#Shaking Man by Terry Allen | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

phantom-le6 · 6 months

Text

Ramble of the month December 2023: Phase 4 of the Batman Begins-Led DCEU

We now come to the last ramble of 2023, and to keep me from feeling more stress than I need to around the occasion I often call Stress-Mas, I’m sticking with my comfort zone of superhero film universes that could have been. In this case, it’s back to imagining the DCEU that could have been if Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins had launched DC’s live-action film continuity instead of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. So, let’s get right into it by quickly re-capping phases 1-3.

Phase 1:

2005: Batman Begins

2006: Man of Steel

2007: Wonder Woman

2008: The Dark Knight, Green Lantern

2009: The Flash, Man of Steel 2

2010: Aquaman, Justice League

Phase 2:

2011: Wonder Woman 2, Green Lantern 2, Green Arrow

2012: Hawkman, Batman/Superman, Aquaman 2

2013: John Constantine, The Flash 2, Suicide Squad

2014: Justice League 2, Green Arrow 2, Batman: The Long Crusade

Phase 3:

2015: Shazam, Man of Steel 3, The Atom

2016: Wonder Woman 3, Batgirl, Teen Titans

2017: Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Shazam vs Black Adam, Suicide Squad 2

2018: Justice League: Darkseid Rising, Aquaman 3, Doom Patrol

So, phase 1 is basically there to establish the DC universe in a film format and get the Justice League together. Phase 2 builds on that foundation, but it also takes a big whack at it by having Batman’s caution over his colleagues going rogue cause issues within the league. With Green Arrow 2, the caution proves apt and brings about a lot of change, which is followed up in phase 3. Now with the third Justice League film focusing on a prelude to an attack by Darkseid, one may assume phase 4 will take a similar tack to phase 3 of the real-life MCU and play into similar plot threads to Infinity War and Endgame. However, when we look into phase 4, things aren’t totally what you’d expect.

Phase 4:

2019: Superman: Doomsday, New Gods, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

2020: Suicide Squad: Arkham, Knightfall, Green Arrow 3

2021: Reign of the Supermen, Green Lantern: Twilight, Knightsend

2022: Justice League: Armageddon, Teen Titans 3, Justice Society

Looking at this, the more knowledgeable DC fans out there can probably see what I mean when I talk about phase 4 maybe not going where you’d think. We’re channelling some major shake-up story arcs from the 1990’s in this phase, so expect the unexpected is definitely a must. However, for those who may be less knowledgeable and for those who want to get into the blow-by-blow details, let’s check these hypothetical DCEU phase 4 films.

Superman: Doomsday (2019) Directed by JJ Abrams

Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent = Brandon Routh

Lois Lane = Kate Bosworth

Kara Zor-El/Supergirl = Dakota Fanning

Doomsday = Terry Notary

Lex Luthor = Kelsey Grammer

Mercy Graves = Scarlett Johannsen

John Henry Irons = Aldis Hodge

Hank Henshaw = John Kraskinski

Terri Henshaw = Kate Mara

Martha Kent = Diane Lane

Jonathan Kent = Kevin Costner

Jor-El = Russell Crowe

Dr Emil Hamilton = Richard Schiff

Perry White = Sam Neill

Jimmy Olsen = Rider Strong

Cat Grant = January Jones

Steve Lombard = Josh Brolin

Capt. Maggie Sawyer = Jeri Ryan

Insp. Turpin = Colin Farrell

Bibbo Bibbowski = Luke Hemsworth

Mongul = Ioan Gruffudd

Guy Gardner = Damian Lewis

Dinah Lance/Black Canary = Malin Akerman

J'onn J'onzz/Martian Manhunter = Chiwetel Ejiofor

Barry Allen/The Flash = Matt Damon

Booster Gold/Michael Jon Carter = Alexander Ludwig

Fire/Beatriz Bonilla da Costa = Selena Gomez

Ice/Tora Olafsdotter = Kristine Froseth

Mari McCabe/Vixen = Lupita Nyong'o

To date, the Death of Superman story arc of the 1990’s has had three adaptations in film. The first was an animated home-release film called Superman: Doomsday, which heavily shortened the death arc and went a long way off the original source material story regarding Superman’s absence and eventual return. Next came Zack Snyder’s Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, which essentially shoe-horned a version of the story into its ending, then mangled the resurrection arc between Snyder and Joss Whedon in the 2017 Justice League film. Third were the DCAMU film adaptations from 2018 and 2019, with the first being a fairly accurate adaptation of the Death arc, while the second film was similarly good quality on part 2.

For this alternate DCEU, I’d want to borrow the title of the first attempt, ignore anything Snyder-based and try for a longer and slightly different variation on what the DCAMU gave us. As a result, we still get a good quality adaptation without being a carbon copy. The plot is roughly the same, in that Superman would have to go up against an alien monster called Doomsday, and has to lay down his life to end the threat. However, changes include the Justice League line-up aiding him, Lex Luthor isn’t trying to pass himself off as his illegitimate Australian son (don’t know what the comics were thinking on that one), and of course it’s the more modern Supergirl on hand instead of the 90’s version.

The cast is mostly retained from prior films, though a few are new in this film, specifically Doomsday, the Henshaws, Bibbowski, Mongul and JL members Fire, Ice and Booster Gold. In addition, there’s a change of direction; up to now, each Superman film has had different directors, going from Roland Emmerich to Ron Howard to Guillermo del Toro, with Rob Marshall directing the Batman/Superman film in phase 2. This time, it’s JJ Abrams taking up the reigns, having previously been my selection for the two Flash solo films of this alternate DCEU.

New Gods (2019) Directed by Ridley Scott

Scott Free/Mister Miracle = Charlie Cox

Barda Free/Big Barda = Lindsay Kay Hayward

Darkseid = Bernard Hill

Izaya the Inheritor/Highfather = Brian Cox

Orion = Tom Hardy

Solis/Lightray = Charlie Hunnam

Bekka = Danielle Fishel

Metron = Jonny Lee Miller

Forager = Steven Yeun

DeSaad = David Wenham

Mantis = Winston Duke

Virman Vundabar = August Diehl

Granny Goodness = Stockard Channing

Bernadeth = Rachel Weisz

Bloody Mary = Jennifer Stone

Lashina = Kristin Kreuk

Mad Harriett = Hannah John-Kamen

Stompa = Ronda Rousey

Steppenwolf = Ciarán Hinds

Kalibak = Liev Schreiber

For this film, we’re following up on events from the previous Justice League film as well as our Death of Superman adaptation. With Superman down, the heroes Mister Miracle and Big Barda return to their home-world of New Genesis in an attempt to bring their kin to Earth’s defence against an almost-certain assault by Darkseid. However, their leader Highfather is unwilling to violate a non-aggression pact between their world and Darkseid’s planet Apokolips. However, Darkseid is less scrupulous and facing potential usurpation by Virman Vundabar, so it’s actually New Genesis that comes under attack.

This film is very much about getting a better look at Darkseid and his supporting cast, while at the same time getting to explore the New Gods and paying cinematic homage to one of the more notable Jack Kirby creations from his DC Comics work. Mister Miracle, Big Barda, Darkseid, DeSaad, Steppenwolf and Kalibak are brought back from the last Justice League film, while everyone else is introduced for the first time. The castings of Danielle Fishel and Jennifer Stone attest to the attention I’ve paid at times to Disney Channel sit-coms (in this case, Boy Meets World/Girl Meets World and Wizards of Waverley Place, respectively), while most others are from a smattering of various mainstream films and shows.

As we’re dealing with alien worlds, I picked Aliens director Ridley Scott to helm this one. This is a first-time pick for this alternate DCEU.

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (2019) Directed by Matthew Vaughan

Richard Grayson/Robin/Nightwing = Patrick Schwarzenegger

Koriand'r/Starfire = Elle Fanning

Donna Troy/Wonder Girl = Ciara Bravo

Wallace "Wally" West/Kid Flash = Calum Worthy

Raven = Maisie Williams

Victor Stone/Cyborg = Ashton Sanders

Garfield "Gar" Logan/Beast Boy = Dylan Sprayberry

Tara Markov/Terra = Emma Bading

Joseph Wilson/Jericho = Brenock O'Connor

Slade Wilson/Deathstroke = Daniel Day-Lewis

Sebastian Blood/Brother Blood = Tyler Hoechlin

Mother Mayhem = Jennifer Connelly

Adeline Kane = Kristin Davis

Wintergreen = Martin Shaw

The Judas Contract is a 1980’s story arc for the young heroes that’s seen a couple of adaptations, first in the team’s animated series of the early 2000’s and then as a film within the DCAMU. It’s a good tragic story, as well as a coming-of-age story about being careful who you trust. This film version would try to adapt it a bit closer to the comics, including the incorporation of Deathstroke’s mute son Jericho, his estranged wife Adeline and his best friend Wintergreen. The film would also showcase Dick Grayson’s shift from Robin to Nightwing, and since Terra is of Eastern/Mid-European descent like her brother in the Outsiders, the casting takes this into account.

While the main Titans and Deathstroke return from past films, Terra and the other characters are new. Emma Bading is a German actress with a decent filmography who would be of comparable age to the other Titans, hence her selection. Direction-wise, I’m looking to Matthew Vaughan, having previously picked him in this alternate DCEU for the solo Green Lantern films, based primarily on the work he did on X-Men: First Class.

Suicide Squad: Arkham (2020) Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Amanda Waller = Viola Davis

Rick Flag Jr. = Joel Kinnaman

Floyd Lawton/Deadshot = Christian Slater

Captain Boomerang/Digger Harkness = Hugh Jackman

Dr Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn = Margot Robbie

Ben Turner/Bronze Tiger = Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Cheshire/Jade Nguyen = Rila Fukushima

Nanaue/King Shark = Sylvester Stalone

Claire Selton/Volcana = Kirsten Stewart

Killer Croc/Waylon Jones = Tyler Mane

Cluemaster/Arthur Brown = Martin McDonagh

Cavalier/Mortimer Drake = Kit Harington

Sonar/Bito Wladon = Silvio Simac

Baffler/Titus Czonka = Michael Chicklis

Bane = Rodrigo Santoro

Angel Vallelunga/Bird = Diego Luna

Zombie = Stephen Merchant

Trogg = Luis Guzmán

Dr Jeremiah Arkham = Dan Stevens

Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin = Sean Astin

Det. Crispus Allen = Djimon Honsou

Det. Peter Foley = Matt Le Blanc

Barbara Gordon/Batgirl = Bella Thorne

Having used Guillermo del Toro of Blade 2 fame to helm a third solo Superman film and the second Suicide Squad film of this alternate DC film universe, I’ve brought him back for a film that leads directly into the Knightfall/Knightsend duology. In this case, Amanda Waller has heard rumours of a new player in Gotham City planning to make some kind of move on Arkham Asylum. To that end, she recruits two Suicide Squads; one made up mostly of lesser Gotham villains who are to find out who the new player is and stop them, the other as back-up in case the first team fails or turns traitor. As to why team 1 lacks the usual explosive fail-safes, this is so Waller can avoid being found out, as Batman is wise to such things. However, as the film progresses, it’s more Batgirl and Detectives Allen and Foley of the GCPD who periodically disrupt the operation.

As the plot develops, the threat of Bane is ultimately revealed, at great cost to the Squad. In fact, this is where the first real shock probably comes in, because this film will see Harley Quinn killed by Bane. This is done largely to show that no one is safe from Bane and increase the stakes for the upcoming Batman films, but it also sets up for a Joker-related film plot in the next phase of this alternate DCEU. I won’t go into unpicking all the new versus old casting on this one; if you look through my Ramble articles past on this alternate DCEU, you’ll be able to see for yourselves.

Knightfall (2020) Directed by Matt Reeves

Bruce Wayne/Batman = Christian Bale

Alfred Pennyworth = Michael Caine

Tim Drake/Robin II = David Mazouz

Lucius Fox = Morgan Freeman

James "Jim" Gordon = Gary Oldman

Bane = Rodrigo Santoro

Angel Vallelunga/Bird = Diego Luna

Zombie = Stephen Merchant

Trogg = Luis Guzmán

Jean-Paul Valley/Azrael/Batman II = Connor Jessup

Nomoz = Michael Klebba

Det. Harvey Bullock = Donal Logue

Det. Renee Montoya = Penelope Cruz

The Joker = Willem Dafoe

Dr Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy = April Bowlby

Edward Nygma/Riddler = John Barrowman

Arnold Wesker/Ventriloquist = Giovanni Ribisi

Burt Weston/Film Freak = Luke Mitchell

Jervis Tetch/Mad Hatter = Matthew Jaeger

Aaron Helzinger/Amygdala = David Denman

Victor Zsasz = Elijah Wood

Maxie Zeus = Goran Višnjić

Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow = Cillian Murphy

Carleton LeHah = Lambert Wilson

Jack Drake = Tobey Maguire

Mrs. McIlvaine = Sinéad Cusack

Dr Shondra Kinsolving = Aisha Tyler

Mayor Armand Krol = Eli Roth

Dr Jeremiah Arkham = Dan Stevens

Dr Simpson Flanders = Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Knightfall is an epic-length film that covers much of the comic story arc of the same name from Batman comics on the 1990’s. In the original arc, Bane breaks out all the villains of Arkham Asylum, forcing an already weary Batman to exhaust himself chasing down the escapees prior to a showdown with Bane. In that showdown, Bane broke Batman’s back, forcing Bruce Wayne to hand the cape-and-cowl over to apprentice superhero Jean-Paul Valley, who was trying to overcome brainwashing he’d undergone to be an assassin of sorts called Azrael. After an opening act to introduce Azrael a few months prior, the film then jumps in at the moment the preceding Suicide Squad film ends; with Bane firing a rocket at Arkham to bust the villains out.

With a montage here and there to expedite matters, Batman wears himself down as before, only to be broken by Bane as in the comics, and as before, Jean-Paul is handed the mantle of the Batman. However, it soon becomes clear this may have been a mistake, and when Jean-Paul confronts Bane, it’s uncertain whether the new Batman will triumph over his mental trauma or not. The film contains a huge ensemble cast and covers a wide range of Batman characters both good and evil. To direct, I’ve picked Matt Reeves, who did the Planet of the Apes reboots and in this alternate DCEU has already helmed the third solo Batman film.

Green Arrow 3 (2020) Directed by Rian Johnson

Oliver Queen/Green Arrow = Ethan Hawke

Dinah Lance/Black Canary = Malin Akerman

Connor Hawke/Green Arrow II = Levon Hawke

Eddie Fyers = Seth Green

Roy Harper/Speedy/Arsenal = Cameron Monaghan

Veronica Dale/Hyrax = Anna Kendrick

Leopard/Leonard/Ed Pinkwater = Ian Somerhalder

Camorouge = Émilie Dequenne

Callendar = Jon Cryer

Dreyfus = Method Man

Nathan = Sam Worthington

Paine = Michael B Jordan

Monroe = Jon Bernthal

Belle = Sara Paxton

Green Lantern/Hal Jordan = Ben Affleck

As 90’s DC fans might guess, this film is all about adapting Oliver Queen’s death from 90’s comics into film, though I swap Superman out for Green Lantern on three counts. First, slating this film for in-between Superman’s death and return prohibits his involvement. Two, Hal and Ollie have long had a major bromance to add greater importance to the climax. Three, it makes the built-up to our solo GL film a bit better, as we will see. Aside from Hal Jordan, only Oliver Queen, Dinah and Roy are returning rolls, while the rest of the characters are all new and largely exclusive to this film and its storyline.

What is the story line, beyond killing the original Green Arrow? Well, like the comics, Ollie goes undercover with a group of eco-terrorists to uncover their plans, but he starts to fall for a member of the group, and at the same time, Ollie’s illegitimate son shows up looking to connect with his dad. For film direction, I’ve gone with Rian Johnson, a new selection for our alternate DCEU based on his work with the Star Wars film The Last Jedi.

Reign of the Supermen (2021) Directed by JJ Abrams

Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent = Brandon Routh

Lois Lane = Kate Bosworth

Kara Zor-El/Supergirl = Dakota Fanning

Hank Henshaw/Cyborg Superman = Brandon Routh

The Eradicator = Brandon Routh

Conner Kent/Con-El/Superboy = Asher Angel

Mongul = Ioan Gruffudd

Lex Luthor = Kelsey Grammer

Mercy Graves = Scarlett Johannsen

John Henry Irons/Steel = Aldis Hodge

Jaina Hudson/White Rabbit = Hayley Kiyoko

Green Lantern/Hal Jordan = Ben Affleck

Martha Kent = Diane Lane

Jonathan Kent = Kevin Costner

Jor-El = Russell Crowe

Dr Emil Hamilton = Richard Schiff

Perry White = Sam Neill

Jimmy Olsen = Rider Strong

Cat Grant = January Jones

Steve Lombard = Josh Brolin

Capt. Maggie Sawyer = Jeri Ryan

Insp. Turpin = Colin Farrell

Bibbo Bibbowski = Luke Hemsworth

Obviously, this film covers the return of Superman arc in much the same way as the comics do in the broadest sense; four Supermen turn up, Lois tries to work out who the real one is, one turns out to be a villain in league with the alien tyrant Mongul, whose role is expanded in this film. Their plans destroy Hal Jordan’s home town of Coast City, but Metropolis is saved by the returning real Superman. The film borrows a bit from its DCAMU counterpart by simplifying the Eradicator’s history, and indeed over this film and the previous Superman one we’ve done the same with Hank Henshaw. This is because the characters had prior history with Superman in the comics, but our film continuity wouldn’t cover that, so a bit of a tweak is in order.

Now because both the Eradicator and Henshaw were meant to resemble Superman outwardly to some extent, the casting of them is now a matter of putting Brandon Routh into those roles as well as playing his original Superman role in the third act. We also get another step on Hal Jordan’s descent into darkness, something that hasn’t had a proper adaptation in any media. The closest we’ve come is the last Green Lantern solo film in DC’s Tomorrow-verse continuity, which frankly isn’t that good, but more on this under the next film. JJ Abrams remains the director here to keep things consistent within this duology.

Green Lantern: Twilight (2021) Directed by Sam Raimi

Green Lantern/Hal Jordan/Parallax = Ben Affleck

Carol Ferris = Liv Tyler

Tom Kalmaku = Taika Waititi

Thaal Sinestro = Mark Strong

Kilowog = Tyrese Gibson

Kyle Rayner/Green Lantern II = Taylor Lautner

Alex DeWitt = Hunter King

Clifford Zmeck/Major Force = Luke Evans

Mongul = Ioan Gruffudd

Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent = Brandon Routh

Boodikka = Gina Carano

Ke'Haan = Kevin Durand

Laira = Emma Stone

Kreon = Ryan Philippe

Ganthet = Patrick Stewart

Sayd = Glenn Close

Appa Ali Apsa = Hugo Weaving

Tomar Tu = Tom Hiddleston

Jack T. Chance = Colton Haynes

Hannu = Lee Pace

Graf Toren = Hiroyuki Sanada

As you might imagine, this film would be filmed in close proximity to the two before it to facilitate the various cross-over aspects of it. This time, we’re doing the Emerald Twilight/New Dawn story arc, in which Hal Jordan suffers a mental breakdown after his home town is destroyed during the events of Superman’s return. In a fit of anger, he rampages across the stars to Oa, home planet of the Green Lantern Corps, defeating fellow lanterns and swiping their power rings. After a final showdown with his friend Kilowog and enemy Sinestro, Hal takes all the power of the central Lantern battery, becoming a villain known as Parallax who plans to remake the universe to prevent the destruction of Coast City. However, a last member of the Guardians travels to Earth and bestows a last Lantern ring on freelance artist Kyle Rayner, and thus a new Green Lantern is found, but one who must master the ring with no GL corps or Guardians to guide him.

Again, not going to unpick who is new and who is long-standing for this film as it would be a bit long-winded to explain. However, as we don’t really include Golden Age superheroes like original GL Alan Scott, exposition regarding Hal’s actions to Kyle ends up coming from Superman’s appearances in the film, as well as human GLs Guy Gardner and John Stewart. Due to the way Hal acts in this story arc, not to mention this film adapting the infamous murder of Kyle Rayner’s girlfriend, I picked Sam Raimi to direct this film based on his horror film background. Raimi was also my pick to direct a John Constantine one-off film in phase 2 of this alternate DCEU.

Knightsend (2021) Directed by Matt Reeves

Bruce Wayne/Batman = Christian Bale

Alfred Pennyworth = Michael Caine

Tim Drake/Robin II = David Mazouz

Jean-Paul Valley/Azrael/Batman II = Connor Jessup

Lucius Fox = Morgan Freeman

James "Jim" Gordon = Gary Oldman

Bane = Rodrigo Santoro

Richard Grayson/Nightwing = Patrick Schwarzenegger

Jack Drake = Tobey Maguire

Mrs. McIlvaine = Sinéad Cusack

Dr Shondra Kinsolving = Aisha Tyler

Mayor Armand Krol = Eli Roth

Det. Harvey Bullock = Donal Logue

Det. Renee Montoya = Penelope Cruz

The Joker = Willem Dafoe

Tallyman = Bill Skarsgard

Lady Shiva = Ming-Na Wen

Tony Bressi = Milo Ventimiglia

Arnold Etchison/Abattoir = Robert Kazinsky

Benedict Asp = Jason Isaacs

Colonel Vega = David Nykl

Yuri = John Morrison

Graham Etchison = Bill Hader

Penn Selkirk = Jason Sudeikis

Carter = Liam Cunningham

Barbara Gordon/Batgirl = Bella Thorne

When Bruce’s doctor Shondra Kinsolving is abducted, the crippled Bruce Wayne begins a search that leads to the healing of his back at great cost, while Jean-Paul Valley grows increasingly unstable. Now heavily armoured and armed, this Batman is more brutal, and when a man dies from Jean-Paul’s behaviour, the recovered Bruce Wayne must begin a crash-course in the fighting arts in order to confront his errant replacement and reclaim the mantle of the bat. Again keeping Matt Reeves in the directorial position for duology consistency, this film focuses on the follow-up to Knightfall as the defeated Bane is moved aside and the battle comes out as original Batman versus would-be replacement.

Justice League: Armageddon (2022) Directed by The Russo Brothers

Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent = Brandon Routh

Diana/Wonder Woman = Kate Beckinsale

J'onn J'onzz/Martian Manhunter = Chiwetel Ejiofor

Barry Allen/The Flash = Matt Damon

Kyle Rayner/Green Lantern II = Taylor Lautner

Fire/Beatriz Bonilla da Costa = Selena Gomez

Ice/Tora Olafsdotter = Kristine Froseth

Arthur Curry/Aquaman = Chris Pine

Dinah Lance/Black Canary = Malin Akerman

Amanda Waller = Viola Davis

Floyd Lawton/Deadshot = Christian Slater

Ben Turner/Bronze Tiger = Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Killer Croc/Waylon Jones = Tyler Mane

Jaina Hudson/White Rabbit = Hayley Kiyoko

Weather Wizard/Mark Mardon = Michael Fassbender

Shimmer = Anna Faris

Eve Eden/Nightshade = Debby Ryan

Dr Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy = April Bowlby

Scott Free/Mister Miracle = Charlie Cox

Barda Free/Big Barda = Lindsay Kay Hayward

Darkseid = Bernard Hill

Orion = Tom Hardy

Metron = Jonny Lee Miller

Granny Goodness = Stockard Channing

Bernadeth = Rachel Weisz

Bloody Mary = Jennifer Stone

Lashina = Kristin Kreuk

Mad Harriett = Hannah John-Kamen

Stompa = Ronda Rousey

Steppenwolf = Ciarán Hinds

Kalibak = Liev Schreiber

Dr Niles Caulder/The Chief = Pierce Brosnan

Clifford Steele/Robot Man = Johnny Whitworth

Larry Trainor/Negative Man = Alessandro Nivola

Rita Farr/Elasti-Girl = Alyssa Milano

Mento/Steve Dayton = Nathan Fillion

Bumblebee/Karen Beecher = Kyla Pratt

Vox/Malcom Duncan = Donald Glover

Hal Jordan/Parallax = Ben Affleck

John Stewart = Derek Luke

Guy Gardner = Damian Lewis

Wallace "Wally" West/Kid Flash = Calum Worthy

Our latest Justice League film brings a few different plot threads in from past films. Following the events of Justice League: Darkseid Rising, the death and return of Superman and the New Gods film, Darkseid finally dares to try and assault Earth. Forewarned by survivors sent from New Genesis, the Justice League gathers what heroes it can, and also reaches out to the Suicide Squad. The Doom Patrol also appears, but at the climax of the film, as Darkseid takes to the field of battle, there are two major shocks; the death of the Flash, and the arrival of Parallax, who decides to wipe out the forces of Apokalips. Suddenly it's not an alien tyrant who threatens the armageddon of the film’s title, but one of their very own turned to darkness by grief and fear.

The film has a huge ensemble cast, largely reprising roles from past films. Debby Ryan as Suicide Squad member Nightshade is the sole piece of new casting in this film, and as for direction, I decided that the work done by the Russo Brothers in the MCU, especially Infinity War and Endgame, earns them the chance to direct this film and one or two subsequent instalments in this film universe.

Teen Titans 3 (2022) Directed by Matthew Vaughan

Richard Grayson/Nightwing = Patrick Schwarzenegger

Koriand'r/Starfire = Elle Fanning

Donna Troy/Wonder Girl/Troia = Ciara Bravo

Raven = Maisie Williams

Victor Stone/Cyborg = Ashton Sanders

Garfield "Gar" Logan/Beast Boy = Dylan Sprayberry

Trigon = Viggo Mortensen

Dr Arthur Light = James McAvoy

Cassie Sandsmark/Wonder Girl II = Amiah Miller

M'Gann M'orzz/Miss Martian = Marsai Martin

Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle = Iñaki Godoy

Tim Drake/Robin II = David Mazouz

Conner Kent/Con-El/Superboy = Asher Angel

Roy Harper/Speedy/Arsenal = Cameron Monaghan

Tempest/Garth = Luke Benward

For this film, we retain Matthew Vaughan from our last Teen Titans film for directing and explain the absence of the Teen Titans from Justice League: Apocalypse a little. Following an arc over all three Teen Titans films, Raven is struggling to contain her father’s presence, but after a major fight with the villainous Doctor Light, Trigon manages to possess Raven and attacks the Titans through her. With the main team decimated, a group of new, younger teen heroes rise to aid their predecessors. By the end, what Titans remain would not be in much shape to fight, win or lose. Much of the cast is retained from past films, with the characters of Doctor Light, Wonder Girl II, Miss Martian and Blue Beetle being the newcomers for this instalment.

Justice Society (2022) Directed by James Gunn

Jay Garrick/Flash = Miles Teller

Alan Scott/Green Lantern = Lucas Till

Ted Grant/Wildcat = Robbie Amell

Rex Tyler/Hourman = Adam DeVine

Carter Hall/Hawkman = Sullivan Stapleton

Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl = Jessica Alba

Billy Batson/Shazam = Zachary Gordon/Zachary Levi

Isaac Brown/Fiddler = Stephen Dorff

Cameron Mahkent/Icicle = Sendhil Ramamurthy

Richard Swift/Shade = Anthony Carrigan

Paula Brooks/Huntress = Gemma Chan

Neal Emerson/Doctor Polaris = Nicholas Hoult

Henry King Jr./Brain Wave = Ray Stevenson

Hal Jordan/Parallax = Ben Affleck

Black Adam/Teth-Adam = Dwayne Johnson

Metron = Jonny Lee Miller

Closing out phase 4 of my alternate DCEU is a take on the Justice Society that borrows from a Justice League animated series story line and Marvel’s Wandavision series. In this film, Hawkman, Hawkgirl and Shazam wake up in a world where they’re part of the Justice Society, a superhero team operating in a 1950’s-style American mid-west town. Though they initially suspect nothing wrong, Hawkman’s past life memories and Shazam’s wisdom of Soloman begin to disrupt a strange mental hold, and as they do, the infamous Injustice Guild becomes much deadlier. In reality, Parallax is doing a test-run of his proposed plans to the time stream, but as the test is disrupted from within, the New God Metron convinces anti-hero Black Adam to interfere from without.

For direction, I went with James Gunn out of curiosity to see what he could do with this, given that in real life he’s become the DC film-verse’s equivalent to Marvel’s Kevin Feige. In terms of casting, the individual characters mentioned in the paragraph above are all returning actors, while everyone else is new and exclusive to this film. As for why I think this would be a good approach on the Justice Society, that’s down to a desire to pay homage to the early comics in a way that’s nostalgic while also advancing the Parallax story arc.

So, that’s it for phase 4 of this alternate DCEU. More to come on this and my alternate MCU in the new year, but not right away as I’m hoping to get more variation on the go in the new year. So, until next month, Merry Christmas to everyone celebrating that occasion, Happy Holidays for those celebrating something else, have a prosperous new year when we get to the end of this year, and otherwise ta-ta for now.

0 notes

urne-buriall · 2 years

Text

our lights in ashes on spotify

Ye held me fast in your heart and I held you fast in mine ― “The Marshes of Glynn” by Sidney Lanier

(read on ao3)

Jack rooted through the box under the passenger seat, somehow locating a mixtape that Dean made over a painstaking two weeks at a motel in Memphis back when he was a teenager. Must’ve been at the bottom of the box, because he didn’t remember all that was on it, and some of the ribbon inside had come loose, streaming out of the cassette. Jack wound it back into place using the cap of a pen he found in the glovebox. When he put the tape in, it started partway through the first song; nothing less than Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising.”

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” Dean said through his teeth. Another back-to-back lightning-strike and thunder-roll underscored the jangly guitars from the stereo.

Track Listing:

Goin' to the Party - Alabama Shakes // Steamroller - Bruce Peninsula // God's Whisper - Raury // Patron Saint Hunter - Timber Timbre // I Didn't Come Here to Die - Spoon // Jockey Full of Bourbon - Tom Waits // Meet Me in the Alleyway - Steve Earle // Walking Man - Washington // Dogwood - Terry Allen // Yesterday When I Was Young - Roy Clark // Esqueletos - Tarantella // Blood of the Lamb - Billy Bragg & Wilco // Digging Holes - Icarus Himself // Swingin Party - The Replacements // Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood - Nina Simone // The World Ender - Lord Huron // How Many Days - Kris Kristofferson // Hurricane - Possessed by Paul James

#our lights in ashes #fic playlist #destiel fic #deancas #southern gothic #was I making this post to avoid working on something else?#why would you ask that?

8 notes · View notes

lemuel-apologist · 2 years

Text

"The Meeting" by Elouise Bell

Scene: Inside a large, conventional meeting house. There is the usual pre-meeting hubbub. Women are busily conferring with one another over agenda and announcements; at the door, two women are shaking hands with members of the congregation as they enter, trying diligently to call each entrant by her name. The men are hurriedly urging children into pews, settling quarrels and trying to arrange seating so that the least mayhem will ensue. Some of the men do a better job than others at juggling their paraphernalia: in addition to diaper bags and bottles of apple juice or milk, most have “quiet books,” small toys, and some have rather large and cumbersome Primary materials to hang onto and keep track of.

Three or four younger men are radiantly absorbed in small bundles wrapped in fancy crocheted afghans; their fuzzy-headed infants are all dressed in special finery for the occasion, and the seats immediately around them are filled with smiling, wet-eyed grandfathers, uncles, brothers; and over the heads of the crowds, we can see visiting teachers nodding their assurance that they will be ready when the moment presents itself.

Presently, a confident, comfortable-looking woman in her late forties takes her seat on the stand. She is almost immediately flanked by two others: a slender, dark-suited woman of about thirty who keeps whispering last-minute information to the woman in the center; and a woman of perhaps sixty who appears totally unflappable, as if, having engineered reconstruction after the Flood and supervised logistics during the Exodus, she is scarcely about to be intimidated by anything the present moment might demand of her.

Behind them, on the second row, sit four men of varying ages, each in black trousers, white shirt, and black tie. The youngest of the three women, whose name is Abbot, steps to the pulpit. She smiles silently at the buzzing congregation for a few moments, and as the crowd quiets, we hear a tiny voice call out boldly, “That’s MOMMY!” Abbot smiles benignly at the child, while the father, seated in the second pew, blushes, puts a hand gently over the child’s mouth, and shakes his head hopelessly at his neighbor.

ABBOT: Sisters and brothers, it’s time to begin. We welcome you all here, members and visitors and friends, and hope your time with us will be pleasant. Now I’m afraid we have a large number of announcements today, but they are all important, so we ask for your attention.

To begin with, Brother Hales of the elders group has asked me to tell you that our lovely brethren are collecting empty one quart oil cans, to be used by the group in making special Christmas projects. They are going to construct Christmas tree stands, candle molds and toys from these used oil cans, I’m told. Elder Hales has placed a large carton outside the south entrance and would appreciate it if you’d all deposit your empty oil cans there, and in so doing contribute to this worthwhile project.

Next, we want to remind you of the Education Week program early next month. Four of our members will be participating, and I’m sure we’ll all want to attend and take advantage of this special opportunity. Sister Lorraine Larson will be giving a lecture on “Eschatology and Ether in the Perspective of the Book of Revelation.” Sister Ellen Hemming is speaking on “The Gnostic Scrolls and Our Concept of Spirit Translation.” Brother LeRuth Davis will have a workshop titled “Twenty Tips for Keeping a Tidy Garage,” and Brother Terry Joe Jones will repeat last year’s popular series on “Being a More Masculine You.”

Brother Allen informs me that the quorum is having a special fireside this next Sunday evening with two important guest speakers. Sister Amanda Ridgely Knight will discuss “The Role of Man: Where Does He Fit in the Eternal Plan?” And Sister Alice Young Taylor will lecture on “Three Important Men from Church History.”

Next weekend is a big one for the younger teens in our congregation: the Beehive class is going to kayak down the Green River, under the direction of Sister Lynn Harrison. And as I understand it, the deacons will be here at home, helping to fold and stamp the ward newsletter.

In the Young Men’s meeting tonight, the boys will have something special to look forward to—a panel of Laurels from the stake will discuss “What We Look for in Boys We Date.” Here’s your big chance boys!

Now finally clipped to your programs you see a proposal—and I stress that that is all it is so far—for a method of handling our financial commitments for this next year. This is of vital importance to every member. I stress that. We want every one of you to go home, gather your husbands and children around you, examine this proposal, and decide if you can give us your sustaining vote on it.

(At this point, the third woman on the stand, whose name is Chaplin, gets up and whispers briefly to the speaker.)

ABBOT: Sister Chaplin reminds me that the basketball team will be practicing this week in preparation for the stake playoffs Saturday. Practice will be every afternoon this week from 4 until 6. Coach Tanner has asked that every player get there right at four, or a little before, if she can. Young women, we want you to know how proud we are of you! In the same vein, the boys’ basketball team has also been doing nicely; if I’m not mistaken, they are leading the region and also have a game sometime this next month. Practice for the boys’ team will be over in the old stake house from 5 to 6:30 a.m. this next week. Any boy having a basketball is asked to bring it, since we’re a little short on equipment for the boys’ team.

Well, I think that’s all of the announcements. We will open the meeting by singing on page 102, after which Brother Donny Dee Williams will give the invocation.

The chorister steps to his stand and leads the congregation in the following song:

We are cooking, daily cooking Food that strengthens, food that fills, Casseroles that feed the starving, Wheat from ever-turning mills.Wheat that’s grown and ground and garnished, Wheat that’s fiber-rich and pure, Wheat for woman, to sustain her, As she labors strong and sure.

After the prayer, Abbot returns to the pulpit.

ABBOT: 1 am happy to report that our numbers are growing: we have had six babies born this last month alone! I’ll just mention each one, and you can congratulate the happy parents after service.

Sister Jean Hammond and her husband Dale have a new little girl, to be named Rachel Sariah Hammond. Sister and Brother Ellen Taylor, a girl to be named Ellen Fielding Taylor, Jr. Sister and Brother Margaret Jones, a girl to be named Elizabeth Eleanor Jones. As you know, this baby is Sister and Brother Jones’ sixth, but the very first girl they’ve managed to have, and I just want to share with you what Margaret said this past week. Someone who didn’t know the family asked her how many children she had. “Six,” she said, “and they’re all girls but five!”

Now in case you think we’ve forgotten the opposite sex, Sister and Brother Anne Henderson are welcoming a little boy to their home; he’s to be named LeWinky Henderson. Gale and Jimmy Jenson also have a new boy, to be named Tippy Tom Jenson; and Meredith and Billy Joe Gordon have a son whom they have named Fortitude Oak Gordon.

Well, our congratulations to all the families and their new members.

Right now, it’s time for a special number from our Singing Fathers. They will announce their own selection.

(The four men dressed in black trousers come to the front of the stand, cluster together, place their arms on each other’s shoulders, and set themselves for singing. At this point, one man whispers to another, who steps forward.)

QUARTET MEMBER: We will sing “O My Mother.”

O my Mother, Thou that dwellest in the high and glorious place, When shall I regain Thy presence, and again behold Thy face? In Thy holy habitation, did my spirit once reside? In my first primeval childhood, was I nurtured near Thy side? For a wise and glorious purpose Thou has placed me here on Earth, And withheld the recollection of my former friends and birth, Yet ofttimes a secret something whispered, ‘‘You’re a stranger here,” And I felt that I had wandered from a more exalted sphere. I had learned to call Thee Mother, through Thy Spirit from on high, But until the key of knowledge was restored, I knew not why. In the heavens are parents single? No, the thought makes reason stare. Truth is reason. Truth eternal tells me I’ve two parents there. When I leave this frail existence, when I lay this mortal by, Mother, Father, may I meet You in Your royal courts on high? Then, at length, when I’ve completed all You sent me forth to do, With Your mutual approbation let me come and dwell with You.

After the song, Abbot returns to the pulpit.

ABBOT: Thank you very much, brothers, for that special number. Now our speaker today, sisters and brothers, is a returned missionary from our congregation, Sister Eve Wentworth. Sister Wentworth filled a highly successful mission to Japan, was made a district supervisor after she had been out only twelve months, and in due time became Second Counselor to President Marileo Yashimoto of the Nagoya Japan Mission. I happened to meet President and Brother Yashimoto at conference last month, and she told me there wasn’t a missionary in their mission who had been a finer example of dedication and leadership than Sister Wentworth. We’re happy today to hear from Sister Eve F. Wentworth.

(In the interests of saving space and avoiding repetition, we here give, instead of Sister Wentworth’s complete speech, a copy of the ward clerk’s notes thereon.)

SPEAKER: Sister Eve F. Wentworth, recently returned missionary.

Summary of remarks: Missionary work—the central calling of House of Israel. Reason Israel was chosen of God. Greatest thing we can do to bless world in anguish. All worthy women to shoulder this responsibility. Mission also the making of character. Boys must help young women prepare for calling. Must never tempt young women or cause them to fall. Tight pants, dangers of. Bare chests an abomination before Lord. Boys don’t understand female nature, how easily ignited. Must set example. Not to be cause for some young woman’s unworthiness to serve mission. Use time when women are on missions to improve selves, prepare for marriage, prepare to be companion to returned missionary, conduit whereby spirits of women are sent to earth. Can be learning skills—gardening, yard work, home repair, etc. Young women to be serious about missions—cosmic in scope. Eternal consequences. Work affects ages yet unborn, fate of nations. Prepare well. Study scriptures in depth; learn languages; social skills. Avoid getting serious abt. boys prior to call. Boys—charming distractions. Then recounted her own experiences from mission—healing sick, rebuking spirits, receiving revelation abt. impending catastrophe, directing district missionaries out of danger. Value of gentlemen missionaries. Did much good, worked right along with sisters. Need more of right kind of brother missionaries in field. Closed with testimony of work.

Closing song: “Come All Ye Daughters of God.”

Closing prayer: Sister Hannah Ruth Williams

#mormon feminism #elouise bell #eloise bell #(im not sure which spelling is correct)

6 notes · View notes

jasontoddiefor · 5 years

Text

Batfam Fanfic Rec Sunday!

I’ve decided to do something worthwhile with my 1400+ Batfam bookmarks, therefore I welcome you to my first Fanfic Rec Sunday. Every Sunday I guess I’ll recommend fanfictions for a specific theme, AU, trope, etc.

Feel free to request specific themes or AUs and I’ll do my best to search for fitting fanfiction!

(”Oh, I’ve always wanted to read something like a Brooklyn 99 crossover!” ”I’ve got your back, young reader.”)

This week’s theme is Time Travel & Batman Beyond!

And I’ve got 28 amazing fanfics for you below the read more!

Have fun and don’t forget to leave these lovely writers a comment!

Title: A Gift to Cherish Summary: The wonderful thing about being hurdled through time and space is that Jason doesn’t have to deal with the fallout of not listening to Bruce. The awful, terrible, no good very bad part of hurtling through time and space is that he has no idea where he is. It’s all up to wormhole he was thrown into to decide where he gets spit out to. In which Jason is thrown into a future he never came back to, and gets to heal, just a little bit. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20226775

Title: A Good Place Summary: Damian Wayne is kidnapped and sent back years through time. Together, he and Father – who's only been Batman for a mere six months –must figure out how to return him to his own time. Over the course of the next week, Damian discovers that Mexican gangsters do not mess around, that social workers find Bruce annoying, that Bruce might be a little messed up, and that crystal chandeliers create the fondest memories. Oh. And Alfred has hair. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13515501

Title: A hundred miles through the desert Summary: Finding himself nearly three decades into the past hadn't been part of Jason's plans for the day, but he could manage. Having no idea how he got there, no clear path home and a recently orphaned Bruce Wayne determined to drag Jason into his search for his parents' killer - that might be a little more complicated. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18197330

Title: And They’re Only Getting Better Summary: 90's!Tim Drake wakes up in his Red Robin body. Exhausted from a YJ mission, he chooses to focus on getting through a normal day so as not to disrupt things for his future self. But, y'know, his way. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10522401

Title: A Time to Reflect Summary: Bruce finds himself stuck in the past, and while waiting for the league to pick him up, struggles to get along with his past self. Plus being in a practically empty manor is a bigger adjustment than he'd like to admit. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20156707

Title: Back to the Past Summary: Bruce is Robin, his dad isn't Batman though, despite how similar the outfits are. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17237258

Title: Careful what you wish for Summary: Sometimes, Batman can’t help but miss the time when Dick was the one and only Robin. In a world with magical imps, he should have known better. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15009647

Title: Choose - Lose Summary: Tim looked to the empty space where the time traveler had stood, a forgettable man with a forgettable face in a forgettable shabby brown suit, and had made his unforgettable offer. You can save him. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18320876

Title: Cocoa in April Summary: There are strict rules when it comes to time-traveling. But when Dick is faced with an adorable young Bruce when he's accidentally sent back to 1988, he can't resist a conversation. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16888914

Title: death sucks (and then you live) Summary: Red Hood is starting to put some serious plans in motion when he's attacked by a not-so-welcome blast from the past. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15532380

Title: Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep Summary: I am not here I do not sleep. Terry wants to say he's okay with cemeteries. But taking your kinda boss, kinda mentor, kinda surrogate father-figure to his creepy family cemetery does not make him feel good. He didn't realize just how much Bruce mourns. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19378990

Title: In my arms Summary: There was nothing he could do. Nothing he could change. Those were the rules of the past. Besides, babies cried all the time, even if this was less a cry and more of an angry wail from a little one pushed past its limits. But still. He should have been on his way. He likely would have been, had this been a different home. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20728655

Title: Innocence and experience Summary: What starts as a normal patrol ends up shaking up the world of Young Justice when a boy claiming to be a future Robin drops from the sky while chasing after a man in white. The Team struggles to deal with Damian and the future he represents all the while trying to return him to his rightful time. But for what purpose is this new villain in the past and can Damian and the Team stop him? Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9224534

Title: I Used to Be an Adventurer Like You, Then I Took an Arrow to the Knee Summary: Stephanie was just on patrol and now she’s stuck somewhere, sometime, with Bruce. They bleed and bond and mostly try to keep each other alive— you know, just a Tuesday. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16437716

Title: life, if well lived Summary: Jason wakes up from a time-travel mishap to find Thomas and Martha Wayne hovering over him. Just another day in the life, right? ...Not quite. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18378512

Title: Lost and Found Summary: Bruce is dying. Slowly, painfully. Not going out in a blaze of glory and defiance for a greater purpose. He's caving under the weight of his own age, under the damage he's done to his heart through the years. Terry can't be by his side constantly to do damage control. More than that, he can't watch it happen with no reprieve. But there's no one else. Terry needs help keeping vigil by an ill Bruce's bedside. But the old man had kids once, didn't he? Are the bridges he burned unable to be rebuilt? As he observes, Terry definitely starts to wonder how this family used to be. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12214692

Title: meet the robins Summary: sad little orphan bruce travels to the future and meets the family he’ll have one day :) too bad he can’t stay forever :( Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2685095

Title: Mint Chocolate Chip Summary: Summer vacations have been going on just long enough for Jason to start getting bored, when he gets an unexpected visitor. From the future. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18860545

Title: no one seems to go Summary: “Father,” Bruce mumbles, “I am something of an outlaw.” “Were you always this dramatic, son?” Thomas asks, the bed beneath them shaking as he shifts. “Alfred.” Bruce snorts, shaking his head. “Theatrics are his speciality, remember?” Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15663957

Title: Of your own making Summary: Jason died. Then he came back, forty years too late. It takes time to adjust. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20211523

Title: One Big Batty Family Summary: In which Billy Batson and the McGinnis siblings join the present day Batfam. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1133567

Title: Oops I did it again Summary: "You're insane." Or possibly an insane dream from eating chili dogs before bed. Which one Jason wasn't sure since he had yet to pinch himself. "I'm a member of the longer existing Dead Robins Club that doesn't even give you a lousy shirt. Not shocking Jay." Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/936921

Title: Raisin Delight Summary: A year after Jason Todd dies, Tim Drake and Bruce Wayne take on the case when they notice strange occurrences in Gotham city. This has disastrous consequences, but so do most things that Tim gets caught up in, so what's new, really. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15644082

Title: Realization Summary: Bruce makes a discovery while conducting a check-up on Terry. Takes place midway through the "Splicers" episode. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/377468

Title: Strange Manor Summary: Bruce let his eyes close to wallow for a moment in worry and fear for Jason. One second, two, three. He opened his eyes. Time to act. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13474308

Title: The Incandescent Rose Summary: Terry McGinnis (the new Batman) impulsively asks marriage proposal advice from his mentor and grumpy father figure Bruce Wayne. When the older man describes a proposal in which he had been yelled at and abandoned, Terry can't help investigate the matter by seeing some of Bruce's most knowledgeable friends and family members. This search prompts someone else into action. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19414228

Title: The Time Travel Problem Summary: Barry Allen and Clark Kent, follow Bruce around during a time travel mission through Gotham City's recent past. If only Bruce would stay focused. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21143081

Title: Younger Bruce, Older Jason Summary: Jason wakes up in the dead of night to an unexpected visitor. (Like you’ve never heard that one before...) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14867975

#dc #dc comics #batman #batfam #bruce wayne #dick grayson #jason todd #terry mcginnis #Tim Drake #Damian Wayne #Stephanie Brown #batfamrecs

706 notes · View notes

thephantomcasebook · 5 years

Quote

I don't know really anything about Supercorp, and I think the writers and producers of Supergirl are insufferable tools ... but you know ...

Me coming up with fanfics about a supercorp clone baby raised by a Lena Luthor in secret, who grew up in a picturesque small town in New England and has no idea her perfect and beautiful momma is a supervillian, till Ras Al Ghul tries to kidnap her from Central City University and Batman (Terry Mcginnis) and The Flash (Jay Snow) rescue her in a team up mystery adventure they’re working on Detective to Detective.

Then she finds out via middle aged and overweight Cisco Ramon at Star Labs that Kara is her 'other mom' but when Jay and Terry take Supercorp daughter to meet up with retired and married Kara in Metropolis, she freaks out and feels violated, and puts that on the daughter she didn't know she had "or wanted!".but before Kara can apologize, Supercorp daughter flies (Yes fucking FLYS) away, ripping a huge hole in Kara’s house’s roof and the Flash gives chase.

So Supercorp baby is all fucked up, till Jay Snow (The Flash) tells her that his mother was the super villain Killer Frost and his dad is Barry Allen (the original Flash) and that he knows how Supercorp. daughter feels and tells her that she's not alone, and perhaps they can help each other get unscrewed up together.

Meanwhile, Kara confronts Lena about this "Lab experiment" to which we find out that they had an "almost romance" but Kara backed out because Lena couldn't shake the "Luthor Curse" and did Evil shit behind her back. so Lena, feeling betrayed and heartbroken, took "the best of Kara" for herself and created a child and lived out their fantasy life with "their" daughter.

Also, Ras Al Ghul is inhabiting the body of Damian Wayne which gives Terry and Old Man Bruce stuff to deal with.

Yeah, no, I did that shit, never even watching Supergirl ...

Can you guys tell?

#Supercorp #Snowbarry #Batman Beyond #Lena Luthor #don't @ me

18 notes · View notes

robininthelabyrinth · 5 years

Text

Fic: An Internal Affair - Chapter 16 (Ao3 link)

Fandom: The Flash Pairing: Leonard Snart/Barry Allen

Summary: Leonard Snart, the CCPD Captain of Internal Affairs, is known as Captain Cold for a very good reason: He hates corrupt cops with a merciless vengeance, and once you’re on his list, you’re in serious trouble.

His next target?

A CCPD lab tech named Barry Allen who’s developed a suspicious habit of disappearing at random intervals.

—————————————————————————————————

"So the plan for today is to search STAR Labs, right?" Barry asks, mentally reviewing his calendar.

"That's right," Cisco says, tossing his pencil up into the air a bit too high and fumbling the catch. "Wells is taking that video conference call from home today, the long one, and it should take him all morning. I've dialed into it myself to make sure he's still on the call and repositioned some satellites with infrared detection in his direction to make sure it's actually, y'know, him and not like a hologram or something. I'll be monitoring it all from here." He makes a face. "Now I can listen to him talk to the accountants."

"I'm glad I don't have to do that," Joe remarks, slouching against one of the computer desk. "No offense, Cisco, but that sounds boring as hell."

"It is, but I can play video games at the same time," Cisco tells him. "The joy of multiple screens."

Joe shakes his head mournfully, clearly despairing of this new generation.

"Give up, Cisco," Caitlin teases. "He's never going to appreciate your technology."

"Joe, you've started looking into the Dibny thing I told you about yesterday, right?" Barry asks, ignoring their interplay. He's charged up with energy today - the speed training, whatever Wells' goal with it, is definitely working, and ever since things have gone well with Len...

The phrase 'walking on air' comes to mind.

Barry's having to make an effort to ensure he doesn't accidentally walk on air, literally.

"Yeah, yeah," Joe says. "I asked a few guys over in Vice to check out what Dibny's up to; they've promised to get back to me later today, maybe tomorrow. Y'know, I'm still not sure it isn't just your old grudge against the guy coming up again, but since you got Cold's authorization for the search, it's probably still worth checking out."

Joe's voice has gone bitter. Again.

Barry scowls at him. "Joe, we've talked about this. Yes, we're dating. No, this isn't some sort of 'secret plan' to get at us; he's a good cop and he wants to do the right thing, and the right thing right now is taking down the Man in Yellow –”

“Reverse Flash,” Cisco interjects.

“– and he’s helping us with that. And you can stop hinting that he's only agreeing to look into Dibny because I'm dating him any time now!"

"I wasn't saying that!"

"It was implied," Caitlin says. "Heavily."

"And you did kinda do the same thing to Iris and Eddie Thawne when they first started dating," Cisco points out meekly.

Joe crosses his arms and scowls.

"Why don't we focus on our search of STAR Labs?" Cisco hastily suggests in an obvious bid to change the subject. "Thanks to Iris' digging, we've managed to map out the parts of the Accelerator built by Zoom Contracting, and thus probably by the Reverse Flash; if he hid something inside of STAR Labs, it's probably there. Barry, you ready?"

"Sure am," Barry says. "Let's start with -"

A door slams in the hallway and they all freeze.

"Wells?" Joe asks, his hand automatically dropping to his belt.

Cisco squints at his screen. "No, he's still on the call - he's even talking. Can’t be him."

"Then who -?"

Another door, and then the off-beat echo of footsteps, accompanied by a heavy thump every few seconds.

Barry knows that thumping walk quiet well, though the individual responsible has never been to STAR Labs before.

"Len..?"

Len comes through the door.

Barry is already stepping forward, starting to smile automatically at the sight of his boyfriend despite being unsure of what brings him to STAR Labs unannounced, but Len's expression - bloodless lips pressed tightly together, face tight and pale with rage, jaw clenched - makes him pause, as does Kara following him close behind, an extremely worried expression on her face.

"Len?" he asks, smile fading, replaced with worry. "What's wrong? What's happened? Is everyone okay?"

"Where are they?" Len demands, ignoring Barry’s questions. "Where have you put them?"

His voice is harsh, though it remains as cold as ever.

If Barry didn’t know him, he’d think Len was angry, but not furious; he’d think he was indifferent and coldly disapproving – but Barry does know Len. He’s seen him talk about Mick. He knows the overwhelming coldness that swallows Len up when he’s been ripped apart inside, the agony of pain and betrayal that he tries and fails to hide behind a layer of icy fury.

Len is unbelievably angry right now.

“Put who?” Barry asks, a sinking feeling in his stomach. “Who are you talking about? Who’s ‘them’?”

“The people,” Len snarls. “The ones with powers! Your victims!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Cisco says. “Victims? What the hell are you talking about?”

“That seems kind of uncalled for,” Caitlin says.

“Uncalled for?” Len says. “Uncalled for?”

He grits his teeth, obviously trying to rein in his temper enough to even speak.

Barry tries to look at Kara to see if something has happened, some meta similar to Bivolo affecting Len’s emotional state or something happening with Mick, but she’s refusing to meet his eyes.

Bad sign.

“Okay,” Len says after a moment, his voice even more controlled now. His hands are clenching so hard on his crutches that his knuckles have gone white; he’s clearly not actually calmed down at all. “Okay, let me rephrase and put this in a way that you people might understand –”

This does not bode well.

“– please tell me, without delay, where you people put the human beings – entitled to all human rights under international law – that are, just to add insult to injury, also United States citizens – with all the rights that entails under our legal system – that you fucking assholes assaulted, kidnapped, and illegally imprisoned?”

Oh shit.

“You know,” Len adds scathingly. “The ones you all didn’t tell me about?”

Barry’s brain just – freezes.

He’s gotten used to his mind moving faster than most people's, after the Accelerator, and even when he’s had his mind crash before, it was because he was thinking too many things at once.

Not now.

Complete stop.

Complete blank.

“Uh,” Cisco squeaks. “You – mean the metas?”

“Yeah,” Len says. “I mean the metas. You remember them, I hope? The ones that Barry here knocked out on the streets of Central City – battery, assault, maybe grievous bodily harm, I don’t know –”

No.

“ – and then moved without their consent – just so you know, legally we call that ‘kidnapping’ or ‘human trafficking’, take your pick –”

No.

“– in order to put in a secluded area in which they weren’t allowed to leave, aka, unlawful imprisonment. Do you want me to cite legal provisions at you? I can do that.”

No!

“It’s not like that,” Joe protests. “You don’t understand –”

“Oh, I understand all right,” Len cuts him off. “You – all of you – you think you’re judge, jury, and executioner all at once. Who needs the laws, huh? Who needs rights when some random civilians think they can do it all themselves – this is just like I thought it would be, right from the start –”

“It’s not like that!” Barry exclaims, finally regaining his voice.

Len finally looks at Barry. His expression is hard, but his eyes reflect the light – he’s got suppressed tears in his eyes. This is not easy for him; this is hurting him.

“Yes, Barry,” he says, and his voice is even a little gentle, just for Barry, when for anyone else it would stay sharp and unyielding. “It is like that. It’s exactly like that. You’re a CSI. You work for the CCPD. You took the same oath every cop takes, to uphold the laws and protect the people. You, you of all people, should know exactly how important it is to protect the right to a free and fair trial where you can defend yourself. And you still...you still took that right away from these people.”

Barry’s breath catches in his throat.

Len’s right.

Len, who cares so much about corruption –

Who feels personally betrayed by those who swore to respect the rule of law and then don’t –

Whose father was a dirty cop, whose life was ruined by a dirty cop, whose partner was nearly killed by a dirty cop –

Who confessed one day when it was just the two of them, curled together on a park bench, that he liked Barry from the very beginning, liked him a lot, but just couldn’t bring himself to trust that Barry really meant well – and how much it meant to him to find out that Barry wasn’t like that –

And now this.

The metas.

The metas they’d put away.

The disappearances that Len thought the Flash was responsible for – they weren’t all Family hits or related to STAR Labs, after all. Terri had had three piles of disappearances, after all: Family-related, STAR Labs-related…and Flash-related.

Len was so happy when he discovered that Barry wasn’t behind the disappearances.

But he was.

Kyle Nimbus. Jake Simmons. Tony Woodward. Shawna Baez. Mark Mardon.

Those disappearances?

They’re all him.

And Barry didn’t tell Len about them.

Oh, he never made a conscious decision to omit the information from what he told Len or to deliberately try to hide it. He was just so focused on how removing those names from the list of disappearances revealed things about their investigation, on how that narrowed-down list showed that Wells was up to something related to the Families, on how this new information got them a step closer to the answers, he never even thought about what it meant.

It never occurred to him to mention that those disappearances weren’t really disappearances; that he knew where they were; that he knew what had happened to them.

It wasn’t a deliberate deception at all.

Barry just forgot about them.

He’s pretty sure Len will think that that’s worse.

“It’s not like what happened with Barry’s dad at all,” Joe interjects, trying to salvage the unsalvageable. He takes a step forward, glaring at Len; he never liked Len, and undoubtedly sees this as yet another instance of that dislike, rather than the reckoning it really is. “These metas were committing crimes and harming people –”

“Even criminals have rights, Detective West,” Len snaps. The gentleness in his voice is gone. “All people do. The right to a fair trial. The right to a proper arrest. Or are you telling me that Barry here – who, let me remind you, is a private citizen, not even a cop, and thus not authorized to even arrest anybody – Miranda’d all the metas before taking them in?”

“I –”

“No, please, tell me, Detective West! I’m dying to know! Did you read ‘em their rights? Did you process their arrest in a public database according to the law? Did you give ‘em access to a lawyer? A judge? A call to family? Can they invoke the right of habeas corpus? Can they sue you for unlawful arrest if you messed up any part of that process?”

Len takes a step forward, leaning even more heavily than usual on his crutch. His eyes are boring into Joe’s, but his words are aimed at all of them.

“And what about the conditions once they’re captured, huh?” he continues. “They get their three hots and a cot, one hour of mandated physical activity, the right to company, conjugals, regular contact with friends and family? Or bail, huh, how about bail? Who decided they couldn’t be bailed out? That’s a judicial decision, and for some reason, I’m suspecting that none of you are sworn judges!”

Joe’s mouth moves, but he doesn’t say anything.

There’s nothing he can say.

“Especially you, Detective West,” Len continues, his voice dropping to a whisper. “You’re not a judge. But you are a cop. Sworn to uphold the law. Except you didn’t, did you?”

Joe still says nothing.

Barry can’t blame him.

It’s not just Joe, after all. Barry took the same oaths, made the same vows, promised himself he was doing the right thing.

And he wasn’t.

Len’s mouth twists. “No, you didn’t. You did the same thing every goddamn corrupt cop in the city did, thinking that what you think is right is more important than the laws.”

“I was trying my best to protect the people of Central City,” Joe says woodenly.

“Guess what, Detective? The ‘people’ you think you’re protecting include the people you’re abusing – yes, I said abuse!” Len says, holding up a hand to cut off Joe’s protest. “And I mean abuse! This is precedent, West; if you can decide to imprison someone without their rights, why can’t everyone else?”

“I saw them commit crimes!” Joe says. “I saw them, we all saw them! They’re not innocent! We know they’re not innocent!”

“It doesn’t matter if they’re innocent or not innocent! Even fucking serial killers that get caught red-handed get the chance to defend themselves in court!” Len exclaims, his voice starting to rise as his rage begins to escape even his icy self-control. “It doesn’t matter if they’re standing on a mountain of the corpses of their victims that you just saw them murder right before your eyes! You’re just a cop! You don’t get to decide ‘oh what the hell, they’re evil, I’ll just shoot them’, not if you have the option of taking them in peacefully – and if you do, you deserve to be fired and go to jail for manslaughter. But you certainly don’t get to decide that they don’t get to be arrested according to procedure. You don’t get to decide that they don’t get the right to have a trial, a lawyer, anything. You don’t get to lock them away and throw away the key!”

Joe bows his head.

“And you know that! You’re a cop; you can’t say you didn’t know. You knew they had rights, you knew what they were entitled to, and you just decided to do it anyway,” Len continues. “You decided to ignore every single damn thing that society says that all people, even criminals known to be guilty, deserve! You locked these people up without telling anyone like - like they were fucking stray dogs! You took their rights away from them! And for what? What possible reason could justify that?”

He takes a limping step forward.

“It can’t be just because you saw them committing a crime,” he says. “You’re a detective; if you started kidnapping everyone who ever committed a crime in front of you, this place would be overflowing. So no, it’s not that. That’s not what made you feel you could do this.”

Another step forward.

“Having powers, is that it? Is that what makes these people different? That must be it. But you don’t get to make that decision – and you know why? Because like every corrupt asshole in the book, you won’t apply it equally. You’ll say it’s okay to do all this to one person, but not another, and why? Because you think you’re able to make that judgment call. You. Just you. Because you’re above the law. And that’s what corruption is.”

Another.

“We’re all supposed to be equal under the law, Detective West. I’ll be the first to admit there’s a shit ton of inequality baked in there, with poor people and minorities getting the short end of the stick, but at least they’re the laws we’ve all agreed we’re following. At least we all know what to expect. Being kidnapped at superspeed and locked away without a trial? Ain’t no one expecting that.”

Len looks around the room.

“All of you,” he says. “So self-righteous, ain’t you? Thinking you’re doing the right thing.”

He shakes his head.

“Tell me,” he says, “think any of you’d object if I took Barry here and put him in a hole, never letting him talk to any of you ever again, leaving you wondering what happened to him? You would, wouldn’t you? Of course you would. He’s your friend. But why is he any different from all the rest of 'em? He’s got powers, too! You’ve seen him commit crimes, too! By your logic, you ought to treat him just the way you treat the rest of them! All of you - you’re no better than those monsters that keep girls in their basements!”

“But it is different! You don’t understand; these metas are dangerous!” Cisco blurts out, unable to suppress his dismay anymore. “We didn’t have a choice; we had to put them in the Accelerator! With their powers, there’s no way the cells at Iron Heights can hold them –”

“Iron Heights isn’t the only goddamn prison out there! If you hadn’t all been so obsessed with keeping Barry’s identity a secret – with keeping all of this a secret, putting the public and your fellow cops in greater danger because they went into the field not even knowing that they didn’t know what they were facing – you could have just told the CCPD about it!”

Len mimics holding a phone up to his ear. “Ring ring, hey, guess what, I’m reporting a crime, and hey I managed to stop it from happening but it turns out the perp appears to have unusual powers that probably won’t be contained by Iron Heights’ normal cells. Luckily, by chance, I happen to have a place that will hold them securely; do you want to use it while still granting them due process?”

He drops his hand back to his side, his face twisted in disgust. “Guess that was just too fucking hard for you guys, wasn’t it?”

“It wasn’t…you don’t…Wells said –” Caitlin says, her voice wavering.

“Oh, Wells, yeah, Wells,” Len says. “Let's talk about Wells. How convenient, of course, it’s all Wells’ idea. Sure it was. You know what, let’s even say it really was his idea, whole and entire, and none of you had anything to do with it. Who cares? Unless the guy is carting around an idiocy field that reduces the brain function of anyone within twenty feet of him, you’re all adults! Rational, thinking adults! How could you permit this?! How could you not try to stop it the second you realized what was going on?”

Barry’s breath is coming hard and his brain just won’t start up again, won’t start thinking again, refuses to function in a vain attempt to keep him from having to understand and acknowledge the truth.

To understand what exactly he did.

His mind just keeps repeating: he’s right. He’s right. He’s right.

Len’s right.

This – all of this – is wrong.

Horrifically, awfully, terribly wrong.

Unjust.

Illegal.

Wrong.

And they just – went with it.

All of them. Barry. Joe. Cisco. Caitlin. All of them.

They just agreed.

They just let it be.

They just allowed it to happen.

Each of them could have stepped up to the plate and said: no. This is wrong. And they didn’t.

They didn’t do anything.

They can’t blame that on Wells. That’s on them.

They just let themselves be swept away by the excitement and unreality of it – superpowers! Superheroes! Supervillains! And when each episode is over, then the bad guy goes away into the jail cell, never to be thought of again…

A modern oubliette, as Len says. Put them there and forget about them.

(In the beginning, Wells said they would rehabilitate them. No one even remembered to try.)

“Listen, okay, maybe we didn’t handle all this the best way,” Cisco starts, coming to Barry’s defense. Ever the loyal friend, even when Barry is the one in the wrong. “But you can’t just –”

“Shut up,” Len says. “You don’t get to talk. Not after what you’ve done.”

Cisco jerks back as if he’s been hit. “After what I’ve done –”

“Oh, yes, you,” Len says. “Friendly, smiling, cheerful Cisco Ramon, the jailor of STAR Labs. Or is someone else operating the controls? I thought that was your job.”

Now it’s Cisco’s turn to go mute, horror twisting his face as he opens and closes his mouth.

“Tell me, do you feed them?” Len asks him, his voice biting. “Do you clean their cells? Let them go on bathroom breaks? How do you do that – drug them, maybe? Does it make you feel powerful, treating them like rats in a cage?”

“No – no, I don’t – I’m not like that –”

“Funny,” Len says. “From what I hear, you’re exactly like that. Tell me, Ramon, do you know that it’s legally considered torture to deliberately play loud music at someone who can’t escape?”

Cisco blanches.

“Oh yeah, I know about that,” Len says. “Torturing a deaf man, how fun! But hey, he was mean to you at work a few times; I’m sure that balances it all out in the eyes of law, right? No jury’ll ever convict you, ‘cause being an asshole, causing some property damage, and getting into a fight with Barry, well, you know, that’s it, that’s three strikes right there –”

“You don’t –” Caitlin starts.

“Oh, don’t you start, doctor,” Len interrupts venomously. “Unless the version of the Hippocratic Oath you took comes with an exception that allows you to care for people in illegal solitary confinement without doing shit all to remedy their status. ‘Do no harm’, right? Do no good either, apparently.”

“You’re right,” Barry croaks. “You’re – you’re right.”

“You bet I’m right,” Len says. “You’re keeping people locked away – locked away in solitary confinement – do you even know what that does to a person? Even in regular prison, where they know they have access to a lawyer, where they know they still have rights, where they know that at least someone knows where they are and cares?”

He looks tired, suddenly. “It’s much worse when you know there’s no one there,” he says. “So much worse. When you’re all alone in a room, left alone to suffer, and you know no one is watching out for you ‘cause without the law you’ve got no rights but what human mercy can offer – and human mercy runs pretty damn short.”

Len’s imprisonment.

Locked alone in a room, guarded by Family thugs intent on torturing him to death, and no one knowing where he was.

Of course.

Barry - Barry should have thought. Barry should have realized.

They've treated the metas fairly well – excluding whatever it was Len was referencing with Cisco, which sounds seriously problematic – but that still doesn’t make it right.

“The laws might be soft in Central,” Len says, getting a hold of himself. “But by God I will see them applied. You’re going to transfer every single meta you have here to police custody –”

“We’ll do that,” Barry promises. “We will, I promise. I’m sorry, Len. I should’ve done better.” He swallows. “If you don’t want to be with me anymore, after this, I’d understand –”

Len starts laughing.

It’s not a good laugh. It’s sharp and jagged and very nearly hysterical.

“Barry,” he chokes out. “Oh, Barry. You don’t understand. The question isn’t are we staying together. The only question left here is how many years in prison you’re all going to be sentenced to.”

“Hold up,” Joe says, straightening. “You’re not seriously –”

“Oh, you bet I am,” Len says. “I’m going to bring hell down on your heads so hard you won’t even know what hit you.”

That gets them all talking all at once.

“You can’t! The investigation – Wells –”

“We have to help –”

“It’s important –”

“There are mitigating factors –”

“You have to give me a chance,” Barry begs. “Let me fix what I’ve done –”

“I don’t care!” Len bellows. “Right now, I couldn’t care less about the investigation. You’re all going to –”

His phone rings.

Len falls abruptly silent.

Everyone does, mostly from surprise at the sudden sound.

Barry’s more surprised than most, though. Len’s phone basically never rings. It’s a joke by now, one that Barry’s laughed over with Kara, with Iris, with everyone – Len always texts, never calls, and no one ever calls him.

Len digs his phone out of his pocket.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Joe says. “You can’t honestly be answering –”

“Shut up,” Len snaps, jabbing violently at his phone to accept the call. “What the hell do you want? Now’s not a good time, so –”

He falls silent, his face suddenly going stark white.

“Len?” Barry asks, stepping forward. He’s pretty sure they’re not dating anymore and he can’t blame Len for it in the slightest after what just happened, but he still can’t help but be concerned. He can’t help but reach out for him, to try to help him with whatever is causing that expression.

“Boss? What’s going on?” Kara asks, stepping forward herself, sliding neatly around him to stand between him and Barry, her back to Barry as she protects Len –

Protects Len from Barry.

And she's right.

Because this is all Barry’s fault, in the end. If he’d told Len the truth at the beginning, then maybe he wouldn’t have had this reaction – maybe then Len would have understood how much Wells had misled them all, how he’d played on their enthusiasm and naïveté to brush over their concerns, how he’d led them all to think that this was all okay – maybe –

But Barry hadn’t told him.

Now his only hope is that Len will decide to give them just enough mercy to try to prove themselves. To prove that they do mean well, that they aren’t evil, that they aren’t corrupt.

Because that’s where all this came from, isn’t it?

Central City’s corruption, seeping through its pores, affecting them all.

Joe, an officer of the law who just wanted to do the right thing, who wanted to help people, but who thought nothing of locking the ‘bad guys’ away to keep them from hurting anyone – who thought nothing of the rights those ‘bad guys’ themselves had, because it’d never been all that important to his work before.

Caitlin, a doctor, sworn to help people, forgetting that she had to do more than just care for their wounds.

Cisco, so focused on the technical aspects of how STAR Labs’ prison worked that he forgot about the value of the humans lives they kept within its walls. The nerd who treated life like a comic book, and didn’t remember that the story went on past the closing of the last page – who thought that things were ‘awesome’ without considering their moral value.

And Barry.

Barry, who, of all people, should have known better.

Barry, who struggled against injustice when it was his father suffering under it. Barry, who took the hard line against Dibny because he thought justice mattered. Barry, who just wanted to help.

And look what he’s done with it.

“Boss,” Kara says again, more urgently, when Len doesn’t answer her even after he’s ended the call. “Boss, tell me what’s wrong. What happened?”

“Mick,” Len croaks.

Barry straightens at that. “What happened?” he demands. “Is he okay?”

After all, Barry’s the one who was dating Len. He knows exactly what Mick means to Len.

Mick’s Len’s best friend, his partner in crime, his anchor – his version of Iris. Mick’s the one Len lied to, the way Barry lied to Iris; Mick’s the one who Len wants so desperately to apologize to, the way Barry wanted to apologize to Iris.

Except Barry got his chance to do that, and despite his fears, Iris forgave him; he knows that Len would sell his soul for the chance to have the same.

He knows that Len is not nearly as okay as he pretend to be. He knows that Len hasn’t really gotten over everything that happened to him: the betrayal, the torture, the loss of the life he built for twenty years, and all of that wrapped up in his grief and rage over what happened to Mick.

He knows that Len is barely holding it together, with nothing but strength of will and a desperate need for atonement he’s sublimated into an unending drive for vengeance.

If Mick dies, Len will shatter into a million pieces.

Barry doesn’t want that to happen.

Even after all of this, he still – he still –

He’s pretty sure he loves Len.

Shit.

What terrible timing for that little revelation, given that even in the highly unlikely event that Len decides not to throw them all into prison for the rest of their lives, he’s still definitely not going to forgive Barry for, well, any of this.

And Barry deserves it, too. He deserves never to be forgiven.

He’s going to be the reason all his friends go to jail.

(He should have told Iris from the very beginning. She would never have agreed to tolerate any of this.)

“Boss!” Kara is saying urgently, pulling the phone out of his unmoving hands, waving her hands before his unmoving eyes. “Boss, talk to me! What happened to Mick? Tell me what happened!”

“Len,” Barry says quietly, stepping forward to stand by Kara’s side. He knows she doesn’t want him there – her glare is very nearly hot enough to burn, just like Len’s always joking it is – but he thinks he might be able to get through to Len despite the shock of whatever news he just got. Len knows that Barry understands his relationship with Mick. “Len, tell me you hear me.”

Len’s eyes move and land on Barry.

“Tell us what happened,” Barry instructs.

“It’s – Mick,” Len croaks.

“What about Mick?” Kara asks again. “What about Mick, boss?”

Len swallows as if his throat has suddenly gone dry, then swallows again when his voice fails him. His eyes are wide and his hands are shaking and he looks – shattered, somehow.

“It’s Mick,” he says again. And then – “He woke up.”

#coldflash #leonard snart #barry allen #joe west #cisco ramon #Caitlin snow #kara danvers #my fic #an internal affair

25 notes · View notes

imjustthemechanic · 6 years

Photo

Natalie Jones and the Golden Ship

Part 1/? - A Meeting at the Palace Part 2/? - Curry Talk Part 3/? - Princess Sitamun Part 4/? - Not At Rest Part 5/? - Dead Men Tell no Tales Part 6/? - Sitamun Rises Again Part 7/? - The Curse of Madame Desrosiers Part 8/? - Sabotage at Guedelon Part 9/? - A Miracle Part 10/? - Desrosiers’ Elixir Part 11/? - Athens in October Part 12/? - The Man in Black Part 13/? - Mr. Neustadt Part 14/? - The Other Side of the Story Part 15/? - A Favour Part 16/? - A Knock on the Window Part 17/? - Sir Stephen and Buckeye Part 18/? - Books of Alchemy Part 19/? - The Answers Part 20/? - A Gift Left Behind Part 21/? - Santorini Part 22/? - What the Doves Found Part 23/? - A Thief in the Night Part 24/? - Healing Part 25/? - Newton’s Code Part 26/? - Montenegro Part 27/? - The Lost Relic Part 28/? - The Homunculinus Part 29/? - The End is Near Part 30/? - The Face of Evil Part 31/? - The Morning After Part 32/? - Next Stop Part 33/? - A Sighting in Messina Part 34/? - Taormina Part 35/? - Burning Part 36/? - Recovery

Nat comes to, and her friends are there for her.

Nat woke up in a bed, with Sir Stephen looking down at her.

“How long was I out?” she asked, and looked around. Most of the walls were painted white, although the one behind the head of the bed was yellow, and the floor was hardwood. Gold curtains covered a pair of French doors that led out onto a little balcony. Above the bed were two stylized paintings of baskets of flowers, in inoffensive colours. This was a hotel room. “Whose room is this?”

“The room is Madame Desrosiers’,” Sir Stephen replied. “We didn’t think she’d be returning to it. And you have been sleeping perhaps an hour.”

Nat sat up a little. Sir Stephen was wearing a heather gray t-shirt now, but the burns he’d sustained were peeking out above the collar and below the sleeve. These looked much improved, more like scar tissue than blistered skin – all trace would be gone by this time tomorrow.

She held up her burned hand. It didn’t hurt anymore, and when she examined it, it looked completely whole. Even her fingernails were back. The only sign that anything odd had happened was a ragged tan line around her wrist, where the new pale skin met the part that had been out in the Mediterranean sun all week. She flexed the fingers. They were a little stiff, and prickled as if she’d been sitting on them and the circulation was only just coming back, but there was nothing apparently wrong with them.

“Where are Newton and Desrosiers, then?” asked Nat.

“They escaped into the hills while we were seeing to you,” said Sir Stephen. “Sam, Clint, and Sharon have gone to search for them. All three are well-armed. Your father and Jim wanted to stay here with you, and Sharon made me stay, too, in case the alchemists returned to finish what they began.” He turned to the doorway.

Allen must have heard her voice, because he was on his way into the room. He set his coffee cup down on the bedside table, sat down on the bed, and gave Nat a hug. Nothing was said, he just sat there clutching her so tight, it almost made her ribs creak.

When he finally sat up again, with tears in his eyes, he took her restored hand in both of hers. She squeezed his fingers. When she’d been hurt in the past, the only people who took an interest were the doctors, cold and clinical, repairing her so she could be of further use. Now here was Allen, whose own world would have ended if she’d been hurt. It was a warm, safe feeling, at the same time as it seemed like a tremendous responsibility.

“I’m okay, Dad,” she said.

“I know.” He brushed her cheek. “Thank heavens.”

Jim was now standing in the doorway, although he was hanging back to give Nat and Allen a bit of space. Natasha wiped her own eyes – where had those tears come from – and smiled at him. “Thanks,” she said.

“Don’t mention it.” Jim held up a hand.

“No,” said Natasha. “That was five days of your life.”

“Maybe not that much,” Jim said. “We used some on the bird.”

“Still,” Nat insisted. “Thank you.”

He smiled softly. “You’re welcome.”

The others returned after midnight, empty-handed and disappointed. There were hundreds of little towns and farms on the slopes of Mount Etna, some of them now being evacuated ahead of what was looking more and more like a potentially serious eruption. The police had refused to let them go as high as they would have liked, and they’d eventually had to admit that they didn’t have a hope of finding Desrosiers and Newton. Then on their way back to Taormina, they’d gotten stuck in traffic, crawling along for hours as everybody tried to go the same way on roads that had not been well-maintained.

“Did you at least get Laura her pistachios?” Natasha asked.

“Yes, I did!” said Clint proudly. He put two bags of them on the table, and then took out a cluster of rather more mysterious objects, held together on raffia like a bunch of fish on a string. “Also this ceramic garlic. They had it at a place here in town. There were all kinds of ceramic fruits and vegetables, but I thought the garlic was coolest.”

“What’s she gonna do with ceramic garlic?” asked Jim.

“I don’t know, I just thought it was neat,” Clint confessed with a shrug. The cloves, which were hollow, rang softly against one another as they twisted on the raffia.

“Maybe it’ll keep away ceramic vampires,” Nat suggested.

“You must be feeling better,” Sharon observed.

Nat flexed her hand again. It was no wonder, she thought, that Clint kept rubbing at his side. It was a weird feeling, knowing she’d been injured but not having any evidence of it. It was as if the new skin itched but on the inside, where she couldn’t scratch it. She wondered if Jim felt that over his whole body.

“The ferries are jammed with people evacuating,” Sharon said with a yawn. “So we can’t go back to the mainland until tomorrow at the earliest. According to the radio, scientists keep saying the volcano won’t erupt violently, but it’s hard to believe that when the government is working so hard at pulling people out.”

“That’s probably exactly the way the alchemists like it,” Nat said, lying back on the pillows again. She had expected to be exhausted, as if being healed by the elixir ought to be hard work, but she felt fine. “They want to work in privacy, so emptying all the surrounding towns is perfect for them. Especially if they’re going to create the stone in or around the volcanic crater.”

“Desrosiers said that was stupid,” Clint reminded her.

“I don’t think we can believe a word Desrosiers says about anything, including that,” Nat replied.

“Great,” Clint grumbled.

“Maybe you can get Laura one of those necklaces made of the lava stones,” Sharon suggested.

The others all seemed to be tired, and one by one they retired to sleep on the sofa, in the chairs, even on the floor of the hotel room, leaving the bed for Natasha. It would have been a pretty useless gesture anyway, as Nat was used to sleeping in uncomfortable places, but there was also the fact that she wasn’t tired. It was as if the elixir had come with a shot of energy drink. She managed to doze a little, and then woke up with a warm breeze on her face.

Everybody else was asleep – except for one figure, who was standing out on the balcony with the doors open. Nat wasn’t surprised to see that it was Jim.

The windows on this side of the building faced towards the volcano. With the street so narrow and other buildings all around them, the peak of Etna was not visible from the balcony, but the rising column of steam was lit ruby red from below, flickering as the lava bubbled, crusted, cooled, and then welled up again. Nat got up and crossed to the window to stand next to Jim.

“Quite a show, huh?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he murmured.

“Another thing you’re grateful you got to see?” Nat asked.

“Maybe,” he said. “Volcanoes are neat… it would be cool to get up there sometime when it’s not actually erupting. To get a look at the craters and rock formations.”

“You know those things exist,” Nat mused. “How do you know it?”

“I have no idea,” Jim admitted, shaking his head slowly.

“What do you know about the philosopher’s stone?” asked Nat.

Jim had to think about it a minute. “I couldn’t read that stuff he wrote out in his journals… I wonder if that’s because he can’t easily read the code, either. Maybe I only know the stuff he knows without thinking about it. But I know that the stone uses nuclear reactions to rearrange matter, copying a template. It’s sort of like the cells I’m made of. They use the DNA they’re given to rearrange themselves. That seems to be the basis of alchemy: learning what nature’s templates are and how to copy them and create something new.”

“So he needs gold if he wants to make more gold,” said Natasha. The standard joke, as presented in half a dozen Terry Pratchett books was that alchemists could turn gold into less gold. “And a feather from the holy spirit to make himself a god.”

“You don’t think that’s gonna work, do you?” Jim asked. He was clearly unsure himself, but then he had reason to be concerned about what Newton was capable of, if anyone did.

“No,” Nat replied firmly. “Mostly because I don’t think their sacred feather is a real relic. A feather just wouldn’t last that long. I’ve seen human hair that was only five hundred years old, and it was all bleached and basically just turned to dust the moment it was touched. Since the pigeons are dark, I suspect it’s from a seagull. That means all Newton will accomplish with it is turning himself into a bird, or maybe a whole flock of them, or just a weird mass of keratin.” It depended on how much detail the philosopher’s stone could replicate something in.

“Sorry,” she added a moment later. “You don’t want to hear things like that, do you?”

“Not really.” He reached for her hand, then hesitated. “You don’t think… since those cells have no DNA in them and don’t necessarily know which body they belong to, if we touch, will we stick together?”

Nat shrugged and touched his fingers with her right hand. It felt normal. “Looks like no.”

They stayed there a few minutes longer, watching the smoke glow red and orange. It would flicker and die and then start up again, over and over as the lava simmered below. It was the kind of thing people usually only saw on television or in National Geographic magazine. Knowing it was only a hundred miles away was exhilarating.

Then it stopped.

Because of the long cycle of flickering, it took a moment for Natasha to realize that it wasn’t going to start up again. The mist around the peak was still present, lit from below by the lights of the towns and the traffic, but the glow of the volcano itself had died out.

“I guess it’s done for tonight,” said Nat.

“Yeah,” said Jim. “Looks like even the volcano wants me to go to bed.”

Nat knew how to put him to sleep now. “Come with me,” she said, squeezing his fingers.

“Why?” he asked.

“Because I want you to,” she said.

“You don’t need me,” Jim said. “You’ve got your friends and your father here. They’ll look after you.” He was reminding her that they were permanent and he was not – and that she had real human relationships and he could not, and he didn’t want her to sleep with him out of pity.

“Yeah, but right now I want you,” she said. Jim needed to feel wanted. So, honestly, did Nat sometimes.

“You sure?” he asked.

“Very sure,” she said.

“All right.” He stroked her cheek with his thumb, and she smiled at him as he leaned down to let their foreheads touch. “They’re all gonna see us when they wake up.”

“They can say whatever they want,” Nat replied. If anybody wanted to judge them, she would let them know exactly what she thought of that.

#fanfic #natasha romanov #steve rogers #bucky barnes #sharon carter #sam wilson #clint barton

4 notes · View notes

rabbitcruiser · 2 years

Photo

The Yerba Buena Gardens is the name for two blocks of public parks located between Third and Fourth, Mission and Folsom Streets in downtown San Francisco, California. The first block bordered by Mission and Howard Streets was opened on October 11, 1993.

5 notes · View notes

so-flashtastic · 7 years

Text

Ain’t no prince waiting for me

Soulmate AU Pairing: Barry Allen x reader

Summary: In spite of her tattoo, Y/N Y/L/N has given up this soulmate thing. She simply doesn’t believe it, she’s convinced that she’s doomed to never find her true love. But will an unfortunate event change that?

Warning: Eddie’s still alive!! He’s not going to die in my AU either;))

A/N: OK, so I have always wanted to do a soulmate-AU, I simply find the clichés adorable! In this one, the soulmate thing is the partner’s first words the first time they meet each other, but hey! If you liked this, and want m to make another soulmate-imagine, send me your idea! Enjoy:))

ϟϟϟϟϟ

“I’m telling you, Blaise, I just don’t believe in it!” Y/N was yet again arguing with her best friend about the idiotic soulmate thing. “How can you not believe in it? This is how life works, how God have made it easier for us to find one another!” It was almost pointless to continue. The two had two completely different ideologies. Blaise: the girl who believed in fate, in God, in the stupid tattoos. And then there was Y/N: the one that believed in science, in random happenings and that were convinced she would die alone.

“You will never understand, B, I will never have what you and Hunter have,” this provoked Blaise, how could her almost perfect, best friend think so little of herself? “Of course you will, your wrist is proof of that, now stop the bullshit talk, Y/N,” her tone short and sharp. “But Blaise, I swear I’m cursed or something! My younger siblings have met their partners, my whole family has always found their soulmates at a young age. All of my friends have their partners, heck you and Hunter have a kid, Blaise!”

“You’re not cursed, Y/N,” “Just look at this Blaise, it’s pure evil, my tattoo says ‘wow’! That can be anyone, it can be a creep, a jackass, it can be any guy on the planet!” “You need to stop being so pessimistic, Y/N, it doesn’t suit you,” Blaise kept her mouth in a thin line. “The complex is weird and unnatural,” “You can’t just say that!” “Watch me!” Y/N challenged, and shouted at the top of her lungs, which made Blaise just want to disappear. So she dragged her friend through the park. “Don’t wake Amos, Y/N,” she excused, and their discussion stopped there, the next talking-topic being how Y/N was doing at work.

“It’s so cool,” “It’s not that cool, Cisco,” Barry chuckled. His friend, teammate, and colleague had not stopped looking at his wrist in awe. “But it is! I mean, come on! The damsel falling in love with her hero – it’s a classic!” Cisco referred to the words ‘Holy crap, it’s him!’ “You know, it can also just be a girl that doesn’t like me or something, or-“ "Nope, this right here, my man, is a line said in adoration,” Cisco patted Barry’s back, and they went back to their work.

Y/N sat on the Haydens’ couch as her friend walked around her apartment. “He gets to bed at-” “Seven, you know Blaise, I have babysitted Seany before, I know the drill: Dinner’s at 5, so that’s out of the way, if he’s hungry I can give him some fruits, bedtime’s at seven, but it’s no crisis if it gets closer to eight, and there’s food for me in the fridge for me to take whenever I want. I’m not the teenager neighbor you had to book last minute, B,” It was Blaise and Hunter’s date night, and as usual Y/N was there to babysit 'lil Sean.

“Of course, of course! I’m so sorry, just a bit nervous,” Y/N rolled her eyes at her friend, this was what happened each time, and Blaise would always start excusing herself for not 'trusting you enough’. This time, the difference was that Y/N managed to make that part take less time, and she pushed her almost hyperventilating best friend out the door to her husband.

“…And the Flash saves the day yet again,” Y/N closed her laptop and looked over to the other end of the couch, where the Flash’s biggest fan of the age of 3 laid with a clear view to her feet. “Kiddo, that was the last article, sorry bud,” “Have you checked Iris West?” What that still amazed Y/N about Sean, was that in spite of his lack of abilities when it came to naming the alphabet, and counting to fifteen like the other kids, he had this huge interest in The Flash – which made him speak of certain journalists as if he knew them. “We just read Iris West, Seany, I’m sorry,“

“What does yours say, aunty Y/N?” Sean looked at her wrist, which Y/N huffed at. 'What is it with this world? Why are everyone so eager on those stupid tattoos?’ But she pulled herself together and forced a smile. "You see, Sean, aunt Y/N isn’t as lucky as all the other ones, her tattoo doesn’t work,” “It doesn’t?” The little boy looked up at her with big, worried eyes, which by some way made Y/N feel bad for him. “No, but I’m sure yours work! Mommy’s and daddy’s worked, I’m just a bit less lucky,”

“Do you think the Flash has a tattoo?” Sean asks, which make Y/N laugh – if those words had come out of any other’s mouth, she would have rolled her eyes. “I believe so, yes,” “You are very pretty, aunty Y/N,” right there was one of the many reasons Y/N loved Sean. Sure, he wasn’t the best at keeping a conversation – that boy was more distracting than any kid Y/n had ever met. But in the end, Sean was this great, funny, bubbly guy that Y/N loved hanging out with. “Thank you, that was a very nice thing to say, you’re very handsome as well," "What if Flash is your soulmate?” Y/N almost choked, but before she could say anything, Sean continued: “Or maybe Patrick, he’s very cool, he works with the big kids,” exhaling, Y/N was relieved her little random, darling duckling was back.

The all too familiar sound of metal meeting glass rang through the room, and so Barry tried his best at not sinking deep into his chair. “I would like to make a toast…” It was his beautiful best friend, Iris, and her fiancé Eddie’s engagement party, and even though he couldn’t be more happy for the two, he couldn’t shake off the sad feeling in his heart. His parents, his friends – it even seemed like the little kids that were running around had found their partners for life. Barry couldn’t take one step anywhere, without being reminded that he hadn’t found his soulmate yet.

“You know, I met my mate at the age of 13,” the drunk next to Barry stated. “I heard the most regular age to meet is between 9 and 23,” Was it Eddie’s cousin that said that? “How 'bout you, Terry? Found the love of your life yet?” 'How did I even end up here?’ Barry smiled at the old man. “No, but I-” “Gary! His name is Gary, grandpa!" "I’ll just go and find Iris,” Barry enlightened to the little party, and then left to do just so.

“Barry! Hey, I haven’t seen you at all tonight!” Iris had clearly gotten a few glasses, but when she saw right through the fake smile of Barry Allen, her tipsy state disappeared right away. “Uhm, babe, I’ll just go get more ice,” once Eddie had given his wife-to-be a kiss in acknowledgment, the two best friends found their way to the porch.

Iris had a feeling what had caused barry’s light frown but had let him talk out about it anyway. “Barry, you’re going to be fine. Look, I’m sure your girl’s just right around the corner, whomever up there would be a real ass if she’s not,” her last comment made Barry smile. “Yeah, of course,” he nodded, regretting that he’d taken his best friend out of her own engagement party.

It wasn’t an everyday thing for Y/N Y/L/N to go to Tiffany’s to eat her breakfast. Thing is, she always had a wish to do so – let her inner Audrey Hepburn shine. So today, she could happily cross it off her bucket list. What she hadn’t thought of though, was Central City being a slightly criminal city, with many jewelry-loving evil metahumans. So in her little black dress, matching gloves, big dark sunglasses and pearl necklace, Y/N witnessed the first robbery in her life. ’It will be fine, Y/N. What’s the odds of anyone coming and ripping off your grandmother’s pearls in the middle of the streets? Oh God, what have I ever done to deserve this?’ Y/N thought of her earlier words to herself, almost shaking by the thought of the scene she frightened happening.

She waited for the alarm that never came and looked around herself. One babysitter strolling with a toddler, a man in a suit, and herself – that meant two witnesses if anything happened. When the nanny and the businessman soon disappeared, Y/N decided to try her breakfast at Tiffany’s another time. 'Time to use those ninja-skills you brag about to Sean,’ “Oh hello,” A not-too-friendly voice spoke up behind her. 'Oh merde,'

Deciding to pretend she hadn’t heard him, Y/N sped up her pace, walking as fast as a girl in heels could. Suddenly she felt her necklace get pulled backward so hard she got troubles breathing, making her whole body follow. “That’s some lovely piece of woman your jewelry got there,” that must have been the lamest, creepiest pick-up line Y/N had ever heard. With no one in sight, she tried her best to distract his attention away from robbing her. But instead of saying: “The pearls were my grandmothers”, whimpers escaped her lips. “Flash,” the meta behind her seemed both tense and annoyed. If she could, Y/N would have breathed out in relief, but that being difficult, she tried her best just breathing normally.

Usually, when Barry went into Flash-mode, he didn’t notice the ones around him that weren’t in danger. His eyes were on the metas, and the metas only, so when he was done defeating the telekinesis, had sped him off to the old particle accelerator, his next task was at hand: Double check on the wounded. Though when he did came back, there weren’t many people at the crime-scene. “Wow…” Barry said quietly, taking in the rich girl’s appearance. Her hair was sat up in a weird, kind of snobbish way, but that suited her in a way. And her lips! Her beautiful, pink lips, parted a bit because of the shock probably. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see the color of her, most likely, stunning eyes. The pearls were placed against her collarbones perfectly, and along with the black dress she looked very put together: Very higher-class: Very not the kind of people Barry hung out with – or were in his league.

At that same time, Y/N had just thawed from her frozen state: It was actually the Flash. He was in front of her. And before she could stop herself, the words spilled form her lips: “Holy shit it’s him,” All she could think about was the face behind the mask. Would his smile match the warm, green and kind eyes? Would his personality do as well? Would he be a stuck up jerk, or the nicest guy possible? She wanted to see him, the real hero under the suit. Though just when she saw a blurred picture of him opening his mouth, Y/N lost control of her now numb body, and passed out.

“Now that’s one fine looking lady you got there, Bar,” Joe said, looking over to the other room at the rich girl. “Pretty good catch if she’s not a monster,” Cisco sucked on his lollypop while following Joe’s gaze. She’d been unconscious for about an hour, and Barry still hadn’t moved his attention from the sleeping beauty. “Yeah…” He had answered, hoping for just that.

Y/N had found out, the hard way, that it was a terrible thing to pass out. Not only the uncomfortable feeling of not being able to see for seconds before she lost it, but also losing control of her legs. When she heard unfamiliar voices around her, Y/N decided it was for the best not to open her eyes completely just yet. “Pretty good catch if she’s not a monster,” 'Oh dear God. I’m in my Holly-costume,“ "Yeah…” 'This honestly can’t get worse’Y/N kept thinking about the endless choices of near futures she had. Her rescuers could be kidnappers. The kidnappers could jury her in many ways, and considering her choice of outfit, robbery didn't seem impossible. 'Oh please God almighty, please say they're not rapists!' "Hey, is it normal for unconscious people to have nightmares?" 'Crap, Blaise was right, I really need to work on my poker face! God dammit Y/N!' Deciding her little act didn't hold, Y/N opened her eyes, the first thing she saw being a wrist with black ink.

"Wow..." That was the second time that day. Barry just couldn't stop himself, her eyes... They were the absolute perfect shade of Y/E/C. "Shit," the stranger girl's words were almost impossible to catch, but Barry did, and saw her eyes glued on his tattoo. His eyebrows furrowed, what was she doing? But once their eyes locked for what had to be the third time that day, he understood. "It's you," he stated. His soulmate nodded. "I'm Y/N, Y/N Y/L/N," She whispered, still looking deep into his eyes. "Barry Allen," at that he closed the gap. They kissed. Her on the bed, and him hovering over her. It didn't take may minutes before Cisco made a big deal out of it. "I told you, man!" He outed right after a wolf whistle. And the happy couple smiled. They had finally found each other. After all that time.

ϟϟϟϟϟ

A/N: The hard part of writing such clichés as a soulmate imagine, is that it’s almost impossible to write good! SO I hope the cuteness (hopefully there’s some cuteness in here…) made up for the bad writing and crappy ending:))

1K notes · View notes

salmankhanholics · 7 years

Text

★ Salman Khan invited to be a member of the Academy Awards !

Film Academy Invites Record 774 New Members, From Gal Gadot To Betty Whiteby

Pete Hammond | June 28, 2017

UPDATED with Cheryl Boone Isaacs interview: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have unveiled 774 new members (although 30 0f those names are duplicates over several branches) invited to join the Oscars organization, bringing the total membership closer to 8,500 -ish. This is a record number, up from last year’s 683. The invitees come from 57 countries, the organization says in unveiling its list, with the list comprising 39% female and 30% people of color (poc), both numbers increasing overall totals in those categories which has been a focus of AMPAS over the past couple of years. AMPAS now boasts overall female membership to 28% and poc to 13%, both marking incremental increases year to year on the Academy’s stated journey to doubling those areas by 2020.

Elle Fanning is the youngest invitee at 19, while Betty White at 95 is the oldest. The list of actors also includes Wonder Woman‘s Gal Gadot along with other superhero types like Chris Evans , Chris Hemsworth, Dwayne Johnson,Chris Pratt and more. SNL is heavily represented with current and former cast members invited including Amy Poehler, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Maya Rudolph , and Molly Shannon . There are quite a few veteran TV names not known for movie work in the class including Sharon Gless, Lou Ferrigno, Debbie Allen (who choreographed the Oscar show for several years though) and White. It seems some of the branches dug deep to come up with names for this year’s list which also includes 24 Oscar winners and 91 nominees already. Among directors, Get Out contender Jordan Peele, Moonlight’s Barry Jenkins, the Russo brothers, and Tom Ford are on the list which is heavily dominated by international names. The latter development is for me the most impressive in terms of this continuing membership drive. It appears the Academy is really trying to become the United Nations of cinema and if they keep going at this rate they just may succeed. How this extremely diverse new membership list affects the Oscars is anyone’s guess, but I would say the old ways of trying to predict how Oscar voters would behave are quickly fading as a heavily globalized organization just could continue to shake things up. When I spoke to outgoing AMPAS President Cheryl Boone Isaacs about this shortly after the list was revealed she wasn’t thinking so much about its ultimate effect on Oscar outcomes. “All of our members are professionals at the top of their forms, every last one of them. And I believe that they vote based on their knowledge of particular skill sets , and that’s what they look for . What’s most important is that each year more people are actually looking at more films and really taking a dive into the film , both from their branches and areas of expertise as well as the film itself , and that is certainly what the voting for Oscars is , but it also involves more people getting involved in our Nicholl Fellowship screenwriting awards, or the Student Academy Awards , or the Sci Tech area, all of what we do. It’s not just the Oscars,” she said.

As for the record number of invitees this year , and the ongoing membership drive, she said she is not necessarily counting on it being this big each year. “We are not looking at numbers in that way. What we are looking for is inclusion. Whether the numbers will continue to be at these levels we will know each year, but probably not. We are not looking to grow the organization. We are looking to have our organization more representative of men and women, here and around the world who are participating in the art form,” she said adding there are a lot of factors involved and that includes a larger global footprint. “We are not looking to increase membership. The goal is instead to increase a diverse membership that represents us around the world.”

Actors

Riz Ahmed – “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” “Nightcrawler” Debbie Allen – “Fame,” “Ragtime” Elena Anaya – “Wonder Woman,” “The Skin I Live In” Aishwarya Rai Bachchan – “Jodhaa Akbar,” “Devdas” Amitabh Bachchan – “The Great Gatsby,” “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham…” Monica Bellucci – “Spectre,” “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” Gil Birmingham – “Hell or High Water,” “Twilight” series Nazanin Boniadi – “Ben-Hur,” “Iron Man” Daniel Brühl – “The Zookeeper’s Wife,” “Inglourious Basterds” Maggie Cheung – “Hero,” “In the Mood for Love” John Cho – “Star Trek” series, “Harold & Kumar” series Priyanka Chopra – “Baywatch,” “Barfi!” Matt Craven – “X-Men: First Class,” “A Few Good Men” Terry Crews – “The Expendables” series, “Draft Day” Warwick Davis – “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” “Harry Potter” series Colman Domingo – “The Birth of a Nation,” “Selma” Adam Driver – “Silence,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Joel Edgerton – “It Comes at Night,” “Loving” Chris Evans – “Captain America” series, “Snowpiercer” Luke Evans – “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Girl on the Train” Fan Bingbing – “I Am Not Madame Bovary,” “Cell Phone” Elle Fanning – “The Beguiled,” “20th Century Women” Golshifteh Farahani – “Paterson,” “AboutElly” Anna Faris – “Scary Movie” series, “Brokeback Mountain” Tom Felton – “A United Kingdom,” “Harry Potter” series Rebecca Ferguson – “The Girl on the Train,” “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” Lou Ferrigno – “The Incredible Hulk,” “Hercules” Gal Gadot – “Wonder Woman,” “Fast & Furious” series Charlotte Gainsbourg – “Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer,” “Melancholia” Jeff Garlin – “Safety Not Guaranteed,” “WALL-E” Spencer Garrett – “Public Enemies,” “Thank You for Smoking” Domhnall Gleeson – “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Ex Machina” Sharon Gless – “The Star Chamber,” “Airport 1975” Donald Glover – “The Martian,” “Magic Mike XXL” Judy Greer – “Jurassic World,” “13 Going on 30” Rupert Grint – “Moonwalkers,” “Harry Potter” series Noel Gugliemi – “Lowriders,” “The Fast and the Furious” Jon Hamm – “Baby Driver,” “The Town” Armie Hammer – “The Birth of a Nation,” “The Social Network” Naomie Harris – “Moonlight,” “Skyfall” Leila Hatami – “A Separation,” “Leila” Anne Heche – “Rampart,” “DonnieBrasco” Lucas Hedges – “Manchester by the Sea,” “Moonrise Kingdom” Chris Hemsworth – “Thor” series, “Rush” Ciarán Hinds – “Silence,” “Munich” Aldis Hodge – “Hidden Figures,” “Straight Outta Compton” Bryce Dallas Howard – “Jurassic World,” “The Help” Bonnie Hunt – “The Green Mile,” “Jerry Maguire” Jiang Wen – “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” “Let the Bullets Fly” Dwayne Johnson – “Moana,” “Central Intelligence” Leslie Jones – “Ghostbusters,” “Masterminds” Keegan-Michael Key – “Don’t Think Twice,” “Keanu” Aamir Khan – “3 Idiots,” “Lagaan” Irrfan Khan – “Life of Pi,” “Slumdog Millionaire” Salman Khan – “Sultan,” “Bajrangi Bhaijaan” Rinko Kikuchi – “Pacific Rim,” “Babel” Zo�� Kravitz – “Divergent” series, “Mad Max: Fury Road” Sanaa Lathan – “Out of Time,” “Love and Basketball” Carina Lau – “Infernal Affairs 2,” “Days of Being Wild” Tony Leung – “The Grandmaster,” “Lust, Caution” Rami Malek – “Short Term 12,” “The Master” Leslie Mann – “Funny People,” “Knocked Up” Kate McKinnon – “Ghostbusters,” “Office Christmas Party” Sienna Miller – “The Lost City of Z,” “American Sniper” Janelle Monáe – “Hidden Figures,” “Moonlight” Michelle Monaghan – “Patriots Day,” “Gone Baby Gone” Viggo Mortensen – “Captain Fantastic,” “The Lord of the Rings” series Ruth Negga – “Loving,” “Warcraft” Franco Nero – “The Lost City of Z,” “Django” Elizabeth Olsen – “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Martha Marcy May Marlene” Deepika Padukone – “xXx: Return of Xander Cage,” “Piku” Sarah Paulson – “Blue Jay,” “12 Years a Slave” Robert Picardo – “Hail, Caesar!,” “TheMeddler” Amy Poehler – “Inside Out,”“Sisters” Chris Pratt – “Guardians of the Galaxy” series, “Jurassic World” Zachary Quinto – “Star Trek” series, “Snowden” Édgar Ramírez – “The Girl on the Train,” “Joy” Phylicia Rashad – “Creed,” “For Colored Girls” Margot Robbie – “Suicide Squad,” “The Wolf of Wall Street” Maya Rudolph – “Maggie’s Plan,” “Bridesmaids” Hiroyuki Sanada – “Life,” “The Twilight Samurai” Henry G. Sanders – “Selma,” “Whiplash” Rodrigo Santoro – “300,” “Love Actually” Rade Šerbedžija – “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1,” “The Quiet American” Nestor Serrano – “The Insider,” “Lethal Weapon 2” Amanda Seyfried – “Les Misérables,” “Mean Girls” Molly Shannon – “Other People,” “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” Anna Deavere Smith – “Rachel Getting Married,” “Philadelphia” Hailee Steinfeld – “The Edge of Seventeen,” “True Grit” Kristen Stewart – “Café Society,” “Twilight” series Omar Sy – “Inferno,” “The Intouchables” Wanda Sykes – “Snatched,” “Evan Almighty” Channing Tatum – “Hail, Caesar!,” “Foxcatcher” Aaron Taylor-Johnson – “Nocturnal Animals,” “Kick-Ass” Lauren Tom – “The Joy Luck Club,” “Cadillac Man” Jeanne Tripplehorn – “The Firm,” “Basic Instinct” Paz Vega – “Kill the Messenger,” “Sex and Lucía” Dee Wallace – “Grand Piano,” “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” Ming-Na Wen – “Mulan,” “The Joy Luck Club” Betty White – “You Again,” “The Proposal” Rebel Wilson – “Pitch Perfect” series, “Bridesmaids” Mary Elizabeth Winstead – “10 Cloverfield Lane,” “Swiss Army Man” B.D. Wong – “Mulan,” “Jurassic Park” Shailene Woodley – “The Spectacular Now,” “The Descendants” Donnie Yen – “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” “Ip Man”

Quote from Deadline

P.S. He still has to expect the invitation.

#salman khan #oscars #oscars 2017 #deadline

3 notes · View notes

uncpanda · 7 years

Text

Flash Point Paradox

Prompt: Justice league Flashpoint paradox but instead of the Flash going it’s Batmom?

Words: 312

You stare in what can only be described as awe, as your long dead father-in-law breaks Barry Allen’s fingers. At his second scream you finally move, “I have proof!”

You watch as Thomas Wayne freezes. Making sure that he sees every move, you carefully remove the locket from around your neck and hold it out to him. He drops Barry, before quickly snatching the necklace from your hand. You watch the emotions run across his face.

When he turns back to you, you see him for what he is; a broken man. “You’re … “

You take a deep breath “I’m Y/N Wayne, I’m married to your son.”

He smiles, “Bruce got married?”

You nod. “We were only nineteen, but we’ve known each other since middle school. We met shortly after you and Mrs. Wayne died.”

He looks at you with wonder in his eyes, as though he’s seeing a possibility he had only dreamed of. “And these children?”

You smile, “They’re ours.”

“What are their names?”

You move slowly to him and point them out one by one, “Dick, Jason, Tim, Damian, Duke, Cassandra, and Terry.”

Thomas stares at the pictures for a bit longer, “He looks happy.”

You smile, “He has bad days but, then again, everyone does. I’d say he’s happy 95% of the time.”

“With a family like this how couldn’t he be?” He closes the locket gently before placing it back in your hand. His face grows serious before turning to Barry, “What do we need to do?”

Barry stares at him for a moment before saying, “Now you’re ready to help me?”

He shakes his head, “No, I’m ready to help my son, and get his wife back to him.”

Smiling you hug him. He’s a bit surprised at first, but eventually he wraps his arms around you, and you whisper, “Thank you, dad.”

#bruce wayne #bruce wayne x reader #bruce wayne imagine #batman #batman imagine #batman x reader #batmom #batfam #thomas wayne #flash point paradox #barry allen #the flash #dc reader insert #dc imagine #dc universe #dc

590 notes · View notes

networkingdefinition · 4 years

Text

Chili Quotes

Official Website: Chili Quotes

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();

• A little blue-eyed blonde in a red hot sweater, wants to spice my chili, I think I’ll let her. – Toby Keith • All this talkin’ about eatin’ is makin’ me awful hungry. I’ll have two chili burgers with an order of fries, onion rings and a chocolate milk shake. And a Strawberry Ice Cream Sundae-with pickles. – George Lindsey • Any man that eats Chili and Cornbread can’t be all bad – Carroll Shelby • Anything that improves people’s expectations of a meal is good for the world. Anything that weans even one kid or one adult away from Chili’s or T.G.I. Friday’s is definitely a win for the good guys. – Anthony Bourdain • As human beings, we are the only organisms that create for the sheer stupid pleasure of doing so. Whether it’s laying out a garden, composing a new tune on the piano, writing a bit of poetry, manipulating a digital photo, redecorating a room, or inventing a new chili recipe – we are happiest when we are creating. – Gary Hamel

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'Chili', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '68', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_chili').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_chili img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); ); • Chili dogs, funnel cakes, fried bread, majorly greasy pizza, candy apples, ye gods. Evil food smells amazing — which is either proof that there is a Satan or some equivalent out there, or that the Almighty doesn’t actually want everyone to eat organic tofu all the time. I can’t decide. – Jim Butcher • Chili is much improved by having had a day to contemplate its fate. – John Steele Gordon • Chili is not so much food as a state of mind. Addictions to it are formed early in life and the victims never recover. On blue days in October, I get this passionate yearning for a bowl of chili, and I nearly lose my mind. – Margaret Cousins • Chili is one of the great peasant foods. It is one of the few contributions America has made to world cuisine. Eaten with corn bread, sweet onion, sour cream, it contains all five of the elements deemed essential by the sages of the Orient: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, and bitter. – Rex Stout • Chili, spice of red Thursday, which is the day of reckoning. Day which invites us to pick up the sack of our existence and shake it inside out. Day of suicide, day of murder. – Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni • Dropkick Murphys get me going, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana… plus, all the regular hip-hop stuff. – Kobe Bryant • Early readers assumed the Book of Mormon people ranged up and down North and South America from upstate New York to Chili. A close reading of the text reveals it cannot sustain such an expansive geography. – Richard Bushman • Embarrassment felt a lot like eating chili peppers. It burned in the back of your throat and there was nothing you could do to make it go away. You just had to take it, suffer from it, until it eased off. – Sarah Addison Allen • From 1973 to 1982 I ate the exact same lunch everyday . Turkey chili in a bowl made out of bread . Bread bowl George. First you eat the chili then you eat the bowl . There’s nothing more satisfying than looking down after lunch and seeing nothing but a table. – George Steinbrenner • I bet you a handful of Chili’s coupons that Jesus had a foot fetish. – Corey Taylor • I have my once-a-month nachos, but it’s soy cheese and turkey chili on it, so it’s somewhat safe. But it’s still a big vice for me, because I have a big bowl of it. – Jenny McCarthy • I like chili, but not enough to discuss it with someone from Texas. – Calvin Trillin • I love that whole princess mentality, but I also like throwing my hair in a ponytail and just wearing jeans, going on a hike and then eating a big chili-cheesebur ger. – Jennifer Love Hewitt • I love to cook. I make an award-winning turkey chili. – Joely Fisher • I once absent-mindedly ordered Three Mile Island dressing in a restaurant and, with great presence of mind, they brought Thousand Island Dressing and a bottle of chili sauce. – Terry Pratchett • I set up stations, buy a big vat of chili, and then guests do what they want to do – and I still get to party. – Emily Henderson • I used to like eating frozen corn straight out of the bag. But I also love microwaving frozen corn and adding butter and sugar and garlic powder and chili powder to it. And sometimes I just like to microwave it and add a little bit of hot sauce to it. My friends always laugh at me when they catch me eating it. – Thu Tran • If I were a food, I’d be a Chili because you know.. I’m hot. – Louis Tomlinson • If the waitress has dirty ankles, the chili is good. – Al McGuire • If you are a bad putter, you will not make a putt. If you have a tendency to chili-dip wedges, you’ll be chili-dipping them all over the place for sure. Whatever your weakness, it will come up in spades during the Ryder Cup. – Johnny Miller • If you want to make a chili, you’re going to break some cows. – Merlin Mann • In the Chili Peppers I’m a part of that world in a pretty big world and that’s just the way it is. – John Frusciante • It stinks of trains and that chili with the chocolate in it. Ooooh, books!” he exclaimed suddenly, making a beeline for the small library. (Al) – Kim Harrison • It’s a cold bowl of chili when love lets you down. – Neil Young • I’ve been on a team that won the world championship of barbecue. But barbecue’s interesting, because it’s one of these cult foods like chili, or bouillabaisse. Various parts of the world will have a cult food that people get enormously attached to – there’s tremendous traditions; there’s secrecy. – Nathan Myhrvold • Metaphors think with the imagination and the senses. The hot chili peppers in them explode in the mouth and the mind. – Jane Hirshfield • My dad gave me a haircut… and it wasn’t a very good one. When I went out of the house, my friends got on my case and said it looked like someone put a chili bowl over my head and cut around it. – Chili Davis • My music is rock. I listen to Red Hot Chili Peppers and I listen to one of my songs, and if I don’t give you the same emotion, then I go back and re-spit. – Kanye West • Next to jazz music, there is nothing that lifts the spirit and strengthens the soul more than a good bowl of chili. – Harry James • Oh God almighty, another Detroit monster is Chad Smith of the Chili Peppers. Their music is intoxicating between Flea and Chad Smith. They’re contemporary because they’re still making good records, but I don’t think there’s anything new that has a groove and soulfulness. The Chili Peppers just stink of soul-and that’s the ultimate compliment. They continue what James Brown created. – Ted Nugent • On Bill Clinton: “If left to my own devices, I’d spend all my time pointing out that he’s weaker than bus-station chili. But the man is so constantly subjected to such hideous and unfair abuse that I wind up standing up for him on the general principle that some fairness should be applied. Besides, no one but a fool or a Republican ever took him for a liberal. – Molly Ivins • On Hillary Clinton, who was an ardent Goldwater supporter in 1964: ‘If he’d let his wife run business, I think he’d be better off. … I just like the way she acts. I’ve never met her, but I sent her a bag of chili, and she invited me to come to the White House some night and said she’d cook chili for me. Someday, maybe.’ – Barry Goldwater • One day, I’ll be listening to a bunch of Ray Charles, the next day it’s nothing but Red Hot Chili Peppers. The next day it might be Tupac all day. – J. Cole • Opening cans of chili in zero gravity to see how it looks, that’s something that went wrong. – Trish Sie • People were going to geometry class and I was swimming through vats of chili on ‘Even Stevens.’ It was like a dream! – Shia LaBeouf • Remember, FDA employees are serious about fear. We pay these people to panic about an iota of rodent hair in our chili, even when the recipe calls for it. FDA employees are first-class agonizers, world champions at losing sleep. When Meryl Streep got hysterical about Alar, they actually checked the apples instead of Meryl’s head. – P. J. O’Rourke • She looks uptown, but she ain’t really. She’s into football, she likes my chili. – John Anderson • Take me ham away, take away my eggs, even my Chili, but leave me my newspaper. – Will Rogers • Tension translates to your guests. They’ll have a much better time having chili and baked potatoes than they would if you did roast duck with a wild cherry sauce and then had to lie down and cry for a while. – Nigella Lawson • The chili I ate made for an explosive bathroom experience. I don’t know how to put this delicately, but I missed the toilet entirely. – Seth Green • The Chili Peppers have a real strict two-week on/two-week off policy – aside from me, everybody has families. – Josh Klinghoffer • The guy we want to get is the guy who did the Aerosmith album which is coming out in two days, and a Chili Peppers album, and a couple of Pearl Jam albums. We want to get someone that will sort of bring out the high energy aspect more than the dreaminess that was on the last album. – Mike Gordon • The suit was so clumsy, being pressurized, it was impossible to get two hands comfortably on the handle and it’s impossible to make any kind of a turn. It was kind of a one-handed chili-dip. – Alan Shepard • This is my dream. I ain’t giving up. I see a band like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and they’ve had their ups and downs, but they’ve continued with heart. We look up to that. I see Papa Roach being around for another 15 years. We’ve always wanted to be a career band. – Jacoby Shaddix • When I’m doing a book tour in the States, I’ll wake up in the room sometimes in an anonymous chain hotel, and I don’t know where I am right away. I’ll go to the window, and it doesn’t help there either, especially if you’re in an anonymous strip and it’s the usual Victoria’s Secret, Gap, Chili’s, Applebee’s. – Anthony Bourdain • When Lollapalooza started, and I was really into Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane’s Addiction, Soundgarden. I went to that Lollapalooza tour twice, I think. – Adam Richman

[clickbank-storefront-bestselling]

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'a', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_a').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_a img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'e', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_e').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_e img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'i', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_i').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_i img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'o', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_o').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_o img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'u', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_u').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_u img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

0 notes

equitiesstocks · 4 years

Text

Chili Quotes

Official Website: Chili Quotes

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();

[clickbank-storefront-bestselling]

0 notes