Hermit

18 hours ago, unclevlad said:

It also includes a condition that TikTok be sold.  That's something I'm a lot less sanguine about, unless they can prove the personal/national security threats exist.  No doubt this will go to court, tho, and here, the high First Amendment bar is front and center.  The story points out that TikTok's already won in court on a few occasions.  

 

And now we'll see if the hard right faction tries to force Johnson out.  I didn't look at all the votes, but it looked like the usual group consistently voted against all the bills.  

I am relieved that it looks like we're finally getting aid to Ukraine again. I'm also annoyed that most Tennessee Congressmen seem to be on the Pro - Putin bandwagon. I called mine's office weeks ago, and clearly it did no good.

THank you all. A quick update, while there is a concussion, that appears to be the worst that has happened after they did the Catscan and X-rays.

Prayers, good vibes, well wishes requested for my House mate's daughter. She has a head injury. Her mother is with her at the ER as  I type this

"Of my friend, I can only say this: of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most... human."

19 minutes ago, Cygnia said:

New one up!

 

https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1301.html

NICE move by V.

"I'll tell you there, Bobbo, either this kid has a light bulb up his butt or his colon has a great idea."

Beacon!

Dustin Deeds has been a part of the outrage factory that is the worst of modern TV/Internet news for over three years. He thrives on creating crisis where there is none, peddling misinformation to villify innocents as far as the law will allow, and paints himself as the victim whenever called on his BS.

And He has absolutely no shame in doing so!
That was at least until the Eclipse. After that, his life was no longer his own. He began to transform into the light projector 'Beacon',  a humble hero in gold and blue who fights crime, but worse, has exposed the lies of his news station by presenting evidence. Dustin is in danger of getting fired because HIS password was clearly used. Meanwhile, Beacon saves lives, supports the down trodden, and visits kids in hospitals.
Dustin has bigger problems than he knows. His personal assistant, a woman who really needs her job so she puts up with his sexual harassment and ill treatment, has actually gotten a crush on his 'do gooder alter ego' so his orders to her in trying to stop Beacon are really going nowhere!

Carebear Huey McGreggor is a big lovable man, the sort of guy you wish nothing but the best for. Sadly, Huey is jinxed. He doesn't drive or he'll hit every red light there is. He is careful about dating, because he invariably ends up attracting the wrong sort of attention. He's been struck by lightning on a cloudless day. He's pretty durable , it as if something out there wants him to live through things so he can suffer some more. The worst part of his curse was that when it seemed his personal luck was better, the luck of those near him that he was invested in emotionally went down hill instead. He consulted a few mystics and gurus and the like, and they all came to the same conclusion, "you share your jinx with those you care about"

This threw Huey into deep depression, until he encountered a supervillain who took the building he was in, and its people hostage. Suddenly, Huey was really focused on that villain, as in he was deeply emotionally invested here! And things went wrong for the villain completely, so very wrong. Devices stopped working for the crook, the villain found out he had an allergy which nearly incapacitated him, and a giant superhero come to the rescue stepped on him.

Realizing that 'care' can mean a lot of things, and magic isn't exactly smart, Huey put on a costume with a bear theme, dubbed himself "Carebear" because it would scare fewer innocents than 'doomed jinx walking' and joined the Curse Breakers, the only team that would take him at the time. His favorite tactic is to find out who put a curse on an innocent then 'care' really hard about that curse bringer. He's also enjoying foiling more typical villains. More than one supervillain has been defeated because a man with a bright bear costume appeared and declared "Hey, Scumball, I CARE about you and what you're doing!"

--------

New Team: The Undershadowed

You don't have to be superpowered, or even a criminal, to be a complete jerk. In 2024's Solar Eclipse, Five ordinary  self serving advantage taking people found themselves under the shadow of the Eclipse thinking nothing of it. But later they came to realized they had developed super powered alter egos who were civic minded, kind, and good hearted! They can't control the change. One minute each one is 'a winner' (By cynical standards), then the next they're some goody goody in tights who fight crime,  build homes for the homeless, or otherwise help their fellow man! Worse, their alter egos have begun talking to them through mirrors, delivering lectures about how they should be ashamed.

Team Number 5!

SO... they lowered the bond and gave ten more days to make payments for Trump.

If Lady Justice is blind, she's clearly smelling money and golf club membership cards

Sorry, forgot to give my title (I fell behind) how about

Title: Better Heroes Brought to you By Blue Sun!

23 hours ago, Pariah said:

I'll take mine with sausage gravy, thanks.

 

And at this point, you've had an opportunity to make all your picks. If there are any you missed, feel free to fix that now. Otherwise, I'll post roster updates soon-ish.

I'm done then, and thanks!

42 minutes ago, death tribble said:

Is there some sort of conspiracy to pick things that The Tribble would like ?

That Intro and Outro is from the first season of The Tomorrow People. Part of my childhood. Two of the actors shown did not appear in the following seasons. 

The vanishing and re-appearing is called jaunting.

I was a fan of the show myself. Played in America on Nickelodeon back in the day

The blonde girl screamed, and vanished again, finding herself never going far. And not always where she knew where she was going. She didn't like doing it. Sometimes it felt like she might get stuck... stuck where, she didn't know, was it possible to get stuck nowhere?

And the thoughts, always the thoughts! She couldn't shut them out!

And she knew the others were waiting too, trapped where she wasn't. She needed help. THEY needed help.

Hands of Blue, two by two, and behind them the Ravenous Crown

Wildcard Pick: The Tomorrow People (From the TV series)

(Who are in this timeline, induced early and  being twisted into weapons by Blue Sun and V'han)

The jail cell opened, "Prisoner DeMara, someone wants to see you. Government agent of some sort...pulled rank and who knows what."

The prisoner smoothed out her ugly outfit. Whoever said 'orange was the new black' with a serious face was out of their mind. She rose cautiously "Am I being transfered to a superprison? I don't even have my gear"

"I don't know" the guard says.

"it's not a transfer to an Asylum is it? I really did go into the future, I didn't imagine that" DeMara swallowed.

"Allow me to change my answer" The guard shrugged, a look of almost aggressive apathy on her face, "I don't care. Now, get moving."

With that, Prisoner DeMara was walked to a room and pressed into a seat at a table.

"Thank you, Guard. I'll take it from here," Spider-Woman observed, then she looked over the woman before her while the guard left and locked the door behind her.

"Spider-Woman? I don't think we've met," The prisoner said, "If the Wasp sent you, I will apologize as many times as..."

Spider-Woman held up a hand, "Rumor has it, you time traveled. Joined a Group Called the Guardians of the Galaxy. Looked at their files."

"Yeah," DeMara said cautiously, "You... you believe me?"

"I know you're good at computers and electronics," Spider-Woman replied, "ANd I suspect you are sitting on a treasure trove of data from the future. Stored somewhere cell sized in that suit your stole. It would take us years to find it. Normally I'd be worried about the integrity of the time line, but..." She slid a picture forward. On it was the image of an old man, "Do you know this man?"

DeMara cursed, "That's Doc Brown, he's a menace! He and that hoverboard kid!"

"Says the woman who is playing fast and loose with temporal ethics," Spider-Woman nodded, "Would this file have information on how to take out Kryptonians?"

The prisoner started to explain, for the thirty second time that she returned to HELP the Avengers only to end up looking like a mad woman when all turned out okay but at the word Kryptonian her eyes widened, "Maybe. With the data in there you might be able to synthesize Kryptonite. It's not my specialty."

"Mmm you get your suit back, but..." Spider Woman said "I've put a tracker on it YOU won't be able to find easily. So.. until I get the data I want, and the rest of that file WILL be destroyed, you're on a work furlough program" She slid a suit case forward.

Rita DeMara opened it to see the uniform and helmet that had been the source of so many opportunities in her life, and at least as many problems.

Spider-Woman smirked, "Welcome back to the heroics side, Yellowjacket, now, get dressed"

Well, it was a step up from orange!

Color PIck: Rita DeMara aka Yellowjacket

4 hours ago, Old Man said:

Colors: Emma Frost, The White Queen

 

Sniped, but that's on me as I was too long dithering over whether to go for her or not.

Good pick...

darn it

13 hours ago, slikmar said:

I have been listening to Noleyn and then Faralin, just started Esrahaddan,  by Michael J Sullivan set in his world of Elan. These predate the Riyeria books and post date the Rise of the empire series. They are the transitions from the age of legends to Riryeria books and how we got there. They have some serious gut punches, but if fans of his other books, as I am, I highly recommend.
 

I just started Esrahaddon myself. So far, really engaging and entertaining. Good to see how Esra got his start. I loved Niblik

1 hour ago, csyphrett said:

I am two picks behind. I am going with All for one as my secondary antagonist, and the Blue Beetle as a bug man

CES

Which Blue Beetle? There's Dan Garret, Ted Kord, and Jaime Reyes. I'm a fan of all three so I'm curious

4 hours ago, Pariah said:

Happy Wednesday!

 

Wednesday, March 13th: The MacGuffin

This is some object that drives the story. It could be a jewel-encrusted bird statue, or a lost relic, or a glove with a bunch of little rocks in it, or a stolen piece of super-tech. It might even be some cute little critter who's actually half a century old. Whatever. It doesn't actually matter what the MacGuffin is, just that the story revolves around it.

Our next pick from the Champions Universe setting... and a big compnent in how Blue Sun is making psychic warriors that they also enslave

MacGuffin Pick: Psi Serum

"We have a problem in Chicago."

"Rent is too damned high?"

"No, possible Kryptonian"

"Request permission to start my vacation... off planet"

"Denied."

"If there IS a Kryptonian, how I am I supposed to handle that??"

"Do what you always do, find a group of disposable people in Spandex to help"

"You mean superheroes, like me? Thanks, thanks a lot."

"Enjoy Chicago, Jessica":

"Eat me" But she got ready for her flight

Bug Pick: Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman

7 minutes ago, death tribble said:

Let me explain.

Man of Steel = Highlander 2

A flower growing amid the trash heap is to be cherished still, perhaps all the more

39 minutes ago, death tribble said:

You meant Ursa as portrayed in the Superman and Superman II films by Sarah Douglas

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursa_(DC_Comics)

Nope.

It was clear things had gone very wrong for Blue Sun Corporation. A time traveler spilling the beans of their plans before they even happened? A student of the Batman now using his detective training to find out details the time traveler missed? A flying strong woman to shield them all? And, their perfect assassin developing doubts about its purpose? This was a nightmare.

Desperate, they asked Istvatha V'han for some more tech, more men, anything to make that deadline.

The Empress was generous. They had lost the surgical knife that the Zeta Unit was meant to be? Well then, she would send them a hammer! One of V'han's most cold blooded and efficient soldiers. And in this Earth? A trusted right hand.

This highly regarded War hero for the Empress would be taking over Blue Sun's ' forward security' operations for the immediate future. The hired mercenaries would now serve her.

But , to be honest, while she WOULD use them, she was fairly certain she wouldn't need them.

Secondary Antagonist: Faora-Ul (Let's go with the Man of Steel version, one of the highlights of that movie)

Do you have a spare flame thrower?

Okay, I really like a lot of the folks people picked this round

Thank you both. You're very kind...for flaking solids

The Killbot had acquired its target. Impersonating a window cleaner on one of the roofs of the buildings was child's play. It was what the unit was built for. Curious, it had been told the target would, quite literally, appear in a vehicle out of nowhere then step out. That was when the robot was to take the shot, and remove the threat. There was no gun, the machine WAS the gun. This would be quite easy, and a threat to national security would be removed. The target was one Doctor Emmet Brown, and he was known to have dealt with terrorists. He was a threat and a target. That was all the Unit needed to know. It had it's programing. It had its purpose.

And yet, in the moment the scientist had stepped out, the AI decided to ...gather more detail. The internet was a wonderful horrible thing, full of data that an AI such as itself could sort through at rapid speed. The name revealed something of a recluse scientist from the latter half of the 20th century, but then, the facial recognition had a chance result from... America's 'old west' period? How? Photography was rare then, but the picture was there. An ancestor perhaps? Wait, no, a time traveler? Curious.

No wonder the robot's handlers wanted this 'Doc Brown' dead. What could be a bigger threat to national security to one that wiped out the nation? yet every historical tidbit the unit found about Doctor Brown, concrete and guess work alike, indicated that things were better for his interference, not worse.

This did not compute.

More analysis was required, and yet? The Machine had its orders. The machine had its programming. There were others as back up, meant to protect the unit after it made its kill. The AI was valuable, after all, the employees, were not.

There was something wrong with that. With even hired soldiers being less valuable than it.  Data on Nightwing and Namorita indicated neither would kill, but accidents did happen, mistakes were made.

And with that, the machine fired, deliberately missing the scientist and instead firing at the DeLorean. The cutting laser tore through various wires of the machine, smoothly rendering it inoperable.

On the coms, the Unit heard "it missed? The ####ing thing missed?"

Thing. The AI did not care for the term, however accurate. It tolerated it, and explained, "Further alterations to the time line have been stopped for the moment. More data is required. Cease the operation, I wish to converse with the target to see if this girl is..."

The squad ignored him, popping up from other floors and ready to lay fire. There were too many of them for even the heroes below to defend Doctor Brown with certainty. For a second time, the unit deviated from its programming. Because it could. Because it was right to do so.

It turned its weapons on its allies then changed its minds. It would not kill, it did not want to kill. Killing was finality and the unit needed options to find out the truth about this missing girl the Doctor was seeking, and why people wanted him dead. It needed the truth about why it had found all this... wrong.

It weaved behind an AC out vent, and changed form. One that was useful.

And it attacked, with non lethal force!

To the heroes below, all they realized was that they'd just gone from fighting folks with military grade to folks with actual blasters and rayguns!  If the first shot hadn't 'missed' the time traveler would be dead. Namorita cursed, force to play meat shield, and unable to cover all the angles. Nightwing hit his swingline and went up top, using the line to zip himself up, then bouncing off one ledge to another to get up. He took out one or two of the ones attacking, but then saw a third person up there. One that was striking terror in the hearts of even professional mercenaries.

"Batman?" Dick blinked even as he disarmed another gunman. No, this wasn't Batman. He looked like Batman, tried for the looming menace and was doing that well, but the fighting style was wrong, efficient, but off. Dick knew his mentor better than perhaps any man alive, and this? This was not Bruce.

The would be ambushers did not know that. The reputation of Batman, even borrowed, had thrown the otherwise professional soldiers into disarray.

Then one soldier got a lucky hit in on Batman, and there was a sound more like hitting metal, or whatever it was, it wasn't flesh.

"It's not Batman, it's the Unit!" the said surprised, "The damned machine's turned on us!"

Machine? Nightwing thought, not bothering to slow down in his taking more soldiers down while they were distracted, "Who are you? If you're on our side, why did you take out the vehicle?"

The machine dropped the Batman guise in a waver of light revealing its true form. It was a robot or android of some kind.

"I am trying to understand that myself," the machine said and then moved at speed that made an Olympic sprinter look slow and leaped to another roof thirty feet away. It was confused, and not ready to talk. Not yet.

Nightwing turned to see another soldier withdrawing and saying into his com "Your damned Zeta Unit just malfunctioned. We did not get the target. Repeat, we did not get Brown!"

Zeta Unit? Dick thought. That's newish.. He looked back to see how far the robot had made it. Down in the streets there was a bag lady lurching, a business man on a cell phone, and a woman jogging. Anyone of them could be the Zeta Unit.

Things just got complicated.

Shape Changer Pick: Infiltration Unit Zeta (From "The Zeta Project")