#I know the only one confirmed for next year is Spiderverse

[punkeropercyjackson]

Across the Spiderverse rewrite

Said i would do this in a few hours.ALMOST THREE MONTHS AGO.I am sorry,i'm so gods fuckdamn stupid💔💔💔

So a bit of Itsv first:It's an almost perfect movie so not much changed but i'm a firm believer in trans girl Miles so the franchise is called 'Spidergirl:Spiderverse' instead and Gwen cracked her egg in Into,Gwen is black/white mixed latina(dominican),Miles reveals her new name as 'Mirasol' as her last spoken line in it and Peni is shoujo themed instead of the moefication bullshit

The reason for Gwen and Mirasol's cosmic connection in Across is their transfemininity and being eachother's first ever trans girl friend and Mirasol is the reason Gwen managed to finally befriend other black girls in The Mary Janes and they're like sisters.Mirasol's been transitioning for 1 year but no meds were needed as her spider bite gave her her ideal apperance within a few months as it does all Spiderpeople and is pretty much radioactive gender affarming surgeries and hrt

The first few Ghostflower scenes play out mostly the same minus the romantic undertones but Hobie and Margo literally swing in on their city scene because they saw Gwen was gone and got worried so they sneaked off too so they could find her.Mirasol and Gwen nearly fall but Hobie and Margo catch them and then the roof talking scene is Mirasol getting to know the other two-they're The Core Four of the Spiderband and Hobie's first line is also the first thing he says to Mirasol:"Ay,Tinkerbell,you run out of faith and trust?You need a lil pixie dust?"

When they all go back to the Morales residence for Jefferson's party,it's revealed Mirasol did a small fib of Gwen being a 'friend from the web' i.e an online friend who she met and helped her realize she's trans,Margo is passed off as a school friend pretty easily and Hobie dosen't get a label put on him but Jefferson and Rio both think he's a secret boyfriend Mirasol's been hiding and this is why Jefferson dosen't like him rather than because he's a cop(househusband Jefferson au ftw)and why Rio DOES like him because she's so glad her Mija has taste instead of liking altie white boys.So she teases them about it and Hobie dosen't react too much and Mirasol is mostly just embarrased but subtly.There's a short montage of them demonstrating their powers to eachother as they take down random villains after sneaking off again and Gwen and Hobie show off to impress Margo and Mirasol

Straight after this,Peni arrives to tell them about the 50101 sitch and she's shifted to shonen like her world has-It's canon event(Spidergeddon)literally changed the and her structure.She went from sunshine to emo as per canon but it's explored in detail instead of a one-off shot and completely offscreen character development and i'll expand in a bit.When they're on Gayatri and Pavitr's dimension,there's actually no Spiderman yet and we're given a red herring that it's Pavitr but the one who gets bitten is Gayatri to reinforce 'Gwen Stacy dosen't have to be a fridged woman' and 'canon events are bullshit'.65 Gwen has a lot of feelings on this but tries to not make them Gayatri's problem and Pavitr is Spiderladdoo(Spiderwoman!Gayatri)'s guy in the chair.She calls him that after the mission is complete and he says 'I'm her guy in the chair' in a dreamy voice and with a goofy down bad grin on his face like she just called him her boyfriend

We then get to Earth 22191,Margo's dimension that's VR based and has secret post-apocalyptic origins like Hobie's only she knows about and it's a hidden trauma she carries that's revealed to the Spiderband who comfort her,but not before they have lots of gamer fun,including food and dressup game shenanigans,them playing as Gwen is so distracted flirting with Margo that she scores 0 points while Margo scores 200 flirting back and an Animal Crossing knockoff bit where Miausol(Meows)is confirmed and Hobie makes a quip about loving girls who're like cats.14512 is next up and things take a darker turn in tone as they work hard to bring it back to it's former glory with drop ins of japanese-american culture for representation and end up getting the first step to it and Peni violently glitches between artstyles as a magical girl transformation and shonen power up fusion and so she's a literal perfect inbetween inside AND out

And finally:Earth 138,Hobie's more or less home.We get to meet the comics Spiderband and there's lots of fun interactions between all of them as they get an adventure interesting enough to fill a 30 minute cartoon episode,including the reveal Hobie's dad is a deadbeat who bailed as soon as his mom divorced him but kept coming back to cause problems and Hobie dosen't care about him at all because his mom raised so well he dosen't need him but also believes she's been dead since he was 12 and it's revealed she's actually alive and this shocks him to his core with Mirasol being the only able to snap him out of it and he frantically says they have to find her and she promises him to while kissing him so close to his mouth you can't tell it's a cheek kiss at first look and he leans into while shaking as she says,"Hey,hey,hey,it's okay,Peter Pan-We'll get you your Neverland back."Both of Hobie's bands watch these scene wanting to join in but Riri tells them not to,saying 'I think Hobie's wants only one girl.Bout time,never thought he'd find more than zero'

At last:They arrive at Spider Society.Peter B(ft.Mayday)and Jessica greet them at the entrance after the grand reveal scene and there's a comical mix between scolding and wholesome moments and there were also some cutbacks to the Spiderparents between the Spiderkids to see what they got going on normally nowadays and included in this is an explanation of canon events and other Spiderlore that happens at the same time as the Spiderband's as intergenerational juxtaposition.Miguel's anger and reasonings have big buildup and we get to see more of Jessica and Peter B both by themselves,with eachother and with him and the Spiderman 2099 and Spiderwoman casts also get animated debuts in flashbacks.It's made clear Miguel dosen't hate Mirasol,he's just scared of all Anomalies she's causing and his words to her aren't nearly as harsh thanks to this but the fight still happens and he DOES use the word 'Anomaly' to describe her because it's too important in-universe and in a meta sense to the story's point to remove

Gwen also dosen't make up with George as character development but still 'betrays(not really)' Mirasol with the rest of the Spiderband not knowing about it either and that causes tension between her and them,Hobie the most but they still agree to follow her to Earth 42 because they love Mirasol that much.And a description given is 'This movie is for the forgotten Spiderpeople.This movie is also a love story between Mirasol and Hobie and i think that really brings it full circle'

[faithsreviews]

Review - Spiderman: Far From Home

I saw this movie the day after it came out and I absolutely loved it. I’ll write the quick review here at the top if you haven’t seen it and don’t want any spoilers, then there will be a more in-depth look at the movie itself with a huge spoiler warning beforehand.

So first, if you haven’t seen it at whatever point in time you see my review, watch it. Obviously after watching Spiderman Homecoming first, duh, watch things in order. The movie takes place after Avengers: Endgame, so watch that and Infinity War first as well. Of course I recommend that you watch the entirety of everything Marvel has ever produced but that’s just me. As for this movie, once you understand everything that came before it, it really stands out. I love Tom Holland’s portrayal of a nerdy but endearing Peter Parker, and that portrayal has only continued to be my favorite in this movie. The story is well-written and small hints at the twists that come later leave you with an uneasy feeling and the need to see what happens next. In my personal opinion, this is one of the top Marvel movies ever, up there with Black Panther and Spiderman Homecoming.

SPOILER WARNING: CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK OF SPOILERS

Now if you’re at this point, you’ve probably already seen the movie and are scrolling around just to see what others think of it. Clearly, I am a fan. So let me get into the reasons why.

1. The Characters.

As I said above, I love Tom Holland’s portrayal of Peter Parker. Toby Maguire’s Peter was nerdy, but his Spiderman just didn’t quite strike the right chord with me. Andrew Garfield’s Peter was a little nerdy, but he also seemed a little too cool at the same time, and his Spiderman was kind of a jerk instead of being funny. Not to mention neither actor looked like they were in high school at all. While Tom Holland is in his twenties, he looks the part and his Spiderman is both goofy and quippy and never stops talking, much like the comics. His Peter is nerdy and a little awkward, but that only makes him easier to relate to. (And yes, some of this probably has to do with the writing considering both Maguire and Garfield are very competent actors, but that’s another point).

Ned Leeds is, of course, a great character. He’s funny, supportive, and clearly very excited to be part of everything happening. Not to mention he is very smart. Come on, anyone who can hack Stark technology is someone I would even classify as a prodigy. Besides that, Ned is a great friend. While this movie doesn’t center on the friendship between Ned and Peter, the connection is still there, and really just shows that they each have their own goals and can still be friends while accomplishing them. Plus, these poor kids have been through a lot, given that so many of them were just gone for five years. Ned still manages to be happy and just a normal teenager, while still juggling his duties as “the man in the chair”. Honestly, can I just have Ned as a friend now please?

Now for one of my favorite characters. Michelle. Some people were a little disgruntled about the MJ reveal in Homecoming, but honestly why? Okay so she’s not a redhead, but it was a nice nod to the comics. Plus, you got Zendaya, why are you complaining? Anyway, MJ as a character was much more developed in this movie. The little glances between her and Peter throughout the entire first half are just adorable, and the fact that she figures out what Peter is hiding just makes me love her even more. She’s smart and she looks closely at what happens around her. Especially whatever is going on with Peter. And she immediately goes from finding out Peter is Spiderman to supporting him, and then she takes on a drone with a mace. I love this girl. And she’s sufficiently awkward around her crush without being too cringy. 

Obviously Happy and Aunt May are great, and seeing Fury, Maria Hill, and the Skrulls was very enjoyable. But then we have Mysterio.

2. A Great Villain

Mysterio was the perfect villain for this. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what direction they were going to take his character, even knowing he was a villain going into the movie. He’s nice, supportive to Peter, and Jake Gyllenhaal just really has a face you want to trust. The story of being from another dimension makes sense, mostly because Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse is on Netflix and I love it, so I really didn’t question it that much. Not to mention that he doesn’t look at Peter like he’s weird for being so excited about the multiverse idea. He just seems like a really cool guy who you’d want to be friends with, and I was hoping my feeling of something being off was wrong up until the moment Peter moves out of sight after giving up the glasses. I also checked with a friend who is not so heavily versed in the comic books to be sure my feelings of something being off wasn’t just because I knew him from the comics, and she confirmed they weren’t. 

3. The Ships

We have Ned and Betty, who are honestly kind of cute and maybe a little unnecessary, but honestly I love Ned so if he likes this girl I’m all for it. Plus the ending was a typical summer fling end. They dated, it was fun, now they’re mutually breaking up. Cool.

Then we have May and Happy, which I really enjoy if only because Peter’s facial expressions around the pair of them together are seriously hilarious. Who knows where they’re going from here, but I’m up for them being a couple.

And, of course, we have Peter and MJ. My friend and I were just quietly squealing at how adorable and awkward they were around each other. Peter is a sweetheart, as we all know, and the fact that he knows MJ’s favorite flower is just too precious. His whole plan is too sweet, and just makes it even more sad when it gets interrupted. Peter is worried about Brad moving in on MJ, but he’s not possessive about it, which frankly just makes it even better. And we the audience clearly see MJ is into Peter as well, considering she smiles when she catches him looking at her, and she’s just as nervous and awkward as he is. Plus we got not only one but three kisses for these two and it was just so adorable my friend and I had mini meltdowns in the theater because we were so proud of these two awkward babies. (Okay so they’re not that young I guess, but they are Sophomores, and I just think of my Sophomore friends and they’re just as adorable and I just... yeah).

4. The Fights

As always, the fight scenes are entertaining and you feel the real threat to the characters. Every time I remember that Peter is a Sophomore (which, horrible they all had to re-do the entire year), I have a mini freakout when he gets hurt because I remember the poor kid is just fifteen and I know fifteen-year-olds, and let me tell you if anyone hurt one of those kids I would be ready to battle. But Spiderman is always entertaining to watch as he swings around the bad guys, and watching him finally face down Mysterio and win made me want to cheer.

5. Iron Dad and Spider Son

Okay, so the fandom collectively decided that Tony Stark basically adopted Peter Parker, and nowhere else is it so obvious that Peter is basically his son and heir than in this movie. Of course there is the whole thing where Tony left him his glasses plus access to military-grade weaponry, which he said were left for the next Tony Stark, and then told the kid he trusted him. Yeah, ow, my heart hurt a little bit and I think that might have gotten a few tears. Peter’s momentary meltdown on the plane with Happy also got a few tears. But the thing that just completely got me into some real tears of sadness and emotions I can’t give a name to, was Peter building his new suit in the back of a plane to Tony’s music, and of course testing out the arm the same way Tony did when he created the Iron Man suit. He reminded me so much of Tony I had to take a few deep breaths to keep watching. And then in the street, instead of in a cave, Peter builds a way to get to Mysterio with nothing but scraps of what’s around him. 

So that’s my review. Add on your thoughts!

[callunavulgari]

Year-In-Life | 2019

Or that annual New Year’s meme about yours truly.

1. What did you do in 2019 that you’d never done before? Had abdominal surgery! I spent most of April either doped up or unconscious. Long story short, I had an ovarian cyst that they thought was twice as big as my fist. So they fast-tracked me to surgery, and discovered that while I did have an ovarian cyst that was pretty large, most of the issue was that my bowel had fused to my uterine wall. Or was it abdominal wall? Either way, my bowel was glued to where it shouldn’t be and very angry because it had a fairly large pre-cancerous polyp in it. Which I found out a week after the abdominal surgery, when I had to have a colonoscopy. Which leads me to...

Had to do three different bowel preps in less than a month! It’s really not fun, guys. But, I got a cyst removed, a polyp removed, a metric fuckton of endo removed, and got my bowel back where it should be. Also, they confirmed that I can have babies! Which I didn’t know I was so fucked up about until I started crying about it post surgery.

Oh, also I peed in a bedpan. That’s also something I’ve never done before. And and and, been sick on Christmas! - Adding Tanya later in this post means I remembered something else I’d never done before - jumped into a pool fully dressed. Then became... no longer dressed.

2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Still don’t remember what my resolution was which- hey, 2020 Heather! Your 2019 resolution is to legitimately lose weight (she says while eating cotton candy ice cream out of the tub) and quit smoking again. Also, maybe be engaged. But mostly, the weight and the smoking thing. 

As for 2019 resolutions- I can guess what they were, which probably boiled down to losing weight. I put on about 20 pounds after surgery and haven’t lost it, because shocker, abdominal surgery really fucks with your core strength. Pretty sure there was something in there about reading 100 books (done), beating 4 games (done), and write something original (done? technically?) and/or novel-length (negative). 

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? High school people and a few old coworkers. Nick’s cousin and his wife just had their third kid though. I think it may have actually happened on Christmas. 4. Did anyone close to you die? No.

5. What countries did you visit? Alternatively, what is your favorite place that you did go this year? No countries. Went to North Carolina for our possible last beach vacation. In January we’re going to Vegas for our friend’s wedding, which will be interesting. They’re getting married on a ferris wheel by an Elvis impersonator. May also go to Maine this year, but not sure yet because I only have a certain amount of vacation time. 

6. What would you like to have in 2020 that you lacked in 2019? Didn’t get a ring, yet. But we’ll see. We also didn’t get the house yet, so lets recycle those wants! Also, while we’re shooting big here, how about a better goddamn president?

7. What date from 2019 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Started my second big girl job on November 18th. Had surgery on April 12th. Not a whole lot else stands out. 8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Got a new job! With more money and more responsibility and will look really good on a resume! Didn’t kill myself? Which sounds pretty morbid, but I had a lot of pain in my life earlier in the year. 

9. What was your biggest failure? Not... losing... weight? Because I really need to do that. The heartburn bullshit will likely go away. The sleep apnea thing will likely go away. Your health in general will improve. And you don’t even like food that much anyway!  10. Did you suffer illness or injury? I think I’ve had the flu twice this year and again, abdominal surgery, so yes. 11. What was the best thing you bought? I got nice clothes? Most of the other shit has been knick-knacks. I got more books. A new bookshelf!  12. Whose behavior merited celebration? I don’t know. Mine, I guess. I mean, 2019 wasn’t the worst, but it definitely has not been great.  13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? I have a friend. Let’s call her Amanda. Yeah, her. She’s blown us off a lot this year, which really sucks. The rest of it is her own decisions that only affect us because it’s inevitably going to affect her in a terrible way, but the blowing us off and only using us as passes for free food and ways to do her laundry really sucks.

14. Where did most of your money go? Surgery! My OOP may have been met in April, but the surgery itself was $48,000. I’ve only had to pay about $6,000 because my OOP was 5k, but that still hurts. And my dental sucks, which means I paid out of my ass to fix my teeth. Also, I bought way too many clothes and books. 15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? I do still appreciate having a job with decent money. The new job will have insurance after my 90 day probation period (yeah, because you can’t have health care for 3 months even if you work in health care because you’re new). I’m glad that I caught the polyp before it became cancerous. I was happy I could have babies. I got excited about the new His Dark Materials series and The Witcher series and Kingdom Hearts 3 and God of War, and probably at least a couple other fandom things.

16. What song will always remind you of 2019? Face My Fears. Curse of the I-5 Corridor. Hadestown soundtrack. Transistor soundtrack. Wasteland, Baby! album. Billie Eilish in general. Lark of My Heart. But mostly, Face My Fears and Don’t Think Twice. 17. Compared to this time last year, are you: i. happier or sadder? Sadder, probably? 2019 wasn’t great. ii. thinner or fatter? Fatter.  iii. richer or poorer? Technically probably on par with where I was last year? I didn’t save quite as much as I wanted to with the surgery happening. Also, my car needed some pricey repairs this year. 18. What do you wish you’d done more of? I do wish I’d written more this year, but I wrote a lot in October. Possibly more than the last two years combined, which was nice. And I read a lot. I kind of wish I slept more. Or ate better. Or worked out more. I’m just really tired this year.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Spent less time with doctors? But I mean, taking care of myself is good and I’ve never had that option before.

20. How will you be spending Christmas? Spent it mostly sleeping. We got a bug that was either a really bad cold or a flu, so I’ve spent the last week generally shitty and sweaty and tired. First year that we haven’t been able to do Christmas basically at all. But we spent the hours between 6pm on Christmas Eve and 10am Christmas morning have the most restless goddamn sleep in the world and then opened presents and watched Love Actually and some television (the last two episodes of the Witcher!) while kind of napping on the couch, and ordered Chinese because it was hungry and the only thing open. 21. How will you be spending New Year’s Eve? Think I’m going to make the pirozki on Sunday, and then we’re doing a gift exchange with some of our friends at his mom’s house. 22. Did you fall in love in 2019? Eh. Still love him.  23. Best month for you this year? Clearly me having a good 2018 while everyone else had a shitty one guaranteed 2019 to be shit, because I honestly don’t fucking know. October was nice. So was August. But fuck most of the rest of it.

24. What was your favorite TV program? Of just 2019? Russian Doll, Glow, The Dragon Prince, Good Omens, Schitt’s Creek, The Terror, Chernobyl, Buzzfeed Unsolved, She-Ra, His Dark Materials, The Witcher... 2019 may have been a meh year, but it had some good shows. Of those, I think my favorite was probably either The Witcher or Good Omens, with His Dark Materials, Russian Doll, and The Terror tying for third. 25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Eh.

26. What was the best book you read? Red, White, & Royal Blue was probably my favorite. I also read Sanderson’s books this year though, which were also absolutely amazing. Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive were wonderful. It was a pretty great year for books too. Books and TV, well done 2019. Middlegame, The Ninth Gate, a lot of rereads. Best one was still Red, White, & Royal Blue though. 27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Do Utada Hikaru’s new Kingdom Hearts anthems count? Because Spanish Sahara by Foals, Obstacles by Syd Matters, the new Hozier album, and the Hadestown soundtrack were all wonderful musical discoveries. 28. What did you want and got? I don’t know. New clothes? A laptop? Confirmation that my ovaries work?

29. What did you want but didn’t get? Well, I lost the bet with Brandon. No ring by the end of 2019. No kids, either, but we aren’t quite there yet. No house. No perfect health? Is that a thing?

30. What was your favorite film of this year? I liked Into the Spiderverse a lot. Detective Pikachu. Rocketman.Frozen 2. Endgame was all right. I didn’t hate the new Star Wars. Toy Story 4. IT. It wasn’t a super great movie year for me.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? The big 3-0. It was all right. The night before we went to Fujiyamas with a couple of our friends, then on my birthday we had breakfast at First Watch, did some Christmas shopping, and went to the Zoo Lights a little after 5. Froze to death because it was snowing and shocker, when snow melts you get wet, but it was nice. Then had a late dinner at Mackenzie River, because it was one of the only places still open and close to our place.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Hah! A better president and a ring is the only thing that I didn’t get from my wishes last year. ----Hmmmmm 33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2018? I did not give up and buys Scrubs. Instead I have a perhaps slightly oversized work appropriate selection of jeans (for Fridays), work slacks, blouses/sweaters, dresses, and skirts. I spent a little too much on clothes this year. I blame discovering Torrid. 34. What kept you sane? Reading was really, really great this year. - STILL leaving this answer, three years running! 35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? David Tenant made a shocking comeback after Good Omens aired. 36. What political issue stirred you the most? FUCK DONALD TRUMP IN THE EAR 20156789. —– Ayyyyy, this was my response from last year, and apparently also the year before and the one before! Hello past me’s, don’t worry, it’s still getting worse. 37. Who did you miss? Myself. Also, my brother, who is still in jail almost a year later and still no fucking trial. 38. Who was the best new person you met? I don’t know. Oh! I do know! I really like Tanya. 

39. Talk about a new friend that you made this year: Tanya is awesome and pretty and fun and possibly at least a little bit crazy, but we all fucking are, come on. She got to come with us on vacation this year and it really made it interesting. Also, Shay and Alicia. I knew them last year, but got to know them pretty well this year.

40. Post a picture from the beginning of the year:

Took this one about 20 minutes after midnight on January 1st, 2019 after my first successful round of Battleshots. The hat went to the winner. It is not the most flattering picture, because I had been drinking already before I had to take four shots of Satan’s cinnamon liquor.

41. Post a picture from the end of the year:

Taken on my birthday, at the zoo. Again, snow melts.

42. A memorable meal discovered this year? Not sure? There’s not a whole lot of new food we haven’t tried. One of the pharmacists brought in some authentic Indian food for one of the potlucks we had and I don’t remember what it was called but it had rice and eggs and was amazing.

43. What was your favorite memory this year? I don’t know. We saw both Hamilton and Les Mis this year and they both reduced me to tears. I also had some good moments with books and tv shows I watched with Nick.

44. What are you excited for next year? There’s a couple new books. The election. Some tv shows, I think? Games? I don’t know, man. I’m trying not to come off as horribly depressed but I am kind of pretty depressed and nobody will ever know because the only person who ever gets this far into reading these things is me, so- hello 2020 me, you were really sad on December 26th 2019 and honestly for most of the year, so I sure hope 2020 is the year that we fucking seize life by the horns or however that saying goes.

45. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2019: I feel like my message from last year is fucking taunting me. Legit though, this is not the worst thing you’ve ever been through. You have a boyfriend who loves you, two wonderful cats that better not fucking die anytime soon, and like, I don’t know, working ovaries. A job. A car. An apartment that has a kind of shitty kitchen and a bath tub that might as well not exist, but is still an apartment! Which is more than some people have! 

I guess my message from last year (it gets better) is in almost direct opposition of this year, which is basically: it could always be worse. 46. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: Feed me sunlight, feed me air In a place where nothing matters Feed me truth and feed me prayer

(seriously, deliriously happy 2018 me quoting singin’ in the rain is taunting me wtf)

First Fandom of 2019: January of 2019 was pretty solidly Detroit Become Human. It hit me hard. Favorite Main Character of 2019: Jonathan Sims. I was a slut for the Archivist in 2019. Favorite Villain of 2019: Elias from The Magnus Archives, maybe? My only other response would be.. dun dun dun, Ben Solo aka Kylo Ron or whatever Favorite M/F Couple of 2019: I... am back on my Reylo bullshit. Favorite F/F Couple of 2019: Can I say Villanelle and Eve even if I didn’t really dip into the fandom? No? Okay, Catra and Adora. Favorite M/M Couple of 2019: Okay, so the three that got me this year was Hank/Connor, Jon/Martin, and Ryan/Shane.  Fandom That You Never Expected To Get Into: Um, Buzzfeed Unsolved. Never would have guessed that one. Also like, while I would have expected Detroit Become Human I never would have guessed my favorite ship. Fandom That Made An Unexpected Comeback: Sigh. Twas that Reylo smacking me in the face at the tail end of 2019. Fandom That Inspired The Most Crack: Insert shrug? I read a weird Buzzfeed Unsolved fic above Mothman giving the guys sharable dreams (that were sometimes weird and sometimes sexy) until they boned. Last Fandom of 2019: Sighing again. Reylo. Though Yuletide has made it so I’ve read a lot of Queen’s Thief stuff. Favorite Fandom of 2019: I think that Buzzfeed Unsolved was my favorite purely from a fic standpoint, but Detroit Become Human and The Magnus Archives were both really great too.

[mrnerdteacher]

Everything “Wrong” with  Spider-man: Far From Home

Could a Spider-man movie ever live up to the genre-defying excellence that is “Into the Spiderverse?”

No, probably not. Does that mean that the latest entry into the MCU is a bad film? Far from it! (heh). But that’s not to say that a number of things about this movie didn’t rub me the wrong way. So, submitted for your disapproval, here is my list of everything “wrong” with FfH, in order of appearance (or lack thereof), accompanied by gifs of Tom Holland looking as lost and confused as I was.

LOTS OF SPOILERS AHEAD

#1) No Hannibal Buress or Donald Glover cameos- I believe this requires no explanation

#2) EVERY named classmate from Homecoming got blipped- We all know it’s a little too convenient. Moving on.

#3) The Iron Spider suit is benched- Was it recharging? Feels like it was written out for being too useful… If someone can explain this, please let me know.

#4) Brad Davis is Going on the Trip- Five years passed. Shouldn’t he be AT LEAST in college by now?

#5) The camera lingers on a Tony Stark memorial in EVERY location visited- We get it. We’re all sad. PS; Where’s the tacky window decal memorial?

#6) “To the next Tony Stark I trust you”- HUH? Do all Starks need to speak in post-mortem riddles?

#7) E.D.I.T.H. is O.P.- Giving a high schooler access to orbital satellite weaponry. Great idea Tony. Ultron was a safer bet.

#8) The Multiverse- No explanation is ever offered for how Quentin supposedly got to our Earth. And we’re supposed to just accept it. Okay. Sure.

#9) “Fury’s” Motives- First he FORCES Peter to join the fight by endangering children, THEN berates Peter for not being ready to fight. Jesus, dude.

#10) Enough with the Generic, Nameless CG villains- Literally and figuratively contrived monsters make for meta-commentary but boring fight scenes.

#11) What if Peter just lost the glasses?- Because a bumbling teenager with a messy room would never do that.

#12) Quentin Beck uses his real name?- This is all but confirmed when control of Edith is transferred to him, but did NO ONE Google him first?

#13) Avengers Level Threat- If “Fury” actually thought the world was at stake, why REFUSE to call in more help?

#14) The Projector Still Works- ...and it displays the Elemental illusion almost perfectly. This is almost literally a deus ex machina (if only on a visual level).

#15) What happened to Dmitri?- He disappears in the third act, and while some say he was the Chameleon, I think that’s giving too much credit.

#16) Peter Tingle- An overused joke, but it’s like the writers nerfed this ability until it was needed to win the day.

#17) Post Credits Scenes- They were amazing, but is putting THIS much story development after the credits a bit of a dick move? You tell me.

Let me end by saying that I still ultimately enjoyed FFH despite all the nitpicks listed above, which probably speaks to the quality of the film as a whole.

[fruitful-blogger]

BITES of Spider Life!

Inspired by the BEAUTIFUL Sanders Sides/Spiderverse AU by @ask-spiderverse-virgil and @sugarglider9603!

Summary:

When you're bitten by a genetically-altered and probably radioactive spider, things in life tend to get a little complicated. Follow Virgil Storm, Roman Marigold, Logan Quinn, Patton Foster, and a whole slew of other spider-people and spider-related people as they deal with life, love, and the occasional robot army trying to take over New York.

Just another Tuesday for our teenage Spiderlings.

(Fluff and Slices of Life!)

Chapter 1: Grandma’s Old Friend (Ao3)

           Virgil tumbled out of bed that morning, yawning up a storm as he rubbed his eyes. He had yet to do his make-up even as his favorite P!ATD shirt and black jeans were on his body. His suit sleeves peaked out, and his Spidey hood hung out, but it didn’t really matter because it was just Grandma and him today. His dad had headed to Tallahassee for the weekend for a business conference, so his parents were using it as a bit of a break for the two of them. Grandma Storm had long ago figured out that Virgil was Spidergale, and it was confirmed after he’d passed out post panic attack while in suit. Thomas had brought him home, and that’s when everything had been confirmed.

           Today was Saturday, and, even if Virgil had slept in, he was still tired. He and Patton had been on the patrol schedule last night, and what should have been a normal Friday night of purse snatchers and minor theft, of course the Mysterio had to cause all sorts of chaos. Thomas had been out of town, across the country even for a Youtube thing, so it was all hands on deck for the Spiderlings. After dismantling his army of robot monsters (worthy of the Hollywood big screen) and disarming hallucinatory gas bombs all across the city, they’d finally webbed up Mysterio and handed him over to the police around 2 am. They’d stuck around long enough to get the police there, and then there was a LONG ride home. Of course, webbing had run out and Logan’s legs were damaged, so, all around, they were just done. They took the subway home, and, thankfully, most people were just used to weird things like people in hero costumes late at night on a Friday. Virgil had climbed through his bedroom window around 3 am, taking long enough to toss off his costume and grab a make-up wipe to get rid of the last bits from his face before crashing hard.

           He flung himself into the chair that still held his favorite hoodie from yesterday as Grandma Storm pat his head before handing him a bowl of Pho and a cup of coffee. Virgil’s head floated up at the smell. Grandma didn’t always make Pho, but, when she did, it was to die for. “Waited up a while with the news on last night. Last I checked in, you and the boys were fighting a dinosaur?”

           “Yup. That happened.” Virgil noted as he sipped the coffee first. “We beat it and got Mysterio in the end. Sorry for keeping you up, Grandma.”

           She waved her hand. “No worries, một chút. I was your age at one point, and I had plenty of adventures.” Virgil nodded. Grandma had some crazy stories from her younger years, and Virgil was sure it was only half the story. After all, she had pieced together Virgil and his friends’ alter egos within a few months of them going public. “You’re ok?”

           Virgil shrugged. “A little bruised, but I’m already half-healed. Nothing too bad.”

           “You should get more sleep.” She waved her finger at him. “And eat something. You’re as thin as a grass blade, and you look tired.”

           “Gee, thanks Grandma.” Virgil threw as he rolled his eyes, finally eating his Pho. “I have to meet my project group at the library at one, and, no, it’s not Patton and Roman. Logan and I have a group project with some kids over a history PowerPoint.”

           As if being summoned, there was a knock at the door. Before Virgil could even get up, Grandma was up and walking towards the door. When she opened it, Logan was standing there, looking mostly put together. Mostly, because, if you knew the kid, you could pick out that he was as tired as Virgil. His tie was missing, even as he wore a polo and cardigan, his jeans clean but not neatly pressed as normal. A few hairs fell from their neat comb.

           “Good day, Grandma Storm.” Logan greeted. Logan and Virgil had grown up together, so it was easy for the teen to adopt the other grandma as his own. “Is Virgil ready to go? If we are to make the bus, then we must get going.”

           “No, I think not.” Grandma stated as she guided Logan in. Even as he tried to protest, she was quite strong for age and, of course, stubborn. “I’ll give you money for a cab. You need a break and some food as well.” She chided as she somehow got Logan’s backpack away from him and wiggling him into his seat. “I’ll get you coffee and food. You need it.”

           “Grandma, please…”

           “No, listen to Grandma and eat.” She insisted.

           Logan sighed as he accepted defeat. He removed his glasses to rub his eyes, and, honestly, it was somewhat of a relief as he got to rest his bones and smell the homey food of a loving grandma.

           While the two boys were eating, Grandma moved around the apartment with an ease of a woman half her age, cooking up some sweets and began to brew her special tea. She pulled out a nice blouse as she went to the laundry room, the iron plugged in.

           When Virgil woke up enough, he looked to his grandmother. “Grandma, what are you up to?”

           She looked back at her grandson and smiled. “Oh! I guess in the excitement, I forgot to mention that an old friend of mine managed to make time to come over today. He’s very busy most days, and he owes me some tea and gossip. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him.”

           Virgil nodded. He’d met plenty of Grandma’s friends before. Some were downright odd, but most were cool. They’d share some crazy stories that Virgil was sure were exaggerated, but he would nod at the right points before slipping away to ‘do homework’ or something. Grandma understood that he got anxious around new people.

           Soon enough the two finished eating, and Grandma Storm stuffed a twenty into Virgil’s hands before shooing them off with a few extra sweets to their project time.

           Logan and Virgil had gotten to the library, where they found their group mates of Brittney, Janet, and Robert. Robert was a bit of a douche the whole time, dragging his feet and trying to flirt with Janet. Janet, meanwhile, was getting annoyed with him, wanting to focus on the project. Eventually, Brittney told Robert to shove it, because Janet was too nice to say so, and Logan offered to swap with Janet so that Virgil was between her and Robert. Virgil offered to let her listen to his music, what with the Panic! At the Disco and MCR patches on her backpack.

           Robert THEN tried to start shit with Virgil, but Virgil just reminded him that he was dating Roman, something Robert had completely forgotten.

           It was really ridiculous, and Virgil and Logan were almost happy when the library shook, sirens off outside as a supervillain was attacking their city once more.

           The study session was cut short. Logan had managed to patch his legs, and web fluid was replenished. The Fantastic Four were dealing with Doom once again, so most of the heroes on scene were at street level, helping people out of collapsing buildings and making sure everyone was safe. Arachne and Spidergale kept their sector of the city safe until Doom was foiled.

           After that, the other teens had called it, but Patton, worrying as much as Virgil, had asked if they could meet up after. Since Thomas had taken MJ with him to California, they opted instead to meet at a midway point – Logan and Virgil’s apartment building.

           They met on the roof, hugging the hell out of one another just because, before they threw on some normal clothes. Cutting through the rooftop door that Logan had long picked open for them, they took a few levels down, Roman clutching Virgil’s arm as Logan and Patton’s hands swung between them. When Virgil wiggled his keys into the lock and popped the door open.

           The four took off their shoes as they entered, but Roman noticed something odd. “Wow, I didn’t know I was rubbing off on you. This is so retro.” Roman threw to Virgil as he spotted the leather jacket in the closet. It was old and worn with age and love.

           Virgil blinked as he nudged next to Roman. “Dude, that’s not mine. I’m pretty sure two of me could fit in it.”

           Roman pulled it out, holding it up. Compared to the lithe Virgil, it was very large. “Yeah… Can I have it?” Roman shrugged the jacket on, which was still too big on him (but not as large as it would have been on Virgil). “Think it fits my look?”

           “It’s very nice!” Patton agreed.

           “Didn’t your grandmother mention that she was having guests today?” Logan reminded. “I bet that belongs to her friend.”

           “Her friend has taste.” Roman threw as he put the jacket back on the hook. “Where is my second favorite Storm, anyway?”

           “She’s gotta be around here somewhere.” Virgil noted. He entered the house proper with his friends when the door behind them wiggled. “Oh, maybe she went to check on the…” Virgil began when the door opened.

           In the doorway was a young, fit man, no older than his mid-thirties, but he was built like a god. Blond hair was gently tussled as the blue and red of his plaid shirt was doused with some dust from concrete. His sleeves were rolled, arms chiseled and lightly sheened in sweat. His jeans didn’t leave much to the imagination, curved gluts and strong legs all about. His face was a work of art, and it was a work of art that all of the boys knew.

           “Cap-Captain America?” Patton stuttered. Roman’s mouth was moving, his brain having come to a complete halt as the Gay was too much. Virgil, meanwhile, was clutching his boyfriend’s arm, worried that the hero had somehow pieced together their identities and was there to turn them over to SHIELD or tell them to stop or SOMETHING. Patton was also having some Pan panic at the site of the man, while Logan’s brain was running through different facts and figures and generally having an error noise because two plus two was not equaling four.

           “Ah, glad you could make it back so fast, Stevie.” Grandma Storm rounded the corner with a tray of sweets. “Boys, I want you to meet my old army buddy, Steve Rodgers. Steve, this is my grandson, Virgil, and his little friends, Roman, Patton, and Logan.”

           “Hey kids.” Steve rubbed the back of his neck before offering a hand to shake. “Virgil, right? Your grandmother was just telling me about you.”

           “Uh.” Virgil raised his hand, setting it in the other man’s hand and shaking it. “I hope it was, uh, good?”

           “Holy shit.” Roman shook Virgil as he got his hand back. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me that your grandma knew Steve Rodgers. THE STEVE RODGERS! You are the WORST boyfriend EVER!”

           Virgil blinked before swatting at Roman. “I just found out, too, you idiot!”

           “I like your sweater, kid.” Steve complimented to Patton. “Admittedly, I’m more of a dog person.” He noted, the sweater having been cat themed.

           “I LOVE puppies!” Patton cheered. “But I love kitties, too. And all the baby animals! They’re just so CUTE!”

           Logan rolled his eyes. “Never mind that he is ALLERGIC to cats.” Logan offered a hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Captain Rodgers. I am Logan Quinn.”

           Logan shook the man’s hand, and, even though the thought was purely illogical, he momentarily entertained never washing that hand ever again.

           “I’m Patton!” Patton said but, before he could offer a hand, he pulled Steve into a tight hug.

           Steve felt the air nearly knocked out of him at the boy’s strength, but the hug was… actually very pleasant. He couldn’t actually remember the last time he got a really strong, good hug that just made him feel comforted, protected. He was usually the strong one, so he had to reel it in. “Woah.” Steve laughed as he hugged the kid back, being careful not to squish him (though he entertained that it would probably do little damage). “I’m guessing you’re a hugger.”

           “Mm-hm! Oh, sorry!” Patton released the man. “I should have asked, first, but I just got so excited! You’ve saved the day, like, a bunch of times! You’re like my third favorite hero!”

           “Third, hm?” Steve smirked. “Who’s one and two?”

           “Logan and Rainbow Weaver.”

           Logan blushed brightly. “We get it.” Logan clapped, even as his face was beat red. “You’re ad-or-a-ble.”

           Steve laughed, throwing back his head. He turned back to the emo boy and the excitable teen shaking him. “Roman, yes?”

           Roman stopped, staring at the man. “Yes! I am Marigold. Roman! Roman Marigold! Actor extraordinaire, future Broadway star…”

           “Sir Sings-a-lot.”

           “Virgil I love that nickname and I am KEEPING IT!”

           “That sweat pea is my grandson’s boyfriend.” Grandma said as she set the sweets down. “Since you all seem so excitable, I’m guessing that you all are fine from that rumble.”

           “Doctor Doom was at it, Grandma.” Patton nodded. “Do you need any help with the tea or sweets? I have a new recipe that I could whip up in a jiff!”

           Patton made sweets as the four boys ended up listening to the two older folks talk about old stories back from the early 20thcentury, Virgil once again wondering how old EXACTLY his grandma was (she was always so vague). Logan, of course, asked a ton of questions, but none were about super heroics or the like, but instead he was just curious about life back then. Patton offered to make some cookies for Steve to take on the road, and Roman was honestly the biggest Gay disaster the whole time. When Steve, somewhat embarrassed, mentioned his time as a stage performer, Roman snapped out of it and wanted to reenact parts. Roman’s enthusiasm proved to Steve that he wasn’t doing it for shits and giggles but was honestly awed by something Steve thought was so silly. Virgil was mostly an avid listener to the people around him, fully relaxed in the presence of his friends, family, and one of the world’s greatest heroes.

           Of course, once Roman had snapped from his panic, he’d ALSO wanted pictures, which Patton enthusiastically agreed with. Of these pictures, one goofy one in a hand-made frame found itself sent to a certain hero via snail mail, which he hung on his wall and smiled at when he passed. Another wound up on a certain Princey’s Instagram, instantly going gangbuster and gaining him about 100 followers in the span of an hour. Another found its way to the cellphone of a Youtuber about to get on a flight home, which gained, of course, confusion and also some similar gay fawning from the recipient and his boyfriend.

           Grandma Storm had Virgil print them all off so she could put them in a box with all her old war photos, many showing the Howling Commandos at their peak, her and Grandpa amongst their ranks. She’d let slip to Virgil someday about how and why she was there, but, for now, that was a story for another time.

           One thing was for sure, though – Steve was in love with Patton’s cookies and couldn’t wait to visit the Storm household again.

[redrikki]

I saw Into the Spiderverse yesterday and I have some thoughts

First off, the animation was just amazing. I loved how it pinged between straight up comic book and almost photo-realistic. The use of thought bubbles and visual sound effects (BAGEL!) was great. The scene where Miles jumps and the city flips so it looks like he’s falling up was the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in a theater all year, if not ever.  And don’t even get me started on the visual craziness that was the final battle. 

Things I loved in no particular order:

I love Miles. I love the way he wanted to leave his mark on the world, but struggled under the pressure to be what his dad and his teachers wanted. I love his art and his science jokes and his very honest reaction to trauma. His relationships with his dad and his uncle and Peter were all wonderful and touching in entirely different ways. Heck, even his brief, thirty second relationship with his universe’s Peter was wonderful.

Speaking of Peter, we got canon confirmation that he (at least one version of him) is a nice Jewish boy. It’s not just subtext anymore, baby! You break that wedding glass, boy. I loved Peter’s dad bod and how comfortable he was with his powers and hero-ing while simultaneously failing at all other aspects of his life.

Actually, I loved all the Spider-people. I loved Gwen and how her friendship with Miles healed her lonely soul. I loved edgelord Peter Noir with his rain-scented wind and taste for egg creams and Nazi punching. I would have loved to see more of Spider-Ham and Peni, but they did both have some great moments. Peni just going to town with one of the broken off legs from her destroyed mecha said pretty much everything you needed to know about her.

I loved Aunt May who made gadgets to protect her boy, but lost him anyway. I loved that she knew Liv (only her friends call her that) and defended her home with a baseball bat. Her reaction to seeing Peter B., and his to her, were just deliciously painful.

I loved the little gasp from the woman sitting next to us when she realized Uncle Aaron was the Prowler.

I loved all the little details and shout outs to the Sam Rami films, not to mention all the comics. Peter gave Miles the same advice about disinfecting the mask as he did in the Spidermen crossover. How could I not love that?

I will own this movie when it comes out on DVD. I may even pay to see it in theaters again, something I have only done once. It was just that good. Seriously, if you have any feelings about Spider-Man, go see this movie.

[enigmatist17]

First Meeting (Aunt May and Spider-Noir)

For some reason I cannot fall asleep, so have this.

Also, for the most part, I don’t really care for Spiderman. Like, I don’t hate him as one, I just find the fact they only use the “dorky spiderman who doesn’t know wtf he is doing/is only a smartass’ version is really. relly. boring. Into The Spiderverse however was just....gorgeous. Also, Spider-Noir is my bae, and Nicholas Cage did such a good job with him wtf. 

Oh, also minor spoilers. 

Peter Parker of Earth-90214 had no idea what to think of the world he had been thrust into. One moment he was pursuing some gangsters with connections, the next he was slamming into a large electric billboard in the middle of Times Square. The cars and bustling people below were all strange, Peter quickly moving up and out of sight. The cover of night aided in his exploration, soon coming across a neighborhood that was all too familiar. The one house that had been his destination differed from all of the others on the street. An impossibly large group of people were surrounding a woman in the middle, murmuring prayers and words of comfort. It took only a glance to confirm it was a version of Aunt May, the faint trail of tears on her cheeks making his stomach churn. A quick look around into various homes showed the news on large electrical screens.

SPIDERMAN FOUND DEAD. IDENTIFIED AS 26-YEAR-OLD PETER PARKER.

Well, that was...strange.

Honestly, Peter wasn’t sure what to think. In this world, he was dead, a thought that shook him to his core. How many other Peter Parkers had died? How many of them were as young as this one?

No time for those thoughts, they would only continue to derail his mission.

Settling down for a wait, Peter watched as the crowd finally began to disperse into the late hour. May looked absolutely exhausted and burdened, Peter deciding it was time to move. Without a sound, he jumped down from the tree, hands in his pockets as he approached her from behind.

“Please...I wish to be alone.” May sighed when she heard someone approach from behind. “Thank you for all of your kindness, but I would like to be alone…”

“No one should mourn alone.” The person spoke, a hand gently placed on her left shoulder. Turning, May’s eyes widened at the monochrome man that stood beside her, a familiar yet foreign shaped Spiderman mask looking down at her. The two merely looked at each other for a few moments, before the other embraced her. The tears came before May could steel herself, burying her face into the jacket that smelled of rain.

“My boy is gone.” The muffled words hung heavy, Peter sighing as he held her close.

“He will not have died in vain, I promise you that.” Peter spoke finally after some time had passed, some rain beginning to fall around them. May sniffled as she pulled away, allowing herself to be led inside the home that seemed so empty to her now. Taking a breath, she looked at the other, who looked very out of place, yet at the same time looked as if he was home.

“Tell me where you came from.” She said after a moment, her grief starting to turn into resolve. “I want to help.”

“Still a spitfire as ever.” The Spiderman across from her chuckled, shaking his head before producing a pen and paper. “Start from the beginning, tell me everything you knew.”

[thekrawra]

the marvel vs sony deal

so tradegy struck when it was announced it looks like spiderman will be leaving the mcu as sony and marvel have not succeeded in remaking a deal.

big disclaimer here: i’m in school studying film production and generally studying to be a producer myself and have some rudimentary knowledge or business, corporations, film financing and stock markets and IP and all the stuff that’s going into this. i’m no genius and this is just where my minds at as a loyal mcu and spiderman fan and how i see this issue shaping out after readying like every article i can find. another note is that there is tons of conflicting information about what deals were proposed and who said no to who. so it’s hard to get a read on it and put someone at fault without that. but yeah, this is just my thoughts on the situation based on what i think makes the most sense but like honestly who knows when company executives are involved.

—

there’s been a lot of talk over who should be blamed for it and really: neither side can be defended right now.

on the one hand there’s marvel/disney: who came in asking for a huge increase on their portions of the profits from these movies. we don’t know the full details of the deal they proposed but most of what i read seems to suggest marvel wanted to up their current percent of profits (it’s 5 or 10%? i’ve seen conflicting reports) to 50%. i’ve also ready though that with this in mind, marvel’s deal included marvel sharing production costs with song rather than sony paying the full bill, and also opening doorways to tie sony’s spinoff works — their spiderverse — into the mcu. is 50% a lot? yes. but in marvel’s défense they do bring a lot to the table. so we’ll get back to that.

on sony’s end: yes disney asked for a lot. but reports also say sony didn’t offer a counter offer, and that a 70/30 deal in sony’s favour had been offered was also turned down. at this point, we don’t have any confirmation on what’s true and what isn’t — but we do know that sony wanted to keep the deal the same, and really wasn’t convinced that they needed marvel to continue making billion dollar spiderman movies (which we will also get to). and ultimately, i do think disney should be getting at least a bit more of the profits: as long as they are willing to take on production costs as well that is.

so who’s wrong? who’s to blame? and who stands to lose the most if they can’t work out a deal?

first thing to clarify: disney/marvel is 100% being greedy. they don’t need a larger financial stake in these films and the deal would’ve work fine. they just believe sony stands to lose way more if disney backs out of a deal. disney never would’ve pushed for more money otherwise. they see the position sony is in and are trying to take advantage.

disney is no saint in this deal. and it’s no surprise that like all big corporations, disney is basically trying to intidmidate sony into giving them more money.

so is disney right? does sony stand to lose if they don’t make a deal.

i mean, kind of.

disney will be fine, there’s no doubt about that. yes they will most likely be throwing more work at kevin feige to retcon every spiderman story thread he had planned out, but the mcu is big enough it probably won’t take a huge hit, especially now that they’ve acquired xmen and f4.

so sony will definitely lose out on more, but is it enough to make a deal with disney worth it?

maybe.

the issue sony’s facing is they are facing a massive risk. they either sacrifice profit to keep spiderman in the mcu, something that has been going very well for them or they go at it alone, which their track record suggests isn’t a great plan.

yes, they’ve gotten a taste of how feige works and have had modern success with their spideyverse films. and there’s no doubt into the spiderverse was a success critically - but didn’t do as well financially, more of an underrated beauty than a huge hit. sure it once the oscar, but it made less money in the box office than ralph breaks the internet or incredibles 2 its biggest competitors. and venom was a success, but not on the same scale marvel movies tend to be - black panther and infinity war both made more money that year, and all three of marvel’s releases this year have made more.

and there’s no doubt spiderman made as much as it did because of endgame. ffh is a good movie but it’s box office dollar benefited from when it was released. i’m almost certain that had it not been the release right after endgame it wouldn’t have made a billion. marvel placed it right after their biggest movie ever, and ffh got to ride out the endgame hype. people wanted to know what happened next, so they went to see ffh.

taking that into account: sony can’t reach the success of the mcu without it. the numbers and track record don’t match. but can sony settle for a bit less money if they get to keep more of the profit. perhaps.

but here’s where we get into the thing that will be sony’s downfall: longevity.

it’s something the mcu offers to sony that i just don’t think sony can achieve on their own. the mcu has ten years under their belt and is clearly showing no signs of slowing down. by pairing with the mcu, that’s another 10 years of spiderman movies and spinoff that get that mcu treatment: the hype, the connections and from that, more money. even if they don’t connect their spinoffs to the mcu, people will still watch sony more closely. be more interested. because of ties to the mcu. not only are spiderman fans going to see spiderman movies, but mcu fans are too. and while often one in the same there’s a huge boost in profits by being tied to the mcu.

sony could maybe make a couple blockbusters and make some money over the next couple years but i just don’t see a way for them to successfully compete against the mcu, and the mcu is a much better friend for them than it is an enemy.

so now sony’s choice is make less movies with more profit, or make more movies with less profit of the overall profit. and originally they seemed to feel the former was true. they’ll work with disney if the deal stays the same but they felt like they could walk away and be fine.

so disney makes a play: leave negotiations. tell sony to have it their way and let the fans do the work for them. let sony sit on it and get a taste of what the backlash of pulling spidey from the biggest film franchise pretty much ever would do.

and it’s started. people are angry at sony, not disney. people want spidey in the mcu. sony’s stocks drop. all the response has been negative. no one likes this news and it’s only going to hurt sony.

i’m sure disney is trying to wear sony down. make it so sony is desperate to salvage the situation and then disney can get some more money.

so sony can stand down and accept a deal disney has proposed, or at least make a strong counteroffer. or they can ride it out and take a major risk at likely ruining their most profitable franchise.

neither company has played all their cards and right now, i feel like calling of negotiations is really just a strategy to make the other sweat for a while.

and also there’s a huge factor of publicity. this falling out has been the talk all over the place, it’s huge news. it seems like a bad time and negative publicity but people are panicking and reading and watching and trying to stay updated. people are tuned in.

and in result they are tuned into the mcu. and they are tuned into sony, for better or for worse.

people who are mad at sony know all the sony movies being released in the next while and have shared it. mcu fans are desperately looking for announcements of what comes next after this fallout.

now think of what happens if they announce a deal for spiderman again. it’s the hype from 2015 all over. and people care, people are invested, people are happy again. presumably stocks go back up (it’s hard for a read because i’m basing this all of my rudimentary knowledge of these subjects, but they could even jump higher—you really don’t know with stocks though) and both companies are talked about and got a bunch a free advertising basically.

so i think talks definitely aren’t over: because both companies are overall better if a deal is worked out. my best guess is what this is right now, is them just seeing what sides fans take and how much they can make the other guy sweat. this is a case of who cracks first.

all mcu fans can do is hope someone does.

[meggannn]

into the spiderverse: timeline

when i went to see spiderverse again yesterday one of my goals was to come up with a timeline of the story, so here’s what i found with some of my notes. the main chunk of the story takes place over the course of a week in mid-december, beginning on a monday morning and ending friday night.

SUNDAY

NIGHT: Specified only in the background, but a collider test took place under Fisk tower Sunday evening with three pieces of evidence:           1) As Miles walks to school Monday morning, a friend from Brooklyn Middle asks him if he felt the “earthquake” (collider test) last night. Of course, Miles replies “What are you talking about? I slept like a baby last night.” It could very well be all talk, since this is Miles’s “cool” persona that comes out around his friends. I believe the collider test did occur and was centralized/affected only certain neighborhoods, for reason #3 below.           2) The spider that bites Miles on Monday night glitches as it crawls down from the ceiling, implying that it came from another universe.           3) The confirmation: the news broadcast that Jefferson and Miles pass by in the car on the way to Visions announces that “There are multiple reports of another mysterious seismic event last night.” (Side note: when Gwen is blasted into “last week” New York, an announcer mentions, “...this is the second earthquake in the Tri-State area this month.” So this pre-canon collider test on Sunday wasn’t even the first one.)

MONDAY

DAY: Miles gets a ride to school from his dad, meets Gwen in physics, receives a test back, and is assigned the essay.          Miles’s date at the top of his test reads Decembruary 9. I’ve seen a theory that this is what the month is called in Miles’s universe, but later, a poster in Miles’s room advertises the date “DECEMBER 15,” so we can assume “Decembruary” was just part of his efforts to flunk the class. If we assume the date number is correct, this film probably takes place in mid-December. (December 9, 2018 was actually a Saturday, so either the filmmakers didn't check, or Miles was really committed to playing dumb.)

NIGHT: Miles sneaks out to spray-paint with Aaron and is bitten by the spider from another dimension.

TUESDAY

DAY: Miles notices changes. He sticks to everything, tears Gwen’s hair, and realizes he might have Spiderman’s powers.

NIGHT: Miles searches for answers in Brooklyn and returns to the tunnel to check the spider, where he is caught in a battle between PP Spiderman and Green Goblin. PP Spiderman is thrust into the collider beam. PP Spiderman gives him the task of destroying the collider. PP Spiderman is killed by Kingpin, Miles returns to his parents’ place, and stays the night there. The news of PP Spiderman’s death is broadcast across the city.           Meanwhile, Peter B and the others are thrust into Miles’s reality this same evening (Gwen goes back in time). Peter B sees PP’s death in Times Square.          This evening is the first time Miles experiences Spideysense. In the lead up, his senses feel strange, distorted, and claustrophobic; the visuals look weird on the screen until it suddenly condenses into the wiggly lines and LOOK OUT flashes behind him (when Green Goblin bursts through the wall). After that, his Spideysense triggers normally like the others’.

WEDNESDAY

This is the day I’m most confused about. Common sense says these events couldn’t/shouldn’t all happen in the same day, but other parts of the film indicate that not much/no time has passed, so they have to happen either on Weds, or across a day or two, perhaps Weds-Thurs. For expediency’s sake I’m assuming the filmmakers probably intended it to be Weds due to how urgent they stress the collider situation is.

DAY: The city is in mourning. Miles goes to a costume shop and buys a Spiderman outfit, where he meets Stan Lee. He attends a public speech by Mary Jane Watson, attempts to swing off a few buildings, and accidentally breaks the USB.          Peter B also attended MJ’s speech on Wednesday from afar, where he is already seen wearing a trenchcoat he must have scrounged from somewhere. He must have also acquired a pair of sweatpants and mismatching shoes on Weds to cover up/keep warm where the bottom of his suit burned up in collider travel.         Wednesday is the first day Miles skips school and drops out of contact with his family.

NIGHT: Miles goes to PP’s grave and apologizes for failing him. We meet Peter B, who Miles accidentally electrocutes, and they go on a train ride together. After Peter is knocked out, Miles takes him to Aaron’s, where he ties him up and questions him. They recognize the Spideysense in each other, and Peter B reluctantly agrees to mentor him.          The likelihood of all these events happening in one day is pretty infeasible (MJ’s speech and Peter’s gravestone especially). Families would be given a few days of privacy to mourn, and besides which, MJ would need time to write the speech. Most importantly, people aren’t buried within a day. Also, with PP’s death so fresh, there would definitely be mourners at his gravesite in the evening, unless perhaps Miles waited until they all left and it’s VERY late at night/early morning when he meets Peter B.          Peter B’s face is still beat up/swollen in the beginning of the scene when he’s tied to the punching bag, but by the time he’s decided to leave for the collider in the alley, he has fully healed. I would call it a continuity error, but since Peter has healing abilities, I think it was a conscious choice that his injuries lasted this long, either from being knocked out/swung around the city, and/or Miles might have injured him by knocking his head around Aaron’s apartment while tying him up.          There’s a time skip between the alley scene and the next morning. Peter walks up the wall next to someone awake in their apartment window, so we might think it’s a reasonable time of night OR early morning (9-10pm, 5-6am), but it’s also New York, so it could just as well be 2am when they’re having this talk. What did Peter B and Miles do before they go out to eat? Peter says “There’s not a moment to lose” and Miles starts to follow him but there’s not much they could do to get started on a new USB in the middle of the night, and in the middle of winter I doubt they just wandered around the city. Did they spend the night at Aaron’s?

THURSDAY

DAY: Peter and Miles eat breakfast at a burger place and travel to Alchemex to steal the data. They infiltrate the lab, meet Doc Ock, break out with the computer, and are introduced Gwen/Spiderwoman in the forest. We are treated to Kingpin’s backstory and his goals behind the collider.          Peter tells Miles to look up where Alchemex is, and Miles’s phone says Alchemex “OPENS AT 9AM.” It’s light out when they eat, and NY sunrise in December is around 7am, so I assume this scene takes place around 7-8am. Miles wants to swing to the Hudson Valley, but Peter insists they take the bus, saying he won’t swing “after a hearty burger-breakfast.” It’s a 2-hour bus drive from NYC to the Valley, so they arrive after Alchemex opens. Accomodating for their travel time to Port Authority, they probably get there around 10-11am.          Gwen is the third Spider-person Miles has met within a day and a half, after years of thinking there was only one. Only two days ago he was puzzling over the possibility of there being two Spidermen alone in his room, and in the forest he says, “How many more Spider-people are there?” which is honestly probably running through his head all day.          Miles has now been skipping school for two days. His last contact with his family was Tuesday evening, and it’s also been two full days since they’ve heard from him. Brooklyn Visions has almost certainly contacted his parents, which likely prompts the call Jefferson makes to Aaron asking if he knows where Miles is. (Little does Jefferson know Miles almost calls him that same evening as he’s wandering Queens after leaving May’s.) We might assume that Visions thinks Miles is just skipping class, not that he’s missing, otherwise Jeff would probably feel more panicked.

NIGHT: The team goes to May’s house in Queens, and are introduced to the rest of the Spider-people that traveled from other dimensions. They haze Miles, prompting him to seek solace with Aaron. Instead he runs into the Prowler, and it’s revealed the Prowler is Aaron. Miles runs, and Aaron gives chase.          There’s a time gap between the bus ride back from Alchemex. The bus ride takes 2 hours, which Peter/Miles/Gwen presumably make immediately after breaking out of Alchemex, putting them back in NYC around early/mid afternoon, maybe 1-2pm. They meet up with May around sunset, which is around 4:30 in December in New York. That’s a few missing hours in which they might have gone out to eat or something. Why did they wait a few hours to go to May’s? Theories:                1) They were busy eating/talking/getting to know each other.                2) They waited until they were sure she was home. Is May retired?                3) They waited until the crowds of mourners/fans would be gone.          May is presumably housing the Spidergang in her place, including dinner Thursday night and breakfast Friday. Or maybe they ordered takeout.

FRIDAY

Friday has the second-weirdest time skips behind Wednesday. There’s an implication that all of these events happen very quickly following each other, but unless Miles was running around literally all day trying to escape the Prowler, these events have to have some gaps.

DAY: Peni creates a new USB. Miles rushes to May’s house for safety after leading the Prowler on a chase across Brooklyn-Queens. Aaron has called for backup and arrives at May’s home with the Scorpion/Doc Ock/Tombstone. They fight the Spider-gang, Miles escapes with the USB and is cornered by Aaron. Aaron refuses to kill his nephew and is killed for it. Around sunset, Miles runs back to his dorm, where he is confronted by the Spider-gang and Peter tells him they won’t let him destroy the collider. Peter ties him up in his room, and Jefferson visits Miles in his dorm.          Peter is wearing sweatpants and shoes over his burnt suit on Thursday and has a fully functional suit (with the onesie covering his feet) when Miles returns to the house. We can assume May either gave him one of dead Peter’s suits, or helped him repair his own.          We don’t know when Miles rejoins the gang at May’s house, so you could headcanon it’s in the morning or afternoon. The fight with the Sinister Six probably lasts about an hour. We might assume Miles goes missing again after Aaron dies, and he could’ve spent some time wandering the city in grief again. Again, sunset in NY in December is 4:30, so that’s when the spider-gang confront him in his room. Given everything, my suspicion is that they were waiting at Miles’s dorm room (which Gwen would’ve known) for him to return, so when he throws his book out the window, that’s why someone was able to immediately throw it back.

NIGHT: Miles discovers his powers, escapes Peter’s webbing, travels back to Queens where May helps him with his suit and web shooters. Miles takes the subway to Manhattan to take his leap of faith, and then swings back to Brooklyn to join the gang. Meanwhile, the Spider-gang infiltrate Kingpin’s gala and break into the collider. Miles joins them and they successfully defeat the sinister six, and send everyone home. Miles faces off against Kingpin and destroys the collider. Later, Miles calls Jefferson (first contact in 3 days, since Tuesday), delivers Kingpin to the PDNY, and introduces himself to the city as the new Spiderman.

and that’s all i’ve got for now. curious to hear if anyone has thoughts/if i missed or misinterpreted anything.

[kiragecko]

Brief reviews of things:

The Merry X-Men Holiday Special is a comic that has FIVE (5) babies in it (4 of whom are named X-Adjacent characters) and DOZENS of children. @theisb and Chad Bowers continue to put Jubilee in all their X-Men stuff and confirm that I had good taste when I used The Internet Superblog as my gateway into comics 15 years ago. Got to read the comic with The Very Little Sister, always a sign of high quality.

Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse is an amazing movie. First movie I watched in 3(?) years and it was worth it. The cinematography! Kind of hard to believe I live in a universe where that kind of unapologetic comics nonsense can get a mainstream release, but I’m very happy about it. Also, it is a PG movie that actually respects it’s rating - I wouldn’t bring my particular 8 year old, since there are a few jump scares (one bad enough to get a kid crying), and a shocking amount of deaths, but most people probably could.

A LOT OF PEOPLE DIE IN THIS MOVIE! Like, that was a LOT of people I cared about! Every death is in silhouette, or a TINY bit offscreen, but we’re shown at least 5 named characters dying, and quite a few more are mentioned. Every death is mourned. It’s rough. (At least for an all ages movie.)

WOW. Animation, direction, design - this is a gorgeous, innovative movie.

It’s also a painful movie if you have trouble with flashing lights/jerky movement. I watched a lot of the opening through a slit between my fingers. Still have a headache the next day.

So much ridiculousness! The Multiverse! Cartoon physics! Mecha! Complex origins summarized in one sentence and then laughed at! So much of what I love about comics, all on the big screen!

Every Story Ever. Technically this may be a part of the podcast War Rocket Ajax. It’s the only part that my ADHD can handle, though. Matt Wilson and Chris Sims rank every comic storyline ever written, three at a time. Sometimes, they HAVEN’T READ THE COMIC, and we gasp theatrically. It’s great.

@theisb talks like everyone with ADHD, ie. slightly fast, but also has a very slight southern drawl, I think?? I don’t know, but usually the words come just slightly before or after I’m expecting them, and my head starts hurting so bad. I can barely listen to podcasts anyways, why must I also deal with non-Canadian FOREIGNESS?

Some day I will listen to something by someone who has similar tastes to me. This is definitely not that day. These guys like punching, Grant Morrison, vampires, and things with ratings a lot higher than PG. (They also like GOOD things, don’t get me wrong. But.) It’s a fun challenge to read between the lines and try to figure out what I would think about whatever they’re ranking.

Also really fun - listening to men in their 30s(?) talking about comics they read as teens that had - ah - content that appeals to white teen boys and  - isn’t so great for people of other demographics. Especially women. Because these guys are good people. And things you imprinted on young mean a lot to you. And sometimes the struggle between those motivations is very, very, relatable.

[anandasamsara]

I already hate 2022

There's so much cool shit confirmed

Gorillaz show, Green Day at Rock in Rio with Avril Lavigne as a bonus at the same day

Spiderverse 2

Me turning 30

And i cant go to any! Not one of those things!

I refuse to pay 30brl or more to watch anything at the cinema (if my bro pays for my ticket that's his problem), i don't have 600+ for both shows and i sure as all hell can't do what i want for my birthday

I also can't pay for my physical therapy (that the orthopedist i finally managed to be seen by told me i should have been doing for the last 10 years) or my regular therapy (that's been for free bc of the pandemics)

I can only fulfill the meaningless futile shit that gives me 5 minutes of endorphins (buying shit on shoppee for less than 5 bucks)

I am very frustrated. None of the jobs i applied to have contacted me. I'll be working on my idea of paid academic counseling/advisory bc that may be my only true option other than art commissions for next year. I can legally give out certification here, so maybe a few classes, and i can see how it'd work to do the same internationally. I've already been working on a "how to use Google search as an academic research tool", so if anyone would be interested, let me know?

Anyways, cant have fun if i don't have money

I hate it here

[natsubeatsrock]

10 Marvel Heroes Who I’d Like to See Get a Movie in the MCU

NOT Fairy Tail Month - Post #4 (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

I’ve had a lot of fun getting into the MCU with my siblings. In the process, I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole of the Marvel universe and am learning about its weird inner workings: the good, the bad, and the ugly. While there are two movies left in Phase 3, (I haven’t seen Ant-Man and the Wasp yet) I figured that it’s about time that I talk about some of the characters I’d like to see Marvel Studios tackle next.

There’s no particular order to this list, except for a definite #1. The only qualifier is that my picks can’t already be in the MCU either in film or TV. You’d be shocked how much of a blow that was to this list. Between confirmed easter eggs in films, cameos on the Netflix-verse, and appearances on other television shows, both airing or planned, there are a lot of heroes already in the MCU. Still, here are some I’m hoping will get their chance in the next few phases.

#10. Miss Marvel

Before someone mentions how Kevin Feige has already confirmed that Kamala Khan is coming to the MCU, consider two things. First, that her arrival is dependent on the establishment of Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel, a character whom we haven’t actually seen on screen as of yet, as a part of the universe. If you know anything about Kamala, that’s kind of a big deal. Though, with apparent plans to make Captain Marvel the new center of the MCU, that might not be much of an issue.

Second, and most importantly, he never actually said that she was getting her own movie. She may only end up sharing the screen with another major hero. Who knows, she might even only be on TV as many of my other hopefuls have. Here’s hoping things all work out.

#9. Spider-Woman

I want to see if Marvel will be able to work their magic with Sony and get at least one character to have their own live-action movie in the MCU. The obvious issue with this is that their contract to “share” Spiderman runs out after next year’s films. Still, a guy can dream, huh? 

Miles would be an interesting pick. However, he’s getting his own treatment in animation and it was hinted that he’s in the universe already in deleted scenes. (Does that still count?) Originally, I was hoping that we could get a Silk movie. But her alter-ego Cindy Moon already is a part of the MCU. Yes, this is a thing I looked up. Here’s hoping Marvel can give Jessica Drew a chance.

#8. The Mutants

This won’t be the last time I kind of cheat on this list. 

With the Fox-Disney merger becoming all but a reality, the obvious next step for the MCU is to bring on the idea of mutated humans into their universe. I’ve always loved the Mutants growing up across at least three different animated series. While I haven’t exactly gotten into their recent live-action film endeavors, I've heard that’s mostly a good thing.

Of course, there’s also the matter of logistics when it comes to bringing in established franchises into the MCU. Does this deal mean we’ll get the X-Men or New Mutants in the fold? How much of the previous movies will matter in the MCU? What about stuff like Legion and the Runaways? Who will take up the mantle as the next Wolverine? Considering this company made adding Spiderman into this narrative work well after two different live action runs, I’m not too worried. As long as Ryan Reynolds gets to stay as an R-rated Deadpool, things will probably be fine.

#7. She-Hulk

And speaking of breaking the Fourth Wall, She-Hulk has made a name for herself by jumping through the panels of her own comics. It would be cool to see her come to life. Who knows, we could actually get some payoff to loose ends from The Incredible Hulk, which has been around for 10 years. 

There’s a bit of an issue with her though. Technically, the rights for her and the rest of the Hulk Universe belong to Universal Pictures. Of course, that’s not as much of an issue as with the Spiderverse, considering we already have the Hulk. But it still is kind of a hurdle. But it’s not like walls should mean too much to her.

#6. Devil Dinosaur

This is a bit of an interesting pick. Current fans of Marvel comics might know about his partner Moon Girl, a young African American girl. Older fans may know of the partner Moon-Boy, the alien who stopped him from dying out with the rest of his kind. The difference between the two feels more jarring typing it out.

If Kevin Feige decides to go with this pick, I’m sure that either side of the fandom would probably be disappointed in the event that they decide to do one over the other. Still, I think it should be obvious that the most important character in this equation has to be Devil Dinosaur as the original namesake for the comic. Though, I’d like to see Star-Lord find out about Devil Dinosaur for obvious reasons.

# 5. Power Pack

Look. I talked about the Fox deal and the idea of Mutants in the MCU is really exciting to me. And I guess it would be cool to see the Fantastic Four join in as well. But I’ve never been all that hype over them, to begin with. Like, part of it is that they haven’t had good movies. But I’ve never been all too interested in the group past the concept of astronauts becoming superheroes.

While I’m interested in seeing their potential movie in the MCU, I’d also like some attention go to other groups in the Marvel Universe. My pick is one of the other sets of families in Marvel. The Power Pack is a group of four siblings with superpowers- two brothers and two sisters. Incidentally, I’ve heard that there was some talk about them getting a movie soon. Here’s hope we get to see it happen.

#4. Hawkeye

What? You didn’t think I would add Hawkeye? For those of you who think I’m breaking my rules here, obviously, Clint Barton has been in the MCU for a while now. The new Hawkeye, Kate Bishop, has yet to make an appearance in the MCU.  I feel like this would be a good time to introduce her. Not to mention, we could finally get some explanation for Clint’s past if he decides to stick along in order to be Kate’s mentor.

There have been a lot of shake-ups in Marvel comics. The Spider-verse gave us a ton of new versions of Spiderman. Kamala took up the mantle as Ms. Marvel from Carol. And Carol took it up after the original Captain Marvel died. That’s in addition to a bunch other things. While there are a lot of legacy characters in Marvel nowadays, with Iron Heart, Jane Foster’s Thor, and even a new Wasp, I’d like to see what Kate can do for the Hawkeye mantle.

#3. Nova

This may feel like a bit of a lame pick if your only exposure with him is the Ultimate Spiderman cartoon with Drake Bell as Peter Parker’s voice. (A concept which has forever ruined my own readings of Spidey) Still, this one actually has some weight behind it. After the events of Infinity War, Nova Prime has a great alternate reason to actually build Nova. (Originally, the reason for building him was the work of Helmut Zemo. You can see why this is a problem for the MCU.)

Not to mention that Kevin Feige has actually stated that he’s high on a hypothetical board of characters who could get a movie. If anything, this might be one of the more likely picks on this list. Who knows? He might be a part of that mythical easter egg in the Guardians films James Gunn has mentioned a few times.

#2. Namor

First, let’s get something straight. The Sub-Mariner came out a few years before Aquaman. I’m not saying that DC ripped off of Marvel (in this case). After all, the opposite is also true. Still, it’s crazy to think how unkind time has been to Marvel’s King of Atlantis. While Aquaman is getting a new film pretty soon, Namor hasn’t seen too much time to shine. It would be great to see what he can do.

Unfortunately, it’s not clear where his film rights lie. Marvel Studios thought they had control over him, but they don’t seem to anymore. And that’s if they ever did in the first place. So it’s not that they necessarily don’t want to rather than they technically can’t. With the new merger, hopefully, the other original members of the Illuminati will be able to pull something to bring their final ally into canon.

#1. A Surprise

Don’t judge me on this pick as my number one, okay? I can’t be the only one who hopes that we get something special and out of the blue as a hit. Could anyone honestly have thought Black Panther was going to end up being anywhere close to as huge as it’s become ten, or even five years ago? And I don’t just mean that it would be a really well-liked hero movie for Black people. This movie is one of the highest grossing films ever made and the only superhero films to make more than it is two of the Avengers films.

Similarly, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, and Doctor Strange went from relative obscurity to household names after only a few movies. Heck, Iron Man wasn’t all too popular before his first movie more than a decade ago. Who’s to say that Marvel Studios won’t give us a movie none of us asked for but won’t end up being able to live without? Whether that be making a name from an obscure set of heroes we haven’t seen or gaining success from heroes with less than stellar comics, who can tell what will happen next in the MCU?

And that’s my list. Any heroes you’d want to see? 

[the-fandom-newsletter]

Fandom Newsletter #8

Today is Friday, January 25, and it’s 2019! Welcome back to our first 2019 Fandom Newsletter, a provider for all things fandom!

Writers: Blackpurrl, Fyne, YoursTruly, and Atlas

Editors: Fyne and YoursTruly

“You don't have to be ruled by fate. You can choose freedom. And I still believe that that’s something worth fighting for.” -Castiel, Supernatural

Let's get started!

First up we have Fyne with the Supernatural, Sherlock, and Mythology fandoms!

Sherlock: Does Sherlock look up to/respect his older brother? Throughout the entire BBC show we see Sherlock being annoyed by Mycroft and at some points, Sherlock can be seen belittling Mycroft. But while the boys have a relationship that is rocky at times, I have reason to believe that Sherlock actually looks up to his older brother. In Sherlock's mind palace, when Mycroft is giving advice to further a case in some way, he is always higher up than Sherlock. Plus, Sherlock is always looking up at him. Is it possible that this is symbolism? Yes. Is it probable that this is just a cool coincidence? Also yes. Just thought I'd put it out there, folks. You decide.

Supernatural: Dean Winchester never saw his mother burning on the ceiling. I know, bold statement. But let me elaborate. When his mother's death was happening, Dean was a child in his room. When John ran in and told Dean to take Sam and run, I don't believe Dean ever even looked up and saw his mother on the ceiling. True, John probably explained to him later on how his mother died, but the image was mostly left to his little imagination. Fast forward some years later and Jessica is burning on the ceiling as well. Dean rushes into Sam's room to find Jessica, and he looks up with a face of absolute horror. This is the first time he's able to see what he had only imagined happening to his mother, and now it's actually happening before him. Something he had thought about his entire life, finally right in front of his eyes. And to be honest, it's probably even worse than he ever imagined. Hence the look of horror.

Mythology: This week's legend originated in Greek mythology and who we're talking about is Medea. Medea was a princess of Colchis, and she was known to be skilled in magic and sorcery. In the legend, she fell in love with Jason (son of Aeson and the boy who assembled Greece's bravest heroes to sail in the Argo in search of the fleece) and helped him (against the will of her father: Aeëtes) obtain the Golden Fleece (The Golden Fleece was the fleece of the gold-haired winged ram. The fleece in this legend is a symbol of authority and kingship). When Jason left Colchis, Medea ran off with him and even lived as his wife for years. Medea ended up bearing two of Jason's children during their marriage. But later on in the legend, Jason wished to marry Creusa (daughter of King Creon of Corinth). When Medea found out, she sent Creusa an enchanted wedding gown that burned the poor girl to death. Medea then completed her revenge on Jason by killing her own two children. (In some versions of the legend, the angered citizens of Corinth stoned the children to death instead of Medea). Afterward, Medea fled to Athens, where she later married King Aegeus.

Next, we have YoursTruly with the YouTube, Horror, Tim Burton, Hannibal, Movies, and Marvel fandoms.

YouTube: Fallout between James Charles and NikkieTutorials! Both makeup artists on YouTube uploaded a video of the same title with the same idea. No big deal, YouTubers follow trends all the time, right? Wrong. James Charles posted this video just a few days after Nikkie and didn’t credit her for starting the trend. He then tried to claim that he started the trend and Nikkie just so happened to have the same idea, despite him uploading AFTER her. We sure do love a good sister scandal!

Horror: The horror movie Escape Room is gaining major popularity online. The movie is set to be released next year, but they have started an online competition to see who can solve their puzzle. Anyone who is crafty enough to solve it is entered in a cash giveaway. Each day they change the puzzle. Can you solve the puzzle? Test your skill here, if you dare.

Tim Burton: Burtonists are all awaiting the release of Dumbo. Many fans can’t wait to see how Burton will put his dark twist on this Disney classic.

Hannibal: Fannibals are getting even more excited with continued talk of a season 4. Showrunner Bryan Fuller has begun talking about seriously giving the fans a fourth season following Alana and Margot. Will we get the season? Guess we’ll have to wait and find out.

Movies: Mary Poppins Returns starring Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda is a massive success! Fans of the original say that the movie perfectly continues the story of Mary Poppins and brings back the same characters and charm as before.

Marvel: Fans are starting to get their conspiracy theories about Avengers: Endgame circulating. Seemingly every fan has an opinion on who will die for good, who’s coming back, and how they will defeat Thanos. What are your thoughts? We’d love to hear what you have to say on the topic! Also, the backlash from fans after the newest movie from Marvel Into The Spiderverse mixed up Spider-Woman and Spider-Gwen! The movie introduces a character which is very clearly Spider-Gwen (identical costume) as Spider-Woman. These two characters are completely different, both in personality and very obviously in costume and appearance.

Then we have Blackpurrl with the Harry Potter fandom.

Harry Potter: If you’re big into Harry Potter I’m sure you already know this, but recently we’ve been told that Harry’s scar isn’t just a lightning bolt. It’s also the hand motion used when the spell Avada Kedavra is cast. 

And finally, we have Atlas with the Gaming, TV, Musicals, Celebrities, and Voltron fandoms.

Gaming: A Fisherman's Tale is a VR game where you break reality. Read more about it here.

TV: After spending an estimated $12-13 billion in 2018, reports estimate that Netflix will probably spend up to $15 billion in cash in 2019. The popular streaming platform continues to collect and create new content every month in addition to reinforcing its abundance of original programming – and there appears to be no slowing down for Netflix. Imagine how much they will spend in 2020.

Musicals: Lin-Manuel Miranda recently raps at a fan for filming his musical Hamilton. Anyone who has ever seen a show of any kind is probably familiar with the phrase, "The use of recording equipment is strictly prohibited," and knows that the punishment for breaking this rule is a risk of being tossed out of the performance. You would think that Lin-Manuel wouldn’t take to kindly to being recorded on stage, and you would be right. But the way he did it is absolutely legendary. In character, Lin-Manuel self-edit live on stage, as he changed the words to one of the show's songs to call out the lady. He sang: "Lady filming in the fourth row, please stop it." The line was originally: "The problem is I got a lot of brains but no polish.” What an icon. 

Celebrities: Demi Lovato posted a snap to her instagram in which she is wearing a one-piece bathing suit. She is a queen demolishing the thought that the only way for women to look sexy is by wearing a bikini. Demi has been known to fight against sexist stereotypes before, and we’re glad that she’s still up and kicking these assumptions and knocking them down. Thank you, Demi!

Voltron: The showrunner of Voltron made a post confirming the show was celebrating its final day behind the scenes. Joaquim Dos Santos, one of the show’s executive producers, shared the bittersweet announcement alongside a touching message. Excuse us while we dab our tears. “This is it...our last day at Dreamworks on Voltron. It’s pretty surreal. We started this ride in June 2014 and we just had our final watchdown on the final episode of Season 8. I just wanted to take a moment to say that is has been an absolute honor and privilege to work alongside such a talented and dedicated cast and crew, both at Dreamworks and Studio MIR, who came together (like Voltron) to make something truly special. To the amazingly passionate VLD fandom, we couldn’t have made this journey without you. Your passion, creativity and love is infectious and has helped us up in tough times and creative low points.” What a way to close such an amazing time in our lives. 

Now let's move on to our news segments, where Fyne talks about positive news, news about mental health, and news about the LGBT community, plus Blackpurrl talks about World News.

Positive News: 2019 is just around the corner, and 2018 is soon to be left in the dust. While this is a fairly good thing because of 2018 having some pretty horrid things go down during it, not all was bad. Here is a list of some good things that happened in 2018.

LGBT: India’s supreme court has gotten rid of a ban on gay sex that has been around for centuries. Gay sex became a criminal offence again in India in the year 2013. The law, named Section 337, was brought back into the limelight. But recently, the nation’s supreme court voted to throw the law out the window in September. There is a new ruling that consensual gay sex (among consenting adults in private) is no longer a crime. Yay for gay people in India!

Mental Health: Our veterans are people who sometimes have to suffer in silence. I mean, it can be hard to get people who feel a pressure to be what they believe to be strong to open up. But there's something that could be a way to help us access these vulnerable people and it's called fishing therapy. Psychologists say that fishing can be an effective way to help with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and reduce symptoms. It was discovered that: “It could be helpful for veterans by chance, after chatting about how going fishing cleared their heads while they were having a pint.” It has been shown that overnight fishing trips have reduced PTSD symptoms by at least 30% in patients! For some, it was even the first time the patients left the house in years. Progress! An article by Metro even interviewed a veteran who has suffered with PTSD for the past 20 years of his life. This man went on one of the trips. He said: “Fishing is so helpful because it is a break to completely turn your brain off. It is the quietness of it with no distractions. When I came back for the first week, I slept properly every night and I struggle to do that.” (Iraq and Northern Ireland veteran: Stewart Bayford, 48)

World News: On MLK Day, Trump reminded black voters of what they lost with his election. Read about this here.

And now for our weekly tidbits where Blackpurrl gives a test and a trivia fact and Fyne asks a question to our followers.

Weekly Test: Animals!

1. How many mammals lay eggs? A. One B. Five C. All of them D. Two

2. True/False? Bees can only sting once, but wasps can sting many times.

3. Which animal is a mammal? A. Fisher B. Lionfish C. Basilisk D. Toad

4.  Which of these fish is a shark? A. Parrotfish B. Lionfish C. Dogfish D. Catfish

5.  Which one of these animals is a bird? A. Fisher B. King fisher C. Marten D. Beagle 

Weekly Trivia Fact: Did you know that beavers are among the few animals that mate for life? Once beavers find a partner, they stay together for as long as they live. Talk about TIl death do us part!

Weekly Question: If you didn't have to sleep, what would you use the extra time for? Let us know.

And for our last segment, the personality quiz.

Which of the 7 dwarves is you?

Question #1 - When a stranger attempts a conversation with you, which of the following can describe how you act?

A. You try to be polite, but strangers make you nervous.

B. You acknowledge the person, but you really don't like to talk to strangers.

C. You tell them to go away because you're busy.

D. You tell them that it's nice to meet them and invite them to join you in watching some TV.

E. You greet them warmly and crack a few jokes to break the ice.

Question #2 - Do you think you're an optimist, a pessimist, or a realist?

A. Definitely a realist. That glass is just a glass.

B. Probably an optimist, but that can change.

C. Pessimist. That glass isn't just half empty, but its also filled with poison.

D. Realist. Why put so much thought into it?

E. Optimist. That glass is half full and also contains rainbows and sunshine.

Question #3 - Favorite color?

A. Red

B. Purple

C. Black

D. Blue

E. Yellow

Question #4 - Your crushes all have one thing in common. What is this thing?

A. They're all intelligent.

B. They're all shy.

C. What is a crush?

D. They're laid back.

E. They're funny.

Question #5 - Pick a Snow White character.

A. The Huntsman

B. The Magic Mirror

C. The Evil Queen

D. Snow White

E. The Prince

Question #6 - Pick a Snow White song.

A. Heigh-Ho

B. Someday My Prince Will Come

C. Whistle While You Work

D. I'm Wishing

E. With a Smile and a Song

Question #7 - Which of the following would you like to do after a long day of work?

A. Read a book.

B. Make something. Anything.

C. Shoot some darts.

D. Sleep/Watch TV.

E. Sing/Dance

Results:

Mostly A's - You are Doc! You're the leader of nearly every group you are put into, even if you're not very good at it. You're very wise and like to think carefully about problems when they arise. People look to you for advice and guidance, but it can take a while for you to give them a good answer to their questions because you're quite a nervous person.

Mostly B's - You are Bashful! You are very, very shy, but people love you for who you are. You tend to blush easily, and your hands are almost always fiddling with something. While you're not big on talking, you do really enjoy listening. You like stories and poems, and you are big on music. When you want to get someone's attention, you tend to just stare at them, and when they notice you, you probably unknowingly flutter your eyelashes.

Mostly C's - You are Grumpy! No matter what anyone says, you're always complaining. You see the glass not only as half empty, but thrown across the room and shattered. You never seem to agree with anyone, but if any of your friends need you to help them out, you're the first person to their rescue.

Mostly D's - You are Sleepy! You tend to be fairly lazy, and when you have nothing else to do you're probably in bed or on the couch. You enjoy the simple things in life and you're not afraid to indulge in some relaxing activities. You're probably the type of person who is always tired and yawning, but your friends enjoy spending time with you when they need some calm. 

Mostly E's - You are Happy! No matter what life throws at you, you're always laughing and trying to find the sunny outlook. You see the glass as half full, and you even see your favorite drink inside the glass. You get along with everyone, but people can get angry at you because you can never seem to take anything seriously.

That's all for today! Goodbye all for this year, and we’ll see you soon! Happy 2019 with another Fandom Newsletter!

Signing off,

Atlas, Fyne, Blackpurrl, and YoursTruly

Test Answers: Animals!

1. D 2. True 3. A 4. C 5. B

[shawnjacksonsbs]

Where learning to navigate the journey can be just as fulfilling.      12-9-18

“Fate leads the willing and drags the reluctant” - Seneca. I pride myself in limited areas of my life these days, one of which is the fact that I made it to a point where I rarely stay lost or trapped in any negative emotional state for longer than a few days, usually. This is, by far, the biggest leap in which I have grown as an adult since turning my life around. This past week, for as slow as it moved, helped me to see, or better yet to feel, just how important it is to love my life, for me and those in my life here and back home. I don't really know what direction this entry is going, but I felt it important enough to put this in here. Homesickness and missing the holidays with my family, again, can now mean more to me, like being on a scavenger hunt, or following a treasure map, to a treasure. Pain, sorrow, and all other type of negative emotions are an inevitable part of life, and of growth, even necessary at times. Learning to navigate through them can mean the difference between living a happy and fulfilling life and well, "not". And the "not", as I am sure you will agree, is no place to live. Its too bad that most wisdom comes with age, but I bet the universe placed in the latter years of life for good reason. The only downside I can see is that it isn't easier to get through to the young people in our lives who are struggling or lost. It really is easier to find peace than those struggling would ever believe. I will continue to lead by example. Then maybe, just maybe the ones I care about may catch on a little earlier than I did. Find the hope, accept what comes, and be grateful for everyone and everything you have. It will become enough one day, and when you realize that you will have arrived. I think I believe that karma is really just your circle of life, with and without gratitude. It's not really about good vs evil, because sometimes bad things can be done for good reasons. It's more about . . . the heart's intentions, which can only really be felt by you anyways. With my limited finances, I am pretty sure I did a pretty bang up job with my holiday shopping. My kids should be satisfied, and I definitely did good for the grandkids again. As I have said before, they will always win the holidays if I have anything to do with it. I suppose I want to touch on a something real quick before I close this out. As part of my holiday/going away gifts to my family out here in Washington, I got tickets for a very early Sunday morning matinee of "Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse". Cheap tickets, but I needed quite a few. It's the most tickets I have ever gotten all at once, in my life. This is the only thing my extended family is getting from me this year. This is not a spoiler, by the way, they all already know, because I needed cleared date confirmation in advance. lol Getting off point here - My point is when purchasing the tickets online something told me to buy one extra, just in case. Something always happens or comes up, sometimes at the last minute and then you are just beat, so I bought an extra. Then the other day my "other" sister (extended family sister) got to come home, which we didn't think was going to happen. I mean I hadn't had her figured in at all, I knew we were taking her kids, but thought she was going to be "gone" through the holidays for sure. And now, because the universe conspired in our favor she will be sitting with her kids in that theater. I do not believe in any religion, any dogma, or the aligning of the stars and planets. I mean not really. Some people do and that's fine. I am all for it, if it helps them to be better, or do better, or even feel better. There isn't much I put stock in like that, aside from the power we put in ourselves, but I do believe that when we do take back our power, for good, that the universe will conspire with us to give us the things we need to fill "full". Gratitude reciprocating is a huge part of that circle. What if your "G"od, is meant to be "g"od and its actually me, and/or you? Listen to Imagine by John Lennon, like really listen to it. That's exactly what imagine, and it's my best hope for you as well. Remember to share the love and the laughter with those in your world, and please be kind to one another. Sometimes civility isn't always enough, but if its all you can muster then. . .by all means. I'm almost home by the way. It is the closest I have been so far. Until next week; “Circumstances don't make the man; they only reveal him to himself” - Epictetus.