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lurksunderthebed · 6 months

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Ghoap Analysis/Meta (2.1)

The Evolution of GhostSoap Redux

Recontextualising mwii(22) Ghost and Soap dialogue and what it could mean.

(Part 2.1/?)

BEWARE SPOILERS TO MWIII(23)!!!

As I said in part 1,

I, and arguably most of fandom had theorised that "Kill or Capture" was the first mission that Soap and Ghost ever had together. And we weren't quite right, but we weren't completely wrong either.

With Flashpoint, it's obvious now, that was not quite true. It even suggests in it that Ghost and Soap had worked together prior to even that, as there was no formal introduction between the two.

This dramatically changes how we can read their dialogue in mwii(22)

So let's go into the biggest bits of mwii(22).

Please also check the alt text.

Kill or Capture

"Kill or Capture" is the first mission players see Ghost and Soap together. Lets look into the first conversation.

Shepherd: (over radio) You're wheels-up in five.

Ghost: Roger.

Shepherd: Marines are loading in now. You and the Sergeant are leading the way on this.

A truck drives up and off-loads the Marines and Sergeant Johnny "Soap" MacTavish.

Ghost: The Sergeant?

Soap walks up to Ghost, brimming with enthusiasm.

Soap: Let's get ourselves a win, yeah, L.T.? Save ya a seat, sir...

Soap fist-bumps Ghost's shoulder and walks toward the plane.

Ghost: Fucking hell...

Shepherd: Ghost- you copy?

Ghost: Yes, sir.

Shepherd: Any issues?

Ghost: Negative, sir. Out here.

As I have stated previously, "Flashpoint" proves that Ghost and Soap have worked together 3 years ago prior to "kill or capture".

When I first watched this scene I assumed that Ghost was unhappy to be tacked on with a random sergeant by Shepherd.

Obviously this was wrong.

Ghost mentally and physically rolls his eyes here. If he's unhappy with a FNG/rando this makes perfect sense. Even the next dialogue suggests it, as he goads Soap into "keeping up" with him.

Ghost: Bravo Team offloads here. Alpha Team stays onboard to land downrange. Both teams meet in the middle. Remember, we want Hassan alive, but this is capture or kill.

Bravo Team stands up, including Soap who trades fist-bumps with a fellow Marine and joins Ghost.

Ghost: Keep up, Soap.

But this can't be true with "Flashpoint". Ghost knows Soap is at least competent from that mission in '19. He saw Soap handle himself out of a tricky situation. Ghost even calls out Soap for stealing one of his kills. The sergeant has Price to vouch for him as well.

So the question remains. Why is Ghost peeved at Soap joining him?

There's a variety of answers here, I said in part 1 that it might be that Soap had annoyed him in a limited capability over coms. There definitely have been times where Ghost tells Soap to cut the chatter in 2022. That could be a possibility.

If "Flashpoint" was Soap and Ghost's first mission together Ghost could also have remembered when Soap lost his head and threatened to kill Makarov in the heli. Only to have Price pull Soap back at the last moment.

He could be unhappy to be saddled with a known hot head. Add with the chatterbox issue and yeah, I could see Ghost making Soap prove he can follow orders. The next dialogue proves it as well.

Ghost: Alpha, how copy...?

Alpha 0-2: Bravo- Alpha is immobile. Multiple critical! Oh, shit-! We're taking effective fire!

Ghost: Alpha, we're moving to building 1. Hold tight!

Soap: Ghost, we need to secure that crash site now.

Ghost: First, we clear for Hassan, that takes the heat off Alpha. Then, we secure the crash site. Clear?

Soap: Roger that.

Hard to show, but in game, there was a definite emphasis in the clear. Ghost expects Soap to not follow him. Soap proves him wrong.

This also supports my theory that Soap had never worked directly under Ghost in those 3 years. If he did, then Ghost wouldn't be so uncertain about Soap; they would have already done this whole circus already. Ghost wouldn't have to goad him, and he def wouldn't need to emphasize so hard on the matter either.

Which also implies that their relationship was non existent up to that point. At most they were coworkers coexisting. Ghost would've considered Soap to have been an annoying hot head while Soap thought of him as a living legend (as we find out later in mwii (22) from his praises to Ghost).

This is a departure from the popular idea of Soap being "The Fucking New Guy" that has to prove himself competent. Ghost already knows he vaguely is. He's seen it for himself. Ghost just doesn't like Soap 🤣🤣🤣.

It's also supported in our timeline: Soap was already part of 141 by 2020 in Cod Warzone. Considering that Ghost and Soap have worked together previously in '19, it would be strange to not have them working on some missions together. Maybe not directly, but in the same mission roster. Ghost even sees Soap fight again in Dec 2020 when Price and co go and backup Soap in Verdansk.

Another possibility to consider would be that ghost didn't want to have any sort of partner/person he was responsible for.

As in the previous mission "Strike", and in cod warzone Mar 2020, we see Ghost going on solo missions. He seems to prefer it, infiltrating and disappearing like his namesake.

Perhaps having a subordinate is something he actively hates.

WHICH MAKES MWIII(23) MORE DELICIOUS. That means we see Ghost go from "I don't want a partner ever, especially not someone like this dumbass(4 years ago)" to asking Soap if he wanted to go on a mission with him and being paired with him always in mwiii(23). Until he isn't.

But more on that in part 3.

Lets go to the next mission.

Cartel Protection

Alejandro looks at Ghost.

Alejandro: Lieutenant... Laswell says they call you Ghost.

Soap: Actually, I believe he prefers to be—

Ghost: That'll do.

When I first watched the introduction of Ghost and Soap to Alejandro and Rudy, I always found this conversation to be a bit jarring.

How would Soap know anything of Ghost? They were just introduced. Given the later implication of Ghost being some sort of legend, it's possible there was a different nickname hovering around. Or more embarrassingly, ghost preferred to go around being called "The Ghost" like how Soap says it to Rudy in "Prison Break".

With new context, perhaps there's more credence to a different name that was used during both of their SAS days working missions together. Perhaps there was a name that Price used instead? We'll never know. But it does set the tone of their relationship.

There's a comfortableness of Soap around Ghost. It's obvious in how Soap is able to joke around with Ghost despite his very imposing appearance. I assumed at the time it was down to Soap's fearlessness and his brightness. Having a spooky lieutenant wasn't gonna stop him from being his usual snarky excitable self.

Now I'm thinking more on Soap being comfortable, not only because of his character, but because he's worked with Ghost before. The fistbump and smile when Soap first sees Ghost in "Kill or Capture" supports it. There's an ease there (but also an unfamiliarness in their dialogue to each other in later missions) that speaks of a prior relationship. One that appears to be of (1) barely tolerant grump and (1) overly happy sunshine child that talks way too much.

This exchange seems to be a common occurrence and Soap already has a sense when jokes go too far (which would entail Ghost cutting Soap off with a gruff "That'll do" or his unamused dead stare).

We see this with this next bit:

Rodolfo looks at Ghost through his rearview mirror.

Rodolfo: With your mask, you will fit in well here, Ghost.

Soap visibly tries to tell Rudy to stop joking with a classic 'cut it out' gesture and very wide eyes.

Alejandro: Ay, calmada... (Hey, easy...)

Again, this makes much more sense now that we know Soap and Ghost have worked together before. How many times has this happen with Soap in Rudy's shoes in the past 3 years? Taking one joke too far and resulting with a stony grim faced lieutenant that is visibly done with him? It's a wild thought.

What's even wilder is that we see this change in the next few days.

From Ghost cutting Soap off here in "Cartel Protection" to encouraging banter and making jokes to him in "Alone". But its surprisingly not "Alone" that was the turning point. It was THE definitive mission yes, but it's actually the mission, "El Sin Nombre", that has Ghost changing his mind about Soap.

Why?

Lets see.

El Sin Nombre

Graves: Correcto. Get one of us inside, find the boss... roll him up.

Soap: I'll do it.

Alejandro: You go in there, and they'll kill you, hermano.

Soap: I'll take my chances. We came here to stop a missile, let's stop it. I'll offer intel for a meet with Sin Nombre. And if he's there, we pounce.

Alejandro: Órale. Tienes huevos, cabron. (Hell yeah- you've got balls, you son of a bitch.) You make it in, you'll need eyes and ears. I'll go too.

Ghost: I'll take overwatch. Shadow circles the target in a helo.

This is Soap's character defining moment. Here we see the crux of him: a fearless man, reckless and fiery. One crazy enough to brave getting purposely caught and taken for interrogation by cartel members.

But its not only us viewers who see this. It's also Ghost as well. We've already established that Ghost has a bare bones relationship with Soap. He'll work together with him, even compliment him on his skill while on missions, but anything closer than that-Ghost is noticeably cold.

Ghost doesn't tolerate Soap's jokes in or outside of missions, AND he most definitely doesn't joke back to him ever.

However, this moment impresses Ghost and we see him observing Soap while he gets himself purposely caught here:

Ghost spots Soap approaching the guards with his hands up in the air. The guards raise their weapons and fire warning shots on the ground in front of Soap, who complies with their orders.

Ghost: Visual on Soap.

Graves: Moment o' truth...

The guards force Soap to his knees.

Alejandro: They see him?

Ghost: They do now...

Ghost watches as the guards communicate on their radio with their guns pointed at Soap's head. They throw a black bag over Soap's head, haul him up to his feet, and perform a body search for weapons.

Ghost: They're taking him in.

Graves: Kid's got sand.

The guards escort Soap through the front gate.

Alejandro: I hope he makes it...

This is Ghost's defining moment to his relationship with Soap. Ghost is on overwatch. Probably done this a million times over. But this time it's different.

Who is this annoying man that would volunteer for something not even Ghost would dare do?

To leave himself exposed, in the hands of cartel members–tortured/killed if he says the wrong things. Ghost finds himself intrigued, invested for the first time in a long time. He wants Soap to succeed and not get killed. He cares.

And this is explicitly shown here. In this mission there's several ways to complete it. One of these options involve Ghost's help:

(If Soap heads outside the villa where Ghost can spot him...)

Ghost: Got a visual on you, Johnny. There's a trellis outside you can take to the roof.

Soap: What about Diego's keycard?

Ghost: Your call.

Ghost provides Soap with some hints.

Ghost: The AC units could get you on top of the garage. There's a ledge above you, Johnny.

Alejandro: Could help you get around that guard.

(If Soap climbs up the trellis to the roof...)

Soap: Moving to the roof.

Alejandro: Copy that! I'll be right behind you!

Soap reaches the roof and spots the guards.

Ghost: Multiple cartel up there. We'll have to clear it.

(If he kills the guards with Ghosts's help...)

Ghost: Roof's clear.

Soap proceeds further.

Ghost: Penthouse is in the north corner. Check the penthouse. I'll cover you.; El Sin Nombre is in the penthouse. North corner.

This is the very first time we see Ghost use the name Johnny. An important moment, because this is where everything starts rolling. Nicknames are a signifier of care. Soap isn't just another sergeant to Ghost anymore. He's no longer, Mactavish, Sergeant, Soap. He's more. He's Johnny.

Names have power. There's something to be said that by the act of naming something you bond with it— you make it yours. Nicknames are special to Ghost. And it's something we see hold true in mwii(23) as well. But that's for later.

Just let it sink in that it only took 5 days for Ghost to go from rolling his eyes and being done with Soap to giving the man a nickname. 5 days out of the 3 years we know have existed between them.

The next possible time we see Ghost use Johnny, it's in a heightened moment in the next mission "Dark Water". This event is non canon but supports my argument.*

If you stall in stopping the missile launch, Ghost will shout out Johnny to Soap. It's an adrenaline high moment and a critical point of life and death.

Now why does this matter ?

It matters because it proves that Ghost has only started using the nickname since "El Sin Nombre". There's a counter argument to be had that since Soap has known Ghost for so long, the nickname could have existed between them for x amount of time. Ghost could be upset at having Soap be his sergeant because he didn't want someone he cares for under his responsibility. Soap and Ghost have a prior relationship to mwii(22). What exactly happened between Apr '19 to Oct '22 is undefined.

But this is proven very unlikely because now we can tell that at this point of their relationship, Ghost only uses the name Johnny in moments of heightened emotion.

The two Johnnys we got in "El Sin Nombre" had Ghost using it the moment he sighted Soap alive. At the time, Ghost was unsure if Soap was still breathing. Seeing him near/on the roof was a moment of high stress/emotion.

What's another moment of high stress?

Jumping off a cliff in "Cartel Protection" just a couple days earlier.

If Ghost had already cared about Soap then, it's highly unlikely a Johnny wouldn't escape his lips at that moment.

Alejandro, Rudy, Ghost and Soap were on the run from the Mexican army. Pinned down and nowhere else to go but a free dive at least 50 m down off a random cliff and noone but Ale/Rudy to trust in (men they had just met prior that day). I don't see Ghost not shouting Johnny at that point. Tellingly, we see Ghost use the name Soap instead when yelling at the sergeant to jump.

I could be completely wrong about this, but personally, I don't see Ghost as able to stop himself from using nicknames.

As we find out through "Alone", Ghost is a massive hypocrite. There's much he tells Soap to do but doesn't actually follow himself. As a result there are three things to pay attention to when discerning his motivations: His nicknames, his stares and his actions.

This is actually seen in the pivotal mission "Alone" and later in "Prison Break".

It's the tonal and plot shift in the game. From then on their relationship isn't Ghost and random sergeant like in "Flashpoint" in 2019. It's not even Ghost and (the annoying sergeant) Soap, at the start of the game in "Kill or Capture".

They become SoapAndGhost against the world. Or rather, JohnnyAndGhost.

And even more rare: JohnnyAndSimon.

But I will split the post off here.

On to part 2.2 (the other half of mwii)—when I get there. The Alone segment is promising to be very long since it's the bulk of all Ghoap interactions. It will be awhile till I get there 😔.

Any questions, comments, arguments on the discussion, feel free to buzz me on it. I always did feel that having an opposite opinion strengthens your own arguments.

Can I call myself a Ghostsoap scholar now? I will try to answer any questions to my best ability.

#ghostsoap #cod mw3 #cod mwiii #john soap mactavish #simon ghost riley #soapghost #ghost x soap #simon riley #call of duty #soap x ghost #soap mactavish #cod mwii #cod mw2 #call of duty modern warfare #meta

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angelasscribbles · 1 year

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A Fervid Fixation Chapter 5: Flashpoint

Series: A Fervid Fixation

Fandom: The Royal Romance

Pairings: Riley x Drake

Rating: MA

Warnings for this chapter: Language

Word Count: 3,942

A/N: I honestly believe there will only be one more chapter after this one.

My other stuff: Master List.

Drake stood in his kitchen staring at Riley in disbelief, “What do you mean that’s not how you remember it?”

“I mean we spent three weeks telling each other everything! I thought we knew each other, Drake!”

He had invited her to meet him in Olivia’s wine cellar and they had stayed up until dawn talking. The next night they had both shown up again. They never discussed or planned it, but it became their routine to sneak down to the wine cellars after all the official events were over. On days with no official court events, they hung out together, exploring the nearby town, hiking through the woods, or just watching movies in her room.

Then he kissed her and it had all gone to hell.

Riley felt hurt and anger pull through her at the memory, “I thought we had started something then you unceremoniously dumped me!”

“Dumped you?” his mouth fell open with incredulity, “We weren’t dating, and you were there for Liam! You said you needed space, remember?”

“Oh, my God, Drake!” She exploded, “Being a little confused because I kind of liked two cute guys, both of whom I had just met isn’t exactly unreasonable! All I said was that we should slow down! Next thing I know, you’re barely speaking to me, or being a complete dick when you do! How is that not dumping me? Even if only as a friend? Fucking asshole!”

“Right. Slow down, as in giving you space, which is what I did!”

“You didn’t slow things down Drake, you slammed us into a brick wall!”

“I know about the hot tub, okay?”

“What?”

“The hot tub, with Liam, in Lythikos.”

“He told you about that?”

“Yeah,” Drake huffed, “Couldn’t shut up about it.”

Riley felt several emotions slide through her in rapid succession. Shock followed by guilt chased quickly by anger, “So I fucked Liam in a hot tub, so what?”

“So what? So what? So that sure didn’t make it seem like you were interested in me!”

“It was our third day there! You and I had just started talking and it took you three weeks to fucking kiss me! That sure didn’t make it seem like you were interested in me!”

“I was trying not to overstep any boundaries!”

“Yeah, well, when you did finally kiss me, you went from zero to let’s get married! Talk about blowing past boundaries!”

“I did not!”

“You started talking about what our children would look like, Drake! That’s why I said we needed to slow down! I like to actually date people before I start planning a wedding! Jesus Fucking Christ!”

“Wait. You wanted to date me?”

“Yeah…maybe…I mean, yes, okay, I did!”

“Did? Past tense?”

“Well…I mean once we got back to the palace, you started treating me like total shit half the time so… you know…I mean, what was I supposed to think?”

“Once we got back to the palace, you started fawning all over Liam!”

“Well, I was apparently completely single and he was interested so why the fuck wouldn’t I?”

“I…..” Drake fought against the sudden onslaught of emotions flooding through him and mingling together. He tried to sort through and make sense of them.

She hadn’t pushed him to the side for Liam.

She thought he had pushed her to the side.

Anything she’d done with Liam since then was his own fault. All the months of torture watching her with other men had been self-inflicted.

He was a colossal idiot.

“Riley, can we start over?” He forgave her for the other men. The past was in the past, all that mattered was the future.

“I don’t know, Drake. Can we?”

“I thought you wanted to slow things down because you wanted to be with Liam. I was snappy with you because I was trying to keep my feelings for you locked down.”

“Is that an apology?”

“Yes!”

“Didn’t sound like one.”

“Are you fucking serious-“

“Fine, never mind!” She flipped her hair over her shoulder as she spun and headed for the stairs.

“Wait!” He caught up with her halfway through the living room. He grabbed her by her shoulder and spun her around to face him, “Okay! Okay! Could you just….give me a minute?”

“For what? Either you’re sorry for alternating between ignoring me and being a dick to me or you’re not. What’s hard about that?”

“Everything!” He blew out a frustrated exhale as he jerked his hand through his hair, “you may have noticed that I’m not fucking good at this!”

“At what?”

“Expressing my feelings! I’ve never done….this before, okay?”

“What? Had a relationship with a woman?”

“Not…really. Sex, yes. Fucking cared about one? Not the way I care about you! I’ve never felt like this before!”

“Like what?” She needed to know exactly what he meant. She was tired of the mixed signals.

“Like I’m going crazy! Like I can’t fucking breathe when I’m around you and I’m barely even alive when I’m not! I know I can be intense, but I can’t help it! I’ve never done anything by half-measures! I’m sorry I scared you by trying to move too fast. I didn’t mean…I was just saying that….I mean, our children would be gorgeous, how is that not just an objective fact?” He trailed off completely unsure where to go or what to say.

“So, you do like me?”

“Didn’t I just say that?”

“I don’t want to start over.”

“What? Why not? I said I was sorry! I can-“

She stepped closer to him and laid her hand on his cheek, “Because I don’t want to erase Lythikos. I don’t want to erase any of it, even the bad parts. I just want to move forward without any misunderstandings between us. Can we do that?”

He placed his hand over hers as the feelings in his chest swelled to the point he was afraid it really might explode, “We can do that.”

“Okay,” She pulled away from him, “First thing I’m going to need from you is a phone, Drake. I need to know what’s going on.”

With a sigh, he drew his phone out of his pocket and motioned to the couch. She sat down as he opened the web browser. He tapped into the search bar and then handed it to her, “Here.”

She scrolled through a list of headlines like “American Suitor Unfaithful”, “Cordonia Deserves Better”, and “Waitress Offers Up Hot Dish”.

She shook her head as she skimmed through several articles with growing anger and disbelief, “Tariq is claiming we had a whole ass affair!”

“Yeah,” fury coiled in his chest, “if I get my hands on him again, his next affair is going to be his funeral!”

“Oh shit! Have you seen this?” She read out loud, “Inside sources report the duke engaged in a fist fight with an as yet unidentified second man and rival lover…what the fuck?”

“Shit, I hadn’t seen that one! I’m sorry, I made it worse!”

“Don’t be sorry!” she exclaimed, “Now I wish you had put him in a fucking body cast!”

His jaw set with deadly seriousness, “That can be arranged.”

Her eyes met his and despite the gravity of the situation, laughter bubbled out of her. “Oh, shit! I know you’re joking but damned if I don’t want to take you up on that!”

“I wasn’t joking.” He replied with a half-amused, half-disbelieving smile.

“I mean, yeah, I know you obviously have no problem beating the hell of people, but I wouldn’t expect you to actually put someone in a body cast for me!”

“But I would!” He was suddenly on his knees in front of her, “I would do anything for you!”

“Drake…I…”

He laid his head in her lap, his fingers pressing into her outer thighs. “I can give you things, Riley! I can’t provide a royalty-level lifestyle, but I can give you a comfortable one. I can make sure you never want for anything! I have money, not Beaumont money, but enough to give you the kind of life you deserve!”

Her fingers twisted in his hair, “That’s….really sweet…but…”

His head snapped up. His eyes searched her face frantically, “But?”

“But you’re doing it again, Drake! We had sex once, and that sounds like a proposal or something!”

He sat back on his heels, his hands still resting on her legs, “Why do you keep pushing me away? Are you trying to break me?”

“I just think we need to have sex more than once before we start talking about-“

“How many times have you had sex with Liam?”

“That’s none of your business!” She shoved his hands away, “Besides, I thought he kept you apprised of these things!”

“I’m just trying to ascertain what the magic number is, Riley!”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Were you going to say yes to Liam?”

“What?”

“Don’t what me, answer the question! If Liam had chosen you at the coronation ball, would you have said yes?”

“I mean…”

“Goddamn it!” He leapt to his feet, “I knew it!”

“Oh, calm down. I didn’t know how you felt! A girl has to consider all her options.”

“Is that all I am to you, Riley? A fucking option?”

She jumped to her feet to yell at him, “Up until five minutes ago I thought you hated me!”

“Well, I don’t!”

“Well, good!”

“Okay, good!”

“Good!”

“Fine!”

They stood glaring at each other for a moment before Drake asked, “Why are we fighting?”

“I don’t know!” She stomped her foot then considered the question seriously, “Habit, I guess.”

“So, when can we have sex again?”

“What?”

“I mean, if there’s a specific number of times we have to have sex before we can discuss the future, then I would like to know what that number is and I would additionally like to get started making progress on that goal!”

“Weren’t you the one that just said it couldn’t happen again?”

“That’s before I knew I was an option, Riley! Now that I know there’s a real chance-“

“You’re insufferable and irrational, you know that?”

“And you’re completely maddening! First, you think we’re in a relationship, but you don’t tell me that! Then you put the brakes on it because I expressed wanting to pursue a relationship with you! Then you tell me that you do want to have a relationship with me but then you get mad because I try to talk about having a relationship with you!”

“A relationship doesn’t mean jumping straight to marriage, Drake! Have you ever tried dating someone? You’re supposed to work your way up to that!”

“And what would you consider dating?”

“Dating! You know, going to a movie together, going out to dinner, maybe a party, dancing or-“

“We’ve done all those things!”

“Not as a couple! We’ve hung out as friends!”

“What’s the difference?” He demanded.

“The intention is different!”

“No, I don’t think so. My intentions were always the same. I don’t hang out with people I don’t like. I clearly liked you!”

Riley heaved a deep sigh, “Goddamn Drake! I want to date! I want romance! I want-“

“Okay, go change into something nice.”

“Why?”

“So I can take you to a fucking movie and dinner!”

“Right now?”

“I thought that’s what you wanted!”

“We’ll get to all of that later,” she said dismissively as she retook her seat on the couch, “but I have a few questions first.”

“About what?”

“About the fact that you seemed prepared for my visit! There was women’s shampoo in the bathroom.” She said accusingly.

He seemed genuinely puzzled as he told her, “I didn’t think you’d want to use mine.”

“Drake, how long did you know about the setup, and why didn’t you tell me?”

Oh, that.

His head tipped back to stare up at the ceiling. He took several deep breaths to calm himself and refocus his attention. “I didn’t know about the setup until it dropped, actually.”

“But then how-“

“I knew you were under surveillance, but I didn’t know why.”

“Okay, okay, I don’t understand…”

“The guard having orders to be on standby to arrest you, the limo ordered to wait out front, the plane ticket…I found all of that out just hours before the coronation.”

“So why does it seem like you were prepared for me to be here?”

“I did all that last week after the Tariq thing happened and Liam told me to stay away from you.”

“He did what?”

“He didn’t tell you?”

“No…”

“Well, he did, he told me to stay completely away from you! But even though he basically ordered me to stand down, I started asking around about the Tariq investigation and some things didn’t add up. I knew something was up, but not what. The cabin is always my backup plan, my fallback location. So, I thought maybe it could be yours too if it came to that. I didn’t know for sure you’d ever be here, I just wanted to be prepared in case you needed a place to lay low for a while.”

“Okay…that…that actually makes sense…but I have a million more questions! What things didn’t add up? Why did Liam tell you to stay away from me and why did you listen to him?”

She hadn’t seen Drake again after the incident with Tariq. Not until he slid into the back of that SUV on coronation night.

“Liam told me to stay away from you because he correctly identified my interest in you,” Drake told her, “As far as things that didn’t add up,” he started ticking items off his fingers, “Your lock was disabled, Tariq is maintaining that you invited him to your room and that my attack on him was unprovoked or motivated by jealousy-“

“What’s suspicious about a man lying about consent? Happens all the time, unfortunately.”

“Yeah…that’s not okay. But, back to Tariq, Liam said something that night….that I’ve known Tariq all my life. He was right, I have known the man most of my life and he’s not a rapist. What he is though, is a crown loyalist and a traditionalist.”

“Which means?”

“Which means he would not approve of nor support the king marrying a commoner or a foreigner.”

“Oh! Wow…”

“I told you people here are brutal with this shit. Now that we know someone was waiting to take those photos, it’s safe to assume he’s working in concert with someone to make sure a commoner never sits on the throne. And it has to be someone high up because digging around in the investigation is how I found out you were under surveillance. Only so many people can order surveillance like that.”

Riley slumped back on the couch, “This is a lot.”

“So, to review, Tariq was sent to paw all over you, at least enough to make it look real, while someone was waiting in the tree outside your room with a camera. You’ve been under surveillance for some time. Details of the incident report were leaked, along with the photo. A plane ticket was purchased, the limo and the guards were on standby, and didn’t you tell me your things had already been packed for you?”

“Yes, damn. Someone really has it out for me.”

“This is what I’ve been telling you!”

“But Drake….why couldn’t we just go to Liam with all this?”

“Because there are factions out there that have been known to assassinate people to take them or keep them off the throne. And whoever set you up has access to the King’s Guard! They did all this right under Liam’s nose! I couldn’t risk it, couldn’t risk you! Now do you see why I had to get you away and keep your whereabouts a secret?

“But how did you find all this out? How do you know classified information that even Liam didn’t know? And you still haven’t answered my question about why you stayed away from me just because Liam told you to?”

“Those questions have the same answer, Brooks.”

“Which is?”

“There’s something you don’t know about me, Riley. Something I never told you, despite all those late-night chats. I’m-“

They were interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on the cabin door.

“Shit! No one knows we’re here! Almost no one even knows this place exists!” He pulled her off the couch and pushed her behind him, “Go upstairs and keep quiet while I-“

“Where is she?” Liam slammed into the cabin without waiting for the door to be answered. Relief crashed across his features when he saw her, “Riley! Thank God!”

“It’s okay, Drake, it’s just Liam!” Riley moved around him to greet Liam with a hug.

Liam pulled her tightly against him, his eyes were filled with cold fury as they met Drake’s over her shoulder though his voice didn’t betray it as he told her, “I’ve been worried sick about you!”

“How’d you figure it out?” Drake asked.

Liam released her to glower at his best friend, “It really wasn’t hard to figure out who had already proven the lengths they would go to for her and who had both the authority to issue orders to the guard dogs and access to internal intelligence. I mean, how did this person know what the King’s Guard was planning? Then I realized, there’s only one person that could hijack the guard dogs and also has access to MiSHI.”

“What’s meeshe?” Riley asked.

“MiSHI stands for mission support and human intelligence,” Liam answered, “the Guard’s internal intelligence unit. It’s their job to know everything about everything going on in every unit.”

“I don’t understand…”

“MiSHI and the guard dogs are both special units within the Guard. Only someone who had access to both could have pulled this off. And the only person with access to both is the commander in charge of all the special units.”

“Which is who?” Riley was still trying to figure out how Drake how managed to pull off the rescue/kidnapping. What favors he called in and from whom.

Liam turned to Drake in astonishment, “She doesn’t know?”

“Know what?” Riley’s head swiveled between them.

“You haven’t told her?”

Drake shrugged, “She didn’t have clearance.”

“Clearance for what?” she demanded.

“I was about to tell you,” Drake responded, “When someone barged in without an invitation!”

“That’s what you’re worried about right now?” Liam spun on him, “You could lose your commission for this! It was a flagrant abuse of power!”

A lightbulb went off in her head, “Wait…you’re the head of special units?”

“Sorry to disappoint you that I’m not the broke, unemployed loser you pegged me for.”

“Drake, I never meant-“

“Well, I might be unemployed now,” he said with a bitter laugh, “that’s what I meant when I said I’ve already risked everything for you. It’s also the reason I had to back off when Liam told me to. I couldn’t risk him firing me and cutting off my access before I figured out what was going on.”

“Which I certainly would have done if I’d known how far off the rails you’d gone!” Liam spat at him.

“Okay, we’re going to discuss you keeping information from me later,” Riley told Drake before turning back to Liam, “But why are you mad? I thought you’d be happy to find out I’m still here. Drake’s intervention is the only reason I’m not back in New York right now!”

“You thought I’d be happy about this?” Liam gaped at her, “I wanted you on that plane!”

She stumbled back like she’d been struck, “What? Why? I don’t understand-“

“I determined that it was safer for you in New York and-“

“And you had no right to make that determination for me!”

“I have feelings for you, Riley, strong ones, but you’ve always known that my feelings aren’t the only factor in deciding whom I marry.”

“Not marrying me and having me drug out of the coronation and forced out of the country are two very different things, Liam!”

“I fully intended to come and find you after things calmed down. Explain the situation and-“

“And what? You thought you could humiliate and throw me away and I’d be what? Just waiting for you to show up so I could fall into your arms?”

“I wasn’t throwing you away, Riley!” He shot daggers at Drake, “Can we talk in private, please?”

Drake crossed his arms over his chest, “I’m not leaving unless Riley tells me to.”

Without shifting her gaze away from Liam, Riley said, “Drake stays.”

Liam heaved a very loud, very audible sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Drake smirked at him, “This is my house.”

“And Riley’s my girlfriend!”

“I’m not your girlfriend, Liam! Did you forget the part where you got engaged to another woman?”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you! You can still be my girlfriend, Riley! I may have to marry Madeleine but-“

“Wait! You want me to be your side chick?”

“I’m not familiar with that term. I want to offer you an arrangement, a way to keep you in my life. You’ll stay at the palace, or if you prefer, I can purchase a house for you in town-“

“You arrogant fucking prick!” The sound of her open palm striking his cheek rang out.

His head jerked to the side, then turned back to face her as his hand covered the spot, “I understand you’re upset, but if that’s out of your system now, let’s go, I have a car waiting outside. Where are your things?”

“I’m not going anywhere with you, Your Majesty!” She made the last two words sound like an insult.

“You can’t be serious, Riley! Be reasonable!”

“Oh, I’m deadly serious!”

“You want this?” he gestured to the cabin in general and Drake specifically, “He’s out of control, Riley!”

“You’re right,” she agreed, “he’s been acting crazy for weeks now…” she trailed off, tapping her lips as she considered something, “He’s volatile, possessive and his intensity is a little frightening…”

A victorious smile lit up Liam’s face as he gloated at Drake.

Drake’s head dropped with a defeated exhale.

It had all been for nothing.

“But maybe that’s exactly what I want…”

“What?” Both men exclaimed as two heads snapped toward her and two sets of eyes scanned her face for context.

“Maybe I don’t want a man that carefully follows the rules and wants to keep me as his dirty little secret,” she mused, “maybe I want a man that sets the world on fire to get to me and to keep me safe…” her eyes found Drake’s as she finished, “one who says fuck protocol and decorum and just throws me over a counter and fucks me senseless.”

“Wha-“ Liam’s eyes went from her to Drake to the kitchen counter back to her, “Are you fucking kidding me right now?”

She never took her eyes off Drake, “No, I’m not. I have never been more serious about anything in my life.”

“You can’t do this, Riley! You’re making a monumental mistake!” Liam ground out through clenched teeth.

“What’s the big deal, Liam? We had some good times but we both knew it probably wouldn’t last. You chose someone else, and now I’ve chosen someone else. We can still be friends.”

“Friends, Riley? Friends? I don’t fucking think so!” He bumped Drake with his shoulder on the way out, “This isn’t over!”

Riley stared after him in shock, “Wow, I’ve never seen Liam act like that!”

“Shit, Riley,” Drake breathed, “You have no idea what you’ve just done…”

#trr au #drake walker #riley brooks #drake x riley #trr drake #drake x mc #choices fic writers creations #cfwc fics of the week

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potatoesandsunshine · 4 months

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WIP name game

tagged by @tameila 🌟 thank you!!! i just wanna apologize here for how there are so, so, so many of these. when i have an idea i create a document that very moment even when it’s just for a sentence. my storage space is in shambles.

RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs. that last part will not happen i’m sorry. again, there are So Many. also i’m gonna sort them by fandom and nobody can stop me

Critical Role Campaign 1

a better name for fire

are your bags traveling elsewhere

flashpoint/ignition

get up and shake the glitter off your clothes now!

keyleth

never had the room to dream to fly

now is the season / of the hunter Death

the appeal of absolutes

the place where the river lets out

up where the air is light

Four Seasons

LAST TLOVM ONESHOT HIDING.MP3 FINAL_FINAL

Critical Role Campaign 2

a gentler sunrise

a tide that dreams of motion

an echo calling back

Beau & Fjord

food and conversation

glance now over the wrong shoulder

high noon somewhere

intriguing a dragon

Lo, Navigator

perpetual motion machine

the animal of destiny

the beau spoils yasha one

the cheese grater fic

the ridiculous shadowgast au

when all the silver-plated heroes start to rust

who will remember thy green flame

you’re fuel to a fire that’s fixing to die

it’s getting absurd i’m putting a readmore. they aren't all currently being worked on but i will talk about literally anything on this list.

Dimension 20

everything that flowers / flowers for itself

food people again

give your immortality to me

the gukgag/seacaster pairing you never knew you wanted

the most ridiculous isekai ever

the problem with delayed gratification

tonight might be my night to reminisce

Dragon Age

Bequests

hawkebastian bad ending

josie...

max ‘helen of troy’ trevelyan

not the same people that our old friends knew

the possession fic (shallow river, shining within her - the crane wives)

Fallout

the fallout 4 AU

5. hey mister, that’s me up on the jukebox

6. there’s a local angel sitting on my right

Mass Effect

and then you live

ascends bright and calm the lord-star jupiter

The Zero-G Job

pluto shits on the universe

Untitled document

will there be flowers (after the war)

Star Wars

all roads lead toward the same blocked intersection

grease fire

Supergiant Hades

it’s done on a diamond, and for fun

taste of hot ashes on my tongue all day

The Good Place (i had actually forgotten about these! what a fun surprise!!)

i trust you’ve got nothing but good intentions

you don’t keep a ferrari in the garage

miscellaneous (this is a folder for WIPs that have less than 2 documents in the same fandom)

better find another superstition

down along that devastation trail

god says yes to me

just like a torch

may your feet serve you well—and the rest be sent to hell

learn to wash your hands with fire

run for it, honey

she held her mouth up redly wan

Untitled document misc. 1

Untitled document misc. 2

winemaking

#tag game #thanks for tagging me!! i probably should have edited down the list like you did bc this feels a bit silly #i never ever throw ideas away they just live in their documents and eventually i get back to them. that's how i end up with so many

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ghostlightreviews · 8 months

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I'm actually annoyed at how much I enjoyed The Flash. After years of anticipation for some kind of Flash movie, watching this particular one go through almost every shade of production hell only to top it off with Miller getting embroiled in a string of assault, battery, kidnapping, and peace disturbance charges has been quite an experience.

It's difficult not to sully the movie as a piece of media with a hundred awful extenuating events, after all there is no case for Death of the Author here, Miller and Warner Bros. are very much alive and very much responsible and accountable for all wrongdoings. I deeply hope that Ezra Miller is getting the mental health treatment they need and will find time to openly apologize and make reparations for the widespread harm they have caused in due course. Additionally, WB is not innocent in its contributions to toxic working environments and unfair payment practices to both Writers and Actors. So, please, bear all this in mind during moments of praise dolloped throughout this review.

That being said:

This was way more fun than it should be considering the mess that preceded it.

Ezra Miller is (despite their personal life) incredibly charming and affable in both roles, not to mention still a talented performer who dragged out some real emotion in the final act. Sasha Calle pulls out a measured and organic performance in Supergirl, she is unfortunately burdened with a script and a film that doesn’t deserve her. Keaton, I think, makes me the most sad. After delivering a poignant and deftly crafted Riggan Thomson in Birdman, an actor haunted by the spectre of his superhero past, constantly trying to escape the shadow of the capeshit he spent his life performing in, there is a remarkable lack of awareness from Keaton’s agent and himself in getting back into the Batsuit not once but twice in the span of a few years. That Bat Credit Card was maxed out I guess.

Maribel Verdú as Nora Allen is particularly lovely for the short amount of screen time she has, a real emotional pillar in a silly silly film.

Everyone else was either fine or too completely average to be noticeable.

God, this film looks fucking atrocious. I won’t hear that the speed force scenes VFX were intentional, from top to bottom The Flash looks like a slop of shit, over saturated colours one minute, washed-out Snyder browns and greys the next, and just absolutely inconsistent visual storytelling. Some scenes look okay but not for a film that costs as much as this one, I think there is a stark contrast between intentionally stylized VFX and miscalculated attempts at the aforementioned. There are a couple of really nice practical costumes that basically get sidelined for weirdly clingy green screen abominations.

Okay, comic book asshole hat on now, there was no reason for this to be a half-assed Flashpoint adaptation. As a concept, Flashpoint is not so inaccessible to the general viewing public that you couldn’t just do it fully or not at all. I’m not even sure there is a solid enough reason to not just make The Flashes’ first film just him dealing with his own shit and using Jai Courtney to set up The Rogues as Captain Boomerang. I get that there is a desire to tie up loose ends from the Snyderverse and boot up a new Cinematic Universe at the same time, but it’s so messy that it muddles a really executable Comic Book movie concept.

Ultimately, I think this is where The Flash stumbles the hardest, a promising cast is let down by a film that is so deeply entrenched in the nonsense of a half-baked previous cinematic universe and trying to set one up that doesn’t even exist yet. What a waste. Then to achieve some of the ugliest looking VFX shots in the past decade, all this in a world where Marvel films exist? Truly amazing how hard they fumbled the bag on this.

My biggest hot take is that DC just fundamentally doesn’t get who Barry Allen is. Ezra is great but they play Barry so much closer to how a live-action Wally West Flash, to the point where I don’t get why they gave them Barry at all.

But by far the most filthy thing the film does is a parade of CGI ghouls in a startlingly bad multiversal moment right at the climax of the film. Dragging out the rubbery digital corpses of Adam West and Christopher Reeves is truly abominable and looks so bad, having a weird plasticine Nic Cage Superman when I know he’s the kind of actor who would have been there in a heartbeat to shoot a scene is bizarre AND to leave out two very much ALIVE actors who have catapulted The Flash into mainstream fame, John Wesley Shipp and Grant Gustin, the latter of which just ended a prolific tenure as Barry Allen this past year is unforgivable. Especially when the TV Flash found room for a fun Ezra Miller cameo, to completely ice out Gustin is really awful. But I guess par for the course for a film studio that, is currently actively ignoring fair working conditions for writers and actors, just vaulted a completed Batgirl project starring Brendan Fraser, and has a history of hiring abusers to create projects for them.

What a shame, there’s something special deep in the shit here, something that the audience has been robbed of. Some really fun and inventive moments on display, marred by a deep desire for people to remember Batman exists and used to be fun too. What a waste of everyone’s time and talent.

To be fair, the Looney Tunes moments with young Barry are so joyful and fun that we really just needed the whole film to feel like that.

1.5/5

Find me on Letterboxd here

#movie review #film review #letterboxd #film #cinema #james xavier lam #ezra miller #dc #comic books #the flash #batman #supergirl

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lazlolullaby · 11 months

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is the new Flash movie actually enjoyable?

off the cuff...fresh like 1 hour after the theater here so bare with me. I am not a DC girlie/dedicated fan so again. take a bucket of salt

oh boy it's got a lot of annoying things. if you go into it expecting annoying jokes, half cooked plot, and Lore, you'll be fine. It's more a movie to watch with Friends and pause and scream at the TV.

The CGI was ... ugh. Felt like a video game, very unfinished, a little campy but it gets the job done.

Ezra Miller is very good at talking fast. he's so messed up i can't believe people don't think Barry is a drug addict. The way his eyes twitch every moment he tries to look at the others is WILD. Bitch got the 'tism. and the c-ptsd. and no charm. i couldn't root for him, but someone could. somewhere.

Michael Keaton was Good. So Good, so very Brucie Wayne, unhinged and lonely and the right amount of drama queen.

Gal Gadot's job right now in the DC Universe just seems to be "bail the guys out of trouble and look good doing it." (and in Fast X. Surprise! She lives!) ...that's messed up.

Kara was also There for like 10 minutes as the Muscle of the team. she Did things and I'm very proud of her but the trailers really just spoil the Big Twist that she Exists.

The Mom - i love her she wins and she loses at being the DC Mom brigade. Bad bitch club for sure.

i think the idea for the movie was Good. They do the Flashpoint Paradox combined with an Origin Story for Young Barry. Showing how he got the powers, why he's alone and so determined to follow through with Justice.

Young Barry is annoying. like kid brother you know they are just adding him in to be comic relief. he's here to misunderstand words, use powers badly and get hurt funny. You have to Know he's a comic relief and Accept it in your heart. there was a hot minute where you can see him breaking down, see him feel things and then BAM … I feel like you know it ends. you know what happens to time duplicates.

But it kills me that if they got Keaton (and final special guest!!! akljsskldfklj!!) as Alternate Batsy(s), (and alternate SUPES!!! SO MANY ALTERNATE SUPES IN THE FINALE I'M GOING TO SPIN MY WHEEL SO HARD ABOUT IT!

(GOD WHY DID THEY DO THAT?? PUT THE HINGE OF THE UNIVERSE ON SUPERMAN? WHEN CAVILL IS GONE? THERE IS SUCH A NERDY REFERENCE WITH ONE OF THE SUPES - DEEP CUT AS HELL AND NO ONE LAUGHED AT IT. NO ONE.)

why couldn't they hire another person to be Young Barry??? Or brought in CW!Flash, or hey? have Barry die in the home invasion and replace him with Wally West??? that could have kicked ass. i was so distracted by body double, the tricks and acting it pulled me out.

...mmm. So if you like forced comedy bits. and have an appreciation for Deep Lore. You'll like it. I suggest gathering with nerd friends to watch and roast it.

Nerd friends will lovingly point out the inconsistencies and references. but by god you can't go in expecting anything life changing or brain rewiring.

watch spider-verse it's better, but everyone knows that by now.

#the flash 2023 spoilers #flash movie spoilers #dc movies #spoilers #flash 2023 spoilers #barry allen #YOU WANT TO KNOW THE FINAL SPECIAL BATMAN???#IT'S THE BAT CREDIT CARD ONE - CLOONEY - FOR LIKE - A GAG AT THE END #I WANT THIS AS A RUNNING GAG IN ALL OF THE MOVIES NOW GOING FORWARD #I WANT PATTINSON I WANT WEST KILMER BALE CONROY AND FRIEDLE AND ARNETT AND EVERY! ANIMATED! VOICE FOR THAT MAN ON SCREEN!#FLASH JUST CHANGES BATSY EVERY TIME HE MOVES TOO FAST #DEEP CUT SUPES IS MUTHAFUCKIN NICK CAAAAGGEEE!!!! FIGHTING A SCORPION! THAT'S IT THAT'S ALL HE DOES I'M SO MAD RIGHT NOW

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rubydolly · 2 years

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EVERY VERSION OF HARLEY QUINN

This post was originally created on 2/5/21, however I have deleted that version and replaced it with this one, an updated version as of 3/12/21

1992

BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES

1993

MAD LOVE

1997

BATMAN THRILLKILLER

2002

BIRDS OF PREY

2004

BATMAN, HARLEY AND IVY

2006

DC UNIVERSE ONLINE

2007

THE BATMAN STRIKES

2008

BATMAN BLACK AND WHITE: PUNCHLINE

2009

ARKHAM ASYLUM

2010

BATMAN THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD: EMPEROR JOKER

2011

ARKHAM CITY

2012

HARLEY QUINN’S REVENGE

THE NEW 52 SUICIDE SQUAD

2013

INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US

JUSTICE LEAGUE THE FLASHPOINT PARADOX

HARLEY QUINN THE NEW 52: HOT IN THE CITY

2014

INFINITE CRISIS

BATMAN ASSAULT ON ARKHAM

2015

HARLEY QUINN THE NEW 52: POWER OUTAGE

ARKHAM KNIGHT

JUSTICE LEAGUE GODS AND MONSTERS

BATMAN 66: NIGHT OF THE HARLEQUIN

DC SUPERHERO GIRLS

HARLEY QUINN THE NEW 52: KISS KISS BANG STAB

2016

DC BOMBSHELLS

HARLEY QUINN THE NEW 52: A CALL TO ARMS

SUICIDE SQUAD

BATMAN THE TELLTALE SERIES

HARLEY QUINN THE NEW 52: THE JOKER’S LAST LAUGH

2017

SUICIDE SQUAD REBIRTH: THE BLACK VAULT

HARLEY QUINN REBIRTH: DIE LAUGHING

INJUSTICE

SUICIDE SQUAD REBIRTH: GOING SANE

HARLEY QUINN REBIRTH: JOKER LOVES HARLEY

SUICIDE SQUAD REBIRTH: BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE

HARLEY QUINN REBIRTH: RED MEAT

SUICIDE SQUAD REBIRTH: EARTHLINGS ON FIRE

2018

HARLEY QUINN REBIRTH: SURPRISE SURPRISE

SUICIDE SQUAD HELL TO PAY

SUICIDE SQUAD REBIRTH: KILL YOUR DARLINGS

HARLEY QUINN REBIRTH: VOTE HARLEY

BATMAN NINJA

THE DARK PRINCE CHARMING

SUICIDE SQUAD REBIRTH: THE SECRET HISTORY OF TASK FORCE X

HARLEY QUINN REBIRTH: ANGRY BIRD

SUICIDE SQUAD REBIRTH: DRAIN THE SWAMP

HARLEY VS APOKOLIPS

2019

OLD LADY HARLEY

HARLEY DESTROYS THE UNIVERSE

THE TRIALS OF HARLEY QUINN

HARLEY QUINN

2020

BIRDS OF PREY

HARLEY QUINN AND POISON IVY

2021

HOLLYWOOD OR DIE

SUICIDE SQUAD 2

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fantastic-nonsense · 3 years

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Do we actually know what happens to Jason after the under the red hood movie? Because every time I think about that movie’s ending I want to burst into tears.

Do you want the shitty, original answer or the still sucky but way more optimistic reboot answer?

Technically speaking, since the movie simplified and altered the comic's events, we don't really know, because the Batfam of the UtrH movie isn't the same Batfam of the comics; Tim didn't seem to exist, for one thing, and neither does Cass (who wasn't around for that particular arc, but was certainly present). You can probably look to the Death in the Family movie for a better understanding of how DC sees that progression going.

That being said, here's how everything in the comics happened post-Under the Red Hood, pre-Flashpoint (DC's 2011 universe reboot):

Jason resurfaces as a murderous Nightwing imposter in NYC, eventually teaming up with Dick to take down a bunch of mobsters. They part on uneasy but peaceful terms.

He then runs a gun-running operation out of Star City, captured Mia Dearden (the current Speedy), and tried to convince her to be his sidekick. She refused, so he blew up her school. It was a whole...thing.

During Countdown, he ends up helping the League deal with the Monitors and ended up taking an accidental multiverse trip with Donna Troy and Kyle Rayner, briefly taking up the costume and moniker of Red Robin (yes, Tim's Reborn-era costume and name came from this arc; yes, Tim has never had a codename of his own. We know) before returning to Red Hood

briefly teamed up with Tim for a hot second, neither one of them was very happy about it, and he promptly got sent back to jail afterwards

He escapes and pops back up in Gotham in time for Battle for the Cowl, running around as a murder-happy Batman after Bruce's death. As Batman, he proceeds to: shoot Damian, torture and kill Black Mask's mooks, leave Tim to die after brutally beating him unconscious and stabbing him in the chest, and beat Catwoman into the ground (twice) before finally losing to Dick (who then formally takes up the mantle of Batman).

Jason, feeling put out that Dick "won the claim" to the Batman mantle, decided to make Dick's life hell in the aftermath. He picked up his own sidekick (a girl named Scarlet), made some truly tragic fashion choices, and started broadcasting his brutal methods of dealing with criminals on social media, forcing Dick-as-Batman to deal with him. This chase results in Damian getting shot in the spine 5 times by Flamingo (he gets better) and Jason cornered by Dick and Commissioner Gordon, screaming that he's 'the solution that Gotham needs' and sounding, frankly, completely unhinged.

Jason gives himself up, ends up in Arkham (largely for his own protection; he would have been flat-out murdered in Blackgate or any of the surrounding 'normal' prisons), eventually gets transferred to a normal prison, kills a bunch of people (tl;dr both self-defense, they were trying to kill him first, and just as a morally bankrupt method of escaping prison), escapes, reunites with his sidekick, and disappears. And that's the last we see of him in the pre-reboot universe.

......yeah, none of us like that either! Excluding Countdown (which was fun arc in an otherwise absolute mess of a comic...truly one of the worst comic events I've ever read in my life, please don't do it) and Red Hood: Lost Days, which covered Jason's training with Talia and the League of Assassins before returning to Gotham, mostly everyone agrees that Jason's post-resurrection handling was an editorial decision that sucked, badly, and no one's happy with how that turned out.

The post-Flashpoint/New 52 universe was actually good for one thing: DC decided to take the opportunity to rehab Jason completely and reinvent him as an actual anti-hero. Tragically, this job got handed over to Scott (fucking) Lobdell, who proceeded to write Red Hood and the Outlaws and fuck everyone in that book over who wasn't named Jason Todd. While Kory was hit particularly badly in the beginning, Roy has borne the longest-lasting damage from that run. Also, Jason/Starfire was briefly a thing. We don't like to talk about that either. That being said, Jason's new post-resurrection history is much more positive (both for him and for the Batfamily) than it used to be, and we love that for him!

After his resurrection, he trained with the League of Assassins and the All-Caste (which included some really awesome anger management training that Jason proceeded to chuck directly in the trash can until after the events of Under the Red Hood)

Under the Red Hood happens

he worked out of Gotham as a ruthless anti-hero vigilante for a little bit. Battle for the Cowl is implied to have happened, possibly without the 'trying to murder Tim' bit (we're not really sure)

he hooked up with Roy Harper/Arsenal and Koriand'r/Starfire, formed the Outlaws, and went on several adventures. Also, he got magic swords, which was a cool af choice that DC continues to do absolutely nothing with

in between this, he worked with the Batfamily a bit; he helped out when the Court of Owls attacked Gotham (Night of Owls), helped them deal with the Joker when it's revealed the Joker knows their secret IDs (Death of the Family), and teamed up with Damian for a Batman Inc. arc (it went...poorly, but not as poorly as it could have)

He went back to the All-Caste and purposefully got his memory erased because he wouldn't just go to fucking therapy like a normal human being, then joined up with the League of Assassins for a hot second (Roy was trying to save his dumb ass this entire arc; thank god for Roy Harper, honestly)

Jason regained his memory and went on a few more adventures with the Outlaws, then worked with Roy for awhile after Bruce's presumed death (he really just had amnesia), then teamed up with the other Robins to help take down a villain called 'Mother'; this included an undercover operation w/Tim to take down a cult operating out of Santa Prisca

lots of other shit happens, he reformed the Outlaws (this time with Bizarro and Artemis, forming a sort of 'Dark Trinity'), had several more adventures, teamed up with the Batfam several more times, and got into lots and lots and lots of arguments with Bruce (there was an arc about his bio father Willis and Penguin, Bruce thought Jason broke the no-killing rule again, there was a pretty brutal fight...it sucked)

He went back to being a lethal solo vigilante for awhile, went back for vengeance against Penguin (again), shit with Leviathan (international criminal organization formerly run by Talia) happened, and finally he returned to Gotham as a solo hero

Where he helps Bruce hunt down 'Cheer' (a Joker/Scarecrow wannabe), he and Bruce finally make peace, and he agrees to give up his guns, go non-lethal, and start working with the Batfam again

And that is where we stand with Jason today (as of August 2021)! Who tf knows what's going to happen now, because we're officially in unchartered territory; this is the first time since Jason was resurrected in 2005 that DC is making a genuine, concerted effort to re-integrate him into the family instead of just being the Batfamily's 'sometimes ally prodigal brother/son with daddy issues galore'.

So, overall: lots of tragic and really awful narrative decisions on one hand, lots of shitty characterization but positive character development and family re-integration possibilities on the other. Take your pick!

#jason todd #long post #dc comics #batman #batfam #tim drake #dick grayson #bruce wayne #jason todd meta #sorry this was long but like.....let's be real there was ABSOLUTELY no easy answer to this question

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smokeybrandreviews · 2 years

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Crisis Actors

The Flash sounds like hot dog water but it makes sense to me why it's as terrible as it is. As i understand it, the thing will be the last ATT/WB production to be released since it got pushed back. That means the Discovery group will be able to actually have a bit more control over that one through reshoots a la The Josstice League. Now, as a passive DC fan, i don't care whether this thing succeeds or not. As a fan of comics, i am absolutely intrigued by it. As a fan of film, i cannot wait to see where this thing goes. All of that stems from The Flash being a multiverse film.

Aside from bringing back MY Batman, they're introducing a new Batgirl, a proper Supergirl (that one i cannot wait to see) and reviving both Zod and Faora. Faora, for me, was the best thing in MoS and i felt bad when she "died." There is a rumored mid credits scene with Aquaman in the "new" universe and a Superman cameo in another, flying beside the newly introduced Supergirl. But the gem in this clusterf*ck crown is the last extra credit scene where Batfleck give Barry the dream-in-a-dream treatment he got in JL, telling Barry "Come find us." That means this Flashpoint doesn't erase the Snyderverse, which makes sense because, you know, money. This one scene also redeems the Snyderverse to an extent. How so, you ask? Crisis.

If Discovery is about that loot, and they don't want to move pass the Snyderverse entirely, Crisis is the perfect opportunity to keep the cash cow intact while enriching it's contradictorily flaccid and convoluted, narrative. This gives Snyder his weirdly depressing JLA 2 to Nightmare and the resolution, to everything, can be a Crisis on Infinite Earths. It's well known Snyder planned for the heroes to lose in JL2. Snyder, whatever universe that Old Man Wayne is in, and the Shazam crew, can team up and fight Darkseid in a proper Crisis event that leaves the door open for a Thanos figure in the Anti-Monitor.

Continue the various series and tones in HBO max shows, sprinkling in little hints of a continuing reality fracture, glimpses of someone like Pariah or Psycho-Pirate, culminating in a Justice League Unlimited movement where we get to fully see the Anti-Monitor. He sends his agents into the primary cinematic worlds and they begin to destabilize the multiverse. Basically, we're doing Infinite Crisis. Anti has had a ton of OP henches so just pick. Alex Luthor, Henshaw, Prime, i guess Sinestro; So many proper villains who could be Avengers level threats, book end antagonists who's overall conflict serves as a means to give Anti a little more hole in each universe. This could be a great way to wipe the slate clean, erasing the superfluous, and problematic, elements of the DC which came before. The only issue is time.

Ezra Miller is very publicly losing his f*cking mind and Amber Heard is a year out from being a convicted domestic abuser who sh*ts in beds. You gotta get rid of these cats as soon as possible. A Crisis that mergers all of the world into one, effectively reversing the roles of Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis, will give a proper out for that to happen. You can bring back the pieces that work, like Mamoa, and tentatively recast those that were suspect during the first cast, like Gadot. You can retcon the sh*t out of Birds of Prey while introducing new or revamped versions of those character. Cass Cain, I'm looking at you. Maybe we get that Khaleesi, Mother of Seas which works so much better than the Turd on the Tide we got now? Hell, Imagine a live action Kaley Cuoco and Margot Robbie Harley, vibing onscreen together. I'd pay so much money to see that. Ultimately, i don't think The Flash is going to be very good as a film but i think, if the aftermath is handled correctly and the Discovery execs properly understand how to make entertainment, it can lead to something very special. As long as they can keep Ezra from robbing a bank in the next fifteen months.

#Warner Bros.#Discovery #DC #DCEU #Some ol' bullsh*t

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nerd-by-definition · 3 years

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JayDick Week 2021 Day 4: Merfolk, Day 1: Soulmates Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: DCU, DCU (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Flashpoint (Comics) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd Characters: Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Colin Wilkes, Talia al Ghul Additional Tags: Sirens, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Jason Todd is Father Todd, mer!dick grayson, Dark, Sailing, unspecified time period, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Hurt Jason Todd, Ambiguous/Open Ending, JayDick Week 2021, Day 4: Merfolk, Day 1: Soulmates, loosely based on Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, POV Jason Todd, POV Dick Grayson Series: Part 4 of JayDick Week 2021 Summary:

At least there was a reason for the burning now, as opposed to the white hot tattoo on his wrist. He spared a thought to wonder: if this was an attack of demons in a Hell of despair, did that make the Devil his soulmate? No wonder God had abandoned him here.

@jaydick-week

#jaydickweek2021 #dick grayson #jason todd #jaydick #dcu #fanfiction #bat fam

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rolanberry-rebel · 3 years

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Prompt #17: Destruct

Kjalla stumbled back on her heels, strength bled away from the dozens of cuts and bruises; the broken ribs and and crimson filling her airway. The heat of the flames and the throat-closing, eye-watering choke of billowing smoke as the manor burned down around her left her senses a feverish blur; she could scarcely even feel the pain as she fell flat onto her back against the stone floor, burning crossbeams crashing down just overhead.

“How much’d you cost, huh, old friend?” she spat out with what little vim remained in her battered body. She had to wipe the blood from her eyes, streaming from a nick of a bullet-wound across the side of her forehead, the heated round slicing skin and veins but bouncing off the side of her skull (never let them tell you it doesn’t pay to be hard-headed.)

“Ha! How much do you think somebody’d pay to have you killed?” the highlander mercenary weaved and wobbled his way into her dusty vision, his gun-barrel penetrating her smoke-choked bubble, pointed more directly this time at the viera’s claret-stained head. “And what makes you think, with all the shit you’ve put me through, babe, I wouldn’t do it for free?”

“Aww, c’mon,” Kjalla coughed, venom laced between a false-saccharine mask of mockery. “All th’ jobs we been on, all the nights together... y’can’t tell me y’ain’t gonna miss it, sugar,” she said, voice slurring from the intoxicating pain flooding into her nerves, a crooked grin on her swollen, broken lips.

“Sure, K,” he retorted with sick, twisted confidence in his flashing eyes. The roof above began to slowly cave, taken by flames quickly crescendoing towards a skin-melting flashpoint. “If it’ll give you a few seconds of comfort before you burn in the hells fer all time, I’ll tell you you were the best I had,” he said, more of a taunt as he waved his gun around in a jeering performance.

“Re... remember th’ one night, where I jabbed you with m’ taser?” she giggled, her genuine reverie inspiring a second’s joyous recollection from her attacker. The burly merc tapped his scarred lower lip, rumbling with languid amusement.

“I thought this was where you gave me reasons not to kill you, babe,” he growled, smirking. The sound of his gun’s hammer clicked into Kjalla’s skull, and he flipped a few switches on the machinery box attached to his hip. “Hah,” he said, a second spent in revelry as he gazed at the tarnished metal and flashing lights on the death-dealing device. “Sorta funny I kill y’ with one of yer own, huh.”

“R.. remember, sweetheart, wh... remember what I toldja that night? When y’asked how I made the taser?” Kjalla continued, a pain-drunk smile on her lips, her eyes slightly glazed. “I know y’ do, you used to tease me fer it all the time...”

“Sure I do,” he answered, steadying his finger on the trigger. “A girl’s gotta have her secrets.”

Hearing the word brought a bloody, evil smirk to the corner of Kjalla’s lips. From the ripped leather pouch slung at her hip fell a small cylinder - with a big, red button on the top. The confusion fled from Kjalla’s eyes, replaced with absolute, devilish, bloody purpose. Wrapping fingers around the cylinder, the red button lit up, and she lifted her free hand, curling her middle finger up in a gesture of murderous defiance.

“Y’shoulda fuckin’ LISTENED!” she roared, plunging her thumb onto the red button, terrified awe filling her assailant’s once-confident features. Kjalla turned away, raising her forearm to her face to shield her; a loud ringing beep! issued from the mercenary’s custom-Kjalla-made machine box.

“Self-destruct.. confirmed,” a calm, robotic voice mumbled, and as the flames around the two flashed over, a burst of high-powered explosive light tore through the unsuspecting highlander’s torso, an explosion so fast and quick and hot it pulverized flesh and bone into ribbons of viscera. The legs that had only seconds before pinned Kjalla down fell one-after-the-other into a pile of crimson goop at her sides, and the viera winced and squeezed her fists into balls to withstand the torturous pain of shrapnel and skin-searing heat from the explosion ripping into her forearm, slashing along her chest.

Breathing hard, the slate-blue mercenary stumbled to her feet, adrenaline surging, the pummel of her heartbeat deafening her. Somehow, in a blur, she found her way to the door just in time, as the roof began falling inward. A crowd had gathered, watching the flames in quieted fear, and the sight of an over-6-foot-tall rabbit-woman covered in gory goop, smoke stains, burns and bruises certainly did little to calm them. Kjalla staggered and collapsed into the cool grass, nipped freshly by early-evening La Noscean dew. After a long few moments of gasping for breath on the ground, an old maid warily approached.

“E.. excuse me, l... lass,” she hazarded to speak. “Are.. are you alright?”

“Never been better,” Kjalla stammered through gasping breaths, a smirk curling at her lips. “Never been better.”

#kjalla #ffxivwrite2021 #ffxiv rp #My writing #big bada boom :>#i am bad at action writing sry

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batboysheadcanons · 4 years

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This is your spoiler warning about Justice League Dark: Apokolips War. I’ll put it in the tags too.

But basically, I thought it was beautifully done. It was violent, heartfelt, heartbreaking, and I just felt so many emotions during it all. Truly, it was a master piece to me. Let’s start from the beginning.

John and Zatanna were great together. I love their chemistry, and knowing that they had seemingly worked out their issues since the first JLD, and it’s just lovely. The humor of Bruce being a cockblock was a nice touch.

When discussing Apokolips showing up on Earth’s doorstep, I think they did a good job of showing Superman’s trauma. He is the big blue Boy Scout, and is usually level headed and reasonable but you could see his encounter with Doomsday and Hank in Reign of the Superman, fucked with him and it showed there. To the point where he angerily damages part of their conference room, and is being stubborn with his plan. He didn’t want to take any chances with Darkseid again.

The jump from them flying into Apokolips and the paradoomen (that’s my new name for them), shattering their window to Earth, 2 years later, on fire and practically desolate, was harsh. It was like, they didn’t win. And it allowed us to get backstory, from multiple perspectives, which I thought was nice. John drinking was a good touch, as it shows his serious signs of PTSD, and guilt. Etrogen not even rhyming because he doesn’t see the point was just a hard hitting reminder that this world fucking sucked.

The first encounter between Superman, raven, and John was great. Raven’s annoyance, and “oh fuck this” were perfect. She’s already got a million things to be worried about, a drunk man and a drunk demon don’t need to be added to them. Also Etrogen just burping fire onto the paradoomen was great. A bit of humor to lighten up the dark bits. We also learned a bit more about what happened to the justice league, and got to see many of them visocusly ripped apart or seriously maimed. Knowing that Darkseid didn’t kill all of them either was horrifying, as you know many of them were actually better off dead at some point. John’s sarcastic nature was helpful to not make it too dark and depressing.

Next, to my best boy Damian, who immediately stops the battle with one word and threatens Superman, blaming him for the loss of his teammates and his father. This immediately stops when Raven collapses and we see a range of emotions cross his face, and we all saw those screen caps and they were every bit as good in the movie. He immediately sets aside his disdain for Superman and is worried about her. Finding out Dick died in front of him, protecting him from a paradoomen is super fucking depressing. Learning that he used a Lazarus pit to bring him back but it not working is even worse, and then we get gutted with the line of “he was my brother”. Like you can stop now, my heart can only bleed so much.

Next is the group going to see the suicide squad. First, seeing Lois Lane fight Harley Queen was hot as hell. Secondly, boomerang and John calling each other names and both ending on “wanker” was golden. Third, which this should have honestly been first but it just crossed my kind, is Damian, back in his Robin costume instead of his League of Assassins getup, was chicken noodle soup for my batboy soul. Honestly first thing should have been that king shark and John fucking is CANON. Continuing, Superman actively and positively cheering on Lois in her fight was adorable, and I liked it. Damian and Raven admitting their feelings for each other was great, and I’m really happy that this was the endgame.

Getting to LexCorp tower, and finding out Lex is the sleeper who was feeding Lois information was amazing, because we all wanted it to be Batman, and think that he had actually fought off Darkseid’s brainwashing, and was just in a deep cover until the right time came. But it showed that even Batman can break. They lost a lot of people in the tower, and watching a beast of a woman like Lady Shiva die was terrible, but I will say it felt almost meaningless. I do wish Damian had more of a reaction, as I’m sure he actually knew Shiva quite well, due to his time with the league of assassins since he was born, and when he went back to rule them after losing all of his friends and family. But I guess you can only take so many people to Apokolips. Story wise, it does make sense, it just seemed like it had very little impact on someone who I figured it would have a bigger impact on. Seeing all of Lex’s of kryptonite was good. “I had issues.” Was a great line.

The next part on Apokolips was horrifying. We get cyborg resemblances of what’s left of the justice league. It was physically awful to look at, and I’m sure for our heros, probably doing some psychological damage. The other part of that, took place in Darkseid’s throne room. I will say, I do not buy for one second that Damian would not avoid a laser beam. He’s not out of practice, and he’s been in extreme turmoil before. Back to the throne room, that was a masterfully thought out scene. And I would like to pinpoint the exact climax of the movie, which I found to be my second favorite part, the ending being my favorite part. But it’s not John debugging cyborg and the others, it’s not the beginning of the fight with cyborg, and not even Batman’s fight with Damian. The climax of the movie is when Bruce is getting ready to kill Damian and all of a sudden, he sees himself face to face with Joe Chill, at 8 years old, and dead parents in front of him. Bruce seeing himself in his blood son was the climax of the movie, because it set off the rest of the events for the rest of the movie. Batman breaks and throws the sword at Darkseid. He gets pissed and sends Omega beams towards Bruce, and Damian steps in front and takes it, which does kill him, and that breaks Raven, and she has John free trigon, who invaded Superman’s body, and it just continues from there, until they all got to leave and Darkseid and his paradoomens, along with trigon, end up stuck in the middle of nowhere. We get the damirae kiss at the end, and the flash starting another flashpoint, effectively ending this current continuity, and setting up another one, which I think really went well, considering this is the last movie in this continuity.

Now touching on the previous point of why the climax is my second favorite part of the movie, I never explained why it was that. And for me, it’s because it didn’t have any long winded “good man” speech to accompany it. Don’t get me wrong, I think it worked well with bad blood. But Talia only had him for a little over 2 weeks. Darkseid’s had him for at least 2 years. So it would take more than some words to get it together. But it couldn’t be just any action or any thought. The one thing that pulled him out of Darkseid’s control, is the event that created Batman. It was poetic, and it just worked for me. What better way to come to your senses than to just see the original, and just be like “this is who I am.” Damian mentioned this earlier in the movie too, that Dick’s death almost broke him, the key word being almost. I thought it was great, because Batman took Dick in, because he saw himself in Dick. Dick was the first Robin, and the next in-line to the mantel. Losing any of your children isn’t easy, but losing your first son, and the one who’s always been there is even harder. But it wasn’t enough to break him.

Now I’ll be talking about some things I really liked in this movie that I didn’t include up above, one of them being John Stewart’s last stand on Oa. John, is seemingly the last green lantern alive, the guardians are dead, and any green lanterns that were making a last stand were quickly and brutally dealt with. John is right in front of the source of the green lantern power, and he’s so close. He’s almost got it, the fist is raised, and Darkseid asks for a transfer of some of earth’s magma core onto Oa. He’s burned up, along with the power source for green lanterns. It’s super crushing because you were hoping, that even if he didn’t kill Darkseid, which he probably wasn’t going to, he could at least try to slow him down. But we never got there.

Another thing I liked is when Zatanna reveals that John didn’t run away on his own accord, and that Batman always has a contingency plan. Zatanna knew she was going to die at that point but made sure John made it out so the others could have a shot at eventually winning. First of all, holy shit that is traumatizing, watching someone you love die and you’re running away. But I’m assuming other magicians can feel when magic is being used on them, and so John is so upset with what’s happening that he doesnt even feel the magic being used. He just thinks he ran away, tail between his legs, because he was scared.

Raven letting go and using her demon powers to protect them from the laser beams and then afterwards “I will kill you boy” before immediately calming down and apologizing. Raven letting go to grab Luther and threatening him “no one will mourn you” was *chef’s kiss* everything I ever needed. Damian and Raven were so protective of each other this movie and it was so sweet to watch. You could really see that he did have feelings for her and it was just sweet.

Another part I liked was John offering himself up to Trigon to use as a host body and Trigon said “fuck that” and jumped into Superman, which if you look closely, burned the liquid kryptonite out of his body, which did allow him to return to his normal form when he watched Lois die, which holy shit. Wow. That was uh depressing. But it allowed Superman to gain control again, and it made sense on why Superman was back in his normal form. The other thing, is that Trigon is already a strong being, and from his past experience with the justice league, he knows Superman is strong too. It all made sense, and I do think it was done well.

Finally, John finding out that the Flash is the reason for this is amazing and also depressing, because at this point, if you’ve seen flashpoint paradox, Barry will have to sacrifice his mom to save the rest of the world. A world where everyone is alive. You also find out that their plan to blow up the generator won’t work because flash is the generator. They also use flash at the beginning to tell everyone that he’s seen what happens and that this may not be the time to do it. At the end, broken, battered, and utterly depressed, he knows what he needs to do. Create another flashpoint. I know I mentioned it above, but it really does bring a nice end to this animated universe and opens up the door for a new one. It does seem a little deus ex machina to me, but it’s not overly outlandish like time travel in the quantum realm using pym particles (looking at you marvel). The kiss at the end between Raven and Damian was perfect, because they truly were endgame and that’s all my baby bird heart wanted.

Basically all I wanted to say with this really long post is that I liked Justice Leage Dark: Apokolips War.

#jld aw spoliers #justice league apokolips war #spoilers #damirae

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davidmann95 · 4 years

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Obligatory "DC Fandome reactions" question

Anonymous said: DC Fandome?

Anonymous said: so. suicide squad kill the justice league, huh.

jcogginsa said: So, thoughts on Fandome night 1?

In order from what got me least to most hyped (leaving out Milestone, because I didn’t grow up with it other than the great Static show, and I understand the behind-the-scenes stuff with McDuffie’s family is contentious):

Suicide Squad Kills The Justice League

Pros: Trailer’s funny, the “screw you, not only are we doing this dumb thing instead of anything anybody wants, we’re actively pissing in your face about it!” standoffishness is at such a level I honestly respect it, Superman has trunks

Cons: I don’t even care about Evil Superman in the sense of “No, they’re doing it again!” - it’s very clearly a controlled by Brainiac deal and the whole League is going to be along for the ride - but playing it for shock value at this point is laughable in a very different way than the rest of the trailer, I don’t care about a Suicide Squad game in the first place, and over half the women working with Rocksteady collectively reported various types of harassment. No thanks, sorry you pissed away 7 years, better luck next time.

The Flash concept art

Hot damn, the movie Flash costume is no longer a wretched, vomitous, shamelessly criminal monstrosity! And Keaton Batman! Extremely cool! Also remember how Ezra Miller choked a lady on camera all of a few months ago? Like, obviously you can take DC to the mat for any number of things (hell, I just mentioned another one of those reasons), but I don’t want to scold anyone for enjoying individual products of a system as broadly broken as any corporate enterprise of that scale is pretty much inevitably going to be. But they choked a lady on camera a few months ago! We all talked about that! They shouldn’t be here!

Also, obviously sorta pales by comparison, but I don’t like that the multiverse is discussed less as “here’s a cool storytelling opportunity we can do a lot with!” than “Here’s how we can have different versions of our characters at the same time, because we think our audiences are so dribblingly stupid they need that explained to them”. Star Trek ‘09 and Days of Future Past have a lot to answer for for bringing “We need to explain the reboot as we reboot it” out of the realm of comics. Oh, and I know you gotta put the source material over, but “I fell in love with Flash when I read Flashpoint”? No, ma’am, no you did not. That is not something that has ever happened to anyone.

Gotham Knights

That’s an incredibly cool, bold concept, and it’s gonna have to do a lot of heavy lifting because everything else about this looks like absolute ass. Hopefully at the very least the finalized game won’t have damage numbers, and also why is this not an Arkham sequel when the premise directly springs off the concept of the cliffhanger of Arkham Knight, acting as a spiritual followup without actually answering any of the bizarre lingering questions there (especially when Suicide Squad *does* take place in that universe, albeit with a totally different Deadshot)? Why does this lead with ‘you have limited resources now’ and then immediately introduce invisibility and teleportation tech as mechanics? And far more importantly than any of that, why can Robin’s suit best be described as “tactical combat raincoat”?

Black Adam

Yeah I don’t care. I’m sure I’ll watch it but I don’t care. And that’s fine! These certainly don’t need to all be for me. But whatever.

Wonder Woman 1984

This didn’t rev me up in the same way as the previous trailer, but this still looks like an across-the-board improvement from the already quality original and I expect I’ll very much enjoy it.

Against my better instincts, that Snyder Cut trailer

Is black suit Superman still dumb? You betcha. Does Darkseid also look bad? Most definitely, in ways that are hilariously pointed for me having just read The Pact for the first time. Did Snyder act like a total dick on Twitter minutes before the panel?* Yup. And did I have what I can only describe as an utterly childish degree of indignation at the use of a Morrison JLA line (but with gods and Heaven swiped out for demons and Hell, because of course) because my immediate nerd-ass gut reaction was “You don’t deserve to use that!”? Absolutely. But dammit this looks visually magnificent, especially with Flash time-travelling, it’s clearly a substantively different movie in a way that feels like it doesn’t play into the traits he’s weakest at as a creator compared to its predecessors, and it’s still a Justice League movie. I dunno, scratches something in my lizard brain, even if it blows that this + the SS game represents the sum totality of Superman here.

...did he seriously invite a fan organizer on who apparently notoriously called a black guy a monkey in a Twitter argument though? Was that really a thing or some photoshop nonsense? Because I saw someone mention it and apparently a LOT of people immediately asked what she was doing there.

* To be clear, he’s still the good guy in this situation relative to Whedon, Johns, and Berg by all accounts.

5G Batman

I don’t know Ridley’s work for the most part - I’m a cinematic philistine, so I think all I’ve seen/read of his was a decent The Authority OGN and cowriting Starcrossed in Justice League - but I have little doubt he’ll do very well here, and hot damn, Nick Derington art! And hot DAMN, that Ladrönn cover! And a riot to watch everyone go “Look, this is before the formal 5G announcement so we’re not saying it’s Luke Fox, but c’mon”. Definitely grabbing this bad boy.

The Suicide Squad

Ok I actually didn’t watch the behind-the-scenes video, but why would I need to? Saw the cast unveil montage, and yup, it’s got the goods.

The Batman

This is actually gonna get a post all its own, but the long and short of it is that trailer was better than the entire DCEU combined up to this point. And that now includes Birds of Prey and Shazam! I am almost embarrassingly in love with everything here, most viscerally I’ve reacted to a superhero movie trailer in I don’t know how many years.

#DC FanDome #Batman #Suicide Squad #Snyder Cut #DCEU #Worlds of DC #Opinion

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yespolkadotkitty · 5 years

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The Right Partner, pt 3/3

Part I

Part II

Your pulse hammered as Loki gently eased down the zip of your dress to reveal the black satin underwear you’d bought on a whim on payday after seeing an offer online. At the time you’d never dreamed it would see the light of day, let alone be seen by this man. Tonight.

Your heavy dress pooled on the floor and fell to the grey carpet with little more than a soft sigh. You stood stock still, feeling Loki’s dark, intense gaze devour you. Everywhere he looked, his searing appraisal lit up all the flashpoints of desire in your body. You were on fire for him.

“I am honoured that you are going to be mine.”He whispered the last word and you watched his poet’s mouth as he spoke.

You held out your arms. “Take me.”

As he captured your mouth again, you poured everything into the kiss – your desire and need for him; your wonder that he’d chosen you to secret away tonight, your lonely nights of imagining his hands on you.

As you kissed, Loki held you to him tightly, and you felt the unmistakable evidence of his erection pressing, hot and hard, against your lower stomach.

He seemed unhurried, kissing you languidly, taking his time.

Well. He might only have thought up this little adventure tonight, but you’d been fantasising about him for a while. You were in rather a hurry.

You broke off the kiss, and, without warning, slid down to your knees and unzipped his suit trousers. His erection sprang free into your waiting hands, and, cradling his shaft in your fingers, you took him into your mouth.

As Loki drew in a deep, surprised, breath, his hands clutching at your shoulders for support, making you feel, quite frankly, powerful, you tongued the head of his erection, licking it around and around as you might a favoured kind of ice cream. You tasted just a hint of salt as he groaned, and you took him deeper into your mouth, your free hand reaching down to tease his balls, which had grown hard.

He trembled under your touch.

“Enough,” you heard him growl, and he scooped you up into his arms, heading for one of the long leather chairs positioned in front of the book cases. He laid you down on it, and, slowly, painstakingly slowly, removed your balconette bra and then the bare scrap of your lace panties.

As you watched from half-closed lids, Loki removed his suit, each item seeming to float down on to the library’s carpet. His gaze never leaving yours during his slow striptease, he crossed to the chair and lowered himself on top of you , capturing your mouth again with his.

His hands stroked down your body, the finger-light touches of his talented fingers causing your body to bow up hungrily into his. As he eased a thigh between your legs and settled atop you, you thrilled to the feel of his erection teasing the damp, swollen bud of your clitoris. As your tongues danced together, he moved gently against you, caressing your most intimate place with the damp head of his shaft.

“Loki....” You murmured against his lips, trying to tell him that you were very ready.

However, he wasn’t. With a smile of pure sin, the wretch moved down your body, feasting on your naked breasts, cupping the soft undersides and rolling the nipples with his tongue. When you tried to pull him back up your body to slip him inside you, he resisted, journeying further down, creating a pathway of kisses from your bellybutton to between your legs, your most secret place. When he parted you with his fingers and swirled his tongue over you, you arched off the chair, shamelessly pressing yourself as close to his mouth as possible.

“Please, don’t stop.”

“No intention, kitten.” He kept up the assault on your most sensitive place, manipulating and laving you with his tongue. When he finally, finally, filled you with his fingers and thrust in and out, your orgasm hit like a freight train. You cried his name over and over, your head spinning from the force of it.

“Now,” you heard him whisper as he came to lie on top of you, “Now you’ll be mine. For tonight and ever after.”

When he slid inside you, filling you to the hilt, it was like coming home. Loki’s soft sigh, a noise you’d never heard from him before, told you he felt the same.

You wrapped her legs around his lean hips, and the two of you lay together for a few moments, enjoying the intense feeling of being as close as two people could ever be. You tentatively squeezed your inner muscles around him; he felt like steel sheathed in velvet.

“Seven hells.” With a bitten off groan, Loki began to move, thrusting slowly in and out, the base of his shaft hitting your aching centre each time he thrust back into you.

Hooking your legs tighter around him, and lifting them higher so he could come in deeper, you lifted her head to kiss him, and nipped his lip with your teeth. He let out an almost feral growl, and thrust into you harder and faster, setting a punishing pace, sending trembles of excitement up your torso and through your core. When he lifted a hand and squeezed and rolled one of your sensitive nipples between his fingers, you bucked against him, your orgasm quickly spiralling up through your body, delicious quakes racking through your veins, the most delicious wildfire.

Some part of you distantly heard Loki’s cry of completion as you came together, and, panting, he buried his face in your shoulder. You trembled together for some long moments, the aftershocks of truly amazing sex, and finally your leg slipped a little way down Loki’s back.

“Well,” you murmured. “That’s probably the most action this library’s seen in some time.”

“You should visit Asgard some day,” Loki muttered into your neck, his words muffled by the fall of his dark, silky hair.

He lifted his head and smiled at you then, and you drank him in, this wonderful man of yours. Because he was yours now, and you’d move worlds to keep him in your arms.

“You sure I’d be welcome?” you half-teased. Because what woman was good enough for a Prince? Jane was all right, she was a bonafide genius.

“My mother would never let you leave,” Loki said lazily, kissing your shoulder idly. “She’d probably think you’d keep me on the straight and narrow.”

You chuckled at the thought of that. “And do you think that I will?”

He stroked a hand down your thigh, squeezing lightly, smiling at your surprised squeak. “Imagine if I behaved myself. We wouldn’t want that.” His gaze darkened and he moved inside you again. “Would we.”

***

Taglist @hopelessromanticspoonie @peacope @myworddump @myoxisbroken @arch-venus25 @just-the-hiddles @wolfsmom1

#loki fanfic #loki smut #mcu fic

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jewishclarkkent · 5 years

Text

fic: bruce/clark, batfam

Note: This was inspired by a conversation with @resistancepilots about Tim’s “death” in Detective Comics Rebirth. She asked the question of what if Bruce refused to accept Tim’s death, much like Tim refused to accept Bruce’s death in the pre-flashpoint Red Robin series.

***

The car screeched to a halt as Bruce slammed on the breaks. The motion sent throbbing pain through his injured leg. Ignoring it, he fumbled his way out of the vehicle, dragging his sprained ankle across the cave until he reached the computers. Collapsing on the chair, he angrily ripped off his gauntlets, armour and cowl, running a hand through sweaty hair.

Another dead end. Another wasted night with no answers. Another day of failing his son.

Grasping for the closest thing within reach, he hurled an empty tumbler at the opposite wall, the glass shattering across the cave floor. The broken pieces landed at his feet.

A sharp pain in his right side made itself known as he shifted in the chair; when he touched the spot over his uniform, his hand came back bloodied. Hiking up the bottom of his undershirt, he was met with a jagged gash running from his hip to his lower ribs. Grunting, he reached for the bottle of whiskey on the desk, pouring it over the wound. Damn the stitches—this would have to do.

He brought the bottle to his lips next, the bitter taste of liquor burning his throat. With his other hand, he reached for the carefully-folded piece of paper now permanently kept next to the keyboard. As he read the words, he fought to keep his eyes open. The haze of alcohol made it difficult to focus and his vision turned blurry, eyes heavy from a combination of exhaustion and tears.

Tim had wanted out. Had planned a life for himself, away from the madness and cruelty that characterized the streets of Gotham, away from the nightmare that Bruce had dragged him into. The letter in Bruce’s hand was proof of that, Tim’s ticket into an ivy-league university and a better life.

Bruce had robbed him of it.

With shaking hands, Bruce folded the letter and placed it carefully in its place. Typing his passwords into the computer, he began pulling up footage from every street camera and satellite that was active the night Tim disappeared. (Disappeared, he reminded himself. That’s what had happened.) There had to be something he was missing, clues he had not yet uncovered, evidence he had not yet considered. There were answers, somewhere, that would lead him to his son; Bruce just had to be astute enough to find them.

He had lost track of time when the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs pulled away his focus. The soft padding was unique to one person, yet he did not make a sound to announce himself. Instead, it was silence that followed, and even with his back turned Bruce could feel the intense way he was being watched.

“I don’t recall inviting you down here,” he greeted.

“It used to be I didn’t require an invitation to be welcome here,” said Clark.

“Yes, well,” replied Bruce, draining the last of his whiskey with a long gulp, “a lot of things used to be.” He returned his focus to the computer, rewinding the same footage he’d been watching for the past forty minutes. There had to be something he was missing.

Clark sighed. Bruce poured another drink.

“How long are you going to keep this up?”

“As long as it takes,” Bruce responded, matter of fact. He turned his head to meet Clark’s gaze. His face was drawn tight, hair tousled and clothes wrinkled from sleep. It made him seem vulnerable and impossibly human. A familiar ache lodged himself in Bruce’s chest at the sight, coupled with an irrational anger pounding his thoughts.

“He’s gone, Bruce,” said Clark. The words cut like a serrated dagger. “Tim is gone. You need to accept that.”

Bruce clenched his fists. “I’d be very careful,” he said, “about what you say to me next.”

Clark, of course, didn’t heed the warning. “You’re a man of science.” He pointed at the glass case holding Red Robin’s staff. “Look at the evidence in front of you.”

“Clark,” Bruce all but growled, taking a deep breath to calm himself, “get the hell out of my cave.”

Stubborn and defiant as ever, Clark ignored the instruction. “Bruce, please, just—” he said, expression visibly pained. “This, what you’re doing? It’s only making everything worse for the rest of us. I know how—”

“You don’t know a damn thing, Clark,” Bruce spat through clenched teeth, his control slipping by the second.

“You’re not the only one hurting, Bruce. I love and miss him, too—”

“He wasn’t your son!” Bruce billowed, the words echoing off the cave walls. The bats above them scattered at the noise, the flap of their wings the only sound in the ensuing silence.

The cruelty he had just demonstrated made Bruce ashamed. It was not the first unkind thing he had said to Clark, not the first he had pushed him away and resisted what Clark was willing to offer. Surely, there was a limit — if not to Bruce’s cruelty, then to Clark’s willingness to be battered with it.

Clark had been there from the moment he brought Dick home. Had cared for the kids and offered comfort when they were sick, cleaning vomit and feeding them. Had offered guidance and hope in a way Bruce never knew how. Had been a co-parent in every way but in the eyes of the law. They’d talked about adoption, more than once — it was always Bruce who resisted. Always Bruce who pointed out it was too risky to merge their civilian lives together, to make their family public and official.

We don’t need anyone’s validation, Clark — what we have, no piece of paper is going to change it. You’re my family. We are family.

It’s a vow he had just broken, and there was no coming back from it.

Clark’s expression hardened — a move he’d surely mastered by spending too much time with Bruce — and he turned to leave.

“Clark—”

“No,” said Clark, without turning to face him. Bruce knew him well enough to recognize the subtle croak in his voice, to notice the tension in his shoulders as he fought to control his shaking. “I don’t know what I was expecting. Twelve years I’ve been by your side, and still you accuse me of not loving this family enough. I never was able to convince you I gave a damn. You know what? I’m done trying, you self-centred asshole.”

Bruce cringed at the rebuke, watching Clark ascend up the stairs, surely on his way to pack his bags. His hands shook as he reached for the bottle of whiskey and chugged the remaining liquor. He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling the hot sting of tears that threatened to spill. He had to focus, he reminded himself, turning back to the computer and torturous footage.

You can fix it, he reminded himself, unsure if it was a promise or a prayer.

All that mattered was finding Tim. Then, he could put him family back together.

#superbat #bruceclark #batfam #superbatfam #fic #my fic #canon character death #but it's ok 'cause no one dies in comics for real

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