#big ragnarok connection vibes

[stacotto]

Alright, one more theory time before episode 16 drops: Prospera's intention for Quiet Zero.

So, a lot of this is going to be predicated on stuff we don't fully understand yet, but bear with me; Permet Links. These appear to be the core operating blocks of all Ad Stella mobile weapons, if not tech in general. So far the community has sussed out that this basically manifests in instant communication across vast distances (vast enough that anything based on electromagnetic communication - which travels at light speed - would have a time delay IRL) and enhanced response times in physical devices (like GUND prosthetics). We also know about the existence of "Internal Permet Systems" from blink-and-you'll-miss-it bits from the Prologue, which can reasonably be assumed to be a sort of physical Permet implant humans possess.

Now to the juicy part; we learned that the stated goal of Quiet Zero is a system by which one can remotely control any machine operating with a Permet Link - again, everything in this 'verse. But, if Belmeria's right, then Aerial as she is now is more than strong enough to make that dream a reality, and Prospera is still trying to make her stronger. Why? I think some people may have been onto something when they began calling out Instrumentality parallels. I think Prospera's end goal is to create a Data Storm strong enough that it pulls any and all humans within its range into the Storm itself - where "Eri is waiting" - via everyone's "Internal Permet System", something that may become all too commonplace if GUND medical tech becomes more prolific.

What this would all truly mean in the end, I have no real idea, but that does seem to be the way things are heading, and I'll say it again; most of our knowledge of G-Witch is based more on what we don't know, than what we do.

[chalkanthit]

For the SE HC ask: 4!!!

Going for SE Askboard @h0lly-hued-s0ul has made!

Ik it's a bit late but better late than never dkfbdokf

Also going for most of the youngsters bc they're my little precious weirdos uu

Offer a hobby-related headcannon for any character.

Soul

We should all be aware by now that soul is a huge music nerd even if he's pretending to be "just casual" About it but somehow I could even imagine that his guilty pleasure is also baking since... Have you seen the cute little tea and cakes he sometimes brings Maka when she's studying for exams like crazy??? He claims he just buys them from "that one little bakery" That Maka suspiciously never finds but in secret (not really) he really does them by himself and is proud when they're well liked!!

Maka

She's deffenly a little sport nerd kinda girl that got to like things like Basketball and soccer/football quite a lot, but she also would still enjoy a good book (or ten) at times as well next to solving crossword puzzles and other Puzzles and riddles!

Basically everything that makes her Brain go brrrr! Also idk how much it's connected to the hobby aspect, but I hat girl would have Duolingo on her phone and use it almost religiously every evening before bed!

Oh but also she would have a big knack for poetry and writing overall even if she's sometimes quite shy about it since Soul and Black star made fun of it a few times-

Tsubaki

Everything around gardening and cooking???

She also would simply enjoy long walks and nice quality time with her friends since Tsubaki really is this comfy person that likes a calm life but also the fun and more adventureous aspects of it;;;

A part of me can also imagine that she'd enjoy something like Yoga and Ice skating a lot when she gets the chance to do it in peace-

Black star

Sports nerd! Everything that resolves around movement and putting his brain on serotonin 24/7 with the bees on crack he apparently has in his butt-

But also we already saw that he also enjoys comics a LOT and would totally be into video games as well even if he would loose to patty constantly!

Kid

He'd actually like things that put his mind off ease? Like he very much enjoys cleaning much more in a healthy but for many weird manner since who likes cleaning am I right?? But also is very open and keen to things like Chess and plenty of other board games he most likely plays with Liz and Patty almost every Saturday night unless Liz manages to escape :')

Also hey! I can imagine him liking to draw a lot as well together with Patty Duke while listening to murder mystery podcasts-

Liz

Shopping and dancing Q U E E N!

Ik it's basic but hear me out! She just loves fashion a lot and can give people a lot of advice for this topic and would occasionally do makeovers if you let her!

She just blooms so much doing that and seeing how much people can show their other sides as a well! Also my bc especially is that it was initially her idea when Crona was kidnapped on a shopping spree and she would even just offer Ox so many hair stuff in hopes he'll finally STOP shaving it all off like bro.. PLEASE!

Other than that she also got those moves and surprisingly knows a lot about music as well so her, soul and Kilik can actually connect and vibe together super easily and well!

Patty

Again, patty is a huge art person!

Of course she likes other things like beating people up with a passion, but she just loves to be creative and takes almost every medium bc why not trying everything and see how it goes??? Life is too short to be boring and plain!! Patty would most likely also like to bake as well but her creations are.... Experimental to say the least-

At least Stein and Ragnarok do like her stuff weirdly enough..

Kim

Also a little doodle enthusiast but she really would have a knack for Crochet and knitting too since Jackie has taught her the latter! She would rather die than to admit her hobbies and pleasures but she's a big softie when it comes to her interests!

God forbid people would even find out that she likes "girly" Stuff like figure skating and dancing as well.. Oh the horror!

Omg she would also have a secret love for flower arrangements as well but that's just me having more lore and hcs for her past as well that I won't (and likely never will) fully elaborate on :'DD

Jackie

Similar to Kim she loves knitting but also has a big talent and interest in Tayloring as well?? That girl probably had a bit horse phase as well and would actually love to get back into it at some point but a horse in the middle of Nevada is a little too much to ask for-

A bicycle would do as well I guess???

Idk why but Jackie seems a little bit of a person that enjoys Theatre and Musicals a lot as well so take that for what it-

Also little side note I want to add bc it's sth very dear and personal to me but glass engraving and the like?? It just fits quite a bit to her qvq

Kilik

Batic and Linol printed shirts!

The shirts he wears? Self made! The necklace?? Probably as well!! Also another music and Sports enthusiast even if he's more into more combat related sports rather than just running around for a good time!

He seeks the thrill and the surprising so unless you throw something at him out of the blue, he'd just see it as plain and simple training-

The drums are also his hobby but it's less than a hc than it is actually canon in the manga;;;

Overall he's pretty much an everyman kinda guy that has a good amount of Hobbies and interests that overlap with many others he sees as friends!

Fire & Thunder

They're still young as hell so I can't say AS much about them as I like to but they give a lot of crafty energy and would probably get a collecting hobby phase as well like for crystals and all!

Less for the esoteric aspect but more for the minerals itself!

Ox

Again not as much of an HC than it is a fact, but that guy takes a lot or enjoyment into research and other things that make his brain tingle like chess for example! Like he just LOVES burying himself into old history and folklore about plenty of topics and cultures and can easily spend days in it if Harvar wouldn't remind him to eat something in between-

Again I really don't know why, but something in me also knocks at my brain doors and continuesly shoves the HC in my head that Ox actually has a talent to actually draw?? Not like Patty where it's very imaginary and expressive, but more in a sense of scenes and architecture!! Basically pretty black and white and stuff!!

Harvar

It's super ironic but like Kim he actually has some hobbies he either won't admit to or people simply wouldn't believe it since why would a guy like him he interested in something like THAT???

Like liking to go swimming is one thing people could still get behind bc he hates boredom with a passion so it's good to stay active but him actually being into exact the same comics as black star is just super funny in my and it's very much the absolute opposite of Harvar sooo..

Omg but on top of that just.. Imagine him actually do liking video games but nothing like a souls game, but f*cking animal Crossing-

Of course he also likes research and chess a lot like Ox (even tho he's by far more competitive there) but he screams like Modelling as well! (The crafty stuff like building trains or Lego etc)

He just SUCKS at art tho which actually frustrated him-

Bonus

Crona

Crona most likely would catch some interest for poetry and other writing related things as well since they can actually express themselves much better with it without having to speak about it and they don't even have to show it to others as well.. It actually already helps that it exists in the first place and that they have something they can look at like "I made that!"

Aka bullet journaling sounds like sth tame enough for them but still sth to keep their mind somewhere unrelated to u know.. The whole childhood ordeal-

Basically they would enjoy many things that won't put Crona into the spotlight or that is to be shared forcefully so even if it's just reading something, it's just.. Nice;;

Also please give Crona sth calm like Animal Crossing-

Let them share an island with Harvar or Maka dkxbfodndp

Gopher

He sees something that peeks his (or Noah's) intetest, he HAS to overanalyze it and write every crucial detail down!

Like we don't just talk about one smarty little journal! I'm talking about whole Bookshelves worth of Infos written by that puppet alone!! Even his calligraphy and poetry/writing skills and hobbies are top notch and would rub it under Makas nose a LOT!

Hell he would do it so much that even Ox would have to remind him that he was meant to be Makas super annoying rival and not him pfffff!

(You could say that annoying Maka is also a passion of Gopher)

He would actually like to just casually fly and travel around a lot as well even if it's something he just does to get a job done.. If he'd focus more on the aspect itself, there would be much more appreciation etc!!

Also God forbid but he'd be into dnd as well-

My brain tells me to so it must be true!/j

THANKS FOR COMING TO MY INCOHERENT RAMBLING!!!

[claygoestothemovies]

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’ll admit that when I walked into my IMAX screening of GODZILLA x KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE, I wasn’t expecting very much. Not that I hated any of the previous four big screen entries in this latest iteration of the Monsterverse, they just never really connected with me in a way that made me want to revisit them. They were spectacle, and to me, little more than forgettable. I was pleasantly surprised, then, to find this entry to be the THOR: RAGNAROK of the franchise.

Not that this necessarily reaches the heights of that comparison, but just to give you an idea of the vibe that this film is bringing to the table. It’s colorful, silly, and genuinely laugh-out-loud funny at times. Once I settled in with the mindset that this was basically a very expensive version of a Saturday morning cartoon brought to life, I had a marvelous time!

The story is laughably dumb, really just a series of reasons to get to the next big set piece. I’m not saying that as a negative, either. The previous entries I personally found took themselves a little too seriously, and I appreciated this one acknowledging what kind of story it was telling, and just having fun with the material for once!

The human characters are basically just there for exposition, especially Rebecca Hall’s Ilene, but thankfully she’s talented enough to (mostly) keep you from your eyes glazing over. The MVP of this one, though, is easily the addition of Dan Stevens’ Trapper. He is in his element as a vet to the Titans, being alternately weird and hilarious in a performance that feels like a throwback to the eighties. Adam Wingard definitely made the right call to reunite with him after the criminally underrated THE GUEST.

But we’re all here for the quite literally larger than life characters, so how do they fare? Well, from a character perspective, I enjoyed the arc more than any of the earlier entries. Alternately heartwarming, exciting, and funny, I was genuinely invested in Kong and Godzilla’s globe spanning adventures. Now, about the special effects… While I really loved [most of] the design choices for the various creatures I encountered during the runtime, especially Godzilla’s glow up, I couldn’t help but be distracted by a disconnect between how the effects didn’t feel connected in a tangible way to their surroundings. Good CGI has a weight to it, this felt like nothing onscreen was truly interacting in the world that is presented.

All that being said, my packed theater seemed to have a blast. Everyone laughed at all the right moments, and the theater even burst out into spontaneous applause at one late stage moment in the film! Turn off your brain (honestly, how many more layers are they going to discover in the middle of the Earth, anyway?), enjoy the richly saturated colors, and have fun watching some of the most iconic characters in the world wreak havoc!

3/5

[trashquisitor-shirozora]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 🤍

Aww, thank you for dropping this off in my askbox! Also oh god, I have so many favorite fics that I wrote, how will I ever choose just five? Anyway, these are arguably my favorite five fics that I wrote.

We Are Pilots (Tron Legacy, Sam/Tron, 90k words) changed my life. I answered a Tron Kink Meme fill with the kind of insane fervor that I later felt when writing another fic on this short list, and the response was phenomenal and overwhelming. This fic was the confidence booster of a lifetime and made me feel that actually, I am capable of writing stories on an epic scale. This fic went through several full rewrites and the final one is my favorite because this was where I really learned to let a story breathe and to make the environment as immersive as possible.

Wishing Well (Captain America: The First Avenger, 10k words) was a capkinkmeme fill (I was really big on LJ anon kink memes and I miss those so much for the unhinged communal vibes) and I love this short tragic tale of all the love that couldn't be. If I need something sad and cathartic, I read this fic. I need to feel the tragedy. I committed so hard to the bit that I deleted a fourth chapter set during Iron Man 2 and replaced it with a ficmix playlist.

born in a thunderstorm (Star Trek AOS/Guardians of the Galaxy/Thor Ragnarok/Captain Mavel, Kirk/McCoy, 68k) is the most unhinged thing I thought up since I was a middle schooler daydreaming a crossover of a bunch of Saturday morning cartoons and interestingly dubbed anime, and since I was a high schooler who went all out on a Kingdom Hearts fic by printing the screenplays for several Disney movies so that I can mimic the actual game as closely as possible. To think that this is the STXI fic I ended up writing after years of wanting to and never doing so out of fear I'd fuck up and get gatekept out of Star Trek.

Sweather Weather (Star Wars, Din/Luke, 22k) won the fight with Gravity Well because fall is here and the cozy vibes are strong in this one. Years back, I tried to write a cozy vibes fic and flamed out because I was a fool and didn't stick to the "slice of life" mentality. Anyway, this is my slice of life/cozy vibes fic and I adore it.

The Storm (Star Wars, Din/Luke, 45k) is the story I wrote in a fever dream, fueled by the song "Dangerous Dreams" by Lebrock, and my life has not been the same since then. This story is still so vivid to me. I still think about the claustrophic setting, the old stone temple on a forgotten world ravaged by weeks-long thunderstorms, and how that forged a curiosity and connection between two people whose cultures and ways of life were destroyed by the Empire yet still survived. I still think about this fic the way I think about stories that just seared themselves into my brain and won't go away (like the other fics on this list, Peter Jackson's LOTR trilogy, and Andor). It's all fucking insane. How the fuck did I write that?

Anyway, appreciate getting this ask! Now back to writing the next chapter of the 4th story of the series spun out of The Storm.

[ragnar0c]

Did these for the OoS crew... it took a really long time for some reason BAHAHA....

Brainrot underneath the read more as usual. But the pics themselves speak volumes if you know the characters... the brainrot is just in case you don't know, how each character reminds me of each oc. But mainly so I can get the brain worms out of my head!!

EOCs: (Hana, Alope, Ignis, Enid, Tank)

Hana:

Korra, Elise Liedl, Alice (Pandora Hearts), Rita Mordio, Frieren, and Edward Elric

Most like: Elise, Korra, and Rita.

She's desperately trying to prove herself as a Zodiac (Korracore) and has massive dreams of grandeur she'd do anything to fulfill. (ELISE) She likes to think she'd sacrifice anyone and acts cold but really is afraid of connections for the same reason. As a result she's overly attached to the object of her research since she can't hurt it and it can't hurt her. (Rita)

Very reminiscent later on (like frieren) but acts headstrong and louder (like ed or Alice) when she feels passionate enough.

Alope:

Bolin, Rose (Tales of Zestiria), Denji, Mae (Fire emblem echoes), Kanami (Log Horizon), Luz (TOH)

Most like: DENJI

Alope doesn't have a last name or parents it seems. She's stuck in someone else's debt... (Denji) shes poor but it doesn't stop her from being silly and kind initially (Bolin) She does what she needs to do to get jobs done while people hesitate. Along with a strong sense of justice... poor common sense while in conversation tho. (Rose++ Also Alope is scared of ghosts just like her too. )

one thing comes to another and Alope goes from that loud kind girl to someone who's been traumatized and feeling at fault... Wrestling her self doubt and resentment but at the same time will still do anything to right her wrongs. (LUZ MY BABY)

Mae and Kanami are there for vibes. They radiate Alopenergy

Ignis:

Niren Fedrock, Kento Nanami, Vander, Optimus Prime, Hohenheim, Lukas (fire emblem echoes)

Most like: Hohenheim.

An ex knight who follows a strict code of chivalry... he's kind, takes the helm with things are chaotic and is a good leader (Optimus, Lukas). It could be seen as a sort of facade though. Considering he left his past behind and this is sort of his last attempt to relive/fix it but better and older. (Hohenheim)

He's aloof and calm at first which gives him a cold look. But is notoriously sensitive when you know him. (Hohenheim) cares deeply for his family and guild (Vander. Niren). But is especially estranged from them at times with the whole aloof... reliving his past thing.... (HOHENHEIM. Lukas a little)

Nanami is on there bc his principle that adults should do things and not children is something Ignis strongly believes too. It's why he's so concerned about the girls.

Enid:

Reki Kyan, Okappa (Plastic Nee-san), Kisara Nanjo, Enid (O.K.KO), Brunhilde (Record of Ragnarok), Chastel and Hisca Aiheap (Tales of Vesperia: First Strike).

Most like: Reki Kyan.

A Monk whose emotions fluctuate constantly. (Brunhilde) They try to be levelheaded initially but are si passionate about others it spills over in excitement or anger (Reki). Prone to comedy violence when pissed (Okappa). Watches over the guild like how the twins (Chastel and Hisca)... so like nagging sisters BAHAHAH.

A skilled fighter, but has a soft side. (Kisara) they are trying to tap into it, but neglecting their fighting skill, something that was a big part of their identity seems to have made them doubt themselves and envy the others. (Kisara. Reki.)

Enid O.K. KO is the literal inspiration for Enid's name and a littleeee bit of their voice too. I crushed on Enid O.K. KO pretty hard and love the name bc her.

Tank:

Shikamaru, Raven (Tales of Vesperia), Lavi (D-gray man), Maes Hughes, Jake the dog, Saber (Fire emblem echoes)

Most like: tbh. I thought initially that Tank's board was the craziest but all these characters are so much like him I can't pick.

A guy who seems laid back and lazy and complains about work. Does anything to "avoid" it. Who always puts on a huge show so people don't suspect a thing from him. In reality, Tank is very meticulous and picks up on things about his guild before the others do. And despite his complaints about work will always pull more than his weight when he has to. (Literally all of them)

Though he's shady, he stays beside Enid and treats them like a sibling. (Saber) Though at times his treatment of them is dubious and he gives them counter productive advice (Jake)... He sees Enid as an idealist and would do anything to protect her (Hughes). He tries to keep his distance from everyone else, but the longer he stays the harder her finds it as he nature picks up on all the little things about them they don't know. (Lavi) Seems to have some unspoken backstory that affected him and changes his motives. (Raven and Shikamaru)

[lunamikk69]

As time went by I feel like they nerfed Bruce and Tony’s friendship. I dunno like it was so strong in the avengers and after what happened in AoU I knew things would change a little bit and be tense but I dunno it seems like the vibe changed a bit like when Tony and Steve talking about Wakanda and Bruce doesn’t follow, it seems like the tables have turned. And now he’s the one left like when him & Tony were discussing science and Steve didn’t understand. I know it’s not really a big deal but it tweaked me a bit, I know that Tony and Steve is one of the most important dynamics in marvel. I just don’t like seeing Bruce left out and I enjoyed seeing Bruce/Hulk’s process in SaKaar, him and Thor are funny together. It just seems like the closer he gets with other people the farther away he gets from Tony? They couldn’t even do the simple thing of letting Tony be the one to calm the hulk down even though he was the closest person to him since Betty and Jen. Romance doesn’t have to the whole point of their relationship, they have a beautiful friendship, I feel like most of our key moments have gotten downplayed. Like we see Hulk being upset at Tony’s funeral yet ppl make it about him being on Thor?! (Btw I have nothing against Bruce being happy in another pairing) it just gets so frustrating sometimes, we saw Steve and Thor sitting with Pepper,Happy,and Morgan, but Bruce/Hulk couldn’t be there? I know they all loved him ehh and whoever the Tony as bachelor meme was going around they automatically make Bruce the one Tony friend zoned?? Star lord makes it to the top three though?? Lol 😆 ok…

They don't nerfed Bruce and Tony’s friendship… For me it's even worse, maybe I see it in the most negative way possible… But there literally comes a point where it seems like this relationship of immediate closeness and friendship NEVER existed. Suddenly they seem almost strangers who must fight together for a common good and since they both know science, they do just that. It's as if they gave those MINIMUM traces in Infinity War (I really LOVE the scene where Bruce looks for Tony's hug), but in Endgame it's smoke, pure smoke… Actually in the end they tried to pull more through other paths, possibly already knowing that Iron Man was going to have the end he has... but as you say, that in the end Bruce/Hulk is not even seen with Pepper, Morgan and Happy, or in a closer way… It's like they started a path in The Avengers, that they continued a bit with Age of Ultron, they parodied in Ragnarok in a good way, they gave miserable traces in Inifity War and ended in Endgame as if NOTHING had mattered, as if all that connection had been forgotten, as if it never existed. In the end it is a bit sad, it makes the final moment of Iron Man and his funeral more miserable for any fan of the two of them, both as a friendship, and as a connection between two people who were on the same path. Thanks for the message Anon, I like to talk like this (ᵔ◡ᵔ)

[luxuryshirt]

Cardinal Vibes Only Shirt

Thor: Ragnarok Cardinal Vibes Only Shirt . gave Mark Ruffalo his biggest co-starring role to date, as he became the Grandmaster’s champion on the gladiator planet of Sakaar. Now, after supporting roles in the past two Avengers films and a cameo earlier in Phase 4, Ruffalo is back to play his biggest supporting part in Tatiana Maslany’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Bruce has gone through some major changes since his two-year stint in outer space, having learned how to unlock the Smart Hulk persona that’s been prevalent since Avengers: Endgame. He’s also largely remained on Earth over the past few years in the MCU timeline, setting him up to help his cousin Jen adjust to her own new journey as a superhero. Ahead of the show’s August 18 debut, Marvel Studios has shared the first couple of full clips from She-Hulk, one of them showing the start of Jen’s origin story before she turns into a hulking monster for the first time. On top of that, the scene also laid out an exciting tease for a connection back to Bruce Banner’s past - one that could mean big things for his future.Cardinal Vibes Only Shirt, hoodie, sweater, longsleeve and ladies t-shirtLooking even closer at the image, it looks to be the very same ship model as the one owned by Jeff Goldblum's Grandmaster, which was called the Commodore Cardinal Vibes Only Shirt . Read the full article

[akajustmerry]

Hi merry ik this is a super broad and vague qn but the other day my friend was saying she liked dc movies more than marvel Except that marvel has better cinematography and I ???? Hv never heard anyone say that in my life?? And like most of my friends agreed???? Anyway what do u think I trust u when it comes to this stuff cuz ur not like an mcu Stan or wtv u know u just appreciate superhero movies ✌🏽sorry to ask u a marvel/dc qn but I am truly just baffled 🤧

hello! thank u 💕 and tbh that opinion baffles me too?? cinematography is about presenting a mood, an emotion, evoking perspective and narrative with how the scene is filmed. in the case of marvel vs dc, very broadly I'd say the cinematic universes have very different ethos as to how they approach cinematography.

dc tends to be more varied, with each project having a relatively unique cinematography style usually indicative of the director and the vibe of the project overall. Cathy Yan's distinct and detailed vibrancy in birds of prey, deployed in service of showing us Harley's world, is a wonderful example. So is Snyder's biblically grandiose approach to superman in Man of Steel, and James Wan's lingering, sprawling take on Aquaman is also beautiful. None of these three films are filmed in a similar way. They're filmed uniquely to suit their subjects (as unique as a blockbuster can be anyway).

On the other hand, Marvel approaches cinematography in a more uniform way. We know this, not just from looking at the films themselves but from directors like Edgar Wright who were kicked off marvel projects early for refusing to conform to the mcu's creative standard when it comes to cinematography. That's not to say that there's no uniqueness at all, but the mcu leans on a consistent uniform look. The look isn't... Bad. The cinematography does a very tickabox job that looks fine. But there's very little flare or risk in what you see.

There's a big lack of flare and risk because the mcu is a branded product more than it is a story. And Disney needs to be able to sell their brand as widely and consistently as possible and the best way to do that is by creating a product that appeals to as many people as possible. So u find a formula, a look, a style that the most amount of people like and understand and you stick to it. which is what they've done. there's occasionally a little risk, here n there to keep things from being totally stale but generally it's a one size fits all.

people are always more comfortable with consistency and uniformity, it's human nature. so it's much easier to look at the mcu, see that it's cinematography all looks more or less the same and conclude it's better because it has a uniformity. the dccu is often criticised for lacking consistency in style but I think that it's a good thing that for better (birds of prey) or worse (james gunn suicide squad), dc let's it's creatives give their projects unique styles.

I think your friends are just more comfortable with uniformity and mistake that for better quality, despite the two concepts rarely ever being connected. kinda reminds me of how Apple users are always banging on about Apple products being better than the entire market despite that being objectively untrue for years. It's just because that's what they've been sold, that's what they're most comfortable with.

what do I think?? Between dc and the mcu, dc has far more interesting cinematography across the board because its allowed to be relatively varied, but most ppl view that as a negative because the mcu sells itself on uniformed superiority and ppl eat it UP. If Disney let mcu directors actually imbue projects with their unique visual styles like dc?? would be SICK. but the closest they ever came was Thor ragnarok and even then EVEN then it's still pretty safe 💀

hope that answered the question! x

[aion-rsa]

Marvel Phase 4: Where Does the MCU Go After Black Widow?

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This article contains Black Widow spoilers. 

The wait is finally over, as Black Widow has arrived in theaters and on Disney+ to end a two-year drought in which no new movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe were released. Of course, the powerhouse company kept the flag flying with the premiere of three well-received series on its streaming platform — WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and the outstanding Loki — but the MCU was born on the big screen and there’s something reassuring about seeing it return there.

But now that Black Widow is out more than a year after it was first slated for release, what happens next? Ironically the film that is kicking off the MCU’s long-awaited Phase Four is a look back at the past, the filling in of a chapter in the back story of one of the founding Avengers. But aside from the introduction of the woman who is clearly going to take over as the Black Widow going forward (Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova) and a key post-credits scene (more on that later), Black Widow doesn’t offer up a ton of insights or clues into the future of the MCU.

For that we have to look ahead.

Now that the pandemic is (hopefully) fading into the rearview mirror, Marvel is getting aggressive with four new movies in the second half of 2021, four in 2022 and anywhere from two to four in 2023. But following Black Widow, the studio’s next two releases are perhaps its riskiest bets since Guardians of the Galaxy defied the odds and became a pop culture phenomenon back in 2014.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Ironically, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (September 3) harkens back to the earliest days of the MCU, with the Ten Rings organization first mentioned in 2008’s Iron Man. Of course, fans have been waiting for the real Mandarin as well since 2013’s Iron Man 3 fakeout, and they’ll finally get him in the form of brilliant Hong Kong actor Tony Leung. But the focus here is introducing Simu Liu as the title’s master of martial arts and the first Asian character to headline a superhero film — a groundbreaking move that Marvel no doubt would like to have the same response as Black Panther back in 2018.

Shang-Chi has two more unexpected MCU connection points that were revealed in its latest trailer: a brief scene at the end gave us a glimpse of a cage match pitting Doctor Strange right-hand man Wong (Benedict Wong) against the Abomination, a character last seen way back in 2008 in the nearly forgotten The Incredible Hulk. Scattered rumors suggest that the film may take place during the five years of the Blip or Snap or whatever you want to call it, which is how Wong ends up here; either way, he’s one link to the MCU, while the Abomination — also slated to return in Marvel’s upcoming She-Hulk series on Disney+ — is another.

Eternals

It’s hard to tell which Marvel title is more obscure to the general public — Shang-Chi or Eternals, the latter of which arrives on November 5. Based on Jack Kirby’s cosmic tale of immortal humanoid beings called the Eternals waging a secret, ongoing war to protect Earth from the evil Deviants — with both sides the creation of ancient entities known as the Celestials — Eternals is directed by Nomadland Oscar winner Chloe Zhao. Its first trailer gave us a look at a film that doesn’t quite track with anything Marvel has done before, and it remains to be seen how this experiment feeds into the greater path of the MCU.

Spider-Man: No Way Home

There’s nothing obscure about Spider-Man: No Way Home, and the film — the third and possibly last co-production between Marvel and Sony — is expected to be a pivotal one for the MCU with the long-rumored introduction of the multiverse to mainline Marvel canon (although technically Loki has already broached the subject). Tom Holland returns as Spidey, Benedict Cumberbatch appears as Doctor Strange ahead of his own crucial movie in 2022, and while we don’t know yet who the main villain is, it’s the worst kept secret in the biz that Alfred Molina and Jamie Foxx are encoring as Doc Ock and Electro from previous Spider-Man iterations (thanks Al!).

No Way Home is due out in just over five months — on December 17 — and Sony (which controls the marketing for Spidey standalones) has yet to release a second of footage from the film. Has director Jon Watts (also back for his third go-round with the wallcrawler) packed his movie with too many surprises to show us anything at this point? 

Each MCU film is important in its own way, but No Way Home may alter the very fabric of the mythology in a fundamental way, as will the movie coming hard on its heels. But before we get to that epic, however, let’s take a brief break and see where things stand with Marvel on the Disney+ platform.

 What If…?

With Loki about to close out its run, the next Marvel series will be What If…?, the first official animated series from the MCU. Just like the comics of the same name, the show will feature reimagined events from the history of the MCU, featuring characters like T’Challa, Peggy Carter, Thor, and more. While the show is speculative in nature and will likely have little or no direct connection to the larger MCU, What If…? (premiering August 11) certainly will promote the idea of alternate realities even more and help to pave the way for the emergence of the live-action multiverse later in the year.

Ms. Marvel

Ms. Marvel will introduce the popular teen Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) from the comics and will also serve as a springboard for the Pakistani-American superhero and Captain Marvel fan to join her idol in The Marvels, which is due out in 2022. Full details about the plot and additional characters have yet to be disclosed, but the six-episode show will continue Marvel’s major push to diversify the MCU.

Hawkeye

We know, thanks to the post-credits scene in Black Widow, that the next Marvel series in the chute, Hawkeye, will directly play off events occurring on the big screen. In that scene, which takes place in the present, Yelena is standing over Natasha’s gravesite (which is presumably empty since she died on Vormir in Avengers: Endgame) when she is approached by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) about seeking revenge for Natasha’s death against Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner).

Pugh is all but confirmed to appear in the Hawkeye series, which will likely focus on Barton’s recruitment and training of Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) as the new master of archery for the Avengers. Louis-Dreyfus is not listed in the cast yet, but seems likely to appear as well. 

As usual, Marvel is playing its cards close to the vest and will adapt the comic book characters and narratives as it sees fit, but the introduction of heroes and anti-heroes like Bishop, de Fontaine, John Walker/U.S. Agent (from TFATWS), Belova and others point to everything from the Young Avengers to the Thunderbolts and Dark Avengers.

Both Ms. Marvel and Hawkeye are expected in late 2021, with premiere dates TBA.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

With 2021’s theatrical MCU slate focused on introducing both new characters (Shang-Chi and the Eternals) and new concepts (the multiverse), the four titles scheduled to arrive in 2022 will bring out some of the universe’s biggest guns.

First out on March 25 is Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, directed by the great Sam Raimi (Spider-Man), and you can bet that this will be one of the most important titles of Phase Four. It says it right there in the name: the multiverse is coming, and there’s no question that the film will play off events in both Spider-Man: No Way Home and WandaVision, since the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) will be showing up in this movie too (Olsen described the movie to Glamour as having a “horror show vibe”).

Loki head writer Michael Waldron has written the latest draft of Doctor Strange 2, which is very encouraging news, with Rachel McAdams (Christine), Benedict Wong (Wong) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Mordo) all returning and Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez in the latter’s long-awaited MCU debut. Plot details are non-existent, but we can fully expect this film to have an enormous impact on the MCU as it barrels into the future — or many different futures.

Thor: Love and Thunder

Thor: Love and Thunder will blast its way into theaters after that, on May 6, and promises to be one of the biggest and most fully stacked spectacles of Phase Four. Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi returns, as does Chris Hemsworth (of course), while Natalie Portman will reprise the role of Jane Foster (and also debut as The Mighty Thor) for the first time since 2013’s Thor: The Dark World (not counting her repurposed Endgame footage).

As we said, this looks like a packed film, with the Guardians of the Galaxy showing up as well (for how much of the picture remains to be seen), Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie, Jaimie Alexander’s Sif, and Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster all returning, and Christian Bale making his MCU debut as Gorr the God Butcher. How it might or might not connect to the events happening back on Earth and the introduction of the multiverse is also unknown at this point, but we expect this film to be perhaps even bigger in scope and more outright bonkers than Ragnarok.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Also shrouded in perhaps more mystery than usual is Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. But considering the circumstances — losing the lead actor, Chadwick Boseman, who defined the character of T’Challa for tens of millions with just a handful of appearances, it’s something of a miracle that cameras are now actually rolling in Atlanta on this motion picture.

What’s it about? No one knows, but if movies like Doctor Strange 2, Eternals and No Way Home will delve into the cosmic and/or mystical side of the MCU, than we suspect writer/director Ryan Coogler may keep Wakanda Forever firmly rooted in the geopolitical end of the universe, especially since some of Wakanda’s Dora Milaje turned up in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.  Of course, Marvel geopolitics may involve nations like Latveria or even Atlantis, but that’s another story.

With nearly everyone returning from the first Black Panther — aside, of course, from its newly minted and now fallen king — we suspect that Wakanda Forever (out July 8, 2022) will address the loss of Boseman in a way that is full of grace, heart and majesty. Just don’t ask us how the hell to pull it off.

Captain Marvel 2: The Marvels

As you can see, the further down we get in the schedule, the vaguer the details are. Which brings us to The Marvels, formerly known as Captain Marvel 2. The title makes sense, since Ms. Marvel will cross over to the big screen with this November 11, 2022 release, but we also know that the adult Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) — now imbued with powers of her own — will be coming over directly from WandaVision. From what we recall, Monica wasn’t too pleased every time the name of Carol Danvers was invoked on that show either, so there’s potentially a lot to explore in that relationship.

Nia DaCosta (Candyman) is directing The Marvels, which will also feature Zawe Ashton as a yet-to-be-disclosed villain. With Monica Rambeau and Kamala Khan both in the mix, it seems as if this adventure will be a bit more Earthbound…but don’t forget, the Skrulls are still out there too, which leads to our next section.

Moon Knight

The Marvel Studios series slate on Disney+ gets a little fuzzier once we get into 2022, but we know that Moon Knight, She-Hulk and Secret Invasion are all going to premiere, along with possibly Ironheart, Armor Wars and an untitled Wakanda-based show.

Of those, Moon Knight may have the least direct connection to the overall shape of the MCU in Phase 4. Oscar Isaac will star in the title role, with The Exorcist TV series creator Jeremy Slater as the head writer/creator on this one, but we suspect that Marc Spector and his multiple personalities will pursue his own journey onscreen, at least in the short term.

She-Hulk

She-Hulk may pursue a similar tack, least of all because it’s said to be in a more comedic vein, although it’s confirmed that Tatiana Maslany’s Jennifer Walters will be joined in the show by Marc Ruffalo as Professor Hulk and Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky/Abomination. Does the latter’s now-confirmed appearance in Shang-Chi (or at least a CG version of him) take on greater significance as a result? Or does simply plant a seed for his return in She-Hulk next year? Stay tuned.

Secret Invasion

With Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn returning as Nick Fury and Talos respectively after their stints in Captain Marvel, it’s obvious that Secret Invasion will feed directly off the Skrulls storyline that was started in that film. 

While the Skrulls we’ve met in the MCU so far are ostensibly “good guys,” there certainly seems to be room for Fury and Talos to have to defend the Earth from a rogue Skrull faction looking to infiltrate the highest levels of human society and government. “Secret Invasion” was a major Marvel Comics storyline, so it will be interesting to see whether Marvel Studios keeps it contained to this Disney+ series or expands upon it in the movies as well.

Armor Wars

As for the others, Armor Wars is the one we have the most info on, since Don Cheadle has been tapped to lead the show as War Machine. With the show reportedly revolving around the black market for Stark Tech — and Sharon Carter now apparently very much involved in that black market — some elements of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier may find their way into this narrative (same with Ironheart, since that show’s main character, Riri Williams, develops her own version of the Iron Man suit).

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Arriving on February 17, 2023 is a film that could — believe it or not — be the most important of Phase 4. We say “believe it or not” because until now, the first two Ant-Man movies stood largely on their own, with little direct relevance to the bigger MCU storylines. 

But with the Avengers traveling through time via the Quantum Realm in Endgame, with the multiverse becoming a major factor in Phase Four, and with the name of the damn movie actually being Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, we suspect that the true nature and potential of the Quantum Realm will finally be tapped.

But just as importantly, Quantumania will introduce a villain who is very likely to be the big, Thanos-sized baddie of Phases 4 and 5: Kang the Conqueror. With Jonathan Majors confirmed for the role, Kang’s MCU debut has widespread implications for the overall arc of the franchise. Putting in simple terms, he’s intent on conquering the universe and travels freely through time to achieve his goals. In the comics, he’s a descendant of Fantastic Four leader Reed Richards and also has a relationship with Ravonna Renslayer, who we just met on Loki.

While some of this may turn out to be nothing more than Easter eggs deliberately planted by Marvel to make fans nuts (which it does), the truth is that we may even be seeing the seeds of Kang’s agenda right now on Loki, and there’s a very good chance that he will be one of the main antagonists faced by a new iteration of the Avengers either late in Phase 4 or in Phase 5.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

The galactic end of the MCU will again take center stage in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, set for release on May 5, 2023. Writer/director James Gunn has hinted that this is the last film to feature the squad he first assembled in 2014, but other than that — and the long-awaited and heavily hinted debut of Adam Warlock — little is known about the plot except that it will follow the events of Thor: Love and Thunder, in which the Guardians also appear.

Fantastic Four, Blade, Captain America 4, and more!

That is all we have for the known, confirmed MCU Phase 4 movies. Fantastic Four, with Spider-Man director Jon Watts at the helm, is definitely in development, as is a reboot of Blade with Mahershala Ali as the title character. There are also three unfilled Marvel release dates in 2023 — July 28, October 6 and November 10 — so two of those could be filled by those two films, with a third to be determined (possibly Captain America 4? Or Deadpool 3?).

The Big Picture

The MCU is clearly moving along several narrative tracks: the Earthbound, geopolitical drama most clearly defined by movies and shows like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Hawkeye and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier; the bizarre multiverse madness of Doctor Strange, Loki and Spider-Man: No Way Home; and the galactic intrigue of Thor: Love and Thunder and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Lurking in the background of all this is the arrival of Kang; the impending MCU debut of the Fantastic Four — which may lead in turn to the appearance of such major Marvel figures as Doctor Doom, the Silver Surfer and Galactus — and eventually the presence of mutants and the X-Men, who themselves may arrive through the collision of multiple universes.

Whether Marvel Studios chief creative officer Kevin Feige and his team have all this mapped out, and all these narrative strands eventually coalesce, remains hidden from us at the moment. But make no mistake: Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is now underway, and barring unexpected changes, catastrophes or the worst kind of apocalypse of all — the box office kind — it’s going to get a lot bigger.

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Black Widow is out in theaters and available via premium access on Disney+ now.

The post Marvel Phase 4: Where Does the MCU Go After Black Widow? appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[writingonjorvik]

Jorvegian Myths: Aideen As The World Tree

Haven’t done one of these in forever. Anyway, this is less of a founded canon myth and more of the mythology I used to develop my concepts for the second chapter pitches I’ve been doing. It is based on canon, but it is fully a headcanon.

Ok, so to go over the concept from my posts, the pitch was that after Aideen came to Jorvik, her material form could no longer be manifested, which led to the connections with Aideen/Soul Riders (using this as a term for anyone with a connection with Aideen, not just the main four). Aideen herself became part of everything, like the recent lore in Soul Riding and memory quests talks about, and anyone who reaches out to build that connection with her can become a Soul Rider. Further, the suggestion went on that Garnok is not the only BBEG, but rather that he’s one of a species of parasites feeding off of Aideen, as to provide future enemies in series that are also ambiguous evil so SSO can make interesting sub villains while keeping a serious threat.

The summary out of the way this myth assumes that Aideen is the World Tree. She is the literal connection between the planes, being in all things, much like the World Tree holds the realms together. Jorvik’s convergence status with Pandoria and its relative invisibility with the outside world also fit within this, making Jorvik a bit of reference to Alfheim and Midgard. Alfheim is also considered a magical land set between two rivers. Jorvik has a bit more of an ocean divide than rivers, but it is still off set from the rest of the world by a body of water and has a land considered more colorful than others.

The other reason I propose Aideen as the World Tree is because trees are her second most common symbol and the only guardians she left behind outside of horses like the Soul Steeds. While the Primeval Trees have mostly gone to sleep, they also have a World Tree vibe. We know that the Weeping Willow’s roots reach into Pandoria, since that’s how she could find Lisa. It’s not hard to believe that Aideen would leave behind trees as well as horses as guardians because of their likeness to her powers. This is also why I think the Singing Yew should be able to help Justin become a Soul Rider instead of a servant of the trees. It’s less terms to follow and it reminds the player who these trees serve: Aideen.

So Aideen is the bridge between worlds and has roots in all places as the World Tree. What about Garnok? Well Garnok and his species would be a segmented version of Jormungandr, the World Serpent who ate at the roots of the World Tree. Now, Jormungandr is a snake, not a squid monster, but that gets difficult. See, leviathan mythos is tricky because big things moving under the water, even squids, look more like snakes. We know that the Leviathan out of Christian/Jewish mythos likely has ties to giant squids, as depictions of the leviathan can both be of a great snake or of something like a Kraken. We also know very little about giant squid at the moment because of how deep they live in the ocean, but myths about them are spread all over the world. It’s highly possible that an Atlantic based giant squid was once a living species, inspiring myths like the Kraken, Leviathan, and Jormungandr, meaning something like Garnok having a role like Jormungandr is still mythologically sound.

But the balance between the World Serpent and the World Tree is that Jormungandr is poisoning the World Tree, trying to weaken it to bring about Ragnarok. While I think SSO could spare on the apocalypse, a species of leviathan type creatures like Garnok consuming the light of Aideen to bring about darkness is a simpler good v. evil story to frame more interesting character dynamics around.

And that’s everything I had on that hypothesis.

[casually-inlove]

Good evening ~ Have you seen the latest trailer of Psycho-Pass season 3? If yes, may I ask what your thoughts on the trailer are? Also, who was your favorite character in season 1? (I’m guessing Shogo? :) )

Oh hallo thar! Why, yes, I certainly have. Admittedly, it left me quite unimpressed so I’m not expecting anything big from the 3rd season. If anything, it might flop as bad as the 2nd season did. It appears they are not bringing the old faces as main charas, and while it’s confirmed Akane and Kougami are returning, they have been listed as supporting characters, meaning it could be a short cameo. Since Urobutcher isn’t at the helm of the project, the writing quality is likely to be wanting. The trailer itself gave me some Ghost in the Shell vibes, esp. the beginning. From the looks of it, they aren’t going to pull a big villain here (afterall, no one can best Makishima at that department). Instead, a shady organization might be the primary antagonist.

I’ve noticed a few fun things though. If I’m not mistaken, someone in the opening mentions “Bifrost”, apparently (?) referring to that glowing golden orb – a hub of sorts? Bifrost is a notion from Norse mythology, a literal bridge that connects the realm of men with the realm of gods. And considering that the people in the opening are seen “joining” something, some network connection perhaps, it brings up a question who “the gods” are here? Could it be that Sybil is “gods”, and this “Bifrost” is a technology that somehow allows tapping into Sybil System? 

Peculiarly enough, around 1:22 - 1:23 you can see a hellish wolf-like (or dog-like) figure appearing in the trailer. A monstrous wolf, Fenrir, is yet another prominent figure in Norse mythology. According to the myth, Fenrir eats the Moon and brings about the beginning of the Ragnarok (the apocalypse). Could it be hinting that the Sybil System will be brought down, plummeting Japan into chaos?

Anyway, those are just wild ideas. Still, I’m pretty sure they are deriving some elements from Scandinavian folklore. Considering S3 is just 8 episodes long, there isn’t enough time to pack lots of action here.

Aaaand, bingo! Shogo IS my favourite character. Sadly the dub doesn’t convey his charisma one bit, so only the Japanese version for me. I have never been keen on the characters that quote philosophers and literature non-stop, but Shogo won me over. He is a truly scary villain to my mind. What’s scary is that he is absolutely right about Sybil, he wants to destroy it just as passionately as viewers do, and with that, it’s easy to forget that in reality, he’s a brutal murderer. Once you find yourself agreeing with him, you know he’s won. His murderous tendencies aside, Makishima is a fascinating character with a lot of poignant ideas. One of my favourite scenes is when he fights gang and tells them people have lost their ability to assess the danger in front of them – that line rings very true to life. Overall, Makishima’s machinations were what kept me watching the show. 

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: February 2019

Cold winter months means lots of snow days and lots of snow days means movies/tv/books to consume! 

……….FILM……….

On the Basis of Sex (2018) I’m always interested in how true-to-life a film like this is and after a little research, it’s fairly close! I appreciate its depiction of a healthy relationship and the courtroom stuff was TENSE! Oof being a lawyer is crazy tough. Anyway, it’s worth checking out and I left the theatre thoroughly inspired to topple the patriarchy.

Happy Death Day 2U (2019) The original was one of those clean, efficient movies that are so satisfying to see. The sequel goes in a bonkers direction (which I’m here for) but some of that simplicity is lost. I appreciate the intent to push to forward and hope that the inevitable third film doesn’t go completely off the rails.

Coco (2017) I can’t believe I slept on this! It felt like Pixar at its best with a tight-yet-emotional screenplay coupled with stellar animation. If you made the same mistake I did and haven’t checked this out, I implore you to go find it. So beautiful on so many levels.

……….TELEVISION……….

Russian Doll (Episode 1.01 to 1.08) Loved this whole season. Eight episodes felt just long enough to tell a complete story without any filler. Every single actor is fantastic and the whole thing has an Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland vibe. It’s also fulfilling in the same way in that the mystery of the time loops is less important than the journey and I love it even more for that perspective.

The Bachelor (Episode 23.05 to 23.08) I can’t believe how many women are just...leaving. Of their own free will! It feels like we’re watching a very slow (and very small) cultural shift via this series. Or maybe it’s just that Colton is a handsome dope. 

The Kitten Rescuers (Episode 1.01 to 1.03) Now this is the sort of content I need in 2019. It’s heartwarming, sincere, informative (I’m legit learning so much about cats), and just so good and pure. Between this and Great British Bake Off, I can only assume all UK programming is this good.

Umbrella Academy (Episode 1.01 to 1.03) There’s so much that I love about this show and yet it’s still not quite connecting. Maybe it’s the uncertain tone? Shifting from quirky family comedy to drama to action? I don’t think the written funny bits work as well as they think, and the drama/family stuff is connecting way more than I was expecting. So who knows.

The Good Place (Episode 3.10 to 3.12) Great to see Nicole Byer on the show. It’s still so impressive with how the series plays with television’s need to “reset” characters and limit how much growth they experience, while also building on that growth. It has time loops and demons and questions of morality and yet still so light and fun!

……….READING……….

Splinter of the Mind’s Eye by Alan Dean Foster (Complete) I dunno. Maybe Star Wars books aren’t for me or maybe this wasn’t a good first foray into the expanded universe. Luke and Leia seem to be more exaggerated versions of their A New Hope selves and Vader...trips and falls? There were a lot of cool ideas and maybe I just need to find a different story.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (Complete) First time reading it and it had a VERY different plot from what I imagined. There’s a murder mystery! Bonkers. Also the book is very good and timeless and you can take away a bunch of different interpretations. 

Planet Hulk by Greg Pak, Carlo Pagulayan, and J. Michael Straczynski (Complete) The slow start had me worried that I’d built it up to be more than I’d imagined, but I was wrong. Once it gets going, it REALLY digs in. There are animalistic robots, LOTS of of gladiatorial action (something I wanted more of from Thor: Ragnarok) and a solid story.

Sand Land by Akira Toriyama (Complete) Fun, but not as fun as some of Toriyama’s work. Nor are the characters as well-defined. The art, however, continues to be fantastic and I really think this book was conceived so he could draw a bunch of neatly stylized tanks. Worth checking out if you’re a completionist, but I think the original Dragon Ball comics (I can’t speak to Dragon Ball Z) are more charming/funny/and interesting.

……….AUDIO……….

Disneyland For Designers (Podcast) Maybe it’s because of my recent trip to Disney World but I’m really digging this! Only two episodes so far, so it’s not a big commitment, and I always appreciate podcasts that overlap interests (Disney + design, comedy + murder, D&D + the surreal, etc.)

……….GAMING……….

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Nintendo) Good casual fun and I’m really digging the single player stuff but ho boy is it humbling when you randomly come across a VERY difficult challenge (without any real heads up). Also I can’t justify paying for online yet so it’s just me, myself, and I for now.

Maze of the Blue Medusa (Satyr Press) The group from our homebrew adventure is starting this and it’s been a lot of fun so far! They’re currently exploring a labyrinth of gardens while searching for art to appease a demon with an eye for design.

Curse of Strahd (Wizards of the Coast) My family campaign and they’re still trapped in a haunted house! The party is currently exploring the tunnel system hidden underneath the home and are finding all sort of baddies. It’s been great!

And that’s it! As always, feel free to share any suggestions you may have and happy Thursday!

[ryanmeft]

Ranking the Marvel Cinematic Universe, part 3

Part 1: https://ryanmeft.tumblr.com/post/183962601514/ranking-the-marvel-cinematic-universe-part-1 Part 2: https://ryanmeft.tumblr.com/post/184208179827/ranking-the-marvel-cinematic-universe-part-2

10. Avengers: Age of Ultron

Yes, the third act goes on way too long, and is uninspired and even a bit dull. It deserves the criticism it gets. Thing is, that’s pretty much all this one deserves criticism for. Right up until that final showdown, everything in the movie clicked. It starts right off with the Avengers already a team, in a semi-cold open where every member just works. Throughout the movie, Joss Whedon proves he deserves his reputation for snappy dialogue, as nearly every exchange between every character zings. The additions of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver may not feel like the most vital parts of the formula, but they work every bit as well as they need to, and the defeated Avengers retreating to an off-the-grid hideout to hash out their issues is still among the franchises’ best sequences, more than worth the silly Ragnarok tie-in Whedon had to trade for it.

It also has a great, underrated villain. While it does seem that no one really planned in advance to have Ultron in the MCU, he works perfectly, backed up by the voice and personality of James Spader. He never comes across as a robot, but rather as artificial life, dropped into a supremely messed up world and taking---well, can we really say the wrong interpretation? Skewed, perhaps, but driven by the very true reality of mankind’s brutal nature. It seems obvious Whedon got tired by the end of the film, but everything prior to that is gold. Unless you’re one of those people who watches the original on repeat, it’s now hard to deny that the sequel tops it.

9. Iron Man 3

Fanboy cries of “they didn’t do the Mandarin right” have unfairly dogged this one since release. I don’t read the comics regularly anymore, and I find that after more than a decade outside of regular readership I have the glorious freedom of judging a movie apart from whether it matches the comics’ often-contradictory and confusing continuity. So, with that out of the way: Iron Man 3 is genuinely good. Recovering from the train wreck that was Iron Man 2 with new director Shane Black and co-writer Drew Pearce, this one decided to de-glamorize the hard-party aspect of the character and let his frat-boy nature lead him to near-ruin, getting his home destroyed and his suit crippled by a mad terrorist. That led to an excellent middle act in which Tony has to make a go of things without his vaunted suits to help him, against a mysterious villain. When the nature of that villain is revealed, it’s actually quite clever (while also being a way to avoid massively ticking off the all-important Asian box office). The new supporting cast, especially Ben Kingsley and Guy Pearce, add a lot, while returning favorites get actual development. The third act goes on a little too long, but the device of having Tony manipulate multiple suits of armor at once is a clever twist on the usual Marvel shtick of an army of bad guys vs. one hero. As Marvel’s first post-Avengers movie, this one needed to prove the MCU concept still had gas in it even though the big event it had been building to was come and gone. It succeeded.

8. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2

Which Guardians is better? They’re both some of the more pure fun movies in the MCU, kind of like Suicide Squad, but not shitty, and in space. Some people prefer the first one for sheer irreverence and comedic chemistry, while others appreciate the more personal story and stakes in the sequel. I had a raging debate with myself on this (there were injuries) but ultimately, more personal won out. The first movie has a bunch of misfits who get together to stop a generic cosmic evil baddie bad guy seemingly for no other reason than the heck of it. The second gives them actual reasons to be together, with a truly interesting threat to fight. Peter Quill’s dad Ego, played with just the right amount of swagger and just the right gleam in his eye by Kurt Russell, is the lightning this team needed to really live. There’s a lot of “Oh, come on, stop pretending he’s not the bad guy” in movies, but in this case you really don’t want him to be; he’s the kind of guy you’d like to have a beer with, and you get the sense he really cares for his son in his own twisted way. That’s villain gold.

The family themes don’t end there, with Gamora and Nebula working out their differences and Rocket learning to be (slightly less of) a little shit and appreciating his adoptive family more. And, of course, there’s Yondu’s emotional death. In fact, one of the more interesting takes I read casts the movie in the light of overcoming abusive relationships. That may seem a little grand for a superhero popcorn flick, but tilt your head a bit and you can see it. The greater amount of heart on display in this entry makes up for some occasionally ramshackle plotting, and provides a worthy sequel.

7. Black Panther

One of the few superhero movies that genuinely created a believable world, the land of Wakanda comes to vivid and incredible life, a more visually varied, colorful and detailed setting than anything in the MCU or even the Marvel catalogue; there’s nothing else like it in the genre. Ritual battles for the throne are fought amid towering waterfalls, while light speed trains blast by beneath the rural African facade. The action in this amazing setting is driven by two great characters. Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa is a doubtful king, unsure of his country’s place in the world or even his own necessity to his country. Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger is a radical with a reason; his motivations feel genuine and his rage earned.

Ultimately, the supporting cast decided this one’s ranking. Other than fan favorite Shuri, the secondary players in this one are…well, dull. Lupita Nyong’o, Angela Bassett and Danai Gurira are given minimal-if-any character development, and it’s impossible to ignore the fact that in the age of MeToo, all of the women here are subservient to a man. The third act devolves into an obligatory battle scene, when it could have been so much more given what it had to work with. By any measure, it’s an excellent tights flick, but we’re going to have to wait for the sequel to see what the setting is really capable of.

6. Captain America: The First Avenger

Just in case you were wondering if this list were biased, here’s my personal favorite MCU movie, down here at #6. One of the few films in the studio’s catalog that feels it was made entirely by humans with visions and not a marketing committee, Joe Johnston lends this one a feel that is a distinct mix of genuine World War II and the boys magazine vibe that originally birthed Cap. The result is a superhero film that stands as unique in the genre. Actual scenes of warfare are mostly avoided due to that PG-13 rating, but the costs of war are seen in relatively realistic depictions of refugee soldiers returning from a doomed mission, or the jaded responses of hardened troops to Cap’s USO-style shows. Light elements of camp come in with the deliciously over-the-top performance of Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull and that wonderfully hammy montage of Cap selling war bonds. The whole thing is tied together by Chris Evans playing the MCU’s most naturally likable protagonist, who gets a last line that, for my money, easily tops “I am Iron Man”.

5. Thor: Ragnarok

It may not be the weightiest film in the MCU, and the apocalyptic, full-stakes tone of the Asgardian story occasionally clashes strangely with the full-comedic tone of the Planet Hulk-inspired material, but Ragnarok was nonetheless the tonic we all needed in a world where blockbusters often don’t know how to relax. Sure, there’s plenty of humor in other MCU films, but it can occasionally feel as though a committee of people is sitting around with a page of one-liners and a stamp. Taika Waititi’s material does not feel like that. From the banter between Loki and everyone else to the fact that Hemsworth is finally allowed to tap into his comedic abilities, it feels like kids having fun, which we need more of. Cate Blanchett completely devours her role as Hela, while Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster is a preening drunk who gets some of the best lines. It pretty much erases the previous Thor continuity---including the only clever bit of plotting from Dark World---but what we lose is more than made up for by the fun we gain in the process. Oh, and visually, it may be the only MCU film other than Doctor Strange which fully taps into that wonderfully bizarre 60’s Marvel vibe.

4. Spider-Man: Homecoming

Spider-Man’s long-awaited starring debut in the MCU may not have been quite as earth-shattering as some hoped, but then, it wasn’t supposed to be. Of all the heroes in Marvel’s vast catalog, Spidey is the most like us. He has girl troubles, he can’t pay the rent, his boss is a jerk, and there’s always someone in the bathroom when he really needs to go (probably). Many of the hallmarks of the classic character didn’t make the transition, but the spirit is alive. Peter comes across as a hyperactive, overconfident millennial, which is what he’d be these days, and his classmates are updated from a rotating roster of stock characters straight out of 1950’s pamphlets on The Modern Teenager to a varied group of personalities that connect with today’s kids. Most crucial of all, though, is the Vulture, widely regarded at the time as the best MCU villain to date (and still this writer’s favorite). He doesn’t want to rule the world, he just wants to make a living, and that makes him the perfect opponent for Peter. Michael Keaton was the ideal choice for his casting. This is a case where a pretty darn good movie is bumped several slots simply because of how great the villain is. Sure, Downey seems to be phoning in his support role at times, and some great comedic actors are relegated to tiny roles, but these are flyspecks on the movie that redeemed the Spider-Man name after a decade of cinematic missteps. 

3. Iron Man

The original and…still the best? Not quite, but it’s up there. At the time Iron Man released, it seemed flawless in part because of the odds against it. It’s hard to imagine a time now when Shellhead wasn’t a household name, but when Marvel decided to launch their new line of films with him, he was second-tier at best. The success of the movie and, crucially, Robert Downey Jr.’s casting elevated him to essential. The impact was so great that if you go and read a modern Marvel comic, you’ll find them pretending he was always front and center. It all started here, and it started because the movie was so good. It not only rehabilitated Downey’s image, it cast the great Jeff Bridges as a villain who seems to plausibly believe his version of events, and a pre-Goop Gwyneth Paltrow as an effective romantic foil for Tony. The humor, the action, the pathos all clicked. Looking back now, the decision to have Stane go completely evil by the end of the film cheapens it a bit, especially compared to truly complex villains like The Vulture and Loki, and the character himself has evolved beyond these beginnings---despite his moral conflicts, he still revels in being an irresponsible playboy here. These are incredibly minor quibbles, but ten years later, they stand out just enough to cost it a couple rungs on the ladder.

2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The popular favorite for the best MCU movie slides in at #2, and before you hit me, it’s all because of Marvel’s need to insert cookie cutter, blockbuster endings in their movies, regardless of what kind of movie it is. They’ve gotten better as time goes on, but the giant ships over the city, flaming and falling from the sky while superpeople jump on, in, over and around them was incongruous with the slower, more measured spy stuff of the rest of the movie, and felt obligatory, causing this to lose the top spot. Still, it had to have ranked second for a reason. The plot up until the third act may be the tightest and most tense of any MCU film, with genuine mysteries unfolding and an unexpected payoff when we get to the what’s-really-going-on-here moment. New additions Anthony Mackie and Robert Redford fit well, while Black Widow is such a perfect compliment to Cap that it’s a crime they didn’t team up more often without all those other hangers-on (and there’s an unexplored romantic chemistry that seems much more apt than that between Cap and Sharon Carter). The first two acts of this one define what the MCU is capable of.

1. Captain America: Civil War

Civil War plays like one of those old Marvel Annuals, with the double-sized page count and the promises of things you wouldn’t normally see. Unlike those annuals, the movie isn’t padded out with recycled material, either. It gives audiences exactly what they’re expecting: the answer to what would happen if the good guys turned on each other.

That answer, of course, is: one hell of a fight. The airport battle in particular shows off the powers of every available hero, including the newly introduced Black Panther and Spider-Man, and the Russos (with their small army of effects people) come up with every trick and use of the hero’s powers they can for this lengthy sequence. In many ways, it’s the best of the Avengers movies.

Yet despite some wags who say it isn’t really a Captain America movie, it is. The story heavily involves both him and Winter Soldier, and Rogers ends up being the one whose decisions shape the outcome. The stakes may involve everyone at first, but they eventually come down to a very personal battle between Iron Man and Cap, after a highly clever fake-out by Daniel Bruhl’s Zemo. The ads may have promised fireworks, but just like the other Cap movies, it’s the personal stuff that makes this one work so well.

[thoughts-of-loyalty]

Captain Marvel (2019) Review

So, I saw the Captain Marvel movie recently (on 3/9, as this’ll likely end up posted a bit late) and as the big movie that’s set to bridge the gap between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, as well as the big-screen debut of Captain Marvel (not to mention the first Marvel female hero to get the limelight), there was a lot of excitement and hype built around this film.  Starring the titular Captain Marvel, real name Carol Danvers, and set in the 90s - before any film sans Captain America 1 - we’re given a look into the origins of the “Strongest Avenger,” the one Nick Fury sought to call upon at the end of Infinity War to fight against Thanos.

Full movie spoilers and my opinions below.

Synopsis: This film focuses on the origin story, so to say, of the future Carol Danvers/”Vers” (as she’s known among the Kree), in the adventure that sets her on the path to become the superheroine known as Captain Marvel.  Believing herself to be a part of the Kree due to memory loss, she is part of a group tasked with investigating the reported abduction of a Kree agent who was captured by the Skrulls (an alien species capable of mimicking the appearance of any human they view, one which is supplemented by their poorly-elaborated-upon talents at learning a lot about their targets).  Due to events beyond her control, she is separated from her Kree allies and ends up stranded on Earth.  Discovering details about her past life while there, she teams up with a young Nick Fury to discover the truth about her past and how intimately tied she is to the current Skrull-Kree conflict...

The Good:

The Visuals: To be sure, Captain Marvel - like all other big budget Marvel films - is a visual spectacle.  The CGI is very on-point for this film, the fight scenes are generally well handled, and it generally managed to capture the 90s look and vibes that the film is set in fairly well.  The Skrull are also made to look great for their big screen debut, with amazing work put into the transformation scenes, and Captain Marvel’s abilities are a visual delight.

Not Bogged Down by Continuity: One good thing about Captain Marvel in the relative sense is that it doesn’t bog itself down much with a desire to connect itself to the other films.  While some things will certainly make more sense in context of other movies (such as the importance of the power source everyone is fighting over and who exactly Phil Coulson is in relation to Nick Fury), the movie is self-contained enough that one can enjoy it without feeling they need to see everything Marvel-related prior to keep themselves informed.  This is in contrast to, say, Ant-Man 2 or Spider-Man, which require one to have seen Captain America: Civil War to understand all the ongoing character dynamics.

A Straightforward Story: Tying in to the above, but Captain Marvel never loses itself in trying to tell an overly-complex narrative with a million different plot-lines at once.  While there is certainly a twist or two to be had, the movie kept itself focused on the important characters and most of it’s attention was on Captain Marvel and her personal journey.  It told the story it wanted to tell and never did it veer into pointless sub-plots or give focus to truly meaningless characters.

A Lack of a Love Story: In what is something of personal gripe, I appreciate the complete lack of a romance story in this film.  A common criticism that has been directed at many other Marvel films was the inclusion of romance between the male lead and a major female character (usually inspired by one of the comic romances), usually to the detriment of the film as the romances were rather out of nowhere and had little purpose beyond just having one.  This film didn’t have any of that, and while one could make arguments or ship as shippers are wont to do, there was never a “These two are suddenly in love and kissing because there needs to be a romance” moment and I am glad.

The Cast is Well-Acted: A bit of a weird one, I suppose, but most of Captain Marvel’s cast is just as enjoyable to watch as any other Marvel movie’s cast.  I never felt a single cast member wasn’t giving the role their best, and while the dialogue could be cringe-worthy at times, it was only ever due to the script, not the actor/tress in the role.

A Good Message: It was made no secret that Captain Marvel would be a primarily feminist film and have messages about gender equality and women not needing the approval of men to be who they are.  And the film delivered it with only a minor heavy-handed approach.  The female characters were all competent and never eye-candy, but at the same time the movie never used the “machismo men who talk big but are actually pretty lame” trope other less-subtle movies used, all the characters were as competent as they were implied to be.  It was occasionally blunt during some portions of dialogue, but it never felt forced and it carried its message well.

The Bad

A Tonal Disaster: The movie was unfortunately bogged down by an overindulgence, so to say, on comedy.  Now, this in and of itself is not an issue, as Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor: Ragnarok can prove - a movie can be primarily comedic in nature but still have great stories and be serious when they need to (though one could argue both had tonal issues, I wouldn’t deny that).  That said, where this movie most falters is in how it tries to be primarily comedic at times where characters necessarily shouldn’t - for example, there’s a earlier on moment where Carol blasts open a door some time after Nick Fury had done secret spy stuff to open a prior one, making him incredulously ask why she hadn’t done so before and her responding she didn’t want to steal his thunder.  This is at a time when Carol knows there’s a time limit of sorts (the Kree are due to arrive in less than 20 hours to rescue her) and Carol is learning about events that may intimately involve her and her lost memory, but they let the cast wait around so they can have this joke.  This is around the point I started to worry for the movie, as well, because I could tell the movie would be willing to let it’s mood go to waste for a quick joke.

A return to basic villains: One common issue held with many of the earlier Marvel films was the very weak villains in their movies.  They could look cool or be menacing, but Loki was pretty was really the only one who was complex for the longest time.  It took until arguably either The Winter Soldier or Age of Ultron to buck this trend and give us memorable or complex villains.  This continued for most of Phase 3, with their villains being complex, sympathetic at times, or otherwise memorable presences.  Spoilers: the Skrulls were build up as that, but plot twist, the Skrulls aren’t the villains, the Kree are.  And the Kree do nothing to establish themselves as memorable villains - you could arguably have even forgotten two of them were main antagonists in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie.  The only relatively memorable one is Yon-Rogg, Carol’s mentor, and the two spend so little time properly interacting after he’s revealed as a villain that any complexity he could have is never properly utilized.  For that matter...

The Supreme Intelligence is kinda pointless: Tying into how the Kree are an unfortunate return to basic villains, the Supreme Intelligence - the Artificial Intelligence ruler of the Kree - is an exemplar of this aspect of the Kree in this movie.  The Supreme Intelligence is something of a recurring presence in this movie (though I use that term lightly, given that it only appears before Carol for a grand total of five minutes if I’m being generous), and as the guiding force behind the Kree, it is technically the main antagonist of the film (Yon-Rogg is the most present of the Kree antagonists, but his actions are ultimately guided by the Supreme Intelligence).  As noted above, though, Carol and the Supreme Intelligence only spend about five minutes together, and only half of THAT time is spent as them on opposing sides, where it is little more than a generic overlord-emperor type, giving us a nothing driving force for the antagonists as a whole. Which is unfortunate, because...

The Kree are very underdeveloped in general: This is an issue because for a chunk of her life, after receiving amnesia, Carol considers the Kree her people and becomes part of a Kree task force.  While somewhat understandable that she’d be willing to stand against them as they’re responsible for her predicament in various capacities, the movie spends so little time developing the relationship between them and the other Kree.  Neither she nor the named Kree she battles seem to hold any strong emotion about coming to blows, to the point that they could have been replaced with a random Kree task force she never knew and nothing would have changed.  This goes double for both Korath and Ronan, who were incredibly flat villains in Guardians of the Galaxy - any hopes one might have had that they’d receive stronger characterization was misplaced, as they’re just as one-dimensional as before.

“Subverting Audience Expectations” ruins the Skrull: Many have (supposedly?) praised the Skrull for their role in the movie as a red herring antagonist who are actually sympathetic, with many bringing back the old praise of “This movie is great because it subverts audience expectations” that popped up during Star Wars: The Last Jedi.  I have a much longer rant about that, but that isn’t the issue I mean to address here.  And before anyone gets on my case, I have no desire to argue “the Skrull are ruined because they don’t follow their comic book selves;” the MCU is perfectly allowed to reimagine the Skrull as they desire, and if they wish to make the Skrull sympathetic, then that is their prerogative. In this case, the issue is that they’re so intent on making the Skrull red herrings that the Skrulls pre-reveal and post-reveal are essentially entirely different beings.  Before the reveal, Skrulls are making an proactive effort to discover what they need, capturing a Kree agent and luring Carol in with deception to read her mind and learn where to go, and when they get to Earth, they immediately install themselves so that they can best discover what they need to know - which isn’t necessarily bad, because that can still be played as sympathetic but willing to do whatever is necessary to get what they need to survive.  But post-reveal, the Skrull we knew as antagonists are almost entirely different beings - Talos and his “Science Guy” are almost comic relief after the truth is revealed, albeit with a few moments of competence (for a prime example of their newfound incompetence, it’s revealed the Skrull couldn’t find Wendy Lawson’s lab because their “science guy” didn’t realize the coordinates they were trying to figure out were directing them to space).  Talos in particular goes from “Leader of the Skrull remnant doing whatever is necessary to save his species and his family” to “Leader of the Skrulls who wants to save his people but never wanted to hurt anyone while doing it.”  Sure, Marvel subverted our expectations, but when your red herring is essentially two different characters before and after the reveal, it’s no wonder audiences ended up surprised.

Nick Fury backstory is now a joke: Now, this in and of itself isn’t an issue - there’s no rule stating Samuel L. Jackson NEEDS to be badass in every movie, or we can’t have a “Younger Nick Fury who is comedic due to being new to it all.”  Like I noted above, Nick Fury is generally competent - as are most characters in this film, even the Skrull post-reveal - and does well enough in his role in the film.  But there’s an elephant in the room: how Nick Fury lost his eye.  Namely, he lost his eye to Goose the Cat/Flerken after the cat decided is was being messed with and scratched his eye.  Yes, you read that right.  Nick Fury’s lost eye was due to him essentially getting scratched by an alien in cat form he pissed off.  And no, it wasn’t “rampaging alien form that hit him with a massive claw,” no, it’s “small house cat claw to the eye.” Now, if it isn’t clear why exactly it’s bad, let me explain it in a bit better detail.  This isn’t just an issue of “We wanted to subvert audience expectations, so Nick Fury lost his eye in a funny way because no one saw it coming” - though it still is that, too.  Rather, the issue here is that what happened here is now canon, and is retroactively canon for the whole of the MCU up to that point.  Nick Fury justifying why he hid secrets to Captain Freakin’ America as because “Last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye.” - that’s the story he tells everyone because he’s too embarrassed to admit the truth.  That big reveal at the end of the Winter Soldier, where he reveals he had a backup retinal scan of his scarred eye because he was just that prepared in case someone tried to lock him out of the S.H.I.E.L.D. systems by removing the retinal scan of his good eye?  Thank goodness he had that eye scarred by a cat, otherwise, there’s no way that plan would’ve had a chance of working later on.  Him calling Coulson, his most loyal supporter, “His good eye?”  Thank goodness a cat clawed out his eye so he could make it clear how much Coulson meant to him with that distinction. That’s the big gamble you take when you retroactively introduce a character’s backstory in a prequel - everything that happened there is now canon to everything since.  And now Nick Fury’s backstory in the MCU will forever be “He lost it to an annoyed cat,” because Captain Marvel decided that it was better to make a joke of it.

And now, for a minor gripe: This is a bit of a lesser example, but y’all recall what S.H.I.E.L.D. stands for?  Don’t recall off the top of your head?  You could rewatch Iron Man, because it tells you in recurring joke form - Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division.  Someone really should shorten that, right?  Something the characters note anytime the full name is brought up.  And at the end of the movie, Coulson tells Pepper - who is going to recite it by name - that it’s S.H.I.E.L.D. for short now. If only Coulson was around back in the 1990s, where Nick Fury makes reference to how he’s “Nick Fury, S.H.I.E.L.D.” and namedrops S.H.I.E.L.D. a few times. *ahem* Yeah, it’s a minor continuity error in the grand scheme of things, but it was something I figured should be mentioned because that was something that I noticed and wanted to bring up.

Final Verdict

Captain Marvel is a... competently-made movie.  And I’m really sorry to say it, but that’s the most I can say about it.  It’s well-made, well-acted, tells a simple enough story to understand that isn’t bogged down by continuity, and it has good messages in it’s narrative.  But it loses so much of itself due to having an inconsistent tone throughout, and it’s plot goes from decent to bog-standard around the time it decides to “Subvert audience expectations” and give us some of the most boring villains this side of the Phase 3 MCU films.

Would I recommend others to watch it?  Somewhat.  It’s not exactly incredibly essential viewing for the MCU and I don’t think it’s really all that good, but it’s not a terrible movie, I can understand why one would like it despite all it’s flaws (people can learn to overlook nearly everything), and it does add to the MCU enough that it is worth seeing if you want to see all the Marvel films.  But if you want a good female superhero film with a feminist message, you’re better off watching Wonder Woman.

And now, to address the elephant in the room pretty much every male who didn’t enjoy the film needs to deal with:”You didn’t like Captain Marvel because the main character was a woman and it had a pro-women message and you must hate feminism.”  It’s a comment that tends to get directed at males who don’t enjoy films with female protagonists, regardless of quality of the film (see: Ghostbusters) or reasons for disliking the film (albeit not without reason, to some degree - after all, those biased against something would be much harder on it than something they aren’t even if their flaws are much the same).  Not helping matters were that trolls DID review-bomb its Rotten Tomatoes score before it even had a full day under it’s belt - which the movie didn’t deserve, it should be judged on it’s own merits, not targeted by insecure men angry about there being a Marvel movie starring a female hero.

And I don’t expect to convince anyone who isn’t willing to believe me otherwise.  I can point to all the video games (Metroid, Portal, Resident Evil, etc) I love that star female protagonists, or that I considered the Wonder Woman film to be excellent, and it won’t convince anyone.  If you think I’m sexist garbage because I’m a male who didn’t like the film, my reasonings above or thoughts below won’t probably won’t convince you.

Here’s my views on this, however: Marvel had taken much too long to give us a movie primarily starring a female hero.  Marvel has many great female heroes, Captain Marvel included, and any one of them would have been as worthy of a film as a male counterpart.  The MCU dropped the ball repeatedly when it came to giving their female heroes films - Black Widow would’ve been great for a film but never got made and the omnipresence of Scarlet Johansson has made many people not care; Scarlet Witch got primarily confined to Avengers-focused films; The Wasp is very enjoyable but still has to share screentime and billing with Ant-Man; Gamora was probably the best and still those films still spent more time with Star-Lord, not to mention she was killed of in Infinity War without certainty of her return, leaving that “Third Guardians movie focused on her” up in the air.

We finally have a Marvel film that’s starring a female, and it’s primary message is about how feminism is important - and it’s good we’ve finally got one, but it took us until Phase 3 to finally get it and the film was marred by so many other issues I would struggle to call it good even with its positive qualities.  And that’s not the quality it deserved - not as a Marvel film, as a Captain Marvel film, or as a feminist film.  And anyone who would say “Who cares if it was not all that good, we’ve finally gotten a feminist superhero film from Marvel”?  You’re settling, and you shouldn’t.  What we deserved isn’t what we got, and by defending it, you’re essentially saying that Marvel can get away with low-quality movies so long as they can say “Sure, but fans were asking for this and we gave them what they wanted.”

You want a film with a female superhero protagonist that has a feminist message that is, above all else, good?  You should watch Wonder Woman.  And I know how there’s all the issues with the DCEU as a whole, or the rivalry between Marvel and DC fans and the former who wanted this movie to be good so they could be proud Marvel made a feminist hero film that was better than DC’s.  And kudos to you who support brand loyalty.  But DC did what Marvel didn’t for the longest time, and for all of the DCEU’s issues, Wonder Woman had very few issues on its own, and the issues that were present were very minor compared to everything it had going for it.  Wonder Woman was what Captain Marvel wanted to be, and what it ultimately failed to be.

[trisscar368]

13x20 Watch Notes

Two very important disclaimers.  1, I am not awake (I have tea, we’ll see how that improves), 2) this is a second watch through.  My first was basically screaming the entire way.

Also I really hate that doing these takes eight hours >.>

I can’t even make it out of the Then without stopping to laugh, because it’s Casa Erotica 13 and we’re back here again in s13 where Gabriel is the only hope they have of stopping the Archangel Big Bad

And also we’re getting more textual links to Sam’s torture.  My inner Sam!girl should stop screaming sometime next century.

—

Wolf Liquor This way, and the Wolf comes around the corner with Alcohol lol

I love the Kazo/Horn reference so much.  It lets us keep the s9 Horn of Gabriel sigil, it gives Gabriel back a critical piece of his mythology, and it also lets him be a dramatic little shit :D

—

Gabe calls him Odinsbane, and I’m just going to sidebar for mythology for a second: Fenrir the Wolf is destined to kill Odin in Ragnarok.

The muddle with the mythology a bit (they have to), but Narfi is *also* connected to Ragnarok.  Narfi is, depending on the translation, the son whose entrails are used to bind Loki to the stone while poison drips on his face.  That binding happens after Baldr’s death, because Baldr dying is basically the tipping point to Ragnarok; his death is the point of no return, and it’s Loki’s fault he dies.  They used this back in 5x19, actually — Baldr dies at the Elysium right before the Apocalypse Final Run starts — and it’s just interesting that they’re bringing back two more elements/omens of the End of the World (Sleipnir could count as no. 3, he’s Odin’s warhorse, but it’s less explicit), only for Gabriel to knock them off the table.

*goes back to fight scene*

I love my smol drama child so much.  This whole fight is layered with maintaining an illusion.  “I’m going to do this honorably.”  It’s good fight tactics, but it’s also just *Gabe*; he has to hide how much he’s hurting at all times.

——

Hi Cas!

The whole conversation with Sam here — “don’t unpack, don’t get comfortable, we have a job” — has a very s1 “where’s John” vibe, in which Dean is still very much s1 Sam.  I’m relying on your imaginations here, but insert all those gifsets with Sam/Jess and Dean/Cas from the beginning of the season here.

——

Alas AU!Balthazar, we never knew ye.  As a commentary on where Jack is power-wise though, Balthazar was a brilliant tactician and a resourceful fighter.  I know fandom tends to focus on the menage-a-douze aspect of his character, but he was Cas’ second-in-command during the Civil War.  This isn’t a small kill for Jack, Baby Bird is getting dangerous.

I love that Mary is the one who’s thinking of the practical aspect of things; of life *after* the hunt is over.  You aren’t saving anyone if they’re just going to starve to death in a few days.

“They angels, they’re leaving.”  Insert 5x04 feels here…

—���

“It tasted like haggis”.  I am both incredibly amused by the concept of flavored magic, and also my brain is in the gutter thinking of how Dean shuddered when talking about Gabe’s “essence.”

This whole… Gabriel is putting on an act, and someone with more spoons than I needs to sit down and draw up a comparison to performing!Dean and performing!Gabriel and how the cracks are forming in both.  Especially because… Gabriel is cracking very easily right now to what lies beneath, and he’s only doing it because of how badly hurt he is.  Dean’s cracking left and right this season, and some of it is absolutely because he’s gotten more comfortable with himself, and some of it is… Dean’s not doing good, folks.

——

There’s no way this was the vfx team, but I can see a wolf in the steam behind Sleipnir and Narfi

And Sleipnir with horse snacks will never not be funny.

——

Hallelujah, we finally have a timeline for the Apocalypse World.  8 years of fighting Michael (Michael, not Lucifer, so the Archangel Brawl was over at that point); it’s currently June-ish 2018 in our universe, so the timeline is almost identical.  That makes Charlie using the Charlie pseud more likely.  To make things more depressing, though, that means that Kevin was probably 15 when the world started ending.  He was a kid.

“I’ll keep you safe”.  Promises are dangerous things, Jack…

——

Waking up panicked and disoriented.  I don’t have feels about torture…

I do have feels about Dean saying “we need your help” though.  I just watched 13x01, and hnnn.  This is big, this is important, and the cosmic being once again has more… important… things to do…

Ah my poor traumatized angel :D :D :D whump

Those are new handcuffs.  Someone made new enochian handcuffs.  The ones they had in 13x13 were silver and these are black.  I really need to know how this happened, did they order them online or did one of the Winchesters go to a sex toy store.  Can fedex even find the Bunker?

——

“I really hate this place.”  You were tortured here Mary, I don’t blame you

—

Okay the map is really interesting.  1) there’s a wall on the mexican border, the Trump shade continues.  2) this isn’t our world.  Florida isn’t really there, and while that might be a case of “angels use a different projection style when mapping Earth, it doesn’t explain what happened to the East Coast.  Anything past New York — Main, Vermont, New Hampshire — is gone.  It’s not just that they’re not marked because they belong to another country, because Mexico is there, these geographical locations literally do not exist.  Either Michael destroyed them (terrifying) or they never existed, and I’m leaning with the latter.  3) all the spikes are growing around Kansas.  Until someone proves different I’m going with “this is the Bunker when Grumpy.”

4) these are… toy soldiers.  We last saw someone using these to plan out battles in moondoor, but they’re not set up…  Look at the body language.  If you’re using your pieces just to show troops, you don’t really care about which way they’re facing.  If you’re using them to show troop movements, this isn’t how you’d show a retreat.  They’re set up like there’s a threat right around Houston, and the rest of the country stopped mattering.

That really has nothing to do with anything else that’s happening storywise, except for the fact that they end up pointing to where Kevin is standing at the end.

—

The amount of feels I have over Kevin…  but he fits the story/retelling pattern too.  “I serve God” becomes “I didn’t have a choice.”

Oh and also 4x01 Dean vibes.  “God chose me”, “I didn’t believe in anything,” “what does that even mean?”  Kevin was faced with an… impossible choice.  It’s not a choice, there’s no saying no.  Consent is just a word to heaven (seriously, like… everyone but Cas has this problem), and that’s holding true over here too.

——

Telling/retelling again with Gabriel and the porn stars.  I am also just *ded* over the fact that 1) Rich put male pornstars in the mix (there are 5 extra men in the room, *5*, and yes only one is shirtless but come on), and 2) Dean is spacing out to thinking about pornstars, but the camerawork is focusing on Gabriel being undressed, not the nude woman that is right there.

What even is s13, all I have to do for bi!Dean meta is point at the screen and screech “LOOK!!!!”

I’m also just going to sit and glare at the screen, because Ramiel specifically said that the Princes all stopped caring about Hell and the Apocalypse; but Asmodeus had and kept Gabriel from before Stull Cemetery up until the present day.  I mean, you could interpret the events in 12x12 as Ramiel making a contract with Crowley on behalf of all the Princes, and Asmodeus *couldn’t* try to take Hell as long as Crowley was alive, but no matter what… coming back onto the stage was never about ruling hell, it was about acquiring the power and position to take revenge.  Which means Asmodeus was draining Gabriel for years just for the fun of it.  Demon, I know, but mrrgh.  There’s a difference in torturing to break someone and torturing just because… Sidelining the Gabriel + responsibility conversation till later.

And Dean’s face… nobody usually tells Sam he’s just a pretty face.  Dean is the one who gets compliments (or attacks) on his looks, Sam’s the acknowledged brains.  *hands blankets out to the Sabriel fandom who is probably hyperventilating still*

——

*squints at map more for no reason*  The northwest is just named “the void”, and I’m… really really curious as to what the two epicenters are.  One’s in Green Bay, the other’s in Los Angeles.  Also “restricted zones” gives me more 5x04 feels.

“I’m asking for a day, please.”  For some reason this is giving me 2x10 feels.

——

“Hiking in the fjords”.  I am trash, all I can think about is the dead parrot sketch.  “He’s not dead, he’s pining for the fjords”

On a serious note — Gabriel made a deal (with a trickster, not a demon, but still) to fix his problem.  Demon deals are always self-motivated.  I can’t live without my wife, I want to be famous, I want to be the best guitar player, I want to not go to prison, I want the abuse to stop, I want my brother to be alive again, I want my son to wake up.  They’re selfish and born out of the emotions of the moment.  Sometimes they’re the only way to fix a bad situation, but they’re never without consequences.

Gabriel made his deal, he got what he wanted, and then when the terms of the contract… expired (they didn’t really, but meh) he was dragged to hell by supernatural creatures (two of which are associated with wolf imagery.  HMMMM)

—

As for Dean telling Gabriel he should have stuck around, I’d like to remind everyone that s13 is all about dramatic irony.  If Gabriel had helped the Winchesters to kill Lucifer, Michael would have done exactly what AU Michael did.  Dean’s pissed that Sam had to go to Hell to make their plan work, but we’ve seen the alternative in all it’s grungy glory.  Dean doesn’t have the pieces to understand that yet.  All he can see is that Gabriel ran away and Sam paid for it.

And Dean also has… “higher” beings that have responsibilities keep running out on him.  John ran, Gabriel ran, it’s felt like Cas was running a few times (s6, purgatory), Chuck walked out, Amara’s gone too, and now Billie says he has a job to do.  The weight of the world has never not been on his shoulders, and he’s tired of people who could take some of the burden walking out.

—

Revenge *insert Smaug voice here*

There are so many levels of pain in this scene gah.  Because Sam’s never really gotten revenge… for anything.  Dean killed Azazel and took revenge for John’s death and Sam being put through the Hunger Games, which meant that Sam never got payback for Jess dying.  There’s no balance to the scales for Sam’s time in hell, or for the loss of autonomy in s9, the BMoL tortured him and he didn’t get to confront Toni, and they’re working with Ketch so there’s no vengeance for Eileen’s death.  Dean got to torture Alastair; he’s the only person in that room that’s gotten to confront his abuser in person and draw out a full portion of vengeance.  He’s the only one who’s gotten to prove that it doesn’t fix everything.  It doesn’t undo the deaths or the suffering.

—

how many hours have I been at this?

—

Gabriel’s murder list is the most adorable thing.  And I cannot believe I’m saying that, this is a blood soaked vengeance mission and people are dying and it’s adorable.

(Someone with more spoons can do the full Kill Bill comparison, because the music is there, the camerawork, Dean calls Gabe Uma, and the kill list is straight out of the movie.)

Oh and on the narratives thread, Gabriel again is setting up a story.  This is how his revenge will happen.  And it is kinda dumb when there’s four names you’re doing them all at the same time, but the story is important to him.  You have to get the words right.

——

Jack, listen to your grandmother.

Also, while Mary’s story is… all about losing her boys (*cries*), I’m just going to be very annoyed if Jack forgot to mention that CAS IS ALIVE.

—

Keviiiiiin

He got shafted in every universe.

I was talking about this with Mittens last night, and there’s an element of 5x18 Adam in this (if you say yes, you can go back to heaven with your mother), and on Mary’s side (omg she remembers Heaven) she calls heaven an illusion, which personally just pings Djinn Dream for me.  (I’m going to have Djinn on the brain for a while yet >.>)

I’m going to stick quick pins in 8x01 (kevin + demon bomb), 9x22 (angel bomb), and 5x18 (angel banishing)

—

WINGS WINGS WINGS WINGS *ahem*

——

Carrots :D :D :D

The gag reel music kills me after the sheer drama of the tarintino style in the hallway

There’s something about the number 3.  3 children, 3 fights, the Winchesters are in room number 3, three people on the revenge mission, the penthouse is on the 3rd floor

Okay I lied about someone else doing the Kill Bill comparison, the scene in the hallway is pretty reminiscent of the upstairs fight scene in Kill Bill vol. 1 in the Japanese bar.

——

Dean stop running away during fights.

Seriously though, he’s… Dean’s stopped caring if he makes it out alive.  He’s been that way all season, and he got better when Cas came back, but he’s still not okay and it’s getting worse.  I’m side eyeing the finale so fricking hard right now.

I also need several fics where Dean has a katana stat, pls and thank.

—

(*abandons rewatch for an hour to wrangle archive*)

—

And again it’s all about the story.  Loki’s told himself a story, Gabriel’s been telling a story.  There’s the official version, there’s the unofficial version, and then there’s the truth.

Dean’s reacting very sensitively to someone bringing up what he’d do for John, which is again making me look back at s2.  He went on a revenge quest for John’s sake, and what John asked him to do to Sam literally broke him.  We kinda don’t care what Dad wants at this point.

——

Mel’s already made the post because Mel is awesome

https://justanotheridijiton.tumblr.com/post/173341695904/justanotheridijiton-3x10-5x04-6x22

These mirrors are… they don’t always tell the truth, but they’re important.  They always hit the emotional core of the issue.

Loki shreds Gabriel’s sob story, accuses him of spinelessness; “you’re a joke, you’re a failure, you live for pleasure and you stand for nothing, and in the end that’s what you’ll die for.”

There’s been so much debate since Gabriel returned about whether or not he was right to run away in 13x18 and whether his original character flaw was cowardice.  We know, as the audience, that his staying in the fight back then wouldn’t have had a happy ending; but his motivation up to this point was about not having to deal with the conflict.  “Not my problem.”  

I think this whole discussion has been difficult for tumblr because as a culture, we’re constantly being told/telling each other to reframe what society expects of us, which in a lot of cases ends up boiling down to a very similar “this one isn’t my responsibility, people need to fix their own shit.”  Which, yeah, Lucifer and Michael are responsible for their own choices and actions.  But this is like… getting out of the car and letting your drunk friend drive the squad home when you’re still sober.  You’re safe, but your friend is probably going to end up killing themselves and innocent people are going to be hurt.

Or you could use the good Samaritan parable.

It stops being a “I’m not my brother’s keeper” when innocent people end up in the crossfire.  None of this is Gabriel’s fault, but there’s still has a moral responsibility here that he’s been avoiding.

And now he’s finally in the right situation where getting involved again can be effective for more than just elaborate suicide.

—

And the look on his face after he stabs Loki says he doesn’t feel better.  *sighs*  welcome to After, Gabe

——

I love this shot so much.  I have a suspicion if you went digging you’d find a painting of Jesus and Mary in a similar positioning

——

Someone not me can figure out why it’s the garter snake motel

—

“Tricks are for kids.”

The Trix rabbit is a trickster; he’s always trying to get the cereal away from the kids, and he always fails in the end.  Gabriel’s finally taking back his own name.

—

And Gabriel accidentally tells Sam that revenge is worth it, and his face falls immediately and it’s not worth it but Sam’s… seriously, this is the finale.  We’re looking at Sam’s motives right here.  THIS IS GOING TO HURT.

——

There’s something about Dean, craig, bad decisions, and depression.  Somewhere.

—

That’s not multitasking Dean.

Seriously, he’s stopped caring about his own safety.

Dean, Sam’s not forgetting Hell.  Ever.  Low blow.  Props to Jared though, that little flash of anger in Sam’s eyes…

“I don’t care if I die, never really have.”  DAMMNIT DEAN

(Side comment, Jared keeps answering about endgame being the Winchesters dying together because that’s where Sam is emotionally.)

And Dean can’t let Sam die… he can’t.

More side comment - I have s5 feels and they hurt.  Because this is… this is exactly where the emotional arc is leading up to Dean trying to say yes to Michael.  He spends the whole season, once they’re back together after 5x04, telling Sam that they’re stronger together, they have to do this together, if they’re not together they’re going to fail.  And then the hits keep coming, and they don’t stop, and he starts drinking more and he stops caring about *together* and he leaves.

That’s it folks.  These are our pieces for the finale.  Three depressed Winchesters, an archangel who doesn’t know who he is right now, and a witch who’s waiting for a friend to kill her.

[weirdlyfitting]

Okayy mom spoiler stuff y'all better get off if y'all haven't watch it!!!

Soooo

Multiverse of madness is....

It's good, it really is BUT SADLY....

I'm pretty unsatisfied :(

Yes, i expect loki, silvie (sylvie??), mobius trio or kang to appear. Yes, i expect there'll be a moon knight tie in. Yes, i expect that mom would've had the same crossover vibes as infinity war...

And before the movie started to begin i tried to lower my expectations but i sorta had that faith, i'm glad that i kept em down tho, also i left the theater with humming dr strange's theme hahaha. STILL THE MOVIE'S COOL!!! >v<)💜💜

But well for the unsatisfied part?

It's because i hated that marvel treated this movie like endgame....

As if the whole "don't spoil the endgame" stuff happened again yk

In mom i realized that it's no iw or endgame, the stories that're exist before didn't lead up to one big final conclusion in the next story...

I remember the first time i watched iw in theaters i was so shocked that it opened as a direct continuation from the post cred scene in thor ragnarok. (A reminder that i wasn't into mcu that time and didn't even know if all of the mcu movies are connected)

So anywayyy what's the point of the whole nexus, tva, and kang's existence if they're not in there??? And heck how bout the watcher? he could be in there to idk keeping chavez be in his side to watch the multiverse (knowing that there's only one chavez in the multiverse yk)? AND WHERE'S MA BOI VISION??? If there's anyone who could stop wanda other than herself THEN IT'S VISIONNN 😭

And one moreee

au wanda deserve to be angry at wanda LIKE BROOOO

Our wanda made her had those bruises and cuts, plus her feet when she walked with the shattered glasses my goddd 😭 (unintentionally but i'm glad mk aired b4 mom cause yeah atleast i've trained myself to not freaking out too hard seeing a chara walking/running with shattered glasses on their feet lmaooo)

Why was she so calm with our wanda huhhh???? 😭 Ma'am your other version of yourself is trying to take your sons away and YOU'RE FRIGGIN CALM???

Anyway that's all ig, still i enjoy the movie so much. Just having way too many expectations ehehehe