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andrewguyspeaks-blog · 4 years

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Purpose Will Live Long After SuperHeroes Die: The Power of Purpose Beyond Black Panther!

The immortal power of purpose in action is undeniably the greatest legacy mankind or better yet, superhero can leave behind.

Courtesy: Actor Chadwick Boseman(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times )

Chadwick Boseman dead at 43 and many people are now wondering if there will be a BP2, #blackpanther2. My answer is an emphatic...YOU BET THERE WILL! Even if #WillSmith had to hang up his Fresh Princely robe and assume the role of #BlackPanther, without a doubt, a BP2 will emerge. I mean...you can LOL, but they may call me or you to play BP2. You just never know. But all jokes aside... The #Creator of all things, including humanity, is far too creative to not have a future plan. The death of #chadwickboseman, a brilliant expression of creativity-in-motion is a shock to the millions who adored his work as a professional screen #actor, #speaker and performer.

Consider this scenario: The Misunderstanding Many Face.

Imagine you ordered a hot Domino's pizza on a Friday night as you sat with you boys and or gals waiting patiently for the delivery boy to show up with one slice of your pizza missing...Are you kiddin' Me? Where's that deliver guy? I'm calling TONY! THIS IS RIDICULOUS! I WANT MY PIZZA BACK! Wow, wow...Andrew! Straighten up, Squash the beef and Pump your breaks...who is...Tony? BRUH...! Are you serious? I thought this was supposed to be a SERIOUS MESSAGE to the fans of Black Panther superhero, Chadwick Boseman, your follower and blog readers? Now, who the heck is Tony for #FCOL...For Crying Out Loud? Are you saying I'm supposed to just let this go, bro? Oh no! I ordered a full pizza and that's what I expected; not some crummy leftover pizza with a missing chunk and the delivery boy goes mute while standing at the door with his stretched out dry crusty palm, and beady eyes staring at me expecting a tip. I DON'T THINK SO! NO TIP FOR YOU! Bro, don’t you think you are overreacting here? Some would say. My response...I DON'T THINK SO! Playing the devil’s advocate is easier said than done. The fact is, anyone would be upset if that had happened to them, but can you blame me? I mean, who wouldn't be ticked-off, perplexed, and outraged if their expectations were cut short.

Follow me on this, if you will. Imagine the millions of fans waiting for the sequel of movie that started an unforgettable movement, but only to be cut short of knowing #BP2 (Black Panther II) may not even be played by Chadwick Boseman. What a shock to the visual senses and the cinematic experience of reliving Boseman on the giant screen...hypothetically speaking. I'm sure you would. It's called human beings, being human because they have the ability to comprehend what it means to experience the defeat of loss. In case you missed the purpose and meaning of the message during the Columbo-TONY "Case of the missing slice..."

The metaphorical pun from the pizza animated story is that the pizza is no longer complete if part is missing. Even it’s only a slice. I get it, Andrew, you say. I...get it, bro. Maybe you do, but you probably don't. Truth is, some will and some won't. BUT there's still a small chance that the light bulb may turn on for some, and the reality of reading between the lines may kick in speedly after knowing that this conversation goes far deeper than the smell of a hot oven or the taste of a risen crust pizza with your favourite toppings. This is not food for thought. The real message is about life, knowing you are going to die some day, living purposefully, understanding your gift, using your talent to skillfully serve others while making a difference and having a positive impact on the next generation.

It’s about being passionately alive, savouring the meaningful moments as they come, and being able to stand out from the crowd, while fully aware of who you are in this world.

And you say...Andrew E. Guy...WOW! Eureka! OMG! Holy...God, and not the cow!

Andrew, I see it now. Your message is clearly a wake up call to everyone who don't know their purpose for living and those who think they do, but could be doing the wrong life-assignment and living for the crowd.

This is genius. So let me get this right. If I understand this correctly, you are saying #chadwickboseman represents the missing slice of the pizza and while many are hurting because the world will no longer be the same because of Chadwick Boseman's death, the missing slice and a voice in the black community is irreplaceable.

The Black Panther star will be forever missed.

There have been many deaths this year. Consequently, none of which are coincidental. In each of these death, include that of #GeorgeFloyed, should cause us to reflect on our role in life.

This leads me to take stock of all the blessings I currently have despite the difficulties I faced in the earlier part of 2020. This year has shock me to the core. It has been a difficult year for me so far: I lost my dad, and my mom got really sick and was hospitalized for many weeks, but by God's grace she made a full recovery.

Some may call it Knock-on-wood, but I stand on faith believing that time heals all wounds and I'm still hopeful and optimistic of tomorrow and what's to come. We have lost a lot of significant people this year, and my heart goes out to anyone whom have suffered the loss of loved ones in 2020.

To the Boseman family, his friends, colleagues, business associates and the millions of fans around the globe, this is not the end, but the beginning of something much greater than we've seen in decades.

And yes, it's sad and it does hurt to see Chadwick Boseman go but even purpose is time-sensitive. And the quicker we accept that everything happens in its time, the faster will be our recovery from the shackles of old wounds and past traumatic experiences. Time is the master, but the Creator is the regulator. A piece of earth is gone and many have said, that's too soon. But the reality is that even the sports legends and superheroes of our grown-up and childhood dreams must die and go to their perspective places of rest so that new super heroes can take their rightful place in history. Whether you like it or not, we all have to go one day. Some today, others tomorrow....but all one day!

The #goodnews is that the greater part of our legacy lives on...long after the grave.

#ChadwickBoseman will always be remembered, especially for his unforgettable speech on

"The Power of Purpose."

Boseman’s speech is a clear reminder that the most powerful attribute of mankind is the racialization of knowing our purpose in #thecircleoflife, but there's something even greater than knowing.

Any idea what's greater than having the knowledge of something? I'll tell you. It's living that purpose with such passion that others are motivated and inspired by you, but your Creator gets the glory from everything we do. I call this actively pursuing greatness instead of being chased by mediocrity.

In closing, many have said that there are two major moments in one’s life: the day you were born and the day you die.

After pondering these cliches and their temporary meanings, It is clear that there are 3 vitally significant areas of existing: the day when you are granted life.

I call this the gift of life; next is the day when you take action to unwrap your life-gift, discovery your life-assignment (what you were created to do). I call this living; and finally, the greater part of your life and living is the culmination of being ALIVE.

This I call the day when you become aware of who you are, why you are different and so unique from every other creation that you can never be replicated; that one day you will die; that there's only one of you and once your physical time on earth is over, all there is are memories of what you used to be. It is at this time when the cobwebs disappear, the light bulb turns on, your eyes are opened, and your vision, mission and values become so clear that you abandon every other assignments for the purpose and function you were designed to fulfill before you die. Chadwick, you are the missing slice of our global pizza that the world has seen and behold, and will never taste again, but will only relive the flavoursome moments you've created from your expressed creativity. Thank you for stopping by. Rest well my brother. RIP.

About The Author:

Official Website: www.andrewguyspeaks.com Podcast: https://bit.ly/32AyHCN Books by Andrew: Work Your Words | The Anatomy of The Kingdom

Andrew is a bestselling author, best known for “Work Your Words: Finding Your Pathway To Personal Success. He's the host of the Newly Disruptive Podcast “I’M LISTENING I’M READY” ™, a weekly podcast for people and professionals on the go who wants to make positive changes in their lives, where they “LIVE, WORK, & PLAY!”™ ** Sat. @ 10 AM EST

Andrew is a firm believer that "it's not where you start on the track of life, it's how you run the race of living that matters. Through his engaging talks, he inspires executive staff, municipal and city officials, business men and women, developing professionals, school districts, teachers and students, to develop a deeper understanding of purpose, strive to find meaning in all you do, develop skills, improve relationships, know who you are in your area of expertise.

#chadwick #black superheroes #andrew E Guy #Great blog posts on purpose #Know your life's purpose #living your dreams #ILIR-Podcast #positive messages on purpose #death of chadwick Boseman article #motivational blog posts #goodnews is that the greater #sports legends #Black Panther II #Purpose Will Live Long After SuperHeroes Die #The Power of Purpose Beyond Black Panther!#Creator of all things #chadwick boseman

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captainkurosolaire · 3 years

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Prompt #22 ~ Kiss of Death

Conclusion from: Prompt #14 ~ Whetstone - ♫Lovers on the Sun♫

The escapee of an assailant gave procedure carried, a freed child and sought to sprint out of this hazardous facility in haste. The hostile territories weren't yet finished. A familiar Fae, shouted, <Watch out Master!> In their connection, before a sonic boom of noise shattered his enhanced sense's rung, the infliction was amplified, sending him reeling. He dexterously faltered on his back. Close to the exit. Agitated in pain, unable to use or be reliant on any of his senses but touch. Equipping youth with one of his entrusted daggers, "Run!" Sending them off with an aggressiveness command in his voice. Life's dependency on the line. A matriarch subjugator of the base. "Don't let that experiment escape. Who could've thought a troublesome cat could cause this." As her barking commandment gave to one of her men stepping in and giving an aim shot. The Seeker launched a tricky sleeved dirk attached to a rope and upset the aim and balance disarming and cultivating the man into his pull and grasp. He'd yank him inbound, into kicking distance. Breaking the shin and sending him into a leg-lock squeezed the man's life out in seconds with a fearsome entanglement. Taking advantage of his scent. His feline eardrums were blistered and leaking sanguine from the overflowed frequency of that sound-wave weaponry. The child escaped in line out of sight. The men of her control rushed forth in droves.

Forcing the assassin broke open his eyelids. In pure concentrated golden hues, glowering. He scattered up with a flexible roll back. Blocking the doorway and spiraling in counter blocks registering their aims and disarming them in dispatched his gifted Truesight saw their movement's before they even made them, but at-strict quick cost, of giving him a short burst before becoming indefinitely blind so only could sustain it for a tiny window. He unhooked a bomb strapped onto one of their waists and saw how they used it once in history, and turned and swift-round kicked one in the groin to pull and shove it down a man's throat. Then smashed him into his fellow, then cartwheeled in a series of acrobatics back. Exposing a link of connection he strung them into forcing them to meet a messy catastrophic demise. That unbridled velocity and quick-footed motion were dumbfounding captivating. Sadistically the matriarch even despite seeing her men being murderously and viciously dispatched by the opposition felt a fluster. She saw one of her men's head's be swiftly beheaded and rolled over to her. Blood churning scream's came as this man etched in shadows, prowled and ate people like a dining panther. Their number's meant only added to a body-counter for his expertise. He punctured through a man's chest with his bare hand called lethality and plunged a darkened heart out. Then gushed it to just blind and kill the next man. None could get past his essence. Leaving them strangled and hung up on their own intestine's, their own disembowels used as deathly instrument's. She was left in disbelief and hysteria, twisted, fear, death, whatever she felt was euphorically maddening she let a pitch swoon. Her third-eye was coated in red. That nameless reaper had his gaze only her left standing. His eye-sight was dysfunctional and fading. Lives spent yearning maintaining, just perished in seconds. He was leaving a trail of a combination of his own injuries and limping with fractures. But his face was masked with a red not of his own. She seemed broken to mania. Contract's only end when the target is dead, or the contractor dies. He was the written pen. She felt genuine death and fear, but yet, instead of it deciding to make her, unmoved, she was so motivated more. He gripped a vice around her throat, in his touch, she felt broken. The twist, he was met ceremoniously with an underhanded shock of her arm's that served as a taser. It stacked up and the voltage cranked sent him into a new downfall. His eyelids closed to a shutter, little sight to see preservation. She straddled the clad leather man, in a sultry tone, and her own turned on state as she grind hips onto his lower extremities, "I want you." Rattling off with sultriness. Unable to fend, her own fast pace. She took his loosened blade from his grip, and put it to his throat. Pressing sharp steel upon flesh, breaking skin, wedging between to deliver a final joy. Lips terribly close to another. His body felt entirely numb and drifted, the tightness ring onto his finger, becoming the only thing felt. Contemplating lastly. Before delivering a final song to the Subjugator. Their lips met. And when they did, her literal heart-stopped instantaneously as she slunk off him. Even the balm of his lip's gave a respite of death; too poisonous to contain. He heaved exhales dying out to his steep injuries. Emerging a particularly wise fox gave a canted, of judgement over him, it appeared almost translucent. His eyelid's left open to a crease. Panting out. Resonating a voice internally. <"The Father's shadow must create light."> Looming in forewarned, an oddly spiritual fox delivered a spectral omen. Blurred vision perhaps hallucinating from overexposure to his True-sight resuming to blindness, the spirit drifted aetheric particles away.

Cryptic messages held mystery beyond even where shadow's roamed into as. Sensational presence of what felt, served alarmingly unlike anything. As if was caressed by a power beyond conception. Yet known. It was another thread onto a ball of yarn. Injuries racked over and sent him into an unconsciousness, faded to black. He found himself breathing heavier in nightmare as a nightmare surfaced. Overabundance dread, smelling fresh decay that meteor showered corpses stained into gore-crimson seas. His feet found an empty ability to retreat, or go anywhere, finding little room to maneuver stifling lungs; unable to escape. Cloud's swallowed swirls a puncturing blackest hole, roamed above devouring Sun and Stars alike. Massively awakening an all-consuming silhouette Colossus towered above on an Isle that felt insignificantly like standing upon a pebble-stone, a little rock. The heathen let out a signal and a deafening battle cry upon this hellish out-land. Birds of prey, beckoned pecking and tearing away color, into just pure instilled red and darkness. This felt like a vision of a battlefield, yet to come. It felt inconceivably real. Even his suppressed emotions and conditioned mind was shattered before it. Why did his heart feel so strange? Beyond this veil nightmare, he was actually being revitalized and given chest compressions. Were all these collection's of being on the brink? Or more. Whatever it was, the nightmare changed into a turn. He heard a pitching whine from an apparition on this inhabited place of an infant. In a crater before the Colossus who began proceeding forth, it would've crushed; like witnessing an incoming train. Unless he did something about it, there was nowhere back, no side to turn. Only forward to an executioner behemoth, who engraved death's certainty. That familiarized tone... A parent could only know... that was his child. The boy with a sick heart. Right when finding the answer, and procedure of step's came dashing forth, in this brink. He saw unfathomably shadows do emit light. Only in a pacific condition. Awakening appendage and stitch back together with medicinal ointments and treatments. He had a choice, to ignore this. Or maybe be alert, recognize. Where the murdering had stacked summits, and made him nearly feel anything. Only his wife and child could make him feel. Wasn't too late for even a shadow in acting as guardian over his son left before hardships. A sword, carried a new foundation, of purpose to see truth; peace, because if achieved that, it'd reward him to see his child and be there, one-day. His end would be the ember to begin.

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if-you-fan-a-fire · 4 years

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THE FOLSOM PRISONERS MANIFESTO OF DEMANDS AND ANTI-DEPRESSION PLATFORM

WE THE IMPRISONED MEN OF FOLSOM PRISON SEEK AN-END TO THE INJUSTICE SUFFERED BY ALL PRISONERS, REGARDLESS OF RACE, CREED, OR COLOR.

The preparation and content of this document has been constructed under the unified efforts of all races and social segments of this prison.

We the inmates of Folsom Prison totally and unlimittedly support the California state wide-prison strike on November 3rd 1970; under the united effort for designated change in administrative prison practice and legislative policy.

It is a matter of documented record and human recognition that the administrators of the California prison system have restructured the institutions which were designed to socially correct men into the FACIST CONCENTRATION CAMPS OF MODERN AMERICA.

DUE TO THE CONDITIONAL FACT THAT FOLSOM PRISON IS ONE OF THE

MOST CLASSIC INSTITUTIONS OF AUTHORITATIVE INHUMANITY UPON MEN, THE FOLLOWING MANIFESTO OF DEMANDS ARE BEING SUBMITTED:

November 3, 1970

"MAN'S RIGHT TO KNOWLEDGE AND THE FREE USE THEREOF" • • - - • ..;..-' We the inmates of Folsom Prison have grown to recognize beyond the shadow of a doubt that because of our posture as prisoners and branded characters as alleged criminals, the administrators and prison employees no longer consider or respect us as human beings, but rather. as domesticated animals selected to do their bidding in slave labor and furnished as a personal whipping dog for their sadistic, psychopathic hate.

We the inmates of Folsom Prison, say to you, the sincere people of society, the prison system of which your courts have rendered unto, is without question the authoritive fangs of a coward in power.

Respectfully submitted to the people as a protest to the vile and vicious slavemasters:

THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS THE CALIFORNIA ADULT AUTHORITY THE CALIFORNIA STATE LEGISLATURE THE CALIFORNIA STATE COURTS THE UNITED STATES COURTS AND THOSE WHO SUPPORT THIS SYSTEM OF INJUSTICE. CALIFORNIA PRISONERS UNION

/// We the inmates of this prison have vested the power of negotiation regarding settlement of the stipulated demands within the judgement and control of these four men of the outside world society:

SAL CANDELARIA, (BROWN BERETS) HUEY P. NEWTON (BLACK PANTHER PARTY) CHARLES GARRY (3'RD WORLD LEGAL DEFENSE COUNSEL) REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE CALIFORNIA PRISONER'S UNION (TO BE DESIGNATED)

All and any negotiation will be conducted'by Prison and State Authorities with these four men. There shall be no convict committees. AT 8:30 A.M. NOVEMBER 3RD, 1970, ALL CONVICT LABOR AND ASSIGNED ACTIVITY SHALL CEASE TO FUNCTION, WITH THE STIPULATED EXCEPTIONS OF: •(1) HOSPITAL WORKERS •(2) CULINARY WORKERS ACTIVITY SHALL NOT RESUME UNTIL THE PRISON INMATE POPULATION HAVE RECEIVED DIRECTION FROM THE STIPULATED FOUR PERSON PANEL AS ABOVE MENTIONED, EITHER THROUGH RADIO.. NEWS MEDIA, OR PERSONAL APPEARANCE.

//// We the men of Folsom Prison have been committed to the State Correctional Authorities by the people of society for the purpose of correcting what has been deemed as social errors in behavior. Errors which have classified us as socially unacceptable until reprogrammed with new values and more thorough understanding as to our roles and responsibilities as members of the outside community. The Folsom Prison program in its structure and conditions have been enslaved on the pages of this Manifesto of Demands with the blood, sweat, and tears'of the Inmates of this prison. The programs which we are submitted to under the facade of rehabilitation, is relative to the ancient stupidity of pouring water on a drowning man, inasmuch as we are treated for our hostilities by cur program administrators with their hostility as a medication. In our efforts to comprehend on a feeling level an existence contrary to violence, we are confronted by our captors with as to what is fair and just, we are victimized by exploitation and the denial of the celebrated due process of law.. In our peaceful efforts to assemble in dissent as provided under this Nation's United States Constitution, we are in turn murdered, brutalized and framed on various criminal charges because we seek the rights and priveleges of ALL AMERICAN PEOPLE. In our efforts to intellectually expand in keeping with 'the outside world, through all categories of News Media, we are systematically restricted and punitively offended to isolation status when we insist on our human rights to the wisdom of awareness. ///// MANIFESTO OF DEMANDS 11/3/70 1) We demand the constitutional rights of legal representation at the time of all Adult Authority hearings, and the protection from the procedures of the Adult Authority whereby they permit no procedural safeguards such as an attorney for cross examination of witnesses, witnesses in behalf of the parolee, at parole revocation hearings.

2) We demand a change in medical staff and medical policy and procedure. The Folsom Prison Hospital is totally inadequate, understaffed, prejudicial in the treatment of inmates. There are numerous "mistakes” made many times, improper and erroneous medication is given by untrained personnel. The emergency procedures for serious injury are totally absent in that they have no emergency room whatsoever; no recovery room following surgery which is performed by practitioners rather than board member surgeons„ They are assisted by inmate help neither qualified, licensed, nor certified to function in operating rooms. Several instances have occurred where multiple injuries have happened to a number of inmates at the same time, A random decision made by the M.Ds in charge as to which patient was the most serious and needed the one surgical room available. Results were fatal to one of the men waiting to be operated upon. This is virtually a death sentence to such a man who might have lived otherwise,

3) We demand adequate visiting conditions and facilities for the Inmates and families of Folsom prisoners. The visiting facilities at this prison are such as to preclude adequate visiting for the inmates and their families. As a result the inmates are permitted two hours, tip times per, month to visit with family and friends, which of course has to be divided between these peoples. We ask for additional officers to man the visiting room five days per week, so that . everyone may have 'at least four hours visiting per month. The administration has refused to provide or consider this request in prior appeals using the grounds of denial that they cannot afford the cost of the extra officers needed for such change. However, they have been able to provide twelve new correctional officers, to vacate the gun rails of this prison, armed with rifles and shotguns' during the daytime hours when most of the prison population is at work or attending other assignments. This is a waste of the taxpayers motley, and a totally unnecessary security precaution. 4) We demand that each man presently held in the Adjustment Center be given a written notice wi th the Warden of Custody signature on it explaining the exact reason for, his placement in the severely restrictive confines of the Adjustment Center, 5) We demand the immediate end to indeterminate adjustment center terms to be replaced by fixed terms with the length of time served being terminated by good conduct and according to the nature of the charges, for which men are presently being warehoused indefinitely without explanation. 6) We demand an end to the segregation of prisoners from the mainline population because of their political beliefs. Some of the men in the Adjustment Center are confined there solely for political reasons and their segregation from other inmates is indefinite. 7) We demand an end to political persecution, racial persecution, and the denial of prisoners to subscribe to political papers, books or any other educational and current media chronicals that are forwarded through the United States Mail.

8) We demand an end to the persecution and punishment of prisoners who practice the constitutional right of peaceful dissent. Prisoners at Folsom and San Quentin Prisons according to the California State Penal Code cannot be compelled to work as these two prisons were built for the purpose of housing prisoners and there is no mention as to the prisoners being required to work on prison jobs in order to remain on the mainline and/or be considered for release. Many prisoners believe their labor power is being exploited In order for the State to increase its economic power and continue to expand its correctional industries which are million dollar complexes, yet do not develop working skills acceptable for employment in the outside society, and which do not pay the prisoner more than the maximum sixteen cents per hour wage. Most prisoners never make more than six or eight cents per hour. Prisoners who refuse to work for the two to sixteen cents pay rate, or .who strike, are punished and segregated without the access to the privlieges shared by those who work, this is class legislation; class division, and creates class hostilities within the prison. 9) We demand an end to the tear-gassing of prisoners who are locked in their cells, such action led to the death-of Willie Powell in Soledad Prison, in 1968 and of Fred Billingsley, on February 25th 1970 at San Quentin prison. It is cruel and unnecessary. 10) . ' We demand the passing of a minimum and maximum term bill which calls for an end to the indeterminate sentences whereby a man can be warehoused indefinitely, rehabilitated or not. That all prisoners have the right to be paroled after serving their minimum term instead of the cruel and unusual punishment of being confined beyond his minimum eligibility for parole, and never knowing the reason for the extension of time, nor when time is completed. The maximum term bill eliminates indefinite lift time .imprisonment where it is unnecessary and cruel. Life sentences should not confine a man for longer than ten years as seven years is the statute for a considered lifetime out of circulation and if a man cannot be rehabilitated after a maximum of ten years of construction programs, etc., then he belongs in a mental hygiene center, not a prison. Rescind Adult Authority Resolution 171 - arbitrary fixing of prison terms. 11) We demand that industries be allowed to enter the Institutions and employ inmates to work eight hours a day and fit into the category of workers for scale wages. The working conditions in prisons do not develop working incentives parallel to the money jobs in the outside society, and a paroled prisoner faces many contradictions of the job that adds to his difficulty to adjust. Those industries outside who desire to enter prisons should be allowed to enter for the purpose of employment placement. 12) We demand that inmates be allowed to form or join Labor Unions. 13) We Demand that inmates be granted tte right to support their own families, at present thousands of welfare recipients have to divide their checks to support their imprisoned relatives who without the outside support could not even buy toilet articles or food. Men working on scale wages could support themselves and families while in prison. 14) We demand that correctional officers be prosecuted as a matter of law for shooting inmates, around inmates, o| any act of cruel and unusual punishment where it is not a matter of life or death. 15) We demand that all institutions who use inmate labor be made to conform with the state and federal minimum;wage laws. 16) We demand that all condemned prisoners, avowed revolutionaries and . prisoners of war be granted political asylum in the countries under the Free World Revolutionary Solidarity Pact, such as Algeria,. Russia, Cuba, Latin America, North Korea, North Vietnam, etc., and that prisoners confined for political reasons in this country, until they can be exchanged for prisoners of war held by America, be treated in accord with the 1954 Geneva Convention; that they, their personal property be respected,. and allowed in their possession, and that they not be manacled. 17) We demand and end to trials being held on the premises of San Quentin Prison, or any other prison without the jury as stated in the U.S. Constitution as being picked from the cquntry of the trial proceedings and of the peers of the accused; that being in this case, other prisoners as the selected jurors. 18) We demand an end to the escalating practice of physical brutality being perpetrated upon the inmates of California State Prisons at San Quentin, Folsom, and Soleded Prison in particulay. 19) We demand-that such celebrated and prominent political prisoners as Reis Tijerina, Ahmad Evans, Bobby Seals, Chip Fitzgerald, Los Siete, David Harris, and the Soledad Brothers, be given political asylum out side this country as the outrageous slandering of the mass media has made it impossible either for a fair trial or for a safe term to be served in case of conviction as the forces of reactions and repressions will be forever submitting them to threats of cruel and unusual.punishment and death wherever they are confined and through out the length of their confinement. 20) We demand appointment of three lawyers from the California Bar Association for full time positions to provide legal assistance for inmates seeking post-conviction relief, and to act as liaison between the Administration and inmates for bringing inmate complaints to the attention of the Administration. 21) We demand update of industry working conditions to standards as provided for under California law. 22) We demand establishment of inmate workers insurance plan to provide compensation for work related accidents.

23) We demand establishment of unionized vocational training program comparable to that of the Federal Prison System which provided for union instructions, union pay scale, and union membership upon completion of the vocational training course. 24) We demand annual accounting of Inmate Welfare Fund and formulation of inmate committee to give inmates a voice as to how such funds are used. 25) We demand that the Adult Authority Board appointed by the Governor be eradicated and replaced by a parole board elected by popular vote of the people. In a world where many crimes are punished by indeterminate sentences; and where authority acts within secrecy and within past discretion and given heavy weight to accusations by prison employees against inmates, inmates feel trapped unless they are willing to abandon their desire to be independent men. 26) We demand that the Statd and Prison Authorities conform to recommendation #1 of the "Soledad Caucus Report," to wit, "That the State Legislature create a full-time salaried hoard of overseers for the State Prisons. The Board would be responsible for evaluating allegations made by inmates, their families and friends, and lawyers against employees charged with acting inhumanely, illegally or unreasonably. The board should include people nominated by a psychological or psychiatric association, by the State Bar Association or by the Public Defenders Association, and by groups of concerned, involving laymen." 27). We demand that prison authorities conform to the conditional requirements and needs as describe in the recent released Manifesto from the Folsom Adjustment Center. 28) We demand an immediate end jfco the agitation of races relations by the prison administrations of this state. 29) We demand that the California Prison System furnish Folsom Prison with the services of Ethnic Counselors for the needed special services of Brown and Black population of this prison. 30) We demand an end to the discrimination in the judgement and quota of parole for Black and Brown people. 31) We demand that all prisoners. be present at the time that their cells and property are being searched by the correctional officers of state prisons. Distributed by CONNECTIONS 330 Ellis St. S.F. 673-0298

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black-paraphernalia · 3 years

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Black Panther Party, original name Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, African American revolutionary party, founded in 1966 in Oakland, California, by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale.

The party’s original purpose was to patrol African American neighborhoods to protect residents from acts of police brutality. The Panthers eventually developed into a Marxist revolutionary group that called for the arming of all African Americans, the exemption of African Americans from the draft and from all sanctions of so-called white America, the release of all African Americans from jail, and the payment of compensation to African Americans for centuries of exploitation by white Americans. At its peak in the late 1960s, Panther membership exceeded 2,000, and the organization operated chapters in several major American cities.

Origin and political program

Despite passage of the 1960s civil rights legislation that followed the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954), African Americans living in cities throughout North America continued to suffer economic and social inequality.

Poverty and reduced public services characterized these urban centers, where residents were subject to poor living conditions, joblessness, chronic health problems, violence, and limited means to change their circumstances. Such conditions contributed to urban uprisings in the 1960s (such as those in the Watts district of Los Angeles in 1965, among others) and to the increased use of police violence as a measure to impose order on cities throughout North America.

It was in this context, and in the wake of the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965, that Merritt Junior College students Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense on October 15, 1966, in West Oakland (officially “Western Oakland,” a district of the city of Oakland), California.

Shortening its name to the Black Panther Party, the organization immediately sought to set itself apart from African American cultural nationalist organizations, such as the Universal Negro Improvement Association and the Nation of Islam, to which it was commonly compared.

Although the groups shared certain philosophical positions and tactical features, the Black Panther Party and cultural nationalists differed on a number of basic points. For instance, whereas African American cultural nationalists generally regarded all white people as oppressors, the Black Panther Party distinguished between racist and nonracist whites and allied themselves with progressive members of the latter group.

Also, whereas cultural nationalists generally viewed all African Americans as oppressed, the Black Panther Party believed that African American capitalists and elites could and typically did exploit and oppress others, particularly the African American working class.

Perhaps most importantly, whereas cultural nationalists placed considerable emphasis on symbolic systems, such as language and imagery, as the means to liberate African Americans, the Black Panther Party believed that such systems, though important, are ineffective in bringing about liberation. It considered symbols as woefully inadequate to ameliorate the unjust material conditions, such as joblessness, created by capitalism.

From the outset, the Black Panther Party outlined a Ten Point Program, not unlike those of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and Nation of Islam, A number of positions outlined in the

From the outset, the Black Panther Party outlined a Ten Point Program, not unlike those of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and Nation of Islam, to initiate national African American community survival projects and to forge alliances with progressive white radicals and other organizations of people of color.

A number of positions outlined in the Ten Point Program address a principle stance of the Black Panther Party: economic exploitation is at the root of all oppression in the United States and abroad, and the abolition of capitalism is a precondition of social justice. In the 1960s this socialist economic outlook, informed by a Marxist political philosophy, resonated with other social movements in the United States and in other parts of the world. Therefore, even as the Black Panther Party found allies both within and beyond the borders of North America, the organization also found itself squarely in the crosshairs of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and its counterintelligence program, COINTELPRO. In fact, in 1969 FBI director J. Edgar Hoover considered the Black Panther Party the greatest threat to national security.

Source:Britannica.com - Black Panther Party Legacy

Black Paraphernalia Disclaimer - images from Google images

PART 2 ALL ABOUT THE BLACK PANTHERS

Ten Point Program address a principle stance of the Black Panther Party: read below for the 10 point which was the pillar of the party

1. We want freedom. We want power to determine the destiny of our Black and oppressed communities.

We believe that Black and oppressed people will not be free until we are able to determine our destinies in our own communities ourselves, by fully controlling all the institutions which exist in our communities.

2. We want full employment for our people.

We believe that the federal government is responsible and obligated to give every person employment or a guaranteed income. We believe that if the American businessmen will not give full employment, then the technology and means of production should be taken from the businessmen and placed in the community so that the people of the community can organize and employ all of its people and give a high standard of living.

3. We want an end to the robbery by the capitalist of our Black and oppressed communities.

We believe that this racist government has robbed us and now we are demanding the overdue debt of forty acres and two mules. Forty acres and two mules were promised 100 years ago as restitution for slave labor and mass murder of Black people. We will accept the payment in currency which will be distributed to our many communities. The American racist has taken part in the slaughter of over fifty million Black people. Therefore, we feel this is a modest demand that we make.

4. We want decent housing, fit for the shelter of human beings.

We believe that if the landlords will not give decent housing to our Black and oppressed communities, then the housing and the land should be made into cooperatives so that the people in our communities, with government aid, can build and make decent housing for the people.

5. We want education for our people that exposes the true nature of this decadent American society. We want education that teaches us our true history and our role in the present-day society.

We believe in an educational system that will give to our people a knowledge of self. If you do not have knowledge of yourself and your position in the society and the world, then you will have little chance to know anything else.

6. We want completely free health care for all Black and oppressed people.

We believe that the government must provide, free of charge, for the people, health facilities which will not only treat our illnesses, most of which have come about as a result of our oppression, but which will also develop preventative medical programs to guarantee our future survival. We believe that mass health education and research programs must be developed to give all Black and oppressed people access to advanced scientific and medical information, so we may provide ourselves with proper medical attention and care.

7. We want an immediate end to police brutality and murder of Black people, other people of color, all oppressed people inside the United States.

We believe that the racist and fascist government of the United States uses its domestic enforcement agencies to carry out its program of oppression against Black people, other people of color and poor people inside the United States. We believe it is our right, therefore, to defend ourselves against such armed forces, and that all Black and oppressed people should be armed for self-defense of our homes and communities against these fascist police forces.

8. We want an immediate end to all wars of aggression.

We believe that the various conflicts which exist around the world stem directly from the aggressive desires of the U.S. ruling circle and government to force its domination upon the oppressed people of the world. We believe that if the U.S. government or its lackeys do not cease these aggressive wars that it is the right of the people to defend themselves by any means necessary against their aggressors.

9. We want freedom for all Black and poor oppressed people now held in U.S. federal, state, county, city and military prisons and jails. We want trials by a jury of peers for all persons charged with so-called crimes under the laws of this country.

We believe that the many Black and poor oppressed people now held in U.S. prisons and jails have not received fair and impartial trials under a racist and fascist judicial system and should be free from incarceration. We believe in the ultimate elimination of all wretched, inhuman penal institutions, because the masses of men and women imprisoned inside the United States or by the U.S. military are the victims of oppressive conditions which are the real cause of their imprisonment. We believe that when persons are brought to trial that they must be guaranteed, by the United States, juries of their peers, attorneys of their choice and freedom from imprisonment while awaiting trials.

10. We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice, peace and people’s community control of modern technology.

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.

Source: Wikipedia Ten point program

Black Paraphernalia Disclaimer - images from Google images

#black paraphernalia #black panthers #no justice #when the revolution come

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gyllenhaalstories · 3 years

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BLACK HISTORY MONTH. 🖤

in honour of black history month (although all months should be dedicated to celebrating, learning and appreciating black culture and history), i will share some of my favourite articles regarding the history of black people. i am not doing a review of the articles, but i’m just sharing with you some texts i came across.

let’s begin with the first author i ever read in a college class: ta-nehisi coates. i also recommend reading between the world and me, his essay about the history of violence against black people and the black body is eloquent and powerful. it’s quite short and easy to approach too, so i highly suggest it.

read the first article called “Why I’m Writing Captain America - And why it scares the hell out of me” published by the atlantic in 2018. (psst! coates has also written some black panther comic books!)

read the second article called “The Case for Reparations” published by the atlantic in 2014. (it expends beyond reparations for black people and explores the paradigm of countries wanting to fix their mistakes but without really fixing anything).

more from the atlantic:

a short video exploring the point of view of w.e.b. du bois, one of the first pan-africanist and one of the best american academic in the 1900s. i am strongly interested in panafricanism, but never got the chance to study du bois directly. this clip is clear and well-animated cites one of his essays titled the strivings of the negro people. du bois is the first black man to complete a phd from harvard and published this text in the atlantic monthly in 1897. (the video on youtube).

an article published in june 2020 titled “How Did We Get Here? 163 years of The Atlantic’s writing on race and racism in America”. it serves the purpose of a list of references for plenty of other articles shared by the journal over the years*.

*please note that the atlantic has a limit of articles you may read per month (which is absolutely ridiculous). before you ask, yes the atlantic is a reliable journal source! i am planning to save all of the articles in pdf and build a google drive file for you guys to consult if you want. i will assemble it by the end of the month.

see you next week with more suggestions!

#black history month #2021: black history month

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steve0discusses · 3 years

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S4 Ep 39: Pharaoh Can Fly (Selectively)

Guys, they’re back

Best storyboarder is back, and the visual difference between last episode and this episode is like when your art teacher picks up your charcoal and just fixes everything wrong with your gesture drawings. It’s like...I mean look at this:

I just really love and appreciate how illustrative this storyboarder is. And I say just storyboarder because this had about the same budget as the last episode--there wasn’t that much actual animation as per usual. But, all of the scenes were drawn so well, like panels out of a good manga. They just...they always nail it when they’re at the helm and I don’t know why they’re on Yugioh, but bless this storyboarder.

Plot wise, everyone got pulled into the dragon by gooey tentacles that came out of it’s stomach, don’t think about it.

Meanwhile, all of the minibosses could communicate with them and beg for help, yes, even the same miniboss who may have dressed up like Pegasus and catfished Seto Kaiba.

(keep reading under the cut)

The whole process of getting absorbed into the Orichalcos demon was a whole lot of symbolism and it was...kinda gross. Also kinda sketch. Also, for Kaiba it is a neat little nod to S1 when he had a vision that his brother was absorbed into a dragon mass.

I don’t think that the makers of the show remember S1, but either they just really like goopy dragons, or it’s a coincidence or I dunno, on purpose? Probably a coincidence.

And like I made this joke and realized...what if they actually meant to make that parallel though? This is the America crossover season, and they have referenced America’s love of trickster rabbits before with Pegasus but do they know about Br’er rabbit in Japan? Do they know? It’s a pretty Americana Deep-cut, and I have no idea how common this folktale is outside of the states.

I see anime busting out absorbing goopy masses all the time so I’m gonna assume that there might be a Japanese folklore I don’t know about which uses a similar structure (although I’m also assuming it has an extremely different history and association ((which I won’t be going into because I don’t feel like putting a trigger warning on this recap)).)

And looking at Wikipedia, there’s people that think the original reference to moist, absorbing creatures could have even come from as far as India. Which is...fascinating to how it also developed in Africa, and then the Cherokee also made the same story independently and then it fused together here in the States to make it what was eventually made into a Disney movie that will never be released again--this is just a really old ass story, all in all, possibly like over a thousand years old.

And a FASCINATING google deep dive I won’t go into for obvious reasons but knock yourself out.

Also, lets get distracted for a sec and see how well this storyboarder drew a fitted jacket at that angle. Dear Lord, did they get reference for that or did their brain just already know that those folds would be there? You can even tell that Pharaoh has just a little bit of padding at his shoulders. Ugh. Guys this storyboarder is so freakin good at these little fitted jackets.

So, once Yugi and his friends are absorbed into the mass, where they should have died...and maybe some of them did, but I don’t know if I should add that to the Death Count because like...they could have held their breath in the amount of time they were stuck in there...maybe...Anyway, they are saved by being tossed into the figurative briar patch--by the souls all hanging out in the Leviathan’s stomach--which again makes me wonder...did they pull a folklore on us? Again, I have no idea.

Like a lot of the people in this dragon have been thorns in their side this entire season, they’ve all tried to kill them at one point--all the minibosses, Mai, Pegasus--but now they have decided to team up with Pharaoh (along with the rest of the human race) and offer whatever they can to free them from the grip of the gross dragon mass.

And like, the ending of the folk tale is that the thorny ass briar patch is also where the rabbit lives usually. It hurts everyone else, but the rabbit--the rabbit can deal with it. And likewise, Pharaoh is freakin dead. He’s at home here. He’s surrounded by spirit power, his friends and their friendship power, this is like his zone, and now he’s crazy powerful for it and will be for the rest of the episode.

And like Yami is a very trickster God (especially Season Zero Yami) so like...it does make sense that he would mirror a folk tale based on trickster Gods, even if it is by complete accident.

So Pharaoh imagines everyone’s tears as individual drops in a glass or something--it’s not a literal glass or anything--it’s just there because the only thing actually happening on screen was his hand hanging out of this dragon’s weird puss skin.

And he’s now a fully charged Sonic the Hedgehog and no longer needs Kaiba or Joey at all. Just gonna grab his God card demons and take charge of everything else from here on out.

By first exploding his buddies right the hell out of this lizard and across hundreds of feet of open ocean.

Joey decides to remind Kaiba that he lost the Battle City tournament.

Seto’s roast was actually in the show, PS. He is not super excited to be reminded that Yugi owns every card that he spent 2 seasons failing to get.

And then Pharaoh did something really, really...

...just really really wild.

OH OK.

YEAH JUST TAKE OFF.

GO AHEAD THERE’S NO REASON THIS WOULD BOTHER ME.

I mean he IS super powered right now but like...

Like...WTF?

4 SEASONS. 4 SEASONS I thought this guy was glued to Yugi like Peter Pan’s Shadow and apparently--he can bounce.

Can Pharaoh do this every time Yugi asks Tea out on a date and tries to instead make the ghost in his head do all the work now? Can Pharaoh just be like “NOPE” and then phase out of the house, leaving Yugi to actually do the hard stuff?

It really adds a level of complexity to their relationship if Yugi can get a room.

(If not a room for romance, but at the very least a room to poop in.)

OR has he been able to allow Yugi to wicked poop in peace this whole time, but the show just never felt like telling us because they felt like it wasn’t important (although it is crazy important)?

Either way I am just...floored at this character development.

Yami just let Yugi out of his sight for like...I want to say 8 full minutes. Just incredible amount of trust on Yami’s part. Incredible. Knowing Yugi’s track record, he should have died in those 8 minutes but...he was being babysat by both Kaiba and Joey.

So Yami summons the Gods and they shoot lasers--you kinda expect this sort of thing.

And this is...probably...the real reason why Dartz didn’t bother trying to attack Pharaoh 5,000 years ago.

I can still think it’s because of Bakura but like...this is probably the real reason. It felt pretty chump to just shoot a laser at the bastard. Pharaoh just had to be reminded that this is a thing he can just do. If he felt like it.

Which he never feels like doing, because he’s too busy watching Yugi’s every move, and getting distracted by High School shenanigans.

After this happens, the giant snake falls to the ocean, splitting into just sooooooo many ghosts.

Over 7.8 billion ghosts, if we’re to assume that this is most of the population on Earth.

(thinking the weird-o in the hat is probably a Duel Monsters card? The duel monsters were throwing themselves into the Leviathan at one point so this is probably like a dark magician boy or something...I just don’t get very attached to the monster cards so it was like...whatever. The cards die like constantly so who cares?)

It is a pretty set dressing. Like Christmas lights but...dead people.

We also find out that the lost family of our minibosses Alister and Raphael, have indeed spent the last many years inside the Leviathan stomach, which is pretty tragic. We get a bitter sweet conclusion to Alister and Raphael’s story--although it’s not a full on ending for either character. Their life still hella sucks, they are in therapy for basically forever.

Where is Gurimo?

I don’t know what sort of job or life these two are qualified to have now, but youknow...Marik’s boat probably has jobs available.

Hold up. Can we talk about the windows?

I know absolutely none of you care about this, but I do, not to be picky or condescending to an overworked art team, but because I just want to know what they were trying to aim for.

There’s an iron stained glass style windowpane thing going on and that’s what’s really getting me. Like...I know these guys were technologically advanced, but why did you use this WW2 background? What happened to Ancient Greece that you were doing before?

Like doing a super past with future tech is so cool to me--I love that sort of concept art. That’s going into like Black Panther stuff where you’re referencing the earliest stuff in Africa and then blending it with stuff beyond our science. But Atlantis is a real big shrug and a “listen we ran out of time and had to press print,” and it’s such a shame. It feels less cohesive than even when this show does Egypt.

And yo this show and how it draws ancient Egypt--I feel like I’ve already talked about that. I have a feeling I’m going to talk a lot more about it next season. I’ll get to it when we get to it. I’m hoping that they have more time and budget to actually DO Egypt for once. (I say knowing they won’t)

Like it’s one of those things where this isn’t a history show, like at all, and it’s very much a fantasy. I’m not going to be like those sewing people on youtube that get annoyed because their TV show doesn’t have handsewn stitching in their Victorian bodices they rented from the costume department from an LA discount warehouse. Because, yo, it’s TV, and I can stretch my own imagination because it’s acting. (although I confess, I watch every single one of those videos).

But...the potential, y’all...the potential.

Anyway, Dartz isn’t dead. He was just taking his toot sweet time getting down the steps of his Gazebo.

This is where things get very anime. I get this problem a lot with anime, I really do--and maybe it’s just me. But like...sometimes it feels like anime changes the rules during the boss fight.

That happens a lot, right? Where suddenly the final boss reveals something that like...should have been addressed way earlier? And he’s alive but you don’t get why?

Anyway, Pharaoh reacts by getting maybe way too attached to his newfound independence.

Which like...I can understand Tea forgetting that Yugi is one people that is two people all the time, but the writers as well?

And what’s kind of great about this scene is that Dartz does see Yugi as two people here. He doesn’t look at Yugi, he looks at both. When Pharaoh is like “Leave me, Yugi!” Dartz heard all of that.

Just kind of a neat thing that we finally have a dude that can just...see Pharaoh for what he is, but it probably won’t matter because there’s like only one more episode left of this season.

Anyway, Pharaoh and Dartz have a chat about where evil comes from...and like...it’s some Yugioh lore, all right.

So before the show decides to give us the Genesis on Yugioh and reveal where the evil of the Orichalcos comes from, or if all evil was created by Orichalcos itself (which is IMPLYING stuff about Orichalcos) the snake shuts him the hell up.

As it should. Leave that Pandora’s box freakin closed. That’s going into extended universe of Star Wars books territory (RIP.)

As an aside--pretty sure that Yugi is standing outside that tornado. Maybe it was just the editing of the episode but like...

Yo I’m pretty sure Yugi is just standing there. For the first time, it’s not his nuts getting roasted. Wow. Tables have turned so much since he was dead.

Anyway, here’s the link for new people so you can read these in order

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

There’s only one left! We can do it! We can finish this season in 2020! And actually get back to recapping Full Metal Alchemist! ~~Woooo~~

Oh man that movie better still be on Netflix or I’ll have to buy it lolol.

#Yugioh #ygo #Yu-Gi-Oh #Yami Yugi #Yugi Muto #Seto Kaiba #Joey Wheeler #Dartz #Alister #Raphael #Valon #Mai Valentine #My favorite storyboarder #who deserves to be listed as a character in the show #ep 39 #S4 #recap #photo recap #episode recap

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tomeandflickcorner · 3 years

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LIST YOUR 10 FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTERS FROM 10 DIFFERENT FANDOMS THEN TAG 10 PEOPLE

I was tagged by both @revanmeetra87 and @snowbellewells. Sorry it took me so long to get to this.

1) Entrapta (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)

Okay, while I like the majority of the characters on this show, Entrapta is the most interesting. While she is one of the good guys, she’s still a bit of a wild card in regards to her passion for technology and science. In fact, this even leads her to briefly joining up with the show’s antagonists, since doing so would help her achieve more in regards to her ongoing research on the planet. But even beyond that, everything about this character is so unique and interesting. Even her voice perfectly captures her personality. Oh, and she even has prehensile hair, too, as the above GIF demonstrates. No idea how she can do that. but that just further demonstrates how original she is.

2) Professor Minerva McGonagall (Harry Potter franchise)

This is one formidable witch. While she is a very strict teacher at Hogwarts (which is understandable as she teaches Transfiguration, which is apparently a tricky branch of magic), you can still tell she deeply cares for her students, both current and former. Beyond that, this is a woman you do not want to mess with. After all, anyone who can take four stunning spells straight to the chest at her age and still live to tell the tale is clearly made of strong stuff. The fact that the woman who portrays her in the movies is my all-time favorite actress is just icing on the cake.

3) Winry Rockbell (Fullmetal Alchemist/Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)

In most shows, you’d think the female childhood friend of the main protagonist would be reduced to that of a simple love interest. But while she and Ed do develop romantic feelings towards each other as the show progresses (particularly in the Brotherhood version), that’s not Winry’s defining role. She actually serves a purpose as Ed’s mechanic, charged with handling the maintenance and repair of his automail (the show’s equivalent of prosthetic limbs). The fact that she’s an automail mechanic alone is impressive, considering it’s a career that requires a combined knowledge of robotics, anatomy and the nervous system. But it’s even more impressive when you remember that she’s still a kid throughout the show’s run. By the time the show ends, she’s still only roughly 18 years old.

4) Toph Beifong (Avatar: The Last Airbender/Legend of Korra

Probably one of the best disabled characters I’ve come across. Toph was the only child born to her wealthy parents. Because she was born blind, her parents believed she would always be helpless and completely dependent on them, so they responded by keeping her sheltered away, to the point where most people didn’t even know the Beifongs had a daughter. However, Toph was anything but helpless, and not only did she learn how to use her innate gift of Earthbending to ‘see’ by sensing the vibrations in the ground, but she became and Earthbending master at the young age of 12. She even managed to discover the advanced art of Metalbending, something that had previously been believed to be impossible.

5) Emma Swan (Once Upon a Time)

What can I say about Emma that I haven’t already said? She was the best modern-day fairy tale princess there was. And her gradual transition from being a closed-off and emotionally stunted woman to someone who learned that love was strength was truly inspirational.

6) Shuri

I think I loved her almost instantly. She and T’Challa had amazing sibling energy, making for one of the best brother-and-sister duos I’ve seen from the MCU so far. And it never ceases to amaze me how brilliant and intelligent this 16-year-old girl is. I mean, she’s in charge of Wakanda’s science and technology department. And just look at all the stuff she came up with! (Tony Stark who?) I can’t wait to see more of her in the next Black Panther film.

7) L3-37 (Solo: A Star Wars Story)

Yeah, I know L3 was a droid, but she clearly had a female programing. There you go. I don’t care what anyone says, this character was awesome! And she did make some very good points about how Droids in the Star Wars universe were treated.

8) Donna Noble (Doctor Who)

People who don’t like Donna confuse me. Yes, when she was first introduced, she seemed like a shallow and vapid woman. But as time goes on, you realize she’s actually a very smart, capable woman. And she’s also very compassionate and caring as well. (Case in point the episode where she encounters the Ood.) The sad thing is, she doesn’t see that for herself. She really thinks she’s nobody special. And those negative feelings are frequently nurtured by her own mother, who never seemed to hesitate to put her down and imply that she’s useless. In short, Donna really is a tragic character who deserved so much more.

9) Blue (Jurassic World films)

Before anyone can say anything, it was stated that all the dinosaurs created by the Jurassic Park/World labs were engineered to be female. So she counts. Anyway, I adore Blue. If she dies in the next film, I’m gonna be so mad!

10) Tangina (Poltergeist Trilogy)

Okay, so I’m kinda clutching at straws here. But I was struggling to come up with a person to fill this final slot. Still, Tangina was an awesome character from the instant she was introduced. She’s strong and confident in her abilities as a psychic, but still kind and compassionate.

Tagging: @jessie-sparky @lillpon @thesschesthair @hollyethecurious @smol-fangirl-bean @ograndebatata @naiariddle @thebigmick284 @xemmaloveskillianx and @daxx04

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skvaderarts · 3 years

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Hiraeth Chapter 49: Structure

Masterlist can be found Here!

Chapter Forty-Nine: Structure

Notes: LOL I’m deliriously tired today. IDK why. But anyway, I hope you enjoy it. And congrats to HunterJamie for being the only one I know of for sure to catch that little reference regarding the demon! I was so worried that I didn’t do a good job describing them.

(-~-)

Diving out of the way just in time, the intrepid group of young devil hunters realized very quickly that the foe they were up against was distinctly different from anyone that they had faced in the past. He possessed a certain calm diligence that was hard to put into words, but it made simply running up and attacking him infeasible, and that was before his weapon or his frankly ferocious summon was taken into account. Every step that one of them took towards this foe ended in him shifting to the side or back and blocking them, only for them to immediately be flanked by his absolutely relentless familiar.

The devil didn’t move like anything that the youngest of the Dark Knight Sparda’s descendants had ever faced in the past. It was cold and calculated, waiting for the perfect moment to strike as it pinwheeled in and out of the darkness. It stalked them with a methodology not unlike Shadow’s, but with a speed and fluidity that made it difficult to keep your eyes on where this creature was actually headed next. They couldn’t watch it at all times and also keep their eyes on the summoner it was protecting. That would literally require extra eyes. And while one of them possessed a set of wings that possessed an additional set of hands, none of them had any additional eyes. It backed them into a corner that they frankly didn’t want to be in, and they were resentful of that, fact to say the very least.

Jetting towards the train car, Flora slid underneath one of the downed pillars in an attempt to momentarily confuse her pursuer. It only partially worked, forcing the devil to bolt around the other side of the pile and search for her, but not stopping its pursuit. Not even a bullet in the back from Nero a moment later could succeed in that endeavor, distracting it for a moment as it turned to snarl at him in irritation, but not culling it in any meaningful manner. The young man cursed under his breath and hurried after it as he hurried to swap out a few of the rounds in his revolver. This might be worth breaking out something a bit more powerful.

Lucia blocked an oncoming attack from the summoner, locking their weapon in place for a moment as she hoped that V would take the opportunity to attack. Thankfully, he did just that, sending Shadow to attack their shared opponent in the form of a rush of black spiked tendrils that slammed forward out of the floor, destroying the already heavily damaged pavement as she leaped forward and towards the summoner’s throat. He managed to pull away from the guardian, turning his weapon on the demonic panther, a move that saw her retreat in mid-air in the form of a dusty black powder that retracted until it reached V. That wouldn’t have killed her by any means, but any harm that he could prevent happening to her he would gladly welcome.

A well-placed trio of thin, razor-sharp throwing daggers nearly found their mark as Lucia aimed at the mysterious individual’s head, nicking their hood, but nothing more. They seemed to pause for a second, looking over their shoulder to find the instruments that had nearly caused them to meet their end stuck in the side of the wall. This gave Nero the perfect opportunity to fire a charged round at them from his place across the room, succeeding in causing them to stumble, but not killing them or even wounding them, by the looks of it.

They slumped over towards the floor, looking down as they placed their hand on their face, something black dripping from within the confines of the hood. V could only assume that it was blood, but he couldn’t be sure from the distance that he stood. It was too dark in the terminal to see much of anything. If he was willing to make a guess -and he was- he’d say that the terminal had electrical damage. It was hard to believe that a major metro line wouldn’t have some sort of backup power capabilities.

Standing upright, the individual looked over at V, anger radiating off of them in waves that took the white-haired summoner somewhat by surprise. They seemed fixated on him, tuning everything else out. And as they did so, the sound of metal pulling apart could be heard from the other side of the room. Flora had reached the train, and she was using what seemed to be a great deal of power to force open the bent train doors. But as soon as she succeeded in getting them open, she let out a sigh of exhausted relief and was immediately beset upon by the unfamiliar devil. It launched itself off of the ceiling, slamming its two large hands like appendages down into the concrete in front of Nero and gripping it, ripping the concrete tile out of the foundation and sending him tumbling back into the train’s undercarriage. He fired a few misplaced shots at it in retaliation and most met their mark, but this only served to enrage the beast further as it tore tunning after him. Flora turned away from the screaming civilians that were running to safety from within the mangled train car to try and waylay it, but was struck down for her trouble, letting out a loud, agonized cry as she did so, clearly in a great deal of pain and totally taken aback by the sudden attack. It had turned so fast…

V felt his blood run cold as he witnessed this, sharing a momentary look with Lucia. One of them needed to get to Nero and Flora as fast as possible, and he knew that it wouldn’t be him. They were in a hard spot, and would be in grave danger without assistance, not to mention the lives of the dozen or so people who were only now making their way to safety; a path that was intersected by an extremely dangerous fie that they stood no chance against.

With a slow, prolonged blink, he silently asked her to go instead, choosing with much difficulty to allow her to save the both of them from what would otherwise be certain death. It hollowed his heart to do so, but he knew that he could handle their unwelcome guest on his own if she could handle that demon. And he knew without a doubt that that demon, as fast as it might be, couldn’t outspeed Lucia. She would see to that, and he would handle this mindless murder. V was certain that if he kept his cool and focused on the task at hand that he could defeat them. After all, he’d gone up against dangerous foes before, and many of them had been several times larger than him with powers beyond his wildest imagination. At least this opponent was the same size as him.

Stepping forward, the other summoner adjusted their stance in an obvious bid at attempting a follow-up attack. Part of V wondered if his opponent was clearly telegraphing this on purpose to mislead him or if they were simply starting to grow tired and were unaware of what their body language was giving away. Regardless, the young summoner would be prepaid for whatever this individual threw at him.

As they stepped closer to him, V took notice of something rather interesting to him. His opponent had a limp. It wasn’t especially obvious when they were standing still, but during the brief windows of time that they spent moving forward towards him, V had noticed that their right leg was clearly weaker than the left. It stuck out to him like a sore thumb, the young descendant of Sparda personally understanding the discomfort it caused and the detriment it could be at times. Injuring it during his fall several years back had sent him down a rabbit hole of continuous reinjury that broken bones seemed to be so prone to, but he made a point of not allowing that to stop him. He would manage. All in all, it wasn’t that bad, not to mention the fact that it gave him a convenient reason to explain the presence of his signature weapon. People didn’t like to question that sort of thing. He only really carried it at this point due to his pension for sudden bouts of weakness, but that insight gave him an especially devious idea.

Playing into what he assumed they might attempt, they rushed him suddenly as they had previously. The difference was that this time he was ready for them. Calling Shadow to his side, V easily phased past the pillar that he’d been pretending to have his back against, blocking the attack with his cane. Shadow went for the stranger’s back, a move that they seemed to anticipate to some degree as they sidestepped her, a slight graze that did substantial damage to the back of their coat being the only evidence of the strike. But just when they seemed to believe that they had dodged the attack, Griffon materialized and hit them with a wall of powerful electricity, causing them to step back right into the waiting jaws of a very enraged panther. They were taken to the floor in an instant, calmly raising their hand to signal for their familiar to return to their side. A loud demonic screech from the other side of the room, indicating that his request was being denied as the demon was pinned to the wall by Lucia’s twin blades, the guardian withdrawing them and spinning as she slashed their throat. She then stepped back and allowed Nero to put another charged round square in the demon’s head as a final act of overkill, the bullet detonating a moment later and ending the beast.

Looking over at their struck-down familiar, they craned their neck up at V, barely paying any mind to the fact that Shadow was standing with her right paw on their chest, severely restricting their movement. After a moment they exhaled, a breathless, soundless laugh coming from their chest as they did so. They nodded to themself, never taking their focus away from V as they did so. A part of him felt as though they were almost sarcastically impressed with his actions and those of his companions. They would probably clap if they were capable of doing so. But without the ability to see their face to be able to look them in the eye, he had no way of knowing for certain.

“Okay asshole, you’ve got a lot of fucking explaining to do,” Nero said, clearly furious as he stumbled over with Flora in tow. The young woman had her arm wrapped around his shoulders and he was supporting her carefully by attempting to hold her up under the arm, but she was at least still conscious and coherent. For his part, his head was bleeding from his tumble down under the train, but he was otherwise unharmed. She said nothing, her fury evident as they made their way over to the rest of the group. Lucia juggled a couple of her throwing daggers between her fingers, her eyes trained on the individual who had caused them so very much harm. She had no intention of allowing them to so much as breath too hard.

A procession of terrified but grateful townspeople shouted thanks at them as they passed, running for their lives in the direction of the stairs. The escalators might have been non-functional at the moment due to the lack of power to make them move, but they were still stairs either way and all that they wanted to do was get out of there as soon as possible. All they knew was that the train had crashed and that two strangers being attacked by a monster had pulled the doors open. That was more than enough.

Seemingly paying no mind to Nero’s emotionally charged question, they kept their eyes locked on V. He could tell that much just looking at them. They were most certainly human, that much was clear. And with that fact established, that only left two outcomes. That they possessed no emotions, or that they were so devoted to whatever it was that they were trying to accomplish here that they had forsaken them. There was no semblance of fear or concern anywhere in their demeanor. Even with Shadow holding them down, their own sumon temporarily despatched, and four powerful foes standing over them ready to strike them dead at a moment’s notice, they just didn’t seem to care.

“In case you didn’t hear them, they both asked you a question. It would be wise of you to answer it after everything you’ve done.” Lucia said patiently, her pleasant but firm tone belying the fact that she was rapidly losing her patience with this individual. Well, that was if one were to assume that she had ever possessed any towards them in the first place. She very likely hadn’t and was simply unwilling to jump the gun in a situation like this. Any information that this deranged psychopath could provide them may prove to be useful. So long as their existence might be useful, then they were safe from her ire. But for their sake, it was probably best that they start talking sooner rather than later.

Without warning, darkness suddenly enveloped the station. It was a sort of all-consuming presence that felt physically heavy. And from that darkness manifested a long, centipede-like demon covered in a hard, almost shell-like carapace. It bulldozed through the already mangled building, jetting up out of the ground and towards Shadow. The group was knocked back against the wall of the supports buckled under the level supports, a large hairline crack splitting through the ceiling above them. The horrifying creature coiled around the other summoner as the structure around them began to lose its structural integrity.

V called Shadow back to his side, sharing a concerned look with his companions as they realized that they needed to get out of there as fast as they could. Making a B-line towards the defunct escalators, they ran as fast as they could manage, the ground caving in on them as they went. Dangerous chunks of concrete and metal toppled to the ground above them as they made their way towards the exit. They were cutting it dangerously close and they all knew it but none of them dared speak a word in relation to it. Speaking that into existence wasn’t the best idea.

Instead, they all made haste towards the last exit that wasn’t obscured, diving and tumbling out onto the pavement as they managed to just barely escape with their lives. The sounds of sirens, collective speech, and emergency vehicles drowned out every thought that they might have possessed in their minds as they simply laid there for a moment and allowed the gravity of what had just happened to fully sink in. They had tried their best to face off against their unfamiliar opponent, and they had rescued as many people as they could from the wreckage caused by the accident. Everyone else had fled, but V and Nero especially hoped that once they left and the emergency services took over that they would be able to find as many people alive as possible. The area had seen enough death, and the people in that station had been innocent bystanders whose only crime had been being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

As they laid there catching their breath, V internally cursed himself. He now had a more concrete idea as to why that masked murderer might have been quietly laughing to themself. They had an ace up their sleeve, and it was quite the boon in such a short space. Had they been above ground, things would have no doubt gone differently. “And next time they shall. This won’t be the last of them that we see. I refuse to believe they are actually dead. It’s never that easy.”

“… That one I do know. Scolopendra. An infernal demon; as ancient as they are enormous. I believe that they never stop growing. Thankfully that one was relatively small by their standards.” She waited for a moment to see how they reacted, noticing that none of them seemed to respond in the way that she expected them to, she shrugged painfully, allowing Nero to help lower her to the floor. “They come from the deepest depths of the underworld and care little for our tawdry affairs. It’s exceedingly rare to see one in the human world. I’d love to know where that summoner got them from.”

“Well, what a wonderful fucking surprise. I hope we never see it again.” Nero said as he shook his head, unsure as to what they should do next. They needed to head back and talk to Vergil, sure… but then what would they do? Would they accidentally lead their enemy back to the office or to V’s house? They needed a plan. Perhaps it was best to track down a phonebooth and call the others to let them know that they were alright? After all, it stood to reason that they knew what had happened at the station by now. Vergil being injured probably wasn't going to keep him from going to search for them. They had to beat him to the punch.

But as they stood up and started to brush themselves off, something familiar caught their eye from the other side of the crowd that had started to gather near the station. All the shouting and commotion suddenly evaporated in the presence of something more familiar to them, a welcome sight after the horrors and near-death experiences that they had all just sustained.

Vergil had just arrived. And he had a lot of catching up to do.

(-~-)

Sorry for any mistakes. I was super tired when I was editing this. Like, I got to the last two pages and I was falling asleep sitting up. It was bad. Anyway, I can’t wait to read your thoughts on this one. I had a blast on this chapter, and I hope you did, too!

#Hiraeth #My Post Devil May Cry 5 AU #V #Nero #Vitale #Lucia #My OC #DMC #DMC5 #DMCV #Devil May Cry AU #Devil May Cry 5 #Devil May Cry V

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fd-writes · 4 years

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KING CHADWICK BOSEMAN

“You have to cherish things in a different way when you know the clock is ticking, you are under pressure.” - Chadwick Boseman

The King Has Went into The Ancestral Plane…My God I can’t even fathom what just exploded last night with the announcement of the passing of Chadwick Boseman. I knew he was sick and I knew it was Cancer, if you have been around people who have had it, you will know the look. But what I didn’t know was that he was battling this ugly disease for 4 years, four damn years of your body going up and down, back and forth, every which way but loose. The Chemotherapy treatments the Radiation treatments, all of these foreign substances going into his body to fight something that would eventually claim his life. The Protection of His Family, Friends and Cast-mates during the filming of Black Panther by not letting his battle leak out to the press just show the love and respect that they had for him. And as Chadwick was taking his final bow, we too are reminded about our own stage of life and the acts that encompass it, and they are; “Rising Action” – “Climax” and “Resolution.”

Now as Mr. Boseman went through his life, he completed all 3 acts. Chadwick lived and fulfilled his purpose, he bought life to his parents, his wife, his extended family, his friends, and his fans. It’s hard to think or believe that our brother has transitioned. We all knew that he was just scratching the surface with his career, we know he most likely had dreams that went beyond acting, we know that he wanted to get married and raise a family. All of these things, that many of us want to do and experience. But sometimes, an unforeseen plot twist pops up, that no one saw coming. And so, Chadwick blazed on, despite his body being sick, despite the treatments, I am pretty sure he even wanted to give up before his time but he forged on. Chadwick’s tenacity would lead him to one of the biggest movies ever made, one of the Highest Grossing and without arguments, One of the Most Important and Best Creative Cinematic Pieces to Exist of Our Time. Chadwick did that and was excited about the next movie, not knowing if he would live to make Black Panther 2 which is slated to drop in 2022.

Now as we watch the world mourn, especially the children who got a chance to see themselves represented on the Big Screen for the first time, and believed that they too are Superheroes, are shattered by disbelief, their hearts are broken, and confused about their Superhero dying. We always seem to know what to say, or we think we know, and then when this drops in our laps we are without words or thoughts. All that is transpiring in the world as I write this, this was not something I could have ever foreseen. It hurts badly let me tell you, and I tossed and turned all night, wrestling with this loss. My Prayers go out to Chadwick’s Parents, His Wife, His Extended Family, His Friends, and Fans. Chadwick is well-loved. As the curtain descended upon his life, we are reminded of his 3 Acts, “Chadwick’s Rising Action” – “Chadwick’s Climax” and “Chadwick’s Resolution.”

Rest in Power Mr. Chadwick Boseman | Black Panther – WAKANDA FOREVER

#rest in power chadwick #chadwickboseman #blackpanther #king of wakanda #wakandaforever

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hellzyeahwebwielingessays · 4 years

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The Not-So-Amazing Mary Jane Part 19: MJ is NOT a super hero

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Mary Jane is an incredibly gifted woman who you don’t want to mess with. But do those gifts really make her a hero, one who could take on Mysterio?

I was initially planning on looking at Mary Jane’s combat record in this post. However, before doing that there needs to be a dash more context to really put things into perspective.

I could simply cite Sen v2 #32 to prove my point. In this issue the Parker family are on the run since Peter unmasked and opposed the Super Human Registration Act. At her wits end MJ contacted Sue Richards for guidance.

During their conversation MJ opens up about how stressed she is. She even refers to Sue and other heroes as ‘you people’, clearly demarking a difference between them and herself.

Sue basically tells MJ to toughen up, referencing herself, Jessica Jones and Storm, the (then) wives of Reed Richards, Luke Cage and Black Panther respectively.

However, at the end of the conversation MJ points out the difference between herself those women was that she didn’t have powers to fall back on.

There you are. MJ herself acknowledging she has no powers and is not a super hero.

End of discussion.

Well no, because we can dive much deeper.

Let me start with this irrefutable statement: Mary Jane is a bad ass.

She truly is.

Mentally, emotionally, physically, she’s pulled off some truly impressive things.

But the thing is those things she’s pulled off…they wouldn’t be that impressive (if at all) if say, Wonder Woman did them. Or She Hulk. Or Mockingbird. Or Batgirl/Barbra Gordon. Or you know…Spider-Man himself.

So why do fans gravitate towards these things, these feats of heroism, self-defence and protection of others?

Because they are impressive considering Mary Jane is NOT a super hero.

You see it’s all a matter of scale.

The Chameleon is a trained and experienced mercenary but doesn’t possess any super human powers beyond the ability to change how he looks. In what has become one of her most iconic moments, Mary Jane defeated him with a mere baseball bat. This occurred when she knew what to expect, when Chameleon was underestimating her and when he was unarmed. That is impressive no doubt.

But were the situation the same but Batgirl was substituted for Mary Jane it wouldn’t nearly be as impressive because Batgirl, even with just a baseball bat, is at worst on a similar power level as the Chameleon. But in all seriousness is almost certainly his superior in terms of combat proficiency. She’s thoroughly trained in various forms of hand-to-hand combat, strategy, thinking on the back foot and highly experienced.

And experienced against people who’re actually much more physically dangerous than the Chameleon, such as Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy or the Joker. When you remove Chameleon’s stealth and weapons you are left with someone who is highly violent and could kill the average civilian if given the chance…but ultimately not someone as dangerous as most of the famous super villains from Marvel or DC.

If anything arming Batgirl with a baseball bat would be needlessly excessive, she could defeat Chameleon with just some punches or kicks.

Now apply that same scenario but substitute in Mockingbird, who can dent steel with her bare hands and has an accelerated healing factor and arguably superior fighting skills to Batgirl. Or how about She-Hulk, someone with vastly more strength, an even better healing factor and immensely more durability. And as Wonder Woman…she is literally a millennia old demi-goddess with divinely empowered durability, strength and speed, fast enough in fact to easily deflect bullets. *

If you were told any of these women defeated the Chameleon with ‘just a baseball bat’ would you be impressed? Would you feel that’s a huge accomplishment for any of them?

Of course not.

Because on even an incredibly rudimentary power scale common sense would clearly define for you that Chameleon wouldn’t be a physical threat to any of them.

Because they are actual super heroes wit either physically enhanced physiologies or advanced equipment or highly practiced expert level combat training.

The reason MJ dispatching the Chameleon has been celebrated for over 20 years is because none of that applies to her.

Let’s unpack exactly what MJ does and doesn’t have in her arsenal.

Mary Jane lacks any bona fide super human abilities or advanced combat training.

She has experienced being targeted directly by criminals or being caught up in criminal encounters. But these are intermittent experiences resulting from either her association with people the criminals have a grudge against (typically Spider-Man) or plain bad luck. She does not regularly in her day-to-day life deal with such things nor does she even deal with them on a weekly basis in her life. If she does they are likely the result of simply living in Marvel’s version of New York city, which thereby means most of her experiences are the same as the average resident of the city.

Apart from these intermittent experiences (and exempting her seeking help from others) the traits she possesses that might (in one capacity or another) be applicable in a dangerous situation are as follows:

She is a physically fit woman approximately aged between 24 and her mid-30s. But nowhere close to being Olympic athlete levels of fitness.

Excerpt from ‘The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Spider-Man 2004’

In terms of conventional/stereotypical beauty standards she is generally considered to be stunningly attractive. She is 5’8” and weighs in at 120 lbs. Her outward appearance then could potentially be used to make her would-be assailants underestimate her or even be dazzled by her beauty as a distraction

Mary Jane is not blind to the harsher realities of life and has developed proficient street smarts. But it’s not like she knows where to find stool pigeons and how to go about shaking them down for information, nor the inner workings of the criminal underworld.

She is a skilled actress particular practiced at adopting the façade of a seemingly carefree and simple party girl

She is at worst rather experienced when it comes to flirtation. Arguably we could extrapolate this into her being decent at general seduction but that’s debatable

She has good at improvising

She is exceptionally skilled in social interactions

She has a pretty decent ability to read people’s personalities, but is not a fully trained psychologist or any similar field that’d make her an expert at reading people very quickly and taking advantage of them as a result

She has certain basic self-defence skills gleamed from classes most people can attend

She has had at exactly one basic training session with Captain America, where the focus was more upon mental discipline and focus. The session never implied he taught her any practical self-defence moves and the session was geared more to instructing Peter not Mary Jane.

She has demonstrated/developed certain basic and unrefined (albeit often proficient) self-defence skill. These primarily consist of using melee weapons (typically objects not actually designed for such a purpose, like baseball bats) and to a lesser extent firearms, and to an even lesser extent hand-to-hand attacks. Mary Jane for instance has never been shown to practice using a handgun, although she does know how. She can slug someone in the jaw, but she’s never been shown to have trained how to do that, you see what I am getting at.

Technically speaking she possesses a pair of bracelets that are modified web-shooters, along with a set of regular web-shooters.

The former have a limited amount of web-fluid and are designed to stall a target, with the aim being for Mary Jane to surprise her assailant and buy time to escape, not engage in an outright fight. She has been shown to rarely carry either of these on her person though and there is no implication she has them in Amazing Mary Jane #1. Additionally since she is on set it would be unlikely that she’d be allowed to wear them as they wouldn’t be part of her on outfit for the movie.

Along with most of New York she has possessed identical powers to Spider-Man (in addition to organic based web-shooters) for less than 24 hours, during which time she displayed a proficiency in using them (due to bad writing, literally no one struggled to adjust to the use of Spider-Man’s powers). She has never possessed these powers again since, and this includes in AMJ.

On a handful of occasions she has piloted various different advanced armoured suits designed by Tony Stark. These have chiefly included his rudimentary MKII armour and the Iron Spider armour originally designed for Peter’s use.

In both she demonstrated proficient defence skills. It is not clear how easy the armours are to use so whether MJ’s proficiency was due to a natural skill or due to the armour’s design is debatable. Regardless there is no indication she regularly has access to this technology and certainly not in AMJ.

MJ possesses incredibly strong willpower and understands the need for self-sacrifice, demonstrating in her time a willingness to give something of her self for the good of others. This could be important in regards to protecting other people.

As you can see MJ’s skillset is impressive for a civilian.

But some instances (like the Stark armours she’s donned) make the depths of her skills unclear. The most advanced equipment she has access to are her web-shooters but she is shown to only use or even carry them on occasion. In both cases she is not shown to have access to either in AMJ. Her other skills are things anyone in real life could hypothetically possess and in fact several other civilians in the Marvel universe either do possess or could possess.

What I'm saying is Mary Jane is, by any metric, a civilian.

A civilian who knows how to use a gun, has had cause to defend her self dozens of times and is very good at thinking on her feet. But a civilian nevertheless.

She has the spirit to cut it as a superhero but not without powers, training or access to advanced equipment like Iron Man’s armour. None of which she currently possesses or has access to in AMJ.

When you get right down to it the reason we fans celebrate whenever Mary Jane triumphs or survives or even just pulls off some good moves against a criminal or super villain is because we understand she is ultimately the underdog.

We grasp that it’s innately more impressive for someone in the featherweight division to even hold their own for a little while against someone in the heavyweight division because normally they wouldn’t stand a chance and we are naturally inclined to be sympathetic towards them.**

This isn’t exclusive to Mary Jane by any means, underdog stories date back to the Bible itself with the classic tale of David and Goliath.

To use an example closer to home though, in ASM #229-230 Spider-Man had to stop the Juggernaut, a villain whose strength and durability had given him a reputation as unstoppable. He regularly tangled with the Hulk and was over all far beyond Spider-Man’s weight class. The story is widely regarded as one of the all time best in Spider-Man history, primarily because it is such a shining example of an underdog story.

Such stories are fairly common in super hero comic books, but so too is the popularity of civilian supporting characters that contend with outright super villains and criminals.

Alfred Pennyworth is utterly beloved within the Batman fandom with his attempts and successes at dealing with Batman’s infamous rogues celebrated. The same goes for Edwin Jarvis, sometimes celebrated as the bravest of all the Avengers. Jarvis’ popularity is such he was in fact the main character of the milestone 400th issue of the Avengers. And to use a closer equivalent to MJ, Lois Lane’s moments of skill, toughness and bravery in the face of danger are celebrated within Superman circles.

NONE of these characters are super heroes. Even Alfred, who (in most modern incarnations) has some military history, is still a more elderly gentleman thereby accentuating his vulnerability and making his victories all the larger.

With that out of the way, we now have the appropriate context to start examining some instances of MJ defending herself.

* And what about Spider-Man himself? Has he not tangled with Chameleon often? Is it not usually impressive whenever he defeats him? Indeed it is…but rarely whenever Spider-Man physically over powers him.

Because we readers are very aware that Spider-Man is physically stronger and faster than the Chameleon and his other powers give him yet more physical advantage over him.

In fact a poignant Chameleon storyline entailed Chameleon (in disguise) tricking Spider-Man into removing his powers and thereby rendering him vulnerable.

Even then, the Chameleon opted to hire muscle (mainly muscle with super powers) to take on Spider-Man rather than fight him personally.

Chameleon’s awareness of Spidey’s superior might is arguably the reason he recruited physically powerful Kraven the Hunter in ASM v1 #15 (Kraven’s debut and Chammy’s second outing).

Spidey’s victories over Chameleon are impressive or cathartic not because Peter overpowers him physically, but does so mentally. This is in fact showcased in the very same storyline that Mary Jane famously took a bat to Chammy’s cranium; specifically Spec #243.

In this story, Chameleon (in the guise of Doctor Kafka) uses drugs and makeup to trick Spider-Man into believing he is someone else. However, drawing upon his will power and affection for his loved ones Peter breaks free of Chameleon’s trap.

**And I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that a part of that for at least some fans is the fact that Mary Jane is a woman doing such things, and a female love interest to boot.

Stereotypically women aren’t superheroes or action heroes, and stereotypically love interests are the ones in need of saving, not the ones saving themselves or others.

For some fans this appreciation of stereotypes being subverted can come from a bad place. “Mary Jane just beat a super villain even though she’s a chick!”

For others the appreciation can be viewed as empowering. To perhaps reveal a stereotypical view of my own, I imagine female readers would constitute the majority of this category, although in theory anyone who feels like an underdog or perhaps vulnerable could resonant with MJ’s victories.

Finally there are definitely some readers who appreciate these examples because they are just plain refreshing.

And of course some people might just like Mary Jane in general so seeing her shine in some capacity could do it for them.

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writingwakanda · 4 years

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Character profile: Shuri

Princess Shuri Udaku of Wakanda is the country’s resident teen genius with an eye for science and a heart of gold. Canonically the smartest person in the MCU, Shuri uses her intellect to improve her country and help her people whilst still being able to hold her ground in a fight, even against former Black Panther Killmonger. Additionally, in the comics, Shuri has a mire of superpowers brought on with intense training in the Djalia which include super-speed, animal transmogrification, density manipulation and the ability to reanimate corpses for short periods of time.

Shuri’s personality and motivations pair well with her vast and complex skills and abilities, creating an overly rounded character that many viewers wound up getting attached to and protective over.

Shuri’s most well-known characteristic is her intellect, a skill that is focused on greatly throughout the Marvel movies she appears in. In addition to having vast knowledge and experience in Design and technology, engineering and robotics, we can also use evidence to conclude that she has some background in medical science and psychology.

In Black Panther, it is heavily implied that Shuri performed the life-saving surgery on Everett Ross. Furthermore, at the end of the same film we see Bucky recovering from the HYDRA control, and Shuri’s lines make it seem likes she’s the one helping him recover and reintegrate into society.

In Infinity war, she was entrusted with the important role of removing the Mind Stone from Vision’s head without killing him, something previously thought impossible by Bruce and the other Avengers. She went ahead with this despite not having a lot of time and knowing that the fate of her country and the lives of herself and her people were at risk.

That protection and advancement of Wakanda is one of Shuri’s greatest motivations which drive her character. While her disinterest in following Wakanda’s traditions is reflected upon by multiple characters with various reactions, its is clear from her actions in Black Panther that she holds these customs and beliefs as significant to her. She actively fights for Wakanda when she learns of Killmonger’s plan to revolutionise which would have brought systemic change to Wakanda as well as the outside world. At the end of the day, Shuri may not be personally invested in cultural traditions, she likely understands and respects their significance to the people of Wakanda. She also uses her resources and scientific excellence to advance Wakanda far beyond any other civilisation in the world.

With that being said, Shuri shows an affinity for cultures outside Wakanda, with an emphasis on American cultural icons. She quotes vines, makes footwear-related puns and expresses excitement in visiting places in America. When T’Challa creates the first Wakandan International Outreach Centre, he appoints Shuri the head of the science and information exchange, to which she reacts with excitement. This would allow her to mix her cultural interest with her intellectual knowledge.

In addition to her intellect, we see Shuri fight multiple times throughout the MCU, first in Black Panther and again in Infinity War and Endgame. She maintains the use of the same weapon throughout all of this, a pair of gauntlets of her own invention which fire sonic/kinetic blasts of energy. These are entirely distance weapons, something that is uncommon within what we’ve seen of Wakanda, and from this we can draw that Shuri prefers to fight at a distance rather than close range combat. This plays to her strengths as she is smaller and younger than most other fighters, and does not have the assistance of the Heart-shaped herb to level the playing field for her.

This cannot be said for the comics version of Shuri, who has a number of superpowers including having taken the Heart-Shaped Herb and training with a spirit in the Djalia, Wakanda’s plain of collective knowledge and memory. She gained a number of powers from this, including the ability to transform her body into a flexible stone-like material with enhanced durability that cannot be dented by gunfire or powerful energy weapons. Comic Shuri is also capable of animorphism which allows her to transform herself and whoever she is in direct contact with into a flock of black birds, or a singular large dark bird, super speed and the ability to temporarily reanimate Wakandan corpses. However, reanimating corpses takes a lot of energy from her, meaning she can do it for only a short period of time.

Her passion for science, and success within Wakanda’s scientific field, leads her to be content within her role in the royal family. Shuri shows no grievance about her position as princess and seems to have accepted completely that unless something tragic were to happen to her brother, she will always be less powerful than him both physically and in the oligarchy of Wakanda.

After Infinity War, Angela Bassett asserted in an interview with Screen Rant that both Ramonda and her daughter Shuri survived the Infinity War snap. This led a large amount of people in the Black panther Fan community to believe that, in her Brother’s absence, Shuri became the Black Panther and queen of Wakanda. However this turned out to be a misdirect and Endgame promotional posters and trailers confirmed she was, in fact, dusted. Her absence put a question mark over who lead Wakanda in those five years, a topic that is debated to this day.

However, Black Panther fans haven’t given up hope that we will one day see Shuri take up the mantle of the Black Panther in a future Marvel movie like she did in the comics.

Many of Shuri’s outfits and choices of physical appearance have significance to different real-world African cultures, from the braids in her hair to the choices of necklaces and other jewelry.

The outfit Shuri is wearing during her first scene in Black Panther features an Adinkra symbol, a set of cultural symbols from the Asante/Ghana region of Africa.

This Adinkra symbol, Wawa Aba, can mean many things depending on what you read and how you interpret. In a Vanity Fair interview, Costume designer Ruth Carter explained the symbol means 'purpose’, a reference to Shuri’s purpose within Wakanda as the scientific innovator. Other websites cite this symbol as representing hardiness, toughness and perseverance, all of which can be related to elements of Shuri’s personality.

Shuri’s personality itself is intricate and can be summed up in many ways. She’s a Disney princess, but escapes the connotations of a typical princess by not relying on anyone to fight her battles for her and by being unrelenting in standing up for what she believes in, which is a show of strength in itself.

Shuri takes pride in her work and chases innovation no matter what on whatever she invents, believing there’s no end to a device’s ability to be improved. She is 100% committed to any task and puts her mind to everything she does. Shuri also has pride in herself and her achievements, in her family and in Wakanda as a country.

Along with characters like Klaue, she’s mostly the lighthearted comic relief of the film. While she has her sombre and serious moments, her main goal is to be optimistic, funny and uplifting using comedic timing, teasing, sarcasm and punchy one-liners to lift heavy scenes. Shuri has an almost child-like demeanour and never really takes a stake in formality which balances out other characters.

Shuri is, in many ways, the perfect younger sister character that people could easily get attached too and form a bond with. She’s intelligent and optimistic with a balanced set of skills and a sparkling personality.

Have we missed anything? Do you have something to add? We’re always happy to hear new information and make additions! Reblog or comment and let us know, or if you have a favourite gif or fics, feel free to leave them too! Thanks for reading!

#black panther #MCU #Shuri #BPFandomAppreciation2k20 #Character Design #black panther movie #black panther comics #black panther characters #princess shuri #character analysis #Marvel #Marvel comics

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eldritchsurveys · 4 years

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1020.

5k Survey LXXI

3601. What brands do you like? >> I usually don’t pay much attention to brands unless it’s about food or electronics. I like the Sweet Earth brand of prepared foods, for example, and I have found Asus products to be pretty reliable. (So far.) 3602. What do you think of the 'don't ask don't tell' policy of gays in the millitary? >> I’m pretty sure they repealed that. I say “pretty sure” because to be honest, I wasn’t paying a whole lot of attention when that was a hot topic. 3603. Why do you think that so many people have such a problem with gays? >> There’s no one-size-fits-all answer for that, as far as I can ascertain. 3604. It seems like it is more accepted for a woman to be bi or gay than for a man. Why do you think that is? >> I don’t care to make a guess about that. I’m not even sure that assessment is true. 3605. When a kid kisses another kid on the playground is it sexual harassment? >> I think the particular term “sexual harassment” is best applied to older people who can grok exactly what that entails. When it comes to kids, I think the teaching point should be about respecting boundaries and others’ bodies, as well as appropriate behaviour in certain social settings.

3606. If you had to name your self after an object in the room with you what would you pick? >> No. 3607. Pick the two most important things out of these: writing deep thoughts, expressing your self clearly, being honest, finding new novel ways to waste time, being organized, practicing what you want to do, trying to be famous >> My two most important things from this list would be “expressing myself clearly” and “being honest”. 3608. You were only waiting for this momen to ----- >> ??? 3609. Knowing historically that native American indians were and are the first americans, how do you feel about america and current americans? >> I have no answer for this extremely broad and vague question. 3610. Just what exactly determines whether or not one is 'mental'? >> *shrug* Not me. 3611. is it true that people with depression CAN'T function in society? >> Some can and some can’t. People with depression should have access to mental health resources regardless of ability to perform socially. 3612. fill in the word: half of what i say is ----------- >> --- 3613. Some people believe the Holocaust was a hoax?. What do you think of this? >> I don’t think anything about it. I’m aware that’s a thing some people believe, but I am not one of those people and it’s nothing to do with me. 3614. Does EVERYONE in the world care about how they look except YOU? >> Well, I also care about how I look, so, no. 3615. Do you love italian names like Lorenzo, Gaetano, and Grazziano? >> I mean... not especially? They’re just names to me. 3616. Everyone does horrible things. Do you think that people are more accepting of the bad things they do themselves or the bad things others do? Which are you more accepting of? >> I think that depends on the person and how they view themselves versus how they view others, etc. I give other people way more leeway than I do myself, because I have a pretty developed Inner Critic who is tailor-made to assert that everything I do is bad and wrong even if it’s no badder or wronger than what some other guy did. 3617. Is it true that NO ONE wants to date grumpy people? >> I don’t know, I haven’t taken a fuckin poll or anything. 3618. Bush and his henchmen have now come up with a list of people for the CIA to assassinate. What do you think of this? >> What I think is that I find that highly doubtful. This is an extremely dated question, anyway. 3619. Why is it that in many states sodomy and oral sex are still illegal, even if they are consensual? >> Because those laws simply haven’t been updated for a more sexually liberal time period. 3620. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of: liberals? conservatives? hippies? nobel peace prize winners? black panthers? time magazine? feminists? 3621. Order these issues from most important and needing to be dealt with to least important and we can put it off: cloning, racism, aids cure, the middle east, putting power back in the hands of the people, the environment, better education >> --- 3622. Do you feel like you are missing out because you can only know a certain number of people in this world and you can't know everyone? >> No, that’s not what makes me feel like I’m missing out. It’s usually stuff like “I can’t read every book” or whatever that makes me feel acutely how short our time on this planet really is. 3623. What do you imagine being a soldier in a war is actually like? >> I don’t want to imagine that, thanks. 3624. Do you agree that woman should be allowed to enlist in the army? >> Sure. Why anyone would want to is beyond me, lmao, but you should have the right. 3625. What is the purpose of government? >> You know, take care of the people etc etc. 3626. Why don't people believe in free love anymore? >> I’m pretty sure the rampant spread of STIs had something to do with it. The concept of “free love” comes with a lot of fine print. 3627. Do you make decisions with your head or your heart? >> I make decisions with my whole consciousness... 3628. What is the differance between sympathy and empathy? >> Google it. 3629. Can you think of any person or group you cannot empathize with? >> Not off the top of my head. 3630. Like creme savers? >> Unfortunately those do not exist anymore, but yeah, I was nuts about them back in the day. 3631. Your best friends asks you to marry them Out of the blue. You say: >> --- 3632. What makes you feel seriously depressed? >> Depression. 3633. Have you personaly worked for peace? >> Er, no? 3634. Do you suppress parts of yourself because you are afraid of judgement? >> Unfortunately. 3635. Do you take in the ideas and opinions of others too often?/ >> I don’t know. I don’t think so, but who knows. 3636. 36 - 24 - 36? >> ?? Those look like measurements, but they ain’t mine, so. 3637. What just isn't right? >> Left. 3638. What makes your blood boil?? >> I’m not sure. 3639. Have you ever gone to the bathroom in a place that wasn't a bathroom? >> Yeah. 3640. Want some water melon? >> Not right now. 3641. What's your favorite gum? >> It used to be Orbit Bubblemint, but then they changed the formula and now it’s horrible, so I have no more favourite. :( 3642. What do you imagine going to Harvard is like? >> I don’t want to imagine going to Harvard. I’ll just watch Legally Blonde instead. 3643. What would you get rid of forever if you had to choose snow or rain? >> As annoyed as snow makes me, I don’t want to get rid of it. I just want to live somewhere that maybe gets a little less of it. The climate doesn’t need to change to suit me, I can just... move... 3644. Is there a santa clause? >> Yeah, it’s that movie with Tim Allen or whoever. 3645. Do you understand yourself? Do you understand everyone else? >> I understand some parts of myself and I’m still learning about others. It’s similar with other people, just with varying ratios. 3646. Do you think there is a connection between understanding yourself and understanding others? >> Yeah, I do think that. 3647. What's good? >> Garlic bread. Garlic bread is good. 3648. Have you ever played dodge ball? >> Maybe in school. 3649. Is there anything you feel men can do better than woman? >> There’s nothing I can think of off the top of my head, and I suspect that there probably isn’t anything at all that I truly believe men can somehow naturally, innately do better than women. 3650. Is there anything you feel woman can do better than men? >> Same answer, just switch the nouns around.

#surveys #survey #5000 question survey #not for reblogging *glare*

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maladaptive-ninja-returns · 5 years

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J.B.B (14)

Bucky x fem!Reader

Series: Will contain fluff, smut, bloodshed, violence, anxiety, tears and the cries of my wilted soul. Yes, the usual. With a dash of the not so liked canon that I wanted to set on fire and drop into a 2000 ft deep valley.

Chapter content: The Endgame stuff and more.

Warnings: Pain. duh!

Word count: don’t really know where the resolve to write it came from but I just went with it. And...let’s see how it comes out to be.

MASTERLIST & Taglist in bio, my love

The pressure of water was smooth over the fingers that were moving in a dreamy trance under the flat flow, not with the intention of being cleansed, but with the purpose of finding some part in the grooves and edges that might be hiding something- anything- that once was and now had turned to ashes. The knuckles were bloodied red, feeling the coldness ten times more than what it was supposed to be. The otherwise spotlessly clean sink was now marred with whatever dirt these numb hands had brought in from the grounds outside.

There was a ruffle outside the door. Someone walking outside; probably keeping an eye out. For you.

What do they think, I'm gonna kill myself?

And suddenly that thought swirled inside your head like a jerk of absinthe hitting in late- poisonous but enticing.

The sudden tremble of the huge mirror in front of you made you fear that the walls heard your thoughts, shaking back at you for thinking such a thing. It was only a few seconds later when the mirrors did not stop vibrating that you realised it had nothing to do with you but something to do with whatever happening in the grounds outside.

You opened the door and found the way to the eerily empty hall that had been bustling with grim faces and forces beyond your comprehension.

Where did everyone go?

It was cold. Too cold. You really could not figure out whether the shaking of your insides was because of the lack of heat or the aftershock. Nonetheless, it was not helping. At all. Your chest was aching on having felt the squeezing reality the entire day. Your gut was not helping either. The placebo of feeling something ready to gush out of you from between your legs any moment did not help either.

What could possibly be worse than this happening to you?

The furore at the door caught your ears, making your head turn in that direction to watch Miss Potts help a man reduced to bones and skin inside and on a chair, Steve, Rhodey, Natasha, Dr Banner following them. And that mysterious woman who glowed- coming out of nowhere before flying away to get...oh God.

That was bones and skin was Tony Stark.

Nebula stood by the doors, watching the woman with a kind face take care of a now unconscious Tony. That must be Pepper. She was just like how Tony described her. And the man taking off Tony's glasses must be Rhodey.

Family , she heard her mind echo Tony's words.

"They're my family. Do you have a family, Smurfette?"

"What's a Smurfette?"

"A blue Princess. That's what I'm gonna call you if you don't tell me your name."

"I'm not a Princess!"

"Okay! No need to hiss. I'm Tony. I've given you my name. Now..."

"..."

"Now you can tell me yours. Otherwise, I'll be calling you all things blue so-"

"I have a sister. I...had a sister. She had a family."

"...okay. Okay. I...I don't know if my family is...well, I can only hope."

"Do they fight you till death?"

"Wh-I'm sorry?"

"Your family. Do they have deathmatches with you? Do they spar with you?"

"...we clearly have different definitions of family. And no. We don't spar. We give each other hugs and kisses and lectures when one of us is being too stubborn of an asshole about saving the world and not listening to the other about taking a few days off to a self-care spa or something."

“...”

“What.”

"Gross."

"Yeah, well, your dad didn't take you to Disneyland during grade week so easy with that judgy vibe, okay? All right then. Come on, let's fix that engine, shall we? And try going easy with the welding equipment this time. Keep it away from your eyes. I could only do so much for that...that broken metal thing on your face."

"..."

"...you comin'?"

"Nebula."

"...I'm sure the engine model doesn't matter-"

"That's my name."

"Oh. Oh! Nebula. That's a beautiful name, Nebula."

"Let's just fix that damn engine."

Family.

She had already decided whom she was supposed to look after. The rest of the crowd had her neutrality- considering they were already used to Rocket and his noisy mouth. The only one left to observe was the red-eyed woman- barely- standing by the corner next to the kitchen space. Pepper had called her Y/N and thanked her for getting a glass of water for Tony when the latter had toppled down after heated words with Steve. That woman stood there, her arms wrapped around her- the thin sweater barely doing anything to stop the cold from taking over that visibly shaking body. Those puffed up eyes told Nebula she had not been taken by sleep. Her guess was she hadn't slept for the past twenty-three days. Twenty-three days since the snap. She seemed lost here. Not knowing what to do before hesitatingly walking towards where Pepper and a now sedated Tony were, making the assassin stand straight walk towards that human with her hand ready on the dagger sleeping in her belt.

"Is there anything I can bring you, Miss Potts?"

Nebula stopped right behind the woman, the words of the woman making her pause the movement of her hands from getting the dagger halfway out. The voice that just came out was laden with lack of sleep and quite probably a repeatedly choked throat.

"I'm fine," Pepper replied softly with a smile that reached her eyes, creating this weird sensation in Nebula's chest, "thank you, Y/N."

The dagger went back to its sleeping den.

"Steve, please."

"Y/N-"

"Please! Don't!"

"I have to do it."

"Why?!"

The pitch of your own voice startled you as well as Steve. This was the first time you were really talking to him- even though it was more of an argument than a chat.

"Because this is the only thing that could work, Y/N!"

"Going to the one thing that wiped away people we cared about is in no way a sane option, Rogers."

"I never said it was sane," Steve stated, crossing his arms.

"Steve! Are you listening to yourself!" Your lungs ached at the amount of effort they were putting in just to lay your point across. "You are needed here. You are the only ones left to defend the planet and-"

"I lost half the people I was supposed to defend, Y/N," Steve shouted back, taking you a little by surprise, "and I am not going to sit here wallowing in the loss when I can take on that son of a bitch. You lost something too-"

"Don't," you growled through your gritted teeth, your eyes on the edge of giving way to the floodgates. "Don't you dare!"

"I cannot not do something about it, Y/N."

"Oh, my G-don't you understand! I cannot lose you as well, Steven!" you shouted, the tears breaking both your voice and your spirit, the words coming out hoarse and broken with every passing second, "I have already lost him and now I cannot you lose you. I cannot lose Nat! I can't!! I can't! I don't have the strength to watch you disappear just like him."

He was nothing but a blur in front of you. Your breaths stuck in your throat, no voice escaping it while you held on to his arms.

"I have to go, Y/N," Steve whispered as he moved his hands away from his arms, wiping away the tears from your cheeks, "I need to do everything in my power to bring them back. I need to bring Bucky back."

You winced at his name, your insides on fire at the memories flushing back in.

"I promise I'll bring h-"

"No."

You were already turning away, inching away from him, letting your back face his startled face. "Don't do that to me."

"Y/N-"

"Go away," you declared loud and clear for the rest of the spectators before walking away, never looking back.

Two Years Later

"Yes. Yes, Panther. I heard you the first time."

Kline poured the milk in the black bowl, not getting enough time to keep the bowl on the floor for Panther was already up on the slab, drinking the liquid as fast as he could.

"Slow, Panther," Kline stressed, teasingly moving the cat's face away from the bowl, "you'll be sleeping outside if you puke in my hall."

Panther yowled before cutting a look outside the window with a steady glare, forcing Kline to look in the direction the cat was looking. And see something he did. A figure clad in a black overcoat looking at the dilapidated building in front of his apartment.

A tiny gasp left his lungs.

It was a small possibility. But it was a possibility nonetheless.

Within no time he was grabbing his walking stick and coat, covering himself decently before clicking open his front door to let the nascent October chill inside the welcome area. He could already see his breathe- which was getting a bit shallow as his heartbeat picked up the pace- when he looked at the odd familiarity of the person's back- who was already turning around to greet him with a smile.

"Y/N," he found himself saying in a relieved breath.

Your eyes had the same kindness in them, your hair longer than he'd last seen you, your face a little different than he'd last seen you. But that smile. That smile did not change.

"Hi, Kline."

The cups clattered, forcing you to get up and take them from Kline's hands before you drew his chair for him.

The dining hall was just as you'd last seen it. Same seats. Same chandelier. Same photographs of the couple. Nothing had changed.

Except for everything.

"Oh." Your voice brought Kline into the room as he saw you facing his roommate, "I see Panther found his way in here finally."

Kline chuckled. "Yes, he did. This stubborn bastard just won't leave me alone so thought oh what the hell."

"You hearin' that Panther?" you said to the black cat sniffing you whole. "And this is coming from the man who didn't like cats that much."

Panther let you scratch his head, closing his eyes and enjoying the much-needed massage that Kline barely let him have.

A few moments passed in comfortable silence before you finally spoke.

"How're you doing, Kline?"

He gave you a weak smile, letting the dullness in his eyes speak for him. "I'm going about. It's...uhh...it's been hard since Michael...since he..."

"Vanished," you helped him, earning a nod.

"There was a bit of chaos. Panther was scared since Sakura and...the other one didn't...survive. So, I took him in. How...how have you been?"

You took in a lungful before smiling. "I'm fine. I've been doing okay for a while now. You know, one day at a time."

"Oh," Kline nodded, "okay. Th-that's great."

"Yup."

"And how's...how's he?"

You took in another lungful, this time your resting fingers rising up and away from the table. "He is not here. He didn't-" you clear your throat, leaving a whisper to do the rest of the work, "he didn't make it."

This time the silence is a little heavy, carrying in the air the unspoken burdens of the past lying a little too heavy on the hearts.

"I'm sorry, Y/N." Kline's words broke the unspoken barriers, "I am sorry for what I did that day. I am so sorry for leaving you like that. I didn't realise what I was putting you through at that point. I was blinded by fear. I should have listened to you. I should have done some-"

"Kline. It's fine. It doesn't matter now."

"It does," he stressed, the moisture in his eyes increasing, "It does because I lost you. I lost Michael and I feel like I am being punished for what I did to you. I lost the one thing most precious to me when I did not help you save yours."

The ripple in your chest was small yet noticeable. Breathe, your mind echoed, just like you had clocked it to. And so you took his hand in yours.

"This wasn't a punishment. This was the work of insanity. We, unfortunately, were the lucky ones to have survived to be hurt every day. Over and over again."

You parked the car in front of the guesthouse and turned off the lights quickly so as not to disturb your hosts.

It's your house , your mind repeated his words.

Right , you stressed to yourself, my house.

You barely stepped out of the car when you can heard a squeaky little voice call out 'Dee-Dee' from the main house.

That was your cue.

"You're late, young lady."

"Yes, sorr-hey!"

"Dee-Dee!" the squeaky little voice came out of the living room in the form of a two-year-old in PJs trying to run the funny run of the kid who has just learned how to use their legs. The little one wrapped itself around your leg in a hug, phasing from the 'dee-dee' to 'daa-daa'.

"Hi, Magoona!" you greeted the cutest Stark in the house, picking her up in your arms and melting just as she opened hers to wrap around your neck in a hug.

"Daa-daa home!"

"Woah, hey," Tony called out from the kitchen before walking into the space with a washcloth on his shoulder, "I'm the daa-daa here. Give her another name or you don't get any juice-pop tonight."

Morgan rests her head on your shoulder, looking at Tony from the corner of her eyes before softly poking your chest with her finger and declaring you 'daa-daa', testing the waters.

"I was stuck in traffic," you answered Tony's question to save Tony's ego from being bruised, hoping he did not hear Morgan over your voice. Also hoping that you were not interrupting Stark family time even though it was the weekend family dinner where, as Tony put it, 'you have to be present or I cut off all your perks .'

"Your flight landed four hours ago. So, that traffic better be something," Tony declared before turning towards the kitchen, "and I heard that Magoona! No juice-pop for you."

"Noooooo! Daddy!"

You let the wriggling kid down for her to run towards Tony, who first elected to ignore her before picking her up and throwing her in the air to catch her and hug her tight, planting a kiss on her cheek.

You stood in the living room, smiling at the scene unfolding in front of you, your eyes a bit dewy at the love and warmth always present in this house.

You, a spectator, standing there watching the father and daughter giggle and laugh at their inside joked before Pepper called them for dinner at the table and they went in, out of your sight, leaving you to feel the emptiness that would resurface at the most inordinate time.

This. This was home. This was complete. A family.

What were you?

The feeling of your coat being moved off your shoulders broke you of your trance to turn and watch Tony taking it away to hang it up while Pepper stood by the doorway, waiting for you.

"You okay?" Tony asked, his soft eyes not giving away anything he didn't want to give away.

You nodded.

"Come on, Y/N," Pepper softly called out for you with a soothing smile, "dinner's waiting."

You breathed. Eased your chest.

Home.

Taking one step towards Pepper, you had a realisation breaking over your face.

"I just realised I forgot to get the things Morgan had asked me to get from my little trip."

"Oh," Tony exclaimed, walking towards the table with you, "what did she ask for?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just the plane I flew in."

"Huh," Tony acknowledged out loud, "that should be easy to arrange."

You turned to a very done Pepper. "I really can't joke with him, can I? ‘Cause I honestly don’t know if he’ll buy the airline tomorrow."

She shook her head and sat down, already raising her hands in defeat.

Morgan squiggled on her chair between you and Tony to face her mom.

"I'm surprised he hasn't bought all the toy stores yet," Pepper whispered to you, making you chuckle.

"What?" Tony felt insulted as he popped a carrot in his mouth, "I have entire industries as her playfield. Well, your industries that have my name on them. I don't need some Toys R Us shit for Magoona."

You burst out laughing while Pepper gave him her signature stare with a stern 'Tony!' making Morgan giggle and look at her parents with starry eyes.

Home.

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adventures-in-a-world-of-fiction · 5 years

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Skip-to-the-end character development

One thing that annoys me about Endgame is the way it handles character development. If you look back at the older MCU films (or the recent, good ones) then characters grow and change.

- Iron Man was all about Tony's personal journey. He started out cocky and irresponsible. He realised the consequences of his past actions and changes the direction of his company as well as creating a way for him to directly intervene to help the people he had put in danger. The Tony Stark standing up at the end and honestly admitting to being Iron Man is not the same Tony Stark who was shrugging off a stage appearance he'd promised his friend he would be at.

- Captain America: The First Avenger is about Steve striving to be allowed to fight, being forced into a caricature of being a hero, and then becoming more than the costume. The character growth isn't as pronounced as Iron Man, but it's there.

- Thor is basically a movie about Thor learning to be a better person and a better leader. He was kicked out for being unworthy and learned (over a ridiculously short span of time - seriously, this story would have felt more honest if he had spent a few weeks on Earth not a few days) to be worthy again.

- Winter Soldier has Steve start off purposeless, not sure what makes him happy, not sure what he wants to do with his life. At the end, he knows his purpose and he will fight anyone who stands in his way.

- Even Iron Man 3 has Tony learning that what makes him special and what makes him Iron Man has never been the suit.

In terms of the recent, good ones:

- Black Panther has T'Challa learning about his father's mistakes and deciding to correct them, growing out of his father's shadow.

- Captain Marvel is all about Carol's growth. She learns who she really is and stops defining herself in terms of limitations set by other people. She starts off desperate to prove herself and by the end knows that she has nothing to prove.

- Thor Ragnarok has Thor learning that his power isn't defined by his hammer and shows Loki moving from doing everything for personal gain to risking everything to save Thor and his people.

In all these films, people change and grow. That's character development. We see it unfold on the screen. Character development isn't essential for a film to be good, but it sure as hell helps.

So what about the character development in Endgame? Why did that annoy me so much? Because it all happens off-screen. Characters change dramatically - but it all happens during that five year time skip. The world has changed and people change too, but we don't get to see any of it. It's a skip-to-the-end approach to character development.

- Bruce in Infinity War is at war with himself, the two sides of his personality in conflict. In Endgame, he's merged them, getting the best of the strength and the brains. But how? How did he manage to get the two sides to communicate? How did that progress, because it presumably took time and effort. I would have liked to see that.

- Hawkeye's fall into darkness would have made a fascinating movie. He is a happy family man who watches his family disappear before his eyes. How did he cope immediately after? What made him decide to kill his first victim? How did he start on his vendetta against the evil criminals who were spared by Thanos' randomness? There is so much in there that could have been a really interesting story. Instead, we get one fight scene to show that he's dark now. This could have been an opportunity to learn about his past too, what he was doing before SHIELD recruited him. So many questions that the MCU never even asked could have been answered.

- Thor's slide into depression and despair could have been poignant and meaningful. We could have seen his emotional journey, instead of it being treated as a hugely offensive and unfunny fat joke.

- Tony finds peace. After all the trauma he's suffered, he manages to settle into a life of quiet domesticity. I can understand why this wouldn't make the cut of a big, action film, but some character moments of him adjusting would have been nice to see. The fact that he's willing to look past all his dad's lousy parenting rings false, but it could have been the result of interesting growth as he experiences parenthood himself. But it just feels grating because we don't see any of that. We could have seen him come to understand how difficult being a parent is and see why his dad left the raising of him to other people. We could see him trying to be a better father than Howard but in the process learning more about why his dad was so distant, or recalling moments when his dad did actually so kindness, so that when he says that all he remembers is the good stuff, it doesn't feel so out of nowhere.

- Even Steve and Nat show changes. It would have been interesting to see Steve try to take on Sam's role as a counselor, to see why he decided to do that. We could have seen Nat realising that Fury is gone and stepping up to try and fill his shoes, struggling with the responsibility but desperate to try.

- We could have see Okoye dealing with the fact that the king and Shuri are both dead, having to assume a mantel of leadership beyond that of a warrior.

Instead, we get nothing. The characters are one way at the start of the film and another way after the time jump. This particular movie is the most blatant example of character development that happens off-screen, but there have been other examples of characters having all their development between movies. Bucky is the perfect example of this. At the end of Winter Soldier, he pulls Steve out of the river and is seen in the post-credits clip looking at his memorial in the museum. Jump to Civil War and he's living on his own, in hiding, stable enough to go out and buy supplies for himself like a regular member of society, and he's regained enough of his memories to know who Steve is and what they mean to each other. At the end of Civil War, he goes into the ice because he doesn't doesn't trust his own mind, but by the Black Panther post-credits scene, he's awake and living peacefully and being teased by kids.

All his healing and recovery of his autonomy happens in those moments between films. If you follow me on AO3, you know I love Winter Soldier recovery fics, because there is so much interesting potential in how someone comes back from that trauma, how someone can learn to be a person again after being treated as an asset. It's a fascinating concept that is at the core of Bucky as a character - and the movies just skip over it. He's well enough now for Steve to abandon him and go back into the past. How did he get well enough? Who cares?

Me! I care!

Marvel seem to think that they can ignore all the interesting character development in favour of more quips and battle scenes.

I know Endgame was already a long movie, but think about what it could have been like to have a film in between IW and E. We could have had Avengers: Aftermath dealing with the immediate fallout. We could have had the first part of the movie with the death of Thanos, and then had the rest of the film be about them dealing, with some growing from it (Tony and Bruce), some barely holding themselves together (Steve and Nat), and some falling into despair (Clint and Thor). There would have been time to actually give Carol some semblance of personality too. The film could end with the Avengers scattered, and Steve going through Scott's things for some reason, activating the machine to bring Scott out of the quantum realm (because the rat is just a stupid deus ex machina if they weren't going to have it turn out to be an actual deus i.e. Loki). The very final part of the film could be Scott thinking that the quantum realm could be the answer, giving them hope for the next part.

I just think that by missing that middle chunk out, the whole thing feels hollow and empty and cheapens the payoff. Yes, we can fill the gap with fanfic, but you shouldn't end up with the situation where fanfic is having to do the entire legwork of the character building because the canon just couldn't be bothered with that.

Explosions and big battles are all well and good, but you've got to care about the characters for those big action scenes to matter, and people care about the characters because of character development. At least that's how I think it ought to work.

#MCU #Marvel #character development #Endgame #Avengers

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