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#but then jason is *gone* and they will never get the chance to be brothers/rivals/friends
aviatrickss · 1 year
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*takes a deep breath and leans in so close that my lips touch the microphone*
the tragedy of dick and jason’s relationship as brothers is not that they hated each other and then jason died, or that they were super close and then jason died. the tragedy is that dick did not know enough about jason to know how to mourn him. were they brothers? were they rivals? dick sure doesn’t know, and jason doesn’t either! but it’s fine bc they have plenty of time to figure that shit out, they don’t need to know each other right now bc there will be time to know each other later.
except.
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Joel Silver, The Ruthless Producer (But He Wouldn’t Allow Logan To Be Killed)
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This blog talks a lot about Joel Silver and his influence on pop culture (especially his role in Veronica Mars). He is well known as one of the “Bosses From Hell” in Hollywood and yet he is the lesser evil from other producers like Harvey Weinstein and Scott Rudin. Which is not a compliment whatsoever. But he is known as very protective with his assets such as his TV shows.
It is surprising that we hardly heard about sexual misconduct allegations against women/men (yet) especially during this decade alone. According to many, he is not interested that much in sexual hedonism as he is more concerned with being on top of the food chain. He is a married flamboyant producer who is deeply serious about his investments. He is always at the movie/tv set, watching everything like a hawk, making sure that everything is working accordingly. He dislikes unprofessional behavior from actors or showrunners, and most of the time, he just loathes writers. “Writers sometimes don’t know what works and what’s not. I don’t care if you are a brilliant writer, but I know better than anyone else in this business.”
That is the young Joel Silver, playing a frustrated director named Raoul in the movie 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit'. According to interviews, Raoul was based on himself but more tamer.
Joel Silver was a type of producer who likes to change a lot of the source materials, to the chagrin of the creators. Many just saw him as this tough guy producer who is very meticulous and wants the job done properly. Sources said that he liked to yell a lot, but hardly physical towards his employees (unlike Scott Rudin).
This is why it was so shocking that he and Rob Thomas had a fistfight argument at the Veronica Mars set. Rob must’ve pissed him off so bad that he resolved to a fistfight. According to a TVGuide interview, Rob said that Joel wanted to have Tara Reid as Trina Echolls and Paris Hilton to be put in the show as a guest star while promoting the House of Wax movie. Rob hated the idea and Joel didn’t take it lightly. Their brawl was reported to many blogs and forums back then.
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Joel was frustrated and furious that Rob was adamant about his vision, citing that he knows more about what works and what’s not in the industry, and that includes casting and storylines. Rob insisted that Veronica should be with the love of her life, which was Duncan Kane. Both Joel and Rob head-butted about this because Joel knew that Logan was more a compatible and popular character than Duncan. Not liking the idea of being blackballed all the time, Rob wrote Logan as insufferable in season 2, hoping that fans would turn against the character.
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The plan backfired as the fans at the time rejected Duncan instead. Diane Ruggiero even admitted that they were reading the feedbacks especially from Television Without Pity and she said that they didn’t have a choice but to get rid of Duncan. At the time, they also didn’t know whether the show was going to be renewed or not in season 3, especially during the merger between UPN and WB to form The CW. The fans’ voice was clear: they wanted LoVe (Logan & Veronica) to be together. This didn’t bode well with Rob, but the fans (and Joel) have spoken. He finally got rid of Duncan by sending him off to Australia with his baby. And that was it, the end. Logan and Veronica got back together.
But season three came, and another obstacle came in a form of Dawn Ostroff (the president of CW) who wanted some changes in the show for the network to be more teen-friendly. Gone the whole Noir and mystery style, they focused more on the white teen drama and a love triangle. At this moment, Joel decided to stay behind the scene. He was no longer hovering, he had other projects, other money to pursue. He still co-owned Veronica Mars. But he was no longer involved much.
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When Veronica Mars was canceled, Joel immediately snatched Jason Dohring - he approached Jason "out of the blue” and said, “There's a role, and I'm making it younger". Joel offered the main role of the CBS vampire procedural series Twilight to Jason before it was changed into Moonlight. Jason read two pages of the script featuring Josef Kostan and was interested in the character's "dark" and "sharp" personality. Jason had to go through the normal audition process and was not sure he would have gotten the role without Joel Silver, who had "pushed it through to the end". Joel noticed very early that Jason had a main protagonist charisma so he fought for him to be cast as Josef Kostan. Jason’s performance was praised by many critics and fans alike as this sarcastic manipulative vampire. Unfortunately, the writing of the show was atrocious and the rating was abysmal because of the Writers Guild strike and they had to hire ghostwriters to keep going. After one season, Moonlight was canceled and it was another money down the drain for Joel.
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When the idea of a movie was pitched, Joel said the movie would NEVER HAPPEN. “There are no fans for this market. Sales of DVDs and merchandise are nonexistent.” Joel was thinking as a producer; no sales for the merchandise = no fans, which is wrong, obviously. But that was the way many producers thinking at the time, and still are. After his company severing ties with the Warner Brothers, Joel was no longer interested in any mention of the Veronica Mars movie. Knowing that Joel would not approve of the Kickstarter, Rob and KBell decided to go straight to Warner Bros head honcho Kevin Tsujihara and asked for a chance to get a Veronica Mars movie funded by the fans. The movie then was made, and Joel was proven wrong for this particular moment.
Sharks however started to circling Veronica Mars movie - a lot of producers started to take an interest in the Kickstarter when they found out that it became successful and a phenomenon — notorious producer Harvey Weinstein wanted to grab the rights of Veronica Mars and he boasted that he could make it more successful under his Miramax banner. But his rival, Joel Silver, wouldn’t have any of it. Joel might not be responsible with the Kickstarter, but he sure the hell would burn a swimming pool first before Miramax steals VMars.
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Rob and Joel have a “good work” relationship - they definitely aren't friends in real life, but most of the time they avoid each other except in public events and red carpets. Their relationship is mostly being tolerant of each other. Joel didn't even bother to come to the Veronica Mars movie red carpet even though he was the executive producer of the movie and this franchise was a part of his life. Many thoughts for him not attending the red carpet were to avoid any embarrassment because he said that there were no fans of Veronica Mars. If it was allowed, Rob would say ‘fuck you’ to Joel as he strutted on the red carpet during the premiere of the Veronica Mars movie at the Chinese Theater.
However, when HULU took an interest in a VMars miniseries, Rob asked Joel for a favor, which is to get Kristen Bell to work around NBC The Good Place contract. As HULU is a part of Viacom and also an umbrella company for CBS and CW where VMars reside, technically she couldn't and was not allowed to be working with a rival company. So Joel helped Rob by calling the NBC president Noah Oppenheim to lend Kristen Bell to HULU temporarily. No words or interview about how Joel thinks about season 4 and how they killed off Logan Echolls; a character he protected during his reign back then. It is obvious if he was in charge of Veronica Mars season 4, he would scold Rob Thomas for killing the Golden Goose or maybe already stopping him before it happened. He might have a soft spot for Jason Dohring himself, calling him a “talented actor but too quiet for this industry”.
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Joel Silver seems to have moved on from Veronica Mars and its tumultuous relationship within. He has a bigger problem than handling a franchise that has crashed and burned because it flew too close to the sun; namely being sued for the death of an assistant and the fact that he was kicked out from his own company (Silver Pictures) by the company CFO Daryl Katz, and also he is a bit struggling with financial means. But no matter what, Joel Silver was a part of Veronica Mars with its complicated history. And he definitely has no problem keeping going - after all, he is one of the notorious bosses in Hollywood.
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pl-panda · 4 years
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Damienette arranged marriage: part 7
Credits: Miraculous Ladybug team for the elements I take from MLB show. DC for their characters, @ozmav for the AU, @maribat-archive for giving me access to so many different stories to have take inspirations from, @thyladyanput for idea for Chat Damian and me for the plot.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Damienette arranged marriage: Part 7
NEXT!
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She was maybe the second person to learn the truth behind his name. Damian means to tame and his mother named him that because he was ultimate proof that she tamed The Bat. He expected her to laugh, but instead she pulled him into a hug to comfort him. He also revealed that he loved painting and went as far as to sketch her. She was happy to pose as long as he in turn allowed her to take measurements. 
Marinette brought out what was best in him and he would be damned if he let her just suffer in silence. 
Marinette was so tired that she found herself unable to sleep. This day was so full of emotions: both good and bad. 
When she first met Damian, back at the temple, he was rather cold and indifferent. He struck her as selfish even. But he was also dead honest and very serious about his loyalty. He even stabbed his own brother to defend her honor. Okay, after spending the day with him she was pretty convinced he would stab him for some more meager reason, but it was still… cute in some strange way. Nobody has ever done something like this before. Even Chat Noir never stabbed anyone to defend her honor. Hit on the head with a baton? Sure. But never stab. And he threatened Lila. Marinette was unsure if he wouldn’t actually follow up on his threat. 
The date she went on was great. She felt the freedom unlike ever before. She knew she could tell him anything since they already knew each others’ greatest secrets. She could freely tell him about her adventures as Ladybug. And he was also quite handsome when he smiled. Not that he wasn’t when he was not smiling, but she liked his smile. His actual smile not the malicious grin he often wore. Damian played the cold and closed mean guy, but he was actually quite soft. He loved animals and painting. He even wanted to sketch her! Damian was yet very grounded person. He had this no-nonsense aura around himself. But he was patient enough to endure with her small panic attacks. She remembered his gentle touch on  her hands. His words of encouragement. And his deep green eyes. They were two whirlpools of emerald. So majestic, yet so caring. With that image imprinted on her mind she finally fell asleep. Her dreams were undisturbed by a knocking on her window.
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Next day Marinette woke up still tired, but in much better mood. She was ready for school. Well, good for her since she was almost late like usual. In panic, she quickly grabbed her purse and was about to run downstairs when Tikki flew in front of her.
“Marinette! Aren’t you forgetting something?” The girl looked around and didn’t catch what Kwami ment. “Your clothes!” Marinette looked down and saw she was still in her pijama. In record time she managed to dress up and was about to run downstairs when Tikki stopped her again. “Backpack?” Once again Marinette rushed to grab her things and get down and not get late. Her parents were already waiting for her in the bakery. 
“Here is your breakfast cherie.” Her mother smiled handing her a box of pastries. 
“And here is something special for you to share with your boy.” Her father smiled and handed her a box of macaroons. They both had a smile.
“And remember Mari. If he hurts you, just say a word and I will break his every bone into dozen pieces.” Her mother gave her most prominent smile ever. Somehow, it made the threat even more real.
“I will maman. Bye papa! Bye maman!” Marinette shouted and run away before they offered more ‘help’. She loved them, but after yesterday’s evening she was not sure she would allow them to meet Damian any times soon. She couldn’t protect him forever, seeing as he was technically her husband, but she could at least give them some time to get used to the idea of her dating someone. Maybe once Hawkmoth was gone. She did not want to have to escape from another thorny prison. Or maybe after the trip to gotham. They should be happy to see her back that they might not outright kill him for marrying her without their knowledge. She fully planned on telling them everything once there was no threat looming over their heads. Marinette giggled imagining Talia facing her mother. It was funny that somehow the confrontation would always go in favor of Sabine. 
She barged into class almost right when the bell rang. None of her classmates cared enough to even batch an eye at her. She did notice Damian in the back and made her way to him.
“I swear… If that harlot tries telling another lie about me or my family, I will not even need the bleacher. They will never know where to look in the first place.” He growled.
“What did she say?” Marinette grasped. While Damian had a soft side, she also knew he would not hesitate to stab her, making it look like a nasty incident. 
“She kept babbling about how she knows the Waynes and She and Me have an on and off ‘thing’ and probably this whole trip is because we had a fight and now I want to apologize that way.” His hand twitched dangerously close to his sword. Why did he bring the sword today?
“I can’t let you just stab her. And it’s not like you can convince any of them change their minds that way.” Marinette placed her hand over his, at the same time making sure it would make it harder for him to grab the sword if he heard something more from Lila. “Here. My parents made them for us.” She opened the box of macaroons. 
“I am not a fan of sweets.” He answered, but with relief she noticed he stopped glaring daggers at Lila. 
“Then try this one.” She pointed to the yellow one. “It’s made with a bit of lemon juice to add more sourness.”
Damian reluctantly picked the treat and took a bite. Suddenly, the corners of his lips went up. She proudly watched the ‘ice prince’ smile at something so common as a macaroon. “This is a very good macaroon. I am sure it could rival whatever Alfred makes.” He exclaimed, trying not to sound overly excited.
“Somehow I feel like this is better compliment than when Uncle Jagged offered to write a song about my parents’ bakery…” She giggled. Damian looked at her stumped. She only giggled again. “You should’ve seen how Tim reacted when he heard. Suddenly next day Wayne enterprises ordered catering for the whole building. Apparently the CEO wanted to celebrate some deal. I am not sure if any worker besides Tim saw the pastries though.” 
“Knowing him? I have no idea. If it was Jason or Dick, they wouldn’t even make it to the building before this morons ate it all.” Then, a dark realization dawned on Damian. “Was by any chance a blonde with him when they picked up the order?”
“Uh… I don’t know. I was at school when it happened. Why?” 
Damian groaned. He should have connected the dots sooner. Brown was suddenly not hanging in the mansion twenty-four/seven and she was not seen on patrols. Father said that he was aware of her location. “If Brown is here too, then I am almost sure this pastries didn’t make it. And she might be causing a sudden jump in the bakery’s revenue.”
“Huh?” Marinette wasn’t following.
“Stephanie Brown is Drake’s girlfriend. Saying she has a sweet tooth is understatement of the century. More of a sweet jaw if you ask me. She can smell sweets from mile and always get there before you. Especially when Alfred is baking. And she can rival Cass in her stealth skill when it comes to stealing them.” Damian explained to Marinette and watched her stiffen another giggle. What was it with girls and giggling? But Damian had to admit Marinette looked cute when she did. Slow down Romeo or you will crash into a stop sign.
“Well then. I will be happy to bake her something. But Tim didn’t mention her.”
“He said he is running his independent investigation, so I assume you do not see him often?”
“Yeah. He is quite busy at the office. Isn’t he missing the school though?”
“Drake is seventeen and already has three P.H.D. He goes to school either to hang out with his less intelligent friends or to argue with the underpaid teachers by pointing every mistake and inaccuracy.” 
“Sounds like fun.” The mention of the teacher suddenly made Marinette aware that Madame Bustier was nowhere to be seen. “We’ve been sitting here for almost twenty minutes now. Maybe I will go check for her…” Marinette suggested more to herself than Damian. She was about to stand up when Madame Bustier walked into the class with Chloe following her. Only now anyone noticed that the blonde was gone. 
“Children. Chloe wanted to say something to all of you.” The teacher started.
“Yes. I wanted to apologize for my utterly ridiculous behavior in the past and hope that you will give me chance to earn forgiveness from the better part of you.” Chloe stated nonchalantly.
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Taglist (sorry if I missed you)@pheonixashtree @sassakitty @unabashedbookworm @vixen-uchiha @maggiecc12 @actualdisasterwoman @tired-butterfly @shizukiryuu @floralfi @imanerddealwith @northernbluetongue @krispydefendorpolice @toodaloo-kangaroo @dast218 @bluesoulblueheart @theatreandcomicfreak @disneyfoxuniverse @mindfulmagics @alwaysnumberonetruth @nyaabinch @jardimazul @lenamau @rosep16 @dramatic-squirrel @sonif50 @daminett4life @lulutheawkwardess @weird-pale-blonde-person @mooshoon @jeminiikrystal @mochegato @moonlightstar64 @dragonflyswing @silverwhiteraven @shamefullove @magic-miraculous @valeks-princess @heaven428 @mlbchaosqueen @winter-gardenflower @spicybelladonna @emo-elaine13 @vetilora @karukofox21 @my-name-is-michell  @sturchling @lokiifriggasonn @redscarlet95 @melicmusicmagic @interobanginyourmom @the-fusionist @razzledazzle247 @miss-mysterys-blog @darkthunder1589 @i-is-mysterious @catthhay @the-one-woman-army @zestyzealot @dahjokester @write-for-your-life2 @mermaidreject @peachedpocky
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huilian · 4 years
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for @ascreamingbean!!!!!
Damian looks at the handful of people who made it through to the other side, searching, hoping for a familiar face, even when he knows it’s impossible. But then, things are never impossible in their line of work, are they? He has died and came back to life. Many of his family have died and came back. What’s one more miracle?
Richard could have miraculously gotten out of the compound. Jason could have survived in space without any protective gear. Stephanie and Cassandra could have activated their transporter just before their pod exploded. Timothy could have had the time to squeeze into the portal before it closed shut.
They could have. Their family have done more impossible things. 
Richard, Jason, Cassandra, Stephanie, Timothy. Richard, Jason, Cassandra, Stephanie, Timothy. Damian chants their name inside his head, still having hope that they can be here, against all odds, if he wishes it enough.
He sees none of them. 
No. 
Damian closes his eyes, begging to anyone who will listen, even though he is aware that he should know better. Just one. Please. Just let one of them make it, and he would never ask for anything ever again. Never. Just let one of them make it, just let one of them be here with him, any one of them, and Damian will never complain about or wish for anything ever again. 
Just one. Please. Just let one of them survive.
He opens his eyes and looks again, going so far as to activate his mask’s face recognition algorithm, but he still can’t find any of them. Not a sight of an electric blue sweep, shining bright in the darkness. No hint of a red helmet, boldly declaring the owner’s presence. No blonde hair blown up by the wind, nor splotches of yellow in a black suit. No red tunic that he used to hate so much.
It hits him, then. There’s no one. He’s truly alone.
He’s Robin, and he’s alone in the midst of dozens of people, who are all looking at him with frightened faces, the only people left from their earth. 
He’s still Robin, even when there is no Batman, no Nightwing, no Red Hood, no Black Bat, no Batgirl, no Red Robin. 
He’s still Robin, even when he doesn’t know how to be one without anyone else, and so he looks at the terrified expressions aimed at him, all looking at him for directions, and he grits his teeth, schools his expression, and lifts his chin up. 
He’s Robin, and he is going to help them, no matter what he’s feeling right now.
“Follow me,��� Damian says, with conviction he doesn’t feel. Follow the protocol for being in an alternate earth. Be calm. Make sure the civilians are alright. 
Be calm. 
Damian starts walking. 
***
“Are we ready to go?” Tim asks Richard, who is still looking at the glaring, ever-increasing number, counting the number of people who died, and the list of the hero-casualties. 
Father’s name is on that list. So is Superman’s. And Wonder Woman’s. And most of the League’s. 
They have lost, and they are now running, fleeing for their lives. Well, the ones still alive to do so. 
Damian looks at the humongous ship, ready to fly away from this earth in search for another place to live, and imagines that he could see the crowds of people huddled inside. This is it. All that is left of his earth. 
There were other ships and other heroes. Richard had arranged for it all. Then they destroyed every single one of their ships except this one, and all the people within it. This is their last chance. Their last saving grace.
Damian wonders where his mother was when the strike hits, and whether his mother survived it or not. If she had survived it, would she refuse the heroes’ help? Or would she be amongst the scared, traumatized, and tired survivors, who had hope to live for only moments before they were also killed? 
She is not here, that Damian knows. 
Damian sees Richard takes one last look at the list of names, scrolling through them like he wants to commit it to memory. He had taken charge of the rescue, and now the evacuation attempt, as soon as it was clear that whatever had been left of the League cannot handle the situation anymore. He had called for anyone that was still alive in his entire network of friends and acquaintances, and even rivals, to come help and save what was left of the earth. 
His network of friends brought their own connections, totalling in hundreds of people working to save earth. But it still wasn’t enough. 
They were not enough. 
And so here they are, rounding up the last of earth’s population, hoping to find a place for them somewhere else. 
Richard’s face is calm, but Damian knows his brother. He knows how to look, and he sees grief and regret and pain. 
Most of the names on that list are just that to Damian, names. He doesn’t know them, other than the vaguely familiar names here and there. The source of Damian’s despair is more on the fact that nearly all that was left of his earth was gone.  
(He is letting the fact that Father is dead, and Mother is most likely dead, and that Pennyworth is dead, and that… No. He is letting that fact hover somewhere in his mind, not allowing it to settle, because it is not done yet. They are not done yet. There is still work to be done.)
Damian is sure that Richard feels the same sorrow and regret, if not more than what Damian feels, about the fact that earth is as good as dead and that most of humanity is beyond saving. But even if Damian only registers the list as just names in a sea of millions of other names, he knows Richard must have known them dearly. 
Richard must have loved them, those names on the list. 
And so the grief and the sorrow and the guilt is much, much more personal for Richard, because these are the people whom he had asked for help, and they have died for helping him. 
Richard stays looking at the list for a long, long time, almost ignoring Timothy’s question on whether they are ready to go. The longer Richard’s eyes are transfixed at the list, the more worried Damian feels. 
Because what if Richard decides that he should stay here, with the rest of the dead? What if Richard decides that he should die here, like they did?
No. Damian had lost enough people today. Earth has lost enough people today. He is not going to allow the best of them to die too. 
Damian opens his mouth, ready to tell all that to Richard, when Richard finally closes his eyes and lets out a long breath. “Yeah, we're ready to go.”
Damian had just allowed his heart to settle from the fear that Richard is not going to come with them, when the alarm blares out. 
“What is that?” Richard asks, switching immediately to mission mode. 
“It’s them,” Stephanie says from where she’s watching the camera feeds. “They’re coming here, ‘Wing.”
“How long do we have?” Richard says. 
Stephanie looks at him, before shaking her head. “Probably a minute, two. Absolutely not more than three minutes, that’s for sure.”
Silence greets their little huddle, with everyone looking at each other. Damian locks eyes with Cassandra when Jason says, “Then we better get moving.”
“There’s not going to be enough time,” Richard replies. “You guys go, I’ll hold the fort.”
Damian’s heart drops. “Are you not coming?” he exclaims. 
Richard looks at him with those same kind eyes that had made Damian loosen his guard around this man, once upon a time. But there’s something else in those eyes. Something like hunger, like Richard is drinking in every detail of Damian’s face, memorizing them. 
Damian does not like that thought. 
“Not enough time, little D,” Richard says, bringing Damian into his embrace and pressing a quick kiss on Damian’s hair. He presses Damian closer to him for a while, before releasing him while saying, “Now you guys need to go.”
“No!” Damian objects, the moment those hands break contact with his shoulders. “You’re coming with us, Richard!”
“Dick,” Timothy says, voice as distraught as Damian feels. He doesn’t say anything, just their eldest brother’s name. Somehow, Damian still understands what Timothy means by that. 
He doesn’t want Richard to stay behind too. 
“Go,” Richard says, undeterred. “I’ll hold them off as long as I can. Jay, you’re in charge now.” 
Jason, standing silently behind Cassandra, doesn’t say anything. He just looks at Richard. The two of them share a second of eye contact before Jason nods, face solemn. 
Damian does not like this. Are they giving up, just like that? They’re supposed to be heroes; they’re supposed to stick together!
“Richard, you can’t be serious! We’re not leaving anyone behind, you taught me that!”
“Damian,” Richard bends down to look at his eyes, “little D. This is the one time where you do leave someone behind, okay?”
“No!” Damian cries out, but his objections remain unheard. He grabs Richard’s arm, trying to get him to come with them, but Richard just maneuvers around him, giving Timothy a quick one-armed hug, Cassandra a kiss on the cheek, Stephanie a squeeze on the shoulder, and Jason a soft smile. Then, he brings his other arm to pull Damian into another hug. 
The hug feels like it lasts for a thousand years and for a mere millisecond at once. 
“Be good, yeah?” Richard whispers into his ear, then releases his embrace. “Go,” he says, addressing everyone. “Take care of each other.” 
And then, he grabs his escrimas and his explosives and the rest of his gear. He turns around to face them one more time, before he walks out of the door. 
Damian’s feet, that were frozen during the entire exchange, unfreezes themselves and move towards the door, wanting to stop Richard from doing this, to drag him and make him come with them. But before he can get anywhere, leather-clad arms grab him and lift him up.
Jason’s voice greets his ears. “You’re not going anywhere, twerp.”
“Unhand me, Todd!” 
“No,” Jason says, voice not accepting any protests. “Now come on, time is wasting.” 
Jason simply repositions his hold on Damian and starts walking, getting several of the civilians still outside the ships to come in. He could have let Damian down, make him walk on his own, but he didn’t. He keeps Damian in his arms, as if Damian weighs nothing. 
Strangely, Damian doesn’t mind too much. The absurdity of the situation certainly distracts him from the reality that that was the last time he is ever going to see Richard. 
Richard stayed behind, in the end, even though it’s not because of the reasons Damian thought. His worst dream has come true. 
Damian buries his head on Jason’s shoulder, wishing he could pretend that it’s Richard. 
He can’t. 
He does it anyway.
***
Robin had done his duty. He had brought all the people from his earth to safety, seeking refuge in this universe’s iteration of the Justice League. 
He didn’t leave anyone behind. He will never leave anyone behind ever again. 
Robin had been a hero, or so they all say. 
That should have made him happy. That had been his goal, after all, a long, long time before, when he first put on the uniform and put the R on his chest. He had wanted to be the best Robin out of all of them, and so be the best hero. 
Right now, Damian doesn’t feel like a hero.
He feels like a failure.
Robin should have been able to persuade Richard to come with them. Robin should have been able to get Jason to escape with them. Robin should have known that Cassandra and Stephanie’s ship is going to get targeted. Robin should have made sure Timothy got out first. 
He doesn’t deserve the name Robin. 
“Robin?” a voice calls out to him. Damian looks up to meet a green domino mask. His heart does a little flip, expecting it to be this universe’s Robin. 
It isn’t. Of course it isn’t. When Damian had briefed this universe’s Justice League about the forces that decimated his earth, they informed him that Batman and everyone affiliated with him are currently unavailable. 
Damian doesn’t know whether to feel relieved or devastated. 
“It is Robin, right?” Green Arrow- who is still Connor Hawke in this universe- asks again. 
Damian wants to say no, wants to refuse the name forever, but he hasn’t actually said his name to this Justice League. He had just said he is Robin and left it at that. They haven’t asked for more information. 
Damian decides that he is relieved that Batman and everyone from the family is not here, because if they were here, they would definitely ask about his identity, question his parentage, demand to know how he became Robin, and make him tell them things he doesn’t want to tell them yet. 
He is quite happy to not tell them his name yet, thank you very much. It will lead to questions after questions after questions. He is, after all, from a version of their future. A horrible future, but a future nonetheless. 
“Yes,” Damian whispers hoarsely. 
“You’re not the Robin I know, are you?” Hawke asks again. 
A thought comes into Damian’s mind. The Robin that Hawke knows is Timothy, he knows that much from what his older brother told him. And that means that this universe’s Damian Wayne has not come into contact with his father yet. 
Maybe he never will. Maybe Damian Wayne doesn’t exist in this universe. 
Maybe that’s how it should be. It definitely would have saved his family a lot of pain. 
“No,” Damian answers, not volunteering any more information. 
“Okay.” Silence, then Hawke says again, “Do you have a place to stay for tonight?”
“I-” Damian begins, but before he can say anything else, a flash of electric blue catches his eye. His words immediately falter. 
It’s not Richard. Not his Richard, at least. This Richard has never given Damian the Robin uniform. This Richard has never spent countless hours staying up with Damian. This Richard has never loved Damian. 
Maybe it is better that way. 
“Robin?” Hawke calls again. “Are you alright?” 
“I... I’m fine, Green Arrow.” Damian swallows, trying to get his bearing again, but before he even comes close to it, a voice calls out. 
“So you’re the Robin from an alternate future.” 
Richard’s voice makes Damian lose any semblance of serenity he had left. It doesn’t matter that this is not his Richard. That voice is the same. 
The kindness is the same. The warmth is the same. The compassion is the same. 
Damian misses Richard. Why didn’t he drag Richard with him? Why didn’t he beg Richard to come with them? Why didn’t he offer to stay behind so that Richard can go? 
Why did he let Richard die for him? 
It should have been Richard here. Everything would have been better if it was Richard who was here and not Damian. Richard would have been better at comforting the survivors, at making them smile even despite everything. Richard would have been better at handling the entire situation with this universe’s Justice League. Richard would have been better at facing this universe’s version of their family. 
Richard would have been better. It should have been him here, alive.
It shouldn’t have been Damian. He doesn’t deserve it.
He abandoned his brother. He’s a failure. A mockery of the name Robin. An insult to everything his family tries to be. 
He doesn’t deserve to live. 
Damian realizes that he still hasn’t answered this Richard’s question. But he just smiles at him, waiting for his answer, exactly like how Damian’s Richard would. 
It makes the knife already stabbing Damian’s heart twist even further. 
“Yes,” Damian finally answers. “I am.”
“Have I known you yet?” Richard asks. 
“Can’t tell you,” Damian says, because he will not be the one who tells Richard about the series of events that lead to him being Batman and making Damian Robin.
It’s bad enough that he subjected his Richard to it. He will not do so to this one as well. 
(Damian knows now how much pain and suffering and anguish Richard felt during his time as Batman. Damian also knows now how much he added to that pain. He will not hurt this Richard like that. Never again.) 
“That’s a no, then.” Richard smiles at him. The sight makes Damian want to throw all caution to the wind and just curl up next to his big brother. To bask in the comfort that his big brother’s presence provides. 
But this is not his big brother. 
“I can’t tell you,” Damian says again, wishing that he can tell Richard everything, but knowing that every word that comes out of his mouth will bring him pain. 
Why wouldn’t it? Damian lives off the pain of others. Everyone who knows him suffers eventually. 
Dies eventually. 
He’s not going to let this Richard die too. 
“Okay,” Richard says, accepting his deflection just like that. “It’s fine if you don’t want to tell me yet. I’m just here to tell you that the Manor is always open for you, Robin.”
“You don’t know me,” Damian chokes out. 
“No,” Richard answers easily. “Not yet. But you’re Robin, and so you’re family.”
Damian closes his eyes and doesn’t dare do anything else. He knows that this Richard hasn’t known him, hasn’t learnt all his tells and habits, but it doesn’t matter. Richard will understand. Any version of Damian’s big brother will always understand him. 
Damian closes his eyes and tries not to let that sentence break him completely. 
“Thank you,” he eventually says. “But no thank you.” He’s not going to come to the Manor. He can’t. 
He is not going to let himself ruin another version of his family. 
Once is enough. 
Once is more than enough. 
Richard smiles at him with the same kind smile Damian’s Richard gave just before he left. Just before he died. 
Damian turns around and walks away, ignoring the perplexed Green Arrow and the confused Nightwing. It’s better this way. 
Damian is not going to make another version of his family suffer. 
***
They managed to leave, flying away from the compound just as it exploded, flames licking around the body of the ship. From where he is, Damian can see the compound turn to ashes, he can imagine the sound of the explosion, and he can almost feel the heat of the flames reaching his face. 
No one could have survived that. And even if they do, they are not going to survive living in the wasteland that Earth has become. 
Damian can feel the truth settling into his bones. Richard is gone, and he is never going to see him again. It makes his mind go slower, his lungs expand smaller, and his body falls apart. It makes him want to curl up and stop, not caring about anything else in the world.
He doesn’t get the chance to do that, because they are only barely out of Earth’s orbit when Jason, looking out of the windows of the ship, says, “Shit.” 
That does not bode well. Not at all. 
“What is it?” Damian asks, mind turning on again from the haze he was in. He is already dreading the answer. 
“They’re coming after us,” his older brother says. 
Damian’s heart drops. They are coming after them, and they are going to destroy them. 
After all, this is just a small evacuation ship. What chance would they have, against the same forces that destroyed the Justice League, that killed hundreds of other heroes, that decimated his earth? 
Against the same forces Richard gave his life and still failed to stop? 
Not a chance, and all of them knew it. 
“What are we going to do?” Timothy asks. 
Silence, for a while. All of them are waiting for Jason to speak. He’s the eldest now, --the reminder makes Damian’s heart clench--, and in charge, by Richard’s words. Even though none of them ever actually put any weight on that, still, they wait for him to speak. Somehow, the fact that there is still someone else to take charge, to make the impossible decisions, to take the weight of the world on their shoulders, makes Damian feel some semblance of relief. 
(Even if his heart breaks with the reminder that Richard is no longer with them. Because if Richard was here, he would be the one taking charge, not Jason.)
Finally, Jason speaks, voice heavy with the weight of hundreds of lives that are hanging on this decision, all that is left of their earth. “All of you are going to take these people in pods and get the hell out of here.” 
“And you?” Cassandra says. 
Jason looks at her, for once looking as young as his actual age. Damian has never seen him look that young before. 
Damian knows that legally, Jason Todd is only twenty-two years old. Somehow, it has never registered in his mind that that means the Red Hood is also only twenty-two years old, perhaps even younger, considering the time he spent dead. The Red Hood had always seemed to be an imposing figure, as old and as large a figure as he needed to be. 
But Jason Todd is only twenty-two years old, and it is Jason Todd looking out at them now, not the Red Hood. Jason Todd who is a terrified, distressed, absolutely petrified, twenty-two year old.
Surely, twenty-two years old is too young to be making decisions for the entirety of earth’s survivors? But no one else is here to take up the responsibility, and so the weight falls on Jason’s shoulders, no matter how young he is.
Damian wishes Richard is still here.  Richard would have shouldered the burden without even a second thought. 
(But he did, and that burden cost him his life.)
“I’ll stay in the ship,” Jason says, voice calm even as his face looks terrified. “Be bait. Throw them off our scent. Give you guys and the rest of them a chance to survive.”
“No,” Stephanie says. “You’re not doing that, Jason. We’re in this, and we’re in this together.”
“What else are we supposed to do?” Jason shouts, then belatedly realizes that everyone in the ship is now looking at him. He closes his mouth, gives a forced smile to the civilians surrounding them, and turns back to them. “What else are we supposed to do?” he hisses. 
That’s the problem, isn’t it? There is absolutely nothing else they could have done. Damian can’t force Jason to come with them, because their close escape from the compound didn’t leave them unscathed; their navigation system is fried and useless. Someone had to pilot the ship manually at all times, and so for this to work, someone would have to stay behind.
This is like the situation with Richard all over again. Someone staying behind to give the rest of them a chance to survive.
But maybe… Maybe Jason doesn’t have to do it alone. It’s what Richard would have done, had he been here. 
“I’m staying with you,” Damian says. 
“Like hell you are,” Jason exclaims immediately. “You’re going in there first.”
“What?” No, no, that couldn’t have been right. Why on earth would Jason want him to be in the rescue pods first? It doesn’t make sense. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m saying that you’re going in that pod first if I have to throw you in there myself, Damian,” Jason says. Damian’s face must have looked absolutely confused, because Jason sighs, kneels down (kneels down!), and grabs his shoulders. “You know that’s what Dick would want.”
Damian frowns, mouth already open to protest, because how dare Jason bring up Richard, when Cassandra chimes in, “He’s right, little brother. You’re going in there first, and that’s not up for discussion.”
“What?”
“Dick would kill us if we let you stay here,” Timothy adds. That’s probably true, but Damian is not going to give up without a fight. 
He’s not going to let another member of his family die.  
“That’s what he would have done!” Damian says. And it’s true. That is what Richard would have done, if he is here. 
Damian had been angry at him for doing just that enough times to say that with conviction. 
“Yeah, little D,” Stephanie says, face perplexingly kind, the same kind of face she wears when comforting a victim. But Damian is not a victim. He knows what the consequences are, and he is making them with eyes wide open. “That’s what he would have done,” she continues. “But that’s not what he would have wanted for you.”
“I...” Damian starts, but he doesn’t know what to say. Mentally, he’s damning Stephanie for knowing exactly what to say. Damning Timothy for caring, now of all times he could have done that. Damning Cassandra for backing Jason up.
Damning Jason, because even if he will never admit it, Damian does not want him to die.
“Trust me, kid,” Jason says, giving Damian a rueful smile, “he would have said the same thing. Now get the pod ready, and get in.” 
“But-” Damian tries again
“No. I’m in charge, so you’re going to listen to me. Get going, Robin. That’s an order.”
“I-” Damian splutters, but Stephanie pulls him away from them and towards the pods, calling for the civilians to come with them. 
Damian glares at her, wanting to continue the argument, but he can’t, because despite it all, he’s still Robin, and Robin doesn’t argue with Batgirl about who is staying behind in front of all the scared, most likely traumatized civilians. 
Doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to, though. 
As he walks, he sees Timothy give Jason a nod before going to the computers, taking two small devices from it, and he hears snippets of conversation between Cassandra and Jason. 
“I can… you don’t need to…”
“...done it already… shouldn’t let… fine…”
“…brother… proud..."
“...other side…”
He sees Cassandra rise up to her toes and plants a kiss on Jason’s cheek. Her own cheeks glimmer underneath the fluorescent lighting of the ship, bellying the fact that they are wet. Somehow, the sight makes Damian fight to keep a handle on his own tears. 
Damian knows death. Knows it intimately. Knows that it is inevitable. He couldn’t have survived the streets of Gotham, much less his childhood, without knowing that. 
But still, he clenches Stephanie’s hand, and whispers, “He’s not going to make it, is he?”
Stephanie clenches his hand back. “No, Damian,” she says, voice wet with the effort of holding back her own tears. “He’s not.”
***
Damian ends up in a small, one-bedroom apartment, one of many that this universe JLA provided for all the survivors of his earth. They are all, understandably, concerned about him living alone, but since he doesn’t want to stay with this universe Batman and he refuses the offer to stay with anyone else, they really do not have a choice. 
Besides, it’s temporary anyway. If Damian knows his Father, and he does, despite this being another version of him, he will not leave him alone for long. 
The League will not leave him alone for long. 
But they left him alone for now, in an apartment that feels larger than life, despite it not being actually that large, because he is alone. There is no Timothy to squabble with, no Cassandra to share his findings with, no Stephanie to tease, no Jason to argue with, no Richard to grumble to, no Father to annoy, and no Alfred to complain to. He is alone. 
He is well and truly alone.
Damian asked to be alone. He specifically asked the Justice League to leave him alone. He hides from this version of his family, not wanting to forget his own but at the very same time craving  the companionship that his family will give him. 
Even when this version of his family hasn’t known him. Even when they probably do not want to know him, not after they find out that Damian left their counterparts to die. 
He deserves to be alone. 
But right now, with the seemingly endless dark room, and the seemingly all-encompassing silence, Damian just wants someone to hold him. He closes his eyes, trying to fool himself that the room is dark and silent and lonely because he wishes it to be so and not because he is truly, really, absolutely alone. 
It doesn’t work. The darkness seems to stretch further and further. The silence seems to enter into every crevice of his body. 
Damian can’t take it anymore. Damian puts his hands on his ears, thumping them slightly to make a sound, any sound, to stave off the silence. He presses his eyes closed, forcing himself to see something other than darkness. 
Something. Anything. 
His mind complied. But the image it pulls up is the glimmer of tears on Cassandra’s cheek; it is Timothy’s clinical movement as he forces himself to move; it is the determined yet scared face of Jason, facing death for the second time, yet still keeping his head held up high and proud. 
The thumping stopped. But there’s something else. 
Voices, rough with the effort to hold back tears. Pleas, full with grief and misery. Reassurances, even when the one giving the reassurance is doubting themselves. Cries that come again and again and again.
Damian doesn’t remember the cries. 
Oh. 
It’s his cries. He is crying. 
The silence never seems as expansive as it did just then, with only the echoes of his own cries and the memories of the last words he ever heard his older brother say reaching his ears.
***
Jason didn’t make it. They watched the ship zoom past them as they were turning on the cloaking technology on their pods. They watched the forces that followed them out of earth follow Jason’s trail, leaving the two pods to travel to safety. 
Jason didn’t make it. 
Damian looks to Timothy, wondering what they are going to do now. Timothy looks back at him, probably also wondering the same thing. 
Then, their comms crackle and Cassandra’s voice comes out. “Tim? Damian? Do you copy?” 
Right. Cassandra is the eldest now. In the span of less than twenty-four hours, they have gone through two eldest siblings. 
Damian almost doesn’t want to believe it. 
“Yeah, Cass,” Timothy answers. “We copy.”
“Okay,” Cassandra says. “Everything alright on your end?”
“Yeah,” Timothy says, fiddling with the controller on the pods. “Cloaking is still going strong, fuel should last until we reach the Linsnar system, and the emergency transporter is on and ready to go. What about your end, Cass?”
“It’s the same here, Tim,” Stephanie answers. “Cloaking good, fuel good, and emergency transporter is good to go.” 
“Okay,” Timothy says. “Remember the emergency transporter is for absolute emergencies only, because I do not know where we would end up if we use it.”
“Copy that, Tim,” Stephanie says. “Just checking the coordinates one more time. We’re going to-” 
Stephanie’s voice is interrupted by a crash, loud enough to be heard even through the comms.. Damian and Tim look at each other before the two of them rush to the window, trying to see what is happening. 
“Steph!” Tim cries out. “Steph! Cass! Answer me!”
Static noise responds back, adding to the panic they are in. Then, from the darkness of space, where previously they could see nothing there, an explosion bursts through and they see Stephanie and Cassandra’s pod materializing before their eyes. They were hit, and their cloaking mechanism no longer worked. 
They were hit. 
How could they have been hit?
“I thought their cloaking is on, Timothy,” Damian breathes out, eyes transfixed to the glaringly obvious pod in the nothingness of space. 
“It is,” Timothy replies. “It must have been a random strike. A lucky strike. The cloaking tech is immaculate.” 
“What…” Damian is almost afraid to say it. “What's going to happen now?” he asks, eyes still frozen on the visible pod. 
But before Timothy can answer, something else happened. Damian is still looking out at Stephanie and Cassandra’s pod, and so that is why, when the beam hits, Damian is treated to a very clear, almost slow-motion view of their pod disintegrating. 
A scream reverbs inside his ears. Who is screaming?
Oh. It’s him.
Damian doesn’t even register the fact that he’s screaming, head still trying to process the fact that they are gone. They’re gone, disintegrated right before his very eyes. 
Stephanie and Cassandra are gone.
In the span of twenty-four hours, they have gone through four eldest siblings. Tim is the eldest now, if that word even carries any more meaning now that it’s just the two of them left.
It’s just the two of them left. It’s just Tim and Damian left. 
It’s just the two of them left.
***
Damian looks at the doors of the bus. He can do this. He's Robin. He can get inside a bus. 
But he's not Robin anymore, is he? 
No. He can do this. If he can't even step foot inside a bus, if he can't even do this absolutely mundane thing, then what was the point of it all? 
What was the point of everyone's sacrifices? 
Damian takes a deep breath, trying to force his feet to move, but before he can lift his foot, someone behind him calls, "Are you going in or not, kid?"
Damian turns around, apologies already on his lips, when he sees the long, flowing, blonde hair. 
He stops dead. 
It can’t be her, can it? She died in the explosion. She died with her best friend, his sister, by her side. 
Stephanie died by a chance shot, and Damian will never see her again. Not his Stephanie, anyway. Not the one who brought him to a bouncy castle, not the one who stole his ice cream, not the one who would tease him relentlessly. 
“Kid? Hey, kid. Are you okay?” the woman asks again. Damian looks at her, now. It’s not Stephanie. 
Not his Stephanie, and not this universe’s Stephanie either. 
Damian almost feels disappointed. 
“I…” Damian swallows and says, “Yes. I’m going in. Sorry for the delay.”
“It’s okay,” she says, smiling down at him. She doesn’t really look like Stephanie, but Damian sees Stephanie’s smile superimposed on top of hers anyway. “I have a little brother who does that zoning out thing all the time.” She shakes her head slightly, giving out a small laugh. “Where are you going?” 
“Gotham,” Damian blurts out, uncharacteristically honest, still out of balance from the memory of Stephanie’s smile. 
He knows that this universe's version of his Father is going to search for him, and he doesn't want him to come unannounced to his place. No. Better for him to go to Gotham first, to get the lay of the land first.
(Even though he really, really doesn't want to. But Batman searching for him is inevitable, and Damian is not in the habit of trying to deny the inevitable. 
Well. Not anymore.)
“Uff,” she says, “what are you doing in Gotham? There’s nothing good there.”
“Oi!” someone calls from somewhere behind the line. “You kids going in or not? We don’t have all day!”
“Yeah, yeah, cool your horses, man!” she replies, before turning to Damian and saying, “But he’s right. Come on, we need to get in.” She takes Damian’s hand and steps into the bus, pulling Damian with her. 
Damian could have fought her off. But he finds that he doesn’t want to. Maybe it's the memory of Stephanie from before, also doing the same thing to him, that stops him from resisting. 
Damian lets her grab his arm and pull him inside the bus. 
Two women, with a child between them. A burly man sitting next to a teenager. Someone in an ill-fitting suit. 
A wisp of black, shoulder-length hair, with eyes that seem to look into your soul. 
No. No, no, no. 
It’s not her. It’s not her. It’s not his sister. 
Damian turns around, trying to stop himself from seeing Cassandra overlapping the girl sitting just seats away from him. It’s not his sister. It’s not the woman who would laugh without laughing, it’s not the woman who would look at him with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, it’s not the woman who would bop him in the nose whenever she feels like it. 
It’s not his sister. Damian will never see his sister again. 
He turns around, only to see the long, blonde hair he mistook for Stephanie’s earlier again. 
No. They are not here. They are not here. 
But they were, before. They were in a pod, and they were hit. 
What if this bus is hit too? 
“Kid?” the woman with the blonde hair asks him, concern in her voice. “Are you okay? You’re hyperventilating.”
Damian doesn’t even realize he’s hyperventilating until she tells him so. 
“I…” Damian tries, but he can’t get the words out. “I…,” he tries again, and fails again. 
Damian gasps in a breath, trying to get his lungs and his heart and his voice back in control. “I’m sorry,” he finally says, before running out of the bus. 
He can’t do it. 
Gotham will have to wait.
***
Timothy turns the transporter on, gesturing for the civilians to move, then turns around and says to Damian, “Get in.”
“What?! No!” Damian protests. “I’m staying here with you.” 
Timothy grabs Damian’s shoulders and says again, “Get in there, you little brat.” 
Damian flicks the hand on his shoulders away. It doesn’t move, in a surprising amount of strength from Timothy. He tries again, before moving tactics and says, “No! I’m staying here with you until all the civilians are out!”
“Damian, for once in your life, listen-” Timothy shakes him with the word “-to-” he shakes him again “-me. Get in.”
“No!” What kind of monster does Timothy think he is? He’s not going to just abandon the civilians still here, much less his brother. Because that’s what Timothy is, even with all of Damian’s protest otherwise. 
His brother. 
“Listen to me, you little twerp. I need someone on the other side to help the civilians already there.” 
“Then get someone else!” Damian protests. He’s not leaving. He’s not. 
“There is no one else, Damian. Get in there!” 
“Tim,” Damian says, calling his brother with the shortened, familiar version of his first name for the first time in the years since he’s known him, “I’m not going anywhere. We’re going there together or not at all.”
Damian sees Tim take a deep breath before saying, in a voice that betrays his calm expression, “Damian.” The grip on Damian’s shoulder tightens even more. “You need to go. Please.”
“No! I-”
“Help the civilians,” Tim cuts in. “You’re Robin, remember? We took an oath to help them.”
Damn him. Damn him to the deepest parts of hell. Why did he have to remind Damian of that?
“Now fulfill that oath, Damian,” Tim continues, uncaring of Damian’s hate-filled glare. “Be Robin.” 
“I hate you,” Damian spits out, holding back tears. He knows exactly what Tim is doing. Why else would Tim insist on him getting in first? If he needs someone on the other side, he could have easily told Damian to hold down this end and climb in himself. 
He knows Tim is trying to spare him, trying to get him to live. But Damian can’t argue with the order to save the civilians. He can’t argue with the order to be Robin. 
So the only thing he does is spits out the same, tired sentence he has said to the man in front of him hundreds, if not thousands of times before, and hoping that his brother understands what he actually means. 
Tim bites his lips, mouth moving as if to say something, before abandoning it to put his hand on Damian’s head. “I know,” he says, eyes telling Damian that he understood exactly what Damian meant, and it’s not what Damian actually said. “Now go, little brother.”
Damian breathes out heavily, in an effort to keep the tears from going down. He nods and walks to the edge of the transporter, helping someone climb in. Then, he looks back and meets Tim’s eyes. 
He refuses to believe that this is the last time he will see Tim again. He has lost too much today. He refuses to lose Timothy on top of it. 
“You’re stepping into this transporter as soon as possible, do you hear me, Timothy?” Damian demands. 
“I promise,” Tim says, holding the eye contact. “Now go.” 
Damian searches Tim’s eyes, looking for any kind of deceit, but he doesn’t find any. Damian takes one last look at his brother, the only one left, and steps into the portal. 
He believes that Timothy will follow him, as soon as possible. The question is, will as soon as possible be enough? 
***
He eventually managed to go to Gotham. Or, more precisely, he eventually managed to go as far as Bristol, getting into the Manor's grounds. 
He sits on top of a tree that hasn’t grown his favourite branch yet, might never grow his favourite branch, and observes his, but not really his, family. 
It’s not his. They are not his family. 
But they look so, so much like them. 
Damian knows that this universe is several years behind his own, and he, theoretically, knows what that entails. Jason has not returned to Gotham yet, Richard is operating out in Bludhaven, Stephanie is still figuring out her place as a hero, Cassandra is still learning how to be a person instead of a weapon, Timothy is still Robin, and the only one besides Alfred who regularly goes to the Manor. 
But he really is not prepared to actually see it. 
He sits on the branch that is not his favorite and watches as Timothy does the drills that he would continue to do well after he stopped being Robin. Laps around the Manor, then several calisthenics routine, and then a few more laps around the Manor. Damian has watched him do this routine countless times. 
But never this young. Never as Robin. 
Damian watches Timothy’s red, panting face, and remembers the hands on his shoulders, pushing him towards the transporter. He watches Timothy’s mouth moving, and hears the words his brother spoke to him. 
Be Robin. 
How is he going to be Robin, when Timothy is still Robin here? He is redundant. 
Useless. 
From the Manor, Damian can see his father coming out to meet Timothy. No, not his Father. 
Bruce, then. 
Damian sees Bruce walk out to the grounds and feels himself retracting further into the shadows of the tree. He is not ready to meet them. He is not ready for them to see him. Managing to get to the Manor is enough for the day. 
When is he going to tell them? He can’t hide forever, can he?
Maybe he can. After all, Captain Marvel operated for many years without the League being the wiser. He could ask Billy Batson for advice. 
Damian sighs internally. Who is he kidding? The moment he gets into contact with Captain Marvel, his cover, if that is what this hiding can be called, will be  blown. He’s not going to get into contact with Captain Marvel. 
Beneath him and several feet to the right, Damian can feel Bruce and Timothy talking together, exchanging words and ideas. It is so very much like Damian’s first few encounters with them that he is transported back several years and many, many heartbreaks ago, when his Father basically ignored him in favor of Timothy. 
He hated Timothy then.
How much he wishes he could go back. 
Damian watches as Timothy walks into the Manor with Bruce, face clear and still strangely innocent. A very far cry from the Timothy Damian had met years ago. 
A very far cry than the Timothy who had told Damian to listen to him and leave. 
Damian had never listened to Timothy before. Why did he choose to listen to him then, at the worst possible moment?
He looks at Timothy’s face, clear of the worry his Timothy carried all the time from the moment Damian met him, and something clicks in his brain. 
Oh. That’s why he was spared.
He can spare them the pain. He can spare Timothy the grief of losing his best friends and his father, he can spare Stephanie the grief of dying and being brought back feeling wrong, he can spare Cassandra her abduction. 
Damian can spare Richard the pain and the grief and the burden of having to take care of him. 
He can spare this universe’s Damian Wayne from growing up to be like him. 
Damian waits until Timothy and Bruce have entered the Manor, and starts to climb down the tree. 
Be good, Richard had told him the very last time he saw him. Be Robin, Timothy had ordered him before he pushed Damian into the transporter. 
Take care of each other. 
Well, none of his family is left for Damian to take care of, so he will just have to take care of this universe’s Damian Wayne’s family. He can take care of this Damian Wayne. 
Damian feels the Wayne Manor grounds meets his feet and he walks away, careful not to trip any of the abundant alarms. He still has some time to plan, and he doesn’t want to just come up to the door and tell them about it all. 
He has to make sure they are ready. He has to make sure he is ready.
***
Damian stands in front of the Manor door, feeling a sense of deja-vu. He has done this before. He has stood in front of his father’s house, preparing himself to knock, oblivious to the reception that he would get the moment the door opens. 
This universe’s Damian Wayne will never know the feeling. If Damian knows his Father, and he does, even though this is not truly his Father, he will go and find this universe’s Damian Wayne as soon as he knows that he existed. 
That Damian Wayne would have been five, six years old. He would grow up to be a completely different person. 
He would grow up to be a better person. How could he not?
Damian knows that the moment he rings the doorbell for the Manor, everything will change. He could still go back. He could still turn around and pretend this never happened. There is no trace of him here. No alarms tripped, no footage of him, and no hint of him ever being here. 
He could go back to pretending he doesn’t exist. 
But he can’t do that. Not when everyone had given up their lives for him.
This is the reason he is alive when everyone else has died. So he can bring his knowledge to his family, and so he can make sure that this universe’s Damian Wayne will never become like him. 
That Damian Wayne will never do the Year of Blood. That Damian Wayne will never know the struggles of fighting his mother every year for a hint of his father’s identity. That Damian Wayne will grow up cared for and happy and loved. 
Damian is here to make sure that the Damian Wayne in this universe will never grow up to be like him. 
He takes a deep breath, and presses the doorbell. 
Alfred opens the door, much like Damian had predicted. Damian also knows that he has his shotgun within reach, as like his Alfred does everytime he opens the door for an unfamiliar face.
“Can I help you, young sir?” Alfred asks, voice as polite as ever, but still full of threats. 
Damian looks at him, at the face that he misses so but knows is not really the same. His lips turn up into a small smile, and he says, as evenly as possible, “My name is Damian Wayne. It’s good to see you, Alfred.” 
He knows he won’t get away with just saying that. He knows that there will be hours upon hours of explanations and answers demanded of him. He knows his father, and he knows his family. 
But it’s a start. 
It’s a start. 
41 notes · View notes
vampire207343 · 3 years
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Faith Liac Mikaelson
         What if....  Youngest Potter died and reborn, in another wold leaving her beloved husband and two sons.
                                                        ****
             After the defeat of the Dark Lordthe oldest Daughter of tge Potters, Camilia Liliana Potter (The-Girl-Who-Lived) found out that her younger twin sister Hyacinth Lilac Potter (Fem!Harry Potter) has been dating Camalia’s sworn enemies, Draco Lucius Malfoy for almost 4 years, she never known about the relationship even though Draco and Hycinth Potter never hidden their relationship from anyone, Even Hyacinth’s GodFather Sirius Orion Black had known about the relationship when he was alived.
               Evenutally Camalia and Hyavinth drift away from one another. It wasn’t long before Draco and Hyacinth married when the Potter twins finally lost all contact with one another.
A year after the war ended and Draco & Hyacinth gotten married when they gaved the news to the family and friends that they will be welcoming two new members of the family in 7 months and by then Hyacinth already drop the Potter name and began going by Black being the Lady of the house of Black. And one day her first born son would take the title from her when he come of age.
                     On May 15, 2001
Hyacinth Black Malfoy gaved birth to two healthy twin boys the oldest son who has Black hair of his grandfather and Sliver Blue eyes like his father, is given the name James Sirius Black Malfoy the secound the future Lord of the house of Black, and the youngest son who is identical to Draco Malfoy himself is given the Scorpio Rigel Black Malfoy the future Lord ofbthe house of Malfoy.
                  18 years later....
The Malfoy twins recently turn 17 years old and recently graduate Hogwarts, James Surius Black Malfoy is currently the new Lord of the most Ancient and most Noble House of Black, and Scorpio Rigel Black Malfoy is also the current Lord of the most Ancient Noble House of Malfoy.
When Hyacinth Black Malfoy unexpectedly died of Dragon pox since they were unawared that she even has it since she never showed any sign of having Dragon Pox until her death when the Healer’s scan her body, Draco Malfoy  was devested by the Death of his beloved wife, but he has to stay strong for his two sons.
               4 years after, Hyacinth Black Malfoy’s death, Draco Malfoy re-married after get the blessing of his two sons, he courted the youngest Greengrast sister for 2 & 1/2  years, Astoria Greengrass who made a silent vowbthe day her bestfriend Hyacinthb Black Malfoy died that she would watch over her three boys for herand that she would be their for them like she promise in her death bed.
Death collected Hyacinth Black Malfoy’s soul, but the moment Hyacinth arrived in the realm of the dead she quickly reborn in another world so simikar to her old one. She is reborn a twin once again. She is the youngest Daughter of Klaus Mikaelson and Hayle Marshall.
                    Faith lilac Mikaelson the reborn self of Hyacinth Black Malfoy one of the most powerful witch of her generation that rivals her former twin sister Camalia Liliana Potter Weasley. So it was no surprised that she is a powerful witch on her new life as well. But she isn’t treated right by her new family, she is ignored by her parents Klaus Mikaelson & Hayley Marshall, and her Aunt Rebekah who always dream of having children of her own ignore her as well she take my presence as a nuisance to the family. The same could be said for Elijah Mikaelson the so called Noble Uncle. Then their’s Freya Mikaelson the long lost sister of the original Family, she is no better than the rest of their family, they all ignored Faith Mikaelson for the Suppose Strongest twin, Hope Andrea Mikealson.
But if you had ask Kol Mikalson who was the strongest witch between Hope and Faith. He’ll say Faith is more powerfull than do called “First Born” witch of the Mikaeldon family. He is the only one who knows what Faith is feeling being ignored like they woild rather be anywhere but with her. He know that feeling since been their for almost all his life never fiting in with his brothers or sister even when they were human so it was no surprise that he favore Faith his youngest niece. Other than him his wife Davina Claire and Marcel Gerald are the only one who loves her.
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            Faith Lilac Mikaelson was ignored by almost by all her family with the exception of her favorite Uncle Kol Mikaelsonand his wife her Aunt Davina along with her brother figure Marcel Gerald for 6 years and she can’t afford to stay in the same house as hrt so call family any longer, so she run away from home only telling her Uncle Kol and her Aunt Davina along with her brother figure Marcel and made them promise not say anything to their so call family not that that they would even know that she run away at all.
when she arrive at her desried location Mystic Fall, and she cast a powerfull cloaking spell on herself to make sure her Aunt Freya can’t tract her
“coeur la vous votre tai ma say tou” with the help of the spirit of Esther and Dahlia Mikaelson.
And it wasn’t long before she vefan casting the Rescurrection spell of her own creation that her Uncle Finn was brought a vampire with out needing to drink human blood at all. The spell work like it should she was affair that it would fail. She conjured him some clothes to wear before telling him Everything thatvhappen since he died and that the only one who cared about what haappen to her is her Unclec Kol and his wife her Aunt Davina other than both of them shebis mostly ignored by the rest of her family  for first 6 years of her life.
Finn Mikaelson didn’t think that his family could get any worse, But he was proven wrong,  they have chosen to ignore a child like her very existen didn’t worth a thing. Like how they all treated Kol when we were all human. He talk to his new discovered niece the youngest Daughter of his brother Klaus. He even had the chance to speak with his youngest brother Kol in the phone. He decided to rise his youngest niece like my brother Klaus should have done. The only one who even rised Faith right is my youngest brother Kol Mikealson and his wife Davina Clair and in a year Kol and his wife would be moving back to Mystic Fall to be near Faith. The only one who remotly change from all my siblings is my youngest brother Kol and he use to be the most iresponsible of all my siblings.
         Finn enroled his young niece to Salvator Boarding School for the Gifted where she meet children her age and made her very first friend  in Jason “Jace” Alexsander Salvator the son of Caroline Forbes and her late husband Stefan Salvator, He is a Heretic Vampire, she also befriend the saltzman twins but she closer to Jace and Lizzy more
            Faith Mikaelson past memories of her past life has been slowly returning to her, but while she regaining the memories of her past life she has no connection to that life except for the memories that’s returning. She also began re-creating every spells that Hyacinth Black Malfoy knows and use it to daily life. Even re-creating all the spell she ever created in that life.
  It didn’t take long before Faith befriend Jace’s cousin Hunter Grayson Salvator the son of Elena Gilbert and Damon Salvator.
      While both Elena and Damon Salvator still hate  Klaus Mikealsonbfor everything that he ever did to them, but his youngest daughter Faith is innocent from Klaus own crime, in fac she has their sympathy for having Klaus Mikaelson as her father and never having a real childhood being ignored by most of her family. It wss hard to believed the most iresponsible Mikalson end up to be the one carring for this innocent and sweet little girl. The more they get to kow Faith Mikaelson, she remind everyone so much of Elena herself when she was a kid, so it was no surprise to anyone that Damon end up liking Faith so much.
          1 year later...
Kol Mikaelson and his wife Davina Claire start to distance themself from the rest of the family after their favorite niece Faith Lilac Mikaelson run away from home they didn’t even notice she was even missing for 5 months after the Hallow to possession of Hope and in order to keep Hope safe, Freya divided all the Hallow in equal part of 4 before being sealed inside there body before their seperate way to keep Hope safe, and Hayle knows to keep of Mystic Fall since that’s where Kol and Davina plan to move. 
The part of the Hallow inside Kol wouldn’t be able to try to take possession of Faith’s body since Faith casted a powerful cloakihg and protection spell on her person that not even Freya can break through.
             6 & 1/2 years later..
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Faith Lilac Mikaelson and
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Jason “Jace” Alexsander Salvator  both recently turn 18 years old and graduate at Salvator boarding school after attenteding the school for 12 years. And they both plan on leaving Mystic Fall for Collage and attented Norwich University of the Art in England.
But before they leave for Collage they are going to attend the wedding of her srcound favorite 
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Uncle Finn Mikaelson’s big wedding to our favorite teacher in Salvator Boarding School
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Adela Harper Jones my new Aunt teach Salvator Boarding School as the Defence Teacher and she’s a Phoenix.
       After Uncle Finn and Aunt Adelab left for their Honeymoon in Paris did both Faith and Jace left gor Collage as well.
Freya found away to destroy all the Hallow without her brothers and sister dying so that Hope may have all her family together again so with the Hallow gone.
Hope Andrea Mikaelson is trying yo convince her parents to allow her to attented normal school like any teenager. It only took her two months, before all of them leaves New Orlean to move back to Mystic Fall for Hope’s new school, Freya already called Salvator Boarding School to enrole Hope Mikaelson.
The Salvators, and Bennett witch along with the rest of their friends that the rest of the Mikaelson are moving back in town. The reason they accept Kol and Finn Mikaelson is because they know both of them have change, so they aren’t happy that Klaus and the rest of his siblings return to Mystic Fall.
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Hope Mikaelson is having problem making friends until 5 months later, when she offically meet Jossie Saltzman and befriend her but Jossie’s twin sister Lizzie tend to avoid me no matter what, I gotten the feeling that Lizzy hates my gut.
          Lizzie Saltzman don’t get what’s so imprortant about Hope Mikaelson that her family ignored her best friend very existence well it can’t be because Hope being more powerful witch because Faith is alot more powerful witch than her older twin sister, just because Hope Mikaelson is a tribird dosen’t mean she’s more powerful than Faith their uncle Kol and Finn would be able to tell you that.
5 months later on March 5, Hope Mikaelson meet another new student who’s a blonde Doppleganger of Faith Mikaelson
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 who is a new werewolf student, and Hope befriend Clarrisa “Clary” Rose Smith unknown to Hope that that the reason why Kol and Finn are shock to meet Hope’s new friend is because she look like a blonde version of Faith Mikaelson not that Hope knows her new friend look is a look a like her younger twin.
Damon and Elena are worried that their might be another Doppleganger Drama again in the coming future since Clary Smith look like a blonde werewolf version of Faith Mikaelson. They already went through Doppleganger drama that would last them a life time. 
          2 years later...
Faith and Jace graduate Norwich University of Art only attented Collage for 2 years graduating early. After graduating Faith and jace are getting married after they get out of Collage which their close friends and family are invited for the wedding. They got married in England.
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Faith Lilac Mikaelson and 
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Jason “Jace” Alexsander Salvator are in their honeymoon  in singapore they stayed their for 3 months before visit their family in Mystic Fall, but they plan to settle in England instead of staying  in England to work where Faith has slowly been creating her own Fashion Line called FLMS Fashion since the beging of their collage career, while Jace also been directing small movies of his own is slowly rising up like his wife so they decided to stay in England.
Mystic Fall...
While Faith and Jace Salvator visit their family Klaus and Hayley manged to catch a glimps of their youngest daughyter Faith wuo’s living a successful life recently married to her lingbtime Boyfriend Jace Salavtor the son of Caroline Forbes and her late husband Stefan Salvator. She’s close to both Finn and Kol along with their respected wifes.
The family tried to approach her over the week she was in mystic fall but they never manged to talk to her and how they all wish yo make up for everything  when she was a child leaving her out to celebrate Hope and Faith’s birthday they realized that Kol and Davina were more Faith’s parents than they were. It wasn’t long before returning to England.
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spryfilm · 6 years
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“Justice League” (2017)
Action/Fantasy
Running Time: 120 minutes
Written by:  Chris Terrio and Joss Whedon
Directed by:  Zack Snyder
Featuring: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Connie Nielsen, J. K. Simmons and Ciarán Hinds
Diana Prince: “People said the Age of Heroes would never come again.“
Bruce Wayne: “It has to. We don’t have any more time!“
Has there ever been any more problems in modern movie history than the struggles that Warner Brothers has had with the DCEU attempting to get a comic book universe off the ground that will rival the mighty marvel comic book universe? It really isn’t a faor comparison, Marvel are into their seventeenth movie with this years “Thor: Ragnarok”(2017), while this weeks “Justice League”(2017) is just the fifth – with at least four of the previous being major disappointments – of course their only real bright spot is that they have continued to make money. But audiences as well as critics have not held back with their own opinions on how dreadful they really are.
Now comes the second team movie to be under the DCEU banner after the horrible “Suicide Squad”(2016) that seeks to unite at least three of the biggest superheroes ever, along with three definite B characters to form the titular ‘Justice League’. This was kind of teased in the derided “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”(2016). Of course even before “Justice League “is released it has had its share of issues, massive amounts of reshoots, changing directors for at least a quarter of the movie, mandated running time of less than two hours as well as heightening the humor, decreasing the darkness, finally not forgetting to increase the amount of Wonder Woman in the movie. This really does not bode well, especially as many of these issues and changes faced “Suicide Squad”, however “Justice League “has turned out much better – for the most part. There is a large  caveat, that is this is still not a coherent movie, not only that I had pretty much forgotten about it as soon as I left the theatre.
The bare bones plot takes place months after the events of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”, inspired by Superman’s sacrifice for humanity, Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince unite a team consisting of Barry Allen, Arthur Curry, and Victor Stone to face the catastrophic threat of Steppenwolf and his army of Para demons, who are on the hunt for three Mother Boxes on Earth, while the world reflects on Superman’s death.
The good news is that this movie for the most part holds together, (that is being kind)  serving as a kind of origin movie as well as a look to the future as to what to expect in the coming years. It also serves to introduce Cyborg, Flash and Aquaman to an audience so as to show what those individuals offer. This is accomplished through the recruitment that Batman as well as Wonder Woman attempt to accomplish so as to give the audience someone they do know making the introductions for us. This works quite well overall, but I could not help feel that out of all this that Aquaman is the one best served (although not the deepest character) which could have something to do with his own movie arriving next year – while Flash and Cyborg are given the scraps off the table, as it were.
Other than the bringing together of the team, there is what feels like a necessary call back to “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” in the fact that the main villain here is Steppenwolf and his army of Parademons who made appearances in that movie (actually Steppenwolf only appears in the directors cut which to me is odd to say the least) – does this work? For me the answer is no, but antagonists in all comic book movies do seem to be an issue – there are a few exceptions but it does not necessarily mean that this makes for a negative experience – origin movies tend to be forgiven more, which this for all intents and purposes is.
The trailers for this movie have been out for months so we have all known what to expect casting wise, there is Gal Gadot and Ben Affleck as Wonder Woman and Batman who have appeared in their own features so we know what to expect from them. In this movie Affleck has taken a step forward, Gadot a step back. However this is the first time we are spending an extended amount of time with Jason Momoa (Aquaman), Ezra Miller (Flash) and Ray Fisher (Cyborg). While Momoa and Miller are known genre actors and know how to play to the cameras in big films, it was Fisher for me who is an unknown element, he acquits himself well with the role as Cyborg, but the issue for me is that this just seems like an Iron Man rip-off with the exception that his amour is bonded to his skin, which for me makes a hollow hero – maybe in time I will grow to like this character, but for now he seems a little redundant. The supporting cast is rounded out with highly experienced character actors that we have seen in previous movies, the likes of Connie Neilsen as Queen Hippolyta, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Diane Lane as MAARRTTHHAAA Kent (no jokes please), Jeremy Irons as Alfred, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex, who all do their jobs well, although they seem to be there as identifiers of earlier movies. There is now the arrival of new supporting characters (assuming we are supposed to see more of them in the next standalone movies) such as Amber Heard as Mera, Kiersey Clemons as Iris West, Billy Crudup as Henry Allen, J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon and Joe Morton as Dr. Silas Stone. Now while these actors are all great I cannot help think that they were appearing as some kind of preview to possible standalone movies, whether they eventuate or not – Marvel got bashed for this. See “Iron Man 2”(2010) for the reaction to their version of this.
Famously the original director, Zack Snyder left the movie late in the game so screenwriter Joss Whedon was given the job of completing the shooting as well as being solely in charge of reshoots. For many movies this might be an issue, however because the story is so simple it meant that it was relatively easy to marry the two directors work making a story that is what the creatives wanted – to me it seemed fairly standard with little in the way of surprise or real stakes. As with most DCEU movies they seem to be overcooked with too many chefs as well as creators who seem to lack any vision for what they are doing. Snyder has proved again and again an overreliance on tropes as well as storylines that existed in the 1980s with the inability to be able to movie forward modernizing these wonderful characters. With Snyder gone (apparently never to return thank goodness) Whedon has picked up the mantle adding his signature dialogue and humor as well as a shorter tighter movie that is brisk with its narrative – no pondering heroes here or heavy handed dialogue, just a lot more fun in general – thank goodness because really the plot makes little sense or bears no relation to any real situations you can think of. The other screenwriter who is credited is Chris Terrio who believe it or not received an Oscar for “Argo” (2012) but revealed the kind of messy uneditable writer he actually is with “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”. Of course when you have someone like Whedon who has always been about a plot with character moments you can see his fingerprints here – Terrio like his friend Affleck to have been cut out of any production decisions since their first disaster was released.
As you would expect the movie looks like a Snyder movie, mostly, although there are cracks in the seams with some fairly ordinary CGI, again an over reliance on these which makes for a rather blurry action movie. This is a shame but comes from late reshoots as well as a general feeling that the people behind the scenes were all making different movies – something it seems all the DCEU movies have in common. What we end up watching is an OK movie that rates probably third (maybe) behind this years “Wonder Woman” and “Man of Steel”(2009) – although they had plenty of issues as well – it is also a small reset which is welcome, showing a way forward. I have to admit that after this movie I am hoping that next years “Aquaman” (2018) will improve and should be a treat in particular because it will not involve Terrio, Snyder but will involve Geoff Johns.
The big question to ask is – should you see “Justice League “in cinemas? The answer is I guess, especially if you have made the trip for previous movies. “Justice League” is a sign that even though Warner Brothers will have you believe that they make these movies in a vacuum, they most certainly in reality do not. They have looking at feedback as well as reviews and are making course corrections on the fly – which can be good as in “Wonder Woman” or can be disastrous as in “Suicide Squad”. In the case of this movie it has worked out somewhere in between but it is a sign of things to come, so take the chance and enjoy a rare thing, a pretty good Joss Whedon inspired super hero movie.
“Justice League” (2017) is out now only in cinemas.
Film review: “Justice League”(2017) “Justice League” (2017) Action/Fantasy Running Time: 120 minutes Written by:  Chris Terrio and Joss Whedon Directed by:  Zack Snyder…
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junker-town · 7 years
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THIS WEEK IN SCHADENFREUDE, where Oklahoma’s loss to Iowa State exposes Lincoln Riley and two Stoops brothers in a far-reaching conspiracy
Why did Bob Stoops really retire? These fans have an idea. This is your weekly tour of the angriest in college football internet, also stopping briefly at Michigan.
Oklahoma is at it again.
By “it,” I mean losing games to double-digit underdogs, which the Sooners have now done in seven consecutive seasons. The latest installment: a 38-31 home loss to 31-point dog Iowa State on Saturday, the Cyclones’ first win against OU since 1990.
The Sooners tumbled from No. 3 in the AP Poll to 12th. They’ve gone from the inner circle of the Playoff picture to periphery. How’d Sooners fans take that?
Our first stop: the Sooners message board at LandThieves.
You’re aware that Oklahoma’s head coach is now Lincoln Riley. It is not Bob Stoops, who stepped away last summer after two decades on the job. Every indication is that Stoops left because he’d had enough of being OU’s head coach and thought the time was right to hand the reins to Riley. But one poster has another idea.
Oklahoma’s defensive coordinator is Mike Stoops, Bob’s brother. The Sooners’ defense has been mediocre for a while now, carried along by a consistently great offense. Calls for Bob to fire Mike were frequent during Bob’s years as head coach.
I Have A (Conspiracy) Theory...
Bob knew we weren't winning a title with Mike's defense.
He couldn't bring himself to fire Mike, however.
Instead of enduring another season of blame, he handed the keys to Riley--knowing the chances of going undefeated were very low.
That way, if Mike ****ed up he wouldn't have to flip the switch on his own brother.
Would I quit a job just to force someone else to fire my brother?
(Rhetorical question. I’m not answering it.)
The theory that Bob Stoops retired to get away from a hard decision about his brother is not all that much of a minority view.
This postgame thread from Rivals’ Sooner Scoop board posits a similar idea:
Conspiracy theory?
I spent the night reviewing recent happenings at OU, and OVERthinking them...
I continue to wonder how much being saddled with his Bro' had to do with Bob's sudden departure ...and NOW, if Boren's resignation plays a larger part than we realize...
I'm also questioning if yesterday's fiasco was actually a Trick Play...If so, it worked! Coach Campbell knew, on Monday, that his starting QB was out, but didn’t announce it until Friday. Very little available info’ on back-up QB…None on third stringer…No game film…No scouting report…No in-game adjustments, which seems to be a Stoops Brother’s trait, and there you have a sure fire recipe for a major failure…
Could it be a very real possibility that somehow, The Russians are behind the entire Scenario?
And at SB Nation’s Crimson And Cream Machine:
Has anyone reached out to the other Stoops brother? WHAT DOES MARK STOOPS KNOW, AND WHEN DID HE KNOW IT?
There’s also some worry about the ramifications of “striping the stadium,” when some Memorial Stadium sections wear crimson and others wear cream.
The Sooners went with that on Saturday and it didn’t achieve the desired effect of producing a win.
Stop "striping" the f'n stadium!!!
OU is guaranteed to lay a giant stinking turd when they do this crap. And burn those ****ing red on red unis.
Or maybe Oklahoma could take a more mild step toward reform.
Stripe the stadium
Can we only do this when Kansas is in Norman?
That seems like a sensible compromise.
There’s also a deeply NSFW “roll call” thread where everyone just says how they’re dealing with this devastating loss.
Some of the notable coping mechanisms:
“I’m thinking of starting drugs ... Not sure alcohol is gonna work for this”
“I picked a bad day to stop smoking crack.”
“if our DC can do it on gameday, why can't we?”
“Hey, to top the day off, my wife is in the other room watching romcoms and griping at me about my diet, and I lost 12 pounds in the past 3 weeks. She is also a NYer and doesn't get up for this. My stepson is, but he is working as a DJ at a radio station in NJ right now, and has no idea what happened. He said ‘I think I will get some more hours in since we are playing ISU at home this week.’”
“Anyone know a good place to bury a body? Asking for a friend.”
Glad to see everything’s fine.
R/Sooners was basically just a Fire Mike Stoops battleground.
Just before 7 p.m. ET on Sunday.
“YOU HAVENT MADE A GOOD ALBUM SINCE ROLL THE BONES,” one thread reads.
Another says the Sooners have now achieved MEME STATUS:
It's sad. Team had a bye week to prep for a game they were predicted to win by 5 touchdowns, even in light of the fact they barely squeaked by Baylor 2 weeks prior. And what happens? They lose it.
Playoff hopes are gone and the team has meme status for the rest of the season.
That and Riley's honeymoon period is definitely over. Out of his last two games, both of which should have been easy wins, Riley barely won one and lost the other at home to a team Stoops never lost to.
I'm sure Texas is smelling blood after today. They're going to come after us like animals next week, and in it's current state, this team won't be able to handle it.
I’m now going to look at Mike Stoops’ Twitter mentions.
People have been unsparing.
Funniest thing I’ve read all day is that coach @OU_CoachMike makes $920,000 a year. What an embarrassment
— Alex Bailey (@Ginobailey94) October 8, 2017
Starting a petition for @OU_CoachMike to be fired ☺️
— kaylie rae (@kaylieraeliegh) October 7, 2017
starting a petition to get @OU_CoachMike fired
— jake hattey (@hatteyjake1) October 8, 2017
(That’s gonna be a lot of petitions.)
@OU_CoachMike dude.
— Cody Houdmann (@cjhoud) October 8, 2017
Have you blocked me back yet? @OU_CoachMike
— Christian Black (@_OnceYouGoBlack) October 8, 2017
@OU_CoachMike why can’t you be more like your brother?
— Nemo Hoes (@YungTrap6God) October 8, 2017
I'm not paying my bursar balance knowing a portion of it goes to @OU_CoachMike
— Joe Shelley (@JoeShelley_7) October 8, 2017
@OU_CoachMike you couldn't defend your mom.
— John McMahan (@johnnydmcmahan) October 7, 2017
Too far.
The Fire Mike Stoops train is also rolling furiously down the tracks on Facebook. I’ve never seen an outburst quite this strong for a coordinator firing.
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I will no longer emotionally invest in OU football until someone grows the balls to fire Mike Stoops Sadly, I'm not surprised yet again #firemikestoops
Publié par Brandy Kirkpatrick sur samedi 7 octobre 2017
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Possibly unpopular opinion. 1.) Fire Mike Stoops 2.) Fire Strength & Conditioning Coach. 3.) Fire tackling...
Posted by Jason Myrick on Saturday, October 7, 2017
Once you’ve gone after the strength coach, you’ve passed the point of no return.
Oklahoma wore all red, which it never does.
Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
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Fire Mike Stoops and lose the crimson pants. No pants are better than crimson pants.
Posted by Christopher Moon on Saturday, October 7, 2017
This guy has been through an almost unimaginable hell:
My condolences.
Also:
@OU_CoachMike you are the worst thing to happen to OU football. Brent Venables takes shits that could coach better than you
— Jake Kouri (@jakekouri10) October 7, 2017
Finally, let’s take a quick look at Michigan internet, after the Wolverines lost yet again as a favorite to Michigan State.
A Redditor at r/MichiganWolverines saw John O’Korn throw a trio of interceptions and started feeling things for former QB Jake Rudock:
r/MichiganWolverines
I’m not sure what’s more brutal toward Michigan’s offensive line: the joke here, or the first response to it at the bottom:
r/MichiganWolverines
And someone thought in serious detail about Michigan’s similarities to Jay Gatsby.
So We Beat On
As I write this, fighting back the urge to puke from last night's drinking binder, from the corner of my eye, I see a book at the edge of my desk. That damn book. I've written a ton about it the last semester for college. I'm sick of it, but The Great Gatsby is consuming my life so I must share the burden with you.
"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year receeds before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter- tomorrow we will run faster, strech our arms further... And one fine morning-"
A lot has changed over the course of just a few years. Juggling school, work, and two children, things don't get much more hectic. Life has a way of shuffling your priorities for you, against your will. However, amidst the pressure of everyday life, in the forefront of a country in social turmoil, one thing remains a constant: Michigan. I make time for it. I forcably shove it into the spinning cogs that move my life forward every Saturday. Everything stops for three hours. The chaos around me is nullified to a dull hum in the background. I could search the very depths of my conciousness to find something that compares to this unique passion of mine, but it would be to no avail. No matter the consequences. I'm still here.
The Great Gatsby, if you're familiar with it, is a tragedy. F. Scott Fitzgerald writes of our passion to recapture the past. To re-create the moments lost in memory. As it goes, this passion is ultimately damaging. No matter how hard you try to grab the ever-fleeting past, you'll walk away defeated and demoralized.
Michigan football seems to be doing the same, stuck in the realm of past glory. We as fans push this notion all the time. Perhaps if we merely accept that things are different now, we can truely move forward to capture a new essance of glory.
Forget about yesterday, forget about capturing the past. Focus upon today, where challenges await in the future. And put some damn steel in your spine.
"So we beat on".
And so Michigan beats on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into a tie with Maryland for fourth place in the Big Ten East.
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Image caption Seagull (left) and Monkman have been the stars of the Jeremy Paxman-fronted current series
University Challenge is, quite simply, the most fiendishly difficult quiz show on TV.
Most of us can just about get a few questions right on Eggheads or The Chase – but few of us would have a chance against Jeremy Paxman.
With many of its viewers totally flummoxed by the questions – perhaps it’s not surprising that the BBC Two quiz show tends to go viral for other reasons.
Namely, the quirks of its contestants.
Eric Monkman and Bobby Seagull have been the breakout stars of the current series (more on them in a minute), but they’re far from the first to find fame on the show.
The invention of social media has given the programme a new lease of life and helped many contestants develop their own cult following.
Image caption Gail Trimble (second right) became a viewer favourite in 2008
“University Challenge works extremely well for this YouTube generation,” says Tom Eames, senior TV reporter at Digital Spy.
“One funny moment or question can be so easily shared on Twitter now – it’s the same when something rude happens on Countdown or someone makes a fool of themselves on Pointless.”
Eames thinks another reason the show has found a new audience is how much more fashionable it has become to be super-smart.
“In the last few years, everyone loves calling themselves a geek or a nerd, even though in the real world they might not be,” he said.
“Shows like The Big Bang Theory have recently flourished. So you when someone genuinely seems to have some geeky superpowers like Monkman, we like to big them up.”
Ahead of this season’s final on Monday evening, let’s take a look back at a few of University Challenge’s viral sensations:
Eric Monkman and Bobby Seagull
Image caption Monkman and Seagul finally came head-to-head at the semi-final
The current series saw two contestants – both captains of rival teams from Cambridge University – find social media fame.
Monkman in paraticular inspired a legion of online fans who identified themselves with the hashtag #monkmania.
His facial expressions and tendency to deliver answers with an upward inflection won him a place in the hearts of many viewers.
He and Seagull each went viral in their own right before they finally faced each other on screen in the semi-final, where Monkman narrowly edged victory.
Image copyright @Bobby_Seagull
Image caption Monkman and Seagull have become friends since appearing on the show
“I would say Monkman is in the all time top five [contestants],” The Independent’s James Rampton told the BBC.
“There’s a tendency in our culture to be very homogeneous, everyone must be cool, be good looking. But Monkman, I hope he wouldn’t mind me saying, is a bit of a geek.”
Monkman and Seagull, it later transpired, were friends off-air and caught the train down to London together when they appeared on The One Show last month.
At this point we’d usually demand they be given their own TV show – but we’re pretty sure we’d never understand anything they were saying.
Gail Trimble
Image caption Gail Trimble went viral in 2009 after her appearance on the show
One of the most memorable University Challenge contestants of recent years was Gail Trimble, of Corpus Christi, Oxford.
She answered around two thirds of the questions on her own, winning more points than all three of her teammates combined.
Her performances quickly caught the attention of viewers, with many suggesting she was the smartest-ever contestant.
She was particularly popular with a certain genre of men’s magazines, who at one point asked whether she would ever consider a career change.
“My brother received a Facebook message from Nuts, saying ‘Can we have your sister’s email address, we want her to do a tasteful shoot’,” Trimble told BBC Breakfast.
“So he sent them a reply saying ‘Seriously mate, would you send your sister’s contact details to Nuts?'”
Ralph Morley
The name might not ring a bell – but Ralph Morley was the bravest contestant of them all: the man who spoke back to Jeremy Paxman.
Here’s how the glorious exchange went:
Paxman: “During the 20th Century, who held the position of prime minster of the United Kingdom for the…”
Morley: [Buzzing in] “Margaret Thatcher.”
Paxman: [Looking shocked] “How did you know I was going to ask for the longest period of time?
Morley: “Well what else was it going to be?”
Audience: “Ooooooh!”
Paxman: “Okay well let’s see if you get these bonuses right. They’re on French land borders, you smart arses.”
We salute you, Ralph.
Oscar Powell
In 2015, Oscar Powell of Peterhouse, Cambridge took the concept of facial expressions to a whole new level.
The Geological Sciences student, who looks a little bit like Michael Gove, had one of the most animated human faces in the history of human faces.
If he was struggling to answer a question, his jaw would drop, his face would scrunch up or his tongue would poke out as he tried to arrive at the answer.
After huge reaction on social media, Powell tweeted: “Yes, I know I’m odd.” But his fanbase continued to revel in his performances declare their love for him.
Eames says: “It used to be rare for normal people to come famous off the back of a TV show, but the line between celebrity and non celebrity is so blurred now.
“Ten years ago, someone could appear on the programme but be forgotten again the next day, but that’s not the case anymore.
“As a result, people who appear on shows like this fall under the celebrity bracket, so there’s a potential for them to become fair game to viewers.”
Famous faces
Image caption Stephen Fry, Miriam Margolyes and David Starkey all appeared on University Challenge
Long before they were famous, some of Britain’s most distinguished brains made their first TV appearances on University Challenge.
Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, historian David Starkey, and general national treasure Stephen Fry are among the quiz show’s alumni.
Actress Miriam Margolyes even claims her appearance on the programme in 1963 marked the first time anybody had ever said the f-word on TV.
In 2011, she told Graham Norton: “I got a question wrong, and I [swore], and they bleeped me out so you saw my face [saying the word], but nothing actually came out.”
Had Twitter been around in the 1960s, we’re pretty sure that would’ve gone viral.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected].
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