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nightwingmyboi · 4 years

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I have a massive amount of questions and hopefully you can answer them all. I wont ask all at once but first question. Dick and Tarantula. I know kinda what happens but like... All the titans took her side? Who were the titans and how did they react?

Alright, always happy to help out. Feel free to fire away! To start...I believe you’re thinking about Mirage, not Tarantula.

Everything with Tarantula occurred in Bludhaven when Dick wasn’t currently working with the Titans. Dick hasn’t ever talked about what happened with Tarantula to anyone, so it’s likely that the Titans have no idea that anything ever happened...the only people who would have an inkling of what went down would probably be Bruce (who after the fact yelled at Dick to stop being suicidal and never looked into the matter further) and Barbara (who broke up with Dick...after seeing Tarantula force herself on him and knee him in the groin...okay). Yeah that’s a whole other issue :/

But I’ll explain the situation with Mirage instead. To set the scene: Dick was on the “New Titans” team, which included: Starfire, Beastboy/Changeling, Red Star, Donna Troy, and Pantha. Mirage came from an evil alternate future timeline, and in that timeline she was romantically involved with a version of Dick Grayson, later known as “Deathwing.” Because of this, she is obsessed with Dick and is convinced that they belong together. She’s come back with the rest of the “Team Titans” to the past to kill Donna Troy in order to stop her son from ruling over the world as a dictator. For some reason, she accomplishes this plan...by kidnapping Starfire, replacing her, and tricking Dick into having sex. Yeah, the plot is convoluted as hell. No time to unpack all that!

Deathstroke (1991) #14

The team discovers that there is an imposter when Kory manages to break free of her imprisonment and escape. Dick realizes that he was manipulated into having sex with a stranger. Instead of Kory and Dick being able to talk about it alone, Pantha spills the beans in front of the whole team (sans Donna) and fuels the fire with several horrible, crude comments.

The New Titans (1988) #90

“Details! From ten to one--how did she score compared to this one?”

Though Mirage had them all fooled, Pantha says that, seeing as Dick slept with her, he definitely should have been able to realize that she was phony. No one on the team comes to Dick’s defense or tries to shift the blame from Dick’s shoulders. Kory’s a bit pissed as well. She’s had a pretty bad couple of days. She wants an explanation from Dick, but Pantha can’t freaking shut up for five seconds so that he can give her one.

Also, note the comments about how Dick’s hair has changed? And about “Starfire’s” new costume? I’m going to quickly side track to explain just how terrible Mirage is.

The New Titans #88

So, while she was disguised as Kory, Mirage pushed Dick into changing his costume and cutting his hair into a mullet. Dick didn’t want to, especially because his discowing costume had huge sentimental value seeing as he’d modeled the look after his dead parent’s circus outfits, but “Kory” kept pestering him. He trusted his girlfriend, so Dick eventually agreed to follow what he thought was her lead.

I can’t get over how horrible that is...that Dick’s rapist tried to own Dick’s body to the extent that manipulating him into having sex wasn’t enough, that she abused his trust to change his appearance to suit her needs too, specifically altering him in ways he wasn’t comfortable with. It’s disgusting, I don’t know why it’s so often glossed over, and it really gives a whole new reason to hate “Mulletwing.” And Nightwing’s not the only one whose bodily autonomy is completely thrown out the window.

The New Titans #93

When Mirage was disguised as Kory, she went around and did a bunch of porno, nude photoshoots. I don’t think I have to explain how awful it is that Kory’s appearance was used like this without her consent, especially in such a public way (people were literally stopping her in the streets to talk about it and she was invited onto a news show). Kory is rightfully pissed. Mirage also changes Starfire’s costume as well, to have big cut-outs on the sides.

Mirage is absolutely horrible. Cannot say that enough.

Back on the plot: Dick and Kory still have a lot to talk out, but they are on a mission to save Donna, so both of them put their feelings aside for now to help their friend. Later, while Starfire is busy chasing Donna in space, Nightwing runs into Mirage, and she reveals that she was the imposter.

Team Titans #2

DICK YOU SLUT! So tell me, who was better? Huh? Huh? Huh?

Mirage laughs about raping Nightwing with zero remorse. Pantha calls Dick a slut and once again asks who is better. Also like last time, the rest of the team (sans Donna) is standing right there...and doesn’t care or help him out at all.

Dick is forced to put his feelings aside once again to deal with the threat to Earth. This means working with Mirage to the point where she is just...part of the team for some reason? My reaction is pretty in line with Kory’s here:

Despite Kory’s protest, Dick focuses on the mission, and says that they need the manpower and the knowledge of the future that the Team Titans (including Mirage) have in order to defeat Donna and her son (long story, just ignore the plot honestly). But really, they need Mirage...so that she can cause unnecessary, contrived drama between Dick and Kory.

I’m just going to say it: Kory and Dick are both pretty wildly out of character. Putting aside how stupid and cliché this plot is in the first place, Dick lets Mirage get away with way too much crap, when he’s always been very up front about dealing with bullshit in the past. One of the absolute worst things about having Mirage stick around (and at one point literally go on vacation with the Titans) is how she just keeps acting like her and Dick are together. It’s gross and Dick needed and usually would have put his freaking foot down about it. They also have Kory flipping from acknowledging that Mirage tricked Dick and is at fault for what happened:

Team Titans #2

The New Titans (1988) #90

To having her think that Dick genuinely...loved Mirage and would rather be with her? And blaming Dick for being tricked? Even though Dick and Kory are both victims here?

The New Titans (1988) #90

The New Titans (1988) #97

Starfire has an incredibly high EQ. She and Dick have always been very communicative. To see her completely unwilling to hear him out (and blame him for being raped) is shocking. She acts like an immature teenager, changing her mind all the time and then storming off to go party with random guys in clubs for the next couple days. She has zero of her previously demonstrated emotional maturity and trust. Meanwhile, just as Dick loses his girlfriend, he also loses his apartment, and, to top it all off, Roy swings by to tell Dick that the government is going to shut down the Titans because of all the property damage that happened in their last fight. Nightwing literally can never catch a break.

The New Titans (1988) #99

Eventually, the two do make up...and Dick immediately proposes to Kory out of nowhere. She accepts, despite being pissed moments before. They have a wedding the next issue, but it is interrupted by villains from the alternate timeline, including an evil Raven and Deathwing. Afterwards, Dick and Kory’s relationship is never quite the same.

Seeing Dick and Starfire’s relationship sour, when it was built up over so many years of comics (and with neither of them truly being at fault for the split), is freaking depressing. And Mirage never does get punished really...I’m pretty sure she’s even part of the honor guard that escorts Superman’s body to his tomb when he dies, which is dumb as hell. But that’s how it all went down.

Just to clarify, since you specifically asked how the team reacted, I kept saying “(sans Donna)” because while most of this was going on Donna was a) giving birth or b) going crazy with power. Later, Donna is shown to know about what happened with Mirage, but she doesn’t really give it much thought. She does comment that Dick is acting strangely and she’s concerned about him, but she also doesn’t seem to connect the obvious dots that Dick is acting off...because he’s still shaken about being raped and tricked. Roy also appears later on to lead the Titans. Mirage is a member of that group, and Roy isn’t really shown to have any strong feelings about it.

Honestly, I wouldn’t say that the Titans “took Mirage’s side” as you describe. Pretty sure none of them liked Mirage. But, they didn’t stand up for Dick, certainly. There was a lot of victim blaming. Dick’s rape wasn’t given the narrative weight that it deserved, probably due to the time period the comic was made. His teammates mostly didn’t care enough to take sides, used him being raped as a joke, or blamed him for being tricked.

The whole story arc is convoluted, the characterizations are terrible, and overall it just sucks that this was written.

#mirage #mirage dc #starfire #koriand'r #dickkory #kory anders #rape #nightwing #dick grayson #long post #meta #character analysis #ask

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heartless-error · 4 years

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Broken, not perfect, but together. - Chapter 5

Fandom: DC comics, Batman

Pairings: Jonathan Kent x Damian Wayne (JonDami) & Jason Todd x Timothy Drake (JayTim)

Rating: General, family feels, hurt/comfort, mental health issues, running away

Other(s) links: AO3

Broken.

The Batfamily was broken.

It was six years ago, and they had barely stood together since then, trying to stand up despite guilt and regret.

Damian was sure there was nothing to save, not after losing something that he didn’t know he cared about. But when a new opportunity to get back what they had lost appeared, he cannot help to doubt as his past decisions haunt him again.

If you love somebody, set them free. But you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.

Chapter 5

Now

The sound of the keys being pressed hard and quickly resounded in the room, as well as the light and continuous whisper of the machines on and running around her. The dim morning light leaked slightly into the room, reflecting on the many screens that had been hidden from the public in the watchtower.

Adjusting her glasses better and placing a rebellious lock of hair behind her ear, Barbara read each line, phrase and code that passed on the screen in front of her carefully and methodically.

Although it was early, she had decided not to waste time and get to work immediately on the case that now worried her. After all, Oracle didn’t just guide Gotham vigilantes through the night, she did much more. Also had a few of cases to check out for the Birds of Prey, but she had run into something important the day before that couldn’t wait.

“Here.” Said a figure standing at her side, leaving a steaming and necessary cup of coffee on the counter. She hadn’t even heard him arrive. “Just how you like it.”

That “something” was also the reason his early visitor was there, showing up an hour ago with a promise of coffee and company.

“Thank you.” She said absentmindedly and returning to work as if nothing happened.

She didn’t have to bow her head and look at him to know that Dick was rolling his eyes and smiling at her fondly, she could feel his gaze on her, distilling tenderness and understanding as always did when she was absorbed around him by an important case.

And this certainly was, no matter how much Dick had appeared in the watchtower worried and waiting to talk about a totally different aspect of it.

“Damian knows?” She asked without taking her eyes off the screen, reading the news and recent events as grabbed the cup to take a sip.

As she delighted in the drink’s taste and caffeine starting to pump through her body, Dick pulled out his phone with a dejected aura and turned it on to watch the screen, his face showing nervousness and anticipation. However, that sad and decayed aura grew stronger after verifying he had no calls or messages, then shook his head.

“I’ll try to call him again.” He said, taking a few steps away to not disturb her and dialing Damian’s number, waiting for the younger to answer.

He wasn’t going to.

She knew it, he knew it, everyone knew it.

Contacting Damian these days was already very difficult itself, at least for something unrelated to the crusade. He always hung up unless it was an Oracle frequency, the comms was the only thing that connected him directly with them, and he used to turn off his phone when he knew they could bother him. Depending of the day, he could also read your texts or not, but that depended on his mood and other factors, such as Jonathan Kent intervening or his level od nostalgia.

But no matter how many times she tried to explain Dick that Damian is already 22, he’s not Robin anymore, lives with his boyfriend in Metropolis and doesn’t want to know anything about him. Because he always calls him, waiting for an answer as if nothing had changed. And she, as usual, allows it despite knowing the result.

Also, if Damian doesn’t want to see Dick on a normal daily basis, what makes him think today is going to be different? He had more reasons than ever to avoid him and everyone now, and surely, he would have turned off his phone and hidden it in the darkness corner of a drawer until next week or month.

It wasn’t just because Damian usually isolated himself completely from everything and everyone during the anniversary of Tim and Jason disappearance, without answer and hiding with his head down like a wounded, sad puppy to lick his wounds in the dark. But because this year he had starred a rather interesting and destructive episode resulting from what was surely an unhealthy coping mechanism and an ineffective emotion management.

It wasn’t the first year something like that happened, as time passed and the anniversary arrived, it was well known that it was coming a brief period of awkward silences, latent guilt, heated arguments, and an impending disaster. By whom? That was a surprise.

Two years ago, was Jonathan Kent with his spectacular drunkenness and tractor launch; Three years ago, it was his brother, Conner, who flew out of nowhere to the space, was missing for a whole month and when he returned the answer was “I went for a walk but I got hungry.”; Another was Stephanie and her call from the local police station for get into a bar fight and broke several bones of some men who seemed very afraid of her while they process the fine; Other, was the imminent and irremediable break up of Bruce and Selina after months of arguments and tension, whose consequent robberies to art galleries were disastrous; This year had been Damian getting fully involved in an explosion; And the previous -and the best, in her opinion- was Dick breaking into her living room drunk and stripping while screaming “Let’s do it for the old times” when her father was visiting.

Yes, something happened always, to a greater or lesser extent. Those involved always stayed away for a while before lifting their heads up and bearing the consequences, some more easily than others, of course. Kon promised to say someone if he was taking walks again, Jon paid the tractor, Stephanie the fine for aggression, Selina returned nothing, and now his father can’t look at Dick again. But the whole process took a while, after all the emotions had overflowed, they had stopped being rational so as not to deal with the pain of loss and they had to get back together. That was Damian needed, to recover and take responsibility for what happened.

The problem is that he didn’t know what had really happened, and what it could mean.

“No answer.” Dick sighed coming back to her side.

“Of course not.” She replied thoughtfully and drinking her coffee. “Give him some time.”

“I know, but Babs, he was hurt.” He complained, concern written on his face. “He should be in the cave, recovering…”

Barbara raised an eyebrow and looked at him behind the mug questioningly, causing Dick to snort nervously. If he really thought Damian was going to stay in the cave for a single second, with him there, after the disaster he formed part and injured, he hadn’t been paying attention to anything for the past six years.

“At least he won’t be alone, he’ll call us later.” He won’t. But Dick had to convince himself to don’t lose his temper. “How are you doing with that?”

He asked that pointing to the screen, and she still looked at him recapping her work from a few hours ago.

The explosion in Zodome center had been big, spread to several streets with subsequent serious fires and numerous wounded, deaths still to be determined. But as much as Superboy had appeared to help and the situation had gotten better, for the city was something common. Gamorra was an island where crime lived and reign, always had, no matter how hard they tried to cleanse or purify the place, crime always found another way to get in, adapt and live in the shadows.

That had been precisely the real cause of the explosion, even if they had deduced that it had been because the terrorist group Damian was chasing had become a little nervous with his presence.

Ironically, it was a trigger, but not the cause. One part of the group had entered the island because of the easy access to the black market, and the others for something more important and substantial in these times: information.

“Good.” She replied, setting the cup aside and typing on the keyboard again. “When the servers went down, I could get a lot of what was leaking on that supercomputer.”

Dick nodded, settling on the counter next to her and watching her working again, classifying with her programs the information they now had.

Gamorra was an ideal place for any villain or organization with questionable intentions to find a cozy place and establish a base. No one asked anything, your neighbors were other criminals who didn’t want to be disturbed too and privacy was highly valued.

Except when some annoying neighbors were more curious than usual and discovered a strategically hidden supercomputer in the city center that may contain very valuable information.

She still hadn’t determined who it belonged to and which was the exact function of such a processor, but based on what she had seen so far, the servers acted as a kind of filter between the common and the dark network that they drove privately. Apparently, they were pretty well established, shady deals, big money transactions, questionable contacts, handling and dominance of hacking programs, organ sales, forged documents, human trafficking, and in general everything that a dark net can bring.

Whoever it was, Barbara knew they were good, had resources and well organized, because not only had they managed to escape from their radar all this time, but the security was extreme and the network they had built was very large, it couldn’t have been done by a single individual. It was a group, one that didn’t mind destroying half a city as long as nobody gain access to them, because the moment the terrorists tried to enter, the extra security was activated, and everything was blown up.

All trace of the supercomputer and what had been around it had been reduced to ashes, causing a fatal and unexpected explosion that struck Damian and five blocks around. And everything could have stayed there, they would have succeeded and getting away with it, people would have died, and they would have continued with their network and control in the criminal world, but they didn’t count with one thing:

She was fucking Oracle.

And when everything exploded, the servers and programs that acted as a filter and security went off for a few seconds, then went back on immediately at the other part of the world, probably where the group had another computer which she was already trying to track down. But those few seconds were enough for her to steal information and certain operative programs, freeing them from theirs claws and using for her benefit.

It hadn’t been a lot, but enough. And since then, Barbara had been classifying each thing carefully, disabling viruses, sending the necessary information to entities that may need it and taking notes of every harmful business or name that went through her eyes.

Thanks to this everyone will be busy for a while, they had found a criminal mine which it’s necessary to eradicate and investigate, as well as the group that had given them the network and sense of freedom. If they did it right, they would know soon who they were, and can erase them, but at least she would have liked to discover all of this in a way that didn’t involve a fatal explosion, she’s sure Damian too.

But Damian doesn’t know this, because blames himself for it, can’t stand failure, misses Jason and Tim, and has not been able to forgive anyone in the family since they deserted.

“Something interesting?” Dick ended up asking as she finished her coffee. “Apart from all the illegal acts we now know.”

Barbara leaned over her chair and looked at him, reflecting.

Dick shouldn’t be here. He didn’t even understand part of what was going on, not because he couldn’t, but because his head wasn’t in the right place right now to do it. That’s precisely why he was there, making coffee, smiling at her and watching her working without question, because it was better to be distracted with her than his own thoughts. It wasn’t annoying, nor irritating, just… Babs knew why he did it, and that caused a slight pinch of anguish through her chest and made her want to work without rest to neither think (talking about unhealthy coping mechanism, right?)

Dick didn’t want to be alone. At least not today. But Bruce wasn’t an option, because they would jump into each other’s throat just by being in the same room, and probably argued about who was more guilty of what; Damian had fled away into Jon’s arms, he preferred to spend time with anyone than Dick, and the affection he had for him had frozen at the moment he did that six years ago; Stephanie wasn’t going to receive him, probably would spit him in the face for the same reason; And Cass not only lived with the previous one, but would look at him that way, so… Cass. Former Titans or other friends weren’t a bad choice, but it was as if Dick was afraid to get out of Gotham, as if he were tied up here.

So, he was there with her, talking and trying to distract both of them from the emotional meltdown that the whole thing entailed.

“Actually…” She started to say. “All of this gave me an idea."

“Hm?”

Dick tilted his head with a smile, looking at her expectantly and with great interest, just as he did when he was Robin and they were both young, so young and stupid. And the words Barbara wanted to say died in her throat, leaving her quiet.

She couldn’t say it. She couldn’t hurt him like that.

It was a brief idea, not even well formulated, but one that had been bothering her since she looked at the hacking programs she found within the dark network. Some of them were very smart and well programmed, but there was one in particular, expensive and sophisticated, that had caught her attention. It combined the typical control over cameras and security systems to turn them off or superimpose images, along with facial recognition systems. That reach an interesting effect, because according to what she had understood about it and how operated, if it hacks specific cameras and predetermine a face, a name or a person, the program prevent its detection, saving the images in the private servers of the network, avoiding them come to light and not only the acts of the person who use it were hidden, but also their presence, their existence. As if they had disappeared.

What if…?

With such kind of program, refined and using it correctly in specific points, a person could move around the world perfectly undetected, totally invisible to any media because his image was not registered commonly and it was derived to a closed and secure network. It was dangerous, and at the same time, perfect for wanted criminals, thieves and above all, people who want to disappear.

What if Tim and Jason had been using something similar?

Tim was brilliant and knew Barbara. They had worked together, was familiar with her methods, and he was aware that the moment they disappeared she would track them with all her power. But the tracking and recognition system she had created solely to find them had not find a single match in six years. She had thought it was because they knew how to avoid cameras and keep a low profile too well, but what if it was another thing? What if there was something else blocking her system? Like a sophisticated program like this?

It was a possibility.

And looking at Dick, curious, smiling and expectant, but with a deep sadness, guilt and tiredness shining behind his blue eyes, she realized she couldn’t tell him this. She couldn’t.

Because it was a possibility, it was a hope.

She couldn’t do that to Dick, not like that. If she told him about it and then she was wrong, it would break him. Everyone knew that Dick would jump into a burning building if anyone told him that Tim and Jason were inside. And if Barbara gave him something to hold on to and then take it away from him, she wasn’t sure how he will react. So, she just shook her head, grabbed his now empty cup of coffee and gave it to him carefully.

“Doesn’t matter. Don’t mind me.” She turned that down. “Can you get me another cup, please? I’ll finish this and then we can rest.”

“Of course.” He answered, still smiling and pretending not to have realized how she had hesitated, taking the cup and leaving.

She watched at him go, feeling a little bit more miserable than usual and holding back a sigh. Everything had been easier when they were young and stupid, hadn’t it? It was just them, jumping in the roofs, forming a good team and laughing as they flight. Now they have secrets, regrets, permanent injuries, brothers to miss and nobody to ask for forgiveness.

Would any of this have happened if she had put more effort at the time? What would have changed if she had decided to speak when everything happened instead of remaining neutral? Had anything would change?

She shook her head and decided she couldn’t begin to think about that topic beyond the possibility that now had, because it wouldn’t worth to sink in unanswered questions again. She knew the idea wasn’t defined either, that maybe it was more complicated than that, after all Tim was smarter and if he did something like this, he would do it with people he trusted.

But a little hunch mixed with a tiny hope leaded her to search that program, studying it for a few seconds. She couldn’t trace who used it and how, but now she’s the owner and main admin, she could disable it, undo it, digging up the original images. The probability that Jason and Tim were there was low, but if she were wrong at least would leak infinity of incriminating videos and photos that would serve to put other people in jail.

“It would be too lucky, right?” She thought with irony.

It was very difficult to be optimistic after so long. And after pressing the button, she saw how her systems started to work, analyzing and storing the images that were already beginning to appear in her screen quickly.

She heard Dick approaching her again, this time with two cups in his hands. Quiet, the ex-batgirl thought about how she could trace other programs like this, or their creator, or anything that could bring her a little closer to what had caused not to be able to find the missing Robins with her methods. And also, allowed herself to think with sadness how easy it would be if Tim were here, in another computer and helping her in the same disinterested way as ever, smiling shyly and insecurely as he told her about how Jason had invited him to his favorite chilli dogs truck the other night, or how Damian had been mad at him because Alfred the cat had learned if his owner put him on a diet, the solution was beg food to Tim.

She remembered how empty and useless she felt when she couldn’t track down or find the other two after Bruce called for help. As if all the work and development she had been through after being paralyzed were nothing, because at the end she couldn’t find her family.

Until one alarm started to ring.

An aloud and shrill alarm that had never sounded before, and she had been waiting -begging- for six years.

“Don’t screw with me.” She said straightening up in her chair and looking up surprised. “Don’t fucking screw with me.”

“What’s that sound?” Dick asked, standing at her side again.

“Oh shit.” She said, getting away from that computer to go to another one, rushing and starting to typing in a hurry, more surprised than ever. She didn’t think it would be true, nor if she were even right. “Oh shit!”

“Babs?” The other asked again, chasing after her and beginning to worry. It wasn’t like her to act like this unless she had a reason. “What happens?”

“Oh my god.”

“Babs?!”

She didn’t answer, because it was better to turn on the other screens around them so that Dick could see the same as her.

All the screens lighted up, showing images, many images from different places, different countries, a lot of places whose cameras had managed to record those whom they lost. The tall figure of Jason accompanied by the little of Tim, sometimes alone, almost always together, appearing in every corner of the screens without stopping, images where they were laughing, talking, walking, kissing, living, appearing one after another. Some from years ago, others from months, weeks, hours, the most recent from a few minutes.

Babs gasped, assimilating what she had just achieved. Dick dropped the cups on the floor, overwhelmed. “Match detected.” Shined on the screens, in large and showy letters, at last.

“Oh shit.”

They found them.

#myfic #tim drake #jason todd #jon kent #jonathan kent #damian wayne #jondami #jaytim #timjay #damijon #red hood #red robin #superboy #robin #dc #dc comics #supersons

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aurora-light-blog · 4 years

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“Alone” Titan Fanfiction

Here are my thoughts on season two of DC “Titans.” The major improvement to the series is Kory’s awful hair style. That hairstyle in season one made her look old and with the dreadful attire made her look trashy. Once they got rid of the hairstyle and hooker outfit, the show was 40% percent better lol. I do agree with other fans that the major flaw of this show is the lack of time spent on character development. Also, Dick turning into Nightwing seemed way too long. For a supposed dark show, I found that it lacked grit. I kind of knew that it wouldn’t be dark since the writers used foul language, sex and violence as a crutch instead of weighty deep subject matter as dark. This is the reason why my current fanfiction is lighter than my first one. The beginning of the Jericho subplot was ok. The rest was blah. I must admit that I actually liked the Rose Wilson character. Probably, since I didn’t really know the comic character of her (I read the series before she existed), I had nothing to compare her too. Who knows? Anyway, I am surprised by how much I used her and liked using her in my fanfiction.

Now, the important question, did I like the series version of Superboy? Yes. The innocent version isn’t bad. Though, it goes against their dark theme. They tried to make it up with Lex Luthor’s dark backstory. I would have preferred Dubbilex instead of Eve Watson (betting is going to be a throw away character that we probably either never or barely seen again). I am thrilled that they utilized Krypto, and the action sequences were nice.

How did this affect M’gann? I kept the child soldier aspect, though I put the split personality on the back burner. Interesting thing about severe childhood trauma is the person can behave extremely childish despite their age. So, M’gann gravitated to Conner because his child like innocent, which she had taken from her. It allowed me to spend more time developing their relationship. Of course, I had to have my version of the famous kitchen scene in Young Justice Season 1. Again, I used the JLA comic for inspiration on the White Martian plot. It was tune down from a full invasion to a small assault to kill Martian Manhunter. Most of the event occurred like what happen in issue one to four of JLA comics.

Again, this fanfiction was intended to be a subplot or B storyline. I did introduce Karen (Bubblebee) and Mal Duncan. I didn’t know Mal’s backstory, so I researched it deficient. My story changed it. Karen’s stayed mostly the same from the comics. I simply tied it to the “Doom Patrol.” Blue Beetle was just mentioned in my story (hence no tags). Roy Harper was in it, but I don’t think he needed as much as backstory told.

Behind the scenes, I did have some ideas for HIVE storyline idea, which would involve Jericho’s mom and his brother. It wasn’t included because it went off topic and wasn’t complete formed. It was formed more than Blackfire idea. There was going to be a confrontation between Eve and M’gann. Also, more dialog for Jason Todd had been planned. It ended up being cut from the writing. If there any storylines from my fanfiction, which you want to be continue, please tell me. Thanks for reading it :)

#dc titans fanfiction #titans dc #m'gann m'orzz

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not-close-to-straight · 5 years

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When A Perfect Date Goes Horribly Wrong (Winteriron)

Winteriron! Yay! This one is for @multishippinglife who wanted Bucky planning a date for Tony where everything goes wrong. This is cheesy and hilarious!

VDAY COMMISSIONS HERE!

Enjoy!

********************

Sunrise on Valentines Day was at exactly 7:07am.

At exactly 7:06 am Bucky was perched at the end of his and Tony’s bed, piccolo raised to his lips and waiting for daybreak so he could wake Tony up with a soft serenade and start this very first, very perfect Valentines Day together.

“Good morning sweet thing.” He murmured, and Tony stretched in the bed, a silly sleepy smile on his face. “Happy Valentines Day.”

“Happy Valentines Day soldier.” Tony whispered back, dark eyes lighting with interest when he realized Bucky was wearing nothing but a towel, hair still damp and water drops tracking down his bare chest. “Actually, happy Valentines Day to me. You're coming back to bed, right?”

“As soon as I wake you up properly.” Bucky lifted the piccolo and took a deep breath and--

Shriiiieeeeekkkkkkk!

“AH!” Tony gave a shriek of his own, clapping his hands over his ears and diving for the pillows. “Bucky! What the fuck!”

“Oh my god!” Bucky dropped the instrument in horror. “I thought I could play you a song on the piccolo-- they said it was just a tiny flute! I don’t understand why--”

“That’s a recorder you doofus!” Tony shouted. “You just puckered up and blew as hard as you could into a plastic recorder! I’m having flashbacks to fourth grade music class and it isn’t good!”

“I’m sorry!” Bucky shouted back. “I was trying to be romantic!”

“You almost burst my ear drums! How is that romantic?”

A knock at the door and they both looked up in confusion. “Who the hell is knocking at our door at seven in the morning?” Bucky tightened the towel around his waist and stomped over to the door. “What? What do you want? It’s Valentines day!”

“Yes.” Clint stood on the other side of the door, bare ass naked other than a pillow held in front of his nethers, looking grumpy and disgruntled. “Yes, it is Valentines day and I was basically balls deep into my celebration when I thought I heard a scream like someone was dying and then you two goons started shouting. Tell me, Frosty. Why are you shouting at seven am on Valentines day?”

“I was trying to play the piccolo for Tony.” Bucky retorted. “Take your naked ass back downstairs and resume your celebration.”

“I can promise that after seeing you in a towel and realizing you use the word piccolo as code for dick, my celebration is probably over until later tonight.” Clint informed him. “But thanks anyway.”

“Piccolo is not code for my dick!” Bucky yelled down the hallway. “Clint? CLINT?! Ugh.” he shut the door and turned back to Tony. “Okay, Tony I--wait, are you laughing?”

“I’m sorry!” Tony clutched a pillow tight, trying his hardest not to giggle at his boyfriend. “I’m sorry, but Clint jumping out of bed mid coitus with Nat to come up here to make sure no one was dying? And then he thought playing your piccolo was your way of talking about your dick? OH MY GOD.”

“Okay but like--” Bucky frowned down at the offending recorder. “I wouldn’t call my dick a piccolo. That just sounds tiny. Maybe like… a bass guitar.”

Tony screamed with laughter, outright chucking the pillow at Bucky and diving under the blankets to try and be at least a little bit quiet.

“Tony.” Bucky narrowed his eyes. “Tony, it wasn’t that funny.”

“I’m definitely going to ask you if you want to go to band practice every time I want to get laid!” Tony cried, wiping at tears as he tried to get himself under control. “Is the bass guitarist also the lead singer? Are you a screamer? A head banger? Oh my god, am I your groupie?”

“No no it’s fine.” Bucky flung the pillow back at Tony, checking his strength so it barely bounced off of him. “Keep laughing, Tony. Keep laughing and I’m going to cancel the rest of the day today which would be a real shame because I have something great planned.”

“Okay okay I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Tony dragged in a deep breath, lips still twitching with the need to laugh. “I um-- I don’t want to miss out on our day together. Sorry. I’m good. I’m good. Recorder disaster aside, I’m really excited to spend the day with you.”

“Okay.” Bucky kissed him gently. “Well, good morning anyway.”

“Good morning, baby.” Tony said seriously, and then less seriously, “If I stroke your bass guitar right will it play Smoke on the Water?”

“I’m leaving you.” Bucky threw up his hands and stomped towards the closet. “That's it, we’re breaking up. Have a good Valentines Day alone. Jerk.”

“Bucky! Bucky wait! Bucky I love you!”

*****************

Breakfast was planned for a tiny cafe tucked between two old bookstores, and it took Bucky a full half an hour to get Tony out of the first bookstore and into the cafe, promising several times that yes they could go into the other bookstore but first they needed to eat.

“This cafe has the best Eggs Benedict.” Bucky assured him, directing Tony to a delightfully antique table with matching chairs in front of the big window that overlooked the river. “They serve it with smoked salmon and capers and enough hollandaise sauce to drown in, so I know you’ll love it.”

“Oooh.” Tony finally dragged his gaze away from the tempting book shelves and sat down. “That does sound yummy.”

“Well we can restart our morning at least.” Bucky said dryly. “We didn’t get to have a romantic serenade but we can have your favorite breakfast, right?”

“This is going to be amazing.” Tony reached across and squeezed Bucky’s hand. “And I’m sorry for laughing so hard this morning, you tried really hard to wake me up nicely and while a piccolo wasn’t what I was expecting when I saw you sitting half naked on the bed looking all sexy, it was very sweet of you to try.”

“Alright then.” They shared a kiss, Bucky scrunching his nose playfully when Tony tugged at his hair. “Let’s get some breakfast.”

“Good morning, good morning!” the waitress was adorable and cheery as she sat peach Bellini’s down on their table. “And a very Happy Valentines Day to you two! Have we decided on breakfast yet or do you need a moment?”

“This hottie over here--” Bucky winked at Tony, who winked right back and started chugging his Bellini. “-- wants the salmon Benedict, light on the capers but heavy on the hollandaise. I’ll have steak and eggs.”

“Oh.” Her mega watt smile slipped just a bit. “Oh I’m so sorry, we are out of our salmon Benedict, all sold out.”

“Oh.” Tony didn’t even hesitate, not so much as a flicker of disappointment on his face. “That’s fine! How about a florentine Benedict?”

“Oooh.” She clicked her tongue. “Sorry. Any form of Benedict is unavailable right now.”

“Is it a hollandaise problem?” Bucky asked curiously, and a tad bit annoyed. “Or a no egg problem or--?”

“New cook.” She said apologetically. “Can’t poach an egg to save his life, but on everything else he is wonderful, I promise.”

“Alright, no poached eggs.” Tony eyed his already empty drink. “What about a veggie and egg white omelet?”

“I can do that!” Brightly, the waitress scribbling on her note pad. “And for you, hon?”

“Steak and eggs.” Bucky repeated. “Steak medium rare, eggs runny, and--”

“Yikes, no steak! So sorry!”

“Okay.” Tony pulled a fifty out of his wallet and pressed it into her palm. “Thank you very much for the champagne drink, but I think we’ll find somewhere else for breakfast. Happy Valentines Day.”

“Um-- Happy Valentines Day?” she said slowly and Tony hustled Bucky up and out the door.

“Damn it.” Bucky sighed. “Tony, I picked that place out for you months ago. I knew you would love their food and I can’t believe they were out of everything. I really wanted to give you a great breakfast.”

“Well, we could duck down this side alley and you could give me something else for breakfast.” Tony suggest, and when Bucky’s mouth dropped, Tony elbowed him playfully. “Huh? Huh? You want to give me something else for breakfast?”

“What in the hell is wrong with you today?” Bucky finally asked. “Jokes about bass guitars? Suggesting illicit moments in alleys? Who are you?”

“Valentines Day makes me weird.” Tony shrugged. “So. Ihop for breakfast?”

“Fine.” Bucky grumbled. “Then we have plans at noon okay?”

“Plans at noon.” Tony bussed a kiss to his cheek. “I can't wait.”

********************

“Oh my god, plans at noon were boating with the swans?!” Tony shrieked out loud when they got out of the car and he saw what was waiting. “Bucky are you serious? I have always wanted to do this! How did you know I always wanted to do this!”

“Pepper.” Bucky admitted, grinning when Tony just threw himself into his arms, smothering him in a long kiss. “I asked her if there was something you’d always wanted to do at Valentines Day but never did and she automatically said swans. Didn’t even hesitate. Said that every single year for as long as she’s known you, you’ve wanted to go boating with the swans and never did.”

“I never did.” Tony’s smile was stretched almost comically wide. “I have never done this and look! The boats are just as cheesy as I always thought they would be!”

“Tony, you have more money than I could probably count.” Bucky took his hand as they headed down the dock. “So I know it’s not a price issue. And I’ve heard the stories of the stuff you dragged Colonel Rhodes into, so I know it’s not because you never had anyone to go with. You’ve lived in New York for over twenty years. Why haven’t you done this even once?”

“Because.” Tony answered noncommittally, then stood on his toes to try and scope out which swan boat he wanted. “Can we have the one with the blue bow tie painted on? It sort of looks like your eyes and I like that.”

“We want the one with the blue bow tie.” Bucky informed the operator, then turned back to Tony. “Seriously babe, how is it that you will order the most random things in the world online but when it comes to doing something you actually want, you wait twenty years to make it happen?”

“Oh well--” Tony shrugged, shoved his hands in his pockets. “I mean, I didn’t have anyone to go with.”

“Colonel Rhodes.” Bucky pointed out. “Pepper, because she was your assistant, you could just write it in as one of her duties. Clint would go with you in a heartbeat and definitely Sam, it could be the bird brains chance to commune with their winged brothers. Steve is a dork, you could trick him into doing it. And--”

“It doesn’t matter!” Tony interrupted and pointed at the water. “There’s our boat! Let’s go!”

“Oh my god.” Bucky rolled his eyes but jogged after Tony anyway, holding the damn thing still while Tony wobbled his way onto one end of the seat and patted the spot next to him cheerfully. “You know how to work a paddle boat, don’t you?”

“Bucky, I’m a genius.” Tony scoffed. “The day I don’t know how to operate a paddle boat is a --hey are we going backwards?”

“Pedal the other way, sweetheart.” A long suffering, distinctly fond sigh. “Christ, it’s good that you’re cute.”

“I love you too.” Tony cheesed a grin over at Bucky and pumped his fist excitedly. “Let’s see how fast this bird can go!”

As it turned out, Tony’s excitement was short lived, because not even the most vigorous amount of paddling from a playboy billionaire and his super soldier boyfriend could convince an overly heavy boat that resembled a barn door with terribly crafted plywood swans on either side to go more than a few miles per hour.

“I think this is as exciting as this boat ride is going to get.” Bucky commented after a few minutes and Tony sighed dejectedly.

“Yeah, I guess they don’t want me racing across the pond, I might scare the actual swans.”

“Giant birds.” Bucky said, and Tony blurted-- “Oh my god! So big! Why are swans so big?”

“They’re practically ‘you’ sized.” Bucky teased and Tony made an attempt at elbowing him, but only succeeded in banging his elbow on an unforgiving metal arm. “Aw honey, is your elbow alright?”

“You and your super soldier snark need to stop.” Tony said firmly. “The swans are not ‘me’ sized. I’m way bigger than a swan, even if they are sort of shockingly giant and terrifying.”

“Seriously terrifying.” Bucky agreed. “Look at that one just eyeing us. Does he think we’re another swan invading his territory?”

“I think we’re probably fine as long as we’re in the bigger boat.” Tony was starting to look a little nervous as the swan swam closer. “People don’t get attacked by swans, right? They’re like nature’s ballerina dancers. There’s whole ballets written about them. Ballerina’s don’t attack people.”

“Well I mean--” Bucky’s eyes widened when another swan approached from the other side. “--You’ve met Nat, right? Because she is definitely a ballerina that would attack you. Kill you. Suffocate you between her thighs and then pirouette away in her tu-tu with no one the wiser.”

“Yeah.” Tony chuckled. “Yeah, she is pretty terrify--ING! OH MY GOD BUCKY HELP!” He screeched at the top of his lungs when one of the swans jerked towards him, wings flaring and mouth open. “WHAT IS HAPPENING!?”

“Tony, wait! You’re going to--” Bucky grabbed at Tony’s belt loops before he pitched over the side of the swan boat. “Let’s not go for a swim, alright? I’m sure the bird’s just posturing and trying-- HOLY SHIT IT TRIED TO BITE ME!”

Tony screamed when Bucky screamed, the boat rocking dangerously in the water and nearly throwing them both over the sides. Thankfully their noise and arm waving scared away the swan and it took a minute, but Bucky got himself settled and Tony back in the seat and steady and the boat operator stopped shouting at them from the shore.

“Holy crap.” Bucky dragged a hand over his face. “You alright baby? I had no idea swan boat rides were so dangerous! There should be a warning about those bitchy birds, what in the hell?”

“Uh, Buck?” Tony’s voice was very steady, but his eyes were very wide, edging on panicked. “We probably have a bigger problem than shockingly sinister cygnets.”

“What do you mean we have a bigger problem than--” Bucky looked down at their feet. “Oh no, the boats leaking.”

“I don’t want to sound like a know it all?” Tony lifted his shoes up away from the rapidly swirling water. “But the boat isn’t leaking, it is most definitely sinking and we are definitely sinking with it.”

“We’re going to end up in the water with the big birds?” Bucky asked slowly.

“Yep.” Tony nodded. “Yep yep yep.”

“Dripping in some probably disgusting lake goo?” He added with a cringe.

“Most likely.”

“Ugh.” Bucky groaned and pinched at the bridge of his nose as he felt a migraine starting. “Bring it on.”

****************

The Swan Boat operator couldn’t do much more than stare open mouthed as Bucky marched out of the lake, Tony holding onto his back, both dripping wet with seaweed and various aquatic plant life clinging to their clothes. Bucky’s scowl was fierce enough to make the operator seriously reconsider saying anything at all, and Tony just threw a couple sodden bills in the general direction of the cash register to pay for the ruined boat.

“Bucky.” Tony mumbled once they were further away. “Let’s never do that again?”

“Yep.” Bucky shifted so Tony was a little more secure on his back. “Don’t you own one of the hotels around here?”

“I own three, why?” Tony waited a beat and then, “Oh, because we can go and get a room and shower the lake ick off of us?”

“There’s the genius I love so much.”

“Okay, yeah. Closest one is six blocks over.” Tony dug his heels into Bucky’s side. “Giddy-up--eek! Bucky!” he screamed when Bucky reached up with his left hand and bodily dragged Tony over his shoulder and around to face him. “Oh my, that was both terrifying and arousing. How come you don’t man handle me more with that arm?”

“Because it could break you without even trying.” Bucky said flatly. “But you kick me like a horse and say giddy-up again and your adorable ass will be walking all six of those blocks alone, do you understand?”

“Sorry.” Tony said meekly. “Can I ride on your back again? I’m all wet and squishy still.”

“Come on. Back up you go.”

******************

“Are you going to take a shower with me?” Tony stuffed all his clothes into a laundry bag and hung it outside the door of their suite. “It’s a big shower, I’m still a little cold.” he waggled his eyebrows coaxingly. “You could keep me warm.”

“No.” Bucky said shortly and Tony blinked in surprise. “No, go ahead and take a shower, I’ll get one after you’re done.”

“I could use the help washing my hair?” Tony offered, but Bucky didn’t so much as crack a smile, so Tony shut the bathroom door with a petulant frown and stepped into the hot water.

What the hell is wrong with him?

Bucky didn’t have much to say when Tony got out of the shower either, brushing past him and locking the door to take his own shower without more than a “excuse me” and “thank you” as they passed.

“Rude.” Tony muttered, but he shrugged into one of the overly fluffy robes hanging in the closet and flopped onto the bed, dialing for room service. “Hey yeah. Can you send me up two of whatever the lunch special is at the restaurant today? And a bottle of wine because it might only be one thirty but I definitely need a drink. Yep, yep. Thank you very much.”

He flipped through the channels on the TV idly until Bucky came out of the bathroom, towel sitting low on his waist.

“Oh hey.” Tony sat up straighter on the bed. “What’s up, soldier? I feel like I woke up to this exact same sight this morning. Seemed a shame to miss out on fresh from the shower sex then, we can make up for it now, huh?”

“I uh--” Bucky swept a hand through his hair, shaking loose the rest of the water. “No thanks, Tony. I know I’m usually ready for a triple x throw down but after the day we’ve had--” he shook his head. “Maybe just some TV and a nap.”

“Wait, what do you mean after the day we’ve had?” Tony clicked the TV off and cocked his head curiously. “Babe, what’s wrong with the day we’ve had?”

“What’s wrong?” Bucky echoed. “Tony, this has been probably the worst Valentines Day ever.”

“What?” Tony started to laugh, but Bucky’s eyes flashed with hurt, so he shut up. “No, no it’s definitely not the worst. Why would you say that?”

“Not the worst?” Bucky challenged, voice rising in agitation. “Tony, I’ve been planning this Valentines Day since Christmas. Since Christmas. I wanted it to be perfect. I bought a fucking piccolo and practiced that stupid song for weeks, then last week my piccolo broke so I ordered another one and didn’t bother checking to make sure they sent me the right one. My morning serenade turned into you almost going deaf.”

“Okay.” Tony allowed. “Okay the piccolo and recorder mix up was unfortunate but--”

“And then breakfast?” Bucky went on, gesturing wildly. “A french themed cafe squeezed between two antique book shops? It’s perfect for you. I had every intention of feeding you your favorite breakfast, then spending a few hours wandering through the book shelves with you. You probably don’t know this? But every time you read something you love your eyes get all soft and you smile the entire time and you hold books like they are the most precious things in the world and I--” he shut his eyes, the migraine from before returning full force. “You never have time to read Tony, you’re always saying you don’t have time to read anymore. I wanted to give you some time like that.”

“Bucky.” Tony’s heart broke a little at the misery in Bucky’s tone. “Baby, I--”

“But instead, they were out of everything we wanted to eat and we ended up having Valentines Day breakfast next to a troop of Girl Scouts at IHOP!” Bucky finished. “You ate red pancakes with heart shaped candy on them when you should have been smoked salmon and poached eggs and drinking champagne.”

“Sure, but--”

“And then I was so excited for the swan rides.” Bucky admitted. “When Pepper told me you’d always wanted to do it, I thought ‘yes, this is something I can give Tony that no one else has’ because let’s face it, sugar. You’ve traveled all sorts of romantic places and ate at the fanciest restaurants and get all sorts of ridiculous gifts that I could never hope to compete with but this--”

Bucky sat heavily in one of the chairs, broad shoulders slumped in defeat. “Swan boats were like this one stupid thing that I could give you, that I could do for you that no one else ever had. It would be our memory and only our memory. But instead of being a romantic little jaunt around a lake, we ended up attacked by those big ass birds and our boat sank beneath us and we had to walk six blocks reeking of gross lake water and--” he spread his hands helplessly, the words trailing off.

“You had this whole day planned out?” Tony asked quietly. “From morning clear till night?”

“Yeah. Yeah I did.”

“Well….” Tony inched off the bed, tightening the robe around his waist. “Will you tell me what you had planned for the rest of it;?”

“Um--” Bucky startled when Tony climbed into his lap, cuddling close against his chest. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Tony traced a drop of water as it fell over the metal plates on Bucky’s arm. “I want to know what else you wanted to do today.”

“Alright.” Bucky said slowly. “After the swans we were going to picnic in the park. There’s a real big tree in the north-east corner and it’s sort of a hike but I would have carried you if you wanted. There’s a picture of you--”

“--in my graduation robe with Rhodey.” Tony interrupted. “Yeah, we snuck away from my parent’s fancy graduation party to skip rocks on the lake and we ended up finding that tree by accident. Our names are still carved into it.”

“--yeah.” Bucky nodded. “Thought we could picnic there and you could tell me all the stories from your college days with Rhodey. I know you miss him, you’ve been talking about him a lot lately. Thought we could carve our initials in the tree like teenagers in love, you know?”

“Adorable.” Tony declared. “What else?”

“After the picnic I was gonna take you back home.” Bucky wove their fingers together and Tony pressed closer. “Maybe get in a short nap, but then I was going to cook you dinner. Nothing fancy, but I bought a stupid ‘Kiss the Cook’ apron and was gonna serve you out on the balcony. You never drink if we’re out in public cos you’re so worried about being silly and someone getting a picture for the tabloids, but you drink when you’re with me.”

Bucky chuckled then, dropping a kiss onto Tony’s hair. “You’re so cute when you’re drunk, do you know that? Get all giggly and grabby, I love it. Figured if we were at home you wouldn’t worry about nothing and could just relax. I could carry you up to bed and love on you all night long--”

“All night?”

“All. Night.” Bucky emphasized. “Or at least until you’d had your fill of me. We don’t switch all that much anymore, but we could tonight. Want you inside of me just as bad as I wanna be inside of you.”

“Damn, babe.” Tony wriggled on Bucky’s lab. “That all sounds amazing.”

“I thought so.” Bucky said ruefully. “But nothing I’ve planned today has gone right so--”

“I dunno, I thought today was pretty perfect.” Tony countered, and when Bucky snorted in disbelief, he insisted-- “No, no I’m serious! Today was pretty perfect, you know why?”

“I still smell lake water if I breathe too deep.” Bucky deadpanned. “How was anything about today remotely perfect?”

“Well because--” Tony plucked at the hem of Bucky’s towel, drawing his thumb over the tempting jut of a hipbone. “--Because you planned it all. I mean, I woke up to my super hot boyfriend freshly showered and squeaky clean wearing nothing but a towel, ready to wake me up with a song instead of me having to wake up to my alarm.”

“Well yeah, but--”

“And then you took me to breakfast at a place that no one besides someone who loved me would know I loved.” He continued. “Bookshops like that barely exist anymore and when I do read, it’s usually on my phone in between meetings. No one knows I love french themed decor, and I can’t remember the last time I had either salmon or eggs Benedict which means you pay an awful lot of attention to me and what I like.”

“Of course I do, sugar.”

“Right.” Tony’s cheeks turned a little pink. “And the pancakes were fine, they don’t call it the House of Pancakes because they don’t know how to make them, you know. Breakfast was fine and you kept getting a whip cream mustache from your hot chocolate and it was so sweet I could have melted right there.”

“Oh.” Bucky’s eyes widened. “You didn’t hate breakfast?”

“Steve hadn’t eaten all the bacon.” Tony pointed out. “Sam and Clint weren’t arguing over who can eat more eggs. Natasha wasn’t adding that skin melting hot sauce to everything and Pepper wasn’t scolding me about eating healthier. Bucky, that was the most relaxing breakfast I’ve had in years.”

“Okay.” Finally a tiny smile from the big soldier when Tony kissed him sweetly. “Then I guess that’s not so bad.”

“Okay and the swans.” Tony blew out a deep breath and Bucky tensed again. “I never went on those boats because I didn’t have anyone I wanted to go with, alright? That entire thing is sappy and cheesy and terrible and honestly super boring, but when you’re with someone you're sweet on, it becomes real fun. The big giant birds are suddenly beautiful and graceful and the way they hug and do that weird neck rub thing makes two people want to kiss, right? And paddle boating? Terrible, oh my god. But squished together on a small seat while working together to move in random circles across a lake? So cute.”

“The swans attacked us.”

“Okay, I didn’t plan on that.” Tony winced. “But still. I got to do something I’ve always wanted to do with the man I love. And then you gave me a piggy back ride for six blocks, Buck. Six blocks. I got to get my legs around you and--ahem-- get my rub on for six blocks.”

“Ah, so it wasn’t in fact your phone digging into my back?”

“Nah.” Tony gave another little wiggle that Bucky groaning and holding him tighter. “I was just super happy to see you. And look, now we’re all showered and fresh again, I’m wearing nothing beneath my robe and that towel isn’t leaving a whole much to the imagination so what say we--” a quick tug at Bucky’s towel so it came unclasped. “--skip right to the part where you love me all night long?”

“It’s like two in the afternoon, baby doll.” Bucky grinned when Tony pulled at his towel impatiently. “You want to start that sort of thing now?”

“We could start it now.” Tony slid off Bucky’s lap to his knees, pushing the towel away and licking his lips when he saw that Bucky was already ready. “And then we could eat and then nap and then do it again and then order dessert you can steal an apron from the kitchen to wear while you feed me chocolate things and--”

He shut up when Bucky bent down and sealed their mouths together.

“I love you, sweet thing.” Bucky whispered. “Happy Valentines Day.”

“Happy Valentines Day, soldier.”

**********************

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#ncts fics #winteriron #valentines day #tony stark #bucky barnes

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why-this-kolaveri-machi · 5 years

Text

Grand Titans Rewatch: 1.01

so! i only really got into the show around the 6th episode, which means that while i was intrigued by the first five, i didn’t really pay a lot of close attention the first time ‘round. so i’m going to try and rewatch the entire series over the next several weeks and bring you Thoughts, because um. well. I Will Have Them.

SPOILERS for pretty much the entire series, though i will be covering only the pilot episode in this post. let’s see how this goes.

1. i’m just such a sucker for eerie dreamscapes, so i’m definitely biased when i say that this is a promising start. what’s really intriguing, though, is rachel dreaming of dick’s past well before she’d met the guy. after eleven episodes, the extent and even the very nature of rachel’s powers is still nebulous; this ability to dream about people she hasn’t even met only comes up this once, as far as i remember. (again, my initial viewing was superficial, so i might’ve missed it coming up/referenced again.)

1.5. a doylist explanation for this? hint at a special relationship between rachel and dick right off the bat, set the tone for the rest of the series, establish a character-development-by-dreamscape precedent, give us a gander at the origin story of the most iconic character in the ensemble, and set the broader arc of the season—an acceptance of and an ascent out of inner darkness—in motion with these two characters.

an in-universe search for an answer is potentially more interesting, however: why should these two be connected? i like to think that trigon’s influence started here, pushing rachel further and further down the path that would lead her to free him. i mean, handwaving aside the comic-booky implausibility of trigon foreseeing the exact pattern of random events that would lead to the moment rachel pulling him out of the mirror in 1.10 (he’s an interdimensional being! i don’t know! *flails hands*), i like the symbolism of it: both batman and trigon as phantom fathers that rachel and dick run away from, only to be pushed together. this is not to imply any broader equivalency between trigon and bruce wayne, of course; but it goes some way in explaining why this dick is especially traumatised and brutal, and why it would’ve had to be an especially traumatised and brutal bruce wayne that taught him everything he knows.

1.6. HAH at the ‘flying’ in the ‘flying graysons’ sign fizzling out just before the rope snaps, tho! so corny but also so upsetting.

(‘so corny but so upsetting’ – a valid tagline for titans)

1.8. oh but the set-up around rachel is so intriguing, tho! this is both the greatest strength and the greatest pitfall of the show: each of its characters can occupy a genre show of their own; because the first three episodes focus so heavily on rachel, it seems like the tone of the show changes when the titans finally get together, and like a lot of interesting, painstakingly slow set-up for rachel is just dropped and wasted.

2. the first glimpse we get of dick grayson is in the rearview mirror of his car. FUCK. i’m going to start a count.

MIRRORS, MIRRORS EVERYWHERE: 1

Ok. things i love about this little two minute introduction to dick grayson:

a) look at this broody asshole. i love him so much.

b) right away we have this push-pull re: his robin identity. he hates it, resents it, but can’t quite let it go. his officer grayson persona isn’t enough for all the evil in the world, even if it means losing control and falling farther and farther down a spiral of self-loathing.

c) he’s so damn mired in crime and tragedy, tho: officer grayson by day, vigilante robin by night. MAKE A FRIEND, DICK. GET A BEER, DICK.

(so true to character, tho: a suffering dick grayson is usually a determinedly self-isolated dick grayson.)

d) AMY ROHRBACH! i refuse to believe they’d just unceremoniously kill off such an iconic character. i fully expect to see her in s2.

e) “you do your thing. i’ll do mine.” a poorly functioning dick grayson picking up unhealthy coping cues from his mentor.

f) i love how implicit it is that gotham is a carnival of unending horror among the officers in the precinct, and probably every other city in america.

3. the clawmarks on rachel’s mother, tho! fuck, i wish they’d carried over more of this eeriness in the second half of the season. oh, and also:

MIRRORS, MIRRORS EVERYWHERE: 2

i realise why we had to get a move on with the plot, but i can’t help but wonder if we could’ve gotten an even slower build-up to rachel’s powers, because honestly? i know you’re lying, i always know when you’re lying, and the vicious slut! in the school bus window? actually more unsettling than watching rachel liquefy some baddie from the inside.

(tho. um. don’t get me wrong. that’s plenty disturbing, too.)

4. conflicted!brooding!vigilante!dick, here to chase away the images of dead women splayed over living room floors with bullet holes in their heads.

4.5. the fight scene was brutal, sure—but to be fair, most of batman/robin’s fights teeter on the fine line between causing enough damage to keep the bad guys down for a bit and outright brutality. it’s difficult to bring that to life on screen (in a series that touts to inject grittiness/realism into proceedings, no less) and portray a robin who’s definitely crossing some lines without going into some real brutal territory.

4.6. so far i’m loving how economical the storytelling is when it comes to dick—how quickly it’s established, then underscored, how being robin is so important to him and the last thing he wants. his curdling resentment at the thugs immediately looking for batman the moment they see him, and his inability to move on from being the other half of batman-and-robin. he feels compelled to play both parts at once when he’s fighting, and he hates it. all of these things are playing out right underneath stretched-too-thin skin, jagged and awful and ugly.

4.65. and the editing and sound choices keep emphasising how this is not dick in his natural state—how, in a lot of ways, robin is not his natural state anymore.

4.8. dick, brooding in his open-plan apartment, broodily listening to vinyl records and cleaning his armour of blood, while brooding. did i mention that i love this asshole?

(i don’t know where the bruises came from, considering that it seemed like the thugs couldn’t get a single hit in during the fight.)

MIRRORS, MIRRORS EVERYWHERE: 3

4.9. a dick timeline: the zucco thing happened, what, two years ago? robin hasn’t been seen in over a year. and dick moved to detroit a month ago. hmmmm.

5. rachel’s alter-ego-self as a manifestation of her powers continues to be fascinating. as is the fact that that alternate self appears less and less as she grows more accepting of what’s inside her and learns to control her abilities.

5.25. so, what, was sally a part of the cult that wants to kidnap rachel specifically, or just a Bad Person in general?

5.5. “you got that thing for helping kids” – i love that dick has this reputation barely a month into his time in this department. like. this guy is broody and closed-off and clearly traumatised, but hey, he’s good with kids!

MIRRORS, MIRRORS EVERYWHERE: 4

5.8. “you’re the boy from the circus” is super-dramatic and all, but how did rachel recognise adult!dick when she’s only seen kid!dick in her dreams? and also, why did she dream of dick at all?

5.99. side note: officer!dick’s hair is the best. it never gets better than this for the rest of the season at least until he becomes trigon’s demon acolyte.

6. KORY!

6.5. so… did the car accident cause the amnesia? do we ever find out why exactly she couldn’t remember anything about who she is? she doesn’t look injured; just dazed.

6.6. her passport was issued in 2014—so she’s been here a while, searching, researching. or not, because it’s probably a fake-ass document. stop reading so much into this, emmram!

MIRRORS, MIRRORS EVERYWHERE: 5

6.8. her super-convenient amnesia means she’s forgotten her identity but not human language, mores or customs. i like this extra layer of… alien-ness? that this brings to her: so now she’s not only a stranger to the rest of the world, but to herself. again, so many interesting things are set-up here that the show never really follows through with for the rest of the season—imagine re-discovering kory’s identity along with her, piecemeal, rather than an impersonal infodump near the end of the season!

6.9. also given that portrayals of starfire (at least those that i’ve seen/read) make liberal use of the ‘born sexy yesterday’ trope, i rather like this take—she’s already learned everything she needs to know about assimilating into human society, and it’s a question of rediscovering that knowledge instead of having some dude patronisingly mansplain the world to her.

6.95. why did she snap that russian dude’s neck, tho. that’s just brutal. i’d forgotten about this.

7. i like to think here that when dick says i’ll find someone who can help you, he’s not just thinking of law enforcement, but also of people in the super-community—psychics, or telepaths, or somebody who has experience with both. there’s still so much about dick that’s kept in the dark for most of the season, but given the length of time he’s been with batman and the easy familiarity with which he talks about other heroes in the finale’s dreamscape, i’m going to assume that he’s more than well-connected.

7.5. but he’s shuttered himself away for so long, and robin’s return has been far from well-received. i like this little moment where he steps outside and just… lets himself be overwhelmed. just for a bit.

7.7. i like that amy says “sidekick” first instead of “partner”. on-the-nose, but i like it!

7.8. the glibness of he and i had different ideas of how to do the job is making me laugh. oh, dick.

i guess the idea of batman sours quite a lot when you’ve spent most of your life as his partner. i get that he’s projecting losing his own sense of self to a role he just isn’t cut out for onto bruce, but it’s sad anyway.

7.9. gosh i just want these two to bond. i don’t care how you do it Show but bring back amy next season, yeah?

MIRRORS, MIRRORS EVERYWHERE: 6

8. is there any particular significance to the repeated security-cam footage shots we’re getting in this episode?

(gosh, i love the cinematography so much in this scene.)

8.4. so… kory had to use some sort of russian mob and come all the way to vienna to find rachel?? why??? are we ever going to find out?

8.5. on a happier note, i love love this version of starfire’s ‘innocence’. like. she’s baffled, almost apologetic about it, but she isn’t going to take any shit about it, either. also, the music when she uses her powers for the first time, man. FUCK.

9. aaaaand there’s the liquefying-a-guy’s-insides bit. i both love and hate this show’s self-indulgence.

9.5. i gotta say, this episode makes a lot more sense on rewatch than it did the first time ‘round. i remember being so confused by evil!cult!guy, but then again, i was pretty distracted at the time. i only really picked up the show because i was so amused by the over-the-top reactions fans had to the trailer. now look at me, writing 2k+ word reviews dissecting its every moment. *shakes head*

10. *rachel stares at dick’s porsche*

“this is yours?”

“family heirloom.”

“… from the circus?”

“not the one you’re thinking.”

I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS EXCHANGE.

10.5. i love these two Dramatic Kids.

11. beast boy cameo! just to assure us all that yes, he is in this show, and that, yes, he is the Best of them all.

12. you guys, this episode is so much more fun that i remember it being. you’ve got an amnesiac interstellar super-spy in kory, a straight-up supernatural horror story in rachel, and a psychological case study whatever genre batman’s supposed to be in dick. each of them could easily fill their own show, but i love that titans wants to connect them with something more than just a team falling together just because.

#titans #meta #dick grayson #koriand'r #rachel roth #a byronic cupcake #badass strawberry truffle #a gothic cookie #grand titans rewatch 2k19

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sebeth · 5 years

Text

Young Justice: Denial, Cold Case, Hot Case

Episode 7: “Denial”

July 27th: Kent Nelson enters the parlor of Madame Xanadu. Madame offers to make contact with Kent’s deceased wife, Inza, if “fate be so kind”.

Kent responds: “But he so rarely is.”

Kent laughs at Xanadu’s attempt to contact his wife: “That was supposed to be my wife? Heck, my little spitfire would have kicked my can for throwing away good money on you.”

Kent criticizes Madame Xanadu for her fakery: “A shame, too. You have the perfect aura for the work.”

An interesting choice on the writers’ parts to make Madame Xanadu a charlatan. She would be tied with Dream Girl as the most famous pre-cog in the DC Universe. They did allow themselves room to re-introduce her as a genuine pre-cog with the “you have the perfect aura for the work” comment.

Kent is kidnapped from the parlor.

We return to the comic book series for the 9th and 10th issue, “Cold Case” and “Hot Case”, a spotlight on the origin of Captain Atom.

August 13:

School is in session for the team as Captain Atom gives a lecture on subterfuge and infiltration. Kaldur is the only member actively taking notes. Robin’s rolling his eyes, Superboy’s yawning and stretching, Wally’s stuffing his face, and the girls are polite in their expressions of boredom.

The team’s reactions ring true. Conner and Wally are self-aware enough to realize subterfuge will never be one of their strengths. Dick’s heard the same lecture a million times from the Batman. Kaldur is serious and a former military man – he knows the value of training and intel. M’gann is most likely thinking to herself “telepathing, shape-shifting, can turn invisible Martian here – we wrote the book on subterfuge”, and Artemis is wondering why she signed up for the team if it involves more schoolwork.

Captain Atom, a man encased in shiny metal, may seem like an odd choice for a lecture on subterfuge and infiltration, until you realize his pre-hero background in military intelligence.

Atom stops his lecture: “This is boring, isn’t it?”

Megan attempts to reassure the Captain but the always blunt Conner interrupts with “Yeah, boring”.

Captain Atom proposes a field exercise: “This is a cold case. Vietnam era. Captain Nathaniel Adams, United States Air Force. Convicted in 1968 of murdering Air Force General Clement Lemar. Adams died in prison. But I’ve received a reliable tip he was framed. Your assignment: investigate. Prove Adams’ innocence or reconfirm his guilt and report back to me.”

Conner interjects: “Really? You need super-powered operatives for this?”

Atom offers to resume the lecture but the team decides on the field exercise.

The team doesn’t realize it but Captain Atom has revealed his secret identity and part of his origin story. Nathaniel Adam was part of a secret experiment that transformed him into Captain Atom and catapulted him decades into the future. The frame-up/died in prison was used as a way to explain Nathanial’s presumed death.

DC Comics purchased several comic book publishers during the 1970s and 1980s. The most famous companies were Fawcett, Charlatan, and Quality. The purchases caused DC cast of characters to rapidly expand. Notable characters from the purchases included the Captain Marvel Family, Plastic Man, Blue Beetle, the Blackhawks, the Question, and many others.

DC assigned the various companies’ characters their own earths in the multiverse: Earth-F, etc. Their villains, supporting characters, and continuing adventures each happened on their own earth. The new to the DC Universe characters would occasionally interact with the mainstream DC earth.

DC decided the DC multiverse had become too complex by the mid-1980s. I’m not sure why as I was between 6 to 8 years old during this time and I had no trouble following along with the various worlds. Sorry, reboots make me bitter. We lose more than we gain in every time. Any characters created in the reboots – Tim, Conner, Bart, Kyle – could have still been created without half-assed reboots.

Back on point, DC created the “Crisis On Infinite Earths”. Despite my dislike of reboots, “Crisis” is an excellent story and a must read for any DC fan. Great writing, gorgeous art, and fabulous character moments.

Post-Crisis, there was only one earth. Captain Atom was re-launched into his own solo title. He had notable romances with Nightshade and Plastique. Atom’s main foe was Major Force whose later actions would later name the “Women in Refrigerators” trope. Captain Atom also served as the long-suffering leader of Justice League Europe. Atom was the inspiration for the “Doctor Manhattan” character in the Watchmen

Atom’s downfall would be known as “Armageddon”. He was intended to be the villain behind it. The plot reveal was leaked and the writers hastily changed the villain’s identity to Hawk (Hank Hall) – which made less sense than the choice of Captain Atom.

I dislike “hero goes bad” or “villain goes good” stories. They are rarely done well. In hero cases, the writers go to extremes – downfall of Hal Jordan, anyone? In villain cases, the bad guy has become popular, so the writers change him into a good guy and ignore the atrocities they’ve committed – I’m looking at you, Harley Quinn. Particularly the Harley in the Injustice universe.

Captain Atom never recovered from the “Armageddon” debacle. He would make sporadic appearances but nothing too memorable until the “Captain Atom: Armageddon” mini-series that led to the decimation of the Wildstorm universe.

A disguised Megan enters the Pentagon to interview General Wade Eiling, the judge at Nathanial’s court martial. Wade sums up Adams as a “malcontent” who blamed his “victim Lemar for a Viet Cong ambush” and Adams “was caught in the act by an M.P. Sergeant Polk”. Eiling, a Colonel at the time, found Adams guilty and sentenced him to life in prison. Adams “took his own life before a year was out”.

Robin easedrops from the ceiling.

Wally and Conner pose as journalism students in order to interview a Lieutenant Yarrow at a casino in Las Vegas. Conner clearly doesn’t care about subterfuge – at all – as he is still wearing the Superboy shirt. Wally is in his civilian attire.

The dealer reminds the boys “no one under twenty-one” is allowed in the casino. Conner questions if “under 21” counts “in weeks or months”.

Wally’s excited by the “$4.95 all-you-can-eat buffet”: “My kind of town!” Buffets are a true blessing for speedsters, their metabolisms, and their budgets. Not so much for the owners of said buffets.

Lt. Yarrow was Adams’ defense council: “His friend too. Served together in ‘Nam. The only survivors of Hill 409.”

Yarrow continues “Nate worked Air Force Intelligence. He suspected a weapons smuggling ring and confided as much to General Lemar. Lemar claimed to have heard rumors too. Ordered Nate to take a squad to Hill 409. It was an ambush. Nate saved my life. The rest of Nate’s men weren’t so lucky. Nate became convinced Lemar was part of the smuggling ring and had sent us into the ambush. I tried to talk him out of it but Nate insisted on confronting Lemar only to black out moments later. Later, Nate would insist he had been drugged. And I believed him. Cuz there’s no way the Nathianel Adams I knew would murder a man in cold blood!”

“I took on Nate’s defense but the prosecutor Lieutenant Kevin Blankly proved Nate’s service knife was the murder weapon. And the medical examiner, Major Shirley Mason testified there were no drugs in Nate’s system. So the judge found Nate guilty and sentenced him to life in prison. And that’s where Nate died. But get this…that judge, Colonel Wade Eiling, he married Nate’s widow and raised Nate’s two kids as his own!”

Wade Eiling would be a thorn in Nathaniel’s side throughout the Captain Atom series. Wade didn’t transform into a full-fledged villain until the Morrison Era JLA where he merged with the Shaggy Man and ran amuck as the “General”.

Robin decides the next step is to interview Shirley Mason. Dick and Megan arrive at the Arlington home of Mason only to discover her corpse.

Dick notes: “She’s got something in her hand. I don’t want to disturb the crime scene, but we need to see what it is.”

Trained protégé of Batman speaking!

Megan levitates the corpse so Robin can view the picture in Mason’s hand. The photo is a group shot of military personnel.

Kaldur and Artemis meet with Nathaniel’s children in Honolulu.

Peggy firmly believes in her father’s innocence, as did her mother, but Randy does not: “Wade Eiling is our father. He raised us. Adams gave up any parental rights the day he betrayed our country and murdered his superior officer.”

It should be noted Randy has joined a military branch – possibly the Air Force.

Peggy was born after her father’s death so she must have learned her firm belief in her father’s innocence from her mother.

Angela Adams, Nathaniel’s wife, firmly believed in Nathaniel’s innocence but went on to marry the man that sentenced him to prison? Weird.

Artemis doesn’t empathize with Peggy’s belief in her father: “Biology hardly guarantees parental skills or even basic honesty.”

Kaldur tells Artemis of his parents: “My mother, Sha’lain’a, is a native of the Atlantean city-state of Shayeris. Her skin is nearly as golden as her hair and her gills are quite large and gorgeous. My father, Calvin Durham, is a surface-worlder like you, genetically altered by Black Manta to infiltrate Atlantis as a water-breather.”

“Your dad works for Black Manta?”

“He did. But his love for my mother caused him to switch sides.”

Kaldur doesn’t realize it but there are a few important details he hasn’t been told about his parents’ romance.

If you only watched the cartoon and never read the comic books, you missed the foreshadowing that justified Kaldur’s villainous role in season two.

Dick, Megan, Wally, and Conner are in Annapolis.

Dick has identified the people in the photo.

Megan has a question: “I know my grasp of Earth history is largely based on Earth sitcoms but why would a North Vietnamese General be in a 1968 photograph with U.S. personnel?”

Someone needs to hand Megan some history books!

The group is outside General Tang’s mansion. Conner realizes another man is in the mansion and he is carrying a sword.

Conner and Wally are ready to rush in but Dick holds the duo back: “This is a covert op. We keep to the shadows. We don’t take the offensive. Like in Captain Atom’s lecture.”

Wally is shocked that Dick was actually listening to the lecture.

An invisible Megan enters the home.

Trang converses with the man: “I know why you are here. I still have my sources. I know about Mason, and I know your work. But I am disappointed, Rako. I have protected you since you were a child. Have you no loyalty?”

Rako goes for the kill but is stopped by Megan.

Conner storms in and is shocked when Rako’s sword cuts him: “I’m…I’m bleeding?”

The group battle Rako but are unable to prevent Trang’s murder. Rako escapes in the confusion.

August 14, Metropolis: The reunited team meet in a Metropolis diner.

Superboy is still shocked over his wound but insists “It’s a scratch. I’m fine. Move on.”

Facial recognition software has identified the individuals in the photograph:

1) Lt. Kevin Blankly, USAF

2) Lt. Henry Yarrow, USAF

3) Alec Rois, CIA

4) General Clement Lemar, USAF

5) Major Shirley Mason, USAF

6) General Duk Trang, NVA

7) Sgt. Ends Polk, USAF

8) Unknown child

The group theorizes the “unknown child” is Rako and that’s he been sent to tie up the “loose ends” in the Adams case.

Kaldur divides the team in half – Dick, Conner, and Wally will head to Las Vegas to protect Yarrow while the rest remain in Metropolis to investigate Polk.

The trio arrive in Las Vegas only to witness Yarrow’s house explode. Yarrow was killed in the explosion. The boys identify Yarrow by a tattoo on his arm.

The team reunites in St. George to confront the trio behind the recent deaths: Rois, Rako, and a not dead Henry Yarrow. The team quickly captures the trio. Yarrow dies – for real this time – in the fight.

The team returns to Mount Justice to report their findings: The accusations and resulting frame-up of Admas was to cover a weapons smuggling ring. Wade Eiling was the only one involved in the trial who wasn’t a member of the smuggling ring.

Kaldur and Artemis fly to Honolulu to inform the Adams kids of their father’s innocence.

Nathan and Wade mend fences over their preconceived notions of the other’s guilt. Wade informs Nathan: “Let me reintroduce you to your kids”.

The issue ends with Rois and Rako escaping from prison and meeting up with Wade. Turns out, Wade was in charge of the entire smuggling ring. He wasn’t in the picture because he took the picture!

Wade: “Captain Atom is my new best friend. Which should serve us well in the days ahead.”

An intriguing plotline that never received any follow up.

We return to “Denial”:

August 19th: The team participates in combat training. More to the point, Kaldur and a shirtless Conner spar. Artemis tries to persuade M’gann to ask Kaldur out. Good Luck, Artemis, Megan has her obsession locked in and she is not veering from the course.

Megan attempts to veer Artemis towards Wally: “You’re so full of passion, and he’s so full of..”

Artemis interjects with “It?”

I enjoy the competition between the girls over Conner and mostly for the fact that the ladies don’t let it interfere with their friendship.

Why is Conner shirtless? Is he showing off for the ladies? Kaldur kept his shirt on!

Poor Dick, as the youngest, is left out of the hormone competition. Don’t worry, Dick, you will grow up to become DC’s premier knockout.

Conner wins the round: “Black Canary taught me that.” Conner must be taking his training seriously as Kaldur would be one of the more experienced members in hand-to-hand combat due to his Atlantean military background.

Red Tornado enters. Wally wants a mission assignment. He mentions that Robin and Batman are in Gotham City doing the “Dynamic Duo thing”.

We’ll put “Denial” on pause as the next two issues of the Young Justice comic start at this point.

Up next: Batman, Robin, Ras’s al Ghul, Clayface and the most multi-faceted portrayal of Talia ever!

#Young Justice #Captain Atom #Kent Nelson #Doctor Fate #Madame Xanadu #Kaldur #Artemis Crock #Conner Kent #Dick Grayson #Wally West #Miss Martian #Wade Eiling #Kid Flash #Superboy #Robin #Aqualad #Artemis

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vampiresmiled · 5 years

Note

✩ watergate

i want to preface this by saying that i hate watergate and the fact that this meme is four-hundred pages long only furthered my hatred for this abomination of a ship. and yes, i am using kennedy walsh as a mascot for this occasion. mind your own.

DISAGREEMENTS

who is more likely to raise their voice? we been through this. it’s mickey, he inherited his father’s temper. giving a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘daddy issues.’who threatens to leave but never actually does? mickey. the man is full of empty promises. who actually keeps their word and leaves? emma. mickey would never leave, he’s mickey : abandonment issues and all. who trashes the house? worst case scenario, mickey. but normal circumstances, nobody. they’re not wolfgang circa 2016, post ziba finding out about his heart issues, oil on canvas. do either of them get physical? i mean, #basementgate … ringing any bells ? it’d be a mistake on mickey’s part, otherwise no. how often do they argue/disagree? only when their collective insecurities start acting up. and if my memory serves me right, that’s like every other week. who is the first to apologise? both, simultaneously.

SEX

who is on top? do you remember You 1x04 ? joe was on top … let’s aim for nine seconds, okay.who is on the bottom? did i not just answer that. who has the strangest desires? what is this, an episode of lucifer ? jokes, all jokes. probably emma. shy in the streets, freaky in the sheets. any kinks? does … harmonicas count ? literally retire the joke, mads – RETIRE IT.who’s dominant in bed? neither. they’re vanilla and boring and i hate them.is head ever in the equation? it’s always in the equation, we’re no dj khaled stans here.if so, who is better at performing it? mickey will toss your salad like he’s aidan gallagher’s biggest fan.ever had sex in public? public sex for them is in her car. so, yes.who moans the most? emma ‘cos she never knows when to zip it.who leaves the most marks? mickey. mark your territory, y’know. it’s critical.who screams the loudest? i said what i said.who is the more experienced of the two? big oof @ emma’s bodycount. do they ‘fuck’ or ‘make love’? they make sweet, sweet love.rough or soft? soft as hale.how long do they usually last? 9 seconds. however adequately long is … that’s how long. they drag it out. make a day out of it. is protection used? they never wrap it before they tap it. and with is history of … you know, [ finger banging motions ] emma should’ve had chlamydia by now. but yes, they wrap it. sometimes. they don’t remember that often.does it ever get boring? nope. where is the strangest place they’d have sex? on his mother’s grave. or maybe not. i dunno, would they fuck at a preschool ? i don’t put it past them.

FAMILY

do your muses plan on having children/or have children? together they haven’t spoken about it. but separately, fuck yeah. if so, how many children do your muses want/have? i feel like emma wants two or three, mickey wants a football team.who is the favorite parent? since mickey is gonna be a stay-at-home dad, fuck you, him. who is the authoritative parent? odette. they hire her to come in every week to stare real hard at the kids until they clean the entire house unprompted. works like wonders. super nanny who ?who is more likely to allow the children to have a day off school? mickey. who lets the children indulge in sweets and junk food when the other isn’t around? mickey, mickey, mickey. emma’s all about carrots and nutritions. fuck that, we’re going to mcdonkey d.who turns up to extra curricular activities to support their children? mickey organizes the extra curricular activities. he’s that dad.who goes to parent teacher interviews? emma ‘cos mickey gets mistaken for flirting with the the mrs. grundy looking teach every single time. not riverdale!grundy, comics!grundy. [ chicken girls vc ] spicy … who changes the diapers? mickey avoided it for the first couple of months by sheer magic and a lot of pampering @ emma. but she caught on, and then he was on diaper duty for a full year. after that the kid doesn’t need diapers so … unless they wee the bed then we have another problem on our hands. who gets up in the middle of the night to feed the baby? mickey, that’s how he avoided diaper changes. who spends the most time with the children? mickey ‘cos he’s ugly and unemployed. who packs their lunch boxes? emma ‘cos mickey would sneak brownies in there and all the other kids would get jealous and cry during lunch. true story, i was there. who gives their children ‘the talk’? mickey would want to but seeing as he’s who he is, emma took it upon herself to give them a more science based talk. ironic considering what his current job is but … who cleans up after the kids? mickey-boy.who worries the most? emma by a long shot. mickey has zero cares in the world. he’s the type of dad to toss the kids up 375ft into the air while emma yells frantically in the background of the video odette is filming. she’s there for chaos, not so much for telling mickey the kid’s neck can break. who are the children more likely to learn their first swear word from? i think emma. mickey’s gonna be super good with coming up with psuedo-swears like motherflubber and fudge. emma will slip up, i know she will.

AFFECTION

who likes to cuddle? both.who is the little spoon? mickey, he likes to be held – it makes him feel safe.who gets naughty in the most inappropriate of places? fucking mickey the horn-dog. who struggles to keep their hands to themself? did you not see what i just said. how long can they cuddle until one becomes uncomfortable? several hours. they never get uncomfy, fuck off. who gives the most kisses? listen, mickey loves giving love. whatever that touchy feely result was on the love language quiz, that was he. so, – he’ll smooch her everywhere and whenever. try and stop him, you can’t. except they’re not dating right now so i guess he’s successfully kept at bay. barely. what is their favourite non-sexual activity? banter. like genuinely. they just sit on the sofa and tear each other apart. it’s a good old time. that or soaps. mickey’s a huge fan of days of our lives.where is their favourite place to cuddle? probably couch. who is more likely to playfully grope the other? mickey. but emma’s known to grab his ass at times which is honestly childish, emma quit it. how often do they get time to themselves? seeing as they’re currently childless and also single, all the time in the world.

SLEEPING

who snores? emma, i said it.if both do, who snores the loudest? emma …do they share a bed or sleep separately? they’re not the weathers, ok.if they sleep together, do they cozy up together or lay far apart? close, so very close.who talks in their sleep? mickey. he says some dumb shit, she writes it down.what do they wear to bed? dicks out. kidding. mickey sleeps shirtless, and emma sleeps in his shirt. fair deal. are either of your muses insomniacs? no.can sleeping pills be found by the bedside? only if he wanna knock her out for some quiet. but also no.do they wrap their limbs around each other or just lay side by side? they’re a whole ass pretzel, k. who wakes up with bed hair? emma might have more hair but mickey’s is untamed. who wakes up first? emma. who prepares breakfast in bed for the other? mickey is a king in the kitchen, so.what is their favourite sleeping position? his face full on in the crook of her neck and like completely wrapped up in each other like my headphones after 2 minutes.who hogs the sheets? both of them, every night is a struggle.do they set an alarm each night? emma does. mickey likes to wing it.can a television be found in their bedroom? no, emma said that’s not allowed and that’s why she’s currently sexless. who has nightmares? neither … who has ridiculous dreams? mickey, hence the talking. who sprawls out and takes up most of the bed? mickey probably.who makes the bed? emma, she’s so responsible.what time is bed time? like two hours after they decide it’s time to sleep. they talk alot. and … do other things we shall not mention ( discuss the current political climate ). and they fuck. any routines/rituals before bed? dental hygiene is very important to them both so they spend like 20 minutes in the bathroom. who’s the grumpiest when they wake up? emma. mickey is ready :clap: to :clap: go !

WORK

who is the busiest? mickey. being a nurse is no joke. neither is having to take up shifts at the hardware store ‘cos your dad’s a drunk.who rakes in the highest income? i dunno. they both have shite jobs in terms of salary. google it. are any of your muses unemployed? not yet. who takes the most sick days? honestly, neither. mickey’s the type to go work with a flu and emma is too much of a suck-up to risk looking like a bad employee. who is more likely to turn up late to work? mickey. who sucks up to their boss? both. love that for them.what are their jobs? er nurse and preschool teacher. if you didn’t know that by now, kill yourself.who stresses the most? emma, no doubt, no doubt.do your muses enjoy or despise their careers/occupations? LOVE. are your muses financially stable? * laughs in the spirit of president snow choking to death on his own chortles * no.

HOME

who does the washing? mickey mixed the reds and whites once, so … take a gamble.who takes out the trash? mickey whenever he leaves for work. get it? ok.who does the ironing? mickey also burnt a hole in one of her shirts.who does the cooking? MICKEY. so stay out of the kitchen if you can’t handle the heat, woman.who is more likely to burn the house down just trying? emma.who is messier? mickey. who leaves the toilet roll empty? mickey, but it’s on purpose. you see … he likes to do it just so she’ll have to yell at him to get her some. it’s just funny. every time. sometimes he forgets to put it back before he leaves. those are the times he gets a roll thrown at his face when he gets home.who leaves their dirty clothes on the floor? mickey. it’s charming.who forgets to flush the toilet? ew, no one.who is the prankster around the house? they’re both equally pranky … not a word ! mickey just tends to be more unexpected in his pranks. who loses the car keys when it comes time to go somewhere? emma. mickey doesn’t have his own car.who mows the lawn? they’re apartment people, buzz off.who answers the telephone? no one, their answering machine message is just too good to go to waste.who does the vacuuming? emma.who does the groceries? mickey.who takes the longest to shower? mickey. he’s depressed.who spends the most time in the bathroom? emma.

MISCELLANEOUS

is money a problem? of course it is. they’re broke.how many cars do they own? one.do they own their home or do they rent? rent.do they live near the coast or deep in the countryside? … fuck if i know. where even is sheffield.do they live in the city or in the country? downtown, asshat.do they enjoy their surroundings? sure.what’s their song? i know it’s not 1998 yet. but – closing time by semisonic is a bop i’ve mentioned for them before. what do they do when they’re away from each other? pine.where did they first meet? i wanna say her place but she’s not that stupid. probably joe’s or something. how did they first meet? when mickey answered the roommate ad. who spends the most money when out shopping? mickey. it’s all on food.who’s more likely to flash their assets? like tits ? neither.who finds it amusing when the other trips over? mickey. and emma. both. they’re ten.any mental issues? plenty to go around.who’s terrified of bugs? emma.who kills the spiders around the house? mickey carries them outside, thank you very much.their favourite place? at home. yeah, they’re like that.who pays the bills? emma pays pays them, but like … he gives her money.do they have any fears for their future? so many we cannot get into that right now.who’s more likely to surprise the other with a fancy dinner? mickey. but like home-cooked ‘cos he’s a poor, poor man. who uses up all of the hot water? mickey.who’s the tallest? [ softly ] don’t. who’s more likely to just randomly hop into the shower with the other? ickey-mickey.who wanders around in their underwear? MICKEY. who sings the loudest when singing along to the radio? they both try and out-sing each other. he starts it, she ends it. what do they tease each other about? harmonicas and their deepest insecurities. who is more likely to cringe at the other’s fashion sense at times? remember the bee shirt.do they have mutual friends? no, jack hates him and i hate jack.who crushed first? i wanna say … mickey.any alcohol or substance related problems? nope.who is more likely to stumble home, drunk, at 3am? mickey, it’s in his genes.who swears the most? neither of them swear that much but i guess i’ll have to go with the ugly one.

#all posts / mt.#starring emma / mt.#answered / mt.#holydepths #ask

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exotahu · 6 years

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It’s here, the giant Bronycon post!

As per usual I don’t usually make this many words ever so shit might be wonky. and also it was written over the course of a few days so things might not line up in the right order. Also, fair warning I get kinda weird and sentimental at the end there. Also I have no idea if tumblr will break the formatting real bad so heres hoping it doesn’t

Thursday We left early without much incident. Only a group of 4 this time. Me, Andy, his brother Justin, and Andy's girlfriend Sam who was coming in via plane.

It was a really easy journey. Even stopped at the one Speedway with the good hotdogs. I decided to tie a ribbon in my hair too, I always say I should do something more with it than just tie it back. So I figured I'd try it. We got to Baltimore in what felt like no time at all. We checked in and went to our rooms and waited for Sam. I fiddled with my little electric name badge thingy I bought last year. Got it to say my name and Bronycon 2018 with some hearts and sparkles. Once Sam got settled in, we all met back up to go to pre-reg. She and I were afraid we'd weird each other out but we ended up getting along great. We all went to pre-reg and picked up our badges. Then, after dropping our stuff off at the hotel we ventured back out into the inner harbor for food and hanging out. We opted not to go to Dick's this time, opting instead to go to Tir na Nog. Got my usual pub food. The Vodka cranberry (yes even though I planned on drinking later) and the plain cheese burger. I like to eat the same thing at all the places, because I think it's neat to see the same food through the different lenses of different restaurants. Tir na Nog in Baltimore is different than O'Toole's in Albany is different from Jack Astor's in Toronto. After that we went to the big Barnes and Noble and looked at books and stuff. Then we all went to that ice cream shop thats right next door. They sell tea apparently so I got a small one. Missed the regular size straws so I had a huge straw (Like a goddamn footlong) in a tiny cup (like 3 inches). We went to the bars in Fells point after that. We only got slightly lost, but we found it. We didn't register for the actual bar trot, cause you don't really have to to enjoy drinks. We went to the Dog's Watch Tavern first cause they usually have a good shot, which in this instance was a Pinkie Pie shot. Don't know what was in it but I had several. We went to the Admiral after that. It was the best as it usually is. I think I drank like, 4 of the Trixie, there was a Sunset Shimmer drink (But it was secretly the Applejack. I liked it anyway). And I had most of a Rainbow Dash drink. I must say, I absolutely adore the atmosphere at this bar. The bartender is great and clearly loves what he does. A couple people recognized me cause I sit in the same spot more or less every time, and the goggles that I wear. That was pretty neat. Got pretty drunk, decided to go back after that to prep for the next day. We got a little bit lost on the way back too, but it brought us by the CVS so I bought a couple boxes of PopTarts. We got back to the hotel and went to bed.

Friday

Tried to get up for opening but missed most of it. Caught the tail end of it though. Sleep deprivation got me, plus the buttload of alcohol didn't really help. Hung out in the harmony plaza til the apple family panel. There was a photoshoot that happened but there wasn't a ton of people there. Saw apple family VA panel. It was pretty funny. Went to the vendor hall and walked it to get the layout, I didn't want to just chaotically walk around and not know where anything was so I strictly just walked each isle in a pattern. Actually helped me remember where booths were. I spoke to an artist about getting a comission for a friend who couldn't make it. His slots were full for the day so I figured I'd come back Saturday. I bought an original piece from him, which was actually pretty cool. I then went to the comic booth. I am trying to get at very least the A and B covers for every comic, Plus I wanted first prints of the first issue mane 6 covers. I got the first prints of the two #1 issues I needed. Then I got invited to Jonny Rockets, and due to needing to finish something in the vendor hall it took me a little bit. My friends are cool and waited for me even though I went on one hell of a journey to get there. So I got out of the vendor hall which exited by the Hilton sky bridge. Figure, shit I'll just take the sky bridge on the opposite side so I go for it. Get out there, pass the other hotel (hyatt?) and what used to be a wide open plaza. (Now it's a parking lot). Realize the goddamn thing ends there and there is no way down (unless I went back through the convention center and all the way back around), and more of the bridge is missing. Figure I don't want to walk all the way back so I go through the hotel. No idea if I was supposed to go through that door cause it looks like there were unused decorations everywhere. Nobody stopped me so I made it out to the street. Realize I still have to walk to the corner to cross, but say fuck it and randomly cross in the middle to the street island thing. Then I almost died to a puddle walking on the sidewalk behind some food trucks. Caught myself though. Finally I get there and we hang out and get a burger. On our way back I managed to drop a Pokemon on the Bronycon gym. We went back to the vendor hall. Hung out and looked at stuff. Me an Sam went shopping for pillows. We each bought one, only the case though. Had no space to store the full whole thing. We went to the whoves line pannel after that. It was really funny, especially the bit where they acted like the friendship map was a computer that got a ton of viruses and went to a "bad dragon" website. I am surprised I've never gone to it before. We went to Jimmy Johns for dinner and then dropped our stuff off at the hotel and headed to the palooza. The performances were great, although they somehow got super off schedule. I bought a Shake-Ups CD. I stayed until the end. I enjoy the palooza immensely, but those 2AM nights are rough. My legs end up being noodles and its a guarantee I won't get to bed until atleast 330. Which is about when I went to bed.

Saturday

Had a bit of a slow start but I wanted to speak to the artist about that comission for my friend who couldn't make it. Even though I was slow, I still got there early enough. The thing he wanted would have been too complex, so I came up with something I think he'll like. Then I went to the comic booth and figured out what I needed to complete the A and B covers for the main comic series. It was cool cause they just let me into the booth to look. I believe I've done it, I just have to add everything to my app to make sure. I ran out of space in my comic storage, so I only did the main series. Next year I will buy for the side series. (There is a lot less). As of typing this out, I found the shop's location. Only a 3 hour drive. Might make a trip of it so I don't have to worry about it at next year's con. Dunno. Met back up with Andy and Sam in vendor hall. We looked around before leaving to get food and make a hotel drop. We got lunch at the JJ before heading to the script reading panel with Tabitha. Usually they're pretty strict about recording at these. Usually one of the staff says something about my camera, but nobody said anything. Or mentioned not recording it at all. I wonder if anyone uploaded it. It was about the mane 6 and a convention called "boomycon" which was about an alt. universe Derpy as a comic character who rides a meteor or something. The comic characters crossed over into the regular universe and shenanigans ensued. It was pretty funny. After that we went back to vendor hall to check on something, and I bought another of those dang pillows, and these weird flow rings, plus some other small stuff, including some super fucking adorable chibi-ball plushie things of Fluttershy and Tempest (Pretty sure I posted pictures). We made a hotel drop and got food. We tried to get into the DIY pony plush making but ultimately the wait list was too long. At this point we went to the sky terrace thing. Apparently there was a wedding, which is really fucking cool! Then we just found some chairs to just kind of chill in. Justin had a mini-pizza that came in a mini-pizza box. We're just sitting there talking and some guy came up and leaned over. We all thougt maybe he had left something. Then we notice he's signing the empty pizza box? He then just says you're welcome and leaves. It took a second then we realized... It was MA Larson. Fucking hillarious. I went back to the hotel again, meeting up with a friend on the way back. Met back up with everyone else at the palooza after that. Brought the rings I bought and was playing with them, while doing my awkward-ass flail dancing. A couple people thought they were cool which was neat. I really enjoyed all the performances. A cover of 500 miles happened, Eurobeat was fantastic. Great show. I caught a T-Shirt that was thrown. (Which never happens ever and even though it's a small size it still fits.) Again I stayed until 2 AM, got to bed about 330.

Sunday Sundays are usually always the chill day where not much happens. Woke up around the usual time and headed over to the vendor hall. I wandered and bought some last minute things (Pillow #3...). I met back with everyone else around noon. We spent most of day in vendor hall just hanging out. One thing I did, was get a comission of my pony OC. I've been wanting to for years, just to say I had so I finally did it. I'm looking forward to it. Also saw a little digital badges that you could store pictures in. After that we went to the fountains to hang out before lining up for closing ceremonies. They opened with a nifty performance by Step2Harmony. Some of the guests said their farewells before the con chairs started talking about the numbers, a little more than 5000 people. (I don't remmeber the exact number, might have been closer to 5600?). After that was a skit involving the mascots. Blank Canvas got accepted into an art school and Hoof Beatz was going on tour, and the date they were leaving was the end of August next year. They run off stage and Mane Event just stood there like "What about us... : (" Scene end. Sure enough, the con chairs came back out and annouced that next year is going to be a 4 day event instead of a 3 day event. They also anounced that next year is going to be the last Bronycon and that they are ending the event in 2019. You could feel the moment where everybody's hearts broke. There were a lot of people crying. I was pretty choked up too, and I'm honestly not sure how I kept myself together. We walked back to the hotel. While we were waiting for the elevators, you could tell the mood was pretty sombre. Dropped off my bag and went back down to the lobby to wait for Andy and Sam. We all headed down to the inner harbor to go to Bubba Gumps. We had a hour and a half wait, that we spent hanging out in the harbor and the pavillion. One of them seemed to be closed this year. They seem to get smaller and smaller each year. Bubba Gumps as always was fantastic. I got the usual Shrimper's Heaven. Even got to eat the shrimp that Sam didn't eat. Bonus shrimp! Spent 60$ on my check and regret nothing. We went back to the hotel with the intent of playing some Shipfic in the one banquet room the hotel usually has open, which we did! Another group played the pony movie which was neat. We also saw an Insomnia Cookies down in Fells Point so we decided to order some. It took a little more than an hour. But I got the call and they showed up to the hotel and handed me a very warm box. The cookies were fantastic. Every bit worth the wait. I think I have one somewhere relatively close to my home but I'm nowhere near the delivery radius. Probably a good thing because I would go broke buying cookies. They're pretty awesome. Some guy had also had a baby skunk! No idea how he pulled that off or how the hotel was cool with it but it was really cute. Once the movie ended most of the people left. After that we went back to our rooms. Me and Sam got a group picture of all the pillows we bought. I packed most of my stuff after that and went to bed.

Monday.

Woke up, got the car all packed and cleared the rooms pretty quick. We had thought to do some other stuff, but we really didn't have time. Instead we went to Tir na nog and just hung out until we had to leave. Any day you can be mildly drunk before noon and have it not be a problem is a good day. We dropped Sam off at the airport after saying our goodbyes. We hit the road after that and started our journey home. Which was honestly fairly uneventful. No one's windsheild broke. No one's catalytic converter got stolen. We made a couple of stops but nothing really interesting. Got home way earlier than I'm used to. Like 5:30-6PM. And then I realized, Bed, Bath and Beyond was still open. So I drove out there to get the actual pillows for the pillow cases. Found the exact ones the guy at the booth I bought them from. They were on sale, so they were only 20$. Then I had the fun time of fitting 3 hugeass pillows in my really tiny car. Got back home and finished unpacking.

Conclude:

I had a really good time this year. It was very a relaxing trip and I enjoyed spending time with everybody. It never quite feels long enough. I didn't make any real attempt at cosplaying this year. Just didn't really feel into it. I did wear my Sylveon ears that were given to me by a friend though. And I had my goggles, which are just kind of a thing now I guess. I tied a blue ribbon in my hair too. I never do anything with it and I guess I decided now was the time. I think I'm going to do that more often from now on. Next, I am beyond incredibly sad that next year is the last one. Bronycon has been one of the big things I look forward to doing each year. It's easily been one of the best cons I've ever been to. The atmosphere was great, the staff was great. The con ending will also mark the end of a 12 year tradition for me of going down to Baltimore for a con. The only year I wasn't able to go to was 2010 because there was just no way I was going to be able to swing it. Aside from that, I went to Otakon from 2006 until 2012. I had honestly kinda burned out on that though and wasn't sure if I was gonna go back, but it would be shortly after returning from the 2012 Otakon, Bronycon announced that they were gonna move to the Baltimore Convention Center in 2013. Some other friends were interested in going, and since I knew the area so well, we decided to go for it. I went every year after that. Hell, it's how I ended up meeting Andy (which is a pretty funny story all on it's own), it's also how I ended up recconecting with another friend of mine from way back in the day as well as others. There were good times and adventures to be had outside the Con as well. Bubba Gumps, the bar trot in Fells Point(that goddamn Trixie drink, looked like something I'd never have been able to drink, but it is easily my favorite alcoholic drink that has ever existed. I really hope I can get the recipe next year), the bigass barnes and noble, the aquarium, the pavillion. It seems like every year it gets better and I've never felt bored of it or burned out. I am going to miss this immensely, I suppose I'll have to find another con to go to, or atleast other adventures to have but one thing is for sure, I'm never going to forget any of this. All the good times that we've had, or this big thing I've been a part of or this place that has brought me so much joy over the years.

(Once next year ends and I walk out of that convention center for the last time, I am going to be a complete goddamn mess. It's going to be a terrible day for rain...)

Also, though I don't know if you'll ever read it, as I don't think we've spoken in several years now, to the person who convinced me to go to that first Otakon back in '06, Thank you. For introducing me to this place, and setting off a real wacky series of adventures. I don't know if any of this would have happened if you hadn't convinced me to come down here all those years ago. Once again, thank you, and I hope you're doing well.

tl;dr Good fuckin' con, but Pete fuckin' sad.

#bronycon #bronycon2018 #bronypalooza #i accidentally tagged half of my instragram stuff as bronycon2108 #bronycon2108 #my little pony #mlpfim #convention #the title is totally not a reference to a buddyfight card #baltimore #baltimore convention center #baltimore inner harbor

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randomhistoryposts · 4 years

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Hunters - Trivialising the Holocaust?

I just wanted to say a few thoughts on the new Amazon show ‘Hunters’ which premiered in February 2020. I have watched the first episode, and as I am at a very busy point in my education, I have not had time to watch the rest of the season – but I intend to as I found the first episode had a very strong start. One thing I have done is read the reviews for the show, and I’ve noticed that there are an abundance of negative reviews. Common phrases I’ve seen in these reviews are that the show is ‘trivialising the Holocaust’, the show is ‘anti-white’ as well as comic book-like in nature. I didn’t want to post a long-winded review on Amazon as some do, as I thought an essay would be a bit heavy handed, but I feel the need to post my opinion somewhere, so I’m doing it here.

I am currently studying history at University, and when I was in Sixth Form I went to a three-part seminar/trip with the Holocaust Educational Trust where we discussed the ethics of media and memory of the Holocaust. For the first part of the seminar we listened to the story of one of the few Holocaust survivors still alive. For the second part, we visited Auschwitz (Which is split into three sites, Auschwitz One – with the gate ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’, “Work sets you free”. Auschwitz-Birkenau – Auschwitz II, which is the second site with the train tracks and the gate tower. Finally Auschwitz III which is a chemical plant). For the third, we gathered together for one last seminar to pool together everything we had learned. During the first seminar, one question we discussed was ‘Is it ethical for Stag and Hen companies to advertise a day-trip to Auschwitz in the middle of a couple of days of drinking?’. Naturally we, as sixteen to eighteen year olds, were shocked to learn that this was in fact a real thing. Our immediate answer was no, as we did not believe Hen and Stag groups would take the experience seriously. That these companies were trivialising the Holocaust. Then we were told to think about it seriously and consider all aspects of it. Yes people would be drinking, but did that mean that they would not take the visit seriously? After thinking it over, we all then came to the opposite conclusion – no.

One of my history teachers at the time, who worked closely with the Trust and was constantly taking groups over to Auschwitz, saw many of these Stag and Hen groups the night before his trip to the sites, drinking and having a good time, as they were bound to do. The next day when he saw them at one of the three sites, he said to us that he had never seen more sober and respectful people in his life. When I went to Auschwitz myself, I wasn’t drinking the night before, but it was such a sobering experience. I visited the sites of Auschwitz I and Auschwitz-Birkenau. Whilst there I saw the room of shoes, the room of human hair, any personal possessions that were salvageable, the first gas chamber and then the ones that the Nazis tried to destroy as they were losing the war. For the entire time we were there, we were all told ‘It’s ok to cry’. I felt bad because I didn’t cry – I was numb the entire time I was there, and I put that down to the information overload and the strange atmosphere that surrounds the grounds. Both my teachers cried whilst they were there. The next day at school (we were only in Poland for a day and we were in school the next. We were awake for nearly a full 24 hours by the time we got back into the UK, so we only had a few hours sleep when we arrived back home) my friend cried in our history lesson. I still didn’t. I felt horrible about it.

At this point, you may be thinking, what does any of this have to do with the new show? Well, a few months after my visit, I was watching ‘The Man in the High Castle’, which is another Amazon show based on the 1960s book of the same name by Philip K. Dick. It is set in an alternate reality where the Nazis won. There is more to it than that, but I don’t want to spoil it for anyone. Back then people were accusing the show of being anti-Semitic due to its content, but I disagreed with that. There was one scene in the show were a Jewish family were gassed. Just before they were gassed, a family member of theirs who was imprisoned was asked if he was familiar with Zyklon B. This was the gas that was used in the gas chambers. In Auschwitz I, there is a display with empty canisters of Zyklon B. Once this character had said that line, everything I had seen on my visit came crashing back. Then I cried. Whilst some people believed that show was trivialising the Holocaust, for me personally, it just emphasised the severity of what I had seen.

I don’t believe the new ‘Hunters’ show is trivialising the Holocaust. From what I’ve seen of the reviews, most people don’t like that the Holocaust is being ‘exploited’ for entertainment purposes. In one sense, I can see where they are coming from. One scene that people had a problem with was a “Human Chess Scene”, in which the Nazis used concentration camp prisoners as human chess pieces. When one piece had to take out another, their throat was slashed. That was the last straw for quite a few of these reviewers. I will admit that the show is highly dramatized for entertainment purposes, but I don’t think that is necessarily a bad thing. Whilst I can find no evidence of Nazis using a human chess board, they did do horrific things with a dramatic flair. A week or so ago, I watched a film on based on the true events that happened at Mauthausen Concentration Camp. The film is called ‘The Photographer of Mauthausen’ and is available on Netflix for anyone who is interested. In this film, a man managed to escape the camp, but was unfortunately recaptured and paraded around the grounds of Mauthausen with the camp band marching in front of him playing a jaunty tune of sorts, whilst he was pulled on a cart behind them with a noose around his neck. He was later hanged, and all the prisoners had to walk past his body as a warning of what would happen to them if they tried to escape. Now we don’t know what tune the real band were playing, so some artistic license must be allowed. I didn’t include the actual picture in this essay as I don’t want to upset those who are sensitive to imagery like that, but here is the link if anyone wishes to see:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/most-austrians-dont-know-6-million-jews-were-killed-in-holocaust-survey-finds/

the image is attached to a newspaper, but I haven’t read the issue. You can search all the photographs in Google Images using ‘Mauthausen Photos’.

I was also watching something recently that said due to our culture, films and other media have to up the shock factor so-to-speak in order for the audience to fully grasp the severity of what occurred. I understand where this point has come from as I believe that most audiences today are so desensitised violence, that upping the brutality in this scene wasn’t meant to trivialise the Holocaust in any way. Instead it is to get across to today’s audiences how brutal the Nazis could be in their punishments. Yes I will admit that at times the series can be something from a comic book, but I believe that’s what makes it so entertaining. They’re not taking the Nazis seriously, and sometimes comedy can be the best way to take away something’s power. They’re not trivialising the Holocaust, they’re trying to take the scare factor that empowered the people responsible for it, away from them. I use people carefully here, as when I took part in the Holocaust Educational Trust, we were told to see the Nazis as people and not monsters for one very important reason…..

Calling someone a monster, gives the acts they commit an excuse. You expect a monster to do horrendous things. Calling the Nazis people gives them no excuse, that they must be held accountable for their actions.

Other complaints I saw regarding the show was that it was ‘anti-white’ and ‘anti-European’, these I really don’t agree with and if any of you watch the show you may understand why.

In conclusion, I don’t believe dramatizing an event that has happened fairly recently in our history for entertainment purposes, is trivialising it. People such as Philip K. Dick were creating entertainment based off the events a mere 17 years after it had happened. People will continue to do so, I feel as long as they don’t fully disrespect it, that entertainment is acceptable as it is drawing attention to the past and what occurred. For me, two of the real ways to trivialise the Holocaust would be to support the people responsible, or to outright deny the massacre of millions of people ever happened.

I realise that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. This is not meant to be me pushing my ideas onto other people, but a way of expressing my own opinion.

#hunters #hunters amazon #man in the high castle #photographer of Mauthausen #RandomHistoryPosts #man in the high castle amazon

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brianjaeger · 5 years

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2019 Academy Award Best Picture Nominees Guide For Those Who Haven’t Actually Watched Them

It’s the 91st time Hollywood comes together to pat themselves on the back and this year marks the 5th time I’m bringing you the rundown of every Best Picture nominee so that you aren’t the “goddamn idiot” someone at your Oscars party is referring to when they ask, “Who invited this goddamn idiot?” Only, as in 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015 and 2014 (check out the hyperlinks for previous years’ rundowns - and likely some jokes that don’t age very well) - this is all based on the name of the film, the poster for the movie, or things I’ve heard while flipping past Extra or E! So take it all in and enjoy my tips on things to say to other guests so that your party has an ending that is more like Ally’s and less like Jackson’s!

Black Panther

After Creed loses in embarrassing fashion to Ivan Drago’s son, he tats up, grows that hair out, and heads to outer space. After landing on a planet right between the planet from Avatar and Naboo, pissy Creed picks a fight with a space prince who was bit by a radioactive space panther in the movie that had audiences saying, “I bet Forest Whitaker is in this movie. How is Forest Whitaker not in this movie? I’m honestly shocked that Forest Whitaker is not...oh, yup, there he is.”

3 Things To Casually Inject Into Conversation To Prove You Saw The Movie And Sound Like An Expert:

A little insider Easter egg here - Wakanda backwards spells Adnakaw, which happens to be the name of Thor and Loki’s OTHER brother who is going to save everyone in Avengers: Endgame. He’ll be played by...Forest Whitaker.

In a deleted scene, Black Panther’s brother, The Pink Panther, visits to check out the Wakandan castle’s attic and then installs fiberglass insulation.

Spike Lee really turned the super hero movie genre on its head with this didn’t he? (Pause.) Oh. That was...um...oh, well um... (Slowly walk backward out of the room and do not return.)

BlacKkKlansman

The Chapelle’s Show’s first skit-to-feature length film gives the big screen treatment to the story of Clayton Bigsby. Based on the success of this film, 2019 also saw the big screen adaptation of The Chapelle’s Show’s “What Men Want” skit to a movie starring Taraji P. Henson. In 2020, anticipate a feature length Rick James biopic, a Playa Hater’s Ball film, and “Game, Blouses: The Movie”.

3 Things To Casually Inject Into Conversation To Prove You Saw The Movie And Sound Like An Expert:

This film marks Ricky Jerret’s first acting role after he was cut from the Miami Dolphins by Charles Greane - who he thought was his friend - for his use of PEDs.

This film holds the distinction of having the highest number of different spellings on social media - just barely edging out Bohemian Rhapsody and The Favourite (well, in America).

Reggie Miller purchased a seat in the front row of the Oscars and is planning to wear a The Favourite jersey and baseball cap, then spend the entire show heckling Spike Lee and screaming, “See?! How does it feel the other way around?!”

Bohemian Rhapsody

Bohemian Rhapsody is a French film with a title that can be loosely translated into English as “The Sassy Singing Lad With The Donkey Snout”.

3 Things To Casually Inject Into Conversation To Prove You Saw The Movie And Sound Like An Expert:

A bit of trivia for you. Did you know that Freddie Mercury wasn’t his first choice for a stage name? It was actually Fred Mercury.

A bit of trivia for you. Did you know that Brian May wasn’t his first choice for a stage name? It was actually Brian February.

A bit of trivia for you. Did you know that Queen’s first band name was actually Princess and they didn’t become Queen until they married Prince...and enjoyed a Purple Reign? Yup - I will show myself out now.

The Favourite

Rain droups on rouses! This perioud piece stars Oulivia Coulman, Emma Stoune, Joue Alwyn and Nichoulas Holt! It’s abot a grop of people in the contry of England that’s two hors long and y will find fabulos!

3 Things To Casually Inject Into Conversation To Prove You Saw The Movie And Sound Like An Expert:

This is the movie about a Queen that doesn’t end with an AIDS diagnosis...I think.

Wigs and bodices accounted for 48% of the film’s budget.

The film’s title has nothing to do with the plot or characters and is instead a sly attempt to influence the outcome of the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences members’ voting.

Green Book

In this sexual thriller, we see the raw, animal side of Kermit the Frog as he provides details from his Little Green Book of every single Muppet he’s fucked. With an original working title of Fifty Shades of Green, we’ll see how Miss Piggy was at first a mousy and demure fill-in interviewer whose sexual spirit was awakened by Kermit’s dominant yet mesmerizing magnetism. Kermit also does some butt stuff with Bunsen Honeydew and gets down group style with all of The Electric Mayhem.

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There’s an odd cameo halfway through the movie where Mahershala Ali enters a gas station on the road and encounters a man in his late 20′s/early 30′s who says in a southern drawl, “I’m Stephen Dorff and I’m your partner,” then another Stephen Dorff, this one in his 40′s limps up and says, “And I’m Stephen Dorff. I’m also your partner,” then finally an old drunk one in his 70′s hobbles up and says, “I’m Stephen Dorff and I too am your partner!”

Mahershala Ali generally tried to avoid Viggo Mortensen, who continually would run up saying, “Dude, Mahersh! We have to get matching tattoos of the number two - for the two of us to commemorate this journey that we’re on together. It’s what you do with your cast mates!” When Mahershala would decline but say it was nice what Viggo and the cast of the Lord of the Rings trilogy did together, Viggo would walk off grumbling, “Hidalgo got a tattoo with me...”

*Before the next comment - be sure to do a thorough research on Google and on social media to determine the prevailing public opinion of if Green Book is a remarkable cinematic achievement faithful to the story of Don Shirley and Tony Vallelonga’s relationship and an examination of the complicated issue of race and its impact on friendship and business OR if it’s just another white savior movie before you speak, so that you can make sure that you’re aligned with whatever is currently the popular thing to say at that moment in time about this movie. Then say...

Ahem. This is the same director who wrote and directed a scene in Movie 43 where Hugh Jackman is on a blind date with Kate Winslet and has prosthetic testicles hanging under his neck which go into her mouth - and that’s, like, it.

Roma

Set in a world with no color, this movie is about a bunch of people (mostly children) hugging on a beach who may or may not be related to each other, may or may not be involved in some kind of national tragedy in either Italy or Mexico, and may or may not be sick, dying, sad or overcome with joy. I honestly have no clue on this one. But it IS on Netflix.

3 Things To Casually Inject Into Conversation To Prove You Saw The Movie And Sound Like An Expert:

They say that Alfonso Cuarón painted a realistic picture of his childhood in Roma which is the exact same tactic he employed in making Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Netflix forced Cuarón to cross promote other Netflix titles throughout the film, so there is an odd scene in which Cleo’s son meets his Big Mouth Hormone Monster to talk about masturbation and then later on the family enters The Upside Down (or Al Revés de Abajo). Also, every single cast member gets a stand-up comedy special.

Yalitza Martínez plays a housekeeper here and after this star-making turn, she’s got it MAID!

A Star Is Born

Jackson Maine wants to create a star. But after consulting a high school astronomy textbook, he learns that the only way that a star is truly born is to squeeze atoms of light elements under enough pressure for their nuclei to undergo fusion. He closes the book and says, “To hell with that science shit,” then gets drunk and just hires Lady Gaga to write a song that sounds like she’s a child screaming at her mom to watch her do a dive at the community pool.

3 Things To Casually Inject Into Conversation To Prove You Saw The Movie And Sound Like An Expert:

As a first-time singer, Bradley Cooper devoted countless hours over several months in order to unlock the instrument of his voice to become a mostly-inoffensive singer. As a first-time director, Bradley Cooper bought one of those chairs with “Director” on it.

Bradley Cooper refused to urinate for the duration of filming until the big Grammy’s scene so it played better on film. He did poop a lot during filming though.

The young actress from Eighth Grade is already planning her Oscar bait remake of A Star Is Born to come out in 2043 where SHE plays the aging star and enters a romance with a young male singer played by Boy from Bird Box.

Vice

As the DC Comics universe continues to expand, we finally get the origin story of Batman arch nemesis and super villain, The Penguin.

3 Things To Casually Inject Into Conversation To Prove You Saw The Movie And Sound Like An Expert:

Unable to shake his Saturday Night Live roots, Adam McKay decided to insert a scene late in the movie where - unannounced - the real Dick Cheney walks in to surprised applause from the audience and Christian Bale acts flustered before stammering out that it is an honor to meet him. Cheney pauses for the awkward “oh my god, can you believe this” murmur to die down in the audience and then stiffly delivers, “You know, Christian, you could have just worn a fat suit for this role.” The audience erases all memory of the terrible atrocities that the man has committed during his lifetime and erupts into wild clapping and bark-laughing like seals while Christian and the rest of the cast just have to hand it to the guy for being such a good sport about it all.

Dick Cheney is just happy that A Star Is Born is in the field this year so that in defiance of Vice he also doesn’t have to root for any movies about gay guys, black people, immigrants, or foreigners.

While watching the film, Laura Bush continually had to remind a startled and frightened George W. that no, he was not trapped up in the big movie screen.

#oscars

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