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edyacouky · 4 years

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Journey to the Past (3/10)

Ok, this chapter was so long to write (my holiday without internet, going back to work etc.) Plus, the way it was wrote at first (Just Jay's point of view like the previous one) just didn't feel right while I was writting and rereading it. So I have to change so I can be proud of it. (;・・;)

I really hope you will like it. Again, english isn't my first language and I don't have beta, so if you see some mistake please tell me so I can progress. Enjoy and have a nice day everyone! (*＾∀゜)

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~*~

Roy never believes he was born lucky. After all, before he was twelve years old, he lost two dads and suddenly become the heir of King Queen.

If not have to worry about what to eat or where to sleep was a good thing, he can’t say he loved being a Prince with all the hypocrisy and the rudeness of the rules of the Court.

It was a lonely life he was living then. Sometimes he meets other kids who understand it. Like Duke Richard, pupil of King Wayne. He tried stay in touch with all of them despite being unable to seeing them regularly, because there is comfort knowing he is not alone.

All this precious letters were put in a box on the workshop that Oliver let him have regardless of what the Court had say about that.

Fortunately, Oliver wasn’t interested in making him a perfect heir and let him do his inventions in peace. He understood that Roy found happiness and freedom with his creation.

But he tried to found them also on alcohol and drugs.

~*~

At fifteen years old, his addiction couldn’t be keeping secret anymore and awkwardly Oliver decided to move Roy away, make him leave the Capital. He wanted to protect him but Roy taken that as abandonment. His addiction problem becomes worst; he started a relationship with an assistant ambassador, Jade Nguyen.

Even at his worst, Roy wasn’t stupid. He knew that, despite her young age, Jade used her position to gain some information for her country. But Roy knew nothing anymore, and he fell hard for her, and in her own way, Jade fell for him too.

So when suddenly Jade realized that she was pregnant, they didn’t know what to do.

They were only eighteen years old, Jade can’t have child with her job, and Roy can’t be a father if his addiction rule his life.

They tried to find a place where Jade could have an abortion. But it was illegal in both of their country and the only place they found did the operation on the kitchen with a coat hanger.

“I will beg Ollie, Roy said after they cried desperate, I will go to rehab, and take care of the child.

-What?

-I’m not stupid, Jade. I know why your job doesn’t want you to have kid.”

Jade cried silently. She was more a weapon than a person for her country. And they will see her child the same way.

When Ollie learned about Roy’s situation he was relieved that Roy found a reason to go to rehab as much that Jade will not stay in the picture.

Too bad Roy had chosen a girl from the West with a possible war between Gotham and 'Eth Alth'eban at the verge.

With the different alliances, if this two countries start a war that would start a World war.

And if that happen and the child looks too much like their mother, Roy and his kid could be perceived as enemy.

Sometimes, as night when Ollie couldn’t sleep, he hoped that Jade’s pregnancy will not end well for the child, but Roy will end clean.

~*~

Nine months later, a little girl born in good health.

Jade insists that she was called Lian even if she won’t see her again anymore. Despite Oliver’s warnings, Roy accepted easily.

During three years, Roy really tried to be thankful for the second chance Ollie gives to him. But each day, he has to deal with the hate and the disregard toward his daughter. It wasn’t only the Council or the Court but also the common folk. It was impossible for his daughter to find any ally among this stupid terrified people.

~*~

Like everyone, suddenly his life takes a turn away with Joker’s attack.

King Queen, Duchess Lance, and he went to the meeting.

Roy still remembers the hope he felt when he saw that the King Wayne sound like a reasonable man, when he heard the little heir, Prince Jason, said his speech. For a moment, Roy truly thought that future will be better.

Roy still remembers the craziness in the eyes of the assailants, of the blood’s odor, of the people he didn’t save, of the fear to never see Lian anymore. For a moment, Roy truly thought he was in hell.

But, ironically, the worst was yet to come.

When they learned the news of the attack, the people of Star City decide to take that as a sign that the war has begun.

At his return, Roy discovered with horror that the Court force Lian’s nurse to leave the Palace to the street of the Capital with his daughter.

Even with Ollie’s rage about what has been done to his great daughter, and the punishment he decided, Roy couldn’t feel safe anymore in Star City and leave at night without a word.

At first, he went to Gotham, he was hoping Duke Richard could help him, and he even foolish hoped that he could persuade the King to not enter in war against 'Eth Alth'eban.

But the Council was as hostile to Lian as the Ollie’s Court was, and the only thing that interested the King was Roy memories about the day of Joker’s attack.

Bruce forced him each day to talk about the horrific day for hours. And if Roy was hoped that Dick would preserve him from his father’s insistence, but he was worst.

While Bruce didn’t say out loud that he blame Roy for leaving Prince Jason alone, Dick keep telling him it was his fault every time Roy didn’t tell him what he wanted to hear.

Eventually, Roy was too tired because of them and afraid of what will happen to his daughter when the war will begin. So despite having no plan, he left as suddenly as he left Star City.

He didn’t know how he could raise his daughter without a home. And if the situation wasn’t precarious enough, during his leaving, he meets another kid, older than Lian. His name was Colin and Roy saved him when some people tried to force him to go with them.

Roy never believes he was born lucky. And the next years prove him right.

~*~

A few months after his leaving, strangely a few days after the wedding of the King Wayne and an officer of his army, Selina Kyle, Gotham and 'Eth Alth'eban start a Cold War.

The little family couldn’t stay too long in one place, no matter how hard Roy was working. Lian wasn’t accepted in East countries and Roy and Colin weren’t in West countries.

While roaming, one day, they found in 'Eth Alth'eban a cottage. Not any cottage. But a cottage construct for the King Wayne probable when he was in relationship with Princess al Ghul.

Which mean they found jewelry, clothes and others things that were worth a little fortune.

Roy resold everything he could as discreetly as he can, but he knew that he couldn’t go to the market without bring too much attention on himself or the children. So, they decided to do a little vegetable garden.

Colin and Lian loved take care of it. Sometimes when seeing them laugh together covered by dirt, Roy almost forget that this situation couldn’t last long. One day or another they will have to leave. Lian and Colin need to go to school, they need access easily to medical care, and Roy need a job to be sure they will never go to sleep with an empty stomach ever again.

~*~

When he heard noise coming from one of the corridor, he panicked.

It’s been a while since he went sold anything to the market, but maybe some thieves or worse find them.

“Go hide. Now.” Roy ordered to his children

Colin obeyed immediately, taking Lian in his arm and went in a closet.

Roy took his bow and arrows ready to fight.

He didn’t know what he was expected but by no means it was a man younger than himself accompanied by a little kid.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?”

He aimed an arrow in their direction.

The young man immediately put himself in front of the kid, forgetting the sheet that fall and the King’s painting that is revealed.

Suddenly Roy forgets how to breathe.

The young man’s face … The last time he saw someone looking so much like that, it was during Joker’s attack.

He still remembers the expression of terror on Prince Jason when he falls. But even if he didn’t, the portrait of the Lost Prince beside the King Wayne would persuade him about the similarity.

The same smart green-blue eyes. The same pointy nose. The same pouty lips. The same untamable curly hair.

This man has clearly the face of his friend’s lost brother. The face of a ghost. A ghost a King is ready to give an important reward to anyone who will bring him back.

Money and gratitude that Roy and his children desperately need.

No.

No. It was not only stupid, but an awful thing to do to the Waynes, who helped him and still mourn an important member of their family. Roy couldn’t do that to them.

But still, Roy couldn’t help but looking the stranger up and down with a clear interest.

~*~

Jay knows that he isn’t too bad looking. Some Talia’s servants have wanted to court him before. Of course, they were interested to being closer to the royal family via Jay, but the way they looked at him prove that they have considered any physical contact with him as a nice bonus.

Never of them was granted permission from Talia, sometimes for Jay’s relief, sometimes for his disappointment.

Still, Jay knows how he looks, and he understands immediately, that this man will want something from him.

So when the redhead man lowers his bow to offer his hand with a big friendly smile, even so neither Jay nor Damian answer his question, Jay is not reassured.

“Hi, I’m Roy.”

Still on guard, Jay accepts his hand.

“I’m Jay. This is my brother Dami.

-Sorry for the welcome. The said Roy said without let Jay’s hand go. I have kids myself here. I wanted make sure you weren’t some kind of dangerous maniac.

-Tt. Don’t see how we prove that. Damian grumbles hated the fact that he is underestimated

-Your brother is cute.”

Jay bite his lips to hide his smile while he tries to hold an angry Damian furiously red and ready to put his knife in this stupid red haired man

“Can I have my hand back now?

-What? Oh! Yes. Of course. Sorry.”

Once his hand drops, Jay looks around distrustful.

“So … Where are the famous kids?

-Come with me, we were ready to eat when you appear. You can join us if you want.”

Making sure that Roy stays in front of them, Jay and Damian suspicious follow him.

“You two are really brother? Roy ask

-Different mothers.” Jay answer easily in the same time Damian said to Roy it wasn’t his business

Curiously, Roy looks disappointed but don’t seem doubt his response.

They arrive to the living room where old mattress and sheet were on the ground around a barrel. Obviously the place where the family, if this Roy didn’t lie about the kids, stay together at night in case of an attack.

“Stay here. Roy said

-Why should we listen to him? Damian growl spiteful

-Because we need to rest and eat before continue our trip.

-Tt. We don’t need him for that. We have our weapon, we could kill him.

-I don’t want to kill someone unnecessarily. Especially, if he is really just a dad.

-It wouldn’t be unnecessarily. We should eliminate him sooner or later. He is a troublesome witness.

-And the kids? You want kill them too?

-If we have too.

-No.

-Tt! Mom is right, you are too soft!

-Guys?”

Jay and Damian look at Roy who is now accompanied by two kids. One boy as old as Damian and one girl younger than them.

“Everything is alright?

-Yes.” Jay answer looking pointy at Damian who silently admit his defeat

Damian may be young, but he realizes how dangerous it would be to show division in front of these strangers.

“Well, Colin, Lian, this is Jay and his little brother Dami. They will eat with us today.”

If Lian accept with pleasure this new friends that will break their isolated and boring lives, Colin looks at them wondering if it is fish, flesh, or fowl.

~*~

As an unexpected turnaround, neither Jay nor Damian would have believed when they leave Azraq Palace, they sit together to eat vegetables on soup.

“Are you two really alone? Colin ask still unsure about them

-Not your business.

-My …! Jason bites his lips when he almost calls Damian Prince. Dami, please.

-It is not their business. Damian persist

-We are alone. Jay answer

-Why are you here?

-Not your …

-Our village was destroyed.

-Tt.

-Damn! Roy said seeming to believe them. What happen?”

This time Damian didn’t even want to say anything. He just grumbles looking like all this situation is Jason’s fault.

“With the war, we are lucky it didn’t happen sooner.

-Oh. Must have been awful.

-Dami and I survived. That’s all that matter.”

Damian sorrowfully think of his mother who may be dead. Killed by his grandfather, and he still doesn’t understand why.

A little voice inside his head keeps whispering he must be because of him. After all, he is not a bastard whose father is his grandfather’s enemy.

But the Cold war only start since four years and Damian is ten years old.

Neither of this previous hours make sense for him.

~*~

Roy seeing the miserable expression of the little kid decide that it’s enough with the question.

“Anyway, if you want sleep here with us tonight, you are welcome.

-Thank y…”

Lian suddenly cough surprising everyone. What seemed benign at first, soon became worrying.

More she coughs, more she worries about breath, more she cries making her breathing more difficult.

“Everything is fine Pumpkins. Roy tries to reassure her hugging her. Just breathes Baby girl. Everything is fine.”

Colin takes Lian’s hand and smiles to her. Jay and Dami looks lost and helpless.

Roy don’t blame them. He is himself helpless.

It’s been a few days now that Lian has terrifying coughing fit. None of West doctor want Roy’s money and none of East doctor want to help a folk of the West. The only who did were charlatan who give him some scented water.

Roy is not doctor, he has no diagnostic, no treatment to give to his daughter to help her.

And each day becomes worse than the previous one.

Slowly but surely, while he hugs desperately his daughter, the thoughts he had when he first saw Jay come back.

He really didn’t want to hurt Bruce and Dick by given false hope about their lost one.

But he is so angry for so many years about how the world think of his daughter, of his family. All of that happen because of the war between Gotham and 'Eth Alth'eban. That’s never of the country has the nerve to actually send soldiers doesn’t mean that they didn’t start a Word war.

After all, seeing things like this, the King Wayne owe him. He owe his children.

King Wayne loves lost kids anyway, even if he realizes Jay isn’t his Lost Prince, he will probably want to take care of him and his brother. Probably.

~*~

When Lian finally feels better, and they finish eating, Roy screws up one’s courage and ask Jay:

“Do you mind talking with me without the kids?”

Jay is grateful by Roy’s subtlety and that he want his price away from the children. But he doesn’t mean that he want to do it.

He tries to stay relax while he nods.

“Stay safe.” He tells to Damian hoping that he will understand that he shouldn’t hesitate to run away or fight without Jay if necessary

Damian doesn’t sound happy to have to stay with the other kids but doesn’t try to persuade Jay to stay with him.

Shockingly, Roy didn’t try to search Damian and Jason or order them to put their weapons away. In fact, he seems to want Jay and Damian feel comfortable with them. And Jay feels comfortable with his weapon on him while he follows Roy away from the heat and light of the fire.

Jay still doesn’t have decided if he should let Roy have his way with him. On the one hand, Roy gives them food even if it was obvious that his children and he need it more than Damian and Jay, and have a hidden place to sleep would be good for them when they will have to continue their flight to Gotham. On the other hand, Jay is not a prostitute and say yes to one thing may be constraining him to many other things.

More Jay thinks about that more he is convinced that he should prove to Roy that he will not have his way with him and couldn’t make them leave.

As Jay takes his weapon ready to fight, Roy ask:

“Do you know who they are?”

They’re in front of the painting Jay wanted to show to Damian.

“This is the King Bruce and the Dead Prince. Jay answer ignoring a new headache

-The Lost Prince. Roy contradicts with a seller smile. The King still search for him.

-It's time for a reason. It’s been what? Three, four years?

-Don’t see why? You look a lot like him.

-I knew my parents. Jay lied. I’m not the Dead Prince.

-Maybe not but you could easily fool anyone.”

Jay frowns at these words and keep the silence before he finally truly understands what Roy means by that.

“You want to use me for the reward. It was for that you were looking me so deeply earlier.

-Oh, I won’t have said I was looking you deeply but … Roy tries to defend himself blushing ferociously

-What’s your plan? Jay asks realized that it could be a chance for Damian and him to go discreetly to Gotham. We go to Gotham, you leave with the reward and a few weeks later my brother and I are at best exiled, if not killed, for make fun of the Royal Family?

-The King will not kill you.

-I will if I was him.

-He won’t. And if they made a mistake it’s on them after all.

-Sure, because rich and powerful people love admit they are wrong. And even if they don’t kill us, the end is the same. You disappear with the reward and my brother and I gain nothing.”

True is if Jay can’t convince the King that Damian is his son, he can prove that Damian is Talia’s son. So they will keep them, at least as political prisoner in relative luxury. So the reward doesn’t mean anything for him, but it will be weird if he doesn’t argue with Roy about that.

“Well, I’m not against give you 2/5 of the reward …

-Only 2/5? You’re kidding me I hope.

-No. I have two children. You only have your brother.

-I know how much the reward is. The half will be more than enough for you three.

-Doesn’t change the fact that I have one person more than you to feed.

-Doesn’t change that it will be my brother and I who have to deal with the Royal Family’s anger when they will realize I am not the Dead Prince.

-The Lost Prince. If we agree in that you really need to change the way you call the Prince.

-So we say 50/50?”

Roy pouts. This man, older than Jay, Roy looks like he is twenty-four years old, truly pouts.

Jay doesn’t really understand how he could have thought this Roy as a menace.

“Ok, fine! Roy finally accepts giving his hand to Jay. Sleep well. Tomorrow we leave for Star City.

-Wait a minute. What?” Jay exclaims holding Roy’s hand

Going to Star City make them a not negligible detour.

“We can’t go to Gotham like that. We’re not the first wanted to fool them for the reward. We need go to someone I know at Star City. If this person support that you could be the Lost Prince, we will easily be accepted by the Court.

-And what it will take to convince this person to help us? Money? I don’t have any.

-No, not money. Just a good acting. If you can convince her that you are the Lost Prince …

-So you can play the innocent and pretend I have fooling you too when the Royal Family will learn that I am not the Dead Prince. Jay notices. You are a really naughty man, Mister Roy.”

Roy blushes at that and try to defend himself.

“I don’t try to trap you! We can talk about everything more in details tomorrow after a good night of sleep.

-My brother and I will sleep in another room.”

If Roy is annoyed by Jay’s reply, he doesn’t show it. When Jay go take Damian to sleep in another room, the two kids and Roy say them good night. Jay reply but Damian ignores them.

After blocking the door, Jay explains to Damian the plan. The little Prince isn’t convinced about the pertinence to follow this nobody homeless, and he isn’t thrilled to have spent time with the kids.

But it’s true no one will search them with a poor family and they can’t tell who Damian is before they meet the King Bruce. So using the identity of a dead man isn’t a bad idea, not a brilliant one but it has to be enough.

This night despite having a goose that lays the golden egg in the room next to him, Roy doesn’t sleep well.

He still feel bad for wanting to fool Bruce and Dick, but he is more worried about what will happen to his children if they still live like that.

Roy never believes he was born lucky, but this time he thinks that life may be decided to gives him a hand.

~*~

They abandon the cottage after breakfast and start they journey together.

Lian and Colin play one of their games “With my little eye I spy” and try making Damian join them. At first, the Prince argues that he is above that, but Colin found the right words to convince him.

“Let him be, Lian. You see that Dami isn’t smart enough to understand our game.

-Tt. Excuse you. Your little game is so stupid even a tree will understand.

-Oh, so you’re afraid that you will lose against us? That’s ok. We will not think less of you if you lose.”

Damian blush furiously with anger at the accusation, especially with Lian who put gently her hand on his arm. And the only way he found to prove Colin wrong is to win and so to participate.

Behind them, Roy and Jay watch with tenderness the kids play together.

Jay doesn’t remember the last time Damian talks to someone of his age. Touching his bracelet, he really hopes this travel will end well for Damian.

“So about the plan, Roy said deciding to finally break the silence between them, I know someone on a village not too far from here you could give us some visa to leave the country by the train.

-I say that before and I will say that again. My brother and I really haven’t money.”

It is really a shame that they escape was so poorly organized.

“Well, I will lend you the money for now. You will pay me back one we will have the reward.

-You really take many risks for something that may fail. Jay notes promises to himself he will find a way to repaid Roy’s kindness if he succeeds bring Damian to safety

-We will succeed. And if we want to fool them all then you need to look less poor

-Less poor?

-Well we couldn’t do much about what we’re wearing. I was talking more about your breeding.”

Jay is so happy he learned how to bite his tongue. The flood of insult he wanted to get out wasn’t something he wants his Prince and the other children to hear.

Talia gave him many instructors, some of them was exclusively to make sure Jay was good breeding. And never, never, Jay gave a reason to be disappointed in him to his instructors and Talia.

So hearing this stupid redhead nobody telling him he looked like he belongs to the lower class, was truly infuriating.

Maybe his Prince was right when he suggest killing him.

“Well I’m listening.

-What?

-Since you seem to know so much about what is good and bad breeding, I can’t wait for your precious advice.

-I didn’t mean to offend you … Roy tries to defend himself

-Gentleman, start your teaching.”

~*~

Not knowing where to start, Roy decide introduce Jay to the family tree of the Wayne. After all, it was something Jason has to learn by heart. Fortunately, it was also something Roy has to know as Oliver’s heir.

“Well let’s start with the beginning. So the actual king of Gotham is Bruce Wayne son of Thomas Wayne and Martha Kane, we will talk about the Kane later, they died when he was nine. A burglar shouts them on Crime Alley.

-A person tries to rob the Royal couple?

-He succeeds. He leaves with some money and the necklace of the Queen.

-That’s all?

-Stupid, right? Especially knowing he was condemned to death when they caught him seventeen years later.

-This Joe Chill was really stupid.

-Oh so read about this story.

-What?

-Well you just said Joe Chill, didn’t you? It’s him who kills the Wayne.”

When all Jay did it is looking perplexed Roy, he clears his throat and proceeds:

“Anyway. So the parents of Thomas Wayne are Patrick Wayne, the King known to have make fortune with all the war he started, Brother of Benjamin, a playboy who give STD to his wife making her sterile and Abigael Wayne, never married and never interested in men for what we know, son of Kenneth Wayne and Laura Elizabeth, and …”

Jay was used to have to stay focus for a long time but while Roy keeps talking about all these persons, he can feel his head starting to hurt. It is a weird sensation. Most of the time it was like a knitting needle try to get out violently to his head. This time, it is like some ants are walking inside his head. It is bearable but really unpalatable.

“Tt. Stop trying to hold my hand! Damian has to yell again at Lian, this little girl is unbearable in a way his patience can’t be enough

-But I want Colin and you to swing me. Lian complains

-Too bad I am not here to obey you.”

Like the Prince Damian of 'Eth Alth'eban will be the servant of a poor baby. It should be the opposite, this people should serve them. Damian don’t understand why Jay accept so easily that this stupid redhead man treat him like he was bad breeding or idiot.

No way, Damian will stoop to that.

“Can’t you be nice?” Colin says

The way this little brat act toward his sister make him so angry. They shared their food, the place where they slept. They even leave a safe place they found after many months of fear because of them.

If the older brother look nice enough, the kid is really insufferable.

“I don’t have to be nice.

-Yeah right. Colin says sarcastically. Being nice is just an elementary rule of society.

-Tt. I’m sure you aren’t used to people being nice to you since the way you live. One person less or more won’t make the difference.

-Oh boy, I truly hope you didn’t mean what you just say.” Colin says becoming red with fury

He is this close to hit this stupid arrogant I-Think-I-Am-Better-Than-Everyone boy.

How can someone who lived in a simply village, who lost almost everything they owed, that doesn’t have money anymore, could be so insupportable.

“What? Are you as stupid your look let guess? Damian answer knowing well that fists will be thrown

-With my little eyes, I see something wet! Lian yells, so they stop whatever they’re doing is

-Is it a puddle? Colin asks after a long moment of silence where he glares meanly at Damian

-No.

-Is it the river? Colin still tries

-No.

-The dew. Damian says without a hesitation

-Yes! You’re really good at this game, Dami. Lian says with more kindness that it is necessary hoping the boys will stop being angry

-An idiot would have found that.” Damian simply answer looking at Colin with a haughty smile

This little …! Colin have eliminated all the others possibilities, of course he found the answer. Scratch that Colin will hit with kid, he will kill him before the end of the day.

~*~

Precipitously, Jay’s headaches become too much to endure. Head in his hands, he has to sit.

“Hey, Jay. Are you alright? Roy ask helping him to sit down

-Stay away from him! Damian intervenes pushing Roy and accusing him. What did you do?

-My … Dami, you know it’s happen sometimes. Jay tries to calm him so he will stop yelling

-Your face wasn’t ever that ugly before.”

Jay would have laugh if even thought about that sound wouldn’t have been a torture.

“The kid is right. You look pretty awful. If it happens a lot don’t you have any medication with you?”

Jay thinks of the essential oil offer by Princess Talia. This was the only thing in the world that could help him.

“It’s lost as the same time we lose our home. It will be fine. I just need some minutes.

-Well, we are just a few minutes from the guy for the visa. Roy thinks at loud. He will want a photo but he has some chair where you could sit. Do you think you can walk a little more?

-He just say he need now some minutes. Are you stupid or deaf? Damian said losing patience

-Oh shut up! Colin said to him before Roy or Jay could answer anything. Stop being a stupid spoiled brat!

-Tt. What did you just say?”

Great the Prince Damian the-only-person-who-say-no-to-me-are-my-mother-and-my-protector just found someone not impressed by him. Jay always hoped that it will happen someday but he doesn’t feel well enough to calm Damian.

“Guys! Enough! Roy says forcing the boys to get distance

-I don’t have to take order from you!

-See! It’s exactly for that you’re a spoiled brat! Things are hard enough; we don’t have to support you.

-Like hell I want to be with you!”

Lian hugs quietly Jay with a big smile.

“It’s help me when Dad did this to me. Does he help you?”

Not really. The headache is still awful and he still worries about Damian.

“It’s help. Thank you.”

Roy takes both of the boys by the arm to take them away from Jason.

“Now listen to me carefully both of you. Both of you. Dami, I understand that you’re worried but for people like Colin and I, it’s dangerous to stay at the sight of all. We need to move quickly. Colin, I need you to be patient for this collaboration. Once you have the visa and Jay feels better, we will discuss your misunderstanding. But not now. Did you both understand?

-Yes. Colin grumbles

-Dami?”

Damian is looking at Jay. He knew till the beginning that this plan is stupid. The fact, that Jay is his only friend he has and now his only family until he meet his father and save his mother, doesn’t help easy his anger toward his Shadow.

Damian is the Prince of 'Eth Alth'eban, he owes nothing to this common folk that doesn’t even belong to his country.

“Dami, did you listen?”

But Jay looks so sick. What if he dies? Damian is not that angry at him.

“Tt! Yes. Damian mumbles

-Good. Now go to apologize to Jay for yelling next to him while his head hurt. Then we will leave.”

If Colin says honestly he was sorry, Damian prefers say:

“Yelling next to you wasn’t a good idea.

-No, it wasn’t.”

The little family though that it wasn’t true apologies, but Jay knows better than them.

“I’m sorry.

-I know. I forgive you.”

It is less than twenty-four hours since all their word was shaken and they lost everything they know. Since they were forced to team up with some homeless stranger to go somewhere unknown where maybe they will have the help they need.

But they feel reassurance when they can understand each other so easily. It reminds them, they can face anything together.

#dc comics #fanfic #anastasia au #jayroy #jason todd #roy harper #damian wayne #colin wilkes #Lian Harper

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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How Batman Evolved During Tom King's Run

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Bruce Wayne's adoptive father is the key to Tom King's conclusion to his run on Batman.

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This Batman article contains spoilers.

Tom King did the impossible. In a comics industry founded on the bedrock principle that only the appearance of growth should ever be shown, he’s told a massive, three-year, 85-issue story that has Bruce Wayne actually develop as a character.

With Alfred’s death earlier in the final story arc, "City of Bane," many would have expected Bruce to shun his supporting cast and dedicate himself to revenge, leaving Gotham littered with shattered criminals as he pushed his grief through his fists and his enemies’ faces. But that’s not what happened.

We got a chance to talk with King about character growth, how his epic tale developed, and what’s next for Batman, Catwoman, and King himself in the DCU.

Den of Geek: You talk about Vision, Omega Men, and Sheriff of Babylon being a thematic trilogy, right?

Tom King: Yeah.

Can we look at Mister Miracle, Heroes in Crisis, and Batman the same way?

Oh yeah, 100% yeah. That's what I think of it. Yeah. I'm glad someone noticed.

It's about heroes managing trauma, right?

It is. I call it the Trauma Trilogy. That's just too easy, maybe. I feel like the first story about my war experience and [the main characters of each book] were all someone naively going into a situation and finding it much more complicated than they thought. And then these three were all about, I’ve said this publicly a billion times, about this nervous first-season-of-the-Sopranos breakdown I had in 2016 when I first started on Batman, and sort of how I recovered from that. And I sort of wrote it three different ways. Yeah, it's like some fancy dish, you know. The Trauma Trilogy.

Read More: How Batman Will Change in 2020

So the breakdown in 2016 happened after you had already started on Batman. How far is what ended up on the page drifted from what you initially conceived it to be?

I mean it's pretty close. There's some stuff that didn't quite pan out. Batman isn’t like a series like Mister Miracle or our upcoming Strange Adventures that we're doing. You have to write Batman with some degree of compromise because it's a much bigger platform and overlaps a lot of other books. You have a lot more eyes on it in terms of editorial control. And so yeah, it wasn't entirely a straight line, but considering it was 85 issues of DC's best-selling comic, I think it was a lot straighter than I thought it would be in terms of going from one spot to another.

It was always supposed to be about a love story and that was there from day one. I remember talking about that with my first editor, Mark Doyle...being like, “What is this book about?” And me literally just searching and searching until I found an old clip of the Batman ‘66 TV show. It was just like, “Oh man, I love this." The Catwoman, Batman dynamic.

And it hadn't been in the books in a long time. Not since, like, Judd Winnick, New 52 stuff. So that part about it, the fact that it was just one big love story. That was the same and Bane was supposed to be the main bad guy. But the stuff with Flashpoint, Batman evolved as we went along. I'd say that's the thing that's evolved the most.

We talked that second arc, I think, about Bane, Catwoman, and Batman being three sides of the same shitty coin. But now with Thomas included in there, it feels like it's kind of four points on a graph, labeling each axis. You've got like Batman who had privilege but lost everything at a young age. You have Thomas on the other end who had everything for most of his life and then lost everything. You've got Catwoman, who was born into nothing and kind of hangs on to everything but keeps it at arms length. And you've got Bane, who kind of grabs whatever he can and crushes it to death. As Thomas evolved into this, does that sound like what you were thinking at all?

Yeah, I do think they all represent this idea of who's top of the mountain in their own way. I guess you could say who does Gotham belong to? Bane sees Gotham as a prize that he has to win. Thomas sees Gotham as a burden. For Catwoman, Gotham is just who she is and she's sort of queen of that city. And then for Batman, it's ... I mean that's what the whole question is. What does he mean to Gotham?

With Alfred's death, was it kind of a backdoor way of you taking a look at Bruce's origins? You know, using the death of a father figure to kind of shock him out of being Batman the way that he was shocked into being Batman?

Yeah, but it was also a way to show what the difference is between Bruce losing his parents when he was young and connected to them, and Bruce losing Alfred having been raised by Alfred. To me that was a tribute to sort of Alfred's parentage of Bruce for all these years and him guiding him through that trauma. Because you expect Batman in that moment to bury himself in anger and go insane and do all the things that drove him to be Batman in the first place. But instead of that, he hears Alfred's voice and he composes himself. To me it's sort of about the maturing of the character and maturing of it through the love of Alfred. I know I said this in the book, there are no good deaths. There's a nobility to death if you've treated your children right.

Read More: Batman and Catwoman Face Thomas Wayne in Final Tom King Issue

Well, I would quibble with that only because I think you could have killed Batman at any point in the last 85 issues and whatever was happening would have been a hell of a way to go. Right? Like he has a heart attack on a ferris wheel with Superman. That's a pretty okay way to do it.

Wait I did kill Batman! I killed him in annual number two.

Oh yeah! Yeah.

I gave him my ideal death. He dies instead as an old man surrounded by his family.

And that's the good death.

That's a good one. That's as best as you can do with no other choices.

After 85, it feels like that's kind of the direction, right? Batman for so long has been that traumatized little boy, to the point where it's almost a parody, and many of your predecessors have done something interesting with that. But it always feels like the traumatized little boy has been the dominant perception of him, at least in my adult life. Is this your way of kind of trying to push him through it?

The story of Batman is unending conflict. I'm sure whoever comes after me will embrace the Batman of their own and I bless him for doing it. I know James [Tynion IV, the writer taking over Batman with #86]’s stuff is going to be, from what I've seen, amazing. Batman's not a story that I have the power to end. I just kind of come in and take the reins for a while and then pass it onto someone else as brilliant as James and Tony [Daniel, the artist on the first arc].

But I can sort of, I don't know, tell my story. I don’t know, maybe I'm too old to write Batman. Frank was 29 when he wrote The Dark Knight Returns. I'm 41. But it seems like as you get older and you actually see your parents pass, you see your loved ones pass, you realize that everyone has to go through that trauma. Right? You sort of realize that it can become part of you and something you're proud of as well. The grief never leaves you. It never leaves Batman. It's a wonderful metaphor. But also there's a certain joy to that grief because it sort of unites you with your lost ones.

So hopefully, as you go on, you sort of mature into that. I hate to say that the greatest hero America's ever created, which is Batman, never got a chance to mature into it like the rest of us hopefully get to do. Yeah, I mean that's what that's about. He says, when I was a child, I did childish things and now it's time to grow up a little bit.

Read More: Why Tom King Is Leaving Batman

So the action sequences have been phenomenal through the whole thing. There have been some stellar fight sequences, especially Jorge [Fornes'] last ten issues. Every time he comes in it's incredible.

He’s ridiculous.

They've been phenomenal. When I think back on the run, what I think is going to jump out at me are going to be the quiet moments. The double date, 12 Angry Batmen, Bruce and Selina grabbing a beer and watching football at a bar. What do you think was about those quiet moments that let you make them sing?

I mean, the first thing is the art. All three of those things you mentioned, you've got Lee Weeks...there's not a lot of people who can draw a dynamic room with just 12 people talking. Clay Mann doing the double date. Just him elevating himself and becoming the best artist in comics while I was watching. And then Mikel [Janin]. I've been with Mikel for five years now since Grayson. He did the first Batman I did and he’s doing the last.

It's really hard. I mean, as dumb as it sounds, it's probably easier to draw a dynamic fight scene than a dynamic quiet scene. So those guys are doing the heavy lifting.

As far as the other stuff goes. You know, it's ... DC Fontana died yesterday, right? The Star Trek author, and she's famous for saying, “Star Trek is not about objects. It's about characters.” Like, that's her thing. If you're writing an episode of Star Trek, don't make it about the thing. Make it about the people's relationships. So I think that that's what those moments are about is we've had a lot of conflicts. Fantastic, amazing conflicts about things. But I try to make my conflicts about the characters. Just trying to follow what she told me to do. What she said. Not that I ever met her but I remember what she said to do.

So looking back, is there an issue that stands out in your mind as something that you just absolutely nailed? Like, it's the Batman/Elmer Fudd issue, right?

No, I hate it. [laughs] I love that issue, but there's two typos in it. It still drives me crazy. I'll never manage to get them to fix those. When I first got the comp finished, I threw in the trash I was so pissed. "Oh, I ruined this one. Oh well. I'll try again next time." And then I won awards for it, it was ridiculous.

All three of the annuals I really like. I like the dog story that David Finch and I did in the first annual, which was suggested by my daughter when she was like five.

And I liked the second annual, which has sort of the first dates and the beginning of the end of the Catwoman/Batman relationship. That annual's the jumping off point for the whole Batman/Catwoman series. So that's how much I like it, I'm trying to copy it.

And I like the fourth annual I did with Jorge, which was just sort of like a chance for me to do a thesis statement on what Batman is. And there was seven days of Batman in seven different genres and then it continued sort of forever. I like those three.

Read More: Why Tom King's Batman #86-106 Would Have Been About

Similarly, is there an issue that you wish you could get another crack at?

Oh man, there's a ton of issues I wish I could ... I mean, I look at the dialogue and I’m like, "Oh, I could have done that better."

It took me a while to learn how to work with Joelle Jones, who's one of the most talented artists out there right now. And I think, I feel like I did a Wonder Woman issue with her and I feel like I wasted two of them first of all, because the story I wrote turned out to be very similar to a story that Joe Kelly had done. I hadn't read the story but I was very...I would have changed it if I had known. I sort of understood how to write for [Joelle] by Batman #44, which I think is really nice, but I think it's 39 and 40, the two Joelle Jones issues, I wish I could have another shot at doing well.

I really liked those.

TK: They're beautiful! They're drawn beautifully, but I don't know, we could have done something...it was really fine, but I feel like it could have transcended. I missed it.

I guess. The Justice League flirting between the two of them in the cartoon is high on my list of preferred pairings. So like the way that you played with that made me happy. Is there a character you feel particular ownership of now? Like if somebody comes in and changes Kite Man, are you going to throw the issue across the room and scream, "Fuck no, that's not how this is supposed to be done."

No, I think that's kind of silly. It's kind of like when you sign up for this gig, that's part of the agreement and coming into comics is realizing that this is a medium that extends to other people and no one has benefited more from that than me, who's twisted the work of Jack Kirby and Marv Wolfman and Bob Kane and Bill Finger for my own benefits. I feel like denying that to others would be hypocritical.

Gotham Girl's named after my daughter Claire. Claire Clover is her name. So I do like her. Like I have in my daughter's room a David Finch piece or a page that he did and a page that Clay Mann did they gave to me for her. So I like her because she's named after my daughter.

Wow. That's got to be pretty sweet.

I know. I try to tell her brag, brag to your friends! But does she brag?

Read More: Why Batman Still Matters

She'll get there. As soon as she shows up in a movie, everyone's going to be like, "Oh, you're so cool." Would you do it again? Marvel comes to you tomorrow and says, “We want a hundred issues of Spider-Man. Do whatever the hell you want.” Do you jump at or do you run screaming?

I don't remember anyone ever saying, do whatever you want with Batman.

Well, fair.

It never happened. Would I do it again? I mean I have no regrets about doing it. On many levels, I feel like I'm artistically satisfied with what happened. I feel like I made my career and made my life and I had fun.

But it's that second thing you said, the control of it. As I move forward, I kind of want to do, I don't know, like, I want to do super ambitious stuff and it's hard to do super ambitious stuff in that environment.

I feel like I got as close as I could get with [Batman]. I had a brilliant editor in Jamie Rich, huge support from Dan DiDio, but I don't know if I'll ever get that much again. Going forward, we'll see. But I just want to do something, I don't know, big and ambitious and literary and I don't know if that's possible anymore. If it is, I'll go.

You did the Sheriff and Omega Men and Vision Trilogy. You did the Heroes in Crisis Trilogy, or the Trauma Trilogy. Where are we going next?

Yeah, something new. I'm trying to move on. I'm trying to move on from fat middle aged men looking out windows, thinking about their lives. I think it'll be like another trilogy of books. It will be Strange Adventures, [Batman/Catwoman], and another book that hasn't been announced yet.

And all of this will be these 12-issue miniseries, like these little novels and they'll all be focused on a new, bigger theme. The way things develop when you're writing, you can write it one way where you're like, "I'm going to write about this theme," then you go write it. But when I do that, it just turns out shitty.

The best way I think to do it is just to write straight through so your unconscious mind brings it to the surface while you fight doing the same thing over and over again. So I'm not 100 percent sure these things are still forming as they form, but it's going to be a lot about all the shit that's in the news every single day.

As much as Mister Miracle was about sort of the trauma of looking around our current environment, thinking, "My God, this can't be real. I feel like I'm trapped here," Strange Adventures will be about how do we fight back this pernicious stuff that seems to surround us. And I think that's what Batman/Catwoman will sort of be about too.

Read More: The Actors Who Have Played Batman

So hopeful.

Hopeful is the wrong word because some of them are dead dark books. I don't feel hopeful right now. But I feel like, I don't know, it feels like we're in the middle of the war and you don't feel hopeful in the middle of the war, but you still feel like you'd have to fight. You know?

Yeah.

It's more about that feeling, not the feeling that, "Oh God, we're going to win." But the feeling of, "Oh God, we can't lose or else."

And Strange Adventures, I've read the first one and it's ... I couldn't love it more. It's 28 pages. Doc [Shaner] and Mitch [Gerads] are doing crazy new stuff you haven't seen in comics before, which I think is cool in terms of mixing the two arts together. The two, I don't know, styles or whatever.

I couldn't be more proud of it. I remember Garth Ennis famously saying that with The Boys, you out-Preacher Preacher. So we're going to try to out-Mister Miracle Mister Miracle, to steal from Garth.

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Dec 18, 2019

DC Entertainment

Tom King

Batman

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firefrightfic · 6 years

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Ok did you think that Batman 45 was NOT what would have actually happened if Bruce didn't become Batman? Because Idk lol I think Dick would have become talon. I think really that Jason would have ended up in a terrible place from having to grow up and survive on the streets. Idk I think he would have either ended up dying, becoming an addict - addiction CAN run in the family so if he got high once it'd probably be easier to become addicted fast. BUT that would probably take a while to get into

Sum up for Batman 45 Jason - I think his life would have ended up much worse even if it wasn’t either of those things I’d mentioned. And Tim! I don’t think he’d be working in a cubicle lol. Drake industries?? Even if not he’s super smart. Anyhow what your thoughts - if u’d like to share maybe Also didn’t they look older than they do in canon now?

There were certainly a few aspects of the issue that came across as lazy and ill thought out to me, and the entire idea of the story arc first and foremost feels like padding, purely for the sake of having Bruce and Selina’s wedding be able to take place in issue #50. Now, I could be wrong. There could be more to be revealed in the next two issues that will justify the choices made here (I don’t, for example, know enough about Booster Gold to say if he’s really a stupid enough character to think doing something like this was actually a good idea. And I absolutely do believe some explanation for why any supers that go to Gotham turn into Jokers will happen), but you’re right, the rest of the Batfamily’s fates were what bugged me most.

Personal opinions below the cut.

Dick’s is the biggest. I just can’t see how, in a universe without Bruce, he would have landed on the idea of Batman himself? Except that Batman existing in every reality is something DC seem determined to cleave to. It would have made much more sense for a universe where Bruce never took up the cowl and Dick’s own parents still died that the Court of Owls would snap him up, since in post-52 canon his adoption by one of the most famous people in Gotham was the only reason why they didn’t. Or, they could have gone with the idea of Raptor successfully taking Dick in and raising him himself, which would have been very interesting to me to see. Other universes like Earth 2 have explored what kind of life Dick would live without Bruce as well. There he became a war photographer and married Barbara, at least until Apokolips came along and destroyed the Earth. Please read Earth 2, guys, it’s so good. Letting him become a cop would have worked too! But yeah, primarily for me if you wanted to give Dick a worse life in Bruce’s absence, the Court of Owls is right there. I would have been far more intrigued by him as a Talon than killer Batman aka Jason in BftC.

Jason’s… Jason’s is actually okay, the more I think about it? It is nice to see a universe where he’s doing well at least, and working with cars feels appropriate as a job he would go for (personally, I’d have loved to see him as a librarian or teacher, though *cough*). Maybe he even actually started off working in chop shops before breaking free and starting his own legitimate business. But if they explored a route where he became a full on criminal as Bruce always feared he would have been without his intervention my fanfic senses are tingling towards an involvement with Black Mask, or possibly gone the addict route that led to him becoming Father Todd in Flashpoint, that also would have felt a natural progression in terms of Jason’s pre-Batman backstory. They could have even done a Robin Hood type thing? I would be all kinds of down for criminal Jason still with a heart of gold.

(Or you know, maybe he just got murdered but didn’t come back. A page of a gravestone inscribed with his name would have 100% killed me. Ow.)

But yeah, thinking it through, this one I don’t mind so much. It’s just not what I would have chosen. it also bugs me that it doesn’t actually feel like King thought it out much beyond, “haha tyres, geddit?”

Now onto Tim. Tim. As you said, it feels so wrong to see him stuck in a dead end office job, and that’s probably what they were going for (evidently sticking to the New 52 reboot of Tim’s parents not being wealthy business people the way they were originally, else surely he would be running Drake Industries by now). But my gut also tells me Tim would have found something else to turn his focus on. He’s smart, he’s capable. He’s always the one who says that he never actually wanted to be Robin, but did because he felt he had to. He’s also the most well-adjusted out of the lot. Getting stuck in a cubicle for the rest of his life doesn’t feel like him. I’m going to pretend he’s doing the Elliot Alderson thing and is secretly a social justice hacker only working this job as a cover.

Damian doesn’t exist without Bruce. This one makes perfect sense and I have no quarrel with it. I also loved seeing Talia stand up to Ra’s with “No, I will be the one who inherits your kingdom. No one else is worthy.” Go, Talia, go!

Duke’s is awful, but with them running the plot that anyone with powers turns into a Joker it works within the rules of the universe established so far. So… *flaps hand*

I do have to be honest, it’s a Wonderful Life style plots are never my favourite, and I did groan back when I saw the original solicitations for this arc come out, so i was somewhat biased from the start. But I also like Tom King’s writing and have really been enjoying his run on the series so far, so I hope he makes this end up better than it initially seems to be. Then again, maybe it’s because his focus is so intently on Bruce and Selina that was done with the Robins here feels like such a throwaway. I can’t say for sure, only wait and see what happens in the next two issues.

#asks #batman #personal opinions #Anonymous #sometimes you just gotta face that yours and the comic writer's focuses are different

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bruhsauraus · 6 years

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Armando Iannucci: I was saved from being a reject by comedy

The king of satire, back with a new film about Soviet-era Russia after Stalins death, talks about being uncool, Veep and building a spaceship in London

Armando Iannucci arrives for our 3pm meeting with a small amount of his lunch still clinging to his shirt. We discuss retouching the mark for the Observers pictures but, admirably, he doesnt seem to care either way. It is tempting to describe the 53-year-old Iannucci as the most feared political satirist of our age. Certainly, his output in the past decade the BBC sitcom The Thick of It, the companion film In the Loop, and latterly Veep has been untouchable in skewering the vanity, incompetence and plain childishness of people in power. But, in person, nothing about Iannucci is remotely scary: he is self-effacing, smiley, quick to laugh. At the end of the day, hes just a guy with a tomato stain on his shirt.

Iannuccis latest target is Stalin and his cronies. His new film, The Death of Stalin, is set in 1953 and depicts with unexpected historical accuracy the undignified scrabble for dominance that followed the demise of the Soviet despot. It is silly, moving and revelatory, all at once, with deft, pitch-perfect turns from Simon Russell Beale as Beria and Steve Buscemi as Khrushchev. Iannucci, who never likes to have fewer than seven plates spinning at any moment, has also just published a book on classical music, Hear Me Out, about a lifetime of listening to Mahler and Britten in open defiance of the keepers of the cool.

Was it easier than you expected to make a comedy about Stalin and his inner circle that was also factually accurate? Yeah. When we were researching it, we found out things like Vasily, Stalins son, really did lose the ice-hockey team in a plane crash. And because the comedy is the comedy of hysteria, you want to be true to what happened and how people responded. So anything that was so-bizarre-and-yet-true was a candidate for going in. I thought about having This is a true story, but then I thought, no, just watch it for what it is, and it would be great if you subsequently found out that the bulk of it was true.

These men are vicious, but your film also gives them a human side. They have families they fear for; they play practical jokes. Did your feelings towards them change? Um, no. But I did think, what must they have done to have survived and ended up so close to Stalin, and what has it done to them? The fact, for example, that he would almost taunt them and mock them and play them off against each other With all these things its about posing the question, What would you have done in those circumstances?

Power corrupts? Yeah, it was almost like Animal Farm by the end, and yet they all lived near each other and popped in and out of each others houses. He might have had your brother shot and all that, but they had to sublimate that as just part of the process of moving forward. But, you know, you read that Boris Johnson and Michael Gove were the biggest enemies and are now reconciled. Im not saying they are like Stalin, but in that febrile environment where you see each other every day, in order to survive, just psychologically, you must have to close off a bit of your emotion.

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Watch a trailer for The Death of Stalin.

So there are lessons about todays political landscape? Trump gets all his closest associates in over the past three or four months, and has to say, By the way, youre fired because I need to survive now. So could you go away? And eventually hell be saying that to his daughter and his son-in-law: Youve now become an albatross, I cant be seen with you anymore. Or after the general election, Theresa May turns to her two very close advisers and says, Its you or me. And they all kind of understand that. Its like that thing in The Godfather: Its not personal, its strictly business.

Is it true there have been calls in Russia for the film to be banned? You say Russia its a person in a country of 200 million people. Just somebody somewhere said something.

Were you expecting a reaction? I was wondering what it would be. I was surprised to hear we sold it to a Russian distributor. Stalins been making a comeback. There have been busts of Lenin, Stalin and other key figures going up in Moscow for the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. Its that sense of, dont be frightened of strong men. Thats the message in Moscow at the moment.

Theres a line in your book Hear Me Out where you describe film directing as an astonishing ego trip, and that you wouldnt recommend it to anyone who has the slightest psychotic tendencies. Is it a job you feel comfortable doing? Ha! It is, but you do spend all day ordering people around, and everyone will do what you say. My wife teases me when I finish a shoot that it takes about a week and a half before I stop going, Right, shall we have a cup of tea? You, get a cup of tea I can see how, especially if you do shoots that go on for months, you become like a medieval lord with all these serfs, just ordering them around and torturing them and asking them to tell jokes and fetch food.

As the creator and showrunner on HBOs Veep for the first four seasons was it a difficult decision to give it up in 2015? No. It might have been the British thing that we dont do that many episodes of TV shows in the UK. Plus, it was three months of the year going out to Baltimore, backwards and forwards, and it was an all-year-round thing of the writing, the shooting, the edit, the publicising and then the writing And I knew the show could carry on, but fundamentally Id taken it to where I wanted to take it.

The show will end next year with a final, seventh series. Do you know whats going to happen? No, no, no. They asked if I wanted to stay on, but I knew I was going to do Stalin and I just thought, I cant be on set and get a call saying, Can you look at this script? But its great, because I watch it as a viewer and you realise though I always knew this what an amazing cast it is and how funny they all are. And also, I genuinely dont know what they are going to say next, which is really great.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus as vice-president Selina Meyer in Veep. Photograph: HBO

It was recently announced that youre making a new show with HBO called Avenue 5. Whats the idea behind that? Ive always wanted to do sci-fi, so this will be set mostly in space, in about 40 years time. Its not going to be Blade Runner, but there will be an element of realism to it. Ive been out to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena and Virgin Galactic, looking at where it might be in about 40 years time. Ive mapped out the season and were writing the pilot episode and well shoot that sometime next year. And because its in space, its not location specific, so we can shoot it in a studio or a hanger in London. Well just build a spaceship here.

What impact do you think streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime are having on terrestrial TV? Well, the good thing is that content producers writers and producers have more places to go. And also, whats great, and HBO paved the way with this: quality stuff is profitable. Thats their business model: youll only subscribe to HBO if you think youre going to get good stuff thats different from whats on the networks. So they need it to be better and well thought out and high production values and all that.

But is the quality always better? I do worry that simply because theres so much money available from the big streaming companies, theyll say, Oh well make your movie. We know no one else wanted to, and we realise why, because it was slightly indulgent or whatever, but well make it. And you watch it and you think, it was fine but For all the criticism of the studio process, if youre making something that costs someone else money and which is going to be available commercially, you want people to go and see it. So it does force you to think: have you made it as well as you can? Or have you really thought this through?

In Hear Me Out you write about the tyranny of the keepers of cool. Was liking classical music a reaction against them? Well, I was never really into fashion or clothes. I just wasnt that bothered. I wanted to read a good book. I was saved from being written off as a complete reject by the fact I could do comedy.

You started to learn piano in your 40s. Was that difficult? I found it hard. It was learning a language: Oh, I can speak music! And suddenly these dots and whatever started to make sense. But it was hard work. Some people can do it instinctively and I couldnt. My son would lean over me, hed be practising the violin, and go, No, no, no, its like this. And he hasnt had a piano lesson.

Do you listen to any non-classical music? I kind of like Radiohead, the Beatles, Bowie, its not extensive, but Im always trying. Whats interesting now is, because everything is available, kids can listen to Sinatra when theyre 12 and theres no real sense of: Youve got to listen to this because its out now. But you cant listen to that because thats from 20 years ago. They are a lot more experimental in what they are listening to and that then feeds into the music thats being produced. Its influenced not just by music from two years ago, but music from 20 or 30 years ago.

How can classical music stay relevant? Its up to the classical music establishment, for want of a better word, to open it up. Concerts neednt be off-putting and expensive and you dont have to dress up and you dont have to understand the technical complexities. Just talk to the audience. One of the weird things about a concert is that nobody says anything to you, so youve got to just accept whats in front of you and work it out. Somebody should sit down and explain: This piece, when it was first composed, caused a riot. Now it might sound a bit more conventional because its been used in a Walt Disney movie. I dont know, I think its just useful.

Stalin had a great passion for classical music. So listening to it doesnt make you a better human being then? George Steiner writes about how Goebbels was into Mozart and played the piano beautifully. Wagner was an antisemitic bastard, so actually, no. Thats the sad thing: it doesnt make any difference. It really doesnt.

Can you put that aside when you listen to the music? I dont know. I always got taken by the grandiosity of Wagner, but the more I listen to it now the more I think, it does sound fascist, doesnt it? But its interesting, that thing of, Can you excuse? Like Polanski. That whole, Great film-maker, but should you be watching his movies? I dont know what the answer is.

The Death of Stalin is released on 20 October.

Hear Me Out by Armando Iannucci is published by Little Brown (14.99). To order a copy for 12.74 go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over 10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of 1.99

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/oct/15/armando-iannucci-the-death-of-stalin-hear-me-out-interview

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Olaudah Equiano - Gustavus Vassa - His Experiences From His Enslavement Stimulating Black Literature

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Olaudah Equiano - Gustavus Vassa - His Experiences From His Enslavement Stimulating Black Literature

Olaudah Equiano’s early life began about 1745 in the village «Essaka» near the River Niger, an Igbo-speaking region of present-day Nigeria where his father was a chief who settled disputes amongst the tribesmen. Equiano the youngest son lived with six bothers and sisters one being younger than him, as part of a large family. At the early age of eleven, Equiano and his sister were kidnapped and forced into slavery in a neighboring village.

He changed hands a few times before he was sold to white slave traders and transported by ship across the Atlantic Ocean to Barbados in the West Indies..

Equiano was kept just a few days not exceeding a fortnight at Barbados before he was put aboard «a sloop for North America,» and eventually «landed up a river a good way from the sea, about Virginia county «. The kind of work that this newly arrived boy to America was put to, weeding grass and gathering field stones, and then fanning his bedridden master, was consonant with his age (probably under ten years). Equiano having been carried from Barbados on a ship other than the Nancy then, would most likely have been taken to a part of «Virginia county» where few Igbo were taken, and thus buiding in him his sense of isolation.

At the slave plantation in Virginia where Equiano was taken to and engaged, he observed with horror the treatment of fellow slaves inside the house. He was horrified at the use of an «iron muzzle» around their mouth to keep them quiet thus rendering them barely able to speak or eat. The objects inside the house amazed and frightened him considerably. He even thought the pictures hanging on the wall followed him wherever he went, and a clock hanging from the chimney would tell his master about anything he would do wrong.

Whilst there he was seen and bought by Michael Pascal, a captain in the Royal Navy. Pascal renamed him Gustavus Vassa after King Gustav I of Sweden. Though Equiano at first detested the name, he later on used it in most of his writings and became known by it.

Being Pascal’s personal servant, he was afforded naval training which enabled him to travel extensively and contribute in times of battle. He often served as a seaman. His duties included hauling gunpowder to the gun decks. He was at the Seven Years War of England with France and at the siege of Fort Louisburg in Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia.

He later sent to Pascal’s female friends, to attend school and learn to read in England. The other servants had already warned Equiano that if he wasn’t baptized he wouldn’t be able to go to Heaven. So his master allowed him to be baptized. This was done in St. Margaret’s church, Westminster, in February 1759. His honesty and trustworthiness won him friendship and support from many English people.

Equiano soon got disappointed. Despite the special treatment Pascal had been according Equiano, after the war was won, he didn’t receive his share of the prize money awarded to the other sailors, nor did he get his freedom. He was greatly disappointed as it seemed that he had been deceived as well as betrayed.

Later, to his greatest dismay he found himself been put back on the market But his many ship skills made him too valuable for plantation labour. His knowledge in hairdressing, wine making, arithmetic and his becoming fully literate in the English Language made him less desirable to some slave traders. He was too well educated for some and the fact that he knew how to navigate a ship scared many away from him. So it took some time before he could be bought

He was eventually acquired by Robert King, a Quaker merchant from Philadelphia who carried on much of his business in the Caribbean, often trading in ‘live cargos’. From much of what he saw made him grateful to his Quaker master’s treatment of him. Though that did not for a moment give him any illusions about what the loss of freedom entailed. He saw the ugliest side of American life in both the North and South. Even in Philadelphia, a city built on the promise of brotherly love he observed freed blacks being treated with profound contempt, and being ‘plundered’ and ‘universally insulted’ with no possibility of redress.

King, soon, set Equiano to work on his shipping routes and in his stores, promising him in 1765, that for forty pounds, the price King had paid for Equiano, he could buy his freedom. King taught him to read and write more fluently, educated him in the Christian faith, and allowed him to engage in his own profitable trading as well as on his master’s behalf, thus enabling him to come by the forty pounds honestly. As a result, Equiano in his early twenties succeeded in buying his freedom. Once having gained his freedom through saving forty pounds earned through his own instincts for enterprise, carrying on his own business while managing King’s — he pledged never again to set foot on American soil.

This was despite King’s urging him to stay on as a business partner. For Equiano, it was dangerous and limiting to remain in the British American colonies as a freed black. For while loading a ship in Georgia, he was almost kidnapped back into slavery. He was only released when the level of his education was made apparent. It now resolved to settle in London for the rest of his life. This he did in 1769. He was making his living there as a free servant as well as a hair dresser for affluent Londoners. But his skill as a seaman and his always remarkable curiosity made him restless for new adventures. But before that he had learnt to play the French horn which he kept playing onto mastering it to the level of an accomplished musician. He went on even on to expanding his study of Mathematics.

Equiano through his story of enslavement, transportation, maritime slavery in a time of European war, kidnapping a second time into slavery (from London to Montserrat), his travels, and his freedom, winding up back in London in 1767, when he was about twenty-two years old. his adventures at sea through the 1773 Arctic Expedition on the royal navy ship the Racehorse, and his rebirth as an ardent Anglican, which ironically was followed by participating in a scheme to create a slave-based plantation on the Miskito Coast (Caribbean Central America). In the end, Equiano (universally still known as Vassa) turned to anti-slave trade agitation,living as he did in England in the mid-1780s, which led to his official service in the 1786-87 effort to «repatriate» (perhaps better thought of as to deport) Africans in Britain to Sierra Leone, a royal service that made him a controversial public figure. Equiano clearly was inspired by his activism to write and publish and popularize the «interesting narrative» of his life, a powerful story though one with many internal contradictions and inconsistencies. , a work as much of politicized memory as of personal history..

Equiano remained at sea for several years even after buying his freedom. He voyaged to the Arctic as a surgeon’s assistant and to the Mediterranean as a gentleman’s valet, and lived for a time among the Makito Indians of Nicaragua. He then returned to England, where after Somerset’s Case of 1772 it was proclaimed that no person could be a slave in England itself.

Back in London Equiano became involved in the abolitionist movement. The movement had been particularly strong amongst Quakers, but was by now non-denominational. Equiano himself was broadly Methodist, having been influenced by George Whitefield’s evangelism in the New World which seemed to be taking the nation as a storm.

Equiano proved to be a popular speaker himself and was introduced to many senior and influential people, who encouraged him to write and publish his life story. He was supported financially by philanthropic abolitionists and religious benefactors who promoted his lectures and helped him in the preparation for the book. They were amongst others, Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon.

This prototype of the slave narrative, a form of autobiography that in the nineteenth century gained a wide international readership due to its compelling firsthand testimony against slavery in bulky two volumes, tells a richly detailed story of seagoing adventure, spiritual enlightenment, and economic success in England and the Americas. in this impressive publication, Equiano’s espouses the highest ideals of his era in the language of the ordinary man and woman. His account surprised many with the quality of its imagery, its vivid description, its mature literary style, as well as its lively narrative which profoundly shamed those who had not joined the abolition effort. Entitled The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, when first published in 1789 made a hit sold well and rapidly went through several editions.- 36 editions between 1789 and 1857 and was translated into Dutch and German. It is said to have been one of the earliest known examples of published writing by an African writer. It was the first influential slave autobiography. Its first-hand account of the horrors of slavery and of the experiences of an 18th-century black immigrant caused a sensation, fuelling a growing anti-slavery movement in England.

After its publication Equiano travelled extensively in England and Ireland promoting it.

Largely forgotten for 150 years, and then rediscovered in the 1960s, Equiano’s Interesting Narrative today is central to the canonof early modern Atlantic literature and history. It is taught in university courses and area studies as widely varying as African, African American, American, Caribbean, and World history/literature, and similar courses in allied disciplines. Equiano today is regarded as the most famous African, and certainly the most famous self-identified (Igbo), in the early modern Atlantic world, or,at the least, in the era of the transatlantic slave trade and slavery. According to Henry Louis Gates Jr. Equiano is «the most important black man in the eighteenth century.»

Surprisingly, given his importance, Equiano has attracted only a handful of serious biographers. One work, a literary biography by Angelo Costanza,Surprising Narrative: Olaudah Equiano and the Beginnings of Black Autobiography (1987), was published two decades ago, and another, a rather uncritical but still useful historical biography by James Walvin, An African’s Life: The Life and Times of Olaudah Equiano, 1745-1797, was published in 1998. And, the Narrative has been endlessly excerpted and anthologized.

Equiano is essentially seen as a «self-made man.» comparable to that most famous of contemporary self-made men, Benjamin Franklin (1706-90), whose posthumous autobiography was published in 1793, «rather than considering Equiano an African American Franklin we would more accurately call Franklin an Anglo-American Equiano» Indeed,in Equiano’s own account, there was a moment in his life, in early 1759, when he first felt, not satirically but earnestly, «almost an Englishman.» or «almost an Atlantic creole»