Tom BITD

"You wish me to join?" There's a slight upturn of upturn of her lips--not enough to be a smile, too little to be a smirk. "You are aware that I do not tread the same path as yours....that many times, our paths are in opposition?" The powerful brunette nodded. "We both know you have frequently tread our path of righteousness, just not as often as we'd like. You've helped others attain their full potential, protected places that needed help, and aided the just." "My reasons for doing these things were my own." "We are both warriors, woman. We know that the best warrior has her code of honor." "And you think this code will compel me to aid you?" The brunette nodded again. "This is an opportunity--" "For you. What makes you think I will not destroy your little club from within?" "Because you would not succeed." "And you would stop me?" "I would try. And I promise you, as a warrior of Apokalips, you would not be unbloodied after we are done." Barda sat opposite the woman as she poured them both tea, wondering what was going on behind that serene face. "Give us the chance. I promise if you join us, you will see the benefits of working with the League. Given time, the blood that stains your hands will be cleansed." "And yet I have never given indication that I wished that blood cleansed." The tall, striking Asian woman took a sip of her tea. The upturn of her lips...changed a bit. A strange, musical sound came from her throat, and Barda realized something... The woman Batman had called the deadliest woman on Earth was laughing. "Do not try to persuade me any further. I consent. Not because you appeal to my honor...but because it amuses me." 　 　 (Yes, this may very well be my most contraversial choice...)

Hey, if it wasn't for James trying to snatch every mage in the DCU, you might actually have snatched him away from me...on my 'order of choosing' he was scheduled dead last. When I saw the writing on the wall, I bumped him ahead of everyone else to make sure he was part of my team. So what I'm saying is, at its core, Blame James...

The tall elegant man in the dressing gown, his red hair bisected by a dramatic streak of white, contemplated one of the many artifacts in his study. "You are aware that I can only control....him as long as I keep him inside of me. The whole point of my staying out of the public eye is to keep him docile." The black man leaned against the doorway, arms crossed. "But he's getting restless Jason, isn't he?" "He's restless all the time," Jason Blood replied. "But I find the discipline in not calling on him a source of strength." "But I'm willing to bet that if you let him out once in a while," the visitor said, "he'd be more docile more often." "Even if I admit that that is a possibility, how can you get him to agree to let me back out." The visitor smiled. "I have my methods." Jason Blood smirked. "You are not the first one to claim a way to tame him." "I'll make you a deal," the visitor said, unfolding his arm and stepping to Blood. "Let me talk directly to him. I bet that I can get him to agree to this arrangement." Blood raised an eyebrow. "This could be very dangerous." "This project is definitely dangerous. I might as well start playing with fire now." Jason Blood stared at the visitor for a long time. He took a deep breath. "Very well. Let it be on your head." The psychic detective stepped away from the visitor. He stared a little more, then closed his eyes. A voice emerged from his throat, one that changed by the second until it became a hideous, bestial whisper. "Change, Change O Form Of Man! Release the might from fleshy mire! Boil the blood in heart of fire! Gone, Gone The Form Of Man.... Arise The Demon-- Etrigan!

I have to move up one of my picks lest James snatch it up and I'm stuck with someone like The Yellow Peri in that slot....

Donna Troy was originally on my list, taking the position that I ultimately gave to Barbara... And the choice of Cassandra Cain is pretty damn interesting given my next pick....heh....

What sort of monstrosity are you putting together, Chris?

Ahhhh....one of my original short-listers who got replaced by one I knew was much, much riskier but much more in keeping with the theme of my team (and, incidentally, also has a connection with Vic Sage...chuckles)

Well, didn't see that one coming...but then, given I have two choices on my preferred list that are way, waaaaaay off the grid...well, something about glass houses and stones comes to mind..

I've been wavering between two team names, but it is pretty much set.

She was not my first choice--but as the concept for my team crystalized beyond 'I'm gon' draft alla my favorites, yessum!' I realized she fit a whoooole lot better in the team than the first Tough Female I Wanted To Draft (anyone who knows me will know which brunette was going to be our mysterious leader's enforcer/Getter of his back). The same happened for people originally on my short list..... The others, however...heh....

　 The woman who stood behind his defined 'statuesque.' Her arms were crossed over her chest, and there was no mistaking the power within her muscles. Her raven tresses framed the kind of face that would break hearts if it wasn't for the perpetually sour look. She watched with narrowed eyes as he called up his candidates. Finally, she said with a hint of contempt, "What a sorry rabble you seek to bring into your circle." "They're not meant to be media friendly," he replied. He turned to face her. "We're building a gun here. These men and women are going to be the weapon that puts paid to problems the main team can't handle." "Can't...or won't?" "Sometimes one. Sometimes the other. Sometimes a little of both," he answered. "And I'm hoping we can somehow pull them away from the darkness they threaten to fall into and make them the people they could be." "Some of them have already fallen far into that darkness." "Yes. But their behaviors show me they're willing to go into the light." There was a glimmer of recognition in the woman's eyes. She seemed to visibly relax. "I understand your strategem. You want me to join so I can serve as an example of someone who has conquered the evil inside her and rose above it." "No." His fingers scrabbled at the keyboard as he closed down the dossier on each candidate. "I don't need a role model; these people are adults and won't respond to that. What I need is a drill sargent, an enforcer, someone who will be able to direct this group in the field, but be able to slap them down if they get out of line. Someone with a keen military mind. And if she understands what it's like to start out in a dark place and rise above it, so much the better." When he faced her again, he was smiling vaguely. "I'm confident Gardner will be a team player. He and I have a history going back to our football days...but the others might be a challenge." It was the woman's turn to smile, one that sent a chill down his spine. "Challenges? After running herd on Darksied's forces, this will be child's play. I will join you on this adventure. Let Scott keep the home for a while." (Now to hope and pray that my next two choices don't get swiped...)

Rather than give you a reasoned explanation for my pick, let me let him tell you... "You don't fool me. You can give me all the bullcrap in the galaxy about there being a tradition of a Green Lantern serving in the League, about this being a chance for me to 'redeem' myself--never mind that I ain't never, ever did anything I couldn't back up, about how being a part of the team allows me to better police the sector. You want me on your little rinky-dink League again because you think you can 'control' me. Screw that. The Guardians don't call me 'The Fist of The Lanterns' for nothing, you know. The real reason I'm going to accept your invitation is simple, pal. Every team needs somebody to do their dirty work. Every team needs some regular joe who will march in and do the thing that's right, even if it's not 'moral' or 'clean.' You lugnuts need me because I'm going to hit what needs to be hit, say what needs to be said, and stand my ground no matter what stands in my way. I'm gonna take all the stuff you get your panties in a twist over and do it so you don't have to. There's one other thing I'm going to do. I'm going to have your back. You can call me an asshole behind my back. Because you're right. I am an asshole. I'm just your kind of asshole. Count Guy Gardner in." (And incidentally, I did not include Dex-Starr because, well, he's a cat...but I would like to make him official mascot of my team....)

All I can say, Preston...is there's someone on my list of recruits who'd find the idea of Vic Sage being accepted into the League...highly amusing.

So we're talking Nightwing Dick, right?

I do hope, however, that you get your artist to give Tim a more appropriate costume and not make him look like he's cosplaying as Dr. Mid-Nite....

I'm in....and I already suspect that my first three choices will not be gone when it's my turn....

I really, really wish someone had told me this was going on....I would have been so into it (and I would have drafted Gambit, so there!) Sign me up for the next round, boyos....

For me, the beginning of The Long, Slow, Death March was when, somewhere in the realm of five, six years ago, Shamus decided to try and compete directly with the 'Men's Magazine Lite' publications like MAXIM and STUFF, only adding a geek slant. Since the Men's Magazine was already suffering....well, it was the first of many mistakes that resulted in Shamus laying off all his regular employees, becoming a weird, Ahab-like figure who would buy up conventions to tilt at already-established conventions and, well, apparently go totally nuts. Given how Shamus apparently treated people when WIZARD was at the peak of its power, refusing to write stories on titles unless the publishers bought ad space among other mistreatment, it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

Well, let's be honest...for the longest time it was just Shamus alone in his building. He had laid off all the regular employees years ago....

I couldn't even get past that excremental first issue...

I am really looking forward to hearing this one--not only because Sarah Jane was one of my favorite companions (and my first companion crush), but because the Sontarans remain my favorite monsters in the series... Nothing says creepy quite like tongue-licking evil Humpty-dumpties...

In the next episode of BITD, someone asks us what are our favorite storylines of the last few years--the only storyline I can think of to recommend is 'Rue Britiannia' from PHONOGRAM, and then proceed to praise this series as a whole... It's a shame if no one tries to adapt this to a BBC television series.

I used to watch Law and Order SVU because I am a major, major Richard Belzer fan....but I tired after a season or two of the way the scripts kept parading out all these smutty, salacious crimes, then spent an hour wagging their fingers in our faces for being interested in them. I know Wolf wants that 21st Season so that L&O can be the longest running dramatic television show in history--a distinction now held by the old westernGunsmoke. But you would think he should be happy that the franchise has become a literal worldwide phenomena (Law And Order London, featuring Freema Ageyman! Law and Order Moscow, for God's sake!)....

See, for me she doesn't work for me as eye candy because she's thoroughly interchangable with fifteen other brunette anorexics....I see nothing at all 'exotic' with her, whereas with Ms. Johanssen I do see a little something in her that sets her apart (oddly enough, especially in the eyes)...and unlike Ms. Fox, Scarlett has something of a sloe-gin-like personality.

The fact that she's thoroughly generic looking, so anorexic it should be a Federal Act to make her eat a cheeseburger, and she has a horrific personality (and yes, I count personality as part of what makes a woman attractive)? Megan Fox is a plasticized, overtly sculpted version of what Hollywood thinks You Should Find HawtHawtHawt, and her very presence on my movie screen pisses me off--not the least because it causes women throughout the country to feel bad about their bodies and their face because it isn't exactly like this bland, blank-eyed, flat-voiced null-space of a woman. But if how Hollywood treats its It Girls in the past is any indication, Megan Fox will disappear into obscurity within the next five years, and will retreat into being the 'name star' on an upcoming Caucasin Wankery Network series three or four years after that...if the Causcasin Wankery Network still exists by then.