Greg responds...

I'm not clear what you're asking. Do you mean in YJ? If so, then no. Virgil becoming Static predates Leonard becoming Holocaust. But if you're asking whether Leonard and Virgil had some kind of relationship before either got meta-powers, the answer is NO SPOILERS.

Greg responds...

Avuncular.

Greg responds...

Yep.

Greg responds...

1. M'comm M'orzz was born in 1968.

2. He took leadership.

3. There clearly are.

Greg responds...

1. June.

2. It was late 2016, but we haven't nailed down a specific month.

3. No spoilers.

Greg responds...

Yes.

Greg responds...

I do understand. I totally understand that we took a big risk and I totally understand that not everyone is happy with it. FULL STOP.

What I'm at a loss to understand is what I'm expected to do about it.

Keep in mind, responses come after the work is concluded. Concluded. I can't change history and undo stuff that's already been done.

And, of course, I don't want to, either. Cuz I like what we did. (I mean maybe not every second of every episode, but the vast tapestry of the thing, certainly.) And, frankly, the majority of our fandom agrees, judging by numbers alone. So even if I could, whom should I make changes for? A minority of fans who want one change or a different minority of fans who want some other change?

Beyond that, I'll simply repeat what I've always said. Brandon and I have to be passionate about what we're doing. That means following our best instincts and hoping that a majority of the fans like the result. So far that's basically worked for us. Not for EVERY fan, but for the great majority. It may not always work, of course, but what's the alternative? That we write stuff we don't like, to maybe please a subset of the fandom? How would that work? I mean, if Brandon and I aren't passionate about the work, how can we expect anyone - ANYONE - to view it and feel passionately about it. It would be hollow.

And your post is resplendent with that very contradiction: you say we have "one of the most dedicated fanbases in history who performed a miracle resurrecting this show," and I would sincerely agree wholeheartedly. But I have to think that the reason the fanbase is dedicated and performed that miracle is because they basically like what BV and I are doing. I mean the miracle happened after the timeskip. If the timeskip killed the show for the majority of the fandom, then I have to assume they wouldn't have helped us come back, right?

I can see how you interpret all of the above into "it's my show I'll do whatever I want and I don't care what you guys want," but I don't think that's fair. It's certainly doesn't capture the gist of what I've said, even if in essence, it reflects the end result. What I'm saying is, "we're the creators of the show and we HAVE to do the show we want because the alternative is something that literally winds up pleasing nobody."

If that's off-puttiing, I'm sorry. But it does have the virtue of being honest.

Greg responds...

1. I never loved "Western Mongolia" for the timestamp. It was too big, too vague. Honestly, I wish I had thought to use the Peak from the beginning.

2. It is and was Vandal's HQ. It's not the Light's HQ. It's where Vandal generally is when he's speaking to the rest of the Light, who normally teleconference, as we've seen since episode 101. As the de facto leader of the Light, often Light business gets done at Vandal's place. Often. Not Always. Again, as we've seen.

3. Western Mongolia is more or less where Vandal is from. Kinda.

4. How long? In one form or anothe, for a long, long time.

5. Vandal had it built. He may have even helped some.

Greg responds...

I'm sure she wondered if there was a way she could make use of it.

Greg responds...

1. She states as much in Season Three, so... yes.

2. No spoilers.

3. No spoilers.

4. Courtney Whitmore was born in 2003.

5. No spoilers.

Greg responds...

1. 2009.

2. 2001.

3. 1996.

4. 2006.

5. 1276 B.C.E.

Greg responds...

I suppose you could look at it that way.

Greg responds...

I think you're exaggerating a bit. But, yeah, he's well-connected.

Greg responds...

The latter I believe. We've never stated his so-called "birth name."

Greg responds...

1. I haven't locked in a day or date when they met. But it's been some time.

2. For all we know, she was inspired to choose that name BECAUSE of the movie. I'm not saying it's true but...

2a. For the record, Madame Xanadu is her stage name/nom de guerre. Her real name is Nimue Inwudu.

3. Again, I haven't nailed down a precise date, but sometime after Helga Jace, um... disqualified herself from the gig.

4. A very long time.

Greg responds...

It's not that simple. If a spirit is truly at rest, you generally cannot reach them. And in any case, you seem to think it's healthy to attempt to commune with the dead. Zatanna might not agree with you.

Greg responds...

No spoilers.

Greg responds...

History is a mystery.

Greg responds...

I don't have one favorite. But I'm glad you like them.

Greg responds...

We talked about this a lot, actually, with a number of people, including with a Muslim woman of color. And, no. No one saw a problem. As with all things, people's mileage varies.

We had not, yet, involved MPAC in our creative process. Maybe they would've had a problem with how we introduced Halo if they had been involved in Season Three. But MPAC's involvement and interaction with us began during the creation of Season Four. At that point, when we told them where we were going with the character, they were good with it. Even, I dare say, enthusiastic. MPAC and other Muslims we've consulted have been happy with who Halo/Violet has become, or in any case, with the journey that we've put them on.

But just so I'm clear, you'd have preferred - since we were doing THIS story - that the character had been white?

I mean I get that you'd have preferred that the character had been a Muslim woman of color with a different story, but I'm not a big fan of fans who tell me which story to tell. This was the story we wanted to tell. This was the version of Halo we wanted to create.

But we could have made Gabrielle a white girl, I guess. She's a white girl in the comics. We could have had yet another blonde in the cast.

But we already had aliens who present as white, including Superman and Hawkwoman, among others. We've also had a dead girl who was white, i.e. Secret.

It seems to me that having Halo be a person of color - even a person of color who (as you dismissively note) was created from a corpse possessed by an alien spirit - was a step in the right direction. Especially since we knew where we were going with the character. You may not like how Violet became Violet, and I respect that. (I don't apologize for it, but I respect it.) But now that you've seen where we've taken the character, I wonder if there's another way to look at it.

Yes, Gabrielle is dead. Her death is horrible and tragic. She was vulnerable. And she was exploited and murdered. Now, she's dead.

But Violet is alive. They are not Gabrielle. But they are definitely a person of color (as much as Clark Kent's a white guy - and I think we can all agree that Clark Kent is a white guy). And now they're a person of color, who's interested in exploring the Muslim heritage that mattered so much to Gabrielle. In essence, Violet is seriously thinking about converting to Islam, in part because of Gabrielle's memory of faith. And I doubt we would've gotten that story if we'd made Gabrielle a white girl.

Because, here's the thing: we're doing genre fiction here. That means we are using aliens, demons, ghosts, mermaids and robots to tell stories about the human condition. I reject the notion that all our diversity MUST somehow come from fully human characters like Dick Grayson and Artemis Crock. Again, no one doubts that stories about a Kryptonian aren't capable of telling us something about the human condition. Or that Atlanteans and Amazons aren't human enough to empathize with. So some of our characters are going to have bizarre and even horrifying origins. That's the genre. So do we play it safe and only do white characters when we go inhuman?

Some of our aliens look like space aliens. Some look like humans. Most of those humans look white historically. We're trying to turn the battleship on that notion. So Martian Manhunter - when he looks human - looks Black. Icon is Black. Highmother and General Zod are Black. Lor-Zod is biracial. B'arzz O'oomm, when he looks human, looks Latinx. And Halo looks Arabic. It's not much. But it's a start.

Now, don't get me wrong. I understand that a big problem that you have with Halo is that Gabrielle was the only Muslim woman of color in the show. (It's not actually true, of course. But no one wants to count villains like Queen Bee or Talia al Ghul, who probably only pay lip service to being Muslim.) So we need more representation. More representation is always better. We're working on it. Maybe not as fast as everyone would like. But we're trying. Truly, honestly, trying. In fact, I've been trying to increase representation my entire career for all sorts of different communities. I know my track record is mixed. I've taken a lot of swings, and some of those swings have been misses. (And maybe Halo was another miss - though I truly don't think so.) But Elisa Maza didn't come from nowhere. I PUT her in Gargoyles. And that was nearly thirty years ago. We need to do better, and we continue to strive to do better. And, meanwhile, we have increased the Muslim representation in YJ. Madia's role has expanded. Khalid Nassour joined the cast. We met his Muslim parents briefly. And we're only getting started, frankly. I can't promise you we'll get more seasons. So maybe our progress on this particular show will be arrested. But I'm not done (I hope). And I will continue to strive to do the best I can. Because this MATTERS to me. I promise you. And we're also learning to bring in more voices. More readers like the folks at MPAC and GLAAD and ASAN. More diverse writers. An increasingly diverse cast. Etc. We're a work in progress. But even that IS progress.

All of which is NOT to say that you need to agree with us, with me, with any of it. Again, I respect your point of view. The decisions we made still work for us. But I don't have any illusion that I can somehow TALK you into making it work for you. Your responses to what's on the screen are your own. And they're valid. Period.

Still, we've done everything in our power in Season Four to make sure that everything we do with the character of Halo is as respectful as possible going forward. We don't always succeed. I just hope you see that we're trying.

Greg responds...

#1 - Haven't given it any thought. I'd have to confer with Brandon for a final answer, but I'm leaning toward... yes or maybe no.

#2 - Not necessarily.

#3 - I try to remember to check things like that, but it's already hard enough, so I'm definitely not a stickler. I do try to get the times of sunsets and sunrises correct in various locations.

#4 - He was a public hero. I doubt it's a school subject. And I'm not sure I agree that Tigress didn't know about him. Keeping one's response close to the vest can be prudent.

#5 - Bart Allen. No one said he was posing as their grandson. Jay and Joan were his legal guardians. That doesn't mean they had to be blood relatives - even fictional blood relatives.

Greg responds...

1. He's more-or-less original. He's based on a model created for the Green Arrow Showcase short and a specific voice that I love, which actor Steve Blum has used for me in multiple series: Raythor (W.I.T.C.H.), Blackie Gaxton (The Spectacular Spider-Man), Zeb (Star Wars Rebels).

2. Yes. I'd love to do that. But there's no budget for it, generally. The YJ Wiki did a few using volunteer labor and volunteer voice actors. Here's one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42QKFkSy4DU

Oh, and what the heck, here's another: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N3Z2b-UlTE

Greg responds...

A. I've never done the research into this.

B. Nowadays? When he has time, I suppose. (And by "other Star City vigilantes," I assume you're talking about the Arrow Family.)

Greg responds...

I've never given it much thought. I guess the logistics of that don't interest me all that much. Beast Boy's legal guardianship was transferred to Megan Morse after the death of Rita Farr. There must have been an address of record. And Steve probably had some intel about Megan from his Doom Patrol days. It's not like Gar and M'gann never saw each other back then.

Greg responds...

1. Yep. Keep in mind, back in Season One, Robin was a public hero. BATMAN & ROBIN, the DYNAMIC DUO! Most people don't really get that this is a different Robin, anyway.

2a. Robin.

2b. The last Stephanie? Anyway, no. Stephanie's first - and so far only - nom de guerre is Spoiler.

2c. Spoiler and Orphan. There's only been one Batgirl to date: Barbara.

2d. Feels like I answered this already, but Spoiler joined in Team Year Eight. She also resigned from the Team in Team Year Eight. She rejoined in Team Year Nine. Orphan joined the Team in Team Year Nine.

3. If you mean the event at the U.N. when Batgirl was injured, it occurred in Team Year Eight.

4. That photo of the Team was taken in the Hall of Justice Library on the day - but just before - Red Arrow was officially inaugurated into the League. I mean, I shouldn't even tell you that. But all the evidence is there, including the winter clothes and the BG, so I figure it's pretty obvious.