Team H&H is a bit divided when it comes to the Team Gale and Team Peeta debate. That being said, the first teaser trailer for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire debuted last night during the MTV Movie awards and it looks like it is deviating a bit from the book, perhaps to the benefit of Team Gale? (Heather here: Don't leave out mention of the Katniss/Gale kiss, Chris!) It looks like we are going to see a bit more of the formation of the Quarter Quell and the machinations of Snow and his lackeys, which I'm OK with. It also looks like Prim is putting on her big-girl pants. What do you think? Do the changes look worth it to you?

Recently, game writer Ann Lemay wrote about how creating engaging female characters really shouldn't be an issue in regards to video games. (Her argument was covered pretty well by Jezebel.) As someone who does play video games, and has done so since Mario first saved Peach, I'd like to tell the gaming industry to get over themselves and their male-centric universe already.

One of the men behind the upcoming game, Remember Me, which stars a female protagonist, put it best. When asked about his heroine having a romantic interest in the game, and whether by having that heroine kiss a man he would be alienating his players, he answered with something along the lines of “if your sexuality is challenged by a character in a story you probably have bigger problems.”

I'd argue that games have been messing with our heads and playing with our concepts of gender and trope for a while now, whether or not us guy gamers would like to acknowledge that. So I've taken it upon myself to bring together a list of relatively recent and/or famous characters that any gamer should be familiar with and showing how those characters completly subvert the standard tropes. If you are a gamer, chime in, and if not and you know one, don't be scared of them. Often the stories behind these games are just as good as a favorite book. That being said, let's talk heroines.

[Let the games begin and all that…]

I suppose that you could say that we here at Heroes and Heartbreakers are…fans of the Avengers and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Whether it's the attraction between a pair of spies (Black Widow/Hawkeye, a.k.a. Clint/Natasha), or how comic book heroes make the perfect romance hero (or was that the other way around?) we are totally on board with the next slate of Avengers movies, which will be known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Phase 2. So to say that we are thrilled about this flurry of news that's hit the Internet recently about a certain spangly-suited captain is a bit of an understatement. Here's what we know:

• Robert Redford (You read that right: ROBERT. REDFORD.) has reportedly been cast as a new high-ranking official in super-secret spy organization, SHIELD, for the upcoming Captain America: Winter Soldier. The rumor is that he will be playing a mysterious man named Pierce, possibly a replacement for Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury as head of the organization. We here can only speculate that it might be a result of the…disrespect… Fury was showing the mysterious Council at the close of The Avengers.  (via Spinoff Online)
• Concept art from Winter Soldier was also released today showing Golden Boy Steve Rogers fighting a certain cybernetically armed enemy.  Without spoiling it for non-comic readers, this conflict should prove to be very interesting for the Soldier Out of Time. (via The Mary Sue )
• And finally, it's comforting to know that the Captain America sequel is officially filming as of today in Los Angeles. (via On Location Vacation)

That's all that we have for now. I know I'm excited about the upcoming Captain sequel—more so than Iron Man 3 or The Wolverine, but then I have a bit of a soft spot for Steve.  What about you, are you looking forward to more Chris Evans as Captain America time? Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark? The Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston Thor/Loki connection?

In the latest publishing news, author E.L. James is all set to publish her newest book. Reportedly, the book is to have originally been a fan-fiction story based on the characters of her wildly popular novel Fifty Shades of Grey. No word as to plot yet, but rumor is that this will be less contemporary and have a more paranormal lean to it. James has been spotted around her native England LARP-ing in the hope of really gaining a perspective on paranormal culture and interviewing fellow Tie-hards (not to be confused with the Twi-hards of Stephenie Meyer's series).

The news coincides with the announcement of casting Michael Buble in the titular role of the infamous Christian Grey and Kathy Griffin as ingenue Anastasia Steele. The movie is set to come out June 9, 2015.

...And a very merry April Fool's Day to all!

We here at Heroes and Heartbreakers HQ were just saying that we need more Hugh Jackman in our lives, and what do you know, the trailer for The Wolverine appears!  The Wolverine is the sequel to the not-so-well received X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but we got to say, so far it's looking exceptionally better.

It looks like Old Man Logan is going to Japan to reconnect with his past and it may be more than he bargained for. Comic fans know that it is in Japan that Logan meets his Japanese wife, Itsu, and they have their child Daken. However, it is also in Japan that Logan meets one of his biggest enemies, the Japanese Mutant, Kenuichio Harada, the Silver Samurai. What do you think, are you in? Will you go for the Jackman and stay for the action?

So by now we have all heard about it—what used to be spoken about in whispers and only in the company of certain friends is now openly flaunted: Fandom. Fandom has become a thing of power. With the success of Twilight fan-fiction turned novel Fifty Shades of Grey, people who weren’t aware of its existence before are now diving into the realm of fandom—both trying to understand it, and perhaps even participate. It is the latter that I would like to take the time with.

Maybe you are like me; into certain things, almost to the point of obsessively going over every bit of world-building and rumor that you can find. Or maybe you are just curious as to what goes into building a fandom. I took as my first foray into fandom one of my first obsessions, The X-Files. The year was 1993, and Fox Mulder and Dana Scully began their search for The Truth. What they started that day launched a whole universe of mythology and shipping.

[As they say, The Truth Is Out There…]

We here at H&H are fans of all kinds of heroes. Yes, even the crossbow-wielding hillbilly ones. We are also of the firm belief that said heroes deserve an HEA. But this raises a bit of an issue when the couple in question is living out the zombie apocalypse.

Many of us wonder, myself included, whether the Daryl/Carol relationship will ever amount to anything more than a few stolen glances and shy touches. While the people behind the show typically play things very close to the chest, Daryl actor Norman Reedus had this to say to Entertainment Weekly when asked about the possibility of Daryl finding happiness with Carol:

If it does [happen], lucky me. She’s awesome. She’s my favorite actress on the show. I mean, I like them all, but I’ve gotten to work a lot with her and know her vibe. If it happens, it happens. I want it to be awkward when it happens. I want it to be really awkward. I want her to make the first move.

But there's more. Reedus also doesn't believe that Daryl has ever been in anything resembling a healthy relationship, let alone with a woman, saying:

Maybe he got together with a couple of locals at one point or something, but I don’t think he was ever in any sort of serious relationship. So if [a Daryl/Carol romance] happens, great. If it doesn’t, great. I like the fact that we’re two damaged people and we sort of gravitate to each other. I like that. If it happens, right on.

(Read the full EW interview here.)

I think it is safe to say that we all are pretty excited about the prospect as well.

I've a confession to make. I, Christopher Charles Morgan, love cartoons. There is nothing nearly as comforting as cartoons when you are feeling crappy. During a particularly rough week in grad school, I remember just sitting up all night and watching Looney Tunes. And nothing sets things right like Elmer Fudd singing Wagner.  That's the thing; there is a certain quality about well-made cartoons that manage to capture everything great and pure about childhood. And there are few people out there that make better cartoons than Studio Ghibli's Hayao Miyazaki.

Founded in 1985 by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, Studio Ghibli has since put out some of the greatest cartoons ever. Miyazaki himself has been responsible for the majority of Studio Ghibli's success in the field. He focuses on creating modern fairy tales and translating popular western fairy tales and stories for a Japanese audience. While almost all of his films capture the essential sweetness and simplicity of childhood, there are three that capture romance and love at its most pure.

[Here come the feels…]

There is this wizard, you may have heard of him. I mean, he is in the book and all, AND he is the only professional wizard in Chicago, so you shouldn't have that hard of a time finding him.  You can also find him in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher.  We here at H&H have talked before about why Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden happens to be pretty great Boyfriend material. Even though his chosen profession may not be all that easy. But what about the series makes it great for Romance readers?

That question is surprisingly easy to answer, really. Because even though Harry's life is incredibly hard and Harry really isn't someone to be all that envious of in terms of living a life free of stress, he is surrounded by love of all kinds. So, dear romance readers, why should you read The Dresden Files? It's all about the love, of course.

[So conjure you up a cocktail and get comfortable…]

If you were a tween in the ’90s, chances are good that you remember K. A. Applegate’s middle-grade sci-fi/fantasy Animorphs series, whether you read the novels or watched the television show or both. After a few of us here at H&H HQ realized this*, we had a grand time talking about the golden days of Animorphs, only to stop and consider: Could Animorphs have been our first shifter romance story?!

The Animorphs, a long-running series of 54 books published between 1996 and 2001, is about a group of five human teenagers (later joined by one alien)—Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Tobias, and Marco—who stumble across an alien spaceship on their walk home one evening and are given the ability to morph, or shapeshift, into any creature they touch by the peace-loving alien who crash landed. They’re meant to use their powers to help battle an attempt to take over the Earth by a race of parasitic aliens known as Yeerks.**

Cool abilities that nevertheless can bring the angst, epic battle brewing that will literally determine the fate of the world...it’s actually kind of a familiar premise, right?

[When you put it that way...]

I've been thinking about this article for a very long time. Whether or not my fan-boyish squeeing would fall upon ears that just don't understand. Then something wonderful happened. In my Bromance post, user Clarketta brought up Dom and Marcus, one of modern gaming's more legendary bromances. And I knew it would be worth a shot.

Now, some of you might already be gamers, and if that's the case please feel free to share so in the comments. However, this article is directed to the romance fan out there that maybe has a significant other or child that plays games and they might be curious about it but have yet to take the plunge. I start with this, you should. Not only because it's incredibly fun, but gaming has come a long way since Mario saved the Princess, there are publishers out there that have focused entirely upon story-based gaming, and the best at this is the company known as Bioware, with one of their more popular titles being Mass Effect.

Set in a sci-fi setting, the Mass Effect trilogy is a role-playing game where the player takes on the role of elite marine, galactic super-spy/commando, and all-around bad-ass Commander Shepherd. As a player you have complete control of Shepherd. Want the good Commander to be a man with blond hair and a square jaw, done. Want a female commander sporting a pixie cut and blue eyes? Double done. You choose all of his/hers choices as she goes about saving all life in the universe from the technological horror known as The Reapers, helping a people doomed to wander the stars for their sins, befriending a barbarian race of aliens that knows little more than killing and destruction, and most importantly, who to develop a lasting, meaningful relationship with.

[Isn't that why we are all here, after all?...]

May old friends be forgot? We don't think so! We're celebrating our favorite reads with five days of the Best of 2012. We asked our bloggers for their favorite recommendations of 2012, with one stipulation, they had to be new to them and not necessarily new to 2012. We know we got a few recommendations to add to our to be read piles and it's a great way to feed those readers you hopefully got for Christmas!

Don't miss out on the shopping list for these great recommendations once you finish reading, and check out the recommendations from Day One, Day Three, Day Four, and Day Five, too! Click here to view the Day Two shopping list.

Rachel Hyland:

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
If there is any facet of the Fantasy genre I have never understood the fascination with, it is dragons. (Also, King Arthur.) But Rachel Hartman’s debut YA novel gives us such very different dragons, all dwelling in such a wonderfully-imagined, fully-realized world, that even my level of perplexed disinterest is easily overcome by her sheer cleverness. Told with an enchanting combination of outcast angst and amiable wit by our first person, titular narrator, we are immersed in political machinations, societal tension, complex familial relationships and yes, romance, and from the very first page the story just does not let up, or let go. Highly, highly recommended.

[King Arthur, YA, what could be next!]

In light of its recent sale to Disney, and the fact that I watched a six-movie marathon over the Thanksgiving holiday, I feel like now is a good time to visit a franchise almost as dear to my heart as The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. I am talking, of course, about Star Wars.

Now, just like Tolkien was doing PNR and sneaking romance in on us pre-teen boys long before we wanted to read kissing stories, Star Wars was prepping us for an appreciation of Romance even before our collective young minds where shattered by the revelation that *spoiler* Darth Vader was Luke and Leia's dad. Now, a lot of you out there were probably on to this before me because, well I'm slow, but I'd like to raise a glass to the romances of Star Wars: The Good, The Bad, and the Star-Crossed.

I will warn all of you that I am a bit of a purist when it comes to the Original Trilogy; my Han shot first and my aliens aren't computer generated. If you are a fan of episodes 1-3, I'm sorry. Not for the possible offense I might cause, but for the death of taste and child-like wonder you are bringing about in the world. Ha! I kid. Kind of... Now, onto the loving!

[Queue rolling yellow text wall…]

*****SPOILERS*****

Last week, Arrow brought some good things for shippers who don't like to wait—namely, some Oliver/Laurel smooching! Can “Legacies” possibly compare? Let's see!

(Need to catch up? Don't miss Tori Benson's thoughts on the pilot episode, Heather and Chris's episode 1.02 recap, or Chelsea Mueller's recaps of episode 1.03, episode 1.04, and episode 1.05. Plus, read Jennifer Proffitt's report on the Arrow cast panel at NYCC!)

Chris

What I find myself really liking about Arrow as a show is the attention the creators are giving to creating all the characters, not just Oliver. The depth of the supporting characters make it imperative for Oliver to go beyond just the “I'm going to kill all the things” point that he was at at the beginning of the show.

So far the Villains of the Week whom Oliver has faced down have either just been kind of flat/generic evil corporation owners, or serve as the embodiment of a lesson that Oliver himself has to learn. Which brings us to this week.

[Ah, yes, this week...]

The second episode of the CW’s Arrow, while not as compelling as last week's pilot episode, nevertheless made for an entertaining hour of television—and not just ‘cause there was more shirtlessness!

The Arrow, Undressed
Heather: I'm just gonna go ahead and admit that the eye candy is a large part of my investment in this show, as I suspect it my be for a lot of people. So in VERY IMPORTANT NEWS: This week Oliver once again strips down in a couple memorable scenes—the first for some training about 7 minutes in (methinks being the Green Arrow will require lots and lots of training—the gift that keeps giving) and the second about 27 minutes in (Ollie’s changing, his sister walks in, he asks why she didn’t knock, I wonder why he thinks it’s a good idea to change with the door open) for some talk about where those intriguing scars came from...or not talk about it, as the case may be.

[The strong and silent type, eh? I dig it...]

There exists a very special bond. You know the one. That particular kind of friendship that emerges from men that go through especially trying times together. That point where the only way to get over the next hill is by having that close friend right behind you, pushing all the way. And while this kind of connection is hard to define, we have come up with only one word to explain it in our limited language: The Bromance.

Now in no way is this list complete. I mean I'm no expert or anything. I've never experienced that true connection between Vishous and Butch—I know, I'm a bad person. This is just a short collection of some of my favorite Bros from some of my favorite genres.

[Feel the brotherly love…]

So this time around for the Gateway Experiment I had asked for suggestions for Romance books that cross genre boundaries. You guys did not disappoint. I seriously think the H&H community members should be THE go-to place for anyone looking for a good book. You guys are awesome—better than Goodreads at finding good books that stretch a guy just far enough out of the comfort zone to discover some great books that would have been otherwise overlooked. Okay, I think I may be done gushing over y’all for now. Maybe? Yeah, I’m done.

For this installment of the Gateway Experiment I read Ilona Andrews’s Bayou Moon. What initially caught my attention with this one was the mention of a Fantasy-like Cold War; well that, and I wanted to find out just what an “action-figure army” was.  I wound up staying for the great world building and incredibly fun characters. Seriously guys, if you want to introduce someone to romance, and break them in easy, I think this is right up there with Mr. Impossible, just appeals to different tastes. Where Mr. Impossible is that classic, old-Hollywood movie type feel, Bayou Moon is certainly the more action-movie.  Seriously I could go on for a while here.

[And I think I just might…]

Thanks to everyone for all the great suggestions for what to read next in the Gateway Experiment. I spent some time thinking about it and looked up the ones that caught my fancy. I finally decided on LegeArtis’s recommendation of Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews. Here’s her comment:

Ok, I thought about this...Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews has awesome story, bad-ass heroine and a hero I think every man would like to be friend with.

You have one big family feud, behind-the-curtains war between two countries led by spies and assassins with awesome gadgets, hero with impressive action figure army and heroine who has so much on her shoulders, but no luxury to go nuts about it. As if their lives weren’t complicated enough, they had to cross the swamp on a same boat...

The whole bad-ass comment caught my attention right off the bat, combine that with fantasy cold war and I’m sold. I was also curious about reading a book that was written by a husband/wife team. I’m curious to see if the hero reads more like a guy, if that makes any sense.

I’ll report back soon.  Stay tuned!