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saranghanuuu · 4 years

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LOVE LASTS FOREVER JDRAMA REVIEW ♡

Love Lasts Forever / An Incurable Case Of Love (Koi Wa Tsuzuku yo Dokomade mo) is a 2020 romance-comedy-medical Japanese drama based on Maki Enjōji’s 2016 manga series of the same name. It stars Takeru Satoh playing the role of Dr. Tendo Kairi and Kamishiraishi Mone as Sakura Nanase.

PLOT SUMMARY

Love Lasts Forever / An Incurable Case Of Love (Koi Wa Tsuzuku yo Dokomade mo) tells the story of Sakura Nanase who accidentally (or should I say, fatefully) encounters cardiologist Tendo Kairi after an old woman collapsed on the street due to vasospasm. Sakura is greatly impressed on how Dr. Tendo handled the matter at hand and falls in love with him at first sight. After Dr. Tendo complimented Sakura for playing a key role of screaming for help for the old woman, she then realized her desire to become a nurse for a chance to meet him again.

Five years later, she was admitted as a nurse trainee at Hiura General Hospital where Dr. Tendo works. Sakura confessed to him on her first day of work, only to receive a blunt rejection. Unbeknownst to her, Dr. Tendo is dubbed as a “devil” at work for being a perfectionist and for criticizing other doctors and nurses. Sakura earned the title “hero” in the cardiology ward because of that daring confession, but Dr. Tendo sees her as nothing but a “boulder” hindering his job due to her clumsiness. However perhaps with love and patience, nothing is impossible. Sakura continued to pursue the seemingly cold-hearted Dr. Tendo, especially after she was placed under his team. She now aims to receive his validation both at work and in love. Will Sakura be able to succeed in this sweet ordeal?

MY TWO CENTS

I haven’t seen a Japanese drama in a while and it’s highly unlikely for me to watch one as my hands are full of Korean dramas these days (I am currently watching 3 ongoing and 4 finished series). But then I happen to see a fan-made video again circulating in Facebook about Love Lasts Forever. The FMV is so well-done that I was fascinated - covering all the meaty parts from start to finish. That’s when I decided I should gamble my time for this. It appears to be just an easy-going series, I thought, which will be a good catch since everything’s so complex recently. I started it with low expectations... And I unexpectedly loved it so much than I can handle!

WARNING: I suggest you not watching this if you are tired of this kind of plot, OR you prefer complicated stories, OR you expect this to focus on the medical aspect than romance. I want to save this drama from your disappointment. On the other hand, this drama suits best for hopeless romantics who fairly need a breather from the intricacies of life.

Since I never once reckon Love Lasts Forever to be a perfect drama, I am setting aside my criticisms. Instead, I am listing the things that made me fall for this series:

Kamishiraishi Mone is sooo KAWAII! Yes, this is the first reason HAHAHA😁 The way she speaks is very cute that it made me an instant fan. Of course it followed that I researched about her and found far more interesting things! She is a singer and the voice actress behind Mitsuha Miyamizu of Japanese anime film Your Name at that! She even sang an OST of Your Name entitled Nandemonaiya. Whoa~ So impressive, this girl.

Right on acting. I am well aware that Japanese series tend to be OA and loud. This one is no different, but more of on the entertaining side than cringeworthy.

Clichè theme, yes, but the kind you will never get tired of. Admit it or not, your heart still flutters on stories of a tsundere male lead falling head over heels with a clumsy but bright female lead

Similarity with Itazura Na Kiss - anyone who watched this drama will be able to tell, I suppose. Itazura Na Kiss is evidently one of my most loved stories that I made several posts about it here in my blog. But I guess Love Lasts Forever stood out in a way that it's more relaxed and less toxic (just like what a user commented on my previous post).

Love Lasts Forever showed justification behind Dr. Tendo's strict and aloof personality, which brought more excitement as Sakura slowly breaks down the walls on Dr. Tendo's heart. It is thrilling when they do this in a drama really. Dr. Tendo initially drew a line between him and Sakura, so him growing as an expressive character is one for the record! He gave so many reassurances to Sakura that he loves her, that it was never a mistake that he chose to be with her.

Kiss kiss kiss overload!

In my standard at least, Takeru Satoh is not handsome (sorry hah~), but I must admit he's oozing with sex appeal. He's a good kisser too and I love it🙈 And since we're already talking about kissing, Kamishiraishi Mone's responses to kissing scenes are really good too. It's not awkward and will indeed make you feel the tension.

Feel-good OST! This is on repeat in my playlist nowadays and everytime I listen to it, it brings back all the heart-fluttering memories in the drama.

Every episode has a distinct story to tell.

Hilarious side characters! And second and third couples that are likewise lovable - Dr. Kisugi x Sakai and Nishi x Ryuko

My happily ever after ideal ending - a marriage.

FUN FACTS/TRIVIAS ABOUT THIS DRAMA (Compiled from Blitzfansub)

Dr. Tendo is your stereotypical “Do-S” character (literally translated to “Super-S”) where normally the “S” stands for sadistic. Because they just say Do-S, the running joke is that he can be both super stoic and super sadistic at the same time.

It is part of Japanese politeness to describe *every* *single* *action* the nurse takes. And every time they touch the patient, or get too close to them, they literally say “pardon me”. It doesn’t sound natural in English, but not translating those lines will also be unnatural. The cultural difference is that in US, the nurses try to keep a conversation with you to distract you from the discomfort. In Japan, they tell you everything about it so you don’t get uncomfortable.

Team Tendo or Team Kisugi is of course, a double entendre. It means a doctor-nurse assignment as they described in the show, but they hint at it as also being “a fan of…” Tendo or Kisugi.

You may have noticed Dr. Tendo’s favorite phrase is “baka” and while it can translated to any one of stupid, idiot, retard, there is a distinction based on context. When he’s calling her “baka” at work, he’s insulting her lack of experience, and not necessarily her lack of intelligence. That’s why “retard” was used. In Episode 3 when Sakura mimicked Dr. Tendo in self-deprecating way, she said “idiot” and he defended himself saying he wasn’t that harsh. At the end of this episode, when she called him out, the baka he used was a very endearing kind, so the word “stupid” was used.

The scene where Dr. Tendo pretends to fall asleep after Sakura gets out of the shower may be seen as “cruel” in American culture but it’s a classic “gentleman move” in Japanese romance plots. He’s worried that she feels too pressured if he’s awake, so he pretends to be asleep and alleviate the pressure to have sex. I hope you can all appreciate his kindness!

A line from Episode 8 that literally says “It’s all your fault for making this weird kid be attracted to you” is such a hard line to sub. Like, who says that?! I mean, never mind that it sounds awkward. Nobody I know thinks like this (that it’s her fault he’s attracted to her). So translating isn’t just about replacing Japanese words with English words, but it’s also about placing it in the correct context. In this case, such a scenario would never happen in America because no guy says this in a lovable/jealous manner. Every guy that says this is a psychopath!! So what do you do in this case? The translator took a stab at the possible context and rephrased it to sound a bit more normal. If the context turns out to be different, the translator probably have to rephrase it significantly. Just a little “behind-the-scene” on how subtitling works!

Difference from Manga: In episode 6, Miori is supposed to be the younger sister of Minori. Most people assume they are twins because that was the setting in the manga. However, the drama never explicitly mention them being twins. But if you check TBS’ website… it mistakenly shows Miori as 33 and Minori as 26 even though Minori is suppose to be older. And furthermore if you read the description for Miori, it says “Minori’s twin sister” so… in conclusion, the TBS website is a hot mess!

The amusement park Dr. Tendo and Sakura went to was filmed at Tokyo Dome City.

Takeru Satoh gave a “behind the scene” talk where he said that removing Sakura’s hair tie in the living room scene of Episode 8 was ad-libbed. He thought of it on the spot because the drama has used hair tie as a symbolism for “focused career-mode Sakura”, and untying her hair there showed that he’s treating her as a woman.

Another behind the scene talk regarding last scene of Episode 8: The editors were going to start the I love… song at the point where Dr. Tendo shows up, but the editors said “it’s probably obvious that he’s going to show up, so might as well start the song early and match Dr. Tendo’s appearance with the crescendo.”

Bath culture is big in Japan. People don’t normally just take showers. That’s why when Sakura’s mom realized her house is not fit for a guest to take a bath, she sent the whole family to a public bath (called sento).

In a scene where Sakura’s trying to act cute in Episode 9, Dr. Tendo literally says “Did you eat something spoiled?” because there’s a reference that you act out of character when you eat something bad. This reference doesn’t work in English, so instead, “hitting yourself in the head” is used.

In the scene on Episode 10 where Nishi is introducing himself to Dr. Tendo, he actually calls Dr. Tendo “younger brother.” This is because even if he is younger than Dr. Tendo, if he marries his older sister, Nishi automatically becomes the “older brother-in-law” in turn making Dr. Tendo the “younger brother-in-law”.

In Japan, the “best man” of the wedding is usually the groom’s boss.

Apparently this series was so popular it crashed Paravi (TBS streaming site) few hours after EP10 release!

Not long ago, I was afflicted by an emotional disturbance that lasted for two months. It affected my everyday living so much that I had a hard time sleeping. After watching this drama, it faded away, to my surprise. I owe my happiness these days to this show. Maybe that's how I can sum up the fun of watching this. I hope the same goes to you!

#love lasts forever #satoh takeru #mone kamishiraishi #koi wa tsuzuku yo dokomademo #takeru satoh #kamishiraishi mone #jdrama #an incurable case of love #jdorama #japanese drama #drama reviews #nanase sakura #tendo kairi #sakura nanase #kairi tendo #恋はつづくよどこまでも

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daaarwiin · 3 years

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Here’s to You

It’s 5am in the morning of April 16, 2021 and I’m here casually listening and sulking to.. you guessed it Taylor Swift. There’s this relatable feeling that I get from her songs and I guess that’s the reason why I am completely addicted to her. Currently, I am listening to her song called Enchanted. It’s about her meeting someone so special and how she was so enchanted to meet that person. There’s this line from the song that I am deeply in love with and somehow whenever I hear it, it reminds me of people that I have spent so much time and memories with, some who are still here with me and some who left. The line goes quite explicitly: I'll spend forever wondering if you knew that I was enchanted to meet you. I just love how Taylor managed to remind me about the people who made my dull life colorful — and that includes you.

I am writing this letter in 2021, hoping that it can be sent to you by 2024. Why you ask? Well I know that you know how much of a sweet and caring person I am, and I hope when you read this letter, you better be touched and message me right away. How do I start? I don’t know if you still remember how we met but it goes like this: We were classmates in Basketball in our first year. You asked for my name and I asked yours too. The day after, I added you on Facebook. And you literally reacted to my posts HAHAHHA. The next PE class, you kept talking to me na, asking about my music career and we discovered that we have common interests: Taylor Swift and more. From there, our friendship bloomed. Little did you know, I actually saw you a couple of times in school and I was really attracted to you HAHAHHAH. And ayon, after non, we messaged quite a bit and I fell in love with you. And then a lot of dramatic talks and walkouts happened, but we managed to resolve everything and still remained as friends.

I want to thank you for everything. For being so supportive, sweet and caring person. I never knew that I needed someone like you in my life. But one thing that I want to do is to apologize. I apologize if there were times when I was getting too dramatic over you, and how I was so OA in a way na I would always fight you just because you can’t reciprocate the same energy and love that I give. I think it’s just really hard when you’re in love. You try your best to make this person your temple, your mural, and your sky (Swift, 2020). But in the end, you failed to consider that that person can not actually make you their own. And that’s how things went wrong. I expected a lot from you without understanding that we can’t be together.

Though I really want to be honest with you: I was really wishing that you would like me back. But I still don’t know what can happen, or if that idea even happened kasi 4 years is such a long TIME HAHAHA. Who knows, maybe in those years you could possibly like me back, but I highly doubt it. However, if that really happened, I feel like I’m going to be the happiest and contented person ever.

As someone who’s really trying to get close to you, there are a lot of things that I want to do with you, and I hope I was able to achieve it:

1. Get to know you and your vulnerabilities more. You are quite an extraordinary person, Miguel. I always share my problems with you and you would always console and comfort me. Though you don’t quite share your problems with me. I feel guilty because I’m not able to be there for you in times when you needed comfort. You always say that you’re alright but I know you better than that. I hoped that I was able to know you more. I wish that you would open up to me.

2. Seek for your emotional connection. At this point, our relationship is really about academics and just chatting when we are bored. I seek for that rich connection with you just because I consider you one of my bestest friends in UA&P, and in life actually. And it just sucks if the feelings are not the same :(. I just wanted you to tell what you feel and openly discuss anything to me.

3. Trust, Honesty and Understanding. These three values make up the foundation I have in all of my friendships, and somehow I wish that we were able to develop this in ours. I wish that you would trust me to the point na you would talk to me about anything. I also wish that you were honest to me in all the responses I get from you every single day. If you’re feeling blue, I hope you tell me. I also wish that we had a form of understanding in our relationship just because this value is what makes all friendship worthwhile.

4. Besties. I wish that we were able to spend a lot of time together, walking along Pearl and Escriva or even eating out at any restaurant we like. I hope na you would get to come to my house and do silly things with each other ;). I wish na we were there for each other in times when we needed it. I wish na you were able to reciprocate the energy and care that I exert in the friendship. I wish na we were happy. But nonetheless, I wish na we turned out to be really good bestfriends.

If you’re reading this now in 2025, and somehow all of these wishes weren’t able to happen, I just want you to know that I was still enchanted to meet you. Even though it’s really hard being close to you and being your friend (because you don’t talk and socialize that much #boring), I want you know na you became a huge part of my life. The days that we spent together, either personally or virtually, all indeed have a special place in my heart. All’s well that ends well but I hope na if our relationship crumbled because of such reasons, I hope na you won’t forget about me.

4 years from now is 2025. You finished your Master’s degree in 2024 and you are working full-time at a company. And I want to congratulate you for doing your best in everything. I can’t wait to see you thrive and to reach more success. I will forever be supporting you.

Even though you don’t say I love you back, I still love you. Until again.

Darwin

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brittababbles · 7 years

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Hey could you please do an Jason Todd imagine where he insults the reader saying they're too nice but then he sees the reader go all shark lawyer mode and or kick someone's ass while being incredibly sarcastic

Author’s Note:Oh I love to pick on Jason. This should be fun. This is loosely set in theYoung Justice universe, I suppose. I realize Jason is ostensibly not in the YJuniverse, but there’s so much stuff from that universe that’s just so useful.

You’d been so late getting away fromwork that you hadn’t had time to change. Meeting up with a new partner usuallymeant a little prepping, but by the time you’d finished closing the office atthe air base up it’d been nearly 1am. Since you were loosely expected in Gothamat 1:30, you gave your Coast City apartment a pass and zeta’d to Gotham in yourcat-print, knee length skirt and pale blue blouse. You’d gotten pretty goodabout getting stains out of your day-job clothes.

Gotham was grim, when compared to CoastCity. Hal had warned you of that. Still, every alley met the definition of“suspicious and creepy”, so you weren’t sure exactly what your new partner hadmeant by “meet me in Crime Alley. It’s the suspicious and creepy one.”

Of course, you’d heard of the Red Hood.Gossip of that type made it through the grape vine of the Justice League easilyand Hal Jordan was notoriously incapable of keeping his mouth shut. Hal hadbeen the one to pick you up and dust you off when your power ring had draggedyou to Oa and unceremoniously dumped you in the alien dirt shortly before yourfourteenth birthday. He’d trained you, taken you under his wing, and quiteliterally save your life on multiple occasions, but you couldn’t say you hero-worshippedhim. Hal was more like an annoying big brother than anything.

In your experience, the same could notbe said of this city’s primary hero.

So, though you’d never actually metJason Todd in person, you’d assumed he was a carbon copy of his older brother.Dick Grayson was sweet. He was handsome and flexible and quiet handy with theescrima sticks, but he still hovered in Batman’s admittedly massive shadow. Heclaimed he didn’t want to be like Batman, which was understandable, but you’dalways thought a bit of the Bat-ness had rubbed off. Naturally, you assumed,one ex-Robin must be the same as all the others.

You turned the corner at a genuinelysuspicious and creepy looking alley whose street sign actually dubbed it “CrimeAlley”. You had to wonder if the city planners in Gotham City were even tryingat this point. There were only a couple dingy streetlights, which only added tothe atmosphere of the place.

If Todd were trying to impress you,he’d have to try harder than a spooky alley to make his point.

Loud, booted footsteps caught yourattention. Sighing, you turned to investigate.

A gun barrel was in your face beforeyou turned all the way around.

“Gimme your purse,” a harsh voice said.

There were two men, both dressed headto toe in black. They were even wearing the black ski masks. It all seemedrather cliché, even by your standards.

You backed against the wall of thealley, unprepared for a fight at the moment. The two masked men followed you,the one still pointing a gun at your face.

“Give it over, lady,” he said sharply.

You sighed but reached for your purse,intending to open it and pull out your ring. Before you hand had gotten halfwaythere, though, a pair of loud cracks echoed through the alley.

Your attackers both dropped, clutchingat their knees and screaming. You gawked at them for a moment and then lookedup to see who had rescued you.

Across the alley, balancing on top of atall wooden fence on the balls of his feet, was a tall, muscular young man. Hishead was entirely encased in a red helmet, which completely obscured his face.

The Red Hood.

“You have got to be kidding me,” hesaid, his voice surprisingly clear despite the helmet.

He hopped down from the fence and approachedyou. You could tell from his body language that he wasn’t impressed.

Yousquared your shoulders and stepped over your attackers. Your miniscule heightmeant you had to angle your head up slightly to look him in the face, but thathardly meant you were afraid of him. You met in the middle of the alley and hishead tipped up and down, clearly looking you over skeptically.

“You must be Todd,” you said evenly

“And you must be [your name],” heresponded, “what, too sweet to throw a punch? Or you just didn’t want to getyour dress dirty?”

You glowered in response.

“Take the helmet off. I barely toleratedomino masks,” you snapped.

He responded by reaching behind hishead and popping what sounded like a lock open, then carefully removing thehelmet.

Well, he looked an awful lot like Grayson.

You were right about the haughtyexpression you’d imagined. Between your size, your clothes, and the fact thatyou’d done nothing to prevent a mugging, you could tell your first impressionhadn’t been a stellar one.

“Does Bats know he sent me ababysitting job, not a partner? ‘Cause I really don’t have time for that,” hesaid sourly.

“Excuse me?” you snapped.

He raised an eyebrow.

“He sent me a skinny girl in a skirt.When he said he was sending a Green Lantern, I was hoping for someone at leaston par with Guy Gardner.”

You snorted, affronted at theimplication that you weren’t on par with Gardner.

“Have you even met Guy?” you asked.

“Yeah, a couple times,” Todd responded,“And he kicked ass every time. Even without the ring he’d at least throw apunch if cornered in an alley!”

“I was always taught to avoid gettingshot in the head,” you said coldly.

“Well then you weren’t taught—“ hestarted.

“Shh,” you hissed.

You’d heard what sounded like morefootsteps, and a series of male voices coming from a building at the end of thealley. You glanced over Todd’s shoulder, your eyes narrowed, just to see a halfdozen goons come swarming out, apparently looking for your masked friends lyingunconscious twenty feet behind you.

“What the?” Jason muttered.

“I’ve got it,” you sighed, your handalready buried in your purse.

Anymore, saying the oath wasunnecessary. You could usually get what you needed out of thinking through itreally hard. In brightest day, inblackest night, no evil shall escape my sight… you thought, slipping yourmiddle finger into the ring.

The bright green light that explodedfrom it, enveloping you, made Jason squint. Before his eyes had time to adjust,you were standing in front of him, fully uniformed now. Two ribbons of lightshot from your ring, surrounded the men running toward you, and scooped themoff the ground. You bashed them into the walls of the alley, twenty feet offthe ground, knocking all of them unconscious. Then you returned them to theground and laid them neatly in a line in the middle of the alley. All withouttaking a step.

Jason stood behind you, one eyebrowraised.

“Alright, but without your power ring–“

“I could have you on the ground,screaming for your mother, before you even finished that sentence,” you interrupted,turning back to him.

“Prove it,” he said with a grin.

So you did.

The fact that you flipped him over yourhead and knelt on top of him with your knee between his shoulder blades,twisting his left arm behind his back, didn’t seem to register until he wasactually face down in the pavement.

“I am tired, Todd. I have been at workall day, I have filed more flight plans than you’ve seen in your life, and Ihave no patience for your chauvinism. Now say it,” you growled.

“Say what?” he muttered, his voicemuffled on account of his face being squished into the ground.

“Say that I’m not just some skinny girlin a skirt with a flashy piece of Oan jewelry. I can kick your ass, GuyGardner’s ass, and any ass that I see fit,” you snapped, wrenching his shoulderslightly harder.

“Ow! Okay okay, you kick plenty of ass.Just let me up!” he yelped.

You complied, standing up and dustingoff your uniform as he clambered noisily to his feet. He turned to face you, agrin on his face.

Great,you thought, thinkingof Hal, another masochist.

“You’re still pint sized,” Jason said.

You glowered at him. He held up hishands in mock surrender.

“Fun sized then. You hungry, bychance?”

You eyed him suspiciously.

“I could eat.”

“There’s a place that does good pancakesjust around the corner,” he offered with a shrug.

You nodded slowly.

“Okay.”

He tipped his head back up the alley,knelt to scoop his helmet off the ground, and then led the way back toward thewell-lit street beyond the alley’s entrance.

“How the hell do you tolerate Jordan ifyou have such a short fuse?” he asked.

“What makes you think I tolerate him?”

Jason squinted down at you as youtugged the ring off your finger and returned it to your purse. Your streetclothes returned as if they were never absent in the first place. Technically,they hadn’t been.

“You know, this could work,” he saidafter a moment.

“What could work?”

“Me and you. Partners,” he saidcasually.

“I suppose we’ll find out,” youanswered dryly.

He smirked as he pulled open the doorto a diner, holding it open for you. You eyed him through narrowed lids, butstepped in ahead of him anyway.

“I s’pose we will,” he said.

#jason todd x reader #jason todd imagine #jason todd #imagine jason todd #jason todd x green lantern!reader #swbwrites #request

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cwdcshows · 4 years

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Crisis on Infinite Earths Part Four

And we're back. What does it say about a group of tv shows you watch when you don't miss them when they're not playing for four glorious weeks; and you're actually kind of reluctant to get back into it? I also find it hilarious that a major event like Crisis concluded nearly 24 hours ago and no one on here has posted anything about it. I haven't even accidentally come across any spoilers; no major exclamations of "Arrowverse forever changed by Crisis on Infinite Earths!" or "What does X plot development mean for the future of DC/CW Shows?". Meanwhile when Doctor Who premiered two weeks ago and in the 24-36 hours it took for me get around to watching that, I came across half a dozen posts on Facebook and videos on youtube that, without explicitly saying so, made it clear that (****Spoiler*****) the Master was back and who he was.(****Spoiler*****) That to me, I think, is a spoiler unto itself, after a fashion; the fact that there was no major, earth(s) shattering outcome to Crisis to report or for people to comment on really sets the bar for my expectations going in this and that I doubt anything of consequence is going to come out of the last two episodes. Which I'm not even going to watch back to back, because I honestly don't feel like it. I'm going to try to get to the last one sometime later today, but definitely not right after part four; baring some improbable cliffhanger that's just too good not to see how it concludes. So here we go....

Okay, so they're combining the Monitor's origin story with the Maltusian Krona from the comics. I can dig it, actually. For those who don't know, in the comics, the ancient people of Maltus were one of the first advanced, sentient lifeforms to spring up in the universe. One of their scientists, Krona, was obsessed with studying the dawn of time and witnessing how the universe was formed; in spite of legends that attempting to do so would be catastrophic. His experiments caused time to fracture at the dawn of time, creating the multiverse; where there was originally supposed to only be a single universe. A segment of the Maltusians, I believe at least partly driven by a sense of responsibility to the universe for this incident, would evolve to become the Guardians of the universe, who would go on to eventually form the Green Lantern Corp. Conversely, in the comic the Monitor was basically just some random entity that somehow evolved on the moon of Maltus or Oa; I kind of forget why and don't feel like looking it up. But he was just some super, lone naked dude, hanging out on this moon and came to learn about his doppelganger in the Anti-Monitor universe. Somehow they battled across the divide between dimensions and the fight forced them both into a state of suspended animation; until Parriah's experiments awoken the Anti-monitor (if I'm not mistaken, as a result of accidentally destroying his own universe, which somehow fed power to the Anti-monitor; and gave AM the idea to destroy the other universes in the multiverse). While Krona is conventionally a villain, all in all this works well; merging Krona with the Monitor. Especially since there's still an antagonist element with the Anti-Monitor. Hmmm.... I can't help but wonder if they intentionally lit this scene so that Mar Novu's wife would be cast in a blue light that makes it look like she has blue skin, reminiscent of the blue skin Maltusians have (eventually anyway). I'll admit, this opening sequence isn't bad. The appearance at the end of the Anti-Monitor felt a little hokey, but if they can keep the momentum of the first few minutes going, they might pull it off. Okay, so I'm pretty sure Ryan Choi didn't have a beard in the last episode, which I'm taking to suggest they've been stuck at Vanishing Point for a while; and the main thing I have to say is, i would have given just about anything is they just had all of the "Paragons" have beards. Ryan, Lex, J'Onnn Kara, Kate, Sara. Just like, fuck it, it's been a month and we've all got beards. I laughed a little about Ryan writing that "the Paragon of Destiny doesn't even believe in tomorrow anymore." and it's like, you know.... you are at the end of time, so......🤷‍♂️ Wait, so when Lex replaced Superman, somehow part of Superman's cape got left behind; and Kara randomly walks around with it from time to time? "There is not there out there anymore..." You know, that's actually a good point. Vanishing Point is at the end of time for "Earth" 1; or rather the universe that Earth 1 resides in.... which was destroyed... the entire universe..... from beginning to end....So how the fuck is there still a Vanishing Point? I mean, I know that it was, originally, like a time-frozen base hovering at the instant before the end of time, but in this scenario the Time Masters who maintained all of this tech and the base are gone, the base itself is in ruins; what's keep it....preserved or whatever? For that matter, how is there even enough air, water or food to sustain anyone there for any length of time? Man, Barry just keeps bouncing off of walls, doesn't he?

Hey, look at that, it's all of Oliver's greatest hits.... 😁 "Why would you make me re-live all of that?" Even Oliver Queen lost interest in re-watching the vast majority of Arrow.... Gee, I wonder why Oliver's talking all funny... I bet it's nothing. The reveal of Oliver to the "Paragons" would have been a lot more worthy of rally music they're playing under this scene, if they hadn't fucking just shown us him getting ready to go and meet with them.... "I am Oliver Queen, but I'm also something more...." Come on, you've been unintentionally building to this moment of actually making the whole "something else" line an actually important part of the show and you're going pull you're punches now? As has been brought up with the past installments, the whole Oliver becomes the Spectre thing is fine, but honestly, in typical Arrow fashion the execution is seriously wanting. They could have spent the first fucking 7 or 8 episodes doing a proper build up to that. Defy all expectations by killing off Oliver during the very first episode of the season, maybe right in the opening, and make it seem like his journey over the next couple of episodes was about him and his friends trying to bring him back to life; weaving in the retrospective element, only to subvert it with the reveal of him becoming the Spectre instead. Maybe throw in one last heroic act, where Oliver has the chance to go back, but sacrifices that opportunity to give someone else he meets along the way the chance to be brought back instead - fuck, maybe Mia. Either she dies or gets wrapped up in a bid to bring Oliver back to life, only for her life to jeopardized; where if Oliver didn't give her his chance for life, she'd not make it back. Then Corrigan shows up. Anyway.... Barry asking Oliver for a speedforce boost came off a lot more like a drug addict begging for a fix. So is Ryan's grand plan on Maltus to locate Mar is to...find the central bureaucracy....?

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Where's J'Onn's brother when we need him?

Sigh.....

So they didn't really have any idea what to do with the group of "Paragons" who weren't going to Maltus, or how to make their part of the mission challenging during this installment; so they're going to pad part of four of a five-fucking-part crossover with some bullshit tangent of Barry randomly needing to connect with his memories to find the others? Why can't Oliver (or should it be "Olivre" now? I'm going to start calling him Olivre.) Why can't Olivre keep all them together in the same memory or whatever fuckery he's doing? Why does he have to rely on fucking Barry to make sure they don't all fall out of....Olivre? Why can't he help Barry find them without being cryptic? Why do they even time for this?? Does Barry still have to look for Oliver? And what about Kate? They only met her one other time before all of this shit went down. Either that's the only place Oliver would tuck her away, or Barry has no chance of finding her. Sigh....DCEU Flash....cool..... 🙄 I mean, I am kind of surprised they were a) even allowed to do this level of crossover, or b) that they managed to film it without anyone leaking it. And I did kind of see some hints over the last 24 hours, but I kind of dismissed the likelihood that this version of the Flash would appear. I keep wanting to calling "Mecha-Flash," because his suit looks more machine based than anything else. What DOES this mean? The whole premise that Olivre just laid out to him was that this was......him, Olivre, basically, and/or the speedforce and that he was hiding the others....inside himself or whatever, inside memories to protect them. That wasn't a memory, so now they're not only padding this installment with filler, they're just throwing in random shit for the hell of it. How does an ordinary human walking - not even running, it seems - at average speed, manage to give a Super the slip? I mean, when Supergirl immediately found him, it didn't seem like much of a surprise, because with all her heightened senses it shouldn't have taken any effort to track him down, but by that same token he shouldn't have even gotten more than a few feet before she noticed. For that matter, and not like it's ever stopped them anyhow, but should Kara even have her powers on this alien planet that may or may not be orbiting a yellow sun? Alright, so lets give the writers the benefit of the doubt and assume the "upgrades" Lex gave himself is how he managed to give Kara and Ryan the slip in the first place. So Olivre stuck Kate in just some random old memory from his life; so how the fuck is Barry supposed to locate her? Especially since it's from a memory of Olivre's that Barry wasn't part of.....? Aaaaaaand the memory of Olivre is consciously aware of the likes of the Paragons floating around inside him, but doesn't know who they are or why they're there? Jesus, did the writers decide to try acid before they wrote this shit? I almost asked if that was memory Kara, but it has to be, since actual Kara is on another planet. Which again, planet Maltus was in Universe 1, ostenstibly, which now gone, past, present and future..... How is Ryan not more injured by whatever blast Lex hit him with; you know, being nothing more than a flimsy, fragile human and all? "You left your family because someone you never even met told you you were needed" Did he though? It's been a month, so I don't really remember the point where he was actually on board with all of this shit, but I do remember that when they first told him about the Crisis and asked him to come with them, all he wanted to do was to get back to his family. Which is understandable. And seeing as how they spent weeks at Vanishing Point, how is it that they're only just revisiting this whole "are you sure you got the right person" thing now? Is this supposed to be their way of doing the whole sub-storyline in the comics, where Barry pops up randomly at different points in the past, trying to warn people about the impending Crisis; when he was running around the Anti-Monitor's antimatter cannon to destroy it, just before his death? Because this is super convoluted. Wait, so Barry was tasked with just finding Olivre? All while it was Olivre who told him what he had to do.... what the fuck is happening in this fucking episode? It started out halfway descent; and now I have no fucking clue what is going on. But it's pissing me off, because they're wasting a lot of time on this bullshit. This scene of Barry finding out about Olivre's deal is so fucking weird. The way they shot it without either of them in the same frame makes it seem so disconnected. I kind of appreciate Lex's annoyed confusion that Mar somehow mistakes Lex's voice for that of his wife's. I had to think for a second why Not-Diggle didn't recognize Barry, before remembering when Sara's death would have aligned with The Flash; and was confusing it with Laurel's death, when they definitely would have known who Barry or the Flash was. I forget though, was that scene before Barry's arrival with Jon talking to Laurel about taking up Sara's mantle one that originally happened on the show? I swear that was a slow build up after Sara's death. Sans the blood, I've always loved how Caity Lotz looks in that original Canary costume. I'll never understand why they tried to fix what wasn't broken. "When we were attacked...." "By the Anti-Monitor...." "Doesn't even sound like an actual name...." 🤣 Okay, that was good. How the fuck did Barry track down J'Onn during a memory he wasn't around for, let alone Kate? So first some random bald dude breaks into his lab and manages to talk some sense into him; albeit without offering any great proof that he is who he claims to be, much less prove he can actually help, but hey, he at least had the courtesy of walking through the door like a normal person. Then someone else bursts in, tearing the door off its hinges or whatever and starts issuing threats to the (shorter) bald guy and some other random hairy dude behind her asks Mar to leave the room with him and..... he just does.... yeah, okay. I mean, just the fact that they've gone back in time however many million years or whatever, let alone to another fucking planet without any need to address how or why Mar can understand any of them, it's pretty much just a free for all. Oh, okay; so now that Barry's side adventure has been neatly wrapped up, I guess it's time to pick up the kids from the daycare on Maltus, without so much as stopping to actually check and make sure that they completed the task they set out to do. So what, the Anti-Monitor's argument is that there are an infinite number of Monitors to do what the one Monitor they just convinced to give up on his experiment doesn't do? And yet, by all indication, there was only the one Monitor who took his trip in the first place; otherwise there'd be an infinite fucking number of Mars who originally popped up in the antimatter universe to start with. And I'm pretty sure that given those odds, the Anti-Monitor would have been screwed. The plan is to use the Paragons to...fan the flames to rebirth the universe or whatever, but one of the Paragons is missing and replaced by Lex; which unless by replacing Superman's name with his own somehow made Lex into the Paragon that Superman is supposed to be, their one man down of who they need. Wait, I've seen this fight sequence somewhere before......🤔

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"You have failed this universe." 😐 "We focus. A singular, laser like focus." I feel like I'm about see another familiar scene...

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Somehow I just knew that the thing they were going to have to do would involve them just standing around looking serious and thinking hard. I'm surprised they didn't just go full out Peter Pan and ask the audience to clap real hard to bring the universe back to life. This is some serious bullshit that they aren't even going to try and bring Brandon's Superman back for this climactic moment...and it's done. Yeah, that might actually be the definition of anti-climax. I mean, I know there's still somehow a whole fucking episode left this shit-fuckery, but man, I'm pretty sure they have to think hard to take a dump in the morning. Jesus Christ. Yeah, right, I'm totally going to believe or care that they're suggesting that Olivre is going to die, again. So let see here, they literally killed and resurrected Olivre once within this cross-over, there's still one more episode left to this crossover; and there's still two episodes left to fucking Arrow. So, no, not buying this. I'm sure as hell not buying that they're going to kill Oliver fucking Queen twice without including Diggle.

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aftselakhis-shaladin · 7 years

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The world of Twilight is not a world where the superheroes have deliberately taken over, but one where they have inherited the Earth almost by default as various social institutions started to crumble in the face of accelerating social change, leaving the superheroes in the often unwilling position of being a sort of new royalty. Even though government and civic authority has all but disintegrated, the various areas of America each have their own coteries of protecting superfolk to look after them, and the superheroes have thus tended to group into clans, each looking after a certain province. There are numerous "Houses" of this nature dividing America up into a kind of feudal barony system effectively, in terms of politics if not in terms of technology, which is as advanced as one might expect by 2000 A.D. (An aliance of aliens invade Earth and kill every metahuman except for Superman) The alien invasion is a complete success, and the coalition forces of the Martians, Guardians and Thanagarians will now govern Earth forever and keep it nice and peaceful. It seems that in his dealings, Constantine's plan has gone awry, unless he actually meant to impose an alien dictatorship upon the Earth. It is at this point that the final pieces fall into place. The alien conquerors find themselves suddenly attacked by a small army of superheroes, these mostly being those recruited by Constantine as well as the forces of the council made up of Batman, the Shadow, etc. Most of these are wearing thin golden armor, made from the body of the unfortunate Gold, which renders the otherwise omnipotent power rings of the Green Lanterns useless. The aliens are driven back and contained by the surprise attack of the others, and the battle seems to come to a Mexican standoff when one of the Hawkpeople or Green Lanterns points out that however valiantly the heroes fight, there is a massive army of combined extraterrestrial warriors ready to keep pouring onto the Earth until all resistance is squashed. It is at this point that Constantine plays his trump card. Using the Moebius chair of Metron, Constantine has visited the antimatter universe of Qward. In return for a firm promise of immunity for the planet Earth and its immediate system, Constantine has then sold them the secret of the Boom Tube, which he has also managed to wheedle from Metron. Thus, while the assembled aliens are preparing to pour into Earth via Zeta Beam, Thanagar, new Mars, Rann and Oa are currently being overrun by a vast army of Qwardian weaponeers. Stunned, the aliens are forced to return quickly to their respective homes to fight wars upon their own soil that may take them centuries to win, if they win them at all. For the most part, the only heroes left on Earth are the non-powered variety, and most of these are more than prepared to take off their masks and go public. Constantine explains to them that under the guidance of the Batman, the Shadow and all the rest, American society, free of government or a super-dictatorship, will start to organize itself along different lines, so that it can deal with the future without fear or anxiety. The days of the big powers are over, and henceforth America will be built up from much smaller and more flexible units, both socially and economically. The story of Twilight ends with a delighted John Constantine standing at the verge of a new utopia, free from the interferences of power, all superfolk banished from Earth for ever. Of course, the story that he gives to Rip Hunter to take back to his past self, while it gives the gist of all this, doesn't give the whole story. This comes home to the younger Constantine right at the very end of the series, when we wrap up the framing device. Somewhere earlier on in the continuity, we'll have a scene where somebody says to Constantine that if he isn't careful, one day he'll run into somebody craftier than himself and get into a whole mess of trouble, to which Constantine replies confidently and with some justification that there isn't anybody smarter than him. At the very end of the series, he finds out differently. Having contacted all the hero groups and people involved and met with varying responses, Constantine is disturbed. Has he failed? Some of the people he warned have taken his advice, some haven't. Some he hasn't been able to reach at all. He is still thinking of this event in the future as being a terrible thing, and he fears that he might not have averted it well enough. All he has for consolation is the knowledge that according to Hunter, at some point in this future, he's going to meet a woman who he will love very much for the rest of his life and who will fill a big lonely hole in him. He even knows, thanks to Hunter, how he will meet her. She'll come up to him in a bar and ask him for a light; their eyes will meet and that will be that... While he is musing over the pros and cons of this Hunter delivers the last part of his message from the future Constantine, which he has been instructed not to give to the younger Constantine until after he has warned as many people as he can. Surprised, Constantine reads what may turn out to be the ultimate "Dear John" letter. Written by his future self, the letter apologizes for using his younger self so cynically, but assures John the younger that it's all for the best. The older Constantine having the advantage of hindsight, can remember everything that happened to his younger self, including meeting with Rip Hunter, getting told a terrible story and then launching on a mission to warn everybody affected of what waited in their future and how they might avert it. The elder Constantine can even remember how that all worked out: The world of Twilight came about anyway, often because of people's actions in response to his warning. He can even remember getting a letter handed to him, exactly the same as this one. He muses briefly over the paradox of who really wrote the letter originally before apologizing to his younger self again and consoling him with the fact that a wonderful woman is waiting in his near future, and that she will be worth everything. Reading the letter, the younger Constantine is furious. It has turned out that there is someone craftier than John Constantine... namely, John Constantine twenty years older and smarter. Constantine has been conned by himself. Worse, since the person who tricked him is twenty years away in an unreachable future, Constantine has no way of getting vengeance upon the person who did this to him. Angered and enraged, he goes into a bar and sits with the crumpled letter in his hand, getting drunk. This is the end of the story, and we only have a final one-page epilogue that takes us back to the beginning, now that we've come full circle. The woman enters the bar and notices John, asking him for a light. He looks up and their eyes meet. She is beautiful. He knows instantly that he could love this woman forever. Knows who she is, knows how happy him and all his future selves are going to be with her... and finally, perversely, he understands how he can have his revenge against his future self, how he can avert the circumstances that lead to Twilight by throwing a small but important spanner into the workings of destiny. "Excuse me, have you got a light?" Constantine looks at her and blinks twice before replying. "No. I'm sorry. I don't smoke." The woman shrugs, and after a while leaves the bar without speaking to Constantine any further. After she's gone he sits, dead drunk at a dimly lit corner table, and cries his cold and cynical heart out.

Alan Moore's proposal of a grand finale for the DC universe, https://web.archive.org/web/20160304083610/http://fourcolorheroes.home.insightbb.com/twilightfree.html

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scmcpheeters · 7 years

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End of Term 1 & A Trip to Victoria Falls

Well, the end of my first term teaching has come and gone, and I've had the luxury of being able to relax for the last 2 weeks, and still have a couple more to get things sorted out before the start of the next round. I spent about a week travelling with fellow PCVs up around Victoria Falls (or Mosi-oa-Tunya - The Smoke That Thunders, as I recall the translation). We spent 3 nights in Zimbabwe in the town of Victoria Falls and 2 in Livingstone on the Zambia side, plus a day on either side taking a bus for literally 20+ hours each way to and from Windhoek (it definitely wasn't the highlight of the trip). I'll just describe the trip briefly, for now, since I don't have access to the bandwidth necessary to post photos, which I know are all people REALLY want to see of vacations. It'll suffice to say that the falls are beautiful and, more importantly, astonishingly impressive. Not only are they massive in the sense of the width of the Zambezi River where it spills over the cliffs, but the shear volume of water passing through them is colossal, and especially difficult to fathom for someone now used to living in desert environments. I can't help thinking that the sight of so much moving fresh-water would give some members of Grunau community a heart attack. In any case, the areas immediately adjacent to the falls are essentially in perpetual mist and rainfall, to the point that there is moss growing on many of the walkways under an ever-shifting layer of water. The days spent in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, were especially nice as it is a true tourist town, meaning a whole lot of western-style fare (in terms of food), which, I think is, something we PCVs were all missing. And, to avoid disappointing those visitors who are looking for something a little more exotic, there were places with various game meats (including crocodile) from the region. Livingstone, on the Zambian side, is more removed from the falls and is clearly a town with a more diverse economy than that of Victoria Falls, and so had a very different feel to it. There's probably a lot to do there, as well, but since our group got our more exciting activities out of the way while in Zimbabwe (e.g. bungee jumping, zip lines, and the like) I found it somewhat less interesting. However, it was on the Zambian side that we were able to hike down to the base of the falls via a valley with a constructed rock stairwell, although the vantage point is shielded from view of any of the actual falls - we mostly gained another perspective of the bridge across the canyon defining the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. It was defintely cool, though, to see all the turmoil and chaos in the water up close; I think I described it, at the time, as "a chaos theorist's wet dream," though, in truth, it may be more like a nightmare for someone in that field... In any case, it was just interseting, to me, to see the behavior so much moving water, especially in places where it was clear that an underwater current was surfacing, like a jet of water shooting up to the surface in the midst of the bulk of the flow moving perpendicular to it. Anyway, I'll save further description for when I can post a picture or video that will do a better job.

The real benefit of the vacation, though, was that it gave me time to reflect upon the first term, and volunteering thus far, in general, in the company of people who are going through similar experiences. That is to say that the first couple of days that we were all together involved a fair amount of mutual comiseration and complaining about issues we face at our sites and especially at our schools. Personally, I don't think that it's possible to regard my first term teaching as anything other than a failure, at least in terms of the most important aspect of my "project": teaching. There are a lot of potential explanations I can come up with to attempt to find reason for that failure, but the glaring fact is that the average grade in all of my maths classes from grade 4-7 was a U, meaning "Ungraded" - the equivalent of an F in the US. Part of this is that the learners in all of the grades are behind; there is simply no denying that, whatever their past grades have been, they did not know what they were expected to according to the national syllabus. However, that, alone, does not, in my mind, account for such widespread failure. I certainly taught difficult classes in which questions were never recycled; a situation which, based on my observations of other classes and their exams, is atypical, but clearly necessary if they are to actually learn the concepts being taught. It's possible that I was overly ambitious in my pace through the material given the fact that I could tell, from the beginning, that the learners were, on average, far behind where they should have been starting based on the syllabus; even though I was moving at a pace far slower than is required to make it through the syllabus, I could tell that at least some of the kids weren't keeping up.

Ultimately, the main issue is the lack of effort evident in most of the learners, which, I think, was not helped by my rapport with them or my attitude during classes, the latter of which was frequently exasperated, and often (more than I'd like, anyway) boiled over into anger. Despite my efforts at implementing structure to behavioral consequences, I was never able to establish order for long; in my mind, I was never able to get the learners to respect either me or the class, itself. The degree to which this was an issue varied by grade level, but it was an issue with all of them, and I think it is an area that I will focus on in the coming term, at least to start out. And, having already mentioned attitude, I think I'll have to change my approach to conflict resolution since my genetic predisposition to aggresssive verbal disdain doesn't seem to resonate so well. To start out, I think that explaining my expectations of the learners, both in terms of classwork and behavior, explicitly at the beginning of the term as well as the defined consequences of behavioral infractions will be a good start; this is something that I knew should have been done when first establsihing my relationship with the learners at the start of my first term, but it fell to the wayside in the flurry of schedule negotiating and rewriting and the subsequent late start to actual teaching. In retrospect, finding the time for it, then, would have been a wise decision; I suppose that, despite my experiences during Phase II (the integration period at the end of last year where I was not officially responsible for classes), I did not expect the natural state of things to be so grim.

In any case, though it is impossible for me to discern exactly what problems are at the heart of the term's performance, it is obvious that something needs to change. One thing at a time...

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tarantula-hawk-wasp · 7 years

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Bat Paladin Chapter 3

Voltron / batfam /dc comics crossover

chapter 1

chapter 2 Shiro is Bruce Wayne’s adopted son and part of the batfam AU created by me (I was the anon) and @newtsckamander Chapter 3/ ~10 Word count 3.8k I’m sorry formatting is messy, I posted from mobile

******* In general, things get easier with repetition. Stage actors recite lines over and over until they’re engrained in memory. Athletes develop muscles through use. Accuracy is learned by doing the same shot a thousand times.

Bruce wished grief and loss operated by this principle.

He was no stranger to death. From that fateful night in his childhood when he lost his parents, to friends and young partners, he had buried many people. He had mourned and struggled to move on and coped with so much loss.

And yet, a vast majority of those people he had grieved for had come back. Jason had come back. Stephanie had actually survived. Clark and perhaps half the league had been considered dead at some point. Statistically, Bruce should be skeptical of the validity of any presumed death.

Experience now left him in a rather precarious position. A bit like schrodinger’s cat, Shiro was presumed dead but had a chance of being alive. The question now was which did Bruce focus on. Mourning him under the assumption he was dead like his parents and most of the population, while harbouring the slight and fated-to-be-slowly-crushed hope that presumptions were wrong and he was alive? Or to expect him to be alive and have reality wear down on him with each day of uncertain absence? Either one could destroy him in the long run.

And how long did he search? How far into space until Shiro was truly beyond any hope of finding? Did he continue like a one-track record while his friends agreed to search to his face and then plotted interventions behind his back? And what approach did he take with the rest of the family? Would it be healthier for them to mourn without doubt? Or to harbour hope that he would be found?

Instead of lessening his conundrum, investigation only exacerbated it.

A Justice League investigation of the icy moon had found no evidence of the spaceship crashing. In fact, the vehicle was completely intact. Shiro and the Holts had made it safely to Kerberos and had left their ship in their excursion suits with all the planned equipment.

The first experiment site however, told a darker tale.

Every part of the Kerberos mission was expertly planned. GPS and previous probes had plotted down to the meter where the work was to be conducted.

That exact location was decimated. Something powerful had wrought a swath of destruction that had shredded the ice and rock surface and left only mangled fragments of the metal drill tripod.

The part that left the most questions was the lack of evidence of the crew. No fragments of spacesuits. No helmet shards. No fabric fibers. No bodies. No charred carbon. They were simply gone.

The worst case scenario was that they were dead in some way that left no evidence, but no other matter was missing from the area. Re-arranged, yes, but unaccounted for? No.

Until the Green Lanterns returned from meeting with the Guardians, there was no way to identify any residual alien energy or microparticles they might have found.

Bruce’s desperate hope for his son was alien abduction.

****** A telescope was added to the memorial case.

It looked as out of place as it felt - a mundane object flanked by costume-clad mannequin torsos and propped weaponry. It had been the first gift Bruce had given Shiro. A settling-in present after he’d lived with him for a month and offhandedly mentioned over dinner how many more stars he could see from the Wayne property than the city. So Bruce had bought him a telescope.

It was moderately sized, nothing huge but big enough that Shiro could see some of the fainter and more delicate nebulae.

Shiro had been enamored with it. Astronomy became his nightly activity when he wasn’t helping man the batcomputer, allowing him to be on a schedule more compatible with the family.

Bruce remembered many times when he’d come up from the batcave after patrol to find Shiro clothed but asleep in a chair with a star chart open in his lap, and when woken, he’d drag Bruce to the telescope he’d left outside to show him some Messier object.

It became accepted fact that if there was any sort of high profile event at an observatory or space exhibit, Bruce Wayne would be accompanying his middle son there.

Recently, the observatory had invited Bruce for the first use of a new lens the Wayne family had donated money for a year ago. Bruce declined to attend. The observatory said they understood and expressed their empathy. The tabloids understood his absence too.

One of the truly worst things about a civilian identity was the public relations of when things like this happened. Even if he had a search underway for what really happened to Shiro’s, he still had to deal with the civilian side of things.

When Jason had died it had been easier to keep things low key and although the family had celebrity status then, not there was a whole decade more of notoriety. Shiro had been a public figure as an adult in his own right. And the mere fact he was an adult added levels of complexity.

Like lawyers, and wills.

Shiro’s last will and testament was a harsh, physical reminder that his son was a decade older than Jason had been. Shiro had an impeccable will, drawn up by a Wayne recommended firm.

He left a few sums to various funds, plans for a new charity, and items for his brothers and sisters and for his oft-spoken-of friend Keith.

***

Shiro’s death was public knowledge and scandal, on the news for weeks and then months as the Garrison investigation into the incident continued.

There were three memorials Bruce had felt obligated to attend.

The private one that the Justice League attended, with friends whose raw glances of sympathy were the only ones Bruce found tolerable. They had known Shiro for the decade since his adoption and were also feeling his loss keenly.

There was the public memorial held in Gotham where a crowd turned out and lay flowers and ribbons for one of the city’s famous sons. Gotham had been proud to have famously from her embark on a historic space mission. Shiro’s publicity tour before the mission had been well received. Bruce hadn’t minded saying a few words to the crowd there as much as he feared he would.

Then there was the Garrison memorial attended by both those graduated and attending there.

Shiro’s training team and close friends were sitting in their own section next to the one for families of the team. There was a variety of twenty-somethings and one younger teen that Bruce recognized as Keith.

Bruce had never actually meet Keith. He had heard much about Keith. Shiro had called and told him many stories about Keith, including on the day they had met. Bruce had seen many photos and short videos of Keith. But Bruce had never met Keith in person.

And a memorial was a hard place to start.

After the Garrison speech that waxed poetic on his son’s talents and love of his job and a touching note about how his contributions to science would not be forgotten, Bruce exchanged sympathy with the Holts and intended to introduce himself to the boy. But by then Keith had left. ****** Hal Jordan was standing in his usual civilian clothes and jacket in front of the memorial case staring at the telescope with wet tracks on his face.

Bruce put his coffee mug down on the nearest flat surface.

“I just got back from Oa… Diana told me…” he didn’t turn to look at Bruce. Bruce grunted noncommittally. “I didn’t know… I waved at Pluto as I passed…”

“He would have appreciated that.” Bruce eventually said.

“I’m heading back out. I’ll scan everything. I just- I needed to come here first.” Hal finally faced Bruce, eyes searching. “I keep picturing when he was a kid and he’d follow me around the watchtower asking questions. Every flight back to Earth I’d spend preparing what stories I’d tell him. I was so proud when he aced piloting and when he was selected for this mission, but now I can’t help but fear this was all somehow because of my influence. Piloting… space…”

“Hal… Shiro loved space since long before even I knew him. As much as you’re his favorite Uncle, he was determined on this path since childhood. You can’t blame yourself any more than I can for letting him go to that school.” They were standing next to each other, shoulder to shoulder facing the case again. Hal nodded silently but grateful.

“I’m going to search Kerberos for any clues. Then I’ll go back to Oa to research. If he’s out there, I won’t give up until I’ve found him or the truth.” Hal declared, voice heavy, and then flew out the cave entrance.

* * * * * In the past decade or so, Bruce’s social persona had become more bearable. “Brucie” had transitioned from “ditzy but well-meaning playboy” to “ditzy but well-meaning playboy and father”. His public persona had to appear responsible enough for no one to question his custody of half a dozen youths.

Bruce had found the easiest way to accomplish this was to cultivate a new hobby of showing off his kids at any opportunity. He had a wallet packed with school photos, albums of pics and videos on his phone, and a wealth of stories he could share in any conversation.

Instead of having to convince people that “Brucie” had suddenly become an extremely responsible adult, he could simply start bragging.

“My Cassie is doing triple pirouettes in ballet, I have a video of it right here that you simply must see”

“Look at Damian and his science project! I don’t think our carpets will ever be the same.”

“Shiro sent me this pic from the flight simulator at his astronaut school. He’s top of his class and set a school record for highest score”

It was far more satisfying than bumbling and flirting had been in his younger years. He still winked at the ladies and broke a few wine glasses every now and then, but mostly he blathered about his brood. This had the added benefit of boring and discouraging gold-diggers and those arrogant people who disapproved of the bloodlines of most of his family. Bruce was proud that there was so much to boast about.

Of course now his public reputation as a family-man and celebrity status meant that he had to address what happened on multiple television shows, and magazine interviews, and online forums.

It was a seemingly unending slur of similar statements.

“Shiro knew the risks, it’s like I said in the Kent interview for the Daily Planet, Shiro talked it over with the family, he felt that any danger was worth it and even in his will he reminded us that this was what he wanted to dedicate his life to, however much time that would be.”

“I think - and I’d hope I’d know as his adoptive father - that what Shiro would want for the future of space exploration would be for it to continue. Learn from his mission, make it so the next one is a success. Go beyond Kerberos someday. Meet some aliens.”

“It’s hard on all of us, but we’re trying to get through it as a family, to remember the better times.”

“No, I don’t blame the Garrison, like I’ve said, Shiro accepted the risks and chose that job. Now we have to accept what Shiro wanted. I’ve always said I encourage the kids’ interests and respect their decisions, I can’t stop doing that just because I don’t like the outcome.”

“What do I have to say to the parents of kids who want to be astronauts? Encourage them. Buy them a telescope, watch their eyes light up at night. In fact, that’s why I’m creating the Shiro Space Foundation, to help fund and organize the formation of astronomy clubs in schools. Because that’s what my son would want.”

Slowly the media ran out of similar questions and sympathy statements to use the Wayne name with, but Bruce knew that each release of new info about the mission would only restart the onslaught.

***** Dick and Cass went to collect a few of Shiro’s things and some gifts and cards from the Garrison.

They also were checking in on Keith, something requested in Shiro’s will.

Dick reported back that he was seeing the facilities counselor for required visits and that a few upperclassmen who had been friends with Shiro were keeping an eye on him.

Cass told Bruce that she read the boy as taking it hard and blaming authority.

Jason came back from a second visit laughing bitterly. Apparently Keith knew of him from stories as “Jay”, Shiro’s brother who hated the media and therefore hid from it. Jason then made a bittersweet observation.

“He’s an angry at the world black haired orphan. Apparently your taste in trainee is a family trait. That’s probably why he never brought him home here, Alfred would have given him a room thinking he was one of yours.”

Bruce tried to focus on how proud he was of Shiro for taking someone under his wing. That kind of compassion was an excellent trait to have.

*******

Batman hesitated before emerging from the shadows on the rooftop. Around the corner of the structure housing the roof-exit access Spoiler and Red Hood were supposed to be waiting for him. But he heard a third, female voice that was not Black Bat. It was Catwoman, but her tone was serious.

“-y’know him, he’s getting a little antsy,definitely plotting, but the rest of us can keep him distracted for a few more weeks at least.”

“Even the time you’ve given us so far has helped. I don’t know if he’s noticed but-” Red Hood was the one to reply.

“-Not that we couldn’t have handled it without him, but he’d take control of everything.” Spoiler interjected with a hint of defensiveness. Batman could picture her crossed arms and cocked jaw.

“I know. And if something does happen, I’m not the only one willing to help you this time.” Catwoman reassured. “The Rogues respect Batman enough to give him time to mourn, plus, you heroes hit harder when you’re upset.”

Batman felt a cold wash percolate down his spine at the vague reminder of what had happened. He aggressively ignored that to digest the new information. Retrospectively, the past few weeks had been quiet, with no capers by the usual miscreants, only mundane petty criminal violence.

The past month had left him so busy with his civilian life that he hadn’t had time to dwell on why things had been so quiet after hours. Suddenly a number of recent events made far more sense in the lense of the Rogues knowing something.

The flowers on his patrol route being unseasonably lush with their blooms open a little longer past dusk than natural.

Harleen Quinzel saluting him with a solemn expression while walking her hyenas in pajamas at five in the morning.

Bank robbers found trying to thaw out their getaway car’s frozen engine.

Batman was brought back to the conversation by Red Hood speaking again.

“What exactly did you tell them? Because it’s not like they ever saw-… It’s not like when it was me and they noticed the lack of Robin.”

“I kept it vague,” Catwoman paused, voice tired, “Just that Batman had an adult civilian son and he…”Her voice choked off. “That was enough for them to understand. Enough of them have civilian relatives themselves.”

“Thank you.” Spoiler reiterated.

“Of course. And how are you kids handling it. I know I’m no counselor but Batman is an emotional brick. If you need to talk…” Catwoman offered.

“It’s hard but we’re all working through it together.” Spoiler answered slowly.

“Yeah, helps that there’s no hard feelings and no blame… just grief. He was… he was close to each of us in a different way and that’s something we all have in common.”

“There are a lot of good times to remember and talk about.”

“I’m rather relieved you’re coping well. I didn’t know him as well as you, but from our limited encounters, I am grateful I knew him.”

Catwoman was gone when Batman showed up on the rooftop to confer with his silently waiting partners. *****

Bruce had loved the night for years. He spent most of his time out in the dark and, in between the moments of staccato sensation of fighting, there was the peace and calm. The lights of Gotham danced in the streets below him, a distant world of nightly reverie he watched and protected.

Thirty years ago, before the ordinances and bulb replacement projects he had heavily backed, the light pollution from the street lights and skyscrapers had drowned out all but the brightest of stars from the sky. Now it was greatly lessened and entire constellations were visible in the breaks in the clouds.

Bruce could remember driving out to the countryside with his parents as a small boy, lying out on a blanket on a grassy hill, and marvelling at the constellations while his parents spun the tales of the myths that those celestial patterns told.

Now, the stars were mocking points of light - too literal spots of hope on the inky darkness of reality. The night sky held Bruce’s hopes and fears.

If he felt embittered by the sky from Gotham, it was nothing to time on the Watchtower. He did not let himself shirk monitor duties there, no matter how many offers of coverage he was given by every other member of the League. Instead he would carry out his shift, sitting in a silence more stony than previous, resolutely focusing on the computers and monitors, not the expansive viewports.

He still freshly remembered the first time Shiro had come to the watchtower. He had left Gotham to Dick, Jason, and Barbara and taken Shiro to the nearly empty space station. Shiro hadn’t asked to see the Watchtower after he had found out that the league had a headquarters in orbit, he had still been too hesitant with his role in his new family and afraid of pushing a limit to request that. He had, however, asked a slew of questions about the station and the brightness in his eyes had allayed any reservations Bruce may have had about taking a “civilian” there.

Shiro had been fourteen and a set of long, coltish limbs restraining trembles of excitement. His arms had been clinging to a stack of books - homework and an astronomy book - and his eyes had been wide behind the rudimentary domino mask Bruce had deemed necessary.

Diana had smiled at his enthusiasm on her way out.

Bruce had picked a night where the only league members present were ones who already knew his identity, Shiro’s wasn’t one he was willing to risk haphazardly. The less people who knew about his connection to Batman, the safer both the family’s identities and Shiro himself were.

He had given Shiro a tour, showing and explaining much of the systems that ran the watchtower and lingering at viewports on each side. Then they had returned to the monitors and Shiro had spent the rest of the evening staring out the windows and telling Bruce his observations.

In his early teen years Shiro became a fixture of Bruce’s shifts there. He went with him every opportunity he was allowed. Bruce also liked that it let Shiro meet his “coworkers” without having Shiro anywhere near real combat or inviting more people to the batcave.

Even as he aged, Bruce had given him clearance to come to the watchtower to visit during weekends off from the school campus.

He associated the watchtower nearly as much with Shiro as associated it with the Justice League. It was a hard place to be.

**** It was the middle of the afternoon when Bruce’s phone pinged. His personal cellphone that was linked with the bat computer.

Damian was at work with him today, rocking in a swivel chair with a textbook balanced on his knees, and he lunged for the device before Bruce could.

“I know what phone this is. Is there some attack or something happening?” He read the notification with a furrowed brow, textbook readily abandoned and shoved to the floor.

Bruce reached over and snatched the device out of his hands. It was a series of symbols and code words sent to him by an automated monitoring system linked to the batcomputer. He opened his laptop, inserted a black bat-logo’d flash drive, and interfaced with the cave computer.

“Someone’s hacking a specific part of the Garrison computer.” Bruce said to fill Damian in. His son had moved to hover around his right side to watch the screen over his shoulder.

“Why would they do that? Is someone trying to launch a rocket?”

“No, they’re accessing probe and transmission records from a secure file. What I’m trying to figure out is who’s doing it.” Bruce explained, fingers moving quickly and gaze focused.

“Is it foreign? Wasn’t Luthor mad that space exploration privatized?” Damian speculated. Bruce grunted and frowned, pausing. He was secretly keeping tabs on anything related to the Garrison Kerberos mission. He had minor alerts for new or changed information in them, copies of all deleted files, and notifications when certain people accessed them. This was the first time a compromise alert had come in.

“The hacking coming from inside an office at the Garrison headquarters. But the computer is marking it as an intrusion.”

“Maybe the guy just forgot his password.” Damian was obviously disappointed at the anticlimactic answer.

“Ah. Whomever is doing this is using outdated security passwords for minor things. Passwords that weren’t flagged immediately as incorrect.” Bruce’s brow uncreased.

“Why? Shouldn’t a facility like that have at least some cyber security?”

“They do. Their computer didn’t automatically classify this as an attack because the codes used were those of Sam Holt.”

“Oh.” Damian became quiet, almost cautious, the way that was becoming typical with anything regarding Shiro. Bruce appreciated that Damian, who often frankly expressed his opinions of people, had been keeping quiet about Shiro and what happened around his siblings. Damian was very hit or miss for his interactions with people and only then in the long run. Bruce, despite mental efforts otherwise, found himself wondering at the lost potential of what Shiro and Damian’s relationship would have been.

The results of a cursory look at the Garrison indoor security cameras proved Bruce’s hypothesis of the identity of the hacker correct. He closed his laptop. It would be hypocritical to deny access to her when she had as much right to those files and the truth as he did and for the same reasons.

#Shiro #Bruce Wayne #voltron #batfam #shiro is a batkid au

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veronicahasopinions · 7 years

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Green Lantern: A (Drunk) Review

(I’ve never written a review before so don’t expect a lot from it…just like the movie itself.)

I have chosen to defy convention and write this movie will watching it for the first time.

The basics: Fighter pilot Hal Jordan is chosen to join the Green Lanterns. The Green Lanterns are, to put it simply, a group of space police with magic rings that create anything the wearer can think of. This is a PRETTY COOL concept. Unfortunately the movie seems to think that we’ll be more interested in watching the irresponsible Hal learn about responsibility and grow-up than seeing some exciting space adventures.

Not to say that you can’t make a movie that focuses on character instead of action (after all, Batman Begins is a movie that takes close to an hour to have Batman actually show up) but this is not a movie that does this well.

I feel the need to say that, although I am a huge comics nerd, I have never had much interest in the Green Lantern. The core concept is cool and some of the characters (eg John Stewart, the Green Lantern from the popular Justice League cartoon) interest me, the problem is that I have never liked the main Green Lantern, Hal Jordan. The character of Hal Jordan has always come across to me as being a douchey frat boy and this movie certainly doesn’t change my opinion of that.

Story: The first thing I noticed about this film is that it starts with a voice over telling us the background of the film. This is a technique often used in films when you need to fill an audience in on a universe that the characters in the story already know about (eg in Star Wars everyone knows about the Rebels and the Empire but we don’t so it is briefly explained to us).

It is a device to be used if there isn’t a natural way to explain this information within the story itself. In this movie however, the main character is not familiar with the Green Lantern universe. It would be PERFECTLY NATURAL for him to have the background of the Green Lanterns explained to him (and thus to us the audience). This is in fact exactly what happens. Eventually Hal meets other Green Lanterns and they explain the backstory to him so we the audience are told the backstory TWICE. So, first scene of the movie and already off to a bad start.

So Hal gets a magic ring and has to learn about responsibility and blah blah blah. This movie is only half way through and I am guessing that he will fight some villains (one of which is a cloud of spooky space smoke) and at some point he’ll grow-up and learn some responsibility and he’ll get the Love Interest. The end.

So what is the basic problem with this movie? The problem is that it is about SPACE COPS with MAGIC RINGS and very little of the movie takes place in space. When the movie finally gets to Oa (homeworld of the Green Lanterns) it briefly becomes a much better movie. The other Green Lanterns that Hal meets are interesting both in design and character (much more interesting than Hal as far as I’m concerned). The use of powers is exciting and imaginative. As iffy as the cgi is at lest it is interesting to look at as opposed to more boring Earth shots (Hey film makers, I’ve seen Earth before. I want to see something new and different in this movie about space cops with magic rings). Throughout this whole sequence I was wishing this was a movie about the Corp instead of just Hal.

Hal keeps his identity as a Green Lantern a secret on Earth because…well because he does in the comics. It is one of those ‘this is the rule about superheros so it must be so’ and was included without thinking about it. This movie would have been a lot more interesting if they’d decided to focus on an Earth coming to grips with a universe filled with magic space cops. That would be a movie worth seeing.

Throughout the film there is a Spooky Space Cloud that is killing all of the Green Lanterns. At the end of the film it shows up on Earth and Hal beats it with very little effort (even though much more experienced Lanterns have failed against it) because he is the Main Character.

Effects: Not very good. The space scenes tend to look like a…well like a direct-to-dvd cgi movie and the Green Lantern outfit itself looks especially bad.

Rule of thumb: Cgi = bad. Actual effects, props and sets = good.

Characters: Hal Jordan is frequently portrayed as a comedic character who just isn’t very funny. His 'screw-the-rules’ attitude and the opening scene of him rushing off to work after bedding some immediately forgotten woman, make him seem like a B-grade version of Tony Stark. But where Robert Downey Jr gave the Tony Stark character charisma and charm Hal just comes off as an irresponsible asshole. Other characters keep referring to him as an asshole in what I’m sure is meant to be a self-depreciating way on the movies part but it just comes off as sad.

(There is still half-an-hour to go in this movie. This movie is FAR TOO LONG)

His love interest in Carrol Ferris who…I don’t even remember. I think her dad owns the company that builds the planes that Hal flies? The fact that I do not remember basic things about her should tell you everything you need to know about her. She is the Love Interest and that is pretty much the extent of her character.

The villain is Hector Hammond who has issues with his father being disappointed in him. This is probably meant to tie in to Hal’s own concerns about living up to his father’s legacy but honestly, I didn’t really care about either characters daddy issues. He gets physic powers and then becomes evil because he has father issues so OF COURSE he does. Also Hal, Carrol and Hector all know each other for…reasons of plot convenience?

Intermission: Urgh. Is this movie really only half way through?

Music: I don’t actually remember any of it. Thus it was completely unmemorable.

Minor annoyance: This movie indulges in on the worst traits of comic book adaptations: inserting wink-wink references for fans to spot that contribute nothing to the film. In this case it is the inclusion of Amanda Waller from the popular comic 'Suicide Squad’. And like all terrible wink-wink references she has nothing in common with the character she is referencing other than her name.

Conclusion: This movie is neither good enough to bother watching nor bad enough to be entertaining.

#Green Lantern #Review

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