch black, and we could hear something scuttling past just outside our reach.

I remember squeezing Sam’s hand once, and he yelped as if it hurt him. It was all dark around us, and there was not a sound except for the soft pitter-patter of rain on the lawn – no, that wasn’t it. That was the sound of footsteps. Naked feet slapping silently against concrete floors. I grabbed Sam’s other hand. He was totally calm, but he squeezed my hand in a quiet gesture of safety. Whatever this creature was, he wasn’t afraid of it. But Something was coming, and Something was going to bring Sam to his knees. I just knew it.

And when it came… oh jeez… ‘You’re a freak, Sammy. A monster. You should’ve died!’ Just the voice was enough to make Sam crumple to the ground. Dean appeared in a haze, his face distorted, but I could see the disappointment still. But it wasn’t him. I knew Dean. He loved his brother – deeply. He would never. NEVER. Say something to hurt him. But Sam never saw this false image. He cowered on the floor, his face buried in his knees and his arms around his head. He was… was rocking back and forth, and I know he was crying. I could feel it. And every word from Dean cut him open.

There wasn’t much I could do. He wouldn’t acknowledge me anymore, but I stroked his hair and told him he was perfect, and he flinched away from me. I told him to not listen to the creature that had taken his brother’s face, but I think he closed his mind to me.

I felt him crumble. I stumbled over his frail form in the darkness, terrified and frozen.

I kinda didn’t recognise him. Sure, he had the same silhouette, and the same homely smell surrounded us, but it was as if he didn’t see me. No: he ignored me on purpose, flinching away when I got too close.

‘Sam,’ I said, trying to keep desperation from my voice. ‘It’s me.’

The only response I got was a low hum, and him leaning away slowly.

‘Hey,’ I tried, softer this time. ‘You don’t have to be afraid of me. I won’t hurt you.’ Why he would be scared of me was a mystery, but the claustrophobic weight of panic descended on us. I could hardly breathe.

‘You’re not real,’ he whispered hoarsely, and I wondered if he’d been screaming. Maybe he was hurt – or ill. He did rub his hand as if it was painful.

‘Are you hurt?’ I asked, reaching for his hand, but he snatched it out of my reach.

‘Not real.’

‘I am real,’ I countered. ‘But this is a dream, so…’ I cut myself off. I wasn’t making it any better. Suddenly Sam started to fade from me. I caught a glimpse of what looked like charred wings before I was engulfed in freezing flames. I woke up panting hard and still feeling the cold spreading over my skin. My heart was dancing in my chest, and high-pitched ringing filled my ears.

It’s hard to separate one dream from another. They continued for a long time. Nothing but fear and confusion, and sometimes cold fury. He was hunkered down in a corner, trying to hide from something. Despair and anger radiated from the shivering pile, but it was so dark I couldn’t see him properly. Still, I knew it was him. The familiar feeling of a tether drew me to him. ‘Sam?’ I asked, as quietly and gently as I could, just as I always did.

His head snapped up, confused by the new presence, but he recognised me too. I think. ‘Who are you?’

Once again he broke my heart. ‘It’s me; Y/N.’ We’d been through this a thousand times, and I didn’t understand how I hadn’t just given up yet. But the bond between us was so strong I don’t think I could have, even if I tried.

‘You’re not real,’ he replied. ‘You’re created to make me… to punish me for…’ He was suddenly on his feet, and I could see he was falling apart. His clothes were torn, and the rags were swaying in a wind that wasn’t there. He had burn marks on his arms, and his face was gaunt and grey.

‘Get away from me!’ There was so much pain in his voice I almost started crying. His words punched me in the stomach, and for a second it was so, so hard to breathe. I felt ill. Frost rose from his mouth, and darkness swirled around us again. Howling winds brought a cold that froze our bones, and I just couldn’t seem to warm up despite the fact that there was a fire burning in front of us.

‘Sammy, Sammy, Sammy,’ a mocking voice sneered. ‘She’s just as real as I am.’

Sam fell to his knees again and started muttering. ‘Go away, go away, go away…’

So yeah… that was a fun time. But I think he got better. He doesn’t avoid me any more. The monsters are still there, but Sam’s stronger now. Still sad, still haunted, but he’s almost back to his normal self. Back to his kind, caring self. I… I have this dog I dream about sometimes, and when they meet, Dog really lights up, and Sam can spend hours playing with him. But I’m…” I look away. The past is hard, yeah, but it’s the past. Knowing what comes next is… I’m getting desperate. “I’ve tried to ask him where he is. If we can meet, but I never remember his answer when I wake up. And.. I-I think I might never meet him in reality, you know? So when I saw that bar in his dream, and I actually remembered and knew where it was, I…” I give him a flat look. “Yeah. I’m starting to think that was a mistake.”

He’s not gonna let me go. I can see it in his eyes. And now that my story is finished, well… I might not take him out, but at least I can leave a few scratches on his face: I’ve almost managed to work my hands free. Just a few more minutes…

It’s difficult to decipher the look on his face. Fear? Nah, that can’t be it. Pity, maybe. “Aw,” he says after a short pause. “That’s a nice story. I’ll make sure to tell him if I ever run into Sammy-boy. Hell, it almost made me feel for you. But,” he continues with a creepy smile that doesn’t reach his eyes at all, “I’m still gonna eat’cha!”

What??? His statement takes a moment to reach my brain, I mean, really reach my brain, and in that short time a second, pointy, set of teeth has descended over his normal ones, except that is impossible and I definitely need to get my head checked.

I blink, and he’s moved to my throat – what the hell? Does this dude think he’s a vampire or something? Ow! That really hurts! I think I’m bleeding, and… Suddenly he flinches, and he looks up at me with hungry eyes and a wicked grin. “Don’t go anywhere,” he says and there’s blood dribbling down from the corner of his mouth. I giggle. He’s a messy eater – I think I’m gonna throw up, or faint, or… yeah, fainting sounds good right now, and I can sorta feel the floor crash into my head as I topple off the chair, but I really don’t care. I just wanna rest. This has been a crazy day!

When I come to, I’m lying on my back and there’s someone standing over me, pressing something to my neck. I don’t think it’s the same guy.

“Hey, hey… there you go. Wake up. Can you do that for me? Open your eyes?”

His voice is pleasant and feels kinda familiar, but I can’t place it, and I’m too tired to ask. But I do as he tells me, because I want to make him happy; blink a couple of times and shake my head – ow, that hurts!

“Careful. You’ve lost a bit of blood, and you hit your head pretty hard. But you were lucky. That sonofabitch didn’t have time to make a proper incision, so he only drank a little…”

What the hell is he talking about? Oh. Yeah. Crazyboy. The one I thought were going to show me a good time, but instead tried to… eat me. Excellent. I groan and scoot up so the pain in my back goes away.

The skin is raw where the rope cut into me, and I rub it gently, whining from the pain. Nimble hands put a bandage over the cut on my neck, and I try to stretch a bit.

“Sit still, please. I gotta see your hands too.” His fingers brush gently over the bruises, and he wraps a strip of fabric around my wrist. To protect me from infection, I guess, but I get a sudden flash of being tied down, and throw my hands up. I don’t know, maybe I hope to punch him in the nose or something.

He backs away and holds up his own hands. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I won’t hurt you. I promise.”

Looking up at my saviour through shielding hands, I see kindness in his eyes. He is oddly familiar, and though I think I’m supposed to be terrified, and I am, I feel unusually calm and collected.

Then I spot the other guy over his shoulder and the world grounds to a halt. Looking from one to another, back and forth, my mind spins so fast I get dizzy. Could this be real? I know I’m not dreaming... but… Standing in the doorway with a goddamn machete swung nonchalantly over his shoulder, is Dean. Dean from my dreams. Brother of…

“Sam?” I whisper, scared that he’ll disappear once I’ve said his name out loud.

He looks at me, the confusion evident in his face – that face I’ve never seen before this moment, but that I’ve loved with all of my heart. His brows knit together, and his lips part slightly – my god, those lips… and he kneels beside me. The cogs in his brain turn furiously. I can see it. Then he lights up. “Y/N?”

“What, Y/N? Like Y/N?” Dean drops the machete and hurries over.

Unable to keep a smile from my face, I nod and roll onto my knees. Before I can stack my feet under me, Sam takes my hand and pulls me up.

“Y/N…” he repeats almost inaudibly. “I half thought you didn’t exist at all.”

Sam smiles at me and my heart soar. It’s like coming home after a long and gruelling hike in the woods. I can relax. And breathe.

I lean closer and Sam follows suit. The moment our foreheads touch, I swear angels sing – even if it sounds tacky!

“This is so weird,” Sam whispers, sending shivers through my whole body. “We just met, but I’ve known you since… always…”

Just as I’m about to answer with something really cheesy, Dean appears in the corner of my eye. “Oooh! Are you gonna kiss now?”

Sam’s face contorts into an expression only ever seen on fed-up little brothers, but I grin widely and reply: “Bitch, we might.”

My lovely tag crew:

@awesomeahwu @brynleewolfe @funwithfanfics @babeinthebowtie @savingapplepie-eatingthings @winchesterprincessbride @savvythedork @littlegreenplasticsoldier @youtubehelpsmesurvive @blackcherrywhiskey @mrswhozeewhatsis @schwarzwaelder-kirschtorte @aiaranradnay @fandomismyspiritanimal @barneybrigade @mogaruke @wstrumpel @whovianextrodinare @hennessy0274-blog @sushi-senpai-chan @tardis-is-mine @badasssweetsrebel @jensensjaredsandmishaslover @megasimpleplan4ever @wh1sp3r1ng-impala @iamreadinginsecret

#sam winchester x reader #reader insert #spn #fanfic #sam winchester #supernatural fan fiction #fluff #angsty at times #soulmate!AU #the man in my dreams #writing is hard

103 notes · View notes

yvocaro · 6 years

Text

Well, hello my friend, come on in! It’s that time again, time to chat about Handheld Gaming News.

Did you know the first ever Handheld Gaming News, which had a different name then, was published on here on in September 2015. I called it Friday’s Gaming Cup of Coffee, later changed to just Gaming Cup of Coffee. Thinking back on the past couple of year it’s weird to see how much the device that the handheld games are played on have changed.

The articles used to be much about 3DS and PS Vita games. Let’s just say that I decided a year ago that Switch games were just as much handheld games. A good thing too, otherwise I wouldn’t have had much to write about anymore! New 3DS games are scarce, and I suspect that new Vita games will be even harder to find in future.

Developers flock to the new hybrid console where they used to develop for the 3DS or Vita. Add to that, that the Switch lends itself perfectly to play games on that were released first on mobile. Just look at yesterdays article with all the new releases this upcoming week: a huge list of Switch games!

Anyway, get yourself a nice cup of coffee or tea, and let’s get back to the Handheld Gaming News.

Happy Birthday demo in eShop

The demo for Happy Birthdays is available in the Switch eShop! The game is slated for release on June 5 on the Switch, but this allows you to take a peek before that time.

You can try four “cubes” called Stone Plains, Greenlands, Fiery Earth and Frozen Grounds. The demo lets you play either until reaching 1.5 million years of in-game time or until primitive man is born. The save data from the demo can be imported into the full game when it launches.

It’s a quirky game that might not be for everyone, but be sure to take a look!

Persona Q2 still in the works for a Nintendo device

Persona Q2 was originally announced for 3DS in August last year. It has been pretty quiet since. One has to wonder if Atlus has switched the development over to the Switch.

Here’s what Kazuhisa Wada, gameplay and character designer at Atlus, had to say in Dengeki PlayStation, a Japanese gaming magazine:

“We are working on mid-to-long term plan, including new numbered entries, so that fans can continue to enjoy the Persona series after this year.”

Aside from Persona Q2 I wonder if we just might someday see Persona 5 on the Switch!

3DS HOME Menu Zelda themes on My Nintendo

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition was recently released on Nintendo Switch, and if you are a huge Zelda fan, you can now get various themes for the HOME menu in the 3DS. My Nintendo is now offering The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask: Dire Moon theme for your points.You can redeem your points up to five times to receive up to five codes for this theme.

My Nintendo is also offering discounts on select Zelda games, including a 30-percent discount on The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD.

My Girlfriend is a Mermaid…..must be Prince Eric saying that

Sekai project announced that visual novel My Girlfriend is a Mermaid?! is coming to the Nintendo Switch in Europe and North America. I don’t know about you, but hearing Mermaids, I instantly think of Ariel!

Here’s the details about the visual novel via Kitsuga:

“My Girlfriend is a Mermaid features the story of a protagonist who lives out in the city but one summer decides to return to his rural hometown and it is there he once again meets his childhood friend, Ion… who is now a mermaid!? Soon after he also meets Petakko, a mermaid who has lost her memory and Rin, a priestess who looks after mermaids but also has a split personality.

It is these encounters that brings our protagonist in contact with the legend surrounding mermaids. Together with Ion, who is at the center of this mysterious legend, as well as Petakko and Rin, our protagonist’s strange summer vacation begins. My Girlfriend is a Mermaid!? is the first new release from Sekai specifically targeting the Nintendo Switch platform. This version features enhancements over the original mobile version including new scenario content, Live2D animation and a new opening theme sung by the three main heroines of the game.”

E3 2018 is coming up

If you are a gaming enthusiast like I am, you will know the yearly E3 is getting close. The event takes place from June 9, kicking off with an EA conference and last until June 12.

It will be interesting to see what news Nintendo brings, riding on the waves of success from the Switch. They have announced that their major video presentation will take place on 12th June at the following times:

British Summer Time: 5 pm

Pacific Time: 9 am

Estern Time: 12 pm

Studio Brownies working on a new title for Switch.

This one caught my attention, because I had such fun playing one of their games on mobile. I spent a lot of time on holiday playing Egglia: Legend of the Redcap.

Now there’s confirmation that was made to Source Gaming in an interview that they are making a game for to the Switch. They said that it’s going to be something more unusual like 2017’s Egglia: Legend of the Redcap. I’ll keep an eye on it.

Second Nintendo Switch Set

Some people have been hoping for a smaller and certainly cheaper for of Switch. But I’m thinking this isn’t what they mean. Nintendo is now selling the ‘Nintendo Switch 2nd Set’ in Japan, which is essentially a fully colour-customisable Switch without a dock.

This new bundle costs ¥ 26,978 (including tax) on the Japanese store, while the original complete bundle costs ¥32,378. This is a price difference of roughly £35 / $50 but then you wouldn’t have the dock, Joy-Con grip controller, AC adapter, and HDMI cable.

Europe get two new 2DS XL

On June 29, 2018, Europe gets two new color variations with a pre-installed game.

The one model is a New Nintendo 2DS XL Black + Lime Green system. It is a black system with green accents on the edges and buttons. Mario Kart 7 comes with this bundle.

The other is a New Nintendo 2DS XL White + Lavender model. This one is white, with light purple accents on the lid and buttons. Its pre-installed game is Tomodachi Life.

Mii Studio lets you change how your Mii looks

Mii Studio is up in your browser, to be accessed through this link. Don’t expect too much though, it’s basically the same that you can do in the Mii Maker on the 3DS. No cute clothes or accessories. Makes me miss MiiTomo all over again!

Demo Sushi Striker available for the Switch

Frantic puzzler Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido will come to the Switch and the 3DS. If you want to give the game a try, you can now get the demo in the Switch eShop. Unfortunately, there’s no demo available for the 3DS version.

Chaos is coming with Lego

A teaser website for a new Lego video game has opened. It is a Warner Bros. and TT Games site that notes “Chaos is coming” in about one week. The images released so far for this new Lego project point to it being Lego DC Villains.

One on TT Games’ Twitter account shows the Joker’s silhouette in front of graffiti hinting at the game, showing the Riddler’s symbol and mentioning, “It’s good to be bad.” See the pictures of Batman and other DC Heroes that seem to have been vandalised by the Joker!

Guess this is enough for now, right?

I see you have finished your cup, and we have to get back to everyday life. Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you again next week.

Happy Gaming Weekend!

Handheld Gaming News week 21 Well, hello my friend, come on in! It's that time again, time to chat about Handheld Gaming News.

#2017 Friday&039;s coffee #3ds news #Friday #Friday’s gaming cup of coffee #gaming news with coffee #handheld games #mobile gaming news #news Switch games #Vita news

1 note · View note

great-kung-lao · 7 years

Text

My Top 5 most favorite DCEU Superman moments

I wanted to do post like this for a long time, but laziness was taking the best of me for most of the time. But lately I’ve got so many emotions about Henry Cavill’s Superman that needs to be put somewhere in some form. So here it is, my five most favorite moments regarding Superman in DCEU. The moments that define this character to me in DCEU. 5. The dialogue between Jonathan and Clark in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Very important moment in a sense of formation this Superman as a character in this universe. For the most part of the movie he encounters with nothing else but criticism for his actions, no matter how much of a good he did, majority still looked at him with a suspicion, even though all he ever wanted is for people to follow his example and become heroes of their own, for people to see him like his closest ones do. In this scene Jonathan told Clark a story from his childhood where his heroic deed caused an unfortunate result, which morally broke him. Keep in mind that right before this Superman witnessed bombing of the entire senate and he thought it was his fault for not being more cautious so he could prevent it. So he was most likely thinking something along the lines like what is the point of even trying if it takes one mistake in order for the entire world to turn on you? But back to Jonathan, in his story he and his father saved their farm from being sunk by a river, but because of them changing river’s direction, Lang’s farm suffered the consequences and all their horses died. Because of it Jonathan started seeing nightames and hearing cries of those horses while trying to sleep. This story was meant to mirror Clark’s situation, because in Man of Steel even though he was saving the world, a lot of people died in the process of his fight with Zod and he also couldn’t save those people back at the senate. When Clark asks if nightmares ever stopped for Jonathan, his father’s answer was yes, when he met Martha. She helped him to believe in good of this world again, she became his world. I think this way Joanthan was trying to explain to Clark that if there is any good in this world, even if it is one person, this reason is enough to keep fighting and doing what is right, because where is one, there will be many. Every action leads to certain consequences and your failures shouldn’t cause you to stop doing what you believe in, you just have to keep in mind that outcomes might not always be the ones you expect Good of the world doesn’t stop existing if you failed one or more times, it is always there. The world is worth saving for those who still believes in good and in better tomorrow. While those who oppose you will either come to terms and follow your example or will fail themselves. In the end I just love how they compared Clark and Lois’s relationship to Jonathan and Martha’s. 4. The dialogue between Martha and Clark in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

One more very important scene and is very dear to me as Superman’s fan. Martha explains to Clark that he doesn’t owe this world anything, he is not forced to do what he does, he has a choice who he wants to be and to become and this choice he has to make on his own and only like that. That way by the end of the movie we get that kind of Superman who does what he does because he wants to, because he sincerely and selflessly enjoys doing good and relieved people’s faces is all he would ever need in return like in that scene when he saves the girl from burning building. DCEU Superman becomes a hero not because he has to, but because he wants to and this is very important. This is the Superman that I love.

3. Saving the girl from the burning building in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

I love the entire sequence, starting from the moment when Clark notices the TV news about Day of the Dead. He was in the process of his journalistic investigation about Batman vigilante and about his means to achieve justice in Gotham He got suspicious of Bruce once he heard his communication with Alfred through hidden coms and started following him. But in the process he stopped once he overheard the message on TV on a foreign for him language and when he realized that no one is going to rescue her, he immediately forgets about right now and started undoing his tie and flew to save her. In that moment I realized that this Superman is always listening, he is always cautious and on guard in order if somebody is going to need his help and when somebody does need his help, he puts that situation above anything else. Which is exactly why senate bombing harmed him that much as it did and why it made him feel guilty. Unfortunately they didn’t shoot how Kal-El was undressing from Clark into Superman. We immediately go to the moment he carries the girl in his hands, which also is a very cool moment that showcases how fast Superman is, because girl was already in the burning building when TV news were streaming the accident and it was in Mexico, so he had to be very fast in order to be in time. What I love the most about this scene is that Superman carries the girl with a smile towards her parents, you can literally see how happy he is and how much he enjoys what he is doing. Even though his expression changes a bit later, it is only because he doesn’t want people to see him as a messiah, he wants them to see him as a guy who is trying to do the right thing and for them to follow this example so people will be willing to help each other no matter the odds. He wants to show that in order to be a hero you don’t need super powers, all you need is a good and kind heart and will to do what is right for those around you. 2. Lois saves Superman, Superman saves Lois in Man of Steel.

Very strong and cool scene where Lois teams up with AI Jor-El in order to save Kal-El, which is followed by a very badass escape on Lois’s part, during which we are witnessing her military roots, since she was very good on using that alien gun, she was literally headshoting those kryptonians. But as soon as Lois gets to saving pod, it gets damaged by kryptonian lady and as a result she starts falling to Earth. When Superman gets his powers back thanks to Lois using his kryptonian key that had AI Jor-El inside of it and he reprogrammed kryptonian atmosphere of the ship to Earth’s, his biological father appears in front of him and explains how he and Lara wanted him to learn what it meant to be human first, so that one day when the time was right, he could be the bridge between two peoples. Kal-El smashes the wall of the ship to open space and after that dialogues occurred, Jor-El pointed Clark to look outside to see Lois which is followed by: “You can save her, Kal. You can save all of them”. In that exact moment Clark/Kal-El becomes Superman and goes to do his job of saving Lois and the world. What is especially great about this entire sequence is that through Lois we are witnessing that in order to be hero you don’t need super powers, you need to be brave and have a good heart that is willing to help those in need and Superman was the one in need that time around. All of that leads us one more time to the point that everyone can be a hero in his/hers own way. 1. Superman’s first Flight in Man of Steel.

I need to be clear that I love this entire scene from the moment when Clark is learning about this kryptonian heritage through Jor-El. This entire dialogue that leads them to Superman’s costume and Jor-El explaining that the symbol of House of El mean hope and it embodies a fundamental belief that potential of every person to be a force for good and this is exactly what Superman is going to become for every living being in the universe. Every time Jor-El open’s his mouth he speaks Superman is a sense that he defines all that this character means, what he is and what he will be. The meaning behind symbol of House of El defines the word hero, that all it needs is to be hopeful and do good however you can, super powers are not necessary, it’s just an instrument, but we can all contribute as far as our capabilities allow. Which again leads me to the point of DCEU’s Superman and DCEU in general - everyone can be a hero and it is expressed through various supporting characters. And of course my most favorite part of this scene is Russell Crowe quoting Grant Morrison’s All-Star Superman: “You will give the people of Earth an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you. They will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun, Kal. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders” and right after that Superman takes his first Flight and I love so much how Henry Cavill expressed the reaction to such an event. This Clark was happy as if like a human being suddenly discovered that you can fly and this is freaking amazing! He is so happy and so amazed by himself that it just warms my heart every single time I rewatch this scene. As Jor-El said, Superman embodies the best from two worlds, two different civilizations, he expresses unity, that different cultures can exist together and be embodied in a person. But most importantly, he shows humanity’s potential, even while being an alien, he takes the best from us and through his example shows what we can become, that we can be our own heroes from the world around us.

I guess this wraps up my Top 5 definitive DCEU Superman moments. But I have to be honest, I still love ALL scenes with DCEU Superman and I want to talk about every single one for eternity. The scene of Jor-El and Lara-El sending their son away; scene with Jonathan looking at little Clark with red cape; the moment with Clark and Lois on military base and him explaining that it’s “not and S’ and her making an amazing face expression when she asks “You let them handcuff you?” and him explaining that if it makes them feel safe, then better to do it this way and she is just so in love with this incredibly kind person; bathtub scene with Clark and Lois; that moment when Batman is punching Superman while kryptonite effect fades away with every hit, that was actually hilarious; all Superman fight scenes with kryptonians and Doomsday; the moment when Superman says his goodbyes to Lois; the entire Krypton sequence in Man of Steel, etc. I LOVE THEM ALL.

I love DCEU Superman and I have all the reasons to do so, but I really wanted to share my insight on these particular moments that made me love Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel so much. This version of Superman literally changed my life I can’t freaking wait for Justice League, it has to be glorious. Thank you, Zack Snyder.

#Man of Steel #Superman #Clark Kent #Kal-El #DCEU #Henry Cavill #Zack Snyder #Jor-El #Russel Crowe #Jonathan Kent #Kevin Costner #Martha Kent #Diane Lane #Lois Lane #Amy Adams #Clois #Batman v Superman Dawn of Justice #Justice League

151 notes · View notes

davidmann95 · 7 years

Note

I don't want to sound too, ah, plebian, but can you explain the meta-plot of Multiversity? The Just, SoS, etc, were all very fun, but the Ultraa Comics stuff went over my head.

Not at all! Multiversity was weird as hell,and in terms of getting what the point of it all was, it doesn’t help that mostof the one-shots only tie in thematically (aside from the basic idea that TheGentry are corrupting these worlds) rather than how in Seven Soldiers everythingcomes back plotwise for the finale. There’s breadcrumbs - a piece of Monitormythology here, a suggestion that comics reflect other events in the multiversethere - but by and large, the one-shots serve to lend context and emotionalweight rather than directly inform the larger plot with Uotan, Superman and therest of the heroes.

Iwrote about Multiversity before, always with the intent ofdoing a follow-up piece going more into the individual issues, so here’s mefinally getting around to that now that it’s been, oh my god, two years sincethe series wrapped; you’ll probably want to read that article first, since mywhole “Multiversity is about time” thesis from that is the centerof pretty much everything I’m going to talk about here, especially at the end.I’d also recommend David Uzumeri’sannotations for Comics Alliance of all the chapters up through Mastermen,and @charlotteofoz‘s excellent piece on UltraComics, as well as the piles upon piles of other great writing aboutthis book out there.

Continued below; this is a long one, obviously with plentyof spoilers.

Since Multiversity #1 is one half of alarger story that’s bookended later (it’s not even the first chronologically,since a couple characters from The Just are already at theHouse of Heroes), let’s start with SOS. More than each issue as anartifact unto itself - this thing would be even longer if I went into that, andthe annotations I linked to I think already do a more than satisfactory job inthat regard - I want to talk about these in terms of how they inform the whole,and Society of Super-Heroes sets down the template in twomajor ways in that regard:

1. Each of these stories correspond to a given decade of thehistory of the superhero - in this case, in spite of the 1920′s trappings, thatthey’re going through the parallel universe equivalent of World War II and thepresence of a number of Golden Age figures suggests this is meant to be read asrepresenting the pulpy heroes of the 1940s.

2. Each of the chapters of Multiversity correspondto a classic story published by DC Comics, but grotesquely inverted (similarly to how each arc of his Batman and Robin mirrored a classic Batman story, ending with Batman and Robin Must Die! inverting his own Batman R.I.P.); here, thefirst standalone installment of this latest multiversal threat is naturallymodeled after the original “Crisis on Earth-One!/Crisis on Earth-Two!”JLA/JSA crossover, except this time when the two parallel Earths make firstcontact (through the same crystal ball as in that original story no less), itleads to war.

And much more than a simple categorization like theabove, SOS introduces the major shared conceit of theone-shots: the degeneration of the superhero as a concept through theintroduction of time to the proceedings. In this case through wartime, as thepromise of the birth of the superhero at the beginning of the story is undoneby 5 years of hell, grinding our leads’ ethics down to the level ofkill-or-be-killed, with Doc Fate remorselessly torturing a man for information(in what I have to read as a reference to Doc Savage’s “Crime College”),Immortal Man reverting to his most primal roots, and Atom literally beating anopponent to death. It’s the most straightforward “well, in the real worldsuperheroes couldn’t be that moral” deconstruction possible, but framed as theconsequence of conditions the superhero wasn’t built to deal with rather thanan inherent failing. In that regard, while I don’t think Multiversity wastypically much influenced by the then-present goings-on at DC in the comics orelsewhere - Morrison’s said more than once that most of the issues werescripted years before the art was done, minus some tweaks here and there - it’shard not to read this issue as at least something of a reaction to the New 52and particularly Man of Steel, especially with lines like “Doc.I just killed a man. I–I brought you some time, but myprinciples–I–I killed a man.” And that fall is the direct, literalvictory of the villains of the story.

For The Just, while it owes a debt to All-StarSuperman since itwas originally planned as a spinoff of that book - an acknowledgeddebt given the appearance of Klyzyzk Klzntplkz’s Hyperpoon, even though thecircumstances of Superman’s death in here preclude this being set in that world- in spirit it’s a broken mirror to Kingdom Come and theglitzy, too-cool, airbrushed ‘90s milieu it inhabited, hence the legacy heroesand Ben Oliver’s photoreal style being notably similar to Alex Ross’s here.It’s Kingdom Come’s party scene, except for 40 pages, andSuperman never comes in to whip them all into shape. They just keep drinkingand dancing as the world burns.

In truth though, this isn’t really a comic about legacycharacters; they’re a shorthand for time having passed and the superheroicidentities having degraded over time, but it’s no coincidence that this is theonly issue to actually have characters going by Superman and Batman as theunambiguous leads (or that Superman’s a useless dope, while Batman’s the onlycompetent one but also infinitely more ridiculous and transparent than hethinks), because it’s about the DCU specifically as a decades-long construct atthis moment in history. If most of the other issues are about time damaging thesuperhero through inevitable contact with real-world morality, this shows thepainful endgame of spinning their wheels without end: they become heartlesscopies of copies of themselves, all their battles knowing pantomime, muggingfor the cameras even as there’s nothing left for them to do that anyone caresabout, least of all themselves as they question why anyone even buys comicsanymore. The Just is the CW’s DC Universe twenty years fromnow, where most of the audience has left and the budget has been slashed tonothing but just enough viewers are sticking around that they have to continueit somehow, so it devolves into old-fashioned CW soap opera bullshit, becausehow that’d apply to these characters is all they have left in their arsenal:Superman’s angry that Batman’s fucking Lex Luthor, but will they ever admitthey just want to fuck each other instead, readers? Tune innext month to find how out we’ll delay giving the answer!

Then we hop over to 1980s political horror and theinevitable shadow of Watchmen, in…maybe the best, or at leastmost remarkably-constructed single issue of a superhero comic of thedecade? Pax Americana certainly felt like it when it came out.In any case, our main concern here is another consequence of time as applied tosuperheroes: the desire, as embodied by President Harley, to force them to makesense in the real world in tune with an ‘adult’ perspective. In an attempt torectify his guilt for accidentally killing his father, the first superhero andthe only morally pure one - his entry to the murky world of adulthood, assignified by the second-to-last line “Remember? That was when it allmade sense, right?” - he wants to reconfigure superheroes into virtuous,regimented tools of the government, with himself as the greatest hero of all asa resurrected American Christ to lead the world into a new golden age.

It fails horrifically of course, because his worldview - theworldview shared by Captain Adam, and Doctor Manhattan, and Watchmen itself- is by Morrison’s perspective inherently flawed, incapable as it is ofperceiving the repercussions and chaos of truly ‘real’ humans. Take notewhen Harley’s consciousness expands that at first it fragments into personal,evocative, visceral imagery, but when that expanding holistic view of theuniverse is inevitably too much to hold all at once, it simplifies back downinto simpler symbols, shapes and geometric solids, much in line with howMorrison spoke of Watchmen’s structure in Supergods asconfining and inflexible. Where Ozymandias’s plan to save the world went offwithout a hitch - at least until it lead to him putting on a robe andkidnapping Tim Drake, as continued this November at a comic book store near youin Doomsday Clock* - Harley’s fails catastrophically, because inthe ‘real’ world superheroes wouldn’t obey genre and narrative conventionsto the extent the likes of Nite Owl and Rorschach still do, living as they doin a world that still has flying Owl-cars and villainous master plans; anyonewho put on a mask to fight crime would be violent, callous assholes of thedistinctly uncharismatic variety whose grand schemes fall apart, whoseinvestigations never reach resolution, and who end up inevitably co-opted andrendered obsolete. In the end, as we saw with Peacemaker defending Bush toHarley’s barely-restrained glee, and the V.P. lecturing about selling childhooddreams back to adults, underneath all his mature aspirations Harley just wantedto find a way to force the world to let him love something the way he did whenhe was a boy…but as Adam reminds us, when you take it all apart to thatextent, there’s not really much left, and even if you put it all back togetherit can never be the same.

* I maintain it’s a very real possibility that PaxAmericana, meant to close the book on Watchmen once andfor all, was a part of what led to its revival; that someone in DC caught windof it during production and figured “oh man, Watchmen’s aboutto get some play again, now’s the time to do something with it.”

That brings us to Thunderworld Adventures’ 1950scolor TV world of retro adventure, the logical retort to the rest of Multiversity andthe one it needed to be complete: if time destroys superheroes, why not justturn back the clock and make it like it was when you were a kid? But unlike itscounterpart comic All-Star Superman (Morrison mentionedrepeatedly in interviews that this was him giving Captain Marvel the All-Star approach,and the structure - of Marvel facing off against counterparts of himself in theface of his inevitable doom, with his scientist arch-enemy finding a way togive himself his powers - is more than a little familiar), this isn’t anattempt to recapture the best of those elements in a modern context, but a purenostalgia exercise.

Yes, that means a happy ending, and clever fun, and a nicemoral about the self-destructive nature of evil. But from a modern perspective, thatalso means the mad scientist experimenting on his own children, pointing outthat Billy Batson is an exploited youth not subject to child labor laws,Captain Marvel Jr. winning a fight by preying on a bullied girls’ insecuritiesabout her appearance with a smile on his face, and a monstrous Sivana coming ahair’s breadth away from graphically murdering Billy. Morrison mentioned ininterviews that deep down Thunderworld had signs of the sameugliness as the other issues, and it’s true; even if we go back to the good olddays, we’ve still been informed by our adult experiences, and it’s just notgoing to look quite the same. No matter how much we might want to go retreatinto a neverending Binder/Beck fairyland, we’ve seen the leering, muzzled faceof the serial-killing, likely pedophilic Hannibal Sivana. Not that it’ssecretly as cynical of its subject matter in the same way as the others - thewizard Shazam reminds us that there is something beautiful at the heart of themagic, and that we lose it the more we try and replace it with something coolerand colder - but it’s pretty on-the-nose that Sivana’s ultimate plan is to getpeople to buy years on the clock to waste, essentially selling their old livesback to them piecemeal. In the end, when Captain Marvel’s faced with theprophecy of a darker, more morally challenging threat, he doesn’t confront it,but tosses it in the trash to fly away with a picture-perfect smile. But weknow the truth: he has to. There is no such thing as timelessness, andattempting to capture it will ultimately show cracks in the foundation nomatter what.

Moving into the Guidebook’s extended homageto “The Flash of Two Worlds!” - one with a distinctly 60s feel, between all theKirby getting thrown around and the build-up of DC mythology - we get to seewhat comic book time actually looks like from the outside (via the perspectiveKamandi, from a world where time has truly passed to the tune of anapocalypse), with Fox and Infantino’s simple tale of a costumed crimefightermeeting his own childhood storybook hero metastasizing into a time-shatteringhistory of reboots and retcons and parallel worlds, and two wildly differentproducts of that process coming face-to-face. After Thunderworld andthe finale it’s the most openly optimistic of the bunch, with the irrepressiblejoy Morrison clearly takes in all the nerd arcana and Lightray’s assertion thatlight will conquer darkness in the end, but it also ends with a Justice League,reduced conceptually to animatronic cartoons of themselves, dying andresurrecting in one manufactured Crisis after another for all eternity.

Hitting Mastermen, this is probably the mostdiscounted of the bunch, especially given it reads the most like it’sunfinished. However, I’d say it’s a pretty complete tragedy (especially thanksto @globegander‘s essayon it as a spiritual adaptation of Der Ring des Nibelungen),and much like with The Just - the other least-loved of theseries - the trappings on display are largely a way of facilitating what it’s talkingabout. It’s the story of a nation in power of men with pipes looking overnuclear families with dogs, where rich white boys complain that they shouldn’tbe held responsible for the actions of their ancestors, newscasters refer togenocides perpetrated by their nation within the last century as “theethnic and ideological purges of the Hitler era”, and theretaliation against them by terrorist insurgents is from a nation they broughttheir war to. It’s very much a story of America (2000s America specifically, inline with the decade parallels in play), and while Overman still wants to makeeverything right because he’s Superman, unlike its counterpart in Superman:Red Son which shows him managing to redeem himself from similarcircumstances to some extent, Mastermen makes no bones aboutthe fact that he is damned, utterly and irrevocably, just as aconsequence of being born into this society. Time here has destroyed thesuperhero by way of conformity, with well-meaning champions of truth, justice,and the Nazi way as barely-witting defenders of a corrupted status quo,unquestionably incapable of transcending what they’ve become. Hence whySuperman already exists as a comic when Hitler learns of Kal-L, the symbolismof two Jewish kids in the depression co-opted by the powers-that-be as thefascistic representative of amoral nationalistic interests, corrupting whatSuperman is supposed to stand for until even his attempts at rectifying thingscan only compound the problem. In essence, it’s the darkest possiblecontinuation of The Curse of Superman from Morrison and GeneHa’s Action Comics #9 - and it comes to the same conclusion ofwhat it takes to fight back in the finale later on.

Ultra Comics - both the comic and the character,insomuch as there’s any meaningful division between the two - is the anti-FlexMentallo, down to the point of mimicking its four-act structure of thehistory of the superhero via montage, only replacing a ‘Renaissance’ asMorrison put it following comics ‘Dark Age’ with further brutality andadolescent defensiveness. It’s the horrors of every other chapter rolled intoone: Ultra’s an innocent superhero from circumstances that become moreunsettling the more you think about them, pre-packaged with his own ridiculousbackstory and history, who goes on an adventure forcing him to realize themorality his world is built on is impossible and defined by society rather thanan objective moral code, and he’s trapped forever in the violent structure ofhis story, consigned to repeat his life forever until it loses all meaning. Itis, as Charlotte Finn put it in her analysis, a killer bullet to the idea ofthe superheroes, hence why it’s a horrific cursed contaminant across themultiverse: in our world it’s just a depressing comic, but to a superhero it’sirrefutable evidence that their entire existence is meaningless, time almostliterally corroding him throughout the issue as he moves from optimisticsuperhero to cynical super-agent to old and realizing it was all for nothing todead. Even our own world is threatened after all, with the suggestion that allthe uplifting Flex Mentallo meta-stories and 70s Starlin-stylecosmic headtrip consciousness expansion comics that Morrison’s made so much ofhis own bread and butter on are as compromised as the rest of the genre.Incapable of saving us in the face of a larger culture preaching the embrace ofnihilism and a doomed tomorrow when the only thing a terrifying number ofreaders have gained from the message is a desire to complain about writers “rapingmy wallet” - and that without that ability to inspire, all comics, all fictionitself can do, is steal our time and rush us all the faster into thegrave courtesy of the Oblivion Machine.

With the bookends, there’s fairly little to say I didn’t inthe original article I linked to above - i.e. that it flips the premise of timeinto a positive, showing that rather than using it to spin the wheels of thesuperhero genre in perpetuity until it devours itself through exhaustion orcontact with elements it can’t bear, or framing it as something to bedisregarded in spite of the consequences, it can be used to push things forwardinto more diverse and fruitful territory (hence not only the premise of theseries, but Multiversity sounding similar to Diversity), coming up with new andbetter stories. Much as Morrison is historically onboard with pulp heroes andlegacy heroes indicative of expansive superhero universes and structurallycomplex comics and retro comics and American superheroes and meta superheroes,there’s a difference between coming up with new stories in those contexts, andrerunning the old ones over and over again, which is probably why each of thosecomics, like I said matches up with a previous decade and comic, including someof his own, finally spinning here into the 2010s and DC’s own Crisis cycle.

While the first half of the bookend is in Morrison’s ownwords him doing himself to the point of parody - the self-insert character, theMonitor mythology, the weird villains yelling about conformity, thecomics-talking-about-comics, running into alternate company equivalents as apossible commentary on the state of the industry, etc. - the second isexplicitly the analogue to Morrison using his ‘corruption’ of contact with thedarkness and perpetuation of the neverending story for a paycheck to introducethe forces of the absurd, impossible and unexpected, i.e. the New, to defeat ahomogenizing, corruptive force designed to make everything the same and bleakto the point of literally forcing the Multiverse to relive the same Crisis overand over again, i.e. More Of The Same. It’s a slight twist on his typical Youngvs. Old/Children vs. Parents concerns (as best exemplified in his DC work in Seven Soldiers of Victory), but in theend, all of this is Morrison talking about something very, very simple: thatsuperheroes can absolutely be broken, but there’s a chance to save them andmake them something good and true again that might be able to reach us,literally by the end of the book, and it’s not by rerunning the same oldstories into the ground and unthinking conformity, but through doing new anddiverse and exciting things with them to inspire us in new ways. It’s Action Comics #9 as a 400-page epic.

I’m pretty sure that’s what Multiversity is about.

#Multiversity #Grant Morrison #DC Comics #Analysis #Opinion

63 notes · View notes

headquartersforlievmuses · 6 years

Text

► Cassandra Cain

Cassandra Cain is the fourth Batgirl. Born with the assassins David Cain and Lady Shiva as her parents, she was trained to become the perfect warrior. Her father deprived her of speech so she would learn movement and physicality as her first language. Batman adopted her into the Batman Family during No Man's Land, to replace Helena Bertinelli as Batgirl. Cassandra would eventually turn her Batgirl costume over to Stephanie Brown, and become a member of Batman Incorporated as Black Bat.

The daughter of David Cain and Sandra Wu-San (Lady Shiva), Cassandra Cain was conceived and trained from birth with the intention of creating the perfect bodyguard for Ra's al Ghul. After many unsuccessful attempts to train children from birth in martial arts to make them inculcate it like a native language (the most successful being The Mad Dog), David Cain, then a member of Ra's League of Assassins, decided the right genes were necessary to create this "Who Is All". With Ra's go ahead Cain searched for the perfect mother for this child, finding her in the Wu-San sisters of Detroit, who practiced martial arts with each other nearly every moment of their childhood in a type of sister's language. Cain sympathized with the younger sister, Sandra, when he noticed that she held back out of love for Carolyn. To "help" Sandra reach her full potential, Cain murdered Carolyn, then lured Sandra into an ambush by the League of Assassins, where he defeated her. Cain spared Sandra from death on the condition that she bear his child, and leave her for him to raise. Awed by the potential heights she could reach in her physical talents now that Carolyn was gone, Sandra agreed to Cain's bargain in order that she might go on to become the unstoppable force of nature known as Lady Shiva: creator and destroyer. Shiva's hope for her child was that she might one day grow to be the force that could stop her reign of destruction.

Trained by her father to be the ultimate weapon, Cassandra was not taught to speak. Instead, he relied mostly on actions to communicate with her. Also, he cut her off from the outside world, only exposing her to anything or anyone other than him only when absolutely necessary. As a result, the parts of her brain normally used for speech and language processing were trained so she could read other people's movements and body language to recognize their thoughts without verbal communication and predict, with uncanny accuracy, their next move in a fight. This also caused her brain to develop learning functions different from most, a form of dyslexia that hampers her ability to talk, read, and write.

When she was 8 years old, Cain decided his experiment had progressed far enough for him to test Cassandra's abilities in the real world, and took her to a hit; the target being Faizul, a 'book man' in Macau. At the time Cassandra had no idea what she was doing and believed it was only a game (an interpretation in keeping with her own reaction to what happened, and matching the interpretation of Alfred Pennyworth, an expert on children who saw a tape of events). After striking a deathblow, she "read" the target as he died, and saw death as he saw it.

In addition to scarring her emotionally, she realized murder, like her father's profession, was wrong, and she ran away.

Cassandra spent the next nine years homeless, guilt- and fear-ridden as she traveled the world. Entering Gotham City at 17, Cassandra came to be of Oracle's agents in the No Man's Land of Gotham City. After saving Commissioner Gordon's life from her assassin father, she was given the Batgirl costume with the approval of both Batman and Oracle. She became Barbara's ward and in a sense, the Batman's adoptive daughter. As the No Man's Land wore on, the new Batgirl was introduced to the rest of the Bat-Family with varying levels of acceptance. Usually acting as the Batman's watchful eye, she was finally allowed to go on a solo mission when a petrol station needed guarding against a local gang. Near the end of No Man's Land, Batman noticed her death wish and forced her to make a decision between suicidal actions and self preservation. She opted for self preservation.

Despite her notable handicap of being unable to talk, read, or write, Cassandra did remarkably well. Capable of understanding others' intentions due to her ability to read body language she was a more than capable listener, despite the fact she couldn't process their words or reply to them. It was this trait that made her one of the Batman's most loyal and trusted followers and helped her to survive when the Bat-clan became hunted by the Bloodhawks. Although the fact that she couldn't talk frustrated Barbara Gordon, she proved herself useful in other ways during a team with the spectral vigilante Ghost in tracking disappearing corpses. The running successes and final understanding of her mission as Batgirl allowed Batman to give her the privilege of running solo in Gotham City on the condition that she faced no 'costumed criminals' (Joker, Bane, Two-Face, Penguin, etc)

From going undercover in Madras with Batman to saving local heroes from the mob, Cassandra continued to impress as the new Batgirl. Especially when, despite Batman's warnings, she went face to face with a meta-human and won. She even managed to, despite her restriction to Gotham City, make it on the reserve member list of Young Justice.

But Cassandra's career was not the only thing that was growing. In the background a rift between Oracle and Batman was slowly emerging, as was the growing image of Batman as a father figure in Cassandra's eyes but the major development was David Cain's intentions to get his daughter back.

Cassandra began training immediately; going after every talented fighter she came across in order to gain more skills. After hearing how notorious the Joker was with the Bat-clan, she freed him in order to apprehend him again in order to gauge just how good he was. Batman and Oracle deduced that Cassandra had not given up her death wish and that it was due to guilt over her murdering Faizul. They began looking into what had brought the death wish back. Her reckless training was interrupted when an officer down was called over the frequencies. Batman's longtime ally and friend, Commissioner Gordon had been shot in cold blood.

It was during yet another training session in the Batcave that Cassandra first met her future friend Stephanie Brown (The Spoiler).

Unfortunately the victory would be short lived. Bruce Wayne was in jail on suspicion of murder. Cassandra arrived back at the cave in time to see Batman leave. Cassandra's resulting investigation revealed that Batman and Bruce Wayne were in fact the same person. Later she, along with Spoiler and Nightwing, discovered critical clues that pointed to Bruce Wayne's innocence and, eventually, incriminating evidence to the real culprit: David Cain. Her father safely behind bars and no battle-to-the-death with Shiva to train for, Cassandra focused on her crime fighting career.

Batgirl makes a mistake due to stress, and Oracle insists that they vacation on a cruise liner. Superboy happened to attend the same cruise, and together they stop a terrorist named Black Wind. Superboy gives Batgirl his number, and Batgirl kisses him. Batgirl goes on date with Superboy in Smallville, but they end up deciding to just be friends. Batgirl and Batman work together when Doctor Death tries to auction his chemical weapons in Gotham. They pursue him to Tarakstan, where they're forced to ally with Black Wind. Doctor Death is shot, and Black Wind sacrifices his life to contain the chemical weapons released. Before leaving the country, Cassandra, imitating a local custom, professes her feelings for him and vows to keep it a secret.

Barbara Gordon lends her old costume to Cassandra, who briefly uses it on patrol, but decides she prefers her own costume. Later, Batgirl investigates a new drug called Soul. This leads her to the Lost Girls street gang, whom Cassandra fights, unaware that the leaders are all metahumans. Midway through the fight, she accidentally swallows a Soul pill. Because Soul's effects are deterrmined by whether a person has a good or evil heart, she briefly hallucinates as her inner good and evil wrestle for control. When her evil side wins out, defeats the Girls under the Soul's influence. Later, Batgirl hunts and stops a serial killer named Doll Man. When she tries to stop a white slavery ring, but Batman shows up, angry because she ruined his sting operation. Batman tells Cassandra that she has been making too many mistakes recently, and forces her to suspend her activities as Batgirl. When Barbara tries to console her, Cassandra steals her Batgirl costume and takes to the streets. Investigating Soul again, she leads her to the scientist supplying the Lost Girls, who is revealed to be Doctor Death. Doctor Death doses Batgirl and Batman with concentrated Soul, and they fight to the death. When the effects wear off, Batgirl has a tender moment with Batman, and she explains that her father never let her display affection. Batman asks who she is loyal to, and Batgirl responds that she is loyal not to him but to their symbol. Robin takes Doctor Death into custody. Cassandra begins enjoying her new freedom, and Oracle takes her to a public garden. This garden is revealed to be a plot by Poison Ivy to recreate the Garden of Eden. Batgirl burns down Ivy's Tree of Knowledge, from which the entire garden grew from, stopping her.

Cassandra joined the Justice League Elite, masquerading as an assassin named Kasumi to monitor the team for Batman and participated in several missions with them. Ultimately she helped them save the world from the Worlogog and a psychic impression of Manchester Black that had taken over the team's leader, Vera Black. She revealed herself to her teammate Coldcast to tell him that he was not a bad guy before he was accused of murder. She personally stood by him in clearing his name.

Feeling partially responsible for what happened to her, Batman allowed her to return after a strict detoxification program and gave her a strict curfew. Nightwing however was not so accepting, regarding her with open hostility and suspicion. When Cassandra began seeking vengeance upon her father and Slade, she had to do it secretly due to their mistrust. Unfortunately her activities eventually were found out, resulting in her clashing with Nightwing and stealing a Batwing from the Batcave. However, the ordeal resulted in Cassandra officially adopted as Bruce Wayne's daughter.

With Batman's invitation Cassandra began working in the Outsiders team and, despite some mistrust from some members due to her recent activities, was accepted as part of the team. When Batman suddenly disappeared without word or warning, the Outsiders went looking for him all across Gotham. Cassandra went to the Iceberg Lounge to question Penguin about Batman's whereabouts, but learned nothing from him and instead she was forced to deal with Johnny Stitches. Back at their headquarters, the Outsiders received a message from Batman, but Batgirl noticed that he wasn't the real man. However, she decided to play along the impostor's plan, allowing REMAC to be injected wit a virus that caused him to die in a explosion that left Thunder in a coma. Batgirl was blamed for the disaster and the Outsiders disbanded. Afterwards, Batgirl went to the Batcave, where she learned that the attack was part of the Black Glove's plan and she decided to reform the Outsiders.

Batgirl began recruiting heroes across Gotham that matched Batman's unique abilities in order to create a team that could replace the missing Batman and the disbanded Outsiders at the same time, but Batgirl didn't expect that Nightwing would not agree with her plan. Nightwing was having trouble coming to grips with his adoptive father's possible death, but this would eventually sort out their conflict after Alfred intervened on a fight between the two. Cassandra handed over further creation of the Network to Nightwing.

Following the Battle for Batman's cowl, Cassandra began to feel emotional about her adoptive father's death, becoming disillusioned and passing her costume on to Stephanie Brown who becomes the new Batgirl. Cassandra leaves via the Gotham Airport, warning Stephanie not to follow her. After Batman's return, it was revealed that Cassandra had handed over her Batgirl mantle to Stephanie, acting in accords with her mentor's order in the event of his death or disappearance and because giving over the role would help Stephanie become a stronger hero. Drake remained in contact with her, implying that she's been working as an anonymous agent in Batman's plans.

Cassandra later becomes an operative of Batman Incorporated protecting Hong Kong, using the suit given to her by Tim and calling herself Blackbat. Bruce Wayne has her take a neo-heroin smuggling operation.

Black Bat traveled to Paris following a homing signal to Red Robin to the final site in a tournament of assassins, saving him from being raped by Daughter of Acheron, Ra's al Ghul's half sister, and defeated the vigilante Promise while freeing Drake. Cassandra then proceeded to take a sword and impale Tim in the chest, triggering confirmation that she had won the tournament, being one of the few in history to do so, and activating a system that would 'immortalize' her, by killing her with a laser. Red Robin saved her from the beam, and then revealed they had faked Red Robin's death using a trick sword, blood packets, and a stopped heart to fool the temple's automated systems. They attempted to examine the base, but although Tim conversed with the assassin tournament's creator, a previously unknown centuries old immortal, the base self destructed before they could learn any close as to his location.

Red Robin came to Hong Kong to assist Black Bat in Cassandra's hunt for Cricket, but they were defeated by the Cricket, badly injuring Tim and promising to fight Cassandra 'For real' next time.

Powers

Peak Human Condition: Through continuous intense training Cassandra represents the greatest fighting weapon ever conceived. She possesses peak level strength, stamina, speed and agility comparable to the finest human athlete.

Martial Arts: Due to her life long training Cassandra has a master level knowledge of all fighting arts known and unknown and continues to learn with every new opponent she faces. She was trained by her father (David Cain), along with several other members of the League of Assassins, including Bronze Tiger, Merlyn and Alpha. Upon taking the mantle of Batgirl, she was trained further by Batman, Oracle, Black Canary, and Lady Shiva. She received supplementary instruction from Onyx. She has also invented her own styles and techniques.[citation needed]

Dragon Style Kung Fu

The Falling Leaf Technique: A nerve pinch invented by Chinese monks in the 16th Century. Cassandra and her father are the only people who know how to use it.

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced): Cassandra is schooled in all known and many unknown assassin techniques such as pressure points, killing techniques and stealth to name a few.

Body Reading Ability: Cassandra has the advanced ability to read body language enabling her to read what people are thinking and tell what they are going to do next before they do it. She has been shown able to read opponents far faster than herself, along with non humans and even alien lifeforms once she is given a chance to learn their body language. This enables her to identify disguised and transformed people as well.

Investigation: She was also very briefly trained in detective methods by Tim Drake during their time in Blüdhaven.

Stealth: Due to her excessive training she is also a master of stealth. This ability was furthered during her time as The Nothing and Kasumi.

Dyslexia: Due to her training using the language centers of her brain to read body language, Cassandra has extreme dyslexia, making it very difficult for her to read and write.

Over-Reliance on Body Reading Ability: While a definite strength in combat, Cassandra's ability to read body language can work against her when she can't properly discern an the intent of the opponents actions based on body language. Generally this can be happen when an opponent is very good ad disguising their intent like Slade, who can keep Cassandra distracted with subtle body language that could hint at many possible actions (Cassandra stated that when Slade moves, his body "sings like a chorus. Too fast with too many voices to pick up accurately".) In another instance it could be that an opponent isn't thinking or focusing on their movements as they make them like when Cassandra tried to stop a gunshot from a cybernetically enhanced assassin but couldn't because his cybernetics took over the aiming for him independently of his movements. The last way in which this weakness manifests is when Cassandra is facing an opponent who is mentally unstable or ill. Such an opponent is simply too unpredictable to anticipate. When Cassandra fought the Joker, the Joker had an edge in the beginning of the fight because she couldn't understand the Joker's body language or as Batman put it "she can read his body language too, but his body language just comes out as gibberish".

Cassandra has scars across her back from bullet wounds made by her father during her childhood training.

She tended to keep a rose around during her time as Batgirl.

She possess high levels of serotonin.

Due to her upbringing, Cassandra was unable to understand words being spoken and used body language to understand what people were saying. Eventually, she gains the ability to process and attach meaning to words.

She possessed a death wish due to guilt over killing that resulted in nightmares and self destructive behavior (seemingly solved after her second encounter with Lady Shiva).

Her favorite flavor of ice cream is chocolate.

Her favorite tea is Assam.

Cassandra's first kiss was Conner Kent.

Cassandra was formally adopted by Bruce Wayne, and now goes by Cassandra Cain-Wayne.

Verses

tba

#Batman #Batman [Cassandra Cain]#Female Character #non mutuals #face claim: Oh Yeon Seo

0 notes

davidmann95 · 7 years

Note

It's probably not smthn super interesting to you but, all the new Superman costumes when I looked at them just... reminded me of Connor, mostly? (I ended up playing with them to make a Superman Connor which was fun.) But my main question is, do you think that "Superman" is a name that could ever really be passed down, kind of like how Dick was given Batman (briefly)? Not in the way of lots of people rushing in, but DC seriously trying to introduce a new Superman? Who would you give that role?

Yeah, I can see that. Same basic design, just with a yellow negative space in the S and the yellow buckle on the belt.

As for the successor business, the idea of certain superhero identities as ‘off-limits’ has never quite sat right with me. Not everyone exactly demands that another hero take up their mantle - if Peter Parker was the one and only Spider-Man I don’t think many New Yorkers would notice for long, in-universe he’s a B-list superhero at best - but they’re bigger-than-life characters, often standing for things to their city or world larger than their own physical selves; it means something for that symbol to continue past whoever started it. I never liked old-school Earth-Two Dick Grayson staying Robin forever because he ‘wasn’t worthy’ to be Batman; the guy himself would have wanted that, he’d been doing it longer than Bruce by the time he died, and he had the same training and resources and motivation. And at least there’s the question with Batman of whether you legitimately could logistically equal the decades of unrelenting globe-spanning training he went through; with most heroes, if you have the power and the goodness of heart, you’re off to the races. Batman isn’t a mythical totem bound to the heart and soul of a single individual only to fade into the wind when Bruce Wayne passes on, it’s a suit he puts on that Dick Grayson or Tim Drake or Damian Wayne could put on too, and would have good reason to. And if Superman isn’t going to be Superman forever, whether that means he dies in battle or gets old or he goes off into space, there’s absolutely a reason for someone to fill that gap. Even if his immediate family didn’t, someone would.

Not to mention a lineage of Supermen and Superwomen stretching from the present to the 853rd century and beyond is just really cool. It gives you all kind of weird variants and possibilities even before you factor in the Multiverse, lets you do wild cross-time teamups, and plays with the ever-changing future of DC at any given time. And that they manage to exist is maybe the most tangible impact of Superman’s ideals across the breadth of space and time: the Starman legacy may eventually go rotten, the Green Lanterns may die out, the Allen/West line of Flashes has died about by Legion times, but eighty three thousand years down the line the moral imprint Kal-El leaves behind is still so strong that his great to the power of a hundred grandchildren, each and every one of whom could conquer galaxies, are to a woman and man the greatest heroes of their era. That such an impossible standard continues to be met in the face of infinite temptation in a time far farther away from us than the beginning of recorded history is the most monumental testament imaginable to how good Superman actually is at bringing out the best in people.

So who starts it?

Well, Kara as Superwoman’s an obvious choice - she’s got the power, she’s got the heart, and she’s the only other survivor of Krypton up to the task. But she’s always felt off as a successor to him for me - they spring from the same incident, so her motivations and origins are parallel to his rather than springing from him and his deal. She doesn’t wear the S-shield because of him, even if he’s the reason she calls herself ‘Supergirl’. It seems odd to discuss her as a successor in the same way as Batwoman for Batman - they’re associated characters, yes, but they’ve got their own things going on. More importantly they’d keep doing pretty much the same things they were already doing, in which case why bother getting rid of another character in the first place? Taking Superman’s place doesn’t do anything to Supergirl that her just growing up wouldn’t do with time anyway. It has to be someone where them entering that role represents a change.

The idea of Conner having to become Superman is loaded with potential, but that’s kind of the problem: I think the idea that he could be Superman one day is way more interesting than him actually being Superman would be. Maybe this is in part because I generally think of him as being a character of unfulfilled narrative potential, but the idea of this kinda goofy, rough-’n-tumble kid playing around with weird Kirby concepts and hanging out with the Teen Titans and resenting having to go to high school wondering if he might actually have to be Superman one day has a lot more going for it than whatever he’d actually be as Superman. I like the idea of the hybrid of Superman and Luthor being able to save the world in the way neither of them ever could, but only Luthor’s more unsavory aspects seem to be hinted at as a potential part of the package for Conner rather than his mighty intellect or ambition, so it mostly comes down to a stock Good Genes vs. Bad Genes argument that’s settled once and for all once he puts on the cape. Similarly, that he might fear the idea of being Superman the way a teenager fears having to get a 9-to-5 job when he grows up is fun - he knows that’s ultimately a thing he has to do to take care of those around him, and something he’ll probably be okay with when the time comes, but right now he’s not so sure he’s wild about it - but that means either he gets over it, or we get another Superman who often seems to hate being Superman. Plus he doesn’t have much of a background to draw on given he literally woke up on the day of his birth as a superhero, so again, aside from having to be a role model it’s not much of a logistical change for him. All-in-all while it’s interesting to see him in that role in potential futures, I think any destiny for Kon-El would probably be best served by him finding a different job title.

While I’d hope to see him in something a little more stylish than the above -maybe he could change costumes a lot, every time we see “Superman Secundus” he seems to wear a different uniform, so that could be a character detail - I think Jon Kent, the Boy of Tomorrow, would be the best option for a new Superman. For one big thing right upfront, while it’s probably about to be retconned out of him in March (probably for the best), he’s the one of the bunch who himself is the last son of a doomed world. Hell, more than that he’s the last son of a doomed DC Universe, the one way to feasibly one-up the significance of Krypton; even when he’ll have just been born on Earth, the idea of him as the final product of a classic DC has some potency.

That sense of legacy plays into something else with him: he’s the only one of the gaggle who actually thinks of Superman as Superman. Kara knew from day one that was just her cousin, Conner was born to be Superman, but Jon’s the one who grew up with Superman as his hero, not knowing just how true that was. He looks at Superman the way you look at Superman, and then he finds out his dad is Superman, coming at the idea from an even more direct place than Wally West. And being raised by Superman means he becomes a different character from him: he doesn’t grow up lonely and lost in the same ways Clark did, but he doesn’t have to go through the same trials or endure quite the same harsh lessons either. He’s could be the Nightwing to his Batman, not quite having the same kind of focus and drive but overall a better-adjusted person, which lets him go through the same basic motions you expect of Superman while still being a meaningfully different character.

Plus, he brings back a lot of Silver Age elements that don’t quite work for Superman anymore. I’m not a fan of Clark in-costume defending Smallville as Superboy, but Jon has Hamilton, meaning he can live out the whole Superboy status quo of defending a small town while also living as a normal schoolkid concealing his powers and super-brain. And while Clark becoming Superman is an all-but-meaningless name-change for Clark if he’s already been Superboy for years, for Jon that’s the biggest thing ever, making a career as Superboy much easier to pull off for him without invalidating anything. Plus, while the doofy Chris Reeve-style disguise doesn’t quite feel right anymore for Clark, it’d fit perfectly for someone as energetic and occasionally clumsy as Jon (especially if he parlays his obvious genius into the world of mad science as his day job when he grows up). You get the original Superman succeeded by the Silver Age Superman just as he was in the real world, and Jon brings enough to the table personality-wise while still being able to do the classic stuff (he can learn more about Krypton, but it’s fundamentally altered by being the home of his unknowable ancestors rather than the place he was born, for instance), and that differentiates him from the other two candidates. Obviously a lot of this is just potential no one has seized on yet, but if Superman set down the rules of the DCU, Jon grows up as a pure embodiment of that world, Super from childhood on and living without the burdens his dad had to. That to me makes him the most interesting possibility of the lot to see as a second Superman.

#Superman #Batman #Supergirl #Superboy #Conner Kent #Jon Kent #Opinion

51 notes · View notes