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middleinthenight21 · 4 years

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Ain't that the worst thing you ever heard? Part 3

This is sad for me, It's the end

Thanks to @ravenfan1242 Without your help I could not have done this. Thank you!

If you read stay safe

"Damian Wayne has a girlfriend and she's beautiful."

"It is a pity that Bruce Wayne's son already has a partner."

’’ I ship them so much.’’

’’ Tessa Collingwood and Damian Wayne are so beautiful. God, they look so in love’’

’’ I need someone to look at me like Tessa at Damian’’

Tessa Collingwood was a British actress, mostly known for starring in teen series. Her fame exploded when she participated in a Netflix series about the rampant life of wealthy teens, the series was questionable in many ways, but it powered the careers of its stars; Tessa Collingwood accumulated more than three million followers on her accounts, being a celebrity on Instagram looking beautiful in all her photos. The actress was gorgeous with long fire-red hair, a freckled face and big blue eyes, plus an innocent smile.

The photographs circulating on the internet were taken at an auction, the youngest of the Wayne family holding a glass of champagne out to the crowd, right next to an ice sculpture in the shape of an angel with flapping wings and Tessa Collingwood looked impressive In a red dress that highlighted her hair, she was hiding a smile behind her glass. The following showed a conversation with Dick and the one who was supposed to be the manager of the actress, but the young woman was inclined as if paying attention to something Damian said and smiled.

Conner was jealous and Jaime muttered something in Spanish about the fate of some.

He rolled his eyes.

"What is she like, man?"

He frowned, he was not willing to talk about anything related to the actress, since it could be misinterpreted, especially by his colleagues, who tended to exaggerate everything and if a few simple photos could ignite all that paranoia a few words would probably make them explode. He threw his bag on the living room sofa and ignored the questions choosing to sit down.

Jaime snorted "Give us something. You are being linked to an actress and model, and you are so indifferent" He showed the actress' social networks on his cell phone, as if that cleared his mind. "It's Tessa Collingwood! She won an award for best actress in a drama series. "

He said nothing.

Donna grimaced at the ceiling, she didn’t even know who they were referring to and was thankful that there was at least one reasonable person in the room.

Superboy didn’t stop talking to Garfield about the actress and her presence at the auction, as well as reading comments together and laughing out loud when they called Damian a gentleman, but he refused to continue this conversation.

His older brother sat next to him, crossing his legs with a smirk. He nudged him "Tell them. She kept smiling at you. "

"You too? I let them take a photograph for a single event and they already mad up a silly love story", he growled. His words were tinged with rejection at the idea of all those people getting into his life. Over time, he accepted that some types of relationships are necessary, but if he considered it, it would not be in the public eye. The point was "He had to wear the scarf. "

"And Bruce would have loved it."

Damian said nothing, just grimaced and looked away. The journey from Gotham to Jump City was more tiring than he’d like to admit, plus the auction for the sculpture by Allard, an artist known for his dark style, became famous for his sculptures of smiling demons, tormented angels, and trees with sloping logs; He had been fascinated by the man's work and the details, even though people murmured how horrifying it was.

The event was slow and boring, he knew it would be, but there were responsibilities that came with being a Wayne. Commitments.

"Dick, you have to tell us," Conner insisted. "Is it true that she offered him her phone number as anonymous sources say? "

The man laughed at just imagining it and Damian crossed his arms.

Jaime looked at him as if he had done something wrong.

Garfield kept reading comments aloud and zooming in on the photos.

Troy cocked her head, processing who the actress was and why they cared so much.

Conner bombarded Dick with questions, trying to get as much information out of him as possible. He couldn't believe he considered him a friend, he's an idiot.

"I prefer cancellation."

Each one looked at him. He ignored them by focusing on removing from the packaging of the small statues he bought at the auction, as well as a handwritten book by an anonymous ancient Arab poet., The piece was valued at less than a million dollars and how millionaires are of unknown origin. They had nothing to brag about, but Damian found a value for it, perhaps because he is also an Arab, perhaps because people are stupid, especially those with more superficial money.

His older brother gave him a sideways glance.

"What? " He asked defensively. He put everything heshe bought in his bag, taking care that it was kept in perfect order.

"You've been reading a lot lately."

"Is there something wrong with that?"

He raised his hands, as if stopping an invisible attack.

"No, I didn't mean that, Damian." He shook his head. He put a finger on his chin thoughtfully. "It is just that I have seen you with at least two books in the week. Three days ago, I saw you reading Lovecraft, then Whose Body? or whatever ... "

Garfield looked up from his phone and watched him.

"Who, darling?"

Kory stroked Dick's chest from behind, pressing her chin against the hero's shoulder. Damian pulled away, despising the show of affection from the apparent team leaders, and the entire team made excuses to go elsewhere.

"I have to go bathe with my tongue." Garfield disappeared down the hallways.

The couple laughed. It seemed that they lived in a sugary bubble when they are together, all the time they touch each other and smile every time their eyes connect, once the caresses begin, they do not stop and they are not shy at all ... Damian has bad memories of this.

He left.

He just wanted his bed. After finding his face on the internet and what's on the fingers of so many people who just want to get involved in the gossip of the moment, he wanted to train, use his time productively.

Preparation is a prerequisite for victory.

And he's always ready, but he just wants to sleep.

For some reason, he can't help but start reading this book. That baffles him.

When passing through the kitchen a person is sitting eating a cereal bar and holding a coffee with a pungent chocolate aroma. She keeps a book over her face, covers her expressions and is dressed completely in dark tones., She had on a sweatshirt that is triple her size and one shoulder is exposed, he could only see a vestige of some shorts , since they disappeared in the long sweatshirt and thick stockings.

Her foot moved to the rhythm of an imperceptible melody and her hair was tied back in a high ponytail, leaving strands at the nape of her neck.

She turned the page "If you stay longer there, I will consider you as a stalker, what do you want?"

"And they say I'm rude."

Raven looked up. Her eyes narrowed when she saw him standing at the door, he was not surprised that she did not look excited, since the girl rarely showed her emotions and he was grateful for that. After coming from an event surrounded by teenagers who sighed ion his face, daughters of mayors, granddaughters of businessmen, actresses, models and influencers who took pictures of him on his social networks without asking for his permission.

He had considered suing, but Dick found it unnecessary and his father kept speculating with Selina about the possibility that a black-market gang would steal the pieces. Bruce thinks they collaborate with the Penguin, but he doesn't count them until they arrive.

The best detective in the world.

She puts the book down, but reluctantly does it "Sorry. I thought it was Garfield or Conner. " He bit down on the cereal bar, keeping an eye on Damian. "So, what happened? "

He frowned.

Raven watched him.

She is empathetic, he reminded himself. Sometimes he overlooked that detail, this was one of her powers, that does not make it more tolerable, he did not like that people would look below his appearance; It felt like an invasion of his privacy, it doesn't feel right, but he can't get mad at Raven for knowing too much.

Supreme warriors like us never give the enemy a chance to defeat us, not when it comes to emotions or appealing to feelings. We must get rid of them to rule the world, Ra's Al Ghul was clear. You cannot guide them to a better world, being equal to them.

You will not be useful to me, just as you are.

He pushed Talia and Ra's voice away, as if shaking the dust off.

He sat across from Raven. He watched her silently taking small sips of her coffee, when he met her he believed that she was a person drinking bitter espresso, but she has an insane inclination towards sweets of all kinds; she went to that little sweet shop on Riva Street where they prepare artisan cotton candy and bought those colored candies that she keeps in her pockets, like an amulet.

Damian grimaced when she added a spoon of cream to her coffee and licked what remained on the kitchen utensil. Pennyworth would disapprove of her behavior; he can almost hear the scolding in his head.

"Nothing. "

For a few seconds he struggles to remember her question. If this happened to him in the mansion, his older brothers would mock his face, and he grimaced.

After a weekend at Wayne Mansion living with his brothers and Helena, he was fortunate to be back with the Titans - his thirteen-year-old version would hit him in the face - but his little sister is loud, shaking her fists in the air and she opens her mouth as much as she can, claiming attention only for her, the noise of his brothers adds to it, that combination almost drover him crazy.

He doesn't want to talk about the auction.

"Look." She pulled a package out of her pockets. He raises an eyebrow, because he doesn't think it's anything special. "Son ghraybeh" she tried to pronounce. Raven lowers her voice, like she does when she's admitting something, she doesn't want anyone to hear. "I bought them in an Arab store. "

Damian analyzes one of the cookies. In his childhood in Tibet he had seen these biscuits in the markets of the nearby towns, the masses had almonds, pistachios and all kinds of nuts, but he had never tried them.

He bit into it. The sweet has a bitter flavor charged by spices, it’s an explosion in his mouth and he’s almost transported to those stores, to women covered by hijabs and it reminds him of the music his grandfather listened to during dinners, Of burnt incense, the blue hyacinth that grows as a weed and the Dragon Blood tree that rested in the garden that was extremely cared for, his grandfather had said that it is as old as he is and it’s sap is the color of blood.

Raven smiled, she bit into one of the cookies herself while drinking coffee.

He is not surprised that she had visited Arab stores, since in her spare time she visited bakeries, and that bookstore where the owner recommended novels and would have a reserved seat in the Costa restaurant while reading a book, as well as the ice cream parlor hidden among the luxury stores .

She tried foreign dishes, does not despise any genre of novels and is shocked by the arts. He supposed it was due to her time in hell, but deep down it's more than that; Raven is someone who leaves memories between those streets, measures people's energy and how they impact places. At first, he thought that her powers focused more on magic, such as enchantments, potions and spells, but she is more focused on emotions and feelings, she is different from Zatanna or Constantine.

"Is it true that the Belmont Allard sculptures were being auctioned?"

He set the cookie aside by making a mental note to finish it longer.

"I should have known that you were interested in his works."

Raven rolled her eyes, glancing at her book, her eyes scanning the page, and was drawn to whatever she now has on her reading list. She was quiet, reserved, and would rather sit in the back than walk in the front, but she should not be underestimated, and Damian had seen her vanquishing godlike humans and demons, yet she has a gentle aura. It is difficult to explain.

"Allard is famous. It has a history related to Satan, it is full of treasons, witches and enrichment overnight. "

She Mocked "Typical of pacts with the devil. "

Despite her mocking tone the truth slips.

Damian pulls out the book he bought, it's not flashy, it's dirty and worn. It smells of dust and dry ink, lined by a thick cloth of a dull red hue, it has damp spots and folded corners.

She says nothing but he sees the interest in her eyes.

"It is from an anonymous poet. It is of Arab origin; historians say that the book dates from 750. approximately, which corresponds to the times of an Iranian revolution" explained. "They assume that the author is a wealthy man because of the references to luxury and the elaboration of the work, but they are not sure. "

She stared at the book. He let her analyze it, but she frowned as she turned the pages and her mouth twisted into a grimace, like she was annoyed.

"What's wrong? "

"The book transmits strong feelings" her eyes shine, and she continues turning the pages. Damian raises an eyebrow, waiting for a clearer answer. "It brings me a feeling of longing; it is as if the author had misplaced something or someone" she closed the book. "It's amazing, I never felt this coming from an object" she leaves it.

He frowned.

It doesn't seem like a danger to him.

"Also, I can't read it."

He rolled his eyes.

Almost on impulse he opened any page of the book. The leaves are of a yellowish tone, with the corners eaten by humidity and the poet's pen is small and light, a scribble made of ink that in some places is smeared and he is surprised by the content of the letters.

"What does it say? "

He read in a loud voice. His voice was released, his mother tongue slides through his tongue and it is simple, after speaking English for so long it is even relaxing to speak Arabic, but she was puzzled and confused by his words, she was even happy that she does not understand what he is saying. Despite knowing the language, the words feel foreign.

عظامي المحطمه تتصلح

مع كل تلك الليالي التي قضاينها

حبك سر آمل احلم اموت لحفاظ عليه

التغير من اولوياتي

Despite everything, he prefers that she be the one who listened to him. Damian realizes she is comfortable; he feels domestic and that makes him reconsider what he just did.

The girl bows her head and frowns, she didn’t understand what he just said and struggles to try to associate the words, but the English and Arabic languages are opposite. Raven rests her head on her hand.

"What does it mean? "

Damian Wayne does not make these kinds of mistakes, his grandfather would subject him to abysmal punishment and his mother would slap him in the face, even his father would growl, but the answer is said before he can avoid it.

The translation is simple for him, a custom that he acquired over the years.

"My broken bones are healing with all these nights we spend. Your love is a secret that I am waiting, dreaming, dying to keep" responds. "You change my priorities. "

He looks her in the eye. Her eyes are like the purple tanzanite, a precious stone that Ra´s Al Ghul kept around his finger in a ring, a symbol of his status and power against his enemies; in the end it did no good, even the most powerful person in the world and his kingdom had fallen. Ra´s Al Ghul was no different than Julius Caesar, Tarquin, Darius I, Napoleon or Hitler and what they built.

Now he understood that the stone on his grandfather was a sample, a shell to inspire fear; Tanzania is extremely rare and expensive, its color was a boost to make it so coveted, and it seems imprinted in Raven's eyes.

He is aware of the level of communication they have; words are not necessary. Damian would have turned away, walked away and ignored her presence, he did not like that anyone felt familiar with him., He is a warrior not a sentimental teenager, but after the last few months he had been alone, nobody talked to him apart from matters involving the missions, he couldn't help but measure his actions and keep an eye on anyone who was around, it could be a stalker, maybe a person who hates him, or someone interested in selling a photograph to a magazine.

Damian preferred solitude, he exiled himself while the media storm passed over his head. Long ago he would not have cared, the Titans many times represented being a nuisance, they were open to anyone who told a sad story without caring about their past, but the weight of the distance began to haunt him.

He understood the nature of his character, how difficult it is to establish relationships, and the approach is difficult to deal with. Damian was extremely professional at best, concerned with realistic aspects and devised plans based on data, measured his peers and analyzed each and every action, judged and issued verdicts, disliked being touched by anyone and growled with his words to anyone who treated him like a child to be protected.

What before seemed to him aspects that should be highlighted now are the reasons why he is so hated.

He realized that his skills are a mattress; He was not welcome in many places, many heroes had complained about him and insulted him to his face, but they recognized how good a fighter and excellent strategist he is, not for nothing he is the son of Batman and the heir to the League of Shadows, and that does not mean anything. People on the internet didn't care who he was, what he accomplished, or what his story was. They hate him for the pictures, videos, and comments, and he couldn't do anything. It's tiring sometimes, when people decide to subject you to rejection and there is nothing to do to correct that.

They besieged his castle, forced him to close the gates of the kingdom.

He may not need third-party approval when criminals were loose on the streets, but it doesn't make it more tolerable.

His father told him of the harassment he would receive when he was recognized as the son of Bruce Wayne, but his home was snatched away, burned from head to foot and he had to create a new belief system out of thin air, he wanted to feel like he belonged somewhere. Bruce was right.

His privacy was stolen, he found his face on the covers of youth magazines and invented relationships with strangers based on nothing, he committed innocent people to address him and he does not want to live like this. He hates other people getting into his life, he doesn't have to explain to anyone, or hide, but Damian does.

I despised help, as well as apologies and looks of pity from others.

Raven was silent, and did not push him away when it appeared, she doesn't not care about the cancellation or how the Internet saw the next heir to the Wayne fortune. It was silent, private and intimate.

It is not dependency, it is not attachment based on loneliness or trauma, he doesn't even know where to catalog it. Raven had a breakup recently, although he knew that she is now friendly, that had affected her and he was canceled, tried and sentenced to global rejection, while his civilian identity was compromised, it is not a good combination.

She gulps and looks away. His hands tremble around his book and he almost see her shudder.

Damian stirs uncomfortably and insecure, he wants ...

"Tessa Collingwood talked about you!"

The entire group entered. Kory had ordered food from a local restaurant, and the rest just argued around the news on Garfield's phone, as if this was a gathering of old ladies arguing about the life of a misbehaving neighbor.

Raven raises an eyebrow "The actress? "

Jaime nods.

"She mentioned Damian in one of her stories," Garfield replied. Donna laughed at something, and Conner grimaced rereading the screen. "She said:’’ Me and Damian are just friends.’’

Kory smiled.

"I doubt I was friends with someone I saw only once." He crosses his arms. Looked at the Titans. "In fact, I have known certain people for years and doubt that I would include them on my list. "

Jaime rolled his eyes.

"Do you have a friendship list? Dude, that's absurd."

Conner nods looking at the green teenager, while Donna decided that the adult conversation is more interesting.

"Anyway, this beautiful actress mentioned you."

He hit the table with his book, attracting everyone's attention. "I don't care what it has to do with her." He turned around. "I will be in my room."

Someone called him, it was Raven ...

He stopped, standing at the door with his fists clenched.

He looked at her, while she held the book in her hands and smiled, just a little, as if she had heard an internal joke that only she knew. He had left the book.

So, everything was very clear and he's an idiot because he hadn’t seen it before.

***

Raven was lost.

Completely lost.

Alone and confused in her room, wandering from place to place like a caged lion. She wanted to demand answers, she felt like she was about to go crazy, and it is as if it is slowly killing her, she tries to fight, but she loses the fight as soon as it begins.

She compared this sensation with the previous ones; Raven had experienced love, the one that hurts your heart, the one you justify when you are hurt and you throw yourself into the void, with your blindfold you stumble over stones and ignore the blows, but this is different; born of intimacy, like a secret that grows until it is difficult to maintain.

She had to know.

Oh, Azarath.

She never learns from her mistakes.

Now she talks to everyone except him.

When surrounded by her peers it's easy to keep up, she just focuses on the cakes Kory brought, Donna's fighting techniques she hones in the training room, she even prefers her father's voice in her head to pay attention to her.

If she bleeds, if she hurts not to have it, she would never tell him.

Your love is a secret that I am waiting, dreaming, dying to keep.

Damn the poems of unknown Arab authors.

Raven wants to bury her feelings; burn his perfect face and the dimple rarely shows to others. Maybe he's aware of his own charm and she did something that bothered him, and he's only taking revenge on Raven in the worst way, Damian was vindictive and…

This is ridiculous.

I'm going to kill that boy, witch. You are a whore girl.

She makes a gesture to turn away her father's voice, but he doesn't shut up and she doesn't care.

She is so disoriented, she lives anchored to him like a bird in her blue sky and she has no way to kick him out of her life, she just doesn't want to. She is not selfish, she would never put her desires or her integrity over that of others, but she hates it because she could not have him in her life without compromising their friendship, the level of confidence they have and that feeling of home when they are going through difficult times.

Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.

Now it had taken on a new meaning. There are people who went through her life, were transitory, arrived at a specific moment and continued on, like nomads who left a lost object, and those who stay and fight by her side, accept her without expecting anything in return, they are important, they are family. However, there are others that transcend to the next level, they are like home, places shout their names and even everyday aspects seem valuable.

Raven does not want to despise this, but she is not going to ruin it by confessing her feelings, she felt like a schoolgirl who jumped when she saw the boy and hid in the corners.

Someone knocks on the door and opens it, she discovers Damian's serious face, frowning and holding two coffees. The first rays of the sun illuminate his face, as if blessing his soul and highlighting his tanned skin, and for a few seconds it seems that he knows.

"Good Morning. "

She steps aside, letting him pass. Her voice is monotonous, tired and she considers for a few seconds not to let him in, but it is too late.

Everything seems to be pulling towards him, as if he possessed a magnetic field and was a magnet. This morning he was not wearing his uniform, but a simple plain t-shirt in pastel blue and dark jeans and Nike sneakers, he squares his eyes like when preparing for battle or listening to something or someone who he does not like.

From here she perceives that he is having an internal struggle.

He leaves the coffee glasses on a small piece of furniture and stands in front of the window with his arms crossed behind his back.

"Is Something wrong? "

Hearing a bark and opening the door, Titus enters the room going upstairs to his house licking the pillows and spinning on the mattress. With Damian he was disciplined, obedient, surprisingly submissive, but when Raven is around, she allows him to be playful and mischievous, as if he had never become an adult animal.

Damian had scolded her for being permissive, but in her mind, he was never going to stop being that puppy she gave away inside that box. The animal had been scared, lost and away from his brothers, he trembled when a person approached, and she seemed to see her friend in the animal in a strange way.

Titus was shy and fearful when he arrived. Little by little he emerged from his cocoon to become a loyal and courageous Great Dane.

He didn't challenge him for messing up the bed like he normally would, so she started to worry. She didn't feel anything and that was frustrating, it was easy for Raven to understand people through her magic, although she didn't like what was underneath, but he only let her see what he allowed.

"What wrong? " She asked again.

"People have spoken again. "

Raven grimaced "Is it because of the actress? "

He turned his back on her and the young woman sat on the ground, partly so as not to disturb Titus, to have a better view, partly because she felt closer.

He was still flat, like a soft wave on a lake, and that is not all; it's just the outside.

"A little." He paused. "People hate Robin, people love what Damian Wayne stands for" His face is reflected in the window glass, he is impartial, and he keeps that scowl that characterizes him. "I do not care. My father says that the press is like vultures, but sometimes they are noisy. "

She cannot relate to that.

Raven enjoyed anonymity, she may be a consecrated heroine, and has a couple of victories on her record; people do not stop to talk about her private life, but are interested in the source of her power, her dark and quiet nature, they build and destroy theories, but nothing else.

She was a favorite on YouTube and blog channels focused on mysteries, conspiracy theories, and the paranormal.

She can't imagine what media persecution is, online harassment and what it means to have so many people eager to know about your life, that drove celebrities crazy all the time, some fell into addictions to flee their problems, those who survived cruelly understood the boundary between professional and personal, marked the line and took refuge in their homes, as if they lived in a fortress. Robin was a global trend in social networks, it required many people to achieve this.

Damian had stayed away, holding on to his training and lifting his chin as high as possible, but she knew him; with him not everything is said, it is not what is shown.

"Damian" she calls him because she knows his thoughts are strong right now. She reached for the coffee. She appreciated the warmth of the drink in her hands, it feels real. "It´s okay" she smiled.

He looks at her.

She had never seen that shade of green before. He may not realize his own charm; his face reflected the golden rays, and his dark hair shone in a lighter shade.

Titus now sleeps in bed and his snoring is deep.

He sits next to her in the lotus position and they watch the sunrise together. They do not say anything, they do not speak much, both are people who were touched by tragedy, who face battles while forging their way to adulthood and are not used to expressing their feelings, interpreting silences and supporting each other from a distance with small gestures.

She wants to have better words, be more forthcoming, and offer advice, so they could talk more about his breakdowns. Raven would cleanse his heart if that helps his heartbeat, a word and it would be his.

Damian takes her hand.

His fingers are barely touching, his skin is hard, and that scar that ran like a thick rope over his knuckles is soft to the touch; his fingers are long and shiver, as if cold, but he remains in place; she compares it to a burn and is surprised.

Raven wants to hold onto him, because he doesn't deserve all the hatred, they chase him with torches and spears. She wants to tell him that she regrets him for his past, for all the manipulation, because there was no one to show him love and treat him like a child, who sees him as a person during his childhood and she wants to smooth his wrinkles that were beyond the ones visible. She wants to show the affection that was denied him all his life and tell him that she does not care what they call him on the internet- Either as Robin or Damian Wayne- Deep down, he is only a kind and generous soul, and she is fortunate to see it, even if he is insufferable.

She squeezed his hand. Words are not necessary.

He keeps his gaze on the dawn. His eyebrows tremble and he showed his emotions for the first time, it is like the caress of the wind of a summer night.

Silence.

They are like little children who take too much importance on their clasped hands. There is no lust, nor the typical approach to achieve something, they are two people who are used to being alone, pushing everyone away, seeing the worst in people and being disappointed, betrayed and disheartened, clinging to the other; it is so simple and complex.

He leans his head against hers and leaves it.

At first, she is surprised, but she thinks he is like a scared animal that would walk away in the face of any foreign sound or reaction. It is beautiful, vulnerable and serene, like a new dawn.

Aware of his exhaustion and frustration, this simple action reflects the fatigue of all these months of witch hunting, keeping quiet and holding on his own, she can feel him letting go of his burdens and that mask of indifference is shattered.

Her hair is soft, and his shoulder bumps into hers; He is taller, and his muscles are worked by constant exercise and his breath tastes like coffee.

The scent of shaving lotion reaches her nose, she was aware of that smell and it was masculine, it had a woody touch and she was relaxing.

Can they stay like this forever? In the silence and secrecy of her room with their hands clasped and leaning on the other drinking coffee from plastic cups ...

... And suddenly, this is enough.

***

Raven bought a dress.

That night is hot, and they visit an open bar on the seashore. The music is relaxed, the musicians play bass drums and ukuleles, giving the place a tropical atmosphere; decorated by lights and all the tables and chairs are made of wood, with small floral decorations as centers.

The sound of ocean waves and salty-smelling air was sleepy, almost as if slowly inducing her to sleep.

Kory forced them into a night of mandatory fun, booked a table in a corner under a palm tree, would give them a little privacy, and they wouldn't get as much attention. She sensed that in the place photographs were not allowed was a factor for her to choose it.

The tradition of compulsory fun was installed with the arrival of Damian, she was left justifying small getaways or celebrations of birthdays, anniversaries, certain days of the year.

Raven thanked the team leader- who she considers to be an older sister- since the bar is not very crowded nor does it allow crowds with all those people sweating under the influence of alcohol, but the place is familiar, spacious and quiet. Her powers would not overwhelm her.

"Honey, will you bring us our drinks?"

Dick nods walking towards the bar. The man was wearing a simple T-shirt and shorts, on the other hand, his fiancée looked glamorous in the purple dress with large openings revealing her shapely legs and a plunging neckline.

Garfield, Conner, and Jaime share a conversation with Donna about the dance, but the young woman only frowns when she looks at the musicians.

"It's Latin music. "

Jaime snorts "Don't look at me, dude. Just because I'm Latino does not mean I know how to dance. "

"I'm not the best dancer anymore." Garfield looks with a grudge at Damian, who grimaces looking away.

"I just beat you."

"You break codes and all that, surely you did it with the dance machine. "

Raven snorts, but she's amused.

"That was a long time ago." He looked at everyone. "Can we get over it? "

When Dick arrived he announced that he asked for drinks for each one, but they had a limit of two, because some recently stopped being minors, also in the tower they had rules and arriving drunk is on the prohibited list; for those who are minors there are unlimited juices.

The night is progressing normally, although she sees certain people who are surprised by her colorful group, nobody really cares. They are just a group of friends enjoying an evening by the ocean.

Damian rolls his eyes when Dick starts Kory dancing with a slow song.

"They've been dating for years."

Raven raises her eyebrows, not at all surprised. She already knew.

"I mean long before they became teammates." He gives his whisky a small sip. "When he was a boy, he kept having suggestive calls with her." He shrugs.

"No way! " Conner leans in and opens his mouth.

Jaime contains a laugh.

"Are you seriously surprised?" She didn’t need to be empathetic to know that.

They look at her, but it's Garfield who speaks first.

"Did you know?! " He shakes his head. "Of course, you knew, why didn't you tell me?! "

"I did not mean that. "

"Traci arrived!" Jaime gets up from the table and disappears.

After two years together he is still excited to see her enter the room, Raven got along with the girl, she is pleasant and has a pink aura, used to loving and showing it, she also has Jaime around her fingers.

Raven drinks her gin and tonic, the drink is incredibly sweet and fruity. Her friends raised an eyebrow at seeing her bite into the lemon wedge that decorates the drink, but it's not that she cares, it's probably because she's going for her second fruit drink and sweet alcoholic drinks are misleading.

A boy appears pushed by his group of friends, who laugh giving him sidelong glances and extends one of his hands to dance, he is tall, and his face is youthful, perhaps just after finishing high school. His emotions are strong too, but the one that predominates is lust, she has a moment when images of herself come of kissing him in the dark.

He has too much imagination.

"Would you like to dance? "

She shakes his head, absorbing the lemon juice to the last drop. The scene almost seems funny to her, this boy asking her to dance in front of her friends, among them her ex-partner is present, along with the young man who answered the name of her best friend, who also has feelings. It is funny.

A smile glides across her lips.

The boy stirs uncomfortably without knowing how to interpret her smile, but she continues to shake her head, so he leaves.

"You have low tolerance, Roth."

Raven grimaces "It will pass soon. Alcohol will be in my system for exactly forty minutes and then I'll be like new. "

She calls a waiter asking for a Cuban mojito with that sugar-covered rim she likes so much.

When the drink is put in front of her, it is just as promised and she almost sighs when she sees it. Damian drops his drink, gives her a disapproving look with those green eyes, and she could cry right now because she thinks it's cruel and insane to be around him.

Conner invites his friends to dance wanting to flee from the discomfort. The others continue to join the small group that formed in the middle of the dance floor, Kory and Dick get all eyes, they move well.

Raven sips the drink through the straw. The little umbrella is a hindrance, so she pushes it aside noticing how her fingers tremble, the sugar and the drink mix is not a good match.

Damian approaches, but she moves away.

She should think twice before entering his space.

Raven looks him in the eye. Noting that his expression reflects concern, just as he was ready to scold her, she knows that scowl and he has that plain short-sleeved shirt with the designer's name she can't pronounce and some worn jeans; For someone with so much money, he have not invested too much in his clothing.

His eyes are green as a drink, and he raises an eyebrow. His features are a mix between the Middle East and the West, his Arabic accent is light, as if he had always spoken English and he moves his fingers on the wooden table; remember that morning when their hands touched.

She wants to cry.

"It's not fair."

It's not fair that he so perfect, while she was melting away for keeping her secret just to keep him within her life. It's not fair!

She doesn't want him as her best friend.

He is a magnetic force in the form of a man.

She is attracted to him. It is not a fairy tale, it is not idolatry, just esteem it, the past seems to have been erased by a rubber when they were together, and she is dying to have him.

Random, she's so angry.

Damian grimaces "are you okay? "

"I'm fine. "

That’s a lie.

"Let's go," he says, taking her by the forearm before she finished her drink and takes her to the parking lot without asking. He opens the door of his car, sitting her in the back seat. "Try to get comfortable" He sits down on the pilot's seat and starts the car.

She really wanted to stay.

She rests her head against the headboard and looks out. The highway is fast and distinguishes trees and pieces of the ocean illuminated by a moon.

The lights are off, and there is no music.

She lies down in the back seat.

It smells of leather and that forest fragrance, just like his lotion.

Suddenly the tears slide down her eyes, they are thin. She is angry with herself for being weak, with him and for the life that kept hitting her, a few weeks ago she had been convinced that she is much better alone, lives well and recovers from a breakup, she is not missing anything, then he entered little by little to her life and she wants to push him away, now she just wants him to stay a little longer. A little bit closer.

Raven wants to see what's underneath that bad boy attitude.

He sees her in the rearview mirror "what's wrong with you? "

"Nothing," she says in a broken voice.

Damian raises an eyebrow. Maybe he doesn't care, maybe he's worried she will throw up in his expensive car or she pretends that she cares just so he doesn't make her feel bad.

What doesn't kill her makes her want him more.

He tilts his head she and sees that sharp scar in the corner of his chin catch the silver glow of the moon. This is horrible.

"It's not important what you're upset about."

What?

Damian, the worst adviser in the world.

Yes it is important because it would destroy everything, they would end the reading of books on the roof, visits to Riva street where they would chat in the book store, the shared cafes in their room when they feel too lazy to go up or the weather is not favorable for them and the way he smiles marking that dimple on his cheek, how he held her hand and leaned his head against her. She thinks that if she lost him, she wouldn't do those things again.

Her heart breaks.

She would never walk down Riva Street again.

It is her fault.

It is his fault.

She imagines reading Robert Frost alone knowing he didn't love her, she would visit Riva Street trying to meet again, she would finish the cafes on the floor of her room because she is dumb enough to confess. Damian wouldn't worry about love affairs, he has a purpose and it would be a distraction, a stone in his shoe, he had better judgment, therefore he would walk away first.

He would not give her second glances; in fact, he would despise her for ruining their friendship.

It terrifies her too much.

She cries like a baby in the back of the car.

When they park in front of the tower of the Titans, she does not think twice and opens the door running into the forest that surrounds the home of the young heroes, entering it as if he were chasing her. She can hear the car's engine go off, as well as his desperate call, then the footsteps.

Raven takes off her shoes.

Thanks for the lightness of her dress. She thinks about going through the back door of the tower and locking herself in her room, tomorrow she could say that she was drunk and was not thinking clearly, but now she needs to be alone.

Maybe she deserves it.

She is running barefoot through the woods with her dress catching leaves and branches, just as her hair is now a wind-tossed mess. The moon is a fuzzy point between the treetops and the warm weather does not help.

She runs a hand down her face, ridding herself of the tears that were running down her cheeks.

"Raven!"

She is not a runner, so she is caught by arms before she could open a portal to her room, another country or dimension, she really doesn't know for sure. There are three uncertain options.

Damian pushes her away, looking her in the eye.

"What's wrong? You ran away, the car was moving, Raven."

His hands go up and down her shoulders to her arms, giving her warmth. Then she realizes that she is trembling, like a scared puppy and she is a total disaster.

She wanted to escape to close her fate, because she deserves to be alone and having him close is her own personal torture.

Damian had come to her in moments of vulnerability, when no one was looking, he trusted her more than anyone, he was harassed and hated by people. Damian Wayne was easily associated with actresses, models and celebrities, they took his privacy without his consent, everyone hated or loved a version of him.

He showed her his true self and she paid him by falling in love with him.

He had driven her crazy, begging him to knock on her door or end it all.

It would destroy years of friendship and companionship.

Raven got out of a relationship, that's not how it was supposed to go, she hadn't looked for it.

He looks her in the eye, as if waiting for her to tell him the devastating ending of a novel. He is so close that his mint breath almost makes the tide, his hands are warm as the desert and she has to look away so as not to be consumed.

Her heart beats painfully in her chest.

She ruined her life for not being his.

She wants so much and that is hurting her.

"Tell me."

She digs her feet into the ground, her toes touch the ground and the dry leaves. This is real.

Suddenly, she is angry with everyone and everything.

Tell him! A voice rolled her, almost crying. You're going to ruin everything, says another with resignation.

However, something inside her asks for more, she wants to have him closer and her hands tremble wanting to interlock their fingers; it is as if a spirit had possessed her body and made her ambitious and selfish.

She feels her heart breaking.

Wanting it is bad. Damian doesn't deserve this, but ...

Now or never.

She shouts: "I love you! Ain't that the worst thing you ever heard?"

Time is frozen, like dead. Everything stops.

Damian is silent.

She swallows and clenches her jaw.

She wants to cry.

She has ruined everything.

But he looks up and smiles like a devil.

***

The lights are off when they reach her room, Titus is playing with her sheets and there is disorder.

She stands still, not knowing what to do.

The moonlight is bluish, almost blinding them and everything is silent. The door to her room is open, the kitchen light is dim and she listens to a tune in the distance, she thinks it's the radio that Kory always leaves on.

The tension could be cut by a knife, but it is different.

Raven has passed the effect of alcohol and knows that she has done something that is irreparable, but she couldn't care less, because he smiled and held her hand gently; Damian dropped the costumes a bit, sheltering his feelings and emotions as heshe had been taught all his life, just for her. Nobody else.

He is standing at the door.

He looks her in the eye and there is an unspoken agreement between the two.

Close the door.

Raven is an awkward mess, it will take days for her emotions to normalize, but this time she allows her stomach to spin, her hands to stay inert at the sides of her torso without knowing which position to adapt, and her brain short-circuiting.

All roads had led her to this moment.

Feeling their fear and how confused they are, none are used to showing affection unless someone loves them, but they try. She stands firm.

Damian says nothing when he approaches, he takes her hand gently interlacing his fingers, it is like fire and ice, two forces that collide. It is something so every day, but with him it is as if he left a mark that she cannot erase.

He presses their foreheads and she sigh.

She had been a hawthorn tree for a long time, but now she may be a rose.

He caresses her face, the pads of his fingers running down her forehead, her cheeks up to her neck. It is pure, there is longing and affection, he will not tell her that he loves her too, but the gentleness and innocence of the act is enough to let her breathe out, because they do not need to speak, nor do they require speeches. Love can be declared to anyone, castles are built on the sand with ease only from confessions based on nothing, but demonstrating it is something else.

Raven kisses him on the cheek, presses her lips against the skin, and the fingers he keeps on her neck tremble. His breathing is ragged, as if he was agitated; they were both so lonely, apprehensive, and fearful that this bubble was an illusion.

They cannot make promises now because this is running a thread.

Darkness surrounds them, like a blanket on this summer night. There is no one in the tower, everyone stayed at the bar and they only heard Titus's playful grunts.

Her hands go up his chest and go to the nape. They take it easy, adapting to being this close, and trying not to get the blow too strong to leave them in shock.

She presses her forehead against his cheek.

Her father's voice is strong and threatening, but she contains a smile because it is so ridiculous and funny.

"What does he say? " He whispers.

She looked him in the eyes "My father wants to kill you. "

Damian frowns "And me to him. "

Raven laughs, a loud, clear laugh; she shares his feelings about her father.

"I will have a good relationship with your father," he says sarcastically. His voice is light and attracts her, like bees to honey. "It would be a shame if you spend time with me. "

"It would be," she whispers.

He brushes back a lock of her hair, pressing both hands to her cheeks. He kisses her cheek lightly with the touch of a butterfly and sighs, almost instinctively closes his eyes and kisses her on the corner of her lips, they are like school children experiencing romance.

When they finally kiss, it is soft and delicate.

She has to lean on him not to slip, and her heart trembles with joy, because she has what she wanted for so long. She doesn't know when they crossed the line, when she started having feelings for him, it felt like a thousand years ago.

She in a safe place, she feels like she been waiting a long time to find something like that. This is the kind of love that time does not heal, that makes you sigh and beg for more.

She would ask him to please stay.

In the past she believed that love is painful, that it steals things from you and runs away, like a criminal, but it is more than that.

Kissing in the dark, limbs trembling and hearts pounding, praying this doesn't end. They are a blank page on a desk, which is filled as they go.

Raven strokes his hair, and feels his breath catch.

They stay there and Titus jumps around her, barking and expressing enthusiasm; he is the only thing in the room that is moving.

He kisses her again. This time it is safe, the kiss is slow, and he seems to want to savor this moment and her legs tremble.

His breath is slightly bitter, like whisky, and her lips are ice cold in the drink. It is an interesting contrast to his warm skin to the touch and she realizes how much she wanted to feel each of his scars, she wanted to perceive what his skin is like and the lights change the color of his green eyes, she wants to know what is under his clothes, count his freckles, moles, wounds and scars.

One of the straps of her dress falls from her shoulder.

Her body is new to him, and she is more than willing to get used to it.

Let him have everything; her heart, her body and soul.

***

Damian and Raven talk and agree to have their relationship private.

In front of the titans they are companions, they get along well, but it is not that they revolve around each other, in fact, they hardly speak if it is not for the missions. They try to separate the professional from the personal, they would have nothing in front of the others, but they look in private corners. No one knows what is between them.

They do well.

Damian has already been exposed to the media, they had gotten into his life and he was hated by everyone for his attitudes like Robin, but when they are together that does not matter. All the drama queens and the noisy ones muffle their voices and the statements of celebrities approaching him lose their meaning.

He doesn't care what is said in the tabloids.

He thinks the Titans are suspicious, but not that there was enough evidence, and none are willing to answer the questions or pay attention to suspicious glances. Nobody asks Damian, but his brothers are an exception, after all, they didn't learn from the best detective in the world for nothing and sometimes he thinks it's a curse to surround himself with his family.

He thinks Alfred and his father know but ignores them.

They are not a sentimental couple, nor do they go out too much, only on missions or compulsory fun dates, to walk in the park with Titus, although they rarely go together, since they fear finding the photos on the internet; they prefer to be in the room, have breakfast on the roof of the tower, lie next to each other without speaking, they could read together or hold hands and Damian prefers to enjoy her company when no one is around, She is surprised when she feels light waking up by his side in the morning or by entering her room after a mission.

Damian walks to her room with Titus following in his footsteps.

He goes through the room where the group watches a movie, Raven is not there, so she assumes that she must be in her room probably because they are watching a horror movie and it is not that the girl is a fan of horror movies that include Blood and uncensored deaths, the group barely notices as they are thrilled by the butter knife murder scene.

He opens the door and is surprised.

She is reading in his bed, wearing a shirt that she stole from his closet and never returned, and shorts made from gray fabric. Now she wears a plain Dolce and Gabanna shirt for sleep, as if the designer's brand was nothing.

Her short hair is strewn across the pillow and she is focused on the letters in that book.

Titus jumps onto the bed, licking the girl's face, she suppresses a smile, and looks up to see him lock the door securely.

She pet the dog "Hi. "

He quietly walks over to his computer, pulling a document Drake had sent him out of the recycle bin that contained a report with a couple of errors. His father instructed him to correct the mistakes since his brother had overdosed on coffee or something.

she is probably feeling his apprehension.

From his bag where she carries his pet's leash, water bottles, the muzzle and a part of towels, she extracts a cotton candy wrapped in a plastic bag, it looks like a pink cloud.

When he saw the vendor in the park, he remembered how she had that insane obsession with sweets and his mind began to associate her with caramel, soft and extremely sugary flavors. Sometimes he doesn't understand how she can tolerate eating a whole cotton candy.

She smiles at him and takes it in her hands. He sits on the bed, and she spreads her feet using his lap to support them; Damian looks down as if asking why he did that, but he just lets it go.

Raven eats the cotton candy, while smiling as she tries to push the dog away. Finally, the animal licks her fingers absorbing the sweetness, and she laughs.

He tries to focus on correcting the report, but her laugh distracts him.

"I'm trying to finish," he declares, but his gaze is no longer focused on the screen.

She puts a piece of cotton candy in her mouth and smiles. She doesn't answer him, but she looks sorry for interrupting him, heshe knows it's not her fault, but she didn't impose rules on Titus and around Raven he behaves like a spoiled brat.

"Sorry, it's just ..." The dog jumps on top of her and licks her fingers. Damian decides that enough is enough and with just a sign Titus settles near his feet. The girl grimaces picks up the book and opens a page. "Is that the report they called you so much for? "

He nodded.

Gotham City.

The Penguin robbed the city bank, between the streets ...

Raven shakes her hand and opens her palm. Now heshe is sitting next to her, she bumps her shoulders against his, she is small and their palms touch, she thinks she wants to interlace her fingers, but she puts a piece of cotton candy in his hand.

"Eat a little."

He is transported to the first night of mandatory fun when he hated being with the Titans, he did not belong because he knew everything there was to know, he was the most intelligent, disciplined and the most brutal fighter in the world, but nothing else and that is precisely what he lacked. He did not have any social skills, it was never clearer than in that amusement park, he had thought that his mistakes were great, he did not deserve that any of these people accepted him.

Raven had gotten closer; he didn't even know why. She offered him cotton candy ...

Just like now.

Shit. His father would kill him.

He closed the computer and set it aside. Damian eats the cotton candy, he still doesn't like it, it melts in his mouth and it is pure sugar, it is gooey, and his throat warms up, as if he had ingested a liquid at high temperatures.

He draws her in and sits her on his legs.

Raven is slim and diminutive, not muscular like Kory or Donna, but possesses the body of a runner, although both know she is not exceptional in sports, she prefers her magic. He surrounds her waist, and she rests her head against his cheek, as she likes to do when they hug.

She keeps her gaze on her book and turns the pages.

Read:

With his back to the sun, another day ends in this abandoned town.

You have a wish list:

-Know the city.

-Build an aviary for those little birds that roam your yard looking for food.

-Risking for someone and that it turns out well.

…

Damian laughs wryly.

"What? " She asked, looking him in the eye.

Raven pulls back a little but adjusts the position so that both legs rest to one side.

"You were drunk when you confessed. You took a chance. "

She buries her head in his shoulder "Don't remind me. "

She is embarrassed. He Finds this charming.

"It went right."

Raven stiffens, and looks him in the eye, but Damian is smiling because he can't help it and he likes to see how certain answers surprise her. She puts those eyes that he only sees when he smiles at her, it's like she's melting inside, struggling to hold back a sigh; He has seen her do it before they started dating because Damian Wayne is not a fool, he is still the son and heir of the best detective in the world, and he was taught from a young age to measure personal body language; It is adorable.

Maybe he still slips.

He strokes her hair, tucking one of her locks behind her right ear.

They looked into each other's eyes.

"Yes." She kisses him, sighs against his mouth, and Damian interlocks his fingers giving her a soft squeeze. "I did something right. "

His grandfather and mother would be scolding him, an Al Ghul did not hold his partner as a delicate thing and allowed himself to be kissed without a purpose, even his father who had lost the ground to the Gotham cat would give him a disapproving look, it is dangerous to establish a personal connection with your teammates, but none knew and to be honest, they were not interested.

In fact, no one knows for sure.

The diamond sparkles on her forehead.

"My father still wants to kill you."

Of course, yes.

She changes position now sitting face to face, strokes his chest until she stops at his heart and stays there. He really doesn't understand how he came to this, he didn’t expect to find love, nor in a million years would he think about being in this position, but he won't run from this. All the voices from his past scream in his head, but Damian stays.

It is so unexpected.

Damian hates when something doesn't go according to plan, because he usually has it all coldly calculated, if it doesn't work then he would have a backup. As the future leader of an organization, his life was designed, as Robin, he has to be prepared for everything and being a Titan, he took on the hard work, the aspects that others would not take care of, everything was perfected. This is out of his hands.

"I hate accidents except when we went from friends to this"

Raven smiles and they kiss.

All the murders, all his past, all the pain and confusion, the hatred and the persecutions are nothing compared to her.

End.

#damirae #fanfiction #damian wayne #raven #damian x raven

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phantom-le6 · 3 years

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Episode Reviews - Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 (2 of 6)

Again, this is bit later in being posted than I’d planned, but here’s my second round of episode reviews for season 4 of Stark Trek: The Next Generation.

Episode 6: Legacy

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise, responds to a distress call from the Federation freighter Arcos, which has suffered engine failure and taken emergency orbit around the planet Turkana IV, the birthplace of the Enterprise's late chief of security, Tasha Yar. The Enterprise arrives just as the Arcos explodes, and finds a trail left behind by the freighter's escape pod leading to the colony. Turkana IV's government collapsed 15 years before; and the last Federation ship to visit, six years earlier, was warned by the colony's warring factions that trespassers to the planet would be executed. Because the freighter crew's lives are in danger, Captain Picard decides to attempt a rescue.

Commander Riker leads an away team to the surface, where they find the colonists initially unperturbed by their presence, but soon end up in a standoff with one of the colony's two remaining warring factions, the Coalition. Their leader, Hayne, reveals that the other faction, the Alliance, holds the Arcos survivors hostage, and offers the Enterprise the Coalition's support in exchange for Federation weapons, a proposal that Riker rejects. Hayne, however, after learning of Tasha Yar's service aboard the Enterprise, instead offers as a liaison Ishara Yar, claiming she is Tasha's sister. Picard accepts Ishara aboard; although the crew is initially skeptical, DNA tests support her claim, and she gradually gains their trust. Commander Data, who was especially close to Tasha, becomes friends with Ishara, who seems ready to leave behind her life in the colony.

To find the hostages, Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge suggests using the crashed escape pod's instruments; Ishara recommends that she beam separately to a nearby location as a distraction, because her implanted proximity device will set off the Alliance's alarms. The crew executes the plan, but Ishara is wounded in the attempt. Riker rescues her, and is impressed by her bravery. Later, Ishara privately tells Hayne "It's working."

When the Enterprise receives a message from the Alliance announcing that they are preparing to kill the Arcos crew, Picard's crew decides to execute Ishara's proposed rescue plan: Dr Crusher removes Ishara's proximity device, which she gives to Data as a memento. Riker leads an away team to the planet, where they rescue the hostages, but Ishara disappears in the confusion. Data finds her trying to disable the Alliance security grid; Ishara reveals that a large Coalition force is just outside the Alliance perimeter waiting to attack. Data concludes that all her interaction with the crew was a ploy. Riker arrives to distract Ishara just as she fires at Data, who dodges and then stuns her and reverses her attempted sabotage. Riker notes that her phaser was set to kill.

With the away team and Ishara back aboard the Enterprise, Hayne demands that Picard return Ishara and challenges his jurisdiction. While Riker argues that they have cause to hold her for firing on two Starfleet officers, Picard decides to allow her to leave. As Data escorts her to the transporter room, Ishara claims he was the closest thing she had to a friend. Data considers his relationships with both Ishara and Tasha, as the Enterprise departs. Data then discusses the recent events with Riker; while Riker states that trust always carries the risk of betrayal, and that that risk has be taken to have friendships, Data suggests he is lucky to be spared the emotional effects of betrayal. However, as Data leaves Riker’s quarters, he finds himself still carrying Ishara’s proximity device.

Review:

When it comes to get posthumous mileage out of the late Tasha Yar, I think this is the best effort TNG has offered us so far. Discounting minor allusions in episodes like ‘The Measure of a Man’ and ‘The Most Toys’, the only other episode prior to this to really try and utilise Tasha again was the over-rated ‘Yesterday’s Enterprise’, and that was just trying to re-do her death a bit better. This time, however, we get to see something of where Tasha came from and explore her in a more interesting way by having her crew-mates interact with her former home-world and her sister. There is also some allegory to gang violence and gang culture in the episode, but with Tasha’s sister Ishara being involved and having a connection of sorts with Data, that allegory is largely missed behind an inadvertent plot point that the episode brings up.

As I’ve noted in the previous TNG reviews I’ve posted, Data is often a metaphor for many aspects of autism, and the way he above all others is deceived by Ishara in the episode is an inadvertent, ahead-of-its-time allegory of mate crime. For anyone unfamiliar with that term, mate crime involves the offender pretending to be someone’s friend in order to set up that friend to be injured in some way. This can vary from being lured into a physical ambush to being set up to take the blame for something the victim hasn’t actually done. It often depends on the victim of this mate crime not having a full grasp of friendship and/or deceit, so people on the autistic spectrum and with other mental frameworks that make this difficult are heavily affected by it.

This being the case, one can easily see in Ishara Yar the exact kind of person who would commit such an offence in real life; selfish, ruthless and with no real regard for others. What she does to Data is every bit as heinous as any mate crime committed against an autistic person in the real world. It is inexcusable, and frankly I think Picard should have locked her up instead of letting her go. Nothing justifies her being let go at the end of the episode; not being Tasha’s sister, not the crew wanting to see something of Tasha in her, nothing. Honestly, I was hoping for a transporter accident to kill her when she was beamed back down at the end. Overall score for this episode, 9 out of 10; a transporter death some other suitable retribution on Ishara would have netted this episode top marks.

Episode 7: Reunion

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise is met by a Klingon Vor'cha class battlecruiser, and Ambassador K'Ehleyr requests to speak to Captain Picard on an "urgent matter". When she beams aboard, she brings a young Klingon boy; based on his previous romantic experience with K'Ehleyr, Lt. Worf suspects the child is his son. K'Ehleyr warns the senior staff of a power struggle occurring within the Klingon Empire and implores Picard to meet Chancellor K'mpec aboard the battlecruiser. On the Klingon ship, K'mpec acknowledges that he has been poisoned and is slowly dying, and insists that Picard become the Arbiter of Succession and identify his assassin. K'mpec dies shortly afterward. In a private moment, K'Ehleyr confirms to Worf that the Klingon boy is his son, Alexander, and she did not tell Worf for fear he would try to have a deeper relationship with her; Worf, already burdened by his discommendation, fears for Alexander's future, given the stigma of his family name.

The two challengers for leadership of the council, Gowron and Duras, arrive for the Rites of Succession. Worf still harbors hatred for Duras, who had (falsely) revealed Worf's father, Mogh, as a traitor in the Khitomer massacre and stained Worf's family name. Both Gowron and Duras attempt to quickly end the proceeding, but a small explosion erupts in the assembly hall. Picard and K'Ehleyr are safe but decide to draw out the Rites using an archaic ceremony while the Enterprise crew perform a forensic analysis on the explosion. Though both resent the longer form, Gowron and Duras have little choice but to agree to continue the Rites.

The Enterprise crew discover that the explosion came from a Romulan bomb implanted in the arm of one of Duras's guards. K'Ehleyr, aboard the Enterprise, has become intrigued and tries to find out why Worf was discommended. She accesses the Klingon records, and comes across evidence of Duras's father being the true traitor in the Khitomer massacre. Duras, notified of K'Ehleyr's access to the records and already aboard the Enterprise, goes to K’Ehley’s quarters and mortally wounds her. Worf soon discovers K'Ehleyr, dying, just in time for her to reveal that Duras is her killer; then she has Worf promise to look after Alexander. Returning to his quarters, Worf grabs a bat'leth, leaves his combadge behind, and transports to Duras's ship. There he challenges Duras to the Right of Vengeance. Initially, Duras rebuffs Worf, claiming that his traitor status denies him any rights, but Worf declares K'Ehleyr was his mate; since even discommendated Klingons may claim vengeance for a loved one's death, Duras accepts Worf's challenge. Worf easily gains the upper hand, but Duras taunts him; if Worf kills Duras, Worf can never regain his honor. Worf nonetheless strikes the killing blow. With Duras dead and no other challengers present, Gowron is presumably named Chancellor of the Empire.

After the Klingons leave, Picard takes Worf to task for killing Duras. Though Worf defends his actions as valid under Klingon law (as does the Klingon government), Picard reminds him he is first of all a Starfleet officer and places a formal reprimand on Worf's record. Worf and Alexander mourn their loss, and Worf places the boy in the care of his own adoptive parents, Sergey and Helena Rozhenko, finally admitting to Alexander himself that they are related.

Review:

The first appearances of the Vor’cha class Klingon battleship, the Bat’leth, Gowron and Alexander, plus a combined follow-up on both ‘The Emissary’ and ‘Sins of the Father’. This episode has not only huge impact on this series and the wider Trek franchise with all that it does, but it’s also very well-performed and, unlike the previous episode, the villain of the piece gets immediate comeuppance. There are numerous occasions up to now where Trek has been a bit too willing to let their villains off a little too easily, so it was good to see Duras finally go down, and to do so in proper Klingon style.

Now I know some fans were disappointed, upset, even out-raged that K’Ehlyer gets killed off because they all loved the character so much, and some even thought it was a bit sexist of the show to kill such a strong, independent female character on only her second time out. However, let’s put this in a bit of context; first, K’Ehlyer is one of three named characters to die in this episode, the other two of whom are Klingon blokes. This means that actually it’s not all that sexist because the episode’s body-count, and I believe that of TNG in general up to this point, favours male guest characters for croaking in tried-and-true red-shirt tradition.

Second, if K’Ehlyer doesn’t die, Worf has no reason to go blade-to-blade with Duras and ultimately bury his Bat’leth in the petaQ’s chest. K’mpec’s death is hardly going to justify Worf going to such lengths, and I don’t think violent child death would ever be acceptable within the world of Trek. Third, you’re supposed to be upset and out-raged over K’Ehyler’s death, and you’re supposed to direct those emotions the same way Worf does; at Duras. The idea is to be rooting for Worf, to cast aside the normally high, often too liberal sensibility of the Federation ideology and be rooting for Duras to get slaughtered. It’s fine to have a visceral reaction this time round; just focus it on the guest character where it belongs.

My one issue with this episode is Picard’s speech to Worf in reprimanding him for acting against Star Fleet’s code of conduct, or more specifically the line “If anyone cannot perform his or her duty because of the demands of their society, they should resign.” Taken out of the context and applied to real-life military organisations in societies that are highly backwards in their standards of tolerance, this line seems to imply a condoning of societal demands that impede inclusion. After all, if a society frowns upon certain groups of people serving in a military organisation and makes the life of anyone from those groups who tries to serve harder, Picard’s line could be used to justify forcing that person out of the military. Frankly, the idea that people have to ‘leave their culture at the door’ seems totally anti-Star Trek. What’s next, asking Deanna to leave her empathic powers in her quarters? Overall, this episode nets 9 out of 10 for me; Picard’s backwards line robs the episode of top marks.

Episode 8: Future Imperfect

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Commander Riker's birthday celebration is interrupted as he, Geordi La Forge, and Worf are sent down to a huge cavern on Alpha Onias III, an uninhabited Class M planet, to investigate unusual readings. After their arrival, the cavern suddenly fills with toxic gases, and the three officers fall unconscious.

Riker awakens in sick bay to find that sixteen years have passed. He is now Captain of the Enterprise with Data as his first officer, and Picard has been promoted to admiral, with Deanna Troi serving as his aide. Riker cannot remember any event after the Alpha Onias III mission, which Doctor Crusher explains is a side effect of a viral infection he contracted on the planet, and his memories of the intervening events may or may not return in time.

Riker learns that he was married, is now widowed, and has a son named Jean-Luc (named after Picard). He is further startled when Tomalak, a Romulan commander who was formerly an archenemy of the Enterprise but is now an ambassador, beams onto the ship to negotiate a peace treaty with the Federation. Despite Picard's reassurances, Riker is hesitant to reveal sensitive Starfleet information in negotiating the treaty.

As Riker struggles to adjust to his new life, numerous inconsistencies arise. The Enterprise computer is uncharacteristically slow, numerous systems experience minor technical glitches, and Geordi is unable to correct the problems. Finally, Riker discovers that his late wife "Min" is Minuet, a fictional holodeck character he fell in love with (in the first season episode "11001001"). Riker realizes that the entire "future" he has been experiencing is a charade and confronts Picard and Tomalak on the Enterprise bridge, with more inconsistencies arising as he does so, proving his suspicions. Suddenly, the false future fades away, revealing a Romulan holodeck. Commander Tomalak is revealed to be behind the simulation, the object of which was to trick Riker into giving away the location of a key Federation outpost. The Romulans, Tomalak explains, were fooled by the intensity of Riker's memories of Minuet and had incorporated her into their fantasy on the assumption that she was real.

Riker is put in a holding area, where he meets the boy whose image the Romulans had used to create his "son". The boy identifies himself as "Ethan". Together, they manage to escape and briefly elude their Romulan guards. However, as the two are hiding from their pursuers, Ethan inadvertently refers to Tomalak as "Ambassador", instead of "Commander". Riker realizes that he is still in a simulation; confronting Ethan over it, he demands that the game end immediately and that he be allowed to leave.

Everything disappears once more, leaving only Riker and Ethan back in the cavern on Alpha Onias III. Riker is then able to contact the ship and learns that Worf and La Forge had beamed up without incident, but the Enterprise was unable to locate him. After Riker advises the captain that he will presently report back after learning more about his situation, Ethan confesses that he had created the simulations, using sophisticated scanners to read his mind and create the "reality" they experienced. Ethan's planet had been attacked and his people killed; his mother had hidden him in the cavern for his own safety, with all the simulation equipment, before she died; and Ethan, all alone, had been yearning for real companionship. Realizing Ethan's intentions were not hostile, Riker offers him refuge on the Enterprise. Ethan accepts Riker's offer and after Ethan reveals his true form as a grey alien named Barash, the two beam up to the ship.

Review:

This episode is interesting to start off with; alternate timelines/futures can often be quite fun, and according to Memory Alpha’s page on this episode we also get some uncanny prescience in many of the predictions this episode makes, which would become apparent in later episodes, films and series within the world of Trek. It also very cleverly distinguishes itself from ‘Remember Me’ earlier in this season by having the alternate realities that Riker experiences nested within each other, as opposed to Beverly’s scenario where it was just the one alternate reality. However, once the second layer of deception gets revealed, I became a little disappointed.

Why is this? Well to be honest, I don’t like episodes that try to play on a character’s sense of reality part-way through a TV show that has long since established what its reality is. It can work by implying an alternate future and memory loss as this episode initially does, but the number of illusions need to be left at one and not keep going. I’d rather the rest of the episode been a straight-up action-adventure where Riker has to escape the Romulans with the aid of the Enterprise crew, possibly with some interrogation room dialogue between Riker and Tomalak beforehand as a means for Riker to play his captor, stall for time, whatever.

As it is, the ending ends up feeling like a cliché of Star Trek rather than anything truly Trek-oriented. Certainly there’s no deeper issue exploration or major character development in Riker himself. Overall, it’s really just a bit of a filler episode when taken on balance. I give it about 7 out of 10.

Episode 9: Final Mission

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise has travelled to the Pentarus system where Captain Picard must mediate a dispute among some miners on the fifth planet. Wesley Crusher receives word that he has been accepted to Starfleet Academy and, for his final mission on the Enterprise, he will accompany Picard on his shuttle trip to Pentarus V. A distress call comes in from Gamilon V, where an unidentified vessel has entered orbit and is giving off lethal doses of radiation. Picard orders Commander Riker to take the Enterprise to resolve that situation while he and Wesley travel in a shuttle sent by the miners, commanded by Captain Dirgo.

En route, Dirgo's shuttle malfunctions and they are forced to crash-land on the surface of a harsh, desert-like moon. Though they are unharmed, the shuttle is beyond repair, and its communication systems and food replicators are disabled. Dirgo admits he has no emergency supplies on board, so they are forced to search for shelter and water. With his tricorder, Wesley identifies some caves and a potential source of water some distance away, and the three set out across the desert. Reaching a cave, they find a fountain-like water source, but it is protected by a crystalline force field. Dirgo attempts to use a phaser to destroy the field, but this activates a burst of energy from the fountain which encases the phaser in an impenetrable shell and causes a rock slide; Picard pushes Wesley out of the way but is severely injured in doing so.

Meanwhile, the Enterprise has arrived at Gamilon V, finding the unidentified ship is an abandoned garbage scow filled with radioactive waste. Their initial attempt to attach thrusters to the barge to propel it remotely through an asteroid belt into the Gamilon sun fails, and Riker is forced to attempt to tow the barge themselves using the tractor beam, exposing the crew to the lethal radiation.

As Wesley continues to analyse the forcefield, Dirgo becomes impatient and attempts to breach the field again, but this time the energy burst encases him as well, killing him. Picard, weak from his injuries, gives Wesley advice about the academy, and tells him he is proud of him. Wesley refuses to give up. Meanwhile, the Enterprise, despite the rising radiation levels on board, manages to get the barge through the asteroid belt and on course into the sun. The Enterprise then speeds off to help in the search for the shuttle.

Wesley continues to study the fountain, and devises a plan to disable the force field. He fires his phaser at the fountain to attract the energy defence mechanism, then uses his tricorder to disable the mechanism and is finally able to access the water.

Shortly thereafter, the Enterprise locates the wreckage of the mining shuttle, and Picard and Wesley are rescued. As Picard is carried from the cave, he tells Wesley that he will be missed.

Review:

It’s with this episode that Wil Wheaton finally left TNG as a main cast member in an effort to try and expand his acting career, and given how poorly his character of Wesley Crusher was written in many episodes, it’s not unreasonable or a bad idea that he did so. After all, Wesley had to get off the Enterprise at some point if he was ever going to attend Star Fleet Academy, and you couldn’t do the show that TNG was if it was all about Star Fleet characters on Earth. That said, a spin-off about Star Fleet Academy might have been an interesting thing to see. In any event, this episode is better than most Wesley-centric plots and features a bit of coming-of-age narrative within the story. However, it has a few bits of less-than-stellar dialogue-writing for Wesley in some of the earlier scenes (Wesley coming onto the bridge and the argument with Dirgo by the crashed shuttle being key examples).

The b-plot makes for an ok diversion, but part of me wonders why it took the Enterprise so long with that waste barge. I mean space is three-dimensional and the asteroid belt looked to only be at a certain height, relatively speaking. I therefore fail to see why the Enterprise couldn’t have pulled the barge above the ‘top’ of the asteroid belt, while keeping it on course for the nearby sun (which, being circular and massive, the barge would easily hit even going over the asteroids and not through them). If there’s one thing I really hate, it’s stories where people go through an obstacle instead of round when the only reason to go through is because the story is too short otherwise. Honestly, it’s just as well Wesley gets to return as a guest character a few times after this because it’s not a great episode for him to go out on. I give this one a score of 6 out of 10.

Episode 10: The Loss

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Traveling through deep space, the Enterprise stops to investigate an odd phenomenon of phantom sensor readings. Meanwhile, ship's counsellor Deanna Troi experiences pain and loses consciousness as her empathic abilities suddenly cease to work.

The crew discovers they cannot resume course, as the Enterprise is caught up in a group of two-dimensional lifeforms.

Without her powers, Troi suffers a tremendous sense of loss, and goes through several classic psychological stages, including denial, fear and anger. Ultimately, despite the reassurances of her friends, she resigns as ship's counsellor, believing that without her empathic abilities she cannot perform her duties.

Lt. Commander Data determines that the two-dimensional creatures are heading for a cosmic string, with the Enterprise in tow, and that once they reach the string the ship will be torn apart. Noting that Troi's training makes her the most qualified to assist, Captain Picard pleads with her to try and aid Data in communicating with the strange creatures.

After attempting to warn the creatures of the danger posed by the cosmic string, Troi posits that they are seeking out the cosmic string in much the way a moth is drawn to a flame. Working from this hypothesis, Data and Lt. Commander La Forge simulate the vibration of a cosmic string, using the deflector dish at a position well behind the Enterprise. The simulations eventually cause the creatures to briefly reverse their course, breaking their momentum long enough to allow the Enterprise to break free.

Freed from the two-dimensional creatures' influence, Troi's empathic ability is restored. She discovers that her powers were never lost, but were instead overwhelmed by the two-dimensional creatures' strong emotions. Troi returns to her old job with a renewed confidence.

Review:

I get that this episode is Next Generation trying to identify with what people who suddenly become differently abled go through when they lose their regularly abled status, and it’s a sound idea in theory. In practice, it’s ruined because they put it across through Troi spending most of the episode being a whiney cry-baby about it. I mean ok, granted, as someone who has been differently abled all their life and who has been aware of that from a very young age, I don’t easily empathise with those who end up differently abled later in life. More often than not, they’ve had experiences and opportunities that someone like me has never had, and for that matter may never have. For instance, having to go to schools away from where I lived means I’ve never been able to grow up with friends I could met outside of school or walk to school with, and being an adult now I can never have that childhood experience everyone else takes from granted.

Moreover, in the episode ‘Tin Man’ Troi notes that Betazoids are born with their telepathic abilities inactive in the vast majority of cases and develop them during their adolescence, so having her lose her empathic powers doesn’t warrant this level of response. She’s only been psychic since she was a teen, for crying out loud, and it’s an extra sense rather than one of the five ‘core’ senses most humans/humanoids have by default. The level of wigging out she experiences would have been far more appropriate if she’d been blinded or deafened, and speaking of the former, why was Geordi not among those who spoke to Deanna about what she was going through? The one time another member of the TNG main crew loses a sense and you don’t have them compare notes with the one TNG main crew member who was born one sense down on everyone else? Talk about a ludicrously squandered opportunity.

Frankly, this episode is a howler of such dire magnitude that it feels like we’ve stepped into a time machine back to the first season. Frankly, I’d sooner go for any Marvel lore featuring Daredevil or the M*A*S*H episode “Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind” for a good sensory loss story than watch this shipwreck of an episode again. 3 out of 10 here, and that’s mostly for Guinan; it’s amazing how good Whoopi Goldberg can be at making even the worst episodes worth something.

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tabloidtoc · 3 years

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Globe, December 28

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Farewell to 93 legends we loved and lost in 2020

Page 2: Up Front & Personal -- Steve Martin holds a green pepper on the NYC set of Only Murders in the Building, Derek Hough is light on his feet at the MTV Movie & TV Awards

Page 3: Julia Roberts looks scary skinny during a solo stroll in Hawaii, Chris Pratt hoists a hoverboard during an L.A. workout

Page 4: Troubled twosome Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi are hoping to put their year from hell behind them by renewing their vows over the holidays in a desperate big to keep their love alive -- Ellen wants to prove her long-suffering wife comes first ahead of Ellen’s daytime talk show and her many celebrity friends and is going all out to show it -- penny-pincher Ellen opened her wallet as wide as her heart telling Portia she could spend whatever she wants on clothes, food, drinks, music and invite whoever she wants at the New Year’s vow ceremony on a Santa Barbara beach

Page 5: Obsessive Blake Shelton is so stressed over his upcoming wedding to Gwen Stefani he’s turning into the Groomzilla from hell -- he is sparing no expense and shelling out millions to redo his Oklahoma ranch to impress the couple’s Tinseltown friends but the mountain of stuff still to be done is driving him around the bend even though no one’s putting pressure on him but he’s obsessed with the wedding details and driving his staff crazy with his constant orders and revisions -- he’s building a chapel on the ranch and a lighted boat for a romantic wedding cruise on the lake and picking the style of the canopy for the banquet floor and re-landscaping the grounds and adding a color-themed garden

* Kenya Moore of Real Housewives of Atlanta reveals she went on a date with Kanye West but bolted when she caught him watching inappropriate flicks -- she described the outing with Kanye as a disaster date and they ended up going to his house where he left her alone, wandering around and when she followed the noises he was watching something on TV that he probably shouldn’t have been and that was her exit

Page 6: Matthew Perry was such a slave to his addiction his former galpal Kayti Edwards says he’d send her to score drugs while she was pregnant and Matthew insisted she was the perfect drug mule because he believed cops wouldn’t stop a gal in her condition Kayti claims in a shocking tell-all about her 2011 romance with Matthew -- she says his ravenous cravings for cocaine and heroin were so out of control that he once superglued his hands to his legs and he took up to 80 Vicodin pills daily -- Kayti claims she was trying to protect Matthew because she feared he’d end up wandering around the streets and being nabbed by cops or snapped by photogs but she was also getting paid big bucks like $3000 to $4000 a day

Page 7: Duchess Camilla’s taste for an early morning tipple has rubbed off on husband Prince Charles who is now so hooked on the sauce he starts the day guzzling a powerful gin martini with breakfast and now Charles’ alarmed staffers and pals are talking about an intervention to remind him not to go down the path that put his second wife in rehab -- Charles’ booze consumption has been off the charts for years but drinking first thing in the morning with his breakfast is a new low -- Charles laughs off suggestions he has a booze issue but one look at his bloodshot face tells the story

* Now that a COVID-19 vaccine’s been approved in Britain Queen Elizabeth says she’s going to get the shot but wait her turn instead of pulling royal rank but she and husband Prince Philip won’t wait long because at their ages they’re in the second group to get the vaccine which is health care workers and people over 80

Page 8: Helena Bonham Carter has a world-shakin’ suggestion for gals frustrated by the COVID-19 lockdown: get a vibrator -- she says women shouldn’t worry about snaring a beau during the pandemic but that’s easy for her to say because she’s currently cuddling with toyboy writer Rye Dag Holmboe

* George Clooney confesses wife Amal Clooney had him shaking in his boots when he popped the question and she didn’t answer -- he asked her out of the blue but instead of squealing yes immediately the brainy lawyer just stood there -- George says he was on his knee for like 20 minutes and finally said he was going to throw his hip out -- Amal finally agreed and the couple have three-year-old twins

* The nip/tuck freak daughter of Olivia Newton-John is being blasted as a hypocrite for coming out against the new COVID-19 vaccines -- Chloe Lattanzi claims she doesn’t trust doctors or the vaccine but critics note she had no problem shelling out an estimated $550,000 to plastic surgeons for nose jobs, super-sized boobs and ballooned lips

Page 9: Since his life-threatening health scare game show icon Pat Sajak’s been testy and snapping at contestants and crew members leaving insiders fearing he’s heading for a breakdown -- the once-cheery Wheel of Fortune host is a different man since recovering from emergency surgery for a blocked intestine and is having difficulty coping with the workload -- he just can’t keep up with the pace and he’s pushed to the very limit and can’t seem to function doing this job and it’s all spilling over and manifesting into these ugly outbursts which are shocking viewers -- he even glares at long-time help-mate Vanna White when he gets frustrated or forgetful and she is really too nice to complain about it but she’s definitely been taken aback by his behavior

Page 10: Proof UFOs are real -- new photos taken by Navy jets reveal we are not alone

Page 12: Celebrity Buzz -- WWE legend Ric Flair (picture), Real Housewives of Orange County’s Braunwyn Windham-Burke maintains she’s not attracted to men despite renewing her wedding vows with her husband of over two decades -- she says she is gay but she loves husband Sean Burke and they plan on staying married although they don’t sleep in the same bedroom and they are raising their kids together but he knows the girl she’s dating and he’s been given the thumbs-up to date too, Liam Payne believes he’s being haunted by spooks -- convinced spooky spirits were inhabiting his West London digs Liam moved but spooks popped up at the new pad and he thinks the new house is even more haunted than the old one, George Clooney handpicked an even better looking doppelganger to play his younger self in his new flick The Midnight Sky who is screen legend Gregory Peck’s grandson Ethan Peck -- George said it was tricky because people know what he looked like when he was 35 years old but he rejected the high-tech gizmos used to weirdly reverse Robert De Niro’s age in The Irishman but he did mix his voice with Ethan’s since his voice is pretty recognizable, Matthew McConaughey’s kids Levi and Vida used their phones to photograph him for his latest magazine covers because of quarantine they couldn’t do normal photoshoots so the kids became the photographers

Page 13: Tom Arnold dines out in Rome (picture), Aubrey O’Day (picture), Brooke Burke in Mexico (picture), pregnant Meghan Trainor was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and she’s healthy and her baby boy is healthy but she has to really pay attention to everything she eats

Page 14: Luke Evans denies hiding in the closet to advance his Hollywood career saying it was the last thing he had because everything else he’d given to the world and adding that he left home at 16 because he was gay and went into the world as a kid because he had to, Mindy Kaling managed to keep two pregnancies under cover and kept the kids’ middle names under wraps until now -- a fan wondered why Mindy who is of a Indian heritage gave her kids Caucasian names but their names are Katherine Swati and Spencer Avu

* Fashion Verdict -- Blanca Suarez 3/10, Olivia Palermo 1/10, Nicky Hilton 9/10, Bella Heathcote 2/10, Catt Sadler 8/10

Page 16: True Crime

Page 17: Martha Stewart confesses her painful divorce in 1990 was a terrible thing and she hasn’t talked to ex-husband Andrew Stewart since but she bounced back from the pain and her infamous prison stint because she’s very strong and motivated to get on with life -- still Martha admits being dumped by her husband for another woman after 29 years of marriage nearly did her in -- Martha also reveals serving five months in West Virginia in 2004 on a federal insider stock trading rap was a struggle but she got through it by working on her arts and crafts

Page 19: 10 Things You Don’t Know About Don Lemon

* Dolly Parton pulled no punches when discussing her longtime romance with Carl Dean dishing she and her husband have been together for 57 years and married for 54 and she’s sick of him and she’s sure he’s sick of her -- the couple have rarely been seen in public together and she says their marriage succeeds because she stays gone and they’re not in each other’s faces all the time

* Miley Cyrus says she’s mastered the art of staying safe during lockdown love and it’s by having online sex -- she said the safest sex in these COVID-crazy times is the virtual kind and that’s where Miley has been hooking up

Page 21: Cover Story -- Thanks for the Memories -- tribute to the stars we loved and lost in 2020

Page 22: Alex Trebek

Page 23: Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna, Kelly Preston

Page 24: Kirk Douglas, Sean Connery

Page 25: Olivia de Havilland, Chadwick Boseman

Page 26: Robert Conrad, Naya Rivera

Page 27: Regis Philbin

Page 28: Kenny Rogers, Roy Horn

Page 29: Eddie Van Halen, Little Richard

Page 36: Health Report -- eating bread can toast your brain

Page 38: Ghostbusters icon Dan Aykroyd has turned into a ghoulish recluse who rarely leaves his $25 million Martha’s Vineyard estate where he’s now eerily planning his own funeral -- the bizarre 68-year-old appears perfectly healthy yet he spooks around in his bed clothes muttering about who he wants to officiate at his memorial service and the goodies the chef should serve at the wake -- the curious thing is he appears to be in no danger of dropping dead anytime soon and he’s sturdy as a horse which is surprising given the cigars and the vodka and the big meals he enjoys -- Dan’s wife of 37 years Donna Dixon has gotten used to her husband’s ghoulish monologues

* Bob Dylan sold his extensive back catalog of more than 600 songs including Blowin’ in the Wind and Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door to Universal Music in a blockbuster deal topping $300 million

Page 40: Patrick Stewart confesses he’s been furious all his life and he’s still seeing a shrink to control his rage -- he reveals he’s burned with rage inside since childhood when he witnessed his dad’s violence against his mom and he had to suppress all that anger -- at age 14 he feared he’d explode and kill his headmaster when he caned him and later he worried he’d hurt his two children with first wife Sheila Falconer in a fit of fury and now at age 80 it’s still there so he sees a therapist every week

Page 44: Straight Talk -- The Weeknd has his nose out of joint because he wasn’t nominated for any Grammys this year and he claims he’s being snubbed because he’ll be starring on the February 7 Super Bowl halftime show a week after the Grammys

Page 45: Jeffrey Epstein’s accused madam Ghislaine Maxwell is a paranoid mess losing her hair and wasting away in federal prison where she’s terrified shadowy forces have marked her for death -- the shrinking British socialite who denies recruiting and grooming underage girls for Epstein’s twisted lust is charged with sex trafficking minors as she rots in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center awaiting trial next year

Page 47: Bizarre But True

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icanbeyourgenie · 4 years

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“ I'm sorry you feel ashamed because of me. I can... I can leave you alone. ” – Godric to Rowena

❝No, this is not-❞

Rowena stopped. What could she say? That she was not ashamed? She would not insult Godric by lying to him, not when the man stood so sincerely in front of her, ready to do what it took to make her comfortable. Even if it didn’t please him. No, she was ashamed. She let Salazar get inside her head, and not even Helga’s true and good words got him out. For the problem was not just Salazar.

❝It’s just - You must understand. Being a woman, in this world, it’s hard. You just... don’t matter.❞ She took a deep breath, trying to control the emotion in her voice to make the most sense. ❝Everything you do, everything you are is always, always reduced to a man’s opinion. They teach you how to cook, how to look, how to keep quiet, how to smile, how to play dumb, all to attract a good man. They teach you how a good girl act and how a bad one does, and if you ever end up in the latest category...❞

She couldn’t end this sentence. Bad things happened to girls that had the misfortune to commit what the society considered a ‘mistake’. Rowena saw it happening to so many girls around her. Girls who never got married and ended up being mocked and rejected by everyone. Girl who had sex before their wedding, some of them getting pregnant, and were at best sent away, at worst murdered. Men abusing every women they considered they propriety. No, Rowena could not talk of all the horrors women lived simply for being women.

❝You know, I never wanted to get married. I wanted to explore the world, to read as many books as I could, to see how magic was practiced in other countries... Of course, my parents did not care. They didn’t care that I was clever and curious, all they cared about was that I was pretty enough to attract the son of the village’s richest family.❞ She paused again, allowing the memories to hurt. ❝Allistair was not a bad man, really. But as soon as he decided he wanted me, it didn’t matter what I wanted. Our parents arranged that, and soon I was just an empty shell. I wasn’t allowed to go out as much as I used too, to have strong opinions, and had to hide my magic even more. I hated it. And when Helena was born... God knows I love her more than my life. But I couldn’t help thinking that that was it. That was what my life was going to be, until the end of my days. And at this moment I just - I just wanted to die.... ❞ At this point, tears were running down Rowena’s cheeks. She never told that to anyone, and the reminiscence hurt. ❝Being with all of you, it made me love life again. It made me feel free. So when Salazar talked to me the other day, I was just brought back to the girl I used to be. And I couldn’t help but think: Is there a way out for us - women? Is there any place in this world where we could live the way we want without being judged?❞

Rowena tried to dry her tears, but new ones just kept coming. She didn’t plan to talk about all of this, but that needed to be said. Salazar’s words needing to get out of her system, and that was the only way. Usually it was Helga she’d say those things, but somehow it felt like Godric would understand and empatize with her, and every single woman in this world.

❝You’re the only man who never gave me the impression to be trapped. You’re making me feel safe, and free, and I... I really fancy you. So no, I don’t want you to leave me alone. Ever. I just want you to understand how hard it can be...❞

#rowena ravenclaw #rowena writing prompt #writing prompt #likeafairytale #it actually hurt to write it bc a lot of it is still so true #rowena x godric

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ljones41 · 4 years

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"BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN) (2020) Review

"BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN)" (2020) Review I never thought Warner Brothers Studios would do a follow up to the 2016 D.C. Extended Universe (DCEU) movie, "SUICIDE SQUAD". Not really. And there are reasons why I had harbored this belief.

Despite being a box office hit, "SUICIDE SQUAD" was poorly received by critics and many moviegoers. Yet, the movie also had its share of fans - including myself - who actually managed to enjoy it. But the Warner Brothers executives were more concerned with the critics' opinions than with box office performance. And since "SUICIDE SQUAD" was strongly associated with the D.C.E.U. films made by director Zack Snyder, I quickly formed the opinion that Warner Brothers would allow the movie to disappear from memory. So, imagine my surprise when I learned that the studio had green-lighted a movie about the experiences of the Harley Quinn character featured in "SUICIDE SQUAD". I am aware that she was the most popular aspect of the 2016 movie, but I never thought Warner Brothers would approve a follow-up film about her and the formation of the Birds of Prey. So, color me surprised when I learned that this new movie would be made and it would be directed by newbie filmmaker, Cathy Yan. "BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN)" begins four years after the events of "SUICIDE SQUAD". Off screen, the Joker ends his relationship with fugitive Harley Quinn by tossing her out on Gotham City's streets. After finding an apartment, thanks to a Tawainese restaurant owner she befriends named Doc, Harley became a roller derby player. Meanwhile, crime lord Roman Sionis has decided to become the new crime boss of Gotham following the Joker's disappearance. Due to a drunken Harley's assault on his driver and his memories of past insults, he tries to kidnap her, but the singer at his nightclub - Dinah Laurel Lance aka Black Canary - comes to her rescue. Impressed by Dinah's skills, Roman hires her as his new driver/bodyguard. Roman is also after a diamond embedded with the account numbers to the Bertinelli crime family fortune, who were massacred years ago. However, a young pickpocket named Cassandra "Cass" Cain steals the diamond from Zsasz and swallows it after she is arrested. Friendly with Cass, Dinah decides to become an informer for police detective Renee Montoya to protect the girl. Another person interested in Cass is Harley, who is after the girl and the diamond on Roman's behalf after he threatened to kill her if she does not cooperate. Another person threatening to overshadow everyone else's interests is Helena Bertinelli, a mysterious archer who has been carrying out a series of mob-related killings in revenge for her family's deaths. On the surface, I was inclined to regard the narrative for "BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN)" as a loose series of subplots that barely connected. But the more I thought about Christina Hodson's screenplay, the more I realized that there is one aspect of the film's plot that strongly connected the subplots. And I am not referring to Harley Quinn. To me, Ronan Sionis aka Black Mask is the cord that connects the various subplots. Think about it. Due to Harley's breakup with the Joker, he wants criminal control of Gotham City and petty revenge against her for past insults. Ronan had organized the massacre against the Bertinelli crime family with the help of his main enforcer Victor Zsasz, in order to get his hands on the family's diamond. This leads Helena to hunt down members of his crime family. Cassandra "Cass" Cain had managed to steal the very diamond that Ronan wants, leading to her becoming his main target. Dinah Lance was employed as the main talent at Ronan's nightclub, until he hired her to become his driver and a bodyguard. And because of Cass being endangered by Ronan, Dinah had agreed to serve as a spy within the Sionis' crime family on behalf of Detective Renee Montoya. As for the latter, she had been fixated in arresting Ronan for years. And because of this, she ended up being suspected from the police force and searching for Cass and the diamond. "BIRDS OF PREY" could have easily dissolved into a confusing movie that possessed disjointed story arcs. Thankfully, director Cathy Yan and screenwriter Christina Hodson had the good sense to use a strong and dynamic villain like Ronan Sionis as the main link to connect the movie's protagonists' varied subplots. "BIRDS OF PREY" also featured a rather unique narrative style that reminded me of the first half of "MAN OF STEEL" and "SUICIDE SQUAD" in that it depended on a great deal of story utilizing flashbacks. In the case of "BIRDS OF PREY", the film's narrative use of flashbacks struck me as very colorful and unique - almost with a strong comic book style to it. Mind you, the speed in which the narrative jumps between the past and the present is a bit mind boggling and can force a moviegoer to keep on his or her toes, while watching it. As for the film's action sequences - I enjoyed them, but most of these sequences seemed to be dominated by Harley. It is not until the last major fight sequence in which Harley needs the help of Dinah, Renee and Helena to protect Cassandra from Ronan's goons. And I must say . . . it was a well-shot fight sequence. As much as I had enjoyed "BIRDS OF PREY", I had some problems with the film. A lot of fans had complimented Harley's warehouse fight against Ronan's thugs, while accidentally inhaling cocaine. Honestly? I found Harley's accidental drug intake rather unnecessary. There was another scene that really annoyed me and it featured Harley’s “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” illusions after being punched by Ronan. It was one of the most pretentious montages I have ever seen in a comic book movie. And very unnecessary. There was also a scene in which Dinah finally used the famous Canary Cry on many of Ronan's thugs in the film's final action scene. After using it . . . she passed out. Why? Why was it so necessary to make her faint after using the Canary Cry? So that she and Renee would not participate in the chase scene featuring Harley, Helena, Cass and Ronan? Having the Black Canary faint after using her Cry irritated the hell out of me. However, my main problem with the "BIRDS OF PREY" narrative was that two actions by the Joker - his rejection of Harley and departure from Gotham City - kick started the film's story. If the Joker had not rejected Harley, she would have never been forced to re-start her life on her own and play a role in the formation of the Birds of Prey. And Ronan would have never made the effort to elevate his position to Gotham City's top crime lord. So . . . why did the Joker dump Harley? Why did he leave Gotham City? Unfortunately, Hodson's screenplay never provided a reason behind the Joker's actions. In the case of Harley Quinn and the Joker, Warner Brothers could have made a movie depicting their relationship and what led to their breakup. Or . . . Hodson and Yan could have provided some explanation on why the Joker had dumped Harley in the first place. But what I found really baffling was his decision to leave Gotham City. Why did he do it? And why did Hodson and Yan make no effort to explain his disappearance? I certainly had no problems with the film's performances. Margot Robbie, as usual, gave an energetic and skillful portrayal of the comic book villain. Some have claimed that Robbie's performance in "BIRDS OF PREY" was superior to her performance in "SUICIDE SQUAD", due to how Harley was written in both films.. To each his or her own, I suppose. Personally, I found this claim hard to swallow. I thought Harley's characterization was excellent in both films. More importantly, both films did an excellent job in depicting Harley's character during different periods in her life. I have only seen Ewan McGregor portray a villain - major or minor - in two other films before "BIRDS OF PREY". And honestly? He should portray villains as often as he can. I thought his portrayal of the narcissist and vindictive Ronan was superb and spot on. I also enjoyed how he managed to inject a bit of homoerotic overtones in Ronan's relationship with his henchman, Victor Szasz. Another performance that I truly enjoyed came from Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Dinah Laurel Lance aka the Black Canary. Smollett-Bell did an excellent job in conveying Dinah's emotional turmoil over her current life and desires. Thanks to the actress' performance, Dinah seemed torn between her disgust and fear of Ronan, her sense of self-preservation, her continuing trauma over her vigilante mother's death and her desire to help others - especially someone like Cassandra Cain. Rosie Perez gave a first-rate, yet colorful performance as the world-weary and alcoholic Detective Renee Montoya. Perez skillfully conveyed Renee's struggles with being underappreciated by her fellow Gotham City Police detectives and being rejected by her ex-girlfriend, District Attorney Ellen Yee. At the same time, Perez's Renee conveyed a steely determination to not only arrest Harley early in the film, but also bring down Ronan at all costs. "BIRDS OF PREY" proved to be Ella Jay Basco's second movie in a career that spanned at least six years. I thought Basco gave a first-rate, yet subtle performance as the pickpocket Cassandra Cain. Basco managed to form strong screen chemistry with both Robbie and Smollett-Bell. And she also conveyed a talent for sharp and witty dialogue that seemed to come from no where, taking others by surprise. The role of Helena Bertinelli aka the mysterious archer aka the Huntress was a curious one for actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Her role in the film was not as big as the others. And unlike the others, her connection to Ronan was clouded by the fact that she was unaware of Ronan being personally responsible for her family's deaths. Despite having a smaller role than the other protagonists, Winstead gave a memorable performance the ruthless assassin, whose emotional growth, stunted by past trauma, made it difficult for her to connect with others. I have personally not seen Chris Messina in a movie for nearly a decade - not since 2012's "ARGO". But I have to admit that the role of Victor Szasz has to be one of the most fascinating I have ever seen him portray. Messina's Szasz is a brutal, yet observant enforcer with a talent for ass-kissing I have yet to see in any other comic book movie. Not only was Szasz one of Messina's best roles, but I also believe it was his funniest. The movie also featured competent performances from the likes of Steven Williams, Ali Wong, François Chau, Daniel Bernhardt, Dana Lee and Derek Wilson. Overall, I enjoyed "BIRDS OF PREY" very much. It is not perfect. No movie really is. And I have pointed out that I believe its main flaws came from Christina Hodson's screenplay. But I thought she did a good job in using the Ronan Sionis character to connect the protagonists' subplots in order to form a main one. The cast, led by Margot Robbie, provided excellent and entertaining performances. And Cathy Yan proved that given a chance by the studios, she is a talent to be reckoned with as a director.

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hellyeahheroes · 4 years

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Orphaned: How The New 10s Have FAILED Cassandra Cain

As we approach the end of “the New 10s”, how we came to call this decade (a term I will be using in the common usage, referring to all years with 201X number, not the proper one which ends with 2020), I took a look at one of the characters who I really feel got the short end of the stick through all of it - Cassandra Cain.

There were some good things for the character in the decade. Writers like James Tynion IV, Bryan Edward Hill actually gave her as much respect as they could in given circumstances and she even made her first-ever appearance in animation. However, looking back I cannot say that it has been actually kind time for her . The bad just outweighs the good. I have isolated five reasons why I believe that to be the case.

1. The Erasure

This room is full of New 52 Cassandra Cain stories.

As always, everything boils down to New 52, the reboot that defined the New 10s for DC Comics. A reboot that asked us to assume Cassandra no longer exists and never existed, even if this did not mesh with the supposedly intact, just compressed, Batman continuity. The only writer who seems to have ignored it was Grant Morrison, whose Batman Inc. was caught by the reboot in the middle and seems to exist in a Schrödinger's relationship with two continuities - both part of the old and new DC Universe.

What is worse is that DC editorial has been silently stonewalling writers who wanted to use the character with vague excuses of her supposedly being toxic and little explanation beyond that. Scott Snyder was denied the use of her in Batman and had to create Harper Row as a replacement. Gail Simone’s pitch for a Batgirls book featuring Cassandra, Stephanie Brown and Barbara Gordon was rejected in favor of a solo Barbara book. In which both characters have been banned from appearing. The only exception was the Future’s Ends special, which was literally Simone’s final issue. It feels that this was done due to higher-ups' desire to push Barbara as the One True Batgirl. Which manifested in some of the editorial changes made to the book, like an artist being told, behind Simone’s back, to make a new villain look like Stephanie. Or Batman flat out calling Barbara “Only Good Batgirl” despite this making no sense in a continuity where she is literally the only one to ever use the name. The fact this ended up doing more harm than good to Barbara is a topic for another list like this altogether. The crux of it is, DC did their worst to make people forget Cassandra ever exists and alienate her fans for years, hoping to get rid of them entirely. As the very existence of this article proves, their attempts were less than successful.

2. The Alienation

Once DC actually gave in and allowed Snyder to bring Cassandra back, other problems arose. The first one has come in the form of her new codename - Orphan. That name was supposed to allow her establishing her own identity instead of being defined by Bruce and Barbara. However, this argument seems dishonest when it is an identity previously used by her villainous father. The idea of Cassandra redeeming it has some merit, I admit. But this decision does send a message of her being defined solely by her abuser. It also serves to separate her from the rest of the Batfamily. Originally Cassandra has been portrayed as a member of the group and an adoptive sister to all of Bruce Wayne’s fellow sidekicks. Now it feels like her very name serves to single her out, an orphan among orphans.

This problem is not limited to the title. In general, Cassandra is now written as more isolated from the rest of the Batfamily, excluded from as many things as possible or having her role limited to nothing but a cameo. It has been 5 years and DC did as little as possible to reestablish her relationships with any people she was close with previously. In fact, with characters like Stephanie or Tim Drake, they seem to be betting on fans remembering their bonds from the previous continuity and act like they do not need to put in the work to rebuild them. Even if such measures have been taken for things like the reveal of her mother again. Her relationship with Barbara is as quickly cut as it was reestablished, without giving us anything but one or two scenes that work mostly as a reminder of what the two have lost from old continuity. She is not allowed to form new bonds with major characters either, her interactions with Jason Todd and Damian Wayne being kept to a bare minimum even more than before New 52.

What’s worse is that new connections that she does form end quickly broken and undermined. After a big buildup of her friendship with Harper that girl gets completely written out of Batman comics altogether. Her relationships with Clayface and Batwoman were shattered with the former’s death. Not only that but DC seems entirely unwilling to follow on plot threads like this. It has been over a year by now since Kate was forced to kill Basil to save Cassandra’s life and not a single interaction between the characters seems to be allowed to ever bring that up, despite the effect it should have on both of them. I’ve gotten an impression they aren’t allowed to interact at all anymore, just stand awkwardly next to each other in group shots. Even Cassandra’s currently established bond with Duke Thomas feels constantly undermined by a looming threat he will end the story broken and turned into a villain. All of this sends a message that Cassandra is not a real part of the Batfamily, more a hired muscle than a real member of the group.

Even the relationships with her villains have been taken away from her by simply erasing said villains. The same goes for many characters who once were her supporting cast, like Brenda or Onyx. Even her father had to be killed despite how many great scenes past writers could work out of confronting the two and exploring both how twisted his view of her is and what extent of the damage he has done to her. It gives an impression of outright spite, as if DC only agreed to bring her back at the cost of stripping her away from all interesting story threads.

3. The Jobbing

The less is said about Thomas Wayne vs Entire Batfamily, the better.

One of the problems with Cassandra’s portrayal is jobbing. For those who do not know, jobbing is a term in wrestling where a wrestler is made to lose a fight to put their opponent over with the audience. The bigger the reputation of a certified badass the jobber has, the more likely people are to buy the other guy as a genuine threat. A quote attributed to veteran wrestler Christian goes “If you can make the other guy look good you will always find a job, but you will have to do the job”.

Sadly, since her return, Cassandra has been reduced to a jobber. A character who is known as the best martial arts fighter in the Batfamily, if not in the DC Universe as a whole, is constantly made to lose to make someone else look good. In fact, between 2015 and 2019 the character had literally a single clean victory. By “clean” I mean a fair one on one fight. Every single one of her other victories was immediately being retconned as her opponent holding back (Dick Grayson) or undermined by her having the help of other characters (Lady Shiva, Azrael). Even the one opponent she was allowed to beat, Ismael, was a new character introduced just a few issues prior and his only show of skill to speak of was beating her in a previous fight. Meanwhile, she is constantly made to lose against opponents who have never been shown to possess skills or abilities that could make it believable, like Jason Todd, Helena Bertinelli or Karma. Thomas Wayne, a character whose use of guns was justified as compensation for his horrible hand-to-hand skills, is likely the worst example of them all. Cassandra is allowed to beat unnamed minions, be it Colony soldiers or League of Shadows ninjas. However, these do little to establish her as a force to be reckoned with she once was. After all, every single hero takes down hordes of minions constantly. Overall her status as a great fighter is at this point nothing more but an informed ability and DC has killed all credibility she once had.

There are painful and insulting implications that come along with Cassandra’s jobbing. This is because her skills as a martial artist have always been something she took great pride in and formed a lot of her self-esteem around. She finds comfort and relief from living with her disability in them. Her story is not one of a person “overcoming” their disability or have it nullified by superpowers that comic books are sadly full of. It is a story of a disabled person learning to live with their disability by finding solace in other skills she has and proving herself a true master despite said disability. By making her be beaten by everyone and their mother, DC turned that character arc into a cruel joke. Cassandra who is losing every fight is Cassandra that DC wants you to laugh at. Mock her for being delusional to think disabled people can be heroes and not just helpless victims. An ableist position very in line with a company that erased Barbara Gordon’s disability and history as Oracle, and to this day has editorial personally offended by the idea she could be anything but helpless in a wheelchair. As a result all Cassandra stories since her return just feel mean-spirited.

4. Shiva

Since Cassandra's return, the only two stories to focus on her have been about her mother, Lady Shiva. This has been a larger problem that has existed since Dan DiDio started meddling with the characters. We could see it in a classic story Destruction Daughter as well. There seems to be a desire on an editorial level to repeat and outdo the classic fan-favorite fight between them from Batgirl #25. Which is by many considered the best Cassandra story and the pinnacle of Kelley Puckett's run. But the editorial does not want to simply “top” that fight. They also want to somehow integrate it into a bigger story that ties Shiva with League of Assassins. I mean no disrespect to James Tynion or Bryan Hill or Anderson Gabrych, but none of them managed to truly make it work. The stories, while still well-written, seem to be inherently contrived. And I believe the future attempts will never truly work no matter who is writing them. The whole premise is nonsensical. Shiva that works with Ras Al’Ghul and his League is by definition out of character as the two have no aligning goals to speak of. There is nothing he can offer her and she doesn’t care for his goals. And the idea of sticking with him to fight challenging opponents is undermined by a fact she could get a good fight by simply slaughtering his entire organization. I started comparing this to Street Fighter to easily explain my issue with this. For Shiva to work with Ras makes as little sense as for Akuma to be M. Bison’s lackey. DC is constantly trying to sell to us a story that does not work and then angrily try again when it is not hailed as better than Batgirl #25. It seems that Cassandra has become a means to an end in all of it. That she exists solely to get Shiva over as a minion to a bigger villain she has no good reason to follow in the first place.

This does nothing to make Cassandra less of a jobber either, as Shiva has been stuck in the same position for the entire decade herself and at this point is no more threatening than a Teletubby. Especially if the same stories that are supposed to reestablish Shiva as a threat are the stories where she fights her daughter. It feels like the two characters are trying to each regain their credibility by beating the other one because DC did such a good job of undermining them they wouldn’t be allowed to defeat anyone else.

While I want Shiva to be an antagonistic force in Cassandra’s life and she is a great villain, the way it is done does nothing for either character. Their complex relationship and clashing philosophies don't need to be violent or even physical at all to be compelling. It effectively squanders all potential the two have, seemingly for no other reason than to put Ras Al’Ghul over.

5. No Focus

Some of you may have caught on the prevailing theme of these points. Cassandra is no longer being written as a character in her own right. She is erased or pushed in the background to not overshadow Barbara. Her relationships are not being built upon and her plotlines are being dropped in favor of focusing on other characters. She is isolated from her new family and her membership is undermined even by her own codename. She keeps losing so that villains can look strong and cannot score a victory to not make someone “more important” look weak. She keeps being dragged into fights with Shiva to push Ras Al’Ghul as a bigger deal. She is constantly on team books that are always about other people first.

This pattern speaks for itself. Despite an ever-increasing number of her fans and even writers who adore her, DC does not care about Cassandra Cain. This whole decade the company has shown the only role they see for her is someone used to push characters the editorial wants people to like instead. DC’s treatment of her betrays their arrogance, the belief the editors know better what the fans want than the fans themselves. Sadly it seems to have spilled onto other media as well. From what we know about her appearance in the upcoming Birds of Prey movie, Cassandra is the only character the creators did not care to get right, just somebody to make others look good. This is also why I am not holding my breath for her upcoming appearances in DCeased and Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey books. At the end of the day these are still not her stories, just someone else’s books she was allowed to be in. Do not get me wrong, I hope we really get this “Cass Renaissance” the fandom is getting excited about. But outside of Shadow of the Batgirl, which will actually be a story about her, I do not trust DC to treat her as more than a glorified prop for other characters. If there is one thing I learned is that you can never expect good things from the Big 2. You can hope for the best and prepare for the worst. But they will very rarely offer you a surprise that is actually pleasant.

- Admin

#Batgirl #Orphan #Cassandra Cain #DC

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fayewonglibrary · 4 years

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1994-2020: Faye Wong Advertisements (2020)

On August 19th, Faye Wong was officially announced as the newest global spokesperson for the underwear brand NEIWAI, which shocked the industry.

What’s interesting is that underwear advertisements are usually extremely sexy and show a lot of skin. But because it’s the heavenly queen, it became a high-class style of sexy. The heavenly queen’s image on the posters is quite covered up and her poses are elegant and comfortable as usual. It is rumored that Faye Wong's endorsement fee is sky high.

The former brand models Maizi and Du Juan gave the impression of coolness. Faye Wong is definitely the master of this temperament to the extreme.

The press release by NEIWAI said that they aim to "explore the freedom of body and mind in a more pioneering, profound and international way." Indeed, the endorsement of the heavenly queen suddenly added a touch of international style and high-class to this domestic brand that was founded on Taobao not long ago. It gives that feeling no matter what the cost is.

You must know that Faye Wong has always been very picky about advertising. Before NEIWAI, she accepted an offer to be the global spokesperson for Helena Rubenstein in 2019. Last December 7th, L'Oréal Group's top luxury beauty brand Helena Rubenstein announced that Faye Wong became the first global spokesperson for its brand.

I still remember the queen attended the promotional event in all white and wrapped her head in a golden scarf. Her skin looked smooth and firm. The most impressive thing was that her facial features were more beautiful than even when she was young. It was surprising. After all, the queen is over 50 years old.

I could see that she was in a very happy mood, chatting and laughing with the host on stage. She described this cooperation as proof that it was love at first sight. The flawless firm skin of the heavenly queen can help a beauty counter to sell thousands of bottles of expensive product.

For so many years, Faye Wong was sought after by advertisers for her image as a high-end, avant-garde, free spirited woman of a new generation. Her manager once proudly said that their main job was rejecting offers. Faye Wong’s advertisements are notoriously sparse and also notoriously expensive.

Today, let’s take a look at the advertisements by the Heavenly Queen since her endorsement debut from 1994 to the present day. It can be seen that her strategy is "less is more". The big brands she has cooperated with, of course, pay well. Ease is another important criteria for her to choose a job.

The advertisements that Faye Wong has received over the years reveal the changes in the status and mood of the queen. Of course, we can also see the changing of the times from her advertisements. Popular brands that are still ongoing, but some brands have completely ceased to exist. The changes and the rise and fall of a brand is really interesting.

1994-1997

Avant-garde idol, trend setter for the youth.

In 1994, Faye Wong released her iconic hit "Sky" making her the free spirited idol of the young generation. That year she received an advertisement for Just Gold.

At that time, the Hong Kong-based gold jewelry company was preparing to enter the Taiwan market. In order to abandon the old and outdated feel of the past style, this brand, hoping to find young customers, wisely found a budding singer who was also ready to enter the Taiwanese market. Back then she was called Wong Jing Man.

In the advertisement, Faye Wong read the narration in her beautiful languid voice. The whole concept seemed to be very trendy and forward-thinking, making women suddenly realize they do not need to wait for men to buy them gifts and gold jewelry. They can own it on their own initiative. It was the new idea of feminism that women rely on their financial strength to satisfy their inner desires.

Just Woman, Just Gold; Real Woman, Real Gold. Faye Wong's life attitude of being courageous to live her own life fits the brand's pursuit of "real woman" characteristics. The following year, the brand also specially designed the "Fei collection" with the theme of "true", "beauty" and "life".

Coincidentally, the Virgin Atlantic advertisement of the same year also took a fancy to Faye Wong's distinctive personality.

At that time, Faye Wong's performance in the movie "Chunking Express" left a deep impression on people, and in the advertisement, she also had a similar short haircut, various styles, and she even had airplane props. She swayed her body and narrated in Cantonese. This advertisement made the top ten of Asia TV in 1995 and won the most popular TV commercial female star award.

In the ad for Virgin Atlantic's direct flight from Hong Kong to London, she used her hearty laughter to inspire people to take off whenever they pleased.

Faye Wong became a big hit in 1996 and appeared on the cover of Time Magazine. She became the second Chinese artist and the first Chinese singer to appear on the cover. She was called one of "The Divas of Pop".

Faye Wong willingly lived in a Beijing hutong for love, married Dou Wei, and gave birth to her daughter Dou Jingtong in January of the following year. The old photos of the two riding horses in Yesanpo bared witness to years of love.

Marriage and childbirth did not affect Faye Wong’s status. In October 1997, Motorola hired Wong Kar-wai to direct and spent 60 million on a large production to shoot her StarTAC (Palm Treasure Series) commercial. Anyone who has experienced that era knows that Motorola had a monopoly on the mobile phone market.

But with the advent of smartphones, after 2013, Motorola long lost its momentum. Motorola’s headquarters in Beijing has been downsized repeatedly. The era of holding a Motorola in one hand is gone forever.

Although shooting only lasted for 5 days, it was a huge collaboration: big name stars, director Wong Kar Wai, cinematographer Christopher Doyle, and designer William Chang. It was a movie level production. And the actor was Asano Tadanobu who was popular in Japan at that time. Reportedly, the reason for seeking him back then was because his hair was messy enough to match with Faye Wong.

The whole commercial lasted less than 30 seconds, but it was full of Wong Kar-wai's individualism and uniqueness. It is considered the most unusual commercial advertisement. And Faye Wong, whose pay was as high as six figures per hour, had only two lines: "Moshi Moshi".

Photographer Wing Shya also shot a set of print advertisements. Ah Fei as seen through the lens was smart and playful. With brilliant colors, it is entirely worthy of blockbuster art.

1999—2003

The fast-moving market adores the unconventional idol

In 1999, Faye Wong divorced the talented Dou Wei, which caused a commotion in the entertainment industry.

Pepsi spent 8 million Hong Kong dollars to invite Faye Wong, making her the first Asian female singer to endorse Pepsi. You must know that Pepsi’s strategy for so many years was aimed at the youth market. The stars they have invited over the years were the most popular among young people.

At that time, the commercial "Wish" depicted Ah Fei returning to an elementary school and seeing a little girl who resembled herself when she was a child. She recalled the scenes from when she was a child, expressing the theme: as long as you work hard, your wish can come true. The commercial song "Spectacular" was co-written by Faye Wong and Zhang Yadong, and included on the album "Only Love Strangers".

The following year's "Starry Sky Infinite" was a collaboration with Aaron Kwok. One was the god of water and the other was the god of ice. In the hot summer, the collision of ice and water brought coolness and pleasure.

Everyone remembers this poster. The heavenly king and queen who were still youth idols back then sang the commercial song "Starry Sky Infinite" together.

Faye’s styling in the ad now seems very ahead of its time. It was bold and creative. Whether it was the mini skirt with fishnet stockings or exaggerated color eye shadows, it is fashionable and cool at any time.

Also at that time, the theme song "Eyes On Me" of the classic game "Final Fantasy VIII" became popular in Japan. The song made the top ten of Japan's Oricon charts and Faye Wong also became a Japanese J-Phone mobile phone spokesperson.

As we all know, Japanese brands prefer their own artists, so Faye Wong's ability to break through and occupy a space is enough to prove her strength.

The six commercials that J-Phone shot for her at that time were all very advanced and full of new ideas.

The following year, she starred in the Japanese TV series "Usokoi" on Fuji TV. She worked with Takaichi Nakai and became the first Chinese artist to star in a Japanese drama as the main heroine. Unfortunately, the ratings were lower than expected.

At the beginning of 2000, Faye Wong became the spokesperson for Head & Shoulders and it was rumored that the remuneration at that time was 32 million Taiwan dollars (about 8 million Hong Kong dollars).

The commercial contained 6 cool styles. The production cost was as high as 15 million. The jingle was her newly created song "Chanel", which was intoxicating and psychedelic.

What’s interesting is that she cut her hair super short when she attended the press conference. When asked by reporters whether this style would conflict with being the spokesperson, she replied in a way that is still so cool, "Don't you need to wash short hair?"

If the advertisements for the above high demand products were expected, Faye Wong's acceptance of the following brand is more interesting now.

In 2003, Baleno spent 5 million a year to invite Faye Wong to become a spokesperson. Baleno was first known as a Hong Kong brand. In 1996, it was sold to Guangzhou Deyongjia Group and then regarded as a mainland brand.

But it was willing to spend money to invite the most popular celebrities to endorse. At its peak, it had 4,000 stores in the Mainland. Andy Lau and Faye Wong were invited to be spokespersons.

The phrase "brand, Baleno" caused everyone to laugh.

Ah Fei shot the posters and could manage all kinds of exaggerated makeup as always. At that time, Li Jianhui once wrote about the influence of Faye Wong on Baleno - hiring her was an upgrade for the entire brand.

The following year Faye Wong became the spokesperson of Louis Vuitton in the Asia-Pacific region. A series of print advertisements shot that year now looks very advanced. She is lying sexily and lazily on a white sofa, and her poses exude a different charm with each different set of clothes. The Heavenly Queen had such magical powers and her cool expression enchanted people.

2004—2005

Getting older and moving towards the high-end market

Which brand was Faye Wong most responsible for helping to enter China? There is no doubt that it is Celine. It is Faye Wong who brought this French brand into the hearts of every Chinese woman who loves fashion.

In October 2004, at the age of 35, Faye Wong attended Celine's 2005 Spring/Summer Fashion Show in Paris as a close friend of the brand.

The queen’s photoshoot on the streets of Paris expressed her attitude towards life. She exuded self-confidence and self-reliance even when she was just standing.

In early 2005, Faye Wong appeared on the cover of the Hong Kong edition of "HARPERS BAZAAR" wearing Celine.

The magazine’s fashion spread was a blockbuster for Celine - just by simply sitting at a dining table, revealing her slender legs. The styles were both casual and fashionable. This photoshoot perfectly fits Celine's brand aesthetic with Faye Wong's own personality: cool and sassy.

She also wore Celine's 2005 spring and summer collection and participated in the opening ceremony of the new store in Hong Kong.

For the next ten years, Faye Wong’s favorite was simply only Celine. She took brand promotional photos. She went to fashion week to participate in brand events. She was photographed in major magazine editorials. Even in her private birthday celebration, she wore none other than Celine.

Celine's fashion style fits her own personality. She appreciates the brand's neutral, functional, and concise design concept, and its pursuit for a free and comfortable attitude of living.

Just as she always dared to love and hate, in the Spring of 2005, it was reported that she and Li Yapeng were about to marry.

It was also at that time that she had her first skin care product endorsement, Jovell. At the time, it was reported that Jovell paid tens of millions to invite her to become a spokesperson in Asia.

The Heavenly Queen was over thirty and her perfectly maintained face couldn’t not be used as a skincare platform.

This commercial was based on her daily work environment, with pure English narration. In April, she also attended the brand's launch event in Hong Kong. She maintained an awkward and polite smile, but she did not accept interviews during the whole process.

The endorsement was not satisfactory. Jovell, a brand used by so-called Hollywood stars, applied for liquidation after the defendant defaulted on a loan at the end of 2005. They were desperate to invite the queen to help out. They wanted to take advantage of this momentum to come back to life, but unfortunately could not in the end. Because of the company’s liquidation, there was no money for payment. Faye Wong's management company issued a lawyer's letter to claim 4 million Hong Kong dollars in remuneration, and it went to the High Court.

2005-2011

Coming back is not easy At the end of May 2005, Faye Wong’s manager, Katie Chan, confirmed to the media that the Queen had started an "indefinite rest".

On July 28th of the same year, Faye Wong and Li Yapeng married in a low-key banquet in Beijing. The wedding photos taken at Tianshan were only revealed many years later in a Smile Angel Foundation promotional video.

Faye Wong retired for four full years because of her marriage and newborn daughter, during which she only sang theme songs for a few movies. There was always news that she was going to make a comeback, but in the end it turned out to be nothing.

Until 2009, on the 20th anniversary of Faye Wong's debut, news confirmed that she was about to come back to endorse a shampoo brand. The sky-high price discussed was higher than Jackie Chan. It was also reported that it was because of Li Yapeng's failed businesses that the Queen had to return to make money.

The rich and powerful Bawang Group gave enough money and not much additional conditions. The two sides hit it off quickly, which also kicked off the first wave of Faye Wong's successful comeback. In 2010, the queen made a triumphant comeback. At the beginning of the year, she returned to the Spring Festival Gala stage after 12 years and sang "Legend". At the end of the year, she held 10 sold out concerts.

She became the brand ambassador for the newly launched Chasing series shampoo under Bawang. Shooting shampoo ads was already familiar to the heavenly queen.

Although the brand positioned itself as mid-to-high end, the commercials were not very flattering. Heavenly Queen wore a cheongsam with a huge lotus leaf hem and neckline, walked slowly like a scallop princess. The whole advertisement fell flat.

It can be said that this was a low period for the heavenly queen. Whether or not it was satisfactory, it was a means to make money. But I have to say that Faye Wong's role in the brand was still very obvious. The products turned out to be famous all over the country.

Although money is earned, the risk of advertisements is also high. First, in 2010, a Hong Kong weekly magazine slandered Bawang shampoo for containing carcinogens and the herbal line of shampoo endorsed by Faye Wong was also not spared from testing. The star’s credibility was questioned for a while.

It took Bawang six full years to sue for defamation. In the end, they won the lawsuit, but only received a compensation of 3 million. However, the accumulated losses caused by the damage to its reputation over the years reached 1.7 billion.

Then at the end of 2014, it was reported that the intermediary claimed the fee from Faye Wong. When the case came to an end, the intermediary who originally claimed 3.35 million received only 600,000 compensation. Although the queen was cautious, she was sometimes not 100% insured. It was inevitable that there would be disputes.

2012-2020

Safe and easy money is the priority In 2012, she endorsed a dairy brand with sky-high prices. Yili Jindian Organic Milk, which focuses on high-end dairy products, coincides with Faye Wong’s status as a queen. The brand used her super popularity and influence to broaden its appeal and greatly increase sales.

Faye Wong’s commercials could be seen everywhere on major TV stations and variety shows. The contents of these advertisements contained similar features of natural innocence and quality.

The beautiful grassland featured in the commercial is located in the Shin Kong Chao Feng Ranch and Resort in Hualien, Taiwan. It was also called "Faye Wong Prairie" after the commercial became popular.

She has been cooperating with Jindian for nearly ten years and each year's commercials are considered by fans as a new opportunity to see their idol again. This year's newest commercial was no longer limited to the grassland, but used light and shadow effects and it was just perfect.

In recent years, Faye Wong was really low-key.

The protection and mystery of her private life has deepened the public's desire and imagination of her, so that every public appearance of hers causes an uproar and there are always speculations about how big a bargaining chip is used to invite her to appear.

She has also been questioned a few times about making money. For example, the biggest public backlash came from her Fantasy Music concert at the end of 2016, which caused controversy because of the high ticket prices.

This was her return to the stage after her 2012 tour ended. The cheapest ticket was as high as 1800 and the most expensive ticket was 7800. This triggered an "anti” storm and she was accused of marketing and money-making. Although the organizer clarified afterwards that the production cost could not be reduced because of technical requirements such as global live streaming, the public did not buy it.

After 18 years, she participated in her first variety show, Hunan Satellite TV's "Phantacity", where she was rumored to have been paid hundreds of millions of dollars. The news at the time stated that "the investment of the program is more than 300 million, of which 150 million is used to invite a certain heavenly queen." Of course, they also say that the top price of super first-line talent like Faye Wong is worth it.

When the MC He Jiong questioned her on the show, "Why did you want to come here?", she still answered so bluntly, "Because it’s easy."

It really was easy. Just sitting and talking can make you money.

This was a highly anticipated show that invited a large number of stars. But since the post-production process is too boring and many technical highlights couldn’t be shown on the TV screen, the freshness of the first two episodes faded and the following episodes were weak. Even Faye Wong could not save the ratings from declining. However, her performance in the last episode fulfilled fans' dreams.

Every time someone asks: is Faye Wong short of money?

Nonsense! Who is not short of money? The heavenly queen is human. She also needs to make money to pay for living expenses, including children's tuition and so on. Children’s education, the monetary cost of maintaining her own high standard of living (nanny, maintenance, self-care, etc.), and preparations for retirement, these all cost money.

Therefore, it is not difficult to see that the advertisements taken by the Heavenly Queen ten or more years ago were lively, interesting and creative. But after her comeback in 2009, they have been more grounded in a sense of reality. The long-term ten-year contract like Jindian Organic Milk is more worry-free and comfortable.

There is no longer a need to tailor songs for advertisements. You can easily make money by showing your face and narrating. Why not do it? It’s safe, worry-free, and comfortable. These are the benefits of advertising.

Of course, some people ask, why does only Faye Wong have such an influence in the advertising industry? It seems that you can pay anyone to stand there. Why don’t her contemporaries have such influence?

This only further proves that Faye Wong's body of work is excellent. She had continuous creativity and was always fresh. As the goddess of the music industry, she has been influential several times. Faye Wong is the only super queen recognized by audiences on both sides of the strait. By gaining a big market, it is the simplest answer to this question.

Secondly, Faye Wong has an unparalleled personality. Her charm lead her to become an era’s rising female power and a new generation female legend. In layman's terms, she has lived the life that everyone wants, which is why she can bless the brand.

Her personality and charm is her brand premium. Her international style and her unconventional life are also her brand premium. This is why TV stations and merchants are willing to spend sky-high prices to invite her, because they can use their own efforts to upgrade the brand's profile.

As for making money, Faye Wong is also a human being, not a god. Like you and me, she has to work in life.

As for the so-called lowering herself to common mortals, as she herself once said, "I am not as perfect as you think and I admit that sometimes I can't tell the true from the false." And sometimes mistakes are inevitable.

For 26 years, Faye Wong chose her advertisements. When watching these advertisements, we clearly saw time fly past us at a fast speed. The light and shadows were dazzling, and I sighed.

What can we say? The era has chosen Faye Wong and Faye Wong has accompanied us in every era.

She can do whatever she wants, since she has already given us beautiful moments in music.

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SOURCE: NETEASE // TRANSLATION BY: FAYE WONG FUZAO

#2020

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histoireettralala · 4 years

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Savary, Duke of Rovigo.

Anne Jean Marie René Savary, Duc de Rovigo, by Robert Lefèvre, 1814.

Anne Marie Jean René Savary was born on April 26, 1774, in Marcq (Ardennes), son of an officer who had managed, thanks to his service, to become a Knight of the Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis and at the end of his career, major of the Place of Sedan. That’s where the young boy grew.

He had two older brothers, and the eldest, Ponce, was a classmate of Napoléon Bonaparte in Brienne and in the Régiment de La Fère. Savary himself enlisted in 1790, aged 16, in a cavalry regiment, the Royal-Normandie (1674-1962).

As many officers emigrated, Savary was promoted sous-lieutenant in September 1791. His career was only beginning. He fought with Général Custine, then Pichegru, Moreau, Férino, and finally Desaix.

With Desaix, he was in the Armée du Rhin and then in Egypt. He participated to the Battle of the Pyramids, and to the Second Italian Campaign, till Marengo, where he was the one to find and recognize Desaix’ s body. Savary, who liked Desaix and admired his skills and humanity, brought his body back to the closest town to be buried, and broke the news to Bonaparte.

Trusting Desaix’ judgment and impressed by his loyalty and his energy Bonaparte took him as his aide-de-camp.

Savary then became Napoléon’s right-hand man. Bonaparte gave him several police operations to lead. He even became close to the family by marrying a distant relative of Joséphine, Félicité de Faudoas.

In 1803, Savary, now a Général de Brigade, discovered the Plot of Cadoudal, which incriminated generals Pichegru and Moreau. Pichegru was arrested and killed himself, Moreau was exiled. Cadoudal himself refused to ask for mercy and was beheaded.The conspirers seemed to have been waiting for a prince of the royal blood to come back to France.

In 1804, Bonaparte decided to have the Duke of Enghien, of the House of Condé, princes of the royal blood, emigrated to Germany, arrested, for supposedly being part of the Cadoudal Plot. Many reasons have been offered regarding his real motives, but the Duke was kidnapped in Germany, brought to Strasbourg and then Vincennes, judged without witnesses and Savary was present. He was close to the First Consul, led the elite gendarmerie troops of Vincennes, and his presence undoubtedly weighed on the verdict.

The Duke denied any participation to any plot, but bravely stated his opposition to the Republic, for which he was condemned to death. He was shot in the moats of the Castle of Vincennes, by these gendarmerie troops, in front of Savary. Later, writing his memoirs, Savary would minimize his own part in the execution.

General Savary then found himself back to the battlefields, participating to the Campaign of Austerlitz, and then the Campaign of Prussia and Poland (Fourth Coalition). He excelled in Iena where, chasing the routed Prussians, he managed to capture a whole regiment of Hussars. In early 1807, he had to replace an ill Marshall Lannes at the head of the Vth Corps, covering Varwaw after the Battle of Eylau, and on February 16, he won his major victory, defeating the Russians in the battle of Ostrolenka. The Emperor rewarded him with a pension of 20000 francs and the Great Eagle of the Légion d’Honneur.

After a short term as a governor in Eastern Prussia, he was sent as an ambassador to Saint Petersburg. He was charged in particular to make sure the continental blocus would be respected. In spite of the Tsar’s affected amiability, the Russian aristocraty saw him as the muderer of a prince; plus, his bluntness and taste for action did not fit the diplomatic profile; the Emperor replaced him with Caulaincourt.

In 1808 he was created Duc de Rovigo and sent to Spain.

Savary was sent to bring Napoleon’s orders to Murat. At this time many things were kept secret and informations and orders were contradictory. When Murat fell ill, Savary had to take his place; his orders had to be countersigned by Murat’s chief of staff, Général Belliard, who obeyed him unwillingly.

Savary found another opponent in the French Ambassador La Forest, who objected to Savary’s preference for repression. He also had to come to terms with Napoleon’s orders and the fact that they did not often take into account the information he had sent the Emperor. For example, he was ordered by him to send all available back up to Marshal Bessières, ignoring General Dupont in Bailen. Bessières won in Medina de Rioseco, but Dupont finally capitulated in Bailen, which was the first serious defeat for Napoleon.

That’s when rumors of a plot let by Talleyrand and Fouché reached Savary and Napoléon - to replace the Emperor with another member of the family (supposedly Murat). Fouché fell then in disgrace, and Napoléon replaced him with Savary.

After a friendly interview with Savary, Fouché systematically and methodically burned all of his police archives, leaving his unpopular successor blind. The whole network had to be rebuilt.

Savary slowly managed to ingratiate himself and do some efficient work; his wife’s receptions helped, as well as his own efforts on his harsh temper. Even the royalist milieux somewhat relented.

But the Minister of Police took many unpopular decisions (placing on files, recordings, bans, censorship ), making his own prefects uncomfortable. Madame de Staël was the most famous victim of this censorship.

For as much as Napoleon relied on him, he often favored his opponents whenever he had a dispute with the other ministries (Decrès, Maret). And finally the Imperial Police was humiliated when Général Malet, detained for conspiracy, escaped, went to the nearest barracks with a fake senatus-consult in hand, claiming that the Emperor was dead in Russia and that the Republic had been proclaimed. The attempted Coup d’Etat eventually failed, but the Police was discredited and Savary especially ridiculed (as the conspirers had surprised him in bed and sent him to the prison of La Force).

Napoléon, displeased, had other major problems to consider first. Savary was loyal to him to the end, in spite of his doubts. When Marie-Louise and Joseph Bonaparte left Paris with the King of Rome, it was against Savary’s advice. But he made a mistake himself, allowing Talleyrand to stay in Paris, and to finally negotiate with Marmont.

Savary did join Napoléon during the Hundred Days, and was greeted without enthusiasm. Fouché was again the Minister of Police.

After Waterloo, Savary did not join Napoléon in Saint Helena (excluded by the British for his role in the execution of the Duke of Enghien). And Fouché had him on a prosciption list. Sentenced in absentia, Savary went to Smyrne (today, Izmir), but had soon to leave the Ottoman Empire, and moved between Trieste, Gratz, Smyrne again, London, and back to France.

His second trial began in December 1819, and his lawyer, André Dupin, was the one who a few years ago had defended Marshal Ney. This time, Savary was unanimously acquitted. He kept his titles and dignities, but no responsibility - what could he hope for, as he was considered the Duke ‘s murderer.

This was a blemish he tried to reject onto others; in 1823, he published his Memoirs regarding the catastrophe of the Duke of Enghien and proved the fault was on Talleyrand- who retaliated with a skillfull press campaign. Talleyrand won, and the Duke of Rovigo was retired at age 49.

In 1828, Savary published his Memoirs to serve the History of Emperor Napoleon; it was a success. The next year, he left France for Rome and Italy.

His wife being friendly with Louis-Philippe’s Minister of Foreign Affairs,Savary went back to France. He participated to the conquest of Algeria, and his repression stunned even the Army.

He died in Paris the 2 June 1833, and his politics in Algeria were condemned by a Commission d’Enquête Parlementaire the next month.

He was undoubtedly devoted to the Emperor, but the d’Enghien Affair was always a millstone around his neck; he never recovered from how ridiculed he had been by Malet’s attempted Coup d’Etat; and finally, the brutality of his policies, making Fouché look good, ensured his unpopularity.

#napoleonic #anne jean marie rené savary #police history #général savary

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movie-review-here · 4 years

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Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)[a] is a 2020 American superhero film based on the DC Comics team Birds of Prey. Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is the eighth installment in the DC Extended Universe and a follow-up to Suicide Squad (2016). It was directed by Cathy Yan and written by Christina Hodson, and it stars Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez, Chris Messina, Ella Jay Basco, Ali Wong, and Ewan McGregor. The film follows Harley Quinn as she joins forces with Helena Bertinelli, Dinah Lance, and Renee Montoya to save Cassandra Cain from Gotham City crime lord Roman Sionis.

Four years after the defeat of the Enchantress,[b] the Joker breaks up with Harley Quinn, throwing her out on the Gotham City streets. She is taken in by Doc, the owner of a Taiwanese restaurant, and recovers from her relationship by cutting her hair, adopting a spotted hyena (whom she names after Bruce Wayne), and taking up roller derby.

Harley gets drunk at a nightclub owned by Roman Sionis, a ruthless crime lord, and cripples his driver after said driver insults her. She meets burlesque singer Dinah Lance, who later rescues an intoxicated Harley from an attempted abduction. Sionis is impressed by Dinah's skills and appoints her as his new driver. The next night, Harley blows up the Ace Chemicals plant as a way to publicly announce her and Joker's breakup. Meanwhile, GCPD Detective Renee Montoya investigates a series of mob killings carried out by a crossbow-wielding vigilante. Finding Harley's necklace at the scene of the Ace Chemicals explosion, Montoya notes that Harley is in danger without the Joker's protection. She approaches Dinah about being an informant on Sionis for them, but Dinah rejects the offer.

Sionis sends Dinah and his sadistic right-hand-man Victor Zsasz to retrieve a diamond embedded with the account numbers to the fortune of the Bertinelli crime family, who were massacred years ago. Young pickpocket Cassandra "Cass" Cain steals the diamond from Zsasz and swallows it after she is arrested. Harley, fleeing from Montoya and several other people she had wronged, is captured by Sionis's men. Zsasz informs Sionis that Cassandra has the diamond, and Dinah warns Montoya. As Sionis prepares to have Harley killed, she offers to recover the diamond for him. Sionis agrees but also places a bounty on Cassandra. Breaking into the GCPD with a variety of firework-inspired non-lethal grenade launcher rounds, Harley frees Cassandra and the pair escape.

After escaping, Harley and Cassandra bond while hiding out at the former's apartment. Doc is approached for information by the "crossbow killer", who is revealed to be Helena Bertinelli. Having survived her family's massacre and becoming trained as an assassin, Helena has been targeting each of the gangsters responsible for her family's murders, preferring the moniker of "The Huntress". Harley's apartment is later bombed by criminals looking for Cassandra, and Doc sorrowfully reveals that he sold Harley out. Harley calls Sionis and offers to turn Cassandra over in exchange for his protection, agreeing to meet at an abandoned amusement park. Dinah notifies Montoya of the rendezvous, but her betrayal is noticed by Zsasz, who informs Sionis. A devastated Sionis dons his ritualistic mask from which he gets his villainous nickname, "Black Mask".

At the park, Montoya confronts Harley, but Harley knocks her out of a window. Zsasz arrives and tranquilizes Harley before holding Dinah at gunpoint, but he is killed by Helena, who reveals Zsasz was the last of her family's killers. Montoya returns and a stand-off ensues, until they realize Sionis has arrived with a small army of masked criminals, known collectively as the False Face Society. Using Harley's old gear, the makeshift team successfully withstand and repel their attack. During the battle, Cassandra is captured by Sionis, while Dinah reveals her metahuman ability of supersonic-level screaming, defeating an additional number of mobsters aligned with Sionis. Harley gives chase on roller skates, and with assistance from Helena, the pair pursue Sionis. At a nearby pier, the final confrontation occurs. Sionis prepares to kill Cassandra, but she pulls the ring from a grenade that she slipped in his jacket after taking it from Harley's weapons chest earlier. Harley throws Sionis off the pier just before the grenade detonates and kills him.

In the aftermath of destroying Sionis's criminal empire, Montoya quits the GCPD. With the money within the accounts hidden inside the diamond, she joins Dinah and Helena in establishing a team of vigilantes called the Birds of Prey. Harley and Cassandra escape, selling the diamond itself to a pawnshop and starting their own contract killing business.

In a post-credits audio sequence, Harley is about to reveal a secret about Batman,[c] but the film ends mid-sentence.

#birdofprey harleyquinn likeandshare

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myriadimagines · 5 years

Text

Iron Facade

Marvel (X-Men) One Shot

Pairing: Reader x Erik Lehnsherr

Other Characters: Alex Summers, Charles Xavier

Warnings: —

Request: “Oh sorry! Okay so, Erik x reader, reader has been in love with Erik for a long time, but she hides it well and no one knows about it. So Erik, who's also in love with her, doesn't think she likes him. Then Charles accidentally reads her mind and finds out about her feelings, and then accidentally tells Erik and he confronts reader about it. Is that enough detail? 😊” – anonymous

Word Count: 1,517

A/N: Thank you for getting back to me, I hope you like it!!

please reblog/leave comments, they’re very much appreciated!

Your name: submit What is this?

The X-Men are well aware to not be in a room with you and Erik. It’s an unspoken rule, one almost seemingly engraved into the walls and burned into permanent memory. Alex had been the victim of breaking the rule once, accidentally walking into the library with you in the midst of a conversation, and not fleeing straight away when you opened the doors to find Erik inside. The moments where he lingered before he finally excused himself were excruciating, and he found himself practically asphyxiated by the unspoken tension, the heaviness of an unaddressed conversation that so desperately needed to be heard aloud pressing against his chest.

He had brought it up you about it later, almost afraid to ask but too curious not to, and you had simply replied with a shrug, eyes darting away from his as your gaze fixated on the floor, hearting pounding so hard out of your chest you felt as if it were vibrating the entire mansion with each palpitation.

Alex, as well as everyone else, eventually made the silent decision to avoid mentioning Erik’s name in front of you, and your name in front of Erik.

However, despite their initial interpretations, your wildly beating heart and chosen silence around Erik didn’t come out of a place of hatred. The opposite, in fact — you’re in love with him, yet you hide it so well you have everyone fooled.

Erik included.

Erik avoids you, too afraid of making a fool of himself as he’s done countless times before. Botched conversations that always seem to fall flat due to their one-sided nature. Nervous stammering of what is supposed to be a compliment, but comes out as a weird remark that Erik can’t quite execute properly in the tone he intends to talk to you in. You unravel him, pulling strand by strand away from his core and leaving him in a tangled, spinning mess as he tries his best to keep a grip. Your coolness flusters him, your indifference sending him into an uncharacteristic panic, and Erik, just once, wants to be able to make you smile.

He’s seen you smile with your friends, a scene so beautiful he wish he could live in that captured moment forever. He wishes he could be the cause of that smile, wishes he could be the one to make you laugh, yet Erik feels as though he’ll never be able to break through the hardened exterior, the iron facade, that you always defensively put up around him.

You can’t help it. You wish you could. Wish you could allow yourself to soften around him, melt into the gooey puddle that you feel on the inside when you feel his eyes on you, but your fear of rejection, fear of him being unable to love you the way you love him stops you from doing so. You wish you could speak around him, yet to string together a single, cohesive sentence feels like the hardest of tasks when Erik is standing in front of you. Cotton balls fill your throat up to your cheeks and your words dry up on your tongue.

Erik’s in love with you, so utterly in love with you where his love practically rivals your own, but how can he cope with being in love when he’s only met with your reserved disposition and aloofness? And how are you to know his feelings when all he can manage to tell you are fragmented words paired with anxious eye contact?

It’s a tragedy in which the two of you are trapped in, suffering in your prolonged silence neither of you can manage to break.

—

“y/n?” Charles calls out softly to you, catching your attention from your dazed trance, staring out the window at the intricate shadows the trees outside cast on the lawn. He leans forward on his armchair, flashing an apologetic smile as his hand lingers on your doorknob. “Have you seen Erik?”

You blink at Charles, a split second before your mouth opens to respond, but the way Charles’ expression morphs stops you. His gaze bores into your as if he can see something so etched into your eyes, as if he can see through your pupils and into your brain.

He sees Erik’s smile. Erik smiling while playing chess with Charles, Erik smiling while in a conversation with Raven. He can hear Erik laughing, chuckling to himself over a joke Peter makes from across the room, Erik struggling to hold back his amused laughter as Scott and Alex have a silly, brotherly argument from their rooms across the hall from each other.

Then, he sees Erik looking right at him. Or you, more accurately, as he feels the your overwhelming feelings for him surging through his very veins. Charles watches Erik’s tender gazes at you before he quickly looks away, the faintest tint of red creeping into his cheeks as he tries to stammer out a greeting. Charles can feel his own heart pounding in his chest, mirroring your own elevated heartbeat upon hearing Erik’s name, and Charles quickly pulls himself out of your mind as he shakes his head, appearing nonchalant despite his startling discover. He, like everyone else, had assumed you didn’t like Erik, yet what he had just seen in your mind had proved otherwise.

Charles stops you before you can try to answer his question. “Actually, no matter. I think I might know where he is. Thank you, y/n.”

Before you can stop him, he spins around in his armchair, gently closing the door behind him, mind rattling as he decides how to process his newfound information.

—

Erik passes by you in the hallway as he walks beside Charles, meekly raising his hand as he attempts to wave hello, but you pass by him without so much as a glance. Your name leaves his lips, yet so quietly that even Charles struggles to hear his friend. Erik turns to look over his shoulder as he watches your retreating back turn the corner, before turning to Charles and asking, “Why do you think y/n hates me?”

Charles doesn’t respond, instead avoiding eye contact as he now knows the truth. It had been weeks since he had read your mind, and he feels like he owes it to his friend to tell him, tell him that the girl he’s so in love with indeed loves him back despite her facade, yet he knows better than to spill such a huge secret of yours. Erik lets out a defeated sigh, shoulders slumping as he looks back at the corner again, a wordless plea for you to come back just so he can see you again. “She barely even looks at me.”

“How can you be so certain it’s because she hates you?” Charles asks, raising an eyebrow at Erik, trying his best to hint at your hidden affection for him, yet Erik shakes his head firmly, his impression of you solid in his mind.

“I doubt it’s anything else.” Erik replies, exasperated. “I mean, it couldn’t possibly be because-”

“She loves you, Erik.” Charles interjects quietly, unable to contain himself and watch Erik torture himself over your every move any longer. Erik scoffs, clearly in disbelief, before he registers Charles’ serious expression, and Erik has to remind himself that Charles is a telepath, after all.

Erik’s mouth opens, stumbling over his shocked words, before he suddenly spins on his heel, sprinting in the direction you had just walked down, leaving Charles alone as he shakes his head. Erik finds you in your room, the door slightly ajar as you perch yourself on your bed, thumbing over a page of your book before your eyes flicker to the door upon hearing it creak open. You startle upright as Erik walks into the room, eyes narrowing as you ask, “Can I help you, Erik?”

“I know.” he simply says, and your heart skips a beat. Despite the vagueness of his statement, despite the infinite possibilities that could accompany it, from the way Erik looks at you, you almost can immediately tell what he is referring to. Slightly breathless, he repeats, “I… I know.”

The two of you stare at each other, almost frozen in place as your heart beats louder now, ringing in your ears like an exploding bomb with each beat. Erik can feel himself struggling with his words, and he balls his hands into fists, angry at himself for not being more eloquent around you when there are so many things he wants to tell you.

The words he finally manages to say, the words that finally manage to spill out of his lips are, “And I’ve been in love with you too, this whole time, this whole damn time, and I’m- I’m sorry I couldn’t say it earlier.”

Almost immediately, the brick wall of your expression crumbles, eyes brightening as finally, finally, Erik sees the beautiful smile that he fell in love with appear on your face. It only grows by the second, and Erik only falls more and more in love.

tags: @proudchocolateaddict / @myfriendmagislit / @fire--pheonix / @sheridans-dynamos / @beautifulbows924 / @writinqss / @woah-imagines / @steve-rogersirl / @musicallisto / @gofandomsandotherstuff / @melannchoholic / @mockingjaygirl1221 / @emmacata / @hauntedpocdreamer / @unlikelysamwinchesteronahunt / @5aftermidnight / @lena-stan-xavier / @just-shuri / @natalia-helena-alianova-romanov / @iammyownsaviour / @fairytalesforever / @lgbtonystarks ↳ want to be added to the tag list?

#marvel imagine #x men imagine #erik lehnsherr imagine #marvel one shot #xmen one shot #erik lehnsherr #erik lehnsherr one shot #erik lehnsherr x reader #reader x erik lehnsherr #imagine #imagines #reader insert #one shot #oneshot #hhgngngbhggng i kinda......... hate time jumps

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ludi-ling · 5 years

Text

Happy birthday to me, and to my love affair with OMD.

It’s my birthday today, and I was trying to think of something that’s been with me since the day I was born, right up till now; something that’s been so much a part of my life and informed who I’ve become today - the creative person, the spiritual person, the feeling person.

Apart from my wonderful family, of course, there are so many things; but few of those things have stayed with me since I was small till today. I thought long and I thought hard, and one of the things I kept coming back to was an early 80′s ‘New Wave’ band called Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD).

Growing up, I was one of those sad, sad kids who was brought up on music ranging all the way from the 1920′s to the 70′s. There was rarely any post-1980′s music being played in my household, and, as I got older, almost never any chart music. My dad loved music, but he had very little love for most of the ‘jelly-mould’, ‘cookie-cutter’ pop that churned through the charts. One of the few post-80′s acts that made it onto the record player or tape deck was OMD.

I can’t remember how old I was when I first heard their music, but I definitely wasn’t older than 10. My dad, who was a mental health nurse, had a habit of listening to the records of patients he visited, borrowing the ones he liked, and copying them onto numerous cassette tapes. I’d gobble these up, and it was how I heard such fantastic acts such as the Velvet Underground, Frank Chickens, Billie Holiday, Marlene Dietrich (I knew her as a singer before an actress!), Hoagy Carmichael, Glenn Miller, The Carpenters, The Stranglers, The Mamas & The Papas, a whole slew of 1960′s bands, and on and on and on......

One of the cassette tapes I gorged on had ‘Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’ written on the spine. I didn’t know it then, but Side A had some tracks from the 1983 album Dazzle Ships, followed by some tracks from the 1981 album Architecture & Morality. I don’t even remember what was on Side B. As a kid these were all just one big album to me, and I had no idea there were tracks missing, or that he’d recorded them out of chronological order. The songs just mesmerised me - synthetic yet divine; electronic yet somehow orchestral. I had no concept of the Cold War as a child, but those songs were full of it - full of clips from short wave radio surreptitiously recorded from beyond the Iron Curtain; the noisy, clunky, rattling beats meant to emulate the industrial land/soundscapes of Liverpool, where the band came from (like their legendary forbears, the Beatles); the grim and haunting melodies punctuated by gloriously angelic, church-like harmonies; the sometimes-cynical, sometimes-beautiful lyrics that were too often too-murkily sung for my young ears to understand. The crashing of waves, the clanging of metal on metal, the staccato drumbeat of lumbering freight trains; the whirring of computers and the pulsing of Morse code; soldiers chanting patriotic slogans in war-torn countries; choirs in Catholic cathedrals, saints in mystical ecstasy ...‘angels in the architecture, spinning in infinity, Amen and hallelujah!’. The subject matter encompassed everything from the lonely, grinding atmosphere of the shipbuilding industry that was slowly dying in England at the time; the helpless bliss of what it feels to fall completely in-love; the fairytale-like story of the sacrifice of one of the world’s most famous saints (which spoke to me in a way most songs couldn’t, being brought up as I had been by a devout Catholic grandmother). Andy McCluskey’s voice haunted me because I’d never heard anyone sing like that before - so raw, so full of pain and fear and desperation and disdain and rage and love and loss that most times I couldn’t understand what the hell he was saying. But I could understand the emotion behind the words - in a way the words were incidental and still are. I kind of fell in-love with him through his voice before I ever knew what he looked like (or could see his mad dance moves).

For a child whose imagination was far bigger than the courage her introverted personality could muster to go out into the world, this was the food for my soul, for my art. The soundtrack to my creative life, one that was still yet to really be.

As a teenager, I kept coming back to that cassette tape. CD’s became the rage, and I finally learned that the songs I’d listened to obsessively were from two albums, one released in the year I was born, the other in the year my sister was born. I bought those CD’s and my dad was amused to see them. He told me, later, that my sister, @jeannedarcprice, had been partly named after one of their songs - Joan of Arc, which had been playing in the car when he was driving to the hospital to greet his new baby daughter. Jeanne was the name of our great-grandmother, but it was the OMD that gave her her full name - Jeanne d’Arc - Joan of Arc.

I listened to Architecture & Morality and Dazzle Ships in their proper order for the first time - I learned to love the other tracks my dad had omitted from his recording of that well-worn tape. I knew about the Cold War by then - I’d been just about old enough when the Berlin Wall came down to understand how massive it was - and those subtly morose moods the tunes had evoked came more sharply into focus. Suddenly, my more adult ears began to decode lyrics my immature ones had never been able to figure out. It took me years to figure out what I think all those lyrics actually are. Their beauty just took my love affair to a whole other level. I was beginning to write then, seriously. As time went on, the impressions the OMD had left on me as a child had started to real percolate - blend into my being. I never realised then how much those words and sounds stayed with me, but they did. And later, when I was 20 and my father died, one thing of his that stayed with me was the OMD.

There are many things that have inspired my paltry writings, but if anyone asked me today what impacted me so deeply for the longest amount of time, it would probably be Architecture & Morality and Dazzle Ships. The mechanised rhythms and electronic beats that evoked images of grey, concrete, industrial cityscapes - they became the background music to my love affair with post-apocalyptic wastelands. The angelic harmonies and the glorious, sweeping melodies that told of the divine - they were the glimmering light, the tiny threads of warmth that lit those hopeless post-apocalyptic wastelands with the very things that keep humanity alive despite all the odds - hope, trust, joy and, most of all, love.

Today, these are the things I still write about, draw about; and if you had to put a soundtrack to any of it, it would probably be the OMD. If you had to put a soundtrack to my life, 1981-2018, it would probably be them.

One of the highlights of my life was getting to see them play both albums live in their entirety for the first time at the Albert Hall in 2016 - and the only thing that would have made it perfect would’ve been for my dad to have been sitting right there next to me.

---

I thought about adding a link here to Architecture & Morality and Dazzle Ships as they were recorded, chronologically. But in the end, I decided to do my own playlist, the way it had run on that old cassette tape my dad made all those years ago - out of order, and with numerous tracks missing. Here it is. I still remember how it goes. RIP dad, wherever you are.

youtube

--Lyrics--

1. Radio Prague

Z Praha Československé zahraniční vysílání.

2. Telegraph

I've got a telegraph in my hand. Words on paper, written in sand. We've got telegraph, right across this land. It doesn't mean a damn thing. We don't understand. But who needs telegraph anyway? I've got a telegraph in my hand. Words on paper, written in sand. We've got telegraph, right across this land. It doesn't mean a damn thing. We don't understand, we never understand! God's got a telegraph on his side. It makes Him powerful, gives Him pride. Even in America, God bless America! They understand the value of the telegraph. Hand in hand, hand in hand...

3. This is Helena

Music for your tape recorder. I hope you will enjoy it. This is Helena, this is Helena. This is Helena, your M.C. today.

4. International

Now and then a little thing gets by. Now and then we'll cry. Like a fall in a war, like a mother's open arms, Like a pawn in a game, hard to tame. There we sit on a line, wasting fortunes at a time, and pray. All the time we are gone, there's no reason, there’s no way, Or the soul is the one, so they say. There we sit on a line, wasting fortunes at a time, and play. She never thought he’d be this way. Her arms aloft, she holds. But now it's all a memory. And it’s gone...

5. Silent Running

God only knows this isn’t heaven. The promises made, He never keeps them. We’re walking on air, we’re taking our time. But God only knows this isn’t reason or rhyme. I’ve had this feeling I don’t believe in. It’s happened before, I just rejected it. We’re walking on air, we’re taking our time. But God only knows this isn’t reason or rhyme. These are the feelings, I know their outcome. It’s useless pretending, I’d like to beat them. We’re walking on air, we’re taking our time. But God only knows, this isn’t reason or rhyme. We’re walking on air, we’re taking our time this time. But God only knows, this isn’t reason or rhyme. We’re walking on air.

6. Times Zones

7. She’s Leaving

Every day, a new start, A cheap affair, a sordid truth. We never learn to guide our hearts, We’ll never find what we deserve. She’s leaving, she waited for so long. She’d pretend that he cared, Invent some tale just to gain his heart. But no more dreams, she didn't dare. She’d washed her hands of this whole affair. She’s leaving, she waited for so long. She’s leaving, she waited for so long. But as she left, she gave her heart, Abandoned hope, and turned for home. I thought I’d ask, Ah, but then again, The more we learn, the less we know. The more we learn, less we know.

8. Souvenir

It’s my direction It’s my proposal It’s so hard It’s leading me astray. My obsession It’s my creation You’ll understand It’s not important now. All I need is Co-ordination. I can’t imagine My destination. My intention Ask my opinion. With no excuse My feelings still remain My feelings still remain

9. Sealand

Sealand, forgets her friends. She'll not leave them again. Mother, sister, at home. These arms fail you so.

10. Joan of Arc

Little Catholic girl who’s falling in love. A face on a page, gift from above. She should’ve known better than to give her heart, She should’ve known better than to ever part without me, without me. I gave her everything that I ever owned, I think she understood ‘cos she never spoke. She shouldn’t oughta try to be that way, She shouldn’t have to go there ever again without me, without me. Now listen to us good and listen well, Listen to the song, everything we tell. We should’ve known better than to give her away. We should’ve known better to this very day, without me, without me. Now listen, Joan of Arc, all you gotta do, Is say the right words and I’ll be coming through, Hold you in my arms and take you right away. Now she’s gone away to another land. We never understood why she gave her hand. She shouldn’t oughta promise, ‘cos it’s just pretend. I know she doesn’t mean it and she’ll leave again without me, without me. Without me, without me.

11. Maid of Orleans

If Joan of Arc Had a heart Would she give it as a gift? To such as me Who longs to see How an angel ought to be. Her dream’s to give Her heart away, Like an orphan, unaware. She cared so much, She offered up, Her body to the grave.

12. Georgia

Well, here we are again. Two, too good to be friends, Forever, forever, forever. Well, look at what we’ve done. Three, three rolled into one Together, together, together. So, how can this be true? We, we thought that we knew you Forever, forever, forever. We will watch the morning star, Rising over home, Georgia. Dancing in the ruins of the western world, Blindfolds on like we don’t care.

13. The Beginning and the End

This is where we start, this now takes our hearts away. Thus we reach the end, the beginning and the end. You see, I could not try and here are you and I, Parting, due to me only, And now......

#me #personal post #OMD #orchestral manoeuvres in the dark #Architecture & Morality #Dazzle Ships #my inspirations #happy birthday

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justforbooks · 5 years

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REBECCA CHAPMAN, who has a master of arts in English and comparative literature from Columbia University, hit bottom professionally last summer when she could not even get a job that did not pay. Vying for an internship at a boutique literary agency in Manhattan, Ms. Chapman, 25, had gone on three separate interviews with three people on three different days. “They couldn’t even send me an e-mail telling me I didn’t get it,” she said.

It’s a story familiar to anyone seeking to break into the New York publishing world. Willie Osterweil, 25, an aspiring novelist who graduated magna cum laude from Cornell in 2009, found himself sweeping Brooklyn movie theaters for $7.25 an hour. And the closest that Helena Fitzgerald, a recent Columbia graduate, got was an interview at a top magazine, during which the editor dismissed her literary career dreams, telling her, “C’mon, that’s not realistic.”

Which explains, in a way, how they all ended up on a crisp November night, huddled together at an invitation-only party at a cramped, bookshelved apartment on the Upper East Side.

It was the weekly meeting of The New Inquiry, a scrappy online journal and roving clubhouse that functions as an Intellectuals Anonymous of sorts for desperate members of the city’s literary underclass barred from the publishing establishment. Fueled by B.Y.O.B. bourbon, impressive degrees and the angst that comes with being young and unmoored, members spend their hours filling the air with talk of Edmund Wilson and poststructuralism.

Lately, they have been catching the eye of the literary elite, earning praise that sounds as extravagantly brainy as the thesis-like articles that The New Inquiry uploads every few days.

“They’re the precursor of this kind of synthesis of extrainstitutional intellectualism, native to the Internet, native to the city dweller,” said the novelist Jonathan Lethem, an early champion.

“They’re not trapped within an old paradigm,” he added. “They’re just making it their own.”

The New Inquiry is edited by Rachel Rosenfelt, 26, who graduated from Barnard College in 2009. Though she had some luck finding work, her exposure to the literary establishment left her unimpressed. “It killed my interest in publishing,” she said of her internship at The New Yorker during her freshman year. “It just felt like they had all ‘arrived.’ It was boring. No one talked. The only real rule was, ‘Don’t mess this up.’ ”

Young, Web-savvy and idealistic, she and two friends — Jennifer Bernstein and Mary Borkowski — wanted to create their generation’s version of cultural criticism, equally versed in Theodor Adorno and Britney Spears. Finding contributors was easy: their social circle was filled with overeducated, underemployed postgrads willing to work free to be heard on subjects like Kanye West’s effect on the proletarian meta-narrative of hip-hop.

After earning a master’s and writing on a farm in upstate New York, Ms. Chapman returned to the city uncertain about what to do next.

“I met Rachel on one of my first days back,” she said, “and she was like, ‘Be our new literary editor.’ ”

There was no thought of turning a profit. But who cared? No one was making any money on the traditional path, anyway.

“There’s something incredibly liberating,” Ms. Rosenfelt said, “when you realize that climbing that ladder is a ladder to nowhere.”

Ms. Chapman added: “My whole life, I had been doing everything everybody told me. I went to the right school. I got really good grades. I got all the internships. Then, I couldn’t do anything.”

Ms. Rosenfelt and her collaborators envisioned a kind of literary salon reminiscent of the Lost Generation of the 1920s. So once a week, about 20 of The New Inquirer’s contributors and guests gather at an unmarked clandestine bookstore, a sort of literary speakeasy, in a second-floor, three-room apartment on the Upper East Side.

At 9 p.m. on a recent Thursday, Ms. Rosenfelt, wearing a black sweater, miniskirt and combat boots, appeared behind a blue door in the unimposing prewar apartment building. The door creaked open to reveal a disheveled space that looked like a used-book store in any college town, with shelves of yellowing volumes of Dostoyevsky and Camus reaching to the ceiling and air thick with the musty smell of stale tobacco and old paperbacks.

This space belongs to a bookseller in his 50s, the godfather for The New Inquiry, a man with bushy brows and the affably abstruse mien of a coffeehouse intellectual. (He asked that his name and identifying details not be published because his building prohibits a shop in the space.) He opens only by invitation, when he feels like it.

Ms. Rosenfelt described meeting there as a form of “urban hacking.”

For the first hour, attendees, most in their mid-20s and many dressed in untucked oxford shirts and off-brand jeans, mingled around a rickety table packed with half-empty Jim Beam bottles.

Despite the fact that everyone was young and attractive, no one seemed to flirt or network. Instead, they traded heady banter about the Situationists and reveled in an atmosphere of warmhearted mutual support; it felt like an oral dissertation mixed with a ’70s encounter group.

At one point, a few debated, only half-ironically, whether a new bank in a former Dunkin Donuts nearby was philosophically akin to the French reactionaries’ construction of the Sacré Coeur basilica on the site of the Paris Commune’s insurrection in 1870.

Then, around 10 p.m., Ms. Rosenfelt called everyone into the main room. The highlight of each salon is a group reading in which each person selects a three-minute reading on the predetermined topic.

“We’re reading about ‘failed revolutions’ tonight,” Ms. Rosenfelt reminded the crowd. She started with a passage from “To the Finland Station,” “in which Edmund Wilson couches the inevitable failure of Marxism in Edmund Wilson’s idea of the national and ethnic identity of Marx.”

The room exploded in vaudeville-style hoots.

Continuing around the circle, Ms. Fitzgerald, the would-be magazine writer, read from “The Cantos,” by Ezra Pound. Mr. Osterweil, the frustrated novelist, read from Guy Debord’s “Society of the Spectacle.” Tim Barker, a junior at Columbia, awkwardly admitted that he, too, had chosen a reading from Debord. (What are the odds?)

One young attendee offered a reading from Gustave Flaubert’s “Sentimental Education.”

“A lot of this book takes place during the revolutions of 1848,” he explained. “The part that I think has a good point for revolutionaries is how quickly a failed revolution can descend into careerism.”

The word hung in the air, as noxious as cigarette smoke.

DESPITE its slacker-revolutionary spirit, The New Inquiry is starting to tiptoe toward the publishing mainstream.

With an audience that understands references to consumerism as “a hedonic treadmill,” many articles in The New Inquiry make The Paris Review look like a beach read. Arch and often aggressively leftist, the articles dance effortlessly from Jacques Derrida to Lady Gaga.

Recent pieces include a review of Ben Jeffery’s “Anti-Matter”; a critical survey of the novels of the French provocateur Michel Houellebecq; an essay on the class struggle portrayed in “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”; and a personal piece by Malcolm Harris, a young writer who recalled growing up in the suburbs and finding sanctuary in Borders.

The journal counts cultural savants like Todd Gitlin, Douglas Rushkoff and Mark Greif, a founder of N + 1, as early champions, and articles have been linked on Andrew Sullivan’s Daily Beast blog and the National Public Radio Web site. Even barbs by the establishment elicit pride, like when James Wolcott of Vanity Fair called Mr. Osterweil’s film criticism “Maoist” on Twitter.

On Sunday, the journal is to make a social debut of sorts among the city’s literary A-list, organizing — in partnership with the publisher New Directions, Google and others — a marathon reading of Frederic Tuten’s novel “The Adventures of Mao on the Long March,” featuring 60 readers, including writers like A. M. Homes, Kurt Andersen and Oscar Hijuelos, at the Jane hotel in the West Village.

And even though staff members routinely serve up gloomy eulogies over the “death of print,” the publication plans to roll out a quarterly print edition next year, along with an iPad magazine for $2 a month. Its breakout stars are even starting to climb publishing’s “ladder to nowhere.”

Atossa Abrahamian, 25, an editor, has written for New York Magazine. Sarah Leonard, 23, is an associate editor at Dissent. Mr. Harris, 22, who was sifting through grad-school rejection notices a year ago, has written for N + 1 and Utne Reader and has been called out by Glenn Beck on television.

This is not to say that the generational angst fueling The New Inquiry is likely to vanish soon. At the most recent salon two weeks ago, Will Canine, the operations director, showed up with 5 o’clock shadow after spending 35 hours in jail following his arrest at the Occupy Wall Street protests.

Tim Barker, a junior at Columbia, said he was drawn to the salons for the chance to “discuss ideas at an extremely high level, without worrying about status or material support of traditional institutions: publishing houses or universities.” He added, though, that while he aspires to be a history professor, he was “extremely conscious of the contraction of job opportunities” in publishing and academia.

Inside the bookstore, however, the turmoil of the outside world seemed far away. The lights were low, the conversation crackling.

“This is my fantasy: a room full of books, people talking about books — it smells like books,” explained Ms. Chapman, the journal’s literary editor. “It’s the literary community that I had read about when I was younger. It’s Moveable Feast-type stuff.”

Despite her upbeat take on the proceedings, Ms. Chapman admitted she wasn’t feeling chipper. It was her birthday. A happy occasion? For most, maybe — but not, she explained, when you are turning 25, having graduated summa from Cornell, with a master’s from Columbia, only to find yourself unemployed and back living at home with your parents.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

#JUST FOR BOOKS

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thedcdunce · 5 years

Text

Mister Miracle

“All right! She won't respond! But Mister Miracle never calls it quits! She will not die!” - Mister Miracle

Real Name: Scott Free

Aliases:

Helena Janice Bertinelli

Batgirl

Iron Owl

Gender: Male

Height: 6′ 0″

Weight: 185 lbs (84 kg)

Eyes: Blue

Hair: Black

Race: New God

Powers:

New God Physiology

Alpha Effect

Abilities:

Escapology

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)

Indomitable Will

Genius Level Intellect

Weaknesses:

Vulnerability to Radion

Equipment:

Motherbox

Duplicate Test Dummy

Deathtraps

Cape

Gloves

Mask

Costume

X-Ray Contacts

Micro-Suction Cups

Electronic Pick

Aero-Discs

Multi-Cube

Universe:

Earth-One

New Earth

Citizenship: Genesisian

Parents:

Highfather; father

Vayla; mother

Marital Status:

Widowed

Francine “Fancy” Goodbody; wife

Married

Big Barda; wife

Occupation: God of Freedom and Escape

First Appearance: Mister Miracle #1 (April, 1971)

Powers

New God Physiology

Immortality

Superhuman Strength

Superhuman Durability

Superhuman Agility

Alpha Effect: When utilizing his full godly potential, Mister Miracle wields a cosmic energy field called "Alpha Effect" or "Alpha Energy", which acts an antithetical energy source to the "Omega Effect" or "Omega Energy". This Effect allows him to transverse through time and space, heal living beings, fully restore creatures back from death, and control energy to an almost boundless degree. The Effect also augments his physical abilities and augments his Aero-discs. Using the Alpha Effect, Scott could also manipulate the divine energies of other gods, draining them and returning their energies with equal force enough to incapacitate.

Abilities

Escapology: Mr. Miracle is the World's Greatest Escape Artist from it going to a self proclaimed title to a reality. He can escape most bindings in his sleep. In fact he has passed beyond unconscious competence in the realm of meta-cognition. He is aware of the unconscious procedures he's mastered and can modify them in their use with other skills or to use new knowledge. Much of his skill is the result of his advanced nervous system. Scott has studied the science of traps. In addition to building traps, Scott can invent new ones using primitive or Fourth World tech. Mr. Miracle usually knows as much about a trap as the builder. As a corollary Scott is very knowledgeable about security and jails.

Lock Picking: Scott is very good at picking locks and carries an electro pick hidden in his costume.

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced): Scott Free is a pacifist and never uses violence unless all other means are exhausted. That doesn't mean he's a pushover. In combat, Mr. Miracle often uses his acrobatic skill and extraordinary leaps and flips to outflank opponents and his enhanced reflexes to dodge attacks. Scott is a good marksman but not familiar with thrown or melee weapons. They can hurt people.

Indomitable Will: Scott Free rejected the totalitarian values of Darkseid, long yearning for freedom from Apokolips. Additionally, he was able to resist the lure of using the Anti-Life Equation for many years. His ability to resist the Equation was broken, however, following the death of Barda and his increasing instability.

Genius Level Intellect: Scott has seen a lot of the universe. He is knowledgeable about the Fourth World and much of our Universe. He can navigate a star ship or use a Boom Tube. He knows the people and places of New Genesis, Apokolips and Earth. He also has a working knowledge of many areas of Earth from his years on tour.

Weaknesses

Vulnerability to Radion

Equipment

Motherbox

Duplicate Test Dummy: Scott has a robot duplicate that is a perfect physical match. Mentally it leaves a bit to be desired. The robot has enough intelligence to operate a jet aircraft, it isn't very verbose or good at personal interaction. Scott has used the robot as a decoy or to test out a new trap. He has gotten very good at fixing the dummy.

Deathtraps: Scott has a variety of deathtraps he keeps around to train. Anyone breaking into his basement is in for a scare and might walk away thinking Scott was a serial killer. The traps are not set up and functional unless Scott is using one to train. But they can be lethal.

Cape: Mr. Miracle's cape is made of a memory fibroid from New Genesis. Scott's Mother Box can transmute the cape into a cocoon that can withstand a sizable explosion. This can only be done once. The transmutation is not permanent and destroys the cape.

Gloves: The gloves have wide cuffs that hold secret pockets for Scott's multi-cube and assorted picks. Small explosive charges can be stored safely between the fingers. In addition the gloves can fire concussion blasts and contain a fingertip laser for fine welding or burning out a lock. The palms contain magnets to let Scott cling to metal surfaces and adhesion pads letting him hang on virtually anywhere. Scott's gloves are fireproof and damage resistant.

Mask: Mr. Miracle's mask contains back up circuitry for his Mother Box and a life support unit. The back up circuits let Scott use his Mother Box hands free. The life support system lets him conserve Mother Box power in hostile environments instead of having her provide him with an atmosphere. The mask is tight fitting and sometimes uncomfortable but Scott is one of the few superheroes who doesn't mind pulling his mask off on the job to get some fresh air.

Costume: It seems to be skin tight, except for the gloves and cape. In reality it contains numerous hidden pockets. Each glove and boot has a pocket and the slim utility belt contains half a dozen more. The full-length flowing cape is attached with fasteners that can detach it in a moment to allow for greater freedom of movement. In a secret pocket on his right upper arm Scott hides his Mother Box.

X-Ray Contacts: X-ray Contact lenses are tiny devices worn on the eyes. They can see through several inches of normal matter, enough to see the inner workings of a lock or other small device. Mr. Miracle's lenses can only scan an area a few inches on a side.

Micro-Suction Cups: Micro-suction cups are another tool hidden in Mr. Miracle's gloves. They are tiny cups that are nearly invisible, he can use to scale walls or cling to ceilings. Scott uses these when he wants to conserve his aero-disc power or when the slight sound of an aero-disc might give him away.

Electronic Pick: An electro pick is a small tool hidden within Mr. Miracle's costume, which allows him to secretly help him escape traps he's been locked into.

Aero-Discs: Thin metal plates about a foot across. The New Gods use them for personal travel. They can reach speeds of 250 mph and attain altitudes of a few hundred feet. They can hover. Scott has modified his discs considerably. They are designed to retract into his boots when not in use. He also added magnets to let him cling to a metal wall or ceiling and toe knives to let him cut ropes or nets in flight.

Multi-Cube: It is a peripheral device for Mr. Miracle's Mother Box. The cube was designed by Mr. Miracle to use the transmutation power of the Mother Box to create a number of preset mechanisms in its interior. All of these functions are much easier to perform that improvised transmutation. They can be activated in combat and other stressful situations.

History

Mister Miracle was Scott Free, the god of escape in the New Gods mythology. Originally, the boy Scott Free was the son of Highfather Izaya, the ruler of New Genesis. However, as part of a diplomatic move to stop a destructive war against the planet Apokolips, Highfather agreed to an exchange of children with his enemy Darkseid. In doing so, he surrendered Scott Free to the care of his enemy while he received his enemy's son, Orion.

For years, Scott Free grew up in the care of Granny Goodness, a sadistic minion of Darkseid who oversaw the training of Darkseid's forces with inhuman intensity. As he matured, Scott learned that he had a natural talent for escaping and overcoming seemingly impossible traps. His talent and his love for freedom were furthered by Himon, a natural troublemaker and the one god whom Darkseid's forces weren't able to capture. Scott refused to be hardened by the planet's cruel abuse and kept his innocence and hope in the midst of such darkness. He fell in love with Big Barda, a warrior who was leader of an elite squad of woman warriors known as the Female Furies; she in turn was won over by his innocence and goodness, and later married him.

Eventually, Scott Free escaped and fled to Earth. Once there, he became the protégé of a circus escape artist, Thaddeus Brown, whose stage name was Mister Miracle. Brown was impressed with Scott's skills. Scott also befriended Brown's assistant, a dwarf named Oberon. When Thaddeus Brown was murdered, Scott Free assumed the identity of Mister Miracle. Barda later followed Scott, and the two used their powers, equipment, and skills in the war against Darkseid, who was still interested in recapturing both of them. Unknown to Darkseid, Scott eventually acquired the complete Anti-Life Equation, Darkseid's ultimate desire. However, his will was strong enough to resist the temptation to use it.

For a time, Scott was appointed leader of New Genesis in the wake of Highfather's death, but relinquished his position and god-powers to Takion, not wishing to be tied down by the constraints of such leadership, with help by the wizard, Shazam.

On Earth, the two have often accompanied Orion, and all three have served on the Justice League. For a time Scott retired as an active hero, and Shilo Norman took his place as Mister Miracle.

Death of the New Gods

Following the murder of Barda, Scott became increasingly unstable. Changing his uniform to a darker version, he flung himself into the investigation conducted by Superman and Orion, briefly considering that Orion was responsible. Discovering the corpses of the Forever People, Scott used the Anti-Life Equation to resurrect their soulless bodies to try to determine their murderer, but they dissolved their bodies rather than tell. Finally, when Superman and Scott confronted Orion, Scott allowed the Anti-Life Equation to take over, trying to kill Orion, only for Orion to reveal that he was attempting to draw the murderer out.

Finally, Superman and Scott traveled to the Source Wall, where they found a second composed of the dead New Gods. Superman revealed that the murderer, posing as Himon, was actually the Infinity-Man. Scott unleashed the equation to try and destroy the Infinity-Man, only for the Infinity Man to reveal that he was an agent of the Source, attempting to reunite with the Anti-Life and create a fifth world. Broken by the knowledge that he had violated every one of his principles to avenge his wife, only to discover that the murderer was the god he had worshiped for so long, Scott Free allowed the Source/Anti-Life entity to kill him.

Resurrection

He was resurrected along with the other New Gods on the Fifth World.

Fun Facts

Mister Miracle's true name is unknown. Even he cannot remember it. As a child, Granny Goodness provided him with the name Scott Free as a pun on the phrase "scot free".

In the end Scott Free was killed by the Completed Source. After Free realized the deity he had worshiped all his life was uncaring and used him for its own ends, he died broken spirited at his foolishness.

Mister Miracle also has the complete Anti-Life Equation, the Anti-Life Equation is said to give the being who learns it power to dominate the will of all sentient and sapient races. It is called the Anti-Life Equation because "if someone possesses absolute control over you—you're not really alive." But he refuses to use it as it reduces other beings to mindless slaves. Most recently in the anger for the death of Barda and his friends, Scott has revealed he possesses greater power as the embodiment of the Anti-Life Equation, this power for all purposes allows him to warp reality, space, time, matter and antimatter on a cosmic level. The ability is apparently fueled by rage and negative emotions which Scott himself doesn't have a personality for normally.

Mister Miracle has an Alpha Effect that is the antithesis of Darkseid's Omega Effect. Although eventually choosing relinquish the power, he still kept a sliver behind for use.

#mister miracle #mr. miracle #mr miracle #scott free #new gods #justice league of america #jla #dc #dc comics #thedcdunce

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bluboothalassophile · 6 years

Text

Welcome to Chaos

@chromium7sky, again a HUGE thanks to her for allowing me to use the Batlings for this story!

Spoilers for Hopes for a Bastard!

Hell Sweet Hell...

Damian took a moment as he stared at the face of this Raven to pick out ever minute difference between this one and his wife. This Raven was younger, she looked barely twenty years old; at the most, her eyes were sharper, more predatory, her face more apathetic, and there was an edge there that his wife did not have. This Raven, like his wife, radiated power, oozed magic, and displayed nothing but confidence, even as she was wrangling an over enthusiastic Ingo.

He took a moment to turn his head to stare at the other four children here, he recognized Mar'i, her solid glowing green eyes, black flaming hair, and innocent face. She looked about a year old. There was a girl, a wee bit older than Mar'i, looking about Ingo’s age, dual colored eyes, one brillian blue eye and a green eye, heterchromia, his twins had it; it must have been somewhere in his father’s line, he deduced staring at the girl. This girl looked like Selina and his father though, she was rather precious looking with her dual colored eyes, and he softened at her. There was another girl, he recognized Roy’s spawn, those dark forest green eyes and straight black hair, she looked like her mother. Then there was a child that stared at him with icy blue, almost translucent blue, eyes, with ivory skin so pale it was like ice, and hair as inky black as his own, this child he did not recognize.

“What the!?” Raven shrieked, he saw her throw up a shadow to catch herself as she surrendered and propped his son on her hip. Her hair was midnight black, but the same lavender undertones were there, but against his son’s brilliant violet hair, it was just black.

“He’s colicky and his mother’s son,” he supplied for her.

“I’m not his mother!” she gasped. Ingo was snuggling up against her and clinging tightly to her hoodie, it looked like one of the tacky ones Todd always wore in his home.

“What happened?” he finally asked rubbing his temples, he just wanted some clarity here, from Raven.

“My guess, he’s got powers, and they’re manifesting, and he can’t control them. They’re probably triggered by his emotions, he sought out a familiar psyche or taste of emotions and somehow he brought you both here,” Raven deduced.

“And where is here?” Damian demanded.

“I don’t know where it is in corilation to your universe, it’s my home though,” she said.

“Who are they?” he gestured to the children; he wanted confirmation.

“Mar'i, Helena, Lian and Terry,” Raven answered sitting, Ingo was humming as he tapped Raven’s cheek.

“And how old are you?” he asked staring at her.

“Why?”

“You look like a child.”

“Thanks. I’m twenty, I’ll be legal in June,” she muttered.

“Can you help me?” Damian asked.

“Yeah,” she sighed. “I’ll call Jay and my Dami back.”

Damian stood as he looked out at the city, the Bat loomed overhead, it seemed… grungier here.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Jason didn’t land near where the commissioner could nab him up, and kicked the kid to the precinct roof as he lay very still, with is rifle in hand as he trained it on the perimeter and listened to the commish through the coms four the fourth meeting of the night; it was only midnight. His phone from Raven buzzed and habit had him answering.

“In the middle of something sunshine, can I call ya back?” he asked.

“I got a problem?”

“It’s called sugar overload,” he answered.

“Ha-ha. No, I have a serious problem, Red,” she countered.

“What’s on fire?”

“Well, nothing.”

“Then you’re good.”

“Mmm… I’m staring at Robin,” she countered.

“Queen, he’s with me, so that’s not possible,”

“Normally I’d agree.”

“How would you disagree, I’m looking at the demon spawn right now, he’s talking with the commish,” he said.

“Well… he’s about thirty, very handsome, condescending attitude, Talia’s green eyes, he favors his mother, Jay, and he’s got a baby he had with me,” she said.

Jason stiffened at that. “Jail bait’s not old enough to have a kid, Rae.”

“Mmm, he is in a different dimension.”

“WHAT!?” he sputtered.

“Yeah. That kid I told you about, brought him here,” Raven answered.

“I’ll collect the batbrat and we’ll be back in fifteen,” Jason sighed.

“Thanks,” she replied. Jason hung up, and continued his watch of Damian. This was going to be fucking weird, he knew it, he could feel it in his bones as he watched the bat brat. The kid was running off the building when Jason spoke into their comms.

“This night is boring,” Damian complained before Jason could even speak.

“Boring is best,” Jason pointed out dryly. Because he had a feeling the moment they met up with Raven it would no longer be boring. Jason kind of missed the days when the weirdest thing he had to deal with was himself. “Kay, we gotta head in for the night.”

“But there’s still work to be done.”

“I think that little bird’s problem trumps us knee capping a few more thugs,” Jason answered dryly.

“What happened!?” Damian's tone was sharp, Jason packed his rifle and was running rooftops.

“Magic shit happened, meet you at the Cave, check in is fifteen,” Jason snapped as he leapt off the roof.

Damian grunted and the comms went silent.

Jason supposed that worst case this was another nasty trip through the multiverse for him, and he wasn’t thrilled at the thought as he landed then leapt onto his bike before revving the engine and blasting out of the alley. He soared into traffic as he headed for a secondary entrance for the Cave, which would take him beneath the harbor for the Cave.

Whatever it was that Raven had entangled herself in he hoped that it didn’t involve him getting his ass kicked into the multiverse again. He was still suffering whiplash from his first trip around the multiverse.

Please let this problem be an easy fix, he pleaded with the fates vainly.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Raven hung up her phone and saw weird, grown up Damian staring out at Gotham.

“The city is filthier than the one I live in,” he muttered.

“I don’t know, it’s pretty clean to what it was according to Dick,” Raven defended. She felt the need to defend Gotham because this was he moms’ home. Harley and Ivy loved Gotham, though Raven stubbornly remained a New Yorker and Victor stubbornly remained a Bostonian. Damian glowered at her, but she folded her arms.

“That is an inappropriate shirt for a young lady in the Wayne home to be wearing,” Damian stated.

Raven glanced down at her shirt; ‘On A Beer Run’ was what it red, now she remembered she was in yoga pants and a hoodie with this tank top, Jason’s hoodie to be precise.

“And I thought you’d be taller,” she jabbed and saw that she had hit a sore spot of his as she smugly smirked. He radiated this power and she almost thought it to be impressive. Almost.

“You are not like my wife.”

“I doubt your Raven and I have lived through the exact same things,” Raven felt the need to point this out.

He sighed. “I suppose not,” he admitted then looked down at her with a gaze somewhere between cold and condescending and kind and loving. “Damian al Ghul-Wayne, Batman,” he bowed a bit at her, and she blinked.

“Rachel Roth, Raven,” she replied. She bounced the baby on her hip.

Ingram Alfred Wayne! A voice stated demandingly in her head which had her jolting as she stared at the baby, he blinked up at her with brilliant emerald eyes and she stared back. He looked like her; it was unnerving.

“Hello, Ingram.”

“Ingo,” Damian corrected.

“He’s telepathic,” Raven stated.

The older Damian blinked as if this were news to him, and then looked at his son, unblinkingly. “I was unaware of this development,” he muttered.

“Alright Ingo, if you’re smart enough to telepathically communicate you’ll listen to this,” Raven stated and hoisted the boy so they were eye to eye. “I’m Not Your Mom.”

Those green eyes widened then started misting as the baby’s bottom lip quivered.

“You dimension traveled, I’ll get you home, but I’m not your mom,” she repeated. Ingo sniffed and she set him on her hip again.

“Mama,” he whimpered as he clutched her tank top and buried his head in he shoulder.

“Was that necessary?”

“Actually, yes, it was, because I’m not his mom despite being Raven. I learned this, he’ll have to learn this too if he dimension travels,” Raven admitted.

“He is a baby.”

“Capable of telepathic communication and dimension hopping, it is important he learn his reality, even your Raven will agree with that. And I have not rejected the child, merely clarified that there is more than one version of his mother in the universe, which is important for him to know,” Raven stated.

Ingo was sucking on the sweatshirt string now and stared at her with curious eyes rather than all adoring.

~~~*~*~*~~~

It was a ripple which had his eyes opening as he sat up in the afternoon sun beating warmly down on his black fur. His tails swished as he looked around for the disturbance of the ripple of power then he was up and padding for a portal.

He must alert his mistress to this.

Nosferatu was a faithful, loyal familiar, and as the nekomata of the Gem of Scath he felt the need to alert her to the power ripple. The power was too familiar to not need to alert her, too much of the demon was in this power.

“DADDY!” a scream alerted Nosferatu to the offspring of his child which had his ears flattening at the child’s pitch, then he rounded the corner to be face to face with a round tear stained, dual colored eyed face of Fawke.

“NOS!” she screamed before she threw her arms around him and sobbed into his fur.

“Unhand me spawn!” he screeched as he attempted to squirm to his escape, the girl howled in pain before shadows exploded which had him going limp in the toddler’s grasp.

“Daddy Gone!” she cried.

“Cease this prattle, your father is somewhere about,” he growled as he was dragged with Fawke towards the human nursery. Great, the offspring were left unattended. Idiotic humans! And they dare to think him nothing more than a best.

Yōkai did not leave their young unattended! It was too much power running rampant.

~~~*~*~*~~~

His eyes opened and he rumbled feeling the power, so much raw power.

Others eyes opened, and they rumbled as they were spurred to life, sliding through the fires of hell.

“Power,” he growled, and there was a magnetic pull to the power as he opened a portal from Hell towards the power and walked out.

“Sister,” his brothers whined.

“Power,” another whine and he stared out at the dreary night as his six eyes whirled and he felt a pulse of magic energy.

“Scath,” he groaned pleasurably feeling his sister’s power radiating around the raw untapped power of something new and unknown. He’d claim it, claim it as his own. His brothers surged forward, and he walked towards the shadows as he sought out this power. It would be his! His! Then he’d be King of Hell! Surpassing their terrifying father!

~~~*~*~*~~~

It wasn’t all that terrible if she called her husband to check in right!?

Raven tilted her head back and saw the time, then groaned as she face planted in her pillow.

She was pathetic, it was two a.m., they would all be asleep. She would not be THAT woman with no faith in her husband, he could handle this. She was sure he could.

Still, she wanted to check in…

But she didn’t want to wound Damian's pride.

Groaning she surrendered, getting up she grabbed some ZzzQuil to knock herself out. She’d call in the morning when she wasn’t half dead from worry. Her husband could handle a night with the kids, and if he couldn’t she’d go straight home. Yes, she liked that plan!

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