#technically any story with Jason in it is a zombie story

[starwarsmum]

Maribat Mix & Match Monster Mash day 5, Has Anyone Told You How Creepy You Are? & Haunted

It was Halloween and Marinette wished she wasn't on duty on the Watchtower. She normally would be out with her friends, a bunch of them having decided to tour the Manoir de Paris, an old textile factory turned wax museum turned haunted house. It was supposed to be terrifying and Marinette had long since wanted to go.

But, unfortunately, as it was her first year at the Watchtower, she had to be on duty, which was easier if she was there. She sighed as she watched Chat Noir, her partner, chatted happily with the vigilante from Gotham, Nightwing. They were getting along like a house on fire, punning reflexively and it made Marinette want to shove her fist in her mouth and scream.

“What's up, Buginette?” Chat asked at last, when her latest meaningful sigh passed through his pun-contest bubble. She shrugged, not feeling like explaining her feeling of melancholy. But he understood anyway - they'd been partners for so long, it was hard not to have a sixth sense for what the other was thinking. “Ah, Halloween. C'mon Bug, it's just one year. Besides, look, Nightwing decorated up here too!”

“It's not the same, kitty. Not that I don't want to be here,” she said hastily, for Nightwing’s benefit. He chuckled, waving a dismissive hand for her to continue. “It's just that Halloween is so much fun and our friends are out tonight and we can't be.”

“Yeah, that does suck. Hey, why don't I tell you a ghost story from Gotham?” Nightwing said, perking up. Chat cheered and Marinette scooted closer, intrigued. “Okay, so, a long time ago, there lived a boy named Jason Todd. He was a street rat, raised by his mother until the age of twelve when a wealthy benefactor took him in.

“But the benefactor had a dark secret, and Jason found it out. He lived with the man for three years until Jason died, tragically, under mysterious circumstances. The man took in another child, but Jason’s spirit haunted the halls of their home. And one night, the new child was playing and found Jason's name scrawled in a book. He spoke it aloud, and his new home grew chill. He spoke it a second time and the lights flickered.

“Before he could say it a third time, his benefactor stopped him, demanding to know what was going on. The child was confused, but did as he was told. But he told others of the strange happenings, and they spread the word, as people do. And they say, if you say Jason's name three times, without interruption, his ghost will appear to haunt you, and take revenge against the man who killed him.”

There was a silence thick with tension that followed the end of the tale until Chat gave a low whistle and told Nightwing he would make an excellent performer. This made Nightwing very amused and he suggested that they could watch a scary movie to pass the time, if they wanted.

So when the next Halloween approached, and Marinette wasn't on guard duty at the Watchtower, she knew immediately what she wanted to do. She rang around all of her friends and suggested they take a trip to Gotham for Halloween, to find a gothic graveyard and tell horror stories.

It went better than she could have hoped, each of her friends sounding enthusiastic about the plans. She chose a Red Riding Hood costume template and got to work on it immediately. By the time Halloween actually arrived, she was pleased with the result and dressed herself eagerly. 

Once she was fully ready, she met up with the others at Chloé's penthouse and Max made them a portal so they could visit Gotham without dealing with long flights. She justified it to herself by saying that they would be going home before the morning, but she knew it was very on the edge of being responsible with the Miraculous.

She and Adrien had conspired to tell the Story of Jason Todd with a few flairs thrown in. Once everyone was settled, she suggested someone tell a story and the night passed slowly, with gruesome tales, some of them classics, like the White Lady of Chateau de Brissac, and some that were fabrications (Nino, notably told an excellently spooky one). When it was finally Marinette's turn, she told her story.

“...and they say, if you say his name three times in a row, his ghost appears. And on a night like tonight, when the veil is thinnest, he can appear any time, any place.” Marinette concluded her story and focused on not looking at Adrien.

“Jason Todd…” a voice crept through the graveyard, hissing low. The group fell into a dead silence, people glancing left and right nervously. It hissed again, “Jason Todd…” Alya was gripping tight to Nino’s wrist now, pale but scared to move. Fog began to creep along the ground as they heard, a third time, “Jason Todd…”

“What the fuck are you all doing out here?”

Pandemonium erupted, screams and sobbing all around. Marinette leapt to her feet, electrified. Standing in the shadows nearby was freaking Red Hood, his helmet glinting in the candlelight. He looked annoyed and slightly confused, if a person in a helmet could show emotions. 

Suddenly, a blur leaped at Red Hood, knocking him off his feet with a grunt. Standing above the helmeted vigilante was Alix, who had a scythe as part of her costume and was using it to smack said helmet repeatedly.

“Everyone freeze,” Marinette screeched, grabbing hold of the scythe and yanking it out of the smaller woman's grip. “Mon dieu, Hood, has anyone told you how creepy you can be? What on earth possessed you to crash a ghost story right at the climax?”

“You mean, why would I approach a bunch of people sitting in a graveyard, all in weird costumes with a fucking smoke machine? In Gotham?” Red Hood barked back, hauling himself into a sitting position. “Do you all have any idea how often I've had to stop a fucking sacrifice because creeps think it'll give them power?” 

“...I suppose that's warranted,” Marinette said sheepishly, twirling the scythe nervously. She had been so excited about the idea of suitably scaring her friends that she hadn't considered what the resident protectors of Gotham would think about their little party. “I'm sorry, Monsieur Hood.”

“Sure thing, you're clearly not from around here, so I'll let it slide this once, gorgeous,” he said, winking at her. Marinette flushed, dropping the scythe in her fluster. She had always thought that Red Hood was attractive, ever since she had first run into him on the Watchtower, but he had never tried to flirt with her as Ladybug. “But maybe you should-”

The speaker flared back into life, starting its ominous muttering again and Red Hood froze as if something was personally hunting him. Spluttering an apology, Marinette turned the speaker off and the second ‘Jason Todd' was cut short. His helmet stayed pointing towards her as she picked it up and glanced back at him sheepishly once more.

“It was just supposed to be some Halloween fun,” Marinette offered halfheartedly. She tugged nervously on her hood, hoping he would stop staring at her. If he even was, seriously, that helmet was very intimidating when she wasn't in a super suit.

“What story were you telling?” He seemed genuinely baffled, so Marinette launched into an explanation of how her colleague friend had told her the story the previous year, and that she had heard it originated from Gotham and she wanted to have a proper Halloween for a change. 

She was pretty sure she was rambling by the end, her heart in her throat but he didn't say anything about it all. He merely muttered something before reminding them to stay safe, and leaving. 

“Amazing party, Mari,” Kim said, giving her a thumbs up.

_ _ _

Jason sat on a roof, staring out at the city moodily. He was used to dealing with idiots on Halloween, but a whole bunch of young adults, telling ghost stories? And, apparently, telling a greatly edited story of his demise. He was still in a surly mood when Dick came and joined him.

“You alright Red Hood?” He said cheerily, sitting down next to him and swinging his feet. Jason shrugged and debated whether it was worth picking a fight with Dick over it. “Man, I wish I was on the Watchtower this year, I had so much fun telling the French heroes a ghost story.”

“Man, you wouldn't have told them the ‘ghost story’ about Jason Todd, would you?” He asked suspiciously, suddenly sure that that was how the cute French chick had ended up hearing about it. When Dick went silent, Jason knew he was right. “Dude, that spread to some civilians! And there was a super hot chick dressed as red riding hood telling it. So now, if I ever meet her as a civilian, I can't tell her my name! You suck.”

“Sorry man, I didn't think it would spread! Besides, I'm sure someone will work out that it's just a rip-off of Beetlejuice, I wasn't exactly subtle.” Dick was apologetic but it didn't help Jason at all. He sighed, thinking dejectedly about cute girls in pigtails and short skirts.

[kimberlyannharts]

So......a little while ago we had the big milestone of MMPR reaching 100 issues.  Which I’m not going to lie - is a really big deal, and something worth celebrating.  Even if it’s technically cheating a bit because we’ve been splitting MMPR into two for the past few years.  But still!  It’s a big deal, so we’re going to talk about it now that everything’s done and the books are moving on to other things.  It’s Charge to 100 - Power Rangers edition!  

As I said in the Mighty Morphin post, the Power Rangers’ side of Charge to 100 is actually more of an event storyline, as everything it does leads up to #100′s story.  And in all honesty, this is because Charge to 100 and MMPR #100 is, in essence, the finale of the Power Rangers side of the main series; and not just because after this, the series rolled back into one monthly MMPR release.  The Mighty Morphin side contributes to #100, and the storyline calls back to events in MMPR, but ultimately it’s a Power Rangers story more than a Mighty Morphin story.  So how does that work out?  Well, um.

Summary time.  Jason decides looking for the fascist murderer that they let escape at full power isn’t worth wasting time on anymore so he and the Omegas put it upon themselves to tell the entire universe they’re their personal cops now.  Andros sees their message and enlists their help to free the last survivors of KO-35 and then get his Astro Megaship (with bonus twinksicle inside) back from his enemies.  Meanwhile Trini and Zack save and adopt an alien baby they name Journey, whose gimmick is they age super fast.  Jason and Andros save the KO-35ians and Jason’s condescending white boy attitude towards the genocide victim is interrupted by his mom we’ve never met dying.  Andros commits some war crimes and steals a Gold Omega morpher from the Safe Haven vault.  Some people fight aliens to cope so after the funeral the Omegas go to take back the Astro Megaship and Andros Pet Semetarys Zhane with the Gold Morpher, unleashing the Death Ranger.  Surprisingly the Death Ranger is evil and “kills” all the Omega Rangers.  Zombies.  The MMPRs once again need to clean up the Omegas’ mess so they fight and fight and Jason learns to let go of his mom I guess and Death Ranger goes bye-bye and Jason loses his connection to the Omega powers somehow so he leaves.  Trini becomes Omega Red and Kevor, one of the Harturian refugees from Ultimate Power, becomes Omega Yellow.  Due to their accelerated aging, Journey dies of old age.  THE END!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As usual, the positives.  Because despite my distaste for the Omegas, there were some things I liked here!  While I didn’t think much of Journey the first time I read due to the reliance on family sitcom cliches and just waiting to get to the point of their inclusion, I liked them a lot more on a reread.  They had a fun personality and I welcome any kind of alien physiology in Power Rangers that makes them more than just a funny-looking human.  Their relationship with Kevor was cute, even if it only got an issue before it turned weird with the whole aging thing.  And of course the inclusion of a regular non-binary character, even if.....well.

The most memorable part of the event is undoubtedly Death Ranger, who caused a stir the moment they were first revealed to the public.  And let’s be honest, it’s because they’re a super cool concept!  A lost Omega ranger, with the powers to manipulate death itself; and more non-binary representation, to boot.  Like!!!!!!  They raise zombies!!!  Who doesn’t love a good zombie story?

well.

Beyond the initial cool concept, they’re...........boring.  I’m sorry guys.  They dropped the ball hard with this character.  Their main source of intrigue comes from their origin book, something that is barely referenced in the main series at all.  Obviously they want you to read the Unlimited book alongside the main series, to the point where it’s being included in the volume collections, but with how little the main series references their backstory, it makes you wonder what the point of telling their origin was in the first place.  Which is a shame because their backstory promises an evil but ultimately nuanced and tragic character with their own identity and past life, but the main series just delivers generic evil conqueror.  (Hmm, sounds familiar.)  It feels like such a waste of potential, since there was a lot to talk about here - they’ve technically outlived their old team.  Xi worked with them, yet the two never acknowledge each other.  (On Xi’s part, it’s established they refused to upload their old memories, but this doesn’t amount to anything but a personality change and again, Spa’ark doesn’t acknowledge them.)  The core of their struggles coming from how they were separated from their species’ hivemind and thus didn’t have “death” the way most beings do.  How they are ultimately motivated by wanting to help others find justice.  Nothing from that ever comes to play to make them seem more than just Evil Death Spirit who is too mean about wanting to do the right thing.  Their biggest claim to fame in the main series comes from their powers, which even then is confusing (they kill the Omegas to take control of them, yet when they’re defeated and their influence over the dead is gone, the Omegas....are still alive?  Jason gets stabbed clean through the chest and Zack is implied to have gotten mauled alive by a zombie Yale, and there are no consequences there?)

I understand Boom wanting to keep Death Ranger an open concept they can return to, especially considering their immediate infamy, but their defeat in this book amounts to the basic “you bested me, but I’ll be back!!!!!!!!” - something we saw with Alpha-1, of all villains.  So it just adds to the feeling of wasted potential - this character could have been SO much more and told a way better story than what they gave them.  Especially when over on MM we had a very intriguing story about someone trying to beat death......though I’m biased.  And I know recent solicits have confirmed apparently the Omegas’ newest mission is to search for Spa’ark but.....with both of their ties to the Morphin Grid destroyed, how is there anything left of them to search for? 

On that note, let’s talk about The Themes.  Obviously this story is ultimately about loss and the importance of treasuring every moment you have with your loved ones, because you don’t know when they’ll be taken away.  It’s something told through Andros losing his planet, Zack and Trini losing Journey, and Jason losing his mother.  The best way I can describe its execution is...........you can see it, but you can’t feel it.  Especially with Jason’s plotline, which is arguably meant to be the heart of it all with him becoming Death Ranger’s new primary host.  

I’ve complained about this a million times ever since the reveal but having Jason’s mother die hurts this more than anything.  And it’s not from lack of trying to make this work thematically; a lot of emphasis is given to how lot of the tragedy comes from how unexpected it was.  That Jason had given himself time to prepare for his father’s death, but not his mother’s.  And that’s fine.  What hurts it is that this apparently huge loss does not translate properly to the reader.  Jason’s mom was never, and I meant NEVER, a character before this; just someone we knew existed because Jason and his dad would talk about her sometimes.  And even then it’s implied in early GGPR that his mom was just as distant with him as his dad was.  There is nothing for the audience to connect here with beyond just basic-level “sad my mom died” in any kids’ movie (and even then, there’s at least ONE scene that establishes how important the mom is to the kid before she dies.)  And it’s taken even further when what you would think is the ultimate consequence of Jason’s grief, that he would choose to go along with the Death Ranger’s promises of bringing her back.................he doesn’t.

He says “I would give ANYTHING to see my mother again” literally right after he refuses to go along with the Death Ranger.  To contrast this, Andros going to these huge extremes to save Zhane and his people actually does translate to the audience that this loss was impactful in a way that......means something to the story.  (Which it should be, because Andros is a victim of genocide in an interplanetary war.  It bothers me that the book tries to act like Jason understands this, when their tragedies are nothing alike?)  And it hurts it even further during Jason’s trip through the Morphin Grid/mindscape or whatever and sees the illusion of his mother being alive; we already know he refused the power of the Death Ranger to bring her back, so where’s the tension in him being given the chance to stay with her if he stays with Death Ranger, or the character development that comes with him refusing Death Ranger’s power?  He already said no to it!!!!!!!  

It just boggles my mind that something that seemed so clearly set up - Jason suffers a sudden and tragic loss, in which part of his grief comes from taking his mother’s presence for granted under the assumption he’d always have her, and is presented with a chance to make it right - but he immediately says no.  So Death Ranger’s takeover of him has to be done through a sneak attack and forced consumption.  (It doesn’t help that the possession in general is just......Spa’ark puppeting their bodies and not a mutual combination of wills a la Eddie Brock and the Symbiote.)  In general, Andros’s choices carrying the Death Ranger storyline this much works to its detriment, because it robs the Omegas of really having agency throughout it.  Zack, Trini, and Yale in particular are presented as mindless, generic minions once they’re possessed, with the only indication they had more going on with Zombie Trini apparently holding back....something that’s only told to us via Journey and not shown. (Which is weird considering Zombie Zhane was able to talk and outright mocks Andros for fighting back???)  I’m not sure if Andros’s inclusion was an editor mandate or not, but I feel if you took him out and gave the basic drama of his storyline to the Omegas, it would feel more earned and give their choices real weight.  

(And honestly, having Jason’s dad die could still work for the theme - such as Jason believing that living it up on Safe Haven and neglecting his Earth responsibilities left his dad without the extra care he needed.  There’s a lot of emphasis on the Omegas treating Safe Haven like this perfect utopia, including a scene where Jason is acting extra flippant about how great they have it, that I thought for sure that’s where this was going.)

On Zack and Trini’s side of it, well.......I’m honestly not sure what to ultimately think of it.  As I said before a lot of it mostly serves to tie to the themes of spending time with loved ones because you don’t know how long you have with them, which makes it feel very self-contained as a whole, especially how Journey - whom is arguably the main character of the arc, even more than Zack and Trini - dies at the end without really contributing anything to story beyond lending an extra hand in the final battle.  Outside of that it really just feels like a basic funny adoption story (complete with that stupid “Dad hates my boyfriend” trope that is honestly out of character for Zack) that I don’t really want to call filler, but it can feel like it was just something to give Zack and Trini something to do while Jason and Andros do all of the important stuff.  Zack and Trini don’t really develop as characters (Trini becoming Red happens offscreen and she's been teased as a new leader long before this), and their relationship doesn’t develop into anything more significant than it was before despite them being....you know.....PARENTS (and this was written way before we knew Minh existed so “oh well Zack/Trini isn’t endgame in the show” is no excuse.)  It was a bit of a wasted opportunity to not have their possession via Death Ranger tie into their own griefs about the possibility of losing Journey or how they miss their own families (because apparently “fear of losing their loved ones” doesn’t apply to the ones they left behind on Earth.) 

Yale is also there.  And like.  They do stuff with Jason and Andros?  But it really shows how they’re not so much a character than a mascot when after they become a ranger you immediately bring in three new characters for the Omegas to bounce off of.  And as for Kevor, the new Omega Yellow......well.......after a strong introduction where he rightfully points out the problems with the Omegas and Safe Haven, it’s never brought up again (a common scene in the Omega books) and he just becomes Journey’s friend/kind of love interest before they die and he gets the Yellow morpher offscreen.  It’s......extremely forced, and disappointing that his character development goes from “criticizing the Omegas to becoming one of them,” especially when we don’t even see that happen.  He and Zack don’t even resolve their arc-long tension.  It’s less “yeah, he deserved the powers over anyone” and more “well, Journey’s dead and Arkon’s old, so I guess he’s the last named Safe Haven character we have left to fill the suit.”

Meanwhile Kiya is still in that fucking jar.  

(Also in general it sucks that pretty much everyone in the fandom was assuming Journey would become a ranger, giving us the possibility of another non-binary character who’s an active ranger that isn’t an animal or robot.  Instead the book ends with both Journey AND Spa’ark gone.  Thanks, guys.)

I think the harshest criticism I can give #100 is it doesn’t feel like a huge milestone event of MMPR, despite claims from other readers that it celebrates ALL of the MMPR comics and not just Ryan’s run.  Like Eltarian War before it, it’s a finale that belongs solely to the Omegas; specifically for Jason.  Sure the MMPRs come in to help and land the final blow on Death Ranger, but it’s once again relegating them to just an extra pair of hands rather than characters with personal stakes.  The only time we really get a “celebration” of anything else is through Jason’s little trip through the Morphin Grid, and that involves.....a page where he’s with the originals on the Megazord, a page of the scene where all the rangers gathered back in Shattered Grid, and one last page of quick flashes of events mostly from Necessary Evil.  I know Ranger Slayer, Ari, and Remi’s inclusion back in Necessary Evil’s finale had its own problems, but at least there it gave a better impression of the previous eras of comics contributing to the big milestone’s victory.  And in general I just don’t understand why it only led to Jason’s departure when all three of them retiring their powers to members of Safe Haven would have felt like the story encompassed all three of them rather than Jason - because really, even his departure feels lackluster because it’s literally described as “just a break” that’s more or less forced onto Jason rather than an ending he chooses.  

Yes yes I know this is most likely referring to how he’ll eventually become Zeo Gold but you can still foreshadow that while making it clear Jason learned something from this whole experience.  And besides, this could be twisted into him possibly returning to the OMEGAS, which would be completely shit writing.  Not even going to be nice about that.  It would be shit. 

And the worst part of it is not having ALL the Omegas retire is it apparently leading to one book switching perspectives between two separate teams again......because THAT went over so well in Necessary Evil.........

[ectonurites]

so i want to read red robin but uh. i'm missing a lot of context so do you know which comics i should read before starting it?

Okay. So. Red Robin 

Ideally, Red Robin comes after reading through Tim’s Robin run in general, as it’s basically a continuation of that comic. It’s not like you need to read every single comic he’s appeared in before or anything like that... but I just definitely wouldn’t recommend this being like... the first major Tim-focused story you read, if that makes sense? The way he acts in Red Robin hinges upon a lot of previous things having happened, as opposed to him acting like his more normal self. 

But lets go into some specific things that are important for understanding what’s going on in Red Robin assuming you’ve got some basic Tim info/understanding under your belt already:

Final Crisis - What happened to Bruce during Final Crisis is essentially the main driving force of the first bit of Red Robin, in general I’d recommend reading the whole event to understand it because just part of it without context would probably be really confusing (this is the reading list I used) but it can definitely be... overwhelming, it was a huge thing. The parts with Bruce are what’s most relevant: Batman #682-683, Final Crisis #6-7 and Superman/Batman #76

Robin (1993) - As I said above, in general Red Robin is the continuation of Tim’s Robin run. Events from the last major arc ‘Search for a Hero’ (Robin #177-183), which has the same writer as the second half of Red Robin, are especially relevant. In general though, reading through Tim’s Robin run helps you to... understand Tim more, and kinda see how the things he’s going through in Red Robin are a change for him, he’s acting a lot darker and edgier than normal because of all the things he’s been going through basically since War Games happened. (Steph’s death during that event was kinda the kickoff of his traumas in the 2000s, as it was followed by his Dad’s death in Identity Crisis, Kon’s in Infinite Crisis, and Bart’s in The Flash: Fastest Man Alive. While these don’t all specifically get referenced in Red Robin necessarily, and aside from his Dad they do all come back, these incidents along with Bruce’s apparent fate during Final Crisis are all things that have been weighing on him heavily and contribute to his mental state)

Battle for the Cowl - While this is kinda a hot mess of an event (particularly for Jason), it’s extremely important for context. Here’s a reading list, although personally I’ve just read the TPB for the event that I physically own that just has the main BftC comic & the two Gotham Gazette issues, which is what’s most relevant for Tim specifically.

That’s the like, most important context stuff going into it I think? There’s definitely a few other things potentially worth checking out like the rest of the Batman: Last Rites tie-ins (Batman #682-683 & Robin #183 that I already listed above are part of that, those are most relevant for reading Red Robin but for a general understanding of what else is happening in Gotham at the time consider checking out the rest), which all lead into Battle for the Cowl.

After Battle for the Cowl, the Batman: Reborn event is what establishes the new status quo in Gotham. (Red Robin #1-4 is considered part of this event. While you don’t need to read every other Batman: Reborn thing to understand what’s going on in Red Robin, certain little details and questions you may have about characters who are now in different positions than before are explained in the other titles so it’s worth looking into. But all of these were coming out around the same time as Red Robin so it’s not so much a ‘read before’ as a ‘read alongside if you’re interested’ ya know?) 

Then I know you didn’t ask for this but I’d like to add a few specific things I think are helpful to read during Red Robin, some the Red Robin comic itself will tell you about as they crossover but some it won’t!

Adventure Comics #3 - This one it’s kiiinda hard to tell exactly where it fits into Red Robin, some time during the first arc when Tim’s on his search still, my best guess is just sometime before Red Robin #4. This is essentially Tim & Kon’s first real reuniting since Kon came back to life during Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds. This issue also references things with Tim that happened during the One Year Later part of Teen Titans (2003) in issues #34-37. It doesn’t necessarily do too much to the plot of Red Robin but I think it’s relevant reading, and it later gets referenced in Red Robin #9.

Blackest Night: Batman - This one... also kinda hard to figure out exactly where it fits in, I think right after Red Robin #5 makes the most sense since it’s definitely before #6 (because Tim references the event during that issue) but it has to be after he finds what he finds in #4, and #4 kinda goes directly into #5. This is a tie in for the Blackest Night event but as long as you get the basic premise of ‘Black Lantern rings make zombies’ then it can be read pretty independently. 

Batgirl - It’s very clear where this crossover happens in the comic, After Red Robin #9 read Batgirl #8, then the rest of the arc is continued in Red Robin #10 and on. 

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne - So, this book builds on Tim’s findings earlier in Red Robin as well as what Dick and Damian discovered/pieced together in Batman and Robin (2009) Issues #7-12 in regards to what happened to Bruce during Final Crisis. I’d recommend reading the first two issues of this (Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #1-2) before Red Robin #16. Then after that issue, read the rest (Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #3-6). Alternatively you could just read all of it after #16, before the next thing I’m about to list, it doesn’t make a huge difference. It’s just that in Red Robin #16 Tim references that the events of this book had already started, but he hadn’t become involved yet, and he gets involved in #3. Regardless, read this before The Road Home: Red Robin.

The Road Home: Red Robin - This one is specifically mentioned to take place after Red Robin #16, but I’d really really recommend reading Return of Bruce Wayne first and then this. Afterwards go back into Red Robin #17.

Teen Titans - This crossover technically is first teased at the end of Teen Titans #91, but primarily starts in Red Robin #20 and then continues into Teen Titans #92.

Judgement on Gotham - This event starts in Batman #708, crosses over into Red Robin in Issue #22, Gotham City Sirens #22, and ends in Batman #709.

There are a few other things Tim shows up in around this time (The Gates of Gotham series is the first thing coming to mind, as well as after the crossover with them he rejoins the Teen Titans, but he also just shows up occasionally in the other bat books based in Gotham during this time) but they don’t really have any effect on the plot of Red Robin specifically.

I hope this makes sense and isn’t too confusing! In general like, this era between Final Crisis and the New 52 had so much going on in the Bat books that there’s like... lots of moving pieces to keep track of. Hopefully this can at least point ya in the right direction. 

[heyitsani]

When the Dark of the Night Comes Alive

Word Count: 9214

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Zombies?  But you don’t really see them except one part

Pairing: Jason Todd/Dick Grayson, Roy Harper/Koriand’r

Summary: It's been three years since the world went to hell and zombies became a thing of reality and not just fiction. While out on a supply run with his usual crew, Jason picks up a stray that will change the course of everything.

Notes: This was supposed to be for JayDick Week, but life happened and I wasn't able to finish it. It's still technically not finished since there's an epilogue coming. But I wanted to post those two separately. So here is the main part of the story. Enjoy!

Also, I did next to no editing on this. I'll go back and clean it up. So sorry for any mistakes.

You can also read it on AO3 here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Jayjay,” the familiar voice rasped.  “Jayjay you need to remember, okay?  Don’t forget.”

“Don’t forget what, Mama?”

“Don’t forget that the cure is in the blood.  Don’t forget. The angels, they said it.  They said you would know.  You would do it.  Don’t forget.”

“I don’t understand, Mama.”

“Don’t forget, Jayjay. The cure is in the blood.”

“Boss,” a firm, but quiet voice broke through the hazy dreamlike memory, a hand on his shoulder shaking him awake.  Blinking up, Jason let his eyes adjust to the dark room enough to see one of his men leaning over him.  Since it was still night, that meant something had happened or was happening.

Sitting up, he ran a hand over his face.  “What is it?” Kyle gave him a curious look before he straightened and glanced over his shoulder.  “Rayner, the fuck is it?”

“Someone’s in the house.” That snapped Jason to full alert and he immediately stood to his feet, quietly grabbing his gun that was sitting next to his sleeping bag.  “We didn’t engage, they’re in the kitchen.”  Which meant they were probably hungry.  Not surprising given the state of the world the past few years, but it was still a dangerous headspace to be in.  Desperate enough and you would probably easily kill the first person who had food to steal.

He was curious how the person had managed to slip pass their watch, but that was a question for another time.  First, he had to deal with whoever it was that had stumbled upon the exact house he and his crew were staying in for the night.  Which meant he was walking down the stairs, trying to make no noise to give away the fact that someone else was in the house.

He gave a nod to Rose, who was crouched behind a chair in the living room, watching whoever it was with her gun in hand.  And whoever it was had no qualms about being quiet because Jason could hear the person shoving things around as they searched.  

With a careful click, Jason pulled the safety off his gun but keeping the barrel pointed at the ground, glancing around the corner to see the back of what looked like a man from the short cut hair in the back and the cut of his body hidden beneath the black leather jacket and dark jeans.  From what he could see, Jason couldn’t make out any weapons and for that he was glad. He didn’t particularly enjoy fighting with those who were not infected.

“Show me your hands,” he growled, raising the gun to aim at the man who was crouched near the ground as he dug through a cabinet.  “Now,” he ordered when the person made no attempt to move.  There was a huff followed by two hands raising in the air, both empty.  “Stand up and turn around slowly.”  With a grace that Jason wasn’t sure he had ever seen before, he watched the figure ease themselves upright and spin slowly, as requested.  And then Jason was face to face with the most beautiful man he had ever seen.

And he wished that were an exaggeration.

But the hair that was cut short in the back, hung in the man’s eyes in the front.  Eyes that even in the dark, Jason could tell were a startling blue.  Cheekbones that would probably cut glass, and miles upon miles of golden skin.  And though the leather jacket added bulk to his form it didn’t take away from the lean, strong line of his body beneath it. It had been a long time since Jason had felt so attracted to someone right off the bat, but damn if he didn’t want to lower his gun just on the man’s looks alone.

“Who are you?”  Jason asked instead of following his instincts. He had people to protect.

“Name’s Dick.”  Jason waited for more, but when nothing else came he gave an annoyed sigh.

Dropping the gun down to his side, he clicked the safety back on but didn’t tuck it away like he would have if the threat were eliminated.  He watched Dick regard his motions curiously, head tilting to the side. And though Jason dropped his weapon, Dick kept his hands up almost in appeasement.  But something told Jason he didn’t exactly need a weapon to take down a man.  “What are you doing here, Dick?  Are there others with you?”  

“I’d like to think it’s pretty obvious what I was doing,” the man said with raised eyebrows.  “And as for the other question, just me.  Been just me for a while now.”  With narrowed eyes, Jason looked him over and wondered why he didn’t look worse for the wear then.  He looked almost…healthy.  It wasn’t how solos usually looked when they came across them.  

“Suspect, Boss,” Kyle muttered behind him and Jason just grunted.  He got what the man was implying, it was suspicious.  But something told Jason to trust Dick. Something deep in his core said it was okay, just this once, to follow his gut.  Not that his gut had ever been wrong in the past.

“At ease,” he called out to the three others in various places behind him.  Tucking the gun into the back of his pants, he relaxed his shoulders and watched Dick carefully lower his arms.  But the fact that he hadn’t dropped eye contact with Jason put the man at ease.  He wasn’t looking for others to jump in and help him.  Rarely did pairs or groups mean good people.  Jason had never had luck with anyone riding in pairs or more. “I’m Jason,” he said, moving forward and holding out a hand.  Dick took the offered hand and gave it a firm shake, Jason tried not to think about the power he could feel in the grip.  Instead, he released it and turned to the others.  “That’s Kyle, Biz, and Rose.  Don’t let her name fool you, she’ll lay you out in a heartbeat.”

Dick gave the others a nod, eyes lingering on Rose curiously and Jason resisted the urge to sigh.  Men always thought they stood a chance with her and then they realized that she was too big a handful for them.  For once, he had been hoping to come across a man who didn’t look at Rose that way.  He glanced over at Rose to see her watching him just as carefully.

“I know your father,” Dick said suddenly, and Jason whipped his head to look back at him, finding him still looking at Rose.  Jason felt himself frowning as he turned to look at Rose again and found her standing there with wide eyes.  Her reaction was curious enough but the fact that a supposed stranger had a connection to one of his crew, that was suspicious.

“Like I said…” Kyle spoke up before heading back up the stairs to most likely resume his watch from the second story window that looked out onto the street below.

Rose didn’t move for a moment and Jason took a step toward her but then she was brushing past him and heading over to the newcomer.  Jason kept his distance as he watched the pair whisper to one another.  He was tempted to move closer and try and catch some of the conversation, but he knew better than to push something Rose didn’t want to talk about.  All he knew was her father and her were estranged and that he was “dead to her”.

He wondered what kind of relationship Dick had had with someone Rose so thoroughly hated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So, Kyle said the stray you picked up should have a spotter.”  Jason looked up from his work to see his best friend Roy walking into the lab.  “Said he didn’t trust the situation that brought him to us.  And said you went about it in a way that wasn’t normal for you.  He also mentioned that he knows Rose’s dad, who none of us know anything about except that he’s bad news.”

“Oh, is that all Kyle said?”

Roy let out a snort and Jason just rolled his eyes.  “I told him to fuck off and that you’ve never put this camp at risk.”  Jason just shrugged, because what could he say?  Roy was right.  He wouldn’t risk the people they were charged with keeping safe.  Not even for a pretty face.  “But want to tell me why he thinks you’re thinking with your dick and not your head?”

“Cause I turned him down for a quick fuck the night before Dick stumbled into the same house as us and he’s pissed,” Jason admitted.  Pulling his glasses off, he rubbed at the bridge of his nose and sat down on the stool behind him.  “And I don’t want to hear it,” he said, pointing his glasses at Roy.  Who held both his hands up in a placating motion, despite the amused twinkle in his eye.  “Fuck you.”

“Oh, come on,” Roy laughed, leaning both his arms onto the counter where Jason had various vials and a few microscopes out.  “I’m not that big of a dick to rub your face in the fact that I was right about him being a clingy bastard who doesn’t understand the no strings attached rules.”

“Fucking shit, Harper. Just couldn’t resist, could you?”

“Nope.”  Roy laughed and Jason shook his head, letting out a chuckle of his own.  “But seriously, he’s acting like a jealous ex-lover and that means he picked up on something.”

Jason put his glasses back on and pointedly didn’t respond, leaning back to look at the slides on the scope in front of him before jotting down some notes in his notebook.

“Jay.”

“Fuck off.”

“He is definitely a good-looking man.”  Jason continued to ignore him despite knowing he was playing right into Roy’s hand. “And helpful.  Kory said he immediately jumped in to help with some of the new buildings and asked around to see how he could help the others.” Jason only grunted in response.  He liked knowing the man wanted to pull his own weight without having to be asked to do it. “He also asked if he could be on the crew that goes out to scavenge next.”  That was curious, enough so that Jason actually looked over at Roy. “Strange for someone to want to go out so soon, huh?  Of course, it was only after hearing that you were the one who always lead those ventures.”

“Got a point here, Harper? I’m working on something for your wife, and I doubt she’d appreciate me taking longer because of you.”  

Roy just laughed.

“Seriously, Roy.  What are you implying here?”

“Just that maybe you should get out of the lab and take a walk around the East Bend.  Might find something a bit more enticing than…Rayner.” And though the implication was heavy, Roy didn’t wait around to make sure Jason understood.  He simply turned and headed back out the way he came, leaving Jason to wonder what the fuck he was thinking making Roy his best friend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Supplies are good boss,” Kyle commented as he and Biz presented the checklists they were tasked with every week to make sure each division of the compound had enough to get them through the next month.  Though it was overly cautious, Jason liked the men to check every two weeks to be sure everyone had what they needed.  In the beginning there had been too many times when their supplies had run out and they had desperately gone on supply runs that had ended in someone’s death or near-death.  They had come a long way in the three years they had been in this location.

But still Jason liked to be sure they didn’t get in a bad spot again.  “What about Kory?  Did she say she needed any supplies for the upcoming frosts?  It’s getting to be that time of year and she needs to protect the plants on the West rooftop.”

“I can answer that,” a voice sounded near the entrance of his lab and Jason couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Dick filling his doorway.  “Roy is currently helping reenforce the plant beds, but he and I have been building greenhouse structures to erect around them before the frosts actually hit. We should have them done in the next day or so.”  The man walked further into the room and Jason ignored the way Kyle seemed to tense up next to him as he did.

Dick didn’t seem to notice. Or maybe he just didn’t care.  Whatever it was, Jason wasn’t sure he wanted to know. Instead he took the paper that Dick held out to him.  “What’s this?”

“A list from Kory. She said you’d know what to do with it.” Jason furrowed his brow as he unfolded the paper and read Kory’s elegant handwriting.  Fertilizer.  Yeah, he definitely knew what she needed.  He knew he had everything, but he was running low on a few things.  And that meant a supply run in the next couple of weeks.

“Thanks Dick,” Jason gave the man a nod as he folded up the paper again and looked over at Kyle, who was watching Dick with narrowed eyes.  Jason could see Biz regarding the interaction curiously, but knew the man would keep his thoughts to himself for the time being.  “Rayner, we’re going to need to do a run in the next two weeks.  You and Rose can plan out the route while Dick, Biz and I get the packs together.”  That snapped Kyle’s attention away from Dick.  And though Jason knew exactly what the man was thinking, he simply raised an eyebrow as a challenge.

“Sure thing.  You’re the boss,” Kyle grumbled before grabbing the lists in front of his and heading toward the door.  Jason sighed at the sight of Dick jerking when Kyle bumped into him on his way past, rubbing his forehead in exasperation.  

But it was Dick’s reaction that was curious.  The man watched Kyle go with a thoughtful look on his face before turning back to smile at Jason.  “I could help him and Rose, if you like?  Show them where I was before I found you all.  There had been a few pods of infected that had infested some of the surrounding cities and towns.”  And though Jason thought that was smart, he knew better than to antagonize Kyle that way.

“Nah, Biz and I could use the help.  Packing for five is more complicated than packing for four.  We’ll get started tomorrow.  It’ll take Kyle and Rose a few days to get the plan worked out and I have a few projects to finish before we head out.”  He waved the paper from Kory as proof.  Dick seemed to take it all in stride, nodding and glancing around the lab.

“I’ll head back out then. Biz, Roy and I could use some muscle,” Dick smiled at the large man and Biz chuckled before clapping Jason on the back and heading toward the door.  “See you later, Jay,” Dick called out over his shoulder as they headed out, sending a smirk to the man before walking out.

Remaining in his spot at the table, Jason sighed and shook his head.  He wasn’t sure bringing Dick along on a supply run that Kyle was on was a good idea but he had to admit that he wanted the newest addition to join them. He had been enjoying the time he had been spending getting to know the raven haired man.  The way it seemed like everything was a brand new experience and how he found joy in the simplest of things.  It was a refreshing take on life, one Jason hadn’t seen in a very long time. And though Kyle was still trying his cards, Jason had to admit that his sights had settled on Dick and didn’t seem to want to stray.

Which made things a lot more complicated than Jason wanted to admit.  The casual thing with Kyle had brought a mess to his feet.  But he didn’t want casual with Dick.  No, there was just something about the man that had him wanting to stay up late talking about the stupidest of things.  Or laughing over more coffee with sleep-mused hair and wrinkles clothes.

He couldn’t remember the last time he had wanted that with someone.  It should have worried or frightened him, but it just made him hopeful.

“Eh Boss!”  Jason sighed at the sound of someone calling for him from outside and pushed the thoughts of Dick away so he could handle whatever it was that he was needed for.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jason watched from a distance as Dick and Rose spoke to each other near one of the more abandoned areas of the compound.  It had been a complete accident that he had stumbled across them, having just gone out for a walk around the perimeter for some fresh air after having been cooped up in the lab for the past couple of hours.  It was late afternoon and the majority of the citizens of the compound were finishing up their daily tasks and preparing for dinner.

But Dick and Rose were clearly in a serious conversation.

And that made Jason wonder if this had something to do with Rose’s father.  He hadn’t gotten the chance to bring it up to the woman when they had met up to discuss the next trip beyond the walls earlier.  But he had planned on it before they had packed to leave. Because it the curiosity was killing him.

And he wanted to know more about something Rose always kept so close to her chest.  No one knew anything about her family.  Or her past before the virus.  No one except Dick.

“Jason!”  Dick turned, smiling brightly at him.  Jason narrowed his eyes slightly and looked between the pair before raising a brow at Rose.  He rolled his eyes when she shut her features down and went blank.  The universal Rose sign that she wasn’t saying shit.  “Enjoying some fresh air?  Rose and I were just talking about the possibility of setting up a training ground out here.  I saw Roy has some weapons that people might benefit in learning.”

Closing the distance between him and the two of them, Jason looked out over the open field.  He had always assumed they would expand the gardens out here when they outgrew the rooftops Kory had established.  But he could see the idea having merit.  “I mean, you can ask him.  It’s his specialty.  He worked security before the outbreak and his adoptive father was big on the bow.”

Rose gave a grunt before Jason watched her and Dick exchange a look he couldn’t decipher and she turned to leave without saying anything to either of them.

“Is that really what you two were discussing?”

“Are you calling me a liar?”

“Not even close,” he said. “I just know Rose well enough to know she plays her cards pretty close to the chest.  And the fact that you know her dad takes a little of that power away from her.”  Jason watched Dick’s face darken slightly, his smile turning to a frown as the shadow passed over his features.  “So, he’s really that bad.”

Dick pursed his lips and looked out into the distance, looking like he was considering how to answer that.  “He is…he has caused a lot of harm.  But the harm he caused was…”  Dick paused and Jason wondered if he was about to be lied to.  “It was how it was supposed to happen.”  Jason frowned.  How the hell was harm ever supposed to be what should happen?  “It is hard to explain, but Rose is right to hate her father.”

“You know that makes absolutely no sense, right?”  Dick hummed and turned, starting to walk back toward the main part of the compound. Jason took a moment to study the man before hurrying to join him.

“It is not my story to tell.”  He wanted to growl in frustration.  He just couldn’t understand why people couldn’t just say the truth and be done with it.  “I will tell you my own experiences with Slade have been uncomfortable and ones I would very much like to forget ever happened.  At his core, he has the potential to be a good man, but he has been corrupted and it has changed the man Rose knew into the man I know.”

And even though Dick didn’t say what he meant by the word “uncomfortable”, Jason had a pretty good idea what it meant.  And it made his blood boil.  

“I won’t push,” Jason promised as they made their way back into the center of the community, “but if you need to talk…”  He saw Dick look at him out of the corner of his eye but kept his forward and allowed the man his emotional space.

“You are an extraordinary man, Jason Todd.  You are a gift to this world.”

Furrowing his brow at the odd choice in wording, Jason looked over at Dick and found him looking skyward.  The image he presented, head back with his raven hair having fallen out of his eyes and golden skin practically glowing under the late afternoon sun, Jason would have sworn he was angelic.

“Dick!”  A voice from somewhere called out for the man, pulling both their attentions.

“Hey Tim,” Dick smiled before looking over to Jason.  “I’ll see you at dinner, I’m sure.”  Nodding his head in response, he watched Dick walk away to talk to the young man who had called for him.  He observed Dick throw an arm around Tim’s shoulders and lead him away, chatting animatedly.  Such a contrast to how he had been speaking with Rose just moments ago.  

But Jason knew when he wasn’t going to get his way.  So he told himself to drop it and headed back to his lab to get a bit more work in before the call for dinner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Have you ever tried drawing the blood of an infected?”  Dick asked as he sat down across from Jason with his plate of food.  It was such a random question, but something about it made him pause.  Something familiar about it.  Dick must have assumed his silence was confusion and waved a hand.  “I mean, do you know what the disease looks like when you see it on a molecular level?  Kory said you’re the resident expert on this sort of thing.”

Straightening up in his chair, Jason furrowed his brow.  “It is and I have.  I have samples of it in the lab.  Something about what you said…”  It was one of those moments where something was right on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t figure out what it was for the life of him.

But there was definitely something he was supposed to be remembering that lined up with this.

“Wow, I can’t tell you the last time I had pasta and meatballs,” Dick muttered, taking another bite of his food.  When Jason looked at him, the man had a spot of sauce at the corner of his mouth and without pausing to think of how epically awkward he would make things, he reached across the table and thumbed the sauce away.  It wasn’t until his thumb was in his mouth that he noticed Dick’s eyes had gone wide and a faint blush had spread across his cheeks.

“Uh…sorry.”  Jason gave a shrug and ducked his head in embarrassment, cursing himself for not thinking.

He only looked up when Dick cleared his throat and reached for his drink.  “So…the blood.”  Jason nodded as he watched Dick drink his water, ignoring what the sight of the man’s Adam’s apple bobbing did to his stomach.  Or lower regions.  “Have you ever isolated the virus?”

“Yeah, sure.  I’ve got some slides.  The thing is,” Jason latched onto the subject like air, “it needs a host.  None of the cells have survived for long without blood to latch onto.  It was one of the first things I tried to do.  If I could isolate it then I could reverse it, right?”  Dick leaned forward and nodded, listening more intently than anyone outside of Kory ever did.  “But it dies too quickly to do it.”

He watched Dick’s eyes narrow and brows merge together, almost as if he was suspicious of something. But then the look smoothed out and he looked back down at his plate to fork another bite.  “Well, have you ever tried to attach it to fresh blood?  Like draw a vial of your own and see how the virus latches on?  I’m not a scientist, but maybe it has more to do with blocking the progress than reversing the damage.”  

The cure is in the blood, Jayjay.

Jason’s hand froze with his own fork halfway to his mouth when the voice of his mother filled his mind. For years he listened to her drug induced rambling about some cure and how the blood was important.  He made promise after promise to never forget because the angels had told her that he needed to know that.  That he specifically had needed to know the cure is in the blood.  But why did Dick’s idea make him remember that?  

“Jason?”  Looking across the table at Dick, he found the man frowning in concern.  “You okay? Did I step on your toes?  I really don’t know what I’m talking about.  It’s just something someone said once.  Ignore me.”

Pushing to his feet, Jason shook his head.  “No, it’s not that.  I…”  He glanced around the room for a head of fiery red curls, zeroing in on them at the far end of the room.  “I need to go.  Thanks, Dick!”  He grabbed his plate and quickly handed it over to one of the people on kitchen duty for the day before rushing over to Kory.  “I need you in the lab,” he breathed out, sending Roy an apologetic look for interrupting their dinner.  The man just frowned, and Kory stood without questioning the request.  

“I’ll take care of it, Babe,” Roy said when Kory went to pick up her tray.  Jason started heading out as they said their goodbyes, knowing Kory would catch up with him.  

“What is it that you need?” She asked when she appeared next to him just as he was heading outside.  He shook his head, not sure if he even knew the answer to that.

Digging into his pocket, he pulled out a piece of crumpled paper and a pen he kept with him at all times, and tried to write as he walked.  “I don’t know,” he admitted.  “Dick just said something to me and I’m not even sure what it means. But I know it means something.” He scribbled a formula down and passed it over to Kory, who looked at it before looking back to him with a raised brow. “I know!  I know it looks crazy, but maybe…”

He scratched the back of his neck as they walked, thinking of drawing his own blood and some of Kory’s to do a side by side.  Maybe watching the virus latch to different samples at the same time would reveal something.  But something inside him told him it had to be his own blood.

The cure is in the blood, Jayjay.

He knew his mother had told him that on multiple occasions, but how could she have known about all of this? She had died so many years before he had even decided to pursue biology as his field of study.  There’s no way she could have.  It didn’t make sense.

“I know your idea face when I see it, Jason,” Kory interrupted his thoughts.  “You are rarely wrong when an idea hits you.  Do not smother it because you don’t yet understand it.  I trust your instincts.  Whatever you need.”

“Thanks, Kor.  This one is going to be a dozey.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hope I’m not interrupting,” a familiar voice broke through his writing, pulling his attention from the calculations to see Dick walking into his lab.  Jason couldn’t help but smile at the man as he made his way over, hands in his pockets and glancing around at all the various equipment Jason had out to run the most recent round of experiments.  “It’s been a few days since I’ve seen you, so I thought I’d check and make sure you’re still being fed and watered appropriately as humans need to survive.”

Snorting out a laugh, Jason set his pencil down and removed his glasses.  “Kory and Roy both make sure I get my three-square meals a day and stay hydrated.  Though, I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to take over a shift or two.”  Dick paused for a moment before continuing to close the distance between them, stopping on the opposite side of the desk Jason was currently using.  Jason watched his eyes scan over the pages spread out over the desk, head tilting as he paused to read one in particular before moving onto the next.  “Do you understand any of it?”  He asked curiously.

Dick hummed and shook his head before leaning a hip against the desk.  “I am not a person of science,” he admitted.  Jason had a feeling that was the case, given the way Dick had presented him with the idea.  As if it had been someone else’s and his imagination had just run with it.  But he had been right.  Or mostly right, at least.  “The human mind is an incredible place, isn’t it?  A mass of tissue and electricity running the show.”

Jason let out a surprised laugh.  “That’s….that’s definitely one way to describe it.  I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone put it so plainly.”

“But at the base that’s all a human is, isn’t it?  Ruled by a mess of electrical currents up here,” Dick tapped his temple and flicked his eyebrow upward.  Jason supposed he was right and gave a nod.  It was curious when you tried to think about it, but he doubted anyone would ever really know how a human really functions at their core.

“Have you had success then?”

Looking down at his papers for a moment before looking back to Dick, Jason nodded.  “Yes, but not in the way you’re probably thinking.  There’s something in my own blood that seems to repel the virus.  But when I drew Kory and Roy’s blood, the reaction wasn’t the same.”  Jason shifted through his papers to find the ones where the findings were noted.  “There is something within my own blood that seems to fight the virus.  An enzyme maybe?  I’m not sure.  But if I can figure it out, I can try to reproduce it.  And if I can reproduce it…”

“You can mass produce it.”

“Exactly!”  Jason smiled, giddy at the prospect.  “A cure.  It could be a cure.  Not for those who have already turned but for those who have been bitten?  It could prevent them from turning.  It could be a miracle.”

The smile on Dick’s face looked almost relieved and Jason wanted to question him about it, but then there was that fondness that had become so familiar in his gaze and Jason couldn’t help the blush that spread across his cheeks.  

“I suppose I should leave you to it then,” Dick spoke softly, his fingers tapping the papers in front of Jason.  “You have a race to save.”  Jason laughed and shook his head, the hope bubbling up inside of him at the prospect of being able to do this for humanity.  “You’re a gift, Jason Todd.  Don’t ever forget that.”  And though Dick had said those words a few times before, they seemed to have a different meaning this time.  Almost like Dick had known this would be the outcome all along.  But the man was gone before he could bother to ask him about that comment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“How do you test it? Do we just have someone get bitten and then see if it works?”  Roy asked as he zipped up Jason’s bag for the supply run that was leaving in a few minutes. Jason had been slacking on his pack but thankfully Roy had noticed and taken care of it, since Jason’s mind was obviously elsewhere.

With a shrug, Jason took the pack.  “I have no clue.  It works on the blood samples.  The virus is completely gone on infected blood.  But unless someone just happens to get bitten, I won’t have a human test subject for a while.”

“But it works on the samples?”

“Completely gone, Roy,” Jason confirmed.  He pulled the pack onto his back and walked with his best friend over to where Rose, Biz, Kyle and Dick were waiting for him.  “Like a fucking miracle.  I almost want to get myself bitten to see it work in a human body.  But from the samples, I’m not even sure the virus would work on me at all.”

“And it’s not fucking worth putting you at risk.”  Jason knew Roy was right.  Just the four people waiting for him a few paces away were enough of a reason.  But they weren’t the only reason.  Too many people counted on him for various things. And he didn’t want to die.  He didn’t want to lose what little family he had managed to patch together.  

And he didn’t want to never get the chance to shoot his shot with Dick.  Not that he had any plans on that account, but eventually.  Once his mind wasn’t over occupied with this cure.

“Ready to go, Boss?” Kyle called out, looking at him impatiently.  Jason rolled his eyes and gave a wave of his hand.

“Take care of them all while I’m gone.”  Roy gave Jason a nod before they exchanged their customary hug.

Jason had fallen in step next to Dick when Roy called out, “Don’t get too distracted out there, Jay!  You know what I mean.”  When Jason turned and threw a glare at the man, he wasn’t surprised to see Roy laughing.  So Jason simply threw a middle finger up at him and turned back around.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Dick!  Oh god.”  Jason went running the moment Kyle took out the last of the zombies surrounding him and Dick, who was now on his knees with a hand pressed to the junction of neck and shoulder.  He had been too far away from the other man when they had ended up surrounded thanks to a backfire on the car Dick and Kyle were attempting to get running.  Too far away to stop the zombie from sneaking up on the two men and taking a bite out of Dick’s shoulder.

Falling to his own knees, Jason looked at Dick with wide eyes.  For having been bitten, the man looked far too calm.  If anything, he just seemed annoyed.  “Dick?”  Jason rasped, reaching out to pull his hand away from the wound so he could see if it actually broke skin or not.  Crimson red told him all he needed to know.  “Fuck.  Fuck! We have to go now.  Can this drive?!”  He looked desperately up at Kyle who had his eyes locked on the wound.

“Boss?”

“Kyle!  Can the car get us back to the compound?”

“Yeah….but….”

Jason ignored whatever it was the other man was going to say and turned back to Dick, tearing a sleeve off his shirt and folding it up to press against the wound.  “You gotta keep pressure on it.  We’ll get you back home, to the lab.  The cure works.  I know it does.  We’ll get it in you in time.”  He grabbed Dick’s hand and pressed it back over the wound to hold the cloth down.

Dick looked at him with furrowed brows and tilted his head and the sigh made something clench in Jason’s chest.  That weird confusion that Dick always seemed to have whenever something normal seemed to happen.  “I’ll be fine.”  Now it was Jason’s turn to be confused.

“You were bitten Dick. It broke the skin; we have to get you back.  Come on,” he ordered, pushing to his feet and tugging Dick up with him.  “Get the others,” Jason told Kyle who looked like he was about to argue with him.  But Jason just growled out, “Now.”  And the other man gave a curt nod before running off to collect Rose and Biz.  “It takes at least a few hours for the fever to show up but we won’t be back to the compound before morning if we drive through the night.  So you just…you gotta hold on, okay?”

“I promise I’ll be fine, Jay,” Dick spoke softly, his gaze taking an amused look to it.  And damnit if Jason didn’t hate how not seriously he was taking this situation.  “I promise.”

“You will be because we’ll get you back to the lab in time.”  Dick smiled at that and sighed, leaving Jason to wonder what the hell was wrong with the man. This wasn’t a joke.  This wasn’t something they could just brush aside and yet he was acting like he wasn’t hours away from becoming one of them.

Like Jason wasn’t hours away from losing yet another person he loved.

“Boss,” Kyle’s voice broke through his internal panic.  Turning to see the man standing a few feet away with Biz and Rose right behind him, Jason raised a brow.  “Gotta talk to you real quick.  They’ll get the car packed.”  Jason huffed a breath out through his nose and followed the other man, glancing back at Dick to see Rose taking a look at the bite and speaking lowly to the man.  Once they seemed to be out of earshot, Kyle stopped and turned to face Jason.  And Jason did not like the look on his face. “We can’t take him with us.  You know we don’t have enough time even if we had enough gas to get us through the night.”

“No.”

Kyle sighed and looked over Jason’s shoulder before looking back to him.  “Jason, I know you don’t want to hear this.  I know you want to save him.  But what are we supposed to do when he turns in the middle of the drive? What then?”

“I’m not leaving him, Rayner.  I can save him.  I know I can. I have the cure.  We’re wasting time discussing this.  Let’s go.  Now.” And despite knowing Kyle had a good point, he knew he couldn’t do it.  He couldn’t leave Dick behind to become one of them.  And he couldn’t kill him before the bite took just to put him out of his misery.  Shaking his head, he turned and walked back to the car where Rose and Biz had already taken up two of the seats and Dick was leaning against the outside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dragging Dick into his lab and shoving him down onto the exam table, Jason rushed around and gathered the supplies he needed to administer the injection.  He didn’t know how Dick hadn’t developed the fever yet, but he wasn’t going to waste any time.  Dumping everything on the table next to Dick, he tugged the leather jacket off Dick and pushed the sleeve of his gray shirt up.

“Jason, stop,” Dick spoke softly, ducking his head down but Jason ignored him.  “Jay.  Stop.” His voice took on a firmer tone and it was enough to cause Jason to pause and look up at him.  “I’m fine.  I don’t need this.  Don’t waste it.”

Jaw dropping, Jason stood frozen with an empty syringe in hand ready to draw Dick’s blood before he injected the cure so he could have a sample before and after.  “You are not fine!  Why are you not taking this seriously?!”

He watched Dick sigh and moved back when Dick nudged at him so he could get off the table.  Without dropping eye contact, Dick tugged the collar of his shirt away from where the bite was and revealed skin only blemished with dried blood.

But no bite.

“What?”  Jason dropped the syringe and lunged forward to examine the skin more closely.  “How is this possible?  There was a bite here!  We all saw it!”  Kyle had told him to leave Dick behind for crying out loud.  Looking back to Dick’s face, Jason shook his head.  “This is not possible.”

“It is.”

“No, it isn’t.  No one is immune!  No one!  We would have heard about it.”  Dick frowned and Jason watched as he tugged his shirt off, revealing far more golden skin than anyone should have ever been allowed to have.  And if the circumstances had been different, Jason would be thanking the powers that be for this display of a man.  But he was freaking out.  “Dick-what-?”  He watched Dick move around the table and reveal his back, which was covered in the most beautiful wing tattoo Jason had ever seen.  Brilliant white wings, so vibrant Jason wasn’t sure how the artist had managed to make it stand out so vividly on his golden complexion, that looked as though they had been dipped in blue dye at the tips and the color had crept up the feathers to fade into the white.  And somehow the wings were drawn in such a way that they almost seemed to flutter with Dick’s muscle movements.

Then Dick’s long fingers were brushing up the back of his neck where three symbols were drawn and he was muttering words in a language Jason had never heard but thought felt right. But before he could dive into why that might have been, he was stepping back and grabbing the table behind him as a flash of white seemed to center from Dick and a pair of wings that matched the tattoo were springing forth from the man’s back.  Jason gasped at the sight of the massive wings that spread out wide, as if stretching, and then relaxed as Dick turned to face him again.

“This is why.”

But Jason still didn’t understand.  All he knew was that Dick suddenly had wings and Jason was questioning his sanity even more. Maybe he had been the one who had been bitten.  Maybe he was losing his mind after all this time.  But he could feel his heartbeat in his ears and that was enough to tell him this was really happening.  “What are you?”  He managed to gasp.

“I am Seraph.”

“You’re an angel?” Jason questioned, mind trying to grasp what was happening here.  “Of course you are.”  He thought about all the things that had happened since he had met Dick in that kitchen all those months ago.  “So much is making sense right now.”

Dick tilted his head to the side and watched Jason as he processed.  Jason ignored the man for a moment, stepping away from the table he had been clinging to so he could pace and process.  The weird comments, acting as though he had never done common activities, or eaten certain foods.  So much of it made so much more sense.

“Jason,” Dick’s voice called to him and Jason paused his pacing, frowning at the almost melodic sound of the man’s voice now.  Looking over at Dick, Jason let his eyes trail over the expanse of the large wings behind him, from just brushing the floor with the blue feathers to standing high above his head in stark white.  

But the sound of a door banging open stopped him from saying anything, pulling both of their attentions to Rose rushing through the door.  “Oh!”  She paused, eyes wide as she looked at Dick.

“Rose,” Jason stepped forward to keep her from rushing out of there because he got the feeling that Dick didn’t necessarily want everyone to know what exactly he was.

“So you told him.  I told you you wouldn’t be able to keep it hidden much longer.”  Stopping mid stride, Jason looked from Rose to Dick and then back again.  Turning to look at Jason, Rose shrugged a shoulder and gathered up her hair, turning to show him the back of her neck.  The symbols there were similar to the ones on Dick’s and Jason felt his world bottom out again.  “I’m not Seraph, but I am Nephilim,” she explained as she dropped her hair and turned back to face him.  “And so are you.”

He heard Dick sigh behind him, but Jason felt frozen again.  He was what?  She was what?

“I hadn’t gotten to that yet,” Dick murmured and appeared next to Jason.  Allowing himself to be turned, Jason looked into the sapphire eyes he thought he had known so well.  “What Rose is so tactlessly telling you, is that your father was like me. Just as her own father is Seraph as well.  That is how I know him.  He was close to my ranks before he fell.”

Rose’s snort was telling. “He didn’t fall.  He plummeted.”

“Wait, my father?” Jason thought of the man he had known. The drunk who beat his mother until Jason was old enough to pull the man’s attention from her to himself.  He remembered waiting each night for him to come home and lay into him.  Until one night he stopped coming home.  And neither he nor his mother ever knew what happened to Willis Todd.

“Willis was not of my ranks but was tempted to fall by a very bewitching demon.  He promised him power and wealth.  But gave him neither,” Dick told Jason, placing both his hands on his shoulders.  “We are not meant to sire children with mortals because the transfer of power can have detrimental effects on the human who carries the child.  Your mother was addicted to drugs, was she not?”  Jason nodded.  “That was how she drowned out the voices.  The ones who whispered about your destiny.  Rose’s mother…”

“She died of cancer.” Glancing over at her, Jason tried to read her expression but wasn’t sure what it said.  The woman was so good at keeping her emotions to herself, he always failed to really grasp what she was thinking.  

Looking back to Dick, Jason furrowed his brows as he tried to comprehend what was being told to him. “I don’t have the symbols,” was what his brain decided to spit out instead.  Dick smiled and he could hear Rose chuckle next to him.  “What?”

“They are not something Nephilim are born with on the surface.  You have to bring them forth,” Dick explained.  “The creator gives them to their Seraph, but only a Seraph can show a Nephilim how to bring their own forth.”

“Wait. What do you mean my destiny?”  Jason demanded, mind finally grasping onto that piece of information.

He watched Dick sigh and send a look to Rose that had her rolling her eyes and leaving without a word. Or sound.  Jason made a mental note to ask her about that skill.  “It’s time we have a very serious talk, Jason. Shall we go somewhere we won’t be interrupted again?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So let me get this straight,” Jason said, pacing the length of his room as Dick sat leaning against the headboard of his bed.  “Rose’s dad is the one responsible for the virus?  The creator told all of you that one would need to fall and release the virus in order to save humanity?”

“In the broadest of terms, yes.”

“How is killing us like this, saving us?”

“Your planet was dying. It would not survive much more in way of population.  Your atmosphere had begun to crumble, and drastic measures were needed.”  Jason scowled at that.  How could Dick just be so blasé about the death of billions of people? He’s not human, a part of his mind reminded him.  But even though he only had Rose to compare to, Dick seemed more human than Rose. “Some of us were against the idea. That there had to be another way, but Slade volunteered before the discussions could go further.”

Shaking his head, Jason paced the length of the room one more time before dropping down in the chair at his desk.  “This is a lot.”  Dick nodded but remained silent and Jason was thankful.  Because even though he was glad Dick was answering his questions, he didn’t want the man to try and sway his opinion into the positive side of things just yet.  He needed to examine the situation from all angles.  He needed to see all possible outcomes to this before he came to a conclusion.  “Was it part of the creator’s plan for you to find me?”

“No.”

Jason waited for more, but when he was met with nothing but silence, he looked at Dick with a raised eyebrow. But the man, angel whatever, seemed to miss what he was silently asking him to expand upon and it just made Jason sigh.  Almost in fondness.  Almost.

“If it was not in their plan, why are you here?”

“I broke ranks because humanity has suffered more than enough, and you are the cure to that suffering.” He watched Dick sit up and look at him seriously, almost uncomfortably so.  “I have watched you for years, since before the outbreak.  I knew of you long before you were even born.  I have been tasked with protecting humanity for centuries because our creator is not the “God” so many believe in.  They are kind, loving, and they do not require worship or devotion.  But they also want you to have the will to choose what path you take.  

“You are a good species at the core, despite those who have been whispered to by the demons of the world. You would have come across the answer for the cure on your own, but it would have been a few years from now after having lost far too many and those closest.”  Jason’s mind flashed to Roy and Kory, knowing that’s exactly who Dick was referring to.  Deep in his soul, he knew it was them.  And he couldn’t help but feel so incredibly grateful that Dick had gone against his kind to prevent that.  “You have lost enough.  Everyone has lost enough.”

Taking in the words, Jason dropped down into his desk chair with a sigh.  It was a heavy weight, knowing that he had been the key to fixing this all along and that if Dick hadn’t prompted the idea that day in the mess hall then he would have taken a while longer to figure it all out.  He could have saved millions but he was supposed to have allowed countless more die before he made the sure.  Dick allowed that.  Dick disobeyed his orders because he didn’t want anymore suffering, he didn’t want Jason to endure anymore suffering.

Dick had chosen him over his own kind.  “Will you be punished?”

“Perhaps,” Dick shrugged. “But perhaps mercy shall be gifted to me because I wanted mercy for mankind.”

Jason didn’t like the idea that Dick could be harmed because he had chosen kindness over indifference. He didn’t know what it meant to be Seraph and how it impacted basic human emotions and instincts, but he knew Dick. And he knew Dick loved people. The way he laughed with Tim while they discussed various topics.  The way he worked with Kory in the gardens, singing soft songs in a language Jason now knew to be angelic.  The way he walked side by side with Roy and discussed the best way to protect those within their gates and walls.  People he was now invested in just as much as the rest of them.

“And if you aren’t granted mercy?”

There was silence and Jason watched Dick sit there, eyes narrowed and a furrowed brow marring the beauty of the angel.  “Then I suppose I will be left to walk the earth among the people of this planet and protect you from within your ranks.”  The lines smoothed out on his face and Dick gave him a smile that was brittle, but honest. “I do not feel my duty will change should the creator choose to remove me from my service to them.  I will still wish to protect those who cannot protect themselves.  It is all I have known.”

“You will always be welcome here,” Jason offered without pausing to think about it.  If he thought about it, he would never say it and regret would burn bright.  “With me.”

He tried not to fidget under the intense gaze that Dick turned on him, but it was difficult.  The depths of the sapphire eyes spoke volumes and while Jason loved to look at them, the intensity made him a bit nervous. “Despite the lies?”

“I don’t appreciate the lies, but I understand them.  Well,” he let out a chuckle, “as best as my human mind can.”

Dick’s smile was almost blinding.

“Your mind can understand much more than even you will ever know.”  The blush that colored Jason’s cheeks was no something he was proud of, but he knew it was something he couldn’t exactly control.  “You are a gift.  Don’t ever let anyone try to tell you differently, Jason Todd.”  He had gotten used to hearing Dick use those words in his regards, but now he supposed he finally understood exactly what it was he meant.  He was a gift, or his blood was.

“What happens now?” Jason asked curiously, watching Dick lean back against the headboard again.  Jason let his eyes trail over the other man, enjoying the sight of him so comfortable in Jason’s space.  It felt right.  It looked right.

But the look on Dick’s face pulled him out of those fuzzy thoughts.  “I need to go.”

“What?”

“Now that you have uncovered the cure, I need to return to my ranks.  I need to face my punishment, if there is to be one.”  

But Jason didn’t want him to leave.  Not when he still hadn’t gotten around to making any kind of move.  Could he really just let Dick walk out of his life, potentially for good, without even trying?  Did Dick even have any interest in him?  Was he just seeing things that he wanted to be there.

“I would like to stay though.  I would abandon my ranks for good, if I could convince myself it was the right thing.” Dick’s gaze turned to Jason and he found himself getting lost in the intensity of the sapphire eyes. Intensity that told Jason he wasn’t alone.  He wasn’t imagining things and he wasn’t the only one who wanted.  “I will return though.  If you’ll have me.”

Nodding, Jason tried to say something in response, but he couldn’t form the right words.  Not when those eyes were still looking at him like that. Not when his heart was pounding so loudly in his chest that he was certain it would either burst from within or Dick would point out how loud it was.

“I will be gone before morning, but I will be back.”

And Jason hoped that Dick wasn’t just telling him that to make him feel better.  He really hoped it.

[aion-rsa]

Streaming on Plex: Best Horror Movies and TV Shows You Can Watch for FREE in October

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This article is sponsored by Plex. You can download the Free Plex App now by clicking here!

When October hits, the folks at Den of Geek almost exclusively consume horror content. Any spooky story that has ghosts, ghouls, goblins, or any chill-inducing monster that doesn’t start with a G is fine with us. Whether it’s a campy B-movie or “prestige horror,” we embrace all horror subgenres and relax with old favorites and new cult classics in the making alike. Now that Spooky Season is in full force, we are grateful that Plex TV is here so we can stream all of the creepy content that our black hearts’ desire for free!

Plex is a globally available one-stop-shop streaming media service offering thousands of free movies and TV shows and hundreds of free-to-stream live TV channels, from the biggest names in entertainment, including Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, Lionsgate, Legendary, AMC, A+E, Crackle, and Reuters. Plex is the only streaming service that lets users manage their personal media alongside a continuously growing library of free third-party entertainment spanning all genres, interests, and mediums including podcasts, music, and more. With a highly customizable interface and smart recommendations based on the media you enjoy, Plex brings its users the best media experience on the planet from any device, anywhere.

Plex releases brand new and beloved titles to its platform monthly and we’ll be here to help you identify the cream of the crop. This month, we’re keeping things strictly scary, but view Plex TV now for the best free entertainment streaming, regardless of genre, and check back each month for Den of Geek Critics’ picks!

DEN OF GEEK CRITICS’ PICKS

The Ninth Gate

Though director Roman Polanski is a horrific figure himself, this 1999 neo-noir horror film, The Ninth Gate is superb. Thirty years after Rosemary’s Baby, Polanski conjured the devil once again and injected it with some of the pulp from his noir classic Chinatown in a movie that finds Johnny Depp as a man in Satanic Detective mode. Depp is a classic book authenticator hired to authenticate De Umbrarum Regis Novum Portis (The Nine Doors To the Kingdom of Shadows), a book believed by cultists capable of raising Satan to Earth. 

The Ninth Gate doesn’t provide cheap thrills; it tightens the suspense like a noose. Polanski subtly creates an uneasy atmosphere using minimal effects. The director knows where evil lives and lets the settings and sound make the invitations with subliminal references to recognizable horror and cinematic danger, using framing and music similarly to Stanley Kubrick. The Ninth Gate packages its scares with classy style that the characters deliver with sexily provocative intelligence. Dean Corso may be Johnny Depp’s greatest spiritual transformation, from odious to ultimate evil and the audience cheers on his descent, happy to ride with him straight to hell.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

Perhaps the world’s first horror film and a go-to example of early German Expressionist filmmaking, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari has been unsettling audiences for over a century. 

The film’s main story centers on two young friends, Francis and Alan (Friedrich Feher and Hans Heinrich von Twardowski), who, while jockeying for the affections of Jane (Lil Dagover), visit a local traveling carnival. There they take in the act of the mysterious, top-hatted and wild-haired Dr. Caligari (Werner Krauss). As they watch, Caligari awakens his somnambulist subject, Cesare (the great Conrad Veidt), who under hypnosis answers questions from the audience. When Alan jokingly asks when he will die, Cesare responds “Before dawn.” We’ll let you guess the rest.

The film isn’t remembered much for its story, but for its arresting visual style, featuring painted backdrops that make the entire production feel like a fever dream. The painted townscape is filled with curved and pointed buildings teetering at dangerous angles, almost as if they were alive and shrieking. Roads twist and spiral to nowhere. The perspectives are deliberately mismatched and inconsistent, with the props and sets sometimes being too large for the characters, and others too small. The result is a transgressive, deeply influential film that has been unsettling audiences for over 100 years.

The Exorcist III

Based on his 1983 novel Legion, writer-director William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III arrived 17 years after William Friedkin’s The Exorcist. Despite the still-looming pop culture presence of the original, The Exorcist III is sneakily the most interesting film in the series. Less a horror movie than a psychological thriller with supernatural and spiritual overtones, The Exorcist III takes place 17 years after the events of the first film, and with no reference whatsoever made to the events in the second. It finds Lt. Kinderman confronted with the apparent reappearance of two figures from his past who had supposedly died. The first is father Damien Karras (Jason Miller), who had died after bouncing down an endless flight of steps while performing an exorcism in the original movie, and the Gemini Killer, a serial killer loosely based on the Zodiac Killer that had been executed 17 years prior. However, there’s been a new string of murders around town carrying all the hallmarks of the Gemini.

While the studio famously mangled Blatty’s original cut of the film, there’s still a lot to like here, including a terrifying performance from Brad Dourif. Blatty is fantastic at creating dread-inducing atmosphere and has a keen attention to character and detail. It may not be as exciting as the original, but it’s a smart-slow burn film worthy of the Exorcist mantle.

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The Devil’s Rejects

An homage to sleazy ‘70s C-movies, Rob Zombie’s sequel to House of 1,000 Corpses will leave you in the need of a shower, but it’s delightfully demented and the musician turned filmmaker’s finest effort. The shock-fest finds the Firefly clan, Otis (Bill Moseley), Baby (Sheri Moon Zombie) and Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig) – on the run from die-hard determined sheriff Wydell (William Forsythe). What unfolds is a nasty thrill ride full of twists, turns, and more gore than most audiences are comfortable with. How Zombie still manages to make such repulsive content entertaining, how he manages to get you to almost root for the despicable Firefly clan, is inexplicable magic trick, but indebted to Zombie’s use of black humor and deep knowledge of genre conventions that he sometimes subverts, but often gleefully leans into.

Train to Busan

The overused and increasingly predictable zombie genre got a shot in the arm with Train to Busan, a South Korean film from director Yeon Sang-ho about a young father desperately attempting to get his little daughter to her mother via train as a zombie pandemic breaks out all around them. Even if it veered close to outright sentimentality at times, Train to Busan differed from most of the films and TV shows we’ve seen in this genre due to its genuine bond of love between its main characters, and the flickers of empathy and humanity found therein. 

And on a technical level, Yeon crafted his film with a kinetic energy that had been missing from the genre as of late. Train to Busan was not just a monster hit in its native land but amassed an international following as well, along with critical acclaim across the board. It’s easy to see why given the film’s well-drawn characters, subtle social commentary (some on the train feel they are more worthy of survival than others) and frightening action sequences that add up to a thrilling and emotionally powerful ride.

More Horror Films Available to Stream FREE on Plex TV

The Descent  

Train To Busan  

The Ninth Gate  

Rec  

Coherence  

Night Of The Living Dead  

The Host 

Hannibal Rising  

The Devil’s Rejects  

Nosferatu  

Monsters  

I Spit On Your Grave  

Eden Lake  

Wolf Creek  

Day Of The Dead  

The Collector  

The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari  

Red Lights  

The Wailing  

Grave Encounters  

Colonia  

Scouts Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse  

Diary Of The Dead  

Black Death  

Alone In The Dark  

The Descent: Part 2  

Maggie  

Teeth  

Ginger Snaps  

After.Life  

John Dies At The End  

Black Christmas  

The Last House On The Left  

Nosferatu the Vampire  

Splinter  

The Void  

Deep Red  

P2  

Phantasm  

The Changeling 

Feast  

Hatchet 

The Prophecy  

Pulse  

Fido  

Open Grave  

Cell  

The Blob  

The Exorcist III  

Vanishing On 7th Street 

House On Haunted Hill  

Penomena  

Eye See You  

Cooties  

The Werewolf 

Pumpkinhead 4: Blood Feud 

Messengers 2: The Scarecrow

Sugar and Fright Collection

Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies 

All Cheerleaders Die  

Another Evil  

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes  

Bad Milo 

Better Watch Out  

Bitter Feast  

Cooties  

Corporate Animals  

Crimewave  

Dead Snot 2: Red vs. Dead  

Deathgasm  

Deep Murder 

Drive Thru 

Excision  

Fear, Inc.  

Feast 

Fido  

Ghost Killers vs. Bloody Mary 

Hansel & Gretel Get Baked  

Hatchet  

Hell Baby 

Hellboy Animated: Blood & Iron 

Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms  

Hobo with a Shotgun  

John Dies at the End 

The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu 

Lesbian Vampire Killers  

The Love Witch  

Night of Something Strange  

Nina Forever  

Office Uprising  

Shrooms  

Snoop Dogg’s Hood of Horror 

Stan Helsing  

Stitches  

Suburban Gothic  

Survival of the Dead  

Teeth  

Turbo Kid  

WolfCop 

Yoga Hosers 

The post Streaming on Plex: Best Horror Movies and TV Shows You Can Watch for FREE in October appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[comic-brew]

Pieces

@whumptober2020 days n.4 Running out of time: Buried Alive and n.5 Falling (alt prompt)

Summary: The wet soil doesn’t end, it engulfs him in its cold embrace and doesn’t let him go, no matter how wildly he struggles against the earthly tendrils wrapped securely around his limbs and torso.

Notes: shitty au where basically TV Titans Jason has flashbacks of his comic-life, even though he technically haven’t lived any of them yet. How much this story progresses depends on if I’ll write a second ch. Beware of 2 different writing styles cause I started this way too long ago.

Reading time: 35 mins (4.4k)

Warnings: whump, panic attacks, being buried alive, self deprecating thoughts, angst, oxygen deprivation, PTSD (?), vertigo, falling, perhaps sth else I missed??

or read here on ao3!

ps. reblogs and feedback bring the author great joy uwu

***

“Hey, Jason” Gar greets after knocking and opening the door to Jason’s room just enough to peer his head through.

“How’re you doing?”

The boy waits but Jason doesn’t reply. He’s simply staring out his window, arms falling limply at his side, barely even registering the new presence in the room. Garfield bites his lip and invites himself inside and by Jason’s side. He glances at the boy’s rapidly moving, but hollow eyes, then at the view of the sky they’re aiming at.

“Are you still with us, buddy?” he asks.

He hesitantly runs a hand up and down in front of Jason’s distant gaze and that seems to do the trick.

Jason blinks, then shakes his head to rid himself of whatever thought he was so unnervingly engrosed into. Turning to face the green haired boy, he assumes the most carefree expression he can muster, forcing a halflit smile in a futile attempt to compose himself.

“Yeah, was just.. thinking” he assures, his eyes holding no emotion.

“ ‘Course… You sure you’re okay?” Gar presses, making little effort to conceal the incredulous frown his eyebrows are drawn into.

Jason shifts in his place while his hands clench and unclench, in an attempt to calm his discomfort and aggravation at Gar’s question, because he knows his teammate’s just asking out of honest concern. It’s not his fault Jason hasn’t slept in days and isn’t used to people checking up on him.

“I’m fine, dude, seriously.” Jason insists and Garfield knows better than to further inquire him “Now, did you want something?”

Fuck. Jason almost winces at how aggressive his words have come out. Gar blinks, opening his mouth to say something. Before his thoughts can materialize on the tip on his tongue, he seems to rethink what he wanted to say. That delay of course doesn’t go unnoticed by Jason.

God..Why does he always mess everything up?

As Gar’s about to speak again, the new Robin raises a hand to the green haired boy’s chest, stopping any word before it can reach his ears. “Look, I’m sorry. I’m just tired and I’m taking it out on you.” he huffs a bitter laugh “You don’t deserve me being an ass to you too.”

The boy’s brown eyes light up with understanding and relief and his tense shoulders physically relax at the confession. “Hey, it’s cool man. I get it.” he acknowledges, smiling politely and squeezing Jason’s shoulder.

Surprisingly, he doesn’t recoil from the touch, instead reciprocating Gar’s reassuring smile with an exhausted, but genuine and lighthearted smirk.

They both remain in that position for several split seconds, until Garfield finally retracts his hand to clasp his palms together as it dawns on him that he still hasn’t told his teammate the news he came to deliver.

“Actually I did come to tell you something” he announces, grinning widely and slightly fidgeting with his fingers “Rachel and I were thinking of watching a movie, you’re welcome to join us. You know, if you feel up to it.”

Jason takes a spare second to ponder and process Gar’s proposition. He steals a glance at the translucent glass of the window, separating his world from the towering skyscrapers and showering his neatly made bed in the soft gleam of the afternoon.

It would surely be better than staying there alone, falling into the inky depths of his eternal abyss.

Turning to face the boy whose eyes scour him expectantly for any indication of his intentions, he relents with a rather forced shrug.

“Uh, sure, I guess.” Jason says.

Gar’s face lights up and pulls into a joyous grin. “Cool… cool.”

He awkwardly shoves his hands into the pockets of his pants and starts heading towards the door, stopping midway to listen to Jason calling out after him.

“I’ll be there in a sec.”

The green haired boy simply nods and subtly waves his hand goodbye, before he disappears into the hallway.

***

When Jason steps foot into one of the spacious living areas Titans Tower houses, there are three heads turning at the soft sound of his approaching footsteps where he expected to be greeted by two. The platinum curls flowing gracefully with the motion can only belong to one person. Well, at least one person they know.

“Rose” he sighs. “Didn’t expect you to come”

“Didn’t expect to come either” she counters, the corners of her lips twitching upwards in amusement, “But I guess this could be fun after all”

She is comfortably perched on a lovely armchair covered by smooth, pearl fabric, facing the flank of a matching couch. One knee bent and placed securely under her body, the side of her head is doused in the last dull afternoon light seeping into the room through the daffodil curtains keeping the golden sunset rays at bay. Rachel is regarding Jason with a mellow smile, sitting cross legged on the far end of the couch neighbouring Rose’s armchair and Garfield has already started fumbling with a rather ancient DVD player.

It’s a wonder how this thing still exists in a building where interactive holograms are a norm. But then again it wouldn’t be the oddest thing about this place.

“Well,” Gar begins, slightly groaning when the DVD port spitefully refuses to close, “We’re both glad you did join us. Now, take a seat ladies and gentlemen!” he announces with fervor when he finally manages to slam the port close, and gestures towards the unoccupied cushions next to the purple haired girl.

Jason takes the invitation gladly and flops down on the other end of the couch, closer to the hall he was in just a few seconds ago.

“What are we watching?” Jason asks.

Rachel turns her focus to him then, leaning her back on the couch and clutching a decorative pillow to her abdomen. “Gar found this, and I quote, 'apocalyptic masterpiece of censorship’ and insisted we had to watch it.” she grins, rolling her eyes at reciting her friend’s words.

Jason and Rose both snort at that as Garfield reaches the couch in a few quick strides. “Seriously guys, I have only ever heard about this movie from some pretty questionable sources.” he says giddily before sobering up again, clearly fussing over his discovery.

“We’re literally staring an urban legend in the face, guys!”

“Yeah, not like you hang out with the Titans or whatever” Jason quips. Seriously, how can a movie be more exciting than fighting crime alongside heroes? Than being a hero?

“Good point, bro. Good point”

Jason shoulders stiffen at the nickname, but only for a briefly awkward moment which Gar is more than eager to fill with more (unnecessary) information.

“Well, according to those guys the movie was banned shortly after its release and all copies were revoked and ultimately destroyed.”

“Clearly not all copies” Rachel muses before asking why the movie was banned in the first place. Gar mumbles something about it addressing some extremely controversial topics and offending some powerful douchbag before making his way to the middle cushion.

Rachel scoots over without even untangling her legs to make more room for him to sit.

Rose simply raises an eyebrow.

“Where the hell did you even hear about this stuff in the first place?”

Gar suddenly goes stills in his place on the couch. He runs a hand through his messy strands of hair before reluctantly providing an answer. “Uh… Tumblr?” he says while grinning awkwardly.

Rachel nods her head back slack-jawed, brows shooting up in a terrible attempt at showing understanding. Gar frowns as he then glances at Jason who’s staring at him with wide disbelieving eyes, the sound of Rose dramatically smacking her own face enhancing the atmosphere.

“It’s not that surprising guys, come on!” Gar protests, an exasperated sigh emanating from his lips.

At that, the three of them exchange deadpan looks before bursting out laughing. The laughter soon subsides into small giggles and high pitched breaths as the green haired boy smiles with content and leans above the mahogany coffee table to grab the tv remote.

“Well, friends, brace yourselves, for the most epic zombie movie to barely exist” he says, smirking as he plops back down on the leathern cushions.

On the screen, their reflections have given their place to the lean figure of a boy of asian descent in his 16s walking alongside a girl with dark complexion and luscious, auburn hair. A gentle, velvety voice surrounds them from the speakers and integrates them in the world the film is set in.

Time flows pleasantly as the story progresses with no interruption aside from a few enthusiastic inputs from a beaming Garfield.

The rest of the Titans are all gathered together in some other part of the Tower, once again excluding them from whatever plans they might be conjuring.

Because that went so well last time, Jason unwittingly ponders, quick to dismiss the thoughts lest those dreadfully fresh memories resurface.

But perhaps it’s already too late to whisk them away.

Jason gets up out of the blue, eliciting an inquisitive glare from the rest of the kids.

“I’ll just.. go grab some popcorn” he states vacantly, pointing at the hallway with his thumb without breaking eye contact. Truth is he needs a minute to recover from the intrusion of sensations he’d rather forget.

Plus, popcorn sounds nice.

“We can pause the film if you want” Rachel’s soft voice prompts, wording what has likely been dancing around the others’ minds as well.

“Nah, it’s cool. It won’t take long. I’m not going all the way to the Antarctica and back or whatever” he replies, fighting the nagging urge to roll his eyes and let the poison drip onto his voice. The kids nod and in a moment’s notice he’s gone.

Right foot.

Left foot.

Right foot.

Keeping up his pace feels abysmally hard. His head is reeling and his senses are swimming all around the place, reality feels like a fuzzy blanket draped over a newborn’s skin. Jason takes a few more carefully calculated steps before he stumbles on thin air. Careening into the wall he leans against the slick concrete on his flank until the world stops shifting enough for him to continue.

Somehow Jason makes it to the kitchen. He fumbles with the drawers, opening and closing them jerkily.

In just a few seconds the falling has progressed to the point where he can barely stand. He doesn’t think it’s ever been this bad the previous times.

Everything is spinning around. And when it all shifts upside down he’s falling from the marble to the ceiling, and when his skin and the asbestos are inches from colliding, the world tilts again like an hourglass that’s ran out of sand.

Just like that his descend is reset. Over and over.

He finds the popcorn bag in the last one and grabs it hastily. Only after the third attempt, the previous two ending shamefully with his clasp clutching piteously at empty air.

Dropping it of on the countertop it’s more muscle memory than will that redirects him to the sink. His fingers grip the knob, turning the water lukewarm, but as he lets it puddle on his palms he can’t feel it any clearer than a breath of a ghost on the back of his neck.

Jason splashes the water on his face but it ends up mostly on his clothes and on the ground. Gravity works funny when you have no sense of it.

His hands latch onto the edge of the sink and cling for dear life. The ledge, hold on to the ledge. His eyes open wide, they soak up the terror of the height. The terror of death.

The eerie reassurance of death.

The smog dissipates faster this time. But with it the distressing thought that it’s getting worse, that he’s getting worse, finds the chance settle in his gut.

Jason can’t do this anymore.

But he’s already been gone for a conspicuously large amount of time, and the thought of having to explain his reoccurring day-mares can’t even be entertained by his mind. So that makes a problem for another day.

The popcorn is ready in only a few minutes. Jason holds on to the sink for a couple more moments, taking deep breaths in and out, until his heart has stopped beating frenzied.

If they ask, he can always say he had trouble with the 'corn.

He can always say.

“Okay” he breathes out, closing his eyes as he informs nobody in particular.

“Okay I’m ready”

With that Jason grabs the bowl filled to the brim with the snack and disappears out the door. The journey from the kitchen to the smaller living area is nothing compared to the odyssey he went through following his departure from the lounge.

Once he sets foot back inside all heads turn towards him.

“What did I miss?” he asks, ever so cheerfully as he strides closer to the small den of couches.

One of them starts speaking, no doubt filling him in on the events that happened while he wasn’t watching. Whoever it is, Jason can’t concentrate on their voice enough to tell it apart.

On the screen, the boy is desperately gasping for air as he’s emerging from a moonlit grave.

The world spins out of focus, and before any of them know it the bowl has slipped through Jason’s limb fingers.

It has slipped, and it is falling.

***

The splintered wood pricks and stabs the sensitive skin beneath his shattered fingernails and the blood is threatening to leave his hands and drip onto his glacial cold face. His fingers hurt, they weren’t made as a shovel, they weren’t made to be penetrating wood, but they are doing exactly that, and he can’t acknowledge the piercing, burning throbs that travel through his veins to set the rest of his body aflame, because his lungs are burning, they’re flaring up more and more with every broken attempt at filling them up with air-

He has to dig, he has to keep going-

The last layer of polished wood finally relents, small pieces of it falling onto his raggedly, but once expensive, dandy suit. Blood is mixed with sweat on his palms, accelerating the speed with which it runs along his hands, tickling him while he scrambles for a breath of fresh air that never comes.

“N..o…” he croaks out and speaking is hard, his throat feels as the ash coated land left behind the passage of lava, and now he needs to cough, and he needs to breathe but there’s no air coming in, and frankly, he can’t decide whether it’s from the panic that has overcome him or because there simply isn’t enough oxygen in the cramped space he’s trapped in.

It’s not some prank

As if on cue the ground above him slightly shakes as the mud repositions and soil seeps through the open slit of the-

Of the coffin.

I’m buried alive…. I… I…, he realizes, ever so frantically.

And so his thoughts begin to plague him, the next one banging and clawing at the door of his mind before the previous has had the time to be stated, he’s hyperventilating and fairly so, he’s buried underneath 6 feet of soil-

Stop it Jason, get ahold of yourself. You made it this far because you never gave up, you won’t give up now either, a part of himself with a semblance of sanity left scolds him and orders his bloody hands to move, they grip the edge of the broken pine casket and pull with all their might.

The wooden seal cracks and Jason makes a supernatural effort to set it aside as it holds the weight of 6 feet of soil, his atrophied muscles protest by threatening to give out but it’s sheer determination that gets him to move on, he has to make it, he can’t die in there, he can’t leave, can’t leave his family.

Mud now openly drowns him from the huge whole in the lid of the casket, devouring every corner, sticking to every inch of skin and fabric.

He’s still gasping for air, his lungs and throat feel ready to burst and he’s dizzy, everything is spinning, but on the other hand 'everything’ is nothing more but a muddy grave and he’s still inside.

Almost frantically his injured fingers reach for the source of the soil. With jerky movements and all the strength he can muster he forces his hands through the earth. The stiff mud swallows him whole, lets the worms and maggots get tangled in his long strands of hair. Jason keeps his eyes and mouth stubbornly shut as he desperately struggles to propel his flimsy frame through the endless layers of ground.

He can faintly feel the darkness creeping in the corner of his mind, promising relief, promising safety. Those whispers sound tempting to his weak, grazed arms, to his blazing lungs-

The whispers don’t know that it’s not written in his DNA to yield.

His arms hastily swim through the wet mass that’s holding him beneath the surface, he can feel the dirt in his hair, in his ears, in his shirt, his pants, his everything. Maggots and caterpillars are crawling on his convulsed features. His heart is throbbing unnaturally loud, he can hear the thumping in his ears as his marred hands push and dig with painstaking effort.

Better hurry little robin! It ain’t fun if you die now, amiright boy blunder? HahaHA!

He’s digging, he’s trying, dyeing the earth crimson with his blood, please-

The wet soil doesn’t end, it engulfs him in its cold embrace and doesn’t let him go, no matter how wildly he struggles against the earthly tendrils wrapped securely around his limbs and torso.

He’s desperately gasping for a breath, just one breath to keep going, he’s coughing up phlegm and bile while his chest writhes and burns. He can’t help his mouth gaping in a last-gasp search for oxygen but the only thing entering his mouth and traveling towards his pricking trachea is dirt and rocks and… and…

…a feather?

A feather. He can feel it with his tongue, he can taste its sourness and almost hear a soft crunch under his teeth.

A feather. Robin.

He’s Robin, and Robin doesn’t die alone in an empty grave.

Robin fights. Robin protects. Robin wins.

With renewed resoluteness he forges ahead, his hand reaches where he supposes skyward is one more time.

This time, it’s met with the comfort of soft raindrops and the gentle wind blowing against his numb fingertips.

***

“-on? Jason!” Rachel calls at the sound of the metal bowl clattering to the ground, slipping right through the boy’s fingers and letting the freshly baked popcorn scatter all over the marble floor.

The girl exchanges a worried glance with Gar, before Rose gets up and marches furiously towards an exasperatingly unresponsive Robin, the popcorn crunching beneath her feet. She comes to a halt a few inches away from Jason’s hollow eyes and slaps him hard across the cheek.

The other two begin to protest loudly but Rose barely pays them any mind. She watches with pursed lips as Jason’s cloudy eyes regain focus and his hand shoots up to the skin gradually assuming the oh-so-wonderful shade of radish.

“Ow.. what the fuck?” Jason frowns at her while cautiously rubbing his cheek with his right hand. There’s no blood on his fingers, no mud on his skin. He can breathe.

Rose ignores his baffled query and simply turns to the two teens watching the whole scene play out from the safety of the cushions. She beams triumphantly as she announces smugly, “See? It worked.”

Jason, visibly annoyed by his incompetence to understand what the hell is happening traps her wrist in a vice like grip and tugs, forcing her to face him. She squints viciously at the gesture although she effortlessly pulls her hand free.

“Why the fuck did you slap me?”

The girl opens her mouth to respond, putting together a not so composed reply in her head -to put it mildly-, so it’s probably for the best when Rachel interrupts her train of thought.

“What happened, Jason? You completely zoned out”.

“Yeah, dude. What the hell was that all about?” Gar chimes in, nodding at the pile of popcorn by Robin’s feet and at the discarded bowl that has slid all the way to the edge of the couch he and Rachel are perched on.

“Wha..” Jason regards the strewn snacks with a quizzical look, as if he’s waiting for them to answer why they’re spread out all over the floor. Oddly enough, they don’t.

He fixes his still hazy gaze on his calloused hands next, his confusion manifesting in the form of furrowed brow.

He- he was-

no. He was never there. Always here.

His inviolate fingers are proof enough of that. But then.. is he losing his mind? Just like old Bertha, the old lady running around the theater, screaming that she had been kidnapped and experimented on by flying giraffes…. Not that it’s impossible with everything he’s witnessed the past year.

No, that can’t be it. He’s still shaken up from the fall right? It’s logical that he’s hallucinating about graves, he was seconds from ending up in one just a few days ago. It will go away right?

It will, it has to.

They can’t know, the street kid inside of him insists, they’ll throw you away like a broken toy. Broken..

“Jason, talk to us. What’s wrong?” Rachel is still staring at him, they all are. Her voice is laced with pity, they’re sorry for him. They’re pitying him, the bird that broke its wing and they know that now can’t survive on its own.

“What’s wrong with me?!” His head snaps to where her voice is coming from and the girl flinches at the bite behind his words.

“I didn’t mean- I meant you should perhaps tell Dick about it, he might be able to help” she stutters, her face bearing a deer in the headlights expression. Her gaze briefly meets with Garfield’s, perhaps to seek some backup. Somehow that angers Jason even more.

“Tell Dick? Really?” he snorts, “How about we tell Dick about that time you almost fucking choked me, maybe he could help!” he gasps mockingly. He is shouting now and the girl seems taken aback by the progression of his anger, gawking at him with a hint of sorrow tainting the indigo of her irises.

Gar stands up from his seat and approaches him, getting in the way of him and a Rachel fumbling for the right response to Jason’s accusation. The green haired boy extends his hand almost cautiously, it’s a simple gesture meaning nothing else than stop. It’s common sense, he knows he is going too far again but Jason’s common sense has jumped out the window. To him, they’re treating him like a wounded animal.

Perhaps he’s just projecting how cornered he feels.

“Dude, that’s enough”

“I’m sorry to break this to you, ” he points a finger accusingly at Rachel, “but Dick can’t fix everything like some kind of god you’ve made him out to be”

“Buddy-”

“He can’t fix you and your fucking razor blade tornado or whatever…” he keeps holding Rachel’s bleak glare gesturing wildly with his fingers and ignoring Garfield’s feeble attempts at making him stop.

“…and he can’t fix this” Jason concludes by pointing miserably at his head, then the rest of his body, until his hand drops limp at his side in resignation. His newfound rage has dissipated into downright bitterness.

At the far back the movie is still playing, forgotten. In the faint comforting light of the screen the girl with the auburn hair is kneeling in front of a stone cold body, burrowing her face in chestnut locks that would never grow any longer, as her shoulders heave sharply with every wreaked sob.

Grieving. Jason can still feel the three pairs of eyes -one consisting of one blue and an eyepatch- burning holes into the glimmers of tears stubbornly refusing to be spilt from his, even as he averts his stare.

There’s a deep pause after the abrupt revelation and the four kids are encompassed in a veil of tense silence no one seems willing to break.

Rose -who seemed rather amused when the yelling had started- is now solemnly inspecting the intricate patterns on the sheer curtains tucked to the side of the plate-glass window. Garfield is standing with his arms crossed protectively around his torso. Rachel has ceased to stare wide eyed like a freshly caught fish, however she’s keeping her arms close to her body and shifting awkwardly in her place. Her expression remains grim and her eyes dim, bearing an eerily sorrowful glint.

She puts her head down and eventually flies out of the room without another word. Consumed either by irritation or even guilt, if Jason has to guess. Gar spares no more than a defeated glance at her departure, otherwise maintaining his position by the abruptly deserted couch. He simply reaches for the tv remote, cutting off image and sound amidst a heated argument between the two leads. Damn this movie.

Deathstroke’s daughter looks between the two boys expectantly for half a second. None of them pays her any mind, too busy staring at the suddenly immensely intriguing floor.

“Nevermind, I’m out of here” she mutters through gritted teeth before getting down from atop the loveseat she had claimed and heading towards her own room.

Jason stares blankly at the scattered popcorn, but it provides no answer to the million questions dancing around in his mind.

Frankly, he didn’t expect it to.

Gosh. He’s so messed up.

Gar offers to help him clean up. He refuses. Perhaps Jason pushes him away just like everyone else. He’s got his own mess to clean up, first literally.

The metaphorical one might have just stained too deeply to remedy.

The night finds him placing the broom back in it’s place in the supply closet and sitting alone in pitch darkness.

Thinking of a grave that doesn’t belong to him, it never did, but it has his name on it. Thinking of the memories he shouldn’t have, piecing together how his heart only knows more fragments have been prodding at him, more broken pieces he doesn’t know where they fit.

The night finds him sitting alone in pitch darkness. Shivering, shaking with quiet tears.

Knowing he’d be undisturbed, alone, in the grave he’s built for himself.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #229

“goddamn, need some help, ‘cuz my girlfriend’s in love with someone else.”

What would you consider to be the worst television channel out there? Idk. I don't watch TV. Are you currently sitting on your bed or some other place? Where? I'm lying in my bed. Have you ever had anyone drop off animals at your house? What kind? No. When was the last time you were somewhere that offered free Wi-Fi? Today/technically yesterday but w/e. My school offers it free, but the connection isn't strong. Do you know anyone who is on drugs? Are you personally on them? I mean, I know people with prescriptions of course. If you mean illicit drugs, yes. I don't take them. Name one interesting fact about yourself that people might not know about? Uhhhh I used to be a dancer. Do you ever have to write down a phone number to remember it, or not? Oh yeah, I don't even have my own phone number memorized. Who was the last person you talked to on an instant messaging service? Hm. Oh, Facebook says the friend of my sister whose wedding I shot. I did it like, two or three or so years ago and she wanted to know if I had the raw photos I took, and I'd literally JUST cleaned out my OneDrive a couple days ago, so they were deleted. Talk about bad timing. What color are your curtains? Are you satisfied with this color? Maroon. Yeah. Does your phone have texting? How many times a day do you text, estimate? Yeah, and I don't have a clue. Sara and I generally text all throughout the day. When was the last time you were stung by a bee? What kind was it? Uhhh over a year ago or something. Was the only time. It was just a bumblebee. Do you know anyone personally who had their house burn down before? Yes. Do you think the media can further manipulate our teenagers anymore? Ohhhh, I'm sure it could get even worse. Who would you consider to be your favorite American Idol on the show? I've watched so little of that show. Do you know anyone who has their septum pierced? Does it look painful? I know two, off the top of my head. And I mean, a piercing is a needle shoved into your skin. It's obviously painful to a degree. I'd imagine the septum to be more painful than a lot considering the thick cartilage. Has anyone ever complimented you on your singing? Did you believe them? Yeah, and I dunno. I don't generally like my singing voice, but I think I sing some songs okay. Do you know someone who constantly tries to embarrass you on all occasions? Omg no, I could never handle someone like that with how poorly I handle embarrassment. Has anyone ever kissed you in the rain? Did it seem romantic at the time? Yeah, and I guess, only really because it's an "accepted" thing as romantic. Something you're taught young. What is one part on your body that hurts at this moment, if anything? Nothing, at the moment. What was the last song you listened to? Did you enjoy this song? This metal medley I adore of Shadow of the Colossus pieces is on rn. What is your heritage? Do you have a bunch of mixed heritages? German, Irish, and Polish. When was the last time you listened to a genre of you music you despise? I didn't really *listen* to it, but some ass was blaring his rap music in FYS today. Have you ever tried the cinnamon challenge? NO, do NOT. That shit is noooot a joke. People have died. Do you ever countdown to anything? Not really, at least not seriously. Who was the last person to visit your house besides family? A friend of mine and Mom's, Randy. My rat Mitsu apparently fell or something, and her teeth were knocked crooked, and they became grossly overgrown and had to be clipped. He works at a wildlife rehab clinic and is overall just real experienced with animals. It was so awful though, seeing her like that. He's coming over about once a month now to keep them clipped; he's quite sure she has... damn, what was it? Metabolic bone disease (very common in rats), I think, that will push her teeth to keep growing. I can't remember exactly what he said, but. Are you allowed to watch rated R movies? I'm... nearing 24, lmao. How many bedrooms are in your house? Two. Do you see more of your mom or dad’s side of the family more? Mom's. I see both very rarely since they live states away, but yeah, Mom's. I haven't seen anyone in Dad's fam since I was a little kid. Are there any tattoos that you really want to get? lol got a few hours to talk? Do you really believe that everyone has a soul mate? Definitely not. You are compatible with sooooo many people. Do alligators scare you? I mean I wouldn't walk in front of one or anything, but as animals themselves, no. I think they're cool as fuck. Dinosaurs, man. Do you have abs? *ugly wheezing laughter* Have you ever been in detention? Twice I think, but only for too many tardies arriving at school. Do you believe in vampires? Uh no. Can you play the guitar? Not anymore. Have you ever kissed someone while they were dating someone else? Wow, no. Do you like hot dogs? Sadly. Are glasses a turn on or turn off for you? I don't care. Do you have a hot tub? Darling we poor. Would you ever try one of those dating websites? I like to pretend that one time NEVER fucking happened. I very much doubt I would again. Do you like to be tickled? Ew no don't. When’s the last time you flew a kite? Not since I was little. Do you ever take a bath and eat food at the same time? ... Does anyone do that?? Do you hate long surveys? No, I prefer them. I just do them over time. Gives me something to do... and I also don't spam where I share them. Do you like the taste of blood? UM no. Has anyone ever given you flowers? Yeah. When was the last time you swam in a lake? Wowie, I couldn't possibly guess. Who was the first friend you made in Junior High? That's a good question. Maybe Hannia? If you could learn any language, what would it be? GERMAN. I wanna be fluent. When was the last time someone asked you your age? Uhhh idk. Have you ever been on a train? No. Has anyone ever tried to physically fight you? No, but one girl literally told me she almost punched me. I used to hate her more than anyone in the world because she's Jason's ex and really hurt him, and yet now we're friends, lmao. Oh, how things can change. When was the last time you were angry? Last night because my headache wouldn't fuck off. What’s your worst subject in school? Math. I'm failing like, badly. What’s your favorite genre of music? Metal. Have you ever been called too skinny? OH MOST DEFINITELY NOT. Do you prefer analog or digital clocks? Analog clocks are way more aesthetically pleasing, but digital are more convenient. Do you have any stickers decorating your computer? Bruh I have tape, get on my fckng level. Tell me about the last nightmare you remember having. It was about seeing my grandma, who's really beginning to suffer from her chemo. What snacks do you usually get at the cinemas? Popcorn and a drink, then rarely a candy. Usually Sour Patch Kids. What scent is the deodorant you use? That's. A good question. I haven't payed attention. What did you last receive in the mail? The book Sara sent me. What is your favorite kind of fruit? Strawberries. How far away do you live from your place of birth? Like... 10-ish minutes? Have you ever been in a police car? Only when being transferred from the ER to psyche hospitals. How do you mark through your word search puzzles? I draw a line through them. Or circle them. Depends on the font and size, really. Have you ever sewn something? Idk how to sew. Name a CD you have or one you would like to have. Ha ha, the very first CD I personally bought was the "You're Awful, I Love You" album by Ludo. When I knew like, only three songs, ahaha. Have you ever watched an episode of Barney? I loved him as a kid, so, y'know. Can you name more than five U.S. presidents? Yeah, but I definitely don't know a lot. Are any of your neighbors’ yards in desperate need of a grass cutting? No. Do you still have your tonsils? Yessir. What does your mother’s wallet look like? What about your dad’s? Idk. I don't pay attention to Mom's and I very rarely see Dad. Who was the last person you cried in front of? My mom and one of my school advisors. And people who walked into the library. Do you think your last ex will eventually want to be with you again? He may still want to be, idk. It doesn't matter though. Does your ex hate you? The only ex I have that I think might is Jason. Do you have a friend of the opposite sex that you can talk to? Girt. Does anyone call you babe? Sara sometimes. Is your school’s mascot an animal? Yes. All my schools' were, lol. What would happen if you were stuck in an elevator with the person you’ve fallen the hardest for? I don't want to imagine it. Do you think that hair extensions and colored contacts make a person fake? Oh my god. Where do your hands go during kissing? I mean that. Depends. Generally just around a person's sides. Conservative or liberal? I'm such a mix. Do you have unlimited texting? Ye. Were you ever in the spelling bee? Never been a part of one. Do you dress suggestively? No. A very explicit song you’ve listened to recently? Ahaha, "Love Rhymes With Fuck You" by Jeffree Star is on right now and it is. Intense. When did you last see someone you know in public? Errrrr good question. Do you think you’d survive if zombies took over the world? Hell no. If you were to write a novel, what would it be about? The meerkat RP I've done since I was 10. My friends and I have made novels upon novels worth of stories. Are you currently pretending to be someone’s friend? No. Are you an impatient person? YEP!!!!!!!!! Are you afraid to watch movies that have sex scenes with your friends? Friends, no. It's awkward with family, though. Who sings the last song you listened to? Jeffree Star. Have you ever had a serious issue involving your eyes? No, other than being a blind mfkr. Have you ever watched South Park? Who’s your favorite character? Yes. Don't have one as I don't really care for it. Do you have sensitive teeth? Yes. Does it bother you to get shots in the mouth? Does it hurt? Nah. And I mean at the dentist they numb you, so not really. When did you last talk seriously with one of your parents? I have no clue. Does anyone ever say they miss you often? Sara. I mean we talk all the time, but she means like, physically being there. Would you rather become a wizard or a vampire, if you had the choice? Idk. I like vampires more, but a wizard sounds funner. Have you already moved out of your parents’ house? I've talked about the apartment situation enough. Are your parents divorced, married or separated? Divorced. Have you ever thought you might just have obsessive compulsive disorder? I'm diagnosed with it. Do you think it’s rude to text someone else while on a date? YEAH. What is the funniest movie you’ve ever seen? White Chicks never fails to get me. Has one of your websites ever quit operating or shut down? Were you sad? Recently the site I used to upload large .gifs I needed to use online shut down & I'm still mega tilted. There's probably others. Who is the person you talk to the most in your house? I only live with my mom. Is there a television show out there that you never miss? No. What movie have you seen too many times to be healthy? Ha ha, The Lion King I & 2 and Finding Nemo. What is your biggest responsibility in your household? Take care of my pets. How cold did it get where you live, last winter? Idr. Very, for NC anyway. Do you ever wonder what your exes are doing? I only ever wonder about Jason. Have you ever been caught in a huge lie with your parents? Never told a biggie lie to 'em. Ever ride in a limo? When did you last do so? No. Are you sober at the time being? Yeah. Have you ever lied to someone & said they could sing when they couldn’t? Possibly? Are you more tolerant of hot or cold weather? Describe a time when you were extremely cold? Describe a time when you were extremely over-heated? I handle the cold far, FAR better. I physically cannot last very long in like, even 80 degrees. The coldest I've probably ever been was when Sara and I were walking once up at her house and it was really windy. I think the absolute most over-heated I've been was when I was taking bridal shots of my sister's friend outside in the summer for a long long time. I was nearly to the point of tears and was absolutely soaked in sweat. When we got back in the car, I literally finished at least three water bottles in a very short period of time. I think I even downed half of another. What was something weird that you did as a child? Did anyone make fun of you for it? Were there any other children you knew who did the same thing? I actually created this trend in elementary school of digging tunnels in the sandbox with my hands because I wanted to feel like a meerkat, lol. No one made fun of me, I think? And as stated it kinda became a thing, so yeah, there were others. What has been the hardest thing about growing up? What was the easiest thing about it? Was there ever a time when you wanted to stay young forever? Was there ever a time when you wished that you could be older? Accepting my mental illnesses was by far the hardest. Easiest, uh... idk. Enjoying more freedom? There was definitely a time I wanted to be a kid forever; I remember I criiiied when I got my period for the first time because I didn't feel like one anymore. Simultaneously, there were certainly times I wanted to be older. Who was the last person you yelled at? Do you often yell at this person? Are you on good terms with them again, or are you still upset with them? I practically roared at Mom for pulling the rudest shit on me like a month or so back. I definitely don't yell at her a lot. We're on good terms now, yeah. If you work, do you get along with your coworkers? Which one of them have you known the longest? Is your current place of work somewhere that you plan to stay for a long time? Sadly no, so these questions are N/A. Name three items that have much sentimental value to you. Who gave you these items, and for what occasion? Do you ever have a harder time throwing away things that people have given you? My pebble from Holly Hill, my childhood plush moose Brownie that I got in Ohio, and the stuffed meerkat Jason gave me. It's not really because of it being from him, but rather because it comforted me deeply after the break-up. The little guy is so worn from all the love I gave it. I do have a hard time getting rid of things people give me. Who do you speak with more often: your online friends, or those that you see face-to-face? Of which type of friend do you have more? Which of those friendships do you value the most? Online to all three questions. Are you often misunderstood, or do you think that people can get where you are coming from pretty well? Do you think that you have a good ability to understand others? If yes, explain? Eh, idk, really. I feel like I don't communicate how I feel well enough, but I think people understand me decently. Most, anyway. I know I'm pretty good and relating to people. When was the last time that you had a headache? What did you do, if anything, to help it feel better? Which is worse for you: headaches or stomach aches? As previously mentioned, last night. I took medicine, but it was sleep that actually helped. AND I CANNOT DEAL WITH STOMACH ACHES. Gimme a headache over that shit any day. Have you ever had a crush on someone you met online? If yes, what happened between you and that person? Do you think that online relationships are legitimate relationships? Yes, and we're dating now lol. And of course I do!! Out of all of your past friendships and romantic relationships, which one was the worst? If that person were to show up at your place, would you be willing to talk to them? Friendship: Colleen. No, I wouldn't talk to her. Romantic: Tyler, but I mean sure, I'd talk to him. Well, Jason was the traumatic one, but the *relationship*, on my end, was a fairytale. It was the breakup that was... yeah, y'all know. Yeah, I'd be willing to talk to him, but quite honestly I'd probably end up collapsing into a sobbing heap because yeah PTSD. If any, how many friends have you made in the past year? How many have you lost? Is making friends something at which you are good, or does it take you awhile to form friendships? I've made a couple friends online, and I lost none, I think anyway. I can be someone's friend very easily, but it's the trust that really takes a while. If you are 18 or older, did reaching your 18th birthday make you feel like you were an adult? If not, what moment (or moments) made you feel like you were finally maturing? I don't remember, honestly. As a kid, did your parents force you to eat everything on your plate? If you had them, how did you feel about family meal times? If you were to have children, would you have structured meals with them? Well, Mom tried, but my picky ass usually won, lol. Some days I miss family dinners, other days I'm glad to do my own thing. If I were to have kids, I'd probably want to have family dinners, really. What was the last new thing that you tried? What is something you did a long time ago that you might like to do again? I don't know. I don't try new things often. From my past... I dunno. It's too late to think of all this stuff. What is your least favorite part about going to the doctor? What about going to the dentist? Which of those people would you rather see? THE GODDAMN WAIT. My dentist is usually pretty quick, so that's not typically a problem there. Instead, I fucking hate when I have to get x-rays done because I have a very small mouth, and the things they stick in your cheeks to bite down on are always way too big for me. I have to use a size down from adults. Do you ever take care of anyone younger than you (ie. babysitting, watching a younger sibling, etc)? Do you like doing this, or does it get to be a hassle? No, and hell no.

[m00nslippers]

All of our questions were answered in RHATO #31! OR WERE THEY? (They weren’t, like at all.)

When we left off in #30, Jason was confronting the guy who claims to be Willis Todd in the basement of an abandoned creepy prison made over into some kind of drug distribution center/android factory/still a prison. That’s pretty much right where they pick up. Oh and also the cover says:

They really don’t, though. One guy dies. One. This cover was an outright lie. There are ZERO zombies in this issue! WHY WOULD YOU LIE TO ME LIKE THIS DC?

There’s a flashback of ‘Willis’ looking back on how Rebirth has gone so far and saying some pretty poignant stuff about how Gotham hasn’t treated Jason the way he deserves. I’m not going to lie, I’m really into the Jason as the promised son/savior allegories. The Damned Prince of Gotham is an iconic epithet.

THIS is where we left off, and we learn Willis is calling himself Solitary and starts calling Jason ‘son’ but Jay isn’t having it.

Jason, you’re like two or three years older than this kid. And you’ve been way worse than kidnapped when you were way younger. Seriously, it’s like he doesn’t even realize he’s traumatized.

ALSO, JayMig, you guys. He’s LEGAL. Ship ship ship ship ship....(it’s okay if you don’t get on my ship I’m just going to be weird over here in this corner...)

Solitary: You missed me! *crowbar wooshes past him* Jason: I ain’t missed nuthin’! *crowbar hits Bunker’s prison-vat* Solitary: Ulp! (no he literally said ulp! in one panel.) Jason: You’ve been bamboozled, SON!

Classic Jason Todd.

I guess Solitary can control perception? I thought he was literally just omnipresent like he was literally everywhere and nowhere. That’s what he said to Ma Gunn, his ‘mother’. But whatever. This is Lobdell, he forgets what he’s doing halfway through doing it and just starts doing something else entirely.

Bunker is Mexican, if you guys didn’t know. It actually makes some sense that he’s here. in Mexico. Also, canonically gay.

( Ship ship ship ship ship )

Technically I’m not sure they actually met in that comic. It was a crossover event in New 52, Roy and Starfire and the Teen Titans (including Bunker) fought zombies, or something while Tim and Jason were captured by the Joker and Jason actually got to show off a little by psyching out the Joker and shooting him while blindfolded and breaking him and Tim out of trouble after getting kidnapped (those two sure do get kidnapped a lot when they are together...)

Also, SUPER REFRESHING for a hero to run into the Red Hood and be all, “Hey man, let’s be friends!” instead of immediately belike “What!? The Red Hood? Yuck, you’re a bad guy! Imma fight you!”

Dog has been around for 2 issues and she’s already the most useful teammate Jason has ever had. Jason and Dog, besties forever!

You really didn’t though, Jay. We have no idea who this guy is, how he got your old costume, what he wants or why he’s here. All we know is he wants you to go back to Gotham.

WHY CAN’T YOU BE HONEST WITH US!? WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?

They were fighting right before this panel, and the fight was pretty good too, they seem to be evenly matched in terms of fighting ability. Maybe Wingman was slightly better, but Jason had a Doggo on his side so it evened out.

Unrelated, but I actually like this artist and what they are doing, everything looks really clean, the action is very readable and the anatomy is excellent, I’m not a fan of Jason’s haircut but luckily we already know he gets his longer hair back in an issue or two, thank god.

Solitary comes out as Jason’s dad. Apparently when he was in prison he volunteered for some experiments on people’s minds to try to get out early. We saw a little of this foreshadowed like ten issues ago. The experiments were done with tech stolen from Lex Luthor, so he hired Artemis to go fuck them up for stealing it and using it on people. In the fight it messed Wilis up and combined his mind with a few other inmates into his body or something. So that’s what happened to him.

I think it’s trying to be implied that this prison Jason is at where Solitary is operating out of was literally the prison where it all happened, but there are a few problems with that, namely 1) they don’t send American prisoners to Mexican prisons, and 2) that prison had water around it in the panels where it showed it happening and this prison is in the middle of a dessert so who knows what’s going on here.

Okay, so a Gotham thug getting a batman tattoo after coming out of a fight with him without going to prison is the kind of thing a Gotham thug would totally brag about. “See this scar? I got it from Batman, yo! And then I got a bat tattoo to commemorate it!”

Guess what though, Willis/Solitary doesn’t have the tattoo. SOLITARY ISN’T HIS DAD. Maybe this guy thinks he’s Willis but he’s actually not, he just has his memories or perceptions or whatever. He was one of the minds combined into this dude. This explains why Jason walked right past him more than once, he wasn’t really his dad (although with ‘perception’ powers it wouldn't actually have mattered even if he was). Jason has so many shitty wannabe dads it’s crazy. Batman, Solitary, Joker, Ra’s, get in line, folks.

Jason straight up kills this guy, no flinching. I love how Jason is so matter of fact about everything in this issue, Solitary says he’s his dad, and Jason is just like, “Okay, no, and I can prove it.” No melodramatic gasps or anything.

It amazes me that people seem to think Jason is so overemotional and angry all the time, and can’t get anything done because he’s too busy being mad, when he does shit like this without making any kind of deal about it or shouting or anything. Jason gets angry and emotional about ONE THING, and that’s his ACTUAL FAMILY BEING SHITTY TO HIM. A.K.A batfam stuff. Pretty much whenever he’s actually mad, and acting crazy it’s justified, he’s in serious emotional distress. He’s not some super angry murder boy all the time! I mean, he does murder people...but not because he’s just angry, it’s always a calculated move.

A slight time skip (a week).

*cries* WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!?

I think Lobdell is as pissed off as we are that Roy was killed off in a stupid way for stupid drama. Because he’s been really selling us Jason being super sad and messed up about it and even tried to give him a good send off in the Annual. Like, I complain a lot about Lobdell, but at least I think he actually likes Jason and tries to do right by him in his stories, he’s just really scatterbrained about storylines sometimes. Like he needs someone to say, “Yeah, maybe not this, but this stuff is good.” That’s kind of the comics industry in general though, they don’t have anyone making sure characters act in character. They need someone vetoing some of the more stupid ideas, but they don’t seem to have any of that.

The New Outlaws! Red Hood, Bunker, Dog and Wingman.

Wingman is...some old guy. We see his face but it’s no one obvious. Clearly he has some connection to Jason. But he’s definitely not Roy, unless something REALLY weird is going on.

I still think there’s a good chance that he’s a future Jason from another dimension. But there’s also a chance that he’s Jason’s REAL FATHER since we know Solitary wasn’t. Hell, maybe he’s got the same powers Solitary had and it was him who went to see Ma Gunn before because she seemed pretty sure that guy was really Willis Todd, and he’s changing how he looks so Jay won’t know. We’ll see I guess.

And Bunker is just like, oh, you’re gonna go back to Gotham, fuck up Penguin and take all his stuff and start running a mob? I’m down. I don’t know his character (except that Lobdell created him and purposefully made him not angsty), I’m going to have to read some old Teen Titans, but I’m into it so far. He’s just super puppy-like, helpful, “I don’t know what’s happening but let’s be friends!” I can imagine Jason just blinking at him and being like, “Just...what even are you? Why are you so nice?! Why do you even like me!? Why are you even here!?” Miguel, all like, *shrug* “You saved my life and you’re hot?” Jason, “...well that’s a reason, I guess.”

YEEEEES. Tell me the old costume is making a come back! Also, Jason in a Trench Coat is the shit. He looks so sexy, you guys. I’m so ready for Mob Boss Jason. And Miguel is his gay right hand lover I mean man. YES.

( Ship ship ship ship ship )

Yeah, I’m getting so many “Wingman is from the future” vibes right now. He’s either Jason himself or someone he knows, but from the future/another dimension. Or maybe he can see the future.

Well, that was it. It was pretty good even if I was raising my eyebrows a few times at all the NOT explaining we were getting. I’m actually kind of excited for next issue though, you guys! Jason is going to mess up Penguin and take the Ice Burg Lounge, I’m so up for this!

[kimberlyannharts]

I finally sat and read the whole thing:

The good:

The Art, as always.

I thought the Hyper Turbo Mega Super Omegazord looked cool

M/tt not being in the final shot. Lmao.

I thought the concept of like. Being trapped in his memories and having to move forward was cool.

I’m sure there’s more but I’m sure it’ll get discussed.

The bad:

Just. All of the Death Ranger has been so poorly executed. Why is Spa’ark like actually evil? The ending sucked too. Nope Spa’ark is evil there’s nothing to learn here :) (I shouldn’t be surprised. Look at how Miya’s been demonized.) Any Death Ranger’s host should have been Kiya. Kiya/Spa’ark dynamic like Eddie/Venom and healing together now there’s a story.

I still don’t understand having Journey die but I guess it’s just supposed to go with the theme but it didn’t gel. Me, personally? Would have made them the new Gold but also I came up with the Kiya Spa’ark thing while writing this so.

I guess all in all it just didn’t feel like an issue that deserved being #100. Like I appreciated the page count and the collectible card but. It just feels flat. And it just told us what we already know: No one can thrive if Jason is around.

- I guess technically M/tt was in the final splash page but he wasn't in the pre-page big morphing sequences so I still took that as a win

- it was obvious from the previews that there would be a Jason-traveling-mindscape thing with Andros but it didn't feel as fleshed out as it could have been, imo? especially since I imagined that it was going to involve Jason traveling with Spa'ark as well and teaching them how to move past their grief

- and going off of that........yeah........it really felt like Spa'ark began and ended at OOOOH SCARY ZOMBIE RANGER despite them making a whole book dedicated to their backstory and how they weren't motivated by evil and greed, but tragedy, love for their friend, and genuine confusion on how life worked (BECAUSE IT WASN'T HOW THEIR LIFE WORKED). Like you could take out the Death Ranger book and not miss anything. I feel like part of it was simply because Death Ranger didn't have enough time to be a grounded concept, but. come on. you could have shaved off some of the pages-long Megazord fights to give them more to do. I really dislike how the modern comics in particular act like giving characters a dramatic and tragic backstory that is never acknowledged in the present automatically makes them a well-rounded character

_ Journey is such an odd case. Like....I get it? yet after spending this long building up their importance just for them to die for the ~themes~ feels so anti-climactic. Someone on RB got all huffy that someone else didn't remember Harturian Kid's name after he's been "developed" these past couple of issues but the focus was given to Journey and their relationship to the Omegas so why would we think Harturian Kid was the important character here??? I didn't think they would become Gold, but I thought they would still be tied to Spa'ark - like as Spa'ark's final act as Death Ranger they somehow manipulates the death powers so that Journey's age process is slowed. (Yeah it would be a stretch but Spa'ark's powers were barely explained in the first place so it's fine.) Which still fits the ~themes~ and doesn't kill ALL of the non-binary characters that aren't a literal animal and robot

_ lmaoooooo @ the Jason comment but at the same time part of my annoyance that ALL the Omegas didn't give up their powers before we go back to one book focusing solely on the MMPR team is the implication that Trini and Zack aren't worth following if Jason isn't there :I

[lookatthisdork]

Opinion piece: DC House of Horror (2017)

First of all SPOILERS for DC House of Horror!

Second, this is only my OPINION. It might be unpopular. It might even be offensive. But I want to talk about this before going back to my normally scheduled “hey look at this cool stuff” and “it’s stupid AU time!” content.

I did not read the Green Arrow and Captain Marvel/Shazam stories since I’m not currently invested in those characters. *shrugs*

The rest are...meh. The whole series seems to have Keith Giffen credited with the plot ideas, but each story has a different script writer. So I have no idea who I’m criticizing in each of these blurbs. Probably Keith. I don’t know.

Bump in the Night (feat Superman; by Edward Lee)

I have admittedly little experience with horror movie conventions, but I’m pretty sure this was aiming for the opening of a monster movie. Creepy, dangerous alien falls from space, kills the locals before making its way to more populated areas. The poor schmuck that finds it first always dies quickly and painfully, which is what happened to Pa Kent here. Kind of a cheap death, but it fits the genre convention.

The dramatic irony of Martha Kent trying to call her husband and her refusing to leave the house when something strange is happening outside were pulled off pretty well. Overall, I think she reads as a spirited but ultimately doomed horror protagonist.

My problem with this is that the alien (”Clark/Baby Superman”) reads as a complete cardboard-cutout monster cliche. Why did he kill Pa and Ma Kent? No reason is even alluded to. He just kills them because they’re there.

(If I were writing this, I would have played up the naive-creepy-child factor. Have Clark accidentally kill Jonathan Kent since he’s a child who doesn’t know his own strength and has never seen a dead person before. If you want to keep the alien-vibe, have him not recognize that he killed a person. Imagine a kid using a magnifying glass on an ant, then replace the ant with Pa and Ma Kent. I like to think that would have been more memorable.)

Man’s World (feat Wonder Woman; by Mary Sangiovanni)

Well, they definitely have the aesthetic they were going for. The mixed chronology is actually not as confusing as I was expecting since the artists made good use of the colors and a wardrobe change to help guide the reader through the flashbacks. I actually felt creeped out by this one.

The only problem is...this doesn’t read like Diana AT ALL. Having Diana not speak English is a great way to keep her menacing, but it also destroys any ability for the audience to know what’s going on in her head. Without her words, we have only her actions, and...she’s just going around killing people? Who haven’t done anything?? (Except the last guy, but he’s one out of six on-page deaths.)

What is her motivation? Why is she doing these things? What happened to Wonder Woman, righteous warrior and defender of the innocent?

(This would have been excellent if it was a villain character instead of Diana, just saying.)

Crazy for You (feat Harley Quinn; by Bryan Smith and Brian Keene)

Is it a ghost? Or is it a hallucination? Both? I’m not sure, and I love that I’m not sure.

That said, I’m definitely not a Harley expert...does she read in-character? I don’t know, she feels flat to me. And something about cutting hard away from witnessing the murders. Unreliable narrator is in effect, I want more concrete details of the murders from Chuck’s point of view.

Last Laugh (feat Batman; by Nick Cutter)

Ha. Hahaha. This is the one I reblogged panels from yesterday. 

Good things first: capitalizing on Batman-Joker parallels has been done since forever, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I think the opening and closing scenes are well-narrated and well-composed. The much smaller batcave and the gun are good hints that something’s very different about this universe. The Joker’s voice was pretty good, for the most part. I wouldn’t change much of anything in the first half of this.

The second half...hahaha.

My beef with this one isn’t that Jason was killed; it was that he was killed for shock value and as an undisguised reference to super-(in)famous Death in the Family. It does not add constructively to the narrative at all. Last Laugh is clearly a hard AU with only the barest resemblance to canon; leaning so hard on canon that you only have one panel (technically two panels) with Jason in your story means that I just get angry instead of mournfully distraught when Jason is killed. It’s cheap and unearned in my opinion.

More broadly, there’s mixed signals as to the nature of Bruce’s delusion. Is he going around beating/killing people dressed as Batman? Or does he do his murders specifically dressed as the Joker? The later red panels indicate the former while the zoom-in on his locker at the end implies the latter. This whole story would have been much stronger if the writer had picked one interpretation and stuck with it from beginning to end.

(I would go with a strong Batman/Joker divide where Batman is still the vigilante and the Joker is the only “one” doing the crimes. Have the blue and red panels read as Batman vs Joker for most of the first read-through, but also have them consistently show Delusion vs Truth for the second read-through. I would also have Joker’s call-outs be a little more ambiguous so the twist actually sneaks up on you as opposed to be super obvious from the first red panel on.

And goddamn, if you’re going to kill Jason, at least have him show up in the narrative beforehand as Robin in the Delusion panel and ordinary-child-Jason in the Truth panel. Have him walk in on something he shouldn’t have, which leads to his murder and Bruce’s subsequent final mental break. Hell, maybe even imply that Robin was never really a thing outside Bruce’s head to really hammer home the death of a child who did nothing wrong.

Work for the tragedy, is all I’m saying.)

Blackest Day (feat Hal Jordan and Justice League; by Brian Keene)

In my opinion, this is the strongest of the lot. Zombie Barry compromising the moon base - because he was looking for help and didn’t realize he was already doomed - is excellent. And terrifying, because Zombie Barry could start the apocalypse by himself, imagine how many people he could bite in a minute. Liked how Hal held onto hope all the way up until he felt himself changing, then decided to take a Last Stand rather than let himself become part of the problem.

Superman being off-planet was cheap. The timeline for the End of the World seems super contracted based on Constantine’s transmission and the way the moon base was wholly in the dark. Wonder Woman and J’onn died very easily. Would have liked more fighting off the zombies, but this was short enough that there wasn’t a lot of time for that.

Having the World actually End...I’m never a fan of complete annihilation by zombies. (And what about Themyscira? Atlantis? Is DC Earth really completely depopulated?)

(I’m just saying, post-zombie-apocalypse AU. I’d read it.)

Unmasked (feat Two Face; by Wrath James White...that’s a weird name)

I think this one’s the weakest of the ones I read. I may not be the most well-read when it comes to Havey/Two-Face, but ugh. Serial Killer Harvey is something I don’t need in an official AU. Not to mention that that is not how skinning a person works - connective tissue between the skin and the muscle would mean that peeling each face would take way more time than shown. 

The Leviathan thing also takes up way too many panels and accomplishes nothing. NOTHING.

[pastelbatfandoms]

Halloween Asks 👻🎃

A: What are you being for Halloween this year? A Voodoo Doll B: Favorite costume from past Halloweens? My Morticia Addams Costume C: Do you still go trick or treating? With My Son D: Top 3 favorite scary movies. Freddy vs Jason,Bride of Chucky,The Birds. E: Top 3 non-scary Halloween movies. The Addams Family,Beetlejuice,Don’t look under the bed.  F: Do you watch Halloween specials on TV? I used to. Mainly Disney. G: What was your first Halloween costume? The Wicked Witch of the west.  H: Would you ever wear a “sexy” Halloween costume? I technically have,I even bought a Playboy Cheerleading costume once but it was too small :(  I: Most ridiculous “sexy” costume you’ve seen? The Fidget Spinner..... J: Would you rather go to a Halloween party or go trick or treating? Trick or treating K: Favorite candy to find in your trick or treat bag? Was Candy Corn,Reeses and giant chocolate bars.  L: Candy or other goodies that make you want to cut a bitch when someone gives them to you? idc M: Any Halloween traditions? Not really.  N: Have you ever been tricked on Halloween? No O: Costumes: make or buy? Make if I had the time,but I can never make up my mind what I want to be until the last min lol P: Have you ever pulled a Halloween prank? No Q: Do you believe in ghosts? Yes R: You’re in a horror movie. Are you the final girl, the first to die, the comic relief, the skeptic, the smart one, or the killer? The Skeptic or The Killer lol S: You’re in a zombie apocalypse. What’s your weapon of choice? A Nail Bat or Daggers.  T: Costumes: scary, sexy, or funny? Scary and Sexy or Cute U: You’re a ghost. How do you spend Halloween? haunting houses or communing with Witches or Teens holding Seances. Maybe messing with kids using Ouija Boards.  V: Trick or treating: how old is too old? any age past 18 I suppose W: Do you pass out candy on Halloween? No X: Do you go trick or treating even when it’s raining? lol It’s ALWAYS RAINING on Halloween! so yes. Y: Top 3 favorite scary stories/books. Nothing Current but Scary Stories,Goosebumps and Fear Street.  Z: Trick or treat? Treat

[aion-rsa]

Why Amazon Prime’s Invincible Had to Be Animated

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Invincible comic writer Robert Kirkman has a gentlemanly agreement with Steven Yeun, who appeared in The Walking Dead for six seasons and now stars as the adapted Invincible’s titular hero. 

“Steven and I have a rule that there’s no more popping his eyeballs out. I can live with that – once is enough,” Kirkman tells Den of Geek and other outlets during the series’ press day.

Kirkman’s imagination is as violent as it is vast. Yeun’s character Glenn Rhee on AMC’s The Walking Dead (based on the Kirkman comic of the same name) was a notable unfortunate recipient of that bloodlust when he was beaten to death with a barbed wire baseball bat in the show’s seventh season. 

Now Yeun is providing his voice to Mark Grayson a.k.a. Invincible – the super-powered high schooler at the center of Amazon Prime’s adaptation of Kirkman’s comic. Steven (and Mark’s) eyeballs are safe for now…but very few other body parts are in this sprawling superhero tale.

Invincible first premiered in a preview as part of Image Comics’ Savage Dragon #102, more than a full year before Kirkman’s black and white zombie blockbuster The Walking Dead debuted. The character graduated to his own regular series in 2003, first illustrated by Cory Walker, and then by the prolific Ryan Ottley. The story of Mark Grayson ran, uninterrupted and with very few side arcs, for 15 years before concluding with issue #144 in 2018. 

The appeal of Invincible can be hard to describe. At first glance, it’s a very conventional comic book story. Mark is the son of Nolan Grayson a.k.a. Omni-Man, an alien from the planet Viltrum and now Earth’s most powerful superhero (of which there are many). The series begins with Mark eagerly anticipating the arrival of his own superpowers and then embarking on an adventure of super self discovery, alongside a host of heroic allies and terrifying villains.

What sets Invincible apart, however, is its dedication to realistic storytelling. Mark is a very likeable, yet believably flawed young man.Kirkman’s sprawling 144-issue narrative meticulously follows Mark’s maturation and the ethical questions raised by a universe fit-to-bursting with invulnerable ubermensches. 

There’s also the violence…oh the sweet, sweet violence. Ryan Ottley’s art in Invincible has a deep, abiding respect for the physics of super powers. Though the images may be colorful, the action depicted within them are shocking in their brutality. Nary does a bone go uncrunched or an intestine un-ripped out in Kirkman and Ottley’s hyper visceral world. 

Naturally, Invincible was always a hot target for adaptation, particularly after AMC hit Kirkman zombie paydirt with The Walking Dead. But how exactly could any TV series fully capture the deliriously gory detail of Ottley’s art? The answer as it turns out is to just go ahead and adapt the art too. 

Amazon Prime’s Invincible, the first season of which will be eight episodes, features animation from Wind Sun Sky Entertainment and Kirkman’s own Skybound. Kirkman himself is on board as a producer, alongside David Alpert, Catherine Winder, and Simon Racioppa (who serves as showrunner). The end result is an animation style that hews closely to the comic’s original art and often seems like Ottley’s illustrations in motion.

“The action is a little bit more brutal when things are moving. I think it’s going to serve to heighten things in the series,” Kirkman says.

While heightening the violent rhythms of Invincible seems like a wild proposition, the show’s star agrees that the animation does just that. 

“You can go to places that live-action probably isn’t able to go to, even now,” Yeun tells Den of Geek and other outlets. “(Animation) creates a nice separation so that you can examine what the show might be saying without one-to-one comparison. Like that’s an actual arm being ripped off, but it’s a cartoon arm being ripped off. There’s just something different about that.” 

Both Yeun and J.K. Simmons, who plays Nolan, note that the show’s kinetic sequences provide interesting voice acting challenges. 

“What’s really fun is going back over in ADR and tracing back over these action sequences and these emotional moments. A lot of this show lives in those emotional moments that aren’t necessarily mixed in with dialogue, where a breath or a subtle way of gurgling blood in your mouth and trying to breath is its own kind of emotionality,” Yeun says.

“ADR is usually just ‘make this grunt.’ But because of the intensity of the violence and the stakes and the repercussions, it did feel much more emotionally connected doing the fight sequences,” Simmons adds.

The show’s animation style isn’t all about merely capturing the grunts and gurglings of blood, however. While Mark Grayson’s story begins relatively small, it eventually blossoms into an enormous superhero universe containing countless people, monsters, and worlds. Even in our era of technical sophistication where just about anything seems possible on television, Invincible is a hard sell as live-action.

According to Kirkman, animation was the only way to properly tell this story.

“The main benefit is that we’re going to be able to provide the audience with a scope and scale, more akin to a $200 million blockbuster movie than what you usually get from your average superhero television show,” Kirkman says. “Drawing an army of a thousand people is a little bit easier than hiring a thousand people and putting costumes on them and things like that. If we want to have three different alien invasions in the same episode, we can.”

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Invincible Review (Spoiler-Free)

By Bernard Boo

Kirkman knows the limits of live-action television as well as anyone. Though The Walking Dead remains an enormous success for AMC, it has experienced quite a bit of casting turnover throughout the years with only Norman Reedus’s Daryl Dixon and Melissa McBride’s Carol Peletier remaining of the season 1 main cast in the show’s 11 seasons. Requesting that actors endure grueling television shooting schedules in the humid Atlanta summers for an undetermined number of years is a big ask as it turns out.

If depicted in live-action, the commitments of actors’ times and bodies would be even more brutal for the Invincible cast. And the cast of Invincible is set to be huge. The first season alone will star: Yeun as Mark Grayson, Simmons as Nolan Grayson, Sandra Oh as Debbie Grayson, Seth Rogen as Allen the Alien, Gillian Jacobs as Atom Eve, Andrew Rannells as William Clockwell, Zazie Beetz as Amber Bennett, Walton Goggins as Cecil Stedman, Jason Mantzoukas as Rex Splode, Zachary Quinto as Robot, and many, many more. (Check out the full list over here).

And that’s before the story begins to expand with more heroes and villains in later issues/seasons. The relatively smaller time commitments of voiceover acting in animation allows Kirkman and the series writers to keep the cast as large as needed, though Simmons notes that he, Yeun, and Oh all still get to act together in-studio. 

Kirkman says the show is able to delve deeper into certain characters than the comics did, with figures like G-man Cecil Stedman and the Rorschach-esque Damian Darkblood getting more screen time. 

“These are characters that I should know intimately, but getting to work with these actors and getting to hear these voices and how these performances come together, it’s like I’m meeting these characters again for the first time and the absolute best way,” Kirkman says. “I’m seeing new aspects to them that didn’t really exist before. It’s really making me more excited about moving forward with this show for many seasons with this cast.”

Yes, Kirkman and the rest of the Invincible cast already have “many seasons” in mind for the show. Whether those seasons will come to pass are up to Amazon and its subscribers. But it seems clear that animation was the right choice for the story’s scope was television was the right choice for its length.

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The first three episodes of Invincible will premiere Friday, March 26 on Amazon Prime. 

The post Why Amazon Prime’s Invincible Had to Be Animated appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[daresplaining]

What are your thoughts on Evil!Matt Murdock from the Spider-Gwen universe? He's obviously very different from the Matts of other universes, but what might he have in common with them? Do you think he'll end up with a redemption arc, or will he stay a villain? Sorry that most of this is so vague, but I'm just REALLY into alternate versions of characters.

    We’re loving evil Matt. He’s so gleefully malevolent! It’s great fun to see a version of this character who has the life he wants and is enjoying every minute of it.

    (Gosh, look at him…)

    As you know (and in case anyone doesn’t), there are many, many Matt Murdock-inhabited alternate universes (both Marvel and DC are big on alternate universes), and someday we should do a comprehensive post about all of them, because there’s great variety. There is (to name a few) a Matt without superpowers, a Matt who is an agent of SHIELD, a Matt who is a demonic chef, several zombie Matts, Matts from a range of time periods and social backgrounds, a whole bunch of tragically deceased Matts, and even a Matt who is a mouse.

Mouse Murdock: “Stay back, Fisk, or you’re going to have a long, bad day.”

[Howard the Human #1 by Scottie Young, Jim Mahfood, and Justin Stewart]

    Thanks to this range of interpretations, which play with and subvert almost every aspect of Matt’s character, there are actually very few consistent cross-universe qualities that tie them together. He’s usually blind, and tends to possess that strength/stubbornness of spirit that is such a staple of the DD narrative. But beyond that, they’re all over the place.

    The variant we think bears the closest resemblance to Spider-Gwen’s Matt is from the What If? Daredevil VS Elektra one-shot by Karl Bollers. In this universe it is young Matt, rather than Elektra’s father, who is killed during the hostage situation at Columbia University. The Hand, who are aware of Matt’s abilities and training, steal his body and resurrect him to fight for them. Taking on the moniker “The Advocate” (because of course he does), he performs the Hand’s dirty work for years until crossing paths once more with Elektra– now a SHIELD agent– who must put aside the knowledge of who he once was in order to take him down.

Elektra: “I’m here to stop you.”

Matt: “From doing what? Bringing order to chaos? Imagine these widowmakers without my guidance. You’re still holding onto the ideals of youth. Your father raised you in a sheltered, protected bubble allowing you limited contact with the rest of the world. Clouded your thoughts with fairy tale notions of ‘good’ and ‘evil’.”

[What If? Daredevil VS Elektra by Karl Bollers, Rafael Kayanan, and Lovern Kindzierski]

    It’s a straightforward (albeit quite nuanced) Elektra/Matt role reversal, and given the core concept of Earth-65– in which a tragically dead past love switches places with her superhero counterpart– we were originally expecting Spider-Gwen Matt’s situation to be similar. 

    We learn, via his character page at the end of Spider-Gwen vol. 2 #3, that Earth-65 Matt has the same basic origin story as his 616 counterpart, though he isn’t trained by Stick until after Jack’s death. An unspecified amount of time later, the Hand kill Stick and adopt Matt, finishing his training and inducting him into their ranks. By the time we first meet him in Edge of Spider-Verse #2 he has become the leader of the western branch of the Hand, and has used his power and influence to take over Wilson Fisk’s criminal dealings while he’s in prison. As in Daredevil VS Elektra, here we have a Hand-trained, Hand-allied Matt who operates as an assassin.

[Spider-Gwen vol. 1 #5 by Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez, and Rico Renzi]

    However, there’s clearly a power difference between these two universes. “Advocate” Matt, while technically the leader of the Hand, was brainwashed by his resurrection and operates as a tool to do the Hand’s bidding– while Earth-65 Matt is calling the shots, living a full life, and shows no signs of brainwashing whatsoever. There’s no crisis of conscience and, beyond his affiliation with Fisk, no hint of anyone pulling his strings behind the scenes. He acts solely for his own benefit, offering aid when it best suits him and daring others to compromise their morals by accepting it. He’s a proud ninja/assassin/mob boss/sleazy lawyer, and he doesn’t care who knows it.

Matt: “’Kingpin’?! Moi?! Captain, I’m just a blind servant of justice. Why, I can’t even dress myself.”

[Spider-Gwen vol. 2 #5 by Jason Latour, Chris Visions, and Rico Renzi]

    The obvious question is, then, how did he end up this way? What is the X factor on Earth-65 that turned its Matt willingly villainous? To start, he’s one of those characters whose past has always contained the potential for a super villain origin. There’s even a famous Frank Miller quote about it. Were it not for his optimism and strength of spirit, and his devotion to law and justice, Matt very well could have pulled an Elektra and just given up on humanity. That’s a core part of Elektra’s character concept actually– a demonstration of how someone very like Matt could end up on a non-heroic path. (We wrote a whole post about this, for anyone who wants the rambly details.) In fact, 65 Matt’s situation is much more similar to 616 Elektra’s than that of the other evil Matt, discussed above. 

    One key difference between the 616 and 65 realities is Matt’s support system, or– more specifically– the destruction of it. Young Earth-65 Matt suffers the loss of not one, but both of his parents (616 Matt was raised thinking Maggie was dead, so was never faced with the actual trauma of losing her. To extend this tangent, while we’re here in the parentheses, it’s interesting to note that 65 Maggie is still alive. Did she ever come out of the coma? Is she going to reappear? Are we going to get awkward mother/evil son bonding? Jason Latour, are you reading this?) 

    Then he is taken in by Stick, who is apparently an all-out vigilante crimefighter in this universe. 65 Stick would have been much more of a parental figure to Matt than his 616 counterpart– who was parental to a certain degree, but wasn’t Matt’s sole source of emotional support due to Jack still being around. Note that at this point 65 Matt is still a moral person, operating in what must have been a sidekick role. But then Stick is killed, a third parental figure lost, leaving him alone. The timing on the character bio is a little shaky, but if we go ahead and assume that the timeline is 616-based, Matt would have been in college– and there’s no mention of any other contacts or friends he might have had at this point. No connection to Foggy, as far as we know, who we’re convinced was instrumental in keeping him focused and grounded in the main continuity.

Foggy: “You’ve gotta snap out of it, Matt… like your dad would’ve wanted! We’ll be graduating soon… and I want you to join me, Matt… as my partner!”

[Daredevil vol. 1 #53 by Roy Thomas, Gene Colan, and Artie Simek]

    Another possibility– since Foggy does exist in this universe– is that they did know each other, but had some kind of falling-out. Who knows? Either way, faced with this absolute isolation, it makes some sense that 65 Matt would have seen the Hand as the only place left to go.

    We’re short on details about his time training with the Hand, but his flippant reference to having been “raised by ninjas” (in Spider-Gwen vol. 2 #5) suggests that he does think of them as family. If brainwashing was involved, it was very subtle, but at that point it may not even have been necessary. The Hand would have offered him a purpose, a direction, and an opportunity to make something of himself– all offers that would have appealed to a seemingly directionless Matt. They would have offered him empowerment– both literal and metaphorical– which is something Matt has always strived for, regardless of the universe. Seeing a hero like Stick fail might have colored his perception of how effective good guy justice could be. And the loss of everyone he has previously cared for could have hardened young Matt enough to allow him, in conjunction with his Hand training, to suppress his respect for human life.

    It’s tough to say at this point whether or not he’ll get a redemption arc, but his current trajectory makes it seem unlikely. Unless this has all been an act to cover up for some bigger scheme yet to be revealed, he hasn’t shown any signs that he’s at all interested in redemption. The criminal thing seems to be working out very well for him, and as charming and entertaining as he his, he hasn’t yet displayed any in-universe redeeming qualities. He wouldn’t have any desire or motivation to become a good guy at this point because he just keeps winning.

Gwen: “But… why?”

Matt: “I don’t know. Why not? Because I can? Or maybe it’s just that the season is the reason. The “why” doesn’t matter. All that matters is– now I’m your only hope for being Spider-Woman. And that’s fun, right? Like having your own personal Santa Claus.”

[Spider-Gwen vol. 2 #15 by Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez, and Rico Renzi]

    But it’s also entirely possible that this could change. His seemingly positive upbringing, and the superhero training he received from Stick, suggests that he was once a moral person. There’s been a trend in this series of exploring villains’ motivations, often as a way of paralleling Gwen’s personal journey. Harry Osborn and Jesse Drew received this treatment, as– to a certain degree– did Frank Castle and Mysterio. Evil Cindy Moon’s motivations are clear, even if she’s still very much an antagonist. Heck, we even got a bit of Bodega Bandit’s life story. If Matt sticks around (which he clearly will) and as Gwen starts to spend more time with him, it’s likely his backstory will start to make its way into the narrative. At the very least, we might get a sense of exactly why he’s so interested in recruiting Spider-Woman, which could involve more than simply wanting a powerful pawn to play with. This would open the door for a more complex understanding of his motivations, if not a full redemption arc. That, we feel, would require his plans to start failing him, and for the cushy life he’s been leading as a villain to develop some cracks.

    Currently, he seems to have four points of potential weakness: S.I.L.K., George Stacy’s upcoming trial, Fisk, and Gwen herself. Despite Matt’s current *cough* truce with Cindy, S.I.L.K. is still his biggest rival for power in the criminal underworld– and they could very easily turn on him. We honestly doubt Matt will have any trouble with the trial, if it even ends up happening at all, but it’s fun to imagine D.A. Foggy Nelson kicking him around the courtroom a bit, isn’t it? We also don’t know how Fisk feels about Matt having taken over as Kingpin, or whose idea the transition of power even was. Once he gets out of prison, is Fisk going to want his job back? And of course, at some point Gwen is going to find the power and leverage to start fighting against Matt’s blackmail. She is the hero, after all, and it’s practically guaranteed that she will beat him in the end. And who knows where that might lead?  

    As one final tangent, we wanted to point out the “Skills/Talents” section of 65 Matt’s character bio:

“Skills/Talents: Murdock’s superhuman abilities give him a unique synthesis between his motor reflexes and the outside world– particularly a refined motor control and sense of balance. Little is yet known about the extent of Murdock’s ninja training during his time abroad, though his command of both his powers and respect of the ninjas in his employ suggest that he not only completed his training, but thrived.”

   616 Matt received only basic ninja training– which was more than enough to turn him into a badass, of course, but which also left him locked out of a lot of the upper level, magic-based Chaste/Hand skills. But here we have a version of Matt who has reached his full potential. High level Hand ninjas can do all sorts of cool things, from bringing people back from the dead to taking over the minds of others… and we are really excited to see what kinds of tricks 65 Matt has up his sleeve.   

[recentanimenews]

4 Anime Universes That Jason Voorhees Would Fit Perfectly In

    It's Friday the 13th, which means that it's the birthday of Pamela Voorhees' favorite son, Jason. Now, we haven't seen a Friday the 13th film in over a decade (there's actually a legal battle where the original film's writer owns the original Friday the 13th story, but no one knows who "owns" the character of adult Jason. It's weird), and the last time we saw the big lug was in the much-better-than-expected Friday the 13th: The Game (Now available on the Switch, y'all). That said, the dude has left an unforgettable impact on the horror genre and so I've decided to celebrate his birthday in the most fitting of places: an anime website.

    Why an anime website? Because Jason Voorhees would be an absolutely amazing anime character. And this isn't a subtle, yet desperate plea to get more "anime Jason" sketches on DeviantArt. I've actually run through a few anime series that would be a perfect home for the hockey mask-wearing fiend.

  Dragon Ball Z

  It's no secret that Jason Voorhees can take a ton of punishment. So much so that attempts to stop him in the earlier films look downright quaint now. Aww, you hit him in the shoulder with a machete in Part 2? That's cute. 

  That's why he'd be such a cool match for Goku and the gang, because they're no strangers to that kind of physical damage. Heck, the fifth (THE FIFTH) episode of Dragon Ball Z ends with Goku dying with a huge hole blown through him. Now, Jason has survived similar circumstances, so I'd be all about an arc where Krillin and Yamcha have to hold off Jason while Goku does special Jason-focused training in the Underworld. And sure, that training would mostly consist of running and push-ups, but seeing Goku eventually go Super Saiyan against an immortal dude who lives by a campground lake would be so worth it. 

  JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

  In the world of JoJo's, some characters have Stands, which are manifestations of the user's energy. They're often super colorful and super weird and that makes them super wonderful. "But Daniel," you say, watching anime probably, "Jason doesn't have a Stand." Ah, but he does. You see, in the 2003 Academy Award Winner for Best Picture Freddy vs Jason (Don't look that up. Just trust me. I'm right), Jason is a very physical being that Freddy Kruger has latched himself to, using Jason's energy (and notoriety) to grow stronger. And a Stand that can attack you in your dreams sounds like the coolest thing ever. So Jason's Stand... is Freddy. 

  Also, having an outlandish Stand like Freddy would mean that there's less pressure on Jason to fit in with the other dynamic characters of the JoJo's universe. Jason isn't really a master of vocabulary, so summoning a cackling, pun-spitting dream demon would be pretty beneficial.

  Yu-Gi-Oh!

    After Part 4: The Final Chapter, Jason Voorhees can technically be considered an undead monster. And in Jason X, he gets a cybernetic upgrade to become Uber Jason. And that character "arc" makes him a perfect fit for the deck of Bandit Keith and his "associates." See, when we first meet Keith, he's hanging out with Bonz aka "Ghost" Kotsuzuka, a creepy dude with a deck full of zombie and ghost monsters. Keith, eventually realizing that Bonz is just the worst, beats him up and then heads to the Duelist Kingdom Finals, where he uses his Machine monsters to give Joey Wheeler a run for his money.

  Zombie card with a machine upgrade? I don't think it's that big of a leap. I'd play Jason in Attack Mode and activate my trap card "Announcing The Sequel," which allows Jason to survive any attack that would've killed him and move onto the next turn/film.

  Pokémon

  As we see in Freddy vs Jason, Jason is definitely weak to Water types (He's afraid of water.) This trend also shows up in Jason Takes Manhattan, when he "drowns" in sewage. And considering that he spends so much time being buried in the earth and he has high physical defense stats, I'd say that he's definitely part Ground type. But he was particularly vulnerable to the attacks of the telekinetic (psychic) little girl in Part 7 and the manipulations of a kid in Part 4, which means that he's also probably a Poison type, too. So Jason is Poison/Ground. 

  And what are his attacks? Well, he'd definitely know Slash, Recover, Body Slam, and Bulk Up. But for the most part, he fits in the Pokémon universe simply because he has so many well defined strengths and weaknesses against specific types. I doubt Ash Ketchum would want to hang out with him, though.

  Overall, one of the reasons that Jason is such a longlasting horror figure because you can drop him in a bunch of different scenarios with relative ease. And doing stuff like this keeps him fresh in people's minds until Hollywood can muster up the courage to make a thirteenth Friday the 13th film, Friday the 13th: Ummm, Jason Again, I Guess.

  Happy Friday the 13th! What anime would you like to see Jason Voorhees in? Let us know in the comments below!

----------------------------------------

Daniel Dockery is a writer and editor for Crunchyroll. You should follow him on Twitter!

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features! 

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[terryblount]

Call of Duty Black Ops 4 originally had a unique campaign, battle royale mode was a last-minute addition

Call of Duty Black Ops 4 was a really optimized PC game that impressed us with its overall performance. And while the game may have sold well, despite the lack of a traditional single-player campaign, it has been revealed that Black Ops 4 went through development hell.

Kotaku’s Jason Schreier published yesterday a really interesting article, in which it was revealed that Black Ops 4 originally had a campaign mode. This campaign mode was quite unique as it would be centered on an ambitious two-versus-two multiplayer mechanic, however Treyarch decided to cancel it due to technical concerns, timing issues, and negative feedback from playtesters.

As Jason Schreier wrote:

“Black Ops 4 was set after Black Ops 3’s story, but rather than play through the campaign yourself, you’d play alongside a partner, battling against a pair of human opponents. (If you wanted to play single-player, they’d all be AI-driven bots.) Each side would pick a faction, and you’d compete to gun down enemies and battle over different objectives in a post-apocalyptic world. One side might try to destroy a convoy, for example, while the other side worked to protect it. Or maybe one faction would set off to protect a journalist while the other faction tried to assassinate them. Each mission would give you chances to get into shootouts with the other team, hampering their progress if you did well. During different moments throughout the story, you’d also get the chance to defect and switch sides if you weren’t happy with the choices your faction was making.”

Now as you may all know, Treyarch has advertised Blackout, the game’s battle royale mode, as the next big thing present in Black Ops 4. However, the team did not originally have any plans to implement such a battle royale mode to the game.

After cancelling the campaign mode, Black Ops 4 had only two modes: the traditional multiplayer mode and the Zombies mode. Treyarch was desperately searching for something to replace the campaign mode and after the success of PUBG and Fortnite, the team decided to include a Call of Duty-themed battle royale mode, Blackout.

According to Schreier’s report, Treyarch started working on the Blackout mode in early 2018, meaning that the team had less than a year in order to create this battle royale mode. Given the fact that Blackout runs great, though it sometimes suffers from some really awful textures, Treyarch pulled off a miracle.

Call of Duty Black Ops 4 originally had a unique campaign, battle royale mode was a last-minute addition published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

[4seasonscountryclub]

Never Say Die – The Jason Day Story

30 years old, Jason Day has an impressive list of accomplishments: In his 11-plus years on the PGA Tour, he has a dozen wins, including a major, has reached No. 1 in the world and has played on four Presidents Cup teams. Yet at this point of his career, the Aussie says he has underachieved. We caught up with Day at his home course in Ohio, the Double Eagle Club, a private but unpretentious retreat in a quiet, leafy 'burb outside Columbus, where he talked about missed opportunities, LeBron James' golf swing, becoming friends with boyhood idol (and fellow golf nerd) Tiger Woods, dealing with a zombie-like sleep routine, and why he bought his son, Dash, a punching bag.

● ● ●

HOW MANY PLAYERS TODAY ARE PLAYING FOR HISTORY? ARE YOU ONE OF THEM? I'm definitely one of those guys. There are probably five to 10 right now. You can look at the top of the world ranking and pretty much figure out most of them. The rest? They're trying to make a good living, enjoy life and go on about their way. I don't want to put a number on majors or victories or goals, because sometimes you get to a point where you're just struggling to get to that number. But let's say you have 20 to 30 wins and multiple major championships. Not a lot of guys have done that. I'd also like to win the [modern] career Grand Slam. Only five guys have [Sarazen, Hogan, Player, Nicklaus and Woods]. That, plus being No. 1 in the world and 20 to 30 wins, yeah, that's a pretty phenomenal career. ● ● ●

HAVING SAID THAT, DO YOU CARE HOW YOUR CAREER WILL BE EVALUATED 25 OR 100 YEARS FROM NOW? No one's gonna remember. They remember Jack, Tiger, Arnie, Gary, but that's the 1 percent of the 1 percent. The one-name club. I know how hard I work, and I'm trying to win as many tournaments and majors as I can for me and my team, but I know one day I'm gonna be gone and forgotten. I was just talking to someone the other day who played in the Greg Norman Junior Masters. I know Greg Norman and what he's done, but kids back home go, "Who's Greg Norman?" Everyone gets to a point where you're forgotten, unless you're in that one-name club. ● ● ●

SPEAKING OF THE ONE-NAME CLUB, WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION TO LEBRON LEAVING CLEVELAND AGAIN? It's not as bad as the first time he left. The way they did it in 2010 with "The Decision," the whole production and "I'm going to take my talents to South Beach," it cut a lot of people deep, especially diehard Cavs fans. People were burning jerseys. It was nuts. But he won them a title when he came back, so I think that lessened it. I'm a Cavs fan, but I'm an adopted Cavs fan. I live here and have a buddy who has seats on the floor. So at the end of the day, as long as LeBron's happy and his family is happy, that's all that matters. ● ● ●

HAVE YOU TRIED TO GET LEBRON INTO GOLF? No. I've seen him swing, and it looks terrible. Just awful. To be honest, I don't really know him that well. When it comes to celebrities, I try to stay away... ● ● ●

... UNLESS THEY CRASH INTO YOUR WIFE. [ELLIE DAY SUFFERED A CONCUSSION IN DECEMBER 2015 WHEN JAMES COLLIDED WITH HER WHILE ATTEMPTING TO REACH A BALL AT COURTSIDE.] Exactly! If they reach out to me, I'm happy to respond and maybe spend time with them or get to know them, but when it's someone as big as LeBron, he's always got people clawing at him. I remember what it was like for me when I got to No. 1, so I can't imagine what his life is like. Lebron’s golf game? ‘I’ve seen him swing, and it looks terrible. just awful.’

HOW SCARY WAS THAT IN THE MOMENT WITH ELLIE, AND WHAT KIND OF INTERACTIONS HAVE YOU HAD WITH LEBRON SINCE THEN? I was in shock. If you watch a replay of it, there was a moment when I was sort of smiling and laughing, which is weird, but when something bad happens, that's usually my reaction, for some reason. When I saw her on the ground, it was obviously really scary. But when I could see that she could move her arms and legs, I knew it would be OK. J.R. Smith and LeBron came over to check on her. Later on, LeBron texted Ellie. I don't even know how he got her number. He didn't need to reach out, though. He was just doing his job. But just recently, before he became a free agent and left, he sent a signed jersey with a note saying, "Please come back to a game," because she hadn't been back to one since it happened. ● ● ●

WHAT WAS THE REACTION AFTER ELLIE MADE HER MISCARRIAGE PUBLIC LATE IN 2017? Oh, man. The support we got was amazing. But it's still tough to talk about. ● ● ●

YOU AND DASH DID A GOLF DIGEST FATHER-SON COVER STORY A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO. IS HE PLAYING ANY GOLF THESE DAYS? He does, but he's really into boxing. My uncle was a Golden Gloves boxer, and my dad taught us how to box. When we got bullied at school, he got us a boxing bag and told us, "Go punch that every day." He taught us—and this is so bad, but it's that old-school mentality—that when you get bullied, the first thing you do is knock that person out. That was his mentality. I was more scared of my dad than whoever was bullying me. I remember telling my sister, too, the first thing you do is walk right up to that girl and punch her in the face. Jason Day and Family Sam Greenwood/Getty ImagesDay and his wife, Ellie, pose with their children, Lucy and Dash, on the 18th green after winning the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship. For Dash's birthday, he got a little speed bag. Mama doesn't want him to box, but I want him to—it creates good hand-eye coordination, and if you can do it properly, you can work on power and take that back into golf. In golf, you use the ground to create the forces to hit it far, and it's the same thing in boxing with throwing a punch. You have to start with your feet. I'm trying to work on a few technical things with him, like how to get back off the ropes when you're covering up. He loves it.

Jason Day: How To Get Your Little One Started In Golf

YOUR CHILDHOOD HAS BEEN WELL-DOCUMENTED. YOUR DAD WAS AN ALCOHOLIC, AND IT WAS ROUGH. YOU EVER THINK ABOUT THAT TIME? I can't remember my life when I was a kid—maybe intentionally. I talked to a psychologist about it the other day. I blocked it because of certain memories, but I think that's very natural. If I stayed where I was, no doubt I would've been an idiot. It was a learning experience, and unfortunately it was a blessing when he passed away. If he was with me now, I'm not sure anybody would stick around me. He would have been hard to deal with. ● ● ●

WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF AS INJURY-PRONE OR ACCIDENT-PRONE? YOU SEEM TO SUFFER INJURIES OR ILLNESSES MORE THAN MOST PEOPLE. Really? No, I don't think so. But I don't sleep well. I average about five hours a night. Two days ago, I slept for 2½ hours. I'm always up. I can't sleep. When you don't sleep, you don't recover, and if you don't recover, your immune system is down, and if your immune system is down, more things can happen. ● ● ●

DO GUYS ON TOUR GIVE YOU GRIEF ABOUT IT? Not really. Maybe. Not to my face. I don't pay attention to it if they do, anyway. Tiger can't give me crap, because I know how injured he's been. But my back has been phenomenal ever since the start of this year—I don't have any issues whatsoever right now. I wake up with little aches and pains, but it's not like it used to be when I had back problems or my shoulder was bothering me. I'm glad I'm past all of that. ● ● ●

HAS THE VERTIGO SUBSIDED? [DAY COLLAPSED DURING THE SECOND ROUND OF THE 2015 U.S. OPEN AT CHAMBERS BAY.] I was on antivirals for about a year and a half just to suppress the virus from growing in my ear. I wasn't supposed to be on them that long, though, so I just cut it off, cold turkey. Every now and then I'll get a bout of it, and it's the worst thing ever. It's actually happened this year maybe two or three times, but it was only for nine holes. I didn't say a word to anyone about it other than my caddie or my wife. ● ● ●

WHAT'S YOUR RESPONSE TO CRITICS WHO SAY YOUR HIGH-SPEED SWING MIGHT MAKE YOU PRONE TO INJURY AND AFFECT THE LENGTH OF YOUR CAREER? I can understand people having concern, or someone giving analysis. But let me put it this way: If you had a cough, and I said it means you've got the flu, well, how do you know? It's the same way with the swing. How do you know what someone's body is doing—if they have enough rotation or limiting rotation? You don't know what their body chemistry is. Someone might have bad hips, so they have to swing a certain way. It works the same the other way. So when it comes to people commenting on a golf swing, I understand it, but I don't agree with it. I just laugh because they're blowing smoke. ‘I can’t remember my life when I was a kid—maybe intentionally... if I stayed where I was, no doubt I would’ve been an idiot.’

AT THIS POINT IN YOUR CAREER, HAVE YOU OVERACHIEVED OR UNDERACHIEVED? Underachieved. I feel like my game is set up to win more majors than I have and more tournaments than I have. The only thing holding me back is myself. Sometimes it's a desire thing. Look at Tiger—what made him so dominant for 13 years? It was the same thing for Michael Phelps, who didn't miss a day of training for five straight years. What makes that person do that? Deep down, there's a level of motivation that makes this person work harder than anyone else. And to do it for that long and that many years is incomprehensible. ● ● ●

YOU'VE BECOME PRETTY GOOD FRIENDS WITH TIGER. HOW'D THAT COME ABOUT? His caddie, Joe LaCava, said to my caddie at the time, Colin Swatton—this is back in 2013—"Why don't you have Jason text Tiger?" We'd met before, but I didn't have Tiger's number, so Joey gave it to me, and I think I was the one who texted first. I can't remember exactly what it was, but it was something with some swear words in it, because that's how we talk to each other. I'd known him well enough I guess at that point that we could give it to each other. We still text and talk all the time, and I've been to his house a few times, but he's still very private and introverted. We talk about personal stuff, but it never gets too personal. It's mostly just how's the family, that kind of thing. We talk more golf, because he's a golf nerd, and I'm a bit of a golf nerd, too. ● ● ●

HOW OFTEN WOULD YOU SAY YOU'RE TRULY IN "THE ZONE"? BEST EXAMPLES FROM YOUR CAREER? I've already been in it twice this year with my wins at Torrey Pines and Quail Hollow. You usually get in it when you're around the lead. When you're nervous, it's easier to get into the zone, too. It can come right before you tee off, even on the range. Once you get in that rhythm, that's when it comes. But it comes and goes. It generally doesn't stick around for the whole day or even very long, though sometimes it might. Being in the zone, for me, is not caring about the outcome. Even though I was hitting it terrible the last day at Quail Hollow this year, I was still in the zone because my short game was so good. I knew it didn't matter where I hit it, because I knew I'd get up and down. I never really panicked because of that. You just know when things go bad, you always have an answer for it. You don't worry about the outcome. There's just a level of calmness that takes place, and I wish I could get into it a lot more. ● ● ●

ON THE FLIP SIDE, WHEN WAS YOUR CAREER AT ITS LOWEST? Oh, man, 2012 was pretty bad. Dash was born, and I really struggled being a dad for the first time. [The Days' daughter, Lucy, was born in 2015.] I mean, I was really bad at it. You have to understand, golf is a selfish game, especially when you're trying to achieve what I'm trying to achieve at the highest level of the sport. Being selfish and having responsibility and not putting yourself first, that's very difficult. I struggled with how to do that for about a year. At the end of that year, we had a team meeting, with my coach and caddie, my wife and my agent. We have one at the end of every year. It got tense. I didn't like what I was hearing, even though I needed to hear it. I didn't wanna be on the golf course. And then when I went home, I didn't wanna be at home. And I didn't wanna practice. I didn't know where I wanted to be. It was like I wanted to run away. It was easier to do that than face the challenges of being a dad and playing professional golf at the highest level.

Last year was pretty bad, too. My mom had cancer, and that was difficult and always on my mind. I was burnt out from being No. 1 in the world as well, and all the time and energy that went into not just getting there but what goes into it once you're there. It's a lot harder to stay there than get there, which is what makes what Tiger did for so long so incredible. ● ● ●

YOU BEAT YOURSELF UP PRETTY GOOD OVER LEAVING THE PUTT SHORT ON THE 72ND GREEN OF THE 2015 OPEN AT THE OLD COURSE. DOES THAT STILL POP INTO YOUR HEAD? No, it's the opposite. I beat myself up in the moment because I didn't give myself the opportunity to win by not getting the ball to the hole. It can't go in if it doesn't get there. I'd rather ram it five feet by than leave it a couple inches short. But it was pretty much gone the next day. I remember talking to my agent on the plane ride back and telling him I was going to win that next week, and I did. I shot 68 the last day at Glen Abbey in Canada, Bubba Watson shot 69, and I won by a stroke. I have a pretty good short-term memory when it comes to losing. You have to have that when it comes to golf.

RELATED: 19 Things You Should Know About Jason Day ● ● ●

IF THE RULING BODIES OR AUGUSTA NATIONAL WERE TO INSTITUTE A LIMITED-FLIGHT GOLF BALL FOR PROFESSIONAL EVENTS, WOULD THAT BE GOOD OR BAD FOR THE GAME? First off, people would still play the Masters. But if they did that, then they better shorten the tees again. If we have limited-flight balls, we're going to have 4-irons into No. 7 and things like that. But do I want the ball to go shorter? No. Why? Isn't it fun watching Dustin Johnson crush a drive over a lake 300 yards away? No one wants to see someone plod it down the right and not take it on. That's boring. If you push trying to rein it in too far, then people will stop watching golf. People want to see risk.

The problem is the architects—some of them, anyway—decided that because the ball is going forever, they need to make courses longer to make them harder. No, you don't. Just be a better architect.

‘Being in the zone, for me, is not caring about the outcome.’

YOU WON THE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP THREE YEARS AGO AT WHISTLING STRAITS. SHOULD THE CHAMPIONSHIP TRAVEL AROUND THE WORLD? I don't mind it either way. I really don't. I'm still going to play it, of course. We're moving toward a world tour, anyway, so it wouldn't surprise me if they did do that at some point. If they did, the key is, it has to be in a location, a country that can and will support it from the standpoint of logistics to fans coming out and getting tourists there. But the PGA is also based in America, so it's fitting for the tournament to be in America. Jason Day Jamie SquireDay earned the biggest prize of his career in 2015 at the PGA Championship. ● ● ●

DO YOU SEE HOPE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENTS CUP TEAM? [THE U.S. TEAM HAS WON 10 OF 12 COMPETITIONS, WITH ONE TIE.] WHAT WILL BE THE SOLUTION TO MAKE IT COMPETITIVE? I don't know. The U.S. team is so heavily stacked. It's really difficult for us. I'd love to see some changes and think there could be some down the road. It would also be cool to play more singles matches—we usually do all right in those. I never got why the number of matches and format aren't the same as the Ryder Cup, though. The PGA Tour wants to have its own identity with it, yet the International team had to fight over points. We're getting our butts whooped. That's all well and good—if we're not good enough, we're not good enough. But if it's so lopsided, who's going to watch? That's not good for anyone.

Jason Day IS THERE EMBARRASSMENT IN THOSE DEFEATS? It's beyond that—it's become normal. You get whooped so many times, it just becomes the norm. But I think there's a question of whether the guys even care at this point. Some do, some don't. You get whooped every time, and you start to ask, "Why are we even turning up for this?" ● ● ●

DID THE LATE PETER THOMSON, AN ICON IN AUSTRALIA AND WORLDWIDE, EVER SHARE SOMETHING PARTICULARLY INTERESTING WITH YOU? I didn't realize the accomplishments the guy had. The five British Opens, everyone remembers, of course. Then he decided he wanted to play the senior tour in the States and won a record nine times in 1985. He was also the president of the Australian PGA for 32 years. I didn't meet him until late in life, at the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne in 2011, and then again at the World Cup there two years later, but he was very cut and dry. Unfortunately we only met in passing. He congratulated me on a nice career—it was like the stuff your grandparents would tell you, telling you the nice stuff. But he'd tell you what he was thinking. He had this great, dry wit about him. RELATED: Swing Sequence: Jason Day ● ● ●

WHO'S THE FUNNIEST PLAYER ON TOUR TODAY? Matt Kuchar. He's so dry and sarcastic, and he's quick. Like the story of how Phil ran into him on the range with these alligator-green shoes and belt and said to Kuchar, "You have to win three Masters to wear these," and Kuchar shot right back that he hopes he wins only two. Tiger can be funny, too. We give each other crap all the time. One time at Bay Hill he hit one so far right on 16, and he's just cussing at me, and I'm giving it right back to him. What he said isn't fit for print, and I can't say what I said back to him.