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From the Shooting with Kate
#13 on explore at May 28th 2008
Thank you all so much!!!
It's featured in the May Issue 2009 in Photography Monthly
www.flickr.com/photos/kiarablack/3493269809/
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magazine halloween
NEW: Mixmaster Challenge #11 -
➤ Your image must depict a fictitious Halloween magazine cover. (The magazine's subject/title can be anything, but it must be the Halloween issue.)
➤ Your image must include at least one text element (preferably more) and ...
➤ at least one character, being or critter, and ...
➤ at least one high-contrast element such as a custom emoji, silhouette or clip-art (besides text elements) but ...
➤ NO RED (blood red - BAD, pumpkin orange - GOOD, unambiguous pink - GOOD).
First thing in the morning, I send a text out to everyone:
Hey, everyone! I’ve got good news. Jacee’s coming to town next week!
BTW, should we meet up later? I want to talk about something.
-Susan
Amy responds within seconds. I swear, that girl spends every waking second checking her inbox.
Hey, Sue! Yay, I’m excited to see Jacee after so long! And sure, I’m up for a meeting later. I’ve got to go on some errands, but I’ll be done by 2. See you!
Evan and Donovan still haven’t seen the message, but they’re probably still asleep. Especially Donovan. Left to his own devices, he sleeps so late you can’t accurately say “good morning” to him. In the kitchen, I find a note Mom left. She’s taking Savanna to play with some friends. They’ll be back at one o’clock, so I’ll get to see them before going to meet the gang.
Several minutes later, Evan texts me:
Jacee’s coming out? Cool! I can’t wait! And sure, I’m free all day, so we can meet up.
Later, Susan!
I go to the living room after finishing breakfast, and start browsing channels on the TV. Nothing good is on, so I go and start drawing.
I can’t decide what to draw, so I just doodle, making circles and loops until some shape catches my eye. Finally, I notice one that looks like a leaf. I turn it into a maple leaf, and then a whole tree that it fell from. I sit back, looking at the picture I just made. There’s no way I could have drawn that a year ago, but I’ve been practicing.
I decide on drawing a face next. This time, I know exactly what to draw. Donavan’s birthday is soon, and I want to surprise him with something cool. So, I’m giving him a picture of himself.
He’s tricky to draw, given that he almost always wears a hood. I’ve never been able to draw cloth very well. Eventually, I get it right, but my hand is cramping. I look at the clock, and find out that it’s 12:48, then remember that I’m not even out of my pajamas yet. Shoot.
Three and a half minutes later, I’m ready. Who knew I could get ready to leave the house so fast?
I wait until Mom and Savanna get home, greet them and give them both a hug, and then head out for the dirt lot. Almost an hour later, I get there and find Evan already there. I start to run over, and he waves.
“Hey, Sue!”
“Hi.”
“Well, I guess Don’s not here yet. I know Amy’s on her way, but I don’t know about Casper, though. I think he’s usually busy on Fridays.”
“Yeah. I can wait, though. It’s not like I’ve got much to do anyway.”
I flop down on the scrubby grass next to him. The others arrive in about half an hour. Donovan looks like he just got out of bed, which is entirely possible.
Evan shouts, “Hey, Don. You eat breakfast yet? Oh, wait. I guess that’d be lunch.”
“Give me a break.”, Donovan says with a shove to Evan’s shoulder. He’s pretending to be mad, but he grins at me as he pushes Evan over.
Evan lands on the ground, laughs, and gets back up. “I guess I asked for that one.”
Amy walks over to me and, with a pointed look at Evan, says “thank you for not calling a meeting early in the morning.”
I chuckle, and once we’re all sitting down, I tell them about Harvey Johnson. When I’m done, Evan looks unsurprised, Amy looks concerned, and Donovan looks half-asleep. Amy elbows him, and he jumps.
“Sounds like I was right. Guy’s going around all of our houses looking to recruit us.” Evan says. “I should probably let Casper know.” He pulls out his phone and calls Casper.
“Hey, man.
Yeah, I’m with Amy, Don and Sue.
Oh, fun!
I just felt like I should let you know, Sue just told us that that guy I told you about yesterday came by her house last night.
OK, cool. Talk to you later.”
He hangs up and tells us what Casper said. “Well, Casper has no plans to accept this guy’s offer. He’s on guard now, so that’s good.”
He thinks for a second, and then tells us, “Oh! I forgot. Casper told us he’s going to his grandma’s next week, so he won’t be here for most of Jacee’s visit. He’ll be back by Saturday, though, so there’ll be a little overlap.”
“OK. Well, I don’t think there’s anything else. I should get home. I’ve got a project I’m working on.”, I tell everyone.
“See you, Sue!”, Evan says, and everyone waves. I jog off toward home. Once I get there, I settle down and start working on Donovan’s portrait again.
So this series is really fun to write! I have all kinds of ideas. I hope you enjoyed this issue!
What's with the left foot of this (either female or juvenile) Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) seen at the west end of Thomson Marsh, Kelowna, BC. -01 240801
Nickname : Danielle Daisy Loose....
Photography: Joanna O'Hanlon, contact Joanna on Tel 07852 934 179 Jo.ohanlon@yahoo.co.uk . Make up Celine Nonon @ Terri Manduca, www.terrimanduca.co.uk . Hair: Shinya Fukami using Paul Mitchell, contact Shinya on Tel 07960 776 448 . Model Jodie Giles @ Models1, www.models1.co.uk .
i can think of one thing.....
the very first rose i got.
if i show it to you now, can you recognize it?
or will you say, "what's that?"
Rialto Bridge View_Grand Canal_Venezia (Venice), Italia (Italy).
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I'm humbled and absolutely chuffed that another one of my images has been been published :) This time it is one from Flickr and is being featured in the current issue of online publication Camerapixo; HOTSHOT Page 18. Thank you so much Artur and Anetta Heller :-)
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Download Camerapixo issue № 22 Here
You can find the image on Flickr Here
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I am fortunate to have my photographs included in the latest issue of UNDERDOGS photography magazine. I am also fortunate to be associated with the work of eight very fine photographers.
Here is a link to the publication:
issuu.com/isagelb/docs/underdogs-issue2
And here is another link to purchase a very reasonably priced hard copy:
Issue 12
My name is Cal Rose. As a child, I was abandoned by my parents, and I had to learn to survive by myself. On the streets, alone. And today, I’m fighting for my life again.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seline’s mouth drops open, apparently as surprised as I am. “Bruce? You’re Batman?”
He steps forward, and the costume melts back into his shadow. The room slowly warms again.
“Yes, I’m Batman. I didn’t tell you before, and I’m very sorry for that.” He sighs. “I wasn’t sure how I could, but now that we’re working together, I feel I have every reason to.”
“Look, it doesn’t matter right now. We still have Bane to get rid of, and now we have the stone, so Arrow can help.”
Seline speaks up, “I don’t think it makes any difference at this point. You’re still the same person as before.”
“You’re both right. Again, I’m sorry, but now isn’t the time. As for the plan, Bane knows we’re hunting him. Surprise doesn’t seem to be an option at this point. I say we go for an all-out attack.”
“There are more people than just Bane to take care of. When we were running to save Seline earlier, I met an accomplice of his. He said he was called Scarecrow. He was a strange fellow. He just let me go after a few seconds.”
“Odd. And there’s also whoever killed that first man. That didn’t seem like Bane’s work.”
“Whoever it is must keep to themselves. We’ve only ever seen Bane and Scarecrow.”
Wayne thinks for a long moment. “If we haven’t seen them, it’s likely they either left the gang for some reason, or they aren’t much of a fighter, and just stay hidden. Either way, they won’t be much of a problem for us.”
“Well, then we’ll outnumber them. We should take out Scarecrow first, then go after Bane.”
“No, if we do that, we’ll be setting ourselves up for an ambush. You take Scarecrow, while the Arrow and I go for Bane. I can hold him off if I’m not protecting anyone, and Arrow will provide backup if I need it. Once you take out Scarecrow, find us as quickly as possible and help with Bane.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Good. Now, I recommend we all get some sleep.”
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In a dark room in Bane’s headquarters, the cloaked girl confronts Bane. ”I can’t stay here with you. I’ve been thinking more and more about the man you had me kill, and I can’t stay. You know you can’t stop me. Don’t try.”
“Very well. Go. Don’t come back when they all reject you.”
“Believe me, I won’t.”
Sorry this issue's so short. But it's setting up the big stuff!
The Big Issue Foundation is a financially independent charity. We believe in a ‘hand up and not a hand out’ and recognise that earning an income is a key step in a person’s journey towards stability and a better life. Achieving something for yourself is 100% more empowering than having it done for you. The Big Issue offers the incentive of earning an income; it means that we engage with a number of individuals who are not seen by other services or projects. We work exclusively with Big Issue vendors. People who are homeless are often excluded from mainstream society, financially impoverished and disadvantaged in multiple ways; we seek to address the fundamental issues attached to social and financial exclusion
Hey. This took long enough, huh? Well, do you wanna' know why? Because I'm slow. Because I was making this video to go along with the part!
drive.google.com/file/d/1_V925ZLO9rjQev20ggSVH526A_H6Zt0W...
It probably would be best to watch it after reading the issue.
It took a lot of time and a moderate amount of effort, so I'd appreciate you watching it.
-------------------------------------------
[Time: 3:45 P.M.]
[Location: Outside FF HQ]
Fant and Scott had more things they wanted to do together and I was starting to feel like a third wheel. So I told them to go ahead without me and that I'd just hang out in the FF HQ.
-Philip floats into the lobby only to find it completely deserted.-
That's weird, this place was bustling earlier. Oh well.
-He looks around as he floats over to sit on the couch. He flops down on it and immediately regrets it as he feels the pain from the bruises Stan gave him earlier.-
Oof, that's some pain. What was up with Stan, even? Why would he come all the way to Advent City just to deliver me a beating? Come to think of it, how'd he even know I was here…
-Philip rubs his chin as his mind starts to wander deep into thought...-
*FLASH*
-Something flashes beside Philip making him jump back, suspending himself in the air-
What the--Oh, it's just Recur. (You remember him. Teleporter, on the younger side, likes cookies. I mentioned him in the second issue.)
Fluxx: "Dude, you almost gave me a heart attack."
Recur: "Oops. Sorry."
-Recur tries not to laugh and Philip ends up smirking himself.-
Fluxx: "Heh, it's fine. I guess I was just deep in thought."
-Philip drops back down to the couch, next to Recur.-
Recur: "What were you thinking about?"
Fluxx: "Well, one of my nemeses attacked me earlier and I have no idea why. It was kinda' out of the blue, you know?"
Recur: "Hm… Maybe another bad guy hired him to?"
Fluxx: "Another bad guy...?"
But who would…? Nancy. She's always finding new ways to make my life just a little bit more painful.
Fluxx: "Recur, you're a genius!"
Recur: "You mind telling that to Mr. Sharp?"
Fluxx: "Uh, maybe later. Right now, I gotta go grill Dr. Nimble."
Recur: "Ooh, ooh! Are you gonna storm her evil lair? Can I come?"
Fluxx: "Sorry, not this time."
Recur: "C'mon, it'll be dangerous to go alone, take me!"
Fluxx: "It being dangerous is all the more reason you shouldn't come. I can't have you getting hurt, remember what happened to Matchstick when he fought that Forge chick? If something like that happens to you… Let's just say we'd both be in trouble."
Recur: "I guess you're right..."
Fluxx: "Don't get me wrong, you have amazing potential! Maybe another time. Ya' know, a time with less risk of dismemberment."
Recur: "Fine."
-Turns to leave before smacking his forehead-
Fluxx: "Shoot. I guess it doesn't really matter anyway, I forgot her base is all the way back in New England."
Recur: "Why don't you just take one of the jets?"
Fluxx: "What? Okay, first: How come no one told me we have jets!?"
Recur: "I just did"
Fluxx: "Second, I haven't even gotten my license yet. What makes you think I can fly a jet?"
Recur: "You don't have too, they have autopilot."
Fluxx: "Oh."
-There's a couple seconds of awkward silence.-
Fluxx: "I guess I'll do that then."
[Time: 4:30 P.M.]
[Location: A FF jet somewhere in the skies above New England]
Autopilot: "We will be above the drop point shortly, Mr. Delacroix."
Fluxx: "Thank you, computer. And you can call me--Actually, I kind of like the sound of that."
Okay, I better suit up.
-Philip stands up and walks to the door. With unsteady hands he zips his mission suit.-
Autopilot: "Approaching the drop point in five..."
-He adjust his gloves, more out of anxiousness than preparation.-
Autopilot: "...Four..."
-He readies himself and floats slightly as he begins to light up.-
Autopilot: "...Three..."
-The door slides open and wind begins whipping through the cabin.-
One last thing...
-He reaches into his jacket pocket and removes an MP3 player and a pair of earbuds.-
Autopilot: "...Two..."
-He puts on the earbuds and selects a playlist titled "Fight Songs" before shoving the MP3 player back in his jacket.-
Autopilot: "...One. Happy landings."
It's now or never.
-After a brief moment of psyching himself up, Philip shuts his eyes and leaps out the window.-
Fluxx: "Aaaaaah!"
What was I thinking!?
-At first he panics and starts spinning around wildly. But after a few terror-stricken seconds, a song comes on in his ears.-
"Good morning. Today's forecast calls for Blue Skies."
-Hearing the music Philip starts to relax and does his best to take a deep breath.-
Alright, you got this.
-As the music picks up speed, Philip does the same as he straightens out. He shoots down like a falcon as the drums kick in and spots his target quickly approaching. He glows with more intensity as he works to slow his descent.-
Here goes nothing.
-The music drops, perfectly timing with Fluxx's humanly impossible three-point landing. The massive cloud of dust he created dissipates revealing an army of robots with laser cannons all aimed at his face. He smirks before jumping up, riding the explosion of dozens of lasers hitting the very spot he was just in.-
“Sun is shinin' in the sky…”
-He soars up and hangs a bit before gravity kicks in again and he starts falling back down into the fray.-
“There ain't a cloud in sight”
While it's tempting to just go all jedi on these clankers, I've got to focus on getting to Nancy.
-Wasting no time, Phil does his gravity boost trick and blasts forward, crashing through any robots unfortunate enough to be in his way.-
“It's stopped rainin' everybody's in the play”
-Phil rockets into the compound only to skid to a stop at a split in the corridors.-
“And don't you know”
Left, right or forwards... Which way? Ugh, I hate these kinds of decisions...
“It's a beautiful new day, hey hey”
-Before Phil can decide anything the corridors abruptly slam shut around him one by one. Before he can even react, he's trapped. And to make matters worse, two remote lasers retract from the ceiling, both aiming at Phil's frightened face.-
Not good.
“Runnin' down the avenue”
-With no other choice Phil leaps here and there dodging the more-or-less lethal bolts of energy.-
I need to get outta' here, fast!
-Phil charges at one of the blast doors, using a force field as a battering ram, only to ricochet off like a glow-in-the-dark bouncy ball.-
“See how the sun shines brightly in the city”
-He's barely able to recover before he has to keep dodging to unrelenting lasers.-
Okay, one problem at a time here. First problem, these stupid lasers.
“On the streets where once was pity”
-Trying a move he'd only done in practice before, Phil leaps up and delivers a shielded kick to the nearest blaster that puts it out of commission. Before he celebrates he pushes off the wall and crashes into the other blaster, tearing it out of it socket and knocking it on the floor-
-Phil lands back on the ground and wipes his forehead.-
Phew, that takes care of that. Now I just need to do something about these doors.
“Mr. Blue Sky is living here today, hey hey”
-After taking a moment to muster some power Phil grunts as he forces all the doors back up.-
Phil: Gyagh!
-With his path unblocked, he zooms out of the room. He finds some more robots waiting for him, these ones look like they're designed for combat-
You know what I like about robots...
-Phil attacks the bots head-on. Without over-thinking it he rams, punches and kicks them, all to the beat of the song-
“Mr. Blue Sky please tell us why”
-A punch to the face here, a kick in the back there-
“You had to hide away for so long (so long)”
-Another punch, a shoulder ram-
…I don't have to worry about hurting them!
-He kicks the head off the last bot and watches it fall, headless to the ground.-
This sure would be graphic if they weren't robots...
“Where did we go wrong?”
-With the battle over, his goal just around the corner and the music kicking in, Philip takes some time to let the music move him and starts dancing around like a weirdo. (Likely looking ridiculous.)-
-Philip slides across the floor in time the guitar. He turns around to see Dr. Nancy Nimble standing uncomfortably close and staring at him through her round goggles.-
“Hey you with the pretty fa-”
-Suddenly, the music cuts and Philip realizes he can't move, stuck in place by one of Nancy's inventions.-
Dr. Nimble: "Hello, pumpkin."
To Be Continued...
Car: Ford F-100.
Year of manufacture: 1955.
Date of first registration in the UK: December 2000.
Place of registration: Not known.
Date of last MOT: 5th July 2013.
Mileage at last MOT: 69,013.
Date of last V5 issued: 7th July 2021.
Date taken: 11th December 2016.
Location: Queen Square, Bristol, UK.
This is dedicated to my friend BossBob50. Check out his CD cover set: www.flickr.com/photos/bossbob50/sets/72157607782882854/
AND don't miss this take off on my pic above:
www.flickr.com/photos/bossbob50/5997870813/
I suppose this could be the cover of a Blue Note issue, one of those classic jazz albums produced by the creative people at Blue Note Records back in the hard bop days. At least that's what it reminded me of when I was getting into this. Perhaps something by their main tenor man Hank Mobley or their brilliant trumpeter Lee Morgan ... ?
81.366.2012
They found me through flickr and asked if I would be happy for them to publish my photos in their magazine, it's out today! big grin :)
To go along with the issue, here is the track for Issue 3. So if you care to, you can listen to it before, during, or after the read.
"Daddy?"
Alan's eyes slowly opened, the light from the hallway illuminating his room. At the door of his room was his daughter, the two year old holding onto a small toy of the Flash. It's helmet had been torn off from play, but she still carried it everywhere.
"What is it, princess?" he asked, sitting up in his bed. His head turned to the clock on his nightstand, the hands pointing to 2:30 AM.
"I… I had a bad dr… drrr..."
"A bad dream, sweety?" he interjected, helping the girl with the word. She nodded slightly, looking at the ground. "C'mere."
The girl walked over to the side of the bed, Alan lifting her up and into the center of the bed.
"So, do you want to talk about it?" He asked, brushing his hand through her hair. "If not that's okay, sometimes they are really scary."
The girl was silent. Alan smiled slightly, glad she was able to fall asleep so quickly, lifting his hand to cover the two of them up.
"You left…"
Alan looked back down at the girl, tears in her eyes. "What?"
"Y-you… were like mommy… we put you under us… with the rock," she explained, her arms clutching onto the Flash toy much tighter. "AJ left too and I was by myself…"
"Jade…" he whispered, pulling her head closer to his chest. "I will never just leave you, princess."
"B-b-but mommy did," she whimpered. "I want you and AJ to stay forever."
Alan kissed her on the top of the head, letting go of the hug. "You won't ever need to worry," he reassured, pointing to her heart. "Even if we aren't together, I'll always be right here. Always."
"Resurrecting the dead?"
Jade stood atop her apartment complex's roof in her costume. Next to her was her brother, fully in costume aside from his mask. Both John and Guy had arrived bringing the news of the prophecy.
"It's something different every other Tuesday," continued Todd, sighing as he shook his head.
"They already brought back… brought back someone who meant someone to me," John informed, looking downwards. "They may send more, or people targeted to any of you."
Jade's body paled, her head pointing downwards. A hand on her shoulder caused her to look up, her brother smiling at her.
"Hey, it's… it's gonna be okay," he reassured, pulling his mask over his face. "We are heroes for a reason, for him."
Jade grew a soft smile, her eyes gaining a bright glow. "Right."
-^-
"AJ?" Alan asked, kneeling down next to his five year old son. The boy sat on the porch of their house, his elbows on his knees with his hands holding his chin.
"Hmm?" he responded, his lips narrowed and eyebrows tilted.
Alan opened his mouth to speak, but noticed the streaks of red on his face. "AJ, were you crying?"
"N-no…" he responded, turning his head away from his dad.
Alan frowned, placing his palm on AJ's cheek and turning his head to look at him, "Did something happen at school?"
AJ's lips began to quiver, the corners turning downwards into a frown. "I… dad… I…"
Tears began to run down his face, his body leaning forward to hug his Alan. Alan's eyes widened at the action, wrapping his own arms around the boy.
"A-at school… we had to… to draw what we w-w-would look like… when we grew up," the boy explained, his voice shaky. "W-when I drew mine… the t-t-t-teacher yelled at me… and threw it away…"
Alan felt anger boil in his stomach. Jade had shown him her drawing when she got home from school. He wondered why his son hadn't shown him.
"Why would she do that?" he asked, keeping his anger down. "I thought Mrs. Wall liked you two."
"It… I…" he started, stopping after each time he tried to speak. His head lowered, reaching into his pocket. Alan watched him pull the crumbled piece of paper out. "The older kids heard about it too… they kept calling me these mean names."
Alan took the balled up paper from AJ, unfolding it carefully. His face took on surprise as he viewed the drawing.
AJ, white hair and black eyes, stood holding hands with another stick drawing, it's hair brown and eyes blue. Under the drawing was the words "ME + HUZBEN".
Alan looked up to his son who was looking down at his feet. "They started calling me a fag and a sissy," he spoke, not looking up. "I don't know what I did."
Allen felt tears well up in his eyes, moving forward and hugging his son. "Nothing," he cried. "You did nothing wrong… nothing at all."
"But everyone said…"
"Don't worry about what everyone said, AJ," Alan spoke, smiling as he rubbed his shoulder. "I'll never stop loving you, no matter what you do or who you love. Never."
Todd's eyes traced the moving object that flew through the sky, a trail of blackness following close behind. He felt a pain in his chest as he watched the figure land a rooftop away from them.
"Is it…" Jade asked, looking across the rooftop.
"It's him," he responded, removing his hands from the inside of his cloak. "It's time."
Both Guy and Hal stepped in front of his sister and him, Guy turning his head back, "We got this, you two… you can sit this one out."
"No," Jade responded, lighting up both of her hands, "this is our fight."
"We may not have been able to save him before," started Todd, shadows welling around his feet, "but we will save him from the reaper."
-^-
Alan stumbled as he walked through the darkness of the cave. The only light source he had left was the glow of the torch-lit lantern he had brought with, but the area it shined on was small.
A week had gone by since his ring stopped working. It had never happened before, but the power completely stopped, the rings glow even disappearing. He tried powering it by the sun, by electricity. He even had Jay take it across the world to see if someone could help.
This was his last idea. Go back to the cave where he originally found it. Back then, he grabbed the ring and left, the lantern getting left behind, maybe it had something to do with it?
As he stepped into the deepest part of the cavern, a chill went down his spine. In front of him was a pentagram, at the center a pedestal with the green lantern sat on it. When he had retrieved the ring, the pentagram came to life, the ring slipping onto his finger being the only reason he got out in time.
This time wouldn't be the same though, he didn't have the ring.
He took cautious steps forward, his right foot crossing the edge of the bloodstained drawing on the floor. He gulped the lump in his throat down as his other foot crossed, his full body now encompassed by the pattern.
As his hand reached forward, he felt a chill once more. A voice in his head screaming for him to turn. To let go of the battery and leave the cave. To go home to his kids and never worry about the ring again.
It's what his conscience told him to do, and what he wanted to do. Things didn't happen as he wished them to. He felt the ring on his finger light up, pulling his hand forward. Before he could stop it, his hand took a hold of the lantern.
The pentagram roared to life, the blood flowing a fiery red. Before he knew it, Alan saw nothing. Pure blackness… nothingness.
Nothingness. Blackness. A void of darkness gnawing at his soul. It's what he felt. Powerlessness and helplessness. He felt as if he were floating, drifting through a starless night sky.
The last thing he could remember was the agonizing pain. The feeling of his arm being bursted from the inside out. He also can remember the feeling of… accomplishment, of fulfillment. He can't remember why though; why his heart feels full and empty at the same time.
He was fighting someone now, though, but he couldn't tell who. A sun and a moon, both radiating energy of purity. The sun felt warm, positive, and compassionate; the moon felt thoughtful, calm, and protective.
They reminded him of someone, but he didn't know who. He wanted to know who.
Who were the sun and moon?
-^-
Todd launched forward a shadow that wrapped around his father's torso, the corpse bursting free with his power ring.
John wiped the sweat from his forehead, panting audibly. Alan was much stronger than Tommy was, which meant some semblance of power had to transfer from when they were alive.
"Is he… done?" John asked, looking down at Tommy's corpse. Guy had the body pinned to the ground by the waist, keeping it from attacking.
"No," he replied, creating a blade construct. "Hal said removing the ring from it's body will… put it back to rest."
John lowered his head, nodding. Guy lowered the knife construct, cutting the ring finger from Tommy's hand. A screeching noise echoed from the ring as it melted like a candle, the black liquid vaporizing into the air.
"Johnny?"
John looked up to see Tommy looking up at him. "I thought you said…"
"That's what Hal told me," Guy responded.
"Heh, so 'dis is what was goin' on, eh?" Tommy asked, slightly chuckling. "I was wondering what was going on."
"Tommy… are you… you?" John asked cautiously.
"I'd hope so," Tommy responded. "Don't know who else I'd be."
John felt a smile crawl into his face. "Tommy you're…" he started before his eyes glanced down to his feet. Tommy's feet were gone, his legs slowly crumbling into a pile of dust on the floor.
"His body's turning to ash," Guy said, turning to look at John.
"Huh, guess I am, huh?" Tommy asked, once again chuckling. "Guess 'ya only get one shot at life, eh?"
"Tommy… I… I'm sorry," John pleaded, dropping to his knees, grabbing onto his hand. "I'm so, so sorry."
"Fa' what?" Tommy asked, raising one of his eyebrows.
"I… I let you die!" John shouted, his eyes leaking. "I…"
"Aye, Johnny," Tommy called as his hand and torso added to dust, "I ain't gonna forgive 'ya, cause there ain't no reason t'be sorry."
"But…"
"Heh, see 'ya 'round, GL," beamed Tommy as his head turned to dust, the last expression on his face a smile.
John lowered his head, his tears dropping onto the floorboards.
They needed to remove the ring from his finger, but they couldn't even get close to him. His ring mixed with the starheart gauntlet was too overpowering, even for all four of them.
"This isn't working," called out Guy, recovering from being blasted into the pavement. "We need to break through that gauntlet's defense!"
"Obsidian! Jade!" John yelled, gaining the two's attention. "You two have to get that gauntlet, our rings are useless against it!"
"It… it hurts…" she responded, looking done. "To fight him… it hurts."
"He did everything for us…" Todd agreed, dropping to a knee. "He…"
"I know that, but it's not him!" John shouted back. "Your father was a hero, a damn good one at that. He gave his life to make sure you two could live on, so you could save the lives that he couldn't."
Jade looked down, tears dropping from her eyes.
"Even if we aren't together, I'll always be right here. Always."
Todd's cloak fell over his shoulders, his fist clenched.
"I'll never stop loving you, no matter what you do or who you love. Never."
"You're the only two who can stop that power because it's yours!" he asserted, pointing to Alan. "The gift he gave to you, so use it!"
"On it!" "Right away."
The two flew forward, each in opposite directions around the corpse. Jade's fists glowed brighter than before, Todd's shadows the blackest they'd ever been.
"For dad," the two muttered simultaneously.
-^-
The sky felt… lessened. When he reached out, he could feel things. He could feel the moon hold onto him, the sun beaming. The feeling was… familial.
As the sky cleared, so did his vision. Things were more visible. The moon started to shift, from the grey rock to a black and blue human. The sun did the same, but green and white.
The familiarity felt like… kin. Like… children.
The fog was gone. The black smoke clouding around him and his thoughts cleared.
He was in his body, even if he could not move it. He could see out of his eyes, even if he could not choose where to look.
He could feel.
As he attempted to move his arm, he heard a clatter. Looking down, he saw the chain linked from his wrist to the platform he knelt on.
Both arms were chain down, his ankles locked into the platform as well. Two chains that shot from his neck down his chest and back kept his head locked in place. He was trapped, purgatory once again.
'Jade! Todd,' he tried to shout, but he could not open his mouth, it was nailed shut. He was locked in place, forced to watch his children fight for their lives.
Against him.
-^-
Jade dipped under a blast from the Starheart Gauntlet, soaring through the air firing back energy blasts. Todd pushed his hands forward, two shadow hands reaching for Alan.
The corpse cut the shadows in half with the gauntlet, blasting back Todd in the process. As Jade swooped down for a surprise attack, Alan used his black ring to create a hand, launching her away.
"We aren't strong enough, even together," Jade exclaimed, looking to her brother.
Todd kept his head down, breathing heavily. "I… still have one… one more card up my sleeve…"
As he spoke, Todd brought himself to a stand, clasping his hands together. His eyes closed inside of his mask as he took a deep breath.
"Shadowlands… I call upon your power," called Todd, his feet encompassing in darkness.
"Todd?"
Suddenly, Todd screamed, his body being encompassed by darkness. The shadows, vantablack in color shot into the sky, their shape taking on Todd's own.
-^-
'TODD!' Alan attempted to scream, once again being stopped by his shit mouth. He stuggled immensely against the bindings, needing to free himself. He had to help save the…
"Nekron's Curse: Sky of the Damned."
Alan focused his eyes to the real world, watching his body raise it's left hand and uttering the words. Out of the black ring emerged the black goo, it's shape slowly forming into that of an eight pointed star. The gauntlet on his right hand lit up, green energy feeding onto the star. As the star turned green, a ring circled around.
The star shot forward, ripping through the gigantic shadow that Todd had created. The agonizing scream caused tears to fall down Alan's eyes, watching as the shadow disappeared back into Todd's body.
As his body floated towards them, he could see Todd lying on the rooftop, barely holding himself up. Jade was stood in front of him, her eyes glowing, but tired. Hurt.
She still stood.
His vision flashed to them younger. To Jade standing in front of Todd on the floor, fending off the bullies he'd attracted. Defending her brother from pain.
He was that pain.
He pulled on his left arm again, the chain clattering. He pulled again, using all the strength he could.
'For them,' he screamed into the nailed metal. 'I can't give up!'
He pulled, harder. He had to. He had to get out. He couldn't give up, not when they were in danger.
He had to save them.
It was the next time he pulled when he felt a burst of energy course through him. He pulled again, feeling the energy flooding through his body like a current of electricity.
"Alan Scott"
Alan's eyes shifted, widening at the sight in front of him. Floating idly in the void was a glowing green shark, it's eyes pure white.
"You have exhibited a willpower strong enough to be detected by Ion.
Alan watched as the shark floated towards him. As it made contact, he began to feel the energy, stronger than it was before. It was pure. His strength felt insurmountable, unstoppable.
As he flexed his arms, the chains changed, the black color fading into a bright, powerful green. He pulled again, snapping the chains like twigs. The locks over his ankles crumbled as he touched them, as did the collar around his neck and metal over his mouth.
As he stood, he raised his hand, his mouth moving on its own.
"In brightest day,"
-^-
Jade stood in front of Todd. His attack… it failed. Their dad burst through the shadow instantly with his attack. The blast knocked both John and Guy down, leaving her the last standing as they recovered.
She readied her arms to fight as her dad landed on the rooftop they were on. Her hands lit up bright, but the energy faded moments later. All of her energy was used up in the fight.
As Alan raised his arm, she closed her eyes.
"In brightest day,"
Jade raised her head, watching as Alan's body twitched, his left hand shaking.
"In blackest night, no evil shall escape my might," spoke Alan, the scratchy voice it had filtering out. His hand became steady, the black ring cracking to reveal green light.
"Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power…"
The explosion of green energy caused Jade to shield her eyes, the brightness unrivaled. As she moved her hand away from her eyes, her face was struck with awe.
"Dad?"
Stood on the rooftop, green energy swirling around him was Alan Scott, his hair and skin restored to their natural colors. He wore a red sweater and green pants, red boots running up her legs. Around his neck hung a purple cape with a collar to match.
His right hand wore the Renegade Gauntlet, it glowing more vibrant than before. On his left hand sat a green lantern ring made of pure energy, it's glow shining as bright as the central battery on Oa.
"Green Lantern's Light."
Given what occurred in 1929, “Tragic New Year” is a far better title. The stock market crashed on Black Monday, October 28, 1929, accelerating a global economic collapse that led to the Great Depression.
One of the most recognizable illustrations of J. C. Leyendecker’s storied career as a commercial artist is the New Year’s Baby he designed for the cover of “The Saturday Evening Post” at the beginning of each year. His first baby was delivered for the December 29, 1906 issue of the Post, and the series continued uninterrupted until 1943, each one insightfully capturing the spirit of the times.