#LEE GIVETH... AND LEE TAKETH AWAY... | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

philipmorley · 3 years

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Photo taken on 4/21/05, in SAN FRANCISCO, CA. Hat and shirt by Prada.

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ohyangchon · 6 years

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I received this on my Curiouscat and I got a little introspective about it:

I want to say they're doing well. I really do want to say so.

I don't know if I'm correct though at this point, because they're slipping down the annoying slippery slope of making Sunwoo the convenient angst magnet/punching bag like they usually do with disabled characters: it calls back to My Love Eundong when the actual second lead character was a disabled man but he was relegated into a angst magnet/'unreasonable homewrecker' when he was one of the most faceted and well-written characters of the series itself :/

As much as dramas adore copping out on disabilities by fixing their disabled characters 1-2 episodes after, it really blows that faceted, well-written disabled characters are always given the huge-brushstroke angst treatment virtually all the time. It's ok guys, take a deep breath and admit that sometimes it's ok to have the disabled guy be a regular Joe that has the capacity to be happy. A disability isn't a slippery slope to milk all the fucking angst for its worth.

Furthermore, the problem is that it’s almost always a trope for angst (hey The King 2 Hearts, I’m watching you) and it’s never addressed correctly- either the awesomely written character is a straight up villain (see: Black Heart White Soul, a Hong Kong drama with an amazing portrayal of a wheelchair user but he turns out the hurr-durr off the rails psycho), a magnet for every single bad thing ever to happen to them, or just straight up magically cured and forgotten entirely.

I’m very critical about this because I find this lazy writing, and a lot of the time the actors are the ones putting in all the way to add layers to their characters to make them as memorable as they are than the writing allowing them any sort of leeway on that front.

The only disabled character I enjoyed perfectly fine was Yeonha from Dear My Friends - his arc was tackled with respect and finesse, and there was a lot of exploration of his condition while not actively making him seem like a shitty or unapproachable individual for what happened to him. Everything was set up in a natural and comfortable manner: his relationships with others, how he handled his day-to-day life and the way he was treated as human, something a lot of dramas who discuss characters like his fail to acknowledge.

A fantastic local drama that tapped on this was Sudden, which made the disability the center of a mystery instead of it being put under intense scrutiny or pity porn for no fucking reason. Both the male and female leads are disabled in the drama, and what I enjoyed was the fact that Qiliang’s condition is almost never put under the same brush stroke of ‘everything bad ever happens to him’. He’s driven and serious, and even though the show tried to pull a miracle on him, it was believable with the bread crumbs that had been scattered throughout the show regarding it.

Life tries, don’t get me wrong. Noeul’s reactions to Sunwoo is ample enough proof and the way Sunwoo chats with his brother is organic and relatable. The problem I find is that the need to artificially create conflict surrounding his current state is what leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, especially when the original conflict that led to his paraplegia has basically been swept under the rug. They could’ve gone back to address the car accident, and how the Ye brothers coped with their grief (and Sunwoo, more so for his sudden loss in mobility as a young boy).

Instead, we get a death threat looming over his head, which is cheap and a slap to the face for his development.

I despise ‘bury your disabled characters’ as a trope so much, and especially so considering I know Lee Sooyeon is capable of better arcs than this.

For this, I would say it’s a 50/50 kind of thing. The show giveth and the show taketh away. It’s a pity: Sunwoo is definitely a hit, but the arc they lead him down is a 100% miss and could make me drop the drama personally.

#jtbc life #kinda discourse-y lol #lee kyu hyung #honestly he's carrying Sunwoo as a character lmao #I like the way he gives Sunwoo little quirks like grinning at people as a defence mechanism #it actually humanises his character greatly #it's a huge fucking shame though #I know in my grubby tadpole heart that if they cop out and lazily kill him I'd just pull the trigger on the show #I have little patience for a show who builds up a character like this and lauds him as representation before shoddily killing him off

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solatgif · 2 years

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TGIF: Roundup for April 15, 2022

One year ago I shared More Than Conquerors: Preparing for Easter by Singing with the Asian American Church. Revisit it now and remember God’s faithfulness today. Also, check out Patreeya Thorn’s Holy Week Devotions to follow Jesus’ journey.

Our Asian American Leadership Conference is this month! I’ll be there and would love to meet you. See our speakers and schedule on the conference website. Our monthly newsletter features our most popular resources. Read our latest and join for free.

I invite you to join my Asian American Worship Leaders Facebook group and listen to our TGIF Playlist on Spotify. Reach me on Twitter or Instagram. On behalf of the SOLA Digital Admin Team, we hope you have a happy Easter!

On behalf of TGC, SOLA, and KALI, we’re excited to see you at the inaugural Asian American Leadership Conference on April 25-27, 2022 in Orange County, CA!

Articles From Around The Web

Hannah F. Nation: Building on Rock

“China’s persecuted house church leaders are showing the way by being the first to repent.”

Karisa You: Go & Make Disciples – The God of All Nations

“Jesus is still loving people today. And if we’re willing, He intends to show people His love through us, too.”

Tim Challies: 40 Random Pieces of Advice for the Christian Life

“Embrace singleness rather than resenting it. Pursue joy and contentment knowing that the God who withholds no good thing from his children also dispenses to them no ultimately bad thing.”

Follow us on YouTube to stay connected with us! Interviews, podcasts, conference messages, and more. You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Books, Podcasts, Music, And More

Ask Pastor John: Should Pro-Lifers Embrace Embryo Adoption?

“For the sake of love, and for the glory of God, and for the peace of conscience, it is right to look all of the possible future heartache and pain in the face that may come with such an adoption, and then to act like Esther did.”

Crossway: Easter Stories

Easter Stories is a perfect way to teach children about the life-changing story of Jesus’s death and resurrection. Each story is from The Biggest Story Bible Storybook, and helps children experience the captivating story of the Bible.

Aaron Lee: Related Works

Book Reviews: Like Our Father by Christina Fox; Did God Learn His ABCs? Does God Go on Vacation? and Does God Sleep? By Amy Gannett. Listen to our TGIF playlist on Spotify. Join my Asian American Worship Leaders Facebook group.

With Easter Sunday approaching, read Patreeya Thorn’s Holy Week Devotions. Thank you for following and supporting our work at SOLA Network!

Featured This Week On SOLA Network

Patreeya Thorn: Holy Week Devotion #5: An Offer You Can Refuse

This is why Christianity is so offensive to many — it offers to pay for what we try to earn ourselves.

Patreeya Thorn: Holy Week Devotion #4: Keep Your Enemies Closer

Jesus says, in a world that draws lines and pits us against each other, we must sit down at the table where no seat can be earned and partake in a meal that none of us can claim credit for.

Patreeya Thorn: Holy Week Devotion #3: Questioning God

He was left hanging in the silence. His question went unanswered so that our questions will always have an answer. We now have a promise that silence is not the same as absence.

Patreeya Thorn: Holy Week Devotion #2: You Feel Me

Whether we have borne the label of “overly emotional” or have always struggled with figuring out what we feel, God invites us to engage our hearts with His.

Patreeya Thorn: Holy Week Devotion #1: Crowns For A King

On Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week, we separate ourselves from the voices of the crowd to face the Messiah as he asks each of us: “Who do you say that I am?”

TGIF: Roundup for April 8, 2022

The Gods of ‘Techtopia’ Giveth, and They Taketh Away / The Nations Are Here / A Prayer for a World in Crisis

General disclaimer: Our link roundups are not endorsements of the positions or lives of the authors.

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rebellingstagnationblog · 7 years

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“Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee (Day 4 of 31)

For @historian-in-pearls, who asked for Drake cutting down his Christmas tree.

Drake took a deep breath before exhaling mightily. “Ahhh. Do you smell that, Gos? The crisp winter air, the slight damp of the coming snow, the tang of pine…”

“You can smell snow coming?” Gosalyn interrupted, studying her father out of the corner of her eye as she tugged her coat more securely around her.

“All true outdoorsman can!” Drake insisted, puffing out his chest and tossing up his head proudly.

Gosalyn smirked. “Well, tell me when one decides to show up.”

Drake raised an eyebrow. “You don’t think I’m a true—”

“There’s not even a cloud in the sky,” Gosalyn pointed out. “But you can smell the coming snow?”

“Gosalyn, Gosalyn, Gosalyn,” Drake lamented, shaking his head. “I know the snow is coming the same way I know how to choose the best Christmas tree: years of experience, an intuitive connection with everything around me, and good old fashioned knowhow.”

“He’s right, Gos,” Launchpad said. “Snow’s supposed to start falling around seven.”

Gosalyn cocked an eyebrow and glanced at Drake. “That’s awfully specific.” She looked over to Launchpad. “How do you know it’s gonna snow?”

“We saw it on the news before we left.”

“We?” Gosalyn asked.

Drake laughed nervously, gripping his axe in his gloved hands. “Look at all those trees all the way over there. I better, um, go pick the best one so we can get home before the snow hits.”

“Oh, we got plenty of time, DW! There’s four hours until its supposed to start snowing—”

“Yes, thank you, Launchpad,” Drake ground out, stomping down the hill towards the copse of trees he’d spotted.

It didn’t matter how he came by the information. It was enough just to know a storm was coming. Really, the news had only confirmed his outdoorsman instincts that told him about the coming snow. It’s not like the news was right all the time, anyway. Just look at how they handled the coverage on his crime fighting; namely, there wasn't any. Which, when it came down to it, was the real crime. Think of all the people he could inspire and how many more citizens would sleep better knowing that the daring Darkwing Duck defended the downtown district from dangerous desperados.

But no. They just confirmed a coming snow storm that Drake absolutely totally knew was coming before he watched the forecast.

Approaching the trees, Drake studied them carefully, taking into account height, width, the shade of green, and the shape of the trunk. No one said the life of an outdoorsman was glamorous, but Drake was willing to live the unglamorous life. The outdoor lifestyle was worth it.

Circling around a perfectly proportioned pine, its crisp scent bringing a smile to Drake’s beak, he carefully eyed it for any flaws. And when he didn’t find any that alerted his keen sharpened outdoorsman instincts, he arranged his hands along the handle of the axe, balancing its weight evenly.

“As any true outdoorsman will tell you,” he said to Gosalyn and Launchpad, who had followed him to the trees, “using an axe to cut down a tree is always the preferred method. It’s better for the bark and offers more consistency than a motorized tool.”

“That’s not even close to being true,” Gosalyn said.

Drake scowled. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand, not being a true outdoorsman yourself.”

“I’m not outdoor anything,” Gosalyn said, stuffing her hands into her coat pockets. “There’s a reason man invented homes; so he wouldn’t have to go outside. Can you please just get on with this cutting down the tree thing?”

“You can’t rush nature, Gos.” Drake swung the axe back over his shoulder. “And in order to become a true outdoorsman,” he swung it down, the blade biting into the wood with a solid thunk, “you have to become one with nature.” He swung it back. “Learn from her.” He hit the tree with a thunk. “Become apart of the surroundings.” Swing. “Absorb everything it has to teach you.” Thunk. “Why, just from sitting atop a hill or even in a park,” swing, “you’re already learning about nature.” Thunk. “The valuable lesson of the circle of life.” Swing. “How you should only take what you need, not what you want.” Thunk. “And most importantly,” swing, “patience.” Thunk.

“Whew!” Drake pulled the axe free and studied the trunk of the tree. “Thought I’d be farther along by now.” It had looked so easy in the online instructional videos. He’d recently become obsessed with cutting down their own Christmas tree and decided this would be the year.

But no one mentioned how much work went into it.

That didn’t matter, though. Nothing worth having was easily won.

“You know,” Gosalyn said. “Negaduck carries a chainsaw with him.”

“Oh, really? I had no idea,” Drake grumbled, glancing back at his daughter. “Now, if you please, I need to concentrate.” Gripping the axe tighter, Drake began cutting the tree down with renewed strength.

In between his steady rhythm of swing, thunk, he heard Launchpad say, “A chainsaw would be helpful right now.”

“Right?” Gosalyn said. “He never listens to me.”

Embedding the axe deep into the trunk, Drake turned around to face the two, hands on his hips. “You are breaking my concentration! Unless you plan on helping, go stand over there where I can’t hear you.”

With a glance to Launchpad, Gosalyn walked away, heading for the area her father had pointed towards.

Drake glanced at Launchpad, who shrugged in response. He pointed at the pilot’s chest and asked, “You gonna keep your bill shut?”

“If it helps.”

“Good.” Drake turned back around and yanked the axe free. “Because I need silence to focus on my bonding time.” Swing. “It takes the departure from civilization,” thunk, “and the silence of the woods around you,” swing, “to really bond with nature.” Thunk. “Once I fully connect to my surroundings,” swing, “I can become one with this tree.” Thunk. “Understand it,” swing, “down to its roots.” Thunk. “See the impact,” swing, “I am making,” thunk, “by removing it,” swing, “from it’s woodsy home.” Thunk. “Show my,” swing, “appreciation,” thunk, “for the sacrifice,” swing, “that’s being made.”

When he started the downswing, the axe slipped from Drake’s hands and went flying. The momentum pulling him forward, Drake fell flat on his beak in a bank of snow. Launchpad yelped and ducked out of the way of the rogue axe.

Propping himself up on his elbows, Drake spat out a beak-full of snow and glared at Launchpad. “Not a word,” he growled.

Launchpad disappeared into the trees after the axe, smothering his laughter.

“You okay, Dad?” Gosalyn asked, jogging back over to him.

“Never better!” Drake exclaimed, leaping to his feet before Gosalyn made it over. “All apart of the process of becoming one with our Christmas tree.”

“Sorry, DW,” Launchpad said as he emerged from the trees. “No sign of your axe anywhere.”

“The outdoors giveth and the outdoors taketh away,” Drake said forlornly.

He wondered where he might be able to find another axe. Maybe there was a hardware store nearby. Or maybe he could fashion something out of his surroundings….

“Well, let’s taketh this tree away,” Gosalyn said, pulling out a small chainsaw from behind her back. “I’m freezing.”

“Gosalyn!” Drake said, a hand coming up to rest over his heart, appalled. “A true outdoorsman would never stoop so low as to use a—”

“I’ll tell everyone you chopped the dumb tree down yourself,” Gosalyn promised.

Drake grabbed the chainsaw. “And after only a few swings.”

“Like the great outdoorsmen of old.” Gosalyn smirked.

Drake smiled in return as he yanked the chainsaw to life.

If a tree fell in the woods, and no one except his family was around to see it, did it really matter how it was cut down?

#darkwing duck #Drake Mallard #launchpad mcquack #Goslayn Mallard #31 days of christmas #rocking around the christmas tree #geronimo #writing #fanfiction

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thebibliomancer · 7 years

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Essential Avengers: Avengers #150-151: Avengers Assemble!/At Last: The Decision!

August, 1976

That second title is kind of how I felt reading the flashback padded #150.

But lets talk about this cover. It’s okay. It’s everyone running at the screen over a big question mark. Because: who is going to be on the new roster??

Keep wondering, scrubs. Buy next month’s issue.

Yes, I agree smol Vision. That is bullshit.

Its an okay cover though. It’d make a decent poster, plus or minus the ?.

Last time: So bear with me here. I’m dropping a big synopsis all up ins. So Hawkeye ragequit the team which caused a membership opportunity filled by Swordsman and his live-in girlfriend Mantis. Mantis started trying to mack on Vision which caused a tense love rectangle between Swordsman, Mantis, Vision and Scarlet Witch.

Eventually, Mantis was revealed as the Celestial Madonna when Kang kidnapped her to try to forcibly marry her, Swordsman died, Mantis and Vision went on journeys of discovery, and then there was a double marriage between Vision/Scarlet Witch and Mantis/a tree wearing Swordsman’s corpse. Shame it wasn’t multiple trees because then you could have had a copse in a corpse.

Also, Hawkeye rejoined the team.

With Vision and Scarlet Witch on their honeymoon, Mantis on a space honeymoon, and Swordsman dead and also a tree puppet, the Avengers needed to boost their roster.

Moondragon joined from her involvement in the Celestial Madonna Stuff. Wasp and Yellowjacket came back to the team. Beast answered their membership call. Vision and Scarlet Witch came back briefly from their honeymoon and immediately got roped into drama. And Patsy Walker blackmailed her way into accidentally becoming Hellcat on purpose.

Thor and Moondragon went looking for Hawkeye in the Old West because Hawkeye had ragequit the Avengers to go recruit Black Knight in the Crusade Times. There, they watched some cowboys stop a train robbery and then Thor tanked Kang to death.

In the present times, Captain America recruited the rest of the Avengers into investigating Brand with him and discovered some weird cross-universal conspiracy by an eldritch and sapient hat to have corporations control the government. The Squadron Supreme was involved and got their keisters kicked. Also, Thor came back from the Old West and fought a whale man.

Now here we are. Finally ready to settle on that new roster. Who is going to be on it? That’s what the giant question mark wants to know.

We start with Wasp and Yellowjacket returning from their extended hospital stay to find a big ol’ crowd in front of Avengers’ mansion.

They must have heard that this is issue 150. And/or that a new Avengers roster is being decided. But not New Avengers.

As I remarked once upon a time, you wouldn’t get this kind of crowd in modern days Avengers. There’s so many teams that are constantly changing their roster to no applause. Perhaps the Marvel public is jaded at the Avengerses.

The two heroes are immediately accosted by a wild Sam Reuther who wants to know if they’re new Avengers.

Wasp: “New Avenger? We are Avengers.”

But Jarvis lets the two in so that Sam Reuther can continue baseless speculation and time filling. Insert joke about 24-hour news cycle, pause for laughter.

As Jarvis leads them to the meeting room, Wasp frets that she doesn’t know whether Yellowjacket still wants to be an Avenger. But reassures herself that he’ll stay with her.

When everyone is seated at their big table, Thor addresses the Avengers as chairman.

First things first: Iron Man got a new mask. Everyone look at Iron Man’s new mask. Notice how it doesn’t have an iron nose anymore. Stan Lee giveth and taketh away.

But there is equally important news:

Thor: “I do hereby call this meeting to order! Avengers, ‘tis a momentous decision we be called upon to make this day! We have sought out new Avengers -- and now, we must needs choose who we shall be in the days ahead! Our choice will affect our honor, our fortunes -- mayhap our very lives! And yet, to commence our deliberations... I am forced to announce my leave of absence.”

DUN DUN DUNNN

We take a break from that drama bomb to let Sam Reuther recap how the Avengers formed in issue #1. That reminds me of the time I recapped issue #1... ~flashback wiggle~

And now back to the Avengers reacting to Thor quitting the team, rage-situation ambiguous.

Wasp even protests that while she and Yellowjacket have come and gone, Thor is one of the mainstays of the team!

So Thor spells out the epiphany he recently had. About being nearly as powerful as the whole rest of the team put together. About being a ““big fish in a small pond.”” And how he suspects that he has remained on the team out of vanity, being aggrieved that the team has done fine in his absence.

He’ll be there if the Avengers need him but for now he has to do his own thing. And he asks Iron Man to stay on the team as a seasoned hand and also the interim chairman until proper elections can be held.

Hellcat, aka Patsy Walker or vice versa, is getting pretty hype despite Thor quitting. She is absolutely sure that the Avengers are going to ask her to stay on and she is DEFINITELY going to become an Avenger. Like holy shit yes. Live the dream.

Beast is less than thrilled. I think he’s slowly realized that the pity ride-along he tossed her way is going to result in someone even more fun-loving than him joining the team. THREATENING HIS ROLE AS THE FUN PERSON.

He is glum.

Now its Iron Man’s time to give a little speech.

Iron Man: “Uh... well, I guess we’ll just keep going like we were. I’ve sat in on plenty of Tony Stark’s board meetings, but this is all very unexpected! I’m sure we all respect Thor’s decision -- and, as has been said many times, ‘once an Avenger, always an Avenger.’ Still, as a friend I can’t help but wish that nobody’d put this idea in his head.”

He says, while Moondragon takes up the majority of the foreground.

Also, that sat in on board meetings thing verges on protesting too hard. And also seems like a loose thread that someone could pull if they actually cared about who Iron Man was. Like, if one of the Avengers asked anyone else in on the board meetings whether Iron Man and Tony Stark are ever in the same place at the same time.

Although that’s being a bit too pedantic, probably.

Anyway, Iron Man asks Captain America if he’ll rejoin the Avengers for official. I mean, they had such a good time teaming up recently. Right?

We don’t learn his answer this time. Because the next page Sam Reuther continues recapping, this time various points of early Avengers history such as finding Cap, Hulk quitting the team, Wonder Man betraying and then saving the team and then dying, and the change of roster that led to the Kooky Quartet.

And then, no joke, the last twelve pages of the comic are just reprinted pages from Avengers #16.

And I’m not recapping that again. Here’s the link for that post. Now you know what happens in the rest of this issue.

Not counting the cover, there are only six pages of new content in this issue. Of which, two are just recaps of previous issues. The rest of this issue is a reprint.

It’d be one thing if pages were reprinted to serve some kind of point that the recap was making. But it’s just an entire swath of a previous issue.

Which contributes to the narrative that Englehart was replaced as writer because of problems meeting his deadlines.

This is his last issue as the writer on Avengers. Afterward he gets replaced by Gerry Conway. Although I’m showing on marvel wikia that Englehart still gets writing credits until #153 so I guess ideas of his were used until Conway decided on his own direction.

So I’m not sure how much of what is to follow falls on Englehart versus Conway and Jim Shooter who also gets a writing credit on #151, implying a haphazard writer changeover.

Anyway, lets press on and find out what team we end up with!

September, 1976

America wants you! To read this dang issue.

Fine, America. FINE.

Again, a perfectly decent cover. Catches the attention, which a change-up should do.

Also Thor looks like he’s about to cry. It’s hard leaving your friends to go find yourself.

We pick back up and Sam Reuther is still recapping Avengers. And somehow getting images to appear behind him despite filming live. That’s the magic of television.

And we get Ben Grimm, in his Thing exoskeleton phase (Fantastic Four gets weird) watching the news. He dismisses the change in roster just a public relations bit.

Why, the Fantastic Four would never change its membership all the time! The very idea that for example, Medusa, Thundra, and Power Man would join the Fantastic Four is... dang.

Ben begrudgingly becomes interested in the news.

Meanwhile, at Avengers Mansion, Cap finally answers Iron Man’s question from last time.

He’ll rejoin the team. Because dernit he’s a man drawn to his roots and his roots in this era are with the Avengers!

Iron Man then asks Vision and Scarlet Witch if they’re sticking on the team. They did cut their honeymoon short for this.

But Scarlet Witch interjects, asking whether Hawkeye will be rejoining.

And then the narrative interjects, taking us to Robert Frank, once the Whizzer, and his crappy apartment.

He’s had a tough time recently. Remember in Giant-Size Avengers #1, he learned that his son had become a rampaging nuclear monster.

And then he overhears speculation on the news that Scarlet Witch might leave the Avengers and he overreacts, yelling that she can’t leave him after he’s done so much and come so far and in the end it didn’t even matter.

Although, in fairness, Quicksilver quit the Avengers to live in a secret city. He has reason to worry, I guess.

Anyway, Sam Reuther has been narrating this whole time about how when the Kooky Quartet started, everyone was worried. Because now the Avengers were 3/4 crooks. And also less powerful than previous teams. But dern if they didn’t prove themselves just as capable and such!

Back inside the mansion, Thor explains that Hawkeye is going to be hanging around the Current West, living out his cowboy fantasies with Two-Gun Kid.

But the both of them will help out if needed. Consider it “detached service.”

With that reassurance, both Vision and Scarlet Witch happily rejoin the team.

As does Wasp, skipping ahead because eh protocol is for people who aren’t Janet Van Dyne. She’s been laid up in the hospital. She craves action as the Winsome Wasp.

And then Sam Reuther dumps on Hank Pym and Hawkeye in one smooth page o’ recap. He calls Hank Pym “the most confusing Avenger of all” due to his frequent power, costume, and codename switch-ups. Also I choose to believe he makes fun of Hawkeye’s no pants, no underwear costume.

Meanwhile, a mysterious figure rages as he watches Sam Reuther recap the Avengers on the news. Because Sam Reuther mentioned that Wasp loves Yellowjacket and SHE’LL REGRET CHOOSING HIM OVER MYSTERIOUS FIGURE OH YES MYSTERIOUS FIGURE SURE SWEARS IT!

A gritty general tells Mysterious Figure that he needs to work on his self-control and curb his ferocity. But telling an emotional person yelling at the tv to calm down has never been anything but counterproductive.

Back at the mansion, Yellowjacket decides...

NOT to rejoin the team.

He just wants to be a scientist and do scientist stuff. And maybe some superheroing on the side. Maybe he’ll join the Defenders where nobody expects anything much of you...

and he sadly walks out of the room while Sam Reuther begins to talk about all the people who didn’t become Avengers like Spider-Man, Namor, Daredevil and then about the cooler ones that did become Avengers like Hercules, Black Knight, Black Panther, Black Widow, and Vision.

And I guess Sam Reuther knows Vision’s backstory because he mentions he has the brain patterns of the dead deceased Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man.

You know too much, Sam Reuther.

And then we check in on the Champions, because Sam Reuther just mentioned two of them. And because its good to check in on the Champions sometimes, if only to remind yourself that the Champions existed and only due to the capricious whims of editorial.

Iceman and Angel get nostalgic about their time as the original X-Men and how Hank is an Avenger now.

And Hercules and Black Widow both reflect on their time with the team, coming when both were strangers in a strange land.

Black Widow’s Avengers membership at this point is extremely tentative so its weird that she has such fond memories about it. But the grass looks greener as you glance over your shoulder. Or something?

Meanwhile, Moondragon is up.

And she too turns down a position on the team. It’d be hypocritical to drive Thor off the team for slumming and then hang around herself. Plus, she wanted to learn more of Earth ways and she has come to realize that the Avengers are too constraining.

Even so, the Avengers have showed her great kindness when they weren’t fighting over her like a piece of meat and she respects them, for some reason. If they meet again, it will be as allies.

A decision that has Iron Man thinking “who the heck does she think she is?” and “thank goodness for small favors, eh?” at the same time. Thank goodness she’s not sticking around but ugh how dare she think she better than the Avengers.

But like I’ve been constantly alluding to, Iron Man would regret bringing her onto the team. I wonder how much of what she’s done is payback for Thor and Iron Man being such jerks about her.

But that brings us to Beast. And Beast immediately accepts. And flips out of his chair. Which seems to aggravate Thor. Or surprise him. Its hard to say. Thor is sometimes drawn so that the only emotion he seems to have is anger.

Wasp immediately objects. Not to Beast! He seems fine! But doesn’t the team seem like its getting crowded? I mean, you have Iron Man, Captain America, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Wasp, Yellowjacket and now Beast? Why, that’s six people! That’s so many people!

Okay, yeah, she just wants to make sure that there’s still room on the team for when she convinces Hank (Pym) to change his mind. Kind of rude to Beast though, Wasp.

Anyway, Hellcat is now under consideration. And she looks THRILLED.

And now for another Sam Reuther interruption. As he recaps women in the Avengers. But he calls them ‘females.’ The legacy of Stan, maybe.

Anyway again. Patsy Walker, aka Hellcat, has only been on the one mission. And she did try to blackmail an Avenger. And her origin story is ‘oh cool a free supersuit.’ But on the other hand, she’s pretty rad. Pulled her weight during that Crisis on Other Earth.

So Iron Man definitely extends an Avengers invitation to her.

And Patsy obviously accepts. I mean, come on. What could possibly stop her?

Moondragon. Moondragon is what could possibly stop her.

Moondragon tells her that she has no training or experience (which in fairness, true) so she musn’t join the Avengers yet. Instead, she will come with Moondragon on Moondragon’s Fun Trip Exploring The World and Moondragon will train her.

No! They’ll train each other. Moondragon will teach her superhumanity and Hellcat will teach her... humanity.

Dammit Moondragon, this is why you’re the worst Avenger.

It’s only funny to me that she joined the Avengers, convinced Thor to quit, and then quit herself. And I don’t even think she was wrong not to stick around. With the benefit of a reread, there was a hells uncomfortable workplace environment going on. But she is the one element that stopped an amazing run of Patsy Walker being an Avenger.

And it would have not been super great. This was the Avengers in the 70s. Their gender politics are not great. See also: Patsy Walker dismissing the idea of being a womens libber. But Patsy Walker on the Avengers!

maybe then she wouldn’t have met Daimon Hellstrom, married him, and then later committed suicide under his demonic influence ;___;

Anyway, I say Moondragon is to blame. But really its either Englehart, Conway, Shooter or any combination thereof who just used Moondragon to keep Hellcat out of the Avengers for some unknown, dumb reason.

I do have a headcanon about it though.

Moondragon is, at this point, a closeted lesbian. Maybe she just likes Patsy, despite them interacting a grand total of almost never up until this point. Just likes her and wants to spend time teaching her to kick ass and learning how to be... human.

Although since its Moondragon and she is almost as callous as an X-Men regarding psychic powers, she almost certainly influenced Patsy to agree to give up on her dream that has been her single most powerful motivating factor in these comics.

Moondragon, that is Not Cool.

Oh. And consolation prize. Yellowjacket changed his mind. He went off-screen to sulk. Wasp didn’t go running after him so he came running back to her. Yay.

Also: Avenging is in his blood, yo. That and a strange microbe that made him almost die.

Thor suggests applying the “detached service” thinger to Yellowjacket too. Give him more labtime. Make his Avenging more flexible. And hell, lets just give “detached service” to Moondragon and Hellcat too!

Consolation prizes all around!

Moondragon prays that the Avengers never get in such dire straights that they need her power to save them. As does Iron Man. Except in a more insulting way. He’s had unkind thoughts throughout.

And Beast wishes Patsy luck and makes me miss what their dynamic could have been had she stayed. Although I imagine it would have been as a comedy duo with Beast and someone is already slated for that.

So Thor hammerwhirls himself, Moondragon, and Hellcat away. And the new team (mostly comprised of old members. Like seriously. This new roster is Iron Guy Who Is Always On The Team, Captain Frequently On The Team, Wasp, Man Of Many Names Who Is Always On The Team, Scarlet Witch Has Been On Team More Than Iron Man, robot husbando, and new challenger Beast. Was the idea to get back to basics? Plus Beast?) goes out to the waiting crowd to announce themselves.

And of course give the big: AVENGERS ASSEMBLE for the cameras.

They're so busy working the crowd that they don’t notice the giant crate that was delivered for them.

At least until it CREEAAAKKs.

And then with a CRRRASHH! Wonder Man punches his way out of the crate. And noticably shaky and slumped (like some manner of... living dead), he points at Vision.

And accuses him. Of being the one that stole his mind.

So. That’s going to be a thing.

And okay. New roster. Which isn’t very new but whatever. It has Wasp. It has Scarlet Witch and Vision. It has Beast. It could stand to have a Hellcat but the world isn’t perfect.

What did I think? Well, I’ve been pretty open about it.

I have to reiterate because of the shaky transition from Englehart to Conway, its hard to know who is responsible for what. Englehart brought Patsy Walker into the book and made her a superheroine. Did he do that only to shuffle her immediately off the book? What about Moondragon? Was her scant role on the team after the Celestial Madonna Saga solely to badger Thor until he quit the team?

Was it Conway and Shooter who decided to enforce a back to basics approach with the new roster? Was Englehart taken off the book because of a problem meeting deadlines as implied in this letters column apologia?

Englehart insists that he wasn’t late getting #150 in on time. So was it creative differences?

The way that #150 just cuts off halfway for a reprint, right before anything was decided about the new roster except Thor gone, Iron Man to remain, makes things hazy.

But whatever. Lets just say there were more interesting ways this roster could have gone. And then see where things go from here.

So Wonder Man. Back from the dead. Huh. Wonder where Conway is going with that?

Face front, true believers! You can follow this liveblog @essential-avengers.

#Avengers #Thor #Captain America #Iron Man #Yellowjacket #Wasp #the Vision #Scarlet Witch #Beast #Hellcat #Moondragon #important newsman Sam Reuther #a heck of a lot of padding #conspiratorial dubiousness in writer changes #and a new roster #Essential Avengers #Essential marvel liveblogging #been reading a lot of patsy walker hellcat's book lately #its rad

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traincat · 7 years

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I love the gifset you reblogged with Pete and Gwen! I was just wondering what was wrong(?) with the Homecoming review you mentioned in your tags? What are your thoughts on Homecoming? :) Anyways love your blog and your writing! Have a great day!

Thank you! So I have somewhat unsuccessfully attempted not to be Really Negative about Homecoming, except on twitter where I’ve clearly given up altogether, but heads up: I’m about to be pretty negative because I care way too much about Peter Parker. My opinions are my own, etc. Right off the bat: I actually do think Spider-Man: Homecoming is going to be a fun summer movie. It’s probably well-written and engaging! It looks like a good movie about a teenage superhero coming into his own and I’m excited about the diverse cast.

It also, in my own opinion, looks like a terrible movie about Peter Parker.

There was nothing wrong with the review (it was in USA Today) so much as that literally everything it described made me, a person who loves Peter Parker, cringe. Full disclaimer that I haven’t seen Homecoming yet and it’s plausible I might like it in the end! I won’t, but it’s plausible! So everything I’m talking about is based on interviews with the cast and creators/trailers and released scenes/etc.

But I’ve got so much beef with this movie I practically own a cattle ranch.

I’m just going to try to hit my main complaints: Ned Leeds, or, This Should Have Been a Miles Morales Movie, Peter as a New Yorker, Peter Parker vs Spider-Man: A Fake Argument, and Why We Actually Do Need To Know How Ben Died, Thanks. “Traincat, how much have you thought about this?” I don’t want to talk about it! Except I do, under the cut:

1) Ned Leeds. This has been pointed out before, but it bears repeating until all my metaphorical cows come home: Homecoming’s “Ned Leeds” is literally Ganke Lee, Miles Morales’ best friend. Look at Ganke. Now look at 616 Ned. Back to Ganke. Yeah. He looks like him, and he appears to act like him from the little we’ve seen. “Ned” knows Peter is Spider-Man, the way Ganke knows Miles is Spider-Man. Ned is enthusiastic about Peter being Spider-Man, the way Ganke is. Ned’s playing with Legos in a Homecoming trailer, Ganke loves Legos, etc. They didn’t even try to hide the fact that they stole a major Miles Morales character for the benefit of a Peter Parker movie.

It’s possible Ned Leeds will resemble Ned Leeds more closely when the movie comes out, in which case I look forward to Spider-Man 3: Still At Home, where Peter passionately makes out with Ned’s wife and then Ned dies in Germany. But I have my doubts about that.

One of my problems is that I, personally, am not particularly interested in Peter Parker in high school. (WHERE is the movie where he is 30, teaching high school, and played by Alfie Enoch? I want it. You want it. We all want it. Look at him. He’s perfect.) If we’re going to do a teenage Spider-Man, why NOT Miles Morales, who IS the Spider-Man currently in high school, and who HAS been a kid since his introduction several years ago. Peter graduated high school in Amazing Spider-Man #28. There are over 700+ issues of Amazing Spider-Man alone. It’s time to leave the idea of Peter Parker as a character perpetually in high school behind.

BUT, if we were going to make a Teen Peter Parker movie, make it actually about Peter, because the way this is marketed (the gaming laptop commercial? The Audi one where he’s taking a driver’s test? The banking quiz? I cannot think of anything that screams Spider-Man less than German automobiles) sure looks like this is a movie about Relatable Teen Hero Boy-Man, who may be a good kid but he’s not Peter Parker, and who is here to sell you, the viewer, some stuff.

(I cannot believe consumerism giveth the Spider-Mobile, and consumerism taketh it away.)

2) New York! Where I am typing this post from, actually! True story: I never would have even read this review, but my mom read it and to quote: “There’s going to be a problem. Aunt May drives him around.” NAH. N A H. Listen, I know people in New York have cars. I know people in Queens have cars. I know this so well that I have my aunt’s car, which before me sat in a parking lot in Queens 360 days out of the year. Almost any scene you could tell in a regular car, you could tell in a subway car. Also, you can see Washington DC in the trailer, which means that at some point the movie is going to take Peter out of New York, a move I cannot possibly see the point to. I’m going to be an Obnoxious New Yorker for a hot second: Other superheroes might live in New York, but Peter Parker is New York. He has to have a relationship with the city itself. This is one of the things I think The Amazing Spider-Man movies did wonderfully: looking at New York actually felt like looking at New York. The scene with the crane operators, the webbed I LOVE YOU, Gwen’s fire escape, or when he jaywalks through traffic in Union Square. The big fight in Times Square. Homecoming already didn’t FEEL like New York from the trailers and now a chunk of the movie isn’t even taking place in it? Aunt May’s going to drive her nephew around? What’s the point? Why would you strip the New Yorker (”fuck you” means “have a nice day”) from a superhero defined by it?

(PS it’s because Peter is a heavily Jewish-coded character and taking the New Yorker out of him makes him less so. See also, down below, the removal of his guilt/responsibility complex.)

3) He’s Just Always Spider-Man, Guys. The USA Today review also includes a quote from Tom Holland about how “Spider-Man is not Peter Parker” and they’ve “made quite a clear divide between the two” and not to be shady but I think the biggest mistake people make when writing Peter Parker is thinking that there’s ANY difference between Peter and Spider-Man, except that sometimes he has to pretend like lifting the couch takes any effort. He’s always Spider-Man. The kind of confidence you get from being able to throw a Jeep, or crush steel pipes with your bare hands? That doesn’t go away just because you take off a mask. It’s a shallow take. Peter, as a character, isn’t a very reliable narrator of his own personality – you have to look at his actions. Don’t get distracted by his jokes. There’s no divide.

This ties into my problems with the apparently heavy presence of Iron Man – the review calls him a “reluctant father figure” to Peter – beyond my disbelief over not trusting Spider-Man of all characters to carry his own movie. I understand that the MCU is as built over RDJ’s portrayal of Tony Stark as the 616 Universe is built on the legacy of the Fantastic Four, but one of the things I keep in mind when writing Peter is that he doesn’t truly respect anyone else’s authority but his own. As soon as that spider bit him, that was it, he was his own ultimate authority. And now he’s the “Kid Avenger” and Iron Man is making all his tech? Why, when Captain America: Civil War went out of its way to highlight that he’s a tech genius? Why the effort to make Peter Parker less than he is? Oh, right, Relatable Teen Hero Boy-Man. As an advertiser’s daughter, I don’t like being so OBVIOUSLY sold “Spider-Man! He’s just like you! Buy an Audi.”

4) Ben Parker Must Die. Uncle Ben’s death won’t be shown in the movie, they said! HUZZAH, a million voices cried out, drowning out my own cries of, BUT HOW DO I KNOW WHO PETER PARKER IS IF I DON’T KNOW THE EXACT CIRCUMSTANCES OF BEN PARKER’S DEATH.

But this is fine, I said. This is okay. You don’t need to show Ben Parker’s death to feel the impact of it, of course! A skillful storyteller can get around that easily!

Yeah uh so Ben’s death isn’t going to have a large impact on Peter in the movie at all, apparently, which is AN ISSUE when this is THE defining moment.

From this article:

As for why Ben was left out, Watts says he wanted to go all out on focusing on how awesome it would be to become Spider-Man, going from a geeky teen to possessing superhuman powers. Dealing with the fact that Peter is partially guilty for a loved one’s death would have put the dampers on that.

Cool cool cool so you wanted the power and you didn’t want the responsibility. To quote tumblr user myvisagewasted: “Literally the thematic point of Spider-Man is that if you can shatter someone’s face, you GOTTA put a damper on that” and I 10000% agree. Peter, in 616, was initially selfish with his powers. He was an angry teenager who declared he’d only take care of his aunt and his uncle, and that “the rest of the world can go hang.” The Uncle Ben dies, and Peter starts to change. Putting “dampers” on the awesomeness of suddenly being as strong as forty men is called character development, and stripping the guilt complex from Peter is, whether intentional or not, further attempts to hide the character’s Jewish coding. You don’t have to dwell on how much of an impact Ben Parker’s death made on Peter, but I do strongly believe you cannot brush it off because it wouldn’t be fun.

(Ask me about murder lovebirds Spideytorch, or, What If? Uncle Ben’s Death Didn’t Change Peter.)

How Ben dies also matters with regards to who Peter is – for example, in Spider-Man Noir, Ben dies before Peter becomes Spider-Man, and he isn’t shot but rather ripped to shreds and partially eaten by the Vulture. As a result, Noir!Peter is PRETTY COOL with guns and shooting people, whereas 616 Peter has an extreme aversion. If there’s no specifics about Ben’s death, how do we know who Peter is?

Anyway I also believe Peter isn’t his fully formed self until he feels partially responsible for the deaths of three loved ones, so. There’s that. (George Stacy Or Appropriate George Stacy Stand-In Also Must Die.)

Anyway, this has been Traincat’s Unpopular Spider-Man Opinions, the Homecoming edition, thank you for reading, I’m still gonna see the movie because I love Liz Allan and I am Doing It For Her. And also to see if I was right about 10 different theories. Send in the clones.

#peter parker//#homecoming///#long post #*replies #traincat talks comics #i am who i am and who i am is a person who has read so many spider-man comics

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