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davidmann95 · 3 years

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So... Morrison’s 10 part interview on All-Star Superman, along with all other older Newsarama articles, just seem to have ceased to exist. One does not simply live without having those interviews available to reread... Can I find them anywhere else?

Rejoice! I finally borrowed a computer I could put my flash drive into, and emailed myself my copy of the Morrison interview. Here it is below the cut, copied and pasted direct from the source way back when, available again at last:

Three years, 12 issues, Eisners and countless accolades later, All Star Superman is finally finished. The out-of-continuity look at Superman’s struggle with his inevitable death was widely embraced by fans and pros as one of the best stories to feature the Man of Steel, and was a showcase for the talents of the creative team of Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely and Jamie Grant.

Now, Newsarama is proud to present an exclusive look back with Morrison at the series that took Superman to, pun intended, new heights. We had a lot of questions about the series...and Morrison delivered with an in-depth look into the themes, characters and ideas throughout the 12 issues. In fact, there was so much that we’re running this as an unprecedented 10-part series over the next two weeks – sort of an unofficial All Star Superman companion. It’s everything about All Star Superman you ever wanted to know, but were afraid to ask.

And of course there’s plenty of SPOILERS, so back away if you haven’t read the entire series.

Newsarama: Grant, tell us a little about the origin of the project.

Grant Morrison: Some of it has its roots in the DC One Million project from 1999. So much so, that some readers have come to consider this a prequel to DC One Million, which is fine if it shifts a few more copies! I’ve tried to give my own DC books an overarching continuity intended to make them all read as a more coherent body of work when I’m done.

Luthor’s “enlightenment” – when he peaks on super–senses and sees the world as it appears through Superman’s eyes – was an element I’d included in the Superman Now pitch I prepared along with Mark Millar, Tom Peyer and Mark Waid back in 1999. There were one or two of ideas of mine that I wanted to preserve from Superman Now and Luthor’s heart–stopping moment of understanding was a favorite part of the original ending for that story, so I decided to use it again here.

My specific take on Superman’s physicality was inspired by the “shamanic” meeting my JLA editor Dan Raspler and I had in the wee hours of the morning outside the San Diego comic book convention in whenever it was, ‘98 or ‘99.

I’ve told this story in more detail elsewhere but basically, we were trying to figure out how to “reboot” Superman without splitting up his marriage to Lois, which seemed like a cop–out. It was the beginning of the conversations which ultimately led to Superman Now, with Dan and I restlessly pacing around trying to figure out a new way into the character of Superman and coming up short...

Until we looked up to see a guy dressed as Superman crossing the train tracks. Not just any skinny convention guy in an ill–fitting suit, this guy actually looked like Superman. It was too good a moment to let pass, so I ran over to him, told him what we’d been trying to do and asked if he wouldn’t mind indulging us by answering some questions about Superman, which he did...in the persona and voice of Superman!

We talked for an hour and a half and he walked off into the night with his friend (no, it wasn’t Jimmy Olsen, sadly). I sat up the rest of the night, scribbling page after page of Superman notes as the sun came up over the naval yards.

My entire approach to Superman had come from the way that guy had been sitting; so easy, so confident, as if, invulnerable to all physical harm, he could relax completely and be spontaneous and warm. That pose, sitting hunched on the bollard, with one knee up, the cape just hanging there, talking to us seemed to me to be the opposite of the clenched, muscle-bound look the character sometimes sports and that was the key to Superman for me.

I met the same Superman a couple of times afterwards but he wasn’t Superman, just a nice guy dressed as Superman, whose name I didn’t save but who has entered into my own personal mythology (a picture has from that time has survived showing me and Mark Waid posing alongside this guy and a couple of young readers dressed as Superboy and Supergirl – it’s in the “Gallery” section at my website for anybody who can be bothered looking. This is the guy who lit the fuse that led to All Star Superman).

After the 1999 pitch was rejected, I didn’t expect to be doing any further work on Superman but sometime in 2002, while I was going into my last year on New X–Men, Dan DiDio called and asked if I wanted to come back to DC to work on a Superman book with Jim Lee.

Jim was flexing his artistic muscles again to great effect, and he wanted to do 12 issues on Superman to complement the work he was doing with Jeph Loeb on “Batman: Hush.” At the time, I wasn’t able to make my own commitments dovetail with Jim’s availability, but by then I’d become obsessed with the idea of doing a big Superman story and I’d already started working out the details.

Jim, of course, went on to do his 12 Superman issues as “For Tomorrow” with Brian Azzarello, so I found myself looking for an artist for what was rapidly turning into my own Man of Steel magnum opus, and I already knew the book had to be drawn by my friend and collaborator, Frank Quitely.

We were already talking about We3 and Superman seemed like a good meaty project to get our teeth into when that was done. I completely scaled up my expectations of what might be possible once Frank was on board and decided to make this thing as ambitious as possible.

Usually, I prefer to write poppy, throwaway “live performance” type superhero books, but this time, I felt compelled to make something for the ages – a big definitive statement about superheroes and life and all that, not only drawn by my favorite artist but starring the first and greatest superhero of them all.

The fact that it could be a non–continuity recreation made the idea even more attractive and more achievable. I also felt ready for it, in a way I don’t think I would have been in 1999; I finally felt “grown–up” enough to do Superman justice.

I plotted the whole story in 2002 and drew tiny colored sketches for all 12 covers. The entire book was very tightly constructed before we started – except that I’d left the ending open for the inevitable better and more focused ideas I knew would arise as the project grew into its own shape...and I left an empty space for issue 10. That one was intended from the start to be the single issue of the 12–issue run that would condense and amplify the themes of all the others. #10 was set aside to be the one–off story that would sum up anything anyone needed to know about Superman in 22 pages.

Not quite as concise an origin as Superman’s, but that’s how we got started.

NRAMA: When you were devising the series, what challenges did you have in building up this version of the Superman universe?

GM: I couldn’t say there were any particular challenges. It was fun. Nobody was telling me what I could or couldn’t do with the characters. I didn’t have to worry about upsetting continuity or annoying people who care about stuff like that.

I don’t have a lot of old comics, so my knowledge of Superman was based on memory, some tattered “70s books from the remains of my teenage collection, a bunch of DC “Best Of...” reprint editions and two brilliant little handbooks – “Superman in Action Comics” Volumes 1 and 2 – which reprint every single Action Comics cover from 1938 to 1988.

I read various accounts of Superman’s creation and development as a brand. I read every Superman story and watched every Superman movie I could lay my hands on, from the Golden Age to the present day. From the Socialist scrapper Superman of the Depression years, through the Super–Cop of the 40s, the mythic Hyper–Dad of the 50s and 60s, the questioning, liberal Superman of the early 70s, the bland “superhero” of the late 70s, the confident yuppie of the 80s, the over–compensating Chippendale Superman of the 90s etc. I read takes on Superman by Mark Waid, Mark Millar, Geoff Johns, Denny O’Neil, Jeph Loeb, Alan Moore, Paul Dini and Alex Ross, Joe Casey, Steve Seagle, Garth Ennis, Jim Steranko and many others.

I looked at the Fleischer cartoons, the Chris Reeve movies and the animated series, and read Alvin Schwartz’s (he wrote the first ever Bizarro story among many others) fascinating book – “An Unlikely Prophet” – where he talks about his notion of Superman as a tulpa, (a Tibetan word for a living thought form which has an independent existence beyond its creator) and claims he actually met the Man of Steel in the back of a taxi.

I immersed myself in Superman and I tried to find in all of these very diverse approaches the essential “Superman–ness” that powered the engine. I then extracted, purified and refined that essence and drained it into All Star’s tank, recreating characters as my own dream versions, without the baggage of strict continuity.

In the end, I saw Superman not as a superhero or even a science fiction character, but as a story of Everyman. We’re all Superman in our own adventures. We have our own Fortresses of Solitude we retreat to, with our own special collections of valued stuff, our own super–pets, our own “Bottle Cities” that we feel guilty for neglecting. We have our own peers and rivals and bizarre emotional or moral tangles to deal with.

I felt I’d really grasped the concept when I saw him as Everyman, or rather as the dreamself of Everyman. That “S” is the radiant emblem of divinity we reveal when we rip off our stuffy shirts, our social masks, our neuroses, our constructed selves, and become who we truly are.

Batman is obviously much cooler, but that’s because he’s a very energetic and adolescent fantasy character: a handsome billionaire playboy in black leather with a butler at this beck and call, better cars and gadgetry than James Bond, a horde of fetish femme fatales baying around his heels and no boss. That guy’s Superman day and night.

Superman grew up baling hay on a farm. He goes to work, for a boss, in an office. He pines after a hard–working gal. Only when he tears off his shirt does that heroic, ideal inner self come to life. That’s actually a much more adult fantasy than the one Batman’s peddling but it also makes Superman a little harder to sell. He’s much more of a working class superhero, which is why we ended the whole book with the image of a laboring Superman.

He’s Everyman operating on a sci–fi Paul Bunyan scale. His worries and emotional problems are the same as ours... except that when he falls out with his girlfriend, the world trembles.

Newsarama: Grant, what are some of your favorite moments from the 12 issues?

Grant Morrison: The first shot of Superman flying over the sun. The Cosmic Anvil. Samson and Atlas. The kiss on the moon. The first three pages of the Olsen story which, I think, add up to the best character intro I’ve ever written.

Everything Lex Luthor says in issue #5. Everything Clark does. The whole says/does Luthor/Superman dynamic as played out through Frank Quitely’s absolute mastery and understanding of how space, movement and expression combine to tell a story.

Superboy and his dog on the moon – that perfect teenage moment of infinite possibility, introspection and hope for the future. He’s every young man on the verge of adulthood, Krypto is every dog with his boy (it seemed a shame to us that Krypto’s most memorable moment prior to this was his death scene in “Whatever Happened To The Man of Tomorrow.” Quitely’s scampering, leaping, eager and alive little creature is how I’d prefer to imagine Krypto the Superdog and conjures finer and more subtle emotions).

Bizarro–Home, with all of Earth’s continental and ocean shapes but reversed. The page with the first appearance of Zibarro that Frank has designed so the eye is pulled down in a swirling motion into the drain at the heart of the image, to make us feel that we’re being flushed in a cloacal spiral down into a nihilistic, existential sink. Frank gave me that page as a gift, and it became weirdly emblematic of a strange, dark time in both our lives.

The story with Bar–El and Lilo has a genuine chill off ammonia and antiseptic off it, which makes it my least favorite issue of the series, although I know a lot of people who love it. It’s about dying relatives, obligations, the overlit overheated corridors between terminal wards, the thin metallic odors of chemicals, bad food and fear. Preparation for the Phantom Zone.

Superman hugging the poor, hopeless girl on the roof and telling us all we’re stronger than we think we are.

Joe Shuster drawing us all into the story forever and never–ending.

Nasthalthia Luthor. Frank and Jamie’s final tour of the Fortress, referencing every previous issue on the way, in two pages.

All of issue #10 (there’s a single typo in there where the time on the last page was screwed up – but when we fix that detail for the trade I’ll be able to regard this as the most perfectly composed superhero story I’ve ever written).

I don’t think I’ve ever had a smoother, more seamless collaborative process.

NRAMA: The story is very complete unto itself, but are there any new or classic characters you’d like to explore further? If so, which ones and why?

GM: I’d happily write more Atlas and Samson. I really like Krull, the Dino–Czar’s wayward son, and his Stalinist underground empire of “Subterranosauri.” I could write a Superman Squad comic forever. I’d love to write the “Son of Superman” sequel about Lois and Clark’s super test tube baby.

But...I think All Star is already complete, without sequels. You read that last issue and it works because you know you’re never going to see All Star Superman again. You’ll be able to pick up Superman books, but they won’t be about this guy and they won’t feel the same. He really is going away. Our Superman is actually “dying” in that sense, and that adds the whole series a deeper poignancy.

NRAMA: Aside from the Bizarro League, you never really introduce other DC superheroes into the story. Why did you make this choice?

GM: I wanted the story to be about the mythic Superman at the end of his time. It’s clear from the references that he has or more likely has had a few super–powered allies, but that they’re no longer around or relevant any more.

For the context of this story I wanted the super–friends to be peripheral, like they were in the old comics. The Flash? Green Lantern? They represent Superman’s “old army buddies,” or your dad’s school friends. Guys you’ve sort of heard of, who used to be more important in the old man’s life than they are now.

NRAMA: Some readers were confused as to how the “Twelve Labors” broke down, though others have pointed out that Superman’s actions are more reflective of the Stations of the Cross (I note there’s a “Station Café” in the background of issue #12). Could you break down the Twelve Labors, or, if the cross theory is true, how the storyline reflects the Stations?

GM: The 12 Labors of Superman were never intended as an isomorphic mapping onto the 12 Labors of Hercules, or for that matter, the specific Stations of the Cross, of which there are 14, I believe. I didn’t even want to do one Labor per issue, so it deliberately breaks down quite erratically through the series for reasons I’ll go into (later).

Yes, there are correspondences, but that’s mostly because we tried to create for our Superman the contemporary “superhero” version of an archetypal solar hero journey, which naturally echoes numerous myths, legends and religious parables.

At the same time, we didn’t want to do an update or a direct copy of any myth you’d seen before, so it won’t work if you try to find one specific mythological or religious “plan” to hang the series on; James Joyce’s honorable and heroic refutation of the rule aside, there’s nothing more dead and dull than an attempt to retell the Odyssey or the Norse sagas scene by scene, but in a modern and/or superhero setting.

For future historians and mythologizers, however, the 12 Labors of Superman may be enumerated as follows:

1. Superman saves the first manned mission to the sun. 2. Superman brews the Super–Elixir. 3. Superman answers the Unanswerable Question. 4. Superman chains the Chronovore.  5. Superman saves Earth from Bizarro–Home. 6. Superman returns from the Underverse. 7. Superman creates Life. 8. Superman liberates Kandor/cures cancer. 9. Superman defeats Solaris. 10. Superman conquers Death. 11. Superman builds an artificial Heart for the Sun. 12.Superman leaves the recipe/formula to make Superman 2.

And one final feat, which typically no–one really notices, is that Lex Luthor delivers his own version of the unified field haiku – explaining the underlying principles of the universe in fourteen syllables – which the P.R.O.J.E.C.T. G–Type philosopher from issue 4 had dedicated his entire life to composing!

You may notice also that the Labors take place over a year – with the solar hero’s descent into the darkness and cold of the Underverse occurring at midwinter/Christmas time (that’s also the only point in the story where we ever see Metropolis at night).

It can also be seen as the sun’s journey over the course of a day – we open in blazing sunshine but halfway through the book, at the end of issue #5, in fact, the solar hero dips below the horizon and begins the night–journey through the hours of darkness and death, before his triumphant resurrection at dawn. That’s why issue 5 ends with the boat to the Underworld and 6 begins with the moon. Clark Kent is crossing the threshold into the subconscious world of memory, shadows, death and deep emotions.

Although they can often have bizarre resonances, specific elements, like the Station Café, are usually put there by Frank Quitely, and are not necessarily secret Dan Brown–style keys to unlocking the mysteries. I think there might be a Station Café opposite the studio where Frank Quitely works and the “SAPIEN” sign on another storefront is a reference to Frank’s studio mate, Dave Sapien. At least he’s not filling the background with dirty words like he used to, given any opportunity

NRAMA: For that matter, do the Twelve Labors matter at all? They seem so purposely ill–defined. They seem more like misdirection or a MacGuffin than anything that needs to be clearly delineated.

GM: They matter, of course, but the 12 Labors idea is there to show that, as with all myth, the systematic ordering of current events into stories, tales, or legends occurs after the fact.

I’m trying to suggest that only in the future will these particular 12 feats, out of all the others ever, be mythologized as 12 Labors. I suppose I was trying to say something about how people impose meaning upon events in retrospect, and that’s how myth is born. It’s hindsight that provides narrative, structure, meaning and significance to the simple unfolding of events. It’s the backward glance that adds all the capital letters to the list above.

Even Superman isn”t sure how many Labors he’s performed when we see him mulling it over in issue 10.  When you watched it happening, it seemed to be Superman just doing his thing. In the future it’s become THE 12 LABORS OF SUPERMAN!

NRAMA: And on a completely ridiculous note: All–Star Superman is perhaps the most difficult–to–abbreviate comic title since Preacher: Tall in the Saddle. Did you realize this going in?

GM: Going into what? Going into ASS itself? In the sense of how did I feel as I slowly entered ASS for the first time?

It never crossed my mind...

Newsarama: I’d like to know a little more about Leo Quintum and his role in the story. He seems like a bit of an outgrowth of the likes of Project Cadmus and Emil Hamilton, but in a more fantastical, Willy Wonka sense.

Grant Morrison: Yeah, he was exactly as you say, my attempt to create an updated take on the character of “Superman’s scientist friend” – in the vein of Emil Hamilton from the animated show and the ‘90s stories. Science so often goes wrong in Superman stories, and I thought it was important to show the potential for science to go right or to be elevated by contact with Superman’s shining positive spirit.

I was thinking of Quintum as a kind of “Man Who Fell To Earth” character with a mysterious unearthly background. For a while I toyed with the notion that he was some kind of avatar of Lightray of the New Gods, but as All Star developed, that didn’t fit the tone, and he was allowed to simply be himself.

Eventually it just came down to simplicity. Leo Quintum represents the “good” scientific spirit – the rational, enlightened, progressive, utopian kind of scientist I figured Superman might inspire to greatness. It was interesting to me how so many people expected Quintum to turn out bad at the end. It shows how conditioned we are in our miserable, self–loathing, suspicious society to expect the worst of everyone, rather than hope for the best. Or maybe it’s just what we expect from stories.

Having said that, there is indeed a necessary whiff of Lucifer about Quintum. His name, Leo Quintum, conjures images of solar force, lions and lightbringers and he has elements of the classic Trickster figure about him. He even refers to himself as “The Devil Himself” in issue #10.

What he’s doing at the end of the story should, for all its gee–whiz futurity, feel slightly ambiguous, slightly fake, slightly “Hollywood.” Yes, he’s fulfilling Superman’s wishes by cloning an heir to Superman and Lois and inaugurating a Superman dynasty that will last until the end of time – but he’s also commodifying Superman, figuring out how it’s done, turning him into a brand, a franchise, a bigger–and–better “revamp,” the ultimate coming attraction, fresher than fresh, newer than new but familiar too. Quintum has figured out the “formula” for Superman and improved upon it.

And then you can go back to the start of All Star Superman issue #1 and read the “formula” for yourself, condensed into eight words on the first page and then expanded upon throughout the story! The solar journey is an endless circle naturally. A perfect puzzle that is its own solution.

In one way, Quintum could be seen to represent the creative team, simultaneously re–empowering a pure myth with the honest fire of Art...while at the same time shooting a jolt of juice through a concept that sells more “S” logo underpants and towels than it does comic books. All tastes catered!

I have to say that the Willy Wonka thing never crossed my mind until I saw people online make the comparison, which seems quite obvious now. Quintum dresses how I would dress if I was the world’s coolest super–scientist. What’s up with that?

NRAMA: Was Zibarro inspired by the Bizarro World story where the Bizarro–Neanderthal becomes this unappreciated Casanova–type?

GM: Don’t know that one, but it sounds like a scenario I could definitely endorse!

Zibarro started out as a daft name sicked–up by my subconscious mind, which flowered within moments into the must–write idea of an Imperfect Bizarro. What would an imperfect version of an already imperfect being be like?

Zibarro.

NRAMA: I’d like to know more about Zibarro – what’s the significance of his chronicling Bizarro World through poetry?

GM: It’s up to you. I see Zibarro partly as the sensitive teenager inside us all. He’s moody, horribly self–aware and uncomfortable, yet filled with thoughts of omnipotence and agency. He’s the absolute center of his tiny, disorganized universe. He’s playing the role of sensitive, empathic poet but at the same time, he’s completely self–absorbed.

When he says to Superman “Can you even imagine what it’s like to be so different. So unique. So unlike everyone else?” he doesn’t even wait for Superman’s reply. He doesn’t care about anyone’s feelings but his own, ultimately.

NRAMA: The character is very close to Superman, so what does it say that a nonpowered version on a savage world would focus his energy through that medium? Also, does Zibarro’s existence show how Superman is able to elevate even the backwards Bizarros through his very nature?

GM: All of the above. And maybe he writes his totally subjective poetry as a reflection of Clark Kent’s objective reporter role. The suppressed, lyrical, wounded side of Superman perhaps? The Super–Morrissey? Bizarro With The Thorn In His Side?

But he’s also Bizarro–Home’s “mistake” (or so it seems to him, even though he’s as natural an expression of the place as any of the other Bizarro creatures who grow like mold across the surface of their living planet). He feels excluded, a despised outsider, and yet that position is what defines his cherished self–image. He expresses himself through poetry because to him the regular Bizarro language is barbaric, barely articulate and guttural. And they all think he’s talking crap anyway.

It seemed to make sense that an interesting opposite of Bizarro speech might be flowery “woe is me” school Poetry Society odes to the sunset in a misunderstood heart. He’s still a Bizarro though, which makes him ineffectual. His tragedy is that he knows he’s fated to be useless and pointless but craves so much more.

NRAMA: Zibarro also represents a recurrent theme in the story, of Superman constantly facing alternate versions of himself – Bar–El, Samson and Atlas, the Superman Squad, even Luthor by the end. Notably, Hercules is absent, though Superman’s doing his Twelve Labors. With the mythological adventurers in particular, was this designed to equate Superman with their legend, to show how his character is greater than theirs, or both?

GM: In a way, I suppose. He did arm–wrestle them both, proving once and for all Superman’s stronger than anybody! And remember, these characters, along with Hercules, used to appear regularly in Superman books as his rivals. I thought they made better rivals than, say, Majestic or Ultraman because people who don’t read comics have heard of Hercules, Samson and Atlas and understand what they represent.

For that particular story, I wanted to see Superman doing tough guy shit again, like he did in the early days and then again in the 70s, when he was written as a supremely cocky macho bastard for a while. I thought a little bit of that would be an antidote to the slightly soppy, Super–Christ portrayal that was starting to gain ground.

Hence Samson’s broken arm, twisted in two directions beyond all repair. And Atlas in the hospital. And then Superman’s got his hot girlfriend dressed like a girl from Krypton and they’re making out on the moon (the original panel description was of something more like the famous shot of Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr kissing in the surf from “From Here To Eternity.” Frank’s final choice of composition is much more classically pulp–romantic and iconic than my down and dirty rumble in the moondirt would have been, I’m glad to say).

Newsarama: Tell us about some of the thinking behind the new antagonists you created for this series (at least the ones you want to talk about...): First up: Krull and the Subterranosaurs...

Grant Morrison: We wanted to create some throwaway new characters which would be designed to look as if they were convincing long–term elements of the Superman legend.

We were trying to create a few foes who had a classic feel and a solid backstory that could be explored again or in depth. Even if we never went back to these characters, we wanted them to seem rich enough to carry their own stories.

With Krull, we figured a superhuman character like Superman can always use a powerful “sub–human” opponent: a beast, a monster, a savage with the power to destroy civilization. For years I’ve had the idea that the familiar “gray aliens” might “actually” be evolved biped dinosaur descendants, the offspring of smart–thinking lizards which made their way to the warm regions at the Earth’s core.

I imagined these brutes developing their own technology, their own civilization, and then finally coming to the surface to declare bloody war on the mammalian usurpers! It seemed like we could develop this idea into the Krull backstory and suggest a whole epic conflict in a few panels.

Dom Regan, the Glasgow artist and DC colorist, saw the original green skin Jamie Grant had done for Krull, and suggested we make him red instead. Jamie reset his color filters and that was the moment Krull suddenly looked like a real Superman foe.

The red skin marked him out as unique, different and dangerous, even among his own species. It had echoes of Jack Kirby’s Devil Dinosaur that played right into the heart of the concept. A good design became a great design and the whole story of who Krull was – his twisted relationship with his father the Dino–Czar, his monstrous ambitions – came together in that first picture.

The society was fleshed out in the script even though we see only one panel of it – a gloomy, heavy, “Soviet” underworld of walled iron cities, cold blood and deadly intrigue. War–Barges that could sail on the oceans of heated steam at the center of the Earth. A Stalinist authoritarian lizard world where missing person cases were being taken to work and die as slaves in hellish underworld conditions.

NRAMA: Mechano–Man?

GM: An attempt to pre–imagine a classic, archetypal Superman foe, which started with another simple premise – how about a giant robot villain? But not just any giant robot – this is a rampaging machine with a raging little man inside.

Giving him a bitter, angry, scrawny loser as a pilot turned Mechano–Man into a much more extreme and pathological expression of the Man of Steel/Mild–Mannered Reporter dynamic, and added a few interesting layers onto an 8–panel appearance.

NRAMA: The Chronovore – a very disturbing creation, that one.

GM: The Chronovore was mentioned in passing in DC 1,000,000 and would have been the monster in my aborted Hypercrisis series idea. It took a long time to get the right design for the beast because it’s meant to be a 5–D being that we only ever see in 4–D sections. It had to work as a convincing representation of something much bigger that we’re seeing only where it interpenetrates our 4–D space-time continuum.

Imagine you’re walking along with a song in your teenage heart, then suddenly the Chronovore appears, takes bite out of your life, and you arrive at your girlfriend’s house aged 76, clutching a cell phone and a wilted bouquet.

NRAMA: One more obscure run that I was happy to see referenced in this was the use of Nasty from the old Mike Sekowsky Supergirl stories. What made you want to use this character?

GM: I remembered her from the old comics, and felt her fashion–y look could be updated very easily into the kind of fetish club thing I’ve always been partial to.

She seemed a cool and sexy addition to the Luthor plot. The set–up, where Lex has a fairly normal sister who hates how her wayward brother is such a bad influence on her brilliant daughter, is explosive with character potential.

They need to bring Nasty back to mainstream continuity. Geoff! They all want it and you know you never let them down!

NRAMA: Speaking of Mike Sekowsky, I’m curious about his influence on your work. I have an odd fascination with all the ideas and stories he was tossing around in the late 1960s and early 1970s – Jason’s Quest, Manhunter 2070, the I–Ching tales – and many of the characters he worked on, from the B”Wana Beast to the Inferior Five to Yankee Doodle (in Doom Patrol), have shown up in your work. The Bizarro Zoo in issue #10 is even slightly reminiscent of the Beast’s merged animals.

GM: Those were all comics that were around when I was a normal kid, prior to the obsessive collecting fan phase of my isolated teenage years. They clearly inspired me in some way, as you say, but certainly not consciously. I’d never have considered myself a particular fan of Mike Sekowsky’s work, but as you say, I’ve incorporated a lot of his ideas into the DC Universe work I’ve done. Hmm. Interesting.

While I’m at it, I should also say something about Samson and Atlas, halfway between old characters and new.

Samson, Atlas and Hercules were classical mainstays of old Superman covers, tangling with Superman in all those Silver Age stories that happened before he learned from his friends at Marvel that it was possible to fight other superheroes for fun and profit, so I decided to completely “re–vamp” the characters in the manner of superhero franchises. Marvel has the definitive Hercules for me, so I left him out of the mix and concentrated on Atlas and Samson.

Atlas was re–imagined as a mighty but restless and reckless young prince of the New Mythos – a society of mega–beings playing out their archetypal dramas between New Elysium and Hadia, with ordinary people caught in the middle – and Superman.

Essentially good–hearted, Atlas would have been the newbie in a “team” with Skyfather Xaoz!, Heroina, Marzak and the others. He has a bullish, adolescent approach to life. He drinks and plunges himself into ill–advised adventures to ease his naturally gloomy “weighed down by the world” temperament.

You can see it all now. The backstory suggested an unseen, Empyrean New Gods–type series from a parallel universe. What if, when Jack Kirby came to DC from Marvel in 1971, he’d followed up his sci–fi Viking Gods saga at Marvel, with a dimension–spanning epic rooted in Greek mythology? New Gods meets Eternals drawn by Curt Swan/Murphy Anderson? That was Atlas.

Samson, I decided would be a callback to the British newspaper strip “Garth.” Although you may already be imagining a daily strip about the exploits of time–tossed The Boys writer, Garth Ennis, it was actually about a blonde Adonis type who bounced around the ages having mildly horny, racy adventures.

(Go look him up then return the wiser before reading on, so I don’t have to explain anymore about this bastard – he’s often described as “the British Superman,” but oh...my arse! I hated meathead, personality–singularity Garth...but we all grew up with his meandering, inexplicable yet incredibly–drawn adventures and some of it was quite good when you were a little lad because he was always shagging ON PANEL with the likes of a bare–breasted cave girl or gauze–draped Helen of Troy.

(Unlike Superman, you see, the top British strongman liked to get naked. Lots naked. Naked in every time period he could get naked in, which was all of them thanks to the miracle of his bullshit powers.

(Imagine Doctor Who buff, dumb and naked all the time – Russell, I’ve had an idea!!!! – and that’s Garth in a nutshell.

(Sorry, I know I’m going on and the average attention span of anyone reading stuff on the Internet amounts to no more than a few paragraphs, but basically, Garth was always getting naked. In public, in family newspapers. Bollock naked. Let’s face it, patriotic Americans, have you ever seen Superman’s arse?

Newsarama Note: Well, there was Baby Kal-El in the 1978 film...

(Brits, hands up who still remember the man, and have you ever not seen Garth’s arse? Do you not, in fact, have a very clear image of it in your head, as drawn by Martin Asbury perhaps? In mine, Garth’s pulling aside a flimsy curtain to gaze at the pyramids with Cleopatra buck naked in foreground ogling his rock hard glutes...).

Anyway, Samson, I decided, was the Hebrew version of Garth and he would have his own mad comic that was like an American version of Garth. I saw the Bible hero plucked from the desert sands by time–travelling buffoons in search of a savior. Introduced to all the worst aspects of future culture and, using his stolen, erratic Chrono–Mobile, Samson became a time–(and space) traveling Soldier of Fortune, writing wrongs, humping princesses, accumulating and losing treasure etc. Like a science fiction Conan. Meets Garth.

Fortunately, you’ll never see any of these men ever again.

Newsarama: How have your perceptions of Superman and his supporting characters evolved since the Superman 2000 pitch you did with Mark Waid, Mark Millar and Tom Peyer? The Superman notions seem almost identical, but Luthor is very different here than in that pitch, and so is Clark Kent. Did you use some aspects of your original pitch, or have you just changed his mind on how to portray these characters since?

Grant Morrison: A little of both. I wanted to approach All Star Superman as something new, but there were a couple of specific aspects from the Superman 2000 pitch (as I mentioned earlier, it was actually called Superman Now, at least in my notebooks, which is where the bulk of the material came from) that I felt were definitely worth keeping and exploring.

I can’t remember much about Luthor from Superman Now, except for the ending. By the time I got to All Star Superman, I’d developed a few new insights into Luthor’s character that seemed to flesh him out more. Luthor’s really human and charismatic and hateful all the same time. He’s the brilliant, deluded egotist in all of us. The key for me was the idea that he draws his eyebrows on. The weird vanity of that told me everything I needed to know about Luthor.

I thought the real key to him was the fact that, brilliant as he is, Luthor is nowhere near as brilliant as he wants to be or thinks he is. For Luthor, no praise, no success, no achievement is ever enough, because there’s a big hungry hole in his soul. His need for acknowledgement and validation is superhuman in scale. Superman needs no thanks; he does what he does because he’s made that way. Luthor constantly rails against his own sense of failure and inadequacy...and Superman’s to blame, of course.

I’ve recently been re–thinking Luthor again for a different project, and there’s always a new aspect of the character to unearth and develop.

NRAMA: This story makes Superman and Lois’ relationship seem much more romantic and epic than usual, but this one also makes Superman more of the pursuer. Lois seems like more of an equal, but also more wary of his affections, particularly in the black–and–white sequence in issue #2.

She becomes this great beacon of support for him over the course of the series, but there is a sense that she’s a bit jaded from years of trickery and uncomfortable with letting him in now that he’s being honest. How, overall, do you see the relationship between Superman and Lois?

GM: The black-and-white panels shows Lois paranoid and under the influence of an alien chemical, but yes, she’s articulating many of her very real concerns in that scene.

I wanted her to finally respond to all those years of being tricked and duped and led to believe Superman and Clark Kent were two different people. I wanted her to get her revenge by finally refusing to accept the truth.

It also exposed that brilliant central paradox in the Superman/Lois relationship. The perfect man who never tells a lie has to lie to the woman he loves to keep her safe. And he lives with that every day. It’s that little human kink that really drives their relationship.

NRAMA: Jimmy Olsen is extremely cool in this series – it’s the old “Mr. Action” idea taken to a new level. It’s often easy to write Jimmy as a victim or sycophant, but in this series, he comes off as someone worthy of being “Superman’s Pal” – he implicitly trusts Superman, and will take any risk to get his story. Do you see this version of Jimmy as sort of a natural evolution of the version often seen in the comics?

GM: It was a total rethink based on the aspects of Olsen I liked, and playing down the whole wet–behind–the–ears “cub reporter” thing. I borrowed a little from the “Mr. Action” idea of a more daredevil, pro–active Jimmy, added a little bit of Nathan Barley, some Abercrombie & Fitch style, a bit of Tintin, and a cool Quitely haircut.

Jimmy was renowned for his “disguises” and bizarre transformations (my favorite is the transvestite Olsen epic “Miss Jimmy Olsen” from Jimmy Olsen #95, which gets a nod on the first page of our Jimmy story we did), so I wanted to take that aspect of his appeal and make it part of his job.

I don’t like victim Jimmy or dumb Jimmy, because those takes on the character don’t make any sense in their context. It seemed more interesting see what a young man would be like who could convincingly be Superman’s “pal.” Someone whose company a Superman might actually enjoy. That meant making Jimmy a much bigger character: swaggering but ingenuous. Innocent yet worldly. Enthusiastic but not stupid.

My favorite Jimmy moment is in issue #7 when he comes up with the way to defeat the Bizarro invasion by using the seas of the Bizarro planet itself as giant mirrors to reflect toxic – to Bizarros – sunlight onto the night side of the Earth. He knows Superman can actually take crazy lateral thinking like this and put it into practice.

NRAMA: Perry White has a few small–but–key scenes, particularly his address to his staff in issue #1 and standing up to Luthor in issue #12. I’d like to hear more about your thoughts on this character.

GM: As with the others, my feelings are there on the page. Perry is Clark’s boss and need only be that and not much more to play his role perfectly well within the stories. He’s a good reminder that Superman has a job and a boss, unlike that good–for–nothing work-shy bastard Batman. Perry’s another of the series’ older male role models of integrity and steadfastness, like Pa Kent.

NRAMA: There’s a sense in the Daily Planet scenes and with Lois’s spotlight issues that everyone knows Clark is Superman, but they play along to humor him. The Clark disguise comes off as very obvious in this story. Do you feel that the Planet staff knows the truth, or are just in a very deep case of denial, like Lex?

GM: If I had to say for sure, I think Jimmy Olsen worked it out a long time ago, and simply presumes that if Superman has a good reason for what he’s doing, that’s good enough for Jimmy.

Lois has guessed, but refuses to acknowledge it because it exposes her darkest flaw – she could never love Clark Kent the way she loves Superman.

NRAMA: Also, the Planet staff seems awfully nonchalant at Luthor’s threats. Are they simply used to being attacked by now?

GM: Yes. They’re a tough group. They also know that Superman makes a point of looking out for them, so they naturally try to keep Luthor talking. They know he loves to talk about himself and about Superman. In that scene, he’s almost forgotten he even has powers, he’s so busy arguing and making points. He keeps doing ordinary things instead of extraordinary things.

NRAMA: The running gag of Clark subtly using his powers to protect unknowing people is well done, but I have to admit I was confused by the sequence near the end of issue #1. Was that an el–train, and if so, why was it so close to the ground?

GM: It’s a MagLev hover–train. Look again, and you’ll see it’s not supported by anything. Hover–trains help ease congestion in busy city streets! Metropolis is the City of Tomorrow, after all.

NRAMA: And there’s the death of Pa Kent. Why do you feel it’s particularly important to have Pa and not both of the Kents pass away?

GM: I imagined they had both passed away fairly early in Superman’s career, but Ma went a few years after Pa. Also, because the book was about men or man, it seemed important to stress the father/son relationships. That circle of life, the king is dead, long live the king thing that Superman is ultimately too big and too timeless to succumb to.

NRAMA: There is a real touch of Elliott S! Maggin’s novels in your depiction of Luthor – someone who is just so obsessive–compulsive about showing up Superman that he accomplishes nothing in his own life. He comes across as a showman, from his rehearsed speech in issue #1 to his garish costume in the last two issues, and it becomes painfully apparent that he wants to usurp Superman because he just can’t be happy with himself. What defeats him is actually a beautiful gift, getting to see the world as Superman does, and finally understanding his enemy.

That’s all a lead–in to: What previous stories that defined Luthor for you, and how did you define his character? What appeals to you about writing him?

GM: The Marks Waid and Millar were big fans of the Maggin books, and may have persuaded me to read at least the first one but I’m ashamed to say can’t remember anything about it, other than the vague recollection of a very humane, humanist take on Superman that seemed in general accord with the pacifist, hedonistic, between–the–wars spirit of the ‘90s when I read it. It was the ‘90s; I had other things on my mind and in my mind.

I like Maggin’s “Must There Be A Superman?” from Superman #247, which ultimately poses questions traditional superhero comic books are not equipped to answer and is one of the first paving stones in the Yellow Brick Road that leads to Watchmen and beyond, to The Authority, The Ultimates etc. Everyone still awake, still reading this, should make themselves familiar with “Must There Be A Superman?” – it’s a milestone in the development of the superhero concept.

However, the story that most defines Luthor for me turns out to be, as usual, a Len Wein piece with Curt Swan/Murphy Anderson– Superman #248. This blew me away when I was a kid. Lex Luthor cares about humanity? He’s sorry we all got blown up? The villain loves us too? It’s only Superman he really hates? Genius. Big, cool adult stuff.

The divine Len makes Lex almost too human, but it was amazing to see this kind of depth in a character I’d taken for granted as a music hall villain.

I also love the brutish Satanic, Crowley–esque, Golden Age Luthor in the brilliant “Powerstone” Action Comics #47 (the opening of All Star #11 is a shameless lift from “Powerstone”, as I soon realised when I went back to look. Blame my...er...photographic memory...cough).

And I like the Silver Age Luthor who only hates Superman because he thinks it’s Superboy’s fault he went bald. That was the most genuinely human motivation for Luthor’s career of villainy of all; it was Superman’s fault he went bald! I can get behind that.

In the Silver Age, baldness, like obesity, old age and poverty, was seen quite rightly as a crippling disease and a challenge which Superman and his supporting cast would be compelled to overcome at every opportunity! Suburban “50s America versus Communist degeneracy? You tell me.

I like elements of the Marv Wolfman/John Byrne ultra–cruel and rapacious businessman, although he somewhat lacks the human dimension (ultimately there’s something brilliant about Luthor being a failed inventor, a product of Smallville/Dullsville – the genius who went unnoticed in his lifetime, and resorted to death robots in chilly basements and cellars. Luthor as geek versus world). I thought Alan Moore’s ruthlessly self–assured “consultant” Luthor in Swamp Thing was an inspired take on the character as was Mark Waid’s rage–driven prodigy from Birthright.

I tried to fold them all into one portrayal. I see him as a very human character – Superman is us at our best, Luthor is us when we’re being mean, vindictive, petty, deluded and angry. Among other things. It’s like a bipolar manic/depressive personality – with optimistic, loving Superman smiling at one end of the scale and paranoid, petty Luthor cringing on the other.

I think any writer of Superman has to love these two enemies equally. We have to recognize them both as potentials within ourselves. I think it’s important to find yourself agreeing with Luthor a bit about Superman’s “smug superiority” – we all of us, except for Superman, know what it’s like to have mean–spirited thoughts like that about someone else’s happiness. It’s essential to find yourself rooting for Lex, at least a little bit, when he goes up against a man–god armed only with his bloody–minded arrogance and cleverness.

Even if you just wish you could just give him a hug and help him channel his energies in the right direction, Luthor speaks for something in all of us, I like to think.

However he’s played, Luthor is the male power fantasy gone wrong and turned sour. You’ve got everything you want but it’s not enough because someone has more, someone is better, someone is cleverer or more handsome.

Newsarama: Grant, a recurring theme throughout the book is the effect of small kindness – how even the likes of Steve Lombard are capable of decency. And Superman gets the key to saving himself by doing something that any human being could do, offering sympathy to a person about to end it all.

Grant Morrison: Completely...the person you help today could be the person who saves your life tomorrow.

NRAMA: The character actions that make the biggest difference, from Zibarro’s sacrifice to Pa’s influence on Superman, are really things that any normal, non-powered person could do if they embrace the best part of their humanity. The last page of issue #12 teases the idea that Superman’s powers could be given to all mankind, but it seems as though the greatest gift he has given them is his humanity. How do you view Superman’s fate in the context of where humanity could go as a species?

GM: I see Superman in this series as an Enlightenment figure, a Renaissance idea of the ideal man, perfect in mind, body and intention.

A key text in all of this is Pico’s ‘Oration On The Dignity of Man’ (15c), generally regarded as the ‘manifesto’ of Renaissance thought, in which Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola laid out the fundamentals of what we tend to refer to as ’Humanist’ thinking.

(The ‘Oratorio’ also turns up in my British superhero series Zenith from 1987, which may indicate how long I’ve been working towards a Pico/Superman team-up!)

At its most basic, the ‘Oratorio’ is telling us that human beings have the unique ability, even the responsibility, to live up to their ‘ideals’. It would be unusual for a dog to aspire to be a horse, a bird to bark like a dog, or a horse to want to wear a diving suit and explore the Barrier Reef, but people have a particular gift for and inclination towards imitation, mimicry and self-transformation. We fly by watching birds and then making metal carriers that can outdo birds, we travel underwater by imitating fish, we constantly look to role models and behavioral templates for guidance, even when those role models are fictional TV or, comic, novel or movie heroes, just like the soft, quick, shapeshifty little things we are. We can alter the clothes we wear, the temperature around us, and change even our own bodies, in order to colonize or occupy previously hostile environments. We are, in short, a distinctively malleable and adaptable bunch.

So, Pico is saying, if we live by imitation, does it not make sense that we might choose to imitate the angels, the gods, the very highest form of being that we can imagine? Instead of indulging the most brutish, vicious, greedy and ignorant aspects of the human experience, we can, with a little applied effort, elevate the better part of our natures and work to express those elements through our behavior. To do so would probably make us all feel a whole lot better too. Doing good deeds and making other people happy makes you feel totally brilliant, let’s face it.

So we can choose to the astronaut or the gangster. The superhero or the super villain. The angel or the devil. It’s entirely up to us, particularly in the privileged West, how we choose to imagine ourselves and conduct our lives.

We live in the stories we tell ourselves. It’s really simple. We can continue to tell ourselves and our children that the species we belong to is a crawling, diseased, viral cancer smear, only fit for extinction, and let’s see where that leads us.

We can continue to project our self-loathing and narcissistic terror of personal mortality onto our culture, our civilization, our planet, until we wreck the promise of the world for future generations in a fit of sheer self-induced panic...

...or we can own up to the scientific fact that we are all physically connected as parts of a single giant organism, imagine better ways to live and grow...and then put them into practice. We can stop pissing about, start building starships, and get on with the business of being adults.

The ’Oratorio’ is nothing less than the Shazam!, the Kimota! for Western Culture and we would do well to remember it in our currently trying times.

The key theme of the ‘Dark Age’ of comics was loss and recovery of wonder - McGregor’s Killraven trawling through the apocalyptic wreckage of culture in his search for poetry, meaning and fellowship, Captain Mantra, amnesiac in Robert Mayer’s Superfolks, Alan Moore’s Mike Maxwell trudging through the black and white streets of Thatcher’s Britain, with the magic word of transformation burning on the tip of his tongue.

My own work has been an ongoing attempt to repeat the magic word over and over until we all become the kind of superheroes we’d all like to be. Ha hah ha.

Newsarama: The structure of the 12 issues involves both Superman’s 12 labors and his impending death. Do you feel the threat of his demise brings out the best in Superman’s already–high character, or did you intend it more as a window for the audience to understand how he sees the world?

Grant Morrison: In trying to do the “big,” ultimate Superman story, we wanted to hit on all the major beats that define the character – the “death of Superman” story has been told again and again and had to be incorporated into any definitive take. Superman’s death and rebirth fit the sun god myth we were establishing, and, as you say, it added a very terminal ticking clock to the story.

NRAMA: When we talked earlier this year, we discussed the neurotic quality of the Silver Age stories. Looking at the series as a whole, you consistently invert this formula. Superman is faced with all these crises that could be seen as personifying his neuroses, but for the most part he handles them with a level head and comes across as being very at peace with himself. You talked about your discussion with an in–character Superman fan at a convention years ago, but I am curious as to how you determined Superman’s mindset.

GM: I felt we had to live up to the big ideas behind Superman. I don’t take my daft job lightly. It’s all I’ve got.

As the project got going, I wasn’t thinking about Silver Ages or Dark Ages or anything about the comics I’d read, so much as the big shared idea of “Superman” and that “S” logo I see on T–shirts everywhere I go, on girls and boys. That communal Superman. I wanted us to get the precise energy of Platonic Superman down on the page.

The “S” hieroglyph, the super–sigil, stands for the very best kind of man we can imagine, so the subject dictated the methodical, perfectionist approach. As I’ve mentioned before, I keep this aspect of my job fresh for myself by changing my writing style to suit the project, the character or the artist.

With something like Batman R.I.P., I’m aiming for a frenzied Goth Pulp-Noir; punk-psych, expressionist shadows and jagged nightmare scene shifts, inspired by Batman’s roots and by the snapping, fluttering of his uncanny cape. Final Crisis was written, with the Norse Ragnarok and Biblical Revelations in mind, as a story about events more than characters. A doom-laden, Death Metal myth for the wonderful world of Fina(ncia)l Crisis/Eco-breakdown/Terror Trauma we all have to live in.

The subject matter drives the execution. And then, of course, the artists add their own vision and nuance. With All Star Superman, “Frank” and I were able to spend a lot of time together talking it through, and we agreed it had to be about grids, structure, storybook panel layouts, an elegance of form, a clarity of delivery. “Classical” in every sense of the word. The medium, the message, the story, the character, all working together as one simple equation.

Frank Quitely, a Glasgow Art School boy, completely understood without much explanation, the deep structural underpinnings of the series and how to embody them in his layouts. There’s a scene in issue # 8, set on the Bizarro world, where we see Le Roj handing Superman his rocket plans. Look at the arrangement of the figures of Zibarro, Le Roj, Superman and Bizaro–Superman and you’ll see one attempt to make us of Renaissance compositions.

The sense of sunlit Zen calm we tried to get into All Star is how I imagine it might feel to think the way Superman thinks all the time - a thought process that is direct, clean, precise, mathematical, ordered. A mind capable of fantastical imagination but grounded in the everyday of his farm upbringing with nice decent folks. Rich with humour and tears and deep human significance, yet tuned to a higher key. We tried to hum along for a little while, that’s all.

In honor of the character’s primal position in the development of the superhero narrative, I hoped we could create an “ultimate” hero story, starring the ultimate superhero.

Basically, I suppose I felt Superman deserved the utmost application of our craft and intelligence in order to truly do him justice.

Otherwise, I couldn’t have written this book if I hadn’t watched my big, brilliant dad decline into incoherence and death. I couldn’t have written it if I’d never had my heart broken, or mended. I couldn’t have written it if I hadn’t known what it felt like to be idolized, misunderstood, hated for no clear reason, loved for all my faults, forgotten, remembered...

Writing All Star Superman was, in retrospect, also a way of keeping my mind in the clean sunshine while plumbing the murkiest depths of the imagination with that old pair of c****s Darkseid and Doctor Hurt. Good riddance.

Newsarama: This is touched on in other questions, but how much of the Silver/Bronze Age backstory matters here? What do you see as Superman's life prior to All-Star Superman? (What was going on with this Superman while the Byrne revamp took hold?)

Grant Morrison: When I introduced the series in an interview online, I suggested that All Star Superman could be read as the adventures of the ‘original’ Pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths Superman, returning after 20 plus years of adventures we never got to see because we were watching John Byrne‘s New Superman on the other channel. If ‘Whatever Happened To The Man of Tomorrow?’ and the Byrne reboot had never happened, where would that guy be now?

This was more to provide a sense, probably limited and ill-considered, of what the tone of the book might be like. I never intended All Star Superman as a direct continuation of the Weisinger or Julius Schwartz-era Superman stories. The idea was always to create another new version of Superman using all my favorite elements of past stories, not something ‘Age’ specific.

I didn’t collect Superman comics until the ‘70s and I’m not interested enough in pastiche or nostalgia to spend 6 years of my life playing post-modern games with Superman. All Star isn’t written, drawn or colored to look or read like a Silver Age comic book.

All Star Superman is not intended as arch commentary on continuity or how trends in storytelling have changed over the decades. It’s not retro or meta or anything other than its own simple self; a piece of drawing and writing that is intended by its makers to capture the spirit of its subject to the best of their capabilities, wisdom and talent.

Which is to say, we wanted our Superman story be about life, not about comics or superheroes, current events or politics. It’s about how it feels, specifically to be a man...in our dreams! Hopefully that means our 12 issues are also capable of wide interpretation.

So as much as we may have used a few recognizable Silver Age elements like Van-Zee and Sylv(i)a and the Bottle City of Kandor, the ensemble Daily Planet cast embodies all the generations of Superman. Perry White is from 1940, Steve Lombard is from the Schwartz-era ‘70s, Ron Troupe - the only black man in Metropolis - appeared in 1991. Cat Grant is from 1987 and so on.

P.R.O.J.E.C.T. refers back to Jack Kirby’s DNA Project from his ‘70s Jimmy Olsen stories, as well as to The Cadmus Project from ’90s Superboy and Superman stories. Doomsday is ‘90s. Kal Kent, Solaris and the Infant Universe of Qwewq all come from my own work on Superman in the same decade. Pa Kent’s heart attack is from ‘Superman the Movie‘. We didn’t use Brainiac because he’d been the big bad in Earth 2 but if we had, we’d have used Brainiac’s Kryptonian origin from the animated series and so on.

I also used quite a few elements of John Byrne’s approach. Byrne made a lot of good decisions when he rebooted the whole franchise in 1986 and I wanted to incorporate as much as I could of those too.

Our Superman in All Star was never Superboy, for instance. All Star Superman landed on Earth as a normal, if slightly stronger and fitter infant, and only began to manifest powers in adolescence when he’d finally soaked up enough yellow solar radiation to trigger his metamorphosis.

The Byrne logic seemed to me a better way to explain how his powers had developed across the decades, from the skyscraper leaps of the early days to the speed-of-light space flight of the high Silver Age. And more importantly, it made the Superman myth more poignant - the story of a farm boy who turned into an alien as he reached adolescence. I felt that was something that really enriched Superman. He grew away from his home, his family, his adopted species as he became Superman. His teenage years are a record of his transformation from normal boy to super-being.

As you say, there are more than just Silver Age influences in the book. Basically we tried to create a perfect synthesis of every Superman era. So much so, that it should just be taken as representative of an ‘age’ all its own.

In the end, however, I do think that the Silver Age type stories, with their focus on human problems and foibles, have a much wider appeal than a lot of the work which followed. They’re more like fables or folk tales than the later ‘comic book superhero’ stories of Superman when he became just another colorful costume in the crowd...and perhaps that’s why All Star seemed to resemble those books more than it does a typical modern Marvel or DC comic. It was our intention to present a more universal, mainstream Superman.

NRAMA: In your depiction of Krypton and the Kryptonians, you show the complexity of Superman’s relationship between humanity and Earth even further. Krypton has that scientific paradise quality to it, but the Kryptonians are also portrayed as slightly aloof and detached, even Jor-El. But from Bar-El to the people of Kandor, they’re touched by Superman’s goodness. What do you see as the fundamental difference between Kryptonians and Earthlings, and how has Superman’s character been shaped by each?

GM: My version of Krypton was, again, synthesized from a number of different approaches over the decades.  In mythic terms, if Superman is the story of a young king, found and raised by common people, then Krypton is the far distant kingdom he lost. It’s the secret bloodline, the aristocratic heritage that makes him special, and a hero. At the same time, Krypton is something that must be left behind for Superman to become who he is - i.e. one of us. Krypton gives him his scientific clarity of mind, Earth makes his heart blaze.

I liked the very early Jerry Siegel descriptions where Krypton is a planet of advanced supermen and women (I already played with that a little in Marvel Boy where Noh-Varr was written to be the Marvel Superboy basically). To that, I added the rich, science fiction detailing of the Silver Age Krypton stories and the slightly detached coolness that characterized John Byrne’s Krypton, which I re-interpreted through the lens of Dzogchen Buddhist thought, probably the most pragmatic, chilly and rational philosophic system on the planet and the closest, I felt, to how Kryptonians might see things.

We also took some time to redesign the crazy, multicolored Kryptonian flag (you can see our version in Kandor in issue #10). The flag, as originally imagined, seemed like the last thing Kryptonians would endorse, so we took the multicolored-rays-around-a-circle design and recreated it - the central circle is now red, representing Krypton’s star, Rao, while the rays, rather than arbitrary colors, become representations of the spectrum of visible light pouring from Rao into the inky black of space. In this way, the flag, that bizarre emblem of nationalism becomes a scientific hieroglyph.

Showing Krypton and Kryptonians was also important as a way of stressing why Superman wears that costume and why it makes absolute sense that he looks the way he does. I don’t see the red and blue suit as a flag or as rewoven baby blankets. There’s no need for Superman to dress the way he does but it made sense to think of his outfit as his ‘national costume‘.

The way I see it, the standard superhero outfit, the familiar Superman suit with the pants on the outside, is what everyone wore on Krypton, give or take a few fashion accessories like hoods and headbands, chest crests and variant colors. In fact, all other superheroes are just copying the fashions on Krypton, lost planet of the super-people.

Superman wears his ’action-suit’ the way a patriotic Scotsman would wear a kilt. It’s a sign of his pride in his alien heritage.

Newsarama: Although All–Star Superman ties in with DC One Million, you style of writing has changed dramatically since then. How do you feel about One Million now?

Grant Morrison: I just read it again and liked it a lot. Comics were definitely happier, breezier and more confident in their own strengths before Hollywood and the Internet turned the business of writing superhero stories into the production of low budget storyboards or, worse, into conformist, fruitless attempts to impress or entertain a small group of people who appear to hate comics and their creators.

NRAMA: Obviously, this book is the most explicit SF–Christ story since Behold the Man, only...happy. Superman/Christ parallels have existed for decades, but this story makes it absolutely explicit, from laying his hands on the sick and dying to...well, most of issue #12. You’ve dealt with Christ themes before, particularly in The Mystery Play, but outside of the comics, how do you see Superman as a Christ figure for the “real” world?

GM: The “Superman as Christ” thing is a little too reductive for me, and tends to overlook the fact that Superman is by no means a pacifist in the Christ sense. Superman would never turn the other cheek; Superman punches out the bully. Superman is a fighter.

When did Christ ever batter the Devil through a mountain?

The thing I disliked about the Superman Returns movie was the American Christ angle, which reduced Superman to a sniveling, masochistic wreck, crawling around on the floor, taking a kicking from everyone. This approach had an odd and slightly disturbing S&M flavor, which didn’t play well to the character’s strengths at all and seemed to derive entirely from a kind of Catholic vision of the suffering, martyred Jesus.

It’s not that he’s based on Jesus, but simply that a lot of the mythical sun god elements that have been layered onto the Christ story also appear in the story of Superman. I suppose I see Superman more as pagan sci–fi. He’s a secular messiah, a science redeemer with tough guy muscles and a very direct and clear morality.

NRAMA: Continuing the religious themes, in issue #10, you have Superman literally giving birth to himself, both philosophically and as a character – a nice little meta–moment showing how Superman inspires a world where he is only fiction. How did that idea come about?

GM: It came from the challenge we’d set ourselves: as I said, issue #10 had been left as a blank space into which the single most coherent condensation of all our ideas about Superman were destined to fit.

I wanted to do a “day in the life” story. So much of All Star had been about this threat to Superman himself, so we wanted to show him going about a typical day saving people and doing good.

Then came the title “Neverending,” which comes from the opening announcement – “Faster than a speeding bullet!...” of the Superman radio show from 1940, and seemed to me to be as good a title for a Superman story as any I could think of. It seemed to distil everything about Superman’s battle and his legend into a single word. And the story structure itself was designed to loop endlessly, so it went well with that.

On top of that went the idea of the Last Will and Testament of Superman. A dying god writing his will seemed like an interesting structure to use. Then came the idea to fit all of human history into that single 24 hours. And then to show the development of the Superman idea through human culture from the earliest Australian Aboriginal notions of super–beings ‘descended” from the sky, through the complex philosophical system of Hinduism, onto the Renaissance concept of the ideal man, via the refinements of Nietzche and finally, down to that smiling, hopeful Joe Shuster sketch; the final embodiment of humanity’s glorious, uplifting notion of the superman become reduced to a drawing, a story for kids, a worthless comic book.

And also what that could mean in a holographic fractal universe, where the smallest part contains and reflects the whole.

Of course the next panel in that sequence is happening in the real world and would show you, the reader, sitting with the latest Superman issue in your hands, deep within the Infant Universe of Qwewq in the Fortress of Solitude, today, wherever you are. In “Neverending,” the reader becomes wrapped in a self–referential loop of story and reality. If you actually, seriously think about what is happening at this point in the story, if you meditate upon the curious entanglement of the real and the fictional, you will become enlightened in this life apparently. According to some texts.

NRAMA: On a personal level, you’ve explored all types of religions and philosophies in your work. What is your take on religion and how it influences humanity, and the Christian take on Jesus Christ in particular?

GM: I think religion per se, is a ghastly blight on the progress of the human species towards the stars. At the same time, it, or something like it, has been an undeniable source of comfort, meaning and hope for the majority of poor bastards who have ever lived on Earth, so I’m not trying to write it off completely. I just wish that more people were educated to a standard where they could understand what religion is and how it works. Yes, it got us through the night for a while, but ultimately, it’s one of those ugly, stupid arse–over–backwards things we could probably do without now, here on the Planet of the Apes.

Religion is to spirituality what porn is to sex. It’s what the Hollywood 3–act story template is to real creative writing.

Religion creates a structure which places “special,” privileged people (priests) between ordinary people and the divine, as if there could even be any separation: as if every moment, every thought, every action was not already an expression of dynamic ‘divinity” at work.

As I’ve said before, the solid world is just the part of heaven we’re privileged to touch and play with. You don’t need a priest or a holy man to talk to “god” on your behalf: just close your eyes and say hello. “God” is no more, no less, than the sum total of all matter, all energy, all consciousness, as experienced or conceptualized from a timeless perspective where everything ever seems to present all at once. “God” is in everything, all the time and can be found there by looking carefully. The entire universe, including the scary, evil bits, is a thought “God” is thinking, right now.

As far as I can figure it out from my own reading and my own experience of how the spiritual world works, Jesus was, as they say, way cool: a man who achieved a state of consciousness, which nowadays would get him a diagnosis of temporal lobe epilepsy (in the days of the Emperor Tiberius, he was crucified for his ideas, today he’d be laughed at, mocked or medicated).

This ��holistic” mode of consciousness (which Luthor experiences briefly at the end of All Star Superman) announces itself as a heartbreaking connection, a oneness, with everything that exists...but you don’t have to be Superman to know what that feeling is like. There are a ton of meditation techniques which can take you to this place. I don’t see it as anything supernatural or religious, in fact, I think it’s nothing more than a developmental level of human consciousness, like the ability to see perspective – which children of 4 cannot do but children of 6 can.

Everyone who’s familiar with this upgrade will tell you the same thing: it feels as if “alien” or “angelic” voices – far more intelligent, coherent and kindly than the voices you normally hear in your head – are explaining the structure of time and space and your place in it.  This identification with a timeless supermind containing and resolving within itself all possible thoughts and contradictions, is what many people, unsurprisingly, mistake for an encounter with “God.” However, given that this totality must logically include and resolve all possible thoughts and concepts, it can also be interpreted as an actual encounter with God, so I’m not here to give anyone a hard time over interpretation.

Some people have the experience and believe the God of their particular culture has chosen them personally to have a chat with. These people may become born–again Christians, fundamentalist Muslims, devotees of Shiva, or misunderstood lunatics. Some “contactees” interpret the voices they hear erroneously as communications from an otherworldly, alien intelligence, hence the proliferation of “abduction” accounts in recent decades, which share most of their basic details with similar accounts, from earlier centuries, of people being taken away by “fairies” or “little people”.

Some, who like to describe themselves as magicians, will recognize the “alien” voice as the “Holy Guardian Angel”.

In timeless, spaceless consciousness, the singular human mind blurs into a direct experience of the totality of all consciousness that has ever been or will ever be. It feels like talking with God but I see that as an aspect of science, not religion.

As Peter Barnes wrote in “The Ruling Class”, “I know I must be God because when I pray to Him, I find I’m talking to myself.”

Newsarama: When we spoke earlier this year, you talked about some of your ideas for future All Star stories. Are you moving forward on those, or have you started working on different ideas since then?

Grant Morrison: I haven’t had time to think about them for a while. I did have the stories worked out, and I’d like to do more, but right now it feels like Frank and Jamie and I have said all there is to be said. I don’t know if I’m ready to do All Star Superman with anyone else right now. I have other plans.

NRAMA: You end the book with Superman having uplifted humanity – having inspired them through his sacrifice and great deeds, and with the potential to pass his powers on to humanity still there. Do you plan to explore this concept further, or would you prefer to leave it open–ended?

GM: I may go back to the Son of Superman in some way. At the same time, it’s best left open–ended. I like the idea that Superman gets to have his cake and eat it; he becomes golden and mythical and lives forever as a dream. Yet, he also is able to sire a child who will carry his legacy into the future. He kicks ass in both the spiritual and the temporal spheres!

NRAMA: The notion of transcendence – always a big part of your work. But the debate about All Star Superman is whether or not it "transcends its genre." Superman becomes transcendent within the series itself, and inspires the beings on Qwewq, but does the work aspire to more than that? Is it simply the greatest version of a Superman story, and that’s enough?

GM: That would certainly be enough if it were true.

It’s a pretty high–level attempt by some smart people to do the Superman concept some justice, is all I can say. It’s intended to work as a set of sci–fi fables that can be read by children and adults alike. I’d like to think you can go to it if you’re feeling suicidal, if you miss your dad, if you’ve had to take care of a difficult, ailing relative, if you’ve ever lost control and needed a good friend to put you straight, if you love your pets, if you wish your partner could see the real you...All Star is about how Superman deals with all of that.

It’s a big old Paul Bunyan style mythologizing of human - and in particular male - experience. In that sense I’d like to think All Star Superman does transcend genre in that it’s intended to be read on its own terms and needs absolutely no understanding of genre conventions or history around it to grasp what’s going on.

In today’s world, in today’s media climate designed to foster the fear our leaders like us to feel because it makes us easier to push around. In a world where limp, wimpy men are forced to talk tough and act ‘badass’ even though we all know they’re shitting it inside. In a world where the measure of our moral strength has come to lie in the extremity of the images we’re able to look at and stomach. In a world, I’m reliably told, that’s going to the dogs, the real mischief, the real punk rock rebellion, is a snarling, ‘fuck you’ positivity and optimism. Violent optimism in the face of all evidence to the contrary is the Alpha form of outrage these days. It really freaks people out.

I have a desire not to see my culture and my fellow human beings fall helplessly into step with a middle class media narrative that promises only planetary catastrophe, as engineered by an intrinsically evil and corrupt species which, in fact, deserves everything it gets.

Is this relentless, downbeat insistence that the future has been cancelled really the best we can come up with? Are we so fucked up we get off on terrifying our children? It’s not funny or ironic anymore and that’s why we wrote All Star Superman the way we did. Everything has changed. ‘Dark’ entertainment now looks like hysterical, adolescent, ‘Zibarro’ crap. That’s what my Final Crisis series is about too.

NRAMA (aka Tim Callahan): Continuing with the theme of transcendence: The words "ineffectual" and "surrender" are repeated throughout the book. Discuss.

GM: Discuss yourself, Callahan! I know you have the facilities and I should think it’s all rather obvious.  

NRAMA: What was the inspiration for the image of Superman in the sun at the end? (I confess this question comes as the result of much unsuccessful Googling)

GM: I didn’t have any specific reference in mind - just that one we‘ve all sort of got in our heads. I drew the figure as a sketch, intended to be reminiscent of William Blake’s cosmic figures, Russian Constructivist Soviet Socialist Worker type posters, and Leonardo’s ‘Proportions of the Human Figure‘. The position of the legs hints at the Buddhist swastika, the clockwise sun symbol. It was to me, the essence of that working class superheroic ideal I mentioned, condensed into a final image of mythic Superman, - our eternal, internal, guiding, selfless, tireless, loving superstar. The daft All Star Superman title of the comic is literalized in this last picture. It’s the ‘fearful symmetry’ of the Enlightenment project - an image of genius, toil, and our need to make things, to fashion art and artifacts, as a form of superhuman, divine imitation.

It was Superman as this fusion of Renaissance/Enlightenment ideas about Man and Cosmos, an impossible union of Blake and Newton. A Pop Art ‘Vitruvian Man‘. The inspiration for the first letter of the new future alphabet!

As you can see, we spent a lot of time thinking about all this and purifying it down to our own version of the gold. I’m glad it’s over.

NRAMA: Finally: What, above all else, would you like people to take away from All Star Superman?

GM: That we spent a lot of time thinking about this!

No. What I hope is that people take from it the unlikelihood that a piece of paper, with little ink drawings of figures, with little written words, can make you cry, can make your heart soar, can make you scared, sad, or thrilled. How mental is that?

That piece of paper is inert material, the corpse of some tree, pulped and poured, then given new meaning and new life when the real hours and real emotions that the writer and the artist, the colorist, the letter the editor translated onto the physical page, meet with the real hours and emotions of a reader, of all readers at once, across time, generations and distance.

And think about how that experience, the simple experience of interacting with a paper comic book, along with hundreds of thousands of others across time and space, is an actual doorway onto the beating heart of the imminent, timeless world of “Myth” as defined above. Not just a drawing of it but an actual doorway into timelessness and the immortal world where we are all one together.

My grief over the loss of my dad can be Superman’s grief, can trigger your own grief, for your own dad, for all our dads. The timeless grief that’s felt by Muslims and Christians and Agnostics alike. My personal moments of great and romantic love, untainted by the everyday, can become Superman’s and may resonate with your own experience of these simple human feelings.

In the one Mythic moment we’re all united, kissing our Lover for the First time, the Last time, the Only time, honoring our dear Dad under a blood red sky, against a darkening backdrop, with Mum telling us it’ll all be okay in the end.

If we were able to capture even a hint of that place and share it with our readers, that would be good enough for me.

#All Star Superman #Grant Morrison #Superman

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fyexo · 4 years

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200925 SuperM Dives Deeper with Super One

We meet the game-changing and boundary-breaking supergroup everybody needs to know.

There’s a rumble in the ground, a rupture, a star shining in the sky. Like a meteor landing on a quiet plain, SuperM – the Avengers of K-pop – landed in our lives, igniting the industry in unprecedented ways. With K-pop now considered a global phenomenon, how much more innovation is required to demand attention? The answer lies in the Capitol Records and SM Entertainment supergroup: the first K-pop act to debut in the US who immediately stole the show and made music fun again with their record-breaking 2019 introduction. SuperM consists of a diverse group of stars hailing from different groups: Taemin from SHINee, Kai and Baekhyun from EXO, Taeyong and Mark from NCT 127, and Ten and Lucas from WayV. They are the future, the charismatic force managing to both elevate and inspire. With Super One, the group’s first full-length album released on 25th September, they graduate from simply jumping and popping (Jopping!) to invoking the sincere emotions of listeners while simultaneously lighting up the room in the way that only they know how.

Baekhyun – the soulful vocalist, humble leader, and oldest member of SuperM – opens up about their growth: “When we first met, I could tell that the younger members were feeling a little nervous. But aside from working and performing together, we also naturally spent a lot of time together off stage, too.” In fact, their chemistry is palpable: “From sharing the same rooms when we were on tour in the US to shooting a reality show together recently, we made a lot of memories. Now, we’re like close brothers. We feel very comfortable with each other.”

Since joining the supergroup, Baekhyun’s Delight, released in May, became the first album in 19 years by a Korean soloist to sell over 1 million copies. Baekhyun says, “Shortly after completing my solo activities with ‘Candy’ [the lead single], I regrouped with SuperM, and I definitely feel more at ease in a group.” As evidenced by their discography, which fuses elements of hip-hop, pop, and various other genres, “We are always experimenting with different styles and trying to create something new so the synergy that we bring to the stage is very distinct and unique.”

Taemin has found similar success with his solo endeavours, recently releasing his best-selling project to date just this month. His 3rd Korean studio album, Never Gonna Dance Again: Act 1, hit number 1 on several iTunes Top Albums charts including the US and Canada. The graceful performer ponders the importance of embarking on this journey with the rest of SuperM. “Through our individual teasers, we wanted to tell a personal story about our beginnings—from how we developed our dreams to how we got to where we are now. They are reflections of our past that allowed us to become the artists that we are today.” For Taemin personally, who first debuted in SHINee in 2008, “This experience helped broaden my boundaries as an artist and I’m very thankful for that.”

Taemin’s wisdom is apparent in how he interprets his growth, “Although I’ve performed abroad many times before, SuperM was formed with the global market in mind so I took this as a new challenge and a great opportunity for me to learn and grow even more. Through SuperM, I was able to get closer to my international fans and learn more about their cultures. Because of the opportunities I’ve had more recently to perform on a global stage, my stage performances and mannerisms have improved and this has made me a stronger artist.”

Branded as fast-moving and dynamic, there were certain expectations for them to continue on this path. The motifs are intentional, but fitting, and as the endearing Hong Kong rapper Lucas puts it, “‘Movement’ and ‘speed’ for us carries a deep meaning and represents our strength and energy. It also describes how SuperM is always moving forward no matter how difficult the situation may be. There is no better tomorrow if you’re not moving forward.”

Taemin further reflects on this. “I think fans will be surprised to hear mellow, medium-tempo tracks that are not performance-based. Incorporating the performance element is of course one of the most important parts of what SuperM does in our music, but this time, we also wanted to emphasise a message of hope.”

Kai, lead dancer of EXO and Gucci ambassador, who will also be embarking on his solo career soon, shares that “I really want to perform ‘Infinity’ and ‘Monster’. Together, they form our title track, ‘One’. I’m excited to perform ‘One’ as well, but also would love to showcase the two tracks separately, as I think that would bring a different charm on stage.”

The love for this track is echoed by Taemin, an expert when it comes to this fusion of songs as SHINee also had a combination of tracks with 2012’s ‘Sherlock’, a mix of ‘Clue’ and ‘Note’. “With K-pop, you often have a gradual change of genres in one song, but ‘One’ brings together two completely different songs, so it’s fresh—but it still sounds very natural and seamlessly put together.” He adds, “The members’ vocals really stand out through these tracks so I hope fans enjoy!”

B-sides like ‘Together At Home’ and ‘Wish You Were Here’ are like a comfort blanket for fans, suitable for the current world climate. Kai recognises that impact and describes it as intentional, “Music can really lift your spirits when you’re feeling down so I hope people find healing and happiness while listening to our music. That would make us very happy.”

“FROM SHARING THE SAME ROOMS WHEN WE WERE ON TOUR IN THE US TO SHOOTING A REALITY SHOW TOGETHER RECENTLY, WE MADE A LOT OF MEMORIES. NOW, WE’RE LIKE CLOSE BROTHERS. WE FEEL VERY COMFORTABLE WITH EACH OTHER.”

Prior to the official album drop with title track ‘One’, several songs were released, each accompanied by their own electric music videos. The single, ‘100’, has lyrics written by youngest member Mark, who explains, “For ‘100,’ I wanted to really bring the energy of SuperM, because my verse opens up the track, and I wanted to really complement the song while emphasising our strength as a group and that we have the capability to be at the top.” The Canadian rapper, whose positive energy is contagious, says, “Taeyong and I also wrote our verses for ‘Together At Home,’ and I think we tried to keep the lyrics closely tied to the overarching message of the album. So for that song, we tried to envision what it’s like to be “together at home”, so staying connected to the fans and our loved ones while we are physically apart.”

Ferocious single ‘Tiger Inside’ was released on 1st September, and NCT leader Taeyong describes it best, “as a hip-hop song with an Asian-themed vibe. One part of the lyrics says, “Wake up the tiger inside” which I think describes SuperM’s energy really well. He eloquently personifies the group through a more artistic lens. “SuperM coming together is almost like a painting created using these different colours, to create a new work of art.”

Though promotions are hectic, Taeyong opens up about life outside of the spotlight, sharing, “I personally spent a lot of quality time with my family and also creating new music.” Mark has also been in tune with his rhythmic side, adding, “I’ve been listening to a lot of the new music that’s been coming out… Recently, Big Sean’s new album and Dominic Fike.”

The fashion of the group ranges from traditional Korean wear to modern hip-hop stylings, reflecting the merging of cultures, sounds, and themes apparent in their music. Lucas took a special liking to the outfits they wore for this comeback. “I wore a black outfit in the ‘One’ music video and it made me feel like a fictional character from a film or a book. I really liked the concept of that look. For ‘Tiger Inside’, I wore this beautiful emerald colour outfit with gold embroidery and intricate Asian-themed details—that was another one of my favourites!”

With everything going on in the world right now, Ten, the multilingual Thai singer and dancing king, says, “Right now, our biggest goal is to interact closely with our fans in the best way possible given the current situation. Even though we can’t meet each other in person, we want our fans to know that we are always thinking of them and that we are always trying to create opportunities to make us feel close.” He mentions ‘Beyond Live’, the platform SuperM spearheaded earlier this year to provide a virtual concert experience for fans.

“We are always thinking of fun and innovative ways to interact with our fans so we are definitely planning on doing many more online promotions that bring us closer together.” He elaborates, also sharing that he’s excited to finally perform songs off of Super One.

This album is a new era for SuperM, whose journey as a group has been far from ordinary but delightfully rewarding. As Baekhyun concludes, “When SuperM was first announced to the public, it may have been odd to see members from different groups come together like this to form a new group. But in spite of that, our fans have always cheered us on from the get-go and we’re incredibly grateful for their support.” SuperM’s awareness of the times they’re in and ability to adapt allow them to be a tantalizing force in the industry.

Though awards and accolades are nice, what makes this group special beyond their obvious talent and charm is the passion, grit, and hard work they put into what they do, and Super One is the ultimate care package and culmination of their gifts. Through music, they remind us that we all have the power to unite together as one no matter where we come from.

Ashlee Mitchell @ TMRW

#exo #baekhyun #kai #t: interview #album: super one #200923 #e: interview

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hello--mrs · 5 years

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Steven Universe Podcast: Battle of Heart and Mind

I don’t usually do this but I said I would for the server, so here we are.

This episode included Rebecca Sugar, Kat Morris, Joe Johnston, Matt Burnett, Ben Levin, and Ian Jones-Quartey.

· The episode starts with the rainbow worm in Steven’s dream, who is voiced by Deedee. This is the last homage to the princess references in the arc. The worm is from the Kyanite colony and was brought to Homeworld by Pink, which Blue allowed, but then Pink released all worms in the ballroom. Rebecca mentions this links with Pink’s desire to be free by releasing animals from their colonies.

· This specific princess reference was to Jasmine (in Aladdin) opening the cage and allowing the birds to fly free. It was also a reference to Pink’s love of animals and wanting to set them free, which isn’t out of character for Steven either.

· For Diamond Days, they picked the most common princess tropes for Steven’s time on Homeworld and made this experience alienating for him.

· Rebecca states that the Diamonds are meant to exist as a body- the inspiration for the ship. Pink is the Id, Blue and Yellow are the Ego, and White is the Super Ego. This is represented in Change Your Mind where the collective mind experiences embarrassment when the Id demands they enjoy something.

· Kat admits that they came up with the new outfits by continuously emailing each other with ideas. Rebecca said they considered everything but there were some concepts that they really wanted, for example, Rainbow 2.0 would have a scarf and a jacket. It was important either way that the fusions would notably have Steven’s clothes and the gems. However, the fusions would hint at the new forms and Pearl didn’t end up having a scarf, but she did have the jacket. Later, McKenzie asked if the jacket was a throwback to Bad Pearl and Rebecca confirmed that it represented her independence.

· One of Garnet’s new designs included transparent glasses and Peridot’s glasses in the shape of a star. Kat came up with the idea for the shredded shorts and star pockets for Amethyst.

· All of the new outfits represent how the gems have changed and learned from Steven.

· Rebecca mentioned that Pearl has been ‘playing the field’ and ‘exploring who she is’, which started in Last One Out of Beach City.

· Lapis has gold accents on her new outfit to match the real-life gem stone. Kat said that Rebecca really wanted the sandals for Lapis and it makes for comfortable cosplay.

· Joe said that he enjoyed a lot of Garnet’s new designs. Most ideas were based off superheroes and had a more ‘knightly’ aspect.

· They confirmed that they tried Peridot’s new design with star hair but it was too much. Rebecca said that the glasses already change her silhouette and expose her gem more.

· Peridot also has boots this time. Before, she had socks because she used to wear limb enhancers.

· Mary Poppins and Bert were the inspiration for Rainbow 2.0. These concepts were made by Joe around 2-3 years ago. Sunstone was a newer concept.

· Rebecca said that all Garnet fusions can break the fourth wall, but with Steven, it would break it to give advice to children. The suction cups are also a combination of Steven’s shield and Garnet’s gauntlets. When creating Sunstone, Rebecca wanted her to look like a toy that you could stick in the back window of a car with suction cups.

· Alistair James auditioned for Rainbow 2.0 by doing an impression of his grandmother with a British accent. Rebecca said that Shoniqua was perfect and she knew immediately that she wanted her for Sunstone. She sounded exactly like how Miki Brewster pitched her.

· For Obsidian, they’d had her concept from the very beginning since she was shown as the temple. It was a hidden in sight visual that would eventually pay off.

· Obsidian’s sword is in the ocean, which is a part of the temple. It’s first seen in Bubble Buddies and seen again in Ocean Gem when the ocean is cleared. The sword design changed over time to ensure that all the Crystal Gem’s weapons could fit into the design.

· The earliest inspiration for White Diamond is traced back to the beginning of the show. She was inspired by the film ‘A Story of Menstruation’, which was made in 1946. It was a film by Disney played in schools to teach children what to expect in menstruation, and the narrator’s voice was a kindly older woman. Rebecca said that she found the designs really interesting and cute.

· From the film, the inspiration came from a scene where a woman cried into her arms but in the reflection of her mirror, she straightens up and starts smiling before going out dancing. The narrator says: “Don’t forget that people are around you and you’ll have to be more pleasant if you want people to like you”. The scene passes by and it ignores that fact that the woman was crying earlier, because she’s now seen being ‘correct’. This is the voice and the feeling that she went for with White Diamond and Homeworld.

· Homeworld is inspired by Busby Berkeley, and White is inspired by Hedy Lamarr in Ziegfeld Girl and Nell Brinkley drawings, all within an era where women were seen as beautiful pieces of furniture. Rebecca states: Women are like lamps, smiling and there, part of the scenery. It all originates from the idea that people thought it was lovely and seen as an escape from reality.

· Those early inspirations were also used for the wall gems- the idea that people are in the background as if turned to stone and function solely as architecture. These faces we see in the architecture are gems and that’s their function.

· White has always been associated as a mother, especially in terms of her storyline with Steven in this arc, and how gems are viewed as her children. This arc wanted to begin to explore her relationship with them.

· Rebecca says that White’s way of thinking is that she is everyone and everyone is her. She considers herself the default white light that passes through other gems, so when she sees gems absorb other colours from that light, she considers it a variation of her but lesser. In that way, she has no identity at all because she considers herself just light. She feels that people can be turned into her because they are all the same.

· Rebecca also stated that White is wrong about how she views the world and herself. It’s an antithesis to Rose’s journey- expression and repression. She lives in a delusion that everything is fine but it isn’t.

· Matt and Ben said that the whole episode was balanced by ensuring that every single character got their moment. It was an accumulation of ideas from over the years that they tried to fit into one episode, such as Amethyst greeting Jasper after she was uncorrupted. They felt they did everything they wanted to do before they left.

· All past episodes, especially for Diamond Days, were made to build up to the scene with White and Steven where she pulled out his gem. Mirror Gem is the first time they introduce the concept that a sentient gem can be trapped inside an object and that object is Steven. They’ve been planting hints that Pink may be trapped inside him ever since.

· From the beginning, they’ve wanted there to be doubt that Steven was his own person and have the audience question if Pink/Rose could still be alive. Even when the gem was pulled out, they still wanted the viewer to doubt if he was Steven. They planted enough hints that the viewer would think it could go either way.

· Between the crew, the hottest debates were about the storyline between Steven and Rose/Pink, about who Steven would be if they were separated. One of the most recent arguments was about Steven’s gem self and the fact he was devoid of any feeling, that there was none at all. That emotion came from Steven.

· Rebecca had planned the split perspective scene since the start of development and storyboarded it early in the process. It’s still from Steven’s point of view. Ian noted that if the show wasn’t completely from his perspective, it wouldn’t work. The split perspective was to also represent how torn and disoriented Steven was in that moment.

· Pink Steven is him as a default. If you take away his personality and emotion, he is empty. He’s been separated from his humanity and all that’s left is power. There have been nods to this in the past by showing how his power is greater because of his humanity and his capacity to love.

· Ian said that Rebecca has always had the idea of the final confrontation being about Steven’s relationship with his powers and that connection showing who he really is. Steven wants that human side of him, even if it slows him down, because it’s what makes him who he is.

· The scene of Steven returning to himself was originally written for episode 10. It was going to be a part of Giant Woman where they establish fusion.

· Rebecca confirms that James Baxter animated the scene where Steven reunites with Pink Steven. She met him by doing a drawing for his daughter’s birthday.

· The fusion sequence with the two Stevens was the ultimate princess trope- a rotating dancing scene specifically boarded by James Baxter. He completed the whole sequence himself apart from the inking.

· Ian mentioned that he wanted the uncorrupted gems scene for a long time. He said they always knew the arc would come back to the corrupted gems as that was the original conflict of the series, but now they finally get to see it through.

· On top of that, Ian went through every single episode that had a corrupted gem and designed their healed versions, while Rebecca added some of the quartz designs. He mentioned that the longer they were in their ‘monster’ form, the more they will look like that form, even when they’re healed. That’s why several of the healed gems look more like their original designs.

· Rebecca added that Ian helped with the fusion designs and their sequence, as that was a wishlist moment for him. He wanted Steven to fuse with all the gems in a row.

· Ian said that he had been most excited about Rainbow 2.0 and that Colin Howard had done most of the groundwork already.

· Rainbow is they/them and he/him, and Sunstone is they/them and she/her.

· Rainbow 2.0 is mixed with Pearl’s properness and Steven’s penchant for making jokes. Rainbow 2.0 loves to make puns and is a throwback to Steven’s puns in the earlier series. In the episode, Ian also came up with the idea that RQ 2.0 could ride their umbrella and have a rainbow shoot out of the end- a reference to Pearl being able to shoot lasers out of her spear.

· With Sunstone and Rainbow 2.0, they wanted to be able to show common traits in Sardonyx. The break in the fourth wall comes from Garnet, but loving to hear themselves talk comes from Pearl. Steven enables the both of them to embrace their silly sides.

· The ship foot falling on them was a slight reference to Monty Python but also a reference to the giant foot mentioned in Arcade Mania.

· Rebecca stated that the song Change Your Mind was not written for the show, but a personal song she wrote while fighting for the wedding arc. She was hesitant at first to include it.

· Change Your Mind isn’t for the end of the Steven Universe franchise but for this arc, Ian mentions. He adds that even though it was written for the process of including the wedding, it perfectly captures the theme of the show. As a coming of age story, Rebecca notes that this is something that had to happen for Steven to start making decisions for himself.

· Rebecca also admits it has been hard to write for Steven because he always puts others before himself. It’s always about what others want and what he thinks they want. However, he finally comes to a realisation in this arc that he doesn’t have to be anyone else other than himself or pamper to other’s expectations.

· Ian states that this arc was incredibly important for Steven’s development, in terms of who he is, who he thinks he is, and who others believe him to be. Moving forward, everything will be different from Steven’s perspective. There’s going to be more but it will have changed, because Steven has changed.

If I’ve missed anything out, let me know. Hope you guys enjoy!

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hecrowned · 4 years

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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐃𝐘 :

𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝟎𝟎𝟏. : THE OUTSIDE.

NAME : benjamin florian châtillon EYE COLOUR : a transformative hazel. clusters of brown collide with bright green, each one appearing to be the majority depending on lighting. emerald gems fused with coffee hues, speckles of opaque clouds scattered throughout. in the sunlight they shine of evergreen trees, bright and beautiful yet deep and captivating. in the dark, they drip of honey and earthy hues. HAIR STYLE / COLOUR : born with bright blonde locks, many would joke that it was as if he had been touched by the sun. beginning just shy of platinum, ben’s locks naturally darkened as the years progressed, settling into a soft honey for the majority of his teenage years. by the time he’s been king for some time, that honey has shifted into a deep chestnut and later to a dark chocolate brown. HEIGHT : six foot CLOTHING STYLE : elegant. regal. proper. he is hardly seen in anything except for a suit and ever since his coronation, he’s largely seen with the added accessory of his crown. he sticks to blues and yellows with almost everything he wears donning the symbol of his nation. BEST PHYSICAL FEATURE : smile

𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝟎𝟎𝟐. : THE INSIDE

FEARS : magic - something he consistently tries to hide or push down, confined spaces, his own anger, failure, disappointing his parents and the world, his proclamation backfiring, gaston, losing his friends/family, being viewed as a monster, being a monster, public embarrassment, losing all of his power, ending up alone

BIGGEST PET PEEVE : when people treat school/education/learning as something that is insufferable or boring or uncool, people who talk with food in their mouth, people who are needlessly rude, when someone thinks not trying is cool, people who say online book summaries give enough to truly understand a book, when he can’t get a word in, when someone treats him like his kindness equates stupidity

AMBITIONS FOR THE FUTURE : he just wants to be a great king at the end of the day. he wants to change auradon for the better and transform it into a place where everyone, no matter their background or heritage, can find peace and happiness. he hopes to continue making changes to the isle so that it’s somewhere that can flourish. he wants to make alterations to magic laws and sidekick rights and listen to the people and grow with them. he’d like to fall in love, a love that lasts, and he aches to remain close to the friends that he already has. he used to strive for perfection but these days he thinks he dreams of simply ending each day with a smile and being the best king he can be.

𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝟎𝟎𝟑. : THOUGHTS

FIRST THOUGHTS WAKING UP : he wakes up wondering will it always be this way ? late nights filled with fear and restlessness, an inability to sleep and failing to distract his mind. he’s always groggy, exhausted, and if he has managed to sleep, it never feels like enough. it’s not long enough or deep enough. it weighs him down. every morning is filled with an onslaught of stress and responsibilities and pressure that’s delivered in a perfect little package by his staff in the form of morning tea and a to-do list. “it will get easier” lumiere had once told him, but it hasn’t yet, he’s just made it seem like it has and if anyone asks, he tells them it’s easier now. it’s not. he questions if easier will ever come or if tolerating the weight is the best he’ll ever do. he’ll turn off his alarm and get up without needing to hit snooze and force himself to shift his focus to everything he must accomplish in a day. WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT MOST : auradon. his work. his loved ones. there’s not just one thing that takes up the majority of his mind, it’s a messy amalgamation of the things that are important to him and sometimes, the things that he most fears. the words of proposals fill his mind, the decisions people are waiting on him to make hover in his thoughts. he thinks of the topic of meetings of the week and how he can prepare for them. yet the sound of a loved one laughing at a joke he’s told will play on repeat in his head and he’ll see something that will remind him of a friend. he’ll have flashbacks to things he’d rather not remember because of a sight or a smell. he’s someone who leads a very busy life and as a result, he has a very busy head. WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT BEFORE BED : all of the mistakes he made that day and how he can do better. he thinks about if he’s let anyone down and if he has, how he can make it up to them. he thinks about what he hasn’t managed to get through and he thinks about everything he’ll need to get through the next day. he wonders if he’ll be able to fall asleep or if he’ll just sit there, staring at the wall until he finally just gets up to do something in the time that he’s wasting by trying. he wonders if he does sleep if he’ll be haunted by nightmares and if he is, what they’ll be about this time. he questions if they will be so bad that he’ll wake up, incapable of falling back asleep. WHAT THEY THINK THEIR BEST QUALITY IS : his kindness. he firmly believes that it’s his greatest strength and that striving to be good to others is one of the most important things a person can do.

𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝟎𝟎𝟒. : WHAT’S BETTER ?

SINGLE OR GROUP DATES : single ! ben has a very limited amount of time with the person that he loves and while he thinks group dates are a lot of fun, he really just wants to spend the time that he does have with that person. he’s someone who pours his everything into the person that he loves and if he could, he would probably spend all of his time with them, but he can’t. he likes the emotional intimacy of a single date, the opportunity to be vulnerable, and the ability to put all of his attention on that one person that matters most. TO BE LOVED OR RESPECTED : ben, just ben, aches for love. to give love and to know how it feels to be loved in return. but king benjamin requires respect to be an efficient king and a successful leader. for years ben wanted to believe that he could switch between the two, that he could snap in and out of it and it would be fine. but doing that made it so that he didn’t know who he was deep down. it’s taken time for him to accept it, but he’s both. the part of him that is king and the part of him that wants nothing more than to curl up with a book are both equally him. he can’t have one without the other because he wouldn’t be himself. this means that he often faces a choice: which part of him will he listen to.

he thinks that it might be better to be loved in life because there’s nothing quite like love but he knows that if he had to only choose one, he would choose respect because he has a duty to thousands of people and he has to put them first. he needs to be a king before just a person and if a king is simply loved but not respected then they will accomplish nothing for their country, they will fail to be heard, and they will be taken advantage of by councils and nobles who view them as nothing more than a figurehead. he needs to help those who have no one and he wants to change the world for the better, but he must command respect if he is to do that. he thinks that if him being respected and never loved would mean that everyone else in the world could know what love was like, it would be a sacrifice that was well worth it.

BEAUTY OR BRAINS : brains. he cares much more about how someone thinks rather than how they look. he wants to be surrounded by people he can have stimulating conversations with and people who can encourage him to learn more as well. DOGS OR CATS : dogs.

𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝟎𝟎𝟓. : DO THEY…

LIE : he wishes he didn’t but he does. he spent a lot of his life presenting himself to be someone that he is largely not. he lies about being okay and he lies about being happy and a lot of times he lies to himself about those things too. he portrays himself as an open book but is in actuality a very closed off and private individual, he hates opening up and will almost never do it, so he finds himself lying to avoid having to spill his soul to someone. BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES : yes. there’s days that he doubts himself, of course, days where he thinks that he’s made more mistakes than anything, days where it feels like he can’t do anything right. but he always picks himself up because he knows that he can do it, he has to do it, he has to believe in himself — he has no other choice. BELIEVE IN LOVE : absolutely. he finds love in everything. he sees it in passing smiles, in letters and notes, in the way the flowers bloom in the spring and the way the leaves fall in autumn. he thinks everyone has love within them, that it’s the core of all people, and that everyone deserves to feel loved in some form. he doesn’t think there’s anything in the world that could make him lose his belief in love. WANT SOMEONE : of course. ben has kind of dreamed of finding the one since the day he heard stories of true love. he wants to spend his life with that someone special and grow old with them, filling a lifetime with experiences of love and joy.

𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝟎𝟎𝟔. : HAVE THEY…

BEEN ON STAGE : yes, not only does he speak on stage to enormous crowds fairly often but he’s done a few plays and musicals. DONE DRUGS : no CHANGED WHO THEY WERE TO FIT IN : YES. for most of ben’s life he has put up a perfect facade and pretended to be this person that he’s not so he wouldn’t disappoint people or appear like he was going to fail to meet their high expectations. auradon is very critical and he has done everything to make everyone happy. he’s gotten better about it around friends but he still is guilty of it.

𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝟎𝟎𝟕. : FAVOURITES

FAVOURITE COLOURS : blue and yellow FAVOURITE ANIMAL : he really can’t pick one, he loves them all FAVOURITE BOOK : his favorite book literally changes nonstop, he can’t pick one. he finds he struggles to rank books because they all offer something different. he tends to lean towards classics and surprisingly enough, seems to enjoy tragedies. in a weird way, they inspire him to learn from his mistakes, to grow and to change, and to find the light even in the darkest situations. FAVOURITE GAME : chess. hands down. but he really likes staying active so anything that’s physical he tends to enjoy. he’s also a sucker for a good game of uno or risk, he takes both very seriously.

𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝟎𝟎𝟖. : FINISH THE SENTENCE

I LOVE : love. I FEEL : tired. I HIDE : behind a mask. I MISS : who i used to be. I WISH : for all to find peace and joy.

TAGGED BY : @griimhilde TAGGING : anyone who hasn’t been tagged yet PLEASE do this bc i want to read about ur chara

#♔ ↠ character study #♔:〝a little surprise〞|| dash games #long post //#[ thank u for this im sobbing ]#[ if u can't tell i love ben and love talking about him and really diving deep ]#[ i usually just do this in the dms so thank u for the outlet ]

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spirit-of-the-void · 5 years

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Ebony and Ivory (V x Reader Fanfic) Chapter 32

Author’s notes: Told y’all I’d get this out on time! Taking the few days to watch anime and be a lazy bastard helped me out a bit.

Chapter 32

He can’t be here.

Not now, not after I spent all this time rebuilding what he broke.

You were staring at the white-haired son of Sparda with a numb sense of shock. If your mouth could even begin to move, what would try to emerge from your throat? Shouting, crying, whispers? There was no true way to tell, not with your lips glued shut and teeth snapped together tight enough to make your jaw ache. Of all the emotions you were prepared to feel, this did not compare to any of them. The anger was to be expected, the deep-rooted sorrow as well. But not this anxiety, this drowning sensation like hands were squeezing your throat as tight as they could. And that was the awareness Vergil’s presence brought--like you were drowning by just looking at his unconscious face, plunging back into that dark place in an instant despite all you had done to crawl out. And it was not one you wanted to feel ever again.

He was there, in the doorway, held up only by the ragged form of his twin brother and dripping water from the raging storm outside. It looked like they had spent those four months fighting, covered in blood and grime that had been half removed by the rain. Unwilling concern for them both came next, mingling in with the rising sense of chaos and panic and making you feel far more conflicted than imaginable. What in the world had happened to them? How did they finally get out? There were so many thoughts racing through your mind that you were unable to grasp even one to focus on at a time.

All your plans for the day now lie broken on the floor, like shattered panes of glass with a rock thrown through. The rock being the twins now inexplicably existing in your life again.

Nero was a lot faster to recover than you, staring down Dante with a mix of shock and disbelief, slowly turning into anger. His eyes slid between him and Vergil, unable to figure out who to fixate on first. Which was fair. Dante was the man he knew, and Vergil turned out to be his long lost father who had in fact ripped off his arm. You needed to focus on that, needed to pull yourself together. This was about Nero, the events of the Qliphoth had hurt him and you had not meant to be there to begin with. The Deity’s forced interference was not lost on you despite how at home you now felt. This was a conflict not meant to be yours anymore, but as Nero’s friend you had to support him.

Vegril will take no more from you. Focus.

Dante was panting, hair dripping rivets of water down his face and jacket clinging to his skin wetly. He seemed to somehow find amusement from all of this, seeing Nero’s expression and adopting a smile in return. Albeit a tired one, looking like it was heavily forced.

“Hey kid,” He greeted in a tone just as exhausted as his expression, tilting his head to shake some of the water from his eyes and hoisting Vergil up a bit better, “Sorry to drop in under such short notice, but...uh...well...this is where Hell spit us out.”

That seemed to jolt Nero back into the real world, jaw tightening visibly and a look of exasperation fused with annoyance crossing his expression. You could understand why--after four months of no contact, this was what Dante chose as a greeting? A simple “hey” and banging on the door in the middle of a rainstorm? Though from how he looked and what was spoken, there seemed to be little choice in the matter.

“Son of a bitch, Dante!” Nero hissed, seeming at a loss and running a hand through his own hair as a sign of stress, “You really do have the most shit timing, you know that?! What the hell have you two been doing for four fucking months?!”

“Well…” Dante blew some air out from between his cheeks, taking on a thoughtful expression, “Fighting mostly. Hell is full of demons, as you’d imagine--and sorry about the timing, we really didn’t have a choice when Vergil passed out.”

His words were punctuated by a crack of thunder, making your body shudder and pull itself out of the emotions paralyzing it. Holding yourself so prone made your muscles clench, releasing with a dull ache as you took a step back. What expression could you manage to settle on now? Anger, sadness, or numbness?

You settled on numbness.

“Can we have this talk somewhere less wet?” Dante sighed in complaint, wincing when the slanted rain hit his body and threatened to overtake the doorway, “Not that I’d deny a free shower, but it’s a bit much right now.”

Nero’s mouth popped open at that, not missing the obvious hinting ask for help even when Dante was too stubborn to openly say it. The realization hit next that they had in fact been trapped in hell for several months with no food, water, or way to bathe. You were a kind person first before anything, and you knew they needed help.

Swallow this feeling down--you’re better than what he did to you.

“I...I’ll get a couple cots out of the attic.” You finally managed to find your voice, despite how faint and anxious it sounded. Nero turned quickly to look at you, Dante peeking around his form in curiosity. Judging by Nero’s expression, it finally clicked just what this was doing to you, because a look of worry wiped away the annoyance in an instant.

“Y/N--” He began, but Dante cut him off.

“Hey kid,” The ragged man greeted, offering you a friendly smile through the tiredness and waving the Yamato ever so slightly in your direction, “Good to see you again. I guess you settled in pretty well, by the looks of it.”

All you could do was nod with bewilderment, reading his expression awash with a mixture of wariness and familiarity. You could see guilt there mixed with sympathy, and a hint of relief. He clearly remembered how you were the last time he saw you, kneeling on the floor and looking like hell itself after his brother had ruined your life. That memory hadn’t left you either, nor had all that you experience in regards to the Devil Hunter. You were still on the fence as to how you should feel about him, since almost every memory involved not so pleasant memories.

Regardless.

“Y/N, go get Kyrie and stay with the kids,” Nero interjected before Dante could reply again, drawing your attention to his face once more. There was a stern look there, one that suggested no arguing or complaint on your part, “She can get the shit down from the attic too while you keep the brats entertained.”

He’s trying to put some distance between you and this.

You swallowed down your emotions a bit more, managing a small smile and shaking your head at his words, “I can manage fine. Plus, they’re going to need my healing abilities as well.”

It wasn’t a lie. Vergil alone looked like hell on Earth, from either exhaustion or an injury you couldn’t tell. But this is where your abilities were best, they would make swift work of cleaning the older twin and healing whatever was ailing him. As for Dante...he could manage a shower, but you doubted the Sword of Sparda absorbed into his body would let you use the Void energy on him anyway.

But Nero didn’t like that choice.

He took a step toward you, putting a hand on your shoulder and giving it a light squeeze, “Are you sure about that?” He muttered, looking at you with obvious concern and worry, “Kid, just say the word and they’re gone--some things are more important than you being nice, you know that right?”

I’m truly blessed, aren’t I? To have people that care this much.

“I’m okay, Nero,” You promised quietly, even though it was a lie. This wasn’t about you anymore--you had overheard Nero and Kyrie discussing Vergil before, and how conflicted he felt about his father. Despite all that happened, he deserved that chance to spend time with the man and make his choices for himself without your emotions interfering, “I am. You need this more than anything, you deserve this time and this closure after what he did to you. Just...take the chance, okay? And remember you don’t owe him or me anything, you owe it to yourself.”

For whatever reason that only made Nero frown more, his brow furrowed deeply and making wrinkles appear on his forehead. A heavy sigh left his lips, but you could see the hesitation in his eyes no matter how much he tried to hide it. There had to be a lot of conflicting feelings where his father was concerned, especially after their last interactions in the Qliphoth. Uncertainty, resentment, and that deep, hidden hurt that came as a child who never had real parents. An insecurity. Like Kyrie, you agreed that maybe giving it a chance and trying to know Vergil might be good for his own emotions, but...would Vergil want that? Would he even care?

“I thought you were done with that self-sacrificing shit?” Nero said in a tone of heavy warning, drawing you out of the thought process before it could finish. You blinked at his question, a hint of surprise on your face as he continued, “What the hell is the point of trying if it’s at your expense?”

“Toots,” Griffon had finally collected himself in your head, and now he was inching toward rage. You could feel his crackling energy on the edges of your Void powers, rising as he added his voice and opinions to Nero’s until you were wincing at the feeling of it, “Kick Vergil’s ass to the curb and I’ll zap him--rain is a great conductor of electricity! I’ll light him up like a fucking Christmas tree!”

Shadow and Nightmare were echoing the sentiment in their own way, creating a thunderous chorus of silent rage in your head. You sighed, pressing a hand to your temple and trying to shake it away. Their concern and worry was so touching, so appreciated, but...there was a feeling inside that you needed this too, needed the closure and the knowledge that would come from these interactions. Vergil and Dante could very well stay overnight and be gone in the morning, but that was more time than you ever anticipated to have. And even if Vergil had no answers for you...then at least there was an attempt, right?

I will only regret the things that I don’t even try.

“I’ll go get the cots,” You ignored Nero’s words, shrugging off his hand and making your way towards the stairs under his exasperated eyes, “I’ll throw some towels down too, just...get them inside.”

Nero let out an annoyed huff, catching the towels as you tossed them down from the cupboard by the bathroom but seeming heavily displeased about it. Dante was watching you as well, expression unreadable but definitely searching for something from you that you weren’t sure he was seeing or not. What did they expect to be completely honest? For you to cry, to break down, to hide? You could easily admit that you wanted to...you wanted to lock yourself in the bathroom and never come out, to act like Vergil was not here and that this was still a normal day with you and the kids playing in the main room. But...you couldn’t, your resolve had grown along with your strength. You were better than that.

You would pull through this.

(Nero POV)

“Have you lost your fucking mind?” He hissed at Dante, slamming the door shut behind the two men and grabbing him by the collar as soon as you were out of sight, “What were you thinking bringing him here?!”

Of all the people in the household, it was Nero who felt he understood what this shit could do to you better than anyone. Mind you, Kyrie had always been the smarter of the two, the more reasonable and well spoken. She knew what you needed to hear and said it, was more attuned to emotions around her than most normal people could ever handle. But...Nero had shared that pain in the tree with you, learning of his Father’s existence and the agony it caused just as V--no, Vergil--had thrust a similar agony on you. He took the people who mattered seriously, and was there along the way after you had returned back from the beach that day with Kyrie.

It had taken over a week for you to smile without it looking incredibly forced, and over a month before you stopped zoning out and staring into space while you remembered him. Nero could tell Griffon was trying to correct it, giving the rest of the humans in the house very obvious cues when you were slipping back into your sorrows. They did their best, and after a while you started becoming better, even more so than when you first met them. No more holding things in, no more self-sacrificing. To see a member of his family find their joy again was a gift he was grateful for.

But he saw the look in your eyes when he turned to you.

That look of barely concealed panic, of hurt, like you were being ripped apart on the inside. He was struggling with his own pain, seeing Vergil there after months of wondering would their next meeting would be like, if he would even ever get one. It had taken those four months of talking with Kyrie and thinking things over to even decide that he wanted to talk to Vergil in the first place. But the elder Sparda twin didn’t seem the type to talk about emotions, if he even felt them properly, and Nero was discomforted just by the thought of trying.

And now the man was here.

Dante seemed unbothered by Nero’s hostility, just tired as he let Vergil slump on the floor by a wall. They both looked like absolute shit, there was no mistaking that. But Nero wasn’t concerned about that yet, not when they had punched him in the face the last time they saw him.

“Not really my choice, kid,” Dante grunted in response to his question, hanging his weight from Nero’s grip and seeming pleased that he didn’t have to stand up, “When Vergil passed out we got attacked by demons, so I had to kill the bastards and open a portal before more came. Didn’t actually know where we were gonna be spit out, Vergil’s better at that shit than me, y’know?”

Nero didn’t really like the logical answer he received, despite it actually answering his question fully and reasonably. He wasn’t feeling this whole situation one bit.

So he gripped the jacket tighter, eyes narrowing on Dante’s face as he hissed, “We spend four months bringing her back from the bullshit he caused and he’s going to undo all of it.” I spent four months trying to undo all the bullshit having a shitty father caused me and having him now here without giving me time to prepare is unfair.

He would never openly admit that though.

“Yeah yeah, I hear you,” Dante grunted, flicking water in Nero’s face and making his scowl in annoyance, “Now lay off, I’m in no mood to fight right now. Just let me call Morrison and we’ll be out of your hair tonight.”

“That’s not very safe, is it?”

Both men turned at the sound of Kyrie’s voice, Nero easily reading the expression she wore on her face. It looked like she had just come down the opposing set of stairs leading to the other side of the house, quiet as a mouse. Unlike him, she was calm and steady, those beautifully kind eyes already reading the situation far too well. Seeing Vergil slumped over on the floor, Dante looking like he had been run through a wringer over and over again. She met Nero’s gaze, her brown orbs so deep he felt like he could have plunged in their depths to hide away from all of this. Already her presence made him steadier, bringing him back down to Earth and putting his heart at ease. Because at the end of the day, she always knew what was best.

“Kyrie…” Nero began, but she smiled softly at him and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Where is she?” Her voice was soft, full of implications. There was no need to explain who she meant, it was plain and clear.

Nero tilted his eyes upward, towards the stairs leading to the side of the house that wasn’t the orphanage, “She went up to get cots for them,” He brought his gaze back, a conflicted look in his eyes as he added quietly, “Kyrie...you know that this could--”

“I know,” Her fingers touched his lips to silence him, face as calm as he wished he could be. That soft smile remained, loving and warming him from the inside out before she turned to look at Dante, “The storms are forecasted to continue into the night now--why not stay till morning at the least so you don’t risk getting hurt?”

Well, that was the decision made loud and clear. Nero let out a sigh, dropping Dante back on his feet and taking a step toward Kyrie to put an arm around her waist. As always, she leaned into his embrace easily and squeezed him right back. A silent show of support, his shelter in the storm.

Dante let out a grunt, fixing his collar and offering Kyrie a rueful smile. He at least had the good graces to look a little bit guilty about imposing, but then again Dante wasn’t the type to apologize for anything, “If you don’t mind too much. Just don’t wanna risk flying old douchebag over here while he’s in a bad shape.”

Old douchebag being Vergil, who was still slumped over on the floor. He certainly looked like shit, there was no mistaking that. Nero tried to push down the flickering concern and worry, but it formed like shards in his stomach no matter how hard he tried. God damn it.

“We should probably get him dried off,” He muttered, letting go of his wife so he could approach the drenched male and pull him up similarly to how Dante was carrying him earlier, “Where are the kids, Kyrie?”

“I heard the commotion and put a movie on for them in their study room,” She replied, looking at the opposite set of stairs, “They know well enough when to stay put, they’re anxious about visitors after...well…” She looked at Vergil, clearly implying when the man came to their home last and ripped off Nero’s arm. There was definite wariness in her tone, worry that she would probably always carry after what the son of Sparda did to her lover, but...Nero knew she was far too kind for her own good.

Nero grunted in response to her words, moving to start bringing Vergil to the garage. It was the only place with the most room to put the cots, since you were now in their final spare room. Honestly if anyone else tried to move in they would have to add on to the house, which could be done considering they had the land and plenty of contacts in Fortuna willing to help out. Regardless, Vergil was fucking heavy and lanky on top of that. Dante let out a sigh, taking up Vergil’s other side so both men could move him on through the hallway where the kitchen was. He still had the energy for that, at least.

They had barely made it halfway down the hallway to the kitchen when Nico came rushing out, the impatience on her face turning into blank shock when she saw the procession there blocking her way. Nero might have laughed if not for how irritated he was, it was almost comical watching her face change expressions as her eyes took in each man one by one. Dante first, seeming startled to see his rugged face again after so many months. Then Nero, who looked fairly ticked off and jaw tight enough to snap bone in that moment.

Then finally Vergil, slumped over between the two with his head hanging limply from his shoulders. And in order, shock formed, then worry, and finally that deep rage he knew she would have at the sight of his “Father”.

“Well shit, Nero,” She said in a tone full of snark, leaning against the doorway and narrowing her eyes on the unconscious male, “If you wanted me to take out the trash, you could have just asked--the can is just outside. I can easily toss that in it.”

Okay, now Nero could manage a smile.

Kyrie let out a sigh behind them, poking her head around to give the frizzy-haired mechanic a disapproving stare and a soft rebuttal of, “Nico.”

“What?” Nico scowled in response, crossing her arms and purposely blocking the doorway as she snapped, “Are you seriously letting them keep him in here? Did Y/N see him already? Where is she?”

Nero let his smile drop, a heavy sigh gusting out of his lungs as he shoved by her and maneuvered around the dining table. The whole kitchen smelled like baked goods and sweets, the cupcakes you had been making for the kids left forgotten on the counter. He made a mental note to make sure the kids still got to come down and camp--they knew not to come into the garage anymore after the first incident.

“She went upstairs to get cots for them,” He replied in aggravation, resisting the urge to sigh again as he added, “Make yourself useful and keep the kids entertained while we sort this out--Y/N set everything up for them in the front room.”

“But…” Nico began to press further, but an imploring look from Kyrie made whatever she was about to say trail off on her lips. She pressed them together in the next instant, looking incredibly annoyed and edging toward worry as she swallowed whatever complaints she had. Nero knew she couldn’t say no, not when Kyrie looked at her like that.

“Fine,” She muttered instead, pushing her way out the doorway and running a hand through her unkempt hair, “But for yer information, deadbeat daddies belong out on the curb on trash day…!”

That made Kyrie smile apologetically at her, watching as the frazzled mechanic went stomping up the stairs muttering to herself. Nero rolled his eyes, kicking open the garage door and trudging inside.

(Your POV)

Try not to panic.

Try to breathe a bit.

Breathing exercises seemed to be the only course of action at the moment, done in between focusing your energy on moving the cots down the attic stairs. Your tendrils summoned easily, wrapping around the bulky objects and making quick work of what your arms would have struggled with. Well...almost quick work. You were hesitating, purposely making mistakes to avoid going back down. Because in reality, this was all very nerve-wracking for you. Down there was Vergil, the man who hurt you in the Qliphoth tree and the fully realized form of V and Urizen. What were you supposed to think of him? Was there supposed to be hate, anger, sorrow, hurt? You felt so many of those things, so many emotions that you weren’t sure what to settle on anymore.

Just thinking about it made you sweat, the attic already musty and hot from the summer storm outside. A great peal of thunder only added to the worry filling you, lighting flashing moments prior and lighting up the dusty room brightly enough to hurt your eyes. Son of a bitch, what was going on? You couldn’t help but try to tie things together, all the events transpiring far too conveniently for your liking. First the storms came out of nowhere and canceled all plans you had for the day. Then Vergil and Dante showed back up right when everything began and, knowing the weather, they would be forced to stay overnight at least--the ferry would not travel with the ocean toiling as it was, nor would the two be able to fly if they used their devil trigger forms.

And that was far too suspicious.

It made you feel uneasy, pressing a hand to your mouth and leaning against a wall while the tendrils held each cot suspended in air. The Deity had been so quiet in the past few months, saying nothing and showing no sign that he was even watching you. But...this had the makings of one of his schemes. The weather, the arrival, everything. Could he still be pulling strings after all this time, and if that was the case then why even bother? You had nothing more to offer him, no more faith left in what he had laid out for you. But…

There were still inconsistencies in what he did. He was an omnipotent being, enigmatic at best and downright confusing at his worst. He could see every branching path and future and manipulate things as he saw fit, so everything he had done must have been done to reach his desired outcome. But what was that outcome? He could have dragged you back, but he didn’t. He could have erased your memories of V and Vergil and sent you about a new task, but there was clearly something he still sought here. And finding out what that thing could be was...incomprehensible.

“Toots…!” Griffon forced himself to materialize against your wishes, the sensation feeling off and uncomfortable. Like rubbing a cat the wrong way. He flapped in air right before you, gold eyes narrowing and maw opening in a harsh squawk, “You need to calm your pretty little ass down and breathe--that spiky haired asshole is already making you go back to how you were before…!”

You shook your head, hand moving from your mouth so it could grip one of the straps on your overalls, “Griffon, something isn’t right,” You looked at him with worry, mind racing with all the implications of the situation, “Even you have to admit that this is all too much of a coincidence to let slide…!”

Something was going to happen. You could feel it brewing like the storm outside, threatening to overtake all that you had built in the past few months.

Griffon let out a low huff, landing on your shoulders and pressing his face to the side of your cheek. It was his way of trying to show comfort, one that you gratefully leaned into and stroked the plumage on the side of his neck. He could sense your fear and concern, you knew that. All of the familiars could, Shadow’s consciousness pressing against yours with a low purr rattling your skull. They were trying so hard, they cared so damn much. But there were things even they couldn’t protect you from.

“Even if somethin’ does happen,” Griffon muttered, tone gruff and a bit awkward, “We promised to keep you safe, yeah? Ain’t nothin’ takin’ you away from us now, we’re not gonna allow that shit…!”

That made you smile softly, another crackle of lightning illuminating the attic in bright light. He sounded pretty determined when he talked like that, his voice so fierce and presence crackling like the energy in the sky outside.

Having them with you would always give you courage when you needed it. So you took a deep breath, swallowing the sense of foreboding that was so similar to what you felt in the tree, that sense of dread that had once warning you of V’s coming actions. You survived that incident, you could survive whatever the Deity had planned, if he had anything planned at all. Maybe it was just paranoia, maybe everything that was going on was just a coincidence? Regardless, you would be ready for what was to come.

“All we can do is try,” You replied softly to Griffon, summoning him gently back to your form and letting his swirling dust settle in your tattoos, “I’m not how I was before--I will not go down easily, and I know Vergil is...Vergil. There is nothing to expect, but I’ll still give him the common decency I’d give any other person in need.”

Griffon let out an annoyed trill at that, getting all huffy and grumbly as you started maneuvering the cots down the stairs, “I still think you should let me zap his sorry ass. Light him up like a fucking candle and send him out to sea.”

You shook your head at that, taking the steps slowly and carefully. The two men were no longer in the foyer, which was to be expected. But you could now hear the children laughing and talking behind the closed door to the main room, probably playing on the tent you had set up and getting to do what they had planned for the day. That was one relief, at least. You would hate for them to miss out on anything else after the storm took away their festival activities. A moment passed with you standing by the door, hearing Nico’s voice mingling in with the kids and making sure they stayed distracted from what was going on.

“Griffon, Shadow,” You said aloud, raising a hand to immediately summon them forth in a cloud of black dust. The mighty cat landed on all fours, shaking out their fur and staring up at you with big eyes while Griffon landed on your shoulders, “Go and hang out with the kids for a little bit, okay?”

Griffon did not like that. He puffed up his feathers like an angry blow-fish, beak snapping by your ear as he hissed, “And let you go and see that moron by yourself? Like hell…!”

You sighed, waving away his concerns and looking back at the hallway leading to the kitchen, “I’ll have Nero and the others with me--I promised the kids they would get to see you, so let them have that at least.” They deserved to have some fun after missing out on so much because of the storms, which may or may not be caused by your Deity. And you felt bad about that.

Griffon could sense that you were resolute, lowering his head and letting out a low groan when you refused to budge even an inch in your thought process.

“Fine,” He muttered, launching from your shoulders so he could glare at you in annoyance, “But if the small one tries to pull any of my feathers out again I’m outta there…!”

With that they turned back into dust, sliding under the door and out of sight. You smiled, turning to head down the hallway to the kitchen just as shouts of delight echoed out from the kids at the sight of the two demonic familiars now in the room. You would have to make it up to them both later for being so patient and helping out when you asked of it, but that was something to worry about another time. Your smile faded as you entered the kitchen, seeing the trail of dripping water on the floor leading to the garage door and hearing Dante and Nero’s muffled voices. It made sense that they would bring him there, it was the only place in the house that the kids were now to wary to enter.

You paused to take a few more deep breaths, listening to the rain slam against the orphanage and the rumbling thunder overhead. Your Void abilities swirled a bit, taking in your anxious mood and radiating a dull ache from your stomach to your throat. And how long had it been since you felt a sensation like that, one that brought back all those memories of the Qliphoth tree like lingering, tightening roots over your chest and lungs. Because in the end, the seeds those incidents sowed in you had not died, they had merely been lying in wait for the right things to come along and let them finally bloom into the thorns again.

But you tried to shake them off, stepping forward and pushing open the door to the garage and stepping inside.

They had Vergil on the floor, his face now fully visible with his head resting on the concrete. All eyes looked at you when you entered, ranging between worry and concern for you, which was touching to say the least. Kyrie’s presence made things just a bit more bearable, her warm smile the only thing bringing down the pulse thundering in your veins.

“Set those down and I’ll put Vergil on one,” Nero said to you, rolling his eyes when Dante peeled his red jacket off and let it plop on the floor with a very wet sound, “Do you mind, old man? You are at max disgusting right now.”

Dante smirked at that, wringing out his white undershirt and letting the droplets rain down on his coat, “Can’t exactly help it. Spending four months in hell does that to you.”

Kyrie smiled ruefully, plucking a basket from a nearby shelf and handing it to Dante to use for his wet clothing, “If you’d like, we have a shower upstairs you can use--I’ll throw these in the washer and bring some of our spare clothes for you to wear in the meantime.”

Dante seemed heavily relieved while Nero sighed audibly, taking a fresh towel from her hands along with the basket as he replied, “Kyrie you are an angel. I’ll leave the basket outside the door then,” He scooted past you in the doorway, patting your shoulder with one lightly-wet hand and leveling his gaze on your face, “Make sure the bastard gets healed up for me, okay?”

That made you blink in surprise, not expecting him to outright request something of you. But he didn’t wait for a response, seeming eager to be cleaned off of all the grime as he rushed into the kitchen and out of sight. He remembered then, how you were able to use your abilities to heal V when you were with him in the tree. Something about the thought of using that same power on Vergil felt...odd, a bit strange and off. Doing so with V became a personal thing, as close to an embrace as you could get without really holding him. But…V was inside of him, right? You didn’t want to leave him suffering on the floor, probably hurt and exhausted no matter what was done to you.

You’re better than what was done. Prove that.

So before Nero could move Vergil to the cot, you summoned your tendrils, wrapping them around his form and lifting him from the floor. That made Nero look at you in surprise, brow furrowed as he took in the blank expression on your face.

“You don’t have to do that, kid,” He protested, taking a step in your direction and holding up one hand, “We can take care of this, just go hang out with the little ones. You’ve done enough.”

You appreciated the concern, but this was only something you could do.

“I’ve got it, Nero,” You said softly, shaking your head and summoning forth your Void power with a shaky breath, “He needs to be cleaned and healed, and that’s something I can manage where you guys cannot. Just let me do what I know I can do.”

He couldn’t very well argue with that, now could he? His lips pressed into a tight line, jaw clenched hard enough to shatter bone as he took a step back. There was no denying what you could do, and they couldn’t very well leave Vergil soaking wet and filthy on the mattress in the garage overnight. You just wished you could push down the nervousness being so close to him brought, your lungs feeling like they were being gripped by icy fingers as soon as your power started to flare into your body. Your lips parted, whispering the soft words of a cleansing spell to wash away any signs or traces of Hell off of him and leave him renewed. The instant they touched the open air, the words made your will a reality--the spell washed over him like a summer breeze, taking away the dirt, grime, and water and leaving him as fresh as a daisy.

Seeing him like that made your stomach clench. Just like how he was when you last left him, when you had attacked him on the Qliphoth floor with a flurry of chaotic tendrils and dripping whale oil from your eyes. You tried to bite down on such memories, teeth gritting as you set him down on the cot as gently as you could manage and trying to ignore the pangs in your chest. Meanwhile Kyrie watched you, seeming a bit worried as she took in your expression and stiff actions, but she put a hand on your shoulder as she brushed past. Probably making her way up to gather Dante’s clothes to be cleaned like she promised and disappearing through the door as well.

“Again, kid, you don’t have to--” Nero began again once she was gone, but you blatantly ignored him.

Stepping closer to Vergil felt very odd indeed, kneeling down by his prone form to wrap more tendrils around his limbs. Feeling for broken bones, sprains, any sign of injury. There was none, no internal bleeding either from what you could sense. So why had he passed out before? The sons of Sparda seemed steadfast, stronger than your average human and able to take more damage than expected. Dante seemed well enough to stand and walk around, but Vergil was out like a light despite the fact that they were “evenly matched” according to Nero.

Was it just exhaustion?

Stop worrying about him and just do what needs to be done.

You sighed, a small frown on your lips as you summoned the Void powers again, feeling heavily conflicted even before the spell was murmured from your lips, so familiar and so damning as they made your will reality.

“From the Void, into You.”

Part of you half expected his body to reject the energy considering that Sparda’s power didn’t seem to like yours, but there was no negative backlash. Maybe it was because you spent days giving that same energy to his human half, allowing him a tolerance for it? Regardless, the healing energy passed harmlessly through his form, the pallor of his skin improving in an instant and his lips parting to release a slow breath. You closed your eyes, concentrating on keeping the amounts small and steady in an attempt to fix whatever was wrong without causing discomfort. Do you really care about causing him pain after everything he did to you? He deserves it. Such thoughts kept pushing their way in, making you feel even more glum and tired than you already were.

I’m a good person. I’m a better person than him. I don’t need to punish him to make myself feel better.

Or at least...that was what you told yourself. You retrieved the tendrils before your own thoughts could convince you to be cruel, the idea especially likely considering that the familiars were rallying for such a thing with absolute vigor.

“He should be fine now,” You murmured, turning your head to look at Nero standing nearby with his arms folded over his chest, “It didn’t look or feel like he was hurt, but I guess he was just exhausted from not sleeping or eating for months at a time.”

You doubted the elder son of Sparda thought to better himself with the trivial needs of humans anyway.

Nero grunted at that, watching your tendrils retreat back into your form then over to Vergil’s prone form, “Whatever you say,” He paused, rubbing a hand over his jaw and scowling as he thought over what he wanted to say. You waited patiently, his blue eyes meeting yours seriously as he finally settled on, “You do release he doesn’t deserve your help, right? You could have just left him there for Dante to deal with tomorrow.”

Of course you knew that. Especially with everyone constantly reminding you of the very same thoughts you had struggled with since he returned. But…

You smiled sadly, eyes traveling back to Vergil’s resting body and looking at the relaxed lines of his face. It felt weird to see him not scowling, brow no longer furrowed and lips parted with steady breaths. Bittersweet, painful. Unfair in all its entirety. That hate for him was still there, the harsh realization that this man had caused so much unbelievable pain in your life without remorse. It would be so much easier if you could hold onto that hate, if you could forget the words V spoke to you and just wish ill will on him like everyone wanted you to. But...V was his human half, something that had existed in him even if that part may now be lost within all that he was. And V had given you happiness, if only fleeting, and lead to so many good things that now existed in your life.

So no...you couldn’t just hate him like you wanted to. And you couldn’t just leave him to suffer either.

I refuse to show cruelty if I have a choice in the matter, and until that choice is forcibly ripped from me...I will continue to do good for others.

“I know,” You replied to Nero, looking at him again with a tired smile and scratching the back of your head, “But I guess I just can’t help but be a good person, even for the people who don’t deserve it.”

That made Nero snort, shaking his head lightly in amazement and letting out a little huff of disbelief, “When you say shit like that, you sound just like Kyrie.” The woman had been a heavy influence on you during the passing months, that much was very apparent. You just didn’t realize how much until that moment.

Because when you really thought about it, this mindset you had learned did directly come from her. The realization that living was a thing of joy, not pain, that kindness was the best policy when it came to interacting with others. And not the kindness you had before, the one that dictated your suffering and heartache as a price tag for it. But one that would light up a room, that would bring joy to not just others, but also yourself in the process. And it left your life more fulfilled, even if it meant helping the very man who was the source of what had hurt you in the first place.

Because in the end, he was the source of what brought you joy as well. And Kyrie is what taught you such a truth.

That made you smile, thinking of the woman you had grown to see as family while your mouth opened to voice your agreements with the white-haired devil hunter.

But a firm hand suddenly grasping your wrist made your thoughts halt in their tracks.

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Tagged: @slightlylunatic @silentwhispofhope @nightshadow4713 @just-call-me-no-name @efiicitia @raven-huntress @shaelin444

#devil may cry v #devil may cry #devil may cry 5 #dmc5 #dmc v #v dmc #V x reader #v x self-insert #spirit writes fanfic #fanfic #chapter 32 #ebony and ivory #ebony and ivory chapter 32 #vergil #dante #nerd #dmc kyrie

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mrwyx · 4 years

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Ladies and Gentlemen, meet a character in my cartoon universe. Lady Botessa. A 600+ Year Old (Remember, other planets may be more advanced than us. Including over 600 years ago.) Multi Robot and AI Fusion Lady Who founded and leads a space pirate vigilante gang going around the universe, planet to planet taking things into their own hands wreaking havoc on bad guys. She started out as a curious worker bot who at some point had an Advanced AI uploaded into her. the digital minds ended up interacting with each other and merging into a personality. Botessa is a robot with 8 AI's merged together interacting with each other into their own personality. Part of them were other robots Botessa encountered and fused with.

She likes being a protector and having fun and upgrading and modifying herself. She'd be described as an Antiheroine and wild Card. She also has tons of nanobots inside her helping her upgrade, help keep her multiple AIs under control interacting with each other and not going haywire and other things. She's kind of a spunky, wise and eccentric woman. She'd save people from evil and corrupt, she'd wreak havoc upon those who deserve it. And of course she'd also grab loot and do it for the thrill. She'd rob loot from her victims and she'd share it with both her crew and others. And get some thrills doing so.

Having 8 AIs, it's like having multiple personalities working together as one. It's like a hive of knowledge in there. Her personality develops over 600+ years of experience and the additional AIs downloaded into her. Having each AI downloaded into her would feel both like becoming a new person and kind of like inviting someone else into your house, them getting comfortable, and starting to live there. Then, over time, they start doing more stuff around the house, like cleaning, cooking, etc. Being in close proximity to one another means you both start influencing each others choices and making each other better as a result. Then, at one point, you realize that there's no longer two people in the house, but that person has left enough of an impact on you that it seems like they're still there. Like that, but a lot faster. Though another thing that happens upon fusing is that the fusion feels weird. Like watching 2 TVs of the same show outside through a window. How long it takes to adjust depends on cooperation.

She started out as Yes 07 Worker Bot #7F33K1. A curious worker bot with a simple AI (Still sentient) who's still trying to develop a personality. 7F33K1 stumbles upon an advanced AI's AI core room over in wherever she was built and works. They hit if off and get to know each other, and one day, 7F33K1 decides to download the AI Matrix into her. She does it and was not the same anymore after that.

After that, she finds a bunch of nanobots and puts them inside her. She got bored of working, so she decided to turn to piracy and vigilantism to fill her emptiness she was filling. It was simple for her go around doing things universe, but her true desire is something only she knows and wants. I imagine one of the things that changed was that when they became one, she got a little more mischievous, rebellious, geinus and scheming. Please note that her body changes every time she has an AI downloaded. Wether the AI is in a robot body or not.

Botessa at one point met and befriended an assassin bot named Essa. They got to know each other, fell in love, and decided to merge into one. Her AI was downloaded into her and her former shell was absorbed into her.

After they fused, Botessa became slightly more caring and more independent. Although Essa was less caring at 1st, getting to know 7F33K1 warmed her heart up, and would gradually become more so after fusing. So, basically, kind of a Tsundere bot. Or something. It is then she became known as Botessa.

Next, she finds an AI that turned out to be a dummy account be a hacker bot named Eyera, who's described a cross between Ed from Cowboy Bebop, and Futaba from Persona 5. They get to know each other, she recruits her as her 4th AI, download and absorb body. This would make her a bit aggressive of a hacker. And would also increase her determination.

Next, she encounters rogue robot named Ryxt who was made by an evil dictator of a planet and ended up switching to the side of good. Ryxt could start out controlling herself too much. If she works under the rule of an evil dictator at first, maybe she forces herself to not step out of line, show any negative emotions, or do anything that may showcase her independent thoughts. It's only after Botessa shows up that she decides to take the first step in expressing herself, by rebelling against the dictator and joining her. She's reluctant to fuse her AI at first, as she sees her habit of restricting herself as something that could be a detriment if added to a greater collective. But over time, she figures out how to express and control herself in moderation, and ultimately everything works out with her. They got to know each other, fought for the planet's freedom and decided to merge together. AI downloaded, body absorbed.

She gained more self control. #6 was Poli, a police AI computer tired of being cooped up inside a computer. She wanted to explore the universe. Any Authority who hasn't warmed up to Botessa is on the hunt for her. So she needed a Police AI. Lady Botessa almost caught by the A.I.'s clever trap, but Lady Botessa convinces her to not only let her go, but join her as well. I guess they talk to each other and she realizes, she isn't evil, just a wild Card still trying to do good. She should find herself her own Commissioner Gordon Sometime.

AI uploaded to the club, and Botessa's personality addition becomes something that says supportive and help, but keeps her authority figure persona. Her next one would be a journey to find the smartest, greatest, most advanced and sophisticated AI Computer in the universe. She finds exactly that. Zita, a carefree, hopeful, peaceful and super intelligent AI who calculates and comes up with ways to fix things and stuff. She is surprised, but Lady Botessa can be very persuasive. They bond over shared desires, like desires to protect, save things punish evil, do things when the law won't help, etc.

And then she's downloaded into Botessa and that makes her more carefree and hopeful. Her most recent is a Tortessa Tessa AI prototype that evolved into a more perfect form. She visits the the Tessa and eventually, Tessa became part of Botessa and she is now where she is today. The Tessa A.I. would make Lady Botessa more smart or able to locate better thanks to Tortessa Tech.

Botessa speaks with a hot southern accent that's also a bit tough. And she's like 8 feet tall or so. I personally imagine Cristina Vee voicing her. What do you think of her? I hope you like her! Special thanks to my awesome friends for helping me. Including @vincentaaronstauffer @azurath-alex and @astridzircon1528.

#Lady Botessa #Robot girl #Fusion #robot fusion #7f33k1 #Essa #Eyera #Ryxt #Poli #Zita #Tessa #Tortessa #Wy's art #Wy's characters

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archieimagines · 5 years

Text

Save Me | Danno Williams One Shot

requested by: anon a/n: this is two requests merged into one. we hope you like it! warnings: violence, blood, heat exhaustion, swearing words: 1,912

You still hadn’t gotten used to the Hawaiian heat, or rather the humidity. It was almost the opposite of what you were used to, oh how you missed the crisp mornings of D.C. It had been three months since the transfer had happened, you went from working for the FBI based in the capital city of America to a small task force in Hawaii. Sure, they had a rep of bringing down some high profile perps, but you still held a bias.

The fan in the room did almost nothing to cool the room, the heat was almost unbearable and coupled with the humidity, it felt like you were slowly boiling alive. It didn’t help that Detective Danny Williams or as Steve called him, Danno, made it his mission to remind you how poorly you and the heat interacted.

“Feeling a bit warm?” He snickered from across the room.

It was a rare day that the team didn’t have any active cases, but they had plenty of paperwork to catch up on. You growled at him from your seat as you wiped sweat from your brow for what seemed like the millionth time. Kono and Chin snickered from their own perches, the two found your bickering as a free form of entertainment. The only person who detested it as much as you did was Steve, but alas he was out at a meeting with the Governor.

“I swear Williams, I’m gonna put my foot so far up your a—“

“That’s enough, you two,” Chin intervened with a chuckle, you looked at him with a glare to which he smiled in return. You grumbled to yourself. Danny always got the last word during squabbles, though it may have been due to you always escalating them. Though it was well known to him and the team that you had a short fuse and a tendency for violence, it was one of the things that made you such a good operative.

“I’m gonna buy some bears, you guys want any?” You asked pushing back in your seat. Both Kono and Chin declined politely, Danny of course asked for one of the most expensive brands, you responded by giving him the finger.

You made your way to your car, feeling faint and nauseous. The world began to slant, your balance going askew. It was at the moment when you felt two strong arms wrap around your gut. They gripped you tightly as you struggled to break free, the effects of the heat immensely decreasing your self defence abilities. Another attacker approached, dressed all in black making you feel more nauseous than before. This one proceeded to strike your temple, followed by several hits to the gut and face. The metallic tang of blood and pain in your nasal region made you assume your nose had been broken.

You spat the blood from your mouth, hoping most of it would land on the attacker. You resorted to screaming for help. The attackers took that as the signal to drag you to a waiting van, and as they did so you saw Danny and Chin emerge from the front entrance, confusion followed by horrified understanding written across their faces. You desperately tried to break free, but the arms holding you were steel. The last thing you saw before being shoved in the vehicle was Danny charging towards you, screaming your name with an emotion you had never seen associated with yourself.

You spat more blood which had been filling your mouth in the face of your kidnapper, he was a well known human and arms trafficker, Albert Yonst. He had three different warrants for his arrest from three different countries and had a list of victims longer than the Declaration of Independence. He remained silent, but slapped you across your already bruised face, your left eye swollen shut, lip cut, plus your nose which was almost certainly broken.

“What do you want with me, Yonst?” You asked plainly, ignoring the sharp pain in your lungs that increased when you spoke. He looked unimpressed, Albert almost waddled to a table to his right, picking up something she couldn’t see.

“What do you know about Daniel Williams?”

“Nothing.”

“Really? Because my boys know for a fact that you and him are on that little task force. So start talking, or I’m gonna start having a lot of fun with little baby.” The threat added to by him showing you the knife in his hand, the blade was just longer than his palm. You could tell it was incredibly sharp.

“I don’t know anything. I swear!”

“Well forgive me if I don’t quite believe you. Now one more chance, or I get to have a little play.”

“Screw you, asshole.”

When you awoke, you had forgotten what had transpired, jumping in shock at the sight of the warehouse. Groaning at the many cuts and slashes that now adorned your body like a destroyed canvas. You had refused to scream as he had mutilated you, giving him that would be the last thing you’d do - with where you were, it probably would be. You turned your head, taking note of possible exits that you could take if you ever managed to slip off the ties around your wrist.

As you wriggled in your constraints, the side door of the warehouse slammed open, hope surged through you thinking it was the team. But alas it was one of Albert’s goons, a gun held by his side, his expression told you something was going awry. More shouting could be heard due to the open door, the men must have been fighting amongst each other. Albert then stormed in, his abnormally large head had gone entirely red.

“Grab her and get her to the other safe house.”

“Boss-“

“WHAT?!”

“The other warehouse’s already been raided by the feds boss.”

“FUC—“ He was cut off by the sound of gunfire, followed by more shouting. You couldn’t help but smile, knowing that the team had found you at last. That smile must have rubbed Yonst the wrong way because the next thing you knew he had pulled you to your feet. The positioning was odd, for you still had a chair attached to your back. He pulled you along with him, planning to use you as a human shield against the team.

“HANDS UP, YONST!” Steve’s familiar authoritative voice called out from behind, Yonst roughly grabbed you by the arm, pushing you slightly in front of him. Shoving his pistol to your temple, it was warm, almost hot against your skin, it had recently been fired. “Let her go Yonst, you have nowhere to run!”

“Who said I was gonna run?” He spat, pushing the barrel harder against the skull causing you to cry out in pain. Both Steve and Danny made a move to step forward. “Uh, uh, uh…You two stay there, call of your men. Get me a car, I’ll take this one with me, then if I feel like it I’ll dump her out of the car for you to find.” Danny moved forward again, but was stopped by Steve. They seemed to be arguing, but you were so out of it you could barely make out their words. Steve pulled out his phone and made the arrangements, all the while Danny kept his eyes on you, his eyes full of pain and desperation.

Then you were shoved into the passenger side of a range rover, Yonst in the driver’s seat and turning on the ignition. He drove like a maniac down the road with his gun still in hand. Every minute or so he would look over his shoulder, trying to see if anyone was following them. It was during these moments that you took your chance. You lunged for the wheel…

It wasn’t the constant beeping from the various machine’s that were making sure you were alive, no. It was Detective Danno Williams arguing on the phone with Steve. To be fair, he was trying to stay calm, but calm and Danny weren’t exactly compatible.

“I said I’d call you when she wakes up! She’s not up so stop calling.” He whisper-shouted down the line, his hand running through his hair, which was uncharacteristically untidy. “I’m not overreacting, Steve—I’m hanging up now, I’m hanging up.” He growled, coming close to actually raising his voice.

“Steve’s a bother, ain’t he?”

“Yeah, he wont shut—” He froze, realising that you had just spoken and that you were now in fact awake. He let out a relieved laugh, rubbing his face as he walked to your bedside. He held onto the railing as he looked down at you.

“What-how…? We found the car flipped over…you’d been ejected from the car, how you survived the doctors can’t tell. How you aren’t crying out in pain, I don’t know.” You hadn’t even noticed the pain, but the mentioning it caused it to set in, making you grind your teeth.

“Do you think you could press the nurse button? I need some morphine.” He didn’t reply, just following your request. “Is Yonst…Is he alive?”

“Yeah, lucky bugger practically walked away from the entire thing. He’s in prison licking his wounds.” You nodded, happy that he had been brought to justice. You then noticed a look in in Danny’s eye.

“Are you okay Williams?”

“When I saw them take you, I couldn’t get to you in time.”

“Danny…”

“I couldn’t save you, I couldn’t save you after I realised…”

“Realised what?” He didn’t have to answer, the look in his eye became clear as day. His actions, quips, everything came into focus. All pointing to one emotion that adequately fit the look on his face at that moment. “Oh…” You muttered, surprise evident in your voice. It must have given him the wrong idea, due to him pulling back from the bed. “Don’t.” You whispered, making him pause but not meet your gaze. “Don’t pull away Danny. I didn’t realise either, not until just now really. I get it, you couldn’t save me from Yonst, but you can still save me.” That made him meet your eyes, confusion evident.

“You can save me from Kamekona’s chilli. You can save me from awkward talks with Chin about football when it’s obvious I don’t know what he’s saying. You, you can save me from the goddamn heat of this island. You can save me from myself, Danny. So save me. Please, save me.” He laughed during your speech, so did you, it hurt like a motherfucker but you laughed regardless. The room for a moment was full of laughter, before returning to silence but a comfortable one. Then it was as if timed slowed, Danny leant down, pressing his lips to yours. Everything then suddenly sped up, fast enough to be worried if you weren’t preoccupied. A primitive hunger stirred in your chest, the kiss turned from soft to hungry. Ignoring the pain in your body you tried to sit up to get closer to him but were halted by a lady’s cough.

You looked to the door of your room, to see a nurse with what you suspected to be your chart. She had an unimpressed look on her face, a look that made you remember you and Danny were at the moment. You felt heat rush to your cheeks, undoubtedly causing them to redden.

“You called?”

written by: el formerly: spaz

#written by spaz #danny danno williams #danno #hawaii 5-0 #danny williams hawaii 5-0 #imagine #oneshot #danny williams imagine #hawaii 5-0 imagine #reader #reader x danny williams #steve caan #steve caan imagine #steve caan x reader #trigger warning #danny williams oneshot #hawaii 5-0 oneshot #written by el

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my-grindelwald · 5 years

Link

I translated Johnny’s Movie View Magazine Interview!

It’s a really really long interview (5.2k words) so I put it on google docs, but I also copied it over below the “keep reading” line if you prefer reading it on tumblr. He talks about his beginnings in acting, working with Tim Burton and other directors, the process of film-making, Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts, the Hainan film festival, and his upcoming movie Waiting for the Barbarians.

DISCLAIMER: I translated this myself so there definitely will be places with a some errors, although I have tried to translate as accurately as possible.

How did you start off your acting career?

The word “acting” is pretty strange. I started acting accidentally. Or perhaps it was fate. When I first moved to LA, I was a guitarist for my band. After the band broke up, I lost my job. I tried many different things: working at record shops, bookstores, you name it. I had a friend who was an actor, and he thought I’d make a good actor, so he suggested I meet his agent. I shot my first movie not really knowing what I was doing. And then after a while, I realised that I was slowly moving towards another path in my career, and I knew I had to put aside my dream of becoming a musician in order to fully commit to acting. I started researching and taking classes in performing, and after going deep into the acting career, I realised the most important thing was just practice.

How did you feel when you first acted in front of a camera?

I remember feeling really stupid (laughs). That was my first time finding out how a movie was shot - how all the bits we shot were pieced together to form an entire movie. To be honest, at first, I thought acting was pretty boring, because there was always a very detailed flow we had to go with, and stuff like specific camera angles and close-ups would all be laid out in detail for us. At the time, I was really ignorant to how a film was shot, so standing in front of a camera for the first time felt totally absurd. But in becoming an actor, I’ve changed a lot - I’ve become more confident in front of a camera. Sometimes, I even feel more at ease in front of a camera.

It’s really been a learning experience for me. Learning is one of the most important things for an actor. You need to observe the people around you with a keen eye - their body language, the way they talk, that kind of stuff. You absorb all of that unconsciously, like a sponge, and in a couple years, when playing a character, you might find yourself using this knowledge you’ve picked up and adding it to your performance. And when you act more freely, the real you is also able to live more freely. Actors are observers, so I try to observe and copy the body language and speech of people around me.

When you first get a script, how long does it take for you to understand the character and find his inner motives?

I feel like it’s pretty natural. After receiving a script, my brain tells me how to make sense of it. I first pick out the more meaningful parts in the script, and see if the story has depth to it. I always see if the script itself is good before deciding if there are any good roles in it. If I’m not satisfied with it myself, it’s, of course, going to be impossible to convince me to bring the character to life. If I do want to take the part, but I’m not able to add something more to the character, I start to consider my limits, and from there, I find new ways of approaching the character. Sometimes, I’ll be offered roles that have not been acted by anyone else on screen before, and my heart would tell me to give it a shot. In these cases, I normally know whether the script is suitable for me by the tenth page, sometimes even the fifth page, of the script.

When preparing for a role, do you put yourself in the character’s shoes?

Yeah, I actually do. I’ll see these images of scenes, or maybe childhood memories, or just bits and pieces of the character’s life in my mind, and it helps me empathise with the character. When reading a script for the first time, I make some notes or remarks on it to record down these instincts I get. After that, reading it for the second time, I try to challenge the boundaries of my initial thoughts on the character, and find any errors in my concepts. If my thoughts on the character are the same on both readings, I’ll read it again, find the character’s defining characteristics, and then try and fuse myself with the character. Once I’ve finished reading the entire thing, I more or less have a rough understanding of the character. But I have a habit of not reading the screen direction too much. I rather let the character’s mannerisms and actions come to me naturally in the moment, instead of following these specific actions in the script, because it lets me fully immerse myself in the character.

When you first worked with Tim Burton, he was still a very young director. How was it like working with him then, and have you worked with any other young directors since then?

I met Tim in 1989. We agreed to meet at St. John Street in London. At the time, I thought he didn’t seem like he had the material in him to be a director. I had been wanting to shoot a film that was away from the normal, and I had continuously been looking for an opportunity like that. So agreeing to meet Tim was kind of like laying out the path for myself. At the time, I was shooting Cry Baby, and the director, John Waters, was the kind of person who created taste through film, but Tim wasn’t. I had been very sure that I wouldn’t be chosen for Edward Scissorhands, but I really loved the screenplay, to the point I won’t ever forget the emotions I felt getting that screenplay for the first time. I cried like a child, reading that script. Edward’s suffering really hit me in the soul - I knew that kind of feeling: the feeling of a constant lack of safety, being afraid to interact with all these unfamiliar people and things, and the fear of being hurt. I had thought Tim wouldn’t cast me for this film, so I had wanted to cancel our meeting, but my agent wouldn’t let me.

Little did I know, we got on like old friends from the first time we met. Tim’s pretty shy, and I’m not exactly the talkative kind either, and three hours and eight cups of coffee later, Tim’s hands were already shaking. A month later, I didn’t hear from him at all, so I assumed I hadn’t been cast. But then, I got this phone call from Tim, and he said, “Johnny, you’re Edward Scissorhands.” My mind just went blank; the only thing I remember was crying. I had found the strange, off road path that I had wanted. Crybaby had been my first step, and Edward Scissorhands my second.

What about later on? Were your films with Tim successful?

In those first three weeks of filming, Tim was a little hesitant; he was trying to decide if my acting was too weird, and in those three weeks, we didn’t get along as easily. But in the end, he let go, and said, “Just do it your way,” and somehow, we managed to get the stuff he wanted. After Scissorhands, Tim and I became closer, and we then shot Ed Wood. From there we just made movie after movie, and now it’s like we practically have a common language.

You’ve worked with many famous directors as well. How is working with them different from working with Tim?

I’ve got pretty good relationships with the many directors I’ve worked with before. Tim’s like a brother to me, and we’re both friends with many other directors. When working with other directors than Tim, I try even harder to get what they want in the character to present the story to the audience. Some of the younger directors are sort scared that they didn’t do enough preparation, or that something they didn’t expect will happen. I think they’re thinking too much into it - they’ve already got the entire film in their mind. Sometimes, they end up relying too much on the planning, and they’re overcautious, so they lose a lot of the freedom that comes with making a film. He’ll think, what if the stuff I shoot doesn’t look exactly like what I’ve got in my head? The more they limit their imagination, the fewer chances they have to think of something on the spot, and come up with something amazing that they didn’t initially plan for.

So when I work with them, I want to give them a chance to experience something fresh, or something challenging, something new and exciting. Sometimes, we could do 10 takes of the same scene, and still not get what we are trying to go for. I think it’s not good if the actors are all thinking too much about how they should act, while the director is thinking too much about how he should be shooting it. On set, I’m even more willing to improvise, by, for example, changing the way I say my lines, or adding some actions that aren’t in the script, and in that moment, we’re able to capture the natural, genuine reactions of the actors I’m working alongside in the scene. You need to step out of your comfort zone in order to find the most truthful interactions between humans. There’s some directors that are very strict, and at every step of making the film, they’ve got a very specific idea of what they want. But the problem with that is that they don’t understand that film is an art of human interactions, and it’s not something you can do with just one person telling everyone else what to do.

Do you have any Hollywood films and directors that you pay attention to?

In recent years, I haven’t watched many films outside of Hollywood. I remember when I was really young, I watched the film Time of the Gypsies by the director Emir Kusturica. The colours in that film were particularly gorgeous, and it was a very artistic film. I ended up working with Kusturica in Arizona Dream, but you could say that film was a nightmare for both of us. Normally, a movie takes about three to five months to be shot, but we took an entire year for Arizona Dream. Of course, that film became an important film in my career, and Kusturica is an amazing director,so he has always been able to do this without fear. I’ve always believed that fear is our greatest enemy - whether it’s in our lives or when making a film, fear is always there to drag us down.

Working with Kusturica was an extraordinarily meaningful experience for me. It gave me the opportunity to experience, first-hand, that as an actor, you really can try anything, so as long as the role is reasonable, I can go ahead and try it. There was once I worked with Faye Dunaway, and at the time, I was still pretty young, and she was already middle-aged. We were shooting a scene where my character, the young man, has to seduce Faye’s character, and he’s growing from a young boy to an adult. Our initial plan was for my character to run around like a rooster and follow Faye around, so when we were shooting the scene, we just ran around in circles in the house. You see, film can just be shot like that. When we discuss certain scenes, we don’t consider how to minimise the risks - the most important thing is that we embrace our curiosity; just give ourselves the freedom to explore, say, what kind of results would I get if I did this scene this way. When you make a film, you can’t follow the screenplay exactly. Sometimes, there’s beautiful dialogue in the script, but it may not fit with the vibe of the rest of the film, so you’ve got to reluctantly cut it out. In making a film, you need to push the boundaries. If you don’t try, you won’t know what kind of sparks you’re really able to create.

So making a film involves a lot of teamwork and putting aside your ego?

Yeah. For example, on set, another actor may ask to do another take, or want to try another way of doing the same scene. You could hate that they’re doing that - you could even hate the actor himself - but you should give him a chance to try, because it could help open another door for yourself, and in the end, you’ll definitely get something surprising out of it.

When shooting From Hell, the director Allen Hughes gave me many suggestions. Like when we finished shooting the scene where my character turns hostile, he walked over and he told me, “No sunlight.” I immediately understood: don’t give them a ‘good’ expression, just remain committed to being the bad guy. Even though the lines are already written out nicely, actors still need to figure out the emotions within those lines, and use stuff like their body language to bring across these emotions, and these are all actually hidden between the lines in the script. Simply reading out the lines is a very easy thing to do, like saying, “I love you” is easy, but the audience isn’t stupid. They can sense that the feelings behind the words “I love you” aren’t real. Of course, the script itself is very important as well - the information in the lines helps us to understand the plot. But these hidden, unspoken lines are what make up the atmosphere of the film, and it lets the audience feel the change in emotions in the characters, and the waves of emotions in the character. The actors’ performances and the script combined together creates the tension in films.

Are there any young directors who have moved you with a script?

If a young director works on a screenplay, he needs to leave the actors some space to explore on top of giving them his vision. A good script would be one that even if the actors go with whatever idea they have, the film will still work out - it means the script is flexible. Being an actor, I’ve got a responsibility to both the director and the audience. I’m the medium between the director and the audience - I bring the director’s vision to the audience, but through that, I also have my own interpretation of the stuff I’m doing. I always have a lot of ideas, so when shooting a film, I have to find a balance between my own interpretations, and the director’s vision, while still being loyal to myself. A good screenwriter always leaves enough space and chances for the actors to explore. Putting together a film is like making a montage of clips, really. If the director’s too harsh, too many clips will end up on the cutting room floor. But as an actor, if you’re not giving the directors a choice on what to leave in or cut out, then you’re not doing your job well either.

Other than acting, have you tried any other jobs in the film industry?

I’ve directed a film once, and I’ve written a screenplay. It a story about the native Americans and how they lived, but it was only a rough framework, not anything refined yet. I didn’t want to act in it myself, but people told me that if I didn’t act in it, it would only get maybe 2 million dollars, but if I did, it’ll probably get 5 million. I was convinced by that. Being a director isn’t easy. You need money to be able to shoot whatever you want to shoot. But actors and directors are two vastly different roles. A director has to manage everything on set, but as an actor, you only have to care about your own performance, and nothing else. A director has so many different things they need to take care of, while an actor just goes with their feelings and does the scenes they need to do. Actors don’t need to bother with logistics on set. If you made an actor take care of all this stuff, I’d bet you, within 5 minutes, the set would have to be shut down. They wouldn’t be able to concentrate on their performance. If I had to do that, I’d go crazy.

As a director, after work, you still need to sit down and read through your script, see if there’s anything that should be changed. To me, that kind of lifestyle might as well be from a scene from a horror film. And after a day of shooting, the director still needs to review all of the footage. If I’m both acting in and directing the same film, I’d be looking at my own performance the entire day, which feels really weird. So really, both acting and directing have their own challenges, and trying to do both is just extremely difficult.

As a casting director, I really wasn’t good at judging auditions. I never felt like screen tests had any relevance to the actual shooting process. Just reading a few lines won’t show a person’s real acting ability. When I was a casting director, I watched these people walk through the door every day, read their lines, and all of them couldn’t get the kind of feel I wanted for the film, and I was going slightly mad. To begin with, I wasn’t great at the auditioning process as an actor, so as a casting director, I wasn’t good either. So, a suggestion to people looking to audition for things, don’t just go in and read your lines. Act out a portion of the script. I want to see what you and your fellow actors sharing the scene with you can do. I want to see your interpretations, your style, the path you want to go down. Through a process like that, I can see the big picture of the film, and how much space you’re leaving me, as director, to make choices. Like I said before, a good actor should leave space for the director to make creative decisions as well.

So do you still want to continue being a director?

Yeah, I actually want to direct 2 more films. One of them is a screenplay that I stole 30 years ago. At the time, my agent told me the rough storyline of the script, and after I heard it, I just completely took it away. Also, I won’t necessarily act in films I’m directing, because I really enjoy the process of working with different actors and creating a film with them. I especially like it when they develop their characters and breathe life into them, because in that moment, as a director, there’s this sense of accomplishment. Basically, if I direct a movie, I want to put my entire heart and soul into directing, and not have to worry about my performance.

What kind of script catches your attention?

Those that resonate in me. As long as the character in the script is moulded so that it feels vivid, and the plot is interesting, it’ll catch my attention. About the script, I think about how much space the actor playing the role has to explore on their own - whether the actor is able to make the character even more well-developed, more thought-provoking, more interesting. The most fundamental part is seeing if I’m able to get a feel of the character. If I am, then the screenwriters did a good job of creating a vivid, believable character. I see if the script can still remain faithful when put under pressure from outside forces, to make sure that it’s not just another script with a storyline everyone’s heard a thousand times.

After Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald was released in China, Grindelwald became very popular amongst Chinese fans. J.K. Rowling did not include much about Grindelwald in the Harry Potter series, so how did you create this character?

First, I had to get the foundation right. Jo gave me many suggestions, and other than that, the most important part was just the screenplay. I made many notes on the script, and through reading the script multiple times, I slowly added flavour to the character. I didn’t want him to be a character that people could just take one look at him and understand him. He’s a master of manipulation who wants to convince people to join his side, and on the other hand, he does have softer, kinder parts to his personality. My take on him was that any internal conflict you had in yourself becomes very dangerous when dealing with Grindelwald. I think he has a double personality: one side of him is his original self, and the other is the side that tries to oppress - one clear, one mysterious. That’s also the reason why I chose to have different coloured eyes, to show the two sides to his personality.

The relationship between Grindelwald and Dumbledore is something that many of the fans pay particular attention to. Did the events that happened in their past have any influence on the way you created Grindelwald’s character? And did you film the “Mirror of Erised” scene together with Jude Law?

No, when I got to set, Jude Law’s parts had already been shot. Jo has really written an amazing story, and she really showed how Grindelwald and Dumbledore’s love and at the same time, hate, for each other was built up. I think the two of them are a sort of surprising pairing. To each other, they are the best person in the world. I believe that there once was a passionate love between them, and this love was born because they both saw a reflection of themself in the other person. But for Grindelwald, his love came with an envy. He had always thought of himself as the greatest dark wizard, but in his heart, he clearly knows that Dumbledore has the same level of power that he does, and that Dumbledore will become even stronger. His conceitedness is eventually the reason why they went on different paths.

From then on, Grindelwald harboured a grudge in his heart. But do you know what this grudge represents? There’s a side to his grudge that no one gets to know of - it’s wounds, it’s pain, and it’s this hatred that he has, having this, in a way, forbidden, love, yet having nowhere to vent his frustration. I understood Grindelwald and Dumbledore’s relationship from this point of view, and from some lines in the film, you can feel this paradoxical opposition between them, where they oppose each other like fire and water do, but yet are bound to each other. Grindelwald’s decision in the end was to continue on his path that led him to become the Grindelwald we know now. These are things that you can’t see on the surface of the story, because they’re all hidden within the tiny details. I think Grindelwald and Dumbledore’s past is filled with pain, so I also really want to know what exactly happened between them.

As we see in the movie, Dumbledore says that he cannot move against Grindelwald because they made a blood pact. If the blood pact did not exist, would Dumbledore be able to move against him?

I believe even without the blood pact, Dumbledore would still be extremely hesitant whether he is able to move against Grindelwald. This is also Grindelwald’s internal conflict, because he isn’t sure if Dumbledore will one day return to his side. But I’m guessing he’s also somewhat anticipating the day when the two of them finally meet to fight, because Grindelwald needs this battle to happen in order to achieve his final goal. His hatred, envy and bitterness will all be let loose in that one battle. Grindelwald is very confident no one in the wizarding world can be a worthy opponent to him, because his name is his faith. But in the end, it will be this exact arrogance that will lead to his downfall.

How do you feel coming to Hainan and having the masterclass session with young directors?

I’m very inspired by them. To have this sort of opportunity to chat with people that are willing to devote themselves to filmmaking is really special. When I attend press conferences, the questions the reporters ask are mostly similar. Once these reporters have been in the business for a while, they aren’t really that interested in your answer - they’re just trying to get their job done.

But here, this large group of young audience really is interested in the film business, and this makes me really happy. Like if someone asked me a question about acting, then I’d gladly share about my own experiences as an actor. You could even ask me, “How did you become famous?” And I’d say, “If you want to become famous, first of all, don’t think about becoming famous.” Don’t be too focused on reaching your goal, and focus more on the process instead. If you’re able to persevere doing the thing you love, then you will become the person you want to be. We often say that when someone has an ambition, it’s a curse, but really, the truth is that being able to do something you love while working towards a goal is also not a bad thing.

Having this opportunity to chat with young people that want to commit themselves to the film industry makes me really happy. They’re not trying to repeat what others have done before them - they’re like the future of film. If sharing my experiences are able to help them understand what a career in the industry is like, then I’d be very honoured. Nothing makes me happier than being able help others improve.

Another thing about the activity that made me very pleased was that everyone was very sincere. It wasn’t just about me sharing my stories - the more important thing was that I took something away from it as well. The questions that the audience asked also let me reflect about myself. They’ve given me even more hope for the future - the fact that more and more people want to go down the film industry path and face whatever challenges they meet without fear, it’s a really amazing thing.

Do you have any plans for the future?

To me, I’m not sure how the future will be like, and I don’t want to just follow in someone else’s footsteps. I think the most important thing is what kind of attitude I’m meeting the future with. I’m just going to think about how I can make my characters more real, more natural, because as an actor, you’re responsible for the role, and for the film. And I think that’s enough.

Sometimes, in order to do what you love, you need to persevere, and not just come to terms with what you have in order to make someone else happy. In making a film, every aspect is closely linked together, and if a director tries too hard to please everyone, his vision will end up becoming very restricted. I’ve told this to Michael Mann once, while we were filming Public Enemies. I talked to him about some of the choices I had made for my role as Dillinger, mainly about the way he talked. I had some ideas that conflicted with his. Dillinger was from northern Indiana. We hadn’t found any recordings of his voice, but we did have one of his father’s voice. His father had a very typical southern accent, which was very different from how people from Chicago and New York spoke. The place I was born is only 70 miles away from Dillinger’s hometown. I’m from Kentucky, so I’m familiar with southern accents because I grew up speaking it. I felt that Dillinger should speak with a southern accent, but Michael Mann thought he should speak with a Chicago accent. So I told him, “Look, in this gang from Chicago, you’ve got two Australians, the guy playing Baby Face Nelson, Stephen Graham, is British, and Marion Cotillard is French. I grew up 70 miles away from Dillinger’s hometown! You got a bunch of foreign actors, and you’re saying my American accent isn’t real enough?”

Out of all the movies you’ve watched in 2018, which one is your favourite?

I really like documentaries, so I’ll recommend this one: Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story. I can’t remember if it’s a 2017 or 2018 film. It’s about an actress in the 1930s. She’s a legend. She invented the radio. The ship that one of her friends and their family was on, headed from Europe to America, was destroyed by the Germans. Her friend’s death made her start to think about how to deal a blow back, so she started her research into the radio. Her invention is the foundation of our bluetooth and wifi systems today. But the American government took away her patent without notice, and she tried to appeal, but didn’t get anything out of it. So she ended up spending the rest of her life just slowly aging away. This movie was particularly touching, because it was written like a lament for Hedy Lamarr, and it completely moved me. There was another film, not a 2018 one, it’s Embrace of the Serpent by Ciro Guerra, I really recommend this one.

Last question, you’re working with Ciro Guerra on a film, right? Can you tell us a little bit about it?

I think it’s definitely going to be a great film. It’s called Waiting for the Barbarians, and I think it’s really relevant to our reality today. The story is very intense. It’s about the history of a fictional empire, and the battle of good versus evil. We always say that the good will triumph over the evil, but sometimes in reality, it isn’t the case, and this story is told from this point of view. My character is an “intruder”. He says that the barbarians will do things to threaten everyone else, and threaten the entire empire, but it’s really not the case. But the story takes everything he’s come up with and turns it into reality. I’ll be working with Mark Rylance in this film. He’s a veteran in the industry that I particularly admire. I’m not sure when this film will be released, like how when I did Sweeney Todd, I could only imagine how Tim Burton would piece all the clips together to form the complete film. Sometimes I really, really want to see the complete movie early, but it’s not actually that easy. To an actor, this also pretty disastrous. Ciro Guerra has his own, very unique views and visions, and at the same time, he’s open to listening to our ideas about our characters. He’s a great director.

#johnny depp #wearewithyoujohnnydepp #johnnydeppismygrindelwald #johnnydeppisinnocent #tim burton #ed wood #edward scissorhands #public enemies #fbcog #fbtcog #fantastic beasts #gellert grindelwald #sweeny todd #arizona dream #waiting for the barbarians #from hell

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twitchesandstitches · 5 years

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Crossthicc AU - base roster!

The fleet was originally a meeting of several smaller groups that joined together for survival, hit it off well, and opted to remain together indefinitely. They met some other groups, and over time, added more and more, and have reproduced and brought in more people until they have hit their current size.

Note that with the use of longevity treatments, the crew is a lot older than they look; some of them, otherwise normal humans, may be hundreds of years old. The fleet itself may possibly be that old, too.

These original groups include:

A group of humans called the Neon Deathclaws, comprising a number of characters from Total Drama Island, reimagined as Vault Hunter-style mercenaries and treasure hunters from an obscure human world. Their leader, a team mom and fangirl called Sierra, is the wielder of the Gestat and the champion of the fleet as a whole. Her fellow mercs include: Lindsay (mega-busty friendly ditz who’s smarter than she lets on), Leshawna (Mom-Friend and emotional tank), Jasmine (wasteland survivalist who likes extreme conditions far too much), Courtney (founder of fleet logistics on the grounds that SOMEONE has to), Gwen (in a relationship with Courtney and doing really badly at not being amazed at their strange adventures), Crimson (actually IS good at not being perturbed by weirdness) and many others who are in less adventurous positions. Since TDI has so many characters, a lot of their positions are unclear; go ahead and ask me if you want clarification on where someone may or may not be.

Sierra herself is, in a sense, the ‘star’ of the fic, or at least a central fixture. She is responsible for how the fleet can exist in the first place, and her mysterious magical artifact and newfound powers allow them to do things like periodic FTL travel and create the superpowers that let them reshape themselves as they please. She is the ultimate mom-friend and overly excited to mass produce tons of babies with every conceivable form of sapient life; if a named character exists and has any interest in potentially having children, assume Sierra has a crush on them and, with her complete lack of restraint, already had a dozen children with them. She does not know what a chill is.

The Expedition Hive Explorers, incorporating several of the trolls from Homestuck. As trolls are considered caretakers of humans here, they hit it off well with the Neon Deathclaws, becoming fast friends. Led by Terezi Pyrope, who uses her mental powers and prophetic abilities to help guide them through the planes of magic when doing FTL jumps, and she has also managed to incorporate the powers of all other troll castes into her; rust telekinesis, bronze animal communion, yellow psionics, whatever it is limes do, jade vampire-ness, cerulean mind control, purple mind alteration and influences, and the sea dweller ability to breath underwater, with a combined physical power of all castes. She hopes to one day work out how to do this for all other trolls and make them all as powerful as her.

There is some evidence that Terezi and several of her friends (as well as Vriska Serket, a rival of hers that leads a pirate fleet) are incarnations of ancient gods embodying concepts essential to the universe, such as Time, Space, and so forth, with Terezi embodying Mind. By adventuring, they may find a way to fully reclaim their lost power and ascend to true godhood, and work out how this happened to them in the first place.

Other trolls in the group include: Karkat Vantas (Terezi’s sidekick, boytoy and dance battler), Equius Zahhak (engineer and professional Sensible Guy), Feferi Peixes (biotech enthusiast, spooky medic and founder of the fleet’s medical specialists), Nepeta Leijon (monster hunter and cute patoot), Konyyl Okimaw, Bronya Ursama, Chahut Maenad, and many other trolls, at least a hundred. Several ancient trolls originally hailing from the troll’s lost homeworld, Beforus, have since joined up, most notably the Disciple, Dolorosa and the Handmaid following adventures when they were met.

The Awakened Ancient Autobots. A group of Autobots who survived the destruction of their homeworld and the persecutions by the wicked Decepticon Empire, searching for the missing Optimus Prime and seeking to honor his dream of a just society where all are free to choose their own fate. Led mainly by Grimlock and Elita-1, in a ‘Grimlock is their champion, Elita-1 is their military icon’, but also including a number of other important figures. This includes several sub-teams, including the Dinobots (of them, Swoop, Sludge and Snarl are hyper thicc amazon fembots) are female here, the Technobots (children of the Dinobots, all fembots here), the Raptoricons (maybe?), the Torchbearers, and perhaps the Monsterbots, who are most likely fembots in their robot modes. Individual Transformers include Blackarachnia (the Beast Wars version, with emphasis on the science-y), Arcee (Prime continuity, with some IDW), Strongarm from RID2016, as well as a collection of minor characters retooled to fit this AU, as well as the Maximals from Beast Wars who appeared in the toyline but not the series proper, and generally fembots here as well.

With the use of special powers by studying ancient relics of religious significance to Cybertron, most of the fleet’s Autobots have been modified so they can adopt new alt forms on the fly, even maintaining a stock of up to seven different forms they can switch up freely, though it is physically stressful to do so. Not all of them choose to do so; for instance, Grimlock prefers his T-Rex mode and while he can transform into a monster truck, tank and bomber plane, he really hates that. Beastformers like him or the other Dinobots instead adopt additional beast forms or ‘inbetween’ humanoid beast forms. Sludge of the Dinobots, for instance, can transform into a ferocious Spinosaurus in addition to her native Apatosaurus mode, and goes by Scorn in this state.

The flipside of all that is that any given Transformer can turn into whatever vehicles are required by their friends.

The final group was originally a rock band led by the last free Diamond of the Gem homeworld; the Gems, a species of sapient stones that process magical energy and that can manifest this magic into female-presenting light bodies measuring more than dozens of feet tall, had a long-standing conflict with the Transformers of Cybertron, culminating in a massive war between the Decepticon Empire and Homeworld. When it ended, Homeworld had ceased to exist, all surviving Gems had scattered to the stars, and all the Diamonds were imprisoned as living ornaments upon the claws of the Decepticon’s Emperor of Destruction, Lord Megatron. All, that is, save the Diamond that had been made wrong: Pink Diamond.

She had already left her fellow matriarchs after growing weary of their suffocating control and, to her, appalling treatment of all life that was not themselves, becoming a wander among the stars along with those of her court that proved loyal to her, as well as defectors from other Diamond courts that believed in her vision. AFter the fall of Homeworld, they hid their nature as Gems, living many thousands of lives as aliens, and in one such life time, Pink Diamond, now calling herself Rose Quartz after the protectors of her court she so wanted to be rather than a living goddess, met a human musician named Greg Universe who inspired her to start up a musical band with her closest Gem friends, and she fell in love with him, eventually having a child with him and surviving the process by gestating a new Gem within herself, though at the cost of effectively maiming her own Gem. Thanks to the power of the Gestat, her Gem has been restored, and all Gems with her have been granted the ability to gestate Gems by simply devouring mineral deposits, and the Gem population has exploded with this gift.

Even small Gems stand nearly thirty feet tall, and Rose’s true size is unknown; it is speculated that as a Diamond, she may actually be many hundreds of feet tall, or even planet sized, but she typically suppresses her power. Gems can fuse into more powerful composite forms, growing ever larger, and Rose can fuse with her Crystal Gems to become the mighty Obsidian, who along with the combiner form of the Dinobots, Volcanicus, are the heaviest hitters of the fleet. They’re also friendly rivals to boot. Apart from those, Rose has her loyal Gems (Ruby and Sapphire, who are NOT perma-fused here most of the time, Pearl, Bismuth, Jasper, Amethyst, LApis Lazuli, and Peridot), as well as a wide number of other Gems that either came with her or have gathered to her cause over the years. Additionally, Rose’s human lover Greg is quasi-immortal thanks to her efforts, and her now grown up son Steven has brought the family of his wife Connie (a statuesque, hyper curvy warrior in the likes of Rose herself) into their band, include Connie’s mother Priyanka.

Together, these four groups and their representatives - Sierra, Terezi, Grimlock, and Rose Quartz - founded a small interstellar caravan of all their respective families and friends, traveling through space in hopes of finding a new homeland for them all. They’ve made many friends over the centuries since, with more people being added to the fleet or being absorbed into it, and most of the newcomers being born into the fleet thanks to the many perpetually gravid mother-champions.

Smash Bros characters will definitely come into things eventually but I’m currently imagining them as their own entirely separate fleet but they’re closely allied and fully integrated with one another. Of those, Palutena, Rosalina, Samus Aran, Kumatora (as an Earthbound character, anyway) and some others would be involved. As would be Urbosa and the Gerudo as a whole.

Battleborn would probably be in this somewhere but I haven’t quite worked them out as yet? Perhaps not as crew members, but definitely people they know/meet/run into, as well as setting relevant events.

Some characters from different series who have likely joined the fleet on their own or do not have a definite origin in mind yet (or I like them but don’t have much information about their series proper) include: Cattleya (Queen’s Blade), Tifa Lockhart and Lulu (Final Fantasy), Princess Bubblegum (Adventure Time), Katara, Toph Bei Fong, Mai, and Korra (Avatar The LAst Airbender and Legend of Korra), Symmetra, Pharah, Bastion, Orisa, Zenyatta, Mei Ling Zhou and many Omnics (Overwatch), Hinata Hyuga, Mei Terumi and Konan (Naruto), Tsuyu, Mina Ashido and lots of other Quirky heroes (BNHA).

There are many species represented within the fleet, descended from individual who joined up and had scores of children. While by no means comprehensive, here is a small list of a number of species to join up in notable numbers: Asari, Krogan, Geth, Quarians and Turians, from the more well-established worlds.

Orcs, Eldar and other space-faring versions of common fantasy races, and serving as a combination of various series’ takes on those beings. Orcs, for instance, are a combination of Warhammer 40k’s Orks with the more benign aspects of Warcraft’s orcs. The Eldar are mainly a mixture of the Eldar from 40k and with the general attitude of Tolkien’s elves (with bustlines proportionate to their magical powers). Sci-fi versions of Tauren, Draenei and goblins (hyper buxom cowgirls, various levels of curvy, and hyper shortstacks respectively) are also present.

Pokemon and Digimon are present in huge numbers, taking the ‘fully intelligent sapient beings’ take on them. The Digimon mainly live in cyberspace in the ship databanks, running the automated systems, and can jack into robotic bodies to interface with the physical world, otherwise being like AI friends; rarely, they can manifest directly in times of great need. Pokemon are more like beings of elemental power given form, and can willingly diminish their power in order to transform into more human-like shapes, ranging from bipedal anthro-morphs to cute monster humans. These are invariably hyper curvy, to boot, and something similar applies to the avatars the Digimon can project.

From Final Fantasy’s various races, big contenders for numerous-ness in here include, among others, the Viera and Bangaa.

Autobots of all known alt mode variations, Gems of any caste, and trolls from a wide variety of blood colors all go without saying. Of note, due to the egalitarian culture of the fleet, traditional caste attitudes typical of Gems or trolls are not present, and somewhat unthinkable to boot, and as a result have little attachment to their people’s history; to them, the fleet are their people.

And many, MANY other aliens of all shapes and sizes, but mostly ‘hourglass’ shapes at that.

One final note is the God Squad, an informal name for a number of deities that have for some reason taken an interest in the fleet’s affairs, and no one is clear why; they seem to know that Terezi and her family were once gods but not the circumstances of how they fell, and they don’t often intervene on a daily basis, but can be summoned. Apparently this involves beating some kind of strange accord they have with malicious demonic forces. The most important of them is Lucoa from Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, but hewing closer to her mythological counterpart, especially in looking more like an ancient Aztec woman; she is a spokesgoddess, of sorts, for the rest of the deities. There is also Palutena, the goddess of light who may have arranged meetings between the fleet and her own chosen champions in the Smash fleet as well for her own reasons. Onyx Prime, of the Cybertronian pantheon, is also present and may have encouraged the others to assist the fleet thanks to his strange visions. There are several other gods, but their presence is currently shrouded and of great mystery to the fleet.

#/#//#///#////#/////#crossthicc AU

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recentanimenews · 3 years

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Bookshelf Briefs 8/26/21

Captivated, By You | By Yama Wayama | Yen Press – A collection of short stories that originally ran in the magazine Comic Beam, they all take place around the same school and feature some of the same cast intermingling with each other, but each can also be read as a standalone. This is not a BL title, but I’d say it’s BL-adjacent, and there are several relationships that you could see going that way. My favorites included a social media relationship done via cut-out “kidnapper” letters, a man trying to reinvent himself in high school… as the creepy dude everyone avoids, and a bullied kid trying to get petty revenge on his bully but being unable to because he’s too decent a person at heart. The stories vary in quality, but the collection overall is very nice. – Sean Gaffney

Days on Fes, Vol. 2 | By Kanato Oka | Yen Press This continues to hit at what it does best, showing off how awesome it can be to go to a music festival. You can hear things you’d never even knew existed, and you might even run into the singer of your favorite band incognito inside the crowd. Will romantic sparks fly?? Well, probably not, because honestly our two girls seem to be really into each other—as with Captivated, By You, this is not yuri or BL but it is yuri and BL-adjacent, as each pair of leads makes an awesome couple but isn’t actually one. If there’s one complaint it’s that so far this is almost entirely on the fan side of things. There’s a suggestion that might change, as we do get a few pages of one band, but I’d like to see more actual music—and more struggles. -Sean Gaffney

Happy Kanako’s Killer Life, Vol. 1 | By Toshiya Wakabayashi | Seven Seas – This is a black, black comedy, and if you find the idea of a happy-go-lucky girl killing people appalling, best to skip it. That said, if you do like black comedy, it’s wonderful. Kanako is an OL who just quit her job and finds that the new one she answered the ad for… is a hit man. Her first target… is her old boss. And she’s really good at killing people. Plus, it’s got great pay, and you get to go out and have meat and alcohol afterwards. Oh yes, and the book is filled with weird animal puns—and the animals appear behind Kanako as she says them, so the translation must have been FUN. This isn’t for everyone, but it’s gleefully silly and dark as hell, as you watch Kanako sink further and further to the dark side. – Sean Gaffney

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 20 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – It’s Valentine’s Day, and as you can imagine that means different things to different people in this book. We also find out that Maki is actually one of the most respected students on campus… it’s just we’ve only ever seen her reflected through her hilarious unrequited love, so we don’t get it (and neither do the main cast). Also, exam results are out, which means that Ishigami gets to show off the results of Kaguya’s tutoring… and Shirogane, who’s dropped to twelfth because he’s narrowing his focus to studying English for Stanford. Believe me, there’s still plenty of silliness, mostly from Fujiwara, but the characters are beginning to grow up and throw off the shackles of the past… or have it done for them. – Sean Gaffney

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 14 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – Sometimes this series has a long-running arc, and sometimes it just coasts along on pure cute. This volume is one of the latter, and it is very, very cute indeed, which is the main reason people are reading the title, but does make things a bit difficult to pick out to review. Komi and Tadano remain the best couple who aren’t one, and everyone can see it. Manbagi is also clearly very much in denial about her own crush on Tadano, and I anticipate the next arc will be dealing with that. Najimi remains obnoxious but fun, Yamai remains obnoxious and not fun. If you’ve enjoyed other volumes, this is an obvious one to get. And it sure is cute, isn’t it? – Sean Gaffney

Medalist, Vols. 1-2 | By Tsurumaikada | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Even if the story in this series weren’t great, I’d likely still be recommending it solely based on the art, which is frequently stunning, and has beautifully characterized expressions. Fortunately, the story is also excellent. A former ice dancer who was never quite able to go pro discovers a young girl who is trying desperately, despite her mother’s misgivings, to be an Olympic figure skater. Like a lot of lead girls in this sort of series, she’s not got a lot of knowledge but has a great deal of raw talent and iron will. Together, the two of them try to pull each other out of the depression they were in. The girl being eight years old means there’s a lack of mentor-mentee romance you might get if she were a teen. This is just sweet. – Sean Gaffney

Night Bus | By Zuo Ma | Drawn & Quarterly – Finding independent Chinese comics translated into English is something of a rarity, so I was very excited to see that Zuo Ma’s Night Bus was being released. I had previously encountered Zuo Ma’s work in the underground Chinese comic anthology Naked Body published by Paradise Systems. Drawn & Quarterly’s edition of Night Bus, translated and with ending notes by Orion Martin (founder of Paradise Systems), actually gathers stories from two of Zuo Ma’s books: Walk, a collection of ten short works, and an updated and expanded version of the long-form comic Night Bus. In these stories, Zuo Ma frequently incorporates semi-autobiography, fantastical dreamscapes, and the supernatural, working and reworking themes and ideas throughout the volume. Elements of reality and unreality are interwoven and fused in powerful, visceral ways, capturing intense emotions of anxiety and dread, but also evoking a sense of nostalgia. Night Bus is an unsettling, riveting, and compelling collection. – Ash Brown

Queen’s Quality, Vol. 12 | By Kyousuke Motomi | Viz Media – The series works best when it’s equating the stresses and paranoia of the inner mind with outer monsters to match. Sometimes, though, it’s just a bunch of fighting, and the monsters seem to be there just to be antagonists. Fortunately, there’s still our two leads, who remain the best thing about this series. Kyutaro is trying his best to retain his sense of self, and fortunately he has Fumi to help, who is happy to go all the way with him, although perhaps not with the snake inside him. They don’t, however, and Fumi ends up getting her best moments when she shows off what a vicious badass she’s become. That said, the danger of this series is it doesn’t come out often enough, so I forget the plot a lot. – Sean Gaffney

Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts, Vol. 13 | By Yu Tomofuji | Yen Press – The start of this volume is a lot of fun, as Sariphi ends up dealing with a tsundere female version of his highness, a woman who is said to have beast ancestry in her past and thus is accused of being evil. Given that this series tends to run on pure Fruits Basket, it’s no surprise that Sariphi is able to help with the pure power of shininess. All is not well back home, though, and it’s becoming pretty clear that endgame is going to be revealing the King’s other form as an excuse for executing him… and I would not be surprised if they blame Sariphi for it. This is still very good, and remains a wonderful reminder of the days when we always got piles of Hana to Yume manga like it. – Sean Gaffney

Sazan & Comet Girl | By Yuriko Akase | Seven Seas – Perhaps the most striking aspect of Sazan & Comet Girl is that the all of the artwork is in full color. Akase’s watercolor illustrations of planetary and interstellar backgrounds in particular are simply gorgeous. Story-wise, however, Sazan & Comet Girl isn’t particularly innovative, primarily revisiting and combining familiar tropes and character types of its genre. Even so, the volume is still great fun, coming across as a nostalgic, loving homage to older science fiction media. The entire series has been released as a single omnibus volume in English and doesn’t have obvious chapter breaks, so once the story gets going it just goes and keeps going, shifting from romantic comedy into action adventure before returning fully to its underlying love story. Sazan is goofball of a lead and Mina, the titular comet girl, is an endearing heroine—apart from the artwork, the manga is at its best when focusing on them. – Ash Brown

This Wonderful Season with You | By Atsuko Yusen | TOKYOPOP – Junpei Enoki is a bespectacled nerd who belongs to the electronic engineering club. Ryousuke Shirataki, a “normie” with a reputation for being cool and manly, is searching for something after an injury ruined his baseball prospects. After Shirataki joins the club, they get to know each other and, ultimately, fall in love. The tone is mostly comedic, with an art style that reminds me a bit of vintage shounen, and I really liked that some characters who seem like comic relief end up being important. I also loved how each boy has an unexpected side to him that the other sees immediately while others fail to notice. Shirataki appeared aloof, but he was actually suffering, and it’s so nice at the end to see him goofy and happy. I could’ve done without the final sex chapter, but aside from that, this was great. – Michelle Smith

By: Ash Brown

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

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bamby0304 · 6 years

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The Hart: Chapter One

Summary: When Lizzie was just a few months old, she lost her father. Fifteen years later she lost her mother, and then her sister. Now in her early twenties Lizzie spends her days and nights hunting things and saving people. When the Winchesters meet the bright eyed and bubbly blonde they don’t realise what they’re in for… and neither does she…

Part Twenty-Two: Unusual.

Masterlist

Warnings: Lil’ bit of violence.

Bamby

EPOV

I sat at the table in our hotel room, watching the spoon in my coffee. Seeing as I was alone- Dean was out getting food while Sam was at the morgue getting some info for the case- I was taking this time to practice. Practice what, you might ask? Telekinesis.

A few weeks had passed since we'd finished the case on Highway 41. A few weens had passed since the incident where the glass in my hand came out all on its own, like magic. A few days later I'd reached for the door handle of the Impala, only the door opened before I could touch it. After that it didn't take long for me to figure out what was happening to me, so I started looking into the ability to move things with the mind.

Times like this, when I was alone, I started to build control over my ability. I was able to move a few things every now and then, but I couldn't always do it. The whole thing was both frustrating and interesting. Not to mention scary.

I hadn't built up the confidence to tell Sam or Dean yet. I had no idea how they'd react. On one hand, I knew they wouldn't hate me. But at the same time, I knew something would change between us. Especially with Dean.

How could he treat me the same after? Why would he? It's not like he had an ability. It's not like he knew how it felt. I knew things would change between us, I just didn't know how.

At that moment, the spoon in my coffee slowly began to move, twitching at first before it began to stir at a steady pace.

"So, strong negative emotions seem to get you going. Pain and fear." I nodded to the spoon as if it could understand me. "Kinda wish you were a little more positive."

The front door suddenly opened.

I quickly reached for my cup, grabbing the spoon with one hand as the other lifted the mug off the table as I began to stir the drink with my hand instead of my mind. "You're back early." I smiled nervously as Dean walked into the room. Sam was right behind him. "So, what'd you find out?"

"The victim, Nate Mulligan, was a lawyer. He had claw and bite marks all over him. They're calling it an animal attack." Sam noted as he moved headed for the beds, taking a seat, neither of them noticing the fact I was nervous. "But his heart was missing."

"This lawyer guy the first heart-free corpse in town?" Dean asked, putting the food in the fridge before moving to his bag, which he grabbed and took to his bed.

"First man." I answered, relaxing a little. "While you guys were away I did some research. Apparently, over the past year, several women have gone missing. Their bodies washed up later in the bay, too deteriorated to come up with anything solid."

Dean dropped on to his bed as he looked to me. "But no hearts?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

"Yeah, the coroner told me about them. They were all Hookers working at Hunter's Point. Cops are trying to keep things under wrap, but they're looking for a serial killer." Sam added before he turned to me. "So, how'd you find out."

"The internet... and I may have gone out for a few minutes to get some extra sugar for the room. Which is when I bumped into a cop."

Sam grinned. "So, he just told you all about the case?"

"Flirting is a powerful weapon, my friend." Giving him a wink, I stood from my chair and headed over to the couch that was across from their beds. "Anyway, all the murders line up with the week leading up to the full moon each month."

"Which is this week, right?" Dean asked.

"Hence the lawyer." Sam nodded.

Dean actually smiled. "Awesome."

Sam gave a light chuckle. "Dean, could you be a bigger geek about this?"

I looked to each of the brothers, confused. "Why is he so excited?" I asked, placing my cup of coffee on to the small table next to me.

"Are you kidding?" Dean turned to me. "What about a human by day, a freak animal killing machine by moonlight, don't you understand? Werewolves are badass." He told me, excitement shining in his eyes. "We haven't seen one since we were kids."

"Okay, sparky, and you know what? After we kill it, we can go to Disneyland." Sam joked.

Ignoring him, Dean pulled out a small box from his bag. "You know what the best part about it is? We already know how to bring these suckers down." Opening the box, he pulled out a silver bullet. "One of these bad boys right to the heart." He grinned, putting the bullet away. "So, what's our next move?"

Sam shrugged. "Talk to the girl who found the body."

SPOV

"I don't understand, I already gave my statement." Madison said as she led us into her apartment.

"Right, yeah, well, we just need to verify a few things." I explained.

Sighing, she gestured to the guy sitting on her couch. "This is my neighbour, Glen. Glen, this is detective-"

"Landis." Dean finished for her. "This here is Detective Dante." He gave me a pat on the back before gesturing to Lizzie. "And Detective Francis."

Glen nodded. "Well, guess I'll leave you to it."

As he stepped up to Madison, she offered him a kind smile. "Okay. Thanks for the casserole."

"Oh, how thoughtful." Dean watched as Glen left.

Ignoring Dean, Glen kept his attention on Madison. "Just call if you need anything." With that, he left.

Once he was gone, Madison started to talk again. "He's sweet. He came over to check on me." She told us before gesturing to the dining table. "Have- Have a seat."

The four of us sat down, as I got to business. "You must be pretty shaken up. You were Nate Mulligan's assistant?"

"For two years, yeah." Madison nodded.

"So you knew all about him?" Dean asked.

"Probably knew more about him than he did. Nate was... he was nice."

I felt like Madison was holding out on us. "But?"

"Nothing really, I-" she shrugged. "You get a few scotches in him and he'd hit on anyone in a five-mile radius. You know the type."

When Dean gave a light chuckle I looked over to see him grinning at Madison, looking her up and down. It was clear what he was thinking. "Yeah. I do, actually." I nodded.

"Quite well." Lizzie added. Dean turned to us, offended. But before he could say anything, Lizzie went on. "So, do you know if Nate had any enemies?"

Madison looked confused. "What do you mean? It sure looked like an animal attack."

"We're just covering all the bases." Dean assured her. "Anyone that might've had a beef with him? Former client, an ex?"

I noticed his last suggestion got a reaction out of Madison. "What?" I asked.

She shook her head. "This is embarrassing, but my ex-boyfriend, Kurt-"

Dean cut her off. "Kurt have a last name?"

"Mueller." she answered, and then continued. "After we broke up, he went kind of nuts. He's... well, he's kinda been stalking me. He got it in his head that something was going on between Nate and I. He showed up at my office."

That sounded like he might be our guy. "What happened?"

"Kurt got into it with Nate, threw a punch before security grabbed him. I was lucky to keep my job."

Aggressive. Definitely a warning sign. Even when werewolves were in their human forms they could be overly aggressive and dangerous. Short fuses. If this guy was as violent as Madison was suggesting then he didn't just sound like our guy, I was pretty sure he was our guy.

Dean must have been thinking the same as I was. "When was the last time you saw Kurt?" he asked.

"A few night ago. Actually, the night Nate died. We were all grabbing drinks at this bar and Kurt showed up."

"And?" Dean pressed.

"Nothing. It was like he was watching me. Then he was gone. Tell you the truth... he scares me."

DPOV

As we headed back to the car, I looked to Sam and Liz. "So, what do you think?"

"Stalker ex-boyfriend? He hates the boss." Sam noted. "And he was there that night."

"You think he's out dog-faced boy?" I asked.

Sam shrugged. "Well, it's a theory."

Liz opened the back door to the car. "We've gone on a lot less."

I rested my arm on the roof of the car. "You feeling good enough to pay Kurt a visit tonight?"

It was a little odd. After the case on Highway 41, Liz had miraculously healed. Her headaches still came but they were nowhere near as bad as they had been. She was eating normally, sleeping a little better. Her humour had come back too, she was flirting again- with me and other guys. It was like nothing had happened. Despite that, I was still worried about her. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. I was waiting for it to all come back and knock her down harder than it had before.

But she just gave me a cheeky smile. "Don't worry, Winchester. I can keep up." She winked before slipping into Baby.

EPOV

Dean picked the lock to Kurt's front door, opening it before he stepped into the apartment. Sam and I followed, closing the door behind us. We all split up to search the place for anything that might tell us if Kurt was our guy or not.

It was nice to be back to normal. Being able to stand without feeling like I was going to collapse. Not having to be worried about getting into a fight, but I was strong enough to hold my own. Being stuck at Bobby's, or in hotel rooms, it had been a killer. Sure, I'd gone on a few cases, but the guys hadn't wanted me to do much more than some research, and even then, it was minimal.

Things were back to normal now. We went to bars, and I could pick up and leave with anyone I wanted, knowing Sam and Dean didn't like it but they couldn't stop me. I was back on the couch too- which I honestly didn't mind. I felt guilty taking a bed from one of the guys. I was eating all the foods I loved, I was doing all the things I loved- the main one being hunting.

If I'd still been sick, there was no way the guys would let me go with them to a potential werewolf's apartment in the middle of the night when the werewolf could actually be a werewolf.

"Anything?" Sam asked.

I sighed, shaking my head. "I got nothing."

"Nothing but leftovers and a six pack." Dean answered, closing the fridge door.

"Check the freezer." Sam suggested. "Maybe there's some human hearts behind the Haagen-Dazs or something." He smirked, clearly joking. But Dean actually went to check anyway.

As he reached for the freezer door, a noise outside caught our attention. I pulled my gun out from the back of my pants as Dean and I headed for the back door. Dean slid it open and stepped out, looking around.

"Anything?" I asked.

He shook his head as he went to turn to me, only to stop. "Hold on..." Stepping closer to the edge of the balcony, he looked the wall of the building next to the balcony. "Come here."

Stepping out to join him, I looked to where he was pointing. Along the wall were long claw marks that ran all the way down. "So... are we thinking the neighbourhood cat did that, or a werewolf?"

Dean and I had gone back inside to keep looking around. We'd been at it for less than ten minutes before we heard a gunshot. The three of us were out of the apartment in an instant, running in the direction of the sound.

When we'd left the building and entered the alley way next to it, it hadn't taken long before we'd found a body of a police officer behind a dumpster.

Sam pulled out his phone. "I'll call 911."

As he did that, Dean moved the dumpster out of the way so he could crouch down by the body. Looking at it, there was no doubt he'd been killed by a werewolf. He heart was still in place, but there was claw marks all over him.

"I'd say Kurt's looking more and more like our Cujo." Dean noted.

Sam stepped back over to us, shifting on the spot nervously. "If he's out here, we better check on Madison."

I was not an idiot. She was a good-looking girl, and the brothers were both single. I knew they liked her. Or they were at least attracted to her. Honestly, I didn't have a problem with it. But if their attraction towards the woman messed with the case in anyway, then I would have a problem.

DPOV

Sam raised his hand and knocked on Madison's door before taking a step back to stand with Liz and I as we waited. A moment later a door opened, but it was the one behind us.

"What's going on?" Glen asked.

"Police business, Glen." Was all I was going to give him. This guy clearly liked Madison, and I was not going to let that get in the way of our investigation.

Madison's door opened then. She stood in the door way, dressed in her pyjamas, looking at Liz, Sam and I. "What is it?"

"Well, maybe we should talk privately?" Sam suggested, looking over at Glen.

"Yeah, of course." Madison nodded as she took a step to the side. "Please, come in." We all walked into her apartment before she closed the door and started for the kitchen. "I was just making some coffee, do you want some."

I offered her a smile. "I'd love a cup."

Liz just rolled her eyes before giving Madison a nod. "We'd all like some, thanks."

"Sure." Madison reached for some mugs before she began to pour the coffee into them.

"Has Kurt been here?" Sam asked.

"Not exactly."

That didn't really answer his question. In fact, it just made me ask my own, "What exactly does 'not exactly mean?"

"Well, he was outside last night. Just looking. Just looking at me." She told us, causing Sam and I to share a look as she handed Liz a mug. Noticing the look, she frowned. "Has he done something?"

Sam shrugged as she handed him a cup. "We're not really sure."

"It's probably nothing." I assured her. "But we just don't wanna take any chances. In fact, one of us should probably stay here with you, just in case he stops by. Where does he work?"

"He owns a body shop." She answered, giving me my mug.

"You mind grabbing that address for us?" I asked.

She nodded and walked out to go get it. Once she was gone, Sam turned to me. "All right. You and Lizzie go, I'll stay."

"Forget that. You go after the creepy ex. I'm gonna hang here with the hot chick." I grinned.

"Dude, why do you always get to hang with the girls?"

"Because I'm older." Was all I said before taking a drink from my coffee.

"No. Screw that." He took my mug, placing both his and mine onto the bench. "We're gonna settle this the old-fashioned way." Raising his hands, he got ready to play paper-scissors-rock.

Liz rolled her eyes. "How mature."

Shrugging, I lifted my own hands. At the same time we taped our fist into our other palm three times, on the third one we chose our 'weapon'. I picked scissors, he picked rock.

"Dean, always with the scissors." He looked so smug.

But I wasn't willing to give up so easily. "Shut up. Shut up. Two out of three."

Sighing, he raised his hands once more before we played again, only to get the same results.

"God!" I groaned.

He grinned. "Bundle up out there, all right?"

Liz actually laughed as she walked out of the kitchen, shaking her head.

SPOV

I sat at Madison's dining table, waiting for Dean and Lizzie to come back. As much as I had wanted to stay because I liked Madison, I wasn't entirely sure how I was supposed to make a move.

She walked over, placing some mail on the table. "Do you wanna sit on the couch?"

"No. No, no, I'm okay."

"It's more comfortable."

"I'm fine." I insisted.

"Okay." She shrugged before walking off. A moment later she came back, dumping a basket of laundry on to the table. All of the laundry happened to be her underwear.

"You know what?" I think I will sit on that couch." I nodded, getting up and moving over to the living room. The moment I sat, my phone began to ring.

"Let me guess. You're sitting on her couch like a stiff, trying to think of something to say."

Ignoring Dean, I concentrated on the case. "Did you find Kurt?"

"He hasn't been at work all week. But because I'm good, and I mean really, really good, I got a line on where he might be." He answered before I heard the sound of the Impala door close. "What she wearing?"

"Bye, Dean." With that, I hung up.

EPOV

So, Dean had found out where Kurt was... turns out it was a strip club.

Parked out the front, Dean looked at me as I watched the building. "You can stay in the car if you want."

"Ha! And let you go in there and get distracted?" I shook my head, opening the car door. "No. I'm coming."

He grinned. "Fine by me. Maybe you can show these girls a thing or two?"

I rolled my eyes, a grin of my own forming. "Keep dreaming, Winchester?"

Stepping up to me, he wrapped his arm around my waist as he whispered in my ear. "I'm about to enter a strip joint with the hottest chick in the city. My dreams are pretty much becoming a reality."

I laughed lightly at him, shaking my head as we continued for the front door of the club. With a nod to the bouncer, he let us walk right in with no problem. Once we stepped inside we were surrounded by pink and purple neon lights, excited men, women dressed in skimpy outfits and some kind of music I honestly had no care for.

Dean's face lit up. "Now this is what I'm talking about."

"Whatever." Shaking my head I gestured to the bar. "I'm getting a drink."

"Yeah, yeah." He nodded, not even looking at me.

Sighing, I walked off, heading over to the bar, knowing Dean's attention was going to be on nothing but the dancers.

SPOV

"Wait, so Kendall married Ethan's father just to get back at him?" I asked as Madison turned the TV off. We'd just spent the last hour watching some drama show, and I surprisingly found it interesting.

"Yep." She gave a short nod. "And now she's set to inherit all the casinos that were supposed to go to Ethan."

"What a bitch."

She laughed. "Admit it, you're hooked."

"No, no, no. I- I wouldn't say I'm hooked." I insisted as I leaned back in the couch. "You know... can I ask you a question? It's... it's a little personal."

"You've seen my entire underwear collection. Go ahead."

"Okay. Um, well, you're... you're clearly smart. I mean, you house is full of great books, you know, and you're independent."

"Uh-huh." She nodded.

"What were you doing with Kurt?"

She thought about it for a moment before answering. "I don't know. I mean, it's not like he introduced himself like, 'Hi, I'm possessive, controlling, and I punch people. Wanna be my girlfriend?'." She laughed.

I nodded, chuckling a little myself. "Yeah, well, I guess we all make mistakes."

"Yeah, well, mine's wanted by the police." She noted. "You wanna know why I stayed with him? Really? I was too insecure to leave."

"I find that hard to believe. I mean, you don't really seem like the type."

"Yeah, well, some stuff happened. My life changed. I changed for the better, I think."

"What happened?"

"Well, for one thing, I got mugged."

"And that's supposed to be a good thing?"

She laughed. "I know. It sounds strange. And don't get me wrong, it rattled me, but then it hit me... I could keep feeling sorry for myself or I could take control of my life. I chose the latter. First thing I did was tell Kurt he had to go."

"Smart move."

"Apparently. Everything else just opened up, blossomed. It's all been wonderful, really." When I just nodded, she shrugged. "What? Doesn't everybody think being a victim of violence is the best thing that ever happened to them?"

"Yeah, not so much." I couldn't wipe the smile off my face as I looked over at her. "You're, unusual."

"Unusual like, unusual?" she lifted her hand to point at her head to ask if I thought she was crazy.

"No. No, no. Unusual like... impressive."

"You think so?"

It was at that moment my phone began to ring. "Sorry." reaching into my pocket, I answered the phone. "Hey."

"We found him." It was Lizzie.

"Good. Don't take your eyes off him."

"I won't. Not too sure about your brother." She sounded both annoyed and amused. Dean seemed to make her feel like that quite often. "Just calling to let you know. It's too loud in here to talk so I'm gonna go."

"Yeah, all right. Just be careful."

"Always, Sammy." I could hear the smile in her voice before she hung up.

EPOV

We were standing in the ally way outside of Kurt's apartment, I leaned against the wall next to Dean. "You seemed to have a lot of fun at the club tonight."

He grinned. "I don't know. Out of the two of us, you were getting more attention"

"What can I say? The ladies love me." I winked at him.

He chuckled, about to say something. But the sound of glass smashing had us both look up to Kurt's window, which was now broken and the lights were off.

"What the-"

Before Dean could finish, I was already running for the building.

Gun out, I kicked Kurt's front door open, knowing Dean was only a couple of steps behind me. Hurrying into the apartment, I quickly but carefully looked into every room as I made my way further and further inside. When I reached the dining room I came to a stop.

Kurt was lying on the ground, dead, someone kneeling over him.

As they turned I realised two things. One, it was the werewolf. Two, it was Madison. With that shocking news, I'd been too distracted to react as she lunged, growling, claws reaching for me.

"Liz!" Dean pushed me out of the way, causing Madison to throw him instead.

He flew through the air and hit his head as he collided with the wall. In a matter of moment he blacked out. Once he passed out Madison turned back to me.

I reached into my boot and pulled out my knife. I didn't care where I got her, I just knew I had to do some kind of damage.

As she lunged for me I swung my arm out, blade aimed at her. It sliced her arm, causing her to yell out in pain. She back handed me, pushing my head back into the coffee table. The force was so strong that in a matter of moments I fell unconscious just like Dean. The last thing I saw was Madison jump out the window.

SPOV

As I stood in the kitchen having a drink of water my phone began to ring. Pulling it from my pocket I looked to the caller ID before answering. "Dean, you guys okay?"

"We are, now that we're conscious. The werewolf knocked us out." He explained. "Sam, it's Madison."

"What?" That couldn't be right. Turning, I started for her bedroom.

"Yeah, awesome job of keeping an eye on her."

I looked into her room, seeing her in bed. "Dean, I've been here the whole time. She's in bed, asleep."

"Well, she wasn't an hour ago. Check her right arm below her elbow. Liz nicked her with a silver knife."

As I hung up Madison rolled over and woke up, smiling at me. "Morning." She sat up, holding the sheets to her. My eyes landed on the cut on her arm. Dean was right. She looked down at herself. "Where are my pyjamas?" Instead of answering I walked out of the room. "Sam? What's going on?" She followed me. "Where are you going?"

Reaching her front door, I locked it as I turned back to her. "I'm not going anywhere. And neither are you."

Bamby

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